Jewel of the Seas to Alaska! May 29, 2015 Pictorial Review!

Jewel of the Seas: Alaskan Cruise, 5/29/15

Intro:

This was my second time cruising to Alaska; the first was in 2009 on the Carnival Spirit Knowing what to expect, and exactly what we wanted to do in both Alaskan ports helped out a lot. We flew out of Orlando the day before the cruise on Southwest. The first leg went smoothly, but our second flight which connected out of Milwaukee was delayed so we had to sit in the airport for about three hours. Once the plane finally arrived the second leg to Seattle was pretty uneventful aside from some moderate turbulence.

We stayed at the Hilton right by SeaTac airport. It was a pretty nice place, and conveniently located right next to the light rail station which will come into play later in the trip report.

The next morning our group was picked up from the hotel by a private shuttle (Shuttle Express). Our driver Bob was a really nice guy. He stopped at a store along the way so that we could pick up some wine to carry onboard. The drive to the pier through downtown Seattle went quickly and smoothly.

Embarkation:

This was Jewel’s first call on Seattle for the Alaska season and it showed. Embarkation was very slow and disorganized. There had been a computer crash earlier and the lines were backed up well outside the building. Luckily we were able to use the priority line, which helped a bit. The whole process still went well over an hour.

Our arrival at the terminal

The ship:

The Jewel of the Seas is just over a decade old now, but still looks very good for her age. I did not see any issues with maintenance or housekeeping. She has not yet been renovated like her older sisters, so her lobby area is still in the original configuration. Jewel also still has her Seaview Café, which will be removed to make way for a specialty restaurant.

The Jewel does not yet have an official Diamond Lounge, but there is a small Concierge Lounge on deck 10. They used the Hollywood Odyssey lounge (which will become the Concierge Lounge during her renovation next year) as the nightly Diamond Lounge. It had the same bar menu as the Concierge Lounge, so it would seem the days of the old “Diamond event” are over. For those curious, the Diamond Lounge will eventually be built by walling off a forward section of the Viking Crown Lounge.

The Radiance class ships are far and away my favorite in the Royal Caribbean fleet. They are the perfect size and layout. Nearly every public space has a view of the ocean. I wish RCI would snap out of their "bigger is better" phase and start building smaller and simpler ships like the Radiance and Vision classes.

Just a disclaimer: Most of my interior ship pictures are from my last cruise on Jewel which was in May of 2013. Nothing of importance has changed since then, so taking new pictures didn’t seem like a very good use of sightseeing time. The photos of our cabin and the Concierge Lounge are new, as I did not have access to it back then.

The Champagne Bar is in the atrium, and a nice place for a drink. It has large windows that look out onto the sea.

The Schooner Bar

Chops Steakhouse

The Portofinos Italian restaurant will be converted into a Giovanni's Table next year.

The Safari Cub, a nice mixed use area at the aft end of the ship. This is also where the self-leveling pool tables are.

The casino

The Pit Stop sports bar will soon be replaced with an English themed pub

The ship has a dedicated cinema room used for showing movies daily

The photo gallery

The concourse of the shopping arcade

Latte-tudes Coffee Bar

The main lobby and its bar

Thank you for posting the pictures! We are setting sail on Friday on The Jewel. Cannot wait to hear more about your Alaska experience. :)

Loving the review!! We are on the Jewel in August.

Thanks Grady............glad you all had a good time.:).....

The Schooner Bars on the Radiance class are my favorites..

Hi Grady! You were getting on board the morning we debarked. Embarkation in Vancouver was also terrible -- it took some people over 3 hours to get through and we had to delay muster and our departure as there were people stuck in the terminal. I was fortunate, it was just about an hour for me (I was there by 10:30am).

Love the Jewel - that was my 3rd time on her and my 3rd Alaska cruise. Love the radiance-class ships as well.

Look forward to reading your report and seeing your pics!

Please take care of her for our California costal cruise October 3rd.

Love your picture reviews. We are really getting excited for our upcoming cruises on Jewel and Serenade. I think I may agree with you that bigger is not always best!

Thanks Grady for the review. We enjoyed Jewel last month and look forward to returning once the Alaska trips are over. [emoji3]

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Hi Grady! You were getting on board the morning we debarked. Embarkation in Vancouver was also terrible -- it took some people over 3 hours to get through and we had to delay muster and our departure as there were people stuck in the terminal. I was fortunate, it was just about an hour for me (I was there by 10:30am).

 

Love the Jewel - that was my 3rd time on her and my 3rd Alaska cruise. Love the radiance-class ships as well.

 

Look forward to reading your report and seeing your pics!

My first Alaskan cruise was from Vancouver, and embarkation there was a nightmare for us as well.

Thanks Grady for the review. We enjoyed Jewel last month and look forward to returning once the Alaska trips are over. [emoji3]

 

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No problem, I really appreciated your live thread. Thanks again for taking the time to do it!

Thanks Grady............glad you all had a good time.:).....

 

The Schooner Bars on the Radiance class are my favorites..

Thanks Kathy, same here!

*sigh* My favorite ship in the fleet. :) I love how she still has the beautiful glass staircase between decks 4 and 5. She will most likely lose them in the refurb, a la Serenade. It's a shame.

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Ship pics continued:

More of the lobby area:

*sigh* My favorite ship in the fleet. :) I love how she still has the beautiful glass staircase between decks 4 and 5. She will most likely lose them in the refurb, a la Serenade. It's a shame.

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I've heard yes and no to the staircase removal. I've heard that they remove it because it clashes with the R-Bar motif, so it has to go. I have also heard that it has to go because of the aerial show. But I have also heard the rumor that the aerial shows aren't generating the "wow factor" that RCI hoped for, and Jewel may not get one at all. So if she doesn't get the show, maybe she will get to keep her glass staircase (which I also like BTW). All they need to do IMO is change the color its lights to compliment the R-Bar.

The main theater. I did not make any of the shows this cruise, we just had too much going on.

Moving up to the top of the ship, here are some pics of her mini golf course:

The rock wall

The exterior of the wonderfully free Seaview Cafe. Its an endangered species, and the last of its kind. RCI will shortly convert it into a restaurant that I've never seen anyone use. Good call RCI. They've actually already started ruining it though. They now charge a $10 fee to go into the Seaview at night in exchange for "premium" hamburgers and sides.

Her basketball court

Kiddie pool area

The main pool

The Windjammer buffet

The adults-only Solarium area

The Solarium Cafe is a good place for a late night snack after the club shuts down

The gym

The Hollywood Odyssey lounge did double duty as the Diamond Lounge and Concierge overflow as well as hosting Karaoke each evening

The Vortex (Viking Crown Lounge) is the ships night club. The revolving bar was our nightly party destination

The Crown and Anchor Lounge

The ships arcade

That should take care of the majority of the ship, I'll be back on tomorrow and we'll start into the actual cruise.

Looking forward to rest of your review, great photos. How were you able to take so many photos without and passengers in the shots?