just erica

You can sign the waivers online before you go so you don't have to worry about doing it once there. We were on the Freedom of the Seas and there was never a line for the rock climbing.

I have only been on one cruise so not a lot of experience. We didn't see our cabin steward until day 3, she didn't come and introduce herself as others have said on the first day. Not sure why we didn't see her before then.

She was not friendly at all. Not mean or rude, just not interested in interaction and we were fine with that.

We didn't tip extra as we had no special requests and in fact no requests at all. I cleaned our cabin everyday and kept things neat and put away. I don't think it is their responsibility to clean up after us.

I would highly recommend Colombus Cove as the area to be! You can see the ship from that beach too. The water is shallow and clear and warm and not as crowded and noisy as the other areas. We got there early and got our chairs right in the center front and it was great.

I would also recommended you get a Labadoozie drink, it is a frozen fruity drink with or without alcohol and I am still thinking about it months later. The servers will come to you on the beach.

The buffet for lunch is located directly behind you. The walk to lunch from this beach is 2 minutes and the walk from the pier to this beach is about 10 minutes or less.

Have fun! We had a blast on our first cruise...

Thank you everyone for your great responses!

I am sure I am going to love JOS as much as FOS...

great, thank you!

I just found a reference to a Seaview Café up on one of the top decks....is that an extra charge restaurant or is it included in the fare?

oh, it doesn't have to be open 24hrs...just somewhere in the afternoon between lunch and dinner and in the evening to get coffee etc.

thanks for your quick response!

Hi there, we have just booked a Southern Caribbean cruise on Jewel of the Seas this coming November. I was just wondering if there some sort of café that is open all day/night that serves coffee and maybe a cookie/sandwich.

We cruised Freedom of the Seas last year and got addicted to the Café Promenade. Is there an equivalent on JOS?

As far as I can see there is only the MDR, 2 specialty restaurants and the Windjammer for food and drink. Am I missing anything?

Also, does anyone know when the 2 formal nights are? Same as FOS with Monday and Thursday?

Thanks in advance for your time!

We were on the FOS in November and we were surrounded by tables for 2!!

You will have no problem with this at all. Enjoy your first cruise, we sure did.

Hi there, we were just on FOS in early November doing a Western Caribbean itinerary.

The two formal nights were on the Monday and the Thursday. The lobster night was on Thursday night.

I would say about 90 per cent of people were dressed quite formally on these nights but there were still a few people that were not and they were in the diningroom.

I would say as long as you are not in shorts and flip flops you will be ok. It is not completely necessary to dress up on these nights.

You are going to love the FOS! It was our first cruise and we loved it. Have a great time.

The water on board is amazing....it is highly filtered and tastes great. That includes the tap water in your stateroom. We had a plastic water bottle with us and just kept refilling it as needed. You can ask for tap water at any bar and is readily given at the buffets and in the main diningroom for dinner. No need to bring bottled water on board or purchase it in my opinion.

Hi there, we just got off our very first cruise on FOS two weeks ago. We had an absolute blast and are now hooked on cruising!!

I was looking up prices on the website today and found that they are crazy high, even with the current sale. We paid $1039 for a D1 balcony and now that same room for the Nov 8/2015 sailing is listed at $1850. Even with the 50 percent off second passenger, we would be paying more. I don't get it.....does anyone know why the prices have just about doubled?

I even looked at a Nov 28th/2015 sailing on the Navigator and a smaller balcony room is going for almost $1300.

Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you

We were on the Nov. 9th Western Caribbean sailing on FOS and formal night was on Thursday (Grand Cayman) and it was lobster night.

Hi there,

We just got off the Freedom of the Seas and it was our first cruise and it was amazing!! You are going to love this ship...

We had My time dining as well and we made reservations for each evening at the same time (5:45pm) and we had the same table and the same waiters each evening and it was wonderful.

You can just make a reservation on the ship but be prepared to wait outside the dining room a bit. We just walked right in and sat down because we had made resos before hand.

You can still eat in the dining room on formal nights (there are two, one on Monday and one on Thursday) you don't need to dress up and no one is going to kick you out. We saw lots of people not dressed up these nights still eating in the main dining room.

There is also a buffet restaurant that is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner as well as snacks in the afternoon. You can also order room service.

There is a café where you can get snacks and sweets and coffee/ tea etc all day long as well as a pizza place.

There is fresh filtered water all over the ship for free as well as iced tea, juice and milk in the buffet for free at all meals. The ships water is the best we have ever tasted and that includes bottled water! There is no need to purchase bottled water at all in my opinion. The coffee served was very good too and they have multiple choices for hot tea.

We did not have any beverage packages nor did we purchase the soda card option and we were just fine all week. We purchase a few alcoholic drinks through the week and they were between $6.00 and $7.50 and they were all amazing.

Have a great time!

I am sailing on the FOS on Sunday and I got the same email yesterday. We had already booked our shuttle service to arrive at the terminal by 10:30/11:00am and I am not going to change it.

I posted this on our roll call board and they assured me that they will not enforce it so I am going with that!

Hi there, does anyone who has done this recently know how much it costs for a cab ride from the airport to Port Canaveral? We are flying in on a Saturday night and arriving at midnight and need to get to our hotel in Cocoa Beach.

Thanks in advance...

We are sailing on 11/9. Do you know if the coffee machine in the diamond lounge was working. We loved making our own coffee drinks. Thanks for all the great info. We were considering the Portofino, but now????

I have nothing to add or ask...I just noticed that I will be on the FOS at the same time as you! My first cruise and I am starting to get excited....less than two weeks now.

Hi there, can some of you experienced cruisers tell me what times the shows are at night? I just booked our MTD and the only available times were 5:45 or 7:15. I ended up booking 5:45pm. Nothing in the 6pm range...is that because those times are already taken?

Hoping I can see a couple of shows...

Thanks in adavance

Yes, we are going Nov. 2014...

Thanks for your reply!

Hi there, I just read on here that FOS will be going into drydock in January 2015. My family and I are sailing on this ship on November 9th and I was just wondering if I will notice anything different?

This is our first cruise ever and I am a little nervous about this. I guess I just want to know from others more experienced if this means any drop in services or amenities or things that might be closed etc.

Thanks in advance for your replies. We are starting to get very excited!! With the horrific winter we just had to the "non-summer" we just had, we are looking forward to some Caribbean heat and sun! :)

Thanks for the review so far, I am enjoying it! Also sailing on FOTS in November of this year! Very first cruise too!

We are on the November 9th sailing for a week to western Caribbean. Our Thanksgiving is different from yours, I think yours is at the end of November right? Ours is on October 13th this year....

Thanks for all the great suggestions! I don't think my son will be bored at all....

Yes, I can see your beautiful photo, can't wait for the rest of your review!

Oh I forgot to ask you, we have a teenage son as well and I am hoping that he will enjoy his time onboard. What did you find your son liked the most? any good tips from him on getting the most out of the ship?

Thanks again!

Thanks so much for starting this review! My family and I will be sailing on Freedom this November. It will be our first cruise and first vacation so we are very excited!!! We are from Ontario and this winter has been absolutely brutal for all Canadians....so glad you got to spend some time in the warm weather!

Looking forward to the rest of your review...