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Jewel of the Seas in 6 weeks - any tips please?


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My husband and I will be on the Jewel in 6 weeks, which includes a couple of sea days. Our shore excursions are sorted but I would love to hear about what we can do/shouldn't miss on the sea days.... we have only ever cruised once before and that was a 3 day in the Bahamas with no sea days so we are unsure about how to make best use of our 2 days at sea and also the evenings. All our drinks are included but I don't want to get too sloshed in the daytime!

 

I presume there are lots of daily activities that I will find out about on the form they leave in the room, but I'm after suggestions from real people that have been... any tips, secrets, things that not everyone knows about?

 

What type of shows do they do at night? Do they do any themed parties later on in the evening? If I'm feeling peckish at midnight where is the best place to get a snack?

 

I'm very excited but also starting to feel anxious because I'm very much a forward planner and like to research as much as possible. Yes I know I should just go with the flow, but I've saved hard for this cruise and want to come away feeling like we experienced everything on offer. I've done a lot of general reading on this forum but would love to know more, especially from people that have cruised on this ship recently.

 

Many thanks

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Sea days!! That is a wonderful phrase. I love watching flying fish while at sea, reading and people watching in a lounge, taking part in trivia, deck games, culinary experiences, or whatever else is listed in the Cruise Compass. The Radiance class ships have card rooms, pool tables, two swimming pools and several hot tubs. Don't over plan, take things as they come. Take part in everything or nothing. It;s your vacation to do as you please.

There are two performances of the evening show each night except the first and last nights. Several nights there is a later show (usually adults only) or a participation show. Don't miss the "Love & Marriage" show or the "Quest" game. There is a 70's night--bring your bell-bottoms, dancing and games in the Centrum each night. Try out the different dining venues, the dining room menu is posted on the video boards every day (near the elevators on each deck). Formal nights are usually the second and fifth. Lobster tail served the second night on Caribbean sailings. Don't be afraid to say "no" to the photographers at embarkation, ports, dining Venus, etc. by the same token, there are several casual and formal opportunities for photo every day. You are not committed to buying any of them.

Hope this helps.

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Sea days!! That is a wonderful phrase. I love watching flying fish while at sea, reading and people watching in a lounge, taking part in trivia, deck games, culinary experiences, or whatever else is listed in the Cruise Compass. The Radiance class ships have card rooms, pool tables, two swimming pools and several hot tubs. Don't over plan, take things as they come. Take part in everything or nothing. It;s your vacation to do as you please.

There are two performances of the evening show each night except the first and last nights. Several nights there is a later show (usually adults only) or a participation show. Don't miss the "Love & Marriage" show or the "Quest" game. There is a 70's night--bring your bell-bottoms, dancing and games in the Centrum each night. Try out the different dining venues, the dining room menu is posted on the video boards every day (near the elevators on each deck). Formal nights are usually the second and fifth. Lobster tail served the second night on Caribbean sailings. Don't be afraid to say "no" to the photographers at embarkation, ports, dining Venus, etc. by the same token, there are several casual and formal opportunities for photo every day. You are not committed to buying any of them.

Hope this helps.

 

This is perfect! Thank you SO much, you have given me so much useful information. I do fancy the 70's night, and the love and marriage show sounds good fun too! Reading your response has made me even more excited now :)

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I appreciate these postings so far about the Jewel of the Seas ship. Of of the reason we may do this ship is because it is going to St. Lucia, which I fell in love with, and want to go back.:)

 

As we have never been on this ship before, and are "thinking" about doing it, what pros/cons (yes this is YOUR opinion) of this ship would you give me?

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My husband and I will be on the Jewel in 6 weeks, which includes a couple of sea days. Our shore excursions are sorted but I would love to hear about what we can do/shouldn't miss on the sea days.... we have only ever cruised once before and that was a 3 day in the Bahamas with no sea days so we are unsure about how to make best use of our 2 days at sea and also the evenings. ...

 

I believe the Jewel of the Seas will be in Europe in 6 weeks. At least, I cruise on her starting June 24, 2018 and she'll be in Civitavecchia port for embarkation that day. Are you sailing transatlantic on her May 6?

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I believe the Jewel of the Seas will be in Europe in 6 weeks. At least, I cruise on her starting June 24, 2018 and she'll be in Civitavecchia port for embarkation that day. Are you sailing transatlantic on her May 6?

No I'm actually on the Greek cruise from Civitavecchia on 17th June. Picked this cruise purely for the itinerary, but the ship looks fab from what I've seen and read so far!

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There’s also usually a “white night” where everyone (who planned ahead) wears white to dinner, and to all the after dinner shows and parties. I learned about it before going on my last cruise and thought it was funny to see all the people who wore white and looked like they knew ahead of time, I realized there are a lot of experienced cruisers (or cruise critic readers). I heard a lot of people who didn’t have anything white to wear say how disappointed they were not to have known about it and they felt left out. Others just didn’t care either way, but it was fun to see how many people did actually know about it and showed up to dinner in white.

 

Oh also- on sea days, sleep in. I get very little sleep on port days because I’m up extra early to go the gym, eat breakfast and be ready to go explore the island or meet a tour group when they open the doors. We stay out all day and play in the sun, then come back to the ship and try to take part in the activities on board, which means we go to bed really late, then start all over the next day. So, when there’s a sea day thrown in, we sleep in, sometimes almost past breakfast. We only had 1 sea day though, so we were extra tired.

 

 

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There’s also usually a “white night” where everyone (who planned ahead) wears white to dinner, and to all the after dinner shows and parties. I learned about it before going on my last cruise and thought it was funny to see all the people who wore white and looked like they knew ahead of time, I realized there are a lot of experienced cruisers (or cruise critic readers). I heard a lot of people who didn’t have anything white to wear say how disappointed they were not to have known about it and they felt left out. Others just didn’t care either way, but it was fun to see how many people did actually know about it and showed up to dinner in white.

 

 

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I don't think it is fair to say "who planned ahead" when the cruise line does not announce it in any way in advance.

 

Disney at least lets you know when it will be Pirate/Pixar night or Star Wars or Marvel Day so those who want can be prepared. If you don't read your pre-cruise material, that is your fault but it is in there.

 

I have yet to see any other line advertise a special event night like a "white night" so that new cruisers or new to the line cruisers can know and not feel like idiots. Because NOT everyone is on forums to learn from past cruisers.

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I don't think it is fair to say "who planned ahead" when the cruise line does not announce it in any way in advance.

 

 

People can still plan ahead if they have knowledge about it. That’s why I said there were people who didn’t know about it who were disappointed they couldn’t plan ahead. I only knew to plan ahead because I read about it on cruise critic. Others may have planned ahead because they found out on a previous cruise. You can plan ahead if you know about it, despite the fact that the cruise doesn’t let people know before they sail (which is unfortunate, but might be intentional, who knows).

 

 

 

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People can still plan ahead if they have knowledge about it. That’s why I said there were people who didn’t know about it who were disappointed they couldn’t plan ahead. I only knew to plan ahead because I read about it on cruise critic. Others may have planned ahead because they found out on a previous cruise. You can plan ahead if you know about it, despite the fact that the cruise doesn’t let people know before they sail (which is unfortunate, but might be intentional, who knows).

 

 

 

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Yes. But my point was that most cruiselines set up an insiders v. outsiders thing by NOT saying “There will be [insert special thing] night on your cruise” so that people who have not cruised before or who have not cruised a certain line before and who are not on forums or social media (and there are a lot) can feel included.

 

No one has to participate in the Disney Cruise Line special nights, but it’s not because DCL didn’t let them know it was going on.

 

RCCL the potential to feel left out and very outsider-y is there because they don’t advertise it so you DO have to be an insider to prepare.

 

I do like RCCL - at least Radiance Class - but they do create an insider/outsider atmosphere with the things like white nights.

 

 

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I understand the outsider feeling. When I was on Symphony last week, the activities listed on the app was much more than what was listed on the cruise compass. I think it would be great if they instituted their own twitter like environment in the app, with a hashtags to indicate what's going on, what's trending, etc. Obviously I can't do everything, but I'd like to try to spend each moment doing the optimal activity for the time I do have.

To enhance my experience, I'll search out hashtags on instagram and other places to get a feel the ship and how it is. Of course, I'm one of those guys that thinks planning a cruise vacation is a pre-cruise excursion - I enjoy the heck out of it.

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