REVIEW: Jewel of the Seas, April 16-26

[mehitabel]

Just off a lovely Caribbean cruise on RCL's Jewel--10 days leaving out of Miami and traveling to Labadee, Cartagena (Colombia), Colon (Panama), Puerto Limon (Costa Rica), and Georgetown (Grand Cayman). We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and hope that this review is helpful to those of you considering this itinerary. I do have all of the Compasses and will scan them later this week.

 

Pre-cruise and Day 1:

 

We flew out on April 15th into Miami International, arriving a little after 8 in the evening. I'd booked us a room at the Marriott Biscayne Bay via Priceline for a pretty good rate, and we upgraded to a port view for $30 more when we checked in. And I'm glad we did, because this is what we saw when we woke up:

 

 

The Jewel is on the left in this picture; Majesty is on the right. We ate breakfast at the Marriott and got a taxi to the ship at about 11. Check-in was quick, though there was already a small crowd. The Miami terminal is very easy to navigate:

 

 

And we were onboard well before 11:30:

 

 

We went to the Windjammer, as our stateroom wasn't ready yet, and got some lunch (well, my husband got a full lunch--I was still kind of full from breakfast). I excitedly grabbed some honey-stung chicken from the buffet line, cut myself a nice big bite, and ... meh. It's true--the best part about eating it is knowing that you're finally on the ship. As for actual flavor, it's pretty bland. But don't get me wrong. I'd love to be eating some again right about now.

 

We were given access to our staterooms just a few minutes after 1 pm, and rushed immediately to #3550, an oceanview on Deck 3. We were anxious to see it, as we'd had a balcony on our last cruise and didn't want to feel deprived. We can happily say that we'll likely book oceanviews in the future. Much less expensive than a balcony but with a feeling of spaciousness, and to whoever suggested using the window as a lounge, I thank you:

 

 

Lined with pillows, it was divinely comfortable and had a great view!

 

The lifeboat muster drill was pretty quick, but our station was a little hampered by an overzealous ship employee named Mikkel. Boy, was he a stickler! If anyone moved so much as a millimeter in the wrong direction, he was there on the spot to harass them back into place. It was actually pretty funny, as even the other cruise employees were rolling their eyes at him and cracking jokes with the passengers.

 

Once that was over, we continued to explore the ship and her facilities. The Jewel is just beautiful; not garish or overdone in any way, windows everywhere, and plenty of room (especially if you stick to the stairs and not the elevators). We had signed up for My Time Dining, and though the first night was a little hectic, we were seated at our time of 6:45 and happily perusing the menu. Forgive me for not taking pictures of the menu, but I can tell you that one of the biggest surprises of the whole vacation was my husband's reaction to the Truffled Mushroom Pasta. He's one of the staunchest carnivores I know, but he ordered it on a whim and LOVED it. I thought he was going to lick the plate to get every last smear of the sauce off of it. And we had the first of many, many Savory Bites:

 

 

We're not nightlife people, so we went to bed pretty early. Our stateroom attendant, Shamine, had introduced himself already, and by the time we got back to the room, he'd cleared out the mini-bar in the fridge as requested, filled the ice bucket, and turned down the bed. He was fantastic throughout the whole cruise and seemed to have our schedule down immediately.

 

We fell asleep quickly, lulled to sleep by the sound of the water rushing by and the gentle rocking of the ship. Day 2 coming up!

[mehitabel]

Day 2:

 

Our first at-sea day, and plenty of time to explore. My husband and I go to the gym regularly at home, so we started our day there. The Jewel's gym facilities are very good; lots of treadmills, ellipticals, some rowing machines and bikes, and good-sized floor space for their classes and for stretching out. Lots of weight machines, too, and towel stations with sanitizing wipes to clean up all that sweat when you're done!

 

 

After we worked out, we went to the Tides Dining Room for breakfast. As with lunch in the MDR, people are seated as they enter, and they will try to fill up larger tables, no assigned seating. We sat with a very nice couple and a lady on her own. The breakfast was good--my husband had an omelet and I had an egg cooked to order with toast and sides--but it did take a while.

 

SIDE NOTE: This was a pretty quiet cruise, insofar as the population was concerned. Mostly older, mostly couples, with a few large groups (hello, Red Hat Club ladies!) and a few families. It almost seemed as though we could count the number of kids on two hands with a few fingers left over. This suited us just fine, but if you like louder or more family-oriented groups, you may want to consider a different time or itinerary.

 

After breakfast, we showered and changed clothes in our stateroom. About the bathrooms--yes, they're small, but what we noted about the entire stateroom was the amazingly efficient use of space. No corner was left un-engineered to provide maximum storage or extra breathing room. It took us a couple of days onboard to discover just how much space we had. The shower head, by the way, is not only the kind you can take off and use as a hand-held sprayer. It's also mounted in such a way that you can slide it up and down to adjust for height (great when you're letting conditioner soak in but want to wash the rest of your body) or twist it around so it's aimed right where you want it.

 

The rest of our day was spent just visiting the ship and trying different things. We got coffee from Seattle's Best several times a day throughout the whole cruise, and it was consistently good. Giuliana from Brazil was a bright spot as our server there, with a beautiful smile and great sense of humor. We also fell in love with the Solarium that day. Despite the crowd (yes, chair hogs were present, blah blah blah, we didn't mind), it maintained an atmosphere of serenity and beauty. The pool there is wonderfully warm, and so are the showers for rinsing off. And the pizza and hummus from the Solarium Cafe were delicious.

 

Dinner that night was formal dress. I wore a cocktail-length, semi-formal dress and my husband wore a suit and tie. We saw very few full-length gowns and tuxedos, lots of cocktail dresses and suits, and a little of everything else.

 

SIDE NOTE: I briefly mentioned the Red Hat Club group above, and I'll take this time to say that that is one amazing group of ladies! On formal nights (and most other nights too), they blew everyone out of the water! Sparkles, lace, big jewelry, big hats (of course), and brilliant red and purple everywhere! They always seemed to be having a great time and added so much to our cruise experience.

 

Back to dinner. I had the roast duck, which was so delicious I don't want to talk about it too much or I'll just start crying. It's not something I ever make at home, so I especially relished it. Mmmmm. It was so great, in fact, that I don't even remember what my husband had because I barely looked up from my plate until it was empty.

 

Another early-to-bed night, but I should point out that about 85% of the nights, my husband ended up ordering from room service for a "bedtime snack", and highly recommends the chocolate-pear tart and the bistro burger. While I'm on the subject of room service, let me applaud the RCTV system. It's an interactive program on the stateroom TVs, through which you can check your SeaPass folio, book excursions, and most importantly ... order room service! Right after you order, you'll get a call confirming the order and it's delivered pretty quickly.

 

On to Day 3 and Labadee!

[mehitabel]

Day 3:

 

Labadee! Our early-morning workout was spent watching the ship pull in at the pier. On our last trip in 2003, it was still a tendering spot, so we were interested to see how it had changed. We'd signed up for an 9:30 jetski excursion, so we had Windjammer buffet breakfasts (mediocre but very fast) and hustled off the ship by 8:30 or so.

 

What a lot of changes! The area seems to be WAY more built up than on our last visit. Lots more buildings and paths than last time, plenty of hammocks strung up all over, a few roofed-over pavilions for dining, a hair-braiding station, a little stage, and two different kinds of markets now. There's the open-air market, with very aggressive sellers, and an enclosed one, which is much smaller but with more laid-back vendors. We did pass by the suite guests' area, which seemed nice, with a dedicated dining area and of course the cabanas. It looked fairly busy but not at all crowded.

 

We were the only ones that wanted to jetski that early, apparently, so they bumped us to the 10:30 spot, giving us more time to wander around. They do rent lockers on Labadee, two different kinds. One kind is one-time-use only, in which you drop a token and receive a key on an elastic bracelet. We were able to cram both of our backpacks and shoes in there, but it was awfully tight. The other kind of locker is pretty neat, and not one I've seen before; it requires the use of a bracelet (the kind you see at nightclubs or like a hospital ID bracelet) with a microchip in it. You wave the microchip at a sensor on the locker's handle and it unlocks, and it's good for the entire day.

 

We finally got to go on the jetskis, an experience which was a lot of fun, but probably caused my husband lifetime health problems from my gripping him so tightly. It also resulted in the loss of my sunglasses despite the cord that they were on, when a HUMONGOUS wall of water slammed our jetski and washed the glasses right off of my head.

 

After we were done, we wobbled back up to the dining pavilion and had burgers, fresh fruit, cookies, barbecued ribs, and all the other appropriate fixings. It was about Windjammer-quality, not great but certainly not bad. We spent a little time in the hammocks, then made our way back onboard. The rest of the day and night was spent relaxing, eating dinner, and yet another early night in.

 

Next up, Day 4.

[mehitabel]

Addendum to Day 2:

 

We also had our Cruise Critic Meet 'n' Mingle that morning. It was wonderful to put names with faces and get to see all of the people we'd met online! The ship provided hors d'oeuvres and Royal Caribbean neckpouches, and also held a raffle for coffee mugs, keychains, bottle of wine, etc. It seemed pretty well-attended and also gave me a good opportunity to meet and finalize plans with the group of us that attended the Colombia excursion (for more on that, see Day 5).

[mehitabel]

Day 4, at sea:

 

Room-service breakfast is a great way to start the day! About the same quality as the Windjammer, but better coffee and without fighting for a table.

 

I have to commemorate this day as the day I got hooked on cruise-ship bingo. My husband and I saw the "2 for 1" deal in the Compass and thought "Oh, we'll give it a try!" Each of us got a packet of bingo cards, and I'm sucker enough to have bought Ringo the Bingo Seal, a little stuffed animal that entitles you to an extra bonus set of bingo cards, used for the Snowball Jackpot game at the end of each session. Here we are:

 

 

Most of the bingo games throughout the cruise cost $32 for a set of cards, with Ringo costing $12. They also sold $5 pull-tab games, somewhat like a cardboard version of a slot machine. The final jackpot game, on the last day of the cruise, cost $48. More on bingo later (specifically, on the day when I won a game, which was Day 8).

 

As usual, the rest of the day was spent lolling around in the Solarium, eating lots of food, and people-watching. And enjoying our window, as seen here:

 

 

More to come when we visit Colombia on Day 5!

[LisaH]

What I have read so far - great review. Thanks so much. We were scheduled to be on the cruise before you but had to cancel. sniff sniff

 

The Jewel is our favorite ship!

[mehitabel]

Day 5, Colombia:

 

I was so excited! This day is a great example of why Cruise Critic is so helpful. I'd read about Lee Miles in several threads here and really wanted to book an excursion with his help. When I mentioned it in our Roll Call thread, the idea really gained momentum and we ended up with 24 fantastic people in our group. We would have taken more, but that was the absolute limit! It gave us a fun group of people and probably saved us a good bit of money, too.

 

Here we are docked in Cartagena, waiting for the tour bus:

 

 

Also on the recommendations of previous cruisers here, we asked for Claudia to be our tour guide, and got her! Lee Miles himself met us on the pier and handed us over to Claudia and our driver. Claudia speaks excellent English, has a wonderful sense of humor, and is so extremely knowledgeable about Colombia's past, present, and future plans. Due to the very short stay (only docked from 7 am until 1 pm, with an "all-aboard" time of 12:30), it was a whirlwind tour, but I think we hit almost all of the high points available.

 

Our first stop was La Popa Monastery, situated on a hill high above the rest of the city. As soon as we stepped into the gates, a man materialized out of nowhere with a sloth and slung it onto my husband's chest. We found out later what a very bad idea this is (not necessarily for us, but for the wildlife and surrounding habitat) and felt horrible, but when someone plasters a sloth on you, you're not really in a position to argue. Heck, we even took pictures. I will say that on all of our subsequent port stops, we were strenously warned about the unfair practices and doubtful treatment of animals involved, and it didn't happen again. But since it did happen on this stop, here's what two befuddled gringos look like when somebody hands them a sloth:

 

 

 

Cute, but it won't happen again.

 

La Popa itself is lovely, and the view is outstanding. Here you can see the Jewel, waaaaaaaay down there at the pier:

 

 

From there we went to the Old City and Inquisition Palace. If you love a good bloodthirsty story, you won't be disappointed. Plenty of stories here, and the equipment to go with it. This may be hard to figure out, but it's a stretching device. For guys. See, those two ropes on top right and left get tied to the hands, the right and the left on the bottom get tied to the feet, and guess where the bottom middle one goes? :eek:

 

 

We continued through the Old City to the Cathedral of San Pedro Claver, which is a much nicer story to hear than that of the Inquisition, and lovely to look at too. Finally we made our way to the Pierino Gallo shopping center to buy coffee, souvenirs, and emeralds. I was thrilled to find an emerald set in sterling silver that was in my price range (meaning, cheap) at Lee Miles' shop, and also left with lots of coffee. I had some just this morning, by the way, and it's delicious.

 

We got back onboard, had some lunch, and played more bingo (this will recur, by the way--eating and bingo) in the afternoon. We missed the Love and Marriage game show, unfortunately.

 

Day 6 in Panama coming up!

[nanfromatlanta]

Great so far!! Waiting for more.... :D

[katz]

Thank you so much for your wonderful trip report. We are sailing on Jewel in July for the first time, and I enjoy reading your description of the ship.

 

I look forward to reading the rest of your report.

[mehitabel]

Day 6, Panama:

 

We'd booked an excursion through My Friend Mario tours, again based on recommendations from Cruise Critic members. And we were very glad that we did! We chose a tour that took us to the Panama Canal, the rainforest, and San Lorenzo fort. Our guide was Rey, a sharp, intelligent, highly knowledgeable Panamanian man who's spent time in the U.S. Army and who clearly loves his country and heritage. He took no guff from anyone and kept us laughing throughout the tour.

 

About the Panama Canal. I'm ashamed to admit that my first instinct was to skip it and spend more time with the wildlife, but my husband insisted that we couldn't visit Panama and NOT see the canal. Let me just say--it was fascinating. Totally cool. We didn't go through it in a boat, but the observation areas allowed us to watch the ships going through the Gatun Locks, and we were close enough to have reached out and touched the engines that haul the ships through (though I'm pretty sure they wouldn't have liked that). Don't miss seeing it, even if it's only part of another tour like ours was. Part of the fun was watching the crew on the ships passing through. They were taking pictures of us as we took pictures of them, equally delighted to be a part of such an amazing process.

 

The gates opening:

 

 

Engines pulling the ship through:

 

 

 

See how close we were? Sweet!

 

From there we drove into the rainforest, seeing plenty of monkeys on the way. We walked a little ways through it, seeing leaf-cutter ants, butterflies, and yet more monkeys:

 

 

Then we went on to San Lorenzo fort, overlooking the Chagres River where it empties into the sea. Very beautiful and picturesque:

 

 

We arrived back at the pier and adjoining market in plenty of time to buy souvenirs and window-shop.

 

SIDE NOTE: If you're a shaky former smoker, your will is going to be tested. Cartons of cigarettes in Panama were $16. For a carton of name-brand cigarettes. On the ship they're $27 or two for $50. It really took all of my will not to buy some there. And you know where I finally broke down and bought a pack? In freakin' Grand Cayman, where they're $8.50 a pack. Luckily that was enough to bring me to my senses. But still, be advised.

 

That night we had our second dining experience in Portofino (which I should have mentioned on Day 3 but didn't. So sue me.) and it was divine. The first night that we were there, we both had the beef carpaccio appetizer and the seafood skewers for dinner. SO. GOOD. Really amazingly good. The beef carpaccio is garnished with a roasted baby artichoke that's probably the best thing I ate the whole time. I know. I'm as surprised as you are, but it was honestly out of this world. The second night, I had the tuna carpaccio and the risotto, and my husband had the beef carpaccio again as an appetizer, with the beef filet for dinner. Wonderful again. One of our favorite parts of the meal comes at the beginning, with an entire roasted head of garlic. Your server scoops it all out for you, and you smear it on your bread.

 

We liked the meal so much the first night that we were asking all kinds of questions about the food. The maitre d' noted our interest and invited us to take a tour of the galley scheduled for the last day of the cruise, which we gratefully accepted. We also bought a copy of the Royal Caribbean cookbook, which he took into the kitchen and had signed by the executive chef. What fun!

 

Day 7 and Puerto Limon, coming next!

[mehitabel]

Day 7: Costa Rica

 

This was probably our favorite stop on the cruise. Costa Rica is one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. Mountainous and mysterious, palm trees and flowers rolling all over the countryside, beautiful people, beautiful animals, just everything.

 

We booked a tour through Greenways, visiting the rainforest, a banana plantation, and the Tortuguero Canal by boat. Our guide, Jackie, we later agreed was our favorite guide from the whole cruise. Sparkling, engaging, and funny, with a brilliant command of English and a deep love for what she does. I hope I can see her again someday.

 

The rainforest tour was done via tractor-drawn tram. The driver, Chico, had eyes so sharp that he could pick out a tiny frog from yards and yards away. Like this one:

 

 

We were also able to take a short elevated walkway through part of the forest with beautiful views:

 

 

From there we visited the banana plantation, which was not really my thing. I felt a little strange gaping at so many workers that were just trying to do their jobs, and while the process is mildly interesting to me, I'm glad we didn't spend but about 10-15 minutes there. Plus, it was SO HOT. Standing around didn't help the situation any.

 

Finally, we boarded a boat at the Tortuguero Canal for a quick cruise a little ways down and back. We saw basilisk lizards, caimans, more sloths, and EVERYONE BUT ME saw a toucan, which hacked me off. I guess that means I'll have to just keep visiting there until I finally see one!

 

Upon our return to the pier, we were starving, so we ducked into a local restaurant and had some rice, beans, tortillas, and a bottle of Coke. Then we did some souvenir shopping in the open-air market and reboarded.

 

That night was The Quest game. We didn't play, but we did watch and found it hilarious. Cheap laughs? Low-brow comedy? Bring it on. I won't give away any secrets, but if you're at all strait-laced or uptight, I'd say to skip it. If you do plan to attend and join in, maybe you should wear clothes that are easy-on, easy-off. :eek:

 

Day 8 at sea next!

[LadyGodiva]

Thanks so much for posting this review. I'll be on the Jewel doing this exact itinerary on Dec. 3 so I'm anxious to know how you enjoyed the ports. We've been on the Jewel already so we know she's a beauty.

 

Looking forward to the rest of your review.

[mafig]

I'm considering Jewel and this exact itinerary for next year. So much helpful info.

 

Thank you for sharing.:)

[mehitabel]

Day 8, at sea:

 

Guess what? MORE BINGO. I couldn't help myself. I was a madwoman, buying those cards every chance I got. But you know what?

 

 

It actually paid off! It may have even paid for all of those bingo cards I was buying! And it's such a thrill to yell "Bingo!" and mean it.

 

I should also mention that I was flirting with the casino slot machines, too. Not in any big way, and I did win about $100 throughout the cruise, but there was one lady ... good grief. She was at the penny slots from first thing in the morning until we went to bed at night. Possibly longer. I think she was putting a $20 in there as soon as the casino opened and just babying it through the penny bets all day long. The casino did stay fairly busy but not crowded throughout the 10 days.

 

Since this is a sea day, I'll talk a little more about the ship. I absolutely loved it. My husband prefers the Explorer for its promenade (and 24-hour pizza venue) and greater size, but the Jewel felt just right to me. Our favorite spot on the ship aside from the Solarium was the Safari Club on Deck 6 aft. It's very cozy and clubby-feeling, with windows all along the back where you can gaze out at the wake the ship is leaving behind. There are checker and backgammon tables lined up along one side of the room next to the windows, and tables and chairs everywhere else. A couple of pictures:

 

 

 

Of course, the Jewel's outward-facing elevators are awesome. Crowded, especially on a cruise with so many older people for whom the stairs present a challenge, but not terribly so. Do take a ride up and down:

 

 

 

We spent this day at sea playing the aforementioned bingo, relaxing, and eating. It was the second formal night, with the much-vaunted, super-famous, everyone-talks-about-it Fisherman's Plate, which was a medium-sized lobster tail and shrimp. It was good, but I'm not certain why it's such a big deal. It was kind of charming, though, when my husband declined dessert on the grounds that he'd liked the lobster better and our waiter brought him another plateful of dinner while I had the chocolate dessert. My husband LOVES more dinner for dessert!

 

You'll see that we weren't completely formal. My husband's not even wearing a jacket:

 

 

Day 9 in Grand Cayman coming up!

[yogimax]

GREAT PHOTOS! Thank you so much!

[mehitabel]

Day 9, Grand Cayman:

 

My husband was on a mission. He saw a watch onboard that he loved and wanted to buy, but after some discussion, we decided to wait and check the prices (and bargaining capacity) in Georgetown. So we spent the first part of the morning blasting through as many jewelry shops as we had time for, checking the prices on this thing.

 

I should mention that by this time, I had full-on Cruise Brain, meaning that whatever time the ship was on, that was The Right Time, and I would not, could not waver from ship time. Too bad, because Grand Cayman is in the Eastern Time Zone and so was our excursion, which we missed. That actually turned out to be okay, because we hopped into another one that cost about half of the original. We took a boat out to the stingrays, which we've done before but haven't tired of, and did some snorkeling. And yes, the water there really does look like it does in all the pictures:

 

 

On the way back to the docks, one of our guides pulled up some conchs from the ocean, yanked 'em out, chopped 'em up with onion, bell pepper, and spices, and served them with crackers. Fresh conch salad can't be beat!

 

 

We also got a view of some of Grand Cayman's native residents:

 

 

And once back in the city, my husband found the watch he wanted, for much less than the ship was asking. The shops in Cayman, despite their appearances, WILL bargain, so try your luck. I found a very pretty sapphire ring for myself at a great price.

 

That night we ate at Chops and were very happy with the food and service. I had the house salad as an appetizer, while my husband had shrimp cocktail. For the main course, I had the jumbo shrimp and my husband, of course, had the filet mignon. My shrimp were as large as lobster tails, no joke, and delicious, and my husband's steak was as good as any I've ever had. The side dishes are enormous, so bring your appetite. We did have just enough room for dessert, which in my case was the Mississippi Mud Pie. OMG OMG OMG. It was decadent and so yummy.

 

Also that night, the cruise staff gave a surprise presentation of the "Thriller" dance in the Centrum. Very well-done and funny, too.

 

Last day and final notes coming up!

[nanfromatlanta]

Day 9, Grand Cayman:

 

My husband was on a mission. He saw a watch onboard that he loved and wanted to buy, but after some discussion, we decided to wait and check the prices (and bargaining capacity) in Georgetown. So we spent the first part of the morning blasting through as many jewelry shops as we had time for, checking the prices on this thing.

 

I should mention that by this time, I had full-on Cruise Brain, meaning that whatever time the ship was on, that was The Right Time, and I would not, could not waver from ship time. Too bad, because Grand Cayman is in the Eastern Time Zone and so was our excursion, which we missed. That actually turned out to be okay, because we hopped into another one that cost about half of the original. We took a boat out to the stingrays, which we've done before but haven't tired of, and did some snorkeling. And yes, the water there really does look like it does in all the pictures:

 

On the way back to the docks, one of our guides pulled up some conchs from the ocean, yanked 'em out, chopped 'em up with onion, bell pepper, and spices, and served them with crackers. Fresh conch salad can't be beat!

 

And once back in the city, my husband found the watch he wanted, for much less than the ship was asking. The shops in Cayman, despite their appearances, WILL bargain, so try your luck. I found a very pretty sapphire ring for myself at a great price.

 

That night we ate at Chops and were very happy with the food and service. I had the house salad as an appetizer, while my husband had shrimp cocktail. For the main course, I had the jumbo shrimp and my husband, of course, had the filet mignon. My shrimp were as large as lobster tails, no joke, and delicious, and my husband's steak was as good as any I've ever had. The side dishes are enormous, so bring your appetite. We did have just enough room for dessert, which in my case was the Mississippi Mud Pie. OMG OMG OMG. It was decadent and so yummy.

 

Also that night, the cruise staff gave a surprise presentation of the "Thriller" dance in the Centrum. Very well-done and funny, too.

 

Last day and final notes coming up!

 

 

 

OMG!!! one of my all-time favorites is conch salad.... :p

[mehitabel]

Day 10, at sea:

 

Booooooooooo! Nobody really loves the last day, but it was as good as it could've been.

 

I'll take this time to talk about some of the cruise staff a little bit. The Cruise Director was Chris Northey. We found him okay, but a little canned-sounding. I guess that's to be expected when you really have been saying the same things over and over for months at a time, but he did seem a little cheesy to us. Just the same, he kept things moving and seemed to be a good sport. We absolutely LOVED Steve, the activities director. He was everywhere all at once, in charge of the game shows, the bingo, the belly-flop contests, all of it. He was so funny, so full of good stories and good nature. We really hope he gets his own ship someday very soon, and we made sure to make note of that in our survey. Sadly, he'll be off of the Jewel at the end of its current cruise and going over to the Independence. If you have the chance to cruise with him, do it! He's the best. The activities support staff was great too, particularly Ann and Rebecca.

 

We had a wonderful experience with our dining staff, too. We were lucky enough to get the same pair of waiters for all but one night of our My Time Dining, Jagannath and Parkash. They remembered our names after our first time with them, what we liked to drink, and our favorite kinds of bread. Parkash has a charming habit of responding "Why not?" to just about any request--we wondered whether it was a by-product of working for a cruise line whose slogan happens to be the same thing. In any case, we loved hearing it!

 

 

Part of this last day involved a galley tour in the morning, which I was very much looking forward to. I've worked in plenty of restaurants, plenty of kitchens, but never any kitchen like this one. The sous-chef who led the tour gave some staggering statistics--on that second formal night, they cooked and served over 2200 lobster tails! Their kitchen is busy from breakfast until about 2:30 in the afternoon, when they get about two hours before dinner, and then it's full swing again until about 10:30 or 11 at night. But the pastry station is open and staffed 24 hours a day! Yeesh.

 

 

 

We played our final games of bingo, pulled the arms on the slot machines for the last time, tucked our tip vouchers into the envelopes, and went to dinner. Since we did My Time Dining, two sheets of vouchers were given to us; one in my name, and one in my husband's. We simply tore them on the dotted lines, put them into the appropriate envelopes, and handed them out as you would a cash tip. Easy peasy.

 

I do have to tell you about our final game of bingo. Steve decided to mix things up a little with a round of Stinky Bingo, meaning that he was looking for whoever had the worst bingo card. The last person left standing with no numbers marked would be the winner. In addition to that, he was also looking for the worst sport in the group--he wanted to see people throwing tantrums once they were out of the game. While I didn't win the game, I'm proud to say that I did win for having the worst attitude! When I lost, I screamed at the top of my voice "STEVE! YOU SON OF A BISCUIT-EATING BINGO CALLER! WHAT THE HE**? YOU POO-POO HEAD!" Then I balled up the bingo cards, threw them at Steve, picked them back up and rubbed them on my derriere, and flung them into the garbage can. For this little display, I won a coffee mug and a charming red-velvet crown. Score!

 

We spent one last time touring the ship and taking pictures:

 

 

 

 

And then we caught the Farewell Show, which was pretty good. We didn't buy the cruise DVD, largely because we're boring and didn't show up in any of the footage.

 

The next morning, we woke up at about 5:15. We'd done all of our packing the day before and were doing express walkoff, so no luggage tags. We hurried to the Windjammer, which was not at all crowded (I guess lots of people could sleep in), ate, went back to the room for our baggage, and showed up at the Coral Theatre at about 6:15, along with a handful of other people. We were off of the ship, done with customs, and in a cab to the airport before 7 am. We were lucky to get the last two seats in a shuttle bus for $10 per person.

 

Our flight wasn't scheduled until 11:15, and as it turned out, a huge storm delayed it further. We didn't board until a little after 1 pm. Also, the Miami airport is dismal. I can't quite put my finger on it, but it's just crazy and hectic and uncomfortable in a general sort of way.

 

We did get home safely, and we're grateful. We had a wonderful time--the food has gone a little downhill since our last cruise in 2003, but it was still mostly tasty and sometimes delicious. The service left nothing to be desired in any way. Every employee you pass on the ship, whether you "know" them or not, smiles and says hello and asks how your day's been. If you want to do nothing all day, that's fine. If you want to fill your day with activity, you can do that too. We're very happy with Royal Caribbean and will likely stay with them--the people onboard seem to be a very good mix, and we like that.

 

Happy cruising, and feel free to ask any questions! I will try and get the Compasses scanned this week for you all.

[CruisJack]

We did get home safely, and we're grateful. We had a wonderful time--the food has gone a little downhill since our last cruise in 2003, but it was still mostly tasty and sometimes delicious. The service left nothing to be desired in any way. Every employee you pass on the ship, whether you "know" them or not, smiles and says hello and asks how your day's been. If you want to do nothing all day, that's fine. If you want to fill your day with activity, you can do that too. We're very happy with Royal Caribbean and will likely stay with them--the people onboard seem to be a very good mix, and we like that.

 

Happy cruising, and feel free to ask any questions! I will try and get the Compasses scanned this week for you all.

 

I really enjoyed reading your excellent review. Your humor and

carefree attitude made me feel as though I were along for the

cruise. You and your husband are a lovely couple and I

especially liked your smile and sparkling eyes. ;)

We have sailed on the Radiance and Seranade and I think

they are beatuiful ships too. Our experience with the food,

staff and service was similar to yours.

Last year, we cruised on the Mariner which is larger and also a lovely ship.

 

 

Good luck in making the difficult adjustment back to the real

world and everyday life in Texas. The best way to overcome

cruise withdrawals is to book another cruise.

 

May you have fair skies and calm seas on your future cruises.

[mehitabel]

Forgot to mention a few points.

 

What I could have skipped bringing/brought less of:

 

--clothes. I made it onboard with a carryon and backpack and STILL didn't use all of the clothes I brought. The best, the very best thing I brought was a pair of quick-drying convertible travel pants from Academy Sports, bought at the last minute for $5. I wore them almost every day and washed them out at night. I didn't wear at least one-quarter of all the things I brought.

 

--shoes. See above. I could have skipped at least one pair.

 

--books. I love to read, so I brought 3 or 4 books. Paperbacks, but they got mighty heavy in that backpack after a while. The ship's library has LOTS of books. Most of them are pretty fluffy reading, but what else do you want on a vacation? I could have stuck to one book for the airplane and found plenty to read onboard.

 

 

What I wish I'd brought:

 

--a notebook. I kept thinking of things I wanted to jot down and having nowhere to do it.

 

--another memory card for my camera. Luckily they're sold onboard, but I bet I could've gotten one cheaper beforehand.

 

--more money. Everyone says that. It's true. Even if you think you're not going to spend it, bring it. We did fine, but there were one or two things that we had to regretfully decline because of funds.

 

--extra sunglasses. One pair got knocked from my head while jetskiing. The other is somewhere onboard. Bring a few extras.

 

 

Stuff I did bring that came in handy:

 

--travelers' checks. I don't know why more people don't use them. We cashed them at Guest Relations with no problems, and felt safe knowing they could be replaced if stolen.

 

--waterproof waist bag. Worked great and my stuff stayed dry and safe.

 

--pants with pockets. If you're like me and need pockets for everyday life, you'll need them even more when traveling.

[cynt]

Thanks for the review. Good read!

[LBumb]

great review and photos

[Puffinater]

Great review thanks for taking the time to post.

[ERJ145]

Very nice review and photos! My wife and I were on the 11 night cruise just before your trip. We visited Aruba, instead of Labadee. We had a great time also.

[LinsBil]

Thank you for the great review in detail. We are on the 11 nite for Jan/11 & was not sure if this was the right itinerary,but after reading yours it is!! :)