Jewel of the Seas - New England Cruise

[itz4fun]

I'm getting ready to take a New England/Canada Cruise on the Jewel of the Seas in late October. Can anyone tell me what to expect and what shore activities you did on your New England Cruise?

Also - what did you like or dislike about the Jewel.

I haven't been on this class of ship as we've been on mostly Freedom or Voyager Class ships.

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks.

[nancronin]

Go to the Roll Call for your cruise and you'll be able to find out what a lot of others are doing and sign up for the meet and mingle that is held on board! Enjoy!;)

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=263

[negc]

You will find several noticeable differences between the RCI ships you have sailed on (Freedom and Voyager class ship) and the Jewel which belongs to the Radiance class. Jewel is a smaller ship (although I have a bit of a problem describing a 91,000 GRT ship as small) and she doesn't have a Royal Promenade or flow rider, ice rink or some of the other bells and whistles that you found on those other ships. Whether or not those qualify as negative or positive differences depends on who you ask. The Jewel does have a solarium with a retractable roof which is lacking on the larger ships and which allows you to relax by and in the pool in climate-controlled conditions that aren't subject to the vagaries of the weather. Jewel does have both Chops and Portofino specialty restaurants and a Seaview Cafe that is located on an upper deck and is often not discovered by a lot of first time passengers until well into the cruise. Delicious Reuben and Cuban sandwiches, fries, chicken, fish and chips, nachos, hamburgers and hot dogs are on the bill of fare. The aft section of the Windjammer is open to the air and is a great spot to have breakfast or lunch al fresco.

The ship also has a dedicated sports bar, a cinema and self-leveling pool tables. Excellent service has always been a trademark of the Jewel staff and as you might have concluded from my comments, the ship is one of our very favorite ones in the RCI fleet. New England/Canada is a great itinerary and when those sailings are done, she will be repositioning to Florida with a lengthy Caribbean cruise that draws repeat cruisers year after year.

Be prepared to have a wonderful time on the beautiful Jewel of the Seas and tell the flamingos on Deck 13 that we will see them again at the end of October.;)

[flashcat]

When you get to Halifax, be sure to take the Peggy's Cove excursion. It is a beautiful place and the restaurant/gift show has the most wonderful gingerbread (hot!) that I have ever tasted! We took the painted murals/covered bridge excursion with lunch in St. John - it was good - this is a wonderful cruise - all the ports are good. Have fun - we have done this one twice.