Jewel of the Seas Pictorial Cruise Review: 12-15-2011

[DarthGrady]

Pre Cruise:

After a really nice cruise on Radiance of the Seas earlier this year, we wanted to try another ship of that class. Luckily Royal Caribbean was nice enough to put Jewel of the Seas in Tampa this season. Another married couple of our friends accompanied my wife and me. Additionally my wife’s parents and both sets of our friend’s parents came along. We all drove down to the Port of Tampa on embarkation day.

 

The first glimpse

[DarthGrady]

Embarkation:

We arrived at the pier around 11:30 and found the crowds in the terminal to be very light. We got checked in immediately and walked right on board. The whole process took about fifteen minutes. It seemed like we were all good to go.

 

 

 

Everything went totally sideways about an hour later. One of the people in our group is not a US citizen but has a valid green card (an older non-expiring type). My wife and I helped his family in doing lots of research before we went. We even went so far as to ask a Customs Officer about the situation last month as we debarked from Allure. Everyone said that he would be okay to cruise with his birth certificate, ID and green card.

 

The pier agents checked him in without any problem and we got on board. Later in the day he was requested to go to the Guest Relations desk. They said that Customs needed to speak to him in the terminal. He had to go back ashore and was told that the regulations were recently changed (within the last few days) and that he would not be allowed to go. The Customs Officer didn't have a copy of this regulation since it was so new, and said it wasn't even on their website yet.

 

The customs officer told them that there is some type of a certification form that is required now which you cannot get with an older style green card. Obviously a new card (with this new form) could not be obtained in one day at the pier. No exceptions could be made and no amount of arguing helped. RCI was equally unhelpful, simply blaming everything on Customs. There was another couple (with green cards) that had flown in from Italy and they were also being denied boarding.

 

His family members decided to still go on the cruise, but the trip was understandably tarnished for them. RCI did allow his wife to call him for free from the GR desk but offered no other compensation or reimbursement.

[DarthGrady]

The Jewel of the Seas:

Aside from a few décor items, the Jewel is nearly indistinguishable from her sister the Radiance. Thankfully Jewel has not yet had the massive renovations scheduled for all the Radiance Class ships. During this remodel two of my favorite spots on board are removed: the Sea View Café and the Hollywood Odyssey Cigar Lounge. The Sea View makes way for a pay-extra eatery, and the cigar bar is converted into a Concierge Lounge. No sense in dwelling on her darker future though, her present is still very bright.

Starting on Deck 4 we find the main lobby that is home to the Guest Relations desk and a small bar. There is also a dance floor that is used for nightly live music and dancing. The lobby is the bottom floor of the ships expansive atrium, which is the centerpiece of the ship. Also in the Lobby is the lowest landing for the ships 5 glass-enclosed elevators. Two look into the atrium, the other three look outward onto the ocean through a gigantic wall of glass. Aft on Deck 4 is the bottom floor of the Tides main restaurant where most guests enjoy their meals.

The main lobby and atrium

The landing for the glass elevators

The view from the outward looking glass elevators

[DarthGrady]

The Tides Dining Room

 

 

 

 

[DarthGrady]

All the way forward on Deck 5 is the Coral Theater, the ship’s main show lounge. Also on that deck is the Photo Gallery and the shopping area. “Lattetudes” is a specialty coffee bar and Internet café located in the Atrium. The upper level of the Tides dining room is aft on Deck 5.

The Coral Theater

Lattetudes

Art and Photo Gallery

[DarthGrady]

Shopping area

 

 

 

[DarthGrady]

Thats all I have for tongiht, I will be back on tomorrow with more.

[will773]

Love your reviews! Can't wait for the rest!

[scottamy]

Thanks for all the great pictures! Looking forward to more tomorrow!

[DarthGrady]

Love your reviews! Can't wait for the rest!

 

Thanks for all the great pictures! Looking forward to more tomorrow!

 

Thanks! :D:D

[wolfcathorse]

Sorry we didn't get to meet! You could have shown me how to take great pictures like yours!!

[DarthGrady]

Sorry we didn't get to meet! You could have shown me how to take great pictures like yours!!

 

Thanks!

 

I was sorry to not be able to make the meet and greet, but we were dealing with our friend's issue with Customs at the time. :(

[wolfcathorse]

Thanks!

 

I was sorry to not be able to make the meet and greet, but we were dealing with our friend's issue with Customs at the time. :(

 

I read that, and it doesn't seem right that there's no provisions for exemptions when changes in the rules occur. There should have been a warning, like there was when passports were going to be required. They should have made the new rules go into effect 6 months from now to give people time to comply.

[ExploreroftheSeas92]

Excellent review so far! Can't wait to see the rest.

[Madsofa]

Great review so far! Looking forward to the rest. That's too bad about your friend's green card.

[Holiday Dreamer]

Can anyone tell me if RCCL is starting to do away with inside cigar areas? It seems like some ships will allow cigarette smoking but not cigars inside.

[QTMichele]

Love your reviews, Grady! Thanks for posting! Also wanted to say how sorry I am about your friend. That makes me so angry that there was no warning or documentation. I can only imagine how your group must have felt.

[digital_curator]

Can't wait to hear the rest of your review!

 

I am sorry about your friend. Wouldn't the pair that flew in from Italy have passports though? I thought all European flights to the US required this as documentation.

 

Cheers,

[gelo7]

Wonderful start, I look forward to the rest of your review.

[BillOh]

Thanks!

 

I was sorry to not be able to make the meet and greet, but we were dealing with our friend's issue with Customs at the time. :(

 

Great so far, looking forward to solarium and pool deck pictures. We are considering this ship for Spring before it leaves Tampa.

[jasmiarowski]

Thanks for the memories. We just got off 12/19 and miss her already.

[cruise orlando]

I sailed Radiance shortly after you earlier this year. I will be on Jewel January 16th. THANKS TO YOU I CAN LEAVE MY CAMERA AT HOME.

Really looking foreward to the rest of the review. Did they offer the special dining room for Diamond members for breakfast, like they did on Radiance?

[Familygoboston]

Thanks for the photos...we can't wait...less than 2 months!

I feel really badly about the immigration issue, it just makes no sense...do you have call them an hour before you depart? If it's not on the website, how on earth could you know? Our government comes up with hundreds of stupid regulations every day, who could possibly keep track?:mad:

[LDR]

Awesome start! We board her in one week for NYE:) Can't wait to read more!

[knots4crewzing]

Thanks DarthGrady for your wonderful review and pix.

We're sailing on the beautiful Jewel in 2 weeks. Our first time on a Radiance class and can't wait.

 

What a terrible thing to have happened to your friend. And to get on the ship only to be pulled off.:mad:

 

Looking forward to the rest of your review:)