Just Back from the Jewel of the Seas!

[Two2Cruise]

Oh, is it hard to return to the "real" world! The e-mail is in a big useless pile, the people are just as cranky as before....

 

But the cruise was oustanding! It was the 6th cruise my husband and I have been on, with the last two being Voyager and Millenium. We were on an 8-night cruise. The itinerary is perfect. Lots of stops in beautiful islands and sea days right where you want them. The ship is truly gorgeous - glass everywhere and never crowded. It was the right size to feel like you could make true aquaintances/friends. The food was typical of RCL; a bit below Celebrity, but very very good. The Windjammer was the best we've had, though - very well laid out and a LOT of variety. The service was excellent, both in dining and room steward - best we have had. The entertainment exceeded our expectations, with Marty Allen performing one night! Our shore excursions were fun. Lots of snorkeling. Lots of hot hot sun. We don't shop much, but there was plenty of that to do. The seas were kinda choppy (i thought) the last two nights, so we lost some precious sleep time.

 

But you know, they had to go and spoil it by making me get off in Ft. Lauderdale!! Oh, well, we'll cruise again someday. I would HIGHLY recommend this ship and this itinerary. If you have questions, I'll check this thread for a few days and try to answer. Happy Monday!

[Two2Cruise]

Oh, is it hard to return to the "real" world! The e-mail is in a big useless pile, the people are just as cranky as before....

 

But the cruise was oustanding! It was the 6th cruise my husband and I have been on, with the last two being Voyager and Millenium. We were on an 8-night cruise. The itinerary is perfect. Lots of stops in beautiful islands and sea days right where you want them. The ship is truly gorgeous - glass everywhere and never crowded. It was the right size to feel like you could make true aquaintances/friends. The food was typical of RCL; a bit below Celebrity, but very very good. The Windjammer was the best we've had, though - very well laid out and a LOT of variety. The service was excellent, both in dining and room steward - best we have had. The entertainment exceeded our expectations, with Marty Allen performing one night! Our shore excursions were fun. Lots of snorkeling. Lots of hot hot sun. We don't shop much, but there was plenty of that to do. The seas were kinda choppy (i thought) the last two nights, so we lost some precious sleep time.

 

But you know, they had to go and spoil it by making me get off in Ft. Lauderdale!! Oh, well, we'll cruise again someday. I would HIGHLY recommend this ship and this itinerary. If you have questions, I'll check this thread for a few days and try to answer. Happy Monday!

Got a server error... resending.

[over the edge]

Thanks for the review. I know what ya mean, its very hard to return to the "real" world after cruising. I will be on the Jewel 8 night next March. Can't wait. We have a JS reserved, what did you have? Do you recommend any excursions? Did you do a pre-stay the night before the cruise? I can't wait to get on the Jewel. I hear its soooo beautiful! Again, thanks and I'm glad you enjoyed it! :)

[cpe031756]

in our group there will be 9 adults going on the jewel of the seas 3/11/06. we all have staterooms w/balcony on deck 7. what advise do you have on any excursions? and did you dine every night in their traditional dining room or sometimes go to the windjammer?..and was the food good, what was your favorite meal? did you do a pre-stay the night before the cruise? thanks for any and all your insite(s)! so glad to hear you had an enjoyable time :-)

[happycruzer]

Hi cpe031756.....welcome aboard..we are going to be on the Jewel at the same time as you are (infact we will be there a week before you to start our B2B) We are a family of 6 adults too Mum, Dad, 2 daughters, 1 son and 1 son in law. Deck 9 aft for the kids ! and deck 10 for DH and I.

Cant wait to get onboard and this will also be our first cruise with RCI so I'm cross eyed looking at all the web sites for photos and info.

 

Two2cruise... so glad that you had a great cruise.. and your review was marvellous THANK YOU ! But you are now responsible for making me even more anxious to get on board this little gem. The ship and cruise sounded fantastic.Just what I wanted to hear.

 

Welcome back to the real world...but you can go back to your lovely memories anytime...Thank you for sharing them with us.

 

Happycruzer aka sandra

[happycruzer]

P.S cpe031756 ...have you registered for a Meet and Mingle for the cruise...

I've never done this before, but thought I'd give it a go this time.

We are normally very quiet people , but I thought just this once,( as it is all new to me) that we'd register and see what happens.

Hope to say Hi onboard.

Sandra

[emmy]

Thanks for posting your comments about Jewel...we board her this Saturday...FINALLY

 

On some RCI ships they have two room stewards per stateroom...was this the case or did you just have one....wondered how this would affect tipping?

 

We will be in aft balcony 1604...can hardly wait for my Jewel :)

 

Emmy

[spdfrk]

Emmy, we only had one room steward but she seemed to have at least one and maybe two people assisting her. I mostly saw the other guys in the evening and they were doing things like ice delivery, etc. We only tipped the room steward, didn't actually meet the other two, just saw them in the passageway with our steward.

[Two2Cruise]

Some answers to your quesitons:

 

We had one room steward. We were in 9512, a Deluxe balcony, and our steward's name was Ashton. Superb! The room was kind of small compared to what we've had in the past, but that's what was available. Our daughter slept in a pull down bed, which she said was more comfortable than a pull out couch.

 

Shore excursions: San Juan - none; bought Pepsi

St. Maarten - walked to the beach. Rented chairs. Ate at Taloula Mangos (was super!!) - took a water taxi back - HIGHLY recommended - too hot to walk!

Antiqua - Excursion to Bird Island. Was too rough to go there so the took us to a reef w/ very marginal snorkeling and then to a gorgeous uninhabited white beach for a few hours. Nice catamaran ride and great chicken lunch. Unlimited booze. Would do again; wish it went to Bird Island.

St. Thomas - Power raft ride to two snorkeling places; one with turtles. Awesome snorkeling!!! Very rough, exciting ride - not for the faint of heart. Loved it. My daughter (13) was scared.

Nassau - Seahorse Sail and Snorkel. We've done this before. Cat ride to a reef; hour of snorkeling. Pretty good fishes... water was cold. Nice talk on the Bahamas on the way back. Good crew.

 

We didn't do alternative dining, although we had planned to try it this time. The food was very good; we loved our waiter; decided we would save the $60 and eat out another time at home. Everyone that we talked to that went to either Chops or Portofino's loved it, though. Personally, I was kinda saddened by the amount of empty space in the dining room. There are so many alternatives (the Windjammer has a great spread! Sushi, even!) that it seems like a lot of people are not using the dining room.

 

I think that is most of what you all asked about - if there's more, I'll keep answering! I kinda like this - it keeps the cruise a little bit alive!

[Two2Cruise]

Oh, and we were on the ship by 10:30 AM!! And had our luggage before 1:00 PM. Never happened like THAT before! We always travel and stay the night before to make sure all of the luggage shows up and so we can get to the ship early.....

[maggieq]

Still deciding between the Jewel 8 day eastern and Serenade southern. wondering if there is a difference in the motion on these ships. Just got back from the aos aruba itin and for the most part we had more motion. All of our dinner mates commented on this.

 

We did the southern on the golden princess last may and had alot of motion but on the navigator last august it was smooth all the way.

 

Wondering if it is the time of year or the itin?

 

Really looking forward to trying a radiance class ship and hoping I don't miss the promanade too much.

[mtchg]

..from CC! Can't wait till November Repo cruise!!

 

 

Mitch

[stefboyardee]

HI! I was also on the 4/9 8 night sailing. From the moment the ship left you could feel it move. Wasn't horrible but slighlly annoying and did give me a headache.

We ate in Chops one night - LOVED it. Thought the food in the dining room was just ok - not bad but not great. Windjammer was awesome for breakfast, lunch and dinner. We thought the options in the dining room weren't the best. They offered Prime Rib the same night as Lobster but you can order 2 meals. All in all we had a great vacation and I would recommend this ship.

For excursions, the only one we did through RCI was in Antigua - the beach sail and snorkel. Was fun but in every port you can walk off the ship and find the same exact excursion for almost 50% less then what RCI charges. In San Juan you can just walk to El Borro, the old fort, and tour it yourself for free. We didn't spend a penny there!

The other thing that kind of annoyed me was how small the showers were. I had an awful time trying to shave my legs!

[emmy]

Oh, and we were on the ship by 10:30 AM!! And had our luggage before 1:00 PM. Never happened like THAT before! We always travel and stay the night before to make sure all of the luggage shows up and so we can get to the ship early.....

 

 

Thank you to all who answered my question about the room steward...like to read that you were on the ship so early.... that was great...but were you able to get to your cabin that early?

 

Emmy

[over the edge]

Emmy, I have been following some of your posts and I just wanted to wish you an awesome time next week on your cruise. As you say, "finally", its about to become real! Enjoy it, from another Canadian! :)

[Two2Cruise]

Thank you to all who answered my question about the room steward...like to read that you were on the ship so early.... that was great...but were you able to get to your cabin that early?

 

Emmy

I think I "mis-remembered" the times... (sorry!) We actually dropped our stuff off in the room when we got on board. It wasn't made up, but we met and asked the steward, gave him an advanced tip, and it worked for us. Then we went and ate, went to our room a bit before 1:00, and our luggage was there around 1:30.

[Two2Cruise]

HI! I was also on the 4/9 8 night sailing. From the moment the ship left you could feel it move. Wasn't horrible but slighlly annoying and did give me a headache.

We ate in Chops one night - LOVED it. Thought the food in the dining room was just ok - not bad but not great. Windjammer was awesome for breakfast, lunch and dinner. We thought the options in the dining room weren't the best. They offered Prime Rib the same night as Lobster but you can order 2 meals. All in all we had a great vacation and I would recommend this ship.

For excursions, the only one we did through RCI was in Antigua - the beach sail and snorkel. Was fun but in every port you can walk off the ship and find the same exact excursion for almost 50% less then what RCI charges. In San Juan you can just walk to El Borro, the old fort, and tour it yourself for free. We didn't spend a penny there!

The other thing that kind of annoyed me was how small the showers were. I had an awful time trying to shave my legs!

And when you combine the fact that the ship DID move a lot with shaving in a small shower - OUCH! :-)

[emmy]

Emmy, I have been following some of your posts and I just wanted to wish you an awesome time next week on your cruise. As you say, "finally", its about to become real! Enjoy it, from another Canadian! :)

 

over the edge ~ thanks eh! and I do remember posting and answering some of your airline questions I believe. Thank you for the good wishes and I see you are sailing on Jewel in a few days :) :)

 

Will answer any questions you might have.....what cabin are you in? is it an aft cabin?

 

Emmy

[over the edge]

Hi Emmy, yes, we are definitely in an aft cabin as they very quickly became my favourite! However, I must wait for almost another year!! My cruise on the Jewel isn't until March of '06. Right now I am on the count down for the Radiance in Jan. '06 with my best friend. DH and I are in 1602 aft on Jewel and DF (darling friend) and I are in 9256 aft on Radiance! Can't wait! I'm looking forward to reading your review and seeing come pics when you return. Have a blast, for all of us!! :p

[emmy]

Hi Emmy, yes, we are definitely in an aft cabin as they very quickly became my favourite! However, I must wait for almost another year!! My cruise on the Jewel isn't until March of '06. Right now I am on the count down for the Radiance in Jan. '06 with my best friend. DH and I are in 1602 aft on Jewel and DF (darling friend) and I are in 9256 aft on Radiance! Can't wait! I'm looking forward to reading your review and seeing come pics when you return. Have a blast, for all of us!! :p

 

over the edge~

Would you believe that our Cruise Critic Meet & Mingle group has 5 out of the 6 deck 10 aft cabins.....only one we do not have is 1602 so there will be lots of pics of that area.

 

Emmy

[over the edge]

That's too funny. (We'll have to call you the "(aft)ers") You guys will have a wonderful time. If I remember correctly, you have 1604? You must be so excited that you can hardly stand it!! Are you going the day before? If so, where are you staying? I'm excited for you and I'm not even going!! Do you ever go on the computers when you are at sea? If so, maybe you can drop us a line at CC and let us know how you're doing! I'm soooo jealous! ;)