Booked on Jewel but concerned over bad reviews

[DisneyKidsDad]

I will be on the Jewel in May. It will be our first cruise on RCCL. Does anyone have any recent menus I can look at?

[debbk]

Thank you all so much for your responses.

I am now feeling so much better about our choice of cruise for next year and really looking forward to it. :)

[xxoocruiser]

CC members really only represent 5-10% of the cruising population and for that reason I personally don't let CC reviews influence me.

 

Besides food is very subjective, smell come and go and some people are just complainers no matter how good everything might actually be on board the ship.

[Rala]

Another positive vote for Jewel. We have sailed her numerous times on several itineraries. We had only good expereinces. Great crew, lovely ship, no problems!!! Enjoy your cruise!:D

[MrFunInTheSun]

I will be on the Jewel in May. It will be our first cruise on RCCL. Does anyone have any recent menus I can look at?

 

My review from April has menus. Whist it was while the ship cruised out of Tampa, menus won't change. Dates presented could, my review with ship pictures and menus is at the link below.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1826302

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk. Please excuse any typographical errors.

[PrincessStar]

We cruised Jewel for Christmas 2012 and loved it! The food and staff were fantastic! :D

Another positive vote for Jewel - would love to sail on her again.

 

 

 

Enjoy your cruise!

[voyager89]

I am booked for January, and I do not care at all about negative reviews. If it turns out to be true, I will experience it myself. Most people overexagerates things, even more when they are negative. I have only read one negative review on the Jewel which was not even here, and it was bad. You couldnt tell not even one positive thing out of that review which is pretty impossible, which means that he was over exaggerating most likely.

 

I have only sailed the Oasis, the only thing I am sure will feel a difference is the size while sailing, since the Oasis class os the most stable ever among all cruises. Other than that, while I LOVED the Oasis and would sail on it any given moment again, I also want to experience the feel of a more intimate, less faamily oriented - more luxurious ship. Plus I always wanted to go on a Radiance class cruise. I didnt feel I was on a cruise at all unless I was on the upper decks, which is I guess the purpose of this class. I had the opportunity to choose the Adventure instead, but I went for the Jewel. Smaller yes, but newer and nicer IMHO. Adventure to me feels like an old Oasis. Not saying it is ugly or anything but thats just what I get from the pictures.

 

My dream is to sail on a Seabourn / Silversea / Seadream cruise someday, in the meantime this is I guess the closest :p

[PCWalton1]

We cruised on Jewel back in March. I may have complained about a few things but overall had a fantastic time and would gladly go back again. :)

 

Bill

[tamilyn]

We cruised on Jewel about a month ago and absolutely loved it. We have been on all classes of RCI ships and love all of them. We actually prefer the ships without the promenade, such as Jewel, but everyone has a different opinion. I did a mini-review of our trip here on this board a week or so ago if you would care to check it out. Or, I would be glad to try to answer any specific questions. I'm sure you will have a wonderful time. By the way, we had room number 9092 and it was perfect. The balcony was large enough for two loungers and a table with two chairs.

[critterchick]

Take reviews with a grain [or two] of salt. While I may question the unbridled infatuation some have for the Radiance class, they are fine ships and we thoroughly enjoyed our crusies on Jewel and Radiance.

 

I have to laugh a little at the "this ship is now getting old" comments. Of 21 ships in the RCI fleet. the only ships newer than Jewel are the three Freedoms and the two Oasis class ships. She may not have all the gimmicks that the Freedoms and Oasis class have, but she is a well decorated ship with all the normal amenities plus speciatly restaurants and she has one of the highest space to passenger ratios of any cruise ship anywhere. She is a particularly great sized ship for port intensive cruises.

 

Unless you want to go surfing, Jewel is a great ship for a cruise.

 

I'm one of the infatuated ones!

 

And an 8 or 9 year old ship is just a baby. They're built to last just a "wee" bit longer than cars.

 

I've been on Jewel 8 times, with the 9th coming up in December. She's a wonderful ship with a fabulous crew, and I'm sure you'll have a wonderful time.

[Langley Cruisers]

I will be on the Jewel in May. It will be our first cruise on RCCL. Does anyone have any recent menus I can look at?

 

Here is a PDF for the nightly menus; open the last file at the bottom for Main Dining Room menus. They are listed one evening at a time; the entire menu is not available all the time. :)

 

http://www.royalcaribbeanpresscenter.com/press-kit/9/culinary-press-kit/ <--click here

.

[ryano]

CC members really only represent 5-10% of the cruising population .

 

I bet its MUCH lower than that.

[Rockfordcruiser]

Cruise history speaks for itself! Jewel is one of the best in the fleet IMHO!:)

[SECdawg]

Our June cruise on Jewel was one of our favorites to date. The ship was beautiful and the staff was wonderful. Hoping to sail on her again soon!

[jt1120]

We'll be on the Jewel in a few weeks and will post a review upon our return. I will say we feel that Radiance class ships, of which the Jewel is one, are some of the most beautiful on the seas. They're not as ginormous as some other ships, which can actually be detrimental to a first voyage. I think you'll have a great time.

[karena1]

My DH and I are booked to go on Jewel of the Seas in March and it is the first time I have managed to get him to agree to go on a cruise so need it to be great in order to be able to do more in the future. I have sailed myself many times before in the past so have a better idea of what to expect.

I have been reading all the reviews lately on the Jewel and they have not all been positive with lots of mention of the food not being so good and bad smells. I appreciate this ship is now getting old and is due to go into dry dock in a couple of years time but anyone had any experience of this ship lately or do you think It would be safer for me to cancel and re-book on a newer bigger ship?

 

We were on Jewel for a B2B in May and loved it. Food was great, ship was beautiful. All the glass/brass/windows the Radiance Class is know for. Enjoy it.

[Margy23]

My DH and I are booked to go on Jewel of the Seas in March and it is the first time I have managed to get him to agree to go on a cruise so need it to be great in order to be able to do more in the future. I have sailed myself many times before in the past so have a better idea of what to expect.

I have been reading all the reviews lately on the Jewel and they have not all been positive with lots of mention of the food not being so good and bad smells. I appreciate this ship is now getting old and is due to go into dry dock in a couple of years time but anyone had any experience of this ship lately or do you think It would be safer for me to cancel and re-book on a newer bigger ship?

Reading your post made me feel a little guilty - Jewel is our favorite ship (we've sailed on her 5 times - once in 2011, three times in 2012 and once this year) and I've never bothered to write a review. Probably there are others like me who've been silent, while those who are unhappy are likely to take their complaints to Cruise Critic.

 

The best thing about Jewel is her crew - we've never had an unprofessional or unpleasant encounter with a crew member, and we met the two best wait staff in the fleet, Suzette and Catalina, on Jewel.

 

If the flow rider, the zip line, or the ice rink are necessary for your vacation, pick a larger ship; but if not, sail on the Jewel - enjoy the beautiful glass, the Sea View Café, a good-quality fitness center, the chance to run into the same passengers several times and share experiences, the smaller solarium, and - most of all - the TLC of a very attentive crew.

[Kaboochi]

 

Dear Papa, I have been a CC member for 10 years and this is the best advice thread I have read so far, Cruising is a mind set. Will all be perfect, no. Food will be good, some meals just ok. Some entertainment may have you talking about it for months, other shows you will walk away from. Spending 7 days sailing on the ocean without a care in the world is what it is all about. BEnjoy your cruise and thank you for this inspirational post,::)

[reallyhooked]

My DH and I are booked to go on Jewel of the Seas in March and it is the first time I have managed to get him to agree to go on a cruise so need it to be great in order to be able to do more in the future. I have sailed myself many times before in the past so have a better idea of what to expect.

I have been reading all the reviews lately on the Jewel and they have not all been positive with lots of mention of the food not being so good and bad smells. I appreciate this ship is now getting old and is due to go into dry dock in a couple of years time but anyone had any experience of this ship lately or do you think It would be safer for me to cancel and re-book on a newer bigger ship?

 

People complain about the big ships to. Keep a positive attitude. Enjoy your cruise:)

[Desert Cruizers]

We go on our cruises with an open mind and no expectations, and enjoy each day as it comes. Life isn't perfect, so any glitch in the cruise, we move on and look at all the wonderful things we did enjoy.:)

[Kaboochi]

The Jewel is a pretty ship with a wonderful staff. Yes, she is older but she is In good repair. If you are having doubts about taking a cruise with your husband because he has negative ideas about this canel his ticket and bring a friend you really enjoy to be with instead. Cruises are a wonderful way to travel, relax and have fun. You will have a less stressful time and enjoy what you like most about cruising. Just my opinion. Husbands can be a pain in the #=%.:D

[Aquaman#1]

I was on Jewel in April of this year, and Enchantment in August of this year. There are some things I liked better on each of the ships, yet each was great on it's own! Someone mentioned the outside dining around back of the Jewel Windjammer, we loved using this area! The Windjammer flowed easy, and we always found a place to sit and eat. Enchantment? Not so much! At peak times, the WJ was difficult on EOS. But, I enjoyed the pool deck on EOS more than Jewels. The big screen on deck was nice, and it seemed to have more room around the pool. You can find positives and negatives in comparisons, but so far, I've loved every ship that I have been on! Jewel is nice, I don't think you will be disappointed!!

[HoustonCruisers]

We were on the Jewel last week. We had a great time! We thought the ship was beautiful, but we like Radiance class the best of all of them. Staff couldn't have been nicer. I had to go to Guest Services with a problem logging my iPad off from their internet cafe and the woman who helped me put my minutes back onto my account. Our MDR staff was excellent-waiter was a little slow but asst. waiter and Head Waiter were terrific. Food was great. And we told the HW (nicely) that the waiter could use some speeding up, so the next few days I think we set some records. We stopped being the very last ones to finish each night. Everything else was great. The only other thing (minor to us). was that Jewel doesn't have a Diamond Lounge yet, just the nightly event, so mixed drinks were not free but had a 25% discount.

 

Only other thing to be aware of is cabin noise. We caught a deal on a JS but when I booked it I chose poorly. We were directly under WJ and carts rolling on tile floors. I though we would be under an area with carpet. OOPS. Would probably have been quieter under the Solarium pool area. Make sure you look at what's both above and below your cabin.

[mein18]

We were on the Jewel last week. We had a great time! We thought the ship was beautiful, but we like Radiance class the best of all of them. Staff couldn't have been nicer. I had to go to Guest Services with a problem logging my iPad off from their internet cafe and the woman who helped me put my minutes back onto my account. Our MDR staff was excellent-waiter was a little slow but asst. waiter and Head Waiter were terrific. Food was great. And we told the HW (nicely) that the waiter could use some speeding up, so the next few days I think we set some records. We stopped being the very last ones to finish each night. Everything else was great. The only other thing (minor to us). was that Jewel doesn't have a Diamond Lounge yet, just the nightly event, so mixed drinks were not free but had a 25% discount.

 

Only other thing to be aware of is cabin noise. We caught a deal on a JS but when I booked it I chose poorly. We were directly under WJ and carts rolling on tile floors. I though we would be under an area with carpet. OOPS. Would probably have been quieter under the Solarium pool area. Make sure you look at what's both above and below your cabin.

 

Did you do the St. Marten to Barbados itinerary out of SJ?

[nolesrule]

We were on Jewel on her last run to Cozumel before leaving Tampa for San Juan. I thought the ship itself was great, and the stewards and wait staff were fantastic. The food was great. We even ran into the captain in the hallway right outside our cabin.

 

The only real issue I had with service was that I had purchased a romance package and spent hours trying to get some of the parts of the package... we got the champagne, the robes, the daily snacks, but the flowers were never delivered, and neither was the certificate for the free 8x10 with frame. Guest services took care of the flowers on the second day, but I had to talk to 4 different people about the picture and frame before that finally got settled. Guest services needs to learn their add-on packages a little more thoroughly.

 

Also, not a fan of someone's ingenius design of putting the safe above the old CRT TV, which has the horizontal exhaust vent from the minibar fridge behind it.

 

One of my wife's necklaces dropped out of the safe when she was getting something else, slid down the back of the TV and through the vent. Maintenance came in at 11pm and tore the entire assembly apart to try to find it... which, unfortunately, we never did. But the fact that they sent someone up to help out right away was the one positive of that.

 

My negatives take up more space in this post, but only because I wrote them out in detail. I'm no perfectionist, and I can overlook the occasional hiccups and still have an enjoyable time, which I most certainly did.

Edited September 19, 2013 by nolesrule