Jewel of the Seas

[Fnigro07]

My Boyfriend and i were thinking about going on the Jewel of the Seas in April, What did yall think?.. We have already gone on the Oasis.

[Fnigro07]

Hey Yall! question on the drink package, if i sign up for the drink package, does that need to be paid up front or can you pay it off months before the cruise?

 

thanks!

[Clarea]

Beautiful ship, and the last one that has the Seaview Cafe.

[PCWalton1]

We were on Jewel in 2013 and we have three cruises booked for 2015. Good ship, beautiful outside views from the common areas. Not too big, not too small. :)

[Clarea]

Hey Yall! question on the drink package, if i sign up for the drink package, does that need to be paid up front or can you pay it off months before the cruise?

 

thanks!

Deleted wrong answer.

Edited October 30, 2014 by clarea

[clarky213]

Hey Yall! question on the drink package, if i sign up for the drink package, does that need to be paid up front or can you pay it off months before the cruise?

 

thanks!

 

If you book online, you have to pay immediately.

You can add OBC every month then just purchase the package using the OBC when you get on the ship.

[BillOh]

My Boyfriend and i were thinking about going on the Jewel of the Seas in April, What did yall think?.. We have already gone on the Oasis.

 

It's a different experience, but still a nice one. You will visit more nice ports on this cruise than you did on Oasis and they are some nice ports. Jewel is a very nice looking ship. If you had kids, they would see a big difference.

[bilyclub]

Airfares to San Juan in April are more than the cost of a cruise. Hopefully they go down a little.

[tidygirl]

Haven't been on Oasis the biggest was Liberty and Freedom. The Jewell definitely doesn't have the onboard activities such as the flow rider, royal promenade etc.

That being said we were on the Jewell in April 2014 we did the cruise with Dominica and Tortola as a couple of stops we really enjoyed these stops so much that my hubby said we have to bring our adult kids back! Well as long as my hubby can get the week of April 25th off we are going back on the Jewell doing the same itinerary. With the cruise being so port intensive you only have the evenings to keep busy and one sea day.

We had read people complaining the ship was old and tired but they must have different glasses and opinions than we do!

[donovan52]

Airfares to San Juan in April are more than the cost of a cruise. Hopefully they go down a little.

 

We had a terrible time with our airfare to San Juan for December. We usually pay about $600 return but this time actually had to get a refund from United due to a ridiculous flight change that left us with a 25 hour travel/flight time. Rebooking the cheapest we could get was nearly $850! And of course it was after final payment. Not sure we'll be returning quickly after this trip - we love Puerto Rico but I can fly to Europe cheaper if I get a seat sale!

 

We are booked on the Jewel in December - love the Southern itinerary. Haven't been on any Radiance class ships yet - I think we will miss the promenade but I love the solarium on the Jewel (We were able to tour the ship when it was in port a few years ago, beautiful).

[rtazz17]

Its def a much much diff ship from oasis.Personally I couldnt go back to jewal after being on allure and oasis.We have kids too and there is just so much to do for the kids on oasis.It keeps them out of our hair and we can have an actual vacation ourselves.

[ladypirate2012]

I actually think my girls will enjoy the Jewel for spring break after Oasis two years ago. they are 9 and 12, so 2 years younger then, but the ship was really too big for them, almost too much going on. With the Jewel being so port intensive, we plan to be in port on a beach every day so seeing the ship at night is perfect. They don't usually do he kids club, they actually want to spend their time with me!

[jp30338]

The Jewel is the best looking ship I have been on so far. It has the more traditional "nautical or ship" feel to it. I like the feel and ambience and prefer the look and feel of being on a luxury ship, not an amusement park or mall... Also, cruising the southern carribbean is a whole different experience in itself with the port intensive sailings.

[CruiseMore1]

We had a terrible time with our airfare to San Juan for December. We usually pay about $600 return but this time actually had to get a refund from United due to a ridiculous flight change that left us with a 25 hour travel/flight time. Rebooking the cheapest we could get was nearly $850! And of course it was after final payment. Not sure we'll be returning quickly after this trip - we love Puerto Rico but I can fly to Europe cheaper if I get a seat sale!

 

We are booked on the Jewel in December - love the Southern itinerary. Haven't been on any Radiance class ships yet - I think we will miss the promenade but I love the solarium on the Jewel (We were able to tour the ship when it was in port a few years ago, beautiful).

 

We had the same problems with airfare! With changes, AA could no longer get us back to Colorado the same day! We had a choice of staying overnight in DFW (or Houston - can't remember at the moment which is our connection :o) or in San Juan (either one at our cost, not AA) and take earlier flight next day, or taking a refund and booking another airline. We opted for the overnight in SJU. It was less expensive than rebooking on another airline.

 

Are you on the roll call for this sailing? It has been so inactive, I forget if I've read posts by you. We do at least have enough signed up for the M&M now, that we will actually have one! :D

 

See you onboard!

[Ocean_Waves]

I have been reading a lot of recent reviews about the jewel. A lot are saying it has a sewage odor throughout the ship. Can anyone who has recently been on the ship, confirm?

[Riff Sniff]

We've never sailed on the Jewel, but we have sailed out of San Juan twice and loved it! We've sailed on her sisters Serenade, Brilliance and Radiance - truly beautiful ships. Looking forward to our upcoming March cruise on the Jewel and getting back to the fabulous southern Caribbean!

 

Airfare to San Juan is expensive. I just booked our flights through Royal's Choice Air program (never used it before) and saved some money over booking directly through the airline. Prices have gone up almost $300 pp since I booked.

[jenf22]

I have been reading a lot of recent reviews about the jewel. A lot are saying it has a sewage odor throughout the ship. Can anyone who has recently been on the ship, confirm?

 

We were on the Jewel Oct 11-18 and never noticed any kind of sewage smell.

 

We actually found the ship a little lacking in family activities. Maybe we were expecting too much. I don't know. We were on the Southern itinerary but because of Tropical Storm Gonzalo (hurricane?) we missed a port entirely (got an extra sea day) and had another port where all the excursions were cancelled. So we ended up on the ship more than we had originally planned. We found very few things we could all do together with our 7 year old. The kids area had a great water slide that was open from 3-5:30pm on port days and 11-4pm on sea days. What's with that? Other than the lacking family activities, we did have a great time and it was our 7-year old's favorite cruise (and that's with the other 3 cruises being DCL). Also my mom and I both walked away from the cruise with an extra $600 because of all the fun we had in the casino! :)

[printingchick]

My last cruise was on the Jewel. My next cruise is on the Jewel. Safe to say, I'm a fan.

 

But it really depends on what you want. If you are someone for whom the experience is all about the ship, and therefore you LOVED the Oasis, Jewel might not be your cup of tea.

 

If you want to experience new and different ports of call and wake up in a NEW place each and every day, you'll LOVE Jewel.

 

She's a beautiful ship. She is nowhere near the "floating resort" that Oasis is. She's a cruise ship. She constantly reminds you that you're AT SEA with views from nearly every venue...and even from the elevators. There is rarely encountered OUTDOOR dining available at the Windjammer! (LOVE IT!)

 

I prefer smaller ships with more varied itineraries. The mega ships are not my style. Anything larger than Voyager class I consider bigger than I really want to go. So consider my response with that in mind.

Edited October 31, 2014 by printingchick

[printingchick]

RE: Odor. Sailed Jewel in March of this year and noticed no such thing. I have noticed previously (don't flame me...I'm being honest) on the older Carnival ships. But I didn't notice no Jewel or on her sister, Serenade.

[NeuroQueen]

I was also worried about the Jewel after going on Oasis three times but had always wanted to try a Radiance class. Well...I loved it. While I love Oasis, I did miss the sea views from the speciality restaurants, Schooner bar, champagne bar, etc. I know you can go up on deck for sea views on Oasis but it is just a totally different experience on the Jewel. I guess I also like ships with an atrium, not that the Royal promenade isn't great.

 

While it may not be the first choice for kids or teenagers, at this time in my life I guess smaller is just as great, if not better. I love those ships so much I am going on the Brilliance for my 60th birthday, which coincidentally will be my 60th cruise, so I think that is pretty cool. Currently trying to come up with a T shirt design for the cruise. Any ideas are welcome. Have a great cruise.

[JTBCruiser]

Here's what I posted on reviews of RCI ships, our cruise on the Jewel. No odor as mentioned on this board and we simply loved it. We had a very enjoyable time on the Jewel, we liked it so much we booked another cruise with RC in Feb 15. We had a 9th deck balcony and found there was plenty of room. The only negative was the thickness of the mattress on the bed. I found it too thin and had trouble sleeping but one call to the front desk and they immediately brought up a pad which helped. I've read negative comments on the shower, granted it is small but I had no problem showering and there was plenty of hot water. Our room attendant was absolutely the best and went out of his way to ensure we were comfortable. We met him when we boarded and first arrived at the room and I made a comment about liking the ice bucket filled and not once did we find an empty ice bucket, it was always filled. He treated us like royalty and I was more than happy to leave him a nice tip when we left. I found the same from our waiter, we did My Tme Dining and loved it. Our waiter and his attendant were first class. They quickly learned our names and preferences and they too took very good care of us, I tipped them both which was above and beyond the tips from the Dining Plan. I always try to treat people with kindess regardless of their position and I find they respond in the same manner. I was impressed with the work ethic of each of the workers we encountered and they seemed to really enjoy hearing a genuine "thank you" or smile. My wife and I thought the food was very good, portions were the right size and many times I ordered more than one appetizer, main course or dessert, we stayed active by using the stairs vs elevators and taking shore excurisons requiring physical activity to burn up calories. The shows were above average, we only ate in the main diining room or Windjammer and did not eat at the specialty restaurants because we were happy with the quality of the food in both venues. Though the ship was fully booked we never felt like there was ever a crowd.