Jewel OTS California Coastal Review 10/3/15

[Sunkissed Mommy]

Do tell (if you can); what's your secret to having enough vacation time to cruise as often as you do?

 

Our secret is that I work from home (both of my jobs) and my husband owns his own business.

 

I teach for a University via the internet, so if I have a vacation planned I try not to accept a class that overlaps with my trip (The courses I teach are 5-6 weeks in length, so very doable). If I do have an overlap I do my best to manage time wisely and do some work from a ship. My other job is in the travel industry so it's perfectly acceptable to be away exploring! I check my email daily to stay on top of any issues that might need care while I am gone. Plus I have a friend who covers for me in emergencies.

 

DH has his parents take care of his shop when we were gone. He bought the business from them four years ago, so they know how to handle the common issues. He does call the shop daily, except for sea days, to answer questions from his employees. So there are times that we have a working vacation!

Edited October 25, 2015 by smileyperry

[Sunkissed Mommy]

Sorry for the delay, life just gets in the way of the fun sometimes!

 

So we played mini golf and walked around the ship that night. The following day we slept in. I should really say we slept in the best we could with a toddler in our room. He doesn't let us sleep any longer than him.

 

After breakfast my son had a request... Mini Golf! So we went back to the course and played another 4 rounds. This kid loved it. It was novel, toddlers are excited by new things.

 

 

 

It was a little more crowded this time, so we let people go around us a few times when DS was taking a long time. The we went with him to the toddler hallway for play time with DH went to the gym to work out. When I got in there, the hall had a bunch of rattles and infant style toys. So I went to Adventure Ocean to ask if some of the larger toys were able to be put out. The girl I spoke with told me no. She explained that each day had a theme and today's theme was music. I explained that everything was very infant-focused and she tried to tell me that my 2.5 year old would be happy playing with those items if I encouraged him. She was young and I assume she's never had a toddler of her own. I tried, he wasn't interested. So we walked around deck for a while while waiting for DH.

 

After lunch we headed back to the room for a nap. After nap time we went with my dad to the rock climbing wall. Surprisingly, after all these cruises we've never done it!

 

I'll be honest, I chickened out. I got about 1/3 of the way up and freaked. I don't like heights. DH climbed it like he was in fast forward. He's pretty athletic so those things come easy to him.

 

 

 

Now the rock wall is right next to the golf course. So guess what happened...

 

Yup!

Edited October 25, 2015 by smileyperry

[Sunkissed Mommy]

Before I continue I wanted to let everyone know that I put in for a username change. So if you see this thread change to a new name, don't be alarmed!

[Sunkissed Mommy]

DH took DS back to the room to relax for a bit. I headed over to the Onboard Booking desk. I had set an appointment earlier in the week. I wasn't overly impressed with the guy who made my future reservation. I had asked to hold a Promenade room for 4 on the Harmony in 2017. He insisted that PR rooms only hold two. I knew better, Harmony has a few that hold four. I finally pushed him to look and he found what I was asking for.

 

When asking for the names I had to explain that #4 does not actually exist at the moment and I was going to put in a fake name and birthdate for now because I didn't want to lose the room for four. He wouldn't do it. He made me reserve for 3 people and in a different room. Even after explaining why I wanted a room for four (in hopes that we will be a family of four by the time the cruise comes around) he still wouldn't let me. So now I have to cross my fingers that the room hasn't disappeared from the inventory. I am going to have it changed to 4 people and the room I want. It's far enough in advance that I am hoping it's still there. (I have to get on that tonight before I forget!)

 

So we're booked on the Harmony March 4th of 2017, Eastern Caribbean. I don't know if we'll actually go simply because of things that happen in life and we can't always control how, when, and why ;)

[cruisequeen4ever]

Awesome careers to support your travel habit! [emoji3] Thank you for sharing your secret. I hope to be able to work from home someday, too. Happy cruising to you! [emoji568]

[Sunkissed Mommy]

Awesome careers to support your travel habit! [emoji3] Thank you for sharing your secret. I hope to be able to work from home someday, too. Happy cruising to you! [emoji568]

 

 

I taught in the classroom for 9 years. We would travel during my school breaks and occasionally I would use my sick/leave days then. At one point I had 50 days that had rolled over from previous years. I hadn't taken a day off for the first five years of my career for anything!! We only started traveling heavily in 2010. I guess I shouldn't say "only" as 5 years is longer than most people in my age group have. I left my in-person position to stay home with our son.

 

And that's my story!

 

I'll update more of our trip tomorrow when I have a moment.

Edited October 26, 2015 by smileyperry

[cruisequeen4ever]

I taught in the classroom for 9 years. We would travel during my school breaks and occasionally I would use my sick/leave days then. At one point I had 50 days that had rolled over from previous years. I hadn't taken a day off for the first five years of my career for anything!! We only started traveling heavily in 2010. I guess I shouldn't say "only" as 5 years is longer than most people in my age group have. I left my in-person position to stay home with our son.

 

And that's my story!

 

I'll update more of our trip tomorrow when I have a moment.

 

 

This is my 8th year teaching, and I'm taking a week off to do a Caribbean cruise attached to Christmas. Like you, I usually don't take vaca days during the school year and cruise during breaks and the summer. We have separate sick and vaca leave, and the vaca leave has been getting more and more restrictive. I'm hoping with our new contract next year, more vaca time will be added and restrictions will be lessened because many of us place a high priority on travel. I have my Master's Equivalent but not Master's degree so can't teach college online. I wish I could; I would love it. We live in Alaska where airfare is high (as you probably know from your Alaska cruise), so it pains me to see last minute insane deals we can't take advantage of due to flight costs. When we go somewhere, we try to go for at least 2 weeks to make it worthwhile.

[Sunkissed Mommy]

After rock climbing and a few more rounds of mini golf we headed down to the Windjammer again. This evening a few of us indulged in some hand scooped ice cream sundaes. Each night there was a select dessert that they brought around. One night it was chocolate items, this evening it was the ice cream cart.

 

 

Then of course DS got a hold of the camera and started taking pictures of himself! Here's a funny one.

 

 

We went downstairs to deck 8 near the stairs where my son decided to dance to the music from the centrum. We wandered around the ship a bit until it was time to put DS to sleep.

 

The next day was our stop in Ensenada. This was a new place for me and I wasn't sure what to do. We planned to play it by ear.

 

Every day, when we would leave our room, DS would walk over to the vacuum and look at it strangely. Our room steward introduced DS to Henry. About 1/2 way through the week DS would walk out of the room and ask for Henry if he wasn't there. He even got to the point where he would hug Henry, lol. Here we are headed to breakfast when in Ensenada.

 

 

 

I know there are a lot of Henry fans out there, enjoy!

Edited October 26, 2015 by smileyperry

[Sunkissed Mommy]

We watched from the ship as the port prepared for our clearance. We didn't see many people in a hurry to get off that morning. My dad and his wife got off the ship earlier than we did, so I wasn't sure what direction they headed in. Before we could get off we had a few things to take care of.

 

DH needed to call his shop to check in on things. Since we were in Mexico we were trying to avoid excessive cell phone charges so here's what we did. We used one of our Diamond Coupons: 1 complimentary day of internet. Then we used an app that we have on our phones called Viber. My MIL has it on her phone too. (she actually travels more than we do). So DH sent his mom a text (while on the ship's wifi) telling her to watch out for a Viber call. Then DH called her phone via Viber and she passed her phone around the shop so the employees could ask him questions. The connection wasn't good, but we accomplished our goal. The Jewel had been having internet issues during that time anyway. We kept seeing tech people constantly working on the ship that week, plus the information from guests sailing the week before us.

 

We finally got off the ship. Our first mission was to buy Retin A for my MIL. She uses it to keep her skin free of marks and blemishes. So we loaded up on 6 tubes! Then we decided to get on the shuttle bus at the port. It was $2 per person when leaving the port and $1 per person to return to the port. A pretty good deal!!

 

We walked around the main strip of Ensenada. Sorry I cannot recall the name. It was HOT outside! Eventually we heard someone calling our names and it was my dad's wife! They were at a place called Papas and Beer. It was fairly empty when we walked over, but within an hour it was wild and rowdy. We has to sit outside on the sidewalk because of DS. They don't allow kids inside. I know, shame on us, we brought our baby to a bar! He slept in the stroller 90% of the time we were there.

 

 

Our Mexican tradition is to get beers and nachos.

 

 

 

 

This final shot will explain a bit why kids are not allowed in the establishment. See those legs sticking up? That's actually one of the activity staff from our ship. I was happy to see them get the opportunity to cut loose and have some fun!

 

It started by giving him a tequila shot, beer, and then tipping him over. Then had a lady come over and rub some lime on his bare chest. Then they "shook" him to mix up those drinks! It was pretty funny to watch. I posted this picture to keep his anonymity!

 

Edited October 26, 2015 by smileyperry

[niksmom630]

Still following along, and really enjoying this review! Sorry to hear about your trip to the Monterey Aquarium! We were just there a few weeks ago, as we were visiting family in California...by far one of the best aquariums I've ever seen. The jelly fish are mesmerizing! I took so many photos....Hope you get another chance to visit it again!

 

Chris

Edited October 26, 2015 by niksmom630

[Sunkissed Mommy]

On our way back to the ship everyone bought a souvenir hat, except for me. DS kept looking at the sombreros, so we bought one for him. DH needed a new Corona cowboy hat since his old one was getting in pretty bad shape.

 

 

We headed back to the ship from there. It was getting really warm so we went straight for the Windjammer and the soft serve machine!

 

 

Then we hung out on our balconies for sailaway. It's a much prettier view sailing away from here than it is to sail away from, say, Nassau! There were a lot of sea lions on the shore and even following along the ship as we sailed away.

 

 

 

Edited October 27, 2015 by smileyperry

[Sunkissed Mommy]

We spent the evening packing our bags. At one point we realized that we never took advantage of the Diamond drinks... So we went to the pool bar and had a beer each. Then walked around deck for a bit. Took DS down to the centrum to dance to some music. Then I went in to the shops to use up the rest of our OBC. Our final bill was $17 ;)

 

When we arrived at San Pedro the next morning we were at terminals 91/92. DS was excited to see another ship pulling in as we woke up. Watching the sun rise was nice (even with the huge cranes!)

 

 

 

We spent the following two days in L.A./ Santa Monica. I would be glad to continue my review with that information if anyone is interested.

 

Overall Impressions

We enjoyed our cruise. The staff & crew onboard were amazing. Every person we encountered was happy, helpful, and willing to go above and beyond expectations. (I would not be able to say the same about our last cruise on the Liberty). Our room steward engaged us in conversations and met our every need. The service in the Windjammer was great. I know some people scoff at the idea of eating in a buffet every night, but it's actually quite nice. We didn't watch a single show because of DS. I don;t say that with any disdain. We were okay with skipping the shows.

 

the Ship

Overall I like the Jewel. Heck we were on it for our honeymoon nearly 6 years ago. I can definitely tell it's due for a refresh. Nothing was dirty or broken, but the decor wasn't as updated as the Brilliance (last year's fly-cruise). I will be disappointed if they don't put a nursery onboard as the Adventure Ocean staff member said. I checked the dry dock information for Jewel once we returned home and they still haven't updated what will be added, removed, or changed!

 

Crown & Anchor Disappointments

When we first got to our room there was a paper that explained the coupons that were preloaded on to our SeaPass cards. We did not get our complimentary drinks (coke/water) or the small basket of snacks. We never received notice of the Diamond Lounge or 3 Drink passes to use during Diamond Lounge hours. Had I not already known about it ahead of time, I would have never known it was an option. We did get invitations to the welcome back parties, but we could not go due to DS and a lack of nursery.

 

What's Next?

In January we're taking the little man on the Disney Magic for a 5-day cruise out of Miami. Then our next cruise is scheduled for Spring of 2017.

 

Feel free to ask me questions about the ship, itinerary, anything. I'd be glad to help. I didn't include all the details or you'd be here for months reading my review!

[Sunkissed Mommy]

I tried logging in today and it told me that my username was invalid. I panicked! I checked my email to see if they approved my name change. Nothing!

 

So I randomly tried logging in with the usernames I had emailed to cruise critic and voila, Sunkissed Mommy is my new name :)

[kongpup]

 

After we passed under the Gold Gate Bridge, I had assumed it would be rather quick to clear local authorities and have the chance to get off the ship.

 

Hey, you found Ursula! She's in the hat facing camera (probably my shoulder on the left).

[Sunkissed Mommy]

o

Hey, you found Ursula! She's in the hat facing camera (probably my shoulder on the left).

 

too funny! I always wonder if I accidentally catch other cruise critic members when I'm snapping away!

[PCWalton1]

So I see this review of our cruise today from someone named Sunkissed Mommy and I think, ok I can re-live the cruise again. Imagine my surprise. :o

 

Name changer. :p :D

[Sunkissed Mommy]

So I see this review of our cruise today from someone named Sunkissed Mommy and I think, ok I can re-live the cruise again. Imagine my surprise. :o

 

Name changer. :p :D

 

Sorry!!

I wasn't comfortable using my last name any more. I contemplated requesting the name change because I didn't want to confuse people, but my name being more private was more important to me.

[DJDaveS]

Hi there,

 

I was linked over to your review from a fellow cruiser. I am traveling on the Jewel on April 24, 2016. I will be on the very first cruise after the renovations. Every website was mentioning the Nursery being added in April 2016, with the exception of RCCL's webpage. I called and confirmed and they said it is in fact not being added. I thought the Nursery was a fleet wide program.

 

But thats not why I am reaching out to you. I was wondering if you used the Kiddie Pool or not. I know swim diapers cannot be worn. Some people mention to bring an inflatable pool with us.

 

I will be traveling with my twins, 2 year old.

 

I do have a large 2 bedroom suite so I could put a pool out there.

 

Thoughts?

[Sunkissed Mommy]

DJDaveS- we did not use the pool because it was too chilly on our cruise (California) and my son was not potty trained at the time.

 

In past cruises, when my son was younger, we did bring an inflatable tub for water play on deck and bathing in the room.

 

My son is a monkey and at 2+ he would never stay in the tub!! Each child is different though and you know your twins best!