Finding Magical Jewels on the West Coast...9/18/2015 review (16,000+ photos & videos)

[Susie51]

Thank you for continuing your review with lots of pictures and explanations.

 

In Jan. we'll be on deck 3 in the second cabin from the Centrum. Are we going to hear a lot of noise?

Edited October 22, 2015 by Susie51

[DEIx15x8]

Thank you for continuing your review with lots of pictures and explanations.

 

In Jan. we'll be on deck 3 in the second cabin from the Centrum. Are we going to hear a lot of noise?

 

If your on Deck 3 you are below the Centrum. The main opening to get to that level is would be the areas the elevators pass through. Those are fairly closed in. Unfortunately I only went down to that deck late at night after the bands were done so I can't say for sure, but from experience on other ships if you are on port side (side where the elevators are) and two cabins down I highly doubt you will be able to hear anything. If you are on the starboard side you shouldn't hear anything since the noise would have to travel a bit to get to there from the elevators.

 

On any deck from 4 up the sound travels very easily through the massive Centrum opening and fills all the areas that touch it with sound. Unfortunately the halls are directly off that opening with no obstruction to help damper that sound so it can be a problem for those first few cabins. As I mentioned deck 3 should have a decent amount of items to reduce or eliminate that sound before getting to the cabins so I believe you are safe.

[DEIx15x8]

Jewel of the Seas: Victoria, BC (9/19)

Photo Album: https://goo.gl/photos/Dd1BMsDv476SjRo4A

 

After probably the slowest night I’ve had onboard a ship crawling along we finally reached Victoria in the early morning after traveling just over 80 nautical miles.

 

With an early morning sunrise to help light our arrival we had a perfectly calm morning. Unfortunately the beauty of the haze was quickly ended as it began to rain while approaching the pier and continued until we were docked. Our scheduled arrival time was 7am but in a rather rare occurrence for me even with such a small distance to cover we ended up docking late.

 

 

 

 

 

It didn’t effect us at all though. With such a port intensive itinerary and a brand new class we had already decided that we wanted more time to enjoy the ship so Victoria was set aside to stay onboard. If our whale watching in Vancouver had been canceled for any reason this also then allowed Victoria to be open as a backup. So it worked out in multiple ways.

[DEIx15x8]

If you’ve never spent the day onboard a ship in port you really should try it some time. With most people rushing to land it was as usual an empty and relaxed ship for the passengers that remained. I took the opportunity to tour the whole ship and film my Jewel of the Seas Complete Ship Tour video. So when I get that released and everyone inevitably asks why it’s so empty, this is why. As you would expect for a port day there weren’t many activities going on so everyone was really on there own. They did have the movie theater running like any other day and of course the windjammer was empty for lunch which is always nice.

 

In the morning the crew ran there lifeboat drill. I’ve seen these many times, there usually kind of interesting but rather routine. This one was like none I’ve ever seen. I’m not sure if the Jewel is always this well trained or it was something better but it lasted a long time and was far more advanced than usual. Typically a drill seems to involve the call that there is a fire or some other issue somewhere. The crew are then ordered to man their stations throughout the ship, whatever their duty may be. This includes many in public areas that are assigned to run a muster station or direct traffic. This is usually triggered by the standard ship horn blast and alarms and then after a period of time all crew not associated with the physical lifeboats are dismissed and the lifeboats are then tested.

 

This one was not like that. Instead of a fire the alarm was for structural damage to the ship. As the drill went on they then continued the announcements with alerts that the situation had changed and announced the movement of various muster stations to other areas of the ship. On a few occasions these announcements were accompanied by repeating the blasting of the horn and sounding of the alarms. Throughout the ship different officers were running around and crew were constantly moving around. In general everyone looked far more serious and active than the usual drills. They seemed to be playing out a complete disaster unfolding scenario rather than just a routine evacuation. This included the general crew not being released until the lifeboats had been lowered and the drill finally ended with the only remaining item being to reload the lifeboats on to the ship.

 

Following the drill the captain then came on the intercom to announce that they would be testing all of the water tight doors remotely from the bridge so everyone should take notice of their surroundings and stay clear of them. A moment later they all started closing and then a minute later it was announced they would reopen. I’ve seen those tested once or twice locally in the promenade on ships, but never a ship wide remote test of them. It was certainly the most thorough and interesting of the drills I’ve seen by a mile.

 

While the drill did mess with my shooting a bit because of the announcements and crew moving around. It did also benefit it in that areas often closed when not in use (such as the theater) were open for the drill but left empty after the area was declared uninhabitable.

 

Since this was my day to film my tour if you want to see ship photos this is the best album as I snap pictures as I film meaning the whole ship is in this album! https://goo.gl/photos/Dd1BMsDv476SjRo4A

 

I’ll be discussing the ship throughout and more at the end, but since I’ve got a lot of great photos from that day here are 6 that I think are extra nice from my filming that day.

 

 

 

 

 

[DEIx15x8]

After a dreary and wet start to the day the weather finally improved in the afternoon. The clouds started to break revealing blue skies and sunshine. It even started to actually feel a bit hot in the sun. Mixed in with the warm sunny blue skies the haze still remained on the horizon and the stormy clouds were still in the area lurking.

 

 

 

This was the only port that we were not to be alone in. The Norwegian Pearl and ms Amsterdam both were scheduled to arrive at 6:00pm. I had been monitoring them via the AIS data and they were coming in as a pairing. At about 5:30 they both appeared in the distance on the horizon.

 

It took a little while but at about 6:00pm they finally made it to Victoria and started preparing to dock. The Amsterdam remained in the lead docking on our starboard side on the other side of the adjacent pier to ours.

 

She had a fairly quiet arrival with very few people up on deck. I’m assuming it was a result of the ship’s audience with traditional cruisers and arriving during dinner time.

[DEIx15x8]

The Norwegian Pearl started pulling in as soon as the Amsterdam was docked. She docked on our port side across the pier from us.

 

In contrast to the Amsterdam the guests on the Pearl could be heard cheering her arrival as her top deck, lifeboat deck, and balconies were filled with people. Once again most likely a result of the freestyle dinner design allowing people to be free for the arrival time.

 

 

The Amsterdam ended up docking about 15-30 minutes late and the Pearl 30-45 minutes late. Since we were late arriving in the morning as well it seemed to be the norm for the port.

 

The timing lined up nicely though as once they were both docked it was time for the sun to start setting and our ship to prepare for it’s 7:00pm departure.

 

[The Big Booper]

Like your panorama shots.

 

The other two ships were probably doing their compliance PVSA stop on a RT from Seattle to Alaska. We did that years ago, six hours at night in Victoria from 6-Midnight also on the HAL Amsterdam. At that time, half the ship got off to eat dinner ashore.

[The Big Booper]

Double Post

Edited October 23, 2015 by The Big Booper

[DEIx15x8]

Like your panorama shots.

 

The other two ships were probably doing their compliance PVSA stop on a RT from Seattle to Alaska. We did that years ago, six hours at night in Victoria from 6-Midnight also on the HAL Amsterdam. At that time, half the ship got off to eat dinner ashore.

 

That makes sense, was wondering why you would be in port at such an odd time since it was 6-midnight for both of them.

 

As soon as it hit 7:00pm we left right on time down to the second just as we had in Vancouver.

 

As we set sail we had a beautiful sunset to send us off that seemed to get more beautiful by the second as the colors mixed with the calm seas, mixed clouds, and hazy mountains.

 

 

As the second night of the cruise in the poorest of Royal Caribbean traditions it was a mandatory formal night and captain’s reception. It still amazes me that with all the data and information the cruise line has access to they still can’t understand that people prefer their dinner plans to match their port plans. AKA a 7pm departure on a formal night with a 7:15pm Captain’s reception simply does not work. Unfortunately that was the way it was though. So while the arrivals of the other two ships and our departure interfered with my ability to attend dinner in the MDR it didn’t change the fact that it was formal night so I was dressed in my suit by 5pm so I could watch everything and then make it to the captain’s reception on time. He had the same idea as he was up in the bridge with some other officers in their tuxes waiting to go to the event while departing Victoria.

 

While the event started at 7:15pm it didn’t really get going until later and seemed to be delayed slightly because the captain had to finish his actual duties before being able to join the festivities. Before the captain joined though this ship lacking the Centrum Wow couldn’t have big glamorous aerialist champagne deliveries to get things started, but they did have Dennis who took to the dance floor to perform several songs with the band to try and get people active. I’ve had some CDs who would do more humorous butchered talk singing for a song, but this was the first CD I can remember having that could actually join the band.

 

At about 7:40 Dennis took to the stairs to introduce Captain Thore Thorolvsen who took to the stairs to say a few words and then began introducing his team.

[DEIx15x8]

The captain held onto the mic the whole time introducing each member and giving some information on each. This is how it was done on Oasis, but on Grandeur and Indy each member was given the mic to introduce themselves and say a few words. This kept things moving and in just 10 minutes everyone was introduced and on the stairs. By 7:53 it was all over. Maybe it’s been so long I can’t remember how long they really were on the Indy and Oasis, but it seems like it was probably the shortest actual event I’ve seen. Like the muster drill they were masters of efficiency, but the Captain certainly knows how to have a good time.

 

Since I had skipped dinner to attend the festivities I headed up to the Windjammer for a quick dinner before the show. This was the same thing I did on the Grandeur in January 2014 for the same night. It helps that the second night’s dinner menu is my least favorite with no real choices so missing it is always an easy decision to make. It’s the only menu I’m fine skipping. Unfortunately while the Grandeur’s windjammer dinner was probably the best dinner I’ve had on a ship, the Jewel’s was without a doubt the worst dinner I’ve had on a ship. Dinner in the Windjammer can be handled a few different ways and it seems to be dependent on the ship. The Grandeur had an international theme that changed each night and was listed in the compass right along side the MDR theme each day. The Windjammer then offered something different from the MDR and the selection was huge and varied with every spot of the buffet filled with food and nothing repeating (unlike during lunch). It was incredible and delicious.

 

The Jewel dimmed her lights (like they often do) and relied more on her ambient lights creating a really cool environment, but lacked the food to back it up. I ate the same time as on the Grandeur but the selection seemed to be really small and lacking. They had an entire island for sushi if you like that, but only two other islands with food that seemed spread out and identical to what was served in the MDR. There was a decent crowd there at the time (larger than when I went on Grandeur) and just like on Grandeur most were dressed in formal attire having come from the Captain’s Reception. Their is a stereotype that the windjammer is to avoid the dress code, but I often eat their to avoid the MDR food and time schedule. In my experience the dress ratio is just a hair below that of the MDR so to repeat the food in both seems like a waste. The international theming on Grandeur worked great and most of the MDR food was included in it just on different days so if you ate there every day you got the same food and much much more. For me the Jewel’s meant that I headed off to the evening show still hungry and had to wait for the Solarium cafe to open in order to get some good food for dinner. In all my cruising that was the only dinner I actually left looking for food.

 

As i was in the Windjammer I spotted the Westerdam off the Port side of the ship. The Holland America vessel had left Seattle earlier in the evening to start a new cruise and sailed along side of us for a while as we headed out to the Pacific Ocean.

 

For our evening show we had a singer that covered all sorts of music from Bruno Mars to Aerosmith. He crossed the lines of genre and age reaching everyone onboard (and likely pandering the younger crowd more).

 

 

Later that night we had a second evening show as the comedian from the first night returned for a late night adult comedy show. He was humorous with a family friendly style the first night. For his second show it was more adult with some of the content and a lot of dirty jokes, but it just crossed the line of family friendly where kids could have been allowed if mature. He kept the language clean and like his first it was an enjoyable show. Sometimes the comedians think because it’s labeled as adult it’s a challenge to prove it’s mature and ruins the show, he took it as not having to worry about censoring as it should be.

 

 

As we reached the Pacific Ocean the conditions immediately changed. We picked up speed reaching 20 knots and the winds picked up hitting 45 mph. The rain also returned and for the first time you could feel the ships movement. It wasn’t just a little though, it was enough to make the pools start splashing around and have to close. Unlike the Quantum though the Jewel remained a silent girl through all the movement.

[Dave85]

Enjoying the review! Thanks Derek.

[DEIx15x8]

Jewel of the Seas: Astoria, Oregon (9/20/15)

Astoria morning, one of the oddest mornings I’ve had on a ship. We were scheduled to be docked at 9:30am with the gangway open at 10:00am. So when I got up at 7:30 expecting to be out to sea and just getting ready to watch our arrival I was shocked to see land right off the side of the ship. I honestly had to turn the TV on and use the AIS website on my phone to understand if we were already arriving or just sailing close to the coast.

 

After checking everything I realized we really were arriving already so I had to rush out to start filming. The first land that I saw (in the above photo as well) was Pointe Disappointment which has a lighthouse on it.

 

It was a very wet arrival with a ton of mist and fog in the area. A few times it changed over from a wetness to actual raindrops but while arriving at least it never rained enough to have to seek cover. It did severely limit how far we could see though which also slightly increases the suspense of sailing in.

 

Just as we were starting to see Astoria appear the sun started to get through a few breaks in the clouds.

 

We ended up getting one last shot of light rain as we passed through a thick haze just before Astoria. Once through her bridges were fully exposed but the peaks of her hills were still hidden behind a layer of low cloud cover.

 

The ship ended up docking at a lumber yard that certainly added to the immersion of the port. While we were listed for 9:30 arrival we were docked by 8:30am already which is why my 7:30am start to the day was not correct.

[DEIx15x8]

From our location we had another nice view looking out over the bay and at the bridge.

 

The bay was filled with sea lions that played all day long right along the ship providing continuous entertainment. They were certainly the most entertaining animals we saw on the trip.

 

The likely reason for our arrival discrepancy was the need to have everyone pass through customs prior to being allowed to leave the ship. I’m not sure if this is done often. If anyone has done the Alaskan itineraries and has experienced this please chime in because I’m honestly curious how rare or common this is. Once everyone got through customs this was it for the rest of the cruise including the day we got off in San Pedro.

 

Astoria has no cruise terminal so they also have no facilities to go through customs. Instead a series of customs agents were brought onboard the ship to setup for it. With 2,000 people that was not an easy task and one that can only be described as living up to the reputation the Jewel’s crew built for themselves. At the start it seemed clear that this was not a common thing for them to do, but throughout the process they continuously evolved and improved the flow to make it as efficient as possible and even finished ahead of schedule.

 

They wanted all US citizens heading to the MDR on deck 5 and non US citizens going to the Safari Club on deck 6. I have no idea how things went on deck 6 since I was on 5. The first group that were to lineup was anyone with an official Royal Caribbean sanctioned excursion ticket. Afterwards they then had times for each deck to be called until everyone was done. The problem is that the majority of people seemed to have excursion tickets and as a result the line stretched from the MDR, around the centrum, through the shops, through the photo gallery, and ended in the forward lobby by the theater. The line didn’t start moving until after the scheduled start time and then it seemed to immediately become apparent to someone that people with early excursion times were throughout the line as well as those with late times which would not work.

 

As a result the line quickly became useless as a crew member began walking from the back to the front yelling an excursion and asking anyone with it booked to follow them. That continued with one or two excursions at a time creating a second line that would pass the original one fast passing people to the front. Those people then got priority into the MDR while the original line slowly moved as their were breaks in the fast pass line. It created a really weird situation that I am honestly surprised the passengers handled so calmly as it really could have gotten heated rather quickly and didn’t seem to at all.

 

Once in the MDR someone at the door checked each parties paperwork for completeness, verified their excursion tickets, and scanned each sea pass card. The line then sped up as it passed through the starboard side of the MDR, through the back walkway by the kitchen (normally off limits to guests) and then on the other side an officer directed traffic to each of the customs agents. They then quickly looked everything over, stamped the passports and sent us on our way. At the exit of the MDR another crew member then punched a hole in each sea pass to validate that the person has been through customs. From there they had been sending people back down through the ship in the same path both lines were run. As we reached that point they switched it to the much smarter route of sending everyone out on the lifeboat deck and then back in at the forward lobby where we could enter right into the theater and not mess with the crowds and lines that filled the inside of the ship.

 

It had it’s hiccups at first but they certainly seemed to be open to making changes and increasing efficiency where ever they saw possible and got done much earlier than originally scheduled. Like I said, I’m not sure if this was the first time they had to go through this, but I’m sure they learned a lot to improve things from the start next time. IMO they should have never had an excursion line and instead should have assigned each excursion to a different lounge or area where they could then be brought to the MDR when needed. It would have been much less confusing and more efficient that way. The way they did it the line was really just one large waiting lounge for someone to call your excursion anyway.

 

For our excursion in Astoria we did a scenic tour that included a stop at the Astoria Tower which is currently undergoing renovations and not accessible, but still offered some great scenic views of the area from the top of the mountain.

 

We then went to the Columbia River Maritime Museum where they had a surprisingly large and detailed set of exhibits all about the history of the Coast Guard and how they protect sailors on the Columbia River. Out of the listed highlights of the tour this was the most down played. Honestly forgot we were even stopping their, but it was probably the most interesting and my favorite of the things we saw on the tour.

 

Our third and final stop was then at Fort Clatsop where Lewis and Clark set up camp when reaching the west coast. While the recreation of the fort was interesting, I think the forest itself with it’s towering trees were the more interesting part of it, even coming from PA where we have tons of forests.

 

[The Big Booper]

Keep it coming. Enjoying your thorough and well documented review. As I said during the other prior review, good to see pictures of the sights we missed.

[A&L_Ont]

Derek, everything was in English and French as we are a Bi-lingual country. It is government mandated. Magazines aren't printed that way, but items such as pop cans, cereal boxes, owners manuals for dish washers etc... are in both languages. To bad they didn't have Canada Dry Gingerale for you. It would have been so suiting.:)

 

As for the two ships stopping in Victoria I think it was to satisfy the Jones Act prior to returning to their disembarkation port. I don't even know their itinerary but such a short stop in such a beautiful location makes me think that was the reason.

[DEIx15x8]

We had decent weather for the excursion, but when we got back to the ship it started to drizzle so we took some time to get photos and then headed back onboard.

 

We went to the Seaview Cafe for lunch. I believe this may be the only one left in the fleet and it’ll be going when she gets her dry dock in April. As a result it was probably the top item on my list to experience for sailing this ship in it’s original form. I have to say I enjoyed the experience and the food was delicious but I’m not sure it lived up to the hype. It was a much more relaxing experience than any complimentary lunch I can remember having on a ship, but the food seemed about the same as the Park Cafe in terms of quality. Appearance wise it was presented slightly better, but I can certainly understand the cost savings and efficiency improvements in moving to the Park Cafe model over this. I think the Park Cafe is also able to have a larger selection. I tried the Cuban, my favorite sandwich and one offered by both. IMO the Seaview version looked like what many nice restaurants on land have served, but the Park Cafe’s tasted better.

 

Throughout the afternoon the sea lions continued to play all around the ship and some more fog and rain rolled in.

 

 

 

And as we neared our departure time the rains picked up a bit so the only place to go outside to watch was on deck 5 where it was protected.

[DEIx15x8]

Take notice of all the stacks of wood in the port, and the birds that love sitting on them.

 

 

As we pulled out we had to do a 270º turn to face the exit of the river. Once we got about 90º of the way into it some birds started going crazy in the disturbed water from the bow thrusters and then more and more just kept coming. You’ll have to watch the video to see it because it looks and sounds crazy as hundreds of birds just start swarming the area.

 

 

 

After that things calmed down. Since our departure was in the middle of dinner I was running back and forth between courses to watch what was happening. As we sailed down the river we entered into the fog and at many points the land on either side was out of sight as a result.

[DEIx15x8]

The weather conditions also deteriorated with the seas getting rougher, the rains getting heavier, and the winds picking up. We passed a few different boats on our way out including this small passenger vessel that was getting tossed around pretty good.

 

 

 

Our ship of course was larger than the ones we were around so it wasn’t effected as much.

 

Once we made it out to the ocean I waited for the pilot to be picked up. When we visited the museum earlier they mentioned that a helicopter would likely be used to take the pilot off the ship. So of course I along with many others made it a point to watch for the pilot to leave. Unfortunately though while the seas were rough and the helicopter would have been better, the fog, rain, and winds made it unsafe to fly the helicopter. Instead they sent the usual pilot boat out to pick them up. It took about 20 minutes of sailing along side the ship before the pilot finally made his jump onboard it.

 

[DEIx15x8]

That night we then had a packed evening of entertainment starting with the C&A Welcome Back Reception in the Safari Lounge. That’s when I found out that Dennis had actually watched theCruiseView! If your not a fan of reading or want more visuals, don’t forget theCruiseView is on it’s way as soon as I get the regular shipboard videos up. The welcome reception was fairly routine in terms of what it entailed but like many of the activities on the Jewel it was entirely hosted by Dennis who sang a couple songs, gave a welcome back speech, and read all the voyages statistics. Including that this sailing set a new Royal Caribbean record for most Pinnacle members on a single sailing.

 

We then had our first production show with West End to Broadway. They had a sign outside that actually listed the cast as well as the full setlist which was nice.

 

It was a fairly standard Royal Caribbean song and dance show. There weren’t any aerialists or other crazy elements, but the singers sounded great. There wasn’t any story plot to it, just a variety of songs from different plays including some on other Royal Caribbean ships. After Quantum, it’s hard to compare shows, but it was certainly enjoyable in it’s own way.

 

 

Later after the second showing of the production show the main theater played home to the Love & Marriage Game Sow, another cruise entertainment staple. Daniel had a rough time getting people to participate but he eventually got all his couples. It’s never good to compare these as each set of couples brings their own element to the show and as usual it had it’s hilarious moments.

 

 

[The Big Booper]

..

 

...>>>SNIP<<<...

 

As for the two ships stopping in Victoria I think it was to satisfy the Jones Act prior to returning to their disembarkation port. I don't even know their itinerary but such a short stop in such a beautiful location makes me think that was the reason.

 

It was definitely a PVSA mandated stop. Ships leaving out of Seattle and going to Alaska must do the one foreign port and Victoria at night is that stop. All the other stops were in Alaska.

Edited October 27, 2015 by The Big Booper

[Hoopster95]

Hey Derek, great review and photos as usual :D. Following! ... I'll be on EX next year with some of the same ports so this will be helpful. Would've been nice to have finally met you on this sailing since you started at my hometown, and since we spoke so much about our Quantum sailings on the subforum last year.

 

(FYI for anyone at all interested in Quantum Class video and pics for a future sailing on Anthem, definitely look at DEI's signature and click on the Quantum video series link.... legendary set of videos and his review on the subforum if you search it is second to none.)

[DEIx15x8]

Hey Derek, great review and photos as usual :D. Following! ... I'll be on EX next year with some of the same ports so this will be helpful. Would've been nice to have finally met you on this sailing since you started at my hometown, and since we spoke so much about our Quantum sailings on the subforum last year.

 

(FYI for anyone at all interested in Quantum Class video and pics for a future sailing on Anthem, definitely look at DEI's signature and click on the Quantum video series link.... legendary set of videos and his review on the subforum if you search it is second to none.)

 

Thanks for the compliments! I've got some Jewel videos coming VERY soon (12 from the sailing are uploaded and waiting for annotations, descriptions, and settings before publishing). This is certainly not as big as my coverage of Quantum last year or what I'll be doing for Harmony next year, but I still tried to cover as much as I could in the time I had onboard the Jewel.

 

I think you'll enjoy this itinerary very much. It's probably my favorite after the TA I took from Southampton. I saw them announce the Explorer taking over the route (guessing because Jewel has been sold out for a year) and thought it was a good sign for the future of pacific coastal sailings. I'd certainly consider it again if the right ship took it over (preferably a Quantum class). The main issue that I had with this route, and this is a personal issue, was the lack of sea days. I love my sea days which made this route seem like a dumb idea, but I loved all our destinations as well so it was a must do route. I like my ports of call and always wake up extra early to watch our arrivals, which meant that this sailing with so many ports in a row was really exhausting and I was dying for a sea day. I think your route on the Explorer has a much nicer balance to it. You'll lose Monterey which was a nice port, but miss-able. It's the loss of the overnight in San Francisco that I think is the main thing that your losing on your route, but I love the pacing of 2 sea days, 2 port days, 1 sea day, and 2 port days. It seems like a great pace to keep you energized but still see a lot. While the Radiance class is supposed to be very connected to the ocean, I honestly don't think it was any less than the larger ships (not as connected as the Grandeur for sure) so that is certainly not a negative for your route, and the Explorer with her new FlowRider is actually a nice upgrade over the Radiance class. I think the people that are staying in her new Panoramic Ocean View cabins will get an incredible view, especially sailing under the Golden Gate Bridge.

[DEIx15x8]

Jewel of the Seas: Day at Sea (9/21/15)

Our one and only official sea day to enjoy this beautiful ship! We got perfect weather for it to.

 

The day started out on the earlier side (though not as early as a port day) with the Captain’s Corner in the main theater. This was handled very differently than any of the other Captain’s Corners I’ve attended (5 times across 3 ships with 4 different CDs and Captains). It’s pretty standard to have the event held in the theater (or Two70º for Quantum class ships) with a set of officers on the stage in chairs to answer questions. This one was still the usual set of officers on the stage to answer questions but their were very few questions involved. Instead of being front and center they were off to the side and nearly all of the time was spent with the Captain going through a presentation on the building, delivery, and operation of the Jewel of the Seas. There were several slides on the technical aspects of the ship and he gave some insights into his own history with being involved in the delivery of the ship and operating her. The presentation reminded me of one that I experienced onboard the Empress of the Seas back in 2002 after they stopped offering public tours of the bridge following 9/11 but still wanted to give the informative aspects of the tours. The whole thing ended with only about 2 or 3 questions being asked, all of which were fairly routine questions about the sailing. It was a really relaxing Captain’s Corner for a change after all the Quantum and Grandeur fire questions in the last few. Since it was an actual presentation and not just people answering questions I will not have a video of this one.

 

 

In the Windjammer at lunch they had a gigantic Apple Pie in honor of our return to the USA. I thought for sure when they were through with it that would be the end but they brought at least one more pie out if not more. When you see something that big be replaced it really puts into perspective just how much food a ship full of people actually can eat. It also helps that it was delicious!

 

In the middle of the day a chop developed in the ocean, but it wasn’t anything noticeable onboard and the blue skies and sunshine remained.

 

It was warm enough to get people outside and hold activities but we were still rather far north so the general air temperature still kept most people covered up.

 

By the time the sun was setting the seas were not as smooth as in the morning, but resembled them much more closely than the afternoon’s.

[DEIx15x8]

In the afternoon they held the International Crew Flag Parade up on the pool deck. It featured members of the crew representing all the different nations onboard including the Captain and many of the officers. Dennis hosted as usual and went through the full list of nations represented with several of them taking a moment to do a littler performance. The big surprise of the event was when even the Captain came out to do a dance for his home nation of Norway.

 

 

 

Following the flag parade the Jewel of the Seas’ Entertainment Staff put on a surprise performance on the pool deck. This was made up of people belonging to the various divisions that report up to the Cruise Director including the Royal Caribbean Dancers, Cruise Director’s Staff, Activities Manager, and Adventure Ocean Staff. I recorded this along with the flag parade so if you are interested in seeing it you’ll find it at the end of the Flag Parade video once it’s up.

 

 

 

The afternoon then ended with our one and only at sea sunset.

Edited October 28, 2015 by DEIx15x8

[DEIx15x8]

That night was then the 50’s & 60’s night onboard. After dinner to fill he gap between the two evening shows they held the Battle of the Sexes in the Centrum. I thought the Quantum had trouble getting participation, the Jewel had a decent crowd compared to the Quantum but no one wanted to actually be in the game. After a lengthy fight to get some people they were finally able to start the game. It was the standard game as we’ve seen many times, not really curve balls in the way they operated it. The only curve ball was in the staff themselves who decided to swap genders for the event and certainly added to the humor of everything and really saved them when they struggled to get things started.

 

 

The headliner show for that night was then David Aiken who was a comedic juggler.

 

 

To close out the night they then held the 50’s & 60’s Rock n Roll Party in the Centrum. We had a rather entertaining 60’s party onboard the Grandeur that was just a hair below the quality of the 70’s party. On the Jewel this party was very under played. It resembled more of Groovytown than the other parties with a live band playing (including Dennis occasionally) and a competition to pick the best dance couple at the end. There weren’t any gimmicks or over the top productions going on like the normal parties so it wasn’t all that interesting to me.