MITSUGIRLY has a JEWEL of a time on my 1st RC cruise in years!

[mitsugirly]

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I guarantee once Sakari sees the aqua show on Oasis class she will want to be in the show when she grows up!

 

I'm pretty sure your are 100% right!

[canadianbear]

@mitsugirly:

 

I'd enjoy reading your review and seeing photos on this page-why not, you've got a huge fan base here!!! I don't think the moderators would mind since you've got so much support?! Or a link? I really enjoy your detail and love the photos.

 

My daughter just got back from a month of scuba diving in Indonesia (survived several of the earthquakes there) and your daughter just reminds me so much of mine when she was younger.

[SuiteTraveler]

FINAL THOUGHTS ON DA HOUSE!

 

I'm sure you can all tell my final thoughts (and your own conclusions as well) but thought I'd give a breakdown/list of things that just makes this place not worth staying at.

 

 

1) Mobility limited-no one with ambulation problems could ever stay here. The steps were horrid to carry luggage on.

 

2) No help from the staff when we were checking in or out...with luggage. It does list concierge service.

3) NO A/C and some BS story about our room being the only room in the hotel, of 4 floors, that was on a different system...ALSO, I did talk to the manager about that and he said "Nooooo, it's all on the same system". LOL

 

4) roaches-need I say more?

 

5) filthy floors and torn up with tiles missing and it looked like the room was unfinished with mudding/drywall.

 

6) Uneven floors: from one room to the next and into the bathroom

 

7) Glass bathroom door for everyone to see everything that goes on in there. Also, not appropriate for people that might be traveling together that are not a "close family". Site says "private bathroom" :')

 

8) Mold around the vents

 

9) Mold on the cushion on the chairs at the roof top

 

10) Broken skylights that looked like it could fall in on someone.

 

11) No t.v, No phone, No hairdryer, No iron...all listed as amenities included.

 

12) Work desk that was unusable (unless you were about 3' tall) and no plugs.

 

13) Slippery floor d/t condensation on the floor from the heat.

 

14) Plunge pool listed??? It says rooftop pool AND plunge pool. Hmmm

 

15) No ice machines. I forgot to mention this one. We wanted ice and I asked at the front desk and he grabbed an ice bucket and opened up a Styrofoam cooler and started scooping ice out of it. Weird.

 

16) Very hard bed and mattress. Site says "premium bedding"

 

If there's anything else I have forgotten, I'm sure I mentioned it in the review.

 

WOULD I RECOMMEND? NO WAY!!! Not now, not then, never again. :(

 

I do want to plead my case on booking this place however...I didn't completely go into it blind and not knowing what the rooms looked like. I did check their site and this is what I found...

 

When you look on their website, THIS is what you'll find for the pictures of the rooms that they advertise:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wait, is that a phone and tv I see on that desk in the above picture???

 

Now tell me, did my room look anything like any of these pictures? They are definitely misleading for sure!!! What? Do they have 3 rooms set up like this to take pictures and the rest look as bad as mine? Or did I just get the raw end of the deal? Who knows.

 

I'm sorry you had a terrible stay, but this really is one of the funniest reviews you have ever written! I was literally falling all over the place laughing about your description and photos. Glad it was only one night.

[mitsugirly]

@mitsugirly:

 

I'd enjoy reading your review and seeing photos on this page-why not, you've got a huge fan base here!!! I don't think the moderators would mind since you've got so much support?! Or a link? I really enjoy your detail and love the photos.

 

My daughter just got back from a month of scuba diving in Indonesia (survived several of the earthquakes there) and your daughter just reminds me so much of mine when she was younger.

 

Thanks for the comments and I'll try to see if there's something I could do (maybe a "mini" review).

 

Oh gosh, glad your daughter is ok after the earthquakes.

 

I'm sorry you had a terrible stay, but this really is one of the funniest reviews you have ever written! I was literally falling all over the place laughing about your description and photos. Glad it was only one night.

 

Haha, yea we always manage to get ourselves into something outlandishly funny. We survived and it made for a great story, we just won't return there. LOL But hey, I'm in it for the experience...that's why I like to try different places every time if possible. New experiences are my "thing". :D

[SuiteTraveler]

I just finished your review. It was great. You know, I'm relieved to see how nice the Jewel looks. It's not all ratty like some other lines' older ships (Carnival). And your unfortunate last morning - OMG! Well at least you all made it to the airport in time. It helped that you were not leaving on a day when a bunch of cruise ships had just returned. I've been in that airport on those days where it was a madhouse of long, long lines and nowhere to sit in the gate area except on the floor - if you can find a place where people will not step on you or trip over you. I've also had a few race for the gate situations myself and they are not fun, so I totally sympathize. I'm just glad you made it to your flight.

[Beachy One]

Kim, so glad you had a wonderful time in Aruba. The Western Caribbean was awesome and hot. The camera worked so well (of course my photos are amateur compared to yours). Dang those fish are fast. Snorkeled the reef at Tabayana Beach with a guide. Best snorkeling ever. Did not go the Little French Key (another time). Blue Kay was good and staff so very accommodating (unforturnately the seawead was at its worst). All was great. Thank you so very much for your detailed, amusing and extremely useful reviews, I look forward to your next cruise (maybe as much as you do). Hope all is well for the family. Enjoy, Deborah

[derhart]

OMG....I just discovered your reviews. We are heading to PR in November for a cruise aboard the Celebrity Summit to St. Thomas, St. Kitts, Antigua, St. Lucia and Barbados. I would love to chat with you. I have sent you a friend request on here as I have a million questions - ok, maybe only 1/2 a million! You give the best - honest - entertaining reviews I have ever seen.

 

thank you.

 

Debbie

[jenlong]

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[ladylyn915]

We had an amazing time (as always) with some bloopers along the way (hey, it wouldn't be us if something didn't go as planned ;p).

 

 

Since it wasn't a cruise, there's really no place for me to do a review (other than a quick review with a link to pictures of places we went to while in Aruba) unless I do a quick review on the Aruba forum (which isn't quite the same as here). :(

 

Glad you enjoyed it.

 

Trip Advisor and/or Fodors travel forum are great places for "land based reviews"

[soapbxking]

I'm back at school after taking a bit of a break...well...more than half a year LOL Summer classes are the only time we are "allowed" to not take classes and last year was the first time I decided to "break" and enjoyed it so much that a would "break" again during winter. Oops! So, now I had to re-enroll in school again to pick up where I left off at and start my classes. I've been procrastinating because I only have 3 "elective" classes left before my last nursing class and most nursing classes are only 5 weeks long but electives are 15 weeks!!! So what does this mean? This means I'M DOING HOMEWORK MY ENTIRE CRUISE AND TESTS! BLAH!!! (BTW, I'm already a nurse, just doing my bachelors now).

 

Puerto Rico has been one of my favorite cruise ports to cruise out of. I was super excited, homework and all, to head back. Since we were sailing during Spring Break, I would have a limited time to stay (due to Sakari's school schedule) and flew in the day before the cruise.

 

I set the alarm for 8am...only IT DIDN'T GO OFF! I'm a planner and now we are running late! I didn't wake up until 9:30am. Great way to get this cruise started (and trust me, it will end just as bad for those that stay until the end!).

 

We raced around the house in a mad fashion, hurled the luggage into the truck like we were competing in the Olympics and headed off for a quick breakfast along the way and the hubby some coffee...because no matter how late we are to anything...he MUST have coffee. Otherwise, I'm leaving him behind!

 

Well, breakfast didn't start out good either. We stopped to order breakfast sandwiches and on route to the airport, when I opened mine, I found only the outer bread with no egg, no sausage, no cheese, no nuttin!

 

We arrived at the airport parking lot and we almost thought we wouldn't be able to park. Almost every parking spot was taken. All the way to the back of the lot and the last row. Whew. This is not starting out good.

 

Caught the shuttle to the airport, checked in at 11:15am, security check...halt! My bag was pulled from the x-ray machine. What the heck? I do this often enough to know what shouldn't be in that bag. IT WAS ALL THE CHANGE I HAD! LOL Seriously? I brought a bunch of change for vending machines along the way and obviously they didn't like that.

 

We raced to the gate (always at the end of the building for us for some reason) to find out our flight was a bit late coming in. Whew! Well, at least we made it.

 

We boarded the plane at 12:30 and headed out to Baltimore.

 

'''

 

 

We had received some free drink passes prior to this trip and after the morning I had already had, it was time for some alcohol. It's 5 o'clock somewhere right? This would be the point and time that I would discover that I had forgot my first item...my reading glasses. Oh just great. Squinting at the "menu", I picked out my first drink...vodka and OJ.

 

 

Nuts and booze should calm me down right?

 

Like always, Sakari starts a masterpiece.

 

 

 

We landed in Baltimore without a problem and made up some of the time we had lost by the delay. We didn't have a plane change so Sakari amused herself by laughing at daddy's pop bottle that had now turned into a square.

 

 

We were off again for our 3 hour and 45 minute flight to Puerto Rico.

 

 

 

On the longer flights, you are offered more snacks and more variety.

 

Southwest airline cookies...in the shape of a plane.

 

 

 

 

 

 

My girlfriend is a ICU nurse as well and Is doing her Bachelors now also. Good luck!!!!

[Beachy One]

Hi Kim hope your Aruba land vacation was wonderful. Question?  We will be in San Juan (new port for us) in March. Could you please let me know what wonderful beach/snorkeling adventures you took there?   Also, Any new beach/snorkel adventures in Aruba (going there in January).  If you don't want to post here, you can email me at deborahlynnmanning at gmail dot com.  Thanks again, Deborah

[jlkb]

Kim, I have read all of your reviews and have thoroughly enjoyed them.  I haven't seen anything from you in quite a while.  Just wondered if you were taking a break from CC or you just haven't cruised in a while.  I am looking forward to reading about your newest adventures.  Janice

 

[mishelly76]

On 11/16/2018 at 3:13 PM, jlkb said:

Kim, I have read all of your reviews and have thoroughly enjoyed them.  I haven't seen anything from you in quite a while.  Just wondered if you were taking a break from CC or you just haven't cruised in a while.  I am looking forward to reading about your newest adventures.  Janice

 

 

I've been wondering the same!  Love passing the days till my next cruise living vicariously through Kim's wonderful reviews!

[bartzcrew]

I was

On 11/16/2018 at 1:13 PM, jlkb said:

Kim, I have read all of your reviews and have thoroughly enjoyed them.  I haven't seen anything from you in quite a while.  Just wondered if you were taking a break from CC or you just haven't cruised in a while.  I am looking forward to reading about your newest adventures.  Janice

 

Add me to the inquiring list! Hope all is well. 

[Arzeena]

Kim, we just booked the Jewel for Feb.

Now I am going to savor every detail in all your posts in this thread again.

[jrmende63]

Kim,

I enjoyed your review very much. ( I always do!) We are sailing on the Jewel of the Seas in January. You made my cruise even closer!

[cainlr]

Where in the world is Kim and  family  going next?

[my_crib_too]

I have the same question, thought there was a November cruise being planned.  Kim is the only reason I check in from time to time.

 

Bruce