Anyone Currently on Jewel?

[bvm49]

I've been following this thread as we're going on this ship on April 8th when it reaches Rome. Thanks for the great info especially as we're Diamond status.

Brian

[little britain]

What a difference a week makes: I was in AD last weekend and again today.

There are many more people wearing face masks, and body temperature monitors as you enter the port building and into many hotels. 

[bearette]

They had their first report of a coronavirus patient confirmed.

[CatetPat]

10 hours ago, bearette said:

They had their first report of a coronavirus patient confirmed.

Not on the Jewel

[bearette]

 

1 hour ago, CatetPat said:

Not on the Jewel

No in United Emirates, hints the masks and temperature checks in port, where the ship is currently located.

[kernow]

We've cancelled our Quantum cruise for next week and now going on Jewel 17/02 instead. We've done Dubai cruises before but never been to Doha so looking for some info on what to do there. Can you walk into town from the port or is it taxi/shuttle bus? We prefer doing things on our own rather than an organised excursion if possible.

 

Thanks.

[kccrzr]

12 hours ago, kernow said:

We've cancelled our Quantum cruise for next week and now going on Jewel 17/02 instead. We've done Dubai cruises before but never been to Doha so looking for some info on what to do there. Can you walk into town from the port or is it taxi/shuttle bus? We prefer doing things on our own rather than an organised excursion if possible.

 

Thanks.

 

It is a bit far to walk from port to town. I was on a tour so can’t tell you if taxis were waiting at the port.  Royal Caribbean provides a round trip shuttle service for $10 USD/adult and $5/child. 

 

The last stop on our tour was the Museum of Islamic Art. It is a visually stunning museum designed by I M Pei.  We wanted to spend more time there than our tour constraints allowed but the taxis only took Qatari currency, no credit cards. Since we were unable to obtain Qatari currency from our US bank and did not have time before our tour to wait in line at the currency exchange at the port, we had to head back to the ship. 

 

The museum is at at the end of a long, picturesque corniche.  It is also a 15-20 minute walk to the Souq Waqif. If you want to go to the Souq, do it sooner rather than later as we were told the shops close at 2;00 for several hours. 

 

One delightful thing we saw we saw in Qatar was policemen riding camels. 

 

Following are just a few photos of the Souq, museum and camel-riding policemen.  We also saw a falconry shop at the Souq. 

Edited February 9, 2020 by kccrzr

[kernow]

5 hours ago, kccrzr said:

 

It is a bit far to walk from port to town. I was on a tour so can’t tell you if taxis were waiting at the port.  Royal Caribbean provides a round trip shuttle service for $10 USD/adult and $5/child. 

 

The last stop on our tour was the Museum of Islamic Art. It is a visually stunning museum designed by I M Pei.  We wanted to spend more time there than our tour constraints allowed but the taxis only took Qatari currency, no credit cards. Since we were unable to obtain Qatari currency from our US bank and did not have time before our tour to wait in line at the currency exchange at the port, we had to head back to the ship. 

 

The museum is at at the end of a long, picturesque corniche.  It is also a 15-20 minute walk to the Souq Waqif. If you want to go to the Souq, do it sooner rather than later as we were told the shops close at 2;00 for several hours. 

 

One delightful thing we saw we saw in Qatar was policemen riding camels. 

 

Following are just a few photos of the Souq, museum and camel-riding policemen.  We also saw a falconry shop at the Souq. 

 

 

 

 

Thank you, looks like a nice place.

[Crism]

Here is a question for anyone that docked in Dubai and disembarked the next day:

 

Can you get off any time of the day the next morning? Lots of flights to the US leave at 8-9am and we would have to leave around 4am. Will this be allowed since we had been in port since 2pm the previous day?

[keith46]

You’re available to disembark at any time - we did a similar cruise last year and left the ship around 4.30am for an early flight. 
 
Taxi’s are also available and parked outside the terminal throughout the night so no issues.
 

It’s a breeze getting off at this time but you just need to be mindful of pulling your own cases off so you’re not caught up with the full disembarkation process. 
 

 

[Red-arrow]

On 2/8/2020 at 3:04 PM, kernow said:

We've cancelled our Quantum cruise for next week and now going on Jewel 17/02 instead. We've done Dubai cruises before but never been to Doha so looking for some info on what to do there. Can you walk into town from the port or is it taxi/shuttle bus? We prefer doing things on our own rather than an organised excursion if possible.

 

Thanks.

We were on Jewel in December and made the mistake of getting the RCI shuttle bus in Doha. Two problems - 1) it drops you right on the other side of Doha from the port area, near to City Center Mall. It's not made clear that if you want the souk, Museum of Islamic Art and old Doha then save your money and get one of the many metered turquoise blue taxis that are available as soon as you exit the arrivals building next to the ship. 

2) On the day we were in Doha there was also a Costa ship in port and they had nabbed around 20 of the shuttle buses and Jewel was left with only 6 doing a 30-35 min round trip. That may have been sorted now or there may only be one ship in port, but it caused long lines with 45-60 mins wait and many complaints to GS - as well as being dropped in a much less good location in my opinion.

Amazing city overall, lots of building work in the port but once out a really interesting place.

hope that helps 

[di T]

We arrived back in the uk last night after 3 weeks on Jewel! A few things I found odd , first leg we received approx 14 usd port tax back for the two of us because of Bahrain being cancelled on the last leg we received under 9 usd tax back yet other people on the same cruise received much more! Strange, when I asked at guest relations they said. Is I decides who gets what and some get nothing. These 3 cruise I found a totally different demographic crowd on board on each cruise, many on board were lucky to of got bargain prices on the cruise price. We booked long ago but we were happy with what we paid at the time! I thought the entertainment was poor and maybe that was Royal trying to get some money back after the massive discounted fares. But we still had a great time and we will miss this itinerary for our regular winter sun, Dianne

[brillohead]

4 hours ago, di T said:

A few things I found odd , first leg we received approx 14 usd port tax back for the two of us because of Bahrain being cancelled on the last leg we received under 9 usd tax back yet other people on the same cruise received much more!

Port taxes can change from one day to the next (what the port authority charges), so some people paid more and some paid less at the time of their booking, so that's why some people get more or less refunded than others.

For as much as they do the whole "dynamic pricing" on everything else, Royal doesn't charge passengers more for port fees if they go up between the time of the booking and the time of the cruise (and they also don't refund them if they've gone down in that timeframe).  

 

[di T]

12 minutes ago, brillohead said:

Port taxes can change from one day to the next (what the port authority charges), so some people paid more and some paid less at the time of their booking, so that's why some people get more or less refunded than others.

For as much as they do the whole "dynamic pricing" on everything else, Royal doesn't charge passengers more for port fees if they go up between the time of the booking and the time of the cruise (and they also don't refund them if they've gone down in that timeframe).  

 

Hi this particular cruise was the only one I could not get a price drop so I paid full price back in April, the guys I spoke to on the cruise said they had picked this cruise up for less than a third of what I paid they were both couples staying in the exact same category as us. My first cruise I paid less for as I got a price drop before final payment but got more port tax back! Just didn’t seem to make sense and the guest relations didn’t know how this was. So the fact the same port was cancelled twice within 3weeks in the same cabin surely the port taxes would be the same for someone paying £250 or £800

[brillohead]

5 minutes ago, di T said:

So the fact the same port was cancelled twice within 3weeks in the same cabin surely the port taxes would be the same for someone paying £250 or £800

Port fees are per passenger, not at all related to the price of the room or the category of the room.

It would depend on if the port authority was charging the same amount to Royal for each week at the time of each booking.  

[kccrzr]

23 hours ago, Crism said:

Here is a question for anyone that docked in Dubai and disembarked the next day:

 

Can you get off any time of the day the next morning? Lots of flights to the US leave at 8-9am and we would have to leave around 4am. Will this be allowed since we had been in port since 2pm the previous day?

 

While checking in for embarkation everyone was asked to fill out a form regarding departure plans/flights to facilitate disembarkation. Some people left the first day back in Dubai and, as mentioned by another poster, some left very early on the second day to catch morning flights.  

[di T]

4 hours ago, brillohead said:

Port fees are per passenger, not at all related to the price of the room or the category of the room.

It would depend on if the port authority was charging the same amount to Royal for each week at the time of each booking.  

But on the same cruise?

[brillohead]

13 minutes ago, di T said:

But on the same cruise?

Yes, the port fees are charged to the passenger at the time you make the booking.  If the amount charged by the port authority changes between then and the actual date of the port stop, the cruise line eats (or pockets) the difference.  

If the amount charged on the day you made your booking was $10/person and the amount charged on the day your next door neighbor made their booking was $15, you'd get back $10 and they'd get back $15 for a missed port call.  

 

[scottie99]

11 hours ago, di T said:

We arrived back in the uk last night after 3 weeks on Jewel! A few things I found odd , first leg we received approx 14 usd port tax back for the two of us because of Bahrain being cancelled on the last leg we received under 9 usd tax back yet other people on the same cruise received much more! Strange, when I asked at guest relations they said. Is I decides who gets what and some get nothing. These 3 cruise I found a totally different demographic crowd on board on each cruise, many on board were lucky to of got bargain prices on the cruise price. We booked long ago but we were happy with what we paid at the time! I thought the entertainment was poor and maybe that was Royal trying to get some money back after the massive discounted fares. But we still had a great time and we will miss this itinerary for our regular winter sun, Dianne

I am OP and like the above, felt the whole cruise was low budget.  Entertainment was very sparse with much focus on games in centrum rather than performers in the lounges. 

 

 Because of this, we constantly checked what the cinema was offering. We couldn’t understand that on a cruise which was mainly middle aged or seniors, the films on offer were invariably fantasy or sci fi.
 

We also thought whilst Windjammer was very good, MDR and Speciality restaurants was below par. In fact first night in Chops, we had so many issues we had to ask for manager. 

We are D plus,  tried to sit in D lounge first night and gave up as finding a seat was impossible.

 

Not our favourite RCI cruise.

 

Edited February 11, 2020 by scottie99
Sp

[di T]

Scottie99 which cruise were you on? I have to agree the films were poor and the same 5 films repeated on all 3 cruises. The windjammer went from strength to strength over our three weeks, Other dinning wasn’t too good except for the chefs table which we did once each week and really enjoyed! We have never played as much trivia😂Diamond lounge one week was full of people who should of not been there so was over crowded.

[icsys]

 

1 hour ago, di T said:

Diamond lounge one week was full of people who should of not been there so was over crowded.

 

When the Vortex lounge doors are open for anyone to just walk in its hardly surprising.

[little britain]

 

1 hour ago, icsys said:

 

 

When the Vortex lounge doors are open for anyone to just walk in its hardly surprising.

I made that comment earlier when I saw someone try to hand over his card to pay.... 

 

The 2nd week it was much stricter, with Private Event signs and roped off areas and I think that the DL guy had had his butt kicked as he was standing guard and was much less friendlier IMHO.  

[di T]

3 hours ago, little britain said:

 

I made that comment earlier when I saw someone try to hand over his card to pay.... 

 

The 2nd week it was much stricter, with Private Event signs and roped off areas and I think that the DL guy had had his butt kicked as he was standing guard and was much less friendlier IMHO.  

Anis I think his name was, was on edge on that cruise and he was insisting people use the door into the diamond lounge to come in and out of the lounge. The lounge was quieter on the 3rd week but if they don’t have someone on the door to Vortex to check the sea pass, people will just walk in.

[little britain]

23 minutes ago, di T said:

Anis I think his name was, was on edge on that cruise and he was insisting people use the door into the diamond lounge to come in and out of the lounge. The lounge was quieter on the 3rd week but if they don’t have someone on the door to Vortex to check the sea pass, people will just walk in.

LOL - yes -  you had to wait till he disappeared into the DL area before you could leave the lounge with your drinks in hand via the Vortex door!!!

 

[di T]

1 hour ago, little britain said:

LOL - yes -  you had to wait till he disappeared into the DL area before you could leave the lounge with your drinks in hand via the Vortex door!!!

 

😂😂that was us lol! But hey still had a great trip we had three different room attendants and each one was fantastic,hope you enjoyed yours as well! Dianne