A few random thoughts after just returning from a Jewel Eastern Caribbean

[publicpersona]

Just off a Jewel of the Seas 8nt Eastern Caribbean cruise. I don't write reviews but just a few quick notes. For context, we've been on around 70 cruises over the last 32 years, most of which have been on Royal.

 

Things I didn't like so much:

 

• Staterooms weren't ready until 2 PM - I don't understand this. I do realize there is more to do on turnaround day and "enhanced cleaning for COVID" doubtless adds to the task list. But while on a typical day, particularly sea days, staterooms aren't available to start cleaning until 8-10 AM, on turnaround day many people are out of their rooms well before 7 AM (and everyone is out by 8 AM), and there's no guest belongings strewn about the rooms to slow them down. When we walked down the hall at 6:30 AM, several rooms were already being cleaned and beds were stripped.
• Smoke stench in the casino and surroundings - We made the mistake once of walking through the casino. It was on day one before the casino even opened but still the stench was terrible. And this extended to the centrum area on deck 6.
• Wine service is a bit frustrating - I'm not a wine snob, but I do know the difference between bulk table wines that cost them $2-$3/bottle in bulk, and a decent grocery store wine that sells in the $7-$10/bottle range. Bar servers really don't care what they pour .. it's basically whatever is open (this tendency is not unique to Royal). There is seldom any connection between what the menu shows (even in the app where keeping it updated is easier), and what you can actually order. There were several interesting and good quality wines shown at the $14/glass range, but few of them were to be actually served. On one evening I attempted to order a Robert Mondavi chard as listed on that bar's menu and was told that there was none of that anywhere on the ship. On the next evening, I was told that same chard was ALL they had in that venue. I long for the days of the Vintages/Cellar Masters kind of venue on the ship but they have all but disappeared. Oh yes, on the Jewel there is a bar called Vintages, but it actually had very little wine.

 

Things I was neutral about:

 

• Jewel needs a dry dock - There's just a lot of signs of wear and tear. On the other hand, everything was clean and well-kept as usual to the extent that it could be.
• Once a day service - I really don't need the room cleaned twice a day. Once our room steward started leaving a couple extra towels, I was fine with it. Where it got a little problematic was things that required a little interaction with the room steward such as putting in a bag o' laundry. We saw far less of him on this cruise than usual.
• Food - Despite the elimination of classic fare on the menus, I found something I liked each night in the MDR. No complaints from me. Those with dietary needs towards specific items were justified in their complaints of lack of standby go-tos. Portions are noticeably smaller, but maybe that's OK for as many courses as you are consuming.
• Crown & Anchor amenities - yes, there have been significant cutbacks. But the flexibility to use drink coupons all day long and on the private destinations is a great improvement over happy hour. The Diamond Lounge on the Jewel is really nice, so I've adjusted to being kicked out of the Concierge Lounge. The bag o' laundry for the boil and bake is still there, although there is some confusion about when/how to use it now. Some are saying it is only available on the days the general population is offered the deal, but the loyalty ambassador said it wasn't limited to that day.
• The app - I do want a paper Compass each day, but the app was useful for a lot of things. I wish the bar menus had been more accurate, but the dining menus were good.
• Entertainment - One headliner was a waste of time. One was worth a standing ovation. The two production shows we saw were entertaining, even if getting old after so many years of the same show. The criticism I have was scheduling. Having two shows (one at 7 and one at 9) is what I expect so whether you dine early or late, you can catch a show. But Jewel had their shows at 8 and 10. That doesn't work out so well. Farewell show was at 7:15 only which conflicted with dinner for many.

 

Things I did like .. a lot:

 

• Starlink wi-fi - Oh my gosh this was amazingly fast. We've come a long way from the 300 baud like wi-fi of years past. We were actually able to stream on it without any issue. The only issue we had was login/connect issues. Getting to the captive web page to start a session was hit and miss. Turning off Private IP on iOS devices seemed to be necessary. Getting connected to the ship guest wi-fi wasn't the issue. It was that you needed to go through the captive page to start a session. Going to login.com or the onboard URL was rarely successful. The app sometimes stubbornly said "Looking for your cruise" and offered no other option. But once underway, it worked extremely well. And I love that on Royal, one device means "at a time". I like to use my iPad in the stateroom, but I'm not going to carry it around the ship. Oh! And wi-fi also worked extremely well on CocoCay.
• Chef's table - While the specialty restaurants have lost their value proposition (even on our BOGO nights), I was surprised to find Chef's Table was a great bang for the buck. The food and paired wines were excellent. The description in the app said beverages were not included, but of course the wine is.
• CocoCay - We've been avoiding CocoCay for several years based on Royal's marketing of it as an amusement park of thrills and water park experience. As we remember CocoCay when it was simply an island with beaches, we didn't want to be disappointed. But it turns out, the water park serves as a kid magnet in one section of the island. Elsewhere, there are several excellent beaches with plenty of capacity of nice lounge chairs and umbrellas and ample services (food, restaurants, walking paths). We were fortunate enough to be the only ship there that day, and it being a small ship, but it seemed to me there was plenty of capacity to handle much more. Royal should do themselves a favor and feature pics of Chill Beach and South Beach as much as the water slides.
• Royal in general - lots of folks on the cruise and here on CC dis Royal constantly and point to all the things that are no longer there. But we're still finding it a consistently good product and will cruise it again and again.

[smokeybandit]

48 minutes ago, publicpersona said:

Staterooms weren't ready until 2 PM

2pm is the default ready time across the entire fleet.

[melbur]

Thanks, I board Friday for a b3b. Always loved the little Jewel. She's likely due for a "refresh" tho

[voyager70]

7 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

2pm is the default ready time across the entire fleet.

Is this a recent change? I thought it was always 1:00 but no big deal waiting an extra hour.

[sjb317]

We were on this cruise, too.  Internet was good when it worked but we had problems getting kicked off after a few minutes of use.  And it worked very poorly in our cabin but we were down on deck 3.

 

I found on port days when I had phone service that it was much faster to use my phone’s hotspot than try to log on.

 

I agree with you about the wine!😂

 

Sherri🙂

[publicpersona]

1 hour ago, smokeybandit said:

2pm is the default ready time across the entire fleet.

 

Yes, I wasn't saying this was specific to Jewel. As another comment here said, it had typically been 1 PM pre-COVID, but I can remember when 12 PM was common. During the post-pandemic restart, ships sailed under capacity so it isn't fair to compare, but I did several sailings where the rooms were ready to those who first boarded at 10:30 or so. Then there was the hybrid which was that even though not all rooms were ready, it was OK to drop off carry-ons and put into the closet and lock the door.

[Sms1973]

Stumbled into this thread researching wine issues.

 

We were on Mariner last summer and found the wine program to be in disarray (we had been on Symphony in Nov of 19 and found it to be more than adequate).

 

We had the same, lack of availability of wines that were all on the list (MDR was a choice of red or white) and I’m happy that your Chef table worked out.  Our was bad according to the group overall (4 unrelated parties).  The 5th group was so drunk when they got to the table I think they could  have been been fed dog food and swill from a dump bucket and they would have loved it.  

 

I’m just trying to determine if this is the new norm for RCL, or is this just older ships, or what the story is. Any other fellow winos that can weigh in?

[ARandomTraveler]

4 hours ago, Sms1973 said:

Stumbled into this thread researching wine issues.

 

We were on Mariner last summer and found the wine program to be in disarray (we had been on Symphony in Nov of 19 and found it to be more than adequate).

 

We had the same, lack of availability of wines that were all on the list (MDR was a choice of red or white) and I’m happy that your Chef table worked out.  Our was bad according to the group overall (4 unrelated parties).  The 5th group was so drunk when they got to the table I think they could  have been been fed dog food and swill from a dump bucket and they would have loved it.  

 

I’m just trying to determine if this is the new norm for RCL, or is this just older ships, or what the story is. Any other fellow winos that can weigh in?

I'm kind of a wine snob, so I always bring my own wine. Even if they sold the wine I like on the ship, they're gonna over charge for it, and since you can bring on your own bottle (used to be bottleS), you may as well carry on the good stuff you like. I tend to like wine I buy straight from a vineyard, $50-155 bottles of wine that would cost $80-$300 on the ship, if they even carry it, which they don't.

[Sms1973]

30 minutes ago, ARandomTraveler said:

5 hours ago, Sms1973 said:

I'm kind of a wine snob, so I always bring my own wine. Even if they sold the wine I like on the ship, they're gonna over charge for it, and since you can bring on your own bottle (used to be bottleS), you may as well carry on the good stuff you like

I’m with you, we’ve been know to carry a case of wine on trips, but two bottles won’t get us through the first day.

 

I don’t mind the markups, they’re modest compared to most restaurants if you have the drink package, but the lack of availability killed me… MDR had nothing good, just the basest cab and chard,  we found Whisrpering Angel at one bar (it was a June cruise, so we needed a nice hot weather wine), and then some good stuff tucked away at the specialty restaurants.  But one would expect the “fleetwide” wine list to be available, especially in the MDR.

 

It seemed the emphasis was on the deck drinks and the wine program was largely going away. If that’s the plan, fine, but don’t let on that there stuff that isn’t there.

 

I guess the fact that there are no longer Somms on the ships may be an indication of the importance of the wine program to RCL. 
 

the other thought I had was that the ship we were last on, Mariner, does mostly 3-4 day booze cruises, so I was hoping that is why the wine options were lacking.

 

in the end, I am just trying to figure out wha5 to expect and not be as disappointed as last time with modest expectations and high hopes for the chef dinner.

[cruiseguy1016]

On 3/12/2023 at 12:51 PM, voyager70 said:

Is this a recent change? I thought it was always 1:00 but no big deal waiting an extra hour.

 

Yes, the time was pushed back after Covid so they could do extensive cleaning/sanitizing. It was enforced tightly early on but it has become more relaxed in some occasions. There are reports on some ships of the rooms being open at 1:00 - 1:30.

[Jasukkie]

They might as well have not had a wine list on the restart cruises. I think things are better now but it may be easier to ask what they do have.

[resetjet]

On 3/12/2023 at 11:53 AM, publicpersona said:

Just off a Jewel of the Seas 8nt Eastern Caribbean cruise. I don't write reviews but just a few quick notes. For context, we've been on around 70 cruises over the last 32 years, most of which have been on Royal.

 

Things I didn't like so much:

 

• Staterooms weren't ready until 2 PM - I don't understand this. I do realize there is more to do on turnaround day and "enhanced cleaning for COVID" doubtless adds to the task list. But while on a typical day, particularly sea days, staterooms aren't available to start cleaning until 8-10 AM, on turnaround day many people are out of their rooms well before 7 AM (and everyone is out by 8 AM), and there's no guest belongings strewn about the rooms to slow them down. When we walked down the hall at 6:30 AM, several rooms were already being cleaned and beds were stripped.

The stewards now have between 20 and 25 stateroom each to turn.  They are having a very difficult time getting this done and are even going to the extreme of hiring other crewmembers to help.  In the past they only had less then 18 each.  This is thanks to the once a day service.  However they are often available by 1pm.

[ONECRUISER]

On 3/12/2023 at 9:42 AM, smokeybandit said:

2pm is the default ready time across the entire fleet.

Yup, 13 Sailings on 3 Ships last 11 Months, all but 3 were 2pm on the Door, one was 1pm and others were 130. Though several sailings they said 2 but announcement was made Cabins ready early, this between 125-145. That said even Pre-CV seems like I always had the Sailing where they were doing Deep Clean, Inspections or replacing Mattresses or Balcony Chairs. These would cause late 130-2pm on about half my Cruises. Furniture replacement took all 3-4 legs my Cruises, this as they'd do couple Decks each week 

[ONECRUISER]

On 3/12/2023 at 9:45 AM, melbur said:

Thanks, I board Friday for a b3b. Always loved the little Jewel. She's likely due for a "refresh" tho

Hope having a Great Cruise/Cruises. Almost Booked your same B3B on her. But Building new House and est Date completion was 1Apr-1May. Did Jewel for B4B last March-April. At time was one the Cleanest Ships ever been on. Older or Dated I can live with, long as everything is Clean...no complaints

[Reijo]

We board Saturday for an 8 night cruise.  One question.....how was Windjammer?  It has been rather bad on some ships lately.  We're thinking of not eating in the MDR for a change.

[steveru621]

On 3/12/2023 at 11:53 AM, publicpersona said:

Staterooms weren't ready until 2 PM - I don't understand this. I do realize there is more to do on turnaround day and "enhanced cleaning for COVID" doubtless adds to the task list. But while on a typical day, particularly sea days, staterooms aren't available to start cleaning until 8-10 AM, on turnaround day many people are out of their rooms well before 7 AM (and everyone is out by 8 AM), and there's no guest belongings strewn about the rooms to slow them down. When we walked down the hall at 6:30 AM, several rooms were already being cleaned and beds were stripped.

 

It's probably the new normal.  Each cabin attendant has more cabins.  Serenade last week 2PM.

[publicpersona]

1 hour ago, Reijo said:

We board Saturday for an 8 night cruise.  One question.....how was Windjammer?  It has been rather bad on some ships lately.  We're thinking of not eating in the MDR for a change.

It was OK for breakfast and lunch. Some reduction in choices, but acceptable. Surprisingly hard to get pizza.  They have it, but bring out just one or two at a time. 
 

I did not experience dinner there. 

[island lady]

On 3/12/2023 at 12:51 PM, voyager70 said:

Is this a recent change? I thought it was always 1:00 but no big deal waiting an extra hour.

 

The week before it was 1:00.   It varies due to conditions.  Luckily that week (I was on same cruise) we were 2nd week of B2B...did not affect us.  😉 

[happy cruzer]

Back to the comment about wine availability, we too noticed that lack.  So far carry on red wine has made the difference for us then supplement with the white wine by the glass and beer using Diamond vouchers.  Wine by the glass is pretty poor on board most of the major lines.  The difference is that other lines have wine bottle packages as well as beverage packages that work for those that drink mostly wine.

[RCLcruiser2012]

On 3/19/2023 at 8:48 PM, resetjet said:

The stewards now have between 20 and 25 stateroom each to turn.  They are having a very difficult time getting this done and are even going to the extreme of hiring other crewmembers to help.  In the past they only had less then 18 each.  This is thanks to the once a day service.  However they are often available by 1pm.

They can't hire enough help.... I hear since Covid,  cruise line employees went to other fields.... 😞

[lovesthebeach2]

Since January we’ve been on Jewel, then Serenade, and just got off Brilliance today.
So you can tell we love this class.  But out of the three recent cruises, we feel Serenade needs some TLC the most, although they all need some help.  I don’t care though, I just love these ships.

 

just wish they would not allow smoking indoors in the casino at all on these ships. The smell travels all the way up the Centrum at times.
 

[notscb]

On 3/12/2023 at 11:53 AM, publicpersona said:

and there's no guest belongings strewn about the rooms to slow them down.

 

I appreciate that you gave us the good/neutral/bad perspectives, it was actually really helpful in getting a sense of how the experience was overall (and it sounds like you had a good time!).

 

When you mention "no guest belongings strewn around" on turnaround day- that might be true, but some guests leave staterooms absolutely trashed and leave their trash everywhere when leaving, too. Stuff left in drawers, under the beds, in the bathroom, etc. While it's less trash and belongings, my experience has shown me that some guests absolutely trash their rooms and resetting them to the default level of cleanliness for the next guest can be an involved process.

[jean87510]

On 3/12/2023 at 11:53 AM, publicpersona said:

Just off a Jewel of the Seas 8nt Eastern Caribbean cruise. I don't write reviews but just a few quick notes. For context, we've been on around 70 cruises over the last 32 years, most of which have been on Royal.

 

Things I didn't like so much:

 

• Staterooms weren't ready until 2 PM - I don't understand this. I do realize there is more to do on turnaround day and "enhanced cleaning for COVID" doubtless adds to the task list. But while on a typical day, particularly sea days, staterooms aren't available to start cleaning until 8-10 AM, on turnaround day many people are out of their rooms well before 7 AM (and everyone is out by 8 AM), and there's no guest belongings strewn about the rooms to slow them down. When we walked down the hall at 6:30 AM, several rooms were already being cleaned and beds were stripped.
• Smoke stench in the casino and surroundings - We made the mistake once of walking through the casino. It was on day one before the casino even opened but still the stench was terrible. And this extended to the centrum area on deck 6.
• Wine service is a bit frustrating - I'm not a wine snob, but I do know the difference between bulk table wines that cost them $2-$3/bottle in bulk, and a decent grocery store wine that sells in the $7-$10/bottle range. Bar servers really don't care what they pour .. it's basically whatever is open (this tendency is not unique to Royal). There is seldom any connection between what the menu shows (even in the app where keeping it updated is easier), and what you can actually order. There were several interesting and good quality wines shown at the $14/glass range, but few of them were to be actually served. On one evening I attempted to order a Robert Mondavi chard as listed on that bar's menu and was told that there was none of that anywhere on the ship. On the next evening, I was told that same chard was ALL they had in that venue. I long for the days of the Vintages/Cellar Masters kind of venue on the ship but they have all but disappeared. Oh yes, on the Jewel there is a bar called Vintages, but it actually had very little wine.

 

Things I was neutral about:

 

• Jewel needs a dry dock - There's just a lot of signs of wear and tear. On the other hand, everything was clean and well-kept as usual to the extent that it could be.
• Once a day service - I really don't need the room cleaned twice a day. Once our room steward started leaving a couple extra towels, I was fine with it. Where it got a little problematic was things that required a little interaction with the room steward such as putting in a bag o' laundry. We saw far less of him on this cruise than usual.
• Food - Despite the elimination of classic fare on the menus, I found something I liked each night in the MDR. No complaints from me. Those with dietary needs towards specific items were justified in their complaints of lack of standby go-tos. Portions are noticeably smaller, but maybe that's OK for as many courses as you are consuming.
• Crown & Anchor amenities - yes, there have been significant cutbacks. But the flexibility to use drink coupons all day long and on the private destinations is a great improvement over happy hour. The Diamond Lounge on the Jewel is really nice, so I've adjusted to being kicked out of the Concierge Lounge. The bag o' laundry for the boil and bake is still there, although there is some confusion about when/how to use it now. Some are saying it is only available on the days the general population is offered the deal, but the loyalty ambassador said it wasn't limited to that day.
• The app - I do want a paper Compass each day, but the app was useful for a lot of things. I wish the bar menus had been more accurate, but the dining menus were good.
• Entertainment - One headliner was a waste of time. One was worth a standing ovation. The two production shows we saw were entertaining, even if getting old after so many years of the same show. The criticism I have was scheduling. Having two shows (one at 7 and one at 9) is what I expect so whether you dine early or late, you can catch a show. But Jewel had their shows at 8 and 10. That doesn't work out so well. Farewell show was at 7:15 only which conflicted with dinner for many.

 

Things I did like .. a lot:

 

• Starlink wi-fi - Oh my gosh this was amazingly fast. We've come a long way from the 300 baud like wi-fi of years past. We were actually able to stream on it without any issue. The only issue we had was login/connect issues. Getting to the captive web page to start a session was hit and miss. Turning off Private IP on iOS devices seemed to be necessary. Getting connected to the ship guest wi-fi wasn't the issue. It was that you needed to go through the captive page to start a session. Going to login.com or the onboard URL was rarely successful. The app sometimes stubbornly said "Looking for your cruise" and offered no other option. But once underway, it worked extremely well. And I love that on Royal, one device means "at a time". I like to use my iPad in the stateroom, but I'm not going to carry it around the ship. Oh! And wi-fi also worked extremely well on CocoCay.
• Chef's table - While the specialty restaurants have lost their value proposition (even on our BOGO nights), I was surprised to find Chef's Table was a great bang for the buck. The food and paired wines were excellent. The description in the app said beverages were not included, but of course the wine is.
• CocoCay - We've been avoiding CocoCay for several years based on Royal's marketing of it as an amusement park of thrills and water park experience. As we remember CocoCay when it was simply an island with beaches, we didn't want to be disappointed. But it turns out, the water park serves as a kid magnet in one section of the island. Elsewhere, there are several excellent beaches with plenty of capacity of nice lounge chairs and umbrellas and ample services (food, restaurants, walking paths). We were fortunate enough to be the only ship there that day, and it being a small ship, but it seemed to me there was plenty of capacity to handle much more. Royal should do themselves a favor and feature pics of Chill Beach and South Beach as much as the water slides.
• Royal in general - lots of folks on the cruise and here on CC dis Royal constantly and point to all the things that are no longer there. But we're still finding it a consistently good product and will cruise it again and again.

great feedback.  thank you.

[RCLcruiser2012]

3 minutes ago, resetjet said:

The biggest problem is they have to vaccinate and alot of people in these countries are afraid of it.  They think its a conspiracy.  That and what you said.  They are gonna have to raise pay to fix it.  

I didn't even think of the vax issue.  I can understand that.  Thanks for the info!  

[resetjet]

21 minutes ago, RCLcruiser2012 said:

I didn't even think of the vax issue.  I can understand that.  Thanks for the info!  

Thats not something i made up.  Its from the crew.