Review Jewel of the Seas

[juried]

Just back from the Royal Caribbean Jewel of the Seas September 11 through September 23, 2006.

Warning, this review is very long and a bit fragmented. My head is still floating.

There were 2 of us in the Royal Suite, Cabin Number 1556.

This was a 12-night transatlantic cruise from Harwich, England to Boston.

We flew out of Boston Logan on September 7 and spent a few days at the Holiday Inn, Kensington Forum in London. London was great fun but the Hotel was too far away, next time in London we will stay closer to town.

London is also uber expensive with the British Pound about double the value of the US dollar.

Our Driver (Darren Parsons of Adelphi Executive Hire http://www.adelphiexecutivehire.co.uk was great.) met us at the airport, dropped us at the Hotel and then picked us up a few days later and brought us to the port in Harwich.

The port was very easy to find, we dropped our bags, tipped the kid tossing them on the tram and walked into the pier building. Because we had the Suite we were directed behind the red curtain for express check in and that was where the preferential treatment began and ended.

First impression the ship is large, clean and very bright.

Embarkation was effortless, it was around 2:30pm and we were in our suite by 3:15 or so.

The Jewel is a lovely ship. Not gorgeous but tasteful.

Suite: The Royal Suite is nice. Again, tastefully appointed but nothing exceptional. It was the perfect size for the 2 of us. My favorite part of the suite was the whirlpool tub. I loved it.

Unfortunately there were left-over dead roses and open soda cans in the fridge. One of the sinks was clogged and the place reeked of cigarette smoke, yuk. A rather bad first impression. We met our room steward “Ben” who was nice but much harried. Ben told us to go enjoy the view while he finished cleaning and worked on removing the cigarette smell…. He never took the time to show us how to operate the suite remotes, lighting, drapes, etc. And the way to get rid of the smell consisted largely in opening the balcony doors.

We had booked the Royal Suite expecting a certain level of service, which was non-existent.

After dropping our stuff in the suite, we were off to the Windjammer Cafe for the luncheon buffet. This was very good. The space itself is nice, overlooking the harbor and the seating was comfortable. I thought the food in the windjammer was better than the main dining room, especially breakfast. They put out a great spread.

This was a much older cruise than we are accustomed to. We are not kids (45 and 50) but the average age was probably 70. Our tablemates joked that this ship was sure to run out of oatmeal and prune juice. This cruise was old even for them and they were about 70.

Nightlife on the Jewel was missing unless you like ballroom style dancing or very serious karaoke.

The DJ in disco was great but I never once saw more than 12 people up there.

The elevators are ridiculously slow. I have an idea here: I think when you push the button to call an elevator and wait and wait and finally decide the stairs don’t look too bad, after all it’s only 5 flights…. There should be a button to cancel your elevator call. Just a thought.

On to dining… We did not go to the Portofino’s or Chops but everyone told us it was excellent but took about 2.5 hours. Our waitress in the Tides Dining room was Charmain, she was great. We sat at a table for 6 but 9 of the 12 nights there were just 4 of us. We went to dinner for the tablemates more that the food. We dined with the most wonderful couple. Great table talk, fun stories and lively banter. Even though I thought the food was good and the service was outstanding. The meat was often dry and they insist on putting fruit with all desserts, but I am not a fussy eater, so it was all good to me.

Normally on a cruise, my husband and I greatly enjoy the Casino.

The Casino Royale on the Jewel was large, and for the most part very quiet. We sat at a 10 person Texas Hold’em table and played the other passengers. It was a $5-$10 limit game, a friendly game and if you won some money one night, you gave it all back the next. We all joked that the same money just kept going around. The house rake was 10% (more than any other cruise or casino I have ever been to) with a cap at $10.00 per hand. This was the oddest Casino ever. The hold’em table was not really in the Casino but just outside of it in the News / Weather Bar. It was supposed to be a “Sports” bar but it had NO SPORTS on the TV’s 7 out of 12 nights… no kidding, so we called it the News/Weather Bar. What was most upsetting is that around midnight or 12:30am the Casino host would come around to shut down the table. This was unreal. It was the only busy table in the so-called Casino and they wanted to close it. Even on Sea Days when you have no reason to rise early the next day. About the third or fourth night my husband (who is quite soft-spoken and rarely says boo) spoke up and said that we are here on “vacation” and everyone at the table wants to play cards… and he asked why can’t we stay and play longer? Well, let me tell you he was reamed! The little twit of a Casino Supervisor was so very rude to my husband; it set the tone for the rest of the cruise.

I dare say this is the best rested Casino Staff on the Seas. With the noted exception of Keith (excellent!), Emma and Justin (both very good), this Casino Staff was rude (especially Sandra) condescending and at times incompetent. Dealers Evelyn and Pinky both mucked the winning hand more that once. So we decided to have a few tournaments in the Card Room. I called my concierge Andrea. Even though Andrea is NICE. She is not a concierge. She is more of a hostess or barmaid.

Ok, so let’s stop here and talk about concierge service.

It may be unfair for me to compare concierge services from other cruise lines but hey, in my experience, if you have seen one concierge you’ve seen them all… or so I thought.

We had the Royal Suite, so we paid a lot more than most, so we expect certain privileges. For example, on other cruise lines, the Concierge meets you, if not at the pier directly, than at least in your suite. Stops by, hands you a business card, carries a clipboard to take any notes (change dining times, order flowers, liquor etc) and lets you know he or she will be available to you to book your spa treatments, excursions or dinner reservations. This never happened. I found Andrea in the Concierge Lounge hurriedly mixing drinks and balancing a food tray. So there was my cue that we did not in fact have a concierge, but a stressed-out, over worked waitress. Poor Andrea, I told her that she had too much on her plate with over 200 Platinum members onboard and her job was not that of a concierge. That perhaps she needed an assistant to handle the bar and small things and that she should at least take the time to introduce herself to Suite Guests. She agreed but I could see that she was not really listening. Too often people mistake heartfelt advice for complaint. I ordered 3 bottles of wine through Andrea to be delivered to fellow passengers. And 2 of the 3 thanked me. So an alarm went off and sure enough the third bottle was sent to the wrong cabin. I asked Andrea to send the bottle to the correct cabin and she said she would try and get the bottle back. I told her “NO, you cannot take wine away from someone a day later. Not only had they probably opened it by now but it is just wrong to compound the error.” So I purchased a fourth bottle to be sent to the correct cabin. Augh.

Interjection: I am not a loyal Royal Caribbean Cruiser. I go wherever my budget allows on whatever cruise line suits my needs in respect to timing and ports. I think if you are a loyal RCCL cruiser, than by all means you should take advantage of whatever perks RCCL throws at you. The impression here is that RCCL really takes care of it’s Platinum or Diamond Members….but how? By giving them a coupon book, throwing them a party and free drinks for a few hours of the day? I don’t get it. I think RCCL has over extended itself here; the so-called concierge lounge and another one just like it were packed. How “preferential” is that? Besides, the coupons were only good for stuff I would never use … discount on the second bottle of wine UNDER $50.00?, Free Picture of the Ship? Johnny Rockets (not on this ship) $2.00 Casino Credit… please. This Concierge lounge was full every time I stopped by for a coffee. There was never a free seat and most folks stayed for the 3 hours of drinking and just sat and drank. I know this because prior to dinner, I stopped in for a coffee and after stopped back for express tender tickets (shouldn’t these be delivered to my suite?) and the same people were still there. My husband made the same observation.

Now my husband is a true romantic. He wanted flowers in the suite from every port we stopped at. Native floriculture. Andrea had never heard of this, the only flower service onboard was tea roses. Nice but not quite. SO after much ado, he made the order and at every stop we got glorious flowers. By day 7 the suite no longer smelled of smoke but rather a very lovely funeral home… a lot of flowers!

Now because we had this nice suite, and met so many nice folks on the message board and at the poker table (and some people are just curious about the suite itself) we decided to have a little get together mid-day on a sea day. I gave Andrea the invitations “Cookies and Cocktails” along with the room numbers the day prior. She did not get them out until a couple of hours before the party. So, many people told me they “JUST” got the invitation. Others that did not show up may have never got the invite, I don’t know. It is not a huge deal, not life threatening, but still it is sloppy. It was awkward seeing other Crown Jewels and not knowing if they got the invitation or not. So we had our little party and Hugo from room service came through with fancy cookies and lots of finger foods and exotic tid-bits (salmon, caviar, etc) and everyone seemed to enjoy it. Nuff said.

The Suite: The Suite was nice. One major complaint: NO Coffee maker. Come on now, even Carnival ships have a little coffee maker. We brought our own coffee (Dunkin Donuts) but were unable to make it. They say it is a fire hazard, bull. Another problem with the suite was the poor TV reception. We had huge white lines constantly riding up the screen. This drove me nuts so I called Andrea. But she is only available during the AM coffee hours or the PM drinking binge so I was on my own. I had 3 guys from electrical maintenance in the suite trying to fix the problem. They told me that the entire side of deck 10 had this poor reception problem. But I had made friends with my neighbors and their TV’s worked just fine. So the maintenance guys lied. I asked if they could just replace the large flat screen with one from the Sports Bar since nobody was watching those anyway and they were the same size, but they blew me off. I offered to pay, but still no. Also you could not get the CD player to work. You had to play CD’s though the DVD which only had one giant speaker under the TV. Here we are in is this lovely suite with speakers all throughout the ceiling and you cannot get them to work. It was very frustrating. Also the Suite has these huge archaic remote controls that hardly work and need a lot of re-charging. I just wanted a simple clicker.

Back to poker. Since the Texas Hold‘em table was only open at the Casino’s leisure, us committed poker players decided to have our own tournament. I had brought my chip set and there were 10 of us, so why not? I called Andrea about 5pm, since this is the ONLY time to reach her, (first mistake) to request that she reserve 2 tables in the Card Room for 10am the following morning (this is standard procedure on any cruise line) I called again to confirm but she still had not had time to make the reservation. So I told her no problem, I could see that she was busy and I would contact the Activities Director myself and make the plan on my own. NOW, Andrea said she could not give me the Directors name or number. She told me it was up to her to do this. Yes, I agreed but knew she was too busy. I called her back later, she said we could not have the 2 tables in the card room because of a scheduled bridge tutorial but they would bring 2 tables and 10 chairs to my suite, OK fine. Next morning I stop by for coffee, see Andrea ask when the tables and chairs will be delivered… she said “Oh, you can use the Card Room now, Bridge Talk will not be until 11”. Well, I told her that our Poker game will go longer than 1 hour and that I had already invited everyone to MY SUITE. Augh. Long story short, we got the table, chairs and they stayed in my suite for the rest of the cruise. We had 3 tournaments. And while we played in my suite, the dealer sat alone at the Texas Hold’em table in the News/Weather Bar.

The Cruise Director was OK. But the shows were same old…. One girl can really sing, the other (a soprano) was not as good. Both men singers were good. Truth be told I only saw one show entirely the others I either left early because they were lame or I could not find a seat. The Platters were great but Standing Room Only. Again on other lines, your concierge makes sure you get seating.

I am not a tough customer. I expect to get what I pay for. If I had paid less than I would happily accept this level of service. Truly I am an easy customer, I book my own excursions, do not want spa treatments or have special meal plans.

Itinerary: great places, great weather, loved them all. Did the Blarney Castle Excursion and the Guinness Dublin Tour, both were awesome!

Music: I only heard one great band, do not know the name, I think I crashed a private party in the Hollywood Odyssey. It was full of officers.

Overall: What I heard a lot on this cruise was how relaxing it was. This was definitely a relaxing cruise. If you want to relax than this is the cruise for you. I was bored to bits. Also my husband spoke at length with an older fellow passenger that told him that he thought many elderly people actually live full time on cruise ships. And this kind of made sense to me. When we were being herded like sheep into the Tides Dining room among the sea of canes, walkers and wheelchairs, it had a funky, sour milk smell. Hell, it beats the rest home and is probably about the same cost.

The good: The ports, the weather, best tablemates ever, meeting new friends, Meet and Mingle Party, easy embarkation and disembarkation, Thomas and Hugo from Room Service (very good room service menu but the same as all the other rooms, again at this suite level you either have a butler, or waiter that will bring you good food late at night or a concierge to arrange it), excellent photographers courteous and professional, no hard sell for bingo or the Art auctions, Mpho and Gemma from Guest Relations were wonderful. Seafarer Café was also very good.

The Bad: The Staff, not just the Casino but the overall attitude. It was like they were doing us a favor. Lousy concierge service, no nightlife, lame casino, crowded or poor shows, s l o w elevators, an overall sloppiness that continually reminded me that RCCL just “does not care.”

After re-reading my review, it sounds like a miserable cruise. It was not. It was the best we could make it. The ports were magical, the weather perfect and the Crown Jewels a lot of fun. If ever we cruise RCCL again, we will just get the balcony cabin and not have any great expectations, thus no disappointment. Plus I should note that most everyone I spoke with was having a wonderfully "relaxing" cruise. They absolutely loved it.

Till next time,

Enjoy this glorious day.

Juried

[ISABELLA]

Thank you for a great review. We will be going on JOS end of October and ware very interested how is Jewel this year. I can feel your disappointment about service, that no longer there, poor show- like it is high school rehearsal, " don't care" attitude- all of that is under slogan, that all CD give on the beginning of the cruise - if anything we can do to make your cruise more pleasurable, don't hesitate to let us know.......what are big words. For exception of few cruise lines, no other do that anymore. We've been on 30 cruises and remember how it used to be. Those days are gone. Now, all they care is the bottom line- report to the shareholders. So you will not go back to RCCL, they just will find another first time cruiser, who has nothing to compare and will be happy no matter what. Just next time, like you said, we all go where are interesting ports for the price we want to pay and hope that a pleasant cruise is waiting for us.

Keep cruising.....

Isabella

[CGTNORMANDIE]

HI JURIED!!!

 

Sorry you had such a tough time in such a nice suite. We had the RS on the JOS and loved it...but then again...it was brand new and everything worked. The idea of Texas Hold'em in the RS was a good one...LOL.

 

We found the RS to be one of the best suites we ever had...the size...the 2 full bathrooms...we loved it. You just have to remember...if you were on the QM 2...that size suite would cost around $24,000 for 6 days. True...the service would or should be better but...I guess you have to make do. Tell me...did they stock the wet bar for you???

 

Funny thing...I just went into Boston last night and sat with a friend of mine who had just gotten off the JOS TA. He said it was a great time and loved every minute of it. He has been on the ship 4 times. I also ran into another friend of mine today and she said her daughter just got off the JOS TA and loved it. Sounds to me like some of the things in the RS were not right...is the piano still out of tune??? We never expect great cabin service in an RCI suite...just the regular cabin service. We never expect great food either...just the regular RCI stuff. We still love the JOS.:D

[juried]

Yes the piano is still there and it was recently tuned. The A-drive worked so I did not have to play, thankfully.

No they did not set up the wetbar, we had to argue with the concierge to allow us to buy bottles of spirits for the suite. Explaining to her the need to be hospitable when folks drop by, you have to offer them a drink.

It was weird, everyone I spoke with said what a lovely time they were having and emphasized the "relaxing" advective.

I think Cruise is a verb, an action word and I want more activity. Why bother having a rock wall and waterslide if it is closed all the time?

I did not have a bad vacation, it just was not up to par with my expectations. I think RCCL cruisers should step out of their comfort zone and try another line especially if they are in a suite. NCL caters to the suite guests. The perks are endless. In the NCL Dawn Villa you get unlimited soda plus 6 bottles of alcohol (you choose) and champagne, cordless phones that work throughout the ship, laptop in the suite with internet service, daily treats from the butler, the conceirge escorts you aboard and arranges a limo ride to the airport. You get first on/off treatment at all ports, front of the line escort through the private entrance to the chocolate buffet, reserved seating for all shows, if you host a party they supply all the food and staff at no additional cost and the captain and cruise director make an appearance (at least at my parties) high end conceirge service and 2 maids. Every morning we woke up to a great breakfast spread and every night at midnight we had turkey club sandwiches, cake and pizza delivered. And that is only what I can remember... the experience is unreal.

Till next time...

[Tmmull]

juried, Not to flame, but why were you "slumming" in a Royal Caribbean Royal Suite? The garden Villa on the Dawn is 5750 sq. ft. and goes for $30,000 for an 11 night western cruise. You must have felt cramped in that 1001 sq. ft. Royal Suite. After researching what you are accustom to I can understand your why you were displeased when everything wasn't prefect. Maybe, someday when I win the lottery I'll understand what cruising really is, till then RCI will have to do!

[ckrobyn]

Juried - thanks for posting such a lengthy, comprehensive review.

 

Just a thought ......200 Platinum RCI cruisers would have had no impact on the fact the Concierge Lounge was crowded. Platinum C&A status does not include entry to the Concierge Lounge.

 

Sorry your Royal Suite was such a disappointment. I would kill for ONE night in that suite let alone 12! :)

[PhoenixCruiser]

juried, Not to flame, but why were you "slumming" in a Royal Caribbean Royal Suite? The garden Villa on the Dawn is 5750 sq. ft. and goes for $30,000 for an 11 night western cruise. You must have felt cramped in that 1001 sq. ft. Royal Suite. After researching what you are accustom to I can understand your why you were displeased when everything wasn't prefect. Maybe, someday when I win the lottery I'll understand what cruising really is, till then RCI will have to do!

 

Thanks Tom! I wanted to ask what the price difference was and if they could really compare the two -- guess not, it appears to be apples versus oranges :D

 

I still don't like reading reviews where passenger are disappointed in a Suite, let alone the Royal Suite. And, Bill and Gordon are correct, research is the key :D

 

###

[gg1952]

:( Sorry you had such a miserable time Juried..My friend and I are going on the Jewel of the Seas in Oct..Fall Cruise..We can't wait. We only have a window room so no great expectations there. Oh well..who cares..how much time do you spend in your room.:) We are going on the Whale watching trip..has anyone done that..sure hope we see them..:eek: We are from Florida so we wonder how cold it will be..Anyone from up that way?? Will the leaves still be pretty. We leave Oct. 21 from Boston.

[gg1952]

:( Sorry you had such a miserable time Juried..My friend and I are going on the Jewel of the Seas Fall Cruise in Oct. We leave Boston Oct 21..We only have a window room so no great expectations there..but who cares..how much time do you spend in your room.:) Anyone from up that way..how cold will it be?? We are from Florida so I expect we will be cold. Will the leaves still be nice?? We are booked to go on the Whale watching tour..I think that will be so great..sure hope we get to see some:eek:

[gg1952]

Sorry..when I tried to post the first time it said I was not signed in..so I signed in again and then when I looked Now I have two posts..:o

[PhoenixCruiser]

Sorry..when I tried to post the first time it said I was not signed in..so I signed in again and then when I looked Now I have two posts..:o

 

Don't stress, it happens to all of us :D

 

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[Zebby90210]

Thanks Tom! I wanted to ask what the price difference was and if they could really compare the two -- guess not, it appears to be apples versus oranges :D

 

I still don't like reading reviews where passenger are disappointed in a Suite, let alone the Royal Suite. And, Bill and Gordon are correct, research is the key :D

 

###

 

Not everyone has access to these or other boards so why should someone that doesn't even think that there will be huge difference in high end suites and their service? RCCL is pulling the wool over people's eyes by calling some of their suites suites. Upgraded rooms are more like it. Too bad for some non computer literate folks that save up for a suite and find out it's nothing special on RCCL.

[juried]

Let me say again, that this was NOT a miserable cruise. It was just not up to my expectations. Had I known how slow the pace, how restricted the service, how rude the staff I would have still gone for the ports alone. I just would have had more realistic expectations. PLUS I would not bother with the RS, just a small balcony. I think for the money you get the same service no matter what category, so why not go for the cheapest?

Again, this was just MY experience, alone in the Royal Suite. Everyone I spoke to was having a lovely "relaxing" cruise and good for them! They are 99% retired and deserve to relax. Jeesh.

Also, you are way off on the price for the Villa, plus you can fit 7 people, so if you break it down per person it is less than the Royal Suite.

Juried

[dzboss1]

I just wanted to comment on the suite issue, from my personal experience, but not pertaining to the Jewel...though I will be on it a month from today. I had the Owner's Suite on the Voyager and the Explorer and must say I was very pleased with it. There were 4 of us and being that I am a proud member of OPA (Over Packers Anonymous) with 12 pieces of luggage, the OS was very roomy and had plenty of cabinets and drawers and shelves for storage. I liked having the Jacuzzi and the double sink and the flat screen TV. We all liked to unwind before bed watching it. I found the room a great place to return to each night. We work hard for the money we make, and I enjoy being pampered a bit when we are away. It is certainly up to the individual as what rooms they choose, but not sure that all RCl is trying to pull any wool over any one's eyes, as Zebby stated.

[CGTNORMANDIE]

HI JURIED!!! THANKS FOR THE RESPONSE!!!:)

 

I met with Gunnar in Boston on Sunday night. Gunnar MADFORCRUISING had just completed the same cruise. He had a great time but also said that he thought that the crossing was very formal. We talked for 2 hours and I got a fairly cogent briefing. This leads me to believe that a Caribbean Cruise on the JOS is a lot more lively. I know that on our Repo to the Caribbean in 2004 we had nonstop entertainment and parties etc. The energy level was very high.

 

I was amazed that you did not have the Asst Food and Beverage Mgr stock your bar. I always bring along plenty...just in case of a big party or 2 or 5 or...well you get the point...LOL. I am amazed that you had to buy bottles...what the hell is the wet bar for anyway??? I also got the idea that the Concierge was NOT up to par...none of this would have happened if Mpho was the Concierge. Five days across the Atlantic on ONLY FOOD AND WATER!!! PERISH THE THOUGHT!!!:eek:

 

R

[Linda/Ohio]

We too will be on the October 21 sailng of the Jewl. In a balcony room.

 

We have sailed in the Royal Suite on the Empress. It was much fun and a pleasure. Lots of flowers, goodies and a fully stocked bar.

[sanbmet]

ckrobyn, we were on the JOS transatlantic ( balcony cabin) .....great cruise!

 

We were told that there were 208 Diamond/Diamond+ and another 50 or so suite members. They had the regular concierge lounge on Deck 10 and an annex lounge on Deck 13....both were very busy but it was fun to meet the other D and D+ cruisers. They did their best to accomodate everyone.

There were over 1000 repeat passengers for the Crown and Anchor party.

[KillaFee]

I would be ripped if I were you! I've always imagined that if you paid that much for a suite that you'd get your tush kissed but I guess not. It stinks that so much went wrong....and like you said it didn't make the cruise bad but it's still irritating when it's one thing after another, even if it's the little things it still knaws at you. Thanks for the info....I'll just stick to balconys and under for now.

P.S.Those garden villas do look amazing...how did you enjoy your overall NCL experience though? Just curious how it compares to RCI.

Thanks!

Laura

[juried]

The NCL cruise seems to be a better fit for my family. We have cruised 4 times on the Dawn. I prefer to drive to NYC than fly anywhere. We like the freestyle dining and the lively younger crowd, disco, parties, adult comedy, bad karaoke, tappanyaki, sushi bar and the Caribbean ports. Above all the service while we were in the Villa was beyond exceptional. When we were not in the Villa the service was much like RCCL, very good but not great.

The TV prgramming was not as good as RCCL and NCL does not offer a DVD of your cruise. And the floorplan of the Dawn takes some getting used to... Otherwise I found it comparable to RCCL in regards to food, shows, excursions, photos, pricing. Above all the attitude of the crew on the Dawn is better. They seem more courteous, happier and more engaging. For example, I cut myself accidently on the Jewel, caught a pin or something on my shoulder, now I was bleeding, not a ton, but enough to need a bandaid. I went to the Guest Relations desk to ask for a bandaid and was directed to floor 2 to put quarters in the machine to buy one. I had not carried any change with me. But they just looked at me blankly and said nothing. Doesn't that seem strange to you? It sure as hell did to me. I just shook my head and realized right then and there that this crew was not there to serve its guests but to pass them along and look at the bottom line. And again my expectation was too high, I fully expected them to have a bandaid, my bad.

[Cruising89143]

The NCL cruise seems to be a better fit for my family. We have cruised 4 times on the Dawn. I prefer to drive to NYC than fly anywhere. We like the freestyle dining and the lively younger crowd, disco, parties, adult comedy, bad karaoke, tappanyaki, sushi bar and the Caribbean ports. Above all the service while we were in the Villa was beyond exceptional. When we were not in the Villa the service was much like RCCL, very good but not great.

The TV prgramming was not as good as RCCL and NCL does not offer a DVD of your cruise. And the floorplan of the Dawn takes some getting used to... Otherwise I found it comparable to RCCL in regards to food, shows, excursions, photos, pricing. Above all the attitude of the crew on the Dawn is better. They seem more courteous, happier and more engaging. For example, I cut myself accidently on the Jewel, caught a pin or something on my shoulder, now I was bleeding, not a ton, but enough to need a bandaid. I went to the Guest Relations desk to ask for a bandaid and was directed to floor 2 to put quarters in the machine to buy one. I had not carried any change with me. But they just looked at me blankly and said nothing. Doesn't that seem strange to you? It sure as hell did to me. I just shook my head and realized right then and there that this crew was not there to serve its guests but to pass them along and look at the bottom line. And again my expectation was too high, I fully expected them to have a bandaid, my bad.

 

I think one thing to keep in mind here with the activities on board the Jewel. You were on a TA with much older passengers. The ship is going to cater to the makeup of the passsengers for that sailing. If you had been on a sailing out of FLL to the Caribbean it could have been a totally different crowd and activities.

 

As far as the crew and their friendliness or lack thereof, I won't make any comments as I was not there but I have to say that my seven cruises on RCI have had a much freindlier crew than anything that I have experienced on Carnival, NCL and a few others. Good luck on your future cruises.

[montekat]

Juried, it was great to meet you and your husband on the TA. I am sorry that the RS did not meet your expectations, what a shame. It was such a spacious suite and had a great view (when the weather cooperated). It sounds like there were indeed many problems which should have been addressed. You should send a copy of this review and any other comments you have to RCCL. I am still sorry that you had to buy an extra bottle of wine for us. I still wonder what the folks in the cabin who received the original bottle thought, and why they didn't question it.

 

Anyway, we are glad we were able to cruise with you and Chris and hope to see you again one day on a future cruise.

[juried]

Oh my goodness .. I wish you did not read that, I wanted to send you wine, I am glad you finally got it, the extra bottle went mistakenly to your neighbors and I truly hope they enjoyed it too!

Anyway it was great meeting you guys, you were so nice to make all of the name tags and bookmarks. Chris really enjoyed talking to Monte and wished we could hang out more.

We did not have huge problems with the Suite, just lots of little ones (mostly with the service and my own over-expectations), and hey we were at sea, visiting Europe! How tough is that? And the suite was clean, lovely and roomy, the tub was great! We met great people and I personally would never complain about the food. I am a terrible cook, so even eggs and toast is a big deal for me.

It was not bad, not bad at all.

Till next time.

Enjoy

[Sue L]

T For example, I cut myself accidently on the Jewel, caught a pin or something on my shoulder, now I was bleeding, not a ton, but enough to need a bandaid. I went to the Guest Relations desk to ask for a bandaid and was directed to floor 2 to put quarters in the machine to buy one. I had not carried any change with me. But they just looked at me blankly and said nothing. Doesn't that seem strange to you? It sure as hell did to me. I just shook my head and realized right then and there that this crew was not there to serve its guests but to pass them along and look at the bottom line. And again my expectation was too high, I fully expected them to have a bandaid, my bad.

 

 

This is funny that you mentioned something like this, I took my first RCCL cruise last week and I had to go to the purser's desk for something. The woman at the desk noticed I was limping and I told her I had a nasty blister from my new shoes. She asked if I had put a bandaid on it and I told her I forgot to pack them. Well she went into the back got a little first aid kit and insisted I put neosporine and a bandaid on it. So I guess the crew on the Jewel was not there for you. On the Explorer they couldn't do enough for us.

[trishalee]

With all your extra needs and requests, you could have kept the concierge busy all by yourself, not to mention the other 250 Diamond,+ and suite guests needing attention, LOL! Never having been spoiled by a $30,000 suite, I'm perfectly happy with the Diamond perk of having a concierge at all just for a few cocktails and to request a table change in the dining room. I know what you mean, though, about a large percentage of elderly cruisers. Our Alaska cruise a few years ago, and Canada/New England were mostly 70's and above, and the main activity ofcriticizing/complaining got old really fast! By the way, I'm 62 and DN is 81.:D

[CGTNORMANDIE]

HI JURIED!!!

 

If you think the RCI suites are bad you ought to try Princess!!! LOL!!! Absolutely no "Suite Experience" AT ALL!!!

 

Suites vary from line to line and from ship to ship. The NCL VILLA sounds nice but I did not like the decor...or the price. Celebrity is nice...with a butler etc...but seems to be dumbing down to RCI standards. Next stop HAL...I guess...OH WELL...better luck next time. I really believe that a good Concierge makes a big difference.:)

 

ROSS