Jewel OTS 12/02 sailing

[Cruising89143]

Just returned home this evening from the Jewel of the Seas 12/02 eight night sailing to the eastern Caribbean and here are my thoughts.

 

Embarkation - Great! Arrived at approx. 11:00 and was on the ship by 11:30. They did have an area for Platinum, Diamond/+ and suites. They boarded after the wedding parties.

 

Ship - One word, beautiful. Very well maintained and clean throughout the ship. I am still not sure which class ship I like better. Voyager or Radiance. I loved the outdoor seating of the Windjammer, larger atrium, sports bar, solarium and all of the glass on the Jewel. I missed from the Navigator the Royal Promenade, nicer Viking Crown lounge and the overall better passenger flow and the not so crowded feeling that I felt on the Jewel. Did not use the Concierge for anything other than checking the internet. Very small but nice with great views of the sea.

 

Crew - Very good crew IMHO. Friendly and always had a smile. We had a great cabin attendant. To me this is where RCI excels over some of the other lines.

 

Cabin - Had cabin #1554 which is the only GS on the hump. GREAT cabin and location. Nice size balcony and plenty of space in cabin and bathroom. My only complaint was the bed. Out of 29 cruises this was without a doubt the poorest excuse for a bed that I have ever seen. Even with a egg crate it sagged so bad it was impossible to rest. I know that it will be changed out in the spring but this bed was passed it's prime. I was ready to give it up this morning. I did spend a lot of time on my balcony as it was very nice and quite. By the way, I used "Just Because of You" to order several alcohol baskets and they were delivered during the muster drill with no problems. Would not hesitate to use them again.

 

Food - Won't say much here because IMHO this varies from person to person but IMHO the food left a lot to be desired. Can't put my finger on it but I had my best meals off of the ship.

 

Entertainment - I enjoyed most of the entertainment that I saw. Judy Kolba, Beatle Maniacs, The Knudsen Brothers and The Gaucho's were all pretty good. I only saw one production show which was City of Dreams. If the other show was as bad as this one then I'm glad that I missed it. The singers were not good and off key, dancers were mediocre at best and the story line jumped all over the place and I found it boring. The Cruise Director Bobby was actually pretty good. Not over the top and in your face like some. Saw him all over the ship talking with the guests.

 

Ports of Call - I have been to all of these ports with the exception of Antigua more times that I care to count so this time it was just basically get off of the ship and enjoy a few drinks and eat lunch or dinner depending on the time of day. In Antigua(first time), we hired a driver to take us around the island. Mainly went to Nelsons Dockyard and Shirley Heights. It was a very nice day. Very hot here. Had lunch at Hemingway's. Would not recommend this place. Our waitress had an attitude and the food was OK at best. The place was packed though so it may have been my taste buds.:) If anyone has any questions about San Juan, St. Thomas, Antigua, Nassau or St. Maarten I will try to answer.

 

Passengers - Very mature crowd on this ship and less than 150 young adults under 18. Hardly noticed any kids at all and the ones that I did see were well behaved. There were some cranky folks who could be pushy at times on board but overall not a bad crowd.:)

 

Debarkation - Not that great. No organization for the ones of us that were doing the Express debarkation. I saw one crew member on deck four and he was basically doing nothing to help in trying to keep some type of organization. No priority debarkation for Diamond. They did offer the Votex as a place to sit until your color was called. I really like the way that they do it in Miami much better. In fact I would rather sail out of Miami over FLL any day.

 

Overall I had a very good time and would do it again. My only negatives about this ship was the food, bedding and debarkation. Other than that everything else was great. The Jewel is a beautiful ship and I will be on her sister the Brilliance in September so this gave me a feeling of what to expect. I am in the process of uploading my photos and they should be on line in a day or two.

[Merion_Mom]

Thanks, Gordon.

 

So, what was in your baskets? Do you know if I have to get a "whole" case of beer, or if I can split it into two half cases, of two different types?

[Cruising89143]

Carol, one basket contained a 750ml bottle of vodka, two bottles of cranberry juice and two 1 liter bottles of tonic water. The other basket contained a full case of beer but I could have split it up as two twelve packs with two different types of beer also.

[ckrobyn]

Glad you had a great cruise! :) The GS on the hump sounds fabulous!

[ckrobyn]

Carol -

 

Can you send me a quick email? ckrobyn@hotmail.com

 

I got an email today from someone on CC that I want you to read.

 

Thanks!

[PhoenixCruiser]

Welcome back Gordon :)

 

Thanks for your review! I agree, the beds were HORRIBLE when we were on the Jewel in October!! That too was our biggest complaint.

 

I cannot really compare the food quality since this is the first time we ate most of our meals in the main dining room, I thought everything was wonderful, yet my hubby disagrees :eek: I was always the last one to finish so perhaps I was more into our table-mates (all family) than the food LOL!

 

Glad you made it home safely :D

 

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[Merion_Mom]

Thanks, Gordon. My truly wonderful and darling D, who will turn 21 the day before our cruise, and who attends a certain well-known HAPPY university, enjoys both Moosehead and Corona, and I'm SURE not getting her TWO cases of beer for a six day cruise! :eek: :D ;) :)

[Cruising89143]

Welcome back Gordon :)

 

Thanks for your review! I agree, the beds were HORRIBLE when we were on the Jewel in October!! That too was our biggest complaint.

 

I cannot really compare the food quality since this is the first time we ate most of our meals in the main dining room, I thought everything was wonderful, yet my hubby disagrees :eek: I was always the last one to finish so perhaps I was more into our table-mates (all family) than the food LOL!

 

Glad you made it home safely :D

 

###

 

I know that my post may sound a little on the negative side but believe me I really did enjoy the cruise and would go back again in a heartbeat but first I will let them get the new bedding.:D By the way, the weather yesterday in Nassau was interesting. Very windy and rainy when we arrived. As a matter of fact two ships(Majesty of the Seas and Norwegian Jewel) were in as they could not visit their private islands. We had six ships in port and it was crowded. The rain went away but not the wind. Had several nights or rockin and rollin and I loved it!!!!! :)

[Cruising89143]

Thanks, Gordon. My truly wonderful and darling D, who will turn 21 the day before our cruise, and who attends a certain well-known HAPPY university, enjoys both Moosehead and Corona, and I'm SURE not getting her TWO cases of beer for a six day cruise! :eek: :D ;) :)

 

Sounds like a good plan. I think that RCI limits each order to one case of beer anyway.:)

[PhoenixCruiser]

I know that my post may sound a little on the negative side but believe me I really did enjoy the cruise and would go back again in a heartbeat but first I will let them get the new bedding.:D

 

Gordon, I don't think your review was negative at all!! Not all can be perfect :) And thank goodness RCI is replacing all of their beds/bedding! We will be able to experience their new bedding later this month, I'll be sure to give you my review!

 

The staff on the Jewel really is outstanding! However, Dio our Steward on the Navigator spoiled us, I highly doubt anyone will be able to top him. :D

 

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[alexeliz]

By the way, I used "Just Because of You" to order several alcohol baskets and they were delivered during the muster drill with no problems. Would not hesitate to use them again.

 

 

 

What is ;just because of you' I have never heard of it before, do you have information etc...

 

Thank you

[Cruising89143]

By the way, I used "Just Because of You" to order several alcohol baskets and they were delivered during the muster drill with no problems. Would not hesitate to use them again.

 

 

 

What is ;just because of you' I have never heard of it before, do you have information etc...

 

Thank you

 

Just Because of You is a delivery service located in the Ft. Lauderdale area but they service many of the port cities. Here is the website but give Shelley a call and she will email you the price list and explain how it works.

 

http://justbecause.addictscay.com/

[isujim]

Welcome back Gordon...........

 

DW and I take the exact same cruise next March 24th.........I'm sure I'll have plenty of questions............

 

They are supposed to be in the middle of the bedding change over when we board the ship...........here's hoping the jr. suites are in phase one and we will have the new bedding.

 

Welcome home.

 

Jim

[Cruising89143]

Welcome back Gordon...........

 

DW and I take the exact same cruise next March 24th.........I'm sure I'll have plenty of questions............

 

They are supposed to be in the middle of the bedding change over when we board the ship...........here's hoping the jr. suites are in phase one and we will have the new bedding.

 

Welcome home.

 

Jim

 

Thanks Jim. I was able to load some of my photos. Many did not turn out as my camera bit the dust. I guess I will be buying a new one before the Brilliance.

[isujim]

Also surprised a little Gordon there was no priority debarkation........the Radiance had this in Ft. Lauderdale in October.......wonder if it is just the ship? Also heard in October that Diamond no longer got white debarkation tags unless you had a flight prior to 12 noon........that Diamond now got Lavendar 1 tags..........which wasn't too far behind the white tags........

 

Just surprised........but then again, been on too many to get to bent out of shape or surprised on anything.:)

[isujim]

GREAT pic's Gordon................for a camera that bit the dust, it sure took some great shots............

 

I can tell you this.......having sailed the Brilliance and the Radiance.......the Jewel looks much nicer.........I know they are basically the same but for some reason the Jewel looks nicer.......maybe it is the Christmas stuff all over the ship.........but really looks nice.

[Cruising89143]

Also surprised a little Gordon there was no priority debarkation........the Radiance had this in Ft. Lauderdale in October.......wonder if it is just the ship? Also heard in October that Diamond no longer got white debarkation tags unless you had a flight prior to 12 noon........that Diamond now got Lavendar 1 tags..........which wasn't too far behind the white tags........

 

Just surprised........but then again, been on too many to get to bent out of shape or surprised on anything.:)

 

Jim, I'm Diamond and received red tags which was about middle ways down the list. I had my room steward bring me lavender tags which were for Express self luggage carry off debarkation. Out of the eight RCI cruises that I have taken, this was the most disorganized debarkation. I have no doubt that you will enjoy your cruise.:)

[critterchick]

Gordon, I'm sorry we didn't have a chance to meet!

 

Our bed was fine with the egg crate mattress, so maybe it hadn't seen as much, um, ACTIVITY as yours?:D

 

Just Because of You does have to pay RCI a $5 per basket extortion fee (her words, not mine), so I suppose that's something to consider when ordering, although $5 hardly breaks the bank.

 

The other production show (West End to Broadway) was light years better than City of Dreams - I think they should scrub that show!

 

The Loyalty Ambassador told us that they use lavendar tags for Diamond priority disembarkation now because of the luggage valet passengers (checking in for your flight at the airport) get the white tags. We didn't get off the ship early using the valet program, more in the middle of the process because we had an afternoon flight, so we relaxed & enjoyed the Vortex lounge while we waited to disembark. All of the lavendar tags disembarked before we did.

[Oceanbluecruisers]

Cruisengator ---

 

I'm confused about the debarkation. You said you had your sterward bring you lavendar tags which were for express self carry departure. I didn't think you needed a tag if you were carrying off your own luggage -- what's the point?

 

Anyways - I plan on doing the self express departure b/c I have a 11:15 flight out of FLL. I didn't think it would be a problem but your posting is making me nervous! Do you think I'll make it?

[Cruising89143]

Cruisengator ---

 

I'm confused about the debarkation. You said you had your sterward bring you lavendar tags which were for express self carry departure. I didn't think you needed a tag if you were carrying off your own luggage -- what's the point?

 

Anyways - I plan on doing the self express departure b/c I have a 11:15 flight out of FLL. I didn't think it would be a problem but your posting is making me nervous! Do you think I'll make it?

 

That was what I was told by Guest Relations and my room steward. No one else had tags. Like I said, debarkation was not organized. We were one of the first ones off and many folks were leaving the ship at the same time we were and they had not one piece of luggage with them and they were not stopped. Once off board the ship, all of the luggage was lined up by color to be collected. So the ones that wanted to get off early and not wait for their color to be called had no problems.

[Cruising89143]

Gordon, I'm sorry we didn't have a chance to meet!

 

Our bed was fine with the egg crate mattress, so maybe it hadn't seen as much, um, ACTIVITY as yours?:D

 

Just Because of You does have to pay RCI a $5 per basket extortion fee (her words, not mine), so I suppose that's something to consider when ordering, although $5 hardly breaks the bank.

 

The other production show (West End to Broadway) was light years better than City of Dreams - I think they should scrub that show!

 

The Loyalty Ambassador told us that they use lavendar tags for Diamond priority disembarkation now because of the luggage valet passengers (checking in for your flight at the airport) get the white tags. We didn't get off the ship early using the valet program, more in the middle of the process because we had an afternoon flight, so we relaxed & enjoyed the Vortex lounge while we waited to disembark. All of the lavendar tags disembarked before we did.

 

Jean, also sorry that we did not meet up. I forgot about the Meet and Mingle once again.

 

Glad to hear that West End to Broadway was better. I think that I enjoyed these guys the most out of all of the shows. http://www.beatlemaniacs.com/