I apologize for not posting LIVE from the Jewel this cruise

[PH8]

 

Important announcement:

 

ANYONE GOING TO COZUMEL:

 

You must must must must do Mexican Culinary excursion.

 

OMG!!!!!!

 

 

 

We did this in November with our CC group..............it is definetely one of the best excursions we have done(2nd to dogsledding on a glacier)......

 

Just wondering if Luis changed the menu yet........he said he was going to this year....it is one excursion I would do again,

 

 

[PH8]

Please, please give us more on the culinary excursion. Going on the Jewel in March! I can't wait!

Heres some more info on it....

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=664528

[MomtoCCC]

Waiting anxiously for the review!! :p

 

Was formal night on night 4 (Belize) or night 5 (Playa Del Carmen)?

[PH8]

Waiting anxiously for the review!! :p

 

Was formal night on night 4 (Belize) or night 5 (Playa Del Carmen)?

Night 5...........heres the compass(but keep in mind,when we went in Nov, we went to Playa THEN Belize).........

 

[Merion_Mom]

We did this in November with our CC group..............it is definetely one of the best excursions we have done(2nd to dogsledding on a glacier)......

 

Just wondering if Luis changed the menu yet........he said he was going to this year....it is one excursion I would do again,

 

 

 

Nope, exact same menu. Same card, too, with the misspelling of "pudding". ;)

[Merion_Mom]

Waiting anxiously for the review!! :p

 

Was formal night on night 4 (Belize) or night 5 (Playa Del Carmen)?

 

On the 6 night itinerary, the two formal nights are #2 and #5, Monday and Thursday.

[JaneStarr]

Nope, exact same menu. Same card, too, with the misspelling of "pudding". ;)

LOL, Carol, you're as bad as I am with those "typos". Maybe it's the Mexican spelling :rolleyes:

 

Our local Chinese menu would really "get" you. Even my kids notice the spelling and grammar issues on that one.

 

Jane

[Merion_Mom]

Barbara lives in New Jersey and I live in Pennsylvania (though we grew up together in Elkins Park, PA), so we flew in separately. Barb took JetBlue from Newark to FLL, and I flew AirTran from Philadelphia to FLL.

 

Her flight got in first, so she claimed her bag and met me in baggage claim in Terminal 3, by using the airport's shuttle bus.

 

Airtran took its time getting our bags onto the luggage carousel, but eventually my suitcase arrived, and we jumped into a cab and drove to the Yankee Clipper Sheraton.

 

From the outside, this place looks rather dowdy, but is perfectly nice inside. Flocks of (cute) bellboys descend on the arriving guests, and we were whisked inside to check in. Then Artem (a cutie from Bulgaria? Ukraine? I forget - maybe Barbara remembers) took us up to our room.

 

We had a particularly nice room. Because it was on a corner, instead of just a nice big rectangular hotel room, it had an extra "L" extension, which gave us LOTS of space that including two queen size beds and a large sitting area with two rattan chairs and a table. That was perfect for putting our luggage completely out of the way.

 

The view sucked, but nothing's perfect. :D We looked out on a construction site, but there was no noise - we arrived on a Saturday afternoon and left on a Sunday morning.

 

We called some CC friends, and arranged to meet up. We "picked up" Annieeee at the Bahia Mar and walked to the Marina area across from the Marriott Courtyard, and had some generous appetizers and drinks at Coconuts, on the deck. Mystaken (Rhonda) joined us when she arrived. Later, Dmhoul (Donna and Chuck) joined us.

 

Then Rhonda and Annie went riding around on the watertaxi, and Barb and I walked around and ended up walking barefoot in the surf in the dark. Cool!

 

We (ok, I) decided that we/I were still full, and just vegged out in the room, re-packing our suitcases, watching TV, catching up on old times, and speaking ill of our ex-husbands. :D

 

We slept until we woke up (sounds stupid, but what I mean is that we didn't use a wakeup call or alarm, we just slept until our bodies decided that it was time to get up). Then we got ready, went down and grabbed some coffee and breakfast snacks in the little shop in the hotel, where we saw LOTS of cruisers, RC & others. Returned upstairs, grabbed our bags, and went to the lobby. Sure enough, everything was taken care of - I didn't even need to officially check out, since I had pre-paid with points.

 

The doorman got us a shuttle to the cruiseport, and off we went.

 

By the way, Barb had never taken a cruise before. You know how new parents say, "Everything looks different through the eyes of your children"?

 

Well, I gave birth to a new cruiser this past week! I'm so proud of my baby. She is now Gold Crown & Anchor, and has booked another cruise!

[JaneStarr]

By the way, Barb had never taken a cruise before. You know how new parents say, "Everything looks different through the eyes of your children"?

 

Well, I gave birth to a new cruiser this past week! I'm so proud of my baby. She is now Gold Crown & Anchor, and has booked another cruise!

 

Ahh..Congrats "Mom"!

 

We're "giving birth" to 5 new cruisers next week -- MIL and 2 French Canadian couples all in their 70's. Hope I understand their French exclamations of amazement.

 

Jane

[wrp96]

Well, I gave birth to a new cruiser this past week! I'm so proud of my baby. She is now Gold Crown & Anchor, and has booked another cruise!

 

 

And based on just your initial posts, it sounds like it was a whole lot more fun than giving birth to your first two babies!:p

[BILL-WI]

...Well, I gave birth to a new cruiser this past week! I'm so proud of my baby. She is now Gold Crown & Anchor, and has booked another cruise!

 

I know just what you mean...about giving birth...

 

Rosie and I were on the Jewel, the cruise right before you, and we gave birth to triplets. The birthing process was something to behold...

 

They grow up so quiclky...now they are telling us how WE will do our next cruises...Just like kids!:eek:

 

BILL

[katerkat]

We had a fabulous Roll Call, and we love everyone and see them everywhere.

 

Even that freak who brought her own coffee syrups? ;)

[Merion_Mom]

We arrived at the cruise terminal at almost exactly 11 A.M. That's generally the perfect time to arrive.

 

A strange sight greeted us: The previous passengers were still coming out of the terminal, and were on the curb, waiting for cabs and shuttles to take them away.

 

Odd, thought I. Why are they still here????

 

We never did find out the reason, although many had theories. Since I never heard the "real" reason, I won't bore you with the assorted speculations.

 

This, of course, put the whole boarding process behind.

 

When we entered the terminal, we were directed to sit in a large, bare seating area. Sit down? Are you kidding me? We walked around greeting all of our fellow Cruise Critics.

 

Finally, after about 20 minutes, this typical Florida retired lady who now works for RC part time (my imagination, but I'll bet that it's the truth!) announced how we would be checking in.

 

She said that the wedding parties would enter the room first. (have you ever noticed that most wedding parties are all newbies who don't have the slightest idea what they are doing? Half an hour later, they were STILL at their check-in stations, looking confused and stupid. Oops, I mean "unclear about the process." ;)

 

Then she said that any passengers who were B2B'ers would go next. (the ones STARTING the first of their two cruises). Next would be priority passengers: Suites, Platinums, Diamonds and Diamond Plus.(ses)

 

Finally, she said, she would permit the rest of the crowd in.

 

It didn't quite work out as it should have.

 

When people arrive slowly, over time, it all works out. No crowds, no bulges, just smooth movement.

 

Since she put all the "priority" passengers in ONE line, which fed into only three check-in stations, then almost immediately put all the "other" passengers in another line which fed into 7 or 8 check-in stations, "priority" was NO priority at all!

 

This is NOT a complaint. It is a report of our experience. We were with friends, Barbara was excited beyiond all measure, and it meant a wait of about 15 minutes, instead of instant service. No big deal, particularly since, as we soon discovered, we were NOT going to board directly.

 

After we received our SeaPass cards, we were directed up an escalator.

 

Although we could see heaven, i.e., the doorway to the ramp to the ship, we were forced to sit in another waiting area for about 15 mintues. Then we boarded by row, and given the evil eye by Florida Retirees if we didn't march like lemmings.

 

We finally passed through the Magic Doors, had our security photos taken, dinged our SeaPass cards for the first time and went up that ramp.

 

We entered NOT into the Centrum or some other impressive place. It was Deck 5 forward, and we had to walk the narrow "road" into the shops area.

 

Not a problem, unless you have gawkers in front of you. Yes, the folks in front of us decided that this was a good opportunity to window shop. I must have said "excuse me" fifteen times before we coiuld get out of the shops area and FINALLY emerge in the Centrum.

 

After I picked Barbara's jaw off the ground, we walked to the elevators. I eyed the massive crowd there, and said, "Feel like walking up 6 flights of stairs with our bags?"

 

Barbara was game, so up we went. We stopped on each landing so we could see the Centrum from that level. In the Windjammer, we grabbed a table, piled our stuff behind it, and went to the food. Barb could not believe how much food there was, and how much variety.

 

It took us a while to see everything and decide on our food, but finally we sank into our comfy seats and chowed down.

 

After that we went to Portofino and made reservations for Friday, knowing that the menu on the final night is NOT very appealing.

 

By then it was after 1, and we went to our aft corner stateroom. To me it was a noticeably shorter walk to the aft of the Jewel than it was on Explorer.

 

Cabin 9256 on the Jewel is LOVELY. The uses of light and dark furnishings is just stunning. The balcony is enormous (not as big as 7688, but still BIG). There were two loungers, two upright chairs, and the obligatory small table. Because of the tapering around the corner, there could be only limited rearranging of the layout of these chairs.

 

The closet is wonderful. It is large, and the center has a section of seven small shelves. On either side is a large area with rods. Each has a high rod and a lower rod, which can be folded against the back wall and not used, or deployed and used for shorter items, doubling the closet's capacity. There were MANY nice wooden hangers there when we arrived, but I asked for more. After all, we are two women!

 

There was enough floor space for all of our shoes. The lifejackets, extra pillows and Uncle Jack were on a shelf across the top of the closet. I have no idea how he got there.

 

Our cabin steward was Martin, and he was easy on the eye and good at his job. Our cabin was always immaculate, with two terry robes in the closet and "upgraded" toiletries in the bathroom when we arrived. At my request, he supplied extra bath towels every day.

 

I think that cabin stewards greatly prefer port days, since most passengers are up and out of their cabins at a reasonable hour. But even on our one sea day, when Barb and I didn't get our butts out of the cabin until after 11, Marin had hovered and immediately swooped in and straightened up our mess. Now, I KNOW that this is his "time off", in their horrid "split shift" schedule, so I never expected this, and warned Barb that the room probably wouldn't be made up until dinner time, but Martin took time for us. We were sure to thank him both verbally and in the envelope.

 

As a matter of fact, Barb got all of my Diamond perks, except the coupon book. Here was something new to me: Martin had to have me SIGN for the book!

 

The book itself HAS been diminished. The slot coupons, although there are still 3 of them, are for this one 'special' machine, where you win nothing. Ok, you are supposed to be able to win something, but you don't.

 

Weren't there TWO free photos before? I can't remember now.

 

With the increase in charges for internet, the coupon for internet time NEEDS to be more than $10. That gets you two quick checks of your email, IF you are lucky.

 

I know that there were other differences, but I can't remember them right now. Someone else, PLEASE chime in here.

[Merion_Mom]

Even that freak who brought her own coffee syrups? ;)

 

Oh, especially! What a wonderful family you have, and I love how you all love each other and cruise together in such a large group!

[jillybabes]

Carol: It was wonderful to finally meet you even tho we did not spend much time together... Dave & I enjoyed chatting with Barb and I hope that we contributed to Barb's booking a cruise on board:p ...

What did y'all book??? Later, Jill:cool:

[suziehmkr]

Cabin 9256 on the Jewel is LOVELY.

 

You had my cabin! :D This is the one that we had booked for Alaska on the Serenade (that we cancelled - it made me sad) and the one that you-know-who has instructions to book on the Serenade when bookings open for the Southern Caribbean! Yeah! I am so glad you liked it!!

 

And your teaser photos are making me wish that we were going to Coz!

[Merion_Mom]

Dinner: Table for eight. Susan/Bubbie617 & husband Ed, their friends Marilyn and Herb (we're all from the Philly suburbs), Barbara and myself, and a poor odd couple. Actually, they were VERY nice, and I think that we did a good job of melding the table. They are from Portland, Maine, and we all had a rippin' good time, no matter which or how many of us showed up each night.

 

You do realize that there is NO chance of my remembering what I ate on each night, right? Whatever I had the first night, it was very good. I can remember that, because it was ALL good.

 

Our waiter, Terrence,(South Africa) and his assistant, Dencel, (Trinidad & Tobago, I think) were excellent. Our HW, Pedro (from Portugal) was vey good, also. Susan complained that the food wasn't hot enough, and the next night.......smokin'!

 

I used my coupon to get 20% off a second bottle when ordering two bottles together. Barb and I killed the entire bottle of champagne AT dinner, and about half the red wine. mmmmmmmmmmmmm

 

Welcome Aboard show: CD Bobby Brown.

 

Comedian: Jeff Jena - funny!

 

RC Singers & Dancers - singing the RC Welcome Aboard song

 

Went to the casino; did a little bit better than breaking even.

 

HORRIBLE Karaoke in the Safari Club. I still shudder, remembering some of those people. :eek: :D

[Merion_Mom]

I forgot one thing from the first afternoon.

 

We had our own M&M on the Pool Deck, even though it was cool and windy in Fort Lauderdale that day. There was an excellent turnout, and a good time chatting was had by all. I wish that I could name everyone who showed up........but I can't.

 

One advantage of the "official" meetings is that RC supplies name tags. :)

 

We had a secondary meeting after second seating dinner. I had suggested that we have it in the Viking Crown Lounge. Boy, was I shocked to learn that the Jewel doesn't have one! I thought that they all do, but while the "space" is there, it's the Vortex, the nightclub, on Jewel. Too noisy for chatting, but it's all good.

[time4me2fly]

So, the Vortex goes all the way around to the front of the ship? I have a diagram that show VC at front and Vortex starboard, just behind the VC.

 

Can't wait to hear more.

[ckrobyn]

Carol - welcome back! :) Loving your review so far....keep it coming!!!

[Merion_Mom]

Up early and off the ship. Both of us had been here before, so we decided to stroll around and just see what happens.

 

We walked down Duval Street, and almost nothing was open yet. We visited Southernmost Point, and on the way back, stopped at the Key West Nature and Butterfly Conservatory. It looked hokey to me, but Barb insisted that she wanted to go in.

 

Boy, was she right! It was glorious. Later, I discovered that the "See Key West" brochure/magazine that seems to be in every store and bar in town has a discount coupon for the admission cost.

 

Here are some pictures of the butterflies (and a gecko):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I bought a BEAUTIFUL pair of butterfly earrings in the gift shop. It's not easy to find nice earrings for non-pierced ears!

 

 

We bought a couple of small items (including a 12 pack of Caffeine Free Diet Coke for $3 at Walgreens!) and walked back to the ship.

 

Team Trivia in the Schooner Bar. Won a (non-plastic) Royal Caribbean pen.

 

There was a wine-tasting session on this cruise, even though it's a 6 nighter. The usual RC swill, but we went in with the correct mindset, and had a lot of fun.

 

This was first Formal Night, so we got all gussied up (I wore my new butterfly earrings since they matched my gown) and went to the Captain's Champagne reception in the Safari Club. He spoke VERY briefly. Dinner was delicious. As usual, I can't remember what I had. Maybe the atlantic cod?

 

After dinner drinks in the Hollywood Odyssey Lounge, a.k.a. the Concierge Lounge.

 

The show was West End to Broadway and it was VERY good. The costumes and scenery were extraordinary, although some of the song choices were very puzzling, since the songs were not from the stage, but were just random "pop songs".

 

There was "special entertainment" in the Vortex around midnight. The RC singers & dancers had an ABBA show, and then "The Almost Village People", members of the CD staff, performed. I'm sure that they were good, but only a few people could see what was going on. The visibility was close to zero. It's a dance floor, not a stage. Rather disappointing.

 

I hit the casino for a little bit of slots play.

[Merion_Mom]

I think that I have covered the Mexican Culinary Experience pretty well already. ;)

 

The wristbands that were put on us at the outset were good anywhere at Playa Mia. We managed to stumble over to another bar near the beach and have yet another drink. Then we walked along the beach in our bathing suits and decided that water sports were probably not a good idea, given the safety issues. :D

 

We took the excursion bus back to the ship, and walked through the pierside market. The vendors were on high alert. Every single one had to make his pitch. It was loud and piercing. I made the mistake of stopping to look at one counter. Fifteen minutes later, we managed to break away.............

 

Bought a few tsotchkes, and went back to the ship.

 

I was fine, but Barb was a bit worse for wear.

 

We joined Rhonda and Annie in Portofino for dinner, but Barb didn't make it through dessert. She excused herself and returned to the cabin for the rest of the night. I think that it was really a combination of everything: she didn't quite have her "sea legs", the booze, the food, the booze, the rich food at Portofino, the booze, not enough sleep, the booze, the excitement.........

 

The show was the comedian, Gary Mule Deer. This man was HILARIOUS.

 

Example:

 

I called my boss the other morning and told him that I wasn't going to be in.

 

He asked what was wrong with me.

 

I told him: "Anal Glaucoma."

 

He said, "Anal Glaucoma? What's that?"

 

I said, "I just can't see my ass making in to work today."

 

Tonight was the Love & Marriage show. I didn't go, but I saw it on TV later. Our friends Marilyn & Herb were the longest-married couple, and they won.

 

I have to tell you, it wasn't very funny. Bobby is just dull, and the show was dull, compared with others I have witnessed. The "honeymoon" couple, by the way, had been together for 9 years, and had their baby on the cruise with them. :rolleyes: :eek:

 

This was the night of Poolside Dancing and Buffet. I didn't make it up there.

[Merion_Mom]

Belize is a tender port.

 

They use HUGE tender boats, but they don't launch them until they are FULL. We waiting quite a long time. Then, when it was finally full, we had a smooth but long-ish ride to the pier. When we reached the pier, the boat crew carefully directed us off: The last ones to board at the ship were the first allowed off, and those of us who had been sitting the longest were forced to wait another several minutes before getting our chance to disembark.

 

We found Major Tom's people with no difficulty. They gathered the group, and gave us fifteen minutes to go to the bathroom and grab any last minute supplies we needed. It was at that point that I realized that all of my careful packing of our beach bags had NOT included towels. Oh well.

 

I also didn't have my sunglasses, so I ran into a store and bought a cheap pair. Of course, we then had no sun the rest of the day. ;)

 

We walked to the van, and piled in. Barb and I were the first to reach the van, and being polite, thought that we should fill from the back. Apparently no one else got that memo, so the next people all got in front.

 

Since no good deed goes unpunished, we discovered that we could not hear the guide describe the scenery, people and history of Belize as we drove along to the Jaguar's Paw National Park where the river was. We were able to catch many 15% of his words, and those weren't connected. :rolleyes:

 

Our other guide made more of an effort to make sure that we could hear him, and he wasn't sitting in the front seat with his back to us, and since he was discussing procedural and safety issues, we insisted that he speak in a way that we could hear and understand.

 

The cave tubing is amazing, and I urge EVERYONE to do it.

 

You need watershoes or sandals that are fully strapped on. You can rent watershoes in the park for $3, and that's what we did.

 

We were issued our inner tubes, life vests and head lamps. We had a long and enjoyable (and vaguely strenuous) walk through the jungle/forest, beginning with fording the river to the other side. We hiked to the point on the river where the tubing began after much instruction and talk about the various plants in the forest, particularly as pertains to medicinal use. They are VERY keen on preservation.

 

We had received important instructions, such as "don't let go of the legs of the person behind you, NO MATTER WHAT." (you are hooked together like this much of the time). Also: "Butts UP". That means that there are rocks and shallow water, so lift your butt if you don't want to get STUCK!

 

Our group had picked up some others in the park, so we were a total of 18. Our two guides divided us into two groups. Barb went with Manuelito, and I was with Keith.

 

After he arranged our chain, and got in the water himself, we had been in the river for about one minute, and one idiot let get of the legs, and three people separated from the chain. Keith cursed under his breath, and had to work very hard to reunite the *expletive-deleted* participants.

 

The trip was wonderful. We saw stalagmites, stalactities, rock formations, bats, remains of carvings, openings from above - natural skylights. We went through very slow moving water, and very rapid water. We went straight, we went around curves.

 

At one point, he unhooked our line of 9, and put us side by side as pairs holding hands, still hooked by legs and arms. We went around a big curve in fast water like that.

 

After that, he pulled me out of the chain, and I assumed that he was letting everyone free-float at that point, since he had told us that we would have a chance to free-float towards the end.

 

I glanced back and saw that he had NOT unhooked the rest of them. I guess that I was the only one who looked like she knew what she was doing!

 

We were the second of the two groups, but I quickly caught up to the first group as I free floated until finally we reached the end of the course. We were back where we had entered the river.

 

Barb and I walked the short way back to the park, and passed a guy with a table full of tourist crap! We told him, "No one has money in here! We left it all behind in our vans!" We just shook our heads.

 

I didn't bother to change, since I didn't have a towel to dry off with. I just changed the soaking wet T shirt over my bathing suit to a dry T shirt. It worked just fine.

 

We stopped at Amigos, a restaurant where the guides had pre-arranged lunch for $5 each. The "chicken stew" turned out to be one (very tasty) chicken WING. I didn't like the rice and beans or the cole slaw. They had run out of Diet Coke, (extra charge; sound familiar? ;) and lemonade and limeade, so I had orange juice, which was delicious. Barb tried the Belikan Beer, and pronounced it tasty. Or maybe she never got hers, and the guy next to us said that?!?!??!!? :confused:

 

The drive back to the pier was uneventful. We decided that there wasn't any reason to linger there. I had completely forgotten that I wanted to use an Internet Café so that I could post to you all.

 

We boarded a tender, and this one didn't wait to fill up before returning us to the beautiful Jewel of the Seas.

 

There were two ships in port that day, and the Belizean guard at the pier asked us, as we approached, "Jew of the Seas"? and we wondered how he knew? :D

 

The Enchantment was there, and I SO wish that I had known - I am dying to meet Lee and Mike! (Schplinky)

 

I have no pictures because I decided that it wasn't worth the risk. One girl did lose her camera "overboard". She swore like a sailor. :D

[Merion_Mom]

No idea, as usual, what I had for dinner. But it was good. :)

 

Skipped the magic show in the theatre.

 

Tonight was The Quest. Again, dull. Bobby just does not seem to have the personality or interest to make these "funny" games work well.

 

I had gotten Barb all excited to participate, but none of our so-called friends showed up! We were unable to form a team, but watched.

 

There was a group sitting next to us, and they had no idea what they were doing, so I helped them. They had fun, but didn't really "get it" for the first several quests.

 

There were six of them, three hetero couples. Only the team captain was willing to take off his pants! I explained to them that they didn't have to do everything themselves, that they could get help from others in the Lounge. An old guy gladly gave his pants!

 

Then there were the bras.......they wouldn't take those off, either, so I ripped off mine. Naturally, Bobby just HAD to comment on it. Ok, it's large. ;)

 

Late night comedy with Jeff Jena. REALLY funny.

 

I wanted to mention that I just loved Belize - not just for the cavetubing. It is a BEAUTIFUL country, and its citizens are very proud.

[Merion_Mom]

Took the ship's excursion to Tulum. This was an excellent excursion. It seemed at first that we wouldn't have enough time, but I was wrong. Given the heat, I wouldn't have wanted to spend any more time at the site. We had access to a beautiful beach there, but it would have meant carrying our big beach bags a kilometer from the bus, and then carrying them around during the guided tour.

 

The shopping area there is typical, but lots of the stuff (not all, despite what they claim) is authentically Mayan.

 

Here are some pictures: