Just home from 10 day Jewel

[josask]

we had a terrific time. We have 13, 9 & 7 year olds and they all think they enjoyed this more than our trip to Disney last year!!

 

If anyone has particular questions, just let me know and I'll do my best to answer them.

[skyw]

That is good to hear. I am going to stray from Disney this year with my 6 year old. I just can't justify the cost. What did your youngest like the most?

[alex800]

Welcome home. That's awesome that u had a great time. We are going on the jewel next month. Can you please tell me when they have formanl nights. Also any Panama and Costa Rica excursion recommendations. Thank you. Would love to see some pics.

[josask]

That is good to hear. I am going to stray from Disney this year with my 6 year old. I just can't justify the cost. What did your youngest like the most?

 

Her response - the kid's club then swimming in Grand Cayman. We could barely get the 6 & 9 year old to do anything but the kid's club.

[josask]

Welcome home. That's awesome that u had a great time. We are going on the jewel next month. Can you please tell me when they have formanl nights. Also any Panama and Costa Rica excursion recommendations. Thank you. Would love to see some pics.

 

The formals were day 2 and day 8. The second formal night the younger 2 had dinner with the Adv Ocean staff in the Windjammer.

 

We did the Emberra Indian tribe & Panama Canal tour through myfriendmario dot com. It was great. We all liked seeing the canal in operation and yet it wasn't too long for the kids. The visit with the tribe was really good and they loved swimming in the waterfall.

 

In Costa Rica we went with okeedokee tours and did a tour of a banana plantation, a river canal ride with lots of wildlife sitings and a lunch and stop at the beach. Because we ended up with just the 5 of us in our group, we stayed at the beach longer than the usual stop which was perfect since the kids were having a blast in the surf.

 

I haven't got my pics downloaded yet. I had planned on doing a full review as soon as we got back, but unfortunately life has been too crazy and I haven't had a chance yet. Soon I hope........

[alex800]

thank you for the advice. is there a big difference in price if I book through the cruise?

[josask]

thank you for the advice. is there a big difference in price if I book through the cruise?

 

We found it quite a bit less to do this through other tour operators. The Emberra trip was 85/adult and I think $70/child, but this may change based on the number of people booked. The Costa Rica trip was $55/pp.

 

From what I learned some of the tours are quite large groups when booking through the ship. I know when we did the panama trip there were only 14 of us.

[crusinmama06]

Welcome back!!!! :D

 

So before you left, you were asking if RCCL would shut down kid activities for lack of participation. So what's the verdict? Did they shut down activities?

 

Did they combine age groups?

 

How many kids were onboard?

[josask]

Welcome back!!!! :D

 

So before you left, you were asking if RCCL would shut down kid activities for lack of participation. So what's the verdict? Did they shut down activities?

 

Did they combine age groups?

 

How many kids were onboard?

 

Thanks for the welcome - we had a terrific time!

 

There were 68 children on board aged 0-17. From what we could see maybe 25 of those were at any of the kid programs.

 

Our 13 yo tried the club for 4 days but almost always he was the only one there, so obviously they couldn't run most of the activities. The counsellor was great with him (offering him free pop, playing mini golf & table tennis with him, and letting him play Wii etc.) but he soon tired of being on his own and hung out with us for the rest of the cruise. They had some great activities lined up, so hopefully on our next cruise there will be better turn out. There were probably 4 other kids in the age group who also showed up only once in a while so they had to still send out the compasses, but they really didn't have the program running. There was also a language barrier with a couple of the kids so that didn't help.

 

The 6-8 and 9-11 clubs were combined and with that there was usually between 10-15 kids taking part during most days. We have 7 & 9 year olds and they didn't even mind that they ended up doing everything together - they had a blast! I think it was a great sized group and it seemed to work out quite well. From what we could see there was only 3 or 4 in the 3-5 age group so I'm sure those parents enjoyed the counsellor-child ratio.

[QTMichele]

Welcome home! I'm so excited to see your post. DH and I are going on Oasis next spring, but my kids are begging to go on another cruise. I'm really interested in trying the Radiance class, but have debated on doing this with our kids. I'd love to hear your impressions about the ship, activities, shows, food... everything you're willing to share! :) Also, have you cruised with Royal before? My kids' first cruise was on Freedom - I'm afraid a smaller ship won't be as fun for them.

 

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. :)

[josask]

Welcome home! I'm so excited to see your post. DH and I are going on Oasis next spring, but my kids are begging to go on another cruise. I'm really interested in trying the Radiance class, but have debated on doing this with our kids. I'd love to hear your impressions about the ship, activities, shows, food... everything you're willing to share! :) Also, have you cruised with Royal before? My kids' first cruise was on Freedom - I'm afraid a smaller ship won't be as fun for them.

 

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. :)

 

We thought the ship was terrific. We have cruised twice before, but 14 & 16 yrs ago so hard to compare with size and such, but we thought it was great. It was small enough to know where everything was but not so big that you'd get lost. We thought our stateroom was perfectly set up (8002) with lots of storage and we liked the bunk beds in the separate 'room' for the younger two.

 

The kids LOVED the AO. We couldn't get the younger two out of it. Again, we have nothing to compare it to but we were really happy with it and the wide range of activities they had.

The food was excellent in our opinion, and the wait staff was terrific. We didn't try the specialty restaurants we ate at the main dining room every night and we were very pleased. We did lunch and breakfast in the jammer and we were very happy with the variety and selection. We also did the Seaview one lunch and it was very tasty, just limited menu.

 

Overall we loved it, but if I had to think of a couple of less-than-great things it would be the kid's pool and the evening entertainment.

 

The kid's pool was definitely for small children so our kids were too old for it - obviously that's a plus for those with young children, ours were just disappointed in it. The water slide was only open for a few hours a day and it was when the AO was going on so the kids didn't want to miss AO to do the waterslide. The one day they tried it, they were unimpressed. Again, I think this was just because they were expecting more based on what we saw before getting on board.

 

As for the evening entertainment, we felt it wasn't what it was many years ago, and we also thought there wasn't 'enough'. We remember there being a couple of options of things to do in the evenings, but there seemed to only be one option and a few of them weren't very appealing to us as they seemed to be geared more to an older audience. There were the 2 shows put on by the ship's dancers/singers (both excellent), a juggler and a magician (both terrific), a violinist, a tango performance (we left after 10 minutes), a tribute to Ricki Valli and a Tony Bennett entertainer (we didn't go to either), they showed a movie one night (we went but very few people did), and unfortunately we missed the opening nights comedian because we were signing the kids up in their programs. It seemed to us that unless you wanted to go to the casino or sit in a bar there wasn't much for options, and with a 13 yo we wouldn't be doing either of those.

 

I hope that answers some of your questions, let me know if not.

[QTMichele]

Awesome response! Thanks so much for giving me some insight. This is great for me and really makes me think (or re-think?) about bringing the kids. They loved the Freedom (perhaps THAT was the mistake in taking them on her for their first cruise?! lol). They really enjoyed AO too, but also enjoyed what the ship had to offer. Basically, they didn't beg to go or beg to stay, but they did enjoy the it. I'm really disappointed to hear about the slide - it looks like fun, but I can see how kids would get bored after a few slides. Anyway, thank you again for your response!!! I'm still very interested in this class and have to plan a cruise for my sister upon her graduation from pharmacy school... perhaps this is it?!

[crusinmama06]

Thanks for answering those questions! Sounds like everyone had a great time. :)

[neverenoughtravel]

Thanks for your report on the Jewel! We are taking this ship on a Scandinavia cruise this summer. We have booked the exact same room you stayed in! Can you offer more detail on what to expect in this room. Do you have any photos? We are a family of 5 (kids ages 10, 7 and 3). Any tips for a good stay in this room would be appreciated! I'm a tad concerned about its forward position. I've only been on one cruise and stayed mid-ship and with the patch was fine, but with such a forward position, I'm hoping we won't have a problem? Thanks for your help!

[imsulin]

Glad you enjoyed your cruise on the Jewel! Four of us did an 8-night Eastern on the Jewel (no kids, though), and all agreed it is truly a beautiful ship! Can't say enough about the food, service, and amenities! (Not to mention the fact that SIL won the Blackjack Tournament and offered DD either a diamond upgrade on her wedding band or a laptop. She chose the laptop :) )

[josask]

Thanks for your report on the Jewel! We are taking this ship on a Scandinavia cruise this summer. We have booked the exact same room you stayed in! Can you offer more detail on what to expect in this room. Do you have any photos? We are a family of 5 (kids ages 10, 7 and 3). Any tips for a good stay in this room would be appreciated! I'm a tad concerned about its forward position. I've only been on one cruise and stayed mid-ship and with the patch was fine, but with such a forward position, I'm hoping we won't have a problem? Thanks for your help!

 

I'm jealous - I SO want to go back on the Jewel for a Scandinavian cruise!! You will love the room. Unfortunately, I haven't uploaded any of my photos yet, but here are a few tips:

 

- There is a LOT of storage including 2 closets plus a lot of drawer & cupboard space too. With 7 pieces of luggage, we didn't fill everything up.

-we put all of our suitcases and the life vests under the beds

-we brought along a little pop up laundry hamper and there was a perfect spot for it under the desk

- I brought about 10 plastic clothes pins and they were great to hang the wet bathing suits in the shower

- we brought along an over the door shoe organizer but I think with all the storage it probably wasn't necessary

- I brought a power bar based on other's recommendations but we didn't use it as this room has a few outlets along the desk

- The bunk beds had their own individual lights so we didn't need to bring the kids book lights along

- I brought a little magnetic holder (designed for school lockers) and stuck it to the wall and it worked perfect to hold our seapass cards, a pen & pack of post it notes.

- We had them empty the bar fridge on the first night and we used it to store a case of bottled water we brought with us. It was nice to have them in the evenings or at port.

 

Our cruise did have some rough nights, but that's not always the case. There is no doubt you will feel it at night, but you just have to be prepared. I get motion sick so I started taking Bonine the night before we left and I didn't have any problems. Two of our kids had upset stomachs the first rough night so they just wore the sea band bracelets in the evening on the other rough nights. My oldest (13) also took gravol on a couple of days which is a motion sickness med. you can get here in Canada.

 

You will also find this room loud when you arrive in ports. You can either see this as a negative or a way to be woke up in the mornings - we never had to get wake up calls! It was definitely a draw back of the room, but we still felt it was worth it.

 

If there is anything else you'd like to know I'll do my best to answer.

[neverenoughtravel]

Thanks for your reply about the cabin details. Thanks for all the handy tips. It's good to know there is so much storage space! Everything sounds great, except for the loudness of the room when docking. That has me rethinking my choice. I'm a very light sleeper and being woken up so early when the ship docks has me wondering. What do you think makes this room so loud during docking? Thanks again!

[josask]

I think the noise comes from the thrusters. The noise only woke us in the morning when we arrived in port and we needed to get up then anyway. It didn't wake the kids just DH and I since we are light sleepers. The room was really quiet any other time- there is no hallway noise as there is only 1 room that is further down the hall than this room.

 

We felt the layout of the room was worth having this inconvience.

[neverenoughtravel]

Thanks for this further information on the noise issue. I feel a little better about it. Maybe I'll bring a loud fan and hope for the best. I like everything else about the cabin, so I think I can put up with this one issue. I cannot wait! The Jewel looks amazing! If you think of anything else or get around to posting pics of the room I'd love to see it! Thanks again!

[neverenoughtravel]

PS Are the outlets American outlets? And is there a curtain between the main bedroom and living area? Many thanks!

[josask]

PS Are the outlets American outlets? And is there a curtain between the main bedroom and living area? Many thanks!

 

Yes, American outlets. There are two curtains - one between the bunk bed bedroom and another between the living area & the king bed.

[Cheryl H]

We were in 8002 on the Jewel for our cruise too! (New Engand/Canada) Loved it. Don't forget about the doorbell! Our luggage arrived and we heard a doorbell, but we didn't realize what it was. Later we found our luggage in the hall. I felt a little bit like the Clampetts...remember they'd say "there's that pretty music" and then they'd find someone at the door! Ha!

 

We are hoping to get this same room on the Radiance for Alaska next year.

 

I have pictures of the room, but I'm not sure how to post them.

[josask]

We are thinking of doing an Alaskan trip next summer too. As much as we loved the room and RCL overall, we are thinking about switching to Carnival in hopes that there may be more kids on board. I've heard that Alaskan trips have few kids to begin with so maybe Carnival would have more. We would have to get 2 rooms with them though.

[neverenoughtravel]

Thanks for both your posts josask and Cheryl. I'm feeling very good about this room! We were so ridiculously cramped on our HAL cruise to Alaska that it was hard to feel comfortable. This sounds great! Guess I'll need some adapters/converters as all of our appliances are European. If anyone has pics of the room they can post, I'd love to see them! Many thanks!!!