A review, with pics, of my first Royal Caribbean cruise on the Jewel of the Seas.

[tdmullins]

The comedian was pretty good. We laughed enough. His last joke was of course his funniest.

 

The theater at night, after the show.

 

There is a section for gold colored sea passes. We didnt need to use this section, there were plenty of seats.

 

After the show we went to the Centrum and watched some dancing.

 

After this, I headed back to the casino because I still had $20 on a ticket to use. It went fairly fast. Tony sat in there with me and since the I wasn’t winning, Tony made the comment along the lines that the machines didn’t seem to want to give out anything. Just about that time they made an annoucement that someone had just hit $7000 on a slot machine. We just looked at each other and just got up and left.

 

We ended up just heading to the room and crashed after that.

 

We had received a letter the day before saying that suite guests needed to meet in Chops to be escorted off the ship. They had a continental breakfast set up for us. At right at 8 Karen escorted us off the ship and sent us on to customs. We found our luggage quickly. On our last two cruises I had always got a little frustrated looking for our luggage because I had to buy the same kind that it seemed like everyone else in the world had also bought. I had read a review where someone had mentioned putting duck tape with a print on their handles for easy recognition. So I picked out a pretty wild, very noticeable print and put tap around all the handles on my luggage. It made picking out our stuff VERY easy. Another score for cruise critic advice!

 

Going through customs was a breeze it took maybe five minutes. I did end up beside of the dog lady while in line. And I am pretty sure the dog had a passport. It did have some kind of official paperwork.

 

We went on outside to call our ride back to the hotel. The guy who brought us was standing there and we were both excited that he was just right there. But in the end he was waiting for a larger group and we had to wait for a smaller van. Which took about 15 minutes. The shuttle driver dropped us off right at our car. And then we were off on our way back to Kentucky.

 

In conclusion is just some overall opinions for Royal Caribbean, the Jewel of the Seas, and how I think RCI and Carnival compare. (since that is the only cruise line I have to compare it to.)

 

First, the ship was gorgeous. The décor was far more prettier than either Carnival ship I had been on. This ship really is built to focus on the sea. I loved all the glass.

 

Second, the food. In my opinion the MDR food is about the same on both lines. Carnival might have a slight edge on the desserts. The windjammer beats the buffet areas on Carnival. The variety was good and the food was better. As far as the regular room service menu, Carnival wins. The Jewel had more options but the food was better with Carnival. Carnival had a chocolate cake and a cheesecake that was delicious and I found myself ordering everyday. But overall both cruise lines don’t have food that is “wow” material. But I don’t go on a cruise and expect the same food I would spend $100 a meal on at home. That would be very unreasonable considering what all a price of cruise is. But that’s not to say that I didn’t enjoy my meals.

 

Suite perks on Royal Caribbean blow Carnival out of the water. Because quit frankly they are nonexistent on Carnival with the exception of the priority embarkation and disembarkation. I am sure I missed some of the perks but we took advantage of the lounge for coffee during the day, we LOVED the breakfast room service menu, and Karen our conceirge made Chops reservations for us, took care of my breakfast card, set up the tour for me.

 

Royal Caribbean is definitely my line of choice now. Not to say that I will never cruise Carnival again because who knows what deals and situations could pop up. But as of right now I am sticking with Royal.

 

Of course my intentions were to take MANY more pictures. But sometimes I just got caught up in the cruising and forgot to get pictures. Please feel free to ask any questions, because I am sure that I forgot to mention things that we did or saw.

 

Thanks for sailing along with me.

Terri

[Golf18aday]

Thanks for the photos, just a few more weeks until we get to experience JOS

[mmn531]

Thanks for the review. Reading through yours allowed me to relive my Jewel cruise.

 

Thank you and happy cruising

[BecciBoo]

Thanks for the ride Terri...great review.

Did you know that you can also order many things off the MDR menu from room service? Just ask for anything, all they can say is no...but I've never been refused anything I asked for.

[Familygoboston]

So glad I came across your review! Very thorough and lots of detail! I love that!:p

 

Also, thanks for the pics of the corner aft..yeah! We have that cabin on 8 in exactly 6 months:D

 

Looking forward to hearing about the rest of your cruise!:)

[Iluvcruising2]

Thanks for the review!

 

I thoroughly enjoyed the photos and the commentary that went along with it.

 

Happy cruising and do more review please!

[SweetpeaOne]

Very nice review. Thanks for sharing. Love the pictures. Was this a short cruise?

[ahecht]

We went up to the Vortex lounge to take some pics but ended up walking into a wedding. Where one of the crew members was holding the infamous dog from dinner. So its owner was either getting married or in the wedding party.

 

I saw the lady with the dog at Quest. She brought it up for the "guy with the hairiest back" challenge.

 

We had breakfast with people who were on the ship for the wedding, and they told us that the bride works on the ship while the groom works for Disney Cruise Lines (so it's probably not the bride's dog). This wedding was actually the first wedding at sea on Jewel of the Seas and the first time that Captain Thor had officiated at a wedding.

[Folk Singer]

She already posted the pictures from the balcony of 9256. My wife and I were the ones in 9256 on this particular cruise. We didn't take any pictures of cabin itself because it's identical to other balcony rooms. It was hard to take a "good" picture of the balcony just because of the layout. But, let me assure it was wonderful. There was 2 chairs, a small cocktail table and 2 recliners. I would say there was about 10 x 16 usable space. They was enough space that we joked we could of setup one of those small kiddie pools. Plus, due to the angle of the back of the ship you get direct sun all day. It was wonderful.

 

My wife and I had never sailed in a aft cabin, but were hooked now. My only issue was that I had to take the coat hangers out of the closet on the last night of the cruise. The subtle vibration of the engines caused them to rattle against the closet door without the weight of clothes on them.

 

My bad. That is very good to know. Can Hardly wait to experience this cabin.

 

Hope to Cruise with you sometime. Thank you

 

Don

[Folk Singer]

I saw the lady with the dog at Quest. She brought it up for the "guy with the hairiest back" challenge.

 

We had breakfast with people who were on the ship for the wedding, and they told us that the bride works on the ship while the groom works for Disney Cruise Lines (so it's probably not the bride's dog). This wedding was actually the first wedding at sea on Jewel of the Seas and the first time that Captain Thor had officiated at a wedding.

 

 

Thank you for the luggage Tag Link.:):)

[landj999]

We leave next week. So, Karen the concierge was great? No problem getting

Chops reservation on board? How was the CL? Crowded at All?

[rednancy1]

Thank you for the great review and wonderful pictures. :)

[niksmom630]

Terry, thanks for the great review, loved your photos. I got to relive our February Jewel cruise through you!

 

Glad to hear you enjoyed the Jewel!!!

[Luvsparties]

Thanks for the great review. Can't wait til we get on her!

[jakesnana]

Thank you soooo much for the review. I have a group sailing on the Jewel in Sept. 2014 (OMG, that seems so far away), and although our experience will be different due to the change in itinerary, the ship will still be the same. I saved some of the pics, so that I can send them out periodically and keep the excitement level up. Again, thanks again, wonderful job.

[tdmullins]

I saw the lady with the dog at Quest. She brought it up for the "guy with the hairiest back" challenge.

 

We had breakfast with people who were on the ship for the wedding, and they told us that the bride works on the ship while the groom works for Disney Cruise Lines (so it's probably not the bride's dog). This wedding was actually the first wedding at sea on Jewel of the Seas and the first time that Captain Thor had officiated at a wedding.

 

I missed her at quest. She must have been on the other side of the room from me. Thats kinda amazing that this was the first wedding at sea for the Jewel. Do you think people go for bigger ships for their wedding?

 

At dinner our table was surrounded by another wedding party. Or at least I think it was a different one. Dog lady was not around, and I also think I heard them discussing that this wedding was actually going to happen in Cozumel.

[tdmullins]

We leave next week. So, Karen the concierge was great? No problem getting

Chops reservation on board? How was the CL? Crowded at All?

 

Karen was great. I didnt ask her for much but she was very accommodating. She made our reservations for Chops on board, but we wanted formal night but had to take the next night because a large group had reserved it. So I dont think doing it early would have helped there.

 

The CL did get a little crowded around 6. They did do some overflow in the Hollywood Odyssey. Of course during the day it was practically empty except for people coming in and getting coffee.

[ahecht]

Thats kinda amazing that this was the first wedding at sea for the Jewel. Do you think people go for bigger ships for their wedding?

 

Royal Caribbean didn't get permission from the Bahamian government to perform weddings at sea until this past February. I'm frankly surprised that they could put together a relatively large wedding that quickly.

[tdmullins]

Royal Caribbean didn't get permission from the Bahamian government to perform weddings at sea until this past February. I'm frankly surprised that they could put together a relatively large wedding that quickly.

 

See there, you learn something new everyday.

[Deatsch]

Terri,

 

When you're single you let me know. :D

 

What a great review. I love it, nicely done Lady Person.

 

Oh, and the food pics? Well, stop it wouldja?

[Bebekat57]

thanks so much for the pics and review! Will be leaving in 21 days for my first Royal Cruise. I am so excited! Glad you had a great time.

[luvscruising2007]

Thanks for your review. We loved our cruise aboard the Jewel. Your review reminded me how much we love Radiance class ships. We hung out in the Centrum before dinner and loved the Seaview Cafe.

I agree with your comparison of Carnival and Royal, especially the food.

Thanks for sharing your vacation with us.

[Ladysilver]

I'm glad you enjoyed your cruise! LOVED looking at all the photos! :D

[tdmullins]

Thanks guys for all the kind words. I loved my first Royal Caribbean experience and can't wait til my next one in August. I have to admit, I have never booked another one so close to my last one. But my son asked if I would take him and his girlfriend on one. And like I was going to say no to a cruise...lol.

[micmacmissy]

We went to the solarium, but the pool was closed.

 

 

 

So, can someone explain this to me? What is up with the fake Swiss chalet thing, the badly faded plastic teal plants, and the weird golden duck heads? Seriously, who designed this? It looks awful.

 

This is the most hideous Solarium i've ever seen!