Jewel Review 2/14/16

[KEG21552]

Before Cruise:

Left EP for Puerto Rico on Thursday 2/11. Main reason is the earliest arrival time from El Paso is 8:30 (at least on American). We flew first class which made the 7 hour trip much easier. Flight uneventful and arrived as scheduled.

Stayed at the Hilton Condado Plaza for 3 nights. Hotel was fine, had a nice pool, but no real beach. Walking distance (if you like to walk) to a few bars, stores and restaurants.

Ate dinner at Oceano and Marmalade, which is always an excellent experience.

 

Cruise:

Embarkation:

Had arranged for a taxi at 11:30 and pretty much walked on with no lines. Cabins weren't quite ready so we settled in at Cafe Bacio seating area to wait for a bit. There were 8 of us, including my 86 year old Mom, so didn't want to walk around a lot until we had dropped all of our stuff off.

 

We were in 2 aft balconies, 7676 and 7174. My brother, sil, mom and sister were on deck 9, 9246 and 9254. I really like the aft balconies and was not disappointed.

 

This is about the 19th cruise we have been on, most on RCCL, 3 on Celebrity, 1 Carnival, 1 Princess and 3 NCL. We generally prefer Celebrity and RCCL. I am only mentioning this as a statement to experience. We have been on many ships and I am generally of the " a day on the ship is better than a day at work (except for the Athem a couple of weeks ago), and this cruise was of that nature, but I gotta say, this ship Stinks to High Heaven! There was an almost constant sewer smell down the hall way, the bathrooms on Deck 12 by the art gallery were almost unusable an the Casino between the Pit Stop and Casino smelled like someone had spilled a giant bottle of either shampoo or cleaner. If there was ever a ship that needed a dry dock, this one is it! Our toilet would not flush properly several times. it was tended to, but somewhat of a pain.

Did it make our cruise unbearable, no, absolutely not. Was it annoying, yes it absolutely was.

 

Dining:

we had my time dining for the first time, but only ate in the dining room 3 times. We had the same waiters, Alexander and Silvio and they were great. Food, very subjective, but for us ok.

 

We bought the dining package, 3 dinners for 70.00 and ate at Chops twice and Portofinos once (on the package) Both were excellent meals and service.

 

We did the mystery dinner at Portofinos. My husband and I had done this before and thought everyone else would enjoy it. We were not disappointed. It was a lot of fun.

 

Most lunches at Windjammer which was, well, Windjammer. Even the pickiest of people should be able to find something they like.

 

Breakfast a couple of times in the dining room, once room service and the rest Windjammer. Again, all fine.

 

Ports:

St Thomas

We had arranged a charter on the Fury (SS Minnow) with Captain Mike. While at Buck Island as we were getting ready to leave, a storm blew in and I mean a storm! Wind, rain, waves, you name it, we got hit with it. Seriously, they sent the Coast Guard to look for us. I thought our 3 hour tour was going to turn into something else, but Captain Mike and Callie handled the whole experience very professionally. I never really felt in danger because I could always see land (I know this is foolish, but whatever works!), but it was quite the experience. We found it exciting and exhilarating and it gave us much to talk about. I would have no hesitation in recommending Captain Mike, Callie and the Fury.

 

St Kitts

Zip lining through the ship. It was our third time zip lining and it was a little different than the other ones we have been on. You were stopped by some type of spring system. Little learning curve, but okay. There were 4 lines total and crew was very professional and safe.

 

Aruba

Rented Trikes and went on tour of island. There were a couple of mishaps, but all was dealt with and we really enjoyed this tour. I don't know the exact web site, but you can google Trikes in Aruba if you are interested. I would definitely recommend this one also.

 

Curacao

Did a bus tour with Dushi Taxi. Ok, not really her fault, but a 5 hour bus tour is just not my cup of tea. The only reason we did this was it was not a lot of walking for my mom, we had never been to island before and wanted to see it. I, personally, would not do this again. We went to the Curacao liquor factor, the Aloe farm which were great. The winery, which I did not particularly care for and the rock formation which I found desolate. By that time, I was really over the whole bus experience. I understand there is a beach where there are a lot of waterspouts. This would have been a better fit for us.

 

Entertainment

For the most part was good. There were 2 comedians, Steve someone (sorry) and Lucas Bohn (I think) Enjoyed both of them. My ONLY complaint was the last night farewell show for Lucas was at 7:45. This time sucked for any dining. Early late or my time, WTH?

 

Pools were packed on sea days with the usual chair hogs, I really wish there was some way of monitoring this and was actually enforced.

 

Debarkation:

4 had a flight out at 2:00. Left ship around 9:30, no issues, they had plenty of time to kill at airport.

 

4 of us stayed over one more night at the Marriott Stellaris. Nice note, but pricey and I probably would not use this for the post stay unless I was staying 2 days. As it was, our rooms were ready about 1 and we checked out at 7:30 the next morning. Not really worth it.

 

No experience with Adventure Ocean or any kids programs.

 

We all had the ultimate drink package, purchased and paid for prior to cruise. Did we get our $ worth? Don't know, don't care. It was all paid for and was nice not having to worry about it.

Our bar of choice was the Champaign bar.

 

Will be happy to try to answer any questions.

 

Karen

[Clarea]

Thanks for the report.:)

[cruiseapril]

Curacao has so many nice cove beaches. Hope you gat to go to one another time.

 

Thanks for the review.

[Keith1010]

Thank you for the very detailed review/report.

 

Keith

[ValerieJo]

Thank you for your review. We're heading to the Jewel very soon for a back2back.

 

You say the smell was pretty bad. Were there efforts to fix the problem? Did the smell issue last the full cruise?

 

You say you had the drink package, but did you notice if they sold the 10 drink punch cards? If so, do you know which day and how much they were?

 

Thanks again for your post.

[cincicruisers]

Thanks for taking the time to post your review.

[KEG21552]

Valerie

I don't know about the 10 drink package. Since we had the ultimate package, we didn't pay any attention to any other offers.

 

The thing about the smell is it was there most of the time. I noticed it more on port days, maybe because the ship was not moving, I don't know. The others did not seem to notice it on deck 9, but it was definitely on 7. Like I said, it was annoying, but it didn't ruin our trip.

 

Not sure when you are going, but I know ther is a dry dock scheduled very soon.

[JamesEM]

Thanks for your report.

[abbflex]

Thanks for the review.

 

any words aboard about the upcoming refurbishing and what they gonna get?

[KEG21552]

I heard they were getting rid of Portofinos and replacing with Izumi (maybe) and maybe getting rid of Seaview. My family ate ther, but we didn't so I don't don't if that is good or bad. We really, really enjoyed Portofins though.

 

Another thing, the crew was great. We never had any issues getting a drink and everyone was nice and helpful.

 

Aside from the smell, it was a great time. The smell didn't ruin it by any means!

[Clarea]

I heard they were getting rid of Portofinos and replacing with Izumi (maybe) and maybe getting rid of Seaview....

What they have done on other ships is replace Seaview with Izumi and replace Portofino with Giovanni's.

[impatientlywaiting]

We were on the Jewel in September and absolutely loved her. We didn't have aft balcony cabins but were just a few cabins up from the back and fortunately didn't have any issues with our toilets or plumbing. We also didn't notice any of the awful smells in the common areas - phew, so glad we missed out on that! We would definitely cruise on Jewel again!

[drk]

Keg...thanks for the review. We're on the TA post drydock and in cabin 7676. What balcony furniture did you have and were there any odor issues in the cabin?

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the report!

[villager70]

Takes for the review. We booked a short cruise in a JS April 24th, just after it comes out of the yard. Going out of Ft. Lauderdale. Will see how the refurbishment went. Bob The Villages, Florida

[SteadyBetty]

. . . . this ship Stinks to High Heaven! There was an almost constant sewer smell down the hall way . . .

 

On our October 2015 voyage on JOTS, we experienced this as well. Our cabin was 1076 and as soon as we would turn down that hallway, the stench was strong. So much so, we would either hold our breath or place a Kleenex over our nose and mouth until we got to the cabin. The stench was like old-never cleaned kitchen mop with urine thrown in. The people in the next cabin asked if something could be done about the smell, but it never was.

 

I would be very interested to see how JOTS improves with the drydock.

[signora]

Thanks for your review! We are booked on the Jewel in Feb. 2017 and just have a few questions. Did you notice the Caffe Lattetudes or will that be new with the refurbishment? I'm glad there will still be an Italian restaurant--Giovanni's Table. We haven't sailed on RCI in a while and are looking forward to seeing the changes.

[Fljane51]

We are Diamond Crown and Anchor members so I am curious - is there a Diamond Lounge on the Jewel?

[wolfcathorse]

We are Diamond Crown and Anchor members so I am curious - is there a Diamond Lounge on the Jewel?

 

no Diamond Lounge, Jewel doesn't get one until her dry dock later this spring.

[wolfcathorse]

We all had the ultimate drink package, purchased and paid for prior to cruise. Did we get our $ worth? Don't know, don't care. It was all paid for and was nice not having to worry about it. Our bar of choice was the Champaign bar.

 

Will be happy to try to answer any questions.

 

Karen

 

Karen - did the ultimate package have a cap on cocktails? I usually get the premium package and the cap is $10 per cocktail (meaning I have to pay the difference) and $12 per glass of wine. Or did the bartenders ignore that and give you whatever you wanted without charging the difference.

 

I ask because on Enchantment, 3 of the 4 bars did charge the difference plus they regulated which premium liquors were available for the premium and ultimate packages.

 

I will be on JW next Sunday!!!

[Sellstar]

We experienced the smell from time to time but I must say we really enjoyed this cruise. It seemed like we were more relaxed, the ship never seemed crowded (other than chairs on sea days) and Captain Liz was hilarious. We are primarily Princess loyalists, but the Jewel certainly met our expectations.

 

The Cafe Lattitudes was operational each morning around 6:30 or so as I remember. I visited each morning to get the wife's Chai Tea Latte. Happy wife, happy life!

 

Food wasn't perfect but I found the servers to be extremely helpful and polite. We met some great new friends at dinner. Our daughters hit it off like nobody's business!

 

A few minor differences from Princess included the way Bingo is done (and that's a big deal to the ladies in my life), the food choices and availability and the pizza...really RCCL, you have to do something about this! I felt we were kind of "nickled and dimed" while on Jewel but not enough to ruin a really good time.

 

Entertainment left something to be desired but don't they all. I'm an early riser so it was tough to stay awake for me.

 

As to the ports of call, we love St. Thomas and have to do our "self-guided tour" around the island. Renting a car is about $75 a day and is a great way to see what YOU want to see! We love the banana daquiris at Mountain Top! Also Hook, Line and Sinker in the bay. You can sit and watch the water planes come and go. Good food, low brow eatery.

 

St. Kitts was interesting. Took a taxi tour for the four of us, $80 for about 3 hours. Was very interesting as the driver stopped twice to give money to his "baby mamas"! Beautiful scenery included with some slum neighborhoods.

 

Curacao was as we left it before. Loved the view from the harbor. Our favorite is Aruba and the beaches there. Rented a car for about $80 and drove around all day..... the northeast side of the island is amazing!

 

I've got some photos posted at http://www.jimmyd.shutterfly.com.

[pilotboy1985]

I was on Jewel Dec 2015. I luckily didn't notice the sewer/bad smells you encountered.

[IsanTom]

Nice review! We will be on Jewel TA in November to San Juan and then BTB on Celebrity Summit!

[impatientlywaiting]

We are Diamond Crown and Anchor members so I am curious - is there a Diamond Lounge on the Jewel?

 

In September Diamond members were served drinks in The Vortex on Deck 13 in the evening. It was pretty cool since we usually were treated to whales breaching when we left port in the evening and we had a bird's eye view! I'm not sure if The Vortex was actually the Diamond Lounge all day though or just for the free drinks in the evening.