A decision has been made to redeploy Jewel of the Seas in the fall of 2006.

[redsoxfan56]

I am glad they added a NE schedule. I like having a NE option as I have done the Carribbean over and over. This will give me a chance to see another part of the country. I just flew back from Maine yesterday and saw the Celebrity ship at the Portland dock and it made me smile and wish I was on a New England cruise.

 

Perhaps it depends on one's individual situation. Since a vacation is MAYBE once a year for us it is a HUGE disappointment. If we did not have to deal with physical limitations making flying almost impossible maybe we would not mind either. Or if we were in a position to cruise often.

 

Still annoyed!!!!!

[memphismimi]

I want to see Royal Carribean add a cruise from Michigan. I think they could easily use some of the ore freighter docks at Rogers City.

 

Or I'd like to see a ship leave out of Memphis! :rolleyes:

[mandm33]

Or I'd like to see a ship leave out of Memphis! :rolleyes:

 

I realllly wanted to see one in Kent Lake, and suggested the same to RCI, but they made a big deal of something about access issues?

 

:)

[negc]

I am disappointed, too. We were planning to book the Jewel Carib/Bermuda itinerary for next fall while on our upcoming Majesty cruise. Guess we will have to book another line if we want Bermuda sailing from Boston. Too bad, so sad!!! I hope RCCL will reconsider or at least offer something else from Boston.

Unless flying one way (home from Ft. Lauderdale is a problem, you still have the option of taking the repositioning cruise which visits Bermuda and also takes you to Aruba and Curaçao. Explorer will sail to Bermuda out of NJ all season so a relatively short drive can get you there on a Voyager Class ship.

RCI obviously can't satisfy everyone and in this instance they have decided that there is more demand for the NE/Canada itinerary than there is for the Boston/Bermuda/Caribbean one. As evidenced by what has just happened, perhaps the following year they will come to a different conclusion

[mrg0433]

Okay, I just read my prior posts and realize I got a few of my facts wrong.

Sorry about that. I guess Jewel's Oct 22 sailing wasn't sold out for six months--perhaps it was the balconies in short supply for the last few months.

 

Looks like the smoking issues on Deck 6 were insignificant now. I just hoped to see RCCL make improvements not cancel this cruise. I love the Jewel and this itinerary. Any chance RCCL may send the Voyager up here and do this itinerary once or twice in the future? Wouldn't that be fun! I've never sailed a voyager size ship and would book it in a NY minute.

 

Bill, I was just talking with John about doing the repositioning cruise when I retire and spending a week or two in Ft. Lauderdale before flying home. Unfortunately, the retirement date is a few years away for me. I suppose John could go without me.

 

Mary

Plymouth, MA

[ondeckatsea]

Hi Luna, Mary and Myrna....It's good to see you're back on the forum. We were also disappointed that RCI is giving up that nice route (although we could happily have given up San Juan and that mess.) I'd love to just park that ship in Bermuda and stay there all week. I can't help but hope somebody will come up with a cruise like we just had. It had to have been profitable. We've done the Majesty and wouldn't do it again. Maybe NCI will station one of their new ships in Boston for the summer and fall. I'm not crazy about that line though.

[Jimbo]

. It had to have been profitable.

 

We sailed on the September 22nd sailing, and from the people we talked to onboard there were alot of passengers who got some pretty hefty refunds when they reduced the rates right before final payment time.

I can't think our sailing was that profitable.:eek:

 

When you end up paying $800 a person for a Balcony after residence discounts, crown and anchor balcony discounts for a 10 day cruise, I can't think they made that much off of us. People that had oceanview and inside cabins should have paid even less then that. Between paying the help onboard, food and fuel and entertainment......Really Now how much could they have made really?

 

Jimbo:)

[redsoxfan56]

When you end up paying $800 a person for a Balcony after residence discounts, crown and anchor balcony discounts for a 10 day cruise, I can't think they made that much off of us.

 

Seems some of you meade out quite well, but many people I know did not pay anywhere near the discounted amount of $800. I am sure plenty of people paid much more...and besides, they still ran up their SeaPass.

 

Will be interesting as Celebrity already does New England/Canada out of NJ and I believe Princess does out of NY...I find it hard to believe there is THAT much demand for Canada.

I also found it amazing how LITTLE advertising was done for this cruise...many people I spoke with had no idea such a cruise existed and it was hardly ever mentioned in the newspaper ads in the Boston area.

[lindacat]

I also was planning to take this cruise again next year. My family and I loved our sailing on the Jewel. We were also on the 9/22 sailing. When I met with the loyalty ambassador she did not know that this itinerary was being discontinued. She booked three rooms for me on a cruise that I had no intention of taking, and told me I could change when the sailings opened up.

 

I was so disappointed to hear of the intention to abandon the Boston sailings, but changed our booking to a similar cruise out of NJ. This morning, I went to the RCCL web site to check on a change I needed to make and noticed that all the Canadian cruises were gone, and that the Bermuda/ Carribbean cruises were back for next year. I called RCCL and the gentlemen I spoke to said it looked like they were indeed back but not yet open for booking.

 

Does anyone have any insider info as to what may be going on? I would really love the opportunity to do this sailing again next year.

[negc]

I love the Jewel and this itinerary. Any chance RCCL may send the Voyager up here and do this itinerary once or twice in the future? Wouldn't that be fun! I've never sailed a voyager size ship and would book it in a NY minute.

 

Bill, I was just talking with John about doing the repositioning cruise when I retire and spending a week or two in Ft. Lauderdale before flying home. Unfortunately, the retirement date is a few years away for me. I suppose John could go without me.

 

Mary

Plymouth, MA

Mary - next year the Voyager will be in Europe and Explorer will be taking over its sailings out of NJ so that would probably be your best bet if you want to sail on a Voyager class ship without traveling to Florida. Perhaps after the Freedom and Endeavor and the third Freedom class ship comes out and RCI once again realigns its itineraries, a Voyager class ship could sail out of Boston, but I am not sure that we will see that anytime soon.

I'm sure that John wouldn't go without you, but if he did, I'm sure he would email you daily to let you know what you were missing (assuming he has a death wish):D

[Onessa]

I want to see Royal Carribean add a cruise from Michigan. I think they could easily use some of the ore freighter docks at Rogers City.

 

Or they could use the car ferry docks in Travers City or Manitowoc WI - up through the soo down through Huron, Ontario, and Erie and then through the St. Lawrence Seaway

 

Or how about Duluth MN or Thunder Bay ON? New England colors have nothing on Lake Superior's!

[powelweb]

Wow- I did similar to what you did- sailed on Jewel repositioning cruise last fall, and wanted to re-book when onboard Enchantment this summer, but the Jewel out of boston weren't taking reservations, so I booked for the Explorer repositioning cruise.

 

I just logged into RCCL, and they are showing the 10 night caribbean and bermuda for next fall now (I checked earlier this am and it was still the canadian cruises.

 

Book now while you can!!

Wendy

[powelweb]

sorry folks, RCCL is showing those cruises but with no availability to book. sigh! :(

[negc]

I suspect that RCI is working on the website or there is a glitch in the system. The fact that they list the Caribbean cruises out of Boston but indicate they are "not available" would seem to indicate that there is a problem (temporary, I would hope) with the website.

[Shmobo]

RCCL still working on the schedule for Jewels..that's why none of the sailings are ready to be booked yet for the said period on the website. But if you call your TA, they will able to book you for all:

 

 

23SEP06 7 NIGHT CANADA/NEW ENGLAND CRUISE

All 7 nights in between New England Cruises

21OCT06 6 NIGHT CANADA/NEW ENGLAND CRUISE

27OCT06 4 NIGHT SHORT CANADA CRUISE

31OCT06 12 NIGHT BOSTON TO FORT LAUDERDALE CRUISE

 

Except

11SEP06 12 NIGHT WESTBOUND TRANSATLANTIC CRUISE

[lindacat]

It is strange because yesterday the website showed all the Canadian cruises, then today it was showing the 10 day Bermuda cruises. When I spoke with the cruise consultant, he said it looked like there would be "a couple" of the Bermuda cruises and then the Canadian cruises. None were available to book. (not even the Canadian cruise) He said that it looked to him as though RCCL had not yet finalized the sailings and he did not know when that would happen.

[wrp96]

I think some weird things are up with RCI's website today. Today RCI's website isn't even showing the 4 and 5 night cruises on Granduer, except for 2 dates of the 4-night cruises.

[ISABELLA]

We sailed on the September 22nd sailing, and from the people we talked to onboard there were alot of passengers who got some pretty hefty refunds when they reduced the rates right before final payment time.

I can't think our sailing was that profitable.:eek:

 

When you end up paying $800 a person for a Balcony after residence discounts, crown and anchor balcony discounts for a 10 day cruise, I can't think they made that much off of us. People that had oceanview and inside cabins should have paid even less then that. Between paying the help onboard, food and fuel and entertainment......Really Now how much could they have made really?

 

Jimbo:)

Hi Jimbo,

We are still talking about our cruise. It was so much fun and you are right - what a price we paid! But I am glad RCCL have not canceled my 10/31/06 sailing. It would be huge disappointment. You have been such a great help for you cruise, that I would like to repay a favor if you'd like. We took 2 cruises to Hawaii, so if you have any questions and I can answer them, I will be more than happy to do it. You can e-mail me at : vic7bella@aol.com

Take care.

Isabella

[powelweb]

Just to clarify-

 

I had been looking at a fall 2006 caribbean/ bermuda sailing on the Jewel in early August, with the plan to book while on the Enchantment 8/30 sailing out of Boston, but about a week before the cruise, the Jewel's fall 2006 cruise schedule went to N/A on their website.

 

I called the 800#, and was advised they may on hold to develop final pricing (given fuel surcharges) and would likely be N/A for some time.

 

On the Enchantment, I did book another cruise (can't let the credit get away), and Carlos, the LA, indicated that they were working on some itinerary changes for the Jewel.

 

Like many other posters on this thread, I love sailing directly out of Boston and will be crushed if our only RCCL options are a Canadian/NE cruise.

~Wendy

[ISABELLA]

I booked my repo cruise on JOS for 10/31/06 , on board of the JOS when we sailed this September, which by the way was fantastic, and future cruise specialist onboard did not say anythng about changing to NE itenerary from Bermuda. That decision must be just be made. To all our surprise our sailing was not selling as well as last year. Our prices had dropped a few times since I booked it last September. I will be very disappointed if they stop Caribbean/ Bermuda sailing from Boston all together.

Born to shop,

Live to cruise.

[Rala]

Thanks,negc, for the info. I am aware of the repo cruise, but that date doesn't work for us next year. I just like the idea of having to drive less than an hour to the ship. Oh well, on to other options!!!

[MJB1437]

Iwould be thrilled if the Jewel did the Boston. Caribbbean, Bermuda route, but skipped the fiasco in Puerto Rico and made St. Maarten a 2 day stop like Bermuda. That would work great for me.

Myrna

[negc]

Iwould be thrilled if the Jewel did the Boston. Caribbbean, Bermuda route, but skipped the fiasco in Puerto Rico and made St. Maarten a 2 day stop like Bermuda. That would work great for me.

Myrna

Could you elaborate on the "fiasco in Puerto Rico"? We have been there many times and this time we plan to go to Carolina Beach to swim. On other occasions we have done the Bacardi Plant tour on our own, have taken the excursion to El Yunque rainforest, and have walked around Old San Juan and visited El Morro.

It looks like it came down to abandoning the NE/Canada cruises out of Boston that Jewel did last year and Enchantment did this year, or abandoning the Boston to Bermuda and the Caribbean roundtrips that the Jewel did this year, and RCI looked at the facts and figures and opted to keep the NE/Canada itinerary. I know that folks on here are disappointed but if you check earlier posts on this board there were as many or more disappointed cruisers when it looked like there would be no NE/Canada cruises on an RCI ship next year. Until they can justify basing two ships in Boston to cover both itineraries, I guess we will have our choices limited.

[negc]

Iwould be thrilled if the Jewel did the Boston. Caribbbean, Bermuda route, but skipped the fiasco in Puerto Rico and made St. Maarten a 2 day stop like Bermuda. That would work great for me.

Myrna

Could you elaborate on the "fiasco in Puerto Rico"? We have been there many times and this time we plan to go to Carolina Beach to swim. On other occasions we have done the Bacardi Plant tour on our own, have taken the excursion to El Yunque rainforest, and have walked around Old San Juan and visited El Morro.

It looks like it came down to abandoning the NE/Canada cruises out of Boston that Jewel did last year and Enchantment did this year, or abandoning the Boston to Bermuda and the Caribbean roundtrips that the Jewel did this year, and RCI looked at the facts and figures and opted to keep the NE/Canada itinerary. I know that folks on here are disappointed but if you check earlier posts on this board there were as many or more disappointed cruisers when it looked like there would be no NE/Canada cruises on an RCI ship next year. Until they can justify basing two ships in Boston to cover both itineraries, I guess we will have our choices limited to one or the other.

[Shmobo]

Finally, RCCL call my TA regarding my Repo cruise... and offer some compensation.... :p .

 

I guess I might go Baltic Sea after all