Is the Jewel really such a gem? LONG REVIEW

[constantcruiser]

Embarkation: We arrived at the dock about 1:30pm and were shocked to see a line of passengers several blocks long. After waiting nearly 2 hours in unseasonably warm weather, the reason for the delay became obvious. In Boston only unionized dockworkers are permitted to load cargo onto a ship, and there were only 2 people handling all of the bags! Once inside the building, we walked right up to the Diamond-class check-in desk where we handed the clerk a copy of the SetSail pass I had completed on-line in advance. She took the paperwork, promptly handed me a form that asked for the very same information and told me to step aside and fill it out! When I explained that all of the information was on the preprinted SetSail pass I just gave her, she responded, “I know, but that’s what I’ve been told to do.” So much for on-line check-in. From there we proceeded through the security checkpoint, our photographs were taken, and we were issued our SeaPass cards. All checked in (or so we thought), we went straight to our cabin and met our steward who had already delivered our bags. Unfortunately upon returning to our cabin following dinner, we found a note saying that problems with the computers required every passenger to report to the dining room the next morning to have another photograph taken before their SeaPass cards could be activated. Lucky us—we were assigned the earliest time slot—8:30 am on the first sea day!

 

Cabin: We booked a balcony guarantee, so we were pleasantly surprised to be assigned to deck 10, which is almost all suites. Although our room was just standard size, we certainly felt like we received upgraded service—plush robes, spa shampoos & soaps, and very prompt and polished service from our steward. Although the cabin was no larger than we’ve had on other ships, the storage space was very well designed…and for the first time in 23 cruises, we actually found ourselves with empty drawers and shelves, even on a 10-night cruise.

 

Public areas: Just as we had been told, the Jewel is a beautiful ship—lots of glass, wood paneling, and unique artwork. The centrum is designed without the many spiral staircases that take up so much room on other ships. I particularly appreciated the niches on every floor with seating overlooking the centrum area. The glass elevators on the outside of the ship are breathtakingly beautiful--and speedy. The Safari Club was our favorite gathering place, and again the use of wood makes it very warm and welcoming. The 13th floor space formerly known as the Viking Crown Lounge is divided into several rooms, one of the prettiest of which is the Hollywood Odyssey. Unfortunately most passengers avoided spending time in there—day or night—because it is also used as a cigar club, and the room reeks of smoke.

 

Dining:

 

§ Casual: Vast improvements have been made to the Windjammer Café since our last RCI cruise—far more seating, multiple stations in place of one long buffet line, and a fairly broad selection offered throughout the day. However, the flooring is a lawsuit waiting to be filed. Its unique mosaic design is made of a material that is as slick as ice, and we personally witnessed several people fall. A couple of days into the cruise, large sections of the room were cordoned off with signs saying “beware of slippery floors” and staff were stationed at the entrance warning people of the hazard. The Seaview Café on the 12th deck quickly became our favorite lunch venue—delicious cooked-to-order hamburgers, fish & chips and specialty sandwiches—and almost never crowded. Very few passengers seemed to find it, but the hike past the rock-climbing wall and children’s water park was well worth the exercise.

 

§ Dining Room: We adored our wait staff and loved the location of our round table for 8 in a quiet section of the mezzanine. Our tablemates were pleasant, well mannered and fun loving. But the food itself was only mediocre. Except for the deep-fried mahi mahi on the last night, nothing was really unacceptable. On the other hand, nothing was exceptional either. The menu was limited (never more than 3 choices of entrees), and the alternative menu remained the same throughout the 10-night cruise. The quality was what might be expected of a mid-priced steakhouse chain, and certainly could not be described as “fine dining.”

 

§ Specialty restaurants: We ate at Portofino’s one night and had a lovely dinner (well worth the $20/person surcharge). However, getting a reservation at either of the two specialty restaurants was a challenge for everyone we met. Even though we called three days in advance, we were told nothing was available. After we had been told both restaurants were fully booked, the concierge was able to get a reservation for us at Portofino’s at 6:00 one evening. After being told no reservations were available all evening, we arrived to find only two tables occupied. We were escorted to a table against the wall and asked if we could be seated by the window instead. The maitre d’ said someone was sitting there and would be back in a few minutes. He seemed very flustered when we indicated we would wait for a window table. He made multiple phone calls and paced back and forth in front of several unoccupied window tables. When it became obvious we weren’t going to be persuaded otherwise, he finally agreed to seat us at a table overlooking the harbor. We had a beautiful view of the sunset and sailaway from St. Maarten and an excellent meal with attentive service. Interestingly, when we left Portofino’s a couple of hours later, the restaurant was still about half empty.

 

§ Midnight Buffets: Although the evening was cool and windy, the poolside Caribbean buffet was well attended; and the food and entertainment had been upgraded since our last cruise. On the other hand, the “gala” buffet on the last formal night was horrific. Not only was the presentation less elaborate than in years past, the traffic pattern in the dining room was frightening. Guests entered the room from the upper level, descended the stairs and proceeded through the buffet. However, because the tables downstairs were already set for breakfast, waiters were stationed at the end of the buffet line directing guests to turn around and go back up the stairs to the second level to be seated or exit the dining room. Guests carrying plates of food precariously wound their way upstairs, against the tide of the hundreds who were still coming down. Those who had lost their appetites to claustrophobia and tried to escape through other doors found the exits blocked by “guard-waiters.”

 

Entertainment/Activities:

 

§ Casino: The payoff on the slot machines wasn’t high enough for us to risk our lungs against the smoke. Nearly all casinos in the U.S. have designated non-smoking areas—and we heartily recommend cruise lines follow suit.

 

§ Shows: The quality of entertainment in the main showroom varied from night to night. “Headline” entertainment ranged from to a solo violinist to full-scale dance productions to a comedian on the comeback trail. Each show featured just one act, introduced by the Cruise Director and backed up by the ship’s 8-piece orchestra. To say the least, some shows were far better than others!

 

§ Lounges: “Barry from Boston” attracted a loyal following into the Schooner Bar every night, while a classical guitarist and 3-piece dance bands drew much smaller audiences in other venues. On the one evening when we visited the disco about 1:00 am, the dance floor was empty as were most of the tables.

 

§ Cruise staff activities: With the exception of the stale “hoedown hat game” and passenger-turned-Elvis routine, we rarely saw the cruise staff anywhere on the ship. On past cruises we have enjoyed activities led by the staff more than any of the “professional” entertainers, and we sorely miss the showcasing of the staff’s own talent on the final night.

 

SPA/SALON/GYM/SPORTS DECK/POOLS: Saw them, but never used them. All of the facilities were clean and well-maintained, but spa services seemed unusually overpriced.

 

CHILDREN’S & YOUTH PROGRAMS: Probably because of the time of year and length of the cruise, there were few children/teens aboard. But we did peek into both facilities, and they seemed well-equipped and well-staffed.

 

CONCIERGE CLUB/REPEAT PASSENGER AMENITIES: There were over 800 repeat passengers on this cruise—and many, like ourselves, were diamond or above. As much as we miss all of the little perks that used to be standard, the Concierge Club is a very welcome addition. We met new friends there every evening as we enjoyed complimentary wine and hors d’oeuvres before dinner, and the concierge could not have been more accommodating. Although this doesn’t compensate for the personalization we once enjoyed and grew to expect as part of every cruise experience--and has since gone by the wayside in favor of “mass production”--it is a step in the right direction.

 

ITINERARY: In a word: inexcusable! It should have come as no surprise when at the CC “Meet & Mingle” on the second morning, the CD apologized for the itinerary…but said we were lucky we were aboard this cruise, because “next week will be even worse!” Staff repeatedly blamed glitches on this being a “transition” cruise (the first of four consecutive 10-day sailings out of Boston to familiar Caribbean ports). However, it felt as if passengers were the only ones who had ever seen a copy of the itinerary! The first three days seemed totally unplanned--everything from coupon books to shore excursion forms were printed for seven-night cruises.

 

Just days before the start of the cruise, Royal Caribbean changed the itinerary to call at San Juan instead of Tortola. Although their customer service staff refused to give my travel agent a reason for the change, once on board the Senior Engineer explained that the berth in Tortola is too shallow for the Jewel. Wouldn’t you think someone might have measured before they printed and sold that itinerary??

 

The announcement of the change came early enough for most passengers to avoid disappointment…that is until we reached San Juan. The evening before we were to arrive in Puerto Rico, an urgent message was delivered to every cabin notifying passengers and crew that every single person must disembark in San Juan to go through U.S. immigration. Apparently just then it occurred to Royal Caribbean officials that, since the ship had already docked in Labadee (Haiti) and would be re-entering the U.S. in San Juan the next day, everyone would have to clear immigration. And that meant everyone—whether they intended to get off the ship in San Juan or not!

 

The following morning passengers were given hastily prepared immigration instructions and assigned debarkation numbers. The Jewel was in port for six hours, and it took nearly four hours for everyone to disembark and proceed through immigration. Immigration officials seemed as surprised to see us as we were to be there! Needless to say, there were some very unhappy passengers—quite a few of whom expressed their anger to the crew. The following morning we happened to see the CD in St. Maarten; and as we approached him to ask a question about the evening’s activities, he raised his hand and said, “don’t swear at me!”--before we ever opened our mouths. He went on to tell us he was “sick of passengers’ complaints about the itinerary” and “we tried to tell Royal Caribbean it would never work.”

 

To make matters worse, many passengers were under the impression the ship would be docked in Bermuda for two full days…and in fact, while onboard we received three different documents that showed the departure time as 7:00 am, 4:30 pm and 7:00 pm! Shore excursions were advertised for the second afternoon. When it was confirmed that--although we would be in port overnight--the ship would depart at 7:00 the next morning, rumblings among the passengers became even louder. At the Diamond passengers’ reception (the very last day!), the Captain said the Jewel had to depart Bermuda earlier than planned because the Voyager was due in later that morning. When asked why Royal Caribbean would not have been aware of that conflict far in advance, he passed the microphone to the Loyalty Ambassador and quickly left the room.

 

DEBARKATION: Smooth as the seas. We were off the ship, in a taxi and on our way to the airport by 9:00 am.

 

One interesting point: after dinner on the last night, comment cards were placed in our cabin as usual. However, absolutely NO mention was made of them…not by the CD, the cabin steward, dining staff or anyone else. Having always heard that management pays close attention to comment cards, I keep notes throughout the cruise—names of staff who have been especially helpful, etc.—so I won’t forget to mention them at the end. After packing on the last night, I went down to the coffee bar and carefully completed the comment card, attached my 3 extra pages of remarks (!) and sealed it up ready to drop in a designated box the following morning. The only trouble was the next morning I couldn’t find a single comment card box anywhere on the ship! I asked several staff members, who all provided different answers, and finally gave up and mailed it to the corporate headquarters when we got to the airport. It just seemed a little too obvious that no one expected the once-standard “excellent” ratings about this cruise!

 

BIGGEST PROBLEMS FOR US: We encountered two separate issues that affected our cruise, but probably had no impact on anyone else’s experience. Take them for what you will…

 

§ Tuxedo Rental: DH has rented tuxedos through the cruise lines’ vendors on several occasions in several different cities without any problems. Nearly every time the tuxedo & accessories were in our cabin when we boarded the ship—ready to try on and store away until the first formal night. This time we were preoccupied with other business the first evening on board (such as contacting airlines about lost luggage), so it wasn’t until the second day (formal night & at sea) that we remembered we hadn’t seen a tuxedo. As soon as we discovered the problem, we notified our cabin steward & Guest Relations. First response was “it will be delivered to your cabin by 10:00 am.” After lunch we were told “the tailor is pressing it right now—you’ll have it by 3:00.” When we returned to the cabin again about 5:00, a suit bag was hanging in our closet. A good sign—or so we thought. When he unzipped the bag, DH’s face fell…the trousers, shirt & jacket were all 3 sizes TOO SMALL! I found the written confirmation showing the sizes he ordered, took it and the undersized tuxedo to the tailor and explained that we received the wrong one. His gracious response to me was, “Too bad—we don’t have one in his size—tell Guest Relations.” Guest Relations was very apologetic and had room service deliver a lovely steak & lobster dinner with a bottle of champagne to our cabin, so we could dine in the privacy of our balcony wearing clothes any size we happened to have!

 

§ Credit card for SeaPass: About halfway through the cruise, we received an unsealed envelope containing a condescending message that our credit card had been declined, our SeaPass cards were deactivated and ordering us to immediately provide a different form of payment. Of course our first thought was that someone must have made some huge unauthorized charges that exceeded our credit limit. Fortunately we were just sailing out of San Juan when the message arrived, so DH was still able to use his cell phone to call our bank. The bank staff was as surprised as we were, and denied any problem with the card. We brought this to the attention of the chief purser who looked at the note and said, “Oh, someone must have copied the wrong number…it happens all the time.” Sure enough, the wrong expiration date had been entered into our file. So much more for on-line check-in… The purser apologized and issued us new SeaPass cards. About five hours later, we were buying drinks for some new friends in the Champagne Bar and our NEW SeaPass card was declined--very embarrassing. We returned to Guest Relations and were told that, although they had immediately issued us new cards, they hadn’t yet had a chance to make the change in the computer!!

 

 

OVERALL EXPERIENCE: The worse day on any cruise is better than a good day on land. Still true, and we’ve already booked a Thanksgiving cruise on Celebrity. But as fares are reduced to attract a broader clientele, so are services. And it just ain’t like it used to be!

[Desertbelle]

I think maybe you posted this in the wrong forum.....but it is a good review. :)

[Tuna]

I think you made a wrong turn. RCCL board is the other way. :)

[chessbriar]

Yes, buy she's moved to X. Hope things work out better for you at Thanksgiving

[constantcruiser]

I deliberately posted my review on both RCCL and Celebrity boards. So often posters try to compare the 2 lines, and I thought this might help someone who is making a choice. Of the 23 cruises I've been on, 15 have been RCCL, 2 on Celebrity, and the rest on Princess, NCL & HAL...and I've always found things to praise and things to criticize about each one.

[Desertbelle]

That's cool. :)