Transatlantic review jewel of the seas 4/23/17

[jean87510]

This is my first time on jewel and 1st time on a t.a. I booked an oceanview last year when there was a fantastic sale and I love it. This is a 13 day cruise and currently it is day 11. I will start at the beginning. Arrived from Philadelphia to san Juan the morning of the 23rd. Yes, this is really not the wisest decision but with frequent fliers, it is what American airlines gave us. We arrived in san juan at 1245, taxi to ship, and were on by 145pm. My husband and I are gold members that turned platinum on this trip so i have no clue on what the diamond and above lounges are like nor do i know any of the concierges. Or what they do. I guess one day i will but not this trip.

 

We made it to windjammer and ate. No pictures of food in this review. Then went to explore. We are active 50 plus and the sports court and gym interests us. Also a tip. If you like internet, prebuy package when it is on sale. I got 2 devices for 21.99. Worth it to stay in touch. Also prebought soda package on sale and the coffee card.

 

Entertainment- shows are not good. Only show i liked was the juggler. I really wish rccl would cater to my generation with these shows. I'd rather have comedians and novelty acts than the singers. Or rock cover bands. Movies were ok but unfortunately i had seen all of them. Nice movie theater on 6th with $2 popcorn.

 

Spa/gym - had no interest in seaweed algae wraps and detoxification so i didn't go to spa. At gym 2x/day and loved equipment. Didn't do classes. Sports court was nice. Still haven't seen rock wall open.

 

Specialty restaurant- did all 3. Giovanni hands down was the best. All were great though.

 

Laundry - had to pay for it 34.50 for 1 bag. Worth it though.

 

All staff - 11 days and have to say best staff around. Love talking to them about where they are from. So nice. Only rude ones were at spa. Gave me a hard time when i wanted to use shower after gym. I had to give them my card. Only did that 1x.

 

Excursions- i usually research for months. No ship excursions. Arranged a taxi to take my husband and i to a starting point in la palma then hiked for about 4 hours, were picked up then brought back to port. In Tenerife, after our 2 guides backed out the week before and our rental car was a manual which my husband can't drive,we paid taxi driver at port 130 euros for 6 hours driving us to mt teide and had a wonderful day. We took a prearranged roll call tour in gran canaria that was nice but not something i would do again since i hate long bus trips where i can't see anything. In Gibraltar we went to rock on our own. Prepurchased cable car tickets and nature reserve tickets which was clutch. There is no need for a tour here unless you physically can't walk. It's easy to find everything. So far that has been our best day next to tenerife.

 

Pool/solarium - no chair hogs noted. Easy to find chairs. Fyi - wifi doesn't work in solarium.

 

 

More to come with pictures and final thoughts.

 

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[MiniChunks]

We are doing this trip next year. Thank you for writing this.

[shearwood]

what was the weather like on the way over? we are doing a ta next may Tampa to Spain

[jean87510]

Weather was fine. A little chilly the closer we got to the canaries. We are in alicante today and my husband and i were on the beach in bathing suits. Water was 70s and was too cold for me. We rented bikes from blue bike rentals via bim bim bikes and rode to playa san juan.

 

I still am very impressed with ship staff in all areas. The head of windjammer noticed i was having difficulty in using my soda cup and got me a new one and filled it for me. Just really nice. Regarding soda package - i only saw one set of the machines in windjammer; however, any of the bars will fill your bottle or give you a glass.

 

 

 

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[jean87510]

Finally back home and thought I would quickly finish this. Getting off ship in Civitavecchia was very quick and easy as we do self assist. I asked guest services the night before as we had an oceanview on 3 if we could just walk off and he said yes, as soon as they cleared. We took a shuttle to bus station then another bus to train station in Civitavecchia. We used the train to get to Rome which was really easy to figure out. Spent 2 days in Rome and enjoyed it. We bought Roma passes and took the buses all over the city and when we couldn't get a bus, we grabbed a cab. I had planned my 2 days in Rome and knew exactly what I wanted to do so the rest was easy.

 

I loved the barrista at the caffe lattitudes. Very nice and sweet girl. Coffee was pretty good here. Highly recommend coffee card for long cruises

 

Booked another cruise online while on ship using my internet to go into RCCL website. Then I went to next cruises 20 minutes later and they had the same cruise for 650 more. I really don't know why people just don't research this before making the commitment. If you are doing it because you want a certain room, I don't know if it is worth it. This is the 3rd time I had this issue with next cruises and I actually think it is funny when they give me this ridiculous price.

 

Cruise director was cruisin susan. She seemed ok but cruise directors are not a deal breaker to me.

 

Captain was Captain Luz. I seem to get female captains on my cruises. I was surprised there were more than Captain Kate on Celebrity. The way everyone acts on the boards, you would think she is the only captain but I suppose she is the only female American captain. Still odd, the hero worship.

 

I highly recommend the Jewel. Very nice ship

[Sue Dawson]

Thank you for your review. Just booked this trip for next year. Can you tell me where you stayed in Rome. Thank you!!

[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[easyboy]

Thank you for your review.

 

 

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[jean87510]

I went through air bnb and randomly picked a highly rated place near a metro and bus station. Alessandro seina is the host. Was on via marandola 9c. Nice area but not in the center of town.

 

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[Biker19]

our rental car was a manual which my husband can't drive,

Important note to anyone else - be prepared to drive a manual when renting a car outside of NA.

[jean87510]

cicar did have automatic drive. They were all rented though. Just make sure to check if renting beforehand to check the correct box.

[cruiserhal]

Thanks for your review. We are booked on this trip next year (360 days to go) and were wondering about the ship.