Review of 8 night Jewel

[Gumtree]

Just returned today - cruise was nice but it's great to be home!

Embarkation - arrived pier @ 1 pm on Saturday, sat in 'staging area' for 35 minutes before being cleared to go thru xray machine and 'boarding' area. Did not see any difference between lines of people who did 'set sail' and those that did not. We were on the ship by 2 pm.

Cabin - we had 8102, an E1. Great location on the hump, huge balcony (we had two lounge chairs and four upright chairs and one small table). Interior space was tight with two adults and two teens. Single cushion bed pulled out at night for daughter; son slept on bunk that was directly over the head area of our king bed. Made for middle-of-the-night bathroom trips very tricky. Our room steward was Martin; we were a little disappointed in the service the first few days but mid-week it was greatly improved. He said that he had too many cabins to service.

Ship - beautiful! However there were many rough days/nights - don't understand why we felt so much movement on this ship. In-laws were on their 36th cruise and this was the first time my mother-in-law was sea sick.

Loved the pools and the fact that they are open 24 hrs. Didn't notice any chair hogging. Solarium was beautiful and pool police actively (and politely) redirected young children/families to main pool. Mini-golf was fun but halfway thru cruise they only had a handful of golf balls left; activitiy personnel said that kids were throwing them overboard. Next time I'd bring my own balls. By the end of the week each group had to share one ball. Participated in closest to the pin and longest drive in golf sim. Regular charge is $25 per hour. I've played other golf sims before and wouldn't waste my money on this one. Teens liked rock climbing wall; activity personnel were very encouraging. Don't understand the limited hours of the water slide though. Spent every evening after dinner at the pool tables -- daughter became quite the pool shark. Ship singers and dancers were fantastic, but I was disappointed in the lack of comedy shows (especially the R-rated ones Carnival offered at midnight last year).

Food - we had main seating which was sometimes an effort after a full day in port. Our server was Sally Ann from Trinidad who was absolutely fantastic; her assistant was Wilder from Peru who was also very good. Food quality was ok. In my opinion, it wasn't as good as Celebrity (no surprise there) or Carnival (Triumph/Caribbean & Spirit/Alaska). I've never seen so many people continuously late for dinner - strolling in at 6:30-7:00 pm. Windjammer was ok, but I'm not a fan of buffets. Had breakfast in the main dining room the last three days; service slow but nice change from buffet. Disappointed that we didn't see any sushi in the Windjammer. Best kept secret seems to be the Seaview Cafe on deck 12 aft. Food cooked to order & served inside or out; had lunch here a few times. Went to Portofino for Murder Mystery dinner on Wednesday (Antigua); had a great time -well worth the $49 pp. Ordered room service the morning of St Thomas as we had to be in Safari Club for immigation clearance @ 7:30 am. Asked for it to be delivered @ 7 am - received a phone call @ 6:55 stating breakfast was on it's way; superb service. This was the only time we ordered room service.

Ports - We did the Eastern Caribbean last Thanksgiving so in San Juan we just walked around for an hour or so and got back on ship to sun and have dinner.

St. Maarten - bought water taxi roundtrip and went to beach by pier. Did the same thing last year, expect we spent several hours shopping prior to the beach. This time we went to visit a jeweler friend and hit the beach. Four chairs, two umbrellas, three rafts & fresh-water shower for $25. Rented two two-person jet skis for 30 min for $45 each. Let kids drive w/us on back - they had a blast. Went back to beach & relaxed/shopped.

Antigua - booked Lawrence of Antigua. Basically after 30 minutes of disorganization, he tried to cram more people than he had seats for in his very nice air conditioned bus. I asked him twice how many people he had booked for the tour and the occupancy of his bus. He told me 20 were booked and occupancy was 28. We got on the bus (6 of us), followed by about a dozen or so more, and still a dozen more waiting to board. He told us not to worry, each row had a jump seat that folded down which completed blocked the aisle. Even by doing that, there was still a few more left waiting on the sidewalk. No one in my party wanted to be crammed in a bus for three hours, so we told him we would skip the tour and give up our seats. I understand he's in business to make money, but this was crazy. We spent the morning walking around the town and then went back to the ship to enjoy the pool. Highlight of the day was getting a mens LV wallet for $10.

St Thomas - booked "Bob" on the website about a month before sailing. Day started our rainy but stopped enroute to reef and remained overcast. This was one of the best excursions we've done. It was very well organized and teens both had a great time. Sun came out on the return trip so we walked around Havensight Mall (waste of time) then went back to ship/pool. Only gripe here is consideration of fellow cruise ship passengers. Tickets clearly stated that tour was to begin @ 8:30 and to meet @ 8:15 on dock. Some people leisurely walking off ship at 8:30-8:35 am. Those of us that followed the instructions were rewarded by waiting on the dock in the rain.

Nassau - walked around shopping area and straw market, which should actually be renamed "knock-off bag market". Enjoyed a Starbucks and went back on ship to sun & relax.

Fuel/Adventure Ocean - 14 y/o son had a great time and made some good friends; 16 y/o daughter didn't find anyone and spent most of her time with us (which was ok - she's quite independent and doesn't mind doing things on her own). She felt that Carnival was more fun than RCCL; son enjoyed RCCL more but I attribute that to him finding a great friend.

Disembarkation - I don't remember ever being asked to vacate my cabin at 7 am, but we did. Ship didn't even dock until 7 am. They began calling tags around 8:30 am. We were still waiting @ 9:30 so we made the decision to walk off as we had an important event to attend later that afternoon. Bags were ready to go & a porter was at our side instantly. Little bit of chaos collecting car from parking area and getting back to the curbside to load.

 

This was our first trip on RCCL. We've been on Celebrity Century, Carnival Triumph & Spirit, Star Princess and many years ago, the Big Red Boat. Doubt we'll do another Caribbean itinerary ~ next cruise will probably be Med.

[johnbob7]

.....and could you tell me how you found out about the Mystery Dinner evening? Was it on the ship or pre-cruise? And do you know if it was a one time thing (your cruise only) or something likely to happen on future 8-days?

 

Glad you had a nice time, we go on this itinerary in March.

 

Oh yeah, also wondering which beach you went to on St Martten, where you got chairs, mats, etc for 25 bucks.

 

Thanks,

 

bobj

[Gumtree]

We were handed a flyer for the mystery dinner as soon as we boarded, plus it was advertised throughout the cruise. We made reservations shortly after boarding - evening started out w/champagne and nibbles in Safari Club where the 'mystery' begins. You are then taken to Portofinos and sat at tables of 12 plus one 'actor'. Choice of soup or salad, break w/assorted tapenades, entree choice was steak or shrimp (everyone at my table ordered steak, which was one of the best steaks I've ever had), and tiramisu. Service was excellent and my wine glass was never empty. I'm pretty sure this is offerered every cruise.

 

The beach in St Martin is the one along Front Street ...the water taxi leaves from the ship dock and goes directly to the Front Street pier ($5 pp r/t but you can made as many trips as you want-we only needed one).. we got off and turned right, the beach is across from a hotel that has an open air bar and restaurant, nice cushioned wicker chairs and shade. It's about 3-4 'beach vendors' down, and the guy's name is "Iceman". Last year there was a water trampoline & banana boat if you went to the left from the pier, but it wasn't there last week. Our deal with that vendor last year was 5 chairs, 2 umbrellas, 5 free drinks and 1 water trampoline bracelet (for my daughter) for under $30. The banana boat was extra, like $10 or so pp. We didn't find the beach vendors as willing to 'deal' this year, but we were happy with what we got. Plus, it was away from the town pier construction noise.

 

Enjoy your trip!

[johnbob7]

Thanks for the response! Jope you are surviving cruise withdrawal successfully.

 

bobj