Live Jewel 17th Feb 2020, A last minute change of plan.

[sgmn]

2 hours ago, boogybaby said:

Great thanks, it’s good to know we can buy our drink onboard with free money, janice

Dont forget you can't take it through security at the airport as carry on. 

[Cruzinbabe06]

On 2/17/2020 at 8:34 AM, little britain said:

Face a different social site.....

Ohhhh.  Got it!

Thanks

[Cruzinbabe06]

Thank you for taking the time to post your review.

 

We arrived Thursday night in Dubai tired and hungry.

 

So looking forward to getting on the ship Monday.

 

Yesterday, we had lunch in the Burj at Atmosphere Restaurant.   Wow! 

Food amazing! Drink Presentation Amazing!  Views Amazing!  You're really paying for the whole experience.   It was on my Dubai Bucket List.

 

We're staying at the Towers Rotana, Club Access Rooms on the 24th Flr.  I love it here!

 

Phenomenal service!  So much included with the price and nothing is too much to ask.

 

Still jetlagged, we went to Global Village last night.  Wow again!  Dubai is certainly living up to the hype!  Fireworks and all!  

 

I'm so tired, so pool relaxation today, and tonight, Dinner Iin the Sky, another Dubai Bucket List.

 

I'm sharing your review with my coworkers, were so excited to board.

 

Thank you again for sharing!

 

[BayAreaCruisers]

I'm following this with great interest!  Like you, we were scheduled on Quantum Feb 15.  In fact, we were B2B on the previous cruise when we got the cancellation notice.  We opted to go home, but we know at least one family from the cruise (John and family) that decided to join your cruise in Dubai.  I'm glad it is working out so well - enjoy the rest of the cruise!

[kernow]

6 hours ago, sgmn said:

Dont forget you can't take it through security at the airport as carry on. 

I always bring bubble wrap with me and bury it in the middle of my dirty washing. Never had any breakage so far. We flew Emirates and the great thing about them is you get 30kg luggage allowance even in Economy.

[kernow]

34 minutes ago, Cruzinbabe06 said:

Thank you for taking the time to post your review.

 

We arrived Thursday night in Dubai tired and hungry.

 

So looking forward to getting on the ship Monday.

 

Yesterday, we had lunch in the Burj at Atmosphere Restaurant.   Wow! 

Food amazing! Drink Presentation Amazing!  Views Amazing!  You're really paying for the whole experience.   It was on my Dubai Bucket List.

 

We're staying at the Towers Rotana, Club Access Rooms on the 24th Flr.  I love it here!

 

Phenomenal service!  So much included with the price and nothing is too much to ask.

 

Still jetlagged, we went to Global Village last night.  Wow again!  Dubai is certainly living up to the hype!  Fireworks and all!  

 

I'm so tired, so pool relaxation today, and tonight, Dinner Iin the Sky, another Dubai Bucket List.

 

I'm sharing your review with my coworkers, were so excited to board.

 

Thank you again for sharing!

 

Glad you are enjoying Dubai, is it your first time there?  It's certainly a great place with so much to do. Wish I could rewind the clock to this time last week so I could have the holiday all over again😁

[kernow]

27 minutes ago, BayAreaCruisers said:

I'm following this with great interest!  Like you, we were scheduled on Quantum Feb 15.  In fact, we were B2B on the previous cruise when we got the cancellation notice.  We opted to go home, but we know at least one family from the cruise (John and family) that decided to join your cruise in Dubai.  I'm glad it is working out so well - enjoy the rest of the cruise!

Did you enjoy Quantum, we're still a bit gutted that we missed it but maybe next year if things have calmed down.

It's funny, I know there are quite a few people on here who should have been on Quantum but we haven't actually met any of them. We've spoken to lots of people about it and they say 'oh yes we were talking to someone else who should have been on Quantum ' but we never bump into them.😀

[BayAreaCruisers]

9 minutes ago, kernow said:

Did you enjoy Quantum, we're still a bit gutted that we missed it but maybe next year if things have calmed down.

It's funny, I know there are quite a few people on here who should have been on Quantum but we haven't actually met any of them. We've spoken to lots of people about it and they say 'oh yes we were talking to someone else who should have been on Quantum ' but we never bump into them.😀

Quantum was a fine ship and we had a great time, but there were only 1500 passengers out of over 4500 capacity.  Most of the venues were very quiet so I feel like we missed out on the excitement of a more crowded ship.  I would definitely cruise on it again - but after things quiet down a bit.

[#55worktoplay]

On 2/18/2020 at 11:19 PM, kernow said:

Dinner for us last night was in Giovannis. It's our favourite speciality restaurant and it didn't disappoint. The food was excellent and our server great, the best staff member we've come across so far. Quite a few of the staff on the ship seem to be just going through the motions doing their  job.

We had an 8.30 booking and there were only 3 tables already there, by the time we were on main course we were the only customers!

 

After dinner we listened to the singer in Schooner bar for a bit ( quite good) and then up to Vortex for the silent disco. They had security on the door preventing under 18s (do they always have this? Never noticed before). The disco started slowly but ended up being good fun. There was almost a fight on the dance floor at one point. There were one group who were very drunk (Brits unfortunately) and the 2 men' were jumping around on the dance floor taking up everyone's space. One of them fell into another guy who got angry and it almost came to blows. Not sure why they allow people to keep drinking when they get this bad especially when there are security around.

 

Some food pics

 

 

 

What is this?  Very good review really enjoying.  Glad you were able to come up with alternative

 

 

[Coralc]

I think it looks like octopus....I wouldn't eat it. Although I like smoked octopus medallions. 

 

What a wonderful review and what an interesting part of the world! Thanks for taking the time to share your photos and cruise. 

[kernow]

Yes it's octopus, Mark had it and said it was delicious, I wouldn't even try it.😄

[kernow]

On 2/19/2020 at 5:36 PM, kernow said:

This sign up by the mini golf is kind of ironic (you need to zoom in to see properly). The whole area is covered in these stains and has been ever since we got on board! 

I think the powers that be may be reading this, just been up to play golf and it's lovely and clean up there now. Thanks RCL!

[sgmn]

3 hours ago, kernow said:

I always bring bubble wrap with me and bury it in the middle of my dirty washing. Never had any breakage so far. We flew Emirates and the great thing about them is you get 30kg luggage allowance even in Economy.

Recently they have changed their economy allowance. It always use to be 30k but now depends in the price of your ticket. It can be anything from 15k to 35k, though most tickets, like yours, are still 30k. I work for Emirates  and often see pax who haven't checked their allowance 

Edited February 22, 2020 by sgmn

[kernow]

Sorry I haven't said much about Abu Dhabi but as we've been before we haven't been doing much. There is a free shuttle to Abu Dhabi mall which we used yesterday morning. We just wandered around for a couple of hours and then came back to the ship. Today we're just going to stay on the ship and enjoy the sunshine.

 

Today's Compass 

 

[#55worktoplay]

5 hours ago, kernow said:

Yes it's octopus, Mark had it and said it was delicious, I wouldn't even try it.😄

Oh I wouldn’t either. I thought it was a snake close enough😀

[boogybaby]

Yes we will be packing bubble wrap for the bottles, so far we haven’t had any breakage but it will go in the centre with plenty padding, janice 

[boogybaby]

Hi, do you know if we can use our credit card for drinks in Doha or is it better to exchange some sterling at the port, thanks

[Cruzinbabe06]

17 hours ago, kernow said:

Glad you are enjoying Dubai, is it your first time there?  It's certainly a great place with so much to do. Wish I could rewind the clock to this time last week so I could have the holiday all over again😁

Yes it is!

 

So much fun and we haven't even boarded the ship yet.

[kernow]

13 hours ago, boogybaby said:

Hi, do you know if we can use our credit card for drinks in Doha or is it better to exchange some sterling at the port, thanks

The cafe we went to did take cards but we had exchanged money at the port so paid in cash. I would think if you want to purchase anything in the souk cash may be better as they did barter in some of the shops.

[kernow]

Last night's menu

 

After dinner we went to the Safari lounge and were just in time for the Great British quiz. We teamed up with another couple and ended up with 38 out of 45, the winners got 40 so we were quite pleased with ourselves! 

This was followed by Quest, they only had 4 teams which were the people sitting around the dance floor bit so if you want to participate make sure you are there. We were at the back so just watched. It was a bit different from usual, probably adapted for the British, lots of full team participation and not too risque. We ended up sitting chatting until 1 am, our latest night of the cruise.

 

Not sure what we are doing today, probably take the shuttle to Dubai mall for a last look around for this trip.

[kernow]

Today's Compass 

[kernow]

We've just got off the ship and are in the terminal. Fast free WiFi here. There are two  different free shuttles, one to Dubai mall  and one to Mercato mall. We've decided to try Mercato as we've never been and the guy in the terminal said the area around there is nice with a beach front and shopping.

The schedules for the buses

 

 

[boogybaby]

We will go to mercato mall as we haven’t been before, thanks for the timetable I’m looking forward to seeing your photos, janice

[kernow]

19 minutes ago, boogybaby said:

We will go to mercato mall as we haven’t been before, thanks for the timetable I’m looking forward to seeing your photos, janice

Just got back and can recommend the area. The mall has quite an upmarket feel and there is a nice beach directly across the road (behind the Mandarin Oriental hotel). If you like French Patisserie  I can recommend Paul's, the cakes were delicious.

[kernow]

Sadly it's the last morning and time to leave the ship. No big rush for us as our flight isn't until 4 this afternoon so we've got a later number. We'll have plenty of time at the airport so I'll  update then.

 

Last night's menu