Just back from Jewel of the Seas....

[smw0621]

How sad...we just got home from our 8 day Eastern Caribbean cruise...beautiful weather, beautiful beaches and now we're back in 10 degree weather. Ouch!!!

 

I'll do a review soon, but we had a great time.

[kruzerci]

How sad...we just got home from our 8 day Eastern Caribbean cruise...beautiful weather, beautiful beaches and now we're back in 10 degree weather. Ouch!!!

 

I'll do a review soon, but we had a great time.

 

So do you think you will stay with RCI or go back to Princess?? We liked Jewel a lot.

[smw0621]

We really enjoyed Royal Caribbean...the staff was much friendlier (we thought), but the shows were awful (we enjoyed the shows on Princess 100% more), and the ship was absolutely beautiful. We'd definately sail Royal Caribbean again.

[Cruising89143]

We really enjoyed Royal Caribbean...the staff was much friendlier (we thought), but the shows were awful (we enjoyed the shows on Princess 100% more), and the ship was absolutely beautiful. We'd definately sail Royal Caribbean again.

 

I was on the Jewel back in early December and really enjoyed the most of the shows with the exception of one of the production shows. It was boring. City of Dreams or something like that. Bad!!!!!!!!! She is a beautiful ship.

[wrp96]

Write your review quick!! I leave this Saturday on the same cruise. :D We have a few people on our Roll Call that are leaving for Florida on Tuesday so any info you have posted before then would be appreciated!

[isujim]

and we are on the same cruise 6 weeks after Wrona...........so get that review written:)

[Ltvscout]

and we are on the same cruise 6 weeks after Wrona...........so get that review written:)

Ya, what Jim said. :D

[rubrrick]

Write your review quick!! I leave this Saturday on the same cruise. :D We have a few people on our Roll Call that are leaving for Florida on Tuesday so any info you have posted before then would be appreciated!

 

Wrona..........we loved the Jewel. We wanted to go back this year for a Fiords trip.....but the timing did not work out.

[wrp96]

Wrona..........we loved the Jewel. We wanted to go back this year for a Fiords trip.....but the timing did not work out.

 

I KNOW I will love her. Radiance class is my favorite class of ships. I'm just so excited about my trip that I want any and all information I can find!:D Only 3 days left of work!!

[negc]

Wrona - have a great cruise but don't let the negative reviews cause you to pass on City of Dreams. I have seen it twice and think it is one of the better shows I have seen in recent years. That doesn't make me right and those who didn't like it wrong. It just indicates that tastes in entertainment just as in other areas can differ. If you enjoy the production shows, give it a look. If not, there are plenty of alternative entertainment options available. Don't miss those crepes in the solarium.:)

[wrp96]

Thanks Bill. I've already got plans to try out those Crepes. And you know negative reviews don't get me down.:)

[kruzerci]

We really enjoyed Royal Caribbean...the staff was much friendlier (we thought), but the shows were awful (we enjoyed the shows on Princess 100% more), and the ship was absolutely beautiful. We'd definately sail Royal Caribbean again.

 

I also thought the entertainment on Jewel of the Seas was absolutely terrible. It is the only Royal Caribbean cruise that they haven't been great. Glad you liked Royal Caribbean and the Jewel. Who was your cruise director? I remember ours was a lady, don't remember the name, but we didn't like her, we never would have seen her had we not gone to the welcome aboard and farewell show.

[RVfromAZ]

We were on the same cruise! We had a wonderful time. There was eight of of in our group.

We were on board by noon, had our luggage in our rooms by 4 or 5. We were in Cabin 7108, huge balcony, it was awesome.

We thought the food was great in the dining room, and windjammer, and yes make sure to try out the made to order crepes in the solarium...very yummy, I loved the strawberries and chocolate!

The entertainment was okay, I liked the City of Dreams, production show, the comedian wasn't very good.

The ports were great.

San Juan: we just walked around the historic area, and took the free trolly around the area. Had a beer at Senor Frogs!

St. Martin: We did the 6 hour Beach/shopping excursion, that was nice.

Antigia: I booked Day passes on-line before we left for Grand Pineapple beach, an all-inclusive resort. Very enjoyable day, wonderful beach.

St. Thomas: we took a taxi over to Magen's Bay for the day, rented a beach lounger, and had a great time. Very beautiful beach.

Nassau: We hired a taxi driver/tour guide, he drove us around Nassau, and then over to the Atlantis Hotel where he walked around with us pointing out highlights, very enjoyable.

Jewel is a beautiful ship, with a great crew, you will have a wonderful time. :)

[smw0621]

We flew in the day ahead and stayed in a hotel in Ft Lauderdale. We left the hotel about noon and it took around 15 minutes to get to port and we were on the ship within 15 minutes. Absolutely no problem getting onboard.

 

Once onboard we went to the Windjammer and had something to eat then walked around the ship for a while and met up with our group (there were about 50 of us). I believe we had our luggage by about 4:00. A few people who were with us tried to get irons on board and had to go to security to pick up their luggage, but then again, there were other people who didn't have a problem with their steamers or irons. And bringing liquor on board wasn't a problem either.

 

Our cabin was 7646, nice room, the problem with the balcony was that we had to cover from the lifeboats right under us so we couldn't look directly down. I'd only have a balcony from her on....

 

We had the 8:30 seating in the dining room, and the food was excellent every night. The two sea days were formal nights (the second night and 7th night). Some people wore gowns and tuxes, other suits and dresses, it was really a mix but everyone always looked nice. Our waiters Rohan and Huldon were fabulous, it's amazing how they remember everything from night to night...what everyone drinks, etc.

 

The shows we did not like at all, but everyone is different. Some people loved them. The comedians were either hit or miss, when they were funny they were right on.

 

I can't remember our cruise directors name but he was great. I did hear that Bobby Brown was the cd this week and some people who were doing back to back cruises weren't very happy. Don't know what that's all about.

 

In San Juan - we walked around a little and ended up at Senor Frogs with a group of us.

 

St Maartin - a bunch of us took a cab to a nice beach (sorry, don't remember the name), and others spent the day shopping.

 

Antigua (didn't really care for the area) - we went to Dickinson's Bay - absolutely beautiful.

 

St Thomas - Magens Bay and shopping (got a beautiful anniversary band at Diamonds Int'l)

 

Nassau, Bahamas - took the Seahorse Snorkeling excursion (booked from the ship) and had a GREAT time. It was beautiful. They take you on about a 45 minute boat ride, then swam on the coral reef. Then did a little shopping on the way back to the ship.

 

The ship is absolutely beautiful and all of the staff were very friendly. The Solarium was beautiful and you definately have to try the crepes. After a couple of days we found the SeaView Cafe and it was excellent. Great sandwiches, onion rings, etc. You kind of get sick of a buffet every day so this was a nice change.

 

One thing we noticed was that there wasn't much action out by the pool (games), which there were alot of on the Princess. It may be because we only had 2 full sea days and the first day it rained half the day. My husband came in second in the belly flop contest...I'm so proud.

 

I think that's about it. Anyone cruising on this ship you'll have a great time and if you have any questions send me an email (yanksno1fan@aol.com).

[smw0621]

One other thing, all luggage had to be out of your room between 8 and 11:00 the night before leaving, and you had to be out of your stateroom by 8am. We were off the ship by about 9:30 and at the airport in no time. Our flight back to NY was suppose to leave Ft Lauderdale at 2:40 but because of weather we had a 2 hr delay. Yeah!!!!

[QM2 Cruiser]

Thanks for the review, I'm glad you had a good cruise. Did your balcony have a light on it so you could sit outside when it was dark? I'm not sure we will want to use the balcony when it is dark, but I am still curious if there is a light. Thanks.

[smw0621]

There's a light directly over the sliding glass door that goes out to the balcony and it does light it up nicely. We used the balcony all the time (whenever we were in our room), in the morning, before going to bed, when we were getting ready for dinner. I'd never cruise again without one.

[IAMGPW]

We were also on the same cruise! If you like to snorkel, you MUST go to

Coki beach in St. Thomas.

 

 

 

GPW

[Ottawa_cruise_man]

WE'll be going on our first cruise ever this Saturday, on this ship in cabin 9592.

 

Thanks for the great review!

[truffles2]

Since so many of you seemed to dislike the entertainment, I was wondering if you could be more specific with who and what it was?

[smw0621]

I'll try to be more specific but unfortunately I can't remember the names of any of the performers, maybe someone can help me out?

 

There was a lady (July Kulbik?) she did some singing along with comedy - she was pretty good, but we had a hard time understanding her, she kind of reminded me of Charo.

 

There were two performances by the crew, one was them singing different songs from Broadway shows. I didn't care for that at all but alot of other people did. I didn't go to their first show so I can't comment on that.

 

There was also a gentlemen who did singing and comedy and he was ok too, there were funny parts and not so funny parts, he did alot of impersonations.

 

Then there was a group called Ole Ole, they were Spanish and two people played instruments while two others danced.

 

There was another gentlemen who had a performance at midnight (I guess he had another performance earlier in the week that we missed). Everyone was raving about him, but after being about 15 minutes late, his act was only 1/2 hr long and he seemed very nervous. Definately not worth the wait.

 

And, these are just my opinions, I'm sure other people loved the show. I just found that on our last cruise on Princess the performances were much better.

[Cruising89143]

Since so many of you seemed to dislike the entertainment, I was wondering if you could be more specific with who and what it was?

 

I only had one show that I did not like and that was "City of Dreams". To me it was boring and the cast just did not do a good job but that is just my opinon. The other production show was very good. We also had Judy Kolba who is a Charro type knockoff and she was pretty funny but can be hard to understand at times as mentioned above. We also had the Beatlemaniacs, Knudsen Brothers and a Gaucho's act and I found them all to be very good. Other than the production shows, the entertainment can change from week to week so it is hard to say how one will like the entertainment. Overall I would give the entertainment on my 12/02/06 sailing an 8 out of 10. Bobby Brown was our CD on this cruise and he was one of the best. Out and about the ship and very friendly. Not over the top like some cruise directors.

[Ottawa_cruise_man]

We were also on the same cruise! If you like to snorkel, you MUST go to

Coki beach in St. Thomas.

 

 

 

GPW

I have plans to go to Trunk Bay on the Island of St John there.

Did anyone on your cruise go there?

[smw0621]

I wanted to go snorkeling at Trunk Bay, but we ended up going with a group of friends to Dickinson's Bay. It was beautiful and they had different water activities you could do there as well. My husband had heard it was a 45 minute ride to Trunk Bay and that kind of turned him off.

[smw0621]

I wanted to go snorkeling at Trunk Bay, but we ended up going with a group of friends to Dickinson's Bay. It was beautiful and they had different water activities you could do there as well. My husband had heard it was a 45 minute ride to Trunk Bay and that kind of turned him off.