Another Jewel 12/12/04 This One With Kids

[goodml]

Our family of four (ds 14 and dd 11) and our friends (also 4 with dd 14, dd 12) had a fabulous time on the Jewel last week.

 

Our fun started at the airport in Detroit. Our flight on Spirit Air was due to leave at 7:10am and we arrived at the airport just before 5:00am. No lines and check in was great. Boarded the aircraft at 6:30 and pushed away from the gate just before 7:10. Started taxiing out and heard them try to fire up something and the plane sort of did this blip blip blip thing where the lights flickered and then it died. No lights, no air, nothing and it just sort of rolled to a stop. I looked at my hubby and said ‘I’m thinking this probably isn’t good.’ The pilot came on and said that there was an obvious electrical problem and they’d be towing us back to the gate and getting us a different plane to fly out on. We liked that answer a lot!! Suddenly the flight attendants are running up and down the aisle asking for doctors or nurses to go to the back of the plane. Some poor soul stuck in the very back was diabetic and had overheated and had a bit of a panic attack I think so on came the police, the EMT’s and various Spirit ground personnel to help him out. After they took him off, we were taken back to the terminal and put on the new plane and taxiing out again by about 9:45. I’m happy to report that the fellow who had the medical emergency was back on the plane and sitting in the row across from us and feeling much better. Finally made it off the ground and about an hour into the flight the flight attendant got on the PA system and said, ‘Would the passenger by the name of ____ please stand and identify herself immediately.’ So we’re all sitting there thinking, what now?, and this poor girl stands up looking like a deer in the headlights and the flight attendant says, ‘Alan has a very important question to ask. He wants to know if you’ll marry him!’ Too funny! The girl said yes by the way and she was wearing some major bling bling on that left hand!

 

Lots of drama on that flight. Yet another good reason to always fly in the day before. By the way, I thought Spirit did a great job handling the problems. They kept us informed the whole time and when we got back on the plane they gave us all a free drink or snack box and 10% off a future flight.

 

We stayed at the Amerisuites downtown the night before our cruise. We booked it thru valuetrips.com for $75 a night. The room was decent and clean and the breakfast in the morning was excellent. Jumped on the shuttle to the pier at about 10:30 and were at the pier with luggage checked by about 10:45, numbers 9 to 16 in line to board. We were on board by about 11:05. Best embarkation we’ve ever experienced.

 

We had ordered birthday decorations for my husband and when we went to the cabins at around 1:00 they were up and he was really surprised. We had booked a balcony for ourselves, and an inside for our two kids right across the hall. We were as far forward on deck 9 as you could get – cabins 9000 and 9001. I have to say that even though I didn’t want to be all the way forward the arrangement worked out great because we were right at the end of a hall and we could leave the cabin doors open when we were all there. There was no traffic going by at all. We had lights out for the kids at 11:00 each night and no one was allowed to leave the cabin after that without calling us first (and for extreme emergencies only!!)

 

We did have one wrinkle with our cabins. Our friends had booked cabin 9010 for themselves and their two children. In all the literature it is listed as a quad and we booked back in April so RCCL and our ta knew from the beginning that there were four in the room. When we got on board we found that it was only a triple. The cabin steward (who was wonderful) said that there was a mistake and to go to guest relations. We weren’t panicking about it because our inside cabin had another bed so we knew we could move their youngest daughter in with my dd and ds (you can imagine how thrilled he was!) if there wasn’t another solution. Went to guest relations and they were excellent. They acknowledged the mistake immediately and set out to find them another cabin. Originally they offered a second balcony cabin to put the kids in but it was on deck 7 so that wouldn’t work. Then they found another inside cabin for the kids on deck 9 but it was on the other side of the ship and down a ways and none of us were comfortable having the kids in a room away from them. The poor pier coordinator was running from the guest relations desk out to the pier and back again because she couldn’t get her radio working. They really scrambled to accommodate us. I suggested that they put their fourth person into our cabin and the pier coordinator said that it would be an unfair compromise for both of our families (although we didn’t care at all.) They asked us to wait until 8:00 pm because by that time they would know if there were any no shows and the final manifest would be set. Here’s where you all will think we are absolutely nuts!! At 8:00 they contacted our friends and offered them a Junior Suite, cabin #1098, which is along the side but at the aft of the ship. We went and looked at it and would you believe, THEY DIDN’T TAKE IT! It looked like a great room but they really wanted all the cabins to be close together and were happy to stay in 9010. It actually was an eye opener for me because I always read about people booking the different suites and I’m always a bit envious but after seeing it, for the difference in cost I was happier to have a balcony and an inside. Anyways, we moved Jills over to our other cabin and it was all fine.

 

The weather in Key West was beautiful and we basically just got off the ship and walked to the southern most point of the US and then back up stopping in pretty much all the shops along the way. Our men hit most of the bars along the route so they were definitely happy. Our daughters got matching orange ‘ I (heart) KW ‘ shirts and it was so funny because all day the next day in Cozumel and on the ship people kept asking them what KW stood for. I think everyone on the ship with initials KW approached them and told them their names that day. Those two were so cute all week and they cost us a flipping fortune because the damn photographers kept snapping pictures of the two of them all over the ship and they were so good we had to buy them.

 

In Cozumel the kids did the Royal Swim at Dolphin Discovery. I booked it directly through DD online and it was amazing. They did the foot push and the dorsal fin pull and of course we had to buy the video because it was so awesome. They also got to hold the dolphins and kiss them and play in the water with them for a while. After that we rented snorkel equipment and snorkeled at the beach for a couple of hours. It was a perfect day and the looks on the kids’ faces made it worth every penny.

 

Costa Maya was nice. We didn’t go any further than the port because it was cool and rainy that day but we spent a couple of hours wandering around the shops. That night we had rough seas and those front cabins were pretty bouncy although it was like that all over the ship so it didn’t really matter.

 

Our day at sea was cool and cloudy so we did indoor things all day. We signed up for the slot tournament and my dh won first place -$572 (and those were US bucks to all my fellow Canucks!), a high roller t-shirt (the only one he’ll ever have), a trophy and a free drink. Gotta love it. Got blown out of the black jack tournament.

 

This was our 4th time in Nassau and we weren’t looking forward to it but after the two crappy weather days, we had gorgeous weather so we took the water taxi to Atlantis and had a look around for a couple of hours and then headed back to the ship for dinner and packing.

 

For disembarkation we were given beige 1 luggage tags and were in the first group called at around 8:30. We were off the ship and at the airport by about 9:00 and through security and at the gate by 9:20 for our 12:10 flight home. Excellent.

 

All in all we had a wonderful week. Our cabin stewards were excellent and they were kind to us even though they had to clean the room with the 11, 12, and 14 year olds in it and believe me it was NOT pretty! I was like a drill sargeant trying to get them to tidy it up for him. No problem having the fridges cleaned out and putting in the wine, beer and pop that we brought on with us. We had table #519 in the dining room with waiter Lloyd who was fun for the kids. The table wasn’t nice as we were right at the kitchen door but it was no big deal and the service made up for it. We found the food quality very good and enjoyed it very much but we did notice that there are less choices than before. We always found something we liked but I think that the new menus are designed to encourage you to go to Chops or Portofino for a finer dining experience. We actually never made it there so I can’t comment on the food in those venues. The few times we ate at the Windjammer the food was great.

 

Our younger daughters took part in the 9-11 Adventure Ocean program. The 12 year old was allowed to go down to be with my daughter. They truly had a blast. My friend’s older daughter went to Fuel each night to hang out with new friends, but my son wouldn’t have anything to do with it. That was ok – he had a great time in the evenings either with us or sitting quietly and reading in the Solarium – yes I know you can beat me up now – he’s only 14 – but I guarantee no one ever noticed him. He is a true bookworm who loves his solitude. I'm a big one for rules but I let him do it even though I knew it would tick off some of my fellow ccer's. If anyone needs any more info fire away. I kept compasses but I don't have a clue how to post them so can't help you with that but I can answer questions.

 

[jodi2227]

Thank-you for posting your review. Especially cruising with kids.

We will be on the Jewel 2/12/05 8 days with our son.

We are soooo excited to be leaving the cold weather in MI.

[presto]

Can your family members watch your interaction with the dolphins? Does it cost extra to do that?

 

We can't wait to enjoy that excursion!!

 

Thank you,

Angela

[emmy]

goodml

 

Loved reading your review. Sure had some excitement on your flight down.

 

Also glad to hear you were treated well by RCi in trying to find your friends a cabin to accomodate...

 

Congrats on the slot tournament win :) more money for the next cruise which by the way is when??? :)

 

Thanks for posting.

 

Emmy

[goodml]

They let all of us watch the kids from the platform that surrounds the dolphin area. We were maybe 30 or 40 feet away from them. All we had to pay was the admission to the park which was $12 per person. As long as you have a family member participating you can be out there watching and taking pictures and video. I actually got some great video of my own but of course you're taking it from the side. When I saw the video of my kids that Dolphin Discovery shot from head on, I couldn't possibly leave without it. Be prepared to want that video ($49).:) I would definitely recommend that you check out their website. The cruiseline only offers the Dolphin Encounter and the Swim and Snorkle. The Royal Swim gives you different activities and much smaller groups.

[goodml]

One other thing I forgot to mention were the self levelling pool tables. They were amazing. We played a few times and had such a riot. On calm days you barely noticed them moving but the night we left Costa Maya that ship was really rocking and those pool tables were moving all over the place. We had so many laughs trying to make a shot while the table you're leaning on was moving all around. The totally cool thing was that the balls on the table never moved. Make sure you try them out.

[Shanafan]

Thank-you for posting your review. Especially cruising with kids.

We will be on the Jewel 2/12/05 8 days with our son.

We are soooo excited to be leaving the cold weather in MI.

And we will be right there with you!

 

What a great review! Thanks for taking the time to give us all so much great info! You flew out of Detroit--you must be right across the ditch---so to speak. I loved the "American Money" part. Since we are so close to the border---we hear the money exchange rate more than the average American would, I suppose.

[Shanafan]

Can your family members watch your interaction with the dolphins? Does it cost extra to do that?

 

We can't wait to enjoy that excursion!!

 

Thank you,

Angela

We did that excursion last November---booked directly with Dolphindiscovery.com. Hubby and my son did not do it, but they were right there on the deck and videotaped the entire thing.

[JandD Mom]

Goodml,

 

I would like to echo the compliments people gave you on your review. You sound like a nice bunch of people and I am sorry that you will not be on our cruise in a few weeks.

 

I have a question primarily for your kids. We will have 6 kids in our group - 3 will be in the 6-8 year old group, and the other 3 will be in the youngest group. What were your kids' impressions of the counsellers in AO? Did they generally like them or think they were not so nice? Did they have any time to observe the younger kids activities?

 

Finally, when is the water slide open, if you remember? I seem to recall on the Explorer, it was rarely open. Thanks!

[trixiee]

What a great review! It was worth the wait, though I must say, you didn't waste that much time! I just can't wait!

 

Did you ask for early disembarkation, or were you just given the beige tags?

[goodml]

JandDMom, I just asked my daughter about the counsellors for you and she said they were awesome. She and Jill both loved them. She said the little ones played a lot of games and sometimes, because there wasn't a lot of kids on board, her age group got to spend some time with the counsellors playing with and helping the younger ones. Everywhere our kids went there were little ones saying hi to them. It was so cute. They also had Adventure Science activities every day that seemed fun. Lindsey said that she noticed the really little ones finger painting and playing lots of games. I think you'll find the kids really enjoy themselves.

 

The water slide was open from 3:30 til 5:00 except for the days when we had high winds and one other day when it was open 1:30 til 5:00.

 

trixiee, they gave us a sheet in our cabin to fill out that listed all the tag colours and the conditions for each colour. You had to tick off the box that applied to you. Beige 1 was for people who had made their own flight arrangements and had flights before noon. Our flight was at 12:10 so I cheated a bit but I was worried about the US Visit program causing delays. That of course, turned out to be a non-issue because the program hasn't started in Port Everglades. You are going to love the Jewel. Have a great trip!

 

shanafan, we are indeed just across the ditch. About a half an hour from the border actually. Hope you and all of your family are coping ok after your loss. I'm sure the holidays will be difficult for all of you. We'll be thinking of you.

 

Thanks for reading everybody. Hope you all enjoy the Jewel as much as we did. Make sure you try those crazy pool tables.