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Adios
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Posted: Wed Dec 13th, 2006 07:58 pm | 1st Post |
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Jewel OTS 12/02 sailing
Just returned home this evening from the Jewel of the Seas 12/02 eight night sailing to the eastern Caribbean and here are my thoughts.
Embarkation - Great! Arrived at approx. 11:00 and was on the ship by 11:30. They did have an area for Platinum, Diamond/+ and suites. They boarded after the wedding parties.
Ship - One word, beautiful. Very well maintained and clean throughout the ship. I am still not sure which class ship I like better. Voyager or Radiance. I loved the outdoor seating of the Windjammer, larger atrium, sports bar, solarium and all of the glass on the Jewel. I missed from the Navigator the Royal Promenade, nicer Viking Crown lounge and the overall better passenger flow and the not so crowded feeling that I felt on the Jewel. Did not use the Concierge for anything other than checking the internet. Very small but nice with great views of the sea.
Crew - Very good crew IMHO. Friendly and always had a smile. We had a great cabin attendant. To me this is where RCI excels over some of the other lines.
Cabin - Had cabin #1554 which is the only GS on the hump. GREAT cabin and location. Nice size balcony and plenty of space in cabin and bathroom. My only complaint was the bed. Out of 29 cruises this was without a doubt the poorest excuse for a bed that I have ever seen. Even with a egg crate it sagged so bad it was impossible to rest. I know that it will be changed out in the spring but this bed was passed it's prime. I was ready to give it up this morning. I did spend a lot of time on my balcony as it was very nice and quite. By the way, I used "Just Because of You" to order several alcohol baskets and they were delivered during the muster drill with no problems. Would not hesitate to use them again.
Food - Won't say much here because IMHO this varies from person to person but IMHO the food left a lot to be desired. Can't put my finger on it but I had my best meals off of the ship.
Entertainment - I enjoyed most of the entertainment that I saw. Judy Kolba, Beatle Maniacs , http://www.beatlemaniacs.com/The Knudsen Brothers http://www.sixrealbrothers.com/and The Gaucho's were all pretty good. I only saw one production show which was City of Dreams. If the other show was as bad as this one then I'm glad that I missed it. The singers were not good and off key, dancers were mediocre at best and the story line jumped all over the place and I found it boring. The Cruise Director Bobby was actually pretty good. Not over the top and in your face like some. Saw him all over the ship talking with the guests.
Ports of Call - I have been to all of these ports with the exception of Antigua more times that I care to count so this time it was just basically get off of the ship and enjoy a few drinks and eat lunch or dinner depending on the time of day. In Antigua(first time), we hired a driver to take us around the island. Mainly went to Nelsons Dockyard and Shirley Heights. It was a very nice day. Very hot here. Had lunch at Hemingway's. Would not recommend this place. Our waitress had an attitude and the food was OK at best. The place was packed though so it may have been my taste buds. If anyone has any questions about San Juan, St. Thomas, Antigua, Nassau or St. Maarten I will try to answer.
Passengers - Very mature crowd on this ship and less than 150 young adults under 18. Hardly noticed any kids at all and the ones that I did see were well behaved. There were some cranky folks who could be pushy at times on board but overall not a bad crowd.
Debarkation - Not that great. No organization for the ones of us that were doing the Express debarkation. I saw one crew member on deck four and he was basically doing nothing to help in trying to keep some type of organization. No priority debarkation for Diamond. They did offer the Votex as a place to sit until your color was called. I really like the way that they do it in Miami much better. In fact I would rather sail out of Miami over FLL any day.
Overall I had a very good time and would do it again. My only negatives about this ship was the food, bedding and debarkation. Other than that everything else was great. The Jewel is a beautiful ship and I will be on her sister the Brilliance in September so this gave me a feeling of what to expect.
Last edited on Wed Dec 13th, 2006 08:18 pm by Adios
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Catnip
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Posted: Wed Dec 13th, 2006 08:23 pm | 2nd Post |
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Great review, Gordon!
I don't have a diagram of the ship handy, so where on the hump were you? Last year on Brilliance, we were in the middle of the hump! It was a great cabin & location.
In March, this time we will have a handicapped cabin on the back part of the hump, on the side with the elevators. I think the balcony may be bigger because it's a h/c room, but I'm not positive.
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Next up: Celebrity Solstice 1-09/Jewel of the Seas 3-09/ QM 2 11-09/ Queen Victoria 1/10
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Adios
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Posted: Wed Dec 13th, 2006 09:58 pm | 3rd Post |
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| We were on deck ten and there are only two cabins on the hump on this deck. Grand Suite #1554 which was my cabin and the Royal Suite which takes up the rest of the hump. The man in the RS was an 81 year party hearty type. He kept sticking his head around the corner everytime he heard one of us on the balcony. He was funny. He had a party every afternoon on his HUGE balcony.
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Catnip
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Posted: Wed Dec 13th, 2006 10:34 pm | 4th Post |
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cruisingator2 wrote: The man in the RS was an 81 year party hearty type. He kept sticking his head around the corner everytime he heard one of us on the balcony. He was funny. He had a party every afternoon on his HUGE balcony.
Good for him!!!!!! Sounds like a fun guy! 
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33 previous cruises..
Next up: Celebrity Solstice 1-09/Jewel of the Seas 3-09/ QM 2 11-09/ Queen Victoria 1/10
**Triangles Are For Losers!**
When only cops have guns, it's called a "police state"
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hstrybuf
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Posted: Thu Dec 14th, 2006 02:57 am | 5th Post |
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cruisingator2 wrote: We were on deck ten and there are only two cabins on the hump on this deck. Grand Suite #1554 which was my cabin and the Royal Suite which takes up the rest of the hump. The man in the RS was an 81 year party hearty type. He kept sticking his head around the corner everytime he heard one of us on the balcony. He was funny. He had a party every afternoon on his HUGE balcony.
Those are the kind of neighbors you hope for! Sounds great Gordon!
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"In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock." - Thomas Jefferson
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Mr_Pete
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Posted: Mon Dec 18th, 2006 10:30 pm | 6th Post |
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Nice pix Gordon!
Heard/read people stating that the Radiance class is the second best behind the Voyager class? With no RP? Thoughts?
What else is different, or is it all proportional. How big is it?
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Adios
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Posted: Mon Dec 18th, 2006 11:29 pm | 7th Post |
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Mr_Pete wrote: Nice pix Gordon!
Heard/read people stating that the Radiance class is the second best behind the Voyager class? With no RP? Thoughts?
What else is different, or is it all proportional. How big is it?
Pete I liked things about both class ships. I did miss the Royal Promenade but loved the outdoor seating at the Windjammer and Seaview Cafe. This ship has glass everywhere. At almost every turn you are in touch with the sea inside or out. It also has the helipad that one can go up on. I loved this place for most of the departures and arrivals into ports. The adult solarium is one of the most beautiful places that I have seen on a ship. Covered and kept at a certain tempature. They did open the roof in several ports though. The dining room was beautiful as was the main theatre.
The ship is just a little larger than a Spirit class but not by much. She has a beautiful atrium that rises all the way up to the Viking Crown lounge. Just a very classy looking ship. She took the waves well as we had some nasty weather on the way down and back. This was without a doubt the oldest group that I have ever cruised with. They weren't too bad. Some were cranky but my biggest complaint was them stopping in the middle of the aisle or walkways trying to decide where to go next. This happened a lot causing traffic jams. They would stand and argue with each other on where to go to next. I came close to telling a few where to go!!!!!
A very nice kids area that has a small wade pool and slide. Overall I would do this ship again and am on her sister in September for my Med cruise out of Venice. I will more than likely do a Freedom class after this to get a feel of that ship. Especially after watching it on TV last night.:D
Last edited on Mon Dec 18th, 2006 11:30 pm by Adios
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Catnip
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Posted: Tue Dec 19th, 2006 12:42 am | 8th Post |
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I agree with you, Gordon. Now, I have never been on the Voyager class on RCCL (too big and too many people), but my favorite is Brilliance. All that glass is lovely and you really get to know that you are on a cruise and not at a mall somewhere back in the States.
It's just a very lovely ship and very easy to get around.
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33 previous cruises..
Next up: Celebrity Solstice 1-09/Jewel of the Seas 3-09/ QM 2 11-09/ Queen Victoria 1/10
**Triangles Are For Losers!**
When only cops have guns, it's called a "police state"
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Mr_Pete
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Posted: Tue Dec 19th, 2006 12:55 am | 9th Post |
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| I have to tell you Denise, for our time on the Explorer I never felt crowded at all, except for those times when everyone is supposed to be at the shows. The bottlenecks were horrendous. But besides that, there are SO many places for everyone to go, I was quite surprised, and pleased.
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Family Man
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Posted: Tue Dec 19th, 2006 01:02 am | 10th Post |
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| With all of the glass and open areas, it sounds like a Radiance class ship would be the way to experience our first cruise to Alaska. Something for us to think about for 2008......
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Celebrity Infinity to Alaska 5/22/09
RCI Mariner OTS 6/21/09
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Catnip
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Posted: Tue Dec 19th, 2006 01:12 am | 11th Post |
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I have heard that from quite a few folks, Pete. The only thing I can't get my mind around is that with THAT many pasengers, what is there really was an emeregency and had to get all those thousands of people off the ship? YE GODS!!! 
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33 previous cruises..
Next up: Celebrity Solstice 1-09/Jewel of the Seas 3-09/ QM 2 11-09/ Queen Victoria 1/10
**Triangles Are For Losers!**
When only cops have guns, it's called a "police state"
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Catnip
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Posted: Tue Dec 19th, 2006 01:12 am | 12th Post |
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Family Man wrote: With all of the glass and open areas, it sounds like a Radiance class ship would be the way to experience our first cruise to Alaska. Something for us to think about for 2008......
It was be a superb ship to see Alaska on, Tim!!
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33 previous cruises..
Next up: Celebrity Solstice 1-09/Jewel of the Seas 3-09/ QM 2 11-09/ Queen Victoria 1/10
**Triangles Are For Losers!**
When only cops have guns, it's called a "police state"
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Adios
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Posted: Tue Dec 19th, 2006 01:43 am | 13th Post |
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Catnip wrote: I agree with you, Gordon. Now, I have never been on the Voyager class on RCCL (too big and too many people), but my favorite is Brilliance. All that glass is lovely and you really get to know that you are on a cruise and not at a mall somewhere back in the States.
It's just a very lovely ship and very easy to get around.
Denise, I actually feel that the Navigator had a less crowded feeling than the Jewel. The Voyager class ships are not as crowded as you think and I really think that you need to try one to find out for yourself. When I first saw the Voyager class ships I was still a huge Carnival fan and thought the same thing about the mall effect. I now have a totally different view of the Royal Promenade. I love sitting outside one of the bars and people watching. It was a great place to relax.
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Adios
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Posted: Tue Dec 19th, 2006 01:44 am | 14th Post |
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Family Man wrote: With all of the glass and open areas, it sounds like a Radiance class ship would be the way to experience our first cruise to Alaska. Something for us to think about for 2008......
I would highly suggest the Radiance or Serenade to Alaska. The views from the different areas of the ship are awesome and also being able to get to the front of the ship is also a huge plus.
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Adios
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Posted: Tue Dec 19th, 2006 01:45 am | 15th Post |
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Catnip wrote: I have heard that from quite a few folks, Pete. The only thing I can't get my mind around is that with THAT many pasengers, what is there really was an emeregency and had to get all those thousands of people off the ship? YE GODS!!!
We were told on the Jewel last week that the new Genesis class lifeboats will hold over 350 passengers each. The lifeboats now hold 150 passengers. Those are going to be some big lifeboats.Last edited on Tue Dec 19th, 2006 01:46 am by Adios
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gurlwithbaggage
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Posted: Wed Dec 20th, 2006 03:24 pm | 16th Post |
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| Gordon, thanks for the great review! It sounded like you had a wonderful time!
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