dunblane.andersons

We are due to fly from the UK on Saturday for our Freedom cruise in Sunday. I phoned RCI today and they said they would have more info tomorrow at noon (note if that is UK or USA time).  Fingers crossed all will be well.    

3PM sail in - something must have been amiss for such a late sail in, the norm is early morning.

This was scheduled. The ship docked at 3pm and guests had an overnight in Venice. Debarking didn't take place until the next morning.

We recently returned from an 11 day Greek Islands cruise on Rhapsody out of Venice. We found the views from Deck 10 were fantastic. We left Venice around 5pm and sailed back in at 3:00pm. Gorgeous views. Bar service was good and the arias played made for an amazing atmosphere

Thank you Klfrodo for taking the time to post about your cruise.

We board Rhapsody on Monday and this has made us even more excited for our trip.

Thanks!:):)

Here is a review from this summer after our wonderful B2B on Jewel...

Hope it helps...

http://cruiseforums.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2078430

:)

We were on a B2B on Jewel in the summer and absolutely loved it. I did a review which included some of the activities we did on the intinerary.

Enjoy!

We just disembarked Jewel and am waiting for the survey from Royal. Our service was exemplary throughout the cruise, as good as or better than on any of our 30+ cruises. I don't know if anyone has had the pleasure of having Elroy John as their stateroom attendant. He was outstanding in both work ethic and personality. It was rare that I would enter or exit our cabin without seeing him. He was always ready with a smile, pleasantry, or key to open the door for me. Our cruise before this was Oceania, and Mr. John topped the service we received on that cruise. Just curious if anyone has encountered this gem.

We didn't have the pleasure of Elroy John as our stateroom attendant, it was Leif. However, we would agree that the service was exemplary on Jewel. Would highly recommend this ship!

The only drinks I saw them not making us sign for consistently were sodas. Bottled water was hit or miss. For drinks, we signed each time. Wine in MDR was usually for one glass... Even if you had more than one.

 

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This was our same experience on our B2B on Jewel. We found that if the bar staff got to know you, then they would also allow you to order the two drinks if your spouse wasn't there at the time (ie if they were popping to the loo or something). We never abused this, the other one always arrived within minutes. Most bar staff also allowed you to sign for your spouse as it was the same stateroom. In the MDR we always signed for one glass when we would have two or three, either the first one, or the last one.

We decided to try out the drinks package on the first leg of our B2B to see if it was worth it before deciding about the second week. We found it was such a breeze to use, very convenient and found a couple of perks (refillable soft drinks and bottled water) that we hadn't anticipated or thought we wouldn't use. Amazing how a cold diet coke can quench your thirst the following morning after a fun night in the Schooner or Champagne bar! We also tried some lovely cocktails that we probably wouldn't have otherwise....

We just returned from a B2B on Jewel in the summer from San Juan. On this occasion all passengers had to leave the ship to allow for a 'zero' count but this process took less than an hour. We were given a lovely lunch in the MDR with a couple of glasses of wine.

We have been on three B2B cruises now and this was the first time we left the ship. As previous posters have said, one of the benefits is not having to pack the night before. It is a nice feeling seeing all the cases outside in the hall and know that it isn't your turn! I think because guests are able to board so quickly and early now, some of the magic is gone of the empty ship. However, there is still generally an empty pool until folk get their suits on and find their cases! Also, enjoy trying new food on the menu that you may not have tried the previous week or get your old favs again!

This time we went into San Juan. We had a wander through the Old Town and then went out to the Mall to stock up on some things we find difficult to get here (Abercrombie and Fitch). We still were back on the ship by 12:30 and had a relaxed afternoon.

Whatever you choose, have a lovely holiday

Donna, Is Bernard's tour a private tour guide?? And could we find his information in the forums section??

 

We are sailing the Jewel of the Seas in November and St. Maarten as well as Barbados and St. Kitts/Nevis, Dominica, Tortola. We have read up a lot and also heard that booking private tours off the ship are always more economical so I'm trying to scope out things to do in each port.

We have just completed a two week B2B on Jewel. I have posted a review but if you have any more questions, please ask....:)

I usually do DIY excursions, but we took the St John excursion from RCL. It was very convenient and left via ferry boat beside the ship. The cost as about the same as if we had done it ourselves. . . and it was a lot less trouble.

I would agree. We always do DIY excursions but the RCL one to St. John is very very convenient and almost the same price. We have done this twice now. The excursion leaves directly from the pier that your ship leaves from (different piers for Oasis and Jewel) and takes you to Cruz Bay on St. John. We have always jumped on a taxi/bus to Trunk Bay but I am sure other posters can recommend other ones. Then a quick trip back to Cruz Bay (lots and lots of taxis always waiting), a cold drink at a local bar then back onto your return journey to St. Thomas. On each of our tours we have been served COPIOUS amounts of free rum punch and it was a great atmosphere. A short stumble/walk to the ship and that's you! Hassle free.

:)

Thanks for the review! I am assuming you meant you were in cabin 9586?. If so, do you have pics of the balcony / room? We are staying in 9578, a few doors down and are trying to get an idea of how the balcony will be. I'm hoping we won't have to hard of a time seeing around that hump since we are in a hump balcony but on the end.

We were right on the hump and had a brilliant view to both ends in particular the front of the ship. I had a read a lot about the size of the balconies on the hump being bigger but from previous experience, this balcony felt to be the same size. I would say that the the best thing about this room was the location. Absolutely fantastic! Just around from the Centrum so very convenient for walking up 2 decks to the Windjammer and pool. We never had any complaints about noise coming from the Centrum.

Thanks for the review! We board August 23 for b2bs. What was turn around day like? Did you have to meet in a designated area at a specific time? Did you do a pre cruise hotel?

Turnaround day was a breeze! We were invited to a meeting on the Friday up in Vortex. Lovely nibbles and drinks were served. We had already received a note regarding procedures and these were confirmed. We were given our new sea pass cards and in transit cards.

On the Saturday we had a choice to stay on board or go off shore. Usually on a B2B we stay on the ship however, on this occasion we decided to head into San Juan. One, because there was routine maintenance on our floor on the water system and it was going to be turned off and secondly because now with passengers coming on board so early now, you loose a bit of the magic of having the ship on your own.

We left the ship at around 9:00 and headed into town. For those staying on the ship they met at 10 am and were escorted through immigration. I didn't hear how long this took but I also didn't hear any other consecutive cruisers complaining about it either.

We returned to the ship at 12:10 and breezed through all lines. We had a really nice lunch, including a couple of glasses of wine, in the main dining room and enjoyed the rest of our day!

But if I had to choose:

Razzle Dazzle Martini

Ruby Red Martini

Coco Loco

Sea Breeze:D

We flew in the night before as part of an RC package and were put up at the Sheraton Casino near the Convention Centre. It was a busy hotel but located very close to the pier. 10 minute transfer time at the most. In the morning we had a lovely swim in the infinity pool before heading to the ship. Not a lot to do there but very very convenient if you only need a place to sleep the night before the cruise. We spoke to some folk who said Old San Juan was very noisy and they didn't get any sleep but that was only what they said. Breakfast was a buffet or a la carte. :)

Review

We have just returned from a glorious two weeks around the Southern Caribbean on Jewel (B2B) and want to share our thoughts and comments. Hope this will help with any future planning….

Who we are: We are a family of four from Scotland. We are Mum, Dad, Matthew (13) and Louise (9). We generally do a B2B when travelling to the US due to the costs of flights. We are Platinum members and have travelled on Freedom and Oasis class ships. We also travelled with Granny, Granddad and Auntie Doris

The ship…Jewel of the Seas: We didn’t know what to expect having not sailed on a ‘smaller ship’ before. We were pleasantly surprised and after our two weeks, have fallen in love with the Radiance class. Having sailed on Oasis two years ago, hubby and I were wondering what the kids would think of a smaller ship. No concerns there! The kids and the adults love the size of the ship. There was an amazing ‘family’ feeling during both our sailings and the staff on board were phenomenal! All of our group agreed there was an incredible atmosphere and everything was so accessible. In particular we all agreed that the Centrum area of the ship was brilliant for the live music and entertainment.

The stateroom: We stayed in 9856 which is a hump cabin. The location was fantastic and a quick walk up to the Windjammer or pool deck and only a couple of flights down to the Champagne Bar, Schooner Bar, Safari club or main dining room.

The crew: As stated above, we found the staff to be some of the best we have ever had on any of our cruises. In particular, we were all impressed by the visible presence of senior staff members who took the time to ask how things were going. We met the staff at a few Crown and Anchor events and at one point made a minor point about our daughter having to wait in the queue (line) for a brownie when everyone was ordering special coffees. Next thing you know, the Manager of food and beverage (Gunter) suggests to his staff to make sure all kids are served goodies in line if they are waiting. Gunter met us a couple of times during the following week to see if Louise was having to wait (She didn’t mind ‘testing’ this out!) Both weeks our wait staff were fantastic as was our stateroom attendant. No complaints at all.

The food: We are ‘foodies’ and enjoy good food. We have eaten at some fantastic restaurants around the world and aren’t shy at saying when we don’t like something. All of us enjoyed our food on the cruise. We ate each night at in the main dining room and enjoyed fabulous service. On a B2B the menus are the same but we saw this as a good thing. During the second week, hubby and I went ‘off piste’ and enjoyed some of the varied dishes on the menu and of course returned to the ‘old faithful’ ones like escargot and prime rib. Our first cruise was in 2009 and we personally don’t think that the food quality has declined. I think we are realistic and recognise that the kitchen serves more than 2000 people during each dinner service each night let alone all the extra requests etc. so of course, don’t expect 2 star Michelin quality. But each night the food arrived hot, cooked to perfection (especially the beef) and there was a huge variety. If we want 2 star, we go to a 2 star restaurant and pay those prices… The Windjammer food was also fine. We liked the salad bar and egg stations in the morning. We also liked the Sea View Cafe for afternoon snacks.

The drinks package: We debated about this long and hard before we went and decided to try the Premium package for the first leg of the B2B and see if it was worth it. For us it was! We are moderate to heavy drinkers on holiday and generally would enjoy a cocktail or two before dinner, 3 glasses of wine at dinner then some after dinner drinks. We found the additional soft drinks package of coke a bonus and the ability to grab water on the way out for an excursion was great. We had heard that service was different for those on the package but never found this to be the case. All wait staff were fantastic and provided excellent service. As with all our cruises, certain staff got to know our names and our favourite tipples. We generally signed for receipts for alcoholic drinks but found that we could sign for each other with no difficulties. More often than not, we didn’t need to sign for soft drinks. As we were travelling with three others that weren’t on the package we weren’t sure how this would work but it wasn’t a problem. We would order 2 on the pack and 3 not on the package. At dinner, we ordered wine by the glass that came as soon as we asked.

The itinerary (ies): We absolutely fell in love with the Southern Caribbean and would rebook these cruises again. Beautiful islands and fabulous beaches. Here is what we did…

1 San Juan, Puerto Rico Boarded ship

2 Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas RC Trip to St. John’s

3 Basseterre, St Kitts Self-arranged island trip at pier

4 cruising

6 Willemstad, Curaçao Self-arranged island trip at pier

5 Oranjestad, Aruba Self-arranged island trip at pier and then visited beach

7 Cruising

Day 1 San Juan, Puerto Rico Taxi to Old San Juan and then visit to shopping mall

2 St. Croix, US Virgin Islands Island tour including visit to rum factory and beer swilling pigs then beach

3 Philipsburg, St. Maarten Visit to Maho Beach to see planes landing and then beach

4 St. John's, Antigua Island tour and Valley Church beach

5 Castries, St Lucia Island tour then beach

6 Bridgetown, Barbados Island tour then beach (Carlisle Bay – Harbour Lights)

7 Cruising

8 Return to UK

We generally arranged a tour from the taxi rank at the pier and average cost was between $20 - $30 per person. Because there were 7 of us we usually got a private van but occasionally we had to pay extra for this. We found that the tour arrangements at St. Croix were more chaotic with very rude staff but this was the exception to the rule.

We only did one RC based tour, to St. John from St. Thomas. This was the second time we have done this and it is well worth it. We researched getting to St. John via private taxi, ferry etc. and it wasn’t much more to go by the tour. The tour picked us up right at the pier and delivered us over to St. John on a fabby catamaran boat. Free soft drinks and water were available on the way there. Some of us headed straight to the beach (Trunk Bay….my favourite beach in the world!) while some of our party stayed on for a bit longer island tour. We arranged for the return pick up time with the rest of the passengers and had a great day on the island. The return trip was lots of fun with music played and lots and lots and lots of rum punch served. We were delivered right back to the pier and headed right back on board. Well worth it!!!

The entertainment: We have mixed reviews about this. However, we cannot fault the cruise director, Denis James….he and Elvis (activities director) were absolutely BRILLIANT. Denis seemed to appear at every event and was very personable and extremely funny. The range of events that were available in the Centrum, the Pool Deck and in the Safari Club were very enjoyable. Our only disappointment was the entertainment in the main theatre. Some acts were very good but others were a disappointment (comedy act, Broadway to West End dancing night). However, I think that our expectations were very high having been on Oasis last. Nevertheless, due to the high quality of events elsewhere, we weren’t too bothered missing out the main shows. We did mention to Denis about the content on one show (anti-family jokes) and he expressed his disappointment in this and said he would look into it. It was this personal touch that we really were impressed by.

Meet and Mingle: We were lucky to have a Meet and Mingle during our first leg. We met some fantastic folk and it was nice to catch up with them during the rest of the week. Due to the size of the ship, this was something we did regularly. Thanks everyone!

Adventure Ocean: during the first week, neither of our kids decided to go to the clubs initially so by mid-week it was too late and our youngest didn’t enjoy it (said it was too shouty which is ironic!) The second week they both went on the opening night and from then on, we lost our 13 year old as he met a bunch of lovely young folk to hang out with. He had a curfew which sometimes was after we were in our jammies (11:00pm) and really enjoyed meeting new friends. Our daughter was self-sign out and our only concern was that at 10:00 pm she was never reminded that her official session was over. When we went to pick her up (when she hadn’t shown up at our arranged place) at 10:10 she was about to be charged and said she didn’t feel she could leave because people would ‘boo’ her. Our gain as we had a fantastic time learning how to play backgammon, Chinese checkers and getting the grandparents to play cards!

Disembarkation: Definitely would recommend getting a porter. For the price, you can get into a quicker line and have your bags carried out. It probably was the least smooth process we have been through.

Overall impression – FANTASTIC. We really enjoyed our cruise (s) and would sail on RC and indeed Jewel of the Seas in a flash. Indeed, we are starting to look into next summer and possible Alaska. Who knows?

Please feel free to ask any questions…..

Thank you very much for this review! We are going on a B2B on Jewel in July so it is great to have more info about turnaround day and some of the ports! Can't wait!

Because we live in the UK, the air flight to North America for a single week cruise makes the costs quite high so we are lucky to be in the position to plan B2B cruises. We have been once on Freedom, once on Oasis and will be enjoying Jewel this summer, all B2B

We love B2B! There is nothing more relaxing than knowing on the last night of the cruise, when everyone is packing up, you don't need too! (or minimally if you are changing rooms) Then, as everyone is leaving, there is that special couple of hours when the pools are deserted and you have the ship practically to yourself. Magic! Our children even got the chance to have a quick dip in the Solarium pool (there was NO ONE around and we left very quickly) which was a memory they still talk about.

The only 'negative' on B2B is that you may have the same menu both weeks. But we looked upon this as a great opportunity! We have all our favourite foods the first week and then explore unusual dishes in the second. Same for the shows. During the second week, unless we really want to see the show again, we explore other parts of the ship.

We have never had to move rooms as we try when we book to get the same room for both weeks. If possible, I would recommend this option.

On both of our B2B we have left the ship (or order that they can get a 'zero count'), passed through a couple of checks and then back on. We have been offered special lunches on both occasions. A couple of days before the end of the first cruise you are usually given a letter in your stateroom outlining all the details.

Dear Trainman

I am very new to CC and stumbled across your post looking for information on FoS. I am humbled by your loving words for your wife and the saddness you must feel. When my mother passed away, I was given a lovely poem which I hope you might find some solace and comfort from. God bless you.

I am standing upon that foreshore.

A ship at my side spreads her white sails to the morning breeze and starts for the blue ocean. She is an object of beauty and strength and I stand and watch her until at length she hangs like a speck of white clouds just where the sea and sky come down to mingle with each other.

Then someone at my side says, "There! She's gone!"

"Gone where?"

"Gone from my sight, that's all". She is just as large in mast and spar and hull as ever she was when she left my side. Her diminished size is in me, not in her. And just at that moment when someone at my side says, "There! She's gone!" there are other eyes watching her coming and other voices ready to take up the glad shout, "Here she comes!" And that is dying.