TinkBellaMom

On 12/18/2019 at 7:11 PM, Snit13 said:

They most likely wouldn't serve my traditional pork/kraut/ mashed potatoes either.  DH was a southerner thus I had to learn to cook the peas, ham, greens and cornbread.  Guess traditions are out of favor in today's world.

Roast pork and kraut served on mashed potatoes is our tradition ever year also.  It must be a Midwest thing, we are from Ohio.  Brings luck to the new year.

Thank you!  Hallasm--enjoyed the videos very much, fascinating.

I know that many have been reporting that the food in MDR is terrible.  We appreciate good food and we are not picky eaters.  On all of our cruises we have always found the food to be good, sometimes excellent.

We are cruising on Explorer in Jan.  I am wondering if since food is subjective, is it really that bad.  Maybe someone could describe the reasons.

Also, we have been looking forward to the Chefs Table.  I am wondering if anyone has done that lately on the Explorer?

Deb

Sorry OP, I didn't mean to hijack your thread, I thought since you are on the ship now you could answer.

I would like to thank you also, JB.  Lots of great advice.  We are on the Jul 27 sailing as well.

Deb

I am subscribing to this thread.  We have already booked the cruise that is the first on your list, leaving July 27th, 2021.  We have been watching for several years, thinking about this one and finally pulled the trigger.  We have sailed on the Jewel once before in W. Med 2018.  We loved this class and especially this ship.  She is a beauty.

I have already started a roll call, its early I know but I was very excited to start planning.  We found that joining groups of like-minded cruisers from our roll call ,we were able to take excursions as a small group and save a lot of money while really getting quality time onshore.  We intend to do that again.

Thank you everyone!  I love CC.  I always get answers from members.

Hmm, Jewel was in dry dock April 4-23, 2016.  The 5 year rule would put her there April 2021, but she’s not on the schedule.

Anyone want to take a guess what that means?

We booked a Woodwind trip for Jan2020.  We not experienced at snorkeling, we have only been twice before.  My husband is very sensitive to cold and when I informed them they said they would have wetsuit for him.  I thought that was very accommodating.

We have decided to snorkel in Bonaire because our kids went to snorkel in Aruba and said the wind was a negative factor.

On 12/11/2019 at 6:51 AM, hallasm said:

Not got any valid answer yet. I’ll post as soon as I have more details than “probably not before 2022”

 

Thank you!  Sailing on her out of Amsterdam July 2021, to see a bit of your part of the world.  Rather hoping it would be sooner, we sailed on her Oct. 2018 and she had an update in 2016, I believe.  I’ve been told that the 5 yr. mark is the usual amount of time between updates, but not a hard rule.

On 12/7/2019 at 4:20 PM, pinebro said:

Hallasm - Any word onboard what is planned for Jewel as far as drydock schedule?

 

Waiting to hear an answer to this question too.

We received a Royal-up email last week and we are 50 days out.  Decided not to do anything as we splurged on a JS and are happy with that.  We decided we didn’t want to spend more money. We book the room that fits our budget at the time.

I’m wondering though, what was the old system like for upgrades.  We have been cruising only 10years now and never received any upgrades.  Did Royal just randomly put you in a higher category room when they had empty ones on a sailing? Was it free or very minimal?  Just curious.

On 11/29/2019 at 1:34 PM, cruisegirl1 said:

If you figure out a way to skirt the system, it would be best not to put it on a public message board. I would hate if the opportunity to bring two bottles of wine was taken away because folks posted a way to bring more. There are countless ways to bring wine and liquor onto a cruise ship, (Or any place for that matter)  but it seems best not to advertise it on a public message board. 
Thx. 

m

I agree completely.  We love the opportunity to bring our favorite wine onboard to enjoy.  I would hate for the privilege to be taken away.

We have always booked with an internet travel agency, always with great customer service.   We do get opportunities with Royal up.  

We recently booked the Baltic 2021 for July and saved $1200.00, from the RCCL price, plus our gratuities.

i know the Baltic cruises fill up fast.  I would be happy to give you info if you email me.

7 hours ago, Bmw031 said:

Booked our Baltic Cruise for May.

What was your favorite thing to do in Helsinki, Stockholm, Talinn, St Petersburg, Copenhagen.

Who has been on the Jewel recently......wish it was a newer ship.

Not very recently, but a year ago on Jewel, in the W. Med. We thought she was a beautiful ship!  She’s a classic, in a good way.  We loved her so much that we specifically booked her for a 12 day Baltic in 2021.

We have been on several different classes of ship, including 3 times on the big girls, the Jewel is our favorite.

You might also look at the recent roll calls for that itinerary, I know you will get some honest answers from others who just went to those ports.

We are booked on a cruise departing Jan. 24.  Our set sail docs have been ready since 90 day mark.  Luggage tags still show pending.  We didn’t receive the usual e-mail, I just happened to be in the trip planner on that day and noticed they were ready.

11 hours ago, ROWSE said:

The company is PK Travel.

Here is a link:   https://www.pktravelgreece.com/

We used the same company.  Very nice experience.

We have never been interested in a cruise this far out, so I apologize if this has been answered.

I have noticed that there seems to be only one ship-Jewel- in the Baltic’s so far.  We love the Jewel, but we really wanted to make a stop close to Berlin.  That stop was on the itineraries for 2020.

Is it possible that all the cruises for the Baltic’s have not been announced yet?

We live down here but also cruise in  Jan.and Feb.  The daytime temps are very mild around mid 70s to 80.  Nights on ship can get chilly sometimes slipping into the 60s, but remember the a/c can really get cold in dining rooms.  We are usually able to wear shorts or capris and tee shirts during the day, jeans and long sleeves at night.  I always carry a wrap at night and DH takes a light jacket.

The one negative is the water feels cool to us, so I order a wetsuit for DH if we plan on snorkeling. 

No, but he does like to download it.  Last time it took so long.

We have never been really happy with Voom on any ship.  We really just like to keep in touch with family and we don’t stream movies etc.

My DH really enjoys his newspaper in the morning and reading it with Voom is difficult.  Wondering if adding streaming would help?

On our last cruise on the Indy, they served a warm chocolate chip cookie with ice cream.  It was so good my husband couldn't resist ordering another one.  The Apple pie is also a favorite of ours.

DH orders the apple pie every night, he always asks for an extra serving of ice cream.  My favorite used to be the flourless chocolate cake.  They started serving a small slice with other choc desserts on a plate, now I no longer see it at all☹️. My favorite entree is the lasagna, hubby loves the lamb shank.

When we first began cruising our TA had us pay our grats up front for MTD.  I thought it was still the case, but recently found out it is no longer necessary.  I continue to do it as we like to have everything done before we sail.  We routinely give extra to those who provide extra services ,like cabin steward,room service, bartenders,assistant waiter and our head waiter.  By canceling grats, I would be afraid I wouldn’t tip those behind the scenes.  Our way of doing it ensures everyone gets a share and a few get extra.

While on Harmony at the Aqua Theater, a man in front of us, put his I-pad up and started recording.  We couldn’t see a thing.  My husband asked him to please put it down because we couldn’t see.  He refused until his wife asked him to stop.  He took out his phone and started snapping pics with a flash.  Others around him put the pressure on him and he finally stopped.

2 hours ago, matj2000 said:

 

Trust Me.    That scenario, as simple and silly as it is,   will never happen....

As simple and silly as it may seem to you, it has worked for us.  We walked around with our 90 years old parents looking for a spot for them to sit and read.  I found a crew member to help, and they took care of it.