Live Onboard the Jewel...

[dizzykat]

Keeponcruzin,

Thanks for your info. We will be on the Jewel on 6/21. Can't wait...she looks beautiful!

Can you tell me if the menu in the dining room is changed daily, or is it a set menu for the entire cruise? I've heard RCCL has gone to a set menu but it doesn't seem to be fleet-wide yet.

 

Thanks,

Kathy

[Mercury]

Keeponcruisin

Thanks for this info! Hope you are having a wonderful cruise. We will be on Jewel in Aug. What is Jewel's captain like? Was he available to have photographs taken with passengers at the reception party?

[jewel-maiden]

Hey keeponcruisin, Glad you are enjoying the Jewel.

 

We were on the maiden voyage on May 8. Would you do me a favour and see if Rolando is still the barman in the Pits Stop and tell him his two best customers said hi. He should remember us with the amount of time we spent in there collecting all the souvenir glasses.

 

Thanks, enjoy the rest of your cruise.

[blackpool belle]

We too were on the 8th May sailing. We had a photo opportunity with the captain on the way in to the cocktail party. A very nice man. We have a thread going entitled jewellers reunited who are all the meet & minglers from the maiden voyage and we also have a link on that thread to some pictures of us all. If you are interested there is also a picture I took of the captain during his speech.

[Mercury]

Thanks for that info!

 

keeponcruisin please also let us know what entertainment there was on board the ship for the overnight in St Petersburg. We are debating whether we should go to the ballet alternatively stay on board as I have heard they bring on a Russian dance group on some cruise ships. Thanks!

[Fredrik]

Hi,

 

If you compare it to Brilliance (since you´ve sailed with both) what is the biggest difference?

 

Enjoy the cruise! Love, live, cruise !

 

Fredrik

 

Brilliance of the Seas West Med

Jewel of the Seas NE-Canada

 

 

So far:

Jewel of the Seas Oslo May 2004

Splendour of the Seas Med Oct 2003

Navigator of the Seas East C. Jul 2003

 

Roll call Jewel 2004-09-28 click here

[KeepOnCruzin]

Today was Stockholm, another beautiful day, 66 with sun and barely any wind. We walked to town, it was about a 20 minute walk, but with the traffic im guessing the shuttle bus ride wasn’t too much faster. We saw the Royal Palace and WOW, It was HUGE, it is 680 rooms, and located right on the canal front. It was absolutely beautiful. We walked through the shopping district, and through old town, and saw all the sights. Then we took a tour down the canals on a boat saw some interesting sights. Saw changing of the guards, and they actually have guards travel out on horses and over a bridge, it makes quite a nice picture. And then we went to a restaurant fair, where all the local restaurants setup in stands and sold/gave out food, beer, wine, and ice cream.

It was even nice enough to take a swim when we got back onboard in the outside pools.

 

dizzykat: The dinner dining room menu is changed even night, with a new wonderful selection. The menu is kept the same for breakfast and lunch.

 

Mercury: The Captain is Thore Throvelston (sp). He is a great captain, he is nice to talk to and he makes himself known throughout the ship. Well I've had better on RCCL, he is certainly somewhere on top of my list. Yes, he was available to take pictures with at reception party.

 

When we get to Russia I will let you know about the entertainment.

 

Jewel-Maiden: I will look and if I see him I was tell him.

 

Fredrik: Hmmm the main difference has got to be the Solarium. It is so nice on this ship, well the elephants on the Brilliance were very nice, the Thai theme definitely has it beat. Some other things I noticed were the toilet is a little bit higher in the staterooms, My feet barely reach the floor and im not short, 5'10. I also noticed that there are padded wooden lounges in the Solarium, not quite sure they had those on the Brilliance. Other than that, there pretty much the same. Also the lounge chairs near the pool might be made of plastic with the little strips (I cant remember), on here there like made of mesh (much nicer).

 

I’m still up a little in the casino, I hope it lasts. Its almost sad that the blackjack dealer I had today remembered me from the Navigator.

 

Tomorrow is Helsinki, and from many people ive heard it to be the least enjoyable port on this itinerary, but well see tomorrow.

Till next time

Keep On Cruzin

 

15 Cruises since 1999

 

Jewel of the Seas.. Scandanavia/Russia

[Pat848]

Geetings from another MA cruiser. I am enjoying your posts as we have this cruise booked for same time next year. We have cabin 8594 on the bump. We were on the Brilliance Panama in March so am a little familiar with ship. Brilliance was beautiful. I will have lots of questions when you return. I am interested in your flight out of Boston. Did you use RCCL air? If not who did you use? When did you get air? What time return flight?

Enjoy your cruise and keep on posting. Its the first thing I look for each day. I think I need to get a life - my cruise is a full year away!

 

Pat

[tuckernyc]

KeeponCruzin

I am so glad I found your post. My husband and I are taking our first cruise since the Big Red Boat years ago with the kids. We are on the Jewel for the September 11 cruise to

Canada. Knowing nothing about anything, I was concerned that our cabin assignment, 7532, was not a good one (it's right above the theater), but from your great information, it sounds like we will be very happy. Now for the really stupid question. Is your cabin aft or forward. Thanks so much for sharing your experiences. We can't wait for our turn!

[judie43]

KeeponCruisin...I am enoying your posts so much...especially when you describe the ports.

Quick question...I know how to dress for Caribbean,Med and Alaska ports,but I am not sure what to wear in the Baltic ports.Do people wear shorts,capris sneakers? Are nice jeans ever okay....

Thanks

Judie

[desertheat]

Keeponcruzin,

 

Thanks for your daily posts. We really are enjoying them – short, sweet and to the point. Too bad we won’t be here to read ALL your posts as we will be boarding the Jewel for a back-to-back cruise when you are getting off. Do you happen to know what night is the Tango Argentina show? Just wondering if it is on a sea day or a casual day. Have fun and leave some of that casino money for us!

 

A question about Copenhagen. Are their street signs easy to follow? We have a friend that was born there, she gave us her address and we want to try and find it and perhaps take a photo of her house or whatever is at that address now.

[Mercury]

Thanks for all the info Keeponcruzin. Sounds like you are having a wonderful time. What is the service like from your cabin attendant and waiters?

[MBnancy]

Keeponcruzin,

 

I just found your live posts, thanks for keeping us up to date. Makes me want to do the Baltic now.

 

I was on the May 8th Maiden Voyage with Blackpool Belle (and the rest of the UK) LOL.

Gail provided me with most of the photos of our group.

 

http://hometown.aol.com/mbnancy/Jewel.html

 

We were as aft as you could be, but it was a wonderful cabin on the 9th deck 9254, where we had a double balcony and no one on one side of us. It was very quiet and very smooth riding back there. We had a key to the concerige lounge on the 10th deck, and it was a nice place to meet others from our M&M Group.

 

I'd be happy to answer any questions, as the Jewel is the most beautiful ship I've seen, I'm spoiled now.

 

Nancy

[NYDee]

Nancy,

 

We have cabin 9256 on the Jewel for the Baltic next summer. We are wondering about the blank space between 9254 and 9256. Is this a stairway and was there noise from what ever it is.

 

Dee

[KeepOnCruzin]

It's been a while sence I have been able to update due to the cruisecritic being down. SO I will start from the ports I’ve missed.

Helsinki Finland, well im going to say it was my least favorite port so far. We took the shuttle to town because we did not fell like walking. It was a bit cold but very nice in the sun. We walked down the esplanade and to the local market, where we did some (lots) of shopping, and tried some of the native food. We then walked to Senate Square and saw the Lutheran Cathedral, and then went and saw Uspenski Cathedral. We walked around and did some more shopping. There are some other things to do like bus tours which are hop on/hop off and they will take you sight seeing, or you could take a boat tour from Market Square.

 

Ok the best days of the trip. We docked at the port of St. Petersburg, which much like all other Baltic ports is more of a big shipping yard. Next to us was the Costa Marina who followed us from Finland. The weather was a little bit chilly when we went out on the balcony. We were on deck 2 at 7:30 and off the boat at 7:40, the 1st people off the ship let me add. We met our tour guide Helen right when we got out of the customs building. We booked a private tour with Red October, and boy was it much better then I expected. We left the pier and did a 2 hour or so sight seeing tour looking at all the major sights that we would see in the days to come. After that we went to the Hermitage (WOW), what a sight it was. Our guide got us in line free, and never waited in a line the whole 2 days (and yes the real lines were very long in some places). The palace/museum is HUGE and absolutely beautiful (let me mind you this is just the Royal Families winter home, the summer home is drop dead gorgeous. After the Hermitage we had lunch, which wasn’t too bad and went shopping where we were greeted with vodka and coffee. Then off to Peterhof which was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen until today. The Palace was very nice, but the park of the Palace, with its hundreds of fountains and canal leading to the palace. Most of the fountains are made of gold (gilded), I was in complete awe when I saw the main fountain leading to the palace. We went into the Monplasir which is located in the park, which was peters little palace, right on the water, where he spent most of his days. Then back onto the ship. We had a reservation at Portofino, and it was very good, the presentation and taste of the food was great.

Day 2: We were off the ship at 7:50 and met our tour guide, Helen, same one from the day before. We left and went to Tsarskoye Selo, and visited Catherine’s Palace. The palace was also astounding. The architecture was absolutely beautiful with tons of gold on the walls, hardwood floors (different designs in every room using different color woods), and the Amber Room (the best room in the palace. Everything in the room is made of different colors of amber except the floor and paintings). After the palace we went to St. Isaac’s Cathedral, which was nice with the painting and mosaics. Then we went to lunch which was very good, and off to the Peter and Paul Fortress, which was nice but not compare to the Palaces. After that we vested The Savior on the Spilled Blood Cathedral. The Cathedral was magnificent, it was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen in my life. Not only is the outside stunning, but the inside was breathtaking. The inside walls are all mosaics. And when I saw the walls are all mosaics I mean every piece of the wall had a different mosaic pictures. There was no paint in between the mosaics just picture after picture of these mosaics. I was so overwhelmed when I entered the church. Then we came back to the ship.

 

Our guide was awesome, she taught at the university in St. Petersburg and was a professional guide. She knew the answer to every question we had.

 

I could keep writing about St. Petersburg, but im short of time now. When I write my review it will be MUCH longer.

 

Pat 848: We booked our own airfare, an internet special through Virgin Atlantic. We booked it right about the 70 day before the cruises, we would have booked before but could not find a reasonable price, I think we paid 350.00 plus tax.

 

Tuckernyc: Actually you will here some noise from the theater, but no big deal, its not bad enough to bother you. And you are a little further back from us, so I think noise will be even less back there. No question is stupid, but we are forward.

 

Judie43: Dress is much different from the Caribbean as far as dinner and walking around the ship. You don’t see many Hawaiian shirts. The people on this cruise are of an older age, and there are very few kids at all, so you don’t see a lot of shorts. Also another thing I noticed was collared shirts were being worn in most ports with kakis.

Well the locals dress in shorts and jeans, that the way we dressed some days. My son even wore shorts some days.

As far as weather, it is quite cool in the mornings but is very warm when the sun is out full strength.

 

desertheat: Its going to be day 8 today and Tango Argentina has not played yet, and I do not know when it is going to play. When it does I will be sure to post it, but you will probably be gone. Yes, the street signs are pretty easy to follow, we had no problem getting around, and we walked very far that day.

 

Mercury: This is the best service on an RCCL ship I have gotten so far. The room steward is great, the waiter is awesome (best ive had), the assistant waiter is great (best ive had), the head waiter is wonderful (the best ive had, she makes herself known every night and even alks to us for 5 or 10 minutes a night). Even all the other crew members are great (in the windjammer, the bridge crew, the cruise director staff). From what ive been told is when a new ship is put into service, current crew members of RCCL apply for a transfer to the new ship. And the cruise line will only chose the best of the best to be on the new ship (crew member with good files). Our waiter told us that preparing a new ship for service is very hard, and they only want the best for the job, and from what I have seen so far he is right.

 

The weather on this trip has been absolutely fabulous everyone has been telling us how the weather usually is bad and rainy in these places. But, we have been lucky and have only seen few rain drops so far.

Our tour guide in Russia told us that they have about 10 nice days a year, and today she said it was one of the nicest days she has seen in a long time, it was hot in the sun.

 

Well I have to start getting ready for dinner, we have just left St. Petersburg and it is a canal transit worth watching. We just saw a submarine, and you come very close to land and lots of ships are ported right out in the harbor. Its almost as good as the canal transit in Sweden.

 

As for the Russian Folk show onboard I have not heard anything about it. I do not think they are going to have one, but you never know.

 

O yes, I booked the Adventure of the Seas for Jan 2005 and am going to book the trans-atlantic on the Jewel in September tomorrow.

 

Till next time

 

Keep On Cruzin

 

15 Cruises since 1999

 

Jewel of the Seas.. Scandanavia/Russia

[MBnancy]

Dee,

That blank space is basically a hallway to get to your door. I think there may be a door to an outside service stairway, but we never heard a sound and I don't think it was used. If you look, the staircase opposite rooms 9234 & 36 is the service staircase and where the crew kept the laundry, ice machine etc. There was always carts in that area, and I wouldn't want rooms near there.

Nancy [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_cool.gif[/img]

[NYDee]

Thank's Nancy. I think we will enjoy the balcony with this stateroom.

Dee

[frank1333]

WILL BE TAKING THIS CRUISE IN AUGUST. YOU ARE MAKING IT SOUND JUST SO WONDERFUL. PLEASE TELL ME HOW YOU GOT THE PRIVATE TOUR GUIDE IN ST. PETERSBURG. THAT IS THE ONLY WAY TO REALLY SEE SUCH A BEAUTIFUL CITY. WOULD LOVE TO HAVE THIS ALL SET UP BEFORE WE GET THERE. THANKS AND ENJOY SUCH A GREAT TRIP

[travel2]

KeppOnCruzin
Any feedback on Virgin Atlantic?
Thanks for any info.

[Mercury]

Hi Keeponcruzin

Thanks for all your wonderful info! What was the entertainment on the ship when you were overnight in St Petersburg? Did they bring Russian entertainers on board?

[Trumpeter42]

Hey KeepOnCruzin,

Thanks for the wonderful info, we can't wait 'till our turn on Aug 20!

You mentioned that you just booked Adventure in Jan 2005.... which sailing? We're on the Jan 30 trip.

Voyager - Dec,2001
Jewel - Aug, 2004
Adventure - Jan, 2005

[KeepOnCruzin]

Last port we went to was tallinn, and it was a ctually a very nice place. We got off the ship and took the free shuttle to the old town. Where we saw cobble stone streets, very old cathedrals, castles, and monisteries. We ate at Olde Hassen, which by the way is very good, with awsome realism. It is based on the Medieval times with lots of candles, wooden tables, jugs of beer, and the waiters are dress like servents. It is on the RCCL map and very easy to get to. We did some shopping they have very cheap stuff around here.

We did so much shopping there is no way we are going to get all this stuff home.

travel 2: Virgin Atlantic was very good, altough British Airways is a little better. The seats are more comfortable and newer, the tv's are bigger, and the serve more things (come around with water many times through the flight, stuff like that). Well, I still very highly recommend Virgin, I think BA is a little better. But then agian Virgin has video games at every seat well BA is only in the upper class.

Mercury: No they did not have a folk show, and they did not have any special Russian show. On the night in Russia they had Antonio Salci, I think he was a pianist.

Frank1333: We went thorugh Red October. They were awsome. We cut just a bout every line. The guide knew the awser to every question we had. We had our on Mercedes van with our own driver and guide.
Contact Olga.
[email]rols@redoctober.spb.ru[/email] or
[email]redoctober@peterlink.ru[/email]
[url="http://www.redoctober.spb.ru"]www.redoctober.spb.ru[/url]

Trumpeter42: We booked the Jan 23 sailing on the Adventure.

15 Cruises since 1999

Jewel of the Seas.. Scandanavia/Russia
[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=008080&cdt=2004;5;28;17;00;00&timezone=GMT+0000[/img]

[Darspurs]

Hi KeepOnCruzin,

We are doing this cruise on 3rd July and I am looking forward to reading your full review.

I have two questions for you though:-

We are British and realise that our pound will not be accepted in many places. What currency are you using just dollars or are you getting some of all the different currencies as you go from port to port?

Secondly did you book your Russian tours prior to leaving home or when you got on the ship. We would like to do a van tour rather than a coach tour because presumably we will have more flexibility as to where we go. There are 6 of us (3 couples) aged between 48 & 55 so we would like 4 others to join us is this possible to do once you are on the ship?

Thanks in advance for your replies.

David

Monarch of the Seas 1996
Majesty of the Seas 1998
Costa Romantica 1999
Monarch of the Seas 2000
European Vision 2001
Radiance of the Seas 2002
Vision of the Seas 2003
Norwegian Dawn 10-26-2003
Jewel of the Seas 7-3-2004

[dizzykat]

Hi KeepOnCruzin!
Another question for you...what were the dining times on the Jewel? We have late seating.

Thanks
Kathy

[KeepOnCruzin]

Darspurs: You are right your pound with not be accepted many places. What we did is we went to AAA and got a prepaid debit/credit card (you can use a regular one). When in port we found a ATM (very easy to find in every port), and took out money (local money), and used that. There was no exchange charge other than the fee for the ATM.
If we had money left over we would change it in on the ship, for the next port's local currency.
Or you can just exchange money on the ship.
Credit cards are widly accepted at most stores.

We booked the tour a few months in advance with Red October. I highly reccomend them, and would book as soon as possible, when you make up your mind. They take no money until the 2nd day of the tour, not even a credit card hold. We had to ask our guide on the 1st day when they wanted money, and she said well stop by there office tomorrow.

dizzykat: The late dinning room seating starts at 8:30. And the main dinning room seating is at 6:00.

KeepOnCruzin

15 Cruises since 1999

Jewel of the Seas.. Scandanavia/Russia
[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=008080&cdt=2004;5;28;17;00;00&timezone=GMT+0000[/img]