How was the jewel-caribbean/panama?

[LindaMae]

Hello Fellow Cruisers-

 

What were the pros and cons of this 11th day cruise? Did you like the ports? Was there a lot do in the ports? :confused::confused::confused:

 

Any help would be appreciated.

 

Thanks-

Linda Mae

[lesnpatty]

Hopefully this is a good choice because we have a deposit on the March 28th sailing. We have been to Aruba and Grand Cayman, they are two of my favorite ports. We were on the radiance of the seas in Alaska and loved the layout of the ship. You could sea the water from almost anywhere on board and it seem like it was just the right size. The amount of people on the mega ships is not my cup of tea. Hopefully we get some feedback from people that have been on this sailing.

[LindaMae]

Thank you so much for answering. We love the radiance class ships too. After 40 cruises I think it is a wonderful ship--we also love the Jewel. :) We are just not sure about the ports if they will be interesting.

 

Hey we all want the best bang for our buck!! ;)

 

Linda Mae

[Sunkissed Mommy]

This is a fabulous itinerary. We did it last November for our honeymoon.

 

The ONLY port we didn't enjoy was Cartagena- way too hot/muggy/buggy even for South Floridians.

 

Very relaxing, very fun, very beautiful. The ship is amazing too by the way.

 

Have any specific questions??

[toonye]

Hi everyone,

 

unfortunately, I won't give you more information as we haven't sail yet

we're booked on the April 18 sailing and can't wait!

 

We've seen the Jewel this summer as it was docked in St Petersburg and we've found her "small" after having cruised on Voyager class ships and Princess previously...

 

But I've read so many great reviews on how beautiful the inside was

 

As for the ports, there are some great reviews on these boards

 

I've already had a look at the RCI excursions and might book them in Cartagena and Panama (safety issues?), not sure for Costa Rica.

 

Toonye

[Ashland]

Just off the Jewel (Aug 11-23) loved her but I can say some of the furniture especially the balcony (JS) and the poolside lounges were looking very tired..Hopefully that will be taken care of when she goes into drydock....

[Stormlover]

We did the 11 nighter in April, Loved the ports, The only disapointment for us was (we are late 40's) there was hardly any thing going on late at night we love the dance clubs and most nights we were the only ones there. The guy in the Schooner bar was aweful. I asked the CD if this was the norm for this cruise and he said yes that most of the longer cruises were mostly seniors. They made up about 80 percent of the passangers. Including LOTS of scooters.;) Nothing against seniors as we are gettting close. LOL but like a bit more lively crowd , which is the luck of the draw.:eek:

[toonye]

Thank you very much Stormlover for your feedback;)

 

Hope we'll see more families and less scooters on our cruise:rolleyes:, also nothing against seniors but it'll be easier for us if there are more kids onboard

 

but as we're sailing during the Easter Week, we do hope there will be a younger passenger mix

 

Although we won't go to the night club very offen either as we're traveling with our 8 yr old daughter and not want to hire a babysitter each evening

 

How was the daytime entertainment? Was it only bingo, art auction, ... or did you also have some more active activities offeres like dance classes, sports, etc...?

 

Hope we won't get bored during the 5 sea days...:confused:

 

Toonye

[jodi58]

Just off the Jewel (Aug 11-23) loved her but I can say some of the furniture especially the balcony (JS) and the poolside lounges were looking very tired..Hopefully that will be taken care of when she goes into drydock....

 

 

Hi,

 

When is the Jewel's drydock? our cruise on her is next September.

 

Jo.

[Ashland]

Hi,

 

When is the Jewel's drydock? our cruise on her is next September.

 

Jo.

Last update I heard was Apr.29-May 6 2011..But like anything that could change....

[kimberley]

Dam My cruise is in January. Any more info would be be appreciated on the ports.

[windjamming]

We did the 11 nighter in April, Loved the ports, The only disapointment for us was (we are late 40's) there was hardly any thing going on late at night we love the dance clubs and most nights we were the only ones there. The guy in the Schooner bar was aweful. I asked the CD if this was the norm for this cruise and he said yes that most of the longer cruises were mostly seniors. They made up about 80 percent of the passangers. Including LOTS of scooters.;) Nothing against seniors as we are gettting close. LOL but like a bit more lively crowd , which is the luck of the draw.:eek:

 

We did the Panama Canal itinerary when it was on the Brilliance and found the same demographics. This was the only cruise I've seen with dinner seatings at 5:30 and 8.

 

I'm not convinced the deciding factor is the length of the cruise, as I've been on 12-nighters in Europe which had a younger average age. If anything, I'm guessing it's more due to the itinerary. Transatlantics also have an older crowd.

[NorbertsNiece]

Loved it!

Link to blog in sig below.

You will have a fabulous time.

[kimberley]

Were there many repeat passengers on the cruise? How many diamond and diamond plus members can you remember? Thanks

[BillB48]

We did the Panama Canal itinerary when it was on the Brilliance and found the same demographics. This was the only cruise I've seen with dinner seatings at 5:30 and 8.

 

I'm not convinced the deciding factor is the length of the cruise, as I've been on 12-nighters in Europe which had a younger average age. If anything, I'm guessing it's more due to the itinerary. Transatlantics also have an older crowd.

 

The Brilliance isn't the only one... we were on the Voyager in March out of Galveston, she had the same 5:30 and 8:00 times.

[windjamming]

Were there many repeat passengers on the cruise? How many diamond and diamond plus members can you remember? Thanks

 

On my cruise there were a LOT of repeat passengers. The welcome back reception was very crowded, and I believe there were at least two receptions. The P&D reception was also held in the Safari Club but as a brunch and also filled the entire area. (As comparison, on my Serenade Alaska cruise, they held a single P&D reception as lunch in Portofino.)

 

This is consistent with cruises that have an older demographic.

[windjamming]

The Brilliance isn't the only one... we were on the Voyager in March out of Gaveston, she had the same 5:30 and 8:00 times.

 

Thanks Bill- it was the only one I've seen, and it was quite surprising! I'm curious- what was the demographic for that cruise out of Galveston?

[BillB48]

I just guessing that because the ship was over in Europe for the summer, possibly those times work better for the ship switching back and forth on the different itins. We first ran into the 5:30 dinner on a TA on the Brilliance coming to the US, maybe the 25 hour days with the time changes is the answer. The demographics seemed very similar to any of the 7 day cruises out of Florida, so I am unsure as to whether the demographics of the passengers enters into play.