Late Review - Jewel of the Seas Westbound Transatlantic

[wrp96]

You forgot to mention watching the people coming back onboard. No good runners on this cruise (I am biting my tongue to avoid mentioning the canes). Top prize go to the people on the ship's excursion buses that were late getting back to the dock in Reykjavik - and instead of hurrying back on board, they leisurely strolled into the dock's gift shop! :eek:

 

 

Oh yes. I forgot about that!! All of us were out on our balconies groaning as another bus would pull up - and the people would not realize they needed to get on the ship.

[2nutz4travel]

Thanks Wrona for the great review! We're on the 2011 TA, booked late August & there were hardly any cabins available then! Can't wait for September...

[3dogmom]

Ah yes! The daily seas report! Look, the waves are (bigger, smaller, about the same) as they were yesterday! ;)

 

 

You forgot to mention watching the people coming back onboard. No good runners on this cruise (I am biting my tongue to avoid mentioning the canes). Top prize go to the people on the ship's excursion buses that were late getting back to the dock in Reykjavik - and instead of hurrying back on board, they leisurely strolled into the dock's gift shop! :eek:

 

 

:D yup! for a 2-week cruise, to be honest, the extra space was more of a blessing than the balcony itself... But the fresh air, and the ability to take pix of the ports we were sailing into whilst still in my jammies was - priceless!

 

Thanks for the additional info. You've talked me into considering booking the balcony. It was really nice having side-by-side balconies with my parents when sailing in the Med. Always had happy hour buddies right outside:D

 

What was your flight schedule that you had such a long layover in Iceland on your way to London? Did the tours you take pick you up and drop you right back at the airport?

[new seekers]

General Notes: When I posted live from the ship, someone asked about the general age onboard. My answer was retired. To elaborate on that, on a previous cruise, I joked about me qualifying for the kids club. On this cruise, my roomie, who is a little older than me, said she qualified for the kids club. About halfway through the cruise, she was in the hot tub and made a comment about when she got back to the office. One of the other people in the hot tub exclaimed “Oh, you’re the first person I’ve met on this cruise that is still working.” :eek:

Especially at the beginning of the cruise, the elevators were quite crowded and certain groups were quite rude. One of our friends was actually physically pushed off an elevator because she wasn’t getting off of it quick enough for the lady behind her when they got to the Windjammer. Of course the Windjammer itself was an issue, especially on the day we were in Cherbourg. When everyone got back from their tours, they all headed to the Windjammer from lunch and a few little old ladies almost got in a fight, because one moved in front of the other at the salad bar. It was quite common for people to show up extra early for everything, if you wanted to see a movie, you needed to get there an hour in advance to get a seat.

 

Travis Barker, the drummer from Blink 182, was on our cruise with his family. Originally he was allowed to setup his drums in the Hollywood Odyssey so he could practice, but that was in the way, so they moved him to a small room between Hollywood Odyssey and the Vortex. If you were lucky, you could hear him practicing. It got to be funny though, because I was stopped more than once and asked “You’re young. This guy with all the tattoos, I hear he’s famous. Who is he?” We were right behind him at disembarkation. Even famous people have to go through immigration and wait for their group # to be called.

Captain Stieg was fantastic. When we had the itinerary change, he was great to have the talk to answer everyone’s questions. I’m sure he was quite fed up after several questions of “Where do all the waves come from?” “Now that we’ve bypassed the storm, why can’t we go to St John?” “Can we go back to Boston early so we don’t miss our early flight” “Why can’t we go to Boston instead of Sydney (yes someone had the nerve to ask this question again)?” Some of the questions were quite good, but some were just absurd. And the Captain answered everyone with a smile.

 

Our original itinerary with ports, a couple sea days, ports, a couple sea days, port, sea day, port, sea day, port, was perfect for a first time transatlantic cruise, nicely giving us a day a rest between most of the port days. With the itinerary change though, we ended up with 4 sea days in a row. Roomie and I found this perfect because it allowed us to keep up our rigorous schedule of eat, read, sleep, drink, and repeat. Others we met were starting to get antsy by the 3rd sea day, and ready to get off the ship by the 4th. When we got to Sydney, the gangplank was right below our balcony, and I swear a few people kissed the ground when they got off the ship.

 

Weather wise, England was sunny and warm for the 2 days we were there – short sleeve weather. Paris was hot and sunny. I even got a sunburn our day there. Cherbourg was sunny but cooler, with wind coming off the ocean – I was comfortable in short sleeves, but others needed long sleeves or jackets. In Cobh we got a laugh because when we’d get on the bus, it started raining. We’d stop and sun would come out only to have the rain start back up when we got back on the bus. The first sea day out of Ireland it was mostly sunny and comfortable but as the day when on the seas picked up a bit. The 2nd sea day it was drizzling with a bit of rocking going on. In Akureyri it was sunny except for a bit of drizzle at one of the stops but then the sun came back out. Temperature wise I was pretty comfortable with a lightweight long sleeve shirt although I did have my jacket to counteract the drizzle.. In Reykjavik, it drizzled on us in Reykjavik itself but once we got into the countryside the sun started to come out and it warmed up. Roomie who stayed behind in Reykjavik though got poured on. After Iceland we did have to divert to avoid a massive Arctic Storm, and so that first night and the next day it was really rocking. The closer we got to Canada the calmer the seas got and it started to warm back up. It was sunny as we approached Sydney but shortly after we docked it started pouring. The next day it alternated between rain and shine – but other than wet, it was relatively warm. Between Sydney and Boston we hit a bit of rocky seas and fog, but by the last night we were past it and we finally got the beautiful sunset we hadn’t seen all cruise.

 

The cruise itself was fantastic as was the time spent with friends, both old and new. There were a few little niggles here and there, but nothing to ruin a great time.

hi, loved the review,i was the one who asked you the general age on the ship,hope theres a few who like a good drink in there 40s.

How was it for going places by just getting off the ship, tours etc? WE got a good price for next year we paid £1164 thats $1792 d2 balcony transfer and return flight back to gatwick.

[wrp96]

What was your flight schedule that you had such a long layover in Iceland on your way to London? Did the tours you take pick you up and drop you right back at the airport?

 

Roomie stayed in Iceland for 2 days to be able to see everything. She took a redeye flight arriving in Iceland Monday morning. And then the late afternoon flight to London on Wednesday afternoon.

[wrp96]

How was it for going places by just getting off the ship, tours etc? WE got a good price for next year we paid £1164 thats $1792 d2 balcony transfer and return flight back to gatwick.

 

In Le Havre, it seemed fairly easy to catch the shuttle or taxi into town. Same with Cherbourg.

 

In Cobh (Cork), the pier was right in the middle of town so you could easily walk to the cathedral, shops, etc.

 

In Akureyri, there really wasn't much to see in town. You really need to have a tour planned in advance to get out of town to see things.

 

In Reykjavik, there was a shuttle from the pier to the main town area, where there were shops and things to see.

 

In Sydney, there was a booth on the pier where you could buy tickets on tours, plus taxis available as well.

 

In the places where there were shuttles, note that these weren't free, usually at least a few Euros.

 

Basically if all you want to do is walk around town, then the ports are easy for that. But if you actually want to do a tour, the only port where you would find lots of tour options was Sydney. The others it would be best to arrange something in advance.

[Rockiesfan]

Hi, I'm enjoying your pictures (!!) and would love to know what the "digital scavenger hunt" is. Is this something the ship organizes or did you create one? I'm asking because before every cruise I make a photo scavenger hunt book for each of our kids, and they spend the cruise searching for everything. I use bits of pictures I find online since most of the time we haven't sailed on the ship before. We'll be on Jewel in March 2011 and your pictures will really help out!

[wrp96]

Hi, I'm enjoying your pictures (!!) and would love to know what the "digital scavenger hunt" is. Is this something the ship organizes or did you create one? I'm asking because before every cruise I make a photo scavenger hunt book for each of our kids, and they spend the cruise searching for everything. I use bits of pictures I find online since most of the time we haven't sailed on the ship before. We'll be on Jewel in March 2011 and your pictures will really help out!

 

The digital scavenger hunt was one of the activities offered. They gave you 20 minutes and a list of 20 items to take a picture of. Because they let the teams use two cameras and held it late in the cruise, almost all the teams got all 20 items. They had prizes for all of us, but we advised them to offer it one of the first days of the cruise next time and to only let a team use one camera. It was still fun and we made some new friends which was a blast.

[jodi58]

thanks for the wonderful review, we are booked on the Sept 2011 TA and are so looking forward to it!

 

Jo.

[3dogmom]

Now that I'm only a year and a half away, thought of something else to ask...:rolleyes:

 

Can you do the Golden Circle and Blue Lagoon from Reykjavik? I'm assuming one day for each tour.

 

Thanks again!

[wrp96]

Now that I'm only a year and a half away, thought of something else to ask...:rolleyes:

 

Can you do the Golden Circle and Blue Lagoon from Reykjavik? I'm assuming one day for each tour.

 

Thanks again!

 

 

Absolutely. The Golden Circle is best accessed from Reykjavik, and the Blue Lagoon is just outside Reykjavik (it's on the way to the airport). If you have two days in Reykjavik, I recommend doing the Golden Circle the first day since it does involve some distance from Reykjavik (and find a private guide). That way you aren't limited in your time as we were - we got to see everything it was just short stops everywhere.