Come Cruise with Me-Jewel Review 4/8/11-Southern Caribbean/2,000+ Pics/Super Long

[bionicman97]

Woohoo! Not even half way done yet. Lovin' it. :D

 

If you go by days, we're getting close, but if you go by the amount of info and pics I have of Days 5-7, we're just getting close to 1/3rd of the way :eek:

 

The solarium is gorgeous! I want to go on a Radiance class ship just for that now.

 

My personal opinion is the Radiance class definitely has the nicest solariums :)

[bionicman97]

Day 4 - At Sea - Continued

 

After eating lunch, I spent a couple hours working on my pics in photoshop. Around 2pm, after having not eaten in close to 3 hours, I rushed to the Sea View Cafe for a snack

 

If you've never seen a Sea View Cafe, this is what the inside looks like

 

 

I had a cuban sandwich and some onion rings. They were excellent as always.

 

 

After this, I found a nice spot in the Centrum area ( I think on Deck 10) called the Explorer(?). I spent about an hour here working with photoshop a little more. After this, I was once again starving, so I rushed over to the Windjammer for tea time.

 

Trying to keep it light, I just got a few desserts

 

 

After this (around 5pm), I went back to the solarium for a little more r and r

 

 

Around 6pm, we went back to the room to get ready for the evening. At 6:15pm, we went up to the Viking Crown for the nightly Diamond Event.

 

 

Up in a few minutes - A Show - Trivia - & Dinner. . .

[bionicman97]

Day 4 - At Sea - A Show/Trivia/Dinner

 

Around 6:45, we left the Viking Crown and headed for the show. Right before the show began, the cruise directors staff had a little skit

 

 

It turned out to be a marriage proposal

 

 

At 7pm, the show started. The theater was about 90% full. Instead of the cruise director coming out, the Activities Manager, Frankie came out and said the cruise director was unavailable, so he would be hosting tonight.

 

 

Then this happens. It was a funny little skit. I like it when they do these things. It adds a nice touch.

 

 

And on to the show

 

 

As luck would have it, we have seen him two other times already.

 

Up next - The Show & Dinner

[bionicman97]

Day 4 - The Show & Dinner

 

Here are some pic's from the show

 

 

He put's on a good show

 

 

He does some singing, impersonations, etc

 

 

Most of it is older music (80's and back) and tv stars

 

 

He got the kids involved

 

 

And the adults

 

 

Up next - Trivia & Dinner. . .

[bionicman97]

Day 4 - Dinner

 

After the show was over, we went to the Safari club for Movie Trivia

 

 

After this, it was off to dinner.

 

For dinner, I had the Casesar Salad (not pictured) and the Black Angus Sirloin

 

 

Notice how similar it is to the "featured dish" - Steak Diane

 

 

And Dessert

 

 

After dinner, the waiter made my wife this impressive balloon animal

 

 

Since we have an early excursion tomorrow in Cartegena, Columbia, we decided to go back to the room after dinner. This would be around 11:05pm

 

 

All in All, it was a nice, lazy day at Sea

 

Well everyone, we've made it through Day 4. This was a pretty short review day, since we didn't do much at sea. But, Starting tomorrow, we get into the "Meat and Potatoes" of the review. We have three port days in a row (Columbia, Panama & Costa Rica). We had long excursions at every port and I have a ton of pics from each place. After that, we still have a slam full day at Grand Cayman & 2 more sea days. So stay tuned - there is so much more left to come. . .

[bilyclub]

Great ongoing review Curtis. Was the solarium roof ever opened? I have never seen the solarium roof opened on a Royal ship when onboard.

It seem foolish to have a retractable roof and not open it when the weather was nice.

[Carguylee]

Thanks :) We're pretty far from Pinnacle, but maybe Diamond plus one day :D -- By then they'll probably have 5 more levels ;)

 

 

 

 

Probably should clarify that a little. It was just sending/responding to emails. My father and I own a Construction Company. We do Electric/ Alarm/ HVAC/ Building.

 

Our superintendents email us morning and evening with status updates/photos and we provide direction/clarification/decision making.

 

 

It all becomes clear now. :D If it allows you to vacation that often then great!

[Grumpy9117]

Great ongoing review Curtis. Was the solarium roof ever opened? I have never seen the solarium roof opened on a Royal ship when onboard.

It seem foolish to have a retractable roof and not open it when the weather was nice.

 

The roof doesn't open on the Jewel's solarium. It does on the Vision class though.

[bionicman97]

Great ongoing review Curtis. Was the solarium roof ever opened? I have never seen the solarium roof opened on a Royal ship when onboard.

It seem foolish to have a retractable roof and not open it when the weather was nice.

 

I have never seen the roof open.

 

It all becomes clear now. :D If it allows you to vacation that often then great!

 

Usually we don't vacation that much (on cruises at least). This was our 5th cruise in 10 months, but we squeezed in a few extra in hopes of having a baby this year and thus not being able to cruise for about a year. Usually we shoot for 3 cruises a year.

 

The roof doesn't open on the Jewel's solarium. It does on the Vision class though.

 

I didn't know that. Thanks :)

[fastpaks]

As you can tell, I'm new to these boards. I love the TR and look forward to more. I'm used to Disney but really want to expand my horizons when it comes to cruising. One question, when you are eating lunch, are you paying for each soda every time? RCI offers soda cards right? I heard they are only good for dinner?

 

Thanks

 

Jonathan

[bionicman97]

As you can tell, I'm new to these boards. I love the TR and look forward to more. I'm used to Disney but really want to expand my horizons when it comes to cruising. One question, when you are eating lunch, are you paying for each soda every time? RCI offers soda cards right? I heard they are only good for dinner?

 

Thanks

 

Jonathan

 

Welcome to the RCI Board :)

 

You can get a soda card (I did). It is $6 per day+15% gratuity and you have to buy it for the entire length of a cruise (can't buy it by the day). For this 10 day cruise, it was like $69

 

You can get soda anytime, as much as you want. Just show your card (they put a sticker on it) at any bar, in the windjammer or at dinner. They also give you a cup you can use.

[LBumb]

great job.

[bilyclub]

The roof doesn't open on the Jewel's solarium. It does on the Vision class though.

 

 

Are you sure? My memory says the roof is retractable.

 

 

 

Radiance class ships have a gross tonnage of 90,090 gross tons. All ships have more environmentally-friendly gas turbine engines. The Radiance class ships have over 3 acres (12,000 m2) of glass, glass exterior viewing elevators, over 700 balcony staterooms, two-level glass windowed dining rooms, alternative restaurants, a retractable glass roof over a pool, an outdoor pool, as well as the first self-leveling billiard tables at sea. The Radiance class ships were constructed at Meyer Werft, Papenburg, Germany.

[bionicman97]

great job.

 

Thanks :)

[Grumpy9117]

Are you sure? My memory says the roof is retractable.

 

 

 

Radiance class ships have a gross tonnage of 90,090 gross tons. All ships have more environmentally-friendly gas turbine engines. The Radiance class ships have over 3 acres (12,000 m2) of glass, glass exterior viewing elevators, over 700 balcony staterooms, two-level glass windowed dining rooms, alternative restaurants, a retractable glass roof over a pool, an outdoor pool, as well as the first self-leveling billiard tables at sea. The Radiance class ships were constructed at Meyer Werft, Papenburg, Germany.

 

Yes, I was just on the April 8th cruise on the Jewel.

[sarahc78]

Great review....long...but great :p

[bionicman97]

Great review....long...but great :p

 

Thanks :)

[reallyitsmema]

Yes, I was just on the April 8th cruise on the Jewel.

It is retractable, they just keep it closed pretty much all the time.

[bilyclub]

Photo of the solarium roof:

 

and more talk:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1378930

[mais318]

I cant wait to come home and see whats new on this review every day! I just was wondering if it would be worth it to bring both a DSLR and a Point and Shot like you did. Did you use both cameras enough to justify the extra chargers lenses, etc. Great Review, Keep it up! :)

[bionicman97]

Sorry about not getting anything up yet today - Another family computer repair. Just got home for the first time today at 9:45pm

 

Day 5 - Caratagena, Columbia

 

Got up around 5:50 am (this would be 7:50 am EST -- We've now moved back 2 hours). I decided to do the elliptical today instead of the jogging track, since I can barely walk at this point

 

 

I worked out until around 7am and then went back to the room to get ready.

 

Took a couple shots as we were getting close to docking

 

 

Looks like it is going to be a nice place

 

 

 

At 7:30am, we met up with the rest of our party and headed off the ship to meet for the excursion we had booked. It is called Deluxe Cartagena and Fortress. We quickly found our bus and left the pier at 8am.

 

 

Here is a picture of our tour guide

 

 

He did a good job. He had three catch phrases that he said all of the time: "little by little", "don't be haste" and "mind your head/step" - He said them so often that we used them as a running joke through the rest of the cruise

 

Up Next - The Drive through town. . .

[bionicman97]

I cant wait to come home and see whats new on this review every day! I just was wondering if it would be worth it to bring both a DSLR and a Point and Shot like you did. Did you use both cameras enough to justify the extra chargers lenses, etc. Great Review, Keep it up! :)

 

For me, it's definitely worth it to take both. I use the DSLR for the first day to take a lot of pictures of the ship. I also use it for ports I've never been to. For the rest, I usually us a P & S.

 

Thanks :)

[bionicman97]

Day 5 - Cartagena, Columbia - Driving through town

 

So, as we left the port and drove to the Fortress, I tried to take a lot of pictures

 

We saw a lot of these buses as we drove

 

 

I'm always interested in street signs for some reason

 

 

A side street

 

 

Some colorful buildings

 

 

Courtyard and building

 

 

All the streets are narrow and the buildings very close to the road

 

 

Up next - more of the drive through town. . .

[bionicman97]

Day 5 - Cartagena, Columbia

 

More of the drive -- Please excuse the quality of some of the pictures - I'm shooting on a moving bus through glass

 

Another side street

 

 

Everyone seems to drive small cars and take security very seriously here

 

 

I'm assuming these are cabs

 

 

Saw lots of areas like this

 

 

They have street vendors selling newspapers/tabloids

 

 

And this is the reason I would never drive here!

 

 

Coming tomorrow -- Fortress - Inquisition palace - Cathedral - A local Show - Food - Shows - And More! . . .

[nathand95]

Great start to Cartegena. It looks like a really diverse port. I can't wait for more!!! On the excursion did you ever feel endangered? We were going to do a cruise from Colon this past April to Cartegena and th ABC islands, but my mom was "too scared of the ports". I'm going to show her your review to show you won't get caught up in drug wars...right?;)