Condition of Jewel

[mlmbar]

About to book Jewel. We are attending a wedding on Viequez and Jewel sails the day after so very convenient. We have been on Oasis and Allure and first ever cruise was Carnival Pride, about same age and size as Jewel. After being on ship intensive (Oasis and Allure) we are ready for port intensive. We mainly enjoy beaches and dining so the shows etc on Oasis class did not hold a lot of attraction for us. Jewel seems like a good fit and I have seen some very good reviews. BUT I have also read some poor reviews and some people just recently right here recommending avoiding Jewel . Any info that would help me feel better about Jewel?

[Zou Bisou Bisou]

About to book Jewel. We are attending a wedding on Viequez and Jewel sails the day after so very convenient. We have been on Oasis and Allure and first ever cruise was Carnival Pride, about same age and size as Jewel. After being on ship intensive (Oasis and Allure) we are ready for port intensive. We mainly enjoy beaches and dining so the shows etc on Oasis class did not hold a lot of attraction for us. Jewel seems like a good fit and I have seen some very good reviews. BUT I have also read some poor reviews and some people just recently right here recommending avoiding Jewel . Any info that would help me feel better about Jewel?

 

The Jewel is a great ship. Sailed her for the second time last year and have her booked for later this year. I have sailed Oasis, Allure, Freedom, Liberty and most of the Voyager and Vision Class. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend the Jewel of the Seas.

[mommie_2_3_krazy_teens]

About to book Jewel. We are attending a wedding on Viequez and Jewel sails the day after so very convenient. We have been on Oasis and Allure and first ever cruise was Carnival Pride, about same age and size as Jewel. After being on ship intensive (Oasis and Allure) we are ready for port intensive. We mainly enjoy beaches and dining so the shows etc on Oasis class did not hold a lot of attraction for us. Jewel seems like a good fit and I have seen some very good reviews. BUT I have also read some poor reviews and some people just recently right here recommending avoiding Jewel . Any info that would help me feel better about Jewel?

 

I can't speak first hand, as we don't sail on her until March, but I have heard nothing but good about The Jewel Of The Seas! I think if you are most looking forward to the ports, and the beaches...the older and smaller ship won't matter as much. That was our take on it, and what made us choose her over some of the others.

[UNV-IT!!!]

Was on her last June. She is my favorite ship personally

[SECdawg]

We sailed on Jewel last June and it was our favorite cruise so far. The ports were great. The ship is lovely with lots of glass to see the ocean. The crew was wonderful. I have read bad reviews on just about every ship but have not had a bad cruise yet. We look forward to sailing Jewel again.

[Rewind]

Sailed this past October. Granted I haven't been on the new fancy ships yet and I'm working my way up, but the Jewel is a great ship in great condition. I never saw an area that wasn't clean and well maintained.

[Familygoboston]

I've sailed on every class except Freedom and I haven't seen any difference in the "conditions" of the ships. The cruise line does a really good job of keeping furnishings fresh (I've seen rolls of carpet waiting in the hallway to go in on change days) Maintenance appears to be a top priority, every ship I've been on has always had crew painting and repairing and doing routine maintenance at almost all times.

 

The bottom line is I haven't seen anything to think that RCI treats one ship any differently than another in terms of the maintenance so even the older ships are in excellent condition. I guess someone could be in a cabin that is scheduled to have carpet replaced or the balcony painted in the next week or two on any ship and could have the opinion that its currently "not in good repair", but that doesn't mean it's not "maintained". Even the "new" ships will look "worn" quickly with thousands of passengers moving through every week for a year or two...even the "new ships" need regular updating and maintenance. (Allure is one of the ships where I've seen carpet waiting:D)

 

Of course there are features that may appear "dated" compared to the newer ships, for instance, the newer and "oasisized" ships have way finder computer screens in the hallways and flat screen tvs in the cabins, Jewel still has plastic models and wall signs and tube tvs, but the condition of the ship is still excellent. At least it was in November...maybe it needs new carpet now;)

[lakelorain]

Did a b2b on the Jewel in October and several other cruises on her previously. Our favorite ship. Well maintained. Outstanding crew. In our opinion the food in the Windjammer on the Jewel is better than the other ships we've been on. We took the b2b just to be on the Jewel.

CC boards seem to attract the complainers. Take everything you read with a grain of salt. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. My opinion is the Jewel is a great ship.

[stones902]

We sailed her over Halloween. Great ship in good condition. I would book it again in a heartbeat.

[mlmbar]

Thank you all for the reassurance. Oh I know CC boards do draw complainers. I have watched videos and the ship looks beautiful! Our first cruise was carnival's Pride, about same generation ship and the carpet was water stained, we had paint chips falling off the balcony ceiling onto the patio chairs,TV worked about 5 min, and missing ceiling tiles in the hallways. STILL we had an awesome time (we didn;t know any better LOL). I don;t need a flatscreen or computerized direction signs in hallway. I negotiated both Oasis class ships so I am sure I can find my way around without help

[erniesband]

Just back from a wonderful 2 weeks on board the Jewel Of The Seas. We cruised the weeks of 1/11/14, going to Tortola, St Maarten, St Kitts, Dominica, and Barbados and 1/18/14, going to St Thomas, St Croix, Antigua, Martinique, and St Lucia.

Overall the ship is in really good shape, yes, you can see the carpet is worn in some areas and there is some furniture that needs to be replaced but overall she still looks good and will be going for a refurb in 2016. Our cabin, aft balcony 1604 was in good shape but we did ask for an egg crate and our cabin steward gave us 2 saying that the mattress needed some extra help.

 

Dennis Charles was the cruise director with Elvis as his assistant; both were very personable and did a great job. We did see a lot of the ship’s officers all over the ship and they would take the time to talk with you and answer questions or just some friendly chit- chat. They really gave the impression that they wanted everyone to be happy with their cruise experience. The crew was one of best we've sailed with, very friendly and seemed to happy to be there.

 

Activities were all the usual suspects; Quest, Love and Marriage, 60’s and 70’s dance parties, a “white” party on deck along with the midnight buffet.

 

Ok - so there has to be some not so good to go with the really good. I know that food is subjective and as I say in my signature to quote Dennis Miller “ this is my opinion, I could be wrong” here goes. The food in main dinning room had much to be desired, while the service was as good as they could do and you can’t blame the wait staff for what comes out of the kitchen but at least it could come to the table HOT, and this we figured was due to the cutbacks in staff. They just have too many tables to handle. We would arrive at our table on time at 6:00 and not be served our appetizers until 6:45 or later; we would see some tables leaving the dinning room as we were getting our entrees. As to the quality of the food, everything was way too salty and items that were supposed to be spicy were just bland. Most of the meat would be too well done and dry. The Windjammer was OK as a buffet and we knew what we were getting when we went there for breakfast or lunch. I’m sorry to say that the best food on the ship was at the Seaview Café and it’s going away when the ship is refurbished. Always cooked to order and delivered hot to your table.

 

We're booked for another B2B in January of 2015 so even the food issues weren't enough to change our minds about sailing on Jewel.

Edited January 28, 2014 by erniesband

[deetrayn]

I did a B2B on the Jewel's Nov 30 and Dec 7 sailings last year. The ship was beautiful. It was decorated for Christmas and that added to it for me. :)

 

I also thought the staff was very friendly, I enjoyed the food in the MDR and Windjammer. Chops Grille and Portofino's were also great. The cruises were very port intensive so after two weeks, and 10 port stops, I was ready to go home and rest. I enjoyed myself and would do it again.