Live From The JEWELL Of The SEAS

[Trainman-2]

Here we are in the Dining Room last night...

 

[Trainman-2]

Day 9, George Town, Grand Cayman

 

 

The Captain told us yesterday that we will be the only ship in Port today so Carol and I are planning to venture ashore later this morning.

[Trainman-2]

What Is The Big Surprise on Deck 13?

 

Three strangely attired petrified birds.

 

 

They are really sort of neat but not something we would want in our living room at home!

[K9CATWOMAN]

Trainman and Carol -

Enjoy your visit ashore ! Looking forward to hearing all about it, and seeing the pictures of course. :D

[Guest chasbrand]

Trainman -

Thanks for the live sposting from the Jewel. We will be on her in three weeks on the 11 day Panama Canal cruise. We can't wait and your pictures have brought back so many great memories of the beautiful Jewel. We cruised on her last December on a B2B and had the greatest time. Sure hope they get the crepes back in the Solarium. DH is a very picky eater and also requested filet mignon. The waiter deferred to the head waiter who deferred to the one in charge of the dining room, and they were not able to get a filet. They sure tried. The head of the whole dining room was the only one that gave attitude. Hope he is gone. On previous cruises, DH has gotten filet for a few different nights. Is Pedro still one of the Head Waiters? He was ours last year; and without a doubt, the best we have ever had. He said he thought he would be off the ship this December. Hope not.

 

Thanks again for the great posting and pictures.

[rubrrick]

Trainman.............thanks for your wonderful posting!! I have learned a couple of things if I ever decide I'll do another "Live from". The most important thing is how to upload pictures. Thanks for that.

 

Also, your commentary was surpurb!! I look forward to going on another of your virtural cruises!!

 

Rick

[NorbertsNiece]

I am an addict.

I need help.

I keep checking to see what else is new with you guys.

It has been such fun hanging out with you all and Trainman and Carol.

I know I'm going to miss you all when the cruise docks and everyone disembarks.

Trainman, I wish you and Carol many more wonderful cruises, good health and much, very much, happiness and to everyone who has been reading along....... what are we going to do now... I know!!!! I'm sailing in like..... 106 days!!!!

Thank you.

[dramaqueen4lyfe]

I have been OOT and then busy getting back to normal here. I just took time to read through everything I missed and I enjoyed it thoroughly. Thank you Train Man for your time and effort. I was recently on the Jewel Baltics and TA with a few others who have posted here and I'm enjoying re-living the wonderful experience we had.

We had a fantastic asst waiter by the name of Kersten and we all wrote a glowing report and a recommendation that he be promoted. I'm happy to report that one of our friends recently did the repo and he happily reported that Kerston is now a waiter and is very happy. The moral of the story is that if you get exeptional service, write a letter from your table, have everyone sign it and give it to the head waiter. It goes up the chain of command quicker and evidently gets results.

[BoyntonBeth]

We had a fantastic asst waiter by the name of Kersten and we all wrote a glowing report and a recommendation that he be promoted. I'm happy to report that one of our friends recently did the repo and he happily reported that Kerston is now a waiter and is very happy. The moral of the story is that if you get exeptional service, write a letter from your table, have everyone sign it and give it to the head waiter. It goes up the chain of command quicker and evidently gets results.

 

I guess I'm glad that it works both ways.

 

On the Baltics cruise we had quite possibly the worst waiter (actually waitress) I ever had. She was pleasant enough, but she just wasn't right for the job. She didn't ask our names until the 2nd night, but she never addressed anybody by name. She was timid, did not know what the dishes are (she could only repeat somebody else's recommendations), and usually could not be heard above the din. I complained to the Head Waiter.

 

On the TransAtlantic she was demoted to assistant waiter (sorry, but what's fair is fair) and hopefully she was getting more training. On the TransAtl, we had Walter (at the same table) and he was one of the best! Go figure!

 

I'm really not a complainer, I just call it as I see it.

 

Beth

[dramaqueen4lyfe]

I guess I'm glad that it works both ways.

 

On the Baltics cruise we had quite possibly the worst waiter (actually waitress) I ever had. She was pleasant enough, but she just wasn't right for the job. She didn't ask our names until the 2nd night, but she never addressed anybody by name. She was timid, did not know what the dishes are (she could only repeat somebody else's recommendations), and usually could not be heard above the din. I complained to the Head Waiter.

 

On the TransAtlantic she was demoted to assistant waiter (sorry, but what's fair is fair) and hopefully she was getting more training. On the TransAtl, we had Walter (at the same table) and he was one of the best! Go figure!

 

I'm really not a complainer, I just call it as I see it.

 

Beth

 

As you said Beth "What's fair is fair" it works both ways.

[Trainman-2]

Day 9, George Town, Grand Cayman

 

We Go Ashore...

 

We went ashore in the Ship's Tenders. The Jewell was in pretty close so it was a short trip.

 

 

 

And here is a nice view of the Jewell from the shore

 

 

Once you are ashore you enter a nice controlled (fence) area with enough shops to satisfy even the pickiest souvenir hunter.

 

 

We posed with the Pirate!

 

[Trainman-2]

Speaking of Pirates, Saturday marked the end of "Pirate Week" in George Town with a giant street festival and general drunkenness and debauchery. The streets were packed with people celebrating the Island's Pirate Heritage and I was worried about Carol getting knocked about in the crowd so we chose not to participate.

 

We toured all of the small shops in the controlled area and learned "The Secret Of George Town!"

 

 

If you look at the shop in the upper right in the photo above you will see the secret words "Ice Cream." And it is home made in local and unusual flavors.

 

 

 

Baked, creamed, corn is a long time southern Favorite and these folks had turned it into Ice Cream! The Creamy Corn Ice Cream Was fantastic!

 

Another thought on Pirates. Although Hollywood has romanticized Pirates it is important to remember from a historical view point the Pirate Ships had no bathrooms, sinks, or showers and that tooth brushes, mouth wash, and deodorant had not been invented yet. Could this be why Pirates fought so fiercely? :D

[Trainman-2]

Below the Ice Cream Store was another store that had free bite size samples of 12 different kinds of Rum Cake. I sampled 6 of them.

 

There was another guy there who sampled all twelve of them and kept going back to sample them again! :D

[Trainman-2]

Two More Nifty Tee Shirts...

 

[Trainman-2]

On Posting Photos...

 

I mentioned before that I use PhotoBucket and I have a premium account that I pay about $25/year extra for to provide more bandwidth for downloading and linking to my photos.

 

I have learned here on the ship using Cyber cabin that it is best to upload one photo at a time. PhotoBucket either is working for me or it is not. When it is not I simply give up and try again later.

 

When it is working it takes a minute or so to upload a photo so I upload while reading a good book.

 

I have a bunch more photos and even a few videos but they will have to wait until I get home and wrap up this thread using a real high speed connection.

[Trainman-2]

The Art Auctions

 

 

It seems obvious that RCI makes money doing these but I have always wondered about them.

 

My personal interest in art is historic military prints and these are never offered.

 

Every time they do an auction there seem to be 25-40 participants and a bunch of people hanging around in the Centrum watching.

[Trainman-2]

Here are two nice views of George Town taken yesterday afternoon...

 

 

 

The wind was from the shore to the ship so it brought the music out to us on our balcony like were there for the Pirate Festival.

[Trainman-2]

Day 10 - At Sea (The Voyage Home)

 

Dawn came up slowly this morning. The sky is grey around the ship and it is dark and foreboding with a strong wind blowing toward the ship from the starboard fore quarter.

 

 

 

The clouds are low and above the ship they are scattered and there are large patches of blue sky. Hopefully, it will warm us as the sun rises.

[waf125]

Trainman- I just wanted to thank you one more time for this thread. I rank you up there with Radio and, believe me, that's a high ranking!!! :D

 

We will be boarding the Jewel on 12/8 and now have an idea of what to expect for our cruise. We love the Jewel and your thread helped us remember her fondly.

 

Have a great day today and safe journey home. :)

[Son of a Cruiser]

Trainman-2, as you head for home I just wanted to add my name to the list of those saying THANK YOU for your superb Live postings. We will be doing this itineary in March and was hoping someone on this sailing would post a review. What a treat your excellent report has been. Thanks for taking time out of your cruise to take us all along:D.

[Gator0178]

Thanks for all your "hard work" on this thread. It has been really neat to follow along with you on your cruise!!:D

[weary traveler]

A wonderful experience for me.. (and for you!) was especially nice to see Mr G. (i remember him as a waiter and he remembered me with a big hello and hug out of no where after his promotion on the Jewel). I hope you enjoyed the Schooner Bar and Safari lounge as much as i did. She is truly a marvelous ship. Thank you so much for sharing and can't wait until you and Radio sail again (and i get to tag along)

 

Salut!

Weary Traveler

[Trainman-2]

Noticeable Movement of the Ship This Morning!

 

We are far from in heavy weather, but there is a noticeable rise and fall of the bow and stern and a bit of a roll side to side.

 

We had breakfast in the Windjammer this morning and people were staggering around like drunken sailors and everyone was talking about taking their sea sick pills.

 

Carol and I have developed a routing for the Windjammer. I, with my bigger hands, pick up silverware for each on us and we split up to fill out plates with our favorite stuff, pick up our drinks, and then meet up back on the stern of the ship in the open air dining area.

 

As I walked through the door from the Air Conditioned part of the Windjammer to the open air part, a gust of wind through the door blew my dough-nut and some of my bacon right off my plate and under a table.

 

As I walked back I saw Carol ahead of me having trouble walking because of the movement of the ship. I caught up with her and helped her to the wall where she leaned until I could put down my plate and glass on our favorite table and get back to her. I took her plate and gave her my hand to steady herself as we walked to the table.

 

Here is a photo looking astern when we finished our breakfast.

 

[NEOhioCruisers]

Trainman,

 

You missed your calling I think. A cruise reviewer. As someone mentioned, RCL should encourage this activity. Maybe they should give you free internet access at the very least.

 

Thanks again. It was wonderful. Now Kathy and I get to experience it beginning tomorrow.

 

Wonderful, wonderful job trainman......

[Trainman-2]

WOW! No Wonder It Is Blustery Outside!

 

 

I just turned on the TV to the Ship's Position channel.

 

The Ship's speed is 22.7 Knots

 

The Relative Wind Speed coming from just off the Port Bow is 62 mph!

 

I have been trying to take a photo of the spray coming off the bow of the ship but I keep getting drenched!

 

Cheers for a hump cabin on deck 7, Starboard! We are in the best area of the ship with the least pitch and roll.