Reveiw of the 1st 6 night sailing Jewel Of The Seas 11/14/04

[Mike&Karren]

emmy, we had cabin #9690 aft on the Mariner, it was the corner aft balcony so we still had a great view from that balcony also. I was just stating that on the Mariner aft you have all those metal bars and beams running out from in front of the balconies that you have to look through unless you have on of the corner aft's on decks 10,9,8,7 and the center aft's on deck 10 are alright also, but the rest of the balconies back there not ideal choices for a viewing aft just because of all the obstructing metal beams.

 

Whereas on the Jewel or any Radiance Class ship the total aft is all open with no obstructions at all for viewing. the only thing between you and the water is your balcony rail.

 

After being on both classes of ships, I very much prefer the Jewel and Radiance Class over the Mariner and Voyager Class.

[dm3039]

Mike and Karren,

 

Was great to meet you on the trip. Your review is right on in my opinion. Highlite was the ship itself. She was awesome. Was not impressed by most of the evening shows but thought the Knudeson Brothers were super. Also agree with your comments on the cruise director. The congestion at the airport was unreal. They need to work on crowd control if they want to handle that many passengers in that short a time. I think there were 8 ships in port the day we left.

 

Enjoy your back to back next year.

 

Doug

[kdowneymd]

rx phillip we will also be on the 02/20 cruise with our 14 yr. old son, also 11 yr. old (will have his 11th birthday on board) and our 17 yr. old son. I am counting on there being a fair number of kids

[JandD Mom]

Mike&Karren

 

I really enjoyed your reviews. I am glad you had a great time.

 

I read a recent review posted on CC about the Jewel, and the reviewer indicated that there are a totally inadequate number of loungers around the pool area, and that the pool area is overcrowded. I noticed you did not mention this on your review of your day at sea.

 

Would you comment about the space/chairs areas you found around the pool while on the Jewel? Thanks!

[Mark]

Mike and Karen,

 

If I have a 145PM flight out of Ft Lauderdale back to NYC, what time do I need to arrive at the airport to make it without rushing?

 

Mark

[JandD Mom]

Mark,

 

I fly out of FLL all the time. You did not indicate which airline so I am not sure which terminal you are talking about. However, the folks at FLL seem pretty efficient. If you make it there by 12:15 -12:30 you should have plenty of time. But I would check with your airline for their recommendations just in case.

[Mark]

JanD

 

I am flying that new Delta airling called Song

[JandD Mom]

Mark,

 

I have never flown Song. However, if it is in terminal A (the same terminal as JetBlue and Southwest), you will likewise have no problem with security.

 

The whole security outfit in FLL is very professional and efficient. Very unlike Philadelphia. But that's another story alltogether....

[Mike&Karren]

JandD Mom,

I would not say that the pool area was over crowded, it was difficult to find a lounger in the sun on the front row by the pool, but you could still find a chair, alot of people chose to stay up on the top deck at the pool area.

They do have a sign stating that they do not allow reserving of deck chairs and they constantly are repeating this on the RCI channel of the TV.

I myself thought that with this being only a 6 night cruise with only one sea day that there would be alot more people out by the pool on the last day, but it never got what I would call over crowded.

I wouldn't say that there is a shortage of loungers to go around, in my opinon it looked like it was the right amount of chairs for the space.

 

 

 

Mark,

I listed the tag colors with the flight times that they call on the last part of the review.

But if you have a flight out of FLL you will be fine as long as you get at least a Red colored tag which is the 6th color they call, which is for flights between noon and 2:00pm.

I think the reason that there was so big a crowd at the airport is because there was 6 ships disembarking at the same time, plus we had all of the early Thanksgiving travelers trying to get out also.

[robinhoods]

We flew out of terminal 3 and there was a longer wait for check in and security than we expected but it was efficient and moved along. I took us about 1 hour from our arrival to check through, and that was with a stop to remove my scissors from my makeup bag (oops). Also, we have used Song to Fll and were very pleased.

[goodml]

Ok folks, we're flying out of FLL Saturday Dec 18 at 12:15 on Spirit. Not sure which terminal that's in although I should know because we did it last year! For all you experienced FLL flyers, when do we need to be off the Jewel?

[goodml]

Just thought of another question. Was anyone on the 6 night a crown and anchor member? Was there a welcome back party or wine tasting? I think they only hold them on 7 nights or longer but I thought I read on one of the reviews that there was a party. Also, what was the c & a gift you received in your cabin? Thanks.

[Mike&Karren]

Yes there was a Crown & Anchor Welcome Back Party. It was held on Day 4 Costa Maya 7:45pm - 8:30pm. Located in Safari Club. Attire: Formal

 

That's the reason we didn't attend & I'm typing the info from the invitation. Day 4 in the Cruise Compass list dinner attire as Casual/ 50's & 60's, and we didn't feel like dressing just to go to this event, so we skipped it. We know some others did too, just because it says formal attire. We're not against formal, but for 1 thing formal & another casual it was a little too much for us. LOL

Our gift was a Bullet Line FM Auto Scan Radio. It's a very small radio with a clip for your belt, shorts whatever.Came with batteries & tiny earphones. Something like you could use jogging or walking. Has Crown & Anchor Society printed on the front. Cute little thing, but haven't tried either of them to see if they work! :D

Karren

P.S. Didn't recieve the coupon books like we had on the Mariner in Sept. Don't know if we just didn't get them, or if they don't have them.

[cruiserlisa]

Mike and Karren, what an excellent review. Really enjoyed it.

 

Lisa

[goodml]

Thanks for the C & A info. I knew I had read something about a formal party but in scanning back through your review I couldn't find it. Sorry for making you repeat but thanks for taking the time. Think I'll call C & A and ask about the coupon books.

[scotsman]

Hi Mike&Karen

 

Sorry we also forgot about the pool meet

Great review - I can only agree with all you say.

We were back to back 8 night then 6 night - On our first cruise the soup or main courses were never hot, but after day 3 on mentioning this to our waiter things changed, hot soup etc.

For C&A gifts 8 night cruise was a Real nice toilet bag 6 night was the radio, same Coupon book for both cruises.

Cruise Director was the Worst ever.

Concierge was excellent.

Aft cabins its the case of the higher up you go the deeper they are (Keep them a secret) I have 8168 booked for April 2005 8+6 nights, same all over again (boring I know) then 9256 12+6 nights Nov 1st, just love the Radiance class ships.

George

[dm3039]

We went to the Crown and Anchor Return party in spite of the formal attire notice on the invitation. I didn't see anyone there in formal attire and the Safari Lounge was full for the gathering.

 

Doug

[Erie Dave]

The coupon books did have a wine tasting coupon in them, but there wasn't a wine tasting to go to. They are only on 7 day and longer. I'm not sure if the welcome back party was supposed to be formal or not. There were several mistakes in the print material throughout the cruise. The posted hours for some of the bars were different in the main compass and the small ones, and in the last one, it described what to do upon our return to Boston!!!

It didn't make sense to have a formal welcome party on a night that was not a formal dining night, and on a cruise that only had one formal night. Being the first 6 night cruise, there were many bugs to work out....especially the tendering and getting to port on time.

[goodml]

Thanks for the info folks. We'll definitely do the C & A party. We just found out that the itinerary has changed for our Dec 12 6 nighter. We now have Nassau instead of Grand Caymen. I was hoping for another sea day if GC wasn't going to happen but Nassau it is! Oh well compared to this crappy Southern Ontario rain/sleet/cold day we're having Nassau will be a treat. We didn't get off the ship last time we were there but maybe this time we'll head over and take a peak at Atlantis.

[trixiee]

goodml,

 

How were you informed of the itinerary change? Did you just see it on the RCL Web-site? (I checked our cruise, and it still lists GC)

[psternklar]

trixiee,

Go to rccl.com and hit "log in". Enter your reservation number and then got to "my intinerary". That's how I got to it.

-Phil

[goodml]

That's how I saw it too. It was actually one of my fellow cruisers that posted it on our 12/12 roll call thread that brought it to our attention though (my apologies if it was you, psternklar, as I can't remember who posted the info originally.) I have not received any formal notice from RCCL or our ta.

[trixiee]

Our January 9 cruise is still listing Grand Cayman. It really wouldn't bother me if we had to go to Nassau. I wouldn't want an extra day at sea. I like to be busy, and on land during the day!

 

What are the highlights of Nassau, other than Atlantis?

[zschweeb]

just a silly little question about the layout of the ship shown in the brochure. on the floorplan for the 7th and 8th floors it shows a small flight of stairs right in the front of the ship i asked once before if they were for the passengers use and someone stated that these were probably for the crew would you happen to know if these were crew stairs or not. by best friend and i are right above one another and these stairs look like they might just about connect our doors which would make it very convenient if not we are gonna have to go to thew main stairs over by the elevators. thanx in advance for any help you can give. also did you happen to get a look at the family cabins in the front of the ship these are the ones we have resrved

[emerald777]

Hi Mike and Karren! What an awesome review!! I really want to sail on one of this class ship, they sound gorgeous. On the Navigator in August, we had an aft and every time I would go out to read in the lounger, I would fall asleep in less than 5 minutes......I missed our M&M for this reason. Sure did love it though!!! Welcome back and thanks for the detailed review!