Jewel of the Seas Review April 23/05

[emmy]

Jewel of the Seas Review
Sailing # 47 April 23, 2005 – May 1, 2005
8 day Eastern Sailing

Emmy & Rick Schaffer

Ports of Call ~ San Juan, St. Maarten, Antigua, St. Thomas, Nassau

Comments: Overall this was a wonderful cruise right up there with as one of my best. Some things we liked better on Radiance Class and some things better on Voyager class.

Royal Caribbean continues to be my favourite cruise line.....with a slight edge to Voyager class and that is a good thing since I have Freedom of the Seas Inaugural booked......... like no vacation on earth!!


Background : This was our 9th cruise overall and 6th with Royal Caribbean the other 3 being on Princess Cruise line. We are Canadians 49 and 51 years of age. We have our last two RCI cruises were on Voyager class ships Navigator and Mariner of the Seas and this was our first experience with the Radiance class of ship. We traveled with my sister and her husband.

PreCruise Fort Lauderdale Hotel Stay: We grabbed a taxi at the airport for all four of us and the taxi fare to the Renaissance Hotel on 17th Street was $10.00 plus tip.

I bid and was successful in securing the Renaissance Hotel via Priceline for $90.00 per night. I had bid 3 star and was upgraded to a 4 star. I had stayed at this hotel previously and was happy to say it was just as good the second time. Extremely helpful and friendly staff from the front desk check in to the bellboys.

I asked for a room high up with a view of the port and was the request was granted. We had rooms 904 & 906.

We signed up for the shuttle to the pier at the Concierge Desk for $4.00 per person and we selected the first time available, which was 11 am. You pay when you sign up and they give you a receipt you hand to the driver when you get on. It was a large mini bus that fit about 20 people with a large luggage carrier at the back.. Jewel was the last stop by the bus driver...they saved the best for last :)

We had breakfast one morning at Einstein Brothers Bagels and the other morning at a very nice quaint coffee shop called Bonjour Bakery www.bonjour-bakery.com just in the same parking lot as the Renaissance. Great coffee, café latte, cappuccino, French croissants, breakfast sandwiches, quiches, desserts.

The young girl that waited on us was from Quebec City.

Dinner the night before the cruise was at Bimini Boatyard just behind the Renaissance Hotel. The meal was okay nothing spectacular and we were three couples and when we asked for separate bills they pointed out on the bottom of the menu that they do not issue separate bill for 5 or more people. They will only accept a maximum of 3 credit cards and they divide the bill evenly no matter what each couple ordered. We did not realize this until after we had ordered. Just wanted to make others aware, as none of us had experienced this before.



Embarkation: We arrived shortly past 11:30 am at the pier and this was our first time with E-documents. When we met the porter he handed us our luggage tags and we simply filled out the cabin # and sailing date and our last names. After tipping them we proceeded into the terminal. Since this was our first cruise as Platinum members we were directed to the priority boarding line but I declined in order to stay with the other two couples that were not. I told the lady that looked at our docs that I understood that if you use Priority line that you would not have a embarkation photo taken and she said “you know you are right’ so we stayed with the others. We were the last of the three couples to receive our Seapass cards as the agent had to go up to the Platinum boarding area to retrieve them. By 12:15 pm we were on the ship after photos were taken, check in completed and security clearance.

I had a bottle of wine in my carryon and nothing was said at all as in my previous experiences with RCI.

We were unable to go to our cabin at that time and were informed to proceed to the cabin about 1 pm. We headed up to the Windjammer after checking out the pool deck.

Cabin: This was one of the things I liked better on Radiance class. We had a

D1 cabin 1604 deck 10 aft with a very large balcony. On my Mariner cruise in May 2004 we had D1 cabin 1692 and though it was wonderful I liked the view from the aft on Jewel much better with no obstructions whatsoever.... no noise from the Windjammer above and did not mind the long walk from the Centrum elevators to the ‘back of the ship’ I counted and there were 20 cabins on the long hall from the Centrum area to the aft of the ship.

The aft cabin location was made even more fun as 5 out of the 6 cabins on deck 10 were occupied by Meet & Mingle friends so many conversations took place back there.

Cabin Steward was Akil from Indonesia who did a splendid job and was on one of his last sailings before heading back home for a 2 1/1 month vacation. He kept our cooler bag filled with ice and promptly brought us without asking our RCI robes to wear.

[emmy]

SHIP: This was the last sailing of this ship in the Caribbean until the fall of 2005. On May 1 sailed transatlantic and then on to do some Baltic runs and will return to the Caribbean in Oct. The ship celebrated its first birthday on April 22 as noted by the Captain at the Captain’s Welcome aboard.

After checking out our cabin we quickly went down to the dining room to check out our table, which was for main seating at a table for 6 # 545 in the Tides Dining Room. Funny thing was the other couple were there at that time checking it out as well so we met them before sitting down to dinner the first night. Tom and Lisa from Pittsburgh area were great tablemates and also in a cabin deck 8 aft so we would wave to them during the week from the cabin.

The dining room is beautifully appointed and is 2 levels. Noise level can be a problem on the second level where we were sitting.

Some favourite spots on the ship were the beautiful atrium/centrum area with its waterfall and glass elevators. This was the most spectacular Centrum I have seen. I liked the way the bars were off to the sides like the Champagne bar and Lattetudes. These two places we liked very much and I would go down to Lattetudes in the morning to grab a cappuccino and sit by the window watching the seas go by. There is a charge for the coffee here $1.15 and $2.45 for cappuccino and they have complimentary pastries that were so fresh and yummy.

Would stop by the champagne bar pre dinner to have a drink and to say hello to friends Roberta and Tina.

Also liked the Safari Club but for some reason always found the Schooner Bar very smoky and mostly only walked through it. They held the Quest and Love and Marriage Game in the Safari club as well as Karaoke Idol. Okay this is where I have to mention the cruise director Karen Mayberry.

This was Karen’s first cruise back and I am sure she is a lovely person but fails as a cruise director. I did not care for her or did the members in our party. Of nine cruises we felt it was the poorest Love and Marriage Game ever. It seemed like she was just going through the motions when she did this game. She lacked enthusiasm. It just seemed like she has to work very hard at it.

Quest was funny as usual and well attended.

The main pool was salt water and was around 6’ deep the entire pool and for children they had a separate pool area with slide on the aft of the ship. The children’s area was located close by the mini golf and rock climbing wall.

Did see the self leveling pool tables but this sailing was very smooth and do not think they had to work too hard.

My 40 something sister Maddi actually climbed the wall and did it in a short amount of time...way to go Maddi.

For you Nascar fans the “Pit Stop” Sports bar located just beyond the casino has a large mural of Dale Earnhardt Sr. on the wall. Located also in some showcases are memorablia of other Nascar drivers like Elliott Sadler

The Coral Theatre was amazing and every seat truly had a great view and we never had a problem getting a seat about 5 rows back on the left side...a couple of nights we arrived shortly after the show began and no problem in fact one night they ushered us in with a flashlight.

The Solarium is a work of art. The tropical setting and climate-controlled temps made this a special place to relax in late afternoon when you had just about as much sun as you needed. Of course the highlight of this area is the Solarium Cafe with its awesome crepes. We sampled the chocolate and I had slivered almonds or you could have pistachios and hubby had the strawberry with whip cream on top. Pizza was also served here about 4 different kinds including margarita pizza, tuna pizza, Caribbean pizza and of course regular pepperoni and cheese. I liked their pizza a lot.

Windjammer I found crowded but I did enjoy the food in there. French fries were great and so were all the salads I tried. They had small baguette sandwiches and wraps or various kinds and pizza was served here as well. Tried the soft serve ice cream...like that.

There are many tables outside of the Windjammer to sit and eat and we did that most of the time. Beverages served for free included lemonade, water, iced tea and passion fruit juice.

Just beyond the Windjammer on deck 12 on the port side is the Seaview Cafe. This is great spot for lunch as many others in reviews have said...how else would I have known to go there ;) We went twice once I had the Cuban Sandwich with onion rings and the second time the Rueben sandwich with fries...other items included tuna melt, vegetarian sandwich and a crab salad. Yummy looking deserts as well. You just pay for your drinks here. The outside area has a great view of the wake of the ship. It is open daily but the hours vary so you need to check the cruise compass.

My DH and I actually found this ship more crowded than our two cruise on Voyager class vessels Navigator and Mariner. We cruise around the same time of year.

One area we found more crowed was the shops on board area.... many time we had to stand still to get through. The aisles were not that wide and with many tables with sale goods in the way it was difficult to pass to get through the Coral theatre on deck 5. We used this route many times as we dined on deck 5 and after dinner would make our way to the theatre this way. On Voyager class they have the Promenade with much space to have the shops.

The other crowded area was definitely the pool deck area. On Voyager class with the ship being so much wider there are two pools side by side and much more deck space. You had to be up on deck before 9 am to secure a seat by the pool on Jewel.The towels started appearing on the chairs quite early. We never sat on the pool deck level but one deck above to be able to see the action. The first sea day I was lucky to secure two deck chairs by 7:45 am. Of course there were all kinds of towels sitting on chairs but I did see the Deck Patrol person remove towels but not often enough.

Games poolside included Sexy Leg Contest, Belly Flop Contest & Horse Racing. They also did an ice sculpture demonstration poolside.

For you Bingo lovers to let you know the jackpot on the last day went for about $7400.00 and was won by one person.

[emmy]

Service/Staff: I have to commend RCI staff for very friendly service on this ship. I visited Guest Relations for a couple of minor problems and both were taken care of promptly and with a smile. ALL of the staff I encountered in the halls or lounges always said good morning and even started up a short conversation. I found staff friendlier on this ship as compared to Mariner.

Our dining room wait staff was a husband and wife team Wayne & Cathy from Cape Town, South Africa who were leaving the same day as we did to start a 2-½ month vacation. Both did an excellent job and Wayne would go into much detail every evening after dessert about the next day’s activities and shore excursions. On the last night he brought us a book of pictures of Cape Town South Africa to look at.

On the day we were in St. Thomas everyone had to go through immigration. Of course everyone was up early and this was the morning we decided to dine in the dining room for breakfast. It is open dining and you are seated at tables with others until they fill up the table. We were at a table of 12 with coincidentally two of our regular tablemates and we had Wayne our waiter serve our table. One thing I learned from this is if you are not with a group I would not like to have this size of a table for dining every evening. Much too hard for conversation. Service was very slow because everyone was up and about at the same time hungry for breakfast

Some tips Wayne gave us is port days are very busy for Room Service staff and your order might be delayed or you might not even get it because of the volume. He says they pull many of the wait staff just to help on these days. Sea days are much better to order room service breakfast and if you are in a hurry to get off the ship for an excursion doing breakie in the Windjammer is much easier.

We did order room service breakfast on a sea day and everything came on time and the coffee was hot. Now that I mention the coffee I must say that is was not as bad as on Mariner and of course you will get a better cup in Latte tudes for a price but worth it in my opinion.

FOOD: Everyone knows that food is so subjective but I just like to compare it to other cruises....when I did that I would say the food on Jewel was very good. I felt it was much better than on Mariner as was the dining room service. On Mariner the waiter never put the napkin on our laps or went around the table with the pepper mill.

On the first night our waiter explained that they were trying out a new menu this sailing in preparing for the transatlantic on May 1. Some nights there were many appetizers and soups and on one evening there was only one dessert choice a ‘sampler’ of three small desserts.

The head chef was from Australia.

Found all the beef dishes to be excellent...prime rib, filet of beef and also the chicken marsala. Lobster was average. Salads were uninspiring and the appetizers and soups being the tastiest and most interesting. Key lime pie did not appear until the last evening on board...had us worried since we were all key lime pie lovers. Wayne knew that so he brought extra pieces for us.


They had three late night buffets. One in the Windjammer on San Juan night and it was a chocolate buffet, the Caribbean Buffet up on deck with dancing. Great make your own sundaes among other items, tropical drinks served in pinapples and drinks in florecsent glasses. They also had a bartender juggling contest that was fun to watch and Caribbean music. The Grand Buffet was held on the last formal night on the Friday and as usual had the picture taking session at 11:30 pm and then you could sample at 12:15 pm


SPECIALTY RESTAURANTS/PORTOFINO:

We made our reservations on the first day we boarded for the evening we were in San Juan. We were in port from 2pm – 8 pm so we made our reservations for 8 pm.


The restaurant was quite busy but our waiter Vic from Croatia was very good and the food was excellent. Not as attentive as my first experience on Navigator in 2003 in Portofino but still very good. The presentation of the food was excellent especially on the desserts. We brought in a bottle of wine that we brought with us from home and were not charged the corkage fee.

We started with an appetizer of large shrimp on a bed of risotto, Caesar salad, filet mignon in a wine sauce, and we each had a different desert including tiramisu in a chocolate cup served with a shooter on the side, flourless chocolate cake and hazelnut meringue with zabaglione cream.

Now here is the problem others and I in our Meet & Mingle group experienced. In the cruise compass it clearly states ‘No Children under 13 years of age” and also when the reservation card comes to your room is also states that fact right on there. After we sat down in come two couples pushing a baby stroller. I might have missed it except the waiter also seemed perturbed about it and said kind of under his breath ‘I thought no children under 13 years of age’


A little while later a large group of about 10 sat behind us and they also had two children in their group. It was not the intimate, quiet, relaxing dining experience RCI tries to advertise. When the manager came by to ask how everything was I politely said everything was great but then I felt I needed to say something about the issue of children in the restaurant so when he walked by I called him over and questioned him about it. I explained to him that I was very disappointed in RCI for not enforcing this rule.

He said the couple did not have a babysitter and that the baby would be quiet and it was his fault that they let them in cause he did not want to upset them but it was okay to upset us. I asked the manager if they question them when they make reservations if there are any children under 13 and he said no the passenger is supposed to know.

I did go down to Guest Relations and filled out a suggestion box form and also mentioned it on the Comment Card at the end of the cruise.

Other friends who dined in Chops also had that experience except the kids were actually running around the restaurant. RCI needs to be consistent in the rules that they lay out.

Our sailing had many children on board, as it was spring break in the New York /Boston/New England area and granted most were well behaved. 20% of our passengers were children. In 9 cruises I had not ever experienced that many children and I have sailed many times at this time of year.

It does impact on your cruise experience. I was more upset with the Manager of the restaurant and Royal Caribbean for not enforcing this rule.


Entertainment: I would say the entertainment overall was good. One production show I absolutely loved “City of Dreams’ where the special affects and props were amazing. The other production show I did not care for.

First night we had a very funny comedian that I enjoyed and a singer comedian who was also very good and high energy. They also had a Nat King Cole impersonator and an US Olympic Gymnast on the final evening. Also they have an Australian singer who has stared in London ‘s West End and Broadway in Grease by the name of John Christie..He was excellent.

Must give kudos to the wonderful orchestra in the Coral Theatre as well as the group Midnight Groove who played in the Centrum. They were excellent.

[emmy]

PORTS OF CALL:

San Juan : We arrived about 1 pm or so and we did a walking tour in Old San Juan with a visit up to El Morro. It was $3.00 per person to get in and we enjoyed our very hot visit there..hard to believe how they built this fort back then. Highlight of course is your entrance into the port from the ship. We positioned ourselves on the helipad port side for best views and picture taking of the fort as you approach San Juan. They had music up on the helipad and it was very festive as we approached.

We stopped at a little bar called Maria’s Bar and had a drink with some Cruise Critic friends Roberta, Tina, Willard and Linda...margaritas and pina coladas.

ST. MAARTEN:

Okay I have been to this island many times but still love it just as much as the first time in fact more. We had never been to Pinel Island so decided to go there on our own. We took a taxi from the pier to French Cul De Sac and it cost us $8.00 per person and it was about a 20 minute ride to a little dock where you take a large open boat to Pinel Island about a 5 minute boat ride....that costs $6.00 per person round trip. We made arrangements with the taxi driver to pick up at 1pm and he sent someone to meet us.

Snorkeling according to DH is marginal but the beach is very pretty and the water is calm and shallow in fact you can walk out about 100 yards and only be up to your waist.


We took the water taxi back and the taxi driver was there to take us back to the ship where we changed and took the $5.00 good all day water taxi to downtown Philipsburg for some shopping of gold coloured souvenirs.

ANTIGUA:

We booked on line with Adventure Tours Eli’s Eco tour. It was a great tour that combined a couple of excellent snorkeling spots, some caving and a hike up to Bird Island with a view of both the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea. For the Bird Island part of the tour you can walk off the boat where the second stop at Hell’s Gate you have to swim over. Eli was busy sailing that day so his friendly and competent assistant Ebi took very good care of us. Lunch prepared by a local person consisted of BBQ chicken, pasta salad, tossed salad, plantain and banana bread and is served on board with rum punch served on the way back.

The tour runs $80.00 per person and included lunch on the boat and ran from about 9 am til 3 pm...highly recommend this....even though I did not snorkel I still enjoyed the hike and the boat ride with good narrative about the island of Antigua and the eco system there... Check them out at this website. www.adventureantigua.com

ST.THOMAS:

After many trips to this island as well we decided to try another beach and went to Sapphire Beach. It took us about 20 minutes to get there and the taxi ride cost us $8.00 per person one way. It was quite nice but busy with good snorkeling just off shore. Beach chairs were available for $5.00 each with a nice restaurant and washroom facilities and gift shop available. I still prefer the beaches on St. John like Trunk Bay and Cinnamon Bay.... we just did not want to spend the time to go over there this time.

NASSAU: Now here we did something that we have never done before....stayed on the ship :) and it was wonderful. Hardly a soul around and we just relaxed poolside had lunch in the Seaview Cafe and dreamt of our next RCI vacation on Freedom of the Seas.

We elected to do this since it was a short port 12 noon – 6 pm and it was our last day on the ship.


DISEMBARKATION:

In a word ‘SLOW’ The ship was cleared by officials at 8:45 am and almost immediately they called the first colour. We had the color brown which was to be called second and we were instructed to wait in the solarium which was very hot and you could not hear the announcements in there so we moved out to the main pool deck area. Of course there were many people they were paging who had not settled their accounts.

They finally called our color about 9:15 am and we went through customs and found our luggage rather easily and grabbed a shuttle to the airport. Now we were in a hurry to catch an 11 am flight but if we were not we would have looked for a regular taxi as they charged us $7.00 per person for the 4 of us and we know could have taken a taxi for much less.

In retrospect grabbing that first shuttle probably saved us some time as we were running late. Curbside check in for Spirit Air was horrible and we finally managed to get checked in and through security with a breeze and were at the gate just as they had called our rows to board....whew!!!!!


WORDS OF THANKS:

To all my Cruise Critic Meet & Mingle friends who made this one of the best cruises ever.... each and every one of you helped to make this one I will not forget.

If you have any questions just ask away or email me emmysoo1@shaw.ca

Emmy :)

[Salty Dawg]

Emmy... Thanks for taking the time to post your review -- I truly enjoyed it!

[corina27]

Wow! What a review,thanks for sharing that with us. :)

[emmy]

Thanks for the nice comments....

Ho Hum...it does the time on the ship does slip by quickly...time to start counting and waiting the days away for the next one....

Emmy