Review: Royal Caribbean - Jewel of the Seas - [November 16 , 2004]

[Net Reviews]

Review By:

Reviewer Comments:

My husband David and I recently returned from our long-awaited two-week
vacation, which included an 8-night Eastern Caribbean cruise on RCI's newest
ship, Jewel OTS. This ship is the 4th vessel in the Radiance-class of the
fleet, and this sailing marked the inauguration of her winter Caribbean
sailings. She went into service last spring, doing European/Baltic
itineraries, then crossed the Atlantic to do a series of fall sailings out
of Boston before repositioning to Ft. Lauderdale for the winter. This was
our 4th cruise, and we only ever sailed with RCI. It just seems like a good
fit for us.

David and I spent a week in Florida prior to sailing. There is nothing like
getting on a ship when you're already in super-relaxed vacation mode. We
flew directly from BWI to Ft. Lauderdale on 10/31, spent four days with
friends in Lake Worth, then two days in Ft. Lauderdale, including a quick
run down to South Beach for a fun evening at Mango's on Ocean Drive.
Someone recommended that to us three years ago and we've been back a few
times since.

On 11/6, we arrived at Port Everglades early, and we were on the ship by
11:20. The check-in process was easy and fast. We did our pre-boarding
documentation online at home a few weeks prior to our departure. Our cabin
was ready when we got there. We were in cabin 4061, Cat. N, inside, located
right off the Centrum Lobby. I was a little worried that we would hear a lot
of noise from the lobby, or from people walking by, but it was never a
problem. We dropped off our carry-on bags and took the elevator to the top
deck and took a self-guided tour from the top deck down. We were a little
nosey and went into some of the larger suites that were open and checked out
those spaces. The Royal Suite was incredible. Total luxury and so much
space. Maybe one day we'll spring for a balcony cabin, but truthfully,
we're of the school of thought that we only use our cabin to shower, change
our clothes and sleep. I will say that our cabin was roomier than I thought
it would be, and we had plenty of storage space. The closet was very large
and well-designed. The bathroom, however, was remarkably small, which RCI
is known for. We stowed our garment bag under the bed and gave our two
suitcases to our cabin steward to store in a closet for the duration of the
cruise.

THE SHIP: There is so much to say about this ship I hardly know where to
begin. First of all, the ship is very aptly named. Jewel-toned colors were
prevalent throughout. The decor is stunning, with lots of warm and rich
colors, beautiful and rich floor coverings, either in carpeting, inlaid
woods or tiles. The artwork around the ship was incredible. Some of it was
serious and elegant, and some of it was whimsical and charming. All of it
was a feast for the eyes and very impressive. The Centrum soars 9 stories
high and is a magnificent space. Each level has overlook areas where people
gather. One of the most magnificent and impressive features is a bank of
elevators overlooking the ocean. The most impressive of the public rooms
are the Tides Dining room, the Coral Theater, and the Safari Club, which was
the venue most used for activities and gatherings. This area also features
two self-leveling pool tables,which I think must be a first on the high
seas. The Schooner Bar, which is on all of RCI's ships (I think!) is always
a popular gathering area. We had a full house on our sailing, and due to
the comfortable size of this ship (90,090 GRT) we almost never felt crowded.
The one exception to that statement, however, is the main pool area. Always
crowded, especially on sea days. There is also a beautiful solarium pool
area, which is adults only, except on rainy days when children are allowed
with parental supervision, and there is also a very nice children's pool
area located on another deck. There is the Ship-shape center and spa area,
and for those sports-minded individuals, there is a rock climbing wall,
miniature golf, and a sports court.

FOOD/DINING: The Tides Dining room is a two-level space which is beautiful,
warm and welcoming. We had second seating, which was 8:30. Our waiter,
Nafiz, from Turkey, and assistant waiter, Alvaro, from Colombia, were
professional and attentive. Early on, I felt Nafiz was a little stiff and
cold, but I think he warmed up to us when he saw how easy and friendly we
were. We were at a table for 6, which included one couple that we were
traveling with, and another older couple from northern California. We all
got along splendidly, and our dinner conversations were always fun and
lively. We had all sailed previously with RCI, and we all thought that the
quality of the food has vastly improved over the past few years. Each days'
menus were interesting, varied and tempting. As is typical with RCI, each
menu offered low-fat options, and there was always one low-fat and one
sugar-free dessert offered. I, however, did not take advantage of those
offerings, rather choosing to indulge in many scrumptious treats that I
typically avoid. And I didn't regret it for a minute or feel any guilt.
Without exception, the best treat of the entire week was the flourless
chocolate cake. Absolutely to die for. If anyone has this recipe, please
share!!!! The Windjammer Cafe was actually pretty good. We ate breakfast
there a couple of mornings when we wanted to be off the ship early, and we
also had a couple of nice lunches there. Again, I think the quality of food
there has improved, considering it's buffet-style, cooking-for-the-masses
type of food. There were several stations offering all sorts of options,
including sliced-to-order meats. And the ever-present desserts bar. There
was also a soft-serve ice cream machine, but I actually think it was frozen
yogurt, which is fine with me. That made for a nice late afternoon snack.
The Windjammer offered both inside and outside seating. There is a small
cafe in the Solarium, which we used once. A pleasant addition to the eating
venues is the Seaview Cafe, located behind the children's pool. This small
cafe offers a limited but varied menu which was the perfect compromise
between a large dining-room-meal and the Windjammer Cafe. We ate there a
couple of times and enjoyed it very much. There is also Portafino's Italian
restaurant and Chop's Grill. Both of these restaurants carry a $20 per
person additional charge, and we would have gone there had the dining room
food not been so good. I did speak with a couple who ate at Chop's and they
said it was excellent. There were two formal nights on this cruise, and we
saw more men wearing tuxedos (about 50%) than on previous cruises. We enjoy
the formal nights and David does the tuxedo thing. I do one pair of black
silk trouser with two different dressy tops to switch off. Makes packing a
little easier.

STAFF: The Cruise Director, Karen Maybury, is a lovely and charming British
woman, but she lacked the dynamic personality that I like to see in a CD.
My absolute favorite CD is Jeff Arpin and I tend to use him as a yardstick
to measure other CDs by. Probably not fair, but that's what I do. Our
cabin attendant, Raymond, was excellent and attentive, and left us the most
pleasant towel animals in our cabin every evening. The one that cracked me
completely up was the chicken hanging from the ceiling. Too funny for
words. The entire crew was very attentive and helpful.

ENTERTAINMENT: We were so impressed with the quality of the shows in the
Coral Theater. Truly wonderful shows every evening--the best I can remember
from all our cruises. Marty Allen was the featured entertainer. There were
two revue-type shows featuring the RCI singers and dancers, both quite good.
My favorite entertainment was the Denise Canby Trio, which played nightly in
the Centrum Lobby. We listened to them every evening before dinner and
after the shows. Denise is warm and charming, and she would go out of her
way to talk with the passengers. We actually spent a good bit of time with
her and she's a lovely young woman. She and David did a mean cha-cha on a
few occasions. There were other entertainment venues on board, including at
the piano bar in the Schooner Bar and other featured musical groups
elsewhere on the ship. There were the typical theme evenings, such as
Caribbean and 50's/60's Rock 'n Roll, which are always fun on a ship. The
Caribbean evening included dancing under the stars with a pool-deck buffet
late in the evening.

PORTS: We visited San Juan, St. Maarten, St. Thomas, Antigua, and Nassau.

We've been to all of these ports previously, with the exception of Antigua.
In SAN JUAN, we walked around Old San Juan and stopped at a cafe for drinks.
We really didn't have that much time there, as we arrived at 2 p.m. and
departed at 8 p.m. On previous trips there we toured the El Yunque Rain
Forest and San Cristobal Fort. They are definitely worth seeing.

In ST. MAARTEN, we took the water taxi ($5.00 for the whole day) over to the
shopping district in Phillipsburg on the Dutch side. Did some shopping,
water-taxied back to the ship to drop off our goodies and put our bathing
suits on and water-taxied back to the beach. The one thing that really
bothered us in St. Maarten which we didn't remember from our last time there
was the hawkers in the street trying to get people into their shops. And
the women on the beach trying to sell their goods--they were relentless.
Even after we politely told them no thank you, they would still try to sell
us stuff. We came within an inch of actually being rude. For a minute, I
thought I was in Mexico, where that happened to us all the time. Actually,
the highlight for us in St. Maarten was seeing the beautiful QM2, which was
anchored in the harbor not far from our ship. She looks magnificent.

In ST. THOMAS, we rented a jeep and drove it on to the Red Hook Ferry which
took us over to St. John. We wanted to go to Trunk Bay, (thanks Tom K!) and
it was worth the effort. What a beautiful beach, and what a beautiful
island. Unfortunately, because it had rained there a lot recently, we were
told that the snorkeling wouldn't be too good so we didn't even try. We
did, however, love the beach and would recommend it to anyone going to St.
Thomas.

In ANTIGUA, we hired a taxi to take us to Hawksbill Resort, where
we spent a lovely beach day (again, thanks Tom K!) This resort is actually
an all-inclusive hotel, but the beach is open to anyone. We later found out
that for $40 per person, we could have had an all-day pass to the hotel and
all it offers. Antigua looked to us to be a very poor island, but we
enjoyed it nevertheless. Everyone was very kind and welcoming.

In NASSAU, we had another short day. We were there only from 12 noon until
6 p.m. It had been 10 years since we were there and we were very impressed
with how well the island looked and how well it grew up. Bay Street was
lovely and clean, and had lots of shopping opportunities, including the Straw
Market. We were surprised and happy to see a Hard Rock Cafe again in Nassau
(it reopened in 2000) and that gave us the opportunity to buy another Hard
Rock Cafe shirt for David, who has amassed quite a collection from all over
the U.S., Caribbean and Europe. After shopping, we opted to enjoy the ship
while most people were in port. That's a nice experience, and I recommend
it highly. We actually had two full sea days and two half sea days during
our 8-night cruise. It was a nice balance of ship time and port time.
While on the ship during those lovely sea days, David and I found ourselves
spending most of that time on the Promenade deck, relaxing and reading in
our lounge chairs. It's quiet and peaceful, and we prefer looking out on
the ocean rather than a crowded pool area. And speaking of lounge chairs, I
was very happy to see that RCI upgraded their chairs to very comfortable
nylon canvas chairs, rather than the tubular plastic variety that we
experienced on previous cruises.

The debarkation process went easily and smoothly, and we found our luggage
in the terminal very quickly. There were plenty of taxis waiting outside
and we were at FLL within minutes. Our direct flight back to BWI wasn't
until 2:45 p.m., so we did have quite a wait at the airport. I wouldn't,
however, recommend anyone booking a flight much before noon, because you
never know when there will be a delay with debarkation. That has the
potential to be a little too stressful for me.

This was a wonderful cruise experience and David and I loved it. Even
though we'd been to most of these ports before, we enjoyed them all. Each
time we go it's a new experience. And truthfully, the ship itself is the
destination, more so than the ports. If anyone has any questions that I can
answer, please don't hesitate to email me. Happy cruising!