Just Back From Jewel Of The Seas 4/22/06 Sailing! I just returned from the 8 day Eastern Carib. sailing of the Jewel of the Seas. I have to start by saying that I was a group leader for the Cruise Critic member group cruises (The Family Jewels), and the help provided by Laura Sterling with the execution of this group was just amazing. it was not only easy, but was a very rewarding experience. We wound up with over 85 people at our Meet and Mingle and I was told that that was the largest group ever on the Jewel. Although all the attendees weren't "official" Family Jewels, our group did welcome them in and we all shared in the joy of cruising together. We had hats and T-shirts made as well as cabin flyers and name tags that I printed and laminated... everyone on the ship kept asking what we were all about...it was pretty cool to see 85 Family Jewel hats walking around the ship at any given time!

The ship...the Jewel is just that...she is a jewel to cruise on. The layout of the ship is about perfect and everything is totally accessible. The walking was minimal and you can walk from one end of the ship to the other in just a couple of minutes. The Jewel was on her last Caribbean cruise, as she headed out to Bermuda and then a 14 day Baltic cruise this past Sunday. The crew was amazing. In all my years of cruising I have never encountered a crew and staff as accommodating and gracious as the ones on the Jewel. Karen Maybury the CD was so terrific and the special onboard activity director Tracy was amazing. She went out of her way to make our M&M a special one. Karen just stirred things up enough to keep everyone having a ball! The captain Thore Thorolvsen was superior in maintaining a professional staff and an overall "happy feel" to everyone on board. He was on the loudspeaker each day talking to all of us about the weather, where we were by longitude and latitude and what we might be able to see when we arrived at our next port. I was invited to dinner at the Captain's table the second formal nite, and that was an experience I will not forget anytime soon. Captain Thorolvsen is a great guy with a very funny sense of humor and one of the most easy-going personalities around. The dinner was amazing and made for a truly memorable experience.

The food in the dining room each nite, was probably the best food I have ever had on a cruise ship. Every single meal was incredible and again, the service was spot on!  Read more