We have just completed our cruise on Jewel of the Seas around the Baltic on 30 June to 12 July 2007. It was our first time with RCL and a lot of the feedback will be positive.
Cabin: We had cabin 9048 which has a balcony. The room was roomy, lots of wardrobe and drawer space, bed was most comfortable we have used in any holiday, sofa and balcony furniture relaxing. There was no bath, but the shower was powerful and the room was kept extremely clean and well stocked.
Ship: The ship is large and has numerous bars, and this is where our main gripe was. As an asthmatic, I am unable to go where it is smoky. All the bars allow smoking (with non-smoking areas) except for the bottom of the Centrum, where it is really just a walkway from the lifts to the guest relations, so not cosy. It also is where a singer belted out noise every night, so not conducive to chatting with friends and having a quiet drink. The cafes on the whole were non-smoking, but as they all (with the exception of the Windjammer) butted onto the Centrum you were inundated with the noise from the singer (she was very loud). I am not suggesting that all bars should be non-smoking, but that it should be equal, some smoking, some non-smoking, at least all will be happy that way, having non-smoking areas is not the answer, smoke travels in the air so everyone ends up breathing it in. In essence there was no quiet reading room, away from smoke and noise. Food: I found the food excellent. The service was first class and we found that we were looking forward to getting to our table in the evenings to meet our new friends and chatting over what we had done in the day. The Windjammer could get crowded at times, but we always found somewhere to sit and again the food was excellent.