We have been on several cruises, Princess, Royal Caribbean, Carnival and a couple of smaller lines back in the early 90's. The first cruise my wife and I did was on Jewel of the Seas and for years now it has been our favorite cruise and ship. We hadn't had the chance to cruise Royal since because they didn't sail out of the ports we were using or itineraries and were really looking forward to this cruise.

Starting out embarkation was very long (an hour plus) in the heat. When we sailed on the Jewel we just about walked right on. When we got on board we had to then wait until 1pm until our room was ready. The room was very nice and had a balcony. The safety drill was in one of the lounges, and we didn't have to take our life jackets, which was fantastic. Our luggage started to arrive, but my garment bag didn’t arrive until we were leaving for dinner, and my wife was still missing her suitcase. We had been checking with our steward, but he had no info.

When it came time for dinner, we had changed from the 1st seating to the 2nd seating in the MDR several weeks earlier with Royal over the phone. When we showed up for dinner, they moved us to the side, and then said that we were no longer in the MDR but using any time dining. We love meeting new people and eating in the MDR and I explained that we had not requested it. They said sorry but that’s where were now assigned. WOW. So we went down there and ate. It was the same food, and our waiters were very nice. Read more