Jewel of the Seas Review
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This was my first cruise, however I was with a group of 8 who most of this group had been on several (upwards of 15) cruises previous to this one. We choose royal because we wanted the higher end cruise. I can say, however I did not get the experience I wished for.
Firstly my parents were on the cruise and somehow managed to accidentally pack their passports in their luggage after arriving a day early through miscommunication. The plus on this ugly story is I learned you can check your luggage in early morning of the department day! Bad news is even after you go through security (and after showing several other pieces of ID instead of a passport) the cruise line was absolutely non understanding in the situation. The port people (I believe they did not work for royal) were horrific in their inexcusable attitudes toward me and my group and royal should be ashamed of themselves in partnering with them. My boyfriend accidentally ticked off the wrong "have you had a cough for more a couple days" question before we got on the boat. He scratched it out and ticked off the no box. This was such a hassle that they pulled us aside and told him he would have to wait to be examined by a doctor who took 15 mins to get there only to ask him "you ticked off the wrong box" he said "yup" she turned signed something and walked away without batting an eye! What kind of service is that?! Meanwhile my parents have been pulled aside and will not be allowed on the boat until their luggage is found. Thinking we checked our luggage in at 11am and it was now 4 I got on the boat and walked to their room and no luggage was there. I asked security and broke down crying to see if I could help locate the luggage as I did not want them to miss the boat before it left and they looked at me like I was an alien. I was horrified and so utterly embarrassed. Eventually the luggage was found and it took all the way until 7pm to receive the luggage.
The boat after a day or two seemed quite small. We picked the boat because it was newly updated. Turns out it looks like only the center for the ship got a facelift. The center of the ship has beautiful glass and lighting everywhere where as the dining room had old ugly golden yellow colour everywhere and the rooms weren't much better. There was mold it the shower and scuffs everywhere. The boat right off the bat severely swayed all night long so I didn't get a good sleep. It looked like the entire boat was drunk! The people working there generally were not the nicest. They didn't acknowledge you were there half the time and expected money for everything. Most bar servers didn't smile and say hello. Even when you were the only one there. They also never listened to what you asked so 2 out of 3 times you got the wrong drink. There was two pools (one indoors??) and one outside. They both were tiny and the decks were very slippery as I fell on the first day and still have a wonderful bruise on my knee and arm. You would think knowing there will be at least one full day at sea they would be able to accommodate all the people wanting to sit on deck? Nope! Not even a little bit! Grab your seat early folks!
Cabin Review
Interior Stateroom
Port Reviews
St. Thomas
The PORT is nothing special. There were about 6 |fancy| shops that the boat suggests to shop at. This is the city that EVERYONE tells you is a must see because the shopping is great. However, the port sucks. It was very small and had the same 6 shops that every other port had. However, we took a taxi into town and that is where the magic happened. There is wonderful unique venders in the downtown core about 15 mins away from the port. That is where you will want to do your shopping.
St. Kitts (Port Zante)
When we got off the boat we immediately found a tour group right off the boat offering a tour of the island. This was the best tour in the cruise as the tour guide was amazing. He pointed out everything on the island and really gave us the experience of the island. Even when he did not know or did not give a tour of aspects of the island he set up specialized private tours for us and waiting until we were done.
St. John (U.S.V.I.)
We got off the boat and this island was probably the worst for people trying to sell you things. The people were very pushy in having you take a tour. However, we found a tour guide that took us to a beach. The beach would have been nice but on top of the 6 dollars a person to get to the beach, we had to pay 10 dollars for a chair and 10 dollars for an umbrella. Though we figured out later you did not have to, we wish we got the umbrella as we declined that as it started to rain. While sitting on the beach side by side with other people, you were constantly interrupted with people trying to sell you tours and jet skis and messages and drinks and such and it was just so off putting we ended up taking a taxi back and leaving the island.
Barbados
The port was very long to get to the shops however the ship had a good shuttle service that took you to and from the ship. The shops were nice too as they did not have the standard 6 shops that every other port had. Though the bathrooms at the boat were sketchy with no toilet paper we made do. We found a taxi driver looking for a group and we got a nice tour with his around the island. It was more expensive this island because EVERYTHING in barbados is so much more expensive. However it was very worth it. We went to the distillery and asked for a group price. The tour guide was very friendly and nice and we had SO MUCH RUM. they could not stop pouring the rum to us! Thank goodness our taxi driver knew what he was doing and took us last to that or i would have stumbled my way through the rest of the tour of the island.