Overall this was a pretty good trip. We had not been on a cruise in about 1 1/2 years, and I believer the cruise business is changing which makes direct comparisons difficult. Overall I would compare this to a good carnival cruise which was my last before this. (my first was a poor experience) The price is good, adding gratuities to your bill is a good idea with "free style" cruising. The ship "The Jewel" is clean, neat and well run. I believe the Line is trying to run it well. The head of the hotel and the cruise director were always visible. If you had a problem someone was there. They give out their phone numbers in case you have a problem. They are really trying. Since this is my first "free style" I can't compare it to the other cruise lines as directly as I might like. Some of their services may not be as good, however I feel that is a by product of "free style". Generally there is food available at all times, most dining areas are available during normal times. at least one was open 24 hours. Getting on and off was fairly easy, except for the normal delays while too many people try to get off at one time. The disembarkation was excellent. The room was neat and clean, the bed comfortable. It had been kept up and I would rate the staff as good to very good. The food was decent to good and excellent in the specialty dining room. My complaint is that frequently the food is not that warm. Maybe they cant fix this. We are not big alcohol people but the few drinks we had seemed "weak".

They have some good shows. Their Cirque Biju is an amazing and ambitious display for a cruise ship. The personnel running the activities were excellent! (that is right Jane!) The director Que was excellent. I don't remember the names of the 2 people I saw at the bingo game but they are all over and also were excellent , personable and funny. I do feel that the adult show at the last night got really low class and tasteless. As to the shore excursions, I booked my own. Tyll's dive in Roatan...Excellent! Cave-tubing.com in Belize....also excellent! In Costa Maya we did our own bar crawl with the money we save on doing our own excursions. I was with a great group so we had fun. Beer started at $3 bottle at the north end and was $1 bottle in the center / south. I think some of the locals are less than honest. Avoid the Jet ski guy in the unmarked storefront next to Coco Corona(To the left as you face the buildings)if you can as I feel he is a liar. If you feel you have to use him make him write down your leaving time. We paid for an hour and they brought us in after 38 minutes of so. He then told us we had to come in as we were "weaving". Truth is we were not even close, and we were at least a mile off shore. He has the best eyes I have ever witnessed. The cab drivers would tell different people to pay their fare nad would end up collecting twice for certain people. Most stuff is "bargain-able". and two of the Girls had massages that they rated very very highly. ans only $20 (for a hour I believe) The last stop was the private island. I live in Florida so beaches are no big thing to me....I could have stayed on the boat....however my complaint is they want you to rent a float device so you can snorkel, even if you bring your own gear. Maybe it is a legal problem. So in summary...it was pretty good. I do feel they really push extras so they can run in the black...sometimes this gets annoying. I think they have the Carnival people in their sites and are really putting forth the effort to put them in the dust. For a great example I would see the Head of the hotel at least 3 times each day waling around and checking things out. They are really trying to get out a good impression. You can use them, and you wont be hurt. Now I was told by a self described "frequent cruiser" on board this ship that the Jewel is their best ship. If you pick another check out the recommendations here on Cruise Critic. d Join Up and go to the party. Stick the Cruise Critic flyer on your cabin door. I bet you will get great service.