Let me start with this: I love cruising. I've been on 15+ cruises, from the Odyssey of the Seas to the Nordic Prince that was retired ages ago, from RCCL to Princess to Celebrity to Norwegian to Holland America, and more. As cruises go, this was one I won't ever do again. This was supposed to be a "Fall Colors" cruise, but we missed the colors by a couple weeks, I think, as most trees were bare ...
We booked this 22 months ahead of time. We were unable to get our favorite cabin, JS. We did not like the balcony cabin! Way too small for us. I can't remember how many times we ran into each other between the bed and door.
The Jewel of the Seas is old, built in 2004 and updated in 2016. It needs so much work. Paint peeling, titles cracked, Wi-Fi was almost nonexistent. unless you were in the ...
We chose this cruise primarily because of the itinerary. We are not novice cruises, having done over 60 of them. The ship is older, but appears to be well maintained for the most part. Embarktation was slow, stood in line for over an hour before we boarded. We had a balcony cabin that was spacious and featured good storage. Most employees try very hard to please, but overall management is ...
The food was mediocre at best.
The itinerary was why we chose this cruise. I have been around long enough to know that the new, splashy ships have the least interesting itineraries, and the older tired ships have the most interesting itineraries. However, I did not expect the older ship to offer subpar food and experiences.
The salad dressings had no flavor at all, and the soups were just ...
We chose this cruise because of the itinerary that included Iceland and Greenland, and the price (we travel a lot, before the Jewel, we spent weeks in Europe and since this cruise we spent 6 weeks in Singapore, Hong Kong, and China), since we have to watch the budget. We enjoyed the itinerary, and overall the experience was good. The crew worked hard and the service was good.
We loved ...
I chose this cruise for the ports, especially Iceland. I could go on and on about the wonderful ports. My sister raved about Royal Caribbean so we thought we would try it. The coffee bar needs improvement, the servers were slow and they would punch your card twice if you asked for a medium coffee. The coffee was not not the best. The pastries were stale everyday, how is that possible? Only once ...
Just returned from a 12 night British Isles trip and wanted to share my perspective in case it helps other travelers like me. I'm an intermediate cruiser- have done about 7 total, this was my 2nd with RC after sailing on Harmony when it was brand new about 5 years ago. I traveled with my spouse and 3 kids (age 5-12), and 6 additional adult family members. I'll always maintain that cruising is the ...
1 - Boarding for the first time: We have been on well over a dozen cruises over the years. This was, by a long shot, the easiest time we have ever had initially boarding a ship. We walked with our luggage into the pier in Amsterdam, answered a few health (COVID) questions, walked past a carousel where we put down our luggage, and boarded the ship. I would estimate the entire process from the taxi ...
British Isle Cruise out of Amsterdam
The Jewel has see it's better days..........it is one tired ship.
We sailed on her many years ago when it was in much better condition.
The stateroom furniture is showing wear and tear.......the decor is dated and showing age.
You couldn't take photos from the inside the windows were so dirty.
Evening entertainment is nothing like pre ...
While not bad…not as great as other ships with RCCL. Entertainment was not best. Whoever thinks a juggler, a magician, ventriloquist and cyclist offer much adult entertainment needs to think again. Ship entertainers were not always singing live during shows and the music was much louder than the vocals. The food in the dining room was presented well. Best waiters ever. But food was so so. ...