My daughter (17) and I traveled on the Jewel December 11-18. This was our very first cruise and we had a super experience! Embarkation went smoothly and we were extremely happy with our balcony room on the 9th deck. The bathroom set-up seemed particularly well thought through. Everything was very clean and well maintained. The beds were very comfortable and the sound proofing between rooms was amazing -- it was as if we were on the deck all by ourselves! We enjoyed room service most mornings for breakfast - limited choices but adequate for our needs. Delivery was right on time and always with a phone call about 5 minutes before delivery.
We ate at the Teppanyakki the first evening -- good time to get in as it was not busy. If you want to do this, make sure you make a reservation after the first evening. It was fun and my daughter enjoyed the experience. We also ate at Le Bistro - our most disappointing dining experience. Service was poor -- food overcooked - two and a half hours to get through dinner (we had a reservation). It may have just been bad luck - I wouldn't write off the place - it is beautiful!!!! and the chocolate fondue is fun and delicious. We also ate at Tango's and Mama's Italian Restaurant (make a reservation). It was interesting to go to different places to eat but, really, these two places are not nearly as nice as the two main dining rooms - Tsar's and Azura's. The food and service were excellent in both of these places. We liked Tsar's because it is elegant and made us feel special - Azura's is very contemporary and not so beautiful but the service and quality in both was top notch!! We ate in the buffet area only once and took our food to The Great Outdoors, which was very pleasant. Buffets, in general, are not my thing so I don't feel qualified to comment on the set up and choices. We grabbed a burger at the pool a couple of times and the set-up and choices were fine.
My opinion is that the pool area is fantastic --the slide was great and we enjoyed the hot tubs. Getting a lounge chair near the pool proved not to be much of a problem but maybe that is because we went to the pool late in the afternoon.