We, a group of 5 just came back from the most enjoyable 6 nights on the Pacific Jewel. After reading some of the quite horrendous reviews I was expecting the ship to be 1) So run down that it needed to be decomissioned 2) the food so bad we would all die 3) the staff so unfriendly that we would be in tears and 4) be so bored that we would want to jump overboard...I am pleased to say that none of the points above were close to being a reality. I really do believe that cruise passengers are some of the most snobbish and pretentious travellers going and some of them just like to moan and whinge at the slightest thing, they then take this small thing and to hear them speak, let it ruin a completely good holiday. Some passengers also hold a grudge for the entire cruise e.g if they have one thing go wrong at the start then they just pick faults with everything..anyway, enough of me bagging of my fellow cruise passengers.

Embarkation was a breeze, we were on the ship in 20 minutes and off the ship in 5 minutes.

I have sailed with Holland America preivously on a cruise around the Med and found that the Pacific Jewel had a much nicer "spirit" than our HAL ship. I figured this was because of the more diverse age ranges. HAL do cater for a much older crowd and being only 50 we were the youngest on the HAL cruise, not on the Jewel, we were right in the middle with a great range of all ages which actually gave the jewel a lovely vibe. There was always music going on somewhere, somebody singing, people dancing, Karaoke, quizzes etc..In this area I dont see that there was anything to complain about. We didnt go to the main theatre to see a show but i did walk in there to grab some crisps and it did look very nice. Read more