Jewel OTS is a Radiance class ship, and the right size (2,500 guests) for our taste. We've sailed on RCI several times, always choosing the mid-size ships, and the Jewel deck plan is one of our favorites. There is access to the bow on several decks for those who like to see where the ship is going. Our cabin was a 4B Spacious Ocean View (9240). Jewel is almost 19 years old and does show wear and tear, especially on the cabin furniture, but everything in our room was functional and fairly comfortable, although the beds will soon need to be replaced. Lots of storage compared to some cabins and other ships...

Jewel is still beautiful and in good repair in the public areas. A service desk employee mentioned that dry docking is two years away - I would hope for a full refresh at that time. RCI crews are excellent throughout.

The let down on this cruise was the food quality and more crowding than we are accustomed to. Yes, we are spoiled by having cruised on Celebrity Apex in Aqua Class last year, where the ship was new and the food extraordinarily good (the Aqua class restaurant "Blu" is fabulous!). But I love breakfast and found the scrambled eggs to be watery and they didn't taste like eggs. The eggs Benedict were sorry... a fake English muffin, tiny piece of ham (not Canadian bacon), wet poached egg, and no Hollandaise sauce. Pitiful. Cold cuts are always available and most fruit was OK. Even the breads seemed bland. One night at dinner, I chose the Chicken Cordon Bleu, and, if I'm not mistaken, this was a serving of an institutional food product, prepared in advance; the kind of serving you get at a wedding reception. Worse, I had terrible GI issues the next day and skipped my excursion. But that can happen on any ship at any time, so I forgive... The gym was well equipped but too warm, and there was no water cooler with lemon and ice. Drink prices are up and the servings are "well controlled", so do not expect a heavy pour. Specialty drinks were delicious. With gratuity: approx $8.84 for a can of beer and approx $16.52 for a cocktail {my memory is not perfect on this}. Wow, NYC prices! Read more