Jewel of the Seas Review

3.5 / 5.0
1,643 reviews

It truly is a Jewel.

Review for the Southern Caribbean Cruise on Jewel of the Seas
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Cavalier Traveler
6-10 Cruises • Age 50s

Rating by category

Cabin
Value for Money
Embarkation
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Entertainment
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Additional details

Sail Date: Mar 2018
Cabin: Deluxe Ocean View Stateroom with Balcony
Traveled with children

Don't understand the many "ship is showing its age" comments-- it is beautiful & well-maintained. We have cruised RCI 6 times, 2x on Jewel, 3x on this class--this is our favorite ship--not too big, elegantly "nautical" in style, bright & sunny, love the outdoor dining at the Windjammer. If you want a floating shopping mall and amusement park, & a 15 minute hike to dinner with 4K of your BFFs, then choose Oasis class; if you want to know you're actually on a ship--this is perfect.

Similarly, the complaints about food are unfounded. The Windjammer is a buffet--no buffet is a 5 (or 4) star dining experience. Some of the salads were monotonous, but generally, it's good food, varied & well presented. The MDR consistently turns out excellent food, superbly served. RCI does this for thousands, daily, at an amazing price-point.

Bartenders are excellent-- but note, and here I'll lodge a few complaints-- it seems RCI has abandoned specialty drinks at different bars and adopted a ship-wide bar menu, which gets boring. If you get a drinks package, always check in the MDR to see you receive the discount on wine bottles--for 3 cruises now, this is mysteriously "forgotten," at about half the dinners . . . interesting. MDR also charges for a large bottle of sparkling water, whereas little ones are in the package, and they won't give you little ones in the MDR: nit-picky, cheap, irritating. Lastly, we don't do specialty dining, as we see no point in paying extra for something we can get better ashore. With each succeeding cruise, we have noticed RCI flogging the daylights out of these "experiences" more. Must we say "No" every single day? Yes.

Cabin Review

Deluxe Ocean View Stateroom with Balcony

Cabin E2

One of the new cabins carved out of the Spa on deck 11. About a dozen on an obscure hallway off the forward lobby. Even though it was standard size, it felt "exclusive," very private & quiet. Convenient to everything on this very busy deck. We heard no noise from joggers above, and noted that section of the track was closed at night. My elderly father was in adjacent 1160-- this location is perfect for the mobility impaired--highly recommended! Steward was excellent.

Only complaint-- we asked for the balcony partition to be opened and were told simply "not this cruise." RCI is all over the place on doing this, and should either adopt a fleet-wide policy, or at least explain why they will, or won't, on any given day--"the captain is in a bad mood" would suffice.

Port Reviews

St. Thomas

St. Thomas is, frankly, a bit disappointing-- not very lush, and too much "diamonds/perfume/watches/liquor" shopping.

San Juan

San Juan is aour favorite city in the Caribbean; entering/leaving harbor is spectacualr. Old San Juan is magical.

Barbados

Great beaches & snorkeling.

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