My husband and I have been cruising with Royal Caribbean for years. We love the cruise line and have always had a good experience. It was my bucket list item to go on a Panama Canal Cruise. We usually take about one cruise per year but had never gone for more than one week. The Panama Canal cruises usually run 15-16 nights. We decided NOT to wait until after we retired!.
We went on the Jewel of the Seas in February of 2019. Yes, I'm just getting around to posting! (lol) The cruise was 16 nights and after doing research, we opted for the cruise from East to West which would enable us to view more sunsets plus this cruise gave us one more port. We left from Miami and finished in San Diego. This ship is a couple fleet classes down (in size) but we loved the layout of the ship. Because of it's smaller size, there are also less people, less lines, less crowds. When going through the canal, the ship was just feet from the wall.
All of the shows were great and a good variety. We didn't have to make reservations and several times we went to both seatings because we enjoyed the show so much. We saw several hilarious comedians, a fantastic hypnotist, an entertaining magician and a very cool Beatles tribute band called the Beatlemaniacs. In fact, they played two different nights and afterwards, I felt like I really saw the Beatles with all the screaming that was going on.
We like the size of the cabins with a balcony. It was not a Junior Suite size but still plenty large enough for two people. A balcony is a must have for a trip of this length and with so much to see.