Magnificent Ship;With Some Glitches

Jewel of the Seas Cruise Review to Coastal - West Coast

Cruises: 7+ cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 48

Overall rating:

3 out of 5
Verified Review
Jewel of the Seas

7 Night California Coastal (Los Angeles Roundtrip)

Sail date: October 03, 2015

Ship: Jewel of the Seas

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 8554

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 9 years ago

Review summary

We arrived at the Port of Los Agngeles at noon, the exact time RCCL advised in an email the day before. Had a difficult time finding Jewel of the Seas because it had been moved to an auxiliary berth over a mile away from the cruise port. When we entered to drop off bags, I was advised to drop them off and then park back at the cruise port and a shuttle bus would bring us back to the ship. Fair enough I thought. When the bus arrived back at Jewel of the Seas we encountered a very long line outside the temporary tent set up for the embarkation. After standing in the sun for over 40 minutes we finally made it into the shade. Shortly thereafter, a new line appeared next toours and passengers swarmed to the front. RCCL personnel were overwhelmed and any semblance of order was lost. Platnimum and Diamond lines were a joke. People just jped into the first line they saw. The power to the computers in the tent had failed and boarding had to processed manually. The temperature in the tent was over 100 degrees and there was very little water available. RCCL personnel said it was not their fault and to blame it on the port. Bottom line we finally got on the ship at 4 PM,  just prior to the safety brief.

After finally getting to our room things improved immensely. This is a great ship and the decor was fantastic. Food in the dining room was the best I have encountered on more than 14 cruises. The waiters were accomplished and made the cruise experience worthwhile. The buffet in the Windjammer was a different story. The food was bland and underseasoned. The only saving grace was breakfast when we had on debarkation day. We took all meals in the dining room.

I can not comment on the ports as I twisted a knee on the shuttle bus prior to embarkation and was unable to walk enough to go ashore.My experience was limited to my room and the dining room.

I would love to give Jewel of the Seas another chance.

 

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5

Entertainment

3 out of 5

Children's Programs

3 out of 5

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5
A little far from elevators.

Ship tip

The forward elevators are much less crowded than the midship elevators.

Ports of call

San Pedro (Los Angeles), California

1 out of 5

Santa Barbara, California

3 out of 5

San Francisco, California

3 out of 5

Monterey, California

3 out of 5

Ensenada, Mexico

1 out of 5
Was this review helpful? 48

3 Comments

glomarrone    9 years ago

Wow!  Embarkation sounds like it was a nightmare.  On top of that, you got injured.  You definitely need to retake this cruise.  

monicaarosen    9 years ago

We were on this cruise as well and same as above long lines and no guidance from RCCL not even an apology. We also did a b2b to Central America and Panama Canal. The second cruise had no lines and was very easy to get on according to people we met on second cruise. Other then the port error the cruises were wonderful. Food was great and the staff was super. Shows fair except for John Blair A+++.

MrLawnArizona    9 years ago

We were on the same cruise. Most difficult embarkation for a cruise ever! We got an early boarding time of 10 am and thought we could explore the ship prior to leaving port. Not! Finally got on board about 245pm. The portable X-ray machine went down twice while we thought we had made it through the worst of the wait. We didn't even see the worst of it as people commented later that the laptops kept going down to make the check-in process even slower. The elderly people in line were really suffering and I hope there wasn't a medical emergency because of this. Once we got on board everything was great, food , service, entertainment . etc. This will stay with us for a while.

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