Go Carnival

Jewel of the Seas Cruise Review to Caribbean - Southern

Cruises: 2-3 cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 90

Overall rating:

2 out of 5
Verified Review
Jewel of the Seas

Southern Caribbean Holiday

Sail date: January 31, 2016

Ship: Jewel of the Seas

Cabin type: Inside

Cabin number: 8027

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 8 years ago

Review summary

Honestly was very disappointed with the ship. Locations were perfect. Have been on all three brands of Celebrity, Carnival, and Royal Carib in the last three years. Carnival truly and honestly is better in every category.   List of issues that need to be addressed.

1. Higher quality food- Eggs were very watery and had not been fully cooked more than 5 of the 7 days. The steaks at dinner were of far lower quality than Carnival. No cafes on the pool deck? Pathetic. Carnival has pizza burgers, taco stations all readily available WITHOUT shoes and shirt. Plus burgers have sautéed mushroom and onions and bacon to go with them. Can’t even begin to describe how poor the food quality and quantity is compared to Carnival.

2. Lack of entertainment. 3 Comedy shows total? Carnival did 14 comedy shows for the ship. 1 good comedian. Lack of entertainment on deck for sea days. Had no more than 1-2 small boring things going on. If you want a really boring slow cruise with very little entertainment book RC. If you have plenty of money to spend on worthless watches and perfumes this is the cruise for you!

3. Poor timing of events and activities. The infamous rock wall is open for very few hours of the day and closes for wind greater than 1 MPH. Entertainment right in the middle of late seating time. Just not a well put together schedule. Very inconsiderate.

4. Always the earliest ship to leave the port when there is no reason to. Aruba to Curacao not a far distance. St Thomas to St Kitts is also one we could have stayed later, yet again we were first to leave amongst the other ships.

5. Extra charges no other ships have- Room service charge after midnight, Asian stand $10 for a meal(It would be free on other ships) It’s the little things but they all end up adding up.

In conclusion I hate to sound like a whining guest but the honest truth is Carnival is just far better than RC. I hope that RC can improve and wish them and their organization nothing but the best. Hope this helps some people.  

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

1 out of 5

Onboard Activities

1 out of 5

Entertainment

1 out of 5
Very little entertainment.

Children's Programs

3 out of 5

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Ship Quality

1 out of 5
Poorly designed.

Cabin / Stateroom

1 out of 5
Bed hard as a rock.

Ports of call

San Juan, Puerto Rico

5 out of 5

Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas Did not visit port

Avoid Magens beach go Coki beach!! Much nicer people at coki.

Basseterre, St. Kitts Did not visit port

Avoid the guys with Monkeys.

Oranjestad, Aruba

5 out of 5
Rent your own quad from Goerges and ride the Coast it was beautiful! No need to do an expensive tour!

Willemstad, Curacao

5 out of 5
Was this review helpful? 90

1 Comment

cindy1336    8 years ago

I just noticed on this ship the Asian stand is called Seaview Wok with a $9.99 surcharge to eat there. On the Radiance of the Seas when I sailed in 2011(pretty much identical ship) this was called Seaview cafe and it served hotdogs, fish and chips, etc... all for free... I'm disappointed in knowing that there is one less place to eat on this ship as I will be sailing in 28 days. They must be really hard up for money to keep putting surcharges on all of the food isn't it enough that the drinks are extra now all the food too??? I may be trying a new cruise line next time. Thanks for the info tatwood82.

Other reviews of this sailing