Flew into Miami a day early & stayed in YVE Hotel off Biscayne Blvd, about 5 minutes from the port. Walked to Bayside Marketplace that evening, great place to hang out, and you can see the cruise terminals from there. Caught an Uber the next morning & arrived about 10:30am at Terminal G. Checked our bags with the porter, went through check in, and were on board by 11am.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Suite line was very short, went from curbside to on board in about 20 minutes.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
Main dining food was great, but service the 1st night was terribly slow. We rarely complain, but did so when approached by the head waiter. After that, the remaining nights were awesome. Loved Cafe Lattetudes, great specialty coffees & snacks served very quickly. Buffet was decent.
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
Mostly hung out at the pool, where they had many shows / activities on at sea days. Did do some Trivia, and mini golf. Smaller ship was easy to navigate & did not seem as crowded as the larger ships.
Entertainment
5 out of 5
We were really impressed with the singers / dancers / musicians and comedians especially since this was a smaller ship. One of the lead singers, Ricardo, had his own show one night and he carried it off spectacularly.
Children's Programs
Uh, no kids on cruise with us . . . .
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Cabin attendant was awesome, did a fantastic job for us. We tipped him above the standard rate because he really made our cruise memorable. I had heard that smaller ship staff was more friendly, and I believe that is true. We had the opportunity to speak with our Cruise Director, Alex, on several occasions, and I've never had that on larger ships. Most all staff members were friendly and helpful. Our only complaint was the bartender staff in the Solarium were very inattentive and slow. Never even looked up to acknowledge you were at the bar, never said "Be right with you", even when the bar didn't seem that busy and there were 3 bartenders. We would up walking away from the Solarium bar empty handed on several occasions. That area was our only staff complaint, so a 5-Star was still applicable.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
Jewel was built in 2004 and refurbished in 2016. It is a beautiful medium sized ship that provides a lot of views of the ocean from the elevators and the common areas. Really enjoyed the smaller ship more than I thought I would after being on Freedom and Oasis class RCCL ships.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
2 Bedroom, 2 Bath Suite with a living room larger than mine at home. Nirvana.
Ship tip
If you have a cabin near the Centrum, don't expect to go to bed before 11:30pm. The loud music from the Centrum, which ends at 11:30p, comes right upstairs, and the bass sounds are loud. Didn't affect us because we didn't go to sleep before 11:30p, but I heard some people turning in earlier complain.
We were in a suite and had access to Barefoot Beach. Great beach and snorkeling, but eat on the ship because the buffet lunch is not great and there are flies all over. We did the roller coaster because we did the zip line last year. Would recommend both experiences. Very fun, and you get great views of the ship & the bay from both the roller coaster and the zip line.
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