Turbulent Caribbean

Item: Jewel of the Seas
Rating: 4.1
Author: RandJS

Jewel of the Seas Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western

RandJS

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 33

Overall rating:

4.1 out of 5

Verified Review

6 Night Western Caribbean (Miami Roundtrip)

Sail date: March 06, 2022

Ship: Jewel of the Seas

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 7588

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 2 years ago

Review summary

Possibly because of the long downtime due to Covid, Royal Caribbean has not bounced back to the previous RCCL we knew and loved. The shoreside crew was incompetent (i.e. - stockholder onboard credit was a frustrating experience with multiple calls and emails before cruise; and even after boarding we had to visit Guest Svcs 3 times and be very insistent to get our credit applied). The RCCL shipboard app was confusing to find information; actually it DID NOT work to make dining reservations and parts of it wouldn't work because we didn't check in on 1 phone 3 days BEFORE sailing and one cannot check in onboard later.

Embarkation

5 out of 5

Fairly smooth, although no priority Diamond checkin line

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

2 out of 5

Food in main dining room was great, service was awesome; BUT seating was chaotic with the My Time crowd. The staff seemed disorganized and bewildered; lines of hundreds of people clogged the entrance while staff didn't seem to know where to seat them

Onboard Activities

4 out of 5

Rock climbing enjoyable, most music in areas was nice

Entertainment

4 out of 5

Other than 1 night of a show face plant, the stage shows were great

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

All "tipped" personnel were friendly, efficient and working to please us

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

While a little tight, the room was great, we used the balcony lots and enjoyed nights with the slider open

Ship tip

Get all your credits in stone, once onboard it is like pulling teeth to get Guest Svcs to straighten anything out. The Royal app is unwieldly at best.

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Miami, Florida

3 out of 5

Used for embarkation and debarkation only

Thumbs Up 0

Bimini, Bahamas

3 out of 5

Basic paid beach port

Thumbs Up 0

Costa Maya (Mahahual), Mexico

5 out of 5

While too busy with multiple ships in port, it is a nice port with lots to do and good shopping

Thumbs Up 0

Cozumel, Mexico

5 out of 5

As usual, an awesome port we enjoy, especially lunching at Las Palmeros in the center town square. Nice onshore port shopping without even going onto town if desired

Thumbs Up 0

Disembarkation

3 out of 5

OK other than Customs/Immigration part; for 3+ years Carnival has been using ipad to ID us, but Royal uses nothing??? Wierd, we had to report with passport to actual INS agent-of course, with the lines associated with it. Get with it Royal !!!

5 Comments

javawoody 2 years ago

Thanks for the review

Thumbs Up 0

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Gwbigdog 2 years ago

Thanks for sharing your cruise.

Thumbs Up 0

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blackholesun 2 years ago

Thanks for the review

Thumbs Up 0

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RoyalCruzer 2 years ago

Was on the Jewel post pandemic and our experience was nothing but outstanding. One email and you get Sharejolder credit within 48 hours. Make your Mytime reservations through your TA prior to sailing. Perhaps your inexperience caused your issues not Royal.

Thumbs Up 0

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CruzeFan 2 years ago

Thanks for the review. Things are different post-Covid and may never be exactly the same as they were before.

Thumbs Up 0

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