Food in the Windjammer was varied enough to please most. Food was of good quality, but many dishes weren’t hot enough. Dining room became boring and somewhat redundant by day 3. The menu in the dining room had a 60% overlap with the food being served in the Windjammer. Service was excellent as always. Seating was a bit uncomfortable because we were only a couple, yet we had to sit at a table for 8 each night and none of the other guests ever showed up for dinner.
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
Activities were basically trivia games & sale events. There were a few other cliche RCI games like Love & Marriage, but on this 9 day cruise, not enough to keep the younger crowd active.
Rock climbing wall was awesome. Pool scene was crowded.
There should also be a rule that if you have the drink package, you need to leave the hot tub every so often. I noticed a woman getting served drink after drink in the hot tub and not leaving for more than 30 minutes.
Entertainment
5 out of 5
The comedians that were booked for this cruise were VERY funny and worth it.
The singer was also very entertaining.
The orchestra was outstanding.
The dance and songs by the Jewel of the Seas singers and dancers was OK. It’s not that they’re not talented, but, the choice of music, songs, choreography, etc. is SO white bread and bland it puts you to sleep. Like listening to a top 40 radio station. Very predictable.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
The true asset of Royal Caribbean is their room attendant staff. Always professional and very attentive.
Ship Quality
4 out of 5
The Jewel is very easy to get around with most activities and restaurants within a very short walk. The ship was clean and tidied up daily. The issue I had was that EVERY public restroom on the ship had that rank smell of the sewage system backing up. The smell permeated to the public areas, especially around the Schooner Bar and the Windjammer. Water was even turned off from 2am to 5am on one of the days to fix the problem, which it wasn’t. Nobody on Royal Caribbean acknowledged the fact that the ship smelled like poop around the public restrooms. The smell even found its way into your stateroom every time you flushed. I think their vacuum sewage system was faulty in releasing the fumes. Their black tank could probably use a good scrubbing or a visit from the people who make Black Magic odor destroyer.
Reminds me of my youth in Coney Island; broken sidewalks, broken glass everywhere, trash in the streets, and it’s where the rubble meets the ocean. If I never go back to San Juan it will be too soon.
Did you contact Royal about the “smell of poop”? We had a similar experience on Jewel about 10 years ago and we contacted them about it, they gave my wife and I each a voucher for $500 each that we used for another cruise.
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