Subpar delivery by Royal Caribbean on our cruise contract
Jewel of the Seas Cruise Review to Europe - Northern Europe
Contributor Level:
Purser
Cruises: 4-6 cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 7
12 Night Arctic Circle (Amsterdam Roundtrip)
Sail date: August 10, 2024
Ship: Jewel of the Seas
Cabin number: 4522
Traveled as: Couple
Reviewed: 1 month ago
Review summary
It was disappointing, considering the paucity of entertainment, the shortchanging of the passengers by Royal Caribbean in Alesund, and the inexplicable absence of the captain from visibility throughout the cruise. We will be demanding some sort of a refund from Royal Caribbean. This was our 5th sea cruise overall, the last 4 of them on Royal Caribbean, with another river cruise to boot under our belt. We are seriously thinking whether our loyalty to Royal Caribbean is warranted.Embarkation
A very bad experience, with the protests of environmentalists at Amsterdam harbour causing great discomfort for the passengers. Although, Royal Caribbean may not be faulted, they could've found a better way to take care of its loyal passengers. After all, an incident may be transient, but loyalty is permanent or could be permanently lost..
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Food & service were great.
Onboard Activities
Dancing mostly. But the music was mediocre. Looks like the pandemic has caused Royal Caribbean to dredge the swamps for musical talent.
Entertainment
Three musical groups performed. They were mostly lacklustre. The main group, Wavebenders, was just grating noise and little music. My wife & I were mostly into ballroom dancing. We had to sit out half the time. When my wife asked the Wavebenders' vocalist to play a Waltz, his response was that he did not know that song (sic). The other two groups, The Caribbean Duo & Saggittario, were Ok.
Children's Programs
There were no children with us.
Service and Staff
Our Main Dining Room experience was perhaps the main redeeming feature of our cruise. The head waiter at our table, Sorin, & his assistant, Saw, went way beyond their call of duty. These two are real professionals with well-tuned sense of courteousness & service, and Royal Caribbean would do well to reward them adequately, or see them disappear to more lucrative positions elsewhere. Chunlu, an usher at the door, was also quietly efficient. At the Windjammer, where we had most of our breakfasts & lunches, we were pleased with the friendliness & courtesy of Kamalesh & John and their eagerness to help with our food & drinks. The Activities Director, Mauricio, needs commendation for his decision-making, his promptitude, and his responsiveness. His friendly demeanour & ability to present useful info entertainingly makes him ideal for his role. We believe the worst of the staff was the ship's captain himself. Throughout the 12-day cruise, he was totally out of passengers' radar, making his voice heard only once towards the end of the trip to give a meaningless weather report when we were at sea. He is an absolute misfit for his role and did not afford the courtesy to the passengers to announce the bypassing of Alesund, an important port of call on the biggest fjord, Geiranger, and the reasons thereof. On our 11-day Baltic cruise on the Royal Caribbean's Vision of the Seas in 2017, the captain was immensely visible, sang a couple of Bon Jovi songs at a major event, and was readily accessible to the passengers.
Ship Quality
Cabin / Stateroom
It was adequate & clean. The sink tap had a mind of its own, alternatively giving either hot water or cold water, but not both. There was enough clothes hangers, and closet & wardrobe space. The safety deposit box was dysfunctional, either getting permanently locked or being unable to lock at all. We had to summon the technicians at least 3 times, finally giving up using it at all. Our porthole window was largely cloudy. They need to clean these from outside before each cruise.
Ship tip
Don't get on it until the captain is replaced.
Thumbs up
0
Ports of call
We did our own thing, both before (using one-day travel passes) & after the cruise (canal cruise).
No port to visit here. What was most disappointing was that no announcement was made by the captain or anyone else that we were about to cross the Arctic Circle.
The tour kiosk on the pier is not geared for tourists. After a walk in the neighbourhood, on our return to the ship, we inquired about using public transport to get about the city. A guy showed us a map but did not indicate that a day-pass was available to be purchased. We discovered this on our second essay out of the ship after lunch. But, by then, the kiosk was closed. Nobody indicated the times they were operating. We missed the chance of going up the Floya Mountain & visiting the Arctic Cathedral. It didn't help that there was a continuous drizzle during our visit.
Small but well-ordained. We hiked up the hill behind Honningsvag and got some great pics. We visited the perennial Christmas shop in town.
Not much to do here. Went up to the Romsdal Museum. We were planning to do the hiking trail but gave up due to incessant rain.
Perhaps the highlight of the cruise. We had previously booked a tour on an Olden Adventure tour bus. The scenery both on the bus and then on the trail were breathtaking. The Briksdal Glacier & its environs were very picturesque. It's a pity that the glacier is receding fairly rapidly. Being glacier veterans, having visited the glaciers, Whittier in British Columbia; Victoria in Alberta; Gorner in the Alps; and Mendenhall, Hubbard & the Glacier Bay glaciers in Alaska; my wife & I were not surprised by this recession. One heartwarming experience I had at the store in Briksdal near the trail entrance (snacks & paraphernalia) was, after discovering that I had lost my credit card, a store employee promptly presented it to the cashier where we were standing, whence I could reclaim my card. From this, we concluded that Norwegians were an honest bunch of people. On the other hand, when I lost my Sea Pass card on board the ship, nobody bothered to return it to the Guest Services. Guest Services was able to promptly issue me a new card after deactivating my old card. Kudos to them.
Alesund, Norway Did not visit port
It's a shame that the ship decided to bypass Alesund, where the best fjord, Geiranger, was located. Several other passengers we spoke to were also disappointed. The announcement to bypass was made not by the captain but by some unknown staff member. The reason given was that they wanted to get into Amsterdam a day early to avoid protesters that disrupted the ship's entry to the port on the way up. However, there was no sign of protesters when we came into Amsterdam a day early. The ship was scheduled to set out on another cruise (transatlantic) the day we were scheduled to arrive from our cruise. We were on the Amsterdam port and on the ship that last day and saw no sign of protesters. Several of the passengers we spoke to, including ourselves, believed that Royal Caribbean shortchanged us, the cruise goers, to make up for the cost of the disruption on our sailing day. I expect some sort of a refund for this shortcoming, which was no fault of the passengers.
Disembarkation
Nothing to complain about, except that a wheel of one of our suitcases was damaged by the handlers.