Pima1988

No it was 4 nights. We left Miami at 4 or so. Got to Nassau the next a.m. That would make it day 2, but only 1 night We than went to Coco Cay. Again we docked early. Day 3, 2nd night. Day 4, 3rd night we sailed to Key West. Sea day. Day 5 , Key West. We sailed that 4th night back to Miami and arrived back to the port by 7-8 a.m. Hence, it was 4 nights.

I have to reiterate use the stairs every time. I will be honest, that is what we do. It was only on our 4th cruise that I used the elevator. We were on a family cruise, and I remember remarking OMG they have the day of the week on the floor, how cute. 1 family member said to me we have been on this ship for 5 nights, and now you are just noticing? My response was, this is the 1st time I have taken the elevator on any cruise. Don't know which ship you will be on. but you will be amazed how many times a day you climb the stairs. It will start day 1. You can wait for an elevator after the Muster Drill or you can walk the stairs and get there quicker IMPO, drink 2x as much water as you do at home. Between the sun and alcohol you will dehydrate faster than just hanging at your desk at work. I have never gained a pound on a cruise. I am a grazer. Lots of small meals. Lots of water during the day. I do the deluxe beverage package, but with every drink I get a bottle of water. I do not order a new drink until I have guzzled down that bottle of water.

+1... Yuk I would rather drink listerine! I also like Frangelico, hazelnut flavor. Try a Frangelico Martini or a chocolate cake shot. Chocolate cake shot is Frangelico, any chocolate liqueur (IE Godiva) and vanilla vodka shaken with a few ice cubes. I know you love red velvet cake, so you may want to experiment and see if Chambord works better for you than Frangelico. @JohnK6404 as you can see, specialty liquors like Baileys or Amaretto are included, now you may have to pay an upcharge if you go really fancy, but the up charge is only the difference from the DPB coverage and the charge for the drink. IE you go to Coco Cay and purchase 1 of their drinks in a pineapple. It costs 13. DPB is 12. You will pay 1 dollar plus the 18% grat on that 1 dollar. IOWs, it will cost 1.18 out of pocket.

I have been to Nassau 2 times, and the 3rd time I will be there is in July. I have never felt unsafe. I would say the locals will approach you as soon as you get off the ship, just say Thanks, no thanks, and they will leave you alone. I will also say, be smart and view Nassau like any big tourist area, such as, NYC, or Venice. There are good and bad areas, 1 wrong left turn and you will go from the good area to the bad area very quickly. My husband and I be it Nassau or an RCCL private island leave our valuables in our safe on the ship. He cleans out his wallet of all credit cards, except 1 and maybe 50 bucks in cash. In his wallet he carries, our driver licenses, our sea pass cards, and that 1 credit card. I don't carry a beach bag or a purse in Nassau. The only jewelry I wear are my engagement/wedding ring, and my eternity necklace. Good luck getting my diamond rings off my hand -- I swell in the heat. I do this, not out of fear, but there is no reason to take anything more. We put sunscreen on before we leave the ship, so if he has all of that, and I am with him at all times, why do I need my purse? FWIW, I am also someone that my friends laugh at when they see my purse, they call it a wallet on a string. I don't feel that I need to even bring my cell phone if I am with my husband. He takes his, so why do I need to take mine? The only time we separate is if 1 of us is going to the bathroom. FYI, I am a Jersey girl that lived right outside of NYC, and now resides in Virginia right outside of DC, same as my husband. NYC and DC are scarier to me than Nassau. Hubby also has learned due to that exposure, if you want to be sure your wallet will not be stolen, place your cell phone in your back pocket and your wallet in your front pocket. You might not feel them lift from your back pocket as a man, but you will def. feel them lift from your front pocket. Point being the way we travel we are less likely to be targeted, which is why maybe I feel secure. Think about it. I have done the excursions with RCCL. I have no desire to repeat them. This time we will go on our own to Graycliffs, and I have absolutely 0% fear.

We did a 4 night on Enchantment about 2 1/2 yrs ago. We went to Nassau, Coco Cay and Key West. I want to say our sea day was between Coco Cay and Key West. I loved that cruise for 1 reason. We were able to do all of the excursions we wanted bc they were offered at multiple ports. I love Key West, such a great walking town, and you have to love the chickens everywhere, acting like as if they owned the town and putting up with us humans invading their space. We went to the Blue Heaven in Key West. What a great place to eat. Def. order the Key Lime pie if you go there. I swear the pie slice has to be at least 6 inches tall. All of the food portions were huge. The ambiance is amazing too. The bar is an old boat upside down so the bottom of the boat is the bar itself. They also had a psychic off on the side from the bar. The restaurant/patio area feels like you are at a funky friends home, mismatched chairs, obscure paintings, exotic plants, etc. Fun, fun, fun. My husband and I laughed because of course in Key West you have to visit the southern point marker. We walked down there and see a line of maybe 100 people waiting to get a photo shot at the marker. We looked at each other and said at the exact same time. OK, saw the marker, been there, done that, let's go to Fat Tuesday for some drinks! I will say that you can tell Key West is a tourist town when you go shopping. Very artisanal, but also very expensive for the products offered impo. I can buy handmade soap on Amazon, same quality, but 50% less in price. FYI I think we docked at 10 or 11. I recall that because we went to Blue Heaven for brunch. We sailed @ 6, bc I remember that our MTD was 6:30 and we were sailing out of port while we were getting ready for dinner. Plus, I have pics of us on the pool deck overlooking the port and in the background the sun was setting (Nov. cruise) Honestly my only negative from this cruise is Enchantment was just too small for our tastes. I would never sail on Enchantment again due to its' size and nightly entertainment options.

I know for a fact it does include Amaretto, and Sambuca. My husband and I like to have cappuccino or espresso after dinner (a sin in Italy) and we order a side shot of either one of those with them. Never had to pay. I also have had mudslides, B52 and a brain, and never been charged, all of them include at least Baileys. PS. I don't suggest ordering a brain. It is a shot, and impo ick! Basically it is vodka, grenadine and baileys. When they pour in the baileys into the vodka it coagulates and looks like a brain, than they drizzle grenadine to resemble the blood around the brain.

My cruise in July has not moved in the last 3-4 months. It is still $52. I got it at 47 Black Friday.

I think you mean flamingos? HAHA I agree. Pools get crowded especially on sea days, even in the Solarium. For all of my cruises I have been on, most of the time people are in the pool for maybe 15 mins. during an hr. and the pool is still packed. IE you really can't swim from one end of the pool to the other (length) or even one side to another (width) without navigating around people. If you are talking about beaches (excursions) than that is different. If you are talking about Coco Cay beach, I believe they rent beach mats for the day. If you took a cabana or bungalow at Chill Island on Coco Cay beach mats are included. Maybe just me, but I would think that Oasis since it has a Lazy River, they would have floats.

I go on everyday to check my cruise planner to see if anything has had a price drop, and have not had any problems at all over the past few days.

Yes, they have always existed. Somewhere in the bowels of the forum, somebody sent me pics of them because I was curious if there was one better spot than another. There are only 14 of them. They are located far off from the main area and what I would describe as an inlet. I asked back in Oct so yeah they have been up and running the Chill Cabanas this entire time.

It is the opposite, the pier, Oasis and Thrill will be opened by May. The overwater cabanas are suppose to be done by Jan 2020.

I do too. I am a parent, so please don't flame, but after my 1st cruise with RCCL I never went for soft serve ice cream ever again. I have stood in line behind 10 yr olds (no parent) that has decided they will make an ice cream cone so high that it collapsed, and re-started it all over again. I always have a DBP. I now get a Virgin Pina Colada, Strawberry Daquiri, or a milk shake at JR. Same results...cold, sweet, etc. and best part is I won't wait in line forever, to only get to the front of the line and find out that the machine is down.

yes and no. IE cabanas at Coco Cay are limited. For our week the clam shells, and bungalows on Chill are not longer available. As I stated prior, RCCL is no longer offering the catamaran excursion I booked back on Black Friday. Same thing could be said if you want to do a spa day on a sea day. Or you want to my time dining. They have limited numbers. Just saying when there are limited slots, if it is popular, impo book it now, cancel and rebook later at the lower cost. Adventure has Latitudes which offers Starbuck products. You can use the DBP at Latitudes that have Starbucks. You can't use the DBP at a Starbucks kiosk on a ship. Note: Latitudes carries Starbucks products, but is not a kiosk. Johnny Rockets on Adventure does include the shakes, at least they have in the last month. It is not like Anthem, aka JR Express. It is more expensive to purchase on board than booking online. You might get 1 dinner cheaper, than the BOGO (1st 2 nights), but it may come down to $8 pp more for 2 dinners. Just saying again, in the end you can cancel your on line order.

I have to ask, what time is early?

We booked the Chill Island Cabana for our July cruise bc I know at least that already existed and I would not have to worry. That and we are beach people.

Am I the only one looking at the loungers in the pool thinking OMG chair hogging is going to go to a whole new level now!

Why use a travel agent? Here is my newest story. This cruise we are traveling with my husband's family as a group. We got an amazing deal, 2400 and change for a spacious balcony for 8 nights for 2, plus 100 OBC and 1 specialty dinner. My SIL was going to sail with a friend, but they backed out. She has cruised often, approx. 1x a yr for the last decade, but not loyal to any cruise line, thus she books directly with the cruise line. So bc of that she called RCCL directly and cancelled her friend, changed it to single, but still the same room. RCCL cancelled all of her excursions that we were doing as a group. I get a call on a Sunday with here freaking out, and since I am the go to person for the cruise, I contacted our TA that day. The TA got on the phone with RCCL. They rebooked everything at the exact same cost (excursions were purchased Black Friday) and on top of that, RCCL threw in a strawberry and champagne welcome gift, plus the bottomless galley brunch too. We did not pay a dime for the TA.

Actually, when I did my Master thesis, it revolved around airline success/failure. SWA's success has little to do with nuisance fees, but more to do with their airframe is all the same. Unlike Delta or United where they have 5 different airframes, they have 1 and 1 only airframe. Every mechanic, every pilot can be moved about because they only have 1 air frame. You can't take a puddle jumper pilot or mechanic DC8 and move them to a 737 or 767 without more specific training. Same can be said for Jet Blue. SWA also plays many different cost games. They purchase fuel far out. Want to fly into Dallas, you are going to Love Field, not DFW (Gate costs) It would be like saying that the Captain of Empress can now jump over to be the Harmony's Captain without any additional training. JMPO, but this analogy is false. It is not the nuisance fees, it is they only offer 1 type of airframe. It would be like Royal only offering Oasis class ships. Or like airlines, they have control of a hub. Delta basically owns Atlanta. Look at Cape Liberty or Baltimore...do you see NCL or Princess there? NO. Why? Because NCL and Princess do not have a port there (aka hub). Just saying, impo these nuisance fees have very little to do with nuisance costs tied to their profits, but more tied to the fact that Carnival, as a parent company can't figure out their niche in the more competitive cruise industry.

I am going on Adventure in July. I think we are on the same cruise in July bc Adventure is like Anthem out of Bayonne...rotates between Bermuda, and than flipping with going to New England/Canada There is a FB page for Adventure and another for Adventure 7/12. It is a private/closed group. Adventure does not pre-book shows. It does not have the Kummelwreck sandwich. They have latitudes where you can use your beverage package for specialty coffees (starbucks) and a Johnny Rockets for milk shakes. Excursions vary to personal taste. We have booked a catamaran snorkel excursion. It no longer appears on the daily planner (online). Our other excursion is Chill Island cabana at Coco Cay. We also booked the Chef's table and the Galley Brunch. (still available on the planner),plus 3 night specialty dinners. We are using a TA so they gifted us another specialty dinner free of cost. Also booked fire and ice pedis at sea (cruise planner) They do the 70s night and the white party from what I have been told. They also have trivia in Schooners, the silent party and of course Quest. Hope that helps.

I never had that experience. You do bring up a point that has been stated earlier. I could easily order shrimp cocktail/crab cakes, wedge salad and a soup as my apps. Order prime rib for dinner, complain (send back) and I don't pay a dime, but 10 will get you 20, I never finished eating all of the apps, nor the prime rib. Same result...food waste. Let's also remember I am someone that goes to the WJ prior to dinner, because I am not a Sorrento's pizza fan. Instead, I fill up a plate of meats and cheeses to nosh on late at night. Are they going to charge me to walk away with a plate from the buffet, be it to the pool or your room?

If they do, than I have no problem finding an Air B & B in Turks that has a pool and hot tub where I can walk downtown to enjoy the local cuisine, and book my own excursions, like swimming with the pigs. I love cruising, but like I said before cost is an issue, in turn if many of us walk, the demand decreases and the supply increases, the cruise lines will come the way of brick and mortar stores and find alternative options.

Sure, but from an Econ 101 there is an equilibrium from a supply/demand aspect. There is also the name/image perspective. Cruise lines compete with land inclusive resorts. The land and cruise battle each other. There is only so many that are willing to spend this amount of money for a weeks vacation. Add in Air B & Bs at places like Cozumel, Bermuda, Key West, etc. that offer beach front property, swimming pool, and walking distance to the town, cooking breakfast in the kitchen instead of the WJ buffet is appealing if it is 1/3rd of the cost. No way on this green earth I would go on Carnival. I see it as cheap, and a party boat ( note I did not say ship). Call me a snob, that is okay. I am just saying from everything I have read and talking to TAs, Carnival, even in a suite would not be a fit. My Aunt cruised with Holland out of Hawaii, she has traveled the world. RCCL out of Sydney. Rooftops in Africa. Princess in the Fjords. Went to China., etc. etc. etc. She said Holland left her disappointed in service. I think Carnival is trying to find their target market and since Holland is a small portion of their corporation, they will use that line for market research.

I agree. If you are going to charge me 10 bucks I will be the 1st to send back again and again unless it is perfection. Note from my other posts I am easy going, but now they laid down the gauntlet in my opinion. Let's say I order a med. rare prime rib, it comes to the table as a med. I send it back. By food and safety regs, they can't send that to another passenger that ordered med. it has to be pitched. How is that saving food waste? Holland America is part of Carnival, just like Celebrity is part of Royal. I wonder if Carnival HQ is doing this as a test for Carnival.

Have you thought about going on Facebook and seeing if there is a group already created for Jewel of the Seas? These groups are typically private/closed group . For me I belong to multiple ones. For example, I join the ship FB group, and then look to see if there is one for my sail date. The ship FB group page is great because it gives unique insight to the ship from previous cruisers. The sail date allows me to create connections prior to sailing. IE a FB pub crawl, who is doing what excursion, who is hiding ducks on the ship, etc. Just me, but I bet if there is a Jewel FB page, they probably could give you a more definitive answer since those pages are truly dedicated to the Jewel. Do not get me wrong, this site is amazing, but it is more breath than depth, iows you get insight from the big picture regarding RCCL and their ships, whereas, FB Jewel is a smaller picture (depth) regarding those that have sailed her, and insight when it comes to specific rooms or specific ports, and the 29th sailing is even deeper regarding who is sailing

@twangster Thank you for the videos I only wish that they would do a 5 night.