Pima1988

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.

Just curious how many do you think this is a way to push more to the specialty restaurants?

This is what is great about the WJ. Late diners like me go early to WJ since we will not be done or hungry by the time WJ closes. Early diners can go before they close up for the day. As I stated I typically do something akin to a meat and cheese plate, however one thing I love is cold left over Chinese food. (That college kid has never left me). I am thinking on our cruise in July I will see how it works using the Mongolian Grill in the WJ. Eating cold lomein at midnight on the balcony floating on the waves in the Caribbean seems like nirvana to me.

It depends on which ship you go on. For example on Anthem they have SBC next to WJ where you can get iced coffee. On smaller size ships you can go to Latitudes where they you can get it there. I never have any issues. To me they taste better than their coffee. I usually get another one during the day.

I am with Gears, NZCruiser and ThyriC. This to me is a flag on the play against Holland for all the reasons that they stated, but I will add one more. Many of the staff work for that tip at the end of the cruise. How do you think they will feel saying, I would love to bring you another entrée, but that will cost you 10 bucks. It places a sour taste in the cruisers mouth and the waitstaff now will be the front line explaining to the passenger that this is Holland America's position and they have no choice. Do you think that when their contract is up they won't try to jump ship to RCCL, NCL or Carnival? In essence, they may not only lose loyal customers, but also experienced waitstaff because put a couple of drinks in a passenger and tell them that after 3 bites they now have to pay $10 bucks for a new meal equates to me ANGRY passenger berating the waitstaff.

You could also do what we do. Go to Windjammers when they open for dinner. We do late seating, so this is our early appetizers. Grab things, such as carved beef/ham, deli meats, cheeses, veggies, hummus, breads, cookies, slice of cake, dessert in a cup, etc. and bring it back to your room. Place it in your mini-fridge aka cooler. Stop by Sorrentos to grab a few slices of pizza and you have your own late night hot and cold buffet at no cost. We do balcony and this is one of our favorite things to do. We also order continental breakfast room service which is free. We set out the card with the delivery time. We are early risers, 7 :30 is sleeping in for us. Again, we do balcony. We go to the gym, or walk the track and then we hit the Windjammer. We each make a plate to go (omelets bacon, hash browns). I get an ice coffee too on our way back. We time it so the continental shows up within 5 mins (see above regarding the card). So for us we get the best of both worlds, hot and cold, while we spend $0. Especially if the ship does not have outdoor seating at the WJ the perk of a balcony is you can have breakfast outside. We have done outside (no balcony) this way too. We like doing this bc of one more reason. We can eat at our leisure while we get ready for the day in our room. Take a shower, come back for another sip of coffee, or a bite of a muffin in your room while you apply your sunscreen before going to the pool or finishing packing your tote for your excursion that day.