Wanderer

Cruising out of Barcelona on Jewel of the seas April 26th. No way that I will cancel our cruise!

It seems that there have been itinerary changes. 

New itinerary and port of calls:

1. Barcelona
2. Nice (Villefrance)
3. Cruising
4. Málaga
5. Alicante
6. Palma De Mallorca
7. Valencia
8. Barcelona

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/cruises/itinerary/7-night-italy-france-spain-from-barcelona-on-jewel/JW07BCN-3062876665?sail-date=2020-04-26&currency=USD&country=USA&dates_maxDate=04%2F30%2F2020&dates_minDate=04%2F01%2F2020

Thanks for your great review! 

I have been pondering if the Key would be worth of buying. I think they have changed the rules concerning priority departure from ship to shore at port of calls? If I recall correctly it was originally applied only at ports with tendering. Do they now offer priority departure for all ports of call?

Can I combine Myvegas OBC with reservation made by Nextcruise office onboard?

On 2/25/2020 at 5:50 PM, AmaliaLopez said:

Wanderer, have any of your documents been uploaded to your Royal Caribbean account?  We are 61 days out.  They are usually uploaded by now.

I don't have those neither yet. I am sure they will pop up soon.

By the way, where do you live? It seems that there have been significant price drops on our cruise. If you are living in a country that you can take a privilege of price drops, it might be a good idea to contact your travel agent. Unfortunately we are not able to take full advantage of these price drops here in Finland

@AmaliaLopez

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/cruise-ships/jewel-of-the-seas/things-to-do/wine-tasting

A VINTAGE JOURNEY

This is how aficionados are made. Join us for a deep dive into vintages and varieties during an exciting wine tasting class featuring some of the most famous vineyards in the world. Some of the wines offered are so exclusive, they are only found onboard Royal Caribbean®. You may discover a delicious California cab, Australian shiraz or Argentinian Malbec. Sip, swirl and become a connoisseur as you learn about one of the world's most distinguished wineries during an event that takes your palate on a voyage of discovery. Ask your maître d’ for more details.

And it says "Included"

10 hours ago, haf said:

We cruised on Jewel of the seas this past july. We have been on the western Mediterranean itinerary. Here is my review: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2684920-jewel-of-the-seas-review-western-mediterranean-july-14-2019-july-21-2019/?tab=comments#comment-58055150

 

I will be having different route, because we are leaving from Barcelona. It is still nice to read for your experiments from same vessel at Mediterranean.

17 hours ago, AmaliaLopez said:

Anyone done a Western Mediterranean cruise or sailed on the Jewel of the Seas. We are doing our April 2020 and was just trying to get any information I could.

When are You sailing out from Barcelona? I am going to do this cruise on april 26 2020 with my wife.

Only cruised once so far but we did every night at MDR. I could not reason to pay so much extra for specialty dining when there is outstanding food with excellent service included (= I have already paid for it!).

I have our next cruise booked and I did book "the key", which include first day lunch at Chops grille. Of course we are going to try that (because it is included or as a matter of fact I have already paid of). This might be an eyeopener for specialty dining... ... or not well see it then.

Jewel of the Seas Apr 26 2020 out of Barcelona!

1 hour ago, JLMoran said:

I would highly recommend looking up your specific dolphin excursion on Trip Advisor and reading the reviews there. Not all of these dolphin places are the same, and some of them have a reputation for not treating the animals well or visibly not caring. And that will negatively impact your experience, because how the dolphins are treated will be reflected in how they then interact with you, and will also come across from the staff. And no one enjoys seeing sad dolphins.

That was a thing I was little concerned of. I definitely won't want to go there if they are abusing dolphins.

I would like to hear experiences if someone from this forum has visited dolphin excursion on Jamaica.

1 hour ago, JLMoran said:

One thing to consider is that not all excursions necessarily require a tip. A big hint will be if when you booked, there was language in the marketing materials along the lines of "our staff works hard and tips are greatly appreciated"; or if you hear the same spoken by the leader of your group's staff as you're getting to the end of your trip (this is when I most often get the hint); or if you show up for your trip and there is a big jar on the vehicle or at the office labeled "TIPS". If you don't get one of those hints, tips are not usually required.

Just as a rough guideline, I typically figure two US dollars for each person on the "crew" of your trip, multiplied by the number of hours the trip was. Then round up to the nearest multiple of 5.

Since you're doing an airboat tour, it should only be one person on the airboat with you, two at most (one to steer and one to tell you about what you're seeing). Assuming it's a four- or five-hour tour, that would be $10 or $20 US.

Thanks for your help.

Our tour is 1.5 hours and it is private for our group of six. There should be only one crew member, the captain of airboat. I have seen few videos of the ride from that company. There seems to be label "If you enjoyed the ride, please tip the captain".

Thanks for everybody for your advice.

Some part of me would want to go out from the gated area even more to see what kind of place Falmouth really is. I am though traveling with my family so it probably wouldn't be good idea.

I just booked swim with dolphins excursion instead through cruise planner sale. Have someone here done that before?

We are going to spend one week in Florida before our cruise in October.

I have reserved private airboat tour for my family on Everglades. We are from Finland and we are not familiar for US tipping culture. I don't have a clue what would be appropriate amount for tipping in this case. What kind of tip would you suggest?

Anyone visited chocolate factory at Cozumel? Is it worth visiting?

Would 9am tour be too early? Harmony of the seas is scheduled to arrive port at 8am. How long it will take to disembark and get a taxi? Drive should take about 10mins what I have read about.

I would appreciate any recommendations and hints.

Has anyone here any experience wandering by own at Falmout town?

We are considering exploring the city by just wandering there by ourselves.

I have read from various sources that Falmouth is not considered to one of the best places to explore without any organized tour and many consider it even dangerous.

I would like to hear have anyone from here done it and what are their recommendations? I have read that some vendors might be very pushy and kind of aggressive for selling their products.

We are not going to go any shady side streets or any other areas that obviously are not good for tourists. If we are going to stick at “main streets” and market areas and practice normal safety manners is there any real dangers more than any other cities?

Correction to my date of departure. I am sailing from Port Everglades on Saturday 13th of Oct. Not 18th.

17 hours ago, melski94 said:

There is no registration for the teens. Just make sure they go the first night as that is when the teens meet and sort themselves into groups.

Thanks! We will do that.

I was checking couple of old Cruise Compass and that seems to be at from 8pm to 9pm when Teens Meet & Greet happens? So it will be first seating at dinner for us, at least for first night.

We are going to sail on HOTS with group including two teenagers 14 and 16. I am little confused to we need to register them into Adventure Ocean Youth Program or is that registration meant only kids under 12?

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone!

I have reserved cruise on HOTS boardwalk balcony cabin for my wife and myself. That cabin includes soda packages for up to two passengers. I have however bought drink packages to both of us from cruise planner.

How many tumblers totally should there be waiting us in our cabin? 4 (2 from included soda packages + 2 from purchased packages) or only 2?

On 11/23/2017 at 10:22 AM, Wanderer said:

Thanks for the tip! Saved 57€ of my wife's refreshment package by rebooking.

I had already bought us drink packages (deluxe for me and refreshment for my wife) before this new rule change. I only cancelled and rebooked my wife´s package and kept my already booked deluxe package without any problems. I did not dare to cancel my deluxe package because I was worrying that system will enforce me to book deluxe package to both of us. My wife will not consume alcohol beverages that amount it could make any sense for deluxe package.

Just called to RCL and rebooked my deluxe package as well. Just told to agent that my wife doesn't consume alcohol due to personal preferences and I was able to keep her package as refreshment. Rebooking my package I saved 85€ more. Total savings by rebooking both drink packages was 142€!

Thanks for the tip! Saved 57€ of my wife's refreshment package by rebooking.

I had already bought us drink packages (deluxe for me and refreshment for my wife) before this new rule change. I only cancelled and rebooked my wife´s package and kept my already booked deluxe package without any problems. I did not dare to cancel my deluxe package because I was worrying that system will enforce me to book deluxe package to both of us. My wife will not consume alcohol beverages that amount it could make any sense for deluxe package.

Is there any alternative options near the airport? Our flight is leaving at 9pm and that luggage storage in the airport seems to be open till 5:30pm.

Correction to my cruise date on member cruise list. I will be departing on Oct 13, 2018 on Harmony of the Seas.