bcarney

Just got off Jewel last week. Drinks were a breathtaking $12 plus tip - but buying a drinks package on a cruise that only had one day at sea didn't make any sense to me. The good news is it saved me a TON of money - I barely drank anything at all. And the Pool Bar was practically empty most of the time....

If you are flexible and don't mind possibly missing the opportunity to dine at a specific restaurant, you may want to wait and book onboard when they are trying to fill the restaurants. We've never done the uncharge dining, but since our TA gave us an OBC we dined at Chops last week on Jewel and liked it - a lot. The next morning a staffer was going through the Windjammer at breakfast announcing a promo for Portofino's that evening - $18/pp and I think it was $8 for the kids. We gave it a shot - and LOVED IT (and this is coming from a guy that didn't like Italian food!). So it might be worthwhile to wait and see what opportunities come your way while onboard.

Looking forward to seeing your comparison to Disney (especially since I have an 8 year old boy and a 6 year old girl). I live near Grand Ledge!

Next cruise? Saturday baby! WOOT!

What ship? I understand Portofino is being replaced with Giovanni's Table fleet wide.

On Safari on my Mac it always shows all 653 cruises, no matter what selections I choose. Had to switch to Firefox just to check prices.

Is this new line MSC Cruises? PM me the answer if you wish. I'll be honest, I've been looking at their ten day in November '15... the only real thing holding me back is I don't particularly like Italian food.

From what I've read elsewhere, which is based on on one presentation to travel agents by one RCI VP, this is going to be implemented on Anthem only at this time. Two new ships, two new "incubators" where they are trying out new concepts... I'll be honest, I'm kind of impressed that they're nimble enough to be able to pivot to a new dining plan so close to deployment.

This deserves to be a regular blog post on the homepage.

This, IMHO, is a happy compomise. Rotational for those that want the same wait staff/time each night, and My Time/My Place dining for those that prefer that flexibility. A win - win for all as far as I'm concerned. Anthem/Quantum is now officially back on my To-Do list! :)

Here in the States you can bring back a liter, but if you pick up a liter distilled in an "insular United States Territory" - i.e., the US Virgin Islands - you're allowed another 4 from anyplace else duty free.

They may be contractually bound to only service Royal Caribbean customers on certain days, or when certain ships are in port. RC clearly gets a "cut" of the fee, so you can imagine the problems they'd have if 2 groups of people left the ship on an excursion, half booking with RC at $50/pp and half that booked direct with the operator at $40/pp.

The air conditioning/circulation systems on board make a little bit of noise FWIW

It was May 1. The reason I know is because I booked that day, before the computer algorithms figured out people like me would book two rooms, each one with one adult and one child. We wound up getting two connecting oceanview rooms for just $30 more than jamming all 4 of us in one.

You're not alone. :)

I used to bring a suit, but the last few cruises I've just brought some khakis and an oxford or other nice shirt, and a tie for the "formal" nights photos. No hassles regarding that in the dining room. I just can't justify the extra cost to schlep down that extra luggage for something I'm going to wear for maybe 4 hours.

I love Aruba as well - I also like that the times we've been there the ship stays until 10 or 11 in the evening so you get a taste of the nightlife there. On one visit the power went out in the main city, and the place was totally dark. We went out anyway. :) The now defunct Carlos and Charlies was open and running on a generator, and every time someone ordered a margarita or some other frozen drink all the lights dimmed - so we of course kept dimming the lights! My friend is a heavy set tall guy, and the staff had this contest where they had people stand on top of a table and sing the children's song "I'm A Little Teapot" with all the hand motions...so of course they dragged my friend into it and he won us all a bunch of drinks! That evening is one of the fondest memories I have...I love Aruba!

We stopped in Dominica on our first cruise waaaay back in 1999. I really liked it, reminded me of St. Lucia. We've been to St. Kitts twice, on the first time we did the 'round the island train excursion which was a great way to see the island. The second time we had our kids with us and visited Fort Brimstone and Romney Manor; it was a nice historical tour. Should we stop there again I'm going to convince my wife to take the excursion that goes to neighboring Nevis just so I can add another island to me "been there!" list. :)

I can't speak to Jewel specifically, but generally speaking on most ships we've been on there were 1-2 soft serve ice cream machines in the area between the Windjammer and the pool area. They were on the opposite side of where the "smoking area" is (over on the starboard side). I know they were available during the daytime, but they may have been closed up at nighttime - I don't remember.

When I was on Oasis last year my go-to evening beer onboard (a Sam Adams Double Bock) was $8.50 IIRC, and a Sierra Nevada IPA was I think $6.50. The rum I drank neat (either Zaya or Ron Zacapa Centenario, I don't recall which one they had) was $9.75 in the dining room . So some people could hit that daily "break even" point if they drink nicer stuff (and stay up past 10pm unlike this lightweight). I don't plan on buying the drink packages for two reasons: 1) We really like port intensive itineraries, so we're not onboard most of the day to have a drink here and there, and 2) We hit Diamond level before the Oasis cruise, and now we get 3 drinks a night loaded onto our card for consumption between 5-8pm (not valid in the dining room though). So for me, it's not cost effective, but I can see how it could be for others - especially those that want to try different drinks without worrying if they'll like it or not.

Fly down to San Juan and know when you get there you'll be in a tropical climate! Nothing better than having left FREEZING COLD MICHIGAN and when you get off the plane you're blasted in the face with hot, humid air... you really know you're "someplace else" at that point!

Yeah, the October 10, 2015 is the last Adventure sailing posted thus far (thru April 2016) that stops in Aruba and Curacao - so if you want to hit those islands, do it now. Jewel starts going to Aruba on every alternate week starting October 25th. Adventure stays on the southeastern side with some of the usual stops but mixing in Dominica, Martinique, St. Kitts, and Grenada depending on the week. Adventure is our favorite ship - been on it 4 times - we're just taking Jewel this time around to try out a different class of ship with family and friends (I think it's 18 of us that have dining linked together - thanks Michelle!)

My chiropractor is a RC fan, and loves Adventurer of the Seas as much as I do. He had a question I couldn't answer - why is Adventure no longer sailing to Aruba and Curacao as of mid October of this year? Anyone have the scoop?

Our first was on Monarch, which was a nice cruise, our second after a honeymoon on Carnival Fascination. Our third cruise was Adventure of the Sears in Nov. 2002 - and we were hooked. The Promenade, the itinerary, and most importantly the staff is what hooked us. Liked it so much we sailed on her 3 more times, and keep discussing it for a 4th after our Jewel cruise...

As I've expressed elsewhere I'm no fan of the notion of Dynamic Dining for my vacations, but I agree with management postponing it's rollout for the time being. Once they work out the kinks on Quantum and Anthem, they'll have a model to work off of. I'm one of the worst "crowd adverse" people I know (I don't go to concerts and shows due to the amount of people there, etc.) but after sailing on Oasis I noted that RC really mastered how to move large numbers of people onboard the ship, and keep people scatted around the ship doing different activities, without making one feel crowded. With the exception of the last day (a day at sea) with a crowded pool deck, I never felt as I was with several thousand people onboard at one time. I'm sure they'll figure do the same when implementing Dynamic Dining on the non-Quantum class ships once the logistics are worked out.