DocLC

Further proof that we need a ship in Southern California where the average temp with be in the mid to upper 70s this week. I know the Mexico route wasn't extremely profitable, but I wish they'd consider doing more California coastals.

Rattle and Hum. Went there on Thanksgiving and it was awesome. Fifty plus beers on tap and at least four casks. They have a daily beer menu and also offer flights. Food was good, not great but worth it for the beer selection.

There are a number of them depending on your phone and the app store that you use. Just search "white notice" and a bunch of choices will come up. My best experience has been with apps that simulate fan noise.

I use an app on my smart phone as it's easier and lighter than a fan. However, I don't think you'll have any issues getting a steamer or small fan onboard based on my own experiences.

Not that I saw. It seemed like your regular instant tea.

ive read that if there are at least four days remaining, you can buy the package.

I can't really think of any that I would consider appetizers, but they did have soup and salad listed. As an entree, they had a spinach-artichoke dip.

I haven't been to Falmouth, but I've been to the other two ports several times and never had an issue. Costa Maya, however, required great amounts of bug spray.

Part of the charm of the Windjammer is the outdoor seating, which is part of the reason it made my Top 5 even though I forgot to mention it. As for Sea View hours, it was open 2:30-6 on port days and en from about 9 pm to 1 am. On the sea day, it was open from about 11:30/noon to 6 and then again later in the night. Enjoy your cruise.

Inspired by today's podcast episode (Episode 77 - Top 5: Enchantment of the Seas), I thought I'd take a stab at my top 5 for the Jewel of the Seas. 5. The View - excellent views are to be had from just about everywhere. An added treat comes from the center bank of elevators that offer a sea view. 4. The Eclectic Art Collection - each deck has an interesting theme as do each of the stairwells. We went for walks every night after dinner and had a fun time strolling the decks looking at the various art that range from neon sculptures, pictures of dogs, animations, photography, etc. 3. The Windjammer for Dinner - the Windjammer really impressed us for dinner with grilled to order fish, chicken, steaks, and burgers along with a variety of accompaniments (e.g., black peppercorn sauce). In addition, they had a nightly action cooking station where you could get the themed entrée cooked to order which varied from night to night and included things like fajitas and quesadillas to pasta dishes. 2. The Sea View Café - every ship should have one of these and in my opinion it should be open 24 hours per day. While the food wasn't phenomenal, it was very good and fresh as it was cooked to order. For an indulgent snack, the chicken finger/chicken wing/fries plate was great. And while the Rubens were good, we fell in love with the Cubans. My son was also a fan of the vegetarian sandwich after leaving Adventure Ocean at night. 2a. The Water Slide - since the Sea View Café is going away with the Jewel's refurb, I'll add the water slide as the Radiance class is the only class in the fleet that offers a water slide. While it doesn't compare to those offered on Carnival, Disney, or NCL, it is still a nice addition overall. 1. The Cinema - my wife and I enjoyed several movies here. The cinema spanned two decks, had stadium-style seating, and had a relatively large screen. It was our go-to form of entertainment in the evenings as there were a lot of good movies being shown that we hadn't seen.

The chips and guacamole was also available in the Sea View Café. :)

For the Jewel a couple of weeks ago, we went through about $500 cash, but that including paying about $200 cash on private excursions. The rest was spent on tips for tour guides, gifts, incidentals (e.g., a 6 pack of Coke Zero for my wife), and the like. I'm not a fan of using credit cards in port because I've read too many accounts of credits cards getting compromised. Remember to take only as much as you need off the ship and to leave the rest in the safe onboard in case something bad happens. I also leave an emergency credit card onboard in the safe for the same reason so that I always have a backup.

I liked Belize, but you'll definitely want to plan ahead for this port. This is the one port where it might be worth booking an excursion to have priority with the tenders.

Matt is correct that you're mostly in protected waters; however, one of our worse trips was aboard the Legend out of Tampa. I think it was a combination of both high winds and crossing the gulf into the Atlantic as it goes from the North Equatorial Current into the North Atlantic Current. We never experienced this from our numerous trips from the east side of Florida.

You've picked some great locations. Have a great trip.

As Matt suggested, the cabin steward is covered in the automatic gratuity. However, if you make a lot of requests and/or your steward goes out of his/her way (e.g., additional balcony furniture, extra linens, etc.), then an additional cash tip might be appropriate.

The only thing to consider is whether either of you are susceptible to motion sickness. If you are, then being on a lower deck, midship could be beneficial. My wife is a bit susceptible, but fortunately out of 20 cruises, she's only been seasick on one and that's when we had an aft cabin. Any other time, retreating to our midship cabin has always allowed her some relief.

I just wanted to remind everyone to ask for the kids' menu in the MDR especially if there's nothing to your liking on the regular menu or if you're looking for something different (e.g., finger foods). We often find that desserts of the kids' menu can be a nice change as most cruise lines have some version of a banana split which can make the regular ice cream a bit more appealing. On Royal, it's more like sliced bananas with chocolate syrup, but still quite tasty especially if you opt for the specialty flavor of the night. Remember, any adult can order for the kids' menu just like any kid can order from the regular menu. :)

I've always tipped for room service even on lines that stated that it was covered by the daily charge. Otherwise, I've only tipped extra for exceptional service, which has been most often at the coffee bars when on the drink packages as I loved that they knew my drink by the second day. On NCL, we also tipped extra in their cafe as a server there was exceptional with my son everyday we passed through.

On the Jewel, our muster station was in the hallway leading to the Schooner Bar. We were packed in pretty tightly and would have preferred to be on deck.

Tulum is awesome, but it is a lot of travel for a short visit. I don't remember wanting/needing more time there, but it didn't allow much time for anything else since at least four hours will be spent getting there and back on top of your time at the ruins.

Saint John is a good option from St. Thomas as is snorkeling; it really depends what you're into in terms of activities. Magen's Bay is also very nice. I also agree with Matt regarding St. Maarten. Maho Beach is a tourist attraction. Worth doing, but I wouldn't want to sp end the day there as it's too crowded and the bar is too expensive. I also used the same driver as Matt, who I'd highly recommend as you'll have more flexibility over other options and likely save money. Also, it was a grat experience with him.

The pricing is part of the reason why my wife and I didn't cruise Royal after our son was born. The third berth pricing was very high increasing the overall cost of the cruise. On two of our cruises, we actually ended up on Disney as the price was actually cheaper than on Royal; the other two times it was comparable. HAL also enticed us by offering free 3rd and 4th berth pricing as did Celebrity with reduced cost for the 3rd berth. However, I recognize that Royal is publicly traded and owes it to its investors to charge as much as possible for their cabins and they have every right to do so if they can get it.

Similarly, if you port arrival and departure times change, most 3rd party providers will not provide a refund. I read about a couple who didn't want to do an excursion because it ended up being right in the middle of the day because of altered arrival and departure times and the tour provider wouldn't provide a refund since they did make it to the port. Something else to consider. Royal was very flexible with their excursions and refunds.

There was a "white night" on the Jewel's 1/3/15 sailing as well. I also didn't see any evidence of a dress code being enforced. Personally, I don't care if someone wants to dine in shorts and a t-shirt, but I do get annoyed if they suggest that there's a dress code and then don't enforce it. As a result, I just prefer that they do away with the dress code all together or go with a standard like collared shirts and pants for men.