Royal Caribbean - 8 Night Eastern Caribbean & Perfect Day (Jewel of the Seas)
Our first cruise together brought us to Orlando, FL for an 8 night adventure to the Eastern Caribbean on December 2022 [Link to the cruise]. We had an amazing time visiting: Haiti, Puerto Rico, St. Maarten, U.S. Virgin Islands and the Bahamas. Our goal was to have a relaxing trip and also stay on budget. Lets sail together and explore the key highlights of this cruise!
 |
Port Canaveral awaiting boarding |
Food
As our goal was to stay on budget, we did not spend a single dollar on non-inclusive dining. There were some misses on the quality of the food, but overall, the food was delicious and had a fair variety day-to-day. The most memorable aspect of the dining experience on this cruise was the outdoor dining option for the buffet which was amazing with the views and the fresh ocean breeze. For the majority of the cruise we ate at the buffet for breakfast, lunch and dinner and ate at the Main Dining Room (MDR) for dinners.
Buffet (Windjammer)
 |
Breakfast at the Windjammer |
One of the highlights of the buffet was that each day had its change in cuisine - from Tex-Mex day to Chinese day. The food was very flavorful and had a fair representation of the cuisine that was highlighted that day. It would have been nice if they matched the daily cuisines to the destinations we were sailing to. Some of our favourites included the seafood -- especially the shrimp, the meats and cooked vegetables. There was a section of the buffet that stayed consistent everyday consisting of minute steak, mashed potatoes and other standard American dishes. One of the weaknesses of the buffet was the desserts. The desserts were often quite bland and you could taste the substitution of certain ingredients for cheaper alternatives making it taste off, and even at times made us question whether they were even labelled correctly because it did not taste like what was listed. There were a small handful of desserts that were memorably delicious but the majority were forgettable. The buffet was well stocked and seldom went empty, it was also clean but needed some extra attention with the dining tables and chairs. The variety and quality of fruit was also weak, there were often fruits that were dry.
Main Dining Room (MDR)
 |
Lobster night at the MDR |
Like the buffet, the MDR also alters its menu each day (but not based on different cuisines) and also keeps the standard everyday selections. The dishes were of equal quality of the buffet with of course better presentation. Some of the dishes that were served at the restaurant could also be found at the buffet the same night so there were many nights where we went to the buffet after eating at the MDR to try what we passed in the MDR to see what it was. There were definitely some incredible dishes like steak and of course lobster tails (available only on cruises more than 7 nights long). The tight seating was at times uncomfortable with how close you were to others when it was full (make sure to make reservations!) but the ambience and cleanliness gave it a more elegant dining experience over the buffet.
Service
Housekeeping service
 |
Our Interior Room |
The service in the room was amazing. The staff member responsible for cleaning our room was friendly, professional and also respected our privacy and requests. The crew outside our room were also very friendly and would occasionally greet you as you passed them. As our trip was during Christmas they had a really nice Christmas theme throughout the ship and even had a tree lighting ceremony with carolers which was really enjoyable.
Dining service
 |
Christmas decorations inside the Windjammer |
The dining service staff - waiters, receptionists and greeters were all friendly and professional. Food always came promptly and the waiters strived for exceptional service. We went with 'My Time Dining', booking reservations every night ahead of time to ensure we had a spot. We were always guaranteed a spot by our time of arrival which saved time from having to line up if you did not reserve and if it was a full house. The table cleaning staff were also very friendly and would greet you as they worked on ensuring a clean space at the buffet.
Entertainment
Shows
 |
| Live show at the Coral Theatre |
There were live musicals that were performed twice a night which was great because if you missed the earlier performance because of dinner or other activities there was the same show later that same night. The performers themselves were talented but the plot at times was confusing. Overall, the shows were decent but do not expect anything outstanding.
On Deck fun
 |
| Gyroscopic stabilizer pool table |
For an 8 night cruise, this ship had a fair share of entertainment to keep you occupied throughout. Some of our highlights included:
- Rock climbing, basketball, mini golf and a pool table that stabilizes itself based on the waves
- Spacious public deck for stargazing
- Live music, Bingo and interactive trivia
Island Destinations
We went to two of Royal Caribbean's islands which we cover here:
 | |
Labadee, Haiti
|
Excursions
We went on two excursions which we cover here:
 |
 |
Kayak Adventure at Historical Christopher Columbus Landing Site (Link to our excursion posts when done) |
Money Saving Tips
 |
Awaiting our Go Port bus from the hotel |
Go Port
Go Port is based out of Florida and is a company that provides travel packages for hotel, transportation and parking for Port Canaveral based sailings. We flew in from Canada and just needed a hotel and transportation from the hotel to the cruise ship and back. Go Port offered the best price and convenience we could find based on many options we considered. The package we purchased was hotel and transportation. We stayed at Avid Hotel which met our needs and expectations (Shoutout to their great included breakfast!). The staff at Go Port were very friendly and they did a great job in providing instructions for where to meet. The bus transportation was comfortable and timely.
Two negative critiques: They bumped our bus departure meetup time earlier, though this did not cause significant issues for us, we were hoping to sleep-in. The second issue was how many stops we had to make before arriving at the ship. We were told it would be a maximum of two stops before the ship, we made at least five.
 |
| Christmas decorations inside the ship |
Agency booking (iCruise)
We were skeptical of having a third party involved in booking this cruise -- why book on a different site when you can do it directly through Royal Caribbean? The pricing was almost always better on 3rd party sites. After much research we found out that these agencies would purchase blocks of rooms from the cruise lines and then sell it to the customer at a discount. We found that iCruise offered a great rate for this trip and the site was easy to navigate and felt secure.
Value for Money
 |
Beautiful sunset view from our ship |
We paid $839CAD each for the cruise (not including excursions or anything extra). When you consider we probably ate more than half of that in food per person, $400 for transportation to go from dock to dock, room accommodation and ship amenities for 8 nights equaling to $50 per night. That price is hard to beat if you were doing flights and hotels which would easily be two to three times more expensive. Yes, this is an older ship (Almost 20 years old) but with everything considered, this was a great value for money and highly recommended!
Full Video:
Comments
Post a Comment