A SHIPBUILDING JEWEL

The Jewel of the Seas in the easiest and most convenient ship that we have ever traveled on.  Part of this is due to our doing our research and selecting a perfectly located stateroom – Rm #9567.  This room is truly a mid-ship location.  Only a very short walk to the central elevators, but far enough away from the same so as to not be bothered by elevator “noise”.  But our stateroom location was only a part of the convenience. 

 

The Jewel of the Seas is beautifully laid out.  It is a very easy and quick walk to virtually anything you might want to do.  Though the Jewel has a gross tonnage of 90,000 tons, and is over 3 football fields in length, it doesn’t seem large at all.  Although some decks allow passengers to walk front to back on either side, some decks have a starboard side bias.  At first glance this might seem problematic, but as it turns out, it doesn’t take long to figure this out this design pattern.  I’m not sure how, but it “works”.  Moving about the Jewel is not at all complicated.

Also, the location of elevators is somehow brilliant.  The central elevators located on the starboard side of the Centrum seldom seem crowded.  In contrast to the elevators on the Carnival Dream, where the elevators were seemingly always “packed” to capacity, the elevators on the Jewel were pleasantly “available” and convenient.

The single dining room “Tides” was likewise close, convenient, and never felt crowed or “claustrophobic”.  On the contrary, it seemed very open and light.  Also, I did not notice any unpleasant engine noise or vibration that is so common on cruise ships, especially in rear dining rooms.

 

 

Overall, the Jewel shined like one.  The Jewel has seen a decade at sea, but it certainly doesn’t look as though it has suffered from it.  Even when I was able to sneak a peak past an open “crew only” door, it all sparkled.  Oh, if you look really hard you might see a scuff here, or a chip there.  But nowhere did the ship seem run-down or neglected.