Jewel of the Seas. Older cruise ships are great bargains sometimes.

The fancy NEW ships ARE beautiful. But DON'T overlook the deals to be had with cruising on the older, more unique cruise ships and routes. Daniella and I took the JEWEL OF THE SEAS for a 9 night cruise, ONE way, from New Jersey to Bermuda then Aruba, Curacao, and ending in San Juan. It was a FANTASTIC cruise! One of the BEST EVER. And it was SO affordable. Give it a try!

[@coolhandchunk]

We sailed on the Brilliance of the Seas (sister ship) back in 2008 on a Panama Canal cruise... it was fantastic back then!

[@sherrjo]

I've booked all inclusive for the dining on that ship. Do you think it's worth it? You dined in Chops what about other restaurants? I see your wife, like mine also likes the Curacao cosmos. :)

[@WereGettingThereCruising]

SO sorry for the late response, haven't checked this one in a while. If you get this in time, I'd suggest NOT doing the all-inclusive specialty dining...there's really only two specialty sit down restaurants on this ship, Giovanni's and Chops Grille, I believe. We've never been all that impressed by Giovanni's, but Chops is ALWAYS good...then I guess there's still Izumi (also good) and Chef's table...which I've never done as it's just a bit too fancy for my palate, but I don't know if the specialty dining all-in includes that one as it's considered PRIME specialty. If it DOES and you're dying to try it, then I'd say book that one several times to get your moneys worth. So, if you're asking me and it's just MY opinion, the only place I'd eat outside of the included restaurants would be Chops...so getting a 3 dinner package might be the better deal. I hope that helps! And have a GREAT cruise!