Sunday, January 20th: Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Partly Cloudy, 70°F/21°C
So let’s start off with the fact that the Image Gallery now contains the pics from this last vacation, and then I shall delve into the trip outside the horrible trip there.
Once on the ship we ventured to our tiny cabin and rapidly unpacked all our belongings, then just as quickly ventured on to the ship to check it out. Two of our previous three cruises together (Mary and I) were on fairly large ships, and while the Jewel isn’t small by any means, it was about 20% smaller than the other two. It was exceedingly well kept and quite elegant, quite apparently a bridge between Celebrity and Royal Caribbean’s ships and target audiences. I knew quickly I’d miss the Promenade, a strip of shops and restaurants that can be found on some other RCI ships, but what missing from here.

We’d made plans to meet a lot of people at 3:00 PM, including the other seven in our party, and found the Cruise Critic crew and my family in quick time. We got some sail away drinks and, after some conversation, made our way around to take some more pics and check things out. After the ship was on her way we got ready for dinner, but first was the Welcome Aboard Showtime hosted by Cruise Director Bobby Brown and comedian Jeff Jena. Brown seemed adequate but bored for most of the trip, although he seemed to come to life as the week wore on. I’ve heard rumours we were a less than exciting crew on this vacation, and that seemed obvious, so perhaps it’s not all his fault. Jena was funny enough, albeit in a brief set. Once the festivities were behind us we headed down to meet our waiter – Nigel – and assistant waitress – Merry Chris. I started off in style with THREE appetizers: Melon and Proscuitto, Vidalia Onion Tart (sweet onions and gruyere cheese baked in pastry with red pepper), and Chilled Watermelon Gazpacho. My main would be Herb Crusted Filet of Atlantic Cod with light cream saffron champagne sauce, red skinned mashed potatoes, and scallions, and my dessert was Ivory Chocolate Fondue. After some aimless roaming and a show it was off to bed to rest up for the first full day of shore-side excursions.