Guests can unwind in The Solarium, an adults-only area with a Thai theme, pool, bar and cafe. The ceiling is retractable and opens when weather permits.The primary question I was asked when telling people I was planning a cruise came as no surprise: “Aren’t you worried or scared?”
After all, over the past year, there’s been one deadly shipwreck. Not to mention the sufferings of those aboard Carnival’s Triumph as it stood dead in the water, then limped for days toward shore, offering patrons little more than onion sandwiches. And then there was the fire aboard Royal Caribbean’s Grandeur of the Seas just weeks ago. All this is enough to make a landlubber out of any water lover.
But I wasn’t worried in the least. Granted, I’d made our reservations well before Carnival’s recent unpleasantness. And naivety is bliss, since it had been a good 15 years since my last cruise, and I’d forgotten much about cruising.
The idea of spending five glorious nights aboard Royal Caribbean’s Jewel of the Seas sounded like heaven to me.
Getting there