MITSUGIRLY has a JEWEL of a time on my 1st RC cruise in years!
Ship Pictures
We'll start out with a few "extras" around the ship.
We'll start with a picture that was located right outside my cabin door.
I loved this saying
The psychedelic staircase
This ship liked faces..
Around the ship in various places, you would find these touch screens. NCL also has these (I believe on just the new ships) and they can be very helpful if you are trying to find something or book something. I really didn't use it this time because the ship was pretty easy to navigate.
One thing about this ship is all the glass you will find everywhere. Even the elevators were all glass and on BOTH sides.
There was a centralized area, on only ONE side of the ship, unlike most ships that have elevators on both sides or the middle, this was just the one side...the side with the glass wall.
It was beautiful. It brings you closer to the water/ocean for some pretty spectacular views. Once you step on the outside elevators, you have a view of the ocean or you have a view of the floors as you pass them. Once you step on the inside elevators, a view of the atrium or a view of the floors. Pretty cool!
These weren't just any old glass on the elevators either, they had etchings in them.
We will start with DECK 4
CORAL THEATRE:
I see fish...so far I'm liking it!
Notice that each chair had a place to put your drink? I thought that was very well thought out. However...I would later find that it wasn't. See the slice in the arm piece to "slide" you glass in? Well, I guess they designed this for wine glasses only because our pop glasses (regular sized) would not fit in this. Boo!
THE ATRIUM: The masterpiece, the centerpiece, the wow factor of every ship.
Now I have to say that back in the 80's-90's when I took my first NCL and RC cruise, one of the big things they had in the atrium was some type of waterfall as a centerpiece. You don't see waterfalls much anymore and to my surprise, this ship has some! I was excited to see it and it brought me back to my old cruise days.
TIDES DINING ROOM: This is on both the 4th and 5th floor.
One thing I did find interesting is that you could make reservations...for the ANY time dining. I thought that was weird because isn't the reason you pick any time dining is because you just want to "show up"?
One side is for those that have reservations and the other side was for walk in's.
We always ate on the 5th floor so I didn't even realize there was a waterfall on the 4th floor until once when we went for lunch and ate on the 4th floor.
Although it wasn't much of a "waterfall" and more like a "trickle of water" on that black wall.
Tides Dining continued:
DECK 5
ART & PHOTO GALLERY
Here is the place that you go to view your pictures the ship photographers take of you:
The system they had was like most ships, where's Waldo in the hundreds of pictures hanging on the walls.
One good thing is that if you gathered all of your pictures, they would put them in a plastic folio and hang on to them for you.
The only negative I found is that it took them forever to process and put pictures out. Every ship I have been on, you are in port that day and had your picture taken when you exit the ship and by that evening, your pictures would be out. These guys took until the next day to put out any pictures from that day. I'm not sure if all RC ships are like that or not, but it was the one thing that I didn't like about it.
As for the "art gallery"...art was everywhere on the ship, just as it is on all ships. They had auctions and one day, toward the end of the cruise, they had the auction in the Safari room. I randomly took a few pictures there and around the ship of things that caught my eye.
This drawing is one that I could see Sakari doing with the crazy filled in shapes. I think we'll have to try it some day.
Another psychedelic picture that appeared 3d and moved with you.
There was a series of these pictures of women and they had jewels attached to them. I thought they were very pretty.
Then there's my favorite picture...kissing fish. I was eyeballing this picture from day one. This artist does a series of pictures like this and they seem to be black pieces of foam that is put on top of each other to create a 3d picture. Then topped off with bright colors of course. I would later find out that this particular picture cost $3,000!!! Say what??? I immediately put in a request for Sakari to make me something like this!
SHOPS OF CENTRUM:
The way this area was set up, you were pretty much forced to walk through this in order to get to the other side. On previous ships, I felt that it was more of a centralized walkway or a way to walk around it, but this felt like you was constantly entering the stores each time. Maybe I was just coming in on the wrong side of the ship because there was always this set of steps that entered the shops and straight into the store.
CAFE LATTE-TUDES:
This was a place to get cappuccinos, premium coffee or snacks with a seating area for the coffee bar.
NEXT CRUISE:
DECK 6
CINEMA:
The Jewel has it's very own Cinema and we are not talking about the big screen at the pool deck. An actual cinema!
It was very small, but still really neat. We did not get to use this, as much as I wanted to, because honestly, there wasn't anything playing worth watching to us and they played the same movies over and over both here and at the big screen at the pool. Most of the time they just rotated them. One movie was even 18 years old!!!! I was very disappointed in the movies on this ship.
I think it was the first night of the cruise that they played Nemo & maybe Finding Dory. That was the only thing I would have been interested in seeing...over and over again. I love these movies. However, after that first night or two, they did not play it again.
THE PIT STOP:
CASINO ROYALE
The one place you can always find a lot of pictures from me. LOL
I thought this casino was very small compared to most. Maybe it was the layout and how things were kind of a chopped up feeling. But it just didn't seem very big and not much selection...however, it did have many of the games that I do play, so that was a plus.
My #1 favorite on this ship was of course Alice! They had 2 of them and it was always my go-to machine each time and I always seemed to do really well on it. If I ever got down to around $5 on another machine, I would take that $5 and put it in here and usually walk away with $60-70.
The machine on the end was the best and hit the most, but the 4th one down I did do decent on a few times.
These are always on the ships and usually crowded at any given time. However, I honestly did not see one person play these on this cruise. I could have not been there when people played them, but it just struck me as odd.
Mermaids!! On the floor in this picture below, there was a neat glass that you walked on and it was real pretty. Every time I walked over it I thought "hmm, I should get a picture of this" but then thought, "I'm sure I took one on the first day and I'm sure I've taken one each time I have walked over it and probably have tons of them"...only to find out I actually didn't take any! Sigh
They did have the popular games like Carnival Rio, Pixies and a few others that are similar to them. So, I was happy about that.
VINTAGES:
This place reminded me of some of the NCL ships I have been on with the crazy and wild furniture in it.
SCHOONER BAR AREA AND WALKWAY
This was a pretty cool area with boats and "sea" stuff.
Completed with our itinerary:
And a map. We were going WAY down. I think the furthest I have ever been so far.
CHOPS GRILLE:
This is a specialty restaurant, for an extra charge, and you can order steaks, seafood and so on in an elegant setting.
GIOVANNI'S TABLE:
This is a specialty restaurant, for a price, that features Italian food.
THE GAME RESERVES, SERENGETI CARD CLUB, ZANZIBAR, CONGO BAR, LIBRARY AND THE SAFARI CLUB.
I'm not even sure if I have the right name to the pictures for these, but they are all located in the same area, so I'm going to do myself a favor and not try to figure them out. LOL
This is the area that has a bunch of games...which is one thing we usually try to do on each cruise, but forgot to go back and play.
THE SAFARI CLUB continued...Excellent view
DECK 11:
Now I'm taking you to the prettiest place on the ship IMO. It was gorgeous!
THE SOLARIUM:
This is an "adult" only area, but does have the Pizzeria located in it as well.
Royal did have these signs about chair hogging around the pool areas, but I really didn't notice much chair hogging. There were a few that put towels out here and there around the main pool area, first thing in the morning, but it seemed to be maybe 5-6 only (at least when I was around).
A bridge that walks up and over the end of the pool area.
In the mornings they had orange juice and water out and in the afternoon water and lemonade.
It did have a roof that could open and close. I noticed it was open on the first or second day but seen it closed most of the other times I had looked.
A view from the top
Another thing I found interesting is this "Public Health Advisory" about not reusing cups...but yet they have a soda package that has you reuse your cup the entire cruise.
The Pizzeria:
THE SOLARIUM continued:
This place had pizza, fresh fruits, cold pre-made sandwiches and I did see a sign that said "hot dogs" but never seen them. Maybe you had to ask for them.
Whirlpool (and pool rules) said you had to be 16 and older to be in the area. I find this kinda weird...I don't consider someone who is 16 an "adult". If this is an adult area, make it an actual ADULT area...as in at least 18 years old.
I did see some kids in the pool once and questioned whether or not they were even 16. That's what made me want to stop and read the sign.
Yes, the pool is salt water.
Pool and pool area: For those wondering, yes it is saltwater.
I found the smoking section interesting with these floor model ashtrays instead of the ones that sit on the tables and are very scarce on most ships.
Now I'm going to take you to the most amazing public bathroom on any ship I have ever seen. LOL
I walked into this bathroom for the first time and thought "wow, that's one amazing designed bathroom! The only public bathroom I have ever seen that even comes close is one of NCL's that had a wall of glass overlooking the ocean and very fancy-schmancy. I can't remember if it was on the Epic or one of the newer ships like Getaway/Breakaway. It was beautiful though.
WINDJAMMER CAFE:
I find it funny that after all these years, the name of the buffet is still called "windjammer". That's exactly what it was called back in the day.
There was PLENTY of seating, both sides, around back...just everywhere. It was a very nice and functional layout and NEVER felt crowded (except twice, which will be in my review).
They had a lot of different areas with different food, which I believed helped with the flow and function of this buffet (versus a long, stand in line, type of buffet that you walk down gathering food all in one line. People could be in different sections at different times and not spent waiting in line.) It worked out well IMO.
There are several things I wanted to mention about the buffet area. You will find the same things on each side EXCEPT it took me until around day 4 to find out my hubs was going over to the other side and found hashbrowns while I stuck to the same side each time and had potatoes. I couldn't figure out how he kept finding those and I never seen them. Then discovered they were on the other side. The exact same food as the side I went to daily, just hashbrowns instead of the potatoes.
Next, I found it strange that they had an omelette area on our side, but they were certain types of omelettes and pre-made. You could get a veggie or a ham and cheese and maybe there was just a cheese one too. Every ship I have been on allowed you to "make your own" and tell them what you wanted on it. Really? Royal did not offer this luxury? They were also VERY SLOW making omelettes over here. One by one...I made the comment to the hubby once that I probably could have made 3 in the amount of time it was taking them to just make the one.
So...this brings me to...GO TO THE OTHER SIDE!!! We did not discover, until we were told by our friend, that the OTHER side had the make your own/request for an omelette. We did not discover this until THE LAST DAY! LOL
THE POP MACHINE!!! So, you purchase the soda package and they give you a plastic cup with a lid to use. You can either choose to use this cup and come to this drink station and refill on your own... instead of waiting in line at a bar for a cup.
They work exactly like they do at a fast food place (we have them here at Wendys).
I was told there's something in the cup that causes it to activate, but I swear I can't see or feel anything and I think they are just faking us out with this story.
Several issues with these machines that I will cover in my review, from placement to availability to function.
There is a section out back in the open that you can eat outside in the aft (which we didn't and I think I forgot to take pictures).
Then there's a section that runs along the side with windows, but is more enclosed.
You can enter this using the sliding