Jewel of the Seas

Jewel of the Seas is the fourth and final ship of Royal Caribbean International's Radiance class, built by Meyer Werft at Papenburg, Germany, and entering service in 2004 at a cost of approximately US$350 million. Rounding out the quartet that began with Radiance of the Seas three years earlier, she is a roughly 90,000-gross-ton, 293-metre vessel for around 2,100 guests, sharing the class's hallmark abundance of glass, gas-turbine propulsion, and panoramic ocean-view spaces.

As with her sisters, Jewel was designed to feel bright and outward-looking, with exterior glass elevators overlooking the sea, floor-to-ceiling windows lining her public rooms, and a glass-roofed Solarium that adapts to changing weather. Her comparatively compact size relative to Royal Caribbean's megaships lets her call at smaller ports and gives her a calmer, more refined atmosphere prized by travelers who favor scenery and space over crowds and attractions.

The ship was christened by Kathy Mellor, a National Teacher of the Year, an apt choice reflecting the values the line wished to celebrate. Jewel of the Seas is registered at Nassau in the Bahamas and carries the call sign C6FW9.

Jewel has ranged widely over her career, with notable service in Europe, the Baltic, and the eastern seaboard, as well as warm-weather deployments. In recent seasons she has sailed Caribbean itineraries from Florida and from San Juan, Puerto Rico, the latter giving her convenient access to the ports of the southern and eastern Caribbean. Homeported at Fort Lauderdale's Port Everglades for much of her Caribbean program, Jewel of the Seas remains in active service, a graceful capstone to the glass-sheathed class that offered a more intimate vision of modern cruising.