Jewel’s farewell to Essex port

It was a sad farewell to Harwich today for 2,110-passenger cruise ship Jewel of the Seas, which has been based in the Essex port for the past nine summer seasons
During that time the Royal Caribbean vessel has carried 400,000 passengers on cruises to the Baltic, but now it is being relocated to the US and will be sailing 4, 5 and 7-night Caribbean holidays from Tampa, Florida, and 7-night voyages to New England and Canada from a base in Boston, Massachussetts.
To mark its departure, a ceremony was held on board today with Captain Stig Nilsen, Royal Caribbean port operations manager Adam Sharp, and Harwich Mayor John Thurlow (above, with his wife Patricia, who is Mayoress) exchanging pictures and pleasantries.
Jewel set off tonight for a 16-night repositioning voyage to Boston and will be making a rare visit to Portland, Dorset, on Sunday.
Next summer, the Royal Caribbean family will have two ships based in Harwich. Jewel’s sister ship, Brilliance of the Seas arrives fresh from dry dock in May, and will be joined by the 2,154-passenger Celebrity Infinity.