Jewel ~ S. Caribbean and Panama Canal ~ April 25th & May 2nd ~ My Diary

Greetings Everyone!

After sitting home all winter.......why?......I don't know......we finally got back on the ocean. It was time to head back to our favorite departure port....San Juan...and our favorite ship.....the beautiful Jewel of the Seas.

A little background on us. We are Jane and John from North Carolina. We have been cruising with Royal Caribbean for 30 years (next month). We are both retired now, so we consider cruising as our job. Retirement/Cruising....best job we've ever had!

Sooooo........we left Raleigh/Durham airport on Friday, April 24th. We had a great flight down on Southwest arriving around 4 o'clock or so and were greeted with heat and humidity. We easily found our luggage (that's always a relief) and got a taxi. We had a reservation at the Verdanza hotel, but they called a couple of days ahead of time and said that there was some kind of problem with some of their rooms and they would comp a room for us at the Hampton Inn. My kind of price. So off to the HI we go!

Check in was a breeze and we found out that there was a free cocktail event from 5-7 and there was also a nice grill out by the pool. So we took advantage of both. It was not crowded (which I love) and we had a nice evening. We were pretty tired, so we went to bed early.

Here are a few pictures of the Hampton Inn:

Saturday ~April 25, 2015 ~ San Juan

Up early today.....eager for embarkation! We got down to breakfast at the hotel early to beat the crowd. It was quite nice for a Hampton Inn breakfast. I think that I have decided that this place is much better than the Embassy Suites. We will definitely stay here again!

We got all our stuff together and checked out around 10:30. We had the nicest cab driver. He stopped at Walgreen's for us so we could get a case of water. I put luggage tags on that and we were off to the Pan Am Pier! The Jewel was waiting for us. We got there right at 11:00. Luggage drop off and check in was lightning fast. We got there at the same time as travelgoddess (Karen and Pete) who I have been chatting with for some time on CC. We recognized each other right away!

We negotiated our way up the gangway after getting our "Getting on Board" picture made.

By 11:20 we were on board! Ahhhhh we're home. We immediately started to run into crew members that we knew. (These are our 5th and 6th cruises on the Jewel since September). Many of them said "Welcome Home"! And that's exactly how we felt.

The first thing I did was to make Chops and Portofino reservations and My Time Dining Reservations. I got some tea and cookies from the WJ and we settled in on Deck 5 to wait for cabins to open up.

Yey!

Another review!

Sounds like you had a great time.

Joe

Thanks, Joe!

Photobucket seems to be down right now for some reason. I will have to wait until it comes back up to continue. :( Be back shortly, I hope!

Nice! Really looking forward to this. Have fun.

For some reason I can't see your photos. I think it's me though and not you.

Jane

What took you so long.....we've been anxiously waiting for your review.....Matthew tracked you daily on "Marine Traffic".

We sailed on the Adventure last month and it re-energized our thoughts about sailing out of San Juan again.....so much so that we cancelled our Allure sailing for March and changed it to the Jewel.....so we welcome reading your review.

Heading down to NC this weekend for a quick in/out to see some schools.

Hello to John and hope our paths cross again soon on RCCL

Your NJ Family

Jane

 

What took you so long.....we've been anxiously waiting for your review.....Matthew tracked you daily on "Marine Traffic".

 

We sailed on the Adventure last month and it re-energized our thoughts about sailing out of San Juan again.....so much so that we cancelled our Allure sailing for March and changed it to the Jewel.....so we welcome reading your review.

 

Heading down to NC this weekend for a quick in/out to see some schools.

 

Hello to John and hope our paths cross again soon on RCCL

 

Your NJ Family

Hey There!!

So glad to hear from you! Can't believe Matthew tracked us!!! So cool! You will love the Jewel. I'll have to give you the names of some folks to look out for!

Let me know if you are looking at Elon, by any chance. It's in our back yard!

Will get back to this as soon as Photobucket is back up. They are down for maintenance at the moment!

Stay tuned!

Welcome home! Hope your "land extension" was fun!

Looks like photobucket is back up. I see your pictures now.

Ha. Just realized I wrote "Have fun" in my previous post. Lol. Well, hope you HAD fun.

I can see the photos now

Looking forward to the rest of your review. The Jewel was our first cruise!

Hi Jane, just found you!

Can't wait for the rest of the review: the best out there!!!!

Get moving girl, photo-bucket is back on:):)

Cabins were open at 1:00 and we made the loooonnnnnggg trek all the way forward on deck 8 for our E1 cabin.....8012. At the time we booked.....this was the only cabin available for both cruises. We were booked on the Anthem for May 6th, but for various reasons.....we switched that cruise for the Panama Canal portion of this trip. I thought this would be a nightmare location, but it was really not so bad. The cabin was great, although a bit small. We knew just where to put everything, having been in this type cabin many, many times.

We immediately went for lunch at the Windjammer. It was not crowded at all. We finished up with a little frozen yogurt (which is addicting) and you can get it right there in the dining room.

Meanwhile, back at the cabin, we met our cabin steward, Maks, and started unpacking. We got all our luggage AND water quickly. Nice view of San Juan and our little balcony.

Next up was a pre M&M gathering at the Pool Bar and there was a really good turn out. One of our members made nametags and that was very helpful. We had a very nice time chatting with each other.

Loved the Jewel when we sailed in 2013. Can't believe it's been 2 years already. Looking forward to your review!

Here are a couple more pictures from the Pool Bar:

Soon it was time to start getting ready for the evening.

We started out with drinks in the Concierge Lounge. Our usual routine is to go here a little later than everyone else, so we miss the crowds. I understand, as on most ships, the earlier times are pretty busy. But we never had a problem here and always enjoyed our time in here. We are just so attached and have formed a very nice friendship with Diego, the Concierge, and Joseph, the magnificent bar tender here, that we didn't want to go anywhere else. The Hollywood Odyssey and Vortex upstairs were open to Diamond Members and overflow. Most people preferred to go there. It is a lovely venue, but we just preferred the CL. Diego and Joseph are simply the best!!!

Tonight we met up with fellow CC'ers and Pinnacle members, Mike and Steve from Durham (small world). We found out that there were 19 Pinnacle members on this sailing.

Time to toast to a great cruise. Besides we had to drink up......muster drill was in a few minutes!

We stayed in the CL until almost 8 o'clock and relaxed. The bar closed at 7:30, but it was nice to just be able to relax here for a while. we lucked out and had our muster station in the theater, so we went down there and sat in those comfy chairs. Muster didn't take long and Captain Thore dismissed us quickly.

Next up was dinner in Chops. We take advantage of the BOGO on the first night. They open up as soon as muster is over. It was not real crowded this evening. We ordered our usuals......me a petit filet, and John gets a New York Strip. We don't normally eat beef at home, so we really look forward to this on the first night! I also ordered the warm goat cheese salad, but they didn't have any goat cheese. That was disappointing.

Oh well.....another toast at the table.

While we were there, the pilot was picked up.

The service was fabulous....and quick.....just like we like it! We ordered the cheesecake to share for dessert. Wonderful! We ate just the right amount and were not stuffed. That made for a good night's sleep.

We strolled through the casino after dinner and found a couple of machines that actually paid off for a change! We were happy with our meager winnings....so we went back to our cabin and turned in. It had been a long day!

Sunday ~ April 26, 2015 ~ St. Thomas

Today's port should have been Tortola, but the new pier is STILL not finished there, so it's to St. Thomas we go!

Beautiful sail in this morning. I usually head to the Concierge Lounge early for coffee so I watch most of the sail ins from here.

Nice spread for breakfast in the CL.....but mostly carbs.

The Concierge Lounge is usually very quiet in the mornings.

I bought this little magnetic message board at Target and brought it along. It stuck to the bathroom door and was kind of fun to have.

We ate breakfast in the D/D+ area of the dining room on Deck 4. Not many folks there today. We ate with a nice couple from California and ran into some other couples that we have cruised with before.

At 9:15 we met up with Rob and Nalda from our roll call. We were headed to Secret Harbour today. One of our favorite beaches. There was only one ship in port today, so we had the premier parking spot. We did not have to wait too long to fill up a taxi going out towards Secret Harbour.

Once there we got two chairs and an umbrella at the Dive Shop ($30) and got settled in. It was a beautiful day. The Wi-Fi was great. The water was very clear and felt wonderful. You get free refills on sodas all day. We had hamburgers and macaroni salad for lunch. You can eat in the restaurant or out on the beach. Love to come here!

Hi Jane.

I love your reviews and am especially exited for this one as we are sailing Jewel of the Seas for the first time this November in an AFT balcony. I will make sure to take advantage of the Diamond section in the MDR for breakfast as not all ships have this. Do they still serve specialty coffees here at breakfast?

Thanks,

Donna

Hi Jane.

 

I love your reviews and am especially exited for this one as we are sailing Jewel of the Seas for the first time this November in an AFT balcony. I will make sure to take advantage of the Diamond section in the MDR for breakfast as not all ships have this. Do they still serve specialty coffees here at breakfast?

 

Thanks,

Donna

• Yes, Donna.....they still have the specialty coffees here. This is one of my favorite perks that we get and it's not that hard for them to do. The Freedom and the Navigator do not do this.....shame on them!!!
  

More pictures from our day at Secret Harbour:

A few more:

Great restaurant here....The Sunset Grille:

The water was great:

We stayed here until about 2:45 when our morning taxi driver came back to pick us up. We were back on the ship by 3:05. We got our daily dose of frozen yogurt...and then got our showers. I saw the Pirate Ship coming back in from a day of fun!!

The Meet and Mingle was at 5 o'clock in the Vortex. There was a really nice turn out for that. They had excellent snacks. Katrina Blair, the activities manager, ran the show. There were just too many people thee to go around and introduce ourselves, but a good many of us had already met the previous day.

They raffled off just a few prizes.....nothing too impressive, though. I won a hat that was a little different. I liked it. It was nice to get together with the folks we've been chatting with. Most people that came to this actually did chat and contribute to the roll call. I like it when that happens!

Tonight was the first formal night. Since we weren't doing anything special, we didn't get real dressed up tonight.

First we wished our cabin steward, Maks, a good evening.

We enjoyed drinks in the CL and visited with new friends, Mike and Gigi from California. They were going to be on both sailings and beyond.

We also met a great couple from Raleigh and their friends from Dallas. We had a great time talking with them. Marvin was a Vietnam Veteran and had a lot in common with John. His wife was a retired school principal, so we had a lot to talk about. We enjoyed seeing them throughout the week!

I've been looking forward to your review. Thanks for sharing, Jane.

This was our first time going to My Time Dining on this cruise. It usually takes a couple of nights to get settled into that. These two are the ones that schedule everything for MTD and they did a nice job. It's not easy.

We ended up with a nice table by the railing and we really liked our waiter. Service was great and fast. I had one of my favorite entrees....the salmon vignole salad. Cheesecake was for dessert. John asks for and always gets .....almost every night......some iceberg lettuce with a chicken breast on top. He's kind of a picky eater. A little food porn:

The casino called after dinner and we both came out winners again. Those of you that know me...know that winning in the casino is a rarity for me.....I don't know what the casino gods were up to.....but you're not going to believe the luck I have throughout all three weeks here! We didn't stay too long, though because the smoke was really bad.

We called it a night after that. We were fortunate to have a really comfortable mattress and we slept well!

Welcome home Jane it was a pleasure meeting you after reading all your great reviews. It WAS a great roll call as were both the meet and mingles. We enjoyed the Southern Caribbean portion of the cruise and experienced some of the best service excellence Royal Caribbean has ever offered before. I cannot wait to read the rest of your review!

Sue