Review of Jewel of the Seas sailing on 10-12-13

[cmecompute]

I don’t have enough time to do this in one sitting, so my review will be posted in segments. I will start by giving some info on our party. We are a couple in our 40’s, a couple in their 30’s and my mother in her very early 70’s. We reserved this cruise the day we returned from our last, approximately 1 ½ years ago. My wife and I are emerald status with Royal and everyone else is Platinum, so we have cruised with Royal a few times in the past. We were looking for a moderately priced Caribbean sailing to see islands we have not been to before. This one offered 4 new islands for us and when we were looking at pricing of connecting cabins of all categories, on a whim we looked into the Royal 2 bedroom suite. We booked it, and all 5 of us were very comfortable there. 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a fold out sofa, and huge balcony with 2 lounge chairs and a table and 2 chairs, it was fantastic!

 

All of us are from the East Coast, so we reserved direct flights from Newark NJ to San Juan. Reserving these flights a year ago saved a lot of money. My wife was able to get 5 round trip non-stop flights for just over $300 per person. 2 days prior to the cruise we all drove into Newark and used the new secure parking garage SNAP (secure Newark airport parking). It was great, we had a reservation, so we drove in and were met right away. They assisted with unloading our baggage from the car and loaded it in the bus. We were given a coupon for the car and it was driven away. We got on the bus, which was very clean and were taken to our hotel. We stayed at the Newark Airport Marriot which was only about 5 – 10 minutes from the parking garage. (This garage also offers parking with shuttle rides to and from the Bayonne cruise port for far less money per day than parking at the port. It is also SECURE, this was important to me. The reviews of what people return to in the Newark / Bayonne area are awful. The hotel was comfortable, we were able to get a suite so we were able to all stay in the same room, 2 beds and a fold out sofa, a small kitchenette and a large bathroom. They offered an included continental breakfast in the morning. Unfortunately we needed to depart for the airport before the breakfast began. We got up and hauled all our luggage downstairs to catch the shuttle to the airport. The desk manager had coffee made, brought us out yogurt and a few small things to choose from to eat before departing that he grabbed from the breakfast area before they opened. This was very nice of him. The shuttle came quickly and runs every 30 minutes. It dropped us right in front of the departure terminal where there was curbside check in. Our baggage was taken right there and we were ticketed and on our way to clear security. Once through, we had something a bit more fulfilling for breakfast in the airport while waiting for the boarding call. The flight was smooth and uneventful. We arrived in San Juan without incident, and were able to get a taxi as soon as we walked outside the airport. I had made hotel reservations at a hotel which the taxi driver did not recommend. He brought us to the Howard Johnson’s in East Verde. I was able to cancel the other reservation and this was right across the street from the beach and the price was good. The hotel staff was fantastic, we went to the beach, the pool. We walked down the street to a Walgreens for all those last minute / forgotten / couldn’t carry on the plane items on the way to a local restaurant which was recommended by the hotel staff and had a great meal (local cuisine). After a great meal, the restaurant staff called a taxi for us and even escorted our party out and into the taxi. The hotel was quiet and we all got a good nights sleep.

 

It is now embarkation day, we made it! After waiting for a year and a half, counting down the days, it is finally here. We had a very light breakfast at the hotel knowing we would be visiting the Windjammer upon boarding. We went outside and flagging a taxi was very easy, loaded up and he brought us to the port around 10:30. I had read reviews and the common boarding time seemed to be around 11am. Because we had Platinum or higher baggage tags, our baggage was taken right away and we were sent over to the line for suite guests. The main line of guests was not very long, and right at 11am we were able to begin the security and check-in process. First the suite line which was only about 15 people long, then everyone else, and they collected all baggage as you passed through the line towards security. Check-in was a breeze and we were off to the boarding pictures and making our way onto the ship. There was no time to sit down, it was all smooth and took all of 15 minutes. After you go through security and check in, there is an area that sells duty free liquor, wine, champagne, water, gum, candy, and snacks. You can purchase liquor, but it is held until you return, you can purchase wine and champagne and bring it to your cabin – they allow 2 bottles per cabin. This rule was not enforced from what we saw. None of us carried more than 2 bottles, but we left the ship a couple times after boarding to purchase more for the cabin and balcony. You are only charged the cork fee if you consume it in a public area of the ship. But, if you bring a glass out of your room, you are fine. We went to the Windjammer, it is beautiful. It was too hot to go all the way to the back and outside, so we elected to stay inside in the air conditioning and sit by a window. The food was very good, hot, the service was outstanding. Everyone there was so friendly.

 

I have to stop here for a bit, but I will be back with more shortly.

[voyager89]

Great! cant wait to read more :)

 

2 months and a half to be there... feels like a lifetime!

[BillOh]

Thanks in advance. I do appreciate the background on you and your cruisemates as it helps my understanding of your opinions and perpectives while enjoying the review.

[Sunny AZ Girl]

Looking forward to more! Thanks for the review. Will you be posting pictures, too?

[cmecompute]

Thank you for the comments, if there are any questions, I will do my best to answer them. I was able to acquire a lot of information from this site prior to sailing. This is my chance to "pass it on".

 

After a nice meal, it was time to explore the ship and get our bearings. One of the things we did was walk through the dining room and find our table. I highly advise this, as it helps when 750 of your closest friends are all trying to find their table at the same time. The Jewel is a beautiful ship, it is in no way showing its age. The ship was absolutely spotless, and in great repair. The only way she is showing her age is the design of the décor in certain areas of the ship. But everything is kept up and kept clean. This was highly impressive, it is obvious how hard the crew works together on this vessel. We also stopped by guest services and had all automatic tips removed from our sea pass account. We bring thank you cards and like to prepare our own and hand deliver them to the appropriate people. After our walk through, we made our way to deck 9 to see if the hallway was open to the cabins. What timing, the doors opened at 1pm and we were about 15 seconds early. We made our way down the long hallway to the very aft and found our cabin. It was to our surprise much nicer than anything we expected. A lot of space, lots of storage, we looked it over in awe. The ladies decided to relax and take in a movie at the theater while we (men) made a couple trips back to the port stores for more wine for the cabin. We all met back in the cabin around 4pm and the room steward came by and introduced himself. He asked if we had any special requests and assured us he would do his best to accommodate our requests. He informed us that the ice would be refreshed twice a day and the wine glass shelves would be stocked twice a day as well. We informed him that we were very easy to please and thanked him. A few of us made our way to the 12th deck for the informal meet & mingle for our first official frozen cruise drink. It was nice to meet a couple of the people we had been communicating with on the board for months. Afterwards we went back to the cabin to meet everyone shortly before going to dinner in the Tides dining room. The couple we were travelling with was celebrating an anniversary, when we walked into the room, there was a bottle of Chardonnay and a plate of chocolate covered strawberries from the ship, and flowers he pre-ordered for his wife. We also found 5 Royal Caribbean robes there for our use during the cruise. We then walked up to the Concierge Lounge for a quick look see. We were told it was a perk of the suite. Our sea pass got us into the frosted glass locked door to find a very friendly staff officer who welcomed us, introduced himself, and assured us that he was there to help us in any way to make our vacation as memorable as possible. There were 2 computers, a couple sitting areas, hors d’oeuvres , a full bar with a bar tender. We simply looked at each other and smiled, thinking “life is good, this is going to be a great cruise”! After a few tasty treats, a drink, and meeting a few people, it was time to head down to the dining room. We requested a large table, and we got a large table in front of a window. Our tablemates were a family from Sweden. We had a great time with them. There were some great laughs as they were trying to interpret the menu. When one gentleman was served sliders (2 miniature hamburgers) for dinner, and looked at them puzzled, it started what would be a lot of laughter. We ate in the dining room every night, the food was great every night. Our wait staff were very accommodating and a lot of fun. After dinner we had a very short break and it was time for the “Muster Drill”. We had plenty of notice that this would happen at 8pm. My mother cannot do the stairs unless it is an emergency, so we made sure to make our way to the proper deck and outside to our location early while the elevators were still in operation. The drill did not last long and we were on our way. The first show tonight was the Welcome Aboard show in the Coral Theater. It was very good, the comedian was quite funny. And when the activities director was introduced, we were thrilled. We knew Elvis from a previous cruise on the Explorer and had a lot of fun with him. We also knew the Cruise Director – Carly B. from the Explorer. The cruise was just getting better and better. Immediately after the show we reconnected with Elvis and Carly. They were thrilled that we remembered them from a previous cruise on a totally different ship. This set the stage for many interactions yet to come. This brings us to one of our favorite things to do while cruising, and only Royal can accommodate it. With its pools and hot tubs open 24 hours a day, it was time to hit the hot tub. After some time in the solarium hot tub and pool area we went over to the café for a late night snack before heading in for the night. Day 1 on the ship was brought to an end, it was a fantastic day, and was going to be an early morning for our first port in St. Croix.

 

More to come shortly.....

[cmecompute]

Looking forward to more! Thanks for the review. Will you be posting pictures, too?

 

I just downloaded all of them, I will try to pick out some appropriate ones as I am posting and add them in.

[Sunny AZ Girl]

I just downloaded all of them, I will try to pick out some appropriate ones as I am posting and add them in.

 

Thanks! It always makes the reviews a little more fun. You are doing a great job, though. Even without pictures it is easy to read. I am so glad the Jewel is still in great shape. We sailed her when she was the newest ship in the fleet and of course, she was lovely then.:cool:

[LarryL]

Thanks for the review. We are sailing on the Jewel in April and it's nice to read the great reviews. Thanks, too, for sharing the tip on the wine. I'll have to make a couple trips myself after we board.:p

[cmecompute]

Day 2 – The ship pulled into port right on time into St. Criox. It was a beautiful hot sunny day. Possible stray shower or 2, high in the 90’s. You walk off the ship into a quaint little park with local vendor tents. The vendors were very nice, not pushy, nobody grabbed you and tried to drag you anywhere. A very relaxed atmosphere. We did not go far, right off the ship we walked to the left and up the beach about 1000 feet, where we began asking the price for lounge chairs and umbrella’s. We ended up skipping the first couple and came across a young man from NJ who had a great price for Adirondack chairs and umbrellas. He was attending the local university down there to attain his degree in restaurant and hotel management, and working his way through on the beach. The beach was very nice, a little rocky, but the water was incredibly clear and warm. We did have a shower pass through that lasted all of 5 minutes. It was so hot, that it felt good, the only reason the umbrella came in handy was to keep the cameras dry during the rain. We did have a couple of drinks from the local beach hut, they were very strong, but good. We brought water with us in our beach bag each day that we purchased from the port in San Juan. We went through 2 cases of water during the week, just from taking a bottle each to the port each day. We spent half the day there and decided to head back to the port slowly and meander through the vendors and grab some souvenirs before boarding. This was our first formal night and our official Meet & Mingle was before dinner. We wanted to attend everything so we had to allow plenty of time. After boarding, and getting cleaned up and dressed for formal night, we went up to the concierge lounge for a few minutes, then it was on to the Meet & Mingle. It was nice to put names to faces, but some of the ones I was looking forward to meeting were not in attendance. The crew had a big raffle and gave away numerous prizes, and free gifts to all who attended. After about 30 minutes it was over and we were on our way to the Dining room. I have to say, there could not have been more than 20 children on the entire cruise and we found the average age of cruisers to be 40-60. It was a pleasure to not to constantly see Drama in the halls, children running all over the ship, teens playing in the elevators hitting all the buttons or taking over pools and hot tubs in the solarium. It was a cruise filled with adults. The dining room was well attended and more than 75% of them were dressed. There were many Tuxedo’s and gowns, suits and dresses, it was nice to see that formal night was still very much alive and well attended. After another great dinner we were off to the Captain’s champagne reception, and pictures with the captain. It was very enlightening to hear the captain speak. He has been with the company since the first ship Royal launched Song of Norway. It was great to hear him speak of his career with the line through the years. He was recently captain on the Oasis and told stories of his time there and some of the comparisons of his time on the various ships through the years. We thoroughly enjoyed meeting and listening to him. Afterwards it was off to the Coral Theater for the first of 2 performances by the Royal Caribbean singers and dancers for the week. We managed to sit within the first 2 rows for every show we saw in the theater. The performance was very good. Afterwards it was time to change and head upstairs for some pool and hot tub time. After the day we had, we did not spend much time up there, we were all exhausted. The sun was much more than we anticipated. It was an early night (for us). Next stop – St. Maarten.

 

1st photo is the vendors right off the ship.

2nd photo - the 3 ladies in our party, you can see the rocks and coral in the water.

3rd photo - just a bit further down the beach where we stopped. Very clear.

4th photo - our first towel animal.

[Sunny AZ Girl]

Thanks for the review. We are sailing on the Jewel in April and it's nice to read the great reviews. Thanks, too, for sharing the tip on the wine. I'll have to make a couple trips myself after we board.:p

 

I like that idea, too. The last time we boarded a ship in San Juan we bought cases of water before boarding and dragged them with us prior to getting to our room along with our carry-ons.

getting back off after we drop off the rest of our luggage for the water may be a better way to do things.

[cmecompute]

Day 3 – The ship has arrived in St. Maarten. We have all been to St. Maarten before between 1 and 3 times. We have all done excursions here, so we decided with the port intensive schedule to take our time today. We were moving slowly, decided to take advantage of another suite perk this morning. We ate breakfast in Chops, which has a nice menu with the addition of cook to order 20 feet away from you. It was wonderful, hot and fresh, wasn’t prepared and carried ¼ mile from the kitchen. This was a nice perk, and a great breakfast. Our plans for the day were to walk off the ship and catch a cab over to the French side of the island and spend a few hours at Orient Beach. The cab driver was very nice, gave an informative tour along the way and offered to come back and pick us up. We designated a time and he was there as promised. While at the beach we walked down a little to find a nice spot with lounge chairs and umbrella’s as a good price. The beach side peddlers were few but persistent. When the hosts of the lounge chairs and umbrella’s saw that we were getting annoyed, they chased everyone away for us. A couple of us enjoyed short massages on the beach, a couple of frozen drinks, oh yes, and we enjoyed the crystal clear waters of St. Maarten. This was one of the most beautiful beaches on the trip. When the heat of the day set in, we decided to head back to the ship for lunch, a change of clothes, and it was off to the water taxi to go shopping for more souvenirs. My wife had one request at this stop, which was to find a small local jewelry store she purchased from 2 years ago. We had a great time looking around, trying to trace our path from 2 years ago and recognizing all the changes. Being offered beer in every store we walked into. And we found it! This is considered off season for the locals, they said there are only a couple ships a week at best. Lets just say that by the time the three ladies in our party were done in the store, the owners were able to take a vacation for the next week, and we men had our fill of beer for the next couple days. It was time to head back to the ship by way of water taxi. As we walked over to the dock to catch the water taxi we encountered our first negative incident. A highly intoxicated passenger headed back to the ship was vulgar, belligerent, and practically groped my mother. We got away from him and went to the opposite end of the water taxi and waited till last to get off the taxi upon arrival at the pier. Once there, we found a golf cart that seated about 8 -10 charging $1 per person to ride back to the ship. After the amount of walking, we put my mother on it, and met her back in the cabin. After another great evening in the dining room, it was time for another show. Beatle Mania Live, it was a great show. I know there was a game show later on, but to be honest, I was exhausted and went back to the cabin to collapse. There was a gathering on the ship sometime during the day for Veterans, I have attended this in the past and it is usually a very nice tribute. It shows how much Royal Caribbean appreciates the Veterans. My schedule was a little busy this trip to attend, but if you are a Veteran and have the time, please attend, you will not be sorry. On a previous cruise I had the honor of meeting a living WW2 Medal of Honor recipient. It was a highlight of the cruise for me. Tomorrow – Day 4 – St. Johns Antiqua

 

photo 1 -- Orient Beach

photo 2 -- from the water taxi - looking forward at where we are headed

photo 3 -- a happy mom after shopping

photo 4 -- watching the sunset from our aft balcony over a glass of wine

photo 5 -- the sunset got better and better, then it was time for dinner.

[cmecompute]

I like that idea, too. The last time we boarded a ship in San Juan we bought cases of water before boarding and dragged them with us prior to getting to our room along with our carry-ons.

getting back off after we drop off the rest of our luggage for the water may be a better way to do things.

 

Yes, we did the same thing on the Explorer, but this worked out great, by waiting until the room was open, we only had to carry it straight there and start stocking the fridge.

[nautica34]

Great review! Look forward to reading more.

[khm1]

Great review! I am on the Jewel in 17 days. I can't wait to hear more!

[In Toronto]

Thanks for the excellent review. Will be boarding the Jewel in just over 4 weeks.

 

Which beach did you go to on St. Croix?

 

Thanks.

 

Ellen

[BillOh]

I do love Orient Beach! It will also be our 3rd time to the island, but we will be with another couple who has never been before, so we may see what they want to do, but I wouldn't mind lunch at Maho Beach and I know the ladies will want to shop downtown before we head back.

[cmecompute]

Thanks for the excellent review. Will be boarding the Jewel in just over 4 weeks.

 

Which beach did you go to on St. Croix?

 

Thanks.

 

Ellen

 

Ellen - I'm not sure of the name of the beach. We walked off the ship, and at the end of the pier turned left. The beach begins immediately, but, you will want to walk down about 1000 - 1500 feet to get away from where it is really rocky. Plus, there are cheap lounge / umbrella rentals down there. The beach was clean, the water beautiful, the drinks were very good. I cannot speak for the food on the beach personally, but people from the ship who were near us did go eat on the beach while we kept an eye on their belongings and said everything was very good. There are public bathrooms right there.

[drarill]

Great review!! thanks for sharing your cruise with us!:):)

[voyager89]

I am really enjoying your review, is informative and concise. I am so excited to board the Jewel, including Puerto Rico all the islands are new to me but St Maarten which was my favorite, I found awesome thins to buy there plus Maho Beach which was incredibly beautiful.

 

I have a question for you, could you please remind me of the eating venues? More specific, other than WJ and room service, is there any other complimentary place to have breakfast? Also for dinner, any other than WJ and MDR?

 

This will be a long vacation for us since we will visit several places for almost 4 weeks so there is really no space for formal wear in our luggage, and I dont really wanna be looked down at if I dine there in non formal wear, but I also dont want to do WJ every night

 

thanks!

[cmecompute]

I am really enjoying your review, is informative and concise. I am so excited to board the Jewel, including Puerto Rico all the islands are new to me but St Maarten which was my favorite, I found awesome thins to buy there plus Maho Beach which was incredibly beautiful.

 

I have a question for you, could you please remind me of the eating venues? More specific, other than WJ and room service, is there any other complimentary place to have breakfast? Also for dinner, any other than WJ and MDR?

 

This will be a long vacation for us since we will visit several places for almost 4 weeks so there is really no space for formal wear in our luggage, and I dont really wanna be looked down at if I dine there in non formal wear, but I also dont want to do WJ every night

 

thanks!

 

Great question, and I know it is one of great controversy. Breakfast is served daily in the Windjammer (where they have a great omlet station), The main dining room, and Chops (for suite guests). There is no real dress code for breakfast, women in bathing suits can wear cover-ups, men - bathing suits that look like shorts, t-shirts, flip flops are fine. Just nothing wet. Lunch is served in the Windjammer and in the dining room. Again casual attire works, same rules. Dinner is served in Windjammer, dining room, Chops, and Portofino's. The first night in the dining room it is anything goes, they are aware you may not have received your luggage yet, so there is really no dress code (within reason) on this night. Other nights you can easily get away with slacks, dress shorts, polo shirts, blouses, "smart casual", but no flip flops. Formal nights at minimum long pants (other than blue jeans, and a collared shirt will do. There are still people who do not dress up, but look fine for the dining room. We had a young lady in her 20's are our table and a man in his 40's who did not dress up, but he wore the equivalent of dockers and a button down shirt every night, she wore very nice dress jeans and a blouse every night - including formal night. So don't be afraid to go to the dining room, it is part of the experience and a big part of what you are paying for. Chops and Portafino's is a bit more strict, but everything I have listed above would be acceptable. These 2 venues are also at an extra cost of either $20 per person, or $30 per person to eat at. I heard nothing but wonderful reports on both of them. I enjoy the dining room and eat there every night. Just can't bring myself to pay extra for what I can get in the dining room. In fact, my wife did order a steak of the classic menu one night and she said it was cooked to perfection and melted in her mouth. The lobster in the dining room was so good that everyone at our table went back for seconds. There is also a small cafe on the pool deck that specializes in pizza and hot dogs. And another small cafe on Deck 12 thas has a small menu with some sandwiches, deserts, and such. We did try this one night and I can say the Ruben and the Cuban, as well as the deserts were very good. One last thing on clothes in the dining room, most nights (other than formal) I wore a hawaiin shirt and dress pants, the ladies wore sun dresses, slacks, simple blouses, dressy sandles. You won't be stared at, as long as you don't show up in torn jeans or cutoffs, t-shirts, etc. I hope this answers your question, and persuades you to enjoy the dining room.

[voyager89]

Great question, and I know it is one of great controversy. Breakfast is served daily in the Windjammer (where they have a great omlet station), The main dining room, and Chops (for suite guests). There is no real dress code for breakfast, women in bathing suits can wear cover-ups, men - bathing suits that look like shorts, t-shirts, flip flops are fine. Just nothing wet. Lunch is served in the Windjammer and in the dining room. Again casual attire works, same rules. Dinner is served in Windjammer, dining room, Chops, and Portofino's. The first night in the dining room it is anything goes, they are aware you may not have received your luggage yet, so there is really no dress code (within reason) on this night. Other nights you can easily get away with slacks, dress shorts, polo shirts, blouses, "smart casual", but no flip flops. Formal nights at minimum long pants (other than blue jeans, and a collared shirt will do. There are still people who do not dress up, but look fine for the dining room. We had a young lady in her 20's are our table and a man in his 40's who did not dress up, but he wore the equivalent of dockers and a button down shirt every night, she wore very nice dress jeans and a blouse every night - including formal night. So don't be afraid to go to the dining room, it is part of the experience and a big part of what you are paying for. Chops and Portafino's is a bit more strict, but everything I have listed above would be acceptable. These 2 venues are also at an extra cost of either $20 per person, or $30 per person to eat at. I heard nothing but wonderful reports on both of them. I enjoy the dining room and eat there every night. Just can't bring myself to pay extra for what I can get in the dining room. In fact, my wife did order a steak of the classic menu one night and she said it was cooked to perfection and melted in her mouth. The lobster in the dining room was so good that everyone at our table went back for seconds. There is also a small cafe on the pool deck that specializes in pizza and hot dogs. And another small cafe on Deck 12 thas has a small menu with some sandwiches, deserts, and such. We did try this one night and I can say the Ruben and the Cuban, as well as the deserts were very good. One last thing on clothes in the dining room, most nights (other than formal) I wore a hawaiin shirt and dress pants, the ladies wore sun dresses, slacks, simple blouses, dressy sandles. You won't be stared at, as long as you don't show up in torn jeans or cutoffs, t-shirts, etc. I hope this answers your question, and persuades you to enjoy the dining room.

 

Thank you very much. I guess I will go to the MDR and might skip it on formal nights, cause I will only bring casual wear. I will most likely have breakfast and lunch at the WJ or Seaview. MDR breakfast was not that great to me, it is so limited and I like to have a huge breakfast almost as soon as I open my eyes ha.

 

One last question, is it true that they post (I beliebe I read WJ) the menus for the MDR dinner during the day? I dont mind about the lobster, but I am a picky eater and I dont want to go when there might not be something I like.

 

Thanks again!

[cmecompute]

Thank you very much. I guess I will go to the MDR and might skip it on formal nights, cause I will only bring casual wear. I will most likely have breakfast and lunch at the WJ or Seaview. MDR breakfast was not that great to me, it is so limited and I like to have a huge breakfast almost as soon as I open my eyes ha.

 

One last question, is it true that they post (I beliebe I read WJ) the menus for the MDR dinner during the day? I dont mind about the lobster, but I am a picky eater and I dont want to go when there might not be something I like.

 

Thanks again!

 

You will find at the entrance to the MDR each day the dinner menu posted in a picture frame. The formal nights are days 2 and 5, and I believe lobster night was day 6. Not only is there plenty to choose from on the daily menu that changes, but there are classic staples available every night for the picky eaters. Steak, pasta, ect.

[cmecompute]

Day 4 – Antiqua – once again the ship pulled in right on time. It was absolutely beautiful to sit on the balcony and take pictures as we pulled into port. This was a slow moving morning as there were no specific plans for this port. We tossed around the idea of walking off, finding a taxi and going to one of the nearby beaches for a while. I had done a lot of research and had a few names with me. There was a Masonic gathering that appeared in the Cruise Compass for 9am near the Starbucks, and since half our party was sleeping in, I decided to go. My wife and mother also joined me as they are Masonic members as well. The director of lighting for the shows is a Master Mason from Washington and sponsors the get together each cruise. He has had as many as 20 and as few as 1 or 2. We had a total of 6 of us who showed and we really enjoyed meeting and sharing some ideas. While we sat talking there were 4 ladies a few seats down having coffee and Carly B. (cruise director) walked through for her morning Starbucks visit. I asked her a question and she asked to join us. The 4 ladies came closer and we all talked for over an hour. We had the Cruise director to ourselves for over an hour, it was fantastic. She is very friendly and shared a lot about her career with the lines. Bottom line she was driving home with the couple of new cruisers was, get involved! If you want to really have fun and enjoy everything, get involved. I couldn’t agree more, and I have a bunch of key chains, hats, gold and silver medals from Royal Caribbean to prove it. Get involved and have fun, meet people and don’t be afraid to make a fool of yourself once in a while. Where will you ever see these people again? Oh yeah, our closest friends we met on a cruise…… So, after everyone got up we all enjoyed a nice breakfast at the Windjammer – had to have the omlets at least every other day, among everything else they had out on the breakfast buffet. It was painfully hot out, my wife and I walked off the ship to look around the port shops for a bit. We gathered a couple of small trinkets, and head back to the ship. The locals here were pretty bad, so much so that there was an abundance of police to make sure you can get through them. If you stay to the right as you walk through, you will see the police keep them to the left. I later walked off the ship again for some more quick shopping with the other couple travelling with us. I knew how to maneuver past them all this time. We decided to relax in the solarium pool for the day. The dome was closed for the entire cruise and the air conditioner was on. Considering it was in the mid 90’s every day and the sun just baked you, this was a great alternative. On this day there was a lady in the solarium pool who lost the diamond from her wedding set. I guess there were staff members who helped to try and find it to no avail. We heard all about the commotion when we went swimming there. One of the ladies in our party found it. We never met the owner, but we were able to confirm she got it back and was very happy – Great job Star, you are a good person! We had another great meal in the dining room, and saw the Love and Marriage game. As usual, it was hilarious. We had newlyweds on their honeymoon, a couple married about 20 years from Scotland, and a couple married 57 years. All three were great, and anyone who was there and did not laugh all the way through it had to be asleep. I believe this was an early night, so we all went to spend some time in the casino. I know there have been a lot of complaints I have read about the slots being very “tight”. I don’t play slots, but I know my wife did. She spent quite a bit of time, and had she walked away at the right time, she would have won a couple hundred. The fact the she fed it all back in is not the casino’s fault. I played the tables and had a great time. The dealers are a fun group. I played blackjack (standard 6 deck shoe) and texas hold-em against the dealer. I was up, down, and had a great time. Be the time the cruise ended I was up a few hundred. But, I will admit I am not a big gambler, I will find the $5 tables and I go to have fun. This pretty much wraps up day 4. Tomorrow is day—5, we arrive in St. Lucia. More to come.

[deepwater]

Your review is great and we appreciate all of your good information. We will be on the Jewel in December. Do you remember the hours that the Concierge Lounge is open for the evening drinks? Is it 4:30 to 8:00 or 5:00 to 8:30 or something else?

[toodycat]

Thanks for this review. It is very informative. We are considering this itinerary for next summer. It would be DH and I in our 50s and DS (20). I'm not sure if we would be able to get a big suite or if we would just need two separate staterooms. Did you notice other college kids on the ship? Looking forward to reading the rest of your review:)