Jewel of the Seas December 7th sailing

[boquer]

This is not really a review. I'm just answering for future cruisers, some of the questions I had:

The Jewel is perfectly beautiful and in excellent shape.

The new menu is ( in my opinion) an enormous improvement on the old one.

The dining room itself seems to be less noisy and rushed and the service (along with the food) was excellent.

Our cabin (1056) was right off the centrum and we were not disturbed by any loud music or noise.

The ports were somewhat of a surprise. St. Thomas is just the same--many shops--and we went there to meet with a friend. As we were speaking with him on the main street, the son of my best friend walked by. He was more excited about this coincidence than we were.

I love St. Croix although I didn't expect to. It is a little calm island, very clean and very beautiful and very friendly.

I do not like Antigua at all. For those of you who've seen her, the old lady (perhaps in her late nineties) is still swaying with a pineapple on her head.

The biggest surprise of all was the French island of Martinique. Although many cruisers stayed on the ship, and others decided to take the cruise tours, we decided to brave it on our own, despite having had an unpleasant time last year in another French speaking island, Guadelouope.

We left the ship armed with a small French vocabulary provided by the tour desk. We walked a short distance to change our money into euros at a bank. And then we bravely boarded a ferry going to an island called Trois Islets. It was a wonderful day. The ferry ride was short and left us on a lovely little island that looks a bit (and is as expensive as) Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts. The shops were delightful and had very good quality merchandise (mostly from France I guess). The shop owners all looked and spoke French but were very agreeable about understanding my insane version of their language. There were also many bakeries and little restaurants and ice cream stores. The beaches were clean and the water crystalline.

That afternoon, upon debarking the ferry, we ventured into the city of Fort de France. Once again, although warned about hostile natives, we only me with friendly, helpful, and kind people.

Our last stop was St. Lucia where we've been before, and since the day was rainy we decided not to go up into the slippery mountains or to ride on a wet and bumpy boat. Instead we drove north to Pigeon Point which is a kind of very beautiful state park on the ocean. There is a strip of land which separates the rough northern waves from the very calm and swimmable water of a little bay. We'd never seen this part of the island and although it's not as dramatic as the Pitons, it's every bit as wonderful.

Oh....one last thought. I do not like this new drink package. Several people (who'd apparently bought it and were getting their money's worth) were a bit too "happy".

I'll be happy to answer any questions that I can. I've learned so much from the generosity of other members here

Phyllis

[Langley Cruisers]

...Oh....one last thought. I do not like this new drink package. Several people (who'd apparently bought it and were getting their money's worth) were a bit too "happy"....

 

That was and still is my point of view, too - those who think they'd better start "drinking up" so they can get their money's worth. I know not everyone is like that, but obviously some are, IMO.

 

Glad you enjoyed overall. We loved Jewel and her crew. :)

.

[Familygoboston]

Phyllis welcome home and thanks for your review! I agree about the new menus, I like them better too!

[drarill]

Welcome back and thanks for the review!:):)

[suep]

Phyllis - welcome back, and thanks so much for post! We'll be on the Jewel Feb 1, visiting the same islands you did. Your information is most helpful!!:)