LIVE forn the JEWEL of the SEAS, Lots of Pictures, Island reviews and more!

[Riff Sniff]

Hi Mike and Sherri, Thanks for the idea. My sister loves to tour rum factories, so this sounds like a great option. We may give it a try. Sandcastle Beach sounds like a great option as well.

 

Should we bring snorkel gear or is it a mostly swimming beach?

 

Susan

 

Hi Susan-

 

We just swam at the beach, but I do remember some people snorkeling.

 

 

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[bup1224]

Thank you for the live review - we love the Jewel and are doing similar ports in September!

[MDSue]

Looking forward to your review. Sounds like a great itinerary. We will be especially interested in your review of Martinique - we will be there in December and have not yet decided what to do there.

 

Hello, We are really struggling with what to do in Martinique- hopefully we'll find something fun to do!

[MDSue]

Hi All, Between a new laptop and slow Internet connections, I'm really having a hard time working on my review. I uploaded a handful of pictures, but will save most for next week.

 

We had a great day in St. John's today. We took the excursion from the ship which left at 10 am so we had about 2 hours to hang out and do a little shopping in port. I added a new piece of Larimar to my collection.

 

The original price was considerably higher than I paid. so a little bargaining definitely works.

 

I also bought a few items for my camera equipment at the camera stores in port.

 

The crew of the boat that took us over to St. John's were a lot of fun and kept the "painkiller" punches flowing. We ended up skipping the formal dinner tonight, because the sun and the painkillers did my sister in for a few hours. ( I skipped them myself). I think 4 straight days of nonstop activity just had us both wanting a night off. I hated missing the dinner though.

 

So as for our "almost" getting left behind in St. Johns- I'll have to explain....

 

Once we reached St. John's we took an open air taxi to Cinnamon Bay. It cost $7 each way. We met another couple from CruiseCritic on the way over and shared the taxi over. We got to Cruz Bay at 11 am and had to meet the crew for the ride home at 2:45 for a prompt 3pm departure.

 

We actually got back to Cruz Bay in plenty of time and decided to grab a drink at a bar that overlooks the dock. Well it's getting closer and closer to time to meet, and there is no boat and no other cruisers in sight- just people with suitcases waiting for a ferry to take them to S. Thomas.

 

At 2:46. there is no one in sight and we are beginning to panic. I walked into a store to make sure we were waiting at the right spot and the salesclerk assured me that we were at the only dock in Cruz Bay. We honestly paid no attention when we got off the boat earlier and weren't sure if we were in the right place or not.

 

Finally, right before the 3pm departure, I asked a taxi dispatcher if there was anywhere else that our boat might be. He told us to walk a bit down the street to another dock.

 

Thank god someone knew. We walked as fast as we could with all our gear and when we finally came around the bend, we saw our boat- fully loaded and waiting on us to leave. We made it with 4 minutes to spare!!!

 

Anyway, my word of advice if you take the Royal Caribbean excursion over to Cruz Bay- make sure you pay attention to the drop off point and make sure the cab driver takes you to the right one.

 

As promised- just one picture today but I do promise more later. This is the view of Cruz Bay from a little bar where we were waiting in vain at the wrong dock:

 

 

 

See you soon! Tomorrow- St. Croix

[Sunny AZ Girl]

Thank you for the review, Susan! We will be boarding the Jewel in less than 3 weeks now for a B2B.:D We do have the ship's excursion to St. John's planned also. Thank you for the head's up! Now I know to watch out for our pick up point.:eek:

 

Your picture of Cruz Bay made me melt. Can't wait to see more!:cool:

[MDSue]

Thank you for the review, Susan! We will be boarding the Jewel in less than 3 weeks now for a B2B.:D We do have the ship's excursion to St. John's planned also. Thank you for the head's up! Now I know to watch out for our pick up point.:eek:

 

Your picture of Cruz Bay made me melt. Can't wait to see more!:cool:

 

It's a beautiful island. Here is a picture of Trunk Bay:

 

[MDSue]

Good morning from St. Croix!! We arrived promptly at 8 am and it is picture perfect beautiful out. We are off for a day of winging it- maybe a little sightseeing, shopping, and finding a beach!

 

Here is a shot of our beautiful ship docked in Havensight, St. Thomas:

 

 

Off to explore! See you soon.

[BillOh]

Nice on Jewel in 2 weeks! :p

 

Make sure you get off quickly! ;)

[DisneyKidsDad]

Great report! We are on the Jewel next month. Can you tell me if they have any cooking demos on board. My wife and daughter love them. Thanx!!

[BillOh]

Hello Bouhunter! Thanks for all the sugestions. I'm a bit afraid to try zipling as I had back surgery a few months back. I'd probably be fine, but not sure about a rough landing!

 

Something else we have in common, going on Jewel from San Juan and back surgery. Mine was Jan 10th and this cruise is going to be one of very tame excursions. I wouldn't even consider ziplining yet. I desperately want to dive on this trip, but am going to pass it up. My upcoming review will mostly be tame touristy pictures, other than hopefully having a KLM 747 land over my head at Maho.

[BillOh]

Great report! We are on the Jewel next month. Can you tell me if they have any cooking demos on board. My wife and daughter love them. Thanx!!

 

Last year when they were sailing out of Tampa they did have them in the centrum. FWIW.

[nik1009]

Hi Sue, Thanks for the review. Does the Jewel have drink vouchers for Diamond status? Thank You

[bumbletigger]

Could you check the Chops menu for me?? I am hoping for the old menu, the one with the baked potato and parmesan pro. potatoes. I will be on the Jewel in June. Can't wait!!

 

 

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[ValerieJo]

Could you check the Chops menu for me?? I am hoping for the old menu, the one with the baked potato and parmesan pro. potatoes. I will be on the Jewel in June. Can't wait!!

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

 

Hi. I'm not Sue but can answer your question. We were on Jewell last month and had dinner at both chops and Portofino. Chops does have the 'old' menu.

Enjoy!

[desamparaditos]

Hi All, Between a new laptop and slow Internet connections, I'm really having a hard time working on my review. I uploaded a handful of pictures, but will save most for next week.

 

We had a great day in St. John's today. We took the excursion from the ship which left at 10 am so we had about 2 hours to hang out and do a little shopping in port. I added a new piece of Larimar to my collection.

 

The original price was considerably higher than I paid. so a little bargaining definitely works.

 

I also bought a few items for my camera equipment at the camera stores in port.

 

The crew of the boat that took us over to St. John's were a lot of fun and kept the "painkiller" punches flowing. We ended up skipping the formal dinner tonight, because the sun and the painkillers did my sister in for a few hours. ( I skipped them myself). I think 4 straight days of nonstop activity just had us both wanting a night off. I hated missing the dinner though.

 

So as for our "almost" getting left behind in St. Johns- I'll have to explain....

 

Once we reached St. John's we took an open air taxi to Cinnamon Bay. It cost $7 each way. We met another couple from CruiseCritic on the way over and shared the taxi over. We got to Cruz Bay at 11 am and had to meet the crew for the ride home at 2:45 for a prompt 3pm departure.

 

We actually got back to Cruz Bay in plenty of time and decided to grab a drink at a bar that overlooks the dock. Well it's getting closer and closer to time to meet, and there is no boat and no other cruisers in sight- just people with suitcases waiting for a ferry to take them to S. Thomas.

 

At 2:46. there is no one in sight and we are beginning to panic. I walked into a store to make sure we were waiting at the right spot and the salesclerk assured me that we were at the only dock in Cruz Bay. We honestly paid no attention when we got off the boat earlier and weren't sure if we were in the right place or not.

 

Finally, right before the 3pm departure, I asked a taxi dispatcher if there was anywhere else that our boat might be. He told us to walk a bit down the street to another dock.

 

Thank god someone knew. We walked as fast as we could with all our gear and when we finally came around the bend, we saw our boat- fully loaded and waiting on us to leave. We made it with 4 minutes to spare!!!

 

Anyway, my word of advice if you take the Royal Caribbean excursion over to Cruz Bay- make sure you pay attention to the drop off point and make sure the cab driver takes you to the right one.

 

As promised- just one picture today but I do promise more later. This is the view of Cruz Bay from a little bar where we were waiting in vain at the wrong dock:

 

 

 

See you soon! Tomorrow- St. Croix

 

You were lucky to catch the ferry. By the way it's St. John, not St. John's.

[drarill]

Great review!!! Thanks for posting!:)

[MDSue]

Great report! We are on the Jewel next month. Can you tell me if they have any cooking demos on board. My wife and daughter love them. Thanx!!

 

Hello, I will double check and let you know asap.

 

Susan

[MDSue]

Something else we have in common, going on Jewel from San Juan and back surgery. Mine was Jan 10th and this cruise is going to be one of very tame excursions. I wouldn't even consider ziplining yet. I desperately want to dive on this trip, but am going to pass it up. My upcoming review will mostly be tame touristy pictures, other than hopefully having a KLM 747 land over my head at Maho.

 

I love Maho Beach and the planes! I definitely want to go back.

 

So far, my back has held up well with all the bumpy taxi rides here and there. I have a back brace that I wear if I know I'm going to be riding or sitting for a long time. It has come in handy- but it's hot.

 

Today, I really wanted to rent a jet-ski- but decided against it. Maybe, one day:)

[MDSue]

Hi All, We had an another perfect day in St. Croix. We really enjoyed the island and met lots of friendly people and vendors. I'm surprised at how many Americans up and moved to St. Croix and carved out a nice living for themselves- from the crew on our boat yesterday, to many of the local artisans. I wish I could have been so brave.

 

Today, we spent an hour or so shopping in the port and taking pictures of the local architecture. Afterwards, we took a $6 round-trip cab fare to Rainbow Beach.

 

The beach had all your typical rentals from chairs and umbrellas, to jet skis and floats. They had a nice open-air restaurant and bar there as well.

 

The sand was nice, but a pair of water shoes are good because of a few shells and rocks in the water- my sister didn't have water shoes and she was fine. Some people were snorkeling also, but I'm not sure how good it was. It was a nice swimming beach, though.

 

Here's a picture of Rainbow Beach:

 

 

 

I took a lot of ship interior pictures today and will share them soon.

 

Tomorrow I think we may spend a few hours at Nelson's Dockyard. We went there on an excursion a few years back and thought it would be nice to spend a few hours there this time. I love Antigua's beaches, but we might make it a non-beach day tomorrow to get a break from the sun.

 

See you tomorrow!

 

Susan

[mefinephotoman]

Beautiful photography!!! We are on JotS in September after three days in OSJ. I am thinking about doing a live photo review. Subscribing to see how it is done. :D

[luv2zdworld]

We have never been to Nelson's Dockyard. Thinking of going on our July Jewel cruise. Looking forward to your review. How are you getting there? Anything we should not miss?

Rosa

 

 

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[kteachcruiser52]

Hello Bouhunter! Thanks for all the sugestions. I'm a bit afraid to try zipling as I had back surgery a few months back. I'd probably be fine, but not sure about a rough landing!

 

I'm really hoping we'll find something exciting in Martinique- but I know what you mean about ship tours. A day on a crowded bus doesn't appeal to me, so we will most likely wing it and hope for the best.

 

And Valley Church Beacxh is probably one of my all time favorites and is high on our list. I like to try new things and we were recently there, but it may be wrth going again.

 

Take care,

Susan

 

Wee did a zip line on St. Kitts. it had the no hands breaking system. It was quite a jolt when we hit the springs at the end of each line, even when one assumed proper breaking position (knees flexed up toward your body and grab the handle with both hands. My shoulder really hurt on the one line where I was so busy looking around I forgot to grab the bar above my head. If you just had back surgery, I would hesitate to do the zip line. (We are in our 60's)

[DJHere]

Rainbow Beach looks like a Fun Beach, Worth checkin out!!!!

I'm Excited for Our Jewel Cruise in October, I'll have "Cruise Newbie" with me!!

Looking forward to Sharing Cruising with her...Esp Since we have a Balcony!!!

[MDSue]

We have never been to Nelson's Dockyard. Thinking of going on our July Jewel cruise. Looking forward to your review. How are you getting there? Anything we should not miss?

Rosa

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Hello, We went to Nelson's Dockyard a few years back on a tour we signed up for at the tour booth in Antigua. For $25 we got an island tour with stops at Shirley Heights ( a scenic overlook), Nelson's Dockyard, and a few other stops. We really enjoyed it and took a ton of pictures. I'll post them for you next week when we get home.

 

Yesterday, we changed our minds and signed up for a last minute ship tour called A Taste of Antigua. We went to a house where a woman talked about all the uses for a variety of herbs and plants grown on the island. She was fun and the scenery was nice. Then we went to a nice beach, and stopped at a pineapple farm, and a local craft store. The craft store that featured cottons and pottery from local artists was a bust- only a few items on display and not impressive, but the tour itself was a nice way to spend a few hours.

 

then we went a shopped in St. Johns and had a cold drink at a place called "Cheers" which had free Internet. I'll post pictures soon.

 

Susan

[MDSue]

Good morning from Martinique,

 

We are docking as I type. I couldn't get Internet connection last night to post.

 

We had another great day in Antigua and I'll post a full review next week. Today, we are going to wing it again in Martinique.. I am determined to find answers to "what to do" on this island.

 

Our current plan is to bring our beach gear and take the ferry to the beach after walking around town and seeing what is going on locally.

 

 

Here are a few pictures from yesterdays' tour:

 

 

 

And on of the pool area on the Jewel:

 

 

 

Well. I'm off to explore. I promise to reply to everyone personally next week- Internet is too pricy onboard. I did check about cooking demos and there is one today that pairs wines with steak and is held at one of the premium restaurants. I took a picture of the details and will share next week along with any other info I find.

 

See you soon!

 

Susan

Edited April 16, 2014 by MDSue