Live review from The Jewel of the Seas 9-13-14

[mefinephotoman]

It seems like forever ago my wife Patti and I decided to do something special for our 25th wedding anniversary. We decided to plan a cruise out of Puerto Rico but this time spend some time in Old San Juan. Today is travel day!!! We are sitting in the Atlanta airport waiting for our connection to PR. This is my first time giving a trip review. So be patient. I will try to keep up with posting as much as I can thoughout the next 10 days.

 

Last night we left the girls (12 year old dogs) with Jen the dog groomer. Jen has known them since they were puppies. They hate when we leave but having Jen watch them is a great help.

 

Loaded 3 checked bags, 2 carryons and one fairly large personal item bag which left our luggage weighing in at just over 200 pounds.

 

I hope my next post later today will have some pictures from San Juan and our hotel El Convento.

 

Mark

 

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[lmares1968]

Have fun, I'm looking forward to your review.

[mefinephotoman]

At airport trying to learn how to import images.

 

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[jakesnana]

It seems like forever ago my wife Patti and I decided to do something special for our 25th wedding anniversary. We decided to plan a cruise out of Puerto Rico but this time spend some time in Old San Juan. Today is travel day!!! We are sitting in the Atlanta airport waiting for our connection to PR. This is my first time giving a trip review. So be patient. I will try to keep up with posting as much as I can thoughout the next 10 days.

 

Last night we left the girls (12 year old dogs) with Jen the dog groomer. Jen has known them since they were puppies. They hate when we leave but having Jen watch them is a great help.

 

Loaded 3 checked bags, 2 carryons and one fairly large personal item bag which left our luggage weighing in at just over 200 pounds.

 

I hope my next post later today will have some pictures from San Juan and our hotel El Convento.

 

Mark

 

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I'll be following your adventure as we embark on the day you leave. Keep the ship safe for us :)

[wrp96]

Looking forward to meeting you on Saturday. :D

[mjgep0316]

Your review was starting to get spooky...I am Mark also and my wife and I are also sailing on Jewel in 3 seeks for our 25th anniversary. It's our first cruise and we are sooooo excited! Following along on your trip will hopefully make the days pass just a bit quicker. Happy Anniversary and have a great trip! What type of room are you booked in? Subscribed.

 

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[mefinephotoman]

We had a great safe flight into San Juan. Luggage took a while to come off the belt but finally we had all our bags. I am usually the stubborn type that wants to handle my own bags but for some reason this time I decide to except the offer to have help with the bags from the luggage porter. Best couple of bucks ever spent. He grabbed our bags and we followed him to the front of the line for the next cab. I guess I should always be so stubborn.:rolleyes:

Off we went into Old San Juan to the hotel. We decided to spurge a little being our 25th and all so we reserved a room at El Convento. The hotel is incredible!! I love doing photography and this place is a candy store for pictures. Here are a couple from today.

 

 

 

 

Once we got settled in we headed out to find something to eat. We found a nice little place around the corner. El Patio De Sam on Calle San Sabastian. The food and the service was great for a nice tasty sandwich lunch and a Modella Light.

 

More review to come!

[dreamer976]

I'll be following along:)

 

Enjoy your special cruise aboard the Jewel OTS. She's a beautiful ship!

[abodom68]

Jewel is my absolute favorite ship!! Miss her since she left Tampa! The most awesome staff afloat IMO!! Enjoy your cruise! and Dennis Charles is awesome as CD!!!

[mefinephotoman]

Your review was starting to get spooky...I am Mark also and my wife and I are also sailing on Jewel in 3 seeks for our 25th anniversary. It's our first cruise and we are sooooo excited! Following along on your trip will hopefully make the days pass just a bit quicker. Happy Anniversary and have a great trip! What type of room are you booked in? Subscribed.

 

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Forums mobile app

 

We are in a balcony 9th floor on the hump. This is our first cruise in September. Hopefully the weather stays great!

 

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[mefinephotoman]

Looking forward to meeting you on Saturday. :D

 

See you at the Sky Bar!!!!

 

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[maggieq]

Have a great time

[paul_a142]

Excellent start :D

 

Will be following you along.

 

Keep in touch.

 

Regards.

 

Paul

[floatel_lvr]

Have a great trip and thanks for doing the LIVE review. We will be sailing on the Jewel in a few weeks and your review will help ease the wait...

[PompeySailor]

Will be joining you for your review

Thanks.

Looking forward to all the pics

Can't wait to be on the Jewel soon:)

[NemoCrownie]

Following, great start and fantastic pictures. Thank you for taking the time to do this.

[mefinephotoman]

After being up at 3:00AM yesterday to make our first flight. We had a couple of glasses of wine at the manager's reception, one more night cap at Patio de Nispero

 

 

and then it was off to bed. Retiring that early now has me wide awake at 4:00AM this morning. Note to self to stay up later tonight:p

 

Our room for the next couple of days is one of the newly remodeled rooms on the first floor. It is a bit small but loaded with charm and the history of this hotel oozes out of every detail.

 

 

 

El Gato!! Cats are a way of life here in OSJ. They are everywhere and seem to be welcome by the natives as though they are family. Here is one of the resident cats of the hotel.

 

 

Today we want to just explore more of Old San Juan, take in El Morro and later take a San Juan Harbor sunset sail. I will post more soon.

[mefinephotoman]

I need coffee!

Edited September 11, 2014 by mefinephotoman
Duplicate post

[mefinephotoman]

A couple more of the room.

 

 

This is a enclosed patio which does add more living area. the water feature sure help with white noise for sleeping last night.

[MaritimeR&R]

Great pics!

 

My flight arrives in SJ around 1 on Saturday and then I will be joining you on board for the start of my B2B. Looking forward to meeting you.

[DCT61]

TRIXIE THE CAT! We have friends staying at that same hotel right now (they aren't on a cruise) and sent us pictures of that cat. Have a great time!

[mefinephotoman]

Well, Patti finally rose at around 6:30 and after coffee and getting ready we were out the door to explore. First stop, Cafe Cuatro Sambras for breakfast. Had a breakfast sandwich with ham and cheese and jam on a pressed croissant which was very good. The cappucino was fantastic, made from home grown and beans.

 

 

 

 

From there we headed from the pier to El Morro.Here are a few highlights from our walk.

 

 

 

 

 

[mefinephotoman]

El Morro and the Cemetery

 

 

 

 

Notice the flags are at half mast in memory of 9/11

 

 

[maynard123]

Great pictures - though I have many that appear to be the same!

 

My Dad lives in San Juan so we always sail from there. Cruise #6 end of January! We love San Juan, especially Old San Juan. The sidewalk you were on goes most of the way around the base of El Moro. LOTS of cats, and iguanas! The Men's Room in El Moro has the best view of any National Park - great views of the ocean.

 

Thanks for writing a review - a lot to do when having a great time!

[CPPADILLA]

Thanks for taking us along with you. I am excited because we have friends on this cruise. Now I can follow along where they are on their cruise via your reports. ;):)