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

[sabookkeeper]

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!

We will be spending a week in San Juan before our cruise on the Jewel. I have to use a scooter and I was wondering how much of the fort I will be able to see?

[kftw]

Enjoying your review & photos. Thanks.

[wrp96]

So I'll post since the op has been massively busy having fun. Cannot say enough about the crew on this ship. Friendly helpful and would do almost anything to make your vacation amazing. Currently in Curaçao with a view of the former Monarch of the Seas. Weather and seas have been fantastic. Someone said yesterday it was almost too still.

[wrp96]

Thank you! (I love Dennis!)

 

Just to let you know, Dennis will probably be on until at least November. The person who was supposed to take over for him was sent to another ship.

[mefinephotoman]

Sorry that "Live" didn't happen. But now that we are back on dry land I will resuscitate the thread. I will start posting soon.

 

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[NemoCrownie]

I hope you had a great cruise [emoji2]

[Lily14]

Don't blame you at all. Hope not having time to post was because you were having a fabulous time. Looking forward to hearing about it. We are on the Jewel in early November and I'm starting to get really excited!

[mefinephotoman]

We had a great time and discovered some new things about cruising and on board dining options etc. Lots of photos to share as well. I should be home in time this evening to post day one and possibly day two.

[mefinephotoman]

Don't blame you at all. Hope not having time to post was because you were having a fabulous time. Looking forward to hearing about it. We are on the Jewel in early November and I'm starting to get really excited!

One quick note. The ship has not been fitted with the new WIFI system which means that you cannot access the internet from your room as I had planned. This means that you could not set up to download images etc. and while it is working go do something.

[mefinephotoman]

We will be spending a week in San Juan before our cruise on the Jewel. I have to use a scooter and I was wondering how much of the fort I will be able to see?

 

We just visited El Morro this trip. Access into the main level won't be a problem but the best views are from a lower level which all I saw was steps and an upper area which did have a very steep incline. It is a National Park and I know that they are very helpful so they may have access away from the normal areas that we didn't see. You could probably ask them via email and gain more info. Make sure to look around the grounds in front and check out the area near the cemetery.

[mefinephotoman]

Our bags are again packed and we are ready to go to the ship! I think we may have overpacked.

 

 

We received word from our friends that the Coast Guard is on board doing inspections so they estimate 1:00 for boarding. We had breakfast and at 11:45 we shared a cab to the port with Mike and Chris. A lovely couple we met during our stay at the hotel.

Embarkation was very smooth. From the time we arrived we never stopped moving. Checked bags, checked in and then the applause rose from the gates to the ship being opened so we made our way onto the ship. We were on board and at the Windjammer with Scott and Stephany by 12:30. Rooms were available at 1:00 so after lunch we went to the rooms to check them out. Here are a couple of pics of the room and the balcony. I will post some pics of the view later.

 

 

 

 

A few notes about the cabin 9586. The stateroom was standard D1 size and the balcony was no larger than any other D1 cabin. The biggest advantage to this cabin has been the forward and aft view is incredible. You are out far enough that you are looking back at the ship from your balcony. Also, the location is great. the barrier wall sound proofs your room from all the Centrum activities. Being so close to the elevators makes everything so convenient.

 

We then changed into swim suits and headed to the pool. At 3:00 many of the CC roll call members met at the Sky Bar. It was great to meet Clint and Zandra, Max's Mom and so many others that I have been typing to for so long. Now I can put a face to the name. Then it was back to the room to get ready for dinner.

 

 

We chose the 6:00 seating for 10. Patti and I prefer early and have enjoyed the company of the same tablemates in the past. We have wonderful table mates this time. Three lovely ladies from Ireland Ann, Lyn and Christine together on their first cruise, Mike and Cheryl from Seattle and our friends Stephany and Scott. Paul and Myra (mom) from London are also at our table and it just occurred to me that they are "mygracey" from the roll call. While talking to Mike and Cheryl we discovered that we were on the same Serenade cruise in 2009 but just never met.

Muster drill was at 8:00 so we left the dining room and went right to our station which was in the Schooner Bar. Then we were off for drinks and the welcome aboard show. The comedian was excellent. I will post his name once I can find it.

Being exhausted we retired to our room for the evening.

 

 

I will post more soon! Tomorrow St. Thomas!

Edited September 21, 2014 by mefinephotoman

[floatel_lvr]

Welcome back. Glad you had a great time and enjoying your "post" live review...

[mefinephotoman]

 

We were up bright and early on day 2. The girls were going into town while Scott and I go scuba diving at Coki Beach. We had breakfast in the Windjammer and at 8:30 we were at the port catching a cab to Coki Beach. We were fascinated with them driving on the left side with a vehicle designed to be used on the right side.

 

The diving was easy and a great refresher for us. The visibility was great and we had a great time. The people at the dive shop our very friendly and helpful and made for a great experience. I will post a link to the underwater video I shot with my GoPro later today.

 

Patti and Stephany went into town to do some shopping. Fortunately for Scott and I the internet was down on the Island so shops didn't have access to their credit card resources. It was cash only and they didn't take a lot of cash. They knew that other islands would have the same things so they came back to the ship.

 

Once we got back we just hung out on the ship and went back to the pool. I walked around and photographed more of the ship. Here are a few from around the ship.

 

Taken from The Crown and Anchor Lounge on Deck 12

 

Pool Deck Stage

 

Solarium Pool

 

Patti went for a manicure and pedicure. It was formal night so we dressed up and went to dinner and then drinks. Then the Sunday Night Football game at the Sports Bar. Scott is a big Chicago Bears fan. After a couple of drinks Patti and I retired to the room for the evening.

 

We have discovered that cruising with friends is very different from cruising on your own. For example, we have never considered a drink package with alcohol before because as little as we normally drink it would be a waste. But, just like when you go out to dinner with friends you have a drink , this is like being on constant dinner! We changed our beverage plan to include alcohol on day two. Bottoms up!

 

I will have more soon. Next up, St. Kitts!

[mefinephotoman]

As promised, here is the video link for our dive on Coki Beach. It makes for a very good warm up dive to knock the rust off. Max depth sloped off to 45 feet. About 50 minutes of bottom time. We opted to not do the second dive because of what time it was after the first dive. We ended up finished and back to the ship about 12:45 doing one dive.

 

 

This made a great warm up for St Kitts and Aruba which I will also post video of in future posts.

 

I hope you enjoy and I will post more soon!:)

[mefinephotoman]

I was awake this morning in time to see the sunrise so I took a couple of shots from the balcony.

 

 

 

The girls decided to sleep in this morning but Scott and I were up and out at 7:00am for breakfast and off to St Kitts Diving for a 2 tank boat. The diving was incredible!!!!! We did the MV Corinthian and MV Tug Boat and both dives were just teaming with fish. Adam and Crystal (mobius107), Scott and I were the only 4 divers. Captain Crabby got us there and back and Tony was an excellent guide taking us through the dives and pointing out many things. They also gave my gear a very thorough cleaning after the dives which was very much appreciated.

 

 

Tony Our Dive Guide. I highly recommend this operation for your diving in St. Kitts. I will post a link for the video of these dives soon.

 

The locations of the dives were also an interesting perspective of the ship.

 

 

We returned to the ship at about 1:00. Had some lunch in the Windjammer then went back out into the shops area just outside of the port.

 

A little side note...The entire cruise I planned on eating at Seaview Cafe, but the unusual schedule (2:30pm-6:30pm and 9:30pm-1:00am) means that we either had to eat a very late breakfast or add a 4th meal to the day. So, we never did get to eat at there. I now wish I had at least once went ahead and endulged.

 

It was nice catch up on today's events with everyone at the table in the Main Dining Room. That is why we like the same group every evening. After dinner we walked around the shops, played a couple of games of pool on the self leveling table and ended up at the Odyssey Lounge for Karaoke. The next day was at sea so we headed for the room later than the previous two days for some sleep. I will be back with Day 4 at sea soon.

[NemoCrownie]

Wonderful video! Questions: we are new divers and our next cruise will be our first ocean dives. We have signed up for dives in St Croix and Tortola through the ship - comfort factor for our first ocean dives and 6 months after our last dive. What gear did you bring and what did you rent? Who were the dive operators and were they beach or boat dives? We will also be in St Thomas and St Kitts and then in Aruba in 2016 so very interested any any details.

 

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[mefinephotoman]

Wonderful video! Questions: we are new divers and our next cruise will be our first ocean dives. We have signed up for dives in St Croix and Tortola through the ship - comfort factor for our first ocean dives and 6 months after our last dive. What gear did you bring and what did you rent? Who were the dive operators and were they beach or boat dives? We will also be in St Thomas and St Kitts and then in Aruba in 2016 so very interested any any details.

 

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After a 12 year absence from diving I did buy new gear this year and had 6 dives locally before the trip. I took my mask, snorkel fins, snorkel, a lycra suit just for skin protection and my new regulator and dive computer. There were very few that brought their own regulators but I wanted the comfort and familiarity of my gear on the dives. I rented the BCD and used their weights. The BCD can be integrated weight style or you may need a belt. I prefer belt. I also brought my accessories for attaching the GoPro to the BCD and the dive computer to retract in to the BCD so it wouldn't be dragging across the reef. I booked Coki Beach and St Kitts through the shops themselves. In Aruba I booked on the ship and it had a different level of service to it. The best thing is to get on the internet and do lots of research before hand.

 

I would highly recommend at least one dive at Coki if it is your first destination to dive. Nice and easy entry, a very casual decent following the surface, some patch coral and some fish. If it would have been a later dive in the trip it would have been a let down from the other dives.

 

Coki Beach Dive Shop- St Thomas- Beach and Boat dives by appointment- I would use them again.

 

Dive St Kitts- St Kitts- Boat Dives- I highly recommend them. They were wonderful in the level of service they provided. Tony was fantastic and Captain Crabby is a very interesting guy.

 

Red Sail Divers- Aruba- Boat Dives- I booked this through the ship last minute to get two more dives in. It could be that I was spoiled from the previous dives in St Kitts but the seem to be going through the motion of kind of giving you a dive experience. The dive sites were actually pretty good but the service not so much. If I dive in Aruba again I will do my homework and book through a highly recommended shop.

 

Check the Scuba and Snorkel Board here on CC. Also, Scubaboard dot com has a dive destination area that can be used for good research. Also Trip Advisor.

[mefinephotoman]

I now have the link to the underwater video in St. Kitts.:D

 

 

More to come soon!

[mefinephotoman]

Today Patti and I celebrate 25 years of wedded bliss! We woke early again and after our first cup of Starbuck's from Latte-tudes we went to the main dining room for breakfast. This was a nice change of pace from the Windjammer and the Eggs Benedict was prepared to perfection. We then had a few minutes to spare so we walked around the ship some.

 

At 10:45 we had our Meet and Mingle! We had a great turn out and Dennis our Cruise Director kept us laughing and well informed during the event. He also took a picture of the group at the end.

 

 

Then cabin crawl.... We visited our Hump Cabin, a Junior Suite and a Grand Suite. It looks like JS could be in our future from now on. Patti love the extra space. I didn't take any pictures. I felt funny being inside someone else's home for the week.

 

Then it was off to the pool to find a place to park. It took some work but we grabbed chairs and made ourselves a spot. Crowded, crowded , crowded! It was 12:30. We then took turns going to the Windjammer for some lunch. It was fun watching the entertainment directors teach the Samba etc. at the pool side deck.

 

 

After a few hours of baking in the sun we headed back to the room and took a nap.

 

We had dinner every evening in the Main Dining Room. We really enjoyed our table mate's company and we were content with the menu. After dinner the girls were tired from the sun all day so Scott and I went to the Schooner Bar and played a few games of pool on the floating pool tables. If the ship movement effects you, I would advise not to watch the tables. I was ok as long as I kept my eyes on the top of the table but was shocked at how much the table moves between the base and the table.

 

We had another linen visitor this evening. They all seem to like my sunglasses.

 

 

Next stop Curacao! More to come!

[NemoCrownie]

Thanks so much for all of the dive info and research sites. I am second guessing our RCCL excursions now so I will do some more research. I do think the Tortola operator gets good reviews though. I'm concerned being new at this that we could be a drag on the experienced divers.

 

Your photos are fantastic and I'm loving your review.

 

Is that Max's Mom in your meet and mingle photo? I love her reviews and it looks like her from her reviews.

 

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[mefinephotoman]

Thanks so much for all of the dive info and research sites. I am second guessing our RCCL excursions now so I will do some more research. I do think the Tortola operator gets good reviews though. I'm concerned being new at this that we could be a drag on the experienced divers.

 

Your photos are fantastic and I'm loving your review.

 

Is that Max's Mom in your meet and mingle photo? I love her reviews and it looks like her from her reviews.

 

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Usually with some probing you can determine which operation is doing the RCCL excursion. Just read some reviews to make sure they aren't cattle boats that are all about the money and not about your comfort and safety.:eek:

The other reason for finding out who the operator is, is so you can contact them to get their recommendation based on your experience level. Don't worry about being new at this. We all were new at diving once. I can remember about 200 dives ago worried about holding up the group. As long as you pay attention, relax, respect the other diver's space and just relax you will be just fine. :cool:

 

Yes, that is her.

[mefinephotoman]

After leaving St. Kitts an hour or so late on day 3 because of a maintenance issue, they picked up the pace some through the duration of day 4 but as we woke and sat out on the balcony having our Starbucks the ship was moving much slower and was much calmer. Nearly every morning at 6:30 I would make my way down to get either a Cappuccino or Mocha. I seemed to be the first one at Latte tudes each morning. The barista (I could kick myself for not writing her name down but it began with a P and she was from Indonesia) always had a smile and was very welcoming. Plus she made great coffee. But today she commented on how she had made Patti a coffee every morning and had never met her. I told her that getting the coffee was my job in the morning and she chuckled.

 

We were not the only ship in port as anticipated. The former Majesty of the Seas now the Pullmantar Majesty was in port just on the other side of the floating bridge. Here is pic of her.

 

 

After breakfast in the Windjammer we were off to explore downtown Williamstadt. The walk was very nice and lots of things to see. Here are a few shots from the walk.

 

Patti and I with JOS in the background

 

 

 

This clock would chime on the half hour but play a tune with the bells and across the white stage below the bells the same amount of people as what time it was would walk across.

 

 

 

More of Day 5 to come soon.

[mefinephotoman]

 

We were not the only ship in port as anticipated. The former Majesty of the Seas now the Pullmantar Majesty was in port just on the other side of the floating bridge. Here is pic of her.

 

 

 

Correction.... Not Majesty of the Seas but the former Monarch of the Seas.

[novalab]

Correction.... Not Majesty of the Seas but the former Monarch of the Seas.

 

WHEW!!! And here I thought RC had done away with Majesty too...our first cruise ship!!:(;)

 

Really enjoying your review & all your lovely pictures, esp. the Jewel pics. We will be sailing on Jewel next October on the West Coast. This will be our first cruise on this class of ship (our TA'a favorite). Your review & pictures are really helping me get through this loooong wait!

 

Thank You!!!

[mefinephotoman]

After our visit to town we headed back to the ship for some lunch. I then grabbed my camera to find some interesting perspectives on the ship and a few more of Curacao.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was then time to get ready for dinner! It was formal night so I took my camera down to get some pics of the great people at our table.

 

I will post them soon.