Just off the Jewel if you have any questions

[BillOh]

[quote name=mary_228;45294712

Tours taken:

RCL: Ultimate St. John's National Park and Beaches (Trunk Bay)

Lawrence of Antigua: island tour with beach stop at Valley Church Beach

RCL: St. Pierre' date=' Depaz Distillery, Balata Church

Shoreexcursions.com (thru Costco): Soufriere Sail,.[/quote]

 

On this note, tell me you enjoyed Lawrence's tour in Antiqua. If you look back at my review of my Jewel trip from last May, I took a stinker of an excursion in Antigua and many people recommended Lawrence, I'd love to hear another opinion. And Also the Soutfriere Sail in ST Lucia, I'd love to hear about the sail. We drove to the volcano along some scary roads, so I'd like to hear you had a wonderful time your way.

 

Welcome back.

[BillOh]

How did you like the ship? I'm thinking about booking our next New Years vacation on the Jewel for a southern caribbean cruise. :)

 

i've loved this ship twice, I didn't look where you call home, but I'd rather be in the Southern Caribbean for New Year's.

[BillOh]

It was for our cruise...however very few people knew ;)

 

Your right, I didn't make it over there till well after 2pm the first day.

[BillOh]

We are sailing on the JOS Feb 21st. My DW is asking on how good the in cabin hair dryers worked.

We just got off a Carnival cruise (not my idea) and there were NO hair dryers in the cabins, that is why this question.

 

Its been my experience people with short or thin hair find them acceptable. People who very thick long hair don't like them as much as the ones they normally use.

[WhiteSoxFan]

I know some people don't care, but if you remember, who was the Cruise Director? Since you mentioned the games, when I was on Jewel we had Carly, a lady from the UK and I thought while now bad, she was on the low end of my favorite lists because of her lackluster work on the games. Specifically Love and Marriage, is usually a late evening show done after both dining hours lasting about an hour. Her version was 20 minutes and between dinner shows. Quest was also very G rated and boring.

 

I believe she is retired now.

 

Based on her description it is still Mike Hunnerup.

[mary_228]

Hey! We're on the Jewel in March. Do you happen to remember if there was somewhere you could see the water from deck 5 (my husband likes a less crowded sail away view than the pool deck)? Also, do you know what time the white party started? We're going spring break so I figured there will be kids everywhere but I was curious if they had any family friendly dancing/parties. Thanks!

Lots of deck chairs on deck 5. Most parties started at 10:45 in the Vortex. And don't give up if people aren't there right on the dot. It will fill up, esp at SB! The family-friendliest dance party would be the white party since it is on deck. And don't miss the 70's party in the Centrum if you've never been. Fun even if you are just watching.

 

Interesting review- especially of excursions

 

Which botanical garden did you go to in Martinique?

I think I should have been more clear in my original post. The excursions are listed in order of port stop and the one with the botanical garden was in St Lucia. There we were handed over to a local guide who was extremely well-versed in all of the plants. Wished I had know this would be the case so I could have brought extra tip money for her and the guide at the sulphur springs.

[mary_228]

Silly question .... with an 8 pm sail away, what time is muster drill? I was wondering how to time muster/dinner and back to the balcony for sail away.

Sorry, I don't remember! We had My Time dining and were at dinner and had to miss dessert to get there in time.

 

We are sailing on the JOS Feb 21st. My DW is asking on how good the in cabin hair dryers worked.

We just got off a Carnival cruise (not my idea) and there were NO hair dryers in the cabins, that is why this question.

The hair dryers are underpowered for long hair and do not have the special features she may be used to, like ceramic or concentrated nozzles. However, my teenagers and I have always made do rather than bring one along. It must have been a horrible not to have had one for formal nights.

[mary_228]

On this note, tell me you enjoyed Lawrence's tour in Antiqua. If you look back at my review of my Jewel trip from last May, I took a stinker of an excursion in Antigua and many people recommended Lawrence, I'd love to hear another opinion. And Also the Soutfriere Sail in ST Lucia, I'd love to hear about the sail. We drove to the volcano along some scary roads, so I'd like to hear you had a wonderful time your way.

Lawrence is a very dignified middle-aged man who has a lot of pride in his country. I liked his sense of humor. His choice of beach for us was perfection. Valley Church Beach and the Nest restaurant were magical. He returned to pick us up right on time. The tour was a good value. I had been to Antigua three times previously which were focused on water activities and only once for a island tour. He supplied delicious beverages and stopped for fresh pineapple for our refreshments. It was easy to locate him because he always wears a vest with a pattern in the colors of the Antiguan flag. Comfortable, clean vehicle.

 

The Soufriere Sail was chosen to avoid the twisty mountain roads you described. I enjoyed the catamaran ride both ways. This particular company combined a variety of excursions on one boat and it was packed returning to port. Fun music and dancing to go with the beers and rum punch. I was disappointed in other ways in our particular tour but taking a boat to get to that end of the island is a good choice IMO.

[jkrislc]

Silly question .... with an 8 pm sail away, what time is muster drill? I was wondering how to time muster/dinner and back to the balcony for sail away.

 

About 7:45. All services closed at 7:30 in preparation for it. If you're doing MTD, you'll likely need to be seated by 6:15 to complete dinner, which is also the latest reservation before 8:30 for the specialty dining venues. Fixed seating times are adjusted accordingly. Portofino is not open on sail away until 8:30 despite the fact that you can make online reservations for 6 before sailing.

[usckatieh]

Lots of deck chairs on deck 5. Most parties started at 10:45 in the Vortex. And don't give up if people aren't there right on the dot. It will fill up, esp at SB! The family-friendliest dance party would be the white party since it is on deck. And don't miss the 70's party in the Centrum if you've never been. Fun even if you are just watching!

 

 

 

Very helpful! Thanks!

Edited January 19, 2015 by usckatieh

[TexasGal#35]

Ports on this itinerary were St. Thomas, Antigua, Martinique, St Lucia and Grenada.

 

Tours taken:

RCL: Ultimate St. John's National Park and Beaches (Trunk Bay)

Lawrence of Antigua: island tour with beach stop at Valley Church Beach

RCL: St. Pierre, Depaz Distillery, Balata Church

Shoreexcursions.com (thru Costco): Soufriere Sail, incl stop at the sulphur steam vents, botanical garden, snorkeling, lunch w/cocoa processing overview

RCL: Dougalston Nutmeg Procesing, Grand Etang, Ft. Frederick

 

My Time Dining, no specialty restaurants or spa treatments. Attended almost all theme parties, production shows and games.

 

What nights were the Formal nights? We are going Feb. 7-14. We cruised the other itinerary last February. That cruise was a whirlwind and I expect this one will be too.

We don't have any excursions for St. Thomas, St. Croix or Antigua. I didn't realize when we booked last year this will be Mardi Gras week. I wonder if they will be celebrating any at all?

We are 19 days away and counting.

 

Thanks,

Gloria

[Tanker]

Hope you had a fantastic cruise. We are getting ready to set sail in mid Feb and would like to know about:

 

1. How were the beds? Last time we sailed on the Jewel they were okay.

2. Did they really quit making announcements onboard?

3. How was your experience on embarkation?

4. How was the food? We usually eat at least once in a specialty restaurants and the rest of the time we eat in the MDR or Windjammer.

5. Which island did you enjoy the most?

6. Can you post the compass?

 

Thanks - Tanker

[jkrislc]

Formal nights were Sunday and Wednesday on the 1/3/15 cruise. Portofino was not open the first night for early dining despite having a reservation, so we ended up at Chops. Service was poor and the entrees were fair. Appetizers and sides were exceptional, though. Sadly, my wife's braised short rib was a tough, tasteless, inedible hunk of meat. My filet was good, but not exceptional. Thus, I probably won't be dining there in July.

 

MDR food was good to very good with some items better than others. The Windjammer was also good for dinner as they had cooked to order meats and another cooked to order station that varied from night to night.

 

It is true that there are no more announcements except for drills or emergencies; we actually liked the change.

 

On my itinerary, Dominica was my favorite.

[Ashland]

On our October southern caribbean our sail out time was 8:30pm and out muster was at 8:00pm.

 

Our CD was Dennis Charles.

[3kids1dog]

Did you happen to notice if they sell travel coffee mugs at Lattitudes? (Is that the coffee place) ?

[Clarea]

Did you happen to notice if they sell travel coffee mugs at Lattitudes? (Is that the coffee place) ?

Yes, Cafe Latte-Tudes is the specialty coffee place. I've seen the coffee mugs on every ship (except Indy) in the shops area.

[mary_228]

Hope you had a fantastic cruise. We are getting ready to set sail in mid Feb and would like to know about:

 

1. How were the beds? Last time we sailed on the Jewel they were okay.

 

A bit on the firm side with a slight sag toward the outer edge. I really disliked the weight of the duvet - we joked that it was arctic weight, having just come from a very cold climate. I had the room steward bring me a lightwieght blanket and had him put the duvet as a bottom sheet for a little extra padding.

 

2. Did they really quit making announcements onboard?

 

Yes! New policy across the line I have just learned.

 

3. How was your experience on embarkation?

 

I am a Platimum member so was able to use one of the shorter lines but there really was no delay for anyone at 2pm.

 

4. How was the food? We usually eat at least once in a specialty restaurants and the rest of the time we eat in the MDR or Windjammer.

 

Very pleased with the MDR food. Forced to eat dinner in the Windjammer one evening when we couldn't get in to the MDR in time to make the activities we wanted to attend. Food was good but we felt rather lonely eating up there as it was quite empty at that time.

 

5. Which island did you enjoy the most?

 

Martinique! 27 years ago I visited it and simply went to a beach. This time we had an excellent tourguide on the St. Pierre Rum Distillery, Balata Church tour thru RCL. I also did research using traditional guidebooks to learn more about the country and the sights available in Fort de France which we enjoyed on a self-guided walk thru the town. This port stop impressed us as a regular city, not a tourism-created place. Residents just went about their normal business. Most shops were for regular people, not tourists. Seemed a more vibrant economy than many ports.

6. Can you post the compass?

 

Sorry, I did not keep these.

 

Thanks - Tanker

Hope this is helpful!

[OjMel]

We are going on the Jewel on the 31st! We sailed her last January as well. I have a couple questions for you! I see you did MTD. Currently we are confirmed for early seating. We are a group of 4, and are thinking we'd be good at just a 4-top for this cruise, although sometimes we request a large table to meet others. ;-) Can you refresh me on how MTD works? Can you call the morning of to make a reservation, or do you need to keep the same time all week? We were thinking of switching to MTD, but my cousin just got off Serenade and she told me they only offered them two time options! I don't want to have our dinner time interfere with the shows. My other question is do you know what time the first passengers disembarked the last morning? Our flight schedule got moved earlier, so I'm crossing my fingers! Thanks for your time!

[Clarea]

We are going on the Jewel on the 31st! We sailed her last January as well. I have a couple questions for you! I see you did MTD. Currently we are confirmed for early seating. We are a group of 4, and are thinking we'd be good at just a 4-top for this cruise, although sometimes we request a large table to meet others. ;-) Can you refresh me on how MTD works? Can you call the morning of to make a reservation, or do you need to keep the same time all week? We were thinking of switching to MTD, but my cousin just got off Serenade and she told me they only offered them two time options! I don't want to have our dinner time interfere with the shows. My other question is do you know what time the first passengers disembarked the last morning? Our flight schedule got moved earlier, so I'm crossing my fingers! Thanks for your time!

You can have different times each day. You can call and request to change your reservation. Or you can cancel your reservation and just show up when you want.

Edited January 21, 2015 by clarea

[mary_228]

We are going on the Jewel on the 31st! Can you refresh me on how MTD works? Can you call the morning of to make a reservation, or do you need to keep the same time all week? We were thinking of switching to MTD, but my cousin just got off Serenade and she told me they only offered them two time options! I don't want to have our dinner time interfere with the shows. My other question is do you know what time the first passengers disembarked the last morning? Our flight schedule got moved earlier, so I'm crossing my fingers! Thanks for your time!

The earliest time you could get off the ship was 7am if you handled your own luggage.

 

Re: MTD

I sailed on the Serenade twice, once in MTD. I have been surprised by how differenly the food and dining staff run this program on the various ships. We like to meet others, esp on formal nights but were told on the Serenade that all of the larger tables were reserved each night with family groups. That was during Spring Break so it may not be true on all sailings, but we were disappointed. Also, we were always put with the same waiter which meant we could never have a table by the window. Perhaps those were reserved by repeat diners ahead of time each evening. On that sailing we were also pressured to reserve a dining time prior to sailig, which I felt was absurd since I had no idea what time the shows we wanted to attend were going to be scheduled, which were the formal nights, etc. I did my best to research these matters but it was a real headache. I didn't want MTD to be a big deal that I had to manage, afterall.

 

On the Jewel we dined with others the first night but really didn't enjoy that so requested a table for the three of us each night which worked out great since we liked our servers and the table location. Many nights our preferred dining time was already full (even being open for different sections of the dining room) so we mostly ate at 8:30, a little late for our perference but since this itinerary is so port intensive, we enjoyed the activites on deck as we sailed away from each port instead of rushing to get ready for dinner. The went to the 7pm production show and 10:45 disco so a late dinner worked for us in this instance.

[happymanitee]

Was Valley Church Beach very crowded and do you know how many other ships were in port with you that day? I'm trying to find an uncrowded beach for our Antigua day. I'm trying to decide between Valley Church and Darkwood beach. Thanks!

[mary_228]

Was Valley Church Beach very crowded and do you know how many other ships were in port with you that day? I'm trying to find an uncrowded beach for our Antigua day. I'm trying to decide between Valley Church and Darkwood beach. Thanks!

There were two other ships in port. The beach was fairly deserted when we finally made our way to the water after lunch. Not sure how it might have been in the morning.

[SonLuvr]

I'm so thankful for the info and tips from those of you who have already sailed on Jewel! We are going in just 4 weeks!

 

I have two questions: Was there a Chocolate Breakfast offered in the MDR one morning? If so, do you remember which day of the cruise it was?

 

Also, when my DH and I were on Serenade a few years back, the captain took the ship right in front of the Pitons and did a full 360 for incredible views of the mountains and shoreline. Then he did it again in the opposite direction! It was, of course, growing dark, but it was beautiful nonetheless. Does the captain of Jewel do anything like this? Or can you just see the Pitons as you go by on the way to Grenada? Our itinerary is the same as the OP.

 

Thanks in advance for your help!

[mary_228]

I have two questions: Was there a Chocolate Breakfast offered in the MDR one morning? If so, do you remember which day of the cruise it was?

 

Also, when my DH and I were on Serenade a few years back, the captain took the ship right in front of the Pitons and did a full 360 for incredible views of the mountains and shoreline. Then he did it again in the opposite direction! Does the captain of Jewel do anything like this? Or can you just see the Pitons as you go by on the way to Grenada? Our itinerary is the same as the OP.

I am sorry I have no information about a chocolate breakfast.

 

Regarding the Pitons, I made a point to be on an open deck to watch us sail past but we were quite far, it was getting dark out and it also had begun to rain. Thank goodness we had taken a catamaran there during the daylight hours for a much closer view. There was no pausing or circling. It may be lighter out when you sail past since it was in the middle of winter for me. Enjoy your cruise! I wish I could do it all over again!

[Kwilson51]

Just wondering if anyone has purchased any drink packages? I am kinda confused by them. It seems one says "juices". Do they not still offer juices free at breakfast, tea and lemonade at lunch? I know soda is always extra. One package says coffees and teas......does this mean specailty coffee or do they now charge for regular coffee? Can I get a bucket of beer with my premium package? Can' find much info on these....Thanks for the help. :confused: