Blue Collar Diamond's review of Jewel's last Southern Caribbean cruise from San Juan

[BillOh]

I'll apologize up front for 2 things.

 

1. I started this review in MS Word. This forum software randomly deletes some spacing between words. I'll try to edit it and catch that, but I'll miss a few.

 

2. I'm way behind at work and with yard work at home, I'll try to update this daily so I'm done in about a week, sorry to string this out, but I'll admit to it up front. This is therapy for me, so I will do it.

 

HERE WE GO - There will be pictures! (lots of pic and video work to do)

 

Once again we found a good deal on a cruise and booked 700 days ahead. This would be our 3rd time on Jewel and 3rd time out of San Juan. We booked early enough that I was able to do two things. 1. I started our roll call, 2. I got the coveted corner aft cabin 9256 before CC member AZKaroke girl could steal it from me…… Again!.

 

 

In that 700 days we would also cruise on Adventure out of San Juan in May of 2017. Both the 2017 Adventure cruise and the 2018 Jewel cruise would take us to 3 new islands. For Adventure that was Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao. That ended up being a great part of that trip. For Jewel we thought it would be St. Croix, Dominica, and Grenada. We would also be happily returning to St Martin and Barbados. With the events of the 2017 hurricane season-this cruise price would drop, taxes and fees included to $677 total for two cruisers on a balcony. (with diamond balcony discount)

 

I don’t think anyone on Cruise Critic is not aware of the 2017 hurricane devastation for this region. For this cruise I was glad I booked way ahead. In the fall of 2017 , our cruise stopping at St Martin, St Croix and Dominica was suddenly questionable. On the airline side, we planned on-booking Southwest to San Juan as we had done on our other cruises from there. Normally SW opens up their Aprilflights in early, November, but this year they were available in early Sept so we booked then. For the first time ever, I think we were glad our cruise was still 200+ days away.

 

 

Also it wasn’t known for a while how quick San Juan would be ready for regular cruise passengers to visit. For that reason we put off excursion planning until early 2018. After Thanksgiving, Royal updated our itinerary taking Dominica off the cruise and adding Martinique.

 

 

Following many news sources and threads here, the logic of that move seems clear. I hope someday to visit Dominica. Our entire roll call group and I’m sure manyof you were following the news for much of this region. I noted an odd fact about following these locations. I found Facebook to be a good news source in many occasions. Having survived the 2016 presidential election, I saw so much on Facebook that was purely untrue, but let’s not go there! Many hotels have corporate websites, but many major hotels, and smaller ones have official Facebook pages and for the hotel managers they have direct access to Facebook and could update that without going through their corporateoffices, or website managers. For us Condado Plaza Hilton was updating people regularly. Once this location said they wouldn’t re-open until June, we changed our hotel to the Sheraton in Old San Juan thanks to their quick and frequent updates.

 

Once 2018 came around we were able to book our excursions with some confidence. Ahead of the cruise we booked a Cruzan/Captain Morgan tour on St Croix. We did this through Royal. I usually do about 75% of my excursions privately, but I have a tendency to look at ship excursions my first time on an island.

 

 

For our next stop, St Martin, we just planned on re-visiting one of my favorite places on Earth – Orient beach. Again I followed many reports here, and several Facebook pages for updates on the conditions at Orient. Right before the storms hit, I found the website of SXM Spyder rentals If you don’t know, the Can Am Spyder is a 3wheeled motorbike with two front wheels that steer and one rear wheel. I think the week I contacted them Irma went through. I sort of forgot about that inquiry until January when they emailed me that they were back up and running. After a few very prompt and pleasant messages we reserved a bike for the day with the intention of driving to Orient Beach. Later fellow CC and roll call members Lisa and Eddie decided to join us. It was our 2nd time cruising with that fun couple and Lisa and I have spent a total of about 1000 days together in 2 roll calls. :)

 

During our first visit to Barbados in 2012 we did a niceship sponsored catamaran cruise, but in the years since I have heard from many others how nice Calabaza’s offering was and we booked that early so as not to-get locked out. Once again, as a diver traveling with non-divers I had to figure out where I was going to dive. I ended up finding a private excursion that would combine scuba and snorkeling together. Now that can be a less than ideal situation for both, but I was hoping it would be convenient. I chose Dive Grenada so I could dive and the rest of my group could snorkel at the same time.

 

We continued researching and watching the news about St Martin. In January the cruise(s) were discouraging people from visiting the French Side. Cab drivers at the port were doing the same. At the same time I learned that many businesses on the French side were struggling to come back, and seeking business. Club Orient’s resort is still a long way from hosting long term guests, but has built up their beach offerings to attract cruise ship guests.

 

 

I mentioned previously that Martinique was added. After booking an excursion for every other island, I tried researching this one. Also our roll call started getting active,but we decided to just wait, get off at the port and do a little shopping.

 

 

 

Getting back to the cabin, I mentioned I booked the coveted corner aft 9256 which I believe is a D1 cabin. I had heard stories here onCruise Critic that people in this cabin were moved to a D1 mid ship and Royal considered that an upgrade. I didn't want that to happen so I switched my profile to DO NOT UPGRADE. Having been visited by the Upgrade fairy once in my 16 cruises, it probably wouldn’t happenagain. I was wrong.

 

 

The prices dropped dramatically in January and I made our roll call aware. I made a bunch of friends with that post. My existing friend Jon called and was able to upgrade to a JS for just $300 more than what he had already paid. I elected to stay where I was and my price dropped around $500 I think it was. After my initial deposit, I only had around $150 to pay off the cruise!

 

 

Well , once March hit, RedsoxGirl who was already in a GS got upgraded to the Owner suite. My friend B1gjon and his wife Penny got moved up to Red’s GS. Several other people got moved up as well.We stayed where we were, and I don’t expect anyone to feel bad for me, we are still on a great cruise at an incredibly cheap price.

 

 

As you might expect, we like to get in a day early,especially for San Juan. A couple ofweeks before our trip Southwest had their engine failure incident. We spent the last week before the cruise hearing about delays caused by inspections.

Edited May 8, 2018 by BillOh

[rjrice1]

WOW !!! following.

More please

[BillOh]

Southwest gave us regular updates that our flight would be on time, and it was. I picked a flight leaving out of Columbus at 6am. Getting up at 4am on a Saturday is a little easier for a cruise!. Saw a nice sunrise and full moon on our early flight which flew to Orlando where we changed planes and picked up fellow roll call members. We arrived on time in San Juan on Saturday around 1pm. The Southwest terminal and baggage claim was as I remembered it from a year ago and no damage was visible on the inside. The taxi stand line was long, but we waited only about 15 minutes to get to the Sheraton in old San Juan. Our cruise friends had arrived earlier and were waiting for us. After we checked in we walked around OSJ and had dinner at Barrachina's restaurant. Before dinner my wife Gina visited an artisan jeweler in the shop across the street. His name was Nelson Enrique and he fashioned a line of jewelry that used beads to form the chemical structure of different things. Gina fell in love with it last year and regretted not buying it, so she got it right away before dinner. (Happy Anniversary hon!)

 

We went back to the Sheraton which was good enough, we enjoyed the roof pool and hottub before checkout on Sunday. I'm processing pictures tonight, so pictures are coming soon!

[perfect match]

Welcome home, Bill! We are still in Grand Cayman, but since I'm catching your review early I'm subscribing now and bookmarking so I can find you easily once we get home this weekend.

 

I have spent a couple of fun days diving, and plan to go to the deep water Stingray City and dive with the stingrays tomorrow while DH snorkels above them. :D

 

One thing I've discovered about land vacations that is different from cruises - NO SEA DAYS! I'm exhausted!

[PamUK]

Following :)

 

Especially looking forward to cabin photos as we have also booked 700 days ahead to grab that corner aft :D

[BillOh]

Following :)

 

Especially looking forward to cabin photos as we have also booked 700 days ahead to grab that corner aft :D

 

 

Ok, since you said that, I'll upload the interior. I took a few photos of the balcony where we spent the last sea day, but only took one cabin shot, ok now that I think about it, 2 cabin shots. I'm jumping ahead because in this review, I'm not even on the ship yet. The last time I was on Jewel in 2014 they still had the CRT televisions. While I can confirm what thousands have reported, they replaced them with flat screens in all cabins now.

 

 

 

I'll try to add some posts at noon eastern today, at least get us on the ship and work on the first port visit, St Croix tonight.

[lola2013]

I've also been looking forward to this review. Our group is booked in the five aft-facing cabins on deck 9 for our Med cruise next May (with my goddaughter and her husband in 9256). I'm anxious to see your photos.

And I'm hoping that you enjoyed Calabaza as much as we did when we were in Barbados at the end of March. It surpassed any catamaran we've ever been on.

Susan

[BillOh]

And I'm hoping that you enjoyed Calabaza as much as we did when we were in Barbados at the end of March. It surpassed any catamaran we've ever been on.

Susan

 

Great excursion, I added a tripadvisor review for them and noticed they had 5 more 5 star reviews that day! I did note that 94% of their reviews are 5 stars, makes me want to find the 1 and 2 star reviews and see what people didn't like. It rained that day?;)

[lola2013]

Great excursion, I added a tripadvisor review for them and noticed they had 5 more 5 star reviews that day! I did note that 94% of their reviews are 5 stars, makes me want to find the 1 and 2 star reviews and see what people didn't like. It rained that day?;)

 

I also did a tripadvisor review...if possible, I would have given them 100 stars! That is definitely on my "gotta do it again someday" list!

[BillOh]

As I reflect on boarding day, let me also make an admission. I'm about to turn 59. That really isn't that old, but using the "Your only as old as you feel" rule, I'm 87. For the most part booking 700 days in advance is a good thing. We certainly got a once in a lifetime price on this cruise. But I had a couple of senior moments in regard to this cruise. I think it was January I cashed in points on my Royal Caribbean Visa for $150 OBC (Its what I chose, i don't care if there are better cards or ways to use it ;)) When I called in March, they didn't see it on my account yet. Despite the fact that they made the redemption part better, it still doesn't get applied till too late to do anything about it. I must have misplaced the confirmation, so what did I do? I cashed in another $150 and didn't realize it till I decided to buy 12 bottles of the water in our cabin. (Again, it works for us, I won't buy in port and try to carry it on board) It was when I did this that a message popped up saying I could now use my $300 OBC online. $300? oops, pre-senior moment. What I didn't see, and I should of, I had already bought the 12 water bottles. My wife and I would end up with 24 1 litre bottles for a 7 day cruise. We ended up getting generous with our friends giving them a bottle or two for their excursions. Actually my wife was shopping with Penny in a port and Gina didn't have cash, Penny loaned her $6 and we gave her 2 bottles of water. That's making the best of a bad situation!

 

Senior moments aside, it was boarding day and we prepared to leave the Sheraton in OSJ. In 2017 I booked a shuttle service to go from our hotel to the port. Many people asked why I did that, and then I said, Princess Penny travels with a lot of bags and I didn't want to pay half on that taxi or have them beat us to the port. The experience last time was so good, I booked the same company. I also mentioned to my roll call about it and one member Lisa, who was staying at our hotel added her and Eddie to that reservation dropping our price. Once again it was a great service, on time and completely professional. We paid $12 each and think it was well worth it. I booked it for 11am, forgetting it takes a little longer to get to the port from Old San Juan to the port than it did from Condado. I saw the ship and wanted to get a first sighting pick, one of my traditions, the driver said, "Let me pull over so you can get a good pic"

 

 

Hey, I can see my cabin! When we arrived at around 11:15 the boarding had started and there were no lines. We dropped off our bags and went to check-in.

 

Regarding the shuttle company. They will get a 5 star review tonight when I get home and can look up their name again. I'll update this review and share a photo of our pickup driver. The day was off to a great start!

 

Check in was great, As Diamond we may have checked in a little faster than about 10 non-status cruisers. One minor hiccup gave me minor pause thinking we had gotten a last minute upgrade. The agent came back with our Seapass cards and I started to walk away and my wife said, "I'm not Phyllis" He had given us the wrong cards. I assume we wouldn't have gotten on the ship with them, but that could have been awkard.

 

 

We boarded the ship on deck 2 and once I got up to the higher decks I could still see some of the port damage and work in progress. I thought I uploaded those photos, but I didn't so, till this evening while I'm catching up on DVR shows.....

Edited May 9, 2018 by BillOh

[BillOh]

 

 

 

Experienced photographers might recognize the fact that long telephoto lens give sharp focus over a longer depth of field. See that Carnival ship in the back, That is at the other pier in Old San Juan. This photo was taken with a Tamron 18-400 zoom on my Canon Rebel T31, I'm sure it was taken at 400mm. Carnival Sensation arrived in port around 8am Sunday, this photo was taken from the roof of the Sheraton, a great picture taking spot.

 

[BillOh]

As I mentioned earlier, we boarded on deck 2. Since we missed the early rush, but were still onboard by 11:20, there was no long lines for the elevators as I thought there might be, we got one and went right to deck 11 for Windjammer lunch. It wasn't open yet and the doors were closed. People were waiting at tables in the area outside of the WJ and all the tables were filled. I snuck up to deck 12 and came down in to the eating area behind the WJ and found a table just outside the rear entrance.

 

 

Jewel's windjammer continues to be my favorite in the fleet being a proper size for the number of people on board as well as good hot food that is replenished regularly, and is a nice looking place.

 

After a quick lunch we took a look around refreshing our memory of the ship. From the top decks we got a look at why we boarded on deck 2.

 

 

 

 

There was also some concrete framing near the edge of the water that when we returned had a new place where the ship's ropes tie down to. Was this replacing a damaged one or a new one?

[BillOh]

Rooms were supposed to be open by 1:30 but at 1:19 they made the announcement that they were ready. At least on deck 9 aft that announcement was premature as many rooms were still being cleaned. We started down the long hallway from the centrum to the back of the ship. I stepped it off at close to 100 yards.

 

 

Looking down this hall from this spot reminded me of an observation I had multiple times. I have been told Royal listens here and probably other places. I got the impression they are listening. Now sometimes they may say no, but they are listening, Where I took this picture was just outside cabin 9290 which has a deep balcony and is just outside the centrum. Many people have complained of centrum noise. On this cruise they closed the fire door in the early evening.

 

I already talked about our first meal in the WJ, but I forgot to mention people have talked about high pressure sales on boarding day. While we were eating a crew member came up and started some casual chatter. We were sitting with roll call members and she listened for awhile, but every time she tried to steer the conversation a new roll call member came up. She gave up and walked away. A few minutes later she came back and asked if we had dinner packages. We also were seasoned cruisers and everyone was set.

 

Getting back to Aft cabin 9256, a cabin it took me 4 years to get, from the inside, its just another D1 cabin.

 

 

But its the balcony that everyone likes.

 

 

 

We did enjoy this balcony a lot. Oddly enough the Captain pulled bow first into every port.

[JamesEM]

Following along, looking forward to rest of your reports and photos.

[BillOh]

After getting our bags quickly we unpacked, discovering our 24 bottles of water :o. We next went to the dining room to see where we were seated. I was glad traditional dining had the main deck 4 and MTD had deck 5. I'm the last hold out to traditional dining. I found our table for 6 in a desirable location. I noted it was a table for 6 as we had 6 people tied together in our reservation. We were traveling with our local and cruise friends Jon and Penny and we always dine together, but we are usually seated with a couple of other cruisers as well. After cruising with Lisa and Eddie previously and spending about 1000 days in 2 roll calls with her, I invited them to dine with us. I figured while capable of anything, Royal wasn't likely to put us at a table for 8 and add one other couple. While we would have welcomed that couple, we had a great time with the six of us all week.

 

Speaking of Lisa and Eddie, Lisa originally booked a Grand Suite for her Eddie's birthday. As previously mentioned, the upgrade fairy moved them into an owner's suite. Lisa had at the great idea to host a birthday party for our roll call prior to muster.

 

 

Lisa is the one on the left with the fire red hair ;);) Perhaps she will drop in and tell of her experience of hosting that party. Eddie is off the pic socializing with others. We had a great time and it was another good example of the fun of Cruise Critic roll calls. We would see each other frequently and have a great time, but have plenty of private time. By Muster time I think my B.A.C was above .08% where it would remain most of the cruise despite not having the drink package. :evilsmile::lips-sealed:

 

Muster was routine, but done fairly quickly and we were dismissed promptly. Before dinner, we checked out the Diamond Lounge. At first it seemed small, they did have a spill over area, but it never was over crowded. We never did see a breakdown of how many people were on board and their C&A status. I ordered a rum and coke, the first of I don't know how many! and a lemon drop for my wife. Now I know the Lemon Drop isn't on the Diamond Lounge menu, but a lady recommended it to my wife on Majesty in 2016 and she has been drinking that ever since. Our server brought both, but said she couldn't bring the Lemon Drop any more because it wasn't on the menu. I gave her a sizable tip anyway for the first night. On night 2, she greeted us with a Lemon Drop and a tall rum and coke which we would see 4 or 5 everynight.

 

 

The 6 of us showed up to dinner very happy. and met our serving team. He did mention the new menus and how you order dessert before dinner. He did say, Royal has heard that people don't want 3 hour dinners and want to get to shows. I do remember a few people had the usual prime rib. It was good, I had a piece off of my wife's plate. Eddie, as he would every night ordered the upcharge filet from Chops. I had the pork chop and they changed the name and sauce. Its not the previous Mojo Chop, but it had a sweet /hot chili sauce that was wonderful. I loved it. The chop itself was mostly very good, but a little dry at the center where it was thickest. I did get enough to eat and had the traditonal Creme Brule dessert. After

[BillOh]

Coming up, Day 2 and our first ever visit to St Croix. I apologize, I meant to upload the St Croix pics last night, but we got invited out to dinner and after our hottub soak, I crashed. Speaking of hot tubs, here was my only real disappointment of the cruise. My wife and I have owned our own hot tub since 2003. As an arthritis sufferer and having occasional insomnia, the hottub is a miracle. (If you don't like human tea, that is your problem!) But frequently Royal Carribean and their hottubs disappoint! After getting Majesty turned around, I was very disappointed in Jewel. Every night at 9pm they would close the solarium hot tub. The two tubs on the main pool deck were barely 99 degrees and full of movie watchers. This was my biggest complaint of the entire cruise, but yet we had a great time.

[geduffer]

Got in a little after you did, didn’t have to wait on the taxi line at all. Stayed at the Doubletree, went to the San Juan Smokehouse, then after leaving the Doubletree went to board the ship and met up with you, Gina, Lisa and Eddie at the Windjammer. We both enjoyed meeting the four of you.

 

 

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[ARandomTraveler]

After getting our bags quickly we unpacked, discovering our 24 bottles of water :o. We next went to the dining room to see where we were seated. I was glad traditional dining had the main deck 4 and MTD had deck 5. I'm the last hold out to traditional dining. I found our table for 6 in a desirable location. I noted it was a table for 6 as we had 6 people tied together in our reservation. We were traveling with our local and cruise friends Jon and Penny and we always dine together, but we are usually seated with a couple of other cruisers as well. After cruising with Lisa and Eddie previously and spending about 1000 days in 2 roll calls with her, I invited them to dine with us. I figured while capable of anything, Royal wasn't likely to put us at a table for 8 and add one other couple. While we would have welcomed that couple, we had a great time with the six of us all week.

 

 

 

Speaking of Lisa and Eddie, Lisa originally booked a Grand Suite for her Eddie's birthday. As previously mentioned, the upgrade fairy moved them into an owner's suite. Lisa had at the great idea to host a birthday party for our roll call prior to muster.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lisa is the one on the left with the fire red hair ;);) Perhaps she will drop in and tell of her experience of hosting that party. Eddie is off the pic socializing with others. We had a great time and it was another good example of the fun of Cruise Critic roll calls. We would see each other frequently and have a great time, but have plenty of private time. By Muster time I think my B.A.C was above .08% where it would remain most of the cruise despite not having the drink package. :evilsmile::lips-sealed:

 

 

 

Muster was routine, but done fairly quickly and we were dismissed promptly. Before dinner, we checked out the Diamond Lounge. At first it seemed small, they did have a spill over area, but it never was over crowded. We never did see a breakdown of how many people were on board and their C&A status. I ordered a rum and coke, the first of I don't know how many! and a lemon drop for my wife. Now I know the Lemon Drop isn't on the Diamond Lounge menu, but a lady recommended it to my wife on Majesty in 2016 and she has been drinking that ever since. Our server brought both, but said she couldn't bring the Lemon Drop any more because it wasn't on the menu. I gave her a sizable tip anyway for the first night. On night 2, she greeted us with a Lemon Drop and a tall rum and coke which we would see 4 or 5 everynight.

 

 

 

 

 

The 6 of us showed up to dinner very happy. and met our serving team. He did mention the new menus and how you order dessert before dinner. He did say, Royal has heard that people don't want 3 hour dinners and want to get to shows. I do remember a few people had the usual prime rib. It was good, I had a piece off of my wife's plate. Eddie, as he would every night ordered the upcharge filet from Chops. I had the pork chop and they changed the name and sauce. Its not the previous Mojo Chop, but it had a sweet /hot chili sauce that was wonderful. I loved it. The chop itself was mostly very good, but a little dry at the center where it was thickest. I did get enough to eat and had the traditonal Creme Brule dessert. After

 

 

 

There are a lot of striped shirts in this picture.

 

 

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[BillOh]

There are a lot of striped shirts in this picture.

 

 

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I would not have noticed that. I think I was wearing my HOTTUBLIFEGUARD shirt.

[TimeToGetNauti]

Great review so far. Looking forward to hearing more.

[Missusdubbya]

Thanks for reviewing Bill- great photos too. Patiently waiting for the next instalment [emoji16]

 

 

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[AZSwissGal]

There are a lot of striped shirts in this picture.

 

 

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I was thinking the same thing when I saw the picture - and I am one of the striped shirt wearers (all the way to the left)[emoji3]

 

 

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[BillOh]

When I sailed Jewel in 2014 she docked aft inward several times, I remember the group of Arizona cruisers we were with then had a banner on their aft balcony. In St Croix, our first port, I woke up to this view.

 

 

For St Croix, we had our only Royal sponsored Excursion. It was a tour of the Cruzan Rum Factory and the Captain Morgan factory with sample drinks at each site. But that wasn't till noon, so we got off the ship and shopped in the port area. There was only a small amount of hurricane damage and a few shops to visit.

 

Our ride on the rum tour excursion was an open air taxi holding about 20 people. It was a perfect day for it weather wise. On the ride, St Croix seems to be in pretty good shape. There were some broke windows and fences knocked over, but it seems to be pretty active. We arrived at the Cruzan factory and started out tour.

 

 

That is my wife on the left and cruise friends Jon and Penny. Jon has tried Cruzan rum before and says its good. I'll have to try it soon. The place was somewhere between a family run business and a big company.

 

Cruzan imports old bourbon barrels from the US to age their rum, you can see them here with some remaining hurricane damage in the back ground.

 

 

 

 

After the tour, we were able to use the two tickets each to sample the product. The tour guide "accidentally gave me a 2nd pair of tickets so I was holding a bootie of 4 drinks.

Turns out they came through later and gave everyone more. They made people happy. The rum it self was good and the pina colada's on a hot day on vacation was great. We left happy.

[BillOh]

Below is the latest addition to the Blue Collar Diamond Club, my protégé B1gJon, he and Penny became Diamond on this cruise.

 

[geduffer]

Below is the latest addition to the Blue Collar Diamond Club, my protégé B1gJon, he and Penny became Diamond on this cruise.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[emoji1303][emoji1303][emoji1303]

 

 

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