Jewel of the Seas - Jan 27 - Feb 3, 2024 - Live Review

[SteelCityCruiser10]

Curious, are they charging $3.24 for popcorn?  They did last week in pit stop.  Later in the week outside the theatre popcorn was $2.50.  

[AmericanMom]

End of Day 2 - Formal Night was nice. Folks were dancing in the Centrum where the Sparkle Band was playing. The show tonight was a Celine Dion cover and the music in the Voltage night club was country, neither of which interested us, so we ended up finishing the Lions/49ers game in the room and then relaxing on the balcony, watching the twinkling lights of Martinique roll by. Early morning tour in Barbados on Day 3 then dinner at Izumi. 

[AmericanMom]

As promised, here are some pictures of the Crown Lounge on Deck 13 with a great continental breakfast spread. 

[texasts]

Thanks so so much for the great pictures of the Crown Lounge!   Enjoy the rest of your cruise! Thanks!

[sunlover2]

We'll be on Jewel starting Feb 17. Can't wait. Really enjoying reading your posts and pics. Much appreciated. ENJOY

[AmericanMom]

Day 3 (already!!!) - Barbados. Woke up this morning to a stunning rainbow off the side of the ship. Wow! What a welcome to Barbados. Unfortunately, rainbows also mean rain is either coming or going. In our case, it arrived just as the ship did. As you disembark, you need to jump on a shuttle bus to get to the terminal. Honestly, if it was a nicer day, I would have walked. It's only about 5 minutes away. Fortunately, the rainbow also brought good news: We had the Coast to Coast excursion booked (no beach) and our tour was on big, comfortable, air conditioned bus 🚍. By the time we got to the first stop, it had also stopped raining so it ended up being a great day. Our tour guide was Marlene and our driver was named Romelio. 

 

Some things to keep in mind in Barbados: you can't wear any kind of camouflage. (Don't even pack it if you can avoid it. It's not permitted in Trinidad and Tobago either.) Also, Bajan money is 2x the USD so it easy to calculate. And they take US money with no problem. I used ApplePay for most of my purchases. Easy peasy 😁.

Some things we learned: Mount Gay is the oldest rum distillery, beginning in 1703. Our tour didn't go to the distillery but one stop gave us a sample of MG rum punch 🍹. Yum! 

Their national dish is coucou (a steamed cornmeal and okra dish) and flying fish. You can purchase flying fish at the port. We did and it was delicious.
 

One of their main exports is sugar cane but we saw a lot of other agriculture around the island: breadfruit, cassava, bananas, coconuts, avocados.... And lots of beautiful flowers. 
 

The Prime Minister and Deputy PM of Barbados are both women, for the first time in history. 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾
 

We made a few other stops (there's ample opportunity to use the facilities so that was great!) and a few places to purchase snacks and beverages if you want them. And there were also a couple nice places to take photos. 
 

Local beers are Banks, Deputy (a light apple flavored beer) and Rude Boy (made with Horny Goat Weed). Hubby had a Banks and when one of our bus-mates asked him if it was good he kindly said, "Not really." LOL! I'm not a beer drinker but I had the Deputy and it was fine. The rum punch was much better, though!

 

By the time we got back to the terminal, the sun was shining and it was getting hot. We had some local snacks at Coconuts Bar and Grill, did a little port shopping and headed back to the ship. All Aboard isn't for a few hours so we're going to look for some entertainment on the ship. Izumi is on the agenda for dinner tonight; it's our only specialty dinner. We actually like the meals in the dining room (we haven't had a bad one so far) and we love getting to know our wait staff. 
 

More later...

 

[AmericanMom]

[AmericanMom]

[AmericanMom]

[AmericanMom]

[AmericanMom]

21 hours ago, SteelCityCruiser10 said:

Curious, are they charging $3.24 for popcorn?  They did last week in pit stop.  Later in the week outside the theatre popcorn was $2.50.  

The popcorn from The Pitstop was $3.45 each. 

[AmericanMom]

[SG65CB]

Thanks for posting your cruise journal. We are taking this same cruise in a few weeks. Last week we had the pleasure of following along with a fellow from Pittsburgh, and this week we are following your adventures. I know a lot of people are looking for first-hand information and opinions about experiences in Trinidad and Tobago so eagerly waiting to see what you decide to do at those ports.

 

Can't wait until it's our turn on board! Enjoy your trip!

[Destaw71835]

Your cruise T-shirts are awesome! What a cool idea.

[AmericanMom]

9 hours ago, Destaw71835 said:

Your cruise T-shirts are awesome! What a cool idea.

Thank you! 🌸

[AmericanMom]

End of Day 3 - We spent a little time in the room, sitting on the balcony and watching the island of Barbados slide away. I got some great photos of the sun just beginning to set. 

 

Dinner was at Izumi. The "problem" with Izumi is that it's easy to over-order. This ain't our first rodeo so we all tried to keep it as light as possible without going too much overboard 🍣🍙🍜🫛🍶🍵.

 

With the meal plan, you can order one small plate (appetizer), 2 large plates and a dessert. I started with miso soup and Mila, our awesome waitress, said I could also order another small plate with miso. I declined 😁. For dinner I got a Maki roll and the sushi plate. For dessert I ordered the chocolate lava cake. It was all delicious and it was enough! 😋 

 

Everyone was happy with what they got. I honestly don't think there's a bad choice there. If you go, absolutely enjoy anything off the menu. Don't forget the saki. 

 

Trinidad is next on the agenda... 🇬🇾

[AmericanMom]

End of Day 3 - We spent a little time in the room, sitting on the balcony and watching the island of Barbados slide away. I got some great photos of the sun just beginning to set. 

 

Dinner was at Izumi. The "problem" with Izumi is that it's easy to over-order. This ain't our first rodeo so we all tried to keep it as light as possible without going too much overboard 🍣🍙🍜🫛🍶🍵.

 

With the meal plan, you can order one small plate (appetizer), 2 large plates and a dessert. I started with miso soup and Mila, our awesome waitress, said I could also order another small plate with miso. I declined 😁. For dinner I got a Maki roll and the sushi plate. For dessert I ordered the chocolate lava cake. It was all delicious and it was enough! 😋 

 

Everyone was happy with what they got. I honestly don't think there's a bad choice there. If you go, absolutely enjoy anything off the menu. Don't forget the saki. 

 

Trinidad is next on the agenda... 🇬🇾

[AmericanMom]

Side note: the internet onboard is super sketchy. Keeping a connection is hard which is why I've only been uploading photos a few at a time. I'll keep trying but it seems to be getting worse every day. ☹️🛜⁉️

[AmericanMom]

 

 

 

[mets07]

24 minutes ago, AmericanMom said:

 

So pretty. Hard to believe we were on same ship in Greenland in September 2023. 

Enjoy!!

[AmericanMom]

Day 4 - Trinidad!!!! 🇹🇹 (Yesterday's flag was actually Tobago! Emojis got ahead of themselves!)
 

This morning we had a Trinidad Island tour scheduled. Unlike yesterday, the skies were blue and the weather was warm. Perfect day for a visit to Trinidad. 
 

Our tour guide was Nyzal and our driver was Mr. Marlon. Mr. Marlon has nerves of steel because some of those mountain turns were pretty terrifying but he handled them without even breaking a sweat. 😅

 

The island (at least the part we saw) is gorgeous. Port of Spain is the capital so it's where all of the skyscrapers (and traffic congestion) are but our first stop was at a botanical garden right past the zoo and it was wide open and beautiful. Carnival is coming Feb 11-12 so if you're lucky enough to be coming that week you're in for a treat. Queen's Park Savannah is being all set up now for the annual celebration. 

 

Nyzal taught us some Trini slang on the ride but no worries, the main language is English (with that magnificent West Indian accent). We stopped at a few places to take pictures and get some local snacks like coconut water, chow, dried fruit and even a snow cone (which can be infused with alcohol if you choose) and facilities were available at some places. 
 

Nyzal told us our last stop was Maracas Beach but we were going to eat, not to swim. We stopped by Uncle Sam and Sons for Bake and Shark (or whatever you chose). I actually had aloo pie with all the toppings from the toppings bar. So, so, so good!  I wish I could go back for lunch again tomorrow. 🦈🥔 There's also a full bar and Dad and Hubby both got the local Carib beer. 

 

The Trini $ is 7 to 1 for the USD but in Trinidad, cash is king! I didn't carry a lot of cash because I used my ApplePay in Barbados but in Trinidad, I had to hit Hubby up for cash when I ran low. I'm assuming Tobago will be similar so I'll make sure I have cash for tomorrow. 

 

I was disappointed that I wasn't able to get doubles at Uncle Sam's but I was able to get it back at the port so my day was complete. 💃🏾 Hubby also got a Stag beer which is the other local brew.  

 

All in all, it was a really nice tour and I'd highly recommend it. I hope to come back to Trinidad some day to see more of the island. One day is not nearly enough time. 

 

It's Caribbean night and we always prefer the offerings in the Windjammer so this will be the last night we don't eat in the MDR. 

 

 

[AmericanMom]

[AmericanMom]

[AmericanMom]

[AmericanMom]

The famous bake and shark