Jewel of the Seas Review - Southern Caribbean February 19-26, 2017

Thanks for the review.

Very nice review, and thanks for the menu order.

Thanks for your review. Sounds like you had a great time!

I hope I didn't give the impression that the galley tour was an inclusive type thing. I'm sure that the wait staff supervisor in the MDR would not be offended by you asking about the tour on the sea day. Or ask for "handsome" Hans. If these did not work, you could always ask at Guest Services. There were stairs on the tour between decks 4 and 5. I don't know if there is an accomodation for a scooter. I would suggest you check with Guest Services upon boarding.

The 10 drink cards were available at any bar starting day 4 until hey run out ($70 plus 18% gratuity). They are good for mixed drinks, beer and wine up to $12 (best value for mixed drinks and more expensive glasses of wine). Some posters have said there are coffee cards too. You'll have to check at Café Latitudes for that. You will have to make your own determination of the drink plan's value to you if you plan on spending full port days off the ship.

Very nice review, and thanks for the menu order.

Bob, it comes up so often that I thought I'd post it as part of my review.

Sorry, forgot to answer the other question. We were on the Jewel till almost 10 am (and there were still departure numbers higher than ours). But we had to be out of our cabin by 8:30 am. We had a suggested area to stay till called (Coral Theatre) but we hung out at the internet café on 7, closer to our cabin and Café Latitudes. Any public area will do, They announce the numbers on the loudspeaker.

Sorry, forgot to answer the other question. We were on the Jewel till almost 10 am

Thank you for both replies. Much appreciated :D

Thank you for your review. We leave for San Juan on March 12!! I have a question regarding Boatyard. What time did you leave the Jewel of the Seas? Also what time would you recommend leaving the Boatyard to make it back in time? Was the taxi cost there 5 pp and the entrance fee 20 pp? Is 1 drink per person included? What are the drink choices if you do not drink alcohol. Thank you very much!

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Thank you for your review. We leave for San Juan on March 12!! I have a question regarding Boatyard. What time did you leave the Jewel of the Seas? Also what time would you recommend leaving the Boatyard to make it back in time? Was the taxi cost there 5 pp and the entrance fee 20 pp? Is 1 drink per person included? What are the drink choices if you do not drink alcohol. Thank you very much!

 

 

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By the time we got to Barbados, we (my wife) were running a little slower and we didn't get to the Boatyard until 11 am. If you leave the ship by 8:30 am or so, I would think you would be fine. Taxi is $5 per person and we paid $25 per person to get in. You do get one free drink. Alcoholic is rum punch or Caribe beer. Non alcoholic is soda, juice or a bottle of water. The last shuttle to the pier leaves at 4 pm. I wouldn't chance that one. We left at 3:15 pm and were back at the ship by 3:30.

Thanks for the balcony info for cabin #7094. We are booked into this cabin in June (on sister ship Brilliance in the Med) and is nice to know we will have several loungers and a table on the extra:D large balcony....liked your review very much. Happy cruising...Brett

Brett

For full disclosure, I think 7094 is technically an obstructed view. You cannot see directly down from the balcony to the water (life boats). But the view straight out and forward is great. Enjoy.

We're in 8102 beginning this Sunday. We can't wait for that balcony!

I just booked this for next March. I will be aboard on my birthday. :) Can't wait. Thanks for your helpful review.

thank you for your detailed review - I love reviews like this!

I have a question about the bottomless brunch. After the tour when you go to the dining room, how are you seated? We have had some bad experiences seated with strangers at meals so DH will no longer do it. Do not want to be surprised and find out that they just fill big tables with the group.

thank you for your detailed review - I love reviews like this!

 

I have a question about the bottomless brunch. After the tour when you go to the dining room, how are you seated? We have had some bad experiences seated with strangers at meals so DH will no longer do it. Do not want to be surprised and find out that they just fill big tables with the group.

You choose your own seating. There were tables for 8, 4 and 2. The 3 of us sat at a table for 4. No one else joined us. There was an empty table for 2 next to us available.

thank you!

Trying to decide whether we should do the Bottomless Lunch on our upcoming cruise. I fancied it but rest of family did not seem keen.

My wife, 10 year old son and I just returned from a 7 day Southern Caribbean cruise on the Jewel. We had great time. The ship still looks good 9 months after the dry dock. I will concentrate on our trip and ports but will also try include answers to questions about the Jewel that show up often on Cruise Critic. Don't expect photos. We took plenty but I'm a technophobe on how to include them in a review.

 

We left JFK airport on Friday morning 2/17 and arrived in San Juan about 4 pm. We claimed our luggage and got in the taxi line. It moved pretty well but it was hard to figure out the fee calculated by the dispatcher. Taxi fees in Puerto Rico are fixed but each bag is extra and there was a fuel surcharge space on the ticket. So an expected $17 taxi ride became $22. Not a major problem. We drove away from the airport and within 5 minutes we were in bumper to bumper traffic. Our driver told us "Welcome to rush hour in San Juan." He did his best to speed up the ride using local streets but the 15 minute ride took 45 minutes.

 

We arrived at the La Concha Renaissance and checked in. We booked a 2 night stay using points but did spring for the upcharge for an ocean view ($25.night). It was worth it. Great view. The hotel was very nice with all the features (pool, beach, casino) you could want. Our room was good sized and easily accommodated the 3 of us.

 

.We had seen in many reviews that food at the hotel restaurants was very expensive so we had planned on eating at some of the restaurants on Ashford Avenue, the main drag of Condado. So on Friday night we ate at Café del Angel, directly across the street from the hotel. The restaurant specialized in Puerto Rican food and we had great dinner for $50 (including 2 glasses of sangria which was very good). After dinner we did some exploring in the area and stopped at CVS to pick up our wine for the cruise. Then we went back to the hotel and crashed.

 

Saturday morning my son and I went to Orozco's restaurant for breakfast. The eggs and pancakes were about half the price of one breakfast buffet at the hotel. Since my wife wanted to sleep in, we stopped at Pinky's to get her some breakfast to bring back to the room. We got the Big Ol Breakfast Burrito (six, yes SIX scrambled eggs with cheese, tomatoes and onions for $6). As you could expect, the reaction when we got back to the room was "How am I supposed to eat all this?" She ate a good portion of it but my son and I gladly helped her. Yum.

 

When my wife got ready, we went down stairs to catch a bus to Old San Juan. It stops directly in front of the La Concha and is $.75 per person (exact change please). The bus was clean and efficient and dropped us off at the bus terminal downtown. We were able to catch the free trolley and go to Fort San Christobal. Quite an interesting place with great views of the ocean and El Morro. When we completed our visit, we headed to the trolley stop to go to El Morro. We waited about 40 minutes with no trolley appearing, so we decided to walk around Old San Juan (Morale of the story, don't depend on the free trolley to get you around OSJ). We passed a Starbucks and stopped for an iced coffee. Further along my son stopped for a gelato. We walked down to the cruise pier and through all the vendors and food stalls. We walked along the water viewing the shops and heading back to the bus terminal. After waiting a few minutes, we caught our bus back to Condao. As traffic free our trip to OSJ was, the return found it. But all things considered, I would have no reservations about recommending public transportation in San Juan.

 

We went back to our room and cleaned up for dinner. We decided to have Chinese food for dinner (makes sense in Puerto Rico). My son was in the midst of a chicken wing fetish so we picked Tayzan which had chicken wings as part of their menu. The food was fresh and tasty. My wife thought it was some of the best she ever had. Portions were huge and we took some back to the hotel. Dinner for 3 was nearly $100. But after all it was vacation. Then back to the hotel to get ready for embarkation day.

When you took a couple of bottles of wine with you. ..how did you board with it? Carry on thru security? If so, any tips for convenience? I'm worried about breaking a bottle and carrying a bulky sack around until we get to the cabin.

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When you took a couple of bottles of wine with you. ..how did you board with it? Carry on thru security? If so, any tips for convenience? I'm worried about breaking a bottle and carrying a bulky sack around until we get to the cabin.

You can use these to prevent breakage:

https://www.amazon.com/Portable-Bottle-Protector-Sleeves-Reusable/dp/B01IH2IIQA/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1489488605&sr=8-3&keywords=wine+diaper

When you took a couple of bottles of wine with you. ..how did you board with it? Carry on thru security? If so, any tips for convenience? I'm worried about breaking a bottle and carrying a bulky sack around until we get to the cabin.

 

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We live in wine country here on Long Island and some of the wineries us a heavy cloth (not weight!) 4 pack bag when you buy wine. I bring one of those to carry my wine on board, generally in my carry on bag. Easy peasy. Doesn't add that much weight to the bag and we generally ditch the carry on bags before we go exploring.

Bob FYI. The new plastic wash and fold bags we had on the Jewel last month are 14 in by 24 in. They seem a little smaller than the paper bags previously but may stretch a bit.

... Bob FYI. The new plastic wash and fold bags we had on the Jewel last month are 14 in by 24 in. They seem a little smaller than the paper bags previously but may stretch a bit.

Thanks for the update.:)

What time did the Jewel return to SanJuan at the end of the cruise? Wondering what is the earliest time to disembark?

What time did the Jewel return to SanJuan at the end of the cruise? Wondering what is the earliest time to disembark?

Look at your scheduled arrival time and figure the first guests will get off around 45 minutes after.

Thanks for this report. My parents were on this cruise for their anniversary and had an amazing time. They still talk about it daily.

I was on this cruise with you! I was just thinking about our trip and found your review here.

Sorry you didn't like Grenada so much. Grand Anse beach is very nice, you should have gone there, a water taxi from the pier goes to the beach - $5 per person.

We winged it in Grenada. Got off the ship and found a taxi driver offering a tour. As soon as he had a full minivan we left. About a three hour tour, we saw the sights including spice demonstrations and chocolates, then he dropped us at Grand Anse beach where we hung out for a while, then took the water taxi back to the ship.

You were lucky at the Boatyard, we were there too and not long after you arrived they announced it was full and no more people would be admitted. You need to get there pretty early to get an umbrella. I'll bet your son loved jumping off the pier.

We ate at all three specialty restaurants and Izumi was our favorite. The BOGO is not good at Izumi because they charge for the menu items instead of a flat rate. When we boarded we paid $75 per person for a three meal plan at the specialty restaurants. The way the plan worked at Izumi is they applied $30 per person towards our bill and we had to cover anything over that amount, plus drinks.

We were surprised by the number of kids on the ship, we didn't know that New York schools had the week off. Very nice for them.

What time did the Jewel return to SanJuan at the end of the cruise? Wondering what is the earliest time to disembark?

Ship got in at 6am. Passengers were self disembarking by 6:30 - 6:45 am. The calling of numbers seemed mighty slow. We had 22 and didn't get called until nearly 10 am. Best hint I can give is to use a porter. The time it saves is worth the money!