Jewel Of The Sea review

Hi guys, back from 8 day Eastern cruise on the Jewel and though I'd give a little rewiew.

We arrived in Ft.Lauderdale a day early on Jet Blue (a great choice in airlines)and checked into the Best Western Oceanside to relax before boarding the next day. Best Western is so-so but the front guy Wally let us check in early and catch a few winks. My wife and I wondered around the beach for a while and had dinner at Bahia Casa by the bay. Great food, music, and cheap.

Day 1:

We boarded at 11:30 after a smooth check-in and WOW the Jewel is a great looking ship. New,clean, great lines, a real stand out.We grabbed a foo-foo drink (my wifes name for them) and explored. Everywhere we went the crew smiled, wished a good voyage, and were helpful.Met the captain in the elevator, seemed like a nice guy. We said we would likely loose some money in his casino to make sure he could pay for the fuel and he said he hoped we would take some of their money. Like I said, a nice guy.We sailed out 45 minutes late because a group booked by RCCL was late coming in. No sweat, be happy. First night was fun.

Day 2:

At sea day and it was warm and windy. Chair hogs were out in full force and there were a few people griping about their towels being removed from chairs after a few hours but as usual there were more people then chairs.

Formal night and about 25% of the guys wore their tux (me included) and the ladies looked sharp! Our table mates are interesting and varied, good conversation. Our waiter Holdun was great and the bar person gave me a great martini and had one waiting for me every night we went to main dining.

Off to the casino and won enough to gamble on their money for four days.

Day 3:

San Juan. My wife got some good silver but frankly its a port I could have missed. By the way, for you gamblers out there,DO NOT GO TO THE CASINOS.They are old, dirty, and the people were as friendly as tax auditors.

Old San Juan was crowded but the people were nice, just too many of them.

Day 4. St. Martin.More of the same shopping in the town, went to Orient Beach which was beautiful, clean, water great, beach peddlers omni present.I'll write more about Orient later.The island seemed a lot like our area of California (Orange County, in the south). I will go back again to see more of it.

Day 5:

Antiqua. We were smart enough to hire Lawrence of Antiqua (via e-mail). He was great, loved his island and took us everywhere (with a couple we met theday before) in his air-conditioned van. We saw a good portion of the island, the good and the not so good and stopped anywhere we wanted him to (once again, so my wife could but the local bracelets, etc. The dockyards were interesting, the views great, and the people very friendly. He took us to Turners Beach after the Rain Forest and snorkled for a while. If you actually want to see the island and not just the excursions or the ever present Diamonds International, hire Lawrence.

Day 6: St.Thomas,V.I.The one excursion we took was the catamaran to Buck Island and snorkling over a wreck. The water was clear and nice and the fish were plentiful, the crew good and the trip worth it. The island was clean and filled with more pushy Americans expates then islanders (or so it seemed) all intent on seperating you from your money. The Islanders had a smaller area under tarps (it rained a little) and their stuff must have been good because my wife bought enough of it.

Day 7:Sea day. Nice weather, relaxing. puctuated by kids running everwhere. Kids and sea days do not mix.

Day 8:Nassua. 7 ships in 20,000 people, all in front of us. Went to the Atantis Hotel, nice but crowded, the casino had $15 min blackjack (one again for you gamblers) single deck. The aquarium was spectacular but jammed with people as was the straw market, Senor Frogs, and everywhere else.I would go back again (we were there 14 years ago) to see more of the islands because the diving is so great.

Back to Ft. Lauderdale.

Here are a few observations. Go to Chops and Portofinos because the food and service is the best. A $40 meal here would be worth $150 anywere else.

The casino is staffed with likable people (Mario and Max (dealers) were great to gamble with and were very patient with the new gamblers).

The food in the Windjammer was Dennys quality (which is say ok). The main dining room was ok to good, the service great.

The crew, from the Captain to the lowest painters always had a smile, a greeting, were helpful, the best we have had it 6 cruises, and the best we have had on RCCL.

Orient Beach was great but if you are offended by bare breasts (or the older gentelman who walked up and down the beach naked) DO NO GO AND DO NOT TAKE YOU CHILDREN. This a French territory, not a Des Moines territory. If the wish to go topless, that is their choice. We sat near a group of French tourists who were topless so my wife felt emboldened to go topless untill cruisers showed up with their teenage kids. My wife covered up (much to by distress, after being married for 25 years, she is still hot to me) and the newcomers kept laughing and making comments about the French. I found them rude and gave all Americans a bad name.

On the whole, the trip was more then I hoped for (and I hoped for a lot). We had room 9578 on the hump and it was great. The ship and the crew were great and I found myself at the RCCL site looking at the Freedom for next year with our three kids.If you have any questions, please let me know. My wife is yelling a me to go out now and cut the crass (seems my boys forgot to do it) but I will be happy to help. Thats what this forum is for.

Trabucocruiser- thanks for your great review. I was on the jewel March 6 to the western caribbean. I agree with everything you said. the service was wonderful. I had a hump room right below yours 8598. What a convienent area. Everything was near the room. I might try the jewel again next year on the eastern route. My husband wants to go back on Voyager class because the basketball courts are bigger. That is the only major difference we found other than not having the Promenade. Well we 'll see. Depends on the itinerary I guess.

Thanks again

Sue

Thank you for taking the time to write the review. I am leaving on saturday for the 8 night cruise with my DH. You got me even more amped up for it!!!

PS. I think that was a fabulous comment you made about your wife. Kudos to you!

Stefboyardee, have a great cruise and take some time to simply relax.Sometimes on a cruise, with all the excursions and acivities on the ship, we forget to kick back and watch the sunsets.

Did you go to Atlantis on your own and just walked around and played in the casino - did you have to pay for access? Dh and I would like to see it and we are gamblers so i was thinking of doing that.

We are definitely planning on relaxing. I am pregnant with our first child so this is our last vacation before life dramatically changes!!

STEF - We went on our own, caught a taxi which is 3 bucks each. No charge to get in and go to the casino, shops, or part of the aquarium. The slots aren't bad, the dealers themselves are fine but wait to you see some of the table min.Life will change big time but after three kids we found ways to make time for ourselves and later take them with you. We put our 12 (a couple of years ago) in with us and our two sons were in their own room, far, far away from us (that way we didn't have to hear of their parties until later).Our last trip together ( seems like a thousand year ago) before our first born will always stay in our mind as one of the best of our lives, hope the same for you.

did you know anyone in the 7500s? I am concerned about noise from the casino? have you heard anything..it stays open till 2am I guess.

thanks

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Trabucocruiser- thanks for your great review. I was on the jewel March 6 to the western caribbean. I agree with everything you said. the service was wonderful. I had a hump room right below yours 8598. What a convienent area. Everything was near the room. I might try the jewel again next year on the eastern route. My husband wants to go back on Voyager class because the basketball courts are bigger. That is the only major difference we found other than not having the Promenade. Well we 'll see. Depends on the itinerary I guess.

Thanks again

Sue

trabucocruiser

trabucocruiser,

Guess we'll try this again, the page got confused.

Thanks for the review we're sailing on the 23rd and can't wait.

Susan :)

Great review. Will be on this cruise in Dec.. Can you tell us how to get in touch with Lawrence and how you found out about him? Is there a web site? Thanks. We will be on deck 9 also but could not get the hump or stern.

Disneyri - We gambled with someone near that cabin and they said they could not hear their neighboring cabins, much less the casino. You should have a quiet cruise.

Aksusan- Have a great trip. I know you will love the ship and crew and it should be a little quieter (less spring break kids). Have fun!

Setsail - I got his name of the Cruise Critic site for the island.You can reach him at lawrenceofantigua.com. Deck 9 is nice, and you get to join everyone else in the daily show of watching the mad scramble of the last minute shopper racing back to the ship. A very popular past time on deck nine.Have a great trip.

Thanks,we have a group of 6,will his van hold that many and what should we expect the cost to be? Many thanks, I know what you mean about watching from deck 9. Sounds like you had some real entertainment.

There were 12 in the van at $3.00 per.Most of the taxis are 12 people vans and air conditioned.

Great info,thanks for posting.We are looking forward to the Jewel.

What can you guys tell me about Deck 10? We're in Cabin 1540 and never sailed on the Jewel.

Thanks

Thanks for the review, sailing in December.

Try LawrenceofAntigua.com We were going to take his tour last year, but opted for something else due to rain.

Great review. Will be on this cruise in Dec.. Can you tell us how to get in touch with Lawrence and how you found out about him? Is there a web site? Thanks. We will be on deck 9 also but could not get the hump or stern.