My review of the Jewel!

Good afternoon-

I read over "flvol77" review and just wanted to post mine as well. I did get to meet flvol77 and most others from the CC group.

Overall I would rate this cruise as excellent for us. There are a few things that I agree with that was posted by a few people, but a majority of the items I disagree with.

Embarkation: very easy. We were there rather early and the lines were minimal. A hint of what I did, we stayed in South Beach and had a rental car. I dropped off half the group, they went and checked in and then dropped off the other half. I dropped off the rental car at MIA,(picked it up at FLL) and Thrifty drove me to the pier. When I got there, the second half of my group was checking in and I was able to check in with them, perfect timing I guess.

Our room was ready except for the Birthday package, which our Steward finished while we had lunch! Our Steward, Boris was out standing. This was the first cruise or hotel experience where I did not find a single hair in the bath room or shower, I notice those things, sorry. The room was always cleaned after we left turned down and towel animals made. He even did animals one of the women in our group requested. We all gave him extra tips for the outstanding service.

The ship itself was beautiful. Well laid out and very clean. I can not rave enough about the Stardust Theatre. Finally they have awesome seating with great views from any seat. I will be on the Sun in February and do not like the theatre, but oh well. The rest of the ship has an awesome flow to it, very manageable.

The Spa is $85 a week, IMO well worth it as it keeps most people out. You can actually relax in there and not have groups or kids running between the steam/hot tub/sauna etc.

I felt the Jean Ann Ryan (sp) shows were as usual, just unbelievable, they are amazing. The other shows were ok, basically what I expected. For me the Casino was great, I won a few hundred dollars, for the rest of my group, they lost.

The band as Spinnaker's was so so. I was not too fond of them, but once they were done and the DJ started we had a blast. The cruise director was very nice, we had several conversations with him and just found him to be a great down to earth guy.

We had 2 balcony rooms and one inside for the 8 of us. Our steward opened the balcony door and we had one giant room, so that was a plus. Bathrooms are huge compared to the other ships we have been on, this was a plus for the rooms with 3 people in them.

Shore excursions, we only booked on on the ship. We did the Stingrays! WOW, I was cackling like a chicken, I was so giddy at all of the stingrays surrounding me. The price was awesome and I could spend a whole day there. In St Thomas and San Juan, I booked car rentals as I have lived on St. Thomas and visited Puerto Rico a lot, it was easier to give our group an island tour on each.

The hot topic. Food! While I felt the food was very good, the service was down right slow! Each meal there were many choices, I guess I am not picky, but, I felt everything was well prepared, presented well and had great flavor. We did Le Bistro, food excellent, steaks done perfect medium rare, service, almost horrible. We did not order until 25 minutes after being sat and that pushed us behind schedule. I sent the group to the show where I then waited another 15 minutes for them to ring up the bill. The main dining rooms were similar. We never had to wait to eat more then 5 minutes. Though we did have some reservations in the main rooms as we had 8 people a few times, so that was easy. But 2 plus hours for dining is just a bit too long for me. Mama's was nothing special, the cooking light Italian in the Azura was better then the full calorie food in Mama's.

The art auction was boring, I enjoy them, but the auctioneer Peter just never got me interested. I felt the staff at Columbian Emerald was rather pushy and not friendly, but oh well.

We had a CC meeting with many of the staff and the Captain, that was a super bonus and we ran into the Captain several times after that and we chatted each time and he wanted to make sure we were enjoying the cruise.

On a side note, I may do things out of the ordinary and perhaps that is why I have so much fun. On the private island I learned on an earlier cruise to wander the island and see things. We found a private beach that no one was at except for our group. We brought inflatable rafts, blew them up and snorkeled around a reef similar to the one where the rest of the passengers are. It was our own paradise. You have to walk past the light house and then along some trails but you eventually hit it and it was heaven.

So to sum things up. This was an excellent cruise, we loved every aspect of it, I am hopeful the dining service will improve. I hope this review helps any questions, please let me know. For those soon to depart Bon Voyage!

Garett

So what did you do in Antigua? I am still trying to decide. Since you have lived in St Thomas, we are thinking of taking the ferry over on our own to St John. Do you recomend Trunk Bay or Cinamon Bay?

Recomendation in San Juan? We were just thinking of walking around old San Juan and going to El Moro (sp). Anything we are missing that you suggest?

Oops. I meant to ask you if you know if all the rental car companies will drop you at the pier? Did they charge you extra for that? We are flying into FLL and I need to get a rental car as well.

That was a very nice review. Thank you. :)

Great review Hoop Troop! It was nice meeting you and your friend for lunch -- we enjoyed visiting with you. When you have a minute, will you email me the name of your TA? Thanks!

ute_fan_79@yahoo.com

What is the age limit of the spa area? Is it 16 or 18 or no limit? Marilyn

Sounds like you had a wonderful trip--------and it is wonderful to hear some positive things about the Jewel and the food. We are not very picky either, so we should be fine!

I had a quick question regarding the $85/wk charge for the spa. What does that cover? Did you think you got your money's worth out of it? We only have 2 sea days, and I doubt I'll use it on port days.

Thanks again for taking the time to write a review! Hope you aren't suffering from post-cruise depression too terribly bad!

Thanks for your review.

When was the chocolate buffet? Thats all DH is interested in.

So what did you do in Antigua? I am still trying to decide. Since you have lived in St Thomas, we are thinking of taking the ferry over on our own to St John. Do you recomend Trunk Bay or Cinamon Bay?

 

Recomendation in San Juan? We were just thinking of walking around old San Juan and going to El Moro (sp). Anything we are missing that you suggest?

In Antigua we did the stingrays, I was giddy like a little kid! I rank it tied with swimming with dolphins. The ferry over to St. John is a good idea, St. John is beautiful, if you have kids, Trunk Bay may be more fun as they can snorkel and read about what they are looking at underwater, they have a map/trail system. For San Juan, since we have been there often, we did our own car tour. Visited the home where my mother in law once lived 30+ years ago and went to the beach. Though walking Old San Juan should not be missed if you have never done it.

Enjoy-

Garett

Oops. I meant to ask you if you know if all the rental car companies will drop you at the pier? Did they charge you extra for that? We are flying into FLL and I need to get a rental car as well.

Since we came in early, we rented the car for a few days from FLL. So when it came to dropping off, I took the group to the port and the car back to MIA air port, thrifty was the only one that I knew for sure would drop me off at the port. Though I believe Hertz and national had a location close to the pier that you can drop off at and they would take you to the pier, the price was much higher for the rental.

Garett

That was a very nice review. Thank you. :)

You are welcome, and thank you!

Garett

Great review Hoop Troop! It was nice meeting you and your friend for lunch -- we enjoyed visiting with you. When you have a minute, will you email me the name of your TA? Thanks!

 

ute_fan_79@yahoo.com

Eric and I enjoyed lunch as well. I did e-mail you my TA's info, let me know you received it. I enjoy reading your reviews as well, we do echo on many things.

Garett

What is the age limit of the spa area? Is it 16 or 18 or no limit? Marilyn

I am not sure if there is one, though I never saw anyone under 20 in there! Perhaps someone can help with this one!

Garett

Thanks for your review.

When was the chocolate buffet? Thats all DH is interested in.

The chocolate buffet was on Friday, a sea day, from 10 - 11:30PM. Personally, I was a bit disappointed. The room was dressed with beautiful sculptures made out of both ice and chocolate, however, the desserts were just ok. While there were a bunch of options, I found only the choco rice crispie treats and the fondue tasty. The rest were pretty bland to me. It also gets pretty crowded, so definitiely get there early.

For those who prefer a smaller buffet, they have a mini choco station set up in in the casino at the same time ;)

Sounds like you had a wonderful trip--------and it is wonderful to hear some positive things about the Jewel and the food. We are not very picky either, so we should be fine!

 

I had a quick question regarding the $85/wk charge for the spa. What does that cover? Did you think you got your money's worth out of it? We only have 2 sea days, and I doubt I'll use it on port days.

 

Thanks again for taking the time to write a review! Hope you aren't suffering from post-cruise depression too terribly bad!

As for the spa, one person in my group one the raffle for a free week at the spa, that is how I found out the price was $85.00. I used it 2 times, when you get a treatment you are allowed to use it for a few house before or after your treatment. We used it for before the treatment, they were running about an hour behind for the treatment, so we just enjoyed it for longer. Then afterwards we hung out for another 2 hours, not sure we were supposed to, but they never said anything. Since we enjoyed it so much, we used it one more time for the $15.00 charge, I think well worth it. I might have used it a lot more that week if I was not with such a big group and we had so many things planned.

As for the post-cruise depression-it will not hit until after our NCL Sun cruise in February! Enjoy!

Garett

Thanks for your review.

When was the chocolate buffet? Thats all DH is interested in.

Off the top of my head I think it was Thursday night. It was from 10-1130, that I do remember! Not as special as I remember it, though my friends seemed to enjoy it. The selection seemed smaller and the options seemed like the regular desserts they normally have. Though the fresh fruit in chocolate sauce is my favorite. Do not eat too much!

Garett