lauraodonnell86

Laura, thank you for the pictures and the review! We will be doing a B2B2B on the Jewel later this year and was wondering how the turn-around day between cruises was handled for B2B cruisers?

Thanks!

-jani

I'm sorry, somehow I missed this post. We met at 9:45 in the Vortez lounge and just had to bring our new seapass cards (delivered the night before), old seapass cards and passports. They checked us out with the old ones and then back in with the new. It was quick and painless and we didn't have to get off the ship! We were back to our room by about 10:30 for a nap and then at the Solarium by noon!

can you tell me (us) what the shows were? Any you'd recommend/avoid? 33 days and counting for our turn on her :-D

2 production shows - West End to Broadway and City of Dreams. I am a HUGE fan of production shows and normally don't complain. But I will say, the shows were absolutely horrible. I was sooo sad! 3 out of the 4 singers were pretty bad (1 girl in general) and we left early from both shows. Everyone on the cruise seemed to agree. At least the people at our dinner tables. I don't like to sway people from going to the shows but since you asked, I thought I'd give a heads up. The singer, Holly was awesome though and I could listen to her all day. The dancers were good too but when you have to listen to horrible singing, it kind of ruins the whole show.

The other shows were comedians who were mostly very funny. El Gaucho is another show but we've seen him many times so we skipped. One night, they had a juggler/comedian and he was awesome! On one of the weeks, they had a singing only show with Holly and Reuben. I heard it was a good show but we didn't attend.

We are on this same cruise in April, so thanks for adding to the excitement.

 

If you get a chance to comment on any "Theme nights", that would be great. I would hate to bring out "white out" cloths and find out there was no such party.

 

Enjoy and we are looking forward to your posts.

 

-F-

There was a white night on both of our cruises on the 14th and 21st! A lot of people were actually wearing white! They also had a Caribbean night and a 70s night.

Thanks,

 

We are doing your 2nd half in April and we have the same taste in "excursions" Beach + Chairs + Umbrella + Beers = Happy.

 

I will now add Rhythms and Blues in St. Croix and Grand Anse in Grenada,

 

You mentioned the $20 fee at the Boatyard, do yo know if that can be reserved ahead of time or is it just the first ones to get to that beach? We have been to Lobster Alive, but were going to do Boatyard this trip.

 

Thanks again,

-F-

I know someone already answered but I wanted to confirm all of that. Lobster night is night 6 and you cannot reserve chairs at Boatyard. We got there at about 9:30 or 10 both days and got front row seats!

Thank you for your review and detailed information. I made a note of your info. On Boatyard beach, Barbados. We typically take an excursion to snorkel with turtles. So, when you arrive, there's a place to register for the snorkel? Did you notice if there were a few different times? I was wondering if we could do that first, then return to the beach and get our chairs, umbrella and drinks and chill out for the remainder of the day.

 

 

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Yes, as soon as you get there, there is a sign up sheet for the snorkeling. You can put your name down and then go and get your chairs. They will call your name over the speaker when it is your turn. They usually go about every hour or so. I would get your chair first though. It is safe to leave your belongings there.

You may consider removing the power strip as they are not allowed onboard the ship. Bummer but don't shoot the messenger. Bon Voyage.:champagne-toast:

We brought one on Jewel for our B2B on the 14th and 21st. Never had an issue. We bring one every year.

I'll be curious about this myself, at least you don't have to wait 90+ days for an answer ;) My first time on Jewell I ASSumed that they did the same thing, based on reviews I had read, but we ended up 15 minutes late to dinner! That is coming up on 4 years ago.

Our late dining was at 8:45 on the first night instead of 8:30. The first week of our B2B, the early dining was at 6:30 but the second week, they changed it to 6 pm because it was pushing the late dining back to 8:45 every night!

Beautiful photos!

 

 

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Thank you so much! I'm glad you enjoyed them :)

What time can you board the Jewel in San Juan ?

11am is when the first people were getting on. We didn't get on for our first week until 3 because we flew in day of. But on our turnaround day, the "new peeps" were getting on at 11.

Laura - thanks for the detailed review. This is very helpful as we are taking our first cruise in a couple of weeks.

 

Do you have any recommendations for Antigua? We want to make Antigua a beach day and would be interested in your thoughts of where to go, how to get there and what we would find at your recommended beach.

 

Thanks again!!

Hi there! So last year, I did a review similar to this one from our Adventure B2B. We visited Antigua and if you scroll down to post #20, you will see the pictures from what I'm about to tell you about :D (post #23 clarifies on the price)

Here is the link: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2455277

We visited Dickenson Bay for the first time last year and it was gorgeous and we were planning on going back there this year but hubs was sick so we stayed on board. It was $12 for 2 people round trip. But you have to have at least 2 other people in the taxi. 2 chairs and an umbrella were $20. There is a Sandals resort right on that beach as well. It's really beautiful as you will see in the pictures :D

My wife and I have been thinking about buying a CamAm Spyder, which if you don't know is a 3 wheel motorcycle, but the 2 wheels are up front. After Aruba trikes last year she is onboard with the idea. Anyway, SXMSyperrentals just came online this week, so we are going to walk to their shop on the road between the pier and downtown, rent a bike and drive ourselves to Orient for the day.

We have a Harley and have thought about doing something like that on one of the islands but when it comes down to it, we are too cheap..haha! That's great that you are going to be able to do that in St. Maarten! Can't wait to see pics and hear about it!

I had to wait and see the pictures last night when I got home, but it was worth it. I guess your trip finally being over means mind is finally coming up. We are all ready except the packing. We are doing something a little different in St Martin. Its just re-opened this week, so for once, waiting a longer time wasn't all bad. Where you off to next? <Looked at your signature. I love that Freedom is doing the southern route, but I won't see her before 2020, so I'll watch for your reviews there, love that ship.

Yes yours is coming up and I'm jealous! What are you doing in St. Maarten? We were supposed to do something different but the excursion got changed because of the French side still be closed. Up next, we are headed to the western Caribbean in May on Liberty. We've never done Galveston, western Caribbean, or Freedom class so it'll be an all new cruise for us! We're taking my step son and my niece who are both 14. I think they will have a blast!

Great simple review doing this route Sunday !!

Enjoy your cruise! I know you will!

Enjoyed your review and photos. (Lovely looking couple!!)

 

When you take the taxis do you ask them to pick you up later or are there taxis at the beaches? My husband and I did a HAL cruise recently but used their excursions as we weren't sure what to do. I've taken notes from your review, thank you for so much info.

 

We also like snorkelling are most of those beaches you went to for snorkelling or just relaxing?

 

Thanks!

I'm glad you enjoyed the review! It was really different on each beach. For instance, St. Thomas, the taxis were lined up to take you back. But in St. Kitts, he had us tell him when we wanted to go back and he came back for us. The majority of the islands though have taxis there to take you whenever you want. At least that was the case for the beaches we visited.

We saw many people snorkeling at the beaches we went to but we only snorkeled in St. Kitts. There were always fish down by our feet so I'm sure it would be fun to see them! Also, if you are visiting Barbados, they have the free shipwreck and turtle snorkeling at Boatyard that you just have to sign up for and they take you by boat just over to where it is. Great experience!

Thanks for the great photos and info about beaches. Can see why the Southern Caribbean should be on everyone's bucket list.

YES! If you haven't been, it's a MUST!! We love it there.

Thanks for the review. We sail on Mar 4th and this will be our first time with RC.

How was the food in the MDR? I've been reading mixed reviews.

Currently have the 2 night for $40 dining package. Wondering if we need to switch to the 5 night.

 

 

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We thought the food was great but the service was very slow. We were in there every night for around 2 hours. But I'm not sure it would be any different in the specialty dining. We ate in the MDR every night and really enjoyed ourselves. Table of 8 both weeks and we met some great people.

Love your posts. It's nice to see that our beautiful islands are getting back to normal finally. Thanks for the great pics. You and your hubby look great too.

 

 

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Thank you!! Yes, it's so great to see the islands recovering!

Small? I didn't sign up for small. How is small going to help me get through 87 days? OBLIGATIONS YOUNG LADY!

 

;)

Hahaha!!! I hope my review lived up to your expectations!! :') Since we were both sick during the cruise, we were a little lame with the picture taking! Let me know if there is anything else you want! I do have all of the cruise compasses but I'm not sure I would know how to get them on here, haha.

Hi Laura,

 

Thank you for posting your trip report and amazing photos! Which port was your favourite? I obviously have to book a Southern Caribbean cruise ASAP LOL.

 

P.S. You and your husband are a lovely couple :)

Thank you accio_7! Our favorite island this time was a toss up between St Kitts and Barbados. We love both of them! Yes you definitely need to book a Southern Caribbean cruise! They are the best!

Do you recall the name of the restaurant at Boatyard in Barbados?

I think it's called Sharkey's Bar but there is only one restaurant at Boatyard.

Best part of a balcony room

Final sunset at sea :loudcry:

Until next year....

Last port day of the cruise: Grenada.

(I want that hot pink house) :D

Our original plan was to take the water taxi to Grand Anse but as we sat on our balcony drinking coffee, we realized they were making people wait up to 30 mins to fill the water taxi before they would leave! The water taxi was $5 per person, per way to Grand Anse. The land taxi was $5 per person for a taxi of 4 but if you only had 2 people, it was $15 total per way. We found another couple so it was only $5 for us. It was pretty cool to drive through the town and see the local area.

We had been to Lazy Dayz a few years ago and I remembered their chairs were reasonable so we went back there. It was $15 for 2 chairs and an umbrella. Beers were only $2 which is pretty cheap for buying them at the beach.

Our 2nd to last stop was Barbados again. Since we LOVE the island, we weren't sad about visiting here twice!

Caught the Adonia pulling in to port!

Spent another awesome day at Boatyard!

View from lunch

Martinique was up next! We weren't very excited about this island but I was pleased with how it turned out!

My husband needed to make some calls so we found a little pizza shop with WiFi. Here is the view of the ship from our seat!

After using the WiFi and ordering a few drinks, we decided to take a walk. We stumbled upon a nice little beach where we decided to take a swim! If you are leaving the ship, walk all the way down to your right along the boardwalk. It ends at a fort and that is where the beach is!

Side note: formal nights are Day 2 and 6 on this cruise. We love getting all fancy!

Also the Captain's reception was on the first formal night.

The beautiful Centrum!