**Jewel of the Seas 9.21.2013 Review**

[cruiserking]

Really enjoying your travelogue and pictures Virtopia.

 

Jonathan

[Virtopia]

DSCN1013 by Virtopia, on Flickr

 

I have to laugh at the people in your pic checking out your seafood. I think they've a case of food envy. Hehehe. Talking about food, what's the difference between Giovanni's and Portifino's? We are sailing on Mariner of the Seas in January and see that their Italian restaurant used to be called Portifino's but now it called Giovanni's. But I think I've seen some ships have both, not sure about this though.

 

Loving your review BTW, loving the photos.

 

Thanks! They knew they would be in the picture because when the waiter brought it out, he let me take my pictures first. The man ended up changing his order when he saw it.

 

Someone may correct me in terms of Giovanni's and Portofino's but I believe Giovanni's is on the newer or refurbished ships as I ate at Giovanni's on the Allure. They are both Italian eateries and the menus were similar from what I remember. Also, both cover charges were $20.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using the Cruise Critic App

[jt1120]

I have to say this is one of the more enjoyable reviews I've ever read! We're on the Jewel in November and are getting more anxious for the cruise by reading your review.

[DisneyKidsDad]

Thanks for the great review. Can you tell me if you think the fort you went to in Puerto Rico would be doable if you were pushing someone in a wheelchair?

[stones902]

Thanks for the great review. Can you tell me if you think the fort you went to in Puerto Rico would be doable if you were pushing someone in a wheelchair?

 

I'm not the person doing the review but I have been to El Morro a few times. Much of it is accessable in a wheelchair. There are areas that you wouldn't be able to get into certainly but you can definitely get a good flavor for most of it.

[happyshelly]

I am enjoying the review. I will be solo also on the Jewel over Halloween. Will keep reading . Love the pictures.

 

Michele

[DisneyKidsDad]

I'm not the person doing the review but I have been to El Morro a few times. Much of it is accessable in a wheelchair. There are areas that you wouldn't be able to get into certainly but you can definitely get a good flavor for most of it.

 

Thank you for that information. We are flying in 2 days before our cruise and are looking for things to do and see with our adult daughter who is in a wheelchair. We are staying in Old San Juan.

[stones902]

Thank you for that information. We are flying in 2 days before our cruise and are looking for things to do and see with our adult daughter who is in a wheelchair. We are staying in Old San Juan.

 

 

You should be fine there. Of course it is an old fort so there are areas that I'm sure would be a challenge to access and don't conform to ADA.

They may have made some provisions to the site that I am not aware of.

 

Note: According to their website, El Morro is operated by the U.S. National Park Service is currently closed due to the government shutdown. Hopefully, it will have opened again by the time you visit.

 

If I can make a suggestion, San Juan has a free trolley that is handicap accessible. It will cart you all over town free of charge. Here is there site:

 

http://www.puertoricodaytrips.com/free-trolley-old-san-juan/

[DisneyKidsDad]

You should be fine there. Of course it is an old fort so there are areas that I'm sure would be a challenge to access and don't conform to ADA.

They may have made some provisions to the site that I am not aware of.

 

Note: According to their website, El Morro is operated by the U.S. National Park Service is currently closed due to the government shutdown. Hopefully, it will have opened again by the time you visit.

 

If I can make a suggestion, San Juan has a free trolley that is handicap accessible. It will cart you all over town free of charge. Here is there site:

 

http://www.puertoricodaytrips.com/free-trolley-old-san-juan/

 

We are not going until May. The government had better be up and running by then!! I did know about the trolley but thanks for the site.

[Familygoboston]

I apologize, I don't know why I said La Perla LOL The restaurant on site was called Cafe Pierre.

whew! I was afraid I'd made a reservation at the wrong place!:eek:

 

Sorry, once I post 6 pictures and try to type after it, it stays I have 7 pictures ... not sure why, but that's okay!

 

 

You might not know; but even an emoticon "counts" as a picture! So if you have 6 photos and a smiley in your text, it's 7 and boom, can't post:( I know this because I ...ahem... May have been guilty of using a few too many emoticons :rolleyes:

 

Enjoying your review! Thanks for the details on free HOHO trolley and bus service, awesome!

 

one question- like Disneykidsdad, I'm trying not to stress about this "shutdown" and I'm hoping the forts will be open in November, but is the free trolley run by the National Park Service too? One more thing we can't do?:rolleyes: Come on Congress, get this fixed!:mad:

Edited October 7, 2013 by Familygoboston

[Familygoboston]

Also, folks on my RC are wondering who the CD was and how long they have been there? (any mentions of " next week I'm on vacation for 3 months" , or "I just got onboard last week!")

Edited October 7, 2013 by Familygoboston

[Canadian Tyler]

Great review so far!

[bup1224]

Also, folks on my RC are wondering who the CD was and how long they have been there? (any mentions of " next week I'm on vacation for 3 months" , or "I just got onboard last week!")

 

I was on the Sept. 14th sailing - Carly B. is the cruise director - not sure how long she has been there - but we thought she and her staff were great!

[stones902]

one question- like Disneykidsdad, I'm trying not to stress about this "shutdown" and I'm hoping the forts will be open in November, but is the free trolley run by the National Park Service too? One more thing we can't do?:rolleyes: Come on Congress, get this fixed!:mad:

 

There free trolley is not connected to the park service in any way other than it stops there on it's regular circuit.

[Familygoboston]

I was on the Sept. 14th sailing - Carly B. is the cruise director - not sure how long she has been there - but we thought she and her staff were great!

 

There free trolley is not connected to the park service in any way other than it stops there on it's regular circuit.

 

Thanks! Ill pass this info along to the RC:D

[Virtopia]

Okay, I'm back! Thank you for all the nice comments - It's greatly appreciated and thank you for those who are answering some of the questions for me. I will make you co-authors of the review, deal?

 

Let's continue, shall we? I realize my review style is quite different than others that I've come across, but doing it this way flows better for me, so I hope everyone is okay with that. I'm just typing it as if I'm writing in my journal.

 

This morning was St Maarten. Now, as I mentioned before, I have been to St Maarten before and I did Bernard's tour, so I'm not quite sure why I did a ship tour this time around - maybe to see if I would have a different experience, I guess? My tour started at 9:30am and foolish me forgot to have breakfast before I got off the ship, so a lot of the tour was a blur as my stomach growling was drowning out the tour guide. I will say this though - do Bernard's tour. It is extremely personalized and gives you time to really explore the island. Most of the tour was on the bus and it lasted about 3 hours. While we were driving, we slowed down to look at the iquanas on the side of the road and I thought back to Bernard's tour where we actually GO to where the iquanas are and are able to take pictures of them. We did go to a section called Interational Lookout Point for a 10 minute photo op and if I remember correctly, it's called that because when you stand there, you are looking at islands that are ruled by the Dutch, French and British. I don't remember going there on my other tour, so it was a nice stop.

 

We then went to Marigot and we stopped for about 40 minutes to do some shopping and walking around. I was probably out of the van for about 15 minutes as I was overcome by hunger (I know, foolish me!)

 

DSCN1038 by Virtopia, on Flickr

 

DSCN1044 by Virtopia, on Flickr

 

DSCN1053 by Virtopia, on Flickr

 

DSCN1062 by Virtopia, on Flickr

 

DSCN1072 by Virtopia, on Flickr

[Virtopia]

DSCN1087 by Virtopia, on Flickr

 

DSCN1088 by Virtopia, on Flickr

 

DSCN1093 by Virtopia, on Flickr

 

DSCN1100 by Virtopia, on Flickr

 

DSCN1106 by Virtopia, on Flickr

[Virtopia]

OH MY!! I just remembered something from St Croix LOL So, our M&M was originally scheduled for Day 5, which didn't work for anybody in our roll call as we had full day excursions planned. So, Gladys actually sent an email to Royal Caribbean and they changed it to her suggested date and time! We had it on Day 2 at 5:45pm, which was great. Elvis, who was the assistant CD, said that they really do monitor what's said on Cruise Critic and was glad that we made mention that the time didn't work for us.

 

And now, back to our regularly scheduled program!

 

The tour finished around 12:30pm and I'm no runner, but I think Usain Bolt took over my body and I made it to the Windjammer in record time! I put some fuel in the tank and once again, hung out near the pool while I enjoyed a fruity drink and did some reading.

 

Gladys (Mommy4lyfe) was kind enough to invite me to dinner with her and her DH in the MDR that evening. This was the first cruise that I opted for My Time Dining and I will never go back. I love the option of not having to be ready for dinner at a certain time and the few times that I had dinner in the Windjammer, I really enjoyed it. Pretty much, no more traditional dining for me. I did enjoy my dinner this evening though, as I had great company and the service was wonderful.

 

After dinner, we went to the Welcome Back show for the Crown and Anchor members; it was a wonderful event with a lot of free drinks! Also, as a waiter shared with me, we are not limited to the drinks they have on the tray, which is great! I ordered a Miami Vice and they had it made, so please take advantage. I wish I had known this all along instead of sipping on champagne.

 

Once those festivities were over, we went to the production show and once again, left before it was done. I believe it was called City of Dreams, but I didn't understand it. Oh well, I gave it a try. I knew I had an early day tomorrow, so I spent my regular hour out on deck 5 and then headed to bed to prepare for a fun filled day in Antigua.

 

DSCN1123 by Virtopia, on Flickr

 

DSCN1124 by Virtopia, on Flickr

 

DSCN1110 by Virtopia, on Flickr

 

DSCN1125 by Virtopia, on Flickr

[luvscruising2007]

I don't usually comment mid review. But, I am enjoying your perspective.

We were on an Eastern Caribbean cruise last Dec. and really enjoyed the ports. We did Bernard's tour in St. Martin and saw the iguanas. I had my picture taken with one. Not really my thing but a nice memory.

 

Keep up the great work. These reviews, with photos, take a lot of effort and I definitely appreciate it.

[laskoske]

Fantastic review, Virtopia, we are sailing in less than 3 weeks, and this really added to the excitement! Thank you so much for sharing all this with us.

 

You sound like our type of cruiser, would you ever consider joining our group of East ghost Explorers?

 

Tell us more about your journey, I am enjoying every minute of it!:D

 

Ernie

[Virtopia]

Today was Antigua!!!

 

I was very excited for the excursion that was planned for today. I went to Coconut Beach Club with two couples from my roll call and we befriended two other women we met at the port who also joined us. We met on deck 2 at 10:30am, so I made sure I got up in time to order some room service for breakfast (yes, I wasn't making that mistake again!)

 

If taking a taxi, I would recommend finding out what the taxi charge is before getting in. The man who led us to the taxi stand told us it would be $3/pp and the taxi driver told us it would be $4/pp when we got to the location. We told it we were told $3/pp, so we only paid $3 ... well, I only paid $3. But, when she came back for us in the afternoon, right before we got back to the port, she started talking about it again and then said it was $4/pp as in she wanted us to pay the extra from the earlier ride as well ... I gave her $4, but was disappointed with the way she handled it. I just wanted to get out of the bus at that point.

 

But, let's talk about the beauty that is Coconut Beach Club ...

 

It was beyond beautiful! We were actually upset that we told the taxi driver to come back so early . It was $45 for a day pass and it was well worth it; it included a buffet lunch, unlimited drinks and you could also get a chair and towel as well. They also offer free wi fi in certain parts of the club. This was definitely my favourite excursion. I'll let the pictures say what I can't put into words.

 

DSCN1136 by Virtopia, on Flickr

 

DSCN1139 by Virtopia, on Flickr

 

DSCN1141 by Virtopia, on Flickr

 

DSCN1144 by Virtopia, on Flickr

 

DSCN1145 by Virtopia, on Flickr

 

DSCN1146 by Virtopia, on Flickr

 

Okay, I'm going to break here for the night. I have a book club meeting on Thursday and I still have over 300 pages to go! LOL I'll be back tomorrow with the rest of Antigua and my amazing dinner in Chops!

[stones902]

Great review & photos! Thanks for sharing!

 

 

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[Midlo]

Really enjoying your review Virtopia. I think you have set a new standard for reviews! Thank you. We are on Jewel in three weeks and you have really helped to get us in the mood!

[bbfgator]

Virtopia you rock...thank you so much for taking the time to post this review & pictures.

[susie63]

Virtopia, Great review! I can't wait to hear more. Sailing on Jewel in 4 weeks. Please don't forget to post the cruise compasses! Thanks!