Jewel of the Seas ~ B2B ~ Sept. 6th and 13th ~ My Diary

[maxs mom]

Greetings All!

 

Time for more cruising to try and extend the summer! I'm not ready for it to be over!

 

We are Jane and John from North Carolina. We have BOTH been retired for over a year now and spend a lot of time cruising. These were our 8th and 9th cruises of the year and we have three more scheduled for 2014. We absolutely love sailing out of San Juan and now that Southwest has started flying there with reasonable rates, we hope to cruise from there even more.

 

Friday ~ September 5, 2014 ~ North Carolina/San Juan

 

We boarded a Southwest flight today bound for San Juan. Great flights going and coming. We even got an exit row with no one between us!! We arrived at 4 PM. Our luggage was right there on the carousel as we walked into baggage claim.

 

 

It was pouring down rain, but that was OK....it made it just a little bit cooler. We grabbed a taxi and drove the short distance to our hotel....The Embassy Suites on Isla Verde. We've stayed here several times before and we were able to check right in.

 

We went to the Manager's Cocktail Reception at around 6 o'clock. It was not crowded at all. We were not that hungry, so we just grabbed a sandwich and a salad at the convenience store in the lobby and that was our dinner. There is an Outback Steakhouse right in the lobby, but we didn't want to eat that much. We watched a little TV and went to bed. Travel really takes a lot out of us.

 

Saturday ~ Sept. 6, 2014 ~ San Juan

 

Up early this morning and went to the complimentary breakfast. It was OK.....again not crowded at all.....one of the benefits of cruising this time of year. Usually you stand in long lines and can't find a place to sit. It was very pleasant this morning.

 

 

We just took our time.....got everything packed up.....and we checked out about 10:15. We easily got a taxi and headed over to the Pam Am pier by way of Walgreens to pick up a case of water. I put luggage tags on that and away we went. The pier was not far away.

 

We drove right up to the D/D+/P drop off area. Our luggage and water were whisked away and we were invited to get in a very short "special" line. It was about 10:50 and at 11:00 on the dot....they opened the doors to security and we were in business.

 

Got checked in right away.....no fuss, no muss.....and we were on the ship in no time. We boarded on Deck 2....which was odd, but later found out that the regular gangway was broken.

 

Welcome to the Jewel!!

 

 

They were directing everyone up to Deck 11 and the Windjammer, and that's where everyone went....except us. No way am I getting into that mess. We stopped off at Deck 5 and got a comfy spot to rest until cabins were ready. We checked e-mail, I went to get Specialty restaurant and MTD reservations, and we just relaxed here for a while. Everyone boarding must have gone to the WJ because we were there alone for a very long time.

 

It was great to be on board again. The Radiance Class ships are my absolute favorites!!

 

 

 

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[mefinephotoman]

I was great meeting you last week and we also had a great time! I am looking froward to your review.:)

[BillOh]

Glad to see you cruising again. Looking forward to seeing the ports I didn't see in my week on Jewel. Hopefully they removed the TASTE OF ANTIGUA from their excursion list!

[jo24]

Love your reviews and looking to do this B2B in the not too distant future!

 

Thanks for taking the time to do this :)

[Realtor at Sea]

Always enjoy your reviews! Just the right amount of commentary and photos.

Love the Jewel!

[Kik35]

Looking forward to reading another great review!! Especially since I know you'll cover 2 of my favorite activities, going to the beach and searching out cookies onboard ship!!:);)

[maxs mom]

We went to our cabin at 1:00. We booked these two cruises about a month out and were very lucky to get the same cabin for both legs. We were in Cabin 7648.....an E2 on the Starboard side. Nice cabin toward the aft. It was a bit tight for us, but there were plenty of spaces to put away all our things....even the kitchen sink that we brought with us!!!

 

 

Nice balcony.

 

 

 

Now if you've never had a cabin on Deck 7 of a Radiance Class ship.......you need to know this. The Life Boat cover is extended out from your balcony, so you do not have a direct view down to the water. On the website it says "Obstructed View", and that's what that is. Also the more forward and aft cabins have an extended balcony.....part of which is open to the balcony next door. The aft cabins also have another extension beyond that, which many people aren't aware of and they are not happy when they see it. We've been in these cabins before, so we were totally aware of what we were getting and it wasn't a big deal for us. For some it is a big deal.

 

Here is what the balconies of the 10 or so aft cabins looks like.

 

 

You can see the extended life boat cover from the balcony in this picture and the other two pictures above. Like I said.....if you are aware of it ahead of time....it will not be a shock. And to be perfectly honest.....it didn't bother us at all. Yes.....I would rather it not be there, and normally I would choose a cabin on deck 8 or 9.....but booking as late as we did.....we were just very lucky to have the same cabin for both legs.....no complaints!

 

 

 

All in all we were very pleased with this cabin. We were right above the Schooner Bar and we had some very faint noise from there sometimes, but it was not bad.

[maxs mom]

Gosh......great to "see" everybody already!!

 

photoman.....nice meeting you, too. Wish we had had more time to chat. Always great to meet a fellow Carolinean!!

 

Bill.....LOL! We don't do excursions, so not sure about the Antigua thing. Glad to have you along.

 

jo......we love these B2B's. They are the best! We are doing this again in Nov/Dec! Yay!

 

Realtor.....Thanks for the compliment. I try to get to the point!!

 

kik......you know me too well!! We hit 8 beautiful beaches and had near perfect beach days at every one! And those cookies!!!!! Yum!!!!

 

Thanks for reading, y'all!

 

 

 

[DonnaK]

great start! can't wait to read the rest!

[maxs mom]

On to the Windjammer for lunch. The crowd had thinned out by this time, and it was pleasant. I highly recommend waiting to come to lunch on this day if you can.

 

It's been a while since we've been on a Radiance Class ship and I had forgotten how nice the Windjammer layout is!! Much better salad bar areas and much better flow of things. I got my usual salad with the carving of the day....very good....and very good iced tea. You know us Southerners must have good iced tea!!! John got his favorite soft served ice cream for dessert.....another thing we like about this ship......the ice cream machine is in the WJ right next to the desserts. Makes for some lovely combinations! I also got my first cookie of the cruise.....chocolate chip today!!

 

When we got back to the cabin....our luggage had arrived, including the water. We have been very lucky with the water.....we take a case on every cruise and have never had a problem. I understand others have not been so lucky.

 

At 3 o'clock our roll call had made arrangements to meet at the Sky Bar. We had a nice turn out there. Great drinks and conversation there for about an hour. Very nice to meet everyone that came.

 

 

 

 

 

Next it was time to get ready for the evening!

[BillOh]

Bill.....LOL! We don't do excursions' date=' so not sure about the Antigua thing. Glad to have you along.

 

 

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I rarely do Royal sponsored excursions any more, but my 2014 trip on Jewel was right after back surgery so it was mostly a relaxation cruise but I let a friend talk me into this excursion which I described as the worst ever for us. I did a review of it on Royal's website. I then saw my review was the 2nd bad one. Now its been pulled, I assume Royal has discontinued their association with that operator. Enough about me, looking forward to your report.

Edited September 27, 2014 by BillOh
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[maxs mom]

First stop of the evening was the Concierge Lounge. The Jewel has not been refurbed, so it's still on Deck 10. This is our favorite D+ perk and we take advantage of it. We also had the three drinks per day loaded on our cards and that is very nice, also.

 

When we first walked into the CL, every seat was taken, but a couple got up and left just as we got our drinks, so that worked out well. We always meet such wonderful people here and these two cruises were no exception. Tonight we were lucky enough to meet some of those great folks and we saw them many times during the cruise(s).

 

We met Craig.....Pinnacle member who pretty much lives on the ships.....kind of a mini Mario! Great guy!

 

 

We also met Ken (Pinnacle Member) and his wife Pam from Norway. They only started cruising in 2009! Wow! We earned our points the hard way.....over almost 30 years.....many inside cabins at first......one point at a time!! Anyway...they were a lovely couple and we enjoyed talking with them throughout the cruise. This is me and Ken.

 

 

The CL closed tonight at 7:30 because of the Muster Drill at 8. We just hung around in the CL until 8 or so, finishing our drinks, then went down to our station on Deck 5. They were happy to give John a chair to sit in.....he can not stand for long periods, so that was nice. It didn't last too long.

 

 

The Captain dismissed us, so we took off back inside. But he launched into some mariner type story and everybody else stayed put. We were back at our cabin before the others left the stations!

 

The reason we had to go back to our cabin was ......that earlier we went to the Schooner Bar and got one of our free drinks.....beer and wine. We took those back to the cabin and put them in our fridge. Then we had a drink to take to dinner. LOL! We're so cheap!

[maxs mom]

I rarely do Royal sponsored excursions any more, but my 2014 trip on Jewel was right after back surgery so it was mostly a relaxation cruise but I let a friend talk me into this excursion which I described as the worst ever for us. I did a review of it on Royal's website. I then saw my review was the 2nd bad one. Now its been pulled, I assume Royal has discontinued their association with that operator. Enough about me, looking forward to your report.

 

Yes.....I think I remember that!!!

[PCWalton1]

Jane, thanks for getting this started, I need it. I think I am still going through withdrawals from Hawaii. [emoji47]

 

Sent from my Galaxy Note 3 using Tapatalk

[CRUISEMAMI]

Woot woot; another great review from one of my fav cruising buddies!!!

Thanks Jane!

This is for you :)

 

 

Sent with my iPhone

[kleo30]

I'm looking forward to reading your review, Jane :)

[fish6]

Hi Jane,

Just wanted to thank you for taking the time yet again to do this wonderful review. My hubby and I may be going on Jewel next November.....we loved Serenade so I'm sure we will love the Jewel. We wanted to go once before the last Radiance class ship gets revitalized as we enjoyed Seaview Cafe. We are on the Aruba, Curacao route which we have never been on so any tidbits would be appreciated :)

Donna

[maxs mom]

Thanks, Everyone! Had to take a little break. Ready to do a little more.

 

So.....we always book Chops on the first night. A little tradition, plus we get the BOGO. Here I am ready to go!!

 

 

Our reservations in Chops were for 8:45. That's when they open up after muster. There were not many people there at all. They had just started the new menu.....I think this was the second week. The price was still $30pp, though. I hear many complaints about this menu, but for the life of me....I don't know why. I guess for what I order....it is just fine.

 

I love the warm goat cheese salad. There are some interesting flavors blended together and the warm cheese makes it so delicious.

 

 

I always get the petit filet and this one was very good. They haven't learned how to put the sauce in the trough on the plate yet. I really don't like the sauce on my steak. But this was no big deal.

 

 

I ate every bit of my steak and salad.....it must have been good! For dessert I got the new chocolate dessert and it has become a pretty good substitute for the old mud pie. Not totally......but it will do. The chocolate is very rich like the old mud pie.

 

 

John got the new cheesecake. Both desserts were excellent and we enjoyed coffee with that.

 

 

 

The service here was fabulous as well. What a wonderful way to start off our cruise! They let us go ahead and pay for our Portofino reservation later in the week so we could get the BOGO there as well. That was nice!

 

It was on to the casino after that. We, of course, lost everything we played. Not a great start there!

 

On to bed after that. And it was a very comfy bed, too. Must have been fairly new.

[SherriZ366]

So happy to see that you are posting the review. As you know, I always enjoy them. Hope I can be in another one like we were in May 2014 -- i.e. hope we sail with you and John again.

[Kcjarvis]

Fantastic start!!!!! Cant wait for the rest. Was Diego the concierge?

[maxs mom]

Sunday ~ Sept. 7, 2014 ~ St Maarten

 

Leaving from San Juan makes it possible to hit ports right away and a lot of them, too! We had 9 ports in two weeks!

 

Today was St. Maarten. I was up early with my morning routine of coffee and journal writing in the CL....enjoying the peace and quiet, excellent coffee, great views! Here we are sailing into SXM.

 

 

One of our other favorite D+ perks is the private breakfast area for D/D+/P. We eat breakfast here everyday and enjoy the service and also the peace and quiet. Very quiet on this ship as not many people take advantage of this. This was located in a private dining room attached to the main dining room on Deck 4. I think many people have early excursions and just don't get here. We are relaxing, so we take our time.

 

 

We almost always had the place to ourselves!

 

 

This was our awesome breakfast wait staff for the two weeks. They just couldn't get over the fact that we did not need menus. We know it by heart.....and we are creatures of habit and order the same thing for breakfast every day. (John is a diabetic and can keep his blood sugar in better control that way.)

 

 

We had this wonderful view for breakfast each morning.

 

 

We always start our breakfast off with half a grapefruit! The Puerto Rican grapefruits aren't quite as good as the Florida grapefruits, however!

 

 

The service here is great and very fast! Much appreciated!

Edited September 27, 2014 by max'smom

[maxs mom]

So happy to see that you are posting the review. As you know, I always enjoy them. Hope I can be in another one like we were in May 2014 -- i.e. hope we sail with you and John again.

 

Hey Sherri! I hope we can sail together again, too. That was fun!!

[maxs mom]

Fantastic start!!!!! Cant wait for the rest. Was Diego the concierge?

 

Hey Ken! Always great to hear from you!! Yes....Diego was the Concierge! What a sweetheart!! He will also be on board when we are on the Jewel in Nov/Dec. I'm very exited about that. More about him later!!

[maxs mom]

We got ready for the beach and left the ship before 10:00. You can check beach towels out right at the gangway and return them there on your way back in. Very convenient.

 

We were the only ship in almost every port, and let me tell you what a pleasure that was!! Another benefit of cruising this time of year! We grabbed a taxi with some other folks out to Orient Beach. Once the others got out, we asked the taxi driver to take us to the other end of the beach to a place that we found a couple of years ago called Palm Beach. The taxi fare will be a dollar or two more to go here. I've reported on this beach quite a few times now and it is still the favorite go to beach whenever we are in St. Maarten. I don't see this changing any time soon. Just love it here. The taxi driver, however, seemed to be a little put out to take us here, so he charged us $2pp more for the fare instead of the usual $1. He also said that he couldn't come back for us. Most of them will.

 

So we are now at our favorite beach in St. Maarten. Here your chairs and umbrellas are free as long as you eat lunch in their restaurant. We get all set up in our chairs and make reservations for lunch.

 

 

Very quiet here today! My kind of place!

 

 

 

 

 

You can also rent cabanas and other special seating here. The cabanas are $50 or free with the purchase of a bottle of champagne,. The last time we were here, it was raining and they gave us the cabana for free. It sure was nice. We will be with another couple the next time we are there, so we will definitely get the cabana again then.

 

[Mary&Jim]

Wonderful start to your review, Jane. I can't wait to read the rest.

 

MaryW