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

[2PinaColadas]

We will be on our first Royal Caribbean Cruise aboard the Jewel in March. I was already looking forward to it, but after reading your review, I am extremely excited. Do you have any tips for first time RCCers? Thanks!!

[maxs mom]

Ahhhhhhh!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

The beach bar and grill is called The Nest. Very good food and drinks. I highly recommend the coconut shrimp. You can eat up here or bring the food to the beach.

 

[maxs mom]

This is a great place to rent a jet ski! Dan and Donna did just that. They had a ball!! The prices were pretty reasonable...they will deal with you a little. I think they paid $40 for thirty minutes. We had fun watching them.

 

 

 

 

 

[maxs mom]

Before it was time to go we took some parting shots.

 

 

 

 

Ms. Clara was right there to pick us up at 3:00. Such a nice day here! We got back to the port and went straight back to the ship.

 

 

 

[maxs mom]

We will be on our first Royal Caribbean Cruise aboard the Jewel in March. I was already looking forward to it, but after reading your review, I am extremely excited. Do you have any tips for first time RCCers? Thanks!!

 

Congratulations on your first Royal Caribbean cruise. I think you will love it!

 

Well....one thing I already mentioned. When you get on board.....don't go immediately to the Windjammer for lunch. It will be a zoo. Wait until you get into your cabins at 1:00 and then go to lunch. It will have calmed down by then.

 

Don't feel like you have to make specialty restaurant reservations ahead of time. They always have plenty of slots available. You can get on board and then see when you feel like going. But be sure and go. They are wonderful!

 

Be sure and find the Seaview Café.

 

Take a large rubber band with you to put around the handle of the hair dryer. It will hold the button down for you and you don't have to:

 

 

Also take a full sized bar of soap. The little hotel sized bars that they give you just don't cut it.

 

If I think of anything else, I'll let you know.

[maxs mom]

Beautiful sunset tonight:

 

 

 

 

Went to the CL around 7. Enjoyed drinks there and then went to Portofino for dinner tonight.

 

 

This is the bar tender in the CL, Joseph! He was absolutely fantastic. Always remembered what we wanted to drink and brought them to us without us even asking. He was taking all the liquor out of the CL this evening. It does not stay in there.

 

[maxs mom]

Next we made our way down to Deck 6 and Portofino. We were seated at a nice table by the window with a great view of the full moon.

 

 

We knew exactly what we wanted and ordered right away. We both got Caesar salads. I got the tenderloin and John got the T-bone. We don't ever eat beef at home, so we make up for that on cruises!!

 

 

 

I will have to remember to tell them not to put the sauce on my steak next week. It just makes it too salty.

 

 

John said his steak was quite tasty.

[2PinaColadas]

Thank you for your tips and all the pictures. Can't wait to go to Valley Beach -- we have never been to Antigua.

[maxs mom]

The couple sitting behind us was celebrating their 5th anniversary. I just happened to mention that this day was the anniversary of the day we met in 1983. Well....at dessert time, they brought us a nice dessert plate with "Happy Anniversary" on it and candles....and they sang for us, too. Ha! That was really neat!

 

 

 

 

I also ordered tiramisu and it was as wonderful as ever!

 

 

I really hate to see them replacing all the Portofino's with Giovanni's Table.

 

After dinner we went to the theater to watch the Love and Marriage Game Show. It was just OK tonight. The middle couple was our very own Cruise Critic couple of Rebecca and Brian.....nice job, you guys......I thought you won, but they gave it to the oldest couple. This was our first time seeing the cruise director, Dennis Charles.

 

 

After the show we wandered back to our cabin. Many folks were enjoying the music in the Centrum.

 

 

When we got back to our cabin we found an invitation to have dinner with the Captain the next night. It had been slipped under our door. Nice!

[luv4cruises]

This was our spot for the day:

 

 

 

 

Buckets of beer were $20 for 6.

 

 

And this was a great place to drink them!!

 

 

 

 

What beach is this? How much is the taxi fare?

Thanks!

[MA cruisers]

Loving your review. We board Jewel on Saturday cruising the same ports as the second leg of your trip. Can't wait to read your reviews of those islands. Thanks for the tip about the rubber band for the hair dryer, after 18 cruises I had not even thought of that!!!

Edited September 29, 2014 by MA cruisers

[RoyalPrincess0622]

We just got off Jewel yesterday!!! As a matter of fact, I saw you in the airport on Saturday, 9/20. Like you, we flew in on Southwest and as I was making my way through the terminal to baggage claim I saw you and thought that maybe we would be sailing together. Then I realized that you were flying home and not arriving, like me. At that point I knew a review would be coming. :)

 

We had My Time Dining and one of the nights we also had Kasa (from Turkey) as our waiter! Unfortunately we only had one night with him.

 

We also went to Valley Church Beach. It was my first time going there and I was so excited because of all the goods things I had read online.

 

Being in a Grand Suite, we also had the pleasure of meeting Diego. He was so great and very attentive. I don't know how he did it but he knew my name as soon as I walked into the CL on the first night. Oh, and he's quite a cutie too!!!

 

Looking forward to the rest of your review and pictures. Can't wait to see if we have other similarities.

[GMoney]

 

Being in a Grand Suite, we also had the pleasure of meeting Diego. He was so great and very attentive. I don't know how he did it but he knew my name as soon as I walked into the CL on the first night. Oh, and he's quite a cutie too!!!

 

He takes your name, looks it up in the internal database that cross references the name with the picture that's taken when you board, and voila! - the concierge knows who you are before meeting you.

[At Sea 4Ever]

Im following along. Great review so far! I'll be doing this same itinerary on the Jewel as well in two weeks. Just wondering why my sailing lists St. Croix first before St. Marten. Loving the pictures!

 

 

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[Alaska07]

I am really enjoying your diary. My husband and I will be joining the Jewel in November. We've never visited any of the ports before, so your tips and recommendations will be most useful. Thank you :)

[Clarea]

He takes your name, looks it up in the internal database that cross references the name with the picture that's taken when you board, and voila! - the concierge knows who you are before meeting you.

Still, pretty amazing doing this for all those new people every week!:)

[BillOh]

After dinner we went to the theater to watch the Love and Marriage Game Show. It was just OK tonight. The middle couple was our very own Cruise Critic couple of Rebecca and Brian.....nice job' date=' you guys......I thought you won, but they gave it to the oldest couple. This was our first time seeing the cruise director, Dennis Charles.[/quote']

 

I enjoyed Dennis when we did Jewel in 2012, but this past Spring we had Carly and she did the Love and Marriage show in about 20 minutes between the first and 2nd seating of dinner. Was this at least later in the evening?

[maxs mom]

What beach is this? How much is the taxi fare?

Thanks!

 

Luv......this is Valley Church Beach in Antigua. The taxi fare was $8pp each way. The taxi drivers are very friendly here and most will not charge you until they pick you up and take you back to the port.

[maxs mom]

Loving your review. We board Jewel on Saturday cruising the same ports as the second leg of your trip. Can't wait to read your reviews of those islands. Thanks for the tip about the rubber band for the hair dryer, after 18 cruises I had not even thought of that!!!

 

Oh stay tuned.....the next week was amazing!!

 

LOL! I found out about that rubber band trick when another cruiser left it on a hairdryer on the Enchantment. I wondered why it was there.....and I soon figured it out. I always leave my rubber bands on there in hopes of helping of other cruisers. On the last review I did, someone said they were in the same cabin as us a couple of weeks later and it was there.

[maxs mom]

We just got off Jewel yesterday!!! As a matter of fact, I saw you in the airport on Saturday, 9/20. Like you, we flew in on Southwest and as I was making my way through the terminal to baggage claim I saw you and thought that maybe we would be sailing together. Then I realized that you were flying home and not arriving, like me. At that point I knew a review would be coming. :)

 

We had My Time Dining and one of the nights we also had Kasa (from Turkey) as our waiter! Unfortunately we only had one night with him.

 

We also went to Valley Church Beach. It was my first time going there and I was so excited because of all the goods things I had read online.

 

Being in a Grand Suite, we also had the pleasure of meeting Diego. He was so great and very attentive. I don't know how he did it but he knew my name as soon as I walked into the CL on the first night. Oh, and he's quite a cutie too!!!

 

Looking forward to the rest of your review and pictures. Can't wait to see if we have other similarities.

 

Girl!!!! That is amazing! Why didn't you come and say hello!!? We were in the airport a long time that day!

 

We had Kasa almost every night and he was fabulous!

 

One day about mid cruise, this couple was sitting in the CL in the morning and Diego walked in and went right over to them and said, "Good morning Mr. & Mrs. (whatever). I haven't seen you yet."...and blah, blah, blah.....Apparently that was their first time in there. Amazing. Yes.....he does find your pictures and he knows who's supposed to be in his lounge! One of the best Concierges in the fleet for sure!!

[maxs mom]

He takes your name, looks it up in the internal database that cross references the name with the picture that's taken when you board, and voila! - the concierge knows who you are before meeting you.

 

It is amazing that they do that. It always makes me feel so good when the Concierge greets me by name every time I go in there. Not all of them do that. Some very rarely get up from behind their computer.

[maxs mom]

Im following along. Great review so far! I'll be doing this same itinerary on the Jewel as well in two weeks. Just wondering why my sailing lists St. Croix first before St. Marten. Loving the pictures!

 

 

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These itineraries on the Jewel switch up quite often. We are going again in Nov/Dec and the itineraries are very different.

[maxs mom]

I am really enjoying your diary. My husband and I will be joining the Jewel in November. We've never visited any of the ports before, so your tips and recommendations will be most useful. Thank you :)

 

You are in for a real treat. These islands are great!!

[maxs mom]

Still, pretty amazing doing this for all those new people every week!:)

 

You are so right, Bob! I am so glad that he will still be there in Nov. when we board again.

[maxs mom]

I enjoyed Dennis when we did Jewel in 2012, but this past Spring we had Carly and she did the Love and Marriage show in about 20 minutes between the first and 2nd seating of dinner. Was this at least later in the evening?

 

Dennis has been around a long time!! He knows his stuff. Yes...the L&M was done around 10:30, I think. He kind of dragged it out just a little too long, though.