Jewel ~ S. Caribbean and Panama Canal ~ April 25th & May 2nd ~ My Diary

[maxs mom]

Hi Jane,

 

Thanks for posting the review. It's bringing back lots of great memories! We thoroughly enjoyed meeting you and John and the time we shared onboard. Hope our sailing paths cross again soon! :)

 

Steve & Mike

 

Hey Guys! The North Carolina connection!! Great meeting you guys.....and yes.....let's cruise together again some time!

[jakenashleysmom]

hi Jane! Great review as usual, thanks for the Marriott info for St Kitts. We have never been, and were thinking of doing a catamaran excursion but we need a plan "b". Seems our friends that are traveling with us have been offered "the royal treatment" while on St Kitts by the daughter of the Governor of St Kitts! Sounds too good to be true, so I wanted to have a back up plan. Did you reserve at the Marriott, or just walk in?

 

Sent from my KFTHWI using Forums mobile app

[js4rq]

I am enjoying your photo review and look forward to more!

[maxs mom]

Tuesday ~ April 28, 2015 ~ Dominica

 

Slept in just a little today. No big plans for the day. We've been to Dominica many times before, so we thought we would have a day of rest. Love this island, though. So many neat things to see and do.

 

 

 

 

 

You can do some whale watching here (in season), go swimming in waterfalls and gorges, snorkeling, or rent a car and drive over to the Jungle Bay resort for some lunch with a stunning view.

 

We just got off the ship today and walked over to the Fort Young Hotel.....sat at the outdoor bar.....got a cold drink.....and used the Wi-Fi. Both the drinks and the Wi-Fi were excellent!

 

 

[maxs mom]

hi Jane! Great review as usual, thanks for the Marriott info for St Kitts. We have never been, and were thinking of doing a catamaran excursion but we need a plan "b". Seems our friends that are traveling with us have been offered "the royal treatment" while on St Kitts by the daughter of the Governor of St Kitts! Sounds too good to be true, so I wanted to have a back up plan. Did you reserve at the Marriott, or just walk in?

 

Sent from my KFTHWI using Forums mobile app

 

Hey Bonnie! Thanks!

 

No, you don't need reservations at the Marriott.

 

That sounds really neat about your catamaran excursion! Hope that works out for you!

 

Good to hear from you!

[maxs mom]

This is the Fort Young Hotel. Neat little spot to sit and relax.

 

 

 

It was an easy stroll back to the ship and lunch in the Windjammer. afterwards I actually went to the gym. Unfortunately that habit didn't last long!

 

 

 

Cool pool for the hotel.

 

 

[maxs mom]

Soon, it was nap time!

 

Sailaway was at 5 o'clock and it was beautiful.

 

 

 

 

 

[maxs mom]

Visited with roll call buddies in the CL before dinner this evening. Always fun!

 

 

We had reservations at Portofino tonight....the last one in the fleet. Just my opinion.....but I much prefer Portofino to Giovanni's! There were not many folks there at all. We once again had our beef fix with tenderloin and a T-bone steak. Delicious! We finished the meal with the dessert sampler and tiramisu. Good service.....excellent meal!

 

 

 

 

[maxs mom]

Mirror selfie on the way to the casino!

 

 

So we stroll through the casino next. John made a donation, but miraculously.....I won again!! $50 on a Wheel of Fortune machine! This is just amazing!

 

We left here and went to the theater for the Love and Marriage Show. They selected 4 couples and John Blair, the CD, moved this event right along. There was really nothing memorable about it.

 

 

When that was over, we retired for the evening.

 

[Realtor at Sea]

So excited to find your review! They are always terrific!

 

You don't know how many times I have thanked you mentally for the "sand on the feet/baby powder" trick! Thanks!

[maxs mom]

So excited to find your review! They are always terrific!

 

You don't know how many times I have thanked you mentally for the "sand on the feet/baby powder" trick! Thanks!

 

Glad you found me! I must credit my good friend and cruising buddy, Franca, for the baby powder trick! It sure works wonders. We each keep a small bottle in our beach bags!

[NightOne]

We had reservations at Portofino tonight....the last one in the fleet.

 

Liberty of the Seas still has Portofino too. Not sure if any other ships still do.

 

 

I will guess the picture above was the sampler? I have seen that ball looking dessert on the right in some other photos but am not quite sure exactly what it consists of. Am I right in guessing the whole thing is edible? Hard for me to tell if the round part is some sort of bowl or just an edible shell. :)

[CRUISEMAMI]

Glad you found me! I must credit my good friend and cruising buddy' date=' Franca, for the baby powder trick! It sure works wonders. We each keep a small bottle in our beach bags![/font']

 

 

Very happy that the baby powder still working:):):)

Love your review!!!!

Franca

Edited May 29, 2015 by CRUISEMAMI

[maxs mom]

 

Liberty of the Seas still has Portofino too. Not sure if any other ships still do.

 

 

I will guess the picture above was the sampler? I have seen that ball looking dessert on the right in some other photos but am not quite sure exactly what it consists of. Am I right in guessing the whole thing is edible? Hard for me to tell if the round part is some sort of bowl or just an edible shell. :)

 

Didn't know that about Portofino on Liberty. We have not been on her.

 

Actually that dessert is the tiramisu and yes......it IS all edible. Love it. I usually put most of the liqueur in my coffee.

[maxs mom]

Wednesday ~ April 29, 2015 ~ Barbados

 

Up early this morning. Cruising into Barbados:

 

 

 

In the previous ports, we were the only ship there, but today we had to share with a Carnival ship.

 

This morning we arranged to meet our new German friends, Karl and Silke. We went to one of our favorite beaches on Barbados....Accra. We like to hang out at the Tiki Bar there all the way at the end. It used to be really quiet there, but then Royal Caribbean AND Carnival started bringing beach excursions there. That's kind of ruined it for me.....just like they did on Sapphire Beach on St. Thomas. But.....it's still a nice day. When we were there in December.....the beach was pristine. We shared with other RCI guests. Today.....unfortunately.....as with many of the Caribbean beaches.....there was a lot of sea grass that had washed up AND we had to share with Carnival folks today.

 

We eagerly head out for the taxi stand.

 

 

 

Here you pay $30 for two chairs and an umbrella......but you get $60 in Barbadian dollars to spend in the bar on food and drinks. That turns out to be a good deal.

 

 

[maxs mom]

So we get there right ahead of the excursion group and get some good chairs. Getting there early is key! The beach was nice, despite the sea grass. It was hot......we read a lot......used the Wi-Fi, which was pretty good.....swam.....and ate a good lunch. The surf was a little rough today, but that made it fun.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We ordered lunch right from our chairs. Great service on the beach. I think this was a chicken sandwich.

 

[maxs mom]

The water was wonderful!!

 

 

 

 

 

[NightOne]

Didn't know that about Portofino on Liberty. We have not been on her.

 

Actually that dessert is the tiramisu and yes......it IS all edible. Love it. I usually put most of the liqueur in my coffee.

 

I only know because we have Liberty booked for a cruise this November and have made a reservation for Portofino.

 

Thanks for clarifying the dessert. I am definitely getting one of those when I go! :)

[maxs mom]

Our cab driver was so nice. He wouldn't let us pay him until he came back for us......which he did......around 2:45. We got back to the ship in time for our usual afternoon routine.

 

 

It was formal night again tonight. We used the forward elevators a lot and that worked out great. Hardly anybody ever used those! We got into the habit of making selfies every night in the elevator on the way to the CL.

 

 

We visited with friends in the CL. This is Bernard from the UK. He is another of our new Pinnacle friends who would be on with us again next cruise. His friend, Kristine, would be joining him then.

 

 

In My Time, we were shuffled to a different table tonight where we were ignored for a bit, but when Ann, the waitress, realized we were at her table, she took real good care of us....and a great friendship began. We would be seated with Ann for the rest of the cruise(s). She was real sweet to us.

 

 

I had the lobster tonight. John had the Prime Rib. The lobster was just OK. Well, I guess it was pretty good since I ate it all!

 

 

Grand Marnier Souffle was for dessert and it was really good!

 

 

 

The casino called, but my luck ran out......no wins tonight. John went back to the cabin. I went to the Safari Lounge for 50's and 60's night, but I didn't stay long. Another good night's sleep.

[maxs mom]

Thursday ~ April 30, 2015 ~ At Sea

 

Gotta love the sea days.......especially since this was the only one!!

 

 

 

Slept in. Went to breakfast at 8:30. I tried the poached eggs today and they were so good!

 

 

We spent time in the CL this morning for more coffee, reading, and visiting. This was such a quiet and restful retreat. It would not be that way on the next cruise!!!!

 

 

After they take the breakfast away in here, they leave some nice fruit and cookies!

 

 

We ran into some past cruise buddies in here today. It was good to see them again.

 

[maxs mom]

At 11:00 we went to the Vortex for the back to back cruiser meeting. We enjoyed mimosas, got our instructions, new sea pass cards, and I was able to make our specialty restaurant reservations for the next cruise. We've done B2B on the Jewel several times and they are the most organized of most of the ships.

 

 

 

 

When the meeting was over, we just relaxed and chatted with folks up there until noon. We could see the Parade of Flags from that vantage point......always impressive.

 

 

 

[maxs mom]

We also set up our internet accounts while in the Vortex since it was a hot spot. We had such good internet on all the islands that we didn't need it on the ship until now.

 

So the time has come!!!!! It's time for lunch and the Seaview Café is open for lunch today!!!! We went straight there for lunch and they weren't busy at all. Many people don't realize this is there above the Windjammer. Not too many healthy choices here, but oh my.......is it good!!!! We allow ourselves to splurge just a bit when this is open. Today we both ordered hot dogs and onion rings! Soooooo good!!!

 

 

 

We will enjoy this for as long as we can because it will be going away in the refurb next year.

 

After lunch we headed down the back stairs to the WJ for some frozen yogurt of course.

 

 

We strolled through the pool area on the way back to our cabin and saw some of the various activities out there. The main pool is not a place that I like to hang out because of the crowds, but it's fun to watch the goings on sometimes.

 

 

 

[Yorkvillain]

Are they replacing the Seaview Cafe with a Park Cafe?

[The Big Booper]

Hooray you've started your Jewel review. As I've mentioned we'll be on this ship for the 8 night California Coastal 9/18.

[Clarea]

Are they replacing the Seaview Cafe with a Park Cafe?

Park Cafe goes in the Solarium. Izumi replaces Seaview.