“Live” Jewel of the Seas - February 4, 2018

[BillOh]

Your cruise is the same itinerary as ours in 89 days. Can't wait to hear about St Criox, Martinique and Grenada.

[scopewest]

Thanks for taking the time to do a review, have a great cruise!

[kzam715]

I'm interested to see how Jewel handles the muster with the late departure. I know that Adventure has two musters, one at 5:30pm and the other just before departure. Adventure also pushes back traditional dining by 30 minutes on the first night. Curious how Jewel handles this.

 

I just got off Jewel yesterday, and muster was at 5:30PM. Dinner times (6 and 8:30) were pushed back 30 minutes.

[kzam715]

I was just on the Jan 21-28 Jewel sailing! Let me know if you have any questions I can (try) and answer for you!

[RockiesLori]

Hey Kzam - what times were the shows in the evening? thanks

[OntarioTraveller]

We sail this same itinery on April 1st. Anxious to hear about the ports as well!

[timbopat]

Getting excited for our Jewel cruise in 77 days. We are doing a B2B April 15 & 22. Thanks for the review

 

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[denthygmeech]

Looking forward to your review. We will be sailing the Jewel on the 11th. Perhaps we will see you in passing. Enjoy your cruise and your birthday!

 

Hello and Welcome!!

 

We are currently 5 days away from our flight to SJU to pick up the Jewel OTS on Sunday!!

 

This will be my second RCCL cruise (9th Cruise overall) and my BF’s first RCCL Cruise (2nd overall). This will be our first cruise together after our Majesty OTS cruise in September was cancelled, and also our first of 3 cruises we have booked this year.

 

 

This is myself and my BF of three years. We are both in aviation and share a passion for airplanes and the industry. I am divorced with two children (9 and 11) and they love BF as much as I do, which is awesome and makes for a happy household. In fact, our second cruise this year will be a family cruise on Mariner OTS and it will be the kids first cruise. They are beyond excited, my parents are also going on that cruise with us and will be surprising the kids at the airport in MIA.

 

 

Getting back on track!! We are focusing on this cruise now!! BF and myself will be flying from the D.C area on Saturday morning and staying in SJU Saturday night. Originally we were booked at the Hilton Caribe, however, that hotel was heavily damaged in hurricane Irma and is still under repairs. The Hilton Diamond desk has been beyond helpful and rebooked us at the Doubletree SJU with no issues and even reimbursed points for our troubles.

 

 

 

We originally booked and ocean view room on Jewel OTS but after watching the price fluctuate, we were able to upgrade to a balcony stateroom at no additional cost. Gotta love when that happens!!!

 

 

Obviously I will post our own pictures when we are onboard but this gives a decent idea!!

 

Now on to work and packing last minute!! I will be working out of town until the evening of the 1st so my packing time is limited to one day!! I’m also aiming to ONLY bring a carry on bag...challenge accepted!!!

 

Thanks for tuning in and updates will be coming along!!

 

 

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[Denise Ann]

I just got off Jewel yesterday, and muster was at 5:30PM. Dinner times (6 and 8:30) were pushed back 30 minutes.

Wow, something new. Thanks for the info.

[kzam715]

Hey Kzam - what times were the shows in the evening? thanks

 

The main shows were usually around 6-6:30 and 9-9:30 for each dinner seating. But of course they had the late night comedy and Love & Marriage gameshow, which we’re always 10:30 or later. This was the first RCI Cruise I’ve done that didn’t have The Quest though! We were disappointed!

[AF-1]

Happy bday and enjoy your cruise out of San Juan. Weather looks great

[dolfan1980]

On your same itinerary on March 4th I believe, post your cruise compasses and dining room menus if you can.

 

 

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[easyboy]

Looking forward to your live reports. Enjoy your cruise!

 

 

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[jigger]

Let's hope Muster is at 5:30 Super Bowl after Muster !!

[Keith1010]

I'll be following your thread.

 

Bon Voyage.

 

Keith

[mandyleighflies]

On your same itinerary on March 4th I believe, post your cruise compasses and dining room menus if you can.

 

 

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Note made!! I will try and post those daily, I do know we have alternative dinner plans on my birthday so they might not be MDR menus each day.

[mandyleighflies]

Thank you everyone for the early Birthday wishes!!

 

Vacation mode has started to creep in and it's making work difficult. This is a week filled with long meetings and phone calls as I'm working on a special project and not flying. Vacation-itous is starting to set in...I'm starting to hear steel drums in the distance and my coffee's seem to taste more and more like pina coladas. :cool::')

 

I will be keeping a journal and have started taking notes on requests from y'all about this sailing and hopefully I can answer them to the best of my knowledge/experience. I do know we are booked into late dining (830 MDR) and have reservations at the murder mystery dinner for my birthday dinner so in regards to the day one muster quandary and daily menus might be a slightly different perspective. I will also be keeping financial tally's running on if purchasing the deluxe drink package (on sale) will be a win, break even or bust. I drink 3-4 large bottles of water a day on average so I'm thinking this will already be a win for our corner, but we shall see...there might be quite a few tropical drinks and cups of fancy coffee involved to make it count. :halo:

 

Shore Excursions

 

We have the following shore excursions booked as well as the additional onboard experiences.

 

St. Croix - Captain Morgan Rum Adventure

 

St. Maarten - Maho Beach Adventure

 

Martinique - **No Plans** This is my birthday so we might make this a wander the port/spa day as we did not see any excursions that interested us.

 

Barbados - Swim with Turtles, Shipwrecks and Snorkel Beach excursion

 

Grenada - Cats Swim and Snorkel

 

Mystery Dinner Theatre and Wines around the World are our onboard activities.

 

I will do my best to journal and photograph these experiences for y'all...the ones involving the rum punch might be photos that become progressively blurrier and blurrier, but you'll get the picture.

 

Happy Tuesday and 5 DAYS REMAINING for those of us sailing this weekend!!! :cool::cool:

[h20cruzer]

I will be doing the Jewel TA in May. Also staying at the Double tree. Would be interested in any feedback you have, cost to get to the hotel from the airport. Restaurants, in and near hotel, hotel condition and price to get to the ship.

Thanks Norma

[Sky616]

Thank you everyone for the early Birthday wishes!!

 

Vacation mode has started to creep in and it's making work difficult. This is a week filled with long meetings and phone calls as I'm working on a special project and not flying. Vacation-itous is starting to set in...I'm starting to hear steel drums in the distance and my coffee's seem to taste more and more like pina coladas. :cool::')

 

I will be keeping a journal and have started taking notes on requests from y'all about this sailing and hopefully I can answer them to the best of my knowledge/experience. I do know we are booked into late dining (830 MDR) and have reservations at the murder mystery dinner for my birthday dinner so in regards to the day one muster quandary and daily menus might be a slightly different perspective. I will also be keeping financial tally's running on if purchasing the deluxe drink package (on sale) will be a win, break even or bust. I drink 3-4 large bottles of water a day on average so I'm thinking this will already be a win for our corner, but we shall see...there might be quite a few tropical drinks and cups of fancy coffee involved to make it count. :halo:

 

Shore Excursions

 

We have the following shore excursions booked as well as the additional onboard experiences.

 

St. Croix - Captain Morgan Rum Adventure

 

St. Maarten - Maho Beach Adventure

 

Martinique - **No Plans** This is my birthday so we might make this a wander the port/spa day as we did not see any excursions that interested us.

 

Barbados - Swim with Turtles, Shipwrecks and Snorkel Beach excursion

 

Grenada - Cats Swim and Snorkel

 

Mystery Dinner Theatre and Wines around the World are our onboard activities.

 

I will do my best to journal and photograph these experiences for y'all...the ones involving the rum punch might be photos that become progressively blurrier and blurrier, but you'll get the picture.

 

Happy Tuesday and 5 DAYS REMAINING for those of us sailing this weekend!!! :cool::cool:

Sounds like a awesome itinerary. We've been to all these islands except Grenada but on the bucket list. Martinique is beautiful if you get away from the city where you dock. We used Karambole tours. Took us near the volcano, went to a rum distillery, a black sand beach among other places with samples of local food along the way. Highly recommended. The guide Christellle is a former teacher and started this business on her own. She speaks very good English.

[BillOh]

Vacation mode has started to creep in and it's making work difficult. This is a week filled with long meetings and phone calls as I'm working on a special project

 

 

Looking forward to your updates, I don't remember if your flying out Friday or Saturday. I call the last week of work, Work Avoidance mode. I don't want to start anything that I can't finish and try to get ahead for the things that have to be done. I start counting work hours on the Monday before the cruise.

[mandyleighflies]

Sounds like a awesome itinerary. We've been to all these islands except Grenada but on the bucket list. Martinique is beautiful if you get away from the city where you dock. We used Karambole tours. Took us near the volcano, went to a rum distillery, a black sand beach among other places with samples of local food along the way. Highly recommended. The guide Christellle is a former teacher and started this business on her own. She speaks very good English.

 

I am looking at these tours now and they are getting fantastic reviews. I have never booked a tour outside of the cruise line so it would be a new and unique option for us. Thank you for the suggestion!!

[Sky616]

I am looking at these tours now and they are getting fantastic reviews. I have never booked a tour outside of the cruise line so it would be a new and unique option for us. Thank you for the suggestion!!

We always do private tours. I always use the port of call area on cruise critic and find a reputable tour operator. It saves money and we've always gotten back to the ship in plenty of time. Have a great cruise.

[BillOh]

I am looking at these tours now and they are getting fantastic reviews. I have never booked a tour outside of the cruise line so it would be a new and unique option for us. Thank you for the suggestion!!

 

 

For St Croix, I saw a Captain Morgan Tour and a Cruzan/Captain Morgan tour. We took the 2nd, it seemed a better value. We have gotten really comfortable with private excursions and some what disillusioned by Royal excursions.

 

I got an email from SXMSPYDERRENTALS last night, they are open on St Martin. Its a short walk from the pier. We are renting a Can Am Spyder for the day and it the weather is good driving to Orient beach for most of the day.

 

In Barbados, we have done Royal catamaran tours, but saw Calabazza cataraman tours and read many great reviews, so we are doing that this time.

 

I'm a scuba diver, traveling with non-divers, so I booked beach time and snorkeling and scuba together on Grenada through divegrenada.com

[SchoolNurseMom]

We are on this same cruise in Two weeks, Feb, 18. Sunday Feb 25 will be my 50th birthday and we'll be getting off the ship on that day....BOOOOOOO! LOL I am looking forward to following along with you and taking notes along the way! :cool:

[BillOh]

I am looking at these tours now and they are getting fantastic reviews. I have never booked a tour outside of the cruise line so it would be a new and unique option for us. Thank you for the suggestion!!

 

 

Don' t look now, its February!