Caribbean on Mariner of the Seas vs. Jewel of the Seas

[latebuyer]

I am struggling with the myriad of options for caribbean cruises. The ones i am focused on is one on mariner of the seas that goes to labadee, san juan, st. Croix, st. Kitts and cococay. The jewel of the seas goes to labadee, san juan, tortola and st. Maartens. I don’t think i need the bells and whistles of mariner of the seas but i don’t know if having the extra port day to cococay makes it worth it. Mariner of the seas is more expensive but i’d go if the itinerary was better. I’m not interested in water sports, i just like to walk around or go to the beach,

[CanadaRob]

Hmm, labadee, San Juan on both st Croix , st kits vs Tortola, St Maarten.

regadless of Cococay, id take Jewel.

Both great ships, Jewel as a radiance class ship is a fave of mine for small ships.

[latebuyer]

Thanks, that is good to know. Any other comments on itinerary? I also see one that goes to aruba, bonair and curacao.

[Jimbo]

Take the A, B C's islands !

[latebuyer]

May i ask why? I know someone when i asked said you could walk around yourself on those islands.

[Hoopster95]

16 hours ago, christinand said:

I am struggling

Are you a sun/outdoor person? Or do you prefer indoors and staying cool/shade?

Do you cruise for the itinerary? Or strictly just to be on a ship, no matter where it goes?

 

Jewel (Radiance Class ships) have the smallest pool and pool deck in the fleet, albeit less passengers than Mariner. It has a fully covered glass Solarium with pool to enjoy if you're that type of person. Some (not all, as many on this forum seem to claim) of the interior venues have nice views out to sea when you're indoors.

 

Mariner (Voyager Class ships) have a great pool & upper decks, truly perfect for the Caribbean. Their adult Solarium is also uncovered and thus outdoors. This ship has almost zero views to the outside when indoors, it is predominantly inner focused.

 

Personally, I would do Mariner over Jewel (Voyager Class over Radiance Class) almost every time for any Caribbean cruise unless it's specific for an itinerary.

[latebuyer]

Thanks hoopster. I am interested in the itinerary. I like to just walk around and explore. Jewel of the seas is quite a bit cheaper but i wouldn’t be happy if there was no room on the pool, for example-as i believe there is 2 sea days. I don’t really need skating rinks an waterslides which is why i don’t know that i need mariner. Maybe there are other attributes?

[orville99]

1 hour ago, christinand said:

Thanks, that is good to know. Any other comments on itinerary? I also see one that goes to aruba, bonair and curacao.

There are some unique itineraries next year out of Port Canaveral on both Jewel and Mariner that may never show up again from that port. Two - Bermuda and the ABC southern Caribbean are extremely rare finds. I’d choose one of them just for the rarity of the cruise from such a convenient port.

[Hoopster95]

13 minutes ago, christinand said:

Maybe there are other attributes?

 

• Jewel has a phenomenal rear open-air dining area of the Windjammer that Voyager Class ships do not have.
• Less people per square foot than Mariner, so more privacy and space in common areas.
• If you are not sailing in a balcony cabin, Jewel will have many more areas for you to go indoors to sit and enjoy the view outside when sailing in or out.
• Jewel's specialty dining venues are in great locations and have superb floor-to-ceiling windows for great views while dining
• If it's important to you, Jewel has a small but dedicated cinema/movie room, as well as self-levelling pool tables.

 

Mariner will have it's own set of plusses over Jewel

[Hoopster95]

28 minutes ago, christinand said:

Thanks hoopster. I am interested in the itinerary.

 

As a side note, I went to look at some of the port times, and in true Royal Caribbean fashion, some of them are horrible. I'm finding the last few years that Royal have unfortunately become one of the worst cruise lines for itineraries and amount of time in port. For example, don't do a San Juan port stop from 7am-2pm... totally useless. The ABC itinerary on Jewel is not good either.

[latebuyer]

Thanks. Good to know jewel of the seas has some positive attributes. The cruise i was looking at has a stop in san juan from 2:30-10 which doesn’t seem great but the other times look fine.

[latebuyer]

Hoopster, i just noticed you are from maple ridge, i’m from burnaby so you’ll understand why i’m more cost conscious but good exchange rate right now. I just noticed disney world is in orlando. Tempting.

Edited June 26, 2021 by christinand

[NC State]

We will on the Mariner in December and then the Jewel in April.....we can't wait to start back cruise.  These will be our first RC cruises.

[orville99]

1 hour ago, Hoopster95 said:

 

As a side note, I went to look at some of the port times, and in true Royal Caribbean fashion, some of them are horrible. I'm finding the last few years that Royal have unfortunately become one of the worst cruise lines for itineraries and amount of time in port. For example, don't do a San Juan port stop from 7am-2pm... totally useless. The ABC itinerary on Jewel is not good either.

The Mariner southern that we’re on is in both Aruba and curaçao for 14 hours. Bonaire is a bit on the short side, but when we first booked the cruise Bonaire was not part of the itinerary at all. We were scheduled to be in labadee on our return leg, so any time in Bonaire is a bonus.