LIVE 💎 Jewel 💎 of the Seas - Southern Caribbean 1/20/24

[island lady]

Mmmm...Amsterdam cheese shop where you are.   Always a stop to stock up on Gouda.  😉  Yums!

[SteelCityCruiser10]

15 minutes ago, countess5 said:

Looks like you arrived a little. Head of time….

 

 

 

Enjoy the day!

 

Cheers! 

Yes!  watching P&O Arvia get a re-fuel from Chops breakfast.

 

 

[SteelCityCruiser10]

Tugs hard at work 

 

Statia Glory and Zealous

 

 

 

[SteelCityCruiser10]

Chops omelette 👍🏻

 

[Ocean Boy]

5 minutes ago, SteelCityCruiser10 said:

Chops omelette 👍🏻

 

Looks the same as WJ omelet station to me.😉☺️

[paul1815]

SteelCity,

We are heading out on the Jewel on Feb 17!  This review has really whet my appetite for the cruise.  Thanks!

One question - would you say the Jewel has been well maintained?  We cruised her several years ago and thought she look great.  We have one of the few cabins just forward of the Solarium...wonderful spot!

[Arzeena]

1 hour ago, island lady said:

Mmmm...Amsterdam cheese shop where you are.   Always a stop to stock up on Gouda.  😉  Yums!

I go there too when I am walking to Front St from the port. But have found the same "Old Amsterdam" brand Gouda at Trader Joe's and Whole Foods many times.
When in Curacao try the Gouda from the small store in front of the ship.

[Ocean Boy]

1 hour ago, island lady said:

Mmmm...Amsterdam cheese shop where you are.   Always a stop to stock up on Gouda.  😉  Yums!

 

1 minute ago, Arzeena said:

I go there too when I am walking to Front St from the port. But have found the same "Old Amsterdam" brand Gouda at Trader Joe's and Whole Foods many times.
When in Curacao try the Gouda from the small store in front of the ship.

I always stop there too on my walk.

[Montanagirlalways]

On 1/23/2024 at 7:03 PM, SteelCityCruiser10 said:

Taking into consideration the ships age she is fantastic.  Sure, she could use some TLC in spots but everything has been in good working order.

 

GS is great.   Can’t find a single thing to complain about.

 

 I love radiance class so I am somewhat partial.  

 

If you come into it expecting it to be like Oasis class you’ll be disappointed most likely.  Apples and oranges IMO.
 

 I haven’t noticed many children. 👍🏻

 

Ill be posting final thoughts at the end.

Jewel is my favorite. Is cruisin Susan still the cruise director?  So many fantastic waiters on that ship. Hope they are still there and being treated well. We sailed many a time out of port canaveral on that ship

[SteelCityCruiser10]

26 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

Looks the same as WJ omelet station to me.😉☺️

It may appear that way but it seemed fluffier to me.  It could be placebo effect though 😉 

[SteelCityCruiser10]

19 minutes ago, paul1815 said:

SteelCity,

We are heading out on the Jewel on Feb 17!  This review has really whet my appetite for the cruise.  Thanks!

One question - would you say the Jewel has been well maintained?  We cruised her several years ago and thought she look great.  We have one of the few cabins just forward of the Solarium...wonderful spot!

Awesome & Thank you for the compliment.

 

 Yes I would say she is well maintained.  There are definitely spots that show age but  I by no means have felt like I’m cruising around in a rust bucket. 🤣

 

That does sound like a good spot.  We’ve frequented the Solarium this trip.  Xavier is the bartender. 🍻

[SteelCityCruiser10]

6 minutes ago, Montanagirlalways said:

Jewel is my favorite. Is cruisin Susan still the cruise director?  So many fantastic waiters on that ship. Hope they are still there and being treated well. We sailed many a time out of port canaveral on that ship

No the CD is a man.  I forget his name at the moment 🤔 

[Blaise]

21 minutes ago, paul1815 said:

... We have one of the few cabins just forward of the Solarium...wonderful spot!

 

We were the first cruise on the Freedom after she added the new cabins front-forward (one of which we were in). It was a whole different cruising experience being a short walk to the Solarium.

[SteelCityCruiser10]

Heading out to explore, shop, maybe beach 🏝️ 🏖️ 

 

This will be prep for Bella 2.0.  

[Ocean Boy]

18 minutes ago, SteelCityCruiser10 said:

It may appear that way but it seemed fluffier to me.  It could be placebo effect though 😉 

The table setting certainly looks more upscale.🙂

[island lady]

1 hour ago, Arzeena said:

I go there too when I am walking to Front St from the port. But have found the same "Old Amsterdam" brand Gouda at Trader Joe's and Whole Foods many times.
When in Curacao try the Gouda from the small store in front of the ship.

 

Thanks....yes have tried the little shop near the ship in Curacao before.  The owner there actually got a kick out of how I knew to properly pronounce Gouda.  😉  Though IMHO, I still prefer the Old Amsterdam cheese (the more aged type) from St. Maarten than the Gouda we purchased in Curacao.  Just different tastes.  

[LEMJMcC]

3 hours ago, SteelCityCruiser10 said:

A picture is worth a thousand words...this bring back so many memories of past cruises!

[SteelCityCruiser10]

It was a beautiful day in St. Maarten.  

 

 

We did some walking around and shopping.  Then we took the water taxi over to Great Bay Beach.  The water taxi was $7/per person round trip.  They give you a wrist band at the booth and they accept cash only.

 

 

[SteelCityCruiser10]

Just pushed off the dock.  Until we meet again St. Maarten.

 

 

 

[SteelCityCruiser10]

We intended to go over to the beach and swim but that never happened 😀

 

Mostly wandered around and hopped around to a few different bars & had lunch.

 

First stop was Blue ***** Bar.  

 

I tried both the Premium and Light Blue ***** Brew.  Both beers were good 👍🏻

DW had an Ameretto Pina Colada which she enjoyed.

 

 

[DaniDanielle]

I love st. Maarten ❤️

[SteelCityCruiser10]

Next was Dutch Blonde Bar. Its upstairs and has a tremendous view.  Had a great time here.  

 

 

We had the Dutch Blonde Ale.  I think these were my favorite beers the whole trip.

 

We split the Mahi Mahi sandwich with sweet potato fries and salad.  $22 i think it was.  Sorry I almost forgot to take the pic of the food and it’s not a great pic.

[SteelCityCruiser10]

There’s some super nice yachts here that’s for certain.  Here is Faith.

 

 

 

[SteelCityCruiser10]

Threw in a Presidente at Sharkys for good measure

[SteelCityCruiser10]