Jewel of the Seas - Jan 27 - Feb 3, 2024 - Live Review

[AmericanMom]

4 hours ago, SG65CB said:

Thank you for taking us along on your cruise. Two weeks to go until my turn on Jewel, you have helped me look forward to my trip even more by reading about your experiences. 

Lucky you!! You're going to have so much fun! 

[AmericanMom]

3 hours ago, Cherful59 said:

@AmericanMom Thank you for including us.  My next cruise is not for 120 days on Freedom, but less than a month after that I will be back on Jewel.  So looking forward to being back on board.

 

Glad you got home safely.

We've done Freedom twice. It's a great ship. It's awesome that you have TWO great trips to look forward to this year! Have a blast! 

[AmericanMom]

On 2/4/2024 at 3:10 AM, AmericanMom said:

Day 8 and the end of another fantastic vacation. 🥺 Believe it or not, we were not done with the adventure just yet! 

 

We woke up in Puerto Rico (which is not a bad place to be 🙂). We have The Key so we headed down for breakfast in Tides on Deck 4. Anyone could actually dine in the didning room but They Key guests and back-to-backers have different menus.  

 

The food was good, although service was a little slow, but we ended up sitting next to some great people that we took a tour with so it was nice to meet up one more time before  we went our separate ways.  

 

Today, in our attemt tp delay the inevitable, we had one more excursion booked: Old and new San Juan with Airport Drop-Off.  Our flight was booked for 2:30 pm so we took advantage of the time and took one last ride through San Juan. Even though we had spent a couple days in the city, a professional tour always provides so much more information (and entertainment) and we really enjoy learning about the histories of different countries (yes I know PR is part of in OUR country now but it wasn't always. Ask someone about the Banana Wars someday 🍌!)

 

Our tour guide was Herman and not only was he informative, he was really funny and very patient.  We toured Old San Juan first and learned a bit of history.  Then we moved to "new" San Juan (outside the walled city) and then had stops in Condado and an African Disapora town called Loiza. The weather was perfect and I think that made me regret that the vacation was over the most. 

 

After the tour, Herman took us to the airport where we collected our bags and checked in. 

 

Quick note: when you get to the airport in PR, you need to send your bags through the agriculture scanners before you check in. Our flight was scheduled to leave from Terminal C but the machines that we were next to said "scanners for Terminal B Customers only" or something like that. We were going to bypass them and look for Terminal C ones but a guy stopped us and said the note didn't matter as long as the bags were scanned. You won't be able to check your bags onto the planes unless they have the bright orange stickers which are proof they've been checked. Just don't bring any fresh fruit or veggies with you when you leave the ship to same some time and embarrassment. 

 

There was a medical emergency on our place which caused some of the oxygen masks to drop. They had to be replaced before we could board so we ended up being delayed for about an hour. It was fine; we had seats and entertainement. However there were quite a few people that were concerned about missing connecting flights (totally understandable). The airline seemd to be trying their best to help them out. When we arrived back in Philly, there was an announcement that folks with connecting fights to xx should head directely to xx because they were holding the plane. So I guess they were especially accommodating where it was possible.

 

Back home now. Happy to be sleeping in my own bed... not so much that I have to start doing my own cooking and cleaning and working again. We have another cruise already on the books but it's not until the end of the year.  Until then... Happy Sailing, everyone! 🛳️🚢

 

 

 

[Destaw71835]

I thoroughly enjoyed reading your review!

[rwest898]

This was the first time reading one of your reviews,  I enjoyed it.  Thanks for taking us along!

[elizabethbp]

This was a very enjoyable review.  I sympathized with your mom's mobility issues as last 2 cruises I had to use a walker, and let's just say not everyone was polite. 

[AmericanMom]

6 hours ago, elizabethbp said:

This was a very enjoyable review.  I sympathized with your mom's mobility issues as last 2 cruises I had to use a walker, and let's just say not everyone was polite. 

I'm sorry to hear that! We actually found that most people were pretty patient. We took a bunch of tours and she had to get her walker every time we got our of the vans. The drivers were especially helpful and she usually wasn't the only one. The biggest issue was that we always had to wait for the elevators because navigating stairs is difficult, even if it's only to go up or down a single flight. 

 

Hopefully everyone is much kinder on your next trip! ❤️ 

[shirazcruiser]

On 2/6/2024 at 1:16 AM, AmericanMom said:

Hopefully everyone is much kinder on your next trip! ❤️ 

Hello and great review! I know this is after the fact, but did you notice if there were blue EQUAL sweetener packets available on your sailing? RCCL always offered them in the past; however, Celebrity discontinued them on our fall 2023 sailing. DH only likes Equal and I always travel with enough for pre-cruise hotels, but will bring more if JOS doesn't offer it.  Thanks for any help!

[AmericanMom]

11 hours ago, shirazcruiser said:

Hello and great review! I know this is after the fact, but did you notice if there were blue EQUAL sweetener packets available on your sailing? RCCL always offered them in the past; however, Celebrity discontinued them on our fall 2023 sailing. DH only likes Equal and I always travel with enough for pre-cruise hotels, but will bring more if JOS doesn't offer it.  Thanks for any help!

Yes!!! I zoomed in on a breakfast photo and there it is! 🙂  Happy sailing!

[Thisguylikestocruise]

I agree about the vegetarian moussaka. It was bland and almost the same as the stuffed eggplant from the previous nights menu. Both used eggplant and couscous. Totally uninspiring dish. 

[loug1601]

@AmericanMom

i just stumbled on your review, and it was very well done! Thank you so much for sharing your travels with us. 

 

A fellow Jersey girl…👍