Great cruise but not for us.

Jewel of the Seas Cruise Review to Caribbean - Southern

Cruises: 2-3 cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 25

Overall rating:

3 out of 5
Jewel of the Seas

Southern Caribbean Holiday

Sail date: October 25, 2015

Ship: Jewel of the Seas

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 1014

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 9 years ago

Review summary

This was our second cruise.  The first was on a Carnival ship.  Way too many people on that boat.  This RC cruise was much better.  The Jewel of the Seas is a smaller boat and it wasn't full.  There were also far less kids on board.  The crowd was older but still active and fun.  Worked well for us.

 

The ports were great.  It would be very difficult to see all these places any other way, esp. the ABC islands, and we really liked Curaco.

 

The activities on board were great, The food ws even better, and the service was truly exceptional.  We only had to tell the staff once what we wanted and how we wanted it - ice available in cabin, food allergies, how to make our idea of the perfect martini and margarita, etc.

 

Still, with all the great things I could describe about this cruise, we came back sick, again.  Even being very careful about washing hands and using the Purell, it's just really hard not to pick-up something, especially with the enivitable people who simply don't care - I saw one old bat reach into a bowl of tortilla chips with her bare hands, reaching over a set of tongs for that express purpose.  Too many rude, uncaring people in too close quarters.  It's just that simple.

 

Nothing bad to say about RC, it's just that cruising isn't for us.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5

Onboard Activities

5 out of 5

Entertainment

3 out of 5

Service and Staff

5 out of 5
Outstanding! Great staff was very caring, helpful and attentive.

Ship Quality

1 out of 5
The ship desparately needs updating. Our balcony had a deck that was weathered and falling apart. We both came back sick.

Cabin / Stateroom

The cabin is smallish; interior cabins appeared to have more room. Larger people would have trouble in that tiny shower. The matresses need to be replaced. The balcony deck needs to be resurfaced. Not enough power outlets.

Ship tip

They show some good movies you might have missed, but if you want to get a seat, you better get to the cinema *at least* 30 minutes early. Breakfast in the main dining hall on deck 4 is much better than the Windjammer.

Ports of call

San Juan, Puerto Rico

5 out of 5
Rent a car and go tour the rain forest.

Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas

3 out of 5
We found that the sales on the ship were hands-down better than the prices in St. Thomas. There are a lot of shops there, but the prices are only about as good as what you can find here in the states.

Basseterre, St. Kitts

1 out of 5
We rented scooters from ridestkitts.com. What a mistake! Those scooters were pieced together with spit and bailing wire. The roads are in poor shape, traffic moves pretty quickly and riding around the island is not the thrill I had hoped it would be. Would have been much better served with an RC excursion. Oh, did I mention that it was very expensive?

Oranjestad, Aruba

3 out of 5

Willemstad, Curacao

5 out of 5
We really lked the atmosphere of Willemstad. Great town with lots of character. Island is beautiful.
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