Leigh922

Day 6 - St John's Antigua First, since I didn't mention this previously, St Maarten was a repeat for us, so we didn't do much there. We walked, we drank, we walked, we drank. Although we didn't venture far from downtown St John's, we fell in love! We could see a bar restaurant from the ship, and already knew we'd be visiting. We are SO glad we did! Not only was the food superb, but we were there people to the lunch rush and had a truly wonderful time with the staff, even exchanging contact info to stay in touch. St John's was just beautiful. I have a new favorite port. It was quaint and charming. The people were very friendly and, for the first time in a long time, we didn't want to leave. I tried different local beers in every port and enjoyed every one of them. Del Sol was closed at every port that previously had stores. ---- Day 7 - Sea Day As expected, folks reserved chairs with towels. How did we know? Primarily because we could see only about a dozen people but several dozens of towels on chairs with no personal belongings. Unfortunately for us, a group of folks set up camp next to us who allowed their kids to be rude and annoying. They walked across chairs, including ours, whether we were sitting in them or not. I did finally send a glare the mother's(?) way and she said something to one of them. Our bartenders don't even ask our room number anymore... I guess that means our first ever drink package is working at full strength? Off to formal night, complete with lobster tails. Very much looking forward NOT to being kicked off the ship tomorrow! Happy sails! ️

Day 5 - St Maarten We've learned that a good portion of our fellow cruisers are experienced and have no desire to debark immediately upon gangway opening. Solarium is not open for breakfast on Jewel, so we order coffee via room service and head to Windjammer once the gangway opens. This plan has resulted in a somewhat busier Windjammer than we expected for both morning port arrivals thus far. Perhaps tomorrow, we'll eat and debark early? My phone functioned perfectly in San Juan. La Casita, a charming restaurant near the port, was a QR only menu that led to guest internet. I made phone calls and sent photos via text, as well. My phone was not in roaming mode. One other note for PR, the vast majority of indoor establishments required a mask. We were refused entrance at Walgreens until donning a mask. Some restaurants required proof of vaccination or negative test. We had everything we needed, thanks to the Cruise Compass. Despite misinterpreting crowded times, catching elevators really isn't difficult on Jewel. We'll be testing that again in a few minutes, as Mom is telling me it's time to go ashore.

We had something with ground beef and plantain, not sure what it was called. But it was excellent!

Day 4 - San Juan, Puerto Rico We'll be arriving in San Juan this afternoon. In the meantime, some answers to questions I've seen. The Jewel does not appear to be rundown to me at all. It appears to be well-maintained, no peeling wallpaper or holes and everything looks fresh and clean. There are beautiful, live plants throughout, which I didn't expect. The only deterioration I've noticed is some expected corrosion in exterior metal areas. Main dining is hit or miss on flavor. Alfredo on the seafood linguine was bland but the seafood was quite good. We normally would get escargot nightly but night 1 we decided not. Our best description was "meh". Stuffed portobello was excellent, as was the orange duck, key lime pie, crème brulée, and beef carpacchio. Chef's Table with the wine pairings is worth every cent. It took about 3 1/2 hours and was absolutely incredible. The main pool band - I can't think of their name - is phenomenal. Some others on the ship have caused us to vacate the area, usually the Centrum. The instrumentalists are quite talented in all areas of the ship thus far and we had a lovely, amusing interaction with a pianist on our way through the Schooner Bar last night. Having sailed in Harmony, Allure and Freedom, I must say that size matters when it comes to movement onboard. We've felt the ship rocking the entire trip. It's nothing drastic, but absolutely no question what is happening. If you are one who suffers from motion sickness, perhaps this class is a bit small. The seas are calm, but the movement is undeniable. It's apparently spring break but there are so few children that this cruise has been a delight. We were on Harmony is September 2019 and the number of small children everywhere we turned was a primary factor in choosing Jewel this time around. We plan on dining in San Juan tonight so I'll post more tomorrow. I hope my tidbits are helping someone out there. I scoured the boards prior to our departure, trying to learn all that I could about Jewel and our itinerary. One of my questions has to do with phone service in San Juan, so I definitely will post about that! Happy sails ️

Day 3 Labadee, Haiti I know, I missed Day 2. Since it was a sea day, I booked my daughter and son-in-law's next cruise for them and we basically vegged all day at the pool. Staff is very attentive, coming by several times to ensure drinks are replenished. I've seen previous posts that the Jewel is showing her age, but I see none of that in our room. Our attendant is wonderful! Day 3 started cloudy but cleared up quickly. We haven't been to Labadee in 8 years. It reminds us of pre-amusement park days of CocoCay: trams, a few local shops, beach chairs and umbrellas, hammocks... for us, just lovely! 8 years ago, we met up with pushy vendors we never wanted to see again. It was much nicer this time around. There's a nice little luncheon like old CocoCay days. We returned to the ship before noon and shared the pool with about a dozen others. Our Pool Bar tenders ROCK! Mom and I both have allergies and they shared several suggestions for drinks. They were tipped well The first night in main dining was a culinary disappointment. Normally, we order escargot nightly. It was, well, meh. The duck, stuffed mushroom, desserts all were good. Seafood linguine? The Alfredo was quite bland. Tonight is Chef's Table, so we're hoping for a truly wonderful experience! Mom's ready for a nap in our room, so we're off for a rest before dinner. Forgive my typos, please. I'm on vacation and currently have little interest in proofreading

Just boarded! Incredibly disappointed in Miami terminal but LOVING the Jewel! Staff is amazing and we've met friendlier cruisers here than any of our previous four cruises. Hoping to continue updates all week. My first live blog!