Jewel of the Seas Review
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My wife and I were looking for a cruise vacation this March to escape the cold of the north and this cruise fit the bill. We have done quite a bit of cruising of the Caribbean and it was getting hard to find an itinerary that had at least one port of call that we hadn't visited before. This cruise had five stops (almost unheard of) and three new places to explore that I hadn't visited. The price was right so we signed up.
Now a little about the ship, it is one of (if not) the smallest ships Royal Caribbean operates. This was a large plus to me. I had only sailed on Royal once before mostly due to the fact that their ships are mostly of gargantuan dimensions and I hate the mad sea of humanity that occurs in all the ports of call. This ship felt just right. It is a little older and does have some signs of wear but is very well maintained. The food was both varied and flavourful in both the main dining room and the buffet and I thought the buffets design worked well to minimize wait times. One thing I would have preferred was that the drink station was self serve instead of the design that they had, it would have made mixing easier. The thing that seemed like they were economizing on was the quantity of staff and hours of the buffet. If you want something between 9 pm and 11 pm you are out of luck. There was nothing at all being served anywhere that was included in your fare. My wife likes to have a tea and a cookie after the shows and was out of luck unless she wanted to stay up till after 11.
I think the cabin stewards have more cabins to take care of than on other cruises. It is a cost saving measure I am sure but it does cheapen the experience. Our steward did a good job but it seemed that he didn't get to our room till quite late. During the day it didn't affect me but on a couple of occasions we were getting ready for bed when he showed up. I always saw him working so I have to assume that he just has lots of cabins to take care of.
Cabin Review
Large Ocean View Stateroom
Cabin was functional and about average sized. The shower has a sliding glass door that was superior to the usual plastic shower curtain. The cabin also has a refrigerator.
Port Reviews
St. Thomas
Charlotte Amalie St. Thomas, we have been in this port many times so it was just spent walking around town. This port is usually considered a shopping port but I don't think the prices are all that great. Much better to make it a beach day at Magens Bay.
St. Croix
Frederiksted St. Croix. If shopping is what you want, Frederiksted is not the town for you. It is a sleepy little town but is well groomed. There are shuttle busses to Christiansted for $35 but if you don't mind an hour drive instead of the 30 to 40 minutes, take the transit bus for a dollar. The transit stop is a hundred yards or so from the dock on the main street in town. New Christiansted is just like most small cities with malls and McDonalds but old Christiansted near the water is a nice place to walk around. The bus route terminates next to Fort Christiansvaern. A interesting site to visit.
Antigua
St. John Antigua. My wife didn't have much she wanted to see in town, so she went back to the ship. I walked to Fort James beach. It was a good stretch of the legs but the ground was level. It took about an hour to walk there. The beach was nice and you can explore the Fort James ruin. Shared a five minute cab ride back to the ship with four others. The cabbie quoted $15 to return to the ship but was light on the change after we paid him. It eventually cost him the tip.