Jewel of the Seas Review
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Additional details
This was about our 5th cruise but not always with Royal Caribbean. We flew in a day before and stayed at the Embassy Suites in San Juan close to the airport. The hotel was nice with a nice pool. We decided to stay there until around 3:00pm on the day of embarkation since we figured 7 days on the ship would be enough and we had been to San Juan before. Embarkation was the easiest I've ever experienced- no lines/very quick.
Prior to the trip I was a little worried about some of the reviews that said the ship was showing it's age. We did not feel this way at all. The ship appeared to be in great shape. The comments about carpet and paint we did not see. Even if we had I wouldn't let a little chip of paint ruin my vacation.
We found the food in general to be slightly above average in both the Windjammer and Main Dining room. One needs to remember they are feeding about 4,000 people a day/per meal. It's not always going to be gourmet dining. We did wish there were more options for dining as we have found on other cruise lines, but it's my understanding this is one of the changes that will take place in April.
Cabin Review
Port Reviews
St. Kitts (Port Zante)
We took a taxi to Friars Bay and spent the day on the beach. You can rent chairs and umbrellas; unfortunately they were out of umbrellas that day and it was very hot so we were only able to get chairs. The beach was very nice and they also had a nice bar and restaurant, showers and restrooms. We had been to St. Kitts before. There's not a lot to do, but the island is beautiful. There is a fair amount of shopping also right in the cruise port area. After the day on the beach we walked around this area, bought a few beers and had fun as well.
Aruba
Took a taxi to Palm Beach and arrived around 9:30am. We entered through the pier and there were beach chair and umbrellas to rent right at the end of the pier. Recommend you get there early as the beach fills up very quickly with other cruise passengers. Palm Beach is beautiful, but be prepared for crowds. We did a lot of walking on the beach and looking at the beautiful hotels. We heard you could take a bus there as well; however, the taxi wasn't that expensive. We took a cab back to town and asked him to drop us off in town to walk around. Had a nice lunch, some shopping and returned to the ship at the end of the day.
Curacao
This was our favorite stop. Mostly we think because our ship was the only one in port that day so it didn't seem so crowded around town or the beach. We took a taxi to the beach again. I can't remember the name but it was by the Sea Aquarium. It was a beautiful beach with great facilities, chairs, umbrellas, pools, showers, bar and a little shopping. It was so relaxing and beautiful. I think we only paid $6 per person for chair rental and access to the beach. Took a taxi back to town and asked again to be dropped off. Walked around the rest of the day. We clocked 4.75 miles of walking on the Fitbit. Again, a perfect day. We are obviously beach lovers and really feel that just heading to the beach usually gives you a nice tour of the island and cab drivers love it when you ask questions about their island. No need for an expensive cruise sponsored touring excursion.
San Juan
We just spent the day at the hotel pool before heading to the ship.