Jewel of the Seas Review
Nice ship, enjoyable cruise, exceptional itinerary
Rating by category
Additional details
We arrived in the port city the morning of departure, picked up a taxi very easily. You will find the taxi line is well marked. Before you get to your taxi you will be handed a ticket with your destination and rate set. Pay with cash and provide a small tip per bag. Once at the cruise terminal you are quickly swept into a line where they take your luggage and more or less request a tip. Get used to it, you're not in mainland America any more. Getting to the correct line to check in is very chaotic as there are forms that must be filled out about your health before checking in.
Once you get past the mob the check was quick and easy. Withing 20 minutes we were on the ship. We went straight for our room to settle and change into clothes (don't forget a change in your carry on). From there we explored the ship. Luggage was not to our room in time for a full prep for dinner, but that was fine given many arrived at dinner in short and tshirts. Expect a casual first night.
We found entertainment to be average, nothing overly exciting. Although the comedy featured AGT contestants John Wing and Charles Peachcock. These were the highlights of the entertainment. The broadway shows were more or less mid tier shows, but they still did a nice job. One night they had Tennesee Jack perform a live concert, was interesting since they did interactive mix of songs.
Cabin Review
Port Reviews
St. Thomas
Don't use an excursion. save yourself time and money. Get a taxi, they line up waiting, and you can easily group together to save money. Go to Magens Beach and do nothing but sit your butt in the sand and watch time go by slowly. Best beach in the world. Not overly crowded if you go to the end of the beach. Get there early for shade.
Taxi drivers go fast, but blare the island music. Its so enjoyable. Taxi is $10 each way and $4 per person to get into the beach. You can rent chairs, but why when you can sit in the sand or swim in the calm bay water.
St. Kitts (Port Zante)
Again skip the excursion, save money and have more fun. We took the ferry to Nevis island and grabbed taxi. Went to sunshine beach. Theres a beach bar there and chairs to rent. Costs $25 total for tickets one way, $10 for taxi, and $10 for drinks. Enjoyable and classic beach experience. Don't expect high end, expect fun and raw.
Barbados
This port we took it easy, went to mount gay rum on our own. Beware the taxi drivers are like hawks trying to sell you on other stops and act like you killed their mother when you tell them you already know where you want to go. just keep walking, you will eventually find the taxi stand where they are "glad" to set you up with a driver. Negotiate the price first, and then set up a return time.
Mount Gay tour was cheap, don't forget to stop at the info booth in the cruise terminal, they gave us buy 1 get 1 free coupons. it cost us $15 for the tour which includes 6 different shots of rum as well as rum punch - fun times!
From there we walked across the street to Brandons Beach, this is a local's beach. No tourist anywhere. Beach is well over 2 miles long and there were no more than 30 people on the beach. Very heavy with coral but you can find sand beds to walk about 20-30 feet and from there on out is true sandy beds. This island has the best beaches overall. Do yourself a favor skip the crowds and find beaches like this.