Jewel of the Seas- Aruba Route Review: 10/5/13

[3DobermansDZS]

The DH and I spent the last week onboard the beautiful Jewel of the Seas on the Aruba Southern Route out of San Juan.

 

There seemed to be a lack of information for this itinerary while I was planning things so I figured I'd write a short(ish) review of our trip in hopes that it'll help someone who is planning a similar trip.

 

I'm a habitual lurker and post little, but I'll see what I can do! I didn't take as many photos as I had planned but I'll add some in for some excitement :)

 

Here goes nothing!

 

Introduction:

 

 

 

That us. I'm Shelley, 26 and that's my DH Jon who is 27. We're from Warner Robins Ga- it's smack in the middle of the state (nowhere). Jon's a mechanical engineer and I'm a research chemist. We love to travel and cruise. This was my 12th cruise and Jon's 7th- his first cruise was our honeymoon 3 years ago and he's hooked too :D

[3DobermansDZS]

We were up at 5am (Anyone notice how much easier it is to get up at the crack of dawn for vacation than it is for work?!) to throw the final things in our suitcases and put the luggage in the car.

 

We said goodbye to our "children" and left them in the willing and caring hands of my mom. We are fortunate to have her to watch them for us instead of sending them to the kennel which stresses them out. Clearly they are spoiled- here they are in "their" room with Ikea toddler beds for their dog beds:

 

 

We left our house at 540 and headed to my inlaws to pick them up (we booked the trip together) we were on the road to ATL at 6am. We live exactly 100 miles from ATL and had a 10am flight, but as unpredictable as traffic can be we have to give ourselves plenty of time.

 

We pulled into Airport Park and Ride at 730 and were checked in, through security and enjoying breakfast in the Sky Club by 830.

 

 

And we're off!!!

 

We landed in SJU around 130p and took a taxi to the Embassy Suites. I believe the taxi was $12 plus $1 for each piece of luggage.

 

The hotel was nice and clean. They have a free happy hour from 5:30-7:30 where they have snacks and an open bar. There was also an Outback Steakhouse in the hotel which is where we had dinner. Side note: I'm an incredibly picky eater with no rhyme or reason to what I like its all pretty much based on texture so I prefer chains that I'm used to and know I'll find something I'll like.

 

This is also where we found out how much the gov't shutdown would impact our trip. We had plans to walk around Old San Juan and visit the forts but they were closed as was the rain forest. We still took a Taxi to OSJ (it was $25ish I believe) and walked around for a bit.

 

Jon and I started a tradition on our honeymoon to get a Christmas ornament everywhere we go together- we completed the mission in OSJ and headed back to the Embassy Suites.

 

It's cruise time tomorrow!!

[BLAMBKY]

:p Oh MY, here I thought MY dog/child is spoiled!!! :p Looking forward to your review. I keep waffling back and forth about upgrading our rooms, due to it being so port intensive. I will probably do so right up until getting on the plane!

[3DobermansDZS]

We had breakfast at the hotel and around 10:30 we headed to the Pan Am Pier. I believe it was about $25 for the 4 of us and our luggage. We dropped our luggage off and waited about 15 minutes outside the terminal before they opened it up.

 

We were checked in and on the ship by 11:20!

 

Our room:

 

We had JS 1598. This is advertised as an "obstructed" JS. It is the last room on the starboard side. The obstruction was more of a gift than a curse. Our balcony was huge with an extra alcove and lounger. We could see the window washing equipment but it didn't ruin the view.

 

I loved the size of the JS with all the storage, walk-in closet and extra space in the bathroom. It's going to be hard to go back to a regular balcony room now!

 

 

 

 

Ignore the "curve" from the panoramic picture, but this shows the "obstruction":

 

We had MTD and I had made reservations for 6pm for today. Muster drill was at 8pm following dinner. We went to the Welcome Aboard show at 10:30 then headed to bed. The 10-14 hour work days we'd been pulling the few weeks before the cruise had caught up with us and we were exhausted. Plus, we had an early morning the next day in St. Thomas!

[3DobermansDZS]

They are absolutely spoiled. We much prefer furry children to the human kind!

 

We originally had a E2 balcony and a residency rate pushed the JS to a price range we were comfortable splurging for. I'm glad we did even with the port-intensive cruise. The extra space is worth it!

[khm1]

Wonderful start! Another fabulous Jewel review begins! I sail in less than 4 weeks on the Jewel. Keep it coming!

[3DobermansDZS]

Today we had reserved the Champagne Catamaran Sail to St. John through the ship.

 

We met on the pier at 8:15 and were taken by an open-air taxi to the marina to catch the boat.

 

When we got to the marina and on the catamaran the Captain apologized for not being able to take us to St. John and told us he would still do his best to give us a good trip. Ummm...what??

 

We (again) learned the gov't shutdown included St. John. The Captain of the Champagne Cat told us he tried sailing by St. John the day before and was told by the Coast Guard that he couldn't even do that. (Didn't really makes sense to me- how can they not let you sail BY it??)

 

We were pretty disappointed mainly with Royal in that they didn't tell us in advance. I get they can't predict the gov't stuff (especially since they don't even know what's going on!) but the Captain told us that Royal knew in advance and had told the captain they already had let us know our trip would be changed-but this was the first that all 24 of us on the excursion had heard of it. I was looking forward to going to the beach which we didn't get to do. I wish Royal would have let us know and then let us switch to a different excursion.

 

We did have a good trip through. The Champagne Cat Crew was great and really did try to give us the best trip they could under the circumstances. They took us to Christmas Cove for some snorkeling. I jumped in the water for a bit but the current was pretty strong and I'm still recovering from shoulder surgery so I hopped back on the boat to rest my shoulder since we were planning on going diving in St. Kitts tomorrow.

 

The crew also took us to a place they kept calling "Happy Island" I'm not sure if that was the actual name or not. It didn't really have a beach and was more of a mangrove cove, but the weather was wonderful.

 

For those visiting St. Thomas soon- the Captain of the boat did get a phone call while we were heading back to the marina and was told they would be opening up St. John the following day so hopefully if you have plans to go there you should be ok.

 

 

After the catamaran trip we walked through the Havensight shopping area to get our Christmas ornament and the necessary souvenirs and headed back to the ship.

[happyshelly]

Nice review so far. Will be on the Jewel on the 26th same itinerary. Also in a JS down the hall in 1538.

 

Michele

[drarill]

Great start!! looking forward to the rest of your review!:):)

[jcl410]

...

 

When we got to the marina and on the catamaran the Captain apologized for not being able to take us to St. John and told us he would still do his best to give us a good trip. Ummm...what??

 

 

I was on the same cruise ... We had booked the snorkel tour to Trunk Bay on St.John. Knowing that most of St. John is part of a closed National Park we went to the Shore Excursions desk right after lunch.... They had rebooked us on the Coastal Cruise. So we rebooked on other snorkel tours on St. Thomas.

 

Turns out that the NPS reopened the beaches on the 6th; but no one on the ship knew it! Oh well; I'll try and get to Trunk Bay on the next cruise.

 

:-)

 

Aloha,

 

John

[3DobermansDZS]

Day 2 we were docked in St. Kitts. We had planned to do the Discover Scuba Diving through Dive St. Kitts. Scuba diving is something we've really wanted to do but just ran out of time to get certified before the trip so I thought this would be a great way to check it out.

 

I had the medical forms filled out by our primary care physician and emailed them back and the reservation was made. Once we got to the Dive Shop, the instructor wouldn't let my husband go out because he has/had asthma even though he's been basically symptom free for 5 years and a Dr. had signed off on it.

 

We were disappointed but I get it- we'll get certified next time and go then.

 

So instead we took a taxi to Carambola Beach Club and spent the day on the beach. It was really windy and there was quite a bit of sea-grass or something similar in the water but it was a really nice place. It was $15 for two loungers and an umbrella. The restaurant was closed but they had a bar available for drinks.

 

 

We headed back to the ship when it started looking like a storm was rolling in. The sunset that night was beautiful with storm clouds mixed in.

 

 

 

[3DobermansDZS]

Day 4 was a sea day. We were pretty much bums all day but did attend the M&M then participated in a Cabin Crawl. It was really neat to see all the cabins.

 

 

Day 5: Aruba

We spent our day in Aruba at the Renaissance. Aruba was absolutely beautiful. It appeared to be much cleaner than some of the Caribbean islands tend to be- I'd say just behind Bermuda.

 

It was about a 15 minute walk from the ship to the Renaissance Hotel and Casino but it turned out we had to go to the Ocean Suites hotel to check in so a golf-cart type taxi took us over.

 

After checking in we took the water taxi over to their island and spent the day on the adults-only beach. The beach was pretty rocky but still beautiful we rented floating mats and spent the day floating on the water.

 

I loved the flamingos that would roam the beach and walk right up to you and the iguanas, too!

 

 

 

 

 

[3DobermansDZS]

I took a ton of pictures in Aruba- it was so beautiful!

 

 

 

 

[FoxyBride14]

Today we had reserved the Champagne Catamaran Sail to St. John through the ship.

 

We met on the pier at 8:15 and were taken by an open-air taxi to the marina to catch the boat.

 

When we got to the marina and on the catamaran the Captain apologized for not being able to take us to St. John and told us he would still do his best to give us a good trip. Ummm...what??

 

We (again) learned the gov't shutdown included St. John. The Captain of the Champagne Cat told us he tried sailing by St. John the day before and was told by the Coast Guard that he couldn't even do that. (Didn't really makes sense to me- how can they not let you sail BY it??)

 

We were pretty disappointed mainly with Royal in that they didn't tell us in advance. I get they can't predict the gov't stuff (especially since they don't even know what's going on!) but the Captain told us that Royal knew in advance and had told the captain they already had let us know our trip would be changed-but this was the first that all 24 of us on the excursion had heard of it. I was looking forward to going to the beach which we didn't get to do. I wish Royal would have let us know and then let us switch to a different excursion.

 

We did have a good trip through. The Champagne Cat Crew was great and really did try to give us the best trip they could under the circumstances. They took us to Christmas Cove for some snorkeling. I jumped in the water for a bit but the current was pretty strong and I'm still recovering from shoulder surgery so I hopped back on the boat to rest my shoulder since we were planning on going diving in St. Kitts tomorrow.

 

The crew also took us to a place they kept calling "Happy Island" I'm not sure if that was the actual name or not. It didn't really have a beach and was more of a mangrove cove, but the weather was wonderful.

 

For those visiting St. Thomas soon- the Captain of the boat did get a phone call while we were heading back to the marina and was told they would be opening up St. John the following day so hopefully if you have plans to go there you should be ok.

 

 

After the catamaran trip we walked through the Havensight shopping area to get our Christmas ornament and the necessary souvenirs and headed back to the ship.

 

That sucks that you couldn't go to St. John's on that excursion! I did the same excursion last year and LOVED it.

[3DobermansDZS]

Day 6 we were in Curacao. We didn't really have any plans other than to walk around town. By this point I was too sunburned to be able to stand another beach even though I wanted to!

 

We walked through the tourist trap around the ship and headed out towards the pontoon bridge. It was neat to see it being pulled across so people could use the bridge. The architecture was really pretty- somehow it remindS me of Rainbow Row in Charleston.

 

 

 

 

 

Quest was tonight at 1130. We teamed up with 2 fellow CC'ers from our Roll Call and got 3rd place!

Edited October 15, 2013 by 3DobermansDZS

[3DobermansDZS]

We spent our last sea day getting packed and playing cards with the in-laws. It was so nice to have an easy day!

 

One thing that I really liked is that for Walk for Wishes the Captain and other heads came up to the pool deck and signed the t-shirts. They all signed their names and drew pictures. The Chief Engineer could be an animator for Disney his drawings were so great.

 

I've only been on the Monarch, Jewel and Oasis but this is the first time I've ever seen this being done. It was neat to get a "custom" shirt instead of yet another plain Walk for Wishes shirt. It's a great cause and there seemed to be a really great turn out.

 

 

 

Soon it was time to put our luggage out and get ready for disembarkation.

 

 

We spent one more night in San Juan at the Embassy Suites again and headed out Sunday morning for our flight back to ATL.

Edited October 15, 2013 by 3DobermansDZS

[3DobermansDZS]

Overall we had an excellent trip. The service was outstanding as usual. I did notice a slight difference in the atmosphere of the ship sailing out of San Juan compared to when we sailed out of Tampa on her last year.

 

They did make important announcements and some of the intros for shows and the Quest in both English and Spanish. It wasn't a huge deal but did seem to drag out those messages for a very long time.

 

We are undecided for what's up next. Possibly a last minute on the Brilliance out of Tampa in December and then I'm ready to head to Europe next summer for one big trip of the year instead of a couple smaller cruises. I've been wanting to do the Norway/Iceland trip for a while now and hope we can do it soon!

 

Thanks for tuning in. I do have all the cruise compasses if anyone needs anything specific.

[wingnutphl]

I'm doing this route in 12 days!! I'm getting more excited after seeing your pictures!

[bschoon60]

Can I ask when the formal nights were? There is lots of debate on our Roll Call Board ~ we take this itinerary on the 26th.

 

Barb

[3DobermansDZS]

Oops- I'm sorry I forgot to mention that.

 

They were the 2nd and 4th nights.

[rednancy1]

Nice review and great pictures. Thank you for sharing. :)

[bschoon60]

Oops- I'm sorry I forgot to mention that.

 

They were the 2nd and 4th nights.

 

Thanks - I don't really care, but there's been a lot of buzz that the formal night would be on the day we would be in Aruba. People were saying that they weren't going to leave Aruba early to do formal night. This really helps my planning!

 

Barb

[Gert0724]

You mentioned you had the compasses for the Jewell would it be possible to get those? Also did you eat int the dining room on the two days at sea.

[CruiseDude_83]

Great review. We are going on this itinerary in September and I was happy to read all about the trip. I was and glad that you shared the formal nights so that we can plan!

[mmn531]

The DH and I spent the last week onboard the beautiful Jewel of the Seas on the Aruba Southern Route out of San Juan.

 

There seemed to be a lack of information for this itinerary while I was planning things so I figured I'd write a short(ish) review of our trip in hopes that it'll help someone who is planning a similar trip.

 

I'm a habitual lurker and post little, but I'll see what I can do! I didn't take as many photos as I had planned but I'll add some in for some excitement :)

 

Here goes nothing!

 

Introduction:

 

 

That us. I'm Shelley, 26 and that's my DH Jon who is 27. We're from Warner Robins Ga- it's smack in the middle of the state (nowhere). Jon's a mechanical engineer and I'm a research chemist. We love to travel and cruise. This was my 12th cruise and Jon's 7th- his first cruise was our honeymoon 3 years ago and he's hooked too :D

 

 

HA, You think Warner Robins is bad, I grew up in Perry. I had to come to Warner Robins for fun in the big city :)

 

Thanks for doing a review!