Royal Caribbean - Jewel of the Seas

[novick22]

My fiancé and I recently just book a cruise with Royal Caribbean for our honeymoon. It's on the Jewel of the Seas and will leave from San Juan, Puerto Rico. It will go to St. Croix, St. Maarten, St. Lucia, Antigua, and Barbados. Can anyone give me any reviews of this cruise and advice on things to do at the multiple ports. Thanks!

[Langley Cruisers]

Hi and welcome. Below is a link to Member reviews, plus you can use the "Search this Forum" function back on the main page, right hand side, and type in "Jewel". You will get, literally, hundreds of threads on Jewel and you can read all about her. :) Additionally, I will give you the link to the Ports of Call boards for the Caribbean. Again, lots of reading for you there on each board.

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/getreviews.cfm?action=ship&ShipID=307 <---member reviews, click here

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=587 <--- Caribbean ports of call boards, click here

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Edited November 17, 2013 by Langley Cruisers

[Ken at the beach]

Congratulations in advance. You picked a beautiful ship with a great list of ports to visit. Aboard the ship make sure to check out the outdoor seating at the back of he Windjammer and also the Seaview cafe.

[14Terry]

Yes, congratulations and welcome to CC. We cruised that same itinerary, you choose a nice cruise! If you join the roll call for your sailing you might pick up some great ideas of what to do, from the other cruisers that will be on that cruise. Again congratulations!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[novick22]

Thank you for the congrats and all the advice. I joined the roll call and look forward to finding out more about this cruise so please keep the recommendations coming!

[bouhunter]

We were on Brilliance last year, Jewels sister ship - loved it. We'll be on Jewel in March. If at all possible spend an extra night before or after the cruise to explore Old San Juan:)

 

As for ports:

 

St. Croix: There is a nice beach just to the left as you get off the ship. A little shopping at the port. The first time there that's all we did. There are supposed to be some decent snorkeling excursions. The trip to the other major town (Christenstead) sounded like a waste of time.

 

Antigua: Last time there we hooked up with a taxi "island tour" at the pier. There were only three other people on the van and it was great. Included a beach stop. Much cheaper than ship or private (scheduled in advance) tours.

 

St. Maarten: Been there many times. It's our place to shop, stroll, drink and eat in town. Every cruise needs a port like that! Of course there's lots of other things to do!

 

Barbados: Two highly recommended and different things. 1. Snorkel with the turtles with Silver Moon. Awesome!!! Try to get on their smaller 12 passenger boat but both are great. 2. Taxi to the Boatyard for a beach day. once you get there 12.00 gets you chairs/umbrellas, a drink, and ride back to the ship. The beach is BEAUTIFUL.

 

St. Lucia: Book a private tour to the pitons. Different options, check them out on the St. Lucia section. Some are mostly land/island tours, some water based. Most end up at the beach near the Pitons.

 

You have picked a great cruise for your honeymoon!

Edited November 17, 2013 by bouhunter

[novick22]

Thanks! Snorkeling with the turtles sounds amazing! I have heard booking excursions off the ship is the best way to go, but I have never done a cruise this many islands that seem amazing.

[bouhunter]

Thanks! Snorkeling with the turtles sounds amazing! I have heard booking excursions off the ship is the best way to go, but I have never done a cruise this many islands that seem amazing.

 

If you can get in with Silver Moon you won't regret it. The only real advantage of booking with the ship is that supposedly they won't leave you behind (or will fly you to the next port). But they charge more, and sometimes there will be a lot more people on the bus/boat, etc.

Edited November 17, 2013 by bouhunter

[printingchick]

I love the radiance class ships out of San Juan. So many great ports to visit. I'll be on Jewel in March, but a different itinerary. As for your ports, I don't know what you enjoy, but here are some suggestions from my experience:

 

St. Croix: When we visited, we made this a beach day and visited Sand Castle Beach, close to where the ship docks. It was inexpensive and they had a pool, beach bar and restaurant there. After that, we visited the little street-side shops.

 

Antigua: One of my very favorite shore excursions of all time was "Paddles" in Antigua. It's more than just kayaking. Check them out.

 

St. Maarten: We're doing something different here on our upcoming visit. We're renting an 11 foot Boston Whaler to tour from the lagoon. It's a huge body of water with lots of beaches and restaurants which are reachable by boat. The boat rental company (Boat House Rentals) includes snorkel and fishing gear. Very reasonable price for an entire day.

 

Barbados: I agree with the catamaran to snorkel with the turtles. There is also a fun pirate ship excursion if you're game. Kind of cheesy, but fun. On our upcoming visit, we're going to visit Harrison Caves. I enjoyed Hato Caves in Curacao, so we thought we'd check out the ones in Barbados. (Something different for a cruise vacation excursion.)

 

St. Lucia: Have not been, but when I was considering a cruise here, I was eyeing the land and water combination tour. It seemed to be less expensive to book through the cruise ship (surprisingly), and since it's an entire day tour, I felt it was likely safer to book that way. But there are also several private tour companies offering similar packages.

 

Congratulations and enjoy your cruise!

Edited November 17, 2013 by printingchick

[erniesband]

We'll be doing a B2B in January on Jewel and have done 15 Southern cruises from San Juan. Here's some things we've done over the years and would recommend:

 

St Croix - Virgin Kayaking on the Salt River - http://www.virginkayaktours.com

Cane Bay for snorkeling, Buck Island is supposed to be real good but we go in January when the North Swells are coming in and its just too rough to snorkel.

A trip into Christianstad for it's history.

Rainbow Beach really close to the pier.

You can see most of Fredrickstad in an hour.

 

Antigua - For water adventures any of the tours by Adventure Antigua - http://www.adventureantigua.com

For history, a tour that goes to Nelson's Dockyard, Shirley Heights, etc. Gordon or Lawrence get good reviews.

 

 

St Lucia - this island is best seen with an all day tour like Cosol, Mystic Man and others offer, It's a natural paradise. Ziplining is very popular here. If you want a great beach day with good snorkeling look into a day package with Island Divers at Ti Kaye resort. http://www.tikaye.com

 

Barbados - Agree with snorkeling with the turtles, either Silvermoon or Calabaza.

 

And don't forget to give yourself some time to explore San Juan. Come in a few days early, see Old San Juan, the forts and El Yunque.

[bouhunter]

And don't forget to give yourself some time to explore San Juan. Come in a few days early, see Old San Juan, the forts and El Yunque.

 

If at all possible I can't agree with this more. The last few trips we've been in San Juan 2-3 days before and after the cruise.:)

[Paulette3028]

My fiancé and I recently just book a cruise with Royal Caribbean for our honeymoon. It's on the Jewel of the Seas and will leave from San Juan, Puerto Rico. It will go to St. Croix, St. Maarten, St. Lucia, Antigua, and Barbados. Can anyone give me any reviews of this cruise and advice on things to do at the multiple ports. Thanks!

 

Everyone is sharing the things that they enjoyed when they went on Jewel and the itinerary you are on. We cruised on Jewel this past summer and enjoyed all of the ports. Make sure to give yourself time to 'enjoy the ship' as well as the ports of call. We did many of the 'walking tours' at each of the stops, which was nice. It gave us our daily dose of exercise.

 

Everyone who we met who did the snorkeling with the turtles, RAVED about it....and whenever we have an opportunity to do that in the future....we will.

[novick22]

Do I book the swimming with the turtles with RCI or should I contact Silvermoon and Calabaza directly?

[erniesband]

Do I book the swimming with the turtles with RCI or should I contact Silvermoon and Calabaza directly?

 

They do NOT work with RCI and must be booked independently.

http://www.silvermoonbarbados.com/‎

http://www.calabazasailingcruises.com

 

Book early they fill up fast.

[novick22]

Thanks! Do you have a preference on which one?

[Margy23]

My fiancé and I recently just book a cruise with Royal Caribbean for our honeymoon. It's on the Jewel of the Seas and will leave from San Juan, Puerto Rico. It will go to St. Croix, St. Maarten, St. Lucia, Antigua, and Barbados. Can anyone give me any reviews of this cruise and advice on things to do at the multiple ports. Thanks!

I think you made a great choice. Jewel is our favorite ship and we have never been disappointed when cruising on her. She is beautifully decorated in calm, low-key colors and is laid out in a way that makes it easy to get around. She's small enough that you run into the same people occasionally and can enjoy casual conversations, but big enough to avoid feeling your space is encroached on.

 

Highlights of the Jewel are the solarium, the Sea View cafe, and most of all, the excellent crew.

 

The only special excursion that comes to mind on your itinerary is a snorkeling trip we took in St. Croix by catamaran to Buck Island National Park - the fish were vivid and plentiful. Since we are no longer able to take part in the very active excursions, we are glad that we made many memories for ourselves when we were younger.

[Miss Vickie]

Thanks! Do you have a preference on which one?

 

Calabaza is our fAvorite, Silvermoon is a close second.

[DonnaK]

Congratulations!

 

We just did this itinerary on Jewel in May (except we did St. Kitts instead of St Croix)

 

I highly recommend Cosol Tours for St. Lucia. It's just the right combination of sightseeing and water/beach time. Also, Lawrence of Antigua was an excellent tour. (you can google both). Great values for the money.

 

St. Maarten, you can do Bernard's tour for island and beach time, including Maho Beach to see the planes land (check out Maho Beach on youtube to see what that's all about). Or, you can opt for a simple and more relaxing day, taking the water taxi into town, and walking around the shops and beachfront there.