Wow! What a nice vacation in the South Caribbean we just came from! We sailed out of San Juan on a beautiful night. Everything was fantastic! On this trip we visited St Croix, St Maarten, Martinique, Barbados and Grenada. In St Croix we signed for the Palms and Pelican Cove beach excursion. The beach was nice and water was clear. We spend the day at the beach at Palms and had 1 drink and lunch buffet included. Overall I would say it was OK compared to other islands we visited. The island itself had destruction from the hurricanes. It seemed not as populated as other islands. I think if I were to visit again I would do another excursion, like I said it was nice ,but not great, beach was a little rocky. St Maarten in the other hand was beautiful! Beautiful blue crystal clear waters. Nice shopping area and beach along side. Sand was white. It was gorgeous. We ate ribs and jerk chicken at a restaurant right on the Boardwalk called Caribbean Blend. Food was delicious and reasonable priced. While in St Maarten we did the Sea Trek excursion. What an experience that was! I highly recommend it. We had a fantastic time. Martinique- We didn't sign up for any tour but we got off the cruise ship and took a taxi downtown to shop. We weren't very impressed w/ what we saw. So I can't recommend. Barbados - Another beautiful island! We did a catamaran excursion and swam w/ the Sea Turtles. Food and drinks included. Another fantastic time. We saw turtles and also spent time at the beach. I would highly recommend this excursion as well. The beach was also very beautiful. Grenada- We signed up for the Spices and Beach Break excursion. Now, Grenada...this one surpassed my expectations. We did a spice farm tour which was nice, followed by a rum distillery and ended up at the Grand Anse Beach right behind the Radisson hotel. We took a taxi an drove through mountains on all these destinations. What a beautiful island! We would definitely go back there. The beach was gorgeous. Water was blue crystal clear, white sands, and also not busy. Probably our favorite beach from all we saw.

As far as the Jewel of the Seas- we had a great time there. Ship was big enough for us. Always something to do. We saw terrific shows, 3 pools: one for families, one for little ones and one for adults. Always seemed crowded but we managed and got some pool time. The restaurants- We went to Chops Grill, I would classify it as good, but I wasn't blown away. My favorite was the WindJammer buffet. Food was excellent and every night they had something different so we never tired of it. The Tides formal dinning- we did once. Once was good enough for us. Seemed super busy and service was slow. Our dinner ended 2 hours later. Too long for me. The room accommodations were small but we managed for a family of 4. We had a king bed and 2 bunk beds. My 17th and 13th year old were comfortable. Overall it was a fantastic cruise and experience. I rated a 4 of 5 stars because the ship did not have all the bells and whistles, but for what it had it, was fantastic including the service that we received. Another reason for giving 4 of 5 stars are as follow: 1- Specialty dinning seem too expensive ($35 a plate), 2- We purchased a drinking package but it did not include all drinks, only those $12 and below. 3- Coffee was included but not the specialty coffee on a specific store. I would expect for the price you pay this should also be included. 4- Bingo night. We thought this would be something fun for the family, got in line for it. Then were told it would cost $50 for 3 bingo cards?? Half of the people left the line and left. Too expensive! Maybe they should have an affordable bingo for families (less costly) and a high stakes bingo for others that want bigger prices.