Overview

Hype:

A singing and dancing stage performance on the cruise ship.

Time:

Fees: Included in cruise

Recommended Ages:

	0-3
	4-11
	12-19
	20-49
	50-69
	70+

Recommended Months to Visit:

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

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Location

Closest City or Region: Caribbean

Coordinates: 19.925530, -66.517805

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March 31, 2024 Trip Report

By Jeremy Dye

Trip Members

Jeremy Dye, Tara Dye, Madilyn Dye,

Story

Saturday, March 30 - We returned our rental car then took an Uber to the boat loading dock to board our Royal Caribbean cruise ship Jewel of the Seas. Once we got on the ship, we explored around to see what was offered. We played a round of miniature golf and then played some shuffleboard. We finished the day by going to a circus performance where a guy juggled and balanced stuff. That got over around 10:00. 

Sunday, March 31 - We landed in St Marten. After deporting, we took a water taxi to the downtown area and walked up and down Front Street and did some souvenir shopping. Then we hiked up the hill to see the old fort, which was much smaller and run down than the ones in Puerto Rico. It got pretty warm, almost 86°. Much warmer than we were used to in Utah. We went back to the boat around 3:00 and tried to join the scavenger hunt but we were too late, so we got desserts and went to explore other options. We did some rock climbing. Tara and Madi swam in the pool while I read a book and took a nap in a lawn chair. Then we did an Easter egg hunt where we had to go all around the ship to find different employees that had Easter egg baskets. Then they had a small Easter egg hunt in one of the rooms at the end. Madi got about a dozen eggs that had candy inside. She was thrilled. Then we went to dinner at the buffet. At 7:15, we went to a singing and dancing show in the theater. We entered a couple of raffles then played games and watched shows on our devices in our bedroom until bedtime.

Monday, April 1 - We landed in St. Thomas and went on shore around 8:30. We took a taxi to Coral World Ocean Park and looked through their aquariums and other exhibits. At 11:15, Tara and Madi did their helmet diving underwater trek where you put on a helmet that has air flowing and you follow a hiking trail around the ocean floor. It takes about 15 minutes. There was a little bit of a mix-up on my end, which is why we split up so I could take videos but that meant that I didn't get to go until 1:00. So we walked down the beach and got a hot dog for Madi then went back so I could do the helmet walk. We watched a fun show about sea lions and then another one with dolphins then we caught a taxi back to the town center. We did a bunch of shopping and bought a dress for Tara, a dress for Madi, a T-shirt for me, an iguana figurine, a magnet, and a hand-painted hoodie for Madi. Then we caught another taxi back to the cruise ship and had dinner in the formal dining room. After dinner, we went to the Coral Theater and watched a Celine Dion tribute singer. Madi thought it was boring, so she played on Tara's phone the whole time.

Tuesday, April 2 – We landed in St. Kitts. We had a buffet breakfast and left the ship. We had just a few minutes extra before our scheduled tour began so we went to a couple jewelry stores to get their free charms. Then we took a train ride around the island. The first part was done by bus then we switched over to the trains. It was slow and relaxing and was a good break from all the walking that we had been doing. Plus it had free drinks! After the train ride, we went back to the ship for lunch. After lunch, we took a taxi to an old plantation. At Romney Manor, we watched a demonstration of dying fabrics using wax to preserve the colors. At Wingfield Estate Plantation Ruins, there were a bunch of kilns and some boilers and things like that with signs around. Then our taxi driver took us back downtown. We did about a half hour of souvenir shopping. By that time, we had basically run out of cash, so we didn't buy much. We had formal dining in the dining room then watched a this or that game. We finished watching Honey I Shrunk the Kids then read until bedtime.

Wednesday, April 3 – Wednesday was a day at sea, so we spent the whole day on the ship. We had breakfast then played a movie soundtrack trivia game. Madi did some dollar bill origami folding then we played another trivia game, this one on Disney movie anagrams. We participated in the family fun festival, which involved some small carnival style games like cornhole and hula hooping. We also learned how to fold towels into animals and quickly fold shirts. Tara watched the art auction while Madi and I grabbed a quick lunch. Then we played a Harry Potter trivia game. The only question that we didn't get correct was that Hermione's patronus was an otter. Tara and Madi swam in the pool for an hour while I read my book and then fell asleep. We spent some time in our room then went to dinner. It was lobster night, which meant 2000 lobsters prepared for dinner. After dinner, we went to the Gold Art Duo performance, which was our favorite live entertainment. It was a guy and a girl who did acrobatics and comedy combined. Madi went back to the room for the night while Tara and I watched the Friendly Feud game show.

Thursday, April 4 – Thursday was our second and last full day at sea. We had a formal breakfast in the dining room. We walked around the outside deck and filmed some videos of the ocean for possible escape room use. Then we watched the movie Elvis in their theater. We worked a 500-piece jigsaw puzzle, which actually turned out to be a 475-piece jigsaw puzzle since it was missing 25 pieces. We grabbed a small buffet lunch since none of us were very hungry. Then we played three games of shuffleboard. We watched half of the movie Peter Pan and Wendy then we went back to the upper floors to play a murder mystery escape room game. Not a single group finished in the allotted time. We had formal dining for dinner. After dinner, we went to the adult speed rock climbing competition, and I took first place which sounds awesome until you realize that there were only two participants. I did get a metal though, so that's cool. Then we watched a live singing and dancing performance called From West End to Broadway. After that, we went to the parade of nations where all the different staff cheer for their native countries and show off some dances. Then we went down to our room, packed up our suitcase, and then finished watching Peter Pan and Wendy.

Friday, April 5 – Our ship docked in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. We were one of the last groups to disembark, so we packed up our room then went to formal breakfast. We played a round of miniature golf then found an empty table in one of the lounges and played The Crew. We got off the boat, got our luggage, and went through customs.

Pictures