Today we visited the island of St Croix, which is part of the US Virgin Islands and it's also our first visit to this island. Our plan was simple for the day: to spend the day at a beach resort. Let's see how that worked out.
We woke up early and made our way to the Windjammer for breakfast at 8am. Our first breakfast in the Windjammer was as good as I remember. I always go for the omelette station, which had no line at all. One difference I have noticed between Jewel and the larger ships is lines seem much shorter all around. Not that Freedom or Oasis-class ships have lines that long but it definitely seems like a more personal experience.
Jewel of the Seas was cleared rather quickly and when we were ready to disembark at 9, no real line. We were docked in St Croix and once again I was glad to not be tendering because docking is just so much easier.
We had researched on our own prior to the cruise what to do on St Croix and the Sand Castle Beach Resort caught our eye. $5 per person admission fee and $25 on top of that for 2 beach chairs, an umbrella and 2 rum punches. Sounds perfect to me.
We walked right into the port and into a sea of taxi drivers. I decided to push through most of them and talk to some of the less aggressive drivers. We found one that would drive us for $3 per person. Great!
He brought an air conditioned van quickly over and what I liked was we did not have to wait for anyone else. It's a pet peeve when taxi drivers give you a good quote and then make you wait to fill up the van. Not the case here and the driver gave us his card to call him for pick up later. He was nice and made good small talk without being overly talkative. Best kind of taxi driver.
We arrived at the Sand Castle Beach Resort in about 5 minutes and checked in. We did not make reservations ahead of time but that was no problem since we were the first guests of the day. The woman working there welcomed us and told us we had access to not just the beach but the pool, showers and any other facilities. She made it a point to let us know we were to feel as welcome as any other guest.
If you were wondering, the resort is about a mile or so from the port but the walk is pretty substantial and I think a taxi is worth the cost.
The beach was great and one of the workers brought us the chairs and set up the umbrella for us wherever we wanted. The ocean was crystal clear and barely rocky. There was a quick drop off about 5 feet in but after that there were no rocks and water was the perfect temperature.
No beach toys or anything else to report for kids but our kids had a good time playing in the sand and in the water. Given the price, I have no problem with it. Probably the big issue with the Sand Castle Beach Resort was since it was off season, the restaurant was closed and the bar did not open until about noon. I get they aren't busy but don't they want to make some money?
By about 11am we tried the sometimes futile effort to get the kids to nap. My daughter gave it a try but then got it in her head that she wanted to go nap back on the ship. Frankly, I can't blame her just because it was brutally hot out. My wife also wanted to take a nap back on the ship so we decided to take a taxi back early while our friends stayed at Sand Castle.
We called the taxi and within 5 minutes he was back to pick us up. By the time we left at noon, there were probably another 6-8 people there. That's it. It's probably bad for the resort but we enjoyed having the beach to ourselves.
We made it back to port and back on board. My wife and daughter took a nap while I grabbed a quick bite in the Windjammer and then I wanted to explore St Croix a little more.
Personally, I fancy myself someone who enjoys exploring ports beyond the tourist areas. I had asked our taxi driver about places to go to eat where tourists don't go but he reported most places were closed becase it was Sunday. So I walked a few blocks in from port and it quickly felt more local than touristy. That being said, the area did not feel as welcoming for tourists in the "local area" compared to other ports I have explored like Cozumel or St. Maarten. In addition, it was brutally hot so I had a few beers ($2 each!) and then headed back to the ship.
My take on St Croix is it's far from my favorite port to visit but its beaches are still beautiful. The town has very little to offer in terms of shopping and/or sightseeing. Basically find a beach and call it a day.
I went to the Solarium to relax and despite it being a port day, at 1:30-2:00, the Solarium was fairly full. I found a chaise lounger and jumped in the pool and it felt amazing to cool off. A few drinks of the day later and I was feeling real good. Quick reminder, you can get the drink of the day minus souvenir cup to save a dollar or two.
Eventually my wife and kid woke up and I made it back to my stateroom for a shower and change. They had skipped lunch so we decided to finally try the much talked about Seaview Cafe.
The Seaview Cafe has a near cult-like status online, with people raving about the food. It's basically a complimentary restaurant where you order food and then sit and wait for it to be delivered. They have burgers, Nathans hot dogs, Reuben & Cuban sandwiches, onion rings, fries and more. I had the Reuben while my wife had a burger. My reuben was really, really good and my wife said her burger was better than the burger she had at Johnny Rockets on Freedom of the Seas. I think the Internets got it right with the hype surrounding Seaview.
Next up was the Cruise Critic mix and mingle.
I've been to a number of mix and mingle events and for those unaware, the Cruise Critic mix and mingle is an event organized by Cruise Critic where if enough people (25) RSVP prior to the cruise, Royal Caribbean will set up a special event to meet other Cruise Critic members and even win a few prizes.
Our mix and mingle was for St. Croix day at 5:30, whereas other mix and mingles had been on sea days usually. Since we only have one sea day and that sea day is our last day, Royal Caribbean had to do the best they could do. I think prior to the cruise we had about 30-35 people who RSVPd for the meet but there was maybe 15-20 people in attendance. Can't say I was surprised given it was a port day and formal night.
Nonetheless, I met a number of nice people and a few of us won some nice prizes. I think it's a great idea for Royal Caribbean to recongize their most vocal supporters and I will continue to go to them for the opportunity to meet new people. And maybe one of these days I might actually win something!
Right after the meet was formal night dinner. I opted for the linguini pomodoro for my main course which was actually quite tasty. But the best part of dinner was the fact they had coffee ice cream for dessert! I love coffee ice cream so I asked for as much as they could give me and our waiter brought me 3 servings. Best night ever!
After dinner we took formal night photos in the Centrum. Lines were pretty long but we were in that time between first and second seating dinner. We should have waited another 30 minutes for second seating dinner to be seated but maybe we will remember for next time.
Quick note on "life" onboard Jewel. As you may remember, we embarked in Puerto Rico and quite understandably, there are a number of Spanish speaking guests. I'd guestimate about 20-30% are Spanish speaking. Nearly all are adults (in fact, barely any school age kids on this cruise). The announcements are made in English and Spanish and at night in the Centrum there is a live band playing and speaking in Spanish only. Kind of interesting and certainly different from past cruises. I'm not complaining or anything, just pointing out the difference.
Tomorrow we will be in St Maarten and we have a driver booked that we met on our last cruise there. It will be another beach day, going somewhere we have been before and trying somewhere new too. Can't wait!
