One of our vacations from a strenuous retirement, is to take a cruise while we are already in Florida for the winter. This year I found a 6-day cruise on Royal Caribbean aboard the Jewel of the Seas. It was a good deal at less than $100 a day each for an inside cabin and it sailed out about 45 days from when I booked it. It was a beautiful warm week in late February and we had a surprise waiting for us on board! On to the Western Caribbean!
Itinerary
We have been most recently to the eastern and southern parts of the Caribbean, so the western area seemed like a good choice. This six day cruise included a day and a half at sea, a day at Costa Maya Mexico, a day at Roatan Honduras, a day at Cozumel Mexico, and finally another day at sea before we arrived back at the port. We sailed out of Port Canaveral that was about a 3 hour drive from our RV park in New Port Richey.
For most of our cruises over 30 years, we have signed up for some of the shore excursions that can add some significant cost to the cruise. This time we decided to just go ashore and explore on our own. As we soon found out that can result in some mixed results.
The Jewel of the Seas
This is one of the older ships that had been retrofitted a few years ago. From the Cruise Critic: Jewel of the Seas made its debut in spring 2004. Measuring 90,090 tons and carrying a maximum of 2,700-plus passengers, it was the fourth and final limb on Royal Caribbean’s Radiance-class family tree. This ship is ideal for cruisers who don’t go in for bells and whistles, but instead prefer a traditional cruising experience. It’s a laid-back ship, where customers enjoy long lazy mealtimes, a few G&Ts an evening and a bit of nostalgia when it comes to entertainment.
In other words, a perfect ship set up for a quiet and laid back cruise for us seniors!
If you have been following this blog for a while, you may remember our cruise from last year. It was the high-end once-in-a-lifetime cruise that went bankrupt after two weeks of the three week cruise. That Crystal cruise was awesome (except for the getting stranded on an island) and set the expectation bar much higher than what we had experienced. How would we fare by going back to Royal? It was actually just fine. Just no all-inclusive extras, no butlers, etc.
Here is a quick comparison of the two cruise ships. Crystal Symphony: Built in 1995, length 781 feet, 960 max passengers, 545 crew members. Max passenger to crew ratio = 1.8
Jewel of the Seas: Built in 2004, length 962 feet, 2700 passengers, 842 crew members. Max passenger to crew ratio = 3.2
Surprise!
Trish and I drove across the state to get to the port at our preset arrival time of 12:30 pm. We arrived, parked in their long term garage, and checked in with an extremely efficient process. All passengers are time phased to arrive at 10-15 minute intervals. No waiting lines at all.
One great improvement over last years cruise was that Covid was over! No masks, no testing, no special buffet rules. It was back to wide open. Yippee!
After checking in and while waiting for our luggage to arrive at our cabin, we ate lunch and then found a small lounge to relax. We were people watching as folks were coming on board and milling about. Pat mentioned to me that one lady looked like my cousin’s wife Carol. Yes, I agreed she does. Then Pat commented that guy looks like my cousin Sam. It was no coincidence. What are the odds of that happening anyway? It was a great surprise and we all had a great time hanging out together!
We had our dinner meals together in the main dining room, played card games every day, and then we all went exploring on the islands.
Sam is my first cousin on my dad’s side. We usually see them each winter with a lunch meeting somewhere. But this year, we had not. We had no idea they would be on this cruise, nor did they know we would.
Sam grew up in Terre Haute Indiana (as I did) and worked as an executive with Pillsbury for many years before going out on his own as a consultant before retiring about ten years ago. Carol worked in the banking industry at many locations before also retiring. They have a lovely Florida home on a lake near Cocoa Beach.
We are on deck in port awaiting the launch. 
Fishlips restaurant along the canal 
Grills restaurant. We have eaten here many times over the years with my parents 
Jetty park as seen from the ship 
The Canaveral beaches as we are leaving 
Good bye land 
Costa Maya, Mx
Costa Maya is an island just off the eastern coast of Mexico and has been largely undeveloped until the cruise port came along. We walked through some of the small shops and watched the pole climbers performance.
They climb up, wind up their ropes, and then spin around like a trapeze as the ropes unwind, all while hanging upside down. A very old local tradition they told us. Or else a modern one to gather the tips.
A hard way to make a buck
The beaches were basically closed due to some strange seaweed issue that covered the waters and the beaches. A huge monster flotilla of stinking seaweed blanketed the entire coastline. Not good for business. I assume that unlike the Jaws movie, the local mayor could not just say there is no problem while a foot-deep pile of green goo rots on the beach.
Then on to watch those who signed up to ride the dolphins. We watched for a while as they playfully pulled the tourists around.
Tourists lining up and getting final instructions 
Island weather chart 
Between two ships
Then it was back onboard to prepare for card games and dinner! Always some food or drink involved when on a cruise.
We found a quiet place for after lunch coffee and reading 
This was interesting. In the evening they had a dance party with young folks wearing headsets. No loud music at all for the rest of us. Except for some of these ladies singing the lyrics!
Roatan
This stop became more of a challenge. As I mentioned earlier, we enjoy just having some free reign to walk around the villages. At Roatan, as soon as we were outside the cruise terminal’s security, the locals descended on us. It was an unpleasant experience as 5-10 young men would follow us and constantly asking for us to take their tour, go to their bar/restaurant, or use them as security protection.
They would not take no thank you, no, or get lost as hints. Finally, we just turned around and headed back to the ship. I didn’t feel unsafe exactly, just heavily harassed. For future reference, when on Roatan, only take the guided tours.
The local area is very poor and an ugly poverty is everywhere outside the gates. The pandemic set back their tourist based economies many years and cruise ships are just now returning on a regular basis.
The shopping and dining inside the fence (safe) 
Outside the fence 
Back on board for the evening show
Cozumel, Mexico
We have been here several times on cruises. Love this very friendly resort island. Sam and Carol have their favorite restaurant here, so we headed off for a two mile walk to Pancho’s Backyard. We also loved this place. Great company, food, and service!
Pancho’s has a 2 person music set up 
Enjoying some great margaritas 
They drive these little cars on the city streets
Wrap Up
We had a great little 6-day cruise. Then it was back to our RV park in New Port Richey for a few more weeks before heading north. We are back home now in Virginia and busy cleaning up and mowing the yard, cleaning the house, and visiting with our son and daughter. Take care and God Bless.
Looks like a great time. Thanks for sharing.
Robert
It was! Thanks
We went on the western Caribbean in 2021. A lot of your pictures look like a lot of hours. We had a blast and we were on Royal Caribbean Brilliance of the Sea. We loved the water at Cozumel.
I remember when you guys took that cruise. Yes, the water at Cozumel and much of the Caribbean is beautiful! Thanks for the note.