Jeanne Nouri

Age: 39
Occupation: Teacher
Number of Cruises: 10
Cruise Line: Carnival
Ship: Jubilee
Sailing Date: December 12th, 2003
Itinerary: Southern Caribbean

Embarkment: Very easy to get on this boat. We got on the boat around noon. However, I must warn that they do not have porters around noontime because they are eating lunch. You have to haul your luggage to the area when they load and they still wanted a tip.

Cabin: We were very lucky and even through we did not pay for a window view, to our surprise we were upgraded from an inside cabin to an outside cabin. The room was a standard Carnival room and our room steward was very good.

Sailing Away Party: Very disappointed as they played a tape from noon until four with the same songs playing over and over. Every time we filmed something that day, the same music was playing. Definitely not up to Carnival standards, which are usually pretty festive with their music.

Dining Room Service: The first night we were given a time to eat. Nobody sat at his or her regular tables, which can be good or bad. We were seated the first night with a couple that did not speak English and since I am very limited on my Spanish, did really have much conversation that night. The next night we had our regular table, which was English speaking. Carnival did a nice job to try and get all English and All Spanish speaking tables. We did not have much trouble with language after the first evening.

Waiters: Overall good, but our assistant waiter spoke way too much, although funny.

Food in Dining Room: Very good and had a variety of foods. You were able to order anything we wanted at any time during dining hours. The meat was very tough though.

Overall Appearance of Boat: This is an older ship and needs some remodeling. The pool area was always active, but service was very poor around the pool. The buffet area was always crowded. We were told that the buffet area could not hold all the guest and that is why this ship had so many ports, so that breakfast and lunch would be less crowded. It was very crowded by the pool.

Captain’s Party: Was held in one room, which I prefer when the Captain’s Party is held in a variety of bars like other Carnival cruises I have taken. Also, I did not get served one hor’des the first night and on the repeat cruisers night, I also did not get any food. However, I had plenty of drinks served both nights. The band was very good.

Entertainment: Extremely disappointed, as I had seen both show before on previous Carnival ships. One of the reasons I pick Carnival is because of their entertainment and was disappointed that I was unable to view a new show. I did not think the comedians were very funny either, which is unusual for Carnival.

Activities: Since we only had one half day at sea, there was not really much to judge here. The real activities were the different ports and there was plenty on this cruise. However, we did enjoy Karaoke and the social guest was WONDERFUL. He was a very good host and extremely funny. Besides the islands, he was the highlight of our trip.

PORTS OF CALL:

Puerto Rico: We stayed a few days in Puerto Rico and there is so much to see. However, we were very disappointed that Carnival cancelled the Rain Forest Tour the day we left. We had planned our departure around the tour, so we took a $10.00 tour of the city. We had already seen all the places, but it did kill some time.

St. Thomas: We have been here before and had taken the St. John tour (highly recommended), so we opted to take the Megan’s Bay tour, which takes you to Megan’s Bay. It was an extremely relaxing tour and recommend the tour for anyone at any age provided you like the beach. This is a beach tour folks and very beautiful indeed. Enjoyed myself a great deal. St. Thomas is a very beautiful island.

Antigua: WHAT A DAY! We went on the Pirate Boat Tour and was it fun, fun, fun. We had a ship full of Germans from the other cruise boat docked and had the times of our lives. They give you lots of rum and lots of fun by diving off the boat and dancing and singing. This was a beautiful way to see the island. I strongly suggest you take a tour away from the dock, as the island is so beautiful away from the cruise port. Well worth the money if you like to drink, enjoy the sun, meet lots of nice people, party and dance. The beaches were just beautiful and the crew was fantastic.

St. Lucia: Also a very beautiful island. We decided to rent a taxi and guide for about $150.00 because you have to get a St. Lucia’s driver’s license if you want to rent a car. It was well worth the price as the guide took us everywhere on the island and we could go at our own pace. This island is just beautiful and took about seven hours to see everything. I believe this is the way to see St. Lucia since the tours at St. Lucia are more expensive than doing it by yourself. The taxis are very organized and have an organization at the dock, so drivers are very good with the boats. St. Lucia is a breath-taking island with lush scenery and views everywhere. Reminded us of Hawaii very much.

Dominica: Little disappointed here. It is green like St. Lucia, but the people were not as friendly. They had lots of beggars on the street and did not feel safe here at all. It is not as modern as the other islands. We opted to take the Wacky Rollers, which sounded good on paper. It is expensive and did not seem as adventures as advertised. While the scenery was nice, the crew was not as friendly and the rain forest was not as lush as St. Lucia. Do not care to go to Dominica again.

Dominican Republic: HUMMMM! Not sure what to say about this port. I felt like I was limited to where I could go. The evening we got there we went to the entertainment show recommended by the boat and ate at a very nice Italian restaurant in the complex with excellent service and food. The show was wonderful, but the disco was loud, seats were out of concrete and not my cup of tea. We ended up getting a nice beer at one of the local restaurant and calling it a night. While the evening was nice, I would not have cried had a missed the night show. The next day, we took a taxi to a beach about 25 minutes away which was very nice, but the taxi rates are ridiculous. There is nothing to do at the port-not even shops, so you need to find something to do there. The beach was extremely relaxing and enjoyed the last day of our cruise.

We were very lucky to have zero rain and the weather was just perfect. Not too hot, not to cold. Overall, the ports were just wonderful and the reason I took this cruise. If you are looking for luxury liner, do not take Jubilee, as it is a small and older ship. But if you are looking for some nice ports, Southern Caribbean is the way to go.

Overall: Fun ports, the rest are standard cruising: eat, drink and be merry. Meet as many people as you can, as this is really the fun part of cruising. We definitely will see the Southern Caribbean again!