Come Cruise with Me-Jewel Review 4/8/11-Southern Caribbean/2,000+ Pics/Super Long

[bionicman97]

Day 5 - Last minute shopping

 

Had about a 15 minute drive

 

 

And then to the shopping area

 

 

The wife resting

 

 

It was mainly jewelry shops

 

 

Some local art work

 

 

And now, my favorite picture of the entire cruise

 

 

Up next - the drive back to the ship. . .

[bionicman97]

Day 5 - Back to the ship

 

Here is the fort in the distance

 

 

Another of the fort

 

 

They have a totally different view of a Margarita compared to me

 

 

A colorful gate

 

 

A street vendor

 

 

And finally, we are back to the ship

 

 

I think we paid around $42pp (definitely less than $50) or something close to that for this excursion. I would definitely say it was worth it.

 

That's it for me tonight - Coming tomorrow - We're back on the ship - the rest of day 5 (And Food!!). . .

[twospoiled]

That is a GREAT picture! It looks like he is smiling for the camera!

 

Love the review and all the photos. Wish you were on my upcoming Freedom cruise then I wouldn't need to take very many pics! I could just use yours!

 

Congrats on the expansion of your family! October is a great month for a birthday! I speak from personal experience! ;)

[Familygoboston]

Yeah, I love how my wife leans over in the tunnel, like she's even close to hitting the ceiling :D

 

Don't pick on us shorties!!;) Do you see my lean in my profile pic, LOL!! We just lean figuring the camera is going to pick up the biggest thing, and the biggest thing is the guy we are with:D How tall are you BTW? My DH is 6 foot 6 and I always feel like a little person! Oh, and be prepared for your new person...we had one, she started out pretty small 8 pounds 9 ounces, but is 5 8 1/2 already and still goooooooing:eek:

 

Love the review...never been to Columbia, so it's fun to see the pics!

[bionicman97]

That is a GREAT picture! It looks like he is smiling for the camera!

 

Love the review and all the photos. Wish you were on my upcoming Freedom cruise then I wouldn't need to take very many pics! I could just use yours!

 

Congrats on the expansion of your family! October is a great month for a birthday! I speak from personal experience! ;)

 

It was funny, he kept falling asleep and the guy would have to tap on his shoulder and he would look up and smile, then nod off again :D

 

Thanks :)

 

October seems to be popular with a lot of people I talk to :D

[bionicman97]

Don't pick on us shorties!!;) Do you see my lean in my profile pic, LOL!! We just lean figuring the camera is going to pick up the biggest thing, and the biggest thing is the guy we are with:D How tall are you BTW? My DH is 6 foot 6 and I always feel like a little person! Oh, and be prepared for your new person...we had one, she started out pretty small 8 pounds 9 ounces, but is 5 8 1/2 already and still goooooooing

 

Love the review...never been to Columbia, so it's fun to see the pics!

 

I see the it now :D

 

I'm 6 foot 5 and my wife is 5 foot 2 :eek:

 

It will be interesting to see how tall the little one ends up being ;)

 

Thanks too :)

 

I saw you post that one of your Jewel cruises got cancelled - bummer

[Familygoboston]

It's fun to see the roll of the " genetic dice" in your kids! The Jewel cruise that got cancelled I likely would have cancelled anyway , so it wasn't too devastating. I had booked it first, then booked a 5 day on Jewel the week before because it worked better with the flights I could find. Leaving me with a b2b I really was not going to be able to do( kids have to get back to HS and this is a trip with my mom, and we'd be leaving my dad at home with no time for us to visit. ) My DH teased me, said I should have played like I was crushed, just to get an OBC, but I just don't roll that way! :p

[bionicman97]

It's fun to see the roll of the " genetic dice" in your kids! The Jewel cruise that got cancelled I likely would have cancelled anyway , so it wasn't too devastating. I had booked it first, then booked a 5 day on Jewel the week before because it worked better with the flights I could find. Leaving me with a b2b I really was not going to be able to do( kids have to get back to HS and this is a trip with my mom, and we'd be leaving my dad at home with no time for us to visit. ) My DH teased me, said I should have played like I was crushed, just to get an OBC, but I just don't roll that way! :p

 

The next how ever many years I live are definitely going to be interesting. :eek::)

 

Sounds like it ended up working out for you. A little OBC is always nice:D

[sarahc78]

Day 5 - Cartagena - At the Fortress

 

Here we are at the Fort. Sure would have been nice if someone would have reminded me that I had an ear piece on

 

 

Here we are at a rest break

 

 

This picture just makes me smile for some reason

 

 

Remember how that Palm tree made me look shorter at Labadee? We'll this tunnel makes me look really tall! Remember, it's all an illusion, I'm the same height everywhere ;-)

 

 

Here's the guard at the Fort ~ Scared me, I'm allergic.

 

 

And here is our last look at the fort

 

 

That's it for the Fort. I have to stop now because we're almost to the ACLF to visit Grandpa. I'll try and start again around 9pm

 

Up next time - Shopping - Cathedral - Inquisition Palace & More. . .

OMG this is from the movie Romancing the Stone. My all time favorite movie!!!

[bionicman97]

OMG this is from the movie Romancing the Stone. My all time favorite movie!!!

 

I sure don't remember being in a movie, but if you say so, I guess it happened :eek::D;)

[proudpatriot07]

You'll have to forgive the spelling. I mostly write late at night when I am tired. On the Colombia, we used to live in South Carolina, and I am used to the way they spell it there., so I didn't know that it was spelt differently.

 

So awesome, we live fairly close to Columbia, lol.

 

Enjoying the review so far too!

[SeminoleFan]

OMG this is from the movie Romancing the Stone. My all time favorite movie!!!

 

 

Too funny, I was thinking the same thing while looking through the pictures of the fort. Probably one of my favorite Michael Douglas movies (and Danny DeVito, Kathleen Turner!).

 

I am thoroughly enjoying your review, bionicman. Thank you for taking the time to write it and share your photos. We're going on the Jewel in February 2012. :D

[bionicman97]

So awesome, we live fairly close to Columbia, lol.

 

Enjoying the review so far too!

 

Thanks :). I used to live in Summerville, just outside of Charleston

 

Too funny, I was thinking the same thing while looking through the pictures of the fort. Probably one of my favorite Michael Douglas movies (and Danny DeVito, Kathleen Turner!).

 

I am thoroughly enjoying your review, bionicman. Thank you for taking the time to write it and share your photos. We're going on the Jewel in February 2012. :D

 

Thanks :) have a great cruise!

 

BTW, seminoleFan wouldn't be FSU, would it? We're in Gator country here :eek::D

[SeminoleFan]

BTW, seminoleFan wouldn't be FSU, would it? We're in Gator country here :eek::D

 

Well, yes it is FSU. We are definitely a house divided--my daughter goes to FSU and I work at UF (can't get much more Gator country than that). How mixed up can you get? :eek:

 

We love both the Seminoles and the Gators. And when they play each other, we just say, "let the better team win," and figure we can't lose either way. :)

[bionicman97]

Well, yes it is FSU. We are definitely a house divided--my daughter goes to FSU and I work at UF (can't get much more Gator country than that). How mixed up can you get? :eek:

 

We love both the Seminoles and the Gators. And when they play each other, we just say, "let the better team win," and figure we can't lose either way. :)

 

That's ok, I'm just as conflicted in my own head. I grew up as a gator fan (still am), graduated from UCF and am looking to get my MBA from FSU :eek:

[05mak05]

Ah, your pictures bring back wonderful memories. We were totally surprised at how clean and modern Cartegena was. The artwork (as you have pictured) was fabulous. I bought one for $40. Framed it looks like a $1000! We were so rushed when we were in those little shops. The driver gave us 30 minutes. And, then took us to a Mall ... I mean a mall like the one we have in the states.

It seems we were there forever and totally bored. We should have gotten a cab and gone back to the market on our own but this was our first time and we thought we should stick with the ship sponsored tour. Yes, we also felt perfectly safe. And, by the way, I always spell Colombia "Columbia," too. Old habits die hard.

[bionicman97]

Ah, your pictures bring back wonderful memories. We were totally surprised at how clean and modern Cartegena was. The artwork (as you have pictured) was fabulous. I bought one for $40. Framed it looks like a $1000! We were so rushed when we were in those little shops. The driver gave us 30 minutes. And, then took us to a Mall ... I mean a mall like the one we have in the states.

It seems we were there forever and totally bored. We should have gotten a cab and gone back to the market on our own but this was our first time and we thought we should stick with the ship sponsored tour. Yes, we also felt perfectly safe. And, by the way, I always spell Colombia "Columbia," too. Old habits die hard.

 

We were surprised too on how modern and clean it was. The artwork was great. We had about 15 minutes in the first shops we stopped at and about 20 in the second ones. Time flies on those excursions ;)

 

Old habits do die hard :)

[05mak05]

I got a good belly laugh out of the "guard." I'm allergic, too. Your pictures and comments are just priceless.

[bionicman97]

I got a good belly laugh out of the "guard." I'm allergic, too. Your pictures and comments are just priceless.

 

Thanks :D

 

Always have to watch out for those cats :eek: My dog told me to never trust them anyway ;)

[bionicman97]

Day 5 - Cartagena - Back on the ship - Midday

 

Once we got back on the ship, we were pretty hungry, so we dropped off our stuff and headed for the Windjammer.

 

As we passed by the pool area, the had a poolside buffet set up

 

 

It was kind of warm outside, so we headed inside

 

 

I wasn't real hungry, so I got a small plate of food and a little dessert

 

 

I also had a little of everyones favorite dessert

 

 

Up next - Sail-a-way. . .

[bionicman97]

Day 5 - Sail-a-way

 

After eating, we went up to deck 12 to watch the sail-a-way

 

 

Here's the skyline

 

 

Some of the ship yard

 

 

A Mr Oscar Peaz Jr

 

 

The landscape beyond

 

 

Our neighbor at the port

 

 

Up next - More Sail-a-way & Time to eat again! . . .

[bionicman97]

Day 5 - Sail-a-way and More Food!

 

They had this statue out at the harbor

 

 

Last bit of the city as we left

 

 

After sail-a-way, we went into the windjammer to get a drink before the belly flop competition. I just couldn't pass up one little snack

 

 

Well, we head out to watch the belly flop competition and we ended up missing it. Oh, well. We decided to play some cards instead. I came in 4th. Pretty good considering there were four of us there ;-)

 

 

At 4:15, I went back to the windjammer and grabbed a little dessert to take up to the Sea View Cafe.

 

 

You see: Desserts from Windjammer + Cuban from Sea View Cafe = Best of both Worlds

 

 

After this, I felt a little guilty, so I changed and went to the gym to hit the elliptical for 40 minutes.

 

Up next - A Show - Welcome Back Party - Dinner

[bionicman97]

Day 5 - The Show

 

At 6:40pm, I went to the online center to deal with a few work emails and then we headed for the show.

 

The show tonight was called "City of Dreams" - It is the second of three production shows - It was good - a lot of nice backdrops

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Up next - a little more of the show. . .

[bionicman97]

Day 5 - The rest of the show

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As I mentioned, we really liked the show (we like production shows)

 

Coming up after I eat dinner - The Welcome Back Party & Dinner. . .

[bionicman97]

Day 5 - Welcome Back Party & Dinner

 

After dinner, we headed for the Welcome Back Party

 

 

Here we are hanging out

 

 

We had some fruit punch. They were also serving wine. I didn't see any mixed drinks and no warm appetizers like we have seen on the other ships.

 

 

Up next - Dinner