Jewel Day by Day Photo Review 11/16/2013 (Southern Caribbean)

[Familygoboston]

I was at Cxxxx (big box, membership required store) yesterday. The Nikon AW 110 on sale for $199.99 (100 dollars off). It appears that is waterproof to a depth of 59 feet for an hour.

 

That's a good deal ( and they DO sell cruises too-LOL!)

I can ask DH to give us a full review of anyone is interested. Or if you are a Nikon person you may know him from the nikoncafe community where I think he's reviewed it already.

[BillOh]

On the subject of cruise from Puerto Rico we've talked a lot about the people, can I certainly understand locals being onboard. After all we put up with all those Floridians when we cruise from there!

 

I was called a racist a couple of times when I was researching a southern Caribbean cruise because i asked what the normal school year was for local kids. Nobody ever answered though. I try to cruise when there are less kids, regardless of where they are from! For all I know their school system is different. I know they don't get snow days!

 

No, I don't hate kids, we just try to cruise with less of them.

[Familygoboston]

On the subject of cruise from Puerto Rico we've talked a lot about the people, can I certainly understand locals being onboard. After all we put up with all those Floridians when we cruise from there!

 

I was called a racist a couple of times when I was researching a southern Caribbean cruise because i asked what the normal school year was for local kids. Nobody ever answered though. I try to cruise when there are less kids, regardless of where they are from! For all I know their school system is different. I know they don't get snow days!

 

No, I don't hate kids, we just try to cruise with less of them.

 

No you are just "childist";) :p

 

I'm kidding, of course! I remember that thread and thought you got jumped on a bit!!

 

I agree, when I travel sans kids I prefer to cruise on ships, itineraries and weeks when there won't be thousands of them on board, so I hear you! I can tell you there were not many kids on board at this time of year. There were some really little ones (pre school age) and we did see maybe 3-5 large family groups with a mix of people from 8 months to 80. and that one group of Quinceañera girls and their families. But in general, I've found mid November (excepting Thanksgiving) and early December to be pretty quiet with not many school aged children sailing. That held true for sailing out of PR too.

[Familygoboston]

Day 4 St Kitts

 

 

(pano of St Kitts)

(Independence in port with us again)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another beautiful day dawned with us making our way into Port Zante in St Kitts. DH and I hadn't been to St Kitts since the '90s. On out last visit, we took a bus tour all around the island. We visited the Caribelle boutique, where I bought a batik dress that I never wore once and learned the valuable lesson-not to get caught up in buying "local" clothing that I am unlikely to ever where again...anywhere! It did make a fun "dress up" item for the girls dress up bin. That tour also took in the scenery, a local plantation and the Brimstone Hill Fort. We enjoyed it at the time, more than most bus tours we've done (which we have now since sworn off) but we didn't want to do something like that again this trip, so we scheduled the KT12 Mountain Biking and Beach.

 

We went to the Windjammer for breakfast again, and then headed below to disembark and meet our biking tour group on the pier.

 

 

 

 

 

(Port Zante)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(funny, I only noticed since I posted this that someone drew a funny face on the "ball"; we took the photo for the scenery...but that "ball" is just mocking us!)

[Familygoboston]

St Kitts Mountain Biking and Beach Tour KT12- hills, mudslides and cliffs, oh my!

 

Once we arrived at the pier, we found our guide and met the other 8 people on our tour. The group jelled pretty quickly- we had a lot of laughs and everyone seemed to get along. There were two young sisters who didn't speak English and didn't appear to be enjoying the biking much, as it was pretty hilly. They ended up riding in the truck most of the time, so we didn't get to know them as well. There was also a young couple celebrating their first anniversary, another unmarried couple and 2 young women from Australia.

 

We had a bike guide who led our group while biking and the guide in the support truck who followed and then explained all the stops. He drove in a bright green truck the same color as our bikes! (I would have their names for you...if I had written them down, but I didn't bring my phone or any notes, so I didn't write it down and now I can't tell you their names. But I can tell you they were great!)

 

They stressed safety...by kind of making a little joke about it. They really stressed that we were all going to wait for each other, even if some people were really advanced cyclists. And we went pretty slowly, especially when going down some of the steep hills or when in traffic.

 

As far as the fitness level for this tour- I would say you want to be comfortable biking generally, and have some kind of experience with exercising regularly (you'll need your "wind"). Expect some pretty good size hills.

 

I can best explain this as if you live in Florida, they are HUGE hills, if you live in the Midwest (like many of our fellow group members) they are BIG hills and If you live Colorado or VT, they are just little bumps, if you bike in Maine or MA like we do- well, we just call them HILLS and we know we can't get anywhere on a bike with out going up at least few! But the guides will gladly drive you up the hill if you like and no one is mocking or pushing you, it's all very fun! We did about 13 miles round trip, mostly on island roads, but also rode on some sugar cane fields on packed dirt roads. There was no "true" mountain biking up and down a trail in the woods.

 

The historical and cultural narrative was very good. Our guide taught us a lot in a fun interactive way and no corny jokes! He would leave us with a "cliff hanger" until we got to the next spot when he would tell us all the details. Throughout the tour we were offered snacks and water at all our stops. We enjoyed the trip and would certainly recommend it to anyone who would like to get a bit of a work out and see the island.

 

 

 

After gearing up (bikes, helmets, water) we headed out. Our first stop was the Governors residence. We didn't get invited in for tea, but we did take some photos.

 

 

(Governors House)

 

 

 

 

Then we made a stop at a defunct colonial era sugar mill. Our guide talked about the history, politics and economics of the sugar industry on the island.

Our next stop was a more modern but also defunct sugar mill. According to our guide the British government was taking sugar at a discounted rate in exchange for their support of the island and therefore the mills are not sustainable. However, other foreign investors have started using the space for other industries. But last time we were in St Kitts, there miles of sugar cane fields; now they are overgrown and untended.

 

(Our tour guide with his support truck, which is the same color as the bikes! Here we are in front of a colonial era sugar mill)

 

 

 

 

 

(our bikes)

 

 

 

 

 

 

(a home near the defunct colonial sugar mill)

 

 

 

 

 

(here is the more modern sugar mill, which is now used for other purposes)

 

 

 

 

 

(note big hills in the background!!!)

 

 

 

DH and I tour on bikes frequently, and one of the things I love about it is that you get to connect with the places and people you pass. No one says "hi" to you on a bus tour. The pace and openness of the bikes led everyone to say "hello" - folks heading to the supermarket, the school children in their uniforms, the prison road work crew, even the glassy eyed Rastafarian! We had a chance to see all these folks in "their world" and we would smile and wave and they would smile and wave. We love the pace of the bike tour and how you can take in all the details, sights, but also smells and sounds!

Edited December 6, 2013 by Familygoboston

[Familygoboston]

St Kitts Mountain Biking

 

After our tours of the sugar mills we stopped at a couple of lookouts. One where we could see our ship. And another where we could see lands end of St Kitts and the island of Nevis beyond. To get to this over look, we left the bikes by a golf course and we all rode up in the truck, because the road was very steep. We've biked roads like this before, but it would have taken a long time and left us with less time to enjoy the scenery.

 

(these are the resorts at North Frigate Bay on the Atlantic)

 

 

 

 

 

(This is where the Caribbean on the right meets the Atlantic on the left, and Nevis in the distance)

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the sites below us was this work crew was taking away land from the side of the road to prevent land slides that block the roads.

 

 

(some construction to prevent mud slides; some of the roads were closed because of falling rocks!)

 

 

 

 

And just for fun, our guide took out this bill and told us all about it!

 

(an Eastern Caribbean Dollar)

[Familygoboston]

St Kitts Mountain Biking- Frigate Bay Beach

 

After riding down in the truck, we all hop on the bikes and biked to Frigate Bay Beach where we had about a 1/2 hour to cool off. We could have rented chairs or had a drink, but we did not have a lot of time there, so we all just bobbed in the water and chatted.

 

(Frigate Bay Beach)

 

 

 

 

 

(Our group cooling off at Frigate Bay Beach- you can see the "warehouse" like structure behind us which makes the beach feel less "resort like")

 

 

 

 

 

Some folks who visit St Kitts are looking for a good beach to go to. This beach was not far from the cruise terminal, I think it was only 2-3 miles back to the ship, so I imagine it would not be an expensive cab ride to get there.

 

(map)

Some notes about the map- the ship docks at 11, Frigate Bay Beach is 4

Sorry that the picture isn't great, my scanner is acting up today...not sure why!

 

As you can see from the photos, it has all the facilities; bars, chairs, umbrellas, restaurants, bath house. You can rent boats and the water is very calm and warm. We were warned by our guides not to go off by ourselves, to stay in groups of at least two. This may have been an over abundance caution on his part (with 2 sets of 20 something girls in his group) or there may be an "issue". If there is one, we didn't' notice it in the 1/2 hour we were there. There were some vendors located along the road who seemed a little aggressive, but they let us be since we were with a local guide.

 

The facilities for foot washing were rustic and a little gnarly looking, I didn't use the changing or ladies room, so I don't know if the condition of those facilities were of similar "look and feel". In general, this beach had the feel of a local beach rather than a resort beach. Each person has to decide for themselves their level of comfort with that. Some folks like a place with a local flavor and think it feels authentic, others prefer a beach where the infrastructure is designed to appeal to the tourist, with standards more along the lines of a resort area. Frigate Bay Beach definitely felt like the former.

 

Another thing about this beach was that it features the black sand you find in newer (relatively) islands and it was hot to walk on!

 

After our 1/2 hour, we rinsed off, dried our feet and pedaled back to the port.

[Familygoboston]

Walk around town- Shopping and Meeting new "friends"

 

We decided to walk around the port area for a little while before heading back to the ship. This is one of the best laid out and largest shopping areas at the port as I have seen at any port. Some ports have a small maze-like shopping area designed to "trap" passengers coming and going, (like in Cozumel) and others ports put you right into town where all the upscale shops have "taken over" the original downtown (like St Thomas). This port was developed with an upscale outdoor mall style shopping area that looked very popular with the passengers of both Independence and Jewel. It had an appealing mix of local shops and crafts and the "big" names you see at every port.

 

St Kitts is home to a large non native monkey population. They are an invasive species that probably arrived on slave ships from West Africa. We have seen monkeys in their natural habitat in many places, so we gave these monkeys a wide berth whether they had been "tamed" with diapers and a leash by a local for photo ops or whether they were in the trees on their own. Monkeys can have a nasty, infectious bite or parasites we could transfer to ourselves or pets at home and we treated them like other wild or semi domesticated (unattended dogs for instance) roaming animals- fun to watch, but not to be touched. Each person can make their own choices, but you should be warned that if you allow one of the locals to put the monkey on you, they are going to expect to be "paid" and will hassle you until you do. We saw some of these "monkey" vendors at the scenic lookout, at the beach as well as in the port shopping plaza.

 

(a view of the shopping area at Port Zante)

 

 

 

 

 

(at this shop I met a new friend, who made me just a little nervous)

 

 

 

 

(a view of both Indy and Jewel from the port shopping area)

 

 

 

 

(a view of the mountains of St Kitts from the port shopping area)

[Familygoboston]

Sail Away and Sunset St Kitts

 

After doing a little souvenir shopping for our loved ones at home, we re boarded the ship and went to the WJ for a late lunch.

 

Most afternoons, after we returned from the island, we would usually have a nap and wake up in time to enjoy sail away from our balcony. I also enjoy watching the local dock workers and ships crew doing the "business" of getting the ship cast off. It's a much "bigger" version of what we do in Maine on our smaller boats!

 

(guys working the lines)

 

 

 

 

 

 

(a seabird; I tried to google image it, but can't identify it...any birders out there who know?)

 

 

 

 

 

(Indy again with Port Zante in the background)

 

 

 

 

(how about the view that villa has!)

 

 

 

 

 

(sunset)

[Familygoboston]

Dinner, Shows and some blather about the Diamond Lounge

 

Warning: Every photo in this section is one of my "bad" iphone photos!!

 

After getting cleaned up for dinner, we have a little extra time before dinner, so we decided to go check out the Diamond event in Hollywood Odyssey on deck 13. We had just enough time to enjoy a glass of wine and have a nice conversation with a couple who had cruised quite a bit and lived all over the country with the husband's various postings with the Coast Guard. The lounge was not crowded when we went. We didn't stay very long because we had dinner scheduled 1/2 hour after we got there. We might have gone back another night, but we never made it back because of watching sail away on our balcony and dinner reservations.

 

 

I think I would much prefer to have the "free" drinks loaded onto my sea pass to enjoy at any lounge or bar. I know they have experimented with this on a recent TA where the DL's get too crowded; but I do hope it becomes the "law of the land" eventually. We enjoyed the folks we met in the Diamond lounge (and other Diamond cruisers around the ship) but oftentimes we would sit in the Centrum with a nice couple we met on their delayed honeymoon who was only on their second cruise and didn't have access to the Diamond lounge, or go to an early show where we could have enjoyed a drink before 8 PM in the theater.

 

My next cruise is with my mom (Gold) and I am not going to go "drink alone" in the DL, but I might go with mom (who would buy a drink; $$ for the cruise line) while I enjoy my "freebie" in a regular bar. Since this isn't option, we probably won't bother with either option and just go straight to dinner, since neither of us cares to drink much anyway. We just don't make use of the DL, and I wouldn't miss it that much if they loaded the "free drinks" onto the Sea Pass. Please don't take this the wrong way...I'm thankful for all the "benefits" I'd just make better use of them if they were administered in a different way!

 

Day 4 Dinner Arugula Menu

(it was White Night and probably 60% of the people wore something white!)

 

(new menu)

 

 

 

Tonight's dinner was a menu I had not seen on board during a 7 day cruise, so I took a picture of it! We couldn't sit with Ricky tonight and so we sat in another section; which was really quite nice because it was one of the more private tables near the rail overlooking the rest of the dining room. The service was also excellent. Ricky gave us that look like we had let him down somehow...of course, he understood that his section was full and was just kidding with us.

 

We had linguine pomodoro and veggie paella

 

 

 

 

Tonight's show was a headliner show-Wilde and James, was offered only at 7:45 PM; and we were at dinner then unfortunately, because this is the one show we probably would have liked. They were a comedy, juggling duo.

 

(show)

 

 

 

 

 

After dinner, we made our way to the Schooner Bar to enjoy some live music. I took a photo of DH in the "ship" in the entrance to the Schooner bar. I never realized that there is a padded bench in there, so it really is designed for you to "go into the boat". Previously, I had always thought it was just a decoration!

 

(DH in Schooner bar- there's a bench here!!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

We enjoyed the guitar of Del Fuentes in the Schooner Bar, he was excellent, really talented, but frankly, it was a little quiet for us, and we started nodding off. Looking for something a little more lively, we moved out to the Centrum where we noticed that the Jewel House band was playing Jazz.

 

I don't know if I've mentioned but the house band on Jewel is just one of my favorite bands!! I knew that they have probably changed out a few guys since February of 2012, but the spirit and talent of the band lives! They are very tight and that probably comes from playing together 2 times every single night. Even the best bands don't usually have gigs on Mondays. The scene in the Centrum was great. People were dancing on every level and the band leader said his set list was supposed to slow it down, but people were so responsive to the upbeat jazz they were playing, that they kept up the energy and it was a blast; a real connection between musician and listener. You could tell the guys were enjoying it as much as the passengers. We probably hung out and listened to them for 30 -40 minutes.

 

 

(Jazz in the Centrum with the Jewel house band)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then it was time to go to the Love and Marriage show. On this particular version, the oldest couple was married 60 years, but didn't wish to participate. So in the end the "longest" married couple and the "middle" married couple were only about 20 years apart and there wasn't that diversity you get with some Love and Marriage shows! The newlywed couple was very entertaining after deciding to share that he has a Tarzan costume he likes to wear when he's hoping to get a little action. Sometimes you can't believe these are not set ups, but you know they really aren't! I think the CD's know that people are crazier than you could script!!

 

I should take minute to express my opinion about Carly as CD. I really like her, I think she is funny and witty and also really warm and engaged with the passengers around the ship. Again, that seems like a top down sort of thing, you really can't be an aloof CD when you Captain will stop and chat with passengers on the stairway! She ran a great Love and Marriage, and I liked her intro's and send off's- she was short and sweet and entertaining!! (well, in real life she is sweet but tall and wonderfully leggy, like a dancer! But what she SAID was short and sweet!!)

 

After Love and Marriage we decided to go check out the White Hot Party at the pool deck. Ok, here is where I have a little criticism. I enjoy these kinds of parties, but I would like it to be more like a night club- you go and you dance with your friends or you partner, freestyle, to good music spun by the DJ.

 

Unfortunately, I find too many of these parties devolve into a line dancing session led by the cruise staff. I do this with my Zumba class and its fine, but I don't really love it on a cruise; it feels to me like something old people do on cruises vs a night club atmosphere (I'd like to pretend I'm young and cool while on board!) I wanted to attend the party to dance with my husband.

 

DH is convinced they do it because it looks so great in the cruise in review videos. Also, I can see where if you don't have a dance partner you can get involved anyway. I guess that's what people like, so I won't knock it, but its not for me, so I didn't last very long before we decided to just call it a night!

[Familygoboston]

Cruise Compasses Day 4

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Kids Planner Day 1)

 

 

 

 

Sorry I don't have more days of the kids planners, but this gives you an idea of how things get started and then if you have little people you will get one each day in your cabin!

[Familygoboston]

I'm pretty much caught up with posting everything I've written already and still need to "write" Dominica and the rest of the trip...but we have some big plans for the weekend (We are going to the Patriots vs the Browns game in Foxboro on Sunday) so I won't be able to write this weekend. I will try to write on Monday...I'm thinking that writing about Dominica will be just what I need to thaw out after the game;):D We've got lots of photos from our "Off the Beaten Path" tour with Woody and our Sail on Calabaza in Barbados. Even our time in San Juan includes a tour of Old San Juan and a trip to Fajardo to see the Bio-luminescencent Bay...so lots more photos to come...plus the rest of the menus and Cruise Compasses.

 

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!!

[The Big Booper]

In the picture of the group in the water at the beach, the woman in the middle is holding a red camera, what make was that? (Yes I obsess over waterproof cameras, we are on our 3rd, Lumix TS25)

 

Really good writeup of the trip, the Jewel is the only Radiance ship we haven't been on. Yet.

[Familygoboston]

In the picture of the group in the water at the beach, the woman in the middle is holding a red camera, what make was that? (Yes I obsess over waterproof cameras, we are on our 3rd, Lumix TS25)

 

Really good writeup of the trip, the Jewel is the only Radiance ship we haven't been on. Yet.

 

LOL! You would get along well with DH then :D That lady (Janet, who IS in fact wearing a bathing suit under there, BTW!:eek:) had a Nikon AW 110. The orange is only made by Nikon...its their old "diving camera" color and kind of a tradition, but its comes in other colors too. We met another couple with the Cannon water camera and they were very happy with it.

 

We've talked to quite a few divers and that's the tricky thing...it's hard to find a good camera that works at diving depths, usually people get a housing for their camera, but these are mucho dinero!! Plus then you are committed to that model, and I know for DH he upgrades with alarming regularity!!:rolleyes:

 

I think it might be cheaper just to push the limits of one of these AW point and shoots for shallow dives, and replace the camera IF and when it fails. The cards will be fine, so you wouldn't lose photos, just capability during your dive if it failed. But you could probably buy 4 AW 110's for a fraction of the price of one housing:eek:...and if you aren't doing a super deep water dive, you might be ok!!:confused: If you have a really deep dive planned you probably need a strobe anyway, right?? I'm not saying it's a cheap way to do it...but it might be "cheaper":D

[toto6]

Thanks for taking the time to do this. I have enjoyed the captions on the pics, the humor, the St Kitts map, the purse, etc., and looking forward to Calabaza in Barbados. We will be doing this excursion in March.

Have an enjoyable weekend. :)

[Russ Lomas]

(Indy again with Port Zante in the background)

 

I am absolutely loving your review thus far. Your DH takes some wonderful photos. I especially like the photos of the Independence, since we will be sailing her in March, and the Summit, which we will be on 3 weeks from now. You include great details and humour throughout your review. Keep up the great work.

 

We have never been to San Juan before, so I really enjoyed your comments about San Juan and the people on the Jewel who are from San Juan. I look forward to experiencing the San Juan culture shortly.

[Quilting Queen]

So glad you are going to review Fajardo and the Bio Bay. We will be spending a week on Puerto Rico before our cruise next May. We plan to do the Bio Bay from Fajardo and they will return the same evening so we can go 'home' at a decent hour. If you take the tour on Vieques you have to spend the night in a hotel on the island. The ferry stops running at 5:00 or 6:00 pm.

 

Norine

[Familygoboston]

Thanks for taking the time to do this. I have enjoyed the captions on the pics, the humor, the St Kitts map, the purse, etc., and looking forward to Calabaza in Barbados. We will be doing this excursion in March.

Have an enjoyable weekend. :)

 

Thanks! Well, spoiler alert- we loved Calabaza! ;) Weve got some great photos to share too! And that's where we saw the "sea horse";)

 

I am absolutely loving your review thus far. Your DH takes some wonderful photos. I especially like the photos of the Independence, since we will be sailing her in March, and the Summit, which we will be on 3 weeks from now. You include great details and humour throughout your review. Keep up the great work.

 

We have never been to San Juan before, so I really enjoyed your comments about San Juan and the people on the Jewel who are from San Juan. I look forward to experiencing the San Juan culture shortly.

 

Thanks Russ:o, so kind of you! Those summit cabins looked pretty amazing! You'll have to let me know what you think. DH is a little fearful that Celebrity might be too sedate for us (but then again, after reading the first 4 days of our cruise we aren't exactly wild partiers now are we? Hitting the hay at 11 PM and only making it to the Diamond lounge for our free drinks once:rolleyes:

[Familygoboston]

So glad you are going to review Fajardo and the Bio Bay. We will be spending a week on Puerto Rico before our cruise next May. We plan to do the Bio Bay from Fajardo and they will return the same evening so we can go 'home' at a decent hour. If you take the tour on Vieques you have to spend the night in a hotel on the island. The ferry stops running at 5:00 or 6:00 pm.

 

Norine

 

Thanks Norine- a whole week, lucky you! We had exactly 24 hours and it wasn't near enough time to enjoy all PR has to offer. I don't have many pics for my review of Bio Bay - it was dark:D But ill let you know our thoughts about it. We didn't have the option of going out to Vieques because we had an 8 AM flight the next day. When I get to that day- I will have some specific thoughts for you about considering going out to the island, if you can make the time! I'm glad you mentioned it, so we can "discuss" when I get to the SJ section!

[AZ Karaoke Girl]

I am also looking forward to Calabaza. I have it booked in May along with many of us AZ cruisers including Ginny. Ginny found the tour and told us about it so we are all excited. Since it is a small group, our roll call (Mostly AZ group) has pretty much taken over the catamaran.

[Familygoboston]

 

 

I THINK I'VE GOT IT!!

 

I think it's an albatross! The one it looks most like is the Wollongong Albatross, which proves my bird identification skills are really bad, because any of you who recognize Woolongong would know that's Australian :rolleyes: And that would make this one very lost big bird! So it's not a Wollongong Albatross, even though it plays one on google images, but it is some kind of albatross! Hows that for precision! LOL! Sign me up for Audubon! :D

 

I think I'm going to have to be able to tell my albatrosses from my elbow before we go to Antarctica!

Edited December 7, 2013 by Familygoboston

[Familygoboston]

I am also looking forward to Calabaza. I have it booked in May along with many of us AZ cruisers including Ginny. Ginny found the tour and told us about it so we are all excited. Since it is a small group, our roll call (Mostly AZ group) has pretty much taken over the catamaran.

 

Oh, do it! We went with about 1/2 the group who had "meet" already on board and we had so much fun! Another 4 were from Las Vegas but also on our cruise and there was one couple from Britain staying in Barbados, whom we were all very inclusive with! More dets and pics to come...but do it! Top notch :D

[arekayone]

My wife and I did the same bike tour on a Celebrity Cruise last year and had an absolute blast. Best excursion we have ever done. Your picture of the big tour guide brought back great memories.

 

Only 6 of us on our bike trip....I'm 51, wife is 48 (we ride a lot) and we had a couple in their early 70's on the ride. They were unbelievably fit and a great deal of fun to ride with. Other couple was a woman in her 30's and her 40 yo boyfriend. She was in shape, he wasn't and only lasted about 10 minutes riding. I felt so bad for that guy; I've never seen anyone's color change to such a bright shade of red - I thought he was going to die (I think the guides did too). Safety first! Safety first! I can still hear that in my mind.

 

One of my favorite memories of that ride was the fresh coconut they gave us at the beach stop. I had never had it before and almost ate every bit of it they had.

 

Thanks for posting the review and especially the pics of the ride. You stirred great memories of our 25th anniversary cruise!

[Familygoboston]

My wife and I did the same bike tour on a Celebrity Cruise last year and had an absolute blast. Best excursion we have ever done. Your picture of the big tour guide brought back great memories.

 

Only 6 of us on our bike trip....I'm 51, wife is 48 (we ride a lot) and we had a couple in their early 70's on the ride. They were unbelievably fit and a great deal of fun to ride with. Other couple was a woman in her 30's and her 40 yo boyfriend. She was in shape, he wasn't and only lasted about 10 minutes riding. I felt so bad for that guy; I've never seen anyone's color change to such a bright shade of red - I thought he was going to die (I think the guides did too). Safety first! Safety first! I can still hear that in my mind.

 

One of my favorite memories of that ride was the fresh coconut they gave us at the beach stop. I had never had it before and almost ate every bit of it they had.

 

Thanks for posting the review and especially the pics of the ride. You stirred great memories of our 25th anniversary cruise!

 

Glad it brought good memories back! We are close to your age - not mid to late 40s;) and ride all the time for fitness and touring when we travel. No doubt we had the easiest time, as we are used to hills biking all summer in Maine! The ones who had the hardest time were the 20 something sisters, I had the feeling they might have only biked around a European town some where- flat and cool. I don't think the hills and the heat helped! :( It didn't bother us in any way, other than they didn't seem like they enjoyed it. But the rest of us had fun! They are a great outfit, and do a super job, one of our better Royal tours! In general, I don't hesitate to do these " active " (biking, kayaking, long hikes) tours through the cruise line; there are rarely more than 12 people and most times a lot fewer like you experienced!

[barbie]

Do you remember what time disembarkation began?