The Arizona Cruisers Invade the Southern Caribbean B2B on the Jewel of the Seas!

[Sunny AZ Girl]

Well, this is it for today. We are about to head out for a Memorial Day BBQ! So let me finish today's segment with a teaser for tomorrow - when the Arizona Cruisers join the Jet Set in St. Martin!

 

[courtsavvy]

Love the review so far...almost like being back on the ship! We had a great time meeting you all! :)

[seeshore]

I'm enjoying your review Ginny!

[PurrSusan]

Ginny: The 04/25/15 shout-out was for Cathy, aka ch214, who posted that she would be on Jewel then but you could always change your cruise plans & join us too! :) Looking forward to more tomorrow!

Edited May 27, 2014 by PurrSusan

[mychild]

Hi. I'm new to cc and I am loving your review. My DD and I are sailing the Jewel in March next year!!! I can learn so much.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone

[fish6]

Great start! Very excited to see the rest. I have one question for you as you had just turned diamond. We are diamond members too and are planning on the Jewel next year. I realize there is no Diamond lounge on the Jewel.....did they just have a diamond event? Where was it held and what was included? I was hoping that they loaded the 3 drinks/evening on the sea pass cards like I heard they have done as an experiment on other ships.

[surfnsun]

You are ROCKING IT, Ginny! Loving your review! :)

[Sunny AZ Girl]

Great start! Very excited to see the rest. I have one question for you as you had just turned diamond. We are diamond members too and are planning on the Jewel next year. I realize there is no Diamond lounge on the Jewel.....did they just have a diamond event? Where was it held and what was included? I was hoping that they loaded the 3 drinks/evening on the sea pass cards like I heard they have done as an experiment on other ships.

 

I am getting to that a little later on in this review. But just for a short answer to your question is that they had a Diamond Lounge set up in the Hollywood Odyssey Lounge. It was very nice complete with hot appetizers. We never took advantage of it the first week. Since we aren't big drinkers I didn't think there would be anything besides drinks available. We found it the second week and enjoyed it most evenings.

 

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

[Az's Cruising Nana]

Enjoying sailing vicariously with you guys thru your review. We were so disappointed not to get to sail with the group this year. Keep up the good work makes me feel like I was there.

 

Sue

[Sunny AZ Girl]

You are ROCKING IT, Ginny! Loving your review! :)

:D:D:D

 

Enjoying sailing vicariously with you guys thru your review. We were so disappointed not to get to sail with the group this year. Keep up the good work makes me feel like I was there.

 

Sue

Hopefully. Someday soon we will sail together again. There was a great big Sue and Audie shaped hole in our group!:(

[fish6]

I am getting to that a little later on in this review. But just for a short answer to your question is that they had a Diamond Lounge set up in the Hollywood Odyssey Lounge. It was very nice complete with hot appetizers. We never took advantage of it the first week. Since we aren't big drinkers I didn't think there would be anything besides drinks available. We found it the second week and enjoyed it most evenings.

 

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

 

Thank you! Were the drinks complimentary or only 25% off? I have heard that the Diamond event usually only comps the wine and pop and all other alcoholic drinks are 25% off. Thanks for your help ☺️

Edited May 27, 2014 by fish6

[onyx007]

Great Review. I was on the old Jewel in March doing a b2b.

Have a great time reading that you did some things like I did.

(for example the meet and mingle on day 1)

[Helldog878]

Ginny,

Awesome thread-am reliving the cruise all over again! Thank you and all the other AZ Cruisers for letting us join your circle. We feel we have made some long-lasting friendships. We hope to see you on some future cruises.

 

Emily & Frank

[BillOh]

Ginny,

Awesome thread-am reliving the cruise all over again! Thank you and all the other AZ Cruisers for letting us join your circle. We feel we have made some long-lasting friendships. We hope to see you on some future cruises.

 

Emily & Frank

 

I will also add it was a pleasure making your acquaintance.

[BillOh]

 

While the picture is of Emily (Helldog) I believe, the two leopard print suitcases are ours. Never a problem finding them in the terminal after a cruise of the airport baggage claim :D

[Sunny AZ Girl]

Thank you! Were the drinks complimentary or only 25% off? I have heard that the Diamond event usually only comps the wine and pop and all other alcoholic drinks are 25% off. Thanks for your help ☺️

I only had wine and soda, so can't say for sure. However, I do believe that mixed drinks are included. I will dig out the Diamond Perks letter we got and see if they have it there a bit later.

 

Great Review. I was on the old Jewel in March doing a b2b.

Have a great time reading that you did some things like I did.

(for example the meet and mingle on day 1)

Thank you. Yes, having the Meet & Greet right away helped on this cruise that was so port intensive. The actual M&M wasn't until Antigua Day, so that was mid-cruise. It was nice to be able to recognize faces around the ship all week!

[Sunny AZ Girl]

Ginny,

Awesome thread-am reliving the cruise all over again! Thank you and all the other AZ Cruisers for letting us join your circle. We feel we have made some long-lasting friendships. We hope to see you on some future cruises.

 

Emily & Frank

 

Yes. We meet some of of our best friends through cruising. It seems to attract the nicest people.:) We loved having you along. Steve was just saying last night that he would like to sail with you both again.:)

 

Bill - I never took you for a leopard print type of guy! What you learn about your friends......;)

[BillOh]

Yes. We meet some of of our best friends through cruising. It seems to attract the nicest people.:) We loved having you along. Steve was just saying last night that he would like to sail with you both again.:)

 

Bill - I never took you for a leopard print type of guy! What you learn about your friends......;)

 

I never showed you my bikini briefs I guess. Gina picked those out, with the addon she does, makes it realy easy to find in the terminals. I was going to buy the Brito luggage on Allure for that reason, but it would have been $400-$500

[Sunny AZ Girl]

Week One, Day Two, St. Martin

 

The day was picture perfect, sunny and warm when we awoke and were already in port in St. Martin. We have been to St. Martin several times in the past and we had planned this day to be relaxed. Unlike our ports that were coming up later in the next two weeks we had no plans for tours today. We were originally planning to make this a ship day, until I found out that a 747 was arriving at Princess Juliana Airport in the late morning. We had enjoyed a delightful few hours at Sunset Bar & Grill on Maho Beach watching the landings and take-offs last year so much we decided to repeat the experience again this year. Nothing like a burger, a cool drink and a large jet landing within a few feet of your beach umbrella to create a delightful beach experience!

 

While not the greatest beach for water sports it is swimmable and there were people in the water. It was inviting to cool off on a hot day. But we did not even bring our suits as we were planning to keep cool with a frosty beverage on the patio and watch the show. Our friends Bill & Gina did don their swim wear and parked down on the beach with Jon and Penny.

 

 

I know that Bill did a Great Review already with a

right over his head.

 

Unfortunately, due to camera issues (it couldn’t be operator error!) I missed the shot of the big girl landing over the beach. This is as close as I came.

 

At least the 747 was not the only jet landing that day. I did manage a few shots of other landings.

 

 

 

[beachluver9]

Week One, Day Two, St. Martin

 

The day was picture perfect, sunny and warm when we awoke and were already in port in St. Martin. We have been to St. Martin several times in the past and we had planned this day to be relaxed. Unlike our ports that were coming up later in the next two weeks we had no plans for tours today. We were originally planning to make this a ship day, until I found out that a 747 was arriving at Princess Juliana Airport in the late morning. We had enjoyed a delightful few hours at Sunset Bar & Grill on Maho Beach watching the landings and take-offs last year so much we decided to repeat the experience again this year. Nothing like a burger, a cool drink and a large jet landing within a few feet of your beach umbrella to create a delightful beach experience!

 

While not the greatest beach for water sports it is swimmable and there were people in the water. It was inviting to cool off on a hot day. But we did not even bring our suits as we were planning to keep cool with a frosty beverage on the patio and watch the show. Our friends Bill & Gina did don their swim wear and parked down on the beach with Jon and Penny.

 

 

I know that Bill did a Great Review already with a Go-Pro video of the 747 landing right over his head.

 

Unfortunately, due to camera issues (it couldn’t be operator error!) I missed the shot of the big girl landing over the beach. This is as close as I came.

 

 

At least the 747 was not the only jet landing that day. I did manage a few shots of other landings.

 

 

 

 

Ginny, Jim used to have a t-shirt that said "I LOVE the smell of jet fuel in the morning". It would have been perfect for that beach!

Edited May 27, 2014 by beachluver9

[Sunny AZ Girl]

We enjoyed huge, juicy burgers and once again the company of friends. The Sunset Bar and Grill does require a minimum of $40 for using credit cards. We ordered two burgers with fries and a couple of ice teas and sodas and we came out with exactly that amount. Oh well, it’s a vacation, right?

 

 

 

We caught a taxi back to port a little before 2 PM. The taxi ride each way was $8 pp and there were plenty of taxi’s available both at the port and at Sunset Bar and Grill. They do try to smash as many people in a taxi as possible, so be prepared for that.

 

On Sundays most of the downtown shops were going to close around 1 or 2 PM so we headed right back to the ship. No biggie for me. Remember how much I like to shop? There are a few stores right at the port and that was enough for me. On ship days the port stores stay open. I found my obligatory Christmas ornament and headed “home”.

 

St. Martin is the only port on this entire two week cruise where we had another ship in port with us. The NCL Dawn was also there with us that day.

 

 

We had experienced in St. Martin on the Allure the previous year that the walk to the taxi area was one of the longest we had experienced and only found out on the way back that there were little golf carts available to shuttle passengers from the ship to the shopping and taxi/tour area. We looked for the shuttle right away this time, only to find that that long walk wasn’t nearly as long as I had remembered. I figured out later that the Allure must dock much further back than the smaller ships.

 

Once onboard we beelined to our cabin to partake in our favorite shipboard activity – an afternoon balcony nap. My way to cruise.....

We sailed away soon after sunset. I caught this picture from the dining room window during our 6 PM dinner.

 

That evening we went to the Production Show, West End to Broadway. Let me climb on my soapbox here. I see so many complaints about the Production shows not being the same quality as a Broadway show. We love live theater, especially musical theater. I have been to wonderful shows on Broadway, Off Broadway, major theaters across the country, local dinner theaters, high school productions and theater done on ships many times. I have enjoyed almost every one. I adjust my expectations to the venue. On a ship I go to be entertained and that is just what I get. I usually enjoy the shows on the ship. I do not compare them to Broadway. I found the sets to be well done and the talent on this cruise to be a little above average. I had heard that the singers were weak. Maybe there was a change of performers since I last read a review but these were decent. Probably only a bit more than 50% of the songs sung were familiar, though. We wish they had projected the name of the show that the songs were from on a screen.

 

 

 

After the show we visited the Schooner Bar and listened to the piano for a bit before calling it a night. Tomorrow we will be having fun in the sun at Carambola Beach Club in St. Kitts!

 

Here are more pictures from our St. Martin day.

[Sunny AZ Girl]

Week One, Day Two – St. Kitts

 

Aaaah.....another beautiful morning in the Caribbean. Today we planned to meet the other Arizona Cruisers who wanted to spend the day at Carambola Beach Club in St. Kitts in the Schooner lounge at 8:45 AM, and we are not early risers. Even when we get up early we prefer to take our time in the morning. Therefore, our answer to early port days is breakfast on the balcony. We order our breakfast each port day by filling out the door knob hanging menu before we go to bed. We then order a wake up call for 15 minutes prior to our requested delivery time. That way Steve will be up and at least have his pants on before they come. Once the call comes to announce they are on the way the knock on the door is almost immediate. Let me also add the room service was always on time. In the half hour span that they give you to expect room service the call almost always came at the very beginning of the time frame. We also discovered on this cruise (and it took us 13 + cruises to figure this out) that the curtain by the bed unhooks and you can actually pull said curtain to shield the bed from prying eyes. Duh. So, if I wasn’t quite ready to be presented to the world I could hide behind my curtain while the room service person dropped off the tray. Steve would give his regular $2 tip and we would head out to the balcony to enjoy our breakfast in style. While I was fully covered at this point I was really hoping our balcony neighbor wouldn’t poke his or her head around the divider to say “hi”. As far as the supposed balcony cameras are concerned, I figured those who monitor the cameras have seen worse.

 

Now this is where there has been a huge improvement since our last cruise on a ship of this class. The balcony table is actually usable! I mean, I do not have to balance my plate on my knee so that my coffee cup can occupy the precious little space available. Heaven with a view!

 

 

I don’t know if the tables on all of the balconies have been changed or if they will be, but from what we could tell all of the aft balconies had been.

 

The Jewel backed into port quite a distance. As we got closer to the huge rocks lining the shore I found myself saying, “”A little more, slowly...slowly...STOP!” And lo and behold, the Captain heard me and stopped right where I said. So we headed off to meet the others feeling rather smug in our ability to direct a great big cruise ship safely into port.

 

 

 

After meeting our friends we headed off the ship at 9 AM. I had reserved 4 umbrellas and 8 chairs for the day about 2 months prior. Our reservation was for 9:30 and they would hold the chairs and umbrellas for one hour. We didn’t want to take a chance on losing our space! The cost was $30 per couple for 2 chairs and 1 umbrella ($10 each item).

 

Once outside the ship there were shuttles available to take people to the port entrance if desired. We found this to be true at most ports. The shuttles were mostly golf carts and the only fee was a tip, if desired. Whenever we used a shuttle for a short ride we would tip $1 for each of us. When we were hot and tired we were grateful for the ride. Taxi’s were plentiful. We found a nice taxi driver who gave us a short tour around Basseterre unasked. The cab was an old Mercedes van which we found after we got in to have no a/c. Fortunately, the temperatures were nice that day and the drive was bearable. The price of the cab each way was $4 pp each way, plus tip. Our driver was quick to point out local landmarks along the way.

 

 

 

The beaches we saw looked inviting.

 

[Sunny AZ Girl]

We felt very fortunate to be visiting St. Kitts twice in our two week cruise. It would be our only repeat island. We have never been to St. Kitts before and my research told me that this is also an island I would like to tour. So, we decided to do a beach day the first week and a tour the second week. It was a good choice as the day proved to be perfect weather today, and next week would have rain on and off all day.

 

When we arrived at Carambola Beach Club they were just getting ready to open. We checked in and within a few minutes our comfy padded chairs and large umbrellas were set up and ready for us. The people in our group today from the left are Jerry & Sheila (Prickley Pear), Bev (Hershey Kiss) & Dave, Lisa (AZ Karaoke Girl) & “young” Steve and myself and “old Steve”.

 

 

What can I say about Carambola? The views were delightful, the sand and sea were gorgeous, the water was warm, the food and drinks plentiful and delicious and the company superb. It was a perfect beach day.

 

 

 

 

We ordered lunch and it was delivered on china plates with real silverware right at our seats. Most got burgers, but I had a taste for the BBQ chicken I smelled cooking. Yum!

 

 

A couple of us even had a beach massage. The price was $1 a minute. For $30 I had a 30 minute massage that was wonderful. Perhaps the sound of the surf made it better, but the girl doing the massage was a licensed massage therapist, trained in the USA and knew her stuff.

 

[

[Sunny AZ Girl]

For those who wanted a break from the sun there was a full service bar and restaurant inside the upscale, modern building.

 

 

 

Clean Restrooms and fresh water showers for cleaning off the salt and sand are also available

 

 

Inside was a comfortable air conditioned lounge

 

 

We did find the snorkeling to be lacking, but other water sports made up for it if you were inclined to do more than exercise your biceps lifting a bottle of Carib Beer to your lips and back down again.

 

 

[

[Sunny AZ Girl]

We had asked our cab driver from the morning to come back and pick us up at 2:30, which he promptly did. Other cabs were available if prior arrangements had not been made. On the way back we passed some of the locals.

 

 

We also stopped for a picture of the ship from this viewpoint.

 

 

When we stopped for pictures the cab really started to smoke. It turned out the driver had the emergency brake on the whole way, up and down some pretty big hills. We made it safely back to the ship, but I said a prayer along the way! Nice taxi driver. He needs a new van.

 

After arriving back to the ship we found had time to take a short nap. I could see a pattern developing here.

 

Dinner that night was Italian. I don’t remember the menu names, sorry. But, the waiters did their thing singing a serenade to all of their adoring fans.

 

 

Tonight was the Welcome Back Party for C&A Members. Our Captain Gustavo, a very charming and gregarious fellow, spoke and told his story as to how he became the newest Captain to join the RCI fleet. We enjoyed the interesting story about a young man filled with determination and persistence. If you get to sail with him before he gets sent to Argentina to sail the RCI ships in that part of the world in the near future, be sure to go and listen to his story.

 

 

After the party we were treated to the Headliner Show “Re-Voiced”. We were glad we went this week as they were leaving the ship the next day. They were leaving to do a school tour promoting music programs in schools. Since our daughter is a music teacher their story spoke to our hearts. They are an acapella group and do all instrumental sounds using their voices and were very good. I think it helped that they sang songs from our era. Get Ready anyone? Check out this YouTube video.

 

 

And it was off to bed for us. The ship maps at the elevators are always handy for helping you find your way back to your cabin after one too many Lava Flows.

 

 

This is a port intensive cruise and tomorrow we will be roaming Antigua with Lawrence!