Jewel ~ S. Caribbean and Panama Canal ~ April 25th & May 2nd ~ My Diary

[wolfganghowell]

:D Come on, you know better than to have a life mid review. ;) Just kidding. You are very generous with your time to do these. Thanks again.

[maxs mom]

Hi Jane, loving the pictures.

We did a full transit way back in 2002 on Radiance, brings back memories.

 

We met Bernard for the first time on a freebie one night sailing on Brilliance out of Harwich. I sat next to him in Chops at the invitation only meal.

As we know most top cruisers in UK and some in Europe I was surprised we had never met before until he told me he had NEVER sailed out of the UK or Europe ! . All his cruising has been in the Caribbean ! WOW. He did have a good tan at the time:)

 

LOL!! I didn't know that about Bernard! He does love the Caribbean, though. He still has a good tan!

[maxs mom]

Jane - WONDERFUL review! Thank you so much for doing this. I know it takes a lot of time.

 

We are looking forward fto our frst PC cruise in October. We were not able to get an aft cabin by the time we booked, so we are on the side. It was good to see that you were still able to see a lot from that vantage point. We do plan to be up around for the crossing, though.

 

Yes....those aft cabins are great, but we thoroughly enjoyed our port side cabin all the way forward. If you are going in the other direction.....I think starboard side would be best.

[maxs mom]

Saturday ~ May 9, 2015 ~ Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala

 

 

We were sleeping nicely this morning when our phone rings at 6:15 to let us know that our toilets were working again! Thank you......we didn't know that they weren't working! But that WAS an issue quite a bit on this cruise. They were always up and running again quickly, however. So it wasn't a big deal. That's just part of cruising.

 

The CL was once again very crowded this morning. It was very foggy and rainy outside.

 

 

Had a great table for breakfast. Lots of laughs!

 

 

 

Another super nice couple that we met during this cruise.....Johnny and Nell from Texas.

 

 

We didn't arrive in Guatemala until around 10:30, so there was no hurry this morning. We hung out in the CL and watched the docking. Small port......looks like we were in the middle of nowhere......very industrial.....lots of fishing.

 

[Cat54]

Oh my! We love St. Kitts. We've been all over but happily spend our day at the Marriott each time. I hope you like it!!

 

We have only been to St. Kitts once. We took a ship excursion to a beach. We were not too impressed with the beach. I wish I could remember the name of it. We did pass the Marriott on the way. Love Marriott properties. I am sure if we decide to spend the day there we will have a great time. Do I need to book a day pass in advance?

 

Thanks, enjoying your review.:D

[maxs mom]

 

 

We booked another excursion for today. Ugh!! This one was better than the other one, though, but it got off to a rough start.

 

We were to meet in the theater today and that is where ALL the excursions met up. What a mess!

 

 

 

 

We finally got into the theater and down front to get our stickers (which would NOT stick to my clothes, by the way! I think it was just too humid!)

 

[Cat54]

B2B's are the best. That's about all we do now because I really like to relax. We relax all the time at home' date=' too, but there is just something about being on the ocean!![/size']

 

We are doing our first b2b in February. I have a feeling that once we do one b2b that is all we will want to do in the future. We have been on several 11 night cruises and they were also wonderful. They were port intensive but we had enough sea days to recover.

[maxs mom]

We sat down and waited and waited for our number t be called. Finally we headed slowly out to the buses. (Herded like cows!)

 

 

 

Off we go. We were going on an animal safari today. It is the Auto Safari in Chapin. It got good reviews on Trip Advisor so I was hopeful.

 

 

There was good air conditioning in our bus today. We probably had about a 45 minute to an hour ride to get there. We first stopped so that everyone could use the restroom. Lots of parrots sitting around all over the place.

 

 

We drove through the park in our big old bus.....not ideal but it would have to do. It was hard to photograph the animals through the dirty bus windows, too. But here we are in Guatemala going on an African Safari!!! All in all.....this was pretty neat.

 

We started out with Zebras:

 

 

[maxs mom]

We have only been to St. Kitts once. We took a ship excursion to a beach. We were not too impressed with the beach. I wish I could remember the name of it. We did pass the Marriott on the way. Love Marriott properties. I am sure if we decide to spend the day there we will have a great time. Do I need to book a day pass in advance?

 

Thanks, enjoying your review.:D

 

Cathy....you do not have to do anything in advance when you are going to the Marriott. Just go there and get your day passes at the front desk. You will get wristband to wear.

[maxs mom]

Next were the hippos!!

 

 

 

All the animals were living out in the open and the place was nicely done. Here are a few more:

 

 

 

 

Then we came upon my favorite of the day......the giraffes!!

 

[maxs mom]

More of the adorable giraffes!

 

 

 

 

 

[OfTheSeasCruiser]

 

Well we saw some of Costa Rica today. I think there are much more beautiful parts that I would like to come back and try to find. This just didn't do much for me today. We will know better next time.

 

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First off, great review so far!

 

Second, sorry you had a poor experience in Costa Rica. It really is a nice country to visit though. I spent a week in Manuel Antonio in 2011 and had a really great experience, but if I was in that bus with no AC, I would have felt the same exact way!! :)

[maxs mom]

Gosh.....I loved those giraffes!!

 

 

There were lots more animals to see, though.

 

 

About halfway through the tour, we stopped at another area of the park and walked around where we saw pumas, jaguars, and peacocks. Quite nice.

 

 

 

 

[maxs mom]

First off, great review so far!

 

Second, sorry you had a poor experience in Costa Rica. It really is a nice country to visit though. I spent a week in Manuel Antonio in 2011 and had a really great experience, but if I was in that bus with no AC, I would have felt the same exact way!! :)

 

Oh....I know Costa Rica is a beautiful place....no question! But the area we went to was not it!!! I fully expect to go back and get to those beautiful areas!! One of my favorite Royal Caribbean employees is from Costa Rica and she is beautiful, too!

[maxs mom]

Lots of thunder.....and then the rains came. We barely made it back to the bus in time!!

 

 

 

 

 

We had a nice day here. All in all.....it was worth doing this tour. I would recommend it. And I forgot to tell you......our guide gave us a beer, too!!

 

It was an hour back to the port. We shopped a little bit at the shops right there at the port. There was a very nice little shopping area there. and they had some really nice "stuff" that you could buy. I was too hot and tired to do much shopping though. We will have to go back so I can look at all that "stuff" again!

 

 

Edited June 3, 2015 by max'smom

[maxs mom]

 

SO we heard there was some free Wi-Fi around here some place, so we found a little bar that said that had it, but it wasn't very good. We DID have a good beer, though!

 

 

 

 

 

Really, the souvenirs were good here.

 

Edited June 3, 2015 by max'smom

[maxs mom]

If we ever come back here, I think we might check this place out:

 

 

We strolled on back to the ship after the pretty non existent Wi-Fi.

 

 

 

I saved the best picture of the day for last!

 

 

Ahhhhhh.....it was good to be back "home"!

 

[Cat54]

Cathy....you do not have to do anything in advance when you are going to the Marriott. Just go there and get your day passes at the front desk. You will get wristband to wear.

 

Thanks Jane!

[Sunny AZ Girl]

Wonderful pictures! Thank you again.

 

Our October Roll Call has a wonderful excursion organzer and we have 4 private tours booked privately in Guatamala, Costa Rica, Colon Panama, and Cartagena. After reading your reports I am really glad we are doing it that way! I have organzed a tour in Puerto Vallarta, so I really hope we are not cancelled there. So far it is still on the itinerary.:eek:

 

I am hanging onto your every word.:)

[maxs mom]

Wonderful pictures! Thank you again.

 

Our October Roll Call has a wonderful excursion organzer and we have 4 private tours booked privately in Guatamala, Costa Rica, Colon Panama, and Cartagena. After reading your reports I am really glad we are doing it that way! I have organzed a tour in Puerto Vallarta, so I really hope we are not cancelled there. So far it is still on the itinerary.:eek:

 

I am hanging onto your every word.:)

 

Ginny......you are smart to organize your own tours! You will be fine. That's the best way to go!!

[narling94]

Hello! Does anyone know if there's going to be any Panama Canal cruises for 2016? I'm anxiously waiting but it seems like it's the only destination not available next year.

[maxs mom]

It was around 5 o'clock when we got back to the ship. We were drenched with humidity. I needed to start getting ready for the evening right away....no down time.

 

Here we go!

 

 

We visited with friends for a while. I asked Joseph to make a sangria for me tonight. I thought that might cool me off! It was very tasty!

 

 

 

 

 

We went to Portofino tonight. Not many there. We ordered our usual.....tenderloin and T-Bone. Delicious! Same desserts. We had great service. Even though I didn't eat that much......I was stuffed.

 

 

We went right to the casino and played the Wheel machines. When I was up $10 I cashed out and John won $8. It was short tonight but still incredible that we are still winning!

 

There was actually a decent movie on in the cabin tonight, so we watched that before retiring.

Edited June 3, 2015 by max'smom

[Sunny AZ Girl]

Hello! Does anyone know if there's going to be any Panama Canal cruises for 2016? I'm anxiously waiting but it seems like it's the only destination not available next year.

 

That is a no. The Jewel is going to Europe after the winter season and no ships will be repositioning through the canal. Celebrity will be doing the canal if you want to stick with the RCI brand.

[narling94]

That is a no. The Jewel is going to Europe after the winter season and no ships will be repositioning through the canal. Celebrity will be doing the canal if you want to stick with the RCI brand.

 

 

Thank you!! I looked at Celebrity but they stop the panama cruises from May to September and those are the months I'm available :/

[LeeBe]

Thank you!! I looked at Celebrity but they stop the panama cruises from May to September and those are the months I'm available :/

 

Perhaps you can find a Canal cruise to the West coast early May and then an East bound cruise mid to late September, but there is usually nothing during the bulk of that time frame. The Summer months are not the time for Canal cruises.