(Slightly less so) Cheapo dad's trip report on Independence of the Seas

[harryfat1]

Time for the last stop of the tour. The typical 90 minute stop at the local beach. They dropped us off at Jolly Beach.

 

Antigua has many beaches. They claim to be 365. Whatever. Don’t think it’s that many but they have lots and we saw few really pretty ones on the way to Jolly Beach. Some people call it the prettiest beach. Not sure I want to go there but at the color of the water is WOW and the sand is pretty soft.

 

Scenery along the way

 

 

 

I believe Curtis said this was Turners Beach. He said the Jolly beach is better. From what I saw as we drove by, I would disagree.

 

 

Jolly Beach is a tad too commercialized for us but it is bigger but a whole lot more people Guess that is a personal preference thing what you prefer.

 

This is Turners Beach as we drove by.

 

[harryfat1]

Pineapple field

 

 

We made it to Jolly Beach. Had to follow this guy if you want a beach chair. Think it was $10 for 2? We didn't get it as we were only going to be there short time but brother in law always gets two so they stayed in the section by the umbrellas and chairs while we went over to the cheap seats

 

 

More shopping if anyone is interested

 

 

Where we arrived at the beach, it was a bit cloudy so the ocean water wasn’t super. But later on when the sun broke through the clouds, you can see the pretty colors.

 

 

 

 

[harryfat1]

More beach pics:

 

 

So if you get to the beach late, you chairs/umbrellas will be behind the people who got there before you.

 

 

If you walk further out away from the crowd like we did, you get no obstructions

 

 

 

[harryfat1]

Back side of the beach

 

 

You see these dark clouds? Soon they will be over us

 

 

Somewhere during our time at the beach, it started to rain. HARD. The wind was blowing and the sands were flying everywhere and people were scrambling to leave. And as we were half way running back to the main building, it stopped so we walked back to the beach in our now soaked shirts and back packs and set up camp once more.

 

 

 

 

With some people leaving, we snagged two chairs when they left

 

 

 

 

 

 

Very clean beach

 

 

Edited February 5, 2018 by harryfat1

[harryfat1]

Lots and lots of people over at this end of the beach by the parking lot

 

 

 

 

 

A lot less crowded on this end

 

[harryfat1]

 

No more rain clouds

 

 

Just in case someone has never seen sand before, here it is...

 

 

 

 

 

Wow beach colors with very little ocean waves to speak of

 

[harryfat1]

Picture of the 2 chairs we got for free as the people bailed during the rain

 

 

 

 

[harryfat1]

At about 2:30, it was time to pack up and walk back toward the front building to look for Curtis to take us back to the ship. The other British couple didn’t want to do a beach trip and they had already went back to the cruise terminal earlier.

 

I like this picture as you can see the different color of the water as the clouds pass through the sun. When the sun is shining, the ocean color turns the incredible blue color. When sun is behind the clouds, it's much lighter

 

 

Airplane flying overhead as there's the airport nearby but it's not anywhere close to Maho Beach's airport scenery

 

 

A whole lot of people standing in line getting drinks

 

 

At about 2:30, it was time to pack up and walk back toward the front building to look for Curtis to take us back to the ship. The other British couple didn’t want to do a beach trip and they had already went back to the cruise terminal earlier.

 

As I was walking past this area and took this picture, I felt a sharp pain in my left eye. OUCH! What was that? Don’t know. Something got into my eye. Not good. But nothing we can do about it now as we walk toward the parking lot as I squinted like a one eye pirate walking toward the van

 

[harryfat1]

Still reading every night. Great pictures and I am enjoying all of up. Keep up the great review.

Donna

 

Hi, Donna,

 

Thanks for continuing to read along. Appreciate your time and feedback.

 

Harry

[DandDM]

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh my, this is a dead ringer for my dog! How did she get to Antigua!! Lol

 

Following along and enjoying the photos and comments, thanks for posting

 

 

 

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[Dixie1337]

Other than the crowds that seems like a gorgeous beach!

[Lounroxluv]

Only on page 12 right now but I’m sucked in.

 

 

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[VPIcruiser]

What was in your eye? When my oldest son was four, he was looking up at a bird and the seagull pooped in his eye. Thankfully, he was okay but eww.

[micmacmissy]

I'm still here, too! Loving the daily updates. Especially this morning as school is cancelled due to ice- what better way to pass the time than looking at pink beaches and palm trees!

 

So...are you guys not water people? Don't see you swimming or in the water much. When I'm on vacation all I want to do is find the beach, sit on the beach, swim at the beach. So I really appreciate reviews where people actually tour the islands- the Dockyard looked really interesting! Maybe on our next cruise I'll have to schedule some actual tours!

 

Thanks as always Harry, keep up the good work!

[joand452]

I'm still here, too. We went to Antigua in 2010; toured with Lawrence of Antigua -- still have his business card somewhere. I don't think we had a beach stop, but I do know we went to the Dockyard and to Devil's Bridge? Reach? I can't even remember. I feel like we've done so many of these tours, they're starting to all blend in to one another. I thought it was Jolly Beach where we stopped to drop off a couple of people; I remember seeing a pig there. Did you happen to see a beach pig? It may have been another island. Once we've toured an island, we usually either just hang around the pier area to visit our uncle in jail or find a beach to go to.

[TickledBlue]

I've been lurking on this thread, love to view/read new material from one of my favorite trip reporters. I don't have any Indy cruises planned but would love to go on a Freedom class ship someday. Thanks for taking me on your cruise with you and your family -- it doesn't get old or boring.

[jc3443]

 

 

Sorry you thought you were talking to yourself Harry! I was a few days behind on reading your review. Going through your pictures from Antigua was fun as we were there a year ago for the holiday cruise on Serenade of the Seas.

 

The bakery that the sign in the picture above refers to had some REALLY tasty items!

[berjdrberjdr]

Harry, how funny that we got to that beach literally an hour or so after you! We even saw that dog in your photo. We opted to take a cab from the cruise port after stingray city. We also thought jolly beach was beautiful, especially the water and sand (we are very choosy about beaches since we live in FL with so many). So far your tour looks awesome, Antigua was probably our second favorite island after St. Kitts. Thanks for the awesome report so far!

 

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[E@syPe@zy]

Harry....loving every new installment of your epic review...wait a minute...you weren't on the epic.

Looking forward to the next batch of beautiful pictures!

[bobmacliberty]

I'm still here too Harry. Can't get rid of me. :D I'm also still tracking your post counts by day to compare against your Allure and Freedom reviews. For information, the current estimated final count for this thread is 1,746. I'll post the summary when you're done. I feel like a creepy stalker. :o

[luv1cruise]

I've been following along & enjoying as well.

I'm on the Adventure OTS in November going to Labadee, San Juan, St. Maarten & St. Kitts. A very similar itinerary to yours (only 1 port different).

We love to do cultural and/or island tours as well (since it is just a few hours, you can only get so much experience and feel for a place, but I really enjoy it). We also love to 'visit the uncle in prison' as you put it! To follow in your vein, 'cheapo' souvenirs (postcards & magnets & t-shirts) and pretty jewelry ($100 maximum). I am not sure why people don't talk about shopping much on CC. Most of us enjoy it, but I guess shopping isn't what we take away in our memories when we look back at our trip.

[seaair100]

I look every day for new posts,Harry.And getting depressed that your cruise days review is winding down.

[harryfat1]

Wow, lots of folks responding today. Appreciate the feedback from everyone. That’s the fun part of this whole process in hearing what people have to say.

 

I have always associate this with a BYO Whatever party. As with all parties, it’s more fun if people chime in.

 

If I just post the pictures and talk to myself nonstop, then it’s like doing a slideshow at work where I do a presentation in PowerPoint and bored people to sleep. What’s the fun of that?

 

So appreciate everyone that chime in. Yes, I will still reply to each person one on one. That’s how I roll…

[harryfat1]

Oh my, this is a dead ringer for my dog! How did she get to Antigua!! Lol

 

Following along and enjoying the photos and comments, thanks for posting

 

 

 

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Hi,

 

Thanks for the compliment and for following along. Maybe your dog took a secret cruise vacation you didn’t know about. Better check his paws for any Antigua sands…

[harryfat1]

Other than the crowds that seems like a gorgeous beach!

 

 

Yes, the sand and water color is awesome. Of the 4 beach stops we went to during the cruise, this one looks the best. Just the crowd and if you are stuck behind the umbrellas, it wouldn’t be much fun. Sometimes a great beach can be ruined by people loving it too much.

 

We felt the Turners Beach we drove by would have been better even though it was smaller, it looked less crowded and commercialized. This is a personal preference thing.