khank

Yes Karen and I have chatted in our Thread and I am very much looking forward to meeting her. I do appreciate the offer but, I am one of those nutty people who just waits patiently(ya right) until I board to see the compasses but, thank you so much for the offer. Just enjoying the review until we leave Saturday please keep it coming. Thank goodness you found your bag, that would have killed me and my husband would never let me live it down. Your cabin and balcony look amazing!

 

Rhonda

Hi Rhonda! Looking forward to meeting you on Saturday!!!

Karen

That sounds wonderful Karen!! On our itinerary (sounds like your 2nd week) the formal nights were day 2 (Tortola)and day 5 (Dominica). Barbados is day 6 before the sea day.

I may not get all the Compii (this is how we refer to plural Cruise Compasses;)) posted before you leave...if you want to peek at all of them before you leave, post an email address and I will send them all to you!

 

There were quite a few B2B's when we sailed- especially retirees and younger folks from overseas! You pretty much get the whole Caribbean covered in a B2B with this ship!! I hope you have wonderful anniversary and enjoy your cruises!!

That would be fantastic if you have the time! My email is khank22222@aol.com. Thanks so much!!!! :)

Loving your review! Thanks so much for taking the time to write this.

We are sailing a BTB on Jewel 12/7 & 12/14. On the second sailing we are celebrating our 30 year anniversary and have friends and family joining us. We plan to renew our vows on our anniversary which is the day we are in Barbados. We are doing our own vow renewal and I figure we can scout ship locations on the first cruise to find the perfect spot. Which nights were the formal nights?

Thanks again!

Karen

Loved your review! Do you recall which night was the 2nd formal night? Thanks!

Thank you, thank you, thank you both so much for this great info!

Thank you both for your help. We are going to do the Baths on our own.

blue_water - What time would you recommend that we depart the Baths for the Mineshaft to allow enough time for lunch and then to catch the 3:00 ferry?

We will be arriving in Tortola on a Sunday on the Jewel of the Seas. Our port time is 8:00 - 5:30 and it appears that we are the only ship in port - Woo Hoo! We are trying to decide between visiting the Baths on our own or going with Patouche. We have used the ferries in St. Thomas to go to St. John in the past, so we are comfortable using them.

In looking at the Sunday ferry schedule, I think we would want to take Smith's 8:50 ferry to VG and return on their 3:00 ferry to Tortola. How much are taxis from the cruise terminal to Smith's and then from where you dock at VG to the Baths? I'm trying to do a cost comparison between doing this on our own vs. Patouche.

I know that the ferry ride is ~ 30 minutes. How long is the taxi ride from the cruise terminal to Smith's and then from VG dock to the Baths? If we do this on our own, I'd like to go to the Mineshaft for lunch on our return. What time would you recommend that we depart the Baths to allow time for this and catch the 3:00 ferry? Do the ferries run pretty much on schedule?

Once you walk the trail down to the Baths, is there a particular direction we should go or is it obvious?

Thanks in advance for the advice. I realize I have asked a LOT of questions in this post!

Karen

Oooh - it looks like we will have Captain Johnny on the Allure for the 12/11/11 sailing! Sailed with him 3x on the Mariner and LOVE him! Thanks for the list!

Loving your review! We fly out in 3 days and I am cannot wait! Reading your review just makes me even more excited!!! Thanks for taking the time to do this.

Karen

Thank you to everyone for the advice. After weighing everything, I went ahead and booked with FISHES. I'm sure the TECKK tour is just as good, but I have been reading such wonderful things about FISHES for the past 6 months, that I just felt I had to do their tour. I hope to return to Icy Strait sometime and do the bear watching with TECKK. Again, thanks so much for the help!

Karen

Ok, so I had made the decision to do the whale watching with FISHES in Icy Strait Point next year, and then I saw the 2-for-1 coupon for Teckk Outfitters in the 2011 Toursaver coupon book. I've read great reviews on both companies on Trip Advisor; however, most of Teckk's reviews are for the bear tours. I'm more than willing to pay the full cost and go with FISHES, but in looking at both vendor's websites, it does appear that the tours are very similar, carry the same number of people and go to the same location. So now I'm wondering if I should save a little money and book with Teckk to use the 2-for-1 coupon - of course I'd first verify with them that I can use the coupon. Has anyone done the whale watching with them? Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Karen

Jane,keep it going.fyi,on st croix we went to cane bay to snorkel..not good at all.would not go back..when we were in st marten we rented a car.. We have done this a couple of times from the same agency.. Works out great.this last trip we went to maho beach,got some great pics and videos of the planes landing and taking off .then we went to gran case for bq lunch.. Paul, when are you going on the serenade next may.. We are booked again may 7th.. Would love to go b2b.. Mike

Jane - Love the review! We are on the 9/26 sailing and I'm getting even more excited reading your review and seeing the wonderful pictures! Thank you for taking the time to do this.

Mike - We were planning to snorkel at Cane Bay in St. Croix. Do you mind sharing what you did not like about it? I'm really struggling with what to do here.

Karen

I don't think you can reserve the banana boats in advance. I believe the cost is $10 and you charge it to your seapass card. We didn't go on them ourselves, but my daughter's friends did and had a great time. We plan to try them next year.

What I saw of the jetskiing appeared to be a group of about 10 at a time. You can't just go off on your own. They have a guide that leads you on a tour and everyone follows. The dive shop on the ship can give you info on these excursions also.

We spent a relaxing day in the lounge chairs, snorkeling/swimming and exploring the island. It's beautiful!

Labadee is beautiful! You can parasail, jet ski, snorkel, banana boat ride or just relax in a lounge chair. Check out the RC excursions on their website.