mattpro

Word of caution to those who change rooms on a B2B

Anything left in the bathroom will not be seen again.

The reason is that there is a special cleaning team that do bathrooms only and they WILL throw away anything you left behind.

However, if you left something behind in the main cabin that you forgot to pack, the room attendant can retrieve it for you.

Suggestion on way to get to Maho beach after shopping in Marigot.

Take a cab from Marigot to Maho, then take a cab from Maho to the ship.

Maho is located half way between Marigot and Phillipsburg - no need for the extra travel distance by going back to Phillipsburg.

Plane schedules

Once at Maho you will see a large slate the size of a surfboard listing the the times when the planes are due to come in. Think of it as a menu board.

The only light on the island is the one that crosses Simpson Bay, which you have to go over to get to Phillipsburg. Even though the distance is only about 5 miles from Maho to the ship, it could take up to an hour if you leave after 3 p.m.

Hope this helps

Yes, the Hyatt Place is nice and NEW - and very close to the Pan Am pier where the AOS is located.

Easy walking for dinner at Olive Garden (right across the street) or Ponderosa steakhouse located at the end of the harbor.

Both reasonably priced.

Everything else is a taxi ride away, which you should use at night.

Two thumbs up !!!

A few notes on how the captain's bring the ship into port for St. Lucia and Antigua.

When captain Sean McDuff is on board he will back into both ports.

When captain Thomas Busto is on board he will pull in head first and turn around in the harbor.

Ferry to Columbus Cove

Leaves from the cement pier every 1/2 hour from morning to early afternoon.

However, you have to walk back or take the tram, which does go to Columbus Cove, both for dropping off and picking up.

The other way to get to the beach is by walking along the shore line on a path just beyond Nellie's Beach or by walking all the way to the back to the right of the last turn-about. However, this means you will engage the very pushy vendors along tour walk.

Most folks just take the tram at the first turn-about all the way to Columbus Cove..

Once you're there you will find a large covered building for lunch , a steel band , plenty of shade trees as well as the most beautiful beach.

Columbus Cove

Hands down - all the way in the back on the right - next to the aqua park.

White sand in the water - NO ROCKS !!!

That's RCL's itinerary.

What I'm interested in is finding out where do you go and why.

Pictures and commentary would be greatly appreciated.

Taking a ferry to St. John's while in the St Thomas port.

Important notice

RCL now docks at Crowne Point, which is where the ferry leaves to go to St. John's.

That is very good news for those who want to go to St. John's, but bad news for those who want to shop.

It's an $8 taxi ride to the old port, Havensight, and a $ 4 taxi ride to downtown.

minimum bets are $10 and up for blackjack

The new SL will have floor to ceiling windows, the same as the DL.

However, it will not have a veranda like the DL unless they move the rock climbing wall.

First time I ever heard of cabins on deck 4.

However, I've never sailed on the Jewel so I may be missing something.

On the first night I walk into the lounge I ask the bartenders if they split their tips.

If yes, I give the server a $20 bill.

If not, I give each server $10 each.

Have never had a problem getting quick service.

Mattresses

From 2/8/2017 - 4/8/2017 a total of 320 mattresses were loaded on the ship before sailing each Saturday from the Pan Am pier.

Well, I'm not so sure that the Coke machines do not exist on the Indy.

Was on the Indy from 12/3/2016 thru 12/22/2016 and I'm pretty sure there was a machine in front of Sorrento's.

However, the previous month I was on the Freedom.

Personally, I hope I'm not having a senior moment.

I do not buy drink packages but I definitely remember seeing a line of folks at the machine.

Well. the noise has to travel 50+ feet - through 2 floors.

I wouldn't worry too much.

Being a passenger on this cruise with a 1:45 p.m. flight I was not aware of this incident until hearing the announcement at 8 a.m. that we would not be docking at FLL until 10:45 a.m. because of a man overboard.

After docking just before 11 a.m. police officers interviewed family members who were being held in their room under guard. This took about 35 minutes with passengers carrying their own luggage allowed to disembark after the interview.

Passengers with luggage tags 1-11 started leaving at 11:45 a.m.

Those with Global Entry cards breezed through immigration.

The ship left from dock 25, but returned to dock 18 (the Harmony of the Seas slot), where transportation was arranged by RCL back to dock 25 for those families that had folks picking them up.

Of the 4000 passengers 1,350 were children traveling with parents.

There was 1 Pinnacle on board, 91 Diamond+ and 202 Diamond.

A very high percentage of passengers drove in from Florida and neighboring states.

Another incident occurred on Friday Dec. 11 at noon when an unmanned life raft was spotted from the bridge, which caused the ship to circle around looking for survivors (none found - turned over to Coast Guard) resulting in a 3 hour delay , but the ship increased speed to get back to port in a timely fashion for the Dec. 12 cruise.

Have never gone on an excursion on sea days of either the kayaking adventure or the bungee jumping contest off the back of the ship.

6 ships in port on my 11/12/2016 cruise on the Freedom.

Other ships were the Harmony, Anthem, RCL's Azamara, Brittanica out of South Hampton and a Carnival ship.

Extremely crowded in port area and downtown.

3 main reasons for the delay of boarding on 11/12/2016

- The previous cruise went to Belize where a lot of contraband (drugs) may come on board, which required extensive scrutiny at port where a few things added to time constraints - one scanning machine down - number of immigration people was lower than usual.

- A medical evacuation at port

- A woman was arrested for an outstanding warrant from 14 years ago (from Texas) for a minor violation. She called her sailing partner (Murray) from jail - told him to have a nice vacation - bring back her luggage - she would see him at work next week at a bar/restaurant in Panama City, Fla. where they both work.

I'll cruise on any ship that has a Promenade and sails in the Caribbean (east, west or south) from November through April.

Warm weather is the key, the Promenade is to get coffee before 7:00 a.m. and after 12 midnight.

Deck 5

According to RCL's memo they say that new staterooms will NOT be added at this time.

If true, then the library should remain intact and perhaps the cigar lounge will not be affected.

Will find out for myself this coming Feb.

On the ship

Lowest prices are on Pall Mall - $20.00 a carton - each ship has different types -- menthol reg./100 (green) - they also have blue and orange

Off the ship

For American made cigarettes the lowest prices can be found in St. Thomas. For example @Havensight the same menthol Pall Mall's sold on the ship are available in 2 places - one charges $22.95 a carton, the other $23.95.

The lowest price in the Caribbean is found at St. Kitt's, the catch being the cigarettes are not American. The tobacco comes from India, the paper from France and they are manufactured in Switzerland. The prices start @ $16.00 a carton for brands like Salem & Marlboro.

St. Maarten also has cigarettes starting @ $17.00 a carton, but not American made. American made cigarettes start about $28.00 a carton. On this island cigarettes may be purchased in the port area, as well as downtown.

The only beach you do NOT need water shoes on is Columbus Cove - all the way in the back on the right side.