Jewel 11nt Ultimate Carib. + Panama?

[negc]

Hi!

 

How is the outside area of the Windjammer?

I have to admit I'm dying to test that!

That has always been a big disappointment for to have to eat inside with the a/c while cruising in the carribbean...!

 

Toonye

Whenever the weather permits, and in the Caribbean it usually does, we always eat in the open air aft section of the Jewel's Windjammer Cafe. I am sure you will enjoy the experience.

[Sunkissed Mommy]

Does anyone have any opinions on this cruise/itinerary? We've been on the Radiance and liked the ship, and all of these ports are new to us except Grand Cayman. The price looks decent too. Any thoughts?

 

Dec 13 - Depart Ft. Lauderdale - 5pm

Dec 14 - At Sea

Dec 15 - At Sea

Dec 16 - Oranjestad, Aruba - 7am-3pm

Dec 17 - Cartagena, Colombia - 12pm-7pm

Dec 18 - At Sea

Dec 19 - Colon, Panama - 8am-6pm

Dec 20 - Puerto Limon, Costa Rica - 7am-7pm

Dec 21 - At Sea

Dec 22 - Georgetown, Grand Cayman - 7am-6pm

Dec 23 - At Sea

Dec 24 - Arrive Ft. Lauderdale - 7am

 

Thanks in advance! :)

 

One word: Amazing!

We did this one for our honeymoon and we hated getting off the ship at the end. We were actually miserable for weeks after. I would recommend it to anyone that can get the 11 days off from work!

[Sunkissed Mommy]

tracysue - As for shore excursions - in Columbia we did a city tour with Dora. This city has a lot of history and she is a great guide. She is very knowledgeable, personable, and speaks English quite well. Check out her reviews on the Ports of Call board. We called this our Travel Channel Stop. Next, we did the Embera Indian Village Tour in Panama with myfriendmario. Once again, a great choice. We called this our National Geographic excursion. And last but not least, we did Whitewater rafting in Costa Rica through Oscar Brown. This was our “thrill”/near death excursion. While this was a “wild” experience and we enjoyed it, I might rethink rafting in a foreign country again.

 

Very interesting! I had some different experiences... Columbia was a disaster for us- Im from South Florida and the day we were in Columbia was the most intense heat/humidity I have ever experienced in my life. Perhaps that is what ruined our day there, because everyone in our group was miserable and sat on the tour busses instead of getting out and exploring the sights. It was a beautiful city though, I do admit that :)

 

In Costa Rica we also did the Whitewater Rafting, however ours was very tame. Did you travel down the Reventazon River as well? Im wondering, if maybe it was a different river or section of the river, it could be different conditions. I went down a Class II and we felt very safe and were treated to a Costa Rican lunch after the 2 hour rafting adventure!

 

I agree with everything else, we had an amazing time and the service in the dining room was top notch!

[kpauley]

Very interesting! I had some different experiences... Columbia was a disaster for us- Im from South Florida and the day we were in Columbia was the most intense heat/humidity I have ever experienced in my life. Perhaps that is what ruined our day there, because everyone in our group was miserable and sat on the tour busses instead of getting out and exploring the sights. It was a beautiful city though, I do admit that :)

 

In Costa Rica we also did the Whitewater Rafting, however ours was very tame. Did you travel down the Reventazon River as well? Im wondering, if maybe it was a different river or section of the river, it could be different conditions. I went down a Class II and we felt very safe and were treated to a Costa Rican lunch after the 2 hour rafting adventure!

 

I agree with everything else, we had an amazing time and the service in the dining room was top notch!

 

In Columbia, our tour left around 7:30 a.m. and we were back on the ship by noon. The last hour the heat and humidity was really bad, but we were almost done. Glad we were there in the morning as opposed to the afternoon.

 

Yes, we were on the Reventazon River, but probably a different section. The section we were on had class II-III and one class IV that we lost my DH over the side. As it turned out, he was OK and the kayak picked him up while the rest of us were stuck in this rapid with water pouring in over the side and the guide couldn't get us out. :eek: Finally, the kayaker rescued us from the shore with a rope. :) The water level was low and that caused us to get stuck on the rocks in places. We too stopped at a beach restaurant for lunch. Our tour was to include stops at a banana plantation, cocoa bean farm, and pineapple plantation, but they were shut down for Holy Thursday.

[PantherFan]

For anyone thinking of booking this cruise the best Junior Suite (1100) is available now. We had a change in plans. Awesome deck and views.

[KeyOfSea]

The itineraries for Jan. 2012 and Jewel just came out. She won't be doing this route. :( She'll be doing the alternating 4 and 5 night cruises that Radiance is doing now. So maybe we'll get something good on Radiance. Sister ship is fine with me. :D

[NavarreCruiser]

I agree Chris was very good and so was his assistant Steve! Actually the whole crew staff was great! They had game shows and the 'thriller dance" I have never seen on any other ship. Did you get to see it?

No we didn't get a chance because I had asked Chris for something to do between dinner and the show, so he put a music trivia at 8:00. I had to go to that since I asked for it. Talked to Chris the next day. he said it was fun. lynda

[RvrCrzr]

Has anyone found a great tour company/boat to take THRU the locks of the canal? Jewel won't be entering the canal on our cruise. :(

[Scotty G]

Just did this cruise in January, would do it again!

Us too and going next January. :D

[BillB48]

Has anyone found a great tour company/boat to take THRU the locks of the canal? Jewel won't be entering the canal on our cruise. :(

 

 

You should be able to take such a tour but more than likely you will have to book it through the ship. Since the ship is docking in Colon there probably won't be the "must" use the ships tours as was the case when the Jewel did the partial transits. Now the but.... the tour operators normally dedicate all their resources to the cruise lines when a ship is in port. So if you want to do the Canal by Ferry I am almost positive you have to take what the ship is offering. It is a good tour, besides the distance from the ship and the possibilties of delays I don't feel that even if you could book a private tour, it would be the best choice. This tour will offer you the more visually appealing portions of the Canal, The Pacific Locks, the Bridge of the Americas, Centennial Bridge and Gaillard Cut. Another plus is you will be able to see some of the beginning excavation for the new set of locks.

[shipfriend_max]

As of December 2011 the Jewel will not offer Caribbean & Panama Cruises :mad:. The ship starts short voyages from Tampa to the Caribbean :mad:...

[RvrCrzr]

Great points Bill....thanks.

PS...love the Buffett quote in your sig line.

"Yes I am a pirate..." :)

[BillB48]

Your welcome, "Yes I am a pirate... 200 years too late." Just another Parrothead here:D!

[Debde]

As of December 2011 the Jewel will not offer Caribbean & Panama Cruises :mad:. The ship starts short voyages from Tampa to the Caribbean :mad:...

 

Sure hope this itinerary does not stop. wonder if it will be replaced with another ship?

 

I still vote for the partial return!!!

[BillB48]

I don't think it looks good at this point. I too have been hoping for a return of the partial transit, in it's absence the itin to that part of the Caribbean is one I like in any event. RCI has not put out their schedules for all of the ships in that time period and with all the other moving of ships around I think there may not be a ship to do that run:(.

[lovemylab]

[quote name='Debde']Sure hope this itinerary does not stop. wonder if it will be replaced with another ship?

I still vote for the partial return!!![/quote]

I was told that it is not being replaced with another ship. The Caribbean schedules have all been released except for Adventure & Serenade (which are both doing Southern Caribbean out of San Juan).