My fabulous Jewel cruise 11/9/13!

[Sunny AZ Girl]

Happy Thanksgiving! I am enjoying your review while the turkey cooks.:D

[tigger-ttfn]

Going on the Jewel next Sat. Can't wait to hear what you did in Martinque. Hope to find a taxi with English speaking driver and hope he takes American money.

[khm1]

We have had rear ends of people sqeezing through hit our plates in the past. Hope that doesn't happen this time.

 

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Forums mobile app

 

Yuck! That is really gross! I moved my glass out of the way a few times during the week for fear of a spill.

[garfield747]

DH still does a lot of open water swimming.

 

I'm enjoying your review since DW and I are going on Jewel in Feb. I, too, am a competitive open-water swimmer. (Hoping to be able to get days off to compete in the Nevis-to-St. Kitts channel swim in March.) I hope you can include in your upcoming port reviews where your DH was able to get a good open-water swim/workout in. Thanks!

[khm1]

Day 2: St. Thomas

I woke up to our ship coming into Charlotte Amalie. It was another gorgeous day! We had a RCL excursion booked: St. John Self Explore-STO3 $34/person. The meeting time for our 10 am excursion was 9:30 on the pier. We had plenty of time to eat breakfast and get ready. We have been to St. John many times on our own via taxi-Red Hook ferry. However, I had done a similar excursion on a previous cruise and had found it to be extremely easy and economical.

 

We met at the designated area and were allowed to wait in the shade for a few minutes. At 10, we walked to the near end of the pier to board our ferry to St. John. It is a fairly large boat and has both inside and outside seating. We sat at the bow on the way there and on top on the way back. The ride wasn’t rough, but it was smoother on the way back due to the currents. On the way to Cruz Bay, there was a running narrative about the history and the sights as we passed. We arrived at Cruz Bay right around 11 am.

 

We went to Deli Grotto in Mongoose Junction shopping center to pick up some lunch and an iced coffee. It was good food at a reasonable price. They do not take credit cards, so bring cash. My experience at Trunk Bay concessions about 2 years ago left me with a stomachache. I did not wish to try it again. We walked out of the shopping center with another couple (CC friends) that were also headed to Trunk Bay. There was a taxi driver right there. The fare to and from Trunk Bay was $6 per person.

 

We got to Trunk Bay a little after 11:30. I got 2 chairs from the dive shop. They are $10/chair to rent, but there is a $50 deposit that they give you back when you return the chairs. If you do this, keep your receipt to avoid confusion. We put our chairs in the shade and enjoyed the view as we ate our lunch. I don’t think that there is a more beautiful spot in the entire world. Below are some shots of Trunk Bay.

 

 

We had plenty of time to swim and snorkel. We had brought our own snorkel equipment, but they have it to rent in the dive shop. The snorkeling was good, but I remember it being a little better the last time that I went in January of 2012. I discovered at Trunk Bay that my waterproof camera was not waterproof anymore. Some water got under the lens. Therefore, all of my pictures from the excursion are from my cell phone.

 

After having our fill of fun in the sun, we headed back to Cruz Bay. We were meant to meet at 3. There are taxis readily available, however keep in mind that many drivers will not depart until the taxi is full. This can lead to delays, so leave plenty of wiggle room in your planning. There was an area to wait for boarding which started at 2:45 which was covered with lots of seating. We got underway at about 3:15. There was rum punch served and non-alcoholic punch as well. Those who wanted more were allowed a second, and even a third glass. It was a beautiful, relaxing ride back to the ship. We got back to the ship at around 4:15 with an all-aboard time of 4:30. Below is a picture of St. John in our wake as we headed back to the ship.

 

 

 

After dinner, DH laid down “for just a few minutes” and completely zonked out. We missed the show and went to bed early. We were both pretty tired from all of the fun that we had that day!

 

Next up: Day 3-Antigua.

Edited November 30, 2013 by khm1

[khm1]

I found some pictures of our view from our balcony as we arrived in Charlotte Amalie.

[Kevin's girl]

I'm really enjoying your review, and can't wait for more.

[khm1]

I'm enjoying your review since DW and I are going on Jewel in Feb. I, too, am a competitive open-water swimmer. (Hoping to be able to get days off to compete in the Nevis-to-St. Kitts channel swim in March.) I hope you can include in your upcoming port reviews where your DH was able to get a good open-water swim/workout in. Thanks!

 

My DH has considered the St. Kitts-Nevis swim. He is a ten time competitor in the 4.4 mile across the Chesapeake bay and has done Alcatraz once. I am not sure where we could suggest that you swim. The problem is the boating channels. You could certainly swim up and down the beaches. I would be afraid to take to open water due to the boat traffic.

 

Thanks to you and to everyone for the positive feedback. I will continue with St. Croix later this afternoon or this evening. I stated previously that Antigua was next. I accidentally skipped over St. Croix.

[khm1]

Day 3: St. Croix

DH and I had planned way in advance to snorkel Buck Island in St. Croix. I called Captain Mike of Jolly Roger Charters about 6 weeks before our sailing and reserved our places on board his boat. He has a website, but does not take online reservations. Everything is by phone, not even by email. He took my information by phone and gave me instructions on how to find him and told me to be at the pier in Christiansted at 10:30 for an 11 am departure. I chose him because I thought that it would be less crowded than the competition. I tried to call him to confirm the week before we left to confirm and did not get an answer. I called him from St. Thomas and asked him to text me a conformation. He never did.

 

We got up and I was concerned that I hadn’t heard from Captain Mike. I called his number at 8 am and he answered. I told him that I had a reservation and was calling to confirm. He said “Wait, you have a reservation today?”. I said yes, and reminded him of our conversation. He then told me that his boat was out of the water. What?!!?!!? I quickly got him off the phone and called Big Beards. Hooray! They still had space for us. Holy Cow! Check in is at 9 am. It was now 8 am and we were docked in Fredericksted, a 45 minute drive away! We literally threw our stuff in a bag and ran from the ship. We bought our round trip ticket ($16/person) at the taxi dispatcher stand for the Christiansted shuttle. We were quickly underway with the SLOWEST cab driver that I have ever had in the Caribbean!

 

I called Big Beards to ask them to hold the boat since we were in route. They told me to call back when we were close. They could not promise me that we would make it. I certainly understood. I would not want to wait for late passengers if I was a tourist already there! There were 3 other people in our shuttle that were trying to make the boat as well. We got to Big Beards retail shop at about 9:20. I felt better when it turned out that we were not even the latest passengers. We waited a few more minutes before we were underway. Phew! That was close for me, the over-planner!

 

After all of the drama, I was really glad that we had made it. Big Beards has a very good operation. The large catamaran that we were on was very comfortable and the crew was very accommodating and helpful. It took about 20-30 minutes to get to Buck Island. The crew handed out snorkel equipment on the ride out to Buck Island. We were allowed to put any food or drinks in their cooler. They had a large Thermal container of cold water. Otherwise, it was bring-your-own. There were some that brought beer. We just had our breakfast of Gatorade and Doritos that we bought in the shop. Yum (not).

 

We landed at the beach on Buck Island. The other side is the snorkeling side. Those who wanted instruction on snorkeling were given a tutorial. Otherwise you could swim or wander the beach. It was very beautiful, but I have very few pictures. My water camera still had moisture on the lens. In our haste to leave the ship, I forgot my other camera. I once again only had my phone. The three photos below are of the Buck Island beach.

 

 

After our beach time, we boarded the Catamaran again and made the short trek to the reef. It was extremely choppy for snorkeling. The crew told me that the conditions that we had were fairly typical. They have times that they cannot take passengers due to heavy surf and currents due to the north swell. We were given explicit direction on where we could and could not snorkel. Due to the currents, they did not want anyone getting behind the boat. They also warned against swimming outside the reef. It is apparently easy to get outside the reef, but harder to get back. The coral is close to the surface in many areas and can be like swimming through a maze.

 

We were broken into groups and given a short snorkel tour of the reef by a crew member. After that, we were allowed to go off on our own. DH and I saw a barracuda. Someone reported seeing a nurse shark and a sea turtle. There were large schools of fish and plenty of coral to see. It was a very good snorkel experience. I am not sure that this trip is good for the weak swimmer or the inexperienced. It was a little challenging given the conditions.

 

The ride back to Christiansted was very nice. When we got back, we had lunch at a restaurant on the boardwalk. I don’t remember the name, but it was good. We had Mahi Mahi sandwiches. The price wasn’t bad. We were starving from lack of breakfast! We had a visitor during our lunch. I can say that I have never seen a crab begging for food before, but this little guy seemed to be doing just that!

 

 

We found the shuttle back to Fredericksted. They took our ticket and packed us all into the van. It was a much faster ride back. We had the fast driver for the wrong leg of the trip!

 

We were dropped off at the pier in Fredericksted. DH and I walked over to the beach to the side of the pier and swam for about an hour before walking back to the ship. Here is a picture of that beach from the pier.

 

 

That night we skipped the production show. It was some kind of Broadway review. We have not been too excited about the RCL production shows lately. This day was the first formal night of our cruise.

 

Next up: Antigua

Edited December 1, 2013 by khm1

[khm1]

Here are some photos of St. John's, Antigua. I will post my review of Antigua tonight.

 

[Sunny AZ Girl]

We are looking forward to Antigua!:D

[khm1]

Day 4: Antigua

We had no formal excursion planned for today. For us, cruising is all about the ports. That is why we keep choosing port-intensive southern Caribbean itineraries. We enjoy being active. We especially enjoy snorkeling and other water activities. While we enjoy sea days, we prefer to be in port as much as possible. That being said, we needed a relaxing day in Antigua!

 

We headed off the ship right before 10 am. As soon as you get off the pier, there are a multitude of taxi drivers trying to get your business. I have learned through a previous bad experience, to go directly to the taxi dispatcher first. We were overcharged once by going with the first guy that approached us. Many islands have a regulated taxi service. The rates are set and the drivers are uniformed in many cases. Antigua has a taxi stand just a little way up the main street that continues from the pier area. There is a kiosk with an umbrella and an official dispatcher. We went to him and told him that we wanted to go to Valley Church Beach. He told us that the fee was $32 each way. The fee is for the entire cab. Since there were no other passengers readily available to share, we decided to go ahead and pay the fee to go instead of waiting.

 

We got to Valley Church beach at around 10:30. It was not crowded at all at that time. We arranged for our driver, Rastafarian Mike (as he called himself), to pick us up at 2 pm. We were approached by a guy renting chairs. We paid for 2 chairs for $5 each and dragged them away from where the crowd would later be ( I had been there once before). We went about halfway down the beach to have some elbow room. We parked our chairs under a large tree for some natural shade (umbrellas are $10).

 

We spent 3 ½ hours totally relaxing on this gorgeous beach. It is so beautiful there! There are a lot of shells on this beach for those who want to collect them. The water is an incredible shade of blue. The water is a bit “milky” due to the very fine, soft sand that is suspended in it. Therefore, there is no snorkeling at all. There is a bar/restaurant “The Nest” that has free WiFi. We were too far down the beach to be able to connect. I didn’t even want to use the internet with such beautiful scenery!

 

Left side of the beach below.

Right side of the beach below

 

 

For those who want to go to this beach, keep in mind that there will be a crowd near the bar area and where the umbrellas are set up. If you want to have more space and quiet, head down to your left at least halfway down the beach. I only used the bar for a couple of drinks. I had to walk up. I did not see any servers come by. There were a few locals selling their crafts. None were pushy. There is a guy renting jet skis for those who are interested.

 

At the designated time, we headed to the bar area where the taxi drivers were. There was no sign of Rastafarian Mike. At 5 minutes after 2, another guy showed up and told the dispatcher that he was to pick up a couple for Mike since he couldn’t make it. We were satisfied with this arrangement. It was nice that he didn’t forget about us. He took the time to send someone in his stead. We again did not find someone to share with. Everyone seemed to be waiting for specific drivers.

 

Back on the ship, we had some lunch and went to the pool for awhile. After dinner, we went to the Headliner show: Wilde & James. They are jugglers/comedians. We thought that they were very good. They were definitely one of the top 2 shows that we saw on this cruise. The Love and Marriage show was also on that evening, but we did not go. We saw it the next day on the TV and were glad that we didn’t stay up for it. There were a couple featured that were French speaking, and really dragged out the show (IMO) with the translation needed. I found Carly B. to be a decent cruise director. She was not bad, but she certainly was not the best that we have had either. Her claim to fame is that she went to school with Catherine Zeta Jones.

 

Next is Martinique. There is so little information available about Martinique. I will try to tell as much as I can about what I learned there tomorrow.

[Sunny AZ Girl]

The beach is beautiful there! We have a tour booked in the AM with a beach option for the afternoon when we go in May. I thought we might head right back to the ship to relax, but your pictures are very inviting.

 

I like the idea of natural shade - always preferable to an umbrella, IMHO. I s natural shade plentiful there,or should we just plan on getting an umbrella since we would be arriving late?

[khm1]

The beach is beautiful there! We have a tour booked in the AM with a beach option for the afternoon when we go in May. I thought we might head right back to the ship to relax, but your pictures are very inviting.

 

I like the idea of natural shade - always preferable to an umbrella, IMHO. I s natural shade plentiful there,or should we just plan on getting an umbrella since we would be arriving late?

 

There is plenty of room to spread out and plenty of trees. You don't need an umbrella as long as you are willing to take your chair to where there is shade.

[khm1]

Here are a few pictures of the sunset as we left Antigua. We were delayed with our departure. There were three ships that were all scheduled to depart at the same time. We must have drawn the short straw. I will post my review of Martinique later today.

 

[khm1]

Day 5: Martinique

I had the most difficult time planning this port! The information on TripAdvisor is sparse and mostly in French. The CruiseCritic board on Martinique is a ghost town. I really struggled to find a private excursion in Martinique, to no avail. What I had discovered about Martinique is that it is a French island and part of the French government. They do not have control over their own government. The infrastructure is good since they are a part of France. The roads are very good and well marked. Everyone speaks French in Martinique, and there are not a lot of English-speaking tourists that go there. The currency is Euros and American dollars may not be accepted. I had also read that the locals were not friendly to non-French speaking tourists. We did not share that experience, thankfully.

We decided to use a ship excursion for this day. When I booked our excursion online, about 6 weeks before our sailing, there were only 6 excursions listed. I booked “Beach and Snorkeling” MT12 for $59/person for 3 hours. Once onboard, I noticed that there were more options offered in the shore excursion brochure. I decided to change to “South Panoramic with Beach” MT27 $59/person for 4 ½ hours. I am not sure that this was the best decision.

Pictures of the city as we arrived in port:

[IMG]http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/12/03/y7ebanah.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/12/03/2abubu8a.jpg[/IMG]

When we arrived in Martinique, we had to meet on the pier fairly soon after docking. We found our excursion easily and were led to 2 large, comfortable tour busses. Our guide narrated as we drove through the city of Fort-de-France. I was surprised how urban it was. It is one of the largest Caribbean cities that I have visited. We drove through the countryside, through Marin, and ultimately stopped at a beach in St. Anne. It was a long drive, or at least felt like one. I think that it took about 1 ½ hours. We were only allowed 45 minutes at the beach. It was not nearly long enough for me. The beach was lovely. There were no chairs to rent and I did not see anywhere to buy drinks. There were bathrooms and an outside shower to rinse off with. I would have liked at least another hour at the beach. Here are some pictures of Marin bay from near the road and the beach we visited:

[IMG]http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/12/03/tu8ebyru.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/12/03/re7a9e8a.jpg[/IMG]

[khm1]

[IMG]http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/12/03/9a8a2ygy.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/12/03/sedyna8u.jpg[/IMG]
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We loaded back into the bus and were given bottles of water that were not cold. We drove back along the Atlantic coast and saw very large banana and sugar cane plantations. The countryside is lovely. I did not realize just how big Martinique is. It is a very large island! The drive back to the ship was just as long as the ride to the beach. By the time we got back, I was just DONE with that bus! I am not a bus kind of tourist!

Overall, it was a decent tour. I don’t think that I have ever seen so many bananas! I also haven’t seen so much sugar cane since the first time that I visited Barbados 20 years ago. Our guide was OK. He struggled a lot to come up with English words for what he was trying to say. I thought it was too much driving and too little beach. Maybe I should have stuck with my original excursion.

[khm1]

Bananas and sugar cane below:

[IMG]http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/12/03/epehy3ab.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/12/03/2utyguja.jpg[/IMG]

We were back in time for a late lunch on the ship. I wanted to go back out to walk around town a little bit. However, I got tired after lunch and opted to stay on the ship. I talked to some people that did go walk around town. They said that there was not a lot to see in the immediate vicinity.

This was the very first port stop in Martinique for the Jewel. The crew seemed excited about it. I think that they need to work on the excursions that are available. I think that a beach break with lunch excursion may be worthwhile. If I had to do it again, I think that I would not book a ship excursion. There are public ferries right near the pier that go across the bay to the beaches at Trois Islets. I think that I will try to do that if I ever go back to Martinique. I would take Euros with me or seek an ATM to get money that I could use more easily than dollars.

Sunset over Martinique:

[IMG]http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/12/03/vu4e9azy.jpg[/IMG]

That night, there was a production show “City of Dreams”. We did not go and did not hear about it. We did, however, go to the Safari lounge and see the band “Hot Sands” to see their Soul and Motown show. They were excellent! They played the best rendition of Martin Gay’s “What’s going on?” I have ever heard. They are extremely talented and played all over the ship all week. Latin Express was another band that was very good. The singer had a fabulous voice. Another show that I really enjoyed was the Jewel of the Seas Orchestra playing Big Band music in the Centrum on Day 4, Antigua at 7:45-10. They were very good; get there early for a good seat!

Our last port was our best port by far! I have some great pictures of our day in St. Lucia! Stay tuned!

[swsf99a]

Great review and pictures...we will be on the same itinerary in March 2014...so glad you posted!!

[swsf99a]

Me again....did you say the formal nights are St. Croix and St. Lucia ( day 3 and day 6) ? Which nights were the Captain's reception and the C & A Welcome back ? I like to know for planning...... our room will be 9074....just down from yours. Were there any other problems with the location? Thanks for the info!!

[khm1]

[quote name='swsf99a']Great review and pictures...we will be on the same itinerary in March 2014...so glad you posted!![/QUOTE]
Thanks!

[quote name='swsf99a']Me again....did you say the formal nights are St. Croix and St. Lucia ( day 3 and day 6) ? Which nights were the Captain's reception and the C & A Welcome back ? I like to know for planning...... our room will be 9074....just down from yours. Were there any other problems with the location? Thanks for the info!![/QUOTE]

That is correct: Sunday (st. Croix) and Thursday (St. Lucia) were the formal nights. Day 2 was also the Captian's reception from 7:45-8:30.. The welcome back was night 3 or 4, I believe. We didn't go. The top tier event we did go to and was night 6.

I doubt that your room will be as much of a problem for noise. It is down the hall enough to buffer most of the commotion. There were no other negatives. You will have an average sized balcony, not a larger one.

[boaterette]

I am enjoying your review very much. I am not sure what you did differently on page three but it sure is nice not to have scroll back and forth. Keep up the good job.

[khm1]

A few more pictures of fort-de-France, Martinique, the fort and the town.

[IMG]http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/12/04/ymuqynu3.jpg[/IMG][IMG]http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/12/04/uzemeny9.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/12/04/e7azahu6.jpg[/IMG]

[BillOh]

[QUOTE=khm1;40811916. We were in 9078. This cabin is the very first cabin forward of the elevators and right off the Centrum. It is on the hump, therefore has an enormous balcony. It is in an extremely convenient location.[/QUOTE]

Yea me! and thank you! :D

I have 9092 which is the same room on the other side of the elevator, so this is the first I have seen photos.

[tigger-ttfn]

Thanks so much for posting about Martinque. It has been frustrating for me to plan. We leave on Jewel on Sat same intinerary. Think I may just book the walking tour and hope for the best.