Jewel OTS May 3-10 2014 Review by AZ Karaoke Girl

[AZ Karaoke Girl]

Thanks. If I was ever to do this itinerary again, I would likely go to the same beaches. Those were the best, most relaxing days.

[Quilting Queen]

We were on the 2nd part of the B2B for Ginny, Steve, Bev, Dave, Sheila & Jerry. Steve wore his hawaiian shirts every day. I am glad because it encourages DH Gene to buy and wear these shirts.

 

We had one less stop on the next week and really needed more down time. Gene was coughing for 3 days then on the last day he finally reallized he had bronchitis again. He will go to Dr tomorrow.

 

We had a great time except for the flight home. I wish Scotty could 'beem' us up and just get home when cruise is over. That long wait in the airport to come home is also a bore.

 

We booked a 2nd week on the Oasis next year. We will have plenty of down time and be relaxed.

 

Norine

[Jiminy1955]

Next day was Basseterre St Kitts. Ginny had arranged in advance for us to go to Carambola Beach Club. $30 per couple included 2 padded lounge chairs on the beach and big umbrella. We met again in the Schooner lounge at a designated time & went off the ship together & found a taxi to share. What a fabulous day that was and just what I needed. Dave & Bev (Hersheykiss) were in the water all the time and I was usually right there beside them.

 

 

As I knew she would be! Looks you all are having a great time!! Jealous :p

[Arizona Laura]

Great review Lisa...

Laura

[welshrich]

Great review, we did a B2B on her in March, St Lucia and Barbados were my favorite ports, I agree with you about lack of space on the sea day, but, when we were on there the attendants were quite hot at monitoring the chair hogs and were removing items, even when we went in the hot tub for 10 mins we got a ticket on ours, it was the days entertainment watching people coming back between 1 and 3 hours later and wondering why there were people sat in "their" loungers.

[BillOh]

Thanks. If I was ever to do this itinerary again, I would likely go to the same beaches. Those were the best, most relaxing days.

 

With the exception of the catamarn, I wish I would have done that. I had serious issues committing to this cruise and doing any planning after my surgery in January.

[Sunny AZ Girl]

I've noticed that Steve is not wearing his proverbial Hawaiian shirts on this trip. Bet Ginny was thrilled :)

 

Debbie and I are thinking of a land vacation to Barbados this year to swim with the turtles.

 

He took 18 shirts with him for the B2B and wore 16. He has taken up to 24 for a 7 night and so we are making progress!:)

 

When on a snorkel tour he wears a t-shirt to protect from the sun, but changes as soon as we get back and he can shower.

[Sunny AZ Girl]

Lisa - Great review! We had a wonderful time, I love cruising with you guys as we do have a lot in common. I am looking forward to the Oasis and hope very much you can manage to stay on that cruise.:)

[BillOh]

Lisa - Great review! We had a wonderful time, I love cruising with you guys as we do have a lot in common. I am looking forward to the Oasis and hope very much you can manage to stay on that cruise.:)

 

Are you guys going to stay at the Hyatt again? ;)

[Sunny AZ Girl]

Are you guys going to stay at the Hyatt again? ;)

 

I haven't thought that far ahead yet. We will have to think that out. I need to get things wrapped up on this cruise first!:eek:

[BillOh]

I haven't thought that far ahead yet. We will have to think that out. I need to get things wrapped up on this cruise first!:eek:

 

Now that I've seen the port there and know how to walk to the beach, I would go back there and get a pool side room.

[courtsavvy]

While returning to the port, we were in a race with Kaitlyn & Griffin's sailboat. We were winning I might add.

 

Here is Kaitlyn (Courtsavvy) in the blue in front right waving to us:

[

 

Haha I love this!! I prefer to think that we just took the leisurely way home ;)

[BillOh]

We got to maho beach & were surprised to see how crowded it was already. We found a couple tables up at the Sunset Bar & Grill and enjoyed our morning. There was a screen above the bar that kept updated with landing times.

 

 

Was that screen new this year? In 3 years there, I may have never went to the bar. I ordered food and drink from the table last year with you guys and Jon brought us stuff at our beach chairs this year. I'm too busy chasing planes!

[AZ Karaoke Girl]

It might be new. I don't remember seeing it last year and we were at the same tables. They had it written on the surf board on the beach last year but this screen gave constant updates as schedules changed.

[AZ1Red]

Great review, Lisa! Thanks for sharing your cruise and pictures! I've been on that itinerary and LOVED it, but you gave me some great new ideas and tips...and I am booked for a first-time Calabaza trip in Barbados next March! I'll be on the Jewel for the first time in December! BTW, nice group of AZ Cruisers...maybe I'll run into y'all some time, some where...

[AZ Karaoke Girl]

Thanks Robyn. We don't always get to cruise together but my last 2 cruises were with the group and I have another booked with Ginny (Sunny AZ Girl) on the Oasis next year if I stick with that one. I don't plan to do this itinerary again because flying round trip into San Juan all the way from Arizona was just too much but I loved the islands and glad I did it.

 

Everyone asks me what island I liked the best. It's a trick question for me. If it is deciding which island I "enjoyed" the most on my vacation, I would have to say either Antiqua or St Kitts because of the beautiful beaches we stayed at for the day..Carambola & Coconut Beach Clubs. Those were the most relaxing and fun days for me. If it is the island itself, I think I would say Barbados or St Lucia. I don't know....it's a total tossup. I enjoyed them all so much. It is really a terrific itinerary and I'm glad I had a whole year to plan it and decide how I wanted to spend my time on each island. Ginny helped a lot with that too.

 

I was just going to go to Shipwreck Bar & Grill until Ginny said Carambola Beach Club offered the day pass and it was so close to Shipwreck that you can walk to it from Carambola so that made it an easy decision.

Edited May 31, 2014 by AZ Karaoke Girl

[NemoCrownie]

Thanks so much for the great review. We have cruised out of San Juan 4 times and have 2015 and 2016 booked. You love the water being from AZ but being from the midwest, it is the warm weather in February that we look forward to so we put up with the flights. More expensive and a long flight? Yes.

 

Even though we have been to these islands we are always looking for something different to do or see each year. You have given us some great port suggestions.

 

Congrats on the new grandbaby, adorable!

 

Also, DH and I are Sun Devils and love your state!

 

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Tablet using Tapatalk

Edited June 1, 2014 by NemoCrownie

[BillOh]

Everyone asks me what island I liked the best. It's a trick question for me. If it is deciding which island I "enjoyed" the most on my vacation, I would have to say either Antiqua or St Kitts because of the beautiful beaches we stayed at for the day..Carambola & Coconut Beach Clubs. Those were the most relaxing and fun days for me. If it is the island itself, I think I would say Barbados or St Lucia. I don't know....it's a total tossup. .

 

I will probably do the Southern Caribbean again in 16 or 17. I couldn't pick any of those islands after one visit. I do love St Martin having been there 3 times now. I will probably go back on an itinerary that includes Aruba and Curacao.

[Sunny AZ Girl]

I agree about picking a favorite island. They all have something I love. So many islands....so little time (and money!):eek:

[4CruisingBadgers]

I just want to say thank you to every single one of you on this trip. You all should be paid reviewers. Your pictures, candid comments, humor, etc. was outstanding. I so appreciate the time and energy it took to put it all together. It sure looks like you have a blast. My husband and I have made changes to our 6/28 trip based on your reviews (I've read all of them individually).

Happy Monday!

[AZ Karaoke Girl]

That's awesome. Glad we could help with your planning. That is what cruise critic is all about and everyone has different ideas & excursions so these reviews really help people ln the planning stages. Good luck.

[AZ Karaoke Girl]

I reread my review today to refresh my memory. It turns out, I'm going back. Hubby and I are planning our 25th anniversary and my birthday on the same cruise, different ship next July 2016. It will be considerably hotter though so all beach days where I will in the water the whole time is the plan. For sure doing Carambola in St Kitts and Coconut Beach club in Antigua. I will probably do a snorkeling tour again in Barbados. Not sure if I will book Calabaza again or go with one of the others. I know I need to do some more searching in St Lucia. Last thing I want is to be on a hot tour.

 

I am not looking forward to that flight from Arizona to San Juan but putting that aside, I loved this trip so much that I just want to go back and relive it. Although we won't have all our Arizona buddies with us on this one, it will be a little change for us. We were looking at various options and Royal Caribbean gave us a few perks that others didn't offer to make our anniversary just a little more special at this milestone. Hopefully no grandbabies planned for this one. I guess I need to make sure my kids take extra precautions. LOL:D

[BillOh]

When I booked this cruise, it just so happened that 9256 (the most wanted corner aft balcony) was available so I snagged it. My TA said I would be very happy with it. It turns out that BillOh had been wanting that balcony and didn't realize he could be on a waitlist for it. I grabbed it before he could snag it. So I got a bunch more razzing from him during our year long roll call.:) Sorry Bill. Hope you still love me! :D

 

Once I had it, I wasn't giving it up for nothing. Although it was a long walk from the elevators down a long hallway to the aft, we were very happy with it. It was super quiet back there and the balcony was huge. It had 2 chairs with a table and 2 loungers and still plenty of room for standing. We enjoyed sailaway from our balcony and most of the AZ cruisers joined us.

 

Here is a shot of our balcony & our room

 

 

Just taking a peak at my balcony. Is that guy the butler? I imagine they will have updated the TV's to flat screens by 2018.

[AZ Karaoke Girl]

They should be flat screens by the time you cruise if they aren't already changed out.