The Arizona Cruisers Invade the Southern Caribbean B2B on the Jewel of the Seas!

[Sunny AZ Girl]

Did they say yes or no? :p

 

LOL!:D Can't remember the answer......

[Sunny AZ Girl]

I'm sorry. I forgot the give you the photo link for Aruba. Here it is.

 

This is finally coming to an end. I'm sorry it has gone on so long. I really need to learn to cut down!

[Sunny AZ Girl]

Week Two, Day Six – Curacao

 

It was our last port day on this port intensive cruise. Laura had arranged for the tour company Irie Tours to give us a 2 hour East End Tour with an hour at the beach. We had a private tour arranged which included the use of their 10 passenger a/c van. Instead, the day before the tour Laura received an e-mail saying that the van was not available and the private tour was cancelled. So, we were left at loose ends. Everyone was pretty tired, so we all decide we would just do something on our own as we felt fit. We were going to go with Norine and Gene on a walking tour of the downtown area and Punda. I was anxious to see the historic buildings and Norine was anxious to see the shops.

 

So, we left the ship and left the ship, heading toward the downtown. I only got a few yards when my knee popped again. The pain was severe and I knew I would not make it on a walking tour anywhere. So, I sent Norine ahead with the walking tour map and we sadly turned back.

 

I was determined not to go to a place I had never seen and not see any of it. Lining the path from the ship were a variety of vendors selling tours. They all seemed to be selling the same East side Tour so we negotiated a price of $20 making sure the bus was air conditioned and had a step to help get into the bus. We waited about 15 minutes for the bus to fill. It was a bilingual group, probably more Spanish speaking than English. Fortunately the guide was bilingual also and explained everything well in both languages.

 

The bus headed over the huge Princess Juliana Bridge and I saw signs pointing to Punda. I was hoping the tour would include the Punda area, but it did not. Instead we headed to a liqueur factory. We had a tour and it was interesting. The different colors of liqueur were pretty. Steve tasted it, but I did not.

 

Of course there was a shop where you could purchase bottles in any size or variety. We did buy a small gift pack for my brother.

 

We then drove through the high rent district. We learned that most of these home belonged to people from around the world who have settled in Curacao. Curacao is Dutch. Foreigners can purchase a home in Curacao as long as they meet a long list of qualifications. You must be wealthy enough to be able to prove that you have enough money to live without assistance. You must also provide employment full time to one resident of Curacao. There are more, but those are the ones I remember the most.

[Sunny AZ Girl]

We were then taken to a gift shop. It had a lot of cheap souvenirs. But when we walked through the shop to a balcony this view was to be seen

 

Of course I love the flowering plants found all over the city.

 

We passed through some more residential areas before heading back to the port over the Princess Juliana Bridge. The traffic was heavy and we were at a standstill going over the bridge.

 

Views from the bridge

 

 

[Sunny AZ Girl]

The bus dropped people who wanted to shop in Punda off near the pedestrian bridge and Steve took a few pictures for me.

 

 

I thought about taking a cab over to Punda and back, but since the cab had to go back over the Princess Juliana Bridge and remembering all the traffic we decided to just return to the ship.

 

All in all I was disappointed in this tour. I do recommend you take tours through operators you have researched and know that you will get a quality product. I almost always have back up plans in place in the event of plans going wrong. This time the back up plan was the walking tour. That is why I had the map. However, the knee was not in the plan!

 

I wish I had thought to go back to the ship, get our bathing suits and just went to the beach. I think that would have been a better day, but the walk to the ship, to our aft cabin and back out again seemed too much at the time.

 

I feel as if my salvage for the day was the Vortex, or Viking Crown Lounge once again. Here we had a great view of Punda and the floating suspension bridge. We did learn on the tour that the bridge opens as often as 40 times a day, sometimes staying open for a couple of hours. It opens to allow boats and ships to enter the inner harbor. Oil tankers that dot the horizon from Venezuela enter her to go to the refineries. While the bridge is open a ferry transports pedestrians across the river. We watched that bridge open several times while we watched from our perch.

 

Here is an oil tanker is passing through

 

Here is the view from the Vortex Lounge:

 

Tonight was the second formal night of this cruise. Lobster was served this time at formal night. And a toast to signal the end of the cruise is drawing near.

 

Here are the rest of our Curacao pictures.

 

Tomorrow I will be wrapping up this review. We only have one more Sea Day left before we have to leave the ship and head back home.

[Sunny AZ Girl]

Week Two, Day Seven – At Sea & Heading Home!

 

This was a bittersweet day. After two weeks we were ready to go home, but yet not. OK, I am one who could cruise for a loooooong time and not get bored. However, there were things that needed our attention at home. My mother had health issues while we were gone. Plus, we missed the rest of our family, including our daughter who is a teacher in Phoenix, two cats and two dogs were missing us, too. I was sure of that. I was also pretty sure my employer wouldn’t keep paying me if I didn’t come back to work. They are funny that way. But, we still had a full day at sea and we were going to enjoy it.

 

We spent much of the day finalizing business. We had pictures from week two to go through and decide what, if any, we wanted to purchase. This is a diamond perk I loved. We each would receive one free picture each week. So, we were able to get 4 free pictures for the two weeks! This is also the day I had to decide if I wanted to keep the orthotics I had been given the previous week. When I redid the footprint my arch was improved and I had a little toe once again! Since I had noticed an improvement in pain while wearing the orthotics I decided to keep them. While talking to the trainer I told him about my knee and he gave me some good exercises to do in addition to other advice to work out the pain which I am still using today.

 

We also had another visit with Inga and ended up booking a dream cruise, the Panama Canal from LA to San Juan on the Jewel of the Seas in October 2015. Since we got home Steve’s sister and her DH also booked, so while there are no Arizona Cruisers booked with us we will have family along. We may have to let the Hawaii cruise we booked previously in the cruise go as this would be two big cruises in 6 months. But we have time to decide and check PTO and finances since we only had to put down a $200 deposit.

We did some serious relaxing the rest of the day.

 

Steve & Jerry, did you enjoy the cruise?

 

That night we all said goodbye to our amazing waiters of this last week. I spelled our waiters name wrong in my previous post. His name is Brazillo. And yes – we did tip him extra for his wonderful service. He also got our WOW card.

 

Our last sunset of the cruise.

 

The next morning we were part of the crowd we felt sorry for the week before as we went to our assigned lounge, the theater, to be called to disembark. First we had a last breakfast in the Main Dining Room. Disembarkment was right on time this week and we were off the ship by 9AM. We all got porters and sped right through immigration as porters get priority. Francisco was just pulling up as we left the terminal. Once again his service was spot on and he whisked us to the airport in comfort.

 

At the airport things were improved since our last flight out of San Juan. The Agricultural Station is now right at the entrance to the terminal. At least it is for American. You can’t miss it unlike before. If you are in a hurry use a porter here, too. The porters get priority checking in people. We had to wait quite a while to get through the check in process.

 

The flight home was long with a short connection in Miami. When we fly back from San Juan next year we will figure out a better way to do it. Perhaps a flight home via Chicago to see our older daughter? We have time to figure that out.

 

I hope you all enjoyed the review. I will try to add some final thoughts later. I am jotting them down as I think of them. I will also add the promised Diamond Perks list soon.

 

If you have a cruise booked on the Jewel pretty soon I hope you got some inspiration out of this. If not, I hope you will want to book a Southern Caribbean cruise right away! And I hope to see you on a cruise someday in the future.

Edited June 4, 2014 by Sunny AZ Girl

[BillOh]

Wow, it was nice seeing the 2nd half of the cruise! I will definitely go back and see Aruba and Curacao someday. Next cruise is only one new port for me and that is Fallmouth. I guess that makes 14 days we have sailed together and it was indeed fun. I hope we have more someday. I'll look forward to hearing about that canal crossing, that is on the distant bucket list for me. I'll also look forward to hearing your comparison of Oasis to Allure. I'm sure someday we will end up one of the 3 Oasis class ships again . Gina is adamant that Allure is her favorite. Me, I need to revisit Freedom again after 7 years to decide for sure then having 2 cruise on each. On a day where I had to will my body, against its wishes to go into work, I'm having trouble seeing beyond my next cruise 325 days.

 

 

Many thanks to you and Steve, Lisa and Steve, Laura and Gene, Norine and Gene, and not to forget Sue and Audie for the fun the last two years.

Edited June 4, 2014 by BillOh
small corrections

[Canadian Tyler]

I'm sorry. I forgot the give you the photo link for Aruba. Here it is.

 

This is finally coming to an end. I'm sorry it has gone on so long. I really need to learn to cut down!

 

No! I've really enjoyed reading it. Thank you!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Nana57]

I so loved your review! We are doing the B2B in July but we are stopping in St. Croix not having to repeat St. Kitts I guess. I too will try those shoe inserts, as I have terrible feet! I'll have to bring a closed shoe though, as winters in NY are cold and would probably use them more in a closed shoe.

 

Hope to be reading your new adventures in the Forums.

 

Thanks again for a great read!

[DShock]

One of the best reviews I've read in a long time. The pictures and details about your excursions were fantastic. We board Jewel August 23rd for b2b's. Your review really has us excited and we are hoping to form a Colorado/Texas Cruisers as a result. Amazing job with this review!

[Sunny AZ Girl]

Wow, it was nice seeing the 2nd half of the cruise! I will definitely go back and see Aruba and Curacao someday. Next cruise is only one new port for me and that is Fallmouth. I guess that makes 14 days we have sailed together and it was indeed fun. I hope we have more someday. I'll look forward to hearing about that canal crossing, that is on the distant bucket list for me. I'll also look forward to hearing your comparison of Oasis to Allure. I'm sure someday we will end up one of the 3 Oasis class ships again . Gina is adamant that Allure is her favorite. Me, I need to revisit Freedom again after 7 years to decide for sure then having 2 cruise on each. On a day where I had to will my body, against its wishes to go into work, I'm having trouble seeing beyond my next cruise 325 days.

 

 

Many thanks to you and Steve, Lisa and Steve, Laura and Gene, Norine and Gene, and not to forget Sue and Audie for the fun the last two years.

We have enjoyed sailing with you and Gina, also. I know that now will not be the end! Until our next cruise, then.......so may cruises, so little time!

 

No! I've really enjoyed reading it. Thank you!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Thank you for the nice comments. It was fun to relive our memories. But now I will relive them once again as I put together our post-cruise Picaboo Photo book. See how I can make 14 days stretch? :D

[Sunny AZ Girl]

I so loved your review! We are doing the B2B in July but we are stopping in St. Croix not having to repeat St. Kitts I guess. I too will try those shoe inserts, as I have terrible feet! I'll have to bring a closed shoe though, as winters in NY are cold and would probably use them more in a closed shoe.

 

Hope to be reading your new adventures in the Forums.

 

Thanks again for a great read!

 

Part of me was really hoping that our cruise would have done the same thing and would have visited St. Croix the second week. However, one of the downfalls of cruising vs a land vacation is the fact that we only get to see a slice of what each island has to offer. By having repeat visits and doing something different each time we get to know that island a little better. I guess I will just have to go back on a cruise and visit St. Croix next time. We always try to pick an itinerary where we have as many new ports as possible. On this B2B only San Juan, St. Martin, St. Thomas, Aruba and Antigua were repeats for us.

Edited June 4, 2014 by Sunny AZ Girl

[Quilting Queen]

Ginny your reviewtook me back to our cruise. It was fun, can't wait for next year on the Oasis.

 

Norine

[Sunny AZ Girl]

One of the best reviews I've read in a long time. The pictures and details about your excursions were fantastic. We board Jewel August 23rd for b2b's. Your review really has us excited and we are hoping to form a Colorado/Texas Cruisers as a result. Amazing job with this review!

I am so glad my review helped you out. That is the intent. I am also glad you have decided to form a state group. The friendships we have formed are deep. They do not come instantly, but we have been working on our relationships with some of these people for 6-7 years. I can turn to my Arizona Cruisers friends whenever I need a lift and they are always there to help both on and off line.

[Sunny AZ Girl]

Ginny your reviewtook me back to our cruise. It was fun, can't wait for next year on the Oasis.

 

Norine

 

It will be great! Thank you fro being such a good friend.:)

[BillOh]

I so loved your review! We are doing the B2B in July but we are stopping in St. Croix not having to repeat St. Kitts I guess. I too will try those shoe inserts, as I have terrible feet! I'll have to bring a closed shoe though, as winters in NY are cold and would probably use them more in a closed shoe.

 

Hope to be reading your new adventures in the Forums.

 

Thanks again for a great read!

 

Check locally. We have a GOOD FEET store here in Columbus and that is who is pushing these. They are cheaper locally. I have a bias against them, part of which was I signed up for a back pain relief "class" on Jewel in 2012 and all it turned out to be was a push for these custom orthodics. Maybe they will help someone, but I suspect they aren't much different than the ones Dr Schols pushes for about $50. RANT OVER

[Luv06012012]

EXCELLENT review!!! Your pics are absolutely Beau-ti-ful!!!! I love your review because you brought back wonderful memories of ports we have been to already and gave me a wonderul taste of what is about to come for us next year!

 

By the way, I love your Arizona Cruisers Group! You all are too adorable! I love how close you all have become and how much you enjoy each other!

 

I shared some of your review with my hubby last night and he enjoyed it also...you gave us alot of insight which will help us on our trip next year. Congrats on your Diamond status too!

 

Thank you for all of the work you put into this lovely review.........it is much appreciated! Happy cruising..................

[Arizona Cruz Chic]

Bravo Ginny!!! Loved it!!!

Loved your review and your style of writing, very descriptive, just like being there.....speaking of that, we will cruise together some day!!! ;)

 

Your pictures are beyond words, some could be published!

 

***

[Sunny AZ Girl]

Bravo Ginny!!! Loved it!!!

Loved your review and your style of writing, very descriptive, just like being there.....speaking of that, we will cruise together some day!!! ;)

 

Your pictures are beyond words, some could be published!

 

***

 

Thank you so much, Linda. Your words are so kind.

[Sunny AZ Girl]

Jewel Afterthoughts

 

* The Ship

We love the Jewel. The older features she still has such as the Sea View Cafe and the outdoor seating area in the Windjammer are great and we will miss those venues especially after the refurb. Some of the things I loved about the Jewel in 2006 are not the same things we loved this time around, though. On that cruise we spent a lot of time in the Solarium. This time, not so much. I preferred to relax in the Vortex Lounge. I think the addition of the Park Cafe will be a good change in place of the Solarium Cafe. We will be able to enjoy the Jewel one more time before the refurb on the Panama Canal cruise in 2015 and perhaps I will find a new favorite area?

 

This ship is the perfect size for such a port intensive itinerary. I never felt like I was missing something big. Even with 3 sea days on the Allure I always felt like there was something else I needed to see or do.

 

*MTD vs Traditional Dining

We had Traditional Dining on the first part of our B2B and My Time dining on Part Two. For a group I really believe it is easier and less confusing to have Traditional and that is what I would recommend to large groups. However, we did enjoy the MTD option once we got the times and table straightened out. We enjoyed having the option to change our dining time if we were having a late port day, such as we had in Aruba. We also like not having to eat as early at 6 PM or as late as 8:30 PM. The biggest drawback to our dining time was that the shows are built around the Traditional times. We had no problems making the late show with our 6:45 dining time as long as there were two shows. However, if there was only one show at 7:45 this time did not work. For us, those were not usually high priority shows, but that is something to keep in mind when you are booking your dining choice.

 

*10th Birthday

I neglected to mention the Jewel celebrated her 10th birthday on Part One of our B2B. We missed the celebration, but Rita (AZSwiss Gal) captured a picture of the cake as it was being brought out on the pool deck!

 

*Pace Yourself

This cruise was very port intensive, especially Part One. Don’t try to do it all. I recommend doing a high energy one day followed by a low energy day. We try to plan at least one pure beach day a week and don’t try to fill every day with activities. In Antigua, for example, we decided to not do the beach followed by the tour since it was such a hot day and to just go back and relax in the a/c. Everyone has a different tolerance level, so you should plan according to your own abilities, but don’t go home needing a vacation from your vacation!

 

 

*Demographics

This is strictly an observation and nothing else, but we seemed to have completely different demographics from Week One to Week Two overall on the ship. I would probably not have noticed it if I had only been on one week or the other. First of all there were virtually no children on Week One. On Week Two there was a big difference. The ship was not over run with kids (I like kids, really!), but there was a lot bigger presence. Perhaps the schools in Puerto Rico were out that week? The kids were well behaved. A few pre-teens on the first day of Week Two were playing the elevator game. But once we had a friendly chit-chat they went off to find more appropriate ways to entertain themselves and I didn’t see any more shenanigans. I told them how much more fun it was to play in Adventure Ocean!

 

The other change we saw was that there were a lot of families from Puerto Rico on Week Two. Again, it was not a problem, just an observation. I had noticed in the weeks prior to the cruises that Week One was selling out faster than Week Two so they may have had a resident discount. The vive was a little more Latin and it was fun. We heard a lot more Spanish. I would guess that up to 30% of the guests were Spanish speaking that week. Everyone was nice and polite and got along well. I just thought the change was interesting in both respects.

 

*Formal Nights and Lobster Night

The two weeks were different. Week One (Barbados Route) had Formal Night on nights 2 & 5. Lobster was served on Night 6. Different from what we were used to.

 

Week Two (Aruba Route) Formal Nights were nights 2 & 6 with lobster served on night 6. We were told this was because on night 5 we were in Aruba, with an 11PM departure time and many people were eating off the ship that night.

 

*Favorite Island

I have already been asked many times to name my favorite island. The bottom line is –I can’t! Each port offered something different. Some islands are wonderful, relaxing places I love for visiting for the day, but didn’t think there would be enough to keep me interested longer. Some islands I think I could easily visit for a full week. In that respect, St. Thomas/St.John, St. Kitts & Barbados are my top players right now. I would not hesitate to visit any again on a cruise. If I do, I try to do something a little different each time, even if I just visit a different beach.

 

Any questions? Feel free to ask. I will add anything else if I think of it.

Edited June 4, 2014 by Sunny AZ Girl

[PurrSusan]

Thank you so much for taking the time to do this review---lots of good info for our Jewel 2015 b2b! I really enjoyed your photos too :)

[Arizona Laura]

Wow, it was nice seeing the 2nd half of the cruise! I will definitely go back and see Aruba and Curacao someday. Next cruise is only one new port for me and that is Fallmouth. I guess that makes 14 days we have sailed together and it was indeed fun. I hope we have more someday. I'll look forward to hearing about that canal crossing, that is on the distant bucket list for me. I'll also look forward to hearing your comparison of Oasis to Allure. I'm sure someday we will end up one of the 3 Oasis class ships again . Gina is adamant that Allure is her favorite. Me, I need to revisit Freedom again after 7 years to decide for sure then having 2 cruise on each. On a day where I had to will my body, against its wishes to go into work, I'm having trouble seeing beyond my next cruise 325 days.

 

 

Many thanks to you and Steve, Lisa and Steve, Laura and Gene, Norine and Gene, and not to forget Sue and Audie for the fun the last two years.

 

Thanks Bill..

 

Cruising is so hard on me and with Gene being sick on Day 1 then I catching what he had and running a fever and being sick still after getting home we missed out on a lot during the cruise. Did not get to talk to you and Gina very much. Am sorry about that.

 

Ginny..thanks for the review and pics. I missed out on a lot and always seem to do that but reading your reviews and seeing your pics is appreciated.

 

Thanks to Sheila and Jerry who hung out so much with Gene and I when we were no fun. I am so glad after so many years I was able to get them to start going to Az Cruiser functions and cruise with some of our group. They are a great addition.

 

I agree about trying to find some diversion to getting home besides San Juan to Miami and Miami to Phoenix. That is why Gene won’t cruise to San Juan through the Panama Canal next yr. Just so long and cramped.

 

Laura

[Sunny AZ Girl]

it's a long flight from Miami to Phoenix, especially if you don't have much time to stretch your legs after the San Juan to Miami section. Since not continuing to see the world is not an option for us we will find ways to break it up, even if it means having to extend the vacation a few days. Thinking of stopping in Chicago to see Susie as I mentioned, or stopping on the East Coast for a day (somewhere we haven't been) and doing some more sightseeing. Since we hope to do the Med in 2017 I know that is what we will do then. Break it up into several shorter flights with longer breaks in between!

[docsdrillers]

Ginny

Great job on your review and your photos were spectacular..Also loved reading about week two.

be well,

amit

[Sunny AZ Girl]

Ginny

Great job on your review and your photos were spectacular..Also loved reading about week two.

be well,

amit

Thanks amit! I wish we could have connected with you on the cruise. Perhaps next time......:)