Jewel OTS California Coastal Review 10/3/15

[rednancy1]

Enjoying your review. Great pix.

 

We were on this cruise too. It's nice to get another perspective. :)

[Sunkissed Mommy]

One positive than I can mention is that when we got off the ship they allowed us to go on the buses that were parked inside the "terminal" rather than make us walk down the street to the official stop. They had Big Buses inside the terminal because that was the company assigned to the royal excursions. I assumed that they might make us go outside because we bought our tickets on our own. We rode around for close to an hour before the first place that we wanted to get off.

 

 

 

 

 

[floridianny]

Great review..have been following along. Funny, I went to Solveng when I was a child, about 1979 probably. My grandmother was half Norwegian and wanted to go there as part of a long trip we were on with my grandparents. I haven't thought of that in years, so thanks for the memories:)

Your son is adorable,btw. :)

[Sunkissed Mommy]

We got off here because I wanted another picture in front of the Painted Ladies. I grew up watching Full House as a kid, so these houses always looked so cool to me. The grass was in pretty bad shape, I am guess it is from the drought?

 

 

 

 

DS spotted the playground. We let him play for 20 minutes because most of the trip was focus on things we (DH and myself) wanted to see, we made time to let him burn off some energy in between stops. This was the 1st of three playgrounds for the day!

[Sunkissed Mommy]

Next up was the Golden Gate bridge, I already shared the photos when explaining my disappointment in the bus stops. But I was able to get a nice shot while we were riding over the bridge.

 

 

I wanted to get off a Lombard Street to show DH the curvy street. Except that Big Bus doesn't stop anywhere near that section. It drive through a regular street with nothing to see. So we ended up staying on the bus until we got to Chinatown. There we walked through some shops, ate lunch, and then we found another playground!!

 

 

 

 

I saw a sign for this "tea" that I like. It goes by various names: Milk Tea, Bubble Tea, Boba Tea, etc. I was excited. There aren't many places back home that serve it. People have always told me it is better out on the West Coast. So I ordered one. Ugh! The lady that made it must have thrown a bunch of stuff in a cup without measuring. It was way too sweet, gritty (too much powder), and just not the same. I was let down :(

 

Edited October 21, 2015 by smileyperry

[Sunkissed Mommy]

Once we finished our wanders in Chinatown, we hopped back on the bus and took it back to the ship. This final bus we boarded was the only one with a live guide on it. The other buses had the tape recording. On our short trip back to the ship we passed the waterfront and we got a glimpse of the new Terminal. This is where the Crown Princess was docked the day before.

 

 

We attempted to nap the little guy, but it was useless. So we hung out on our balcony and then headed up to the Windjammer around 6pm. I wanted to go up on deck for our second sailing under the Golden Gate Bridge, but we were too tired. We actually had a less hectic and nice view from in the Windjammer.

 

 

 

 

We also had the opportunity to see a few whales. It was great. DS was the one who kept pointing them out so us. I think I saw more whales this evening than we did on our entire Alaskan cruise a few years ago!

 

[Aboat1]

Thanks for the great review. DH and I had put this cruise on our bucket list. Your review has really moved it up on our list. Thanks!

[cincicruisers]

Enjoying your review. It worked out great with the parks for your little one to play.

[Sunkissed Mommy]

Enjoying your review. It worked out great with the parks for your little one to play.

 

At first I wasn't thrilled when he spotted the park in Alamo Square. But later in the day I realized it was a saving grace. it let him burn off some energy in between the sights we wanted to see. I forgot to mention the third playground was located between Pier 39 and where the Jewel was parked. He played on it when we got off the HOHO bus. I also just found out that my dad took him to this same park the night before when DS hung out with him while we ventured off to Alcatraz.

[Sunkissed Mommy]

We spent a long time in the Windjammer that night. Went for round two of dinner before departing at nearly 8:30pm!

 

You may be wondering why I haven't mentioned much of the ship so far. We didnt do much in the first half of the week because the cruise was so port intensive! We spent most of our days ashore. Came back on, ate dinner, and retreated to our rooms. We did explore more on the sea day + our day in Ensenada.

 

The next day was Monterey. I was excited for this stop. Princess doesn't stop here so it was a nice treat to go somewhere that normally does not get cruise ship guests. On our agenda was a nice walk along the coast to the Aquarium. We took the Monterey Bay Coastal Trail. It was beautiful!!

 

 

 

 

[Sunkissed Mommy]

Before I leave you for this evening I have a question for everyone following along.

 

What do you think happens when you dress your 2.5 year old in this shirt for the day???

 

[JoyMouse]

Before I leave you for this evening I have a question for everyone following along.

 

 

 

What do you think happens when you dress your 2.5 year old in this shirt for the day???

 

 

 

 

 

My guess is either every woman you passed over the age of 30 stopped and commented on it or said 2.5 year old decided to prove his parents wrong.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Sunkissed Mommy]

Ding Ding Ding. Answer B is correct.

 

He decided this was the day to make his parents look incompetent. As soon as we arrived at the aquarium he began screaming. Nothing made him happy. Holding him, strolling him, offering food, etc. NOTHING! I was not about to waste the $75 we had just dropped on buying the tickets to get in. We walked over to the food court to eat and perhaps calm him down. Sometimes he acts out when hungry and he doesn't know why he feels like crud.

 

The food court is nice. They have healthier options than most places which was nice.

 

 

 

After the cool down session we decided to embark on our adventure through the place. We found kid friendly areas, there were plenty! So we let DS play to burn off some steam, again in hopes of calming him down. I call the last one "Short Kid Problems"

 

 

 

 

He behaved during the time we were in the kid areas, but the moment we moved on to other things he broke out in tantrum after tantrum!

[Sunkissed Mommy]

The aquarium is awesome. DS has been to the "big ones" Shedd (I was not impressed) and Georgia Aquarium, so we make it a point to bring him to aquariums everywhere we go. We actually liked the Sea Life Aquarium in Grapevine Texas, small be really nice. He loves fish and animals in general so it just makes sense.

 

The back of the aquarium has a large deck area that affords some amazing views of the bay. We spent quite a bit of time out there looking for otters and other animals. It was a beautiful day for us. We came from Florida where it's in the 90s, so the upper 60s/low 70s was blissful.

 

 

 

Edited October 22, 2015 by smileyperry

[Sunkissed Mommy]

We explored the touch tanks for a bit. My son kept petting the drain instead of the animals. It was kinda funny. We kept telling him that it was not an animal and he insisted on petting it. Okay, you're not crying at this point, whatever makes you happy!!!

 

 

As a kid 23 years ago I remember the jellyfish section being amazing. It's still beautiful to this day!

 

 

We then made our way to the back room area with the large tank full of sharks, sardines, and other large sea life. DS was enthralled with it for a few minutes until the naughties came back!

 

 

 

As soon as I snapped this picture of him, he took off running. Full speed. Back through the jellyfish exhibit. I took off after him through the crowd. He didn't look back for a second to see if we were even following him. Generally he will check to make sure DH or I follows. Not today.. He was on a mission. Now if you've ever been to the Monterey Bay Aquarium you may know that the jellyfish exhibit is very dark. Good luck catching a 2 year old running through there! I finally caught him in the entrance where the sardines swim in circles above. He was cracking up laughing when I caught him. Thats about when I threw up the white flag ad surrendered. We left to make our way back to the ship at this point.

 

I lacked a lot of photos from the aquarium because I was busy chasing, calming, and disciplining DS. It was not a good day for us. I am sad because I wanted to get more photos of it.

[nivek82]

The story of your DS sounds like our DD. We can have days and days of nothing planed but the second we toss money down on something is the day she says "nope today I'm going to fully act like a brat." Along with my favorite "I'm going to make sure that EVERYONE knows that I'm not happy with you!"

[Sunkissed Mommy]

The story of your DS sounds like our DD. We can have days and days of nothing planed but the second we toss money down on something is the day she says "nope today I'm going to fully act like a brat." Along with my favorite "I'm going to make sure that EVERYONE knows that I'm not happy with you!"

 

We are fortunate that his doesn't do this often, but he does choose to do it at the most inoppotune times. Monterey Bay happened to be one of those. Since becoming a mom I always feel for those who are stuck in a tantrum with their child in a very public place. I know that most people are looking on with disdain, as I am sure people did to us that day.

 

I almost want to carry little card in my pocket to give at those moments that say "I 100% understand how you feel, take a deep breath and ignore everyone around you! My kid does it too"

[Sunkissed Mommy]

As luck, or Murphy's Law, would have it: DS fell asleep within seconds of leaving the aquarium. We decided to walk through Cannery Row and along the trail again to make our way back to the ship.

 

 

 

 

 

It was peaceful and a great way to unwind from the chaos of the day. It's a shame that Florida weather isn't conducive to beautiful walking trails. We only have a handful of cool days in our "winter" that would allow for a nice long walk. Most other days it's far too hot or rainy!

 

We chose to ride on the top of the tender for the ride back to the ship because it was nice out.

 

Edited October 22, 2015 by smileyperry

[Sunkissed Mommy]

Once back onboard we went to the top deck to hang around. We watched tenders come in little by little. Finally it was time for the last tender to be pulled up the side of the ship. They were struggling. We watched the poor guys circle over and over. They could not get the tender to line up right. Finally we saw someone in the bridge wing maneuver the ship over to help. They finally got the last tender onboard. It was at least a 30 minute ordeal!

 

 

 

What happens to naughty little boys at the end of the day? They pass out, face first, on a lounge chair up on deck! Misbehavin takes a lot out of a kid!

 

Edited October 22, 2015 by smileyperry

[Susie51]

A little bit of both. Hehe. We had a good cruise but would have appreciated the nursery on a night or two for some adult only time!

 

I'd enjoy reading about your experiences and seeing your pictures. Also, interested what you did at each port.

 

Looking forward to more of your review.

[Sunkissed Mommy]

We went down to the Windjammer for dinner, as usual. We decided that because the next day was a sea day we might as well get off our butts and do something on the ship. My dad thought that mini golf would be fun for my son. We werent sure he'd be in to it. It was chilly out, so I ran back to the room to get sweatshirts for us while everyone else headed up to Jewel Dunes.

 

What do you know... DS LOVED mini golf. I think we went around the course 3 times that night. Being that he is a 2 year old he does play his own version of the game. He places the ball where he wants to shoot from.. about 2 feet from the hole. He was persistent in making it and he even celebrated everyone else's success!!

 

 

 

 

It was windy but surprisingly the balls stayed in place.

Edited October 23, 2015 by smileyperry

[TonyBuzz]

Really enjoying your review. We were on this cruise. Never saw you guys. Thought of doing our own review but there are already three great reviews. I have very little to add. We had a great time BTW. Thanks for the review. :)

[cruisequeen4ever]

Loving your review! It's fun to see fellow 30 somethings enjoying cruising! [emoji568]

[cruisequeen4ever]

Do tell (if you can); what's your secret to having enough vacation time to cruise as often as you do?

[OTownNick]

Sounds like a fun itinerary...one day we would

Like to do a Pacific Northwest sailing. Thanks for the review.