Sweet Treat Jewel Southern Caribbean January 17, 2016

[rsharp83]

Taking a time out here to apologize for the typos! Geez. I am usually a pretty clean writer and typically catch most of my mistakes. However for whatever reason this review seems to be full of my mistakes! For example, people were riding HORSES not HOSES. Anyway I will endeavor to do a better job but I am rereading and looking things over and still missing things. I would like to say it will get better, but so far I am not totally on my game with the typing folks. Sorry if you are one of those people that get driven crazy by such things.

[rsharp83]

Aruba Part 2

 

We headed out on a few side streets and then we were off road into the desert. Cactus, sand dunes, rocky trails, rolling hills and spectacular views at every turn. The pictures don't do it justice and I took far too few photos. I literally could have stopped every 5 minutes and shot pictures. In fact an avid photographer might book a full day private tour and just shoot pictures all day. We were mostly alone out there, occasionally we ran into another tour but often it was just our guide and the two of us. The sea was crashing in on the rocky shore and then every once in a while the shoreline would open up to a small beach area. There are a few buildings but they are mostly abandoned. No one lives out here.

 

 

The rocky shores

 

Our first stop was a small restored Catholic church, Alto Vista Chapel built in 1750, where there were a bunch of tour groups; busses, jeeps, ATVs, people in rental cars. We stayed long enough for a brief history of the church a and a few pictures.

 

 

Alto Vista Chapel

 

Back on the trail we headed to a small beach area and rock formation. The beaches on this side of the island get a lot of trash washing up because of the constant trade wind. We had a geology lesson and time to look around. It was a very cool area. There was also a horseback tour there with us.

 

 

 

 

See the crab tracks

 

 

[rsharp83]

 

 

The constant trade winds bring lots of trash to this side of the island.

 

 

Amy on the ATV

 

In the morning the crashing waves make rainbows

 

[Familygoboston]

Fabulous photos in Aruba, Randy!

[rsharp83]

Aruba Part 3

 

Our next stop was the gold mine. Not really a mine but more like a secured holding facility for the gold. Geert took us aside and explained the construction and history of the site and then gave us some good pointers about getting around inside the structure and where to go once we had climbed to the top. Other guides we saw were just letting their people wander around without any directions.

 

The structure is all fitted rocks, no cement or mortar.

 

 

 

 

I couldn't resist a little rock climbing. You don't have to climb on these rocks to get to the top of the mine.

 

 

Panoramic from the top of the mine

 

[rsharp83]

Aruba Part 4

 

The Natural Pool was coming up next! We left the coastline and headed through some neighborhoods. This part of the trip was almost as interesting as the coastline. We got to see a number of different residential areas and some really cool sites that most tourists might not see. It was really fun to see a slice of life in Aruba. We entered the park and paid our fee. Then we were off on the "road" more like a trail that turned into not much more than a path. A path with a lot of rocks. I suppose you could rent a Jeep and try this yourself, I wouldn't want to do this and you really couldn't get very close to the pool unless you really were confident in your 4X4 driving skills. We did see some people parked at the very top of the hill overlooking the pool area, some were hiking down. I'll say this, if you are planning on hiking you'd better be in very good shape and have proper shoes and carry water. It would be a long hike and every step will be over loose rocks. Coming back up would be a challenging climb. There were some people doing it.

 

Our trail was very rocky and rough, we went slowly and rode the brakes most of the way. At the base of the trail was a parking area and then a set of stairs that led down to the pool. We took our belongings with us as we would be out of sightline to the ATVs from the pool.

 

While we were there a Jeep tour pulled up. Or as Geert called them "Shake and Bake". I watched them drive too fast, bouncing hard on the rocks and purposefully jostling their passengers in the back as much as possible. Then the guides started shouting "Who let the dogs out!" Yikes. That held no appeal to me at all. We saw the Jeep tour later doing "donuts" around a traffic circle at a pretty quick rate of speed. Maybe I'm getting old, but that kind of stupidity on a tour just turns me off. Be respectful of your patrons and those around you. And for god's sake quit singing "Who let the dogs out".

 

We hiked down to the pool area and found a place to sit while I got in and did some swimming. The rocks are very slippery and water shoes would be helpful. I climbed up to the "hot tub" area and then did a cliff dive. There were quite a few people there but that's to be expected. It was a beautiful area and such a unique thing to do. I was very glad I found a way to get there.

 

 

 

Panoramic of the Natural Pool

 

 

After the pool we locked into 4X4 mode on the ATVs for the only time on the tour and made the climb out. Going up was easier than the downward trip had been. Soon we were out of the park and headed back across the island. We stopped to get a view of our ship docked far away on the other side.

 

 

If you look between the "hills" you can see the Jewel.

[rsharp83]

Aruba Part 5

 

We pulled back into the ranch and were disappointed to find that they were out of Rancho Notorious T-shirts. Dang, we really wanted one. We did get our picture with Geert at the Rancho bar!

 

 

If you are a mountain biker interested in the 250 miles of trails on Aruba then this is your place and Geert is your guy. He's an avid mountain biker, rated #1 in class B on the island. He holds mountain biking events at the ranch, participates in various rides and also coaches. He was taking a coaching certification test later that day. He rides on his own often and does tours. We have a lot of bikers in our family ( I used to ride before my knees went bad). If you are interested in mountain biking then I can't imagine a that there is a better guide on the island.

 

Our day on the ATVs was a blast. Not the cheapest excursion you can do but certainly one of the best we've ever done. I can't recommend Rancho Notorious highly enough for every aspect of the day. I hope to go back and do one of the other tours he offers.

 

 

Geert and I

 

There are several shops right in the cruise port building before you board the ship. If you are just looking for some basic souvenirs then you can likely find all you need right here.

[dani negreanu]

Thanks, R. You have a knack with words, and your pictures are amazing.

Jewel was our first cruise ever (for DH 60th), and I hope to be back on her next year, but living on a "living volcano" like Israel, you never know:(

 

I was intrigued by the "10 years in the making" and went on and red it. Very enjoyable.

 

Since I took "advantage" of Allure's dry dock in Europe last summer and was lucky enough to see the "biggest ship, etc.", I was very happy to be reminded of it with your review of Oasis. I also booked DH on the "All access tour", but he didn't saw the ropes and anchor:mad:. He found the tour very interesting, like you said: if you're going to splurge 150$, do it on Allure/Oasis.

 

Your taking the time to "entertain" us is very much appreciated, and I'll continue to follow avidly.

 

Dani

[rsharp83]

Thanks, R. You have a knack with words, and your pictures are amazing.

Jewel was our first cruise ever (for DH 60th), and I hope to be back on her next year, but living on a "living volcano" like Israel, you never know:(

 

I was intrigued by the "10 years in the making" and went on and red it. Very enjoyable.

 

Since I took "advantage" of Allure's dry dock in Europe last summer and was lucky enough to see the "biggest ship, etc.", I was very happy to be reminded of it with your review of Oasis. I also booked DH on the "All access tour", but he didn't saw the ropes and anchor:mad:. He found the tour very interesting, like you said: if you're going to splurge 150$, do it on Allure/Oasis.

 

Your taking the time to "entertain" us is very much appreciated, and I'll continue to follow avidly.

 

Dani

 

Thanks for the kind words. I'm glad you enjoyed the 10 years review. It was fun to write. As far as the All Access Tours I think RCCL has cut back on what you get to see on them. I recommended it to a couple on our Oasis cruise last summer. They did not get to see nearly as much as I did on Allure 2 years before. They liked the tour but it was nowhere near as extensive as the one I did.

[rsharp83]

Food and Beverage

 

We ate all our dinners in the Tides MDR. We had not done that on our other cruises, opting for the 3 specialty dining package on Oasis that included Giovanni's, Chops and 150 Central Park. On Jewel we decided to stick to the MDR. Our food was fine every night and we always had good choices. Even our super picky eater was able to survive, mostly on sliders and basic beef dishes. On the second formal night they did offer a 20% discount on the filet from Chops to make a Surf and Turf meal. For the $13.50 up charge I took the offer and that steak was melt in your mouth good.

 

We ate most other meals in the Windjammer and it was fine. We really like the views and ate outside in the aft dining area most every morning. The only other food venue (we thought) was in the Solarium which offered snacks, roast beef sandwiches, pizza, hot dogs, etc. And for the record these roast beef sandwiches are NOT the same as the Park Cafe roast beef on Oasis, dang it.

 

There is also another venue that we didn't know about until late in the cruise. It's a stir fry place on the aft of deck 12. It has an up charge of $10 and you can get stir fry or hamburgers.

 

For the first (and likely only) time we had the Premium Beverage package because it came as part of our IDQ cruise plan. We are not huge drinkers and I can't imagine we "got our money's worth every day." But it was super convenient and allowed us to try things we wouldn't have normally tried. Like the chocolate martini that we both wound up pouring down the sink after a few sips. I figure I would have needed 29-35 drinks between bottled water, soda and alcohol to break even on purchasing the plan. Since I don't drink beer or wine this would mean a lot of frozen drinks and other liquor. We drank more than we did on both of our other cruises combined and I might have come close to making it pay for itself but I doubt I'd buy it. I found I was ordering drinks just to be ordering them. The pina colada with Bailey's turned out to by our drink of choice. It also felt really good on my sore throat!

 

On day 4 they did announce the availability of a 10 drink card for $75. I might have purchased that to use between the 2 of us. Too bad you can't get that on day one of the cruise.

[rsharp83]

Curacao - Friday Day 6

 

I told you I had a crazy story, well here it is.

 

I've given a great deal of thought to what I would write as a review for our visit to Curacao and our day with Dushi Taxi and Natasha. In the end I can't give her the glowing reviews that others have on Trip Advisor. Maybe she had an off day. Maybe I didn't clearly communicate what we really wanted, although I emailed her and then went over it again at the beginning of our tour. I've done a number of tours and this one just never went right from almost the word go. I will say Natasha is super enthusiastic and bubbly and tried to make the best of a tough day.

 

 

The port at Willemstad

 

 

Finding a taxi that can take 6 people on a private tour is no small trick in Curacao, at least I couldn't find any that took 6 people other than Dushi. When we arrived and walked to the taxi I was impressed that it was a Mercedes Benz Sprinter van, they are very nice. However, when we entered the van it was not the interior I was expecting. I've ridden in a few of these and I have a relative that sells Mercedes and so I am fairly familiar with the vehicle. There were only a few rows of seats and I don't think they were the standard factory installed seats. Then there was another chair, strapped to the floor. The back of the van was open and could accommodate a wheelchair or scooter. The chair strapped to the floor was concerning. I asked about it and Natasha said it was the most comfortable chair in the van!

 

The van interior was also pretty cluttered. Just "stuff" laying around. She said she had snacks and drinks in the cooler and a container in the rear of the van. Later, when we started getting hungry we found the snacks consisted of a half a bag of potato chips and some sort of gooey things (like a gummy worm candy). There was no ice in the cooler so there were no cold drinks.

 

There were only 3 places we really wanted to go. Shete Boka National Park and a couple of Westside beaches. I told Natasha that we were not interested in caves, wineries, distilleries, etc. We really just wanted to go to the park and the beach. We went over that again when we were getting on the van. It didn't seem to matter. We started driving around the downtown area and we kept doing that for quite a while. Several neighborhoods that all looked very similar, a number of churches and cemeteries, then a fort, then back to the town area, then the Blue Curacao distillery (which I had said we didn't want to go to). She practically kicked us out of the van to go look around here with all the other tourist groups.

 

Finally after a little more prodding it seemed we were on the way to the Westside of the island. She pulled over at a small, neatly constructed food truck selling fruit shakes. She got our orders and purchased a shake for all of us. They were good but I was anxious to get going, we just seemed to be constantly burning up our time for the beach. That's when the tour went to heck.

 

 

The shakes were good!

 

She started up the van to get the AC going, came around to the passenger side and was getting something out of the van or whatever. Then she shut the door...locking her only set of keys in the van while it was running!! "Oh noooooo!!!!" she screamed and then panic started to set in, for all of us. We were in the middle of nowhere. Literally there was nothing around but a few houses and this food stand. All of our belongings, money, passports etc. were in the van. She didn't even have her cell phone on her, it was in the van too.

 

Luckily she could use the phone of her friend that owns the shake stand. But all her contacts were on her phone. After several calls she was going to have her mother come and take us on the rest of the tour. But there was no way were we leaving all our stuff behind. Her father could bring her spare keys from her home, but he was at least 45 minutes away. The van door hadn't shut all the way so we were trying to use a wire hanger to get the window to roll down. The hanger wire wasn't strong enough to do the trick. We scouted around for anything we could use. But it was all useless, we were stuck.

 

Our futile attempts at carjacking

 

We spent an hour and half of our day here, doing nothing. Goats, a small junk yard and traffic were our sights. Finally Natasha's father arrived with a key, or so we thought. The key fob didn't work, wouldn't unlock anything. Yikes! I was ready to break out the window. Then someone remembered that contained inside the fob was an actual physical key. Finally the van was open for business again.

 

 

A nice stand to visit, but an hour and a half was a bit too long a stay

 

[rsharp83]

Curacao Part 2

 

Now time was a definite factor for the remainder of the day. She said the park was about 10 minutes away (It was more like 20+). That was another issue, the sense of time seemed to be off. Even at the beginning of the tour she was surprised that we had to be back at port for the 4:30 sailing, saying something like "that's not enough time to see everything." We just decided to double whatever time she told us travel would take so we could get back to the ship.

 

We arrived at the Shete Boka park and spent about 25-30 minutes there. It is a very pretty coastline with many crashing waves. The water was a deep blue and the scenery was beautiful. There are trails to walk on and most of them are pretty easy to access. There is a small bit of climbing up rock stairs but nothing too strenuous. Unless you want to walk along the coastline trail, 30 minutes should be enough time to allot for the park.

 

The trail to the main area

 

 

 

 

 

 

[rsharp83]

More from the Shete Boka National Park

 

 

 

 

 

[rsharp83]

Curacao Part 3

 

Then we were back in the van. Natasha told us that the lady working at the park entrance had shared her lunch and that it was really good. Which seemed an odd thing to say since we didn't have any food. We did pick up a few small snacks at the distillery so that's what we munched on. Natasha said there would be a food vendor at the beach but it was a woman set up at a picnic table with some containers of food and it just didn't look like something we were ready to risk.

 

 

Finally, the beach

 

Kenepa is a beautiful beach with some of the clearest water I've ever seen. There is an overlook area above the beach that gives you some great photo opportunities. The beach itself has a lot of stones but they are smooth. There is a swimming platform and a few amenities. many of the buildings seemed to be locked. And when we came down the stairs to enter the beach there were several people changing along the cliff wall. Let's just say we got a few more "sights" than we were planning on viewing. Unfortunately we only spent about 10-15 minutes here, I had hoped for an hour or more when originally planning this trip.

 

The picnic area overlooking the beach

 

 

Can you sense my frustration?

 

 

 

Crystal clear

 

Back in the van, running low on comfortable time to make it back and feeling the drain of the events of the day we were tired, hungry and pretty much just done with the ordeal. Because we didn't do her standard tour I think she was lost in her tour narrative spiel. She repeated a lot of information several times. Again, we didn't have her normal day (at least I hope our tour was nothing like her normal day!)

 

One more event was yet to occur though...As we were driving back we hit a section of the road that was one way and narrow. We started down a pretty large hill and we were picking up speed. All of a sudden Natasha says "Here's the rollercoaster!" and we ramped over the top of the hill at enough speed that we all came out of our seats. My mother in law yelled "STOP!!" at this point. After everything that had happened that day it was just the last straw. Just a bit reckless and it wasn't the only time we felt she was distracted while driving or was a bit out of sorts behind the wheel. She paid a lot of attention to her phone texts and often was not paying attention to the road while we were at stoplights. I know from talking to her she takes great pride in her driving abilities but as a tour operator she may need to put the phone out of sight. Probably good advice for all of us actually.

 

We pulled through the parking lot of the other beach we were supposed to visit and drove by the flamingos. Finally we arrived back at the port. Natasha offered us a $5 discount on our day, we had agreed on $50/person. We said our goodbyes and headed in search of food.

 

In telling our story later several people on the ship were surprised we paid her anything at all for the largely botched day. I just didn't feel like arguing about it and I didn't want to hurt her feelings. Maybe I was just trying to make the best of a day that didn't work out at all in our favor.

 

The Shete Boka was really a cool place but it is pretty remote so you have to decide if you really must see it. I'd say you need a minimum of one hour each way to get there. The downtown port area is very pretty and worth a look if time permits. We probably should have just opted for the more commercial Mambo Beach area where the other group spent the day. Oh well, we have a story to tell that is unique and we certainly won't forget our adventure. All the other excursions went very well and everyone was happy. Every trip has the possibility of a clunker excursion, this one was just more of a mess than I ever anticipated it could be.

[Virtopia]

These pictures are amazing. I'm having flashbacks of my first Southern Caribbean cruise on the Jewel. Can't wait to go back again next February.

[breezy_carol]

Scary excursion. I think I would have panicked about missing the ship.

 

Loving the review and photos.

[rsharp83]

Scary excursion. I think I would have panicked about missing the ship.

 

Loving the review and photos.

 

We would have broken out the window before we missed the ship! :eek:

[rsharp83]

Entertainment and General Observations

 

We saw most of the shows offered on the cruise. The one exception was the headliner Tony Tillman. He was on Oasis and it just wasn't a show for my generation. He's been compared to Ben Vereen and Sammy Davis. Just not my thing. Some of the others enjoyed his show.

 

The production shows were fine. One contained more contemporary songs and one featured Broadway tunes. I have to say the Broadway show had lots of songs my wife (who likes Broadway) had never heard. It was almost like, Here's the second best or third best song from a Broadway musical because we couldn't afford the licensing for the song you all know from this show.

 

The shows really can't compare with the level of entertainment on Oasis ships. It's just not a fair comparison at all. I didn't expect the shows to be anything like what we had seen on our other cruises so I wasn't disappointed with them.

 

The comedians were good and the Love and Marriage show was far, far better than the one that DW and I participated in on Oasis in June.

 

Our Cruise Director was John Blair and his wife Katrina was the activities director. They make a great team and were highly visible throughout the ship. It was their last cruise on the Jewel after spending a year working on her. So it was a bittersweet week for them. You could tell the crew really seemed to like them and there was a lot of camaraderie. They were fun and very approachable. They were able to personally interact with many of the passengers multiple times. Vastly different from being the CD on a ship like Oasis or Allure.

 

We saw them in San Juan after the cruise walking around Old Town. They were just as friendly and fun there as they were on board the Jewel. I guess their flight to the east coast was canceled like everyone else's.

 

We did miss certain things about the Oasis. The Promenade area being one of the main things. And of course I would have liked to have a Flowrider on board. We did really like the fact that there are views of the ocean everywhere on the Jewel. That seems to be the number one thing everyone says about Radiance Class ships and it's very true. You always see the sea!

 

The ship needs some plumbing help. There were some very strong sulfur odors that continued to occur. We had a commercial plumbing guy in our group and he had some ideas of what might be going on to cause such odors, but hey he was on vacation so he wasn't grabbing a wrench and heading below decks to find the problem!

[rsharp83]

Sea Day - Saturday Day 7

 

We were on the home stretch now. Just a day at sea left. We did get a rousing volleyball game going on the sports deck and in related news I didn't blow my knee out playing. So that was good. I was pretty worn down by the sinus thing so I took another long sleep in the afternoon. There was a BBQ buffet on the pool deck with burgers and ribs! The line was a long one but most people didn't seem to mind. Once again there were few places to find a deck chair and of course the chair hog towels were everywhere.

 

 

BBQ on the pool deck!

 

The vibe of the day was pretty mellow and that suited everyone after a port intensive trip. The sea had calmed considerably from the rougher waves we experienced leaving Curacao the previous night. It was all good as we made our way back towards Puerto Rico.

 

 

[rsharp83]

Whatcha' Shootin"?

 

There is always a big debate about what kind of camera equipment to take or not take. Now please understand I am not the "camera" guy. I don't have tons of equipment and multiple digital SLRs laying around. I have one, and I never take it on a cruise.

 

Pretty much every photo you see in this review was shot using an iPhone 6. The only exceptions were a couple of pix I shot with a old point and shoot Sony Cybershot I use when I don't want to put the iPhone in harms way.

 

 

So the answer to the question, "What's the best camera to use?" is "Whatever camera you have at the time!"

 

Unless you are a real photography buff! :D

 

 

 

 

[pattle66]

Great review thank you.

 

I was given a fancy DSLR camera for my birthday last year. I quickly learnt that an expensive camera does not make a great photographer:D

[jimbri]

Great review!

[rsharp83]

Forgot to post the Compass -- Here they are.

 

Jewel Day 1 -- Embarkation

https://www.dropbox.com/s/v1njjkrt8ppvnv5/jewel%20day%201.pdf?dl=0

[rsharp83]

Jewel Day 2 -- St. Thomas

https://www.dropbox.com/s/arrj7g1jl07mujp/jewel%20day%202.pdf?dl=0

[rsharp83]

Jewel Day 3 -- St. Kitts

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/axy50e8z6ws4r3b/jewel%20day%203.pdf?dl=0

 

Jewel Day 4 -- Sea Day

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/fky464ylnweyg9n/jewel%20day%204.pdf?dl=0

 

Jewel Day 5 -- Aruba

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/519c37qt7ofb38g/jewel%20day%205.pdf?dl=0

 

Jewel Day 6 -- Curacao

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/5d9d1rvefdbggfp/jewel%20day%206.pdf?dl=0

 

Jewel Day 7 Sea Day

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/fkqxeqd217k4pe8/jewel%20day%207.pdf?dl=0