Gem Review out of San Juan Nov 6 2016

[Medtech2]

We did not do much in St. Maarten. Unfortunately, after it was too late to change our cruise we found that NCL had scheduled this port on St. Martin Day, a national holiday. I cannot believe they did that as it meant most shops and restaurants were closed. Since we had spent 2 weeks there in a timeshare last year we had planned on going to a restaurant we had missed, buying some locally made Etna ice cream, and visiting the Dutch cheese shop to bring back another huge wheel of gouda. None of that was to pass. I could never get a response from the restaurant if they would be open and I figured the grocery carrying Etna would be closed also. Then, to add insult to injury NCL had been posting signs at each port that no cheese was allowed back onto the ship.

 

We ended up having a leisurely breakfast and then walking down the dock to the little portside shopping area. The first store we entered happened to have some Jelly Babies, a candy from England that you cannot get in the States. I love them! They also sold cheese, albeit a different brand than the Dutch shop and I asked the owner about NCL’s rule as the “shopping expert” on the ship had said it was “maritime law.” As if! The owner said that was false, which we knew already, and that both Carnival and Royal Caribbean allow cheese to be brought aboard. He said he sold to many, many passengers from those lines and only NCL had this strange rule.

 

One of the booths we visited had inexpensive Larimar jewelry and DD bought some earrings for herself and her friends and DH bought me a necklace and earrings. They were much cheaper than what you find in the jewelry stores. I really don’t need sterling or gold settings for costume jewelry. DD had also been collecting the Diamond International charms at each port. I found it interesting to encounter the different attitudes in the shops about this. In San Juan the sales girl was very friendly. In most ports they just gave you the charm without the coupon, but here the sales people were snotty and insisted upon a coupon for each of us, which we did not have. My plea that we were given one sales flyer per family fell on deaf ears so DH graciously went back to the ship to get me another coupon. It was so blazing hot that we went back for lunch and stayed on the ship.

 

DD and I attended her first art auction where we drank the rough champagne and decided buying art on board was not for us.

 

We relaxed all day and really looked forward to the White Hot Party. We were having a good time dancing when suddenly they cranked up the speakers so high my ears hurt. It was dangerously loud and we beat a hasty retreat. Totally unacceptable decibel level and ruined the party for us.

[Medtech2]

We basically had decided to go to either Sapphire Beach or Coki Beach. We walked to the taxi area, which was past a bunch of shops, of course, as they are hoping you'll shop and leave money on the island.

 

A nice woman taxi driver offered to take us and when we said Sapphire Beach she suggested Coki Beach as being better. Since we had been torn in our decision we just let her decide, lol. Turns out she had 2 motives: she had already taken another couple there and was going to return at 2:00 pm to pick them up so she offered to pick us up at the same time, and, we found out from the other couple later that she had a relative selling some type of pate up and down that beach. We never saw the woman with the pate but it sounded delicious.

 

The taxi driver walked us to a fellow who set us up with 3 beach chairs under a tree so that we would not need an umbrella and could save a little money. A waitress arrived soon after to tell us she would take care of us. I found the prices reasonable and a fellow kept giving us fruit smoothie samples.

 

Snorkeling here was pretty darn good--we saw our first wild Moray eel!

 

It was quite an enjoyable day and our taxi driver returned like a mother hen to herd us back to the van starting at 1:45 pm. She dropped us all off at our request at the shopping area outside the dock and we walked into a few stores, finding one that had really reasonable prices for souvenirs.

 

That night we really enjoyed watching the “Get Down Tonight” show with the Production Cast and Orchestra. I must say the caliber of the performers was outstanding!

 

We went to the Second City Adult Scriptless Show in the Spinnaker Lounge followed by the Quest Game Show, which was a hoot as always. We normally play on a team but I knew with my shoulder I wouldn’t be much good at anything and DD was not about to participate with her parents anyway, lol.

 

We were all sad thinking about disembarking the next day.

 

Here is a link to the pictures from Coki Beach:

 

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100014097828053&sk=photos&collection_token=100014097828053%3A2305272732%3A69&set=a.144610319352228.1073741832.100014097828053&type=3

 

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[Medtech2]

Since we had such a late flight we were in no hurry to leave the ship. We had received a letter from the concierge offering to escort us off the ship and to meet in the Stardust Theatre by 10:00 am. We were there with another couple. When we approached the exit to show our key card for the last time there was some kind of problem and a line was forming. The concierge turned to the other couple, who had been staying in a suite, and instructed them to follow her to the head of the line. Well, I told DD and DH to come along, we were with her also. At the security gate she looked perturbed that we had followed but I basically told her she was the one who sent us a letter offering to escort us off the ship. She then told me the other couple “had to hurry because they had a plane to catch”. Funny, because they were at the airport with us and had not left by that afternoon either…

 

When we entered the port building to go through customs a porter offered to take our luggage. I know the drill about using porters to bypass long lines but the regular line was not that long and we had time. We took a taxi to the airport and were so early we could not even check in yet. The lady at the check in counter noticed our seats were not together and she nicely moved us into adjoining seats. Finally we checked our bag, went through security and then I did something I have never done before. I shopped in the duty free shops. I ended up buying some liquor which was zip tied into a carry bag which we could then carry on the plane.

 

A lot has happened to us since this cruise, which is why this has taken so long. Looking back I don’t think I would repeat it like I would consider doing on the Epic or Breakaway.

[Cruzn Bills Fan]

Nice review

Edited December 13, 2016 by Batman's Skivvies

[easyboy]

Thanks for sharing your photos.