My review of the Jewel's 16-night WB Panama Canal cruise, Jan. 20-Feb. 5, 2017

[Turtles06]

The Cathedral of Antigua is on one side of Parque Central:

 

 

Behind the Cathedral, for a small fee, you can visit the ruins of the original Cathedral (much of Antigua has been destroyed by earthquakes).

 

 

 

Also along Parque Central:

 

 

 

I loved the buses in Antigua; shiny and colorful, no two were alike:

 

 

We had an interesting day in Antigua, and definitely had picked the right excursion for us.

 

(photos by turtles06)

[easyboy]

Thank you for sharing your experience in Antigua. Will be there next month and the erupting volcano looks interesting.

[TeeRick]

Thanks for the tip on Photobucket. When we visited Antigua it was quite scenic and historic but the very aggressive street vendors were a real turn off.

[Shawnino]

Brilliant Review--thanks Turtles...

[Turtles06]

Thanks for the tip on Photobucket. When we visited Antigua it was quite scenic and historic but the very aggressive street vendors were a real turn off.

 

Except for the Mexican ports, we had street vendors everywhere. Some were indeed aggressive, but for us it was more how numerous they were. There was at least one place (it may have been Cartagena) where I feel like I was constantly having to say "no, gracias." But they are all trying to make a living, and I try to remember that; but yes, it can be very annoying.

[Turtles06]

Brilliant Review--thanks Turtles...

 

Thanks so much. Nice to see you over here on the NCL board. :)

[marysb]

Really enjoying your review Turtles. We will be doing this itinerary in April. We also want to do the Antigua on your Own tour. Just a few questions:confused::D

How was the timing? How long did you have in the city to explore- did you feel it was enough? Did you get a good commentary in the bus ?

And was there time to explore the port area when you returned?

 

Thanks,

Mary

[Turtles06]

Really enjoying your review Turtles. We will be doing this itinerary in April. We also want to do the Antigua on your Own tour. Just a few questions:confused::D

How was the timing? How long did you have in the city to explore- did you feel it was enough? Did you get a good commentary in the bus ?

And was there time to explore the port area when you returned?

 

Thanks,

Mary

 

Thanks for reading along.

 

We had four hours on our own in Antigua, from about 10:15am-2:15pm, so yes, a good bit of time, including time for lunch. During the drive to Antigua, our guide told us a good deal about Guatemala and its history, but in our opinion not enough about Antigua itself. It might have been different on other buses.

 

The port area was really just a lot of vendors (nothing to "explore"), and there was indeed sufficient time to browse and shop if you wanted to.

 

I hope that's helpful. Please feel free to ask other questions. Have a great trip!

[Turtles06]

The fourth port in our five ports in a row marathon was Puerto Chiapas, Mexico. During our pre-cruise research, we could not find much to do here, and, having now visited this port, we would both say that a sea day would have been far preferable, especially given how many ports we had on this cruise. (Plus we love sea days.)

 

I'm not a big fan of staying on board a ship in a port I've never been to, so before the cruise we kept reading the descriptions of the various NCL shore excursions, and finally booked "Chiapas Through the Ages," primarily because it would take us to the Mayan ruins at Izapa, about a half hour or so drive from the ship. At least we'd see Mayan ruins.

 

We sailed into Puerto Chiapas at dawn.

 

 

The dock area has a couple of pavilions with vendors, etc. (And containers of Chiquita bananas!)

 

 

The ruins at Izapa include plazas, temples, ballcourts, and stelae. We spent perhaps an hour there, the highpoint of our day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

(photos by turtles06)

[Turtles06]

After Izapa, we drove to the planetarium just outside Tapachula, the city nearest to the port (and about half an hour away from it).. Outside the planetarium, students studying Mayan culture performed a traditional Mayan dance for us. They were very talented, but this was a made-up-for-tourists thing on a sidewalk. I am not a big fan of these things.

 

 

Inside the planetarium, we watched a presentation in the planetarium dome that was supposed to explain the Mayan calendar to us. We came out scratching our heads over the explanation.

 

We then drove into Tapachula itself. Or rather, we then drove into horrible traffic,and spent pretty much the rest of the morning sitting in it.

 

 

We finally parked along the main square. We were supposed to have had time to walk around and explore, but we didn't. I did get a photo of the lovely church on the square, and we had a few minutes to walk inside.

 

 

There were police with rifles all around the square. (Did I say we should have skipped this port?)

 

 

I do want to give a shout out to our guide, because she was wonderful. It was not her fault that the tour was so lame. She had a great attitude, and, during our time on the bus, passed around and told us about local flowers, and all sorts of bananas and other fruits. She kept pulling these out of what seemed a bottomless bag. It was as though she had a whole produce section on the bus with her. We loved it. (But did I say we should have skipped this port?)

 

 

(photos by turtles06)

[Turtles06]

Until Puerto Chiapas, the weather on our cruise had pretty much been perfect. Sunny days and blue skies. Also, calm seas. (Too calm for me, actually, though I realize I'm in the minority there.) But the winds really picked up after we left Puerto Chiapas, and during the night, according to the Captain, they hit hurricane force. The ship was really rockin' and rollin'. I suspect some folks did not have a very comfortable night.

 

By morning, though, things were fine as we arrived in Huatulco, Mexico, the fifth port in our five-in-a-row stretch. Before the cruise, looking at that schedule, we knew that by the time we reached Huatulco, we'd probably want a break from shore excursions, and so we scheduled nothing for that day. This was a great place for a break, as Huatulco has a number of very beautiful beaches, just perfect for a relaxing day. And thanks to the folks over on CC's Mexican Riviera board, we knew that one of those beaches was just steps away from where the Jewel would be docking. While we could have taken a cab to another beach, walking off the ship and onto a beach sounded like the perfect day to us at this point in the cruise, and indeed it was.

 

Here's the sign that greeted us when we walked off the ship. "Close to heaven." It did seem that way for us that day. Our destination beach is just behind the sign.

 

 

Here's our beach:

 

 

 

The beach is lined with open air bars/restaurants. We did not have to walk far onto the sand before a server from one of those establishments came up to us to ask if we wanted to eat. Since it was still early, we said that for now, we just wanted to rent a couple of lounge chairs and an umbrella. He quoted us a price of $10 for the day, which was nothing to haggle over. We agreed, and he set us up on the beach with two very comfortable loungers and a huge umbrella. Perfect!!

 

The water temperature was just right for swimming, and we enjoyed the view of the Jewel from the beach and water.

 

 

When lunchtime rolled around, our server set up a table and chairs for us right there on the beach. It really doesn't get much better than that.

 

 

We're not "beach people." If we spend an hour or two on a beach, that's a lot. Well, the only thing that got us off the beach that day in Huatulco was that the ship was going to sail without us if we didn't get back on board. What a wonderful day!

 

(photos by turtles06)

[Turtles06]

After our five ports in a row, we had a very welcome sea day. It was another gorgeous day -- we were really lucky with the weather on this trip.

 

I spent some of the day wandering around the ship taking pictures. This was our second cruise on the Jewel, and our sixth on Jewel class ships overall, so my focus (no pun intended) was not on typical shots of the ship's public spaces, but on random unusual things. I was thus happy to have my camera with me when this woman walked by. Alas, I did not see the front of her coverup, but judging from the faces of those facing her, the front view was equally fun. Good for her! :D

 

 

I thought the artwork on the Jewel was wonderful. There were beautiful, interesting photographs in all the stairwells. This one just outside Azura in particular caught my eye --it's an aerial view of the magnificent Grand Prismatic Spring in Yellowstone National Park. (The photograph is by Jason Hawkes.) We had just visited Yellowstone last summer, and so I recognized it immediately.

 

 

Our wonderful day at sea ended with a beautiful sunset.

 

[baja mama]

Thanks so much for your review and beautiful pictures.

We are looking at a tour thru the ship (HAL) in Corinto that goes to Betania Foundation which is a home to 400 Nicaraguan children. Have you heard anything about this tour when you were in Corinto?

[Turtles06]

Thanks so much for your review and beautiful pictures.

We are looking at a tour thru the ship (HAL) in Corinto that goes to Betania Foundation which is a home to 400 Nicaraguan children. Have you heard anything about this tour when you were in Corinto?

 

 

Thanks so much for reading this review and for the kind words.

 

Re Corinto, sorry, no, this is not something I'm familiar with.

[BillB48]

Until Puerto Chiapas, the weather on our cruise had pretty much been perfect. Sunny days and blue skies. Also, calm seas. (Too calm for me, actually, though I realize I'm in the minority there.) But the winds really picked up after we left Puerto Chiapas, and during the night, according to the Captain, they hit hurricane force. The ship was really rockin' and rollin'. I suspect some folks did not have a very comfortable night.

 

By morning, though, things were fine as we arrived in Huatulco, Mexico,)

 

Sounds like you were treated to the Tehuantepec Winds as you crossed the Gulf of Tehuantepec. This body of water is noted for high winds sometimes up to hurricane force which can make for not such a smooth crossing. The winds are caused by the air flow through the mountain passes which spills on to of the Gulf of Tehuantepec after they cross Isthmus of Tehuantepec and occur more frequently in the winter months.

 

 

The last time I was there we made a daylight passage and it was pretty neat.

[Turtles06]

Sounds like you were treated to the Tehuantepec Winds as you crossed the Gulf of Tehuantepec. This body of water is noted for high winds sometimes up to hurricane force which can make for not such a smooth crossing. The winds are caused by the air flow through the mountain passes which spills on to of the Gulf of Tehuantepec after they cross Isthmus of Tehuantepec and occur more frequently in the winter months.

 

 

The last time I was there we made a daylight passage and it was pretty neat.

 

Hi Bill, thanks for that info. I recall now having read about those winds way back when we booked the cruise. Thanks for their name and explanation. It was definitely a rough night!

[marysb]

Thanks for reading along.

 

We had four hours on our own in Antigua, from about 10:15am-2:15pm, so yes, a good bit of time, including time for lunch. During the drive to Antigua, our guide told us a good deal about Guatemala and its history, but in our opinion not enough about Antigua itself. It might have been different on other buses.

 

The port area was really just a lot of vendors (nothing to "explore"), and there was indeed sufficient time to browse and shop if you wanted to.

 

I hope that's helpful. Please feel free to ask other questions. Have a great trip!

 

 

Thanks Turtles, very helpful. Loving your photos! Just over a month and we will be there.

By the way, we are not going to Puerto Chiapas, Kinda glad of that now. ;)

Thanks again for a great review.

Mary

[Turtles06]

Thanks Turtles, very helpful. Loving your photos! Just over a month and we will be there.

By the way, we are not going to Puerto Chiapas, Kinda glad of that now. ;)

Thanks again for a great review.

Mary

 

Thanks Mary, much appreciated! (And yes, I don't think you'll regret not calling at Puerto Chiapas. ;p)

[Turtles06]

Apologies for the delay in continuing my review (there's this thing called work!)

 

After our very welcome sea day following our five port calls, we had the final three ports of our cruise: Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlán, and Cabo San Lucas. Because we were fortunate to be in this part of Mexico during the humpback whale migration season, when the whales come down from Canada and Alaska to mate and give birth, we decided to go whale watching in both PV and Cabo. We knew the whale watching would probably be better in Cabo (and it was, please come back to see the photos!), but we still thought we'd add to our odds by going whale whatching in PV as well. We used the same company in both places, called Whale Watch Vallarta in PV and Whale Watch Cabo in Cabo. They take you out in small boats, with a cover for sun protection (much needed!), and 10 adults max, so there was plenty of room and we were very comfortable. There's a marine biologist or oceanographer on board as a guide, and in each case, they were quite knowledgeable. We had a great time.

 

The weather was beautiful for our day in PV (as it had been for most of the cruise)

 

 

Our whale watching tour took us far out into the bay, where we followed a number of humpbacks. Some of them showed us their tales, but mostly they were very subdued. Our guide did put a hydrophone into the water, which allowed us to listen to the male humpbacks singing as they tried to attract a mate. It was just fantastic to hear humpback whales singing live!

 

 

 

We saw plenty of brown booby birds as well

 

 

And an iguana

 

 

And pelicans

 

 

(photos by turtles06)

[Turtles06]

The Carnival MIracle was docked next to us in PV; a frigate bird flew between us

 

 

Our sailaway from PV

 

 

Leaving PV, we had a nice view along the beach

 

 

(photos by turtles06)

[herdingdogmom]

Thanks Mary, much appreciated! (And yes, I don't think you'll regret not calling at Puerto Chiapas. ;p)

 

 

Thanks for your great review and pictures. We are sailing from San Francisco on the Sun in October. We have fewer ports than you did and the only one I'm not thrilled about is Puerto Chiapas.

 

I'd hate to stay on the ship since we have so many sea days. Did you hear from anyone on your sailing who found something interesting and safe to see and do in or around Puerto Chiapas?

[Turtles06]

Thanks for your great review and pictures. We are sailing from San Francisco on the Sun in October. We have fewer ports than you did and the only one I'm not thrilled about is Puerto Chiapas.

 

I'd hate to stay on the ship since we have so many sea days. Did you hear from anyone on your sailing who found something interesting and safe to see and do in or around Puerto Chiapas?

 

Thanks so much!

 

In Puerto Chiapas, a couple of folks on our Roll Call took an NCL shore excursion that had something to do with coffee that I think they enjoyed. I'm sorry, but I don't know the details. They've been reading this review, so if they see this, I hope they'll post the information.

 

Enjoy your cruise. How great to leave from beautiful San Francisco!

[cincicruisers]

I am enjoying your review very much. Looking forward to the rest.

[perfect match]

Turtles, I love <3 your whale watch pictures! I can't wait to see the ones from Cabo since you say they're even better!

 

Right about now I'm wishing our upcoming PC cruise was a full transit instead of a partial. Isn't it a shame how the demands of our busy lives get in the way of things like cruising? I've bookmarked the tour operators you used anyway because hopefully I will need them before too much longer. Thank you for taking the time to share your cruise with us. I'm definitely enjoying the journey. :D

[Turtles06]

Thanks to all who are reading, and thanks for your kind comments!

Our penultimate port was Mazatlán, which we approached at dawn.

The ship docks at a commercial pier, hence the need for a "free and compulsory" shuttle to the cruise terminal, which has many shops, indoors and out.

Mazatlán is very do-able on your own, and so we had not booked an excursion here. Instead, we exited the terminal and took a pulmonia into the historic center of old Mazatlán. Mazatlán is famous for its pulmonias, which are open air taxis, sort of like golf carts built on Volkswagen engines. We really enjoyed riding in them; it was kind of like being at Disney World.

 

 

You could also walk to the historic center by following the blue line literally painted in the street. This is a city that wants to make visitors safe and welcome!

 

Our first stop in old Mazatlán was the Cathedral, a very interesting and lovely building that dates from the late 19th Century. It is also unique, for a reason I'll get to in the next post (given the limit on photos per post).

(photo by turtles06)