MITSUGIRLY has a JEWEL of a time on my 1st RC cruise in years!

[PMTT]

Thanks so much for your review!!!

We don't have the same itinerary but loved hearing all the details about the ship and San Juan!

[dltvermont]

They are squid. I’ll show the difference when I get near a computer but meanwhile, to help you out when googling for the picture, google Caribbean squid. That will show you these types of squid that was posted in the picture. Cuttlefish look different and I have snorkeled with both many times. You are more likely to see the Caribbean squid more than the cuttlefish...at least in my snorkeling adventures :)

 

I stand corrected! Never seen that type of squid before. As I said I didnt want to contradict those who are much more knowledgeable than I!! Thanks for the clarification.

[AKR2011]

I know you're limited with when you can take off, but I also know you haven't sailed The Gem. Just a heads-up that there's a 12-day Southern Caribbean from NY on her for $729. That's right form the NCL website, so you may even find a better deal. It's at the end of November. Just a thought for you :)

[my_crib_too]

Kim,

 

Great review, as always. I enjoy all of your travels. Hope the rest of the family comes along on the next one. Your children add a lot of laughs to your reviews.

 

With you staying a few extra days after your cruise, I never considered this. Arriving a few days early is wonderful but for some reason, I want to get home once the cruise is over. Not sure why.

 

bruce....

[EasyPeasy]

Thank you so much for the awesome review. I enjoyed all your pictures and perspectives.

 

Have you seen TheDougOut's review over on the NCL board? I just discovered it. It could keep you occupied for awhile. The link is below.

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2625661

[EasyPeasy]

Fantastic review Kim! I'm kinda bummed is over. Can't wait until the next one...

[bontx33]

Kim,

My daughter and I are going on a cruise in Oct and we are stopping in Aruba and Curacao. What beaches are public and easy to get to from the cruise port?

Thanks Bonnie

 

P.S. Love your reviews

[tracyshellz]

I am blown away by all your beautiful and fin-tastic pics!! Your daughter is also a pretty darn amazing photographer and WOW....what an awesome 🧜*♀️ 🧜*♀️🧜*♀️🧜*♀️

Thanks for keeping me hanging on to every post!!!

 

Not sure why my mermaids turned into mermen??🧜*♀️

 

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[cindygad]

Wow Kim thanks for your review and all your pictures. Have you ever thought of doing a travel blog. Your writing and pictures are amazing. You then can post a link on here and easier to see pictures. I do a blog instead of picture albums now for my travels. I am not the photographer you are though. Your detail is wonderful and makes you feel like you are there. We usually cruise once a year and it will be 21 years since we have been on RRCl. We will be on Jewel in October and I feel I know what to expect from your pictures.

 

Have you ever been to St John? I love the snorkeling there from shore. Loved seeing the pictures of your daughter and her drawings are so skilled for her age.

 

I admire your work ethic and from one Nurse to another good luck on finishing your degree.

[ashleyriley]

I really admire the way that you are raising your daughter. She is strong and fearless, great characteristics for a young lady to have in these current times.

 

Royal or NCL should hire you for some blogging to promote their brands. You really do have such a talent for telling a captivating story through words and especially photos. Thanks so much for sharing your family's adventure. Sakari is a lucky girl.

 

 

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[mitsugirly]

Thanks so much for your review!!!

We don't have the same itinerary but loved hearing all the details about the ship and San Juan!

 

You are very welcome and glad you enjoyed it.

 

 

I stand corrected! Never seen that type of squid before. As I said I didnt want to contradict those who are much more knowledgeable than I!! Thanks for the clarification.

 

Oh no problem. I called all of them squid for awhile...then I learned there was this things called cuddle what? Oh, cuttlefish. Weird. hehe :D

 

 

I know you're limited with when you can take off, but I also know you haven't sailed The Gem. Just a heads-up that there's a 12-day Southern Caribbean from NY on her for $729. That's right form the NCL website, so you may even find a better deal. It's at the end of November. Just a thought for you

 

Hmmm, I might have to check this out. The hubby hates cruising any time in December because of sales. For some reason he seems to think that he should actually be IN the store around Christmas time. But, if the price is right and it's some interesting ports. However...cruising out of NY in November really isn't my cup of tea. It's COLD that time of year and I seriously hate cruising out of a cold state. If feels like you aren't even on a Caribbean cruise for the first 2 days.

 

 

Kim,

 

Great review, as always. I enjoy all of your travels. Hope the rest of the family comes along on the next one. Your children add a lot of laughs to your reviews.

 

With you staying a few extra days after your cruise, I never considered this. Arriving a few days early is wonderful but for some reason, I want to get home once the cruise is over. Not sure why.

 

bruce....

 

Thanks. Yea those darn kids of mine. They definitely add excitement...and anxiety, and slowness, and anxiousness...yea good times for sure. hehe Kolin has been talking about cruising next time but we'll see.

 

 

Bruce, I totally agree about wanting to get home after the cruise. I found that out this time around. Last time we were here we came days ahead of time and explored around. Then after the cruise just stayed over night and explored, then left the next day. However, I figured there was more that I wanted to see and we'd just do that after the cruise instead. Boy it was a BIG difference than doing it ahead of the cruise. I much prefer doing it prior to the cruise. I was definitely ready to go home.

 

 

Fantastic review Kim! I'm kinda bummed is over. Can't wait until the next one...

 

I'm kinda bummed it's over too...well, the cruise, not really the review.

 

 

Kim,

My daughter and I are going on a cruise in Oct and we are stopping in Aruba and Curacao. What beaches are public and easy to get to from the cruise port?

Thanks Bonnie

 

P.S. Love your reviews

 

They're public and easy to get to in Aruba. Are you looking for just a nice beach to hang out at or snorkeling?

 

Curacao, I can't really comment on because we went scuba diving the time we were there. So, never got to go to any of the beaches there yet.

 

 

 

 

I am blown away by all your beautiful and fin-tastic pics!! Your daughter is also a pretty darn amazing photographer and WOW....what an awesome 🧜*♀️ 🧜*♀️🧜*♀️🧜*♀️

Thanks for keeping me hanging on to every post!!!

 

Not sure why my mermaids turned into mermen??🧜*♀️

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Thanks so much and glad you liked the pics and I like what you did there with the fin-tastic pics. hehe

 

 

 

Wow Kim thanks for your review and all your pictures. Have you ever thought of doing a travel blog. Your writing and pictures are amazing. You then can post a link on here and easier to see pictures. I do a blog instead of picture albums now for my travels. I am not the photographer you are though. Your detail is wonderful and makes you feel like you are there. We usually cruise once a year and it will be 21 years since we have been on RRCl. We will be on Jewel in October and I feel I know what to expect from your pictures.

 

Have you ever been to St John? I love the snorkeling there from shore. Loved seeing the pictures of your daughter and her drawings are so skilled for her age.

 

I admire your work ethic and from one Nurse to another good luck on finishing your degree.

 

I'm not good with blogs. I just don't get them really. I've tried reading others blogs and I get so confused as to how to navigate them or look for things.

 

 

I did start a website with all of my reviews and ports, ships and so on. I just haven't finished it or published and hosted it yet. I keep taking all these darn vacations and can't never seem to get caught up. I gave a preview of it on one of my other reviews.

 

 

If you are interested in checking out what I'm working on...here's a 3 minute video showing what I have been working on.

 

 

nrpOPUGnyBY

 

I hope you have a wonderful cruise on the Jewel. We definitely enjoyed ourselves.

 

 

I have never been to St John yet. I hear people talk about the wonderful snorkeling there. Some day I'll make it there.

 

 

Thanks for the good luck from this nurse to you as a nurse.

 

 

I really admire the way that you are raising your daughter. She is strong and fearless, great characteristics for a young lady to have in these current times.

 

Royal or NCL should hire you for some blogging to promote their brands. You really do have such a talent for telling a captivating story through words and especially photos. Thanks so much for sharing your family's adventure. Sakari is a lucky girl.

 

 

Sent from my SM-T580 using Forums mobile app

 

Why thank you so much. That means a lot to hear those words. Although I am finding out over the last 2 years or so that the older she gets, the more fears she is developing.

 

 

Yea, I agree about any of the cruise lines hiring me. People tell me that all the time but I'm sure they have the position filled already and I'm not even sure if that's an actual job.

 

 

Sakari is one very lucky girl. We all are very blessed to be able to have our travels and great family together on most of them.

[ashleyriley]

Regarding the cruise lines hiring you, not in the traditional sense or full time. Maybe something like when new ships are released they could invite you on a comped basis and in turn you could do one of your reviews promoting the new ship, or an older ship after dry dock. They could post it to their Instagram of FB page. Doesn't hurt that Sakari is very photogenic, cute kids do wonders in advertising! Or that you have about a jillion views combined on your many CC reviews.

 

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[poolreader]

Thank you for your review. I always enjoy travelling along with your family virtually, it gives me that much needed cruise fix between my own cruises. You may have seen something like this, but there are Sea Glass pictures, pieces of sea glass arranged between two glass sheets in the picture frame. I saw one that looked like a wave with a mermaid swimming under the crest of the wave. It made me think of Sakari.

[AKR2011]

Hmmm, I might have to check this out. The hubby hates cruising any time in December because of sales. For some reason he seems to think that he should actually be IN the store around Christmas time. But, if the price is right and it's some interesting ports. However...cruising out of NY in November really isn't my cup of tea. It's COLD that time of year and I seriously hate cruising out of a cold state. If feels like you aren't even on a Caribbean cruise for the first 2 days.

 

I have done two cruises out of NY in November with one more coming up this year, and I will tell you that it's really only freezing that first day. By the time you wake up on Day 2, you're off the coast of the Carolinas. On a long cruise, it is not bad. It took a little bit longer to get to a warmer climate going out of Boston, so NY is better. I totally understand where you're at with the cold, though. That's why we love cruising in November - one last bit of warmth before winter! And the sales are usually good since, as you mentioned, everyone is too busy shopping to plan a trip.

[cindygad]

"I'm not good with blogs. I just don't get them really. I've tried reading others blogs and I get so confused as to how to navigate them or look for things.

 

 

I did start a website with all of my reviews and ports, ships and so on. I just haven't finished it or published and hosted it yet. I keep taking all these darn vacations and can't never seem to get caught up. I gave a preview of it on one of my other reviews.

 

 

If you are interested in checking out what I'm working on...here's a 3 minute video showing what I have been working on.

 

 

 

 

I hope you have a wonderful cruise on the Jewel. We definitely enjoyed ourselves.

 

 

I have never been to St John yet. I hear people talk about the wonderful snorkeling there. Some day I'll make it there.

 

 

Thanks for the good luck from this nurse to you as a nurse. https://boards.cruisecritic.com/imag...moji-grin-1677"

 

 

Love what you are working on. Makes looking at all your wonderful pictures easier. Thanks again for your time involved to share with us.

[LuvCruiSun]

Thank you so much for the awesome review! Your pictures are amazing and so are Sakari's. Her free diving skills are really incredible, especially for someone her age. It was so cute, but kind of sad to read what she thought her dog was thinking. Looking forward to your next cruise review!!

[Cafedumonde]

So glad you made the flight! Maybe Kendra gets it from somewhere after all!! (Just kidding!). I hope you go on a cruise this summer. I love reading about your cruises. Thank you again for the trip report. You are a great story teller and you have a beautiful family.

[RiotAct]

Just discovered this review! It's like waking up the day after Christmas and realizing there's still a present with your name on it!!! lol

[jenseib]

Thanks again for another amazing report!

[kimba961]

Another awesome review!! Thanks for taking the time! We went to Little French Key in February from your previous reviews and loved it! Holding the jaguars & tiger cub was amazing! We’re booked to go back in July and taking my 16 yr old son this time. Thanks again!!!

 

 

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[ElaineKeagy]

Another great review Kim. I’ve spent ALL day reading it when I should have been unpacking having just got back from Seattle/Port Canaveral cruise thru the PC on the NCL SUN, but hey, there’s always tomorrow.

 

I’m thinking you might have been channeling Kendra on that day, since she didn’t get to go with you!!!

 

 

 

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[mitsugirly]

Regarding the cruise lines hiring you, not in the traditional sense or full time. Maybe something like when new ships are released they could invite you on a comped basis and in turn you could do one of your reviews promoting the new ship, or an older ship after dry dock. They could post it to their Instagram of FB page. Doesn't hurt that Sakari is very photogenic, cute kids do wonders in advertising! Or that you have about a jillion views combined on your many CC reviews.

 

Sent from my SM-T580 using Forums mobile app

 

Yea, that would be so cool. Yea, Sakari is so photogenic that her pictures have been spotted in advertisements in different areas (and it's not even her but everyone and even SHE thinks it's her). LOL

 

First one was spotted a few years ago...Sakari wanted to know who the guy in the picture with her was. I told her it's your new dad. LOL

 

 

Kendra spotted this picture on a gas pump at a station in a different state:

 

 

Isn't it funny how she shows up everywhere at different ages? lol

 

Thank you for your review. I always enjoy travelling along with your family virtually, it gives me that much needed cruise fix between my own cruises. You may have seen something like this, but there are Sea Glass pictures, pieces of sea glass arranged between two glass sheets in the picture frame. I saw one that looked like a wave with a mermaid swimming under the crest of the wave. It made me think of Sakari.

 

Where was this sea glass picture? I wanna see.

 

 

I have done two cruises out of NY in November with one more coming up this year, and I will tell you that it's really only freezing that first day. By the time you wake up on Day 2, you're off the coast of the Carolinas. On a long cruise, it is not bad. It took a little bit longer to get to a warmer climate going out of Boston, so NY is better. I totally understand where you're at with the cold, though. That's why we love cruising in November - one last bit of warmth before winter! And the sales are usually good since, as you mentioned, everyone is too busy shopping to plan a trip.

 

We've cruised out of NY and Boston and both times icky and cold weather (and that wasn't even in the winter).

 

 

 

 

Love what you are working on. Makes looking at all your wonderful pictures easier. Thanks again for your time involved to share with us.

 

Thanks. Hopefully I'll get it done some time in the future.

 

Thank you so much for the awesome review! Your pictures are amazing and so are Sakari's. Her free diving skills are really incredible, especially for someone her age. It was so cute, but kind of sad to read what she thought her dog was thinking. Looking forward to your next cruise review!!

 

Thanks so much. She really is getting good at free diving.

 

 

So glad you made the flight! Maybe Kendra gets it from somewhere after all!! (Just kidding!). I hope you go on a cruise this summer. I love reading about your cruises. Thank you again for the trip report. You are a great story teller and you have a beautiful family.

 

Haha...it makes you wonder right??

 

 

Thanks for the comments. I appreciate it.

 

 

Just discovered this review! It's like waking up the day after Christmas and realizing there's still a present with your name on it!!! lol

 

HAHAHAHA...my favorite comment to date!

 

 

Thanks again for another amazing report!

 

Glad you enjoyed.

 

 

Another awesome review!! Thanks for taking the time! We went to Little French Key in February from your previous reviews and loved it! Holding the jaguars & tiger cub was amazing! We’re booked to go back in July and taking my 16 yr old son this time. Thanks again!!!

 

 

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Thanks and so glad you had a wonderful time at LFK. They have had so many babies lately.

 

 

 

Another great review Kim. I’ve spent ALL day reading it when I should have been unpacking having just got back from Seattle/Port Canaveral cruise thru the PC on the NCL SUN, but hey, there’s always tomorrow.

 

I’m thinking you might have been channeling Kendra on that day, since she didn’t get to go with you!!!

 

 

 

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Thanks so much! I hope you had a wonderful cruise! I really liked the Sun when we were on it several years ago. It never felt crowded.

 

 

Definitely channeling some Kendra thoughts that day for sure. LOL

[poolreader]

I saw the mermaid sea glass picture on Pintress. But if you just google sea glass pictures, or sea glass art you will see many sites, There are crafts where you can use the glass to create jewelry, mobiles, vases, etc. The pictures sell for around $100, but I found instructions to make them yourself. There was even info on how to take your photos and transfer them onto larger pieces of sea glass, and with all your and Sakari's fantastic diving pictures you could come up with something gorgeous.

[pghsteelerfan]

 

 

I know what I've been meaning to ask but keep forgetting. I think I did let you know I got the Olympus Tough TG-5 and the fish eye lens as well. Using this pic as an example, is this taken with the fish eye? If so, is there a certain setting that you use to have the center (boat) in focus with the rest kind of blurred? I love how you do this and our trip to New Orleans is next week and I'm taking the TG-5 and would love to try for a few like this. Thanks!

[rkkunk]

Hi again Kim, WOW! I would have been SO stressed out to find out my flight was leaving in a couple of hours!! So glad that it all worked out and that you made it home safely!

 

We found out early on that the kids clubs were not our sons thing. (Even on Disney!) He prefers to hang out with us. He says that vacation is time to spend with the family. (Yes, he was saying this at like 7 years old. Haha!) So when he was little, we would make him go for a few hours a couple of times during the week so that we could have mommy and daddy time.

 

When he was about 11 we started letting him just hang out in the room while we would go do something by ourselves for a couple of hours. (He knew not to answer the door.) He is 16 now and believe it or not, he still prefers to hang out with us. It’s funny, because he is a social butterfly and loves hanging with his friends at home, he would just rather hang out with us on vacation.

 

I’ll take it while I can! He will be gone before we know it!

 

 

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