Jewel of the Seas 4/15/2007

[rienreiter]

For those of you who may be interested, the shore excursions for Falmouth (Cornwall) are now available on the RCI website. There are quite a few options.

[rienreiter]

Has anybody noticed that we are 3 months away? 90 days and counting!!!

 

Regards, Juan

[MarylandBob]

Juan,

 

Wow, only 90 days...

 

The good news is that we have only 3 months until we sail :)

 

The bad news is that we have only 3 months to file tax returns :(

 

Time to get serious about what to do in port. Anyone planning to stay for Queen's Day? I hear it's quite the party!

 

Regards,

Robert and Jerry

[rienreiter]

Hi Robert and Jerry:

 

90 days to go! YES!!! Have already figured out what tours to take but am waiting until I make final payment to book.

 

I will not be staying for Queen's Day. Having been to Amsterdam twice before and given the fact that I will be travelling alone, I do not care to stay. I will be returning home upon disembarking the Jewel. That will give me Saturday and Sunday to rest before returning to work on Monday. Did I mention WORK already???:eek:

 

Where is everybody else?

 

Regards, Juan

[Boston RN]

:D Hey Family My name is Paul. A friend, Wayne and I are booked on the TA April 15th on the Jewel. Hubby has to remain in Boston to take care of biz. We are looking forward to this cruise. Next month the three of us are off to Egypt to do a Nile river cruise. Should be fun. Wayne and I are trying to decide which shore excursions to do. Having both been to Paris we were thinking of Honfleur and Normandy. Any thoughts? We are booked into the Golden Tulip city centre in AMS for two additional nights. Love that city!! Nice hotel that I have stayed in previously located on a traffic free square with a nice cafe out front. Looking forward to meeting everyone. We were all on Celebritys' Galaxy in Nov in the Med and met about thirty guys in the FOD meetings. Great fun!:cool:

[rienreiter]

Hi Paul:

 

Glad you found the thread! The others will be glad to see that our group continues to grow.

 

Regards, Juan

[Boston RN]

Hey Juan Thanks for directing me to the thread. Hi to everyone else. Did you register for the m/m, it looks like about eighty people are signed up for it. Not all sisters though! Hopefully the group will grow. Paul

[rienreiter]

Hi Paul:

 

I'm glad that you found the thread. I'm sure that the others will be glad to see that our group is growing.

 

Can you believe that I have not yet registered for the M&M? It's time that I go and do it now.

 

I think there's about 20 of us on this thread. But I'm sure that there will be more as there are lots of others that are not aware of Cruise Critic.

 

Have a great weekend! Less than 3 months to go!!!

 

Juan

[Boston RN]

HeyJuan Yup 3months to go. Never been on RCCL ship before but this one looks good. I think Wayne and I are on the starboard side. I hope the weather is warm for at least part of the trip. Looking forward to seeing Cork and Brugges and of course my favorite city in the world AMS! Paul

[rienreiter]

Hi Again Paul!

 

You are going to be impressed with the Jewel of the Seas. I have been on the Brilliance of the Seas and it is a beautiful ship. Wait until you see the 8 story high centrum. It is impressive.

 

The weather should be warm I would say for the first 5 days or so. After that it should start to get cooler as we approach northern Europe.

 

Got email notification today from my TA reminding me that final payment is due by Feb. 4th.

 

I'm looking forward to the whole cruise! Juan

[Boston RN]

Is it true that RCCL doesn't hold FOD meetings?

[rienreiter]

Hi Paul:

 

I first cruised on RCI in 2004. At that time, I did not know what FOD meetings were so if I saw it in the nightly newsletter I missed it. My next cruise was in Nov. 2005 and it was not announced. I have been on a total of 4 RCI cruises and none have had them.

 

I have read here that RCI has recently stopped having any meetings at all including Friends of Bill W. They now encourage people to use the bulleting board in the library or at the reception desk where someone goes and writes down for such group to meet at X place at X time.

 

Since we are all here, we could all set a specific time and place to meet. At least those of us that are here will get a chance to meet each other. As for those who do not use Cruise Critic, we'll be able to spot them and mention it to them. Gotta use that gaydar!

 

Juan

[MarylandBob]

Hello All,

 

Has anyone done any serious research into the ports and best sites to see? Jerry and I have spent a few days in Amsterdam already so we will not be spending any extra time at the end of the cruise. Although, I am sorry we will miss Queen's Day.

 

We've been to France and England but not to Ireland or Belgium. We usually buddy up with others and hire a driver or tour company on our own to experience a more personalized tour. It usually turns out to be less expensive and more enjoyable because you do things at your pace and go where you want. We haven't done any research at all but I guess with only 3 months to go, it's time to start.

 

If anyone wants to get together to plan some tours, let us know.

 

It's finally cold here in the East so it makes us even more anxious for Spring and our vacation!

 

Best regards,

Robert and Jerry

[rienreiter]

Hi Robert and Jerry:

 

To be honest with you, I haven't done any research besides take a look at the tours on the RCI website. I can tell you that whatever you end up doing in Bruges (Belgium), you will love it as the town is a beauty.

 

Juan

[Boston RN]

Hello All,

 

Has anyone done any serious research into the ports and best sites to see? Jerry and I have spent a few days in Amsterdam already so we will not be spending any extra time at the end of the cruise. Although, I am sorry we will miss Queen's Day.

 

We've been to France and England but not to Ireland or Belgium. We usually buddy up with others and hire a driver or tour company on our own to experience a more personalized tour. It usually turns out to be less expensive and more enjoyable because you do things at your pace and go where you want. We haven't done any research at all but I guess with only 3 months to go, it's time to start.

 

If anyone wants to get together to plan some tours, let us know.

 

It's finally cold here in the East so it makes us even more anxious for Spring and our vacation!

 

Best regards,

Robert and Jerry

Hi guys, Wayne and I have not been to Ireland or Belgium before. We aren't too interested in heading to Paris but have heard that Honfleur is nice. We haven't yet decided on any excursions but may be open to planning a group tour if others are interested. We are gonna stay on in AMS for a couple days because we love it so. My partner Tony has to remain behind in Boston but we are off to Egypt in a couple weeks to do a Nile river cruise. I gather that there are a number of tour resources posted on these boards. Keep us posted. Paul

[rienreiter]

Hi Guys:

 

Paul, you'll have to tell me about your trip to Egypt once on board. I'll be interested in hearing your input as we want to do that someday. Both of us have been to Europe so many times that it is time to start branching out to other parts of the world.

 

I have been to Amsterdam twice before. It is a nice city but since I'll be travelling alone, I prefer to come back home after getting off the ship. On top of that, I always feel guilty when I travel alone and leave my partner back home. Will be nice to return home on Friday and still have Saturday and Sunday to rest before returning to work on Monday.

 

I have not been to Ireland before so I cannot provide any input there. I have been to England a few times but have never made it to Cornwall/Falmouth so can't provide any input there either. On my last eastbound TA on the Constellation last year, we stopped at Le Havre and I went to Mount St. Michel. It was beautiful and I recommend it to anyone who is interested in this historic place just be aware that it is about a 2 and 1/2 hour bus ride each way. Normandy beaches should be interesting and I would like to do that someday. I've heard many talking about Honfleur but I think that this time I'm leaning towards the Giverny/Rouen tour. I have been to Belgium and honestly, all places are worth visiting. But Bruges is quite beautiful and is only about 15 minutes from where the ship is docking. I am sure that none of you will be disappointed with Bruges. If any of you are leaning towards Brussels, the Grand Place is absolutely breathtaking.

 

Juan

[rienreiter]

We haven't done any research at all but I guess with only 3 months to go, it's time to start.

 

Actually it's more like 2 1/2 months to go.

[rienreiter]

Final payment coming up this weekend!

 

After switching around and cancelling my last 3 cruises it looks like this one will be coming true.

 

Juan

[rienreiter]

Just made my final payment a few minutes ago. I feel like I've already got one foot on board. Can't wait.

 

J

[JMHinSEA]

Hello everyone!

This is John in Seattle. I have posted previously on here as DwnTwnSeaGuy but had to change for some reason and I'm now JMHinSEA.

 

I've not posted in a while but have caught up on reading and would like to add a few comments.

 

My partner and I would certainly be interested in hooking up with as many as would like for private tours in just about any of the ports so the more the merrier and the less expensive too :)

 

We certainly plan on going to Bruges. I've heard it's actually much more charming and manageable than Brussels especially for just one day in port.

 

We would be happy to have an embarkation day meet and greet in our suite so we all have a chance to meet each other and have a group toast at sail away :) That way we don't have to leave to to the cruise lines to plan for us - we'll take matters into our own hands!

 

We have also made our final payment - all of a sudden saw the charge on the credit card. Next, the real fun is getting the cruise documents :)

 

So, if anyone has any ideas on getting our own tour group together, would love to work with you on this.

 

Cheers!

John

[JMHinSEA]

Hello everyone!

This is John in Seattle. I have posted previously on here as DwnTwnSeaGuy but had to change for some reason and I'm now JMHinSEA.

 

I've not posted in a while but have caught up on reading and would like to add a few comments.

 

My partner and I would certainly be interested in hooking up with as many as would like for private tours in just about any of the ports so the more the merrier and the less expensive too :)

 

We certainly plan on going to Bruges. I've heard it's actually much more charming and manageable than Brussels especially for just one day in port.

 

We would be happy to have an embarkation day meet and greet in our suite so we all have a chance to meet each other and have a group toast at sail away :) That way we don't have to leave to to the cruise lines to plan for us - we'll take matters into our own hands!

 

We have also made our final payment - all of a sudden saw the charge on the credit card. Next, the real fun is getting the cruise documents :)

 

So, if anyone has any ideas on getting our own tour group together, would love to work with you on this.

 

Cheers!

John

[rienreiter]

We certainly plan on going to Bruges. I've heard it's actually much more charming and manageable than Brussels especially for just one day in port. John

 

Hi John:

 

Bruges is indeed much more manageable than Brussels. Bruges is a compact town and all, if not most, of the attractions are in the center of the town. Brussels is a large, spread out city.

 

Nice of you to offer your suite for the family meet and mingle. If you do have the get together in your suite, I will be there.

 

Printed my Set Sail Pass this afternoon. For all of my RCI cruises, I have never received documents from RCI. Ironically, I have never been asked for any of these documents at check in either.

 

Regards, Juan

[SDDAN]

I finally decided to return to this thread after a long while. Anyway, Tom and I are watching the superbowl and thinking of our good friends and Ravens fans in Baltimore that I'm sure are thinking of how nice it would have been for them to be in Miami today:( . Anyway, we are really looking forward to April. We spent New Year's in Cabo San Lucas and it sure was very relaxing. We were fortunate to have a wonderful lady stay with our kids (Boxer Dogs) while we took the six days vacation.

 

It is very nice to know that the family is growing and we are looking forward to meeting you all and also to see our friends Bob and Jerry and help them cope with another year of no Super Bowl. Anyway, at least the Ravens made it to the playoffs and the Dolphins have been stuck in last place for I don't know how long.

 

As for our plans, Tom has to return to San Diego as soon as we disembark. He will fly Saturday from Amsterdam to London and on to San Diego. I will remain in Amsterdam until Sunday and travel by train to Paris. I will spend 4 nights in Paris and then take the train to London for three nights. I hate not to have Tom with me but I want to take advantage of the opportunity. Paris and London are wonderful cities with so many things to see.

 

As far as tours, we haven't planned anything special but were talking about renting a car at Le Havre and visit Homefleur and other costal cities.

 

As I told Robert, we will arrive very early on Saturday April 14, so if any one needs a ride from the airport or would like to get together for dinner and drinks let us know and we can start the party early.

 

Dan and Tom:)

[rienreiter]

Hi Tom:

 

Nice to see that both of you will be joining us on this cruise.

 

I went back through all of the posts but I couldn't see that you had posted earlier. Welcome anyway.

 

I am looking forward to this cruise and meeting everyone.

 

PS I just checked and I think that you previously posted on the other board.

 

 

Juan

[SDDAN]

Hi Juan, yes I posted on the other board because I was having dificulties finding this post. Any way here we are. Juan did you sign up for the M&M? Tom and I are thinking about it and maybe we wait to meet family members at a more intimate and small setting.

 

Anyway we are looking forward to the trip.

 

Take care,

 

Dan:)