"LIVE" from the Jewel- April 7, 2007

[Willum UK]

You must have been up mighty early to get a shot of an empty Windjammer.;) Excellent pictures. We shall be on Jewel in November with some new friends - also posting on this thread - so these images are a nice "taster" Hope you have a splendid cruise!

[FBlade]

Just wanted to say great post as always!! Look forward to what comes next!

[cruising grandma]

Thanks for the reports and pics! Please, if you meet Captain Thore, tell him John and Kay from Tennessee said "Hello!" We met he and his younger daughters on the Jewel in December 2005. Our dinner companions on that cruise were his older daughter and her husband. We visited the two of them last June in Sweden while cruising the Scandinavian countries. We have such fond memories of our Jewel cruise..........wish we were on with you!

[Radio]

Hello everyone ! Today started off very dreary, and overcast...with a few showers. I started by renting a car at Avis (right behind the Wathey Terminal) They had all new 07' Toyota Corolla's. . . I immediately went to Divi Beach over in Little Bay. It was raining very hard over there, and the rain followed me over to Simpson Bay.

 

I traveled north to Marigot, and Grand Case...I stopped at a couple of shops, but the traffic was terrible on the French Side. I finished up by going to Pointe Blanche (Very Close to the Terminal). The weather cleared up, and it was very sunny, and warm (86f) The Pointe Blanche shore line was very nice...there were steep rocky cliffs, with beautiful blue water.

 

I finished up the day by just walking around the Terminal Area, walking in a few shops, and heading back to the ship. . .

 

It seems that I am unable to post any photos, today because I cannot log in with Club Photo...(I am required to U/L all pics, before I can post them to Cruise Critic). Hopefully, this will be corrected by tomorrow...

 

 

Tomorrow is St.Johns, Antigua. the plan for tomorrow is to head over to Sandals Grande Antigua, where I will spend the day....I might go to the Casino near the pier....I will make time to do that !

 

The Comedy and Magic show tonight was excellent...It was very entertaining. The Welcome Back Party was also tonight. The Captain said there were over 500 repeaters with us on this sailing, and next week for the Trans-Atlantic, there will be over 1300 repeaters !

The Caribbean Deck party will be held tonight at the Pool at 1030.

 

I hope to have many more photos posted my morning ! ! Thanks to all of the very nice comments.

 

Thanks for tuning in..

 

Radio

[wolfcathorse]

I love you Radio! or do I love your posts....

[sleepless]

I am not getting any of the pictures. Instead, I get a red X where a picture should be. Can someone help me figure out how to get the pictures?

 

thanks

[beachdiamonds]

I am getting the same red box. I think there is a problem with the boards and the attached pics.

[TPKeller]

Actually, I think the problem is with ClubPhoto, the site that Radio is using to host his on-line photo album. I noticed that the pictures were taking a long time to load earlier, and when I followed the links over to the album itself, I saw the same thing, very slow loading of the thumbnails.

 

Now the embedded images here aren't loading at all, and when I try to visit the ClubPhoto link for his albums, none of the page will load there either.

 

Hopefully they will get it fixed up soon... we might start suffering withdrawal symptoms!! :eek:

 

Theron

[sleepless]

Actually, I think the problem is with ClubPhoto, the site that Radio is using to host his on-line photo album. I noticed that the pictures were taking a long time to load earlier, and when I followed the links over to the album itself, I saw the same thing, very slow loading of the thumbnails.

 

Now the embedded images here aren't loading at all, and when I try to visit the ClubPhoto link for his albums, none of the page will load there either.

 

Hopefully they will get it fixed up soon... we might start suffering withdrawal symptoms!! :eek:

 

Theron

 

 

Thanks for the info. Glad to hear that I am not the only one with the problem. I spent 2 hours on the phone with Dell on Friday because of possible computer problems, only to be told that they have done all that they could, and that the problem must be with my internet provider. Internet provider - Comcast came today and installed a new modem. I could not connect to the internet - thereby not getting my Cruise Critit fix:mad:. I am glad that it is not my computer.

[Radio]

Hello everyone... I am posting from St John's, Antigua. Our current posotion is 17.07.28 N / 61.50.86 W (tied up at the dock). It seems that I am still unable to post photos (temporarily) until the server at club photo is up an running again.

 

Until then, the best I can do is provide a live webcam (Courtesy of "The Coast" Nightclub Bar Restaurant. "The #1 Party Location in Antigua")Maybe they won't care if I post their webcam image....:rolleyes: http://www.coast.ag/webcam-cruise-ship.html

 

With us today is the Empress of the Seas, The Crown Princess, and Easy Cruise 2 (I haven't seen her yet)

 

This port is right in the middle of downtown, and it appears that today will be a good day for the vendors of Antigua....4 Ships in port today, for a very small town.

 

The ship gas not been cleared yet, but when it has cleared, I plan on renting a car or scooter to tour the countryside, and then spend the day at Sandals Grande Antigua.

 

Tonight is the "Love and Marriage Show", and Big Band Night. We will be leaving Antigua promptly at 5PM for our transit to St Thomas.

 

Hopefully I will be able to provide you with many photos from today ! !(and Yesterday) :D "

 

 

Thanks for tuning in. . .

 

 

Radio

 

 

[Radio]

I am testing a new photo Server, so if it worked, I will direct my images to this site. It is hosted by SONY / Imagestation.

 

Hopefully this will work...

 

 

Radio

 

 

*TEST*

 

Rocky Coast of Pointe Blanche, St Maarten

 

 

 

.

[sleepless]

Radio,

 

I did receive your latest photo of the Rocky Coast of Pointe Blanche in St Maartin. The others of course are still not coming in - none of them starting from the first day.

 

Thanks alot for the constant updates. DH and I are going to be on this ship March 22, 2008. Our first cruise. The pictures are wonderful. I am getting very anxious to go on the curise - only a little over 11 months to go. I am awestruck by the photos of the Jewel. She is beautiful. I can't believe all the beauty is built into a ship. I am sure that I will be totally overwhelmed when I am on her in person.

 

Enjoy the rest of your cruise. Thanks for taking the time to give us updates and the photo's.

 

Sleepless

[mikenjane]

Radio,

Thank you soooo much. We're on the Jewel April 15 for a transatlantic and you've really helped us make it through this week. Can't wait...four more days!!!!

[LJR213]

Hi Radio, This is great. Thanks so much for all the updates and the pictures. I am also not able to open them at the moment the others are right it must be something with the boards. It looks like you are having a wonderful time. Enjoy.

[dyer51]

Radio:

 

I am so enjoying your messages each day. My husband, mother and I will be on the Jewel in Sept. This will be our second RCC cruise, the first was 7 years ago. I have 2 questions for you if you don't mind: 1. I see by your post that the TV receives a CBS channel, is this actually CBS news? and 2. We have connecting cabins, 1580 and 82. Do you know anything about these particular ones. My husband is a bit nervous about her being that close to us and possibly entering our cabin easily. Any help you could give us would be greatly appreciated. Thank you again for taking time out of your vacation to keep all of us hungry cruisers up to date.

[hockeyboy]

Hi Radio,

 

I was on Jewel the week before you. Here's my review.

 

Bad - waiter spilled drink on my leg, it was cold and wet.

Good - everything else.

Exeptional - The new beds, snorkeling in Costa Maya, RC singers and dancers.

(best I've seen so far), Portofino's. Our weather was nearly perfect, with a bit of rain on the last sea day.

 

One of the female lead singers (blonde and a bit shorter) is also the loyalty rep - Rebekah). We booked a 2008 cruise through her so we got to chat quite a bit about life as a singer on a cruise ship.

She's almost impossibly cute and has a wonderful voice (duh). Tell her Mike and Chris say hi if you see her.

 

Mike

[ED MARY ANN]

Keep the reviews coming we have never been on Jewel of the seas but you have us thinking about booking on it for our 08 cruise.

[cruizeblues]

Radio--I am so glad that you are onboard this particular sailing of the Jewel! I was booked on this cruise and was really looking forward to it for over a year, but we had to cancel our reservation:( I have read your reviews of other cruises in the past, and was delighted that you were going to do another day-by-day review, complete w/great pictures of this cruise--now I almost feel as if I'm there! I hope that you enjoyed your day in Antigua--it is a beautiful island! You should sail the Adventure next--you will really love her and the southern islands she visits!:)

Happy cruising--we are all enjoying cruising with you!

[Duffysmom]

Mikenjane,

 

Have you been to the Jewel April 15, 2007 TA Roll Call. If not tune in since there are so many wonderful people joining you on the TA and so much great information about ports, etc. Kathleen

[nlcentralchmps03]

I don't know how I haven't seen this thread until just now, but I just wanted to say thank you, Radio for taking us along for the ride!

[Radio]

Hello everyone….I think that I have discovered a new favorite port in the Caribbean. Yes, it is St. Johns, Antigua. I have never been here before; but I really like it. It is very quaint, with a small city of very small buildings. The ship docks just steps away from the shopping area…..even closer to the shops than in St Thomas. I started by renting a scooter (50.00/Day) from a place called Mountain to Sea. They were great… If you rent a car in Antigua, you must pay for the Rental (60-75 / day) plus you must purchase a 1 day license from the city. The scooter rental was only 50.00 with no Antigua License required…Just a current US License. He said there would be a 50 deposit, but I looked trustworthy, and I would not have to pay it ! The owner there says he visits Cruise Critic every day to read the posts…

I rode over to the northwest side of the island to Dickenson Bay;(not very far...maybe 5-6 miles) where Sandals Grand Antigua was at. I was in heaven at Sandals. The place was beautiful. There was a security guard and gate at the entrance, and I had to show that I was able to visit there. I showed the guard the letter, and he made a cal and then let me in!

There is a lot of construction going on there, because of the new Sandals Mediterranean Village that will open in July. I stayed there for about 3 hours… the sun was getting the best of me. The beach was beautiful too, but sometimes sand gets where it shouldn’t be! Ouch. . . I drove back to St John’s, the long way while enjoying the view of the beautiful beaches. There weren’t many large hotels or condo’s there that I saw. As I returned to downtown area, I returned by Scooter. And went in a few shops….The people of Antigua are very, very friendly. I felt very safe there…There were Officers on almost every corner.

The Coast Nightclub has wireless internet service (for laptop users), and there were several Internet Café’s, I saw at least 6 in a 2 block radius. The rates were very cheap. (some were as low as $4/hr) Here on the ship it is .33/min or 19.00/hr.

I made it back to the ship, got a bite to eat, and a shower! I have been able to join another photo posting site, so the pics will be coming tonight and tomorrow. The pics from the first 4 days will not appear, unless Club Photo gets back up. I will be adjusting my CruisingWithRadio.com web page to reflect that change.

I was able to get a glimpse of the EasyCruise1 cruise ship. It was docked at the freight pier. I didn’t realize it was so small. (I will post a photo of all ships docked in Antigua)

We are currently heading to Charlotte Amalie, St Thomas USVI (119nm) On the way there, we will be passing Nevis, at about 8PM, and St Kitts, at about 9PM. We will also be sail by a the small island of St Eaustius at about 10PM. We have an early arrival set for tomorrow at St Thomas of 7AM. I have no plans for tomorrow. I will just play it by ear. The forecast for tomorrow is 84F, sunny, with a chance of showers in the morning.

I will be posting photos from yesterday in St Maarten, and will try to post several pics from today later tonight! Thanks for all of the wonderful comments.

Thanks for tuning in!!

Radio

Grand Case, St Maarten

Dutch / French Border in St Maarten

 

Simpson Bay Area

 

 

 

Empress of the Seas and Jewel of the Seas in Port

 

 

 

Jewel Aft

 

 

.

[Radio]

Here are a few more of St Maarten...

 

Antigua Pics later tonight. . .

 

Thanks

 

Radio

 

 

Emprees at the Pier

 

 

Welcome to St Maarten

 

 

 

Pier Area

 

 

 

Beautiful Water

 

 

 

 

 

 

.

[KathieKata]

RADIO.......Great pictures and interesting reading about what you've been up to. Keep up the good work. I one and only cruise we took was the same places you've been to so far. Nice areas!!

[sleepless]

Radio,

 

When you pass by St Kitts and Nevis, are the islands on the port side?

 

The new pictures are coming in wonderfully.

 

Thanks

[jillybabes]

Radio: So glad to hear the great review on Antigua, we will be there in November and are looking forward to a new port especially after hearing your comments...Keep those pictures coming...Later, Jill:cool: