Live from Jewel of the Seas 09/28 Canada / New England Sailing

[madforcruising]

Just set up my Cyber Cabin Internet connection and wanted to let you know about embarkation.

I arrived at the Black Falcon Terminal (Cruiseport) in Boston around 10:30am, dropped my luggage of at the porters and headed inside the terminal building. Check-in hasn´t started but it was just a 5 minute wait till they started to check-in, although not all Computers worked at that time already. Check-in was quite easy and I was soon on my way aboard. The cabins haven´t been ready at that time they opened them up at 01:00pm. However I went to my room to drop off my carry-on. No problem. There have been some people touring the ship at that time and so I took the advantage to check-out some of the cabins. I will post the pics after the trip.

Had lunch at the Windjammer and was in the cabin by 01:00pm and waiting for my luggage now.

Weather here in Boston is not so good. After two very nice and sunny days it´s raining now.

Any questions about the Jewel???

I´ll try to answer.

[Sweetressie]

Madfor,

We left some food and drink for you, but not much. The 9/18/04 ten day trip was exceptional. The ports are worth seeing. Have a great time.

[7nucruzers]

oh, i'm so jealous!!!! please take care of jewel for us - we sail on 11/14 - one of her first (maybe 2nd) caribbean sailings - if you get a chance please check out cabins 9560, 9562, 9564, 9566 (all the same category) and/or 7622. These are our cabins - also, could you give me a good suggestion on a dr table for nine?? We would like something near the windows (of course, everyone does, right?). If you could get a table number for me I could have a heads up on that when I board and check out our table. We need a table for nine - thanks so much for your help - enjoy, enjoy your cruise!!!! let us hear from you.

[jstducky]

mad...

 

glad to see you made it to boston. the day we returned from our 9/11 cruise we were bombarded by rain in boston courtesy of ivan. you're probably experiencing jeanne right now.

 

so what's your first port of call? is it bar harbor tomorrow?

 

its gorgeous there! are you doing any excursions?

 

shopping for souveniers is exceptional in bar harbor as well. when i was there on 9/12 alot of the shops were having their end of the season sale! i heard that Queen Mary 2 was actually just in Bar Harbor yesterday! supposedly it was a big event!

 

anyhow, hope you have as great of a trip of jewel as i did!

[madforcruising]

Sweetressie:

Thanks, I had some of it for lunch at the Windjammer. I thought it must be leftovers:D .

 

7nucruzers:

I´m sorry but it was to late to check out your cabins because the new guests have already been in there. But I checked out several cabins and took photos. I have to have a look at them when I´m back home maybe there are some of the same category. I had a look at the dining room, there are some large tables at the windows, a few numbers I remember are 401, 404, 407 I think. Although I´m not sure if the numbers and the setup of tables is the same on every cruise. Just while I was in there I saw a waiter changing the numbers of two tables.

 

jstducky:

thanks.

You are right after two nice and sunny days we got heavy rain today. I think it´s the rest what is left from jeanne. My luggage got soaked and some of my clothes are a but wet. Well I´ll give them to the laundry and they´ll do it for me. Tomorrow we are in Bar Harbour, the Captain promissed sunshine at the musterdrill for tomorrow, so let´s see. I have no tour planned, as I´ve been to Bar Harbour already. I´m planning on doing something on my own.

[CaptChris]

mad...

 

 

so what's your first port of call? is it bar harbor tomorrow?

 

its gorgeous there! are you doing any excursions?

 

shopping for souveniers is exceptional in bar harbor as well. when i was there on 9/12 alot of the shops were having their end of the season sale! i heard that Queen Mary 2 was actually just in Bar Harbor yesterday! supposedly it was a big event!

 

anyhow, hope you have as great of a trip of jewel as i did!

The QM2 did make it to Bar Harbor yesterday. The news at 11:00 had one of their reporters take a tour with one of the hostesses. It was exciting to see the ship from that point of the view. Here in Maine there was always hype when the QE2 came to town, but now, that the QM2 is the biggest cruise ship in the world, there is a lot of additional buzz. The Governor of Maine also had a tour.

 

I heard that the Jewel was in Portland yesterday on the News. What excursions did you take, if any at all? I live about 40 minutes from Portland, and I like to get a chance to see the ships when they are in Port if I get a chance.

[jstducky]

actually i was in portland on 9/16 with Jewel. I ended up taking a shore excursion that showed us the highlights of Portland with a stop at the gorgeous Portland Head Light and then a drive down to Kennebunkport where we were given 2 hours on our own to explore the town! The excursion was great! Portland and Kennebunkport are fabulous! Its just so gorgeous there in Maine!

[CaptChris]

I am 20 minutes from Kennebunkport. Anytime we have visitors that is where they want to go. Once we saw both Presidents Bush and Governor Bush at the marina. This was in 1999 before 43 took office.

 

It is a great little town, very "new england"

[jstducky]

we were fortunate enough the day we went that President Bush (43) was arriving into town that day. the tour bus was scheduled to drive by Walker's Point so we could all get a view. However, I guess on days in which the President comes to town they close down all access roads leading to the compound for security purposes. Well it turns out that the president was due to arrive a few hours after we were leaving town, which meant that all of the roads leading to the compound were still open! it was pretty neat to drive by 41's summer home!

 

and then the next day when we were back in Boston we rented a car and we got stopped behind the motorcade of John Kerry... small world!

 

but year Kennebunkport is a great little town. I had a wonderful lobster roll at The Clam Shack! It was soooooo good!

 

capt. chris... you're lucky to live in that part of the country!

[rfische1]

jstducky, thanks for the compliments on our beautiful city and region. We are obviously very proud to live in such a great part of the country.

 

As for the cruise ships in port, I had a meeting downtown so I went early to check out Jewel and Victory. Both were awesome. Carnival's Victory was docked at the state pier which goes right up to Commercial Street. From the street it towered over most everything. Jewel was out in the Harbor, but from a distance it was impressive. Put me in the mood for our cruise in 1 1/2 weeks.

[7nucruzers]

madforcruising: thanks so much for the info. we look forward to seeing your pictures when you get a chance to post them. thanks for the table information - i'll check out our table immediately after boarding. as long as we're all together it does not really matter - we were a group of 7 (thus 7nucruzers) and then another coupled joined us after we booked. that is why they are in 7622. so we need a table for 9. have a great cruise! look forward to hearing from you when you get a chance.

[Texasboomer]

A true story from today's news

CANADA

 

Dead whale found

impaled on bow

 

TORONTO - A cruise ship arrived in the Atlantic Canada port of Saint John, New Brunswick, with a dead whale impaled on its bow. Royal Caribbean's liner Jewel of the Seas was cruising the Gulf of St. Lawrence during the weekend, probably striking the 60-foot finback whale somewhere between Quebec City and the Bay of Fundy, officials said Monday.

[madforcruising]

Hi,

 

I´d like to keep you updated about the past days. We left Boston slightly late because of some Passengers coming late into Logan Airport. It was still very bad weather when leaving Boston and it was so fogy you couldn´t even see the Planes coming into the airport.

We had a great day in Bar Harbour it stopped raining and although the sun didn´t come out it was OK. I had no tour booked for this port and went ashore on my own. Priority Tender tickets from the Concierge worked great.

At arrival ashore I saw a sign advertising Trolley tours and so I finally ended up on a 2 1/2 hour tour through Bar Harbor and Acadia NP. It was $20 and so I think much cheaper than the ship tours. The tour included a stop at the summit of Mt. Cadillac as well as a stop at the Thunder Hole. Great trip and worth the money I think. And I never had such a great visibility from Mt. Cadillac.

After this I explore the Town of Bar Harbor a little bit before returning to the ship.

In the afternoon for our departure the sun came out and it was a great sunset.

The evening was the first of three formal ones and the Captain´s Reception. Dinner was excellent. I had Beef Tenderloin which was very tasty and a Grand Manier Soufleé, yummy.

The show was Headliner showtime of the Guse´s. They put on a great show.

The night was quite rocky.

Today we are in Halifax. It rained pretty heavy upon our arrival but around 10:00am it stopped and by noon the sun was out and it got warmer.

I walked down the Harbour trail to the City and back. Many nice little shopsp and Restaurants. As I´ve been some places earlier I thought to just take it easy this time without any tours in Halifax.

So as you can see I´m having a great time onboard.

Will check back later during the cruise.

BTW, got my M&M invitation today.

[jstducky]

mad...

 

glad to see you're having a good time! taking tons of pictures to share i hope.

 

hope the weather and the seas cooperate for you as your trip goes along!

[madforcruising]

jstducky,

 

yes I´m taking lot´s of pictures, but I think it will last until I´m back home to post them. There I´ll have high speed.

[CGTNORMANDIE]

HI G...MADFOR!!!

 

Glad you made it and are having a great time...Do you think the JEWEL has improved since the last time you were on it???

 

ROSS

[Rustynail]

Hope your visiting Quebec City. If you are enjoy as it's more of the most beautiful cities in North America.

[paljoeysmom]

Hi there,

 

Keep up the good work on the posts. My Mom is on the 10/18 sailing of the Jewel. I would love to be able to share your pix with her, so let us know when they are up.

 

I leave in 2 days on the Sapphire Princess out of San Francisco. I am too excited!

[lantzcaper]

Sorry to barge in on your thread...but just wanted to say that the Jewel is a magnificent ship.

 

My wife and I (along with about 30 other people) were on a 2 hour tour of the Jewel today. It was booked through a local travel agency. We have already booked our trip next May on the Navigator, but really were anxious to take advantage of the opportunity to see a Royal Caribbean ship up close.

 

Needless to say we were not disappointed. Never having been on a cruise ship before, we had nothing to compare it to...but we thought it was fabulous. As we waited to board the ship in the morning (around 11:30 or just before noon) it was quite chilly, but when we finished the tour it had warmed up.

 

We didn't see too many people, as many had gone into Halifax for tours, but those that we did see were quite nice, and very accomodating considering that we were just there for a tour. And the crew that we encountered were very nice as well.

 

The only negative is that after having seen the ship, my wife and I are now more anxious than ever for next May to get here.

 

:)

[gdcruisers]

who is the captain and cd ?

thanks

[jstducky]

the current captain is James MacDonald. a canadian originally from Nova Scotia but now living in Florida. and the current CD is Jill Tasker, a Brit who celebrated her 40th birthday while we were onboard the 9/11 cruise

[madforcruising]

Right about the Captain but the CD now is Karen Maybury - she is back from vacation now.

 

lantzcaper:

You don´t have to excuse to post, you are more than welcome to this thread and to the boards. I missed your group to, as I´ve been to the city at that time too. Th weather turned out great during the afternoon, beautiful sunset again.

 

paljoeysmom:

I keep you updated when I post my pictures and you can check out my website for them too (see my signature).

I won´t post them before I´m back home again I think. But it´s still time then till 10/18. Pics from the ship are already online from May on website.

 

Rustynail:

Yes I´m looking forward to Quebec City as it´s a long time since I´ve been there, but I remember it as a great spot.

 

Ross:

I have to come back to your question later, as I have to think about the things that could have been improved. You know with some distance only the good things stay on your mind. One thing I already noticed is that the food in the Windjammer is hot now.

[jstducky]

mad...

 

thanks for the correction on the CD. thats good to know. Jill didn't really impress me as a CD. but the cruise staff did impress me, they were everywhere and they were really energetic.

 

are johnny (indiana), barbara (chicago) and becky (australia) still part of the cruise staff?

[tinkerme1]

It's great to see you cruising the Jewel once again! Would you be so kind as to say hi to Margie and Dick for me? They are on your cruise and part of the M&M for sure! They also hang out at the Concierge Lounge!

 

I hope your flight over was good. Enjoy the cruise!

 

:D

[Merion_Mom]

Dear MforC:

I am so jealous that you get to be on the Jewel twice before I even get to sail once! just made final payment on our 12/26 cruise (new year's = OUCH)

 

What level cabin are you in? We are moving up for this next cruise from a DB (excuse me, E3) to a D1, and I think that the D1s are bigger on Radiance class than on Voyager class. My kids are SO excited to try the Radiance class, now that they're not *kids* anymore.

 

Just booked a big splurge (have to change my signature) - booked a GS on the Enchantment out of Philadelphia next August. It's about a 20 minute ride from our front door. Join us?

 

Carol