Toonjie's Back!

[toonjie]

Next installment is finally up and running. St. Lucia with tons of pics. Read about our best day ever with the best tour guide ever, with load of adventures including scuba diving at the Pitons, bats at the Batcave and nude fishing guy, learn where to get the best spices ever and dine at Portofino.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=783539

[toonjie]

Antigua is up and running as DW is away, and I continue to play!

Great day with loads of pics and best cruise show ever!

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=783539

[toonjie]

The St. Maarten to Anguilla portion of my review is up and running. Hear what happens when the girls we share a cab with drop their tops when we hit the beach! Hint, DW was not liking it! All our adventures getting to and from St. Maarten to Anguilla- 3 countries in 8 hours!

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=783539

[cruiselover00029]

Hi,

 

Can you post a summary of all of the things you did at the different ports. I am trying to keep up but its a little hard. We are going on the first sailing of the Victory when it repositions to San Juan as a home port in November and we will be visiting most of the islands you visited. My husband is an adventure seeker and he wants to do a lot of fun things. I am loving your review and I thought he might like to do some of this. Also, there was a picture of you and your wife standing on a rock bridge... where was that? Could you walk up there. My husband can not swim but I have convinced him to do a few water things in the past like swimming with the stingrays. Lastly, congrats on the baby. We have two boys. Get ready they are a handful but I wouldn't have it any other way!

[toonjie]

Hi,

 

Can you post a summary of all of the things you did at the different ports. I am trying to keep up but its a little hard. We are going on the first sailing of the Victory when it repositions to San Juan as a home port in November and we will be visiting most of the islands you visited. My husband is an adventure seeker and he wants to do a lot of fun things. I am loving your review and I thought he might like to do some of this. Also, there was a picture of you and your wife standing on a rock bridge... where was that? Could you walk up there. My husband can not swim but I have convinced him to do a few water things in the past like swimming with the stingrays. Lastly, congrats on the baby. We have two boys. Get ready they are a handful but I wouldn't have it any other way!

 

Thanks! Maybe I can post a summary at the end, I know, it's getting very long! The rock bridge is in Antigua, it's called Hell's Gate Island. The only way to get there is to swim as there is no beach for boats to pull up on.

[toonjie]

Hope everyone had a great 4th of July! Our adventures in St. Thomas are finally posted! Here's a link right to that page: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=783539&page=12

[gram1554]

I have loved reading everything you have wrote. We are going on the AOS in October. We are also staying at the Marriott two nights before. Could you please tell me are there any resturants within walking distance.

[toonjie]

I have loved reading everything you have wrote. We are going on the AOS in October. We are also staying at the Marriott two nights before. Could you please tell me are there any resturants within walking distance.

 

There are loads of restaurants within walking distance, right next door there is a Japanese restaurant and steak place, (See one of the first posts in my review for pics), Ajili Mojili is probably 3/4 of a mile or so towards OSJ, but there are lots closer as well. You can just stroll around and see what looks good or ask at the front desk for some recommendations for the type of food you are in the mood for. Also Tuscany, right in the Marriott is very good Italian fare. If you are in the mood to splurge, take a cab to the Parrot Club or Pamela's or Tangerine for some world-class food.

[gram1554]

We were thinking of going to the Parrot Club on Saturday. Friday we will not get in until 3:30 so we thought we would just stay close to the hotel and rest. By the way what is the best way to get into OSJ. My husband is not comfortable renting a car.

[toonjie]

We were thinking of going to the Parrot Club on Saturday. Friday we will not get in until 3:30 so we thought we would just stay close to the hotel and rest. By the way what is the best way to get into OSJ. My husband is not comfortable renting a car.

 

Cab is probably the best bet, it's around $10 each way, here's a link for the fares: http://www.cabspr.com/

[Jeanine&Jim]

Hello I am am fellow cruiser but am taking a land vacation at the Wyndham Rio Mar and would love info, photos, what to do ideas places to eat etc. Did you like to resort? Any help would be great. Thanks

[toonjie]

Hello I am am fellow cruiser but am taking a land vacation at the Wyndham Rio Mar and would love info, photos, what to do ideas places to eat etc. Did you like to resort? Any help would be great. Thanks

 

Hi. We loved the resort! I'm working on a full write up on my AOS review thread, it should be up in a day or two. We stayed there for 4 days, so I have lots of stories and pics of restaurants nearby, etc. Staff was really great at the resort and there are lots of restaurants nearby. A rental car is an absolute must! Here's s a little preview and check back in a few days on my AOS thread for loads of info. Make sure you join Wyndham By Request, it's free and you'll get upgrades and snacks waiting for you, separate check-in line, etc.

 

Rooms are gorgeous: (We paid $120 a night on Skyauction)

 

 

 

 

Here's the view:

 

 

 

[toonjie]

Thought I post this amazing story right in here so you don't have to click over:

 

Another Reminiscence….

 

“Final Countdown on the AOS”

 

The following is a true story that happened on our first AOS cruise which departed San Juan on May 14th, 2006 back when the AOS ran the same itinerary as the Serenade is now, San Juan, St. Thomas, St. Maarten, Antigua, St. Lucia and Barbados, then a day at sea on the way back to Barbados.

 

The captain was Arnolf Remo

The cruise director was Richard Spacey

 

Saturday, May 20, 2006 Day at Sea

 

This cruise was my mom’s first and she had had a blast, as did I and we had done a lot since this was her first time visiting these islands and we were looking forward to a relaxing day at sea….

 

 

We began the day with breakfast on the balcony. After breakfast we went up to the rock climbing wall to catch them when they first opened. I remember I had to wait for them to open. I climbed the wall and made it to the top on each of the three courses, but it was tough since I started on the easy one and then moved to the hardest, should have done it the other way around! As I reached the top of the final course I noted storm clouds off in the distance, the same direction we were traveling, and I was glad we had gotten up and at ‘em early, before it rained. I then went to the fitness center to hit the elliptical machine and my mom went to the solarium and I was to meet her in the hot tub after my workout. My goal for the day was to workout really hard, (I had a 3:00pm spin class as well) and then enjoy the highlight of the cruise, a massage at 4:00pm.

I was on the elliptical for around 15 or twenty minutes when I saw we were heading into a thunderstorm way off in the distance. It was a very small circle of clouds of in the distance at the time and I remember wondering if we would divert course around it. A few minutes later the ship still was heading on the same course, directly into the clouds. I had a great view of the bow and I remember thinking it was like we were on autopilot lumbering towards rain without concern for the hundreds who by this time were sunning themselves on the pool deck. It was sunny everywhere else and the seas were normal, there was just one big ball of thunderstorm clouds and we were sailing on a direct collision course.

As the ship neared the clouds, they grew more and more ominous, I remember thinking they looked a little reminiscent of the storm in one of my favorite movies as a teen, The Final Countdown. It’s a movie about a freak storm that carries the USS Nimitz along with its carrier attack group and all its planes from 1980 back to December 6, 1941. The captain and crew then have to decide whether or not they should stop the Japanese invasion fleet before they attack Pearl Harbor. As I was thinking of this movie from long ago, the storm was no longer just reminiscent of the one that was in the movie, it was looking more and more exactly like it, more and more so, each minute we got closer and closer to it. By now I was thinking surely the master of the watch was calling the captain for permission to deviate course, but as we got closer, the storm seemed to grow larger and larger and deviation seemed like less and less of an option. If you saw the final Countdown, then you know the kind of storm I am talking about. Lightening was flashing from within the clouds, but it wasn’t the usual color, it had a grayish, bluish metallic color to it and the flashes seemed to glow with almost a fluorescent iridescence that was at once both captivating and spooky. Our bow still plied the waves heading straight into this storm and finally I could see the first drops of rain hit the fitness center window. I was so glad I got all my outside activities done early! Soon after the rain started, I remember hearing an announcement over the loudspeakers and I took my Ipod’s earbuds out and it was Richard Spacey telling everyone that they should all get under cover, that they didn’t know what it was that was falling and that just to make sure everyone should seek shelter inside the ship! Well that peaked my interest, from my vantage point on the elliptical machine looking out onto the bow of the ship, all you could see was rain. There was lightening off in the distance and some driving wind, but you couldn’t see anything falling. A few minutes later, Richard Spacey was again heard on the loudspeakers, this time I took my earbuds right out and could hear him say they believed what was falling with the rain was volcanic ash from a volcano in Southeast Asia. At the time that was the only volcano erupting anywhere on the planet and the first thought. was that the fine grey ash that was falling must have traveled around the world and be falling on us. I remember when I was in High School and Mt. St. Helens in Washington State was erupting and after school, all the way in New York, there was ash on our cars so I thought this theory was certainly plausible.

By this time I ended my workout and went out to explore this phenomenon. There were still loads of people out on the pool deck, but they were all either under cover on the sides or else actually in the pools. As I was exploring, Captain Remo came on over the loudspeakers and repeated the warning to seek cover just in case since they didn’t know of any danger, but just to be safe everyone should head inside. I check the Solarium and mom had obviously heeded the warning and there were just a few young adults in the pool. At the main pool, crews are beginning to clean the ash off as much as possible with their normal high-pressure hoses. They later abandoned this and switched to using the fire fighting hoses, that is how much ash was on the pool deck! The pools had to be closed and completely drained and fire hoses were being used to wash the ash down the drain. I felt so sorry for the crew, here it is the day before they have to turn around the ship and have everything looking perfect for the next sailing and the ship is just absolutely trashed. The hull of the ship looked grey and even the next day it was still not cleaned. I think the crew abandoned the idea of cleaning the whole ship and just got the passenger decks ready for the next sailing. It would be interesting to see if any CCers were on the May 21st 2006 sailing and could tell us how long it took to get everything clean?

We went to the captain’s question and answer time and Captain Remo said this was the first time he had ever seen anything like this in his 30 years at sea! The rest of the day went on quite normal for the passengers and hopefully the crew got loads of overtime! At the closing show, Richard Spacey, who I think is the funniest cruise director I have ever had, opened with the line, I hope everyone had a good day in spite of a little rain. I mean it’s not like it was raining down volcanic ash or anything!”

 

It wasn’t until the next day that we learned the volcanic ash wasn’t from the eruption in SE Asia, but a crater collapsed on the volcano on Montserrat spewing ash as high as 30,000 feet in the air. That ash, combined with a powerful thunderstorm at sea, created the final countdown on the AOS.

 

To read the story from other perspectives:

 

http://www.nerc.ac.uk/publications/planetearth/2006/autumn/aut06-volcano.pdf

 

http://www.cdera.org/cunews/news//montserrat/article_1652.php

 

http://www.cosis.net/abstracts/EGU2007/11090/EGU2007-J-11090.pdf

 

Check out the posts on this forum, there are satellite pics that show the cloud growing and heading right into the path of the AOS

 

http://www.geographia.com/antiguanews/messages/10/1440.html?1148411586

[toonjie]

Okay green eyed lady and all those staying at the ESJ in the upcoming months, that portion of my review is up and running as well as initial pics of the Wyndham Rio Mar and surrounding area. Click on the link below and go to the last page of the review.

[green eyed lady]

Toonjie you are the best! Those pics of ESJ look awesome...I am very excited...I'll be sure to let you know how it goes when I get back :D

 

I hope DW has a great baby shower and gets everything she needs for the little one ;) What part of NH? I have 3 sisters and my mom up there

[toonjie]

Toonjie you are the best! Those pics of ESJ look awesome...I am very excited...I'll be sure to let you know how it goes when I get back :D

 

I hope DW has a great baby shower and gets everything she needs for the little one ;) What part of NH? I have 3 sisters and my mom up there

 

Thanks! They are in Littleton, NH, (DW's father is a minister, so they move around more than normal, but this is their first time out of Vermont.) Have a great vacation, I can't wait to hear about it!

[toonjie]

The littlest AOS fan is fully baked and signaling he wants to come out and see the world! :) :) :) DW and I should be heading into the birthing center tonight for a natural childbirth, I'll keep you all updated!

[waterbugohio]

Toonjie,

 

Just wanted to wish you luck. Thanks for al the info and photos you provided for us. Let us know when the happy event takes place. And of course you will post photos of the new little one???

[toonjie]

Thanks! You bet there will be loads of photos! DW is 9 cm dialated and doing wonderfully, the midwives are bragging about how well she is doing!

[dna1990]

Wow. There is some CC dedication there...still posting while Mom is at 9cm !!

 

I used to grin at folks who posted while 'on ship'...this has me in full chuckle.

 

Best wishes!

[toonjie]

Wow. There is some CC dedication there...still posting while Mom is at 9cm !!

 

I used to grin at folks who posted while 'on ship'...this has me in full chuckle.

 

Best wishes!

 

LOL! Guess it does sound a little CC fanatical! In my defense, she was resting peacefully in a hot tub at the time and we had wifi signal so I couldn't resist!

Here are some initial pics. (I'll try to get some nice portraits soon)

 

 

 

 

[waterbugohio]

Congrats!! Do we have details: girl/boy, weight, name, etc.

 

I know you have nothing else to be doing right now.

[green eyed lady]

He's Here!!!!!!

Josiah David was born at 10:35am this morning!!!!! 8 pounds 6.6 ounces and 20 1/2 inches long. Mom and baby are doing just fine! Pics to follow shortly.[/b]

 

Waterbug,

Toonjie posted this on another thread earlier :D

[green eyed lady]

Toonjie,

your baby is just beautiful...and you and DW look very happy (but she looks way more tired than you...lol) Funny, I don't remember relaxing in a hot tub while I was in labor :eek:

[toonjie]

Toonjie,

your baby is just beautiful...and you and DW look very happy (but she looks way more tired than you...lol) Funny, I don't remember relaxing in a hot tub while I was in labor :eek:

 

Thanks! She did a natural birth, no meds and freedom of positions in a birthing center. She ended up spending the night in a really nice shower that had a rain head from the ceiling and a hand-held head that she could aim anywhere she wanted and she got a couple of hours of sleep in there! Once she was in active labor, she switched to the hot tub a spent 4 hours as peaceful as could be waiting to be 10 cm dialated. Then about an hour of pushing in various positions and he popped out! We head home in a few hours since you only get 12 hours after you deliver here. It was an incredible experience!