Toonjie's AOS Review

[Moon&Stargazer]

I agree with "Toonjie Travels". Love your review and pics! Best wishes for your new arrival in August! Lol, have you ever thought of being a travel agent? I would love to be on the same cruise's you are on! Let us know when your traveling again!:D

[toonjie]

First, thanks everyone for all your compliments! Glad you're all liking the review and having as much fun reading as I am writing. I have some wonderful news to report: I posted a word of thanks and a link to this review on the Barbados board and someone just replied that the little lost dog was rescued by them and taken to the vet and he is doing fine. They were unsuccessful in finding his owner and so the staff at Welchman Gully have adopted him and they are calling him the gully dog. Make sure you look him up if you go and thank the staff for rescuing him. Everyone is happy except the hens you can see in the pic below, who he is chasing around and over-eager to play with! Glad to report this story had a happy ending! :) :)

 

The Gully Dog: (He was too terrified to move)

 

(Flies swarming all over him)

 

We showed them this pic and a pic of the trailmarker nearest him:

 

The Gully Dog's new playmates:

[toriwc]

First of all, thank you for the review...we've sailed her twice and leave for a B2B next week, and your review/photos are just bringing back a ton of memories and getting me super excited.

 

I made a thread for this, but received no responses. If you don't mind, can anyone confirm if there is or isn't a smart casual night? There WAS in 2006, but there WAS NOT in 2007.

 

Thank you in advance!

[toonjie]

First of all, thank you for the review...we've sailed her twice and leave for a B2B next week, and your review/photos are just bringing back a ton of memories and getting me super excited.

 

I made a thread for this, but received no responses. If you don't mind, can anyone confirm if there is or isn't a smart casual night? There WAS in 2006, but there WAS NOT in 2007.

 

Thank you in advance!

 

Thanks so much! Just checked our compasses for you. Friday, Day 6 was smart casual and Wednesday, Day 4 was smart casual or 70's. Monday and thursday are formal and all others are casual.

[toriwc]

Awesome. Thanks so much for checking that out for me!

[pauldell]

Other tour boats take off as well:

 

HEY! We are on this boat!!! :D See Antigua by the sea tour through RCCL!! It was an awesome time! It was one of the better tours I have been on. You can see my SIL Nicky waving from the top- front of the ship and my Brother Andrew behind her!! They even let her drive the ship, we are lucky we made it back!

Great review.....and great Pictures! I especially enjoyed your review of St. Lucia because we didn't go on any excursions at this stop, we just did a little shopping at the port shops. Had I known about the spices I would have SO been there. I usually get my spices from www.thespicehouse.com out of Chicago (my parents used to live in Wisconsin and we went to their store in Milwaukee) and they have the freshest spices anywhere but you can't barter! :eek:

 

Thanks again for taking the time for awesome review and the excellent photos!!!!

 

Paul

[pauldell]

For those who haven’t been to a Meet & Mingle, they serve drinks and have hors d’ouvres. A member of the cruise director’s staff hosts and he told us a little bit of trivia about Voyager Class ships and then gave away some prizes with a raffle.

 

 

 

LOOK! There I am, in the red T-shirt next to my brother in the blue Puma shirt and his wife Nicky (Fattynicky) next to him. MY DW Gina (Bean72) is next to me but is hidden from view! I feel so honored to have made the "review"! :D

[mattsmom11]

Thanks so much! Just checked our compasses for you. Friday, Day 6 was smart casual and Wednesday, Day 4 was smart casual or 70's. Monday and thursday are formal and all others are casual.

 

Toonjie

THANKS so much for the wonderful review. As I have told you before your reviews are out of this world and I look forward to reading every word and looking at your awesome photo's. You really have a nack and when your tired of teaching you will no doubt have a job writing travel columns/articles.

 

I do have a favour to ask; are you planning on adding your compasses to your review at sometime? I would love to see one or all. Having never travelled on RCCI before I do not know what to expect so a preview of them would be great.

 

Thanks again.

[mattsmom11]

First, thanks everyone for all your compliments! Glad you're all liking the review and having as much fun reading as I am writing. I have some wonderful news to report: I posted a word of thanks and a link to this review on the Barbados board and someone just replied that the little lost dog was rescued by them and taken to the vet and he is doing fine. They were unsuccessful in finding his owner and so the staff at Welchman Gully have adopted him and they are calling him the gully dog. Make sure you look him up if you go and thank the staff for rescuing him. Everyone is happy except the hens you can see in the pic below, who he is chasing around and over-eager to play with! Glad to report this story had a happy ending! :) :)

 

So glad to hear the cute little puppy found a good home. love his new name :)

[63galaxie]

My Dh Is a dentist..I work in his office..tell your Dh that he will feel 100% better after his root canal (I am assuming he has a toothache now). Just make sure he takes his antibiotics if they are prescribed. He will be just fine by Wednesday or Thursday at the latest! Good luck and have a great cruise!

That was so nice of you to post! I had to leave he and the two boys at home this weekend while I brought my two girls (and my mother and stepdad from California) to Lousiville for my nephews' wedding.

I talked to him awhile ago and he's been in pain off and on all weekend. Even the pain meds don't seem to be helping.

I'm holding off on booking my shore excursions, just in case. But I'll tell him what you said.

The assistant at the dental office told me the same thing (to be sure to take his antibiotic AND his steroids).

I'm hoping we'll be able to go. I'm planning on it!!

Karen in Louisville (until tomorrow)

[TxStacey]

That was so nice of you to post! I had to leave he and the two boys at home this weekend while I brought my two girls (and my mother and stepdad from California) to Lousiville for my nephews' wedding.

I talked to him awhile ago and he's been in pain off and on all weekend. Even the pain meds don't seem to be helping.

I'm holding off on booking my shore excursions, just in case. But I'll tell him what you said.

The assistant at the dental office told me the same thing (to be sure to take his antibiotic AND his steroids).

I'm hoping we'll be able to go. I'm planning on it!!

Karen in Louisville (until tomorrow)

Hey Karen, glad I could help..he really should feel so much better as long as he takes his meds. I would also ask for a refill of the pain meds and antibiotics just in case it flares up again while you are on your cruise..I hate to say it but there is nothing worse than a man in pain;) . Good luck! Stacey

[Buffettfan 225]

 

 

Cruise Terminal:

 

Ice Show:

 

 

This lady was the best ever!

 

Toonjie- as you know the photos cannot do the ice show acrobatics justice. My question- did your camera pick up such good photos without flash? Also awesome flower photos in earlier post -bnatural light- did you have to over ride?

[toonjie]

Toonjie- as you know the photos cannot do the ice show acrobatics justice. My question- did your camera pick up such good photos without flash? Also awesome flower photos in earlier post -bnatural light- did you have to over ride?

 

Yes, I wish my video camera wasn't on the blink! The girl that did the acrobatics was definitely the best we've seen on RCCL! I believe for the flower photos we just used the no flash option on the dial.

[marshabear]

we are booked for the Eli Xtreme tour in October...i know it will be somewhat different, but i enjoyed seeing your photos of Antigua and your day there....

 

enjoying ALL your photos...thanks so much for sharing!! :)

 

 

Marsha

[toonjie]

we are booked for the Eli Xtreme tour in October...i know it will be somewhat different, but i enjoyed seeing your photos of Antigua and your day there....

 

enjoying ALL your photos...thanks so much for sharing!! :)

 

 

Marsha

 

Thanks! We had some CCers on the Xtreme and they loved it! We will definitely do that one some day- when DW isn't prego. :) You will definitely have a blast!

[irene2000]

toonjie,

Hubby & I are sailing the AOS on 28th September and have just read your fabulous review. It has definitely wet my appetite and given me numerous trip ideas - will try out some of the links. Thanks for the advice and your pictures are absolutely fantastic - would love to see your complete album when it is ready. Will check in again later

Good luck and congratulations to you and your wife on your upcoming "Nappy" event.

 

Take Care

[toonjie]

“Tranquility Wrapped in Blue,” Leaving when You’ve Just Arrived

 

Friday, May 16th St. Maarten/St. Martin/Anguilla

When we awake at 6:45am, we are already in the harbor and beginning to turn, we are lucky, some days the AOS docks bow first, some days stern and so we get an awesome view of all the docking activities as we eat breakfast.

 

 

The plan today was for mom to stay on the ship, she had had 3 port days in a row and wanted a relaxing time in the Solarium pool. She’d been to St. Maarten twice before, so this was a good opportunity to rest and relax. DW and I decided that it would be nice to get in a new island and since I had been to St. Maarten 5 times, I thought, let’s go for it and go to Anguilla. I had always heard the beaches were just the greatest in the world and so I had always wanted to check it out in person. As we were finishing up breakfast, however, DW begins to doubt the plan. She was a little tired from all we had been doing and this was our first day without mom, why not just find a beach and relax. I was on a mission though, so many CCers had asked about going over to Anguilla and I had posted that we were going to do it and I’d let them know the results, so by golly we were going to do it! Fortunately DW is feeling better after breakfast and is up to the task! We get off the ship at 8:25am, I don’t know how we were running behind, maybe it was all the time it took discussing if we should actually go for it or not, but anyhow, the ship was docked from 8:00am until 5:30pm and I knew all we needed to do was to make the 9:00am ferry out of Marigot and that was the earliest possible one to make with our arrival time. DW has to go to the little girls room at the pier, okay, baby Josiah is not cooperating with my plan! There are bathrooms right by the taxi stand and so it doesn’t take long. We get a not-so-talkative taxi driver, but I did learn a short cut to Marigot. (Usually we rent a car.) The short cut follows the water out of Phillpsburg rather than going inland around the salt pond and we are in Marigot in less than 20 minutes, despite some traffic as we descend the big hill and in town. Cab fare was $15.

It’s around 8:45am and we arrive at the ferry terminal in Marigot, we pay a departure tax of $10 for the both of us and show our passports. Wow, its 8:45am and we have already been in 2 countries, The Netherlands and now France. It would be 3 before 9:45am since Anguilla is British. Everyone on St. Maarten is correctly pronouncing it Angwilla, so I am pysched to go back to our tablemates with a definite answer regarding the correct pronunciation of Anguilla. I’m still going to check on the island itself! We go into the terminal and there is a small waiting room and in about a minute the ferry is ready for boarding and so we don’t even have time to sit down.

The ferry leaves shortly after 9:00am and it is an interesting combination of locals and tourists. Some locals look like they work in hotels on Anguilla and there are 2 guys that are definitely in construction, we don’t see anyone from the ship and so assume all the tourists are going over from St. Maarten for the day. The locals settle in and read the paper just like they were on the train here in the States, guess it’s a nice commute! The ride is fairly smooth and takes just around 20 minutes. The man who helped everyone on the ferry functioned like a conductor on a train and collected the $15 fare from everyone. We arrived at the ferry terminal at Blowing Point in Anguilla shortly before 9:30am. A sign welcomes visitors with the island’s slogan, Tranquility Wrapped in Blue.”

 

 

We get off and go into a small terminal and a customs agent looks at our passports. We ask her to stamp it when she is finished. Yeah! We’ve officially been to Anguilla! We exit the terminal and there is a taxi stand with an agent that assists with taxi assignments just like at the airport in San Juan. We are about to get into a cab when 2 girls in their 20’s ask us to share a cab with them. The guy whose cab we were about to get in was not too happy, but we saved on cab fare and it was only around $12 for both of us to make the trek over to Shoal Bay Beach. The girls turn out to be from the New York City metro area just like us and the cab drive, Wendell, is super-talkative, a big contrast to our guy in St. Maarten. The girls tell us earlier in the week they went to St. Barts and that the ferry ride was well over an hour even though it is supposed to be 45 minutes. They didn’t think it was worth it to go over for the day and it would be ridiculous to do it within the time constraints of a cruise call. Our cabbie is Wendell Connor and he must be going for cabbie of the year because he goes through a wonderful tour pointing out all the sights and history of the island in verbiage that he must of memorized. Anguilla is flat, but is fairly scenic, I guess the closest island I’d describe it as is the rural parts of Grand Cayman. The girls need to stop at a bank atm on the way and we make a quick stop and Wendell keeps talking to us the whole time. We arrive at Uncle Ernie’s restaurant, which is supposed to be the place to eat on the beach, right at 10:00am. This is just what we calculated, just under and hour and a half transport time. We arrange for Wendell to pick us up at 1:15 so we could make the 2:00pm ferry back.

We pay $10 for 2 lounge chairs, a table and an umbrella to the guy who works for Uncle Ernies and we get settled in. One of the girls asks if she can take a picture of DW and me before she gets “settled in” a few loungers down the beach. We were about to learn what that meant! We take some pics and the beach is just so phenomenally gorgeous it is unbelievable. The only beach I have been to that I think could compete with this one is Grand Anse in Guadeloupe, but it’s been a long time since I’ve been there so it’s hard to compare. You feel like you’re in a Corona commercial that just doesn’t end I guess is the best way to describe it.

 

 

 

I’m in total relaxation mode when I notice a look of horror on DW’s face. I ask what’s wrong and she kind of points with her face and I see the 2 girls have “settled in” by taking off their tops! This is DW’s first close encounter with topless bathing even though we saw some nudists at Orient Point on last year’s cruise, none of them were near us. I strike out in true “guy” fashion in all attempts to assuage DW’s insecurities at having 2 topless 20 somethings in such close proximity: 1. Recount all my tales of topless women I’ve seen on beaches that well, let’s be polite and say, shouldn’t have been topless! (Mildly effective) 2. Tell her how common it is around these parts and make light of it, (even though I’m fudging because it’s common in St. Maarten, but in Anguilla it’s strongly frowned upon- No sex please, we’re British!) (Esoteric British play reference warning) (again, mildly effective, especially since the girls are from NY) Then I strike out with number 3. Tell her these girls are nothing, I’ve been on beaches in Aruba and in South Beach in Miami and seen girls topless whose bodies Cindy Crawford would kill to have. (True, but Strike out!) I finally get it with, even at 24 weeks pregnant, you’re still the hottest girl on the beach. (Winner every time!)

The surf was fairly rough for Anguilla, which has reefs around it offshore which serve to break the big waves. I go in for a while and DW decides to go in and I help her past the breakers and we enjoy a half an hour just floating in paradise. The beach is so white and the water so blue, I think you’d go blind if you didn’t have sunglasses! On our way in our timing isn’t so good. I see a set of waves coming and yell to DW to book it for the shore, but she panics and hesitates and the waves are bearing down on her. I step right in front to break it as much as possible, but we both get swept off our feet and our sunglasses get washed to the beach. I help DW up and we get to the beach and I get my sunglasses, but all attempts to find DW’s were in vain. Oh well, now we have something to shop for in Phillipsburg. The important thing was DW and Josiah were okay! We relax a bit and around 11:30 have lunch at Uncle Ernies. DW, not being in an adventurous mood, has grilled cheese, I go for the ribs and fries, which were delicious. They also have $3 Pina Coladas, can’t beat that and they were fairly decent!

 

The view from Uncle Ernies can't be beat!

 

Unfortunately, Uncle Ernie past away last year, but his family is continuing the tradition of laid back atmosphere and great food. We relax a bit after lunch and then make a second and much better attempt at swimming a couple of hundred yards up the beach where it was much calmer.

 

 

We head back to the loungers and shortly after 1:00pm Wendell comes over to let us know he’s there any time we want to leave. The girls yell over that they have changed their minds about staying there all day and want to once again split a cab with us and go visit one of the resorts on the island. DW is just glad they are putting their tops back on! Wendell agrees, but tells them he has to take us first to make sure we get there in time for the ferry. (You need to be there around 20 minutes early to get put on the manifest and go through customs.) I suddenly remember this is a new island and we need t-shirts so I ask if Wendell knows a shop and he takes us to one on the way and we make a 5 minute stop for t-shirts and some postcards, etc.

We arrive back at Blowing Point shortly after 1:40pm, say farewell to Wendell and our now formerly topless friends and pay the $10 departure tax and $30 ferry tickets and go through customs. We sit in a small waiting room watching the French Open on TV for a few minutes before the man comes and gets everyone. The ferry left shortly after 2:00pm and we were back in Marigot before 2:30pm. We catch a cab and this time get a great driver who is extremely talkative and friendly. We tell him we want to go to the Belgian chocolate store in Phillipsburg, (which the RCCL shore excursion lady said was great. That caught DW’s pregnant ear!) Our driver tells us there’s also a French shop in Marigot that is great as well and he takes us there. The chocolate was unbelievable! Each piece looked like a work of art and if it didn’t taste so good, you’d be sorry you ate it. It was extremely expensive, but worth it for a splurge. We have a great trip back munching on indescribably delicious chocolate with the cabbie telling us of all his adventures serving in the St. Martin military in France. It’s great to hear islanders’ stories of the first time they experience cold and snow. He said he had to buy clothes in France since he didn’t even own a coat! He really appreciated being back in St. Martin and said he never wanted to leave. He recounted many of the holiday traditions and the sense of family and knowing just about everyone you have on a small island.

We arrive in Phillipsburg around 3:15 and quickly locate the Belgian chocolate store, DW being in chocolate mode fueled even more now by the French delights we had just savored. We have a blast shopping and work our way towards the ship. Around 5:15 we check out the water taxi dock, but it doesn’t look like there is one there so we hop in a cab and arrive at the pier at around 5:20. We go through the gate and there are people handing out free samples of rum so I sample some delicious coconut rum and we get on the ship around 5:25pm, mission accomplished!

So, the big question is, is it worth it to go to Anguilla for the day? My answer is a definite maybe! It all depends on what you want to do and what you have done. First, the cost. It was $15 for the cab rides, 2 in St. Maarten & 2 in Anguilla, $15 departure tax on both islands and $60 for roundtrip ferry tickets, throw in $10 for taxi driver tips for a grand total of $160. Since the cost of loungers and food on the beach is roughly the same, subtract the cost of a normal beach day on St. Maarten, say at Orient Beach, $20 cab each way and $5 tip and you come out with around $125 extra cost to go to the beach in Anguilla compared to St. Maarten. For us it was worth it. We wanted to get in a new island and we had heard so much about Anguilla and wanted a little adventure and the trip over was sightseeing in my mind not just transport time. We would have done the Loterie Farm zip line had DW not been pregnant, and there is plenty to do on St. Maarten even for those who have been multiple times-I could sit on Maho Beach and watch the planes every time I go there! If you are the kind that doesn’t like the stress of cabs and ferries and if you worry about missing the ship, then it’s definitely not for you. The beaches in Anguilla are definitely better than anything on St. Maarten, Shoal Bay East Beach is arguably the best in the Caribbean and certainly top 10 in the world, the sand is blindingly white and the ocean such a shade of Robin’s egg blue blue it looks Photoshoped! That being said, the beaches on St. Maarten are also gorgeous and if you stay, you have $125 extra dollars to spend on a fine French restaurant in Marigot for instance or for shopping in Phillipsburg. It’s up to you just what shade of blue you want your tranquility wrapped up in.

Back on the ship we hit the Promenade Café for snacks, which has become our custom upon return. We then pick up some sunglasses for DW and have a good laugh at the sight of us sprawled out on the beach after being hit by that wave and fumbling around in the foam for our sunglasses. We do some more shopping in the promenade and head back to the cabin. Sailaway was great, as we left port, you could see St. Barts and then Anguilla and, far to the South, Saba seems to rise out of the ocean with its huge volcanic mountain. This sailaway is what aft cabins are all about, side cabins would only have a view of one of the 3 islands. After dinner, we hit the casino where we use the rest of our coupons for a chance to win $5000 slots. We win a few RCCL key chains to go along with our other ones we won at the Meet & Mingle. These had a little slot machine on it and the others were the regular RCCL logo one and a few of the new Vitality program ones. (The Shipshape program is now called Vitality) I also get clobbered at the Black Jack table using the $5 coupon to double a $5 bet. We hit the hay early since tomorrow mom and I have an early wake up call for some early morning scuba diving.

[toonjie]

A 20 minute cab ride brings you to the ferry terminal in Marigot:

 

Boarding ferry:

 

Ferry docked in Blowing Point, Anguilla: (Looking back at St. Martin)

 

Uncle Ernies:

 

 

Our loungers just before the girls dropped top:

[toonjie]

Corona Moment:

 

View from our loungers:

 

Toonjie hits the surf, which was rough for Anguilla:

 

 

 

Loved this umbrella! Wonder who Ray is?

[toonjie]

 

 

 

 

[BILL-WI]

More wonderful photos!

 

Thanks for taking the time to put together the most comprehensive trip report I have seen on CC!:D

 

BILL

[MattnDJsMom]

Toonjie,

 

You are amazing!!! This has been fascinating reading and your pictures are absolutely gorgeous!!!! I can't wait for your post-cruise stay in Rio Mar although that will mean that the end is near and I so don't want this to end!!!!!!

 

Keep writing!!!!!

[toonjie]

Thanks everyone, I'll keep it coming! DW is coming home soon, so I've got to get some chores done, but I'll keep plugging away!

[01Sweetpea]

Great review & LOVE the pictures!

[teachernut23]

Hi Toonjie!

 

I LOVED your review and advice! We leave for SJ Sat for the start of our honeymoon on AOS leaving Sun. It's great to see a neighbor on here too! We're in Danbury - you guys look familiar - I'm almost postive we've passed each other around town or something!

 

Congratulations on the upcoming arrival of your son!

 

~ Doranne