Day Three - St. Maarten

Today we docked in St. Maarten. I enjoyed breakfast on the balcony this morning complements of room service.

Our impromptu beach day was fun yesterday, but if given the choice, I like to have some sort of plan in place. After doing a lot of research on Cruise Critic I booked a tour for our group with Noel Tours. We were fortunate enough to have Mr. Noel himself as our guide for the next five hours. We met him at the black statue at the end of the pier. Very easy to find. Two gentleman from our ship were also in our group, and the seven of us fit comfortably in the air conditioned van.

Me and Mr. Noel

Our first stop was by the sea. Really. Mr. Noel (we never did find out his first name) pulls the van into this bumpy parking lot like area and there is this guy, in waders, in the sea, poking around. We get out and wander down. There is a little table set up with all sorts of sea creatures on display. The guy starts pulling things out of the water for us to see. A starfish, a sand dollar, a sea urchin, all very much alive and kicking. We got a hands-on lesson on sea life, which was very interesting. But we had to move on to the next stop.

Which was Orient Beach. It was breathtaking! Turquoise water, white sand and no rocks in the water to deal with. Amenities included use of beach chairs and umbrellas, rum punch, changing area and bathrooms. We had about an hour and fifteen minutes here. I really could have stayed all day.

Orient Beach

The capital of Marigot was the next stop. It was on the French side of the island. There was a market area setup where vendors were selling t-shirts, scarves and other assorted wares. There were also shops along the street and a fantastic patisserie where I indulged in a few macarons.

Maho Beach was next on the agenda. This is a beach that is about 100 yards from an international Airport. All day long planes take off and land right above the beach. It is very cool to watch, but dangerous at the same time. We spent time in the restaurant adjacent to the beach watching the planes.

Maho Beach

And that ended our tour. I would highly recommend this tour. Mr. Noel was very personable as well as knowledgeable. After a bit of shopping at the port, I headed back to the ship to spend some time in the solarium.

Dinner tonight was at Portofino's, one of the two venues that have a surcharge.  If you are looking for a fine dining experience, I would recommend you try this out. The food and service were excellent and we weren't rushed at all. I had the parpardelle pasta in a mascarpone cream sauce. It was so good!

The rest of the night? We took a walk to work off some of the dinner we just had. We went to the 50-60s Dance Party in the Safari Lounge. Then some of us went to bed (are you seeing a pattern here?). The rest of us went to the 11:15 pm comedy show which was very funny.

Next up, Antiqua and my long-awaited ziplining adventure. 


 

Day Two - St. Croix

I was up early to see the ship dock in St. Croix. It was 8:00 am and I headed up to the Windjammer for the first of many fresh-made omelets and incredible hash brown potatoes. After breakfast, a few laps around the jogging path were in order.

My friends and I were meeting at 10:00 am to head to the beach. Which beach? It was unclear at that point. I had done some research, but was open to whatever the day brought. It turned out that my friends got off the ship early and scoped out the area. We ended up going to a beach right near the port. I am not even sure it had a name, but it was very convenient and within walking distance. Two chairs and an umbrella were $19. Be warned, the chairs and umbrella were in less than stellar condition. They served the purpose though. Plus, I was swimming in the Caribbean Sea. Despite the fact that it was pretty rocky, the water was incredible (especially compared to the Jersey Shore!). If there are any sea glass collectors out there, it was pretty easy to find here. A few hours on the beach and we were fried.

We had a view of our ship from the beach

We headed back to explore Frederiksted, but it was Sunday. Nothing was open in the immediate area. There were a few vendors selling their goods but the port area was pretty desolate. I will point out now that we were the only ship at each port on this cruise except in St. Maarten where we were docked with the Explorer of the Seas.

Once back on the ship, I spent the rest of the afternoon in the solarium in the pool and hot tub. 

Tonight was the first of two formal nights. Cheesecake was on the menu tonight, a personal favorite! Rayfton and Kimber again provided us with excellent service.

After dinner we headed to the Safari Lounge to attend the Captain's Reception. This was an opportunity to have a photo take with the Captain and meet the rest of the crew.  

Captain Gustavo Feduzi - He has been captain of this ship since November 2013
Staff Captain Kate McHue - Second in Command (she was only 36 years old!)
Chief Engineer Nikola Petrovic - He is married to Kate McHue
Hotel Director Anthony Curtis - Yes, Tony Curtis was our Hotel Director!
Cruise Director Carly Boileau - Carly B.! She was the CD on my previous cruise on the Jewel and is a bundle of energy

Champagne was served and there were many other introductions made. The officers and staff were very approachable all week. I was very impressed with them.

On to the next activity, the first of 2 productions show with the Royal Caribbean Singers and Dancers. They sang and danced well but their choice of music was just meh. Some of the music was familiar but a lot of it I didn't recognize it. I was expecting a little more.

And our last activity for the night? Well some of us went to bed. But some of us headed back to the Safari Lounge for the Battle of the Sexes Game Show. A lot of fun and very entertaining. 

Tomorrow we dock in St. Maarten.

Vacation, all I ever wanted...

Vacation, had to get away...

Little did I know when this trip was planned last November just how much I would need to get away.  After this winter of zero degree temperatures and shoveling snow everyday, it was time for a little vacation.

Destination: the Southern Carribean
Mode of Transportation: Cruise ship
Cast of Characters: Me and 4 of my BFFs

Let the review begin!

Our cruise was the April 26, 2014 sailing of Royal Caribbean’s Jewel of the Seas out of Puerto Rico. We flew down on Friday the 25^th. It is always advisable to fly down the day before a cruise. There are too many things that can go wrong the day of the cruise. Thunderstorms, high winds, mechanical malfunctions…we were not going to miss the ship.

Our car service came at 8:00 am and we were at the airport by 9:00 am. After a nice breakfast at the airport, we boarded our 11:35 am flight and were in Puerto Rico by 4:00 pm. It was sunny and 90 degrees when we arrived! Much better than the cloudy, 60 degree weather we left behind.

We were staying at the Embassy Suites San Juan. It was literally 7 minutes from the airport, very convenient. 

I would highly recommend this hotel. It was clean and the service was great. Amenities included Happy Hour from 5:30 pm until 7:30 pm. and breakfast the next morning. These features weren’t shabby. Happy Hour included alcoholic drinks (they were giving each person two of what they asked for), chips, salsa and popcorn. Breakfast included a fresh-made omelet station. It also had a beautiful pool, hot tub and casino.

After a short walk to the beach, we indulged in the Happy Hour as an appetizer before dinner. We had dinner at The Outback, which was one of the restaurant venues in the hotel. Delish!

Exhausted, we headed up to our rooms to get some sleep. But who could sleep? We were going on a cruise tomorrow!