TexasGal#35

I was just "cruising" the boards and was curious what some of the answers were for missing a cruise.

I just had to comment on your signature because I loved the "spending our kids inheritance...".

I also noticed you are on the Radiance in May heading to Alaska. We are too. We'll be on the Southbound Inside Passage to Vancouver the 22nd-29th. Enjoy your trip.

Gloria

I was trolling to find info on our Jewel of the Seas cruise out of Puerto Rico we will be on in about 3 weeks. I ran across this thread and sure am glad I did. We are also taking a train from Anchorage to Seward where we will get on the Radiance this May.

My DH made all the arrangements so I had no clue what the train looked like. Your pictures are fabulous. I am excited. I know we are in what I call the bubble traincar because DH paid extra for being in that club car.

I know there is an Alaskan board. I used quite a few suggestions on our 2012 roundtrip cruise, but this will be southbound inside passage ending in Vancouver instead of roundtrip to Seattle.

Thanks again,

Gloria

Your post was very informative. I need to check my e-mail to see if I received one or not. I'm really looking forward to the convenience of what the CC offers.

Gloria

I am not trying to butt in, but I just booked three excursions on the RCCL website for my cruise under My Cruise Planner. Of course, my cruise isn't until Feb. 7th. There were at least four different excursions for each island we are stopping at.

Which itinerary are you on? We did the itinerary with St. Maarten last year and used an outside tour service. It was fantastic for a minimal charge. We didn't even pay until we met up with the tour guide.

In Barbados, they took our charge card beforehand for a catamaran day.

We were on the ship last February and the Jewel is a little worn in places, but is still a beautiful ship and not that noticeable. She won't dry dock for sprucing up until next year. I'm sure she will pale in comparison to the Oasis, but I think any other ship except the Allure would.

Your group is going to have fun just being on the water, on this ship, being on vacation, seeing new sights and making new memories with family. Don't stress. I know it's easier said than done because I've been in charge of 15 family and friends on a trip before and I worried more about making sure they had a good time than I did for me.

You need to write a review so I can hear how it went. Have a great time.

Gloria

Reporting live from Jewel and seeing everything that the OP posted. Thank u again.

As I type we are sitting at Sand Castles on the beach. $6 taxi ride from port. $25 (total for 2 people) gets chairs, umbrella and 2 rum punches with a great view of the Jewel.

We have nothing planned in St Croix. We love the water. This sounds right up our alley. Any other suggestions for the rest of the trip? We are doing your itinerary Feb. 7-14, 2015.

Thank you,

Gloria

I'm looking forward to the extra amenities.

Gloria

We are celebrating DH's birthday and our 40th on this cruise so we splurged and are staying in a Grand Suite. I understand this will give us access to the Concierge Club.

Can someone tell me what this will give us? We are only Platinum so nothing special there, but did read there are "free" drinks in the evening. I'm assuming that is soda, water, non-alcoholic drinks. I was just interested if that is any time the CC is open or only at night.

DH booked this and said we get DVR Movies and other lagniappe.

Does anyone know?

Thanks,

Gloria

Ports on this itinerary were St. Thomas, Antigua, Martinique, St Lucia and Grenada.

 

Tours taken:

RCL: Ultimate St. John's National Park and Beaches (Trunk Bay)

Lawrence of Antigua: island tour with beach stop at Valley Church Beach

RCL: St. Pierre, Depaz Distillery, Balata Church

Shoreexcursions.com (thru Costco): Soufriere Sail, incl stop at the sulphur steam vents, botanical garden, snorkeling, lunch w/cocoa processing overview

RCL: Dougalston Nutmeg Procesing, Grand Etang, Ft. Frederick

 

My Time Dining, no specialty restaurants or spa treatments. Attended almost all theme parties, production shows and games.

What nights were the Formal nights? We are going Feb. 7-14. We cruised the other itinerary last February. That cruise was a whirlwind and I expect this one will be too.

We don't have any excursions for St. Thomas, St. Croix or Antigua. I didn't realize when we booked last year this will be Mardi Gras week. I wonder if they will be celebrating any at all?

We are 19 days away and counting.

Thanks,

Gloria

We try to do a cruise at least once a year. We just came back from a 7 night South Caribbean cruise on Jewel of the Seas.

Although we have been to Alaska before on Holland America Westerdam a couple of years ago, we are going back May 2015 on the Radiance of the Seas.

BUT, we are celebrating our 40th anniversary and doing the other itinerary on the Jewel of the Seas in February 2015.

There is no comparison on the two different locations. If you want sand and surf, then do any Caribbean itinerary and ship. If you want to experience a natural kind of beauty, and you must, at least once, then do an Inside Passage cruise in Alaska.

We always get a balcony and did for our first Alaska cruise, but didn't use it much except for a few pictures. It was just too cold most of the time. We went all out that trip, but we're doing "inexpensive" wherever we can this trip.

Either way, you will love your float.

Gloria

Thanks for the info! I also forgot to ask - do these 'independent excursions' usually require pre-payment, or can you just pay them cash before/after the excursion? I'm hoping to be able to pay cash. I'm going on this trip with my family of 5 and it would make it WAY easier if we could all just pay on our own.

We will be there Feb. 13th and tried to book with Calabaza because friends spoke so highly of them. Gina said she was booked but to try Silver Moon because they were very accommodating. She sent other websites too, but since she referred Silver Moon, we went with them.

They required 1/2 payment to hold and requested I pay in cash when we go on our excursion. I hope it's as good as Gina said it is.

Good Luck,

Gloria

Thank you printingchick. I found that review and thoroughly enjoyed her "long" review. She was very helpful.

Gloria

Thank you. I will try to print what is posted here on CC. I am not very computer oriented. Type and enter is about it for me.

Gloria

I so enjoyed your review of the Jewel, your excursions and SJ. They were so informative and the pictures were fantastic. I picked up so many ideas from your precise descriptions.

We are booked on the Jewel Feb. 8th - 15th but arrive in SJ on the 7th and have a couple of days on the backside.

If you have time and still have the file, would you please e-mail me the compii that you scanned? I have spent all day reading your posts and have had trouble leaving my computer to do things that need to be taken care of.

I wish I could take as many trips as you do. I need to become your follower so I can "take the cruises" with you through your reviews. :)

This ship and this itinerary are all a first for us. I don't plan very well and DH would rather have no plan at all but I just can't do that for these gorgeous port of calls. My e-mail address is glorial56@comcast.net

Thank you again.

Gloria

Did anyone ever find the Compasses for the Jewel of the Seas Southern Caribbean itinerary BVI to Barbados?

Please advise. I'm going in 4 weeks and trying to plan a little.

Thank you,

Gloria

glorial56@comcast.net

7 of us are on the HAL Westerdam May 12-19, 2012 out of Seattle to Juneau and back. I sure hope my camera can take pictures this good. I can't afford a new camera but I sure wish I had a zoom lens on the old thing I do have.

Thanks everyone for giving me a taste of things to come. I'm hoping for good enough weather to get some good pics of our trip.

We are doing a roundtrip to Juneau out of Seattle on HAL's first cruise of the season this May. There will be 7 of us going on our first cruise on the Westerdam and to Alaska.

Just looking at pictures and hearing everyone's comments on this board makes me believe any itinerary on any ship as long as it's to Alaska is going to be good.

I can hardly wait, but I'm getting a little worried about the weather in May. I think it will be a little cooler than it was for you in August.

Thanks again for the review.

Gloria

I've enjoyed the pages & pages of discussion about your website. I read through page 18 and decided to jump to the last page. I went to the website and really enjoyed lookig at the Westerdam section.

You are doing a wonderful service for us cruisers. My DH and friends just booked a cruise in May 2012. It will be our first trip to Alaska out of Seattle and also to be on a HAL cruise.

I am wondering if anyone on this particular thread has pictures or comments about VB6053 on the Westerdam. That is our cabin and I'm just curious.

Thank you,

Gloria