Jewel ~ S. Caribbean and Panama Canal ~ April 25th & May 2nd ~ My Diary

[maxs mom]

Are they replacing the Seaview Cafe with a Park Cafe?

 

i don't think so. I'm not sure what it will be. Someone else might know. Probably an Izumi or something like that. It will be a money making venue, I'm sure.

[maxs mom]

Hooray you've started your Jewel review. As I've mentioned we'll be on this ship for the 8 night California Coastal 9/18.

 

hey Dave! I know you will enjoy my favorite ship!

[maxs mom]

Park Cafe goes in the Solarium. Izumi replaces Seaview.

 

You beat me to it, Bob! I knew you would know!

[Yorkvillain]

i don't think so. I'm not sure what it will be. Someone else might know. Probably an Izumi or something like that. It will be a money making venue' date=' I'm sure.[/size']

 

You beat me to it' date=' Bob! I knew you would know![/size']

 

Ha. Bob wins again.

[Champagne Cruiser]

Yeah! Another max'smom review. We are sailing on the Jewel in February. Thanks for posting. I have picked up lots of great tips from your reviews.

[ktbr11crs]

 

We ran into some past cruise buddies in here today. It was good to see them again.

 

 

It was great to see you again on this cruise, and we're really enjoying reliving it through your review and seeing photos of some of the other people we met. What a wonderful cruise filled with great people; both passengers and crew. I wish we could have stayed on for the next one with you!

[maxs mom]

Yeah! Another max'smom review. We are sailing on the Jewel in February. Thanks for posting. I have picked up lots of great tips from your reviews.

 

Jean.....Glad that I could be of some help! I hope that you will enjoy the Jewel.

[maxs mom]

It was great to see you again on this cruise, and we're really enjoying reliving it through your review and seeing photos of some of the other people we met. What a wonderful cruise filled with great people; both passengers and crew. I wish we could have stayed on for the next one with you!

 

Kathleen......great seeing you guys again! Wish we could have spent more time with you. Yes.....the Canal cruise was amazing! Hope to see you again soon.

[maxs mom]

We spent the rest of the day doing "at sea" stuff like looking at pictures and picking out what we wanted. Which reminds me......I forgot to post this picture back on the Dominica page..........getting off the ship.

 

 

Another favorite "at sea" activity for me is to stroll around outside on Deck 5. This is just the best. Great quiet and relaxing place to hang out. I much prefer this to the pool!!

 

 

 

 

 

[maxs mom]

Another shot of the helipad. It was really very calm out here today.

 

 

We had some really good quality rest and relaxation in our cabin this afternoon. I read a lot and we listened to music on our Bluetooth speaker. It was such a nice quiet afternoon.

 

 

The CL was fairly empty this evening. We very rarely saw any suite guests here at night. They all come and go before we get there. We had a nice visit with a few folks this evening.

 

 

We were seated with Ann in MTD again (and from now on). We had great service and talked with her at length at the end of the meal. Tonight I tried a pork dish that I have never had before and it was very good. Sticky bread pudding for dessert.

 

A toast over dinner!

 

 

 

[maxs mom]

After dinner we grabbed our iPads and used some of our internet credit. We found a hot spot in the centrum on deck 8. The 70's party was going on in the Centrum. Always a good time. We enjoyed the music and watching everyone.

 

 

 

 

 

Always a little "Love Train"!!

 

 

On to bed after that!

 

[maxs mom]

Friday ~ May 1, 2015 ~ St. Maarten

 

St. Maarten......Quite possibly our most favorite island in the Caribbean.

 

 

We had an early breakfast, then met Karl and Silke at 9 o'clock. They wanted to go to the beach with us again and they picked the right day!! We got a taxi....always a chore here for some reason. They want to make it so hard.

 

Our favorite place to go is a bar all the way at the far end of Orient Beach. It's called Palm Beach. You must specify this to the taxi drivers several times before and after you get in the taxi. A lot of taxi drivers do not know where this is. Today we had to show the driver where to go, but he was nice.....did not try to overcharge us.....AND he agreed to come back for us in the afternoon.

 

We are the first to arrive at PB today, so we have our pick of chairs. The same beach boy has been here ever since we started coming here and he takes care of us very well.

 

 

The beach and the surf look great today. They have cleaned up the sea grass for today and that made it so nice.

 

 

 

We made our reservations for lunch and then got settled in to our chairs. The chairs and umbrellas are free here if you eat lunch in their restaurant. The Wi-Fi actually worked well here up at the bar, but as more and more people came, it didn't work as well.

 

This place took a really big hit from the hurricane that blew through in September, but they rebuilt bigger and better than ever. Love this place!!!

 

 

[maxs mom]

We just relaxed and read, had some good drinks, swam n the ocean and did some people watching!

 

 

 

If you've ever wanted to parasail......this is the best place to do it!!

 

 

 

 

[RVfromAZ]

Thanks for the awesome review, we love the Jewel will be doing the Panama Canal in October, so excited!! Your review and picutes are fantastic!:)

[maxs mom]

This was a perfect beach day!

 

 

Lunch was very good. I had my usual....a Caesar salad with chicken. Karl had a really good looking beef entrée. We finished the meal off with a rum liqueur.

 

 

 

 

 

[cruisexlife]

Sint Maarten is my favorite island as well. So if I wanted to go to that beach, what would I have to do? You mentioned that you had to show him how to get there, but I'm a newbie to Orient, so I won't know where to go.

 

How can I make sure I get to the right place? Thanks so much for your help, I'm really enjoying this cruise review! :D

[maxs mom]

Thanks for the awesome review, we love the Jewel will be doing the Panama Canal in October, so excited!! Your review and picutes are fantastic!:)

 

Roberta.....the canal is amazing!! You will enjoy it!

[maxs mom]

Cheers!!

 

 

More relaxing and drinks in the afternoon!

 

 

 

 

 

[maxs mom]

A few parting shots before we go!

 

 

 

 

 

As promised....the taxi driver came back for us.....right on time. It was such a great day. Today was a holiday in St. Maarten. I had never heard of this before.....but most of the stores were closed in the PM. There was a big parade and we just did make it back before there was a lot of traffic.

 

[maxs mom]

Sint Maarten is my favorite island as well. So if I wanted to go to that beach, what would I have to do? You mentioned that you had to show him how to get there, but I'm a newbie to Orient, so I won't know where to go.

 

How can I make sure I get to the right place? Thanks so much for your help, I'm really enjoying this cruise review! :D

 

Great! Well.....if your driver doesn't know where it is.....just tell him to keep going straight instead of turning off on the dirt road that takes you to their usual drop off place. Just stay on that main road and keep going straight. Tell them it is close to Boo Boo Jam. Just keep going straight....you will go up a hill and down a hill...look for a big blue sign that says Palm Beach.....you will take a right, then there will be another blue sign.....take another right. That will take you down to the beach and the bar/restaurant. It really is easy. Good luck!

[Canadian Tyler]

Hi Jane! Glad to see another review!

Do you remember how much the taxi was to Palm Beach?

[jebl]

Always enjoy your reviews, Jane.

 

This one is no exception. You are right about the Parasailing!! I did it several years ago and it was awesome.

 

You now have looking for cruises on the Jewel out of PR. It is the only radiance class ship that I have not been on.

 

When does shegoin for refurb?? I will be sorry if I miss the Seaview Cafe.

[maxs mom]

Hi Jane! Glad to see another review!

Do you remember how much the taxi was to Palm Beach?

 

Tyler!! How ya' been?

 

Usually the cab fare out to PB is about $8pp. The more you have going....the cheaper it is.

[maxs mom]

Always enjoy your reviews, Jane.

 

This one is no exception. You are right about the Parasailing!! I did it several years ago and it was awesome.

 

You now have looking for cruises on the Jewel out of PR. It is the only radiance class ship that I have not been on.

 

When does shegoin for refurb?? I will be sorry if I miss the Seaview Cafe.

 

Judy.......The Jewel will not be refurbed until 2016....not sure what month.....but you still have some time.

[maxs mom]

We didn't have as long a time to rest this afternoon. On the way back to the ship, I was so thankful that we didn't have to pack up to go home tomorrow AND that we didn't have to change cabins!!

 

 

When we got back to the cabin we had a bottle of wine waiting on us from Diego.

 

 

On the way to the CL:

 

 

The CL was pretty much deserted tonight. We sat with Mike and Steve for a bit.

 

 

We gave Joseph and Diego hugs as if we weren't coming back. LOL!