goin' on vacation

[mjeff87]

Wife and I are leaving Friday for DC. Nice dinner and sleepover, then we fly to Puerto Rico Saturday. Sunday we board the boat for the southern Carribean....Aruba, Barbados, Curacao, St. Marteen and St. Thomas, then back to Puerto Rico.....we'll be back at the end of the month, maybe :chillin: If I get drunk enough and find a job selling beach umbrellas to tourists, we may just stay. At least y'all will know what happened to us ;)

 

Someone don't forget to let the dogs out, feed the cats, and take the garbage cans up to the curb Monday night.

 

Don't burn the place down while we're gone :D

[djag12]

Have a great time :chillin:

[a1awind]

i envy you, have a great time

[Kenosha Warrior]

Be safe and remember

 

 

Pics or ban! :cheers:

[beaterjeep]

Hey Jeff, have fun and be safe. Also, bring back pics to show off; especially if you get one of you in a goofy balloon hat again. :D

[tjbliley]

If you stay, let me know cause I think I can get your MJ back to my house and strip it before you can get home to stop me.

[mjeff87]

Hey Jeff, have fun and be safe. Also, bring back pics to show off; especially if you get one of you in a goofy balloon hat again. :D

 

LOL...I forgot about that one last year.....

 

We're doing a Jeep "safari" excursion in Aruba. I plan on getting *accidentally* seperated from the group :D I wanted to go feed the sharks and look for Natalie Holloway, but the wife nixed that idea.

 

There's plenty of rum where we'll be, so I'll guarantee some good pics.

 

No, Jerry, you can't have my MJ. I've got it booby-trapped ;)

 

Jeff

[mfpdm]

Oh yeah, this brings back some memories. I've been to 4 out of the 6. Lot of good times. Wait a minute, I remember now, I got liquer poisoning from too much rum. No wait, that was Jamaica. Maybe drinking too much isn't always a good thing. :D

 

Have a great time and be safe.

 

:cheers:

[mvusse]

Wife and I are leaving Friday for DC. Nice dinner and sleepover, then we fly to Puerto Rico Saturday. Sunday we board the boat for the southern Carribean....Aruba, Barbados, Curacao, St. Marteen and St. Thomas, then back to Puerto Rico.....we'll be back at the end of the month, maybe :chillin: If I get drunk enough and find a job selling beach umbrellas to tourists, we may just stay. At least y'all will know what happened to us ;)

 

Hmmm, since I'm Dutch (as in from the Netherlands) I have to ask:

 

Since you are going to Aruba (part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, formerly part of the Netherlands Antilles), Curaçao, i (Netherlands Antilles) and St. Maarten , or at least half of it (Netherlands Antilles), are you sure about Barbados?

 

The other half of St. Maarten (St. Martin) is French.

 

Or did you mean Bonaire (Netherlands Antilles)?

 

Just curious.

[mjeff87]

86 the Barbados......not on the itinerary.

 

My wife makes all the plans, I just fork over the money, what do I know :D

 

Where's the bar, I need a drink now :cheers:

 

Jeff

 

Image Not Found

[jtdesigns]

86 the Barbados......not on the itinerary.

 

My wife makes all the plans, I just fork over the money, what do I know :D

 

Where's the bar, I need a drink now :cheers:

 

Jeff

 

 

The one with girls dancing on the bars!!!!! :brows:

 

:D

[Car RamRod]

I want to know about the bars that are in 3 feet of water. I know I'd never loose my seat on a bathroom break.

[mjeff87]

OK, I'm in heavy research mode here (sitting at my PC with a 12 pack of Bud Light....), trying to identify local beers. I make it a habit of supporting the local economy wherever we travel :D and am trying to come up with the local/national beers of the places on our itenerary. I've got Balashi as the beer of Aruba, Blackbeard Ale and Foxy's Lager for the Virgin Islands collectively, and Medella Light for Puerto Rico. Can't find anything specific for Curacao, though.....any help (mvusee)???

 

Jeff

[mvusse]

Sorry, can't really help you that much here. I'm from the main land in Europe. We have Amstel, Heineken and Grolsch there.

 

Although, according to Google, Amstel does have a brewery in Willemstad, Curaçao. Supposedly it is the only brewery in the world that uses distilled seawater for 100% of it's water source.

 

Somewhere on the island seems to also be a more local brewery called Den Ambachtelijk Brouwerij.

 

All I can find for St. Maarten is St Maarten Breweries NV.

[WahooSteeler]

Jeff, have you been to any of these islands before? I think you said you've cruised a few times before. Which line again?

[mjeff87]

Royal Carribean, all the way!

 

We've never been to any of these ports of call before, so it oughta be a blast. We've been all over the western Carribean, Bermuda, Belize, and our two favorites are Cozumel and Grand Cayman. This trip was planned for relaxation mostly...not doing much other than a Jeep "safari" trip in Aruba. Might to some snorkeling too, but that's about it other than the booze :D

[WahooSteeler]

Cool! Yeah I think I told you I worked for RCCL before, on the Majesty of the Seas and the old Sun Viking. Cozumel was probably my favorite stop also. We found this place that had an outdoor grill under a Tiki Hut and you could get a huge plate of fresh grilled fajitas for about $4. Then we'd go hit the sports bar and place some bets on football, then we'd rent a Jeep and go down to the end of th Island to a private beach all the cruise employees found. A group of us would rent a Waverunner for the whole day for about $10/person, and they had Dos Equis for $1/bottle! And to think, I was actually getting paid while doing all of that!

 

Now of course, every couple of weeks or so we'd go to Carlos and Charlies and get hammered on buckets of Sol hand grenades (7oz bottles). I recall doing a 5 bottle beer bong in there with the whole crowd cheering me on. Of course half the crowd was our own passengers! Man I loved that place. But I digress in a sea of drunken memories.......

 

Anyway, I used to do the exact run you're going on. What ship does that run now? So as far as your ports, I may have a little to offer, but is has been awhile (a lot longer than it feels) so obviously some things have probably changed.

 

After your drunken day at sea on the way to Aruba, you will find stunningly white beaches and that crystal clear blue water of the Carribean. If/when you just hang out at the beach, you may get a voucher to go to the Ritz-Carlton (I think it's a Ritz) and use their pool and beach area. Either way, a great place to set up at the beach w/a super nice pool and good food. There was a restaurant we used to get dinner at that fired up a band around 9pm. The best part about Aruba is that because you are so close to Curacao, you won't leave port until 12-1am. So, you can party hard in town at night vs. having to be back at the ship at 5pm like normal.

 

Curacao was a weird stop for me. The architecture and pastel colors of the buildings is interesting, but that keeps your attention for about 5 mins. Basically, I usually was asleep half the day we were there partly from being hungover and partly because we never found a really fun spot to hit while in port. But again, that may have changed since my days. What I WOULD suggest for Curacao is to go snorkeling/diving. Beautiful reef, lots of colorful fish etc. Again, unless something lively has come along over the past 10+ yrs, there wasn't much to do there as I recall.

 

Another drunken day at sea will bring you to Sint Maarten. As Mvusse mentioned, it has a Dutch side and a French side. How cool is that? Now we used to rent a Jeep here so we could go to both sides, but we got a good deal on the Jeep so I don't know if it is cheaper to do that or just take a taxi. Plenty of restaurants to choose from on both sides. If you plan to do any shopping, this is the place to do it on the Dutch side (where you port). Tons of electronics retailers and bargain city. And when I say bargain, I mean like you can bargain like hell with these guys. It's fun to just hammer them on price or get them to throw in all kinds of accessories and extras on stuff. If they still do the racing yacht deal there that's a blast. You can sign up to go out on a "retired" America's Cup racing yacht and you actually are part of the crew and race another boat. Very cool. Now trying to do stuff on both sides of the island is tough to do in one day, and the French side is definitely pretty laid back, but it may be worth the trip to hang out at the nude beach LOL. But I'll warn you, there's about 1 hottie for every 10 shriveled up old lady out there. Oh, and you're not frowned upon if you don't strip down, so no big deal there.

 

On to St. Thomas. DON"T shop here as it is notoriously expensive. Granted, they have a ton of REALLY nice shops, but it's hard to find a good deal on anything. While this is a very touristy suggestion, you gotta hit the Hard Rock Cafe up on the hill that looks down on the port. It had just opened when I was there and the bar (which I've seen in other Hard Rocks) is Eddie Van Halen's guitar. The head of the guitar is actually a table on the other side of the wall outside on the patio.

 

Well, I was not intending to try to be a tourist guide, and as experienced cruisers you and your wife have probably already checked all of this out. But, if not, hopefully I have suggested or pointed something out that adds to your trip.

 

Don't forget your sunblock!! :D

[mjeff87]

Thanks for the low down! They are running Voyager class ships on this route, we're on Adventure of the Seas....130K ton, 1020 ft, and 157' beam :evil: That's about as big as we want to be on, anything over that is too many people (even this class is pushing it.....)

 

Sunblock has been secured, SPF80 for the wife (she fries like a potato chip) and SPF4 for me. Bought a new spray-on protectant for me this year that you spray on your head. I'm gettin' pretty thin up there, and burn my head EVERY year when I'm out in the water, and she won't let me wear a doorag, so we'll see if it works or not. It better, 'cause it cost 8 friggin' dollars!

[WahooSteeler]

Yeah, those are impressive ships! When I went on the Majesty it was only 6mos old and the newest biggest cruise ship on the water. 90k tons, 900 feet long, I think the beam was just over 100ft. Unbelievable. And she's a pup compared to the Voyager class. They were buliding the first 3 when I left and shortly after signed on to build another 3. Crazy.

 

You know, you should ask the cruise director if there is any way to get you a tour of the engine room and/or all the inner workings below deck. They probably won't do it for liability reasons, but may be worth a try. I think I told you I became friends with a Norwegian engine room officer and I got the full on tour of all the workings of the ship. Very cool!

 

And just when you tell yourself at poolside on your day at sea that you need to cut yourself off on the booze until dinner, go ahead and order one more as a toast to the club LOL!

[WahooSteeler]

good pic of you and the wife enjoying life in Sint Maarten over on the "who am I talking to sticky".

 

so, need we ask how much fun you had? what did you think of your ports?

[mjeff87]

You pretty much hit the nail on the head with your port explanations. We had a great time.....her shopping and me drinking :D We did the Jeep excursion on Aruba, which was cool (shared a Jeep with another couple our age from Massachussets who never off-roaded before). Drank a ton of Balashi beer. Curacao was cool, but not much to do. Drank another ton of Amstel Bright there and bought a bottle of incredible banana curacao rum stuff (it’s like banana eggnog with a big kick). St. Marteen, sat on the beach and had conch fritters and soup, and met a new beer friend of mine, Presidente (it's made from grits). About 20 of them and some guavaberry rum and I pretty much don’t remember what else we did. Bought a bottle of guavaberry to bring home. St. Thomas was awesome…..we did the jet/diesel boat thing (still have bruises on my arm and hip from that) and enjoyed a joyous mixture of Amstel, Presidente, Carib, Corona, and a Belgian wheat ale called Blue Moon (with orange slices) that was outstanding. Puerto Rico was incredible, we stayed in downtown San Juan at an old convent turned into an upscale hotel called El Convento. Found an awesome local bar right up the street and we chowed on local Puerto Rican food and swilled down Medallas.

[WahooSteeler]

Excellent! Glad you had a good time. Cruising is not for everyone but I think it's still a helluva bang for the buck to do and see as much as you want on one. A good time for sure.

 

Well, hopefully the rain holds off at the race this weekend. Although I'll be more than likely drunk enough that I won't care about getting wet, I'd like to see some good racing. Then I go to Pinehurst for some golf in two weeks so needless to say I'm looking forward to May!

 

Let me know if you are still interested in getting together sometime later in May or in June to work on the trucks and we can help each other out. As I said, I'll be the attentive and hard-working student to your tutoring if we get together. :brows:

[tjbliley]

Jeff glad you made it back safe and had such a drunkenly good time. I am soooooo jealous.

 

Wahoo, when you are at the race look for the guy in turn one in the yellow and white ambulance wearing a blue smurf suit. that will be me. sitting in tthe rain waiting for some racing. I will join you and jeff when the wheeling or wrenching comenceces in May or June.

[WahooSteeler]

TJ, cool, I'll look for you maybe when I go for a walkabout. I'm up just where they enter in to Turn 3. I'll be the guy with a beer gut, blue jeans, a hat on and some scanner headphones. Oh, I'll have a racing T-shirt on of some sort.

 

I should stick out like a soar thumb. :brows:

[tjbliley]

I should be able to find you. If you are walking then you will stand out.