UPDATE

Karen's Kruisers - November 10th, 2012

Norwegian Cruise Line - Epic

7 night Eastern Caribbean cruise

The group is shaping up nicely.  I still have 2 interior cabins and 4 balcony cabins in my allotment.  The group rates are considerably less than the current rates through the cruise line.  So, if you are in the market for a vacation in November this year, take advantage of these prices!  Contact me for more information!

Group prices are $620.47 per person, double occupancy for an interior cabin.  $1,065.03 per person, double occupancy for a balcony cabin.  I do have 1 single occupancy studio available at $1,010.47.

KARENS CRUISERS NOVEMBER ST. MAARTEN DAY TRIP

Sail Away in St. Maarten

We will spend our day onboard a private 54’ sailboat offering a lot of deck space, both in shade and sun. Our day will include a pick-up in downtown Philipsburg, St. Maarten and an all-day private sail around the southern & western part of the island. Depending on sea conditions we will visit Baie Longue, Simpson Bay, Cay Bay or Little Bay. There will be time to snorkel, swim, go shelling and of course, taking a flip, jump or dive off the boat’s tarzan swing, into the crystal clear blue waters of St. Maarten (this is the only boat to have such a swing in the Caribbean!) If the sea conditions are in our favor, we may head over to Sunset Beach to take in the amazing views of the planes coming in for a landing.  The runway is right at the end of the beach so you can almost reach up and touch the landing gear!

The picture at the bottom is our Hostess Diane, doing her famous back dive off the trapeze!  Fun for all ages!

  

Our day will begin by meeting at 8:00 a.m. directly outside the gangway of the Epic. When the entire group has gathered, we will take the water taxi into town. Once in Philipsburg, we will meet our boat at 8:30am to begin our day of sailing & fun.  We will return at approximately 3:30 in order to allow a few hours of shopping time in Philipsburg.

YOUR DAY WILL INCLUDE:

5-6 hours of private sailing

Snorkeling, beaching & fun

Cooked lunch & snacks onboard

Open bar all day (alcohol & non-alcohol)

Water toys & snorkel gear

Roundtrip from Philipsburg

(no need for taxis)

All inclusive price

$120 per person

(gratuity not included)

To reserve your spot, please send a check for $40 to 

Lets Go Travel, 6394 Lambert St, Victor, NY 14564.

Deposit deadline - 4/1/12 (balance due 10/1/12)

Karen's Cruisers November 2012 Update

Here is an update on our annual group cruise - November 10th, 2012. (2 night pre-cruise trip in Miami begins on November 8th)

There are only a few balcony cabins left in my group.  After these are sold, more will be added to the group, but at the current prices.  The prices have increased approximately $100/pp since the original group was booked.  If you'd like to hold a balcony at the current rates before they're gone, please call me with a $250/pp deposit.  First come first served.

The tours for the islands of St. Thomas & St. Maarten are in the final planning stages.  St. Thomas will include kayaking, snorkeling, beach time & lunch.  St. Maarten will include sailing, fishing, snorkeling, beach time, lunch, open bar, trapeze-ing/diving into the crystal blue caribbean sea.  Both of these tours will be private for the group.  Once I have all the final information to share, I will be posting it on this website, on Facebook and emailing it to you (if you are booked on the cruise)

The pre-trip in Miami is also in the final stages of planning.  I am waiting to hear back from 2 hotels in Miami, then I will choose which hotel will best suit the group.

If you'd like more information on this cruise, please check out the Facebook event by clicking on this link:

http://www.facebook.com/events/173627136042928/ 

Welcome to a New Year! 2012!!!

I'd like to start out this New Year with a review of my most recent group cruise vacation - October 28 - November 6, 2011. At the end of this blog, please enjoy all of the photos in a slideshow that I have prepared for your viewing pleasure!

Day 1, October 28th, 2011 - Rochester to San Juan - Some of the group congregated at the Rochester Airport and we flew to San Juan, PR.  The group's Air Tran flight to San Juan is fairly convenient with only 1 layover in Atlanta. Although the ship didn't leave San Juan until Sunday the 30th, I elected to have the group stay 2 nights at the beautiful Embassy Suites.  The hotel was beautiful; the lobby area was almost like walking through a jungle with greens & streams everywhere. There was an Outback Steakhouse, full bar & casino, their breakfast area, a pizzeria, gift shop/convenient store and large salt water aquariums if you felt like grabbing an overstuffed chair and relax for some viewing.  The bellman & concierge are there to help you no matter what the question.  The property is an all-suite hotel and the suites are very spacious.  Our suite overlooked the beautiful pool area.  The pool was a nice size with a shape that was more like a lagoon, with little islands all around and inside it.  There was ample lounge chairs all around, even in the shade, and they had a nice children's area tucked in over on the one end of the pool, plenty of distance away from the main pool area as to not cause a noise disturbance.  They also had a really nice jacuzzi which was a few levels above the pool and a nice tiki bar for a water or a cocktail. The hotel offers a 2 hour cocktail reception and full cooked to order breakfast, included in your stay.

Water-logged by the Pool at the Embassy Suites

Day 2, October 29th - Our first full day in San Juan - This was the day spent lounging by the pool and soaking in the hot tub.  We met 4 people from California today and really enjoyed the 85 degree weather!  It had been stormy every day until today :)  Later that evening, we had the cocktail reception with some of the group and dinner with our friends Tricia & Mike Bliss.

Day 3, October 30th - Check out day at the hotel - Time to get ready to head to the ship! After a leisurely breakfast with the Kendrick clan, the group (consisting of 16) took a shuttle to the ship around 1:00.  It was the quickest embarkation my group has ever experienced!  Once onboard we got settled into our cabins, went to lunch, then wandered around the ship until it was time to get ready for dinner.  We could already see the ship beginning to gear up for it's Halloween festivities, which would occur tomorrow.

The Carnival Victory docked at Haven Sight Harbor

Day 4, October 31st - Halloween!  We spent the first part of the day touring the island with our good friend Elvis.  The group gathered at 9 am and we began the tour with our typical stop at Kmart (yes, Kmart).  On the island of St. Thomas, there are no "open container" laws unless you are the driver.  So Elvis allows the group to go in to Kmart to make any beverage purchases that you'd like for the day.  He also provides the cooler for us to keep our drinks cold for the day. We made a few stops for photo opportunities and some history lectures including the government building, Blackbeard's castle & his story, as well as viewing the Havensight Harbor where there were 3 cruise ships in that day. We also stopped at Mountain Top for approximately 1 hour.  Much to my surprise, it was as beautiful, big and brand new as ever! I had been to Mountain Top many times before but in 2009, it had burned to the ground.  It's a very large building now with the same spectacular viewing area of the surrounding British Virgin and United States Virgin islands - a great backdrop for some awesome picture taking.  

View from the Mountain Top - Magens Bay

Also, Mountain Top is known for it's famous Banana Daiquiri's, and yes, the Bliss' and I did partake :)  After coming down the mountain, Elvis took us to a quiet beach resort called "Secret Harbour Beach Resort" where we all had approximately 3 hours to relax, eat, drink, swim & snorkel.  It was also the first time I had a chance to get a few of the Kendrick sisters in the water beyond their knees - this was the beginning of many more adventures in the coming days of the trip!  About 3:00, Elvis returned to gather the group and we headed back to the ship and said our goodbye's once again.  St. Thomas never disappoints!

Nick and I dressed up for the Halloween Festivities

At night the ship was transformed into a huge Halloween party! Many cruise passengers took part in the costume contests & parades.  We had a lot of fun dressing up.  Some people didn't even recognize us!  When I entered the dining room in my costume, Debbie looked up at me, then turned her head to finish her conversation with her sister Carol.  Then I turned to sit down next to her, she looked at me and nearly asked "can I help you, are you looking for something, or you are at the wrong table lady" haha!  I think she almost fell off her chair when she realized it was me!  It was a priceless moment! There were many parties around the ship that night with a costume contest in the main theater.  I 
wasn't happy about the outcome of the winners (2 people dressed as an old lady and old man with merely a mask over their faces), when the winners clearly should've been the 4 people who dressed up as the characters from Gilligan's Island (they even brought their own music!).  The night was fun and we met so many nice people all around the ship (who didn't know who we were the next day because they didn't recognize us outside of our costumes!)

Day 5, November 1st -  This was our only day "at sea" on this voyage so we spent it enjoying activities around the ship, which of course included many trivia games & scavenger hunts.  This was also the evening of "formal night" for dinner so everyone put their best digs on and dinner was amazing, as always!

The Kendrick sisters enjoying their time onboard the El Tigre

Day 6, November 2nd - Today was Barbados day! Being my first time on this island, I wasn't sure what to expect.  Boy, was I in for a great surprise!! The group had a private excursion planned for the day - a Catamaran Snorkeling trip with lunch & open bar. We were promptly met at the pier by our driver who took us to the marina where the catamaran was docked. The first thing they make you do is remove your shoes.  They put them in a bucket and you don't see them until the end of the day.  Needless to say, the boat was immaculate!  We had 2 snorkeling stops including the first which was snorkeling with the sea turtles and the second stop was over 2 shipwrecks. Both were fantastic snorkeling spots and a first time for me snorkeling with sea turtles and shipwrecks! The turtles were calm and friendly, just like stingrays are in Grand Cayman. They are used to people around them, just don't threaten them and they'll allow you to swim with them.  The shipwrecks had many various types of fish around them too so this was a great spot as well.  On our way to the third stop, we were served lunch onboard the catamaran, which consisted of fish, bbq chicken, rice, salad and other island treats.  We were waited on hand and foot by the crew all day long, with them serving us cocktails, helping with our snorkeling gear, and even with instruction in the water for beginners.  The music onboard was great and let's not forget the amazing captain of the boat Nick Knowles!  Our 3rd stop we were anchored in about 20 feet of water with a beach about 40 yards away. A few of us got in and took a swim, dove for sand dollars and swam to the beach for some shelling.  The whole trip was about 5 hours in length and it was one of the best days of my cruising life!  Thank you to the folks at El Tigre for an amazing day!

Top of the Jade Mountain Resort

Day 7, November 3rd - St. Lucia day! Where do I even begin?  There was a group of 8 of us, the Kendrick 4, Sam & Thai, and Nick & I and we were met at the pier at 9 am by our tour guide who took a boat ride with us to the resort Anse Chastanet & Jade Mountain.  The boat ride to the resort was absolutely stunning with it's coastline, waves crashing along the rock walls, the caverns, the marina, the hillside mansions & resorts and the beautiful beaches.  It took about 30 minutes to arrive and once we stepped off the boat, we were treated like royalty from that moment on.  We were then met by our tour guide who was employed by the resort(s) and he took us on a walking tour of the resorts.  We basically climbed a mountain that day, beginning with our tour of the beach area, restaurants, bar, spa and then part of the climb up to the main part of Anse Chastanet.  We had a beverage along the way, served by a lovely bartender when we arrived and took a rest at an area known as the "main lounge" at Anse.  There was a bar, library and internet cafe here.  The resort is very "quiet" in that the rooms don't even have telephones or internet so it's for total relaxation. We continued to climb the mountain and were shown a few different room types along the way, as we made our way to the top - at the Jade Mountain part of the resort complex.  Can you say "i'm in heaven"?  Literally! I can't even describe the room we saw, the view of the Piton mountains, the infinite pool that appeared as if you'd spill out to the ocean if you sat in it, the open wall room and the private walking bridges that lead to each room (or sanctuary as they call it). Each of these guest "sanctuaries" come with a private 1 on 1 butler, 24 hours a day, including a "firefly" in your room which is a computer-mouse-like control button that accesses your butler, for delivery or any type of service you could ask for. After we got to take in the feeling of this room, we were then escorted to the very top of the resort which has no roof top so it's perfect for weddings, star gazing at night and just relaxing.  You are truly at the top of the world here!

Only a small angle of this large sanctuary at Jade Mountain

Once our walking tour of the resort was complete, we had transportation to take us back to the bottom of the mountain to enjoy a relaxing day at the beach!  Our package included lunch and open bar for the day so all of us took in some r&r for a while then we had lunch in the beachside restaurant.  I loved the service they offered at the beach.  Each guest has their own small wooden flag pole and if you are in need of service, you just stick the pole in the sand and you have a server at your side in no time!  Talk about being spoiled!!  Our day concluded with a nice 1 hour dip in the water, where the Kendrick clan continued their quest of bravery and I taught them the basics of how to float on your own.  The more islands we go to, the more courage they are showing!  Way to go ladies! :)  Sadly enough, our day had to come to an end.  Our tour guide informed us that our boat was departing so we all gathered our belongings and said our goodbye's to the most amazing resort & host's I've ever experienced!

Ian & Karen - enjoying some photo opp time at the Batik Factory

Day 8, November 4th - Today, we are doing an island tour & beach tour with my friend Ian Nisbett of Sugarland Tours on the beautiful island of St. Kitts!  Part of the group was onboard Ian's comfortable van and we headed out of town on an island tour consisting of some history, education, photo opportunities and a trip to the Batik factory.  We stopped here for about 45 minutes and some of the group made some purchases and watched a 5 minute lecture on how batik is made.  After this stop, we headed to the beach.  Our first beach was Cockleshell but we didn't stay here long because it had been stormy in days past and the beach was quite rocky so Ian took us to Shipwreck beach instead.  We all swam and some braved a little bit of snorkeling - the water was rougher than normal on this day but it was hot so it felt good!  St. Kitts is known for it's monkey population so many pictures were taken of the monkeys along the way and at the beach.  They are very friendly and super clean!

Sarah & Karen - yep she even had a diaper on

After a few hours at the beach, it was time to head back to the ship.  Ian took us back to the port and some of us did a little bit of shopping in town.  It was a great day on a beautiful island!






Day 9, November 5th - This was the day that we had no excursion planned so I decided whoever wanted to "wing it" with us, would meet us at 11am.  So the Kendrick clan met us for breakfast and we ventured out to St. Maarten!  We took the water taxi over to Phillipsburg and decided that we wanted to venture over to the French side of the island 

The view of Marigot from our taxi stop

to do some shopping in Marigot, the French Capital.  We decided to take the advice of a local and just jump in one of their public transportation busses, which was only $2 per person each way.  Little did we know that this was a huge mistake! The bus driver (really it was just a 12 passenger van) took the long way around the west side of the island which had a long back up of traffic due to there being construction, plus the Dutch Queen was on the island.  We demanded to get out of the bus after sitting in it for 1 hour, only having gone maybe 2 miles from town and it had no air conditioning.  We took a risk by getting out on a blind curve, I stopped traffic while the rest of us could cross the road and found a taxi/tour van driver who let us get on with his group of family and headed back to Phillipsburg for only $5 per person.  We were all happy to get out of that bus and would never advise on taking the public transportation on the island again.  We did get to see Marigot but only from a distance, which was fine with me at the time!   

Debbie & I getting our glam on at the beach

Once we got back into Phillipsburg, we did some shopping and then spent the rest of the day at the beach, right along the boardwalk.  It was a hot day and the water was great!  Nick decided to stay longer but the Kendrick's and I headed back on the water taxi.


Once back onboard, I started doing the packing because this was the last day of the cruise.  I was well prepared by dinner time and even had time to do some room service and relaxing.


Day 10, November 6th - Disembarkation day.  Never a good day when you have to leave the ship.  Today did take the longest to disembark out of any other cruise I had been on but I didn't mind - it gave us a chance to relax in the dining room and enjoy one last slice of pizza.  We finally left the ship around 11:30 and made our way to the airport.  Let's not forget the taxi driver and his story!  Sometimes Nick, you just have to let them drive! ;)  Our flight was on time and our return back home went smoothly.


It was a great cruise and all of the tours went perfectly.  Thank you to everyone who joined us this year and to those who took part in the tours that I planned.  I hope you all enjoyed yourselves as much as we did!  Until next time... Please enjoy this slide show of photos below.