The Three Musketeers were back at it. This was a 12 Day Caribbean / South and Central America on Jewel Of The Seas. Round trip Ft. Lauderdale in March, 2011.

Although Suzi, Jerry and I had shared a Stateroom before, this time we booked a Mini Suite, #1084.

We chose this itinerary as it gave us 12 days to unwind and… put us in Florida so we could spend three full days with family after the cruise.

Since we were taking a Red Eye on JetBlue that would arrive at 5:00 AM on the day of embarkation, we actually booked a hotel room at the Comfort Inn as they offered complimentary shuttle service from the airport to the hotel, then to Port Everglades. They also had a complimentary breakfast. This would give us at least 2 or 3 hours of rest, a light breakfast and transportation to the ship.

We arrived, collected our bags and called the hotel as instructed. No answer. Gave it a few minutes and tried again. Still no answer. We finally hailed a cab and they drove us to the hotel. It turns out, the area had a power outage which knocked out their phone system. They apologized and reimbursed us for the cab, so all was good.

After a couple hours of well-needed sleep, we grabbed a light breakfast, got ourselves refreshed and off to the shuttle. The hotel shuttle was on a run but a shuttle service was there to pickup other passengers, so we tagged along. It wasn’t complimentary but would take us from the ship to the car rental center at the airport upon arrival back.

Since we had been on Jewel before, we were right at home. The Mini Suite was amazing, although we had never been in a mini suite before so had nothing to compare it to. Full size tub, plenty of space for the three of us to move around and a walk-in closet.

As normal, we went to the Dining Room to see where our table was. I recognized one of the waiters from the previous cruise so asked if Oxana was on this cruise. She was!!!! He made sure she would work our table. She recognized Suzi immediately. (me, not so much but I’m used to that…)

The first port was supposed to be Orangestad, Aruba. However, there was a medical emergency that was serious but not life-threatening, so we were redirected to Labadee, Haiti. Another RCL Ship on it’s way back to Port Everglades would meet us there so we could transfer the patient. Here is a shot of the pier as we arrived:

The change didn’t affect our itinerary too much. Instead of arriving to Aruba at 7:00 AM, it got us there at around 3:00 PM. Since we were supposed to set sail at 5:00 PM, they decided to let the ship stay overnight. Nice for us, the the crew was ecstatic as they rarely, if ever, get a chance to party in Aruba.

We did not take an excursion in Aruba. The three of us opted to venture on our own and wander downtown and along the shore.

Even though we left Aruba a day later, the next day was a sea day so we were able to makeup the time and arrive in Cartagena, Columbia at our scheduled time.

We didn’t really know what to think about Cartagena, mostly because of Pable Escobar and ruthless drug cartels. We didn’t book an excursion but when we got out to the transportation area of the port, we teamed up with another couple and hired a van. He took us on a pretty comprehensive tour. We got a good view of the new city, drove past the fortress and had some free time at the shopping area by the coast before venturing into the old city.

Normally, the officials close the streets on port days and make the old town pedestrian only. Our driver ended up talking to a policewoman at one of the entry points, offered her little “monetary supplement” (OK BRIBE!) and she turned her head while we drove in. We weren’t the only tourist vehicle, so didn’t stand out but probably saw much more of the city than most on foot.

We got a kick when our driver drove us past Pablo Escobar’s old house that was now a market.

The next day was Colon, Panama. We booked a tour of the Canal Zone, including Gatun Lake and also Gatun Locks. It was extremely interesting to have our first experience with the Panama Canal from land.

The next port was Puerto Limon, Costa Rica. Again, no excursion booked so we decided to find one on our own. The first prospective guide gave us a good price but when we saw his vehicle, a really beat up, rusted sub-compact with springs sticking up from the seat, we reneged. The second guy had a nice SUV, so we went for it. We decided to go to the Dole banana plantation, so we headed out of town. He said he needed gas and needed a $10.00 advance for gas… Hmmmm.

Well, we did give him the money and ended up with a great tour. He knew all the people at the plantation and got us in for free.

Our guide offered to take us to the rain forest but we decided to head back to the port and wander around town. We ran across this art gallery. I decided to have a little Photoshop fun:

After a relaxing day at sea our next, and last, port was George Town, Grand Cayman. No excursions, just walked around town by way of the rum cake store, of course.

Last day was a sea day. We really like itineraries that end with a sea day. We don’t feel rushed to have to pack our suitcases after spending the day in port. We usually pack everything but our carry-on after breakfast on the last day and enjoy the ship while everyone else is packing…

Disembarkation was a snap. Had to wait a bit for a shuttle to the airport so we could get the the rental car center. From there, had a nice relaxing time with family.