Cool Breeze Cruiser

You could line up on one side of the Amber Palace at the Captain's Cocktail Party if you wanted pictures with the Captain & on the other side if you did not. Our Captain had to be one of the least photogenic people EVER & after looking through a lot of the pics in the Pixels Gallery our pic was actually one of the ones where he looked the best!

Grand Gala Buffet

We were on the Glory Journey October 31st cruise with 8 AMAZING ports! I meant to write a review because we did some AMAZING excursions & we had the Grand Scenic Ocean View cabin but I got to busy with Christmas when we got back.

I think the best part of the Journey's cruises is that they are longer & offer more exotic ports.

The Throwback Sea Day was a lot of fun. There was Roll the Dice Horse Racing, Ping Pong Bathing Suit Challenge, Aqua Frog Racing, Men's Knobby Knees Contest, 80's dance classes & trivia, the Formal Captain's Cocktail Party & the Grand Gala Midnight Buffet. The Dive-in movies were Back to the Future & Raider's of the Lost Ark. Not many people dressed in 80s outfits except for the staff but some of our group did & everybody loved it & wanted to know how we knew to bring 80s clothes.

There was a photo booth set up with 80s wear but since we had ours we just had pics made at one of the back drops.

Our horse lost! Bets were $2 each & you could bet as many times & on as many horses as you wanted.

Ping pong ball challenge

This lady was the winner!

The area near the pool was packed during the Frog Racing so get there early. We didn't 'race' but my 'neighbor' did.

Juli

The Trikes tour in Aruba is a wonderful, fun way to explore the island & if you have time you can go to Palm Beach before or after your tour.

The Twizie tour in Bonaire is a blast & Hans is a great guide.

Grand Anse Beach is nice in Grenada.

Hands down the best excursion we have ever done is Calabaza in Barbados! Book early!!!

If you have never been to St. Lucia I would suggest a land/sea tour (we have gone with Spencer Ambrose & Herod) although the ziplining is great as is Mystic Man's Eco Adventure tour.

The Excellence catamaran in Antigua is way too much fun & Pineapple Resort offers a great day pass option.

Great itinerary & so many excursion options!

We also had a great day with Nightwind in November. It was just our group of 8 that day. Correspondence beforehand was excellent.

It is truly sailing though & the ocean was a little rough that day & we were almost sideways in the water for a little while. They told us we could all move to one side if we wanted but at that point it was hard to move. One girl in our group was looking a little green & she is not usually bothered by the ocean.

The food & drinks were great & Rick & Deb made us all feel welcome & Deb did a great job helping a couple of people in our group that were not experienced snorkelers.

Light breakfast

One side was literally inches from the water at times. This pic doesn't quite do it justice.

Lunch

You could line up on one side of the Amber Palace at the Captain's Cocktail Party if you wanted pictures with the Captain & on the other side if you did not. Our Captain had to be one of the least photogenic people EVER & after looking through a lot of the pics in the Pixels Gallery our pic was actually one of the ones where he looked the best!

Grand Gala Buffet

We were on the Glory Journey October 31st cruise with 8 AMAZING ports!

The Throwback Sea Day was a lot of fun. There was Roll the Dice Horse Racing, Ping Pong Bathing Suit Challenge, Aqua Frog Racing, Men's Knobby Knees Contest, 80's dance classes & trivia, the Formal Captain's Cocktail Party & the Grand Gala Midnight Buffet. The Dive-in movies were Back to the Future & Raider's of the Lost Ark. Not many people dressed in 80s outfits except for the staff but some of our group did & everybody loved it & wanted to know how we knew to bring 80s clothes.

There was a photo booth set up with 80s wear but since we had ours we just had pics made at one of the back drops.

Our horse lost! Bets were $2 each & you could bet as many times & on as many horses as you wanted.

Ping pong ball challenge

This lady was the winner!

The area near the pool was packed during the Frog Racing so get there early. We didn't 'race' but my 'neighbor' did.

Juli

We went with Mystic Man in February 2015 so it is not exactly current but here is a link to the review I did of our day if you want to see it.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=36922761&highlight=mystic#post36922761

Thank you lacruiser!

 

I've contacted them and it seems they need a minimum of 10 and there are only 2 of us. Hoping they get more so we can go. If anyone else is interested the date is December 2nd. :D

We went with Mystic Man a couple of years ago & had a wonderful day. I posted about it on our roll call & found others that wanted to join us to meet the minimum.

May I ask how long it took to receive the confirmation and where you sent your request to? I emailed the resort Sunday night for our mid-January cruise and haven't heard back yet. Thanks :)

I sent an email to angus@theromaticholiday.com & was not sure it went through so I sent it again a few days later & they responded the next day.

I also asked if we could come from 9:30AM-3:30PM instead of 12:00-6:00PM since we are in port from 8AM-5PM & this was the response I received...

'Thank you for considering Rendezvous as part of your holiday destination. Pleased to inform that we are able to adjust to the time you requested.

Payment can be made on arrival, which will be US$65.00 per person

We are looking forward to hosting you.'

I've just received an email from Angus, a manager, to inform us that they are not open, we had requested passes for our Carnival Liberty cruise due in St Lucia on Thu 1st Oct, this was his reply, they are closed for a while, hope this helps fellow cruisers.

I received a confirmation for January 30, 2016 a few days ago.

Hi Juli, wish The Captain and I were going with you, but will be busy moving into our new home by that time. Keep us in mind for the next one!! Sorry haven't written...busy! Will drop a line.

Rae:D

We wish you were too my dear friend! We will drink some Captain in your honor! :D

I was glancing through my review this morning reliving our fun times & I came to the pic of 'the' Captain looking so sharp in his uniform & just then Lynn text me asking about the Captain's reception on our Glory October cruise & said we need our Captain Lee along! :)

After our Glory Journey October 31st cruise we are booked on the Glory Journey January 23rd. Join us!!!

Give 'the' Captain hugs for us! Love you both!!!

Juli

I found this just in time to get excited. Great job and thanks for the tour details. Super helpful.

Thanks. When I got the notification that you had posted on my review I started glancing through it & reliving all the wonderful memories! :) Enjoy your trip!

This is the best review I have every seen... thank you so much, we are going to take this trip on Nov 28 2015,,,:)

Thank you! :)

We are cruisin' October 31st with 16 of the wonderful friends we met on our Hawaiian cruise. Looking forward to making a lot of new memories.

Hope you enjoy your trip as much as we did.

Juli

Have you read the reviews on Trip Advisor?

I find it a great tool for getting a wide range of opinions.

Keith

Yes I always check reviews on Trip Advisor but I needed to come up with a hotel fast before the deal I found on air vanished.

Both hotels I mentioned get great reviews. Residence Inn is rated #13 of 113 hotels & Courtyard by Marriott Miami Airport is rated #25. I did not realize when I posted that they are in the same complex.

For now I have a room booked at the Residence Inn for $181.93 unless I find something better.

I've stayed at the Residence Inn Miami Airport twice, and I'm booked there again for this coming December. Personally I enjoyed both my stays. My room was comfortable and relaxing and clean (and you have a kitchen complete with a full size refrigerator, an oven, a microwave, and dishwasher so if you want to cook in your room, you have dishes, cookware, etc). The staff was always friendly and helpful. They serve a "free" buffet breakfast every morning. They even have a nice fitness center and a laundry. As they share the Marriott "campus" with a Courtyard and a regular Marriott, you can find a Champions sports bar at the Courtyard (food is decent and not overly expensive); the Marriott has a "fancier" restaurant and Starbucks. All 3 share a nice pool area.

 

Oh! If you DO fly into MIA, the Marriott campus has FREE shuttle service to and from the airport. (Check the website for info). They can also arrange for transport to POM: I think the shuttle runs 3 times and costs about $15 a person, or they can arrange a taxi. (My party and I had our own private arrangements). You're about 7 miles from POM; on a Sunday morning it took about 20 minutes for our driver to get us there.

 

Hope this helps.

Thanks for the recommendation & the advice!

I've not stayed there, but I think thats a pretty good price :) Check to see they offer complimentary airport shuttle, thats one less hassle to worry about. :) Curious to see where you found a sale on airfare to MIA :) I am currently trying to decide for our cruise in November, FLL or MIA. FLL seems cheaper for us, but I really wanted to be as close as we could to the port. Do you mind sharing?

They both offer complimentary airport shuttle. Residence Inn also offers a complimentary breakfast but that is not that important to us.

I prefer flying Southwest & our flights from Nashville to Fort Lauderdale are usually around $200pp (I did find a killer deal of $129pp on SW for our October cruise) but the non-stop morning flight on SW on the 22nd is already sold out.

This morning I checked American Airlines again & they have a non stop flight from Nashville to Miami for $175pp. The timing works well for us to with it leaving at 11:16AM & it gets to Miami at 2:38PM.

For those dates, those are excellent prices.

I agree! I just want to make sure the hotels I found are ok.

We are staying in Fort Lauderdale for 3 nights before our cruise in October so we are just looking for a clean, safe hotel for one night in January.

We are cruising out of Miami in January.

We usually fly in to Fort Lauderdale & have a hotel in FLL booked but I just found a great rate on air to Miami so I am scrambling trying to see if I can find a hotel for January 22, 2016 if we fly to Miami. Most rates are pretty pricey for that date.

We qualify for government rate, senior rate, & Friends & Family rate through Marriott.

I just found a great rate of $125 for the Courtyard by Marriott Miami Airport using the Friends & Family discount or Residence Inn Marriott Miami Airport has a senior rate of $161.

Has anyone stayed at either of these or know of any better options?

Thanks.

I emailed Royston early last week, no response yet. I don't mind waiting a day or two for a response, but pushing a week is a little unprofessional in my opinion. Yes,I did check my spam folder.

 

Anyone else reach out to him this past week and either heard back or not?

 

I will wait until tomorrow and if no response, I will contact Thenford Grey for his tour.

We had an AMAZING tour with Royston in February but it did take a while for him to get back with us.

I emailed him Friday about touring with him again in January 2016 & he responded back last night.

Looking forward to exploring St. Kitts with Royston again!

I was pleasantly surprised that the prices were not as high as I thought they would be. They had a pretty good selection of small, inexpensive items too.

A few pics from our visit in February.

A Batik demonstration.

The different steps.

So I spoke to my surgeon again and was able to move my surgery up to Friday. I'll be pain free a week later and by August 9th I should be okay to sail, without any weight baring on my right foot! I'm doing this! I'm going to beat this! If I have to be in a wheelchair or scooter the whole week it's better than being at home on a couch, right? Vista Suite view is better than my television!

One of my most 'eye opening' & favorite cruises was after I tore my MCL in San Juan the day before our cruise (on Royal Caribbean Adventure of the Seas) & was told by the ship doctor to put no weight on my leg so I was confined to a wheelchair on-board & crutches in port. Everyone on-board (staff & passengers) was so nice & helpful! I am a 'type A' personality but the experience I had made me extremely grateful for my normally good health. Hope you enjoy your cruise to the fullest!

When I call I am being told $100 pp for a guest pass. Can you provide more details of how you got the $50 rate?

I called too & was quoted a price of $100pp for a day pass from 7-5 & $150pp for a pass from 7-11PM.

Thanks for the info. It sounds like a good option.

Did you call the resort to get a price for the day pass?

Juli,

 

We sailed with Wasabi on our recent cruise this past April and they were amazing! One of the best days of our cruise.

 

See pics of our sail here: https://www.facebook.com/wasabisailing/photos/pcb.708380925940259/708379579273727/?type=1&theater

 

Captain Eric is amazing - full of positive energy and shares a lot of very interesting facts and trivia of the surrounding area (islands, pirate stories, sailing stories, historical facts). His first mate, Drew is pure zen and has an infectious smile - just being in his vicinity relaxes you (and he makes a great dark & stormy:)). Snorkelling wasn't the best that day as there had been a storm the night before - but we saw plenty of fish and a turtle. Lunch is "homemade" and delicious - curry is not too strong - more Caribbean spice that east Asian. The sailing was spectacular - we flew like birds across the water under Eric's expert handling. Not much motor used here - we were under sail for over 85% of the excursion - pure bliss!

 

We are sailing again with them in November if you happen to be there on Nov 13 would be great if you would like to join us. Cap Eric takes out a maximum of 6 people. You can view their website here: http://www.sailwasabi.com/reservations-1/

 

Feel free to contact me by adding as a friend here on CC and we can coordinate if you are interested.

Thanks for the great endorsement! We will just miss you in St. Thomas as we will be there November 10th!

Juli

Yacht Nightwind out of Sapphire Marina.

Thanks Blue. Always love your advice.

Nightwind can take out up to 15 passengers though & we really want to try a six person day sail.

Another vote for Royston's Tour. We toured with Royston in March & it was one of my favorite excursions of all time & I am not usually a 'tour' type person! Royston is so warm & personable & really knows how to show off his island.

There are a lot of pics & info on his tour in my review if you are interested. Royston's tour starts on page 5.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2181064

This pic capture's Royston's fun side.

And here is his 'open air' van.