moondog73

I looked at copies of the Breeze from Feb 2019 and it was offered several times throughout the cruise.  Look in your Funtimes each day.

1 hour ago, Iwantacruisenow said:

 

I guess to each their own, but I assume you are taking a "Caribbean Cruise" because you like beaches?   I love the beauty of the beaches at Grand Turk.  As i mentioned in previous posts, I don't mind paying $15 for a chair and umbrella with beach service at a bar called Reef Shark.  That is much cheaper than any tour offered by the cruise line.  Others have mentioned a beach within walking distance that rarely gets visitors, if you have kids, let them explore a shipwreck.   One of these days I'll venture there.  Anyway, the whole point of the post was to walk down further from the port to find a good (less expensive) spot to beach for the day. Yes, you might have to pay a small fee but totally worth it with the savings from a couple of drinks verses buying on the ship. The local beer is also very good.  If you have kids, the soda is cheap too.   

 

As for Amber Cove, the pool facility is so large I find it hard to believe one could not find a chair.  Okay, yes an umbrella does cost extra.  Usually there are some friendly cruisers standing in the pool anxious to talk with anyone.  Lots for kids to do as well.  The facility is free which given the paid tours is a great deal.  I find the facility is much better than any ship pool.  And sure, for a small fee you can go to the beach just off the cove if you prefer. 

 

Now compared to Puerto Rico, Cayman Islands, Sint Maarten & St. Johns  and even Cozumel where the only thing you can do is pay to be driven or taken somewhere, well gosh I just don't see why you would want to abandon these great places.   

Trust me I am not cheap on vacation.  I never said I was not willing to pay for chairs, it is just that there are so many nicer places than Grand Turk to sit at a beach.  And Amber Cove, why leave home when i can sit at a pool for free.  I would take St Kitt's, St Maarten, Caymans, Aruba, Curacao, British Colonial Hilton in Nassau, or even beaches here in the states over Grand Turk and Amber Cove.  you may be satisfied with them, but we must have higher standards when it comes to ports/beaches. We will simply start looking for cruises that do not stop at those ports.  Problem solved!!!

We have hired a driver for the day (actually a customized tour) in April.  First stop will be driving us to Paradise Point to take photos and get a bushwhacker.  Next is a stop in town to shop for a couple hours followed by a few hours at Magens Bay.  On the way back to port, we plant to stop at drake's seat for some photos and finally finish up at the port shops.  the "tour" was reasonable for 11 people.

Personally I wish Carnival would abandon Amber Cove and Grand Turk.  They are both basically worthless stops only for Carnival to gouge you at their cruise ports.   There is no beach at Amber Cove unless you go outside the port area, which is fine.  The only really good thing to do there is the Waterfalls tour.  Do it once and no reason to go back.  Grand Turk is the same with a marginally fine beach with locals destroying the relaxation by cramming in so many more chairs to rent.  We snorkeled the Wall last time and that is a one and done excursion as well.  We will start looking at Cruises that skip these ports or at worst only stop at one.

We actually have the full 27 booked through Iguana Mama.  It was only $10 more person than what Carnival charges for only 7 falls plus we get transportation, lunch, and drinks (rum punch).  Outside tour vendors know to get you back in time for departure.  If they have anyone miss the boat, it would kill their business.

1 hour ago, BBigfoot613 said:

I love how we live in a society where someone asks for TIPS and they get "I'm glad I live close to not worry about it" or "I'd just pay the $$" and "Don't be cheap" type responses. I thought this was a message board to HELP people? When did we become a society that just bashes people constantly instead of giving the requested help or if not having any advice just scrolling on? Are we really that miserable of a society that we have to bash people constantly? MAYBE the OP doesn't want to pay the fee...but MAYBE the OP just doesn't want to worry about lost luggage from a connection or MAYBE there is a different reason all together. As members on this board we are here to gather info and if inclined to help others with our knowledge. I'll climb down from the soap box but hope that those that post crappy comments never find the info they desire..

How do you think people rack up 1000s of posts.  Some people post non-sense just to up their post count!!!

I see all these CC people always saying how they loved Tandoor but we only saw very few people eating there on our cruises.  I guess everyone who liked it all went on the same cruise each year.

4 hours ago, SNJCruisers said:

  Edit....forgot to mention that Aruba and Curacao crush Nassau 7 days a week and twice on Sunday.

WELL SAID!!!!

The only good thing about Nassau is buying John Watling Rum

Definitely Horizon as that Breeze cruise is 3 terrible ports!!!

Email the vendor.  Most times they understand the whole ship time/ local time issue.  All vendors I have used have been excellent at communicating with me.

No loss for me.  I dont use crappy pens like the cruise or hotel have in the rooms.  I always travel with my own oen and mechanical pencil.

It will tell you in your cruise manager what date you will be able to complete your online check in

I have bought 1000s of dollars of Allstate cards and always receive them in less than a week.  It may have something to do with where you live...not sure though.

Worked great for us on 2 cruises.  Other people report not so much.  I suspect user error!!!

Is the regular breakfast faster than the Sea Day Brunch?  Brunch is soooo slow we feel like we have wasted the whole morning just to eat.  Went once and refuse to go back.  The time we did brunch  and slow dinner, it felt like we did nothing but sit in the dining room

We are doing the 27 Falls in April.  We can't wait!!!!  Of course I have done research so I know what we are in for.

Looks like we will be skipping the movie son the Breeze in April.

I am not sure why anyone would get in those pools/hot tubs on a ship.  It is like people stew to me!!!!  Ones inundated with kids is even worse.  No telling what they are doing in the pools/hot tubs.

12 minutes ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

 

I can’t speak for every port, but all ports in Florida have an early/late line.  If you show up early you go to this line. Sometimes this line moves fast, sometimes it doesn’t move at all. I have heard passengers have waited up to two hours in this line when they showed up early with a LOT of other people who did the same thing. 

 

I don’t understand why people have trouble following Carnival’s current check-in process. In my opinion it is significantly better than the past process of basically show up when you want to. I guess some people want to still do that instead of complying with their assigned check-in time. 

Until the ports stop letting people inside the building early, they will continue to do so.  I remember my last cruise in 2017, Port Canaveral had just instituted the check in times.  We had FTTF and the earliest check in time.  When we arrived, the waiting area was almost completely full already and had been so for quite a long time.  we saw facebook posts about what time people had arrived.

1 hour ago, grandmarnnurse said:

I actually am a big researcher ahead of a cruise, using the Internet. I watch countless videos. But running and jumping on the cars at Sky Ride never came up. And in my honest opinion, when you pay for any excursion to a beach, loungers should be included. And all my research for Grand Turk said all loungers are free, do not listen to the locals. But when a security person sides with a local, we had to move. 

Here are 2 links I found in like 30 seconds from the Grand Turk Port of Call page

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2488570-beware-of-the-tourist-trap-beach-chairs/ 

Sorry you had a bad experience in St Thomas and Grand Turk.  There are numerous threads in the Grand Turk pork of call section the detailed the chair issue.  Also you could have read the Paradise Point and Magens Bay reviews on trip advisor to know about the cable car not stopping and the chair rentals at Magens Bay.  All the info is readily available in today's computer age.  I start with Cruise Critic for cruises and then head over to trip advisor for shore excursions or land based vacations.

25 minutes ago, Atlantamom3 said:

Other than putting "Carnival Breeze" in the search bar, is there a better way to find reviews specific to a ship?

Yes.   If on a computer, click RESEARCH at the top of the page.  The choose reviews and choose your ship.  You will see alot more info than what has been posted in this thread.

Yes it is helpful. Instead of waiting for people to reply, there are hundreds of reviews with the info they are looking for.  I start with reviews when I do my research.

I just don't understand all "peace of mind" posts.  We bought it once and it was not worth it to us.  Our April cruise we have purchased several discounted gift cards for what we anticipate spending.  If we go over, no big deal.  We have budgeted (yes that appears to be a novel concept here at CC) money for extra drinks, pictures, and other purchases.  The last night we will use that cash to pay off our bill therefore leaving no shocking credit card bill when we return.  Maybe it helps my job is Sr Budget Analyst.