~~ BREEZE REVIEW JANUARY 19-27th with photos! ~~

[Joaljoe]

Another view from our balcony.

 

One of the streets going up while shopping.

 

Our first stop.

 

Sunny giving us a run down of the Island.

 

Where the locals live.

[Joaljoe]

Walking to the mountain top store... no more parking left so he backed his truck back up the hill and dropped us off there. It was a nice walk over... just a couple of minutes or so.

He stored all of our stuff from shopping in the back with a lock, it was nice not to have to carry all that stuff.

 

 

Our 2nd stop. A view of Magen's Bay Beach. This was one stop I was really looking forward to. Having been to this beach twice, I was really looking forward to seeing the view from top.

 

This is still Magen's Bay, I just zoomed in on the further area.

 

For a small amount, the kids got to take a photo with a donkey.

[Joaljoe]

These little guys were near us at the beach but never bothered us.

 

 

People snorkeling.

 

 

 

This is way to the left of the beach, we came across it while taking a walk. We stayed more center beach where it was nice and sandy.

Not sure how the right side is but there were a lot of people down there as well.

[Bigeee67]

Thanks sooooo much for the review. The wife and I were on that sailing with you and we had a great time. Your pictures are WAY better that what we took.

Edited February 20, 2013 by Bigeee67

[Joaljoe]

Left side of beach.

 

 

Looking from the left side of beach. As you walk further you can see it's nice and sandy.

 

 

 

[Joaljoe]

Thanks sooooo much for the review. The wife and I were on that sailing with you and we had a great time. Your pictures are WAY better that what we took.

 

It was a great cruise wasn't it? With all this snow we're getting today, I wish I could just tap my shoes and be back on the ship!! LOL

Glad you're enjoying the photos. Before leaving on the trip I learned a lot of stuff about my camera.... decided to use all the new functions I learned on our vacation and ended up over exposing a lot of photos. When you're in the sun you can't tell what it really looks like. But I was able to save a bunch by editing. :)

[Delta Dear]

Thanks for your review. We leave on March 2 on the same itinerary and are also doing Sonny Liston, but only doing the tour to the Mountaintop and back to the ship. Your comments about his driving are making me nervous so I guess I better do a lot of singing.

I am not familiar with the sheets you bought. What is special about them ? Must be good. I might want to do the same once I hear about them.

Can't wait for more. How did your in laws enjoy the cruise?

Edited February 21, 2013 by Delta Dear

[pinkiesue]

It was a great cruise wasn't it? With all this snow we're getting today, I wish I could just tap my shoes and be back on the ship!! LOL

Glad you're enjoying the photos. Before leaving on the trip I learned a lot of stuff about my camera.... decided to use all the new functions I learned on our vacation and ended up over exposing a lot of photos. When you're in the sun you can't tell what it really looks like. But I was able to save a bunch by editing. :)

 

What kind of camera did you use? Pictures are awesome.

We are doing this same cruise in april and are going to sapphire beach I hope. Hope to see the iguanas too

[Detroitcruiser23]

Wow....beautiful pictures!! Thanks for sharing!

[Hawk15]

Which beach do you like better, Magen's or Sapphire?

[Joaljoe]

Thanks for your review. We leave on March 2 on the same itinerary and are also doing Sonny Liston, but only doing the tour to the Mountaintop and back to the ship. Your comments about his driving are making me nervous so I guess I better do a lot of singing.

 

I am not familiar with the sheets you bought. What is special about them ? Must be good. I might want to do the same once I hear about them.

 

Can't wait for more. How did your in laws enjoy the cruise?

 

 

LOL.... do a lot of singing or drinking before getting on! ;) Don't worry, I think Sunny himself only does the longer tours. I think you might get his wife or one of the other drivers. They can't be as crazy!

 

Cariloha is a store that carries merchandise made from Bamboo. All their stuff is really soft. We love sleeping in our new sheets! They carry clothing, blankets, towels and more. It's definitely worth looking at. If you google Cariloha Bamboo, you'll find their website. :)

 

My in laws LOVED their vacation! My FIL wasn't sure how he would do being away from home so long, but he did well. He loved relaxing on his balcony or the Lido deck. They are both definitely looking forward to taking another cruise in the near future.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

[Joaljoe]

What kind of camera did you use? Pictures are awesome.

We are doing this same cruise in april and are going to sapphire beach I hope. Hope to see the iguanas too

 

I have a Canon Rebel T2i and use a 55-250mm lense with it. That's how I got a close up of the iguana. I would not have walked up that close to them. LOL

 

Which beach do you like better, Magen's or Sapphire?

 

We did like Sapphire Beach better as a whole. If it wasn't a windy day, I'm sure the water would've been much calmer. And there's no fee to use the beach. Maybe it's because it was different, we did the exact same thing during our first two visits. I would definitely go back to Sapphire again. :)

[Joaljoe]

We were dropped back off around 4:30pm, thankfully there wasn't much of a line to get back on the ship. We now had just about an hour to get the 4 of us showered and ready for dinner. We had the early seating, and as much as I love it, we found it hard to be ready for this time. But the late seating is too late for us to eat so I think next time we may try the anytime dinning. The kids enjoyed the MDR tonight, when it was show time they played Gangnum Style.... they had all the waiters doing the dance moves. The waiters got our kids in on the action and anyone else they could get. Fun times!!!

 

We were surprised after this long day how wired the kids were. They wanted to go to Camp Carnival for a bit so we dropped them off and went to relax on the Serenity Deck in one of those clam shells. It was nice to just lay there and stare up at the sky. Before we knew it, it was 10pm..... we picked up the kids and headed for bed. Everyone was exhausted by now, needed to get our rest for Antigua!

 

More pictures to come later today! :)

 

Posing after doing some Gangnum Style!!

 

Taking a little stroll before going to bed.

 

Tonight's towel animal

[Delta Dear]

LOL.... do a lot of singing or drinking before getting on! ;) Don't worry, I think Sunny himself only does the longer tours. I think you might get his wife or one of the other drivers. They can't be as crazy!

 

Cariloha is a store that carries merchandise made from Bamboo. All their stuff is really soft. We love sleeping in our new sheets! They carry clothing, blankets, towels and more. It's definitely worth looking at. If you google Cariloha Bamboo, you'll find their website. :)

 

My in laws LOVED their vacation! My FIL wasn't sure how he would do being away from home so long, but he did well. He loved relaxing on his balcony or the Lido deck. They are both definitely looking forward to taking another cruise in the near future.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

 

 

Thanks for the advice. LOL. I forgot to mention how much I am enjoying your review and looking forward to more. Your children look delightful !

[Joaljoe]

Thanks for the advice. LOL. I forgot to mention how much I am enjoying your review and looking forward to more. Your children look delightful !

 

Thank you! That's very kind of you to say. :)

[Joaljoe]

Antigua -

 

We were supposed to have a beach day today but we were so exhausted from yesterday's day that we decided to have an easier day! I have MS (Multiple Sclerosis) and sometimes I forget that I can't do as much as I used to do.... I need to force myself to slow down at times. LOL So instead we had a slow morning, slept in a bit, had breakfast and got off the ship around 11am. I was told there wasn't much shopping at this port but I was happy with what there was. Just enough to get some souvenirs and a couple of news decorations for my walls. There is a Del Sol and a Cariloha right there! Maybe 2-4 stores in, on the left hand side.... if I had known, we wouldn't have purchased the bed sheets in St. Thomas and carried them everywhere!! So if anyone will be doing any shopping at these two stores, you can wait! They have them in Nassau too... but I knew we wouldn't have time to visit them there since we booked an excursion.

 

Going forward.... we probably walked around for 90 mins or so, purchased a few things and headed back to the ship. They have a mini "straw market" type place if you turn right on one of the streets from the main shopping street. The main shopping street is pretty short so I'm sure you'd have no problems bumping into it. We were able to purchase a few souvenirs in there and the kids both got a steel drum. Oh boy! LOL

 

Getting back on the ship was another BREEZE!! We went to have some lunch and headed to the ropes course! I didn't even attempt it because I know how bad my balance is already but the kids had a great time. Because there were so many people off the ship they got to do it a few times. The harder side was a little more scary for my son but my daughter just whipped through it. But she's a little monkey who climbs everything and anything she can!! We then went and enjoyed the pool for about an hour before getting ready for dinner.

 

 

DD shopping in Del Sol.

 

The shopping area right in front of the port.

 

I really wish I knew what this costume symbolizes. If anyone knows, please enlighten me.

 

Checking out all the merchandise in the mini straw market.

 

[Joaljoe]

Some ship shots....

 

 

 

 

Getting back on the ship.... pretty dead!

[Joaljoe]

Some photos of our surroundings while in port....

 

 

View from our balcony. You can see that the shopping is available immediately after exiting the ship.

 

 

You know, I really wish my street was this colourful!

 

 

[Joaljoe]

 

 

 

St. John's Cathedral

The present cathedral with its imposing white twin towers was built on a fossilized reef, in 1845, and is now in its third incarnation, as earthquakes in 1683 and in 1745 destroyed the previous structures.

 

[Joaljoe]

A few more "around the ship" photos....

 

Ropes course from the other side view. My bad, I mentioned above that the kids did the ropes today. I'm getting my days mixed up.... they did the course when we came back on the ship in Tortola. Oops! I should have kept a journal. LOL

 

 

 

 

I know I posted a similar photo already but the background is different. Ha Ha Ha!!

 

 

Towel Hut

[Joaljoe]

Tonight we went to Cucina Del Capitano. It was a last minute decision....when we called them, they actually had 2 more spots open. A 5:30pm and a 9pm seating....we definitely lucked out! We took the 5:30pm....if I eat too late, I can't sleep all night! It was a very nice experience, the waiters were amazing in there. Very friendly and knowledgeable on the food. The waiters ended up singing as well, they weren't that great but they tried. LOL The food was awesome, we all enjoyed our meals. I only got a photo of mine unfortunately but if I remember correctly, almost all of us had the same dish. I got a dish called Nonna's Linguini and Meatballs.... I do recommend it to everyone! It was deelish. They seated us at a window which was perfect for sailing. We sailed at 6pm and had a beautiful view of the sunset.... just completed our experience!! We were in here for a good 2 hours so after dinner we slowly made our way to the Ovation theater for the Latin Nights show.

 

I was REALLY looking forward to this show but left feeling a little disappointed. I just thought as a whole it would be better. But nonetheless, we still made the best of it and enjoyed it for what it was. Our son had no interest in seeing this show, so he went to Camp Carnival and stayed until 10pm. DD enjoyed her alone time with us! After the show we split up with my in-laws... I think they headed to bed and we just lounged on the Lido Deck until it was time to get DS from Camp and head to bed.

 

Our beautiful sunset from tonight!!

 

Nonna's Linguini and Meatballs!

 

Crostata Di Mele Coppetta -

A slow baked Italian apple tart topped with a hazelnut streusel. It was AMAZING!!

 

Preparing for the Latin Show!

 

Tonight's animal!

[Mistyhon]

Thanks so much for all the work you're putting into this review. We're thinking of taking our 2 kids (DS-2.5, DD-5.5) on an April cruise. Do you happen to remember the height requirements on the waterpark slides/ropes course? I can't seem to find the info anywhere.

[hounddogz]

More pics!! Awesome...thanks for sharing! Can't wait to go on the Breeze!

You have a beautiful family:)

[Delta Dear]

I am SO enjoying your review and the bonus is the pictures you took in Antigua. My husband has some mobility issues so I am always concerned about whether or not he can handle the distance from the ship to the port. What a relief to see how close the ship docks to the shopping area. (Not that he likes to shop.) LOL. I just showed him the picture so he can see that it is a doable port for him.YAY, what a relief.

Your pictures are wonderful as are the details you are providing. I'm glad that you found a way to pace yourself and still enjoy the port. MS is one of the many conditions that we all hope will be cured in the near future. It looks as if your children had a good time with the alternative plans.

If you don't mind me asking, what is the price range for the king size sheets? I looked at the website. I was not at all familiar with the company.

Looking forward to your next post. We have not been to Tortola so I can't wait to see what that port is like. I do know that Nassau is a terribly long distance, but they do have a bus that runs on the pier for those who can not walk it. I hope it is still in service.

[Delta Dear]

When my husband saw the view of the port from your balcony, he said. " I hope we are on the same side they were on." We're in 7340, where were you ?