Our Beautiful Breeze cruise (with pics) 8/15/15

[darth frosty]

Great pictures!

 

The Disney Ship looks amazing. My girls are 10 and 11, I would love to take them before they get to where they feel like they are too big.

 

 

Edit: Never mind. I just checked their prices for a 7 day Cruise. I can do 21 days at a Cancun AI for 21 days for that price.

 

HA this why I stay with Carnival way more bang for ya buck!

 

Loving your review Jamman54 cant wait to board her in feb!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

[Jamman54]

Oh my, I couldn't imagine. My youngest of 3, Madisson is 18 so close in age. Again, I'm very sorry to hear about Kevin. Thank you for responding about theater. Your review is awesome and I read it every night before I go to bed, always waiting on the next addition!

 

Thanks for continuing to follow along. Sorry, no installment tonight as it is a prep day, but I'll begin posting our day in St. Kitts tomorrow. Stay tuned. :)

 

Loved your day in St Maarten, gave me some good ideas. Looks like a nice relaxing day on the beach. Cant go wrong with that! Dinner looked great at the pasta place.. going to for sure have to try it next time.

loved that you caught Matty taking pics. Hoping you have a big win in store soon with your casino time!

 

Thanks again Andrea. Our dinner at Cucina del Capitano was awesome. We rolled out of there, we were so stuffed!! :D

[Jamman54]

I loved the fact that you caught Matt without his shirt on! Wow thanks!! I enjoyed that more than the sunset. Lmao Also will he remain on the Breeze??

 

Matt is more than a great CD, he is a great person, which is why he was named the first CD of the Carnival Vista.

 

Loving your review Jamman54 cant wait to board her in feb!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

 

Thanks for reading!! I'm sure you will enjoy the Breeze.

[Bellabananas]

Jeff I am going on this itinerary in a week! I need you to cover three more ports by then! I'm loving your detailed review. Thanks so much for taking the time to do it.

[sarahlfiles]

Whew! [emoji28]

I'm all caught up. Great review, thanks for posting your play-by-play! I'm trying hard to make a December 2016 sailing happen, so excited she's relocating to Galveston.

[momof3cruisers]

Oh no! I'm all caught up! Now I will have to be patient. Loved your pics of St Maarten. Last time we were there it poured so we ran to our tour bus and then had to make a quick trip directly back on the ship which didn't help me remember what the port area looked like.

 

We are going on the Breeze in Jan and St Maarten is one of our stops then too. Looking forward to Cucina.

 

Appreciate all the pics of the "secret"deck.

[Jamman54]

Jeff I am going on this itinerary in a week! I need you to cover three more ports by then! I'm loving your detailed review. Thanks so much for taking the time to do it.

 

I'll do my best!! :) Thanks for reading. You will have an awesome time!

 

Whew! [emoji28]

I'm all caught up. Great review, thanks for posting your play-by-play! I'm trying hard to make a December 2016 sailing happen, so excited she's relocating to Galveston.

 

Thanks for following along!! Hope you can get the Breeze booked.

 

Oh no! I'm all caught up! Now I will have to be patient. Loved your pics of St Maarten. Last time we were there it poured so we ran to our tour bus and then had to make a quick trip directly back on the ship which didn't help me remember what the port area looked like.

We are going on the Breeze in Jan and St Maarten is one of our stops then too. Looking forward to Cucina.

Appreciate all the pics of the "secret"deck.

 

Glad you are along for the ride! Hope you have great weather in St. Maarten this time!

[Jamman54]

Day 5 – St. Kitts 7am to 5pm

 

 

We awoke around 6:30am, and looking out our cabin window we could see the sun rising over the island of St. Kitts……

 

 

We are approaching the port town of Basseterre……

 

 

We made our way up to the Lido Marketplace to grab a quick breakfast, and then took a few photos as we docked. This is the port town of Basseterre…..

 

 

This is Patti and Ryan’s first visit here, and only my second. I still have never seen the top of that mountain, as it always seems to be cloud covered…..

 

 

This is the Cruise Terminal building……

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

This is the casino, located just after you exit the pier…..

 

 

Here are a couple more views of St. Kitts……

 

 

 

These are the shore excursions that we will be doing today. Ryan and I will be doing the St. Kitts by Rail & Sail, and Patti will be doing the St. Kitts by Rail & Scenic Drive.

 

St. Kitts by Rail and Sail

 

EXCURSION DETAILS

 

$129.99 / Adult

$79.99 / Child

Infants (< 4) don’t require tickets

 

Duration:4 Hours

 

May include relaxing or walking short distances over relatively level terrain. Comfortable shoes may be recommended.

 

No Minimum Age

 

Board the St. Kitts Railway for a memorable journey around this beautiful island, followed by a relaxing catamaran sail back along the south western coastline of St Kitts. After a short transfer to your train, travel along the northeastern coastline where fields of sugarcane stretch from the shoreline up to the mountains. Wind through small villages and farms, seeing the entire island from the comfort of double-deck railcars .The upper level is an open-air observation deck while the lower level has air-conditioned comfort and expansive windows. Feel the island ambiance as you enjoy complimentary specialty drinks, island music and colorful narrative history of the Caribbean. Disembark the train and be transferred to your catamaran. Enjoy light refreshments and snacks as you sail for 90 minutes along the southwestern coastline, enjoying excellent vistas of Brimstone Hill Fortress and sailing around “Bloody Point”.

 

NOTES:

May operate in reverse. Train ride is approximately 2 hours.

 

St. Kitts by Rail and Scenic Drive

 

EXCURSION DETAILS

 

Board the St. Kitts Scenic Railway for a memorable journey around this beautiful island.

 

$90.99 / Adult

$59.99 / Child

Infants (< 4) don’t require tickets

 

Duration:3 Hours

 

May include relaxing or walking short distances over relatively level terrain. Comfortable shoes may be recommended.

 

On this excursion you will:

 

• Board a bus at the pier and travel 10 minutes to the Train Station.

 

• Travel along the Northeastern coastline where fields of sugarcane stretch from the shoreline up to the mountains.

 

• Roll across tall steel bridges and wind through small villages and farms.

 

• See the entire island from the comfort of double-deck railcars where all guests have a seat on both levels of the railcar.

 

• Enjoy the upper level’s spacious open-air observation deck with panoramic views.

• Ride in air-conditioned comfort in the lower level as you gaze through the expansive vaulted windows.

 

• Feel the island ambiance with comfortable rattan furniture, complimentary specialty drinks and snacks, island music and a colorful narrative history of the Caribbean.

 

• Your experience is complimented by a scenic drive aboard the Scenic Railway’s sightseeing buses along the Southwestern coast.

 

• Enjoy the excellent vistas and take photos as you drive past Brimstone Hill Fortress, the British “Gibraltar of the West Indies", the tombstone in Middle Island where Thomas Jefferson’s great-grandfather is buried and Egrets nesting in the trees that looks like flowers on trees.

 

• On your scenic drive you can also enjoy the views of the neighboring island of Nevis, birthplace of American statesman Alexander Hamilton, the first Secretary of the U.S. Treasury.

 

• Disembark the train and travel back through the islands small villages for approximately 40 minutes back to the ship.

 

Both of our tours will be meeting in the Ovation Theater at 8:15am. Once there, we will be led off the ship and taken to our buses for our short ride to the train station. Here we are leaving the ship. There are two pictures because since we are technically on two different tours, we were led off the ship at different times…..

 

 

 

Here is the Carnival Breeze docked at Basseterre, St. Kitts…..

 

 

To be continued…..

Edited September 18, 2015 by Jamman54

[Jamman54]

We are approaching the Cruise Terminal building…..

 

 

These are the Scenic Railway tour buses…..

 

 

We have reached the station and have boarded our train car. We were reunited with Patti for the rail portion of our excursions. Here is a full view of one of the tour buses…..

 

 

Though this one is not being used this trip, here is a full view of the railcars that make up the train. The bottom portion is air conditioned, and the top portion is open air, and gives a better view for taking pictures. When the train is moving it was quite comfortable on top…..

 

 

Here is Patti on the upper level of our train car…….

 

 

We are underway, and Ryan and I have received our first rum punches which were pretty strong. Patti had a pina colada, but she said that they were too strong for her taste…..

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

Now for a little info about the train we are riding on. We are riding on a narrow gauge rail line that once was used in the sugar cane trade, which at one time was the major industry on St. Kitts. A dozen years or so ago, it was deemed that the production of sugar cane was not profitable enough, so the production of sugar cane was completely halted. To this day, the government continues to methodically burn sugar cane fields to rid the island of it’s two biggest pests, the mongoose and rats.

 

The railcars we are riding on were built in Seattle, specifically for the Scenic Railway. This is not a smooth, quiet ride like the speedy bullet trains in Japan or France, but rather a noisy, wobbly, bumpy, hang onto your seat, slow, type of ride. It takes about two hours to make the 18 mile journey to the other side of the island, where we will rejoin the buses to take us to the next part of our tour.

 

So, if you’re up to it, grab yourself a drink, and come along for the ride. Patti was in her glory, snapping a couple of hundred photos during our tour, and here is our first view from the train…..

 

 

We are passing a rock quarry…..

 

 

This was one of the nicest houses I saw on the island, perched up on a hill…..

 

 

A view of the cloud covered hills…..

 

 

For the most part, we will be travelling along the coastline…..

 

 

These are remnants of the sugar cane days…..

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

Ryan and I are enjoying the ride…..

 

 

 

The Scenic Railway train chugs along at a speedy 5 to 15 mph…..

 

 

 

St. Kitts is a very hilly island…..

 

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

We are now crossing one of the five high trestles along the route…..

 

 

 

 

Looking back at the trestle that we had just crossed…..

 

 

Here are a couple of coastline views…..

 

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

Ryan and I look happy. I think we were on rum punch number three!!

 

 

Here we are approaching another trestle…..

 

 

Here are the remnants of a windmill and oven, which were used in the refining of the sugar cane…..

 

 

 

It appears that Ryan is starting to get bored. To tell you the truth, I felt the train ride portion of the tour was a little long at two hours. An hour would have been enough, but believe me, you wouldn’t want this train to go any faster. The rum punches definitely helped! Lol.

 

 

We are passing a brick church in one of the many little towns we passed along the way…..

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

Approaching another trestle…..

 

 

Here a couple more coastline views…..

 

 

 

Our waitress is passing out sugar cake…..

 

 

 

The cake was good, but VERY sweet…..

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

Our Scenic Railway train continues to wind its way around the island…..

 

 

 

Here are some more coastal views…..

 

 

 

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

We are now passing a graveyard…..

 

 

 

This trio went from train car to train car singing island songs…..

 

 

 

We saw loads of donkeys and goats…..

 

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

I think it’s time for another rum punch Ryan!!

 

 

We pass a seaside church…..

 

 

The coastline is to our right…..

 

 

The hills are to our left…..

 

 

Here is another decaying windmill and oven…..

 

 

Here’s a view of a little coastal town…..

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

Our little train chugs on…..

 

 

We are passing this fairly large coastal town…..

 

 

 

That’s St. Barts off in the distance…..

 

 

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

We roll through the town…..

 

 

 

 

 

We’re getting near to the end of the line…..

 

 

The trio pays us another visit…..

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

If you stood up, you would have to hang on for dear life!!

 

 

We are passing the St. Kitts Eco-Park…..

 

 

 

 

The next tour group is waiting for us to arrive……

 

 

We have finally arrived. Now we will debark the train and board our buses for the rest of our tours…..

 

 

To be continued…..

[tlw440]

Is that not St. Eustatius? Instead of St. Barts.

Edited September 19, 2015 by tlw440
not right quote

[Jamman54]

Is that not St. Eustatius? Instead of St. Barts.

 

You are correct. Good catch!! :o

[brinvic]

Jamman54 I am thoroughly enjoying your review and pictures! Although we are not going on the Breeze we will be on Liberty in 1 month but will be definitely looking at the Breeze for our next cruise! Out to f curiosity were you once involved with a group called cruise addicts?

[VickiD59]

Is St Kitts not a beach-day kinda port?