Breakaway 14 Day Southern Caribbean Review with lots of pictures (and the Haven)

[ncklhaus]

There's small...

 

 

and then there's...that.

 

 

 

 

It does clearly state on the menu "Petite Grilled Fillet of Beef". I'm not sure why we are spending this much time discussing that the steak is small.

[sjnyc323]

It does clearly state on the menu "Petite Grilled Fillet of Beef". I'm not sure why we are spending this much time discussing that the steak is small.

 

 

Perfect size for breakfast as it does come with eggs

[Freckle53]

OMG, I have a carsick dog too and I'm going to track down this MotionEaze today if it's the only thing I do. I have tried ginger, gingersnaps, and Benedryl even with no luck. The vet was never any help other than, "that stinks. Sometimes they outgrow it." I've been putting off making an appointment for his kennel cough shot because I hate cleaning up after.

[Freespir8]

JoAnn, thanks so much for the tip on Motioneaze. I haven't heard of that before and love the fact that it works AFTER you get the symptoms. I always bring the patch and ginger and haven't had to use anything YET :eek: but when the sea swells are about 20-25 ft I start to get a little queasy. We have a trip planned for Bermuda in October and I have heard it can be a little rough. It's nice to know that we have something that can help just in case.

 

Loving the review so far! Thanks for taking the time to do all of this!

 

Annie

[ncklhaus]

Was their A-1 sauce available...no steak eating cruiser shall dare not eat a steak without a-1... trying to add humor to the situation...

 

 

Anywho...cant wait to hear more...i only wish i could find the extra funds to do a haven suite

 

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LOL. And yes, both A1 and HP sauce.

[ncklhaus]

JoAnn, thanks so much for the tip on Motioneaze. I haven't heard of that before and love the fact that it works AFTER you get the symptoms. I always bring the patch and ginger and haven't had to use anything YET :eek: but when the sea swells are about 20-25 ft I start to get a little queasy. We have a trip planned for Bermuda in October and I have heard it can be a little rough. It's nice to know that we have something that can help just in case.

 

Loving the review so far! Thanks for taking the time to do all of this!

 

Annie

 

It works GREAT after the fact. If you forget it or run out, they also sell it in the gift shop onboard. I was very happy to see it there one night. We were at dinner on deck 6 and I hadn't used any yet. I was starting to feel the motion and didn't want to go all the way back up to Deck 15 to get it. So I went to the gift shop and bought another bottle. It's around $18 onboard and around $10 on land.

Edited February 2, 2016 by ncklhaus

[brookie848]

It works GREAT after the fact. If you forget it or run out, they also sell it in the gift shop onboard. I was very happy to see it there one night. We were at dinner on deck 6 and I hadn't used any yet. I was starting to feel the motion and didn't want to go all the way back up to Deck 15 to get it. So I went to the gift shop and bought another bottle. It's around $18 onboard and around $10 on land.

 

 

Glad to hear this. I'm on the Escape in a couple of weeks and have gotten a bit sick on cruises in the past. This is one of the items in my Amazon cart waiting to buy so I can take it with me.

 

Really enjoying your review!

[ncklhaus]

OMG, I have a carsick dog too and I'm going to track down this MotionEaze today if it's the only thing I do. I have tried ginger, gingersnaps, and Benedryl even with no luck. The vet was never any help other than, "that stinks. Sometimes they outgrow it." I've been putting off making an appointment for his kennel cough shot because I hate cleaning up after.

 

It works great on my dog. Just a few drops behind each ear and he was good. It's worked for the last 4 trips in the car. He used to get sick going around the block but now he's good for a 30 minute ride with lots of stops and bumps.

[mamagina]

It was plenty of steak! [emoji3][emoji3][emoji3] delicious and cooked to perfection.

[mamagina]

And served by some of the nicest waiters and waitresses we have ever met in 43 cruises!

[callmebetty]

Thank you for sharing Joann! I am a stage 3B Hodgkin's survivor. 16 years later I am now going through the MRI guided biopsies on the girls since I had aggressive chemo followed by radiation to my chest. I know it's always a possibility something will develop, but your story makes me feel like I will be able to handle it if it does.

Looking forward to the rest of the review!

[ncklhaus]

Back to the review. But before I continue with Day 2, I wanted to post some of the information we received upon boarding. Some of the things I will post have also been posted in other reviews so please bear with me.

 

Sorry it's not as clear as it could be, but I had to just take pictures of them with my phone as opposed to scanning them. My ADF feeder in my scanner is not working properly (it's probably the user interface LOL) and it's a PITA to do them one page at a time.

[ncklhaus]

Thank you for sharing Joann! I am a stage 3B Hodgkin's survivor. 16 years later I am now going through the MRI guided biopsies on the girls since I had aggressive chemo followed by radiation to my chest. I know it's always a possibility something will develop, but your story makes me feel like I will be able to handle it if it does.

Looking forward to the rest of the review!

 

IF something should develop, you know you can handle it. Maybe that's our mission in life. To show others it can be done. We are strong. We kicked cancers @$$!

[ncklhaus]

Day 2 Freestyle Dailies and Inserts

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ncklhaus]

 

 

 

 

 

[ncklhaus]

 

 

 

 

[ncklhaus]

Now we resume our regular programming...

 

We (Melissa) wanted to go swimming for a little while in the Haven pool. So we got changed and went upstairs to deck 16 and to the courtyard. I have to say it is a very nice option to have on the not so nice days. There is a retractable roof that they will open on nice days and on not so nice days with it closed, it is nice and warm in there. There are 2 hot tubs and 2 very shallow (maybe 2 inches) pools that have 3 wicker lounge chairs in each, and also another pool that is around 3 1/2 to 4 feet deep. I'm pretty sure it was not heated. Melissa loved it. Me, not so much with no sunshine. I'd much rather be in the Hot Tub. But we stayed there for around an hour or 2 before heading to shower and get ready for Teppanyaki.

 

We had pretty early reservations, I think 5:30? and we had just one other couple at our table. They were lovely people that were also staying in the Haven and we had a blast at dinner with them. Especially when it was time to try and catch the bite sized pieces of scrambled eggs. We were all rolling with laughter.

 

Some pictures from Teppanyaki.

 

 

 

 

 

There was so much food! Way too much to be able to eat in one sitting. I felt so bad leaving at least half of my steak and shrimp behind. Melissa had steak and lobster and Mike had the steak, scallops, and calamari. They do have a set menu, but you can pick and choose whatever combination you want.

There was so much fried rice leftover after serving the 5 of us our full bowls so our chef wrapped two large platefulls up. I can only assume it was for him and other staff to eat. Good for them. It's got to be better than what they get to eat in the crew mess.

Oh, and I can definitively say they use real butter. There was a thread a while back debating that. You can see some of it on top of the pile of rice, there's so a ton of garlic.

[Hardofsmelling]

Hi There! Great review!

 

How did you like being on deck 15 vs deck 16?

If you were doing it again, would you prefer to be on deck 16?

 

We are taking the same cruise in March and are currently booked in the 2 Bedroom Family Villa on deck 15, in The Haven. We are traveling with 3 kids so we are wondering if it would be better to be on the same floor as all of the Haven ammenities.

 

Any insight you can provide is greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks for the awesome post!

[ncklhaus]

Hi There! Great review!

 

How did you like being on deck 15 vs deck 16?

If you were doing it again, would you prefer to be on deck 16?

 

We are taking the same cruise in March and are currently booked in the 2 Bedroom Family Villa on deck 15, in The Haven. We are traveling with 3 kids so we are wondering if it would be better to be on the same floor as all of the Haven ammenities.

 

Any insight you can provide is greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks for the awesome post!

 

I liked deck 15. The Haven amenities are an inside stairway away. If your kids are in strollers and stairs will be an issue, then I'd go with deck 16. Otherwise you have to leave the Haven, go to the elevator and then go back in the Haven.

[ncklhaus]

After Teppanyaki, Melissa wanted to go to Splash Academy for tonight's event. "Hero's vs Villains". So we went back to the room to get the Handy Phone as they call them on the ship. It's actually just a portable telephone handset that they have in Suites, but if the Splash Academy counselors needed us, they could just call the room and the Handy would ring. When you bring your child to Splash Academy, they want to know where you will be. They would just note on Melissa's nametag "HP" and they knew how to get us. We found this guy on our bed. And tonight we had to put our clocks ahead one hour.

 

 

 

After we dropped Melissa at Splash Academy, we decided to go to the casino. Mike wanted to play Texas Hold 'Em and I really wanted to try out those Quick Hits machines. We got our Casinos at Sea cards and off we went. I sat at a Quick Hits machine and put in $20. And then I put in another $20. I was having fun and the machine was making its usual noise when BLAMMO! I won over $450.

 

 

 

That was fast! We dropped Melissa at 8:00 and if you look at the time on my voucher, it was only 8:24! Yippee! Mike wasn't having much luck tonight, but he wasn't really feeling it. So I cashed out the voucher and we went for a few drinks in the Haven.

 

Rebellious Fish

 

 

Then it was time to pick up our "Hero" Melissa (shocker) and head back to the room for the night. She was excited because our awesome room steward Ven set up both beds for her. She would sleep in the top bunk tonight.

 

[riclop]

Thanks for your review.

[bean24]

Aw thanks for the kind words. What part of Valley Stream were you from? North, Central, or South. I'm in South, right near Green Acres.

 

We were in room 15104.

 

 

I student taught at Carbonaro. Small world

 

 

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[ncklhaus]

I student taught at Carbonaro. Small world

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

 

Wow! Is everyone on this forum from the Valley Stream area? LOL

[ncklhaus]

Now would be a good time to post the drink menus. These pictures are from the Waves Pool Bar menu but the drinks are available at any bar. Plus there are plenty more drinks available than are listed on the menus.

 

 

 

[bda73]

Im from eastern suffolk...cant wait to try all the fruity drinks with the unlimited drink package

 

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