Chill_1

Haha, I almost left out that last part but I knew I couldn't be the only one with these concerns. I really did not know what to expect. I read so many reviews of people saying that locals hound you to buy right outside of the port and that you should NEVER trust them, the locals are out to get you! We spent half the day there and nobody asked us if we wanted to buy, I had to approach a shopkeeper. If you went to Italy, you would eat the fish and pasta, if you went to France, you would drink the wine and eat the breads, if you went to Maine, you would try the lobster, if you went to New York, you would catch a Broadway show. How can you pass up a local favorite that is almost synonymous with that location name. They do irie right :cool:

 

Ocho Rios was BY FAR my favorite port, even without the "strip" So much to do!

So my DW and I just got back from a 6 day East Caribbean and after reading all of the reviews of people that had a horrible experience, I felt the need to give our short review - more like bullet points I guess. The Bad and the Good

 

* The BAD *

The food in the MDR was not quite as good as it is on Princess.

That's it, no more bad...

 

* The Good *

 

Cruise Director - Matt Mitcham

Awesome, lots of fun, always in a good mood and making sure everyone else was having a blast. Approachable in the halls. It seemed like whenever there was ANY event going on, he would pop up to either host or just hang out and have fun.

 

On Board entertainment -

-Comedians Lester Bibbs and Chaz Elstner - Two comedians with wildly different styles but both kept me laughing throughout the whole show.

-Hasbro - We had fun just being in the audience shouting out random audience participation stuff.

-There was a Motown show (Forgot the name) Good songs, well choreographed - good fun

-Plethora of Lido Deck activities including the hairy chest, Miss Breeze, dances, Mexican party, DJ's, etc...

-Dive in Movies - 2 Movies every night - So many better things to do, we never saw any movies, but good to know they were there if we were looking to relax.

-Thrill Theater - Okay, we never tried that either but the unlimited package seemed very reasonable.

-Water slides - I thought for sure it would be only children and that a fairly inebriated couple in their late thirties would look out of place waiting on line, but plenty of adults laughing the whole way down. Seriously, the twister will get you dizzy.

-Live Music -

- There were two bands playing almost all of the time - "The mambo kings" (I never saw them, sorry) and "DeJavu" (good music, a lot of 90s songs, really just songs you would know)

-There was also like music by Matt and Amy (We saw Matt at the Red Frog and Breeze Atrium, we never saw amy, but by the fun times schedule, she was performing often. Just never came across her)

-The Warehouse - DW and I played a couple games of Air hockey, it was fun.

-Sky Course - I was probably overly cautious because I did not want to be the only person to fall and be dangling by my safety harness, but the wife tore through it twice.

-Mini Golf - I let the wife win ;)

-Foosball - She let me win ;)

 

Food

Blush and Saphire MDRs were decorated very well. The wait staff was excellent. The food was very tasty although I feel the portions could have been a little larger. (Although if I am ever hungry on a cruise, I did it wrong - food everywhere and all the time).

 

Guy's Burger Joint - Good cheeseburgers and fries 20 feet from a pool - What more could you want?

 

The Blueguana Cantina - I tried their tacos (Be careful, the orange hot sauce is no joke!) and the breakfast burritos. The breakfast burrito was perfect, especially on those early days where you want to eat a full meal with one hand while getting ready to debark at a port.

 

Cucina Del Capitana - We tried the free pasta lunch. You create your own dish and it was excellent. I had a Penne with red clam sauce with shrimp, sausage and spinach. The wife and I were however both jealous of the woman at our table that got the lasagna...it looked so good!

 

The Buffet was good. They had everything you would expect and more (We never got to try the Mongolian wok but it looked great)

 

Pizza Pirate - 24 hour pizza - Find a problem with that, I dare you!

 

Tandoor - I always wanted to try Indian food and I was not disappointed. Curry fish, chicken kabobs, Lentils and chickpeas. Very nice flavor.

 

 

-Night Time stuff-

Red Frog Pub - Nice live music with Matt and Amy, good appetizers. Nice place to meet up with people before a show, club or dinner.

 

Piano bar with Ben - Fun place, that guy knows (and will play) just about anything.

 

Club ( I think it is called Liquid ) - Good DJ, Kept people up and moving all night. There is also a teenagers club that we obviously did not attend.

 

The Ports-

-Nassau - We walked to Junkanoo beach, then the fish fry and had some incredible conch fritters at Frankie goes Bananas. Then we walked to John Watlings rum distillery for a quick tour and back to the ship.

 

-Grand Turk- Beautiful wedding on a private beach so I can't really comment on anything else there.

 

-Ocho Rios - For $10 per person (!) We had a guy named Ralph drive us to Dunns River falls, then to shopping and lunch at Mama Marley's for some jerk, then more shopping, then back to the ship.

*I feel the need to point out that all of the warnings about never smoking in Jamaica because they are all out to get you arrested by the "corrupt police" did not apply to us. I jokingly brought up in passing in a shop that I was interested in a little smoke break and he said "No problem". For $10 he sold us a "strip" which is a pre-rolled. This thing was EXCELLENT quality not dirt and lasted so long we had to leave the last bit because we were going to miss our ride back. So for all of the people that know their best friends neighbor's roommate's cousin got hassled by the police for smoking, my first hand account was for sure "No problem" :D

 

-So my "short" review took my entire lunch so I have to cut it short. If I forgot anything or if I can answer any questions, let me know. I will try to post more if I remember more things that I forgot.

Wow, thank you for so many helpful responses so quickly.

I think I have all of my questions answered.

And for all of us paranoid folks with tin foil helmets blocking the signals -

-

Originally Posted by jhamp244 View Post

Don't put in your passport number, just check birth certificate.

- Good idea

 

Thanks again, I will be sure to drink a 101 oz beer for all of you :D

My DW (I had to google what DW was) and I are leaving Sunday morning on the Breeze and have a few questions that I assume should be easy for the pros here.

 

1. The FAQ says that we can bring up to 12 - 12oz non-alcoholic drinks each. The standard small water bottle size is 16.9 oz. Those will not be permitted? I need my Zephyrhills!

 

2. Do people check garment bags with formal wear or lug it around until the room is ready?

 

3. We are not silver, gold, platinum, diamond or fttf members, it's our 2nd cruise ever, first with Carnival. If we get to the Miami Port at around 11:30 for a 4:00 PM cruise, how long should we expect to wait before us and the rest of the peasants get to board?

 

4. This one is not that important, but we like our morning coffee with that Dunkin Donuts "extra extra" creamer. Can we bring that on board with us?

 

5. Do you check bottles of wine or carry-on? I don't want all of our cruise clothes covered in red wine from being crushed under the wait of 3690 other passengers luggage.

 

6. I plan on the two of us bringing home about 2 bottles of Cuban rum and 2 bottles of Jamaican rum. I know the first two are duty free, but appx how much will I have to pay in Miami to bring the other two home?

 

7. Most importantly for me because I am a bit paranoid with stolen identities and putting personal information online. How will early check in help me? Any time I have previously checked in early, I have still had to wait in the same lines. I don't remember any steps being skipped. I would rather not type my passport number online. Can I just show up and check in at the port? Do I get sent to the back of the line or anything?

 

That is a lot more questions than I thought I had considering the cruise is 2 days away.

Thanks for your help

Thank you, it sounds incredible...

10 more days! :D

Can anyone tell me more or less the hours of the serenity adult's area? The idea of lounging on a hammock on a cool evening with an alcoholic beverage sounds nice.

Do people really need an enforcer of rules of common courtesy? Do you really want a person at the door grading your appearance?
Some people seem so entitled...
Could people just be decent humans and respect the suggested dress code?
I don't curse around your kids,
I don't cut in lines,
If a sign says please take one, I only take one,
I don't let my dog go to the bathroom in your yard,
I wash my hand before I leave the bathroom,
In the days of VHS, I was kind, I did rewind,
And I do all of this (and more!) without a guard standing there telling me that I must

It makes me wonder if the guard at the buffet for hand sanitizer was put there for these same people that say "If carnival wants to enforce it, let them".

I'm sorry, maybe I am the weird one, but no, I do not want to see your kids feet while I am eating, regardless of how much money you spent on his flip flops.

Just saying, common courtesy to your fellow vacationers would be to respect the suggested rules and dress codes, regardless of if there is a security guard standing there.

/my three cents