bonvoyagebites

mgh... I found a thing called a gorillapod which can be found online at your favorite reseller. It is a flexible, aritculated tripod. I wrapped the legs around the fence and mounted it on the fence. Without going into an awesome sales pitch (I have no stake in this, just love it) you can do a lot of things with the gorillapod... they can also sometimes be picked up at local retailers.

Feel free to share that video anywhere you'd like. It was a blast.

Jamie, one place is the sunset bar arrivals board on the beach. I will look and see if there is an easy place to find online and see what I can find and post it back here.

Thanks for the kind words regarding the video. The video was taken with a GoPro 3, and the Stills (If I recall correctly) were a Nikon 5000 ... My wife does the stills and i did the video... it originally was just meant to be for us for fun, but then the two days ago I decided to try to edit it together and see what I could get. I was pleased with the results, so I shared (a lot)

For St. Maarten, I drove myself. I personally wouldn't do a organized tour, but that is just opinion. The only reason I say that is because I like to do things on my own schedule. Also for plane reasons, you can check arrivals ahead of time and know when you want to be at Maho (like for the Airbus 340 that arrives maybe once daily).

Again, the car rental thing is just an opinion, but that worked out for me.

I agree with a previous poster that this should have come with a warning. I love food and I love traveling. This post is great for both. Thanks! Looks like the food posted today didn't really wow you... I am hoping it turned around.

Enjoying your review. These memories are making me want to go back again. I LOVED the Red Frog Pub, and the little glider swing outside there. And, it was always pretty quiet there. Keep up the good work on your review.

I just started one of my own on the blog in my signature below. My memory is a little fuzzier since it was a while back (and my memory is SHOT), but we shall see what I come up with.

I agree that Maho is not the relaxing beach experience she may be seeking. But, it is NOT to be missed (see the video in my signature). I rented a car while on the island, and enjoyed the freedom it gave me. I seem to remember it was reasonably priced as well. We drove the entire island, and still had time to watch planes, which was VERY important to me.

When I was on St. Maarten, I rented a car and it was quite reasonable. Sadly, I am unable to find the email from my reservation (2012) but it allowed me to check out the whole island at my own pace. Parking at Maho may be challenging, but I liked the freedom of going where /when I wanted.

Is the Lido ice cream selection this good on all the ships? (i.e. Amsterdam)... I am sailing the Amsterdam in one week, and the kids would LOVE a good selection of ice cream. Well... maybe me too. ;)

Thanks! Great review. I just cannot get enough of reading other peoples' reviews while looking forward to our little jaunt up the coast. Our short little 3-day repositioning of the Amsterdam is coming up in a week and we cannot wait! Hopefully I will be able to write a review as good as yours for our blog. Since we will go into it knowing that we need to write a review, I think it will be better than our previous reviews. :) I am very much looking forward to our first HAL cruise ship.

Thanks for the super prompt reply, Ms. Ruth. One more question (OK, maybe it's two ;) ).

what size glass do they use (rough estimate is fine)?

Can you use your own glass (plastic tumbler, etc.) ?

Is this capability loaded on your normal card, or is it a separate card... and is it availble onboard, or only ahead of time? We have 3 boys, but the trip is only 3 days, so separate card for each would not make a lot of sense, IMHO.

Thanks so much for your help, everyone. We are HAL newbies.

Thanks for the kind words, Jimbo. I appreciate the feedback. Now, back to the post already in progress. :)

I have posted a few pictures and the very beginning of a review on our personal blog website. More is coming as I can pull it together. Just started the site about a month ago, so more material is coming soon... if you're like me, you are looking for every picture and review and stuff that you can find as your cruise gets closer. Enjoy!

I have started the review of the Breeze. I got as far as embarkation day. Due to a hard drive crash shortly after returning from the trip, I am missing many of my photos, but hopefully can pull together enough to get a decent review together. Take a peek... be gentle, the site is new :)

Marigot was very neat, and I think the choice of going there to get the "French" atmosphere is great. When we arrived it was slow day on the island, and there was still some difficulty parking, as the previous poster said. When we got to Marigot, one of the first things we saw was someone walking down the street carrying a baguette, just like you see in photos of Paris. We had to chuckle to ourselves at how stereotypical that felt... but once we found a bakery, we were hooked.

Enjoy St. Maarten / St Martin I hope to get back someday.

I feel like I am spamming this site with my video, but I am proud of my first edited video, so enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bepDIxYGU-Y

Great summary of the Breeze. We went on it in 2013 and had a great time. Your itinerary was better, but overall it seems the experience was similar. We did attend a few of the shows, and enjoyed them, but they paled in comparison (IMHO) to the shows on the MSC Divina.

LOVED the Red Frog Pub!

Unless they have changed it, they offer a "free" bottle of wine if you book the steakhouse on the first night. I have to say that the steak on the Breeze is tied for the best steak I have ever eaten. So tender and delicious. A steal for $35 pp. (and for the record, my steak experience is not limited to sizzler.. lol).

Bonsai Sushi was pretty good, but we did not eat at the Italian Place.

Red Frog Pub (not to be confused with Red Frog Rum Bar) had ala carte snack foods, and was also one of my favorite places on the ship. Quiet and comfortable. :)

I am hoping to get a few photos of the Breeze on my new blog over the next few days.

By the way... after our trip you can expect a review either here or on our blog, or both. We get to Vancouver 30MAY, and there should be lots of photos....

Copper 10-8 is on there now. I had asked a similar question and my question was apparently mis-phrased and/or otherwise unclear. I am wondering the same thing since I am joining the ship in San Diego in just over a week. :) Cannot wait.

That being said, I will not notice differences, as I have not yet been on a HAL cruise.

Great video. The GoPro really makes great pictures, doesn't it? I just posted a video last night of Planes landing and taking off at the same place. Next time, I will take my snorkel gear, because it looked GREAT. I was so interested in the planes that I didn't even consider snorkeling. Next time I will do both.

Here's my video. Thanks for posting yours. I loved it. And St Maarten / St Martin was an awesome place to spend the day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bepDIxYGU-Y

Sorry for the duplicate, this was moved from the Carnival forum.

About the view from the water.... avoid the area directly behind the planes during takeoffs. It is easy to know which area I speak of, as the fine sand is missing, and the sand looks "rougher" there. If you are directly behind the planes taking off, but on the other side of any sand, you WILL get sandblasted, and it will hurt. A boat would definitely be a great way to go. :) Enjoy, and stay safe.

Wow, she looks awesome! Thanks for the pics. I can't wait to see more as time goes by.

On our trip there were several locations at night that had various types of music. Some good, some OK. But, because of this, there was a nice variety to choose from, and it was not far to the next location if the music didn't suit you at any particular spot. The lounge in the back (Black and White, if I recall correctly) sometimes had a quite good band, and a big dance floor. One night, the officers and entertainment team were back there dancing with people, and that was a good time (even though I <the DH> am not much of a dancer) Our journey was just prior to the addition of the "experiences" on the bookings, so I cannot speak to that. We have a review that was recently posted at our personal blog below, that has a few pictures of the Divina, which sometimes are hard to come by. Enjoy!

I second that. Yum for guavaberry rum. We brought some back for friends, then quickly wished we had kept it to ourselves. :)