Carnival Breeze - A Southern Caribbean Independence Day Review!

[Jenner9]

Did you walk on the beach to Jack's Shack? Also, those inflatables in the water...are those for anyone to use and are they free?

[nybumpkin]

We just did this itinerary in March, but love reading others point of view along with what they do in port.

 

Oy your poor son with the broken collar bone. I always yell at mine dont get hurt 30days prior.. cuz I will leave you at home with grandma LOL I have no shame LOL.

 

Liked seeing your Key Largo portion we are thinking of dong that next time ourselves.

 

Loved hearing how your Grand Turk day was, since we had to skip that day due to rough waters/wind.

 

Cant wait to read more!

 

Also a big thank you to your older son for his service in the Navy!

Thank you! Oldest son started his sailing career at the age of 1 month when DH and I first took him out on our motorboat on the Hudson River. He did a lot of lake and river sailing before we started cruising. My favorite memory of him on our first Carnival cruise was seeing him at a teen party, pizza in one hand, ice cream in the other, exclaiming "this is great"! What he does now is far removed from any of the sailing we did with him, but he loves the Navy.

 

Did you walk on the beach to Jack's Shack? Also, those inflatables in the water...are those for anyone to use and are they free?

We did walk along the beach to Jack's. If you don't have mobility issues it's the easiest way to get there. If you have mobility needs, my understanding is that taxis can get you there. As for the inflatables - I think they went with another beach. We didn't use them.

[CocoCandy]

Thank you for your review and pictures! I am sailing the Breeze next month and am getting really excited :)

 

I am thinking of trying the ropes course, but still not sure lol!

[Djptcp]

DH and I are sailing on the 8-day Southern Caribbean cruise on the Breeze the week of Thanksgiving. Thanks so much for your wonderful review and photos. Our 37th cruise, but first on the Breeze and looking forward to it. We live in Florida, but I was born and raised in Upstate New York....loved it.

[BenjiRodney]

Thanks so sharing, we do the Southern route on the Breeze over Halloween.

[nybumpkin]

Back on the ship we found lunch. Usually when we’ve had an early back-on-board time we’ve found the lunch buffet mobbed – one time on Carnival Pride, we had to bring our lunches back to our cabin because we couldn’t find seats on the Lido Deck. While the buffet was crowded, that wasn’t the case this time.

 

 

Grand Turk Pier 2 by baxted, on Flickr

Grand Turk Pier

 

 

Grand Turk by baxted, on Flickr

Shoreline at Grand Turk. This is near Jack's Shack.

 

 

Leaving Grand Turk by baxted, on Flickr

Leaving Grand Turk behind. On to La Romana!

 

 

Tonight’s towel animal was an alligator, cleverly made from the blue beach towels.

 

 

Alligator towel animal by baxted, on Flickr

He looks very threatening.:p

[nybumpkin]

DH and I are sailing on the 8-day Southern Caribbean cruise on the Breeze the week of Thanksgiving. Thanks so much for your wonderful review and photos. Our 37th cruise, but first on the Breeze and looking forward to it. We live in Florida, but I was born and raised in Upstate New York....loved it.

Thank you! My sons are native Upstaters, but DH and I are transplants - he from Cleveland, me from South Jersey. We love Upstate.:cool:

[nybumpkin]

Thank you for your review and pictures! I am sailing the Breeze next month and am getting really excited :)

 

I am thinking of trying the ropes course, but still not sure lol!

You will have a great time - she's a very nice ship. As for the ropes course - it looks fairly tame. We were playing mini golf one morning, though, and one little girl had a meltdown halfway through the course. Her mother was with her, though, so she made it through.:)

[nybumpkin]

Our port time in La Romana was 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. We needed to be off the ship early to meet our tour, so we were up at 7 and had an early breakfast on Lido as we approached La Romana.

 

 

Flags at La Romana 2 by baxted, on Flickr

Flags flying from the main mast. Here you see the flag of the Dominican Republic (the red, white and blue cross), the flag of Panama, Breeze's country of registry; the Carnival Corporation house flag, the red flag with the white and blue circles; Quarantine, the yellow flag, which means the ship has not yet been cleared for debarkation; and Hotel, the red and white flag, which means that the port's pilot is aboard. I try to photograph the flags for each port, but I missed Grand Turk.

 

 

Estate at entrance to port by baxted, on Flickr

Estate at the entrance to the port. Complete with helipad.:eek:

 

 

La Romana cruise port 1 by baxted, on Flickr

Photo Op at the cruise port entrance.

[nybumpkin]

When I started researching activities I found Seavis Tours referenced in several places, with generally good reviews. I inquired about one particular tour, but was advised that with Carnival’s scheduled port time the tour would be too long. They suggested the “Saona Special,” a tour designed specifically for Carnival passengers. Several folks on social media had booked, and if each group reached 14 we could receive a 10% discount. We signed up with one group’s promo code and were booked. This tour involved taking a taxi (booked by Seavis) to Bayahibe Beach, where Seavis’ office is located. The taxis weren’t the easiest to navigate – the vans were overcrowded. The 19 YO ended up sharing his seat with a very cute twentysomething – it was fine for him, but I’m not sure how her boyfriend felt about it.

 

 

 

At Bayahibe, we checked in (both the tour and the taxi are cash only) and were assigned to a boat. One caution: the vendors are fairly aggressive here. A smile and “no, thank you” seem to work well, though.

 

 

After leaving Bayahibe, we motored along the Parque Nacional del Este to the Rocks of Penon, where the native Taino people lived.

 

 

 

La Romana Shoreline by baxted, on Flickr

Shoreline near Bayahibe.

 

 

 

Rocks of Penon 3 by baxted, on Flickr

Rocks of Penon.

 

 

 

Then we went at a high speed (well, for the most part – one of the outboards had issues) to Saona Island and Catuano Beach. We set up shop in four Adirondack chairs. You can swim and snorkel here, but this particular day the beach was loaded with seaweed. Our guide, Stefano (Italian, from Milan - he couldn’t find a job in Italy, saw an ad for being a guide in the Dominican Republic, and never looked back), explained that the seaweed amount varies – some days there’s none, other days there’s lots. Having spent childhood summers at the Jersey Shore, I completely understand. DH swam, but the rest of us hung out on the beach. The excursion came with a traditional Dominican lunch buffet, beer, rum punch, and sodas.

 

 

Catuano Beach 4 by baxted, on Flickr

Catuano Beach

 

 

Kathy and Coconut by baxted, on Flickr

Yours truly bought a coconut from a beach vendor. All of $3 and it was very refreshing. Youngest son loved it.

 

 

Catuano Beach 2 by baxted, on Flickr

The view from our Adirondack chairs under the palm trees.

 

 

Dominical lunch by baxted, on Flickr

Dominican lunch. Sorry for the half-eaten chicken - I don't do food porn well.

[nybumpkin]

After lunch we boarded the boats and motored along the coast to a mangrove area. Stefano explained that the mangroves offer natural protection from hurricanes, and when a storm is forecast the boats that are too large to bring onto land go out to the mangroves and raft together.

 

 

 

Mangroves 3 by baxted, on Flickr

Mangroves.

 

 

We then went to the “Piscina Natural,” a sandbar area where the water is very shallow. We had dessert there – cake, pineapple, and yes, more rum.

 

 

 

PIscina natural by baxted, on Flickr

You can see how shallow the water is here.

 

 

Boys and Starfish 2 by baxted, on Flickr

The boys and a starfish.

 

 

Boys 3 by baxted, on Flickr

The boys. Dad has a rum punch.

 

 

Then back to Bayahibe, where we boarded the same taxis we used in the morning, and headed back to the pier. All in all, a very good day.

 

 

La Romana cruise port by baxted, on Flickr

La Romana cruise port.

 

 

La Romana Towel Animal 2 by baxted, on Flickr

La Romana towel animal.

[maxwell'sparents]

Thank you for the pictures and comments on the Saona Special! DH and I have this tour booked on our Breeze cruise in 2 weeks.

[Jenner9]

Thanks for the pictures from the Saona Special. We are doing that tour as well. I hope the seaweed is not there when we go in January. What a disappointment! The water doesn't even look like you can swim in it!

 

Was it difficult to get in and out of the boat?

Edited July 20, 2015 by Jenner9

[nybumpkin]

Thanks for the pictures from the Saona Special. We are doing that tour as well. I hope the seaweed is not there when we go in January. What a disappointment! The water doesn't even look like you can swim in it!

 

Was it difficult to get in and out of the boat?

Getting in and out was very easy - and I'm not the most agile person! DH enjoyed the swimming, despite the seaweed. We liked the tour a lot.

[nybumpkin]

Thank you for the pictures and comments on the Saona Special! DH and I have this tour booked on our Breeze cruise in 2 weeks.

Have a great cruise!

[nybumpkin]

Another new port for us. However, our port time was 1 p.m. to 10 p.m., so the morning was a lot like a sea day for us – Lido breakfast (not at all crowded – seems as if everyone decided to stay in bed this morning), coffee, and gin rummy. We had lunch aboard the ship. This was a “non-bathing suit” day – at this point, I think we were tired of the bathing suits and the suits were tired of us. We opted for a walking tour of Willemstad, then came back to the ship for dinner.

 

 

Flags 2 by baxted, on Flickr

Today's ship flags. It was a windy day - in fact, we couldn't have breakfast in the open Lido area. Everything just blew around.

 

 

Queen Juliana Bridge by baxted, on Flickr

Arriving in Willemstad.

 

 

 

Willemstad and port by baxted, on Flickr

The dock, Willemstad behind.

 

 

Willemstad pilot by baxted, on Flickr

Willemstad pilot.

 

 

Cruise port. by baxted, on Flickr

Tour buses lined up.

[nybumpkin]

Once off the ship, we picked up a map at the information desk. We walked past some very expensive shops over to Rif Fort. This is a 19th century fort at the entrance to the St. Anna Bay; it was no longer needed in the 20th century (although it was armed with machine guns during WWII) and is now a shopping area. It’s very well done and a pleasant place to visit.

 

 

Breeze from waterfront by baxted, on Flickr

Breeze as seen from the Willemstad waterfront.

 

 

Walk from port to Rif Fort by baxted, on Flickr

Shopping area en route to Rif Fort.

 

 

Entrance to Rif Fort by baxted, on Flickr

Entrance to Rif Fort

 

 

At Rif Fort by baxted, on Flickr

Family at Rif Fort

 

 

Rif Fort by baxted, on Flickr

Historic plaque.

 

 

Inside Rif Fort by baxted, on Flickr

Inside Rif Fort. Nice dining and shopping, and nice harbor views.

[nybumpkin]

Once out of the fort, we walked over to the Queen Emma pedestrian bridge, which dates from 1888. The bridge is built on pontoons and swings open on a hinge to allow ships to pass. It’s powered by two diesel engines with propellers. When we arrived, the bridge was already open, awaiting a large freighter entering the harbor. They do operate a ferry when the bridge is open (it can be open a long time), but by the time we arrived the ferry had stopped operating so as not to get in the way of the freighter. Once the freighter was past the bridge closed, and we walked over to the Punda section of Willemstad (Rif Fort and the cruise pier are in the Otrobanda section).

 

Willemstad 2 by baxted, on Flickr

Willemstad, Punda waterfront.

 

Queen Emma Pontoon Bridge by baxted, on Flickr

Queen Emma pontoon bridge.

 

Bridge pontoon by baxted, on Flickr

Pontoon close-up/

 

Pontoon Bridge closing 2 by baxted, on Flickr

Bridge swinging closed.

[nybumpkin]

We stopped at a waterfront café for drinks (draft Heineken, in my case) and snacks. I had Bitterballen, a meat/flour/spices mixture that is rolled in a breadcrumb mixture and deep fried. I like to try local food, and this dish is pretty much limited to the ABC islands, Suriname, the Netherlands, and Belgium. The boys weren’t quite as adventurous.

 

 

 

Boys in downtown Willemstad by baxted, on Flickr

Boys on the waterfront, Punda. Cafe is behind.

 

 

 

Boys at sidewalk cafe by baxted, on Flickr

DH and I have the Heineken. The boys have Coca-Cola.

 

 

Bitterballen and beer by baxted, on Flickr

Bitterballen and Heineken.

 

 

 

Afterward, we walked over to the floating market, then back past Fort Amsterdam.

 

 

Must be a fun place! by baxted, on Flickr

The Openbaar Ministrie - Must be a fun place to work!

 

 

Prosecutor's office by baxted, on Flickr

Ministry of Justice. Not sure of the history of the building, though.

 

 

Fort Amsterdam by baxted, on Flickr

Fort Amsterdam

[nybumpkin]

Afterward, we walked over to the floating market, then back past Fort Amsterdam, across the Queen Emma bridge, and back to the ship. We didn’t go out after dinner, although this port provides that opportunity and Willemstad is very pretty lit up at night.

 

 

Walking over pontoon bridge by baxted, on Flickr

Walking across the Queen Emma bridge.

 

 

 

Willemstad at night 2 by baxted, on Flickr

Willemstad at night.

 

 

Willemstad at night 3 by baxted, on Flickr

Leaving the cruise port (yes, I shot this through a window;)).

 

 

Towel animal Curacao by baxted, on Flickr

Tonight's towel animal.

[nybumpkin]

Our port time for Aruba was 8-4. Again we needed to be off the ship early to get a taxi to our excursion, so we awoke before 7 and had breakfast on Lido. The towel animals were having a party.

 

 

Towel animal takeover 1 by baxted, on Flickr

Should I call them chair hogs??:p

 

 

Towel animal takeover 5 by baxted, on Flickr

 

 

Towel animal takeover 4 by baxted, on Flickr

 

 

Aruba Flags 1 by baxted, on Flickr

Main mast flags - Arriving in Aruba

[nybumpkin]

Here are some photos of our arrival in Aruba.

 

Aruba port by baxted, on Flickr

Where we're docked.

 

Freewinds by baxted, on Flickr

This is Freewinds. She's owned by a company run by the Church of Scientology for education programs.

 

We disembarked the ship right around 8:00.

[nybumpkin]

We booked a Jolly Pirates snorkel tour based on some really good reviews. In fact, when we were flying into FLL on Southwest the airline magazine had a feature of top tours in the Caribbean – and Aruba was represented by Jolly Pirates. Once off the ship, we needed to get a taxi to MooMba Beach, where Jolly Pirates is located. Taxis were easy to find at the port and we arrived in MooMba Beach in short order. Once there we signed in and were assigned a boat. Jolly Pirates sails two 38-foot schooners decked out as pirate ships. Once aboard, you’re given snorkel gear and an introduction to your crew. We did the 9 am-1 pm tour, which includes three snorkel stops, lunch, and open bar.

 

 

PIers in Aruba by baxted, on Flickr

Piers at MooMba Beach.

 

 

Jolly Pirate at anchor by baxted, on Flickr

One of the Jolly Pirates boats, awaiting our arrival.

 

 

Jolly Pirate forward mast by baxted, on Flickr

Forward mast, sails hoisted. These boats sail very well.

 

 

California Lighthouse by baxted, on Flickr

California Lighthouse.

 

 

The first snorkel stop was the wreck of the WWII German ship Antilla. This ship was scuttled in 1940 after Germany invaded the Netherlands. The water here is about 60 feet deep; we were warned ahead of time that this can be a difficult stop unless you’re a strong swimmer due to the depth and the currents. We opted not to go out, but DH later regretted that decision – those who did snorkel had great views of the wreck. (A work colleague told me after we returned that he and his wife did this excursion on their honeymoon. This guy is a strong swimmer, having swum competitively in college, and not only went out, but also dived down to the wreck, cutting his leg in the process. The crew wasn’t happy with him.) Second stop was Boca Catalina, about 12-14 feet deep and very calm. It’s an easy snorkel and all four of us went in. (Sorry, no underwater photos – no underwater camera with us.) Third stop was Malmok, fairly close to the shore. Dh and youngest son swam over to the rocks along the shore and were rewarded with a lot of sea life.

 

 

Doug Snorkeling by baxted, on Flickr

DH snorkeling.

[nybumpkin]

After snorkeling, we anchored close to shore where a catering truck brought lunch out. In the photos you see a launch being towed behind the schooners – the crew uses the launch to retrieve lunch. It was very good – grilled chicken and ribs, potato salad, plantain, rice and beans, and fresh fruit.

 

 

Lunchtime at Jolly Pirates by baxted, on Flickr

Lunch spot. The launch is being towed.

 

 

Aruba snorkel stop by baxted, on Flickr

Aruba shoreline

 

 

Steve with the rigging by baxted, on Flickr

Steve up on the bow.

 

 

 

After lunch the crew rigged the rope swing off the forward end of the boat. We had a lot of people doing multiple jumps with the swing, although we opted not to jump. (I was trying to dry off after all the snorkeling.)

 

 

 

Matt on Jolly Pirate by baxted, on Flickr

Matt on deck. The folks next to him were in line for the rope swing.

 

 

Jolly Pirate Rope Swing by baxted, on Flickr

Folks enjoying the rope swing.

 

 

Then back to MooMba Beach. We needed to get a taxi back to the cruise port, so we walked over to one of the resorts (probably the most swank Holiday Inn I’ve ever seen) to ask the doorman to call a cab.

[nybumpkin]

Oranjestad by baxted, on Flickr

Leaving Oranjestad. The crowds and the buses are gone.

 

 

Aruba Pilot 7 by baxted, on Flickr

Aruba Pilot.

 

 

Leaving Aruba by baxted, on Flickr

Aruba Shoreline.

 

 

 

 

The past guest party for Diamond and Platinum cruisers was held at 5:15 in the Limelighter Lounge. Even with the limited past guests it was still crowded. Run for Cover! was the band entertaining us and Dr. E does a mean version of Tina Turner singing “Proud Mary.”

 

 

Dr. E as Tina Turner by baxted, on Flickr

Dr. E as Tina Turner. Sorry the picture isn't better, but it was quite the show!:D

 

 

After dinner this evening, DH was too tired to do much of anything – so I tried to go to Percy Crews’ 10:00 comedy show. As I mentioned before, I got there early and it was standing room only. Oh, well. I like Percy but figured I’d find something that offered a seat. Instead, I went to Ocean Plaza, where Run for Cover was performing. They’re a really good group, and I stayed for two sets.

 

 

Aruba towel animal 2 by baxted, on Flickr

Tonight's towel animal.