MITSUGIRLY lets the BREEZE flow through her hair-Spring Break Review/Pictorial

[Bluemoon319]

WEDNESDAY-ST KITTS

 

This was booked using PEREIRA TOURS and the cost was $15pp. It sounded like a great deal to me and we went for it.

 

 

Yes, that was indeed a great deal. I'll be doing the same thing in a couple of months, but not as a group booking. The price is almost double that for us.

[mitsugirly]

This sounds like the lady that we had there in 2014. She was a bit older and seemed so unhappy...with everything! If I recall correctly, she didn't get a tip from us either.

 

 

 

I've wondered the exact same thing about Sunset Beach in Montego Bay, Jamaica. I love how open and breezy it is, but I'd hate to have to be there during or even after a hurricane. :eek:

 

Yep, this lady was older and just seemed very unhappy all around.

 

Yes, we have been there to Sunset and you're right, it's set up the same way (only bigger than this place was). It's very pretty like that though. I wonder if they have anything they pull down to protect it the best they can. :eek:

 

Funny you mentioned a land vacation...you know how when you read reviews on CC you feel like you know the family - my family and I went to Akumal Mexico in January. I found a beautiful 2bed/2bath condo at tao inspired living resort for $100 a night on vrbo. We flew into Cancun (southwest flies there) rented a car and it was about an 1 hour 15 min drive to the resort. We stopped in Playa on the way to go to Walmart to load up on some supplies. Tao is part of the Grand Bahia Principe Resort - so we had access to all of their facilities - except their food - that would have been extra. The beach at Akumal is supposed to have excellent snorkling (we're not snorklers or spellers!) and the condo had an infinity pool. We ate breakfast in the condo but ate lunch and dinner out at the very inexpensive restaurants in the town of akumal. one place we ate at several times - 3 shrimp and avocado tacos' date=' rice and beans and a coke - $3.50. Anyway - I thought of your family when I was on this trip. It was different than a cruise but it was a good different. Just something to think about...[/quote']

 

 

EXACTLY...we fly SW and have been looking into a Cancun trip since that's where they go. I have spent many days and hours on vrbo and found some awesome places. This is exactly what I think my family needs. Although Sakari has been asking about "when is our next cruise?" at least 10 times since we have returned (including today actually), I really wonder if she's getting a little burned out and that is the cause for her to not want to do as much on the ship now. If it doesn't involve swimming or water, she don't want to do it most of the time. I think maybe she just thinks this is the only way to get to the ocean and beach or something. By doing a land vacation, it would be a beach day every day and I know she would be in heaven. So, we might just try it out.

 

Did you like the place you stayed at? I wouldn't mind getting more info about it to check it out. Sounds like a good deal if it's still on vrbo. :)

[mitsugirly]

Yes, that was indeed a great deal. I'll be doing the same thing in a couple of months, but not as a group booking. The price is almost double that for us.

 

 

The price is double for??? To just take a cab or are you talking about a tour?

[stevefrisco]

I really like your husband's shorts/trunks from St. Kitts. Did he buy them recently and if so where? I'm in Columbus so hopefully some place local or online!

[mitsugirly]

I really like your husband's shorts/trunks from St. Kitts. Did he buy them recently and if so where? I'm in Columbus so hopefully some place local or online!

 

 

Are you referring to the Zoo York swim shorts? They have a built in bottle opener too. :D Nope, I'm pretty sure you won't be able to find them. He got them back in 2009 when he first opened his shop and when they came in he liked them so much he kept them for himself instead of putting them in the store. LOL

[mitsugirly]

APRIL 3-GETTING OFF THE SHIP AND FT LAUDERDALE DAY.

 

I have people ask me all the time how I keep track of what we do daily. Well, I have always taken a notebook with me and at the end of the day I jot down things before going to bed. What I can't remember from the day, my pictures should help piece things together. Let's be honest, my mind has been going for years and I'm lucky to remember what I had for dinner last night.

 

This time around I decided I would try using my "notes" feature on my eye-phone. I mean I would have it on me "most" of the time (talking to my kids back home, sending them jealousy pictures, checking my social media and our roll call postings), and I figured if I have my phone on me, why not use that as my notebook.

 

Then we might as well factor in that you can also just speak right into the phone and it will do all the typing for you. How much easier can this get? I know technology has taken over the world and has managed to make us all lazy, but if it's going to make it easier on me to take notes and get back to the funship, I'm all for it. Not to mention, my eyes are not good these days and for me to try to hit the right button on my phone and it spell corrects it to something totally different than I wanted, I have failed. Speaking comes much easier for me...unless I have had a few drinks. Then all bets are off.

 

However, I do struggle with the last day of the cruise...as in debarkation day. I ALWAYS forget to take any notes. It's always rush rush rush and I can't wait to get home, get the laundry done and put away and get settled in. I always think "pssh, it's the last day, I'll remember". Well honestly, I don't remember it all and it's probably the day I take the least amount of pictures. By then, I have been all over the ship, I have done everything I'm going to do, and what more is there to see right?

 

I need to get better at this because now I only have pictures to go off of from here on out.

 

On to our last day...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Just because it's the last day, and I'm in no hurry to get off this beautiful ship, doesn't mean that the galley is going to give me a break. Lot's of banging and clanging going on and I was up by 6:50 at least, according to my pictures.

 

We were "parked" already, but it was still dark out.

 

 

 

 

 

I headed upstairs to see what the weather was like and to get a few more pictures.

 

 

 

Daylight was quickly approaching.

 

 

 

All the boats in the marina were so pretty.

 

 

 

 

I woke the family up and I snapped a few more pictures from our balcony before heading in to the buffet.

 

 

 

[Bluemoon319]

 

I'm a nurse. :D I'm a Private Home Health Nurse and absolutely love it. After working 30+ years in the hospital and the ER (not as a nurse all those years), I could never picture my life doing anything else. Then I got this job and 4 months after having it, quit working for the hospital. You honestly can't beat it. I work 2-3 hours a day, do my charting from home, pick my own patients, have everyone within a 5 mile radius of each other (and me) and make about 3x the amount those at the hospital do (at least in my area). There's no standing on my feet for 12 hour shifts, no one supervising me and I get to know my wonderful patients and they become a part of my life (as I do theirs). I can't imagine it any other way now. It's an amazing job (if only it wasn't for the company I subcontract off of, I would have the perfect job). :) But...another great factor, since I'm my own employer...I can vacation ANY time I want to. :D Mitsugirly=winning!

 

 

Wow, that's a great deal! Home nursing jobs are nothing like that where I live. I did that for about 10 years & also loved it, but I ended up putting in at least 100 miles/day (had to cover a huge territory), worked about 60-70 hrs/wk, and didn't make any more than when I worked ICU/CCU.

[I'manewbie]

I don't know how to send a private message - here is the place we stayed at https://www.vrbo.com/4049977ha

 

It is part of the Grand Bahia Principe which is an all inclusive (and for the week we stayed would have been around $4k for our family of 4) we stayed at the Tao condo for $100 a night,( the condo owner had wrist bands for us to wear when we wanted to cross the road to the AI part of the resort)and was allowed the use of the beach and pools at GBP - i think GBP charged $75 pp/per day if we wanted to go on their meal plan. We declined that offer because we had a car and really enjoyed going out and finding restaurants in the little town of akumal. We also drove up to Playa del Carmen (about 30 min drive) a couple of nights to walk on 5th ave, eat dinner and people watch. From Playa you can get a ferry to Cozumel. Tripadvisor's akumal has a pretty active akumal board and there is a webcam i used to be obsessed with which is right in front of the Lo Hai restaurant - you can see the snorkle class meet and head out into the water.

 

PS - i think the GBP has a kid's club but i don't know if the condo renters can use it. They also have a casino. I guess it's like a ship on dry land!

 

https://www.locogringo.com/akumal-beach-webcam

Edited April 25, 2016 by I'manewbie
added a link

[I'manewbie]

Doing a little more research - found this info on another condo's listing

 

https://www.vrbo.com/728622

Fancy a 5 star pamper day? For just $59 per person (under 12's half price) become a day-guest at the Gran Bahia Principe resort: Breakfast, lunch and dinner in any of the resort's restaurants, use of the resort facilities, kids club, activities, shows, tennis, sports zone and Hacienda Doña Isabel (disco and bars) - Alcohol is included (Purchase day-passes from the Hotel at any time)

 

 

So maybe the price to become a full day-guest fluctuates by the season idk? I kind of remember it being $75 pp - our "kids" are 25 and 18 so the 4 of us would have to do the adult rate and that just wasn't in the budget - but it might work out for you guys.

[mitsugirly]

A few more while I wait for the family to get ready.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Up to breakfast for our usual. Thank goodness for cooked eggs and bacon, even though it's the last day and a lot of people are trying to hurry and eat and get off the ship, they still manage to cook the food right! Kudos Carnival.

 

 

 

 

 

When we booked this cruise, we were really struggling with our flights home. SW would not have anything open at all some days and we were planning on just staying over night and heading home the next day. Then something would open. Then it would be an outrageous price. FINALLY we found something with a decent price (even though we don't pay for airfare, 2 of us still have to use points while the other is free, so it still matters).

 

The only issue is, the flight was not until after 9pm. What the heck are we going to do all day? That would be the latest I had ever waited on a plane to depart. I can't imagine just sitting at the airport all day. So we took to the boards here at cc for suggestions. I thought about an excursion, but didn't read rave reviews on the everglades tour and nixed that idea. I heard about the ferry. Nah, what would I do with my luggage? I'm not hauling that around. I checked into the ship transporting my luggage, that didn't work either because of the time frame.

 

So, the idea of renting a car was about the only option for us if we wanted to do anything at all and have the luxury of not being on any time frame.

 

So although we weren't in a "big" hurry to get off the ship because we had all day, we still kinda wanted to get to the airport to get our rental before the lines got too long...or whatever happens there. Idk, I have never rented a car from an airport and it's been years since I have rented a car in town for any trips. But that's what we decided would be best for us.

 

We wasn't really sure what time we were supposed to get called off but we were listening for the number instead of the color. I approached a worker who said we could have gotten off awhile back and off we went at 8:50am.

 

 

 

 

When we got down to get our luggage, there was mass confusion on my part. I had no idea where to start looking. This was not like anything I had ever experienced and since we knew that our luggage probably came down awhile ago, it had probably circled several times and then got mixed in with additional luggage from later times. But they had conveyor belts like at the airport. I had never seen anything like this at any other port or cruise line and it was strange to me.

 

We would later find that we were standing at the wrong "belt" to begin with.

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

The process of getting out of customs must have not been too long because we made it out of the terminal and onto the Thrifty shuttle by 9:29am and were on our way to the airport. This is a free shuttle from the cruise port to the airport.

 

 

 

 

Sakari made a "stick" animal while waiting on the shuttle.

 

 

 

Now like I said, I had never rented a car from the airport before so this was all new to me. I had no idea places within the airport existed like this. Like it's a whole other world within the airport.

 

They even come equipped with watch pigeons.

 

 

 

 

We checked in and we were told to "go this way and just pick a car, the keys are in the car" and pointed out into this huge parking garage.

 

The hubby immediately went for a turbo car. LOL

 

 

 

 

 

 

We put the address in for our destination on our phone and checked out, then we were on our way.

 

Now I do have to mention that when we were at the rental place, they ask, no wait, they "encouraged" us to add on the "toll package" because that way we could just zoom by the tolls in the fast lane and in the end, it would be cheaper than paying for the tolls. Also, they told us that the tolls would not take cash or credit cards. Um...then what do they take? I'm confused. So, we figured what the heck, why not.

 

So...on to the tolls...there were NOT any tolls. Jerks. They totally ripped us off! They new we were going to FLL airport and obviously knew that we would not encounter any tolls.

 

Next thing. When I booked this car, I booked on line and the total price for the day from 10am-8pm from Miami to FLL for drop off was $42.12. I had to pay $25.71 down and had a remaining of $16.41 due at the time of pick up. So add the $25 for tolls (I believe it was), my total should have been around $41 right? When I turned the car in, they gave me my receipt and I didn't notice until later that they had charged me $80 ($79 and some change) once it was turned in. I have no idea where this extra cost came in and what about the $25.71 I had already put down? That means I paid $100 for the rental of this car for only (actually) 8 hours!! I have no idea what just happened, but it totally pissed me off when I got home and discovered this. Anyone else have this happen before?

 

So we drove to FLL and we had made plans to go to the Museum of Discovery for the day. We have a place here something like this (called COSI-Center of Science and Industry) and Sakari loves in there. We figured this was something like it.

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

We went to the window to purchase our tickets and would discover that if you are a Bank of America card holder, you could get your tickets for free!! I had no idea and didn't remember reading anything about this online on their site. I actually have 3 BOA cards, but left all but 1 in the car and I wasn't about to walk back over to the parking garage just to get it and stand back in line again. So, we managed to at least get 1 ticket free. Adults are $15 and children are $13.

 

The place wasn't open quite yet (opened at noon on Sunday) and we sat around waiting. Sakari discovered some little critters were running around and she was super excited about it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well this would have been cool...had it actually worked and was up and running.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

OK EVERYONE...CHECK THIS OUT....

 

[cincicruisers]

Awesome review again, Thanks for sharing.

[Bluemoon319]

I'm so glad you gave such a detailed review of your day in St. Kitts, thank-you. I am headed there in July and after reading some very positive comments about Liz, I was planning to book with her. I'll definitely be looking for someone different now thanks to you & mona_canada. I'm sorry that you all had this bad experience. If it's any consolation, at least you were able to prevent others from making the same bad mistake.

 

 

That is Liz of Pereira tours. We had a very similar experience to your group. We also had a big group, and it was very disorganized & long (over 45 minutes) to get going. We had air conditioned vans & one broke down, so we sat on the side of the road for another 45 minutes. We went to Romney Manor, & but that sounds like the only difference, & it cost of $40. The people from our roll call that just got a transfer got charged $20 in February. I hope that your roll call reviews the tours to help others. There are way too many positive reviews, when this seems to be the norm.

[TexasRed]

We are going on the Breeze in July, and after hearing about your pots and pans wake ups, I am wondering if I made the right choice. Our cove balcony looks like it is under the guest services area, may I ask whereabouts your cabin was?

 

On your next cruise, have Sakari wear a t-shirt and shorts to bed the last night, if you forget to lay something out, at least she will be dressed enough to walk off the ship. We used to do a lot of road trips when our kids were little, and would be on the road by 5 or 6 am. The kids wore regular shorts and tshirts, or sweats in the winter, so when we got them up before dawn they were already dressed but comfy.

[Bluemoon319]

 

After my shower, I checked outside of the rooms and seen that the luggage was picked up already. I looked around the room one last time and then discovered it.....!!!!!!

 

Son of a gun )*^$$%$(&)*&^??<<!!!! Sakari's clothes had been packed and she has nothing to wear tomorrow other than the underwear she has on!!! What the heck was I thinking??? Well, I'll tell you what I was thinking. I wasn't sure exactly what to leave out...for anyone actually. I knew it was going to be hot out and we should keep shorts out. But, we were going home to Ohio where it's cold out and we needed pants. However, we were spending the entire day in FLL after getting off the ship and it would be hot out. Sigh. I remember I couldn't make up my mind what to leave out and then I started day dreaming out the window and then would later drift my way out to the balcony and completely forgot about it. Sigh!

 

I got dressed, ran down the hall, yelled for the luggage guys and frantically explained the situation. I spotted two of our luggage and begged to please look in them for something for my daughter to wear. I can only imagine what they were saying about me. They started talking to each other in another language. Just like any other circumstance, when you are looking for something frantically, you'll never find it. I swear I looked in both luggage and couldn't find one thing for her to wear, whether it be dirty or clean.

 

I kept searching and found the other luggage going down on the elevator and stopped him. Grabbed the luggage, threw it down on the ground and started looking. I was desperate! Of course the only thing I could find was probably the dirtiest outfit from the entire week. A dress that had chocolate ice cream stains on it all up and down the front. Now Sakari is not a messy eater and this would be the one day that her ice cream melted on her dress because she made it too big for her little mouth and it was just so hot outside that she couldn't keep up with it melting. Ugh! Well, it will have to do. She's not going to be happy about it in the morning. But, tis life.

 

I held my head down in shame and went back to the room, took my melatonin and told the hubby I didn't want to talk about it. Off to bed we went.

 

 

 

OMG, that's terrible!!! And I'm sure all the shops were closed by then too. I would have been freaking out. The person giving the debarkation speech always warns about this & gives an example of someone that forgot to leave out clothes for the next morning. I always though that was just a story. I guess it really does happen. I'm so glad that you were able to get something out of your luggage for Sakari. It may have not been clean, but at least it was clothing.

 

 

Tomorrow I'm having an extreme eye exam to have surgery on one of my eyes. So, I can not wear my glasses or contacts at all tomorrow so that my eyes will not be adjusted to that vision and I will end up with dilation of my eyes as well. Since this appointment is in the afternoon, I'm not sure how long it will be before they return to normal. I know in the past just during dilation, they say it should be back in about a hour or so, but mine have always lasted for hours and hours.

 

 

I hope all goes well. I'll say some prayers for you.

[dltvermont]

Thanks for the great review!

 

After seeing your problems in St Kitts, Im kind of dreading that now! Im not doing a tour, but taking a taxi to the beach. After your experience with the guy in the lot trying to lie to you to get you in his car.........guess my normal suspicion of everyone will need to kick into overdrive!

 

Side note, Im betting the extra cost on your rental was because you dropped it off at a different place than you picked it up. They tack on HUGE charges for this.

[luv2trvlnow]

We are going on the Breeze in July, and after hearing about your pots and pans wake ups, I am wondering if I made the right choice. Our cove balcony looks like it is under the guest services area, may I ask whereabouts your cabin was?

 

On your next cruise, have Sakari wear a t-shirt and shorts to bed the last night, if you forget to lay something out, at least she will be dressed enough to walk off the ship. We used to do a lot of road trips when our kids were little, and would be on the road by 5 or 6 am. The kids wore regular shorts and tshirts, or sweats in the winter, so when we got them up before dawn they were already dressed but comfy.

 

You should be OK under guest services. mitsugirly had cabin 2441 which is under the galley. There are lots of pots and pans that need cleaning in the galley. Don't remember seeing those in Guest Services. :) ;) And Guest Services should be pretty quiet at night.

[mitsugirly]

Awesome review again, Thanks for sharing.

 

 

Thanks and glad you enjoyed it.

 

I'm so glad you gave such a detailed review of your day in St. Kitts, thank-you. I am headed there in July and after reading some very positive comments about Liz, I was planning to book with her. I'll definitely be looking for someone different now thanks to you & mona_canada. I'm sorry that you all had this bad experience. If it's any consolation, at least you were able to prevent others from making the same bad mistake.

 

 

 

You're welcome and I hope you have a good experience in St Kitts and a good cruise. :)

[mitsugirly]

We are going on the Breeze in July, and after hearing about your pots and pans wake ups, I am wondering if I made the right choice. Our cove balcony looks like it is under the guest services area, may I ask whereabouts your cabin was?

 

On your next cruise, have Sakari wear a t-shirt and shorts to bed the last night, if you forget to lay something out, at least she will be dressed enough to walk off the ship. We used to do a lot of road trips when our kids were little, and would be on the road by 5 or 6 am. The kids wore regular shorts and tshirts, or sweats in the winter, so when we got them up before dawn they were already dressed but comfy.

 

Being under guest services should be ok. We were under the galley.

 

Sakari will not wear clothes to bed at all. She wouldn't wear clothes daily if you'd let her, so having her wear something to bed would be out of the question. She's a sweater. :p I'll just have to be extra careful next time.

 

You should be OK under guest services. mitsugirly had cabin 2441 which is under the galley. There are lots of pots and pans that need cleaning in the galley. Don't remember seeing those in Guest Services. :) ;) And Guest Services should be pretty quiet at night.

 

 

Yep :D

[mitsugirly]

OMG, that's terrible!!! And I'm sure all the shops were closed by then too. I would have been freaking out. The person giving the debarkation speech always warns about this & gives an example of someone that forgot to leave out clothes for the next morning. I always though that was just a story. I guess it really does happen. I'm so glad that you were able to get something out of your luggage for Sakari. It may have not been clean, but at least it was clothing.

 

 

I hope all goes well. I'll say some prayers for you.

 

I guess I have never paid attention to the debarkation speech before. :p Maybe I should start. LOL Yea, I don't believe anything was open that late. I don't believe they have clothes small enough for kids either. :( Thanks for the prayers.

 

 

 

Thanks for the great review!

 

After seeing your problems in St Kitts, Im kind of dreading that now! Im not doing a tour, but taking a taxi to the beach. After your experience with the guy in the lot trying to lie to you to get you in his car.........guess my normal suspicion of everyone will need to kick into overdrive!

 

Side note, Im betting the extra cost on your rental was because you dropped it off at a different place than you picked it up. They tack on HUGE charges for this.

 

You should be fine just taking a cab. Our problem was the big group and organization. Grabbing a car on my own is what I'll do in the future.

 

 

No, there wasn't any extra charges for dropping it off at a different location. I verified that during booking so that I would know for sure. Some companies will charge that and others won't. This is one that didn't charge the fee.

[SooNet]

No, there wasn't any extra charges for dropping it off at a different location. I verified that during booking so that I would know for sure. Some companies will charge that and others won't. This is one that didn't charge the fee.

 

Was there a charge for gas used? We didn't fill the tank completely when we returned our car to the airport in Fort Lauderdale and I didn't notice until after that they charged us the top up fee which happens to be almost double what a gas station charges. It was upsetting considering we had picked it up and it was already at 3/4 and I thought we returned it at the same amount. I guess the moral of the story is leave plenty of time to verify your receipt at drop off. Those people are so quick and pretty much ignore you when you return the vehicle.

[crewsweeper]

 

You are very welcome. Why is it too cold at Dawn's Beach? Wouldn't the water be the same as Divi?

 

Water temperature is in DW's head.:D If it's 70 degrees air and the fitness club's pool is 83, it's too cold for her to swim.

 

I think it comes from all our time in LA where the ocean temps don't ever really warm up. For example, I could have used water mittens along with my wet suit in a late May triathlon back in the 80s. Took me 25 miles on the bike before I felt my hands.:eek:

[mistycruiser]

I suspect it was for gas. We were in Houston in January and rented a car. I kept telling hubby even if it was only $1.00 we needed to top off the gas. When we returned the car they wanted a receipt for gas purchased. And since we didn't have one they charged us for a full tank of gas. Next time he rented a car I didn't have to remind him. LOL.

[Tyskie]

There is a drop off fee if you rent from one airport & leave car at another. They don't always tell you that [emoji57]

Edited April 27, 2016 by Tyskie