Help with Breeze Cruise

Hi everyone! it is 2015 cruise planning time here, and we are caught between two Breeze itineraries. The first one is an Eastern to St. Thomas, St. Maarten, Antigua, and Nassau. The other one is the Southern to Grand Turk, La Romana, Dominican Republic, Curacao, and Aruba. Does anyone have any insight on either of these itineraries, and/or what one we should choose? We are a family of four, and might be adding some more family to go with us.

Thanks!:):)

Done both on the Breeze and loved them. Do the southern. It's not always offered

Completely agree with the above comment. Do the southern. The ports are less common. We are doing that Breeze itinerary 8/1 :)

I would do the Southern. It is a more rare itinerary. The Eastern is still a good one (besides the lame Nassau), but there are plenty of chances to go to those ports.

Southern is the best

Go with the Southern. :):)

Ditto! Southern one hands down

If money isn't an option do the south. I wanted to do that one, but with my kids it was $600 more, so we decided to do the cheaper one.

Hi everyone! it is 2015 cruise planning time here, and we are caught between two Breeze itineraries. The first one is an Eastern to St. Thomas, St. Maarten, Antigua, and Nassau. The other one is the Southern to Grand Turk, La Romana, Dominican Republic, Curacao, and Aruba. Does anyone have any insight on either of these itineraries, and/or what one we should choose? We are a family of four, and might be adding some more family to go with us.

Thanks!:):)

While I would prefer the Southern, been there quite a bit recently, and heading back, I think depending upon ages of kids the eastern may be better. You have to do research on La Romana as its beautiful but many people stay on ship due to safety concerns. Curaçao typically ports at 1pm so time is short as there is nothing to do in Curaçao after 6pm except a few dinner places. Like a previous poster said all ports are great minus Nassau in my opinion.

While I would prefer the Southern, been there quite a bit recently, and heading back, I think depending upon ages of kids the eastern may be better. You have to do research on La Romana as its beautiful but many people stay on ship due to safety concerns. Curaçao typically ports at 1pm so time is short as there is nothing to do in Curaçao after 6pm except a few dinner places. Like a previous poster said all ports are great minus Nassau in my opinion.

Our boys are 13 year old boys, both love planes ( Airplane Beach) I don't know if they would prefer Southern or Eastern!

Our boys are 13 year old boys, both love planes ( Airplane Beach) I don't know if they would prefer Southern or Eastern!

If they like planes I would take them to the beach in St Maarten that they fly low over you. Would truly be an experience for them.

If they like planes I would take them to the beach in St Maarten that they fly low over you. Would truly be an experience for them.

That is what we were thinking. And we also want to go to Antigua. Despite what others said, we are probably going Eastern.:)

We were just on the Breeze last week (May 9th - 17th) for the 8 day Southern Caribbean itin. Not sure what Coopdog meant about safety concerns in La Romana. I suppose if you go out on your own, you might have some problems. We booked an excursion with a large group and had no problems. In Curacao, after we got back from our excursion, we browsed through the street vendors' shops before going back on the ship to take showers and get ready for dinner. We had a cove balcony, port side, and at about 9:30 p.m., we stood out on our balcony to see if there would be any dock runners (since everyone had to be back on board by 9:30). Our cabin was close to the gangway, so we had a great view. Sure enough, shortly before 10:00, a car pulled up, and the driver helped a young man and three young women, all very intoxicated, get out of the car. One of the young women was so drunk that she had to be helped up the gangway. Aruba was our favorite port. We really had a great time there. We booked the North Coast Jeep Safari (Carnival excursion) and had a blast! I would highly recommend it to anyone. If you're planning on any beach time in any of the ports, I would strongly recommend wearing beach shoes (or water shoes). The beach areas out in the water can be somewhat rocky. All in all, a really good itinerary.

We were just on the Breeze last week (May 9th - 17th) for the 8 day Southern Caribbean itin. Not sure what Coopdog meant about safety concerns in La Romana. I suppose if you go out on your own, you might have some problems. We booked an excursion with a large group and had no problems. In Curacao, after we got back from our excursion, we browsed through the street vendors' shops before going back on the ship to take showers and get ready for dinner. We had a cove balcony, port side, and at about 9:30 p.m., we stood out on our balcony to see if there would be any dock runners (since everyone had to be back on board by 9:30). Our cabin was close to the gangway, so we had a great view. Sure enough, shortly before 10:00, a car pulled up, and the driver helped a young man and three young women, all very intoxicated, get out of the car. One of the young women was so drunk that she had to be helped up the gangway. Aruba was our favorite port. We really had a great time there. We booked the North Coast Jeep Safari (Carnival excursion) and had a blast! I would highly recommend it to anyone. If you're planning on any beach time in any of the ports, I would strongly recommend wearing beach shoes (or water shoes). The beach areas out in the water can be somewhat rocky. All in all, a really good itinerary.

As I said La Romana is beautiful, been there twice and headed back again in few weeks. And like I said if you do your research you will find out it is beautiful. Yes, if you read the many many posts on CC you will find out there are many many people concerned about safety in La Romana. Just letting the OP know that many have there concerns as she was trying to decide upon a cruise which includes kids.

BTW, I don't think I have ever seen a rock at any beach in Aruba or Curaçao just nice fluffy sand... Now Bonaire and GT I would recommend shoes although GT has dumped a lot of sand in the water recently and it's not nearly as rocky as before.

If it were up to me, I would take the Southern, but that is based on where I have and have not been, and the ones I still want to go to. BUT... St. Maarten is super awesome if you like planes...

See my video below for an example. That was just a few of the planes in the few short hours I was there.

I would agree with the So itinerary. Odd thing is that Aruba and Curaçao are more desert-like than one may expect. Beaches and off shore (diving and fishing) are great....but the islands themselves are rather dry.

We were driving around Aruba and it seemed like it was Vegas with the dirt/rock front yards.

Curaçao is great. Looking into gong there for a land holiday.

Enjoy your cruise!!

- JPO

We have done both of these on the Breeze and loved them both.

You really cannot go wrong either way.

We went to the most beautiful beach in Antigua; Valley Church Beach.

Unreal!!!!!

But watch out for the vendors in Antigua when you get off the ship. They are crazy aggressive.:eek::eek:

Southern.

Southern itinerary is AWESOME except for LaRomana. The shore excursions from this port are very expensive so we got off the ship and walked through the one store located at the port and spent the rest of the day in a lounge chair onboard working on our tan.

We loved Curacao and Aruba. In Aruba we booked the Kukoo Kunuku tour and had so much fun...they dropped us off at Moomba Beach for a couple of hours, it was beautiful with restrooms, bars and restaurants. There is shopping a short walk from the ship.

Curacao was our favorite port, it was safe, clean, and residents friendly. We exited the port area and walked to the taxi stand where we took a shared van to Sea Aquarium Beach (Mambo Beach) where the BLVD shops are. There was two levels of stores and restaurants, a pool right on the beach, bars, restrooms, etc. They charge you $3.50/person to access the beach and $3/person to rent a lounge chair (very reasonable, in my opinion). The beach was beautiful and water calm because it is protected by a rock breakwater. We had drinks and snacks before we took a shared taxi back to the ship. There are lots of shops at the dock but they close at 6:00 p.m. Before we got back on the ship, we walked to the shops and through the RIF Fort and walked over the pontoon bridge. The Fort itself was interesting to see with its cannons guarding the harbor (no entry fee to access the Fort). We decided to go back to the ship, shower and walk back into town for dinner and drinks. The town is all lit up at night and there are color changing lights on the pontoon bridge, beautiful!! The stores and restaurants located in the Fort are open late...we had cheese and wine at The Cheesery which also serves fondue and raclette and an ice cream soda at another restaurant. It is beautiful in the courtyard and lots of chairs available. When you walk through the Fort towards the pontoon bridge, there are lots of vendors located along the seawall. We ordered some of Curacao's famous French fries and walked over the pontoon bridge. It is beautiful on the waterfront at night. I can't wait to go back to Curacao so we can explore more of this lovely island.

I choose the Southern for the fact that it's not always offered and not every ship offers it. It was one of those routes on my "dream list". An Eastern Route is something you can do on many ships with many lines. But, this southern route is unique and to me, special. I would personally do that!!

You know we did southern. I did not feel unsafe at all in La Romana and we did Punta Cana the yr before and I felt safe also. Also in Curacao we did have rocks at the Aquarium Beach not bad just not pure sand. But over all great stops. We did the other itinerary prior and I see it's always available. Can't wait to read your review.. lol. Jk

For those that did the Breeze Southern itinerary, would you suggest a port side balcony room for the best view of the ports?

I know they say you never know what side you will dock on or that it could change each trip, but just curious about others experiences were.

Doing the Southern in October.

It's been on my bucket list for a long time.

Cannot wait!

I did the Southern on the Breeze in 2013 and it was AMAZING. I'm not sure what others are referencing in terms of safety. We did a tour to Saona Island through Seavis and it was a great day. In Curacao we did a sunset boat tour that was also very fun. The cultural experience in Curacao is also very cool if you do a little research ahead of time. It is a very unique island. Grand Turk is a nice beach day and Aruba has some of the prettiest waters in the Caribbean.

As for the Eastern, I just did one on the Conquest. St. Maarten may be one of my favorite Caribbean stops. Very picturesque. We did a speedboat tour with Captain Bob and had a blast. Princess Juliana Airport is quite an experience as others have mentioned but there is no guarantee you will see big planes coming in. I haven't been to St. Thomas or Antigua, but I could go my entire life and not go back to Nassau. Nothing special IMHO.

If I had to pick between the two, I would go with the Southern as it is a very unique itinerary that takes you within 100 miles of South America. You can't really go wrong with either however, as the Breeze is an amazing ship.

We are doing the southern route in October. I like the fact that we will be in Aruba until 1030 pm on this trip.