The Ultimate Cruise Reviews with Pictures

[sonicbuffalo]

downtown Curacao

 

 

we had to drive over that bridge to get to the distillery....where they make Blue Curacao....

 

 

 

all the taxi's and buses lined up to take us on tours

 

 

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such a colorful city....very refreshing

 

 

 

people getting off the Miracle to take tours....hurry up Ginny!

 

 

Ginny ready to shop

 

 

The Irie Loco bus tour

 

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going over that tall bridge you saw earlier on our way to the distillery...and The Lady Miracle below

 

 

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we were driven down through an old Jewish neighborhood where the government was giving the owners so much money to renovate the old historical mansions. There were some overwhelming mansions that was magnificent

 

 

 

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look at the detail....in the carvings....you'd never find that nowadays...

 

 

 

a newer cemetery

 

 

walking into the distillery

 

 

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inside the Blue Curacao distillery

 

 

 

 

nice looking neighborhood...

 

 

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what a mansion!

 

 

 

 

[scottydog123]

Loved the pictures and your comments. I agree that the Miracle is one of my favorite Carnival ships because of the whimsical decor.

 

Did you rob the cradle....can't believe you and your wife have been married for 35 years:eek: Congratulations

[sonicbuffalo]

Curacao and some beach time

 

 

 

 

 

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more shopping in Curacao

 

 

 

 

another busy day in port

 

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leaving Curacao and headed back to Ft. Lauderdale

 

 

 

 

 

this bartender was from St. Lucia

 

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stunning.....what a sunset!!

 

 

 

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A Memorial for Veteran's Day

 

 

Bob & Zelle, who we still stay in contact with via e-mail....great tablemates, and we loved having them eat with us every night. They were terrific!

 

 

[sonicbuffalo]

Final thoughts....we have enjoyed every one of our cruises...all for different reasons. Cruises are what you make them, and nothing could be farther from the truth. We've met people who we're still friends with...right Eileen? and Bob & Zelle, and Don & Jo?

 

That being said, I think I enjoyed our first cruise the best. The Miracle definitely had a wow factor, and the Dream did too. If we hadn't sailed on the Dream and Breeze, we wouldn't have had anything to compare the Miracle to. I love the Miracle, but have had enough of her for a while. We're ready to try different things. What we liked about the first tour was watching the islands lights at night on our balcony, and going to St. Lucia, St. Kitts, and St. Martin. Our favorite island is probably St. Martin, but we've loved them all. Curacao is one of our favorites because it just brightens up your day to see all the buildings in such rich colors. Ginny also loved shopping in Curacao, and I had to warn her not to miss the ship....she was getting carried away. I bought Ginny a sapphire and diamond 14k white gold ring for Christmas this year so now St. Thomas will have a special place in our hearts. We also loved Megan's Bay, and all the snorkeling adventures in Grand Turk, and especially Tortolla. In Antigua, we went snorkeling and did a little shopping but was disappointed in the shopping area. We probably just didn't go to the right spots.

 

Overall, we have just loved our cruises, and I would like to stop cruising, but I can't. We are expecting a grandchild in May, so we may be spending just a little bit more time on land going to see our grandson in El Paso. It's expensive to fly there, and so we might have to cut back on cruising as often. We've been lucky to go to most of the more attractive Southern and Eastern Caribbean islands, and if you can plan it that way, do it. We have, for the most part, cruised for the itineraries, and not so much the ships. We have just been lucky to have been able to go on the newest Carnival has had to offer. We will take an Eastern itinerary Allure of The Seas cruise in 2014, since we were originally going to do that this year until I found the 11 day NCL cruise going back to Aruba, Curacao, Cartagena, Columbia, where we've never been, and St. Thomas, and St. Martin, which we love.

 

My best wishes to all and I hope you find the cruises you're looking for. It's been my pleasure to have posted all these pictures, and I've loved going back through them. We've really been fortunate to have been to the places we've been.

 

If you have any questions about any of the ships, please ask, and I will respond. I will do my best to tell you about anything I have learned while researching our ports of call also. Take care, and I'll write and post more later. Thanks for taking the time to look at and read my posts and pictures.

 

Chris

[sonicbuffalo]

Loved the pictures and your comments. I agree that the Miracle is one of my favorite Carnival ships because of the whimsical decor.

 

Did you rob the cradle....can't believe you and your wife have been married for 35 years:eek: Congratulations

 

Believe it or not...we're the same age....she's always looked younger than her age....I just got lucky to have found her....she's an awesome lady.... thanks for reading....The Miracle is definitely our favorite ship although we liked the Dream and Breeze too because they're bigger and more room to walk around on deck 5. Ginny get's scared at night in the front of the ship while we're walking outside and there is no lights, which I'm sure is to help the bridge see the dark better (lol). More than anything we liked the itineraries the Miracle had to offer....ports we hadn't been to the 2nd time around. We also loved the Mad Hatter's Ball Room, and the Phantom Theater...with it's statues all around. The Breeze is pretty boring and is definitely NOT a WOW ship. Nothing at all really wow'ed me. It was new and going to a few places we hadn't been to though. I'm not going to complain, we pretty much got our money's worth. The Breeze is NOT our favorite ship though, by a long shot.

[DarthGrady]

 

I had never heard of this cruise line so it was interesting....

 

 

I believe that's the old Celebrity Zenith (you can still just make out the "X" on the funnel); now just Zenith since she got transferred to Pullmantur. They are a small Spanish subsidiary of Royal Caribbean. Most of the outgoing RCI and Celebrity ships spend some time with them before being sold off for good.

[sonicbuffalo]

I believe that's the old Celebrity Zenith (you can still just make out the "X" on the funnel); now just Zenith since she got transferred to Pullmantur. They are a small Spanish subsidiary of Royal Caribbean. Most of the outgoing RCI and Celebrity ships spend some time with them before being sold off for good.

 

Thanks Darth.....good info....appreciate it!

[sonicbuffalo]

Great start! Looking forward to the rest of your review and photos.

 

Thanks...........hope you got to come back and see the rest of the review(s).

[sonicbuffalo]

Thanks for the review!

 

no problem Kirk.....thanks for checking this out!

[sonicbuffalo]

Awesome review! Love the picures! We are looking at these ports for a future cruise. Thanks so much for posting!

 

you really can't beat the ports we've been to unless you spend the big bucks and go to Hawai...we've seen most of the ports on the eastern and southern routes.....i would definitely recommend St Lucia and St. Martin.

[sonicbuffalo]

Thank you for taking the time to post this. Really enjoying all your photos! We love the Miracle (were on her past 2 years) and also love all the islands you visited. I just relived some of my past cruises!:D Your wife is adorable! Glad you both enjoyed your vacation.

 

Thanks for the compliments! I'll tell Ginny she's adorable.....she really is a sweetheart! Glad you enjoyed the pictures and were able to travel on the Miracle too!

[Purplehaze21]

TY for the great review and the Wonderful pictures!! I saw some of the most

beautiful places thru you and Ginny! I was so happy to see

pictures of Grand Turk. Looks like it will be a fun beach day!

[sonicbuffalo]

TY for the great review and the Wonderful pictures!! I saw some of the most

beautiful places thru you and Ginny! I was so happy to see

pictures of Grand Turk. Looks like it will be a fun beach day!

 

TY Purple Haze....loved Grand Turk...great day for relaxin'.....and here's hoping you have a wonderful time on your upcoming Breeze cruise....you'll love it.

 

Wish we were going again....but that's one reason we going on NCL next year.. so we can go to Aruba, Curacao, St. Thomas, St. Martin, and a new port for us in Cartagena.....we want to do it again we liked it so much!

[sonicbuffalo]

We are going on the Dream Eastern It. in March so love your pictures. We have also been on the Miracle & Dream Western Itin. so really loved your pictures of the Miracle. Best wishes to you and your wife and hope you continue to celebrate your anniversary by cruising. We also took the 11 day trip you are taking on NCL but with some different ports. You all will really enjoy this cruise. We were on the NCL Dawn but on our very first cruise we were on the NCL Sun. Also agree with you about Bernard's tours in St. Maarten. We will be on his tour in March (3rd time) and he has the best tours in the Caribbean. Thanks for sharing with us. ;)

 

I appreciate your comments. You are so kind. It seems you really liked the Sun. It's still a difficult choice between the Sun and the Allure, but my wife loves Aruba and Curacao, so she wins! ;0

[sonicbuffalo]

Enjoying your multi cruise review. Your pictures are wonderful.

 

Thanks Melodie.....appreciate your compliments....might have to review this again with photobucket as the pictures are much larger.....considering it.