"12/12/12 LIFE'S A BREEZE" a cruisin USA "Long and Lengthy" Cruise Novella

[Jane2357]

Wow was I ever getting nervous reading about Paradise Point in St. Thomas. I was worried that those bushwackers wouldn't be there - lol!!!

 

I LOVE Paradise Point - it is like what the entire cruise represents to me - sun, fun, relaxation. Every time I stand up there with a Bushwacker in hand - it IS PARADISE! I have memories of standing there on my 1st cruise - I'll be back again for the 4th time next Feb. and the time won't matter - those bushwackers are to die for!!!!!!!!

[mountainbreeze]

Looks like there was plenty of empty beach for that family to have given you and Mary Ann some space. I hate it when there is plenty of room for everyone but instead they plop down so close and disturb my peaceful beach spot.

It looks like a beautiful beach though!

[CharmedMom]

Happy Belated Birthday to Mary Ann - hope she had a wonderful day/evening.

[cruisin USA]

.....continuing.....

 

 

We got back to the shopping area. Nobody bothered us on the way back....hehe. Although we looked in a few of the shops, we still didn't buy anything. I did see a couple of cool "skull" mugs, and a wine holder that looked like a guy was drinking the bottle. Both were pretty expensive though, and although I considered the wine bottle holder, decided against it cause of it's size/cost. A lady asked me where I got my t-shirt. I told her they were made special for a group on the Breeze. That seemed to satisfy her, but I could tell that she really wanted one. The sun was getting low in the sky. We headed back aboard ship. Got back to our cabin to drop our stuff off. We were a little hungry. We both went over to Guy's burger's to get us a little something to tide us over till dinner.

 

I'll say it again.."Good Burgers, and with a LOT of choices of toppings and sauces"

 

 

 

 

 

We sat on the one of the hard benchs in the little alcove by the Blue Iguana Cantina. It was getting dark, and the lights were coming on on the outside lido. We made our way back to our cabin for cocktail hour, to enjoy our departure from Antigua on our balcony. Brought out the "tweakers" for the first time this trip. Really enjoyed listening to Uncle Kracker's "Damn, It Feels Good to be Me!(Which at the moment, SURE DID!). Played some Reggae tunes to get us in the "island jam" mode. Pretty soon we were on our way. We could see the lights from the island for quite a ways before they started to fade. The wind was KICKING up. Probably the WINDIEST time we ever had on any of our cruises. Gusts that could just about knock you down. We made sure that nothing was left laying around. We ended up going inside to watch some tv. Loved our Ocean Suite. Would definitely consider another one some day.

 

 

 

(battery operated candles and christmas lights)

 

 

(one of the best traveled towels ever)

 

 

Before we knew it, it was time to get ready for dinner.

 

 

 

.....to be continued.....

[PPH]

Wow... I really wish I could see your pictures! Great review!!!

[JimAOk1945]

Great review! Thanks for posting.

[cruisin USA]

.....continuing.....

 

 

 

 

 

We made our way to the dining room. The folks at the table were all talking about their port experiences. Apparently, Karen and Alan didn't have the same trouble with the cab solicitors as we did. Note to self... We're going to have to be more "incognito" about our beach attire/appearence in the future. Tonight's dinner? California spring mix and cherry tomatoes with thousand island, shrimp cocktail, and duet of petite filet mignon and short-rib confit(oven roasted potatoes, red burgundy wine sauce). The filet was FABULOUS(albeit, a little small) and the short ribs were melt in your mouth. Added together, they were plenty! Mary Ann had a salad also. She opted for the didja of "Oysters Rockefeller". Mary Ann's review??? "Almost all spinach, and hardly any oyster". She chose the Lasagna Bolognese as her main course. For dessert we had chocolate, raspberry, and vanilla cream cake....YUM and old fashioned apple pie with vanilla ice cream. Right in the middle of dessert(like clockwork) Ken comes over the PA. Makes the announcement about the "Latin Night's" show tonight. Get's the crowd to give a round of applause to the wait staff, who've been taking good care of us(they had, and they deserved it!). Another Sinatra song. Then I hear the intro to Flo Rida's "Low". This is always a fave for us. On the Destiny, we jumped into the aisles with the waiters. This time we just watched. I was suprised to hear Ken singing this one. He did a pretty good job(for an old guy). I could actually understand the words to the song for once, hmmmmm. Wish we would have been more in the middle of the action, but again, I wasn't going to walk over to the rail to watch. At this point, I will tell you that Ken never stopped at our table(or our whole area) once throughout the cruise. I know that there are twice the amount of people dining, but most matre d's have stopped by at least once during the cruise. If I were management at Carnival, I'd seriously tell him, "If it's between singing 40 year old karaoke songs for the passengers, or meeting them face to face once per cruise, make time for the face to face first". (He could have done both fairly easy considering having a full 8 days to do it). Also, he has a wireless microphone, but he made his announcements from the lower level each night. He should make time to announce/sing from a different spot(both upstairs and downstairs). No big deal, but I wasn't going to tip this guy for just singing karaoke(and our lousy table). The show ended, and we headed out. Instead of taking the elevators up to our floor, we decided to walk forward along the 4th deck. Right across from the dining room doors, was the O2(teen) nightclub.

 

 

 

(Didn't go in, but it looked like a pretty cool disco)

 

 

As we proceed forward. Next to the O2 is the Thrill ride.

 

 

 

 

Continuing on, we see one of the many Fun Hubs(internet cafe) on the ship. I will say now that although I considered it, I didn't want to pay the $119.00 pricetag for the privlege.(I'll probably cave in for Hawaii though).

 

 

 

 

Next up is the art gallery. I remember seeing all that art in the lounge, and thinking how hard it must have been to move. What a GREAT idea to have it centrally located like this.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

.....to be continued.....

[cruisin USA]

.....continuing.....

 

 

 

As we walk forward we can see some windows coming up. There's a blue hue coming from them. It's the Sapphire dining room.

 

 

We can look right in at people finishing their meal. I thought we had it bad. I wouldn't have liked sitting right next to these windows at all.

 

(At least we had blinds)

 

As we continued forward, we found the Library Bar. Stopped inside to check out the library(and the wine dispensers....hehe)

 

 

 

 

 

Didn't buy any, but kept it in mind for later if need be. Continuing forward we made our way into the atrium. Walked across over to our elevators, and headed to the cabin.

 

When we got there. There, on the bed were tomorrows' Fun Times, our Commerative Inaugural Year Breeze Pins,

 

 

and this cute lil guy

 

 

It was a quick stop for cocktails, and then off to tonight's Playlist Production......"Latin Nights"

 

 

 

.....to be continued.....

Edited March 2, 2013 by cruisin USA

[cruisin USA]

.....continuing.....

 

 

Got to the theater, and got pretty good seats right of center. I saw that they figured a way to make people quit using the "stage stairs" to get up to the second level.

 

 

 

How many times have I heard people being told not to use those stairs leading up to the stage? LOTS. As the lights dimmed we hear, "Now performing for their first time as a troup". This time the "troup" was 4 guys and 4 gals. The show started with a guy on the main floor serenading a "Senorita" with his guitar. (I recognized him. It was the guitarist from the "Cool Breeze" band). After the "soft start" the show was electrifying from number to number. There were some artists I didn't recognize,(but enjoyed them anyway), but I definitely knew the Gloria Estefan, Shakira, and Ricky Martin songs. The dancing was very well choreographed. At a few points during the dancing, the led panels were filled with legions of other dancers dancing in sync with the performers on stage. Pretty cool. There were a few little glitches though, and one of the gal singers must have had a cold or first night jitters(I hope), cause her singing was a little off. The troup performed well together using the same format as "Divas" with certain performers taking center stage, while the others got ready to take their turn. Really liked the high energy dancing! Eventually, they were all up there. The music was pretty loud, The light show was pretty intense, and I couldn't believe it when I saw the PURPLE and PINK lasers emitting from each side of the stage. Purple and Pink have to be VERY expensive. The panels made excellent backdrops, pulsating colors with the rythyms of the songs. One thing I will say.....The show was over too fast!!! We left the theater. In the atrium were the Massina duo. A guy/gal combination that played Celene Dion /older folk "easy listening" type music.

 

 

It seemed like they were playing every time we'd pass the atrium at night. We made our way past the busy casino to the Ocean Plaza. The "Cool Breeze" band was playing.

 

(the guitarist made it back)

 

Pretty good. What I'd classify as pop music. At one point the woman lead singer spoke. Kinda preached to us about how we should feel lucky to be with our families over the holidays, cause her and the band would be on the ship working.....sigh. I could hear my dad......"You picked your job, it didn't pick you!" Sorry she couldn't make it to "Idol", but it's bad to complain to customers (on a microphone yet) about not being able to make it home, cause you had to work.. The band was pretty good, but I can't remember sitting down to watch them again.

 

 

The Ocean Plaza was a midship promenade "community area" with plenty of tables and chairs. We had already passed it numerous times when they were having trivia contests, or towel folding lessons. The "Tastes" area is there. It was a little sad that we never saw it open. There's also the typical Carnival Coffee/Sweets stand, and a little bar. The Plaza opens on both sides to open decks. On one side is the smoking area(where we ended up often). A nice area midship,(between the Red Frog pub outdoor area and Fat Jimmys BBQ), with tables and umbrella chairs. It was still WINDY!!! It was getting late. We made our way back to the cabin. We had to be up and at our excursion meet up at 7:30 am.

 

 

 

....to be continued.....

[cruisin USA]

Hello to All,

 

 

First, I'd like to apologize for plodding along with this review. Between our big snowstorm Tuesday, Mary Ann's birthday Wednesday, and Open Mic Thurs. I didn't get a lot published over the past 3 days. I would like to mention that I've also been having technical difficulties with photobucket. I'll get a few shots cued up in my review, and then the program(photobucket) will freeze. I learned that I could open it up in another window again, but it would do the same thing after 3 more shots cued... Anyway, I'd just like to say a heartfelt "THANK YOU" for those who have toughed it out I will mention now, that after I address the poster's, it'll probably be tomorrow late afternoon before I can continue....

 

Delta Dear........glad that I could clarify some of the things that I also wondered about after reading the other reviews. I understand that you're cruising today, but the thread will be here when you get back.....Bon Voyage!!!

 

pinkiesue.....I bout the tickets along with our tickets to the Baths online via the Carnival website. I think that we bought our tickets for $20. If you bought them on the ship, they were $21, and $22 if you bought them at their box office.

 

 

Packerman52. I liked the Red Frog! Out of all the bars on the ship, this one reminds me of my bar the most(especially on acoustic night). Which was reason enough to stay out....hehe.

 

(they could have put those flat screens to much better use during big games like Monday night football)

 

As you can see, its a pretty long bar, but there are "high tops" and a small area with booths and regular tables to sit at.

 

 

 

They had those cool beer tubes that held tons of beer, with the spigot you can pour your own from. I saw 6 drafts. Bud Light, Dos Equis, Heineken, Newcastle Ale, and their signature Thirsty Frog and another tap handle I couldn't identify..

 

 

We'd go in there from time to time. It wasn't ever very busy during the day, but got crowded at night with the "pub guitar" guys. I the pic below, you can see the short shuffleboard table in the adjacent room(which leads right into the Ocean Plaza).

 

 

There's also a "patio" area that you could sit outside at. Never saw too many people hanging out there. When you can take your drink anywhere, people tend to roam more.

 

 

A great place to hang out!! and I'm sure you'll have fun there!!!

 

 

.............I got some more to address Back in a few........

Edited March 2, 2013 by cruisin USA

[Packerman52]

THANKS for the RedFrog Pub pics and the info...it will be put to good use!!! :)

It really sounds like a place we would like to hangout at while cruising!!!!

[cruisin USA]

..........................

 

 

Jane2357 Paradise Point was a highlight for sure! The view was spectacular! Just being able to look down at your ship in the harbor!

 

 

Just wish they'd had a little more going on though. They were clearly under renovation, and not yet up to standard.

 

 

The Nature Trail was closed.

 

 

One of our fellow passengers on the cable car said he tried the Nature Trail last time,(he said it was lame), and this time, he was going to skip it, and head straight for a Bushwacker.

 

No Food! We sure would have enjoyed lunch up there. Directly below us, they were almost through with building a house. The view would be GREAT!(but I'd hate all these Paradise "Pointer's" looking into my house all the time)

 

 

I know it'll be better by the time you get there. Enjoy your Bushwacker!

 

 

Andrea..... We were just enjoying the peaceful serenity of the beach.

 

 

There wasn't 30 people on that beach. They did come, and "plop" down right in front of us. Just like when you're the only 2 at a movie....and you know the rest... More later.

 

 

CharmedMom.....Thank you for asking. We ended up at Outback. First time I've been there since Ft, Lauderdale last year. We postponed the limo till this Weds.

 

 

PPH....Sorry that you can't see the photos. I don't know why. Anyone else having this problem?

 

 

JimAol1945.......Thank you for your kind words. Well gang, I'm in the middle of the Red Wings game right now. Michigan vs Michigan State at 4. I'll see what I can do, but we'll be pretty busy into the early evening.

 

 

Stand by for my favorite (and most photo intense)highlight of the trip.......The Baths's

 

 

Gary

[pinkiesue]

Thanks for answering my ?.

Can't wait for the Bath's pics.

Enjoying your review, it's holding me over til our cruise in april.

[cruisin USA]

.....continuing.....

 

 

Tortola

 

 

 

Had to wake up wayyyyyyyy to early. We were already parked in Tortola, It was warm, but pretty cloudy.

 

(little did we know at the time, but the boat on the lower left was ours)

 

Lush, Green Hills. Homes scattered here and there.

 

 

(We were praying for the clouds to just pass through)

 

There had been some folks on the roll call who went with 2 other "independent" boat operators in the area for the Bath's. We decided to use the Carnival excursion. I thought that if anything, it'd be easy to find, close to the port, and I'd also had heard that people who had booked Carnival excursions usually were able to get of the ship a little early. Fortunately for all, it was easy for EVERYONE to get off. A nice smooth flow, 1 "ding", and you're on your way. Ended up, our boat was a short walking distance, parked on the same pier. Really easy, except that we all had tickets, and had to exchange them for wristbands to get on the boat. Fairly slow process considering the 200 or so people this boat held, and the 2 people they had to take care of us all....sigh.

 

 

Wristbands on, we got in line to board the boat.

 

 

The water was fairly rough water. The ship would bob up and down. There were 2 men there on each side to make sure you didn't fall. Upstairs was an outside deck. By the time we got there, all those seats were taken. We made our way down to the inside area. We took a seat, and waited till the boat filled up. Pretty soon we were underway. It started raining pretty hard. The windows were getting drenched!! Lot's of people from upstairs came flooding(pardon the pun) down into our area. I didn't see anyone having to stand. A girl gets on the microphone. It was our mandatory safety briefing. I couldn't understand her. People started complaining that they couldn't understand her either. Finally, she just gave up, and said she'd try later. We pulled out of the "no wake" zone, and started our half hour journey to Tortola.

 

 

 

.....to be continued.....

Edited March 4, 2013 by cruisin USA

[cruisin USA]

.....continuing

 

 

 

 

I slept most of the way. That's just pretty early for me. The boat was rocking pretty good. Later on, Mary Ann told me she'd seen a couple people getting sick. (Yuk, glad I missed that). The rain didn't last long. (Although we would find out it would be on and off throughout our excursion). We couldn't see much through the mist opaqued windows. Before I knew it, Mary Ann was nudging me to wake up. We were pulling into Virgin Gorda. We docked, and got off the boat. There were "open air" buses waiting for us.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We boarded the buses, and took a short ride to Baths. I had seen pictures of the Baths, but had no idea that there were boulders strewn throughout the entire island. Whatever happened must have happened long ago. There was lots of greenery and trees(and cactus) growning around and throughout all the inland boulders we saw. Whereas Antigua had cows and goats, Virgin Gorda had chickens. It started to rain. I was on the outside of the bench. That rain was COLD!! It didn't last too long, but I remember pulling my arm in trying to avoid getting pelted. It was about a 10 minute ride.

 

 

 

 

We got there, and unloaded off the buses.

 

 

 

 

and were all gathered around, and a lady gave a short talk about the Baths, and how our guides would lead us down the path to the beach. There were about 30 people in front of us, with the far bigger part of the group behind us as we worked our way onto and down the path.

 

 

 

 

It's a pretty good trek to the beach. We stopped a few times along the way for a photo or two.

 

 

 

 

Tons of HUGE boulders along the way. Funny thing. About halfway down, the group disappeared behind us. We wondered what everyone was up to, but we just followed the rest down.

 

 

 

 

.....to be continued.....

[cruisin USA]

No, you didn't lose me yet. Just really busy so far this week. Here's a few gratuitous Virgin Gorda shots that I couldn't fit in last post.

 

 

The weather shifted throughout the day, with some real menacing looking clouds at various points.

 

 

 

Funny lookin chickens at that.

 

 

Yes, cactus......

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'll be continuing shortly.........

[cruisin USA]

....continuing.....

 

 

 

 

As I said earlier, it's a pretty good trek. 3 1/2 football fields worth of semi-trecherous path way.

 

 

We emerged from the path onto the beach. Quite a sight.

 

 

All those house sized boulders strewn along the beach and in the water. People were just standing around in awe. I had to get some shots of this!!

 

 

 

 

We found our way to the cave to Devil's beach.

 

 

We saw the rocks we had to crouch down to get through at the entrance. Slight aprehension......

 

 

 

 

.....to be continued......

[cruisin USA]

.....continuing.....

 

 

It was unfounded though. After we got through that there weren't any real "claustraphobic" areas. Just lots of little inlets to explore. The guide had told us that we'd be ok in the inlets as long as the water didn't get much over our knees. He said that if you got in deeper start heading back to where you came from. Sure glad we brought our water shoes. There was a couple areas we had to wade through, and then climb. Traction on those rocks you're climbing is essential.

 

 

At some parts along the boulder caves they had installed wooden stairways,

 

 

handholds, and even ropes(even saw a few broken cinder blocks used to level uneven spots) Lots of folks were walking around through the little alcoves along the way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

.....to be continued.....

[cruisin USA]

.....continuing.....

 

 

It took us a little while to wind our way through the boulders.

 

 

 

Just amazing, and what I would consider a "Don't Miss" if you're going to be in this area of the world. There was one last area, which was a wooden platform, with stairs that led down to Devil's beach.

 

 

 

 

I had to get down on all 4's to get down low enough to reach the stairs. We could see the beach. There were LOTS of boulders ALL over the this island! It took us another 5 minutes to reach the beach, squeezing through some open points between the boulders here and there.

 

 

 

 

 

On the way we see a sign that read "Car Lot" that pointed to a path. Thought that would be a much easier way to get here. Finally, we were at Devil's Beach!!! The sand was just soooooo soft. You'd walk on it, and sink in about 6 inches.

 

 

 

It was really hard to walk. On the other side of the beach was a bunch of boulders that had to have been 30 feet high. I saw people climbing to the top of them.(Not for us).

 

 

 

 

 

.....to be continued.....

[cruisin USA]

.....continuing......

 

 

 

There were lots of people in flourescent green vests snorkeling in the water. Had to be a group from one of the few large(I'd say 30 footers)boats we saw in this small inlet.

 

 

We laid out our towels and laid back.

 

 

 

 

It was still pretty cloudy, and sure enough, we started feeling cold raindrops again. It didn't last too long, but Mary Ann commented that maybe they should be called "The Showers" instead.....Funny Mary Ann. The rain stops. Mary Ann and I are just laying there on the beach wishing there was a cocktail stand somewhere. All of the sudden I hear this woman's voice.. Apparently, another group is coming to explore, and this woman is their guide. She explains that everyone should be careful when exploring, and that if you have a group of 3 or 4, and someone is aprehensive about doing something, then maybe you should all think about it. Sound advice, but why did they have to gather near us when there was PLENTY of room on the beach.....sigh. Soon, the group dissapates, and it's quiet again. Then we see Maryann and Paul. 2 different beaches, 2 different days! It'd taken a pretty long time to get to where we were. We all started getting concerned about heading back. Paul and Maryann left before us. We gathered our stuff, and headed back.

 

 

(You thinking what I'm thinking?)

 

 

 

We decided to take the path labeled "Car Lot" Worse case scenario(I hoped) would be we'd get to the lot, and have to walk a short distance back over to the top of the baths. It was a LONG path. Not another person in sight, until we ran into 3 people heading up too. They decided to stop for a minute.

 

 

We kept heading up, but I will confess that I felt that we might have to go all the way back. Considering how long we'd be walking on the path, I thought it'd surely make us late getting back if we had to backtrack.

 

 

.....to be continued....

[cruisin USA]

.....continuing.....

 

 

Finally we emerged.....just a short distance from the area we had our orientation at. Why didn't they tell us we could get to Devil's Beach that way if we needed to? Well, at least YOU all know now. (If we were to do it again, we might go around reverse). The "Top of the Bath's" is a nice patio area. Beautiful View!!

 

 

Lot's of people relaxing after their long hike. We stopped at the bar. I asked where we could redeem our drink ticket. The bartender pointed me to a small table with 2 drink dispensers on them. Found out that 1 was Rum punch, the other was non alcohol punch.(I'll bet that punch had no "kick" to it....hehe). We both opted for rum.(Our's SURELY did. Pretty strong!). We found a seat, and enjoyed the view. The clouds had finally past, and it was becoming mostly sunny. The rum punch was especially refreshing considering all the hiking we'd done. Pretty soon we got word it was time to leave. We all boarded the buses, and enjoyed the ride back to the port. We were in one of the first buses off, and we made sure to secure a spot up top on the boat heading back. Soon, we were underway.

 

 

I'm glad we got up top on the way back. We passed lot's of lush green islands.

 

 

I wondered how much it would have cost to build some of these houses where they were.

 

 

 

 

 

The sunshine felt great considering the rocky start of our day.

 

 

.....to be continued.....

Edited March 6, 2013 by cruisin USA

[rhcpchika1]

Love the pics! :) excited for the remainder.

[michelle1836]

Thanks for posting your review! and thanks for doing the math for the Bon Voyage! :) we are also staying at the IC in July and after your review, we will probably grab dinner at the Bayside Market

 

the CVS nearby has wine?!

[michelle1836]

and love the Baths pictures. we were scheduled to take it one cruise but they canceled it

[SenatorsFan]

I'm putting The Baths on the bucket list! Thanks for the spectacular photos. Bet you started humming when you passed the sign "Walk this way"; I know I did.:D Keep up the good work.

Heather