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

[mitsugirly]

Ok, it's late and I'm tired. I will start again in the morning and get to our day at the beach and at Pam-mel-o's. :D

[1959kar]

Ok, it's late and I'm tired. I will start again in the morning and get to our day at the beach and at Pam-mel-o's. :D

 

Nighty Night Kim! Loving your review by the way!

Edited April 21, 2016 by 1959kar

[south-carolinagirl]

Thanks for all your hard work!! Loving your review, as always! Can't wait for the continuation of your visit to Pammelos [emoji1], we are booked on the same excursion in June.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[mitsugirly]

Nighty Night Kim! Loving your review by the way!

 

Thanks so much!

 

Thanks for all your hard work!! Loving your review, as always! Can't wait for the continuation of your visit to Pammelos [emoji1], we are booked on the same excursion in June.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

 

Thanks and glad you are liking it. :)

[mitsugirly]

So today was a mixture of some clouds and sun. One minute we thought it would rain, the next it was bright and sunny.

 

The beach was nice, but the sand appeared a "brownish" color...so not your beautiful fluffy white sand you normally see in the Caribbean. I actually told my hubby that it kinda reminded me of the beach we go to here in Ohio...the man made beach. Not the beach itself, but just the color of the sand. I'm not sure if this is what all the beaches in San Juan looked like, but it wasn't "too impressive", but hey any day at the beach is a good day for me.

 

 

 

 

 

There wasn't a shortage of pigeons today

 

 

 

Sakari got her workout chasing them.

 

 

 

The hubby did his normal thing

 

 

 

And I tried to keep up with him

 

[mitsugirly]

Looking up and down the beach, this was our view. Hey, I see a ship coming in.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is what happens when you take a picture through your sun glasses....lol

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our first round of drinks have arrived

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

The staff even brought out all of these sand toys for Sakari to play with. How thoughtful.

 

 

 

 

Before long we were on our next round of drinks.

 

 

 

One of the first things I noticed was that the water was rough. Ugh. I knew that this was going to be a "no mermaid morphing" type of day with those waves. Of course Sakari was devastated that she was not going to be able to wear her tail today and it's so hard to explain to them (and have them fully understand) the dangers of a mad ocean at times. I don't know if this side of PR is always like this or if it was just that day. I wasn't taking any chances.

 

 

 

I let her dip in the water to get cooled off then I convinced her to come up and make a sand "castle" beside us. She was not happy, but she made the most of it. I mean the nice server brought her all of these toys to play with, she shouldn't be rude and not put them to use right?

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

Of course anyone building a sand ship gets sand all over them and must get washed off right? She headed down to the water and I tagged along. I just didn't trust the water...or her for that matter. She convinced me that she would be fine in the water, splashing around and jumping the waves (she must get that from her older sister who loves this type of beach) and I would stand at the edge of the water with my hawk eye on her at all times.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I really wish the trees and building were closer to the beach.

 

[mickev99]

TUESDAY=SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO

 

 

 

I have always wanted to sail out of San Juan and it's on my "bucket list" and here's why...the bio-luminescent bay!! I just HAVE to experience this! Some day I will I promise.

 

 

I booked our cruise last July on rccl's Indy strictly because the San Juan port was 5pm-11pm and I wanted to do the Bio Bay. Did a ton of research, found out the moon was going to be in a perfect position to go that evening and decided to do the ship's tour, which was ridiculously expensive, because it is pretty far from port and the window was pretty tight that if there were any issues with a van breaking down on a private tour, we would risk missing the ship. I was super excited about this tour. Got a note the first night that it had been cancelled. I was so disappointed and of course had no idea what to do because I hadn't researched anything else! We had a great time but we were really disappointed since this was the main reason we chose the itinerary. One day we'll get back.

[mitsugirly]

 

 

Ok, she wore me out watching her jumping the waves and time to head back to the chairs to relax.

 

 

 

 

These pigeons have no fear

 

 

 

 

Another round of drinks.

 

 

 

 

The waiter came around to give us the menu for lunch and this occurred....

 

 

 

Sakari is going to be devastated....not, it made for some destruction fun and I'm sure she was letting out some anger issues about not getting to wear her mermaid tail today.

 

[mitsugirly]

Minutes before the true destruction over came her...I sent this picture to her sister back home...

 

 

 

I didn't feel there was a lot of choices on the menu. Of course you were welcome to pay for something else, but you know me, I won't pay extra for the specialty restaurants on the ship or room service, I'm surely not paying extra for a meal if I get a free meal included in the price of my stay here.

 

Sakari ordered the chicken nuggets and french fries. I ordered the Roasted Jalapeno Chicken on Ciabatta Bread and as a side I ask for both the rice and beans and the french fries...he said that was fine. The hubs ordered the Manchego Churrasco Wrap and they said it came with some type of sauce on it. He ask for it on the side and then also ordered the rice and beans.

 

 

 

 

 

Sakari made some friends at the beach and she would play with them for quite some time. Sakari was drawing "animals" and stuff in the sand and this little girl was just amazed at her drawings in the sand. "I can draw this, I can draw that, what would you like for me to draw for you?" She cracks me up.

 

 

 

Then another girl joined and they started building more sand castles.

 

 

 

 

Our collection of cups...

 

 

 

 

They came down to tell us that our lunch was ready up at the restaurant. This is what the sky was looking like at the time. I decided we should probably just gather all of our things and head up there. I was afraid it was going to turn into an icky day, plus our chairs were so far from the building that I didn't want to take any chances. In the back of my mind, I really didn't care for the beach for many reasons, but the number one reason was the crazy waves and me being scared of Sakari in them. Then factor in the brown sand, the distance from the water to the building (for multiple potty breaks when you're drinking)...eh, it just wasn't anything that made me go "wow, I love this place". Although we had decent weather, it wasn't really "hot" and I think that might have played a factor too. I think at that point, I had made my decision that I would probably never return to this beach and I really didn't want to come back down to our chairs after eating either. We gathered our things, told Sakari to tell her friends goodbye and we were going to eat, and started the long trek up to the restaurant area.

 

[CRUISERFW]

TUESDAY=SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO

 

We were in port in San Juan from 1pm-8pm. I was super excited about coming here because I have a 96 year old patient who is from here and just to experience this place, knowing that this is where she grew up, was going to be a treat.

 

(**I will add this right now, so that I don't forget** I got word the day we came home that my patient had passed away the day we were actually here in San Juan. What are the chances that she would pass while I was visiting her home town for the first time. We have been expecting this, actually since last year, and she has been hanging on forever now and gradually declining in health. She was the sweetest little lady who helped me with my Spanish. I have been seeing her daily for almost a year and my "route" since returning just hasn't been the same. I feel honored to know her and have her a part of my life and some day I will return to San Juan and visit all the places she told me about.)

 

However, I had the hardest time figuring out just what to do here. Especially with us being beach bums, made it very difficult. I didn't completely decide until the week of the cruise and it was spur of the moment based off of people here on these great boards.

 

I have always wanted to sail out of San Juan and it's on my "bucket list" and here's why...the bio-luminescent bay!! I just HAVE to experience this! Some day I will I promise.

 

Since we weren't going to be in port until late, I seen this as an opportunity to sleep in. The thought just excited me too much. BUT.... bang, clang, can't hear yourself talk in your own dream noises were going on...once again...outside on my balcony? I think this morning they would be taking their boiler pots, drawing a line, then seeing who could push theirs the fastest across the line. The winner was in charge of gathering all the pots and hurling them at their respective losing owners while they darted the pots and they went crashing to the floor. Yep, that about explains the sound pretty accurate.

 

So, I was up at 8:30am on my "sleeping-in" day. I decided to head out to the balcony to check out the weather and catch a glimpse of...the water of course. Man did it smell like rotten somethingorother out there, coming from these "vents" somewhere around this area. Phew! Back in I went to wake the rest of the family up. If I'm not sleeping in, neither are they. Wipe the drool off your faces and let's go eat!

 

As they were getting up, I was checking in with my daughter back home and seeing how her "healing" from surgery was coming along. Then my son's finance text me to let me know she passed one of her "important" exams for a nursing class and all was good in the world.

 

We headed up to the buffet for breakfast at 9:30. It was super crowded this time and I couldn't help think "why are these people even awake on a day they could be sleeping in?" I mean I'm sure they are not all located on the 2nd floor under the galley right?

 

Hey at least Carnival's eggs are COOKED...unlike the scrambled eggs I got on the Jade last month.

 

 

 

 

 

We headed up to Pixels to see if we could find our pictures from Grand Turk (we had 2 taken) and couldn't find either. This picture hunt game is not my cup of tea. Did every female HAVE to have on a blue and white sailor looking cover up just like me on this cruise? Seriously?

 

We gave up and headed back to the room. I sat out on my smelly balcony and heard a noise.

 

This means we are getting close to shore. woo hoo

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I believe this means we are really SUPER close.

 

 

I know that NCL Gem is also on your bucket list and she is doing special sailings out of San Juan in October, November and December this year. My sister and I are sailing on December 4th.

[floridianny]

If you go back to Puerto Rico and have enough time, try and go to Luquillo Beach. It is the most beautiful beach! IMO of course. My aunt lives in PR and I spent many, many days there in my early 20s/college years at that beach. On week days there would be maybe 10 people there. The water is calmer than where you were near Old San Juan, and so blue and clear. It is near the rainforest, which is also great to check out. You just need a good amount of time in port because the beach is a good 45 minutes drive from San Juan, but so worth it. There are many images online if you ever want to check it out. I think the area is a bit more developed than it was 20 years ago, but still really beautiful. The rain passes over every day but ends quickly. There are lots of palm trees there for shade too. Its heaven! :)

[mitsugirly]

They had a table prepared for us outside.

 

 

 

They didn't bring me the fries AND the rice. Oh well.

 

 

 

 

The sandwich was ok but the fries were soggy. I like my fries cooked all the way and crispy if possible. I did ask for my "dressing" (which was supposed to the the jalepeno sauce on the chicken) to come on the side too. I'm not a person who likes hot or spicy food and even when someone says "It's pretty good and not too hot", I never tend to believe them because their hot and my hot are always different. I did not get my sauce either.

 

The hubbys food

 

 

The hubby is looking at his food and thinking...where's the beans and rice? We are so use to having beans and rice every where we go in the Caribbean and it's usually mixed together and yummy. This was just plain rice and the "beans" portion was in the little cup. Weird. I guess it's different in San Juan.

 

Sakari's chicken nuggets and soggy fries:

 

 

 

She didn't really say if she liked her meal or not, but she ate most of it and then fed a lot of her fries to the pigeons, which I'm convinced will eat anything...including soggy fries.

 

I did ask about my sauce and the waiter brought a cup of it out. It wasn't bad and not too hot. I would dip my sandwich in it and call it a day (after seeing the beans and rice, I'm glad I didn't get it after all).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

Sakari was getting gutsy and started putting food on her foot for them to come up and eat. Once again, they have no fear.

 

 

 

 

We convinced her to try to get them to take it from her hand. They had no problem with that either.

 

 

 

 

We enjoyed our time just sitting at the table and watching 2 guys in the water with surfboards and parachutes...would this be called parasurfing? Or is this kitesurfing? They were fun to watch. They could make it really far out there and back in a matter of minutes. We did watch them go down a few times and I always wondered how they get the kite back up out of the water and into the air.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[funtosun]

Your reviews are amazing. Love the photos. How do you take the photos where the objects in the pictures look small like toys? Love those..

[mitsugirly]

We had been here about 3 1/2 hours and I really wasn't sure what to do at this point. I wasn't interested in going back down to our chairs on the beach or swimming in the wavy water, but yet it was such a long day in port and we had hours before it was time to leave and I wanted to get my moneys worth out of this place. We also still had many drink coupons left to use.

 

We ask the waiter if we were allowed to use the pool. I noticed that no one had been in the pool the entire time we were there, but also knew that most of the time when you buy a day pass to a place that people are staying at, they want you to stay out of the pool because it's for guest staying there only. But to my surprise, he said yes.

 

It didn't take long for this to occur...

 

 

 

 

We even managed to get the hubby in the water for the day.

 

 

 

 

Ok, now she was happy. A day without a morphing mermaid at the beach is not a good day. She was happy, even if it was in a pool.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now I have known many people that have put in a black pool. I always wondered "why???" and thought it was ugly. I would also add that the thought of going in a pool with a black bottom gives me the creeps because of not being able to see. I just never understood it. However, I was pleasantly surprised...while under water you can see perfect and for my pictures to come out so great...not bad after all.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

This girl always has her mouth open. How does she do that? If I did it, I would end up with a mouth full of water and gag myself.

 

Here she is blowing bubbles, while "laying" sideways and still not swallowing water.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the wall/entrance area that goes out to the beach and the pool is behind this wall.

 

 

 

 

The staff was amazed at their new attraction...a real mermaid. They all came out to see her perform.

 

 

 

There was another couple that was from the US staying at this place and we got to talking to them. They loved this place and said they come here a lot. They talked about how quite and laid back it is. They went for a swim with Sakari and she talked to them for quite some time.

 

My view:

 

 

 

 

At this point it was a race against time to try to use the rest of our drink coupons. I would like to say that they will let you use them in many different ways. If you want a different drink than what's included in the "coupon drinks" you can use 2 coupons for it. (Like the hubby likes bloody marys and he used two coupons for that). Cheers

 

[mitsugirly]

I just have to say that I totally hate Windows 10 since getting my new computer. I can't find crap on it and now it doesn't have Windows Movie Maker on it.

 

Anyone who has Windows 10 know of a free movie maker that I can put clips together into 1, trim and save to upload?

 

I'm going to stop right here in the review. Time for work. I'll be back in a few hours to continue...or to pull my hair out because I can't find a movie editor. I may have to resort to firing up my old computer and doing it from there.

[Buckett]

Great review as usual, I am finally all caught up! I have been to those ports so it's nice to see them again through your pictures. We were in Grand Turk and San Juan just this past January. I agree with you about the water in Grand Turk, it was absolutely beautiful!

 

I take my niece on a cruise every year for year for Spring Break, next year we are doing the Vista, and really looking forward to it. Your pictures of the Breeze are having me consider it for 2018!:D Nice looking ship for sure.

[tropicaledrink]

Great review mitsugirly! The Breeze was on my list of ships to sail, but with her moving to Galveston - I don't know if that will happen any time soon. We are sailing the Magic later this year though. :)

 

were there not lat night buffet options? It seems like the last few cruises I have been on (all Carnival), they have been setting up a late night buffet...somtimes themed, sometimes not. Maybe this isn't a thing any more?

[Bluemoon319]

It is very beautiful. Governors beach can be reached by taxi for about $4 I believe. Or...you could walk too depending on how much time you have. You do have to go down the street and can't just walk down the beach though.

 

 

 

Thanks for the info, sounds like a plan. :)

 

TUESDAY=SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO

 

 

(**I will add this right now, so that I don't forget** I got word the day we came home that my patient had passed away the day we were actually here in San Juan. What are the chances that she would pass while I was visiting her home town for the first time. We have been expecting this, actually since last year, and she has been hanging on forever now and gradually declining in health. She was the sweetest little lady who helped me with my Spanish. I have been seeing her daily for almost a year and my "route" since returning just hasn't been the same. I feel honored to know her and have her a part of my life and some day I will return to San Juan and visit all the places she told me about.)

 

 

 

Such bittersweet timing, and what a special cruise memory. I hope you get to return one day.

 

 

(The rainbow in my sig. is in honor of my brother. We had always talked about taking a cruise together, but his health was never good enough. This rainbow was on the last day of a cruise and was so amazing that just about everyone on the ship stopped what they were doing just to look at it. I told my son that it was a promise from God. When I returned from my cruise, there was a message on my phone from my brother sent at the same time as when the rainbow appeared. He told me that he just received a phone call that there was a kidney & pancreas waiting for him.)

[Bluemoon319]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Love it! :)

[mitsugirly]

I booked our cruise last July on rccl's Indy strictly because the San Juan port was 5pm-11pm and I wanted to do the Bio Bay. Did a ton of research, found out the moon was going to be in a perfect position to go that evening and decided to do the ship's tour, which was ridiculously expensive, because it is pretty far from port and the window was pretty tight that if there were any issues with a van breaking down on a private tour, we would risk missing the ship. I was super excited about this tour. Got a note the first night that it had been cancelled. I was so disappointed and of course had no idea what to do because I hadn't researched anything else! We had a great time but we were really disappointed since this was the main reason we chose the itinerary. One day we'll get back.

 

Aww, that sucks that they cancelled. Did they say why? Was the weather bad? I would definitely have to do this only if I stayed in PR ahead of time. I wouldn't want to be rushed on a ship tour.

 

I'm such a planner and I would have to plan something to Puerto Mosquito (Mosquito Bay) which is located on the southern shore of the island of Vieques. They say it is the brightest of the 3 bays. Then you have to factor in the moon and you would want to go on a night that the darkest night. Some day I'll get there I hope.

 

I know that NCL Gem is also on your bucket list and she is doing special sailings out of San Juan in October, November and December this year. My sister and I are sailing on December 4th.

 

She sure is and I did know that she was going out of San Juan. However, we already have a cruise booked for November, so we wouldn't be able to squeeze another one in during this time frame. Hopefully she'll be there next year too.

[mitsugirly]

If you go back to Puerto Rico and have enough time, try and go to Luquillo Beach. It is the most beautiful beach! IMO of course. My aunt lives in PR and I spent many, many days there in my early 20s/college years at that beach. On week days there would be maybe 10 people there. The water is calmer than where you were near Old San Juan, and so blue and clear. It is near the rainforest, which is also great to check out. You just need a good amount of time in port because the beach is a good 45 minutes drive from San Juan, but so worth it. There are many images online if you ever want to check it out. I think the area is a bit more developed than it was 20 years ago, but still really beautiful. The rain passes over every day but ends quickly. There are lots of palm trees there for shade too. Its heaven! :)

 

I believe I did hear about Luquillo Beach. We have a friend originally from here and when I was asking him details and "the place" to go, I think he mentioned this beach. He also said I just HAD to check out the rain forest, but it's just a little too far away for my taste. So, it will definitely be something to check out if we sailed out of PR some time. It sounds like I'll have to go dow for a couple days prior to cruising. :D

 

Your reviews are amazing. Love the photos. How do you take the photos where the objects in the pictures look small like toys? Love those..

 

 

Thank you so much. There's a setting on my camera called "miniature" that I use to do those pictures. It is supposed to be equivalent to a "tilt shift" picture that people do with the DSLR cameras. If you don't know what tilt shift is, look it up and you'll find some pretty amazing pictures done. :)