Breeze - Feb 18th-25th...trip report, photos, and videos!

[douglinc@msn.com]

We got off the ship the morning you got on, the fog was a nightmare. We live in North Texas and always drive to Galveston, by the time we got off the ship (around 4pm) is about the time we usually get home... Other than the fog, we had a really nice cruise & enjoyed the ship.

[ABQrobin]

We got off the ship the morning you got on, the fog was a nightmare. We live in North Texas and always drive to Galveston, by the time we got off the ship (around 4pm) is about the time we usually get home... Other than the fog, we had a really nice cruise & enjoyed the ship.

 

We felt so sorry for everyone on the ship.... especially those missing flights! We sailed out of Galveston in Feb 2015 with zero fog issues. We thought it would be fine and boy were we wrong. Oh well. 50/50 for us in Feb. Don't think I will sail that time of year again.

[ABQrobin]

I will continue with the review shortly....

 

 

for now here is a little video with slideshow of our day.

 

 

some of the photos are repeats from this trip report.

 

...to be continued...

[heffy2]

Thank for the review, loving it so far!

[ABQrobin]

on with the day on Nassau....

 

So....Fish Fry was dead, I mean quiet as a church mouse dead. We walked around and a few of the "hawkers" came up, saying come in my place, I have the best ...blah, blah, blah. You know how it goes. Finally we were both tired of it and went into one place. I will not tell the name, as maybe they were having an off day, but we went inside and sat at the bar. The girl took our drink orders and asked what we wanted for lunch. We started looking at the menu....hmmmm.... conch something for sure. She tells us "oh, we have the best conch salad in Nassau". Okay, we'll take a conch salad with our drinks. Sure. Off she went. She brought the beer for DH and soda for me. And she was off again. There were a few locals sitting in booths inside the small place, getting served and eating. We sat and waited, and waited. She came back and said it was just a few more minutes...and we waited, and waited. Finally she came back, 30 minutes later, and said oops we don't have any conch yet but we are trying to get some. We said nope, give us our ticket. We paid and left.

Now maybe they thought they could get it from another store, we saw her and another lady run in and out of the front door a few times. But geez, if you convince someone that you have something to eat, you should deliver on it. So I am not giving the name of the place here, just saying they were a disappointment and won't get my business.

 

We walked a few buildings down, and into Twin Brothers. Yeah, I know that is the one featured on all the tv shows on Food Network. DH just wanted good food and soon, and they seemed to be busy now. We walked in, and wow, the place was half full! And people were eating food. Perfect. We took a booth and menus and a waitress took our orders pretty quickly.

 

 

its really dark inside all these restaurants, felt like a cave almost...must be to conserve the a/c.

 

We ordered the conch salad, again, and an order of fish and chips, with a beer and soda.

[ABQrobin]

 

 

conch salad....yum

 

fish and fries

 

 

 

Big menu, lots of choices

 

Food was good, we paid the bill and started walking back towards the cruise ships. Beautiful views on the way as we passed a beach, then Junkanoo beach, then town for shopping.

 

 

...more...

[ABQrobin]

The wind was still blowing, which made the walk tollerable, so we walked all the way back.

 

 

 

About this time DH noticed a guy that had been in Twin Brothers sitting at the booth behind us. He was walking behind us. He was dressed like he might be a tourist, so I didn't think much of it. Then we stopped to take photos above, and he stopped also and took photos with his phone. Okay. Now its getting creepy. On we went, stopped again for photos. He stopped again. Now we were sure he was following us.

 

 

 

And then I was stopped to take a photo, and turned around and walked right by him. He had his phone up, like he was taking a photo but he was talking into it. Hmmmm. Now we know he is up to something.

 

I walked back to DH, and we kept walking down the street towards Junkanoo beach.

 

This is him, standing under that palm tree.

 

Wish I had gotten more photos of him.

 

We stopped, he stopped.

 

 

 

...more...

[ABQrobin]

We arrived at Junkanoo which looked like a fun place to hang out if you are a beach person.

 

 

 

Tiki bar was right there, and we wanted to see what our "friend" was going to do. We walked in and sat down. He walked around outside the whole time.

 

[ABQrobin]

Inside Tiki Bar...which is really just a large hut, we sat at the bar. The bartender was handing out free margarita shots as he said it was International Margarita day. Hmmm. Never heard of that.

 

DH ordered a beer, and I ordered something new, and it was yummy!

 

 

After we finished our drinks, we decided to move on along the road. That guy was walking around most of the time, then he seemed to go around the corner. Maybe he gave up on us. But also there at Tiki bar, was a guy walking around taking photos of people. Around and around the bar, snap snap snap, but I never once saw him talk to anyone. Then I notice he was behind me...I turned around and stared him in the face. He said nothing and walked off. I honestly think he was planning to reach into my tote bag or try to grab DH's wallet. He was that close.

I am not normally paranoid, but I was sure both of these guys were targeting us. Gave me a bad feeling, for sure.

 

We left the bar and started walking back towards the shopping district and Straw Market. We went into several stores, didn't see anything we wanted, then into the Market. Lots and lots of wood carvings, t-shirts, bags, hats....

 

 

 

 

we did buy a couple of things, then headed towards the pier.

 

....more...

[ABQrobin]

We had a good time in Nassau most of the time.... but we get the crime thing now. There are predators there.

One last shot of us before we left.

 

 

Home sweet home...

 

 

We got back on the ship, went up to the Lido to get sandwiches at the Deli, and drop off our stuff in the room.

 

...more...

[ABQrobin]

Deli menu....the NEW one.

 

 

 

the Cubano sandwich.

and some dessert on the side.

 

 

tonight we are skipping the MDR..... we have got to go to the Bonsai Sushi.

 

...more later...

[ChanceandAndy]

Love your review. We are sailing on the Breeze April 8th. Can't wait!

[splash_in_the_water]

great review. crazy with those weirdos following you walking around. So do you think they were waiting to get close enough to just snatch something and run or? We've been there 2x but didn't really notice that so much, bit it looks like you did a bit more walking around than we did.

[Crusin Hogs]

Any port we go to ,My wallet goes in my front pocket of jeans /shorts ,,, Lot safer there

[ABQrobin]

great review. crazy with those weirdos following you walking around. So do you think they were waiting to get close enough to just snatch something and run or? We've been there 2x but didn't really notice that so much, bit it looks like you did a bit more walking around than we did.

 

DH works for military/gov't so he has to go through a briefing before we travel anywhere outside of US and give them a list of where we are visiting. He was warned about Nassau having gangs that are very discreet, will have a lookout who lets the other guy know who they are targeting, and then when to strike. They said sometimes they are on scooters and will grab bags as they drive by if you are walking along streets.

We were on the lookout for things like that....but didn't see it happen. But the guy talking into phone while following us, that was definitely something. When we got home, DH had to go to a briefing again to let them know what happened at each port, anything strange, etc. He told them about Nassau and the official said that was definitely what they had warned us about. It could have been the other guy taking photos at Tiki bar was in on it, or that guy was part of a different group. No way to know. BUT they were both suspicious and we were lucky we noticed both of them in time.

 

I am guessing they were after our backpack/camera bag. I was pulling my wallet and camera and GoPro in and out of it continuously. These are just pick-pocket types, not violent. Wouldn't want to cause a scene. And this was MID-day, 8am-2pm.

 

Everyone....I am not one of those paranoid people when I travel. We have traveled all over the world and only a few times ever have thought someone was following us. I just want everyone to know that there is a thing there, in Nassau, and we experienced it for ourselves. As I said before, the first guy following us for over an hour, was a tall white guy, long hair in a ponytail, shorts and a backpack, looked like just another tourist off a ship. We didn't recognize him from our ship, and he was alone. Don't think that these people have a certain stereotype look....this guy looked like another tourist.

Always be aware of you circumstances, and have a plan. I do think wandering around, off the main streets could be a problem with either robbery or worse.

 

...on with the trip report...

[ABQrobin]

Any port we go to ,My wallet goes in my front pocket of jeans /shorts ,,, Lot safer there

 

This is our 8th cruise, and the first time either of us have felt nervous about anything. We always keep our wallets secure regardless. I am more afraid of getting robbed back in US than I am in places we visit, but Nassau...not a great feeling about that place at all now.

[ABQrobin]

We pulled away from the dock..... and headed off to enjoy dinner at Bonsai Sushi!

 

 

 

We love sushi, and love trying new foods. The Bonsai Sushi was calling our names every time we walked past it! Tonight was the night. We had checked the menu posted for the MDR and nothing seemed enticing tonight, so why not?

 

The SHIP for TWO....yup, had to do it.

 

 

 

A waitress came over and took our order. We were pleased to learn that you could now substitute the spicy tuna roll (my favorite) for the eel roll (not so much). We did that, plus I ordered a pot of hot tea.

 

She brought us a gift from chef, edamame. Yum. Love them.

 

 

 

 

DH got a beer from the menu, of course.

 

As we started on the edamame, a few more couples sat down at other tables. And lots of people were walking by, trying to check out what everyone was eating. All week we had seen a few people siting in the little cafe along the walkway, but never seeing it packed full. Tonight might be different.

 

...more...

[ABQrobin]

First course arrived.... a big bowl of miso soup. It was fantastic!

 

 

Then she brought out the salad to share. Yummmmmm.

It had a light ginger sesame dressing and was just perfect.

 

 

 

and then the Ship arrived.....

 

 

 

Holy cow.... amazing!

I think we drew a crowd watching it come out to the table. It was that big. And wow, what a beautiful display, too. Check out the carrots even.

 

...more....

[ABQrobin]

What a FEAST.

 

 

And the price is really not bad considering you get the soup, salad, and all that sushi. Service was fantastic, too.

 

Just what we had wanted, and everything was delicious!

 

After dinner, we walked out to Lobby to watch Polaris Trio for a few minutes, then into the theatre to watch some of Hasbro the Gameshow.

 

Polaris Trio

 

We just loved this group, our favorite on the ship all week.

 

...more...

[blizzrd]

Following, we are on the Breeze April 15th, 2018.

Hey same here.

[ABQrobin]

So..... let me recap the weather for the trip so far.

 

Sunday..... FOG nightmare

Monday.....windy windy windy

Tueday....Key West.....sunny but windy

Wednesday....Freeport....sunny but windy

Thursday......Nassau.....sunny but windy.

 

So..... Friday was a Sea Day on way back to Galveston

 

The Bahamas are very shallow and the ship channels are a bit roundabout, according to the maps

 

 

 

 

 

And behold.... the wind was gone!

 

Friday was sunny and warm and felt like a whole new vacation. The pools filled up, the chairs filled up ....Gasp.... we decided to do something we had not done the past 7 cruises...

 

....more to come...

[olemissgal00]

Inside Tiki Bar...which is really just a large hut, we sat at the bar. The bartender was handing out free margarita shots as he said it was International Margarita day. Hmmm. Never heard of that.

 

DH ordered a beer, and I ordered something new, and it was yummy!

 

 

After we finished our drinks, we decided to move on along the road. That guy was walking around most of the time, then he seemed to go around the corner. Maybe he gave up on us. But also there at Tiki bar, was a guy walking around taking photos of people. Around and around the bar, snap snap snap, but I never once saw him talk to anyone. Then I notice he was behind me...I turned around and stared him in the face. He said nothing and walked off. I honestly think he was planning to reach into my tote bag or try to grab DH's wallet. He was that close.

I am not normally paranoid, but I was sure both of these guys were targeting us. Gave me a bad feeling, for sure.

 

We left the bar and started walking back towards the shopping district and Straw Market. We went into several stores, didn't see anything we wanted, then into the Market. Lots and lots of wood carvings, t-shirts, bags, hats....

 

 

 

 

we did buy a couple of things, then headed towards the pier.

 

....more...

 

 

 

Totally agree on being aware of surroundings there. We had an attempted bag snatching while walking just across from Junkanoo. However, I’ve been to Nassau and Junkanoo many other times with no issues, just that once. I think they see tourists they may be drinking and think they can take advantage.

 

 

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[olemissgal00]

First course arrived.... a big bowl of miso soup. It was fantastic!

 

 

Then she brought out the salad to share. Yummmmmm.

It had a light ginger sesame dressing and was just perfect.

 

 

 

and then the Ship arrived.....

 

 

 

Holy cow.... amazing!

I think we drew a crowd watching it come out to the table. It was that big. And wow, what a beautiful display, too. Check out the carrots even.

 

...more....

 

 

 

I see the menu says 22. Is that 22 pp or 22 for the entire thing??

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[ABQrobin]

It is $22 for the whole thing, which is meant for 2 people. It included 2 bowls of soup, a large salad to share.

[ABQrobin]

Totally agree on being aware of surroundings there. We had an attempted bag snatching while walking just across from Junkanoo. However, I’ve been to Nassau and Junkanoo many other times with no issues, just that once. I think they see tourists they may be drinking and think they can take advantage.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Yikes. Yes, I think they are out there targeting tourists and people don't even realize it. I also think the ONLY reason we spotted the first guy, is that it wasn't that crowded out yet. If there had been lots of people walking up and down that street between Fish Fry and Junkanoo, we wouldn't have notice the one guy. But since it was, we saw him. The other guy with the camera, that's a new one on me. He was wearing a logo of a "photo" company on his t-shirt, so I thought he was a real photographer, but after 20 minutes of taking photos and not even speaking with a single person as he walked around, I knew he was suspicious.

 

I think I have learned my lesson now, and ANY people I see who act suspicious, I am snapping a photo of them. I hate to see these criminals getting away with targeting anyone.

 

...more review coming shortly...