The Breeze in Aruba
Jett and I are midway through a 9-day (8 night) Caribbean cruise on the Carnival Breeze, one of Carnival Cruise Line’s biggest and best ships. Our itinerary includes stops in Grand Turk (Turks and Caicos Islands), La Romana (Dominican Republic), Curacao and Aruba. After the winter we have had, we felt the need to get some Caribbean sun.
But, if the first two days are any indication, we will be disappointed. It has been cloudy and cool, with a few rain showers sprinkled in, so to speak.
FLL, waiting for the bus to the ship
We started the trip by getting up Friday morning at 3:30am and driving to Providence for a 7:30 flight. Why Providence? Because we could get a Southwest flight to Ft Lauderdale from there. Now, mind you, the Breeze docks in Miami. But – travel tip alert – it is often much cheaper to fly to Ft Lauderdale which is just 35 miles from Miami. There is even a train that connects the airports. My original plan was to fly into Ft Lauderdale and take that train to Miami and then get a taxi to the cruise terminal. But Carnival made it easy on us by offering a bus from Ft Lauderdale. So we flew into Ft Lauderdale Friday, stayed overnight at the airport Ramada Inn, then took the Carnival bus to the ship Saturday morning. Easy peasy. And we saved over $600 in airfare by doing it that way. Yes, we had the cost of the hotel, but that was because we always fly in a day early – we got stuck once with a 16-inch snowfall and missed some of our vacation, so we vowed then that we would always get to our destination a day early. We figured that if there was ever a year where an early spring snowfall could delay us, it would be 2015.
It also turned out that Miami was having a huge music festival last weekend and hotel rooms for under $500 were non-existent. Just another reason to pick Ft Lauderdale.
The pool area at the Ramada Inn, Saturday morning
It was sunny and warm when we arrived at the Ramada and we had drinks and lunch at the poolside bar. We were starting to unwind, getting our heads into vacation mode (which was somewhat difficult because were were anxiously awaiting word on an anticipated offer to purchase our house – but that’s another story). Then it clouded up, the rains came and the temperature dropped 15 degrees. It seems that the jetstream, which had been dipping south along the US east coast all winter, bringing all that snow to Massachusetts, had followed us down to Florida. Everyone commented on how unusual it was to be that cold in March. Well, we have heard THAT before. It wasn’t the weather we wanted, but at least it wasn’t snowing.
It was cool – 70ish – when we boarded the ship. There were occasional sunny breaks, but mostly it was cloudy, cool and breezy. We wore our hoodies as we got familiar with the ship.
The colorful atrium
The Breeze is the largest cruise ship we have ever been on – about 1,000 feet long with a capacity for about 3,700 passengers, served by a crew of 1,400. That is over 5,000 people living on this floating city.
It was built is 2012 and still has a fresh feel. It is colorful and very tastefully decorated. It has a 9-story atrium with glass elevators. Lots of restaurants, bars, several pools. a spa, a mini-golf course, basketball courts, a jogging track, kids activity areas, two dining rooms, a shopping arcade, a mega-video screen above the main pool and, of course, a casino. It also has a wonderful water slide and a ropes course.
Our cabin
We have a balcony cabin on Deck 11 – one level above the Lido deck (with the pools and the buffet). It is a good location as we can get anywhere pretty quickly. And we are just steps from the main smoking area – a critical space for Jett. It was one of the smaller balcony cabins we have had, but it meets out needs. Everything works.
Speaking of smoking, Marlboros on the ship have a price tag of $28 per carton. Read that and weep, Massachusetts smokers.
Day 1 was basically a day to get familiar with the ship and our dinner companions. We dine at 8:15 with four other couples: a career army couple now stationed in Virginia, a couple from northern Mississippi, a couple from Alabama and a couple from Texas. Yes, we are the only Yankees in the bunch. I don’t know if the South will rise again, but it will certainly go cruising.
Our balcony
Our vanity area
Our hallway
Day 2 was a day at sea and it was very cool and cloudy. Jett and I aren’t big pool people, but it probably would have been warmer in the pool than on the breezy deck. The high was around 70.
Day 3 was our day on Grand Turk. Or was supposed to be. It was so windy that morning that the captain declared that it was too dangerous to dock, so we just waved at the island and moved on. That was disappointing as we had a snorkel excursion scheduled and were looking forward to seeing what is, by all reports, a beautiful (but small) island. But snorkeling on a windy day is never fun, so it is probably best that we didn’t do it. We have another snorkeling trip planned for Aruba.
Martin
We were pretty certain, when we boarded the ship, that there would be a coffee bar on board. Jett needs her coffee in the morning and I need Jett to have her coffee in the morning. Jett without coffee is not pretty. The coffee in the dining rooms, though adequate, was not the high-quality brew that she loves. And no cappuccino in the dining rooms. But by the end of Day 2 we had not found it and I was getting seriously worried. Fortunately, on Day 3 we discovered its location. In retrospect, it should not have been such a mystery as it is in exactly the same place on the Breeze as it was on the Valor. This one was manned by “Martin,” a very cute barrista from the Philippines. By the end of the cruise he and Jett will be BFFs.
It turns out that Martin is very skilled at foam art – drawing pictures in the foam topping a cappuccino.
Days 4, 5 and 6 are all days in port: La Romana (D.R.), Curacao and Aruba. If it isn’t too windy.
“Piggy”
“Hello Kitty”
“rita”
Outdoor smoking lounge
Wine dispenser, library bar
Dining room
Theater stage
Theater seating
“You guys don’t do shit around here”
We have had a brutal winter here in New England. Record cold, record snow. I have spent countless hours shoveling the driveway and the sidewalks. And once, early in the winter, I shoveled the street in front of my house, to make room for someone – a guest or a neighbor – who might need a place to park. I gave up on that after the third 2-foot storm. It just got to be too much, with no obvious benefit to me.
Meanwhile, my across-the-street neighbor, who has a pickup truck with a small plow, carved out a space in front of my next-door neighbor’s house. He also did not keep up with the snow, but was able to 4-wheel over the ice to park there. However, because of the shoddy plowing job, his car jutted out into our narrow street, creating a hazard. I would not have been able to get my truck past his truck, should I have chosen to drive it rather than leaving it parked in the driveway. But, more to the point, there was no way a fire engine could have made it down the street.
But I didn’t say anything.
Last Friday we were visited by Jett’s two sisters. When I arrived home from work I found their car in the driveway. I looked for a spot on the back street, but, finding none there, decided to park in the empty space semi-cleared by my neighbor.
In Boston proper, it is a time-honored tradition that he who shovels out a parking space “owns” the space for some period of time – typically two weeks. Ownership is claimed by putting a “space saver” – a chair, small table or traffic cones – in the space. Those who ignore this ownership marker risk having their vehicle vandalized.
But even Boston limits this quasi-private ownership of public space. Making allowances for the extremely harsh winter, Boston allowed these space-savers to remain in place nearly a month. But about two weeks ago the city announced that space-savers were verboten and would be collected by the DPW.
I have rarely seen any space-savers in use in my suburban town, primarily, I think, because space is not so precious. My neighbor never used a space-saver and, in any case, the few seconds it took him to carve out the space with his plow hardly earned him any ownership rights. The question, in my mind, was why he didn’t carve out a few more since it was so easy.
Anyway, back to Friday. As Jett, her sisters and I were discussing take-out options, we got a knock on our door. Jett answered. It was our neighbor, whom we have never met, who introduced himself by saying “You are parked in my spot!” Jett was taken aback, but stood her ground, bless her heart. She denied that he had any right to the public space. But he asserted that it was “his.” Jett fetched me.
To me – without bothering to introduce himself – he again belligerently asserted his ownership of the space. I said “Are you serious?” – not quite believing that anyone could seriously be claiming ownership after such a long time. He said that he had “dug out the spot” (a small lie since he had done no digging at all), then, without even waiting for my response, said “You guys don’t do shit around here.”
I was stunned. And furious. After all, I had cleared my sidewalk after every storm (which is more than some on the street could claim) and have worked diligently at keeping the property looking good. Who was this guy and what was he talking about? Didn’t matter, really. As he stomped down my front steps I followed him, cursing him along the way.
I had planned to find another space after leaving to get the take-out, but as I watched him rearrange the cars in his driveway (yes, he could have parked off-street but was too lazy to move the cars around), I lost whatever vestige of sympathy remained.
When I came back with the food, I parked again in the disputed spot.
I may go out and clear it a bit more. Then put down a space-saver.
Jerk.