Live from Breezes Curacao

[DebbieH103]

From Feb 14:


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Hi, gang.
Here's what's true: The skating rink isn't finished (several guys are working hard on it), the gift shop has show cases but no stuff, only a few pieces of equipment in the gym, but I went to a great "power yoga" class this afternoon, not all rooms have furniture situated or drapes in them.

Here's some other info: The main jacuzzi IS heated (very much so). All the restaurants are open. There are 185 rooms occupied and 500 people here (lots of kids). They are fully booked for Easter.

Trapeze is up, rock climbing is up. Social directors are doing stuff. Kids activities/club and teen club open, but most teens do kayak, etc., and young kids are hanging in the main pool.

There is almost always somewhere open to eat. It is true the buffets could have more choice, but there is always some sort of pasta thing (today at lunch, I made my own toppings w/ green peppers, tomatoes, mussels, and shrimp. The burgers are awesome. The wine here is better than the Jamaica stuff. Mostly Italian.

The ocean is a bit cool, as are the pools, but you can warm up to them, and the ocean is warmer further out. There is tons of wind. The water is 5 ft. deep after you walk out only 2 ft.

Drinks in casino are charged to your room. Spa is operational, I don't know about steam or sauna, I doubt it. Will have to investigate.

Can't say which rooms in which category are the best. I think we are in jr. suite oceanview. Too close to the road, hear cars all night.

Lots of beach chairs and such.

As Richard said yesterday, you can find plenty to complain about here or plenty of ways to have fun. True,completely.

They need to improve the check-in process, it is like a herd of buffalo. Airport is easy but we had a suitcase damaged, and we were there an hour due to someone's luggage problems. Free beer and cokes on the bus. Eduardo gave a mini-tour but sat down quickly.

The people here are diverse--all ages, lots of nationalities. Nice island.

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From 2/15

Yesterday at 4:30, I attended the power yoga in the gym. Only the instructor and I did it, but it was great. It was a full hour. The gym equipment is sparse, and the bike doesn't work that I can tell, but you can lift weights or use the weight machines and get on the stepper. There is usually one or two people there, so you can get in to do something and watch the daily schedule for arranged classes. The drawback is that outside this area, there is ping pong, pool, and other table games that are very popular. This makes a yoga and meditation class somewhat challenging.
The spa has a huge list of stuff, and prices are comparable w/ the U.S. I see a Friday sunset massage on the beach for US$45 on this list. Other massages are $30-45 for 30 minutes and $60-80 for an hour. They have a couples one for $115 and some Chinese and Thai stuff.

I recommend booking dinner a day in advance if you can. Early slots fill up first, presumably due to the families. The Japanese is more popular.

We dined at the Pastafari at 8:30 p.m. after another session of roulette. I lost $20 in 15 minutes and $10 on slots in about 5. I came back, and got Todd and we played $20 and got our money back (he lost his, I doubled mine).

The casino gets busier later. Lots of people come from off property, so you have to wear an annoying wristband at the resort since anyone can walk into the casino. No matter what I dress in to tour the island, this purple wristband is a dead giveaway as a tourist

The wind is intense here. Yesterday, Todd was in the shade for two hours, and his feet still got burned with sunscreen. I was out w/ spf 25 on my nose and some areas. I made it out to the rocks where the fish supposedly are by going across from the manmade island, but after about 10 attempts never could get a mask. They have more fins than masks, so you might bring your own. People seem to hog the equipment all day. They need a better policy.

Last night, we both went to the antipasto bar at the Italian (we dined outside). I picked little bites of fish and endive and tomato. We both had cream of garlic soup. I highly recommend it. Todd ordered salad. It never came. He ordered tenderloins, and I ordered veal stuffed w/ proscuitto and cheese. The wine was good but didn't come very often. This meal took a long time. We could hear the house band playing the same songs in the same order at 9. We skipped dessert to see the show (after people brought valentine roses to the ladies--I got a red one and a yellow one, long stemmed). This was a good show. Great dancing sort of Backstreet Boys style for one song, lots of misting machine. An acrobatics thing with the tour desk girl and a gent. Some couples dancing South American style. Then there was a guy in a big mama outfit. We had to sit on the pool patio, but as long as nobody stood in front of us, we still had a good view and were close to the bar. It was a lovely evening.

This morning, we had breakfast at 7:30 so Todd could get a cab at 8 for golf at Blue Bay. I am going on the 9 a.m. shuttle (free) to town. Cabs are $20 each way just about everywhere. Rent a car if you want to go out much. I saw 3 days for 99 on a sign right outside the resort gate.

It is 8:55, so I have to go.

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later 2/15...

Todd said Blue Bay Golf Club was breathtaking. He had a rough time on hole 5, scared of the water. He lost 7 balls (brought 9 and his own tees and golf shoes and glove). He rented clubs, they gave him no wedges at first. He got a 90, and he is an 11 handicap. Too much wind. It was 25 minutes up there each way. His round, including $45 of transportation and $35 of club rental was $180 US.
I went into town and bought a lot of stuff--$30 for a suitcase (overpriced, others were cheaper). Three beachtowels for $15, others for $12 for 3. Lots of Dutch chocolates, Curacao liquer all $5 for medium. All flavors are orange, just different colors in the bottle

The bridge was interesting. Water had a lot of garbage in it. Town has lots of quaint sidewalk cafes. Felt safe alone, just held my purse in front and kept movint. Punta side more comfortable than Otrabanda.

This afternoon, I had the same seafood pasta, Todd had fish and fries. The jacuzzi was not even 85 this afternoon. They said something about not heating it until 5 because they were afraid of the kids (then why was it so hot yesterday?

I went to the bachata dance lessons today. That was fun--danced with a guy from Venezuela.

Downtown, the shops all have similar stuff. Lots of Swiss watches, all sorts of clothes. Awesome tennis shoes. Anything you might want. Fish market is way at the end.

All the water here is just so cold, wind is almost hurricane force!

HOST DebbieH103
Jamaica Message Board and Community Host
http://members.aol.com/DebbieH103/pr...l/debbiewb.htm

[DebbieH103]

written February 16, 2002 09:25 PM
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It has been a wonderful day. This morning, we had breakfast at about 8:30. They had real (American) sausage today (they've been having hot dog chunks). Every day, the papaya and watermelon and pineapple have been good.
At 9, I was scheduled for Ni Cheng massage. She finally got to me at 9:25 but did 58 minutes, so I couldn't complain. The spa has wonderful aromas going, but the only complaint was that the walls were thin if someone is gabby next door. Ni Cheng involved short strokes along with some deeper accupressure. I loved it. It was $70 for the hour. Other massages are cheaper but I wanted something different.

At noon, we ate some small chicken wing pieces (fish chunks for Todd) at the kiddie pool and then met Benny at 12:30 for island touring. She took us to see a lot of hotels and beaches and, YES, she found me some flamingos! We had a drink at a local bar. She really knows the island and is a pleasant companion that is very knowledgeable. It is nice to put a name to a face!

We came back and shared a hamburger and fed the fish. Then I went to the jacuzzi, hot again and took some sunset pictures (close to sunset anyway). We went to the casino before and after dinner. Before dinner, we were down $5. After dinner, we were up $30, so we are now ahead $5 for the trip!!!

We dined again at the Japanese. They seat you in one area for salads--choice of cabbages with a tomato and shrimp and many good condiments--soy, ginger, etc., sushi, teppanyaki veggies (not hot)and a vinegary salad w/ thin rice noodles, string beans, and a tomato and shrimp.

At the cooking table, they gave us soup (had at the salad table last night). Nice soup, like miso w/o seaweed, if that makes sense. They cooked up veggies and noodles and then fish, shrimp, steak and chicken with veggies. Very good. The wine service was good, and it is nice to sit with others.

After we did the casino, it was about 9:10. I sat down for entertainment and was asked to judge a dance contest by Nick (formerly at Runaway Bay). We had to judge 7 dances from Latin to country to rock and roll. It was tough, but we did it and got TINY bottles of Curacao liquer.

There are no craps here, for those that are asking. They have them at Marriott and Holiday Inn.

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HOST DebbieH103
Jamaica Message Board and Community Host
http://members.aol.com/DebbieH103/pr...l/debbiewb.htm

[PJ OTT]

BREEZES CURACAO has some excellent rates at the moment. Here's a few examples if you think you can't afford it....THINK AGAIN.

$1042 PP 7-nights with air from Philly
$1088 PP 7-nights with air from Houston

I shopped around pricing and only one agent could do this: the hotel was the same, but the air was higher with everyone else. Ask for John at 888-696-4202 and you'll get the best rate. CURACAO is fabulous. So much to do, I'm going back!!!

[the_traveler]

$1000+ doesn't sound too cheap...
Did you try checking out on expedia or such?
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http://www.mycliffbuddies.com