Trip report to Breezes Bahamas, 12/4/99-12/11/99, Cable Beach, New Providence Island, Bahamas
I took a nonstop flight on Continental Airlines from Newark, NJ, to Nassau, Bahamas, arriving by 10:30 a.m. There was a reggae band playing at the airport, and Bacardi was handing out rum shooters. I declined. As soon as I stepped out of the gate area, a Breezes representative met me. I got on the bus with 4 other people and off we went. The ride is only 10 minutes, during which the driver did a little narrating about Nassau and pointed out what is allegedly Eddie Murphy's mansion. Of course, throughout my week, various houses were pointed out to me as Eddie M.'s mansion anytime I got on a bus. Another rumor was that Bonnie Raitt was staying at Breezes.
Having been warned that check-in time is 3 pm, I had a bathing suit and summer outfit in my carry-on. At the reception desk there was no record of my reservation (contact me privately if you want to know the travel agent I used), but it didn't faze the clerks and I was given a room, which upon entering later, turned out to be lovely. It was nicely decorated with blue carpeting and floral bedspread on the king size bed. There was bleached wood furniture (nightstands, table & chairs, dresser). The dresser drawers kept sliding off the track, which was annoying. There was a coffeemaker, CD player and cable TV with 2 movie channels. Though I'd requested a gardenview room, I could see the ocean from my window. Some guests were apparently very unhappy with their rooms, but I don't know what they found not to their liking.
Anyway, since my room wasn't ready I went to the beach and pool area. My first impression was that the property wasn't very large. Actually the beachfront is a decent size, but my last trip was Club Med Columbus Isle so you can imagine my reaction to Cable Beach. Cable Beach is smaller than the beaches of the other resorts I've visited, but aside from a lot of sea grass in the water (a naturally occurring phenomenon), it was pretty nice and grew on me as the week wore on. I do wish that people who smoke wouldn't stub out their cigarettes in the sand. I myself smoke, and always dispose of my butts in a Dixie cup and then throw that away -- it's not difficult, really.
The first drink of my trip was a Breezes Blue, a pineapple, curacao, and rum concoction, that pleased me well. This was my first venture into a resort where alcohol is included, and it certainly brought about a lot of sloth on my part, which I don't think is a good thing.
I wanted to start meeting people so I volunteered for the midday beach games -- sack race, dickie pass (passing a bowling pin from person to person using only your knees), tug of war, etc. The staff bent the rules of these games so they were more amusing. For example, I crossed the finish line of the sack race slung over some guy's shoulder.
Then, aside from the usual beach grill concession stand, there was a barbecue by the pool area with chicken, steak, fish, ribs and many side dishes. This was very tasty and thankfully done twice while I was there. Aside from burgers, fries, nachos and Caesar salad at the beach grill concession, I thought the food was awful. It was bland, greasy and a poor selection. One time I bit into a cookie and it tasted like meatloaf. Pastafari, the annex restaurant, was a bit better, but the service there was deplorable. The midnight buffet was okay -- you could make yourself a sandwich. As for breakfast, well I only went twice. The french toast and belgian waffles were okay.
The staff at Breezes was uniformly friendly, outgoing and energetic, from the sports teams, entertainment teams, to the guys cleaning the beaches and working security. The men are total flirts, equally as horny as Club Med G.O.'s, but at least at Breezes they add a little finesse: I received one dinner invitation and 2 men offered to show me around Nassau. Countless conversations began with a Bahamian men asking me, 'So, are you here with your husband?'
The weather was marvelous all week. Daytime hovered around 80, sunny; night was in the low 70s. For Bahamians, though, low 70s is cool, so they were running around in puffy Tommy Hilfiger and Polo jackets. Another example of American infiltration can be found in the amount of fast food places I saw: Burger King, McDonalds, Dunkin Donuts, Dominoes Pizza, Subway and Hooters. I got so frustrated with the food at one point I thought about walking to the nearby Burger King.
There is no hostess seating in the dining room, so if you are travelling alone, and you're not outgoing, you're eating alone. There was only a handful of solo travelers during my stay. One guy had requested sharing a room, paid the share price, and lucked out because no roommate was put with him. Guests were surprised when it came up that I was travelling by myself. Some people thought it was great, some thought I was brave, some thought it was freaky. Listen, one of my best buds spent 10 months backpacking by herself through Southeast Asia. Breezes solo is a cinch compared to that. Club Med definitely draws more, and caters better to, the solo traveler. I thought there was a good number of singles at Breezes, though, they were travelling with siblings, family or groups of friends. This surprised me because I'd heard that Breezes Bahamas was not a great singles location. (Of course, there was a brother/sister team there the same time as me who's travel agent told them Breezes was a great singles' joint. They were upset by what they considered a low showing of singles compared to what they expected and wanted to leave immediately).
A lot of guests came from the Northeast U.S. and Midwest. There were some Canadian and British guests.
There's such a myriad of activities at Breezes -- trapeze, trampoline, sailing, windsurfing, water-skiing, tennis, basketball, volley ball, a neat gym -- that I wasn't sure how to spend my first afternoon. I watched the trapeze lessons but didn't participate until the next day. Terrifying experience. I'm not scare of heights, but when I swung out I got so mummified I didn't even attempt any of the tricks. I repeated this 'horrified arm hang' several times before giving up. One of the circus staff kept instructing a confused guy on the trapeze to lift his 'bum.' The fact that the guy didn't know what his 'bum' was only added to his confusion. I met a set of brothers from Georgia by the trapeze and ate dinner that night with the whole family which was delightful.
The show my first night was a mini-Junkanoo and it was fantastic. There were fire dancers, fire eaters, fire eating fire limbo dancers (this isn't a typo), and a Junkanoo parade around the lounge areas. The other shows that week that stood out were the staff talent show, which included great dance numbers. The head of the entertainment team at Breezes is a professionally trained dancer. He was awesome, and I happen to love dance performances. One night they had 3 comedians who put on a good show, too. The Circus Show my last night was also enjoyable. I found out that the most of the trapeze team didn't learn trapeze until Breezes hired them. You wouldn't know it by watching them. One of the receptionists's is a trapeze artist who was in the show.
As for day entertainment, Breezes came up with some cute stuff: marshmallow golf, toilet paper beauty pageant, sumo wrestling, dance lessons.
My third day I tried water-skiing lessons and fell each time. I also took a scuba lesson in the pool, which I liked very much (excellent instructor) but I had ear problems that I couldn't equalize, so I didn't go on the scuba excursion.
The excursions I did go on were the Dolphin Encounter (I didn't actually swim with them) which was great, and Sting Ray City, so-so. A lot of people liked the Sting Ray City snorkeling, but I don't like snorkeling in a penned in area, albeit a large one, and the Sting Rays skeeved me. They're huge -- 2 feet in diameter, and feel like jelly, and there were only 15 of them. For the record, the dolphins feel like leather car seats. During the dolphin encounter we got to feed the dolphins, pet them, hug and kiss them, dance with them and get a photo taken.
Business on the beach: On Cable Beach there are independent entrepreneurs who rent jetskis, run snorkel trips (these sounded like a good deal, 1 hours for $30; wish I'd gone on one), sell jewelry, braid hair. They wear matching shirts depending on what they are offering, i.e., all the hair braiders wore the same blouse. Of course every time you step onto the beach you'll be asked about these things, but only once. Aside from the jetski rentals, I thought the prices were reasonable. I even had a few braids put in my hair for the hell of it ($2/braid, but you can negotiate a lower rate for your whole head).
While the food was lackluster, the drinks were great. There are soda dispensers in 2 outside areas and in the dining room. There's a pool bar, piano bar, lounge bar and disco bar. My favorite drinks were the Breezes Blue and Dirty Banana, kahlua and cream with banana liqueur. There's make-your-own pina colada and daiquiri dispensers. Beers were bottled Red Stripe (very cold) and canned Kalik. I think the Becks taps were there as decorations. You can safely drink the water in the Bahamas, but if you don't like the taste (I didn't) there's always club soda from the bartender or seltzer from a broken soda dispenser.
I kept waiting for a rainy day to go into Nassau to do some shopping, but since glorious weather graced the whole trip, that never happened. I did get some souvenirs at the Paradise Island Ferry terminal, coffee beans, magnetic notepad; at the Breezes gift shop, sarong, coffee beans, magnets; and duty free at the airport, perfume. There are a lot of perfume bars in Nassau I wish I'd visited (passed them to and from excursions) but I didn't want to sacrifice a beach day for it. Downtown Nassau has a straw market, gift shops, upscale jewelry stores, Gucci, Rolex and Cartier. Remember, all the Bahamians wear Nike, Polo and Tommy Hilfiger, so the clothing stores are not so interesting. Nassau struck me as safe and pleasant. Not what I would consider a "city" but it has a nice compact shopping district. I chose this destination in case it was rainy, there'd still be stuff to do.
There are 2 casinos nearby. The Marriott Crystal Palace is a few blocks from Breezes. The Atlantis is a bus/cab ride away. I don't gamble so I didn't visit them. Everyone kept telling me how cool the Atlantis is, but the outside is so ostentatious it scared me, so, no, I didn't bother going in. From what I gather through hearsay, Cable Beach has nicer beaches than Paradise Island.
In sum, it was a nice vacation but not a stupendous one. At heart, I prefer Club Med for their larger-properties, more communal resorts, emphasis on sports, and unrivalled cuisine, but I'm glad I gave Breezes a try. And hey, at home, I taught one of my hometown bartenders how to make a dirty banana.