Breeze Thanksgiving 2015 Family Cruise Review

Hello all. I found this board a few months before my cruise and all the info I read was very informative and helpfull. This was our 2nd booking but 1st official cruise due to illness the last go around. My group included 32 people spanning 3 generations. I wanted to start this review soon after we got home but life got in the way and I never could get to it. Things have slowed down so this is my attenpt to pay it forward for all the hel p I recieved prepping for my cruise.

Life revolves around traffic when you live in Atlanta. If you are not out by a certain time you may as well hunker down and enjoy a good movie versus sitting in a car during rush hour. Like a robot I can jump up and get rolling, but DW & DD are like fresh dough needing time to rise. To keep things going smooth, I always set the alarm early and use that extra time to pack the car. This keeps me occupied while the girls get it in gear. We hit the road just before the deadline and off we went.

A few more minutes we would have been waiting until 10:30 to get outta there.

So looking forward to some warm South Florida/Caribbean weather!

One Happy Family waiting to get to One Happy Island!

This is the Atlanta Traffic I like to see.

Life revolves around traffic when you live in Atlanta.

Yes, Yes, & Yes. I have to plan my week just around stupid ATL traffic. It seems like it's getting worse and worse everyday.

Can't wait for the rest of the review!

Following :)

Cool Dad!

This is the basis of all our family trips. Dad up driving while the ladies are sleep.

The ladies rested until we got to Valdosta for a meal. To keep the trip from getting to us, I broke the trip up into 3 segments: Valdosta for bfast, Ft. Pierce to rest for the day, and Miami the next morning.

Back on the road after eating and visiting friends in the area.

By the time we hit the Turnpike the drive was getting to me. All I wanted was to hit my hotel room and relax. I am like a kid on Christmas Eve when it comes to road trips and vacation. I just can't wind down and end up getting limited sleep. We arrived at the hotel early evening and met up with more of our party. Got a meal and called it a night.

The next morning we got up and hit the free buffet at the hotel before getting on the road.

The hotel we stayed in was the Fairfield Inn and Suites. I give them a 5/5 for location, service, price, and overall quality of my stay. I have no reservations about staying there the next time I sail out of MIAMI!

We were just under 2 hours away from the port but it felt like an eternity getting there. The weather was perfect as was the traffic. It was a little after 10 AM when we hit the greater Miami area.

can you feel it.

Can You Feel It?

CAN YOU FEEL IT!

We (me) decided to park at one of the offsite facilities versus at the port to save some coin. Went with "Safe Cruise Parking" as they were close to the port and I did not find any bad reviews on them. They are located in a somewhat sketchy area; however, it was nothing I hadn't seen before. They were organized enough but it could have been better. (Note to self - Take little kid on a bathroom break prior to hitting parking lot. My shorty was not squatting in no porta-potty) When we arrived the bus was just leaving so we had to wait in line for the next shuttle. It took about 30 minutes before we were loading up and heading over to the port. Unlike my hotel my feeling was that I would probably skip out on this outfit and hit the port next time.

I know I have to go daddy but the FIJI just tastes so good.

Some Where Over The Channel......

As the bus peaked over the bridge to the port there she was in all her glory - The Carnival Breeze! Vacation just went from real to surreal. This is one massive boat and all I could think about was getting on board and exploring to my heart's content.

All of those dreams were put on temporary halt when we actually hit the terminal...

Need I say more?

We unloaded and headed towards check in when I was promptly reminded that someone still had to GO! After asking around we were told that the outdoor rest rooms were on the opposite side of the terminal. We ran down there, let her do her thing ,and then headed back to check in. Since this was our first time we didn't know there was a short line for specialty boarding until after that fiasco. We hit the check in line and within 5 minutes we were through the scanner looking at the indoor rest room. Duly Noted for next time.

Now someone please tell me why the outdoor restroom is on the exit side of the building. I feel pretty certain that more people arriving to the terminal need those facilities more than people fresh off the boat.

Luckily we were able to bypass all of this

And got right to this!

Were On A Boat!!!!

Soon as we hit the atrium we went to our room, dropped off our bags, and headed up to the LIDO.

Are we standing between two mirrors or does this hallway really never end?

After reviewing all the options we decided on some fresh pizza. It was not the best I ever had but it was serviceable enough to hit it up several times during the trip. Especially during the Dive In Movies.

After finding other members of our group we had to split up again to go to our ... Dum Dum DUUUUUUM.... Munster Stations!

By the looks of this crowd you can tell the party was rocking!

When we got out of there we headed back up top just to find out that the skies had turned.

We headed back down to our room to see if our luggage had shown up. This is what we arrived to. The shoe bag.

It was getting close to our dining time so we headed on up and grabbed a seat. The little one had finally ran out of juice and passed out before she could get dessert.

When we got back to the room all but one of our bags were there waiting on us. When we opened the door the little one perked up when she set her eyes on this.

Who would think that one could get this excited about a jail bunk folded down from the ceiling. After unpacking mama and the lil one called it a night. Not so much for me. I hit up the fam and we went to check out what would soon be called our second home. When I got there the craps table was on smash so I decided roulette would be my game for the evening. Little did I know it would be my game for the cruise in the end. Not really sure what time we left there but it was the perfect ending to the start of a perfect trip.

Great start! Looking forward to the rest of your review.

Beautiful family! Can't wait for the rest, we are sailing the Breeze in January 2017.

My family sailed on Breeze over Thanksgiving 2014. Loved it! Looking forward to more of your great review and fun pics of your beautiful family!

Loving the review, cant wait for the rest!!!

Life revolves around traffic when you live in Atlanta. If you are not out by a certain time you may as well hunker down and enjoy a good movie versus sitting in a car during rush hour. Like a robot I can jump up and get rolling, but DW & DD are like fresh dough needing time to rise. To keep things going smooth, I always set the alarm early and use that extra time to pack the car. This keeps me occupied while the girls get it in gear. We hit the road just before the deadline and off we went.

 

 

 

A few more minutes we would have been waiting until 10:30 to get outta there.

 

 

So looking forward to some warm South Florida/Caribbean weather!

 

 

 

 

One Happy Family waiting to get to One Happy Island!

 

 

This is the Atlanta Traffic I like to see.

I love the middle picture. I laughed when I saw it. After looking serious in the one especially.

Enjoying your photos and narrative.

Keith

Thanks for all the kind words and follows.

Who says you are suppose to rest on vacation? I had lots to do and little time to do it in. I left the TV on the ship channel to provide a little light at night. I was shocked to see the winds so high when we got up.

Lil bits and I hit the ground running. We went up to Lido for some bfast and then started to explore the ship. She had a date with camp carnival and I had a slot pull event with my FB group at the casino. Mama had a date with room service. I went to drop lil bits off at CC but they did not open until 10. My event started at 9:30. No problem she would just hang with me until they opened and then I would drop her off. As we walked along the deck I noticed this little gem.

It was close to slot pull time so we headed to the casino.

I'm really enjoying your review!

The event was a blast but we all went away a little lighter. Looking forward to doing it again.

After the pull I dropped lil bits off at CC and then headed to the upper deck to meet up with the fam.

Sidebar - I must take this time to give big ups to the carnival hub app. This thing was a god send. All of our bookings were linked so when we logged into the app it had all 32 members of our party linked together. We started one mass message for the week in which everyone gave updates on where they would be and what they planned to do next. If you wanted in you just showed up. It also gave the kids a little bit of rope to do their own thing as well. Now we are not the type to let the youngsters run around unattended, but the older ones could hold them down and travel around as a group. If you are on the fence about it I say get the app. There were a couple members who had problems here and there but overall the app was fantastic. We did note lag a few times as well but not enough to make me change my mind on it.

I met up with the group at the volleyball area and watched the nephews play a few rounds.

The wild was howling but you could not ask for a better day if you ask me. Just look at the sky in these pics.

I'm really enjoying your review!

I'm glad you are!

Next up for me was the FB meet-n-greet and gift exchange. This was a fun event and was nice to put faces to people that I had been corresponding with for the last 6 months.

After this event came to a close I scooped up lil bits and met mama at the World's Famous GUYS BURGER JOINT!!! This thing did not disappoint! I have had many a burgers in my days and this one ranks in the top. I can still taste that Bacon and SMC!

After the meal we walked around and explored the ship some more then headed to the room to get ready for formal night.

We got dressed early and headed out to take a few photos then met up with the fam at the dining room.

My brother from another mother!

Don't we look happy?

We were seated on the upper level of the Blush dining room just as you walked in for the week. Our wait staff was nothing less than stellar. After polishing off a few lobsters and shrimp we headed to the sports deck to let the kidos play around. Once they had their fill of ice cream they turned in and the night owls headed to the after party - CASINO!!!!

Your not suppose to take photos in the casino but I managed to get a few in hear and there.

I played the roulette tables off and on until I won back what I lost the night before. After that I tossed this guy back and headed to the room.

I just realized that I never stated where this cruise was going. We were on the 8 day Southern Caribbean cruise to Grand Turk, Dominican Republic, Curacao, and Aruba.

Up next will be our adventures in Grand Turk!!!!!

We're on this ship on this itinerary in 32 days, can't wait to see the rest of your review. thanks