Our B2B Adventure on the Breeze Inaugural!

[rtw68]

Here are some pics after we left Aruba.

 

 

 

 

 

That night, a group of us ate at Cucina Del Capitano. Its located toward the back of the Lido Market Place and there are steps you take to the second level.

 

 

[LizaMM]

Thanks so much for your detailed description and photos of DePalm Island and the Helmet walk.

 

I was here several years ago and did the Snuba tour. My DD and her BFF are considering the Helmet or snuba for our upcoming Breeze cruise and I am looking forward to sharing your review and photos with them to help them decide!

[rtw68]

They describe dinner as “family style,” meaning if more than one person orders an item they bring it in a larger dish and you share.

 

They did do that with the appetizers, but when it came to the main courses, they brought us out HUGE individual portions (even though some of us ordered the same items).

 

Dinner was very good and we all left VERY full. During the dinner, they sing several songs. It was really funny hearing a Russian waiter sing an Italian song (he did a good job).

 

This was another night that my DW told them it was my birthday, so I got sung to again!

 

Here is a pic of the menu:

 

 

That night, we wandered the ship some more and turned in.

 

Here was our towel animal for the night:

 

[rtw68]

11/26/2012 – CHEF’S TABLE

 

I completely forgot about the Chef’s Table! Sorry to backtrack but I want to make sure I include it!

 

I had reserved both the Steak House and the Chef’s Table soon after the Breeze started its cruises in the Med. I received confirmation of both, but we wouldn’t know what night the chef’s table would be until we boarded the ship (and I assumed not until the 8-day cruise).

 

On Saturday (day of the 8-day embarkation) we received confirmation that the Chef’s Table would be on Monday, November 26th. They included a form for DW and I that asked us if we had been sick. Since the event would be in the galley, they didn’t want anyone that was sick to contaminate everyone’s meals! Can’t say I blame them.

 

We were each provided a menu with what we would be experiencing that evening.

 

 

The wine was flowing the entire time and they provided a glass of champagne at the meal’s start.

 

This is one time where I thought I read that no cameras were permitted (because of being in the galley), but the chef didn’t have any issues with us taking photos. Well, guess who left their camera back in the cabin. Me….

 

Another lady took some pictures and offered to email them to me, but unfortunately, they haven’t arrived as of yet.

 

Executive Chef Joaquim Rosario Dias was an excellent host. He described each dish in detail and everything we tried was excellently prepared and very flavorful.

 

If I recall correctly, there were six other chefs that helped with the preparation and serving of each course. They timed it perfectly so everyone received their dishes at the same time.

 

He also at one point showed us what he did on a daily basis and what he was responsible for. In additional to the daily preparation of meals, he is also responsible for the ordering of all food for each cruise. He showed us a computer screen that had every menu option listed as far as how many were created, served, etc.

 

He also explained that the crew’s menus are created at the Miami head office, so there wouldn’t be complaints of not having enough of a particular country’s cuisine. With over 50 countries represented on board, it’s hard to please everyone.

 

Here were a couple pictures that they took and gave to us:

 

 

 

If you have an opportunity to go to the Chef’s Table, please do so! The chef told us that he had a waiting list of 25 people, and he doesn’t do more than two nights on a typical cruise because it takes him away from the operation for 3 hours each time.

[rtw68]

Thanks so much for your detailed description and photos of DePalm Island and the Helmet walk.

 

I was here several years ago and did the Snuba tour. My DD and her BFF are considering the Helmet or snuba for our upcoming Breeze cruise and I am looking forward to sharing your review and photos with them to help them decide!

 

I hope they decide to do it. It was not cheap, but we would do it again! :D

[flalady29]

Great review and pictures. I did the Chefs Table on the Dream in March 2011 it was great we had a different menu but would love to do it again since they changed it. Butch was our CD on that cruise Love him.

[MrFunInTheSun]

Great review and pictures! Thank you for sharing your cruise adventure with us!

[rtw68]

Great review and pictures. I did the Chefs Table on the Dream in March 2011 it was great we had a different menu but would love to do it again since they changed it. Butch was our CD on that cruise Love him.

 

Thanks. We did enjoy Butch. :)

 

Great review and pictures! Thank you for sharing your cruise adventure with us!

 

Thanks!

[rtw68]

11/30/2012 – FUN DAY AT SEA

 

We had another beautiful and hot day at sea. Its amazing the difference between the Caribbean sea and the Atlantic Ocean. We had very smooth seas this day and enjoyed the Serenity Deck as well as our own Cove Balcony.

 

Because of how our balcony was positioned between the two lifeboats, we would get several hours of direct sun.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We really liked the Cove Balcony and won’t hesitate to book another one (hopefully the same number). It was quiet, private, and being that close to the ocean was great!

[rtw68]

Here are some more pics of the cove:

 

 

 

 

 

 

[rtw68]

 

 

We went to the Motor City show that night, and had the following towel animal when we got back:

 

 

It was hard to believe that our journey was almost over. One sea day to enjoy the ship and then they would be throwing us off!

[rtw68]

12/01/2012 – FINAL FUN DAY AT SEA

 

This morning was the only day that we had rain and overcast skies. We were just north off the coast of Cuba and the rain lasted until about 11:00AM.

 

We went to breakfast and then came back while it was raining and got our bags packed (sigh).

 

I did spend some time taking some more pics of the ship (the areas I thought I had missed).

 

 

 

 

 

 

[rtw68]

 

 

 

 

 

[rtw68]

At lunch, guess what I had?

 

 

More pictures of the ship:

 

 

 

 

 

[rtw68]

Here are some more pics:

 

 

The Sapphire Dining Room:

 

 

The Blush Dining Room:

 

 

 

The Library Bar:

 

 

Circle C:

 

[rtw68]

More pics of the Thirsty Frog Pub:

 

 

 

The Coffee Bar (had great Gelato)

 

 

Stairwell on Deck 2:

 

 

Some outside pics:

 

 

[rtw68]

 

 

 

Some night-time pics:

 

 

 

[rtw68]

 

 

Towel animals at the towel hut:

 

 

Lido Marketplace pics:

 

 

 

Fun Hub station on Deck 10:

 

[rtw68]

I like this pic of the Atrium from one of the glass elevators:

 

 

We had one last get together at the Thirsty Frog Pub. Gotta love that Thirsty Frog Red:

 

 

Some artwork on the walls of the Thirsty Frog Pub.

 

 

 

After we said our final goodbyes, we headed back to the cabin and this was our last towel animal:

 

 

I filled out the customs form, put the tags on our luggage, and put them in the hallway.

 

One last sleep in our Cove and we had to leave. I hate that!!!

[rtw68]

12/02/2012 – DEBARKATION

 

Well, “that” day was here. Just seems like yesterday we boarded the ship and now we had to leave.

 

When we arrived that morning, the captain pulled the ship in without going to the turn basin first. The new pax would be lucky to be on the ship as it spun around.

 

Here was the view that morning:

 

 

I think (hope) our luggage is down there:

 

 

We got dressed, gathered the rest of our stuff and went to the Lido for one last breakfast before we left. We had Zone 12, wouldn’t be flying out today and weren’t in a big hurry.

 

When Zone 12 was called, we slowly made our way toward the elevators. As was typical we many times had to ride all the up or down before we were able to get to our desired level. No biggie as I wasn’t in a hurry most times.

 

We made our way down to Deck 3, which is where you board and leave the ship. There was a fairly long line that didn’t move for a while. As I mentioned before, Customs and Immigration has complete control of this process, and we just had to wait until they allowed more people off the ship.

 

This didn’t keep several people ahead of us from complaining about the entire cruise, how Carnival was handling everything, and how lousy their stay was. Really??? She was in her motorized scooter and didn’t have to stand the whole time, just saying.

 

I wanted to voice my opinion to her about her constant complaining and wish her well on the cruise-line-that-handled-things-better but decided not to.

 

After about 15-20 minutes, we were on our way off the ship. One last ding as the S&S card was read. The port of Miami has airport style luggage carousels and it didn’t take anytime at all for our luggage to make its way around.

 

A porter was nearby and it was well worth the cost of a tip for him to grab our bags, get us through customs, and get us to a cab. The whole process took about 10 minutes from the time we left the ship until the time we were in a cab speeding off!

[rtw68]

Since we weren’t flying out until tomorrow (Monday) I had booked a room at the Hotel Savoy on Ocean Drive in Miami Beach for today. In addition to potential beach time, I really wanted to get some sail-away video & pics of the Breeze when she headed back out.

 

We arrived at the Savoy Hotel and they were able to get us into a room, even though it was before 10:0AM. They had oversold, so they upgraded us to a suite, bonus (I had pre-paid for the room back in April).

 

We had Suite 105, and the location becomes more important as the story progresses.

 

It was a very nice room and very roomy:

 

 

 

 

 

Great view from outside the room:

 

 

[rtw68]

 

We started exploring on the beach, which was in the “back yard” of the Savoy.

 

 

 

 

 

[rtw68]

Later that afternoon, we made our way to Governers Cut to watch the ships go out. Here are some pics looking toward the island. The cargo ships would head to the left side, and the cruise ships head toward the right.

 

 

Some fishing going on, they would probably want to move before the cruise ships come!

 

 

Here is a zoomed shot of the cruise ships in port:

 

 

This looked like fun. We used to own jet skis and had them on Lake Erie a couple times, but it wasn’t like this:

 

 

 

DW was taking the pictures now, and you can tell what she likes to look at:

 

[rtw68]

Norwegian Pearl was the first ship in the parade that day:

 

 

 

 

 

 

[rtw68]

Carnival Valor is next (was glad to see her since we will be sailing on her out of San Juan in 2014).

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lucky cruisers! They are just leaving!