ItalianFemmy's Carnival Breeze Photo Review - US Inaugural

[spencercoop]

Someone who can not walk at all really has to question Carnival before booking these HC cabins and having items blocking the hallway is not safe either.

 

 

 

Thankfully you were mobile and didn't need the HC cabin, not sure what Carnival could have done at full capacity if you had been unable to walk.This is really important information for someone who is immobile, thanks for including it in your review. Looking forward to more...[/quot

 

I am sailing the Breeze in 2013. I cannot walk, and am wheelchair dependent. When I booked my room, I was told that there were 2 different types of H/C rooms. I booked what they call a "turnaround" room. This is a H/C room that is large enough for me to use my wheelchair in. I was told at the time of my booking that there was only one of these type rooms with a balcony, and just a few inside. I do hope this info is true, because the looks of that H/C room has me alittle bit nervous.

 

On Carnival.com, they have 360 degree views and floor plans of every room on the Breeze. You may want to look there to see how your room is going to look like.

[Jimmy Geegitz]

I like reviews with big pics.No pics in a while.

[Cruzface]

Great review again! Looking forward to more!

[cmecruise1962]

I have been on Victor Bodden's tour! Loved the monkeys!!

[Backtosea]

This is a very nice review. You always take such nice photographs too.

[Crazy4Koko]

it would be REALLY COOL if folks could let you finish the review before asking questions. Sure would make it easier to read and enjoy. Views alone show that we are interested..but the comments make the flow miserable and frustrating.

[italianfemmy]

it would be REALLY COOL if folks could let you finish the review before asking questions. Sure would make it easier to read and enjoy. Views alone show that we are interested..but the comments make the flow miserable and frustrating.

 

I personally like that people occasionally drop in and ask questions or say they're enjoying the review. It puts a more personal touch into it and I like to connect with people. :-)

 

Plus, it's not making a difference in my ability to get photos edited for the next chapter. Yesterday, I woke up at 4am and started working and didn't get finished working until 5am this morning. It's just a crazy, busy time right now. Everyone has put in photo and print orders for the holidays and we've been rushing them out non stop. Plus, I am trying to get shots done for 2 magazines and that doesn't even touch the surface of the nearly 20 other clients waiting on photos. I did poll CC and said I was very busy right now but could start the review and it would take a long time to finish. Or that I could start posting when I was able to do more each day and the viewers voted for me to start now. So, I did. :-)

 

Hopefully.... after the new year, I'll be able to really sink my teeth in even harder! :-)

 

Thanks everyone for your patience.

[jolyroger]

I personally like that people occasionally drop in and ask questions or say they're enjoying the review. It puts a more personal touch into it and I like to connect with people. :-)

 

Plus, it's not making a difference in my ability to get photos edited for the next chapter. Yesterday, I woke up at 4am and started working and didn't get finished working until 5am this morning. It's just a crazy, busy time right now. Everyone has put in photo and print orders for the holidays and we've been rushing them out non stop. Plus, I am trying to get shots done for 2 magazines and that doesn't even touch the surface of the nearly 20 other clients waiting on photos. I did poll CC and said I was very busy right now but could start the review and it would take a long time to finish. Or that I could start posting when I was able to do more each day and the viewers voted for me to start now. So, I did. :-)

 

Hopefully.... after the new year, I'll be able to really sink my teeth in even harder! :-)

 

Thanks everyone for your patience.

You know I enjoy it too reading the review and reading other people's comments here and there!!

Quick question for you , I read on another review the same cruise you were on someone mentioned the bartender Alex///And chance you have a pic of him?? We had a bartender named Alex on our miracle cruise in April and I was just curious if its the same one..My youngest took quite the liking to him!!!

[italianfemmy]

You know I enjoy it too reading the review and reading other people's comments here and there!!

Quick question for you , I read on another review the same cruise you were on someone mentioned the bartender Alex///And chance you have a pic of him?? We had a bartender named Alex on our miracle cruise in April and I was just curious if its the same one..My youngest took quite the liking to him!!!

 

I don't think so as I don't drink so I was never at a bar.... lol. Sorry.. :-( I have a photo of DJ Alex though. I think there was a bartender Alex, DJ Alex and piano player, Alex!

[jolyroger]

I don't think so as I don't drink so I was never at a bar.... lol. Sorry.. :-( I have a photo of DJ Alex though. I think there was a bartender Alex, DJ Alex and piano player, Alex!

Oh dam didnt realize all the many Alex's!!! LOL He was quite the guy, so much so my youngest asks you think he'll be on our breeze cruise? lol, Very personable!!

[italianfemmy]

The Ovation theatre had cleared out and we had snapped a few shots inside. That's where we last left off. Sorry it's been so long since I was able to post anything!

 

Latanya and I decided that we should run around the ship and check it out. Our funnel funatics group was supposed to be meeting for a sail away party but the ship wasn't moving and it was now 4:29pm at the end of the muster when the theatre cleared out. So, even though our sail away party was said to be at 4pm, I figured they'd still be partying when the ship started to literally sail away and decided to take photos and explore meanwhile...

 

We started out on deck 3 forward.

 

The Fun Hub internet and ship computer station. There were a few of these on board.. this is the only one I took a photo of though.

 

 

The atrium winding staircase and those neat lanterns that I grew to love..

 

 

A view of it from the other side...

 

 

We took a sneak peek into our assigned dining room for our Any Time dining. (The Sapphire Dining Room)

 

 

And when we started to walk back around, we noticed there was already a line of people at the Purser's desk or (guest services) whichever you prefer.

 

 

Follow the yellow brick road, the yellow brick road.... okay not brick and not entirely yellow but... hehe...

 

Edited December 20, 2012 by italianfemmy

[italianfemmy]

We headed for the elevators so that we could get a different vantage point of the atrium from deck 5. This is what the wait for an elevator looked like...

 

 

So, since we were only going up 2 decks, we opted for the stairs.

 

 

A closer shot of the pretty lanterns. They lit up although it was hard to see it during the daytime due to the natural light pouring in through the windows and such.

 

 

Oooooo my first time seeing a Cherry on Top on a ship! Too bad they're closed!

 

 

 

I did re-visit Cherry on Top later on in the cruise though! :-)

 

P.S. Time stamp on the last photo - 4:51pm

 

We're heading deck 5 mid ship for the next chapter.... still docked in Miami!

[italianfemmy]

Elevators - So, in the last segment, I showed an image of a lot of people waiting for the elevators. We're still on day 1 and we haven't left Miami yet. The porters are still locking some of the elevators down so they can use them to get everyone's luggage to them. It is to be expected that around embarkation time, the elevators will be slow for a few hours so that they can get your stuff to you.

 

On nearly every cruise I have ever taken, by dinner time on the first night, this problem dissolves and rarely re-occurs. However, on the Breeze, unless it was after midnight, we always found ourselves having to wait a very long time for elevators.

 

Let's say you have people on deck 3 that want to go to deck 11 (Like when we were all the way downstairs but needed to go to 11 to get to our stateroom). Or an elderly or wheelchair bound person needed to go up....

 

So the elevator is on deck 11 already and starts its way down. When it hits 9,8,7,6, etc., people that want to go to deck 10 (Lido) would get on the elevator and ride it down to deck 3 to go back up to 10. So by the time it got down to 3 or even 5, it was always full.... normally of able bodied people that could have walked 1-2 flights of stairs.

 

This happens on every cruise but I've never seen it happen to this extent. It could have been our particular sailing but we always needed a 15-20 minute cushion for elevator time. I couldn't handle 8 flights of stairs with my knees and back.

[ardnassac79]

You know I enjoy it too reading the review and reading other people's comments here and there!!

Quick question for you , I read on another review the same cruise you were on someone mentioned the bartender Alex///And chance you have a pic of him?? We had a bartender named Alex on our miracle cruise in April and I was just curious if its the same one..My youngest took quite the liking to him!!!

 

Femmy, not to hijack.. but I do have a small photo of Bartender Alex - he was in the Casino bar during the day and the Piano Bar at night:

 

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/uxiPSNzDbRYOMI4LJtjMvUCCSOlnXQljjlyoY8dvtgk?feat=directlink

 

Feel free to link to the photo to check if it's him!

[Darwin33]

Okay, most avid CC members know how to subscribe to a thread. I encourage everyone to subscribe with at least daily email reminders. This way, you'll be notified when I add stuff. Some days, I won't be able to post at all due to being out shooting a large event, wedding, etc. So, subscribing is the easiest way to keep up to date with when I post.

 

If you do not know how to subscribe, it's uber simple! Simply go up to the top right hand corner of the first post and click on "Thread Tools".

 

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Enjoy!!

 

Thanks for your "How to Subscribe for Dummies". I really appreciated that and am now subscribed!!!

:D

[italianfemmy]

Thanks for your "How to Subscribe for Dummies". I really appreciated that and am now subscribed!!!

:D

 

You're welcome! I figured not everyone knows how to! :-)

 

Chris and Cass - no problem, I don't mind.

[italianfemmy]

..... So as I was saying, we're still in Miami and the ship still isn't moving and it's nearly 5pm so we are going to keep on wandering around in explorer mode. hehe. In order to go through deck 5 from forward to Aft, you must go through the casino. Otherwise, you can go down to deck 4, walk across and then take the elevators or stairs up 1 deck.

 

We decided to walk through the casino. With me being heavily asthmatic, I was concerned about the smoke smell but it wasn't bad on day 1 .. in fact it was barely noticeable as we passed through.

 

 

A view of the ceiling...

 

 

I love how they tie things together in their themed rooms and they don't forget about the ceilings! That's the inner geek within me.

 

We made it through the casino and now we're crossing through the Ocean Plaza area. I am a sucker for chocolate covered strawberries and they were out on display at the Ocean Plaza Cafe. So, I got a chocolate covered strawberry and Latanya got a strawberry cup which is a big cup (similar to a cupcake wrapper) made of chocolate with cream filled inside it and candied strawberries on top. We decided we wanted to sit outside so we went through the doors right across from the cafe and immediately fell in love with the outdoor seating area.

 

 

 

YUMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!

 

 

. ........

[italianfemmy]

After gobbling up our delicious strawberry treats, we decided to walk a bit more aft on the open deck (of deck 5.)

 

The sun was setting. On both sides of deck 5, there are hot tubs which many people somehow don't know about so they rarely have people in them.

 

As you can see, we're still in Miami!

 

 

 

 

To the right of the hot tub is a lounge area to sit or lay down. They have round bed loungers and they also have yin/yang couches.

 

 

 

As we continued to walk, I noticed something in the windows on the side of the ship so I had to stop and adjust my camera settings to take a photo. Latanya looks at me and says, "Alicia, those windows are really dark. Do you think you're going to be able to take a photo through them to see the inside?" Hehe.....

 

 

If you're curious... it is now 5:40pm and you guessed it, we're still in Miami, 1 hour and 40 minutes past departure time. And we're not leaving yet!

 

It's at this time that we looked down over the side of the ship towards the ground and saw tons and gobs of palettes filled with things like our food for the week that were still pending being put on the ship. So now we knew what part of the hold up was, not that I was complaining. I was happy just to be on the ship and officially have my cell phone and email turned off and knowing I'd be work free for 8 days!

[jobell]

 

 

 

Absolutely beautiful!!!!!

[Disney180]

Hi Alica

I read your Dream review and booked a Spa Cabin for Feb.:) I am now reading the Breeze review and will have to convince hubby to book this...;)

Looking forward to seeing the rest.

 

Cheers

Barb

[italianfemmy]

Hi Alica

I read your Dream review and booked a Spa Cabin for Feb.:) I am now reading the Breeze review and will have to convince hubby to book this...;)

Looking forward to seeing the rest.

 

Cheers

Barb

 

Hey Barb! I encourage you to finish reading my review as I add more to it and to combine it with what you read on others to see what works best for you and if it's worth booking the Breeze. As for the Dream, you should have a fantastic time.

 

Thank you for posting this right now because it just goes to show that really what I am promoting is Carnival. They made a ton of money off of my last review.

 

And Cruise Critic themselves posted a link from their personal FB page today to my review to tell people to come check out the Breeze via my review.

 

I do these reviews because when I first cruised the Dream, all I could find was bad reviews and I wanted to share my amazing experience. I wasn't going to do a Breeze review, especially because other amazing reviewers were on my sailing but people asked me before I left to please do one and I'd already committed myself. Yesterday, I hung huge photos on my walls from my Dream cruise in my new home and I wouldn't have ever even had them edited if it weren't for that Dream review. They look beautiful and remind me of my travels. I've been on numerous cruises and never taken the time to do anything with any of my vacation photos until the Dream because of CC and the motivation to get them done for other people.

 

Anyway, thanks to everyone who supports my reviews. :)

[jobell]

I think the thing that I love about your reviews is that I feel like I was on the cruise with you.

 

I personally have never attempted a review like yours, I usually blog about it and then do a bullet point review and direct people there. lol. I know how long that takes me and appreciate the time you dedicate to providing us with your review.

 

I like the suspense of waiting.... but then again, that's just me. ;)

[italianfemmy]

I think the thing that I love about your reviews is that I feel like I was on the cruise with you.

 

I personally have never attempted a review like yours, I usually blog about it and then do a bullet point review and direct people there. lol. I know how long that takes me and appreciate the time you dedicate to providing us with your review.

 

I like the suspense of waiting.... but then again, that's just me. ;)

 

Thank you for that and for your patience. I always love seeing your posts pop up on mine and other peoples reviews. You seem like a good hearted person and I hope we meet one day!

[Froufie]

HI there - reading your review while I am working on my review! Love your pics of course - gorgeous! :D:D

[hockeyluver]

 

 

 

As we continued to walk, I noticed something in the windows on the side of the ship so I had to stop and adjust my camera settings to take a photo. Latanya looks at me and says, "Alicia, those windows are really dark. Do you think you're going to be able to take a photo through them to see the inside?" Hehe.....

 

 

 

WOW absolutely beautiful!!! After reading your dream review and the start of this one, I asked hubby for an online photo course for Christmas :D I only have a basic digital camera, but who knows.... my birthday is the day before our next cruise :p

 

ok you may continue...... :D