Calamity Jane Went Breezing With The Maniacs 3/2-3/10/13

[Luckysll]

Jane, it's nice to read a review from another Maniac's point of view. :D Miss you guys. And give Bonnie a hug from me when you see her.

[RYPERO]

Very fun review, thanks for taking the time to share it with us.

[re-re]

Wishing your hubby well, i'm looking forward to your review i'm sure it will be just as good as your last review. :)

[travlngrl1996]

I'm glad the surgery went well. That was a funny story about your husband in the gas station :D.

[INCHARGE]

Hi Jane! I'm glad to see you started your review. Loving it so far, and i am waiting anxiously for more tomorrow.

 

I am sorry about Morgan's back, but i am glad you got to spend time with your son and daughter-in-Law.

Edited March 19, 2013 by INCHARGE

[Delta Dear]

After dinner, Morgan went back to the cabin while Bonnie and I attended the Welcome Show. I liked Butch, our cruise Director. The show as fun. I was not impressed with the preview of the Divas Show. The new format of the shows left me cold. I miss the live band. The flashing lights, digital displays, light beams are not my style of entertainment. I decided that night not bother to come to see any of the nightly shows being offered.

 

I won’t go into our food choices except to say that I learned from GA Pearl here on CC to always ask for two ice creams for my Warm Chocolate Melting Cake. When I did, Senthill told me he ALWAYS brings two ice creams. I had that on the first and the last night. Several other nights I had a banana split. In case you don’t know, it is on the children’s menu so it is available for your to order as well.

Time to meet my first towel animal and call it a night.

 

DAY ONE/ A SEA DAY

 

Before I go on, just a few random thoughts. Because this cruise was not as busy for us as previous cruises, I thought I might not have enough to write. Silly me. Wordless ? Me ? Not a chance. I realized that when I started writing the first installment.

 

As I was fixing some eggs for breakfast today, I thought about my favorite omelet cook on the Lido Deck. He was the one on the right who had a wild, “toss the omelet with the skillet over your left shoulder, “ move. Not only did he toss the omelet in that manner, he also tossed the two eggs over easy, the same way. Don’t try this at home. LOL I noticed no one walked behind him as he cooked.

 

Last random note; I just found the notes I took. Calamity Jane fits me well. At the airport, the Velcro closing on Morgan’s C Pap machine bag opened and the bag containing a week’s worth of Morgan’s medications slipped out and onto the floor. Fortunately, a woman near us noticed and told me right away. Morgan has over 18 prescription medications, some taken once, twice or three times a day. Losing those would have been a major problem.

 

I had filled two 28 compartment containers but after reading about the problem on the Triumph several weeks earlier, I decided to always travel with an extra week of medication. As a transplant recipient, the meds that Morgan has to take would probably not be readily available at the infirmary if delayed.

 

Speaking of medications, the following day at John’s house, my pill container hit the floor, landed under the bed two sections contaiing small pills opened spilling 40+ tiny pills all over the floor under the bed. Rather than use a broom, John used a swinging towel to move them out from under the bed. My daughter-in-law is a great housekeeper. The pills showed no signs of dust or any debris. Can’t say the same if they’d ended up under the bed at my house. The 30 second rule, fine with me. Pills were retrieved.

 

Now on to Day 1 First Day at Sea

 

Since it was a leisurely sea day, we ordered room service for breakfast. It took me a few minutes to get the hang of the online ordering on the TV. Once I ordered, our food was delivered within 30 minutes. I love the pampering of room service. Better yet is the itemized bill with the $0.00 beside each item for a total of $0.00.

 

The Maniacs had a Meet and Greet at 10:00 so I was off to that. Morgan’s back was still bothering him so he stayed in the cabin. It was good to see everyone who came. Here are some of us in our shirts Patti made for us.

 

Hope you can see the shirts well. Patti gave us 4 different designs to choose from and several different color and style choice. If you ever want shirts designed, she's great. Email me at janelschool at aol dot com and I will give your her business information.

[Delta Dear]

Was it just me, or were any other ladies impressed with the stall doors in the ladies room on the Lido Deck ? I HAD to take a picture. I did stop short of taking a picture of the mini-panels above the toilets, though. There was no one in the bathroom when I took this quick shot. I really didn't want anyone walking into the sight of me taking pictures of a toilet......weird-o ? No, I am a scrapbooker.

 

One other ladies room observation. The stalls near the blush dining room were SO small. You had to be a contortionist to get in, turn around and close the door. None of the others were like that, or had I just eaten TOO much at dinner ?

 

 

That same day at 1:00, we had our group one hour cocktail party in the Liquid Nightclub. That was also fun as more than 70 from the roll call showed up. Each person had pre-paid Laura and Dan who organized it.

 

We chatted for a long time after the official party ended.

 

I was pulling Morgan's shirt down so the design would show. Looks a little funny !

 

 

Then we went up to Pirate Pizza for a little snack. YUCK, we did not like the pizza Carnival now serves. Time to enjoy a little nap before getting ready for Elegant Night.

 

[Delta Dear]

By the way, we had no issues of lukewarm on substandard food at all during the week. The food did not seem to have changed as some reviews have stated. Dinner was good as usual. I loved the entertainment nightly. This was the night Bonnie grabbed Ken Burns for a dance. I know some object to the dancing wait staff; not me. I love it.

 

 

When Ken Burns, the singing Maitre ‘d started his nightly performance, he paused near our table and Bonnie jumped up and grabbed him to dance. Wow ! He went right along with her, dancing with her as he continued to sing ! Go Bonnie ! When he spotted her the next day somewhere on the ship, she said he gave he a big smile, a thumbs up and held his arms as if they were still dancing. He is a class act. He DID sound like Frank Sinatra ! He is leaving the Breeze as of yesterday, March 16, but I don’t know where he is going next. We were blessed to have experienced his entertainment.

 

 

I think we just went back to the room after dinner. Morgan was feeling tired probably because he’d lost sleep over the past few nights because of his back pain. His back was beginning to feel a little better by this point.

[Delta Dear]

Note; This was the first time we cruised that the cabin steward did not introduce themselves to us. It was several days before we even knew which person was our steward. We had a young lady whom even later in the week, never introduced herself. One evening she did knock to see if what time we’d be leaving for dinner. After than she would wave to us if she saw us leaving, but it seemed strange not to have had any direct conversation. We never had an opportunity to initiate a conversation with her either.

She did not do the greatest job of making a bed, one day she left a dirty glass one of us had brought back a drink in, but we still left her an extra tip when we left. The entire staff works extremely hard. I’m sure she was probably a bit shy and of course very busy. We did learn that the Coast Guard said ship had too many people onboard so Carnival left some of the housekeeping staff behind in Miami. There may have been a shortage of help making each of the stewards work even harder.

The staff on the Breeze was very friendly. The ship did not feel crowded at all. Even the elevators were manageable. Now and then we’d take the elevator in the opposite direction and ride back up on down, but it was never a problem. The tip I learned here on Cruisecritic about one DING meaning UP and two DINGS meaning DOWN was very helpful in telling which elevator was going where without having to stare at the light above the doors. That is due to the American Disabilities Act so that those who are visually challenged can tell which directions elevators are going in. I love Cruisecritic ! I have learned a lot on these boards !

[Delta Dear]

I picked up Morgan from the hospital this afternoon. It's time for the R,R and R to begin. Rest, Recuperation and Relaxation to begin. He is doing well.

I just wrapped up the Day 1, first sea day. I'll be back later to add Day 2, another sea day.

[oreomaximus]

Was it just me, or were any other ladies impressed with the stall doors in the ladies room on the Lido Deck ? I HAD to take a picture. I did stop short of taking a picture of the mini-panels above the toilets, though. There was no one in the bathroom when I took this quick shot. I really didn't want anyone walking into the sight of me taking pictures of a toilet......weird-o ? No, I am a scrapbooker.

 

One other ladies room observation. The stalls near the blush dining room were SO small. You had to be a contortionist to get in, turn around and close the door. None of the others were like that, or had I just eaten TOO much at dinner ?

 

 

That same day at 1:00, we had our group one hour cocktail party in the Liquid Nightclub. That was also fun as more than 70 from the roll call showed up. Each person had pre-paid Laura and Dan who organized it.

 

We chatted for a long time after the official party ended.

 

I was pulling Morgan's shirt down so the design would show. Looks a little funny !

 

 

 

Then we went up to Pirate Pizza for a little snack. YUCK, we did not like the pizza Carnival now serves. Time to enjoy a little nap before getting ready for Elegant Night.

 

 

I love this last picture!!! TOO FUNNY!!!!!!

[ruthie101]

Hi Jane, I'm enjoying your review very much!! Glad to hear Morgan is doing well!! Ruth

[Seago2]

Loving the review. Can you ID the other Maniacs in the group photo?

[cuted126]

Glad your hubby is home and doing well!! Love that gas station story lol! And I would've taken a pic of the bathroom stall too,very nice! Can't wait for more of your review!

[rhcpchika1]

Glad the surgery went welll!

[Delta Dear]

Day 2 Second Day at Sea

 

We slept late so we went to the Sapphire Dining Room for the Comedy Brunch. They serve until 1:30. We liked the relaxed atmosphere and the expanded brunch menu. The comedian did about 5 minutes of something that was unimpressive. I had the filet and eggs which was good, but I should have ordered just medium not medium well. The steak was overcooked. The cheese grits were yummy ! The fried eggs were well done, too.

 

I had to chuckle when I saw this same meal on the review that Oreomaximus is writing. Her eggs were well done, also. The cooks need to turn down that heat a little. Oreomaximus' review is fantastic. Be sure to read the adventures she and her husband had on the March 16 sailing.

 

Morgan was still not feeling well so although he met the Maniacs ready for our Poker Cabin Crawl, he decided to go back to the room to rest. The cabin crawl was fun. We had 50 doing it so we traveled in 3 groups. One room had jello shots and homemade raspberry port wine and chocolate port wine. My lips are sealed about how they got the port onboard. I will say that the suitcase containing the goodies had been lost by Air Canada the week before while that couple was on a different Carnival cruise. The wife spent most of the week in the one pair of shorts she had with her. Her luggage finally caught up with her the day before that 6 day cruise ended. Another host room had freshly made Sangria. Still several others had chocolate treats. The crawl reinforced my thinking that a Cove Balcony is too close to the water for me. Another crawler decided that her next cabin will be a cove.

My arthritic knees will tell you that I did a lot of walking that day. After the crawl, many of the Maniacs went to the spot on the Lido deck where they gathered most days to play a dice game called Left, Center, Right. I decided to go back to the cabin to check on Morgan. The cabin was empty, so I sent out to see if I could find him. More walking. I finally ran into two Maniacs who had just seen him on the Lido getting a cup of hot chocolate.

Eureka ! I found him sipping cocoa and reading his Kindle. After going to the cabin and to dinner, we just returned to the cabin that night. We had been told to set our clocks and watches ahead one hour. That meant that we would be on the same time as St. Thomas the next day. Since the USA was changing to Daylight Savings Time the last night of our cruise, we did not have to make any other changes. We were in sync when we returned on March 10.

[Delta Dear]

DAY 3 St. Thomas

 

The weather had been cloudy and cool the entire time we were in Ft. Lauderdale and on our sea days. Today in St. Thomas it was more of the same. I had arranged a tour with Sunny Liston for 10 of us to go to Mountaintop to the home of the famous banana daiquiris.

 

Sunny’s wife picked us up right at the exit from the Breeze in an open air vehicle which held maybe 30 people with five on each seat. It was a colorful and comfortable vehicle, but a bit of a challenge getting on and off for those of us with older body parts like knees.

 

 

 

Again, Morgan wasn’t feeling well so he decided the night before that he wasn’t going to leave the ship. He was still feeling very tired and listless. By now we were all a bit concerned about him, but I felt comfortable in leaving him onboard. Getting on and off of this bus would have been extremely difficult for him, so it was just as well he hadn’t tried to do the excursion. While we were in St. Thomas, he relaxed in the cabin.

 

It was slightly rainy and misty. We made a stop to pick up some other Liston tour people who’d been shopping. We then met Sunny with his tour vehicle at a spot overlooking St. Thomas. Sunny gave us a historical summary about the island, we had time for photos before heading further up the winding roads to Mountaintop. As Sunny stood on that rock to speak, I couldn’t help thinking, “Sunny, please don’t take a step backward !”

 

On a clear day, you can see both the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea from the deck at Mountaintop. Unfortunately, the fog prevented us from seeing that view. Not to worry, the banana daiquiri made you forget any disappointment you might have had.

 

 

We left there and made another stop at a beach where several others on our bus were getting off to spend some beach time. They were going to be picked up later by Sunny along with those he’d dropped off while we were at Mountaintop. Too bad it was such a cool and cloudy, misty day. I’m sure the beach is lovely on a good day.

 

Sunny’s wife took us back to the entrance to the Breeze. It was the kind of excursion we like. See a bit of the island, hear a bit of its history and head back to the ship. We’d met at 11:30 and were back on the ship at 3:00. Perfect.

[Delta Dear]

I would like to revisit St. Thomas on a beautiful sunny day. I enjoyed what I saw, even on the twisty, turny, narrow mountain roads. The music playing on the van as we rode and the little bit of singing we did helped to distact your attention from the twists and turns. One Maniac said the ride gave her flashbacks of our harrowing ride in St. Lucia. Those were hairpin turns and then some. At least St. Thomas rodes did have some guard rails here and there.

 

Here's a few more photos from St. Thomas

 

 

 

[Delta Dear]

Morgan had just gotten dressed when we returned, so he and I headed for the Lido for lunch. I wanted to try the Wok. I stood in line for what seemed like forever. When I got within about 7 people, I decided to ditch the line and head to Guy’s. I’m glad I did. My hunger and patience had worn out by then. Besides, when I saw corn, and green peas among the choices of veggies, that turned me off. I want water chestnuts, bamboo shoots, tiny corn on the cob, bok choy etc. in my stir fry and I want rice not noodles. Oh, well, nothing lost but some of my time. After all, we are on a cruise, we have nothing but time. Guys was as good as it was on the first day.

 

With Morgan still not feeling energetic, it occurred to me that he had not had his usual amount of coffee since leaving home almost a week earlier. I suggested he might add more coffee to his day. After dinner, he decided to order an espresso. The expression on his face when he took the first sip was priceless. He quickly added cream to it. After that, he did make sure he had more coffee each day.

 

(For those of you in the NJ,PA, DE area, Morgan goes to Wawa each day for a 20 oz. cup of coffee. He needed his Wawa fix. For those not familiar with Wawa, it is a regional chain convenience store known for its coffee, its subs, and snacks. I understand there are now several Wawas in FL )

That night we went to the Casino after some after dinner drinks, lost our $50.00 in no time, and retired for the night. I did not take pictures of my towel animals this cruise but I do enjoy entering the cabin each night to see what is awaiting me on the bed.

[Delta Dear]

Loving the review. Can you ID the other Maniacs in the group photo?

 

I'm not comfortable using names unless people give me permission. I did post that on our Roll Call and ask if that anyone who did not mind being ID'd to please let me know. Thanks for asking,though.

[Delta Dear]

OOPS, this is the view from the Cove Balcony not the one I posted earlier.Sorry.

 

[cuted126]

I love WaWa too,but I get the french vanilla cappuccino :)

[pedsRN4life]

Enjoying your review Jane! Hope Morgan is feeling better. Missing all my "new" Maniac friends. I had a wonderful time on the Breeze.

[Seago2]

I'm not comfortable using names unless people give me permission. I did post that on our Roll Call and ask if that anyone who did not mind being ID'd to please let me know. Thanks for asking,though.

 

Ok, I meant CC names, not "real" names, but no biggie. Loving the pics!!

[tracyvansmith]

It was time to get ready for our Early Seating in the Blush Dining Room. There were two tables of Maniacs at that seating, 10 at our table, 8 at the other. As our main server, Senthill came around to introduce himself, Morgan had his usual fun. Senthill said to Morgan, “And what is your name, sir?” Morgan replied, but then said to Senthill, “And what is your name, sir ?” in Hindi. (Morgan was in India in the Peace Corps. Even though it has been 50 years since his return, he is still very fluent in the language.) Senthill had that priceless expression of ,”Did I just hear what I thought I heard?” LOL That shock then turned to pure joy to have someone address him in his native language. That established a special rapport right away. The two of them enjoyed each other the rest of the week. Senthill was wonderful.

 

As a side story about Morgan and his use of Hindi, one day we stopped at a gas station/convenience store for a bathroom break on our way to the airport in Baltimore since the state of Delaware has no airports. If we stop, we always support the store by purchasing something. As Morgan wandered the aisles looking for something to buy, he heard one of the Indian gentlemen employees say to the other one, “Watch him,” as if to imply that Morgan might be trying to ‘lift,’ something. When Morgan approached the counter to make his purchase, he broke into a long greeting and conversation with the two gentlemen in Hindi. Their expressions were of shock, but also a look of, “ Oh, _______, he heard and understood exactly what we said.” After all, who expects an older African American to be fluent in Hindi ! Whenever we’d stop there again, they always greeting Morgan like he was a long lost friend.

 

Senthill was a very good waiter and a very handsome man.