Oreo's awesome breeze review 3/10 to 3/16

[divetrash]

So this is where we would get our first glimpse of our SUPER COOL, SUPER EXCITING, SUPER FRIENDLY, SUPER ENTERTAINING, & SUPER FUN cruise director, Mr. Butch Begovich – I think that’s his name. This guy…man, this guy. He was what word can I use to describe him? Ahh, I’ve got it. SUPER!! Seriously though, this guy ran circles around the kids that were hopped up on sugar, lemonade and 4 helpings of warm chocolate melting cake. His energy was off the charts. He would literally stand up on one of the benches at the beach pool and jump around doing the cupid shuffle, wobble, electric slide, cabbage patch, roger rabbit – and do it with his own little twists. I was really impressed. For a white boy from MINNESOTA he really had mad skills!! It was something to behold. I’ve never laughed so hard or had so much fun. He would participate in most of the games held on the Lido deck when he wasn’t playing game show host in the Ovation Theatre or hosting seminars. One night in the Comedy Club he came in and had to “put them paws” on a guy who was really drunk and potentially disturbing the rest of the crowd before the show started. He did it all. Customer service manager to concierge to entertainer, and top flight security guard. And the games. Oh my goodness. There is something to be said about a guy who fiercely competed in a contest to see who could “poop” the most pebbles into a plastic cup (those who were on board know what I’m referring to). That’s job dedication. And not to mention the fact that I saw him take a jump fully clothed into the Beach pool at one point. It was wild!! We had a blast. He was definitely by far, hands down the best cruise director we’ve ever hard or heard of. Sadly, if I heard correctly, I believe he is leaving Carnival after x amount of years to pursue his master’s degree. I don’t know where I heard this but if its true those to follow will really be missing out. Sad face.

 

 

Love me some Butch! He's actually been working on his Masters online while doing the job of cruise director. He just got off the ship because CCL wanted him involved in some special project. Then he is going on vacation and he will receive his Masters in April or May while he is off. He returns to the Breeze in June or July. Can't wait to sail with him in October.

 

Happy Cruising,

 

Laura

[INCHARGE]

I hope you made it to work on time!! LOL I was up at four this morning watching Barney with my daughter -- I knew I shouldn't have given her that ice cream sandwich...

 

The oreo comes from a dalmation I had back in 1999 -- I had two more after him, "domino" and then finally "greyarea". Oreo was my favorite though. I went off to college and when I can home one year my sister and mom had conspired against me and given him away to the neighborhood fire department. That's okay though cause I pet her butt in dirty close and sat on it for two hours as payback. Anyhow, so its for sentimental reasons I kept the name "oreo" and added the "maximus" after the movie gladiator came out. Hence, "oreo-maximus". Crazy, I know but I don't think I ever have to worry about anyone copying it. :D

 

The Maximus part made me think of that movie also. :D I just couldn't connect the two together. Someone started a thread here asking about user names, and what they meant. It was fun reading them.

 

Tell hubby "Don't let us CCers have to come over there!!" You have a fan base waiting for the next installment, so he has to hold his horses, and get in line. :D

[Cruising_from_swfl]

Hi,I was the same cruise and I'm enjoying your review. My husband and I were also at the comedy club when Butch came in to deal with the drunk guy. My 7 year old daughter is still talking about Butch. I went to a q&a thing on the extra sea day and Butch said that he was just leaving for a couple months and that he was signed on to be with the Breeze until 2016 or something like that..looking forward to the rest of the review!

[Ally22]

I had to laugh!! I always "round down" the price of our cruises to my husband! Sometimes he just doesnt understand what a good deal it is :D

We are sailing on the Breeze on 4/7, thanks for the review!!!

[Rockee4055]

So after being dragged up and down Ocean Avenue by my five-year old husband all night long in search of models and celebrities and ending up seeing mostly "women (and men) of the night" and male entertainers who attempt to dress like famous women but mostly ended up looking like "wonder woman on steroids" -- which ironically, I found to not only be entertaining, but extremely educational as well -- we got up bright and early at 7am ready to start our trek over to the Port of Miami cruise terminal. Yeeeaaahhh!!

 

Oh, and by the way, I DID take pictures of the persons of interest (trying really hard to be politically correct here) but I decided NOT to post them as in my attempt to be humorous, I would undoubtedly offend someone and decided to err on the side of caution.

 

 

After grabbing breakfast at a nearby Subway, we grabbed our vehicle, raced down BISCAYNE and crossed over the bridge to CRUISE CITY.

 

We parked at Terminal "D" which was very easy to find but was very expensive ($120.00 for the 6 days) but we felt was very convenient and safe. We practically ran over a group of elderly people ;) trying to get in line after dropping our bags off with the porter, then came to a screeching halt at what I will call the first "checkpoint". We waited for about 10 minutes before we presented our passports and boarding passes. After this we went to checkpoint 2 -- which is the equivalent to the security line at the airport where we walked through a metal detector and sent our bags through the conveyor belt. Now, we had about 12 small bottles of water and two bottles of wine in our carryons. They didn't glance at the wine but shook each and every one of those little bottles of water. Apparently, if they bubble, then you get shot on sight for trying to smuggle in alcohol. Its just. that. serious. Give me a break. I saw a group of about 20 people that had about 5 cases of water between them and they had to take every single bottle of water apart. I can't even imagine how long it took them to put them back in the plastic. That would have really put a damper on my vacay.

 

Anywho, so where was I? Oh yes, up the escalator to the less scary part of the terminal and where you start feeling like you are actually going on a ship and not to jail :D. Once up the escaltor, you get a set of dice, you ROLL, and then "7"!! CRAPS!! We got boarding group 7. Its about 10:30 at this point and the terminal is pretty full. I was pretty surprised to see how many people purposefully ignored the "do not come til 1:00" letter. Shame on them. What is wrong with these people? I was expecting to be the only ones there, lol!!

 

So after we crapped out we went directly over to a representative who issues us our sail and sign card, took some cash for us to slap down on it, and then we sat down and waited to be called. If I can remember correctly, I think they began calling special groups, FTTF, platimun, or Ruby or diamond or whtever the special people are called, and then wedding folks. After that the lady with the phone sex voice started calling the different boarding groups. She literally would say group 1 & 2...45 seconds later...and now groups 3 & 4....45 seconds later and now groups 5 & 6. It was no time at all. I'd say we were on the ship by about 11:30ish? AWESOME!!

 

 

Love your sense of humor. Enjoying the read.:)

[rhcpchika1]

LOVING the review!!!!!!!!

[wrigley80]

Very Nice Review. I will continue to check-in on your review. I have a good friend on the Breeze this week

[Cruzinbabe06]

Thank you for taking the time to post!

 

More! More!:D

[oreomaximus]

Hi,I was the same cruise and I'm enjoying your review. My husband and I were also at the comedy club when Butch came in to deal with the drunk guy. My 7 year old daughter is still talking about Butch. I went to a q&a thing on the extra sea day and Butch said that he was just leaving for a couple months and that he was signed on to be with the Breeze until 2016 or something like that..looking forward to the rest of the review!

 

Oh my gosh. I am so happy to hear that. Sometimes it feels good to be wrong!! LOL

[oreomaximus]

After the sail away party I think we took a nap for a few hours before dinner. I’m pretty sure that’s what happened but I can’t say for sure because we also had a few drinks. Okay a lot. However, at some point we made it to dinner at around 8:15 (late seating) that night and met our table mates. Since I have decided that I will not be asking for folk’s permission to post their pictures – they should feel honored to be a part of my review, don’t you think?? – I have decided to forgo using their real names as a compromise.

Our table mates:

 

Hubby & G.S. from Miami -- another BROmance aboard the CARNIVAL BREEZE.

 

 

Me & A.S. from Miami

 

WE LOVED THESE GUYS. They are both attending law school and will be graduating this Spring. Can you say "new bffs?"

[oreomaximus]

I’m sorry to have to say this and it goes against every principal in my body but our waiters were like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. One guy, whose shall remain nameless – NOT!! – ANTHONY FROM KINGSTON, JAMAICA!!!!! was really moody for the first few days. One minute he was smiling, the next he was frowning…I don’t know if he had gas or what. At any rate, his assistant, I Kopenga, (sp?) was AWESOME and very consistent. He mostly just took our orders and brought our dessert so we didn’t have a whole lot of experience with him but he was very friendly, had a pleasant disposition, and even remembered us when we dined at other restaurants on the ship. Anyway, back to Anthony. So we were this ______ close to asking the maitre d to reseat us but considering the fact that we may have had to become separated from our new BFF’s (and potentially forfeit free legal counsel for the rest of our natural lives) we decided to stick it out. Around the 3rd night, we decided to force Anthony to get over himself and after a few attempts at asking him about his family and where he was from, he magically became the best waiter of all-time of a sudden and we had stellar service from him the rest of the cruise. See, you really do get more flies with honey. I guess everybody is entitled to a bad day and maybe that was the case for him. But seriously, he really redeemed himself by night three and all was well after that. Let’s see, what’s next? Oh yes, the FOOD PORN. Sorry to get your hopes up but I really didn’t spend a lot of time taking pictures of food. I was too busy eating it. I will, however, attempt to describe to you what I thought was the best and the worst.

Here goes. On a scale of 1-10:

MDR: 8.5

Guy’s: 10

Cantina: 6

LIDO (Buffet): 7.5

Cucina del Capitano: 9

Pizza Place: 6.5

Bonsai Sushi: 0 (okay, I didn’t try any because I think its gross but this is my review so I can put whatever number I want so nanny nanny boo boo!!)

Red Frog Pub: 8

Fahrenheit 555: Missed it but heard it was very good.

Room Service: For what they had, I’ll give them a 6.5

Comedy Brunch: 9.5 Oh, wait, I do have a picture of the breakfast. Stand by…

 

[oreomaximus]

After we finished eating dinner the first night, we paid a visit to the Piano Bar where Mr. Ron Pass was playing.

Hmm…I’ll come back to that.

Up next:

DAY 2 – “Our First Sea Day”

[gapearl]

Insert funny story here: So, we were riding up on the elevator from the casino one night around 3am and we saw one of the comedians in the elevator. He was really cool and as we had to go from deck 5 to deck 9 where our cabin was located, we naturally had to stop on a couple of floors. Now, on one particular floor we stopped on a group of about six kiddos got on (I would say they ranged in age from about 11 to maybe 13) and were acting like they had been snorting sugar all night long I promise you. They were like screaming and laughing and jumping up and down in the elevator and my husband and I along with the comedian were all looking at each other like, seriously? Its 3 o'clock in the morning. So anyway, at one point on young man stepped on the comedian's shoe and he was like, "hey, man, yall need to calm down. Its too late for all this noise. Why don't yall head back to your room?" So the young man says, "yeah, you need to go back to your room too, you're too old to be up this late." I just about died I laughed so hard. The comedian got a little miffed and told them he was going to come and bang on their door at 7am and that shut them up for a minute. I guess he's not smarter than a fifth grader, lol!!

 

Oh. My. God. I was literally LMAO when I read this! :p

 

So this is where we would get our first glimpse of our SUPER COOL, SUPER EXCITING, SUPER FRIENDLY, SUPER ENTERTAINING, & SUPER FUN cruise director, Mr. Butch Begovich – I think that’s his name. This guy…man, this guy. He was what word can I use to describe him? Ahh, I’ve got it. SUPER!! Seriously though, this guy ran circles around the kids that were hopped up on sugar, lemonade and 4 helpings of warm chocolate melting cake. His energy was off the charts. He would literally stand up on one of the benches at the beach pool and jump around doing the cupid shuffle, wobble, electric slide, cabbage patch, roger rabbit – and do it with his own little twists. I was really impressed. For a white boy from MINNESOTA he really had mad skills!! It was something to behold. I’ve never laughed so hard or had so much fun. He would participate in most of the games held on the Lido deck when he wasn’t playing game show host in the Ovation Theatre or hosting seminars. One night in the Comedy Club he came in and had to “put them paws” on a guy who was really drunk and potentially disturbing the rest of the crowd before the show started. He did it all. Customer service manager to concierge to entertainer, and top flight security guard. And the games. Oh my goodness. There is something to be said about a guy who fiercely competed in a contest to see who could “poop” the most pebbles into a plastic cup (those who were on board know what I’m referring to). That’s job dedication. And not to mention the fact that I saw him take a jump fully clothed into the Beach pool at one point. It was wild!! We had a blast. He was definitely by far, hands down the best cruise director we’ve ever hard or heard of. Sadly, if I heard correctly, I believe he is leaving Carnival after x amount of years to pursue his master’s degree. I don’t know where I heard this but if its true those to follow will really be missing out. Sad face.

 

I can't wait to sail with Butch. He sounds like an awesome, fun guy to be around. That top flight security guard comment will go over a lot of heads, but I got it. :D

 

The Guy's burger looks really good, but I haven't eaten beef in 20 years and don't want to find out how my stomach would handle one on vacation. :eek: I'll have an order or two of the fries and let my mom report how she likes the burger. LOL

 

You are hilarious! I can't wait to read the rest of your review! Oh, and the little human is indeed a little doll! :)

[cruisegrammy49]

Enjoying your sense of humor and your pics. We are on the Breeze 4/27 the 8 day one. Can't wait to have me a Guy's Burger. Have been on the Magic so I am familiar with the Ocean Plaza and all the extra 'room' but the Breeze's decor is just beautiful. :)

Barb

[Mdchris]

Love your review! Can't wait for the rest!

[oreomaximus]

Oh. My. God. I was literally LMAO when I read this! :p

 

 

 

I can't wait to sail with Butch. He sounds like an awesome, fun guy to be around. That top flight security guard comment will go over a lot of heads, but I got it. :D

 

The Guy's burger looks really good, but I haven't eaten beef in 20 years and don't want to find out how my stomach would handle one on vacation. :eek: I'll have an order or two of the fries and let my mom report how she likes the burger. LOL

 

You are hilarious! I can't wait to read the rest of your review! Oh, and the little human is indeed a little doll! :)

 

OH...... MY..... GAH!!!!!!

 

ITS GAPEARL!!

 

I'm so honored to have you read my review. I'm so nervous now. Perhaps I should start using spell checker??? :o

 

You are one of my top 5 FAV REVIEWERS (which basically means I stalk your reviews, A LOT, lol).:D

 

Thank you so much!!

[oreomaximus]

Okay, I'm going to take a few miutes to insert the six or seven or so pics that the ALLIGATOR ate during my first few posts. I SHOT that alligator and am currently sporting his hide as a purse.

 

Enjoy!

 

TWO FISTING.

 

FIRST DRINK IN MIAMI...

 

 

DOWNTOWN MIAMI

[boaterette]

Do enjoy that Alligator purse. lmao

[oreomaximus]

HUBBY IN FULL KENTUCKY GEAR

 

UPDATE: BABE, OBVIOUSLY KENTUCKY NEGLECTFULLY FORGOT TO SPEND ENOUGH MONEY BUYING THE PLAYERS THEY NEEDED TO STEAL ANOTHER NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP THIS YEAR. ONE WORD. LLLLLAAAAHHHHOOOOSSSAAHHEEERRSSSSS!!! (ACE VENTURA)

 

 

WATERWORKS

[oreomaximus]

BRIDGE TO SOUTH BEACH.

 

I BELIEVE THE HOUSES AND YACHTS ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THAT HWY ARE STAR ISLAND AND PALM ISLAND ARE...YOU KNOW WHERE THE RICH FOLK LIVE.

 

 

 

SOUTH BEACH HOTELS IN THE DISTANCE

[oreomaximus]

WE'RE SAILING!!

 

[oreomaximus]

So our plans for day two mostly consisted of a lot of rest, relaxation, and rejuvenation (or the three R's as CCer Calamity Jane would say). I woke up pretty early and although at first Hubby was acting like it was the first day of school and he wanted to sleep in, he suddenly remembered that we were ON VACATION and put it in first gear.

 

READY TO GET THE DAY STARTED!!

 

 

HUBBY: WHAT DO YOU WANT FOR BREAKFAST?

 

ME: I HAVE AN IDEA.

 

HUBBY: LEAD THE WAY.

 

BREAKFAST:

[oreomaximus]

I think on this day we met up with some of the roll callers in the hot tub and then again in the lanai right outside the ocean plaza. It was a really LAZY day. I think everybody was super excited for GRAND TURK. I tried my hand at the slots for a few hours much to my husband's chagrin, but didn't do SQUAT. Which was wierd. I'm usually pretty lucky. Oh well. There were planty of other activities going on around the ship that were pretty fun. FOr example, BUTCH hosted a show called the HASBRO GAME which was pretty funny. At least I think that was the name of it. I was half tipsy not to mention already battling a mild case of heat stroke. THings had already started to run together, LOL!

 

I know for sure that we participated in a battle of the sexes games in the OCEAN PLAZA as well as a 80's trivia and a "name that tune" game. I have to be honest, there were some people who couldn't spell the word trivia and yet they were supposedly getting all the answers right. All I have to say is there were a lot a cheaters!! I wanted a GOLD SHIP ON A STICK!!!

 

Another thing we found was pretty fun was the sports deck.

 

[oreomaximus]

Okay so after we hung out a little bit and drank ourselves into oblivion, we went back to our room for a little nap. However around 6:30 or so, the Capitan comes over the P.A. system sounding like he just ran over Shamu. I thought he was going to tale us some really bad news like we ran out of gas or something but I guess just as disappointing was that due to the massive outbreak of some nasty flu in Grand Turk, we would regretfully have to miss that port and it was too late to snag another one in its stead.

 

CAN YOU SAY DISAPPOINTMENT!!??:confused::(:eek:

 

We got a whole $14 and some change for our trouble and another SEA DAY, which of course, we did NOT plan for.

 

***SIGH***

 

So anyway, my husband is cooking OXTAILS so I will take this opportunity to tke a pause for the cause and go grub. Up next would have been "DAY THREE -- GRAND TURK" but since I mostly stayed either sleep or "medicated" I will not be boring you with the details of that day so we will be fast forwarding to DAY FOUR.

 

Next up: "DAY FOUR -- OCHO RIOS"

[rhcpchika1]

I'm crying.......... tears of laughter // S-H-A-M-U

bahahahahhahahaha