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Breeze Review 2/23-3/1

brad09821

By brad09821,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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brad09821

brad09821

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So we just got off of the Breeze yesterday. After sailing on the Paradise and the Sensation, all I can say is wow. I have a ton of pictures in an album on Facebook. Just add Brad Collito and you will be able to see the album "Carnival Breeze 2014." With over 400 pictures, it would take forever to post them all here. So here we go...

 

We drove to Miami from Tampa and stayed at the Baymont Inn and Suites in Doral. It was only around 110 per night with taxes and about 20 minutes from the port. For just a one night stay, it was good. Tons of stuff near the hotel to eat and several new businesses in the process of opening in a strip mall on the side of the hotel. They did have a basic continental breakfast in the morning and free Wi-Fi that was spotty at best.

 

We got up and were out of the hotel by 10am. We drove down to 2nd street to Premier Cruise Parking that is located in a very secure parking garage. I had originally reserved Premier Parking Ventures as I didn't realize that there were two different companies. I'm glad that I read Trip Advisor and the CC boards, as Premier Parking Ventures was in an open lot and had horrible reviews. I cancelled them and went with Premier Cruise Parking and it was only 70 for the week. We parked and waited for about 10 minutes for the driver to load us up and take us to the port.

 

We were at the port by 11am started the check-in process. The new security staff were very polite and even asked if it was ok to open our bag that had our sodas and water in them. Up to the check in counter and we were given group 27. The woman standing at the door just waved us right on through even though they were only on group 16.

 

Finally up and onto the ship. Absolutely stunning. We headed to the Lido deck to grab a Guy's burger. The wifey had a Plane Jane cheeseburger that she had topped all out and I had a ringer. I don't care for seasoned fries, but the wifey said they were great. The burgers were out of this world. It wasn't the last time that we ate there through the week.

 

We headed up to our room and seen that it was already ready for us, but our luggage hadn't arrived yet. I had booked us an interior cabin on deck 2 on New Years Eve and the next day Carnival had another sale and we were able to move up to a deck 9 interior. A week and a half before we sailed, the Carnival Upsell fairy called and offered us a Cloud 9 spa balcony cabin for 298 for the two of us. We jumped all over that having never had a balcony cabin or access to the spa. We ended up in cabin 12031. The room was amazing with upgraded spa robes, and subdued colors. The TV was a flat screen, but the ships information channel was always kind of pixelated. With the TV being interactive, we were able to check our sail and sign accounts and order room service without getting out of bed lol. By the way, I love the cheesecake and Caesar salad from room service, and learned that the peanut butter and jelly was out of this world. Needless to say room service was ordered a few times throughout the week too for our midnight snack. The room had a fridge that was stocked and we never asked her to take all of the stuff away, we just worked around it. The fridge never got really really cold, more along the lines of cool. The safe in the room was digital, no more sliding a card to get it to open.

We didn't end up meeting our cabin steward until later that night and gave her some cash upfront to keep us full of ice. Other Carnival cruises we have been on, we have had ice all day long. This time we only got a small amount of ice in the morning and a small amount at night. I had preordered a bottle of Jack for me and a bottle of Malibu for the wife so we could have drinks when we wanted. I am seriously debating on whether or not I want to try the cheers program or not on our next cruise.

 

We went back up to the Lido to people watch and then to our muster. We finally watched the sail away from our balcony and got to listen as the captain sounded the horn to the Liberty and I think the Conquest. I could listen to the ship horn all the time, it is something that is just fascinating to me.

I will try to break this up into sections so it isn't too hard to read and also, I am not some literary genius when it comes to typing. Just a regular, everyday, blue-collar kind of guy.

 

I will post more about the first night at sea and about our sea day in our next post.

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brad09821

brad09821

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We ended up at the buffet for dinner. We ate at the buffet every night except for the first elegant night. The buffet is just that much quicker and gives us a lot more options. I will mention that when we were in our sneakers, the floors throughout the Lido Marketplace were extremely slippery. When we had our sandals on they were not. We spent the rest of the night in the casino, trying to win big in the casino vault or cash cube and out on the open air decks and in the spa. I loved the fact that deck 5 was another option for a complete open air deck all the way around this ship.

 

One other side note that I didn’t mention earlier, I had bought us a total of 450 in cruise cash before we sailed. Just a little bit each pay day to give us that much more to spend onboard. You do have to use all of your cruise cash or you will lose it though.

 

After dinner we did head to the spa to try it out. I will say that I wouldn’t buy a spa pass for the week, (249 for a couple), since we always tried to get up there, but didn’t have time to get up there everyday. That being said, the Thalassotherapy Pool was absolutely amazing. The water temperature was perfect with a long bench type area to lounge all the way back and loosen up those stiff muscles. After that, we headed to the Aromatherapy rooms. With 4 rooms to choose from, each with different scents and temperature, 2 of them being steam, we would lay back in the loungers and relax.

 

Time for another drink and then back out to the deck. I’m pretty sure that there was a movie on the Lido deck and it was pretty packed.

 

We ended up in the liquid lounge and danced for almost two hours. The liquid lounge stayed busy every night and there was always someone playing music somewhere on board. The piano bar, the Ocean plaza, the Red Frog Bar. Plenty of live music at night. We tried to get into the adults only comedy show, but it was full early. We grabbed some ice cream and then headed off to bed.

 

When we woke up Monday, we woke up to a beautiful day at sea. Down to the Lido for breakfast and then up to the decks to lay out and grab some sun. We stayed out for a bit and then wanted to head to the steak house so that we could watch the cooking demonstration. We got there 20 minutes early and are glad we did. We were starting to learn, that to do anything on the ship, get there 20-30 minutes early to make sure that you got a seat. They cooked a mushroom cappuccino, a blue cheese and spinach salad, chicken, and tiramisu. The tasting portions were absolutely perfect. On our next cruise, we will definitely be booking a night at the steakhouse.

 

We headed down to the Lido to watch the mixology contest and the hairy chest contest and then a round of Bingo. We didn’t win at Bingo so we kept on with the day. Out and about and trying to explore the ship. We did make it through the library and saw the wine dispenser that gave you the option of trying different wines and different amounts, all on your sail and sign card. We didn’t make it to Jimmy’s C Side BBQ, although the food did look good.

 

We made it to the dining room with your time dining and were seated within about ten minutes. I had the strawberry bisque, shrimp cocktail, lobster, and warm chocolate melting cake. I will say that as many times as I have had lobster, this was the worst. The tiger shrimp that were served with it were very good and my wife said that her lobster was ok. We made another lap around the ship and finally settled into bed early since we were going to be in Grand Turk at 7am.

 

When we arrived in Grand Turk, we got off the boat and headed to Jack’s Shack. Get off the ship and walk 500 yards down the beach to the left. We got to play with their dog Topher and jump on the free Wi-fi there. We each got a drink there. The wifey got a Sandy Vagina and I got a Bent over the rainbow. They were around $9 each. We left there and strolled down the beach to the Flowrider to watch the people there. When we go back, I’m definitely going to have my son do the Flowrider. The people got more than one try on it and the staff seemed fun and involved in helping to make sure that the people got their monies worth.

 

We headed to Margaritaville and ordered 2 drinks. The wifey got a pina colada in the little blender and I got a frozen mojito in a big glass. I almost fell over when the girl told us it was $47 for the two drinks. But we are on vacation so, what are you gonna do lol. DRINK!!!!!!!! We headed to the right side of the pier and the wifey got to get some very nice shells from that side of the beach. There were hardly any people on that side so it was nice to kind of be in a peaceful quiet area for a few minutes. We headed back to the ship and ended up taking a nap. We slept through sail away.

 

Back to the buffet for dinner and then to the Ovation theater to watch the Edge. He was funny as well as entertaining. He did juggling and other physical comedy stuff as well as keeping the audience involved. After his show, we headed over to the comedy club real early and managed to snag a couple of seats. We got there 45 minutes before the show and it was almost full. After a nightly trip to the casino, we headed off to bed. We had a big day planned in Ocho Rios and I will get into that in my next installment lol...

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brad09821

brad09821

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Brad,

Thanks for the great review so far! I'm checking out your pics now. We can't wait to sail on the Breeze in 3 weeks!

Question about the spa balcony......was it loud on the balcony being that close to the pools/waterpark etc.?

 

We could hear the Lido deck when they had music, but it wasn't anything ridiculously loud. I don't think that I would ever pay all of that extra money for a spa balcony, but if another amazing upsell offer came along, I would jump on it in a heartbeat.

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brad09821

brad09821

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Thanks so much for sharing, Brad! My husband is wondering how crowded Guy's Burgers is? And I'm wondering if you noticed if they have a vegetarian burger? Thanks!

 

Guys wasn't crowded at all. They had both sides going and at most, I think I waited 2 minutes.

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PSRCPA

PSRCPA

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brad09821 - Brad,

 

Great review...we did the TA from Barcelona to Miami on the Breeze and LOVED IT!

 

Question - we are going on the Liberty in April out of Miami. Saw your remark for Premier Cruise Parking. Can't seem to locate a website for them. Also, just to clarify, did you have to arrange pickup from the garage to the Port?

 

Thanks!

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brad09821

brad09821

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brad09821 - Brad,

 

Great review...we did the TA from Barcelona to Miami on the Breeze and LOVED IT!

 

Question - we are going on the Liberty in April out of Miami. Saw your remark for Premier Cruise Parking. Can't seem to locate a website for them. Also, just to clarify, did you have to arrange pickup from the garage to the Port?

 

Thanks!

 

Premier Cruise Parking Port of Miami

1415 NE 2nd Ave

Miami, FL 33132

Front Desk/Shuttle: 305-220-2686

 

They are being run by Global Airport Parking. I would do a google search of either the above address or search Global Airport Parking Port of Miami. I just googled it now using global and came up with them. We didn't have to make any additional arrangements, they shuttled us to the port. When we got off the ship, we waited about 15 minutes. We were in the garage by 10:30am the day we sailed so we managed to get a covered spot. But they have a huge security gate that gets locked at night to keep out the riff raff.

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jolyroger

jolyroger

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Awesome review! Can't wait to get on fb to see your pics. Question being in the spa cabin what is the balcony above like? We like you got a great deal on a spa cabin 12032 , and was just curious if they can see you on the decks above. We were in spa cabin 12019 last yr and it was perfect! Thanks for any feedback!

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Sea Legs

Sea Legs

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Hi Brad! Thanks for taking the time to do a review. We will be sailing next month and can hardly wait. I have sent you a friend request so we can see all your pix. Will you be sharing what shore tours you did at the other ports of call? We need to get busy and make some decisions soon!

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brad09821

brad09821

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Awesome review! Can't wait to get on fb to see your pics. Question being in the spa cabin what is the balcony above like? We like you got a great deal on a spa cabin 12032 , and was just curious if they can see you on the decks above. We were in spa cabin 12019 last yr and it was perfect! Thanks for any feedback!

 

There was no roof above our balcony. If someone was looking at the right angle, they could see down to our balcony from the top deck.

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