An overdue Breeze review

[summercruisin']

Off to the candy store!

 

 

Then we went outside to walk the entire perimeter via deck 5 for the sunset...

 

found the barbecue (never had a chance to go back while it was open! :rolleyes:)

 

 

and these comfy seats for a great natural show...

 

 

 

[summercruisin']

The kids couldn't sit still for long, though, so we continued on...

 

 

 

These were fun swing tables outside the Red Frog Pub

 

 

Anybody in there? :D

 

[michiganirish]

loving your review. we were on the breeze 2 consecutive years as well, enjoyed both times. thanks for taking the time to share, and allowing me to relive our trips. you have a beautiful family, looking forward to the rest.

[Shih-tzu]

Just making a "comment" so I can find this later to keep reading your review...Love it. I want to sail on the Breeze just for the cove balconies :-)

[summercruisin']

So many empty chairs!!!

 

 

a chess board along the way...

 

 

The Breeze's deck lights up this lovely blue in the evenings. It's really pretty when it is dark out.

 

 

When dinner time got closer, we went back inside to wait the last few minutes before late seating. We decided to hang out by the Red Frog Pub, as there is a nice seating area outside of the actual bar, so we didn't feel too terribly intrusive sitting there without buying drinks. :o

 

 

[summercruisin']

The story of the frog...:p

 

 

 

cute décor

 

 

After that, we went to dinner. I don't have any idea what we had, except I had prosciutto and melon for an appetizer. The only reason I know that is because I took a picture because I swear it was cooked! I fell in love with prosciutto years ago, on a Carnival cruise, so it was really surprising and disappointing to find it wasn't the yummy, cured-but-still-moist deliciousness I am used to.

 

 

But, for the record, it did not ruin my cruise :cool:

[summercruisin']

Evidence that there are indeed tablecloths on the Breeze (good thing, too!)

 

 

The waiters danced with DD this night. I don't have pictures, but I do have video. If I ever figure out how to upload it....

 

We found this sign on the way back to the cabin. Looks like John Heald has left his influence on the Breeze. ;)

 

 

Our room steward had turned down the beds really early that evening, and I caught this towel animal picture at some point before we went out for dinner. So, our room was all set for a good night's sleep.

 

 

After DH and DD settled in, DS and I went back out for just a little while to check out the night life. I left my camera in the room, but we went through the casino (crowded) and to the piano bar--a little crowded but still fun....we stayed here (along the edge) for a little while singing along. This is when DS decided he wants Elton John - style sunglasses (the round ones). So, I'm looking for those, and if/when I write this year's review, you may see them! :cool:

 

The comedy show was packed, of course, and since DS was with me, I couldn't have gone in there anyway. :rolleyes: Time with DS was more important!

 

Before long, we went back to the cabin and got ready for bed. Curacao was on the schedule for the next day!

[summercruisin']

Great review and its extra-special to me because we had the same cabin on the Breeze over last Thanksgiving! Maybe the noise issues were worked out by the time we were there, because we slept great. No machine noises, just the sound of the ocean as we traveled from port to port. At first I thought I would be bugged by the life boats overhead, but seeing flying fish and watching the ocean up close made me love the cove balcony.

Next cruise, we are on Conquest in a "bowling alley" balcony with my mom and 2 DDs (13 & 15 at sail time) in the balcony cabin next door. Thanksgiving can't come soon enough!

Thanks for writing your review! Your pics are much better than mine (need a go-pro now :D) and makes me miss the beautiful Breeze!

 

Thank you for reading and for the compliments! I don't remember being bothered by the noise as much as the week went on. Not sure if it was because we got used to it or because the seas calmed down. Nonetheless, I'm glad to hear others didn't have a problem with it, since we are only two doors down from this room on our next cruise! I hope it is a more quiet one.

 

The goPro is fun, but I never did figure it out as well as I had hoped. Most of these pics are taken with my "old" Fujifilm.

[summercruisin']

So excited to read your review, we are also sailing on the Breeze for the first time and reviews like yours really heighten the excitement!

 

Thank you so much.

Edited April 6, 2015 by summercruisin'

[summercruisin']

thanks for your review of the ship. it looks F.U.N! looking at taking two 14 year old daughters, a 9 year old son and my GF on the May 30th western Caribbean cruise. Your post helped me in choosing :-)

 

Thank you! No doubt you and your family will have a great time! May 30th is right around the corner!

[summercruisin']

Thanks for adding more,, looking forward to the rest of your review [emoji3]

 

Well done review! You have a sweet family!

 

Thank you both so much!

[summercruisin']

I was on this sailing! If you have pics of the sail away party, my mom was the one with the funnel hat on that Matt made do the dance on "stage" for the beginning of the Harlem Shake dance.

 

How fun! I remember your mom! I'll have to dig through the pics and see what I can find!

[summercruisin']

loving your review. we were on the breeze 2 consecutive years as well, enjoyed both times. thanks for taking the time to share, and allowing me to relive our trips. you have a beautiful family, looking forward to the rest.

 

Just making a "comment" so I can find this later to keep reading your review...Love it. I want to sail on the Breeze just for the cove balconies :-)

 

Thank you for following along!

[17andacruiseaddict]

Awesome, and if you have crowd pics, you might see me out there dancing!

 

I want to be there right now! :(

[summercruisin']

Thank goodness you're back. I thought you were going to abandon ship!:)

 

Awww, thanks! :o I'm really bad about starting and not finishing reviews, so that is always a possibility. BUT, this time, I went ahead and uploaded and organized all the pictures in Photobucket to make it a little easier. Hopefully, I'll do better this time!

 

However, I am taking a break again to head out to Disney for a while :D, but I'll be motivated to come back and talk about beautiful Curacao!

[summercruisin']

Awesome, and if you have crowd pics, you might see me out there dancing!

 

I want to be there right now! :(

 

You and me both!! LOL

 

Time to plan another! :D

[17andacruiseaddict]

Yes already done! The boyfriend and I will be going back on Liberty in Dec. Months of anticipation

[summercruisin']

Let's see if I can get a few more days done :)

 

I left off after two relaxing days at sea. On the third day of our trip, we arrived in beautiful Curacao. We had slept in and enjoyed a slow morning before spotting land around 10 AM or so.

 

 

Just after noon, we began to get closer for my first ever look at Curacao!

 

 

our welcome "party"

 

 

 

the bridge that is even taller than it looks

 

coming in...

 

[summercruisin']

 

When I was planning this trip, I really did not have a good idea of what to do in Curacao, but I had a few ideas. For our family, getting to a beach is a priority (especially if it is the first time visiting an island). We also wanted to see a little of the island and maybe check out the distillery (since I do love blue margaritas :D). I had checked into some of the sunset cruises, thinking that we would enjoy that experience, but DS was feeling anxious about being on a catamaran near sunset for some reason. Plus, I just couldn't find one that I felt really good about. So.....I decided to follow my typical gypsy spirit and booked absolutely nothing in advance for Curacao. :cool:

 

So, when we got off the ship, we walked around the port for just a little bit and then found some tour operators. Now, I am usually not a fan of the tour operations that work from piers. One reason is because they seem to overstuff their vans with people (and wait to leave until said vans are indeed overstuffed). I also don't like haggling for tour prices without really knowing what I am getting.

 

We found a tour operation that would take us around the island, over the big bridge, and included a stop at the distillery, some shops, and at a beach. I did talk them down on their price and got our kids on for free. And I insisted that we would not wait more than 10 minutes to leave. It all worked out pretty well. We still got put in a pretty overstuffed van :cool: but it was worth it in the end. Off we went to see some of the island....

 

[summercruisin']

pretty...

 

Our tour van had both a driver and a tour guide, and she was very informative and friendly. We headed over that tall bridge and got a good view of the port area and parts of Willemstad.

 

 

and the Breeze

 

 

We headed to the distillery pretty quickly.

 

 

 

They had an interesting but very small museum

 

[summercruisin']

and then a section that explained how Blue Curacao is made.

 

 

 

 

our tour guide explained a number of things in the factory and gave a lot of good information

Edited April 26, 2015 by summercruisin'

[summercruisin']

At the end of the factory tour, there was a judgment-free :D place to sample some of the flavors of liqueurs (yum!) and then a pressure-free gift shop. When we left there, we headed to a place that the tour guide promised would be great for pictures...

 

and now I want to live right here...

 

Our tour had taken us to a store, which we walked through and ended up on a small deck on the back of the store that happened to offer pretty views.

 

 

 

I think I'd happily take this house, if it weren't quite so crowded with its neighbors...

 

 

After pictures, we were off again to see a little more and to work our way to the beach!

 

We saw this guy while we were out and about...

[summercruisin']

When we got to the beach, we were given directions for what time and where to meet our ride back to the ship. We would end up with just under two hours on the beach. There was a small walk from where we were dropped off, through a little area with a few shops, to the beach.

 

 

Once there, we found a bar/restaurant with free (but spotty) wifi, a covered patio overlooking the beach (good spot for DS to relax, since he did not want to get in the water), free chairs to use, a small and kind of crowded but still pretty nice beach, and a platform out in the water.

 

looking one way from the beach

 

looking the other way

 

 

the view from the covered patio (and zoomed)

 

[summercruisin']

the platform.

 

 

It's not as close as it looks, especially when you are nervously swimming alongside a barely 7-year-old who is not yet the best swimmer but who insisted on going out there! :p

 

this picture may give it perspective...

 

 

But she made it!

 

 

She also found some rocks to climb on, despite my objections

 

[summercruisin']

taking a break from the sun under the covered patio

 

 

After our time at the beach, we easily found our tour guide waiting as promised (thankfully!) and we headed back to the ship.