"Im Breezy" an 8day Southern Caribbean Carnival Breeze trip report w/lots of pics

[anewmac]

About 2pm, we ran down to our room to get grab our gift for the cocktail party. We made it optional to bring something from your state to exchange with others. Also we put on our group tshirts and name tags. So people knew who the heck we were LOL.

 

So for just under $19 a person, it was all you could drink wine, beer, and 3 pre-selected cocktails. We as a group voted and majorities choices won. We also gave a couple extra bucks as a tip to for the bartenders. There ended being about 40+ of us, and surprisingly enough not ALL of us were belly up to the bar the whole time... but "SOME" of us were close to it LOL.

 

Within 30mins of the party going on the bartenders were making you call its. Which ended up being SHOTS... for "SOME"! It all sounds great now...

 

After our hour or so of cocktail time, we then had a slot pull scheduled. Everyone put $15 in the machine then we each took 3 pulls. We split the winnings in the end which never ended up with anything big in fact we got $13 back in the end. So much for Big Money. We also all put $1 into a separate pot and the person that had the most wins for their 3pulls got that side winnings! That wasn't us...

 

Here we are all having a GREAT time, Be careful, I was really excited and then frustrated and well intoxicated sooo the explitives sort of flew. So if you get offended dont watch LOL. If not have fun and a laugh on me. Im not a happy loser!

 

 

After we got our big winnings of $13, we thought it was time for a nap.

 

Its all fun and games until you forget your not young anymore and cant party like its 1999.

 

Grandpa finally got his nap on.

 

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[anewmac]

The boys came back to get ready for elegant night and thank goodness they did, as they ended up up being our alarm clock. They woke us up and we all got ready so we could take some family pics before dinner. Its not a complete Elegant night if were not yelling at one another or doing something crazy. On Disney I ran to the theater without my shoes, Carnival Freedom I kicked a trashcan, and now on the Breeze I had wine spilled on me... ok so maybe its just me that this crazy stuff pertains to.

 

What had happened was, we got ready in record time. As we were heading out I poured myself a glass of wine. We then scouting for good background, as we were leaving one area, J bumped into me and there went the wine all over me. Luckily enough the dress hides spills well, as I didnt see any in the pics.

 

Ok they need to not have you do crazy poses....

 

No one wants to wants to see my ring, heck I dont even want a pic like that LOL.

 

Really the poses could be better. Also they were off center and blury (granted my bootlegging doesnt help show it)

 

I didnt notice as Im not the PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGROPHER, but it was really bad to have the 2 grey shirts right next to eachother. It should have been switch with the 2 in the back to break it up.

 

Im really sad as I thought I bought this one. Or at least one of all of us in this color theme.

 

We took pictures on another background but could never find them. Which really upsets and frustrates me. What wasted time sitting for pictures to never find them! With all the technology and money poured into Carni, they need to upgrade this process. Give me a CD with all pics we have taken. You know how much time is wasted looking for pictures daily. Let alone how many pictures are thrown away, I know they recycle but its still a waste. Im sure they can figure out a way to take a picture and then scan your S & S card so they all go into your folio. I hate to bring it up but if Mickey Mouse can do it, we can figure out a way to do this for all lines.

 

Ok I'll step off my soap box, as its now time for dinner....

 

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[anewmac]

The boys were done after pictures, I really wanted to have dinner together. But knew they wanted to hang with their friends. SO we let them go, which gave us a date night dinner.

 

After having all that alcohol and not much food we were needing something in our tummies.

 

E actually ordred the Port Tart, it was pretty good. He's not much of a foodie and even he enjoyed it.

 

I had the mushroom soup. Guess the camera is drunk still

 

Hubby had the prime rib and baked potaoe. It was cooked just to his perfection.

 

I had the lobster meanwhile and... it didnt wow me. Eh it was lobster LOL

 

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[anewmac]

The bartender from earlier at the Rum Bar came by with Lemonchello shots and talked us into them. He was a crack up, the shots NOT SO GOOD. I was impressed he remembered not only our faces but our names. Sad that they come into contact with so many people and rememeber them all (or most) and here we see just a few and I couldnt remember .. well .. any.

 

About now it was dancing time in the dinning room. E missed the dinner shows on our Freedom cruise as about this time J would be done with his dinner and want to head to his club. Back then he was young so he had to be checked in by a parent. Which meant E missed the fun in the dinning room before dessert.

 

But this time he got to see all the madness. Im not sure how I feel about the dancing. Unless they are really into it, its great. But if they arent, then its just odd. I could deal with them just bringing me my food. LOL.

 

Ok so our wait staff was cute, no rythem but they were doing their best, and of course they were all smiles.

 

 

For dessert we both got Chocolate Melting Cake, nothing else wowed me on the menu.

 

After dinner we ran up to the room and changed out of the wine soaked dress and monkey suit, into jeans and more comfy shirts. Grabbed our rum runner of Bacardi and sodas, headed to the lido to get cups of ice and made ourselves some cocktails. Because you know we haven't damaged our livers enough yet.

 

Ended up getting a middle seat for the 11pm show. Comedian was Macio. He was hilarious, a little ronchie but over all funny. He did a really long set too, as we kept him going as a good audience should. At the end of his show, he said ok were all going to storm the Liquid Lounge. We will dance 1 song, then bounce. Funny enough everyone did, it was like a mad mob.

 

 

Then just as Macio said, when that song was over, everyone that was from the comedy club all took off. It wasn't that packed of a night club so the few that were there, Im sure ended up wondering what the heck just happened.

 

 

It was after midnight now and we had told the boys 1am for curfew since we hit port the next day. E and I went to grab a piece of pizza or 2, then headed back to the room. We pre packed our backpack with towels, sunscreen, cameras.. etc. So we just had to wake up get ready, and eat some breakfast as it was an early port tmrw at 7am... or basically in a few hours.

 

I posted some more pictures and checked in with our cruise peeps to see how their day was. Once the boys came back in we checked off on the room service door menu, what everyone wanted for breakfast. Then hung that so we didnt have to fight the crowd for food in the am. Off to dream land we went.

 

Next Up: Why do I hear Matty's voice in my room....?

[USA41018]

We are sailing the Eastern itinerary to St. Maarten, St. Kitts, San Juan and Grand Turk. This will be our 3rd cruise on the Breeze.

[anewmac]

We are sailing the Eastern itinerary to St. Maarten, St. Kitts, San Juan and Grand Turk. This will be our 3rd cruise on the Breeze.

 

OHHH you will have to do a trip report after, as we are looking into that same one. Its between doing that itinerary on Sunshine or Breeze. I would love to try a new ship but its a bit cheaper on the breeze and longer times in port.

[USA41018]

I'll do a review for you. We've done this itinerary twice before and love the ports. We live in N. KY. and are driving to Miami leaving in 9 days. We'll stop in Disney for 2 days on the way down. Since we are retired we can take as long as we want driving down.

[stsbj]

subscribing...trying to decide between Breeze southern Caribean or NCL Escape for next March.

[anewmac]

***** 1st, Happy Mothers Day to all! *****

I awoke early as the light was slowly making its way into our room. So I went out to the balcony to get a couple quick pics of the lights on Grand Turk.

 

Room service came about 630am just as we had set it on the tag on our door.

 

I grabbed the coffee and Rumchatta and went back on the balcony to watch us pull into port.

 

Also read what the days actives were going to be so we could plan accordingly for when we got back on this later.

 

Never a dull moment with so much planned.

 

I looked at my phone and realized it was almost 7am and we still were close to the dock.. hmm odd maybe were just late....

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[anewmac]

Then we heard the dreaded BING BONG sound in our room play. You know the only use in emergency sound, No we didn't hit an iceberg. Then the CD Matty came on and said those dreaded words... "Waters too choppy, windy is too high to dock safely... captain said we will wait it out an hour and see how it is then."

 

So E and I stalked the tv to see what the stats were.

 

We had gone so far.. ok not too far. But so far yet so close, fingers were crossed we would get to port.

 

I took the time to pull out my zoom lens and got a few pics of some areas around Grand Turk.

 

This was a port we hadn't been to before (well none of them on this cruise we had been to), and we were really hoping to be able to cross another island off our list.

 

Our plans for this port were pretty simple, get off boat, go to bar, put feet in sand, and RELAX!!!

 

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[anewmac]

See I even printed coupons for a free sample of rum at Jack's Shack. Many from our cruise thread were planning to meet there too.

 

The beach bag was packed, the kids were up and eating cereal. I was dressed and ready.... Then we heard it BING BONG... Matty again. Its a no go, Captain spoke with the other cruise ship (Celebrity.. Holland America... cant remember which) and they also decided to forgo trying to port. It was just unsafe.

 

NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! Hubby and I were a little sad to not make our 1st port stop, but more worried that the way the weather looked it seemed as if we were following the storm. We were scared this would happen at the next 3 ports too. Meanwhile the boys finished cereal and went back to bed, they could care less LOL.

 

Good Bye Grand Turk, hello Sea Day... Eventually the Captain came back on to give the official word. Which we understood NADA... his accent is very heavy, and not nearly as cheerful as Mattys LOL.

 

Hubby figured he might as well go to the gym since he was up. Being that I was already in my bathing suit, I said forget that and went off to find a deck chair to hog.

 

Out on the lido deck it was already packed. I ended up setting up post by the Blue Iguana Bar to watch for a deck chair and noticed neither bars were up and running yet. Guess they were thrown off also by no port stop. The full bar wasnt set they were only doing beers, and mimosas.

 

So I went to drown my cares away, and got a beer-mosa. Beer and OJ, hey its morning, its citrus, its 5 o'clock somewhere. Dont judge me! lol.

 

Since I had only had coffee and a bagle in the room, I set out to try a breakfast burrito from the Blue Iguana Cantina.

 

Delish... eggs, potatoes, sausage which went well with my Beer-mosa.

 

After finishing my breakfast, I went walking on the top deck to see if I could have any luck finding a chair there...?

 

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[anewmac]

Nope chair hogs were out and in full force. I got particularly upset when I noticed someone had the audacity to sit in the sun then cover themselves with an umbrella... NOO go sit in the shade where there was PLENTY of chairs available. Leave the ones in the sun for those of us that wanted to worship the sun.

 

I do have to say the deck chair police were on guard and had been "ticketing" any chair vacant and keeping the hoggers at bay. Basically if they saw an open chair they would place a sticker on it with the time... if in 40mins it was still empty, they would collect the stuff and free the chair. Peoples belongings would then be at the towel hut. In face I watched as he did just that and later (about 30mins) the family came back and the man totally yelled at the Carnival Employee. Basically made a spectacle of himself. I wanted to say something but instead said it quietly to myself... which the few people near me heard and giggled. I simply just stated, maybe you should be back before the 40mins is up, like its states on the giant poster near the hut.. and not 70+minutes later. I called him a name too, (a letter after C, but before E, followed by the word bag) I know not mature. But neither was his tantrum. I felt bad for that employee, but he took it like a champ and was the bigger person and just nodded and smiled then walked away to ticket another chair! I LOVE HIM! lol.

 

I got to know the "policeman" well I stood by the towel hut and became friends with him. He said he would do his best to find a chair for me. Eventually a few people from our cruise thread all were sitting and standing by me. We had a few beverages while we all kept our eyes out for some chairs. Just as we were waiting for some to empty out, 2 couples came and swooped on them. We could have said we were waiting for them BUT no one wanted to be those people. SO we just kept drinking and chatting. In the end it worked out ok. Eventually my policeman came and said you still want a chair, I had mixed feelings. I didnt want to leave my "friends" but I was really needing a nap after being up early and the drinks LOL. He lead me to a chair... in the shade.. no joke. I think the Karma committee was paying me back for my earlier rant about Umbrella girl, and calling that one guy a name.

 

About an hour later we had moved enough in the sea for the sun to shine on me. YEAH momma needs a tan! Hubby had text me and at the time a free chair had just become free next to me. But he didnt want much sun so he took a chair behind me in the shade. I napped for about 30mins, Then was woken up by my phone buzzing. It was hubby, since the music was playing so loud, we chatted via the hub LOL.

 

 

After a while one of us text the other that we were hungry, so I went to get a round of tacos to split. E went to get cups of ice, I had packed a couple sodas from our room, and a rum runner of rum. It was a nice little picnic for 2. The kids checked in here and there both via text and by coming by. Which was good, they were actually UP and enjoying the day LOL. We got to meet a few of their friends, and then they let us know they had plans for dinner. Apparently lots of parents were getting date nights on the cruise, good that we weren't the only ones.

 

One observation I added to my comment card to Carni was stating they need to stop playing the port movie on the big screen OVER AND OVER. You know how depressing it is to see how awesome Grand Turk is... when you DONT get to visit it. Plus its just boring.

 

After E and I had enough sun, we went back to the room to get cleaned up. I noticed they were playing Heads Up in the ocean plaza. So we hurried down to check that out. We play with our neighbors and its always a good time. But by the time we got there they were already knee deep into teams so we just grabbed some food from the taste bar and watched the shenanigans.

 

The fried sweet potatoe was not to my liking but the pepper soup was amazing! I loved the lil pot it came in too. Presentation is everything!

 

J popped by with friends in tow and told us he was off to grab some pizza with the new homies. They were going to mini golf 1st though. Ok 1 kid down, now wheres that other one... quick text to read he's with friends.. well duh. Teenagers, a few text later we got specifics and then reminded them of curfew... 1am.

 

NEXT UP: Game Time

[anewmac]

As we were watching the Heads Up game commence. Friends from our cruise group walked by and said game time at the Pub... We were in!

 

 

Hubbs and I had never played Cards Against Humanity, but OMG it was hilarious. We got some drinks. Which was another beef I had, they dont have a lot of wait staff coming by to get orders. You almost have to head to the bar. Finally we got a guy to get us a round of drinks and apps.

 

I had the sampler, Red Frog was the only one I requested the rest I told him to surprise me. Which dont do it, pick your own. I got all domestics I drink normally. I would rather have had different beers. Which now looking at the menu again, ive had all the imports minus the Banks from Barbados. Live and learn!

 

E and I split the sliders, they had good flavor, but the onion rings were amazing!

 

There was a group of 8 of to begin with, then one gals hubby joined. Later a couple from our cruise tread came by and they sat with us. It was hard being quiet, the game got great. Some of us had to google a few things to share with the others the umm contents of the cards. lol.

 

We eventually called the game, as some needed to go and get ready for dinner. E and I went to check out the atrium music. But then ended up checking out pics. This was a cute one of us, but had the guy behind me not been so much in the pic I probably would have bought it

 

No clue who these people are, it was from yesterday when they started the conga line!

 

As if we hadn't eatten enough all day, it was now time for Dinner!

 

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[anewmac]

I almost felt bad having a booth for just the 2 of us.

 

But got over that as we noticed half the tables were always empty, I guess eatting in the MDR is over rated now??

 

It was a nice touch though sitting down and our wait staff already had E's sprite waiting for him. I just have water as I hydrate at dinner LOL.

 

I tried the rabbit, it was different. E had a bite too and it was interesting. I love trying new things though. Him not so much...

 

I had the leek & potatoe soup, it had nice flavor.

 

Bread selection was good to, we are total carboholics.

 

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[anewmac]

E of course got the ceasar salad.

 

I got some type of pasta, and had my pic of the menu been better I would be able to say what it was. I only remember that what I ordered and when it came out it was not as I had pictured or used to how a certain pasta to be. Anyhow it was ok... ya just ok.

 

Of course E got the steak... same thing different day.

 

Side of mashed potatoes for him.

 

I had a side of veggies, those were yummo

 

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[anewmac]

Next up my favorite part of the meal... dessert. I wish the would start with this.

 

I had the coconut lime cake, it was lacking lime. Let along any type of flavor as there was none.

 

Chocolate melting cake for E... you see the trend right.

 

Once we were done with dinner, we went to see the Variety show in the theater. Dinner was running long again so we missed a bit of the beginning. It was a good show though, with a comedic Juggler.

 

When we left there we made our way to see the comedy show at 1115pm. The line was already backed up. So we hung out with some friends from our cruise thread at the Piano Bar for a bit before heading into the show.

 

It really is a good time had by all, I would have loved if they had the comedy show a bit later to stay and enjoy the Piano Bar. Everyone said the guy that was singing and playing at the piano bar was good. The few songs we heard were very entertaining.

 

Once the long line to the club was in, we walked in and found a seat. The comedian tonight was John Wessling. He was good, not as ronchie as Macio, which was good. When his set was over, we went to grab a slice of pizza to take back to the room. We... well I waited for the kids to come home. A few moments later they walked in and fell fast asleep.

 

This guy was waiting for us when we came in. I made sure our beach bag was packed and ready for us. We HOPEFULLY hit port later tmrw, so everyone gets to sleep in a bit longer. I did set out the room service tag. Just for coffee.

 

NEXT UP: Do we see land?

[Hawaiifrank]

About 2pm, we ran down to our room to get grab our gift for the cocktail party. We made it optional to bring something from your state to exchange with others. Also we put on our group tshirts and name tags. So people knew who the heck we were LOL.

 

Was this cocktail party your CC get together? How did you arrange that with the ship? We've been on 16 cruises, mostly CCL and RCCL, and I have never seen anything like that. RCCL gives much better support than Carnival to our CC Meet & Mingle gatherings, at least in the past. I hope this is something new.

 

Carnival has always been uninvolved in any CC meets AFAIK, while RCCL has always provided printed invitations in our cabin; a designated time and location; an MC, such as the CD or assistant; give away trinkets, like key chains, luggage tags, hats, etc. Sometimes they provide coffee and snacks, even better raffle gifts (wine, jewelry) and, once, we had the entire senior officer staff to introduce themselves and take questions.

 

We are on the Breeze on November 27, 2016 for the repo cruise. It's going to be a great CC group, you should join us. We already have 9 pages of roll call posts, 19 months from sail away).

 

I'd love to see something like that be arranged for our repo cruise. Did you have many people balk at the $19 price? Was the cost the same for non-drinkers and kids? Details, please.

[anewmac]

Was this cocktail party your CC get together? How did you arrange that with the ship? We've been on 16 cruises, mostly CCL and RCCL, and I have never seen anything like that. RCCL gives much better support than Carnival to our CC Meet & Mingle gatherings, at least in the past. I hope this is something new.

It was a mix of different meet groups from multiple different social media, one being CC. This was actually a cocktail party they run for a price. They can do it for longer hours and different beverages just its an added cost. Check with your cruise prior as the prices were raised from the last time some cruised till our cruise,only by a buck or so but still.

COCKTAIL PARTY PRICES LINK

 

Carnival has always been uninvolved in any CC meets AFAIK, while RCCL has always provided printed invitations in our cabin; a designated time and location; an MC, such as the CD or assistant; give away trinkets, like key chains, luggage tags, hats, etc. Sometimes they provide coffee and snacks, even better raffle gifts (wine, jewelry) and, once, we had the entire senior officer staff to introduce themselves and take questions.

WOW, thats awesome that RCCL does that. If you ask they may come depending on how large your group is. We got help on the slot pull. The people planning it emailed John on his blog and he got them in contact with the casino manager. They gave a tshirt, a bottle of wine and a tshirt for the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place pullers.

 

We are on the Breeze on November 27, 2016 for the repo cruise. It's going to be a great CC group, you should join us. We already have 9 pages of roll call posts, 19 months from sail away).

Oh man I would LOVE to join, that would be a great gift for my anniversary but kids are in school then and usually thats around the time hubbys Marine Corps Ball is more or less. Being that its a repo cruise, you can maybe get them to work wtih you more... Ive heard of others that cruise where the CD has judged a door decorating contest for them. If you havent already you should find your CD online and become friends with them. Matty was joined onto our group and would post videos and interact a bit with us. So that may help you in the long run with getting assistance on the meets you all have planned. Have fun!!

 

I'd love to see something like that be arranged for our repo cruise. Did you have many people balk at the $19 price? Was the cost the same for non-drinkers and kids? Details, please.

I know I balked at 1st LOL. Especially when they wanted to do the more expensive types of packages. But thats only due to me being a beer drinker lol.

[momof3cruisers]

Looks like your husband is getting into vacation mode. He went from no smile to half smiles! Lol....it looks like you guys had an amazing trip. Thanks for doing the review. You're doing a great job.

 

Good to know about the line dances. My 13 yo is a dancing fool. He will love to be able to learn them ahead of time.

 

Did you notice if they ever had the two teen clubs doing stuff together? My boys will be 14 and 15 when we cruise so just at different ages. We have always timed our cruises so they are in the same group in the past. Of course, the one I am most worried about is my 19 yo. Awkward age for cruising.

[csshort02]

Excited for the rest of the cruise review!!

[fofita01]

Thanks for doing a review! I'm sailing on the Breeze/doing this itinerary in September and I cant wait.

 

Really looking forward to the FunTimes. Any chance you can post them in higher resolution? I think you said you would post them at the end of the review. Perhaps a PDF version? But thanks for whatever format you can provide. It's been hard to come by recent Breeze Southern Fun Times.

 

Looking forward to reading the rest of your review!

[fozzy1975]

Leaving 30 days from today!!! LOVE LOVE LOVE your review!! more PLEASE!!!

[loucajen]

Same here, can't wait, o[emoji322][emoji568][emoji106][emoji3]ne more month to go. First time balcony

[anewmac]

Looks like your husband is getting into vacation mode. He went from no smile to half smiles! Lol....it looks like you guys had an amazing trip. Thanks for doing the review. You're doing a great job.

 

Good to know about the line dances. My 13 yo is a dancing fool. He will love to be able to learn them ahead of time.

 

Did you notice if they ever had the two teen clubs doing stuff together? My boys will be 14 and 15 when we cruise so just at different ages. We have always timed our cruises so they are in the same group in the past. Of course, the one I am most worried about is my 19 yo. Awkward age for cruising.

Aww thanks for the kudos. I don't belive they had anything going on together for both kids clubs. You will have to tell me how your 19yr old feels after your cruise. We are contimplating doing when our 16yr old is that age but know they have nothing from 18-20 really organized to do much.

 

 

Excited for the rest of the cruise review!!

Sorry, hubby and I took a weekend trip to Texas to see our friend take over a command on base here. So hoping I can work on posting while at the airport. It was a busy week before too with my son's ROTC awards ceremony. More to come soon!

[gapearl]

Hey Andrea! Great review! You and your hubby make such a cute couple. I love the idea of the photo challenge and bucket list. What a bummer that you missed Grand Turk. I hope you make it there one day as it's a beautiful island and the jerk chicken at Jack's Shack is the absolute best I've ever had anywhere. The videos of the 1 song in the club are too funny! I've had Macio on a cruise before and he's hilarious. I hope you come back with more review soon! :D

 

 

This is one of the reasons I started my blog. It is just better to knock the posts out there and then link them here for several reasons. Wordpress and similar sites have free and cheap options, but still give you good capabilities. You reading this too, GAPearl ;)?

 

Yes I'm reading, already working on a Word Press site. :)

 

Speaking of GAPearl, need to catch up on her where abouts, I feel like such a stalker at times LOL.

 

LOL I'm around reading everyone else's reviews until it's time to write my next one. I think you and I would have fun if we ended up on a ship together one day. :p