Carnival Breeze Review 2/19-2/26

[Aratski]

Part One:

My first cruise and first review. We had a blast and it was SO VERY FUN!! We were in a balcony room, cabin

#9265. We had so much fun we had to schedule anotherone in June (on the Victory) - with more in the plans, one in Feb 2018 and then another when our daughter graduates college in May 2018. Can't wait!! We've got the crusin' bug! For the 7 minute quick video of our cruise, click here

About us....DH is a City Engineer and I work PT as a secretary for the city and then I go home for job #2, there I work PT doing appraisal reviews and logging and prepping daily orders. DH & I have been married 25 years this June, hence the reason for the celebratory cruise, oh and to escape the Siberian Iowan winters (and to escape the basement dwellers who live with us!!:')) We have 2 kids, son who is 23, (aka basement dweller -haha) and daughter who is 22. They are both in college. Our daughter is at USU in Utah and our son is here, living with us. He is married with a 2.5 yr old lil girl....our first grandchild...we adore her.

We sailed Feb 19-26 to Montego Bay, Grand Cayman & Cozumel.We used resort for a day and went to Hilton Rose Hall - absolutely beautifulplace! We missed Grand Cayman due to the Port Authority closing the port because ofhigh waves (a cold front moved through), and finally in Cozumel we did the Royal Dolphin swim atDolphin Discovery in Chankanaab. We found a groupon for the dolphinswim and saved some pennies that way...was risky, for the what if's, to happen,but turned out perfect!! Highly, highly recommend the dolphin swim. Loved everyminute of playing with them...beautiful, gentle, forceful creatures!!

 

We flew into Hobby airport and stayed at the airport the night before. I used Priceline Express deals and got the Holiday Inn for like $50-55 a night/before taxes or something like that, can't remember. They had a complimentary shuttle that would take you within a 2 mile radius of the hotel to places to eat. After meeting up with our friends, we ate at Pappa's BBQ. It was very good! I am craving the rib plate now!!

We used Galveston Express Sunday morning to get us to the port.Great, on time...smooth and seamless! Would use them again. Was nice to have aMercedes Van pick us up!! Then we saw the Breeze...it's getting real!! We are almost there!

 

We got dropped off and a porter was there ready to take all our bags, then we proceeded to checking in!!!!! The check in was great, fluid, went veryquick, until we made it to the waiting area until our board time. They ran atad behind, but no biggie...we were on vacation!!

 

Once we boarded the ship it was time to explore....and havelunch!! We headed to Cucina del Capitano for lunch. We heard it was a hidden secret....open on embarkation day for lunch. Actually, they are open for lunchfor free every day! It was peaceful, it was quiet.....we got to chit chat withour friends in a quiet, relaxed, environment. Yummy food too!!

 

Then we were off to explore the ship. Couldn't get to our roomsuntil 1PM so we had to wait.....exploring it is, then! Beautiful ship, love the color scheme, the palm trees in the Lido Buffet were awesome. Found the Thrill theater so we could buy our weekly passes. The atrium was so pretty, everythingwas just so nice!

 

When 1 came, we headed to our cabin to start unpacking and get settled in.

Then off to Muster Drill we go! Once we were done with that, we met our friends for sail away. Ran back to the cabin to grab our cameras. Once we opened the door, we saw we were moving... wait, whaaaaattt? Moving already?? We must have started moving during the muster drill. Let me tell you, that was such a weird feeling....walking one direction and seeing the water move in another! I think I grabbed a wall....it was then...I realized what sea legs are!! I freakin' LOVE sea legs!!!!!!!

Time for a break.... part 2 in a bit!

[txskier]

Nice start! can't wait to read more as we don't board the Breeze til May... of next year!!

[KPfromCT]

Awesome start!!!! We have been on the Breeze TWICE, and as of right now, she is our FAVORITE ship!!!

 

We are on the Magic in June so we'll see what happens.:')

 

Impatiently waiting for your next installment!!!

 

P.S. I am now craving BBQ!:')

[BoomerSoonerCruisers]

Following! We will be on the Breeze in June, first cruise in almost 10 years!

[Inconspicuous]

Nice.....we sat at that exact table in Cucina del Capitano just less than 3 weeks ago. Great pasta bar for lunch there.

[Aratski]

Part 2:

We grabbed our cameras and headed to the bow of the ship to watch Galveston go by.It was fun…I mean….we are finally heading out to sea! I was super excited and very happy to be moving. We got wind blown like crazy there, honestly, it was crazy windy, like everywhere we went every day, except port days. If you check out our video, you’ll see just how bad the wind was. Now being a newbiecruiser, I don’t know if that was normal or not…but dang…we felt wind whipped alot of the time…but again…I didn’t care….we were on vacation!!

We decided to head to the aft and watch Galveston slowly disappear. We even saw acouple dolphins swimming next to the ship. That was so cool!! The aft has it’sown serene beauty, I love the wake, I loved watching the refineries go by. It’s a world I had never experienced before and it was great seeing it for the first time. Everything was perfect…..soon….we will be unreachable from cell service!! Haha…no longer can our kids call us, no more work emails or phone calls for my DH, the time has come to truly and completely disconnect. Best.Feeling.Ever! Ithink we will forever cruise for vacations so that my DH can truly disconnectfrom work. Unless they pay for international data…(haha…its city government,they won’t)…he’s unreachable.

We browsed the ship some more then decided we’d do dinner early. We had YTD…so could eat whenever we wanted. I would most definitely do that again, I don’t want to be tied down to any sort of commitment…we have enough of those at home.Everything is planned…routine, calculated, thought out…it was time to let go…be spontaneous, feel free. We all went back to get ready for dinner in the Sapphire Dining Room. We were seated instantly, pretty much that way for the whole cruise. We always seemed to pick a great time for dinner. Sometimes people had the pagers and had to wait upwards of 30 minutes…not for us! The first night, we sat by the window…nice! That was cool…albeit almost too dark to see outside…but still…cool!

So this looks grainy…it’s the condensation on the window. At first, I thought,dang, they gotta clean the windows better, then I realized, Duh, it’s the humidity…yeah…mine do that at home too in the icky yucky parts of summer. But….this is a ship…with windows for views…how about some Rain X or wipers on them…haha. Can you imagine!?:')

After dinner we purchased our weekly passes from the Thrill Theater and saw the scary one at 9. We were hoping to pre-order the passes prior to our cruise, but it can only be done on the cruise and at the Thrill Theater, not guest services.So save yourselves some time standing in line asking that question, just go straight to the Thrill Theater. Speaking of the Thrill Theater…it was fun…always left with a smile, well except for the Jason series for the night one…that one was wellllll just plain disgusting. No one in my group cared for it. The other 2 scary ones were OK. My DH and Ienjoyed laughing at my friends’ reaction the most. She doesn’t do scary movies and was watching them for me! Haha…They sat in the front row and we were behind them, she thought I was poking her in the back the whole time…but it really was the chair!! Hahaha. I’ll take it as a compliment tho- glad to be thought of!! I think there were 4 or 5 different PG ones and that 18+ scary trilogy. I think we saw almost all the shows, minus one maybe. They are fun…we enjoyed it…but we all decided we would not spend money to see them again. Kinda a one-and-done/been-there-done-that type thing.

So we went back to exploring some more then crashed for the night. We were exhausted,my FitBit said I logged in 13,000 steps which was a lot for me, from my office desk jobs and no kids to run after anymore. We were asleep by 10:30.

The next day was a sea day…2 in a row in fact. We wouldn’t port into Montego Bay,Jamaica until Wednesday.

Of course, excitement still took over and I woke up at 6…really 4:30 but was trying to go back to sleep. But I was just excited… I wanted to see the color of the water, how will it look, how much bluer will it get overnight.. I loved the gentle rocking of the ship, in fact it’s one of the things I miss most now.

We got up, turn the TV on to the Ship Channel…the only channel we ever had on. We loved seeing the map of where we were and the ship speed, wind speed, all that fun stuff. Every day, it was on and nothing else. We left the world behind. It was nice, it was refreshing and it was needed.

We got ready and went to Sea Day Brunch…both Sea Days. I loved everything about it. I loved the service, the food, feeling like I was dining at a nice restaurant allthe time. I had steak and eggs….you know….I have never had steak and eggs for breakfast, EVER. I never wanted to pay for it. The hubs and I live within a budget and I like to get the most for my money, steak and eggs are a special thing…I don’t need it…but on the cruise…I could have it! Made me feel special and we ate breakfast in the Blush dining room every chance I got. I think there were only 2 days we didn’t. I had a breakfast burrito from Blue Iguana (mehhhhhit was OK) and an omelet at the omelet station….that was good!

A view we had from the Blush Dining Room during our extra sea day, what would have been Grand Cayman day

 

Our sea days were my favorite. I think on Day 2 we both finally felt relaxed and used to the ship. We spent most our days wandering around, checking out various activities and laying out on the Serenity Deck. We had around 1600 kids I think, on the ship, it was crazy! For going in February, off season…we didn’t think we’d have that many. However, they never really bugged us, just once…when they played the elevator shuffle. Haha ‘Tag your it…I beat the elevator, now you have to run’ No biggie…I had kids that age once too. The cruise that left the day we came back into Galveston had like 250 kids….soooo note to self for future cruises…do not go over President’s Day Weekend, even if hubs get a vacation day! Haha

Stay tuned……..Next up… Montego Bay, Jamaica – Hilton Rose Hall Resort for a day….

[riclop]

Now you are hooked like the rest of us.

[4cookiesrwe]

I am loving reading your review and seeing your pics. Thanks for the info on the Thrill Theater! Good to know.

 

I look forward to reading the rest of your review...we will be sailing on the Breeze in less than a week. Super excited!!!

 

Thanks again!

[dmet0225]

It's always fun reading the experiences, feelings and excitement of a new cruiser.

 

 

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[bwellen]

1600 sounds like a lot of kids to me. We were on the cruise the week before you (Feb 12-19) and the cruise director announced that there was 400 kids on our sailing but I thought it seemed like more than that. We cruised the week we did because our daughters only had 3 days of school that week.

 

We watched you guys sail away from Sea Wolf park. Sorry you guys did not have good weather. Our week had fantastic weather. This was our 11th cruise and it was the smoothest sea conditions for an entire week we had ever experienced.

 

 

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[eeudj]

looking forward to more :0)

[Gumbo4Life]

Enjoying your review! We were on the Breeze 2 weeks before you and had the same ports of call. Weather was great also like bwellen posted above. Looking forward to the rest of your review, like reliving our cruise!!

 

:)

[bury me at sea]

Goodness it's fun reading your review. You're on my favorite ship and sea days are my favorite thing. While I make it a practice not to wish my life away, I am sure eager for our next cruise on her in August.

 

Your next installment is eagerly anticipated.

[leelee16]

Thanks for the review. We cruise on her in less than 2 months, and I love reading all the reviews that I can.

[Austinettecruiser]

So sorry that I could not tell if you had Leigh as your cruise director. When we were on the Breeze, back to back cruise, he was such an inspiration. He was so energetic. Such a great guy. I hope he gets to be the CD on the Horizon.

 

 

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[CruiseCuriosity]

Thanks so much for the review! My family and I are heading out on the Breeze Jan 2018 for our first cruise as well......and we're sailing this same itinerary! Following this review closely to watch for any information that will make our first cruise even better. :)

[camijo]

Loving your review, I don't sail until July 2018.. But I'm living through your review!

 

Can't wait to hear more!

[Clarasgrandma]

Enjoying your review. Thanks for sharing!

[soxstar_777]

We loved our first cruise on the Breeze in November! Can't wait to go again! And Go Aggies! USU alumni here!

[Aratski]

We loved our first cruise on the Breeze in November! Can't wait to go again! And Go Aggies! USU alumni here!

(y) My husband graduated there in 1995...our daughter got the legacy tuition rate because he's alumni. My how Logan has grown since we were there!

[Aratski]

Thanks for all the nice comments!! I am working on more...just crazy busy with work, etc.

[JaniceB]

Thanks for doing a review, great start.

[Aratski]

Next up.....Jamaica!!!

 

So after 2 sea days, some laying out, some eatin', some chattin', some explorin', some ice cream, some pizza you know...the awesome relaxing sea days, we were ready to see land. It was Jamaica day!! Of course I woke up super early, cuz, well....I'm like a kid in a candy store. "What does the water look like today?" "Are we close to land?" "What does Jamaica look like?" "Today I get to step foot in another country" oooohhhhhhh we are branching out now!! :D haha

I had read alot of reviews prior to my cruise. I read the good, the bad and the ugly about Jamaica. Plus numerous people who have vacationed there...there was a theme, 'it's sktechy'...'be careful'...'be on guard'...'I'd stay on the boat'...then I read the posts... 'I love Jamaica'....'don't worry...its all good' etc. Our friends we cruised with have visited Jamaica before and it hasn't been their favorite port, so we opted for Hilton Rose Hall Resort for a day. It was about 20 minutes from Montego Bay....so I got to see some of Jamaica. I was happy with that.

 

We woke up and got ready. Headed up to Lido and had breakfast burritos at Blue Iguana. Honestly, they weren't my favorite. It was OK...but I wouldn't get one again. We watched land come closer and closer....then decided to go back on our balcony to watch some more. Today was the first time I realized we had balcony-mates. Someone had kids, they kept moving the chairs over and over and over and over some more. I was like...holy schnikies maynard...what the heck is going on up there. I kept quiet...just kind of sputtered to my hubby. Haha, poor guy! It was cool seeing how blue the water was. How when the boat started to turn, it stirred up all the mucky yucky brown in the water and how vast the 2 colors were, yet it was so cool. Jamaica was GORGEOUS. The mountains as a backdrop with the blue blue waters...just breath taking. It was my favorite port in the sense it was the most picturesque port.

Once we docked, we then decided to make our way off the ship. I have to say, this was our first experience and Carnival was SO great with embarkation, I think I had higher expectations. It was a crazy cattle call feeling. Everyone using the stairs, except for those that needed special assistance and used the elevators. You are body to body, standing, waiting to get off. It was annoying, but you have to make the best of it too. You can choose to be annoyed and let it get the better of you or you can decide to have fun with it and have patience. We all had fun...could tell it was annoying but everyone seemed to be in good spirits.

We got off the ship and did the 'Hey look!! I'm here in Montego Bay photo shoot'

 

Once our friends made their way off the ship, we proceeded to the shuttle area for Resort for a Day. I think we stood out there for 45 minutes before someone came and picked us up. They kept picking up people for Sunscape....I kept thinking, hey that one is like 5 minutes away...take us...we have to go farther. But it seemed to take, like forever, for the shuttle bus to get there. Then...finally...it was our turn. We filled a bus...(nice air conditioned one too I might add) and headed to Hilton Rose Hall. It was fun watching everything go by and getting glimpses of the ocean through the curvy road. Seeing the city, driving past the airport...driving on the other side of the road....looking at the beautiful homes on the hillside and the cinder block shanty style homes intermixed here and there. Eye opening...such extremes...extreme variances of living situations. The disheartening part was seeing all the trash along the side of the road, here and there. But again, an eye opening experience.

The hotels were HUMONGOUS...gorgeous, places. All gated with security guards, as was ours.

So we pull up to ours...go through the gates and it's time to head in to check in. Our whole bus load head to check in at the same time. (You pay a deposit up front, then the rest at the hotel) Well...they had 1 person to check all of us in. There was quite a line...till they opened a cash only line and a few people moved over there. -Note to self....bring cash...you'll get onto the resort a good 15 minutes sooner! ;p Once you are paid up, you got a wrist band and were set free to roam. (Oh...wifi cost $3 too...however...our friends got it for free :rolleyes: - lucky for them....bummer for me)

We found our friends who found us a spot and got settled...then hit the lazy river and found our virigin pina coladas & virgin ziggy marleys

[Aratski]

Jamaica continued -

So we played, explored, had fun...relaxed. The resort was beautiful. I would HIGHLY recommend this resort. They had a couple water slides (in our video in the initial post, you'll see my DH going down one)

I had heard the Jerk Pork and Jerk Chicken were super yummy. So we were off to find that.

They have numerous people walking around, 'do you need anything?' 'can I get you anything?'...we got one...he said he'd go and get the food, 2 pork, 2 chicken and bring them to us. I told him where we were sitting and we proceeded to our spot. I stayed to wait for him while dh and our friends tested out the water slides. They all came back about the same time, which was perfect....and the fod was DELISH! The pork was our favorite...for all 4 of us. Super yummy. Highly recommend.

Now for some photos of the resort... serious beautiful grounds. We felt like were had a bit of paradise that day.

 

 

 

 

 

[Aratski]

And more photos since I was limited to 6 photos..

 

the yummy jerk ckn and pork

Virgin Ziggy Marley

panormamic of the beach area

 

We decided to kayak a bit, my first time. It was a double seater and alot of fun. We weren't out too long since it looked like others were on shore waiting. I'd definitely do it again tho!!

We strolled around the grounds, they do have vendors there set up along the walk way to buy some stuff...they weren't to pushy, we just said, no and moved on. We had to be back on the shuttle bus around 3:30 I think. So we only got like 4.5 hours there, for the price, seemed steep, but it was a nice day and a wonderful resort.

 

When we were driving back, a bus passed us, with a TON of children on it...standing, sitting, crammed in there. I was not the only one who gasped...heard others around us, it was a very humbling experience.

 

We shopped a tad at the port, everything seemed so pricey to me. But I got a few magnets and blue mountain coffee for people at work. Not too many vendors right outside the port, I thought, maybe that was one reason their prices seemed high. Then we proceeded to board the boat, which ws simple and easy to do and got ready for dinner.

My husband decided to do the ropes course that evening. I was taking photos of the sunset with the GoPro and recording him. I think, if I remember right, this was the first night the ropes course was open, since we set sail.

 

Overall it was a great excursion. I would do it again, however, I would bring cash for the cash line so I could get to the resort faster. Jamaica is beautiful...I would love to visit again. I would not want to go off on my own and explore, but I would do another excursion for sure.