Breeze - Feb 18th-25th...trip report, photos, and videos!

[ABQrobin]

okay.... back to my trip report....

 

Sea Days.... always great days for hanging out by the pool all day, water slides, and Serenity Deck!

 

I have to confess....we have never used the Serenity Deck until this cruise. I made of point of it this time, just to check it out. We got there early, like 8am-ish, and people had already put towels and belongings on the majority of the clamshells and chairs. In fact, not a single clam shell was available. Most only had peoples belongings in them, too. We did find a pair of chairs in the shade, so we snagged them!

 

 

Bar staff had not shown up yet...maybe soon

 

 

Got my GoPro5 ready.... we were going to do the Waterslides for the first time ever, too!

The slides opened at 9am the sign said....so we waited.

 

What a beautiful day!!!

 

 

 

...more....

[ABQrobin]

Eventually, they opened the Water slides, but it was more like 9:20am at that time. So DH went first, and took the GoPro5 with him. NOPE. The attendant said absolutely no GoPros allowed. Dang. So no video of the actual slide.

 

He went, and came running back like a 6 yr old .... its so fun! I wanna go again, you wanna go first. I said no, and let him do the other one. He did both, said he liked them both, but I should do the orange one as it was less back and forth that can make you dizzy. So off I went... and WOW. It was fun. You go pretty fast, too. The orange one has a swirl at the end where you stop, and have to climb down a ladder to the bottom before you climb back up on the main staircase. Wow. Really enjoyed it, but decided not to do it again...he was dying to go again! So I let my manchild go play on the waterslides for about half an hour.

 

 

 

Here you can see the difference between the Yellow one and the Orange one.

 

And the bucket keeps filling and dumping every 4 minutes or so.

 

 

 

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[ABQrobin]

And a video clip....

 

https://photos.smugmug.com/Cruises/2018CarnivalBREEZE/BreezeWaterworks/i-sSkNw3g/0/71134179/1280/GOPR0362-1280.mp4

 

DH said he did the slides over a dozen times before he came back up to Serenity.

[ABQrobin]

We had fun there with the waterslides, but then decide it was time to move on along, and walked down to the Aft Pool area to hang out. Its our favorite spot if we can get a table in the shade.

 

 

 

 

Lots of kids in the kiddie water area

 

 

 

 

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The MAIN pool was busy

 

 

 

Jackpot.... a table with an umbrella

 

 

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Sports Square

 

After awhile it was time to lunch....so we wandered to the Lido

 

Main Pool

 

 

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[ABQrobin]

 

 

Today we passed by Cuba and Keys....nope, couldn't see them.

 

Military Recognition was held today... and it was VERY well done. DH loved it, he's up on stage with all the other military members from the ship. Quite a huge turnout.

 

 

 

....afterwards we went to lunch.. Mongolian Wok today. I like being able to build my own stir fry food. And the sauces were very nice and spicy.

 

 

[ABQrobin]

After lunch we went down to the Thrill Theatre.... they had a movie "Coastal Predators" that DH wanted to see. It was a shorter one, but we decided to pay anyhow, $5.50pp, and wait. It was decent, not nearly as fun as I had hoped. You did get sprayed with water every time a whale came to the surface to breathe, and seat vibrated when they splashed. Not a whole lot else but nice photography.

 

Now we were both pooped, so we went back to the room to take a nap and relax before dinner... After our nap, we decided to skip Elegant night tonight, and just hit the buffet for dinner.

Much of the same items as on the MDR menu, and I was in the mood for just a big salad and baked potato anyway. DH went for the flat iron steak and salad with potato. Good dinner, more like what I fix at home without all the fuss. Desserts were good, too. Sometimes I am just not in the mood to dress up at all, and by the end of a cruise, I am ready to just eat.

 

 

Tonight was the show we had wanted to see most all week....it was Flick by the Playlist Productions. We had seen this last year on the Magic and LOVED it, so we both wanted to see it again. We went down the stairs and holy cow! People were already lining up at every door, which weren't scheduled to open for another half hour! Seems everyone had heard about this great show.

 

We got in, got pretty good seats, and then saw the show. Now I already knew (from a poster here on CC) that this Playlist group had just gotten on the ship, and this was the first time they were performing ALL shows on a ship. The show was good, not as great and mesmerizing as the performance we saw on the Magic. The group hasn't gotten all the bugs out yet, and hasn't built up that chemistry that you get doing shows week after week. It will come. The performers are all very talented, you can just tell it is a new show for them.

Edited March 14, 2018 by ABQrobin

[mistshar]

We are celebrating our 35th Anniversary on the Breeze April 15 sailing. It’s getting close.

 

We are also celebrating our anniversary on the April 15th cruise. It will be our 46th. Maybe we will run into you somewhere on the ship.

[Devo1459]

We are also celebrating our anniversary on the April 15th cruise. It will be our 46th. Maybe we will run into you somewhere on the ship.

 

 

Congrats. See you aboard. Our youngest boy is getting married the week before and they are on the April 8th cruise. We will see them when they get off and hand our rental car to them so they can get back to the airport.

[timc.jb]

Awesome review. Thanks for sharing.

[ABQrobin]

Awesome review. Thanks for sharing.

 

Thanks, I am almost done and will answer any questions if people have them.

 

AFTER Flick we dashed to the Comedy Club to see the comedian who had just gotten on the ship. Tommy Drake. If you haven't seen him before, he is HYSTERICAL. It was the Adult show, and it was almost packed already even though the show wasn't to start for 20 minutes. Wow, crazy.

 

We are huge Comedy Club fans, try to hit it at least twice per cruise. We like both the adult and PG shows but hadn't had a chance to get to a show this cruise.

 

We got seats along the back wall. Lots of people were saving seats for friends, and they made an announcement that saving seats was NOT allowed... people were starting to sit on steps and floor. It was crowded, glad we got seats.

 

 

Tommy Drake is a guy that is one of the original comedians Carnival has used since they started the Comedy clubs. He is one of the best we have ever seen, ever. If you get a chance to see his shows, GO! He made sure to tell everyone also, that one of the reasons he was hired by Carnival is that his specialty is PG shows, not adult. He doesn't use a lot of profanity and said since our show was the R rated show, he would drop one "F...." just to make everyone happy. It was hysterical. He did talk about some body parts, and it was not a kids show for sure, but no kidding, people were falling out of their chairs laughing. This guy is the BEST. Write down his name, and see him if he is on your ship. Guaranteed the whole family will love him. Wish we had gotten to his PG shows the next day just to compare!

FYI - he has a Facebook page he says, so follow him there. Also videos on Youtube.

 

After this, we went up to Lido, as usual, to fill our water bottles for the night, then to the room. Pooped again.

 

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[ABQrobin]

Saturday, Feb 24th...... Last DAY

 

Boo. Last days are always sad. DH got up early and hit the gym. I just walked around, got tea on Lido, and waited for him. After his shower, we went up to eat.

 

This morning was the T-shirt sale they do on every cruise. Two for $20. Yes, it happened down in the Lobby, and yes it was a zoo.

 

 

of course I bought some too....

shirts were generic Carnival Caribbean, no specific ports of call on them.

 

Lunchtime....last on the ship.... I had to eat at the Tandoor again. Just love that place and wish every ship had it.

It was busy there, line waiting for them to open, and tables full of people waiting, too.

 

 

I filled up my plate, and DH went to decide what he wanted, he got tacos at Blue Iguana.

 

 

[ABQrobin]

it was Chocolate Extravaganza day, too.

DH went a little overboard.

 

I was actually sick of all the rich desserts, so I went for fruit at the regular dessert bar.

 

Afterwards, we went walking around the ship for awhile, then back to the room to start packing.

 

The turn for home, Galveston. Not our home, but the ship.

 

 

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[ABQrobin]

Dinner in the MDR.... he had caprese salad, I had shrimp cocktail, I had cornmeal crusted chicken, he had flat iron steak again. Dessert....yeah....Baked Alaska is back and awesome!

 

 

We went to pick up our photos, got a few printed. If you haven't seen it now, some ships have the Photo Studio purely digital now. You can access your photos online at any of the tablets or even on your room tv set. They can have them all printed, even on metal, in 1 hour but you need to get it ordered by the last day or they won't be ready and on your bill.

 

After that, we went to watch the LipSync Battle. OMG, if you haven't seen it, it is GREAT. Our CD Schwartz is the host, and also does some performing, as well as some of the Kid's Club kids and director. That is in addition to the 2 competitors. It is really a fun hour show.

 

We got our "free" last night drink coupons and hit the Alchemy Bar. I got a virgin Cucumber Surprise, he got a Remedy, I think. Both were fantastic.

 

 

that's Schwartz...doing an 80s medley. LOL... Too funny.

 

Each competitor does 2 numbers, and the Playlist Performers are backup dancers.

 

 

After that, we headed back to the room to finish packing.

 

 

...more later.....Debark and Notes....

[HolySpearit]

Great review!!!!

[ABQrobin]

That night, in everyone's mailboxes, were the debark instructions with the luggage tags. Ours said to meet in the restaurant, mid-ship level 3 for people taking the early shuttle to airport. Don't put out luggage the night before, bring it with you. What? Wow, never have we had that before. Yes, we were going to airport, but our flight wasn't until 1pm. Wow. We were stoked. Our last experience at Galveston, May 2017 from the Freedom, was a nightmare and lasted for several hours, we almost didn't make a shuttle in time to get to the airport on time.

 

...Sunday, Debarkation

We got up early, ate breakfast on Lido, and then grabbed the luggage to take down to Lobby. We went into restuaurant, with letter in hand, and they had chairs set up in rows by the order we arrived. Sweet. One side was FTTF, other side was us, early flights at airport taking the Carnival shuttle.

The debark started, and boom they had us line up and off the ship we went. Down down down, and to the Customs agents. Wow, we were thru and outside in 15 minutes flat. So freakin' awesome!

We got on the shuttle and then had to wait for it to fill up, which took about 30 minutes. Then we were off, driving to Hobby airport. We arrived plenty early, went to a restaurant and got lunch, then sat to wait for our flight home.

Well.....that made up for the horror of Embarkation day!!!

 

NOTES:

1. Cruise Director Schwartz is wonderful, zany, funny, and yet still mature enough not to offend anyone. We loved him. A cruise director does not make a cruise, but a GREAT cruise director can make any cruise better. Schwartz was GREAT.

2. The Breeze is a beautiful ship. Top to bottom, not a single complaint with the exception of the Lido floors being a bit slippery.

3. The Breeze crew is awesome, really outgoing and friendly. Zero complaints.

4. The Breeze entertainment.... we loved Polaris Trio strings. Loved them. We also loved the Latin couple that played a few times in Lobby and Ocean Plaza, Duo Murano. Both of these groups drew a crowd wherever they played. The country duo Buck & Oz were good, just nothing special IMHO. We have seen too many better country acts. Bold Brass...not my thing. Calypso Music with Soluna Caribe was very good, she can sing and play, we just didn't see her that much as she was usually outdoors by the pool.

5. Comedy club....we only saw 1 show and he was fantastic, Tommy Drake.

6. Playlist Performers.... Shows we have seen before, so we skipped most of them. Flick was the only exception and it was very good but not as good as the group we saw do it first on Magic. I think the performers are all very talented, just new to the shows and cruise life. I think they will be great after a few months.

7. Casino....never did more than walk through it. Not my thing.

8. Waterworks slides....Awesome and fun and worth doing for everyone. Wish we could have used the GoPro5 on slide, maybe we will sneak it next time, we do have a wrist lanyard for it.

9. Pools and Hot tubs...never got in, DH used a hot tub for a few minutes only.

10. Serenity deck....loved it, loved their special drink menu too. The Sangria swirl was excellent.

11. Military Gathering....awesome and so respectful. Honors to every branch of service and let people speak as long as it wasn't political. Really enjoyed all except one rude man who should have kept his comments to himself.

12. Room steward.... Rabbi, was excellent and never in our way, kept the room clean.

13. Shuttle to and from airport.... worked like a charm.

 

Ports:

Key West... nice for a day to shop and walk around, Hemingway House was special, conch fritters yummy. Not a port I crave seeing again though.

Freeport.... loved this port, people were wonderful and friendly, our kayaking excursion was one of our Top 5 excursions ever!

Nassau..... ehhh. Walked to around, saw Queens staircase and fort, Fish Fry for lunch, drinks, shopping. Nothing I would every do again, Ditto port. I would only go there again if we were diving.

 

So that's about it..... if you have any questions at all, feel free to ask!

robin & ron

[ChanceandAndy]

I love your review, thank you for doing this. I see you have been on the Freedom before (a couple times) and was wondering which one you liked better, Breeze or Freedom. We were on the Freedom last year and are going on the Breeze Apr 8th.

[ABQrobin]

Freedom was my favorite ship before this cruise, now I think it is a tie. Breeze is a little bigger, loved the Italian restaurant and Sushi on it which they don't have on the Freedom. Also the Tandoor. So food wise the Breeze wins.

We cruise primarily for the ports, so the itinerary is always the thing that makes us book a cruise. That said.... if they were doing the same itinerary, I would probably pick the Breeze.

 

I know that doesn't help. LOL

[pacruise804]

....continuing...

 

Wednesday, 23rd...FREEPORT

 

Today was the port we had been most excited for - Freeport, Bahamas. We had never been to the Bahamas on LAND. Only on a boat for 2 weeks of scuba diving back over a decade ago. We had hoped to see more of the Bahamas, other than underwater, but it just hadn't come together for us until now. Also, our vacations over the past 20 years have all revolved around scuba diving, so we really have not done all the topside activities that we were now getting to enjoy since we started cruising.

 

We only got into cruising for 2 reasons: First we wanted to go to Alaska and cruising seemed to be the least expensive way, and Second, DH had to have some surgery which would mean he was out of diving for 6 months. So in 2014 we booked our first cruise and got hooked. DH has recovered from his surgeries now (ended up having 3 on same hip-sports injury), so we are trying to do those intensive week-long scuba trips again, but have found that we just don't have the stamina we used to have. LOL The cruises are so much less intensive and we are able to do a little scuba and a little topside without hurting ourselves. Getting old sucks.

 

Anyhoo.....on to Freeport!

When we had decided to book this cruise last year, Freeport excursions looked interesting. We both wanted to kayak somewhere and this looked to be the PERFECT place with a ship's excursion that suited us perfectly. Freeport Kayaking & Nature Adventure. It even sounded like us.

 

The ship arrived right on time, 8am, and so with a full belly from breakfast on the Lido, we ventured off the ship to meet the Guide. Our meetup time was 8:30am and people kept dribbling over to the Guide with the sign..more...and more...and more. By the time it was 8:35am, we had over 30 people but we had 3 guides, so we were divided into 3 groups. We lucked out with the head Guide, Sam. Our buses arrived, each group had their own van, and off we went for the 45 minute drive. Sam gave us a great history and culture tour on our way to the Lucaya National Park.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We arrived at the starting point and the crew began unloading the gear. Woo hoo.

 

 

...to be continued....

 

Great review. We did the same excursion on our Pride cruise and also had Sam as our guide. He and the tour were wonderful.

[afcruiser]

Great Review.

Thanks for taking the time to share your experience.

 

Looking forward to The Breeze next November.

 

We are going to miss Schwartz though. He gets off right before we get on.

He's our Favorite.

[surrealuv]

Wow thanks for such a great review ! We are going next Feb and was wondering if Serenity had the salad bar that Vista has?

[cruisewithwife]

Very nice review

[ABQrobin]

Wow thanks for such a great review ! We are going next Feb and was wondering if Serenity had the salad bar that Vista has?

 

Thanks. I didnt' see any food on the Serenity, just the bar where they served drinks.

[ABQrobin]

Great Review.

Thanks for taking the time to share your experience.

 

Looking forward to The Breeze next November.

 

We are going to miss Schwartz though. He gets off right before we get on.

He's our Favorite.

 

Thanks, yes, we really enjoyed Schwartz, too.

 

Very nice review

 

Thanks!