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Our Beautiful Breeze cruise (with pics) 8/15/15


Jamman54
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Ahoy everybody!!! My name is Jeff “Jamman” Maskall, and I am a cruise addict!! We have just returned from an 8 day cruise aboard the beautiful Carnival Breeze. This was a roundtrip cruise from Miami to St. Maarten, St. Kitts, San Juan, and Grand Turk. On this cruise were myself, my beautiful wife Patti, who as you know is my primary photographer, and our son Ryan, who will be starting college this fall. We loved the décor of the Breeze, because it gave the ship a definite Caribbean feel. We also loved the soft blues and yellows in the cabins.

 

We booked this cruise over fifteen months out, and selected two category 4J cabins, (inside with walkway view), at the front of the ship, with nearby access to the “secret” deck. We had the same type of cabins on the Liberty last year, and a few times on the Glory. Patti and I both agree that for future cruises we will stick to balconies, preferably “bowling alley” balconies, or aft wraps. You can feel more motion in these 4J cabins, which doesn’t bother us, but if the water gets just a little bit choppy, the bow of the ship cutting through the waves feels and sounds like hitting a pothole on the highway! The “secret” deck is a great place to watch the ship sail in and out of port, but anyone can go out there, so you don’t need a 4J room to do so.

 

I have a feeling that this review will be a lengthy one, as we, well mostly Patti, took over two thousand pictures along the way. We made this an almost three week vacation, and we will be driving down to Florida. Our plan is to spend a few days in Orlando first, then drive to Miami the day before the cruise. After the cruise, we would be driving back up to Orlando to spend four nights at the Royal Pacific Resort at Universal Orlando, before heading back up to New Jersey. Patti is not a fan of driving to Florida anymore, but tolerates it on the way down because of the anticipation of the upcoming vacation. However, when the vacation is over, she abandons us and flies back up to New Jersey lol.

 

We would like to dedicate this review to our son Kevin, as this was the last cruise he was booked on. We love and miss you, every minute of every day……..

 

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Every journey begins with a single step, so here we are as we prepare to begin our journey…..

 

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As we leave, we are treated to a beautiful rainbow, a sign of great things to come…..

 

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We like leaving at 9pm and driving through the night, as there is hardly any traffic, and we avoid the rush hours while driving through Baltimore and Washington. The trip was uneventful until we reached Virginia, specifically the stretch of I-95 between Richmond and Petersburg. Normally, I take the I-295 bypass to avoid this stretch, but for some reason, probably because traffic was light, I didn’t.

 

This particular stretch of I-95 is hilly and curvy, and tonight there was a light rain falling, so the roads were slick. I had backed my speed down from my normal 80 mph or so to about 60, because of the conditions. I was in the left lane preparing to move over to the center lane, when in my rear view mirror I saw a car behind me in the center lane approaching at a higher rate of speed. I paid that no mind until I heard the screeching of tires. I looked to my right, out of the passenger side window, and saw the car next to me passing us going sideways! Not wanting to slam on the brakes, I sped up to try to get out of the way. Suddenly, the car shot to the right, across the right lane, and hit the guardrail….hard. I slowed down, and seeing that several cars were pulling over to help, we continued on. Later, when we were in Florida, I checked online, and discovered that particular single car accident was considered minor, and there were no serious injuries. We have to thank our guardian angel for keeping us out of harm’s way, and watching over the occupants of that car. If that car had shot over to the left instead of the right, it could have gotten really ugly, especially at that speed.

 

Needless to say, the three of us were quite shaken by that experience, but I’m happy to report that the rest of the trip down was uneventful.

 

After sixteen hours, we arrived at the Sonesta Suites hotel on International Drive in Orlando. This was to be our home base for the next two nights. Our suite wasn’t ready yet, so Patti and Ryan went shopping for a few items, and I hung out in the lobby with my laptop. We then decided to have a late lunch/early dinner, at the Brick House Tavern next door…..

 

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I think Ryan and I look pretty good after 16+ hours in a car…..

 

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To be continued…..

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Here are Ryan and Patti…..

 

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We were hungry for some snacks…..

 

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After we ate, we went back to the hotel to find that our two bedroom suite was ready. We have stayed here before in the past, and we requested to be on the highest (5th) floor. We highly recommend the Sonesta Suites as they are very reasonably priced and a buffet breakfast is included daily. There is free internet access as well. Here are some views of our bedroom…..

 

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To be continued…..

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Sonesta Suites is located just across International Drive from the new Orlando Eye….

 

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Here is a nighttime view from our living room window…..

 

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The next day we split up, with Patti and Ryan going to Downtown Disney aka Disney Springs, and I went over to Wet n Wild. At 5pm they picked me up, and after stopping back at Sonesta Suites for a bit, we decided to check out the Orlando Eye. The normal price to ride the Orlando Eye is $25pp, but Patti found a deal online that would reduce the cost to $16.

 

The Orlando Eye just opened this past April. It towers over 400 feet, and it takes about 25 minutes to complete the circle. There is a pre ride 4D movie as well. I want to point out that there is also a wax museum and small aquarium on site (extra cost), and quite a few restaurants and shops to choose from. Since this a new attraction, I’ll share some photos with you. This is the Orlando Eye lobby and ticketing area…..

 

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We are preparing to enter our car…..

 

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Patti on the Orlando Eye…..

 

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Ryan is checking out the information touch screen…..

 

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To be continued…..

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Here is a view of the information touch screen…..

 

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Ryan and I on the Orlando Eye……

 

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Here are a couple of views of the Sonesta Suites across the street…..

 

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A few more views from the Orlando Eye…..

 

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To be continued….

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We are almost at the top. On a clear day they say you can see Port Canaveral to the east, and Tampa to the west…..

 

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The view from the top…..

 

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There is Hogwarts and the Dragon Coaster at Universal’s Island of Adventure…..

 

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There is the Epcot Center at Walt Disney World……

 

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We are almost back down…..

 

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The end of the ride……

 

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We enjoyed our ride on the Orlando Eye, especially at the discounted price. Afterwards, we went over to Dave & Buster’s for dinner and then called it a night. Tomorrow morning we will be heading to Miami, and be one day closer to boarding the Carnival Breeze!!

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Subscribing :-)

 

Subscribed. Looking forward to more!

 

Woo Hoo...thanks for starting the review...now to go back and read:D

 

Thanks for following along!! Glad to have all of you along for the ride!!

 

I am so sorry for the loss of your son!! I lost my 16 year old son on April 15, 2007 in an auto accident. I know your pain!!

 

Thanks for your kind words and sorry for your lost. It is a club that no parent should have to join. :(

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So happy you have begun the review and happy to hear it's going to be a long one! Two weeks from yesterday we sail on the Pride and your review will help pass the time - lol.

Kim

 

Thanks for reading! You will have a great time on the Pride.

 

Looking forward to pics and your opinion of the Breeze. Will be on it on Sept. 26th.:)

 

We enjoyed the Breeze, and I'm sure you will too!

 

Hey Jeff, a start to another stellar review! Can't wait to see what your thoughts of the Breeze are. Thumbs up for the dedication as well.:)

 

Thanks Jimbo! We really enjoyed reading your recent Breeze and Sunshine reviews.

 

I've been waiting for this review to begin. Thank you so much for once again taking the time to post one of your wonderful reviews. And thanks to Patti for her wonderful pictures!

 

We both thank you, and glad to have you along for the ride!

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Hi Jeff

Terrific start, I'm subscribing!

My wife & I recently sailed the Breeze for an outstanding 14-day voyage this past May.

Looking forward to your review! And thank you in advance for the time & effort it takes to put one together.

 

Thanks for your kind words and for following along.

 

Wonderful start! Can't wait to see & read more!

 

Thanks for reading. much, much more to come!

 

Thank you for another great review Jamman54! Looking forward as always to reading the rest, and seeing your and Patti's photos.:)

 

Thanks for coming along for the ride once again!

 

I've been waiting very patiently for this review.:D:D

Nice 3 week vacation to end the summer. Would love to do that someday.

Great start and waiting for the next installment.

 

Welcome back!!!!

 

Thanks for the warm welcome!! We can always count on you to join the party!!

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Woohoo ! Another great Jamman review :D Can't wait to see your views of St Kitts and San Juan....those are 2 of our ports on the Sunshine Journeys cruise in Nov. It was thanks to you that we joined the ranks of renting a cabana at Grand Turk...which turned out to be the best ! Thanks so much for taking your time and to your wife for all the great pictures to do another review :D

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