Jump to content

Review -- 20 family members on the Breeze -- January 2016-- Eastern Caribbean


brookeq
 Share

Recommended Posts

We just got back from our cruise on the Breeze. Our ship left from Miami on January 30th. We sailed to Grand Turk, San Juan, St. Kitts and St. Maarten.

 

We traveled with my husbands family -- his three siblings and their families and his parents. All together there were 20 of us. I have never cruised with such a large group before. We had a great time. Was everything perfect?...no. I will include the good (lots of good) and the bad (not too much) in this review.

 

I will include a little of our pre cruise stop at disney and are post travels also. But mainly it will be all cruise.

 

I have to upload my pictures to a site and hopefully will get this review going.

Edited by brookeq
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Quick intro:

Me --I am Brooke. I am a SAHM and part time soccer coach. Age 38

Mike -- my husband

Hayden -- my 7 year old son

Amelia -- my 4 year old daughter

 

We are from Pittsburgh. This cruise was set up so that all of my husbands family could vacation together. They all live out west and in Texas. We are the only ones in Pittsburgh. It was also a good way to escape the cold for us!

 

We did arrange ahead of time to pull my son out of school. It was no problem.

 

 

Now onto our trip...

 

A week before the cruise my daughter and I headed to Orlando. I have a sister there who has a 6 month old so we went to spend time with them. My husband and son would join us a few days later to go to Disney.

 

Our flights were Southwest. My husband gets points for his work travels so we had some free flights. I also like not paying for bags.

elbows way past it to work on her crossword puzzle.  We kept bumping if i moved the tiniest bit.  She didn

 

The pilot got us to Orlando 20 minutes early...Nice! Vacation has officially started.

 

We mainly just hung out with my sister and her cute little one for a few days. She did take us to a mall that had a Carlos bakery.

IMG_0272_zpsd7q8ik7k.jpg

and an American girl doll store (both of which we don't have here).

IMG_0274_zpsfa6lrsh4.jpg

 

I tried some pastries. Here is a picture I took of two of them. The napolean was good. The chocolate cake thing was dry and disappointing.

IMG_0276_zpshrk6hzj2.jpg

 

 

Up next Disney World...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Disney World

 

My sister works for Disney so we have been lucky to go many times.

 

This time we would just visit the parks for two days.

My husband and my son flew down for this part of the trip.

Also joining us were my mother and father in law, and my husbands sister and her 4 kids. They all have never been.

 

IMG_0299_zpshe5qxap1.jpg

 

We stayed at the All Star Movies resort. We always just pick the cheapest hotel. The weather was warm and nice for the previous two days. But our day for Magic Kingdom it rained all day. Thankfully it wasn't cold. And the rain kept the crowds away. So we got to ride everything we wanted with no long lines.

 

We all brought ponchos from home. They are expensive at Disney!

IMG_0360_zpsgc0pg0u0.jpg

 

My daughter loves meeting princesses so we went to find some.

Today she met Jasmine

IMG_0377_zpsccplptmc.jpg

and Tinkerbell

IMG_0447_zpsa9m6zhay.jpg

 

A lady was in front of us to meet Jasmine. She was around my age. She had presents to give to both Alladin and Jasmine. Then she had a cake for them. Then she had them write a paragraph in her book. It was a little awkward.

 

Overall we had a good day despite the rain. We did have one scary situation.

We were walking to Splash Mountain after riding the haunted mansion. We were close to the turkey stand when I realized my daughter was not with us. The entire day she was always holding a hand of one of her cousins. Usually I keep good track of her because she is free spirit and just doesn't pay attention. I looked around to see if she wondered off. She was no where. It was only a minute but that feeling of panic starts to set in. I retraced our steps back to the haunted mansion. Thankfully I found her at a food stand. She was crying and telling the workers she was lost. My heart hurt so bad to see her so scared. I was proud of her for finding a worker and telling them her name.

 

If you get the magic bands make sure your kids wear them. Amelia's was bothering her and I let her take it off. That has all of her info on and disney could have contacted us if we didn't find her. I have also seen some people put a sticker on their kids shirt with their info on it too. The rest of the trip i made sure to do a head count after each ride. Its hard traveling in large groups sometimes.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We were able to visit Hollywood Studios. There is a lot closed at this park and probably wouldn't have been my first choice. But let our family members choose where to go since they have never been.

 

We got there a bit after opening. The sun was shining today. It was obvious right away that this would not be like our day at Magic Kingdom. The weather was much nicer but the crowds were much larger.

 

IMG_0470_zps7cewfrtt.jpg

 

My sister in laws kids were all about the rides. So we rode the big ones. They all loved rockin rollercoaster and tower of terror. We did some shows since the lines were too long. Beauty and the Beast was cute.

 

Next we headed to the new Star Wars Area. We love Star Wars. So we were excited to see this part. I can't wait for all of it to be done.

 

First we went and got in line to see Chewbacca since the line wasn't too bad. You can also meet Darth Vader but we didn't this time. My son has done the jedi academy many times and fought him.

IMG_0492_zpsj0q42iht.jpg

My daughter was a little scared of Chewie. His line moves quick because there is not much interaction.

 

After we met Chewie we saw a Jawa walking around. I had read that they will trade with you and they like shiny things. We had a huge face dime we brought and a coin from my father in laws work. The Jawa accepted them and gave my kids some build your own robot parts. While this was cool the Jawas do not talk and don't really have a handler right next to them and dont't really take posed pictures. People try and it can get a little hectic. Also kids get upset if they don't take what you trade. My niece didn't have anything to trade so we dug around in our purse. The jawa does not take real money or honey packets. :)

IMG_0510_zpsd0yqaqos.jpg

The lighting was bad so our pictures aren't the greatest here.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

One more picture of the replicas:

IMG_0521_zpsjj91wiv4.jpg

 

Then eventually we rode the ride. It has been updated with scenes from the new movie which was very cool. Everyone loved the ride.

 

When we came out of the ride we got our family star wars picture. We get one every time we come and have run out of options. This was our only one. Its ok but not my favorite.

12670145_10209071831939765_9137766322830426852_n_zpsmmo0lnow.jpg

 

And of course the kids hopped on the speeder for a picture:

IMG_0552_zpszxwuv0u7.jpg

 

We walked past the jedi training academy and darth maul was fighting today. My son was a little mad at himself for not signing up.

 

We did a few more rides and shows. I took amelia to see minnie and monsters inc characters:

IMG_0570_zps5jpapfng.jpg

IMG_0555_zpsihhm7den.jpg

 

We got a cute BB8 drink as our souvenier

IMG_0581_zpstzofp8ab.jpg

 

Then we left before dinner. We still had to pick up the rental van and get ready for the cruise.

Edited by brookeq
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I forgot to mention earlier that we received a bit of disney magic on this trip.

Our first evening we were eating dinner in the cafeteria at our hotel. A family that was getting ready to fly home came up to us and offered us their balloons since they couldn't take them home. The kids were very excited.

 

IMG_0460_zpstt2rza0u.jpg

IMG_0461_zpsiqcwmo5p.jpg

 

We kept them for a few days and then when we left the morning of the cruise we found a boy and a girl checking in with their family and gave them the balloons. it was fun to pass on the magic

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cruise Time!!!!

 

So now its time for the cruise portion of my review.

 

We got up pretty early the day of our cruise. Its a little over a 3 hour drive to Miami from Orlando. We rented a 15 passenger van. It was pretty big. We had to use the last row for all of our luggage. We rented from Disney's company. They picked my husband up at the hotel and he brought the van back to load up.

IMG_0601_zps18jcjdd3.jpg

My husband did a great job driving us there. It is a very easy drive until you hit Miami then it gets a little crazy. When we saw the ship all of my sister in laws kids got so excited. They had no idea the ship would be so big.

 

He dropped us all off at the terminal and took the van back. It was just a few miles away. Turns out they don't offer a shuttle back to the port. I am the planner in the family but left the rental car to my husband. Apparently he didn't check first to see if they had free transportation. So he took a cab back and met up with us at the pier.

 

By that point most of our family who flew in the night before were already on board. We went in and stood in line. It took maybe 10 minutes to get thru the line and they changed the call to open boarding while we were checking in. So we walked right on the ship.

IMG_0603_zps4yra1t3a.jpg

Now I just want to take this time to mention that the first arrival on the ship is a little hectic and not always fun. We had 16 people texting and asking where were. It is super loud everywhere because they are trying to get you pumped up for the cruise. Everyone is pretty much on one level of the ship so its crazy crowded. Kids are hungry and cranky from the ride and want to swim or find their cousins. I mentally prepared myself for this to happen this trip so i was ready. Last cruise i cried!

 

So we managed to get in a line and have some lunch. I had my first of what would be many tacos at the Blue Iguana Cantina. I had fish tacos with lots of the yummy green salsa. I loved them. We also got some chicken ones for the kids.

IMG_0990_zps8i8tp0xw.jpg

 

I didn't take a lot of pictures of the ship or our room this day. Its just to crazy.

 

We eventually found were able to go to our room. We had an interior spa room. Sorry no pictures of it.

The room was small but we knew this beforehand. Last cruise we had a deluxe ocean view room and we really enjoyed the space. This room was probably a little too small for us but we were ok. And I enjoyed the spa amenities.

 

 

We did the muster drill and my daughter fell asleep. Told you they were tired.

 

Then we headed up for sail away.

IMG_0620_zpsh4wwakth.jpg

IMG_0605_zpshk3vupcs.jpg

 

 

Be prepared to see that scowl on my sons face a lot. he doesn't hide how he feels at all!

 

We stopped at our meet n greet and I gave my money for the slot pull. We had a great roll call but I didn't get to interact much since we were with so many people we don't get to see too much.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't have the fun times from the first day. Sorry. I do have them for the rest of the week.

 

We saw a few of the cousins and got some mini golf in.

IMG_0645_zpsy50giec4.jpg

 

The entire family met up and we had dinner in the Blush Dining room. We were given two table right next to each other. So we were able to switch it up and sit with different people each night. One or two nights we even had the kids have a table to themselves. Our waiters were very good. They were very nice and patient with all of the kids. I wrote their names down but can't find them at the moment. Will add their names later if i find it.

 

One waiter made the played games with the kids and made them things with their napkins.

IMG_0649_zps0duqdz06.jpg

 

Everyone enjoyed their dinner. I found all of the menus for our cruise here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/16328867@N06/

The first night I had the strawberry soup and it was delicious as always. I also had the brisket for my main course. Everyone who had it enjoyed it. My son go the steak and it was very good also.

Most of us got the melting cake. Everyone loved it and most had each night. Some got it with peanut butter to dip in.

IMG_1051_zpsjkb8uvsp.jpg

After dinner we headed up to the pool deck to watch the movie. It was minions. Early dinner made it hard to get to the movies on time.

IMG_0651_zpswmyda66r.jpg

 

They give you free popcorn over at the red frog bar. And you can get a blanket with your sail and sign card. The popcorn didn't have much flavor but the kids enjoyed it.

 

After discussing it we all decided to add the chat feature for $5 to our app. It was money well spent. It made it much easier to communicate on the ship since our group was so large and so spread out on different decks.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Day 2 – Day at Sea

 

Our kids are early risers. Usually around 7am. This vacation was no different. I was up a little earlier so I went and used the gym. Afterwards met up with my MIL and FIL and headed to brunch.

I had the huevos rancheros and enjoyed it. My husband got the cereal french toast (with frosted flakes) and he liked it but couldn’t finish it because it was too sweet. Everyone enjoyed all of the sides and the pastries they gave us.

 

(sorry i don't have many pictures of our food. i just don't think to do it when i am eating. And its easy to find pictures of the food online)

 

During breakfast my son got started whining. I ignored him at first becuase he always whines at breakfast because he isn’t a big breakfast eater. Turns out he had a fever and he said his throat hurt. We took him back to the room to rest and gave him some kids motrin.

 

When he was feeling better we took him up to the deck for fresh air. The day was overcast so it wasn’t super warm. But it definitely wasn’t cold. We kept waiting for the sun to come out though.

IMG_0653_zpsenedvzob.jpg

 

We had seats one deck up from the pool. I will say that morning before brunch there were plenty of seats available near the pool. I have never seen that many open on all of my cruises. We saw some of the cousins and one of the girls was sick.

When we got back from the cruise and went to our roll call it turns out about 100 people from our roll call were sick. Not to mention how many others and we saw lots of crew members sick too. Most had bad aches and chills, sore throats, extreme runny noses, and coughs. We also had one kid from our roll call come back with Lice!!!

 

Lucky for us only my son got some kind of illness and he was better after a couple hours and some motrin. Others were not so lucky. Myself, my husband, and daughter did not get sick. A few of our family members did and i will mention that as we go along.

 

My husband and BIL’s competed in dodge ball most mornings. It was a pretty popular activity.

 

IMG_1431_zpsogb8bfew.jpg

 

I took the kids to ride the waterslides.

IMG_0688_zpsnooa4ssm.jpg

Amelia is still too chicken to ride the big ones.

 

IMG_0661_zpsu0teukwb.jpg

 

Hayden liked the yellow twisty slide. The first few days it was not working too well and you could see people getting stuck or slowing down in one part. By the end of the week we were flying thru.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Subscribing!!

 

I’m excited to hear more….I’m, sailing with a group of 17 (6 adults and 11 kids) on 4/3 and I’m sooooo nervous…:eek: I’ve only ever been with my DH and our two boys or a few girlfriends…we will see how it goes…I’m going to live through you for the next couple of weeks :D

 

Please bring on the good advice…oh yea and my mouth is starting to water for some BlueIguana

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Subscribing!!

 

I’m excited to hear more….I’m, sailing with a group of 17 (6 adults and 11 kids) on 4/3 and I’m sooooo nervous…:eek: I’ve only ever been with my DH and our two boys or a few girlfriends…we will see how it goes…I’m going to live through you for the next couple of weeks :D

 

Please bring on the good advice…oh yea and my mouth is starting to water for some BlueIguana

 

I do like traveling with others more that just my little family. That way when I am tired and go to bed with kids my husband can't complain and has someone to go out with. And it gives my kids someone to talk to and hang out with besides us.

 

But it is hard too. I hate waiting around for others to be on time. And it was hard to organize what we were doing on the islands. but once that was determined its not too bad. We didn't force anyone to do anything on the boat. We just messaged what we were doing and if someone wanted to meet us they could. And we ate dinner together most nights so we could always catch up then.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

For lunch I finally got to try a guys burger. They were very good for mass produced burgers. Way better than the ones we had at Disney World. Fries were good too. The line gets long but it moves quick

IMG_1312_zpsqalt00tv.jpg

 

Later we hung around the pool area. We watched the hairy chest competition. We had some good competitors but a little old man entered and he was definitely the crowd favorite. We had so much fun watching. We also did some of the line dances afterwards.

 

The kids enjoyed hanging in the hot tubs in the aft pool today. They weren't very hot but they were warm. The kids never did go in the pools too much. My daughter got splashed and found out it was salt water and she was done.

 

IMG_0690_zpsleumlmqf.jpg

 

Some of the kids did the ropes course

 

IMG_0681_zpsz7qplpyd.jpg

 

My son tried it. he got past the first platform and then chickened out. He does not like heights so I was surprised he tried. The workers were very patient with him and helped him down. I will say the 2nd section of the course is probably the hardest for kids.

IMG_0666_zps6dhu9vvc.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Tonight was the first formal night. Every cruise I want to get a nice photo of our family and every formal night something happens and it never works out. We were dressed up and ready to go and my son banged his head off the bunk bed that comes out of the ceiling. He never really got over it so he was grumpy in most pictures.

IMG_1347_zps1iipjgoj.png

If I did get a good picture of Hayden my little girl was never looking. We have this problem a lot. She will strike a pose but her eyes are never on the camera.

 

I did get some nice shots of just me and my husband. So we bought that one.

Untitled-145_zpsjsohadmo.jpg

 

We got a very cute cousin picture.

Untitled-123_zpsjsmrjq0p.jpg

 

We wanted to get a big family picture and told everyone to meet at 5:30pm. but my MIL and FIL didn't show up and neither did one BIL and his wife??? Sometimes traveling with a large group can be frustrating.

 

The first formal night menu is not my favorite since i don’t like lobster. I got the carbonara pasta and it was good but way too much food. I also had the wedding soup but it was not very good.

 

This was a night that we had the kids have their own table. It worked out well.

IMG_8865_zpsmh8cqwob.jpg

 

The adults enjoyed having their own table.

IMG_8867_zpstfd6vx60.jpg

 

The cousins and some of their parents went to watch the movie after dinner.

I went to check out the spa. With our room we got free access to the heated loungers, three steam rooms, and the thallosotherapy pool. We enjoyed the spa. We didn’t get to go as much as we would have liked but it was definitely worth it. I think it only cost $100 to our entire cruise instead of a regular inside stateroom. We also like being on deck 11. Much closer to all of the activities.

 

I didn't take any pictures of the spa area. It seemed weird to do that when everyone was relaxing.

 

We had the kids in the kids club while we were in the spa. So when we were done we went and picked them up. They enjoyed themselves. They give you a mobile phone to contact you if needed.

 

After we picked them up it was time for bed. We saw our towel animal and headed to bed a little early since we were going to be in Grand Turk at 8 am the next day.

IMG_8881_zpspjapha2i.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great review so far!

Can I ask how many you had in your van and how much luggage? We have a 12 passenger van rented for next month and wondered how many people we could get in it with all the luggage. Thanks!

 

We had 12 people in a 15 passenger van i think. I will double check with my husband. The back row of seats did not go down. So the last row was full of luggage and then whatever would fit in the skinny trunk area.

 

We had 2 large suitcases and so did inlaws. My sister in law had a large bag. Then her kids each had a bag. I also had a small suitcase and another bag too.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We had 12 people in a 15 passenger van i think. I will double check with my husband. The back row of seats did not go down. So the last row was full of luggage and then whatever would fit in the skinny trunk area.

 

We had 2 large suitcases and so did inlaws. My sister in law had a large bag. Then her kids each had a bag. I also had a small suitcase and another bag too.

 

Thank you! I was worried about not being able to get all of our luggage in there.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great review! We are doing the same cruise on the Breeze at the end of March. Also doing several days in Disney after the cruise.

 

I haven't figured out how to get from the car rental drop off to the pier yet, Which car rental outlet did you use?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share

  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...