Feeling the Breeze again - a review

So, I'm stuck in water-logged eastern NC and wishing I was cruising, and I decided to re-live our cruise this past summer through a review. I'd like to promise I will keep it fairly short, if nothing else in hopes of actually finishing it (if you know me.....), buuuuttttttttt I have quite a few pictures and I am not typically a woman of few words when it comes to talking about one of my favorite pastimes :o and I really need a sunny pick-me-up! Here goes.....

Our trip was on the Carnival Breeze, departing on July 18th and heading to stops in St. Maarten, St. Kitts, San Juan, and Grand Turk. We had been to all the ports except St. Kitts. We chose this ship and itinerary for a number of reasons.....we had only been to St. Maarten and San Juan once each and wanted to go back, especially after a really bad experience in San Juan the first time, involving DH leaving our most important bag - the one with passports, cruise tickets, meds, etc. - in the taxi after it dropped us off at the hotel which led to four hours of panic and desperation. I was in charge of the kid and the directions; he was in charge of the bags. He had ONE job!! But I digress.

We also like the slightly longer cruises, so an 8 day one appealed to us. Additionally, we had cruised the Breeze the summer before and LOVED her but felt like we barely got to know her. And then there is Matt. :D Oh, friends, if you have not been lucky enough to cruise with THE. BEST. CRUISE. DIRECTOR evahhhh (a tall, handsome, muscular, easy-going, happy, funny bundle of amazing-ness....and those eyes....Wait, honey, are you looking over my shoulder? Love you! Mean it! Again, I digress), you need to start looking at booking the Vista next year. :p But, don't worry. You will get to see a little of Matt in the posts to follow.....

Our trip began the day before embarkation, when the kids and I drove from our Florida vacation home to pick up DH from the airport in Ft. Lauderdale. We find the Ft. Lauderdale airport to be easy to navigate for picking up arrivals, and we were on our way to the Hampton Inn Miami Airport South / Blue Lagoon. We had stayed at this same hotel last year, chosen because they have a park and cruise deal that is reasonable enough. Plus the hotel is clean and comfortable, and there are several fast food restaurants, drug stores, and a Publix within walking distance (for an easy dinner and last minute supplies). We settled in pretty early and had a great night's sleep in preparation for the big day.

The next morning, after a "free" breakfast at the hotel (where we were all too excited to eat much), we requested a taxi van to the port. The park and cruise package includes shuttle to the port for two guests, and additional guests are $10 each. The shuttle back after the cruise is not included but can easily be arranged upon check-in. We always choose to take a taxi, though, because the earliest shuttle is at 11 and it is a little crowded and chaotic for our kiddoes. Our taxi arrived around 10:30, and we were on our way to the port. Here we go....

Here's our little cruising family. There is DH (mid-40s, retail manager who works too much), Me (very slightly under mid-40s, high school teacher), DH (14, has high functioning autism and anxiety. These things come into play quite a bit on all our trips), and DD (8, a ball of energy).

Husbands, whatcha gonna do? Hey, you're funny as hell. Looking forward to the rest of your review.

We got to the port before 11 and got through security really quickly. We ordered two 12 packs of water for the room in advance, and I really actually enjoyed not having to haul all that water on board this time. It was much easier, especially with the 12 pack of diet mountain dew, a 12 pack of orange soda (all in cans, of course), a 150 ml carton of wine, a bookbag holding all the important papers and last minute stuff I threw in, a small soft-sided cooler with meds, a laptop in a case, two tablets, a baby doll and her gear, a large teddy bear made from one of my dad's t-shirts, a camera bag with multiple cameras and the GoPro, for which I later learned I left the charger at home in NC, rendering it completely useless for the trip duration :(, the Kodak underwater camera (yay!), and more stuff....omg did we forget the kitchen sink????

We went to the lounge for platinum cruisers and got our cards and then were directed to wait in another area, as that lounge was already too full. We waited alongside a wedding party (awww.....) for quite a while.

Forgot to mention I had spent a few days before the cruise to make DD some special t-shirts to get Matt's atten.....I mean to show Matt some appreciation. :D

Unfortunately, this was a VERY chaotic embarkation. We were not given any instructions; it just seemed like suddenly everyone in the lounge started heading for the ship. Even some Carnival employees were confused, because one stopped us and asked if we were told to go onboard yet, but then before anyone even answered said something about "oh, there's *couldn't hear name or position*. If he is with you, you are fine." Meanwhile, it was a free-for-all. No cards were checked. No additional questions were asked. No coming aboard pictures were taken. We all just moved en masse to the ship. I did not feel the platinum love :p But, it didn't take long for me to get over it, as we went straight to our room to drop off our stuff and then quickly headed up to lido to get lunch.

We had a cove balcony room, cabin number 2254. It is near the front, port side, under the excursion desk, and close to the elevators. We found it to be a quiet and comfortable cabin. It was clean, except for the persistent old urine smell in the bathroom (yuck).

Husbands, whatcha gonna do? Hey, you're funny as hell. Looking forward to the rest of your review.

Thanks :D Glad you are here!

After dropping off our stuff, we went up to Lido to have lunch. The kids had Guy's burgers (yum!), DH and I had smoked salmon on bagels from the deli, along with salads made from the buffet. Our first bar purchase was at 12:33 :D....the drink specials. The bar staff on Lido was very friendly and only a little pushy. Everything was good.

After lunch, we went back to the cabin to unpack the few bags that had arrived (mine and DD's.....ladies first :p) and then I went to guest services to clarify how the safety drill would happen. In the past, we have requested an alternate safety drill in advance for our DS. Thanks to his autism, anxiety, and sensory integration disorder (forgot to mention that one earlier!), we barely survived this one "old-school" type muster drill that we took him to years ago.....you know, where everyone dons their life vests and crams together on one of the outdoor decks staring at the life boats listening to information in what feels like 7 languages and praying you'll not ever have to be crammed into one of them with the sweaty people (it's JULY!) who are already well on their way to complete inebriation and standing all up in anything that resembles personal space as they tell you that each boat holds something like 500 people (you have GOT to be kidding me!)....no offense, friends. Last year, though, we realized that things have changed. The safety drill on the Breeze requires everyone to gather in an assigned location (places like the dining rooms and the lounges) without life vests to sit through a fairly quick demo of life vest donnage and stern warnings about the dangers of fire. It is important stuff and very tolerable in contrast to the days of old.

After a little rest and the safety drill, we set sail and the party began!

Matt leads a great sailaway party with lots of music, dancing, confetti, and, well, fun as the Breeze says "goodbye" to Miami!

here's a few obligatory "heading out" pics...

can't remember which ship was in port with us....anybody?

We did get to see some guy trying out water jets...

For those of you who want to know how much the lifeboats interfere with your view in cove balconies....

There will be more opportunities to see if the cove balcony is for you or not :)

I'm optimistic for your review, thanks for taking the time to write it!

We were treated to a beautiful sunset from our balcony.

We had late sitting for dinner (8:15), and we were assigned a table for four in the upper level of the Blush dining room at the very back of the ship near windows :). We had two lovely ladies serving our table, both of whom were looking forward to a break in only 2 weeks. One planned to return to Carnival afterwards her vacation; the other did not, as she had a 4 year old at home that she missed too much! Both were very good to us every evening. In fact, our head waiter had no problem giving not-so-gentle encouragement to our bartender when he took "too long" getting DH's nightly Fosters beer :D

Now, I had planned to take lots of pictures of food on this cruise, and I took this one picture of the cured salmon....

and was reminded that my camera does NOT like to take pictures in the dining rooms for some reason and that, really, neither do I. So that was the only food picture I took, at least in the regular dining room. Now the Chef's Table (coming up) was a different story :D

I did force DH to take this one picture of me and DD, and you can see the new American Table with NO tablecloth, which seems to be a big deal to some people, so I will share it...

along with my opinion. This was my 13th cruise, 1st one with no tablecloths. It was fine. In fact, I didn't mind it at all, and I am a traditionalist when it comes to some things. We eat as a family in the dining room every night, still pack cocktail dresses for elegant night, appreciate the dancing waiters and meeting the maitre' d (although we didn't get to on this cruise), and so on.....but it was fine. I even will go so far as to say I enjoyed some of the new table settings (never did love the lavender plates with fancy dressed ladies) and the quick availability of water and bread.

I'm optimistic for your review, thanks for taking the time to write it!

Thank you! I hope I don't let you down! :)

Dinner was yummy, hot, and served quickly enough. Afterwards, we headed back to the room to find the first night's towel animal was an elephant (my favorite!) and that all bags were finally delivered (again, not feeling the platinum love)

Our room steward was pretty awesome all week. He knew our names early on, and even happily switched to calling DD by her preferred nickname. About two years ago she announced that she was changing her name to "Luna" and would only be called that. We compromised that she could tell "strangers" that her name is "Luna" and we wouldn't correct her, but her family will continue to call her by her given name. Despite being completely aware (or so we thought) of her strong willed nature that she got honestly :o, we had no idea she would stick to it this long. :cool:

The kids and I decided to go to the Welcome Aboard Show to see, you guessed it, Matt. Here he is folks......along with the luckiest man alive. I don't remember that guy's name, but I tried REALLY hard - and failed - to be chosen to be in his very shoes at that moment :p

I don't even think that guy knew how lucky he was. He was too busy laughing and feeling awkward to play along with Matt's antics. But, it was a fun show that got us in the cruise mood!

After the show, we went to bed pretty quickly (all the sooner to enjoy Carnival's very comfy beds.....and they didn't disappoint!).

The first two days of this itinerary are "at sea" days, which I know some people don't like, but we really do. When we are on vacation, the kids and I like to be a little active onboard, and DH likes to do a LOT of nothing. His vacation time is definitely time to catch up on relaxing! So, cruises work out well for us, since we can all pick and choose how much (or how little) we want to do. So, on the first morning, I got up and went to grab some breakfast and hot water for my green tea. Then the kids and I went to Matt's morning show....great way to start the day :D

DD then went to Camp Carnival, because they were doing a few things she thought she would enjoy (namely some games and then her favorite....the magic show). I went to the cooking demo in the steakhouse, which I've done several times and always enjoy. You have to get there early, or you may get left out, like the 25 or so people that arrived closer to the starting time instead of 30 minutes early. Matt's "sidekick" Orlando, who is also pretty awesome, hosted the cooking demo. He was fun.

They made the same thing they have made for a few years now....mushroom soup cappuccino, spinach and mushroom salad with bleu cheese dressing, delicious creamy cheesy mac and cheese with chicken and potatoes, and tiramisu mousse. It was yummy as usual, and I learn something new every time I go. UNLIKE the cooking demonstration in the past, however, there was no wine pairing to follow it :(. This made me very sad, because I really enjoyed attending those in the past. I absolutely love wine and enjoyed dreaming about one day becoming a sommelier on a cruise ship....what an amazing job that would be! For some reason (my guess is lack of interest from the other guests), they did not offer it on this cruise.

After the food demo, I went back to the cabin to find our "chocolate delight" had been delivered to our room (and already tasted by someone in the cabin....but no one would own up to it! :p)

I enjoyed a cool boat drink (a blue moon martini) on my balcony for a bit....

One thing about cove balconies...they are quiet and peaceful. And the view of the water cannot be beat.

I got DD from Camp Carnival, and the kids and I headed out to explore the ship for a while. We headed straight for the "secret deck" near on the front of the ship.

It was very windy!

We tried to spot the captain!

We also checked out the pool and water park, but we didn't join in any of that fun.....for now

The kids did play a round of putt-putt. I must admit, I was surprised at how run-down and worn the putt-putt course on the Breeze has already become. There were a lot of holes in the "turf" and several other blemishes throughout the course. But, the kids did not seem to mind, so it is all good!

We skipped out on the scheduled onboard fun activities (and there were LOTS of them!!), because we have done most of them before and preferred to do our own thing that day. Although, I will admit, I do still enjoy catching some of them when everything aligns just so.

The end of this first at sea day brought our first elegant night. We always skip the photographers, because of the mess that trying to find one's pictures creates. I really think Carnival would be very wise to emulate Disney's photo plan, or come up with something like it. It cannot possibly be that difficult to link photos to the sail and sign card (like everything else) and pull them up digitally to view and purchase. Seems like it would save money on printing unwanted photos as well. I have bought a few photos in the past, and I know there are some good port ones or dining room ones that I may enjoy having, but the thought of looking through thousands of photos on a ship as large as the Breeze to try to find our few is way too daunting during vacation!

Anyway! Before dinner, there was the captain's cocktail party at the atrium bar. I'm sure the captain was there, but we didn't see him. We did, however, find.......

:D

After our dinner of lobster tails and other yummy stuff, we returned to find a cute towel doggy...

After dinner, DS and I went to one of the shows, 88 keys rock and roll piano show. Although I don't generally enjoy those shows, when your 14 year old son with autism asks you to go with him to a show.....well, you go. And I enjoyed it. In fact, I would say it was one of the better ones I have seen in a while. Definitely worth seeing.

We returned to the room and I spent a few minutes on the balcony enjoying the night air and the ocean's good night kiss.....

When we woke the next morning, the water was pretty rough. So, I got a good water ballet show...

both from the bow

and the waves right under our balcony

I went to the Lido deck to get breakfast (from the buffet for me and DD, a made-to-order omelette for DH), and then the kids were ready to try out the water slides and water park.

DD was very nervous about the slides, but DS convinced her to give it a try. There she is! DS was so proud of himself for convincing her, and he even went first and waited for her at the bottom "to catch her"....proud mama moment!

We had noticed last year that the orange one (the one with the bowl in the bottom that you're supposed to go round and round in), unfortunately, usually had a pretty rough ending, as most people "fell" out of the bowl entrance instead of smoothly gliding around its outer edges as intended. After watching a few victims....I mean sliders for a while, we determined that the flaw was not corrected, so the kids avoided that slide. They really enjoyed the yellow one, though.

The slide line looked long but only took about 10 minutes or so to get through...

After a while, DD went back to Camp Carnival for a while, and I decided to go to the gym. At home, I had gotten in the habit of walking about 5.5 miles several days a week, so I figured I would try out the treadmills at sea. I did not take my camera (sorry, no gym pics!), but I did explore the gym a little. There were several treadmills and other machines (plenty!), but they were a little complicated to use, especially since the touch screens were not very responsive. There were also plenty of free weights and some areas for stretching. Inside the ladies' locker/restroom, I found the sauna. I assume there was the same in the males' locker/restrooms. The sauna on the Breeze did not have windows like some of the ones on other ships, so that was a little disappointing. There are two roomy showers in the ladies' locker room and lots of fresh towels available. I got in my 5.5 miles, and that was the last time I used the gym facilities. Go me.

On the way to Camp Carnival.....look who we found! :D

DD was able to let him know that she was going to the Hasbro game show and that she wanted to get on stage!! Matt told her to be sure to make lots of noise. Seriously? :eek:

After my gym time, I went back to the cabin and found that DD had called for DH to pick her up. She got pretty bored at Camp Carnival, and that was the end of that for the week :rolleyes:. I think she may be outgrowing the camp.

We watched the waves from our balcony for a while...

There's those life boats again....

The Hasbro game show was at 3:15, and we got there early enough to end up near the front of the theatre (but on the side). You have to get there pretty early (like 20-30 minutes before, at least) in order to be close to the front. Matt started the show, and my "Luna" was the first one picked! :rolleyes: She made LOTS of noise, just like he said. And she jumped up an down waving her arms and yelling to answer the first question (name a restaurant that starts with the letter D). That got her on stage first.

She got to play her favorite game, Connect four with basketballs,

but her team lost, unfortunately. So, her Hasbro fame was short lived. :cool:

But, she had a great time, so it was all good. She also loved her consolation prize, a keychain Monopoly game. Look at that happy smile!

Really enjoying your review so far, thanks for posting!

There was Bingo after the Hasbro show (of course!), and DD and I decided to go back to the water park for a while. While we were there, we noticed that crew members were closing off decks at the front of the ship. We didn't think anything of it at first, but then we started hearing something about a sick passenger being picked up by the Coast Guard. And then around 6 PM, the captain came over the intercom and confirmed it. He announced that there was a sick passenger who would be picked up by the Coast Guard and flown to San Juan. He asked guests to stay away from the closed decks during the procedure. Most people seemed to follow his directions. DS and DH joined DD and me, and we stayed well away from the closed off decks to watch real American heroes in action!

Around 6:40, the helicopter arrived...

They were there for quite a while. They sent down a guardsman and then the medical basket

They lifted a ship nurse and then the patient

and then pulled up the original guardsman

The whole process took less than 30 minutes, although it seemed very long.

Later in the week, Matt announced that the patient was an elderly passenger who experienced heart trouble but was in stable condition (thankfully!) after treatment in San Juan and was expected to recover.

Really enjoying your review so far, thanks for posting!

Thank you for reading it and commenting! :)

After all that excitement, we went to dinner (no clue what we ate, but we didn't have a bad meal the whole trip! :D) and then the kids went back to the room with DH to find a froggy

I decided to go to the adult comedy show. The comedian that night was Percy Crews, and he was just okay. Although I did not regret going, I was not surprised to see that those standing in the back had significantly cleared out by the time it was over. I spent a few minutes people watching in the Liquid Night Club and then headed to bed, eager for the next day's excursion in St. Maarten!!

Good morning, St. Maarten....

Before 8 AM, we were treated to a view of St. Maarten, while the fog was still burning off.

and we were "greeted" by a bunch of bird escorts

St. Maarten is such a pretty island to me

Great start to your review, and you are right, Matt is awesome!!!

The pilot joined us and guided us into port

We docked beside a Disney ship that had arrived before us

The excursion in St. Maarten is the only one I booked ahead of time, and the only Carnival excursion I booked. With DS's autism and anxiety, I usually try to plan our excursions pretty carefully, as we are limited in what we can do, and his level of comfort dictates how our day will go. I decided to book the "Scoot Coupe" excursion, which was a little pricey and a little adventurous for DS. BUT, I figured that I could convince him to feel assured by the fact that it was a Carnival-endorsed excursion. He was not so sure as we got into an air-conditioned van to go to the lot that held the scoot coupes.

DD, on the other hand, was excited as usual (although she did admit to being a tiny bit nervous, since she did not really know what to expect). The van dropped us off in what looked like the parking lot of a warehouse, and we jumped into our Scoot Coupes and got ready to go....

Great start to your review, and you are right, Matt is awesome!!!

Thank you! And, I agree (obviously :D). After all these cruises, I have never once cared a bit about the cruise director, until last year when I met Matt. Changed my mind forever. Now, I'm not sure how next summer's cruise is going to compare, since I can't afford to get to Europe to cruise the Vista!

The Scoot Coupes were sooooo much fun! After we were given directions about how to use the coupe and how to prepare for the big hills we would encounter (floor it!), we drove along the countryside

and near the shore....

As you can see, we were in a line and driving along the regular roads. We were escorted by a tour guide, some guys on four wheelers (daredevils!!!) who helped if anything went wrong, stopped traffic in busy traffic areas (like roundabouts and other intersections), and gave a push when the coupes stalled on big hills (some did....their drivers didn't floor it! :D). My coupe kept cutting off at random times for no reason, but the guides were patient and helpful, and it all turned out just fine.

We went to a beach area where the Atlantic Ocean meets the Caribbean....beautiful!

There we stopped for a little while and spent some time learning a little about sea creatures.