"Im Breezy" an 8day Southern Caribbean Carnival Breeze trip report w/lots of pics

Alarm didn't even have to go off before I was up checking the wind on the TV.. not having any clue what was safe docking or not LOL.

Then seeing were so close... yet would we be too far???

Sun was barely peaking out then my coffee came around 7am. I grabbed the Rumchatta and my fun times and went to the balcony.

Made a mental note of a few things that sounded like fun to do... checked our cruise thread and found tons of people excited for QUEST. Wehad been planning for weeks.. heck months.

I looked up from my phone to notice we were close to port... would it really happen?

By the way this is the prettiest port, isnt it LOL.

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I went back in and got ready, then got the troops up. We grabbed some burritos from the Blue Iquana, then came back to the room to eat. Looked down to see we had the port workers already entertaining us with a dance.

Looked up and saw our friends from our cruise thread... Hi Guys Good Morning!! Can you tell we all were excited to see LAND!!!

Some of us were more excited than others...

Our cruise thread had planned months before as a group to do the Seavis Saona Beach Special. It was a speedboat tour to a smaller island, that included lunch and drinks!! You could snorkle there, then we would boat race to a sandbar to check out star fish. One guy in our group arranged a group discount for 10% off.

Down we went to the atrium and caught up with a few of our new friends. Then we made our way down to the gangplank.. OMG what a cluster to get down the stairs.

Eventually we made our way to deck 1, did a drive by picture of the Medical facility. Telling the boys we NEVER want to visit here.. GOT IT!

Once we were off the gangplank the cheesy pics were taken.

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We bought both of these, hubby liked the one of him and the boys even though it wasnt centered nor were they looking at the camera.. and only 1 out of 3 of them were smiling LOL.

My hubby is a pretty serious guy when he needs to be, due to the job he has to do. BUT when he can let his "hair down" he is quite the crack up. Had everyone on our tour laughing and to think he hasnt even started drinking yet!

You walk off the ship thru a shopping area then they have a few "kiosk" type food and drinks towards the parking lot. We all were dying seeing a Nathan's Hot Dog stand. Of course the boys were like were hungry already LOL Seriously you just ate... teenagers.

No we didnt stop for hot dogs. Thank goodness for E speaking spanish he was able to find a tax that was associated with the Seavis tour. Not that you couldnt find someone that spoke enough english to get you to the right place, but it was really busy in that parking lot. Then got really confusing with people yelling back and forth trying to put more people in a cab here or there.

Point taken our car was PACKED. I believe there was 13 or 14 of us in one van. You know TOTALLY safe lol. It was about a 30-40, min ride to the Seavis water area. Once there we checked in and paid for everyone. Then they told us to head to the boats. Make sure you keep an eye on kids, and your group its semi rushed and unorganized. They dont keep you all together just one by one after you pay they sort of point you towards the boats.

(copied off the web, see no time for pictures as it was rush rush, and needed to keep your eye on kids, hubby and our fellow cruisers that were in our group)

Of course hubby being the Marine that he is, when they tell him to go somewhere he goes.. and left us in the dust LOL. Also he didnt want to miss a moment of snorkle time. He's my lil fish. Unfortunately he had the backpack and wallet. So when J yelled at me to turn around and I saw him covered in iguana's I didnt have any money to tip the guy when I snapped a pic. E was already yards away, then by the time I got to him they were loading us into the boat. I felt bad to not give some money towards his.. umm trade, no umm job, umm lively hood?

Next Up: Lunch on an Island

Hey Andrea! Great review! You and your hubby make such a cute couple. I love the idea of the photo challenge and bucket list. What a bummer that you missed Grand Turk. I hope you make it there one day as it's a beautiful island and the jerk chicken at Jack's Shack is the absolute best I've ever had anywhere. The videos of the 1 song in the club are too funny! I've had Macio on a cruise before and he's hilarious. I hope you come back with more review soon! :D

 

Aww thanks hun, ya he's a good guy. Heck he has to put up with me, and I know Im no angel LOL.

 

Hoping we can book the Eastern Itinerary Cruise on the Breeze for next Spring break, if so we will get a 2nd chance to get on Grand Turk. Yet I would rather do the Sunshine, just to get another look at a new ship. But the Breeze is cheaper, and I can think of where that extra money can go towards.. say my bar tab lol.

 

 

Yes I'm reading, already working on a Word Press site. :)

You will have to give me tips then, not sure how to work that, do they have a Word Press for dummies.. I need that LOL

 

LOL I'm around reading everyone else's reviews until it's time to write my next one. I think you and I would have fun if we ended up on a ship together one day. :p

Heck yes, maybe once I get these boys out of high school I can plan a cruise with all my favorite bloggers :) Then we can do a group trip report LOL

Thanks for doing a review! I'm sailing on the Breeze/doing this itinerary in September and I cant wait.

Yeah so exciting, what itinerary are you doing?

 

Really looking forward to the FunTimes. Any chance you can post them in higher resolution? I think you said you would post them at the end of the review. Perhaps a PDF version? But thanks for whatever format you can provide. It's been hard to come by recent Breeze Southern Fun Times.

 

Looking forward to reading the rest of your review!

Thanks to the long weekend, I will have the rest of La Romana up soon, and since rain is expected here all weekend. Maybe I can knock out Curacao also

Also for those that have asked, I put the Fun Times on google drive. Hopefully they are better viewable for you. *** CLICK HERE for FUN TIMES ***

Once we all got up close and personal with each other off we went. It was tight quarters but nothing really uncomfortable. Well the seats were hard but it was a quick 20-25 min ride to island. Plus the water was sooo pretty, sun was shinning and the mist from the ocean felt great. Our boat had people of all ages, kids adults, seniors, even a pregnant gal. So its not too rough of a ride.

The trip over was really quiet, I dont think anyone was really awake yet, or maybe they all were just in awe of the surroundings?

In June of 2014 we took a trip to Punta Cana to an all inclusive resort. It was there that we had our 1st glimpse of the gorgeous waters of the Dominican Republic. Seems La Romana was beautiful also!

Moments later, we saw land. Glorious land. The island was broken up between other excursions. Each having their own beach area, chairs, bathrooms, food and drink.

There were plenty of chairs for our group, near or away from the shade of palm trees.

Granted you can explore the island if you like but you are only give a couple hours before lunch. Then you leave, so make the most of your time. I pulled out the selfie stick for this one.

**CONTINUED ON NEXT POST**

Picture perfect right.

Hubby and the youngest son went snorkeling right away. The water was pretty calm so off they went with a few others.

The swam all the way out to the broken down dock. Which they found to be full of fish.

Someone brought actual fish food and was throwing it in the water, which attracted even more fish. My guys were loving it.

My very own Nemo and his dad LOL

Im not big on fish or animals so I dont like to snorkel, plus I can NEVER keep water out of the snorkel. So I just relaxed on the beach in the crystal clear water!

**CONTINUED ON NEXT POST**

I didnt take a picture (for obvious reasons) but they offered massages right on the beach... only thing was they were not too segregated from the group. So you heard kids yelling, people walking back and forth from the bar/food area. I doubt you had a real relaxing time, but we heard it was very cheap. Something like $15 for 30mins. Not bad if your ok with that.

As we were catching rays a coconut seller came by selling them for I believe $3, I figured why not try it....

So I got one for the boys and I to try... Note to self I dont like coconut juice. The Skipper and Maryann make it look so delish, on Gilligan's Island . I ended up cracking it open to get the fresh meat which was good.

I made the boys all take a walk on the pier near us while some girls were on it also. Figured we could get a few pics together for our Xmas cards this year!

They had a bar made out of old boat where drinks were included. Sodas and water for the kids, Rum Punch for the adults (well anyone could have either really, they dont card LOL) At lunch they brought out the local beer for everyone to have if you would like.

We have a bottle of this rum from our All Inclusive trip last year.. its not a great rum lol. But it works in a punch. They are small cups though, so I would just ask for 2drinks at a time, then chug one at the bar and have them refill it. I tipped at the beginning and the "boatenders" became my besties!!

A while later they stated lunch was served. It was a HUGE spread. Chicken, potatoes, veggies, bread, beans, rice, plantains and pasta. My boys who are human garbage disposables filled up, and they had plenty for 2nds for our very large group. It was really good, and helped fill our bellies after snorkeling and drinking LOL.

NEXT UP: Go speed racer Go!

Oh my gosh I am really loving this review. I have been wanting to go on the Breeze forever now and I just found out they offered an 8 day cruise (I thought they only had 6 day cruises on the Breeze). This is really making me want to book the Breeze now.

Love your writing style and you have a beautiful family...even when E doesn't smile. :D It looks like you are having a blast and sorry you didn't make it to GT. We were just there for the first time last month and loved it.

I can't wait for the rest of the review. You have me hooked. :)

Picture perfect right.

Right, indeed!

I'm thinking I should have gone here instead! Next time!

The One Where No One's Ready! :D LOVE Friends!

Oh my gosh I am really loving this review. I have been wanting to go on the Breeze forever now and I just found out they offered an 8 day cruise (I thought they only had 6 day cruises on the Breeze). This is really making me want to book the Breeze now.

 

Love your writing style and you have a beautiful family...even when E doesn't smile. :D It looks like you are having a blast and sorry you didn't make it to GT. We were just there for the first time last month and loved it.

 

I can't wait for the rest of the review. You have me hooked. :)

Its really had to look at any other cruise that aren't 8days now. Something about just an extra day vs a regular 7day cruise seems nice.

Thanks for the kudos... ya E's not a big smiler. The Marine Corps took that away from him years ago. Its a rear occasion when I do catch him smiling.

Gonna go check out your post now, I see you were on NCL. I have been looking at that line also. Along with your time in St Maartin, hoping to get on a cruise soon with that as a port.

and Sean, it looked like you had a good time in the DR. Your pics from that day were amazing!!!

Forgot I had a video of my little fish. You can see how the water was, not too smooth sailing a lil chop but not bad at all. Perfect for kids and those not too experienced at snorkeling.

About an hour after lunch the boats came back to pick us up. We all loaded back in and off we went to the mangroves.

It looks so pretty and breath taking... really the pictures do not do it justice.

After a tour of the groves we took off to "Piscina Natural". which is a sandbar. Where there are TONS of huge starfish. J used the "emergency exit" to get off the boat LOL.

They gave us a lesson on how to handle the star fish, basically you should never take them out of the water. But if you do, no longer then 3 seconds. If so without that water hitting a hole they have, they die. Good to know.

Didnt notice that my camera had a drop of water on it so this is the best picture I have of all of us. I took pictures of our cruise group's families that were on our boat and some have a water drop right in the middle.

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Like this, here's our captain and tour guide. Darn water! They pass out coke, juice and rum along with rum cake. The cake wasnt great but the rum hit the spot LOL.

Everyone is on the sand bar from our tour, but there is plenty of space for everyone to spread out. We never felt crowded at all.. Except on the boat, but that was a given.

A good picture of our tour guide. I believe he said he was from Italy, poor guy from one nice spot to the next! We got back on the boat and our guide let us know we would be making our way back to the mainland.

In a race for the finish!

I would take this shack right here, Im ok with calling it my home! We were moving fast sorry for the blurriness.

The yelling and chanting began in our boat, "GO GO GO GO !" Unfortunately, since Im so competitive and was yelling also, I didnt catch it on camera.

**CONTINUED ON NEXT POST**

We didnt win, but we didnt lose. When we made it back to the mainland we noticed all the resorts that were around. I didnt remember seeing them on the way out. But seeing how choppy La Romana was compaired to Punta Cana, Im glad we ended up doing a week in Punta Cana it was much calmer then the other side of the island.

Oh that, excuse my little yacht. I didnt want to make everyone jelly. So I just slummed it with everyone else in the speed boat LOL. (a girl can dream!)

Hubby said ours would be more like this... and at this point I would take it!

Once we were off the boat, I wanted to do some shopping as I knew we could get some better deals in the little huts, rather then the big shopping area we previously walked thru. But there was no time for that. The tour works hard to keep you on time as they know we all were booked on which ships to get us back asap.

Oh well. It was a fun ride back, the kids with us were all tired and took a quick nap. Everyone else was a chatty kathy, I think thanks to the rum punch.

Once we got back to the port, we stopped for a Mojito at the stand to share. Its funny I walk up and he starts speaking spanish to me... I shake my head and hubby in spanish says basically, shes a hispanic from Spain but cant speak a lick of spanish... thanks babe. All I understood after that was GRINGRO .. hey LOL. Anyhow the guy then says in english what kind of Mojito, so I look at his board of about 9drinks and name one.. Oh no all gone.

This one, nope gone

Ok how about this? NADA

E picked one, guy shook his head no.

To which I say AY OTRA VEZ, QUE PASA (Ay, again, whats up?) (the only spanish I know, besides asking where the bathroom is, whats to eat and how to order BEERS!... really thats all you need to know in any language I feel!)

Anyhow after I say my poquito of espanol, he said I'll make you my special... hmm ok. Once I had a sip it was special alright, Basically tasted like lemonade, but had a PUNCH!

As we made our way into the port shopping center, they had rum tasting. Shot, Shot, Shots everybody! They were both strong in my opinion. I ended up getting a Presidente beer as E had taken over my Mojito!

Inside we grabbed our usual souviners, Tshirt for E, Coffee mug for me, postcards, and for the life of me I cant remember what the boys got. ! Did I mention how good the mojito, rum and beer were? lol

Once we were done shopping, we went to get back on the ship. But not before a quick family photo in front of the icon of where we were.

**CONTINUED ON NEXT POST**

Once on the boat we hit up Blue Iguana for a couple tacos, as the boys were hitting the showers 1st to get ready to meet up with their friends soon.

E and I grabbed a few drinks too, and relaxed on the balcony waiting for RUNNERS. This is really why I get a balcony. Im sorry I have so much fun people watching and then cheering them on.

Somehow my glasses fell and out popped a lens.. NOOO good thing I bring multiple pairs! (Sean we have so much in common lol) I always break a pair every vacation, so I have learned to bring multiple spears. Hubby was actually able to pop it back in so not all was lost.

After cheering on the runners, E and I got ready to head out for the night. Boys had already taken off, again no dinner with us again. We watched the sunset and had a beverage from our rum runners while enjoying the peace and quiet with a few others out on their balcony's and from the promenade deck.

We had time before dinner so we looked in the fun times and saw they had trivia going on at the Pub. Sat at the bar a bit early and had a few beverages. Red Frog for me, Bud light for the hubby.

While we were chatting it up with the bartender they got the tv's going and started taking pics of everyone around the room. We ended up being celebrities and were the only ones on the TV for a long while as the camera broke after that LOL. I'll leave the jokes to everyone else.

**CONTINUED ON NEXT POST**

I was trying to take a selfie and the bartender took one for us. I tried to get him to take a selfie with us but he wasn't for it LOL.

After looking at the menu I wanted to try the coconut shrimp which were delish... unlike the fresh coconut I had on the island LOL. Appitizers are $3.33 I believe here which isnt bad at all.

We moved over to a high top table that had a washer game, where you try and get a washer thats on a string onto a hook. After playing that for a while and getting frustrated, they finally started trivia. It was a bit of everything, sports, music, history, geography. Which I suck at it all. So I told hubby GOOD LUCK lol. In the end we got like 6 or 7 out of 10.. not bad. But our friends from our cruise got all of them. They rocked. E had mentioned an answer to them so when they won and got a free tube of beer, they shared with us. How awesome were they!

We had a great time chatting and really getting to know eachother. Talking about kids, excursions etc. It was so nice to have such great people on our cruise thread to feel like you had a friend no matter where you went.

Before... ............................... ... After

Eventually we parted ways as we both had to head to dinner. Or so I thought. Im looking through all my pictures on multiple cameras... Nice canon, point and shoot, waterproof, and both our phones and I dont see that we ever went to the dining room. Just asked E and he says I think we just grabbed a burger or something from the buffet. Then we walked the ship... hmm I really need to take better notes on my vacation lol.

I do know what we did at 11pm.. Quest time. Our group had been planning this for ever. So we staked out an area in the comedy club and the fun really began. We had a huge group of about 30, and by the end of the night most of us were missing something that we came in with... that is all that I will say. Cuz if you have ever played you know you take an oath not to share any details of what goes on in the Quest game... I will post a pic of the race to get our number up front to Matty.... oh what great laughs we had. Out of like 12 teams or so we came in 2nd or 3rd. Not bad. Had we been closer to the front we probably would have had 1st. Its a long run up lol.

Being as it was after midnight, we called it a night. Upon walking back to our room though I noticed the Liquid Nightclub was empty. Not sure if it pickes up later, I would hope so, if not thats such a waste of a space.

Waited up for the boys to come in while I posted on our cruise thread and thru the Hub App. Wanted to check where we were meeting for the excursion for Curacao tmrw. Set out the room service tag for my manatory coffee wake up. Then after sending a few pics online to those back home, I drifted off to dream land.

Next Up: Late Port stop means sleeping in... for SOME of US!

I am really loving your review! We will be on this cruise in January! Thanks for spending the time to do this! :)

Awesome review!!! and an even awesomer family you have!!! Thank you for posting this review....makes me wish I was on a ship right now!

Thanks again for posting your review. I am going on this cruise in January! We have the same excursion booked in La Romana. Is the boat ride to the beach and place to see the starfish rough or was the water pretty calm?

I was trying to take a selfie and the bartender took one for us. I tried to get him to take a selfie with us but he wasn't for it LOL.

 

After looking at the menu I wanted to try the coconut shrimp which were delish... unlike the fresh coconut I had on the island LOL. Appitizers are $3.33 I believe here which isnt bad at all.

 

We moved over to a high top table that had a washer game, where you try and get a washer thats on a string onto a hook. After playing that for a while and getting frustrated, they finally started trivia. It was a bit of everything, sports, music, history, geography. Which I suck at it all. So I told hubby GOOD LUCK lol. In the end we got like 6 or 7 out of 10.. not bad. But our friends from our cruise got all of them. They rocked. E had mentioned an answer to them so when they won and got a free tube of beer, they shared with us. How awesome were they!

 

We had a great time chatting and really getting to know eachother. Talking about kids, excursions etc. It was so nice to have such great people on our cruise thread to feel like you had a friend no matter where you went.

Before... ............................... ... After

 

Eventually we parted ways as we both had to head to dinner. Or so I thought. Im looking through all my pictures on multiple cameras... Nice canon, point and shoot, waterproof, and both our phones and I dont see that we ever went to the dining room. Just asked E and he says I think we just grabbed a burger or something from the buffet. Then we walked the ship... hmm I really need to take better notes on my vacation lol.

 

I do know what we did at 11pm.. Quest time. Our group had been planning this for ever. So we staked out an area in the comedy club and the fun really began. We had a huge group of about 30, and by the end of the night most of us were missing something that we came in with... that is all that I will say. Cuz if you have ever played you know you take an oath not to share any details of what goes on in the Quest game... I will post a pic of the race to get our number up front to Matty.... oh what great laughs we had. Out of like 12 teams or so we came in 2nd or 3rd. Not bad. Had we been closer to the front we probably would have had 1st. Its a long run up lol.

 

Being as it was after midnight, we called it a night. Upon walking back to our room though I noticed the Liquid Nightclub was empty. Not sure if it pickes up later, I would hope so, if not thats such a waste of a space.

Waited up for the boys to come in while I posted on our cruise thread and thru the Hub App. Wanted to check where we were meeting for the excursion for Curacao tmrw. Set out the room service tag for my manatory coffee wake up. Then after sending a few pics online to those back home, I drifted off to dream land.

 

Next Up: Late Port stop means sleeping in... for SOME of US!

Your husband looks so much like Australian actor Dean Daley-Jones; I did a double take.....

Scroll down to photos -

http://www.zimbio.com/photos/Dean+Daley-Jones/Kaboom+Cocktail+Reception+Levis+Showroom+Park/19fY4Jy-gW0

Somehow my glasses fell and out popped a lens.. NOOO good thing I bring multiple pairs! (Sean we have so much in common lol) I always break a pair every vacation, so I have learned to bring multiple spears. Hubby was actually able to pop it back in so not all was lost.

 

No such thing as too many shades! B)

I am really loving your review! We will be on this cruise in January! Thanks for spending the time to do this! :)

Aww thank you, its really my pleasure. It allows me to reminisce, along with share with our friends and family, and pay it forward to those who are cruising soon. Hope you have a great time!

Awesome review!!! and an even awesomer family you have!!! Thank you for posting this review....makes me wish I was on a ship right now!

Haha ya their ok at times lol. Belive me I stalk these boards and the Carni site daily just hoping to find a way to book a free cruise lol.

Thanks again for posting your review. I am going on this cruise in January! We have the same excursion booked in La Romana. Is the boat ride to the beach and place to see the starfish rough or was the water pretty calm?

Hey I wonder if you and Kelkel2 are on the same cruise lol. You will love this excursiom, fund, relaxing and beautiful views. Water for us was pretty calm so our ride was pretty smooth, just the occasional jump where we would catch a wave. But I caught my boys all falling asleep or closing their eyes at least thru it. So not bad.

Your husband looks so much like Australian actor Dean Daley-Jones; I did a double take.....

Scroll down to photos -

 

http://www.zimbio.com/photos/Dean+Daley-Jones/Kaboom+Cocktail+Reception+Levis+Showroom+Park/19fY4Jy-gW0

Omg that's too funny. I'll have to show him and the boys in the morning.

No such thing as too many shades!

So true. In fact my addiction has rubbed off on the family. I need to order a sunglass holder for all of our multiple pairs.