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The outage started at noon so it is entirely possible that people taking short flights down to Jacksonville, Port Canaveral or Tampa for a cruise could be affected. Also, tomorrow will be a madhouse. The airport isn't expected to have power until after midnight then they'll have to clear the terminals, bring up all systems, run everybody that's evacuated through security... I wouldn't want to be flying out tomorrow

Laaaaaannnnddddd!!!!!!

Shot of the decorated room and balcony. Hard to get a good shot of the balcony while actually standing on it.

Got to Vancouver 2 days early to beat Hurricane Irma out of Atlanta. Looks like it was a good thing we left on Sunday morning instead of our scheduled Monday flight based on the weather reports and airline backlog in ATL.

The flight to Toronto was great. The flight attendant gave us champaign and mixed drinks the whole way when we told her it was our 25th anniversary trip. The flight from Toronto to Vancouver sucked. We didn't know that we had to retrieve our checked bags in Toronto then recheck them to Vancouver. That took 15 minutes. Then they gave us the wrong gate number in the wrong terminal. After going through security in the A terminal we were told that we had to go to B terminal. We had 30 mins to get there. We quickly made our way to B security where we waited for 20 minutes. Our gate was B5. When we got through security we had 10 mins until takeoff. The gate was all the way at the end, down steps, through a long tunnel, back up stairs then down to the gate. We sprinted and got to the gate at 12:55 for our 1:00pm flight. They had already closed the door. We must have looked pathetic enough to get their sympathy because they moved the ramp back and reopened the door. The West Jet seats are the most cramped seats I've ever sat in on a commercial airliner. I fly a lot for business and could not find a way to sit that didn't crush my knees. It was a miserably cramped 5 hours. Luckily the crew was polite, funny and entertaining. They apologized for the ridiculously cramped seating to everyone many times. They also comp'd a few drinks for the discomfort. Westjet needs to address this. I won't fly on one of their 737's again if I can help it.

Vancouver itself is amazing. We stayed Sunday and Monday night at the Moda hotel a block away from Granville. Awesome atmosphere, cool places to visit, eat, sight see and walk. We did an entire day walking the sea wall and taking in the sights. The views of the mountains are spectacular and the weather was perfect for jeans and a T-shirt.

This morning we got up and caught a cab to the cruise terminal at 9:45. This was by far the easiest terminal we ever passed through. Everyone was super friendly, efficient and just plain hospitable. We were through baggage drop-off, ticketing and customs in less than 15 minutes. We sat in a waiting area outside the boat for about 30 mins then were allowed to board at 11:15. We found our room to be ready and decorated with anniversary decor including a large chocolate cake. The balcony is huge. We got the extended balcony and have no neighbor to the left of us. We have plenty of storage as well.

We lounged in a big covered chair for an hour or so and watched sea planes take off and land constantly just off the side of the boat.

We are unpacking now and ready for the voyage across the Pacific to begin. Next stop, Hilo, Hawaii in 5 days.

Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk

Leaving tomorrow with my wife for our 25th anniversary vacation. Legend 10 day Vancouver to Hawaii.

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Everyone you wanted to text on the ship would also have to have the Internet package and be logged in in order for you to use the Social package to communicate. That would be expensive for a family -$25 per person.

 

The Hub chat function would only be $5 per person and worked seamlessly for us. We all had iPhones but I heard some people had trouble with other operating systems. We never notice a lag between messages.

Exactly. We let one person get the social app so we could contact family at home or they could contact us in an emergency.

Everyone else got the app with texting enabled for $5. It was nice being able to check on my teens after us old farts retired for the evening

Did they indicate when the "beta testing" might be complete or when it might be available on other ships? I am guessing not, but thought I would ask

No, they just had Beta Testing signs around the ship.

The app feature sounds pretty neat and useful, but the texting feature would be a waste for wife and I. And I don;t want the social media because we like to be disconnected from the world. :cool::D:cool:

One thing I liked about the social media plan was that it allowed you to use facebook messenger. That let me text our parents, friends house sitter as needed. On day 4 our house sitter set off the alarm once and needed the password to tell the monitoring company and I was able to get it to her.

Something like this? [emoji2]

Oh hell yeah. My son will be stoked at this pic

I've heard that the $5 fee for texting is per phone but what about the $25 charge...is that per phone also?

To clarify.

The Hub app is free.

If you want to add texting it's $5 per folio/device.

The social Internet plan is 100% independent of the Hub app. It allows your folio to access social networking sites and FB messenger from your phone, pc or the ship's computers. It's $5 per day or $25 for the whole cruise.

Going on Breeze in September, and I'm hoping that "off-season" timing will help with those crowds. It's not so much the mass people everywhere, but having to wait in lines for everything is quite the annoyance.

One thing we really disliked was the fact that after hours the only restaurant that was open was the pizza parlor and there was a 10+ person line there at all times.

So the Carnival Hub App worked well all throughout the ship? Is this free? What else did it do besides the texting?

I started another thread on it here.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2214305

It also depends on the time of year you sail. We were on the Breeze in September 2014 and had our best cruise ever! No crowds, no lines...just great weather, friends, and FUN. For me, the Breeze has been my favorite ship so far.

Definitely a consideration. However, last year, on the exact same week, we took the Legend and it was amazing. They were good at moving people efficiently and the entertainment schedule was such that no lines backed up. We never waited for food and there was always room in one of the pools or hot tubs.

We took the Liberty over Thanksgiving in 2013 and had a similar experience. However, I don't think it was full so I won't count it.

I asked my son this same question on the way home this weekend. He said it would be really cool if they had Jet Ski rental off the back of the boat on sea days. He had it all planned out with a launching and recovery station and a safety boat out in the sea. As fun as it sounds, I can only imagine the havoc this would bring with it :D

We just got back on the Carnival Breeze and really enjoyed having the Carnival Hub app on that cruise. It was apparently a Beta test for the Breeze but it worked wonderfully. You download the app and enter your folio number. It allows you to text anyone in your party and exchange text numbers with anyone else on the ship. It really made it easy to keep in touch with my children and friends. In addition, it allowed you to see the ships event itinerary and you could checkmark the ones you wanted to do and it would alarm/alert you when it was time to head to the event you selected.

I also liked the new internet plans.

Hub was free with a $5 charge to use the texting feature.

The Social Network plan was $25 for the entire cruise and let you use Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, Twitter and What'sApp. It was very easy to keep in touch with friends and family back home with Messenger.

One thing I really liked was the new Carnival Hub app on the Breeze. Everyone in the family downloaded it and we could text each other on the ship the entire trip.

Carnival needs to scrap there rust bucket ships. Get rid of the putrid Fantasy class ships that aren't good for anything!

The Carnival Fascination is an awesome ship for a short cruise. It can also run cruises out of small ports like Jacksonville which is a quick, 4 hour drive for us. The Fascination has been recently overhauled with new balconies, updated rooms, waterslides and a nicely sized children's waterpark. It feels like a large ship with no crowds, short lines and a more personal feel. I have been on both and I would choose the Fascination over the Breeze in a heartbeat.

This isn't a formal review by any stretch but I did want to post some of my thoughts on the Breeze. We just returned from a 6-night Caribbean cruise on the Carnival Breeze. We stopped in Falmouth, Jamaica; Grand Cayman and Cozumel, Mexico.

The Ports:

I enjoyed the Ports of Call on this trip. I was pleasantly surprised by Falmouth and the people there were wonderful. We were a little lost at first as we didn't plan an excursion there. We walked up to one of the podiums and spoke with a very polite, well spoken woman. She made several recommendations and eventually recommended that we just go hang out at Margaritaville until we figured out where we wanted to go. She said that we looked a little lost and that sellers would swarm us if we just stood around. She walked us around to a few little places then actually walked with us to Margaritaville. She said she would be back to check on us later and made good on that promise. We tried to tip her and she wouldn't accept our money. We ended up hanging out at Margaritaville for the day as my teenaged son and his friends were having a blast. They played the games that the DJ set up and even won the dance contest.

Grand Cayman was beautiful, like always. We spent the day at 7-mile beach and did some snorkeling, jet skiing and the kids played on the trampoline and other toys. We did some shopping and ate at Rackam's Waterfront Bar and Grill.

In Cozumel we took a 3-reef snorkeling trip with a 3rd party outfit and ate at a local restaurant. Once again, we had a great time and met some amazing people.

The Ship:

Unfortunately, bigger doesn't necessarily mean better. Somewhere between the Fascination and the Breeze is the perfectly sized ship with all of the amenities and none of the crowds. For us that ship was the Carnival Legend last year. Although much smaller than the Breeze, it had more space per person and there were never any lines for anything. The Breeze, on the other hand, was like a crowded mall at Christmas. The lines for every restaurant, buffet, bar and entertainment venue were absurd and getting into a comedy show was impossible if you didn't arrive an hour early. The pools were overcrowded and getting a seat for Dive-In movies was difficult at best. The ship itself was beautiful and the Children's Waterpark was the highlight of my 4yr old's trip. While we couldn't find a seat near it that wasn't occupied we did hang out in it with her for hours at a time.

Guy's Burgers and the Blue Iguana Mexican Cantina served amazing food and I found my favorite meal of the day to be a breakfast burrito from the Blue Iguana. On the last sea day we spent the entire afternoon playing round robin cornhole tournaments with complete strangers and had a blast.

The cruise director was Dr E. He is awesome and was the life of the party wherever he went.

The comedy shows were excellent and on the last night most of my family ended up on stage playing the "dinner party game" with Dr E and the comedian. My son's best friend was "Bill Clinton", My Brother-in-Law was "Bruce Jenner", his girlfriend was "Monica Lewinski" and my son was "Justin Beiber".

We had a great time and cannot wait to cruise again. However, I think I will stick to the Spirit Class ships for the next one.

Of course the Festivale was also one of "The Big Red Boat" ships. It was The Big Red Boat III and was one of he Disney Cruise Ships

Pool on the Festivale. The first pool on a cruise ship.

Some interior shots of the Festivale

Am on Esctasy now, Imagination docked along side us here in Nassau. We left port canaveral Thursday. Has been rough seas, but this old small gal has done good. Imagination is a lot larger. You should not feel it too bad. Weather has been very windy in and out of port. Off to Freeport tomorrow. Not sure if Imagination will follow.

Actually, the Imagination is the same size as the Ecstasy. They are both Fantasy Class. I like them though. Perfect quick getaway liners for the wife and me.

Our 5-day Southern Caribbean ended this am. It was extremely rough. The waterside, putt putt, shuffleboard and front observation decks were closed 50% of the time. On the first night the restaurants were empty. People were sick in their cabins a lot.

Yeah, the kids understood and were cool with it. However, standing on the balcony watching the island slip by still stinks :)

Sorry, maybe this one?

Oh well, life happens...