"12/12/12 LIFE'S A BREEZE" a cruisin USA "Long and Lengthy" Cruise Novella

[seacat66]

is it over? i've enjoyed it. thanks.

[workn2cruise]

Gary ~ Where did you go? We were cruising last week and I'd hoped to come back to your finale. :)

[Froufie]

HI Gary and Maryann - just checking in to see how you are doing and to say HI!

 

I am in deep planning mode for my next transatlantic on the Carnival Sunshine (nov 1) - and hope to do another review when I return :)

 

Any cruises coming up in the near future? Hope you are both well - sending hugs and kisses to both of you! :D:D

[VancouverKory]

Amazing Review!!

 

Thank you for all of the information!

 

I can't wait to get on board the breeze in only 98 days!!

[cruisin USA]

had to attempt to finish this old business before I continued onto our next cruise, I'll address everyone at the end.....

 

ahem.......continuing.........

 

 

After awhile we headed out. We worked our way aft through lido, and up to the sports deck. We hadn't been up there yet. There were the weight machines and a heavy bag that I've seen in many photos(and just like in the photos, nobody was using them).

 

 

 

 

 

We worked our way forward and passed the netted basketball court(also empty). Granted the ship was pretty empty.

 

 

 

 

We worked our forward, stopping at the mid-deck recreation area. Miniture Golf, Ping Pong, and outdoor pool tables.

 

 

 

 

Also, the "Seadogs" hot dog stand is located there. The stand was unattended. Oh no, there he is making time with the gal at the snack bar. We played a game of outdoor pool. With the wind, and ship rocking the balls would move even when they were supposed to come to a stop(made for a very interesting game. Plastic tumblers were placed in some of the pockets to catch the balls, since the bottom of the pockets had been broken. We then tried our hand at miniture golf. That was fun. We were by the Seadogs stand when a couple came up. The Seadog guy came over from the bar, and made them a couple of doggies.(Just in time to snap a photo).

 

 

 

We didn't try the ropes course(or see anyone using it)....maybe next time. After our morning workout...hehe, we headed back to the cabin to enjoy some sunshine on the balcony. We had a mission. Today, we were going to find this ships "Secret" Doors.

 

 

........to be continued.....

[cruisin USA]

.....continuing.....

 

 

"The Secret Doors."

 

We left our cabin. I wanted to see if Carnival's newest ship had "Secret Doors" We made our forward on deck 11. We worked our way up through the hallway, as far front as we could go. The decor was different than our floor. I really liked the "footprints on an empty beach" shot on the wall.

 

 

(I guess the halls vary from deck to deck)

 

 

We continued forward. There it was!! Right next to room 11203

 

 

 

 

A SECRET DOOR!

 

 

 

 

We stepped through the double doorway, our onto a small observation area. There were lounges stacked, so I knew that people were coming out here for sun.

 

 

 

 

We could see the onto the rear of the Imagination and the Fascination which was on the other side of us.

 

 

 

 

The Fascination had the "balcony" modifications added to the aft and midship. Atlantis stood before us. I looked down, there was another sun/observation area like this directly below us. Looked to each side. No stairway from here, so we went back inside. Back to the front stairways, Down a deck, back to the front, and there, next to cabin 10204 was another set of double doors. We went outside. A little wider I noticed.

 

 

 

Went over to the front/center to look down. It looks like there's a couple more of these areas(probably skipping the bridge deck). on each of the decks. We didn't go see any more. Lot's of secret doors on this ship, and now you know.

 

 

.....to be continued.....

[cruisin USA]

.....continuing.....

 

 

 

 

We just walked around the ship. It was peaceful, seeing as most folks were ashore. I took the opportunity to take some more shots of some of the various public areas. We headed back to the cabin, and ended up on the balcony. Folks were heading back onto the ship. The line got long at some points.

 

 

 

 

The people next to us were also on their balcony. We couldn't help but overhear them talking about the cruise to the people on the other side of them. The man next to us was disappointed that his children had "slept most of the trip". He mentioned that he'd have to think about bringing them on another cruise. He also mentioned that he thought that there was a major lack of entertainment on this ship. Ladies and Gentleman, when you're on a land vacation, do you expect to be entertained every moment of it? Or do you know that it's up to YOU to make your vacation what it is? Besides the FABULOUS meals......... On any given night, you could go to the disco, casino, piano bar, guitar bar, "Ocean Plaza" band, or opt for classical in the atrium (all on one deck) just for music! Add 4 nights of comedy(out of an 8 day cruise) Welcome Aboard Show! 3 Production shows. 1 night Vetroloquist, 1 night juggler. Dive In Movies most nights on deck. 2 big "Leaving Port" deck parties. Bingo, Trivia Contests. Sports deck. Heck, you could even just curl up with a book at the Library bar. To me, there was plenty to do. So much that we couldn't do it all.

 

 

Speaking of which.....

 

 

 

..............As mentioned earlier, we didn't go to the steakhouse.

 

 

We never made it to the Tandoori Grill, The Mongolian Wok, The Sushi Bar,

 

 

 

 

The Taste Bar(if it was EVER truly open). TheThrill ride(We had ridden the same ride at the Excalibur in Las Vegas...We had seen "The Polar Express" last Dec. Cool, but not worth a repeat), the arcade, the Ropes course, or the 24 hr. blackjack table.

 

 

(I never saw anyone playing)

 

so I can't comment on those particular things(for now).

 

We were VERY tempted to try some of the "sweet treats" at the Plaza Café, but somehow our willpower kicked in.

 

 

 

 

We ended up making one more pass at the shops. Mary Ann took the opportunity to buy a couple cartons of cigarettes for $60.00. Between the couple of drinks we had that day and the cigarettes, I knew we had used up all of our onboard credits! It took 8 days to do it. And we enjoyed EVERY last dollar of our "freebies". (Not to mention the SUPER low shipboard bill I was going to have.. YEAH!!)

 

 

We stopped back at the cabin to drop the cigarettes off. We stopped on our balcony and hung out till it was dark. We had one more thing to do before we got ready for dinner. We had to change our luggage tags so that we didn't have to disembark so early. We wanted our traditional "last" breakfast.

 

 

......to be continued.....

[cruisin USA]

.....continuing.....

 

 

We went down to the guest services desk in the lobby. There was a 30 person or so line at the service desk. Fortunately, we still could go to the Platinum desk where we ended up 3rd in line. Still took us almost 10 minutes for our turn. We showed the man our 1B luggage tags, and said we didn't need to get off the ship that early. The man brought out a chart that had luggage tag/corresponding disembark times. He asked what time we'd like to leave. We had both agreed that 9:30 would leave us plenty of time to get to the Fort Lauderdale airport for our 1:00pm flight. His chart said 20. So that's what we took(more later). We made our way back to the cabin. The luggage tags were a painful reminder that our trip was coming to an end.......heavy sigh.

 

 

 

 

　

All Good Things.........

 

 

 

 

It was getting dark. We started to pull away from the pier. The next time we'd see land would be in Miami tomorrow morning. Eventually, it was time to get ready for our last dinner in the dining room....sniff. Tonight, we were the first to arrive. Lucas would take our food orders tonight. 2 by 2 all our "deuce" tablemates arrived. Karen and Alan told us they enjoyed their Italian dinner(Made me think we should have done it).Tonights dinner choices?..... "Petite Marmite"(clear beef broth with beef chicken and vegetables), One last shrimp cocktail...(sniff sniff), and "Grilled New York Strip Steak from Aged American Beef"(served with a green peppercorn sauce). Mary Ann chose. "Fire Roasted Chicken in Sesame Dressing"(served with bit salad), "Mixed Garden and Field Greens", and the heartsmart "Blackened Fillet ofTilapia"(topped with shrimp and seafood. jambalaya rice, scallion and cured tomato stir fry). Tonight's didja? Beef carpaccio.... As I've mentioned in my previous reviews. Beef carpaccio just doesn't do it for me. Dessert? We split a warm chocolate melting cake with our coffee. It'd been a LONG week of GREAT eating. This was the perfect way to cap it off!!

 

 

 

We were halfway through dessert when Ken came on the microphone. The waiters assembled to the "Finiculi Finicula" song. Then Ken thanks us from the waiters, says it's been a pleasure to serve us, and hopes that they'll see us on another Carnival Funship sometime. I hear the music cue. Here it comes. That tearjerker song they sing to "Leavin on a Jetplane". This time Ken leads the song, and I can hear all the words for a change. The waiters sing along(as best they can). Once again, I had to fight back a couple of tears. What a GREAT vacation!! It was almost over! (But not yet!!!!!). As usual, they finished up with some happy music, and then it was over...(sniff sniff sniff). We bid our tablemates adieu one last time. Wished everyone a safe voyage home. We made our way back to the cabin. We had packing to do.....(sniff sniff sniff sniff).

 

 

 

For me, it's always a lot easier packing on the way home. Not so much having to be careful about shirts wrinkling and such. We were both all packed within a half hour. Checked all the closets and drawers for anything we might have left behind. Satisfied that we'd packed it all(except for our onboard bags), we put our baggage outside the door, and headed back to the Limelight for the 11:45 show featuring the "R" rated comedy of JR McCollum.

 

 

 

 

We got there a little earlier tonight. It was about 3/4 full. We ended up being sooooooo glad we went. JR was a LOT funnier than Lowell(sorry Lowell). He would do "characters" Just too funny. He had us laughing so hard!!! He talked about going to yoga. He said the instructor made him lay on his back while he kept pushing his legs towards his head. He says that the instructor is pushing his legs so far that his nuts fell out an smacked him in the face...(Guess you had to be there...hehe). He also had developed this great impersonation of ALX. He said that ALX was going to hide inside our bags, and pop out when we got home, being his usual high energy self. doing this GREAT impersonation of him. After 4 shows this guy still had lots of energy, and even checked with ALX when he asked if he could go on for a little more(after the show was supposed to end). ALX told him to go for as long as he wanted. He did a few more bits. Near the end he mentioned that he had a CD for sale(imagine that) for $10. He does his last bit, then RUNS back to the exit to immediately sell his CD to people leaving. Pretty fast guy!

 

 

 

 

The show ends. It's well past 12:30 as we make our way forward to the elevators. There were still lots of people playing at the casino. I went up to the cabin with Mary Ann. She was ready for bed. I wanted 1 last crack at the casino. I went down. There were still people at the craps table. I played, staying pretty even most of the way. Eventually, it was down to me and another fellow. He ended up losing his money, and leaving. I stayed for a couple more rolls. I realized that I was the "Last Man Standing" on this trip at the craps table(that still had money). No fun playing alone though. After a couple of rolls I quit. They closed down the craps table. I went back to the pizza pirate to grab 1 last slice to take to the cabin before turning in. As I walked through the buffet area, there was a group of 5 kids sitting there. Could have sworn it was Butch's nephews and nieces. It was 3 am, and they were just hanging out. As I walked by I kidded them about it "being late and they should be getting to bed" I walked back by them on the way back. As I passed through, the olded mentioned that I had cool hair. We spoke briefly. They enjoyed their cruise. GOOD for them. Pizza slice in hand I headed back to the cabin.

 

 

 

 

 

The announcements started early. We were docked and at the port in Miami. We took our time getting ready, and headed down to lido for breakfast. We picked a spot in a small alcove area. We could look out the window and see the causeway that runs parellel to the cruise ship pier. Always a kinda sad, quiet breakfast, knowing that we're going to have to leave. 9:30 comes and goes. They're only on number 12......sigh (So much for charting numbers vs disembark times). It's more like 10:10 when our number 20 is finally called. We gathered our belongings, and made our way down to the atrium(where it all started). Not much of a line disembarking, and we were off the ship and down the gangway in no time. Made our way out of the terminal and to the cab stand. There was about 20 people in front of us, but it didn't take too long to get a cab. I will say it again. For most, the worst part of the trip is leaving the ship. For us, it's missing our doggie Chanel. We made it home without issue, and as it's happened before, we had a WONDERFUL reunion!!!

 

 

I will now end with my customary toast to all those brave/fool hearty souls who made it through this novella.

 

 

I raise my glass to you, my CC friends, and say.

 

 

 

"YOU CAN GET JUST AS DRUNK ON WATER!"

 

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AS YOU CAN ON LAND!!

 

 

 

and if you didn't finish your glass then I'll just raise it again, and this time I'll simply say

 

 

 

"SOCIAL"

 

 

 

This is you humble and lovable reporter on the high seas signing off(for now....Next Stop? 15 day Hawaiin Cruise.....Can you imagine a review twice as long as this?.......hehe

 

 

 

 

 

PEACE!!

 

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

[seacat66]

thank you for finishing. i enjoyed it.

[workn2cruise]

Great job Gary! Can't wait for the Hawaii review, it will be nice to live it through your eyes.

[Froufie]

Great review as usual - hi to you and Mary ann - have a super cruise to Hawaii (can't wait to read all about it).

 

P.S....and you do have 'cool hair' LOLOLOL :D

[nickthecruiser]

Just finished your great review. Nice pictures as well.

[rhcpchika1]

Thanks for finishing! It was a great review from start to finish :)

[KristiandEvan]

Thanks for the review! Cruising the breeze in May!

 

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Forums mobile app

[teacher34]

I am new to your reviews, and am enjoying your take on the Breeze. We have sailed on it and loved it. Thanks for taking the time to do this review!