Review of our 2013 Spring Break Carnival Breeze Cruise

[PaulMedik]

Karen still snoozing the day away and you can see my vacant, but saved lounge chair (Does this qualify me as a chair hog?);

 

Carnival Breeze Day 3 by paulmedik, on Flickr

 

 

I don't know the gentlman in this photo, but as he was looking for a seat on The Lanai below our room I snapped a pic of his lunch;

 

Carnival Breeze Day 3 by paulmedik, on Flickr

 

 

Chased inside by rain;

 

Carnival Breeze Day 3 by paulmedik, on Flickr

 

 

Rain on the balcony door window is sometimes ominous, but luckily there wasn't much;

 

Carnival Breeze Day 3 by paulmedik, on Flickr

 

 

We were able to stay out for the beginning of the rain, but once the rail got soaked it started dripping so we had to retreat;

 

Carnival Breeze Day 3 by paulmedik, on Flickr

 

 

Wake up and get dressed boys, it's time for dinner;

 

Carnival Breeze Day 3 by paulmedik, on Flickr

[PaulMedik]

Since it was our first Fun Day @ Sea it was also formal night and Karen likes to get some formal pics taken by Carnival;

 

Carnival Breeze Carnival pics by paulmedik, on Flickr

 

I need to line this one up with past pics of this same pose / background;

 

Carnival Breeze Carnival pics by paulmedik, on Flickr

 

Jaden at the bottom of Titanic's staircase;

 

Carnival Breeze Carnival pics by paulmedik, on Flickr

 

 

We all had Your Time Dining and no wait to be seated at two tables (13 total people);

 

Carnival Breeze Day 3 by paulmedik, on Flickr

 

 

Carnival Breeze Day 3 by paulmedik, on Flickr

 

I LOVE lobster;

 

Carnival Breeze Day 3 by paulmedik, on Flickr

Edited April 26, 2013 by PaulMedik

[PaulMedik]

Every cruise I request and receive three lobsters and every cruise I mention I'd like them all on one plate, but it never happens....until this cruise. The lobsters arrived on separate plates, but our waiter placed them all on one without my asking (Yeah I know I'm a hog blah blah blah, but I do LOVE lobster);

 

Carnival Breeze Day 3 by paulmedik, on Flickr

 

 

I also love warm chocolate melting cake with two cups of vanilla ice cream;

 

Carnival Breeze Day 3 by paulmedik, on Flickr

 

 

Britt ordered dessert first and started the warm chocolate melting cakeathon;

 

Carnival Breeze Day 3 by paulmedik, on Flickr

 

 

Washed down with Hot Chocolate which Marina obviously likes;

 

Carnival Breeze Day 3 by paulmedik, on Flickr

 

 

It wasn't that long ago that these two were eye to eye;

 

Carnival Breeze Day 3 by paulmedik, on Flickr

 

Spencer and Jaden were also eye to eye last year;

 

Carnival Breeze Day 3 by paulmedik, on Flickr

[boaterette]

taszmom,

 

I never noticed any glass, but I wore the scuba socks that came with our snorkel gear so I also never noticed any rocks either due to the padding.

 

Yes we did feel safe there and even allowed the boys to walk back to the ship alone; I watched them most of the way via the zoom on my SX50HS camera ;) Better safe than sorry.

 

 

 

Boaterette,

 

There are several coupons with the literature that comes with them that includes unlimited lifetime guarantee and free replacement if lost or stolen. While speaking with the clerk, who would not barter on the price, she stated that they replace them if lost 'or if you just want another pair.' She then placed the pair I had tried on in the bag with the shirts and the sunglasses that I had paid for. Without missing a beat she then opened another pair of glasses and placed them in the rack in place of the pair I had tried on.

 

I haven't shopped many times at DelSol, but I will say that the service in this particular store was outstanding; we were greeted upon arrival by one clerk, assisted with sunglasses by another, assisted with TShirts by another clerk that was summoned by the sunglasses clerk, and then checked out with all three clerks gathering our purchases and bagging them. The T Shirt sales clerk also made additional sales by demonstrating the shirts color changing to Karen and making sure she had sizes that appeared appropriate for all of the boys. The clerks acted like they wanted to make the sale and make the sale a good experience for the buyer. They knew where everything was and where to get similar items quickly. It should always be this way, but nowadays it's getting rare.

 

I doubt that DelSol has a policy of giving away free sunglasses, but in our case they gave us a free tote bag (in lieu of the second $5 coupon) and a free pair of sunglasses. Granted they did rack up $$ in additional sales since we stopped in just to get a pair of sunglasses. :cool:

 

Well that is pretty cool.

[PaulMedik]

Upon returning to our room we found this fella guarding our Platinum gifts;

 

Carnival Breeze Day 3 by paulmedik, on Flickr

 

 

When traveling throughout the ship our boys have always navigated right and left hallways by odd and even room numbers. On Breeze, it's even more obvious where to go;

 

Carnival Breeze Day 3 by paulmedik, on Flickr

 

 

Karen, Bryson, Heather, Kimberly, Mike and I all enjoyed an evening playing in the casino while the boys took in Thrill Theater movies and basically hung out in their preferred areas of Circle C / Club 02.

 

 

Our next day was Dominican Republic and I'll spare you the arrival to port pics since they are mostly of an industrial area.

 

We did meet the Carnival photog as we exited the gangway;

 

Carnival Breeze Carnival pics by paulmedik, on Flickr

 

We exited the pier area and once in the taxi corral we were matched up with a driver who agree to return to pick us up. The pics are a bit out of order in terms of time so I'll just go through a few from the Dreams Resort which was our destination for the day.

 

This is from our stroll for food;

 

Carnival Breeze by paulmedik, on Flickr

 

 

Dreams is all inclusive so all food and drinks are included.....and VERY tasty;

 

Carnival Breeze by paulmedik, on Flickr

 

 

Service was excellent;

 

Carnival Breeze by paulmedik, on Flickr

[PaulMedik]

We had a dozen chairs lined up at the waters edge;

 

Carnival Breeze Day 4 by paulmedik, on Flickr

 

 

Never one to go hungry, I enjoyed pizza on the beach;

 

Carnival Breeze Day 4 by paulmedik, on Flickr

 

 

They have an iceberg similar to Paradise Beach, but it's quite a bit smaller and unlike Paradise Beach their iceberg is restricted to children so Steve had to settle for pulling Britt and Lucca off of the iceberg;

 

Carnival Breeze Day 4 by paulmedik, on Flickr

 

 

Britt airborn;

 

Carnival Breeze Day 4 by paulmedik, on Flickr

 

 

Britt and the monkey (They sell pics so any you take on your own has to be from a distance);

 

Carnival Breeze by paulmedik, on Flickr

 

Lucca and the monkey hat;

 

Carnival Breeze by paulmedik, on Flickr

[PaulMedik]

The older kids did a bananna boat ride for $15 each and rode the free ocean canoes;

 

Carnival Breeze Day 4 by paulmedik, on Flickr

 

 

Breezes has several pools to choose from;

 

Carnival Breeze Day 4 by paulmedik, on Flickr

 

 

And for those who just like to walk around they have miles of paths;

 

Carnival Breeze Day 4 by paulmedik, on Flickr

 

 

We will DEFINITELY be returning to Breezes LaRomana DR;

 

Carnival Breeze Day 4 by paulmedik, on Flickr

 

 

Carnival Breeze Day 4 by paulmedik, on Flickr

 

Lucca, Jaden, and Steve getting drinks for the road (They'll put them in plastic as you leave and I don't know the guy on the left that leaned in to the pic);

 

Carnival Breeze Day 4 by paulmedik, on Flickr

[PaulMedik]

While waiting for our taxi we visited the cigar shop

 

Carnival Breeze Day 4 by paulmedik, on Flickr

 

 

Kimberly picked up some cigars for her boss;

 

Carnival Breeze Day 4 by paulmedik, on Flickr

 

 

The gentleman at the cigar shop lit me up a nice big Cohiba for the road and it was quite tasty......as you can see Bryson enjoyed it too;

 

Carnival Breeze Day 4 by paulmedik, on Flickr

 

 

DR has one of the best highway systems of any Caribbean port we've visited;

 

Carnival Breeze Day 4 by paulmedik, on Flickr

 

 

When we were almost back to the ship we ran into some fellow cruisers who had been partying quite a bit;

 

Carnival Breeze Day 4 by paulmedik, on Flickr

 

 

Steve and I of course had to join them;

 

Carnival Breeze Day 4 by paulmedik, on Flickr

[PaulMedik]

The beer was free and cold so I drank it all;

 

Carnival Breeze Day 4 by paulmedik, on Flickr

 

 

We really should have hooked up with these folks on the ship since they were having such a good time. Karen joined in for a toast;

 

Carnival Breeze Day 4 by paulmedik, on Flickr

 

 

The things you'll do when properly encouraged;

 

Carnival Breeze Day 4 by paulmedik, on Flickr

 

Our ship;

 

Carnival Breeze Day 4 by paulmedik, on Flickr

 

 

Carnival Breeze Day 4 by paulmedik, on Flickr

 

 

Steve and Karen on the gangway;

 

Carnival Breeze Day 4 by paulmedik, on Flickr

[Boozebabe]

If I weren't already booked for next week on the Breeze I could just sit and look at your fantastic pictures and imagine myself there. I'll have to come back to this topic in the middle of winter when I need a pick-me-up.

[Njbosoxgirl]

M

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[PaulMedik]

Once back on board we had another looong walk down the hall;

 

Carnival Breeze Day 4 by paulmedik, on Flickr

 

 

Just before sailaway these fellas went by with a boat full of what looked like fishing line;

 

Carnival Breeze Day 4 by paulmedik, on Flickr

 

 

Untied and on our way;

 

Carnival Breeze Day 4 by paulmedik, on Flickr

 

Carnival Breeze Day 4 by paulmedik, on Flickr

 

 

Carnival Breeze Day 4 by paulmedik, on Flickr

 

 

Bryson's neighbor enjoying sailaway;

 

Carnival Breeze Day 4 by paulmedik, on Flickr

Edited April 26, 2013 by PaulMedik

[MsMot]

Karen still snoozing the day away and you can see my vacant, but saved lounge chair (Does this qualify me as a chair hog?);

 

[/url]

Carnival Breeze Day 3 by paulmedik, on Flickr

 

I don't know the gentlman in this photo, but as he was looking for a seat on The Lanai below our room I snapped a pic of his lunch;

 

Carnival Breeze Day 3 by paulmedik, on Flickr

 

 

Chased inside by rain;

 

Carnival Breeze Day 3 by paulmedik, on Flickr

 

 

Rain on the balcony door window is sometimes ominous, but luckily there wasn't much;

 

Carnival Breeze Day 3 by paulmedik, on Flickr

 

 

We were able to stay out for the beginning of the rain, but once the rail got soaked it started dripping so we had to retreat;

 

Carnival Breeze Day 3 by paulmedik, on Flickr

 

 

Wake up and get dressed boys, it's time for dinner;

 

Carnival Breeze Day 3 by paulmedik, on Flickr

 

Karen and the boys look very nice! I love to see young men dressed up. It is such a rarity these days:rolleyes:. Did the boys rent the tuxedos from Carnival or did you all lug them in your luggage?

 

Great pictures Paul!

Edited April 26, 2013 by MsMot

[PaulMedik]

Karen and the boys look very nice! I love to see young men dressed up. It is such a rarity these days:rolleyes:. Did the boys rent the tuxedos from Carnival or did you all lug them in your luggage?

 

Great pictures Paul!

 

 

Karen,

 

Thank you.

 

We lugged the tuxes from home. Normally we pack them all in a garment bag, but this year we packed each one in each of our suitcases. We hung them up as soon as we boarded so the wrinkles would all relax out of them.

 

Buying is cheaper than renting when you figure how may times they'll need them; proms, homecoming dances, cruises etc and as Bryson outgrows one normally Spencer grows into it, but last year and this year we've had to buy Spencer and Bryson new tuxes; Bryson gets more broad & taller and Spencer gets taller. Hopefully Britt will remain within the specs of tuxes we have.....

Edited April 26, 2013 by PaulMedik

[PaulMedik]

Further out from port;

 

Carnival Breeze Day 4 by paulmedik, on Flickr

 

 

Karen on Bryson's balcony checking out the view;

 

Carnival Breeze Day 4 by paulmedik, on Flickr

 

 

Karen and I on Bryson's balcony reflected through the lens of the fish (Check out the overhang way above);

 

Carnival Breeze Day 4 by paulmedik, on Flickr

 

 

Aft experienced cruisers will make note of the fact that our wake still disappeard quickly...yes the winds continued;

 

Carnival Breeze Day 4 by paulmedik, on Flickr

 

 

Britt and I on our way to VERY casual dinner;

 

Carnival Breeze Day 4 by paulmedik, on Flickr

 

 

A Carnival table side entertainer stopped by and did some card tricks for Britt (Check out Britt's sunkissed cheeks);

 

Carnival Breeze Day 4 by paulmedik, on Flickr

[PaulMedik]

My tasty appetiser;

 

Carnival Breeze Day 4 by paulmedik, on Flickr

 

 

My main course;

 

Carnival Breeze Day 4 by paulmedik, on Flickr

 

Britt's main course;

 

Carnival Breeze Day 4 by paulmedik, on Flickr

 

 

Warm chocolate melting cake for dessert;

 

Carnival Breeze Day 4 by paulmedik, on Flickr

 

After dinner we all went our separate ways again with several of us going to the casino and as I recall Bryson and Heather went to a comedy show and then the casino.

 

Our next day was Curacao and we practically had a full day at sea prior to our 2:PM arrival so I had to eat a hearty breakfast;

 

Carnival Breeze Day 5 by paulmedik, on Flickr

 

 

It was interesting watching our TV Map channel as we drew closer to the island;

 

Carnival Breeze Day 5 by paulmedik, on Flickr

[portlandpete]

love the review and photos! Beautiful family too!

 

Could you please tell me did you get reservations to the resort? How much per person and what was the cost of the taxi??

 

Thanks!

[CarnivalBreeze319]

By any chance was the name of the table-side entertainer named Pablo from California? Did he come to your table every night? Great review!

[PaulMedik]

love the review and photos! Beautiful family too!

 

Could you please tell me did you get reservations to the resort? How much per person and what was the cost of the taxi??

 

Thanks!

 

 

portlandpete,

 

Thank you.

 

Reservations were made via email. econcierge.drelr@dreamsresorts.com

 

Here's her reply to my email;

 

Hi Paul,

Thank you for your enquiry regarding our day passes, it will be my pleasure to assist you.

Our day pass costs $60 per adult (13yrs and above) children under 2 are free and children between those ages get 50% off. This is payable upon arrival via cash or credit card,

The pass is valid between the hours of 10.30am-5pm and entitles you to our all inclusive plan, including food and beverages as well as use of our pools and beach area, please note this does not entitle you to a room or our preferred club.

Your arrival must be confirmed no later than 24 hours before your arrival and all parties must bring ID with them.

If you wish for me to reserve these for you please reply to confirm.

Kind regards

Louise

 

 

The taxi was $8 per person each way and the driver wouldn't budge on price. The taxi was overpriced, but the resort was worth every penny and then some (but don't tell them that ;))

 

 

By any chance was the name of the table-side entertainer named Pablo from California? Did he come to your table every night? Great review!

 

CarnivalBreeze319,

 

Thank you.

 

Yes it was Pablo from California and the boys mentioned seeing him several times. The boys went to the main dining room every night.

[CruisingSpara]

Did you have to rent a room for a night in order to stay at the Dreams for the day? Looks very nice and we might consider going there for a day during our cruise.

[PaulMedik]

Did you have to rent a room for a night in order to stay at the Dreams for the day? Looks very nice and we might consider going there for a day during our cruise.

 

 

CruisingSpara,

 

Yes it is nice. No we did not rent a room. We bought day passes; $60 per adult (13yrs and above) children under 2 are free. Worth every penny. :)

[CarnivalBreeze319]

CarnivalBreeze319,

 

Thank you.

 

Yes it was Pablo from California and the boys mentioned seeing him several times. The boys went to the main dining room every night.

 

We had Pablo too on the Breeze and he was awesome! A great individual and a great Mentalist! This brings back wonderful memories and conversations that we had with him! Thanks for the memories

[PathfinderEss]

Nice review and wonderful pictures.

[Catrin]

What do you mean by wanting a second pair? Are you saying lie to them to get something for free that you shouldn't?

 

We were told by the clerk at Del Sol ( I believe we originally purchased the first pair in Cozumel) that you can request a pair for any reason.... even if you want a second pair. On the postcard that is given with each pair, you have to check off why you need another pair... lost, stolen, broken, or... gave them to someone else! We bought our first pair in 2004, when John Heald was our CD. He was the CD who originally told us about the fantastic deal.... this replacement deal has been going on for a long time.

 

With the cost of the sunglasses... trust me.. they are making their money. The markup on sunglasses is ridiculous!

 

Catrin

[CruisingAgain]

Wonderful review!!