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Carnival Breeze 9/8 Review with Pictures

CruisinSinceIwasBorn

By CruisinSinceIwasBorn,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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CruisinSinceIwasBorn

CruisinSinceIwasBorn

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[B]Day 6 - Lucky Day at Sea[/B]

Another morning, another beautiful sunrise. DW and I were up early because we wanted to be in the studio audience of the Carnival Breeze morning show hosted by Butch the CD and Kelly/Ryan the ACD. The show is filmed and broadcasted live from the Ovation theater. There were around 15 or so people that were there. One of the benefits of going is that they give away a lot of free items.

The show starts with a showcase of the drink of the day. Today's drink was a pineapple drink that was actually in the pineapple. The running joke is that Kelly drinks the DoD during the show. They also give one to someone in the audience. Without even raising my hand, Ryan (the host of the trivia show) brought me the drink.

Pineapple Drink of the Day:
[URL=http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/534/mqwm.jpg/][IMG]http://img534.imageshack.us/img534/1150/mqwm.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

The drink was pretty good, but at 9am, it was a little too much for me. The show was about 45 minutes and was very entertaining. A few other people in the audience won some jewelry and other items.

After the morning show, we made our way to the beach pool. As was usual for this cruise, there were tons of free chairs, and it was 10am! We grabbed some breakfast snacks to nibble on while we watched the "Fun Ashore" video on the big screen for the 93rd time (more on that in the final recap).

At 11am, they had a Bingo game by the pool for half price. DW and I always play 1 game of Bingo per cruise, so we figured, what the hell. The game was $20, which was apparently half priced. There were probably at least 100 people playing, yet the two games had jackpots of $100 and $200. Pretty awful payouts in my opinion. Carnival made a killing on that one. Unfortunately, we didn't win.

At 1130, it the Groove for St. Jude. For those of you not familiar with Carnival, Carnival has an awesome program that benefits St. Jude's hospital for children. For a $10 donation, you get a T-shirt and a rubber wrist band. Your entire $10 goes directly to St. Jude's. They then have a mini dance party by the pool. DW and I always participate because we can't justify spending $10 for a drink and then being too cheap to make a donation. Usually on our cruises, they get an enormous turn out. Unfortunately, there were very few people that participated. It was actually really sad that the Bingo line was 30 deep, but the St. Jude's line was only 3 people. Butch led a small line dance party at 1130 and DW and I ran up to join him with our shirts on.

Wife doing the wobble:
[URL=http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/547/9dh0.jpg/][IMG]http://img547.imageshack.us/img547/2070/9dh0.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

At noon, it was time for some food. After deliberation, we decided to go with Guy's. We both decided to get the "Ringer" again. Delicious.

Now that it was after 12, it was time to have a beer by the pool. The water was once again very warm, oh well. It still felt nice with a cold beer. At 1pm they had the traditional ice carving demonstration. It ended up being an indian chief's head. I was pretty impressed, especially considering he carved it in about 15 minutes.

Next up was the Miss Carnival Breeze competition. They made an announcement that they needed 6 males to be the judges. A friend I met from the roll call and I both happily signed up to be judges. Well, that was a mistake. Turns out that the men were also [I]competing[/I] to be Miss Carnival Breeze. After making it through the first round competition with my female partner, I then competed against 2 other males. For this part, my female teammate had to dress me up like a woman. After another competitor was eliminated, my lone competitor and I had to walk the "cat walk." I guess I'm good because I won that stage. Next up, I had to face off against my female teammate. I had made such a fool of myself by that point, I won easily. Yes ladies and gentlemen, I was crowned Miss Carnival Breeze. For my victory, I won a ship on a stick and a crappy bottle of champaign.

Yep...
[URL=http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/89/vbhc.jpg/][IMG]http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/6056/vbhc.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

After that embarrassment, we decided to check out round 2 of Hasbro the game show. Once again, the place was packed, and we showed up 15 minutes early. The first game was Sorry! sliders. The red team (our team) dominated as usual. The second game was a skeeball version of Operation. Butch saw us in the stands and called up DW to be on the show. She was really excited. The blue team went first and did pretty well. The red team (DW's team) then was up and completely dominated. They had 60 seconds to try to beat them and beat them in 30. Each winner got to choose an "ATM card" with a different Monopoly piece on it. DW picked the card with the thimble on it. After both games were played, the winner come on stage and put their ATM cards in the machine. The computer then spits out its randomly assigned amount. The highest amount wins a $150 Hasbro gift card. DW was the third to last and had the current highest amount. The next person was lower and out. The last person put their card in and the total kept going up and up closer to DW's. Then suddenly it stopped $50 short of DW's. She won!

[URL=http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/822/91zb.jpg/][IMG]http://img822.imageshack.us/img822/1283/91zb.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

DW is a resident at a hospital, and before she was even selected to play a game, she stated that if she won, she would donate the gift card to the children's hospital. Sure enough, she won, and I am happy to say that the Children's Hospital is getting $150 of new board games for their play room!

After the game show, we decided to hit the water slides for a bit and then go to the spa to sweat it out. As always, it was incredible. Tonight was the second formal night so DW and I put on our formal clothes. A note about this sailing. There were a large number of people that dressed up for the formal nights. We actually saw quite a few tuxedos and gowns. It was actually really nice to see so many people participating in the formal night. Dinner was alright. Not great, not bad. Jasmina and her staff were excellent as always, which made a fair meal good.

We made our way to the Red Frog Pub to play some foosball before trivia.

My second home on the Breeze:
[URL=http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/853/n109.jpg/][IMG]http://img853.imageshack.us/img853/1121/n109.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

At 8pm on the dot, we joined our trivia friends to play adult pub quiz. Let's just say, we were on fire. At the end, the announced three teams were within 1 point of each other. After a dramatic announcement, we were announced as the winners! With the adult pub quiz, you aren't competing for a ship on a stick, you are competing for free alcohol! You have a choice of a fishbowl cocktail or a 121 ounce beer tower. We wanted to share, so we chose the beer tower full of Thirsty Frog Red. It was delicious and we were able to share with the other people in the bar.

Winners!
[URL=http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/713/tmle.jpg/][IMG]http://img713.imageshack.us/img713/9943/tmle.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

Our pub friends weren't drinking....well that changed. Angie started playing and we couldn't get pulled away it was so great. Ryan and some of the other staff then joined up with us when they got off work. We ordered another tower and had a great time at the pub enjoying the music. Late in the night we went to Liquid Nightclub and hung out with different staff members. It was a lot of fun. At 2am, it was time to call it a day. We stopped by pizza pirate for a daily pizza and then made our way to bed. It was a great day and truly a highlight of the vacation.
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anamarieus

anamarieus

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really great review so far! which was better the tacos/burritos or Guys burgers? im so excited to go! was there a reef at grand turk?

im disappointed u have to pay for the steam room and sauna usage, but im planning on getting a spa package

we are in room 1215 upper lower berth with two portholes in front of ship. so excited!!!

cant wait for more of your review!
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CruisinSinceIwasBorn

CruisinSinceIwasBorn

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[quote name='anamarieus']really great review so far! which was better the tacos/burritos or Guys burgers? im so excited to go! was there a reef at grand turk?

im disappointed u have to pay for the steam room and sauna usage, but im planning on getting a spa package

we are in room 1215 upper lower berth with two portholes in front of ship. so excited!!!

cant wait for more of your review![/QUOTE]

In terms of Guys vs Blue, we really enjoyed both. Guy's was great if you wanted a greasy, filling and delicious burger with a great selection of toppings. Blue's was great when you wanted a lighter, healthier option. The salsa/toppings bar really made it my wife's favorite.

I believe there is a small reef at Grand Turk. DW and I didn't snorkel there, but friends from our roll call did a scuba excursion and said it was good, not great.

I believe there is a small sauna in the non-VIP locker room outside of the gym. Never went to see if because we used the spa sauna.

Thanks for the complement. I will finish it out this weekend. Stay tuned.
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CruisinSinceIwasBorn

CruisinSinceIwasBorn

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[quote name='lifeisgoodPat']Great review, you really make it come alive. We will be on the Breeze in December and I am so looking forward to seeing it again.... I love the "Breeze".[/QUOTE]

That is quite the cruise history. Breeze was BY FAR the nicest Carnival ship I have been on. I think our next cruise will be the 8-day. Have a great time.
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CruisinSinceIwasBorn

CruisinSinceIwasBorn

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[quote name='WorldsMine']Loved your review. I'm on the Breeze tomorrow. (1st cruise on CCL) Can't wait. Was Guy's Burger open on the embark day? I haven't had a burger in forever and plan to have one on the boat as soon as I get on.[/QUOTE]

Yes, Guy's was open on Embarkation Day. I checked the Fun Times and it opened at 11am, as did all of the other food options. On every other day, all lunch places are open 12-230pm.
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CruisinSinceIwasBorn

CruisinSinceIwasBorn

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[quote name='lifeisgoodPat']I noticed that you were on the Norway 3 times...... I loved that ship. We wanted to go back but by the time we got around to it, it had that terrible explosion and wouldn't be anymore. It broke my heart that it ended its sailing days that way.[/QUOTE]

Norway was an incredible ship. There was just something about it that kept drawing my family back to it. Every time you were onboard it was like stepping back into the past.
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CruisinSinceIwasBorn

CruisinSinceIwasBorn

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[B]Day 7 - Nassauggg, Bahamas[/B]

My wife and I joke that it seems like at this point we have a vacation home in Nassau. We have now been there 3 times in 10 months. The Bahamas are beautiful, but in my opinion, Nassau is not. Unfortunately, just about every Carnival cruise stops there. For this visit, we were there from 8am until 5pm. The port was packed with the Disney Dream as well as the Carnival Fantasy and Sensation. DW and I were in no hurry to get off the ship, so we decided to sleep in (we were up very late the night before). Rather than get up, we decided to watch a movie in bed. Carnival runs two movie stations that play a different movie each day on repeat. It was a chick flick, so I read while DW watched.

At around 10 or so, we decided to get up so that our house staff could service the cabin. We knew we weren't going to get off long, so we bypassed breakfast and made our way to the gangway. For those of you that have never been to Nassau, it is a huge cruise port with parking spots for a large number of ships. If you get a bad parking spot at the end of the port, like we did, it's about a 10 minute walk to the terminal. For people with mobility issues, they run a courtesy shuttle. While we were walking, we noticed some very ominous clouds coming in and hurried to the terminal. As soon as we walked in, torrential rain began. You will notice as soon as you walk into the terminal about 200 crew members huddled to the left on their computers. The terminal has free wireless internet. Well, you get what your paid for. Every time I have tried to log in, it takes about 5 minutes to load an email. It was really frustrating, and I gave up.

Inside the terminal, Festival Place, there are some craft stores and stands to buy low priced bottled water and Kalik beer. We walked around the circle about 4 times waiting for the rain to end. Once it did, we decided to just head back to the ship. Most of the streets had flooded slightly, and with Nassau not being the cleanest place and both DW and I were wearing sandals, we decided to head back.

Because the ship was empty, we decided we would hit up Cucina del Capitano for lunch.

[URL=http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/801/bbb0.jpg/][IMG]http://img801.imageshack.us/img801/6838/bbb0.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

For people unfamiliar, Cucina is located about the Lido Marketplace. For dinner there is a $12 surcharge, but for lunch, they prepare pasta to order for free. They give you a sheet with all different options and the wait staff will deliver it to your table when it is ready. It was great and the portions were huge. We thought it would be small and we would get some tacos as well, but there were no seconds after that meal!

Delicious!
[URL=http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/191/xboa.jpg/][IMG]http://img191.imageshack.us/img191/1520/xboa.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

After lunch, we were in a food coma. We had had enough sun for the week, so we grabbed our books and made our way to the padded chairs that surround the pool deck on deck 11. It didn't take long before we both fell asleep. At 215, DW woke me up so that we could go hit up the BlueIguana Cantina one more time. I wasn't hungry, but I forced a couple of tacos down. After those last tacos, we made our way back to the room. I did some more reading on the balcony while the wife watched another movie on TV. When we made our way back to our cabin, we made a sad discovery.

Baggage Tags....
[URL=http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/4/33s5.jpg/][IMG]http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/641/33s5.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

At 5pm, it was time for the Breeze to make its way back to Miami. DW and I got our final Miami Vice's and went out onto our balcony to watch the ship leave the port. We were parked next to the Disney Dream on our side of the ship. It was really cool that when we were sailing out, a lot of people on the Disney Dream came out on their balcony and people on both ships were waving goodbye to one another. The Breeze would sound its horn, and then the other Carnival ships and the Disney ship played their horns in response. It was a really cool sail away.

Saying goodbye
[URL=http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/708/8ua2.jpg/][IMG]http://img708.imageshack.us/img708/2903/8ua2.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

[URL=http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/841/r6qq.jpg/][IMG]http://img841.imageshack.us/img841/4336/r6qq.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

After sail away, we made our last walk around the promenade talking about what a great vacation we had had.

[URL=http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/51/1rw6.jpg/][IMG]http://img51.imageshack.us/img51/5827/1rw6.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

We then made our way to the Sapphire dining room for our last meal. Dinner was pretty bad, the worst of the cruise, but hey, the next night we were going to have to make our own dinner! We of course had to get one last chocolate melting cake. At 8pm we went to one last trivia to say goodbye to our friends and the ACD Ryan. We didn't win, but it was still a good time. After trivia there was a mini game show in the theater to identify the liar. It was entertaining, but nothing memorable. There was a final goodbye show that we went to briefly, but then decided to head back to the cabin and go to sleep. It was a wonderful vacation, and it was sad knowing that someone else would be sleeping in our "home" the next day.
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cruzeluver

cruzeluver

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[QUOTE]
Thanks for a great review. Welcome back home. I just have a quick question. Which cruise line did you prefer... Royal Caribbean or Carnival? Other posters have been wondering. Thank you once again and I am glad you had a vacation of a lifetime :)
[/QUOTE]

To the OP - In the interest of full disclosure, the above poster is asking because they have been proven to be posting false information on a thread over on the Royal board. Now this person is asserting that you used to be a "loyal Royal Caribbean cruiser". Not sure how they came to that conclusion. "Other posters" have not been wandering. Here is the thread I am referring to:

[URL]http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1913306[/URL]
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janetz

janetz

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[quote name='CarnivalBreeze319']Thanks for a great review. Welcome back home. I just have a quick question. Which cruise line did you prefer... Royal Caribbean or Carnival? Other posters have been wondering. Thank you once again and I am glad you had a vacation of a lifetime :)[/quote]


[SIZE=3]Which other posters? lol[/SIZE]
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CruisinSinceIwasBorn

CruisinSinceIwasBorn

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[quote name='kapcruiser']Thanks for the great review. We will be on the breeze in a month, you provided so much helpful information. The pasta dish looked great, what kind of sauce is on it, looked very light.[/QUOTE]

Thanks kap. That was actually the alfredo sauce. It was really light for alfredo and I enjoyed it greatly. Have a great cruise. DW got the clam sauce and enjoyed it.
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CruisinSinceIwasBorn

CruisinSinceIwasBorn

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[quote name='cruzeluver']To the OP - In the interest of full disclosure, the above poster is asking because they have been proven to be posting false information on a thread over on the Royal board. Now this person is asserting that you used to be a "loyal Royal Caribbean cruiser". Not sure how they came to that conclusion. "Other posters" have not been wandering. Here is the thread I am referring to:

[URL]http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1913306[/URL][/QUOTE]

Don't know whats going on here, but I enjoy both lines. The only line that I was loyal to that I won't go on again is NCL.
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CruisinSinceIwasBorn

CruisinSinceIwasBorn

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[quote name='gapearl']Congratulations Miss Carnival Breeze! LOL LOL LOL :p:D:D

I saw that in a copy of the Fun Times and was wondering what it was all about. Now I know it's definitely not to miss![/QUOTE]

I talked to the fun staff after and apparently each member does the Miss Carnival Breeze contest differently each week. It's definitely a don't miss.
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