GAPearl's Big BREEZE Review! 8 Day Southern Itinerary 9/28/13.

[chocoqueen]

I am guessing you are a Royal Carbbean Fan?

 

I've been on Freedom of the seas (the best), oasis of the seas and Carnival Dream (nightmare, worst service ever).

 

My next one will be either liberty of the seas or independence of the seas.;)

[chocoqueen]

Awww thank you so much! You have a beautiful island! I hope I did it a little justice in my review. :) So as a local resident, what's the story you heard about the bright paint on the buildings? Just curious. :D

 

 

I just love all your reviews:). And I'm afraid that seems to be the true story about the bright paint on the buildings.

:(

[familycruzinnewbie]

How was debarkation? We are flying out of FLL after the cruise, and I noticed it doesn't dock until 8am.

[angelofsin]

I've been on Freedom of the seas (the best), oasis of the seas and Carnival Dream (nightmare, worst service ever).

 

My next one will be either liberty of the seas or independence of the seas.;)

 

My next cruise will be on explorer of the seas..:cool:

[gapearl]

Sunday, 10/7

 

Well there’s not much to say here except they made me leave my ship! Back in the summer, the thought crossed my mind about turning this into a B2B since I had this whole week off. I said nahhhh, but right about now, I was wishing I did!

 

I left a few extra dollars for my cabin steward, as well as half a bottle of wine I never finished and a 6 pack of pineapple juice I never even touched (since my rum didn’t make it past security in Grand Turk). We were having breakfast around 8:30ish and off the ship around 9something.

 

Permission to start crying now please! :(

 

Debarkation was fast. I had a porter help us with our (umm, my) many bags. The customs officer barely looked at the customs form. Out the door we went to take the National/Alamo shuttle back to the airport to get another rental car. We stayed at the Comfort Suites Ft. Lauderdale Airport and flew out first thing Monday morning. No need to post pictures of the room. It looks exactly like the room we had in Miami, only without the couch.

 

Ok, so recap of the cruise.

 

Miami

• Stayed at Comfort Suites Miami Airport North
  

 

• Gator Park
  

 

• Nightlife- Bongo’s, Mova, Twist
  

Grand Turk

• Her Majesty’s Prison
  

 

• Turks & Caicos National Museum
  

 

• Salt House
  

 

• Jack’s Shack
  

La Romana, Dominican Republic

• River Chavon Special through Seavis Tours
  

Aruba

• Tours at port for $20
  

 

• Local Store Aruba next to ship for drinks if you’re in port late, free wifi
  

Curacao

• Irie Tours
  

Ship Highlights

• Thrill Theater
  

 

• Ropes course
  

 

• Waterslides
  

 

• Fat Jimmy’s C-Side BBQ on sea days
  

 

• Cucina del Capitano for lunch
  

 

• Chocolate buffet last day ·
  

 

• Punchliner Comedy Club- get there early
  

 

• Martini Tasting at the Piano Bar
  

 

• Red Frog & Blue Iguana deck parties
  

 

• Dive in movies- lido deck at night
  

[thumperphi]

No! No! It can't be over! What am I going to read?:(

 

It was an awesome review! Glad you had such a great cruise! Thank you for telling us all!:D

[gapearl]

I considered buying FTTF, and I’m glad I didn’t. Boarding was delayed, and even still we were on the ship 10 minutes after FTTF was called. We were in our cabin as soon as we were done eating lunch. There always seemed to be a long line at guest services, but I never had the need to stop by there anyways. This cruise had no tender ports so no need for priority tendering. I know some people have bought it and loved it. For me though, the $50 would not have been worth it this cruise.

 

I was going to buy a bottle of rum from bon voyage until I actually went and looked at the prices. I was like oh Lord Jesus, it’s a fire! $75 for a bottle of Malibu rum!?! :eek: Ain’t nobody got time for that! I did buy one $25 cruise cash. I meant to buy a few more in the months leading up to the cruise so I’d already have a nice stash of obc when I boarded, but I just didn’t think about it any more and never did.

 

I had some NOISY neighbors. There was a large family on my hallway (probably 20 people) and there was lots of loud talking, doors slamming, kids running down the hall, etc. I’ve never had rude neighbors ever on any other cruise. People, please be considerate of others!

 

And now on to the sewage smell! I did smell it once when I was on deck 1 aft, and again when I was on deck 12 aft by the outdoor workout area. I don’t know how it would be possible to exercise out there because you wouldn’t be able to breathe from that smell! It was awful! But those were the only two times I noticed it.

 

This was the first time I’ve ever tried your time dining, and I don’t think it’s for me. I love the flexibility it offers. Going to dinner around 7:15 pm was perfect. There was never a wait and plenty of tables were always available. However, I miss fixed dining. I love coming to the same table every night to the same waiters and dinner mates. The waiters know you by name and are able to anticipate your needs after they get to know you a little. You sit down, BAM, everything runs like a well oiled machine. Our first couple of nights, it took 15 minutes before we even received water. I always requested a large table and only received this once, the first night. I don’t care for the two tops. I like sitting with others and chatting. I will definitely be going back to late dining from now on.

 

There were way too many people wearing jeans on the elegant nights. I’ve never seen this before. They never should have been let in. Flame me if you want, I can take it. I adhered to the dress code. :rolleyes:

 

If you buy a Tervis tumbler from the Red Frog Pub or Blue Iguana Tequila Bar, you can have it refilled all cruise with your favorite frozen drink and receive 16 oz for the price of a 12 oz.

 

I wish Quest was played on the Breeze. I haven’t played it on Carnival since the Valor back in 2011.

 

I read a Breeze review a couple of months ago where someone said Bianca from the Cruise Confidential books was her server. (If you have no idea what book I’m talking about, Google it, buy it, read it, and laugh through it.) I asked my server the first night if he knew her, and he said no. Then I asked Assistant Cruise Director Brittany if she knew of her, and she said she’d do some digging. A few days later, a waitress from Romania took my picture in the MDR. Bianca was from Romania, so surely they’d know each other if she was onboard. Nope. I saw Brittany again on night 7 and she said Bianca was not on the Breeze at the time. It would have been cool to meet her though! :)

 

Before the Punchliner shows begin, the comedy host does a little mini set himself. That’s new. Normally they just give the rules and introduce the comedians.

 

I LOVED my spa cabin! The location was perfect and I loved all the little extra amenities. However, that being said, I don’t think I would have splurged $150 for a week long spa pass. With the spa cabin, you also get two free yoga classes per person. Unfortunately I never made it to one.

 

The ship was very clean. Someone was ALWAYS cleaning something! ALWAYS!

 

I didn’t do the cheers package. $50 a day x 8 days = $400 + 15% gratuity ($60) = $460 x 2 (both people in room must buy) = $920. That’s a lot of money just for drinks for a week! My mom doesn’t drink so it wouldn’t have been worth it, but even if I was sailing solo, $460 would be too much. I think I spent around $100 or so in drinks for the week, plus I brought two bottles of wine (and surprisingly didn’t finish one).

 

Another big design boo boo is the fact that there’s no elevator that goes all the way up to Serenity. You can take the elevator up to deck 12, but then you have to climb two more sets of stairs. That’s not good for those who would like to enjoy Serenity but have mobility issues.

 

I did see signs posted about the 40 minute chair rule. However, I don’t think it ever was needed to be enforced. I always saw an abundance of chairs available by the pool, on Serenity, everywhere. I don’t know if there were chair hogs by the pool on the first sea since I was in a chair by the Ocean Plaza area, but on the last two sea days, there never were.

 

This roll call was THE ABSOLUTE BEST I have ever met on a cruise! You guys rock! Let's do this again someday! :D

 

Even though this was kind of a longer cruise being 8 days, it still wasn’t long enough. There’s just so much to see and do and experience on this awesome ship!

[gapearl]

Winners Luck Casino

 

 

 

 

 

 

[gapearl]

These little Fun Hub computers were located throughout the ship. You could access anything Carnival free of charge.

 

 

Red Frog Pub on deck 5.

 

 

 

 

[gapearl]

 

Basketball court with bleachers.

 

 

 

Outdoor exercise area.

 

 

 

[gapearl]

 

 

The whale tail!

 

 

Nope! No chair hogs! Just a beautiful view and total relaxation.

 

 

 

[gapearl]

Adults only Serenity area.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[gapearl]

You can see here how big Serenity really is! I took these from stairs leading to the waterslides.

 

 

 

 

 

And for those of you who want to burn calories from all the 24 hour ice cream and pizza, here's the gym.

 

 

I have no idea what kind of class this is. Maybe something like Insanity of P90X?

 

 

[gapearl]

 

 

 

Hint: Use the treadmills on the second row to avoid being directly in front of the sun.

 

 

 

[gapearl]

 

 

 

[gapearl]

I just loved these lanterns.

 

 

This was at deck 11, literally a 10 second walk from my door.

 

 

Lots of seating areas like this around, including a designated smoking area.

 

 

[gapearl]

Art that will be for sale at the art auction. I wanted to go check it out (after reading Ship For Brains, Google it too lol) but never made it.

 

 

 

There are lots of little nooks with places like this to sit.

 

 

The Massina Duo that performed Latin music in the atrium.

 

 

 

 

[gapearl]

Spa menu and prices. Wait until port days, even the last day, for the best specials.

 

 

 

You'll get this if you're booked in a spa cabin.

 

 

 

 

 

[gapearl]

Club O2 Schedule.

 

 

 

 

[gapearl]

 

 

 

 

[gapearl]

So what happened with G and I? Well we’ve been in contact a little, unfortunately not a lot though. But this is where having my job comes in very handy! We spent some time together last week when I was in his city, only 11 days after saying goodbye from the Breeze. He lives on the west coast, so it’s not like we’re close. I’ll be in his area again next week. Hopefully we’ll be able to hang out again then or coordinate our schedules to meet up some other time soon if not. If we eventually begin dating, then great! I'll have an awesome story to tell on the shipboard love stories board. LOL If not, well I have a new friend. I had the time of my life on this cruise, in part thanks to him. Only God knows what will come of this. Whether it’s with G, or a W, or a T, or a B, or whomever, I really do hope to bring you “GAPearl’s Wedding Cruise Review” one day! :) But don't be expecting it any time soon. ;) haha

Thanks for reading! :D:D:D

[Chitownlou]

So what happened with G and I? Well we’ve been in contact a little, unfortunately not a lot though. But this is where having my job comes in very handy! We spent some time together last week when I was in his city, only 11 days after saying goodbye from the Breeze. He lives on the west coast, so it’s not like we’re close. I’ll be in his area again next week. Hopefully we’ll be able to hang out again then or coordinate our schedules to meet up some other time soon if not. If we eventually begin dating, then great! I'll have an awesome story to tell on the shipboard love stories board. LOL If not, well I have a new friend. I had the time of my life on this cruise, in part thanks to him. Only God knows what will come of this. Whether it’s with G, or a W, or a T, or a B, or whomever, I really do hope to bring you “GAPearl’s Wedding Cruise Review” one day! :) But don't be expecting it any time soon. ;) haha

Thanks for reading! :D:D:D

 

A+ Review as always!

 

Sent from my SGH-T999 using Forums mobile app

[Shake-n-Bake]

Thank you for another fantastic review. You are so good at this and I look forward to your next adventures and writing about them. :D

[girlscruise2011]

So what happened with G and I? Well we’ve been in contact a little, unfortunately not a lot though. But this is where having my job comes in very handy! We spent some time together last week when I was in his city, only 11 days after saying goodbye from the Breeze. He lives on the west coast, so it’s not like we’re close. I’ll be in his area again next week. Hopefully we’ll be able to hang out again then or coordinate our schedules to meet up some other time soon if not. If we eventually begin dating, then great! I'll have an awesome story to tell on the shipboard love stories board. LOL If not, well I have a new friend. I had the time of my life on this cruise, in part thanks to him. Only God knows what will come of this. Whether it’s with G, or a W, or a T, or a B, or whomever, I really do hope to bring you “GAPearl’s Wedding Cruise Review” one day! :) But don't be expecting it any time soon. ;) haha

Thanks for reading! :D:D:D

 

Thanks for the review and the G update. Good luck and I'm looking forward to any review by you especially the Wedding Cruise :D

[dst]

Thank you so much for taking time to do a review - it was wonderful!

 

We will be getting married on the Breeze in just a few months so if you ever get married on a cruise, I'll pay you back and do a review for you :D

 

Happy Sailing