Die-hard Disney fan cruises the Breeze on 11/8/14 and LOVES it or HATES it???

[Ntrain]

I'm glad that I found this report from a family perspective. I'm a long time lurker here. We have a Disney Fantasy cruise booked for the end of August. We have taken 4 DCL cruises, with the August cruise we would have finally cruised on all 4 ships but now because of cost I'm debating if is really worth it. We love love DCL and we are always willing to pay the extra but I was just checking another Carnival Breeze review and it caught my interest. Can get that Cove Balcony for 2,500 less the only difference is that that is a 6 day itinerary. Decisions, decisions...

 

Anyways I'm loving your report, I will follow along and see your final veridict.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Edited January 8, 2015 by Ntrain

[SNJCruisers]

... but now because of cost I'm debating if is really worth it. We love love DCL and we are always willing to pay the extra but I was just checking another Carnival Breeze review and it caught my interest. Can get that Cove Balcony for 2,500 less the only difference is that that is a 6 day itinerary. Decisions, decisions...

That can easily be resolved by choosing an eight day Breeze sailing. You will still save money over Disney and you'll gain an extra day instead of losing one.

[Sherryleea]

Loveysbydesign, I have to tell you that I love your attitude! First when you consider it a plus that the kids camps don't open until later so you "get" to have time with your kids (instead of "having" to like I've seen people complain about).

 

Second, I love how you appreciate little things like how blue the sky was. It's great! :)

[loveysbydesign]

Thanks for such a awesome review! I am also a Disney lover, been on the Disney Dream and WDW many of times. A couple of years ago we started giving our kids the choice of 1 Disney trip/cruise or 2 Carnival cruises and they pick the 2 Carnival every time;) Still love our Disney but over the years it has become quite pricey (as everything). We have not been on the Breeze yet, but have our 2 cruises booked on the Breeze (8 days for both) this year(different itineraries) and cannot wait!!

I have to say that my hubby and kids were quite hesitant to agree to cruise on the Breeze. They loved our Disney cruises so much(as did I), that they were afraid they were going to be disappointed.

I can't wait to see if you like your upcoming cruise!

[loveysbydesign]

Loving this review and I'm taking my second trip on the Breeze later this month for the bloggers cruise. Did the Disney Wonder 13 years ago and we are doing the Disney Fantasy later this year for our 25th anniversary. We even upgraded yesterday to deck 11. Never gone the concierge route before.

 

Loveysbydesign I hope you're doing okay up there in PA. Lived up in Edinboro just off Lake Erie so I know how PA winters are

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

I can not stand PA winters and have been trying to talk hubby into moving to FL for about 3 years now. I keep telling him we can cruise more often if we move to FL, plus we are Disney lovers so we could visit WDW more often as well ;)

I'm glad that I found this report from a family perspective. I'm a long time lurker here. We have a Disney Fantasy cruise booked for the end of August. We have taken 4 DCL cruises, with the August cruise we would have finally cruised on all 4 ships but now because of cost I'm debating if is really worth it. We love love DCL and we are always willing to pay the extra but I was just checking another Carnival Breeze review and it caught my interest. Can get that Cove Balcony for 2,500 less the only difference is that that is a 6 day itinerary. Decisions, decisions...

 

Anyways I'm loving your report, I will follow along and see your final veridict.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Glad you are enjoying the report! We did the 8 night but friends of mine did the 6 night and got off the Breeze the same day we got on. They had never cruised Carnival before and had a fabulous time. They also booked cove balconies!

[loveysbydesign]

Joining in! I was so glad to see this review. We've been on RCI, Carnival and Disney but our last two cruises have been on Disney and we were afraid we'd been spoiled. We love everything Disney and currently have another cruise booked on the Disney Fantasy; however, we are thinking about switching and cruising on the Breeze so that we can use the money saved on another vacation to WDW. I've really enjoyed your review and it's helping make the decision a bit easier! Love all the pictures and can't wait to read the rest of it. Thanks for keeping it up!

 

I have to say that if I had the option of a Disney cruise OR a Breeze cruise plus a trip to WDW then I would def. choose the latter. That being said Disney cruises are amazing and Castaway Cay is just such a beautiful island. While I still long to cruise on Disney I just can not pay the prices they are charging nowadays.

 

Loveysbydesign, I have to tell you that I love your attitude! First when you consider it a plus that the kids camps don't open until later so you "get" to have time with your kids (instead of "having" to like I've seen people complain about).

 

Second, I love how you appreciate little things like how blue the sky was. It's great! :)

 

:) Spending time with my family is the main reason we vacation! Our income is not very high, so we can not vacation nearly as often as we'd like to, I think that makes the vacations we do get to take even more special. It saddens me to think that my oldest is 15 and soon he'll be out on his own living his own life and that the time that I have with him and my other kids is so short and precious.

 

As far as appreciating the little things, that is def. me. I think I drive my family nuts talking about the color of the sky, the bird on the feeder outside our window, how gorgeous the color of the ocean is and how much I love to hear the birds sing...I tend to treasure the small things and I love to take pictures of them too. I'm always saying things like, "hey look at that!", or "hey do you hear that?" or "wait up, that is so pretty I have to take a picture of it!" I've always been that way, I find beauty in the small things and think that many people do not appreciate them. I also know that I will never get to see and do everything I'd love to in my lifetime (due to income and time constraints), so I automatically appreciate the things I do get to see and do.

Edited January 8, 2015 by loveysbydesign

[loveysbydesign]

Just a few more pics. from our walk from the Old Gate to our next destination....

 

 

 

 

 

[loveysbydesign]

So the next stop on our walking tour turned out to be even better that I thought it might be. We are cat lovers and volunteer with a cat rescue group in our area in PA. We have fostered kittens and cats, I help with courtesy listing cats on our group website and many other things. Our oldest is even dubbed "The Cat Whisperer" as usually all 5 of our male cats sleep on his bed with him! We always look for some way to make a difference when we vacation and for this trip it was to give back to the animal species we love so much.

 

When I was researching Old San Juan on tripadvisor I came across http://www.saveagato.com/ cat sanctuary. I had contacted them before our trip about coming and helping at "La Casita", we had planned to help clean out the cats cages and give them lots of loving while we were there. We also planned to donate some cat treats. I called right before we got off the ship that morning and spoke to one of the women who runs it and she told me that someone had already come early that day and cleaned the cages. She explained to me that the woman who was there helping that day did not speak any English, but that we were still welcome to stop by and visit and pet the kitties and drop off our donations. I knew that "La Casita" was a tiny pink house behind a larger building on our walking tour towards the fort. The kids were super excited when that large pink building came in to view and hurried to go past it. We could already see some of the cats as we walked along.

 

 

 

 

As soon as we started crinkling the cat treat bag they all came running!!!

 

 

Edited January 8, 2015 by loveysbydesign

[SenatorsFan]

I'm a cat lover, too, so thanks for all the pictures of the beautiful San Juan cats. I think it's great that you and your family wanted to use some of your vacation time helping out and it's too bad that you didn't have quite the opportunity you thought you would. I'm sure those cats appreciated their treats! :)

Heather

[loveysbydesign]

After giving the outside cats some treats we headed into the la casita to meet the helper and the kitties inside that were waiting for adoption. At this point I realized I had majorly goofed, I had left the bug repellent in our other bag on the ship. The area near la casita was damp, shaded and had lots of mosquitos! Each of us had already been bitten 2-3 times and all I could think about was "chickayunga!!!"

We introduced ourselves and I told her I had talked to the other woman this morning on the "telefono" and that we were there to visit and offer donations. I do know a few spanish words and thankfully "mosquito" is basically the same in english and spanish. She smiled and nodded and offered us some Off spray! I offered her Muchos Gracis!

We walked around and pet the kitties, she was cleaning the ears of some kittens and showed us a mama kitty in a box with her tiny litter of babies. So cute! Some of the kitties there were such unusual colors and were exotic looking, some of them were meowing in the cages just wanting some attention. Then she showed us the the small back room were any kitties that had health issues such as ringworm were located.

It was a very humbling experience, seeing how such a small place was trying to make a big difference in the lives of cats in Old San Juan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 8, 2015 by loveysbydesign

[pghsteelerfan]

I guess I'm interrupting your review...again. Just can't help myself. :) I really enjoyed your latest installment about how you went to help with the cats and loved seeing the pictures. I'm a cat lover and we have four (all males, aka "the boys"), 2 litter mates that are six and two that are just over a year who we adopted from a local rescue. I also volunteered there right after I adopted the two by taking pictures of the cats/kittens available for adoption for their website (which was never updated). This summer I was asked to help two days a week with a 4 day old "bottle baby" and really enjoyed the experience and seeing her grow and eventually get adopted. I was sad to see her and the two other "bottle babies" that were there leave when they were adopted, but that is what it is about, loving them and taking care of them until they get their homes. I'm no longer volunteering since later in the summer the other "volunteers" and I spent more time doing personal house chores for the woman who runs it and not much time actually helping with the cats/kittens. She was also getting very demanding of our time even though we all devoted a lot of our summer to her and it just became an environment that wasn't pleasant to be in. She always stressed that she needed us to "socialize" them so they'd be used to being petted, held, cuddled, and used to people since they are easier to adopt if the are. When I was actually helping with the cats/kittens, I really enjoyed it. It's a shame that there are some who take advantage but that is a reality but I am happy I had the experience and just adored all the cats and kittens.

 

I'm really enjoying your review, by the way, and your pictures are beautiful. We missed the walkway by the fountain in San Juan when we were there but still made it to the fort. I'm enjoying seeing your pictures along that way (past the fountain and along the base of the fort walls) I wanted to take and I hope to get back. I'll be sure to bring some cat treats along and look for the pink building. :)

Edited January 8, 2015 by pghsteelerfan

[loveysbydesign]

Then we went back outside to share cat treats with some more of them! The kids were in heaven, petting and loving on all those cats! Every minute or 2 I heard "Mom come over here, look at this one!" So here are some more kitty pics!

 

 

 

 

 

This one was my oldest's favorite!

 

 

 

 

 

 

I wanted to take this guy home with us!

 

Edited January 8, 2015 by loveysbydesign

[loveysbydesign]

I'm a cat lover, too, so thanks for all the pictures of the beautiful San Juan cats. I think it's great that you and your family wanted to use some of your vacation time helping out and it's too bad that you didn't have quite the opportunity you thought you would. I'm sure those cats appreciated their treats! :)

Heather

 

It was such a wonderful experience and I really think my kids would have stayed there all day if we would have let them! it was hard for them to say goodbye to the kitties.

 

I guess I'm interrupting your review...again. Just can't help myself. :) I really enjoyed your latest installment about how you went to help with the cats and loved seeing the pictures. I'm a cat lover and we have four (all males, aka "the boys"), 2 litter mates that are six and two that are just over a year who we adopted from a local rescue. I also volunteered there right after I adopted the two by taking pictures of the cats/kittens available for adoption for their website (which was never updated). This summer I was asked to help two days a week with a 4 day old "bottle baby" and really enjoyed the experience and seeing her grow and eventually get adopted. I was sad to see her and the two other "bottle babies" that were there leave when they were adopted, but that is what it is about, loving them and taking care of them until they get their homes. I'm no longer volunteering since later in the summer the other "volunteers" and I spent more time doing personal house chores for the woman who runs it and not much time actually helping with the cats/kittens. She was also getting very demanding of our time even though we all devoted a lot of our summer to her and it just became an environment that wasn't pleasant to be in. She always stressed that she needed us to "socialize" them so they'd be used to being petted, held, cuddled, and used to people since they are easier to adopt if the are. When I was actually helping with the cats/kittens, I really enjoyed it. It's a shame that there are some who take advantage but that is a reality but I am happy I had the experience and just adored all the cats and kittens.

 

I'm really enjoying your review, by the way, and your pictures are beautiful. We missed the walkway by the fountain in San Juan when we were there but still made it to the fort. I'm enjoying seeing your pictures along that way (past the fountain and along the base of the fort walls) I wanted to take and I hope to get back. I'll be sure to bring some cat treats along and look for the pink building. :)

 

Thanks for helping kitties in need! I bet there is another rescue near you that you could help with that may be a better experience ;) I know that near me there are many rescues and sometimes you just have the right fit for you. I can't believe she would have you doing personal chores for her, that is nuts!

I love how the pics. turned out, believe it or not I just wish that I had taken more! After La Casita we didn't get back down to the rest of the path as we wanted to head up to the fort and the kids were getting hot and tired, hopefully we'll get back again some time and can walk the entire thing!

[uprivermama]

We loved the Chewbacca tree too (although we decided it was called the gecko tree due to the abundance of those little guys climbing all over it!) Here's my youngest getting caught off guard in front of "Chewie"

 

I'm enjoying your review! I, too, am going on the Breeze for my 40th birthday :eek:--mine's in July!

[dh464]

What a great review love all the picture. My family will sail the breeze in nov for the first time. So excited!

[loveysbydesign]

We loved the Chewbacca tree too (although we decided it was called the gecko tree due to the abundance of those little guys climbing all over it!) Here's my youngest getting caught off guard in front of "Chewie"

 

I'm enjoying your review! I, too, am going on the Breeze for my 40th birthday :eek:--mine's in July!

Great pic! Love your son's face!

[loveysbydesign]

What a great review love all the picture. My family will sail the breeze in nov for the first time. So excited!

You'll love it!!!

[loveysbydesign]

So after spending well over 45 minutes at La Casita (we had only planned to stay 30) the kids grudgingly agreed we could leave and walk up to el Morro. By now it was 11:30 and I had a feeling we would probably not spend as much time as we had planned too at el Morro as the kids are usually starving around noon. So we sadly bid "adios" to La casita and headed towards the fort.

We passed a small playground and a group of school kids going on a field trip as we walked along. We got to the top of the path and there it was! Wow...the grass area around it was huge and such a lovely shade of green, we could see a few white kites flying up in the beautiful blue sky.

 

 

And so we began the long walk up the long, hot path!

 

 

 

 

Looking back at how far we had walked!

 

Edited January 9, 2015 by loveysbydesign

[loveysbydesign]

After stopping half way up and getting a drink we realize we have drank the last of our water and juice pouches. Thankfully once we get inside there are water fountains so we just refill the water bottles there. I normally pack too many water bottles, but this time I wish we had brought more as it was getting very hot. I for one was enjoying the hot sunshine and was thrilled to be able to wear a sundress and flip flops in mid-Nov.!!!

 

 

 

We paid the cheap entry fee and in we went! After looking at the map I thought there was no way we were going to see it all! We decide to concentrate on the inside grounds of the fort and then explore the outside if we had time. I didn't take pics. of all the rooms at the the fort as my 7 y.o. kept wanting to go here and there.

 

 

 

 

After heading down the 1st set of steps my daughter said she had a headache, so I had her rest in the shade and drink more water while the boys explored a bit.

 

 

 

Edited January 9, 2015 by loveysbydesign

[loveysbydesign]

There are some many different levels and areas to look at, I wish I had looked at a map of the layout of the fort before we visited it! My 15 y.o. enjoyed reading about the fort on all the little signs that were at different areas of the fort.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 9, 2015 by loveysbydesign

[jenseib]

How nice if you to bring some cat treats.

The fort looks so neat. I have seen others pictures there too and it looks huge!

[loveysbydesign]

We went down into the fort and toured some of the the lower areas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 12, 2015 by loveysbydesign

[loveysbydesign]

Then we headed up towards the lighthouse at the top! We ended up taking the triangle stairs, they were really neat. Each step was foot or more high, making them hard to climb, esp. if you have short legs. I could not imagine the guards running up and down them with armor and weapons on them.

 

 

 

 

 

We made it!

 

 

 

We were all shocked and excited to see this guy basking in the sun!

 

 

[loveysbydesign]

A few more pics. from the top.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By now it was 12:20 and we were all starving! We decided to hit the bathrooms at the fort, refill our water bottles and then head out and walk down to the trolley. We had planned to eat lunch at Casa Cortes, I was just hoping we would get there before they all turned in to starving monsters!

Edited January 12, 2015 by loveysbydesign

[loveysbydesign]

I will try and get another update today or tomorrow, my poor little guy is not feeling well at all. He has type A flu and an adenovirus (that is giving him pinkeye, a rash and tummy upset, along with the flu symptoms he already has) :(

Edited January 13, 2015 by loveysbydesign