Beagle Feels a Warm Caribbean Breeze – Review with Pics

[Beagleluv6107]

Hello CC Family,

 

It’s a little bitter sweet to be back writing another review because that means I must be off the ship. (insert tears here) BUT, I do love writing lengthy reviews and showing pics so here we go. The first thing I must admit is that I cheated on the Carnival Boards. Yep… I posted a review about the Norwegian Pride of America. I wish I knew how to link the post to my signature because it was by far, my best review. We wanted to celebrate our 10-year anniversary and the POA offered a 7-day trip around the Hawaiian Islands and Carnival was more like 11+ days and we just didn’t have that much vacation time. That brings me to our background intro’s... We were married in St. Thomas during a cruise on the Carnival Destiny in 2008. It’s now the Sunshine. We like to cruise at least every two years. In 2017, we cruised out of Baltimore on the Pride. We had 16 friends join us because we could drive to the port and save on airfare. This time around we were flying into Orlando and boarding the Breeze, so we only had 6 in our gang.

 

I love to diet down before getting on board. It takes away some of the guilt I might feel going for that “midnight pizza”. I usually have a partner on the crash dieting but this year DH decided not to join me. It made things that much harder watching him eat whatever he wanted. However, I did have to chuckle when those vacation clothes of his were a bit snug. They are supposed to be snug at the end of the cruise not before we hit the airport. (insert sinister laugh here!)

 

Before I get started, I do have another funny pre-cruise mishap to share. I usually do something ridiculous in the name of beauty. Last year, I tried eye lash extensions and looked worse than Tammy Faye before I had the tech cut them down. This year, the Sunday before we left, I put a treatment on my hair to take out the brassy/orange color I get from “hard” well water. I guess I left it on a “wee” bit too long. I turned sections of my hair purple!! Ugh!! It’s always something with me. Always!! 😏

Poor DH, he just rolls his eyes.

 

We typically cruise in April but one of our gang is in the nursing program and could only have spring break off in early March. I’m very curious how this will affect our cruise overall. We are a fun group, so I was hoping everything would be fine. March weather can be tricky so we all decided to fly in the day before. We reserved Go Port Canaveral. They offered a pick up at the airport and drop off to a hotel for the night, then they pick you up in the morning and take you to the port. After the cruise, they pick you up at the port and drive you back to the airport. It seemed like an awesome deal. Our price for 2 people was $230 plus $30 in tax. Our friends shared a room and it was $280 plus tax. That was a good deal for 4 people!

 

I choose the Hampton Inn by the airport. Our flight didn’t get in until 6:30 and the port is almost an hour away. I knew we’d all just want to get somewhere as quickly as possible and have a drink. I figured the long ride to the port area could wait until morning. Just an FYI, Go Port Canaveral does work with hotels on the beach, near the port.

 

Wednesday night before we were to leave that Friday, our (fairly) new heater died. The heater man came Thursday afternoon about 4:30 pm and charged us $130 and declared the heater fixed. By 7pm, we had no heat again. 😒 Our flight was leaving at 3:55 the next day so this was stressing me out. I am blessed to still have my in-laws living close by, so my dear Father In Law offered to take charge of the situation while we were gone.

 

 

[Beagleluv6107]

Day 1 – Heading to Orlando

 

We both worked half days on Friday and were on our way to the Philly Airport by 1pm. We usually use ExpressPark but a new place opened called JetStream and they offered $6.95 per day. We pulled in and were quickly on the van to the departure gate. We flew Spirit Airlines and had checked in online and printed out our boarding passes. It turns out that printed copies from home do not work very well. The scanners could not read our passes, so I had to quickly pull up the reservation online and they scanned the bar-code from my phone. I had the opportunity to reprint the boarding passes while we were checking our luggage but I didn’t. I’ll remember that in the future.

 

Our flight was to take off at 3:55pm. When the plane started to move at 4:10, I looked out the window and saw it begin to gently snow. Ugh, get me outta here!!! Look what me and all my rowdy friends got into …

 

[Beagleluv6107]

We touched down at 6:10pm. By the time we gathered our luggage and called the Hampton it was 6:37pm. The driver arrived quickly, and it was only a 5-minute ride to the hotel. As reward members, we were offered a bottle of water and a snack. That was nice since the reservation was made through Go Port Canaveral. Our room was clean and spacious.

 

 

[Beagleluv6107]

Within walking distance there was a Longhorn, Bonefish, and Carrabba’s. We chose the Bonefish. We split crab cakes and seafood risotto.

 

 

[Beagleluv6107]

We were back in our room and in bed by 9:30. We got word that the heater man discovered the reason for our problem… We had a wasp nest in the vent. That’s country living for ya. (Sigh!)

 

Sadly, I woke up at 2:30am with a terrible headache. I would say it was a migraine, but I don’t get migraines. I could still function, but I was hurting. I blamed the flight and the pressure in my ears and how flying dehydrates you.

[Beagleluv6107]

Day 2 – Boarding the Breeze

 

 

[Beagleluv6107]

I'm sorry for all the posts, I cannot figure out how to add pictures, then text, then pictures. 

 

The Hampton offers a very nice free breakfast. They had all the usual continental fare. In addition, they had scrambled eggs (that were good) with cheese to put on top, kielbasa and a waffle making machine. The whole breakfast area was quite nice. I didn’t get a picture.

 

The hotel staff said to be in the lobby by 9:15 to catch our bus to Port Canaveral. They said GPC is never late and that this Hampton was the last stop.

 

Look at this beautiful day we woke up to in sunny Florida.

 

 

[Beagleluv6107]

Luckily for me, the headache subsided, and I was bursting with excitement just to be in warm weather. In fact, we were all so excited that we met at 9 but the bus never got to us until 9:45.  I felt like it was the poor drivers first day on the job. He really suffered loading our luggage onto the bottom of that bus. He needed a helper. The ride to the terminal was about 45-50 minutes and it was a nice easy ride. Here’s our first view of the Breeze. Yippee!

 

[DubNHub]

Crown and ginger, I'm definitely following! Plus we're on the Breeze next April, so I'm trying to see as much as I can about the ship for our first time!

[Beagleluv6107]

We got off the bus and confirmed to the porters that our luggage was “our luggage” and off we went to stand in line. DH is platinum so we attempted to get all 6 of us in the priority line. That didn’t work so we left our friends and went thru so fast I was in shock. The good news is that there really wasn’t a line and they were only 5 minutes behind us getting on board. As we went thru to the various check points, everyone was so nice. I really felt like royalty. They all wished us a great cruse and I was also complimented on my outfit. Wow, I really like this port! Our cabin was ready because of that priority status, Wow! Our sign and sail cards were left in the mailbox. That was the first time for us, but I read that’s the new procedure. We dropped off our back pack and it was only 11:27am. I did notice that my camera had the wrong time stamp. Here’s our view from the balcony.

 

 

[Beagleluv6107]

Not sure if you can zoom in on one of those pictures in the above post. It looks like all those pallets are cases of beer.  I said, “looks like they know we are here”.

 

We met the squad up at a table near the buffet. Everyone got a bite to eat but me. I have never been on a ship this early, so I didn’t factor in lunch.  I completely ignored the time of day and that I was supposed to be eating. Instead, I found the Tides Bar. After this picture, I finally changed the settings on my camera to the correct time.

 

 

[Beagleluv6107]

I made my way back to the group as they were finishing up their lunch. At this point it was only noon, but a very nice server came by with a tray of Funships. I reminded DH that it was our tradition to have a Funship first, so he obliged and so did the rest of the gang. Now it is tradition for us all!

 

That is a Funship inside that Tervis Cup. We all had the Cheers Program so the drink was included but I think the cup was 6 bucks. 

 

I'll be back tomorrow with the rest of Day 3. Hopefully, I'll figure out how to type between pics. 

[CruisingBeans]

Nice start!  Can’t wait for the rest. Though I’ll admit your profile pic and user name is what grabbed my attention. As a mom to 2 senior beagles I couldn’t pass up your review. We’ve never been on Breeze but we are going on it’s sister ship, Magic, in February. I suspect your group will get the most out of your cheers package so feel free to make recommendations on drinks to try-I love to try new yummy drinks while cruising.Thanks again for the review.

[Eggs And Bacon]

Loving the review so far! We sail on the Breeze next May, and I love reading reviews (especially lengthy ones with pictures!) while we wait! 

[Jamman54]

11 hours ago, Beagleluv6107 said:

I made my way back to the group as they were finishing up their lunch. At this point it was only noon, but a very nice server came by with a tray of Funships. I reminded DH that it was our tradition to have a Funship first, so he obliged and so did the rest of the gang. Now it is tradition for us all!

 

That is a Funship inside that Tervis Cup. We all had the Cheers Program so the drink was included but I think the cup was 6 bucks. 

 

I'll be back tomorrow with the rest of Day 3. Hopefully, I'll figure out how to type between pics. 

 

GREAT start to your review! It's been a few years since we've been on the Breeze so it's nice to see your pictures. Brings back a lot of good memories.

 

When I do our picture reviews, I find it easier to put in all the text first, leaving gaps where you want your pictures to be. If you want to change your font type, color or size, do it before adding your pictures. Try to keep at least one line of spacing between the text and the pictures, and also between pictures. This will help keep everything from looking all smooshed together. Remember, if after you submit the post you want to make an adjustment, you can always go back and edit. Hope this helps. Have fun!!!

[sc4125]

We'll be on the Breeze again in September for a 7 day to Bermuda.  I absolutely love the Breeze & I'm so happy she's back in Florida!!!  Pt. Canaveral is a great port - one of my favorites along with Tampa.  I live pretty much right in the middle of the 2 ports - 1 hour drive to Canaveral and 1/2 hour drive to Tampa.

 

Looking forward to the rest of your review!  Thanks for taking the time.

[mrpayroll]

Enjoying. We really liked the Breeze.

[Florings]

A great start and looking forward to more!

[Kri1970]

So excited for this review! We're taking the Breeze on our first ever cruise to Eastern Caribbean in December, so I'm trying to get as much info/reviews,etc as possible!

[JaniceB]

Nice start to your review.  I love the Breeze and have sailed on her twice.  

[hockeyguru32]

19 hours ago, Beagleluv6107 said:

 

 

 

 

 

Can't get a better way to start with a lil ole Crown and Ginger my fave... Well played!!!!!!!!!

[Beagleluv6107]

23 hours ago, DubNHub said:

Crown and ginger, I'm definitely following! Plus we're on the Breeze next April, so I'm trying to see as much as I can about the ship for our first time!

 

Hey DubNHub, your gonna love the Breeze!

[Beagleluv6107]

22 hours ago, CruisingBeans said:

Nice start!  Can’t wait for the rest. Though I’ll admit your profile pic and user name is what grabbed my attention. As a mom to 2 senior beagles I couldn’t pass up your review. We’ve never been on Breeze but we are going on it’s sister ship, Magic, in February. I suspect your group will get the most out of your cheers package so feel free to make recommendations on drinks to try-I love to try new yummy drinks while cruising.Thanks again for the review.

Hey CruisingBeans,

I LOVE my Beagles!!!  I might have a few recommendations along the way. Have a great cruise on the Magic! 

[Beagleluv6107]

21 hours ago, Eggs And Bacon said:

Loving the review so far! We sail on the Breeze next May, and I love reading reviews (especially lengthy ones with pictures!) while we wait! 

 Thanks for reading along Eggs and Bacon!

[Beagleluv6107]

11 hours ago, Jamman54 said:

 

GREAT start to your review! It's been a few years since we've been on the Breeze so it's nice to see your pictures. Brings back a lot of good memories.

 

When I do our picture reviews, I find it easier to put in all the text first, leaving gaps where you want your pictures to be. If you want to change your font type, color or size, do it before adding your pictures. Try to keep at least one line of spacing between the text and the pictures, and also between pictures. This will help keep everything from looking all smooshed together. Remember, if after you submit the post you want to make an adjustment, you can always go back and edit. Hope this helps. Have fun!!!

Thanks for the help Jamman54!!! My group really, really loves the Pride and I remember that you all do too. I'll give their thoughts and mine on the Breeze at the end.