psyllie

We just got off the Breeze on Saturday. We had a flight out of FLL at 11:15. We had everything packed up and ready the night before. Went to breakfast at 6 a.m. and the ship was still moving slowly down the channel. We went back to the room to toss our overnight stuff into the suitcases, and went to the Ovation Theater. We had pre-booked SAS for the trip, and Steve advised us to call as soon as we cleared customs. We were out of the facility before 8 a.m. and on the SAS shuttle a few minutes later. The driver circled around a couple of times to pick up other customers, and we had a quick safe trip to FLL - were at the airport before 9 a.m. We were home by 2pm - our friends who were too nervous to book the early flight didn't get home until 7 p.m. Self-assist was great!

Wow, we got off the Breeze this a.m. (self-assist) before 8 a.m. All seemed to be moving well.

We did once, and didn't enjoy it as much as we thought we would after hearing how many CCers love them. We were on a Royal Carib ship. It was definitely quiet, and a much bigger balcony (HUGE actually), but it was so hot. Our balcony had partial shade, but there was no air circulation. I truly missed the breezes we get on a regular balcony. We got soot and some odd odors, and we were not entranced by staring at the wake all the time. I'm glad we did it once, but wouldn't do it again.

Our reservation is with Alamo, and they offer the shuttle (I think in conjunction with National, but I am not sure). I don't know if other car rental companies offer it.

Thanks so much!

Any info appreciated - we'd like to do the Miami airport check-in for our upcoming Breeze cruise. We'll be dropping off our rental car at the Miami airport and plan on using the rental car company shuttle to the port. Is this feasible? Do we have to notify Carnival in advance that we will be checking in at the airport? Where exactly is the Carnival airport check-in desk in relation to the rental car drop offs? We haven't ever been to this airport before. Thanks!

I love cruises, and I love AI! I agree, it depends on which AI you choose. The resorts we prefer offer so much that we are never bored, and we never have enough time to do everything we thought we would do. We have always had very good drinks and very good food, with fun experiences like tepanyaki tables, brazilian churascaria (sp?) and GREAT steaks - none of which incur an upcharge. They also include a ton of "resort credits" that you can use for massages, facials, activities like swimming with dolphins, excursions to historical sites, all of which cost more on a cruise than the actual cost of our cabin. We are on the go way more with our AI vacations, and look at the cruise vacations as the more lazy and laid-back trips. Also, after cruising frequently, we've explored most of the ports (we travel east coast) and sometimes don't even get off the ship anymore. We've always enjoyed the shows with both venues, but are concerned over what we've been reading on the new Carnival offerings - we shall see on our upcoming cruise, and compare them to our AI trip that follows a month later lol.

Thanks so much! I think we'll opt for Miami, and I really appreciate the tip about purchasing the gas - I usually don't do that, but it makes so much sense after reading these tips. Bon Voyage, y'all!

We've tacked a Breeze cruise on at the end of our annual timeshare vacation this year. We'll be staying in Pompano Beach. We will have a rental car for our timeshare stay, which we can drop off at either FLL (take shuttle to Miami pier) or MIA. We've never been to Miami so are completely unfamiliar with the area - would it be less nail-biting to drop off car in Fort Lauderdale, or is the Miami airport easy enough to navigate that we can just drive all the way there? Any insight would be greatly appreciated!

Cookies? Cookies? Are these on the buffet, or where do I find them?????

Same here - I was ready to hit the buy button on choices we had made from browsing the night before, and suddenly everything was "not available." I called in and vacation planner said they were unaware of any problems with the site. She wanted me to book there and then, but I declined. On a hunch, I logged out of my Carnival account and lo and behold, I was able to see everything available. Logged in, and they all again became unavailable. Weird glitch. So if you don't want to bother clearing your cookies, try logging out of your account.

This is very distressing. My DH was so excited to read Nathan's post, since he has always been vertically challenged. When he lived in Italy his being short wasn't as noticeable, since most of the men in Italy are around his size--I think you grow shorter if you were born and raised in Italy. He was really looking forward to getting taller after we visit Martinique next week...now, having read J Cruise's and NoPiratesPlease's reports, he will be crushed and might end up even shorter, if it makes him slump his shoulders. Oh boy, I have to break this to him in just the right way....