"12/12/12 LIFE'S A BREEZE" a cruisin USA "Long and Lengthy" Cruise Novella

[cruisin USA]

.....continuing......

 

 

We had seen that the slot tournament was going on from Noon-2pm. We headed over to the casino. The cashier got our name and highlighted one of them(meaning it was used up) on her sheet. She gave us our 2 for 1 tickets(Platinum Perk) from the casino cage. They had 2 sets of 4 machines(back to back) as the tournament machines.

 

 

(the tournament machines)

 

We handed our tickets to the tournament director who told us we'd be up next. I saw that she had 4 sheets already filled with us being the last round on the 5th. Let's do a little math while we're waiting to play. I looked. There were 3 rounds per sheet. 24 x 4 = 96 peeps + our last 8 = 104. 104 x $20 =$2080.00 total purse, of which they pay $500.00 to the winner. Over $1500 profit for the casino!!(in a few short hours). To be fair, if you had a 10% rate of Platinum players you'd have $200 less. So true profit end up being $1300. Soon, we were up, and despite a hard try on both our parts(I almost broke a nail hehe), neither of us did any good.

 

 

After we played, we headed over to the Ovation theatre to see the Hasbro Game Show part 1(we found out that there were 3 altogether through the cruise). Butch, as our emcee, and 6'3" as his assistant, held a game show based on various Hasbro games. It was fun, and a LOT of passengers got to be contestants. We found out that Butch was the original emcee of this game when it started on Carnival. I liked it a LOT better than the "Love and Marraige" show which has gotten a little stale. Lot's of participants, and out of everyone who won a token to put in the machine to determine the winner, all the crowd was rooting for this cute little boy(very touching).

 

 

 

 

The show was over by 4:30. We had a long night ahead of us with it being elegant night. We headed back to the cabin to hang out on the balcony for a little bit. Got back to the cabin. They had left chocolate covered strawberries, and some kind of strawberry pastry.....light as air.

 

 

 

 

I was a little hungry(not for strawberries though) and wanted something to tide myself over. I asked Mary Ann if she'd like me to bring go out and bring us back a couple of Guy's burgers? ..."Yep" ...Off I went

 

 

......to be continued.....

[cruisin USA]

.....continuing......

 

 

 

Stroke of (Hamburger) Genius!(robble robble).

 

 

 

Earlier in my life, I've been a cook. There's 2 things they say you can't mess up, 1) is Breakfast(unless you use powdered eggs...hehe), and 2) are Hamburgers. On most every Carnival ship I've been on, there's been 2 outdoor food stations towards the back of the outside(center, main pool)lido deck. The starboard side usually serves up Hamburgers, Hot Dogs, Chicken Fingers, Chili, Fries..etc. The stern side usually serves breakfast. It was a great idea to change the breakfast serving station into the Blue Iguana Cantina(more later), but Carnival had a stroke of genius when they decided to update the Hamburger/Hotdog station, and to get a big name to sign onto their burgers,

 

 

 

 

 

The new "toppings station" makes it so everyone can build their own perfect burger(or doggys, which are also available).

 

 

 

 

Also new on the outside lido, was the 4 alcoves(1 at each corner) that were at each of the stations and bars. A little "partitioned" out of the way place to enjoy your burger/whatever.

 

 

 

 

HOWEVER......The seats are ALL Hard wood!!! Makes it so you don't want to stay too long.(and we never did).

 

 

 

 

I ended up getting a Plain Jane for Mary Ann and a Straight Up for me. Doctored them up,

 

 

(a little skimpy on the fries)

 

and was back to the room in minutes. We both liked the burgers. Some say "too greasy". It's a burger for goodness sake!! Burgers are inherently greasy. I've had many burgers in my life. Give people some decent meat on a bun. Let them add to that anyway they wish, with lot's of choices. WINNING FORMULA right there.

 

We skipped the Captains celebration/Meet the senior officers, and just lazed around the room/balcony till it was time to go get pictures before dinner.

 

 

I already mentioned that this was the first cruise I've ever had that I hadn't ordered a tuxedo. I had looked around. There was no "Formalities" shop aboard. They were selling flowers in the "Cherry on Top" store, so I'm thinking it had to be around there somewhere. We got dressed up. There were some photo ops that were really crowded, and we didn't even bother.(Another note I will make about differences between bigger and smaller ships) We did get in a couple of photos though. It was time to get to the dining room before we knew it.

 

 

 

.....to be continued.....

Edited February 22, 2013 by cruisin USA

[workn2cruise]

Gary ~ yep, we're still going and looking forward to meeting you and Mary Ann

[LUPY48]

Yes Gary, I'm doing a B2B out of Fla. that month instead. I'm sure it will be MUCH friendlier!

[Ron_L]

Great review! I feel like I was right there with you!

 

Oh wait...

 

I was! :D :D :D

 

It was great meeting you guys on the Breeze! After shoveling snow this morning I wish we were back on board!

 

Looking forward to Misfits 3!

[vanislandcruisers]

Hey Gary

 

Another GREAT Review!!!

[CruzerDeb]

Great review! Can't wait for the rest.

[cruisin USA]

.....continuing.....

We made our way to the dining table. Alan and Karen were already there. Everyone at the table looked really nice. Karen must have talked to Alan. No mention of "upgrades" whatsoever. The lady next to Karen asked her to ask me where I got my Pepsi at? I had to tell her that we brought it aboard with us. She was a Diet Pepsi gal, and I know it saddened her to hear about Carnival being a "Coke" only company. For dinner tonight...Shrimp Cocktail, West Indian Roasted Pumpkin soup,













and Prime Rib with Horseradish on the side.













Mary Ann had the Greek Farmers Salad, the didja(as in did you ever)...Spicy Alligator Fritters with tropical salsa, and the Lobster Tail with Black Tiger Prawns....











A truly fabulous elegant night meal. For dessert we split a Carmelized Apples on puff pastry with dipping sauce.











and a diet banana gateau.











Tonight, Ken Byrnes, our dining room matre d' started making announcements. He talked about the Diva's show in the Ovation lounge. Then, unlike any other matre d's we've ever seen, the music cues up, and he breaks into a Frank Sinatra song(Tonight, it was "Witchcraft") which ended up being customary every night before the waiter's dance.(Guess it gives the waiters time to set up). I will say he does a good job. The only thing I will say, is that he has more of a Perry Como quality to his voice vs Frank Sinatra. But he sounded fine. After "Witchcraft" The waiters were in place. I kidded with our waitress, that they were going to do "Ol Solo Mio". She said they weren't doing that song tonight. They ended up with "(When the Moon Hits Your Eye, Like a Big Pizza Pie) That's Amore". I always remember the first time I'd heard the waiters of the ship do that tune. It was on the Destiny(soon to be Sunshine). The captain was sitting at his table(a rarity), and seemed to really enjoy it. Lucas was dancing along. He had the moves!!! Karen said she really liked it. Alan kind of dismissed it off. I said. "Maybe she's looking to upgrade?" Big Smile from Karen.. Alan didn't seem amused. Mary Ann caught my eye.....hehe. On that note we bid our tablemates adieu once again, and headed off to the room for cocktails to take to the show







......to be continued....

[cruisin USA]

.....continuing.....

 

 

 

Got to the showroom a little earlier tonight. We found our seats. The announcer said that this is the last show this troup will perform aboard this ship. They also picked a gal out of the audience, saying that they were going to give her a make over, and debut it during the show. They take the girl backstage. Soon the lights dim, and the show begins. The troup is 7 people.(4 gals, 3 guys). There are the male and female lead, although the other 3 girls sang well. The other guys weren't lead type singers, but did add some "chorus" at times. They all danced throughout the numbers. The choreography was EXCELLENT. They kept going through "diva" type numbers. The only male diva song?....."Kiss"(Prince), which started it off. The male lead sang it in falsetto(just like Prince does). A passable job, but the girls really were the one's who shined. The versions of Lady Gaga, Madonna, Beyonce ROCKED the house!!! The stage design was similiar to the rest of the ships we've been on. Instead of all the backdrops though, they have a set of 8 (roughly 4 feet wide by 25 feet high) led panels that can move, so that they could put all 8 together as a backdrop, or move them in combinations, so that 6 could be in the middle with 2 upfront(giving more of an illusion of depth). They could also "stagger" the panels so that dancers could walk around or up from behind during the various numbers. The led could be used to project anything from psychedelic colors, to "virtual" backdrops, to actual high def movies. Although this technology is in it's infancy, the potential is incredible. Too Cool. The show's now only last about 35 minutes. But it's quite an intense 35 minutes, with more action, and less costume changes than before. Every couple of songs a gal(or troup of 3) would take center stage giving the other 6(or another troup of 4) a chance to rest, change, and get ready for the next number. Fast paced. Great singing, Choreography!! A totally satisfying experience! During the last big number of the show, they set up this scaffolding ramp, that they put together(hurriedly) onstage. It's pretty HUGE. It led all the way backstage. Suddenly, the gal with the make over comes out, walking down the ramp, to the hoots and hollars of the audience. They had put a fancy feather coat on her with some kind of chic black headband. She comes out to the end of the catwalk, and walks down to her lucky guy.

 

 

 

 

.......to be continued.....

Edited February 22, 2013 by cruisin USA

[cruisin USA]

.....continuing.....

 

 

After the show, we headed back to the comedy club. It was completely full by the time we got there...sigh. We worked our way forward stopping at the piano bar. A really cool open area bar with comfy couches. There was quite a crowd. The seats around the bar were full. Here's where we first saw/heard Ron Pass. All I can say is that he's a fun piano entertainer. Probably the best I've ever seen on Carnival. He can say "Hey gang, Look who's here?" to which half(at least) his crowd would say "Holy S**t! Cmon in" Cute....He also would raise his glass and say "Social" This is a great way for him to get people to down their drinks(I'm sure management LOVES him). As far as the music, he did the standard fare. We sat there as he did "Cat's in the Cradle". A fairly somber song.

 

 

 

 

After a couple of verses, he asks the crowd if they've heard the Weird Al version? After a slight hesitation, he starts singing the verse..."Oh, the Cat's in the Kettle at the Peking Moon, that's the place I go every day at noon. You can call it chicken, shrimp, or pork, but it's purring here on my fork!" Too funny.

 

 

We continued forward into the Liquid Nightclub. There were a few people inside. We walked in, and walked back towards the bar. They were playing some retro disco music. Suddenly, "Love Rollercoaster" came on. We were by one of the "cages" in the disco. I pulled Mary Ann in, and we did our "spastic" dance.....Sorry folks, no pictures on that one.....hehe. After our dance, we exited the disco and worked our way up to the Red Frog pub. A cool bar!! They have draft beer there!! I always thought that keg beer would foam with the motion of the ship. They must have special gyroscopic keg holders keeping them level. It's a "long" bar, with an adjacent room that had a "short" shuffleboard table. Adam is playing guitar.

 

 

 

He was really good, but the guitar was mixed a little over his voice for my liking. Liked his selections of tunes though. Adam also had his "Cheers", which was just like Ron's "Social"(great way to get folks to finish off their drinks). From the Red Frog, we went to the casino. The casino on this trip was MUCH busier than the casino had been on the Miracle last trip. LOT's of folks at the slot machines. Lot's of folks at the tables. Couldn't get on the craps table, so we headed back to the cabin. It had been a long day. We went back to the cabin. I hadn't noticed when we had stopped earlier, but there, next to tomorrow's Fun Times was our Platinum Logo Gift.

 

 

A set of Tervis Tumblers!!! Pretty cool.

 

 

I will mention now that the previous night we had received probably the lamest towel animal....the dreaded seal....sigh

Tonight was better!!!

 

 

 

That bed sure looked inviting.

 

 

 

 

It had been a long day. Tomorrow would be another Fun Day at Sea(pt II).

 

 

 

.....to be continued.....

 

 

Well folks, that brings us to the end of day 2 on this 8 day cruise..(6 more to go!), Going to stop shortly for some more quick hellos, and hopefully we'll be done with day 3 by midnight or so. Signing off for a minute.

Edited February 22, 2013 by cruisin USA

[MelBCroozer]

Yes, not your typical review! Thanks for such detail!

[Delta Dear]

Are Trevis Tumblers still available in the Red Frog Pub?

Thanks for the great photos.

[PathfinderEss]

Enjoying your review, looking forward to the rest of it.

[cruisin USA]

..... continuing.....

 

 

 

 

Sea day 2.

 

 

 

 

We woke up, got ready, and headed to the lido. No powdered eggs for us this time!! Luckily there was an omelet station. There were about 8 people in line in front of us.

 

 

 

 

They were making them 3 at a time, so the line went fairly fast. As we approached, I could see the omelet guy doing this weird flip where the pan(omelet, and all)would go behind him, and as he brought it forward, he would flip the omelet and put it on your plate(I'm sure he's lost a few in his time...hehe). You could order egg white only omelets, or regular. You could also have onions, peppers, ham, and cheese added.

 

 

 

 

I opted for peppers, onions, ham, and cheese. He was using a greasy(in a buttery sort of way)looking rubber spatula to seperate the slices of cheese, and would put them on the omelet when it was nearly done.(I guess it's better than fingers, but.......). Quick stop at the other breakfast station for the rest and off to find a table. We set our stuff down at a table near a window.

 

 

.

 

 

Mary Ann went for O.J. The Marketplace Buffet has quite a selection of tables and alcove areas where you could eat. Lots of choices of where to sit. The umbrella tables, and the trees(that stopped at the ceiling) gave it an outdoorsy feel.

 

 

 

 

 

The omelet was VERY good, and ended up being our standard lido breakfast for the rest of the trip.

 

 

 

.....to be continued.....

[cruisin USA]

.....continuing.....

 

 

 

 

After we were WELL fed. we headed aft, and spent a little time at the aft pool. This was our first full day of mostly sunny, and I'll say it again, it felt GREAT to a couple of midwesterners that were used to FREEZING temperatures this time of year. We stopped to check out the shops. In my last review I said that Carnival needed to have it's own section of Carnival Logo items. And here it was.

 

 

 

　

　

There were various logo items(that I will speak about later), but I still think they need more. I think if they'd be selling the cool beach towels, and logo cork screws we'd recieved from Bon Voyage, they'd sell out of them on most cruises. Went back to the cabin to freshen up. The blackjack tourney started at noon, and we wanted to enter. We also had our cocktail party at 1, so we'd have to work around that.

 

 

We went to the cashier and got our 2nd set of "2 for 1" entries. The cashier ran a second yellow highlighter across Mary Ann's name. this time. Suprisingly, I didn't see any other "highlight" marks, meaning no one on that page had used even 1 of their entries yet. We gave our tickets to the coordinator, and she said we would be on the next table.

 

 

 

 

We made our way to our seats after the previous session ended. The tournament rules?

 

 

 

 

You get $1500 in chips. After 7 hands, your amount of chips is your score. The top 7 scores go to the finals. When we got to the table, the top score was 7400. Most everyone at the table did well.(Mary Ann did get knocked out, but she's the one who won the tournament, (and $500) aboard the Imagination. a few cruises back) After 6 hands, I had done the best on the table(I had $7700). 3 peeps were in the 5500-6500 or so range. They weren't going to bet very much. I told the one girl she should bet more than than the 2 chips she put out. She looked at my $200 last bet, and said "How Come You're Not?" I told her I was already past the 7400 on the leader board. I told them all that their only chances to get on the board was to bet it all. All 3 of them went "all in". The dealer busted. I ended up with 7900, but because(I opened my big mouth) they went all in, I ended up in 4th place. Still respectable, and we'd be back to check at 2:30 for the finals.

 

 

(Fred, Mary, and Trina...You owe me...hehe)

 

 

 

 

.....to be continued.....

[rhcpchika1]

Kudos Gary to knowing what my name stands for - NOONE ever gets it :)

[cruisin USA]

.....continuing.....

 

 

　

We still had a little time before our party. Even though we had eaten just a little earlier, we felt that it'd be a good idea to get a little more in our stomachs. (Guess it's that "all you can drink" stigma). We were outside earlier, and had seen them setting up Fat Jimmies BBQ. That's where we headed. It smelled great out there!! They have a grill set up with what looked like charcoal (probably ceramic) briquets. underneath cast iron grates. Knowing that there's no open flame allowed on the ship made me think maybe they heat these briquets they cook over electronically. Didn't see any ashes. Anyway, we split a plate. A pulled pork sandwich with potato salad and baked beans. YUMMY!!! There are plenty of seats, so you can enjoy your BBQ outside on the deck.

 

 

 

　

Misfits among Misfits

 

 

 

 

Note to those who might consider an "all you can drink" party. When we first had to send in our money, the party was at a time "to be announced". I think they do this for a reason other than logistics. When we did get our time confirmed we were told to keep it a secret, cause they had had problems with "crashers" before. I had mentioned on the roll call that the party would have to be during the afternoon sometime. They couldn't do it at night, because of people's different dining times. That basically eliminates between 6 and 10 pm. They could have done it after the 8:45 seating(roughly 10:00), but the disco folks wouldn't have liked it. This would leave it sometime in the afternoon before 3 pm(4 pm start with a 2 hr. party = "not enough time to get ready for dinner for 6 pm MDR's"). Sure enough ,the party WAS at 1 pm.(Not so prime time for drinkers....another ulterior motive for the cruise lines to schedule it then).

 

 

 

 

We made our way back to the Liquid nightclub. There was a sign that said "Private Party" in front of the doors. The doors were shut, but not locked. We walked right in. We were greeted by a man that said that attendees had a namecard on the table. I found ours. We put the badges on. The room was packed. I took a quick count.(Sorry, I own a bar. It's second nature to me). Almost 100 peeps.!!

 

 

 

 

I guess I'll just say that roll calls are funny things. There's a core group of people that know each other(people who get well aquainted over roll call and other social media), but add on spouses and kids, and you have pretty much a big group where most people don't know anybody(like us).

 

 

 

 

Sure, I'd participated on both the CC and "the other" roll call pages, but I couldn't place but a few of the faces. We made our way to the bar.

 

 

 

It was full of people ordering those free drinks. Couldn't even get close. There were waiters bringing around a tray of generic drinks. I picked out a yellowbird. Mary Ann had a red "punch" looking drink. Lot's of peeps just standing and sitting around. There were gift wrapped presents(gift exchange) sitting in the very cage we were dancing in the night before.

 

 

 

 

A girl came up to us. She was wearing a pink mustache. Her screename was creative1. I guess that's her idea of being creative......hehe She was nice, and we found out it was her husband that was watching the door. We saw Ron and Amy. Ron stopped to ask us if we were in the gift exchange. A gal sees Mary Ann's nametag, and we see that she's a Mary Ann also. She mentions that there's another "Maryann" there, and that she doesn't have a space between her name. Cute..... We got another drink. We just found an open seat/couch, and I plopped down. Lot's of spouses/kids just sitting there, filling the room, looking kind of "awkward" I'm sure we looked the same. The 2 Mary Ann's were continuing their conversation. Then the 3rd showed up. We meet her, and her guy Paul. Friendly people. She's excited that the waitress called her "Princess" (because that was her nickname...). By this time, you could get to the bar. We got up from our comfy couch, and bellied up for another round. While we're in line waiting, a lady walks towards us. She see's Mary Ann's nametag, and says "Cruisin USA Mary Ann" and she looks at my tag. "Cruisin USA Gary". Without another word, she just continues on to the bar.(Of course, it was pretty well into the party, and the drinks WERE flowing.....hehe.) I came to find out that this was Bevie, the host of the "official" CC group. Just reads our nametags aloud, and passes through. We're veritable "Misfits among Misfits" I tell ya.

 

Note to self: Not sure if we'll attend anymore CC cocktail parties.(unless we get to know some of the roll callers a LOT better first,)...EXCEPT for our Hawaii cocktail party to which we've already rsvp'd....I'll make SURE to tell you about that one in the 2nd novella of my trilogy. That, my friends, is gonna be a doozy).

 

 

 

They held a door prize drawing. I didn't see ANY CC items.(Those must have been for the "official" folks....sigh). They did however, give away a bottle of champagne, and the ever coveted "ship on a stick" While they had the mic, it was also determined that the "glowing away" party would be held in this disco on Wednesday night.

 

 

 

I saw a nametag with "Brenda" on it. I made it a point to go over and thank her for the GREAT shirts! She explained that she had someone who she knew that did them. Cool.....Thanks again Brenda!! The party was starting to wind down. It was pretty easy to get a drink now.

 

 

 

The finals of the tournament would be at 2:30. We exited briefly for some fresh air, and to check on how I was doing. By the time we got there they were playing the last round. I looked. I was 7th!! All I had to have, was no one beating me in the final round. Unfortunately(for me) someone got 8 thousand something, knocking me out......sigh!! It was fun while it lasted!! We went right back to the disco, and got 1 last free drink. The place was emptying out. Drink in hand, we headed out. That was the end of our plans with the roll call people(besides the glowing away party). I must tell you, I was slightly relieved.

 

 

 

.....to be continued.....

Edited February 23, 2013 by cruisin USA

[cruisin USA]

....continuing.....

 

 

 

 

Worked our way up through back to the casino. There was a spot up at the craps table for me, and Mary Ann headed over to the slot machines. Neither of us did any good, and after an hour or so we headed back to the cabin. It was sunny on the balcony.

 

 

 

 

 

We just enjoyed the weather, with the sunny sky, and deep blue water of the ocean. We occasionally saw flying fish, out of the wake of the boat, and skimming the top of the water for quite a bit. I had brought an e book. It was hard to read my ipad in the bright sunshine. I couldn't see it at all when I put my sunglasses on. Between the early drinks and the sunshine, we ended up taking a nap before dinner. We woke up a little before 7. We were going to miss Jerry Godspeed, the ventriloquist. Shoot! I was looking forward to his show. We just hung out at the cabin, and soon we got ready for dinner.

 

 

 

Made our way to our table. Bread and Menus. We always try to make it to the main dining room for dinner. I've said it before....."If you had to pay for a dinner like this at home, you'd be paying $60-$70 a person for it(drinks not included), and you probably wouldn't get the waiters(and matre d) to sing and dance for you. For us, It helps me to offset the cost of the cruise. At $60.00 apiece = $120 a night, x 8 nights = $960 back in fabulous dining!!! Tonight's dinner? Prosciutto Ruffles(w/sweet melons), French Onion Soup, and "Braised style .short ribs from aged premium american beef(sesame eggplant, and fried rice). We both skipped the didja..."a study in sushi". Mary Ann opted for Penne Mariscos(pasta tossed with shrimp, calamari, scallops, and mussels in a tomato cream sauce, topped with grilled salmon). Dinner was fabulous(as always). Dessert? Warm fig date and cinnamon cake(served with rum raisin ice cream) for me. Strawberry Cheesecake for Mary Ann. Ken came on with annoucements, and then broke into another Sinatra song. Then the waiters take their place, and do their dance while Ken does a version of that disco song from the 80's "Jump for my Love" First time I've seen the dining crew do this one. Ken did a passable job siniging the song, but I think they would have done better just piping it in. Lucas was shakin it! After dinner, we went for a stroll along the decks, stopping here and there for a little bit. They were having a "Redfrogs Carribean Beach Party" out on deck starting at 10. We didn't feel like a BIG party. We ended up back on our balcony.

 

 

This trip, (in case I don't mention it along the way)we didn't see the moon but once!! Too bad. There's nothing like the moonlight on the ocean. Especially if there's some clouds, darkening part of the ocean, vs the glimmering of the moonlight on the water!! Nope, nothing like that this trip. In my last review I mentioned that we could stargaze easily. This trip the light from the deck below us(plus the partly cloudy skies along most of the way) made it difficult to see the stars "twinkling". No feeling like we could reach out an touch them. We did happen to see a couple of "falling stars" a few of the nights. Pretty cool how you just see the light shooting down. We got to bed. We knew that tomorrow would be the first time we'd been on land for over 2 days!!! It had been a fairly rocky ride so far, and we were looking forward to putting our feet on solid ground!!

 

.......to be continued.....

Edited February 23, 2013 by cruisin USA

[cruisin USA]

Well, that completes day 3. Next stop St. Thomas!! At this point I would like to respond to a few of the poster's

 

 

Sheri- Glad you're still going. Hawaii by ship will be a blast!!

 

 

Sharon- I understand. What happened to that roll call should be illegal.

 

Ron! Another Misfit checks in!!

 

Jim!!! Thanks for your mention in your VD@C review. Thanks for your kind comments.

 

MelBCroozer- Thanks

 

Delta Dear- I didn't see any of the tumblers at the Red Frog, although that doesn't mean they didn't have them somewhere.

 

PathfinderEss- Thanks for joining!

 

 

 

That'll be it for a little while guys. Busy Saturday night tonight, and I'll be working till 3am. Expect my next post tomorrow afternoon, or so. As always, feel free to comment or ask questions along the way. I'll do my best to answer.

 

 

 

 

Gary aka cruisin USA

[Ron_L]

They held a door prize drawing. I didn't see ANY CC items.(Those must have been for the "official" folks....sigh). They did however, give away a bottle of champagne, and the ever coveted "ship on a stick"

 

It ended up that there was no official CC group cruise for this sailing since the minimum number of cabins weren't sold through the group TA. CC didn't provide anything for the cocktail party. The champagne and SOS were provided by John Heald because Bevie had contacted him and asked for them.

[stunned]

Your review is quite detailed :)

I have enjoyed most of it so far - except when you politely trashed the Misfit cocktail party. Like any social event if a person doesn't make an effort to meet others then they can't expect to be the life of the party. I don't know if I met you, I would need to see a picture of you, but I do know this group was the friendliest cruisers we have ever had the opportunity to meet. We have made lifetime friendship and extended family. Those involved in organizing events went above and beyond to make everyone welcome. I honestly believe 99% of the people in attendance had a fun time, so if you were in the 1% that didn't I pity you.

Other than that I have enjoyed most of your review.

[jacksmom09]

Great detailed review!

[Crusin Karen]

LOVE this. We will prob never go on the Breeze, but am enjoying this. No need to take the time to thank me, btw. We just got off the Miracle, 4thx we have cruised her. As you can see from my sig, we have sailed a LOT of CCL ships and I have to say this ship looks so SLEEK AND MODERN! Love the colors. Thanks for the share!

[lulu57]

Really enjoyed your Carnival Breeze review so far! I am going on the March 2nd sailing so looking forward to your continued review!

[mountainbreeze]

Hey Gary! :) I'm loving your review! Your pictures are awesome!

I'm so glad you decided to do another review. You are a really good storyteller and I feel like I'm right there with you guys :)

 

Sorry I backed out on the Hawaii cruise, but well.......you know :rolleyes:

Hopefully I'll meet up with you and Mary Ann on some other cruise

 

I can't wait for more of this review :) Thanks for taking the time to write it!!