Breeze 8/25 review w/pics

[JerseyshoreBruce]

Uh oh! This has me concerned I'm sailing on her on 10/06/13 with somebody that has a bad back. (Disc issues) what was wrong with the mattress?

 

Sent from my XT907 using Forums mobile app

 

They are hard.....uncomfortable....and had me getting up before i wanted to cause it made my back ache! Nothing like the older ones :(

[crusinpsychRN]

Enjoying your review! Thanks for all the hard work doing it. I notice each time a pic came up I was still expecting Farcus colors and it took a while to get used to the psychedelic look NOT being there.

 

An u spel jst gud! No worries!!:D

[Capitan Morgan]

Lol! You had to just love her!

[MrFunInTheSun]

Great review and pictures!

[graphicguy]

Thanks so much. All of you are so kind. I'm enjoying this. Love all the comments.

 

Answer a few questions, and comment on a few comments.

 

The Breeze's beds....I have a Tempurpedic at home, My GF complained it was hard. I personally love it. Plus, it seems I was out late just about every night on board (usually in the casino). So, after a long day of cruising, then dinner and the shows, plus the casino action, I was probably pretty tired. All that said, I found the beds to be just fine.

 

But, I will say that the most comfortable beds I've had on cruise were on the NCL Epic.

 

Lines for breakfast.....I had a routine every a.m. I had hot water and tomato juice delivered by room service at 7:00 a.m. Hot water was for my own Starbucks coffee packs. I'd sit on the balcony early a.m. to drink my coffee and juice (love to start the day that way).

 

I would then throw on a t-shirt, my gym shorts and head to the gym about 7:30 a.m....workout until 8:30 a.m., take a shower in the locker room and meet up with the other "lollygaggers" in my group by 8:45 a.m at the Marketplace for breakfast.

 

Granted, I would only grab some fruit and toast for breakfast, but the others in my group would get omelets. I don't recall them being delayed, but I never went through the omelet line, either.

 

About the broken glass door, I didn't notice it until Thursday, probably. So, it could have been there the entire time and I just hadn't used that door.

 

As a side note, I asked one of the officers who seemed to be in the Marketplace every a.m. about the broken door. He said they were waiting for a replacement (coming from the ship builder's manufacturer), which was taking awhile since Carnival had the doors custom etched.

 

I will give Carnival some credit here. all-in-all, the Breeze showed high quality build and materials throughout. I couldn't say that about the NCL Breakaway.

 

On and off the ship....I never had any issues here. Any line we encountered moved quickly getting on or off the ship. Frankly, we didn't even encounter any long elevator waits (excepting between 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. on the first embarkation day).

 

1,500 kids on the ship? I'm surprised. I had a group of tween girls on a scavenger hunt sponsored by the ship's activities person who asked me to sign their sheet since they needed someoen wearing "boat shoes" which I was (not hard to come by on a cruise ship). And, I ran into some as I passed O2 and the activities deck. All of them, without fail, were polite and couteous. I shouldn't be surprised at that last statement, but that was a first, on any cruise ship I've ever been on.

 

Someone asked about trivia. I have a proudly displayed, much coveted, "Ship on a Stick" for winning a trivia game on a previous Carnival Cruise.;) As such, I didn't seek out any trivia games. I heard a couple going on right inside the Ocean Plaza area...one sounded like a Beatles trivia game. The other seemed to be a famous quotes trivia game. I didn't hang around long enough to participate, though.

 

I think that covers everything. If not, ask away. I'll do my best to help. More pics on the way.

[JerseyshoreBruce]

Thanks so much. All of you are so kind. I'm enjoying this. Love all the comments.

 

Answer a few questions, and comment on a few comments.

 

The Breeze's beds....I have a Tempurpedic at home, My GF complained it was hard. I personally love it. Plus, it seems I was out late just about every night on board (usually in the casino). So, after a long day of cruising, then dinner and the shows, plus the casino action, I was probably pretty tired. All that said, I found the beds to be just fine.

 

But, I will say that the most comfortable beds I've had on cruise were on the NCL Epic.

 

Lines for breakfast.....I had a routine every a.m. I had hot water and tomato juice delivered by room service at 7:00 a.m. Hot water was for my own Starbucks coffee packs. I'd sit on the balcony early a.m. to drink my coffee and juice (love to start the day that way).

 

I would then throw on a t-shirt, my gym shorts and head to the gym about 7:30 a.m....workout until 8:30 a.m., take a shower in the locker room and meet up with the other "lollygaggers" in my group by 8:45 a.m at the Marketplace for breakfast.

 

Granted, I would only grab some fruit and toast for breakfast, but the others in my group would get omelets. I don't recall them being delayed, but I never went through the omelet line, either.

 

About the broken glass door, I didn't notice it until Thursday, probably. So, it could have been there the entire time and I just hadn't used that door.

 

As a side note, I asked one of the officers who seemed to be in the Marketplace every a.m. about the broken door. He said they were waiting for a replacement (coming from the ship builder's manufacturer), which was taking awhile since Carnival had the doors custom etched.

 

I will give Carnival some credit here. all-in-all, the Breeze showed high quality build and materials throughout. I couldn't say that about the NCL Breakaway.

 

On and off the ship....I never had any issues here. Any line we encountered moved quickly getting on or off the ship. Frankly, we didn't even encounter any long elevator waits (excepting between 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. on the first embarkation day).

 

1,500 kids on the ship? I'm surprised. I had a group of tween girls on a scavenger hunt sponsored by the ship's activities person who asked me to sign their sheet since they needed someoen wearing "boat shoes" which I was (not hard to come by on a cruise ship). And, I ran into some as I passed O2 and the activities deck. All of them, without fail, were polite and couteous. I shouldn't be surprised at that last statement, but that was a first, on any cruise ship I've ever been on.

 

Someone asked about trivia. I have a proudly displayed, much coveted, "Ship on a Stick" for winning a trivia game on a previous Carnival Cruise.;) As such, I didn't seek out any trivia games. I heard a couple going on right inside the Ocean Plaza area...one sounded like a Beatles trivia game. The other seemed to be a famous quotes trivia game. I didn't hang around long enough to participate, though.

 

I think that covers everything. If not, ask away. I'll do my best to help. More pics on the way.

 

There were about 4 glass doors and windows shattered throughout the ship.....the one leading to the lido deck pool was probably cause the doors open really slowand someone was probably running towards it.....it was all broken already when we boarded.

[graphicguy]

I just realized, I haven't posted any pics of our ports. The POC were Key West, Grand Turk, and NASSAU.....

 

 

We didn't book anything through Carnival. We did the "hop on-hop off" train in Key west. That was fun and a great way to see Key West if you're only there for a day....

DSC00040 by graphicguy1, on Flickr

DSC00044 by graphicguy1, on Flickr

DSC00042 by graphicguy1, on Flickr

DSC00045 by graphicguy1, on Flickr

 

I've been to Key West many times. I know it's the southern most portion of the U.S. If your want your picture taken at the marker, you'll wait in line. I've got pics at the marker from just about every Key West trip I've ever made. Didn't feel like waiting in line for another.

 

Same goes for Hemmingway's home (woth seeing if you've never been).

 

OVerall, we just jumped on and off the train ($20/pp) whenever we saw something that might interest us. A pretty good way to go. Plus, the train "conducters" give a good history and commentary about Key West while on board.

 

Side note, these are not real trains, but long passenger caravans made to look like a train. There's even a train museum stop if you're interested.

[graphicguy]

There were about 4 glass doors and windows shattered throughout the ship.....the one leading to the lido deck pool was probably cause the doors open really slowand someone was probably running towards it.....it was all broken already when we boarded.

 

Thanks, Bruce. I didn't know that. I saw one that was broken. If there were more, I'd probably consider that a "defect" in materials and workmanship from whomever made the glass doors. I'm sure Carnival would be holding their feet to the fire about that, given it's a new ship.

[JerseyshoreBruce]

Thanks, Bruce. I didn't know that. I saw one that was broken. If there were more, I'd probably consider that a "defect" in materials and workmanship from whomever made the glass doors. I'm sure Carnival would be holding their feet to the fire about that, given it's a new ship.

 

1 or 2 were just panels on the lido deck side railings near the Red Frog Pub and my buddy said those could be from the ship still settling cause its new!

[graphicguy]

Grand Turk...again, hired a guy who acted as our guide for the day for $20/pp. That means, we had our own guide in our own chartered car (a late model Tahoe). We tipped him $20. So, for 4 people, we hired a guide for $100 total...beats booking through Carnival....

DSC00037 by graphicguy1, on Flickr

DSC00063 by graphicguy1, on Flickr

DSC00122 by graphicguy1, on Flickr

DSC00139 by graphicguy1, on Flickr

[JerseyshoreBruce]

I just realized, I haven't posted any pics of our ports. The POC were Key West, Grand Turk, and NASSAU.....

 

 

We didn't book anything through Carnival. We did the "hop on-hop off" train in Key west. That was fun and a great way to see Key West if you're only there for a day....

DSC00040 by graphicguy1, on Flickr

DSC00044 by graphicguy1, on Flickr

DSC00042 by graphicguy1, on Flickr

DSC00045 by graphicguy1, on Flickr

 

I've been to Key West many times. I know it's the southern most portion of the U.S. If your want your picture taken at the marker, you'll wait in line. I've got pics at the marker from just about every Key West trip I've ever made. Didn't feel like waiting in line for another.

 

Same goes for Hemmingway's home (woth seeing if you've never been).

 

OVerall, we just jumped on and off the train ($20/pp) whenever we saw something that might interest us. A pretty good way to go. Plus, the train "conducters" give a good history and commentary about Key West while on board.

 

Side note, these are not real trains, but long passenger caravans made to look like a train. There's even a train museum stop if you're interested.

I really need to do Key West someday....looks really nice.....nice photos...what camera is that?

[graphicguy]

I really need to do Key West someday....looks really nice.....nice photos...what camera is that?

 

Thanks, again!

 

Camera is a Fuji Finepix S8400W.....

 

https://www.fujifilmusa.com/products/digital_cameras/s/finepix_s8400w/

 

I use it for Extreme Zoom shots. Plus, I like the color saturation it gives me.

 

The camera I carried in my pocket all the time (the one where you see some of the special effects), is a Sony Cybershot DSC-WX50....

 

It's discontinued but I really love that little camera for simple point and shoot.

 

You might still be able to find it online, and since it's discontinued, it's probably heavily discounted....

http://store.sony.com/p/Sony-Cyber-shot-Camera/en/p/DSCWX50

 

Key West is fun. It's one of those places where I keep telling myself I'd like to just take a couple of days to really explore it. Haven't had the opportunity to do that, though. It's touristy. I talked to some people who did a pub crawl while we were there. They said they had a blast. Given their demeanor, I don't doubt that.

[csgsu]

Great Review.......I enjoyed the Breeze back in May. I shot some videos that anyone can see I belive the links are in my signature

[JaniceB]

The library on this ship was very nice. I thought the self serve pay wine bar was a great idea.

DH loved the sports deck and the bar on that deck.

 

I have been to Key West numerous times, never saw the statues. Thanks for sharing. I need to do something other than the Duval crawl ;)

Edited September 10, 2013 by JaniceB

[starfish the second]

we are sailing 9/22 on the breeze which morning are the toel animals out by the pool ?

[graphicguy]

Janice....we stopped at the library a couple of times. It is nice. We always saw people playing cards, chess, etc. in there. Good place to get away from everything. Saw quite a few people doing the "Duval Crawl"....LOL!

 

Starfish....I don't recall the day I saw the pool towel animals. It was early in the a.m., though. I usually didn't walk through the pool area where they were until later. So, as far as I know, they could have been there early every morning.

Edited September 10, 2013 by graphicguy

[graphicguy]

Great Review.......I enjoyed the Breeze back in May. I shot some videos that anyone can see I belive the links are in my signature

 

Thanks so much. Cool videos!

[anamarieus]

I found this interesting. If you are going to Grand Turk be sure to go to http://www.jacksshack.tc/Grill-Grand-Turk.php That is the link to Jack Shack's website - you can print out a drink coupon for a free rum drink!

 

I have to wait til the begininng of next year as the coupon expires the end of this year.

[graphicguy]

Our last stop was NASSAU. Once again, we found a taxi/tour guide at the taxi stands at the pier. A few words of advice if you've never been. The taxi drivers are swarming at the dock when a cruise ship hits. Some have rickety taxis that they'll try to fit too many people into and do a quick run around the area, and charge $20/head.

 

If you see someone with a beat up van trying to entice you to go on "their tour", I suggest you ignore them.

 

Once again, we found someone we could hire specifically to do what we wanted to do. We found a gentleman who had a clean mini-van (with ice cold A/C, which you'll want) that we hired specifically to give us a tour of the island, take us to Atlantis, and then pick us up once we were ready to return to the ship.

 

$20/pp x 4 people + $20 tip=$100 for all of us. It turned out perfect and he was a joy. I do wish I could remember his name but I don't recall it.

 

The island is beautiful. There's a lot of investment going on there, especially by China for hotels and resorts. It already is a major tourist attraction. It's getting ready to explode with places to stay, a new casino, restaurants, shopping, etc.

 

I felt it had its own charm, especially the downtown area. I'm afraid it's going to become a mini-Vegas. Still, Vegas doesn't have chrystal blue waters. So, maybe that's the allure.

 

This was the first time I had been to Atlantis. In a word, it's expensive. Continuing the Vegas comparisons, while Atlantis is nice with the aquarium, hotel and casino, it costs about 4x what a night in a nice Vegas strip hotel costs.

 

If I were to do it again, I'd skip Atlantis and take a tour with a stop over downtown.

 

We didn't get much time downtown, but it wasn't for any reason that we could control. We were met with a torrential downpour (I mean streets floodling onto the sidewalks and into some of the buildings). While you can begrudge your circumstances, you can also go with the flow. We did the latter and had a blast.

 

We took off our shoes and just waded through as best we could. We were already drenched. Nothing we could do about that. Each shop we went into offered us a towel....quite a nice gesture.

 

We ended up at Athenas (recommended to us by our driver), a Greek restaurant that had the best conch fish I've ever had, bar none. The service would have been the envy of a 5 star restaurant. The kicker is, to get to the restaurant, you have to go into a jewelry store and up a flight of stairs to the restaurant itself. It's a family owned affair. They own the jewelry store and the restaurant, and are immigrants who've been in NASSAU for 40 years. We were greeted by the Father (who kept yelling "OOOMMPAH" whenever we ordered food). His wife ran the jewelry store. His daughter (an absolutely gorgeous Mediteranean woman) took care of us in the restaurant.

 

We loved it. And, with all the sites to see, it was our favorite memory of NASSAU. Unfortunately, with the downpour, my camera temporarily quit working as it did get wet. So, no pics of these wonderful people or their restaurant:(

 

DSCF0048 by graphicguy1, on Flickr

DSCF0025 by graphicguy1, on Flickr

 

Atlantis

DSCF0040 by graphicguy1, on Flickr

DSCF0046 by graphicguy1, on Flickr

 

New construction....this area, when complete, will be 5X the size of Atlantis. They expect it will be finished about this time next year....

DSCF0024 by graphicguy1, on Flickr

[graphicguy]

I could live here for a bit....

 

DSCF0047 by graphicguy1, on Flickr

 

Downtown right before the sudden (and unexpected downpour)....

 

DSCF0045 by graphicguy1, on Flickr

 

More Atlantis (including casino)....

DSCF0041 by graphicguy1, on Flickr

DSCF0035 by graphicguy1, on Flickr

DSCF0042 by graphicguy1, on Flickr

[Lisa Sox Fan]

Were you able to go into Atlantis on your own or did you have to pay to look around? The restaurant sounds great. I love places like that. I am going to have to find that when we go in Oct.

[graphicguy]

Were you able to go into Atlantis on your own or did you have to pay to look around? The restaurant sounds great. I love places like that. I am going to have to find that when we go in Oct.

 

Hi Lisa....yes, you could go look around Atlantis, but it was very limited. Aside from going into the casino or to look at the water falls in the pics, they charged to go anywhere else. They had people at the doors who were looking for either a pass or room key in order to gain entrance.

 

Personally, if you don't care about the casino, and you don't want to pay an exhorbitant amount just to see their grounds and the Aquarium (which I heard was very good), I'd skip Atlantis entirely and spend more time exploring the island.

 

I very highly recommend The Athena restaurant downtown when you go.

 

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g147416-d1045745-Reviews-Athena_Cafe_Bar-Nassau_New_Providence_Island_Bahamas.html

 

Have fun!

[JaniceB]

The restaurant sounds great and all in one shopping too!

 

Will the new construction be on place like Atlantis or different places?

[graphicguy]

Janice...the new construction is on a different part of island, away from Atlantis.

[kybluecruiser]

Living across the river I have always believed all buckeyes are nuts. You may be the exception Thanks for the review. Great perspective. Go Big Blue. Lol