!!! BREEZE !!! Western Caribbean ^_^ The Ultimate Review and Complete Pictorial Guide

[gambee]

Ok folks, I advanced some for tomorrow. Once I complete that set it I will post it.

 

Thank you for the nice comments and for following.

 

[lovedecruise]

A great start to your new review Gambee. I eagerly await the rest of it. Thanks for taking the time and effort to share your holiday with us all.

[vwrestler171]

Go to User CP> Settings and Options> Edit Options>Thread Display Options and change the drop down to show 200 posts per page. Much easier to read.

 

Thanks Jon, after all this time I did not know about that.

[swim13]

The review I have been waiting for! So glad you have been enjoying your first Carnival experience so far! It's funny seeing some of your pictures of Miami, they are all still fresh in my head! This is really reminding me of the Dream, I really liked the Dream class.

 

Can't wait to see more! :)

[girlscruise2011]

 

For dinner I had the surf and turf, which was to die for. The beef was so tender and the lobster was sooooooooooo juicy, yum yum. I am starving now, lol.

 

 

And a loaded baked potato!

 

 

Everyone was very pleased with their food. I ate until I could eat no more, but dessert was still on its way.

 

 

I ordered the chocolate sampler and it was amazing, it reminds me of the dessert sampler that my mom and I had on the Silhouette in Murano.

 

This one was amazing!!!!! Only 2 of us had it and one of the was gluten free, we LOVED IT!!! Its funny we kept on saying how unlivable incredible it was, I think we bored the rest of the group =) lol.

 

 

And most of the group got the SUPER GIGANTIC CHEESECAKE, IT WAS HUGE!!!!! It does not look that big on the picture, but trust me it is larger than hand fully open. No one was able to finish it... It was just ridiculously large, now that I think about it, I forgot to ask how it was, lol, oppppsss. Anyone?

 

 

 

Love the review. Great pics. The Breeze is on my bucket list of ships to sail. I have 2 reservations for the Steakhouse for my Splendor repo in November. Can't wait to have that Filet again.

 

and to answer your question. YES the cheesecake is delicious also. Usually my DH gets the chocolate sampler and I get the cheesecake and we share as much as we can fit

[WoodyWindy]

Totally agreed. I won't buy it again and would have felt like I wasted $50 if not for our crazy issues. I am not a person who typically minds lines, so it would really only be worth it to someone who hates waiting.

 

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Forums mobile app

 

Frankly, I would see it as insurance. Sure, if everything goes smoothly, it feels like a waste, but when issues arise, as you saw, it can make turn major roadblocks into minor speedbumps. You can bet that your experience at the counter with the keycard issue sold quite a few FTTF passes for future cruises...:cool:

[workingmom200112]

So my promise was kept, I finished day 1. I will what I can accomplish tomorrow.

 

Thanks for following, the great comments and more importantly your patience.

 

Hi Gambee!

So happy to find another review from you :D. News of your reviews spread through out CC (I pretty much only visit the NCL boards but still found out about your review). I have been thinking about trying carival so very much looking forward to your review.

 

Hello to your mom :)

[sonicbuffalo]

Gambee....I am thoroughly enjoying your review, and wish you would now start day 2!

 

I wouldn't have made my comments but I know your website publishes reviews without the responses, so I know it'll be gone....as for the Fuji, who knows? I've read some good things about their cameras from Popular Photography. I know back in the film days I would buy Fuji film over Kodak every time. It had a richer, more pop to their pictures, and sharper quality images. Not that you can compare a camera to a grade of film, but if their cameras are as good as their film, it would be worth considering if someone was in the market for a P & S.

 

Thanks also for putting a good word in for me. I only said in Bugsy's review something to the effect that I didn't think his cell phone camera would do the job that his regular camera would. I later admitted I was wrong as his pictures with his cell phone turned out a lot better than I thought.

 

Your RX seems to put out a cooler color scheme....that is, more blue in the pictures. Decent shots though.

 

Your friend,

 

Sonic

[AF-1]

Everything!!!!:D:D

Honestly, this ship was amazing.

The décor, the staff, the food, the layout, the amenities, and the list goes on.

This ship is just gorgeous, and has all the bells and whistles.

I only have the Pride and Sensation to compare it to, but this will be our go-to ship, until the Vista arrives.

Just love everything about it.

Last year we did Nassau, St. Thomas, Tortola, and Antigua. AWESOME!

This year we do Turks and Caicos, Dominican, Curacao, and Aruba.

3 new islands. Cannot wait.:D

 

Have you been on the Breeze?

 

wow, sounds great. No I have not been on Breeze; I have only sailed Royal Caribbean. I'm doing a 14 nite on NCL Jade; but I have been visiting different boards to see what other cruise lines have to offer. My wife and I took our grandkids on Freedom of the Seas. We have six so we have been looking at which ship to take them on. Ages range from 2-17. Looking at Allure, Breeze, and Getaway. With that many kids theyneed a lot of variety; and so far these three ships have the most to offer. ps. I was in Turks Caicos last week on business. It's very beautiful..

Edited May 18, 2014 by AF-1

[garynfay]

I know that a few in our group had it. To my understanding you can only purchase it once you board the ship on selected bars. I think the casino bar is the one selling them, just not 100% sure on that one.

 

Thanks!!

[riclop]

Great review as always. I was wondering which ship do you think handles the crowds better, Breeze or the Allure?

Thats easy ,ALLURE.

[gambee]

Gambee....I am thoroughly enjoying your review, and wish you would now start day 2!

 

I wouldn't have made my comments but I know your website publishes reviews without the responses, so I know it'll be gone....as for the Fuji, who knows? I've read some good things about their cameras from Popular Photography. I know back in the film days I would buy Fuji film over Kodak every time. It had a richer, more pop to their pictures, and sharper quality images. Not that you can compare a camera to a grade of film, but if their cameras are as good as their film, it would be worth considering if someone was in the market for a P & S.

 

Thanks also for putting a good word in for me. I only said in Bugsy's review something to the effect that I didn't think his cell phone camera would do the job that his regular camera would. I later admitted I was wrong as his pictures with his cell phone turned out a lot better than I thought.

 

Your RX seems to put out a cooler color scheme....that is, more blue in the pictures. Decent shots though.

 

Your friend,

 

Sonic

 

Yeah I been noticing the blue, I might have to pump the other color later one. She is a great camera, but for some situations I wish I had used the NEX... I think I am just going to keep the NEX setup and maybe expand in lens and such. The colors and sharpness that she delivers is still among the best, I wish they came up with the illustration mode on those. We will see how it works out, maybe in a later model they deploy it.

[gambee]

Hi Gambee!

So happy to find another review from you :D. News of your reviews spread through out CC (I pretty much only visit the NCL boards but still found out about your review). I have been thinking about trying carival so very much looking forward to your review.

 

Hello to your mom :)

 

Hmmmm, mind if I ask you how you found out? i posted it on my breakaway review, but i know many unsubscribe once the review is done.

[gambee]

Love the review. Great pics. The Breeze is on my bucket list of ships to sail. I have 2 reservations for the Steakhouse for my Splendor repo in November. Can't wait to have that Filet again.

 

and to answer your question. YES the cheesecake is delicious also. Usually my DH gets the chocolate sampler and I get the cheesecake and we share as much as we can fit

 

Cool, thank you for adding the info of the cheesecake. I am not one for cheesecakes so even if it was good, my opinion would not had been the most accurate one.

[gambee]

The review I have been waiting for! So glad you have been enjoying your first Carnival experience so far! It's funny seeing some of your pictures of Miami, they are all still fresh in my head! This is really reminding me of the Dream, I really liked the Dream class.

 

Can't wait to see more! :)

 

Hey Mike glad you found it, nice to see you here.

[gambee]

Day 2, Key West.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Aquahound]

Hmmmm, mind if I ask you how you found out? i posted it on my breakaway review, but i know many unsubscribe once the review is done.

 

Hi Gambee. I was torn between the Getaway and Breeze for an upcoming cruise and asked for help on both the CCL and NCL boards. Over on the NCL boards, I was pointed this way by other posters.

 

By the way, thank you for addressing the crowding question. That was one of my biggest concerns because like you, I do not do well in crowds. If in your honest opinion, you thought it was the same or even better than Allure, I know I'll be just fine. Thanks again. :)

[gambee]

Day 2

 

 

Ok, lets see day 2…. This was a very special day for me, why you ask? Well I have been lying to you. This was not entirely a Solo cruise, the truth is that when I said that mom was going on a road trip the day before. She was actually driving down to Key West to meet up with me. Since her Birthday was going to land on my Grand Cayman day, I asked if she wanted to meet me in Key west and I would take care of the expenses for her and my aunt. So its needless to say that there was no budget for that day, if we wanted to do it, it would get done. It ended up being an insanely busy day, but like I said amazing memories were made. We have been going through some rough times this year and we both needed this to get away from all the chaos.

 

She of course agreed and I got her a nice hotel in downtown Key West. The Hotel name was the Nyah and it is a new hotel, so everything was insanely clean and new. As soon as I woke up I called her to check up on her and to see how the day before went and what she did. She was really excited to be there and enjoying her short stay in the Keys. My aunt is a total blast, she is the kind of person that you bring along in trips just because of the amount of energy that she adds just by being there. She has no shame (not saying this in a bad way) and always finds the best possible thing out of any situation. I was very happy that she was able to drive down with my mom, I would not have felt ok with my mom driving alone from Miami to the keys.

 

The plan for that day was to get off the ship as soon as it docked and I had a full day planned with tons of fun activities that we could all enjoy together.

 

Anyway I woke up and checked my emails and what not.

 

I love this channel, it was a really easy way to checkout what was going on the beach pool

 

 

We were still sailing towards Key west.

 

 

Why in Km?.. it is a US based ship, with most of the travelers being US based.... I understand that they should display it, but not during so much of the time… Anyway,

 

 

 

 

[gambee]

 

As the ship got closer to Key West I headed out to my balcony to get some nice pictures.

 

 

Not to keep beating a dead horse, but there is significant color difference between this NEX picture and the rest of the set. Then again the picture was taken with a few minutes lapse, not sure if maybe that changed the setup a bit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[gambee]

There is a lot of activity in that area, very neat.

 

 

I love fisheye pictures!

 

 

Docking

 

 

 

 

And all tied up =)

 

 

[gambee]

 

Since mom was running a little late with her breakfast, I decided to go have breakfast at the buffet. That morning the food selection was rather weak, then again I think I blame myself for not walking a little further looking for other selections. But overall I have to say that breakfast in the buffet is not carnivals strongest attribute.

 

I usually love eggs Benedict and for some reason the ones in the buffet are actually not that good, but funny enough if you got to the MDR they are fantastic. I am not sure why, just does not make much sense. And I am not talking about them being fresh, I am talking about them tasting completely different.

 

Anyway here some pictures of the breakfast buffet.

 

 

 

 

 

I have read in several reviews that the eggs are synthetic, but I cannot attest for this because I did not try them. The Allure had some great eggs and some really horrible ones as well.

 

 

 

[gambee]

 

 

Not crazy about this, just let me grab what I want. I guess maybe there are people who over do it, but for folks like me... Well, w/e, just saying.

 

 

 

Coffee here was good, but the quality variates throughout the ship. I forgot which one but it was horrible, the MDR one maybe, oh no no no, it was the room service one.

 

 

 

[gambee]

 

Here is a short video of the Breakfast Buffet area.

 

 

 

 

[gambee]

hmmmmm, I never tried the orange passion fruit guava cocktail.

 

 

This was my breakfast for the day. Like I said it was just ok. Wish they had a few more selections. But I find other options later in the cruise, no worries. Oh I forgot, the lemonade is very tasty, while the OJ just tastes like tang (do they have tang in the US? not sure, pardon my ignorance). I am not a fan of OJ anyway, it raises my acidity and messes with me. Just noting it though. Wish they offered the lemonade for breakfast as well.

 

 

 

Soon after that I received a call from mom and she told me to start heading down. So I did that :)

 

 

 

 

[gambee]

 

Getting off the ship was painless and very fast. The port in Key West is very easy to navigate and pretty close to everything, for those who don’t feel like getting a cab or bus. But there are many options to get around key west, such as hop on off bus, you can rent the golf carts etc.

 

I kept on walking to meet mom by main entrance, she was parked there.

 

You can see my room from there!

 

 

 

 

That cat was gorgeous

 

 

The jet ski tour about to depart, that must be fun! I have never done one in the USA, plenty of times in Colombia but never here. I think my obsession with sail boats, will deter me with doing these type of shore excursions.