A little info about us:
This was a family cruise for me, my wife, and our two sons. Me and my wife are in our mid 40s. This is our third cruise. We have cruised a five day cruise on the Ecstasy with stops in Cozumel and Progresso, and also a seven day cruise on the Magic with stops in Cozumel, Grand Cayman, and Montego Bay. Our sons are 16 & 18 and this was their first cruise.
Day 1 – Embarkation
We are from the Houston area, so we drove to Galveston the day of the cruise. We selected a 12:30 check in time with the staggered check in. On our last cruise we had Faster to the Fun, and would buy it again if it is available. On this cruise we booked late and were never able to find any for sale.
We booked a spot with EZ Cruise Parking. On our last two cruises we used Park N Cruise. The first time we used Park N Cruise we liked it. It was close and indoors. They had golf carts that they took you from your parking spot to the terminal. The second time we used Park N Cruise, but there were no golf carts to take you to the terminal. It was a pretty long walk while carrying luggage. Park N Cruise was booked, so we chose EZ Cruise Parking. It was not indoor parking like Park N Cruise, but other than that, we loved it. It was still pretty close to the terminal. We got there and parked quickly. It was a short walk from our car to where they had busses which took us and our luggage to the terminal. This was a lot easier than the long walk with Park N Cruise.
We arrived at the terminal at 12:15. We were checking in by 12:35 and were on the boat by 1:00. The lines seemed long when we got there, but moved quickly. Overall, I feel that the staggered check in was better than the check in on our first cruise. From what I saw, if we had Faster to the Fun, we could have been on the boat in about 15 minutes rather than the 45 that it took us.
Once on the boat, we had to go to guest services to make some changes in the rooms. We had booked two rooms with my wife and one son in one and me and the other son in another room to get a better rate. Once on the ship, we swapped to put me and my wife in the same room and my sons in the other. The line at guest services was long, but moved pretty quickly. It took about 15 to 20 minutes to get through the line and make this change. If we had FTTF, we could have went through a shorter line and been done in about five minutes total. I am not complaining about the wait, just pointing out the benefits of FTTF.
Like I stated earlier, we booked late and were waitlisted for our preferred early dining. Once we checked in, we saw that we were assigned to the Saphire dining room for late seating. Once we were clear of Guest Services, we went to the Saphire and talked to the person there to request early dining. I was surprised that there was no line there. The lady there was polite and took down our information and request for early dining and explained that we would receive a card the following day informing us if they could accommodate our request or not.
We then went to the Lido deck to get something to eat. We had heard good things about Guys Burger and had never been on a ship with one, so we tried that. I was truly impressed. The burgers and fries were much better than the burger place on the Magic in December of 2015. I was also surprised at the efficiency of Guys Burger. We never had to wait more than two minutes to get a burger there, and my wife and sons ate there several times at lunch.
Once we were full, we went to check out our rooms. My wife and I had a cove balcony and my sons had an interior room directly across from us. This was our second cove balcony room as we had one on the Magic also. We love the cove balcony rooms. I like being close to the water and don’t mind riding an elevator or taking stairs up to the Lido deck. I was a little concerned about the location of our room since we booked it late and I was worried about it being in a bad spot. Overall it was a great location. It was close to the mid-ship elevators and also to the laundry room. The only down side was that there was an area right next to it where they kept the luggage carts. The only time this was a factor was on the last night when they were collecting luggage, but that did not take long, so it was not a bad thing.
While settling into our rooms, we signed up for internet and such. We had already downloaded the HUB app, which we LOVED. Our favorite parts of the HUB app were access to our Sail and Sign account, looking up dining options, the listing of activities and shows, and access to Pixels. The Pixels part was great. You took a picture of your face and it used facial recognition to find pictures of you. Out of all the pictures taken of us, only one did not show up on our app. You could then buy the pictures directly through the app. We also purchased the chat option for the HUB app for $5 per phone for the duration of the cruise. It was a decent feature, but was not totally reliable. The app had to be open to get messages, and it would close itself from time to time. There were also lots of times that it could not connect. I will not purchase that again. I also got the social media internet package which was $5 per day per phone for the cruise. I love this because I can use Facebook Messenger to text friends and family back home while I am on the ship. On our last cruise, me and my wife had it and found it to be much more reliable to text each other using Facebook messenger than with the HUB app.
We rested a little until our luggage got there and then unpacked. Here are a few things I bring on each cruse which I find very helpful:
Power strip – This is nothing new for experienced cruisers, but is quite helpful since there are only two outlets. Make sure it is just a power strip and not a surge protector. Those are not allowed.
Cell phone charger battery – This is one of those external batteries that you charge up and then can plug your phone into to charge. I use my phone as an alarm clock and there are no outlets by the bed. I used this to charge my phone at night without having to stretch an extension cord across the room.
Trash bags – I use these to put dirty laundry in.
Post-it notes – I use these to leave notes for the room steward.
Downy wrinkle release – This helps to get my shirts looking good without having to iron.
Yeti – I put ice in it every morning. I buy the 12 packs of water from Carnival for $4 and then use Crystal Light lemonade packets to make lemonade. The Yeti will keep the ice all day long. One thing I liked on this cruise was that the fridge was empty when we got there. Last cruise it had stuff in it you could buy. I had to empty it out the first day so I could put water in there.
After unpacking, we explored the ship a little until it was time to get ready for our 8:15 dinner time. We were in the Sapphire dining room and sat at a table for eight, but our table mates did not show up. Between the four of us, we had the smoked chicken quesadilla, brisket and chocolate melting cake. All the food was good. There was a Carnival employee who came around and did card tricks at the table. I enjoyed it, and felt that it added to the enjoyment of dinner.
After dinner, we went to our room and got some sleep.
Day 2 – Sea Day
I had set the card out for room service requesting some Raisin Bran and a banana for me and toast and coffee for my wife. Me and my younger son and wife got up early and went to the gym when it opened at 6:00. It was quite crowded. Overall I was satisfied with the gym. It is not big, and there are very limited free weights, but there is enough to get a decent workout in. My wife, younger son, and I are all fitness people and I actually enjoy working out…..you will see that. My only real complaint is that they use Life Fitness cardio machines with the touch screen controls and there were a lot of the machines for which the touch screens did not work or were difficult to work. Several times I, or someone else I saw would have to try several machines before finding one that worked. This was not a big problem later in the cruise when it was less crowded, but the first two days, it made it difficult to find a cardio machine. We did about 35 minutes of weight lifting followed by 30 minutes of cardio which.
After working out, we got cleaned up and went to the Blush dining room for brunch. In my opinion, this is the best dining option for breakfast on sea days. Between the four of us, we got eggs, sausage, bacon, pancakes, French toast, and chocolate chip pancakes. It was all good. I always enjoy the brunch and always request to sit at a table with others. I enjoy meeting new people and always learn something new from other cruises at breakfast.
After brunch, we decided to go sit by the pool for a bit before lunch. As usual, all the deck chairs were taken, with only about 30% actually having people in them. I could get upset about this, but I try not to let things beyond my control bother me. We did find some deck chairs overlooking the ocean on the side of the ship and enjoyed them until it started to rain.
Once it started to rain, we decided to get something to eat and decided to try the Blue Iguana. We had the chicken tacos and pork tacos and they were awesome. One son and wife grabbed some Guys Burger. I feel that the addition of Blue Iguana and Guys Burger really added to the quality of food choices for lunch. We avoid the Lido buffet most of the time for other options.
After lunch, we went to our room and watched some olympics and napped. When we got to our room there was a card which had been put under the door letting us know that we had been moved to early dining in the Blush. I got up and did 40 minutes of cardio at the gym before dinner.
We went to dinner at 6:00 for our first elegant night and met our new table mates, a family of four who were great company throughout the cruise which added to our enjoyment of dining. I love meeting new people and this family was great. My family had the Italian Wedding Soup, brazed tenderloin tart, seared stripped bass, a chicken dish and crème brulee. The food was great.
After dinner we went to the theatre to see Motor City which was a show based around Motown music. It was a good show as several of the cast were good singers.
Day 3 – Sea day
I ordered my usual room service at 5:30 and was at the gym at 6:00 with my younger son. It was still pretty crowded, but not quite as crowded as the first day. We got in a good workout and then headed back to the room.
While getting cleaned up and ready for the day, I did a load of laundry. Our room was close to the laundry machines which was nice. The Breeze has machines which are operated by your sail and sign card which is a lot better than the coin operated option on my past cruises. I met a great family there and got a new tip for cruise life. I have always purchased the laundry soap for $1.50 per load because I don’t want to pack a bottle of laundry detergent. This family had these little laundry soap pods that they brought in a ziplock bag. They were easy to pack and way cheaper option than purchasing on the ship. I did laundry every other day while on this cruise. With the laundry room close, I can always get in my laundry during or right after my workout and I have to pack less that way.
We then got cleaned up and went to sea day brunch again and again met some great people from Houston and Oklahoma.
Everyone else went to the room to nap, but I went to watch the ice carving. It was entertaining and this guy made something different than what I had seen on my last two cruises.
After the ice carving, me and my younger son went to Fat Jimmy’s C-side BBQ while my older son went to Guys Burger. I enjoyed Fat Jimm’s C-side BBQ, but I don’t think it was as good as it had been when we were on the Magic in December.
After lunch, we took naps and wandered around the ship before I did my usual 40 minutes of cardio at the gym.
We went to dinner again at 6:00 and had beef and barley soup, lasagna, chicken, cheese cake, and chocolate melting cake. Once again the food and company were great.
After dinner, my two sons and I went to see comedians Dale Jones and Jodi White. Both were very funny.
Day 4 – Montego Bay
Room service followed by the gym again.
After the gym, we got cleaned up and went to Blue Iguana to get some breakfast. We all got breakfast tacos which were awesome. Once again, the wait was minimal for Blue Iguana.
After breakfast we got off the ship as soon as we could (9:00 am). I went to Dr Cave Beach in December and wanted to go back. I had done some research and decided to take a taxi this time. While trying to get a taxi, I kept being told by one guy it was going to cost $20 per person each way to take a taxi and would be a lot cheaper to take a tour bus. I did not want a tour bus, because I did not want to have to come back on their schedule. I insisted I wanted a taxi and they called one up for me. When the taxi driver got out the guy who had been bugging me approached him. I got between them and told the taxi driver to ignore him and talk to me. We agreed on $40 to take all four of us to the beach. Once we were on our way, the taxi driver wanted to make arrangements to pick us up. I finally agreed on coming back at 1:00, but insisted on paying for the return trip when he picked us up. It cost us $60 to get into Dr Cave Beach (4 persons at $6 each and two umbrellas and four chairs at $6 each). We were set up and relaxing by 9:45. We relaxed some….got in the water some…… and jumped on the trampoline in the water some. We did order some wings as a snack and it was pretty good. At 12:55 we got up to go wash our feet off and walk out to the road. Before we could get our feet washed, I heard my name called and looked up and it was our taxi driver. He got us back to the port in no time and I paid him $40 plus a $10 tip. None of my family are really “beach people” but we enjoyed the beautiful beach with crystal clear water and relaxation.
Once back on the ship, we got cleaned up and went to Blue Iguana and Guys Burger for some lunch.
We then took a nap and I went to the gym for my usual 40 minutes of cardio.
At dinner we had wings, cannelloni, ribs, beef tenderloin, chocolate melting cake, and some kind of bread like dessert with caramelized topping. Once again we had great company at dinner discussing our lives away from cruising as well as sharing our experiences in Montego Bay.
After dinner we went to the magic show Two Men Without Assistance. It was entertaining, but not my favorite show.
Day 5 – Grand Cayman
I forgot to put the room service card out the previous night, so I had to hit the Lido and find something to eat before my workout. On this day, the gym was pretty empty. This was probably because you could start getting off the ship pretty early. We had a later excursion, so I had plenty of time.
We then got cleaned up and went to the Blue Iguana which was again quick and good.
We then went down and got on a tender and were in Grand Cayman in no time.
We went on the Carnival excursion which went snorkeling at the barrier reef which was past stingray island. I really enjoyed this excursion. We took a bus from the terminal to a dock where we had to wait for a while for the boat to return from the previous trip. We had a thirty minute boat ride out to the reef. At the beginning of the boat ride we were in a channel with houses on either side and there were a lot of big iguanas in peoples’ yards and boat docks. They anchored the boat and we were free to snorkel the reef on our own. They gave us guidelines about where we could go and let us explore on our own. We had bought an underwater digital camera for about $150 and I used it to take lots of pictures of fish which turned out great. After about 45 minutes of snorkeling, we took a boat ride back to the dock. Once at the dock, we loaded up on a bus and headed back. It was kina funny to me, but the bus driver made me put a shirt on before getting on the bus. Note that we were all in wet swimming suits. We got back to the terminal at 3:20. The last tender was supposed to be at 3:00, but we were on a Carnival excursion so they waited on us. We did see a little rain storm from a distance, but it never rained on us. I was later told that it did rain on the cruise ship while it was in port for a while.
Once back on the boat, I grabbed a banana and apple and went to the gym for my 40 minutes of cardio.
After going to the gym, we went to dinner and had pasta fagioli soup, stuffed mushrooms, shrimp cocktail, filet mignon, short ribs, fried shrimp, and chocolate melting cake. The food and company was again great.
After dinner we went to the theater to see Flick. This was a show based around songs from movies. It was the best show I have seen on a cruise ship. It was truly awesome. The singing, special effects, and dancing were all great.
After dinner, my older son and I went to see comedian Tommy Drake who was great.
Day 6 – Cozumel
I did my normal room service in the morning followed by a solo trip to the gym as my wife and son wanted to sleep in. At this point in the cruise, the gym was pretty empty.
After my workout, I got cleaned up and we went to the Blue Iguana and had some breakfast. We then got off the ship as soon as they allowed us and did a little shopping. We got some t-shirts and such.
After a little shopping, we went to 3 Amigos and ate an early lunch. The food is OK and a little overpriced for what you get, but you cannot beat the view as it is right on the beach next to the cruise ship pier.
We then took the Carnival Three Reef Snorkel excursion. The staff was great. My wife liked Cozumel better than Grand Cayman. In Cozumel, they drop you off and want everyone to stay together until the boat picks you up. It made it more crowded than I like. I am an experienced snorkeler and like to relax and go at my own pace without bumping into people. I also liked Grand Cayman because it was not as deep as most of Cozumel. Cozumel ranged from 10’ to 30’ deep where in Grand Cayman the reef actually extended above the water line in places. Don’t get me wrong, the excursion is great, I just preferred Grand Cayman to Cozumel. After the first stop, I talked to one of the guides and he let me hang back a little from the group.
Once the excursion was over, we got back on the Breeze, showered and headed to dinner where we had meatballs, veal parmesan, flatiron steak, and chocolate melting cake. You will notice that we all love the chocolate melting cake. One tip……get it with two ice creams! That makes for the perfect cake to ice cream ratio.
After dinner we went to our room and watched a movie. I was pretty tired and went to sleep and my older son and wife went to see one of the late comedy shows.
Day 7 – Sea day
I got my usual room service and headed to the gym….by myself. It was a little more crowded than day 6, but not by much.
After I got done working out, I showered and my sons and I went to brunch in the Blush dining room. We again had eggs sausage, hash browns, French toast, and chocolate chip pancakes. My older son actually had a brownie too.
I chilled out around the ship until lunch time and went to Blue Iguana for some pork tacos.
After lunch, I wandered around the ship some more and then headed back to the room to do some packing.
I went and did my normal 40 minutes of cardio and then got cleaned up for dinner.
We enjoyed our last dinner with our new friends and ate flatbread, cornmeal crusted chicken breast, flatiron steak, and chocolate melting cake. We said good bye to our new friends and headed to the room for a few minutes.
After dinner we went to see comedian Tommy Drake’s PG show which was good, but not as good as his R rated show.
After the comedy show we went to the theatre to see Country Road, a show centered around country music. This show was good with good singing and dancing, but it was not near as good as Flick was.
Day 8 - Port
I got up and had my usual room service and my wife and I headed to the gym. On this day, there were only 4 people in the gym including us. We got our workout in and headed back to the room. On the way to the room, I grabbed some banana bread and cinnamon rolls from the Lido buffet to eat for breakfast.
Once back in the room, we got cleaned up and finished packing. We had decided to try self-debarkation on this cruise. Once we finished packing, we watched TV until we had to leave our room at 8:30. We went to deck 5 and saw our new friends from dinner. We had to wait about 40 minutes on deck 5 before we were called to debark. The debarkation process was easy. We had a steady walk from the ship to customs where we had to wait about 5 minutes to clear customs. Once we cleared customs, we had a steady walk out of the terminal and to the EZ Cruise bus which took us to our car. I will definitely do self-debarkation again. It is a lot easier than needing to be packed the night before and then having to find your luggage. If we had Faster to the Fun, we would have been able to go straight from our room to debark rather than having to go to deck 5 to wait.
Final thoughts
We had a great time on this cruise. I have read at several places where some people were complaining about rowdy and misbehaved kids on this cruise. I did see some kids who lacked discipline, but it did not really have a negative effect on our cruise.
I felt that with Guys Burger and Blue Iguana, the food choices for lunch and port day breakfast were better than the Magic from December. We ate at the sea day brunch every sea day and at the main dining room (Blush) every evening. The only thing we did at the Lido buffet was get the occasional soft serve ice cream and the pastries on the last day. Overall I thought the food was great (note that I gained over 3 pounds in 7 days in spite of working out twice a day).
The weather was great. The seas were mild throughout and we only got rained on once (sea day 1) although the ship got rained on in Grand Cayman while we were on our excursion.
The entertainment was good. All the comedians we saw were at least decent, with several shows being great. The theatre shows were all entertaining with Flick being great.
It was relaxing vacation and everyone enjoyed each of the ports we went to.
We are already doing some thinking about our next cruise. We are thinking another end of summer cruise with our boys, or an anniversary celebration cruise in November without the kids. Based on the times we want to go, we are thinking about taking the Breeze to Cozumel, Mahogany Bay in Honduras, and Belize. We have been to Grand Cayman and Montego Bay twice and want something different. We were considering eastern Caribbean, but can’t find a cruise out of Galveston on the Breeze that lines up with when we want to go.
If you have any questions or comments, feel free to post them.
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