6 Day Carnival Breeze 5/17

We booked this cruise as a getaway for my husband and I. We've been cruising with Carnival for 10 years and have been on the smaller as well as larger ships.

We flew in and spent the night at the Courtyard by Marriott. It was fine, nothing spectacular but what I expect and like about Marriott. We went to the port the next morning and arrived there around 10:30AM. We dropped bags off to the baggage area right next to the port entrance and walked in. It was actually a very quick process to get in and go through all the embarkation process. We waited in the waiting area til about 11:15 (we were group #4).

The ship itself is very nice, and easy to navigate if you've been on Carnival ships before. We had a cabin on the Lido deck, in the same location we stayed on the Freedom. It was very close to Lido, but still pretty quiet in the room which is what we wanted.

Muster Drill - This was in the lounge and SO much better when it's indoors, vs outside when it's hot and you have a ton of people standing in close proximity to each other.

Dining - we were in the Blush Dining Room at 6PM. Service - I loved our waitress. She was absolutely the nicest. However, the changes in the dining room have made service slower. The main server is also taking drink orders, getting the orders, getting the drink orders from the bar, and bringing the food out from the kitchen. This has slowed the dining process considerably.

Food - it was ok. Nothing spectacular and that makes me sad because when we first started sailing with Carnival, it was excellent. Quality and variety has definitely been on a decline for some time now and I don't really care for the new American Table Menu.

Cucina Del Capitano - this was our first experience with Cucina. Again, I thought it was just ok. I wasn't blown away. We likely will not dine here again for the fee. In addition, it's right near the basketball court and all you could hear the entire time was the basketball being thrown against the wall.

Ports - We enjoyed them. Falmouth, we did the Secrets All Inclusive excursion. I had been to this resort previously on a business trip and have wanted to go there for a vacation so it gave my husband a chance to check it out (we will be booking it).

Grand Cayman - we just wandered around, having been here a few times before

Cozumel - we did the waverunner/snorkeling. We really enjoyed this one and the location it was at was just gorgeous.

Entertainment -

Comedy Clubs are always something we love with Carnival. However, they absolutely need to be in a different location. When there were multiple shows a night, they made everyone leave and get in line to come back in. It was a ridiculous way to handle getting everyone in there and there were a few that were too full for everyone. Knowing the popularity of these clubs, Carnival needs a better system.

Production shows - we enjoy Playlist Productions shows so we were happy with the ones we saw.

We had a magician - Bobby Borgia - and a juggler and both were quite good.

The highlight of the entertainment for us was Dr. E as a cruise director. He was absolutely wonderful. He was fun, engaging, and everywhere he was, there was a crowd. People loved him and he was having a great time and it showed. The 80s music trivia was a highlight for me - absolutely would book a cruise with him as cruise director again.

Disembarkation - this was not as smooth as embarkation. It was a long process and the baggage claim in Miami is ridiculous compared to other ports we've cruised out of. This isn't Carnival's fault specifically but there are much better ways to collect bags and Miami really could take a lesson from them (i.e. putting the bags in the location of the zone number, not all crowded on a carousel like at an airport).

A few overall thoughts:

-I've posted before but they are now having people swipe their card each time they get a soda with the soda card. This generates a receipt and we weren't sure if a gratuity was expected each time since it is charged at the time of purchasing the program. If they are trying to do this for inventory control or checking the card to make sure the correct person is getting it, maybe not generating a receipt would be a good idea.

-Food - sadly, was not a highlight anywhere. It was ok. Breakfast was the same each day. My husband has had Guy's Burgers on other ships and said these were not good. He only went twice this trip, vs every day on other cruises (thinking maybe the first time was just a bad day). I understand they are trying to cut costs but when it comes at the expense of the experience of cruising, it's time to rethink the strategy.

Service - overall, outstanding. We never came across a cranky staff member and that's saying a lot :) There were some concerns with the dining staff but our waitress herself was great, it was just that the overall demands placed on her made the time of service take much longer than it normally does.

Entertainment - I know I mentioned this above but please Carnival - figure something else out for the comedy clubs. Put them in the main lounge if you need to but it is absolutely ridiculous to make everyone stand in a line and wait to get in, and then empty the club and go back in line to come back in for the next one. This needs some attention as the comedy clubs are among the most popular entertainment features on the ship.

Overall, the cruise was good. It was relaxing, we enjoyed ourselves. We liked the Breeze as a ship but we prefer the Conquest class ships for deck space - the Breeze had limited seating and we found ourselves wandering all over looking for open deck chairs. We do understand some of that is just the design of the ship deck layout. We will likely sail Carnival again as we have many times over the past 10 years but I'm sad to see some of the changes away from what we liked about them in the beginning.

Thank you for your honest review. I will be doing the 6 day Breeze in a couple of weeks. Looking forward to it. First time on the ship, though have sailed the Dream. Thanks for including the time you arrived in Miami. I know each week is different, but was trying to determine the best time to arrive to maximize Day 1. Sounds like 10:30 was a good time.

10:30 should be a good time for you. Once they start calling zones, it goes very quickly, it's not a long wait time at all in between each number. :) Have fun on your cruise!

Gonna be on her in July. Do you have the "funtimes" available?

Gonna be on her in July. Do you have the "funtimes" available?

I only have the last day. We don't keep them anymore.

Thank you for your honest review. I will be doing the 6 day Breeze in a couple of weeks. Looking forward to it. First time on the ship, though have sailed the Dream. Thanks for including the time you arrived in Miami. I know each week is different, but was trying to determine the best time to arrive to maximize Day 1. Sounds like 10:30 was a good time.

What dates are you going in June - we are on the June 28 and it's our first time on Breeze too. I'm very excited to be sailing on her.

June 14 sailing. Missed you by two weeks. Let's hope for smooth sailing for both of us.

We booked this cruise as a getaway for my husband and I. We've been cruising with Carnival for 10 years and have been on the smaller as well as larger ships.

 

We flew in and spent the night at the Courtyard by Marriott. It was fine, nothing spectacular but what I expect and like about Marriott. We went to the port the next morning and arrived there around 10:30AM. We dropped bags off to the baggage area right next to the port entrance and walked in. It was actually a very quick process to get in and go through all the embarkation process. We waited in the waiting area til about 11:15 (we were group #4).

 

The ship itself is very nice, and easy to navigate if you've been on Carnival ships before. We had a cabin on the Lido deck, in the same location we stayed on the Freedom. It was very close to Lido, but still pretty quiet in the room which is what we wanted.

 

Muster Drill - This was in the lounge and SO much better when it's indoors, vs outside when it's hot and you have a ton of people standing in close proximity to each other.

 

Dining - we were in the Blush Dining Room at 6PM. Service - I loved our waitress. She was absolutely the nicest. However, the changes in the dining room have made service slower. The main server is also taking drink orders, getting the orders, getting the drink orders from the bar, and bringing the food out from the kitchen. This has slowed the dining process considerably.

 

Food - it was ok. Nothing spectacular and that makes me sad because when we first started sailing with Carnival, it was excellent. Quality and variety has definitely been on a decline for some time now and I don't really care for the new American Table Menu.

 

Cucina Del Capitano - this was our first experience with Cucina. Again, I thought it was just ok. I wasn't blown away. We likely will not dine here again for the fee. In addition, it's right near the basketball court and all you could hear the entire time was the basketball being thrown against the wall.

 

Ports - We enjoyed them. Falmouth, we did the Secrets All Inclusive excursion. I had been to this resort previously on a business trip and have wanted to go there for a vacation so it gave my husband a chance to check it out (we will be booking it).

 

Grand Cayman - we just wandered around, having been here a few times before

 

Cozumel - we did the waverunner/snorkeling. We really enjoyed this one and the location it was at was just gorgeous.

 

Entertainment -

Comedy Clubs are always something we love with Carnival. However, they absolutely need to be in a different location. When there were multiple shows a night, they made everyone leave and get in line to come back in. It was a ridiculous way to handle getting everyone in there and there were a few that were too full for everyone. Knowing the popularity of these clubs, Carnival needs a better system.

 

Production shows - we enjoy Playlist Productions shows so we were happy with the ones we saw.

 

We had a magician - Bobby Borgia - and a juggler and both were quite good.

 

The highlight of the entertainment for us was Dr. E as a cruise director. He was absolutely wonderful. He was fun, engaging, and everywhere he was, there was a crowd. People loved him and he was having a great time and it showed. The 80s music trivia was a highlight for me - absolutely would book a cruise with him as cruise director again.

 

Disembarkation - this was not as smooth as embarkation. It was a long process and the baggage claim in Miami is ridiculous compared to other ports we've cruised out of. This isn't Carnival's fault specifically but there are much better ways to collect bags and Miami really could take a lesson from them (i.e. putting the bags in the location of the zone number, not all crowded on a carousel like at an airport).

 

A few overall thoughts:

-I've posted before but they are now having people swipe their card each time they get a soda with the soda card. This generates a receipt and we weren't sure if a gratuity was expected each time since it is charged at the time of purchasing the program. If they are trying to do this for inventory control or checking the card to make sure the correct person is getting it, maybe not generating a receipt would be a good idea.

 

-Food - sadly, was not a highlight anywhere. It was ok. Breakfast was the same each day. My husband has had Guy's Burgers on other ships and said these were not good. He only went twice this trip, vs every day on other cruises (thinking maybe the first time was just a bad day). I understand they are trying to cut costs but when it comes at the expense of the experience of cruising, it's time to rethink the strategy.

 

Service - overall, outstanding. We never came across a cranky staff member and that's saying a lot :) There were some concerns with the dining staff but our waitress herself was great, it was just that the overall demands placed on her made the time of service take much longer than it normally does.

 

Entertainment - I know I mentioned this above but please Carnival - figure something else out for the comedy clubs. Put them in the main lounge if you need to but it is absolutely ridiculous to make everyone stand in a line and wait to get in, and then empty the club and go back in line to come back in for the next one. This needs some attention as the comedy clubs are among the most popular entertainment features on the ship.

 

Overall, the cruise was good. It was relaxing, we enjoyed ourselves. We liked the Breeze as a ship but we prefer the Conquest class ships for deck space - the Breeze had limited seating and we found ourselves wandering all over looking for open deck chairs. We do understand some of that is just the design of the ship deck layout. We will likely sail Carnival again as we have many times over the past 10 years but I'm sad to see some of the changes away from what we liked about them in the beginning.

Yes, scanning cards for the soda program is a way of inventory control and being able to allocate costs . Requiring guests to sign is also inventory control. The automatic printing of suggested tip is just that auto. It is the same on all drink receipts. Some guests do tip extra regardless of the receipt but the system just prints it out. Just sign and go.

June 14 sailing. Missed you by two weeks. Let's hope for smooth sailing for both of us.

Have a great time. And yes, smooth sailings.

Our itinerary changed for Jamaica to Ocho Rios. Not sure if we are getting off the ship, hadn't planned on it in Falsmouth.

Enjoy BREEZE!

We did the Breeze just before you. I agree that Guy's burgers on the Breeze sucked. Overcooked and very Greasy.

We had Matt as CD and he was awesome.

Nice review - unfortunately, our cruise on the Glory in March was a disappointment - we too, felt food on Carnival in the past was very good. This year was not good at all and we are not picky.