summer50

I just firmly advised the steward that my preference is twice per day as always. There was no pressure. I'm sure if you are firm enough, they will not push as that could possibly affect their compensation from me at the end of the cruise. Did not have a problem when we sailed on the Vista. Just stated my preference.

I live in Palm Beach County and believe me, no one will be sitting on the deck having a martini Friday..........this is a category 4 storm and it is not going anywhere except up the coast of Florida if not directly onto the peninsula of Florida. By the way, Carnival has no control over the ports openings or closures. That is determined by each Port Authority......

We sailed on the Breeze 5 times when it was ported in Miami; you can get some of the specialty drinks that they serve on the Alchemy Bar at the Ocean Plaza Bar on Deck 5 and also at the Piano Bar on Deck 5. I always got my favorite pineapple chipotle martini at either bar. I'm not sure of any other martinis that they can make, but they had no trouble with that one. And it was every bit as delicious as the Alchemy Bar's martini......just not made with all the drama and the flourishes that the bartenders at the Alchemy Bar do.........

On our June 3rd Vista voyage, we used Provence Connection for a tour when we ported in Marseille. It was to the Luberone villages and Lavendar fields...beautiful fishing villages, gorgeous lavendar fields and a lavendar farm, village markets with artisan gelatos, pizzas/foccacias, soaps, jewelry, foodstuffs. It was a wonderful day...one of our best tours of the trip. Partly because of Christian our tour guide and partly because the area is so beautiful.

Hmm... Well I'd be more than happy for our scheduled stop in Marseille to be moved to another port. Monaco would be a nice exchange! :D

 

Its not the IS factor... merely that I dont like anything much I hear about Marsaille.

 

Nothing much reported but the evacuation of passengers certainly took place

We were on the June 3rd Vista sailing and did a private tour with Provence Connection and had a magical day in Provence. There are other options besides Marseille. We did a lot of research beforehand to see what was in the area besides the city

We flew from Boston on June 1st to Barcelona with a layover in Dublin...we flew on Aer Lingus and our fare was $1200 pp. We had booked the Vista when they first started taking booking and paid $699 pp for an inside cabin. Where we spent $$ was on tours but we shared with some groups to curb costs. We loved the ship, our room and had the trip of a lifetime.

We were in room 6286 and my brother in 6266 and we had no noise issues on the June 3rd voyage. Loved the ship and the location of our cabins!

s

We've never done the Chef's Table and are dying to try it when we go on the Vista in November, 2017. I sent a request to the Event Planning email address on May 23rd with our party's information. I got the automatic email reply stating that "For Chef's Table Requests: Our shipboard staff will contact you directly to advise if your request can be accommodated."

 

A few days later I found on this site an email address that goes directly to the Vista Steakhouse Manager and that they would handle the Chef's Table requests. So I forwarded my initial email to that address on May 27th. No response.

 

I followed up a third time on June 13th - with STILL no response as of today.

 

Is this typical? Is it just because our sailing is still 16 months out? Can anyone tell me when they typically open up the Chef's table reservations. I know space is very limited which is why I sent the request in so early. If it is already sold out, would someone email back saying that the request could not be accommodated. It's frustrating to get NOTHING back.

 

Any suggestions or feedback would be welcome!

 

Thank you,

Misty

We are sailing on the Vista March 25th, 2017 and I sent my email request early May. Got the canned response that they would respond within 3 days. I waited a week and after no response, resent the request. Another canned response. I waiting until end of May and without a response, I sent my request again. This email thread was pretty long at this point. Still just the canned response. In July, I finally sent another email showing all my requests with no responses and stated that I was ready to raise my issue to a higher level. I finally got a response from the Events Director and within 5 days got my reservation. That was on Tuesday, July 5. It took two months to get this settled. Since the Vista is brand new and since the seating is limited, like you, I wanted to request in advance. It was a very frustrating experience.

We sailed June 3rd on the Vista and used the ATM for Euro exchange. Before we left the United States, we had gotten some Euros from our bank and the exchange rate was 1.14. On the ship the exchange rate was only l.06! No lines and the ATM worked smoothly ...it's tucked away on the Promenade (Deck 5) right next to Cherry on Top. Really not too visible so I don't think it gets much usage. We had initially looked for it on Deck 3 near Guest Services which is where I thought it would be. They had to direct us to the Promenade because as I said, it's not too visible. I had read on an earlier post that it ran out of Euros quickly. We decided mid week that we needed more EUs to be safe and I was worried that the ATM would be empty by that time, however, no issues nor were there later in the week when my brother also used it.

We just returned from the June 3rd cruise on the Carnival Vista; we did the Cinque Terre tours with Papillon Tours. We have used them a few years ago for a tour of Pisa/Tuscany and they were awesome. They did not disappoint this time either. We had Matteo as our tour guide. Matteo was so personable and accomodating. He took us to some of the beautiful villages and to one that was not even part of Cinque Terre, Porto Venere which turned out to be our favorite village!! He was such a careful driver and if you have ever been on those narrow winding cliff hugging roads you will understand what I mean when I say that we felt perfectly comfortable in his care! It was a memorable day in a gorgeous area and we were able to tailor this tour to our own needs since some of us had slight physical limitations. Papillon worked around that and provided us with one of our best days of our cruise. I highly reccomend them for ease in booking and for pre-cruise service as well as the tour itself!!

We just got back from our June 3rd cruise on the Carnival Vista; we booked Romeinlimo for our group of 4 and we did Rome as you Like it. We had already seen the Vatican extensively so were looking for different options. We had Luca as our driver, and he made the history of Rome come alive for us. We had wonderful discussions with him and he made the day one of our most spectacular of the cruise. He also took us for a fantastic meal in a restaurant that was filled with "locals". We are all of Italian descent so we have an idea of good Italian food, and were not disappointed, nor were we with his choice of stops for gelato. He took us to all our important highlights on our list, Trevi Fountain, Piazza Navrone, Pantheon, Forum, Collesseum, Villa Borgese and some stops in between! We also got back to the ship in plenty of time so you need not fear that using a private tour company will endanger your cruise in any way, at least not this tour company. Couldn't have been happier with Romeinlimo AND with Luca. He is the best! Do not hesitate to use this company!!

We have sailed the Breeze 4 times in the last two years (that's how much we love this ship!) The latest was a Sept 26th cruise and we found the ship, staff and food to be every bit as good as when we first sailed her in March of 2014

We have taken at least 14 cruises with Carnival and have honestly never had a problem with flat soda or warm soda; but then again, my husband usually orders from any of the bars, by the pool or in the MDR. He may have ordered in Punchliners a few times but never complained. If we did have issues, I would have no compunction with asking for a new soda whether it was warm or flat, but we have never had to. We are pleased with the soda card and since he drinks 5 to 7 sodas per day, on a 7 or 8 day cruise, it's worth it for us.

We've sailed on the Breeze three times since March 2014 and will sail her again in September (we live in Florida so get great deals to be able to afford so many cruises) She is just as beautiful each time. There is a little wear and tear on some of the outdoor furniture but when you consider the use ...it's minimal. The rest of the ship is kept up beautifully. It's our favorite ship out of all the Carnival ships we've sailed.

My husband is a big soda drinker, and he always gets bottomless bubbles. No problem ever getting his soda, it's always cold never flat. However, you do not get a can of soda, they give you a glass with ice. Even by the pool, very easy to get his refills when the servers come by.l

I have made an inquiry with Papillon Service for our stop in Livorna next May. They have a tour to Cinque Terre and Pisa. I haven't heard back from them yet but will let you know. Website is papillonservice dot com. Our ship also offers an excursion so if all else fails I will do that.

We have used Papillon when we last sailed and ported in Florence; they were wonderful and we did a fabulous tour including Pisa, San Gemigno and a fabulous farm lunch with wine at Castello di Verrazzaon winery (same family as the Verrazzano Narrows Bridge in NYC) We plan to use them next year when we do a tour of the Cinque Terre. While tour guides are not necessary, our driver Sabrina gave us so much background as we traveled, and she got us to Tuscany and back to the ship in plenty of time. Would not hesitate to recommend this company.

Your concern IS NOT legit; we sail each year in March out of Miami because my grandson's spring break is always the 2nd or 3rd week of March. We have NEVER in 8 cruises encountered wild spring break crowds. Carnival is mostly family oriented in recent years. I would say possibly the 2 and 3 and 4 days cruises may attract younger spring break college kids cause those cruises are cheaper. But we have even gone on 4 day cruises on Carnival for Labor Day and New Year's Eve (we are Florida residents so have easy access) and have NEVER encountered drunken wild party crowds. I think that is a myth perpetrated by cruisers who have never really cruised on Carnival in the last 10 years.

We were on the Breeze in March and thoroughly enjoyed the new menus. My husband is not as adventurous as I am, but was able to find choices that he enjoyed every night. The new preparations are very well done!

Thank you. Seems like there is no reason not to do a ships tour. I am sure they will custom it for all the passengers.

You may have misunderstood my post; we are not doing a ship's tour. We are using one of the touring companies that I learned about from these boards. They have several organized tours, but if part of the tour is not to your liking, they can "customize" to your preference assuming the group you are with will not mind. They have groups of 4-6 and 8. Most of the companies I spoke to charge around 550 EU for the complete tour...so if you divide that cost by the number of people in your group, you will find even a group of 4 will work out to about what you would have paid for a ship's tour which is designed for the masses and you cannot change to your liking or physical needs. Also, they can get to areas that the large tour buses cannot manage. I have also found that these companies livelihood and reputations depend on their punctuality. They do everything in their power to insure that you return in more than enough time to board the ship before it sails. They are religious almost to a fault (in that we didn't want to leave and they kept prodding us to get moving!) about keeping to the schedule.

Our travel group includes some who are in their late 60s and while pretty healthy, at that age, some do have issues with knees, very hilly climbing etc. I spoke to our tour guide (one who is off the ship) that we have used in the past and she assured me that she could customize the tour to include trains/ferries etc so that we could still enjoy most of the beauty of the area. We have booked it for next summer and are confident that we will enjoy our excursion and not risk life or limb to do so!

We have been on the Breeze three times; beautiful ship with so many seating areas to be quiet and just read and soak up the sun or the shade! They also have wonderful pools and hot tubs if you are a water/sun lover. Deck 5 Promenade has a wonderful outside seating area as well as indoors next to the Coffee Bar on Deck 5. We would sit and have coffee there in the mornings before our "gang" was all up for breakfast and again in the evening enjoying a glass of wine before dinner. On the Lido, past the Pizza area are also beautiful rattan chairs for relaxing with ottomans, as well as up on deck 11 right above it. And, for a fee of $35 the Steakhouse cannot be beat for great food and elegant presentation. The sushi at Bonsai on Deck 5 is wonderful for very low cost...........I think that was $3 also. Don't forget on Seadays, there is the Seaday Brunch in the Blush Main Dining Room. Not stuffy formal, but nice settings and a wonderful selection of breakfast and brunch items. Served until 1:30pm. We went twice and really enjoyed the ambiance and the presentations. Also, on the second sea day, the Steakhouse does a cooking demo in the Steakhouse at 11am. Very fun and be sure to go hungry and they give you generous samples.

We just got off the Breeze on Sunday........we did eat at the Steakhouse (every cruise we make sure to book the Steakhouse...sooo worth the extra surcharge) and also the Italian restaurent, Cucina del Capitano. But I will say that the MDR was fabulous...we really never had any problems with the MDR and the food, but Carnival has outdone itself. The new American Table was wonderful. I know it has received some negative comments but for the life of me, cannot figure out why. They offered a lot of the old favorites, plus new choices like Kale Ceasar Salad, different flatbreads every night, Mussels with Garlic Toast...etc. All were done very well. We live in Palm Beach County and have access to a lot of good restaurants, and while not the same as the finer restaurants, Carnival did a darn good job!!

First off, let me start by saying that I had two major worries. Sailing for the first time in an interior and 2nd but most importantly, Sailing during Spring Break. I had a casino offer for this cruise so it was basically free so when I booked, I surely wasn't thinking of SB... just cruising!

 

We decided this time instead of driving from St. Pete to Miami, spending money on gas and parking at the port for 8 days, we would take a big luxury Escot bus down there.

 

For the way down, it was excellent with no issues. At the end of the review... there is a comedy of errors to say the least.

 

We arrive last Saturday and get their the chaos of Miami's port. Immigration line and baggage line are intertwined which of course makes zero sense. For some reason airports and cruise ports are pure chaos in Miami.

 

We receive our boarding # of 19 when we arrive. They are calling Zone 12 so not too long of a wait.

 

We enter onto the ship and I was prepared for the difference of the aesthetics from seeing other cruisers photos.

 

My husband said he was a little underwhelmed. It grew on him thru the week but I think he actually missed a tiny bit of the tackiness LOL.

 

We run down to our room which is at the bottom of the ship - Stateroom #1319. We drop off our bags. They were just finishing up and welcomed us in to drop off our items.

 

We look around, smaller than the balcony rooms by far but not as bad as a I expected.

 

We decide to grab lunch at this point which the ship is VERY busy and the lido is super crowded. Hard to find tables, etc.. so we end up in the aft and hit the Tandori grill.

 

I had a nice lunch and my husband piled on the heat. This proved to really affect him the rest of the week. He eats Indian on a constant basis and loves heat but this time something affected him where he literally had to eat Zantac and tums all week like they were candy. I felt bad for him.

 

After checking out the ship and participating in a fun sail away, we had late dinner and were introduced to our wonderful team. Adrian head server, Udi and Fanny. And Ufuk who was cocktails and drinks.

 

In synopsis for the dining room - we ate there 6 out of 8 nights. Our team was AMAZING! Adrian was just one of the best we have ever encountered.

 

Food - We loved the American Table. I was REALLY happy with the changes and additions to the menu. In fact, the ONLY things I didn't enjoy or things that weren't the best were the items that have been around for awhile. Those were my ONLY misses.

 

We are total foodies and we really had a great experience. I would say the only thing lacking which I wasn't overly impressed with was desserts this go around. But after a huge meal, I really only wanted a bite or two so it wasn't a big deal.

 

We tried Sushi for lunch one day and then Cucina Italiano for dinner one evening.

 

Sushi was excellent but a little pricey for lunch. It was $33. However it was fresh and very tasty.

 

The Cucina was a BIG win for us. Excellent service, and they really impressed me with their food. I am 100% Sicilian and very picky. I was worried this would be sub par but it was excellent and def worth the fee!

 

We did have steak house reservations one evening but it was a port day and we were just exhausted. We ended up cancelling them with the intention of rebooking but never did. So I can't comment on it.

 

Guys burgers - Same as before, delish

Blue Iguana - Same as before, delish

 

Red Frog Pug - One of my favorite places! Loved the outdoor swing. We ordered Conch fritters and lots of mojitos. Really fantastic addition to the ship!

 

 

Activities -

 

We actually did a lot more of the things on this ship that we never have in the past and wanted to. I felt with 8 days we had time to settle in. We played mini golf, played air hockey in the pub, relaxed on the swings, Thrill Theater a few times, bingo, movies at night, comedy shows and more.

 

I felt there was enough to do for sure.

 

Music - The music was so so. I REALLY missed the Filipino bands that usually play by the casino. Instead there was folksy mellow music in the Red Frog at night, Matt and Amy. I was really hoping for more variety with the music in their. I did enjoy the live Caribbean music on the Lido pool. However it wasn't convenient (timewise) to enjoy it more than we did.

 

There was a great band named Deja Vu which we enjoyed the few times we saw them and then there was a Latin band in the Lobby all week which played Salsa, Merengue, etc.

 

Chair hogs - in Full Force! Packed cruise ='s no chairs. My husband wakes up very early so he was able to grab us two. I woke up early too and was able to join him before it was packed in the Aft pool a few times. Some people were getting a little mean, nasty and and condescending with each other over chairs.

 

Spring Break -

 

The cruise was definitely packed but it wasn't too horrible kid wise. For the most part, the kids were very well behaved. We really only had one instance. When we were sitting at the pub outside in the swing, there were kids above in a balcony and they were spitting down on the desk which almost hit us. My husband yelled at them that he was calling security to scare them and they ran inside. That stopped that ;)

 

Casino -

 

I won $1400 on the first night and then the rest of the week had zero luck and donated a lot of it back. :-/ It was smokey in some areas but it wasn't as bad as other ships to me. I am very sensitive to smoke and brought my asthma inhaler with me all times I was in there. I only needed it once and I didn't feel like I reeked of the smell.

 

Movies by the pool -

 

This was really fun. On on the evenings, we grabbed a burger, snuck our bottle of champagne down in our ice bucket in our backpack (don't judge) and had yummy burgers and expensive champagne curled up on deck 11 in the chairs with ottomans and towel blankets. It was fantastic!

 

Yesterday unfortunately it was time to leave. We were supposed to meet our bus at 9:15-9:30 am. Our luggage even tho were in Zone 5, didn't come out until Zone 27 luggage came out. I was worried I wasn't going to get my bag. We were a little late but jumped on the bus. And then the crappy day began.

 

That bus had issues immediately. The coolant started leaking and they had to call us another bus. They said one would be there soon. Well soon was almost 3 hours. So we finally get the new bus, transfer all the luggage and think we are on our way to leave the port around 12:30pm. All it did was take us to the other side of the port to transfer to another bus. We get on and this one is old with no bathroom and people are freaking out. I just want to get home and figure he will eventually stop for breaks. So we get on the road and hit Ft Meyers to be told we now have another bus waiting for us that he can't drive any further. We do the luggage switch again and get on the new bus. About an hour into it, the bus is going about 20 mph on the interstate and we can't figure out what the driver is doing. He gets off the interstate and it dies under an overpass. The turbo went out. So now Bus #3, stalled. We have to wait 2 hours for a bus from Bradenton to pick us up. Hot and no place to walk to, to eat or drink. Finally a few hours go by and we are on Bus # 4 and finally make it home about 6 or 7 hours later than we should have. Last time I will be using that company for a transfer.

 

Overall, The Breeze is definitely my favorite ship I have sailed on thus far. I would love to sail on her again and bring my family. I would love it if she moved to Port Canaveral because it's such an easier port for us.

 

Let me know if you have any questions since I was just off!

 

(I did not save my fun times, sorry).

We just got off the Breeze yesterday, Sunday, Mar 22nd. We had anytime dining, and had Adrian and his Team on one of the first nights in the MDR. He made the dining experience so much fun that we asked for him every evening after that...waiting up to 30 minutes just to sit in his area. So entertaining and he also gave GREAT service. If you are on the Breeze in the next few weeks, seek him out!

This is a big issue for my daughter, Does Carnival(Splendor) leave a chocolate mint on the pillow?

I don't know about the Splendor, but we just got off the Breeze yesterday, and they no longer leave chocolates on your pillow at turndown. Also there were no complimentary items in the little clam shell on the bathroom vanity. The clam shell was shoved in the storage area with the extra toliet paper rolls. I had read that other Carnival ships were no longer leaving the chocolates either. However, I will say that this cruise was one of our best (out of 18 with Carnival...we have also cruised on Norwegian, RC, Princess and Celebrity) The food was fantastic, the service was fabulous and the cruise Director Matt Mitcham was the bomb! Did not miss the chocolates.

Hope it's not a crazy Spring Break obnoxious time.

 

Wasn't really thinking too much about it except I just saw two friends post on FB who are on Liberty of the Seas and said it was crazy. His details were colorful lol. His is a 5 day cruise tho.

 

Ours is an 8 day cruise so I am hoping less Spring Break college crazy?

 

Oi!! Should I be worried or am I over thinking.

My grandson has spring break every year (he is a student in school here in So Florida) at this time in March....and every year, we cruise as a family on Carnival during his Spring Break. We NEVER have encountered any wild behavior. As you indicated, the shorter cruises usually are booked by the young college students who may party more, while this particular time is usually more families. We are also cruising this Saturday on the Breeze and cruised the same time last year on the Breeze. We had a fabulous time and found that a lot of the passengers were fellow residents of Palm Beach County who were enjoying their Spring Break. Carnival has a lot more families cruising than people realize.