moondog73

I hope everyone stops buying it so it will be easier for me to get it when I sail.

Most of the stuff people complain about are just petty stuff just to complain.  The chocolates were nasty and who cares about table cloths?  The shows have changed but if they didn't change people would still complain.  If the complainers dont like it, just go to another line and stop complaining.

Things change over time.   Get over it or love to a different line or vacation all together.  If you want to cruise lime you did in 1986, then by all means get in your Delorean and go back to 1986.  But then CC won't exist for all the complaining yet.

We were on the Breeze in April and they were not on the buffet.  Was tricky finding stuff my brothers 3 kids would eat

This is really a personal choice, juts like cheers and fttf.  I can afford a little extra cash per drink.  It has come in handy a lot.  On the Sunshine, if I approached the casino bar, the one bartender  I had been tipping would see me coming.  The side of the bar with the casino would have a line.  I would go to the other empty side and he would follow me over there.  A dollar or 2 was well worth it to me to not wait for a drink.  I am on vacation and do not want to be waiting in lines.  This occurred at many bars on many days!!!!  Same thing happens to me at AI resorts.  Most people don't tip but I do.  Server on beach and at bars go out of their way for me.  My drink order is taken last and delivered first.  No watered down pina coladas or margaritas for us!!!

These people work hard so if me tipping them a few bucks on each order gets me better/faster service than the non-tippers, then so be it.  Everyone has the same opportunity to do it or not.  If you don't, you shouldn't complain about it.

I used a small carry on roller suitcase and put my drinks and wine in it. Port Canaveral personnel never looked at anything.  I was then able to use the suitcase to bring home 12 bottles of rum that I could not get in the states.  A win for me both ways

I just use an empty gift card and leave it in the slot the whole cruise

Unsweetened as it comes out of machine.  You can always add sugar to it

If you are getting the Cheers package, definitely try out the Alchemy Bar early in the cruise.  They use fresh ingredients and not the heavy sugary mixes the other bars use.  Always ask for a top shelf liquor too.  

1-  I have asked the question what deck you board and was told deck 3, but what deck do you disembark when you get back to Port Canaveral, is it deck 3 also?  

A:  This is correct.  Embarkation and Debarkation day you enter/exit on deck 3.  All other ports, you exit deck 0.

2-  When you got off at Mahogany Bay, (I have herniated disks with tears and a double torn meniscus so have to wear a brace) was there a shuttle to bring you to and from the ship at the pier?

A:  Been a few years since I was at Roatan so I will defer to someone who has been recently

3-  We never really do shows because it never interested us, but what is the shows now on the Breeze, maybe we like to see them this cruise?

A:  They had Country Roads, Motown, Flick, Love & Marriage,  Lip Sync Battle Finals, and  a Welcome Show I believe.  We only went to Flick.

4-  If I recall, Pig and Anchor only was open during sea days, am I correct on this?

A:  We did the Eastern itinerary and it was open embarkation day, sea days, and days where we ported late (St Thomas was 11:30-7:00 for us so it was open that day as well).  We ate there embarkation day and last sea day.  Be sure to get there before they open.  Line will be much shorter.

5-  Brunch is only served on sea days, correct?   We only have two sea days, unfortunately the week were able to go the ship docks at four ports ugh!

A:  Correct.  This was the only days they served brunch.  You could however, do sit down breakfast every morning if that interest you.

6-  Back in February they had makers mark, I heard they no longer offer it, do they still have Buffalo Trace?

A:  Will have to defer to bourbon drinkers on this

I think the dining reservations refers to the for pay restaurants (Italian, Asian, BBQ, etc).  They actually started using the Hub App to check in for YTD and it worked great.  No more waiting in line.  I will never do set time dining again.  Always felt rushed and missed activities.

We Mr know It All...it was part of my business because he was blocking our path to where we needed to be.   Feel free to skip my posts if they get your panties in a wad.

7 minutes ago, Sean_B said:

 

Why did you feel this was necessary? What are you missing in your life?

What am I missing?  Obviously not you!!!  Where are the ethics police on here backing me up for someone blatantly breaking the rules?

38 minutes ago, hotsauce126 said:

 

Kind of an odd thing to be specific about. Would it not have bothered you if it was a large white person? 

You are correct.  Maybe I should have put "big fat slob" instead.  Seriously who cuts in the line like that?

The free chairs/umbrellas are green with the Grand Turk Port Logo on them.  there was zero room to move them to the front.  I am fine paying for chairs but they need to have some sort of system and remove some of the free ones to have enough room to at least walk along the water.

Embarkation:  We did a family cruise (9 people) on the Breeze from April 20-27.  We all had priority status thanks to FTTF.  I know some people think it is a waste of money, but for us we love it.  We all arrived at the port at 9:30 am (2 of us from Radisson at the port shuttle, the rest by car) which was 30 minutes prior to the terminal opening.  Once it opened at 10am, only the priority line was allowed inside.  There was a huge line for the EARLY/LATE arrivals.  I assume once the priority was done, they allowed some of them inside.  After going through security, we took a seat and waited until about 10:45am to board.  Unlike cruises in the past, it was not just a free for all when boarding started.  They had agents tell which rows of seats to board so it was much more organized.  As soon as we boarded, we went to deck 9 immediately to our rooms to drop off our carry on items and to pick up our sail and sign cards which are now left in the mailboxes.  Only priority rooms had the room keys in the mailbox at this time.  We then headed for deck 5 to eat Guys Pig & Anchor before the masses began boarding.  After lunch we went to our rooms to unpack and then on deck to do the ropes course and play mini golf.  Around 3:00 we cleaned up a bit and headed to the Ovation theatre for Muster on deck 4.  It was much nicer to have Muster inside.  It was about the typical length with them calling out names of missing people.  If you can’t make Muster, I say escort them right back off the ship!!!!  Why keep everyone else waiting?  After Muster, we all went out to the front of Deck 9 for sail away.  We were trying to get on the Fishlips Sail Away Web Cam.  You could see us but they did not zoom in on us.

Room:  We all had balcony rooms on deck 9 forward port side.  Rooms were the typical cruise ship rooms.  We met our steward, Gede, and told him we only needed morning service but my wife wanted a towel animal each day too.  I just don’t understand the reasoning for needing your room serviced twice a day.  Some argue it is a luxury of cruising, but I say I can turn my own bed down when I get tired.  This is 2019 not 1930.  I just don’t find that sort of service a luxury.  We had brought extra hangars with us but there were already a large number in the closet. We did learn one trick the night before our cruise.  We read to take wooden clothes pins to put on the bottom of the shower curtain to make it stay down in place while showering.  It worked!!!!

Other Passengers:  We did not really encounter too many lines or rude people.  About the only bad apple was one evening we ate at the lido buffet.  My brother was in line and was waiting as the cook was replacing the penne pasta.  Before my brother could take a portion, a large African American cut in line and scraped all the cheese crust (the best part) off the top.  I guess they just could not wait their turn in line for fear of losing a pound.  It was spring break in Georgia and North Carolina but the ship did not really seem inundated with kids.  I will say the ice cream station was always a mess.  Small kids would get ice cream and make a huge mess.  Carnival really needs to place the machines higher up so an adult has to help. We did read online of some unruly kids, but we never witnessed it.   Also, the CHOGS (chair hogs) were out in force on sea days.  Carnival again needs to address this.  Their current system of putting a sticker on your chair for 40 minutes before removing items is a complete joke.  My wife said they did that the last sea day and about 20 mins later a lady came and took the stickers off 8 chairs.   A really simple solution would be one person in a chair can save one empty one right next to them.  That way people can use restroom, get food, go down slide, etc.  No butt in chair….no saving!!!  Also they should walk around the decks at 8am and collect all the towels, shoes, books, etc that are saving seats.  Do it once at the beginning and then it is not a problem.

Breakfast:  Every morning we ate the lido buffet and it was the same exact offerings every morning.  One item that never was eaten was the salmon and eggs dish.  Who eats that?   The buffet usually always had some kind of line.  The buffets with one long station are the worst.  People have to stand there and analyze whether or not they want an item.  If you have to think about longer than a second…move on!!!  The omelet station was very good and the line never really too long.  Some of us skipped the buffet and hit the Blue Iguana instead for huevos rancheros.  They were excellent and there was NEVER a line.

Lunch:  We ate different places all the time when on board.  We ate Pig & Anchor BBQ on embarkation day and last sea day.  We also tried the pizza (usually a line) and the Mongolian wok (always a long slow line but so good) and deli (always a long line).  Lunch also had the new cake selections and they were excellent.  The other regular desserts were not so good.

Dinner:  When we could, we ate in the MDR.  We had YTD dining and always went to the Sapphire Dining Room on deck 3 about 5:15.  We were usually one of the first seated and before the dining room actually opened.  On the second night we were sat in Dipendra, I Made, and Dennis’s section.  They were awesome.  They learned our name the first night and anticipated our needs.  Unfortunately due to strange port times, we only ate here 3 times.  Some meals in the MDR were really good others just so-so.  Our main complaint was the menu descriptions.  One night several of us got BBQ Flat bread with arugula.  It arrived and was full of mushrooms.  First off there was no mention of mushrooms on the menu.  Secondly, why are mushrooms on a BBQ flatbread anyway?  They don’t go together.  One thing Carnival should do is discontinue the servers singing and dancing.  This does nothing more than slow down service.

Activities:   Carnival Cruises are always jam packed with activities.  You can be as busy or lazy as you like.  Since we sailed on Easter Sunday, carnival had an Easter egg hunt.  They had 12 eggs hidden across decks 3, 4, & 5.  You got a piece of paper and had to write down where each one was found.  Supposedly they had a drawing of all the correct answers for some prize but we never heard anything about it the rest of the cruise.  The kids in our party loved the waterpark and slides.  My 72 yr old dad even went down both slides.  My oldest niece and nephew were looking forward to doing the ropes course.  Neither really liked it especially my nephew (8 yrs old) was scared to death.  He said it was way too windy.  We played mini golf embarkation day but there were not enough balls for 3 kids.  Carnival should station someone on the sports deck to police the use like they do on the waterpark.  We also did several trivia games winning one general knowledge trivia game one morning.  My nieces and nephew loved their Carnival Bling on a String Medallions!!! My nieces (10 & 5) also loved singing karaoke.  They were usually the hit of the night!!!  We also bought some items at the shops and went to the 80 Rock N Glow deck party.  Carnival really does have activities all day/night.

Overall Ship Layout/Cleanliness:  The ship layout was not one of our favorites.  We have been on the Valor, Sunshine (twice), Sensation and now the Breeze.  The Breeze is probably our least favorite with the Sunshine being our favorite.  Having the waterpark at mid ship, it limited the amount of seating around it to watch the kids.  The lido deck pool also seemed to be lacking in seating unlike the Sunshine.  There was plenty of seating at the buffet though but the buffet itself was set up horribly.  We prefer the Sunshine buffet layout with several smaller stations instead of one long one.  We also saw all kinds of workers constantly cleaning and wiping handrails, walls, and chairs.  Overall it seemed like a very clean ship.

Debarkation:  Again since we had priority, we arrived at the buffet for breakfast right at 6am.  We had received a letter the night before stating to be in the Ovation Theatre starboard side at 7:15am.  We ate and headed to the theatre around 6:45.  Carnival had people stationed at the forward staircase checking to make sure only priority people we allowed.  Of course there was one moron blocking the stairs arguing with the crew about why he and his family could not disembark.  They finally told him they don’t care where he goes but he can’t be here.  I walked by and said loudly to my brother that Faster to the Fun looks like a good buy you cheapskate (only I used more derogatory terms).  They started allowing those people carrying their luggage and early flights off at 7:15.  We followed shortly after.  Carnival did a really good job with our debarkation.  It was very organized and efficient.  Once in the terminal, we grabbed a porter, found our luggage, and skipped ahead of several hundred people waiting in the customs line.  The porters have their own line.  The customs agent checked our passports and asked if we had any fruit from the ship.  After that we were on our way to the garage or shuttles.  My all were on the road by 8:07am!!!!

Ports:

Amber Cove:  Wife and I went to Damajauga Waterfalls through Iguana Mama (highly recommended).  We signed up for the full 27 but due to drought conditions could only do 12.  Rest of the group stayed at the port pool.

St Thomas:  Hired a private customized tour through VI Scenic Tours to take us shopping downtown (rum and sterling silver hook bracelets), Mountain Top, Magens Bay, and Drake’s Seat overlook, then finally back to Havensight Mall at the pier.

San Juan:  We all did a self-guided walking tour to El Morro, the Cathedral to see Ponce de Leon’s tomb, Parque de las Palomas to feed the birds, Barrachina’s for pina coladas, Fortaleza Street to see the umbrellas, and Plaza Colon to shop some street vendors. 

Grand Turk:  In our opinion, Carnival can skip this port.  It used to be a nice relaxing beach day.  Now the locals have moved in and there are chairs everywhere on top of each other with no easy way to walk along the water. All the free port chairs/umbrellas are in the back.  The locals have their chairs/umbrellas all the way in the front all the way down to the water line.  At high tide, some were even in the water.  They wanted 2 chairs for $30.  They would not do 2 chairs for $20, but you could get 3 for $30.  Go figure!!! Not sure how their math works!!!  We needed 6 total so it worked out for us.  We did walk down to Jack’s Shack for jerk chicken and it was excellent!!!  We will try to find itineraries in the future without Grand Turk

Random thoughts:  On our cruise, they began using the HUB APP for making YTD reservations.  Of course since we went early, we could not use it.  It came online exactly at 5:30 each night but we were already seated by that time.  We also found the live music played all over the ship was way too loud.  Most times you had to yell to talk to someone.  I did buy some Hennessy Pure White on board.  Ship price was $56.99 each or 3 for $135.00 ($45 each).  I only needed two but got three.  The ports all had it 2 for $90.  Lesson learned to get it in port.  In the end, we choose the ships based on itinerary.  We would sail the Breeze again only if the itinerary fit our choices

If anyone has any questions, i will do my best to answer them!!!!

yes if it is available it will be under excursions (will at least show as SOLD OUT).  If you don't see it, it has not been released yet

I just got off the Breeze and there were no Ships on a Sick for trivia.  Now use the medallions.  I went to several trivia games and none got the SOAS.  I won the General Knowledge Trivia one morning and got the medallion.

Shore excursions I booked with local operators are still cheaper than the 10% off sale.  Fewer people too!!!!

I have seen the following listed in FunTimes:  Harry Potter, Friends, the Big Bang Theory, Disney, Music, Sports, General Knowledge, Slogans, TV Theme Songs

CC Meet and Greets.  I don't go on a cruise to meet new people.  I go to spend time with my wife and family.

It will look like this

3 hours ago, ABQrobin said:

FTTF isn't really necessary IMHO it is a waste of money.  

Way to add zero value to the question!!!  Not sure why people can't simply answer the question without giving opinions.

To the OP, definitely worth it as you get to see all the disgusted looks on the faces of people waiting in line.  More beach time to enjoy for you!!!

1. I'm bringing an empty thermos on board. Should I carry it on in my carry on bag or pack it? I'm afraid if I pack it, they are more likely to go through my luggage.

A- Empty should not be a problem either way

2. I'm bringing champagne for sail away. What's the best way to get champagne glasses in my room. Stop at a bar and ask for them or try and find my room steward and ask them?

A- You may not see your steward before sail away so if you really need them stop at a bar.

3. Towels - can I take carnival pool towels on my excursion?

A- Yes but don't lose them or you buy them

4. Drawers - are there enough drawers for 3 people to put their clothing in? Do you recommend bringing a sweater holder for the closet or is it unnecessary? 

A- Unless you pack extremely heavy, there should be plenty of room.

5. Does anyone know how much space is under the bed for storing luggage? 1 foot, 2 feet, etc.

A- I don't know the measurements but our 2 huge suitcases fit under the bed just fine.  may be room for 3 but not sure since there is only 2 of us.

6. Can you request extra blankets and pillows?

A--Talk to the steward.  They will hook you up.