BREEZEing through the Mediterranean 6/27 - 7/9/12

[spacepotatoes]

Hi Becky. Thanks so much for taking the time to do this excellent review! We're not going on this itinerary any time soon but if we were, this would be a bookmarked reference for sure! And your pictures are fantastic, Venice especially made my jaw drop. Awesome!

[happy to be sailing]

Thanks so much Becky for the great review of the Breeze.We are on the ship Aug 26 out of Venice.This is our 8th Med cruise.Always on a different Ship.Never get tired of this part of the world.We have been following the Breeze since they started building it over a year ago & have seen bits & pieces of the ship ever since.This was the best review we have ever seen on any ship.We feel we have already been on her.Thanks again for all the info.

[luckybecky]

I'm glad everyone found the review helpful! Thanks for all your kind comments.

 

I'm sorry I didn't pay more attention to the duty free shop in Barcelona. We just ran in, got what we wanted, and were back out again in no time. I really didn't look around at all and now, several weeks later, I just don't have a clue what they had as far as soda and water go. Sorry I can't help there. Possibly if someone wanted to ask over on the Spain ports of call board, someone there could help.

 

Just are such a good writer and photographer, but if people didn't have time to open ALL your great pictures, I KNOW WHICH ONE everyone had time for....that nude beach, of course! Love your ongoing help on here...you're the best!

Where are you going next? If you're like most of us, you're dreaming of the next trip while on thelast one!!

 

LOL, I did say that I avoided taking any close pictures! :eek: It wasn't a totally nude beach, that would have been very awkward. We were just walking along and started noticing that a lot of the women (all ages) were lacking tops!

 

As for our next cruise, our daughter surprised us by paying for a cruise for our anniversary present. We will be going on the Triumph from Galveston to Cozumel in January! :) We did that itinerary for our first cruise, but it was a different ship. Can't wait!

 

Becky

[pigpen001]

did you take the excursions offered by the ship, or from an outside company?

[oreochik]

To luckybecky: First of all, thank you for taking the time to share your wonderful cruise! We are taking the same cruise Oct. 25 out of Barcelona. I was just directed to this thread from a friend last night, so haven't had time to view all the wonderful information and photos you have posted. My first question is about your Rick Steves' Med. Guide. Did you use the hard copy book or have an ebook? I have it on my Kindle Fire and on my phone. My Kindle won't be able to use it w/o wifi internet once we get into port. I wanted to take it with me. Is wifi available on shore? If not, I'm hoping my phone will be usuable even tho it is much smaller. We will have more questions later, but this is all I can think of right now.

[luckybecky]

Becky, thank you so much for such a wonderful review! I did a similar itinerary on the Magic last year (no France, but we did do Monaco and Naples), and your write-up and pictures brought back so many great memories.

 

I had to laugh about your comment about street signs in Barcelona, because we had the same problem. We had a Rick Steves itinerary we were trying to follow, but we were having problems because we couldn't find the streets we were supposed to go to. I kept saying, "Why don't they have any darned street signs in Barcelona?" It took us a while to notice the signs were carved on the buildings themselves. LOL!

 

Thanks again for a great review. It looks like you had a marvelous time.

 

I'm so glad we weren't the only ones! LOL I felt like a real dummy for not noticing it sooner. Once you know, it's no big deal.

[luckybecky]

did you take the excursions offered by the ship, or from an outside company?

 

Hi Pigpen, welcome to Cruise Critic! We did not take any ship excursions. We booked private excursions in three ports, and just walked off the boat and did our own thing in three others. If you'd like to go back to the beginning of this thread, I go through all our ports with lots of details about how we handled things, the tour companies we used, and the costs. If there's anything else I can answer for you, please feel free to ask. :)

 

To luckybecky: First of all, thank you for taking the time to share your wonderful cruise! We are taking the same cruise Oct. 25 out of Barcelona. I was just directed to this thread from a friend last night, so haven't had time to view all the wonderful information and photos you have posted. My first question is about your Rick Steves' Med. Guide. Did you use the hard copy book or have an ebook? I have it on my Kindle Fire and on my phone. My Kindle won't be able to use it w/o wifi internet once we get into port. I wanted to take it with me. Is wifi available on shore? If not, I'm hoping my phone will be usuable even tho it is much smaller. We will have more questions later, but this is all I can think of right now.

 

I bought a copy of Rick Steves Med. Cruise Guidebook. I cut it up --- felt like sacrilege to do that to a perfectly good book, but it was so much easier. I cut out the section for each port we were going to, and just stapled that section. So when we got to Rome, for example, I just pulled out the Rome part and carried only that part. Was so much easier than carrying the whole bulky book.

 

I turned off my cell phone when we left Atlanta and did not turn it back on until two weeks later when we returned. I didn't want to take any chances on having hefty international roaming charges or any other surprises. So I'm afraid I can't answer your question about wi-fi. I've always heard that the crew are an excellent resource for this -- they know all the hotspots in every port because this is how they keep in touch back home. But for the guidebook, I wanted to have it available no matter where I was, even if I was not near a wifi hotspot. So the paper copy worked well for me.

 

Have fun on your cruise!

 

Becky

[themnms]

Becky:

 

Thank you for the pictures of the Continental! We're booked here for several days pre-cruise in April and my husband has said he'll deal with the pink for the 125 euros a day balcony overlooking La Rambla... lol I jotted down notes of your restaurant recommendations and walking tour photos. Much appreciated. :)

 

~ Sheryl

 

We stayed at the Hotel Continental Palacete and loved it, but this is a very quirky hotel. Be sure to check the reviews on TripAdvisor so you know what you are getting into before you book any hotel. Hotels are very expensive in Barcelona. The Palacete was affordable and included a limited buffet (including soda, wine, and beer!) available 24 hours a day. The rooms are totally pink, with rosy wallpaper and pink linens. Location is superb, just a couple of blocks from Plaza Catalunya and the Ramblas, and just around the corner from the Block of Discord including Gaudi's Casa Battlo. Staff speaks great English and there are lots of cafes nearby.[/font][/color][/left]

 

 

Just a word about the Continental on Las Ramblas. We stayed there for the Breeze inaug sailing and I have to say if your a light sleeper dont get a balcony..Las Ramblas is noisy 24/7 and I had a rough time sleeping..that said the location cannot be beat and directly across from the hotel is an awesome doner kebab store. I think 4.5 euro and very very filling...

[cantwaittwogo]

ahhh love looking at your pics from Barcelona!! reliving my trip 10 years ago in HS!! seeings how i NEVER finished that scrap book! LOL.

ahhhh nice!

[FreezingInMichigan]

Thank you for the heads-up. My husband could sleep through a Kansas-sized tornado. I on the other hand bring a white noise machine whenever we travel... lol For the view and the ambience, I'm willing to deal with the noise.

 

I had to Google "doner kebab". Looks like a gyro? If so, we love those! One more note to put in my binder. :D

 

 

Just a word about the Continental on Las Ramblas. We stayed there for the Breeze inaug sailing and I have to say if your a light sleeper dont get a balcony..Las Ramblas is noisy 24/7 and I had a rough time sleeping..that said the location cannot be beat and directly across from the hotel is an awesome doner kebab store. I think 4.5 euro and very very filling...

[Crusin Karen]

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I bought a copy of Rick Steves Med. Cruise Guidebook. I cut it up --- felt like sacrilege to do that to a perfectly good book, but it was so much easier. I cut out the section for each port we were going to, and just stapled that section. So when we got to Rome, for example, I just pulled out the Rome part and carried only that part. Was so much easier than carrying the whole bulky book.

 

 

 

Becky

Just an idea: if they have the book at the library and you have a copier/scanner on your computer, you could always check the book out, copy the pages you want/need and then return the book. :confused::p;):cool:

[Lisah101]

I downloaded Rick Steve's app to my Ipad, then the specific guides for each port. It was a LOT easier than packing books. Of course, this works only if you have an IPad. I don't own a Kindle or know anything about them, but if you have one, maybe you can DL the books also. I took the IPad in my backback on excursions so we could sit down, review the guide so we knew where to go and the history, then packed it away and continued on. It was also great to listen to the audio tours the night before each port.

 

I'm a very light packer so only travel with one suitcase when I go to Europe. Last year I had one 25 inch hard case and I actually had a roll of bubble wrap in my suitecase to take up the extra space so things wouldn't get jostled. It was great for a European trip because on the way home, I used the bubble wrap to pack the wine, olive oil and other souvenirs I bought.

[sd200044]

Just a few more random comments…

 

 

 

I forgot to tell you about the safety briefing. It could not have been easier. Your S&S card will have an abbreviation telling what your muster station is. About half an hour before the briefing, John came on the intercom telling what the abbreviations meant. Our muster station was A4, which meant the Ovation Theater. We got there a few minutes before it started and sat in the comfortable seats to watch crew members demonstrate how to put on a life vest, and hear a few safety tips. It really was super easy and took only a few minutes. I’ve heard tales of how people are scrunched into hot, crowded decks but this was not the case for us.

 

 

 

Another random thought: although we had over 4000 passengers, the ship honestly did not feel crowded to me. We never had trouble finding a seat in the buffet area, or in the theater (although sometimes we had to sit in the back if we arrived late, as you would expect). The Punchliner comedy club was very popular and it did fill up, so you need to arrive early for that. And the pools would get crowded on sea days, but really, the ship generally did not seem crowded to me at all.

 

 

 

I’ve read threads here on CC about horribly rude people everywhere, kids running amok, and seniors in scooters running over people, parking in the hallways and ramming into everything. We did not experience any of these things. We had almost 900 kids on board, but I honestly don’t know where they all were. The place did not seem overrun with children.

 

 

 

If you are a regular on CC, you surely know that there is a 15% gratuity added when you order a drink. Well, make sure that your spouse, who does not read CC, also knows that! I didn’t know until halfway into the cruise that Paul was adding a dollar tip (on top of the 15%) every time he ordered a drink! Fortunately we weren’t buying many drinks since we kept our room well stocked with our own supply.

 

 

 

Now, here are some of the things we missed out on. With 12 days on board, you’d think we would have tried everything at least once. But we spent a great deal of time sightseeing in port, and there is so much to do on board. Some of you will hopefully come back with a review and tell us about some of these places and activities that Paul and I missed:

 

 

 

*Dancing, including line dancing instructions, at the Breeze Bar

 

 

*Chilling at the Red Frog Pub

 

 

*The Piano Bar – this place looked popular, but we usually went to the comedy club in the evenings

 

 

*Karaoke

 

 

*Trivia games

 

 

*Meet the senior officers event (this was held at the casino bar on one of our sea days)

 

 

*Liquid Nightclub

 

 

*Library Bar – this looked like a wonderful quiet spot to spend a relaxing afternoon with a good book and glass of wine. We walked by but never stopped. They have special wine dispensers where you can purchase tastes (or a full glass) of different wines.

 

 

*Sushi – as noted, I don’t eat seafood, but Paul likes it. The Sushi place looked very popular and we often saw senior crew eating there. It had really nice décor.

 

 

*Bingo

 

 

*The Spa. I really should have gotten a day pass and tried it out, but when did I have time?

 

 

*The champagne art auction. We don’t recommend that you buy any art here! But there is free champagne!

 

 

*Movies on the big screen and popcorn at the Lido pool

 

 

*John and Calvyn’s morning show (we never had time to watch TV!)

 

 

*We also never went to the arcade, or tried the ropes course, mini golf, foosball or ping pong!

 

 

 

 

Can you believe we missed all that?! OMG, I’m going to have to schedule another cruise to make up for it!

 

Becky,

So I understand you did not use the Spa, however I was wondering if you remember what the cost for a Spa pass was for the entire cruise? It is my understanding you can purchase a daily pass or a entire cruise pass to use the heated loungers, T-Pool, steam room, etc. while on the cruise.

[canadagiveaways]

Becky - just wanted to add another big thanks for your very thorough and informative review....I'll be doing the same (almost) itinerary on the Breeze on Sept. 19 so this was much appreciated!

[luckybecky]

Becky,

So I understand you did not use the Spa, however I was wondering if you remember what the cost for a Spa pass was for the entire cruise? It is my understanding you can purchase a daily pass or a entire cruise pass to use the heated loungers, T-Pool, steam room, etc. while on the cruise.

 

I'm sorry, SD, but I really have no idea. We never had time to think about using the spa, so I never asked the price. The spa did look fabulous though. I bet if you asked on the main Carnival board, someone would know. Sorry I can't help you on this one. :confused:

[luckybecky]

I have never tried to post a video before, so not sure if this will work. Please be patient while I experiment. This is a video going down the Twister water slide on the Breeze.

 

[cruisinJenF]

Thank you SO much for your review!!!! I absolutely loved every bit of it! I am sad the cruise is over- I felt like I was there with you :(

 

I have bookmarked your review since it has so much excellent info in it- I hope to do the Med next year. I think I will avoid summer though based on how hot your cruise was.

 

Thanks again!!!! It was GREAT!!!!!

[LIMPIT]

That's a good question. Paul wore slacks and a polo shirt. I don't remember what I wore, but I'm sure I didn't change into a dress. Probably some capri pants and blouse. This is the only time we've ever been to the Steakhouse on any ship, so I can't say how this night compares to others. I would not consider wearing shorts, but yes it was casual.

 

One other thing about the Steakhouse, regarding timing. I know there has been discussion here on CC about the meals in the MDR taking too long. Our meal at the steakhouse took an hour and half. Service was very attentive, dishes were removed promptly when we were finished, etc. However, I almost would not have minded if the meal had taken a bit longer. I tend to be a slow eater anyway, and with this much food and several courses, 2 hours would not have been too long.

 

We will probably do the Steakhouse again on a future cruise. But with so many choices (most of them free), I can't say I'd do it all the time. Still, we enjoyed it very much and the quality of the food and service was excellent.

 

Hi,

great review, I am travelling on Breeze in September, did you reserve the Steakhouse prior to travel and if so how.

Many thanks

[jetsfan]

Loved your review! We are doing this cruise in reverse next May. I see you exchanged dollars before you left for euros. What did you need in Dubrovnik?

 

I am so excited! I made notes of the restaurants you mentioned. Thank you again!

[HarpHarp]

Becky,

Thank you so much for your review. We ar going on the Breeze in October and your review has made me even more excited. I only hope it is wasrm enough to do the water slide:D

[annarack]

Thank you so much for your amzing review - I loved it and am even more excited about our cruise now. Can you tell me more about the Taste Bar please - what and where is it? We sailed on Magic last year and I don't remember there being one on there. Thanks!

[balconies4me]

Becky,

 

Two thumbs up on your Twister video!

 

This was the best review! We will be cruising on Breeze in September and you have given so many great tips. I will be mentally thanking you when I eat bacon from my morning room service!!!!!

 

Thanks so much!

[luckybecky]

Hi,

great review, I am travelling on Breeze in September, did you reserve the Steakhouse prior to travel and if so how.

Many thanks

 

If you log into "manage my cruise" on the Carnival website, look for the "To-do list." In the drop-down menu, choose "plan activities." This will take you to a new page, where you can book excursions, spa treatments, etc. There should be an option there for steakhouse reservations. I got an email several days after filling out this online form confirming our reservation.

 

Loved your review! We are doing this cruise in reverse next May. I see you exchanged dollars before you left for euros. What did you need in Dubrovnik?

 

I am so excited! I made notes of the restaurants you mentioned. Thank you again!

 

The currency in Dubrovnik is Kuna. We did not get any ahead of time. We planned to use an ATM if we really needed cash, but as it turned out, we managed fine without any. The wall walk costs 70 kuna (I believe that's about $12 if I remember right) and they only take kuna or credit cards, no euros. We charged it. We also charged our lunch. Paul bought a t-shirt and the shopkeeper accepted euros. I think many of them do, but not necessarily all. It's just their choice whether they want to or not. We knew we would only be there a few hours, and since we didn't expect to spend much money we did not feel we needed to bother getting any kuna in advance. It worked out fine.

 

Thank you so much for your amzing review - I loved it and am even more excited about our cruise now. Can you tell me more about the Taste Bar please - what and where is it? We sailed on Magic last year and I don't remember there being one on there. Thanks!

 

We only went to the Taste Bar once. It was very good. I wish we had stopped by more often. There was not a selection of things to order from, it was just one dish, a little sandwich served with a very small cup of soup. But it was delicious. Here's a description of it from Carnival's website:

A voyage to new destinations is the perfect time to try new things… and here’s the perfect place: The Taste Bar. Stop in to The Taste Bar for a new and different delicacy each day — the dishes will give you a taste of the flavors that await at dining venues across the Carnival fleet. Pick up a complimentary appetizer before dinner for a taste of something different.

 

I'm trying to remember where it was... I'm almost sure it was Deck 5 midship, at the Ocean Plaza. This is where they also did karaoke and trivia, and since we didn't do those activities, I guess this is why we missed out on the Taste Bar. Do make it a point to stop by when you can.

[LIMPIT]

Hi Becky,

thanks for the info.

In your review you mentioned a free bottle of wine on the first night bookings, is this a Carnival tradition, do you need to ask the waiter for this offer or do they offer it automatically.

Regards

Lee

[cantwaittwogo]

wow thats fun cant wait to try the taste bar.in dec thanks for the first in depth breeze review.