Carnival Breeze Jan 19th-27th Review

[jaixrx]

This was the 6th cruise for me (40) and DH (48) and 4th for my DS (10) and other DS (11). The boys go to school year round so we didn’t have to worry about missing school since this was when they were tracked out of school. This was also the Blogger’s cruise so it was an added bonus for me since I am a reader but a blogger cruise virgin. We’ve never cruised in January and a few cruise veterans I know made me a bit nervous about the weather, rough seas etc. This was always in the back of my mind leading up to the cruise and I’d started to wonder if my cruise friends were right……

 

Getting to Miami: The week before the cruise it was a balmy 75 degrees here in Raleigh but as much as I tried not to pay attention to the oh so often wrong weather man, a little anxiety set in……snow/ice forecasted for Thursday night into Friday….our flight was Friday morning at 6 am. Thursday evening arrived and as we were packing we lost power for about an hour….more anxiety. It flickered on and off a few more times which made me worried my alarm wouldn’t go off. Well, it did and after holding my breath and peeking out the window I was happy to see that once again the weather man got it wrong…..no snow! We excitedly piled in the car and headed to the airport.

We flew Delta (first time since even with baggage fees they were cheaper than Southwest). We followed directions and checked the appropriate baggage; unfortunately our fellow passengers felt they were too special to follow those rules. We were zone 3 boarding and watched at least 50% of the passengers carry on 3-4 carry-ons, some which were HUGE! Well, time for us to get on the plane and the gate agent says, “sorry, no more room for carry-ons we have to check yours here”. I was livid. In this carry on were the things you don’t want to lose: contact lenses, glasses, medications, etc. She assures us they will put it on the plane at that moment….guess what? They didn’t. Got to Miami and no bag….grrrrrrr…….again the anxiety is back. Long story short, they put it on the wrong plane (duh to them) and we eventually got it; but no more Delta for us.

 

 

Hello Miami: I booked LMT and got a good rate for the Intercontinental. Hotel is beautiful and convenient. We had a city view but were able to see the basin where the ships turn around so that was good enough for us. Did lunch at Hard Rock, walked around the shopping area, watched the ships leave and did a light dinner at Hooter’s….chosen by the men of course!

 

Cruise Day!: Woke up early of course, ran down to the lobby for a Starbuck’s and started to get ready. I did get the WARNING email to arrive no earlier than 1:00, promptly deleted it and “forgot” to tell DH about it as he would have followed those directions. Taxis were lined up and we got right in one at 9:45 and were at the port at 10:00. Walked right in, checked in, no lines at all and got zone 4. There have been many questions about FTTF on CC, honestly, other than being able to drop your bags off, I don’t see that it would have been a good investment for us. Our zone was called no more than 10 minutes after the priority boarders. Plus, we only had one carry on so it didn’t bother us to wheel it around.

 

The Ship: WE LOVED IT!!!!!! Read the reviews, saw the negative comments but have to say my “con” list at the end will be extremely short. We had room 7432. I specifically chose this room after I figured out where the lanai no longer bumps out and made sure it was down far enough from the last hot tub. Loved the location. No disturbance from the lanai, close to the aft stairs (we don’t use elevators) and an easy walk up to the lido or sports square and down to the promenade or Blush dining room. Peter was our steward and did his job well and always with a greeting and smile on his face.

 

 

 

Sea Days: I’m going to lump them together because we tend to do the same things. I am the early riser and would walk/run the lanai after which I would relax at the Ocean Plaza where a continental breakfast was served at the Taste Bar. It was never crowded here almost like a well-kept secret. Once the men were up they usually went to the Lido while I attended whatever morning blogger event being held. Then it was up to the sports square until lunch….we all loved the ropes course and had fun with mini golf, ping pong, pool and also the water slides. Lunch was always something different for everyone with the plan to meet at a certain spot in the Marketplace to sit and eat. I loved the shrimp burritos…had those several times. The men loved Guy’s. The pizza was the best I’ve had on a carnival ship. Mongolian was great of course. After lunch we usually did trivia, bean bag toss (I won a ship on the stick!) and sports square.

 

Red Frog Pub: I’m doing a separate subtitle for this because we all LOVED being here! The atmosphere is awesome! We all became addicted to playing shuffleboard and foosball. They also have tables with dominoes and checkers.

 

St. Thomas: Let me preface by saying my boys are not into “beach days”. So when booking excursions, I try to aim for adventurous ones (which also are the most expensive. LOL!) Also, I book both through Carnival or independently, sometimes whichever is easier as you will see with Antigua. We did the Helmet Dive through Carnival in St. Thomas. It was a neat way to see the ocean life without having to actually SCUBA; and more importantly, without me having to get my hair wet! I’d be glad to answer specific questions if anyone has them.

 

Antigua: We all were looking forward to this the most….zip lining!!!!! We did the canopy tour through Carnival. I tried to book independently through the company but the person we talked to kept changing the info about prices and transportation and wanted us to email credit card information. Just didn’t have a good feeling about it. All I can say is that it was awesome! The favorite excursion for all of us. Safe and fun. Of course zip lining is a pre-requisite of the boy’s for any future cruises!

 

Tortola: This ranks up there with Curacao as far as most beautiful port for me. We did a private tour with some of the bloggers set up through BVI360. They took us to Jost Van Dyke where we spent the day. I did have an infamous painkiller and DH had the banana bender which I actually thought tasted a lot better. We just relaxed, enjoyed the water and it gave me a chance to meet with more bloggers. If anyone reading this was there when we were, my kids were the ones playing games on their phones lol!

 

Nassau: Nothing to say….don’t even get off the ship here. My least favorite port. Enjoyed the ship instead.

 

Dining: We had assigned early dining 2nd floor of Blush DR. We all enjoyed our food. Did not have issues with temperature. There were nights when the food did seem to take longer to get out, but honestly, it didn’t bother us at all. It was great just being together as a family and enjoying our time. We were seated in the back corner of the DR which was a bummer since the kids usually like to watch the waiters perform. We didn’t do any specialty restaurants.

 

Shows: Saw one playlist, the Latin one, and all of us had the same reaction…..eh! Nothing great about it and pretty much decided we wouldn’t go to the other ones. Went to the Hasbro show once…..same reaction. To me, this is something they should do during the day. We really enjoyed the comedy shows and went to all of the family friendly ones.

 

Cons: 1. Production shows/Hasbro shows (pretty lame)

2. Attire in DR. I tend not to notice these things but couldn’t help it as there was a family right by us who came at least ½ hour late each night with baseball caps, jeans on formal nights and one time a teenage girl didn’t have shoes on….NASTY!!!!!

3. We NEVER had a bar server come to us during dinner. After the second night, DH would just head to the bar before dinner and BYOB to dinner. Not a deal breaker but if Carnival ‘s big revenue on cruises is alcohol sales, I don’t get why they don’t have more servers in the dining room.

 

Summary: The Breeze is now one of our favorite ships because of all of the different areas/attractions available. We already plan on booking for next winter in the next few weeks. We experienced lines on 2 occasions. First at the Mongolian Wok but no more than we had on other ships. Second, at the chocolate extravaganza, but again, no more than in the past. I will be interested in seeing comments about crowds during Spring Break and the summer to see if time of year will cause more crowding. We are not Lido sunbathers or swimmers so I can’t speak for chair hogs.

 

Hope this review was helpful for those looking into or already booked on the Breeze. Sorry if it was too long! Happy cruising!

[cruisegal40]

Thanks for the review. I just booked yesterday. We are in 7346. Do you think we will have a problem with the lanai?

:eek:

[jaixrx]

Thanks for the review. I just booked yesterday. We are in 7346. Do you think we will have a problem with the lanai?

:eek:

 

Gosh, it's hard for me to say yes or no.....looks like it is between 2 hot tubs which is better than right above them and the Ocean Plaza looks to be far enough behind you.....so I'd lean towards yes.

[okgirl]

3. We NEVER had a bar server come to us during dinner. After the second night, DH would just head to the bar before dinner and BYOB to dinner. Not a deal breaker but if Carnival ‘s big revenue on cruises is alcohol sales, I don’t get why they don’t have more servers in the dining room.

 

 

Glad you had a great cruise - like you, I wonder why it is next to impossible to get bar service during dinner. Carnival is really missing out by not focusing on beverage service at meal time in the MDR.

 

And yet their excuse for not having any bar waiters in the Atrium Lobby or in the Casino is that they are all in the MDR's from 6 to 10pm........

 

Almost every night in the Casino I had to ask for a bar waiter (I had the On Us card)....and one of the younger Casino Hostesses actually said to me one evening "You're too impatient, we are short staffed right now and you just need to wait".........excuse me........if they are going to offer a program that requires you to get your drink from a bar waiter then they should have enough of them to serve you.

[alrichards4003]

We had the same problem on the Dream with gettin drinks during dinner. They had some waiters walking around trying to sell shots in souvenir glasses, but they missed a lot of revenue by doing this which most people did not buy, but could have sold a few glasses of wine, which was missed out on.

[cruisegal40]

Now I feel like should move! How do I check that out better?

[lbfluffy]

Where is the Lanai at? We are on deck 6 toward the front over the atrium.

[sakapfet]

....and one of the younger Casino Hostesses actually said to me one evening "You're too impatient, we are short staffed right now and you just need to wait".........excuse me........if they are going to offer a program that requires you to get your drink from a bar waiter then they should have enough of them to serve you.

 

 

Oh come on, you are on vacation. it seems like you are behaving like a spoiled brat. shame on you.

[Scrap'n Grandma]

Thanks for the review. We sail next week (16th) but are on the 8 night cruise. We are on deck 8 on the back starboard corner and DD & BF are a few rooms down from us. We also have anytime dining, I have not done that before. Do they seat you in the same place every night?

[Newbie41]

Hi,

I was reading your review and have a question. You said, "We had room 7432. I specifically chose this room after I figured out where the lanai no longer bumps out and made sure it was down far enough from the last hot tub." I wanted to ask why because I am also staying on the Empress deck. The lanai is two decks below on the Promenade deck, so I am wondering why that matters?

[jaixrx]

Hi,

I was reading your review and have a question. You said, "We had room 7432. I specifically chose this room after I figured out where the lanai no longer bumps out and made sure it was down far enough from the last hot tub." I wanted to ask why because I am also staying on the Empress deck. The lanai is two decks below on the Promenade deck, so I am wondering why that matters?

 

That is where the ocean plaza, red frog pub, etc have outside seating areas. Past reviews have mentioned that people felt some lack of privacy as the people sitting in those areas can look up at you on your balcony. Also, others noted more noise.