Breeze 2/10-2/16

[Packlawyer17]

First. A huge lol at the 59% rating for the Breeze on this website. What this cruise exposed me to is that so many people are complaining complainers. I dont know how someone can not have a blast on this cruise.

 

This is my first cruise in nearly 12 years. The wife and I are 30 and we were taking a belated honeymoon and picked carnival because we wanted other people to be up and not sleeping after 9:00 pm.

 

I will just get the two only changes i think they should make:

1. The shows in the theater are just downright embarrassing. Just scrap them. Who seriously wants to watch someone lip-sync lady gaga.

2. Related to number one, move the comedy shows into the ovation theater. You had to line up an hour before each show to even get a seat. Take the money you save from canceling the lip-sync shows and have more comedians. That is not to say the comedy shows were not good because they were actually great, even the pg shows.

 

The food in the main dining room is what it is, banquet food. I found if you simply asked your waiter they would tell you what was good and what not to order. I thought the burger place was good. I mean how can you screw up a burger. Blue iguana cantina was delicious for breakfast and lunch. I thought the marketplace food was fine as well. Food at the brunch in the saphire was also good.

 

If you like indian food, tandor is very good.

 

Pools were nice. The slides are a lot of fun espically the toilet bowl slide. The ropes course is dificult so long as you dont cheat and hold the strap that is attached to the safety bar above you. The deck parties were sparsley attended. They were not really our thing but we would watch for a while.

 

The club was usually deserted every night which surprised me.

 

Cheers package ended up saving us about $120 combined. I cant believe how strong they make the drinks. I know people here complain about the lack of waiters around the pool deck. I found that they were everywhere when you gave them a simple $1 tip. It is quite obvious tips are hard to come by.

 

As i said, comedians were all excellent. We went to three shows in one night.

Ron pass was good. I have been to a lot of piano bars so i have seen and heard the songs a thousand times but he did a good job.

 

Gym was adequate and served its purpose.

 

All of the bars were great. Red frog pub is a great time. All of the bartnders are jamican and had fun with everyone.

 

If you want peace and quiet, head to the 5th floor. We found it late in the cruise. Sometimes we would be the only people laying out on the 5th floor. Drink service was again good if you tipped a $1.

 

We went to the steakhouse on valentines. It is awesome and you have like 4 people waiting on you hand and foot. Lobster was good and the cheesecake for desert is ridiculously big.

 

After being on this cruise i now see why it has low reviews. I have never in my life seen people complain about the dumbest things you could ever imagine as i did on the ship. We started making a top 5 dumb complaint list after a few days. By the last day i told a woman at the tides bar that she was a miserable idiot after she started complaining to the bartender she had been waiting 5 minutes for a coke with ice. She was obviously blind to the 8 people there before her and the bartender who was sweating because he was moving so fast making drinks. The bartender told her she had to wait in line at which point she said" this is ridiculous." Being next in line i skipped my margarita and instead ordered a coke, handed it to the lady and proceded to tell her where she could go. I received glasses filled. with tequilla and a splash of sour mix from that bartender the rest of the day. Seriously, people need to just chill out.

 

We spent our nights talking with our main dining room waiter as he manned the lido deck after his shift. He was from bulgaria and we spent every night talking to him about what life is like on the ship, problem passengers, etc. what these guys do is nothing short of amazing. 12 hour shifts everyday for 6 months. Sometimes he is going on 4 hours of sleep a night for a month. I did not encounter one staff member who was not smiling or who did not go out of their way to do something.

 

Seriously, the ship is great. Go have fun. Drink, eat, be nice to the staff and enjoy your vacation and quit sweating the small stuff. If you dont like something you eat, get something else. there is good food everywhere. The value for the price paid is amazing.

 

If you have any specific questions let me know.

[Purplehaze21]

great review! We were on that sailing and I agree with you!

How could you not love this ship and crew?

I am glad to see you guys enjoyed it as

Much as we did!

[Blazley]

Can you just tell me something, when close the Red Frog Pub at the Night ??

 

An the Nightclub too :)

[shelby101]

packlawyer17

 

I agree with you about fellow passengers. They can be so rude and think they are the only ones on the ship. Get a life and if you want to be waited on hand and foot go somewhere that will do that for you. As for the crew, I think they are great with what they have to put up with. Go have fun

[AandBmom]

Great review. We were on this same cruise and I totally agree with all of your comments!

[js10]

I was on Breeze the week before you and posted a review that is almost a carbon copy of your experiences! I too was very concerned as a result of the consistently negative reviews I read on CC prior to my cruise but was quite pleased with the overall experience on Breeze. BTW, I especially agree with your assessment of the new "show" experience--clearly just an effort on Carnival's part to save money and I think that they will get the message soon that it is not being well received.

 

Thanks for the effort to post the review.

[Smuckyjo]

Love your review! I remember on The Dream I had to wait a while for a drink at the bar. I just sat on the seat and enjoyed the view - waiting for a drink on a cruise ship is 100% better then getting a drink right away anywhere else! :p

[sonicbuffalo]

good review! People are by nature....spoiled...

[celticd1]

I was on the Breeze the week before you and I can echo pretty much all of your comments. One complaint was our dining room experience and that is the first time in 8 cruises. The other was elevator wait times but that's what stairs are for. ;)

 

When you mentioned the Jamacain bartenders in the Red Frog pub I smiled...I loved the young guy that usually took my order. I talked to him quite a bit, Glennroy? I think that was his name. What a sweetheart. :)

 

Gotta say we LOVED Guy's Burgers. I was skeptical that a burger could get such rave reviews but man, are they good! :p

[Redsfan]

The one consistent complaint about the Breeze has been the Production Shows. We as well as almost everybody else that spent time watching them found them to be totally horrible, and a waste of time. Outside of that, we like you enjoyed the ship immensely.

[txskier]

agree!

we were on the first full week sailing on the Breeze out of Miami right after Thanksgiving. That was our experience too!!

[InsideCruiser]

We were on the 8 night Breeze Feb 2nd and only one night had a headliner.

 

In the overall budget for a cruise, the cost of a headliner must be a minor consideration? I can't imagine cost would be the deciding factor in going with mostly all short forgettable production shows? The cost of a few cabins would cover an evening wouldn't it?

 

Perhaps the idea is to keep people out of the theatres and instead out and about spending on the decks ...

 

Interesting strategy as Royal has really stepped up the quality of the shows on their newest ships.

[Jadehenry]

Thanks for your reassuring review! I was getting nervous for our March sailing on the Breeze. I have already lowered my expectations for the shows, which is usually something I look forward to.

 

I have some questions for those who have sailed the 8-day Breeze:

 

Do you remember which night was the Past Guest Reception?

 

Does the gym have upright (not just recumbent) bikes?

 

Was there a steel drum band?

 

Thanks!