Observations on the Breeze

[Luckysll]

I've just returned from a cruise on the Breeze and thought I'd share some observations. I don't think I've seen a couple of these mentioned (although they may have been). Please remember, these are my observations and your experiences may be different.

 

Crew

 

Probably the best crew I've dealt with. I said to someone that in all the cruises I've been on, I've never had so many crew members just stop and chat with me. Yes, most crew on other ships smile and say "good morning" as you pass in the hallway, but on this ship, the crew actually made a point of coming by and chatting. Didn't matter if I was in the dining room, at the Lido buffet or just sitting in the Lanai area, they would stop to chat.

 

 

High-top seating

 

Since I've had both hip and knee replacement surgery, trying to get up onto one of these high stools is very difficult and there seemed to be a lot of them around the ship. The sushi bar has only these tables, Cucina del Capitano has a table with high stools, the Lido buffet has a lot of seating this way and also the Red Frog Pub does, too. Of course, they have lots of regular seating (which I used), I just don't recall seeing so many high top tables on other ships.

 

 

Noisy cabins

 

With the exception of my second Carnival cruise on the Glory, when I had a guarantee balcony that ended up being over Bar Blue (and for which reason I now do not do guarantee cabins), my cove balcony - 2334 - was the noisiest cabin I've ever been in.

 

I specifically chose this one because it appeared to be under the dining room, which I thought would be quieter than under the galley, and it was next to a "blank" space on the ship's diagram. Unfortunately, there was a lot of noise between midnight and 1 or 2 a.m. each night from above, which I could never figure out what it was (sounded more like hammering than tables, etc., being moved). Also, that "blank" space was a storage room with a large door on the outside hull of the ship and when there was any movement of the ship, the door made a loud metal-on-metal grinding. It was also the storage room for the luggage being collected the last night of the cruise and the crew was not quiet in getting those trolleys full of luggage into the storage room.

 

Guess I'm going to have to add "blank spaces" to my list of what to avoid when picking my cabin.

 

There were also several others in my group who had noise complaints about their cabins - and not all of them were cove balcony cabins. I realize there are always some issues with noise, etc., but this just seemed to be a greater number than I recall.

 

 

Ship Size/Layout

 

Most of my previous cruises have been on the Spirit class and I found the Breeze to be too big for my liking. I had a couple of times where I got to a deck from an elevator, only to find that I couldn't get somewhere from that location. I had this problem one time when I was trying to get to the Cucina del Capitano. I never did explore the Spa area, the Waterworks or a couple of other areas. Just too much walking for me to easily handle.

 

I did, however, really like the decor of the Breeze. Very well done.

 

 

Food

 

Cucina del Capitano was excellent! Several of us went there for dinner one evening toward the end of the cruise and our opinion was that if we'd known how good the food was earlier, we might have eaten there more often, especially for the $12 per person price. They brought out EVERY appetizer for the table to share and the main course portion sizes were huge!

 

Only problem was that I'd requested 5 tables for 6 and when the first person in our group arrived, they found that the tables were not all together - some were not even in the same area of the restaurant. The only solution was to use the high-top seating, which as mentioned above, was difficult for me to use. Also, some of our group, while still on the same side of the restaurant, were at a table not close by. We still enjoyed ourselves though, just a rough start to the evening.

 

Guy's Burgers were as awesome as people said! The first time I went, there was no line, the second time there was a line, but it moved very quickly.

 

Fat Jimmy's C-Side BBQ - long line the day I went, but it moved fairly quickly. Most of the food was good. I found the BBQ chicken too dry and the BBQ sauce was not to my liking, but since food is so subjective, I'm sure there are those who loved the sauce.

 

Dining room - we had a great wait staff, but it did seem to take longer for the service this time. One evening, we were almost the last table in the dining room (early seating) and they started clearing the table before we'd finished our desserts.

 

Embarkation/Debarkation

 

Probably the fastest embarkation I've experienced. We arrived around 10 a.m. and were seated in the VIP lounge within 15 minutes! Unfortunately, some of our group who came in a little later from Fort Lauderdale, had a problem. Some in the group were Platinum; some had the FTTF passes. Embarkation had started by that time and those in the group who had FTTF were told they could board right away. Those who were Platinum were told that they had to wait and board when their number was called. Definitely did not make the Platinum people happy.

 

Debarkation was very early. Some of the people doing self-disembarkation were getting off the ship just before 7 a.m. I did a tour and transfer to Miami airport and everything went very smoothly with that.

 

 

So....would I cruise the Breeze again? Maybe, but I'd probably give preference to a cruise on a Spirit class ship.

[gelo7]

Nice review, thanks, for sharing your thoughts.

[sonicbuffalo]

thanks for the review!

[allenee]

Thanks for your review. We were on the Breeze in December and are booked for October 26th. I'm handicapped and stay away from the high tops also but I know alot of people prefer them.

 

Like you we found the crew to be wonderful and can't wait to sail again.

[okgirl]

Thanks for the review. I was on the Breeze for a B2B in January and just fell in love with the ship. I'm very familiar with Conquest and Dream class ships so the weird layout is not an issue for me, but does take some time to figure out if you are unfamiliar with that ship.

 

My sister is very short and also had trouble with the high seating in some of the restaurants and bars.

 

I'm a little surprised about your comment regarding Platinum embarkation. The Platinum guests have a private lounge to check in at and don't receive zone numbers. If they arrived after embarkation had already begun they should have gotten their S&S cards in the VIP lounge then gone directly to the ship. Maybe they just weren't familiar with the new VIP lounge in Miami.

[apdchief]

Thanks for the review, we leave on her this Saturday!!

[ymillo]

Thanks for your review! We are on her April 13:) Cant wait to experience the breeze ourselves!! Although must admit getting a little scared with the noisy cabin lol we are on a cove balcony as well and pretty much tried to pick a cabin away from the galley. We'll see how that goes :o

[JaniceB]

Thank you for sharing your thoughts on the Breeze. I like the Spirit class ships too. I really liked the Breeze.

[lbfluffy]

Thanks for review. We are going in December but we are on deck six room 6284. Hope our cabin isn't noisy. We picked a cabin over the atrium so hopefully we are ok.

Jessica

[Time2CruiseAgain]

Awesome review! We will be on the Breeze in 59 days!! Cannot wait!

 

 

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