Carnival Breeze 6 Day Review

[Mutumbojimbo]

We're just back from our cruise, and definitely missing our breakfast burritos from Blue Iguana, we had a very good time but there were a few hiccups.

 

We booked this cruise quite a while ago, as we had an expiring voucher and the timing, price, and itinerary all looked great. This was our 3rd cruise, all with Carnival and our first that was not on a Fantasy class ship. I was really looking forward to the increase in dining options, as well as additional activities.

 

As this cruise began at the end of a holiday weekend, we had to intersperse our cruise preparations with holiday prep, but finally got packed Friday night, or early Saturday morning. The only problem that arose from the pre- cruise holiday craziness Was that I had a miscommunication with my pharmacy and only got 3 pills for one of my prescriptions! Whoops.

 

We drove from Chattanooga, and decided to stay Saturday night in Port St. Lucie, then finish the drive Sunday morning. I planned to arrive at the Parking garage around 11.

 

The Georgia Highway Patrol was out in force, I've never been through Atlanta at the published speed limit before, usually it's gridlock, or you have to go well over the limit to avoid being crushed. We stopped in Tifton at a filthy Wendy's/ gas station and decided to get back on the road rather than eat there. We ended up at Chik-fil-a in Valdosta after a stop at a Target to try and fix my prescription problem, but there was no pharmacy.

 

The rest of the drive was uneventful, and we arrived at the Holiday Inn Express around 6:30. We have always had good luck at their properties and they include a decent breakfast. We found a nice little Thai restaurant about a mile up the road and enjoyed a nice dinner, then pretty much went to bed, as it had been a long day.

 

 

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[vacruizer]

A Breeze review is just what I need while stuck at home in an ice storm today! Thank you! Counting down and looking forward to trying her out myself!

[broncorckcrwlr]

Also looking forward to more as we are booked on the Breeze next month.

[Mutumbojimbo]

We woke up early on Sunday, enjoyed a quick breakfast and headed out. It's about 2 hours from Port St. Lucie to Miami, but we stopped in West Palm Beach to try and sort out my prescription. A very nice pharmacy tech went round and round with my insurance company but got me sorted out and we were back on our way.

 

I chose to park with the Premier parking associated with Global airport. They have a garage and offer shuttle service to the port. They were kind of overwhelmed but were friendly and the price was right.

 

When we got to the port, there was a huge line, the shuttle driver was very surprised by the situation too. It turned out that there had been some issues with the debarkation from the cruise before. The situation was pretty confused but Carnival sent out water and fruit. Once we got in to the terminal, we moved through quickly and got on board. As it was already about 2pm, our room was ready, so we dropped our carry-ons and headed out to explore.

 

I stopped at the Shore Excursion desk and booked the Behind the Fun tour, then headed to Cucina del Capitano. Unfortunately, we missed lunch service, so we continued aft and found salad, pizza, and the Tandoor and made a nice lunch. We explored a little more, then headed back to our cabin to freshen up before muster drill.

 

 

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[rednose83]

I was also on this cruise and had an amazing time.

 

The line was insane- I'm not sure if they ever said what the problem was. I was just thanking my lucky stars that this was my first platinum cruise and we didn't have to wait!

[sonicbuffalo]

Thanks for the review!

[btyko]

Looking forward to the rest of your review.

[Mutumbojimbo]

We mustered in the Ovation Theater where they showed us how to put on a life vest and a video of how to get to the life boats. I think we were a little behind schedule due to the mess in the terminal, I think we started sailing in the middle of muster drill. We headed up to Ocean Plaza to try and meet up with people from our roll call, but only found one couple. We had a drink with them and agreed to try our hand at the Pub Quiz that is held nightly in the Red Frog Pub. Our friends had early dining, so they had to head out. We found the Library Bar, checked out books and tried out the self serve wine machine. We found our way back to Deck 5 for the Pub Quiz, a really fun event that became one of our favorite activities.

 

The quiz is a team event, and, unusually for Carnival, you submit written answers. We won the first three nights, and the winning team gets their choice of a beer tube (101 oz) or a large 'fish bowl' cocktail. The host announces a bonus theme for the next night, like 'funny hat' or 'inside out clothes' that can earn your team bonus points.

 

After the quiz ended we finally made our way to the Sapphire Dining Room. We've always had ATD, but have found a wait team the first night that we liked so much that we requested to sit with them every night, we weren't so lucky this time. Our service was fine, but nothing special. I had a flat iron steak and my wife had the pot roast. The entrees were good and we were seated near a very nice couple that we enjoyed talking to and had the first of many Warm Chocolate Melting Cake. After dinner we went up to the Lido deck and enjoyed the end of the first movie on the Dive In screen, but after a long day, we didn't stay for the second. Up next, the first sea day.

[Eng23]

A Breeze review is just what I need while stuck at home in an ice storm today! Thank you! Counting down and looking forward to trying her out myself!

 

When do you sail the Breeze? I'm from VA. too, going in September next year. :)

[Mutumbojimbo]

We started the first sea day by working out. The Breeze has a large workout center with a great view forward, we worked out on elliptical machines, they were great but if you're any taller than me (6'3"), your head will hit the ceiling! after we cleaned up, we went to brunch.

 

Brunch was where we really seemed to hit a snag. The servers seemed to have too many tables to take care of, and with the hostesses seating people mostly in the back of the dining room, the servers have a ton of ground to cover too. I had eggs benedict and my wife had steak and eggs. The dishes were cooked well, but the food took a long time to come out and our coffee cups were frequently empty.

 

Following Brunch, we attended the Fun on Board, Fun Ashore presentation. Pete gave a pretty good talk, but we were really there to try to win a shore excursion, we didn't.

 

We headed to Guy's Burgers to see what the fuss was about. There was quite a line, as we got there about 10 minutes before they open. Once they opened up, things moved pretty fast, but we didn't understand why they made their first batch all 'Plain Jane' burgers, then refused to add any toppings to them. We had to wait for our burgers, a 'Ringer' and a 'Pig Patty' until they cooked more burgers. The burgers were very good, and we especially liked the variety of toppings and sauces available.

 

As our morning had been so strenuous, we headed to Serenity to relax. We managed to snag the last clam shell and pulled out our books. I quickly began reading with my eyes closed, and after about an hour in the sun, we moved back to our cabin for a nap.

 

Following nap time, always one of my favorite parts of a cruise, we headed to ocean plaza where I played trivia and we had drinks. The taste bar opened at 5, they featured items from the steakhouse. I think the Taste bar ir a nice addition, but I din't know why it's not open every night. As tuxedos began to appear, we removed ourselves to get ready for pictures, pub quiz, and dinner.

 

The pub quiz bonus theme was 'funny hats' which really went well with our formal wear, but free alcohol is nothing to sneeze at, so I made hats earlier in the day. We left them off for pictures that night, we generally enjoy the dress up pictures even if we know we are only going to buy one.

 

Our quiz team swelled to six and we cobbled together two more hats, they effort proved worthwhile as we were victorious and enjoyed another fishbowl cocktail.

 

Suitably lubricated, we made our way to dinner. We always have shrimp and lobster and share a prime rib on Cruise Elegant night. I think Carnival does a pretty good job with the food in the MDR and this cruise was no different, meats were cooked as ordered and we enjoyed dinner. We dined late most nights due to the pub quiz, so we missed most of the singing and didn't see the table magician, two things that I know bother some people but that I usually enjoy.

 

We went to the Motown show, it was pretty good and they end it by moving everyone to the Atrium to transition in to a party. We stayed for a little while before we called it a night.

 

All in all, the first sea day was very nice but we were definitely excited to get to the beach at Grand Turk.

[DEBnGAB]

Did you happen to catch how much the spa pass costs for the 6-day? Thanks!

[Mutumbojimbo]

Did you happen to catch how much the spa pass costs for the 6-day? Thanks!

 

Sorry, I didn't catch that.