Loved the Breezy Breeze 2/28 Long Review

[Trish Traveler]

Carnival Breeze February 28 – March 8, 8 night Eastern Caribbean

 

First off I will say that we loved our cruise on the Breathtakingly Beautiful Breezy Breeze!

This is our 13th cruise, 3rd with Carnival (others on NCL, Princess & Royal Caribbean). Booked less than one month out, which I consider last minute as we have never done that before. We had it narrowed down to 4 different cruises on 3 different cruise lines. The extra night and the great reviews on the Breeze helped us make our choice. We took the least expensive inside cabin guarantee. Again, a guarantee is something I have never been brave enough to do, so when I saw our cabin assignment, I was a little concerned that it was next to an elevator bank, but it presented no problems with noise.

This review is long and detailed, but it is some helpful hints that were useful for us and hopefully for some of you also in your cruise planning.

 

Embarkation:

We attached our Carnival luggage tags which I had covered in clear packing tape, before we left the hotel. We also packed up all our allowed beverages (we brought 2 bottles of wine and some water) in our rolling carry-on. Very excited seeing our first views of the Beautiful Breeze which is the largest ship we have ever sailed. After waiting outside for a short while, we were allowed inside and processed with a ticket for group #1. We were called to board the ship about 11:30am (after the VIP loyalty levels and the FTTF). We entered via the Atrium which is very new looking and lovely. We immediately noticed how elegantly the ship is decorated. We enjoyed our first delicious lunch before the crowds arrived. We continued on exploring the ship inside and decided to check to see if our cabin was ready about 1ish.

I went to guest services to have a hole punched in my card to attach to my lanyard. You can also purchase lanyards in the gift shop. Time to peruse my first Fun Times newsletter and mark my choices of activities (be sure to bring a highlighter from home – it really helps). I think a highlighter would be a great gift for Carnival to give to all the passengers! There is so much going on each day, but I found the Fun Times a bit hard to navigate as stuff is all over the place.

 

Cabin:

Our cabin was inside 9448, which is turned sideways (as I write this I think of Dr. Seuss as it is the kid’s theme on this ship ;)) so that you enter to the bed area rather than the hall/bathroom/closet. We loved the aft location being one deck below Lido for quick access to morning coffee, weather checks, sunsets, the aft pool and snacks whenever. The cabin was very nice and roomy for inside (comparable with insides on the other cruise lines we’ve been on in in the last 10 years), with plenty of storage for all your clothes and extras. There are 3 separate closets: one with all shelves, and two with one top shelf and a rod with hangers.

There is a built in dresser with 4 small drawers with the top drawer housing the blow dryer (which is somewhat weak for my long hair, but I don’t like to waste so much luggage room on a full size hair dryer). The vanity area has 2 outlets, so I bring a small extension cord for more outlets if needed. I only wish they had an additional light in this area by the mirror for styling hair. There are also 2 more large shelves up above in the vanity area. And the safe is in a shelf here also. There is a small refrigerator that comes stocked with expensive drinks, which we never use. Wine does not fit very well in there. We laid down our white wine to chill and left the red on the counter. Asked our room steward for ice the first day and it was always filled the entire week. Nightstand tables are a bit narrow, but have nice lights for reading. I always bring small flashlights and an alarm clock. I also bring a lightweight over-the-door shoe holder to stow miscellaneous items and flip flops, which hung nicely over the closet door. Of course, your empty luggage fits under the bed.

The bathroom was roomy with a large counter on both sides of the sink and 3 shelves on each side for toiletries. The shower was nice and equipped with pump shampoo and body wash (I used the shampoo with my own conditioner). There is also a pull out clothesline in the shower to hang your wet bathing suits. The inside bathroom door has 3 hooks. The cabin itself only has one hook on the wall. I wish all cruise lines would add more hooks on the cabin walls (I have read here that some people use the 3M hooks that are removable).

Towels were fluffy and our room steward, Juan & company did a great job of cleaning and replacing towels when needed 2x daily. If you want to reuse your towels for energy saving, just leave them on the rack, rather than on the floor for replacement. And of course, some towels did tricks and turned themselves into various animals to delight us with chocolates each night!

The TV has a variety of channels: lots of ship/cruise info, tours, news, movies, kids, etc. We especially like the channels that have a cam view of the Lido area and the forward bow to check the weather conditions, as we are inside. We also like the channel that has the map of the ship’s progress and weather conditions. We didn’t need it, but there is a way to set parental controls on the TV also. In addition, you can check the menus of the day and your sign & sail account charges.

Before long it was time for muster drill, which we were happy to know that you don’t have to wear your life jackets to the drill anymore. But be sure to find them in your cabin and know that you have one for everyone in your party.

It was pouring rain all afternoon and had just let up, but the Sailaway party was moved to the Atrium. We felt bad for the first time cruisers as their first virgin Sailaway up on deck is always so special! We had Matt Mitcham as our CD and thought he was great. We continued up on deck in the light drizzle for more Sailaway before heading back to the aft pool bar to informally meet up with some of the Cruise Critic group and have our first official cocktail!!

 

Food:

Fantastic! We were assigned second seating 8:15pm in the Blush Dining Room, which worked out fine for us. We had a table for ten with just two other couples, but thoroughly enjoyed their company and the great service by our waiter Albertius and his helpers from Indonesia. We had the new American Table Menu which was great and not having been on a Carnival Cruise in about 12 years, we really can’t compare it to the previous menus. I have heard talk, but we had tablecloths and cloth napkins. The water carafes were on the table, but mostly the staff poured those also for us. Bread was on the table, except formal night, when they served it for us. There was an excellent variety of appetizers, including cold and hot soups, salads; entrees (meats, fish and vegetarian) and sides. They also had themed dishes based on the port of call which we loved. There were 2 formal nights on the 8 night cruise. The first was on the first sea day and offered the lobster and shrimp entrée, of which I happily consumed two! Desserts were also a wide variety, with a pie offered every night that my husband especially liked ala mode. He also ordered the banana split off the children’s menu often. We didn’t dine at any of the for a fee restaurants (Bonsai Sushi, Cucina del Capitano, Fahrenheit 555 Steakhouse, Red Frog Pub Grub) so I can’t comment on them. Check your Fun Times daily for all the dining hours and offerings available. And don’t forget you always have the option of room service – although I have never used it myself.

 

We thoroughly enjoyed most all the food and I am always baffled by people who say there was no variety or quality to the food. Hogwash – if they eat that good, I would love to be a guest in their home for dinner anytime! You can’t please all of the people all of the time…but the best part is that on a cruise, you can choose something else if an item is not to your liking. The MDR staff was always offering additional items if they even saw you had the slightest interest in them. Double appetizers, entrees, desserts – no problem. Try that in a land based restaurant. All I know is that I can’t eat like this in Chicago restaurants for the minimal price it is costing me on a cruise. And I love the idea of trying something new. Out of the hundreds of items I may have sampled during the week, here are the few items I didn’t care for: crab cake - flavor was ok, but consistency was like a crab salad, not a crunchy crab cake I am used to; plantains on the Caribbean buffet were like hockey pucks the day we had them; lobster bisque was just not the flavor I am used to.

 

Some of our favorites in the MDR were: the vegetable spring rolls, chilled soups, hot soups, beef skewer appetizer, shrimp appetizers, stuffed mushrooms, all the flatbread appetizers, Caesar salad, filet mignon and short rib, flat iron steaks with the chimichurri sauce on the side for dipping, grilled salmon filet with citrus pepper rub, lobster and shrimp, prime rib, Mahi-Mahi, Caribbean chicken dish, corn meal crusted chicken breast, ratatouille side dish (had it several times-would love this recipe!), mac-n-cheese with bacon, and herbed garlic French fries. Fun to try the frog legs, rabbit, and alligator appetizers. Desserts: crème brule, bitter and blanc, bread pudding, hazelnut tiramisu, warm chocolate melting cake, key lime mousse, and fruit pies and many more I can’t remember without the menus in front of me.

 

The Marketplace Buffet: I like that they are trying to break up the idea of a buffet into separate areas and mini restaurants for variety and freshness, and crowd control. It just makes it a little more difficult to find things until you get used to the layout. Be sure to look up at the signs above the various buffets as they indicate which area you are in and they may change daily for special menus such as Caribbean (loved the jerk chicken and beef stew-I want that recipe!), French, Sea Dogs etc. I just wish that they would list the buffet menu theme of the day in the Fun Times. So there are two separate buffet areas: one that has more basic American Comfort Food dishes and the other that changes more frequently, including one of them that always had a carving station roasted meat available. Salad bars are fresh and plentiful.

 

One area has a Deli which offers delicious, fresh sandwiches made to order and hot dogs – we especially liked the Rueben; and the Mozzarella, arugula & peppers on a grilled ciabatta (craving that right now!) One area has the Mongolian Wok for delicious made to order stir fry.

 

We found more than enough choices in the Buffet and could always find a place to sit. We enjoyed the view from the high boys that faced the sea in the area that had faux trees and Caribbean music playing, or we went to the aft pool area. We ate dinner every night in the MDR, but saw thru the week that some of the same menu items from the MDR were offered in the dinner buffet. In the buffet you will also find desserts in several areas, with one larger sweet spot. And one afternoon they had a Chocolate Extravaganza!

And you always have soft serve ice cream or froyo 24/7. We thought the coffee was fine for us, but more hardcore coffee drinkers were enjoying the for a fee coffee on deck 5 at the Plaza Café that smelled similar to Starbucks. Other than that you have lemonade and ice tea (or mix for an Arnold Palmer), hot tea, hot chocolate, and white and chocolate milk on the buffet. We also made our own iced coffee a couple of days adding some soft serve along with the ice in our own larger insulated mugs. The staff in the buffet is great and was constantly cleaning/clearing tables. We also noticed that when people walked thru in bathing suits, they were asked to not do that again and put on a shirt or cover up, which I like that idea. The only thing is that perhaps they could have a soft serve machine outside by that beverage station or right inside the doors from the pool as I saw many children would walk thru with wet, bare feet and I think this could be easily solved.

 

Other food choices:

 

For Lunch, you have the amazing Guy’s Burgers with the highly addictive fresh cut fries, which is on the Lido Deck by the Beach pool area mid ship. Always a line, but it moves fast. The hours are short.

On the other side, you will find the equally amazing Blue Iguana Cantina made to order Burritos and Tacos – really delicious. Only wish they also offered quesadillas for a meat free option.

Back by the aft pool, you have the Pizza Pirate with 24 hour pizza available. Quite often a line and usually, there are no pizzas available for grab & go. You have to wait, but they cook fast because they are crispy thin crust. Loved the 4 cheese and the mushroom, husband liked the pepperoni which seemed the most popular.

Back here on the other side is the Indian Tandoor. Very delicious choices, but some were a little too spicy for me. The skewered meat was excellent. The only thing I didn’t care for here was the roasted corn, because it was served as a cold dish?

On Sea Days or as they call it C-days you have the option of the Fat Jimmy’s BBQ on Deck 5. A lot of people didn’t realize it was there until later in the cruise, so try it on your first sea day. It is buffet style and with very delicious slow cooked BBQ. We thought it was great, but a few others we spoke with didn’t care for it. Be sure to have your sunscreen on and a drink in your hand as you wait in line, because it is in the full sun.

On Deck 5 you will also find The Taste Bar with some limited items and either indoor seating in the Ocean Plaza or a lovely area to sit outside at tables with umbrellas.

Another lunch option with no fee (dinner has a fee) is the Cucina del Capitano Italian restaurant that offers made to order pasta dishes. This restaurant seems really underused because of it’s out of the way location - you will find a sign and a staircase up in the aft section of the buffet on the starboard side.

Sometimes you will also find the Sea Dogs cart open up on Deck 12 by the mini golf area.

 

Breakfast: On the sea days they offer a brunch in the Blush dining room 8:30-1:00pm. We attended the first sea day and had steak and eggs and eggs benedict, which were very good and enjoyed meeting new people and sitting by the window with a view of the sea.

On port days, they offer breakfast in the Blush MDR from 7:30-9:30am, not sure how the menu is different from the Brunch as we did not attend.

Lido Marketplace buffet offers a large variety of breakfast items, but stays pretty much the same daily. Scrambled eggs, hard boiled eggs, eggs benedict, bacon, sausage, potatoes, pancakes, waffles, French toast, lunchmeat, cheeses, yogurt, cold cereal, oatmeal, grits, toast, bagels, pastries, fresh fruits, and more. I think the only other thing I think I might like for variety would be like an egg casserole or a quiche, but we found plenty of delicious choices.

There is also a made to order omelet station, which also offers made to order fried eggs if you desire. Always a line, but delicious fresh omelets worth waiting for. Juices are also offered at breakfast time with a really good tropical choice.

Another amazing venue for breakfast is the Blue Iguana for Breakfast burritos made to order or Huevos Rancheros.

The Taste Bar on 5 offers a continental breakfast and is next to the Plaza Café$.

 

Alcoholic Drinks: We did not buy any drink packages, as we would not get our money’s worth unless it was included as a cabin perk when booking. The per drink prices are a bit high, but comparable with other cruise lines. We realize this is one way they make their money back to keep cruise prices lower. We did enjoy several cocktails (with umbrellas:)) which we felt were very good and not weak on the alcohol. When we had wine with dinner, the beverage service was very good in the MDR. We also like that Carnival allows one bottle of wine per person on board at embarkation. I was able to enjoy a glass every evening in my cabin as I was getting ready for dinner. And when visiting ports of call, we enjoy the local beers which are inexpensive.

 

Entertainment:

Oh so many choices that you just have to realize on a ship this size you can’t do it all. Just find what works for your schedule each day to keep you amused and relaxed and not stressed trying to fit it all in (okay, now I’m talking to myself!). The timing of everything means that with a set dining time, you won’t get to do everything you want on any given night. We are the kind of people that don’t plop in one area for very long. We love to keep moving and see as much as possible. Don’t get me wrong, we like to relax but even with sunscreen we don’t want to spend hours outside. We especially enjoyed the various daytime trivia games in the Ocean Plaza which last about 30 minutes. The Hasbro game show was quite entertaining.

Before dinner several evenings we also liked the Red Frog Pub Trivia games and the Thirsty Frog Beer on tap in there. Of the musical/dance type shows, we saw the Motown and the Latin Nights. We felt both were entertaining enough and we like the shorter shows. We aren’t looking for Broadway productions on a cruise ship. We also enjoyed the Juggler and the Hypnotist. We found the early, family comedy shows ok, but the “adult” comedy show we saw was highly offensive to us with f-bombs every other word. We understand that it is called adult, but we thought that meant more advanced, intellectual humor with some profanity, not just profanity in place of humor. So we chose not see any more of those adult shows. Apparently they are quite popular. We even found the intro video by George Lopez offensive. This was a negative Carnival “surprise” to us.

Moving on…we danced to the music of the Mambo Kings in the atrium; and thoroughly enjoyed the popcorn and Dive-In movie on Lido deck. Poolside we really enjoyed the solo guitar music of both Matt & Amy – very relaxing. We went to the Serenity Deck for Caribbean music one evening, but although he was very good, it wasn’t what we consider Caribbean music. We are “old school” cruisers and really like our Caribbean music and especially calypso. I spied a calypso drum in the Red Frog Pub and asked if it was a decoration or used and was told that there was a staff member who played it but they were currently not on the ship. Again, we must be in the minority of cruisers that favor this music, but I think it really belongs on a Caribbean Cruise. Sadly, didn’t hear “Yellow Bird” all week, but heard the electric slide numerous times (OK, I know it gets a lot of people up dancing and happy and participating and that’s really what’s important).

 

We passed through the piano bar several evenings and it was quite popular as was the karaoke. We don’t do the real late night stuff so can’t comment on any of that. Walked through the Liquid Nightclub one evening early, so it was still quite tame in there at that point.

We aren’t gamblers so no casino or bingo for us. Although, since you pass through the casino to get to other places, I will say that the walkway was wide and it was bright in there compared to other ships, but smoky as usual.

 

We also had an official Cruise Critic Meet & Greet with our roll call on the second sea day in the Liquid Nightclub. It was well attended and fun to meet other CCers. I was a little surprised that Carnival doesn’t send in any staff to greet us (as we have had on other cruise lines). However they did provide the venue and bartenders for us to purchase drinks. The last sea day we participated in the CC cabin crawl and scavenger hunt which was great fun with a terrific group of people and an opportunity to see other cabin categories on the ship. Beyond thrilled to win the coveted “ship on a stick”! Thanks to all who organized the events.

 

Other Activities:

Although it was sunny, our cruise was especially windy the first few days, so the water slides and the ropes course were closed. When they opened we had to try the water slides which were great fun, (yes, adults do partake) but the one slide ends abruptly (the Drainpipe?) and you have to take a stairway down, which was new to me. My husband said the other one, the Twister was really fast and fun. The water park area there was thoroughly being enjoyed by the children and was open even when the slides were closed due to wind.

The last sea day, we found the ropes course opened and quickly headed there. Be sure to have closed toed shoes for this. They put you in a safety harness and off you go to various challenges. Great fun and good for testing the balance of us older kids. Right below is the mini-golf which was very popular. Other sports scattered about were basketball, ping pong, foosball, indoor and outdoor workout areas, walking/running tracks, large chess game and I’m sure more I missed.

The Dr. Seuss theme seems really quite fun for the kids. We did attend part of the Dr. Seuss parade/birthday party, just because I love Dr. Seuss, even though we didn’t have kids with us.

I saw that that offer a Dr. Seuss character breakfast one day for a fee.

 

Pools:

I guess that it is impossible to have pool areas large enough for this many guests on a ship, but they seem rather small and like there should have been one more adult only pool somewhere. Anyway, they were heavily used and the first sea day, the chair hogs were in full force…until day 2, when hurray, Carnival has decided to have their staff enforce the 40 minute rule and leave notes on unoccupied chairs. Yea, finally, others can get a chase. We spoke with many guests who were delighted by this also. There are a lot of chase lounges on this ship as long as you don’t have to be next to the pool. Deck 5 also has many, along with hot tubs and showers if you need to cool off.

 

The mid ship Lido pool has some cool shaded gazebo areas with benches in the water area which is nice. All the usual music, fun and games go on here with 2 bars adjacent and the large screen playing various videos.

The levels above also have seating including some nice shaded couches. I love how many shaded areas are on this ship for when you’ve had enough sun but still want to enjoy the outside.

The aft pool is quieter, but equally crowded, with 2 hot tubs. The area above has some great comfy couches and chairs.

 

We thoroughly enjoyed the hot tubs (including the ones on deck 5 that extend outward from the ship) first thing in the morning several days at 8am before they looked like lobster pots!

Then up on Deck 15 forward you have the delightful, adult only Serenity deck with large comfy shell beds, chaises, hammocks, hot tub and a bar. The first part of our cruise it was brutally windy up there, but enjoyable later on (of course, if you nabbed a shell it could block the wind).

 

One negative thing happened on the last sea day and luckily it was already later in the afternoon. I don’t usually swim much in cruise ship pools as they are usually too crowded, but I decided to venture in the main pool the last sea day afternoon…shortly after I entered it was evacuated because *GROSS ALERT* a human feces was seen floating (no joke) :eek:. Shortly before that I had seen a family with a toddler swimming with a diaper/pull up which is not allowed. I don’t know if that was the offender or someone else, but here is when I get on my soapbox and say that if you bring young children on board, you need to agree to the rules. The entire pool was roped off, drained and sanitized by many employees in boots before it could be refilled. I applaud Carnival for taking these measures as with any chance of Norovirus, E.coli, etc., it needs to be handled. But, possibly because one family broke the rules, the swimming pool was closed for the hundreds of others who may have still wanted to enjoy this activity. Luckily, it was later in the day and was refilled and open by the next morning which was half a day before the port of Nassau. I know it abruptly ended my relaxing afternoon as I along with others immediately went back to my cabin to shower. No, it did not ruin my cruise. S**T happens!

 

Ports: We have been to all of these ports before, so we were looking for a more relaxed, inexpensive experience this time. They are all beautiful places with lots of activities to offer, we were just in budget mode this cruise.

 

St. Thomas:

It is always beautiful arriving in St. Thomas with the islands, and sailboats in the harbors. We were lucky to have only one ship in port today. Docked in Havensight with lots of shopping right adjacent. I prefer downtown Charlotte Amalie for strolling, just because it is a city and has more character and history. But this time I shopped Havensight and sampled some flavored rums in the AM and then we went back to the ship for lunch before heading out to the beach. I wanted to go to Sapphire Beach but I was worried about the wind, so we chose Coki to be assured of seeing fish while snorkeling. Took the open air taxi. Coki Beach is beautiful when you look out to the water, but otherwise it is a rather crowded (even with one ship in port) narrow strip of sand. We didn’t rent chairs as we were in the water most of the time. We bring our own snorkel gear. The fish were plenty as promised (as unfortunately they feed them). Afterwards, we enjoyed some Caribe beers on the beach before heading back. A little more browsing the stores and enjoyed some Virgin Island Tropical Mango and Summer Island beers. The sailaway from St. Thomas was beautiful as it was already dark and the lights twinkled across the hills.

 

Antigua:

Another beautiful arrival port. I was delighted to be greeted by a Calypso band finally!! We prebooked a tour with Scenic Tours Antigua for a 6½ hour sightseeing tour that took us through St. John’s and across the island up to the stunning views from Shirley Heights and the Block House and then back down to the historical tour of Nelson’s Dockyard, with some time to explore at each stop. Our guide was the owner of the company, Sean and he was excellent. Very informative tour. It was a very modern comfortable, mini bus with good A/C and large windows for viewing. We then returned via Fig Tree Drive in the rainforest, before taking the option for beach time. We had about 90 minutes at the beautiful Turners Beach, which has one open air Beach Bar and Restaurant with a decent bathroom. We didn’t eat there, but enjoyed a rum punch and the local Wadadli beer. We rented chairs for $5. The white sand beach is beautiful with some palm trees. I attempted snorkeling, but the wind was still making the water a little rough and churned up so visibility was poor, only saw about 5 fish total by the rocks on the left side of the beach. But the water was warm and the swimming was great. There is a vendor area set up for shopping and a couple of people that were working the beach, but they weren’t pushy and left us alone when we said no thanks.

 

San Juan:

It’s actually been quite a long time since we were here and we were quite pleasantly surprised how different it seemed to us and how much we enjoyed Old San Juan for the day. Prior to arriving, we were told on board that some demonstrations were taking place at the capitol building that might affect traffic. As we were only going to be on foot, it didn’t concern us as long as they weren’t violent. We later saw and heard them from afar and it seemed more of a celebration with music than a demonstration – never did hear what that was about. We got off the ship early to begin the walk to El Morro Fort. They have a free trolley, but we wanted to walk and enjoy the sights along the way. It does get hot, so be sure to wear sunscreen and a hat – although we were still in the extremely windy weather so it was hard to keep hats on our head. We reached El Morro by about 8:30am and it was already open even though it is listed as 9am. We paid the $5pp to visit both forts. Great place to explore and read about the history. Beautiful photo vistas. Wear good walking shoes as there are lots of stairs and ramps – it’s a great workout. Bring water or buy some there as without any trees on the property, you will be warm.

 

Leaving there we enjoyed watching the people flying kites on the huge open “lawn” leading up to the fort (there is a stand nearby selling kites if you want to give it a try). We also stopped to see the beautiful cemetery on the ocean – what a lovely final resting place. Next we headed to the Cathedral. For a free will donation you can view the inside, taking a moment to cool off and reflect. From there we headed back towards the ocean to the free art museum, which isn’t real big, but has some very nice religious and contemporary art with A/C to cool off. Next stop the Castillo de San Cristobal Fort, which is equally impressive as El Morro. From here, we could hear and view the “demonstration” that was occurring by the capitol building. I thought it was a festival at first. Heading back to the ship, we stopped at the Colon Plaza to see the Christopher Columbus statue. The PR dept. of tourism has a program right now where there put on some entertainment in some of the plazas, so we enjoyed a band and the photo ops with the large decorative vejigante, brightly colored whimsical masked folkloric figures (I had to google this to come up with the correct name and learn about them!).

There are a lot of lovely outdoor restaurants to eat, but we took a break for lunch back on the ship, before heading back out to explore more of old San Juan. We love the blue cobblestone streets, colorful buildings, and window flower boxes. We enjoyed some of the shops and came across the Punto de Vista bar where they were offering 2 for 1 mojitos, so we headed up to the rooftop indoor/outdoor bar for a refreshing drink. Afterwards we came to another square with entertainment, this time dancers on stilts and more costumed characters. A bit more shopping and then we headed towards the pier and stopped one more time at a lovely park that had an outside bar to enjoy the local beer, Medallia. We have a fitness tracker and saw that we had logged 26,000 steps in San Juan! We felt it the next day, but the early AM hot tub took care of that! Adios lovely San Juan…another beautiful sailaway past the point where El Morro Fort is perched.

 

Nassau: This was a noon arrival port, so after taking some time to start packing (as the cruise ends the next day), we headed up on deck to see the very scenic arrival into Nassau. Beautiful views of Atlantis and downtown Nassau. Our plan for the day was to meet up with some friends who live on the island. But first we took about an hour to stroll Bay Street and enjoy the sights, and visit the Straw Market. Our friend picked us up and headed to the area where all the conch shack restaurant/bars are located near the Paradise Island Bridge to pick up some fresh conch. His family prepared the authentic Bahamian conch salad for us at his home, but you can also get an assortment of ready made delicious conch and fish dishes at these shacks. It was my first time enjoying this amazingly fresh, tasty local dish. After returning to the pier, we browsed more shops and enjoyed the local Kalik beer (you may have realized, we really love to try the local beers when vacationing anywhere). Sad to be leaving our last port of call for this cruise.

 

Debarkation: We chose to book one of the Carnival Tours that would take us and our luggage from the Port of Miami to Ft. Lauderdale Airport. We had a later flight out and this tour would use up some time and serve as our transfer. They gave us special luggage tags for the tour and we had our luggage packed and outside of our cabin the night before by 11PM. We met in the Ovation Theatre at 8AM and were soon escorted off the ship to claim our luggage and preceded quickly through customs to meet our bus outside and have our luggage stowed on board. We chose the South Beach Experience which gave us a quick guided tour of South Beach (about 45 minutes) and then gave us about 2 hours and 15 minutes on our own to explore the area and enjoy all the colorful art deco architecture. We had just eaten breakfast on the ship so we weren’t hungry, but there were numerous lovely open air restaurants/cafes all along Ocean Blvd. to eat if you desire. We also spent some time walking on the beach and people watching. Due to windy weather, the water was not swimmable and we were glad we had gym shoes on because the beach near the water was littered with little colorful, but dangerous Portuguese man of war that had washed ashore. We had a meeting place for the bus to return and pick us up. The bus dropped us off at FLL about 1PM. This worked out great for us.

 

In conclusion, we had a fantastic week+ sailing the Breeze and were glad that we had chosen this cruise. We would definitely sail her again and Carnival. I can see that this ship would also be good for families. The week we sailed had families on board of course, and we found this week most of the kids seemed really well behaved and enjoying their cruises as much as us. One staff member said that the following week, there would be 1500 kids aboard, as I assumed it would be spring breaks starting for families. So we were glad that we had what was probably the last week before the numerous spring breaks begin around the country. I love kids, but now that I am traveling without them, I prefer them in smaller numbers. As always, I am thankful to the Cruise Critic community for all the advice and info when I am researching everything cruise related. I always find my answers here. Thanks for another terrific cruise!:)

[Trish Traveler]

I forgot to mention that they no longer give you a paper print out of your Sail & Sign account on the last day. So since you can view it on the TV, after reviewing it, I took a photo of each page of the account for both my husband and myself on the TV screen, so that I would have the info and totals in case there was any dispute on my final charge.

[peymas]

I forgot to mention that they no longer give you a paper print out of your Sail & Sign account on the last day. So since you can view it on the TV, after reviewing it, I took a photo of each page of the account for both my husband and myself on the TV screen, so that I would have the info and totals in case there was any dispute on my final charge.

 

Nice review! I stopped at the Kiosk and printed mine on the last day. Very itemized. I was on this same cruise, and I loved the Breeze. It is a very nice ship. Thoroughly enjoyed this cruise. We went to Darkwood Beach in Antigua on the 1.50 bus. We went to Charlotte Amalie to shop for about 2 hours and then went to Coki Beach through Godfrey Tours in St. Thomas. We walked to El Morro in San Juan. Walked around Atlantis and had lunch in the Marina Village in Nassau.

[skoi13]

Thanks for the very complete review. We'll be on the Breeze (first time) this Fall and are looking forward to it.

 

Doing something similar in San Juan too. Glad to hear it is walkable and you had time.

[tahitidreamz]

Thanks for your Review. And I know it was not a great welcome sight then but when I got to the part of the floating feces I imagined the scene of Bill Murray in CaddyShack ....rofl........."Doodie"............to bad it wasnt a baby ruth though. :D

[violetjaymom]

Question.. Do they charge your card that you give all throughout the cruise or just at the end when you are disembarking

[Frank12]

Nothing ruins a party quite like a turd in the swimming pool! :eek:

[Trish Traveler]

Thanks for your Review. And I know it was not a great welcome sight then but when I got to the part of the floating feces I imagined the scene of Bill Murray in CaddyShack ....rofl........."Doodie"............to bad it wasnt a baby ruth though. :D

 

Oh believe me, my husband, who had not been in the pool, was really trying to hold in his laughter!!!:D

[Trish Traveler]

Question.. Do they charge your card that you give all throughout the cruise or just at the end when you are disembarking

 

I have no idea when they charge you. Wish I could help with the answer.

[WAHMto5]

Thanks for the review! Can't wait to sail on the Breeze in a couple of months.

[Trish Traveler]

Nice review! I stopped at the Kiosk and printed mine on the last day. Very itemized. I was on this same cruise, and I loved the Breeze. It is a very nice ship. Thoroughly enjoyed this cruise. We went to Darkwood Beach in Antigua on the 1.50 bus. We went to Charlotte Amalie to shop for about 2 hours and then went to Coki Beach through Godfrey Tours in St. Thomas. We walked to El Morro in San Juan. Walked around Atlantis and had lunch in the Marina Village in Nassau.

 

We used Godfrey Tours on another cruise and they were very good. Very happy with the value of his tours!

[Saltz]

Your list of favorite foods has my mouth watering. Great, great review!!

[erewhon]

Thank you for taking time to write your thorough review.

Pleased that you had a fantastic week.

[clearwatergirl]

Question.. Do they charge your card that you give all throughout the cruise or just at the end when you are disembarking

 

 

Your credit card is not charged until you disembark. You will see the final charge on your card a couple of days after debark. However, if you read your cruise contract, it is clearly stated various holds are placed on the card during the cruise depending on your bank. So you may want to plan on using other methods of payment while in port.

 

Have a great cruise. :)

[acceber32]

Thanks for the enjoyable review!

[DrAKA]

Thanks for this review. I will be on the Breeze in 2 weeks. I have read several reviews but yours had some information that I've not seen in others. Thank you for expressing my thoughts.....on a carribean cruise I want to have carribean music, played by carribean people! This is one thing I miss most about cruising today.

[lcpagejr]

Great review... We were on Breeze for the 1/3 sailing and thoroughly enjoyed all aspects of cruise as well... A couple of differences... Our MDR servers served us water and rolls each night...... and the dreaded summary of cruise charges was in our little mailbox outside cabin door on disembarkation day!!

[ma_t_gus]

Just want to make sure, but did they charge you corking fee for the wine even though it was for your room only?

[abisha]

Great review. I sailed on the Breeze last May and loved it. I thought the public areas were laid out nicely and loved the ocean plaza concept.

[Trish Traveler]

Just want to make sure, but did they charge you corking fee for the wine even though it was for your room only?

 

No, they do not charge you a corkage fee for in cabin use of your wine. Just remember to pack a corkscrew or buy twist top wine.

 

From the Carnival website FAQ:

Bringing Alcohol On Board - Embarkation Day:

Guests are prohibited from bringing alcoholic beverages on board. However, at the beginning of the cruise during embarkation day, guests (21 years of age and older) may bring on board one 750 ml bottle of wine or champagne, per person, only in their carry-on luggage. A $15 corkage fee per 750 ml bottle will be charged should you wish to consume this wine in the main dining room or steakhouse. (A corkage fee is a charge exacted at a restaurant for every bottle of liquor served that was not bought on the premises)

[cruising maniac]

Nice job. I appreciate the time you spent on your review. Glad you had a memorable vacation.:)