?s For Those Who Have Sailed the Breeze Already

[mlbcruiser]

First of all, what time was the lifeboat drill held on your cruise? Was it right before or right after sailaway, or at another time? Does anyone know or can you estimate the time of day?

If you were part of a roll call for your sailing, was there a Meet & Mingle planned and did Carnival provide a venue with a manned bar for your group? If so, where did they have it and when? (And what sailing was it? Itineraries differ but our group is just trying to get an idea of what they came up with.)

Some of us who have sailed on a number of lines and have participated in Cruise Critic-type Meet and Mingles on other ships are not finding much cooperation or help from Carnival w/regard to this issue so we wondered how other groups might have fared?

Thanks a bunch for any info!

[luckybecky]

Originally Posted by mlbcruiser

First of all, what time was the lifeboat drill held on your cruise? Was it right before or right after sailaway, or at another time? Does anyone know or can you estimate the time of day?

If you were part of a roll call for your sailing, was there a Meet & Mingle planned and did Carnival provide a venue with a manned bar for your group? If so, where did they have it and when? (And what sailing was it? Itineraries differ but our group is just trying to get an idea of what they came up with.)

Some of us who have sailed on a number of lines and have participated in Cruise Critic-type Meet and Mingles on other ships are not finding much cooperation or help from Carnival w/regard to this issue so we wondered how other groups might have fared?

Thanks a bunch for any info!

Hi MLB,

You are going to LOVE the Breeze! As soon as I get caught up, I'm going to post a review with pics. Hopefully in the next few days. Meanwhile, to answer your questions:

Our safety drill was on the first day, at around 4:30 pm, shortly before our scheduled sail-away time. Sail time was supposed to be 5:00pm. Sail-away was delayed because they were still loading supplies. We sailed about an hour late. Safety drill had been completed well before this time.

Safety drill was very easy. Your Sign & Sail card will have a code for your muster station. In our case, the muster station was the main showroom. The drill was only about 15 minutes or so. We simply sat in our comfortable seats in the theater and listened to a few instructions, and watched staff demonstrate how to use the life vest. We did not have to take a life vest to the drill. It was really very, very easy and not a long process. Lots of staff to show you where to go and answer questions. Nothing to worry about.

I was part of a very active roll call. Carnival will help you with a Meet & Mingle, but basically all they do is set aside a place for you and publish this location in the fun times.

Here is what we did: on our roll call, our group agreed upon a date and time that we wanted to have our Meet & Mingle. You need to choose a time for your group depending on your itinerary and what works for you all. We sailed on June 27. The next day, June 28, we were in Marseille, with an early back-on-board time of 3:30 pm. We selected this day, at 4:30 pm, for our meet & mingle. Our idea was that everyone would be on board, but it was early enough to not interfere with any dinner plans. I took a count of how many people planned to attend.

I contacted John Heald through his facebook page. I told him that we wanted to have a meet & greet on June 28 at 4:30 pm, told him how many people we expected, and asked if he could provide us with a location and bar service. He took care of it from there.

On our first afternoon on board, I received a phone call in my cabin from someone in guest services confirming our request and telling me where we would be. They had not told me the location in advance. We were in the Limelight Lounge. They publish this info in the Fun Times, so you need to tell everyone in your group to look there to find the location.

When we arrived at the designated location, there was a sign at the entrance that said Cruise Critic Meet and Greet, or something to that effect. There was full bar service available. Carnival does not provide any snacks, drinks, or any other kind of freebies for your party. They will designate a location for you and publish it in the Fun Times, but that is all. If you want, you can pay a fixed per-person fee for extras like open bar or snacks. Call Carnival if you want to arrange this.

I hope this info helps! Have fun!

[momtotwins14]

Have two questions for those who have sailed on the breeze. The room safe, is it opened/locked with credit card or combination lock? How many formal nights did you have on the 12 day cruise?

Thanks

[ukbecky]

Room safe worked on a combination and there were two 'formal' nights

[Monkey30]

hi ukbecky... quick question... I'll be on the Breeze on Thursday!! Is it true that the air conditioning in the cabin only works when you put your room key in a certain place.... and if it is true, do you think ANY card with a magnetic strip would work (for instance, a gift card that had been all used up)?

I ask this because, we like our cabin cold when we come in from the heat and sun... i would like to keep running the air even when we are not in the room.

Thanks so much for any help

[Froufie]

Originally Posted by Monkey30

hi ukbecky... quick question... I'll be on the Breeze on Thursday!! Is it true that the air conditioning in the cabin only works when you put your room key in a certain place.... and if it is true, do you think ANY card with a magnetic strip would work (for instance, a gift card that had been all used up)?

I ask this because, we like our cabin cold when we come in from the heat and sun... i would like to keep running the air even when we are not in the room.

Thanks so much for any help

Wow - I just asked the same question on another thread! Would love to know how this works too! (I also want a cool cabin when coming in from the heat!)

[luckybecky]

The lights only work when a key is inserted in a slot by the door. However, the room temp was always comfortable to us even when we had been away for the entire day, so the A/C must have continued working all the time. I'm really not sure about using any card, but it wasn't a problem for us. Plus, everyone in your cabin will have a card, and it ony takes one card to keep the lights on. It's an energy-saving feature that apparently is common in Europe.

Have fun!

[mlbcruiser]

Thanks for the info., luckybecky! I am glad to hear you loved the Breeze & that there has been at least one Meet & Greet on the her! I have attended and/or planned a number of Meet & Greets on other cruiselines. And someone in our group tried to on the Carnival Liberty a few yrs. ago but the line never responded. At least just today I rec'd. an automated message saying the email I wrote last night was rec'd. and to allow 3 days for a reply. The last one I sent didn't even get that. But I will give Carnival a break on this one since the Breeze has only been in operation a few wks.

All of the other cruiselines have been more responsive to requests for such get togethers whenever I have asked about one, and though they have not provided anything too fancy, they always have coffee, water, juice and sometimes fruit punch (similar to Hawaiian Punch); also sweet rolls or cookies. Two lines gives out small logo gifts. One or more staff members & a bar tender are in attendance, and one mainstream line sent the capt. & a few officers to the M&G two of the times we sailed with them! (IMO officers attending is above and beyond because I am sure they - along w/John Heald, are way too busy to have to think about showing up to Meet & Greets!) Additionally, we have usually been asked for cabin numbers, and invitations were delivered accordingly. One line gave us the time, place about 2 or 3 wks. before sailing to pass along . Either way is fine as long as word gets out somehow. Carnival might have a better idea w/putting it in the newsletter because that way no one should get missed.

I am hoping that, like your's, our group is assigned a time after Marseilles. That is early enough in the cruise that it should be helpful.

And you are right about the energy saving feature/room key issue, luckybetty. We ran into that even in Brazillian hotels and I think it's gaining in popularity.

[MissRabbit]

Originally Posted by luckybecky

The lights only work when a key is inserted in a slot by the door. However, the room temp was always comfortable to us even when we had been away for the entire day, so the A/C must have continued working all the time. I'm really not sure about using any card, but it wasn't a problem for us. Plus, everyone in your cabin will have a card, and it ony takes one card to keep the lights on. It's an energy-saving feature that apparently is common in Europe.

Have fun!

They had this "lights activated" key card slot by the door on the Magic when we went in March. We just used a loyalty card from one of our local grocery stores in it and it worked just fine. That way, we could continue to carry around our S&S cards and not have to remember to grab the one out of the card slot.

[Froufie]

Originally Posted by MissRabbit

They had this "lights activated" key card slot by the door on the Magic when we went in March. We just used a loyalty card from one of our local grocery stores in it and it worked just fine. That way, we could continue to carry around our S&S cards and not have to remember to grab the one out of the card slot.

Excellent - thanks for the great info!

Now are the safes on the Breeze numerically coded or do I need to bring another 'card'?

[jimbo5544]

Originally Posted by Monkey30

hi ukbecky... quick question... I'll be on the Breeze on Thursday!! Is it true that the air conditioning in the cabin only works when you put your room key in a certain place.... and if it is true, do you think ANY card with a magnetic strip would work (for instance, a gift card that had been all used up)?

I ask this because, we like our cabin cold when we come in from the heat and sun... i would like to keep running the air even when we are not in the room.

Thanks so much for any help

I believe it is just the lights (off of the card insertion) not the air. The air is ducted on Carnival ships, there is not an AC unit per cabin.

[jimbo5544]

Originally Posted by Froufie

Excellent - thanks for the great info!

Now are the safes on the Breeze numerically coded or do I need to bring another 'card'?

digit, not card

[ohiogymrat]

Originally Posted by momtotwins14

] the room safe, is it opened/locked with credit card or combination lock?

Thanks

.

Originally Posted by ukbecky

room safe worked on a combination

.

Originally Posted by froufie

excellent - thanks for the great info!

Now are the safes on the breeze numerically coded or do i need to bring another 'card'?

.

[ukbecky]

I used an expired gift card to activate the lights - worked fine. We didn't want to trade cards out if one of us was leaving the room and the other staying.

Any other questions? I'm happy to answer - the Breeze is beautiful and my new favorite ship. Only my second time on Carnival and loved it!