Royal Caribbean Diamond Plus member just off Carival Breeze

I am so fresh off the ship that the room is still rocking. I put on here I am a Diamond Plus member from Royal because those of you who sail Royal a lot might appreciate my thoughts on my first Carnival cruise in 17 years. I'm not going to do one of those big detailed review but I'll give my thoughts of my experience. Remember these are MY thoughts so if you don't agree with them, that is fine because we are all entitled to our own opinions, even those who differ from mine.

I went on this cruise because I got a free offer and since it's been so many years since I've sailed Carnival, I thought I would give it a shot. With that said, although I did have a good time, I don't think I would do Carnival again.

What I liked about Carnival were the different bars onboard. I thought they were a lot of fun and were very unique. I especially liked Red Frog Pub. The other thing I thought Carnival does well is their casual dining. There were so many choices and overall I really enjoyed all the options from the Guy's Burgers to the Mexican Cantina. Also the specialty restaurants were very good and should not be missed.

With that said, everything else I feel is not even close to Royal Caribbean. The pool area is way too small and so closed in it's boarder line claustrophobic. The loud DJ music was awful. And worst of all was the main dining room. I am not a foodie in the slightest and I am not hard to please but the main dining room was the worst I've ever experienced on a cruise. It was so bad I only ate their three of the eight nights and the three nights I was there I wished I didn't. It was that bad!!! I've had better meals on airplanes. Also what annoyed me were the many lines. For example when getting on the ship the first day, they funnel you into the photo taking area so you have to wait for everyone to take their photo or say no. Also while getting off the ship in ports, they take photo's when people are still on the gangway which would cause an unnecessary back up of people getting off. Even getting off this morning you had to wait in a big line. It seemed like one line after another. The flow around the ship is horrible. You can sail on the Allure of the Seas with 5500 and never feel the crowd at all. On the Carnival Breeze, many areas would get congested, especially in the evening when the band played.

Again, these are some just brief thoughts of mine. I think I'll be going back to Royal but that's just me. I know there are many Carnival fans out there and that is what makes cruising great!! There is a cruise line out there for everyone but for me, I learned Carnival is not one of them.

Thanks for your review. I've never sailed on Royal Caribbean. Did you have a great time at the ports of call?

Did you know about the wrap around open deck space on Deck 5. I never felt crowded on the Magic when there was around 4600 other people. We always took the open promenade deck space to get where ever we wanted.

I am no foodie either, but the food is always amazing on each cruise I go on...

I agree with the passenger flow comments. Even though the Breeze is a "new" ship, it's just an evolution of a concept introduced almost 20 years ago. The design is not the best and the space to passenger ratio is not favorable. So even though Breeze is considerably smaller than the Allure, it feels much more crowded. Allure was built to handle the crowds. That is one of the things that I was most impressed with when I sailed on that ship. We didn't stand in line ONCE during the entire week. We boarded the ship faster than on any Carnival cruise I've ever taken, even with Platinum embarkation.

But recycling an old design has worked financial wonders for Carnival, which has helped them keep prices low and generate huge profits.

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Did you know about the wrap around open deck space on Deck 5. I never felt crowded on the Magic when there was around 4600 other people. We always took the open promenade deck space to get where ever we wanted.

 

I am no foodie either, but the food is always amazing on each cruise I go on...

I was talking about the pool area not the promenade deck.

Thanks for your review. I've never sailed on Royal Caribbean. Did you have a great time at the ports of call?

Grand Turk and La Romana were nothing special but Curacao and Aruba was very nice.

Grand Turk and La Romana were nothing special but Curacao and Aruba was very nice.

That's pretty much how I felt about that itinerary.

Grand Turk and La Romana were nothing special but Curacao and Aruba was very nice.

So glad that you enjoyed those ports!

Great to hear about other opinions, I agreed with some of things mentioned here but I am on the opposite side, I am a normal Carnival cruiser that just got off my first Royal Caribbean cruise in 10 years and I missed Carnival. There were a few things I liked better on Royal but we paid approx $300 more to cruise Royal and to me it just did not live up to that price increase.

One thing I agree with is the flow is MUCH better on Royal, no doubt, easy to get around and navigate but I completely missed the pictures in the gangway, I was surprised when Royal didn't do this and missed it...things never seemed to back up too much when they did that on Carnival, for me at least. Also the decor was much more elegant and appealing on Royal.

I do disagree on the food, I felt Carnivals food blew Royals away, no lobster served in the dinning room on Royal and nothing on Royal could beat the signature chocolate lava cake on Carnival. I also think this may have to do with the ship in particular and not so much the cruise line itself. I have cruised Fascination, Sensation, and the old Holiday on Carnival, all the food on them was amazing. I just got off Royal's Enchantment of the Seas and the food was very average, sometimes down right gross. But I hear the food on Allure and Oasis is amazing but you also pay the amazing hefty price tag to cruise with them!

We always cruise on a lower level ship due to being a family of 5 with 3 kids, we can't afford the top of the line new ships so for the lower end, economical ships I felt Carnival beat out Royal in our experience but it may be totally different on the higher end ships.

I will also say based on the ones I've been on, there was only a teeny tiny cafe open in the night hours on Royal, it only offered a couple of items where on Carnival they had huge buffets all hours of the night, my husband cruises only for the food and he was so upset by this.

I did like that there was less partying on Royal and I always heard that Royal was more family friendly but I am not sure, there was no kiddie pool or any water activities for my twin babies, it was forbidden which was so sad for them :(

I really enjoy reading the vastly different opinions, thank you for sharing!

 

 

 

 

 

 

With that said, everything else I feel is not even close to Royal Caribbean. The pool area is wI am not a foodie in the slightest and I am not hard to please but the main dining room was the worst I've ever experienced on a cruise. It was so bad I only ate their three of the eight nights and the three nights I was there I wished I didn't. It was that bad!!! I've had better meals on airplanes. Also what annoyed me were the many lines. For example when getting on the ship the first day, they funnel you into the photo taking area so you have to wait for everyone to take their photo or say no. Also while getting off the ship in ports, they take photo's when people are still on the gangway which would cause an unnecessary back up of people getting off. Even getting off this morning you had to wait in a big line. It seemed like one line after another. The flow around the ship is horrible. You can sail on the Allure of the Seas with 5500 and never feel the crowd at all. On the Carnival Breeze, many areas would get congested, especially in the evening when the band played.

 

Again, these are some just brief thoughts of mine. I think I'll be going back to Royal but that's just me. I know there are many Carnival fans out there and that is what makes cruising great!! There is a cruise line out there for everyone but for me, I learned Carnival is not one of them.

Carnival food was worse than airline food? LOL......hope no one is looking for a fair and balance review from this guy. Ha ha ha....airline food.

Grand Turk and La Romana were nothing special but Curacao and Aruba was very nice.

Grand Turk is one of my favorite stops. Huh But I am a beach person and they have a great one.

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Great to hear about other opinions, I agreed with some of things mentioned here but I am on the opposite side, I am a normal Carnival cruiser that just got off my first Royal Caribbean cruise in 10 years and I missed Carnival. There were a few things I liked better on Royal but we paid approx $300 more to cruise Royal and to me it just did not live up to that price increase.

 

One thing I agree with is the flow is MUCH better on Royal, no doubt, easy to get around and navigate but I completely missed the pictures in the gangway, I was surprised when Royal didn't do this and missed it...things never seemed to back up too much when they did that on Carnival, for me at least. Also the decor was much more elegant and appealing on Royal.

 

I do disagree on the food, I felt Carnivals food blew Royals away, no lobster served in the dinning room on Royal and nothing on Royal could beat the signature chocolate lava cake on Carnival. I also think this may have to do with the ship in particular and not so much the cruise line itself. I have cruised Fascination, Sensation, and the old Holiday on Carnival, all the food on them was amazing. I just got off Royal's Enchantment of the Seas and the food was very average, sometimes down right gross. But I hear the food on Allure and Oasis is amazing but you also pay the amazing hefty price tag to cruise with them!

 

We always cruise on a lower level ship due to being a family of 5 with 3 kids, we can't afford the top of the line new ships so for the lower end, economical ships I felt Carnival beat out Royal in our experience but it may be totally different on the higher end ships.

 

I will also say based on the ones I've been on, there was only a teeny tiny cafe open in the night hours on Royal, it only offered a couple of items where on Carnival they had huge buffets all hours of the night, my husband cruises only for the food and he was so upset by this.

 

I did like that there was less partying on Royal and I always heard that Royal was more family friendly but I am not sure, there was no kiddie pool or any water activities for my twin babies, it was forbidden which was so sad for them :(

 

I really enjoy reading the vastly different opinions, thank you for sharing!

There are no kiddie pools on any Carnival ship that I am aware of. When I sailed on the Dream in June I found no huge buffets at all hours of the night, just the grill area opened for approx. 90 minutes as I recall. If that's not the case I'm sure someone will correct me :D I haven't been on Royal in awhile but I found their food to be on par with Carnival's.

FWIW, I find the melting cake to be gross. I found other desserts to be better although it appears my favorite is being dumped from the menu.

That's funny. I thought the food on Carnival was wayyyy

Better than Royal. The food on my RCI cruise rats wouldn't eat.

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Carnival food was worse than airline food? LOL......hope no one is looking for a fair and balance review from this guy. Ha ha ha....airline food.

...Yeah, I was also giving the OP the benefit of the doubt until I read the comment about the airline food. There are WAY TOO MANY people saying that the food is better on Carnival to say that the food was not edible (such as airline food.)

...Can't give much credit to the rest of the review.

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There are no kiddie pools on any Carnival ship that I am aware of. When I sailed on the Dream in June I found no huge buffets at all hours of the night, just the grill area opened for approx. 90 minutes as I recall. If that's not the case I'm sure someone will correct me :D I haven't been on Royal in awhile but I found their food to be on par with Carnival's.

 

FWIW, I find the melting cake to be gross. I found other desserts to be better although it appears my favorite is being dumped from the menu.

There are kiddie pools on most of the Carnival ships.

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There was a huge mexican buffet two nights on the Carnival ships I went on and the grill was opened many times late at night on the two ships I went on, the grill wasn't a huge buffet but it offered many more items than the small cafe did on the Royal ship I went on, I missed those amazing mexican buffets though! They had a bbq buffet on Royal one night but it was only for 1 hour and it happened during ship take off from Nassau and my husband didn't want to miss take off, take off was supposed to happen at 12am, the buffet started at 11:30pm, he didn't think he would be back in time so he just wanted to see it take off and go to the buffet but there was a delay and the ship didn't take off until 12:25am and he completely missed the very short 60 minute buffet, complete bummer.

The water area's on 2 of the 3 Carnival ships I went on were worlds better, water slides, splash zones, a kiddie pool, all of which my 2 year old was allowed to go in, no signs stating he could not if he was in swim diapers, Royal had it posted plain and clear babies could not go in, though few listened, I wasn't comfortable going against the posted sign. If its not stated on signs, then nobody would think it wasn't allowed.

Wow, I don't think I've ever met anyone that didn't rave about the melting cake but I am sure there are some that don't like it, me and my family personally was addicted to it the whole cruise! lol

I am not downing Royal at all, I know they have some amazing ships and options but comparing the 3 Carnival ships I've cruised on to the now 2 Royal ships I've cruised on (first one was 10 years ago), Carnival seemed better in many areas where Royal was only better in 2-3 areas. I liked Royals elegant decor, flow of the ship, and less partying than Carnival, other then those 3 things I liked Carnival better.

Great to hear about other opinions, I agreed with some of things mentioned here but I am on the opposite side, I am a normal Carnival cruiser that just got off my first Royal Caribbean cruise in 10 years and I missed Carnival. There were a few things I liked better on Royal but we paid approx $300 more to cruise Royal and to me it just did not live up to that price increase.

 

One thing I agree with is the flow is MUCH better on Royal, no doubt, easy to get around and navigate but I completely missed the pictures in the gangway, I was surprised when Royal didn't do this and missed it...things never seemed to back up too much when they did that on Carnival, for me at least. Also the decor was much more elegant and appealing on Royal.

 

I do disagree on the food, I felt Carnivals food blew Royals away, no lobster served in the dinning room on Royal and nothing on Royal could beat the signature chocolate lava cake on Carnival. I also think this may have to do with the ship in particular and not so much the cruise line itself. I have cruised Fascination, Sensation, and the old Holiday on Carnival, all the food on them was amazing. I just got off Royal's Enchantment of the Seas and the food was very average, sometimes down right gross. But I hear the food on Allure and Oasis is amazing but you also pay the amazing hefty price tag to cruise with them!

 

We always cruise on a lower level ship due to being a family of 5 with 3 kids, we can't afford the top of the line new ships so for the lower end, economical ships I felt Carnival beat out Royal in our experience but it may be totally different on the higher end ships.

 

I will also say based on the ones I've been on, there was only a teeny tiny cafe open in the night hours on Royal, it only offered a couple of items where on Carnival they had huge buffets all hours of the night, my husband cruises only for the food and he was so upset by this.

 

I did like that there was less partying on Royal and I always heard that Royal was more family friendly but I am not sure, there was no kiddie pool or any water activities for my twin babies, it was forbidden which was so sad for them :(

 

I really enjoy reading the vastly different opinions, thank you for sharing!

I too appreciate your thoughts even though we differ and you know what, there is nothing wrong with that!! If everyone like the same thing then what fun would that be? It's funny how some people get mad at you on here if they think you are "bashing" their favorite line.

I have to agree, I think the food could be a ship thing and not a fleet wide thing. This was just my experience as far as the main dining room and we heard the same comments from a lot of people. There was one interesting thing you said "Carnival they had huge buffets all hours of the night". Not on the Breeze. As a matter of fact I thought the buffet during the dinner hours was disappointing and didn't have many choices at all. The only thing opened all the time was the Pizza and the Deli.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts too.

...Yeah, I was also giving the OP the benefit of the doubt until I read the comment about the airline food. There are WAY TOO MANY people saying that the food is better on Carnival to say that the food was not edible (such as airline food.)

 

...Can't give much credit to the rest of the review.

 

 

 

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Yep! I like how they always give a few compliments right before the load of bull. LOL

Carnival food was worse than airline food? LOL......hope no one is looking for a fair and balance review from this guy. Ha ha ha....airline food.

I rest my case. I knew there would be someone who I offended because they felt I bashed their favorite line.

I'm sorry if you don't like my opinion but remember it's my opinion and the opinions of many others I talked to on my sailing. They served this Pumpkin Pie one night that was not even real Pumpkin, it was some wacky jello like Pumpkin substitute. I had chicken one night that was so dry that if I through it across the dining room it would have probably injured someone since it was so hard and dry.

Regardless of what you think of "this guy", I'm just telling you what I thought. You don't have to agree with me but if it makes you feel better putting me down, then bravo for you.....

I never thought I would cruise with a line other than RCL but cruised on Splendor from NY this winter..not once, but twice in 4 weeks...Feb. 13 and Mar. 17.

I was not disappointed in the least. In fact, I can't wait to book another and I'm really sorry that they are not sailing from NY next winter.

Initially I was going to go on Explorer from Bayonne again but happened to come across some really good pricing on Carnival (no single supplement for a balcony) and decided that if I hated it, I'd never go again.

Between the two cruises I alternated with early and late dining. Late on the first and early on the second. On the first one I bought drinks "as you go" and on the second, did the Cheers. Had the same cabin steward on Deck 8 for both cruises so I really felt like I was "home" on the second trip. Cabins are definitely bigger on Carnival.

The people I met on Carnival on both cruises were the friendliest I'd ever met on any cruise and the staff went beyond anything I'd ever experienced on Royal.

I thought the food was better on Carnival in the dining room and the Pinnacle was far better than Royal's Chops and Portofino. I loved the Deli as I'm not big into buffetts so a sandwich was fine for me. Room service for morning coffee was exactly the time I requested. Royal was always very slow.

Entertainment was about the same on both. Royal seems to push photographs and a simple, "no thank you", was all that was needed on Carnival. It was great to not be hounded for picture taking.

Since I did identical cruises both times the Bahama itinerary was the same. Stayed on the ship for the most part since I've been there many times.

I could go on and on but I'm really glad I gave Carnival a try and I know for sure that I'll sail them again.

With Royal, I'm not so sure, even with the Diamond Plus perks....

Pam

I rest my case. I knew there would be someone who I offended because they felt I bashed their favorite line.

 

I'm sorry if you don't like my opinion but remember it's my opinion and the opinions of many others I talked to on my sailing. They served this Pumpkin Pie one night that was not even real Pumpkin, it was some wacky jello like Pumpkin substitute. I had chicken one night that was so dry that if I through it across the dining room it would have probably injured someone since it was so hard and dry.

 

Regardless of what you think of "this guy", I'm just telling you what I thought. You don't have to agree with me but if it makes you feel better putting me down, then bravo for you.....

Hey! Its really no problem. I'm just glad to know that Royal Caribbean has better food than a airline.

Well we were on Royal and Carnival in the last couple of years. I enjoyed Royal because it was quite and very relaxing. I am booked on another Carnival cruise because I missed the chocolate melting cake & something about the on board activities on Carnival I liked sooo much more. Just my 2 cents!

Thank you for taking the time to post your review, it's always good to read cruiser's thoughts who usually sail another line. My MIL fell back in love with RCCL after 80+ cruises on Carnival. She keeps trying to get us to switch. :)

It all comes down to different strokes for different folks......As with all these type of us vs them reviews it comes down to the high road or the low road....as soon as you go low, its all over.....game is on. OP was on high road for a bit, then got off course and went low.....

I will try Royal or NCL some day......I honestly don't think it will hurt me....I will keep an open mind and realize each corporation has different way of doing things......both will have good and bad......pretty simple....7 days on a ship, I wont like everything......but will always make the best of the situation.

I too appreciate your thoughts even though we differ and you know what, there is nothing wrong with that!! If everyone like the same thing then what fun would that be? It's funny how some people get mad at you on here if they think you are "bashing" their favorite line.

 

I have to agree, I think the food could be a ship thing and not a fleet wide thing. This was just my experience as far as the main dining room and we heard the same comments from a lot of people. There was one interesting thing you said "Carnival they had huge buffets all hours of the night". Not on the Breeze. As a matter of fact I thought the buffet during the dinner hours was disappointing and didn't have many choices at all. The only thing opened all the time was the Pizza and the Deli.

 

Thank you for sharing your thoughts too.

I never understood the bashing or offending people if you don't like their cruise line, its like someone arguing over their favorite football team lol. Its very interesting to hear of others experiences and opinions, they will never be completely the same as yours.

I have never cruised Breeze but am thinking about cruising Dream which is in the same class, hopefully the food will be better because I was very impressed with food on the other 3 from Carnival.

I would cruise either line again but like to try new ships each time, even if in the same class, I usually go for the best deal I find :)