Breeze review 4/9/17-4/16/17

This was our 5th cruise, second on Carnival. The Breeze out of Galveston is a beautiful ship and we enjoyed our cruise a lot. I really only have one bad thing to say, well maybe a couple. The service was terrible. I think since this ship went into dry dock right when our cruise was done most of the crew had already checked out. Twice we were seated in the dining room for dinner and then no one came back for 15 minutes. No bread, no drink, no nothing!!!! One of those was on elegant night. We were so disappointed. I would say only about 50% of the crew was friendly, the rest could have cared less if we were there or not. This is so sad. Usually when we cruise the crew is so friendly. Our cabin steward Lauro was the best though. He did an excellent job keeping our room clean and was very attentive.

Jamaica:

We did a Carnival excursion in Montego Bay because we wanted to go to Dunns River Falls and Mystic Mountain and it is so far away. This tour was very unorganized and rushed but a lot of fun. We barely had time to eat the lunch that was provided before being rushed back to the bus.

Cozumel:

We went to Nachi Cocom on our own and it was very relaxing as usual.

Grand Cayman:

Went with NativeWay Tours and did the Rays, Reef and Rum Point excursion. Our boat captain Thomas was great. We swam with the Rays then snorkeled, then stopped at starfish beach then on to Rum Point and were provided lunch. I would highly recommend this tour.

Embarkation was great with the new staggered check in but debarkation was a big cluster with the left hand not knowing what the right hand was doing. You would think this was their first rodeo. We had faster to the fun and did self assist debark because of and early shuttle so there was only our type of group, platinums and early flight people that gathered at our location to debark. There were two people telling us where to go an neither of them did the same thing. They had people going all over the place.

Will I cruise Carnival again, probably. Do I prefer Royal Caribbean, yes. Will I ever do your time dining again, never.

Nice. I've heard about the customer service thing. Hope they have it together by July. I'm in the customer service industry. Was there better restaurants than others. I don't need to eat in the main dining room anyways. I can do the steakhouse, sushi or buffet anyways

I'm so sorry to hear of your disappointment with some of the crew. Carnival has almost always met my expectations and the crew has always been their strong suit.

Glad you enjoyed your cruise otherwise. The Breeze is my favorite ship to date. It's sure disheartening to read about your lack of service in the MDR.

Thanks for the review.

drrandall,

We only ate in the buffet once for lunch and I thought the options were lacking although the food provided wasn't bad. Your typical buffet food.

The chocolate extravaganza was good because I love anything chocolate.

Guys Burgers was just ok. Personally I think Carl's Jr. burgers are better LOL

Did not eat at the blue Igwana (sorry spelled wrong) not enough time

Did not try Tandoor. :( not enough time

Ate sea day brunch twice and it was good

Did not try any of the specialty restaurants, mainly ate in the dining room.

Ate pizza three times and it was good although the lines get long but move pretty fast.

One another note we did the behind the fun tour and it was excellent!

The pools were very small and crowded compared to Royal Caribbean and the adult serenity needs an all adult pool!!!! Hot tubs were always full of kids and pools filled with babies in diapers. One good thing is that I did not notice as much chair hogging as with Royal Caribbean. If you got to the pool by 8-9 am you could get a pretty good chair

Thank you for the report. I had started a thread about disembarcation being a mess. Any your report helps me know what to expect. At least we are debarcing on Sat. so we could wait to the very end as an option. Very sorry to hear about the FTTF not making a difference.

Your service issues do indeed happen whenever a large part of the crew is leaving and being changed no matter what cruise line. Just human nature I guess, happens here before major holidays when people are looking forward to time off with family. I agree it should not.

Again, thank you for the review.

Thanks for the review.

What did you get when you did the behind the fun tour?

We were on this same cruise and I had asked one of our assistant waiters if they get to go home for a while after the trip and he said no, they have to stay on and do other duties. I thought that was strange. Still wondering if that is true or not. Our assistant waiter was slightly creepy...lol. At times he would just come over and hang out in the corner near our table and try and participate in our conversation. That's totally fine usually, but there is a fine line when its too much. He crossed the line a few times. One time, asking my wife's brother if he was going to buy weed in Jamaica and then telling him how he can sneak it on board. Telling us how he drinks till 2am and gets up at 6 to work again. Etc. Sometimes interrupting our table conversation with these weird anecdotes...like, "Ok Omar, i guess we will talk about that now!" I think he was fond of a couple of the girls in our group.

Overall, i think he was just trying to relate, but it was awkward. I don't hold it against him at all, i think i would be a little awkward too if i worked his kind of schedule.

Otherwise, we found service to be above average. A few of the bartenders seemed off a few times...I asked for a different tequila in one of my drinks at the blue iguana and was told no, i wouldn't notice the difference anyway. He made up for it later, but i was a little taken back initially.

I loved the cruise director. I think it was the first cruise i had been on when i realized the difference a good cruise director could make.

We were on this same cruise and I had asked one of our assistant waiters if they get to go home for a while after the trip and he said no, they have to stay on and do other duties. I thought that was strange. Still wondering if that is true or not. Our assistant waiter was slightly creepy...lol. At times he would just come over and hang out in the corner near our table and try and participate in our conversation. That's totally fine usually, but there is a fine line when its too much. He crossed the line a few times. One time, asking my wife's brother if he was going to buy weed in Jamaica and then telling him how he can sneak it on board. Telling us how he drinks till 2am and gets up at 6 to work again. Etc. Sometimes interrupting our table conversation with these weird anecdotes...like, "Ok Omar, i guess we will talk about that now!" I think he was fond of a couple of the girls in our group.

 

Overall, i think he was just trying to relate, but it was awkward. I don't hold it against him at all, i think i would be a little awkward too if i worked his kind of schedule.

 

Otherwise, we found service to be above average. A few of the bartenders seemed off a few times...I asked for a different tequila in one of my drinks at the blue iguana and was told no, i wouldn't notice the difference anyway. He made up for it later, but i was a little taken back initially.

 

I loved the cruise director. I think it was the first cruise i had been on when i realized the difference a good cruise director could make.

Most of the crew will stay on board and assist with many of the activities going on during dry dock. They will move furniture around, tear up carpets, be on fire watch whenever welding is taking place, take inventory of items on board, cook and serve the workers on board, etc. And cleaning, lots and lots of cleaning. They most likely will get a couple of days off to enjoy the Freeport area and get a little break.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

The behind the fun tour was excellent. They told us about half the crew would go on vacation and the other half would stay on board. They took us into the main galley and OMG that place is huge!!!! They showed us how things work and we got to sample some baked goods. The chocolate chip cookies are to die for. (The same ones you can get free with room service) They also took us into the laundry and showed us the washers, dryers and how they put wet sheets into this big machine and it drys, irons and folds them. We got to go into the crew dining room (buffet style, open 24/7) with different theme nights to try to do food for all the different nationalities. All crew eat together whether you wash dishes or are an officer. They try to stress that they are all equal. We saw their bar/game room area and pictures of their cabins. Most are four to a cabin, some two and higher ups have their own cabin. Married couples working on the same ship get their own cabin.

We went back stage and were shown how all the lighting, etc works.

We got to go up on the bridge and speak with the Captain and have your picture taken. You get two 8X10 photos for free. We got to go in the engine control room but not the actual engine room. Oh...and while in the galley we saw the food storage area. Holy Crap!!!! Even though our ship was going into dry dock after our cruise they still had lots of food for the crew that was staying on board and all the contractors.

We also saw the crew hot tubs. I think that is about it. The tour lasted a little over three hours. At the end we all got champagne or mimosa's a backpack type thing with a soap carving and a baseball cap. Then later that evening chocolate covered strawberries and cookies delivered to our room. Well worth the money spent.

How much was the tour? What day was it on? Thanks for the information!

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

How much was the tour? What day was it on? Thanks for the information!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

I can answer your question as we did the tour on the Breeze in February.

$95 per person and held on the morning of the last sea day.

I would also agree that it was very much worth it.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

The behind the fun tour was excellent. They told us about half the crew would go on vacation and the other half would stay on board. They took us into the main galley and OMG that place is huge!!!! They showed us how things work and we got to sample some baked goods. The chocolate chip cookies are to die for. (The same ones you can get free with room service) They also took us into the laundry and showed us the washers, dryers and how they put wet sheets into this big machine and it drys, irons and folds them. We got to go into the crew dining room (buffet style, open 24/7) with different theme nights to try to do food for all the different nationalities. All crew eat together whether you wash dishes or are an officer. They try to stress that they are all equal. We saw their bar/game room area and pictures of their cabins. Most are four to a cabin, some two and higher ups have their own cabin. Married couples working on the same ship get their own cabin.

We went back stage and were shown how all the lighting, etc works.

We got to go up on the bridge and speak with the Captain and have your picture taken. You get two 8X10 photos for free. We got to go in the engine control room but not the actual engine room. Oh...and while in the galley we saw the food storage area. Holy Crap!!!! Even though our ship was going into dry dock after our cruise they still had lots of food for the crew that was staying on board and all the contractors.

We also saw the crew hot tubs. I think that is about it. The tour lasted a little over three hours. At the end we all got champagne or mimosa's a backpack type thing with a soap carving and a baseball cap. Then later that evening chocolate covered strawberries and cookies delivered to our room. Well worth the money spent.

Thanks for the description of the tour.

I talked to 2 couples last night at work. Both have been on 15 to 20 cruises. Neither couple will go with Carnival again. Once you've done RCCL, Princes, Celebrity, etc then you try Carnival you will be disappointed. They said the food is average. Customer service is no comparison. They said it was like nobody cares on Carnival.

Kinda worried now that I've only been on RCCL before. Supposed to be on Breeze in July. Being in the restaurant business myself we take pride in our food and customer service. Hope they get it together

I talked to 2 couples last night at work. Both have been on 15 to 20 cruises. Neither couple will go with Carnival again. Once you've done RCCL, Princes, Celebrity, etc then you try Carnival you will be disappointed. They said the food is average. Customer service is no comparison. They said it was like nobody cares on Carnival.

Kinda worried now that I've only been on RCCL before. Supposed to be on Breeze in July. Being in the restaurant business myself we take pride in our food and customer service. Hope they get it together

Each cruise is what you make of it. If you have bad service, speak up on the cruise and I have never had an issue with the staff stepping up to make it right.

Funny thing, we did one RCCL cruise and honestly, I dont think I will ever do another one. I did speak up about several things that were off... I swear I spent more time at their Guest Services desk then I did doing much of anything else... From missing forms, skipping courses in the dinning room ( one would think you would not bring my app after dinner is served... but hey new experiences), to rude staff, miss information... I just could not get over it all with RCCL. Only thing I think they did better was bar service.

You will have fun on the Breeze if you go in thinking it will be fun.

Each cruise is what you make of it. If you have bad service, speak up on the cruise and I have never had an issue with the staff stepping up to make it right.

 

Funny thing, we did one RCCL cruise and honestly, I dont think I will ever do another one. I did speak up about several things that were off... I swear I spent more time at their Guest Services desk then I did doing much of anything else... From missing forms, skipping courses in the dinning room ( one would think you would not bring my app after dinner is served... but hey new experiences), to rude staff, miss information... I just could not get over it all with RCCL. Only thing I think they did better was bar service.

 

You will have fun on the Breeze if you go in thinking it will be fun.

Thanks Charles. Ya I guess you can have a bad experience on any ship. I plan on going in thinking it will be by best cruise ever

Thanks for the feedback.

My 10th cruise is booked for the Breeze later this year; my 5th on Carnival. I have tried other cruise lines, including RCCL, and have always come back to Carnival. I have been impressed with the ships and the crews, not to mention the value that you get with Carnival. I'm sorry that you had a bad experience, but I hope you don't let it stop you from trying it again. Or just be happy wherever and whenever you get to cruise!!!

Thanks for the review.