Carnival Breeze.....thumbs down

We are on the Carnival Breeze waiting to get off. First the first time in my 12 cruises I am ready to get off of the ship. I really hate to say this but we have really been disappointed with Carnival this trip. I will do a full review when I can, to sum it up the MDR has real problems and the entertainment is really lacking on his ship. The waiters at our table put the blame on the kitchen.

As for the entertainment, for the first time I can say that the cutbacks Carnival has been doing are way obvious. I am a person who goes on a cruise to just relax and not look for the faults of the ship. I find myself in disbelief that I have been so disappointed in a ship. There are good items on the ship but not enough to over come what is lacking.

I will show pictures to help explain what I am saying. Before coming to this cruise I read reviews about the crowds on this ship, they are all true. Carnival does not know what to do with all of the people on this ship. For example, until I do my full review. Why would you schedule towel folding during lunch in a eating area. They did this in ocean plaza on a sea day, when people who are eating at the BBQ are looking for a place to sit and eat. The big joke for the trip became the saying " what were they thinking ". I do have a picture of this I will post during the review.

Time to get off our zone has now been called and my IPad is running out of juice. My review will most like be done after Christmas. When I get home I am going to cancel my next cruise which was also going to be on the Breeze.

Good luck to all who are getting on this ship I hope your cruise may be better than ours.

I don't get how you could not like the breeze just off last week and thought it was awesome.

We are on the Carnival Breeze waiting to get off. First the first time in my 12 cruises I am ready to get off of the ship. I really hate to say this but we have really been disappointed with Carnival this trip. I will do a full review when I can, to sum it up the MDR has real problems and the entertainment is really lacking on his ship. The waiters at our table put the blame on the kitchen.

As for the entertainment, for the first time I can say that the cutbacks Carnival has been doing are way obvious. I am a person who goes on a cruise to just relax and not look for the faults of the ship. I find myself in disbelief that I have been so disappointed in a ship. There are good items on the ship but not enough to over come what is lacking.

I will show pictures to help explain what I am saying. Before coming to this cruise I read reviews about the crowds on this ship, they are all true. Carnival does not know what to do with all of the people on this ship. For example, until I do my full review. Why would you schedule towel folding during lunch in a eating area. They did this in ocean plaza on a sea day, when people who are eating at the BBQ are looking for a place to sit and eat. The big joke for the trip became the saying " what were they thinking ". I do have a picture of this I will post during the review.

Time to get off our zone has now been called and my IPad is running out of juice. My review will most like be done after Christmas. When I get home I am going to cancel my next cruise which was also going to be on the Breeze.

 

Good luck to all who are getting on this ship I hope your cruise may be better than ours.

Sailing on the Breeze in May. Don't think you are going to hurt my excitement at all. This will be my 5th cruise on Carnival and if I try I can alway find some things I don't love. I just look at how having so much fun with my family totally outweighs the few problems I may encounter. Sorry you didn't enjoy your cruise, but still really looking forward to mine!!!

I don't get how you could not like the breeze just off last week and thought it was awesome.

It certainly is possible. Most people brag about Liberty, but no bragging from me. First cruise I couldn't wait to get off, I know the feeling.

Let's wait and see the review till we get a better picture of what happened.

The only complaint you have so far is the towel folding during lunch........ Don't sweat the small stuff :)

It certainly is possible. Most people brag about Liberty, but no bragging from me. First cruise I couldn't wait to get off, I know the feeling.

Let's wait and see the review till we get a better picture of what happened.

I don't get how anyone could "not wait to get off" a cruise! :-O

You'd have to drag me off a cruise early kicking and screaming.

Sorry you had a bad cruise OP. Hopefully your next one is better.

Sorry you didn't enjoy the cruise, we are sailing on the 27th of January. I have read a few comments about crowds, I am used to seeing some lines, hopefully it's not too crowded. When you have a chance we will watch for your full review.

The only complaint you have so far is the towel folding during lunch........ Don't sweat the small stuff :)

And he said a review and pictures will be posted.

Trish, I thought it would never happen to me, but it did. Sometimes it "just doesn't click".

I agree that there were some faults (ie. entertainment at times, dining room service)...but none of these ruined my thoughts or my families on board.

And I was happy to get off Destiny. Wouldn't say I couldn't wait to get off, but I didn't have the same disembark feeling that I've always had before.

Funny, because my first cruise on Destiny is among my favorites.

The only complaint you have so far is the towel folding during lunch........ Don't sweat the small stuff :)

It sounds like the problem wasn't so much the towel folding, but the fact that it was taking up a lot of space and causing people to have a problem finding an empty table to eat at.

OP, if you decide to start a new thread for your review please post the link here

Thanks for the heads up! DW and I sail on Breeze in March.

I've been really curious about how Ocean Plaza would work. I thought having multiple casual dining places near the Lanai (and far away from the Lido) would help effectively s p r e a d o u t the crowds for lunch. Royal Caribbean has done this very well with their latest, massive ships. But it sounds like with the towel class CCL hasn't effectively done this. Hopefully this is something that could be rescheduled relatively easily. Hopefully they'll do this by March!

Thanks for the heads up! DW and I sail on Breeze in March.

 

I've been really curious about how Ocean Plaza would work. I thought having multiple casual dining places near the Lanai (and far away from the Lido) would help effectively s p r e a d o u t the crowds for lunch. Royal Caribbean has done this very well with their latest, massive ships. But it sounds like with the towel class CCL hasn't effectively done this. Hopefully this is something that could be rescheduled relatively easily. Hopefully they'll do this by March!

we were on the 8 day for Breeze and the crowds were very spread out..sure long lines during peak times but that is too be expected.

For all of those who make comments about "don't sweat it" or "I'd have been happy"...okay, fine. I understand, but your comments are pretty worthless. Were you there? Did you experience the expectations and reality of that cruiser? Some cruises and some ships are just better than others. Some cruises--just like land vacations--don't go so well.

For example, our first cruise missed two ports due to "weather"--but it appears Carnival's weather team missed it by a country mile and was dead wrong...and all the other ships made calls at St Thomas and St Maarten as scheduled. We got Grand Turk (fine) and Freeport (waste of a day in port) instead.

Did it ruin our cruise? Of course not. Did it dampen it a bit? Yep, especially since we had a great birthday treat for my wife in St Thomas (we did it a year later). Did Carnival have every "right" to deviate for "safety"? You betcha they did.

My point is this--not every cruise is "great"; not everyone is satisfied with the same level of competence/incompetence others will be perfectly happy with. Carnival is neither great nor horrid...but they are all things in between. They are inconsistent in a lot of areas.

Our last cruise on the Victory was much better than the one on the Dream. Some will like one more than the other. Some won't like the Breeze. If we all liked the same things all the time, what a boring world it would be!!

I'm looking forward to the OP's honest assessment of the Breeze. I'm also looking forward to booking a trip on the Breeze!!

Thanks for the heads up! DW and I sail on Breeze in March.

 

I've been really curious about how Ocean Plaza would work. I thought having multiple casual dining places near the Lanai (and far away from the Lido) would help effectively s p r e a d o u t the crowds for lunch. Royal Caribbean has done this very well with their latest, massive ships. But it sounds like with the towel class CCL hasn't effectively done this. Hopefully this is something that could be rescheduled relatively easily. Hopefully they'll do this by March!

The only dining option near Ocean Plaza is Fat Jimmy's and it is outside on the lanai. There is seating on the lanai on both sides of the ship with tables plus the seating inside at Ocean Plaza. I'm interested in Koiman's review since everyone's perception is different, but we passed by and through Ocean Plaza at all times of the day with all sorts of activity going on (trivia, kids talent show, etc) and there were always seats available.

In 8 days on the ship the only lines I saw wer the folks waiting to get into the aft lounge before the comedy shows, and folks waiting to get into the dining room before the doors open. Granted, we didn't go to the buffet at peak times except for the last day before getting off in Nassau, but even then the longest line I stood in was at the salad bar and is was less than 10 people.

We also had no problem finding loungers at any time except for Serenity. The loungers right by the pool were typically full, but even there we saw open ones. There are so many options for loungers with a lot on Deck 5 and deck 11 that chairs were always available.

This is exactly why you will NEVER see a review from me on here.

Your point of view, and many others is the reason I no longer have the Breeze booked for November 2013. The Celebrity Summit took it's place. I took a little hit in the pocket book but worth it to me. I'm pretty sure the chances of cruise success have increased dramatically.

Thanks for your input...

For all of those who make comments about "don't sweat it" or "I'd have been happy"...okay, fine. I understand, but your comments are pretty worthless. Were you there? Did you experience the expectations and reality of that cruiser? Some cruises and some ships are just better than others. Some cruises--just like land vacations--don't go so well.

 

For example, our first cruise missed two ports due to "weather"--but it appears Carnival's weather team missed it by a country mile and was dead wrong...and all the other ships made calls at St Thomas and St Maarten as scheduled. We got Grand Turk (fine) and Freeport (waste of a day in port) instead.

 

Did it ruin our cruise? Of course not. Did it dampen it a bit? Yep, especially since we had a great birthday treat for my wife in St Thomas (we did it a year later). Did Carnival have every "right" to deviate for "safety"? You betcha they did.

 

My point is this--not every cruise is "great"; not everyone is satisfied with the same level of competence/incompetence others will be perfectly happy with. Carnival is neither great nor horrid...but they are all things in between. They are inconsistent in a lot of areas.

 

Our last cruise on the Victory was much better than the one on the Dream. Some will like one more than the other. Some won't like the Breeze. If we all liked the same things all the time, what a boring world it would be!!

 

I'm looking forward to the OP's honest assessment of the Breeze. I'm also looking forward to booking a trip on the Breeze!!

Really a good post Ron!

The only dining option near Ocean Plaza is Fat Jimmy's and it is outside on the lanai. There is seating on the lanai on both sides of the ship with tables plus the seating inside at Ocean Plaza. I'm interested in Koiman's review since everyone's perception is different, but we passed by and through Ocean Plaza at all times of the day with all sorts of activity going on (trivia, kids talent show, etc) and there were always seats available.

 

In 8 days on the ship the only lines I saw wer the folks waiting to get into the aft lounge before the comedy shows, and folks waiting to get into the dining room before the doors open. Granted, we didn't go to the buffet at peak times except for the last day before getting off in Nassau, but even then the longest line I stood in was at the salad bar and is was less than 10 people.

 

We also had no problem finding loungers at any time except for Serenity. The loungers right by the pool were typically full, but even there we saw open ones. There are so many options for loungers with a lot on Deck 5 and deck 11 that chairs were always available.

So many cruises depends on the people on board on that particular sailing. That can change things. I went on Ecstasy 3 times, all 3 had their own flavor, so to speak. The last one had the most boring group on board, the first was full of party goers. So, one cannot compare their experience on their cruise to one someone else took.

I understand the OPs point completely and everyone is entitled to their opinion. Everyone has their own priorities.

We got off the Miracle last week. I enjoyed the cruise...but decided "no more cruising" (at least on Carnival) because of a few things which might be minor to others, but major to me.

For example, just about all the fruit at the buffet was hard as a rock. Only the watermelon and pineapple were good. My husband is a big fruit eater, and I eat a lot of it too. We took a pear back into the cabin the first day, and on the last day you could still use it as a baseball.

Now I know most people care about the beers, DODs and drink packages...we don't. But we care about the fruit. It the drinks were "undrinkable" for any reason, imagine how most people would feel. Well, that's how we felt about the fruit.

This didn't ruin our cruise...and we found other things to eat....but it was very disappointing since fruit had never been an issue at any other time.

The only dining option near Ocean Plaza is Fat Jimmy's and it is outside on the lanai. There is seating on the lanai on both sides of the ship with tables plus the seating inside at Ocean Plaza. I'm interested in Koiman's review since everyone's perception is different, but we passed by and through Ocean Plaza at all times of the day with all sorts of activity going on (trivia, kids talent show, etc) and there were always seats available.

 

In 8 days on the ship the only lines I saw wer the folks waiting to get into the aft lounge before the comedy shows, and folks waiting to get into the dining room before the doors open. Granted, we didn't go to the buffet at peak times except for the last day before getting off in Nassau, but even then the longest line I stood in was at the salad bar and is was less than 10 people.

 

We also had no problem finding loungers at any time except for Serenity. The loungers right by the pool were typically full, but even there we saw open ones. There are so many options for loungers with a lot on Deck 5 and deck 11 that chairs were always available.

Thanks for the other observations (and I think I remembered you reporting them in your review as well, but relevant to the topic here too).

With the differing reports on lines from various Breeze cruisers (not just you and the OP) I'll be sure to report back what I see after I return in March (probably as commentary in the photo review I hope to post), to add another "data point" to the wealth of knowledge here on CC!

And he said a review and pictures will be posted.

 

Trish, I thought it would never happen to me, but it did. Sometimes it "just doesn't click".

I have a theory on the 'click' factor:

I used to wonder wow what a lil thing to complain about: But on my recent cruises I found myself getting annoyed with 'lil things.' What I think it is after you have some cruises under your belt and have built up a frame of reference if something doesn't meet past expectations this can put you off.

I don't get how you could not like the breeze just off last week and thought it was awesome.

Why? I assume every sailing on every ship there is someone that really really loved it,and someone who really realy hated it, and everything in between.

And up to the luck of the draw if they post.

OP sorry you didn't have a good cruise. We loved the Breeze on our 10 days total and wouldn't hesitate to book it again.

Was it perfect? No. But we enjoyed the ship, staff, entertainment, food, and ports of call.

Everyone has different expectations of what makes a cruise good.

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We will be taking our first Carnival cruise in 2 weeks on the Breeze . I have checked out reviews and the fun times and it does seem the entertainment is lacking . We have only cruised RCCL on the Allure last year entertainment was Great so im just guessing that it wont be as good on the Breeze. But think we will still have a great cruise just don't let things bother you and make sure you buy the Cheers package things will be good:D