Just off the BREEZE: PHOTO REVIEW and any Questions?!

So yesterday my wife and I disembarked from the Carnival Breeze after a wonderful six-day cruise (3/10-3/16), and I figured I’d post a photo review here. Rather than do everything chronologically, I think I’ll go by category and post a picture or two from each category.

If you have any questions or comments about specific things, please let me know!

Anticipating the first two questions: YES and NO.

• YES, we DID skip Grand Turk, and instead were given extra time in Ocho Rios, Jamaica (and of course, the refund of port fees to our Sail & Sign Accounts). This was announced on-board the night before we were due to arrive, by both PA announcement from the Captain and Cruise Director as well as letter delivered to our stateroom.
  
• NO, there were not any electrical/power/propulsion problems on the cruise.
  

Coming up next: Pre-Cruise!

PRE-CRUISE

We arrived in Miami on Saturday March 9, the day before embarkation. Upon arrival in Miami, we checked into the Beach Paradise hotel on South Beach, which I had booked with a Hotels.com WelcomeRewards free night I had accumulated, and then headed down to South Pointe Park to watch Saturday’s ships leave. We missed the Norwegian Epic and Celebrity Reflection passing through Government Cut, but did manage to see Carnival Liberty, Victory and Celebrity Constellation head out, with the other ships already in the Atlantic.

After watching the ships leave, we got dinner at an Italian restaurant with outdoor seating on Ocean Drive, and my wife went to bed while I walked along the park at South Beach. The food was good, but one thing to be mindful of on South Beach: a lot of restaurants will show you inexpensive entrée prices on their menus, but then charge much, much more than most other restaurants would for drinks, or side dishes. Our dinner entrees were $15 or so, but a small side dish of spinach was $7. At breakfast the next morning (at another restaurant), the food items (eggs, bacon, home fries) were under $6, but coffee and orange juice added up to $7 per person. We knew South Beach restaurants were not inexpensive, but that’s how they manipulate their prices.

After dinner, DW went to bed while I walked around South Beach, picking up last-minute cruise items at the Walgreens on 5th Street (all the fluids we’re allowed on board but not allowed to fly with our two bottles of wine, 12-pack of water, 8-pack of soda and >3.5 ounce bottles of sunscreen). After months of cold weather in the Washington, DC area it was nice to feel a warm breeze even after dark!

Embarkation morning we woke up bright and early despite the overnight time change, headed across the street to the beach, and watched the sun come up.

And in doing so, watched this interesting contraption empty the garbage cans along Miami Beach:

After a nice leisurely breakfast and walk around South Beach, we figured it was time to head over to the ship!

Next up: EMBARKATION

Great start! Can't wait for pics!:D

Considering the Breeze for a June cruise, so looking forward to the pics....

Bring it on!!

good start. I will be on the Breeze in August. Looking forward to the rest of your review.

We (wife, daughter (15) and myself) are booked on the Breeze for the same itinerary June 2...we can't wait!!!

Looking forward to reading your review!

EMBARKATION

We left the Beach Paradise Hotel in South Beach in a taxi shortly before 12 Noon, and saw our ship from the taxi on the way over.

Once at the cruise terminal, embarkation was smooth, tied with a Royal Caribbean Navigator of the Seas cruise a friend and I went on in 2010 as the shortest embarkation time ever: 25 minutes from when we exited the taxi until we entered the ship. This was all despite security, in attempts to keep the line moving, constantly pushing us further and further away from the checkpoint before we could put our two wine bottles and packaged sodas back into our bags.

Once past security, things got a lot smoother. We were not given a zone number, but instead were simply told to join one of two long lines which moved amazingly fast to get our Sail & Sign cards, then it was off to the pre-embarkation photo and onto the ship we went.

By 1:00 PM we were on Lido Deck enjoying Guy’s Burgers.

Next up: CABIN

Super excited to read the rest :) Thanks for posting

CABIN

We had cabin 2473 which is on the aft starboard side of Deck 2. We originally had booked an interior cabin, but received a call from the Upgrade Fairy on January 23 to upgrade to an Ocean View for just $60, which of course we snagged!

What I did NOT know about our cabin was that, well, it was going to be a bit larger than any other cabin we’ve had on Carnival, and that in addition to the bathroom, it would have a second room with bathtub/shower and sink. This made getting ready for the day much easier.

Our cabin, looking towards my DW:

Our cabin, looking the other way towards the (closed to not glare out photo) window:

Our Regular Restroom:

Our Bonus Bathroom:

The one thing to be aware of with our cabin was: while we had a full view outside the window that was not obscured, the area around our window was surrounded by some of the machinery used to clean parts of the exterior of the ship.

I should point out that the attendant (and I feel bad about having forgotten her name) was AMAZING. She kept the place clean the whole trip. We did encounter one issue (on one of the mornings, when flushing our toilet, water would enter the toilet but the vacuum system would not activate to), she promptly called it in and got it fixed within an hour.

Next Up: FOOD

Love it thank you for the review. Planning on a Breeze cruise in 2014

Kim

Hey great review so far thank you! My wife and I sail on Breeze next month and I do have a question. How bad was the volume on the seaside theatre, especially in the mornings? My last cruise was on Freedom and that damn thing was so loud inthe morning I couldn't even think straight! Was it bad on Breeze too?

Hey great review so far thank you! My wife and I sail on Breeze next month and I do have a question. How bad was the volume on the seaside theatre, especially in the mornings? My last cruise was on Freedom and that damn thing was so loud inthe morning I couldn't even think straight! Was it bad on Breeze too?

Thanks, glad you're enjoying it!

I didn't really notice it being used all that much in the mornings, but I didn't spend that much time on Lido in the mornings; most of my time outside in the mornings were spent by the Tides pool aft.

I should also mention the layout of the Breeze created a wide diversity of open deck areas, so if you are looking for a deck chair or table, there are lots of places away from the lido even if there's lots of noise. The Lanai on Deck 5 has lots of deck chairs and tables and were usually much less crowded than the main Lido.

Thanks for the review. I can't wait to hear more about the ship we leave in less then 2 weeks. How was it by the pool on sea day's? Hard to get a lounger or were the HOGS in full force?

Hey great review so far thank you! My wife and I sail on Breeze next month and I do have a question. How bad was the volume on the seaside theatre, especially in the mornings? My last cruise was on Freedom and that damn thing was so loud inthe morning I couldn't even think straight! Was it bad on Breeze too?

It is LOUD!! We just got off the same cruise (yesterday) and I found it very loud. We tried to spend most of our time as week at the Tides Pool however having a 10 year old we have to divide our time with Waterworks. My other suggestion is, if you want a lounger anywhere on Sea Days be there by no later than 9:30. We ended up sitting on our balcony our first full sea day because we tried to get one too late (11:30). There was not a lounger to be found and they were enforcing the chair policy. We spoke with a deck attendant directly who was trying to find other guests seating as well.

Sent from my tablet using Tapatalk HD.

It is LOUD!! We just got off the same cruise (yesterday) and I found it very loud. We tried to spend most of our time as week at the Tides Pool however having a 10 year old we have to divide our time with Waterworks. My other suggestion is, if you want a lounger anywhere on Sea Days be there by no later than 9:30. We ended up sitting on our balcony our first full sea day because we tried to get one too late (11:30). There was not a lounger to be found and they were enforcing the chair policy. We spoke with a deck attendant directly who was trying to find other guests seating as well.

 

Sent from my tablet using Tapatalk HD.

9:30 it is thank you for the advice.

Great start.

It is LOUD!! We just got off the same cruise (yesterday) and I found it very loud. We tried to spend most of our time as week at the Tides Pool however having a 10 year old we have to divide our time with Waterworks. My other suggestion is, if you want a lounger anywhere on Sea Days be there by no later than 9:30. We ended up sitting on our balcony our first full sea day because we tried to get one too late (11:30). There was not a lounger to be found and they were enforcing the chair policy. We spoke with a deck attendant directly who was trying to find other guests seating as well.

 

Sent from my tablet using Tapatalk HD.

Was this just on the Lido deck by the pool (no loungers), or all over. I thought there were additional loungers on other areas of the ship including a bunch on deck 5.

Enjoying your review we sail on the Breeze in just 5 short weeks. Looking forward to more photos.

FOOD

Overall the food was pretty good. Some food was just okay while other food was great. Specifically, DW and I liked what we were served in the main dining room. The entrees were good and there were many great dessert options.

We enjoyed Guy’s Burgers and felt the selection and quality of toppings were good, but that the burgers weren’t quite up to all the hype we’ve heard about them. We really liked the pizza options, although the lines for pizza sometimes got long (at certain predictable times of day, like when the club closes around 4 AM, I actually think pre-making a couple pizzas would make more people happier than making each pizza to order). My wife tried and liked the Mongolian Wok too.

For the Punchliner Comedy Brunch, we really liked the food, but didn’t think the 10 minutes during brunch format works very well on the comedy end. The comedians on our ship, Thomas Brown and Joel Lindley were great at their shows in the evening, but I don’t really know if most comedians can really master the format that has been created for the comedy brunch. Anyway the food was good and here’s a photo of my wife’s lox and cream cheese bagel and part of my cheddar grits (the coffee on board was good too):

Also, we found what we think is a true little gem in Carnival’s dining: the pasta bar at Cucina del Capitano during lunch hours. Unlike dinner, the lunchtime pasta bar is free. It was fast, too – probably no different time wise than standing in a line for a Guy’s Burger or the buffet lines during peak hours, but you’re being served with menu service sitting down. Not crowded when we went the first sea day. It’s directly above the Lido Marketplace, if that’s where you are at lunchtime. The portions are filling (the lasagna is HUGE, probably best for two people rather than one; the pastas are filling for one). Here’s what our lunch looked like:

Next Up: The categories which undoubtedly have to be the two most anticipated topics :p : LINES, AND CHAIR HOGS!

Loving your review so far! Really want to book the Breeze.

Looking forward to more, we sail next month on the breeze! Thanks for your time in doing this. :)

Thank you everyone for your Thank Yous! Glad you're enjoying the review so far!

Hi everyone,

We were on this cruise as well!

My wife and I had a great time!

Loved Guy's Burgers!!

Fat Jimmy's was good too ( only open on sea days) but we got a bonus sea day on this trip!

Food in the MDR ranged from so-so to great!

The shows were ok and The comedian we saw was ok as well

It was nice to meet you Adam and your wife.

Kash

Hi everyone,

We were on this cruise as well!

My wife and I had a great time!

 

Loved Guy's Burgers!!

Fat Jimmy's was good too ( only open on sea days) but we got a bonus sea day on this trip!

 

Food in the MDR ranged from so-so to great!

The shows were ok and The comedian we saw was ok as well

 

It was nice to meet you Adam and your wife.

 

Kash

Thanks Kash was great meeting you too!