Jump to content

Breeze review 3/30-Southern Caribbean


S0ccerm0m3

Recommended Posts

Part 1:

Before I start, just a little background. We are a family of 5 with 3 boys (8,12,14). We cruise with my FIL who needs to use a scooter/wheelchair to manage the large cruise ships. This was our 6th cruise, but our kids' 4th. We pick our cruise by date, itinerary and ship features. We are not "loyal" to one cruise line. This was our 2nd Carnival cruise (Victory back in 2008), and our last cruise was Royal's Freedom of the Seas (spring break 2012). We have also done norwegian and celebrity. We almost always cruise during spring break, so we are use to crowds and kids. We like to keep busy doing the activites that are sports related and family oriented. We like when we can do activities as a family, and dont have to rely on the camp to occupy the kids (although a good kids club is crucial). I was trying to decide how to do the review, and decided to start from the beginning, but also group things together. We will just see how things go once I get started. I will also need to compare things to other ships, since that is what is already in our heads when we are sailing. I don't know how much I will do at a time, so ill just have to go with the flow. Please feel free to ask me questions and I will do my best to answer them. I know I will forget things in this review. Also, please understand that everyone has different opinions, these were just ours.

 

Why we picked the Breeze:

We knew we needed to cruise during spring break, so that was a given. Last year we did the eastern Caribbean so we wanted something different (even though we LOVED St Thomas and St Martin). That ruled out the Norwegian Epic, which really looked like a blast. Once I saw the Breeze and all of the fun outdoor areas, the hasbro show and the thrill theater, I was sold. We booked in November which was early for us. We also decided to do the FTTF. I read all of the reviews before we cruised, and have to admit I was getting concerned, but didn't want to focus on the negatives.

 

Overall thoughts:

We had a really good time and enjoyed the ship. It was a great vacation. As good as it was, it wasn't perfect, and i wouldn't expect it to be. I will give you the good and the bad. I think out of all of the Carnival ships, the Breeze was best suited for us. The kids loved the sports square and spent a ton of time there. We also spent time with them there. They also enjoyed the water works area. More about those later. We also spent a lot of time at the Red Frog Pub together as a family. Again, it was hard not to compare to our other cruises. Especially Freedom of the Seas since it was our last cruise. Price wise, we spent the same amount of money for both cruises.

 

Before cruise:

We flew in the morning before so we would not be rushed. We had the entire day/night to hang out before we boarded the ship. I'm glad we got there early since the president was in town that day (Friday the 29th). My FIL was delayed coming in at 4pm, but our 9:30am arrival turned into 9am. We booked the Hampton Inn and Suites blue lagoon by the airport through Hilton Honors. Not bad, but the shuttle service was an issue. Probably wouldn't use it again. Also, not many places to walk to around the hotel. I did manage to find my way to the Starbucks across the street:)

 

Cruise day:

We opted to use a taxi to get to the airport instead of the shuttle for $10/person. We had 6 so we got a taxi van. We also got the email that told us to arrive between 1-3. Ignored that piece of info! Our plan was to get to the port around 10:30. Our van arrived faster than expected, and we got to the port around 10:15. I think it was around $35 for all 6 of us to take the cab. There was a little confusion on the drop off point, so that took some time. Our driver said that they were giving him different info than in previous weeks. He was told to drop us off across the parking lot near where they load the luggage, which unfortunately led to a bit of a walk for my FIL. Once at the terminal, we had no lines for any of the check in areas and we were waiting in the terminal chairs with our priority zone card within 10 minutes. They didn't start boarding until just after 11:00 (I think) and we were one of the first on the ship. I forgot to mention that my FIL ordered a scooter from Special Needs at Sea. It was waiting in the cabin, so he needed a wheelchair to get through the terminal and up to the cabin. Once on the ship, we went right up to deck 11 to our cabin. The door was closed, but we were "invited" to open it and go through with our FTTF pass. We were in our cabin by 11:20. We had two connecting balcony cabins 11258 and 11260 on deck 11. They were not spa cabins. My FIL smokes so the spa cabins were not an option.

 

Hope this is ok so far. It's a pain to try to type on this ipad. Excuse any typos.

Well, I need to take a break. I'll try to add more tomorrow.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We are doing this same itinerary on the Breeze in June and our kids are 8, 11, and 14, so I'm really looking forward to reading the review! Thanks for taking the time to do this.

 

My 12 yr old plans on writing a review also. He was frustrated that there wasn't much from a kid's point of view. It will be under my name, but he will write it. I will post under this thread when he does it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Helpful points from embarkment:

-FTTF was totally worth it

-I talked to someone who brought on a case of water. They opened the case (not the bottles) and checked each and every bottle for alcohol.

-If you put a tie on the outside of your suitcase to make it easier to find, avoid a pink tie. They were everywhere. Get the cool duck tape and mark your luggage with that.

-Don't assume the workers know everything. The woman who directed us to the priority line at check in gave us zone 7 even though she saw our FTTF. When we checked in, the woman behind the desk happened to notice our zone and said we had the wrong one and gave us the one that said priority.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My 12 yr old plans on writing a review also. He was frustrated that there wasn't much from a kid's point of view. It will be under my name, but he will write it. I will post under this thread when he does it.

 

 

Can't wait to read your review as well as your sons. I think it's a great idea that he wants to do that. :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Part 2: our cabins

We really liked our cabins. We had connecting cabins with 3 people in each one. We bring a lot of luggage and we had no trouble finding room to store it away. The closets were huge and we had a ton of shelves and hanging room. We used the area behind the TV to stow away some electronics. Each night stand had storage and there are 2 drawers under the sofa. The bathroom wasn't huge, but worked fine.

 

Connecting balconies:

We were told that you could not open the balconies if you had connecting cabin doors. Wrong! We noticed that our balcony could open so we asked our awesome cabin steward and she had it open immediately. I will post pics later when I'm on my computer. We were also surprised to see the one balcony chair was adjustable and reclined a bit.

 

Deck 11:

Loved this deck. It only extends from the front of the ship to the pool area so not a ton of cabins. We never heard any noise from the hallway. We were right by the atrium elevators. We did occasionally hear the ding of the elevator at night when everything was off in the cabin. There were no inside cabins across the hall, so even less noise. We did have the "secret deck" down the hall. We also liked having the spa/serenity elevator down the hall in the front of the ship. This was rarely used and a great way to get up to the upper decks. Loved how close we were to the lido deck and buffet. It was a quick walk to the pool area and down stairs to grab a drink or some food. Loved that!

 

*important note we learned if you are in a scooter or wheelchair. On deck 11 there are a few steps to get outside to the upper pool deck. My FIL could not enjoy the space on deck 11 on the outside deck. He also could not get to camp carnival across deck 11. He had to go down the elevator, across the pool deck and back up the midship elevators to get up to the camp or to sit outside on deck 11. This was really frustrating and confusing. We had trouble also getting the scooter up to water works. He often gave up the maze and we had to go off without him.

 

Helpful cabin items:

-extension cord or multi outlet

There is only 1 outlet at the desk and my blow dryer and iron would not plug into the bathroom outlet so everything had to be plugged into 1 spot. We brought a charger that had 4 USB ports and that was used on a daily basis.

-over the door shoe organizer

Bought one for $5 at Walmart and put it n bathroom door. I used this to store sunscreen, cords, cameras, room cards, and a ton more. It really opened up desk space.

 

Let me know if there are any questions. I'll hopefully get the cabin pics up tonight and will do more tomorrow. Also, my son is very excited to start his review.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just wondering what was wrong with the Hampton Inn airport shuttle? We're staying there next Sat nite before our Breeze cruise. Should we just take a taxi? :confused:

 

The shuttle runs on the top and bottom of the hour. When my FIL (who is mobility impaired) got to the airport, he called and they told him that they would let the shuttle know he was there. I guess they had already passed his pickup point, so he had to wait 30 min for the shuttle to come back. After he had waited 15 min, I checked with the front desk and saw the shuttle sitting out front. I was told that it wasn't scheduled to leave for another couple of minutes, so he would just have to wait. They also give complimentary shuttle service to a local restaurant down the road. We had to call 3 times and wait 50 minutes for the shuttle to come back and get us even though it had passed our location 2x without getting us.

 

As far as the port, with 6 people, it was cheaper to get a taxi. The front desk called for us and it came really fast. I would compare how much it would cost for your family to use the shuttle vs the cost of the taxi. I also liked going on my own schedule, not theirs.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm interested in doing this cruise for next Spring Break and am looking at balconies on Deck 11 as well. However, how was your view? I've read that you look right over the Promenade. Is Deck 11 high enough that it's not that big of an issue? Thanks!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm interested in doing this cruise for next Spring Break and am looking at balconies on Deck 11 as well. However, how was your view? I've read that you look right over the Promenade. Is Deck 11 high enough that it's not that big of an issue? Thanks!

 

There was absolulely no problems with the view. We were over the chess board area, but I only noticed it if I looked over the balcony. My choice would not to be on a balcony on deck 6. That's just my opinion when I looked up from the promenade. That was definately too close for what we like. We were so high that I didn't even think about it during our cruise. No issues with sound, water view or even watching the pier runners :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Part 3:

It was really nice getting on so early. We felt like we had an entire day. On other cruises we felt like we sat in the restaurants with the mass of people holding our luggage waiting for any signal that our cabin was open. Not only were we in our cabin by 11:20, but our luggage was on the 1st group appearing on our deck. I think I noticed it about 12:30 when I stopped back in the cabin for something.

 

Lunch on embarkment day:

This is a great day to try some of the food that is a little more popular. We did the Mongolian Grill. We read about going to to the italian restaurant on day 1 because you can avoid the crowd, but we didn't find a crowd trying to eat. We went to Cuciana on the 2nd day and had no wait for lunch. More on the food later.

 

*BTW-Most stations have 2 sides/lines. We found that almost all week people would line up on 1 side leaving the other almost empty. People tend to follow the crowd.

 

*Here is something important I learned the 1st day about excursions. There were 2 excursions that sold out prior to our cruise. I read that sometimes spots open up the 1st day. I took the chance and waited. I was anxious to get to the excursion desk as soon as we boarded to find out about these excursions, but it didn't open till 12:30 (I think). By the time I ventured back down, it was packed due to the change of port we had. Grand Turk was canceled, so we were doing Nassau instead. The line was huge. I ended up going back to my cabin and was able to get on the excursion list on the TV (which was not available till the desk opened up). I was able to book 1 cruise which had been sold out on the TV, but had to book the other one at the excursion desk due to age restrictions. I waited until about 3 when the line was shorter. SCORE! Got that excursion also.

 

Back to the 1st day:

We spent the day learning the ship. SOOOO much to see. We were already tired by dinner. As far as dinner, we did the early assigned seating at 6pm. Due to our cabin location, we were Sapphire for our meals. We were seated at our own table for 6 on the second level, looking over the railing. Great for people watching :)

We like the assigned seating because we like to get to know our servers. We did luck out on location and servers. We did peak in on the blush dining room and it was beautiful and much bigger, but we were happy with Sapphire. Again, more on dining later. I took advantage of this being the 1st day to go casual for dinner and wear what we had on board through the day. Most people did. It was also less dirty clothes having 5 people to wash for post-cruise.

 

Here is some FTTF info we received in our cabin. I won't be able to tell how legible it is until after I post. Sorry if you can't read it:

ry%3D400

 

Another 1st day paper of info. Again, hope it can be read:

ry%3D400

This is what greets you on the closed deck door when you go to your cabin:

ry%3D400

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just wondering what was wrong with the Hampton Inn airport shuttle? We're staying there next Sat nite before our Breeze cruise. Should we just take a taxi? :confused:

We also stayed there the same night as the original poster. We didn't have any issues with the airport shuttle. I had called the hotel the night before and they told me to call when we got there. I think we had to wait maybe 5 minutes. It was 9 pm though too

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The shuttle runs on the top and bottom of the hour. When my FIL (who is mobility impaired) got to the airport, he called and they told him that they would let the shuttle know he was there. I guess they had already passed his pickup point, so he had to wait 30 min for the shuttle to come back. After he had waited 15 min, I checked with the front desk and saw the shuttle sitting out front. I was told that it wasn't scheduled to leave for another couple of minutes, so he would just have to wait. They also give complimentary shuttle service to a local restaurant down the road. We had to call 3 times and wait 50 minutes for the shuttle to come back and get us even though it had passed our location 2x without getting us.

 

As far as the port, with 6 people, it was cheaper to get a taxi. The front desk called for us and it came really fast. I would compare how much it would cost for your family to use the shuttle vs the cost of the taxi. I also liked going on my own schedule, not theirs.

 

Thanks for the great info! It's just DH and me this time. We will definitely take a taxi :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We also stayed there the same night as the original poster. We didn't have any issues with the airport shuttle. I had called the hotel the night before and they told me to call when we got there. I think we had to wait maybe 5 minutes. It was 9 pm though too

 

Oh maybe I should try them for the airport shuttle...we get in at 8:30 pm. We will definitely be taking a taxi to the port. I like to get there early :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh maybe I should try them for the airport shuttle...we get in at 8:30 pm. We will definitely be taking a taxi to the port. I like to get there early :D

 

 

The airport shuttle wasn't as much of a problem for us. We called when we got there at 9:25am and waited about 15 minutes. They get to the airport around 10 and 40 past the hour. I was just frustrated that they told my FIL they were on their way when he called from the airport later that afternoon, but that wasn't true. They are on a set schedule and they pick you up on the rotation. It was hard for him since he had someone from MIA helping him with a wheelchair and there was no place to sit if they had to leave him to wait on his own. I was also a little bothered to see the shuttle sitting at the hotel knowing that they told him that it was on it's way 15 min prior. I would wait for the shuttle at the airport if it is just the 2 of you, but you also have the option of a taxi if they don't show up.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...