GRAMMYTAN

We are currently booked on the CCL Legend for June 15. When we booked we were seeing posts by John Heald that he would be the CD for this cruise. Lately I have seen posts that he may not or probably won't be on the earlier sailings, but will be joining the ship later in the season. He says he will be posting a new CD schedule soon. We sailed with him on our first Med cruise in 2007, then we had Todd on the 2009 Med cruise. We booked the 2012 Med cruise with the understanding (directly from John Heald) that he would be on our sailing along with Ken Byrnes in the MDR. It turned out that he left the ship just as we were boarding in 2012 and Ken Byrnes went on vacation for a couple of months. It didn't "ruin" our cruise of course but we were really looking forward to being back on board with both of them.

What is the email address for the Tracy Arm tickets, please?

We were on the same cruise and although the Elation (in our opinion) is the nicest of the Fantasy Class it is really in need of upgrades and is showing wear and tear.

We did have an ice bucket filled with ice in our cabin. Our cabin steward, Wade, was good but we didn't see him much unless we called for something.

We didn't attend WIN as we have seen it before and did not like it. The other show was good though. We saw both comedians and they were just ok, not as good as others we have seen on Carnival, but we loved Orlando!

Loved the Brunch menu, but found the choices in the MDR and Lido lacking this time. We did your time dining and usually asked for a table for 2. Twice we were seated at a 4 top (to get a window table) with another couple, and the other times we were at one of the 2 tops that CCL calls a table for two, but which are actually only a few inches apart, so there is no privacy. We felt as if we were at a table of 6 to 8 depending on where we were seated on the bench seat.

Unless you went to the show in the Mikado Lounge or one of the comedy club choices, there really isn't much to do at night other than going to the casino.

No problems getting on or off the ship. We are Platinum with 25 plus cruises so we basically went for R&R and that's exactly what we did this time. The little short cruises like this are good for that, but we enjoy the 7+ day cruises on a larger ship for the activities.

You can always find something to do in Freeport (not my fave port), but if the weather is bad, I would rather have the extra day at sea. We had a cancelled day at Freeport a few years back due to rough seas and a huge thunderstorm. The captain had us out of it and sailed all day in the sunshine and we loved the extra time at sea.

We usually bring a couple bottles of nice wine onboard.

 

My question is simple, what about sailing back to back? Can we bring 4 bottles?

 

Two years ago we did this on the miracle, but since it has been a while I'm wondering if anyone has recent experience.

We were not able to do this on our B2B but we bought alcohol on board during the first leg and we were able to retrieve it on the last night of the first leg and use it on the second leg. Just pick up some wine in one of the ports and check it in, then retrieve it at the end of the first leg. Or you can leave the ship between legs and run out to get more wine in the home port.

Carnival ships do have laundry rooms with ironing boards and irons available if you need to press anything. Just don't go at peak times or you will stand in line.

Hoping it is the tote. We got the tumblers and then the baseball caps on our last two in 2013. I much prefer some sort of tote bag.

The menu looks very limited and sounds terrible. I'm glad it won't be on our upcoming January cruise. After 25 or so cruises with CCL, I too think we will be taking our cruise dollars elsewhere. There have been far too many changes (for the worse) over the past few years, while the things that really need to change, such as entertainment, remain stale.

Enjoying your amazing pictures of the Breeze and can't wait for more of your review.

 

Your picture of your cabin makes me wonder how anyone in a wheelchair could move in the room, what were the designers thinking? The bathroom seems big enough but nothing else does.

My thoughts, exactly. Carnival's policy states that wheelchairs and scooters are to be kept in the cabins, too - not in the hallways. :eek::confused:

I do see both parked in the hallways on almost every cruise though. On our last cruise, which was the Breeze from Barcelona our cabin stewardess was actually trying to maneuver one of those electric scooters into a guest's cabin and was having a really hard time with it. My husband took over and got it into the cabin for her, but I don't know how they could move around it once inside. After that, it was always parked in the hallway.;)

I'm enjoying your review and look forward to the installments and great pictures. We sailed the Dream and the Breeze during their Med tours (2007 and 2012) and loved the layout of both ships. I do think that the Breeze is a prettier ship than the Dream with the new colors and designs. We sailed in balcony cabins on deck 9 both times, so I was really amazed at the size of the cabin you were in. We visited friends on the Breeze who had an interior cabin on deck 6 and it was really small (not a spa cabin). The little dish of samples items in the bathroom of our balcony on the Breeze was very limited and nothing like the samples included in your spa cabin. I wonder if they bumped those up because you were on the US inaugural or because you were in a spa cabin. Next time we sail a ship with the thelassotherapy pool, I hope to book a spa cabin. We didn't do that on the Breeze because our sailing was just too port intensive to justify having a spo cabin.

A quick note to those who are new to subscribing to threads, on a thread like this I would check the daily email notification since so many people respond to the review threads. If you are mainly interested in reading the review and not the comments of others (like mine LOL), you will get less emails with a daily notice than an instant notice. Your notice will list contributors to the thread as well and you can scroll down and look for the ones from the O/P so you can jump right to their posts.

One more comment, please. I had to laugh at some of the posts about your camera as it reminded me of the folllowing anecdote.

“A group of artists are invited for dinner by a famous chef.

In greeting the photographer, the chef comments:

I love your photos, they’re wonderful, you must have a very expensive camera.The photographer doesn’t reply and walks into the dining room.

After dinner the photographer approaches the chef and says:

Dinner was sensational, very exquisite flavors, a true work of art,

you must have a very sophisticated stove.” :D

I am wonder how many forget to take out their card when they leave the cabin. Can you put his card on one of things you put around your neck, the string would hand down so he can remember it, maybe. That is what I am going to do, to remember to take the card out.

We were on the Breeze in October and I liked this feature. We always knew right where our cards were and didn't have to waste time looking for them. When we were both in the cabin we put one into the slot and laid the other one across the top, behind the first card. That way both cards were right there together. The neck string sounds like a good idea too.

The only problem was the evening we were almost ready to go to dinner and I had to take a quick potty break. DH went out into the hallway to meet our friends and grabbed his card from the slot. In about 10 seconds I was sitting in the dark. :D

Thanks Baby Bear. I knew that this was case with passports both times we did this it. Since there was some discussion on our roll call about this I was just wondering if something had changed.

We are about to board the Breeze and this will be our third time with this itinerary, but first time out of Barcelona. (Carnival had been sailing this itinerary out of Rome). Ports are: Livorno, Rome, Messina, Naples, Monaco, & Dubrovnik. We have always been able to keep our passports during the cruise and as memory serves the only port we may have been told to take them with us was Dubrovnik. Does anyone from the Breeze tours know if that was true on the 2012 sailings?

Also has anyone on the Breeze sailings noticed if Delta Airlines has dockside check in at the Barcelona cruise termainal. If so has anyone used this check in post cruise?

Alan first, let me say thank you for a beautiful review and wonderful pictures. You have a beautiful family and a wonderful attitude. Having done this itinerary twice and booked to go again next month (sound wonderful finally saying next month), I really loved seeing it all again. There have been a few Breeze reviews on CC already and I have loved reading all of them as they are all seen from different perspectives.

Your picture of the red sky that last evening in Venice is amazing and should be framed. If you do this itinerary again and visit Messina, please go to Taormina. I know you will love it.

Thank you again!

Great review and pictures, thanks for taking time to do this. We sail on our third Med cruise October 13 and I have a question. I have not seen this mentioned on any of the Breeze reviews. Did the ship have a sail away party the day you left Venice? We had a big deck party in 2007 and a nighttime dance party in 2009. The CD's told everyone to wear their masks to the party. Both parties were fantastic.

Oops - had two threads open and posted to the wrong one. :o

I set up the weather page on my tablet for some of our ports: Here's is the last update:

Now Thur 9/6 Tues 9/11

Barcelona 78 82/67 80/66

Dubrovnik 73 81/70 82/70

Florence 75 83/65 91/64

Naples 75 83/70 86/64

Venice 72 83/67 83/66

Rome 70 85/66 87/63

 

And still 36 days to go - gonna be some cool nights.

I set up the weather page on my tablet for some of our ports: Here's is the last update:

Now Thur 9/6 Tues 9/11

Barcelona 78 82/67 80/66

Dubrovnik 73 81/70 82/70

Florence 75 83/65 91/64

Naples 75 83/70 86/64

Venice 72 83/67 83/66

Rome 70 85/66 87/63

And still 36 days to go - gonna be some cool nights.

Alan thanks for the link on the mini-tripod -I have actually looked at these and may pick one up before we leave. Your review is wonderful and yes the Pieta is really something - something amazing.

@brunoh55

 

The Pieta is really something, isn't it? Hope you enjoy your cruise as much as we did.

 

@GRAMMYTAN

 

I took a mini-tripod with me, one of these. Its a useful tool in some situations but for me it was a waste of effort this time, used it only once the whole trip. I learned a lot about my camera from Ken Rockwell. His website has a lot of camera reviews but he also offers great practical advice on photography too.

 

Just realised that I have broken the links to photos in my first couple of posts, hopefully a moderator will help me get them fixed, if not I will re-post the photos.

Thanks Alan. I have resorted at times to using my husband's shoulder as a brace to stabilize my night shots LOL. I had considered taking a small expandable tripod but with the weight restrictions on the flights, you have to watch every "little" item as they really tend to add pounds to the luggage. It also makes for extra weight to lug around all day on 9 hour tours.

Note to others: be sure to know how to disable your flash on your camera before going. I didn't know how to do this the first time we went and it took a bit of trial and error as we got ready to enter.

I am enjoying your review and love the picture of the Pieta. This was one of my favorites on our tour. We were told at the beginning of our tour to turn off the flash on our cameras and my pictures of the Pieta are quite dark due to the area and the glass. Did you use a flash here? I have a new camera now (Nikon Cool Pix P510 with a 42X zoom) and am looking forward to some great pictures on my upcoming Med cruise.

Name: Fat Jimmy’s C-Side BBQ

Location: Promenade Deck 5 – midship

Hours: lunch time on sea days only

Function: Open-air dining barbecue

Array of grilled favorites reminiscent of a backyard barbecue

Complimentary dining venue

For details: Shipboard Knowledge / Dining

Do you remember if this was on the Port side or the Starboard side of the ship? Thanks for the info

Since susie8862 didn't answer, Mary Ellen, a quick Google search shows that she's quoting from the Royal Caribbean FAQ. As you point out, it's not the same wording as the Carnival FAQ.

 

firefly333 has asserted twice that Carnival's rules are being ignored when cruise guests pack a non-electric coffee maker like an Aeropress or a French Press, but doesn't offer us a quote from either the Royal Caribbean FAQ or the Carnival FAQ to support his claim.

 

firefly333 said in one post: "What dont people get.. no household objects and no coffee makers... it doesnt ... but if its not electric the rules dont apply to you." Royal Caribbean mentions coffee makers, but this is a Carnival board. Carnival's FAQ doesn't say "household objects", instead says "Electrical and household appliances (i.e. coffee makers, hot plates, toasters, etc.)" are banned.

 

I'd say a reasonable person would interpret this to mean household appliances which are electrical should be left at home, and to clarify this Carnival lists three obvious electric appliances that are dangerous. Each of the itemized examples have heating elements, and we all know fire aboard ship is not very desirable.

 

firefly333 is, imho, making the unreasonable assumption that any electrical OR household appliance is banned, since he wants the Aeropress and French Press banned. I say this is unreasonable because it's a broad reading of the restrictions and based on the examples given it's easy to infer that the problem is the heating element.

 

I bring my electric razor on board. It has a plug for charging and it's clearly a household appliance. Is it banned? Of course not. Even with a narrow reading of the FAQ, not ALL electrical and household appliances are banned.

 

firefly333 tries to build a case involving exactly what we should or shouldn't flush down the plumbing system. In this case he's engaging in pure speculation without quoting any cruise line's FAQ on this topic. I tried searching Carnival's FAQ section for words like "flush", "drain", "plumbing", or even "Charmin" :) which he mentions specifically. No luck.

 

So if I'm qualified to use my judgement when I avoid flushing my dirty laundry or even a Winnebago down my toilet, I'll also consider myself qualified to judge that an Aeropress or French Press is powerless to sink, set on fire, or otherwise damage a 100,000 ton oceangoing vessel, or to harm or interfere with firefly333's ability to enjoy his cruise.

Well said and as another posted stated, much better than I could say it. As for the grounds, I agree about the ziplock bags and wiping out the press with a kleenex before rinsing. If a few grounds are going to clog up the plumbing system, I would hate to see what all the sand we all track back onto the ship and into the showers does to it, not to mention hair in the drains.:confused:

To O/P I don't think the water from room service is hot enough unless you can order it extra hot as someone else posted. But I think the hot water for tea from the lido deck would be fine. Maybe you could carry a small thermos to run up and get hot water there.

Why so little Breeze cruise reviews?

I am waiting for the reviews as well. I imagine they will be coming soon, but speaking from experience, the itinerary for the Med cruise is very tiring. A lot of people come home with the "Euro-Crud" and it takes some time to get back to normal and have time and energy to put a good review together.

 

 

Do you know how to save a particular post? Thanks for your help.

 

Copy and paste it into a document file.

Had them last week on the Elation - very good - a fav of mine. Don't recall seeing escargot on the menu.