Eggs And Bacon

Loving the review so far! We sail on the Breeze next May, and I love reading reviews (especially lengthy ones with pictures!) while we wait! 

You may want to try calling to book the reservation. I ended up calling (for a different reason) when trying to book 2 rooms and was told our past guest status/obc offer would also extend to either 1 or 2 additional rooms that I was booking at the same time. And I’m just a red card, so it’s not like I’ve got some special status with Carnival 😁

Just a heads up in case that’s easier than going down to guest services to have them swap cards. 

Most:

St. Kitts - they would not stop asking us to take pictures with the monkeys and then got rude when we said no thanks. One guy at the beach would walk up and down the beach hounding beachgoers to buy his shells (which we had already found out would not be allowed back on the ship - we saw someone arguing that they had bought it and had a receipt to prove it, but was still made to throw it out). We politely said no thanks, then about 3 min later another no thanks, repeat another 2 or 3 times.  The last time, the guy cussed at my husband for not buying it.  

Least:

St. Maarten 

Grenada 

Thanks for the review! We sail next summer on the Breeze with what sounds like the same itinerary. 

I was hoping for less smoke in the casino. We ended up not spending any time in there on the Sunshine for the same reason, but the Dream wasn’t that bad and we enjoyed it for a little each night. Maybe we’ll luck out and be on a cruise where many of the smokers hate the casino 😉 

When we were on the Sunshine (Jan 2017) we didn't have a fridge in either room (oceanview and interior, both on deck 2). Looks like you had a great fridge! 

I haven’t the done the Breeze on a low deck, but we did the Sunshine on deck 2. Low decks are great for port days! 

43 minutes ago, ZoeyVictoria said:

 

There were some waves, but possibly because of the time of year. We had been to Half Moon Cay and Grand Turk the two previous days, so by the third day I wasn’t as interested in the beach as I usually am.  I remember the water was very shallow, in the fifth photo you can see two women out a bit who are only thigh-deep.  I am hoping @browntownten can help you with your question.

 

I think I was not extremely impressed with this tour because I have been taking taxis rather than tours for many cruises and prefer to go off on my own rather than on an organized tour.  Just something a little different for me.

Honestly, this is what I'm worried about.  We prefer to just grab a cab and do things on our own.  On our last cruise, we only booked 1 excursion through Carnival (Puerto Rico because we had never been, we wanted to do the beach, and I got the impression that it needed to be done through the ship for safety reasons - which we have a stop there this cruise as well and we will be doing it on our own this time).  But that 1 excursion through Carnival was horrible.  Literally the entire bus of people were sitting in chairs for the last hour or so waiting on it to come back.  One couple even grabbed a cab and headed back to port earlier.  We thought about it, but the hotel we had been dropped off at warned against it so we just waited. Being stuck with a hungry 4 year old, no food even though it was supposed to be available for purchase, the ocean so dark and full of rocks that my husband cut his foot as he tried to wade out, and the pool frigid made for a miserable trip for us (and apparently everyone else too).  I just don't want a repeat of that, but now with 2 kids!

24 minutes ago, ZoeyVictoria said:

 

Oops, I know I said RCI in my last post, but we were on Carnival Conquest, sorry.  So, yes, it is the same excursion.  I couldn’t understand the name of the beach resort because of the tour guide’s accent, but look at my last photo - I think it says “Brugal LaCarihuela”.

 

I think the enjoyment of that particular beach will depend upon your past experience; if you lived in Naples, Florida for years as I did, or have been to some of the really nice ones (think Half Moon Cay), you will not be as impressed as if you are relatively new to beach resorts.

Thank you! It looks like Casa Rita Beach or Long Beach depending on where they stop. 

We are beach fanatics and love the crystal clear water and white sand the most, but are happy with water. Was the water calm enough to get in? I know you mentioned it being a bit cool, but we will be there in the month of May, so it should be warmer. 

On 12/26/2018 at 3:01 PM, ZoeyVictoria said:

 

We had a great time on the cruise, thanks!  I am not sure what to tell you about this excursion.  The itinerary and ages/interests of your group will make a difference here.  For perspective, we are 66- and 70-year-old Florida retirees who are not sedentary but no longer looking for action-filled adventures on cruises.

I know this is a couple of months old, but thank you for posting your review!

I'm looking at the same excursion through Carnival but there are only 3 reviews (2 great and 1 just ok).  I wonder if multiple cruise lines use the same vendors for excursions.  Also, do you know the name of the beach you went to? 

15 hours ago, Tapi said:

Oh I forgot to mention. The #1 change that I sorely missed was the “bing” noise that the old card scanners would make upon boarding the ship. It used to get me all giddy, knowing that I was officially on the ship! No more 😢

Wait, what?? I haven’t sailed since Jan 2017 and we still “binged” then. It’s ridiculous, but I love that sound - the sound of vacation starting! 

7 hours ago, Fla Senior said:

The current parking structure can't hold capacity for Fantasy.  They use the auditorium across I-10 for overflow.  A larger ship or second ship would require building another parking structure.  I live an hour away, would love to see that happen!

Ah, I didn't know that but that makes sense! I'm about 4.5 hours away and would love to support our economy.  Maybe one day they'll build more infrastructure!  If not, we might try a shorter cruise over a long weekend once our youngest is out of daycare - which, let's be real, 2 months of not paying daycare would pay for that extra vacation of a 4-5 day cruise for all 4 of us 

Thanks for the review! We live within driving distance too but have never sailed out of Mobile before (we always drive or fly to Port Canaveral). At some point we will try a shorter cruise out of there though, so it’s nice to see a blunt review of the Fantasy since it’s older. 

I wonder why they don’t have a second ship there? Is it too small for a second one or a larger class ship? We would *love* to be able to sail out of Mobile, but we also love 7-8 day cruises and Dream class ships which pushes us to port canaveral. 

On 12/8/2018 at 2:34 PM, Jamman54 said:

We stayed in 4J's on the Breeze (7201 & 7202) and they had a couch. Looking at cabin pictures on cruisedeckplans dot com, 6201 & 6202 also have couches.

Edited to add. Looking at the photos from the deck 9 cabins, they do not have couches. Two of the three 4J's on that deck are handicapped rooms.

 

This was our Breeze 4J.....

 

We actually just booked both 7201 and 7202 on the Breeze.  I called because I wasn't sure if they had a couch or not, and was told they did not.  I wonder if they've changed it since then.  A couch would be nice, but not a deal breaker.  I'll report back after our cruise (May 2020  )

I got the same email a week or two ago about the Breeze out of Port Canaveral.  I wonder if they will open up check-in times 30 min earlier than usual (not that it matters for us, we like to aim for 11:30-ish so we can go to the manatee sanctuary park in port). 

Is there a limit to how many gift cards you can use to pay off your remaining balance?

On 2/9/2019 at 12:29 PM, mitsugirly said:

 

 

Cruise Critic doesn't allow messaging between people on here. They want everything out in the open

 

No I moved to Ohio when I was young and been here ever since but my entire family is down there still.

 

I didn't take Nutrition when I was in nursing and just now took it for my Bachelors program. It was a LONG class that lasted 4 months! I'm so glad to have it over with.

Ha, oops! I just saw the "message" button and assumed it worked! 

Nutrition was long and had so much memorization! I have a new found respect for dietitians after that class  

Pretty much echoing what others have said - low decks aren't bad! We had an overview and interior on the Sunshine on deck 2 and it was great. Coming back from excursions was just 2 flights of stairs instead of waiting for the elevator. 

Our next cruise is on the 7th floor, but only because I wanted a balcony but not a cove balcony.  After that, we'll probably switch back to deck 1 or 2 oceanview/interiors again or a cove and an interior.

As far as switching rooms, we had no issue with that on our last cruise.  My mom and son decided to switch rooms with my husband and I (we were across the hall from each other) so we just asked guest services for an extra room key for each room.

22 minutes ago, mitsugirly said:

Aww, well I'm glad you decided to post this time. I really appreciate the comments and glad you enjoy the reviews.

 

Thanks for the congrats. I seriously can't wait until I don't have to ever say that I'm in school anymore. I will only have to deal with my yearly CE's and that's it!

 

I wish you luck in your classes. It's one of the hardest things I have ever done in my life! I have always said that if I had a chance to do it again, knowing what I know now, I'd never do it again. It took so much time away from my family and my life as I knew it. Sakari was very young when I went back to school and it was the longest 4 years of my life. But, it's worth it once you're done. I love nursing and my patients.

 

Oh, btw...I was born in Birmingham. 🙂

I tried to send you a message but it says I can't send message right now   That's where I am - did you go to school here? 

I've already started to feel the effects of schooling - I started summer semester 2018 with developmental psych and then nutrition in the fall and now a refresher course of anatomy before I take physiology (they have separate classes rather than A&P together). I just keep telling myself that it'll be worth it in the end!

I've read so many of your reviews but never actually posted on any of them before!  Thanks for posting such great reviews with so many pictures - reading your reviews makes me feel almost as if I've actually been to these places because of the way you write the story line!

Congrats on almost finishing school! I'm going back now (what am I doing??! I've got a 1 and 6 year old and work full-time) for nursing. I currently work in immunology research but miss working with actual people vs. cells/tissues/drugs. Only 2 more classes for my pre-reqs (I have a BS and MS and still somehow didn't have all of the required classes) and then I can apply to nursing school here in AL. 

Thank you for your review!  We sail in May of 2020 and are super excited to be on the Breeze (we were on the Dream in 2010 and loved it).  Reading other people's reviews helps pass the time until then 🙂

We sailed the Sunshine in 2017 and had a hard time finding seating in the comedy club.  Like others have said, it's too small for that ship. One of the shows we managed to get a seat in was an early show and as we left after it was over, we noticed the line of people waiting for the late/adults only was crazy long.

Aside from that and there not being enough hot tubs/only 1 pool, we liked the rest of the ship. I would sail it again if it had the right itinerary... otherwise, I'll stick to the Dream class ships for now. 

On 2/1/2019 at 8:05 PM, Ponydoc said:

 

Cathi007, I would love to hear how your trip went.  We are headed out in a week on a cruise with our 18 month old and are looking at doing coral world.  Does anyone know if it is worthwhile to set up as an excursion vs just getting a taxi there and back? (The excursion I saw through the shipmates app was $49/adult.  Not sure if there was a charge for children under 3). Thanks for the input.

I'm interested in this as well.  

We'll have a 2.5 and 7.5 year old and are thinking of catching a cab to Coral World and then swimming at Coki Beach afterwards vs doing the Carnival excursion (I like the freedom to head back to the ship whenever we like, especially with little ones).

473 more days until the Breeze!! So far away, but at least it’s booked!

We’ve never sailed with more than 4 of us, but this time there’ll be 9 of us across 4 rooms. I called and linked the rooms together (2 rooms were booked by me and 2 rooms by another family member). That’s supposed to make sure we are seated together at dinner, though I’ll check with the Maitre D once were on board. 

Anyone know if this is on the Sunshine?

Not on the Sunshine as of 1/13/17 (deck 2, ocean view or interior).

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