1st time cruising Breeze review - June 24/Western Caribbean/Galveston

Hi everyone,

This will probably end up being a multi-post thread, and somewhere between a review and a diary. I wrote about half of this on the ship and the other half earlier today. I found the CC boards very helpful in selecting our ship, itinerary, and excursions and hopefully what I post here will help other cruisers, especially other first-timers. I found reviews from other first-time cruisers to be the most helpful.

For our family, this was our first cruise, so keep this in mind as you read. I do have some criticisms along the way but overall we had an outstanding experience aboard the Carnival Breeze and would do it again in a heartbeat. The things we didn't fully enjoy didn't take away from the overall experience.

We're a family of four with two children ages 14 and 12. We live in the Omaha area and wanted a port we could drive to fairly easily, which basically meant Galveston or New Orleans. The more we read about the Breeze and the western Caribbean itinerary, the more we focused our choice on that. Pulled the trigger in mid-March and booked through Expedia. I was all set to get a $300 OBC, but accidentally paid with a Visa and it was a MasterCard promotion. D'oh! Expedia wouldn't undo it for me, and warned that they'd detect a cancel/rebook attempt. So we ended up paying close to sticker price.

More coming shortly.

Also, I have a thread earlier which has scans of the Fun Times and Circle C information.

Day 1 - Embarkation

Arrived in Galveston at noon for 1:30 check-in time. Killed time at a nearby McD’s until 1, was able to unload right away (can unload in right two lanes if they let you and it’s busy). Family waited outside but under cover for me to park, took about 15 minutes from drop-off to park to return.

First check is boarding passes only to go inside. About 200 in line inside but never stopped moving. Waited about 5 minutes for second check of passports and boarding passes. Lots of staff to direct people, never really a question of where to go next. Xrays of carry-ons after passports. Had to wait for a check of our wine bottles, but checker was distracted and I probably could have just walked right on. On board somewhere around 1:45, went right to our rooms. S&S cards were in the mailbox when we arrived and room was fully ready. Dropped our luggage and started exploring. At about 2:10 we found the pasta bar at Cuchina del Capitano and it was nearly empty and still open (until 2:30). Excellent first meal on the ship. I don’t think many people found it or knew about it. Explored some more, then headed to Sapphire for muster drill. After muster went onto deck 5 to watch the Breeze depart Galveston. The gulls know it’s feeding time when the ship leaves – lots of them swooping around to nab bits of food being thrown from the balconies. Second cruise ship departed soon after and slowly passed us during the evening. Lots of cargo ships and tankers in and near the harbor, saw them almost all evening. Returned to cabin to unpack.

We selected Your Time Dining (which is in the Sapphire) but as it turned out we inevitably ate very close to 6pm any time we ate in the MDR. We arrived at 6 and there was no wait. Oscar was our server, very energetic and attentive. Joseph and I had flat-iron steak, was OK but not great. A bit overdone and needed more seasoning. Amy had a pork chop that was pretty good. Out in about an hour, never really had to wait much for anything. Done soon after 7. Checked kids into Circle C, then Shari and I went out to watch the sunset aft. Thought maybe we saw the “green flash” at sunset.

Amy/Joseph joined a group of kids quickly at the ice-breaker and self-organized some things to do. Started off doing the scavenger hunt but got distracted by ice cream and snacks on the Lido deck. They got back to the cabin around 11. Shari and I mainly explored the ship some more and finished setting up the cabin. In bed by midnight.

Day 2 – Sea Day

Awake by 7:30, strong sunlight into portside cabin window. Took our time getting ready, went to Blush for sea day brunch just before 9, no line. Again quick service. Wait staff gives you banana bread, mini cinnamon rolls, etc., to snack on while main dish is prepared. Maybe 10 minutes from order to main dishes. French toast very filling, wife had Froot Loops-coated FT and was too sugary. Frosted Flakes OK. Sausage was too bland, will stick to bacon in future. Out by 9:30, changed into pool clothes.

Beach pool pretty full, almost all chairs in sun occupied with bodies or towels. Headed to Tides Pool, almost all adults, quieter. Got a chair to put our stuff on and hung out in the pool for about a half hour – bright sun and hadn’t sunscreened ourselves, so limited our time. Pool is salt water. Went to rinse off at poolside shower, but not enough water volume to do a proper job. Went back to the room to shower, rinse out suits. Kids disappeared to go off with Circle C friends for lunch and saw them only briefly in the afternoon by chance. Wife came back, changed and we went to Guy’s for a burger and then to Lido for dessert.

Came back to room, got a water bottle to fill with ice tea, a book, and found some shady spots to read. Used deck 11 under the overhang, and outside the deck 5 lanai. Deck 11 has a lot of machinery noise but mainly white noise and can be tuned out. Deck 5 is quieter. By afternoon plenty of shade on the east side of the ship. Read a book until near 5, then joined wife for a glass of wine in the atrium. Changed into ‘cruise elegant’ wear for formal night. Lots of people in suits and sport coats, a few tuxes and floor-length gowns. I was “middle of the road” with a dress shirt/slacks/shoes and no tie. Some polos and nicer jeans evident too. Didn’t see anyone trying to break the dress code. Went to Sapphire shortly after 6, asked for Oscar’s section and got right in. Again quick service. Three of us had prime rib was good but needed more seasoning – no au jus though. Amy had chicken breast and found her new dining room favorite. Nice show from the wait staff around 7 as we were getting dessert – Oscar’s a hoot. Done around 7:15. Heard serving staff telling new arrivals about a 30-minute wait, glad we didn’t have that. Got ourselves a little lost trying to get onto deck 5 because some doors were closed and missed the sunset. Very pretty cloud formations though, got a few nice pix. Changed out of ‘elegant’ wear and headed to 88 Piano Bar for sing-alongs at 9. Really funny piano player, hung out there until 10. Kids were wiped out and back before we were.

Day 3 – Sea Day

Our second sea day was pretty low key. Got to the brunch around 9:30 and got ourselves a window seat. Pancakes and bacon this time. Seas were a little rougher this day than before – sometimes they’d catch you just wrong and make you look like you’d taken up day drinking (not that that’s a bad thing on a cruise). Amy and Shari felt a little off and took some Dramamine to reduce the nausea. The swells were higher and hitting the ship not quite crossways, which I think is tougher to compensate for. Nothing moved that wasn’t supposed to like cups, plates, etc., but I had expected not to notice ship motion at all from what I read. The high-frequency motion was easier to take than the low-frequency rolling, but even so it wasn’t enough that I wanted any meds for it. Kids disappeared after brunch. Shari and I got BBQ at the Pig and Anchor – pretty good sausage and pork butt, fair on the beef. Could use more seasoning, seems to be a common theme. Read on deck 11 most of the afternoon in the shade again. Around 4 noticed the kids hadn’t answered any of our chats all afternoon. Finally caught up with them around 5 and set some new rules regarding check-ins. Chat was having a tendency to either not send on Apple or not provide notifications on Android. We feel they are safe having the run of the ship, as long as they periodically let us know they are still alive. Went to Sapphire about 6:15 and waited just a few minutes, then sat in Oscar’s section again. Another great show at 7, done before 7:30. Went up to see Thor: Ragnarok at the pool, then to the piano bar for sing-alongs again at 9. Different vibe from this night’s crowd, not quite as much fun. Left around 10, came back to the cabin to get ready for Roatan. Kids came back around midnight.

Day 4 – Roatan

Up at 7:30 to go get some breakfast at the Lido. Not all that crowded – I was afraid being a port day it might be a challenge. Even with what I think is a full ship, I’ve been pleasantly surprised at the lack of significant lines. Longest we’ve had to wait for anything really has been maybe 10 minutes. Got our breakfast, came back to the cabin, carried off what seemed like half our original luggage and made our way to the forward gangway soon after 9 (you go to deck 1, then down the stairs to deck 0 – not fully clear by signage).

We had booked a driver with Bodden Tours a few weeks prior to departure. The instructions we got were very clear and had no trouble at all meeting our driver Ronald. The walk “over the hill” is not that far – probably not good with those with a cane or walker, but anyone else capable of walking a quarter mile up and down a moderate hill will be fine. It was a cloudy morning and not too hot, maybe 80 or so.

Soon after we got in the van it poured. And poured. The wind came up too, which is a little unusual for a tropical thunderstorm I think – perhaps 30 mph or more. Ronald mentioned they had been expecting a rain like this for a while and I was starting to think about what we could do if this rain kept up for a long time. Fortunately Ronald knew just what to do and gave us a windshield tour of the West Bay area, showing us some beaches we could go to as well as telling us about the area. Then we headed to Victor’s for some ziplining and a visit his animal sanctuary – it was still raining but we could get inside.

Soon the rain slacked off to sprinkles. Joseph and I got ourselves fitted with a harness and helmet and started the trek up the hillside to the first zipline. After a good safety briefing from our guide who spoke English very clearly, we set off. In all we had ten ziplines, the longest of which was about 300 yards. They were just fast enough to provide some excitement but no so fast you were afraid of crashing at the end. The guides did a great job of bringing us safely to a halt at the end of each run. The rain had stopped but the cloud cover remained and made it a pleasant if damp morning. It took us a bit over an hour to make our way down. One of the crew had taken pictures of us and made them available for $20 via e-mail at the end. We tipped the leader of the guides and then were off to Victor’s sanctuary.

There were several kinds of animals we could either look at or in some cases come into their enclosures. The capuchin monkeys were obviously used to people, jumping from one person to another. One tried to take my bucket hat but the chinstrap foiled him. Another considered how he might crawl into the armhole in my shirt. We also saw several birds, some deer native to Roatan, land crabs, and had a couple of macaws perch on us. The highlight for Amy was the sloths. As they are nocturnal, the owners only put them “on duty” for less than two hours – the rest of the time they are feeding or sleeping. We had just enough time at each place to get pictures and have the experience we wanted. Some I supposed might consider it being rushed but it was the right amount of time for us.

After that it was about 11:30 ship time but only 10:30 Roatan time, so it was a little early for lunch. Our original plan was to go to a restaurant for lunch, but we’d either have to kill time for a while or get something light. We also needed to change into swim gear. Ronald suggested a nearby gas station where we could change in the restrooms and get a quick bite of lunch. We each got beef empanadas and some soda. The banana soda we tried was excellent – reminded us of bubble gum flavoring. We did see armed guards with shotguns patrolling the area. Ronald explained to us that they frequently rotate the police officers on Roatan so they don’t get corrupted. We were reassured by their presence, but it could be a little jarring to some to see officers carrying long guns at low ready. When that was done we were off to West Bay again.

The beach was very quiet. There were only a couple of snorkelers in the water and perhaps twenty people on the beach itself. This was great for us as we like not having crowds around. We got our snorkel gear out and a couple of women offered to braid Shari’s and Amy’s hair, which they accepted. We also had one person wanting to give a massage and a few others selling crafts which we politely declined and they went on their way. With only the Breeze in port that day and few making it to West Bay, it may have been a hard day of making sales.

Finally we got our gear adjusted and got in. Initially we were disappointed in the aquatic life we saw with no coral and only a few fish. Finally we got to a spot near the west part of the bay near some rock outcroppings where there was much more life. We saw a brain coral and lots of fan coral, sea anemones, and a variety of tropical fish, some 6-8” in length. The water there was 6-8 feet deep, but with our snorkeling vests we could stay in the deeper water without much effort. After about 90 minutes we had had enough seawater/sunscreen in our eyes and such that it was time to get out. Ronald took us back to the gas station for another change of clothes.

On the way back we asked for a tour of some other sites, so he took us through Coxen Hole which is the island’s capital. It is not a rich town by any means but Ronald is proud of its history and its people. He also shared with us what his life is like and how much he contributes to his community. For a while he worked for the local city government and made a lot of positive changes to the appearance of the town. He was also a volunteer rescue team member after a major rainstorm last year caused some mudslides which put many residents in danger and in need of evacuation. We saw the neighborhood where he and his extended family live. It is clear Ronald is a very hard working individual and wants to share his island with the many tourists that come to it.

By 3 we were back at the port. I’m sure we might have found other things to look at but we also wanted a little time to shop at the Mahogany Bay stores before we left. We profusely thanked Ronald for his services and will certainly want to meet him again if we ever come back to Roatan. He may be running the island by that time given his work ethic.

We did a little shopping in the port area and were back aboard around 4. We waited about 15 minutes to get back on due to the line for security (or alcohol checking, not sure of the primary purpose). We got ourselves cleaned up, then it was time to jeer the latecomers. Only one person was technically late, by about a minute and a half. Soon after 6 we were underway. Kids took off and Shari and I went to the Lido as we weren’t quite hungry enough for a meal at Sapphire. Ate at the deli, good sandwiches there. Lemonade/ice tea machine kept switching off, a real pain.

Day 5 – Belize

We didn’t have enough interest in the Belize excursions to make it worth all the travel time involved, with a port tender trip and either a bus ride or a water taxi ride to boot. Plus a quiet day on the ship between the other port days had some appeal too. Mostly spent some time reading and wandering around the ship. Mid-afternoon we went to deck 5 and played some charades, commercials trivia, and urban legends true or false. DJ Javon from Jamaica only had a dozen of us to work with since it was a port day, but he made it fun and got more and more to participate as it went on. At one point Javon said “pees-ta” in his description and none of us could figure out what he meant. Turns out “pees-ta” in Jamaica is “pizza” in the US. We all had a good laugh over that.

Amy wanted to eat with her Circle C friends for dinner so she took off for the Lido. The rest of us went to Sapphire and Oscar immediately inquired where Amy was (he was concerned she might not be feeling well). I had lasagna that evening which was excellent. Later Shari and I opened our last bottle of wine and relaxed for the evening while both kids were off with friends.

Later in the evening Shari went to do some laundry. It appears the laundry is 24/7 and not limited by time or port/not-in-port restrictions as some of my earlier reading had led me to believe. Had to wait until around 10:30pm to start but had it done by a bit after 1. It was nice to have a little extra “margin” on our clean clothing inventory.

Day 6 – Cozumel

Ordered room service to be delivered between 8 and 8:30, saving us a trip upstairs. Delivery was a few minutes after 8. Walked off the ship shortly after 9 and made our way to the taxi stands. One of the port security guards asked if we needed help and I said we were looking for our van driver. I was starting to explain further and he said “yellow hat?”? I said yes and was introduced to Leo.

We had booked a van with Tours Plaza and asked for Leo as our driver at the same time we selected our Roatan excursion, based on TripAdvisor and CruiseCritic reviews. Leo gave us a quick rundown of our options and was happy to adjust to the changes we wanted between our original e-mail and what we decided that morning. We wanted to see the port city and east beach, have a tour of a chocolate factory, and do some snorkeling. Leo fit all this into a plan and we were underway at 9:40.

We first went down the main drive to the north to the other port and towards the airport. Along the way we saw a small Catholic church that was being built and a replica of a Mayan temple. Leo gave us a quick history lesson of Cozumel, including some information about Mexico’s contribution to WWII I didn’t know previously (they helped with the liberation of the Philippines). We saw a couple of neighborhoods on the way to the KaoKao chocolate factory.

KaoKao offers a quick lesson on chocolate making as well as a tasting of the varieties of chocolate they offer for $3 per person – very reasonable, this includes a small water bottle. There is a small museum showing the history of chocolate making in Mexico and a shop where you can buy chocolate to take home. The chocolate is a bit expensive ($5 per ~2 oz bar) but high quality, with a discount if you get 10. We got an assortment to take home for family as well as for ourselves.

Next we went across the center of the island to the east side. With the weather and currents there was a lot of seaweed coming ashore, so it was not a great beach to spend time on. The surf was relatively high and not suitable for snorkeling even if the seaweed would not have been present. Still, it was a beautiful view along the way. We stopped at a restaurant called Coconuts to have a look at their view, as it was built on the highest point of the island. We had the restaurant recommended to us by a fellow passenger, but after seeing it I was glad we chose something else. Coconuts definitely has an adult dive bar vibe to it and having a 14 and 12 year old there would not have worked well. It was ok to walk through to go out on the high point for some pictures though.

We also stopped at another location south of there for another view and some souvenir shopping. Shari was able to bargain with the vendors and we picked up a few things there. One of the locals had a well-behaved iguana which he let the kids hold for pictures and tips, which they enjoyed.

Next we looped around the south side of the island and headed to Sky Reef on the west side south of the port. This was a nice bar/restaurant with a place to snorkel. Since we had our own gear, Leo worked it out with the owners that we could snorkel there and use a chair in exchange for eating lunch. The waters were very clear and comfortably cool in the early afternoon heat. Within minutes we had a lot of colorful fish below and around us. You’d almost think the area was stocked with these fish, but obviously they were free to come and go as they pleased. The beach/reef area was very safe for novice snorkelers like us and we were glad Leo recommended this place to us. Not as much variety in the coral, but the fish life made up for it. We snorkeled about an hour and a half and then it was time to get lunch. We chose tacos and enchiladas and I had a Dos Equis Ambar to wash it down. Prices were on par with Mexican restaurants in the US (a little higher than expected) but the quality and service was outstanding. Afterwards, Joseph wanted another coconut to drink, so Leo took us on a quick trip to get one for him.

By 2:30 we were back to the port for our 3:30 departure. We said our goodbyes to Leo and thanked him for a wonderful day and set of recommendations. We had no concerns for our safety here either and Leo was with us whenever we needed him to unlock the van or help us out with the locals.

We cleaned up a bit and headed to Sapphire for dinner. We were seated in Oscar’s area again and I decided to try one of the strip steaks that was from the Fahrenheit 555 restaurant (you can have their entrée in the Sapphire for a $20 charge). The steak was prepared well but the quality of the meat was not that good. In Omaha it is very hard to find a below-average steak so I’m used to a tender cut of meat with little or no gristle. I had to work at cutting this steak in several places. If this is representative of what is usually available at Fahrenheit 555, I’m glad I didn’t spend the $35 per person to eat there.

Day 7 – Sea Day

Another quiet sea day. We did a little packing in the morning of some of the stuff we knew we wouldn’t need again. I attended the “Future Cruises” talk at 10 and the debarkation talk with the cruise director at 10:45. About 10 minutes of useful information jammed into 75. You can brief yourself on both with less hassle. Main thing was “don’t wait on deck 3 for debarkation”.

Went to Cuchina del Capitano for lunch and I had the meat lasagna. I had lasagna at Sapphire earlier in the week which was excellent and thought this would be the same dish. However, instead of ground beef this lasagna had sliced beef. It was tender, but not really suitable for a lasagna. I finished it but was disappointed nonetheless. Next time I’ll stick with the other pasta dishes, which looked excellent.

Did some more reading in various places on the ship, as well as a lap or two of the promenade deck. The music event in the afternoon for the beach pool was really cranked up, which made my usual spot on Deck 11 for reading not that great. I came back to the cabin and read on the balcony for a while instead, picking up our luggage tags along the way. Tags are first come first serve, so if you want an early tag you need to get there when they’re put out at 10. I can just imagine what that scene was like. I got 27 since we were in no hurry – 23 was the earliest available when I picked them up at around 3pm.

At 6 we headed to Sapphire for our last dining room meal and asked for Oscar once again. Unfortunately, a party of 17 had been seated in his area just before us, so he had no room left. We spoke to him as we walked by and said our goodbyes then. Had prime rib and baked Alaska, both were excellent. Shari and I went to the comedy club for the 8pm PG show (which was closer to G – lots of kids as young as 6 in the audience) and it was a good time. We got there right at the start and had to stand, but within about 10 minutes some seats opened up. Afterwards went to the 80’s show in the atrium which was a nice cap for the night. Knowing we had to be up at 7 and a 5-hour drive from Galveston to Dallas (our intermediate stop for the return to Omaha), I opted to turn in around 11:30. Shari stayed up until the kids got back at 1am.

Debarkation – Galveston

Up at 7 to finish packing and got breakfast in the Blush around 7:30. Not much of a crowd up there. Had a nice chat with our waiter Antonio from the Philippines as we finished up. Back to the room at 8:15 and hauled our stuff up to Deck 5. Got a table outside of Red Frog Pub without any trouble and waited for our zone to be called. It was close to 9 before any self-assist or non-priority/early-flight passengers were called to disembark. Zone 27 was included with the “everybody off” announcement at about 10:30. Our baggage was waiting for us when we got to the terminal and we had to wait about 45 minutes to get through customs. Customs asked us whether we had alcohol and if we were bringing back more than $800 per person in souvenirs – no to both. TABC person looking for alcohol tax payment after that. No waiting for the port parking shuttle but a long line to make the left from Harborside Drive eastbound to the terminal entrance. By accident I took myself out of the left-turn line (which was close to 100 vehicles long), drove east of the terminal, went around the block and came back westbound on Harborside. Then it was an easy right with no line at all. Pulled right up to where the rest of the family was waiting and we were loaded up and on the road by noon.

Cabin:

Had cabin 2290 (cove balcony) on the port side, about 10 cabins aft of the forward elevators. Good amidships location, not a lot of motion. We were just aft of what I think is the runabout the senior officers might use should lifeboats need to be deployed. More spacious than I expected. All our luggage fit under the bed without a problem. Was expecting the mattress to be hard based on previous reading but I found it was fine. We have a Sleep Number bed and it felt like one of those set to about 80. Kids did fine with the couch conversion and pullman.

I forgot to get the power strip from the van when we left. Fortunately we had a 3-outlet extension cord and a 5-outlet USB charger. There were 2 120V outlets on the dresser near the middle of the cabin, so we used one for the fan and one for the extension cord. The cord supported our 2 CPAPs and the USB charger at night. So no big issues with lack of outlets with this setup.

No issues with noise and odor. Cabin temperatures were usually comfortable. I’d say it was around 76-78 during the day and dropped into the low 70s by morning. We had a fan and it was nice to have but not totally necessary. Some spray on the balcony now and again if the wind was wrong. I did notice a sewer and exhaust smell near the aft elevators on a consistent basis when we walked back there. At one point we saw a uniformed crew member on day 2 going along the corridor muttering about “somebody left their balcony door open” – it was much more humid than normal then. So don’t bungee your balcony door open!

Internet/WiFi/Chat:

We got the prepaid value plan. Only useful for very rudimentary web surfing and text emails. Simple pages that will load in a couple seconds on “normal” internet will take over a minute on the ship’s internet. We were able to switch one “plan” among our four phones without much trouble. Plan to be disconnected and be pleasantly surprised if you are able to get emails. I tried to send an e-mail with a total of 1.5 Mb of photos and it was still in my outbox after 10 minutes, so I deleted it.

Chat is not 100% reliable, and it is not always clear if a message goes through. You will get a “seen at HH:MM” message if it did go through, but lack of one is not proof it didn’t. I had several messages never make it with no negative indication. Carnival could do a better job of indicating end-to-end sending and reception confirmation. Most areas of the ship had decent connectivity to the hotspots.

Entertainment:

Next cruise we’ll do some more of this. We saw one comedy show (PG set on last sea day), a few things in the atrium, and the hairy chest competition at the main pool. Watched Thor: Ragnarok at the dive in movie. I was going to watch The Last Jedi since I could do it for free, but didn’t make it past the opening battle scene – too craptacular of a movie to waste an evening.

Pools/chairs:

Beach Pool at the center was almost always crowded during the day, along with the chairs. Since I don’t tan, I always was looking for shady spots and had no issues with chairs there. My daughter saw a fight over chairs that security had to break up. Tides Pool at the back was smaller but was also close to capacity much of the time. Didn’t use the Serenity deck.

Bars/drinks:

Between my wife and myself, we had maybe 6 drinks total. Most were $9-10 each. We probably would have had more if they were priced lower. No way we could have made a Cheers package worthwhile.

Overall impressions:

The Carnival staff made the biggest impression on us. Our steward and waiter addressed us by name all the time and took a genuine interest in how we were doing. My wife spoke to several staff members in different areas of the ship and all uniformly enjoyed their jobs and serving the passengers.

I had mixed impressions of the food. The MDR food was typical of what you might see served at a hotel for a banquet event. I would rate about 75% of the dishes good or excellent. The steaks were the biggest letdown, both the flat iron and strip were only fair. Portions were a good size – smaller than you would see in a typical restaurant meal, but I liked the sizing. I was quite satisfied with a couple pieces of bread, an appetizer, main course, and a dessert. Sometimes I’d be hungry again around 10 and well, that’s what the Lido deck is for. Plus, if you did want more in the MDR, there’s no reason you couldn’t get another entrée or appetizer. We never spent much more than an hour in the MDR total – it’s hard for me to believe some people have had to spend two hours getting their dinner in a MDR. We had no service issues whatsoever with MDR service.

The Lido buffet was Golden Corral-ish. I saw a lot of food on the steam tables that looked like it should have been swapped out an hour before. Perhaps if I went at the meal rush things would have been fresher. Desserts were only OK. Lots of them tasted very bland. Cheesecakes were good though, but not available regularly.

I had expected more rowdy kids and drunk adults and saw little evidence of either. We did encounter one woman who was so intoxicated she could not read the signs well enough to know which side of the ship she should head towards to get back to her cabin. By and large the kids were very well behaved and the adults friendly and engaging. It’s vacation, after all, so everyone’s happy.

However, my wife found one little boy of about 7 who got lost from his friends and mother and was hiding behind a plant near the elevators. She took him to Guest Services who then took him to a back room nearby. My wife surreptitiously hung around until his mother arrived because she promised the boy she’d wait until his mother arrived. The mother proceeded to severely chastise the 7-year-old for getting lost and told him he’d have to stay at Camp Ocean overnight so she could go party with her friend. The poor kid is going to have a terrible memory of this cruise.

I was pleasantly surprised at the lack of crowding and waiting. The only crowding I saw was in the pool areas during the afternoon on sea days, and even then it wasn’t all the time. I never saw either MDR totally full, nor the Lido seating areas. The piano bar area was usually at capacity for the sing-alongs, though, and Limelight was full the one time we went. Didn’t do any of the evening events in the Ovation theater.

Looking back, one of the main things we’d do differently is take in more of the shows and comedy events. It was a little overwhelming to have so many choices, and we chose to take it a little easier and soak it all in rather than being go-go-go all the time. Next time we’ll do more stuff. I don’t really regret not doing it this time around, but do want to experience more of it on our next cruise.

Thanks for the review.

Great review! Thanks for taking the time to share it. We were on the Breeze several years ago and loved the ship. Now that she's in Galveston, not too far from where we live, I hope we will get to sail on her again someday soon.

Great review! Thanks for taking the time to share it. We were on the Breeze several years ago and loved the ship. Now that she's in Galveston, not too far from where we live, I hope we will get to sail on her again someday soon.

If you want the Breeze from Galveston, you will need to go soon - she changes ports in late September. I think the Vista is taking her place then.

Excellent review. Very informative and I enjoy reading “first timer” reviews:) My first cruise I didn’t do ANY shows or comedy, so I didn’t realize what I had missed until my second cruise.

On our upcoming Breeze Cruise we are in cabin 2284 so right near where you were at. No weird smells in that area?

Excellent review. Very informative and I enjoy reading “first timer” reviews:) My first cruise I didn’t do ANY shows or comedy, so I didn’t realize what I had missed until my second cruise.

 

On our upcoming Breeze Cruise we are in cabin 2284 so right near where you were at. No weird smells in that area?

Nope, no smells and very little noise. I think the main noise was the balcony divider rattling - I probably could have wedged something in there to make that stop. We were close enough to the forward elevators to be convenient, but far enough away to not have a lot of noise. Also it was a short commute to the Sapphire - up one flight of stairs and around the atrium.

I really enjoyed your thorough and informative review. Thanks for taking the time to post it.

Happy sailing.

Thanks for the review! So much information in there for a fellow first timer!

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Thanks for taking the time to write a review! Great information.

Thanks for the great review. I share your feelings regarding the steaks. It's hard to eat steak in a restaurant when you know you could have cooked a better steak at home.

Thanks for the review. We'll be on the Breeze in December after it moves to Port Canaveral.

enjoyed your review.thanks.

I enjoyed your review very much. But the bit about Mexico helping us in the Philippines was not correct.

Thank you for the review! We are sailing her in December from Port Canaveral. Can’t wait!

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Thanks for the review. We sailed the breeze in 2016 and will sail her again one last time from our home port of Galveston in a few weeks. I love the ship and you brought back a lot of memories from our last cruise. We have the same ports you had but we had different ports last time, Cozumel, Montego Bay and grand cayman.

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Thank you for the review! We are looking forward to sailing her in October.

Thanks for your review. Really enjoyed it since we will be sailing on her out of Port Canaveral on a 14 day Journey cruise. We will be in Cove 2260. We really enjoy the Cove balconies. :)

Thanks for your review. Really enjoyed it since we will be sailing on her out of Port Canaveral on a 14 day Journey cruise. We will be in Cove 2260. We really enjoy the Cove balconies. :)

Will you be on the November 3rd cruise? If so we will be on there as well. :D

Yes -- Nov 3. Sailing with 3 other couples. Maybe we'll run into each other. Enjoy -- :):)