Carnival Breeze 8-Day Eastern Caribbean Review (Dec. 8th, 2012)

[sonicbuffalo]

Once back on the ship we cleaned up and headed to the Red Frog Pub to see if any of our friends had returned from their private excursion to the Baths. We met up with one of them who told us that the Baths was just OK (lots of climbing and crowds) but he also told us that one of our friends had an accident when they returned to the pier and had slipped getting off of the boat and fell hard between the boat and the pier. We gave her some time to rest but finally called her and she was sore, but fine. That was a relief.

 

 

Ron....we were on the same cruise...were you talking about the lady that fell between the Breeze and the pier into the water? We heard she broke her arm. That happened in St. Thomas during a rain squall. We got drenched as we watched security pull her out of the water and put her in a wheelchair. Thanks.

[sonicbuffalo]

but he also told us that one of our friends had an accident when they returned to the pier and had slipped getting off of the boat and fell hard between the boat and the pier. We gave her some time to rest but finally called her and she was sore, but fine. That was a relief.

 

We saw them pull a lady out of the water that had walked off the end of the pier and fell between the Breeze and the pier in St. Thomas during a driving rain storm. Was that the same woman? We heard she had broken her arm.

[Ron_L]

but he also told us that one of our friends had an accident when they returned to the pier and had slipped getting off of the boat and fell hard between the boat and the pier. We gave her some time to rest but finally called her and she was sore, but fine. That was a relief.

 

We saw them pull a lady out of the water that had walked off the end of the pier and fell between the Breeze and the pier in St. Thomas during a driving rain storm. Was that the same woman? We heard she had broken her arm.

 

No. We heard about her and I hope that she is OK. This was in Tortola off of a private excursion that had just returned from the Baths. She was stepping from the boat to the pier and apparently the crew member from the excursion boat thought she was safely on the pier and let go of her hand and she went down. She has a bruised hip and hit her head but is doing well.

[rhcpchika1]

Thanks for the review!

[Ron_L]

Thanks for the review!

 

You're welcome! Thanks for reading :)

[Ron_L]

Nassau

 

We enjoyed a late breakfast on the balcony as we sailed into Nassau. Our original port times were 1pm – 8pm but we had message via the TV during the week that we would be getting in at noon and leaving at 7pm. After breakfast we decided to go ahead and pack our stuff while we were sober. Packing after a few drinks just didn’t sound like fun.

As we approached the port I saw that there were two Carnival ships in port and a Royal ship ahead of us. We slowed to a crawl while the Royal ship docked an then headed in.

 

 

I grabbed a bunch of shots of Atlantis and the lighthouse as we sailed by.

 

 

 

 

We docked next to the Fascination and across the pier from the Imagination, which we had been on the week before. I was able to get a shot of both the Breeze and the Imagination side by side.

 

 

This was our first visit to Nassau but didn’t plan anything because of the late arrival time. We walked around the shops and went through the Straw Market for a while. Every shop was starting to look the same and it seemed that every booth in the Straw market had the same stuff. Some of our roll call was heading to Senor Frog’s so we started to walk that way. We ran into another couple that said that they were just there and the place was shoulder to shoulder so we changed plans and went to Sharkey’s instead. We ordered a bucket of beer and some snacks when another couple from our roll call came in. We sat with them for a while and then headed out for a little more shopping and then back to the ship. Once back in our cabin we saw that it was pouring outside so we made it back just in time.

[Ron_L]

The final night…

 

After changing clothes we headed up on deck to see if there was any pier runners. I think the rain chased most folks back to the ship early since there were only a few folks on the pier. After that we went to the Red Frog Rum Bar and the Blue Iguana to get their souvenir Tervis tumblers.

 

 

Then we headed to the Piano Bar for the pre-dinner show. We got there as Ron was setting up and found out where he keeps his seed money.

 

 

Ron also mentioned that he had a few Rontourage shirts left and one of them was my size so I bought it and went to the restroom to put it on. I was his model for the evening and he sold out of shirts.

 

Then it was off to the dining room for a final dinner with the group and back to the cabin to put our bags out and then back to the Piano bar for a farewell night with Ron.

 

One of our roll call members gave Ron a gift that was a red solo cup in a special Koozie. Of course, he play Red Solo Cup after that and we were all ready with our own red solo cups to toast him.

 

 

 

We left at around midnight and went back to the room.

[JennN]

Great review!

 

I had the same issue with Guy's that you did. And my wife too loved the soup at Punchliner!

 

We were on the cruise before yours on the Breeze. Looks like you had a blast! Thanks for the review!

[Ron_L]

Great review!

 

I had the same issue with Guy's that you did. And my wife too loved the soup at Punchliner!

 

We were on the cruise before yours on the Breeze. Looks like you had a blast! Thanks for the review!

 

Thanks! At least it wasn't just me :)

 

We did have a blast!

[Ron_L]

Debarkation day.

 

What a sad day. Leaving the Breeze was tough, but we were gone for two weeks so we were ready to get home, too. We had a late flight so we had group 33 tags so we had breakfast in the MDR (Egg’s Benedict with the sauce on the side) and then found a comfortable place to sit and watch everyone else get off of the ship. We were off by around 10 and got our bags, rearranged some stuff and headed to the airport. Our flight left a little after 4pm and we were back home by 8:00pm.

 

Final thoughts

 

We had a great cruise on the Breeze and would recommend her to anyone! The décor is refreshing and gives her a very Caribbean feel. The crew was excellent and went out of their way to make our trip pleasant. Yeah, there were some warts, but this is a new ship and a large part of the crew was new when she arrived in Miami a couple of weeks earlier. More importantly, none of those warts affected our cruise significantly. We were there to have fun and didn’t let them bother us. We also sailed with a great group and that made the whole experience that much better.

 

Highlights

 

• The ship itself is beautiful and we really liked the layout. There is a lot to do and we didn’t get to all of it, so we have a reason to go back.
   
  
• The Red Frog Pub was a great place to hang out with good food and beer, live music and a great staff.
   
  
• Bonsai Sushi was also very good! We went twice and I thought it was a great value. Most things are priced between $1 and $6 and the sashimi was very fresh and the fish cuts were large. The rolls are huge and very tasty. My wife, the non-seafood eater, enjoyed the noodle salad and fell in love with the Wagyu beef dish. She ordered two of them on our second visit.
   
  
• As you can probably tell from our review we loved the Piano bar and Ron Pass. Ron is a special entertainer and we had a blast with him. He found out early that my name was Ron and even played a couple of songs that play off or our names. We will consider his schedule when booking our next cruise.
   
  
• We also enjoyed our dinner in the steakhouse and the cooking demonstration the next day.
   
  
• The Chef’s Table was also a great experience.
   
  
• Some crew members also stood out. Linden and Sherwin in the Red Frog Pub are great and Silviya and Alex in the Piano Bar are the best I have found anywhere! Mikhalo, our head waiter was also great!
  

 

Not-so-highlights

 

• The food in general was disappointing. As I mentioned earlier I didn’t expect made-to-order food in the MDR, but the quality was hit or miss, and mostly miss.
   
  
• Guy’s burgers were a big disappointment. They were generally good, but they didn’t blow me way as I expected from other’s comments. The condiment bar was a nice touch but they need to add another one to ease the bottle neck there. Finally, if you are going to have a menu of burger choices, don’t just have a bunch of pre-made cheeseburgers and allow people to order what they want.
   
  
• Our room steward was also a disappointment. We had a great steward on the Imagination so maybe our expectations were too high, but the one on the Breeze was virtually non-existent. We didn’t meet him until the second day, and that was only because we had been requesting a blanket for the bed instead of the duvet. The duvet is too heavy for my wife and I only use a sheet. We also requested that the bed be made up with two sheets and the blanket and this was never done. We made the same request on the Imagination and it was carried out every night.
   
  
• Probably the biggest issue that we encountered on the ship was the elevators. It seems that they should have added one more bank to handle the number of passengers on the ship. We took the stairs when we were going a couple of decks, but with a cabin on deck 2 and most of the activity on 10 or 11 that wasn’t always practical. Waiting for the elevators became a common complaint among the passengers and the crew. It’s too late to add more elevators, but things could be changed with the call buttons and the elevator control system to make things faster. In addition, one elevator in the aft back was out of service for the entire cruise.
  

 

One tip for the elevators. In the fore and aft banks, the call buttons on the port and starboard side are not linked. You have to push the button on both sides. The buttons on the center bank are synced.

 

But, these issues didn’t really affect our enjoyment. Some folks seem to focus on these little things and let them ruin their cruise. We just dealt with it and went on with the fun.

 

Thanks for reading and I hope that you enjoyed the review. If you have any questions please ask!

 

If anyone is interested in the Fun Times I have them all and can scan them. Just let me know.

 

Oh! One other thing…

 

We thought seriously about doing the Cheers! Program, but decided to wait until the second day and see what our consumption on the first day was. We ended up deciding against it primarily because we had three port days that involved alcohol and didn’t feel that we would get our money’s worth on those days. Because we had thought about the program we didn’t bring any alcohol on board and didn’t order from Bon Voyage. It turned out that t the end of the cruise we spent less than $700 on drinks, bottles of wine, etc, and we didn’t hold back. We spent a lot of time in the Red Frog Pub and the Piano Bar throughout the cruise. So, not buying the package turned out to be a good decision for us. Others in our group did buy it and I’ll let them comment on their experience.

[Cupcrazy]

Thanks for the great review and photos. The red mittens were originally sold in Canada for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. They were a big hit selling a ton and have now come out with new ones every year.

 

[kjunea]

Thank you for the review! I would love to see the Fun Times, if you have a chance to scan them. We are going to be on the Breeze in March and it looks like Ron Pass will still be on it then too! woohoo!

[Cruizinman]

Thanks! At least it wasn't just me :)

 

We did have a blast!

No your not the only one, while i thought the burgers had a good taste. I could not and did not get the ringer, I pointed to the sign and tried to explain and the fellow pointed to the condiment stand that was already lined up with people

 

They just wanted to pass out cheese burgers and that was it. Enjoyed your review ! I have some of the same thoughts as you did, especially Serenity.

[Ron_L]

Thank you for the review! I would love to see the Fun Times, if you have a chance to scan them. We are going to be on the Breeze in March and it looks like Ron Pass will still be on it then too! woohoo!

 

No problem... I'll start scanning them in the morning. It will take a day or so to finish between meetings.

 

Ron updated his schedule on his web site and he has been approved to be on the Breeze until May 19th.

[Ron_L]

I just thought of one other thing that was different on the Breeze: the motion of the ship. We had mildly rough seas almost every day and on one day it was quite rough. We felt a constant side-to-side sway and some front-to-back rocking that was the same as I experienced on the Imagination, but in addition to that the Breeze had a higher frequency wobble that was more prevalent at the back to the ship. It didn't seem to change as the seas changed, so maybe it is related to the engines or the stabilizers, but many folks commented on it. It wasn't a bad thing, just different than what I remember from the Valor or the Imagination.

 

Did anyone else who has been on the Breeze notice this?

[Ron_L]

Thanks for the great review and photos. The red mittens were originally sold in Canada for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. They were a big hit selling a ton and have now come out with new ones every year.

 

 

That makes sense. The guy who brought them in from the Vancouver area. He brought a pair as his gift for the gift exchange and had some extras to give out.

[sonicbuffalo]

 

There are a few detailed Breeze reviews going now so I’m going to keep this one shorter. I’ll gladly answer any questions, of course.

 

Background

 

My wife and I are fairly new cruisers. Our first cruise was in 2009 on the Valor. We loved it and have been planning to do it again but it just hasn’t worked out. Earlier this year I ran into a medical issue that required treatment over the summer. We decided to book a cruise to give us something look forward to and hopefully as a celebration. As it turned out I received good news the week before we cruised so it was indeed a celebration cruise!

 

After much research (my roll call mates can attest to the fact that I an a chronic researcher) we decided to book the Breeze on December 8th. We had been to St. Thomas and the BVIs before but had never visited Antigua or Nassau, and the lure of a new ship was too strong.

 

We had a great roll call for this cruise with a lot of active members and several of them had also booked the Imagination 4-day Western Caribbean on Dec 3rd, so we ended up booking that with them and did a back-to-almost-back. I’ll post thoughts on the Imagination cruise is a separate thread.

 

Anyway, the roll call group put together many activities including a two-hour cocktail party followed by a cabin crawl and poker run, a slot pull and a glow party. We had a great time with these folks and would cruise with any of them again! For anyone new to CC and planning to cruise please join your roll call! It’s a great way to get to know folks before the cruise and also to learn from each other about the ship, the ports, and just general cruising experience.

 

OK, On with the review…

 

As mentioned, we were fresh off of the Imagination so we dropped our bags at the Intercontinental and spent some time at Bayside Market looking at the shops. I bought a T-shirt to wear at our cocktail party (more on that later). We also ran into some of our new friends from the Imagination and had a great burger at Ham-bur-guesa at Bayside.

 

That evening we had a pre-cruise party at Bubba Gump’s at Bayside. We weren’t sure how many folks would show up but one of our friends had arranged for us to use an area of the outside patio. We were hoping to have 30 people there and we ended up with over 40! We had a great time and then headed back to the Intercontinental to get some sleep.

 

 

Embarkation Day

I woke early this morning and looked out the hotel room window to see the Breeze sitting at the dock waiting for us! It was still dark and she looked beautiful! Once it was light I could see the three other ships including the new Celebrity Reflection, another Carnival ship and an NCL ship.

 

 

Many of us received the now-common e-mail about arriving at the port later in the day, but the one for the Breeze also mentioned that sail-away would be delayed until 6pm because of port operations. We confirmed with John Heald that the mention of late arrival at the port was just an attempt to spread out the crowds, but that the sail away really wouldn’t be until 6pm. There were quite a few of us who stayed at the Intercontinental near the port and we all arrived at the terminal at about 10:45. Check in was smooth and we were given Zone 3 or Zone 4 cards. Boarding was a little later than usual, starting at about 12:30. We found seats along with others from our roll call.

 

 

There were a lot of visitors going on board for the official naming ceremony, and quite a few wedding parties. Once those were one the boarding went quickly and we were sitting in the Red Frog Pub with a Thirsty Frog Ale in out hands by about 1:00. I really want to be first in the pub for this cruise but we ended up being third. They still too our pictures and displayed them on monitors all around the pub and that picture made it easier for our roll call friends to find us. A bunch of us had matching shirts made so we were easy to spot all over the ship on the first day.

 

 

We went to check out or cabin at about 2:00 and our bags were there so we dragged them into the room and went back out to explore the ship. I also took a minute to put up our door signs.

 

 

We had setup an informal meet and greet with our roll call at the Tides Bar on the Lido Deck aft and met there at 4:00. Around 4:30 we heard the announcements for muster drill so we headed to our station, which was in the Conference Center on deck 4. The room was way too small and was extremely hot so the drill felt like it took hours. In reality it was probably only 20 minutes and everything was done in that room, no trips out on deck to the lifeboats.

 

After that we went back to the cabin to unpack and made it back on deck for sail away at shortly after 6. The nighttime sail away from Miami was nice and we could see the city lights including the light show on the face of the Intercontinental building. This time it is a dancing girl and she seemed to be dancing in rhythm with the music on the ship.

 

We had reservations for the Steakhouse at 8pm so we went back to the cabin to clean up and headed over shortly before 8. We were seated promptly and enjoyed a great meal. We did get a complementary bottle of wine. It was a choice between a Santa Carolina Merlot and a Santa Carolina Pinot Grigio (I think) and we chose the merlot. It wasn’t a great merlot, but it was drinkable and the price was right.

 

One of the highlights of the meal was the Grilled Portobello Mushroom starter. The mushrooms were marinated with virgin olive oil and aged balsamic vinegar and served on a bed of tomato carpaccio. My wife loved it and mentioned that to one of the servers as we left. When we got back to the cabin later that evening we had an envelope in out mailbox with the recipe! Te rest of the meal was also excellent and out steaks were cooked and seasoned perfectly.

 

We finished that evening in the Piano Bar listening to the amazing Ron Pass. If you haven’t had a chance to cruise with Ron you are missing something special! He is a great entertainer and we stopped by to listen to him almost every night.

 

After that it was time to sleep. It had been a long day and we were beat.

 

More later!

 

Ron, can you ive me a quick lesson on how to use quotes from what peoplke say? I have tried and don't want to mess your review up. I know how to use a complete quote but how do I use portions of quotes and multiple quotes from different people in the same post I am sending? I'm still learning so please help. I enjoyed your review very much.

[Ron_L]

Ron, can you ive me a quick lesson on how to use quotes from what peoplke say? I have tried and don't want to mess your review up. I know how to use a complete quote but how do I use portions of quotes and multiple quotes from different people in the same post I am sending? I'm still learning so please help. I enjoyed your review very much.

 

Sure...

 

Look below, to the right of the Quote button. There is a button with a " and a + on it. That is the multiquote button. Click in and it turns red and that post will be quoted. Do this for each post that you want to quote and then hit the Post Reply button at the bottom of the page and you'll get a reply with the posts quoted, each wrapped in QUOTE and /QUOTE tags.

 

You can edit whatever is in the tags if you only want to quote part of a post.

 

Does that make sense?

[sonicbuffalo]

Sure...

 

 

Does that make sense?

 

I'm trying but using google chrome.

 

Thanks Ron!

[stunned]

Fun, exciting, entertaining review Ron, nice job!:):cool:;)

Judy

[Ron_L]

I'm trying but using google chrome.

 

Thanks Ron!

 

Yer Welcome :)

 

I use Chrome, too, but that shouldn't make any difference.

[Ron_L]

Fun, exciting, entertaining review Ron, nice job!:):cool:;)

Judy

 

Thanks! Did it make you feel as if you were there? :D

[Pauser]

Ron:

 

Thanks for taking the time to do such a great review! Wonderful photos, too. I'm glad you and your wife had such a nice time. After reading several reviews of the Breeze, I'm not sure it's for us, but it really looks like a beautiful ship. Did you do the taste bar?

[Redsfan]

I just thought of one other thing that was different on the Breeze: the motion of the ship. We had mildly rough seas almost every day and on one day it was quite rough. We felt a constant side-to-side sway and some front-to-back rocking that was the same as I experienced on the Imagination, but in addition to that the Breeze had a higher frequency wobble that was more prevalent at the back to the ship. It didn't seem to change as the seas changed, so maybe it is related to the engines or the stabilizers, but many folks commented on it. It wasn't a bad thing, just different than what I remember from the Valor or the Imagination.

 

Did anyone else who has been on the Breeze notice this?

 

great review Ron..we had tons of pics but I have so little time to upload, so glad you did. If I can figure out how to do so I will try. As for motion...we were back of Midship on Riviera and really did not notice any big movement. However, I did notice a few spots on the ship (guest services area, main lobby) where the rocking was a bit more than usual. There was 1 day (after St.Thomas maybe) where we had the rain and front come through where the rocking was somewhat bad. We spent lots of time out of our cabin during this time but I really didn't feel anything too severe. Looking outside and walking out on deck with my wife we could see some of the crashing and it was very neat...I was on Bonine a day before the cruise and had ZERO problems with sea sickness like our Inspiration Cruise...

[Ron_L]

Ron:

 

Thanks for taking the time to do such a great review! Wonderful photos, too. I'm glad you and your wife had such a nice time. After reading several reviews of the Breeze, I'm not sure it's for us, but it really looks like a beautiful ship. Did you do the taste bar?

 

She's a great ship but i can understand how she wouldn't be for everyone.

 

We kept forgetting about the taste bar :rolleyes: We did hit it one night and they had samples from Bonsai Sushi, a piece of spicy salmon roll and a custard or sorts. They were very good.

 

great review Ron..we had tons of pics but I have so little time to upload, so glad you did. If I can figure out how to do so I will try. As for motion...we were back of Midship on Riviera and really did not notice any big movement. However, I did notice a few spots on the ship (guest services area, main lobby) where the rocking was a bit more than usual. There was 1 day (after St.Thomas maybe) where we had the rain and front come through where the rocking was somewhat bad. We spent lots of time out of our cabin during this time but I really didn't feel anything too severe. Looking outside and walking out on deck with my wife we could see some of the crashing and it was very neat...I was on Bonine a day before the cruise and had ZERO problems with sea sickness like our Inspiration Cruise...

 

The rolling wasn't bad and typical of the other ships we've been on except for one night as you mentioned, but the wobble very very noticeable in the Blush Dining Room. We ere on the upper level which was on deck 4, so we weren't very high in the ship.

 

We took ginger capsules starting a couple of days before we left and had no problems with motion sickness.