Breeze Review - 1/5/13

[cman67]

Here’s a review\recap of our cruise on the Carnival Breeze – 1/5/13

 

I typically don’t write long reviews but instead just give you my thoughts.

The purpose of the cruise was to celebrate my parents 50th Wedding Anniversary.

 

About a year and a half ago my brother, wife and I approached my parents and asked them what how they wanted to celebrate their 50th. After a bit of discussion they chose a cruise.

 

It started off small but in the end we were 18 people on the trip. My wife, son (20), daughter (21) and myself. My brother and my mom’s siblings and spouses. We also let the kids invite boyfriends and girlfriends and a few other good friends.

So that left of with a bunch of 20 somethings, 40 somethings and 70 somethings. Quite a mix of people.

 

I’m the planner in the family so everything kind of fell on me. We decided on the 8 night Breeze itinerary that visited Grand Turk, Dominican Republic, Curacao and Aruba.

 

So here it goes.

 

Embarkation – super smooth. Some of our group was already in Miami others were coming in from Disney in Orlando the morning of the cruise. We were all there 2 hours before our scheduled time but we moved right through the lines and were on the Lido deck about an hour after we stepped out of our shuttles.

 

The Ship – beautiful! I know there are a lot of negative reviews but we didn’t see any of the problems. Having last cruised on the Valor it was a refreshing change from the neon and over the top design. Very casual and airy. It helps to cruise when school is in session which is why I think was saw very few lines that people complained about. The layout is much better than the Valor and the fact the ship is new is an added benefit.

 

The Shows – We kind of liked the new, high energy shows but on an 8 night cruise there should have been more than 3. Our favorite was The Britts.

 

The Cabin – our first couple cruises were inside staterooms and the last two have been balconies. Balcony cabins will be the only way I cruise again. There’s nothing like sitting out there and watching the sea go by. Our steward was Gerry and he really worked hard for us.

 

The Ports – We had decided that we would do two big group excursions with all 18 of us and then two excursions where my wife, the kids and I would do something more adventurous.

 

Grand Turk was out first stop and the “young” folks decided to go power snorkeling. Ton of fun but the time in the water was actually pretty brief – about an hour. For the price I think there should be more time actually snorkeling.

 

Next we went to the Dominican Republic. This was our first group tour. I had arranged a private tour with Seavis and I have to tell you that it was spectacular. Kirsten, the owner’s daughter, was our guide and she couldn’t have been more accommodating. As you can expect having a mix of 20 somethings and 70 somethings is not easy. She worked with me on changing a few things along the way. This was one of the highlights of our trip.

 

Here’s a video of someone having too much fun in port in the Dominican and missing the ship!

 

Next we went Jet Skiing on Curacao using Shore Trips. We had never been on a jet ski so the first few minutes were a bit nerve wracking. They only have 5 jet skiis and we rented all of them so it was a private tour. 3 hours of fun and some GREAT snorkeling.

 

Our last stop was Aruba and this was the 2nd of the big group excursions. We went with Sonny Binns and what a wonderful day it was. We had one of his busses to ourselves and he went out of his way to make sure our day was perfect. I have to make this comment about Sonny. He’s such a wonderful person. I know that Aruba has a lot to offer and is a beautiful island but it was Sonny’s personality and charm that we fell in love with. Everyone fell in love with him.

 

A side note about excursions. As you can see you really enjoyed Sonny and Kirsten. As I look back on the many ports we visited on our cruises I have to say that it’s not only the beauty of the port that made our trips memorable but the people we met. We visited Honduras five years ago and we still talk about Victor Bowden. Just like in years to come we’ll remember Sonny and Kirsten as much as the port we met them in.

 

The Food – Guy’s burgers were a hit as was the brunch in the Sapphire dining room. We ate in Blush eat night and June was our head waiter. 30 years with Carnival and he’s going to retire in 3 months. Great guy. Ken was the maître d’ and puts on quite a show each night singing a song and getting the waiters into the fun. The lines that many people complained about where only seen at peak times and very very predictable. Other than those times we rarely had to wait in line at the buffet. The highlight of our eating experience was the Steakhouse. We planned to have an official celebration of my parents 50th on the second to last night of the cruise at the Steakhouse for all 18 of us and after stuffing ourselves for 3 hours we all agreed it was the best meal of the trip. Great service and excellent food.

 

Overall I would say we had a GREAT time and would sail the Breeze again!

[cruisegirl29]

Thanks for a great review! I'm sailing on the breeze Sunday! :)

 

Sue

[lbfluffy]

Thanks for the review. We are sailing Breeze in November. We may use sonny in Aruba. Heard great things about the tour.

[LizaMM]

Thanks for your review!

 

I LOVE to read reviews of the same sailing I was on and hear another persons perspective!!

 

I plan on writing a review (busy couple of days when we got home and then I have been sick for the past few days:mad:) but I can say that I do agree with you about the ship. I thought it was wonderful! I loved the layout and all the areas to hang out. I also enjoyed the Blush dining room and Guys but I did have a different experience than you in the Steakhouse.

 

Glad you had a great cruise! We did as well :)

[k2excursion]

Thanks for your review. Great video from DR. I wonder if that person was seriously going to try to jump onto the ship.

[bucks724]

That person was SERIOUSLY going to jump in DR. That was CRAZY!

 

Thanks for the review! Do you have pics from your Aruba excursion? We did Seavis in DR too and had a great time!

[Thebosn1]

Thanks much for the review. Nice to hear positive stuff, my wife and I sail on BREEZE in April.

[cruiseclues]

Thanks for your review...you mentioned the head waiter, June, but nothing about your table waiters. :)

[jacksmom09]

Great to hear a positive review!:D

[cman67]

Thanks for the replies.

 

As for the assistant waiters go they must have been going through training because we had a different one each night.

 

 

Here is a link to the a bunch of videos I took. I had bought a Flip UltraHD video camera before leaving and also got a waterproof case for it. It worked very well.

 

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=ccmenard&oq=ccmenard&gs_l=youtube.3...4804.5840.0.6376.8.8.0.0.0.0.238.1085.3j3j2.8.0...0.0...1ac.1.qX-MWwfAbf0

[battchief1]

Thanks for the review, love to hear all the comments.

[rhcpchika1]

Thanks for the positive Seavis experience- I recently decided to do this... now to round up a group large enough to make it a private tour :) That is my ultimate goal :)

[HappySailing3]

I agree with the poster, we were also on this sailing and loved the Breeze. The decor is toned down and muted unlike all the other ships, and the staff was warm and welcoming. We ate in the Saphairre dining room and loved our waiter and assistants. I agree, the brunch was great as was Guy's and the Blue Igunana. Steakhouse was good but lacked decor and ambience.

 

Rooms were very clean and Janel, our steward was the best we've ever had. Loved our aft balcony, opened it to our friends balcony next door and made for a nice space to have cocktails before dinner or just relax.

 

There was a nice mix of folks on this sailing and not too many kids since Winter break had just gotten over. Great time to go.

 

I would highly recommend the Breeze, it's my favorite Carnival ship (to date) for sure.