Jump to content
Cruise Critic Community

Quick review of the Christmas Breeze sailing

torybruno

By torybruno,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

 Share

Recommended Posts

torybruno

torybruno

Posted
Posted (edited)

I've never reviewed one of our cruises, maybe I'm feeling guilty from using so much valuable info from past cruisers I feel compelled to write one this time.

 

We are a family of four, in our early 50's, 23 and 18 year old sons, also cruised with my 80 year old parents and their friends. Booked this based on itinerary, we had never visited any of the four ports. Became gold on this sailing, although we didn't end up going to the party or the free drink with the brunch deal.

 

We had a 4J modified, 9203, and did not get bumped. Boys had an inside nearby. Loved our cabin and location, with the big deck out front. No couch, had a chair and a stool. Minus one closet, which was a bit of a problem for this heavy packer. Ended up leaving a suit case out against a wall, but it was not in the way. Cabin steward did a great job and always knew my name, as well as the boys.

 

Loved the anytime dining. Never waited more than 10 minutes for a table seating four or eight. Always something good on the menu to order. They brought my husband and sons multiple appetizers, entrees and desserts. Ate dinner in the steak house on the first night. Eight of us, and we received a bottle of wine per cabin, four bottles. :) Had the pizza a couple days, and I can't even begin to tell you how many Guys Burgers my sons and hubby had. A LOT!!! Boys had sushi one night at the sushi place and said it was good.

 

Had the 23 year old and my husband listed together in a cabin as they both wanted the Cheers card. Not once did either of them hit 15, but maybe my son came close a few nights. Makes a difference if you are in port all day or not. Ahhhh, the ports.

 

Grand Turk... We set up a private snorkel excursion with Crystal Seas Adventures. Eight of us, (my dad did not snorkel), and a family of three from our roll call. We had a great time. Tim, our captain knew the area well. Snorkeled in two spots which was some of the best snorkeling we have ever done. Afterward, visited a private island with amazing beach. We were supposed to see sting rays, did see a few, but the island was gorgeous. It was so interesting to walk a short walk to the other side and see the crashing waves and how rough the water was. It was well worth the money (I think ended up being $72 each). Enough time afterward to walk to Margaritaville and get a shirt and a quick drink, or my youngest did that bouncy pyramid thing on the beach you have to climb up and jump off.

 

La Romana, Dominican Republic... I'm afraid I have nothing good to say. After a lot of research, we booked with Pro Excursions over Seavis for the Saona Beach Day. I booked with Pro because it seemed they were having fewer problems than Seavis regarding the "taxi situation". We almost always book private excursions, and I felt I had proper instruction and was expecting some confusion. It was TERRIBLE. Please, book your tour here with the ship!!! Pure Chaos. After waiting in the taxi line, (which we found out later we were supposed to go to the front of the line, and that just doesn't seem right), the four of us kind of banded together with two other people in line from our ship doing the same tour. We were led to a taxi, left there about 5 minutes while the driver went to find other passengers. So we went back to the head of the line where the organizer (for lack of a better word), said "lady, you're still here", and assigned us to another driver and said take them right away. We were led to a very old taxi, two people going to a beach not with our tour were in the far back, and the six of us doing the Saona tour. There was a live three inch cockroach on the ceiling of this taxi. Yes, I tried to maintain my composure and wonder where the heck this thing was. Anyway, driver started, and then backed into a spot and said he would be right back. He was going to try and get more passengers. Just where they would have rode is beyond me. Anyway, it was hot, no air, and the lady in the far back was getting claustrophobic. My son tried opening the sliding door and couldn't. After a few minutes, the poor lady was climbing over three seats to get out of the van. Van driver finally returned, and we all got out of the taxi and left. Our family of four went back to the ship, the other couple ended up doing a train tour, and I don't know what the poor lady did that just wanted to go to a beach.

 

My parents and friends were booked with Pro Excursions to do a river nature tour. They found the tour to be just as disorganized regarding the taxi situation. They finally were put on a taxi, and after a 25 minute ride when her confirmation said a 10 minute ride, they had taken them to the wrong excursion. He had to find someone to read english, and took them to the right place. Luckily, their tour was waiting for them. They enjoyed their tour, but would not put up with the confusion of the taxi situation to go on it again. I'm sure this Saona tour is wonderful if you actually get to go on it. It takes a lot for me to get frustrated (husband, not so much!), but this was way too much for me, and I was expecting it somewhat, and thought I would be totally prepared.

 

Curacao... Christmas Day, I thought not much would be open, and the 2:00 arrival is a bit late to start a beach day. We booked the three hour bus tour with Irie tours. Wonderful company, all the beer, water, and soda you would drink, and the bus was jammin'. My boys were putting up a fuss about this, when they heard "bus tour", but they said in the end it was a great tour. For $25 each, we certainly got our money's worth!! Stopped at the liquor factory, saw the sights with a little narration, and beach for a sunset drink. Dennis was a great guide.

 

Aruba... I want to go back! We booked an ATV excursion with Action Tours Aruba, after another company was full. They picked us up right outside the gates with someone waiting with a sign with our name. Took us back to the parking garage where the ATV's were. My sons each had their own ATV, and I rode on the back of my husbands. They all looked to be less than a year old and very comfortable. We had a blast!!! Just the four of us and our guide Louis, who was great. It's quite the trail to get to the Natural Pool, but so worth it. My sons and I went in for a dip. The beauty of this is just amazing!!! Went to the gold mine, church, and the light house. We were very dusty and dirty at the end. I would have preferred to be dropped off at a beach, but my sons wanted tshirts, so we were dropped off right outside where the ship was docked to shop a bit.

 

Loved the Breeze, very easy to navigate. I found the main pool area to be a bit loud for me. Maybe I'm just getting old. Enjoyed the Serenity (but wish they had a pool up there) two sea days. On the second day, I noticed we could still here the music and deck happenings from the main pool. The last day we hung out at the aft pool and that was just right. Loved the Red Frog Pub. Not really into gambling.

 

Shows ok, liked the Brits show the best. My boys went to the juggler show and said it was good. We saw several of the comedians and liked them. Piano bar was good one night (TC?), and not so good the next.

 

Was a bit disappointed in the Christmas service. Last time we did a Carnival Christmas cruise, there was a full Christmas service (if I remember right, it even had communion) with clergy. This time, it was led by the cruise director who started off with "this is not sanctioned by Carnival, but I felt I should do something". I applaud his effort, but think Carnival should do more. We sang two hymns, and listened to one or two more by two of the singers, and someone read several passages from the Bible. It was standing room only, and quite packed. Ship was beautiful with all the Christmas decorations.

 

Came into Miami the day before and spent the night at the Intercontinental. Very nice. A very short walk to have dinner at Bubba Gumps. Getting on and off the ship was not an issue.

 

Don't know where or what line our next cruise will be. We are not line loyal. With a son in college and one in grad school, a family vacation week is almost unheard of. My husband and I will be trying an all inclusive in February for the first time ever. Can't wait!

Edited by torybruno
Link to comment
Share on other sites
dst

dst

Posted
Posted

Thanks for the review - we are heading out on the Breeze Saturday. We have been to DR on a previous trip and did an excursion through Carnival; this trip we are heading down to Dreams resort......we speak Spanish so I am hoping that will help with some confusion.

 

Can you tell me how far the walk was to get to the taxi, my mom is traveling with us and cannot walk long distances

 

thanks again - love the review

Link to comment
Share on other sites
CruzCrazy

CruzCrazy

Posted
Posted
Thanks for the review - we are heading out on the Breeze Saturday. We have been to DR on a previous trip and did an excursion through Carnival; this trip we are heading down to Dreams resort......we speak Spanish so I am hoping that will help with some confusion.

 

Can you tell me how far the walk was to get to the taxi, my mom is traveling with us and cannot walk long distances

 

thanks again - love the review

 

 

Not the OP and don't mean to hijack, but I can answer your question. The distance to the taxi stand is not that far, but I seem to remember that it was up a little grade. We also went to Dreams La Romana when we were in DR a couple of years ago. We were lucky enough to find some people to share a taxi with because the price was outrageous for two. Filling the taxi/van is the way to go so split the cost. It takes about 30 minutes to reach the resort from where the ship docks, but we loved our day there. We even recommended Dreams to friends of ours who got married this past summer and were looking for a place for their honeymoon. They loved it too and spent a week there (all inclusive). If we ever get back to the DR, we will definitely go to Dreams again. Hope you enjoy it!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
torybruno

torybruno

Posted
  • Author
Posted

The walk is not that far, less than a quarter mile for sure. There was a slight incline, my dad needed a wheel chair to get from the ship to the taxi stand.

 

People in the cabin next to the boys rented a car and went to Dreams. They spoke Spanish as well and had no issue, and loved their day at Dreams.

 

Have a great cruise!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
dst

dst

Posted
Posted
Not the OP and don't mean to hijack, but I can answer your question. The distance to the taxi stand is not that far, but I seem to remember that it was up a little grade. We also went to Dreams La Romana when we were in DR a couple of years ago. We were lucky enough to find some people to share a taxi with because the price was outrageous for two. Filling the taxi/van is the way to go so split the cost. It takes about 30 minutes to reach the resort from where the ship docks, but we loved our day there. We even recommended Dreams to friends of ours who got married this past summer and were looking for a place for their honeymoon. They loved it too and spent a week there (all inclusive). If we ever get back to the DR, we will definitely go to Dreams again. Hope you enjoy it!

 

 

Thanks - we are traveling with a large group so filling a few taxis wont be an issue. I appreciate the feedback on the resort - we are looking forward to spending the day there

Link to comment
Share on other sites
blondietink

blondietink

Posted
Posted

Thanks for the review. We are going on this ship/itinerary in January! Think we know what we want to do except in the DR. We really don't like any of the ship excursions offered and my one DS cannot do speed boats because of his back problems. We are a family of 4 and really just want to go to the beach near Dreams. Maybe we should take our time getting off the ship so there won't be as much taxi confusion?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Parent22

Parent22

Posted
Posted

We were on the same cruise, and also booked Pro Excursion's trip to Saona Island. We loved it! Our consensus was that it was the best excursion of the trip. I do agree, however, that the taxi situation was initially confusing and logistically challenging. We stepped around the crowd and banded together with two other families that were doing Pro Excursion. I think because we had a complete group of 10-11, we were assigned a taxi pretty quickly. Once we got to Bayahibe, everything flowed very smoothly, including the return taxi, which was waiting to take us back to the ship within 5 minutes of our return to Bayahibe from the island. It is a shame that the taxi situation is preventing more people from discovering how beautiful DR can be!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing
  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • ANNOUNCEMENT: Set Sail on Sun Princess®
      • Hurricane Zone 2024
      • Cruise Insurance Q&A w/ Steve Dasseos of Tripinsurancestore.com June 2024
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Cruise Critic News & Features
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...