Carnival Breeze 8/16-8/24 - quick review and talking points

[Baby_Bear]

Hi, just came off an 8-day cruise on the Breeze from 8/16-8/24. We visited the ports of St Maarten, St Kitts, San Juan and Grand Turk. Rather than do a conventional review that reads more like a travel diary, I thought I'd hit on a few talking points and suggestions that may help future Breeze cruisers even if you don't have the same itinerary. Overall, the cruise was great and the Breeze remains highly recommended!

 

About us - we are a mom-daughter cruising duo. Haven't been able to convince my dad and other sibs to try out cruising as yet, lol! This was our fourth Carnival cruise and the second one on the Breeze. We had first sailed on her in the Mediterranean in Aug 2012. She was a brand new ship then (it was only her eighth voyage!) and we loved her so much, we always wanted to go back on her some day. Finally, when an itinerary came along that we liked, we decided to go ahead and book it.

 

We booked through our online TA, who gave us a very nice OBC, equivalent to 10% of the base tariff. That's always great for reducing your final bill on board!

 

Getting in - We flew from JFK to Miami the morning of the cruise. Here's one tip I hope will be helpful - do carry on if you can! Previously, we had both taken one checked bag each, but we had a very bad experience on Delta last year flying into Fort Lauderdale where Delta misplaced our bags at JFK (still trying to work out how they could misplace half the luggage on that flight!) and could not find them for 2 days, no kidding. They ended up sending it to the first port of call (we were on the Carnival Freedom), and the idea of being without your stuff for 3 days of an 8-day cruise is NOT fun. So this time, we decided to try doing carry on and it worked like a dream!

 

For all the ladies out there - I packed 9 dresses (including two cocktail dresses for formal nights), 2 sets of gym wear, 2 sets of capris and tops, 2 sets of nightwear and all the assorted swimwear and unmentionables, in addition to a hat, umbrella and little purse for using around the ship. Shoes consisted of one pair of running shoes, one pair of flip flops for walking around the beach/pool and one pair of heels, in addition to the casual sandals I had on. And all travel sized cosmetics. My mom had similar stuff. While we didn't go through multiple outfit changes every day, we were always nicely turned out, didn't have to repeat outfits and packing and unpacking was, well, a breeze! So ladies, I'm living proof that it CAN be done! My mom was even more skeptical than me that we could manage and she's now a believer!

 

One thing we did do was ask the cab driver at the airport to take us to a Walgreens/CVS en route to the port. We bought medium sized bottles of body lotion, body wash, enough water for the cruise and even small sized bottles of my favorite Fekkai haircare products. I think it cost maybe $5-7 extra on the meter for that. Pre-cruise, not having enough of our favorite toiletries had concerned me the most, but this was a perfect solution.

 

Getting on the ship - this was a bit of a zoo. We were in an OS so had priority boarding, but when the cab dropped us off at around noon, we couldn't see any signs for the VIP line, and it was only after repeatedly asking any and everyone with a badge that we managed to find it. No signage whatsoever! When we were inside the terminal, we were taken to a room where we could sit and wait till our names were called. Again, it took a really long time and the ladies in charge of directing who went to which check in agent weren't able to maintain any kind of order. People just cutting in at will, at al. We had sailed out of Miami on the Valor 2 years back and I don't recall it being so crazy. The people in the regular lines looked like they were in for horrendous wait times as well. Once on the ship, it was SOOO nice to be unpacked in half an hour flat! And no waiting around for bags. I think some people had packed the entire contents of their closets for this cruise, based on the amount of luggage I saw later in the hallways.

 

Cabin - we were in an OS (7272), portside, in the forward part of the ship. Its right near the bank of 6 regulator and 4 bubble elevators. I was initially concerned about the noise factor but it wasn't an issue at all. The cabin itself was very nice - we had been in a GS in 2012 but found the OS to also be very spacious. Lots of closet space and I actually liked the bathroom better than the GS bathroom! The best part was having the nice double sinks which are essential for 2 women traveling together, lol! I have cabin pics, so of anyone wants to see them, just let me know.

 

Ship - the Breeze is as gorgeous as ever! While she doesn't look brand new anymore, that's inevitable, but the staff have been doing a very good job of keeping her in good condition. We saw Carnival staff constantly cleaning floors, polishing handrails, etc. which keeps her looking good, and the balconies were washed when we were in St Kitts. Their work would be much easier if a small percentage of the cruise passengers behaved better (more on that later...) We ate in the Blush dining room and I did notice that the carpets look like they could use a good deep shampoo (lots of old stains that were vaccuumed or spot washed away but still leave traces).

 

Food - a most important subject! We really enjoyed the food on this cruise. We had tried a 4-day cruise on Royal Caribbean in May on the Vision of the Seas, and really did not like the food at all. No seafood dishes, no Asian options - maybe this was due to the fact it was a 4-day cruise but we were disappointed in the food. On Carnival, the food is more to our liking - there is at least one fish/shellfish entree every night, several Asian inspired options, etc. Just a more varied menu all round in the MDR. Even the Lido had plenty of options at lunch, we loved the Tandoor and Mongolian Wok options. We also enjoyed the brunch menu on sea days - the menu is the same as in 2012 but thank God, they did away with the comedians doing 5-10 minutes of stand-up while people were eating, I had found that so annoying 2 years back. Overall, I'd give high marks to the Breeze for food.

 

Crowd management - here's where we found a difference from 2 years back. The ship had been full even then, but we hadn't experienced any issues with crowding anywhere. On this cruise, we did experience crowding in a lot of places (the entertainment area at the Ocean Plaza, long waits for tables at brunch, crazy crowds for the shows, etc.) I don't know if Carnival is doing something different, but they really need to look into better crowd management.

 

Entertainment - again, maybe its a factor of us having been on the Breeze previously, but I was disappointed to see they still have the same shows (Brits, Divas, Latin Nights) as from 2012! The only show we went to see was Divas and while the music had been updated, the show itself followed the exact same format. And aside from Groove6 who we heard once or twice, we didn't really enjoy any of the singers on the ship. They had the Duo Murano who played a lot of Latin music which I love, but unfortunately, they kind of screeched their way through a lot of the songs which spoiled the listening experience. I felt that the Breeze singers and entertainers were so much better in 2012 - the cut backs are pretty noticeable here.

 

Service - outstanding! On RC, we had a less than great room steward and friendly but hit or miss service in the dining room. Here, we had a wonderful room steward Wasan who looked after us to the point where we got very spoiled and great dining room service. Occasionally, the dinner service was slow and bar service particularly so, but the great staff more than made up for that, and hey we are on vacay! In general, the staff were incredibly nice and couldn't do enough for us, which was a nice change from RC.

 

Crowd - here's the only downer. A section of our fellow passengers apparently felt that they could use the ship as their personal trash cans. We saw two incidents that grossed us out - one evening, were were on deck 4 and near the bubble elevators and saw that someone had stomped a Guys burger (complete with fries and ketchup) into the carpet. The mess was disgusting and I would imagine a lot of people would have stepped on it. The second incident was getting into an elevator one night and finding someone had discarded a half eaten Guys burger (again with fries and ketchup, sorry Guy Fieri, your food wasn't being shown much love!) in one corner of the elevator! Both times, we managed to find a staff member and alerted them to the unsanitary conditions. The staff members told us that this was constantly happening on the cruise. I really felt sorry for them knowing how much extra work it was causing all of them. Further, on our deck, we CONSTANTLY saw used cups and glasses and half eaten dishes littering the hallways. By that I mean food that was literally discarded in the hallways, not even on a plate or anything. Some people are complete and utter pigs and obviously don't give a **** how much work they create for others. Just because someone is cleaning up after you does NOT give you the right to act like a pig. OK, rant over now....I was just surprised (and grossed out!) as I don't remember that happening on our previous Carnival cruises. We also saw way too much of people piling their plates sky high in the Lido only to waste half of it. Clearly, the concept of going back to the buffet if you want more of something is an alien concept for them...

 

Ports -I'll skip this discussion mostly, as people may have different itineraries. St Maarten was gorgeous (good to be back!), St Kitts was new and we liked it, San Juan is always fun to go back to, and Grand Turk we did not do much as we've been twice before, although weather was a factor. We did do ship sponsored excursions in the first three ports. The St Kitts excursion with the scenic train and catamaran was great fun!

 

Weather - great overall, except for Grand Turk where we had thunderstorms and rain off and on throughout the day. We were lucky to miss Christobal, I guess that's hitting this week.

 

And that's about it! Very good cruise overall, and the Breeze remains high on our list of recommended ships. Carnival continues to deliver a very good product, but I wish they'd just raise prices and spend more on entertainment.

 

Questions/thoughts/comments?

[jimbo5544]

Nice review! Thanks

[lukydog]

Love reading about your recent cruise! We will be on the Breeze for the first time in about 3 weeks & can't wait! This will also be our first time in a suite...the upsell fairy called me yesterday with an offer for an ocean suite and I bit!! So yes, I would love to see pictures of your cabin! Thanks!

[jlindemer]

Will you share your TA? I would love some OBC!

 

 

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[Baby_Bear]

Will you share your TA? I would love some OBC!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Sorry, we are not allowed to post names of TA's. They are a big online agency that also advertise on CC, so you should be able to find them.

[jlindemer]

Sorry, we are not allowed to post names of TA's. They are a big online agency that also advertise on CC, so you should be able to find them.

 

Understandable. I couldn't find them on CC, so I will just have to keep searching.

[PathfinderEss]

Thanks for your nice review. Glad you had a good cruise.

[092306]

Thanks for the review, glad you and your Mom had a good time and really impressed with all that you fit into a carry-on. Will have to try that one day.

 

 

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Edited August 27, 2014 by 092306

[DTW Cruiser]

Thanks for the informative review! We are in the process of booking cabins on the Breeze but noticed that there are "spas" on the Promenade Deck above some of the balcony cabins. Did you happen to notice them?

 

We are wondering if it's a noisy location? And if we would hear the noise on the balconies directly below them? Any advice? Thanks in advance!

:)

Elaine

[Baby_Bear]

Hi, sorry for the delay in updating. As promised, here are some pics of our OS. I hadn't found any pics of OS cabins prior to sailing so I hope this helps anyone who is looking for pics:

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Baby_Bear]

And even more cabin pics!

 

 

 

 

Great balcony with plenty of space for a lounger, 2 chairs and a table!

 

 

[Baby_Bear]

Thanks for the informative review! We are in the process of booking cabins on the Breeze but noticed that there are "spas" on the Promenade Deck above some of the balcony cabins. Did you happen to notice them?

 

We are wondering if it's a noisy location? And if we would hear the noise on the balconies directly below them? Any advice? Thanks in advance!

:)

Elaine

 

Hi Elaine! Sorry, I don't know about the spa cabins above the Promenade Deck. However, I honestly think Deck 7 is the best as its got cabins both above and below, so that makes it very quiet. I would definitely suggest taking a balcony on Deck 7 for that reason. Do you know what's above you?

[lukydog]

Thanks for posting the pics. Less than 3 weeks and I'll be on the Breeze!!

[heatherbelle]

Nice review, I was on your sailing with you. I couldn't believe the queues at Miami, we arrived around 12 and I had purchased FTTF, thank goodness. When I looked overboard around 2.00 pm there were lines right past the cruise terminal outside to the other side of the road. Someone said they were late letting people onboard due to an immigration issue, whether that is true or not I don't know. I did wonder if it was always like that as I have never cruised out of Miami before. Venice certainly was a lot more organised last year.

 

I couldn't find any Carnival staff to ask how to bypass the queue outside to get onboard quickly we queued around 15 mins out in the heat before getting to the terminal door. Once they saw we had FTTF we were straight through and onboard in around 15 mins. The hall was packed to the gills.

 

I never saw any discarded food around the ship, we were on deck 11. Some people are gross, it makes you wonder what their homes are like. Personally I did not care for San Juan.

[inlinesick]

Nice review!! The Breeze is now our favorite carniavl ship!! Fat jimmy's was amazing!!!

[mephistoles]

Loving your review. We were on this sailing also and I hope to do a review eventually