Die-hard Disney fan cruises the Breeze on 11/8/14 and LOVES it or HATES it???

[loveysbydesign]

Getting that "Priority" stamped paper was shocking! I had no idea they even did such things.

Then when we were over there in line and they called Priority, we had platinum cruisers giving us dirty looks as they could see our red cards, and one huge guy (like 300 lbs) practically knocked me over (I'm less than 5 feet, 110 lbs) and said directly to me, you ain't getting on with that, good luck trying as he shoved me aside.... my smile quickly turned to a frown and hubby was not happy that I almost got trampled. So I stood there in shock for a few seconds til hubby finally said just keep going! They let us through and we catch up to that same guy and his wife, she looked mortified as she saw what he had done and said to me previously and she graciously allowed us to go up the escalator in front of her.

The ended up being seated near us one night in the dining room once on board and apparently he is just a rude person to everyone, judging by how he talked to the servers.

should have said BLUE cards, not red ;)

[Earl Colby Pottinger]

So in comparing our rooms, we loved the inside rooms on the Disney Dream as we had the magic portholes, the kids really enjoyed them.

 

What is a magic port hole?

 

BUT the cove balconies win hands down!!!

 

Only had the regular balcony, but since my travel companion is a fair skin blonde I think you have raised a useful idea for our next Carnival cruise, thanks.

 

We are all pretty fair skinned and I enjoyed having a balcony that was not in full sun and that was so close to the water. It was just amazing. I joked that I wish I had brought an air mattress with us to put out on the balcony so we could sleep there at night. We did bring along bungee cords to hold the balcony doors slightly open at night so we could hear the ocean. We were lucky to have calm seas for the entire trip.

 

I have slept out on the balcony in the lawnchair on very calm nights, it is very peaceful to do!

 

As far as beds go, the Disney Dream beds were amazing, it was like sleeping on a cloud and I wanted to bring one home with me! The ones on the Breeze were fine, but not luxurious at all and you could feel the crack in between the twin beds that were put together as a king.

 

I have always loved Carnival bedding so I can't even imagine what Disney's must be like to be so good, I may have to do a short Disney cruise just to try out the beds. :)

 

PS. We sleep in separated beds so have never dealt with the linked bed issue.

[EpcotBill]

What is a magic port hole?

It's like Royal's Virtual Balcony only much smaller.

[hockeyluver]

looking forward to more of your review and PICTURES!! I will also be spending a milestone birthday while on the Breeze!!! :p

[Elmo31]

Can't wait to read more....I love pictures, the more the better. We sail her over Christmas and New Years. Whoop whoop 14 days sailing. I can't wait :)

[loveysbydesign]

So after having some burgers we decided to check out some of the other places on the ship and then have some fun!

 

 

Grabbed some fruit and sweets in the Lido...not too full yet!

 

 

Empty deck.

 

 

Still empty pools at 1:30!

 

 

 

Pic. of the parking garage and Miami for those interested

 

Edited November 26, 2014 by loveysbydesign

[loveysbydesign]

Some more pretty pics. of Miami!

 

 

 

[quickrate]

We have driven to FL every year for the past few years to go to WDW, but have not driven as far south as Miami so I left us time to play with in case of bad weather, car issues etc. I did not want to miss the ship!

Then onto Vero Beach, FL for the 2nd night and then finally drove to the port on the 8th.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once we got to the port we parked in the parking garage and gathered all our stuff and off we went. It was a mob scene! We had no idea where to go to drop our luggage off and there was no one there to ask, just tons and tons of people. I was shocked as for our last cruises we had never encountered so many people in one place at the one time trying to figure out where to go. It was mass confusion. We finally wandered over to the left and found the porters. They were friendly, but swamped, as it turned out this cruise was sold out! I hoped this was not a sign of what was to come!

A heads up for next trip to Miami. There are some great hotels close to the port that have a stay, park, and cruise rate. For the price of what it cost you to park at Miami port, you can stay in a hotel the night before, free hot breakfast, shuttle to port, and leave your car parked at hotel for duration of your cruise free. Shuttle back from port to hotel can be purchased for $10 a person. Or, in your case, since there are 5 of you, taxi would probably be cheaper. They drop you right where porters take your luggage.

[loveysbydesign]

A heads up for next trip to Miami. There are some great hotels close to the port that have a stay, park, and cruise rate. For the price of what it cost you to park at Miami port, you can stay in a hotel the night before, free hot breakfast, shuttle to port, and leave your car parked at hotel for duration of your cruise free. Shuttle back from port to hotel can be purchased for $10 a person. Or, in your case, since there are 5 of you, taxi would probably be cheaper. They drop you right where porters take your luggage.

 

Thanks for the info! I had read about that beforehand, but we were taking the autotrain home and needed to be off the ship asap and to our car asap, no time to wait for a shuttle ;)

I had Carlson points so I got half off our rooms at the Country Inn & Suites in Vero Beach and we did not want to drive all the way to Miami from Columbia, SC the 2nd day of driving. We had no problems getting to the port or parking thankfully.

Edited November 26, 2014 by loveysbydesign

[yukongold]

Keep the pics coming.

[nokidz]

Boarding on to this review!!

We sailed Disney exclusively up until a few years ago. Price is a factor, plus the people we cruise with now want the casino......:(

[loveysbydesign]

So the kids wanted to check out their clubs and I wanted to check out the Serenity deck, then off to play some mini-golf and do the ropes course, pools, hot tub and slides! We wanted to do it all as it all looked so inviting!

 

By now the smiles on all our faces were contagious and I had high hopes that we would enjoy ourselves despite the ship being sold out, guess we'd just have to wait and see ;) We also had our Mardi Gras beads on and were hoping to bump into some people from our cruise group.

 

 

Camp Carnival

 

 

 

Somehow I did not get a pic. of Circle C, the tween club?

 

Club O2

 

 

 

Edited November 26, 2014 by loveysbydesign

[loveysbydesign]

After checking out the clubs the kids were super excited and could not wait to go to the welcome parties later on after dinner.

The kids decided to do the mini-golf 1st! Hubby was off hunting for some Cigar City beer. I opted to relax and take pics!

 

 

 

 

Edited November 26, 2014 by loveysbydesign

[elktoncruiser]

Love the review, keep the pictures coming. We can't wait to read more.

[bluehenfan]

Loving your review. We have sailed with Disney 4 times and finally left for Carnival because the prices just kept climbing and climbing . Also, we wanted a ship with a casino. One reason Disney is so expensive is because there's no casino. They are big money makers for cruise lines. The thing I miss from DCL is Castaway Cay, but when I'm sitting on my huge balcony on Carnival, I'm happy, happy, happy.

Edited November 26, 2014 by bluehenfan

[bbrooks]

Great review so far! We were on the Breeze for the Oct 19th sailing and we also stayed in 2283!! Great room! Thinking of booking the same cruise next year but 2283 is already spoken for---but 2281 is not!

[PathfinderEss]

Enjoying your review and great photo's, thanks.

[loveysbydesign]

So in comparing the minigolf on the Disney Dream vs. Breeze we enjoyed the theming of Disney more, but liked the location of the one on the Breeze better as it was less windy.

 

My 7 y.o. also liked that for the one hole on the Breeze course you have to go up the steps to the ropes course level and hit the ball into the spiral slide down to the lower lever. He was happy to play the course multiple times on the sea days. He also played it at night when the golf course was lit up!

we also enjoyed the pool tables and foosball tables and also saw others enjoying the bean bag toss.

[Earl Colby Pottinger]

Loving your review. We have sailed with Disney 4 times and finally left for Carnival because the prices just kept climbing and climbing.

 

How fast did the prices rise.

 

While I never did Disney, I remember years ago thinking Disney was like 1.5 more expensive than Carnival.

 

I just tried one of the cruise booking sites and I was shocked at how much more expensive Disney has become compared to Carnival, I doubt I would even book a one week trip with them (maybe a 3-4 day trip).

 

On the other-hand I have not heard anything about empty Disney Cruises so it seems to be working fine for them anyway,

 

Is this increase just something that occurred step-by-step over the years or did they have a sudden price increase?

[SNJCruisers]

Two of the factors that lead to Disney being higher in costs are both adult oriented. The casino is a major source of income on cruise lines and since there is no casino on any of the Disney ships, higher rates are a result to make up for the lost revenue. The other money making section of cruise ships are the bars. Now, of course there are bars on Disney ships, but the monies generated are lower because the vast majority of Disney cruisers are families with children and that demographic is not conducive to ringing up a high bar tab.

Just as a quick price comparison, in July of 2015, 5 days on the Sunshine is 639 versus 5 on the Disney Dream for 1465. 7 days on the Valor is 729, versus 2107 on the Disney Fantasy.

[Earl Colby Pottinger]

Just as a quick price comparison, in July of 2015, 5 days on the Sunshine is 639 versus 5 on the Disney Dream for 1465. 7 days on the Valor is 729, versus 2107 on the Disney Fantasy. [/font]

 

But I assume aside from the costs that Disney is a FAR better cruise line for families with smaller children.

 

I have never liked the smokey casinos on Carnival and thus stay away from them and the adjoining rooms. Also while my travel companion does drink, she tends to bring a bottle on-board and buy an entire bottle for the dinner table so we rarely use the bars.

 

But looking at the above costs you gave, do most people really spend that much on a cruise with Carnival in booze and gambling or is Disney really raking in the dough?

[loveysbydesign]

So after a round of mini-golf the little guy went in the pool and hot tub while the rest of us tried out the Pirate Pizza. He preferred the hot tub ;)

 

 

 

The pizza was really good and was not what i expected for cruise ship pizza. It is very authentic, very thin crust and light on the toppings, most of the time. We had to wait at least 5-10 minutes every time we went to get it throughout the cruise, but it was worth the wait.

I never got to take a pic. as we all ate it so fast :( So bummed!

[loveysbydesign]

After his quick dip in the pool and hot tub we had him get changed so we could do the ropes course. Hubby is afraid of heights so he became our photographer ;)

 

 

 

 

Edited November 28, 2014 by loveysbydesign

[loveysbydesign]

We have never done any type of ropes course before. My older kids whipped through the course and were on the 2nd time around by the time my 7 y.o. and I got on. My 7 y.o. got scared so I went on ahead of him and waited for him at each platform. By the time we finished he was not scared anymore, but he opted not to do the ropes course again for the entire cruise. I enjoyed it and my older kids went on it multiple times during the cruise so it was def. a hit for them!

 

 

 

 

[loveysbydesign]

After the ropes course hubby was finally able to track down the beer he was looking for, it's not listed on the beer list at any of the bars that he went to, but one bartender finally knew what he was asking for, "Cigar beer" they called it instead of Cigar City. He took a picture of the can so he could simply show them the picture next time ;)

 

Edited November 28, 2014 by loveysbydesign