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

[jenng1976]

Great review so far! :)

 

We will be going on our first Disney cruise next Sept from Hawaii to Vancouver and looking forward to it! We enjoy trying the different lines, though often come back to Carnival for the price.

 

I hope to do the Breeze one day!

 

Jenn

 

 

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[saltybones]

Great review so far! :)

 

We will be going on our first Disney cruise next Sept from Hawaii to Vancouver and looking forward to it! We enjoy trying the different lines, though often come back to Carnival for the price.

 

I hope to do the Breeze one day!

 

Jenn

 

 

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Great review!

[indychristine]

Me and my husband are die hard Disney fans also! :). We own DVC and have cruised many times on DCL. We cruised the Fantasy 1 month after her inaugural sail . We love DCL and we cruise sans kids!

Having said that we sailed Carnival for the first time last May on the Sunshine. We loved it! My parents,who are also Disney freaks and have sailed DCL a few times and have cruised well over 30 times, went with us and didn't love it as much as we did but I honestly think they may have been looking for problems. They really are loyal to Disney.

 

Anyway we enjoyed it so much we booked again and will board the Liberty in March!

 

I am really looking forward to reading your review. I'm still on page two!! Lol.

 

.

 

 

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[boaterette]

Really good review so far. Thanks for posting.

[SNJCruisers]

I don't think the prices are that much higher compared to many other lines ships I have wanted to sail. For me if they are that close, I am going to pick Disney.

For a point of reference, I chose a high end and a low end time of the year for 2015 and chose the newest ships sailing in Florida from the major cruise lines as a point of comparison. All of these numbers are for a basic inside cabin without taxes.

 

..................................7/4/15.. 12/5/15

DCL Fantasy............ 2107..... 1225

RCI Oasis of Seas.. 1159..... 659

CCL Breeze (8 day). 989..... 559

NCL Getaway........... 1159..... NA

NCL Escape................ NA..... 699

Regal Princess............ NA..... 599

Celebrity Reflection NA..... 669

 

As you can see, at the high point of summer as well as the low point of between Thanksgiving and Christmas, you pay a hefty premium to sail on Disney.

[pe4all]

For a point of reference, I chose a high end and a low end time of the year for 2015 and chose the newest ships sailing in Florida from the major cruise lines as a point of comparison. All of these numbers are for a basic inside cabin without taxes.

 

..................................7/4/15.. 12/5/15

DCL Fantasy............ 2107..... 1225

RCI Oasis of Seas.. 1159..... 659

CCL Breeze (8 day). 989..... 559

NCL Getaway........... 1159..... NA

NCL Escape................ NA..... 699

Regal Princess............ NA..... 599

Celebrity Reflection NA..... 669

 

As you can see, at the high point of summer as well as the low point of between Thanksgiving and Christmas, you pay a hefty premium to sail on Disney.

We cruised on Disney (3x) when their ships first came out, and prices were very low. (family balcony cabin for four cost us $1800 for one week!) I constantly check the Disney prices, but as we can cruise only on school vacations, their prices are crazy high! Will have to wait until I retire, and then can cruise on the "off" times. If you checked the price differential for Christmas week, it would blow your socks off!

Edited December 2, 2014 by pe4all

[jimbo5544]

So for our 1st sea day we basically sat around and did nothing, something I never get to do at home. I actually have a small family child care(6 kids or less each day) so I am in constant motion except during snack, lunch and nap time, plus I volunteer with numerous other things. I have a really hard time just sitting and relaxing.

 

After 2 hours in the Waterworks I made Ryan come out and got him some pizza and fruit to eat. Then he went back in and played for 2 more hours until it was time to get ready for dinner. We got back to the cabin a bit before 5:00 (The older 2 kiddos knew to be back at the cabin no later than 5:15 so they could get read for dinner too), just in time to watch the sunset from our balconies....beautiful! The colors reflecting off the ocean were breathtaking!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Great pics!

[nunuc2000]

Loving your review! We'll be on the Breeze for 14 nights next October, so I'm really enjoying the preview. :D:)

[loveysbydesign]

Glad you are all enjoying my pics.

My favorite camera, an older model Sony, bit the dust so I bought this new Sony point and shoot for under $100 and I am still not used to the settings ;)

[loveysbydesign]

Once the older kids got back and changed we headed to dinner. We found that if we headed up between 5:30-5:40 we were usually seated within 5 minutes. We also noticed that when we left the dining room, usually between 7- 7:15 each night, that there was no line at all ;) Now I have read that others encountered 30+ minute waits with YTD but I assume that happened at later times. Our ship was basically sold out and we never had any problems.

 

 

Pre-dinner selfie

 

 

 

LOVED this strawberry cream soup!

 

 

My daughter's cheese plate she got as "dessert"

 

My dessert

 

 

 

I'd have more pics. of food if my family didn't put up such a fuss about me taking pics. of their food!

 

Also in regards to the Lido, we found there to be longer lines towards the middles of the ship, but once you go to the back of the Lido there was none! I even mentioned it to people we passed on our way to the back during breakfast time and they'd follow us. Same goes for the beverage stations, a couple always had lines, while others never did. You just need to walk a little further towards the aft end of the Lido ;)

Edited December 2, 2014 by loveysbydesign

[American Bear]

For a point of reference, I chose a high end and a low end time of the year for 2015 and chose the newest ships sailing in Florida from the major cruise lines as a point of comparison. All of these numbers are for a basic inside cabin without taxes.

 

..................................7/4/15.. 12/5/15

DCL Fantasy............ 2107..... 1225

RCI Oasis of Seas.. 1159..... 659

CCL Breeze (8 day). 989..... 559

NCL Getaway........... 1159..... NA

NCL Escape................ NA..... 699

Regal Princess............ NA..... 599

Celebrity Reflection NA..... 669

 

As you can see, at the high point of summer as well as the low point of between Thanksgiving and Christmas, you pay a hefty premium to sail on Disney.

 

 

You left out the best looking ship of all of them sailing in Florida, the MSC Divina, on 12/5, an inside going for $469!!!:eek:

PS great review OP!

Edited December 2, 2014 by American Bear

[SNJCruisers]

You left out the best looking ship of all of them sailing in Florida, the MSC Divina, on 12/5, an inside going for $469!!!:eek:

PS great review OP!

When it comes to MSC the phrase "you get what you pay for" really comes into play.

[SNJCruisers]

Will have to wait until I retire, and then can cruise on the "off" times.

But it is still twice as expensive to sail on Disney even at the cheapest time of the year. And if you wait until you retire you'll be taking your grandkids with you.

[cruisecraze96]

But it is still twice as expensive to sail on Disney even at the cheapest time of the year. And if you wait until you retire you'll be taking your grandkids with you.

Did you have any issues with your Cove Balcony? Right now I am booked in a regular balcony on Deck 8 but thinking of either changing to a Spa Balcony or going down to a Cove and trying for Spa Pass when we get on boat.

[Earl Colby Pottinger]

For a point of reference, I chose a high end and a low end time of the year for 2015 and chose the newest ships sailing in Florida from the major cruise lines as a point of comparison. All of these numbers are for a basic inside cabin without taxes.

 

..................................7/4/15.. 12/5/15

DCL Fantasy............ 2107..... 1225

RCI Oasis of Seas.. 1159..... 659

CCL Breeze (8 day). 989..... 559

NCL Getaway........... 1159..... NA

NCL Escape................ NA..... 699

Regal Princess............ NA..... 599

Celebrity Reflection NA..... 669

 

As you can see, at the high point of summer as well as the low point of between Thanksgiving and Christmas, you pay a hefty premium to sail on Disney.

 

Thanks for the list, I may not sail Disney soon but you have given me a good reason to look in doing Oasis of the Seas next fall.

[dettlja]

Not to hijack this thread but the trick to booking disney is to book the day the rates open. I've never been able to afford disney but I happened across the west coast cruises the weekend rates opened. I got a balcony for 4 on a 5 night for $2900 including tax. Rates are now about $6900 for the same room when you can catch one for 4. Most are sold out. And this is for Oct 2015!

I'm currently stalking their Web page for summer 2016 dates.

 

Jaimee

[Earl Colby Pottinger]

This thread has been doing a number of my mind, this morning I broke down and bought a cabin on the Breeze Dec.14, so I got a single cabin for $491 for 6 nights.

 

And thanks to SNJCruisers I now find myself checking out a cruise on RCI in November 2015.

 

Damn you Cruise Critic! You read you is to book more cruises.

[SNJCruisers]

Did you have any issues with your Cove Balcony? Right now I am booked in a regular balcony on Deck 8 but thinking of either changing to a Spa Balcony or going down to a Cove and trying for Spa Pass when we get on boat.

I was never in a cove balcony, the OP was. I have heard nothing but positive reports about them unless the ship hits rough waters, when the balconies somehow get closed off.

[SNJCruisers]

Thanks for the list, I may not sail Disney soon but you have given me a good reason to look in doing Oasis of the Seas next fall.

With the Quantum of the Seas already out and the Anthem coming out next year, RCI has decided to lower the prices on the two behemoths. (Oasis & Allure)

[loveysbydesign]

Did you have any issues with your Cove Balcony? Right now I am booked in a regular balcony on Deck 8 but thinking of either changing to a Spa Balcony or going down to a Cove and trying for Spa Pass when we get on boat.

No, none at all! We loved them! It was so neat being that close to the water.

[loveysbydesign]

Not to hijack this thread but the trick to booking disney is to book the day the rates open. I've never been able to afford disney but I happened across the west coast cruises the weekend rates opened. I got a balcony for 4 on a 5 night for $2900 including tax. Rates are now about $6900 for the same room when you can catch one for 4. Most are sold out. And this is for Oct 2015!

I'm currently stalking their Web page for summer 2016 dates.

 

Jaimee

 

Yes, that is when we book, opening day or last minute. I am a very pt Disney ta so I keep a close eye on the prices.

[loveysbydesign]

So we ended our 1st sea day with a delicious dinner and of course a towel animal!

 

 

I could not wait to enjoy another relaxing day at sea and was super happy to be getting close to our 1st port day...St. Thomas! The older 2 had so much fun on the 1st sea day at their clubs and had already made some great friendships! I was pleasantly surprised! They planned to stay at the teen and tween clubs til midnight and they did.

My youngest had also made a good friend at Camp Carnival and he was eager to meet up with him at Waterworks the next day. Overall I was very pleased with the attention given to all the kids in their clubs. The counselors were quite attentive and super friendly.

Edited December 3, 2014 by loveysbydesign

[loveysbydesign]

Forgot to add, I can't even remember what we did after dinner! We had planned to go the the Limelight Lounge for the family friendly comedy act, but never go there. I think the little guy had wanted to go to CC for awhile for the pirate party and we just relaxed while he was there.

 

Sea day #2...we started our day watching the sunrise on our balcony and then decided to check out the Lido for breakfast. We were happy to bump into our Sapphire dining room waiter, Dejan, in the Lido. He was always smiling and eager to chat with us.

We went towards the aft part of the Lido, grabbed some drinks and snagged a table, then went and got our food.

Since there were no lines we got done breakfast pretty quickly and then headed back to our room to check out the day's schedule and see what the kids wanted to do for the day. We also took some food back for the older 2 who were still sleeping ;)

 

We decided to check out part of the morning show with Wee Jimmy, since we were just a few steps from the theater.

 

[loveysbydesign]

The older 2 finally got up and ate and we all just hung out on the balconies til 11 or so. Then they went to look for their friends and go to their clubs while the little guy wanted to play some more minigolf, just with daddy this time!

We headed up and heard some steel drum music...woo-hoo! Love it! We grabbed an early lunch, hubby loved the tacos and burritos, the little guy and I had pizza...yum! Then we headed up to play minigolf and onto the Waterworks later ;)

 

 

 

The hot dog stand on the sports deck never had a line, we did finally try one on our last sea day and it was pretty good.

 

 

Later on when he was in the waterworks hubby and I snagged some loungers nearby and I finally go to try the Twilight Zone Frozen drink...omg it was delish!

It was my favorite drink I had on the cruise. I loved the fact that there were so many different places to sit and we could still keep an eye on the Waterworks and our son. It was so nice to be able to relax and not fight to get a place to sit!

 

Edited December 3, 2014 by loveysbydesign

[near the beach]

We sailed the Disney Dream and were somewhat disappointed. The cruse was fun but we expected more from Disney for what we paid.

Disney had free soda bout only in specified places. If you went to one of the theaters you have to pay for soda and popcorn.

You can bring on your own alcoholic beverages on the Disney Dream.

We think the shows and food on Carnival was better than on the Disney Dream.

We did like the pirate show.

The TV in the cabin had only Disney movies and many of them.

There are many meet the character and photo ops. But you will have to wait in line. I did like the way they did photos. All of the photos you have taken are put in a folder for you and kept for you and held until the end of the cruise. You can have some put in a hard bound book if you like.

As others mentioned there is no casino.

I did find it interesting the Disney Dream had a deck 13 when other cruise lines don’t use that number.

Because of the price we had to get our first inside cabin every. It had a virtual port hole. Meaning there was a camera that projected a live image on the screen of what we would see if we had a real window. It various time some Disney characters would appear on the screen for a short time. This would only happen once every 45 minutes. Kind of disappointing.

Hundreds of little girls were wearing princess dresses that were purchased on the ship. They started at $60.

Hearing Disney theme songs played 24 hours a day can become annoying.

If you eat breakfast in a dining room the morning you leave the ship you will be assigned to the dining room you were assigned to eat the night before.

We paid $3161 for three passengers for 4 days on the Disney Dream. We have paid $2185 for three passengers for 8 days on the Carnival Freedom and $2627 for four passengers for 7 days on the Carnival Dream.