Carnival Breeze June 5-12, 2016

[Quilcruisers]

Hello all,

 

I returned a few weeks ago from the Carnival Breeze and have just now settled into writing my review. We had a fantastic time and I can't wait to cruise again, and would love to go back on this cruise. There is so much to see and do and it is impossible to do everything you want in just 7 short days, but we tried. First installment of the cruise is listed below. Ask any questions you wish and I will try to load pictures as well.

 

Cruise: Carnival Breeze 7 day cruise

June 5-12, 2016

Myself, my husband and son(12)

Mother in law, sister in law, daughter(24)

From Houston, cruised many times before

 

Sunday, June 5, 2016

First day of cruise. We had a 10am-1030am check in.

Our other party had priority so they could check in wherever.

We arrived at the Galveston port to park at 10am. We stopped at Randalls in Galveston to get snacks and soda.

I already purchased Red Bull and 2 bottles of wine to carry on.

Parking was easy, getting a shuttle bus to the port was not.

Many buses passed us up as they were trying to unload passengers. We finally got a bus with a bunch of other people and headed to the port.

The bus dropped us off, and we then carted our luggage a few feet to a porter, who took it the rest of the way. Next time, we will do like we usually do and drop everything off at the front and then have 1 person drive the car to the lot and catch the shuttle back - But you live and learn.

We were in line at 1030am but were informed there was a complete power outage and they could not check anyone in or out at the time.

The port employees tried to get us, unsuccessfully, to go to another area to wait, or to leave the port and return in 2-3 hours when they could serve us.

We refused to leave, opting to wait there instead. Some people left. At approximately 1130am, I got an alert that my credit card had been held by Carnival, which meant they turned on the machine to start the charges and that meant the boarding was available to start.

The port of Galveston had a power outage, unrelated to the weather, and I had to constantly remind everyone that the power outage has nothing to do with Carnival - it was the port, so no need to call Carnival and raise a fuss. I also got a text message alert from Carnival about the delays at the port, by that time, I was ready for vacation and nothing could keep me away from that port.

We waited another 30 minutes and then had to split up because they started boarding priority and FTTF first. We were in the 10am group (they check and are very strict about the lines), so we were asked to wait in another line.

Once it hit noon, we were in the terminal, in line to get our sign and sail cards and boarded the ship. The Carnival staff told us that our rooms were already ready for us so we could immediately go there or up to the lido deck for lunch.

We boarded the ship very excited and immediately went to our room to find they were already ready.

 

Our rooms:

 

It was now about 1pm, we dropped our carryon bags in the room and met our room steward - Roy. We asked him to put ice in our coolers and we put the drinks and bottled water (we purchased from Carnival) in the cooler and left.

We had connecting rooms and Oceanview deluxe, which meant we had a toilet/shower/sink and another bathroom with a tub and sink times two.

The room was very spacious, there were 3 closets for hanging clothes and a 4th closet with 4 shelves. The standard dresser had 3 usable drawers (the top drawer had a blow dryer in it and wasnt really useful).

We had the bed made into a King, the sofa bed was for my son. Upon getting hints from cruise critics, I bought magnetic curtain hooks, hooked them on the ceiling and hung a black shower curtain around my son's "bed", which he loved, because it gave him nice privacy. He really enjoyed this little treat the whole week.

We each got a free liter of water, compliments of Carnival and we had ordered 2 - 12 packs of water from Carnival. We also bought 2 cases of cokes, and random cookies, crackers, chips, candy, etc. for those times that you needed a snack.

Roy immediately brought our coolers back and we were in business.

 

We then went to the excursions desk to reserve our "behind the fun" tour of the ship. There were already people registered but they had room for the 6 of us. It was scheduled for the last sea day, no refunds and they would deliver the tickets before the end of the week.

I will talk about this fun tour later. Once we booked the tour, we went upstairs to eat. Most of us immediately went for a Guy's burger/fries and there was also a nice selection on the buffet.

While eating, we downloaded the "Hub" app, which proved very useful for the week. It was 5.00 per person to download and gave chat options for the whole cruise, you could view the fun times on your phone and maps of the ship. Another nice feature is that your pictures taken on the ship would be downloaded to your app for you to view and/or order directly from your phone.

The hub app was fast, we instantly got text messages back and forth from each other.

After eating, we went to our room and our luggage had been delivered (except 1 bag for my son). We unpacked everything and got settled in for the week. I went out to the elevators and saw my son's bag on the cart. I didnt want to disturb the process so I just made sure the men would come back down our aisle, they assured me they would so I went back to the room to wait.

We relaxed, watched TV, and waited for instructions on the muster drill.

The muster drill was nice, we went to the showroom for it and it was very well coordinated. We didnt have to stand, didnt have to use life jackets, we sat in the AC and listened to the instructions and then got to leave.

We went to the gameroom and played games for a little bit. A couple of the machines were not working - the air hockey table, for example - you have to report any outages to the Casino. I was able to get a refund for the 6.00 that I lost on the air hockey table. We spent a lot of time in the game room through the week, my son really enjoyed it.

 

We went to dinner that night, Putu was our waiter and he was absolutely incredible! Very personable, hardworking and got our meals 100% correct each and every night (we missed dinner 1 night- too full from lunch/brunch)

We had table #412, the food was good every night, the portions were huge, some nights we ordered an entree as an appetizer and had those as meals.

IWayan was our assistant waiter, Imade was our drink waiter.

The American Table was very good - some of my favorites were: pork chop, shrimp creole, carbonara, crab cake, quesadilla. My husband had a flat iron steak every night, chicken breast some nights, and melting chocolate cake every single night. The mac and cheese with bacon was also a hit - but we had this at brunch too.

We went to the comedy show - Dwight Wade - he was very good and funny but the comedy club was standing room only. You have to get to the comedy club super early, it fills up fast, is sort of small, but the show was about 1 hour long, so we were ok with standing along the outskirts of the club.

Me and my daughter used the sauna - it was smaller than other ships - the free one was - I understand the spa that the spa cabins have access to is much nicer - they offered us a tour but we didnt want to be tempted. We used the sauna most evenings and then used the nice, hot showers in the gym before going to dinner.

Although this ship is super nice, the sauna on some of the older ships have floor to ceiling views, this one was typical closed in box-like spa.

 

Coming up: First sea day and Elegant night

[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[Ready2Cruise2016]

Cant wait to read the rest. This is the ship we'll be going on in Jan.

[brn2crz]

Following this review. We were on RCLs Liberty at the same time. Luckily the power outage didnt effect us.

We are looking at doing either the Breeze or Freedom next year, , as the prices are so much better. We already have 4 rooms reserved on RCI , but we can book GS on Breeze for same proce as regular balcony on RCI..:/

[ATX_CRUISER]

Looking forward to the remaining days!!

[fivemonkeysplus1]

Following! We cruise next June.

[JaniceB]

Can't wait for the next installment.

[stressedmomof3]

following in anticipation of the rest of your review.

 

Did you happen to notice if:

 

1. Was there a 3 for special in the spa one day? ( like $99 for a pick 3 choice of hot stones, foot massage, head massage, etc...)

 

2. Was there a spa night for teens? Usually called an ice cream spa or something of the sort?

 

3. Did your 12 year old enjoy the kids camp?

 

Thanks:)

[Clarea]

Looking forward to more.:)

[uhswim]

Following - we leave on the Breeze in 26 days!!

 

Quick questions - what type of room did you have and where was it located? Also, are all the walls magnetized or just the ceiling?

[leno]

Were there any theme nights?

[Quilcruisers]

Hello all,

 

I am back with Day 2 activity. Enjoy!

 

Monday - Sea Day and Elegant Night

We got up about 11am after our first night at sea and went to enjoy a leisurely breakfast/brunch. This has become a tradition for us on sea days - no need to rush up to the lido deck to enjoy buffet style breakfast. We go to the designated dining room and thoroughly enjoy the sit-down breakfast and made to order items.

The brunch did not disappoint, we had pancakes, french toast, omelettes, bacon and sausage, grits, potatoes and best of all, grilled pork chops. This brunch is really like no other, we sit there and relax and eat with nowhere to go because we have the whole day ahead of us. Its almost one of the highlights of the cruise. I always dress to go to the track after breakfast and I did the same this day.

The track was different from other ships in that it was in the middle of the activity. People did not hesitate to walk right in front of you as you tried to get a stride. It didnt bother me, I was at sea and on vacation, but still, annoying, when it is clearly marked for walking, running or jogging.

The basketball courts and golf was very busy this day as the first sea day. There was also the hot dog cart, which we never got to try - our timing didnt allow.

We ate Guys burgers around 2-3pm, although we were still quite full from brunch. It is just hard to resist all the good food.

 

We spent the day exploring the ship, went to the pool and enjoyed the slides.

We also went to the Serenity deck and it was very hot although it was a beautiful, sunny day.

The loungers are made of some sort of vinyl, not cloth and got very hot in the sun, we had to use towels to sit.

It was also elegant night, we had a full day ahead of us because we have late dinner, so we enjoyed the ship and tried to get in some fun and relaxation.

We went to the arcade and played games, they had a pretty good selection and my son enjoyed it. We also got an unlimited pass for the Thrill theater for the week. We went twice, we never saw the scary movie but enjoyed the other ones.

The Thrill theater was 14.95 per person, and 9.95 for kids/seniors. The extra 2.00 was so that we could go to the R-rated story, but we never made it back.

There were 5 different shows playing at the Thrill theater, we saw Just the rides and Destination Adventure. We missed Coastal Predators and Dare to be Scared.

I forgot to mention Sunday night we went to see Motor City in the theater, it was really good. There were 4 other shows, but we missed them and I hate that. The other shows were, 88 keys, Divas and Latin Nights, there was a show in the theater most nights, except Tuesday and Friday night.

The comedian, Dwight Slade was funny, we saw him Monday night. There were 3 other comedians on the ship that week, but we missed them too.

Although we downloaded and used the Hub app, there were things that I feel like were missing and I guess its because I was used to the Fun Times.

I think the Hub app just showed certain things or maybe I only paid attention to some things. I think I will start back using the printed copy of the fun times in addition to the app, until I get used to the new format. I do love the Hub app though for the chat feature and convenience.

Other things I missed were the drink specials, the cooking demonstrations and although the Dive-In Movies were showing up on the Hub app, we missed most of them too.

Too many things to do, not enough time. There was a sale on pictures, 10% off as a Welcome aboard special but we didnt get any pictures this night because we immediately went to change and to the comedy show after dinner.

After spending all day around the ship, we started to prepare for dinner and that evenings entertainment.

My daughter and I went to the sauna and shower at the gym and it didnt disappoint. The showers were nice and spacious, the water got very hot and the sauna was very relaxing.

Dinner was good as usual. The options were varied: I had the carbonara and it was delicious, the menu offered Lobster tail with shrimp, Striped sea bass, prime rib on the entrees. They also had flat iron steak, chicken breast, pork chop and salmon available all week in the off chance you cannot find something on the entree or appetizer list.

The steakhouse selections were also available for 20.00 additional, again if you cannot find anything else on the free side. The lobster was sufficient, not the best but it was sufficient. We enjoyed all the other food, so the lobster was not our focus.

The shrimp that came with the lobster was grilled and it was good and a nice size. The dessert menu was presented and some ate dessert, I just got a fruit plate.

We took formal pictures before dinner and went to the room to change after dinner and went to the show.

They did have spa specials such as aroma therapy or bamboo therapy for 40-50 off normal price.

My son did not want to go to the Club Ocean, he wanted to go to the game room and then to the cabin, which we allowed him to do and we walked around for a bit then turned in for the night.

 

Next up: Another wonderful Sea Day (I love Sea Days!)

[Quilcruisers]

Following this review. We were on RCLs Liberty at the same time. Luckily the power outage didnt effect us.

We are looking at doing either the Breeze or Freedom next year, , as the prices are so much better. We already have 4 rooms reserved on RCI , but we can book GS on Breeze for same proce as regular balcony on RCI..:/

 

Yes, we noticed the RCI cruise was not impacted. I was so zen that I didn't let anything affect my mood that day. It was just a minor inconvenience, we just hunkered down and waited and it went by fast. I have never cruised RCI - I am not opposed to but just never have. I think the Breeze is worth the switch, it has so much to offer, like the Sky Course and the Thrill Theater. If the price is right, its worth a shot. We are doing the Freedom in November, this will be our second time on Freedom.

[Quilcruisers]

Following! We cruise next June.

 

Cool, we are looking at the Vista for next year in June. Our minds desire one thing, our pocketbook desires something totally different :)

 

I would be happy to go on the Breeze again because we missed a lot simply due to time flying by! It never seems like enough time.

[Quilcruisers]

following in anticipation of the rest of your review.

 

Did you happen to notice if:

 

1. Was there a 3 for special in the spa one day? ( like $99 for a pick 3 choice of hot stones, foot massage, head massage, etc...)

I haven't seen the 3 for special, but I still have the rest of the days papers stacked up while writing my review. I will go through them to see. What I have seen so far is the 50 off the stone or bamboo massage. The spa was super nice, my husband got a gift card and used it for a manicure and my daughter got her nails done with hers. While waiting, they had lemon water and it smelled so good up there.

 

2. Was there a spa night for teens? Usually called an ice cream spa or something of the sort? I did see a spa night for teens, I will look to see the details and let you know.

 

3. Did your 12 year old enjoy the kids camp? my 12 year old only went to camp once. He met a few friends but didn't connect with them again. He is at that awkward stage - pre teen, so unlike previous years, where we had to tear him away from camp, he chose to do his own thing. This was fine and after 1 day, I stopped nagging him to go make friends and just let him enjoy his vacation and we were all more relaxed because of it. Most of the kids just hung around outside of the club, they didn't seem to have any organized activity to keep them engaged although they had a "schedule". This group can come and go as they please. What I did like was that the club was located on deck 4 or 5 (cant remember) and it was convenient to everything the adults were doing. The other camp was all the way on the 11th floor and across the ship. This made it more convenient. Maybe next time he will want to socialize with others but he wasn't feeling it this time. He is alone at home most times so he does an excellent job of entertaining himself. He got out at the pools and stayed in the game room a lot this time. My budget for him was mostly spent at the game room and the candy store.

 

Thanks:)

 

I will find the paper and post tomorrow.

[Quilcruisers]

Following - we leave on the Breeze in 26 days!!

 

Quick questions - what type of room did you have and where was it located? Also, are all the walls magnetized or just the ceiling?

 

How exciting! I wish I was going again so soon.

 

We had 1st floor Oceanview Deluxe. Mid-ship

 

The walls and ceiling are magnetized. I hung the curtain around my son's bed to give him privacy and the extra magnets were great for hanging sail/sign cards, and lightweight items.

 

I loved this room, very spacious.

[Quilcruisers]

Were there any theme nights?

 

There was an 80's theme night on Wednesday.

[JaniceB]

Enjoying your review.

 

I love Sea Days, too!

 

We are going on the Breeze for the second time, didn't feel we saw everything the first time. I can't wait.

[Quilcruisers]

I am considering doing the breeze again next summer. I missed so many things but my in laws have already been on the breeze twice. Also the ports are the same ones we have done several times. That won't stop me though I really enjoy being on the ship itself not just for the ports.

[fivemonkeysplus1]

I am considering doing the breeze again next summer. I missed so many things but my in laws have already been on the breeze twice. Also the ports are the same ones we have done several times. That won't stop me though I really enjoy being on the ship itself not just for the ports.

 

Well I'll be on the one for June 11 with my brood (dh and 5 of my kids for sure). I'm sure the ship would love to have you back :D

[Quilcruisers]

Hello all,

 

I am back again with day 3, enjoy!

 

Tuesday, June 7, 2016

Sea day number 2

 

Today was another sea day that we thoroughly enjoyed. Our family woke up and put on our specially designed Prince T-shirts to celebrate what would have been his birthday.

 

We went to brunch and enjoyed yet another great meal. This was the first day I enjoyed the macaroni and cheese with bacon. It was very good and rich. My husband had the grilled pork chop, it was delicious and layered on top of a cream sauce. Very hearty for breakfast. We had the usual pancakes, French toast, omelette, and my family enjoyed all kinds of juice, apple juice, guava juice and coffee.

After lunch, we went to the arcade and then to watch the shows in the Thrill theater. The thrill theater had a schedule which was somewhat restrictive, but we made it work. The thrill theater is a virtual adventure and had 16 seats available for use. I think it normally has 25 but some were not functional. On this day, the schedule was 10-1130, 200-330, 700-830 and 9-930. The shows were about 25 minutes, so if you had a 2 hour time frame to fit several shows, it got kind of testy. They were accommodating to the crowds and stayed open a little longer because of the line, which we appreciated. We spent time in the line chatting with our fellow passengers. It's always interesting to talk to others about their cruises, if it's their first time or if they cruise a lot, so fun. By the time we got out of the theater, we made our way outside to find that we had missed the hot dog cart, the Sea Dogs hot dog cart was on the 12th floor outside of the basketball court and was only open until 4pm on sea days. I saw it the first time when I worked out on the track but we never made it to eat there. (Sad face).

 

Some other highlights of the day that we missed were the dance class , Zumba, and the mega dance party at 1045pm. We also missed trivia, that they had throughout the day.

 

We spent the afternoon by the pool and on the lido and then got back to the room to relax before dinner. We brought snacks and 2 bottles of wine so I was able to have a glass in the evening. We also took the bottled water and our mugs full of ice and water to the pool since it was so hot.

 

Dinner was good, we had chicken tenderloin, fried shrimp, lasagne, a pasta dish with salmon, scallops and shrimp, and my husband had the flat iron steak, baked potato and a chicken breast. We also had beef boneless ribs with green beans.

 

There was a magic show, Viva Variety, but we didn't attend. It seems like the sea days go by so fast and you want to do so much, but there is so little time, we were able to relax at a couple of points during the day and that is what is important.

 

We got pictures taken every evening at dinner and throughout the day and the best thing is that your pictures were matched to your room and sometimes appeared on your hub app.

 

After dinner, we went back to the room to get ready for our first port, Montego Bay.

 

Coming up: Montego Bay

[BrotherCraig]

Great review. Thank you for sharing. Will be on the Breeze in Sept so this is very helpful.

[JaniceB]

Time does go by very fast on sea days and a ship as big as the Breeze. Thankful I get to go on her again to try some other things. I missed the hot dog cart the first trip but my DH found it and the bar near by.

[obnursemom]

Following. We cruise on the Breeze in November.

[Quilcruisers]

Breeze review continued,

 

Wednesday Montego Bay, Jamaica

 

We got to Montego Bay on Wednesday morning. We docked about 7am but I knew the crowds would not die down until later. We slowly got dressed and made our way to breakfast. We planned to have breakfast and then come back to the room to get ready for the beach. We got off the ship about noon and went to the taxi stand. We just wanted to go to the beach but by the time we got a taxi, we decided to hire the driver for the day for 150 for the 6 of us. He would take us on a tour of the city. He dropped off another couple at the market and drove us around the city. Good thing we opted for a tour because it poured rain for about 1 hour while we drove. He drove us around the city, to see the airport and resorts. We then decided that it was a good to,e to go to the beach. We went to doctors cave beach. It was 6.00 to get in and we rented an umbrella and a chair for 20. Nicholas agreed to meet us about 315 to take us back to the ship. Good timing because we played at the beach for about an hour and it started to pour down rain again. We walked out the entrance and saw Nicholas and went back to the ship. The price was good because the round trip was 14.00 per person just to go to the beach and back.

 

We got back to the ship and ate lunch. We spent time relaxing and missed dinner, we decided instead to go watch the basketball game (nba final four) in the Red Frog pub, we had drinks and appetizers and after the game was over, went to bed. The pub was really tucked away, easy to miss if you are not careful and I did not see it on the hub app. There was a band playing and it was really a nice hangout spot away from the crowds. It was attached to the lanai where you could see people relaxing outside. I like the way the ship has windows looking out even in the casino. The people outside could see us inside too ( we waved at them to see if the glass was tinted ).

 

Thursday, Grand Cayman

 

We got up earlier to go to Grand Cayman because we knew we had to tender to the island. We had breakfast and went up to the top deck to take pictures. Grand Cayman is absolutely beautiful and it was really windy on the way over on the tender boat. Again we wanted to relax at the beach and do a little shopping. Last time we went there we just walked around the shopping area and went to the post office. This time we took a taxi for 5.00 each to go to seven mile beach. This place is beautiful, the bluest water ever. We took a lot of pictures before going to the taxi. The ride was short and it was a van with about 15 people. We saw all of the resorts facing the water and dreamed of coming back one day to stay in a resort. Some people walked to the beach or rode bikes. The island is really small but much nicer and cleaner than Montego Bay. Big difference.

 

The beach was nice and clean, but rocky. You must wear water shoes or risk hurting your feet in the water. The beach was nice and there was a crowd there but it was not unbearable. There were water sports like jet skis , banana boats, parasail and you could buy refreshments and souvenirs and rent umbrellas right on the beach. We rented a chair and umbrella for my MIL. We had a great time playing in the water and watching all the activities. There was a guy doing the fly board in the water and he was awesome. Very entertaining to watch and everybody stopped what they were doing to watch in awe.

 

We stayed as long as we could and then everyone started to leave. There was a mixup on times but my son had a watch on that we compared to ship time so we were aware of the proper time and made sure we had plenty of time to get back.

 

Once we were ready to go we got in a bus and went back. It was 5.00 pp to get back too but the beach itself was free. We took lots of pictures here and went shopping back at the port. There was a very long line to get back to the tender boat and there were two ships in port that day. We had to watch because people were coming from the taxi stand and jumping in what they thought was the end of the line when in fact it was the middle of the line , it was that long. We stood in line about 45 minutes. Once we got on the tender boat it only took 10 mins to get back on the cruise ship.

 

Once on the ship we relaxed, I always took showers in the gym and then relaxed in the sauna for about half an hour. It was the second formal night but we didn't plan on dressing up again. We went to dinner at 815 and dinner was good with crab cakes, stuffed mushrooms , creole shrimp, and tilapia. We also ordered our free bottle of wine. We ended up paying 4.00 difference from my husbands free gift card. My son also had chicken nuggets, fries, grapes and his choice of juice ready for him every night at dinner.

 

We didn't go out this night. We were tired so went back to the room and to bed.

 

Next stop Cozumel and final sea day.