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Bad experience on the Breeze. Worried about lack of cleanliness


dulcemariamar
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I got back from the Breeze about 10 days ago. Overall, I am disappointed with the experience and I don't know if I was the only who felt the same. I have been on 6 cruises with them, my last one being the Elation last year.

 

First the positives so you can get the full picture.

1.) I had a truly delicious dinner in their Italian restaurant.

2.) Their sea brunch was yummy.

3.) I enjoyed most of the shows and the CD was great.

4.) The cabin was nice and I enjoyed the balcony.

5.) Dr Seus breakfast

 

Things that can use improvement 

1.) Dinner in the MDR. I would give it a 5 or 6 out of 10.

2.) The kids club used to be great but there were way less activities for the kids. They used to have a lot of themed parties but now they are after 10 so you have to pay and anyway that is quite late for little ones.

3.) The Grand Turk beaches needed more TLC.

 

Things that were horrible

1.) The general upkeep of the ship. In the MDR, so many chairs and carpets were really badly stained. It took away from the experience. There was so much pealing paint and rust around the ship.

2.)The awful smells around the ship. It was either sewage or smelled like mildew. they would then spray perfume over the bad smell but it was so overwhelming that they had to use my asthma meds to breathe.

3.) The ship was just plain dirty. The public bathrooms were dirty a lot and my husband found many bathrooms without soap (we like to actually wash our hands with soap for eating so we weren't using the toilet facilities) On other cruise lines you have sinks with soap next to the buffet and/or have crew members at the entrance of the buffet at least encouraging people to clean their hands. This was not the case on the Breeze. People would leave their trash everywhere including the stairs. I saw very few members of the crew cleaning.

 

Has anyone have a similar experience with cleanliness or bad smells lately on this boat or on another ship?

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I've been on the Breeze 4 times although the last was 2 years ago.  I will be going back on her next month to Bermuda.  The Breeze has been my favorite of the 12 CCL ships I've sailed on.  I never experienced what you did and hope that I won't experience it next month.  Although I can give a bit of a pass on normal wear and tear, filth is harder to forgive. 

 

The only time I've experienced dirty public rooms is on cruises during the summer with a lot of younger passengers - hard to keep up with them unless someone is following behind them.  I saw so many teenagers leaving food all over the place - dropping pieces of pizza on stairways - letting ice cream cones drip all over the floors - leaving plates wherever they happened to be (like on the pool decks, on the sides of hot tubs, etc).  Although I would like to see staff keep them in line, it is obviously an issue with parenting.  I've been known to stop younger teenagers and telling them to pick up after themselves - I was a teacher and still have that "teacher voice" (lol).

 

 

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18 minutes ago, sc4125 said:

I've been on the Breeze 4 times although the last was 2 years ago.  I will be going back on her next month to Bermuda.  The Breeze has been my favorite of the 12 CCL ships I've sailed on.  I never experienced what you did and hope that I won't experience it next month.  Although I can give a bit of a pass on normal wear and tear, filth is harder to forgive. 

 

The only time I've experienced dirty public rooms is on cruises during the summer with a lot of younger passengers - hard to keep up with them unless someone is following behind them.  I saw so many teenagers leaving food all over the place - dropping pieces of pizza on stairways - letting ice cream cones drip all over the floors - leaving plates wherever they happened to be (like on the pool decks, on the sides of hot tubs, etc).  Although I would like to see staff keep them in line, it is obviously an issue with parenting.  I've been known to stop younger teenagers and telling them to pick up after themselves - I was a teacher and still have that "teacher voice" (lol).

 

 

I think for example in the Blush MDR, since the fabric of the carpet and chair is such a light color that all the stains are noticeable and there are a lot. I mean I know they are not going to replace things all the time but it looked like it hadn’t been in years and it took away from the experience.

 

The smells maybe was the worst because who knows what I was breathing in but it was so strange since you could be walking down the hallway and all of a sudden a bad smell would hit you and if you continued walking 10 cabins down then it would disappear. It was never in the same area and it was either sewage or mildew. It was also in the public area but thankfully never in my cabin.

 

i cruises the Magic before so I was excited to try out the Breeze but now I am really surprised by my experience 

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We got off the Breeze 3 weeks ago and we didn't notice any of the cleanliness or smell issues you had. I used several of the public restrooms and they were always clean and had soap.  

 

My only complaint about the Breeze was how crowded it was. 

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1 hour ago, jimbo5544 said:

It always amazes me the difference that two sets of eyes see......

With as many people as they have on a ship, it creates the potential for several thousand unique experiences and it’s entirely possible for one person’s experience to be greatly different from one another’s.

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8 hours ago, dulcemariamar said:

The smells maybe was the worst because who knows what I was breathing in but it was so strange since you could be walking down the hallway and all of a sudden a bad smell would hit you and if you continued walking 10 cabins down then it would disappear. It was never in the same area and it was either sewage or mildew. It was also in the public area but thankfully never in my cabin.

This is a classic description of a "dry trap" smell.  All drains on a ship will have an odor trap on them, much like your sink at home has a "U-trap" under it that uses trapped water to keep smells from backing up.  If a deck drain does not see a regular inflow of water, the water in the trap will be dried out by the dry AC air, and the odors will back up.  A glass of water down the drain will solve the problem almost immediately.  Similar things happen when you first open a seasonal home that has been closed up for months, with no water going into the shower and sink drains.

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I agree that the food in the Italian restaurant on the Breeze is delicious. First really good Italian food I’ve ever had one any ship. They must have an Italian chef. I found the food better than the Breeze’s steakhouse food.

 

Ive notice stained fabric on furniture and carpets on all ships I’ve sailed. Not unique to the Breeze but didn’t smell anything bad throughout her. I have smelled that on other ships though.

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I noticed the stained furniture on the Legend recently, it was pretty bad, the ship is in pretty bad shape in my opinion. Used to be my favorite, but not anymore. I'm taking a break from Carnival for a while, my last few cruises haven't been great, I think they need to pay more attention to the small details.

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I also notice Carnival does not seem to maintain their ships as well as other cruise lines.  I am not speaking of decor (I do not care if it is out of date as long as it is clean and kept up).  I was on the Glory and yes it is an old ship but the buffet chairs were all stained (they are a Burgundy color and you could still see all the stains), this is an easy fix just change out the chairs or recover them with a better fabric. Not to mention the loose tiles, carpet, balcony door not sealing tightly, and etc.  I also sailed on the NCL Spirit, about six months after the Glory, which is older than the Glory but you would not know it.  It was  much better maintained and it is undergoing another major refurb soon.  The HOL Oosterdam, about the same age as the Glory but kept up better.  This is one of the reason why I will only sail Carnival if it is a great deal.

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5 hours ago, Lizzanna said:

I noticed the stained furniture on the Legend recently, it was pretty bad, the ship is in pretty bad shape in my opinion. Used to be my favorite, but not anymore. I'm taking a break from Carnival for a while, my last few cruises haven't been great, I think they need to pay more attention to the small details.

This is how I feel exactly. I sailed on Princess this year too and it was so much nicer. And it wasn’t that much more expensive.

 

i used to love Carnival but I will stick with Princess next summer 

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2 hours ago, jlabs03 said:

I also notice Carnival does not seem to maintain their ships as well as other cruise lines.  I am not speaking of decor (I do not care if it is out of date as long as it is clean and kept up).  I was on the Glory and yes it is an old ship but the buffet chairs were all stained (they are a Burgundy color and you could still see all the stains), this is an easy fix just change out the chairs or recover them with a better fabric. Not to mention the loose tiles, carpet, balcony door not sealing tightly, and etc.  I also sailed on the NCL Spirit, about six months after the Glory, which is older than the Glory but you would not know it.  It was  much better maintained and it is undergoing another major refurb soon.  The HOL Oosterdam, about the same age as the Glory but kept up better.  This is one of the reason why I will only sail Carnival if it is a great deal.

And it almost feels silly to complain about the stains but there were so many and it just was so surprising to see how bad shape it was in. On other cruises, I constantly saw people cleaning or doing maintenance work. Here almost nothing

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Strange, I always notice people cleaning when I am on my cruises.  Breeze is one of my favorite ships.  I know what you mean by those smells.  I've noticed that on just about every ship I've been on.  It usually is noticed while walking down a hallway on one of the cabin decks.  I have noticed dirty windows, loose decorative mosaic tiles (on Glory) and I'm sure I've seen stained carpet on most ships.  I have not noticed stained chairs, but that doesn't mean they aren't there.  I probably just haven't been paying attention.  I think the dirty windows are a nightmare for the crew, since the ships are at sea day in & day out.  As far as the public restrooms, it seems to be hit & miss.  Some cruises they are all spotless, some not so much. I blame the passengers for being nasty & not picking up after themselves.  Never had a problem with soap missing, though.  I think it was Vista that had the station by the buffet where you stick your hands in the sink & it shoots soapy water & rinses them for you.  I liked being able to wash my hands there instead of going into the restroom.  I do like that they have the little napkins on the restroom doors for opening them on your way out.

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4 hours ago, The7Harrisons said:

How sad, the Breeze was one of our favorite boats!!!

 

 

It's only one reporters opinion, most of the reviews are nothing like Dulce experienced. you should still love the Breeze. We've heard people rip the Steakhouse, and we have never had anything less than an excellent experience. 

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9 hours ago, dulcemariamar said:

This is how I feel exactly. I sailed on Princess this year too and it was so much nicer. And it wasn’t that much more expensive.

 

i used to love Carnival but I will stick with Princess next summer 

 

Several years ago I also cruised on a Princess ship. First thing I noticed was the world of difference to the details. Was on the BREEZE a year or so ago and not that impressed with the direction Carnival is going for ME. I think they are appealing to the newbies and families with children. This is fine, just not for me. I think I'll try Princess again soon. Maybe this is where old Carnival cruisers go after decades of cruising with them. ? Have the PANORAMA booked for January but will look again at the Princess itineraries in the future. And, I agree, there is very little difference in the pricing these days.

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My last Carnival cruise was on Pride in January, 14 nights to the Southern Caribbean from Baltimore.  This is my favorite class of Carnival ship, but I was seriously disappointed in this experience.  There simply isn't enough staff on board anymore.  Old plates of food were left all over the place.  There were no more lido waiters hawking drinks by the pool, though I did see our dining room waiter out and about a few afternoons doing just that.  What?  Where were the cocktail wait staff?  NOWHERE!  They didn't exist on our sailing.  Every night at dinner in the MDR the plates were left on the table, pushed aside for the next course.  Our cabin was not vacuumed the entire 2 weeks and the bathroom was hardly cleaned.  I had to scrub it down myself.  

 

This was the first time that I left a Carnival cruise with no desire to book another.  Carnival really needs to step up their staffing.

 

This was a first cruise for a couple of friends who came with us.  They vowed never again.

 

We sail on Holland America now.  There are better itineraries, better ships with less passengers on board, beautiful meals, clean everything, and exceptional service.  And the prices are amazing!  We've been able to book Signature Suites for the same price as a balcony cabin on Carnival on several sailings.  Our next cruise is on the Westerdam in April, 2020.  16 nights in a balcony cabin for $985 each plus $300 OBC.  It doesn't get much better than that.  

 

When we hear that Carnival staffing levels are back up, we may book another one, but in the mean time, I am enjoying HAL.  

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4 hours ago, Taters said:

This was the first time that I left a Carnival cruise with no desire to book another.  Carnival really needs to step up their staffing.

 

This isn’t going to happen, since Carnival is moving in a different direction. I understand a lot of comments similar to yours I read online concerning changes Carnival has made. Most of these issues don’t bother me and allow Carnival to continue offering extremely competitive fares. If you are looking to be pampered on a cruise, Carnival is definitely not the cruise line for this these days. 

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1 minute ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

 

This isn’t going to happen, since Carnival is moving in a different direction. I understand a lot of comments similar to yours I read online concerning changes Carnival has made. Most of these issues don’t bother me and allow Carnival to continue offering extremely competitive fares. If you are looking to be pampered on a cruise, Carnival is definitely not the cruise line for this these days. 

I dont think it is so competitive anymore the prices. Just looking at a 7 night cruise in February, Carnival Breeze is $599 and the brand new Princess Sky is 760. That is not a huge difference in pricing.

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4 hours ago, Taters said:

My last Carnival cruise was on Pride in January, 14 nights to the Southern Caribbean from Baltimore.  This is my favorite class of Carnival ship, but I was seriously disappointed in this experience.  There simply isn't enough staff on board anymore.  Old plates of food were left all over the place.  There were no more lido waiters hawking drinks by the pool, though I did see our dining room waiter out and about a few afternoons doing just that.  What?  Where were the cocktail wait staff?  NOWHERE!  They didn't exist on our sailing.  Every night at dinner in the MDR the plates were left on the table, pushed aside for the next course.  Our cabin was not vacuumed the entire 2 weeks and the bathroom was hardly cleaned.  I had to scrub it down myself.  

 

This was the first time that I left a Carnival cruise with no desire to book another.  Carnival really needs to step up their staffing.

 

This was a first cruise for a couple of friends who came with us.  They vowed never again.

 

We sail on Holland America now.  There are better itineraries, better ships with less passengers on board, beautiful meals, clean everything, and exceptional service.  And the prices are amazing!  We've been able to book Signature Suites for the same price as a balcony cabin on Carnival on several sailings.  Our next cruise is on the Westerdam in April, 2020.  16 nights in a balcony cabin for $985 each plus $300 OBC.  It doesn't get much better than that.  

 

When we hear that Carnival staffing levels are back up, we may book another one, but in the mean time, I am enjoying HAL.  

Fortunately, we had better luck with our cabin and the dinner service. But I think you are right about the staffing issue because I ordered room service less than 2 hours after I finished dinner and my waiter from the MDR brought the order to my cabin. It was surprising to see him there. 

 

I think for the Breeze maybe I was just caught by surprise. We didnt have so many issues on Carnival Elation and that is obviously a much older ship.

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1 minute ago, dulcemariamar said:

I dont think it is so competitive anymore the prices. Just looking at a 7 night cruise in February, Carnival Breeze is $599 and the brand new Princess Sky is 760. That is not a huge difference in pricing.

 

When it comes to finances, I don’t think it’s wise to make generalizations. While a $161 price difference may be insignificant to you, it could be very significant to someone else. 

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16 hours ago, dulcemariamar said:

And it almost feels silly to complain about the stains but there were so many and it just was so surprising to see how bad shape it was in. On other cruises, I constantly saw people cleaning or doing maintenance work. Here almost nothing

 

 

….and...what are you going to do about it? 

 

You know there are other cruise lines. Pick the one that you think is up to your standards and stick with them, until you are not happy, then you can find someone else. 

 

There is no reason to stick with one cruise line if you are unhappy. Just be aware that funny ship smells, rusty stuff, worn furniture, carpets, happen. 

 

If I didn't I enjoyed myself, I wouldn't try to repeat the experience. If I did enjoy myself, but noticed certain things that were somewhat bothersome, I would just ignore them. It's just the way I assess things, because nobody is forcing me to pick any given cruise. It is my/your choice, if I/you make a bad choice, make it a learning experience and do it better the next time.

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19 minutes ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

 

When it comes to finances, I don’t think it’s wise to make generalizations. While a $161 price difference may be insignificant to you, it could be very significant to someone else. 

I think it comes down to how you spend your money. 160 dollars could be spent on a different cruise line or could be used to pay for extras such a drink package, excursions, spa etc. 

 

I am just saying that a difference of 160 is not really comparing apples to oranges.

Like a Disney cruise is 1,900. Obviously a huge difference. You can even get a Celebrity cruise for 550. 

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