Thebosn1

Thank you all for reading. Hopefully you enjoyed my review and if you didn't; well' date=' maybe you'll come across someone else's review that better suits your tastes.

 

In conclusion I have mixed feelings about the Breeze; the ship is huge and I didn't get to experience everything simply because I was sick. I need to give her another chance but I'm not sure when I'll have the opportunity.

 

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Thanks for that great review, it was quite a story! My wife and I took that same cruise on the BREEZE, and we had an amazing time, and we loved the ship! So far I have to say she is my favorite, mostly because the crew was amazing.

 

Glad you are feeling better, your review brought back lots of great memories! Thanks again!

Well, I finally booked my first cruise!! Yay! Sadly, in the process I inadvertently started a ruckus between a couple of vacation planners at Carnival. :confused: I read somewhere that you could sign up for Carnival's reward program even before you sail so I signed up yesterday. That seemed to spur several phone calls from Carnival and I talked to 2 or 3 of them. (And I am terrible with names, I have no idea who they were) Not one of them said anything like "I'm you're assigned person and it is faux pas to book thru anyone else" So...this morning, I was ready to book it, and the phone rang, and it was Carnival, and I booked it. And I did a little happy dance!:D Then about five minutes later, another one called and I found out that I was the worst cruise booker in the history of cruise booking. This lady was peeved. :eek: Lesson learned. Your personal vacation planner really is yours personally. Don't take it personal.:rolleyes: So, anyway, I apologized, they forgave, I'm a goob...but I'm going on a cruise!:cool:

My take on PVPs...The one that consistently calls you back and the one that really actually helps you...that's your PVP. I have worked with the same guy for years and he really helps me. But I have already warned him twice, if you don't call me back, even AFTER I'm booked, you are out. He call back. Don't seat it, and enjoy your cruise.

OK, is everybody doing what I'm doing?

 

Yep, been on that one. Been on that one. Going on that one next.....:)

He actually hit several ships I have been on. Nice idea and cool pics thanks!

I'm sure this has been covered elsewhere but I'm curious as to how much cash you bring along for a week-long cruise. Despite the pre-paid gratuities, how much do you bring for tips through the week? And if you don't purchase an excursion, do you pay cash for everything or use credit cards? How much do you usually allow for taxis, etc. while in port?

 

I'm trying to budget for my first-ever cruise this weekend.

 

Thanks in advance!

That's a hard question to answer, because everyone vacations differently.

The shuttles and taxis you can get a real good idea from going online or asking specifically for what transfers from certain airports to hotels or the ports cost on here.

All of my shipboard expenses go right on my sail and sign card and after all these cruises I have an idea what that averages out to per day, and I know what the regular gratuities are. I also bring some cash to give my steward and some other service staff members a little extra tip for good service.

In port? I really depends what you like to do. I usually plan to eat drink and be merry, plus get some souvenirs, so I figure for $100 per port. Sometimes I spend more sometimes less.

Like I said, it all depends on what you like to do. But remember one thing, you will be getting off the ship in "tourist" areas. Some of the folks selling trinkets in these ports can be pretty aggressive. Plus, it's "tourist prices for everything.

One other word, don't carry a LOT of cash off the ship in any port.

Enjoy your first cruise!

I have never cruised this early in the year so I was wondering about the weather in Cozumel. We leave on the 24th. What to pack is the same as Oct......

We have cruised twice in February, including one stop in Cozumel. The weather has always been warm enough for shorts and T Shirt during the day. At night MAYBE a light sweatshirt. Enjoy!

Yes! We got walkie talkies and they worked beautifully. BUT...we had rules.

 

The problem is - people tend to get annoyed with the beep-beep, and I don't blame them one bit! SO ANNOYING! However, safety is a concern, so we came up with a system for our teenagers.

 

1- They always had to stay with each other. NO exceptions.

 

The "calls" were always very brief and to the point, no chit-chatting, just making sure the teenage girls were safe and sound.

 

 

 

That is VERY considerate of you! It is refreshing to see that someone actually thinks of other passengers AND keeps tabs on their kids! Thank you!

Have you ever brought them or use them? Our scenario would be for four in total. One for myself & hubby, one for my sister (Different cabin), one to leave at camp carnival for when DS is ready to check himself out he can come directly to us, and the last one would be for my niece/nephew (14/17) while roaming on the ship. We plan to all do out own thing while in ports so they would mainly be for staying in contact while on the ship. Thanks for letting me know about your experience using them.

I have seen plenty of people use them and they seem to work well for the scenario you mention HOWEVER just be aware of the fact that they are annoying as hell to the passengers around you, worse than someone yapping on a cell phone in an elevator. I really don't need to here the beeping and chatter all afternoon by the pool. Use a sticky note one your door it works just as well and is less annoying to those around you.

I understand why you would want to but please don't bring your child in the SERENITY area. The adults "pool" thing is almost never enforced but I think that just means in the water and that deck is normally pretty loud anyway.

No offense to anyone that cruises with kids, but the serenity area was a dream come true for me so that I can GET AWAY from them. I can enjoy myself much more if I don't have a hundred screaming kids running around me when I want to relax.

I see on Carnivals website that I can make a reservation for the steakhouse online. I was wondering how far in advance I can or should do this. We are booked on the Dream, December 7th. We would like to have the reservations on the first night.

I was able to book for third night of a cruise we are taking at the end of August and got confirmation and everything, give it a shot!

What a great, balanced review! Thanks for taking the time to post it, the imbedded videos are fantastic!

Great review and great pictures! I have done that same itinerary on a different ship and your review brought back lots of memories!:D

Having this "debate" with a newbie friend who's sailing with me next month...He says he plans on going back and forth to the ship for lunch/drinks at the bar etc. His reasoning being "We've already paid for the food and alcohol (Cheers) on the ship!" as opposed to buying more drinks/food in Key West or Nassau.

 

Now, in the past I've only come back to the ship while in port once, and that was to ride out a storm in Nassau. Usually we leave when we dock, and come back at the designated time in the afternoon/evening. I would think that it eats into your already minimal time in port, but it DOES make sense to eat/drink mostly what you've already paid for on board...

 

 

But he's made me curious...do you go through the "hassle" of getting on and off the boat more than once when you're at port? Why?

I think getting food and drinks in port is part of the experience, and I don't want to waste time going back and forth to the ship.

I mean if you are in Key West do you want a beer at Captain Tony's and some conch fritters, or do you want to go back to the ship and eat the same stuff you ate on sea days?

No brainer I think unless you are on a super tight budget.:cool:

Ok so there is a ton of threads as to what Carnival does not do (as opposed to other cruise lines)...

 

What do they do RIGHT (That the other lines don't do)?

 

I have only ever cruise Carnival, so no clue about the others...

Great topic. I have only cruised Carnival so can't compare but the thing that impresses me the most is still the staff. We cruised the BREEZE last spring and at the sail away this bartender comes over and knew my name and my wife's name, even the brand of beer we like. It took me a few minutes but then I remembered him, he was a bartender on the lido deck on our ship TWO YEARS before! Amazing. And the guy took special care of us for the entire 8 day cruise.

Plus our cabin stewards have always been amazing. They work so hard and yet they always have a smile and friendly greeting.

So yeah for the price, and the ships and the staff, got to stick with Carnival!:D

Just off the Liberty. We had a balcony stateroom and love to sit out and enjoy the view. However, we had bad neighbours this time around. They were chain smokers, so they sat out all day most days. I am not complaining about that since my husband also smokes and I know they have every right to do so. Our complaint was that they were VERY loud talkers. They weren't yelling or fighting, just talking at an unusually loud volume and the husband had really foul language most of the time. We heard every detail about their families and their problems, inappropriate stories, etc all at a very loud volume. Several times we commented loud enough for them to hear about how loud the neighbours talked and when he would swear I would say something to my husband like "why is that guy swearing all the time??" Either they didn't hear, or they didn't care. Just wondering if anyone has suggestions on how we could have better handled the situation so that we could enjoy our balcony.

We always just speak to the people directly because I found out the hard way some folks can't take a hint. We had family with a bunch of kids who kept slamming the door, I just leaned around the partition and asked them to stop slamming the door. The adults did, the kids didn't but that was about as good as we were going to get. Stinks to have bad neighbors sorry.:(

Places to cruise:

Panama Canal Transit

Europe

Hawaii

I'm taking care of the entire South Pacific this fall!

Things to do:

Steak House

Art auction

MDR more nights

Also to write more while I am on the ship to capture the memories a little better!

Cool question thanks!:)

Valid point. Carnival Live won't affect me so I really don't feel I am for or against it but if they improve other entertainment it will be good. Also the steel drum band on the Lido on embarkment day was a lot of fun, but daily, no thanks.

The concerts are a nice choice, and I don't think they are replacing anything. If they are I doubt it is anything that will be missed. I love my steel drum guys during sail away, an off and on by the pool some times throughout the cruise but I also agree a variety is nice out there.

The PROBLEM is when the other music is a DJ! If you get a good one, they keep a decent party atmosphere going, play a variety of songs and at a decent LEVEL THAT HUMANS CAN TOLLERATE! Get a bad one and they play nothing but club music all day without anything else and they play it so damn loud you can't even have a conversation on the serenity deck unless you yell. It's hit or miss. :mad:

ok im officially booked so my crazy excited over planning i want to see/do it all self is in full effect..

 

on my last trip on carnival i got an AWESOME monkey cup carved from a coconut on the ship..

 

so ill ask you all this... what fun keepable cups have you recently gotten. Pics included would be great. ( i attached mine )

I got the monkey head (several of them haha). I also got a blowfish that the straw sticks out of his mouth and a cool carnival "whale tail" stack specialty drink cup.

Oh and a bunch of the different colored tall plastic ones that just say carnival on them. Sorry no pictures with me.

Caribbean is fantastic, never get tired of cruising down there. For general area, we like southern Caribbean, and there are other specific islands we love like Jamaica and St Maarten and Grand Turk.

We normally go in February or March to break up the looooong winters where we live, but I have also gone in the summer and managed to avoid hurricanes, (Katrina almost got us but it was just a really bumpy ride one day. :D

To get a real taste, I would pic a trip that has stops in ports that are other than just US islands. That will give you a better feel for the Caribbean over all, just my opinion. I also agree with the folks that say skip the Bahamas, just didn't do it for me.

Hope you enjoy whatever you decide to try out and welcome to de Caribbean mon!

:)

1. The itineraries and the activities on the ships fit the way we like to have fun.

2. The staffs have always been very good to us.

3. Great value based on what we like to do!:D

Seriously???

 

I'd much rather prefer a steel drum band on Lido than any of these boring performers. What a dissapointment!

 

"Betcha" knew this announcement was NOT going to be brilliant. I sure did. :rolleyes:

I have to admit it is a slick idea for Carnival, and if I had enough cocktails I may even pay $20 to see Chicago. But all I really wanted was a couple guys playing steel drums and a decent sail away party. But since that would have been free, I should have expected something like this.

I have to read the details but if you really do stay in port late on concert nights that would be cool, and I can always just avoid the itineraries that have the concerts if I want. :cool:

Having read the same as the post above re: big entertainment announcements.

 

Maybe the steel drum bands and sail away parties are coming back along with some other fun goodies.

Yeah but those things were free and EVERYONE could enjoy them. Why do that when you can charge for something that only a small portion of the guests can ever see even if they wanted to?

WOW, I hope that isn't what the announcement is. I can't think of ANY act that I'd pay an additional 50 to 90 to see, and not only that, they'd be taking up the space/time in the theater, so that I couldn't enjoy the "included" entertainment that I like so much. :mad: What a waste!

 

"SKY"

I have no idea, but if it is something like that then taking away free stuff and replacing it with things you have to pay for would be the exact reason they would do it. They have been doing it in almost every aspect of every cruise for years now. Pay to eat places, pay for character breakfast, etc.

Anyone stay here recently? How was your experience?

Can't remember of it was NORTH or EAST we stayed at last year but it was great! Close to the airport but planes didn't keep us up. Good continental breakfast and free shuttle to the port! We liked it and would stay again!

Recap on Sonny's Tour: The cost per person is $30 and does not include refreshments or snacks. In my opinion you had plenty of stops for photo opportunities. For those moments you were on the van and took photos' date=' sitting on the left was best. The only time sitting on the right was good, was at the chapel. The statues seemed to only be on the right. I didn't get good photos because it was raining. Would I take this tour again; absolutely!

 

Aruba to be continued; my lunch break is coming to an end.[/quote']

 

The other thing I wanted to say is THANK YOU! Thank you for taking the time to write the review (can't wait to read the rest) and thank you for not complaining about "hard cold butter" and "not enough towel animals" and "they didn't peel my shrimp for my at dinner"!

 

You were very sick and yet you STILL were an absolute trooper and got what you could out of your cruise. Honestly it's very refreshing!:D

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Once we're back at the pier I ask Sonny about a sign I saw at the beginning of the trip; I wanted to take a picture there. My mom wasn't too happy when she learned it would be a 10 minute walk; she wanted to get back on the ship and she was concerned I was trying to do too much. The walk wasn't bad and her mood changed. After I got my photo we headed to the flea market and purchased souvenirs. We then headed for the ship and went straight to the Lido deck for lunch!

I love your review so far! It's terrible that you were so sick. I feel anytime you go to medical and they make a half hearted attempt at what is really wrong and can't figure it out...It's the dreaded N virus and you can "Make yourself comfortable in your stateroom for the next 24 hours and do not attempt to leave the ship!" My wife got a sunburn and had too much champagne out on the hot sun on FREEDOM. She went to get some aloe for the sunburn and they asked if she had an upset stomach at all. She answered honestly and the next morning in Ocho Rios there is a note under the door. "Please make yourself comfortable in your stateroom...