Breeze 8 day southern mini review

We had a 7th floor balcony room and late dining on June 8th sailing (group of 26). I will break this review down into the Great, Good and Not-so-good categories:

GREAT

ROOM- decor, storage, etc

FOOD - Not sure why so many complaints but we were always able to get something good for dinner. Surpassingly one of my favorites was the Chicken Pot Pie. Guys Burgers was OK. Italian Restaurant (free at lunch) was Awesome, Pizza - Not bad. Mongolian Wok...awesome. BBQ on 5th floor was incredible (but only available on sea days)

CHEF'S TABLE - this was a highlight of our dining experience. Nice job chef Gamma and staff. And they had it right in the kitchen which I thought was great.

DECOR - Really cool Caribbean beach feel

SHIP DESIGN - I liked what they did on the 10th flor (lido) to put all the pools, food, etc. It's funny that there were over 4,000 guests on board but I never felt overcrowded.

SEATING - We almost always found a seat on the deck or serenity lounge when we wanted it. Some chair hogging going on, but shouldn't be enough to ruin anyone's time. By the way, they don't remove your stuff if you get tagged, only your towel is removed (your other stuff stays on the lounger)

LINES - Not bad at all, surprisingly few of them. Much better than we expected. There were some lines for Mongolian Wok that were long if you went during normal lunch time

WATER SLIDES - they had 2 slides that had many twists and turns and was alot of fun.

LIVE MUSIC - The guys that played solo with guitars on the Lido were excellent. Could have done without the DJ.

EMBARKATION - Perfect, easy to get on and off the boat. Well organized. We ignored the warning to come at 1pm and instead showed up at 11:30am. Onboard by Noon.

DEBARKATION - we carried off our own luggage, and got an elevator easily at 8am and got off very quickly.

PORTS (Curacao and Dom Republic) - did private tours ( Irie tours and Seavis ) and both were excellent. Curacao is now one of my favorite islands. Don't go to LaRomana port without a plan as it's not a place you should do on your own on a whim. Special thanks to Silvain and Bob at Irie, and Jose at Seavis. Excellent tours gentlemen.

GOOD

STAFF - Room steward and wait staff were good. But I felt that alot of the staff didn't seem happy (not the usual smiles and charm as we had on past cruises)

PIANO BAR - The guy was OK but does every song need to include jokes. Sometimes it's nice to hear a song played well and enjoyed.

SERENITY DECK - As usual, it was packed so not so easy to get a seat. But they had nice loungers, covered areas, hammocks, etc.

Walking course - it was longer than the usual ships (7 laps per mile) but there were too many kids on the deck that were oblivious to runners and walkers. But if you walked in the morning you were usually ok

PORTS of Aruba and Grand Turk - in Aruba we did Palm Beach. Beach was fantastic but the day was soured by the rude and incompetent taxi drivers. Grand Turk is so so but the adult children love Margheritaville.

NOT SO MUCH

ENTERTAINMENT - The only show we went to was Divas and it was awful. The graphics were good, but signing was Off key

BEDS - Mattress was too hard, and pillows too thick. Neck kinda hurt each morning, and not able to sleep well.

COMEDIANS - I just did not find them that funny. I missed the comedians at the beginning of the cruise but heard they were better.

BALCONY ROOM - Normally it's a nice place to hide away and relax. But they made the 5th level that includes outside seating and activities. So seeing as we were on the 7th floor, you overlooked what was going on the 5th level, and worst was you had to listen to everything that was going on. I felt a little cheated by Carnival in what I paid to get a Balcony.

CASINO - didn't feel like the slots paid very well. But biggest complaint was how smokey the Casino was when it was full. Not my scene.

Martini BAR - I put this here as they didn't have a martini bar like they do on other ships. That was disappointing as we usually liked to go there before dinner.

NO OPINION (didn't try)

Ropes Course, Steakhouse, Spa, Cheers

Forgot to add a few things. One of which was the awful time flying to Miami on June 7th due to heavy rains from the hurricane. Most of our group affected by up to 6 hrs. We were about 2 hours delayed due to American having to kick off 6 people at the origin to make up for added fuel. And we waited for our bags for over an hour in Miami (couldn't unload any bags until rain stopped)

I usually don't notice cruise directors but I thought the cruise director and his assistant were very good in leading the activities that get people involved.

Anyone else on the Breeze recently with some thoughts?

Forgot to add a few things. One of which was the awful time flying to Miami on June 7th due to heavy rains from the hurricane. Most of our group affected by up to 6 hrs. We were about 2 hours delayed due to American having to kick off 6 people at the origin to make up for added fuel. And we waited for our bags for over an hour in Miami (couldn't unload any bags until rain stopped)

Funny part was that despite the hurricane rains that we went through flying to Miami, we only had about 20 minutes of light rain all week

Forgot to add a few things. One of which was the awful time flying to Miami on June 7th due to heavy rains from the hurricane. Most of our group affected by up to 6 hrs. We were about 2 hours delayed due to American having to kick off 6 people at the origin to make up for added fuel. And we waited for our bags for over an hour in Miami (couldn't unload any bags until rain stopped)

Was it very bumpy coming in to Miami on the plane?

Was it very bumpy coming in to Miami on the plane?

It seemed like the plane was sideways as we were landing. And each of the 5 families in our group went through he'll getting there so we thought it was karma that we didn't get any rain all week

Thanks for posting the review

Thanks I love the way you broke your cruise down into great, good and bad. It was an easy read.

Enjoyed your review. Well done.

Keith

Thanks for the review. We are going on 8 day in November. We have Seavis booked and are doing Eric's ATV.

We had a 7th floor balcony room and late dining on June 8th sailing (group of 26). I will break this review down into the Great, Good and Not-so-good categories:

 

GREAT

 

ROOM- decor, storage, etc

 

FOOD - Not sure why so many complaints but we were always able to get something good for dinner. Surpassingly one of my favorites was the Chicken Pot Pie. Guys Burgers was OK. Italian Restaurant (free at lunch) was Awesome, Pizza - Not bad. Mongolian Wok...awesome. BBQ on 5th floor was incredible (but only available on sea days)

 

CHEF'S TABLE - this was a highlight of our dining experience. Nice job chef Gamma and staff. And they had it right in the kitchen which I thought was great.

 

DECOR - Really cool Caribbean beach feel

 

SHIP DESIGN - I liked what they did on the 10th flor (lido) to put all the pools, food, etc. It's funny that there were over 4,000 guests on board but I never felt overcrowded.

 

SEATING - We almost always found a seat on the deck or serenity lounge when we wanted it. Some chair hogging going on, but shouldn't be enough to ruin anyone's time. By the way, they don't remove your stuff if you get tagged, only your towel is removed (your other stuff stays on the lounger)

 

LINES - Not bad at all, surprisingly few of them. Much better than we expected. There were some lines for Mongolian Wok that were long if you went during normal lunch time

 

WATER SLIDES - they had 2 slides that had many twists and turns and was alot of fun.

 

LIVE MUSIC - The guys that played solo with guitars on the Lido were excellent. Could have done without the DJ.

 

EMBARKATION - Perfect, easy to get on and off the boat. Well organized. We ignored the warning to come at 1pm and instead showed up at 11:30am. Onboard by Noon.

 

DEBARKATION - we carried off our own luggage, and got an elevator easily at 8am and got off very quickly.

 

PORTS (Curacao and Dom Republic) - did private tours ( Irie tours and Seavis ) and both were excellent. Curacao is now one of my favorite islands. Don't go to LaRomana port without a plan as it's not a place you should do on your own on a whim. Special thanks to Silvain and Bob at Irie, and Jose at Seavis. Excellent tours gentlemen.

 

 

GOOD

 

STAFF - Room steward and wait staff were good. But I felt that alot of the staff didn't seem happy (not the usual smiles and charm as we had on past cruises)

 

PIANO BAR - The guy was OK but does every song need to include jokes. Sometimes it's nice to hear a song played well and enjoyed.

 

SERENITY DECK - As usual, it was packed so not so easy to get a seat. But they had nice loungers, covered areas, hammocks, etc.

 

Walking course - it was longer than the usual ships (7 laps per mile) but there were too many kids on the deck that were oblivious to runners and walkers. But if you walked in the morning you were usually ok

 

PORTS of Aruba and Grand Turk - in Aruba we did Palm Beach. Beach was fantastic but the day was soured by the rude and incompetent taxi drivers. Grand Turk is so so but the adult children love Margheritaville.

 

 

NOT SO MUCH

 

ENTERTAINMENT - The only show we went to was Divas and it was awful. The graphics were good, but signing was Off key

 

BEDS - Mattress was too hard, and pillows too thick. Neck kinda hurt each morning, and not able to sleep well.

 

COMEDIANS - I just did not find them that funny. I missed the comedians at the beginning of the cruise but heard they were better.

 

BALCONY ROOM - Normally it's a nice place to hide away and relax. But they made the 5th level that includes outside seating and activities. So seeing as we were on the 7th floor, you overlooked what was going on the 5th level, and worst was you had to listen to everything that was going on. I felt a little cheated by Carnival in what I paid to get a Balcony.

 

CASINO - didn't feel like the slots paid very well. But biggest complaint was how smokey the Casino was when it was full. Not my scene.

 

Martini BAR - I put this here as they didn't have a martini bar like they do on other ships. That was disappointing as we usually liked to go there before dinner.

 

 

NO OPINION (didn't try)

 

Ropes Course, Steakhouse, Spa, Cheers

Thank you for posting this! We are booked on the Breeze next year and decided we didn't want to be mid ship this time because of the Lanai. I like the serenity of going on the balcony and looking down at the water - not people mulling around or even worst, hairy chest dudes in the hot tub:eek:. The noise/activity from the Lanai never even occurred to me. Grrrr, I would not have been a happy camper. I hope that didn't put too much of a damper on your cruise.

So glad we booked an aft this time around. I just hope we don't feel a lot of motion or get soot on our balcony as I have read about.

Thanks for the report!

Thanks for the info ..

Next time, book a Cove Balcony around the lobby area. Quiet and you have a great view....

Thanks for the report!

My pleasure

We were on the same cruise. We wish we had done the Chefs Table, but, felt the menu was similar to what we had last year.

We ate at Bonzai Sushi quite a few times. We really enjoyed it.

We had a balcony on the LIdo. It was great. We had a balcony on deck 7 on the Dream last year. We said, never again.

We are one of the few that like La Romana and would probably go back.

Thanks for the great review! I have a balcony booked on the Breeze on Deck 7, but way forward, will I be able to see and hear what is happening on Deck 5?? If so, I will want to change my cabin. I looked at the deck plans, and it looks like the theater is 2 decks down below us. A head's up would be greatly appreciated!!

We had a 7th floor balcony room and late dining on June 8th sailing (group of 26). I will break this review down into the Great, Good and Not-so-good categories:

 

GREAT

 

ROOM- decor, storage, etc

 

FOOD - Not sure why so many complaints but we were always able to get something good for dinner. Surpassingly one of my favorites was the Chicken Pot Pie. Guys Burgers was OK. Italian Restaurant (free at lunch) was Awesome, Pizza - Not bad. Mongolian Wok...awesome. BBQ on 5th floor was incredible (but only available on sea days)

 

CHEF'S TABLE - this was a highlight of our dining experience. Nice job chef Gamma and staff. And they had it right in the kitchen which I thought was great.

 

DECOR - Really cool Caribbean beach feel

 

SHIP DESIGN - I liked what they did on the 10th flor (lido) to put all the pools, food, etc. It's funny that there were over 4,000 guests on board but I never felt overcrowded.

 

SEATING - We almost always found a seat on the deck or serenity lounge when we wanted it. Some chair hogging going on, but shouldn't be enough to ruin anyone's time. By the way, they don't remove your stuff if you get tagged, only your towel is removed (your other stuff stays on the lounger)

 

LINES - Not bad at all, surprisingly few of them. Much better than we expected. There were some lines for Mongolian Wok that were long if you went during normal lunch time

 

WATER SLIDES - they had 2 slides that had many twists and turns and was alot of fun.

 

LIVE MUSIC - The guys that played solo with guitars on the Lido were excellent. Could have done without the DJ.

 

EMBARKATION - Perfect, easy to get on and off the boat. Well organized. We ignored the warning to come at 1pm and instead showed up at 11:30am. Onboard by Noon.

 

DEBARKATION - we carried off our own luggage, and got an elevator easily at 8am and got off very quickly.

 

PORTS (Curacao and Dom Republic) - did private tours ( Irie tours and Seavis ) and both were excellent. Curacao is now one of my favorite islands. Don't go to LaRomana port without a plan as it's not a place you should do on your own on a whim. Special thanks to Silvain and Bob at Irie, and Jose at Seavis. Excellent tours gentlemen.

 

 

GOOD

 

STAFF - Room steward and wait staff were good. But I felt that alot of the staff didn't seem happy (not the usual smiles and charm as we had on past cruises)

 

PIANO BAR - The guy was OK but does every song need to include jokes. Sometimes it's nice to hear a song played well and enjoyed.

 

SERENITY DECK - As usual, it was packed so not so easy to get a seat. But they had nice loungers, covered areas, hammocks, etc.

 

Walking course - it was longer than the usual ships (7 laps per mile) but there were too many kids on the deck that were oblivious to runners and walkers. But if you walked in the morning you were usually ok

 

PORTS of Aruba and Grand Turk - in Aruba we did Palm Beach. Beach was fantastic but the day was soured by the rude and incompetent taxi drivers. Grand Turk is so so but the adult children love Margheritaville.

 

 

NOT SO MUCH

 

ENTERTAINMENT - The only show we went to was Divas and it was awful. The graphics were good, but signing was Off key

 

BEDS - Mattress was too hard, and pillows too thick. Neck kinda hurt each morning, and not able to sleep well.

 

COMEDIANS - I just did not find them that funny. I missed the comedians at the beginning of the cruise but heard they were better.

 

BALCONY ROOM - Normally it's a nice place to hide away and relax. But they made the 5th level that includes outside seating and activities. So seeing as we were on the 7th floor, you overlooked what was going on the 5th level, and worst was you had to listen to everything that was going on. I felt a little cheated by Carnival in what I paid to get a Balcony.

 

CASINO - didn't feel like the slots paid very well. But biggest complaint was how smokey the Casino was when it was full. Not my scene.

 

Martini BAR - I put this here as they didn't have a martini bar like they do on other ships. That was disappointing as we usually liked to go there before dinner.

 

 

NO OPINION (didn't try)

 

Ropes Course, Steakhouse, Spa, Cheers

Is there a place with live music or DJ to dance?

Glad you had a great cruise!

My kind of review -- succinct, concise, bullet-point thinking! (Sometimes I get worn down trying to read the loooonnnggg reviews that go on and on with narrative and pictures of food and hotel rooms :()

Just the facts, Jack -- love it!:)

We are in 7378... hope we don't regret it :eek:

Anyone else on the Breeze recently with some thoughts?

Took the 8 day Eastern Caribbean last April. Funny, I was sitting in one of the Promenade decks hot tubs looking up at the balconies, thinking, my oh my there is zero privacy for those folks. We chose a cove balcony and could not have been happier. Private, large, quiet, so close to the sea. That's the way to go on the Breeze, or an aft extended. :)

We are in 7378... hope we don't regret it :eek:

Sounds like you are close to where we were. Its not bad except again that you are over looking the 5th deck outside deck, and sometimes it will be loud. If you're one that likes peace and quiet on your balcony, you may not get it all the time

ROOM- decor, storage, etc

 

FOOD - Not sure why so many complaints but we were always able to get something good for dinner. Surpassingly one of my favorites was the Chicken Pot Pie. Guys Burgers was OK. Italian Restaurant (free at lunch) was Awesome, Pizza - Not bad. Mongolian Wok...awesome. BBQ on 5th floor was incredible (but only available on sea days)

 

DECOR - Really cool Caribbean beach feel

 

SHIP DESIGN - I liked what they did on the 10th flor (lido) to put all the pools, food, etc. It's funny that there were over 4,000 guests on board but I never felt overcrowded.

 

PORTS (Curacao and Dom Republic) - did private tours ( Irie tours and Seavis ) and both were excellent. Curacao is now one of my favorite islands. Don't go to LaRomana port without a plan as it's not a place you should do on your own on a whim. Special thanks to Silvain and Bob at Irie, and Jose at Seavis. Excellent tours.

 

PORTS of Aruba and Grand Turk - in Aruba we did Palm Beach. Beach was fantastic but the day was soured by the rude and incompetent taxi drivers. Grand Turk is so so but the adult children love Margheritaville.

So to give you the basics. Ship and food were great, and all the ports were very nice. Need I say more.

Thanks for posting your review, glad you had a good time.:)