Carnival Breeze 9/8 Review with Pictures

Hello CC community!

My wife and I (both 28) just returned from the Carnival Breeze 9/8 - 9/14 sailing visiting Grand Turk, Ocho Rios and Nassau. I will be providing a very in-depth, honest and fun review. I have enjoyed reading Breeze reviews and made a strong effort to take a lot of pictures and mental notes so that I can "pay it back."

Quick introduction.

Me: This is my 22nd cruise and 5th with Carnival. As you can see from my signature, I have sailed on almost every cruise line since I started cruising with my family in the early 90s. I'm pretty much a cruise addict and love the build-up to cruising. I am yet to find a vacation that is a better value and provides greater entertainment than a cruise vacation.

Wife: This was my wife's 6 cruise. She has done 1 NCL with her family and we have done 5 Carnival together. She is a medical resident so whenever she gets any time off, we book a vacation.

Stay tuned...

We are very fortunate that we have reasonably priced direct flights on AA to Miami. Whenever possible, DW and I like to fly down the day before the cruise. This allows us 1.) to start vacation early 2.) to ensure that we don't miss the boat and 3.) to sleep in the day of the cruise and be the first to the pier. Luckily my parents live 30 minutes from my wife and I and were willing to babysit our pup while we were on vacation.

At noon, DW and I were off to the airport to officially start our week long vacation.

The flight from NC is only 90 minutes so we were in MIA before we knew it. I am a BIG fan of Priceline, especially for 1 night stays. I really don't see any reason to pay full price for a hotel when you can get the same hotel for 50% off. I always check hotwire first to see what hotels are willing to take, and then take another 10-20% off that price. For $60 we were able to get a great corner room at the Hilton Downtown Miami. It was a $30 cab ride (25 + tip) to the hotel, which was located on Biscayne Blvd (2 miles from the port). The hotel was very nice for 1 night.

View from our hotel room:

Hilton Lobby:

Thanks to reading multiple CC threads, DW and I decided to walk to Bayside (about a 15 minute walk) Bayside has multiple shops, bars and places to eat. Beers are very reasonable ($3) and they let you drink them while walking along the water. DW and I had a few beers and then grabbed sone wings before heading to CVS to gather some last minute items.

Bayside:

We had gotten up really early this morning to get everything together for our trip, so we retired early to rest up for the Breeze. We wanted to be up early so that we could be the first people on the ship. I have always been of the mindset that you pay for embarkation day, so maximize it!

Next Up: Embarkation Day

Loving your review so far!!!! We cruised on the breeze in April and absolutely fell in love with her. Beautiful ship!!!! :)

Day 2 - Let the party begin!

After going to bed early, DW and I were up early with a bang. We were all amped up about vacation so we decided to hit up the gym for a quick early morning workout.

At the gym, we looked out the window and were surprised to see that the Breeze was the only ship docked.

View of the ship from the gym:

After a quick workout, we grabbed a snack from the Starbucks in the lobby and anxiously waited to head over to the port. At 10am, I had enough pacing of the lobby and we boarded a taxi to the port. It was a very short cab drive ($10) to the port. We were clearly some of the earliest people at the port, and at the time, a lot of the previous week's passengers were still waiting for transfers to the airport.

Arriving at the port:

I got a kick out of this sign:

After about a 10 minute wait, the porters were ready to take the bags (it was around 10:20). We then walked right through check in. It took at most, 10 minutes to complete check in after walking in the terminal door. We were assigned zone 4.

Waiting to be called!

As you can see from the picture above, my wife is a big Packers fan. It was the first NFL Sunday, so a LOT of people we wearing their NFL gear.

The cruise terminal is beautiful (by cruise terminal standards). They really have their operations down.

Cruise Terminal:

At 11:00am, they announced that they were ready to board. Note to new cruisers, Carnival will send you an email about 1 week before your cruise telling you that you should not show up at the port until 1pm. Ignore it. In some cases, boarding will be delayed (when we sailed on the Imagination in 2012 during Hurricane Sandy, boarding did not start until ~1). In most cases, boarding starts somewhere from 11-12. The earlier you at the port, the lower zone number you get and the earlier you board the ship. You can purchase FTTF to be zone 2 after the Platinum/Diamond guests, but if you arrive at the port early like we did, there's no reason. We were called at 11:10, and on the ship at 11:15.

Embarkation Grade: A+

Boarding the ship!

Next Up: Day 2 Cont - First Day on the Breeze

I just read a review from someone on the same sailing. They said the aft had a horrible sewage smell. We are sailing on the Breeze in 4 weeks and are booked in the same area that they were. Did you smell it? Do I need to be worried?

Day 2 Continued

When we checked in, DW and I received Red Cards. Before we boarded, we were at 22 days and would hit 25 days (needed for Gold) while onboard. We were told at check-in to go to Guest Relations to be issued a new card. I know that some people are probably thinking, "who cares?" Well, with Gold you get invited to the welcome back party and get some other freebies. It is also kinda nice to have a gold card so that the crew knows you are a loyal passenger. Without CC, I would not have known that you get gold perks throughout the cruise if you hit the milestone during your voyage.

Our cruise was completely sold out thanks to discounted prices due to 1.) being hurricane season and 2.) school was back in session. Because school was in session, there were only 100 kids on board! Two weeks prior, there were 2,000. DW and I do not have kids, and don't have anything against them, but it was really nice to sail with almost all adults. I'm sure I will get flamed for this, but it was nice to be able to go in the pool without someone cannon balling on me or going into the hot tub without forcing my way through 45 kids. We were on the Fascination in April during Easter, and it kinda dampened our vacation.

Cabin Review:

Ok, enough of that. DW and I sailed the Dream in 2011 and had the best vacation we've ever taken. While on the Dream, we bought the week pass to the Cloud 9 Spa. When we decided to sail on the Breeze, we knew we had to get a Cloud 9 Spa Cabin. Originally we booked a Cloud 9 interior, but after prices dropped, we decided to upgrade to a Cloud 9 Balcony. Was it worth it? Hell yea. We were in Cabin 11225 on the Starboard side.

Our Cabin:

Other View:

A quick note, many people say, "I never spend time in my cabin!" Yes, this is true for many, and often the reason that my wife and I always book a cheap interior. However, this cruise, we really wanted to relax (another reason for getting a spa cabin). We also knew that we didn't want to do any excursions. We ended up using our balcony a LOT. We ordered room service for breakfast most mornings and ate on our balcony. We also enjoyed watching the ship sail in and out of port. Oh, and what can beat pier runners?

Our Balcony:

When you book a spa cabin, you get multiple perks that are described in many other posts. The linens are excellent, and the Cloud 9 robes are extremely comfortable. Your cabin is also stocked with upgraded Elemis shampoo/lotion/conditioner. Some people in other threads stated that you only get 1 and they will not restock them. Our room steward restocked them everyday.

Toiletries:

The bathroom and room size was identical to a standard balcony. The only difference is that the spa cabins are "calming green." Another reason we wanted to book a spa cabin was the location. DW and I love to be near the main pool so that we can easily get back and forth. Also, the elevators in the front of the ship travel to every deck, allowing for easy disembarkation/embarkation at port.

I will talk about the spa throughout. Many people have covered it in other posts, so I won't give a full review. I am happy to answer questions about it though!

So, would we book another Cloud 9 Balcony again? Absolutely. We decided we won't sail on another cruise without one.

Cabin Grade: A+

Loving your review so far!!!! We cruised on the breeze in April and absolutely fell in love with her. Beautiful ship!!!! :)

Thanks! We absolutely loved the Breeze and the more "muted" decor. Felt more like a cruise than Vegas.

Thanks for the review with pictures, we're cruising the same itinerary in 7 weeks!

I just read a review from someone on the same sailing. They said the aft had a horrible sewage smell. We are sailing on the Breeze in 4 weeks and are booked in the same area that they were. Did you smell it? Do I need to be worried?

We were located on deck 11 in the front of the ship. Where we were located, we did not smell the infamous "sewage smell." We did however spend time at the aft pool and never smelled the sewage smell. When we were on the Fascination, it was unbearable. I did not hear anyone complaining about it, but that does not mean it didn't exist. The only bad smell was the burger grease at Guy's, but that is only a minor complaint. I would happily smell that again for another Ringer!

Great so far. Was on the Breeze last month. Great ship.

Looking forward to the rest.

Thanks!

Day 2 Continued - Around the Ship

I apologize that Day 2 is so long, but I took a lot of pictures on Day 2 and wanted to use it as a chance to break down some things.

Because were some of the first onboard, the ship was deserted, which meant it was a great time to take pictures.

Atrium:

The lobby of the Breeze was beautiful. It still had the grandeur of the other Carnival ships, but in a much more aesthetically pleasing manner. (in my opinion). The atrium contained all the items you have come to expect on Carnival (atrium bar, guest relations, shops, picture gallery etc.) Outside the shops on deck 5 was the only place DW and I experienced crowding. In the evening, the shops often ran "sidewalk" sales which took up half of the walk way. Add in the shoppers and people coming out of different public areas and you had a big traffic jam. Other than that, we never experienced crowding:

Breeze Lobby:

Red Frog Pub:

This was often DW and I's main hub at night. There were three excellent guitar players that played each night. Our favorite activity here though was adult pub quiz at 8pm every night. More on that later.

Red Frog Pub:

Ocean Plaza

The Ocean Plaza hosted an excellent band called Rock on Water and also was the center of trivia, of which there was plenty. The Taste Bar is also located in the Ocean Plaza. Never tried it, so I can't comment on it.

Ocean Plaza:

Bonsai Sushi (Never tried it)

Beach Pool

Spent a lot of time here. To be discussed later.

Beach Pool:

After Pool:

Mostly just went here for pizza or drinks.

After Pool:

Next Up: Day 2 Continued - Let's Set Sail!

We are sailing the Breeze in January! We can't wait : )

Day 2 Continued - Let Set Sail Already!

Ok, now lets start the cruise!

DW and I went back and forth for weeks about whether or not we were going to get the Cheers! program. We enjoy drinking, but aren't big drinkers. After reviewing the menus at all of the various bars, we saw multiple drinks that we wanted to try. What finally pushed us to the decision to buy it however was the peace of mind knowing exactly how much we were going to spend on drinks. Too many cruises I have terrible case of shock when my bill arrives on the last night. Cheers! gave me the peace of mind knowing that there weren't going to be any surprises. The price is steep, but if you want to try drinks besides beer, you can definitely get your money's worth. In the end, we definitely got a great bang for our buck.

After boarding, we went straight to the table that was selling the program right outside of the Lido. After purchasing the program, the wife and I went to the Red Frog Rum Bar and the Blue Iguana to get our Tumblers. They are $12 each and have a lifetime guarentee. Also, another great feature for those that don't buy the Cheers! program is that they will fill all frozen drinks in your Tumbler (16 oz) for the same price as the standard 12oz cup. Thats a free 33% more for having a Tumbler! Wife decided that we had to get a Miami Vice as our first drink, so that's what we ordered!

First DoD:

Red Frog Rum Bar:

Blue Iguana Tequila Bar:

After a few drinks and some time at the pool, it was time for the mandatory lifeboat drill. Ever since I was a kid, I always thought the end of the lifeboat drill was the official start of the cruise. Our muster station was in the Ovation Theater. It seems that every Carnival ship is different with how they do their lifeboat drill. On the Breeze, the CD gave a speech and then we watched a short video. All in all, the drill took about 20 minutes. Really easy.

Lifeboat Drill:

After the lifeboat drill, it was time to head up to the Lido for the sail away party! When my wife and I sailed on the Dream in 2011, we had Butch Begovich as our cruise director. We were amazed at his energy, excitement and dedication to his work. DW and I love going to the various activities on the Dream that he led so when he announced he was going to the Breeze, we knew that we wanted to as well. Before we cruised, my wife messaged Butch to let him know we were cruising on the Breeze. He replied and when we ran into him on the ship, he remember exactly who we were (we sent a picture). Throughout the week, Butch made us feel very welcomed (more on that later).

Here we are with Butch:

After the sail away, DW and I went to the Sapphire dining room for anytime dining. Dinner was not the greatest, but it did the job.

After dinner, we went to the Red Frog Pub to listen to Brad, who we got to know quite well during the cruise.

Brad in the Red Frog Pub:

We had a VERY active facebook roll call for our cruise and it was agreed that we would all wear glow sticks etc at the white party. We had a huge turnout at Liquid nightclub and it was great putting faces on people that we "met" on facebook.

After dancing for awhile, the group moved to the piano bar and closed the place down. DW loves the pizza, so we had to get some before bed. All in all, Day 2 was a great success.

Next Up: Day 3 - Life at sea on the Breeze

Me and my DH sail on the Breeze in 21 days...we have been going back and forth about the cheers program too...I think we are going to do it...and by the way those are some great pics you are posting...

Loving your review so far! You and your wife are such a cute couple. Thanks for the info on the tumbler from the Red Frog Pub. I'll be sure to get one as soon as we board. I'm looking forward to your spa review, as I have a spa cabin booked for my upcoming cruise and hope to spend lots of time in there. Did you take advantage of the free exercise classes? If so, how did you like them?

Hurry back with more! I leave next Saturday! :D

We are doing this itinerary in 3 weeks - love your review so far !!!

Day 3 - Sea Day

Though the wife and I did not get to bed until 3am, the wife insisted on getting up at 8. (I was not too happy about this, but hey, you can sleep when you're dead) DW decided to use the TV to order room service. Let's just say that was the last time we used the TV. I heard a knock on the door, went to answer it, and found that the room service delivery man had an overflowing tray. Turns out that she ordered 4, yes 4, smoke salmon meals. I don't like fish, so she had a lot of eating to do! We enjoyed our breakfast on the balcony while watching the ocean go by.

Tough Life:

After breakfast, we donned our bathing suits and bath robes and made our way to the Cloud 9 Spa. Because we are in a spa balcony, we have easy access to the spa and gym. At the end of the hall there is a spiral staircase and an elevator that takes you right to the VIP spa area. Each time you enter the spa you exchange your room key card for an access card to the spa areas. If you purchase a weekly pass, you are given a different colored wrist band each day. If you are in a spa cabin, you are given a white Cloud 9 spa rubber wrist band that you wear throughout the week. The spa consists of 4 different saunas, two of which are wet and two dry. There also is a thelassotherapy hot tub that is a large whirlpool with a ton of jets and minerals in the water. There is a built in recliner bench that allows you to get a water massage. It's awesome. The VIP spa area also has upgraded locker rooms which have huge showers. I often used those rather than the shower in the cabin.

Cloud 9 Spa Elevator (Note, this can also be taken to Serenity Deck)

After a relaxing morning in the spa, it was time to head to the pool. Let me just say, this cruise had by far the least amount of chair hogs I have ever seen. Even at 10:30, we were able to easily get chairs at the beach pool. I noticed the first sea day they were tagging chairs, but never saw it later in the cruise. This is just a guess, but the reason for lack of hogging may be that there were so few kids on board. A lot of times on other cruises, families would reserve chairs for the entire family, even though the kids were always in the pool and would never sit in them. (just a guess!) Also, there are chairs EVERYwhere. You will never have a problem finding one. What we really loved about this pool was that you could sit on the outside of it and still be wet without fully being in the pool. As others have noted, the pool is not an olympic size pool. It is rather small, but no smaller than other cruises I have been on. The big gripe is that the water was very warm, too warm. The ship pumps in sea water, and when you are sailing in the Caribbean at the end of summer, the water is really warm. You never felt refreshed but it was still enjoyable when you had a cold beer in your hand! At 1pm they had your typical pool side activities (drink competition and hairy chest competition) During this time, I took advantage of the water slides

Waterworks:

Beach Pool:

For lunch we went to Guy's burger. People have described it in full detail, so I won't talk about it much beyond that the burgers are great. DW and I both got the "Ringer" and enjoyed it very much.

After spending enough time in the sun, we made our way to HASBRO the game show in the Ovation theater. We didn't think anyone would be there with no families on board, but it was packed! We were stuck in the back rows. The show was really fun and people got really into it. They did two games, Basketball Connect 4 and Simon Says. We were not selected to play, but enjoyed cheering on our team.

The first sea day was the Captain's Welcome Aboard night and the first formal. Wife and I returned to the cabin and donned our formal wear. We went to the Ocean Plaza to meet the officers and say hello to Butch again. All of the officers and Entertainment Staff were very friendly and welcoming. We were hungry, so we decided to head to dinner. As soon as we sat down, the hostess came over t our table and informed us that we could have a complementary bottle of wine complements of Butch. We decided to go with white wine.

Wife enjoying wine from Butch:

As most people know, the first formal night is lobster night. The wife got the lobster, and being a landatarian, I ordered the prime rib. The food was average. What you would expect at a place like Applebees. The best part of dinner (besides free wine) was the wait staff, especially the senior waitress Jasmina. She and her staff could not have been better. Food arrived promptly, and most important to my wife, HOT! We enjoyed them so much we requested them every night and had the same table. She was always waiting at the hostess table for us to bring us to our table.

After dinner, we went back to our statement briefly to discover that Butch had also had delivered a bottle of champaign, two ships on a stick, and chocolate colored strawberries. We really appreciated him going out of his way to welcome us back. He didn't have to do these thing, but did. Really makes my wife and I dedicated to the line.

Gifts from Butch:

At 8pm each night, one of the assistant cruise directors, Ryan, hosts Adult Pub Trivia in the Red Frog Pub. On this night, there weren't many people there because it was formal night and a lot of people were in the casino bar watching Monday Night Football. We really enjoyed playing and ended up coming in second. Wife and I love pub trivia, so we were really excited that we could do it each night.

After pub trivia, we went straight to the comedy club for the 9:15 show. There's been a change in how the cruise does the trivia shows. On all ships we have been on, the comedians performed a different set at each show. Now what they do is have two comedians that each doe about 4 shows, but all shows are exactly the same. They do this because the limelight lounge that hosts the comedy show is really small and a lot of people could get turned around. It's nice that they make it so everyone can see the show, but it sucks that you really only end up having two comedy shows instead of potentially 3 in one night and many more throughout the cruise. I love comedy shows (MUCH more than the crappy Playlist shows) so this was a let down. Because we were early, we grabbed seats in the front row. We enjoy being a part of the show so we often sit in the front. The comedian was not very good and pretty much stuck to the same theme and beat it dead.

After the comedy club, we decided to catch the 10:15 showing of Motor City. The Playlist Production shows consist of 7 people that both "sing" and "dance." Motor City consisted of all the Mo Town songs you hear at every wedding. It was ok, the best of the three shows, but that's not saying much.

Because we had a long day yesterday, we decided to grab some pizza and retire early. Before going to bed, we filled out the breakfast room service card to have have breakfast delivered early the next morning.

Next Up: Early Day in Grand Turk

We were on your same sailing in a spa balcony on deck 11. Cabin 11245. My wife, son and I had an awesome cruise!

Sent from my iPhone

Me and my DH sail on the Breeze in 21 days...we have been going back and forth about the cheers program too...I think we are going to do it...and by the way those are some great pics you are posting...

Thanks for the kind words. Believe me, the decision to purchase Cheers! was a HUGE struggle. I did the math many many times and constantly changed my stance all the way up until we arrived at the port. $690 charge as soon as you get on board for two people is a lot of money, but having sailed so many times before, I knew that it's very easy to get to that amount.

I know some people are really opposed to the Cheers program because they think it fills the ship up with drunk people. I would say for us, it did the opposite. When we would pay for drinks, we often tried to get them all at once so we could keep a great buzz going. With the Cheers, we would have a few beers at the pool, then not drink for awhile, have a drink with dinner, a beer at pub quiz, and a couple at the club/piano bar. Never were we "wasted" or falling over like some people think Cheers people do. People think 15 drinks is a ton, and it is a lot, but I hit the cap twice. Oh my gosh! 15 drinks! It was over 12 hours as I explained before. I didn't drink 15 all at once!

Would I purchase Cheers again? Possibly. I loved that DW and I could try so many different drinks and all of the different bars. The Breeze has a huge assortment of branded bars that offer all different drinks and beers. By far the best selection of any cruise I have been on. What I enjoyed most is that I knew exactly what my Sail and Sign account would be. I didn't have to nervously check every morning to see what the previous night's damage was.

Loving your review so far! You and your wife are such a cute couple. Thanks for the info on the tumbler from the Red Frog Pub. I'll be sure to get one as soon as we board. I'm looking forward to your spa review, as I have a spa cabin booked for my upcoming cruise and hope to spend lots of time in there. Did you take advantage of the free exercise classes? If so, how did you like them?

 

Hurry back with more! I leave next Saturday! :D

Thanks for reading. Trying to write it while it's all still fresh in my head. Luckily I saved the FunTimes to help me.

For the free exercise classes, you are only offered Pathway to Pilates or Yoga. I "enjoy" yoga, but unfortunately, classes were never offered in the morning. They were always at 5 or 6pm, which interfered with dinner. We never ended up taking advantage of them, which was a disappointment.

We were on your same sailing in a spa balcony on deck 11. Cabin 11245. My wife, son and I had an awesome cruise!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone

We were practically neighbors! Glad you had a nice time.

We are doing this itinerary in 3 weeks - love your review so far !!!

Thanks for the nice comment. You will have a great time. Let me know if you have any questions and I will be happy to answer them.

Loving your review so far! You and your wife are such a cute couple. Thanks for the info on the tumbler from the Red Frog Pub. I'll be sure to get one as soon as we board. I'm looking forward to your spa review, as I have a spa cabin booked for my upcoming cruise and hope to spend lots of time in there. Did you take advantage of the free exercise classes? If so, how did you like them?

 

Hurry back with more! I leave next Saturday! :D

Gapearl

loved your review on the Valor we sailed a few weeks after you did, it was so fun to read. Hope you will do a review of the Breeze since we are sailing Oct 12 for 8 nights You have quite a following.

awesome review! thank you!

Sailing on her in a few weeks & this helps make the time pass :)

Day 4 - Beautiful Day at Grand Turk

The Breeze was expected to arrive at Grand Turk at 7am and leave at 2pm. Because we only had a morning, we wanted to get up early and maximize our time on the island. At exactly 630, breakfast arrived and we enjoyed it on our balcony. At 730 we made our way off the ship.

Getting off the Ship:

Welcome to Grand Turk!

The great thing about Grand Turk is that the beach is right off of the pier. There are plenty of chairs that are free to use and many of them are shaded. The water is beautiful and the sand is white and soft. If you walk further down the beach near Jack's shack, the beach is even nicer. There are some people that are trying to sell jet ski rides, but after you politely say no, they leave you alone the rest of the day.

Beach:

A lot of people go to Margarritaville and for good reason. There is a huge pool and a swim up bar. We didn't go, but a lot of the people in our roll call did. At around 1130, we made our way back to the ship to grab lunch at the Blue Iguana Cantina. We are both HUGE fans of the BIC, especially the tacos. We never had the burritos because there was usually a line and the tacos you could get right away. They offer fish, chicken and pork and there is a huge salsa and toppings bar. They are a great "healthy" option that we enjoyed many times throughout the cruise.

After lunch we made a quick stop to the gym an the spa before heading back to our balcony to watch the pier runners.

Gym:

All people were required to be back on board at 1:30. Not surprisingly, many people thought that this did not apply to them and were strolling on board all the way up to 2pm. One family was walking down at 1:50, and stopped to take pictures!

Relaxing on the Balcony

At just after 2pm, we set sail for Jamaica. It was a beautiful sail away.

On our way to Ocho Rios

Up Next: Day 4 continued