just off the Breeze, Feb 1-15, 2014

My take on the Breeze, B2B cruise #23,24 with Carnival, extended aft, 8th floor. I forget the room number, it's the highest odd number there was.

Overall, it's a nice ship with a lot of updates I wish other ships had. But I won't book the Breeze again. I just prefer other ships is all, I had a great 2 week cruise on it.

The not so great stuff:

1- Elevators in the back of the ship are a joke, getting one to take you down to dinner or back up after dinner was annoying. Basically on the 8th floor every time the elevator stopped, it was too full. So after the doors closed we'd hit the button again, next elevator, same thing. Finally we either hit the up button figuring it had to go back down but after a coupe days everyone wises up to this trick so we walked down to the 3d floor most nights and then hung out at the table as late as possible to avoid the mobs waiting for elevators to take them back up. The root of the problem is simple, there's nothing outside the Blush restaurant on deck 3 except elevators. Other ships have a bar or something to let people out into. 4th floor isn't better since that lets you out into Camp Carnival.

But basically my complaint is that there are 1000 more people on this ship, but the same number of elevators as ships with far fewer passengers. They should have put 6 elevators in the rear of the ship.

2- No adult pool. Not enough pools. Just way too crowded. Kids even took over the serenity area on a few days.

3- Floors are way too slippery in the buffet areas. I bought a pair of Quicksilver flip flops onboard a few cruises ago, those stick to the slipperiest floors like glue. But when I had sneakers or other shoes, it was an ice skating rink.

4- More a warning, they setup the chairs on the lido deck around 4:30 am, people above us on the 9th floor complained but it only helped a couple times. From the 8th floor it sounds like kids are having chair races or something up there. It basically takes them a half hour and the noise is really bad.

5- didn't affect me, just an FYI, if you book 9th floor extended balcony, you won't get sunlight except when the sun rises or sets. The overhang goes just over the extended balconies on the 8th deck.

6- The overhang over the 9th deck balconies makes it so that anyone just talking on the 9th floor echoes and amplifies for everyone on the lower decks to hear. Poor design for sound. We had some loud talkers above us one week, it was pretty annoying.

7- I don't like the wrap around 5th floor deck. Makes it so that no balcony is really private at all.

8- I wish carnival would eliminate smoking on balconies. It's not really the cigarettes (well except for chain-smoking neighbors), it's the cigars.

9- Everyone knows the food has really gone downhill. MDR food was okay most nights but dishes I used to like I no longer care for, like short ribs or braised beef. I know american table will change all that anyway. But I really dislike the powdered scrambled eggs in the morning. No more watermelon in the fresh fruit bar in the morning. Lunch options were ok, same as the other ships. I don't care for the Mongolian Wok, mexican cuisine or Guy's Burger grease fest. So I stuck to the Tandoor options, deli and buffet for the lunches onboard.

We did eat in the steak house one night. They really salt the hell out of the meat, understandable, it's what you do with cheap cuts of beef. But the service was not really that great. I've eaten in many of the steakhouses on other ships, this was the first time I had to pour my own wine. Writing that statement I can see just how snobby that might sound, but it's a reflection of the service overall. We did not go again which is not like us, in the past we've eaten at the steakhouse 2-3 times per cruise, mostly to avoid dishes like Turkey with cream of mushroom soup over bow tie pasta in the MDR.

10- I hate how the doors to balconies slam shut. Some are really bad and the cabin next to ours would let it slam shut every time, rattles the whole wall.

11- Deck on the balcony was filthy, I know we tend to get soot on the aft balconies (been booking those since 2004). But I mean cigarette butts, matches, food, all sorts of crap would appear overnight. We asked for it to be cleaned but it was still all black streaks and smudges.

12- Service is a little slow in the MDR. I really didn't care. My comment is only to confirm what others say. There were times when soup or other things would arrive cold.

13- map channel on the TV didn't always work right. Stupid thing to care about, but there were times when I was curious where we were and the image was all messed up, doubled up, fuzzy, etc.

14 - Cruise director announcements. First, way too many. But here's the funny thing, you'd hear "well a very good morning..." and then I could not understand a thing the guy said next. I could pick out some stuff like $100,000 or Bingo, but everything else was a mumble.

15- Why is it necessary to require us back on board at 5pm to sail 50 miles and get off at 8am the next day? I mean we could drift that far in a few hours. I wish they'd make the ports 8am to 8pm instead of rushing to get back on at 5 only to zig zag at 8 knots for 14 hours.

16- $2 to play a game in the arcade, really? What happened to 25 cents? The greed is getting a little out of hand.

The good:

1- never had a problem getting on or off. Never lines, even for the tender we were escorted down as platinum guests but it didn't even matter. It was about 9:30 and the tender left with unfilled seats. Maybe a mad rush happened later on or we missed it earlier.

2- The decor of the ship was much nicer.

3- Cabin stewards were very good, possibly the cleanest cabin I've ever had.

Basically I think this was our last Carnival cruise. The cruise industry has changed since we started going in 1996ish so much that I think we need to rethink our annual vacation. I'm not sure changing cruise lines is enough.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the cruise. But with American Table coming and it seems that Carnival wants to fill the ships with party animals and children, it seems that it is no longer the right fit for us. As for the ship, just not my cup of tea. My favorite ships in order: Miracle, Valor, Glory. Least favorite: Dream, Breeze, Victory, Triumph (pre 2008, might be better now).

Word of advice, if you book the Breeze, be careful where your room is situated. Steak house is aft, deck 5 port, so if you're room is above that corner, you'll be smelling steak all week at night. On the starboard side you'll get the BBQ smell on sea days and I can't imagine deck 6 across from a hot tub, it must feel like the hot tub people are in your room. As for 9th deck under the lido deck, you're crazy to book those rooms.

I might be missing comments. If I think of more I'll add to the thread.

thanks for the review - you were one of the lucky ones who did the back to back. we were on with you for the first week. Agree with all of your comments. The kids were out of control and I mentioned that in my review. I also agree with you about the steakhouse. We did not go there this time, but only because we went on the behind the fun tour, but felt the same about the steakhouse on the Breeze. Sounds like you had a good time. Thanks for taking me for a quick walk down memory lane.

Thanks for your review.:D This just goes to show that all people prefer different ships. Some prefer the smaller, more intimate ships, while others prefer the larger ships with all of the bells and whistles.

We absolutely LOVED our cruise on the Breeze and are looking forward to #2 this year...... She is currently our favorite!

I was thinking about the Breeze for our next cruise but after reading this review I dont think I will go on this ship.My other choice is the Freedom .Is it better? I have cruised out of Galveston twice on the Magic and now I want to go out of Miami or Lauderdale or Puerto Rico for some new ports and sunny weather on the sea days.What would be the best ship? I

other interesting tidbit about the Cheers program. We met some people on it and they bought us drinks using their account. I thought this was not allowed but the bar waiter could not care less. I think the drinks were watered way down compared to if I bought them normally but it could have been a fluke.

I was thinking about the Breeze for our next cruise but after reading this review I dont think I will go on this ship.My other choice is the Freedom .Is it better? I have cruised out of Galveston twice on the Magic and now I want to go out of Miami or Lauderdale or Puerto Rico for some new ports and sunny weather on the sea days.What would be the best ship? I

I really like the freedom. There's a chance that next year we will go back to back with one week on Freedom and the other on another line. If I had to pick between Breeze and Freedom, it's really no contest, Freedom wins hands down. As for rear facing balconies, Deck 7 is best.

The one thing I really like on Freedom is that for some reason the railing is lower than the other ships. So when I sit in the chair I'm not starring right at the rail, I can actually see over it. Usually I grab a life preserver to sit on like a booster seat, just be careful, if you position it wrong it's as if you're on the balcony sitting on the toilet.

Thanks for your review.:D This just goes to show that all people prefer different ships. Some prefer the smaller, more intimate ships, while others prefer the larger ships with all of the bells and whistles.

We absolutely LOVED our cruise on the Breeze and are looking forward to #2 this year...... She is currently our favorite!

I completely agree. It is a nice ship, but for what I want, it's the wrong ship.

I was thinking about the Breeze for our next cruise but after reading this review I dont think I will go on this ship.My other choice is the Freedom .Is it better? I have cruised out of Galveston twice on the Magic and now I want to go out of Miami or Lauderdale or Puerto Rico for some new ports and sunny weather on the sea days.What would be the best ship? I

:eek::eek: You are going to let ONE semi-bad review take this ship off your list? You need to....

A. Read more reviews

B. Try it for yourself

Just because it's not good for one person, doesn't mean it's not right for you.

Again, as I stated above, she is currently our FAVORITE ship, and many others' as well.:D

more thoughts...

- I liked the gym, rarely go in there but I had no problem getting on a treadmill, rower or bike. But the odd thing, it's smaller than the gyms on other ships. I think it's a trend. Like the Liquid Disco is really cool, but smaller than the disco on other ships.

- Cruising B2B should be less painful than they make it. There were about 96 B2B cruisers and every time I go through this with Carnival it is as if it is the first time they ever did it.

We started at 10:15, waited until about 10:40 (some idiots forget they had to leave the ship I guess) but did not get back on until 11. Then when we got back on the elevators were all shut down for testing until about 11:20.

The stupidest thing is that the customs agent said that we don't even have to disembark, other lines don't have the guests do the same thing as Carnival. He said it would be different if I wanted to take a bunch of things I bought and put them in my car between cruises, but if I'm staying onboard, Carnival should just give me new room keys and be done with it.

I might mention that the electric power is all screwy on the rear of the ship. They were working on it both weeks while onboard. It never affected our cabin lights but the A/C would turn off in the afternoons for a while and then kick back on.

:eek::eek: You are going to let ONE semi-bad review take this ship off your list? You need to....

A. Read more reviews

B. Try it for yourself

 

Just because it's not good for one person, doesn't mean it's not right for you.

 

Again, as I stated above, she is currently our FAVORITE ship, and many others' as well.:D

I can't agree more, it's really hard to tell with just reviews. People hate the Miracle and it turns out to be our favorite. I can easily see why the Breeze will be the favorite ship of many, it really is a nice ship. The quirks are really just about my style of cruising and may not affect others.

But I realize that I left out the freedom, my favorites are Miracle, Valor, Freedom, Glory. So given our favorites, it is worth considering how this review came about.

I was thinking about the Breeze for our next cruise but after reading this review I dont think I will go on this ship.My other choice is the Freedom .Is it better? I have cruised out of Galveston twice on the Magic and now I want to go out of Miami or Lauderdale or Puerto Rico for some new ports and sunny weather on the sea days.What would be the best ship? I

...This is just a review from one person. I have to agree with the very vast majority. We agree that the Breeze is one of the very best ships in the Carnival fleet. You will not be disappointed.

..Frankly, I was a little shocked at the OP's comments. The OP mentioned that this was his 24th Carnival cruise, but many of the things he noticed are very common on Carnival ships. Because the Galley is on the 3rd deck between the main and aft dining rooms, the 3rd floor rear elevators are always busy after Main and Late sittings. Nothing new. Balconies do not get sunlight all day long. Smoking has always been allowed (excluding the early days of the Paradise) on balconies. Nothing new. After a great meal in the Steakhouse on our recent Liberty cruise, the chef came out to see how we enjoyed our meal. I told him that I always salt and pepper my steaks before grilling. I asked him if he does the same. Told me he uses peeper, but very, very little salt. OP claims that they "salt the hell out of the meat." And finally, one of the complaints were that the arcade games were $2 and "What happened to 25 cents?" I don't think I've seen an arcade game for $25 since the late 1990's.

...Hey, everybody is entitled to his or her opinion. Sounds like they didn't enjoy the ship. Sorry to hear it. But, I stand by my opinion... We can't wait to sail on the Breeze again.

Basically I think this was our last Carnival cruise. The cruise industry has changed since we started going in 1996ish so much that I think we need to rethink our annual vacation. I'm not sure changing cruise lines is enough.

 

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the cruise. But with American Table coming and it seems that Carnival wants to fill the ships with party animals and children, it seems that it is no longer the right fit for us. As for the ship, just not my cup of tea. My favorite ships in order: Miracle, Valor, Glory. Least favorite: Dream, Breeze, Victory, Triumph (pre 2008, might be better now).

 

After cruising the Carnival Dream about a year ago, I was the same. I didn't care if I NEVER cruised again. In order to help Mom have confidence to cruise for their anniversary, Dad booked a last minute DCL. I didn't want my parents to have to cruise alone for their anniversary on a family line, so we surprised them and all came. It was a 3 day, but I have literally been obsessed ever since. 10 weeks to our 4 day Magic, and who would have thought that a 3 or 4 day could blow away 7 or more on a Carnival, but it DEFINITELY can. We had VERY high expectations and it blew our minds. If you have decided that CCL isn't for you, I wouldn't give up entirely yet. (I told my friend when I got back "I think I'm CRUISED OUT!" and she said "You are probably CARNIVALED out." And she was right, cuz a month later, there I was on the DCL Dream, and what an unbelieveable difference with incredible service, technology, much better crowd management, impeccably talented entertainment, always something to amaze you and the private island, wow!)

There are VERY, VERY MAJOR differences in cruise lines, and basically CCL is at the bottom as a budget line. It is not worth my vacation time or money anymore. (I enjoyed my first CCL in 2007, but it is definitely different.) You might like X, DCL, RCI better. (I won't cruise any Carnival corp lines, that's how much I'm done with CCL, at least as far as it is my choice.)

You may decide to give up on cruising, and that's totally your choice. Or try a 3/4 day, especially if you can snatch up a GT sale? And you might be surprised. That's exactly what we did, and wow!

:eek::eek: You are going to let ONE semi-bad review take this ship off your list? You need to....

A. Read more reviews

B. Try it for yourself

 

Just because it's not good for one person, doesn't mean it's not right for you.

 

Again, as I stated above, she is currently our FAVORITE ship, and many others' as well.:D

I agree %100 , you have to judge for yourself. Not sure how the OP could even write " they enjoyed the cruise" really?

After cruising the Carnival Dream about a year ago, I was the same. I didn't care if I NEVER cruised again. In order to help Mom have confidence to cruise for their anniversary, Dad booked a last minute DCL. I didn't want my parents to have to cruise alone for their anniversary on a family line, so we surprised them and all came. It was a 3 day, but I have literally been obsessed ever since. 10 weeks to our 4 day Magic, and who would have thought that a 3 or 4 day could blow away 7 or more on a Carnival, but it DEFINITELY can. We had VERY high expectations and it blew our minds. If you have decided that CCL isn't for you, I wouldn't give up entirely yet. (I told my friend when I got back "I think I'm CRUISED OUT!" and she said "You are probably CARNIVALED out." And she was right, cuz a month later, there I was on the DCL Dream, and what an unbelieveable difference with incredible service, technology, much better crowd management, impeccably talented entertainment, always something to amaze you and the private island, wow!)

 

There are VERY, VERY MAJOR differences in cruise lines, and basically CCL is at the bottom as a budget line. It is not worth my vacation time or money anymore. (I enjoyed my first CCL in 2007, but it is definitely different.) You might like X, DCL, RCI better. (I won't cruise any Carnival corp lines, that's how much I'm done with CCL.)

 

You may decide to give up on cruising, and that's totally your choice. Our family (with no kids btw, not for any of us!) is in love with the DCL cruising style, service, and standard and we liked it so much, we opened TWO Disney rewards accounts and got over $700 in incentives and rewards so far, so our cruise is 50% paid for just for having the accounts... hoping for more cruises in the future.

 

Try a 3/4 day, especially if you can snatch up a GT sale? And you might be surprised. That's exactly what we did, and wow!

 

I think the general feeling of basically being hated by the CCL Dream crew was what I disliked the most (in addition to the constant infomercial style "buy bingo!" "buy drinks!" "buy buy buy" that took the relaxation out of my trip.) With DCL, you can bring whatever drinks of whatever kind of whatever quantity you can fit on your carryon and they don't police your island purchases either. It's the most relaxed and entertained I've ever been on a cruise...

Just one question for you.......

You say that NONE of you have kids.....

And don't take this the wrong way, because I am just asking an honest question here........

It doesn't bother you that the ship is overrun with kids? I mean it's Disney....

I know plenty of adults that enjoy the theme parks in Orlando that don't have kids, but I kind of feel that's different as there is SO much more room to spread out and get away from them........:rolleyes:

Our DD is 15, and I just have read reviews where adults only went and said there were just kids EVERYWHERE...............

I have also heard the quality of the food, entertainment, private island, etc is a notch above the rest, but there is also a HEFTY price tag that comes along with that......

Again, I am NOT flaming you........

Inquiring minds want to know:D:D:D

We were on the first week with you and can agree with many of your comments.

LOL at the mumbling CD. How on earth do you get that job if you can't be understood? He was even like that onstage.

We enjoyed the ship and were glad we tried it but the bigger ship definitely wasn't our favorite. As much fun as the ropes course and stuff like that was, I missed interacting with fellow passengers and more attentive service. We had a great waiter and found some great bartenders, but they were all soooooo rushed. We talked to one bartender who had been with Carnival 20+ years who expressed his frustration with the sheer number of passengers (nicely of course.) He felt like he couldn't interact with the passengers anymore - it was all just mixing drinks and ringing up sales.

We would also meet folks at meals or a bar and then never see them again like you usually do on smaller ships.

We did experience the infamous sewage smell a few times. Twice on sea days our balcony was pretty much unusable (we were in a Cove) due to the odor. This wasn't a faint whiff... .this was the worst sewer odor you could imagine times 10 and it lasted for a good hour or so.

I'm glad I tried it, but think our next cruise will be on a smaller ship again.

removed

We experienced the slippery floors in the buffet in November 2013 on the Breeze. We've also had this happen on other Carnival cruises. I think they use old water and the floor is covered with a layer of grease.

Even after the workers would come through and mopped we noticed people slipping and almost going down. We reported it a couple of times but it never got better after they mopped and put the signs up for Wet Floor. Very dangerous.

OP, thank you for your honest review.

After 19 different cruises (3 on Princess, 2 on RC, 1 on Norwegian and 13 on Carnival) by far the Breeze was the best ship we've been on. We are 49 and 50 and are empty nesters. We love Aft Balconies, the pools, Steak House and casino's. We also avoid Christmas Break, Winter Break, Spring Break and summer....otherwise kids vacation from school.

To us - Princess is nice but extremely boring, Royal Caribbean isn't far off from the same comment. Carnival has always given us the best vacation for the money. The rooms are bigger and it's just simply a more upbeat atmosphere. And to clarify we are not big drinkers or partiers.

Back to the Breeze.....we love the upgrades that the Breeze brought to Carnival. Yes, the pools are probably a little crowded but we absolutely have a blast on the slides right along side the kids. We've pretty much decided that we aren't into the anytime dining, but that includes other ships as well. We really enjoy getting to know our waiters and haven't had that opportunity during anytime dining. We always do the Steak House on the first night and have never had a bad experience. We also LOVE the italian restaurant on the Breeze, even paying extra at night. Wonderful waiters and food!!!

Please don't change your mind on the Breeze from this posters review....I really think you might regret it.

We leave April 12th for our 3rd 8-night Breeze cruise in 13 mths....cannot wait!!!

I was thinking about the Breeze for our next cruise but after reading this review I dont think I will go on this ship.My other choice is the Freedom .Is it better? I have cruised out of Galveston twice on the Magic and now I want to go out of Miami or Lauderdale or Puerto Rico for some new ports and sunny weather on the sea days.What would be the best ship? I

The Breeze is a sister ship of the Magic. If you like the Magic, you will love the Breeze.

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Thanks for the review.

Just one question for you.......

You say that NONE of you have kids.....

And don't take this the wrong way, because I am just asking an honest question here........

It doesn't bother you that the ship is overrun with kids? I mean it's Disney....

I know plenty of adults that enjoy the theme parks in Orlando that don't have kids, but I kind of feel that's different as there is SO much more room to spread out and get away from them........:rolleyes:

Our DD is 15, and I just have read reviews where adults only went and said there were just kids EVERYWHERE...............

I have also heard the quality of the food, entertainment, private island, etc is a notch above the rest, but there is also a HEFTY price tag that comes along with that......

Again, I am NOT flaming you........

Inquiring minds want to know:D:D:D

No problem. There were as many kids on the CCL Dream as the DCL Dream in my opinion. On DC, they are free in the clubs until midnight, they have THE best kids clubs and hours and even if they are out and about, like the parks, we found it really cute. So many princesses and pirates and stuff. Lots of characters to amaze them, I really enjoyed it. We had a private veranda but also hung out some in the adults deck, so we had plenty of adult time. We never even made it to the adult beach because the family area was so fun with waterslides and stuff, but I hope to go next time, I hear.its beautiful and lunch is great. I happen to enjoy Disney music, movies and family activities instead of casinos and dancers in thongs so to each their own. Disney's ships are beautiful! I felt like it was A LOT less crowded than CCL Dream. I recommend going on the 'new' Magic (you can probably pull up the YouTube special about its multimillion dollar refurb) or at least I will be on in and can tell you but its supposed to be less crowded than Fantasy or Dream. We always pick late seating and cruise when school is in. Hope that helps! (Out of 11, we will have 1 kid with us in May and we may not hardly see him! He LOVEs the activities. His mom has tried to pick him up several times and he never wants to leave the clubs so it means everyone wins!)

As to the price, we got our interior for $522 pp for 4 night but our rewards card knocked or cruise down by half. We are paying $300 pp including tax and gratuities and port fees. If you play it right, book early or short notice, you can do OK. I want to cruise a week on Fantasy but other family who felt stuck on a 7 day CCL and said no cruises said fine, no more than 4 day, so we are mixing it with parks. I'd cruise 3 days on DC before I took a week on another cruise line. And of course, avoid those crazy holiday times. It's basically like the parks for that. But if you like the parks, and cruising, than DC is definitely for you (I think.)

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Forums mobile app

After 19 different cruises (3 on Princess, 2 on RC, 1 on Norwegian and 13 on Carnival) by far the Breeze was the best ship we've been on. We are 49 and 50 and are empty nesters. We love Aft Balconies, the pools, Steak House and casino's. We also avoid Christmas Break, Winter Break, Spring Break and summer....otherwise kids vacation from school.

 

To us - Princess is nice but extremely boring, Royal Caribbean isn't far off from the same comment. Carnival has always given us the best vacation for the money. The rooms are bigger and it's just simply a more upbeat atmosphere. And to clarify we are not big drinkers or partiers.

 

Back to the Breeze.....we love the upgrades that the Breeze brought to Carnival. Yes, the pools are probably a little crowded but we absolutely have a blast on the slides right along side the kids. We've pretty much decided that we aren't into the anytime dining, but that includes other ships as well. We really enjoy getting to know our waiters and haven't had that opportunity during anytime dining. We always do the Steak House on the first night and have never had a bad experience. We also LOVE the italian restaurant on the Breeze, even paying extra at night. Wonderful waiters and food!!!

 

Please don't change your mind on the Breeze from this posters review....I really think you might regret it.

 

We leave April 12th for our 3rd 8-night Breeze cruise in 13 mths....cannot wait!!!

Awesome Ty KU Cruiser, DW and I are not empty nesters yet but we are getting closer by the day. We have loved the vacations our family has had with CCL. We very much look forward to our cruise on the Breeze.

I think that even when its just my DW and I we will still occasionally sail CCL because the atmosphere is fun. When I want a laid back relaxing cruise I book one. When I want an upbeat fun cruise I will look to CCL.

Btw, I don't like the constant announcements so I have learned to ignore them.

:eek::eek: You are going to let ONE semi-bad review take this ship off your list? You need to....

A. Read more reviews

B. Try it for yourself

 

Just because it's not good for one person, doesn't mean it's not right for you.

 

Again, as I stated above, she is currently our FAVORITE ship, and many others' as well.:D

THANK YOU!!! I was thinking the same thing...God, we cruised on the Dream when it was brand new and the reviews we read before were very mixed(alot of bad)

...But like every cruise you will find not everyone likes the same things..Some happy and not so happy reviews...The Dream, we loved, no complaints..Same thing when we cruised the Breeze last April, pretty mixed reviews, but we went with an open mind, like we usually do,

YEAH........... we loved it so much we're cruisin again on the Breeze this april.. We cruised on the Freedom another great ship. That and the Breeze oh so different. Some like the larger ships others like the smaller more intimate ships.

For us, the Breeze really has everything we like, But thats us.. What I'm getting at is so many people have so many different tastes, Why choose to not go on a certain ship, due to someone elses dislikes, what may bother the hell out of some people may be fine for others...Never know unless you try, you could be missing out on a great vacation!

No problem. There were as many kids on the CCL Dream as the DCL Dream in my opinion. On DC, they are free in the clubs until midnight, they have THE best kids clubs and hours and even if they are out and about, like the parks, we found it really cute. So many princesses and pirates and stuff. Lots of characters to amaze them, I really enjoyed it. We had a private veranda but also hung out some in the adults deck, so we had plenty of adult time. We never even made it to the adult beach because the family area was so fun with waterslides and stuff, but I hope to go next time, I hear.its beautiful and lunch is great. I happen to enjoy Disney music, movies and family activities instead of casinos and dancers in thongs so to each their own. Disney's ships are beautiful! I felt like it was A LOT less crowded than CCL Dream. I recommend going on the 'new' Magic (you can probably pull up the YouTube special about its multimillion dollar refurb) or at least I will be on in and can tell you but its supposed to be less crowded than Fantasy or Dream. We always pick late seating and cruise when school is in. Hope that helps! (Out of 11, we will have 1 kid with us in May and we may not hardly see him! He LOVEs the activities. His mom has tried to pick him up several times and he never wants to leave the clubs so it means everyone wins!)

 

As to the price, we got our interior for $522 pp for 4 night but our rewards card knocked or cruise down by half. We are paying $300 pp including tax and gratuities and port fees. If you play it right, book early or short notice, you can do OK. I want to cruise a week on Fantasy but other family who felt stuck on a 7 day CCL and said no cruises said fine, no more than 4 day, so we are mixing it with parks. I'd cruise 3 days on DC before I took a week on another cruise line. And of course, avoid those crazy holiday times. It's basically like the parks for that. But if you like the parks, and cruising, than DC is definitely for you (I think.)

 

 

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Forums mobile app

I will definatly agree that its all in timing when you book a Cruise especailly Disney, whether land or sea vacation..We did try the Disney wonder yrs back with our girls , we loved it and like you said didnt find it any more overrun with children than we did on the Carnival dream..Disney ships in General are Beautiful, very classic throwback style...! Inside and out..The price , yeah....if you have to go (like us during kids school breaks) price is insane...

I think though even if we didnt have kids we'd probably not go on a Disney cruise, (dont get me wrong, I'm a bit obsessed with WDW, putting it mildly, we go every yr, lol) we just prefer going to Disney World in general..The price for a disney cruise I just cant, and to top it off, our kids actually prefered the Dream , than to the Wonder!! Go figure!

Once again to each is own...although I do agree again, that the Disney Fantasy......yeah that looks pretty awesome!

.The price for a disney cruise I just cant, and to top it off, our kids actually prefered the Dream , than to the Wonder!! Go figure!

Once again to each is own...although I do agree again, that the Disney Fantasy......yeah that looks pretty awesome!

I hear ya. Just fyi, the DCL Dream would offer a lot more than the Wonder 8 years ago. The Wonder is the older non-refurbed ship in the fleet. We thought the interactive technology on the DC Dream was amazing and made the beautiful glitzy CCL Dream look like a floating casino. (I like the glitz but can't stand the layout thru the casino, yes yes I know, they all do that...prob another reason I liked the Disney Dream so much better.)

I wonder how your kids might feel now that they are older and that the newer ships have lots more interactive technology and splash zones, Aquaduck, water slides...

Just like the parks have changed a lot in 8 years, I think the newer ships have too. One of these days, I'm gettin' on the Fantasy.... we followed that ship almost every port on our CCL Dream... :mad: