6/15 Carnival Breeze Review

[Lizziebiff]

Great review, Thanks for all the information. :)

[unfdoug]

Over the weekend I added about 20 short videos of Carnival Breeze, two chats with John Heald, public areas and such. Here's the link to YouTube (embedding 20 videos would be too much).

 

http://www.youtube.com/cruiseandblog

 

Hope they help.

[jumac]

Wow! We're doing the same cruise in September and I've done several before. I think that is the best cruise review I've ever seen. Will pass it on to others! Thanks!

[Ronniewales]

Over the weekend I added about 20 short videos of Carnival Breeze, two chats with John Heald, public areas and such. Here's the link to YouTube (embedding 20 videos would be too much).

 

http://www.youtube.com/cruiseandblog

 

Hope they help.

 

Thanks for posting those Videos just watched them all now cant wait to sail on breeze on the 14th Aug 12.... Thank you

[jaxcruiser1961]

Hey Doug,

 

What dining room was the Punchliner Comedy Brunch held in and what were the hours? Was the food good and did the comedians stop by?

 

Scott

[unfdoug]

Hey Doug,

 

What dining room was the Punchliner Comedy Brunch held in and what were the hours? Was the food good and did the comedians stop by?

 

Scott

 

Punchliner Comedy Brunch was held every sea day from 10am and ended at 2pm'ish, the comedians performed hourly for like 5-10 minutes, at the top of every hour. It was in the Sapphire Dining Room, deck 3. The food is great in there. Filet and eggs, lots of good hot breakfast/lunch. Strong bloody mary's too!

[remidog]

Great information...Very excited about our cruise March 2nd next year with husband, sister and brother in law...There seems to be so many things to see and do on the ship. The food all sounds great!! Thank you for an amazing review of a wonderful trip.:o

[sailing_under_the_stars]

If you have been to the steakhouse on any other cruise... Expect this experience to be different!!!! We have done the steakhouse with the kids (18 & 15) on 2 previous cruises, and have loved it.. this time we were very disappointed. They have made the steakhouse a lot smaller, and so the tables are right next to each other, so you don't have a very private dinner. Also, as he stated, it is no longer a dress up event. So, on the night we were there, there were guys in jeans and flip flops.. We have always enjoyed the dress up like you are going to a nice restaurant, enjoy the quiet family time. It was ANYTHING but quiet. We have decided from now on, we will not book in advance, but wait til we are on board and check it out and see the layout.

 

We were on the same cruise as this guy, and I agree with everything.. It was wonderful!!!!!!

[Elaine515]

Doug, Thank you for the great review and pictures. I do have a question and was so glad to see that you had late seating for dinner.

 

We also are confirmed for late seating but just recently heard that there might be a problem being able to see the show or get seats at it. Can you confirm what times the shows were, and is it possible to have late seating but still make the later show and get seats. Or is it recommended that we go to the earlier show?

 

In the past we have always had early seating and then gone to see the show which worked out perfect especially because we cruise with my parents who are in their 80s and its a perfect evening for them. This time they have agreed to late seating but now I'm concerned that they might not be able to see the show and they really enjoy that.

 

Thanks for your response....

[Elaine515]

Doug, Thank you for the great review and pictures. I do have a question and was so glad to see that you had late seating for dinner.

 

We also are confirmed for late seating but just recently heard that there might be a problem being able to see the show or get seats at it. Can you confirm what times the shows were, and is it possible to have late seating but still make the later show and get seats. Or is it recommended that we go to the earlier show?

 

In the past we have always had early seating and then gone to see the show which worked out perfect especially because we cruise with my parents who are in their 80s and its a perfect evening for them. This time they have agreed to late seating but now I'm concerned that they might not be able to see the show and they really enjoy that.

 

Thanks for your response....

 

 

 

Maybe someone else can answer this question for me... Might have to change to early seating...

[Froufie]

Maybe someone else can answer this question for me... Might have to change to early seating...

 

From what I have read there are now 3 nightly shows instead of 2 and they are only 30 minutes long so I don't think there will be a problem getting into one of them no matter what time dining you have! Have fun! :)

[Robinola]

Totally Awesome. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much!

[GRAMMYTAN]

I am interested in what current Breeze cruisers are finding as the best transport from the ship to BCN airport. I'm trying to decide if we need to arrange for a driver or if their are taxis standing by at the ship's terminal. And if most are using a taxi, what are the fees and are the taxis large enough for 4 adults with 4 large bags and 4 small bags.

[Froufie]

I am interested in what current Breeze cruisers are finding as the best transport from the ship to BCN airport. I'm trying to decide if we need to arrange for a driver or if their are taxis standing by at the ship's terminal. And if most are using a taxi, what are the fees and are the taxis large enough for 4 adults with 4 large bags and 4 small bags.

 

I have not been....yet....:) - but found this on another thread from a recent Breeze cruiser:

 

We have been in Barcelona many times, we always take a taxi. From the airport in Barcelona, there are plenty of taxis. To a hotel on Las Rambles the cost runs us (2 of us) about 38 Euros with luggage. This is consistent from trip to trip in different taxis. You need a picture of the hotel with address, we have never had a driver who spoke more than a few words in English. They charge extra for luggage, and we have been charged for our backpacks as (luggage) as well as suitcases. We travel with a back page each, 1 carryon each, 2 large suitcases. 95% of the taxis in Barcelona are very small hybrids(small 4 seaters) , and two of us, and the luggage is all that can be crammed into the taxi (that is with the trunk filled and the front seat holding a suitcase.) Sharing taxis is not really feasible in Barcelona, in fact there is a good chance if you are a party of 4 people, you might need 2 taxis. We have been at the airport with people who have been told ahead of time on the internet that they have minivan taxis, these are few and far between, and you can expect to wait more than an hour for the one or two vehicles in their fleet that are minivans to get there. (You might be very lucky and catch one at the airport, but they are very rare)

 

So if you are a group or even 2 people with a lot of luggage, you will have problems with taxis in Barcelona. The 2 of us, barely fit in a Barcelona taxi with the above luggage.

 

As for going to the port on cruise day - we are usually charged 16 Euros with our luggage from Las Rambles to the port, again this is consistent over time and several taxis.

 

While pickpocketing is rampant in Barcelona, we have never had a taxi driver charge us more than any other taxi driver at another time. We have never personally been cheated by a driver and none of our friends have as well. Just remember what you see on the meter is the fare only. Added on is 1 to 2 Euros per piece of luggage, at the end of the trip which is where the meter suddenly jumps by 12 Euros over the price on the meter and people think they are being cheated, but in fact the luggage charge is added at the end. They also start with a fee at the beginning on the meter for the airport or the port, and if you go from the airport to the port, I do believe you will be charged both (extra charge they pay to enter the airport or port area) You will end up with the above amounts at the end of your trip.

 

We have never used anything but taxis in Barcelona, but if you are several people or several people with luggage, you can see how hiring a private car might not be a bad idea and might cost you less than having to hire 2 separate taxis for overflow of people or luggage.

 

there is the cheap option of the train from the airport to Las Rambles which is will mention if you can drag your luggage yourself. Do remember if you do this to have everything secured, you luggage and backpack locked, and valuable hidden - it is a pickpocket haven in the train station especially at the airport.

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[Mparis184]

View from the cliffs of Taormina.

 

 

 

We have about eight-hours in port today. I booked an excursion to Taormina , a city located on Sicily about 45-minutes up the coast from Messina. We met for the excursion at 10:15 in the Ovation Theater and boarded the bus to headed to Taormina . Last year when I was in Messina I just walked the down and had lunch at a little café, much different this year.

 

 

On the ride from Messina, Italy to Taormina we got to see Mount Etna, an active volcano and we were lucky because it was a clear day and we could see plumes of smoke coming out of it. About 10-minutes later we arrived in Taormina and were let out to explore. The first thing we did was grabbed lunch from this cafe overlooking cliffs and the bay, it was breathtaking. The pizza’s served there were very affordable, I want to say like 8 euros.

Since we were on one of those “on your own” type tours we took the funicular down to the beach.

 

 

The active Mt. Etna as seen from Taormina.

 

 

 

*Tip* If you want to check the beach out, take the funicular down, it runs every 15-minutes and cost $6 round trip. Just don’t cut it close because everyone on the beach takes it down and if you get caught on the beach you may get a great picture of Carnival Breeze sailing into the sunset. We went down to the beach, had a beer and made our way back up. We had to be at the meeting point at 4pm so that gave us about four hours in the area. The ride back wasn’t that bad. The broken English sometimes makes it very hard to follow along so I rocked out to Kenny Chesney.

 

 

I met a group for pre-dinner cocktails at the Ocean Plaza bar. There was a lot of dancing, music and the social vibe was really hopping. The Ocean Plaza bar is always where they do Superstar Live, where you karaoke with a live band. Great concept.

 

 

For dinner I went to Bonsai Sushi again – we bought a bottle to sake and a bento box. I fell in love with the shrimp tempura there, the crab roll, not so much. A $12 bottle of sake was awesome, served warm or cold. Loved! My bill was like $20 for a bottle of sake, bento box and a 1.5 liter of water – not too shabby. So far I’m really loving the dining venues aboard Carnival Breeze.

 

 

Pizza for lunch in Taormina.

 

 

 

Tomorrow is our last sea day and we are slammed with interviews. This is the fun part, doing back-to-back-to-back interviews. We’ll be doing video and audio.

 

Thanks for you excellent review of your Breeze adventures. Do you remember the name of the Restaurant in Taormina where you had lunch? We will be cruising on the Breeze in October and it sounds like a good lunch spot for us.

 

Thanks!

 

Marion

[cruiseclues]

Thanks for the photo review...like the food photos :)

[pigpen001]

Finally, someone has posted just about all we need to know. Cruising on the Breeze 19th of September.

Thanks for all the information!

[jerseygirl79]

Excellent review. Thanks for sharing!