Live From the Carnival Breeze - US Inagural

[med9114u]

 

 

Well... except that it is the first US sailing, there is none of the implied “to-do” stuff will be happening. Not even the Brand Ambassador is going to be here for the eight day. I guess that since carnival sold out the cruise six months ahead of time… at premium prices, there was no reason to have the big goings on. They could save that for some other undersold cruise.

 

 

Lol...funny part is that is WASN'T sold out as of 2 days ago...I got a call and was offered suite upgrades for ALL 3 of my balcony cabins that I have booked. We too were disappointed to hear that the ceremonies will not be held until Dec. 8...her 4th voyage from the US :(

[quickrate]

My PVP is on this cruise-she rocks!! We will be sailing on her Jan.13-I've been on 17 Carnival cruises and I am very excited about the Breeze!

Pat

[HB Cruiser]

Tim... I did a "compare and contrast" type of "Live From..." when I was on the Freedom of the Seas. You can find it by looking at my posts. For most of the cruise I posted on both the carnival threads and RCL threads as I went along. Check those out and if you have any questions, I'll be glad to answer them as best as I can.

 

That's all for now. I'm working on one more post for this evening.

 

Bob

Memories of Naked Fanny

 

Bob

 

#1, THANKS, I think I read that Live thread.

 

#2, what I'm looking for is mainly your comparision of experiences of ships, comparing only Breeze to Freedom.

 

Again, thanks in advance.

 

Tim

[SMSACE6]

Most definitey - first I have to unpack :), then download the thousands of pictures I took and start writing the review - stay tuned! ;)

 

I must say this was my BEST CRUISE EVER EVER EVER (and those that were on the TA will understand that LOL)...EVER

 

Froufie, I remember your post on the solo cruisers board, re; first dinner!

 

I take it that it all worked out well? looking forward to your review!:)

[SMSACE6]

Kokomo_man; is your recent book actually out in print? I have been looking and looking for it. I am not a nook/kindle/kobo savvy person, dont have one, and still like to turn the page, so to speak. Just wondering.

Have a great cruise and Im looking forward to following your "live from" updates!:)

[soccersharon]

Most definitey - first I have to unpack :), then download the thousands of pictures I took and start writing the review - stay tuned! ;)

 

I must say this was my BEST CRUISE EVER EVER EVER (and those that were on the TA will understand that LOL)...EVER

 

 

Hi Froufie - looking forward to your review as well. Given the 15 days, I'm guessing it'll take some time to write. But, I'm patient :)

[LizaMM]

So happy to see this "Live From"! I always enjoy your reviews and I am so excited to hear about the Breeze and her antic in the Caribbean!

 

ENJOY!!! And thanks for taking us along on your journey!

[Ron_L]

We too were disappointed to hear that the ceremonies will not be held until Dec. 8...her 4th voyage from the US :(

 

We're not disappointed :D We'll be on her for the Dec. 8th cruise.

 

Kokomo_Man, thanks for the live review!

[Cruisertommyboy]

Bob,

First of all, I loved your book. I Nooked it and read it to my wife (she is electronically challenged and is afraid of anything that even plugs in).

Anyway, you are completely right about the WOW. Along with Wes and about 200+ CCer's we were on the inaugural from Venice. Totally love the ship, layout and the crew. So much so I am taking the whole family on her again on 12/16.

We too were disappointed with the no naming stuff but we had our own naming party so all was well.

Looking forward to the rest of your live report. Also tell Ron and Sylvia in the piano bar I said hi and see them in 22 days

Tom

[gstewart]

I am cruising on the breeze next year and am very excited. I look forward to your posts, and am hoping for good reviews now that the Breeze is in the U.S. The reviews from the mediterranian sailings were mostly negative.

 

 

Dont be put off by the recent negative Med reviews - this was a cruise where the weather severely affected the itinerary.

 

We were on the 13th October sailing from Barcelona and absolutely loved the ship. Its fantastic with so much to do. We met some great people (passengers and crew) and ate some great food.

 

I wouldnt hesitate to recommend a cruise on the Breeze to anyone and would suggest everyone tries a Cove Balcony. We thought it was brilliant!

[celticd1]

Sitting on the edge of my seat waiting for the next installment!

 

Thanks for posting "Live"! Our merry band of Cruise Waiters will board her on Groundhog Day 2013 and we are eager for any and all info! :D

[Elaine515]

Totally looking forward to "being on this cruise with you" thread.. Can you please tell me about your book, i.e, what is it about, what is the title etc? Thanks

 

 

Oh, pictures of Ron in the Piano Bar and the Casino would be great if you can :)

[billfish]

Just got off the Breeze yesterday - did the 15 day transatlantic - and I can add my WOW!! The ship is beautiful - well designed and laid out - with lots of fun spaces to visit!

 

Have a great time onboard! :)

 

 

A couple of my Cape Cod friends ( Denise and Joe ) were on this cruise with you and we will be on the Breeze this coming February.

 

Looking forward to reading this Review

[idiebabe]

Dont be put off by the recent negative Med reviews - this was a cruise where the weather severely affected the itinerary.

 

We were on the 13th October sailing from Barcelona and absolutely loved the ship. Its fantastic with so much to do. We met some great people (passengers and crew) and ate some great food.

 

I wouldnt hesitate to recommend a cruise on the Breeze to anyone and would suggest everyone tries a Cove Balcony. We thought it was brilliant!

 

Totally agree! We were on the October 13th sailing as well. We loved the Ship so much that we booked a last minute for December 2nd. Can't wait until we get on her again in 9 days!!! :)

[jkzs]

Looking forward to your review. Planning on booking the cruise for May 2014 as soon as the itinerary comes out.

[Kokomo_Man]

OOPS doubble post

[Kokomo_Man]

Day 1

 

 

V 0.1

 

 

I’m out by the pool with my morning coffee. We’re in Nassau today. I’m gonna go ashore in a while, but for now most of my parts are not working very well. I’m not hung over or anything like that. It’s that I’ve been burning the candle at both ends for a couple of days… and staying to help close down the piano bar last night.

 

I’ve said this several times before, but I’ll say it again… I think that Ron Pass is the best piano bar entertainer on the seven seas. Even if there never was any of the other stuff I thought there was going to be on this cruise, I would never have booked it if Ron Pass wasn’t going to be here. And with the other stuff canceled, it doesn’t matter since Ron Pass is that entertaining.

 

In no particular order, I want to catch up on a few odds and ends from Day 0. First, I’m supprised that none of you posted the appropriate response to my posting of “Day 0”. I’m sure some of you know it. So since I mentioned it here, you have one more chance to respond. (I’m sure that most of you reading this are going… huh? But when... if someone posts the response you’ll understand.)

 

I’m posting some pics. But, you can’t post pics directly here on Cruisecritic. Instead you have to post them someplace else and then link them to cruise critic. So I’ll be posting them directly to my page. I’ll just keep adding and let you know each time something has been posted. Here’s the link:

 

http://www.facebook.com/KokomoManToo

 

I’ve been asked to compare the Breeze to the RCL Freedom of the Seas. So far, everything I said in the previous “Live From…” still applies. The are a couple of differences I can see so far. The first is the water park (water slides and play area) here on the Breeze outshines the RCL stuff. This doesn’t include the Flowrider because the Flowrider is unique to RCL. But the water park here is better and adults and kids alike are having fun there. On RCL the water park was mostly just a kids area. (A couple of pics are posted.)

 

One other difference at this point in time is that the staff in all areas of this ship has been picked from the entire carnival fleet so that the very best are here. That will change over time, but for now, this is the flagship of Carnival. They have picked has the cream of the crop.

 

Another big difference is the internet. Finally, Carnival seems to have gotten their act together. They have a new payment plan. (More on the plan in a minute.) Of course it’s still a bit pricey, but you pay one price for cruise long access. Yesterday when I made all the posts, the internet was speedy and reliable for a ship at sea. Even posting the pics this morning didn’t take long. (It’s still slower than land based high speed internet, but it has been vastly improved over my previous experiences.) This is possibly the best internet performance I have experienced on any ship of any brand.

 

You now have two options when you make your purchase for internet… a high speed “cruise-long” option and a “standard speed” cruise-long option. The high speed option is about twice the price of “standard” but I think it is worth it. I don’t know if this “cruise long” internet applies to longer cruises or just this 2 day cruise. I’ll let you know after the 8 day begins.

 

I’m going to stop the “compare and contrast” at this point for the rest of the cruises unless there’s something striking that comes up. I don’t want to offend the CC moderators with discussions about RCL on a Carnival thread. Discussions of which is better often turn into a contest of wills and I don’t want that to happen here.

 

I also have to be careful to not violate the advertising rules. So I will largely defer any questions “off topic” to my email address: bobd@kokomoman.com I’ll be glad to answer any “off topic” questions you might have there. Also, if you click on my user name, there is a link to my home page and there are email addresses in there too. Send any questions you have about my books to one of those places.

 

Of course, I’ll also be glad to answer any questions you have about this cruise right here. So let me know what you would like to know about.

 

Now I’m off to do a walk-about in Nassau. More later.

 

Bob

Memories of Naked Fanny

[Senoj84]

I'm living vicariously through this post right now...I can't wait to board the Breeze next week!

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the live updates.

[Froufie]

Froufie, I remember your post on the solo cruisers board, re; first dinner!

 

I take it that it all worked out well? looking forward to your review!:)

 

Best decision I made was to take my chances at a 'new' dinner table - and it did work out fine - made TONS of new friends! :)

 

Hi Froufie - looking forward to your review as well. Given the 15 days, I'm guessing it'll take some time to write. But, I'm patient :)

 

Lots of patience required - I am now downloading 1500 PICS from my camera! YIKES!;)

[LBumb]

great job so far

[zgwortz]

First, I’m supprised that none of you posted the appropriate response to my posting of “Day 0”.

Daylight come and me wan' go home? I doubt you wan' go home quite yet... Any bananas on that boat? :D

 

Another big difference is the internet. Finally, Carnival seems to have gotten their act together. They have a new payment plan. (More on the plan in a minute.) Of course it’s still a bit pricey, but you pay one price for cruise long access. Yesterday when I made all the posts, the internet was speedy and reliable for a ship at sea. Even posting the pics this morning didn’t take long. (It’s still slower than land based high speed internet, but it has been vastly improved over my previous experiences.) This is possibly the best internet performance I have experienced on any ship of any brand.

 

You now have two options when you make your purchase for internet… a high speed “cruise-long” option and a “standard speed” cruise-long option. The high speed option is about twice the price of “standard” but I think it is worth it. I don’t know if this “cruise long” internet applies to longer cruises or just this 2 day cruise. I’ll let you know after the 8 day begins.

 

WOOHOO!!! You just made my day with this post! :D I'd been hoping a lot that they'd roll this out on the Breeze before my Dec 2 cruise, and was even going to ask you about it. I work through my laptop and the internet, and had been planning to do most of my work in the ports on this cruise, but if the unlimited plan is on the Breeze on Dec 2, I'd just buy that, do my work in the wee hours, and have port time free for fun...

[bp traveler]

Looking forward to your reveiw - love to hear about the new ships!

 

Hope you are enjoying your cruise - it snowed here today in MN!

[TravelGal22]

Thank you so much for your review. We will be sailing on the Breeze Dec. 3nd and I do have some questions. I noticed from your photos that there were no lounge chairs with shade. Are there places that this is not true where there are plenty of chairs available? What time are the shows at the Comedy Club? Was the Taste Bar open the first night? Thanks!

[hill6]

Enjoy and great for the live posts. I know someone on the b2b 2 and 8 day ones. I thought the 2 day was a cruise to no where. Surprised you are in Nassau today.