Brief Breeze Review - 12/22

[Stevie17]

Hi everyone. I wanted to write a very brief review of our Breeze trip...I'm going to bullet point this so that I can get my thoughts out quickly...these are in no particular order.

 

First a bit of background. This was our 13th cruise, and the fifth with our children. Our daughters are 10 and 8, and this was the first Christmas (or any holiday) sailing for us.

 

Here goes…again, random order:

 

•The easiest and fastest embarkation EVER. We arrived at the port at 11:30 am , and we were on the ship in 15 minutes…I kid you not. It was incredible.

 

•Impressions of the ship. We really liked it…..beautiful ship, lovely color scheme and a lot of interesting places to mingle and have fun. The ship was nicely decorated for the holidays…it was festive and lovely.

 

•We really enjoyed the Ocean Plaza area and found the Lanai to be really nice. I truly enjoyed the “inside/outside” concept on deck 5…different and welcoming.

 

•This ship is outstanding for families. My daughters LOVED the high-ropes course as well as the Water Works. The area under the ropes course contains pool tables, ping pong and mini-golf, and it’s a colorful and engaging area. We also enjoyed the Thrill Theater….we went there several times. Please note that if you want to enjoy the Thrill Theater, you may want to visit it early in your cruise. By the final sea day, it was packed and the wait was very long to get in. We had much less of an issue with this our first couple of days.

 

•We had a balcony stateroom on deck 10. Great deck, bad stateroom location. I chose a stateroom whose door opened to the stairs and elevators…big mistake. It was extremely loud, and I should have known better when I booked it. The stateroom was also two doors down from the laundry room. This became a nuisance later in the week as more people began doing their laundry. People would gather in the hallway and talk, block the hallway, block our door, etc. Again….live and learn….I won’t make that cabin selection mistake again.

 

•The stateroom was nice and met our needs. Plenty of storage, and our stateroom steward was wonderful…friendly, kind and efficient.

 

•The food. It was such a mixed bag. Guy’s burgers, the hot dog stand, Blue Iguana, Tandoor, Fahrenheit 555 and La Cucina and the Pizza stand were all very good. The dining room was a miss….we found the food to be marginal at best. We had Anytime Dining, and we would always go early, so we didn't experience significant wait times to get in. The lido buffet was awful. We tried to eat there in the evening on two occiassions, and frankly, it was just bad, and most of the food was served cold. That being said, the breakfasts were good (sans the eggs…..they are clearly powdered and should be avoided.) The sushi restaurant was fine, but I’m a bit of a sushi fanatic…..it’s good for a quick snack. In summary, the quality of the food on this cruise was all over the board....very inconsisent.

 

•The lines. There were lines EVERYWHERE and for EVERYTHING. As I mentioned earlier, this was a Christmas sailing, so maybe this is typical? However, I’ve never encountered the crowding that I felt on this ship on any that I’ve ever take before. This ship was at capacity, and it showed. We had read about the crowds on the Breeze prior to cruising, so we weren’t surprised by this. The worst of it really was in the Lido Buffet…it’s just poorly designed, in my opinion.

 

•Cutbacks. Yes, they are evident. We missed the live music by the main pool area. Personally, I don’t like DJs and would much prefer a more peaceful and “tropical” environment at the main pool area during the day. At one point, the DJ was blasting ACDC’s Back in Black so loudly that I couldn’t even have a conversation with the person next to me. Subsequently, we spent little to no time at this pool and opted for the very nice aft pool area. I also thought that the main pool was far too small for the amount of people on this ship.

 

•Cruise director Butch was outstanding….probably the best I’ve ever seen on any of my cruises. He was very involved and a super nice and fun guy.

 

•The evening entertainment was marginal….the shows are short, and in my opinion, just not very good. That being said, we love the Hasbro Game Show….my daughter was chosen to participate, and it was so much fun for everyone, audience and participants alike.

 

I’m sure that I’ll think of more, and will happily answer any questions that you may have. Overall, we had a great vacation, and I think most people will find the Breeze to be a nice ship. I do hope that Carnival hears the comments about their cutbacks that people have been making on these boards. Maybe I’m an old “fuddy duddy” but I really like live bands……sigh.

 

Regina

[surfjock27]

Were you in 10260?

We cruised the Breeze on 12/8 and your cabin location experience sounds similar to ours.

Our cabin opened to the stairs/elevator and the laundry services were 2 doors down.

While we loved the location, we hated the noise!

Every night between 10-11 the loudness of the people waiting for laundry in the hallway was absurd. You could lay in bed and listen to full conversations.

[Breezy72]

Thanks for sharing! :) After all the egg complaints, one could hope Carnival does something about it.

[Cruizinman]

Regina, Thanks for a fair and informative review.

[jlk806]

All the reviews on overcrowding are one of the main reasons we decided against the Breeze for this summer. One of my friends entire family was on that sailing with you - her daughters are 7&9, maybe your daughters met them! I will see them tomorrow, and cant wait to hear their experiences! I also know someone who is on the current Breeze sailing, so cant wait to hear from them when they get back too.

[Stevie17]

Were you in 10260?

We cruised the Breeze on 12/8 and your cabin location experience sounds similar to ours.

Our cabin opened to the stairs/elevator and the laundry services were 2 doors down.

While we loved the location, we hated the noise!

Every night between 10-11 the loudness of the people waiting for laundry in the hallway was absurd. You could lay in bed and listen to full conversations.

 

Yes! That very cabin! :D

[surfjock27]

Yes! That very cabin! :D

 

Ah. Never again will I book a cabin near the laundry facilities. Haha.

Lesson learned.

 

The cabin was nice. Jose was our steward (not sure if you had the same), but he was very nice.

Our balcony door started howling one night (the winds and sea were very rough).

He quickly came and fixed it for us.

 

Glad you enjoyed your cruise all in all.

[re-re]

Thanks for your review

[Redsfan]

sounds very much like my review except our lines probably weren't as aggravating as yours as we were on Breeze off season....

[jimbo5544]

Nice organized review. Thanks

[Stevie17]

Ah. Never again will I book a cabin near the laundry facilities. Haha.

Lesson learned.

 

The cabin was nice. Jose was our steward (not sure if you had the same), but he was very nice.

Our balcony door started howling one night (the winds and sea were very rough).

He quickly came and fixed it for us.

 

Glad you enjoyed your cruise all in all.

 

We had Jose too! He was wonderful. It's funny that you should mention the wind howling and your balcony door...we had EXACTLY the same issue on our very last night. I couldn't believe how loud it was! :D

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the report!