Breeze Southern 8-Day 05-13 Jan 2013

[Ken076]

CARNIVAL BREEZE 8 DAY 05-13 JANUARY 2013

Summary:

We booked the Cruise in October 2011 and watched the Cruise Fare steadily increase by about 40%; the cruise was sold out a week before sailing.

The Intercontinental Hotel on Biscayne Bay is a FANTASTIC (albeit pricey) pre-cruise Hotel. A variety of restaurants, bars and shopping are in the Bayside Market Place, a short walk North on Biscayne Blvd.

Premier Secure Garage Parking on NE 2nd Ave was convenient, located in a relatively decent area in a secure garage, with acceptable shuttles and shuttle service.

The Breeze was clean and well kept. The crew was friendly and helpful; we did not see the “hang-dog looks” and “riding out their contract behavior” that someone described. The Blush MDR food was well-presented, well-proportioned and served at the appropriate temperatures, by an attentive and personable (albeit BUSY) wait-staff.

Embarkation at 11:30AM was crowded, but kept moving and took about 30 minutes; when we checked-in we didn't notice any screeners inspecting wine bottles or shaking water bottles. With Disembarkation by Zone, with Zone 6 we were off the ship by 9:30AM or so.

Miami Intercontinental Hotel on Biscayne Bay near POM. We booked a City View Priority Club free award night and were upgraded to a Harbor View 21st floor room. The Hotel is FANTASTIC; check-in was fast and problem free and the staff was friendly and cooperative. Rooms are spacious and contemporary décor, with a large flat screen TV, corner work desk, sofa, King bed, stocked mini-fridge and Keurig coffee-maker, and a spacious bathroom with sink/dressing-area, soaking tub and stall shower. The Harbor View rooms have a huge picture window that overlooks POM. Only valet parking is available ($36/nite) and WiFi is $17.95/nite. The restaurant is expensive; there’s a Starbucks is in the Lobby, a 7-11 across the street and some of the restaurants in the MarketPlace are oopen in the morning for breakfast. The Hotel does not provide Airport or POM shuttle service. We would definitely recommend the Intercontinental.

Bayside Marketplace is a safe, several block walk on Biscayne Blvd from the Intercontinental. The Marketplace has Garage Parking, Shopping, Music, Food Court, Restaurants, and Excursions. We ate dinner at Bubba Gump’s Shrimp Company; pricey with decent food and friendly service.

Island Queen Harbor Tour from the Market Place was “OK”; try to choose a sailing with the double-deck boat.

Saturday morning we drove to POM to drop-off luggage; the Terminal was easy to find and drop-off went smoothly.

We booked Premier Secure Garage Parking (1415 NE 2nd Ave) via www.globalairportparking.com for $72.50 (with Internet coupon) for 8 days. The Garage is in a decent area just off Biscayne Blvd and the Garage entrance is secured with a gate. Cruise Parking looks to be on the top two levels. Shuttles start running to POM at 11:00AM. Vans are marked Premier Parking and are in decent condition, although somewhat uncomfortable and a little warm as they FILL them to capacity for the brief ride to the Port. We arrived at 11:00 AM or so and were on the way to POM at 11:15 or so. Returning, we had to wait about 10 minutes for a Van at the Terminal pick-up area. The manager was cheerful and communicative; the drivers weren’t very communicative. I would recommend Premier Secure Garage Parking for off-port parking at about $100 savings.

POM Check-In was relatively painless at about 11:30AM – we were aboard the Breeze within 30 or 40 minutes.

· From Curbside Porters it’s a few hundred feet walk to the Terminal entrance.

· Boarding Passes were hand scanned at the Terminal entrance.

· Next, Passports were checked at a counter.

· Next were the airport-like scanners. When we passed thru, no one was shaking water bottles or inspecting wine bottles. We each carried on backpacks, each with a bottle of wine and a 6-pack of soda.

· Upstairs, The line for Sign-and-Sail cards was long but moved quickly as there were 20 or 30 agents. Our Gold Card was ready (we turned Gold the last day of the Cruise), our $50 MasterCard OBC was on the Account, and the Agent was able to credit our Carnival Gift Card to the Account at the check-in counter.

· Next was the Embarkation Photo (in the Terminal) and a few minute wait in line to board.

Décor: Breeze departs from the traditional Carnival 70’s Las Vegas themes/colors and has more soothing Caribbean theme with beige, blue and green colors (the exception seems to be the Ovation Theatre). The crew generally dressed in beige shorts or slacks, with blue/turquoise tops. IMO the Breeze approaches Princess in Décor.

Cabins. There was a PA announcement at 1:30PM that all rooms were accessible.

Interior rooms are pretty much the Carnival standard, with the above Caribbean colors. Three tall closets with plenty of hangers, Flat Screen TV where you can check your S&S Account, cabinet with keypad safe and stocked mini-fridge. Standard molded bathroom (with retractable clothes hanger wire and Shampoo and Shower Gel Dispensers in the shower). The desk has 2 US outlets (and a round outlet) and there WAS a hairdryer in the desk drawer. I did not see an outlet in the Bathroom. There’s a thermostat on the wall and the lighting uses a card key slot that controls the lighting (when you leave and pull your S&S card from the slot, the lighting turns off after a delay).

Bathroom amenities included round soaps, Arm & Hammer toothpaste samples, Nasal Strip samples, Garnier Fructis Sleek & Shine samples (no shavers, no toothbrushes).

VIFP Stuff:

Our VIFP Free Drink Coupons were waiting in the cabin when we boarded. Drinks waiters were almost impossible to corral in the MDR at Breakfast; there’s a Bloody Mary stand outside the MDR entrance and around the corner is the Atrium Bar – both accepted the coupons and for drinks not on the “classic” list!

The 2nd day A VIFP Pin and Invites to the VIFP Party in the Theater (3:30PM on Day 3 - after Grand Turk departure) appeared. We didn’t attend, due to conflict with a power nap.

Main Dining Room (MDR): We had a Table for six in the Blush (aft) Dining Room, by the rear windows. Our three-waiter team had 4 or 5 tables in that section and seemed very busy with not much time to interact. Service was excellent – our headwaiter was VERY concerned if we looked like we did not like something and always offered to get a replacement. A drinks server (who we could barely understand) was always at the table at the beginning of the meal and usually prior to dessert. Food was excellent and always served at the appropriate temperature. There was a charge for Espresso & Capuccino. We all felt there was noticeable ship’s motion AFT.

Maitre’d Ken Burns was excellent and non-intrusive; just as dessert was served each nite he had a few brief comments, a song followed by a song or dance by the waiters, and then back to dinner.

Cucina del Capitano: We made advance reservations via e-mail at BRCUCINA@carnival.com and received e-mail confirmation the same day, and a reminder card in the cabin the day before. The Cucina is on Deck 11 AFT with an entrance just off the rear elevators. The service and food were excellent, as were the desserts and after-dinner drinks – a very good deal for $12pp. We did not get to try the free noon-time Pasta.

Shows: The biggest change is in the production shows – Carnival looks to be gravitating to high-tech, low-manpower, shorter shows, with more showings during the day. The show band is gone, replaced by a LOUD sound system. The backdrops are gone, replaced by a LED backdrop that is very versatile and very neat. Now there are eight(8) Dancers/Singers who perform all 4 shows. The shows are now about 30 minutes non-stop, high-energy. The shows were Divas, Latin Nights, Motor City and the Brits. IMO the LED backdrop is GREAT, the dancing/singing was marginal and the sound was too LOUD. Also IMO, the décor of the showroom is more 70’s Vegas than it is relaxed Caribbean.

Piano Bar: Ron Pass is pretty entertaining, but IMO more so to his “entourage”.

Punchliner Comedy Club: IMO the Limelighter Lounge is undersized for the Comedy Shows – the lines are long and the Club is filled. They did indicate at the end of the shows that everyone had to leave, but I didn’t stay to see if they enforced thiws. IMO the comedians were average; one missed his flight and we were down to one comedian for several days.

Grand Turk: On exiting the two-ship pier, the “cruise center” consists of a few shops (including del Sol and DI) and is dominated by a huge (pricey) Margaritaville Restaurant, Bar, Pool, FlowRider and Beach complex. Beach and Pool recliners are free. Scattered along the Beach to the North are some independent boat tour operators and the less crowded, less pricey Crew Bar, Village Bar and Jack’s Shack. IMO Grand Turk is an ideal Beach Day.

We did the Sail and Snorkel Grand Turk Carnival Excursion ($70pp for 2.25 hours) on a large Catamaran which took us to the edge of the “wall”. The ship was clean and well-kept and the snorkeling equipment was decent quality. The Captain and Crew were personable, friendly and very concerned about the safety, instruction and comfort-level of the non-swimmers and first-time snorkelers in the group. We’d highly recommend the excursion for novices, but not necessarily for accomplished snorkelers who want to explore a bit.

There IS an independent island tram tour that picks-up behind (I think) the Village Bar.

La Romana: La Romana is a commercial, two-ship port with a small “cruise terminal”. We stayed aboard ship and took advantage of the uncrowded Serenity area, the hot tubs, and the recliners near the pools. One of our party did the Zip Line excursion but was disappointed in the number, lengths and heights of the runs.

Curacao: The Breeze docks at the Mega Pier near the Renaissance Hotel and Rif Fort Village Mall. We did a self-guided walking tour thru Fort Rif along the River (where you can view the colorfully painted shops on the Punda side) to the Kura Hulanda Hotel & Museum, then crossed the river on the Ferry to the Punda shopping area, thru the Punda shopping and Fort Amsterdam, and returned via the Queen Emma floating (pontoon) Bridge. (We didn’t do the Floating Markets and the Scharloo).

Aruba: many months in advance we scheduled a personalized tour with “Bully” (bullytaxi79@hotmail.com) who operates a large passenger van for flat $45 per hour for 3 or 4 hour tours. “Bully” met us at the cruise terminal exit and took us all over the island, stopping for photo-ops, with a constant narrative. Stops included the California Lighthouse, Alto Vista Chapel, Casabari Rock formations and hill view of Aruba, former Natural Bridge, and the Hotel and Beach areas. We’d highly recommend “Bully’s” services.

Fat Jimmy’s BBQ and Guy’s Hamburgers: Fat Jimmy’s is open for a few hours and only on sea days; the lines are LONG. IMO the BBQ was average. Guy’s is open at noontime and the lines weren’t too bad. The Burgers were pretty good – similar to 5-Guys. The Servers ALWAYS gave us the hamburger we asked for (previous posters complauined they were given a “cheeseburger” no matter what they ordered).

Disembarkation: Disembarkation info is provided in a brochure in the cabin and on the TV, supplemented by PA announcements (which requested that cabins be vacated by 8:30AM).

ken

[ILCruzr]

We did this itinerary on the miracle, wish we did it on the breeze.

[rhcpchika1]

Thanks for the review :)

[bucks724]

You got ROBBED! You didn't get 2 things of Gold Bond Ultimate Healing Lotion too? :)

 

Chucking because I'm reading your review sitting here looking at FIVE of the SEVEN Arm & Hammer Advance White toothpaste samples I brought home (we stay in hotels a lot during the summer for my daughter's travel softball, so they come in handy and I brought them home).

 

VERY accurate review. Love reliving the same cruise through different eyes!

[smarks]

Great review. Thanks for sharing. I will be on the Breeze in April.

[Purplehaze21]

TY for the Great Review!! Loved it :D

[LizaMM]

Thanks for your review!

 

I love to read reviews of the same sailing I was on and see another cruisers perspective!

 

I am hoping to write my review in the next couple of days from the same sailing

[leadout_kv]

Punchliner Comedy Club: IMO the comedians were average; one missed his flight and we were down to one comedian for several days.

ken

 

Thanks for the great review.

 

I've heard this comedian story before. The 2nd comedian misses their flight. Ummm? I wonder if the comedian really missed their flight or that's just what Carnival wants you to believe. I wonder if Carnival only scheduled one comedian all along.

[crewsweeper]

Thanks for taking the time to do a review Ken. While we missed La Romana on our cruise and many people were highly upset and in rants to guest services, sounds like our extra day at sea was a better deal.

 

Thanks for the great review.

 

I've heard this comedian story before. The 2nd comedian misses their flight. Ummm? I wonder if the comedian really missed their flight or that's just what Carnival wants you to believe. I wonder if Carnival only scheduled one comedian all along.

 

Depending on where the comedian was coming from and which port he/she was to embark, missing flights isn't an uncommon occurance, especially in winter weather Stateside and if you have to make a connection. Not saying that was the case here, but don't auto assume that it's Carnival's fault/falsehood.

[sunsetswizzle]

Good review..we were on the same cruise. We so loved The Souljaz Band at the Ocean Plaza! The VIFP welcome party, she sang and everyone gave her a standing ovation!!

We got the Gold Bond Lotion, you prob did too...great cruise!!

[sunsetswizzle]

La Romana was interesting, not my fav, but we did a river excursion and it was beautiful! Bought some really good coffee and beautiful Larrimore (sp?) jewelry only found in DR.

[sonicbuffalo]

We took Bully's tour in Aruba, and I'll 2nd that motion....he is the best, and for a decent price. Not sure what we'll do this time around.

[lbfluffy]

How many people can Bully take? So it is $45 per hour so for four hours it would run us $180 if I'm adding correctly.

[Ken076]

How many people can Bully take? So it is $45 per hour so for four hours it would run us $180 if I'm adding correctly.

 

Even tho he drives a large van, he's limited to 5 adults (+ 1 infant - he has a car seat). So, for 4 hours it would be $180 (+ Tip) split 5 ways.

 

ken