March 2-10 Breeze Review

[JXR]

I forgot to mention the Piano Bar... thanks for reminding me!

Yes, we did sit for a short spell in the piano bar one night and liked it enough. I don't think Ron Pass was on board as it was a younger guy both times we sat/walked by. The place was never packed, but a decent group of happy customers were partaking in the more relaxed atmosphere. I will agree with others who have written reviews that the layout of the piano bar has much to be desired. It's right on the main path/breeze way and not closed off so the noise level was distracting. DH, who is a rather good musician (not professional) thought the pianist was entertaining, but veered away from the traditional songs too much. Not to say he was bad, but when one likes to sing along (quietly) and the lyrics and tempo don't match up, it can be a bit annoying for those who don't veer from tradition. Just an opinion of course!

 

Comedy club was one venue I really wanted to partake in, but we never found the time! The small sound bites we heard at the brunches were funny and people were chuckling. One guy in particular just got on the ship in Antigua (??) and I would have liked to seen more of his act. He joked about making a cruise last longer by leaving a pair of shoes on a deck near the railing and a note stating: "I just couldn't take it anymore"... which would halt the ship pretty dang quick! ya, had to be there!;)

 

I was on the same sailing as you and concur with everything you said.

 

Ron Pass was indeed the PB entertainer last week as that is where I spent every night. Last week was a very subdued crowd, so the regular sing-alongs were not requested as much. The requests were more of Old Standards and show tunes.

 

Joanne

[framboesa]

Thank You for your review!I can't wait!!!!!!!!:eek:

[Mizzouaholic]

So now I understand why people are so angry about being booted off a cruise... the Breeze was wonderful! I can't think of a bad thing to say about it besides that the cruise didn't last longer... and they kicked me off the last day!

 

This is probably going to be a long review (sans pictures... read on) as I'm looking for any reason to relive our vacation! Bare with me....

 

Flew out of Wyoming 6:20AM and arrived in Miami 4-something PM Friday (day before cruise). We stayed at the Hilton Airport hotel (shuttle service from MIA) for $89 for two queen beds in a newly refurbished room. Very comfy! Great dining room food! Highly suggest it. We requested a balcony which overlooked a lagoon.

 

Booked a limo to take us to POM Sat. morning but he didn't show (booked 8 months in advance and confirmed a few days prior to arrival). Hang up if you are speaking with Cuba Paul. Can't recall name of service but I have the number if you need to cross reference! DH called down to front desk of hotel and they had a limo outside in 15 minutes. Super happy with the Hilton!

 

Embarkation was easy peasy. We had "priority" due to two OS booked (two kids, two adults). On the ship in 20 minutes. The staff in POM were amazing and set the mood for a great vacation. DH remarked on this and couldn't believe how easy it was! We kept waiting for that other shoe to drop and be told "no, you have to wait in that line!" Never happened!

 

The Breeze is beautiful! I never got the impression it was "cheap" or felt the "cutbacks" that so many have spoken of. And never did I feel I was on the "Walmart of the Seas". (Well, except for a few other cruisers who did everything possible to live up that reputation! Everything was so clean and pristine. I will say that the carpet is in need of shampooing and the foot traffic is noticeable in stairwells (carpet looking worn), but overall, the ship felt new in every way. Every day I witnessed the staff cleaning, sanitizing, wiping, dusting, vacuuming, painting, and doing everything possible to keep the ship looking good... and sanitary. They work hard!

 

MDR food was so so, but service was good. I Putu, Roku, and Tomas took good care of us in the Blush dining room. We got to hear Ken sing a few times and he is as good as everyone says. DH had to do a double take to make sure Frank Sinatra hadn't come back from the grave to hang out on the Carnival Breeze!

I could tell that the entire MDR staff were tired and less than excited about their job, but then again, we had the 8:15 PM dining time and I too would be burned out by then. And don't misunderstand me... they were very courteous and attentive when at the tables, but they all had that look of 'hurry hurry! go go go!' when not attending to their tables. (imagine one guy carrying a tray of 16 meals and the other waiters trying to get that food to the proper mouth while getting bartenders called over and drinks refilled, and clearing dishes and making small talk with people they won't see again!)

One recommendation to Carnival: stop the waitstaff dancing bit! It was almost painful watching these hard working people having to pretend to enjoy dancing when all they want to do is get their job done so they can sleep!

We ate dinner in the MDR four times, but still tipped extra on top of our pre-paid tips as these guys deserved it.

 

We did partake in one formal evening and everyone was dressed to the 9's! After reading "t-shirts" in the MDR on many reviews, I had my expectations set low. Soooo not the case! There was one girl who looked as if she bought her dress from a retired hooker, but other than that, everyone was dressed appropriately.

 

Steakhouse 555 was outstanding! Worth every penny.

 

Del Capitano was fantastic as well. Ate dinner here twice. I had a surprise anniversary cake from Cherry On Top delivered and the staff brought it out while singing Happy Anniversary in Italian to us. I love the ambiance of this restaurant! Oh, and might I suggest the apple pie... To. Die. For!!! ***** nom nom nom

 

Guy's burgers and Blue Iguana were both hits with my family. Breakfast burritos are made with real eggs... BTW.

 

Comedy brunch was not bad. Ate here twice. Eggs Benny were not the greatest (ask for more hollindaise if you love that yummy stuff) but the omelet and other dishes were more tasty. Great bloody mary's! Service was good, but a bit dry in attitude. Not a bad thing, but not as many smiles flowing through the Sapphire at that time. The comedy bits were few and far between like others have stated, but I can't imagine trying to hear more jokes while trying to eat my breakfast. I thought these "sound bites" for the later shows were just enough.

 

Bonsai Sushi had much to be desired. We are huge sushi lovers and we were really looking forward to trying Bonsai. Great service but fishy fish. Not very fresh tasting which surprised me since fresh fish should be readily available that close to an ocean. In hopes it was a fluke, I tried a sushi roll and dessert thing :confused: at the Taste Bar a few nights later and it was icky too. Too fishy.

 

Pizza was fantastic! It was about 10PM and no one else was in line. Pizza in 10 minutes! Wished they served the pizza for room service!

 

Didn't eat at Marketplace as we are not buffet people, but one night I wanted a salad and got it just as they were closing it down. It was fine, but nothing overly exciting... it was a salad!

Kids did eat their weight in ice cream and it seemed everywhere you looked, people were walking around with an ice cream cone! They have frozen yogurt too. I saw strawberry, chocolate, vanilla, and twists in the mentioned flavors.

One day we were told by other cruisers that the chocolate buffet was going on which we did not partake in, but apparently lots of other cruisers did! Looked good, but it was "beer-thirty" for me and so I drank my lunch!

 

And for those of you who are not familiar with the Marketplace... don't stand in first line you see (right inside the entrance). Walk around towards the back of Marketplace and you will find the same food offerings with minimal/no lines. I did a few walk through's just to see what others have been posting about... and to show the kiddos where to get lemonade and ice cream. Everything looked nice and presentable. One morning I made note of the bacon (Bacon Police) and that was not the case. A vat of bacon was readily available next to the sausages and no police doling out a piece or two. Rest assured bacon lovers... it is yours to be had!

 

Room service was efficient and served on time every time. We ordered over the TV and also with the door hanger. On door hanger, I put down time to be delivered between 6-6:45 AM and it was exactly 6 AM when they knocked on our door. Woke us up since I didn't expect them to be that efficient! As coffee drinkers, we had a hell of a time getting two carafes of coffee delivered at one time. No biggie... we made do! Don't forget to tip these people too!

 

Our cabins (Ocean suites 7358 & 7364) were amazing! Very spacious with oodles of storage and closet space. Bathrooms were more than adequate in space too. I cannot imagine staying in a smaller cabin now! (spoiled rotten!!)

For those who fear not enough clothes hangers... not an issue in a suite! More than ample for our needs and we brought a lot of hanging clothes.

 

The bedding is so comfy! I just may order the set!! I cannot recall ever sleeping so peaceful as I did during this cruise. Our cabins were perfectly placed on the ship with no outside noise to wake us from our happy slumber. The location of the cabins was almost directly in the middle of the ship, so on those windy nights, we felt nothing but a smooth rocking that put us to sleep. We all slept like babies! (I have not slept well since getting home...guess I better book another cruise!)

 

The hair dryers suck..not blow! lol I have long fine hair so I was able to use the hair dryer with minimal issues, but they are very low powered ("high" is like a typical "low" setting). The dryers "eat" hair. Ladies, you know what I'm talking about!

 

Meheila was our room stewardess and she made sure all our needs were seen to. Such an angel! I wanted to pack her up and take her home as she was such a kind person who has big heart and a sweet smile. The world needs more Meheila's! If only everyone who cruises has such a lovely person taking care of them...well, no one would leave the ship! She deserved every penny of her tips, so we tipped even more!

 

I did notice on our first few days of cruising the windows and balcony glass had salt water spray, but within a few days it was cleaned. Again, no biggie.

 

About half way through the cruise we needed to do a bit of laundry. Considering I was enjoying my time relaxing way too much to think of household duties (hard to do laundry with a lovely cocktail in hand!), DH talked to Meheila one evening and she reassured him that a bag of laundry would be done and back by morning. Sure enough, she was knocking on our door at 8:30 AM with fresh laundry. So worth the extra money ($15???) Don't know, don't care!

 

The crew on the Breeze were all amazing! The bartenders at Blue Iguana deserve a special shout out as well. They were funny and always smiling. (perhaps some of that had to do with the ton of tips we threw their way!) One guy in particular was a hoot! He had fun teasing my 9 year old daughter about needing a shot of tequila with her smoothie, which made her giggle. One day DD was eating on a lollipop (you know the ones... rainbow and smells of cherry) and the bartender said he wanted the lollipop (jokingly)... so DD went down to Cherry on Top and bought him one! He thought that was so cool.

 

Guest service reps were so friendly and accommodating. One instance in particular I had ordered goodies from Bon Voyage and the non-alcoholic wine (for kids during sail off) was not available. No biggie. A note was left in our cabin stating this, then a call was made to us apologizing profusely over this small issue. They made sure OBC was issued to our account and again apologized for this error. Hey, it wasn't my champagne that was discontinued so I was perfectly fine with the OBC!

In addition, I lost my camera on Nassau. That was MY fault; not Carnival's. DH made many trips down to the customer service desk to ask if it had been found, to no avail. After I thought I was done crying, I called the guest service desk that evening to see if the camera had been turned in (brand new with seven days of memories:(). The sweet lady on the other end of the phone was so sympathetic and apologized to me over and over... and it wasn't her fault! "I'm so sorry Miss Karen" in her soft voice, which set me off and I started crying again.They were so hoping to help me, but again, it was my error, not the crew nor the ship who lost my camera! Kudos to those people as they deal with so much ugliness! (I saw it first hand how horrible guests talk to these people and in no way does the crew deserve the BS they contend with on a daily basis!) So, please be kind to these people who work hard to make sure you enjoy your vacation! A smile and a kind word goes a long way!

 

More kudos to the crew...

When they are greeted with a smile and a kind salutation, they are most happy to return the favor! 99% of the crew were nothing but cordial and pleasant. The only time I was not overly impressed with a crew member was during our first MDR dinner. Halfway through dinner the camera people came around to take pictures. I am not photogenic nor do I like my photo taken so when the gentleman came around, he asked us to gather around for a picture (while we were eating mind you) and I respectfully declined. He was not happy and made it very obvious with the rolling of the eyes and an ugly look towards me. Oh well. I had no intentions of purchasing a picture with half eaten meals sitting in front of us just to make him happy.

 

DH and I did the Cheer's program and it paid for itself! No, we didn't hit the 15 drink limit/day, but most drinks are about $8, and after a few of those, a few bloody mary's, a few beers, a few crown and 7's... ya, we came out ahead. I did save the receipts which I intend on adding up, but I really liked having a set bar tab instead of the "holy $h!t" moment on the last day.

Note to others: anything over $10 is charged to your account, but with 25% discount. I will say the bottles of wine delivered to our room (room service) did NOT fall under the Cheer's program. FYI Again, not an issue and I was prepared for that. I'm on vacation! Who cares!

 

Kids (DD-9 and DS-14) enjoyed the kid clubs. Both were able to check in/out as they pleased, just as long as they checked in with Mom and Dad every so often! They met some great friends and had a blast! DD spent most sea days playing in the main pool or on the water slides which looked like so much fun.

Never did the pools look over crowded as most people were just dipping in to cool off. No, it's not for swimming, but more for just wading around and getting refreshed from the warm sun. Very clean and inviting!

 

Chogs... not that I was keeping track, but on sea days it was next to impossible to get a couple loungers together as they were being utilized, by actual people, not just towels. I didn't mind as I was happy to find a table with an ashtray!

 

On that note.... smokers kept to their area with no issues that I saw. On the first day (before setting sail) I did see one woman down by the main pool smoking, but that was the only time. Otherwise, smokers were happy in their part of the ship and everyone seemed content. I watched non-smokers walk through smoking sections without getting their noses bent out of joint so I would guess all was right in the smoker vs. non-smoker world. Even the casino was adamant about which games one could smoke at, and the place was packed in the evenings so smoking must not be that big of an issue.

 

We sailed the first parts of spring break but didn't see kids being an issue. (140+ 9-11 year old's on board but didn't notice them!) The 20-somethings were actually minimal and quite entertaining on sea days as they really got into the music as they got deeper in the alcohol!:p Who needs to go see a show in the Ovation Theater when you got single college students providing the entertainment!

 

Music was excellent! I was so on board with others who have mentioned on the forums that the steel drums/calypso bands need to make a comeback. I stand corrected! The music was perfect for our vacation/destination! DJ's did a fantastic job of playing a variety of music to meet anyone's needs. NO, there wasn't "rap" playing! Try hip hop/dance music with a great blend of tropical/vacation hits, and throw in some country and oldies! (I'm 40 and never felt the music was "rap".) The guitar players were fantastic too! And NO, the music was never "blaring" loud. Good grief! Loosen up people! If you are so concerned about reading books in pure silence, go back to your stateroom, or perhaps back home where you can control the levels of sound around you. This is vacation and the music was perfect!

 

Oh, with that said, the announcements that so many have complained about were non existent! We heard a few, but they were in hallways, not "blaring" in our cabins. Seriously??? I waited for those announcements and never heard what others griped about.

 

No we didn't see ANY shows! Not a one! We found plenty of things to occupy our time without having a set show do it for us. Hey, people watching is the best entertainment on a ship! I did wash my eyes out with bleach a few times, but all in all, good times!

 

Weather was perfect! Note to those who are pale white... wear sunscreen twice the spf you would normally use!!! Ya, I thought I would be fine with my 15 spf... (as I scratch the dry, burned flakes off my forehead) I'm telling you that will not do! Double up pale folk! BTW: the islands charge about $15 for a typical tube of sunscreen so if you don't want to pay those prices, be sure to bring plenty from home.

 

The ports!

St. Thomas left much to be desired for us. Just a personal opinion as we didn't get a fun vibe from this island. But then again, Kon Tiki excursion was cancelled due to it being broke down (not a big deal as it was raining). On that note, we didn't partake in our sky ride excursion either due to timing (trying to eat lunch and get back to port for Kon Tiki) and weather. The workers there (sky ride) were lacking personality... think canker sores. We got our wrist bands, stood in line, realized we were not going to have enough time and left, in hopes of returning after Kon Tiki. Ya, weather set in and we called it a day... minus $60 for unused tickets. Oh well.

The shopping was a joke for us as we grew up in a tourist town so the stuff being offered in stores was the tropical version of the junk we saw every day outside of Yellowstone. To each his own, right! The jewelry was in abundance and we had a good laugh over a $31,600 ring "on sale" for $8400 with a band that looked like it could make you bleed from all the sharp pieces still attached to it. Don't trust a "jewelry store" that sells t-shirts and rum! lol. But I do realize there are much better jewelry stores on the island, but we weren't in the market for such goodies. Instead of really enjoying St. Thomas, we enjoyed sitting on the Breeze, cold drink in hand, and watched our daughter play in the pool as it rained. It turned into a relaxing fun day!

 

Antigua was fun! We did the "Beach Escape" on Dickenson beach which was beautiful. I will forewarn you that the peddlers are in full force there! We talked with others who too were under the impression it was "solicitor free", but that was not the case. No problem for me as I had fun haggling over prices and bringing home crappy souvenirs with a story! Makes all the difference! Good drinks are to be had on this beach! Oh, watch out for Sexxy and the other woman who runs the clothing store! They ended up fighting over my sale. That was interesting! I told DH about it and the story probably sounded far fetched, but another "beach escaper" came up to me and said "I can't believe how they were fighting over you!" :D Again, a good story was brought home to share!

 

Tortola was equally nice. We booked the Jost Van Dyke excursion which was great. Farrah, the tour guide, is fabulous and made sure everyone had fun. Food was good (part of the excursion), shopping and booze can be had all down the beach. Water was warm and the local "beach ducks" were funny.

Time here was far too short... well, according to my flaky skin, perhaps not!

 

Nassau was fun since we ventured outside the norm (been there before). Took a cab to Mackenzie's for a fabulous lunch....which is where everything went south for me. Yep, I lost my camera somewhere between the port and that cab ride. Trying not to let this effect the rest of our cruise, we went back to the port area (enclosed shopping area with bathrooms) and did some asking around. Nope, no camera turned in. While waiting for our original driver to show up "Woody"(???), we decided to venture out with another driver who took us on a personal tour of the island. (What, like we are going to waste another three hours for a camera to reappear?? So wasn't going to happen so no need to waste the day.) This was a great way to spend the day and see lots for next to nothing in fees (plus tips). Driver took us to the dungeons, to a beach where we walked in the sand, to the expensive neighborhoods and the shanties.... told us some interesting political stuff (pink buildings are mainly government owned), and so on. With the missing camera and long gone memories weighing on my mind, the driver was a super nice guy who did his best to take my mind off that sore subject. Note to cab drivers: keep boxes of tissues handy for us sobbing dumb tourists who lose our stuff! (ha ha)

 

Debarkation was not as "breezy" as embarkation. Cabins/guests are assigned categories that are to be called, then you debark. Too many people did not heed this suggestion and security had to shut down the debarkation process to clear out the congestion. Yep, that bad. :rolleyes: We ended up getting off ship about 1.5 hours late so we couldn't partake in our Miami excursion of choice. (No biggie as our excursion leader hooked us up with the Everglade excursion which was great!)

So fellow cruisers, follow directions that are given and things will run much more smoothly for all.

 

I know there is so much more to report, but I'm sure you all get the gist of our experience on the Breeze. DH even said we need to sail the Breeze again, not only to retake pictures I lost on the camera :rolleyes: but because he too had a fabulous time! Kids are game too! Too many vacations, so little time!

 

If you have any questions about the Breeze or the islands, please feel free in asking. I will give an honest opinion and will be more than happy to help. I've never sailed Carnival and never quite understood the whole "Carnival Cheerleader" thing, but now I do!

 

Glad you had a great time! Sorry to hear about your camera though. We have learned to make the first picture on our camera a shot of a piece of paper with our contact info on it(name, phone, address, email). Someone that finds it might actually return it to you if they turn the camera on and the first pic they see is all of that info.

[ch27088]

Breezy, great review and I am so sorry about your camera. What a great attitude you had, I wish more people could have your attitude when on vacation. You're right, some of the passengers get really irate and when things don't go their way and take it out on the poor crew.

[ldlewis45]

I was on the same sailing, and I loved it. It was by far my favorite ship so far. Like you said, steakhouse was beyond excellent. The MDR food would be my only real complaint (other than how freezing cold the terminal was being kept before embarkation). The MDR food could be unreliable, sometimes good, sometimes mediocre. The Indian vegetarian entree was excellent, though, and I had it for three of the five nights we ate in the MDR. The buffet was very good, especially the made-to-order omelets in the mornings. Fat Jimmy's wasn't to my taste, since I'm a pulled pork bbq snob. The pizza place was beyond wonderful, though, so that was a frequent lunch or snack.

 

I loved some of the entertainment staff. My favorite was Josh, who frequently led the trivia games. Absolutely hilarious guy.

[rhcpchika1]

Thanks for the positive review!! SO SO SO SORRY your camera was lost; I would be BEYOND devastated!!

[OntCruise]

Great review... we were on the cruise before you and I posted my review yesterday. We also had a great time! Great ship and really great crew.

[Breezy72]

Thanks all for the kind words and sympathizing over my long lost camera. Yes, the situation falls under the 'coulda, shoulda, woulda' category, but what are ya gonna do? I kept telling myself "well, at least my kids didn't fall overboard!" ;)

 

As to all of you who were on the same cruise, I hope I'm not alone when I say that there were far more happy people than irritated people. Lots of smiling and laughing was seen the whole duration of the cruise!

There was one instance that made us chuckle though... the St. Thomas day was rainy! Since Kon Tiki was cancelled and we didn't care to go back to town, we went back to the ship and hung out at the pool so DD could do her "mermaid" thing. Well, one lady sitting next to us (in a dry area) was reading while her son was also playing in the pool. All of a sudden she jumps up, yells "this is the worst cruise ever!" Her son and husband just stood there in shock!:eek: Apparently she was not happy about the weather.... and we ALL know cruise ships control weather!:rolleyes:

To that lady: If you are reading this, I mean no disrespect and I do hope your vacation was all positive from that point on!

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the report!