My Take..Carnival Breeze August 3rd Sailing

[cruisercathy]

Background....

 

I am a platinum cruiser with Carnival, my sons ages 25 and 21...almost....LOL. We sailed with 40 plus people. We are Survivors, Family and Friends of the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation. My husband died in the line of duty October 1996.

 

Friday....Pre Cruise, We flew out of Newark to Fort Lauderdale on a very turbulent ride. We made arrangements with SAS Transportation for our ride for Fll to Holiday Inn Port of Miami. We were picked up within 3 minutes of calling. Checked in at 1:30, did not get a room with a view....we just wanted our rooms and the rooms with a view were not ready. I roomed with my freind Carol who lost her Dad in the line of duty in 1994. A trip over to Bayside to Hooters for a cocktail and appetizers..and to enjoy the view. Back to the hotel and met up with other friends for cocktails and dinner.

 

Saturday...we took a van over to the pier, we left our hotel at 11AM and we were on the ship at 11:45.

 

So excited........Straight to our cabins to drop off the carry on. Carol and I. 7430 and the boys in 7440, we were aft balconies...(remember that). Then to lido for cocktails and lunch.

 

The ship is absolutely gorgeous. I was so impressed. I oohed and aahed alot...LOL. I would rate the decor of the ship a 10. We walked and walked and climbed and climbed...LOL and settled at Serenity for Sailaway...it had started to rain but cleared. We were off for 8 nights of fun........

 

Now I will break it down....

 

Food.....

 

Dining Room..We ate in the Blush Dining Room, Late Seating....This was a big miss most of the time. The menu has not changed in years and the food was just not good, but I wasn't cooking. Lido...same stuff for breakfast...and lunch was OK. Service in dining room was not like it used to be....slowwwwww...too many passengera to take care of, not waiters fault..it is managements

Guys Burgers....awesome.....had 3 of them during the week

Burrito Bar...I don't care for Burritos but Carol and freinds said they were great.

Punchliners Brunch...went once.....breakfast was Ok..did not stay for comedian.

BBQ...freinds tried it, said it was OK

Italian Restaurant....awesome......for $12 you can't beat it for dinner.

Food rating......5

 

Entertainment.....

 

Went to two shows...Welcome and Motown...they were OK. Hasbro we went to one show and it was fun.

 

Comedians.....were Ok, went to two shows one was not my taste...F word used in every other word (it really wasn't necessary). Other comedian was good.

 

Trivia...if you enjoy Trivia, they do it in the Red Frog Pub every night at 8...unfortunately our seating was at 8:15. We spent a lot of time in the Red Frog, tell Danny we said Hi!!! LOL

 

There was live music in the Ocean Plaza, Red Frog Pub and Atrium every night.

 

Casino....lost......lost.....LOL

 

Thrill theater...never made it there.

 

I would rate entertainment a 6.

 

Passengers

 

..........Oh my where do I start...4600 of them alot of them were rude.....obnoxious....(not drunk...but plain no manners....) I think there were 1500 kids who were let go to run a muck...running up and down hallways, screaming, prank calling cabins and playing in elevators....I am talking about kids that were anywhere between 7 and up just running loose......I can't even rate them...LOL

 

Crew.,....

 

awesome, they get a 10

 

Cabin

 

.....it seemed our balcony was smaller than other ships we have been on but bathroom a tad bigger....Our steward was wonderful.....only problem was ........sewage odor in the cabin......complaint was made...follow up made by information desk...and a call from information manager..Odor was in both our cabins and also a friends cabin in the same area....I hope they have this fixed soon for future passengers. Because of this I rate it a 4.

 

Ports of Call...

 

Grand Turk.

 

This was our third stop there, spent it at Margarttaville the first two times....been there done that...so we did the Segway Tour and had a great time. Driver dropped us off at Jacks Shack on the beach and we had cocktails and swam with about 20 other people instead of 2000 at Margaritaville....LOL. The highlight is Jacks dog Topher who swims with you....fishes and digs big holes.

 

La Romona

 

We did a private vendor tour with Seavis Tours to Saona Island. It was awesome....after we found the taxi driver....LOL. Out to the beach where we met our tour guide Kirsten and her dog Zion who came for the trip to Saona. Kirsten is an ecologist. Boat ride was fun...to the island for swimming, snorkeling and lunch and rum and beer.....then on to the sand bar for swimming with the starfish and more rum and cake and fruit...Back to the beach and into the taxi and onto the ship...Loved, loved loved this tour..Carnival offers something similiar for about $30 to $40 more.

 

Curacao

 

I booked Irie Tours, it was fun..in an open air bus, stop at a distillery and then Seaquarium Beach. Would not reccomend this beach to anyone....crowded and garbage floating in the water (by the passengers that had been there for hours already...cups, cigarette butts etc.) We did some quick shopping before the tour luckily as shops close early even though we were there till 11.

 

Aruba

 

Oh my...We shopped in the morning and then did the Jeep Tour to the Natural Pool...it was awesome and so much fun. We stopped at the caves and then on the the Natural Pool for an awesome off road ride with lots of laughs.....I climbed down the 85 steps and slid on my butt into the natural pool and made it back up the 85 steps.......:).

 

 

Disembarkation.....

 

I am platinum and could have gotten off the ship at 7AM but chose not to as our flight wasn't until 1:30. We were supposed to be called at 9"15 but due to passengers not following directions there was a big hold up by customs and we were not called till 10 15. Took quite sometime to get off as once again passengers not following directions....Going before there number is called and self assist when they wanted....not when they were suppsed to by 8:30.

 

We called SAS and they were right there and off to the airport.

 

In closing.....I had a great time, I was away from home, not cooking, not cleaning....I waas just disappointed at times.....however i will sail Carnival again....but not out of Miami.....

[javamom]

Background....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Entertainment.....

 

Went to two shows...Welcome and Motown...they were OK. Hasbro we went to one show and it was fun.

 

Comedians.....were Ok, went to two shows one was not my taste...F word used in every other word (it really wasn't necessary). Other comedian was good.

 

 

 

 

.

 

Do you remember who the comedians were?

[cruisercathy]

The one I did not like was someone McDonald.....I don't know the other ones name that I did like..

[cherbear4000]

I was on this sailing also. That sewage smell was horrible. I had it in my cabin also. I did 2 of the same excursions as you. I wrote the same thing about the beach in Curacao.

[njchilds]

Thanks for your review. We have your cabin booked for the August 25 sailing and was wondering about the sewage smell. Did anyone ever explain where the smell was coming from?

[cjknox]

Thank you for sharing your thoughts, glad you had a good time!

[gapearl]

Thanks for the review Cathy! I think you're the third person from your sailing that has mentioned the sewage smell. I haven't read any other reviews in recent months that mentioned the smell, so I wonder if it was just something wacky that happened your week. I can't wait to visit Jack's again and see Topher. He's the cutest dog ever! :) We're also doing Irie Tours. My roll call has filled up an entire bus! I appreciate your honest report. Just a few weeks until I sail! :D

[cherbear4000]

Thanks for your review. We have your cabin booked for the August 25 sailing and was wondering about the sewage smell. Did anyone ever explain where the smell was coming from?

 

My dad was told there was a broken pump that was causing the smell. The smell seemed to be just in the aft section of the ship but it was really bad at times.

[quickrate]

We loved the Breeze when we cruised in Jan. Had no problem with going out of Miami but we never cruise when the kids are out of school. Miami can be a very easy port but that is very subjective to the time of year you cruise out of there.

Pat

[cruisercathy]

About the sewage...yes it had something to do with the piping...were trying to locate "the source......it was coming thru the air conditioning.....it would come and go.....I was told it could happen anywhere on the ship and sometimes the wind had to do with it.

 

As for Miami...I have not sailed out of Miami since 2005 and I have not encountered such a rude passenger base on my cruises since leaving out of other ports.

 

As for the kids.....I am a teacher and I can only cruise when kids are out of school, looking forward to retirement to be able to cruise other than summer....

 

To those who will be cruising on the Breeze..she is a beautiful ship..I hope all goes well for you.

[JaniceB]

Thanks for the review.

 

We missed all the debarkation mess on our cruise because we left with our friend who was platinum at 7 am. I have never done this before but was very glad we did. We breezed through and were on our way quickly.

[Neotericisis]

I have never been on the Breeze, but I see a trend in so many reviews: the ship is beautiful but has a sewage smell. I don't understand why Carnival doesn't fix it ASAP.

 

If Cruise Critic members are constantly complaining about this must represent just a fraction of what passengers complaint about. I'm not saying that other ships don't have issues from time to time, but this constant "smell issue" seems to be a Breeze specific problem.

[SPKEMO]

I was on the Breeze in April. I had an aft room no sewage smell. As for the food....yea the MDR is just terrible. The food is so bad now that on ships without a variety of other food options I find it nearly unbearable to eat there nightly. So glad the Breeze has a SH, Italian restaurant, and sushi restaurant. All of which are excellent.

[felicemmp]

We were on the July 20th sailing of the Breeze in an aft oceanview cabin on deck 2. The smell was always present in the corridor and occasionally in the room. The odor was so strong way up by the aft pool that we sometimes had to get up, walk indoors, clear out our lungs, then return outdoors. We spoke to guest services twice about it and they claimed it was the faulty funnel design that drew the smell back into the ship's ventilation.A supervisor was supposed to get back to us but never did. Other passengers we spoke to who had aft balconies were unable to use them because of the smell. Guest services promised to compensate them $200/pp for their inconvenience. This is an ongoing problem with this ship that they are aware of but seem incapable of solving. It's too bad because the Breeze is a very nice ship and the smell was a real deal breaker for us.

[sullyd]

We were on the July 20th sailing of the Breeze in an aft oceanview cabin on deck 2. The smell was always present in the corridor and occasionally in the room. The odor was so strong way up by the aft pool that we sometimes had to get up, walk indoors, clear out our lungs, then return outdoors. We spoke to guest services twice about it and they claimed it was the faulty funnel design that drew the smell back into the ship's ventilation.A supervisor was supposed to get back to us but never did. Other passengers we spoke to who had aft balconies were unable to use them because of the smell. Guest services promised to compensate them $200/pp for their inconvenience. This is an ongoing problem with this ship that they are aware of but seem incapable of solving. It's too bad because the Breeze is a very nice ship and the smell was a real deal breaker for us.

when you are as a group paying around 2000.00 per person for an 8day cruise you shouldn't have to deal w/ possible toxic odors 1 come on carnival get your s--- together!!!

[rebel7254]

I doubt the port had much to do with the overall rudeness of the passengers...just (bad) luck of the draw.