Carnival Breeze Review- 10/26 8 Day Southern

[MamaParrotHead]

Quick review of our 10/26/13 sailing on the Carnival Breeze, 8 day exotic southern Caribbean sailing.

 

We’re a family of 4, with kids age 10 and 13. This is our 6th cruise, all on Carnival.

 

 

Flew in the night before, stayed at Holiday Inn POM, where we’ve stayed previously. The convenience is the biggest draw, second being the service at the hotel. Ate at Bubba Gump’s, where we’ve eaten previously, mostly because we know it’s good and weren’t feeling adventurous and had done the South Beach thing and didn’t want to pay to cab it down there.

 

Embarkation was SMOOTH. Carnival has improved the process, taking boarding pics at the time you check in rather than holding everyone up as you board the ship. Plus they run the card you have on file for your Sail & Sign that morning, so you don’t even need to present it at the check in desk. Present your ID, they give you your Sail & Sign and off you go.

 

We LOVED the ship itself. The variety of seating areas, the lay out of the ship, the fact the decks are wood anymore, lay out of the main pool area, variety and QUALITY of the music onboard, the lay out of our room (deluxe oceanview) with the additional shower/tub/sink area AND the best food/service of any ship we’ve sailed on. The Cucina del Capitano was very good and worth the money, we ate in there twice.

 

The only cons we found, which aren’t unique to the Breeze, is the limited hours of the specialty eateries on Lido (Guy’s burgers, Blue Iguana burritos, Mongolian Wok) none of which are open for dinner. And the Guest Services desk being severely understaffed on the last sea day (3 employees at the desk for 5000+ guests isn’t cutting it).

 

 

 

 

 

[MamaParrotHead]

PORTS:

Grand Turk we just rolled off the ship and went to Jack’s Shack for a relaxing beach day. Food and drinks are good, but prepare yourself for a long wait on the food. WAY better pricing than Margaritaville.

 

 

 

La Romana D.R. we booked through Seavis tours. The BEST day of our trip. The $60 they charge is a BARGAIN for what they provide. Taxi from La Romana to Bayahibe, the speedboat to Saona Island (stopping to check out a few things along the way and learn a little bit about the DR), gorgeous beach, tasty and plentiful lunch, FREE DRINKS all day, trip to the Piscina Natural to find some sea stars and wade in gorgeous water, yummy poundcake and pineapple for dessert (and more free drinks). I cannot recommend them highly enough. We’d definitely go back to Bayahibe for a land vacation.

 

 

 

 

[MamaParrotHead]

Curacao we had odd port times, 2-11 p.m. Given the fact that although we’re beach bums, it was a heck of a ride and hassle to get to a beach for such a limited amount of time, we took a break from the rays and just explored on our own. Rif Fort is run and provides some good photo ops. The floating bridge is pretty cool and shopping in the Punda offers a variety of goods. We made pit stops here and there along the way for some beverages and the prices were decent. We were back onboard by 5 or so, grabbed some lunch, put our swimsuits on and used the rest of the evening to swim and enjoy the ship.

 

 

 

 

 

[MamaParrotHead]

Aruba was gorgeous. We cabbed it to De Palm Beach. Great vibe, friendly locals, loads of amenities, not too crowded. We’d totally go back there for a land vacation as well.

 

 

 

Halloween was this night and they decorated the ship a bit, which was fun. Offered some fun Halloween-themed desserts in the dining room. I also participated in dressing up with some fellow CC’ers and we all dressed up as Waldos, LOL. Kind of disappointing for the kids though...not a whole lot planned for them. There was a 13 stop Trick-or-Treating map that Camp Carnival put on, but they got like one piece of candy at each stop. Then there was kind of a lame dance party that followed, where we were all cramped into Club O2 and there weren’t any prizes or games or anything.

 

 

 

 

If you have any questions, please let me know, I’m happy to answer them.

[jonbgd]

Thanks for the review

Will be doing this same cruise winter 2014/15

 

I spent my 40th bday in Aruba cant wait to get back

[Parent22]

Thanks for your review. We will be on this itinerary at the end of December.

Did your younger child participate in Camp Carnival? By chance would you have the schedule for the 9-11 group? Also, I need 6-8 if anyone out there has it.

 

Did you have any trouble getting the taxi from the ship to the Seavis launch point? I have read that a few people were having trouble because the port taxi folks didn't want to cooperate with getting people to Seavis.

 

I'm a little worried about Curacao for the same reason as you -- 2:00 to 11:00 does not leave much daylight time (especially when we will go in December). It's also Christmas that day, so I'm imagining there will be nothing to do besides walking around. Was it fairly easy to get around to at least see interesting buildings/places, or were the distances super far? (We have 9 and 6 year olds.)

 

Thanks for any insights!

[SAC69]

We were in Curacao last Christmas day and it was not a problem. You walk off the ship and there are tour buses lined up right next to the small gift shop at the pier entrance. We did a two hour tour for $20 each that stopped at the factory that makes Curacao and it drops you off at a hotel about 300 yards down the street from the pier. You can walk through the lobby and use their private beach and bar. It was great.

[Freckles_51]

Thanks for the review....a few questions...

 

Returning to the ship from Palm Beach Aruba...

What time did you leave Palm Beach to get a taxi back to the ship?

How easy was it to get one?

How long did you have to wait?

Was there a long lineup of people wanting to get back to port?

What was the cost?

 

Did your older child attend the older kids club (Circle C?)? Just wondered about those really late parties that they have...starting at like 10:30pm :eek: Did she attend any of those? Seems a bit late for the kids to be out that late.

 

Thanks

[rhcpchika1]

Thanks for the review :)

We leave on her in four days!

[MamaParrotHead]

Thanks for your review. We will be on this itinerary at the end of December.

Did your younger child participate in Camp Carnival? By chance would you have the schedule for the 9-11 group? Also, I need 6-8 if anyone out there has it.

 

Did you have any trouble getting the taxi from the ship to the Seavis launch point? I have read that a few people were having trouble because the port taxi folks didn't want to cooperate with getting people to Seavis.

 

I'm a little worried about Curacao for the same reason as you -- 2:00 to 11:00 does not leave much daylight time (especially when we will go in December). It's also Christmas that day, so I'm imagining there will be nothing to do besides walking around. Was it fairly easy to get around to at least see interesting buildings/places, or were the distances super far? (We have 9 and 6 year olds.)

 

Thanks for any insights!

 

Kids did not attend Camp Carnival this sailing, no particular reason, we just ended up spending a lot of time as a family. We actually did miss the taxi set up by Seavis, but took another legit company and they paid when we arrived. Just tell them you're on the Seavis Saona tour and they'll direct you to the right spot. Curacao was easy to navigate and an easy walk to the bridge and shopping district, no problem.

[MamaParrotHead]

Thanks for the review....a few questions...

 

Returning to the ship from Palm Beach Aruba...

What time did you leave Palm Beach to get a taxi back to the ship?

How easy was it to get one?

How long did you have to wait?

Was there a long lineup of people wanting to get back to port?

What was the cost?

 

Did your older child attend the older kids club (Circle C?)? Just wondered about those really late parties that they have...starting at like 10:30pm :eek: Did she attend any of those? Seems a bit late for the kids to be out that late.

 

Thanks

 

We left around 1:15 from the beach. Glad we did because there was a decent amount of traffic. Our taxi driver who dropped us off gave us a card with the company's number on it, and the beach attendant called them for us when we were ready to go. No line at all. It was like $17 for 5 of us one way.

 

My kids haven't ever attend the FULL late night party. We are SO SO active during the day, we're ALL ready to crash by 10-11 p.m. ONE time she stayed until 1:00 when we had arranged to meet up and then we BOTH went right to bed, LOL.

[kenrod]

Thank you for your review!

Beautiful pictures of the ship and the port.

[yj2cute]

Thanks for the review. Do you remember which venues were open for lunch during embarkation?

 

Also, do you have any pics of your cabin? Especially the bathroom set up.

 

Thanks.

[MamaParrotHead]

Thanks for the review. Do you remember which venues were open for lunch during embarkation?

 

Also, do you have any pics of your cabin? Especially the bathroom set up.

 

Thanks.

 

Sure. Guy's, Blue Iguana, Lido Buffet, Deli, Pizza were all open at embarkation.

 

We were in 2231/2235.

 

 

Regular bathroom

 

Bonus bathroom (sink, tub, shower)

 

My dad was in 2217 (in a porthole cabin, incase anyone is interested in that too). Double bed, no bonus bathroom but a decent chunk of change cheaper.

 

 

[Parent22]

Kids did not attend Camp Carnival this sailing, no particular reason, we just ended up spending a lot of time as a family. We actually did miss the taxi set up by Seavis, but took another legit company and they paid when we arrived. Just tell them you're on the Seavis Saona tour and they'll direct you to the right spot. Curacao was easy to navigate and an easy walk to the bridge and shopping district, no problem.

 

Thanks! All this is great to know. Thanks for taking the time to do a review.

[crewsweeper]

Nice MPH. Short with good pics. Glad you had a good time.:)

[Parent22]

We were in Curacao last Christmas day and it was not a problem. You walk off the ship and there are tour buses lined up right next to the small gift shop at the pier entrance. We did a two hour tour for $20 each that stopped at the factory that makes Curacao and it drops you off at a hotel about 300 yards down the street from the pier. You can walk through the lobby and use their private beach and bar. It was great.

 

 

This is great to know. Thanks. Did you happen to notice if the shops were mainly open or closed on Christmas? Or will the options be tour or beach? Thanks for any further insights.

[jonbgd]

 

We were in 2231/2235.

 

 

 

Regular bathroom

 

Bonus bathroom (sink, tub, shower)

 

.

 

 

 

What is a bonus bathroom ???

Does this cabin have 2???

Edited November 5, 2013 by jonbgd

[yj2cute]

Thank you very much. Does the bathtub have a shower head? So 2 showers in the room? That's awesome.

[MamaParrotHead]

Yes, it's a 6M, 2 showers per cabin. It WAS awesome.

[jonbgd]

Yes, it's a 6M, 2 showers per cabin. It WAS awesome.

Wow That's cool

We are looking at booking a cove but I do like the extra head to get ready

[Freckles_51]

We left around 1:15 from the beach. Glad we did because there was a decent amount of traffic. Our taxi driver who dropped us off gave us a card with the company's number on it, and the beach attendant called them for us when we were ready to go. No line at all. It was like $17 for 5 of us one way.

 

My kids haven't ever attend the FULL late night party. We are SO SO active during the day, we're ALL ready to crash by 10-11 p.m. ONE time she stayed until 1:00 when we had arranged to meet up and then we BOTH went right to bed, LOL.

 

Thanks for the info. :)

[ktravel]

PORTS:

Grand Turk we just rolled off the ship and went to Jack’s Shack for a relaxing beach day. Food and drinks are good, but prepare yourself for a long wait on the food. WAY better pricing than Margaritaville.

 

 

 

La Romana D.R. we booked through Seavis tours. The BEST day of our trip. The $60 they charge is a BARGAIN for what they provide. Taxi from La Romana to Bayahibe, the speedboat to Saona Island (stopping to check out a few things along the way and learn a little bit about the DR), gorgeous beach, tasty and plentiful lunch, FREE DRINKS all day, trip to the Piscina Natural to find some sea stars and wade in gorgeous water, yummy poundcake and pineapple for dessert (and more free drinks). I cannot recommend them highly enough. We’d definitely go back to Bayahibe for a land vacation.

 

 

 

 

 

I am excited about Seavis tour. We are on the Breeze Feb 15 sailing. I booked the tour last June. DH and I are also planning the day at Jacks, I hope we get to see "Topher"

Thanks for taking the time to write the review

[riclop]

Thanks for the review we were on the same cruise and got rain in Aruba and you got a nice beach day. Amazing.