Just Back!! Our 6 day Breeze Spring Break quick review

[caza1518]

Hi everyone!

Just back from our 6 day Breeze Spring Break vacation (3/23-29/14), Western Caribbean. Our family consisted of DH, DS11, DS9, and me.

 

I have enjoyed reading all of the information everyone contributes here so I will give my attempt to pay it back. Everything about this vacation was perfect. There is not one thing to complain about. It was great.

 

Faster to the Fun: Worth every penny.

 

Embarkation was simple, they allowed us into the building around 10:00 a.m., a crowd had built up at the door, a representative was checking for boarding passes identified the F2F and sent us into a separate line from the general passenger crowd, which led us directly to a CBP Agent checking passports and right through security screening and off to the second floor where they check you in. Another representative directed us to a line specific for F2F (no wait) and off to an agent who gave us our S&S card and priority boarding card. No lines or wait at all.

 

They began boarding at approximately 11:15 a.m., there was a wedding group that boarded first and then they called all priority groups together. We were on the ship within minutes.

 

We headed straight to our cabin on deck 11 to drop off our carry-on luggage and not only was our cabin ready, but all of our luggage was already waiting at the door.

 

We headed straight to lunch to try the much anticipated Guys Burgers, and as expected they were very good.

 

We used Guest Services twice during the cruise and both times there were no lines or wait in the Platinum/Diamond/F2F line.

 

One of the ports visited was Grand Cayman, which is a tendering port. The priority tendering was not required. We were able to get to the tender boat with no wait at all.

 

I had made a Steakhouse reservation prior to the cruise for my husband and myself. Unexpectedly, we ran into some friends on board. We decided to make it an adults date night at the Steakhouse. I called the restaurant that afternoon, asked if we could add on two more to our reservation and was accommodated with no problem.

 

Debarkation for F2F, was right along with the Diamond/Platinum. We were sent a letter instructing us to meet at 7:15 am in the Sapphire Dining Room, if we wanted to participate in early debarkation. We were called soon after the self-assist passengers. And with luggage in hand, were out of Customs and outside the terminal by 7:55 a.m.

 

There were 1500 kids on this sailing, and everyone was having fun enjoying themselves, a great family environment. For a “Spring Break Cruise” there were no rowdy or unruly people that we observed at any time.

 

There are so many things to do all of the time on this ship, and my kids never wanted to attend Camp Carnival because of it. I guess they have reached the age where they are aware of what the ship had to offer and wanted to enjoy the ships features. They spent a lot of time on the Sports Deck, Water Park, and pool.

 

We had anytime dining, and LOVED IT. Never once waited for a table. All of the dining staff were wonderful. The food was cruise food, no complaints, it is what it is.

 

All of the Carnival employees we encountered were polite and courteous. Our cabin steward and assistants were wonderful. Had the room cleaned and made up twice daily. The ice was re-filled daily.

 

We never encountered a crowd or long lines at any point during the cruise.

 

My family had one of the best cruise vacations we have ever had. We enjoyed this ship very much. It is a great ship.

 

If anyone has any questions, I can try to answer. I also have all of the Fun Times for the 6 days and Camp Carnival (9-11 age) schedule. If anyone would like to see them I will try to figure out how to post.

[riclop]

Thanks for your review and glad you really enjoyed it.

[KristiandEvan]

Would love to see the fun times!

 

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Forums mobile app

[kids-in-2-centuries]

We are on this sailing June 1st. I would love to see the fun times and the camp schedule for my 11 year old. You can email them if you want...

eme1462@yahoo.com

[caza1518]

Here are the FunTimes for all 6 days

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/50001969/FunTimes-6day.pdf

 

Here is Camp Carnival 9-11

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/50001969/CampCarnival-9-11.pdf

 

 

If you cannot access these links, send me your email address and I will forward via email.

[bigbny1]

Hi everyone!

Just back from our 6 day Breeze Spring Break vacation (3/23-29/14), Western Caribbean. Our family consisted of DH, DS11, DS9, and me.

 

I have enjoyed reading all of the information everyone contributes here so I will give my attempt to pay it back. Everything about this vacation was perfect. There is not one thing to complain about. It was great.

 

Faster to the Fun: Worth every penny.

 

Embarkation was simple, they allowed us into the building around 10:00 a.m., a crowd had built up at the door, a representative was checking for boarding passes identified the F2F and sent us into a separate line from the general passenger crowd, which led us directly to a CBP Agent checking passports and right through security screening and off to the second floor where they check you in. Another representative directed us to a line specific for F2F (no wait) and off to an agent who gave us our S&S card and priority boarding card. No lines or wait at all.

 

They began boarding at approximately 11:15 a.m., there was a wedding group that boarded first and then they called all priority groups together. We were on the ship within minutes.

 

We headed straight to our cabin on deck 11 to drop off our carry-on luggage and not only was our cabin ready, but all of our luggage was already waiting at the door.

 

We headed straight to lunch to try the much anticipated Guys Burgers, and as expected they were very good.

 

We used Guest Services twice during the cruise and both times there were no lines or wait in the Platinum/Diamond/F2F line.

 

One of the ports visited was Grand Cayman, which is a tendering port. The priority tendering was not required. We were able to get to the tender boat with no wait at all.

 

I had made a Steakhouse reservation prior to the cruise for my husband and myself. Unexpectedly, we ran into some friends on board. We decided to make it an adults date night at the Steakhouse. I called the restaurant that afternoon, asked if we could add on two more to our reservation and was accommodated with no problem.

 

Debarkation for F2F, was right along with the Diamond/Platinum. We were sent a letter instructing us to meet at 7:15 am in the Sapphire Dining Room, if we wanted to participate in early debarkation. We were called soon after the self-assist passengers. And with luggage in hand, were out of Customs and outside the terminal by 7:55 a.m.

 

There were 1500 kids on this sailing, and everyone was having fun enjoying themselves, a great family environment. For a “Spring Break Cruise” there were no rowdy or unruly people that we observed at any time.

 

There are so many things to do all of the time on this ship, and my kids never wanted to attend Camp Carnival because of it. I guess they have reached the age where they are aware of what the ship had to offer and wanted to enjoy the ships features. They spent a lot of time on the Sports Deck, Water Park, and pool.

 

We had anytime dining, and LOVED IT. Never once waited for a table. All of the dining staff were wonderful. The food was cruise food, no complaints, it is what it is.

 

All of the Carnival employees we encountered were polite and courteous. Our cabin steward and assistants were wonderful. Had the room cleaned and made up twice daily. The ice was re-filled daily.

 

We never encountered a crowd or long lines at any point during the cruise.

 

My family had one of the best cruise vacations we have ever had. We enjoyed this ship very much. It is a great ship.

 

If anyone has any questions, I can try to answer. I also have all of the Fun Times for the 6 days and Camp Carnival (9-11 age) schedule. If anyone would like to see them I will try to figure out how to post.

 

nice review, Thanks for the times :)

Edited March 30, 2014 by bigbny1
need to add

[justbreezing]

Hi Caza - We were on the same sailing - 11 in our family me (senior) my two sons their wives and my six grandchildren (19,14,12,11,10 & 2). We signed them up for camp but they never went either. The 2 yr old spent a few hrs there then she refused to go again. The 11 & 12 yr old boys did the rope course and played a round of miniature golf before we finished eating lunch. These kids had so much to do on this ship it was great. The ship is beautiful and sooo clean. I thought all the specialty food was amazing. The only disappointment was the MDR fare. Some good some okay some downright inedible. CMC was good. We only ate in the MDR 2 nights. Tried Capitano la Cucina (very good service & food), steakhouse - amazing food but the only negative vibe I got on the whole ship. We were all adults (no kids) and very respectful so there was no reason for our waitress to be downright nasty. None of the staff in there smiled. Everywhere else on the ship the staff was wonderful-really outstanding going out of their way to be helpful. Our cabin steward was a doll as was our MDR staff-it wasn't their fault the food quality was sub par. One night we ate in the Sushi bar - it was great. I don't eat BK or McD at all but I really loved Guy's Burgers (addictive) and they really piled on the fries without asking for more like I've read on here many times. Mongolian wok was good -fresh, the Indian place Tandoori was exceptional, blue iguana burrito's delish, deli sandwiches and room service very good. Red Frog pub was fun. Frosty drinks great - tried several but my favorite was a chocolate mocha that they made with Vodka and Kalua (not a mudslide but similar) It was sooo good. The piano bar was good although some found Ben to be a little annoying-to each his own. We had a blast at the Kareoke party. All the comedy shows were good (family & adult) Saw a few shows in Ovation. I know people on here hate them but I enjoyed them. The kids loved the Hasbro show and my son & wife won a bottle of champagne in an adult scavenger hunt type thing. Two of the boys won ships on a stick. I got a free drink card in the casino - they also sent me great cookies one night and chocolate strawberries another night to my cabin. On the last night they offered me a free cruise. I won in the casino - about $1500 over the six nights. The beautiful thing about the Breeze is there are plenty of places with action and plenty of places to relax totally isolated if you so choose. We had all balcony rooms and really enjoyed them especially in the morning pulling into ports and watching the sunrise. We also had FTTF and it was worth every penny. I had to go to Guest services when we first got on because there was a problem with my card - the regular line was wrapped around the ship whereas the FTTF line had 2 people in front of me. This alone made FTTF cost so worth it. If you can swing it get it- I don't think you'll be sorry.

Caza - I'm so sorry to sort of highjack your thread - I tried to make one of my own but I'm a 101 computer dummy and don't really know how to navigate in here. Did you do anything in the ports - we ziplined in Jamaica-rented a cabana at Royal Palms in the Cayman Islands and went to Paradise Beach in Cozumel. So glad you enjoyed your cruise. We loved it too. I also will answer any questions anyone has. The Breeze is an amazing ship.

[caza1518]

JustBreezing,

No worries, glad you chimed in. Good for you, you have some luck. Maybe next cruise I should hang out with you.

 

Yes, we did the Chukka 4X4 Safari in Jamaica and it was okay. The guide was very entertaining for my kids and that was important. They got a kick out of him. But we got to see some parts of Jamaica, which is what I wanted. From the waterfall we were at, we saw some zip liners swinging through the trees, maybe you guys???

 

Grand Cayman we did the Atlantis Submarine. It was a nice adventure.

 

Cozumel, was an adult day right at the port with some beer, chips and gucamole. Was all I needed.

 

I take the cruise fare for what it is. The MDR is always hit an miss, but I will say we really did not encounter any inedible food.

 

I am surprised about the steakhouse experience you had. Our wait team was very friendly and laughing with my husband because he had them on their toes. I think they try to hard to represent an upscale environment.

 

Until our next Breeze encounters...

[reerun25]

Enjoyed the review, thanks for sharing!

[Ms. Fun Bunch]

Love your review will be on the Breeze my second time on June 15. I can't wait!!!

[cruisemama1]

Thanks for your review. Your comments about FTTF are great to hear! I'm trying this in September for the first time.:)

[idjaffe]

Great cruise!

 

Family of 4 Mom dad and some pre-teens - all had a great time.

 

MDR - still don't like the food...everything is fried or covered in thick sauces...always trouble trying to find simple good fare.

 

Loved the sushi.

 

The piano bar was good for one night - then it became repetitive.

 

Loved the guitarist by the pool. Was ok with the DJ - but still would rather live music.

 

Did not like the main shows at all - Where were the live musicians? the grand costumes? The great dancing ( or magic or circus acts) that we have come to expect from Carnival? Watching cartoon characters sing to me, or obvious lip syncing is just disappointing. It used to be that there was entertainment non-stop at night...now it is hit or miss....

 

Overall a great cruise...can't wait to go again.