!!! BREEZE !!! Western Caribbean ^_^ The Ultimate Review and Complete Pictorial Guide

[gambee]

Wonderful review. Wonderful Dedication. Thoughts are with you , your Mom, and your family. Take care.

 

Thank you.

 

 

Thank you so much for the time and effort you put into this review! You finished just in time for me to leave on this exact sailing Sunday!

 

Have a great time on your cruise! Have some tacos for me :p

[gambee]

First of all Gambee, my condolences to you, your Mom and family on the loss of someone so dear to you. Healing thoughts coming your way.

 

This review has been amazing, as all of your reviews have been. I really think you need to write for a travel magazine, so more people can experience your awesome reviews. There are so many people that don't even know about Cruise Critic, and that is a shame. You learn so much from CC.

 

We started off cruising with Carnival years ago, but have been sticking with Royal to get some added perks while we cruise along in life. But, this review has definitely given me thoughts of returning to Carnival to try it out again. I never had any problems with them, just found Royal more to our liking. We have reached D+ on Royal and know we will never attain Pinnacle, so might as well branch out once in a while.

 

It has been such a pleasure reading and watching your videos and seeing your amazing photography skills. I really hate to see this end. But, now my sights are on your August cruise, with Mom by your side again. Something to look forward to.

 

Thanks again, you are one amazing person. Would love to cruise with you someday.

 

Gwen :)

 

Thank you Gwen, it is always a pleasure to have you with me in my reviews. Keep your fingers crossed that the August cruise can happen, both mom and I need that cruise more than anything else.

 

I always wonder when I will increase my levels in each cruise line, quite honestly I think it will take forever since I am always trying new lines. If I have done all 6 cruises on 1 line I would much higher now. But I truly enjoy the variety more than anything, so I can wait :)

[gambee]

Excellent, detailed and personal review as always. Thank you Gambee for your efforts and time.

 

Must admit, Carnival is not on my to do list especially without having to travel to get on a ship such as the Breeze but certainly never have ruled Carnival out completely.

 

Again, thank you! :)

 

Thank you, glad you like it just like the other ones :). You should give them a try, for the price paid it is really a fantastic cruise line.

[BugsyCruiser]

Thank you Chris, until next time. BTW Amazon screwed things up and now I have to wait 3-5 weeks to get the camera. On the bright side they gave me $25 back and priority shipping once they get it in stock. None the less, I wanted to check her out this weekend.

 

Oh well what can you do, right?

 

I got mine yesterday and will be taking some test pics today :)

 

Sent from my HTC6600LVW using Tapatalk

[gambee]

Gambee - another GREAT review!! Thank you for writing such a detailed, fair, and exciting review about my favorite ship - the Carnival Breeze! :D We sailed the Breeze last year, we're about to board the Breeze again in 35 days, and have yet another cruise booked on the Breeze for next year! All while experiencing different ports and itineraries each time. This is what I love about the Carnival Breeze - her itineraries are unmatched.

 

I'm so sorry to read about your Grandmother. My thoughts and blessings go out to you and your family.

 

You're right, the itineraries is a home run for carnival. Have a great cruise!

 

Thank you :)

[gambee]

Another fantastic review Gambee!

With your review of Breeze here and Kim's review of Getaway on the NCL board at the same time is like Christmas in May :)

 

Glad you had a great time, especially sailing solo. Wish you the best in all your future cruises. Now from the peanut gallery:

I agree 100% about the singing waiters. While some love them there are lots that don't like this especially for the reason you observed. It is fine if some want to voluntarily sing or if Carnival hires singers from the piano bar but to make food workers sing and dance is WRONG! I take heat on the NCL board for pointing out some of the NCL workers are made to dance while they welcome back passengers to the ship. If is fine if they volunteer or dancers are hired. But the cruise worker employees are not trained circus animals to make them dance and sing when they are not cleaning rooms or waiting tables. Bravo for bringing this up because few dare to mention it. Just imagine in your current job today if you boss told you that during lunch you must go and sing and dance for people in the office. I think most of us would have a problem with that. It really is exploiting their workers.

 

I think you will discover that the cruise lines are similar but the real difference is the ship itself. For example, you sailed on NCL's lowest rated ships (Sky and Breakaway). Both ships are in the 60's percent approval range. You have also sailed on RCCL and Carnivals highest rated ships. Carnival has some of the oldest ships sailing the seas. My point is the difference is greater in the ship rather than just the cruise line.

 

Thanks again for sharing with all of us.

 

Well I am glad someone else agrees with me, on all the videos you see you can really tell that they are not happy doing this. Just seems like the line is pushing them into something that they rather not be doing.

 

Thank you for posting, glad you liked the review just like the other ones.

[gambee]

The Breeze is my favourite Carnival ship and I've enjoyed 3 sailings on her. Looking forward to reading your review as I've enjoyed your other reviews.

 

Sent from my SM-G900W8 using Forums mobile app

 

Hope you like it :)

 

I am going to venture out on a limb here and say this about The Singing Waiters and Waitresses....I think that they go along with it to show they are the best in the business for service and personalized attention. My guess is that they don't really mind because they basically work for tips.

 

My thoughts are that they dance and sing to draw attention to themselves and MAYBE, just MAYBE, they will get extra tips from the patrons. I know I enjoyed Ken Byrne, the Singing Maitre D, sing during our Breeze cruise. I definitely tipped them over and beyond what their routine daily tips were. I thought they were magnificent, and tip them extra for going above and beyond the status quo. Just my thoughts for what they're worth.

 

We are all entitled to our opinion. But trust me, they are not happy doing this. Just browse through youtube and multiple videos will confirm what I have said.

[gambee]

Great review!! Thank you for being YOU and sharing this with us!

 

You're welcome, glad you enjoyed it.

 

 

Carnival definitely comes across around here as the one to avoid. But between this review and the recent one from Lara/Solo Fashionista, their newer ships seem well worth trying. Especially for the price.

 

I have not seen Lara's review, gotta go check that out. Thank you :)

[gambee]

Gambee I am truly enjoying reading your thoughts on Breeze and I've watched all 4 videos. They are excellent. I love that you have sailed the best ships in each cruise line and that you give comparisons of Breeze to the others. Good to know that Breeze impressed you in lots of areas. I sailed Breeze for my birthday last year and did the 6 day. It's impossible to see and do everything in that short amount of time. I'm suppose to sail her again for Christmas but may be switching to Sunshine because it has other things that Breeze does not have, just want to try a different ship. Cannot wait to read more as you wrap up your review. Are there more videos coming? At the end of video #4 you said you were going to film more of the ship.

 

Video 4 is the last one, the reason it ended like that was because I actually filmed them in the wrong order. It was windy outside that I though that it would be impossible to get any video that day. Very happy that you enjoyed the videos, they require so much work, and it is nice to know that they are appreciated.

[gambee]

Gambee, Gambee, Gambee. How I love your reviews, pictures and stories.

 

This was amazing and it really pleases me to see how much you seem to like the Breeze. As you, we were skeptical to try Carnival too with all the bad publicity and negative things said about the company. When we booked the Dream last year, I was pleasantly surprised.

 

The Breeze is one that I have had my eye on since going on the Dream. I am now convinced that it's the right ship in the Carnival fleet for me to try next. You are right, it's like the Dream on steroids. :D

 

 

I found myself wanting to comment after so many things during your review, but just couldn't bring myself to stop and take the time to do so because I was so caught up in the review.

 

As always, excellent job and I'm going to have to check out my 2 camera's to see if they have the Illusion feature on them. I love those results.

 

Well hello there, its been quite sometime since we last spoke. I am very glad that you enjoyed the review. I definitely had a great time on this cruise, and I can't wait till I sail her again in the future.

 

Thank you so much for posting, I was missing having you here. I was not aware you were following.

 

Until next time :)

[tiggerkaj]

BTW Amazon screwed things up and now I have to wait 3-5 weeks to get the camera. On the bright side they gave me $25 back and priority shipping once they get it in stock.

 

Sorry to hear the Rainforest (haha) messed up your order!! My husband might block my access to cruise critic and reading your reviews! Not only did I order a Sony camera for the features I loved from your review but I am also looking at booking Carnival Breeze for a cruise in a few weeks :eek: Your review has provided so much helpful information, thank you!!

 

I'm so sorry to hear about grandmother. My thoughts are with you and your family.

[janeyzee]

Hugs to you and your mom and your whole family. As you said, family is everything, I can tell yours is a very close one and you will lean on each other through all that is to come. Your Cruise Critic family is here for you too.

[diddlydi]

Amazing review Gambee as always.

My condolences to you and your family for your loss.

Like I mentioned before. Would love for you to cruise all the time so I would always have a review to read. :D

Wish I could cruise all the time. :p

Take care.

Dianne

[pghsteelerfan]

Gambee,

 

I finally got caught up with and finished reading your review. I think I read it word for word. I actually felt like I was on the Breeze sailing with you. I love your sense of humor and really, really, really enjoyed all of your beautiful pictures. I don't know when we'll be cruising next, but I really think I would love to go on the Breeze. I'm now looking forward to reading your other reviews. :)

 

I am so sorry about the loss of your Grandma and you and your family will be in my thoughts and prayers.

 

Holly

[mitsugirly]

Well hello there, its been quite sometime since we last spoke. I am very glad that you enjoyed the review. I definitely had a great time on this cruise, and I can't wait till I sail her again in the future.

 

Thank you so much for posting, I was missing having you here. I was not aware you were following.

 

Until next time :)

 

I actually just returned from the Getaway and was doing my review over on the NCL boards when they mentioned you were just finishing up your Breeze review. Naturally, I headed over here and have been reading for hours for the last 3 days. :D Since the Breeze (and the Magic) are 2 of the Carnival ships I want to try, I knew I had to stop everything I was doing and get over here. :p

 

 

It's so weird you didn't have momma Gambee on your cruise with you, but for someone who is an introvert, I think you did exceptionally well. So glad you had a wonderful roll call and was able to have some good times with them while on board. It wasn't so bad after all now was it? ;)

[TracieABD]

Thank you :).

 

I heard about Divina's shows, while I am not a fan of shows, I still plan on checking them out and see what they are about.

 

 

 

 

Thank you for the A, now if only I manage to get that grade on the term paper that would be great ;).

 

I think your university should factor this grade in with your overall GPA!

[retiredgram]

Great review. Your photos should be sold as post cards. They are beautiful, so much better than the ones you buy.

 

Until the next cruise, safe travels and the best to you and your mom.

[sonicbuffalo]

Gambee and Gambee's Mom,

 

I want to send my condolences to all of your family too for the loss of someone special in your family. I hope you find peace in this time of sorrow...and can find reasons to celebrate her life as the days go by.

 

In all sincerety,

 

Sonicbuffalo

[CruisingTat00]

I've heard other cruisers from my cruise group say that they also was questioned by Customs when they sailed solo. I have sailed solo twice, once out of Miami and out of San Juan and was never pulled aside thank God. I wonder what makes them pull some. Maybe just random and you got picked Gambee, sorry.

 

 

 

 

quote=gambee;42924294]Day 7, Disembarkation

 

 

I woke very early not sure why, decided to check my emails and catch up to my e-life. Then I went to take a few pictures of MSC Divina.

 

I noticed a forward facing room open and I took a picture of it. They are nice and large. I could actually see myself in one of these rooms for the right price. They have that forward balcony right there and look how spacious they are, but I guess I would still miss the ocean air coming into the room.

 

 

Here is MSC Divina, if everything goes as planned, mom and I will board her on August. I am really hoping that all the reviews are flawed, because I am ready to have another amazing cruise! Then again even if it is a bad cruise line, I am sure I can make a good cruise out of it. And at the prices offered, it just hard to let the opportunity pass by.

 

 

Since my mom was already on her way I decided to head out just in case the it would take long to go through customs.

 

I always bring my bag with me after Celebrity lost our bags on our silhouette cruise.

 

There was a short line, but it moved fast.

 

 

This ended up being one of the fastest disembarkation that I have ever done. It was so fast that I ended up waiting for my mom for 30 minutes outside, I was not planning on that.

 

The customs officer grilled me over why was I traveling alone, and if I traveled alone in the past and some other questions. He eventually let me go, but he asked about 10 questions. I am so tired of going through this process every time I enter the country. That is why stopped traveling to Colombia, entering the country takes on average 3-4 hours from a Colombian flight…. They just single me out and make me go through every extra process possible.

 

Anyway, other than the officer, everything was fast and very efficient.

 

 

Here is Bimini express, she does daily trips to Bimini island. Mom and I plan on sailing on her in August for quick getaway. Keep an eye for a review.

 

 

 

And the last picture of the review is a nasty accident that happened on I-95 on the way home.

 

 

Well that’s it folks, the review is over.

 

 

 

Next up scoring and conclusion ;)

 

[CruisingTat00]

One of the best reviews I've read!! Gambee I am going back to youtube to view all your videos( I looked at the 4 of the Breeze tour), you have like 190? Something like that. Not sure I will view all the ships but definately Breakaway since I want to sail Getaway next year, also your Disney and Allure videos. You are very talented but then you already know this. Thanks for sharing!!

[lifeisgoodPat]

Thank you so much for all your hard work doing this review. It shows that you really want us to know the ship before we get on. I have sailed the Breeze twice, but your review makes me want to continue doing the same.

So sorry for your loss…..

[retiring soon]

Hi all!

 

gambee ~ really enjoyed your review & photos & was happy to meet you.

So glad the Breeze made such a good impression on you. You're right 6 days is not enough time to do everything on Breeze, that's why I was on her for the 2nd time.

 

I find that Carnival has the best tv stations tho', all the networks which the others don't have. That movie channel was annoying but I think the lady at Guest Services said they start every 3 hours beginning at 9:00 am.

The PPV movies were also quite expensive but then who had time to watch them really?;)

 

My condolences on the loss of your beloved Grandmother.

 

~ Jo ~ :)

[KPfromCT]

Gambee.....:(:( I am so sorry for the loss of your grandmother. She sounds like an incredible woman. Your family is in my thoughts.

[soaringfalcon]

Thank you so much for another amazing review. I've NEVER thought about the Carnival product because of the news stories but I'm going to have to give them another look.

 

I think I like the mystery of not seeing a picture of you. Reading your reviews is like reading a fabulous book and I get to picture you in my head instead. I truly wish though that things were different and that you didn't have to live with that fear.

 

My sympathies to you and your Mom on the loss of your Grandmother. Peace to all of you.

[Susie51]

Like you, I enjoy cruising with different cruise lines. I'm frequently asked what is my favorite cruise line. I've sailed with 7 of them.

 

There are things about each one that I like better than the others. But I can't say which is my favorite. I know my least favorite is Carnival, but after reading your review, I will reconsider.