Diamond Cruise 4/5/15 aboard the Breeze

[mississauga]

Thanks for the congrats! Wow 85 is a lot, what did they do for a Diamond event for that many people?

 

 

I was not on that cruise so not sure what they did. On the Freedom with 81, they had a cocktail party where they took individual drink requests and came around with upgraded appetizers. Lots of waitstaff to handle the requests and walk around with the appetizers.

 

Needless to say, there was no photo ops with the captain. He Was there and circulated with the guests. His officers too.

[nybumpkin]

I know John Heald had brought this up on his blog site as well a while back. The pet peeve is people coming into the MDR 1/2 hour after the MDR has opened. Diagonal to us wwas a table for siz where two non related couples sat. The oblviously were not sailing together and must have been place together. The first night it had caught my eye, now it being the the second night one couple was not thre and I thought to myself, someone must have moved or changed their dining.

 

Then at 6:28 (I checked my watch) in strolls the other couple and sits down. I watch our wait staff go crazy trying to get things for them. I wish they would close the doors to the MDR 15 mintues in.....but that's me.;)

I completely agree with you! Some years ago on Miracle, we did watch the Maitr'de turn away two very nicely dressed couples on formal night when they arrived more than a half hour late. I haven't seen it done recently. We did have one cruise where our oldest son showed up for dinner 45 minutes late and looked completely confused - he was using his cell phone to get the time and it had switched to local time. I told him to go get something on Lido deck, but our headwaiter (who was laughing at this whole scenario) sat him down, handed him a menu, said "entree and dessert only" and made sure he was fed.:p

 

Congratulations on Diamond, and thanks for sharing your review. We still have 68 days as Platinum....

Edited April 20, 2015 by nybumpkin

[mississauga]

I am surprised that they don't close the doors after 15 minutes. I remember when we were on the Splendor a few years ago, they did.

 

Nowadays, we usually do YTD so that doesn't apply.

 

When assigned seating, don't sit near the doors so was not aware that they were no longer closing the doors after 15 minutes.

 

We have been in the dining room when the Maitre'd has made announcements that we needed to leave as the waitstaff needed time to prepare for the late seating...lol.

[jimbo5544]

I was not on that cruise so not sure what they did. On the Freedom with 81, they had a cocktail party where they took individual drink requests and came around with upgraded appetizers. Lots of waitstaff to handle the requests and walk around with the appetizers.

 

 

 

Needless to say, there was no photo ops with the captain. He Was there and circulated with the guests. His officers too.

 

 

I guess that is all you can expect under those conditions.

[jimbo5544]

I completely agree with you! Some years ago on Miracle, we did watch the Maitr'de turn away two very nicely dressed couples on formal night when they arrived more than a half hour late. I haven't seen it done recently. We did have one cruise where our oldest son showed up for dinner 45 minutes late and looked completely confused - he was using his cell phone to get the time and it had switched to local time. I told him to go get something on Lido deck, but our headwaiter (who was laughing at this whole scenario) sat him down, handed him a menu, said "entree and dessert only" and made sure he was fed.:p

 

Congratulations on Diamond, and thanks for sharing your review. We still have 68 days as Platinum....

 

 

Appreciate the thanks for the status and on the review. Keep plugging, you will get there (platinum status). I will never forget our first Platinum cruise as we boarded the ship and they looked at our card (silver) and said "Welcome home!" Brought smiles to our faces.

[jimbo5544]

I am surprised that they don't close the doors after 15 minutes. I remember when we were on the Splendor a few years ago, they did.

 

Nowadays, we usually do YTD so that doesn't apply.

 

When assigned seating, don't sit near the doors so was not aware that they were no longer closing the doors after 15 minutes.

 

We have been in the dining room when the Maitre'd has made announcements that we needed to leave as the waitstaff needed time to prepare for the late seating...lol.

I do get that they are trying to keep their customers happy. You just have to draw the line somewhere.......

[Jdfireman]

Congratulations and welcome to the Diamond level.

 

There are usually more Diamonds on the longer cruises. We had 81 on our Feb Freedom repo 12 days to Galveston. On the Mar 15 Pride repo to Baltimore, they had 85. Way too many.

 

I have been pretty lucky a few cruises I have been the only one and spending time with the captain is great.

 

My last Alaska cruise I met 2 sister from Boston area who were Diamond and had a lot more days at sea than me.

 

Can't wait to see if Carnival follows suit with other lines and comes up with a higher lever or better perks.

[jimbo5544]

I have been pretty lucky a few cruises I have been the only one and spending time with the captain is great.

 

My last Alaska cruise I met 2 sister from Boston area who were Diamond and had a lot more days at sea than me.

 

Can't wait to see if Carnival follows suit with other lines and comes up with a higher lever or better perks.

 

LOL, go easy, I just got here!

[jimbo5544]

Around 3:30, the aft pool was getting chocked full from all guests returning from their day in Ocho Rios. We ran into some of our crew that went to the blue hole. The had a good time, albeit a longer time to and from then they expected and everyone came back in one piece.

 

We headed down to get cleaned up for dinner. This evening we were going to the Steakhouse. The previous evening at the end of dinner, we had told our wait staff thay our table would be missing the next evening, going to the steakhouse. They replied, "if things change, we wll be here". Makes me want to ask, do you tell wait staff when you know you will not be coming to dinner?

[jimbo5544]

Before I continue, another point I wanted to surface here. Every reservation we have made at the steakhouse, no matter how far in advance, we were offered time of 6:15 or 8:30. Most of the time, it is either fairly closer to sail date, or we are on the cruise (which was the case this time).

 

When we went in for dinner I asked the Steakhouse manager about this and her response was interesting. She said that they do these times in order to get two seatings. She also stated it was even more important in a stekhose like the Breeze which has considerably smaller space than say a Spirit class or even a Conquest class.

[jimbo5544]

This was our fourth trip to the Steakhouse on the Breeze. There were 8 of us for dinner and we ended up at the round table straight in from the entrance. I know there are some here who do not like the Steakhouse, but for us, it is one of the highlights of a cruise. I almost always get the same thing: Onion Soup - very rch and almost a meal in and of itself, beefsteak tomatoes with garganzola and a light vinigeratte and dry rub ribeye. We had a great meal, thre were a two new comers whom I steered towards the Cheesecake for dessert. Love to see peoples faces when that huge chunk is set down in front of them.

[jimbo5544]

After dinner we changed and spent some time in Oceans Plaza listening to Deja Vu before the big meal tooks it course and I headed up to the room and lala land.

[jimbo5544]

Next up: Grand Cayman, or can you say, wow that is a lot of tendors......

[sjn911]

Sure enjoying the review....and wow....so many cruises..congrats on Diamond...I love the stories from a TA friend not much in touch with now..when she met the folks more involved in nitty gritty of it all..thanks for sharing snippets on the Captain meeting etc...that is nice way to do it...fancier cocktail party etc...

 

Learned....about walking options..thanks.

 

And also learned best aft balcony room wise options...thanks again.

 

Wondering about the smoke from smoking sections now on the ships and not against smokers having a place....but...how to be sure to avoid you do not have a balcony right above that.....

Edited April 21, 2015 by sjn911

[love my grandkids]

Thanks for the congrats! Wow 85 is a lot, what did they do for a Diamond event for that many people?

 

We were on the Pride repo cruise and was lots of diamonds. They did it as a cocktail party in the lounge they use for comedy club.

 

Have seen it as tea with capt on bridge (10 diamonds) and cocktail party and we like cocktail party better. However it was nice sitting with capt for half hour.

 

JH spoke at some lenght about diamonds and indicated they are looking some sort of double diamond tier.

[jimbo5544]

Sure enjoying the review....and wow....so many cruises..congrats on Diamond...I love the stories from a TA friend not much in touch with now..when she met the folks more involved in nitty gritty of it all..thanks for sharing snippets on the Captain meeting etc...that is nice way to do it...fancier cocktail party etc...

 

Learned....about walking options..thanks.

 

And also learned best aft balcony room wise options...thanks again.

 

Wondering about the smoke from smoking sections now on the ships and not against smokers having a place....but...how to be sure to avoid you do not have a balcony right above that.....

 

Thanks again, more coming on smoking..... and neighbors. We had some interesting things happen on this cruise, that ahve never happened to us before.

 

I tend to ramble and wonder at times if I am boring the heck out of people .:o

Edited April 21, 2015 by jimbo5544

[love my grandkids]

This was our fourth trip to the Steakhouse on the Breeze. There were 8 of us for dinner and we ended up at the round table straight in from the entrance. I know there are some here who do not like the Steakhouse, but for us, it is one of the highlights of a cruise. I almost always get the same thing: Onion Soup - very rch and almost a meal in and of itself, beefsteak tomatoes with garganzola and a light vinigeratte and dry rub ribeye. We had a great meal, thre were a two new comers whom I steered towards the Cheesecake for dessert. Love to see peoples faces when that huge chunk is set down in front of them.

 

Onion soup is awesome and best we have ever had.

 

Do miss the porterhouse but some nice alternatives.

 

Being originally from NYC we like NY style cheesecake and the steakouse does not have it and we dont care for the gelatin type cheesecake they serve. However it is a huge slice.

[jimbo5544]

We were on the Pride repo cruise and was lots of diamonds. They did it as a cocktail party in the lounge they use for comedy club.

 

Have seen it as tea with capt on bridge (10 diamonds) and cocktail party and we like cocktail party better. However it was nice sitting with capt for half hour.

 

JH spoke at some lenght about diamonds and indicated they are looking some sort of double diamond tier.

 

We actually got invited to a Diamond event before we were Diamond (and it happened to be on the Pride). It was a quarterly employee recognition event held in the Piano Bar with another Diamond couple whomw ehave become friends with since that evening. I so enjoyed the quality time and stories with senior staff and Kirk Benning, the cruise director. Interesting about the tiering comments from John. I think John is a true gem for the company (no pun intended in a diamond discussion). I know there are some here that don't feel that way but I think he is a great guy.

[jimbo5544]

Onion soup is awesome and best we have ever had.

 

Do miss the porterhouse but some nice alternatives.

 

Being originally from NYC we like NY style cheesecake and the steakouse does not have it and we dont care for the gelatin type cheesecake they serve. However it is a huge slice.

 

I have never had the cheesecake and usually get the home made ice cream for dessrt. They used to have Basil ice cream which I LOVED.

[love my grandkids]

We actually got invited to a Diamond event before we were Diamond (and it happened to be on the Pride). It was a quarterly employee recognition event held in the Piano Bar with another Diamond couple whomw ehave become friends with since that evening. I so enjoyed the quality time and stories with senior staff and Kirk Benning, the cruise director. Interesting about the tiering comments from John. I think John is a true gem for the company (no pun intended in a diamond discussion). I know there are some here that don't feel that way but I think he is a great guy.

 

Before we met him on the Pride we had mixed feeling about JH. Very much liked what we saw during the time we spent with him.

 

Was nice sailing with him where he didnt have the resonsibility of being CD so he was able to wander around the ship and several times he came over to us to chat.

 

Think his days as CD are almost over and most of his sailing times will be on longer cruises with him playing brand ambassador.

[love my grandkids]

I have never had the cheesecake and usually get the home made ice cream for dessrt. They used to have Basil ice cream which I LOVED.

 

Will have to try the ice cream next time we do the steakhouse.

[jimbo5544]

Before we met him on the Pride we had mixed feeling about JH. Very much liked what we saw during the time we spent with him.

 

Was nice sailing with him where he didnt have the resonsibility of being CD so he was able to wander around the ship and several times he came over to us to chat.

 

Think his days as CD are almost over and most of his sailing times will be on longer cruises with him playing brand ambassador.

I do beleive you are correct in terms John and his future, being torn away from family when kids are small and grwoing up can be tough. Matt sure looks like he is being primed to take over, we shall see.

[love my grandkids]

I do beleive you are correct in terms John and his future, being torn away from family when kids are small and grwoing up can be tough. Matt sure looks like he is being primed to take over, we shall see.

 

John has had a bunch of proteges over the years but think he will be brand ambassador for forseeable future.

 

Seems like it is the perfect setup for JH.

[jimbo5544]

Will have to try the ice cream next time we do the steakhouse.

 

It's small in size (esp compared to the cheesecake) but I am always so stuffed, it is just about right (that has a goldilocksesque ring to it lol).

[jimbo5544]

We awoke early as usual and did our 45 minute walk on the outside wrap deck on 5. Watched the sun break through some clouds with the hint of another great day. Not sure if everyone knows it but there is continental breakfast set up in Oceans Plaza by the taste section. Usually after walking we sit and have a coffee before really getting going for the day.