Just off Carnival Breeze...disappointed

[ObstructedView2]

 

One afternoon I decided to try the "Sea Dogs" but alas after trudging up there, I was informed that they had no hot dogs, just sausage. I was just a tiny bit upset but oh well. I remember the days of the lido grill with the grilled hamburgers and hot dogs available all afternoon and wish that were still an option.

 

The deli was ok but I wasnt a big fan of the slapping the meat on pre-toasted bread and calling it a "grilled ham and cheese". Didn't try the BBQ as the lines were way too long and all I heard were people complaining that it just wasn't worth the wait.

They have hot dogs at the Deli also....

 

In fact, hot dogs are available at the Deli, the MDR, as well as Sea Dogs.

 

 

 

:rolleyes:

 

 

 

[Micahs Grandad]

Princess uses the same 'powdered' egg stuff that Carnival uses for scrambled eggs. Their toast and bagels are also pre-toasted.

 

Agree that for the most part Princess's buffet is better than Carnival's. Though I did have a bug crawl out of the asparagus in the salad buffet on the Golden.

Princess's MDR menu is uninspiring to us.

 

It's great we have choices.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

 

 

Princess does have awesome fresh and crusty rolls for breakfast that Carnival does not. Also has smoked salmon every day in Horizon court.

 

Carnival does toast bread and bagels way too far before putting them out

 

Carnival food overall is good but could learn a lot from Princess buffets.

[seventhwardhustler]

# NEVER LIDO

 

The buffet is the last place to eat never the first.

 

JUST SAY NO TO BUFFET's :D

 

 

#NEVER Buffet

 

i agree. we are one of the first in line at the breakfast buffet, because we have an early schedule at home, so we catch breakfast warm and reasonably fresh. we don't see the buffet again until the next morning.

 

even the steakhouse is overrated imho. guys and the old pizza joint kept us going. i heard there is a new pizza that sucks.

[ObstructedView2]

Princess does have awesome fresh and crusty rolls for breakfast that Carnival does not. Also has smoked salmon every day in Horizon court.

Carnival has complentary smoked salmon available EVERY DAY in the room service menu.

 

 

:rolleyes:

 

 

[ready2cruzagain]

Thanks OP for your review. I must agree that Carnival is not what it use to be, (a reason why we are trying NCL next after a 10 year hiatus). On the Glory a couple of months ago and the buffet food was definitely inferior to Princess. We did like the new menus in the MDR though. Food is so subjective to ones taste.

 

Since you liked Cucina del Capitano for dinner, you should have gone everyday for lunch which is free and pretty awesome! We were on the Breeze for 14 days and ate at Cucina del Capitano for lunch about 10 times. You didn't mention the Tandoori but that is a really good option also.

 

It is a shame that Sea dogs was out of hot dogs because that is one of the best hot dogs I have ever eaten!

Edited April 15, 2016 by ready2cruzagain

[Dave994]

OP. I am sorry about the experience on your last trip.

 

I have only been on Carnival 3 times so far and it seems to me on our last Conquest cruise during march break the food quality was way down. Edible, but not what it once was. Even my beloved Eggs Benedict was off.

 

We also spent a lot of time at Guys burgers which were amazing! Loved them for sure.

 

Booked on 3 more cruises and hope the food is better next time, but I see more and more of this everyday here.

 

As for other lines being as cheap as carnival, do you have a special rate? Looked at 4 days for me and my Daughter to try a different line and couldn't find a thing even remotely close to carnival. Booked in at $269 and most were $500 plus.

[cruzeluver]

The comment about breakfast being the same everyday j don't get. They offer every single breakfast item available. What did you want that they didn't have?

 

I have seen this comment in other reviews for other ships and even other cruise lines and do not get it either. What breakfast items were missing? Seems breakfast buffet is the same every day on all lines we have sailed on. We just avoid the buffet like the plague. Easy!

 

Sorry OP for your disappointments. Its a shame to spend the money for a cruise, look forward to it and then be disappointed.

[loubetti]

There have been three MS Westerdams. The one I assume the OP was on is now the Thompson Dream.

 

...and was originally the Homeric for Home Lines. It was stretched to become the Westerdam, and was featured in the 1997 movie "Out to Sea" starring Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau.

[trvlgirlmq]

We had a less than stellar experience in the MDR on our last Breeze cruise as well. In fact I had the opposite of your baked potato! My niece or I ordered one almost every night and each time they were undercooked (still hard in the center). We also had a lot of side dishes that were way too salty.

 

We had much better lunch experiences on Lido. We usually ate tacos or pizza along with a salad. I think the sauce over the meat thing on the buffet is because they use the leftover meat from the MDR from the night before and make a dish out of it for lunch the next day.

 

Hopefully your next ship will be a better experience.

[Micahs Grandad]

Carnival has complentary smoked salmon available EVERY DAY in the room service menu.

 

 

:rolleyes:

 

 

 

Actually that is not correct. They eliminated it from the room service menu about a year ago.

[krehberg]

Food is completely and 200% subjective. Sorry you were disappointed. At least the casino staff was great.

 

Try another ship. Bigger isn't better for everyone.

 

 

This!

 

Oh..and "fatty, grizzly and hard to chew" doesn't sound like Tenderloin, but I wasn't there so not sure if OP is over exaggerating or if CCL is calling something Tenderloin that is actually something else.

[StolidCruiser]

Thanks for your review.

 

Aside from the issue with the surly steward, everything else about the cruise was enjoyable but the food.

 

Contrary to what our resident grump wishes to ascribe to responses such as mine, I disregard these types of reviews focused almost singularly on the food. That doesn't mean I am "defending" Carnival; it just means that if you cruise Carnival only for, or choose to exhaustively criticize, the food, you're cruising with the wrong line.

 

Is the food, at times, mediocre? It most certainly can be. One cannot expect exemplary food quality when the total per-day cost of cruising Carnival can be equal to or less than the cost of one gourmet meal on land.

 

Carnival, in my opinion, offers adequate (and often times impressive) food and meals comparable to the price point of their fares.

 

I have never gone hungry on a Carnival cruise. I have found things I liked and things that I didn't - just like in any restaurant or buffet on land. I am more satisfied than dissatisfied with what I find on Carnival and being satisfied doesn't make me a "cheerleader". It just makes me satisfied.

 

(Added: When someone hasn't cruised with Carnival in years, they shouldn't argue about perceived quality deterioration using the opinions of others. It kind of defeats the purpose of being a critic on whom to rely if the experience wasn't yours.)

Edited April 15, 2016 by StolidCruiser

[ObstructedView2]

Edit

 

Double post/reply

 

Sorry

Edited April 15, 2016 by ObstructedView2

[ObstructedView2]

Actually that is not correct. They eliminated it from the room service menu about a year ago.

On the Breeze last month smoked salmon WAS available on the room service menu every day.. and at the deli..

 

:)

 

 

 

[Micahs Grandad]

On the Breeze last month smoked salmon WAS available on the room service menu every day.. and at the deli..

 

:)

 

 

 

 

Hopefully it is back on room service menu. In Oct 2016 on Glory and Feb 2016 on Valor was gone from menu.

 

We got it several times at the deli and save it for morning.:)

[StolidCruiser]

Hopefully it is back on room service menu. In Oct 2016 on Glory and Feb 2016 on Valor was gone from menu.

 

We got it several times at the deli and save it for morning.:)

 

Time machine, Marty McFly? :D

[JaniceB]

Sorry to hear you had a bad experience,

[tropicaledrink]

# NEVER LIDO

 

The buffet is the last place to eat never the first.

 

JUST SAY NO TO BUFFET's :D

 

 

Sea Day Brunch for B-fast or the Blue Iguana Cantina.

 

Lunch at Tandoor, or Cucina pasta bar

 

Dinner at the MDR, or Cucina or Steakhouse

 

Snacks all over but Red Frog Pub Wings

 

#NEVER Buffet

 

I don't even know the last time I ate something off the regular buffet line, or from the Taste of Nations line.

 

And I GREATLY prefer the MDR for breakfast.

[tropicaledrink]

On the Breeze last month smoked salmon WAS available on the room service menu every day.. and at the deli..

 

:)

 

 

 

 

It wasn't available for Breakfast on the Fascination or Pride last year. I don't recall if it was on the rest of the day menu or not....

[quickrate]

# NEVER LIDO

 

The buffet is the last place to eat never the first.

 

JUST SAY NO TO BUFFET's :D

 

 

Sea Day Brunch for B-fast or the Blue Iguana Cantina.

 

Lunch at Tandoor, or Cucina pasta bar

 

Dinner at the MDR, or Cucina or Steakhouse

 

Snacks all over but Red Frog Pub Wings

 

#NEVER Buffet

So true, been on the Breeze 3 times and always had great food but used all the venues you described. Always had a fresh salad at lunch from the salad bar and loved the Tandoori as well as the Blue Iguana. Sea day Brunch always good. Guess we were just lucky as we also never had a problem with food in the MDR.

Pat

[Smart Arsenal Fan]

Amazing how subjective things can be. We sailed on the Breeze just past, on March 20 sailing, and all agreed was our best cruise yet.

I'm not discounting OP's opinion, his points are very valid to him.

Just I find it interesting.

Same with Yelp reviews, i take good and bad, with a spoonful of salt.

[Love2Cruz2015]

Same as above...I sailed the Breeze last August and had a blast...Matt was the CD and he made sure everyone was having fun...He even danced with my 6 year old and gave me his card and encouraged me to keep in touch lol.

 

But besides that, the ship was beautiful, we had a spa balcony with full access to the spa on deck 12...great service, great food...best Carnival cruise yet..I only hope the Vista takes it up even another level.

[BrotherCraig]

Yeah, I am not a fan of the buffet. Actually, I never cared for any buffet -- anywhere! Never enjoyed eating at one so I avoid them at all costs. We do eat breakfast in the MDR every morning and we always loved it. Good place to start the day with a cocktail as well.

 

As for the MDR dinners, never really had a bad mean yet so we have been lucky. We always rave over the MDR meals but some are not bad but a miss. At home, we go to top notch restaurants here in the city once or twice a week so we consider ourselves foodies.

 

I agree with you about the Italian restaurant but it is also hard to go wrong with it. Don't forget, the lunch there is FREE. The Steakhouse is pretty good but I would not even rank it in the top 20 in my city. Still, worth the extra cost for that special dinner.

 

We had one room steward that was just having a bad day. He was not being very nice but I made him laugh and I actually sang him a song... cheered him right up and he was all smiles for the rest of the cruise. Sometimes, they just have bad days or weeks. Human.

 

Thank you for the honest review. We will be on the Breeze in Sept for the first time so we love reading the reviews -- positive and negatives. Brave to post negatives here so kudos to you! Hope your next cruise is better.

[Trumpster]

# NEVER LIDO

 

The buffet is the last place to eat never the first.

 

JUST SAY NO TO BUFFET's :D

 

 

Sea Day Brunch for B-fast or the Blue Iguana Cantina.

 

Lunch at Tandoor, or Cucina pasta bar

 

Dinner at the MDR, or Cucina or Steakhouse

 

Snacks all over but Red Frog Pub Wings

 

#NEVER Buffet

 

Realized that my last line was not what I was meaning.

 

Snacks all over the ship but especially the red frog pub wings!!! Didn't want to diss them wings! :cool:

[terryinal]

All the food they fix is better then I cook.