Carnival BREEZE After Dry-Dock 2022 5 Night Cruise Review - With Photos, Activity Newsletters, & Menus!

[thecruiserofships]

Day #2 Sea Day     
Sunday, May 15, 2022

 

Early Morning View From My Cove Balcony:
                I overall slept great my first night of the cruise despite some hallway noise and an early morning announcement made for another guest to contact guest services. My alarm went off around 5:45am and my secondary alarm went off around 5:55am. After getting ready I stepped outside on my cove balcony to take a look. The sunrise was on the opposite side of the ship, but I could see a little bit of orange when I looked towards the front of the ship from my balcony.

 

 

First Morning Walk Around The Carnival Breeze:
                  Each morning of the cruise I get up early to walk around the ship and take pictures. This has been a cruise tradition the past several cruises and I continued that tradition on this cruise as well. My walk for this morning started on Deck 4. I stepped inside the Carnival Breeze's Library Bar. The Library Bar had a variety of books on the shelves, several chairs for seating, and a very small bar area. However, the self-service wine dispensers that were a famous part of the Library Bar's debut were missing. On my last Carnival Breeze cruise these self-service dispensers were out of service, but on this cruise they were removed completely. 

 

 

 

[thecruiserofships]

While on Deck 4 I looked at the Carnival Breeze's atrium. The atrium bar was not yet open, but would be open in a little while. The Carnival Breeze's atrium had a large 50th Anniversary Celebration banner hanging. Carnival's 50th anniversary of sailing was in March 2022, but it appears they decided to keep celebrating all year long! Here are some pictures of the atrium from Deck 4: 

 

 

At the front of Deck 4 is one of the entrance's to the Ovation Theater. The Ovation Theater was the same place where I watched the Welcome Aboard Show on the first night. This lounge was used to host a variety of events on the first sea day such as the Fun Finds Shopping Show, The Wave Morning Show, Fun Ashore Fun Aboard presentation, Bingo, and the Playlist Production show Motor City. The Deck 4 entrance to the Ovation Theater has stairs that lead up to the seating on Deck 5. I walked up these stairs to take pictures of the Ovation Theater's upper level. 

 

 

     While I was at the front of the ship I went down to Deck 3. I walked around the Carnival Breeze's atrium lobby. This area was quiet while was very different than the first afternoon of the cruise as this is the area where everyone boarded the ship. The ship's atrium has four glass elevators that go up to Deck 12. Although the atrium's lobby is on Deck 3, the glass elevators go down to Deck 2 despite that deck not being a part of the atrium. In the center of the atrium is the atrium bar and a spiral staircase that goes up to decks 4 & 5. On of the sides of the atrium, there are several areas to sit and mini-Fun Hub internet cafe stations. During the Carnival Breeze's 2022 dry-dock a Dreams Studio was added on the lower level of the atrium. I will have a picture of that area in a later part of the review. 
                       The Guest Services and Shore Excursions decks can be found on Deck 3 on the sides of the atrium. The Guest Services desk is on one side of the Carnival Breeze's atrium while the Shore Excursions desk is on the opposite side of the atrium. On this cruise Guest Services was not 24 hours due to staffing shortages, but was open at this time of the day. At this time of the morning, the Shore Excursions Desk was closed. Shore Excursions can be booked through stateroom TV's, on the Carnival Hub App, and at Guest Services when the Shore Excursions Desk is closed. The Carnival Adventures Desk is the same thing as the Shore Excursions Desk.  

 

[thecruiserofships]

   From the Deck 3 level of the atrium I walked up the spiral staircase to Deck 5. This brought me to the Carnival Breeze's Fun Shops area. On one side guests can find shops that sell Carnival logo items, alcohol, and Cherry on Top. On the other side guests can find shops that sell jewelry, make-up, and $10 items. The shops were not yet open for the day at this time, but would be open from mid-morning until the evening. I will have some pictures of some of the merchandise in Cherry on Top and logo items in the Fun Shops later in the review. 

 

 

On Deck 5 I walked from the atrium towards the back. During this time I walked through the casino. The slot machines were open, but the tables and cashier station were not yet open. A few guests were already playing slots. I did not take pictures of the casino to respect privacy of those playing inside. 

 

 

 As I continued towards the back of Deck 5 I walked by Bonsai Sushi. Today Bonsai Sushi was open for lunch from 12:00pm - 2:30pm and dinner from 5:00pm -12:00am. Each food item on the menu has a different charge. I do not eat sushi so I've never had Bonsai Sushi, but it looked like at dinner all of the tables had guests so it must be popular. 

 

[thecruiserofships]

The Carnival Breeze's Red Frog Pub was a popular venue onboard. At this time of the day, the Red Frog Pub was not yet open. For this sea day the Red Frog Pub was open from 12:00pm until 12:00am. Below are some pictures of the Red Frog Pub: 

 

 

    The second entrance to the Red Frog Pub is behind the Alchemy Bar. I walked through the Red Frog Pub and came out in the Ocean Plaza right by the Alchemy Bar. I saw the sun was rising so I went outside to the Lanai to see the sunrise. The back of deck 5 where the railings are a little lower was the best place to get pictures of the sunrise on Deck 5. 

 

[thecruiserofships]

  Once I was back inside I walked through Piano Bar 88. The song request papers from the night before were still laying around the tables and chairs. The piano bar was primarily only used in the evenings and I don't remember seeing many events take place during the day-time. The Piano Bar 88 performance times for this sea day were 9:00pm - 11:00pm and then 11:00pm until late. This was printed in the What's Happening and Carnival Hub App. I am not sure what Carnival means by "late". 

 

 

The Blush Restaurant is the Carnival Breeze's aft dining room. This dining room is used for the Sea Day Brunch and at night used for traditional seating. On my morning walk I went into the deck 4 level of the Blush Restaurant. Some crew members were working on the Deck 3 level to setup for the Sea Day Brunch, which was scheduled from 8:30am until 12:00pm. The hours of the brunch were reduced due to staffing. 

 

 

     After looking in the dining room on Deck 4, I looked at my watch and decided to head up to the upper outside decks. I walked from Deck 4 to Deck 10. The Lido Main Pool area did not have anyone occupying deck chairs yet and nobody had left towels (or anything else) to start reserving chairs.        

 

[thecruiserofships]

First Breakfast On The Carnival Breeze: 
                       The Carnival Breeze offers cruisers multiple breakfast options to choose from. At the Lido Marketplace several buffet lines were open for breakfast. A continental breakfast buffet line that served pastries, cereal, and yogurt opened at 6:30am and closed at 10:30am. The main Lido buffet lines served breakfast from 7:30am until 10:30am. For cruisers wanting to eat breakfast tacos and burritos, the Blue Iguana Cantina served breakfast from 7:30am until 10:00am. One breakfast buffet line remained open until 12:00pm for late risers, but after 10:00am the rest of the lines closed to start preparing for lunch. Cruisers that did not want to eat in the buffet could eat at the Sea Day Brunch in the Blush Dining Room (aft dining room on Deck 3). The Sea Day Brunch was open from 8:30am until 12pm. The hours are reduced on the Sea Day Brunch due to staffing issues.
                            One change for this cruise was french toast was not served everyday anymore. Today was a french toast day, but then it was served again on Day 4 of the cruise. Pancakes were served on days when french toast was not served. We only had french toast twice this cruise as on the last day only pancakes were served. Bacon was served every other day. Today was not a bacon day, but other meat such as sausage & ham were available. 

Below are some pictures of the continental breakfast and main Lido Marketplace buffet lines: 

 

[thecruiserofships]

[thecruiserofships]

Walking On The Jogging Track On Deck 12:
                     After eating breakfast I went up to Deck 12 to walk around the jogging track. The jogging track was actually busy and had many people walking or jogging. A couple of people were running, but that seemed hard due to having to dodge multiple people. The weather was very nice to start off our day at sea!

 

 

  The Carnival Breeze's mini golf course and ropes course were not yet busy for the day. Some of the mini golf course holes are located on Deck 14 right by the entrance to the Ropes Course. The Ropes Course was open on our first day at sea, but was not yet open during this time. The Deck 14 level of SportSquare has a large chessboard. 

 

[thecruiserofships]

  After walking around the jogging track for a while I went down to Deck 5 to walk on the Lanai. On side of the Lanai was sunny and the other was nice & shady. I was sun-burned from sail-a-way on the first day of the cruise so it felt great to walk on the shady side. I did not walk here for too long because The Wave was coming up. 

 

 

 

 

[Cruise, J.D.]

Your pictures are great! Enjoying your review.

[Amadawn1]

I just got caught up on your review.  Thanks so much for sharing your Breeze experience with us. Loving all the great photos, too.  I'm looking forward to the next installment!

[thecruiserofships]

7 hours ago, Cruise, J.D. said:

Your pictures are great! Enjoying your review.

 

Thank you! I am glad you are enjoying the review. 

[thecruiserofships]

2 hours ago, Amadawn1 said:

I just got caught up on your review.  Thanks so much for sharing your Breeze experience with us. Loving all the great photos, too.  I'm looking forward to the next installment!

 

Thank you! I am glad you are enjoying the photos. 

[gambler]

Loving the pictures and review.

[thecruiserofships]

23 hours ago, gambler said:

Loving the pictures and review.

 

Thank you! I am glad you are enjoying the review! 

[thecruiserofships]

 

The Wave Morning Show:
                  The Wave Morning Show was scheduled for 9:00am in the Ovation Theater or on the Carnival Breeze's stateroom TVs. The show was hosted by our cruise director, Cookie, and fun squad member, Robbie. The show was only scheduled to last 30 minutes, but was going so well it went over by about 15 minutes. Crew members that also spoke on the show included the Fun Shops manager and Fun Finds Shopping Expert. The show was funny and informational. 

 

           After the morning show ended I saw the Gulf of Mexico outside was a nice shade of blue. I wanted to get some pictures of this nice blue water so I headed outside. There were some clumps of seaweed floating by. 

 

[thecruiserofships]

   I wanted to look out from the front of the ship so I went to Deck 9's front observation deck. However, upon arrival to the door to go outside the deck was closed for maintenance. It looked like the crew were pressure washing the deck. I went up to Deck 10 and found a sign on the door that said do not enter. I really wanted to look outside so I went down to Decks 6 and 7 to look out. Both of these decks have a nice exterior area that is located right below the navigational bridge. While I was outside I looked up and saw one of the ship's officers looking out. 

 

 

Second Lunch On The Carnival Breeze:
                              Around 12:00pm, I headed up to the Lido buffet for lunch. My first stop was actually Cucina Del Capitano's free lunch-time Pasta Bar. The Pasta Bar is located inside Cucina Del Capitano on Deck 11 and is complimentary at lunch. I was greeted by hostess who gave me a sheet of paper to fill out with my pasta selections. The form also had a spot to request bread and caesar salad. Normally guests eat in the Cucina Del Capitano venue for the pasta bar at lunch, but I asked for a to-go order. The hostess took my paper when I was done and within about 20 minutes I had my food. I carried it down to Deck 10 to eat in the Lido Marketplace. 

 

 

Here are all of the lunch options available on the ship for this sea-day: 

• Seafood Shack -   The Seafood Shack is located at the back of the lido buffet by the aft pool. This venue costs extra and was open from 11:00am until 5:00pm for lunch and was also open for dinner from 5:00pm until 10:00pm. 
• Blue Iguana Cantina  -    12:00pm - 2:30pm
• Bonsai Sushi -   This dining option is located on Deck 5 and costs extra. Bonsai Sushi serves a variety of different sushi related dishes. For lunch, this venue was open from 12:00pm until 2:30pm.
• Guy's Pig & Anchor Smokehouse (BBQ) -  This dining venue is located on the Lanai on Deck 5 and is complimentary. BBQ is served here. The Carnival Breeze's BBQ line was open from 12:00pm until 2:30pm. 
• Mongolian Wok -   The Carnival Breeze's Mongolian Wok is located in the lido buffet near the front area of the interior space. This venue was open from 12:00pm until 2:30pm. 
• Pasta Bar -  The pasta bar offers guests the ability to create a customized bowl of pasta. Essentially, guests fill out a paper form that gives options of what can be put in a pasta bowl. The form is turned into a hostess and a crew member makes the bowl of pasta. Caesar salads and garlic bread are also available. This venue was open from 12:00pm until 2:30pm. 
• Guy's Burger Joint -  12:00pm - 6:00pm
• The deli was open for lunch, but was also available for dinner (deli is open 11am -  11pm). One thing to note about the deli's opening hours was the app sometimes showed 12pm - 10:00pm, but the hours seemed to vary by the day. This particular day the deli was open a full 12 hours. 
  
  Due to staffing, the Ocean Plaza did not serve light lunch and there was no tea-time scheduled for the afternoon. 

 

 

[thecruiserofships]

[thecruiserofships]

Issue Claiming The Platinum $25 Casino Freeplay:
                 Prior to the cruise, I was notified by Carnival that the VIFP Platinum and Diamond benefit of buy one get one free casino tournament entry was temporary unavailable due to the Covid protocols. Instead Carnival temporarily replaced this benefit with a $25 Fun Play in the casino which could be used on slots or tables. I stopped by the casino to claim by $25 Fun Play.  The lady working the casino took my Sail & Sign card and scanned it, but told me that I did not exist in the system. She told me to go to Guest Services because my card was not valid. I went down to Guest Services and had to wait a few minutes in the Platinum/Diamond/Suites line. The lady working Guest Services was friendly and reissued my Sail & Sign card. I went back up to the casino and was told that this card was the exact same as my old Sail & Sign card. I knew this was not the case because I watched the lady at Guest Services issue me a new card and saw her throw my old card away. Further, my Folio number on the card changed. I went back to Guest Services and the lady got on the phone with the casino. The casino told them that we needed to give it some time and that I should try again at the casino desk much later in the day. This was a bummer, but I decided I would come back the next day to give the system plenty of time. Spoiler Alert: When I came back on Day 3 I was told that I did not exist on the ship!

Throughout the afternoon I walked around the ship's exterior decks. Below are some pictures: 

 

 

Around 4:00pm I went back to my stateroom to start getting ready for dinner. While in there I enjoyed the cove balcony. Around 5pm I went to the Carnival Breeze's atrium to listen to the string trio play. They were great!

 

[thecruiserofships]

While we were sitting in the atrium the PA went off. Cookie, our cruise director, made an announcement that the captain just alerted him that there was a waterspout on the left side of the ship. Almost instantly all of the guests in the atrium rushed to the windows on the left side of the ship. I decided to quickly head up to Deck 5 to get a better look. Guests were all over Deck 5 looking out and I was able to see many people with balconies on the left side of the ship were outside looking. I climbed some hot-tub steps on the Lanai to be able to hold my camera above the Lanai's tall glass. This was very neat to see and I am glad Cookie let us know to look out. Thank you Cookie! 
                   After seeing this I went back inside to the atrium on Deck 3. From the window it looks like we went through a short patch of rain, but the ship stayed a safe distance from the waterspout. 

 

 

Formal Night Dinner In The Sapphire Dining Room:
                   Tonight was the cruise's first and only elegant evening. This meant the dining room had a dress code that was supposed to be followed. 
                     The Sapphire Dining Room for Your-Time dining guests opened at 5:30pm again. Check-in started on the Carnival Hub App approximately 10 minutes prior to opening. We got assigned to a different table in a different section of the dining room compared to the first night. This was disappointing as we liked the waitstaff from the prior night. 
                        My dinner for the night consisted of both breads, appetizers of shrimp cocktail & Caesar salad, main course of broiled striploin steak, and dessert of banana split from the kid's menu. The food was all very good. 

 

[thecruiserofships]

Before heading to the Ovation Lounge I stopped on Deck 5 to take some pictures of the sunset. The seas were calm and the view was nice! 

 

 

Production Show "Motor City": 
          Tonight's Playlist Productions show was "Motor City". This show had a variety of Motown & 70's songs. The show took place twice in the Ovation Theater. One of the showtimes was 7:45pm and the other was 9:45pm. Seating was packed in the middle section of Deck 3 of the Ovation Theater, but some seats remained open along the sides (these seats had obstructed views so this is probably why). The balcony section on Decks 4 & 5 were also packed. The Playlist Productions performers did a great job and the show was very enjoyable. 

 

 

After the show I went up from Deck 3 to Deck 5. The moon was big & bright so I stopped to try to take some pictures. It was a little hard at first, but I managed to adjust my camera settings to get some good pictures. Below are some pictures I took while I walked around Deck 5: 

 

 

After walking on Deck 5 I was thirsty and decided to head up to Deck 10 to the Lido Marketplace for some water. On my way, I stopped on Deck 9 and went to the observation deck at the front. The front was very neat at night. It was very dark and kind of creepy. Very little light is in this area due to light interfering with the ship's navigation. 

 

 

Once I got some water in the Lido Marketplace I headed back down to my stateroom to go to sleep. Our stateroom steward had come by to clean the room and he left us a towel animal on one of the beds. This day of the cruise had passed by quickly and I had a great time. I was tired and fell asleep quickly. 

 

[CruiseBro16]

Loving the photos. I've been curious what work was done during the dry dock. 

[thecruiserofships]

4 hours ago, CruiseBro16 said:

Loving the photos. I've been curious what work was done during the dry dock. 

 

Thank you! I am glad you are enjoying the photos!

 

The two main changes from the dry-dock were the brand new exterior paint job and the non-smoking casino on Deck 4's expansion. I will have some pictures of the non-smoking casino in Day 4's portion of the review. There were also some areas with new carpet and they added several new security cameras (I didn't really cover this stuff much in the review so I thought I would mention here).  

 

Please feel free to let me know if you have any questions! 

[thecruiserofships]

Day #3 

Good Morning From My Cove Balcony:
                After a good night's sleep I got up early again around 5:45am. After getting dressed I went outside to look out from my cove balcony. I was able to see the moon in the distance. When I looked from my balcony towards the back of the ship, I was able to see the Carnival Ecstasy in the far distance. We would be traveling with the Carnival Ecstasy to Costa Maya. Since our arrival in Costa Maya was scheduled for 1pm we had a half sea day to start the day. 

 

 

 

Morning Walk Around The Carnival Breeze:
                  By 6:15am I was ready to walk around the ship. Breakfast was scheduled to start at 7am on this day of the cruise so I wanted to make sure I had enough time to arrive in the Lido Marketplace a little earlier than the day before. For my walk today I wanted to start on the ship's upper decks. I went from Deck 2 to Deck 10. 

 

 

 

 The Tides Aft Pool and Tides Bar were not yet open for the day. There were a couple of people sitting outside, but it was very quiet.

 

 

[thecruiserofships]

The Seafood Shack is located outside near the Tides Pool on the opposite side of the ship from the Pizzeria. The Seafood Shack is a venue that costs extra and items are sold ala carte (meaning you pay for each item). This venue is open for lunch & dinner, even on port of call days.