A friend and I chose the Carnival Breeze Mediterranean cruise because of its itinerary and it departed from and returned to the same port. This was my 16th cruise overall, and second on Carnival (the first being on their early ship, Carnivale). What we liked: our room (#7220) which is towards the front of the ship and has storage rooms on either side, so it was very quiet. Our room steward, Christine, was outstanding and knew our names from the time we boarded. Robe in room, convenient and means not packing your own. Ship's decor was nice, but public areas seemed small for the number of people. The ship was clean and the crew was always cleaning.

What we didn't like: Meals were hit and miss. We had a couple of hits, but overall would rate the food as heavy. There was plenty of food and no one will starve, but the Lido selections were lots of casseroles, and more like Golden Coral buffet, but short on veggies. We felt the same way about Guy's burgers and the barbecue. Very much cafeteria food. We were disappointed that there was never a dining room service for lunch on any of the days (unless you count the Comedy Brunch). Dinner service was especially low. We chose Your Time Dining, but Carnival doesn't have the hang of it yet. Dinner for two meant being assigned a table only inches (like 6-10 inches) from other tables in a "bank." Once there were about 10 of us, we were treated as one table and served that way. The waiter introduced himself to the group and made a group recommendation. It was very "assembly line" service and we were served in sync. Rather the worst of both worlds. Not the comraderie and conversation of group dining, and not the privacy and individual service of Your Time dining.

I did not attend the evening entertainment, but my friend said it was okay, but the shows in the Ovation Theater had a very busy, high tech background that detracted from the performances. (I glanced in at it one night and knew immediately that it would give me a migraine.) She was also disappointed that the shows go with the ship, so she will not take a Caribbean cruise on the Breeze in the Spring as planned, having already od'd on them this trip. The cruise was a good value for the ports we visited, but I felt constantly aware of Carnival's cost-cutting. Nor did I like the herd-feeling of the big ship. I'd say it was my last cruise with Carnival.