Carnival Breeze Review

4.0 / 5.0
1,351 reviews

Disappointing Breeze!

Review for the Southern Caribbean Cruise on Carnival Breeze
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Lady Shadowfrost
6-10 Cruises • Age 60s

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Sail Date: Jul 2015
Cabin: Balcony
Traveled with children

My family and I are Carnival VIP members so we have cruised many times before. Thank goodness the Breeze was not our first, or it would have been our last! We were on the July 4th sailing to Gran Turk, Dominican Republic, Curacao and Aruba. We had a balcony room that didn't disappoint. Our issues were with the service, food and lack of things to do. Our first two days in the "Blush" dining room were terrible. The food was only so-so, and our waiter was rude and unfriendly. My sister ordered a parfait for dessert and out came a flat bread with fruit on the top. When she told him she had ordered the parfait, he insisted it was the parfait and got angry that she was questioning him. I was disappointed to learn that most of the entrees being served in the formal dining area were also available at the buffet. The caliber of the food, whether at the buffet or the dining areas was below par. We rarely ate anything good enough to rave about. The desserts were terrible! They need a new pastry chef. Many of the desserts were not edible. I had a piece of cake that tasted like someone had forgotten to add sugar to the frosting! There was also a huge party of families celebrating 16 different girls' quinceaneras. They were so loud during dinner you could not even hold a conversation with the person next to you. It wasn't even the girls that were loud, but their adult family members! The only enjoyable dinners were when they had other activities that kept them away from dinner. After day 3 we were given a new waiter so the service was great after that. He kept us entertained with jokes and napkin folding tricks.

Every other cruise we have been on provided constant entertainment and/or activities. We had to search for things to do on the Breeze. On one sea day the only activity all day long was various types of trivia. The other ships had live music playing throughout the ship all day long, but not the Breeze. They would play for short periods of time during the day and at night and only at limited venues. We had the late dinner seating and often found that the entertainment started either before our dinner or during our dinner service so we were not able to attend.

Some of the ports were a disappointment. We stayed near the dock at Grand Turk which had a great beach. In the Dominican Republic we were told not to leave the ship if you weren't on a Carnival sponsored excursion because it wasn't safe. We had fun in Curacau because we stopped at a farmer's market for fresh fruit and veggies, but had to pay $40 ($20 there and $20 to return) for a cab ride to the distillery. In Aruba we took a catamaran to snorkel. Unfortunately the first site was in open water and was very rough. Some of us who were not strong swimmers had to immediately get back in the boat and it ruined snorkeling for the rest of the trip. The second spot was smooth and most everyone enjoyed that. The barbecue lunch that was included was really good and the beach time we got was the highlight of the day. Our guides were knowledgeable and entertaining and made sure we had plenty of rum punch once we were done snorkeling.

Cabin Review

Balcony

Cabin 8B

The cabin was clean and our steward was very accomodating. My teenager was late getting up every day, but the crew worked around him and were careful not to interrupt his rest.

Port Reviews

Curacao

We walked around the area near the dock and shopped then caught a cab to the distillery. On our way back we stopped at a farmer's market and purchased fresh fruit and veggies.

Grand Turk

The beach next to the dock was beautiful. The excursions available seemed limited, but once we saw how small the island is it was understandable.

La Romana (Casa de Campo)

There was nothing near the dock and we were told not to leave the boat if we weren't on a Carnival sponsored excursion because it wasn't safe.

Miami

We stayed at the Holiday Inn Express near the airport. We were told we could take a public bus to a shopping area near the port, but after standing in line at the bus stop found out that wasn't the case. It was very remote and had limited places to eat.

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