Carnival Breeze Review
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This wasn't my first cruise. For Carnival Cruise Line I am a Gold member with 2 to go to get to Diamond status. In addition to Carnival, I've been on Celebrity and Royal Caribbean. About 18 cruises total. My family and I flew down to Florida a day before the cruise which turned out to be a great way to go. No stress about getting to the pier on time. We flew into FLL airport and stayed overnight at a beautiful hotel. The hotel provided a free shuttle from the airport to their hotel and we arranged a car service to take us from the hotel to the cruise port. The ship we selected was the Carnival Breeze. Check in was normal. It didn't take too long and before we knew it we were on the ship.
Cabin. Our cabin was on deck 2. We selected a cove balcony. It was either 2284 or 2286. (We had an inside cabin directly across from the cove balcony cabin.) The Cove Balcony is a great choice for someone who wants a balcony but doesn't like how open, windy and well, not very private a regular balcony is. Most Cove Balcony cabins are directly below a life boat so you don't have the wide open view that a regular balcony has, but ours didn't have that obstruction. We had a clear, unobstructed view. We did have one issue. On 2 days they were cleaning something above our balcony which sent a flood of dirty water raining down on our balcony. No warning, It just started. Not a big deal though. I would still select this cabin again. Being on the 2nd floor we were close to the water which was nice and close enough to everything on the ship. Our cabin was in the perfect position on the ship. A short walk down the hall brought us to the central elevators which afforded us access to everywhere on the ship.
The Ship. Some things I did miss though. The atrium wasn't as big and grand as on other ships. They took some things away when they made the Breeze to make room for more cabins. I understand. Business. But I noticed the change. No second swimming pool on the top deck. A smaller atrium and a little more closed in feeling. I kind of like the ships with either a big open section inside down the length of the ship or a big, grand atrium that's open to the sky. (this one has the sky light too, but it's compressed compared to other ships) Other than that, I loved the ship.
Cabin Review
Cove Balcony
Loved the Cove Balcony. Closer to the water and more private than a regular balcony. Inside the cabin was standard cruise ship style. They haven't changed much in 20 years but this ship is relatively new so it's in great shape.
Port Reviews
St. Maarten
Beautiful island. Not the nicest beach and everyone tries to get your business for the beach chairs, which can be annoying, but otherwise, very nice.
Antigua
Very reasonable prices. Gorgeous beaches. Friendly people. I loved Antigua.
St. Thomas
Went to Magens Bay Beach. Although it can get very crowded, it's a fantastic beach. The ride to the beach is also an adventure. Up and over the mountain on a winding road. Beautiful views both going to and coming back from the beach. Prices are reasonable and the people friendly.
Amber Cove (Puerto Plata)
Did the Ocean World day pass. I really didn't enjoy this. The tanks for the animals are small so I ended up feeling sorry for the sea lions, dolphins and sharks. The shows were nice and the kids enjoyed it, but it wasn't for me. I would have rather visited a beach or stayed at the port doing the zip line and water slides. Beautiful island though. Still a lot of road work around the port because it just opened in October 2015, but I would love to return to the Dominican Republic to see more.