This cruise was a big one for us. It was a celebration of two years of working hard to become debt free. That said, it was also the most expensive cruise we have ever taken. Let's start with the ship overall-- Breeze was our first Dream class cruise and we have a new favorite class of ship. This ship has most of the amenities of a Vista class ship and the un-crowded-ness (new word) of a Conquest (our previous favorite) class ship. The boat is eight years old, but still in pretty great shape. One of my favorite parts of a Carnival cruise is that you can be just as involved or uninvolved as you want in activities. We had no problem finding deck chairs in general, although we also had no hesitation going back to the room for a book on the balcony. FOMO is not a problem for us and we have found that the balcony to retreat to is worth every penny.
Let's talk about food: My wife and I were under the impression that Carnival has DRAMATICALLY improved their food. We seriously did not have anything that wasn't great. We visited Cucina del Capitano, The Steakhouse, and Seafood Shack specialty restaurants. These were exquisite, as usual. The main dining room, a place we have had so-so meals in the past was excellent on this cruise. Like a place we looked forward to going. We did have an extensive wait at a Seaday brunch (at the table for nearly two hours) and said something to the Maitre'd... he personally checked on us and our service for the remainder of the cruise. Needless to say, we were very impressed by this service.
All of the excursions were what we were expecting. We got to see some great sights and excursion staff was wonderful.
I will say that avoiding 6 Forward cabin is something we will do on the next Dream Class cruise. We had a lot of noise from the theater below. Other than that it was great-- very clean, spacious and our steward was excellent.
The van broke down on our city sights and mountain views excursion. Also, Remember to bring snacks or eat a big breakfast-- there is no stopping!