Best first time cruise experience for my granddaughters.

Carnival Breeze Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western

Cruises: 7+ cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 51

Overall rating:

4.8 out of 5
Verified Review
Carnival Breeze

7 Night Western Caribbean (Galveston Roundtrip)

Sail date: June 25, 2017

Ship: Carnival Breeze

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 8443

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 7 years ago

Review summary

My goal was to make my granddaughters happy cruisers. I met goal. My granddaughters have been to all-inclusives and felt cruising was better because you had the chance to see more than one place with a better variety of food plus entertainment that was excellent.

Embarkation

3 out of 5
It was my granddaughters first cruise experience and they rated embarkation as the worse part of a cruise. The lines were long and outside so the Texas heat baked us.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5
Except for the barbecue line, the buffet lines were expedient. We did not go to any specialty restaurants but the main dining room in Blush was excellent. Our Team Head-waitress, Maria Amylyn, and Assistant Team Waiter, Amit, made the dining experience a positive memory. I cannot give Maria and Amit enough praise. It was my birthday ad my granddaughters first cruise. Maria and Amit attended to us as if we were the only people on board!

Onboard Activities

5 out of 5
We used the pools, hot tubs, games, bingo, dance lessons, dances, clubs for adults and 11 year olds, shows, mystery game, salute to veterans, spa, shops, magic show, adult scavenger hunt, karaoke, arcade +++ Since it was my 20 year old's and 11 year old's first cruise, they tried everything they could! How can I praise Schwartz! He made every cruiser feel like royalty. Where does he get his energy? He was the first voice we heard in the morning, he was everywhere all day and half the night. If he wants to come to San Antonio, he can stay with me. I'll spoil him the way he spoiled every cruiser... yes, we love you, Schwartz... no, we love you more!

Entertainment

5 out of 5
The stage shows were great. Our only negative comment was that the Motown show was not up to par. But, the shows overall are rated excellent. The musicians and DJs were the absolute best! I cannot say enough about the magician, Zee Zues! He was unexpected since I had only seen magicians as a main headliner on other cruises. But I hope you continue the magic shows since they added to the entertainment experience.

Children's Programs

3 out of 5
The only reason I cannot comment is that my 11 year old granddaughter is extremely shy and did not participate. She did befriend a young lady at our dinner table that will remain her friend for life but neither wanted to go to their activities. (The boys looked at them! LOL)

Service and Staff

5 out of 5
Our cabin steward, Leslie, had to come behind a neat freak grandmother and two sloppy granddaughters! He was a jewel! The girls were thrilled that the room was clean and an awesome towel animal was on the bed each evening. I cannot praise our Headwaitress, Maria Amylyn, enough! The girls wanted to celebrate my birthday the day before, the day of, and the day after. Maria managed to make my regular desert special making the girls think I was the Queen of the cruise! Thanks to Amit, our assistant team waiter. I hope to see him promoted to team waiter on future cruises.

Ship Quality

4 out of 5
With 4800 cruisers, the job seems impossible but the staff was diligent in keeping areas clean. Only a couple of times did I have to ask for common bathrooms to be cleaned. There were a few areas that needed painting because of rust. Usually I cruise on Holland and Royal Caribbean but I wanted my granddaughters first experience to be memorable so I chose Carnival because it is friendly to the young cruiser. You rocked it out of the park.

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5
To have 3 ladies in one small cabin is no small feat! But, with the help of our cabin steward, Leslie, the cabin was wonderful. I only book balcony staterooms when I cruise but the girls want to experience lower cabin types in the future so they will have more money to spend on the cruise! They are already saving for their next cruise.

Ship tip

If you are sailing with children or young adults, the Carnival Breeze is great. If you are sailing with all adults, wait until school is in session! The activities were varied and excellent. The staff was attentive and the entertainment staff was top rate!

Ports of call

Galveston, Texas

5 out of 5
Love Galveston! The only issue is embarkation could be better planned. I celebrated my 69th birthday, I have a problem with passing out plus I am on a cane. Having to stand in the line in the heat was gruesome. My granddaughters voted embarkation the worse part of the cruise!

Montego Bay, Jamaica

5 out of 5
We loved Jamaica. Our excursion was tubing down a river. The gentleman who drove the van was a delight. He talked about Jamaica, its people, and its culture the entire time. He explained No Problem Mon meant there were no problems, just situations. My granddaughters brought this concept back to our family! Shrek helped us at the site where we tubed. What a gentleman. I needed extra assistance and he never made me feel that I was an imposition. In face, I was honored to be called Mother in that Jamaican accent. We will visit Jamaica in the future.

George Town, Grand Cayman

5 out of 5
We visited the turtle farm. It was informative and the girls learned to snorkel. We then swam with the stingrays. Of course, my granddaughters loved shopping before boarding the Breeze. Grand Cayman will be on our list for a future visit.

Cozumel, Mexico

5 out of 5
We have visited Cozumel before and always enjoy the city and the people. We toured the city and went to the beach to snorkel. Our tour guide was the best and we feel blessed he was with us. He was attentive as we toured and shopped in the city plus with our time on the beach. He guided us every step of the way helping the girls get their gear to snorkel and me to relax on the beach.

Disembarkation

4 out of 5
Although much better than our embarkation experience, it ranked second from the bottom. Standing in the sun waiting for a shuttle to our car was the worse. We were in the last 600 to disembark so we probably had it easier.
Was this review helpful? 51

1 Comment

Gwbigdog    2 years ago

Thanks for sharing.

Other reviews of this sailing