Carnival Breeze Cruise Reviews - Reviews

Had a great time. Beautiful ship. Has everything you can think of. Loved the entertainment, food was good, staff worked hard. Wish I was back on there. 

My husband and I just got back from our first cruise. We are a young couple with no children.  We really can not say anything bad about our experience with Carnival! We had an absolute blast! There was so much to do that we didn't get a chance to do everything we wanted to do on the ship. Would definitely book the same ship and even the same ports (Ocho Rios, Jamaica, Georgetown, Grand Cayman and Cozumel, Mexico) again and do different excursions. I would recommend Dunn's River Falls in Jamaica, Stingray City Sandbar in Grand Cayman with MarineLand tours, and Ancient Mayan Ruins in Tulum- all of which I booked through Carnival.

The crew did a great job while we were aboard. Tn my opinion, the ship was clean (there was always someone sweeping, mopping, wiping down something). Our cruise director, Matt, did an awesome job on getting the cruisers involved in activities and keeping us informed about things such as embarkation, debarkation, tendering, ect. 

On board we played putt putt golf, joined a soccer tournament,  we enjoyed karaoke and comedians, watched movies on the lido deck, participated in name that tune with the cruise director, admired art work that was for sale on the walls, played games in the arcade, listened and danced to the guitar players, DJ and bands, relaxed at the spa, soaked up the rays on deck and watched the waves go by.... the list goes on and on. If you were to tell me that you were bored on this trip, well, I just wouldn't know what to tell you. There is something for everyone!

We had dinner nightly in the Sapphire restaurant.  Dinner was delicious every night and we left with plenty of food in our bellies. The buffet is well, the buffet. We didn't really eat there much except for breakfast where there was your usual cereal, scrambled eggs, pancakes, sausage, fruit, some other stuff. You could also  go to the MDr and get the same things with additional options. Of course go to Guy's burgers and Blue Iguana to get your Mexican fix. Someone told me they went to the Italian restaurant for lunch right after they boarded the ship. It is free that day for lunch with little to no line. (There were longs lines at the burger and Mexican joints) You have to pay extra for it if you go any other time. We did not try the places where you paid extra to eat because we always found something good to eat elsewhere where we didn't have to pay extra. I believe there is a steak house, the Italian place, somewhere to get sushi, and maybe another place. People I talked to said it was all very good. The one thing I would change is the 24 hour pizza place. The line got a little ridiculous as the night went on because it was the only place to grab a bite to eat after 9 or 10pm. 

Initially, I had my heart set on getting a room with a balcony. At the last second I decided to get an ocean view room and spend that extra money elsewhere on vacation. I am glad I did because we were hardly EVER in our room. We slept and showered there. Like I said, there was always something going on that we didn't want to miss. Our room steward was awesome. We noticed that he stopped to service the room frequently and have no complaints as far as cleanliness.

The playlist productions were so-so. Average singing/dancing. If you have a chance to go see the juggling act, I would recommend it. Sounds very juvenile and boring, but this guy is very talented.

Of course, nothing is ever perfect. But if you are thinking of booking a cruise on the Breeze, then I would tell you to go for it. We had such a good experience that we were looking to book our next cruise before out flight home.

As soon as we step foot on the Breeze, I felt at home. All the crew and Decor were just prefect. I would tell anyone this is the cruise you should take . So come on and book a cruise.  I been on 5 cruises now with Carnival and this was the I have taken.

it is also no good when a group of 20 women who travel together all the time to play a mini-tournament of canasta can't play.  We have done this on other ships (many times) and we always find someplace to play.     On the Breeze they couldn't accomodate us except for a private room after 10 pm because all the common areas were to dark..  They tried  to use "activities" as shows. They repeated shows.   And then 2 different performers did not show up and what they replaced them with was terrible.   I don't think that 5 people in togas playing a rediculous baby game is entertainment!!!    I felt that more could have been done to find us someplace to play.  I don't think the staff even cared.

Now that I am more acquainted with the vessel, it was easier to move around this great vessel.  i was upgraded to a bigger and nicer cabin 3 days before I boarded the vessel, to a Deluxe outside cabin with a bath and a half. Very spacious and well located in the middle on Deck 1.  Quiet and very well maintained by the room steward that took care of me for 8 nights.  The ports we visited were excelled, especially visiting the port of Antigua, which I  haven't visited in a long time and found as pretty as I did when I visited it years ago.The rest of the itinerary was good too, I would have liked more time at Nassau and San Juan, which are favorite ports of mine, but the vessel has to be on the move in order to be able to arrive on time to visit the other ports.

This room.....6420 should NEVER be used by a vacationer. This was the third cruise that my husband and I have been on together. He wanted to up grade to a balcony, so we did. First thing was the balcony...No privacy at all. Open your curtains and the fifth floor hot tub was in your face. Have you ever watched what goes on in a hot tub ?? I didn't want to see porn !!! I thought it would be a little romantic to sit on the balcony with my husband of over 35 years. What a joke. My money was totally wasted on a balcony. The worst thing was the room banging ALL night long from the night club below us. We could NOT get any rest or sleep. I had my own fan, but it didn't help. It's bad when your husband gets up in the morning and has to go to the top deck to get some sleep. You try and sleep in that room...It's sad that when your so excited to go on a cruise and you pay for an up grade and get this kind of room. I took my whole family on this cruise and paid for 16 people to go and WE get the "ROOM FROM HELL".....The shows also sucked....Well, they really wasn't shows...I'm not sure what they were suppose to be. On a brighter note....ALL of my grandchildren loved the camps.....

The ship was so crowded that you had to plan hours in advance to participate in most things.  WE could not do things together as a group at all.  So the entire vacation we were only together at dinner or an excursion I paid extra for.  This trip was planned to be together and it was not that way. The service by the restaurant was very good however the dress code rules were very inconsistent.  One night they refused to let my daughter and son in law into the dinning room because they were in casual shorts.  This was upsetting because they ended up missing dinner and we saw others come in with casual clothes. We were suppose to have on board credit for each of 4 rooms however they assigned it to my daughter samantha who was unable to come on the trip along with her fiance and daughter.  I did not get any refund but they also would not transfer the room credit to anyone else in that room so we ended up just losing it.  It was frustrating to say the least. I will not recommend this cruise ever. It was expensive and did not meet any of our expectations.  The best thing about this trip was the excursions they were great! On the boat was not good at all. 

This cruise had the best ever cruise director "Matt Mitcham'.  He made this cruise the best ever for me. Fun, energetic, engaged with ever one. I stayed on the dance floor. The games he did the the children fun and funny.

I rate the cruise 3 1/2 stars.  I'll start with the major improvements needed and work my way down:

1 - La Romana is not a great port of call.  It is not very well organized and you felt hassled at every single turn.  I did not book my excursion with Carnival, based on some other reviews I found online, I booked an excursion with Seavis Tours.  The excursion itself was excellent, but coming back to the port from the beach was just nuts. Between the kids asking for money and the pushy vendors it was beyond annoying.  A lot of people missed out on seeing this beautiful island, because they were afraid of the port.

2 - I don't know much about how the ports work, so this next issue may be out of Carnival's control: time in Aruba not long enough.  We were scheduled to be docked in Aruba from 8 - 3:30.  I had an excursion booked with Carnival so I had to wait in the theater for the group to be organized.  By the time we left the boat, boarded the bus and waited for a ferry, we didn't get to De Palm Island until about 10 and we had to leave at 2.  Four hours is really not a lot of time for De Palm.  There is a beach there, water slides, a lunch buffet, snorkeling, sea trek, snuba.  Tons of activities and no time to do anything.  I wasted a good 40 minutes on lines for lunch and drinks (it was not organized at all).  There was one person behind the buffet serving hundreds of people.  Comparing the time in Aruba to having 9 hours in Curacao - huge disappointment. Aruba is spectacular and should get more time.

3 - Pushy, pushy, pushy photographers.  Being constantly bombarded to take photos bugged me.  I understand they want to make some money, but considering how much they charge for one photo, they need to back off.

4 - The entertainment.  The singers were ok.  They need to step it up a notch.  We went to a Motor City (Motown) Revue and my husband walked out because the singers were not hitting notes and messing up classic songs.

5 - The buffet.  I thought the selection was adequate, but the food was not hot enough.  We paid extra for a night at the steakhouse.  Totally worth it.  Everything was superb!

Now the pros:

The length of cruise was great.  Ample time to explore and enjoy the ship.  The skycourse is amazing - albeit terrifying :)  There are plenty of things to do around the ship to keep everyone in your family happy.  Carnival is a fun ship.  People are there to have a good time and we certainly did.

The crowd was a nice mix and people really went out of their way to be social.  Another favorite of ours was the sushi restaurant.  Again, this is something extra but worth it.  The food was delicious, well prepared and the servers were so likeable.  The lines weren't too long for anything except the comedy shows.

I definitely recommend the cruise.  The boat is lovely, most of the crew are fun.  Our cruise director Matt Mitchum was so funny.  One of the cruise activity directors (is that even what they are called?), Orlando was hilarious. Every event that he hosted we tried to attend. 

It was enjoyable.  Some things better than other cruises, some things worse.

The Carnival Breeze cruise director, Matt,  was a great host and creative (not annoying or sleep walking like several others - e.g. woohooo!).  The crew was great in the dining areas and around the cabins... very friendly and extremely helpful.  All 6 in our party thought the food on this cruise was the best of any of our previous 4 crusise.  Pizza especially good (wish we could find a thin crust pizza restaurant around our town that was even close).  Cabin 7064 was well kept, nice and quiet.  Lots of fun for all.  This was a great cruise and I would do it again.

My only negative comment is, the  La Romana Dominican Republic port  was a waste of time and effort because there was nothing within easy walking distance of the ship's port  and the cab fare for 6 @ $15per person was gouging.  However, it was interesting to pull up at the dock and see all 3 baseball fields in use at 8 am.  However, I recommend avoiding cruises that dock at  La Romana Dominican Republic unless the price is crazy low.

The cruise director is the best cruise director I have ever experienced!!! The food at the Steak house was fabulous! The food in the dining room was very bland.

overall, the ship, amenities, and activities were great but I was very disappointed with the buffet/food selection. Compared to other Carnival ships, I'd rate the food on the Breeze a 2.5

We had so much fun. The room, food, entertainment and services were all great. Even though my daughter slipped on wet floor on Lido deck and fractured her foot, the wait staff and Medical were excellent in taking care of her.My only regret was guest services never made any attempt to check on us or get us help during debarkation until we ask for it. Other than that this was my favorite ship and itinerary so far. Plenty to do , never boring, food was amazing.

Totally enjoyed this cruise. The ship was so filled with everything to do. Matt the Cruise ship Director IS THEE best person for the job. He made every  occasion with him pleasant and fun. The activities were endless. The staff, just superb at everything they did from housekeeping to Lido deck staff, just awesome. The shows that were put on were so professionally done it was like Broadway!! Loved them. Not a first time cruiser and second one with Carnival because I really do enjoy te food and activities better with them. My only critique would be for the Lido breakfast. I wish there were a little variation each day. Although there was alot of food to choose from, it was the same choices (except for the last day, we got hash browns instead of home fries)..lol.

One would not regret this experience.

I did not like this cruise and I have taken other cruises in the past on smaller ships. It was a horrible sail and I understand that hurricane season just had ending but the ship was rocking so bad that I spent two days of my cruise in my room. I even wore the patch to ease some of the nausea but the ride was to rocky to overcome the sickness. I witnessed people stumbling, dropping food and even the crew informed me that this was by far a bumpy ride. I also did not appreciate the fact that me and my companion was each charged $12 a day for gratuity even though we shared the same room. It's crazy that you would charge gratuity per person and not per room, it's not like you are doing any extra cleaning in my room. I also did not like the fact that purchasing excursions on the cruise was double if not triple the amount if I would have purchased on the Island. I will have to think long and hard before I purchase another cruise.

The Breeze is a fabulous ship, it is new, modern, mostly well laid out, and the top deck is terrific for adults as well as kids.  However, the people make the cruise, and the crew of the Breeze, from the officers down, are disinterested at best, and surly at worst.  When we met any of the officers in the public rooms, or elevators, they wouldn't look us in the eye, never mind say good morning, and I don't think I ever saw any of them smile.  The wait staff in the buffet were efficient, but never smiled, never offered to get drinks for us, just did their job with no interaction at all.  The wait staff in the bars were slow and surly, when we told one she had poured us the wrong drink, she banged it down in front of us anyway, and ignored us for another ten minutes until we walked out without drinking or paying for it, then she yelled at us.  This is the first Carnival cruise we have been on for more than ten years, we are Royal Caribbean Diamond members, and we have come to expect smiles, good morning greetings and our wait staff recognizing us and looking pleased to see us.  On this cruise, we sometimes felt like they thought we were a nuisance.  The Lido buffet was also very poorly designed, we have been on the biggest ships of Royal Caribbean and never had the crowded buffet and long lines to every different station as there were on this ship.  Even if you only wanted one thing ( a piece of toast!) you have to queue behind people who are deciding what they want for their whole breakfast, it was very inefficient and slow.  Overall, we were rather disappointed!

first night dining, no introduction to waiters did'nt ask our names, very poor service but it WAS first night however.never did find out who head waiter was nor assistant waiter,never saw maitre d service got no better as week progressed, hot food was mostly cool sometimes even cold. Tried buffet one evening, same problem less choice,bar service in dining room was excellent but around  the ship was non existent, went to bar several times and still had to pay15% gratuity, In the piano bar was supposed to be a sing along every night, same pianist, after first visit, never again, she tortured the poor piano and could not sing to save her life, went to the red frog and after  an age waiting for service and listening to some one trying to sing again we left and never went again, the last carnival cruise was in 2002 and had similar experience, we tried to give them a second chance because my son and his family persuaded us.NEVER AGAIN,

​PS the theater shows were first class and our cabin attendant was excellent 

My wife and I have been cruising on Carnival Lines for many years with 11 cruises. The Breeze is a nice ship,well laid out, and easy to get around. Our only issue was the quality of the food.The meals in the main dining room were unimaginative and most often not hot when served. The buffet on the Lido deck has its own set of issues. There appears to be no way to avoid a long line to get even the most basic things.The hours of operation seem to be shorter than other Carnival ships. We heard many people with the same complaints. Other than the food issue the cruise was fun with lots to do. The shore excursions were interesting and reasonably priced.We will cruise with Carnival again but will think twice about the Breeze

We have always loved cruising... Breeze was wonderful. Great cruise great food nice stops.  We allowed the room to be chosen by the company. never again.  Basement room and very noisy. Good thing we never  are in our room except for sleep. First 2 nites was impossible.

ALL WAS VER GOOD. WE HAD A EXCELLENT CRUISE, ROOM, SHIP, HELP, FOOD  WERE ALL EXCELLENT

THANK YOU LAURA AND CARNIVAL

NOTE THE SHIP ROCKED THE FIRST FEW HOURS AFTER WE LEFT THE PORT OF MIAMI THEN SMOOTHED OUT. MY WIFE , NANCY, AND A LOT OF PEOPLE WERE IN THE BATH ROOMS THEY COMPLAINED ABOUT SEA SICKNES . I DON'T THINK THE CAPTIAN HAD THE BALLISTER ON??