Now about two months ago I went on a 8 day Southern Caribbean cruise with my family on the Carnival Breeze. The reason I wanted to write a review about the Carnival Breeze is because this ship was better than most of Carnival's fleet. I'm not saying that the other Carnival cruise ships I've been on were bad. I'm just saying this was the best one I've been on.
The Carnival Breeze is currently Carnival's largest ship. That is until the Carnival Vista starts its voyage in 2016. It is also Carnival's newest ship. The reason I say this is because even though the Breeze set sail in 2012, the Carnival Destiny (a ship built back in 1996) was remodeled into the Carnival Sunshine for 2013. Which in that case makes the Sunshine not considered a new ship (even though it seems like a new ship).
Like on all cruise ships, Maritime law requires the Muster Station drill. This is where they talk about what you're supposed to do in an emergency such as if the ship was going to sink. However on the previous ships I've been on, you would stand crowded outside next to the lifeboats. On this ship, you would go to these different meeting places. There is some in the theater, the dinning rooms, and in a few other places inside the ship. Then they would show you a video on how to get to your lifeboat from there.
There is also a feature that I've seen on this ship that was not on others. In your stateroom, I noticed that the lights did not turn on. I couldn't figure out why until someone told me that you have to use your room key to turn on the lights. Then you have to keep your room key in the slot by the light switches or the lights go out in around 30 seconds. This is done to reduce energy used on the ship.
Now the Carnival Breeze offers pretty much all of Carnival's Fun Ship 2.0 features. For dinning, there are some new casual eating areas. Such places as Guy's Burger Joint based off of Guy Fieri, the Blue Iguana Cantina, the Red Frog Pub, and a couple other ones.
If it was one I really liked, it was Guy's Burger Joint. I have to say that they have the best burgers at sea. Unlike most burgers made on a cruise ship, these ones were made with fresh meat instead of frozen patties. They make them perfectly with a couple of different styles to choose from. That or you could have just a plain cheeseburger. And their "Super Melty Cheese" is done by adding cheese sauce and placing a slice of cheese on top of that. These burgers were so good that I had one to three or four a day. The only disadvantage was that it was only open for six hours a day and lines got really long to get a burger. I hope that someday they'll add Guy's Burger Joint on more Carnival's ships.
Then there's the Blue Iguana Cantina which is a build your own burrito place (like a Chipotle). Then there is the breakfast, lunch, and dinner buffet. Then there's the Mongolian Wok that makes really good Asian food. However I didn't go there that trip because the line for that is really long and goes really slow. It is one of the most popular casual dinning areas and I've tried it before on other cruises. However the Mongolian Wok is very good and well worth a try.
The main dinning room is just like the ones on other Carnival cruise ships. They have a every day menu, a menu for tonight, and a desert menu. Now I didn't know this till my second Carnival cruise because they don't really tell you, but you can order as much as you want. You can go with one starter and one main dish, or you can go with one starter and two main dishes, or you could go with two starters and one main dish, or have two starters and two main dishes. On the first elegant night where you have to dress up, they have a lobster and shrimp dish that is really good. I will order two of those.
When it comes to having something to drink, you're in luck. This ship has multiple bars serving beverages like soft drinks and non-alcoholic drinks, to beer, to other alcoholic drinks. This ship also includes two bars as a part of Fun Ship 2.0. These bars would be the Blue Iguana Tequila Bar and the Red Frog Rum Bar. I went to the Blue Iguana bar to get myself a non-alcoholic Miami-Vice. It was super good. If you are going to get a drink however, make sure you you have a little extra money with you because some of those drinks can get expensive.
Now I would like to show you the Promenade deck from front to back (deck 5).
First off, there's the main theater where they show stuff like Broadway musicals and other different shows.
The lobby and the Fun Shops. Now the Fun Shops are only open at sea to make shopping tax & duty free.
The Casino. This is also only open at sea because of gambling laws on land.
The Fun Hub internet stations. There are a few spread out the ship.
Ocean Plaza. This is where some music is played and where Karaoke also takes place.
Bonsai Sushi. One of the premium restaurants where food costs money. No reservations required.
Red Frog Pub. Another premium restaurant where food costs money. No reservations required.
The Liquid Nightclub. This is a fun place to dance at night.
Fahrenheit 555 Steakhouse. Another premium restaurant. Reservations are required.
And finally, the Limelight Lounge. This is were the comedy shows are.
Then of course on this ship, there is an outdoor Promenade that wraps around the ship.
The entertainment on the ship is almost endless. There are many shows. There is a water park, pools and hot tubs, a ropes course, mini golf, a fitness center, many planned activities, youth groups, and much more. Now for the shows, there's the live performance shows, movies under the stars, and then there is the Thrill Theater. The Carnival Breeze is the only ship with a 5D theater. It's a small room that seats around 20. You get 3D glasses. Plus the chairs move around as the movie plays. And it also sprays you with water at specific points in the movie. These 5D movies run from around 15 to 20 minutes. A single show costs around $8 and you can purchase a unlimited pass for $14. I thought that the Thrill Theater was a lot of fun. The seats move you around a little more intense than I thought. Which made it a neat experience.
The Thrill Theater is located on deck 4, mid-ship.
Carnival Waterworks is home to two water slides and a water play fort.
Another fun thing to do on-board was to go down the water slides at Carnival Waterworks. Now all of Carnival's cruise ships have a water slide, but a select amount of those cruise ships (including the Carnival Breeze) have Waterworks. Now the Waterworks layout is different depending on which ship you're on. This mini water park has two water slides and a splash fort that includes a huge water bucket that tips over and soaks the people underneath. The yellow slide is called Twister and the orange one is called Drainpipe. Both are really fun to go down. Even for adults, it still is a lot of fun.
On the Carnival Breeze and a couple other Carnival ships, there's Sports Square. This is home to the ship's ropes course, mini golf, foosball, table tennis, a basketball court, and a couple other things.
Sports Square is located on deck 12, mid to aft.
Now there's a wide range of live performance shows. First off is Playlist Productions. Playlist Productions are a bunch of Broadway styled musicals. There's a show for a genre of music and/or a time era of music as well as a specific artist or group. The other show they had was based of a TV game show called Family Game Night. They teamed up with major toy and game company Hasbro to create Hasbro The Game Show. This show has some of your favorite Hasbro games modified for the use of this game show. There is Connect 4 Basketball, Sorry Sliders, Operation Ski Ball, and many other modified Hasbro games. People even win prizes (not money). The grand prize was a collection of many different Hasbro games.
This ship has a lot of entertainment packed all into one. In my opinion, this ship was the best out of the three other Carnival ships that I've been on. For more information about the Carnival Breeze and other Carnival cruises, go to www.carnival.com.
This is all I have for today. Thanks for reading.
