Carnival Breeze Review – Introduction

Introduction

Hello everyone it has been quite sometime since my last review. I have been extremely busy since I started college again and had to put cruising on the back burner until I could get some time off. For those of you who are not familiar with me, you can check out some of my old reviews so you can get a feel of my review style. I am known for going all out and documenting every possible aspect of a cruise. From the pre-cruise planning down to details on how to log into their internet service onboard and everything else in between. I will attempt to do the same with the Carnival Breeze in this review.

In the past I have said that we have been jumping from cruise line to cruise line to find the one who fits us best. Now things have changed, I now realized that there is no such thing as the best cruise line for us. We have thoroughly enjoy each and every cruise we have been on, and it is now that I noticed that each cruise line offers something in particular that we enjoy and cherish.

For example, Celebrity was not precisely the most active cruise line for us. However with the high level of luxury, fine dining and service it would be the prefect cruise line to sail to Alaska or in Europe in style. Disney on the other hand is a cruise line that all children should travel on at least once. If you can manage to save money for a Disney cruise, you definitely should! I can guarantee you that it will a vacation that your kids will never forget. Disney offers an unparalleled cruising experience. Cliche or not, our Disney cruise was magical in every possible way. Last but not least, although I know many disagree with me, Royal Caribbean and Norwegian both offer similar experiences. With very active and varied cruises that will accommodate people from all age groups. But I will say that RCCL stands above Norwegian in several aspects, that might change in the future, who knows. Now I am here, and I am trying out Carnival cruise line to see where it stands and how it compares.

Why I went Solo on the Carnival Breeze?

So lets get this party started, this cruise was very different from my other cruises. When I say different, I refer that this was my very first time sailing Solo. Every other cruise I have been on I have traveled with my mom and on some with more people. I have to admit that I was very tempted to canceling this cruise several times because I was not sure of the idea of sailing alone and even more so without my mom. Like I have said in my past reviews, a cruise is not a real cruise unless my mom comes with me. Call me a mama’s boy if you like, actually that won’t be far from the truth . I get a lot of joy from sharing cruising with my mom, and I consider myself very fortunate that it is possible to sail with her often. It was a real shame that she could not come with me on this sailing.

So why did I sail solo this time around? Well it is kind of complicated. Between college and family issues, we were unable to match our vacations together for this cruise. And as it turned out that was the only week that I could take off from both college and work. It was a real unfortunate situation, as it would of been very nice to be able to share this cruise with her. My good friend Sarah was also unable to come with me, since she had other prior obligations and needed to use her vacation time wisely for this year. And since you last heard from me other aspects of my life have also changed. I am now single, since last November my bf and I decided to part ways. I can honestly say that is the best decision that I have made in the recent years. Some people are just not meant to be together, he was a good person, but we did just not click in any way possible. Either way it is not like I would taken him on the cruise, since he really did not like the idea of cruising that much on the first place. Other than the usual group of people that I sail with I could not think of anyone else to bring with me on this cruise. I have not yet started dating, mainly due to a lack of time and I also wanted sometime for myself. That is the story of why I finally went on my first SOLO cruise, I guess it was due to happen sooner or later.

This was not only first solo cruise, but it was also my first solo vacation ever in general. As you could imagine my mind was racing with thoughts and questions. Personally I never saw the benefit of traveling alone, but we grow, mature and learn. I think with my old mentality traveling solo was something that would have never happened. However, in the past 7 months I have made significant changes in my live and the way I think. I think I have fully adopted the YOLO mentality, life is too short to obsess over things you can’t control. I guess ill go more in details as the review develops.

Carnival Breeze Cruise Details

The main reason I decided to go on this cruise was because Carnival was having a great sale that allowed single cruisers to pay only for one person. This was just what I needed to catapult me into booking my first Carnival cruise. But as the day got closer the price drops were insane, I think I would have ended paying much much less if I have waited until the very end. From my knowledge now, I think I am done booking cruises in advance. On most cases I have lost substantial money with the price drops. Oh well what can one do, live and learn, right?

One thing that I was not crazy about, was that this would be my third western caribbean cruise. But the bright side of it, is that it was stopping on my favorite western ports Cozumel and Grand Cayman. And in addition to those two ports, it was also calling port in Key West one of my personal favorite land vacation destinations. So all in all it was a great itinerary after all, I just had to get a little creative and explore new things in each port.

Carnival Breeze Itinerary

Stateroom Selection on the Carnival Breeze

When it came down to booking the room I gave it lots of thought. Of course I wanted the lowest rate possible and that meant booking an inside stateroom. While I have done it in the past, and I have nothing against it. There is simply no comparison to having your own private balcony. Ocean view was out of the equation, since I never personally saw the benefit of it. Like I have said in the past different folks, different strokes. In the end I decided to book a nice balcony stateroom for myself.

So here is were I stop and give Carnival an excellent review for the pre-cruise customer service. I have never dealt with a cruise line that is so focused on making the customer happy. Like I said before the price drops were substantial and I was originally booked on a balcony room on deck 7. The main problem with my particular reservation was that I did not have a price guarantee and I was tied to a Florida booking rate that had me locked in. Anyway, long story short, they were nice enough to grant me an upgrade to Lido deck. Overall I was very satisfied. They were not able to get me any on board credit, but had I been a past guest they said more could of been done. In any way it was a true pleasure dealing with them under the circumstances.

This is the first cruise line who has showed me true interest in making the customer happy before they board the ship. RCCl, X and NCL are ok, but not to this level. Props to you Carnival, you have done a great job in this department. Special thanks go to my personal vacation planner Kevin for pushing through for me.

I would like to say that if anyone from MSC is reading this, you should really look into how to run a real company and learn from Carnival on how to treat a future potential customer in the pre-cruise experience. The bottom line is not always the way you want to go, and you always consider special situations. Carnival made me very happy prior boarding the vessel, which is the total opposite from what you has done to me so far! Not that it matters now since MSC decided to pull out of the US market next year…

Great Job Carnival, Thank you!!

Carnival Cruise Line Website

Let me tell you something, Carnival’s website is by far the best cruise line website that I have ever used. Let me explain, while celebrity, Norwegian, Disney and Royal Caribbean have decent websites that let you modify some parts of your cruise. Carnival goes all out and lets you modify pretty much everything about your cruise. From bed configuration, dining time, easy comparison of price drops and stateroom bar setups. There are just so much more options, and the site is so much easier to navigate. The site just flows and at great speeds, this is one of those sites that you’re tempted to keep checking, even if it is just for the cruise countdown. Carnival’s website is the perfect example of how a website should run and operate. Well done Carnival, keep up the good work! Click here for the Carnival Breeze Website

Welcome Aboard The Carnival Breeze!!!