Anyone cruised on the Carnival Breeze and Disney ships?

[loveysbydesign]

We are currently booked on the Disney Magic for Nov...have cruised her before back in 2009 and on the Disney Dream in 2011.
That being said finances are tighter than expected and I'm trying to talk my family into bumping to the Breeze to save $1k....we can go from 2 inside cabins on the Magic to 2 balconies on the Breeze. If we do 2 inside on the Breeze we save 2k!
Older 2 kids aren't really caring that much about switching, but 7 y.o. ds and dh are less easily swayed.
Just wondering if anyone has sailed the Breeze and the Dream or Magic and if so any thoughts on the pros/cons

 

[MickeyAB]

We (myself, DH, DS 13 and DD 11) sailed the Breeze in March; we have sailed the Dream 3 times. We all enjoyed the cruise. The ship is very large and is well decorated. The main pool deck gets crowded during the day, but both the aft and main pools are almost empty beginning around 5:00pm. We enjoyed the food on the pool deck, the pizza place is absolutely wonderful, the extra restaurants (especially the Italian) are terrific; the main dining room and buffet - not so much. The kids loved the water slides and the adult area was very relaxing. Our kids visited the kids area, but were not interested in going. My daughter was not interested in most of the daytime activities and they charge at night (only one interested her then). The 'tween club was a room with funky chairs and tables - not sure if they bring things out later, maybe a couple of computers - no one was there to answer questions during open house, but very uninviting. The shows were not as entertaining as the Dream, except the Hasboro Family game show. The ports were our main focus and we had a great time. Service is hit or miss. We loved the bartender at the aft bar (for sodas as well as bar drinks) and a few of the buffet workers were friendly. All in all, we would sail the Breeze again (for price) for ports; Aruba and Curacao were amazing.

 

[loveysbydesign]

We (myself, DH, DS 13 and DD 11) sailed the Breeze in March; we have sailed the Dream 3 times. We all enjoyed the cruise. The ship is very large and is well decorated. The main pool deck gets crowded during the day, but both the aft and main pools are almost empty beginning around 5:00pm. We enjoyed the food on the pool deck, the pizza place is absolutely wonderful, the extra restaurants (especially the Italian) are terrific; the main dining room and buffet - not so much. The kids loved the water slides and the adult area was very relaxing. Our kids visited the kids area, but were not interested in going. My daughter was not interested in most of the daytime activities and they charge at night (only one interested her then). The 'tween club was a room with funky chairs and tables - not sure if they bring things out later, maybe a couple of computers - no one was there to answer questions during open house, but very uninviting. The shows were not as entertaining as the Dream, except the Hasboro Family game show. The ports were our main focus and we had a great time. Service is hit or miss. We loved the bartender at the aft bar (for sodas as well as bar drinks) and a few of the buffet workers were friendly. All in all, we would sail the Breeze again (for price) for ports; Aruba and Curacao were amazing.

Thank you so very much! Just curious was the MDR food really that bad? We were only planning to pay for one restaurant to celebrate my 40th bday!

 

[loveysbydesign]

Forgot to add that my kids would be 15, 12 and 7 when we cruise. My 7 y.o. really wants to do the Avengers academy on the Magic but is beginning to be interested in the waterslides and ropes course on the Breeze. I thought maybe I can find that episode where Guy Fieri goes on the Breeze and have him and dh watch it again to interest him and dh more!

 

[holula]

I am going to preface this by say it's NOT my review. There is a poster called Gambee on CruiseCritic who writes incredible detailed reviews. His last review was of the Breeze:

http://www.cruisewithgambee.com/

I REALLY want to try Guy's burgers and actually want to sail Carnival just for that.

 

[loveysbydesign]

I am going to preface this by say it's NOT my review. There is a poster called Gambee on CruiseCritic who writes incredible detailed reviews. His last review was of the Breeze:

http://www.cruisewithgambee.com/

I REALLY want to try Guy's burgers and actually want to sail Carnival just for that.

Thanks for sharing! Will check it out

 

[denas]

We did the Liberty last year. I liked the food in the MDR. Only 3 courses rather than 4 but my kids could eat chocolate lava cake and steak every night so they were happy. Carnival has set favorites available every night and chef specials that change nightly. My kids liked some of the options on the set menu and I think ate better than when they only would eat the kids meals on Disney. And we LOVED the taco place and guys burgers. My son and husband ate them every day. I did the taco place for breakfast and lunch several days.

My daughter was 7 and she had a great time in the kids club. My son was 11. He didn't enjoy the Disney kids clubs. Did one activity at Carnival (scavenger hunt) and looked like he was having a blast but he didn't want to do anything else. But we were in ports 4 days and that is what we cruised for. And my oldest is pretty shy and just likes to sit next to us and read so I am OK with it.

Kids clubs are not a free-for-all like on Disney. There are planned events. That may be a hit or a miss depending upon what your kids like. My daughter loved it because she likes it when the counselors play with her. They do lots of silly games - think things like you would do at summer camp with ice breakers and scavanger hunts and stuff. I imagine some kids think it is stupid. They do make flubber type stuff, color t-shirts, etc. But pretty much you do the planned activity, the one alternate activity, or leave. No giant playrooms like Disney.

We did do the afterhours one night. People make a big deal about how they "charge" for it. I think it was 20 or 30 bucks. Anyway, when you save a couple of grand on the cruise, I don't really mind splurging for the after hours. I will say, my daughter had a blast and liked it better than the Disney programming because it is structured programming and the counselors actually play with the kids. She left with a knapsack, nightlight, t-shirt, toothbrush and stuffed animal so I thought we got our money's worth. I have heard people complain it is a hard sell that they push the kids to ask their parents about. This did not happen to us. It was never mentioned to the kids.

Our only complaint about Carnival was how loud the music was blared at the pool deck and the lack of quiet outside space to walk around the ship. To give you an idea, we brought a sorority college girl with us (I have a 3-year-old with some significant disabilities and she helped). She complained about how loud it was and left the deck party one night because it was too loud. Shows were really good but they don't do a show every night. I've heard complaints that the costumes are "skimpy". My daughter is on dance team and there are really skimpy costumes at many competitions and this pretty much was the same as what you would see on the ship (which I hate seeing 10 year olds in 2 piece costumes at dance competitions but don't seem to mind as much when it is adults on a show). Anyway, I wasn't uncomfortable bringing my kids to the shows at all and think that complaint is either from old Carnival (in the 90s they used to do Vegas shows with topless dancers) or people who are really prudish and clearly don't go to a pool where you see far more skin on far less attractive people. Family comedy was stupid but that can be hit or miss on any ship if the comedians are bad.

A few pluses - espresso and cappuccino are included in the main dining room and I think Disney charges. And chocolate lava cake every night has to be mentioned again. I don't really care for desserts on Disney but really enjoyed the cookies at the buffet and chocolate cake on Carnival.

We would definately cruise Carnival again for the ports. Plan some great port excursions with the saving and your kids will have a blast at the ports and not notice anything missing on the ship!!

 

[loveysbydesign]

We did the Liberty last year. I liked the food in the MDR. Only 3 courses rather than 4 but my kids could eat chocolate lava cake and steak every night so they were happy. Carnival has set favorites available every night and chef specials that change nightly. My kids liked some of the options on the set menu and I think ate better than when they only would eat the kids meals on Disney. And we LOVED the taco place and guys burgers. My son and husband ate them every day. I did the taco place for breakfast and lunch several days.

My daughter was 7 and she had a great time in the kids club. My son was 11. He didn't enjoy the Disney kids clubs. Did one activity at Carnival (scavenger hunt) and looked like he was having a blast but he didn't want to do anything else. But we were in ports 4 days and that is what we cruised for. And my oldest is pretty shy and just likes to sit next to us and read so I am OK with it.

Kids clubs are not a free-for-all like on Disney. There are planned events. That may be a hit or a miss depending upon what your kids like. My daughter loved it because she likes it when the counselors play with her. They do lots of silly games - think things like you would do at summer camp with ice breakers and scavanger hunts and stuff. I imagine some kids think it is stupid. They do make flubber type stuff, color t-shirts, etc. But pretty much you do the planned activity, the one alternate activity, or leave. No giant playrooms like Disney.

We did do the afterhours one night. People make a big deal about how they "charge" for it. I think it was 20 or 30 bucks. Anyway, when you save a couple of grand on the cruise, I don't really mind splurging for the after hours. I will say, my daughter had a blast and liked it better than the Disney programming because it is structured programming and the counselors actually play with the kids. She left with a knapsack, nightlight, t-shirt, toothbrush and stuffed animal so I thought we got our money's worth. I have heard people complain it is a hard sell that they push the kids to ask their parents about. This did not happen to us. It was never mentioned to the kids.

Our only complaint about Carnival was how loud the music was blared at the pool deck and the lack of quiet outside space to walk around the ship. To give you an idea, we brought a sorority college girl with us (I have a 3-year-old with some significant disabilities and she helped). She complained about how loud it was and left the deck party one night because it was too loud. Shows were really good but they don't do a show every night. I've heard complaints that the costumes are "skimpy". My daughter is on dance team and there are really skimpy costumes at many competitions and this pretty much was the same as what you would see on the ship (which I hate seeing 10 year olds in 2 piece costumes at dance competitions but don't seem to mind as much when it is adults on a show). Anyway, I wasn't uncomfortable bringing my kids to the shows at all and think that complaint is either from old Carnival (in the 90s they used to do Vegas shows with topless dancers) or people who are really prudish and clearly don't go to a pool where you see far more skin on far less attractive people. Family comedy was stupid but that can be hit or miss on any ship if the comedians are bad.

A few pluses - espresso and cappuccino are included in the main dining room and I think Disney charges. And chocolate lava cake every night has to be mentioned again. I don't really care for desserts on Disney but really enjoyed the cookies at the buffet and chocolate cake on Carnival.

We would definately cruise Carnival again for the ports. Plan some great port excursions with the saving and your kids will have a blast at the ports and not notice anything missing on the ship!!

thank you for taking the time to give some feedback, I def. appreciate it!
Right now I think we should save money and switch to Carnival and my kids are ok with that, dh is the one worried about the food and service we'll get on the Breeze!
Today is the last day of the More=Merrier sale at carnival so he's gotta make up his mind fast!

 

[TwinPrincessMermaids]

In my experience, the oldest smallest ship of CCL that I sailed on, Holiday was THE BEST CCL experience I had. It had slides, it had stellar food and service, and I thought, if this is their oldest ship, maybe I have really been missing out on Carnival! But I've since learned that it has more to do with 2007 being around their hey-day. My next one on Triumph in 2011 was great again! And so another year, another Carnival, this time the Legend. Except, this one was slipping majorly. We couldn't get nearly the service our friends had and they always left the diningroom in time for comedy etc, but we didn't. (And they had a 14 top!) Still, it had a sushi bar and though service was slow, it wasn't a bad cruise, but at this point, I'm kind of getting disappointed. By the time 2013's annual friends CCl comes up, I don't even want to go. But my husband does, and then I find out that it was leaving out of Port Canaveral and I had to throw a fit, because I wasn't going to wave hi to the parks as we drove by to get on a crappy CCL. Thankfully, my honey and I had 3 incredible days at Disney, because for me, the Carnival Dream stunk the worst. And its the newest and biggest of the CCL's I'd ever been on. It also was about 3 weeks after the Triumph incident and they were seriously squeezed. Service was horrendous, we didn't even get water filled at the table. We got things we hadn't asked for, and didn't get the things we did. Forget asking about a GF menu, I just suffered for days and eventually went to only fish and fruit. They acted like they didn't understand a word you said. One of them threw a finger in my face, told me to wait, and never did come back. Who can blame them though? They gave 3 disorganized dudes like 10 huge tables to service. Everywhere we went, the place was a mess. No coffee cups at the buffet, and then when the cups came, no coffee (I guess cuz the people that had cups kept refilling.) They would scream at each other in the middle of buffet service. And the buffets would close at like 1pm so after that, it was only a teeny grill at the back end of the ship if you could find it, and everyone and their 10 year old kid was in line for fries and a hotdog. You talk about masses of kids everywhere in the middle of February, it made Disney look like an old person's cruise line. They didn't have shows every night, only had a few nights of comedy (CCL's one redeeming factor) AND, and this was a BIG ONE, they ditched the sushi bar and stuck some kind of promotional taste thing for their pay for steak house. Each night we went, I couldn't even eat there! I DON'T EAT PORK OR BEEF! BRING BACK THE SUSHI.

Ok, so I know I have a lot of angst towards CCLs now. They started out great and each year got crappier. In fact, after this last 'dream', i figured I must be completely cruised out and didn't care ifI went anymore. I was sick of hearing constant plugs to buy bingo all the time, or being pestered for drink sales constantly. I was sick of only seeing our room steward when he was asking for tips. (We always pay the auto tips!) I felt like I was on a floating infomercial.

I have since heard that a lot more people like the Breeze better than the Dream. Well thank goodness for that. Cuz the Dream is HORRIBLE. I waited in lines for the gift shop, for omelets, for self service icecream, for buffet coffee, I think I waited in line for the entire cruise. I think the Breeze is sort of the big sis of the Dream. I sure hope they fixed this problem because it made sea days horrible. All our port days were great, and beautiful and perfect! But we had 4 ship days, yuck. Also don't get me started on the pizza.

Basically I was done cruising until Disney rescued me. And we know it's been my addiction ever since. Thankfully since I'm moving to FL very soon, I will be able to finally get FL Res rates, and I think just about all the cruise lines have them. So that means if I ever wanted to do a CCL again, I could get it for next to nothing haha, it wouldn't be worth it even then. MAYBE I would try Oasis on RCI but I can't imagine spending any amount of money on CCL anymore. I paid the same for my interior CCL Dream 7 day as I did for my Veranda DCL Dream 3 day and I can tell you which one was WAY, WAY WAY better. Within the first 2 hrs, Twinkie leaned over and said "We better start planning the next one." And we did!

So that's my take. It may not exactly be the Breeze, but the Dream sister ship STINKS! Its like my worst nightmare.

EDIT: AS OF MY 2012 LEGEND CRUISE, THE CAPPUCINO WAS NOOOTTTTT INCLUDED IN THE DINING ROOM ANYMORE. What a surprise! Another cut back!

ONE MORE EDIT: I wasn't a Disney Cruise snob, I had never sail Disney until after the Carnival Dream disappointing trip. Actually I planned to give cruising up for a while because I just was cruised out, and my friend who HAD sailed Disney said I was 'Carnivaled out'. Dad planned his Anniversary Disney Dream about five weeks after the CCL Dream and that's how I ended up on my first Disney cruise, to surprise them. So its not like I was comparing CARNIVAL to previous Disneys. I was comparing CCL to CCL. They were failing against their own cruising standards from the mid 2000s and early 2010s.

 

[PrincessTrisha]

If you're looking for interior cabins on the Breeze - try the porthole cabins - they are the same price as the 4A inside but have 2 porthole windows. I stayed in this type of cabin on the Carnival Dream (sister ship to the Breeze) and loved it - 220 sq feet, bed and couch, close to the elevators (but not too close) and they have connecting ones. We stayed on Deck 1 and it was great to be so close to getting off at port (one quick flight of stairs down and one quick flight up).

This class of ship also has family oceanview staterooms that have the split bathrooms if you like.

Loved sailing on the Carnival Dream (great service, great cabin, good food, lots of choice) and my 16 year old god daughter loved the teen club and the 24 hours pizza and ice cream (the teens seemed to hang out there from 11pm or so - I was so thankful that I bought my lactose-intolerant god daughter a large bottle of lactaid pills so she could indulge for the week).

We had anytime dining on Carnival and loved it - we choose when we ate and were able to get a table for 2 no issues. Even though we didn't get to know our servers, we generally had really great service (we were on for 2 weeks and there was only 1 night I'd say that the serving team wasn't very good). Also, if you find a team you like, you can request them every night.

 

[kapoof]

I have only sailed on the disney dream...but at port in the Bahamas we were I between to two ccl ships. I recall looking out at the ship and seeing people on the ccl with their mouths hanging open when they saw the disney dream. The ships didn't appeal to me at all. That night our cruise director made the remark about being inbetween two floating apartment buildings! Be sure you go on cruise critic and read some more reviews of ccl. I wish you luck in your choice it can be hard to go back once you have done disney. I would lean towards to the two inside rooms on the magic.

 

[loveysbydesign]

I have only sailed on the disney dream...but at port in the Bahamas we were I between to two ccl ships. I recall looking out at the ship and seeing people on the ccl with their mouths hanging open when they saw the disney dream. The ships didn't appeal to me at all. That night our cruise director made the remark about being inbetween two floating apartment buildings! Be sure you go on cruise critic and read some more reviews of ccl. I wish you luck in your choice it can be hard to go back once you have done disney. I would lean towards to the two inside rooms on the magic.

I've been reading lots of reviews on cc and other site and the Breeze seems to be the best Carnival ship since it's the newest one. We also watched the Guy Fieri special on food network about the ship.

 

[eroller]

I've sailed on CARNIVAL BREEZE and wasn't impressed. In fact I almost wrote off Carnival completely after the cruise. The ship was overcrowded, not enough pools, poor entertainment, only DJ's by the pool and no live band, a/c which was fine in the cabin but kept the public rooms fairly warm, and worst of all the decline in service because Carnival cut back staffing so much. The food in the MDR was pretty dismal as well. Walking the public lounges at night was literally like herding cattle from the back to the front of the ship. The walkways by the public rooms are just not wide enough and too many bottlenecks. This being said, I gave Carnival another chance a couple months ago and sailed on CARNIVAL FREEDOM after her 2.0 upgrades were completed. The experience compared to BREEZE was night and day. Excellent food & service, more pools and deck space, the ship didn't feel nearly as crowded, and the a/c worked great! I felt I got a great value for what I paid. I haven't touched on the passengers yet, but I've seen things on Carnival that I have never seen on Disney. The short cruises are especially bad. Drunk passengers, sex in hot tubs, beer bottles and glasses left all over the ship especially in stairways, fist fights by the pool, lots of used room service trays in corridors, profanities etched in the mirrors in elevators, etc. etc. Again just a different standard compared to Disney but of course you are paying a lot less so perhaps willing to overlook these things. You also may not experience any of them if you decide to cruise on Carnival, but I have seen them all after several Carnival cruises.

I'm Platinum with Carnival and what I have found is the experiences can vary greatly from ship to ship and even cruise to cruise. Even so, even my best experiences on Carnival can't compare to Disney. No one has the Disney attention to detail and that special feeling you only get while on a Disney ship. The crew seem better trained and the ships are spotless. Yes it's much more pricey but honestly you get what you pay for.

Now if you really want something a bit more comparable to Disney in terms of WOW factor, you should be looking at OASIS and ALLURE with Royal Caribbean. Awesome ships and even through they are huge and carry thousands of passengers, they never felt that way. Far less crowded feeling than CARNIVAL BREEZE and overall just a higher standard. Not quite at Disney level, but getting close. Even the Freedom Class ships with Royal Caribbean are a big step up from anything Carnival has, even their newest ship.

Good luck!

 

[loveysbydesign]

I've sailed on CARNIVAL BREEZE and wasn't impressed. In fact I almost wrote off Carnival completely after the cruise. The ship was overcrowded, not enough pools, poor entertainment, only DJ's by the pool and no live band, a/c which was fine in the cabin but kept the public rooms fairly warm, and worst of all the decline in service because Carnival cut back staffing so much. The food in the MDR was pretty dismal as well. Walking the public lounges at night was literally like herding cattle from the back to the front of the ship. The walkways by the public rooms are just not wide enough and too many bottlenecks. This being said, I gave Carnival another chance a couple months ago and sailed on CARNIVAL FREEDOM after her 2.0 upgrades were completed. The experience compared to BREEZE was night and day. Excellent food & service, more pools and deck space, the ship didn't feel nearly as crowded, and the a/c worked great! I felt I got a great value for what I paid. I haven't touched on the passengers yet, but I've seen things on Carnival that I have never seen on Disney. The short cruises are especially bad. Drunk passengers, sex in hot tubs, beer bottles and glasses left all over the ship especially in stairways, fist fights by the pool, lots of used room service trays in corridors, profanities etched in the mirrors in elevators, etc. etc. Again just a different standard compared to Disney but of course you are paying a lot less so perhaps willing to overlook these things. You also may not experience any of them if you decide to cruise on Carnival, but I have seen them all after several Carnival cruises.

I'm Platinum with Carnival and what I have found is the experiences can vary greatly from ship to ship and even cruise to cruise. Even so, even my best experiences on Carnival can't compare to Disney. No one has the Disney attention to detail and that special feeling you only get while on a Disney ship. The crew seem better trained and the ships are spotless. Yes it's much more pricey but honestly you get what you pay for.

Now if you really want something a bit more comparable to Disney in terms of WOW factor, you should be looking at OASIS and ALLURE with Royal Caribbean. Awesome ships and even through they are huge and carry thousands of passengers, they never felt that way. Far less crowded feeling than CARNIVAL BREEZE and overall just a higher standard. Not quite at Disney level, but getting close. Even the Freedom Class ships with Royal Caribbean are a big step up from anything Carnival has, even their newest ship.

Good luck!

Thanks for your input! I priced out RCCL Oasis and Allure and they are almost 3k more than Disney for the same inside cabins for the same date!

 

[ilovetexas]

It's so funny reading people's opinions about CCL here. Food is subjective (a LOT of people think CCL's food is better than DCL's food), service is just about the same on every line I've been on (only real problem I've ever had was on DCL) and contrary to popular DISboard belief, there is life after DCL. I've been on Wonder and Fantasy and am quite happy to cruise other lines...including....gasp....CCL. I absolutely loved the Sunshine and can't wait to try the Breeze.

My daughter is starting her senior year next week. She gets to choose her graduation vacation. She's chosen a cruise and when given some options, she chose Carnival. My kids really like those ships, especially the ones with the 2.0 upgrades. Guys Burgers and the Blue Iguana...yum! Seriously, she looked at RCCL, CCL, and NCL and never even seriously considered DCL. Nothing against DCL but it just isn't true that everyone thinks they are the best. DCL offers a great product but so do other lines.

You can have a wonderful time on other lines and if saving the money is important to you, all the better.

 

[Mickeyhugger]

It's so funny reading people's opinions about CCL here. Food is subjective (a LOT of people think CCL's food is better than DCL's food), service is just about the same on every line I've been on (only real problem I've ever had was on DCL) and contrary to popular DISboard belief, there is life after DCL. I've been on Wonder and Fantasy and am quite happy to cruise other lines...including....gasp....CCL. I absolutely loved the Sunshine and can't wait to try the Breeze.

My daughter is starting her senior year next week. She gets to choose her graduation vacation. She's chosen a cruise and when given some options, she chose Carnival. My kids really like those ships, especially the ones with the 2.0 upgrades. Guys Burgers and the Blue Iguana...yum! Seriously, she looked at RCCL, CCL, and NCL and never even seriously considered DCL. Nothing against DCL but it just isn't true that everyone thinks they are the best. DCL offers a great product but so do other lines.

You can have a wonderful time on other lines and if saving the money is important to you, all the better.

 

[luv2sleep]

It's so funny reading people's opinions about CCL here. Food is subjective (a LOT of people think CCL's food is better than DCL's food), service is just about the same on every line I've been on (only real problem I've ever had was on DCL) and contrary to popular DISboard belief, there is life after DCL. I've been on Wonder and Fantasy and am quite happy to cruise other lines...including....gasp....CCL. I absolutely loved the Sunshine and can't wait to try the Breeze. My daughter is starting her senior year next week. She gets to choose her graduation vacation. She's chosen a cruise and when given some options, she chose Carnival. My kids really like those ships, especially the ones with the 2.0 upgrades. Guys Burgers and the Blue Iguana...yum! Seriously, she looked at RCCL, CCL, and NCL and never even seriously considered DCL. Nothing against DCL but it just isn't true that everyone thinks they are the best. DCL offers a great product but so do other lines. You can have a wonderful time on other lines and if saving the money is important to you, all the better.

on the Breeze next year. ETA: was able to get a spa balcony for 8 nights for less than a DCL inside for 5 nights. Love DCL though and will keep cruising them during the off season. Happy CCL provides a fun peak season trip for less. As a west coaster I was getting depressed over the high price of summer DCL warm weather cruising. Oh and someone mentioned those porthole inside cabins on CCL. I was amazed at these! These are similar to cat 9Ds on the classic DCL ships but are priced as inside cabins. That's pretty cool.

 

[loveysbydesign]

It's so funny reading people's opinions about CCL here. Food is subjective (a LOT of people think CCL's food is better than DCL's food), service is just about the same on every line I've been on (only real problem I've ever had was on DCL) and contrary to popular DISboard belief, there is life after DCL. I've been on Wonder and Fantasy and am quite happy to cruise other lines...including....gasp....CCL. I absolutely loved the Sunshine and can't wait to try the Breeze.

My daughter is starting her senior year next week. She gets to choose her graduation vacation. She's chosen a cruise and when given some options, she chose Carnival. My kids really like those ships, especially the ones with the 2.0 upgrades. Guys Burgers and the Blue Iguana...yum! Seriously, she looked at RCCL, CCL, and NCL and never even seriously considered DCL. Nothing against DCL but it just isn't true that everyone thinks they are the best. DCL offers a great product but so do other lines.

You can have a wonderful time on other lines and if saving the money is important to you, all the better.

Thanks! We were thinking of trying the Sunshine but dh said if we go on CCL he prefers the Breeze since it's newer. Maybe I'll look into the Sunshine some more

 

[eroller]

Thanks for your input! I priced out RCCL Oasis and Allure and they are almost 3k more than Disney for the same inside cabins for the same date!

In that case I would recommend FREEDOM OF THE SEAS out of Port Canaveral, or I think INDEPENDENCE OF THE SEAS out of Ft. Lauderdale. They will be a lot less expensive than OASIS/ALLURE but still way better than any ship Carnival has to offer. An amazing H20 waterpark for the kids, the Flow Rider for surfing, rock climbing, an ice staking rink, the Royal Promenade for parades and events, and awesome entertainment. You can't go wrong with these ships.

Another recommendation is the brand new NORWEGIAN GETAWAY out of Miami. It's got all the bells and whistles and is an amazing ship. This ship is part of the brand new Breakaway Class and it's really propelling NCL to the next level. Again superior to CARNIVAL BREEZE in just about every respect, and if you're a foodie you are going to love all the dining options on NORWEGIAN GETAWAY. Great kids facilities too and NCL has a wonderful partnership with Nickelodeon just as Royal Caribbean does with Dreamworks.

 

[loveysbydesign]

In that case I would recommend FREEDOM OF THE SEAS out of Port Canaveral, or I think INDEPENDENCE OF THE SEAS out of Ft. Lauderdale. They will be a lot less expensive than OASIS/ALLURE but still way better than any ship Carnival has to offer. An amazing H20 waterpark for the kids, the Flow Rider for surfing, rock climbing, an ice staking rink, the Royal Promenade for parades and events, and awesome entertainment. You can't go wrong with these ships.

Another recommendation is the brand new NORWEGIAN GETAWAY out of Miami. It's got all the bells and whistles and is an amazing ship. This ship is part of the brand new Breakaway Class and it's really propelling NCL to the next level. Again superior to CARNIVAL BREEZE in just about every respect, and if you're a foodie you are going to love all the dining options on NORWEGIAN GETAWAY. Great kids facilities too and NCL has a wonderful partnership with Nickelodeon just as Royal Caribbean does with Dreamworks.

I did also price out the Getaway as it was my 1st choice after DCL since RCCL was so expensive
...2 inside on the Getaway is $3774 and 2 inside on the Breeze is $2749
...2 balconies on Getaway is $4534 and on the Breeze is $3650
Oh and the Breeze is one extra day.
Will check out Freedom and Independence