It’s been three weeks since we returned from our cruise aboard the Carnival Breeze, and it’s take that time for me to absorb and appreciate everything we experienced. This cruise, which took us to Montego Bay, Grand Cayman and Cozumel, was a great adventure for my family. Not only are my kids a really fun age for travel (six and nine), but my mom and her husband, and my mother-in-law and her husband all joined us – making it a family affair. AND! We celebrated my 40th birthday at sea. So, basically magical.
I’m excited to partner with Carnival Cruiselines. All opinions and experience are my own.
I have a whole series of posts coming up all about cruising Carnival with your kids, but today, I want to give you a photo tour of the Carnival Breeze.
This was my fourth cruise, and my third Carnival cruise. While I have loved every one, I have to say this was the biggest, prettiest, fanciest ship I’ve sailed on yet. It was so family-friendly (it definitely helps that my kids are a little older than the last time we cruised, too).
We spent most of our top on the upper decks of the ship, where the pool, water slides, basketball court, mini golf and sky course were located. Jack did the sky course almost everyday. “It’s my tradition!” he said around day three. He loved the ropes course (I mean, check it out…a ropes course while your boat sails through the open seas? AWESOME).
Claire wasn’t tall enough for the ropes course (she’s really tiny…your six-year-old might be!). So while Jack did the ropes, Claire played some mini golf.
Also, I should tell you here that Claire’s not a huge fan of brushing her hair and I’m not a big fan of arguing with her about it. So…
I also spent a lot of time on my own, reading. This is the benefit of traveling with kids old enough for the kids’ clubs! Also, the benefit of traveling with grandmothers. 😉 It was easy to find a spot overlooking the ocean and open up a book – but I really also loved the peace and quiet (and wine) of Serenity, the adults-only deck at th very top of the ship.
The ship is huge and there is always something going on. If you’re worried about getting bored on sea days, don’t be…there are literally activities and events going on all day long. I would definitely not call myself a “joiner,” meaning I don’t really participate in structured group activities…but I found myself playing Bingo with the kids and attending Pop Culture Trivia with the adults. Just exploring the boat is an adventure, though…there’s so much to see.
The nightlife is hoppin’ – from deck parties to nightclubs (even for the teens) to bars to the shops to the casino. Charles tried his hand at the slots tournament (he didn’t win anything, boo).
And can we talk about the views for a minute? Ocean and islands for days.
And of course, no cruise ever in the history of the Universe would be a cruise if it weren’t for the food. And OMG THE FOOD.
I feel like the food is better than it used to be. It was good on my last Carnival cruise, which was in 2012. But Charles and I both kept saying that it felt like Carnival had really upped their food game…the quality of the food and the items on the menus just felt elevated, and they now offer some unique options that weren’t previously available (like sushi, Indian food that Charles said was comparable to his favorite local Indian restaurant, wood-fired pizza, and Guy’s Burgers).
This was also our first time to try the ship’s exclusive dining options. The Farenheit 555 Steakhouse was incredible. We also ate at Cucina del Capitano, the Italian restaurant, for my 40th birthday. The service in both restaurants was unrivaled, and the food? A+.
The steakhouse and Italian restaurant are an additional cost, and you need to make reservations – you can do this once you’re on the ship.
Aside from those two nights, we ate at our assigned table in Blush (one of the two restaurants). As it was literally everywhere on the ship, the service and wait staff were incredible. My kids are NOT sit-down-and-eat-quietly-in-a-restaurant kind of kids, but they loved the restaurant and staff, and asked to eat here every night, even when we suggested the buffet on the Lido deck one night instead.
One of the really cool things we got to do was tour the galley – and try the entire menu for the evening for the night while we were there, with the chef! It. Was. Incredible. (My mother-in-law and husband took a ship tour on the last day at sea – if you want to see everything that goes on behind the scenes, and meet the Captain, sign up for this!).
It was on this galley tour that I tried escargot for the first time (you can see my reaction below…mostly, shock that I had actually tried something new because I’m a wimp like that).
You can find more logistical details about the stateroom in my post about cruising with kids, but I did want to throw a few pictures up in here, too. I took these on the last day, so this is 7 days lived in with four people…in other words, excuse the mess!
Let me know if you have any questions – I’d love to answer them for you! And stay tuned for my Cruising with Kids series (I’ll also be talking about cruising on a budget and staying healthy on a cruise) – I truly can’t wait to share all of this fun stuff with y’all.