TRIP REPORT Fresh Off Breakaway to Bermuda {First Time NCL, Upsell, Spa, Vibe}

My husband and I are just off the June 5th-June 12th sailing to Bermuda on the Breakaway. While it’s back to reality for me with nobody cooking and cleaning up after me, I am prolonging my vacation happiness by starting on this detailed trip report. This was a wonderful cruise and we didn’t feel overwhelmed by crowds at anytime except at the muster drill.

I try to do a detailed report every cruise. My husband and I are newer but avid cruisers. A bit about us so you can understand the perspective through which I write: I’m 29 and he’s 30. We are musicians and teachers. I teach chorus/theatre, he is a professor of trombone. I say this to emphasize that we are not suite people, it’s just not in the budget at this time in our lives. That being said, I do thorough research and spend many hours scouting the best deals in order to get maximum luxury for minimum cost. Our prior experience together has been exclusively on Celebrity both S and M class, the Reflection for our Honeymoon in 2013 and the Summit to Bermuda in 2014. I also have sailed Celebrity with my family and Carnival once recently with my sister. So you’ll see me doing a lot of comparisons, especially between NCL and X.

Before I get into the mostly chronological narrative, I want to share a few favorites, especially those teasers in the title of this review.

1. Vibe was certainly among our favorite things. I’ll write about it a lot more later, but we were in boarding group 10 and got pass #47 and 48 out of 70 as well as a cabana. The weather was forecasted to be bad though, so I’m sure that put a lot of people off who would normally try for Vibe. It was still sold out, save one cabana.

2. The drinks were fabulous. While Celebrity wins in a landslide with wine, NCL knows how to mix a fruity tropical drink and their bartenders were the best we’ve experienced on a cruise. We really enjoyed the drink package. Lots more on that later.

3. Bermuda is our favorite destination so far, and the reason this is a repeat trip to the paradise. It’s got the views of the caribbean but with milder temperatures and is a wealthy nation. We could take a land vacation to any caribbean destination, but land vacations to bermuda are extremely expensive, which makes cruising there a perfect option for us.

4. The Thermal Suite Spa was a sanctuary for us, perfect for those rainy days. This is the only picture I have in the actual space, but the hot tub, thalassotherapy pool, and heated loungers relaxed me like nothing else. Access to the spa came with our spa mini-suite.

5. The Spa Mini-Suite was spacious and perfectly located. We were in room 14168, mid-ship and loved how roomy it was. It was the biggest cabin we’ve been in. The bed was not very comfortable and the balcony was tiny (we knew to expect that last one), but we loved the upgraded bathroom. We originally booked an inside cabin, but upgraded then upselled. Lots more on that later!

One more pic of our suite, this is the bathroom's special double sink.

6. The ship was a work of art with so much to do and see. We didn’t get to do even half of what was offered - a great reason to go again in the near future, I say!

7. The food was plentiful and delicious. We could most always find something we enjoyed and the variety of food venus was impressive. Lots more on that as I go on. We LOVE food!

8. The entertainment and nightlife was top notch and the best I’ve experienced so far on a cruise. When we were on the Celebrity Summit two years ago and the ONLY passengers in the bar just after midnight, we had looked over longingly at the Breakaway docked next to us. She was still bumpin’, lights flashing and music playing. This year it was our turn to make our neighbors jealous ;-)

9. The service was excellent from our wonderful cabin stewardess Joanna to the bartenders. We found it overall better than Celebrity and I thought it was on par with Carnival.

10. Leaving out of NYC is something I love, although my husband would wholeheartedly disagree with me on this point. He would rather be able to drive to a port. We are former residents of Manhattan, first as students, then for me as a teacher. We live in Georgia now, so we do have to fly in, which is an extra cost. I love getting to see friends, experience all the cultural paragons unique to New York, and I LOVE the diversity that this cruise has. I’m certain it’s because we leave from the city. I very much enjoyed the latin nights at Bliss and the infusion of other cultures on board. The Summit out of Port Liberty did not have anything close to the diversity NCL Breakaway had both in terms of culture and ages represented.

Ok, I’m off to reality again as my washing machine is beeping at me, but I’ll be back soon to start our pre-cruise stay in Manhattan.

Nice review, looking forward to more as we will be sailing ba in October.

Great start - looking forward to more as we leave on the 27th!

Great so far. Looking forward to your thoughts on everything!

Loving your photo review!

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Great start! Can't wait to hear more!

Looking forward to reading more and seeing your pics as I'll be on that cruise in September

Saturday, June 4th

We flew into LaGuardia from Atlanta and took a taxi to our hotel, The Belvedere, located on 48th between 8th and 9th avenues. This was my first time staying in a hotel in Manhattan and it was odd to be staying in our old neighborhood. I had always heard hotel rooms in the city were tiny, but this hotel was definitely an exception to that, and we got it at a pretty decent rate. I certainly wish my old apartments had been so nice, ha!

We had specifically requested a room with a nice view, and it didn’t disappoint.

We especially loved the nice coffee maker and coffee provided. We were in room 1523.

Here are a couple of pictures of the bathroom at the hotel. We loved the marble!

The hotel staff was very friendly and helpful and the clientele was mostly families and couples mainly staying there due to its location in the heart of the theatre district. We were excited to get to partake in the excitement of the theatre district as well! We had tickets to see “Bright Star” which was playing at the Cort Theatre on 48th between 6th and 7th, so a super easy walk through Times Square to get to it. I just saw this evening that despite five Tony nominations, it’s closing at the end of the month. I can’t say enough what a wonderful musical this was and I really encourage you to go see it if you have the chance. It’s set in the Appalachian mountains and the score is full of bluegrass written by Steve Martin. I hope it goes on tour.

After the show, we hit up a bar on 48th and 9th called The Jolly Monk. They specialized in Belgian beers, my favorite!

After we had a few beers, it was back to the hotel to catch some sleep!

Great review. Looking forward to the rest.

Great review so far! Cant wait to hear the rest!!

love to hear about the breakaway! Following!

I'm enjoying this review so far, love hearing other views on the Breakaway since I've sailed on her once and have 2 more Breakaway cruises coming up in July and November! (As you can see, I love the Breakaway and I absolutely LOVE Bermuda!)

Christina

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

A major perk of this hotel is how close it is to Pier 88. We actually could have walked if we didn’t have so much luggage. We had selected boarding group 10:00-10:30. Our plan was to get there by 9:30, however due to the late night and some taxi trouble, we didn’t arrive until about 10:00 or just after. [side note: few taxis come down the side streets, best to get one from an avenue if you’re in a hurry. Also, make sure you know where you’re going and don’t count on your cab/uber/lyft driver to know where they’re going. We had to explicitly tell our driver directions and he wasn’t even able to read the signs at the pier. Must have been his first day on the job!]

We found where to drop our baggage. It was a little chaotic, but patience and a few dollars in hand will get you in pretty fast. Once inside we were directed by several different helpful people all the way to the back to check in. Before the check in line, we were handed a yellow boarding card. We got #10. I was a bit disappointed it wasn’t a lower number because I really wanted to get a vibe pass. That being said, I at least knew we had the spa due to our spa mini-suite and knew we’d have a great time no matter what.

For those who don’t know, Vibe is a special area of the ship. It’s restricted access, only 70 passes are sold and you can’t purchase them ahead of time. It’s adults only and has its own bar, hot tubs, cabanas (for an extra cost), and padded loungers. After getting the boarding number, we were directed to the check in area. For everyone wondering about boarding groups, not a single person checked our boarding group arrival time, so I think nobody is enforcing it. On the way, we saw signs advertising early embarkation. Does NCL have a program similar to Carnival’s “Faster to the Fun”? I know Haven gets early boarding, but I wasn’t aware of a program with this perk. If anyone has info, please satisfy my curiosity! There was no line at check in. We got our key card and had our picture taken, yay! We were checked in by 10:20 and went to find a seat.

While we waited, I took the opportunity to go over the reservations I had made. I had printed a summary from MyNCL before I left. I pulled those out and realized it hadn’t printed our show reservations, so I pulled out my laptop where I had a version on my desktop. I noticed that the times on the printed copy and my earlier copy saved on my desktop did not match. All the reservations on the newer copy showed 30 minutes later, for every single thing! I was perplexed. I had not changed any reservations, so it must have been some kind of website glitch. Make sure you check back close to sail time to make sure this doesn't happen to you too. I did confirm with guest services once on board and the later times were the correct ones.

I wanted to book Second City reservations so I attempted to access the ship’s wireless and launch the i-concierge app. My husband and I were both successful, though it was spotty signal. I was able to make 11pm Second City reservations for our first night in Bermuda. Here is a screenshot of some of what was available just prior to boarding.

One really annoying thing about the app is that you can’t view your reservations or change any reservations, I wish they would add that feature. There is an option to purchase app to app calling and messaging for $9.99. We opted not to do that and old fashion paper notes worked perfectly well with just the two of us all week. That $20 was well spent elsewhere!

Around 11, there was an announcement stating that boarding would start between 11:15-11:30 and that if we saw people getting on already, it was because it was a special group or an inspection. I know there was a wedding on board because we heard the announcement before departure for the guests to leave, but I don’t know whether or not that was the group getting on or not.

True to announcement, boarding started around 11:15 with Haven guests. We were called not too long after. The excitement was building, but we were finally about to step foot on the beautiful Breakaway!

and were on board by 12:15. We headed directly for guest services, one floor down. The tension was high, would we get vibe or not!? I found a man with a clipboard and he was the guy to find! I was ecstatic to see we had #47 and #48 out of 70. Yipee!

THAT is a happy face!!!

We were given these little numbers and directed to the far left line of guest services, where the restaurant reservations are made. There we asked about a cabana. The staff member explained that Vibe was $99 per person and that the cabanas were $329 total but came with a $100 food and beverage credit. So assuming you were planning on spending at least $100 on food or drinks, this is a great deal. We had the beverage package, but did not have a dining package having opted instead for the wireless, so it made sense for us to splurge on the cabana. There was only one left. We got #3 out of 5. They make you sign something that says you understand there are no refunds due to bad weather. We knew we were taking a risk with Tropical Storm Colin in the gulf and making his way up, but we were willing to take the risk. There was only one evening Vibe was closed, so it turned out very good for us.

We snapped a few pics on the way to find food.

I'm enjoying this review so far, love hearing other views on the Breakaway since I've sailed on her once and have 2 more Breakaway cruises coming up in July and November! (As you can see, I love the Breakaway and I absolutely LOVE Bermuda!)

 

Christina

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

Thanks so much! I wish I had two more Breakaway cruises coming up! Enjoy :)

We went to Savor to eat lunch. We were very hungry. We were seated right away and ordered . . .

Chicken Nachos

Basil Pineapple and Grapefruit

Grilled grouper with dill mayo

And philly cheesesteak

We also enjoyed the first drinks of the cruise! We missed the glass of champagne/mimosa that celebrity gives everyone as soon as they board. I had a mimosa or two to make up for it and the DH had whisky and Pepsi (no coke products).

It was really delicious and the service was excellent. It was (unfortunately) the best service we got all week in a free dining room.

After we were stuffed at Savor, we went decided to start to make our way upstairs. I wanted to check out the spa. I should say here that my husband had no idea we had a balcony room, much less a mini-suite with access to the spa! It was a secret I had been keeping for a good while and I could not wait to see his face when we went in the room. But, no announcement had been made that rooms were ready and I wanted to see the thermal suite first to know what we had to look forward to. The spa tour was not something I would recommend unless you really want to see the thermal suite, or you like getting sales pitch after sales pitch. They steer you around from one station to another to hear the different ways to spend your money. I didn’t find any of it appealing, but to each his own. I was actually glad we did the tour though because the thermal suite is a bit hidden. You have to go to the left of the Mandara Spa desk to a door that looks like this:

Notice it says "key card access required" but there is nowhere to swipe. It took a couple of visits before anyone told us we had to turn our card in at the desk before entering. Oops! They verified we were indeed granted access and they gave us a sticker. I wish NCL gave you instructions on your bed the first day explaining all of this. Lack of communication was a bit of an issue. There were also no instructions about how to access the wireless. We had the 1G package and had to go to guest services and take up their time figuring it out. FYI, you go to login.com or logon.com, I can't remember which and from there it's super easy. Now how hard would that be to leave on a small little card in each stateroom?

Anyway, from beyond the unassuming spa door, it’s a long hallway with men’s and women’s dressing rooms on the right. In there you have robes, towels, lockers, showers, and restrooms.

The spa itself has I believe three different saunas and a salt room. I only used the salt room as I don’t enjoy the saunas, but my husband enjoyed them. The pool is equipped with many different jets activated from the side. It’s also heated, though not hot, just pleasantly warm. There is also a hot tub. None of the hot tubs were particularly hot, but still it was wonderful. There are also ceramic tile loungers that are heated. Those were really relaxing and a great place to go after the pool. The spa is located at the most forward part of floor 15, so there is a very nice view. You do feel the motion a lot if the seas are high, it should be noted.

Loving your review. We will be on the breakaway for the 4th time July 31st. This will be our first time using the Thermal spa so the tip about the key access is great. I can not wait to go again to Bermuda and sail on the Breakaway.

Loving your review. We will be on the breakaway for the 4th time July 31st. This will be our first time using the Thermal spa so the tip about the key access is great. I can not wait to go again to Bermuda and sail on the Breakaway.

First time on the Breakaway, same week! Can't wait

i dont plan on getting vibe but i have to admit how you have narrated things actually made me excited for your run for the passes

also good to know about the spa tour. we are on the fence about buying passes and understand its 20 more if we wait until we get on board.

Shannon,

Are you participating in the meet & greet and slot pull?

BAM1957

Shannon,

 

Are you participating in the meet & greet and slot pull?

 

BAM1957

I haven't signed up for it, where can I do that?

Loving your review. We will be on the breakaway for the 4th time July 31st. This will be our first time using the Thermal spa so the tip about the key access is great. I can not wait to go again to Bermuda and sail on the Breakaway.

You will love it! The lovely herbal smell is the first thing that hits you when you walk through the door. They also have relaxing music playing. :D

First time on the Breakaway, same week! Can't wait

And I see in your signature it's a wedding cruise? How fun! Is it your wedding?

i dont plan on getting vibe but i have to admit how you have narrated things actually made me excited for your run for the passes

 

also good to know about the spa tour. we are on the fence about buying passes and understand its 20 more if we wait until we get on board.

Ha, thanks! Trust me, there was no running, but I almost would . . .

Yes it's $20 more on board per person. When we did the tour they were trying to get us to purchase them and of course were making it sound like they just had a few left. I don't know, maybe that's true but it didn't seem too crowded ever, even during the rainy times.