Breakaway to Bermuda review: July 19-26, 2015

Hi,

Like many of you, I scoured Cruise Critic to find out as much as I could to help in planning our special trip. As a result, we had a fabulous vacation. I would like to give you all a detailed review of many aspects of our trip. I'm hoping some of my quirky details will help others in planning their perfect trip!

I will be doing the review in topical format. I can't remember which day we ate where and what we did. I have four kids (who didn't vacation with us), so please be patient while reading my review--it will take me several days to get through it all!

We are a late 30-something couple celebrating our 15 year anniversary this year and our first trip without kids since having all four. This was a huge trip for us--we don't usually spend this much on vacations except to Disney with the whole family (and let's be honest, that isn't much of a vacation with four kids....don't get me wrong--it's a fabulous time, but very little relaxing is done amongst the crowds, fast passes, reservations, etc....) We traveled with another couple, also without kids. This was our second cruise. The first one was a short Carnival cruise shortly after we were married. The other couple didn't have lots of cruising experience either--the wife had never been and the husband had been on a couple as a teen with his family.

I will get into more details later about our room, but we enjoyed an aft balcony on the 9th floor.

Everything in this review is just our opinion. If it is one thing we should learn from Cruise Critic, everyone has one...and it often differs!

Topics I will cover: (maybe not in this order...)

Getting there/the stay the night before in Secaucus, NJ

Traveling to Port/Embarkation

Room/Balcony

Food! Drinks!

Activities--Ropes Course, Pool

Shows--Donna Vivino, Burn the Floor, Rock of Ages, Q&A with officer, Running a floating hotel

Communication/iConcierge

Shopping on board

Kids Club (we stopped by to check it out even though we don't have kids)

Arriving in Bermuda

Bermuda---Beaches, Food, Shopping, Wed. Night Harbor Nights, Transportation, Snorkeling excursion--Restless Native

Spa

Service while onboard

All in all, we had a great trip. Lots of fun memories were made!! Stay tuned!

I will start with our stay in NJ the night before!

We were undecided with how and when to get to the port until the week before. We were traveling from MD, so we could have driven up super early the day of. It would have made for a loooong day and a car full of nerves as we worry about traffic, breaking down, etc. It was finally agreed upon that we would leave the day before and stay in a nearby hotel. It was a great decision!

I looked at several areas outside of NYC. We didn't want to stay in the city because of parking issues and the prices were a lot more than what we were willing to spend. I have stayed in the Secaucus area before, so I looked at hotels there. The Hyatt Place Secaucus/Meadowlands stuck out as a reasonable rate ($130 for AAA) with great reviews. We also wanted a place with free parking and free breakfast. Looking at Google maps, I could see it was close to a SuperWalmart in case we forgot anything and several restaurants.

We left about 2:30 pm to make the 4.5 hour trip to the hotel. We ran into some minor traffic along the way (can't even remember where) but the trip was uneventful (hooray!). Finding the hotel seemed easy and check in was a breeze. The receptionists were really helpful. There was a small area with baked goods and Starbucks you could purchase. Breakfast started at 6 or 7 the next morning (I can't remember).

Our room was clean and large for two people. There was a couch/sitting area with a fold out couch and a kitchenette area with a fridge and microwave and lots of counter space. We had a king sized bed. The sink area was outside of the bathroom. The actual toilet/shower space was tiny, but workable. The door on the shower didn't want to stay shut but my husband fixed it with a piece of cardboard.

There was a little partition between the bed and the fold out couch so if you were traveling with others, there would be a little privacy. This can be seen in the photos on the hotel website for the king sized room.

The hotel staff was really helpful with directing us to restaurants in the area. There were about a dozen within walking distance. The hotel is in an area of shops and restaurants and a movie theater. We settled upon Buffalo Wild Wings. We were able to be seated immediately, which was surprising for a Saturday night after 7pm.

Dinner was good and it was after dark when we left to walk back to the hotel. There was a lot of pedestrian traffic out. We felt safe in the area walking back to the hotel. We called it a night and enjoyed a good night's sleep before our real adventure began. I'd stay here again in a heartbeat. It was a great hotel, area, and location to the pier.

The next morning we enjoyed a hot breakfast at the hotel. Check out was easy and they printed out directions for us to the pier. They differed from the GPS directions, so we decided to go with the GPS directions. We left the hotel about 8:15 to head to the port. Since we were in an unfamiliar area, we wanted to leave plenty of time!

Next up: Traveling to Port and Embarkation!

looking forward to the next installment. Loved the Breakaway and looking forward to seeing her again in just a few months.

We left the hotel about 8:30. We used the GPS to plug in the address. We headed for the Lincoln Tunnel and made a turn and saw the beautiful Breakaway after a few minutes. Granted, I wasn't driving, but it seemed like a pretty easy route! Unfortunately, they had lots of intersections coned off for some reason. We didn't every figure out why, but we had to go past the ship, make a right and circle around. We asked an officer directing traffic how we should get back to the Breakaway pier and she moved the cones and told us to go straight through. We made it to the pier and up to the parking deck to pay. Since there were two couples, we wanted to see if we could use two credit cards. She said she could take one credit card for half and half cash. Neither of us wanted to drop that much cash before the trip, so we did it all on one credit card and paid our friends back later in the trip.

After paying, we had to circle out of the area and she told us to go to the next parking lot of park. There were lots of people parking parallel along the lanes, and I couldn't quite figure out why. We continued to the parking lot on the right past the ship. They told us to stop and open the trunk so the dog could sniff our luggage and vehicle. We then proceeded to a parking spot and got our luggage out. We weren't quite clear how to get to the port area. We followed a group of people one way then realized they were coming back the other way. We found our way to a large elevator to go down a level to drop off our luggage. It was sort of confusing where to go and what to do. I don't know if we were just early (it was about 9:30) and they didn't have everyone out telling people where to go. We dropped off our luggage (including two canvas shopping bags of bottled flavored water and tea) and proceeded into the big port area.

We were herded into a line of people. Turns out this was customs. We had to show our passports then proceed to the x ray machines for our carry ons. The line was fairly quick moving. After that we were given a yellow number (we got #24, and I knew from my research this wasn't a great number...) and a health questionnaire to fill out. We walked right through and didn't have a chance to complete the questionnaire before going to the check in counter.

We showed our check in papers, got our pictures taken and got our cards. My friend had to sign a paper saying she knew if she got stuck in Bermuda with only a birth certificate she would have trouble getting home (that was the gist of the paper anyways. She couldn't find her passport, so only had a birth certificate). I noticed as we were standing there a stack of papers on the counter with a change of itinerary in it. The lady didn't say anything about them, but I took one, recognizing it was important we knew we were leaving at 3pm rather than the original 5pm. More on this later!!

At this point, there were plenty of chairs available to sit in. We sat down and made ourselves comfortable for the next hour and forty-five minutes until they called us!

We had spotty wireless service through the ship. We eventually were able to check our iConcierge accounts and our friends got tickets to Rock of Ages (they were previously unable to online as they were no longer available). We also checked out our accounts. We were supposed to have a $75 OBC. It showed we had $0.

There were many tables set up--you could sign up for Kids Club (line got very long!), spa services, specialty restaurant reservations, UBP, UDP. I wasn't expecting to be able to sign up for spa services, so that was a pleasant surprise. Each couple made reservations for a couples massage. They had to call the spa on board to make the reservation but then gave you a card with the appointment on it. We also asked about the OBC and it is added to your account that night. Sure enough, it showed up after dinner.

We saw some movement around 11:30-11:45 and our friends went to see what was going on. They were calling numbers to board. There weren't any announcements or anything, just a lady calling out numbers. We couldn't hear her from where we were sitting so we moved closer. I would have thought they would have called over the loudspeaker or something! Once they called our group, we got in line and started moving toward the gangway. We swiped our room key card and were ushered through. As we were doing this, an announcement came on that they were now boarding groups __ thru ___. A little late.....

By the time we were boarding, people were still getting there to start the check in process. The lines were super long! Yes, we had to wait awhile after check in but I'd much rather be relaxing for an hour and half than standing in line....plus, we were able to make spa appointments and get tickets for a show.

All it all, it was a pretty easy process. There were times that we were confused where to go and what to do but we figured it out.

Next up: Room!! Aft Balcony!!!!

Great details! Looking forward to following!

Me too! I keep refreshing. :)

Excellent review so far. We loved the breakaway so very interested to read the rest of your review

When we got on the ship, we went directly to our room to drop off our bags. I *think* we entered on the 7th Aft Deck, but I can't remember for sure. We saw our steward, Johnnie and he was working on our rooms. He said we could put our bags in the closet, however.

When I was researching rooms, my "dream" realistic room was an aft balcony. When we originally booked however, it was out of our price range. We booked an angled balcony on deck 9. We had a $50 OBC for a promo. In January I believe the UBP came out as part of a promo and the prices dropped a bit. We asked our travel agent to check prices (I had checked them online and it seemed to be worth our while to re-book) and she rebooked us in the same angled balcony with the UBP for less. I asked her about the other balconies and although I couldn't remember the specific amount more it would cost us, we decided to GO FOR IT! We were able to snag #9320, aft balcony with the UBP for just a little more than what we originally were paying for our angled balcony.

Our friends got the room next to us. They did not originally book the same time as us, so when they re-booked, they actually paid LESS for the aft balcony and UBP promo than what they originally paid for a regular balcony. SCORE!

Our room....our little piece of "prime real estate" as I liked to call it.....

I loved our location--right above Cagney's (we would eat right below our room the last night!), close to the 6/7/8 activities and restaurants and not too far away from the Garden Café Buffet and pool decks.

I'm happy to say that we didn't take the elevators once while on the boat! I was able to kind of justify all of the delicious food we ate......

Our bed was next to the window. When I woke up, I was able to reach over to the curtain and peek at the weather outside. I loved this!

We used the coffee maker a couple of times for hot water. I brought my own Starbucks instant coffee and Vanilla Cappuccino powdered mix. I didn't use the coffee. The only thing that struck me as odd/and inconvenience was that there were no stirrers that I could find with the coffee supplies! My husband brought some back from the buffet, so we were ok. I thought this was odd.

Johnnie kept ice in our bucket, although I didn't realize it until like the 3rd day!

There was plenty of storage in the bathroom for all of our toiletries. I found myself wishing for a regular outlet in there (there was only an outlet for razors) but I just curled my hair in the room in front of the mirror there.

Based on the suggestions here, we kept a separate card in the card holder at all times. It was nice to be able to charge things while we were out of the room. Johnnie didn't remove it at all.

We used the safe in the closet for our wallets, check book, passports, jewelry, etc. No issues whatsoever. It was nice to have a secure place to put our things. It isn't huge, but we didn't bring any laptops or ipads and I kept my DSLR with me most of the time.

Based on another suggestion here, I had purchased a Belkin travel power strip. I wanted to be able to charge several things if needed. Unfortunately (for the first time ever) Amazon Prime let me down. It was supposed to be delivered on the Friday before we left. On Saturday morning, I tracked it down to PA, which did us no good. I cancelled the order and got a refund. Of course it still arrived while we were gone..... We didn't really need a power strip. We charged two phones and a camera battery. I curled my hair twice and used the coffee maker a couple of times. There are two outlets on the counter in front of the mirror. I didn't notice any near the bed, but I didn't look for them either.

We had plenty of hangers to hang things. We had both the regular hangers and the ones with the clips. My husband used the shelves in the closet for his things and I used the shelves under the TV and one of the drawers under the couch for my things. We had to take the linens out of the bottom, but we put them under the bed. If we had a third person in the room, they could have used the other drawer and the little ottoman. At that point, I would have asked the steward to remove the linens from the storage areas. With additional suitcases under the bed, it simply wouldn't have fit.

We brought Downy wrinkle releaser to take care of any wrinkles. I rolled my shirts and specifically didn't bring dresses that needed ironing, so I didn't really need an iron.

I brought shampoo and a bar of soap based on suggestions here. I typically used the shampoo they provided (but brought conditioner--not provided). We used our soap for the most part but the kind I brought was a fancy exfoliating soap and after the first day on the beach with the wind and sand (more details later...) we didn't need any additional exfoliating and I stuck with the body wash.

The balcony....oh, the balcony......so relaxing! I am more of a relax on my own balcony type rather than battle for chairs near the pool type! We had two loungers, two chairs, and a small table. We didn't notice any soot, a problem I read about on this board sometimes. We did feel vibrations some but being that I didn't have anything to compare it to I didn't know if it was normal or not. The views were amazing! On the way to Bermuda, we had sun on the balcony in the afternoon. On the way back, the sun was in the morning. I must admit, I was worried when I saw just how covered the balcony was but we still got plenty of sun. Since we got quite a bit of rain on our trip, we were still plenty covered so we could sit out and enjoy the view, even in the rain. I hand washed some things and set them out to dry on the chairs. I used clothes pins because I didn't want anything flying off! No issues there.

We were able to see the fireworks from our balcony (port side), but we had to be up at the railing and looking to the sky on our right side (port/left side of the boat). It was raining pretty good during the fireworks so I'm glad we weren't up on an upper deck with no coverage from the rain. At least we could duck back out of the rain in between fireworks and while waiting for them.

We asked for the items to be removed from the mini fridge because we had our own water/tea, etc. to put in there. He didn't do it on Sunday or Monday morning. I asked him about it when I saw him Monday and he said he'd take care of it Monday evening. Of course, I accidently left the "do not disturb" light on, so our steward didn't take care of it until Tuesday morning. We filled our fridge up with our own things and it kept them all cold.

I'd get this room again in a heartbeat. I loved the location and the privacy because of the larger balcony. I know I wouldn't have spent as much time on the balcony if there wasn't a lounger chair. It was worth the extra money in my opinion!

Up Next: FOOD!!!!!

I also wanted to add that I have copies of all of the dailies, so I can answer specific questions about times, locations, shows, etc. I don't have time to scan them all in (I have 4 kids and a busy week and my husband has already asked me twice what I was doing in front of the computer (when we have tons of other things I should be doing....).........

But if you have specific questions, I can try to answer them!

Amy

Let me preface this by saying that 1. we don't have much cruising experience to compare our NCL cruise with--just a 3 night Carnival cruise 15 years ago and 2. we are generally easy to please people--We don't enjoy exotic/gourmet foods with small portions and strange ingredients.

A week without cooking, hearing kids complain about what they are eating, doing dishes, and menu planning....how awesome is that?!

We got the UBP as a promo, so we only dined in two specialty restaurants (Ocean Blue Waterfront and Cagney's). The rest of the time was spent in the Manhattan Room (dinner on Sunday), Savor/Taste (lunch Sunday, dinners all except two nights), Garden Café (breakfasts all but one day, dinner one night, late night snack one night, lunches 3 days) and Uptown Grill (lunch one day).

Our first experience was in Savor for lunch. We dropped our bags off and headed here. Although we were seated immediately, I thought it was crowded/busy. Our waiter didn't know if they had a certain type of ale available. He didn't offer us a drink menu or anything. It seemed like it was his first day working, with his lack of knowledge. This was the worst service we had all week (thank goodness!). I enjoyed the shrimp sandwich on the pretzel roll with popcorn shrimp as my appetizer. I don't remember getting a dessert--I think we headed to the Garden café for something sweet afterwards. I loved my shrimp burger! It was delicious!

Manhattan Room--We had reservations here at 5:30 the first night. We requested a table by a window, but there were none available. She sat us on the dance floor and she told me we'd have front row seats if there was live entertainment. (that started probably around 7pm, as we were leaving....) Our waiter was reserved and a little dry at first. We tried to engage him in conversation and then he opened up and was friendly and very funny!

I had a chicken curry entrée and the French onion soup as my appetizer. I didn't like the flavor of the soup at all--to me it was bland and I enjoy the French onion at Panera better! The chicken curry was delicious! It was something I normally wouldn't try, but thought I'd go out on a limb. I got a chocolate volcano dessert and it was delicious.

Taste/Savor--I'm lumping these two together because we ate in both and I think they had identical menus. We ate here often for dinner. Our service was good, although it was a little slow towards the end of the week. We were worried about making a show at one point, but we made it. We enjoyed many appetizers, entrees, desserts....SO.MUCH.FOOD! I'm just not used to eating that much, but it was all so good! By the second night, the men were ordering multiple appetizers, entrees and desserts (and enjoying them all!) The staff was accommodating when I substituted a vegetable one night. We also requested tables by the windows on most nights. Those requests were honored! We had wonderful views while we dined. Desserts--my favorite was the Nutella Pots de crème on Thursday night and my least favorite was the Caramel crème on Monday night.

Ocean Blue Waterfront--a lobster roll was on my list of things to try while on the cruise, so on Monday we went here for lunch. I ordered a lobster roll and my husband ordered the crab toast. The wait was about 10 minutes. We sat down at a close table and they brought our food to us. My initial thought was that the lobster roll was small...and the crab toast looked strange. My lobster roll was delicious! I enjoyed the chips as well. My husband's crab toast was just ok. He finished it, but we are used to Chesapeake Bay blue crabs....and this didn't seem like that type of crab meat. It had a purple-ish tint to the crab meat and not much flavor in our opinion.

Cagney's--We made reservations for our last night as sort of a celebration dinner to end our week. We got there about 10 minutes early and requested a table by a window. They seated us early and we had a table overlooking the aft of the ship, directly below our rooms! It was a perfect view! Service was good! We were unsure how it worked as far as how many of each category we could order. Our server told us that we could order as much of anything as we wanted except for entrees--they were $10 extra. The guys decided to order an extra entrée and split it, and we ordered practically one of every side. The guys ordered the shrimp cocktail--3 shrimp and cocktail sauce with shredded lettuce as garnish. They were disappointed I think--not something they'd order again. My friend and I ordered the iceberg wedge with bacon, bleu cheese, and scallions. It was great! Among us, we ordered the lobster and shrimp pasta--excellent! I couldn't finish it. Bison--husband enjoyed it a lot, sea bass--mixed reviews, 5oz fillet with gorgonzola, and some sort of other steak. Everyone enjoyed their meals. The onion rings were just alright--nothing special in my opinion. The au gratin potatoes were great. The truffle fries were good, but basically tasted like fries with finely shaved parmesan, green beans--no flavor--basic steamed fresh green beans, mac and cheese (heard it was great), beet root--my friend ordered this on a whim but she didn't like it--no flavor, garlic mashed potatoes--heard they were good. Desserts--we ordered the oreo cheesecake and the macadamia nut ice cream sandwich and something else, but I can't remember. My husband enjoyed his ice cream sandwich. I wasn't impressed with the Oreo cheesecake--the presentation was lovely, but actual the cheesecake wasn't very good. It needed maybe some more sugar? vanilla? It was also very firm--maybe a little more creaminess was needed?

Garden Café Buffet--We enjoyed breakfast here by 8am every morning. My husband and I enjoyed the round seasoned potato hash browns every morning. I also got the eggs Benedict, oatmeal, muesli, various types of French toast (not all in one day--throughout the week!). I enjoyed it all--the muesli is something I would have never had tried, but I enjoyed it--a cold oatmeal with milk and slivers of apples and raisins. It was busy, but not a mad house at breakfast. We usually enjoyed a table for two next to a window. The servers were quick to clean up plates and cups that were finished with.

Lunch--We ate here often because our thought was that we would eat a "light" lunch before dinner....ha! We found the pretzel rolls and enjoyed those all week. I thought that the rolls were generally fresher tasting than the pretzel breadsticks. The various sandwiches, salads, wraps, etc. were all tasty in our opinion. We didn't try any burgers, hot dogs, pizza, pasta--we tried to stick with the lighter lunch options.

Dinner--we ate here after our second day in Bermuda. We had a large lunch and I wasn't very hungry. I honestly can't remember what we had, but it was decent.

Late night snack and desserts--we came here the first night about 10pm and saw that they had deserts and a nacho bar set up. We enjoyed some nacho cheese, chips, salsa, and pretzel breadsticks. Others enjoyed ice cream. It was nice to have something available after dinner hours. I'm sure they had healthier options but we didn't opt for those.

Uptown Grille--I had heard about the wonderful burgers and how crowded this place got so we got lunch here Tuesday (sea day) after our massages. We were in line a few minutes before they opened and were the second party in line. I got a turkey cowboy burger and my husband got a beef burger with mushrooms and bacon maybe? After ordering we sat down and the food came to us in about 10-15 minutes. It was piping hot and delicious! I had wanted to return to Uptown throughout the week but I just didn't want that much food and the lines were longer. On the last sea day, we went in and there was a long line but they had a server letting people know it would be a 30-40 minute wait, so you'd know up front how long it was going to take. I thought this was helpful! I'd definitely recommend it.

Noodle Bar--Although I never ate here, it was on my list of places to go. It seemed to be only open for dinner. I would have eaten here if it was open for lunch. I was disappointed in the hours with Shanghai's as I was Dolce. I would have thought Dolce would be open in the evening more--it was only open on two days we were in port in the evening. The rest of the time it was 12-4. I guess they just don't have the staffing to keep these places open longer?

O'Sheehan's--We didn't actually eat here, but I wanted to mention that on the bar/game side there was a PRESSED PENNY MACHINE!! I hadn't seen that mentioned before, so it struck me by surprise! My kids love pressed pennies, so that was an easy (and cheap) souvenir to bring back to them. There were 4 designs. It was $1 and you swiped your room key. You didn't need pennies or quarters. When it came out, I was a little disappointed it wasn't a true pressed penny---not a penny at all, but it was shiny and the same size, so it will still fit in their books. It also was a little smoky in here because of the proximity to the casinos.

Coffee--I had read where the coffee wasn't very good in the rooms. I never made a pot in the room, but I brought my own Starbucks VIA and vanilla instant latte mixes. I had 3 cups in the room using these and the rest of the days my sweet husband brought coffee back to me from the buffet on his way back from running (he went up about 5-5:30 each morning for an hour or so). I brought my own Tervis tumbler with a lid. It was nice to have a larger cup rather than the smaller mugs. I'd highly suggest bringing your own travel mug and/or water bottle so you can enjoy beverages throughout the ship. The cups in the buffet and Uptown Grill are small. They do ask that you fill their cup first then pour it into your personal cup/mug. This is for sanitary reasons--they seem to be very conscious in their efforts to cut down on germs on the ship. The "germaphobe" in me was delighted with their efforts!

All in all, we enjoyed all of our food options. I was very pleased with all of the complimentary items in the traditional dining rooms. I would go back again to Cagney's--it was delicious! I'd skip Ocean Blue Waterfront, but would make an effort to try the noodle bar one night. The buffet was good for families--I could see my kids enjoying all of the options.

Up next: DRINKS!!

I appreciate all of the details you're sharing - thanks so much!

Where did you view sail away from and how were the crowds? We'll be traveling with a group of 15 this Sunday, and would like to find a spot where we can all enjoy it together.

I appreciate all of the details you're sharing - thanks so much!

 

Where did you view sail away from and how were the crowds? We'll be traveling with a group of 15 this Sunday, and would like to find a spot where we can all enjoy it together.

We enjoyed sail away from our balcony! We figured we would be able to see both sides of the harbor--NY/NJ as well as Statue of Liberty and the bridge. It was quiet and peaceful!

A group of 15...I would go to one of the top decks --probably not where the party is going on--maybe the deck above the pool deck--16? Also, another gem of an area is the Waterfront. You can walk all the way around on the outside except the front of the boat. Maybe on the waterfront on the aft? You will be in front of Moderno and Cagney's (take a peek in the windows!) and you will be able to see both port and starboard.

Enjoy!!!

Juniortrooper, I'm really enjoying your review. My husband & I are sailing on Breakaway late November to the Bahamas, but I'd still love to see your Dailies. Would you mind sharing them when you have time? Looking forward to your next installment - DRINKS!!! - we, too, have the UBP!

I know, I know...I said that DRINKS! would be the next section, but think of this as a bonus section...

Being a mom of 4 and an aunt to miracle girl with a compromised immune system, I am a bit of a self-proclaimed "germ-a-phobe". I always have hand sanitizer with me and wash my hands countless times a day. I know I am quirky when it comes to other unwritten rules when in public and I don't even realize it....

With that said, I was pleasantly surprised with the efforts of NCL regarding hand washing stations and hand sanitizing stations all over the ship. They even had people singing songs about cleaning your hands! (no joke...when you entered the buffet, there was a singer and a guitar player and a tambourine all singing songs about washing hands....) There are sinks outside of the buffet and Cagney's and Moderno's. There might be some outside of the other dining rooms too, I just didn't notice. There was hand sanitizer all around as well. In the public restrooms there was a sign to use a paper towel when opening the door to go back out. (there was also a paper towel dispenser right there for your convenience when doing so). I know it is up to individual people to actually follow through with the various precautions when avoiding spreading germs, but it is a good start on NCL's part. Bravo! Carry on. I'm off to wash my hands again.... Drinks next, promise!

We sat next to you at Cagney's on Saturday. We are an older couple with our youngest teen daughter, and you were 2 very nice looking couples.

Agree about the Cagney's food. My Oreo cheescake was a little heavy and had a gummy rather than melt in your mouth texture. I still ate it though!

Enjoying your review. Congrats on 15!

We sat next to you at Cagney's on Saturday. We are an older couple with our youngest teen daughter, and you were 2 very nice looking couples.

 

Agree about the Cagney's food. My Oreo cheescake was a little heavy and had a gummy rather than melt in your mouth texture. I still ate it though!

 

Enjoying your review. Congrats on 15!

Cool! We were scoping out what you were eating! When we saw the dessert being delivered to your table, it looked so good! Kind of disappointing with the taste. Glad you enjoyed your dinner though. :)

We received the UBP as part of a promotion. We could never justify paying the amount out of pocket for the package and weren't planning on purchasing it. For the amount to upgrade to the aft balcony AND get the promo, it was a no-brainer.

And we certainly enjoyed the promo! It was really nice not having to worry about how much everything cost (as long as it was below $11, more on that later) and to try things we never would have on land. We also didn't have to worry about how to get home and we didn't have the kids with us.....so yes, we enjoyed ourselves, without getting too crazy! None of us are big drinkers by any means. I can honestly say I never had any alcohol before I turned 21 and even then it was far and few between. My husband's family used to own a liquor store so he is a little more knowledgeable than I am regarding alcohol but still doesn't drink much. We aren't beer drinkers--mostly wine and mixed drinks.

Some notes/thoughts:

--We tried out most (not all) of the various bars. We found that the same drink at different bars could taste different, depending on who was making it. My husband ordered some sort of a Bermuda special drink with cinnamon (I can't remember the name and couldn't find it when I looked it up). He liked it best at the Atrium bar made by a female bartender rather than Mixx or Uptown Bar and Grill

--You are charged a port tax on all alcohol purchased while in port in NY. This was an issue until we sailed--about 4pm. This wasn't widely advertised. It wasn't much--like .75/drink, but another fee we didn't realize and I saw mixed reports of on Cruise Critic. I don't know if it was also applied to sodas--we didn't order any while we were in port. It wasn't in effect while we were in Bermuda--just NYC. FYI!!

--The menus at each bar are just a sampling of what they have/can make as far as mixed drinks. I often asked for other things and it was no problem at all. A few times, I told the bartender (Christian at Mixx) to surprise me and he made me the "Christian special". It rang up a Bahama Mama but I have no idea what sort of fruity drink it was. Another time he made me a Godiva Chocolate Frozen drink in a martini glass with raspberries. Delicious! I enjoy mojitos and they only have a regular mojito but I had strawberry and raspberry mojitos as well. They are very accommodating. We tipped additional as well when we made special requests. A couple of times they had "extra" of whatever they made someone else and they gave them to my friend and I. Once a photographer was taking pictures of Christian making a drink and it happened to be a raspberry mojito. He came over and gave it to me after he was finished. He was super nice and we enjoyed him!

--The first night at dinner in the Manhattan Room while we were ordering wine, our waiter told us we couldn't order a full glass of a particular type because it would put us over the $11 limit. The amount was under the $11 limit, so I questioned it. He explained to us that it was $11 including the 18% gratuity. In all of my research, I was pretty sure he was incorrect, but I didn't question him further because hey, he worked on the ship--he would know, right?! (wrong...) We just ordered half glasses and went to guest services to clarify after dinner. My understanding was correct--you can order anything on the menu priced under $11. Gratuity as on top of that and (in our case) also covered. So, don't take the server's word for things--they might not always know the facts. This was the same server that didn't know we were leaving Bermuda at 3 rather than 5. I figured it was such a new decision, it hadn't made it's way to the crew yet, but maybe he just didn't put 2 and 2 together....

--I DID see people walking around the pool area offering to get drinks and cleaning up empty glasses. I never ordered from them, but I would assume it would have been quicker to go up there yourself. The pool bars and Uptown Grille were usually busy during the afternoon with pool patrons.

--I suppose it was the abundance of food and the juices that were in many of my drinks, but I never even felt tipsy after drinking any of the drinks. All of the bartenders measured things, but the mixed drinks weren't very strong in my opinion. I am a light-weight when it comes to that too--usually I'm happy after one glass of wine. The mixed drinks were good though....just not very potent!

--The bartenders only wanted one card per couple when we got drinks. It wasn't necessary that I was there when my husband ordered me a drink. This was convenient when he got me something and brought it to me wherever I was.

--On a side humorous note, YES, there is a slight HUMP in the hallway going towards the Aft on the 9th deck!! (maybe on all decks in the room hallways, I don't know!) Between the ship rocking/swaying and our wine at dinner, one of us always tripped a little. It wasn't until towards the end of the cruise that we realized it wasn't just us--the actual floor had a very slight hump. I nicknamed it the "drunkard hump" and we laughed about it every time we walked by. By no means were we ever drunk, but we certainly walked down that hall like we were sometimes. :p

--Each time you order a drink, you sign a receipt that shows the full cost of it and the 18% gratuity broken down. You have to print and sign and you have the opportunity to add additional tips if you wish. The first few times it was a little worrysome, as we knew we had the UBP. The bartenders explained to us that the bill goes to some office where they zero it out and our account will reflect it shortly after. The iConcierge app was really helpful in keeping a close tab on our account. The transactions would show up within a couple of hours and we could see just the amount that we tipped if we tipped extra or anything else we paid for on board.

--My husband and I don't drink soda, but I ended up getting a ginger ale on Tuesday at dinner. My stomach was upset (boat was really rocking) and I wanted to try it to help settle my stomach. I found the tea to be ok--not freshly brewed but instant tasting. I loved the lemonade!! It wasn't a sweet syrupy type but a tart, almost freshly squeezed flavor. It was really refreshing on a hot day. Great flavor for a machine!

--I would totally get the beverage package again if it was a promo (and I wasn't sailing with my kids). Even with paying the 18%, it is still a good deal if you plan on drinking a lot or if you don't want to have a multi-page bill at the end of the cruise!

Questions?

Next up: Kids Club

Even though we didn't have our kids with us, I was still curious about the kids club activities. I wanted to start thinking about the feasibility of a cruise with four kids. I'm a logistics person! Our youngest is being tested for a rare genetic condition which limits her diet (no sucrose or fructose) and she needs to maintain her blood sugar by drinking corn starch and milk 4x/day. Besides looking at the menus for "safe" foods for her, I wanted to figure out if the Kids Club would be an option.

We stopped by and picked up a brochure about each age level and asked about food and emergencies. They offer pagers for the parents to carry in case of an emergency. (I think I read where a deposit is required in case you don't return it). They also don't provide any food in the Kids Clubs (that's good for us, as she can't have many typical kid foods) but they also can't bring snacks (in her case in order to maintain blood sugar levels). We would need to go there and give her the snack/drink. This was a-ok with us--only a couple people have cared for her since her issues have started and I'm still pretty nervous about leaving her with others. Having a pager to use would help with the peace of mind.

Just thought I would share the answers to the questions we asked in case anyone else was wondering anything similar.

@juniortrooper - this is a great, and very detailed review. Thanks for taking the time out of your life to do this for us. We sail Breakaway in a few more weeks.

Would love to know what you & hubby did on the island of Bermuda. Thanks again for the details. Any pics??? LOL!!! :p:p

Thanks so much for your review! I was wondering about sun on the aft balconies. [emoji1]

I am so enjoying your review! We are going on the Breakaway end of August (My FIRST cruise) & I am reading EVERYTHING I can find on it! Thanks for the details!! Anything on Kids activities also would be appreciated- My 10 yr old GS will be coming also (his FIRST cruise too) Thanks!!

Sorry about my lack of post yesterday--it was a busy day for me and by bedtime, I was exhausted!

We enjoyed a variety of live entertainment. I booked what I could online before our trip. Our friends couldn't book one of the shows online (they waited too long) but they were successful in doing so while we were waiting to board using iConcierge.

Monday night we booked Burn the Floor at 9:30pm. We had dinner reservations at 6:30 at Savor. This left us plenty of time to see the show afterwards. We sat towards the back. By the first 10 minutes of the show, the theater was mostly full. I did notice some roped off sections closer to the front. I didn't go down to investigate, but I'm pretty sure this section was for the Haven guests. (it was on the left-hand side of the theater). It was a good variety of slow and fast dancing--mostly ballroom style. Think Dancing with the Stars.... There is a lot of talent on stage! We didn't stay to the end--we wanted to catch Howl at the Moon. I think we stayed about 45 minutes. The doors were open in the back, so we didn't cause a disruption when leaving in between dances.

Fat Cats--We stopped in to hear the Jazz/Blues band. We only stayed about 10 minutes. I'm not a good judge of blues or jazz music, but they seemed to be good! There was a couple very much in love dancing in the back. They seemed to be enjoying it! :D

Howl at the Moon--right next door to Fat Cats. There were 2 pianists (and one more musician who occasionally went on the drums) We found four seats in the back. The room is larger than I anticipated. They take requests (and tips!) and play whatever the audience wants them to play. Many of the songs we knew, with the exception being a couple of obscure songs that people must have tipped nicely to get played! It was just amazing to hear these pianists play all of these song AND sing them. There is a bar in the room as well as a waiter walking around taking orders. As the cruise went on, there seemed to be "regulars". I didn't go on Tuesday night but my husband said there were some hefty tips being dropped to hear "New York, New York" and "Sweet Caroline". You can also tip to hear the song stop, so there was a bit of a battle between New Yorkers and Bostonians (?) between the songs. By the third or fourth night many of the songs requested were the same as we heard. My husband requested a couple of songs and enjoyed them. It was a fun atmosphere!

Tuesday we had booked Rock of Ages at 9:30pm. I had seen the movie and I liked the songs but wasn't crazy about the storyline. We ultimately decided not to go. I headed back to the room (the boat was rocking heavily and I just wasn't feeling well) and my husband went to Howl at the Moon. I've read reviews on here that the quality of the show is great. I generally enjoy theater, but I just wasn't up for this one. Maybe next time!

Donna Vivino--I first noticed this special show on iConcierge while waiting to board. It said we didn't need to have tickets and the performances were Friday at 7-something and 9:15. Her Broadway experience was impressive (http://www.donnavivino.com/) and I really wanted to see her. On Friday, I was looking at iConcierge confirming the time and I noticed it said the first show was "sold out". I got really nervous, because I didn't think we needed tickets! When I asked at guest services, they said there was an error--you don't need tickets. We showed up about 1/2 hour early and there were plenty of seats. The theater was almost full by the first 10 minutes of her performance. It was great! We enjoyed songs from "Les Miserable", "Wicked", "The Little Mermaid", "Toy Story", and a few others. She sold CDs afterwards and was available to meet and sign autographs. Apparently, she flew into Bermuda to board the ship. I know she isn't a "regular" on NCL, but we enjoyed her performance and are fortunate to have been able to see her.

Others:

I think it was late Friday or Saturday night we caught the "Not-So-Newlywed Game" on the Breakaway channel of the TV. It was pretty funny to watch and all three couples got a prize bag. We also caught bits and pieces of Arvin and Emily and Justin throughout the ship. They are talented and we enjoyed the tunes!

Up Next: Communication Back Home and On Board!

I am so enjoying your review! We are going on the Breakaway end of August (My FIRST cruise) & I am reading EVERYTHING I can find on it! Thanks for the details!! Anything on Kids activities also would be appreciated- My 10 yr old GS will be coming also (his FIRST cruise too) Thanks!!

Hi,

I'm glad you are enjoying the review. We didn't have our kids with us, so we didn't need to know about the Kids Club....we stopped by to find out about the age divisions and about the pager system and food issues. The only other thing I would add is that if you get to the port early, you can sign up for the Kids Club while you are waiting to get on the ship. The line got pretty long, so get there early if you can! I don't really know anything about it other than that. I'm sorry! Enjoy your cruise!!

Amy

Juniortrooper, I'm really enjoying your review. My husband & I are sailing on Breakaway late November to the Bahamas, but I'd still love to see your Dailies. Would you mind sharing them when you have time? Looking forward to your next installment - DRINKS!!! - we, too, have the UBP!

Hi,

I found these from May 2015 to Bermuda (which are similar to what I have and I don't know how to upload them!). The Bahamas ones you will hopefully be able to find on Cruise Critic in October when the first trips to the Bahamas happen. They will be slightly different from Bermuda as they are different itineraries and the performers will likely be different. Hope this helps!

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2210737&highlight=breakaway+dailies

Enjoy your trip!!

Since we were leaving 4 kids at home and one of our daughters has some medical issues, I was more than nervous and communication was a must for us! I started researching this early after we booked and was so overwhelmed by all of the options, both on and off the ship.

I started calling Verizon in May about their options. I have an iPhone and have service through Verizon Wireless. I called them five times in two months, just so I could get the same answer twice. I certainly didn't want to come home to a $1000 phone bill! Apparently, their international plans have changed a few times since May. Here is what is/was current as of July 2015:

$40/month--100minutes, 100mB, 100 outgoing texts, unlimited incoming text. This is good for both ON and OFF the ship, and in Bermuda.

*you would have to check the countries you are visiting to assure they are covered as well!

After we set sail, our phones worked for a little while. We called home to see if they could see us sailing away. Sunday night I couldn't send or receive anything....I was so frustrated! I had everything in writing, what special numbers we had to put in while on the ship before calling or texting and NOTHING. lots of error messages and lots of "no signals". UGH. I tried all of the various settings but was worried about messing with them too much because of the "warnings" near the roaming switch. Like I said, I didn't want a huge bill! (my husband's phone was in airplane mode the whole time--it was only mine that we got the plan on).

I went down to the iConcierge/internet desk near guest services on Monday morning to see if they might be able to help. He said he didn't really know but someone the day before had the same problems. They turned OFF the International CDMA and ON the Voice and Data Roaming options. I had turned OFF all cellular data options except for e-mail because I didn't want any unnecessary apps running in the background and using my data allowance. After I did this, messages started popping up! Hooray! I also found out that I should turn off the wireless (NCL iConcierge) in order to send and receive texts. It was really confusing and I messed with the settings all week. For some reason I didn't get texts from my Mom (who had two kids) but got them from my sister (who had the other two kids). My mom was receiving my texts. We think she was trying to use iMessage instead of a regular text message. I ended up getting 17 messages from her on Saturday! We didn't send any pictures, as we didn't want to use up any data. I also didn't really use ay minutes (except to call our friends on board with the same plan). I learned from a previous short trip that phone calls were tough for the kids. Text messages were easier for us. There was one point where my sister had a situation with my daughter with the medical issues (very minor) and I was able to send and receive the messages immediately. This definitely helped this nervous, helpless Mama!

I did find that the service went in and out--on the ship you had "Maritime...something" and in Bermuda you had "CELLONE". The ship was a little spotty. Bermuda seemed to be consistent. Our friend was able to make and receive phone calls often while on board and in Bermuda.

If you have a plan, don't forget to call and cancel it after you get back (on my list of things to do today!) Also, be sure to call Verizon several times to confirm everything. The first time they called just to inquire, they actually set the plan up on my account in May (and started charging me for it!). One time I went into an actual Verizon Wireless store and the customer service rep was absolutely CLUELESS! The information he gave me about my account and the plan were absolutely incorrect! Just be sure you are getting accurate information about the plan and don't assume the person you are talking to knows anything! (it was comical, he was so clueless...)

iConcierge--This is a free app you can download in the Apple app store (and others, but I don't know details about that). You can use it once you are in the terminal waiting to get on the ship. We were able to check our accounts and our friends could get tickets for a show while waiting to board. If you are early and try to access it, you will also see the names of the passengers in your room the week before you. You can't see anything on the account, but their names pop up as being in the room. Don't worry, they aren't actually random roommates and they will disappear once the accounts are closed. :)

One of our friends didn't have enough room on her phone for the app (older phone), so not all of us had it. Since they both had the Verizon plan we decided to just text that way. We didn't send many texts, and it wasn't always reliable. We only used the iConcierge to check our accounts. Things showed up pretty quickly after we charged them. We could also check show times. There are menus for the main dining rooms for dinner (we didn't know this until towards the end of the trip). I wish we could check our reservations on the app. I searched and searched for this information and I just couldn't find it. It would have been very helpful to quickly be able to see when we had dinner reservations or tickets for a show. I will put this suggestion in my survey I will fill out for NCL. (unless I just missed this capability!?)

All in all, if you have Verizon, I'd suggest it as an economical way to keep in touch with family back home. iConcierge was a great way to keep track of your account while on board. If you are traveling with a large group, I could see it would be a great way to keep in touch while on board as well.

Questions?

Next up: Shopping On Board!