adivineeternity

I was on last September and sometimes got a bit chilled. From what I can recall, it hasn't been unbearable inside. I'm basically the coldest person on earth, though, so I always have a sweater on me, just in case. Probably the best course of action.

Oooohhhhhhhh...

 

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If I remember correctly NCL's long term agreement with NYC ends at the end of 2017. I am sure NCL is looking at what options that presents - relocating the BA and Gem or at least working it to gain leverage to negotiate a new deal.

 

I hope NCL keeps both the BA and the Gem (who the majority of the time sails from NYC) in NYC. I love not having to catch a flight to go on a cruise:)

 

I'm with you on this. Leave early enough in the morning and it's 20 minutes or less in the car to get to the Manhattan terminal. LOVE IT. Haven't tried the Gem yet, but I want to. I'd be bummed if they moved her elsewhere, so it's good to see itineraries for her posted out of NYC through early 2018.

WOW. This is STUNNING. I may need to print it. Or maybe make my brother do it, since he has a really good photo printer. Can I take lessons from you? I may not be kidding.

 

Wow! Incredible photo! The colors are magnificent! Note to self, add Bermuda to list of places I need to cruise to.

 

Yes. You do need to cruise to Bermuda. It's worth it.

Nothing wrong with cruising cheap -just means more money for another cruise!:D

My thoughts exactly!

 

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:)

 

Sadly, no plans to visit Bermuda again. I try not to repeat ports, but I did enjoy Bermuda. Your boyfriend sounds like my kind of person as I normally wait till the last minute to book a cruise. Our January cruise in Asia is the longest plan we have ever made. That said, I know you will enjoy Bermuda - it really is a very beautiful place to visit.

 

Glad you enjoyed the review - but watch out for that Risotto!:)

 

He actually typically likes to plan things out carefully and book what we can in advance, so long as I'm the one doing it all. He'll insist we plan, help for five minutes, and then get sidetracked. Then the night before we leave, he'll panic a bit. Or in the case of last year's cruise, the day before we get into port. He just wants to cruise as cheap as possible this year.

 

Bermuda is very beautiful. Our only two cruises were the same week, same ship, to Bermuda. One was 2014, the other was 2015.

We chose our first cruise ever based purely off of our decision to go to Bermuda for our first vacation as a couple, then from there narrowed it down to leaving from Manhattan versus Bayonne because it's easier, and that left us with just the Breakaway as our option for the ship. Our second cruise we selected by way of the following:

 

"Let's go back to Bermuda."

"Okay."

"In September. Same week would be great."

"Okay. Let me call the agency so we can get the promos."

 

And so we did.

I've been to rum cake factories. I've been to glass blowing workshops and studios. I've been to caves full of stalactites and stalagmites. I've been on glass bottom boats. I won't even get into my "zoo/aquarium" history.

 

For me...not for anyone else....there wasn't anything I haven't seen or done before. (I was in Bermuda a few years ago...so even the sand and rocks weren't new.)

 

If I were younger, lived in a different part of the country (I live in the heart of NYC) or hadn't traveled as much as I have I probably would have been more impressed.

 

I don't even know that impressed is the right word. Appreciate, maybe... admire, respect. I dunno. I may have to find something in another language that more adequately describes it.

Yet you didn't name one thing.

 

Yes, there's the rum cake place with the glass blower. There's the caves. The aquarium/zoo. But I think they were talking about seeing stuff from a sightseeing tour. The glass-bottom boat tour I took (on my own) a few years back included some cool facts and sights from the water. It's the best bang-for-your-buck in Bermuda.

 

I wasn't aware that was a requirement of disagreeing. Since I've never done an organized, or even semi-organized, tour of the island itself I was merely commenting that I find there is plenty to see there, with all the beaches, cliffs, parks and gardens, forts, churches, lighthouses, etc. If the OP is meaning strictly from a sightseeing tour POV, I still disagree because I happen to find the generic list I just made rather interesting and would likely wind up climbing out the window of my cab at a stop sign to go take photos for an hour. I hate organized tours on principle, with rare exceptions. Glass-bottom boat at night going into the triangle? Count me in a million times over.

Although Bermuda is lovely there really isn't that much to see (just lots of nice houses with flowers) and I recommend doing a cab tour instead of the NCL tour.

 

Well...that's about it. If you have questions or comments let me know.

 

Not much to see? I'll have to disagree with you on this point. I've gone twice and haven't seen all I want to see there yet. There's no denying it's small, but I've found plenty to see and do.

 

Sounds like they've changed up the food on the ship since last September. I certainly hope so, cause after an awesome first cruise in 2014, we found the food lacking in 2015. It was a bit sad, and there were a few other things that didn't go so well last year, but we still had an awesome time, particularly on the island.

SailorJack, I know you don't have any cruises planned until your Asia cruise, but I really must insist you go to Bermuda, like, NOW. I want to read your take on that fabulous slice of paradise. Better yet, my boyfriend (some on this board may be familiar with him at this point) has once again announced a desire to cruise there. He wants to take a different approach this year and try getting a last-minute deal, since the ship with probably the BEST Bermuda itinerary in terms of length and days of the week in-port happens to live in the same place we do. Err... Leave from where we live... Not our apartment, but, you know, the same city. :o

 

If we do this, it'll be in either September or October, so hurricane season. Definitely fodder for you, right? Enticing? I'll buy you a round? Bermuda makes Goslings Rum! And you have to try their signature drinks.

 

I have spent two days laughing hysterically at your reviews and have been at extremely high risk of choking on the following:

 

Risotto

Goldfish crackers

Tea

Water

Risotto again

Air

 

Also, my friend called me crying the other night and in my determination to cheer her up, I started reading her parts of your reviews. We were both laughing really hard.

-1

 

Sigh

 

Got off yesterday rather reluctantly. Anybody want to hire me to take their vacation photos for them? I promise, I know how to take a really nice photograph.

 

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3.

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6 more days omg

 

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9 days

This. See you soon!

 

*single digit dance*

 

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I'm down to 13. Omgomgomg

 

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OMG that Bob Ross picture... I can't.

 

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This has been a fantastic review to read. Thank you, seadog. It made my week zip by, as well, and brings my cruise much closer. Two weeks from tomorrow.

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And she's moving!

 

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I agree with the OP. The layout almost seems like an afterthought in many ways.

The pool deck is a huge problem during vacation season and holiday sailings. But, this is not exclusive to NCL. But I most others think the market place area is wasted space that the engineers could have done a better job with.

 

The balcony cabin is funky, especially when the bed is by the closet. However, the bathroom layout is one of the best I've seen in my cruising experiences.

 

The buffet lacks personality, but still functions like it should.

I don't care if my buffet has personality. I go there to eat, so it darn well better have food, and lots of it! [emoji14]

 

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[quote name='Bitterman']You're doing a great job so far :-) Heck even my forum picture is from the top of the big rock at Horseshoe Bay, lol.

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I can personally recommend the 9/20 sailing if you REALLY want to go and just cannot wait. It may or may not be full of really awesome people like myself, and the prices should still be low (haven't looked this week).

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17.5

 

That's all, but I think there are now about 36 hours in a day, and each day keeps adding more hours. The days are just... so... long...

I've only sailed on the Breakaway, so obviously I can't really compare her to anything. My boyfriend and I were in a BD with an angled balcony last September and he was the one who commented on the room being a little smaller than he expected, but that it wasn't that big of a deal overall. Our balcony was decently-sized, as we could both sit out there and set up a tripod with no huge issues, but the bed was pretty freaking close to the closet. We've got a BA with an angled balcony for next month and this time the bed will be by the far side and with the couch by the closet. That may wind up helping us a great deal.

 

I personally am an asthmatic with an allergy to smoke, so the only way for me to be 100% comfortable is for there to be no cigarette smoking anywhere I go. I definitely noticed the smoke in the casino and surrounding area, as a result, but was usually okay as long as I didn't linger. We ate inside at Le Bistro so it wouldn't be a factor.

 

Neither of us are huge on just randomly swimming, so we stuck to the water slides and didn't have much of an issue as a result while on the pool deck. We found a couple loungers in the shade quickly (don't get me wrong, it was bursting with people and activity), put our stuff down carefully so it wouldn't be tempting, and never had to wait more than 5 or so minutes for a slide in the 2 hours we spent on them.

 

Buffet was no issue for us ever. We ate there multiple times but never had a problem finding seating or dealing with overly long lines. Multiple stations with the same thing was nice, actually, cause if one line ran out or was just *too* long, we would find the next closest one.

 

Again, we have nothing to compare it to, but we both fell in love with the ship and are looking forward to boarding in 17.5 days! BERMUDAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

 

ETA: I should mention we actually very rarely encountered crowds on our sailing despite a fully-booked ship. Not quite as fully-booked as a summer sailing when the kids are on-board, but there weren't empty cabins, either. I think we had some 4100 or so people and yet our longest wait for dinner was 15 minutes.

Phew. Just caught up on all the posts. I'm on the ship on the 20th and can barely focus on life as a result. Return trip with the crazies from last year's 9/21 sailing.

Your pictures and videos are great and filling me with longing to be there already. They also reinforced my belief in traveling with rain jackets and umbrellas, no matter what my boyfriend thinks.

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Put some of your clothes in your spouse's bag and some of his in yours. That way, if one bag is delayed or lost each of you have some clothes!

 

Do not forget to apply sunscreen! You will not enjoy the rest of your cruise if you get fried dark red!

 

Drink more water than you usually do. Cruise ships' cuisine tends to be very salty and alcoholic drinks can dehydrate you as well.

My boyfriend and I pack in one large suitcase and one carry on. I make sure we each have a bathing suit, two changes of clothes, and basic toiletries in the carry-on suitcase, plus anything even slightly valuable (or just valuables looking, even if it was $10 when I bought it). We also haul our camera gear on as carry-ons, since it'd be risking too much otherwise.

 

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