UnaPalomita
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Posts posted by UnaPalomita
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Get a balcony room if you can afford it, they are the best :) so hard to go back to a window room now. We bought take out styrofoam boxes from the dollar store, husband would go to the buffet get cheese and drinks and we'd have a small sail away party.
Spinnaker lounge is great if you don't have a balcony room, get a drink and head up there when sailing away from the islands.
The great outdoors is my favorite spot, it's basically and outdoor buffet at the back of the regular buffet on the end of the ship :) Also good for sail away.
The buffet in general was really great last year :( put on so much weight lol
The gym has a steam room if you don't get the thermal suite pass.
The thermal suite on the Gem I think I might prefer better because there are separate steam and sauna rooms for men and women in the locker rooms, thus giving you a chance at more quiet / privacy. We're going on the breakaway in 12 days and the thermal suite is co-ed. Whyyyy??? So I'm expecting it to be less relaxing due to more people. But I usually go late at night or early morning, maybe it will be okay?
The buffet at the pool is great too.
If you have kids the kiddie pool area is actually enclosed in glass and the water is heated so your kids can hang out in there if it's super windy or still cold, depending on the time of year. We would bring food in there and have lunch with our son on the little picnic table!
The live bands are great. Pool side or in the atrium or in the spinnaker lounge. One night was a big band era, glen miller style, they were great live.
We did the martini tasting one day and it was a lot of fun. Small cover charge.
I would not get a facial or spa services again, it turns into a product pitch at the end and you have to say, no thank you I do not want to buy anything. I hate that lol
O'Sheehan's my husband really enjoys. It's usually not too crowded.
Oh and I think room service for breakfast in the morning is still free! Just put the sign on your door early as possible for the next day. It's continental breakfast only, but still exciting to wake up to!
Enjoy your trip! We're going to be missing the Gem / Jewel so hard in the next couple of days. The things that made the Gem unique aren't present on the Breakaway, oh well :)
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We visited Screws as part of a tour. It stopped there, at Titou Gorge and somewhere else. We just left our stuff in the van. I don't think you'd have to worry about things being pilfered there even if you had to carry your belongings with you. The guys running the place seemed very nice. I'm sure they, and the fierce looking pit bull, would protect your stuff while you enjoyed the spa!
Thanks for the reply! Looking forward to it, if we can get a decent price for a taxi ride there :)
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We are back and we loved Fort-de-France! Lots of people to help in English at Port ! We strolled thru the streets, stopped at the library, visited the Cathedral and went to the Grand Marche. HAd some pastries. .. just loved it !
Did you plot your route on google maps? :x Just wondering how you navigated around! Do you remember the bakeries?
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Hi :) Has anyone been to Screw's Spa recently? The pictures / youtube videos look amazing. Tips advice?
How did you store your stuff while in the spa? Or do you not bring valuable stuff (phone, etc).
Did you book a tour at the port or catch a tax? How much were the taxi fees?
Any advice would be appreciated! Wish we had more port time on this island, as it looks so beautiful!!
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The seas are definitely rough in the winter, we've only done winter sailings, on the smaller ships (Gem and Jewel), but will be on the Breakaway in less than 2 weeks. I bring Bonnie (anti nausea medicine), those wrist band things, and never have a problem with nausea. Definitely recommend those two :) I've heard of the behind the ear thingies but haven't used them myself.
My father in law wasn't prepared and had to go to the ship doctor for anti nausea medicine on his cruise, not sure how much he was charged or if it was gratis?
Two years ago we were in rough seas on the way down to Florida and there was a really large roll combined with fierce wind. The timing listed our ship to one side for what felt like forever. All the unsecured dishes/bottles broke. Someome I spoke to said her chair fell over in the stateroom lol
I felt like i was on one of those pirate ships they have at the carnival. We're going on the Breakaway in two weeks and hopefully we'll have no issues!
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I am looking to book a cruise out of NY to the Caribbean during the winter and I see when we want to go the Breakaway is the only ship. I was on the Gem last winter for the 10day out of NY and I absolutely loved the ship. I am not a fan of the mega-ships, so please tell me experiences on the BRKWAY.
Also we will be traveling with young babies, maybe under a year, do we have to pay for infants? What about tips? We are traveling with the DH and I, 3 grown children and their families, one of who will be getting pregnant within the next few months. Thanks for any help/advice....Happy sailing
Not trying to start a panic, but just talked to my OBGYN, we're not sure if we want a second child, but he advised getting pregnant 3 months after traveling to areas with Zika and using lots of bug spray when on vacation. Stay safe! :)
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Forgot to post about St. Thomas! Magen's Bay has a gorgeous beach! There are really nice bathrooms and a snack stand. If you walk all the way to the left when you get there, the crowds thin out. The bus ride there is crazy, but that's island life. We got off the boat and negotiated a small bus ride there ourselves.
It's also the place they filmed Bella and Edward's honeymoon in Breaking Dawn :p
The shopping area downtown is a fun place to walk around too. My husband enjoyed Bones Rum, they had slushies you can add as much or as little rum to it as you want. Also some great duty free cosmetic and fragrance shopping :)
Last year we went to Secret Harbour instead of Megan's Bay. It had some really nice snorkeling spots. Easy to see from shore, but I liked Megan's Bay a lot better :)
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Hi,
He's a super active & STRONG 4.5 year old...so thinking maybe he can do it after your post, thanks! I have the puddle jumper and life jacket - couldn't decide which to pack for the cruise. So you think the puddle jumper is sufficient enough? Trying to get a visual - are we walking through tight spaces in the water - between rocks? Or climbing up onto rocks in the water? Definitely, water shoes, right? The water bag - did you put all of your belongings for the day in it? Did you organize this tour through the ship or on your own? Seriously appreciate it!!!!!
He sounds like my little guy, never sits still, fearless lol :D
Not sure which is better, life jacket vs puddle jumper. That is a good question though. The puddle jumper worked for him. The sea was rough that day when we got to the ocean so no one could really swim far out.
The dry bag we got is from amazon. It's a roll top and kept all our phones dry. But I was crazy and also put them in ziploc bags inside just in case. Here is the brand we bought:
It definitely worked and we didn't have to worry about it. I think I had three ship towels in there and some snacks and clothes.
Since our cruise was only on Tortola for a half day we booked the Norwegian tour and they took car of scheduling the ferries to Virgin Gorda and back and the bus ride to and back from the Caves/Devil's Bay. But this time since we're on Tortola for the full day we're going to try to DIY lol Hopefully it will be ok.
My husband and son wore water shoes and were okay, I think wore those slingback Crocs and didn't have a problem.
That's a walkthrough if you don't mind spoilers. This time I am bringing a Go Pro :) Some spots are dark, but it's at most shady. I don't remember the water being as high when we went, these people are walking around waist high, but I think that depends on the time you go. I think we were there around 8:30 AM and left before 11:00 AM?
I tried uploading a picture to this reply, hopefully it works!!
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On the search for these! We are leaving in almost two weeks :)
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While I agree your four-year old will love it, it is very hard to maneuver as an adult and if you are nervous about your child even in a little bit of water and like to hold on to them, you cannot do that all the way through with a child. I had a 5-yr old at the baths 2 years ago and was a complete mess the whole time. It is an experience you don't want to miss, but check out photos, video and the terrain ahead of time so you know you are prepared. And make sure you have 2 hands completely free to navigate and assist your child. Sandwich them between you and another responsible adult. Check out mitsugirly's recent Epic review to get an idea about the terrain.
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It depends on your child. My son started to climb out of his crib at a super early age and literally climbed everything from that point on. He was able to do the caves on Virgin Gorda last year at 4.5 years old and we're going back this year. Also we used a puddle jumper on him (those life vest type things) and a dry bag (find one on amazon) which keeps your gear dry in all the knee high water :)
Don't be discouraged! It's definitely doable, but it depends on your kid!
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Our choices are (and we discussed ad nauseam for our upcoming cruise) Le Bistro, Teppanyaki, and Ocean Blue.
Please tell me you scanned your dailies from the 14 day southern caribbean cruise :) we are going on this one in 3 weeks!
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Thanks for all the responses, good to know about the pregnancy thing, I did not know that. I also didn't realize that the DSC does not have to be paid by children under 3. It's sad that they charge you full price (or whatever for 3 & 4guest), as infants who only eat what mom brings or has, not using any of the facilities and such, but it is what it is. At least the babies will be the 3rd and 4th guests for their parents, which will still cost about 800.00/child. Also I didn't realize that the babies have to be at least 1 year for the longer sea day voyage. I did know that they had to be at least 6 months. SO all this information helped, thanks again
Cathy
:)
The age policy for babies must have changed as we brought our 6 month old son on 7 day cruise back in 2012!
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To piggyback off the laundry question, does anyone know what temperature water the clothes are washed in? I have always been apprehensive to use the laundry services, in fear that my cold wash items (95% of my wardrobe ends up requiring cold wash) will be washed hot, and then shrink. Any insight is greatly appreciated!
Yesss! I end up hand washing my undies and bras. I personally have never sent in my stuff, but I did send in baby clothes three years ago with no issues, but they were mostly cotton, etc. This time I'll send out some of my son's clothes and husbands, but never mine!
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We did the Gem when my son was 3 and 4, 3 he was too scared to go to the kids club but when he was 4 he kept asking to go back. Now he's 5 and we'll be trying the Breakaway in January, fingers crossed he'll love it as much as the others.
Agree :)
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Minimum age for daycare on NCL is 3 and under 3 they have the guppies program Mom/Dad/Caregiver can hang out with the child in that room.
Not sure if there is a best ship for kids, we did the Gem/Jewel. The Gem has a small, enclosed kiddie pool, but only if you're kid is potty trained. It keeps out the wind and smoke, so you can definitely hang out in there if the sea days are chilly. :)
They do have some fun family activities on the Gem, like family cupcake making, they had some balloon twisting event, a white party.. The day care does a pirate event thing one of the nights and the kids are face painted and do a tour of the lido deck.
We're going on the Breakaway in a couple of days, so I will let you know! From what I'm feeling before the cruise, it seems like some of the slides are height based, hoping my kid in water shoes will be at least able to go on the family slide. So that being said I think the Breakaway might be better for older kids because of the intense slides/ropes course/ etc? But I could be wrong. Trying to find some of the dailies online to see what's going on!
I think vacation is what you make of it. It won't be like Disney World for them, but that is a separate sort of experience :) Our son always managed to have fun. Even going to the buffet is exciting to him because of the desserts area. Good luck!
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Are they trying to gear NCL away from families with kids? I was going to get the Nickelodeon welcome package backpack thing for my son and now that's no longer an option. I can understand that a character specific license expired etc, but there were no alternative kid options half a year after the announcement was made over the summer.
And now no water slide after months delay!! Regardless of how difficult it is to acquire a pump and an inspection date leaves me really, really disappointed in NCL :( When I was 25 and cruising it was obviously not a big deal :( but jeeze.
Norwegians like to cruise with a functioning water slide aboard!
Breakaway Questions:
in Norwegian Cruise Line
Posted
I know I will be missing the great outdoors (outdoor buffet at the back of the buffet) and why is thermal spa unisex? The Gem had the dry sauna and sauna in the locker room, which gave you more privacy and greater chance of having more quiet time. We leave in 12 days!
Babies are doable. We brought our son at 6 months in 2012, but I believe things are different now? Then we waited until 3 years old so he would be old enough for the ship "school" which he hated until 4 years old last year :)