Suze10860

OK - I'm going to go pout now. I feel so silly......

It is almost April 2?

Is that really all they did for you? I would have flipped.

Personally, I think not only should they have let you have (for FREE) at anything you could possibly need as far as clothing and toiletries from onboard the ship, PLUS at least 1/2 off (as in a refund) of the cruise you were currently on.

OK experts - if a Balcony Guarantee is booked, and the room assigned is a Spa Balcony, are the spa amenities (specifically the Thermal Spa passes) included? That is the only real difference between a regular Balcony and a Spa Balcony, correct? That and the location on deck 14.

Thanks ~

suze you think like me. wish you were on my cruise. when i booked my room i wondered about all the 'empty' space which i knew none was really empty . but i worried would it be a crew door opening, a huge freight elevator with jaws like doors. what would it be? :)

 

inquiring minds must know

Great - now I have to worry about elevators with jaw-like doors!!! Thanks.

Just kidding. My inquiring mind definitely wants to know.

Have a wonderful cruise. Can't believe I sail on Sunday!

Thank you.

I don't know why I think about this stuff...but alas I do.

We are in one of these mini's with large balcony on deck 8 on the Breakaway. What is the huge area of white in between the 2 hallways? Just curious.

Thanks to everyone for their words of advice and words of encouragement. Two more sleeps and I'm onboard.

I like this question.

We haven't cruised very much, but it seems each has been with a different cast of characters.

#1 - a police convention cruise

#2 - 8 members of the family

#3 - Same 8 members of the family

#4 - Just me and the hubs

#5 - with another couple - this one is happening this Sunday

So far, the only issue has been with cruise #3 (affectionately called "The Cruise from HELL!) Not a great time in my now 26 year old daughter's life - she was 19 at the time and can you imagine that we actually discussed putting her on a plane in San Juan to send her HOME?!?! Unfortunately, I think it might have turned her and her brother off to cruising...at least for the last 7 years.

I'm hoping the other couple cruise goes well. The only constant in all 5 has been my husband, so I'll have to go with he's definitely my favorite companion!

This is the first time that I remember being given a check in time. We have 1:30 - 2:00 PM check in when our ship sails at 3:PM.....the e-docs say to be on board 2 hours prior.......something is not quite right....

We will arrive early.......

Hi there - you're sailing with us on the Breakaway this Sunday, right? My friends who just booked the cruise 2 days ago have the same exact situation. I was actually going to post and ask about how they are supposed to arrive between 1:30 and 2:00 and still be onboard 2 hours prior to sailing. But luckily, they are much less Type A than I am, so they're not terribly concerned about these little details. They're going to arrive at the pier around 1:00 p.m. I'll be waiting onboard to great them!

I have a text from her that she sent me last night: "Don't you ever like to just wing it on vacation?" If only I could......:)

If it helps I didn't even notice the scale...maybe that was the UBP:p

Sounds like a great solution to me!!

Good for you and excellent for him. I wish him great success!

Thank you for the kind words. This parenting stuff ain't easy!

Haha, we are staying in a hotel in New York on Saturday so my vacation actually starts on Saturday. That would really stink if I went there a day early though. Lol. I actually called back and got an offer for a large balcony room for $300 which is what I really wanted! So I jumped on it!

Good for you! See you Sunday.

No mass shootings yet on German university campuses.

I know. I really am quite happy with my son's international study. He also lived 9 months in France learning the language and auditing university classes. I couldn't be prouder of all that he does.

That's why I used the description "knee-jerk" and I referred to my fears as irrational. The way I see it, you can't always control your gut reaction. I try to get past that and think issues through - clearly, logically and reasonably.

Thanks folks.

I'm fine with one NCL employee seeing my weight if that happens.

I think I had visions of stepping on a scale like on "The Biggest Loser" and having the weight flashed up digitally for the world to see. Maybe even announced over the loudspeaker. :p

Well, maybe I'm exaggerating a little bit...

My 25-year-old son's plan is to spend the entirety of July and August studying in Germany. Would my knee-jerk reaction be to scream "NO" and banish him to his room (which - thankfully - hasn't been in our house in quite a few years) until he's 30? Maybe.

But I know that's just the mama bear in me feeling a little more secure when my kids are closer to home (again, which isn't even in the same time zone with us now - he's 14 hours and 4 states away as it is.)

So, I suck it up, and know that rationally he is in no more danger in Europe than he is living here in the US. As many people have said, he might even be safer there. Heck, we live right outside of NYC and he's in Chicago!

I feel like I did a good job of not passing along some of my own irrational fears about world travel to either of my kids. I keep my scary thoughts to myself (and in all honesty I wish all of my family members would do the same and not tell me I need to convince him not to go!)

I'm happy that both of my 20-something children are open minded and much more worldly than I.

Just curious: Is there free WiFi access at the pier in NYC?

The water slides on the Breakaway are great. For the love of Pete, please do not panic and extend your arms and legs to push on the sides of the tube in an attempt to stop yourself from falling if you go in the slide where the floor drops out. You'll slow down and get stuck. This shuts the ride down for a good 20-30 minutes while they get you out. Cross your arms and keep your legs together. Also, they will weigh you on a scale before you get on so if you're bashful about that, don't go on that one.

Come on...please don't tell me they weigh every single person, right out in the open?!?!

I might not be the same weight I was when I got married 27 years ago, but I'm pretty sure that they can tell just by looking at me that I don't weigh in at 300 pounds. That is the upper limit, right? Seriously, am I the only person who wouldn't want to step on a scale in public?!?!?!? My husband doesn't even know what I weigh. I'm going to be sad if I have to forgo the free fall slide because I've got too many hangups to get weighed in front of friends, family and complete strangers. :(

3 days and 9 hours and 43 minutes out...

AND my bestie and her husband just booked last minute.

To say I am excited probably doesn't cover it. I'm going to have to guess that I'm actively thinking about my cruise roughly 90% of my waking time.

Are the Thai Chili wings really spicy?

After reading the comments here about the dressing, I think I'll make it a BYOD (Bring Your Own Dressing!). Maybe just grab a little cup from the buffet to keep in my cabin refrigerator. We are right on deck 8 so not really too inconvenient to grab it on the way. I detest anything blue cheese. 😆

I don't see this as anti-social at all.

 

If I'm just not interested in someone's grandkids or operations, I'm just not interested. And I really don't want to discuss my health issues. I don't want to discuss "my job" because I'm always asked for advice. My husband doesn't hear well and English is not his native language, so he never is a part of the conversation and it's awkward and boring for him.

 

We meet people around the ship. If it clicks, great. If not, we are bffs.

I agree. And as much as I love to blab about my 2 (now grown - and pretty darn wonderful) children, I'm going to assume other people don't really want to hear about them. Except for my husband. We can still discuss them every day - which is probably one of the reasons we're still very happily married and very content to dine alone together after over 27 years of marriage.

We were there on Sunday. The only shade is from the palm trees - so it does move throughout the day since they're not very big. We were by the lagoon for the morning and had a nice shady spot there (but there weren't many). We moved to the main beaches after lunch and all the shady spots were taken.

 

There were clamshells available, especially at the lagoon (it was pretty empty there, but the bar was closed). I would arrive at the island early if you want a good clamshell. At the main beach, there were three rows of clamshells, so the people in the 2nd and 3rd row only had a view of another clamshell. You want the first row!

Thanks for the info! I'm guessing the plan will be to try to book a clamshell on board, and then head to the lagoon (hopefully as early as we can.)

Of course a family group traveling together is one thing - and dining as a group is part of the experience. But many cruise as individuals or couples - and interacting with others can be seen as an enjoyable facet of travel.

I understand what you're saying, but I don't think it's fair to expect others to feel the same way you do. Very early on in this thread someone said exactly what I think:

We don't share tables on land restaurants, I'm not sure why we would on a cruise.

Sometimes when people lead very busy lives they want nothing more than to have private dinners with their significant other. To us, that's one of the most "enjoyable facets of travel." And we're very social creatures. We talk up a storm with strangers and are really looking forward to making some new friends on our upcoming cruise. We just don't necessarily feel that spending 2 hours with them over dinner is the best way to do it.

Just my thoughts.

We booked our April 3 Breakaway cruise about 2 months in advance. The cabanas were sold out from the day we booked.

That picture is awesome. Thanks.

Does anyone have experience with being on the island with neither a cabana nor a clamshell? Do shady spots go very quickly? Are the clamshells difficult to come by? My hubby tends to burn...

My family was on the same cruise and it turned out to be one of our favorite vacations!

 

We actually enjoyed getting to the Bahamas early, we were in H2O all day (doing what we would have been doing minus the sand and ocean ;)) We headed over to Señor Frogs and had a blast, was I a little leary walking back, of course but that wouldn't stop me from getting off the boat, I'll take my chances I need to touch land!

 

O'Sheehan's was much better than our last Breakaway cruise in September, the fajitas were surprisingly good as were the wings and the Sundaes OMG!, a good snack after a day/night of drinking :D

 

I can only comment on the specialty restaurants, Teppanyaki was DELICIOUS! Cagney's is always good and Le Bistro I love!

 

Oh I can comment on the buffet, but I was taught if I don't have anything nice to say don't say it.

 

The bars, I never even thought about them being in the open, I actually liked that I always found who I was looking for instead of going in and out of bars! I love the outside bars also.

 

My son and husband did watch March Madness so they do change it when there is I'm guessing a national event, because what team do you pick to watch Yankees, Mets not sure how the Philly or Boston fans would feel about that LOL!

 

My only complaint was our excursion to Disney the whole ordeal with getting off the boat took almost an hour? Who thinks its a good idea to let 500 people off the boat before 150? Logistics anyone!

 

I'm not sure why anyone would get upset about getting home faster for a medical emergency? We knew the last night we weren't staying out crazy late so unless if I was in the casino bringing down the house that would be the only reason :p

 

We disembarked carrying our own luggage and will say it was the best ever, we were home by 8:45, who does that! If we planned it, it would have never worked out so YEA US!

 

Just thought I would give a different perspective to this cruise...

 

Jennifer

Thanks for the write-up. It's nice to read something where there is both positive and negative, and written in such a way that you it's not seething with anger. I like your perspective!!

To adults who have done the waterslide(s) on the Breakaway - thoughts on how "intense" they are?