reno3

We are cruising in April and would like to go to the sea glass beach. Is it hard to find and is there a lot of glass?

 

Thank you.

Not sure if this is the beach you are talking about.....If you take the St George Beach Bus, it is stop #6, yes a lot of sea glass in the water. You have to go in to about your knees to reach it and you can take this glass (there were not signs not to take). There was a worker there clearing some brush with a front loader and I asked if it was okay to take a few pieces and he said yes. He was very nice and talked to us for about 20 minutes until the bus came. i did not go to the sea glass beach near Dockyard.

Thanks for your review :)

We are booked in a deck 8 stateroom for a November cruise. Did you happen to hear any music from the theater at night?

Thanks for posting, reno3.

Last July we were on Breakaway(deck 10) and were awake early to view Lady Liberty upon our return to NYC. Awesome to view anytime of day :)

Happy Sailing!

 

~Robin

No, we did not hear any noise from the theater at night.

Thanks for your review reno3, we leave on Saturday and we're very excited! What is the $6 Beach bus you referred to in your review? Is that a bus in St. George to Tobacco Bay? Where do you catch it? Was that beach good for children? How did you get to St. George?

 

Thanks again!:)

Yes, it is the "hop on hop off" bus that you get in the town that takes to you a few different places. Once off the ferry (that we took from Dock Yard to St. George) walk to your right into the square to the inforamtion building (a little bit of a walk). Once you pay they will stamp your hand and the bus is just outside around the corner. I also posted a picture of Tabacco Bay, yes it is fine for children. Get there early, it is a small beach and gets crowded.

Glad you had a good experience and thanks for sharing your thoughts.

 

Not to nitpick, but I'm pretty sure that when you are leaving NY, Freedom Tower is on the port side and Statue of Liberty is on the starboard side. I mention it only because people may choose a side based upon which they prefer to see during sail away.

Sorry for the miss information....you are correct.

We were up on deck so I could go from one side to the other.

Not sure if I mentioned it in my review....we passed the SOL coming back into port (on port side) at around 5:00am. I was up and she looked wonderful all lit up.

I was at the church this past week. I didn't get to climb the tower because the office person was out sick and no one there to unlock the door.

Thanks! I too like the cooler idea. Did you like Vibe? We are thinking of doing it too.

I posted some photos earlier today to this thread. We loved it.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2211345

How big was the cooler you brought with you? I think that's a great idea.

It is 15x11x10.

Returned from the Breakaway yesterday. Cruise Critics was very helpful with my questions since I had not been on a NCL cruise since the 80's.

I will list a few tips and comments as to hopefully help others.

Sorry if I jump around a bit…..

We drove three hours from home to the port. Paid the $280.00 to park at the port, very easy. We arrived at 9:00 and through security at 9:45 and then we waited until about 11:45 to board. We had boarding #5. We went right to guest services to get Vibe passes. We got #50,51 and 52. I believe there were 74 passes available. We then went to O’Sheehan’s for lunch, food was good and service was good, one hour. Then to our mini suite with large balcony, cabin #8124. Good size room, big bathroom with double sink and big shower. The balcony had two loungers, 2 chairs and a big table. I do have pictures if anyone wants to see.

We had made all of our dinner and show reservations before hand online. I had read that some of the shows and reservations were being canceled (passengers were receiving letters in their cabin). I went to LeBristo and the Box Office to see if any of mine had been changed or canceled, non were. LeBristo even printed out all of my reservations for me.

We also brought a cooler filled with water and soda and put a luggage tag on it and it went with to the porter with our luggage. It made it to our cabin just fine.

We did not have bathrobes in the cabin, we did not ask for them either.

I called for an ironing board and iron and it came within 15 minutes.

Muster drill was fast, make sure you see your crew member at your muster station so they scan your card to proof you were there. If not they have a makeup the next day. I guess they will come look for you.

We sailed on time 4:00 and passed the Freedom tower (starboard) first at 4:20, the SOL (port)at 4:30 and under the bridge at 5:00.

We had the UDP so we ate at…

LaCucina – once – good – if you order chichen parm ask for extra sauce, very little on it.

Cagney’s Steakhouse – twice – very good – raspberry crème brulee – yummy! The first night brought me the wrong dessert and forgot to bring me a decaf coffee. The second night we had a great friendly waiter, perfect service. We left an extra tip this time.

Teppanyaki – very good – fun

Moderno – good – we ate outside on the waterfront and it was really nice. Fried banana and grilled pineapple – yummy

We had breakfast either in the Café buffet or Up Town each morning. We tried to get a burger in Up Town twice after waiting in line (about 10 people ahead of us) and it was a 30 minute wait for the burger….down to the buffet both times.

Fireworks canceled on Friday night but they did have them on Saturday night at 8:45.

Did the Ice bar – it was fun and cold.

We did not do the slides, rope course, rock climbing wall or mini golf.

We also did the Cirque Dreams and dinner show – Burn the floor and Rock of ages – we enjoyed all three. My big complaint is the seats in the theater….so uncomfortable, you can’t sit up straight in them.

Went to one Second City 11:00 show and stayed for two skits and then walked out…others walked out before us and with us. We did not find it funny at all.

Bermuda weather – Our Daily paper each day said the weather in Bermuda was going to be partly cloudy and high 60’s. It was sunny and HOT each day. We had a week of beautiful weather. The water in Bermuda was nice, a little chilly getting in but once in really nice. I’m from New England and the water in Bermuda now was warmer than any beach in NE all summer.

Purchased 2 days bus/ferry passed at excursion desk the first night .

Our first day in port, after tendering in to the dock (Dawn was there in our spot after her mishap) we went to Horseshoe Bay, paid the 2.00 for the shuttle up the hill. We headed back to the ship hoping she was at the dock, we had to wait about one hour because the Dawn was now gone the Breakaway was coming in to dock. It was really cool standing at the dock and seeing her come in, at one point straight at us! That evening spent a few hours with family that live in Hamilton and then took the last ferry 8:30 back to the ship. My MIL was born and raised in Bermuda.

Day 2 – St. George and Tobacco bay, Glass beach (for sea glass) and unfinished church. We also paid the 6.00 pp for the beach bus, other than the 2.00 we paid to get up the hill at Horseshoe bay this was the best money spent. We also went to St Peter’s Church.

Day 3 – ferry to Hamilton to shop and go to the Holy Trinty Church. We had planned to climb the tower but the office person was out sick and no one was there to unlock the door to the tower. I also saw a sign that said the tower would be closed as of May 26, 2015 until further notice for work being done. Back to Dockyard and shopping at Clock Tower.

Our room steward, Owen, told us it was his first week on the ship. We had a couple of issues, nothing major and we left him an extra tip for keeping ice in our cooler. Dirty coffee cups. Towel animals only 3 nights. We had to call housekeeping the first night at 10;00, our sons bed was never made up. He also never left us the disembarkation information that told us about the tags etc. I was in the atrium and noticed a group of people gathered around a monitor and figured I would see what it was. Well it was the colored tags I would need to mark my luggage when I left it out the next night. There were a lot of “self assist” getting off the ship. They called self assist at 7:20 and Aqua at 8:20, which was us (which was suppose to 9:15). We had our luggage and through customs and at our car driving out at 9:00. Big complaint about porters and luggage at disembarking. The luggage is lined up to close together so to get your luggage you have to pick it up and carry it over the other luggage. The porter that said he would be our porter told us where our bags were and I said “do we get them or you” he looked at me and said “you”. My son and husband lifted the heavy bags up and over the other luggage and I found another porter. He took up through customs to the elevator and then right to our car with the luggage, even put it in the car for us. Gave him a nice tip!

As you can see by my signature we usually cruise Carnival. We cruised NCL for the Bermuda itinerary. I think we got a good deal, upgraded to the mini suite w/large balcony for $299.00, got the UDP for the three of us and son cruised free (paid port fees). If I can find a deal again I will cruise NCL in a heartbeat.

I took over 800 pictures so if you are looking for a picture of something on the ship or in Bermuda, Vibe, mini suite w/large balcony, I may have it let me know and I will post them.

It was funny seeing the Fast Ferry that says Rhode Island on it….they lease it from us here in RI.

I think I covered everything I could. I hope this was of help to some people. If any questions I will try and answer.

I guess you are asking about the bus/ferry passes. I just got off the Breakaway and I did buy 2 days passes at the excurison desk on the first night. They did not sell the 3 day. I bought tokens for the 3rd day to go back to Hamilton.

My first cruise was on the Norway in the 80's. Jim Neighbors was the entertainment :p

I just remembered I am still waiting for the paperweight that I had ordered that was to be inscribed with our names, date etc. It had the the etching of the ship on it.

You had to order it and pay for it and they were to ship it to you. I never got it. Oh well.....I don't have that husband anymore anyway:p

We just came back yesterday and we were port side and docked port side to the island.

Spice H2O....not much better. Nice waterfall though.

As i said....Vibe was never full.....it was never half full. We spend our first two days at sea here. We did not spend time here while we were in port the three days. We also spent out last sea day here. They did take the umbrellas down because of the wind on the last day. The wind did die down later in the day. They came around with fruit kobobs, cold towels, and little frozen fruit pops a few times a day.

They had music playing, nice sailing/vacation music, not loud pounding music.

We went to the buffet to get lunch to bring back to Vibe and this is what was outside of our little Vibe world :eek: packed in like sardines!!!

Inside of cabana.

Picture time :D Sorry I don't know how to make the photos smaller.

Just returned from the Breakaway. As for taking food from the buffet to your cabin.....it was being done everyday by people. I did it everyday myself. Not a word was said to me. I left my dirty dishes in the cabin (I hate when people put it in the hallway).

We got to the port around 9:30. Yes, they were worth it. The

pool area was so crowded.

My first cruise was on the Norway in the 80's. Jim Neighbors was the entertainment :p

Just returned from the Breakaway. We had Vibe passes for the week. Yes, there were a couple of people that did smoke at the bar. I did not smell the smoke and I was just a couple of lounger chairs away from the bar. The passes did sell out fast. We were in boarding group 5 and we went right to the guest services and we got number 50,51 and 52. If I heard correctly they had 74 available. I will post photos in the next day or two. Also it was never full.

Can I put water/soda in a hard side cooler (no ice), duck tape it shut and put

a luggage tag on that for the porter to take with our luggage? It measures 15x11x10 if that matters.

Just got back form the Breakaway. I called NCL on the cooler and was told yes, bring the cooler and tag it. I figured I would give it a try.....and it worked :D

I packed water and soda and tied it shut. They could untie and look inside if need be. I put a luggage tag on it and checked it with our luggage.

It's roughly 20 minutes from Lady Liberty to the bridge, judging from past experience.

Thank you

How long after passing the Statue of Liberty does the breakaway go under the

Verranzano Bridge?

Glad to help.

 

Typically the #7 runs about every 30 minutes. It really doesn't matter which order you do it in.

 

I don't recommend trying to walk. South Road has heavy traffic with little or nothing in the way of sidewalks or shoulders. Walking is dangerous.

Thank you, another one....we have family in Hamilton and was thinking of taking the bus from Horseshoe to Hamilton...if I'm correct it would take 25 minutes? Would it be either bus #7 or #8 (pink pole) and would I get the bus where I got off for Horseshoe?