APDMOM

21 hours ago, Oakman58 said:

Thanks again for doing the review.  I too always enjoy playing mini golf.  For some unknown reason, the mini golf course on the Breakaway was removed during refurbishment in 2020.  I also heard it was removed from the Getaway too, but I can't verify that.

 

Tip: The best mini golf course I've played; Carnival Spirit

       The worst mini golf course I've played; Diamond Princess

Thank you for that tip about Carnival Spirit!  I will need to look into that.

Escape had a GREAT mini golf course in 2016, prior to refurbishment.  It was replaced with a much more basic mini golf course, but at least it was still there in December 2023…

July 2016 Escape Mini Golf: It had such fun obstacles…

December 2023: Much more basic

Final Impressions:

Overall, our cruise was amazing.  Most of the things I did not like were due to my own lack of research - including the location of our balcony (could hear the music from the show lounge) and the fact that there was not mini-golf.  I was so looking forward to a daily dose of Mr. Bean Style mini-golf!  This is what we LOVED on Escape.  We just assumed there would be a mini-golf course, but I guess that was only added on the Breakaway Plus class.

The food was overall excellent, service was truly amazing (sincere smiles all the way), and I loved my balcony lounger.  Although we are not fond of the Breakaway class ship layout (due to casino smoke on 6, 7, 8), we still enjoyed this week!  It is easy to avoid the smoke by walking outside on deck 8 by the waterfront.  Matthew was our favorite entertainer and we enjoyed the interaction with officers throughout the week, whether from a distance during the talks or from personal conversations.

One thing that was not ideal is the open times for the ropes course.  We ended up not being able to use it due to the hot weather when it was open.  I wish they would open it for a couple of hours in the morning while in port.  

We will likely no sail Breakaway again, unless there is an EXCELLENT deal.  We prefer Escape over Breakaway for the mini-golf.  

Speaking of Escape…

Within two days after arriving home, we decided we just could not have peace over spending so much money on an interior cabin on Aqua.  The straw that broke the camel’s back was when we found out that just about everything is an up-charge, including mini-golf!! When I saw a video about that, I first thought, “No, they must be confused with paying for bowling.”  

A bit more research later, I realized it costs $10 or $15 per game, depending on which reviewers you believe (or maybe it varies by cruise).  Since they are replacing the Go-Cart track on Aqua with two large slides, will they be changing for those too?  It was just too much to think that my cruise would not even be fully paid for all the activities we love to do.

So, we switched our Aqua cruise to Escape, since we could get a balcony for about the same price, and mini-golf is included! 😄  

I sure hope cruise prices on NCL will drop again in the future.  Right now, Celebrity is far more affordable, so we have 3 cruises booked on Celebrity - with the savings in cruise cost, I can pay to play mini-golf in Florida.  

Still, we look forward to Escape in June 2025 - we used our last two CruiseNext certificates for that one.  To us, the CruiseNext certificates are no longer value for money, as the ‘free money’ locks you into booking an expensive cruise on NCL, while we can save over $1,000 by cruising Celebrity.  Therefore, I am glad DH reasoned me out of buying more certificates for the time being.  

Until our next adventure on Celebrity Ascent…

Thank you for following along, helping out with comments, and for all the likes!  I so enjoy serving people and hope this was helpful for future cruise plans on Breakaway!  ❤️ 

Our Disembarkation Experience:

We ate our last breakfast in Taste/Savor for the relaxing experience without crowds.  The breakfast was excellent with the normal full breakfast menu.  Many cruiselines do not serve a full breakfast the last morning, so we really appreciated this about NCL.

We were just done with breakfast when they called our tags 15 minutes early.  It was a very easy and quick disembarkation, where we located our luggage in record time with the excellent organization.  It also helps that we now travel with the brightly-colored suitcases that remind me of my clothing in the late-80's early-90's... 😄

Final Views from our balcony before heading out to breakfast:

Arrival of Valiant Lady and Carnival Celebration:

That U-Turn - if only it would return out to sea with us! 

Early morning arrival:

My View: Disembarkation in Miami

On 7/29/2024 at 7:28 AM, golf4me2010 said:

Did you noticed what time the folks carrying luggage were allowed off? Says 7:30 was that pretty accurate? Thanks for all the info 

I don't know about carry off, but they were about 15 minutes ahead of schedule with our disembarkation.  We were yellow tag.

TIP: If you have priority disembarkation through Latitudes Rewards, pick up your priority tags from Guest Services.  Otherwise, you can pick up tags from a shelf close to guest services without waiting in line.

Since more and more ports are not allowing you to use the escalators with more than one piece of luggage, we decided to check our luggage.  We liked the self-assist option until we ran into so much trouble at Fort Lauderdale, needing to wait in a long line for elevators, so we now check our luggage again.

Debarkation Information:

Download PDF:

NCL Breakaway Debarkation.pdf

Freestyle Daily - Day 7: Great Stirrup Cay

My View: End of day 7 - Great Stirrup Cay

The Cruise Graveyard 😢

O'Sheehan's 

TIP: Did you know they have a more elaborate dessert menu at O'Sheehan's?  You have to ask for it, as nobody brought it to us all week.  We saw a few sundaes and milkshakes and they are BIG!  We did not buy any, but the prices are reasonable for the size of dessert!

TIP: Did you know these fishies swim forward?  If you ever wonder which direction you are going on the decks with staterooms, the fish on the carpet always swim to the front of the ship.

We found our first and only duck on this last day:

TIP: If you don't like collecting ducks, give them to a crew member.  Apparently, many of them collect these creatures.  One told us they are treated like 'currency' by some of the crew...LOL!

We gave this one to our room steward, who was all too happy to give it to a co-worker who collects them.

Sail Away Views:

Sailing past Coco Cay:

Balcony Fun:

We saw lots of sealife from our balcony in the afternoon.  Just could not capture the fast swimming creature too well - there was even a sea turtle, but it was cameral shy.

View of our ship from the tender:

Up and Away 😎

Speaking of muggy...

By 11:30 AM, I was getting very hot and that sun was stinging my skin.  Even for a Florida girl, this was too hot, so I started making my way back to the tenders.  

TIP: The view from the Bacardi Rum bar was my favorite, and you have the benefit of seating with umbrellas for shade:

I read many reviews and saw some videos of the long wait times for the tender back to the ship.  My solution was to enjoy the island early, then return early.  I was happy to see they added this shaded waiting area for later in the day when there really are lines to return.

 Of course, this early, I was one of 3 people on the tender returning to the ship.  A FULL tender still arrived at this time (11:40 AM): 

Until Next Summer, GSC 🙂

Views around the island:

TIP:  An earlier tender is helpful on a hot day so that you can enjoy the island before it gets too muggy.  However, a later tender is not that bad, as there are plenty of loungers and areas for seating.

11:26 AM:  Even after a walk around the island, there were still plenty of seating at the first beach.  A later tender should not be a problem, as they seem to have taken care of providing loungers for all.

You may notice the glaring absence of DS and DH... after too much rich chocolate cake and the consideration that both DS and DH are vestibularly challenged on smaller sea craft, they decided to stay on the ship.  I thoroughly enjoyed my 'me' time on the island, but hope they will join me when we return next year.

With my early arrival, there were still plenty of loungers open, including shaded spaces.  After being the first one on the swings in the water,

I was to swim in an almost empty bay for about 30 minutes to get some 'laps' in.  What a beautiful way to get exercise.  I could do this every day! 

The Tender Experience:

It was not until I re-checked what priority tender means that I realized I never needed to sign up for a tender in the app.  For priority tendering, I just went to the theater, showed my seapass Gold status, and was allowed to sit with other Latitudes members for priority tendering. 

Timeline: (Way better than our recent Belize experience on Enchanted Princess)

9:20 Sat down in theater

9:26 Escorted out of theater to tender

9:29 Seated on tender

9:38 Tender left the ship behind

9:50 First selfie on GSC!

A Few Arrival Views: No more beautiful mountains, but still lovely views

Docked at Coco Cay: Celebrity Reflexion - our Spring Break 2025 Ship and Allure of the Seas - my recent May girls getaway ship:

Coco Cay "Up and Away" in the distance:

My View: Day 7 - Great Stirrup Cay

4 hours ago, Oakman58 said:

I have to agree about Chili’s tortilla chips being so good and NCL’s artichoke and spinach dip is the best I’ve ever tasted.

 

HINT:  For tortilla chips at home, the brand Tostitos has a style of chip called Cantina thin and crispy. Almost like Chili's.

@Oakman58, you made my day!  I will be looking for those Tostitos!  😄