kmurph22

One other note: I used the fitness center twice (yay me!). It was darn hot & humid in there! They could pump up the AC, I think the cardio equipment users would appreciate it.

Hi all,

My family and I just returned yesterday from the Breakaway 12/22 - 12/29. Overall we had a great time despite some iffy weather and skipping GSC. Simply put, there is enough to do on this ship for an energetic family of 6 that the itinerary is not that important. But, if you want to sail a great itinerary, Port Canaveral - GSC - Nassau isn't it. There aren't many choices for 7 days out of NYC and winter in the Atlantic often isn't pretty. For us, not having to fly to the port was worth it.

We sailed with four teens, 17, 15, 13, and 12 turning 13 on the cruise. The older three went to the teen club the first night, and made friends they hung out with for the rest of the cruise. We barely saw them during the day! As has been reported, the club is very strict with ages and wouldn't let our birthday boy attend the teen club until his actual birthday, which was the last sea day. He was fine with hanging out in the arcade and basketball court but did enjoy his time in the club too on the last night. He noted that "lots of boys and girls were making out in the corners" (love having a kid who tells me everything).

Port Canaveral was just gray, rainy, and chilly. We arrived an hour late. Glad we didn't try to rush to Disney for such a dismal day. We stayed on the ship. Also, as mentioned, we skipped GSC due to weather. We headed to Nassau and arrived there around 3pm, staying through until 6pm the following night. I didn't mind this, as the seas had been pretty rocky and I was glad to just be still for awhile. We checked out Atlantis on the first night (just took a taxi and walked around on our own) and actually stayed on the ship the next day. The pool was delightedly uncrowded and there were barely any lines for the waterslides or activities.

We had two aft balcony cabins on deck 9. Loved the huge balcony and even kept our luggage out there it was so well protected. On the way back north, we had direct sunlight and enjoyed a warm sunny afternoon even though the upper decks were chilly & windy. Deck 9 is also a good spot as most of the indoor activities are on decks 6-7-8.

We purchased a spa pass for mom & dad, highly recommended due to the so-so weather which meant the pool deck wasn't very inviting most days. I will say they were pretty lax on actually checking the passes, which were in the form of a sticker on your key card. After I lost my first card and got a new one at Guest Services, I went to the spa and told them I needed a new sticker. Very surprisingly, they didn't do anything to verify that I had actually purchased the pass - just voila, here's a new sticker. Husband went in & out of the spa several times without even showing his card, you really only need the pass to get a locker.

As would be expected for a Christmas cruise, the ship was full and over 1500 kids were sailing. Christmas music was played everywhere and they showed "Elf" and "A Christmas Story" on the big screen in the atrium. Santa arrived on Christmas morning and gave out small gifts to the yougner children. There were many large family groups of 20+ with grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. This made restaurant availability a little spotty... wherever the big groups were, it was tough to get a table. We had booked 3 dinner reservations in advance and went "seat of our pants" the other nights and had no problems getting a table somewhere any time we wanted, although not necessarily at our first choice restaurant.

Quickie dining review:

O'Sheehans: We went here a number of times. pot pie A+, wings B+, hamburger B, french fries A, fish & chips A-. Service & atmostphere fun. Had breakfast there too, nice french toast, omelettes & fast service.

Cirque Dreams: A+. show was awesome and the dinner surprisingly good. I actually won 2 more passes to Cirque dreams in the bingo raffle and DH and I enjoyed the show a second time as well! Amazing performances.

Cagneys: A+. Best meal and service of the trip, hands down.

Teppanyaki: B. Based on the rave reviews I thought it would be a little better. It was fine though, nothing to complain about. Kids love hibachi .

Moderno: C. The meat just wasn't that good, I'm sorry to say (except the lambchops, which didn't come around until the very end of our meal). Maybe because we went there on the last night? We were hoping for better.

LaCucina: B+ We were able to dine on the Waterfront which was very pleasant. After several days of meat meat meat, pasta hit the spot and it was very good. Really enjoyed the service here too.

Manhattan Room: C+ We ate here on Christmas night. It was lively & festive. The service was quite slow and the portions were small. Food had mixed reviews, some of us were happy & others not so much.

Garden Cafe / Uptown Grill: We only ate here for breakfast. It was fine. I can't even give it a grade... it's a typical buffet. I liked the ham & cheese puff at Uptown grill so much I went back for a second.

Quickie Entertainment Review:

Slam Allen / Fat Cats: A+. We have seen him before, on the Epic. Great entertainer. You really don't feel like you're on a cruise ship in this intimate club.

Howl at the Moon: B+ Fun, talented people. We enjoyed singing along to a lot of classics.

Rock of Ages: A-. Yes it's raunchy, and the "plot" is predictable, but it was just simply fun. DH and I are children of the 80s so got a kick out of the music & costumes.

Second City: D (second hand review from DH, I didn't go). He said he walked out, it just wasn't funny.

Cirque as mentioned above was amazing as well.

I enjoyed how the entertainers all had fun together.... when they weren't playing, they often attended each other's performances and jumped in for various jam sessions.

We didn't see Burn the Floor, and on the last night of the cruise they cancelled their performance due to dancer injuries. Slam Allen did his first stint ever in the big theater, and since we have become big fans we attended to support him. His show isn't typical for a big theater venue (he likes to walk around and be interactive) but he did a great job and I thought the audience dug it. You dig?

A few other notes that may be of interest to readers:

Smoking: only noticed on deck 7, in the half the casino near O'Sheehans, and on the part of the pool deck allowed for smokers. It bothers me but not enough to ruin the trip... I just avoided those areas.

Casino: DH lost a bundle, thanks in part to all the sea days. I broke even thanks to some good roulette runs, but definitely lost $ on the slots. Maybe I should have stayed in the smoking section, LOL.

Embarkation: We arrived around 11 am and they started boarding about noon. We were in group 29 or something like that, and were on board by 12:30.

Debarkation: Lots of vibration and rumbling coming into the NY port woke us all up EARLY. Not sure if this is typical? We did the walkoff. We had a quick breakfast at O'Sheehans, and walked off the ship around 8:30 before they had started calling the tagged luggage. We were on the street waiting for our ride in less than 20 minutes!

Interesting: I met a woman who said she had boarded in Port Canaveral. She was from Wales. Not sure if this is some kind of program like on the Dawn? It didn't cause any issues at debarkation at any rate.

Bingo: I find it an entertaining way to spend a couple of hours on a sea day with my kids, but what a ripoff. They make big $$$$$$ on this! I suppose if I had won I wouldn't say that ;)

iConcierge app: we were glad to have it with 4 teens all over the ship, but found the app itself to be spotty. It always turned itself off so you had to remember to open it back up and check for messages. Annoying but overall it worked.

So that's all I can think of for now, feel free to ask questions if you have any!

That was you? Congrats! I was in the finals on machine # 4. I came in last:)

Missed the meet & greet unfortunately, I was seasick on the first day. Great cruise overall, I will post a review shortly.

Wow Wow Wow, I'm so happy to have found a community that shares my affinity for travel planning! My family makes fun of me... I operate ALONE. But they are all happy with the end result. And I get to enjoy a trip for a year, not just a week or two :)

I am also planning a Europe trip next year for myself, DH, and two DS's who will be 18 and 13. DH & DS-18 start in Ireland, then meet up with myself & DS13 in London for a few days, then Civitavecchia for our Epic cruise, and then 4 days in Rome. flights are booked: almost all using points except within Europe (British Air: London to Rome is only $99.. check it out!). Working on the other details.

Not sure I have much to add to Wouter's and others excellent posts, but I'll try...

to choose hotels, I make a spreadsheet of what's important to me. Location, price, how many beds, wifi availability, 24 hour desk service, and tripadvisor ratings are probably my most important criteria but ymmv. It's amazing how clearly the leaders emerge when you do this.

Plan ahead on how you will pay for things. Get a credit card that does not charge foreign transaction fees. You can also ask to receive a text each time a card is used to watch for fraud (there may be texting fees, but think about communications). You can get a few euro ahead of time and use ATM's (again make sure your bank doesn't charge extra). Know which tour guides and hotels want to be paid in cash vs. credit card. Some tour operators and hotel /B&B owners will even allow you to book the reservation and pay when the exchange rate is optimal.

Research communication options. For a trip to Ireland last year, we ended up purchasing Irish Sim cards from a provider there and could use one iphone5 and one ipad with the internet, with or without wifi. It was invaluable. I'm still working on this for Italy/Med but the info is all out there on the internet.

Read all the fine print on your confirms. For example, for our British Air tickets, it says that we MUST present the credit card used for purchase at check in. I for one have never heard of that and would hate to have been surprised, because DH and DS are flying separately... what if they didn't have the card with them? yikes. Goes along with the "be prepared" advice!!

I create a separate file on my computer for all confirmations, a document containing notes on what I have read in books and on the internet, and a bookmark in my browser to save sites I happen across but don't have time to read fully.

I also try to kind of memorize maps of the cities, airports, and train stations I will be in. I find this makes me more comfortable in a strange place, and also helps me plan a reasonable itinerary that doesn't require backtracking.

I also enjoy reading books, and watching movies, set in the places I'm heading (i.e. Roman Holiday). For Hawaii I watched Lost and Hawaii 5-0, ha ha. just builds the anticipation.

Again, family thinks I'm nuts. But this is how I enjoy spending my downtime.

I'll subscribe to this thread to see what else you all have to say. OP, YOU CAN DO IT!

waiting 3.5 hours in the sun to board = legitimate complaint

pot of tea takes 1 hour with room service = I've got better things to do with my time than complain about something like that

soup soons for breakfast = Now you lost me. The Horror! Soup Spoons are MUCH TOO ROUND for my CEREAL!!!!!!

OP, you would get a much better reaction to your (numerous) negative posts if you focused on the truly problematic issues and didn't mingle in nitpicky ones. NCL has some things it should fix/address, no doubt. But when you worry about soup spoons, you dilute the whole point.

jmho

Thanks for this informative thread. We are heading to Europe next summer including a cruise from Civitavecchia, and would like to have at least one if not 2 SIM cards as we found them very useful for data/skype without needing wifi.

I have a couple of questions.

a)Is there a TIM or other sim provider at FCO airport? We won't be going into the city when we arrive, but directly to Civitavecchia. Alternatively, is there a sim store in Civitavecchia?

b)I think I've seen this answered elsewhere, but just in case: will I be able to use my Italian SIM while in port in Spain and France? I don't care if there are extra fees, it would just be nice to only have one.

thank you so much for posting your review! I never would have found it since we aren't sailing Carnival next year. Very useful and lots of good info!

Does anyone know if it can be used to communicate with the concierge, kids club or butler onboard? For $16 a day it's steep for me to text my wife 2 or 3 x per day but if we didn't have to worry about using the cabin phone I'd consider it.

 

Thanks

wait, it's not $7.95 per day, that's a one time fee right? So more like $1/day per person.

I was in 9916- deck 9 aft, didn't hear a thing!!

Thanks! sticking with my aft!

Thanks for posting. We have booked an aft on deck 9….. does anyone know if the noise/vibration goes that far down?

You can get a sense of how full the ship is by starting a booking. Select the ship and sailing on NCL's website and look at different categories as if you were going to book them. The website will show you rooms that are still available. It may not show you every room, but if you see 8 - 10 rooms listed in each category, you can deduce that the ship is not very full at this point. If many categories are sold out, or only show 1 or 2 rooms available, it's pretty full. Not an exact science though.

Thank you Zay! Preparing for our Christmas cruise and it was so much fun to read about yours.

You have a great attitude and don't seem to let the little things get you down. As you said, it's vacation, enjoy it! So what if dinner is slow… someone is cooking and cleaning up for you, be happy!

And a special thank you for posting the dailies!

goofy girl where did you see a $99 price? On my sailing (12/22) it shows $159 for adults and $99 for kids... unfortunately we all qualify as adults! Debating...

A Dutch group (male and female) who booked one of the lounges so they could dress up in children's sailor costumes and dance to old-time sailing songs, nursery rhymes etc.

wow that is STRANGE! you win!

there is good information on the wine package in a posted review by "Imreadyformynextvacation". It sounds like kind of a hassle unless you are going to only have your wine delivered to the main dining rooms.

wine and hassle don't mix, imo!

Sprout!!! I hope you read this...

I saw your post and thought that sounded like a GREAT deal. So, I went online at hampton inn.com. Sure enough, there is a "cruise package" that specifies transportation to the Port of Miami! Great, I thought, too good to be true, only $170 for a night for 4 of us including all of the transportation.

So I noticed that on the intinerary confirmation, it only says "cruise package"... nothing about Port ofMiami. I looked on the hotel's website... nothing about transportation to the Port of Miami. So, I called the hotel... they told me that they do NOT provide a shuttle to POM, only to Port Everglades. They will gladly call a 3rd party service to take you to POM, but there will be a charge and it's NOT included in any package!

They need to fix their website, it is VERY misleading.