ncklhaus

I am actually a diabetic with high blood pressure so I drink sugar free, caffeine free soda. I contacted the NCL Access desk prior to sailing and they told me they had sodas that would fit my requirements but didn’t tell me what they would be in the email. On both the Getaway and Escape they had Diet Sierra Mist and Diet Ginger Ale that I drank so I am assuming that would be the case on all ships but not positive due to the vague response from the Access department.

 

 

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We will be on our first cruise since my husband was diagnosed with diabetes. I would really appreciate your opinion of how they handle this. If they are good at handling it we may actually be able to relax a bit instead of worrying the whole time if he's going to feel ok.

We will definitely be conscious of the sugar/carbs but if they are also somewhat on the ball, it will be a bit easier. Thanks in advance and enjoy your cruise.

If you wouldn't mind, can you email me and let me know?

JoAnn dot Nickl at Yahoo dot com

Be aware. The NYC marathon is today when you are getting off the ship. This will probably cause delays in transportation and even more traffic than usual with the extra security. They say there will be 1000's of police officers, uniformed and plain clothes plus CTU and snipers positioned due to the attack in the city a few days ago.

I've really enjoyed following along on your cruise. We board in 6 weeks. I'm getting really excited and thinking about trying a live review this time.

Safe home.

We always tend to overtip, but that's because we spent plenty of time in the service industry.

When we cruise, we make a list of the people we believe should be tipped. Then depending on the length of the cruise, we choose how much we would tip for satisfactory service. I split that in half and write up Thank you cards to be given on day 1 with half of the cash tip in it. The note usually says something like "Thank you in advance for making our cruise special." We include our names, room number, and reservation number. At the end of our cruise, the second thank you card goes with a note saying how much we appreciated the fantastic cruise and the other half of the tip. Plus we tend to tip a bit more during the cruise when someone goes above and beyond what is expected.

I'm not saying that you should do what we do, but we've never had poor service.

Please let me also point out that if after giving out the first tip envelopes our service was anything less than we expected, our extra cash tip would be reduced. But we would never remove the DSC.

I disagree that tipping on the front-end is construed as an insult to a service professional. As a very seasoned traveler, I prefer exceptional service over "satisfactory" service any day of the week. As such, I always give a 20 to my room steward upon our first meeting when I request more/better pillows, a plush robe, ice at both am/pm service, and any other little extra requests I may have. I also give various other staff members a generous tip on day one- ensures a better table at dinner, a better pour at the bar, etc.

If you'd like to call it a bribe, well, that's your prerogative. I'll sit back comfortably in my plush robe, stiff drink in hand, feeling happy on the inside knowing I scratched their backs and in return, they scratched mine;-)

 

 

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I really wish there was a like button!

We're heading into the home stretch now. A few days before the end of the cruise, we received our disembarkation pamphlet. You can see a copy here:

 

http://www.evernote.com/l/AFibvu0upBxNBbsgRv5mIIy7N6GUkgjAZlI/

 

We chose the color Purple because it was one of the earliest non-elite disembarkation times. October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, so we gave brief consideration to Pink. Mostly though, we chose purple because it was at 9:00 AM and that should be easy to remember.

 

Some of you may think that we chose the color purple in honor of the 1985 period drama, "The Color Purple," which was nominated for eleven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actress for Whoopi Goldberg and Best Supporting Actress for both Margaret Avery and Oprah Winfrey. It failed to win any of them, tying the record set by 1977's The Turning Point for the most Oscar nominations without a single win. That wasn't the reason, although being our luggage tag color is almost as good as winning an Oscar.

Thank you for mentioning breast cancer awareness month. If anyone has read my past two Haven reviews, they have followed along on my journey from my diagnosis in July 2015, to my treatments, and then my Build-A-Boob reconstructions. It's been interesting to say the least. I am just over 2 years since my first chemo treatment and I tried an experimental treatment to keep my hair from falling out. It sucked, but it worked. Caps that were 32 degrees below zero Celsius for over 7 hours each treatment hurts so bad. Imagine the worst ice cream headache times a million that doesn't go away for 7 hours. Once you get used to it, it's time to put on a new frozen cap. Breast Cancer treatment was actually not as bad as I feared. They now have meds to keep you from getting sick from the meds. I actually gained weight! And we were able to take our first 14 day Haven cruise 2 weeks after my last of 4 treatments.

I also had Leukemia at 15 and lost my hair then. That was mentally tougher than the 3 years of intense treatment. And a wig isn't the same as keeping your hair. Honestly, wigs sucked.

And they didn't have the same preventive medicine then (30 years ago) so I was near death more times than I care to count.

Anyway, thanks again for mentioning Breast Cancer Awareness.:D And sorry for hijacking your post.

We always tend to overtip, but that's because we spent plenty of time in the service industry.

When we cruise, we make a list of the people we believe should be tipped. Then depending on the length of the cruise, we choose how much we would tip for satisfactory service. I split that in half and write up Thank you cards to be given on day 1 with half of the cash tip in it. The note usually says something like "Thank you in advance for making our cruise special." We include our names, room number, and reservation number. At the end of our cruise, the second thank you card goes with a note saying how much we appreciated the fantastic cruise and the other half of the tip. Plus we tend to tip a bit more during the cruise when someone goes above and beyond what is expected.

I'm not saying that you should do what we do, but we've never had poor service.

The contracts run 6 months and I think the current run is to end of March exactly. I think April and October are the cast changes. Since it is on for December ( my next cruise) I think you are good to be in the end of this block. Glad to meet another super fan! Any way, I will try to remember to ask someone if my theory is correct. Watch for me to post December 3-15!

Actually, it was a friend/cast member from another show that told me (in April) that by years end Broadway star, Second City, and ROA are gone from Breakaway. Sure enough Broadway Star ended in June.

Here is my (edited to protect the performer) communication with him from FB messenger:

"Broadway star show is ending on the Breakaway in June. Rock of Ages and second city is ending by end of the year too. I don't know what they're replacing all of these shows with though."

I am looking to book Breakaway the last week in March 2018. I have been unable to find out if Rock of Ages will still be on the ship. This is an absolute MUST for me. It's actually the entire reason we sail the Breakaway. Can anyone 100% confirm or deny if Rock of Ages will be still going on?

I am very sorry to say that I heard from a reliable crew member that the Rock of Ages show on Breakaway will done by years end.

Totally agree. Our experience is limited to the Breakaway and an H2 suite, but we agree that we would rather cruise once a year in the Haven than take 2 non Haven cruises. Especially in the winter months where the outdoor areas are basically off limits for 3 of the days.

 

I've noticed a difference in thought on this question between people who book in the Haven courtyard and those with Haven suites outside the Haven. Those of us that stay in the Courtyard get accustomed to the peace and quiet and seeing the same faces as you come and go and catching up on the day over a drink at the bar. It really is a ship within a ship feeling and gives you the benefits of both a big and a smaller ship.

 

For us, we enjoy venturing out of the Haven for activities, meals, etc, but it is just so shockingly loud and crowded (which I totally understand). We have noted on several occasions that if we had to stay in that area 24/7 we would likely not view our vacation as favorably.

 

For those staying outside the courtyard I wonder if they are just more used to that environment such that shifting non-Haven isn't that much of a big deal? I also agree that have Latitude perks can certainly soften the blow. I guess everyone has there in calculus for this question but for us, it's Haven Courtyard or nothing.

 

 

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We were also in the Haven 2 bedroom suite within the courtyard although one floor down on deck 15. I like being on 15 with all the Haven trimmings on 16. It seems a bit quieter there as only people that were staying in those rooms were generally the only people in that hallway.

Having loaded up on drinks, and armed to the teeth with high quality, American-made Glow Sticks, we headed up the GLOW Party. (It's always in CAPS. Is it an acronym? If not, can we have a contest to determine what G-L-O-W stands for?)

 

 

 

At GLOW-Minus 10, people begin to file in.

 



At GLOW-Minus-6, it's pretty packed. Is there a secret elevator bank I don't know about?

 



Cruise Director Andre begins to psych up the crowd.

 

 



This is absolutely not a cropped photo from before it got crowded, used to give the impression that we were moving around the party.

 

GLOW= Get Lit On Water!

I am a day behind, so I didn't read if anyone else chimed in. :D

BTW..."Lit" is what all the cool kids are saying. Or so I've heard. Lol

I get what you're saying. We loved our mini suite with the large balcony on our 1st Breakaway cruise in October a few years ago. But if we are sailing out of NYC in a cold weather month, November-February, we will only do the Haven. The retractable roof courtyard area with the pool gives us a full cruise with good weather.

We will be cruising on our 4th Breakaway cruise in December, 3rd time in the Haven. It's worth it to us. IMHO

Thanks for the live review. We are sailing Breakaway again in December and I am also interested in the internet plans.

Enjoy your cruise!:D

Fascinating. I was almost going to switch our Bayamo reservation to Le Bistro, partly to have Veuve Clicquot that was included in the UBP. Good thing I skipped it!

 

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Sometimes I just don't think the servers understand what is covered under the UBP. Every time we have gone to Le Bistro in the past few years, I ordered the Vueve champagne and it was covered on the plan. We also find the service in there can be hit or miss. We went twice on our last 13 night cruise and the first time was superb. The 2nd time was really slow. I mean glacial slow. After over 2 hours we still hadn't received our main courses and we had the earliest reservations the had! (530?) We almost walked out (we had the UDP) and our mains showed up after 7pm. Our daughter was not happy. She really wanted to be at Splash Academy for the special event and wound up missing it.

Newbie Cruiser,

Your "cruise bug" in your signature gets me every time! I almost woke up my DH with my freaked out reaction just now! Lol!

Pool deck: Main pool, family pool, kids play area, and waterslides

 

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I noticed in one of your earlier pictures that the main pool was adults only until 5, maybe 5:30. Did you ever see children in the main pool in the evening? My 10 year old daughter is fine with the kids pool, but I'd much rather be in the main pool if we were allowed.

Shame on your family for leaving you behind.

 

 

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^^100 % agree with this^^

Hey JoAnn how are you doing??

 

 

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I'm great Suzanne. Breakaway December 15th. Come join us!!

I personally found the show a bit too long for my liking. There is just so much tap dancing that one can take.

 

 

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I was wondering what would put someone over the edge and decide to walk out. Your description of the tap dancing puts it in perspective. I get lots of migraines and I can just imagine the tap-a-tap-tap would be just enough to push me over the edge. Lol

By a show of hands, who wants a "cheese explainer?"

 

No one? Okay, here you go.

 

Queso de Cabra is a soft goats' milk cheese. If you like Chevre or similar cheeses, you'll like this. (The literal translation is "cheese of the goat."

 

Manchego is sheep's milk cheese. Think Jarlsberg or a nuttier Swiss with finer lacing.

 

Idiazabal is made from raw sheep's milk. The eagle-eyed among you might notice that this cheese is missing from the chef's selection or mixto plate. A common cheese that would be a good substitute would be Gouda. Like Gouda, Idiazabal comes in both smoked and unsmoked varieties. (Or in the case of today, not at all.)

 

Mahon is made from cows' milk. It's a semi firm cheese that I'd describe, taste wise, as a cross between Parmesan and Cheddar.

 

Each cheese costs $3. Or, you can order the chef's selection for $11, saving $1 over the per cheese pricing. You would think that the mixto would give you all four cheeses. You would be wrong. You get three cheeses. Perhaps the chef has selected to pocket the extra two bucks. (You'll have to wait until the Friday Pincho's review to see if today's three cheese sampler was an oversight.)

 

 

My only comment can be"....mmmm, cheese....drool....":D

Really enjoying your review! The pictures are fantastic.

If you happen to see Tracie again (meet and greet organizer), please tell her I said Hi! :D

Hope you have a fabulous rest of your cruise.

I think I am beginning to understand, so not unlike flying, the cruise line takes your "checked" baggage and as you wait for your cabin to be ready, your only walking around with which ever "carry on" that you elected to. You could just "check" everything? and have all of it delivered to your cabin? or do you go to a central area to recover your luggage once cabins are ready and they've scanned them to their satisfaction?

Your checked bags will be delivered to your stateroom usually within a few hours.

The conclusion. I was awake at 4:30am so I went to front desk to ask for a refund. The night manager Pierre was great. He asked me what time we were leaving for the port. I told him 10am He thought for a minute and said " no worries, I will have someone drive you in the hotel car. So at 9:45 We went downstairs and the valet lot was empty except for a Range Rover. I asked for Kerwin. He had a valet grab our bags and put them in the Range Rover. After a few quick illegal turns against the flow of traffic we arrived at the port 15 minutes later. The hotel came up BIG. I appreciated the way they solved my problem. I am just hoping others had success.

 

 

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Glad it worked out so well! Kudos to the hotel.

Did you get your Vibe passes?

We bring our own hole puncher and do it carefully so as not to get the magnetic strip. It passes time while waiting to board and you'd be surprised how many people you will meet when they see you are doing it. We punched around 20 cards for others before and whenever we bumped into them on the ship it was always pleasant.

And then call the travel insurance company to start the claim. Best of luck and thoughts and prayers for your cousins speedy recovery.

On the subject of smoking in the casino...if the casino is closed, can you still smoke in there? When we cruised a few years ago on Breakaway, it was disembarkation day and the lines to get off the ship were snaking all over. We we waiting in the Casino and a woman lights up right next to our daughter who may have been 6 at the time. We were flabbergasted. My daughter was coughing and coughing, even after we had moved her. They lady looked annoyed that she was coughing. I don't even think there were ashtrays out anymore. Needless to say my husband had a few choice words for her.:o