tripleboom

Day 4 - Harvest Caye The next morning saw us making our approach in to Harvest Caye. Originally our itinerary was set to be Cozumel - Roatan - Harvest Caye - Costa Maya, but we were made aware of the late itinerary change on the sail date. I'm not sure if it was pier availability in Roatan, or what dictated the change, but it made no difference to us save for having to re-book our off-NCL excursion for Roatan. So save for the mild headache it cause, we were entirely happy to be pulling up to Harvest Caye! Love watching the dock workers doing their thing. Such an impressive, gigantic ballet to get these ships properly docked! We grabbed a light breakfast at the buffet, and then headed ashore. The boys had BIG plans for today. The ship's photographer's were scattered around a few spots on the island, and we managed to find another keeper to take home with us!

One of the areas we struggled with due to the closing of Splash Academy was figuring out how to make our specialty dining package work for us. We could either bring the boys along with us and pay full price for their meals, or they could pick off of the kids' menu, or we could try to figure out some alternative for them. The boys decided they weren't up for fancy dining two nights in a row, so after we left port I ran them up to the buffet while Stacy got ready in the room. By the time I got back with the boys, Stacy was ready to go, and a pretty good movie was just coming on the TV. Earlier in the week I had bought the onboard texting capability for my phone and for Connor's. At a cost of $9.99 each this allowed us to keep tabs on the boys and make sure all was well with them. I wound up having to sign Stacy in to the NCL app on Connor's phone because it required an NCL.com login to work. Not a big deal, but something to be aware of if you intend to text with your kids. Make sure they have the NCL app downloaded AND a sign in before leaving. With the boys settled in for a movie night in the room, Stacy and I headed down to Deck 8 and checked out Moderno. This was our first time dining here. We've had Brazilian steakhouses back in the U.S., but I had heard mixed reviews for Moderno in terms of the quality of the meat. Most commonly I had heard that it was over seasoned and sometimes dry. But since we made no advance reservations, and because I'm not willing to let the internet dictate what I do and don't do, we decided to give it a try tonight. When we arrived they scanned our stateroom card, confirmed we had no reservations for the evening, and said that they should be able to accommodate us still. The restaurant was perhaps half full, so I had hoped accommodating us wouldn't be an issue. I know we could have made reservations, but I prefer to let our moods dictate what we eat, particularly when the ship was far less than full still. At any rate, we were seated, provided the menu... Stacy ordered the strawberry caipirinha (no UBP for us this go round, so this was paid out of pocket) and then allowed to start at the salad bar. Stacy had some very good greens, and I had a few bites of sushi, some meats and cheeses, and few other fillers. Once the sides started coming out, we flipped our tableside cards from red to green and the parade of meats began. I found the bacon wrapped filet to be the best of the bunch with the Brazilian sausage not far behind. Stacy enjoyed the chicken breast. We both agreed that the lamb was pretty sub-par, but overall I did find this to be a good dining experience. I could have eaten the warm cheese bread for my entire main course and been perfectly happy. I had scoped out some of the dessert options from prior sailings, but we were both pleasantly surprised to find a few new additions including this banana caramel meringue tartlet. This was definitely the best dessert I had on this cruise. We left absolutely, miserably, yet delightfully stuffed, but before heading back upstairs and off to bed we swung out to the Waterfront for one last peek at the sunset. Nothing like sunset on a cruise ship. We got back to the room fairly early, cleaned up, and settled in to watch a movie before drifting off to sleep. Tomorrow morning would find us waking up to a day at Harvest Caye, Belize!

Hopefully by now you're already on board or close to it! Enjoy your cruise, @cmecruise1962

By about 1:30 PM we had decided we were all pretty well spent, and decided to head back toward the ship. We could have stayed a little longer, but the boys were definitely tired and ready to head back to the ship. There's a long line of taxis just parked and waiting on site, so we walked out from Mr. Sancho's and immediately caught a minivan cab back to the port. The cab dropped us right on the front drive, but unfortunately the escalators there were out of order, and barricaded off, so we had to head back to the back corner of the mall again to head up the stairs. This did allow us to snap a quick pic at the Cozumel sign. From there it was back across the pedestrian bridge to head toward the ship. There's a pretty nice overlook before you head back down the escalator here that makes for a good photo opp too. Home sweet home! Before too long we were back to the room. We were on Deck 9 forward in a B6 Large Balcony room, so I settled in for some potential pier running observation, and as it would turn out, there would be plenty of action to be seen. By about 4:00 PM the ferry to the mainland/Playa Del Carmen had returned and a good number of our fellow passengers had made their way back to the port. Unfortunately, we wound up being held up as not one but two ambulances had to make their way down the pier to unload some of our fellow guests, and a couple of different families was very tardy getting back as well. There was plenty of rumor going around the ship later during the week as to what caused our very late departure, but at least one story had it that a couple of passengers had rented a Jeep on their own, got into a traffic accident, and wound up severely delayed getting back while they negotiated their release from the police and and a settlement of the damages to the Jeep. Some versions of the story included the American consulate getting involved to aid in negotiating their release. I have no way to verify any of this, but if that doesn't scare you into being extra careful with your in-port decision making, I don't know what will! Eventually we would cast off around 6:30 vs. our originally scheduled 6:00 PM and be on our way. RCL's Liberty of the Seas was not far behind.

Day 3 - Cozumel We knew that 2 out of our 4 port stops were not going to be beach days, so we decided to make sure to enjoy a good, full day at the beach here in Cozumel. I wound up booking us for Mr. Sancho's through Viator. Again, the rebates you can get through RetailMeNot, Rakuten, and similar websites allow for quite a bit of savings if you book at the right time. I happened to book when there was a 20% incentive, and that rebate just came through earlier today via PayPal. The base cost before our cab fare or rebate was $195 for the all-inclusive day. We arrived at Punta Langosta, disembarked, and took the long walk down the pier toward the mall. After heading down the pier you go up an escalator and across a pedestrian bridge over Rafael Melgar Avenue. Once you cross over to the mall area you can proceed to the back, right corner of the mall to a set of stairs that take you back down to the street level, and then proceed toward the center back area of the mall to exit to where the taxis are waiting. The taxi costs are posted, so from Punta Langosta to Mr. Sanchos was $18 one-way plus tip. It's about a 20-25 minute drive from the port to Sancho's, but as always you'll want to be sure to pad that time quite a bit on your return! Once we arrived at Sancho's we were directed to wait in a short line, then presented our Viator print out (I brought a paper copy and a mobile copy for the sake of redundancy), then you're wrist banded and led to your spot for the day. Our waiter, Miguel, was fantastic throughout the day, and would bring drinks out to the water's edge to us if we weren't relaxing at our table beneath our palapa. There were a handful of vendors that made the rounds during our stay offering bracelets, massages, various trinkets, and a mariachi band that would play for tips. The drink and food options were all quite good, and Miguel always seemed to be around to check on us and see if we wanted a refill or a bite to eat. Here's the menus available with the all inclusive package. Highly recommend the, dirty monkey, coconut shrimp, and the chips and guac! It was a little cool in the morning, but before too long the sun came out and stayed out, and it was PERFECT! If you haven't figured it out by now, Landon likes to climb. All the things. So the aqua park was a must do for him. For the extra $12 I was happy to let him run out there for a while.

After hearing from others about a rash of cancellations later in sailings, I wanted to be sure we got to "Six" before anything could happen. We reserved the show shortly after boarding, and arrived early enough to find some decent seats on the aisle. Only after getting home did I notice the gentlemen sitting next to Connor who was inadvertently mean mugging for the picture. Is it just me or is there a slight resemblance here... Looks like just Mike Ehrmantraut from Breaking Bad/Better Call Saul! We had seen Six on the Bliss back in November twice, but the show was SOOOO good that we were definitely up to seeing it again. The show has a couple of double entendres that for SURE flew over our kids' heads, and some of the costumes may be considered racy by some (but no more so than anything that can be seen on the pool deck on any given day 🤪), but compared to the likes of Rock of Ages or Kinky Boots, the show is largely a family friendly one with GREAT music performed by a cast and band of extraordinarily gifted women. Make sure you get to this show. You won't regret it! As we would come to find out later during the cruise, the rest of the Six shows for the week would be canceled due to "technical issues," and I don't think Burn the Floor ever performed for the same reasons (though I'm not 100% sure on that). Entertainment on board was one area that I found lacking on this sailing. Thank goodness we made it to Six or it would have been a solid D+ for the cruise's entertainment. Only one other event later in the week (we'll get there) was half as entertaining. After the show we were BEAT, and knew that tomorrow would be a big day in port. One last swing by the chandelier, and then it was time to hit Cozumel in the morning!

After a nice dinner, we took our tour to stop at a few of the various photographer's stations scattered throughout the ship. The boys moaned and groaned a bit louder with each stop, but in the end we were able to select a few, really good photos for the walls at home. These first three were taken along the curved wall on Deck 8 near the 678 Chandelier. Loved this wall as a backdrop! The photographer here, John Paul, was absolutely wonderful! We bumped into him a few more times throughout the cruise, and even if the boys weren't right with us he would ask how the boys were doing, what we had done in port that day, etc. He really stood out as an excellent, memorable member of the crew Safe to say the boys have grown just a bit since 2019. This final one was ALLLLL the boys' idea. Tough to say if my face was red from the day's sun, or if it was from each boy LEAPING on top of the pile to take his picture. 😅

The daily for today mentioned that photographers would be out roaming about this evening, so we decided tonight would be the night we'd get dressed up and head to a nice dinner with the boys. Honestly, they were really very good, and the kind couple sitting at the table next to us commented on how well behaved they were. This was of course immediately before Landon laid his head on the table and mocked snoring, and Connor made a fart joke. So par for the course for us! The meal was pretty decent tonight too! I opted for the breaded pork chop which was excellent! As would become the theme for this cruise, service was definitely on the slower side. I'm used to the relaxed pace of the meals, but it was another long delay between each course tonight with probably close to 15 minutes passing between our entrees being cleared and the dessert menu arriving, and probably another 20 minutes before dessert arrived. I know from being a curious little nerd that the desserts are basically pre-plated and ready to roll, so this appeared to have come down to a case of understaffing again. I just honestly think they haven't beefed up staffing to pre-pandemic levels yet, and even with an Easter/Spring break cruise like ours, the ship was not staffed sufficiently yet. Hopefully these are just growing pains for the industry during the "Great Cruise Comeback," and not the new norm. This also felt like a place where the lack of Splash Academy really hurt. The boys LOVE the buffet and the plethora of choices it offers. On our 2019 cruise I would take the boys up to the buffet while Stacy readied herself, then we'd drop the boys off at Splash and go enjoy a nice meal at a leisurely pace. Whereas on this cruise it became a point of tension for me. I know plenty of cruisers that would smirk and nod knowingly at the couple of kids that are bored with the pace of service and chuckle as they turn their noses up at the refined food choices, but I also know there's a few that could have their pleasant dining experience spoiled by a couple of squirmy kiddos sitting at the next table over. So I held a fair amount of that tension in me. I know some would say, "that's their problem, not yours," but I think the "Midwest nice" part of me really is hyper aware that I could be inconveniencing or bothering someone else. All that said, and looking back now, the boys were really well behaved and tolerated the more refined vibe of Taste remarkably well. And we looked pretty dapper all dressed up too. Landon refused to give me a nice smile, so I told him that's fine. I'll just post whatever face you make on Facebook and Cruise Critic. He called my bluff. Except I don't bluff. Lots of good options on the dessert menu tonight! But I LOVE me some Boston Cream Pie. NCL's was pretty dang good, but Stacy has her own recipe that's sooooo good. With my birthday coming next Monday, I know what I'll be asking for. 😀

After a few hours on the pool deck we headed back to the room, showered, and got changed. We still had a little bit of time before dinner time, so we let the boys burn off some more of their credit in the arcade. Nothing makes you fear the teenage driving years quite like watching them bounce off every wall and car in their path! My timing on today's posts couldn't be better! One of the boys' favorite games was the Star Wars Battle Pod that allowed the player to be immersed in the cockpit of various Star Wars ships and participate in the epic battles of the movies. It can be yours too for the low, low price of $31,000! 🤪 https://www.joystixgames.com/product/star-wars-battle-pod/ But for only $3 and some change per swipe, this was a budget friendly, immersive game for the boys. Connor even managed to take down the Death Star! The 4th was with him! But hey, if you're more Star Trek than Star Wars, I took a picture for you too 😉

After Landon's adventures on the ropes course, it was starting to get a bit toasty, so we headed back to the room and changed into our swimsuits. I did notice on the last couple of cruises that there weren't beach towels waiting for us in the room. This meant we had to snag the towels at the exchange up on the pool deck. No biggie, but a small change I had noted from past sailings. The ship's photographers were wandering around the pool deck a bit, so we obliged their request and were pleasantly surprised to find a keeper among the photos. 😃 The Deck 15 level was pretty full up, so we ventured up to Deck 16 and found some chairs just above the family pool/slides area. Pretty much direct, hot sunlight, but after an Iowa winter I wasn't about to complain! Stacy and I settled in to read and enjoy the sun while the boys ran off to start enjoying the pool and slides. Some editing was done to this photo to protect the identity of the innocent sunbather behind us. 😆 You can kind of see in this photo just how remarkably calm the water was! Again, we were on Deck where there's nothing to stop the wind at all, and it really felt like only a light breeze. Just wonderful! I stayed dry and would run back and forth to the buffet once in a while to get some water (so thankful for the outdoor drink station at the buffet!) or snacks while the boys had a blast in the water. They eventually talked Stacy into making a couple of trips down the slide with them too. 72 trips down the slides later, and Landon was ready for some ice cream, so I made the first of a billion trips to the soft serve machine. 🍦

They have their moments 😉 Like all parents we're just kinda making it up as we go, but they really are pretty great kids! I think we'll keep 'em around. 😂

After navigating back to the room, the boys changed into their tennis shoes (closed toed and closed heel shoes and shirts with sleeves are required) and headed back to the ropes course. On prior cruises the ropes course was frequently shut down due to high winds, but on this day, a sea day no less, it was open! The winds were remarkably calm for a sea day which was just great! I accompanied Landon back up to see that he got suited up ok. But then Stacy and I split up to take a couple of photos. from different spots on the ship. Stacy took a photo of Landon from just a couple of decks below the plank... But I hauled tail all the way down to The Waterfront to take a picture of Landon from there. You don't really appreciated just how far up the plank is until you're standing on Deck 8 and looking up to take a picture! Yup, that's really him all the way up there!

I failed to mention that. Yes! The very first checkpoint we went through included a check for passports, vaccine cards, AND negative COVID screens within the past 48 hours.

Day 2 - Day at Sea I always love Days at Sea following embarkation as they allow for some much needed extra rest following a couple of hectic days. So we started with a later breakfast at O'Sheehan's. I had the breakfast sandwich a couple of times during our Bliss sailing, and it was just as good as I remembered! Stacy ordered the french toast and requested the hashbrowns, but we were told they were not available for this sailing. Bummer, but the breakfast potatoes were a good alternative (save for the onions, unless you like that sorta thing 😉). After breakfast we had to get down to the Waterfront as we hadn't checked it out yet. I still think this area is one of the greatest strokes of genius NCL had had with the Breakaway, Breakaway+, and now Leonardo class of ships. There's no better place to take in a sunset, sunrise, port departure, etc. The boys loved the little transparent sections toward the aft on The Waterfront. Naturally Stacy needed a pic that showed off her new sandals and fresh polish. Landon decided that he needed to go check out the ropes course again, so we needed to head back to the room. I told Connor he could lead us because I was curious if he could navigate the ship already. Sure enough, he took us from the portside, aft end of Deck 8 at the Waterfront to our cabin on Deck 9, portside forward without any issue. I had to take video just to prove to our Bliss travel companions that the 12 y/o could figure out the ship faster than she could. And Landon was not far behind Connor on figuring out the ship. Poor Sandi took almost the full week to get the hang of it when we were on the Bliss. 😄

Hi again to my fellow cruise lovers! I hope you enjoy my review of the Breakaway! We had an incredible time as a family on this cruise, and I couldn't wait to get home and share our thoughts and review with you all! First off, I always like to introduce our family a bit at the start of my reviews. My wife and I reside in the great state of Iowa where we're raising two boys. I'm employed in the insurance industry, while my wife, a Clinical Laboratory Scientist, runs the lab in a health clinic. We've been married for 14+ years (15 in May!), and have enjoyed five NCL cruises prior to this one (Sky 2011, Sky 2015, Escape 2017, Breakaway 2019, Bliss 2021). Pictured is a family photo from a Florida beach trip back in April of '21. Because we're so far from any cruise port, we typically get to cruise about every 18 months or so if we're lucky. But because of the craziest cruise cancellation (and that's a high bar in the age of global pandemics), we were able to book this cruise shortly after our November Bliss trip. (reviewed here: Basically, we were supposed to sail on the Breakaway in May of 2020 (COVID cancelled), optimistically rescheduled for October of 2020 on the Joy (should have been a bit more pessimistic), and finally rescheduled for the Encore in November of 2021. However, the Encore sailing was canceled at the last minute (four days prior to sailing) due to it being stuck on the wrong side of the Panama canal's bottle neck. We were able to very quickly flip our entire itinerary around from Miami to L.A. to sail on the bliss, but because NCL gave us a full refund AND FCC worth 50% of the canceled cruise's value. So rebooking last minute to the Bliss worked out great, and we had money to spend once we got home. After quite a bit of research during the Black Friday sale, we landed on this April sailing for a family trip with the boys in tow this time around. It coincided with Easter and Spring Break for the boys, so it was perfect! We managed to keep it a secret from the boys until Christmas. They had noticed that there was really only one present under the tree, and it was to both of them, but didn't make any waves or complain. So when the time came to open their gift, things got pretty exciting pretty quickly!