HelenaCruiser2012

An update - I called NCL and the customer svc agent said that the account is settled at the end of the week, and that they will use the OBC before ththe cash. That's exactly what we were hoping to hear. She also said that we'll need t fund the account with $300 per person but we know on our Star cruise we were told that we could fund it with whatever amount we wanted to.

Does anyone know if we can we can set up the cash onboard account at the port when we check in or do we have to wait until we board and do it at Guest Services?

We're on the same cruise, and live about 40 miles from Halifax, so I hope not ! ;)

LOL OK for your sake we'll hope either for Bermuda like originally planned or somewhere down south!

Thanks for the input. The good thing is that we'll be happy wherever we wind up, a vacation is a vacation and we'd rather be safe anywhere than in the path of a storm.

DH and I were just wondering, has a Bermuda or Caribbean cruise during hurricane season ever changed their itinerary and gone to Canada to avoid a storm? We keep joking that we're wind up in Halifax instead of Bermuda in two weeks. :cool:

Thanks very much for your input. We've always used cash for the OBC so we'll do it again this time. The online TA said that the $250 nonrefundable OBC may show up earlier than Tuesday but to count on it being in our account on Tuesday. Since our other $100 nonrefundable OBC is listed, we're planning on putting maybe $300 or $400 additional on the OBC at the pier, but if the TA's OBC doesn't show on our account until Tuesday, will whatever we've already spent come out of the TA's nonrefundable OBC or our initial cash? I'm going to call NCL later today and ask them but my guess is that if I call three times I'll get three different answers. My DH thinks I'll wind up calling the ship directly - he may be right! :)

Hi everyone,

We booked our cruise through a large online TA who had a promotion offering $250 in OBC. The TA told me yesterday that the OBC will show up on our account by the second full sailing day of the cruise, which will be Day 3 (Tuesday) of our upcoming Breakway cruise to Bermuda. We are planning to set up our onboard account with cash. If the TA's OBC doesn't show up until Tuesday, which will get used first, our cash or the TA's non-refundable OBC? FYI we also have $100 in OBC from the NCL MC but that's already showing up in our account and I assume that will be used first.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

Thanks so much for all of the info! Big help. :)

Can anyone recommend any resorts that offer day passes in Bermuda? I've seen one mentioned and have looked around travel boards for info but not finding much. Thanks!

Thanks for the input, I'll check out the online retailers. I remember years ago getting some good deals on perfume in Aruba so I thought Bermuda or the ship might have the same. Good to know!

In your opinion, where can I get a better deal on perfume, Breakaway (I'm assuming there's a shop that sells it) or in Bermuda? If in Bermuda, where? St. Georges, Hamilton, the Dockyard? Or should I just buy it at home before the trip?

Thanks for any info!

Hi Uneamie, We are just off BA and had an awesome cruise. About the only thing I would agree with the OP is that the ships pool and deck are over- crowded. We were a group of 11 and made a standing reservation for 7:30 each night in the Manhattan room and were seated promptly. The wait staff could not have been more attentive to us our waiters name was Bam Bang from Indonesia (request him if he is still on board) he was the best waiter we have ever had to date. Dinners were very good. A tip; if you have the dining package you can use it at the Ocean Blue raw bar for pre-dinner apps and eat like a king and queen starting at 5:30 with no res. We ended up cancelling our reservations at Le Bistro and Mederno for this option instead. You can order unlimited amounts of oysters, jumbo shrimp, stone crabs, lobsters, crap legs, clams etc. Honestly my favorite part of the trip. Every night we met at Shakers for a pre-dinner drinks the bartender Urma was a real sweetheart. After dinner, we would head up to H2O for the evening’s entertainment. If you get there before 9:45 there are four great high tables at the back next to the bar that are elevated above the dance floor IMO best seats in the house. The cocktail waiter we had was Andre and he never let our glasses go empty. He was also our daytime server at H2O. We did Rock of Ages on Wednesday great show, but theatre seats are the most uncomfortable seats at sea. Embarkation was a breeze we arrive around 9am boarded 11:20 group 7 (we are silver latitudes) sadly Vibe was sold out already. We had it last time on BA well worth the extra $. Disembarkation was the fastest we have ever experienced we did the 8am walk off option and were off the ship and cleared customs by 8:20. For an excursion I would recommend contacting Capt. Caleb@ SailBermuda.com for a private catamaran snorkel trip it was about 110pp plus drinks. Boat was brand new and perfect for up to 30 people. We were out most nights till 2am and did not see anyone who was drunk enough to take notice of, however did see a lot of people having a great time dancing the night away. Last tip is to give tips to the staff you spent a small fortune to be on board. Don’t hurt your experience by thinking the staff is tipped enough already with the pre-paid gratuities. Money is a very strong motivator for the staff and the reason I believe we experienced the best from them. We tipped our room Stewart $20 day one-per room, our waiter $40 day one, $20 day four and $40 last day. Urma at Shakers and Andre at H2O we tipped approx $10 per day. Wishing you the best on your cruise.

Thank you so much for your input! Great tips and great attitude. It's a vacation, on a beautiful ship, with three days in Bermuda, how bad can it be? I believe it's like the rest of life, it's all in how you approach it. :)

Thanks everyone for sharing your Breakway experiences. DH and I are booked on her Sept 3rd, Labor Day week. We booked that week in part because it's DH's birthday week and because we thought most school-age kids and college students would be back in school at that point, and we hoped the ship would be a little less crazy. Does that make sense? Or will we be retreating to the sanctity of our cabin or the Thermal Spa all week?

We bring 15' ones from Lowe's that we got for like 4 bucks. They come in basic brown or white.

 

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Perfect, we're always there anyway (we're also near Philly BTW, in Cherry Hill).

It's per order. In addition to continental breakfast items being service-charge free, the fee is also waived if you purchase an extra cost item on the room service menu. (Or at least it was when we last sailed NCL).

Thanks for the answer fshagan, good to know.

Great information, thanks everyone. We'll definitely bring an extension cord that's longer than the one NCL recommended.

Thanks for all of the info and your opinions. We'll do a review after the cruise and let you know how the Thermal Suite was! Hey there's always the Svedka Ice Bar. Really wish BA had a Snow Room!

You can order a hot breakfast (or any other food throughout the day) for a $7.95 delivery charge.

Is that $7.95 per person or per entire room service order?

We're booked in a B6 Large Balcony Room on Breakaway. I called their Special Assistance desk yesterday to see if DH needs to bring his own distilled water and extension cord. They noted our reservation and room #s and said the distilled water will be waiting in our cabin, but that we should bring a 4- or 6-foot extension cord with us. Also said if the bed/table arrangement dosn't work for his CPAP that our cabin steward will be happy do any rearranging. Thought this info might help someone else too.

Thanks BirdTravels and ryarger, you just made us feel better about our Thermal Suite passes. If it feels cool when we walk in, that's what we were hoping for. And a Snow Room sounds WONDERFUL, wish BA had one!

Can we sit on a Thermal Spa lounger with a drink/are alcoholic drinks allowed in there? A glass of wine, a beer (or bucket), a mixed drink? Believe me we're not loud or rowdy! But I could see us spending an hour or so in there every day taking a nap and quietly sipping a drink.

As others have said, it's a hotel. In this case, a very inconveniently located hotel. In theory you can come and go all night long, but in practice, just about everyone is back on board by dinnertime and they just stay there until the next morning. There's probably nightlife somewhere on the island, but it would have to be something pretty amazing to get people off the ship (Harbour Nights may qualify, but we were on the Dawn so not an option). Even the bars/restaurants right in the Dockyard are pretty dead in the evening, in my experience, even though they are just steps away from the ship. The only significant group of people I saw was crew members sitting outside using wifi.

 

The ship will have shows and the casino will be open in the evening. Most people don't care and don't get any benefit out of the fact that the ship is docked overnight.

Wow sorry to hear this! DH and I are just starting to research things to do at night in Bermuda, we're hoping to find a nice, fun type restaurant, a lounge somewhere with music, etc., not necessarily in the big resorts on the island but more local. Does Bermuda have its own type of Uber? Bermuda is beautiful but it's not just open during the day.

Hello, DH and I just watched a YouTube video (by NCL) on the Thermal Spa where the hostess says that upon entering, the first thing you'll notice is heat. She later says that everything in there is focused on different types of heat therapy. We just booked Thermal Spa passes for our September cruise but we probably should've watched this first... It's a September cruise, we're going to be hot anyway, we were hoping that the Thermal Spa would be a respite from heat, we were hoping to walk in and immediately feel the cool, have a cold pool to sink into, etc. Is everything truly hot in there including all of the rooms, pools etc? We liked the idea of the Spa as a tranquil getaway from the rest of the ship but now we're wondering if we should try for a refund. Any thoughts? Thanks for your help!

Thank you everyone! That's exactly the information I was hoping to get and all in one place. We really appreciate you sharing all of your Breakaway knowledge! This is only our third cruise (we had to cancel an RCCL cruise on Allure last year due to health concerns) and we're totally excited to be 65 days out now. We loved being able to drive to the port for our last cruise too, in fact we were off the ship in NYC on Sunday morning and sitting in our church in South Jersey by 11:00 am. There's nothing like travelling to an island paradise without the hassle of coordinating (and paying for) flights and hotel. And DH and I agree that there's no vacation quite like a cruise, totally exciting and romantic and as relaxing as you want it to be.

Quick question for HBCcruiser, do you have a link to that "Amazing Dining Options" table? I'd like to share it with my DH but I'm having trouble keeping it clear enough once I enlarge it.

You're all the best, thanks very much for the info! And yes, it was BirdTravels' review I was thinking of, thanks!

Thanks Sauer-kraut! (y)

Hi all, I have a few questions about Breakaway for our September cruise. I'm sure these topics have been covered here over the years but I'd love to have all of the info in one thread plus have all of the latest information too. I'd really appreciate any help with these, thanks!

• The NCL app - I believe DH and I can use it to call and text each other on the ship. When/how do we set it up, pay for it? Is it $10/pp for the week and are there any additional charges? Can we use it in Bermuda? Do we need to contact our wireless carrier for any reason or will the app work on its own? If we want to text people back home, is that something we need to arrange with our carrier? We get 100 free WiFi minutes on the ship, is that just for web surfing or does that come into play with texting/calling too?
  

• Balcony setup - We have a large balcony cabin (B6), can we request ahead of time that we just have two chairs and a larger round table out there instead of loungers, three chairs etc. that I've seen on YouTube cabin tours? Can we also request ahead of time that the mini fridge be emptied?
  

• Beach Towels - Can we take beach towels off the ship?
  

• Bars - Do any Breakaway bars serve Johnnie Walker Blue and if so, how much is it?
  

• Cabin power - Does any credit-card sized card (like a store loyalty card, old gift card etc.) work to power the lights and a/c in the cabin?
  

• Tips - How much do you usually tip in the MDRs, specialty restaurants, bars etc.?
  

• Restaurants - Is there an exhaustive list somewhere of all of Breakawway's restaurants (complimentary + specialty) and the hours they're open? I also saw a review recently where someone posted many of the menus and I'm having trouble finding it, does anyone know whose review that was or have a link to it?
  

• Thermal Spa - Does Breakaway limit the number of weekly Thermal Spa passes they sell?
  

• Additional Charges - We have the UBP and SDP promotions, I'm confused about what if any extra charges we'll incur onboard. I think that the UBP includes everything up to $15, will we be charged a gratuity on topof every drink we get even if it's under $15? We don't care but just want to know what to expect.
  

Very excited that we're 66 days out! Appreciate any input, thanks!!! :)