Tralfie

My first-ever cruise was a CTN back in October. (You can read my review in the review in my signature).

 

It was completely different from a "regular" cruise, but I actually loved it. I'm considering doing the 4/4 one as well.

 

It DOES tend to attract people who are basically out to have a great time and cram as much fun into one night as they possibly can. That means a LOT of drunk people. This really didn't bother me at all, though. I had a great lunch, gambled, saw fun shows, did a little dancing... it was a great chance to see what this ship has to offer. In fact, having sailed on the Breakaway earlier this month, when it came time to book my next cruise, I decided — based on my CTN — that I wanted to do the Gem for a week.

 

Richard/tralfie

Okay, I'm booking the Gem in September and need a bit of help.

 

At the moment, I'm deciding between a midship balcony or an aft-facing balcony, both on deck 9, most likely. Here's my question:

 

On the Breakaway, which I just did a few weeks ago, the aft-facing balconies were huge, especially given how small the regular balconies on that particular ship are. Is the same true on the Gem? I was reading cabin reviews here on the boards, and couldn't tell... some seemed to indicate that the aft-facing balconies aren't bigger, the only benefit being (and it's certainly one I love) being able to look out at the aft.

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Richard/Tralfie

T

One more question...did you book shows ahead of time? Seems kinda silly for just one seat.

 

 

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I think you're making the right call. I found there to be plenty of space, especially once you moved away from the main pool area. I try to stay out of the sun because I have melanoma issues, but I found lots of places where you could sit in or out of the sun.

 

I DID book my seats ahead of time, mainly because I just wanted to make sure that I actually had one. But I wound up missing most of the shows. I saw Rock Of Ages on the night I had it reserved, and had a great seat in the front row! (But there were plenty of other places to sit, especially just one person.)

 

Richard

Tralfie, great review! I'll be on the Breakway solo on April 27 and it was super-helpful. One question...was Vibe really worth it? A lot of people say there's enough adults-only space in Spice H2O, plus it looks like there's a nice area near the Vibe? I definitely want a Spa pass, just trying to decide whether I need that AND a Vibe pass.

 

Great question.

 

If you think you would use the spa, I'd say get that and NOT the Vibe. While I did buy the Vibe pass, I really only used it one day. It's a GREAT area, and it's nice having the hot tubs away from the crowds. But the nice thing about the spa pass is that you'd be able to use it all week, rain or shine, good weather or bad. I'm not really a spa person, so if I was to do this ship again, I'd consider the Vibe pass again... especially if I was going at a time of year when it was more conducive. I mean, sailing out of NYC in early March, we obviously lost the first and last day as far as hanging outside.

DO IT.

 

I planned my Breakaway trip (the review of which is in my signature) for about a year. And there were times when I got very nervous... would I regret traveling solo? Would I get lonely? Would feel self-conscious?

 

In the final analysis? It was probably the best trip I've ever taken, with or without people, in my entire life.

 

One reason? The fact that I was active in my Cruise Critic Roll Call in the months leading up to it. By the time I walked into the Meet & Greet, I was psyched to meet people and had others who were excited to meet me. I wound up having people ask me to join them for dinner, I had drinks with people, heck, I wound up having a great time with Tita, from the boards, who wound up in the aft-facing balcony next to mine!

 

It was, in short, awesome. So again, I return to those two words:

 

Do it!

 

Got questions?

 

Ask away!

 

Ricahrd/Tralfie

Thanks for such a great review! Very entertaining!

 

 

 

Question- did you take both? Did you alternate? I usually take Bonine each morning of the cruise, which works most of the time, but I'm always on the lookout for something that always works. :)

 

 

I actually DID take both. I figured it was better to err on the side of caution! I actually took them both twice a day. And not a bit of sickness!

I noticed a group of people talking with Richard/Tralfie. This was our first chance we had to get to talk with him. We made our way over and hit it off with Richard right away. After collecting our winnings we went to a bar and had some great conversation for about an hour or so. Richard was a blast and every bit as funny in real life as he was on his posts. This was just the first of many run ins we had with Richard throughout the cruise.

 

!:D

 

 

Wow, I'm so glad you liked Richard/Tralfie. I thought he was... I don't know, okay, I guess. I expected more. Or maybe less. He's a LOT to take in!

 

:)

 

LOVING the review. It takes me right back. It's interesting that unlike a lot of my vacations in the past, this one has really stayed with me. I can close my eyes and be RIGHT back there, having drinks with you guys...

I was on this same sailing... I said the same thing about pictures when I wrote my review. "What in the world could I post that hasn't already been posted?" LOL

 

Nice job!

 

Richard/Tralfie

The lagoon is gorgeous... and the water is warmer than it is on the main beach, because it is a lagoon instead of a tidal-influenced body of water. While I was on GSC, I was invited to spend the afternoon with friends who had rented one of the small cabanas. The lagoon is quieter... quite peaceful, because most people don't go beyond the main beach. Snorkeling wise, honestly? There really doesn't seem to be much good snorkeling here. But I love snorkeling, so ANY snorkeling is good snorkeling. LOL

 

Richard/Tralfie

 

Also, if one person in your cabin gets the UBP, ever adult has to have it. So if one of you doesn't drink, it's a waste of money.

 

Interestingly, it wasn't the spring breakers who were drunk and disorderly during my cruise. We had a fair number of them, and they were really very well behaved. Honestly? Most of the "disturbances" I witnessed were from folks my age or older who'd had a bit too much and were ticked off about something. I watched one many go OFF on a bartender in the casino because she wouldn't give him a bottle of water. She offered him a glass of water, but said that, like on land, the bottled water wasn't free. He threw a massive hissy fit.

 

Also interestingly, the whole "everyone in the room" thing seems to be... unevenly enforced. I've read reviews from people who were told that, and I've read reviews from others who said only one person in the room had it!

 

Richard

Thanks for the well thought out response. I'm really torn on the beverage package, my analytical side says it takes X number of drinks to break even and I just don't see myself blowing the number out of the water, however, it does seem like there is some psychological currency involved with the idea of "I'm on vacation, I don't want to worry about $$$".

 

Exactly. Had the package been available on my cruise, I would have bought it... no questions asked. Whether it wound up being worth the money or not, just knowing that it was already paid for would have been worth it. I paid the cruise off in advance, I paid the gratuities in advance, the dining plan, the soda package... I wanted to have as much pre-paid as possible.

 

Richard/tralfie

Off to a great start! I can't wait to read more!

 

I hear you met a particularly awesome dude on this voyage. :)

 

One question I had was about the Beverage Package. Looking back (had it been available) would you have taken it? Do you think it would have changed anything you did and would it have made sense financially?

 

Thanks in adavance.

 

Another great question.

 

One thing I wouldn't have done had I gotten the beverage package (which I DO plan to get for my Gem voyage in September) is buy the bottle of whiskey for the room. I mainly bought that BECAUSE I couldn't get the ultimate beverage package.

 

The question then becomes, would it have been worth the money if the package had been available? And the honest answer is I don't know.

 

NOBODY is more surprised than me by how much I DIDN'T drink on this cruise. I mean, I'm not saying I'm a lush, but... well, I do enjoy drinking! I can't decide if I drank less on this voyage because I was conscious of the fact I was paying for each cocktail (although honestly, being worried about money and budgets is SO not me... I generally spend it now, figure out how to pay it later!) or if I just didn't feel like it. I tend to think it's the former. I drank soda a lot of times when, had I had the drink package, I suspect I would have had a drink.

 

That said, I'll add this: Drinks are crazy reasonably priced, at least for someone who is used to paying Manhattan prices.

 

Richard/Tralfie

 

One thing I need to ask though: on two occasions you mentioned that you skipped planned dinner in a speciality restaurant - did you cancel the reservations or just didn't show up?

 

Great question.

 

One of each. One time, I went to the restaurant, said I wasn't hungry, could I move it, they said no problem. The other time, I simply didn't show up. (I may have even been sleeping.) It doesn't really seem to create much of a problem. The only time I wasn't able to be seated was one night when I went around 8 and was asked to come back an hour later. For me, that's never an issue... I'll either gamble or have a few drinks until it's time.

 

At no point did the specialty restaurants really seem "full", which I thought they might given the Ultimate Dining Plan. It seems as if what's happened is that they have helped spread the wealth between all the restaurants, and in the process, helped (at least a bit) with crowding in the main dining rooms.

 

Richard/Tralfie

And now... without further commercial interruption... the conclusion of my review:

 

DAY 5 (Nassau, Bahamas)

 

Another day, another adventure.

 

Today, we arrived bright and early in Nassau. When looking at the various excursions available during the week, I knew I wanted to do one thing: Snorkel. So when I'd gotten on board that first day -- which seemed oh so long ago by now! -- and gone to the Shore Excursions desk, I had it in mind that I'd book the latter of two available excursions, which would leave at 11:30 a.m. But the very helpful person I dealt with that first day admitted that most people preferred the 9 a.m. excursion.

 

But... but... what of sleeping in?

 

Taking the rep's advice, I booked the 9 a.m. excursion, figuring, "You'll sleep when you're dead!"

 

Awakening as we arrived in Nassau, I sat on my balcony and watched the process of tying the boat to the dock, which was really interesting. You'd think there'd be a more modern process available than pull the line, tie it to a truck, make things tight. It was also interesting to watch the dynamic between the three men who were dealing with this process on shore. Two of them were working their butts off, and the third was... well, definitely not. Even from a distance, I could tell the hard-workers were glaring at the non-worker. I imagined the no-doubt obscenity-laden conversations they were having about him... what can I say, I have an active imagination!

 

Anyhoo, got off the boat and stood with my group for the excursion. As we all signed the waiver and then walked to where we would be meeting the catamaran which would take us out to the reef, I started to think, "Geez, there's a LOT of people on this excursion. That boat is going to be packed!" But when we actually arrived at the pier (after, I might add, walking past the most gorgeous yacht I've ever seen in my life), TWO catamarans pulled up and they separated us into two groups. It became clear pretty quickly that they were breaking us up into "young, party" types and "older, more sedate types."

 

It hurt my one-day-away-from-turning-50 soul to be placed in the second group!

 

It took about 25-30 minutes for the catamaran to reach the reef. I was sprawled out on the webbed front of the boat, and at a certain point, we started going through waves. Water would splash up through the webbing, cause people to squeal at its coldness. Figuring I was going to be diving into the water soon enough, I just enjoyed it... and I looked backwards to see the captain, who had a wild grin on his face. It was pretty clear he was purposefully heading into the waves in order to hear everyone squeal.

 

He instantly became my new favorite person.

 

The crew was ridiculously friendly and, it's worth mentioning, ridiculously attractive. I mean, geez, as if I wasn't already feeling self-conscious about stripping down to my bathing suit in order to snorkel, hoping I wouldn't be mistaken for a manatee or a whale and harpooned! They distributed snorkeling gear...

 

... oh, sidenote! Remember way back on day 1 I talked about the fact that my luggage was basically the size of the ship itself? Well, my original plan had been to take along snorkeling gear I'd found down in our basement storage area. My housemate had, at some point, bought top-of-the-line mask, breathing tube and flippers. Sadly, despite having a suitcase bigger than some objects classified as planets, I couldn't fit the gear in. So I wound up using the excursion's gear. It wasn't nearly as nice as the stuff I'd left at home, but it was perfectly serviceable.

 

Getting into the water was a bit of a process. Rather than being able to just sort of jump off the side of the boat, as I'd done on my one previous snorkeling excursion a decade earlier, they had us one-by-one go down a set of steps, sit on the bottom step to slip our fins on, and then enter the water. This wouldn't have been bad... except for the fact that we had a lot of kids on board. And most of these were not of the "I'll try anything... lemme at it!" sort, but rather the get-to-the-bottom-step-and-then-freak-out-about-getting-into-the-water sort. And unfortunately, the parents weren't smart enough -- or considerate enough -- to say, "Let's let all these other folks get into the water first, then deal with forcing my child to have a good time."

 

This wouldn't really be a big issue except for the fact that we had one hour of snorkel time, and the crew had announced that time started when the first (not last) person got into the water. In any case, I wound up being one of the last to get in, not that I minded. I tended to swim away from the group, who weirdly largely did that "stay together" thing despite no instructions to do so. Maybe they figured, "Hey, if we all stay together, the odds of me getting eaten by a rogue shark are less..."

 

Saw a fair amount of fish. Not nearly as many or as exotic as my excursion 10 years ago in St. Thomas, but it was still a whole lotta fun. Once we were all out of the water, we sailed back. The music being played as we sipped rum punch was...um... I'm gonna go with "wildly annoying." But I didn't really care, because I was on a boat, zipping across the sea, looking at the big, gorgeous houses we passed and dreaming of one day owning one of them.

 

Arriving back on shore, I walked back to the boat, changed clothes, and then disembarked again in order to wander aimlessly around Nassau. On Marlborough Street, I found a restaurant whose name promised exactly what I was looking to try: Conch Fritters Grill! I ordered up a plate of the dish I'd heard about but never tried, and they were absolutely fantastic!

 

Amusing (I hope) sidestory: Sitting next to me at the restaurant was this guy who looked like the worst nightmare of every teenaged girl. Stoner, biker, drinking from a flask he didn't really bother to be discrete with. A girl sat down on the other side... cute, probably 20 or so. He struck up a conversation with her and she IMMEDIATELY became clearly smitten. Even as he talked about the two children he neither visited nor supported. His tale of not one or two but three stints in rehab left her practically swooning. I kept kinda hoping her parents -- whom she'd said were shopping nearby -- walked up, because oh, did I want to see their reaction! Sadly, they never did...

 

Back on the boat, I took a nap before dinner. Earlier in the day, I'd crossed paths with Steve (not Bob) and Ann, who'd asked if I'd like to have dinner with them that evening. I said sure, told them to pick a restaurant and leave me a message. Returning to my room, I had a message from Ann. I called her back, and she said that Steve was in the casino. (This was, by the way, the moment when I realized his name was Steve and not Bob... for a second, I was like, "Who is this Steve she keeps talking about, and why do I care where he is?") We made arrangements to meet for dinner at Teppanyaki.

 

Moment of honesty: Teppanyaki was the one specialty restaurant on board I had no interest in and had planned to skip entirely. But since they'd made the reservation, I thought, "Okay, let's give it a try!" And man oh man, am I glad I did. The chef's show was just outstanding. Unlike anything I'd ever seen (although Steve, who'd done Teppanyaki type restaurants before, said it was really not the best he'd seen). The food was outstanding. As the chef was making the veggie starter, I was thinking, "Um, yeah. I don't eat veggies." I took a bite to be polite... and then had to be restrained from stealing Steve and Ann's portions. It's also worth mentioning that the chef did something I really loved: As he was doing his running spiel of jokes, his references varied. Sometimes, he talked about his girlfriend. Sometimes, he talked about his boyfriend. This may seem odd or like a little thing, but it was incredibly cool to hear someone doing this in SO inclusive a way.

 

After dinner, I went to do a little more gambling, and then changed into my 80's outfit -- hey, I told you I brought a big suitcase! -- and headed up to the Awesome 80's Party at Spice H2O. there were supposed to be fireworks, but because of the wind creating safety issues, they were postponed until the next night. (Or so we thought... the next evening, they wound up being postponed, too.)

 

Around 10 p.m., I headed to the theater to see Rock of Ages. Wound up sitting in the front row... coincidentally, right next to Steve and Ann! (I say "coincidentally", but for all I know, they were stalking me. Sure, they got there first, but maybe they were REALLY good at the whole stalking thing!)

 

Having seen Rock of Ages several times on Broadway, I have to say, this cast was very good. Oh, a little tip for people who have heard all the complaints that the show is too loud: Sit in the first few rows. As with a lot of theaters, the sound-amplifying speakers tend to be further back so as to let people in the rear half of the theater hear. Sitting in the front, it's not loud at ALL. In fact, I wanted it to be louder. But it WAS kinda cool, because whenever they came to the edge of the stage, it was as if they were singing just for us. At one point, one of the performers was making hysterically sexual gestures toward Ann... much to Steve and I's amusement (and hers).

 

Wound up unable to resist the allure of the casino, so went down and gambled for a while. Then, needing a little late-night snackage, I went to O'Sheenan's. The nice thing about this is that not only is it open all night, but you can get stuff to go. Sure, it's a limited menu, but at 1 a.m., all I wanted was an order of wings and some fish & chips to go! Took them back to the room, munched, and then hit the way.

 

 

DAY 6 (Sea Day)

And here, poodles, is where this particular itinerary won my heart. During the first five days, I was all about getting up early, going to shows, doing excursions... but the next two days would be sea days. As a result, expect the rest of this review to be rather zippy, because what I did the most of was relax. This particular morning, I woke up, realized I had just turned 50... and decided that deserved a couple more hours sleep. I did, however, at least get up and move... from the bed to a lounger on the balcony!

 

I spent almost this entire day reading and napping. In other words: It was awesome. Eventually, I made my way to dinner... that's right, there really was nothing interesting to report the rest of the day! Went to Cagney's again, where I met a really fantastic couple who happened to be seated near me. We had a great conversation about everything from politics to travel, and I had yet another fantastic meal (exactly the same as my first Cagney's meal, except I subbed the baked potato for the Cagney's fries... which I didn't love, to be honest.) As the fireworks were cancelled yet again (big surprise, as the seas were getting rougher, I went down to the casino where...

 

... HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME! I hit a $1,000 jackpot on the dollar Western Stars machine. I actually didn't even realize it. For those who don't know, Western Stars has a bunch of fun bonus rounds. Poker hands, shooting bottles, etc. So I was going up ($200 bonus!) and down (Bar... Bar... 7. Nada!), and then all of a sudden, I got three symbols marked 2X. I looked up and said, "Oh, I just won $250." But it kept going past $250, and I realized that no, $250 was if you were playing one credit. I was playing three. I'd won a thousand bucks!

 

Of course, I gambled for a couple more hours, but I still walked away with $800 of my $1,000 jackpot. And it was as I was exiting the casino and walking toward the elevator that I realized the ship was REALLY rocking!

 

By the time I got to my room, things had gotten fairly intense. We were in 25-30 foot waves, and of course, I was in an aft-facing balcony. For those not in the know, the very front and very back of a ship are, of course, the worst places to be during a storm. The middle basically stays fairly flat while the two ends go up and down like a teeter-totter. Looking out the window at the waves, it was rather like something out of The Perfect Storm... minus George Clooney. Surprisingly, despite having a penchant toward motion sickness, I didn't get sick at all. I thank my twice-a-day doses of Bonine and Nauzene.

 

That's not to say I slept, because I didn't. I was lying in bed listening as things crashed all around me in surrounding rooms. (I'd pretty much made sure anything that should be secured was before climbing into bed.) A while back, I'd read a post here from someone who'd done 39 cruises, but had hit rough seas on her latest and declared it would be her last. At the time, I'd thought, "Wow, you'd let one bad night take away something you'd enjoyed so much?"

 

Um, well, actually, I didn't think it, I posted it. And she (or someone else, I can't remember) responded, "Just wait until YOU have a rough night!"

 

Well, here was my rough night. And I have to say, it was kinda... cool. Remember back in the 70's and early 80's when a lot of movies like Earthquake and Midway came in "Sensurround", with the theater vibrating so you could feel like you were in the middle of whatever disaster was unfolding? That's what this felt like. I was lying in my bed as it wildly tilted one way and another... sort of like one of those bucking bronco's you can ride, but this one vertical.

 

I finally dozed off around 5 a.m... so of course, the captain came on at 6 a.m. to assume everyone we weren't going to be pulling a Poseidon Adventure and flipping over. My words, not his. But you get the drift. I guess you can tell it's not exactly normal seas when the captain comes on at 6 a.m. to sooth frayed nerves...

 

DAY 7 (Sea Day)

If possible, I did even less today than yesterday. At some point, I roused myself out of bed and joined Tita and her son for some Bingo. I later wandered into the atrium to use the Internet Café, which I'm proud to say I rarely did. I bought the 200 minute package at the start of the trip, and only used about 30 minutes of it... usually to check and see how things were back home, and to find out what I'd be walking into when I got back to work.

 

As I sat checking my E-mail, the Who's The Boss? game was being played in the atrium. For those who've never seen this, it's basically The Newlywed Game, but for parents and children. It is also absolutely hysterical. At one point, when the parents were ushered off stage so the children could answer questions, the kids were asked, "What's something embarrassing that your mom or dad do often?" One little girl answered, "Fart." Needless to say, the audience just about died laughing. But even better, when the parents were brought back, the father, when asked the question, got a sheepish look and said, "Probably pass gas. I'm doing it right now."

 

In the early evening, they had a Q&A session with both our captain and the hotel director. Obviously, a lot of people asked about the previous night's weather. But the best question came from someone who said, "If we were to just keep sailing, which would run out first: The booze, the fuel or the liquor?" The hotel director smiled and said, "Normally, I'd say the fuel... but the way you people have been eating this week, I'm not so sure!"

 

Immediately following this presentation (in the Breakaway Theater) was the international Crew Talent Show. It was crazy cool to see various members of the crew whom you might not even notice during the day (a waiter, say, or maybe someone who works in the back office) take to the stage and belt a tune. And the love they were shown by the audience was... well, flat-out awesome.

 

One of the folks who performed was Scooter, one of the assistant cruise directors, and I really want to give him a very special shout-out. Dan The Man was our official cruise director, but it was Scooter who seemed ever-present. He taught us dances and got us to do them during the various parties at Spice H20. He sang a great number during the International Crew Talent Show. While Dan was the voice we'd hear making announcements, it was Scooter who did the actual entertaining. I made sure to fill out one of the "My Cruise Hero" cards giving him a shout-out, because he really was the star of this ship.

 

Around 8 p.m., I headed to Cagney's for one last steak dinner. (I was on the Ultimate Dining Package, and I have to say, it was completely, totally, one million percent worth it). The very nice hostess said she couldn't fit me in at that moment, and asked if I could come back in an hour. No prob... this gave me time to do what I'd been putting off all day: pack.

 

Sob.

 

After doing so, I went back to Cagney's and had a fantastic meal. My server tried his best to get me to order the oreo cheesecake, knowing I'd been jonesing it all week, but I was just too full! "Order it and just take a bite," he suggested with an evil, enabling smile. But I just couldn't do it... both because I was full to bursting and because it just seemed wasteful.

 

Instead, I made my way back to the cabin and tucked myself in for one last night...

 

DISEMBARKATION

I'd debated whether to take advantage of the priority disembarkation I'd been offered in a letter or to just walk off with my luggage. In the end, I opted to walk off. I headed downstairs with The Suitcase That Ate Manhattan around 7:30 a.m., and already there was a line of folks waiting to disembark. There was a bit of confusion, as the line wound up stretching to directly in front of the elevators. So folks would get off and either A) stand there confused or B) try to just cut in line. But soon, the line started moving. I was off the ship by around 8 a.m., on a subway by 8:30, back in New Jersey by 9:30... and grocery shopping by 10:30.

 

Real life intruded just that quick.

 

It was over.

 

And so, finally, is this review.

 

Except for a few final thoughts. (I just don't wanna let y'all go!)

 

* Thinking about taking a solo trip? DO IT. I knew not a soul when I got on board, yet thanks to the Cruise Critic roll call, Meet & Greet and Slot Pull, I wound up meeting all kinds of people. And that's not including the ones I met casually at bars and restaurants.

 

* Think about what you will or won't actually use when considering add-ons. I spent over $100 on a bottle of whiskey for the room, but I used almost none of it. I did, on the other hand, get my money's worth from the Ultimate Dining Package and the Unlimited Soda Package. (My original plan was to get the Ultimate Beverage Package, but it wasn't available on this particular voyage). Also, while I did buy the $79 Vibe pass - and probably would again -- I actually only went to Vibe once.

 

* I got lots of requests for information on the Main Dining Room menus, but I never actually ate in any of them, so I'm afraid I'm a big ol' let down in THAT department.

 

* This was, without doubt, the best, most relaxing vacation I've ever taken. In large part, that had to do with two things. First, the two final sea days. They really allowed me to just lounge around and do absolutely nothing. Second, as a New York/New Jersey resident, getting to and from the ship was easy. As I mentioned earlier, I'm a HUGE fan of walt Disney World. But I hate that at the end of every vacation, I have to go to the airport, wait in lines, fly home, get a cab from the airport... this was SO incredibly easy for me, and that meant no end-of-trip stress.

 

* Bonine and Nauzeme work. Take them. Start a few days before your trip.

 

* In the final analysis, Breakaway is a big, beautiful ship. Would I sail her again? Perhaps. But today, a week after disembarking, as I'm booking my next cruise (that's right, I'm hooked), I'm looking at The Gem (which I did my only previous excursion, a one-nighter, on back in October). One of the main reasons is the various public spaces. Where Bliss on Gem is a gorgeous, expansive space with nooks and crannies galore, the Breakaway version feels kinda like a big, empty box. I missed the Spinnaker Lounge, which Gem has and Breakaway doesn't. I liked that on Gem, the casino isn't impossible to avoid, which it pretty much is -- smoke and all -- on the Breakaway. This, by the way, was the impression of many people I spoke to over the course of the week who had sailed both ships: The Breakaway was beautiful, but they preferred the Gem. Of course, in the end, it all comes down to a matter of personal tastes.

 

Meanwhile, I'm already dreaming of my Gem cruise, which will be the first week in September. Maybe I'll see some of you there... But until then, hit me up with any questions you might have, I'll do my best to answer them!

 

Thanks for reading...

 

Richard/Tralfie

BTW a rear facing balcony is one of the worst places to be if you are prone to motion sickness...its because the ship when it pitches(up and down) will have more travel the farther away you are from its center...and you can't go any farther in the rear.

..

 

 

Very true! I knew that going in, but given the samller balconies on the Breakaway (and my love of sitting and staring off into space), I wanted the aft-facing balcony. And I have to say, looking through the glass at the waves on the night of the pitching was wild. It looked like something out of The Perfect Storm... without George Clooney!

 

Tralfie/Richard

I was on the Breakaway March 3-9, doing the Florida/Bahamas/Private island route. We had cold weather for arrival and departure, as one would expect sailing out of NYC in winter, but for the middle days of the trip, we had gorgeous weather. You could totally "feel" the change in the ship starting on the third morning, when folks woke up to sunshine and warm temperatures! People hit the pools, the water slides, etc. Given that you're looking at late April, there's a good chance you'll have even better weather than we did, even on those first few days.

 

We did have one REALLY wavy night coming home. Friday night, I believe it was. Despite a tendency toward motion sickness, I didn't have a problem at all... and the ship was REALLY rocking. I took Bonine every morning and night, starting two days before the trip. I also took Nauzene chewables once or twice a day as a precaution. As a result, while I didn't really sleep the night we hit the 30-foot waves, I also didn't get sick. (Honestly, it was kinda fun... I felt like I was in a disaster movie, but I was never seriously afraid... )

 

When booking, I went through my travel agent. Not only was she really great at helping me get exactly the type of room I wanted (an aft-facing balcony), but she also got me more on-board credit than I would have if I'd just gone through NCL's site.

 

I'm in the middle of writing my review now (I've written about the first four days so far). It's a pretty lengthy look at the ship/itinerary, so if you look for a post in the forum called "Happy Birthday To Me", you'll find it. Hope it helps!

 

Richard/Tralfie

Have a fantastic time. Hard to believe it was just a week ago today that I was getting OFF Breakaway following a fantastic week. (I'm writing my review as we speak... )

 

I couldn't be more jealous if I tried.

 

Richard/Tralfie

A couple thoughts:

 

1) No matter what, and no matter what style cabin, you're on a cruise. So that's a plus!

 

2) Don't get your hopes set on an upgrade. While it'll be awesome if it happens, if it doesn't, it'll impact your mindset before the trip even begins.

 

3) I understand the insecurity. I did an inside room on the Gem for my first cruise, an overnighter. It was fine, but for a week, I want to be able to see, hear and smell the ocean. I need a balcony!

 

4) To reiterate: You'll be on a cruise. No matter what, it'll be awesome!

 

Richard/Tralfie

That may be the most ludicrous thing I ever read. But I enjoyed some of the details, like having been "thrown around so much" by the rough waters that she couldn't wear her bathing suits!

 

And geez, if the ships really DID dump all the sewage every night, that would certainly cut down on the complaints about the smell of sewage when the tanks got too full, huh?

 

LOL

 

Richard/Tralfie

DAY 4 (Great Stirrup Cay)

 

This being my vacation and all, I had every intention of sleeping in. I knew that when I awoke, we'd be at Great Stirrup Cay, and I also knew that there'd be a mad rush by the masses to get on the early tenders. Knowing that Andrea and Harold would probably be on the island all day, my original plan was to sleep in, catch a tender around 11:30 or so...

 

Yeah, well, we all know what they say about best laid plans.

 

The night before, I'd received a note in my room inviting me to be in the Spiegel Tent (where the Cirque Dreams dinner show is held) by 8:30 a.m. in order to be on the first tender of the day. Apparently, my internal alarm clock refused to allow me to sleep in, determined that we be on that first tender. So up I got, throwing a few things into my backpack... and then came something very cool I didn't expect...

 

In order to tender, you head down into what I can only call the Breakaway's version of Walt Disney World's utiladors. Either you're a Disney fan who gets that reference, or your not... but think of it as the coolest behind-the-scenes glimpse possible. At one point, we walked past a large set of blueprints labeled something like "Crew Emergency Plans." I kinda wanted to snap a pic of that for studying later because, you know, if the info is good enough for the crew, I kinda want to know it too!

 

A note about the tendering process: It's really easy to see why Breakaway so often winds up skipping Great Stirrup Cay. Even without high winds or waves, it's still a little bit tricky transferring from the behemoth that is Breakaway to the relatively small tender. Throw in some waves, and it would be accidents and lawsuits waiting to happen.

 

While boarding the first tender of the day, we could see several other small boats being loaded up with goods from the Breakaway. A woman near me said, "Oh my God, pirates!" Um, no, ma'am, that's actually the ship's crew loading stuff to take to the island. You know, so they can feed us. (I'd like to think that if pirates were raiding the ship, there'd be a tad more excitement about it than, "Oh, look... ")

 

A woman sitting by me on the tender as we made our way to the island was what I like to call a "Professional Complainer." She was talking to someone about the fact that there were children everywhere because it happened that the schools in Canada were out that week. "If I'd known that, I never would have booked this week," she declared.

 

"Oh, are they bothering you?" I asked.

 

"No, it's just the principal of it."

 

"Ma'am," I said (entirely in my head), "I'm not sure you know what that words means... "

 

She spent the entire ride from the boat to the island engaged in conversations about things she "wished she'd known" before getting on Breakaway. And y'all know what I was thinking, right? "Well, if you'd done a little research on Cruise Critic, you'd have known all those things... "

 

Arriving on the island, I almost immediately ran into Andrea and Harold, and we hopped on a tram to take us to the cabana they'd rented for the day.

 

A note about the cabanas: They'd rented a small cabana, which I believe is about $100 less than the large cabanas. The cabana, No. 12, was perfectly situated... not far from the restroom, a great view of the beach, not too close to the neighbors. Seriously, you could not ask for better. Later that afternoon, I checked out the large cabanas, and I have to say: The small ones had a better location. And "small" is a wildly inadequate word. You could easily, comfortably have six people in the cabana. My hosts had ordered some lovely nibbly bits (including delicious shrimp and corn chips with several different toppings for dipping). The three of us sat and talked and again, I have to point out that this entire day was made possible because I was involved in the Meet & Greet and slot pull. Otherwise, I might never have met this fantastic couple (who, as fate would have it, actually live about 10 miles away from me!) and been given the opportunity to spend the day with them in the cabana.

 

I'm a big believer in being grateful for what you have, and man, was I EVER grateful that day!

 

Because I was trying to avoid getting too much sun -- and I knew I'd be on a catamaran the next day -- I headed back to Breakaway around 1 p.m. I wanted to try the waterslides -- in particular, the notorious "cross-your-arms-listen-to-the-countdown-and-pray" Freefall slides. Of course, the problem is you can't have anything -- including eye glasses -- on when you do them. So I went to the cabin, changed, grabbed a towel and, sans glasses, did my best not to kill anyone as I did the nearly-blind-man shuffle to the slides.

 

My greatest achievement on this entire trip? Not screaming like a girl when the bottom dropped out and I was plunged down the slide. Kids, this is an awesome, wild, weird, scary, crazy experience. Do it. At least once. After taking the plunge a few times, I grabbed a quick lunch in the buffet, then headed back to the room. Caught up with Tita to find out what she and Charlie had been up to that day, then took a nap.

 

Hey, kids -- and this time, I mean actual children -- listen to your Uncle Richard: Stop complaining about taking naps! Trust me, there will come a day when you will wish you could interrupt the day to just curl up and snooze for a bit!

 

Although I had a 6:30 reservation at Cagneys, I just wasn't hungry. So instead, I went to the casino and gambled for a while. Happened to be lucky enough to win $25 in a Hot Seat promotion, and then, proving that the seat was, indeed, as hot as rumored, hit a $150 jackpot on a penny machine! Headed back to Cagney's around 7:45 p.m. and got a table without any problem. It was then that tragedy struck...

 

Seated a few tables away was a little girl named Ella and her family. Ella was downright adorable and, it turned out, it was Ella's birthday. Suddenly, her table was surrounded by Cagney's staffers with the best of intentions who proceeded to -- oh, it still haunts me -- sing the saddest, most wretched version of Happy Birthday it has ever been my misfortune to hear. You know those people on American Idol who think they're awesome singers, and are ticked when the judges tell them otherwise? That's kinda what this was like. But Ella, from what I could tell, was delighted, and ain't that what matters?

 

Dinner wise, I had the shrimp cocktail, baked potato soup, 16 ounce boneless ribeye, onion rings and baked potato. Was it good? Well... um...

 

Let's just say I had that exact same thing two other nights. It was THAT good. And no, I didn't have dessert... I didn't have room! I wanted the legendary oreo cheesecake soooo badly, but I just couldn't do it!

 

Full to the brim, I went back to my cabin and... well, I was completely ready to call it a night and go to sleep. But Tita had other plans. She called and basically said, "Get your butt outta bed! Meet me at the H2Glow party." We went up to Spice, shook our groove things (and for the record, Tita has some moves) and had a couple cocktails. Eventually, I headed back downstairs -- somehow managing to avoid the siren call of the casino -- and went to bed.

 

This time, for realsies.

 

More to come...

This was like it sprung right out of my head. LOL. I'm a HUGE Disney World freak and always assumed when I got around to cruising, it would be on Disney.

 

In October, I took my first cruise -- the same as yours: A cruise-to-nowhere overnighter on the Gem.

 

Just a week ago, I got off the Breakaway after a week in the aft-facing balcony of my dreams. LOL I've been writing, slowly but sure, my extensive review of that one. (My cruise-to-nowhere review is in my signature here)

 

I couldn't be more hooked if the food was laced with cocaine. I just told my travel agent to book me on the Gem for a 7-nighter in September. (In the end, I really prefer to the Gem to the Breakaway.)

 

Now, I'm going to have to figure out how to fit Disney -- usually an annual thing -- into my yearly budget, cause I ain't giving up cruising!

 

Richard/Tralfie

I was just on the Breakaway during what I'm told was a spring break period. the only time I noticed the spring breakers was when in Bliss lounge, and even then, they were great... they actually tended to liven things up. There were, however, a TON of kids on the trip because it turned out that it was the week that Canada's schools were out. That said, the kids didn't bother me much... perhaps because I'm not one to spend much time by the pool.

 

I was disappointed at not being able to buy the drink package, but I did wind up ordering a bottle of whiskey for my room. I actually wound up drinking far less -- from the bottle or at the bars -- than I imagined I would. Not sure exactly why... geez, am I getting old? LOL

 

Richard/Tralfie

[quote name='time2cruise1']Always the same on the Gem with sofa by the balcony.[/quote]

Thanks! I guess I can live with that! I loved having the bed near the balcony on Breakaway, but I really wanna sail Gem again...

Richard/Tralfie

Hey, guys!

So I loved my first seven-nighter, which was on the Breakaway. But I kinda preferred to Gem, so I'm looking at booking a new one on that ship.

I love when the bed is located next to the balcony. Most of the pics I've seen of balcony staterooms seem to indicate that the couch is near the door. Is this true in all the rooms, or does it vary? Is there a way to know which ones are which?

Thanks, as always!

Richard/Tralfie