!!! BREAKAWAY !!! To Bermuda ^_^ Our Ultimate Review and Complete Pictorial Guide!

[English101]

I just can't get enough! Lol your reviews are SO entertaining! The salt lick, the comment about all the goodies at Carlos' that we'll regret eating later on the scale.....MOM ABOUT TO SIT ON THE CAKE! That would have been priceless! Just having her ALMOST sit on it is priceless! And you still have the funny story that she would have say on it if you didn't catch her! Lol I bet you two had a real good laugh after that close call!

 

It's worth repeating: your pictures are amazing! I love all the angles you take! Now I know that I'll not only be able to hear (and feel) the music at Spice from my balcony, but also maybe see some action up there!

 

I agree with the CC member who said your pictures make them want to buy the things in the pictures...the sinful goodies at Carlos'...I wouldn't be surprised if your pictures make them look better than they taste!

 

Thanks again for allowing us tag along on your vacation! So excited for the rest! We're still on day 1!!!!!!

Edited May 29, 2013 by English101

[English101]

Just caught up as well - thanks for the link! Not that I'm wanting summer to pass by (to get us both into September)... but we all know how fast it will pass. :eek:

 

Gambee, loving the attention to detail ! ! !

 

Tom

 

Can't wait to see pics of an S6 on deck 9!!!

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

Can't wait to see pics of an S6 on deck 9!!!

 

I'm right there with you... ever since the first construction photos started to show that area!

 

Tom

[happy cruzin]

Just caught up as well - thanks for the link! Not that I'm wanting summer to pass by (to get us both into September)... but we all know how fast it will pass. :eek:

 

Gambee, loving the attention to detail ! ! !

 

Tom

 

Yep - thought you'd want to see this one! ;) :D

[Cupcrazy]

Gambee, your review is incredible! So much information and fantastic pictures. Thanks so much for taking your time to post all of this for us.

[lostone65]

The photos and attention to detail is amazing! I actually feel like I was there with you. I think your bf better learn to like to travel since I have a sneaking suspicion you are going to land a travel writer job!

One question, are there any little bars outside and out of the way a bit to just hang out and watch the water go by?

[Weeziblu]

I can't tell you how excited I am to read your review! Breakaway will be our 2nd ever cruise and I've been away from these forums for some time now.. I sure did pick the right cruise and the right time to return! Fantastic pics and review. I should say I NEVER EVER stay up this late on a work night... I have to be up in 4 hours but I can't stop reading.

 

Looking forward to the rest of your review!! :):):):)

[ibcnusoon]

Gambee, LOVE the picture of the balcony with the stool from the desk - used as an outside table. hahahaha, it works!! :D

[riclop]

Gambee to put it simply you are THE BEST, no one can compare. Thanks for all your hard work!!!

[Tink35]

I'm enjoying every bit of your review. It's like a Breakaway Handbook. :)

I look forward to this thread everyday! Fantastic job Gambee!

Monica

[stbogey]

Thanks so much for your review and pictures! Fantastic.

We're sailing on the Breakaway in October. Couldn't wait before your review but now really anxious & excited to go.

This will be our first time in Bermuda.

 

Are the hot dogs real Sabrett hot dogs? With the famous red onions? Also, is there a charge?

Being from Los Angeles and my husband originally from New York those are a treat for us.

 

Also, how many people got dressed up on dress up or not night? Were they very formal?

 

I look forward to reading your review each day. Thanks again.

[topanga49er]

LOVE LOVE LOVE your pictures! I have a nikon d7000 monster w/ all these fancy lenses and cannot take half the quality pictures you take... need lessons from you! Keep up the good work! I am so eager to get your final opinion on comparing all the ships... Thank you thank you

[beachbuddy]

Great review Gambee............can't wait to see more ship pictures and SUN......LOL I'm hoping you had good weather on this one! Keep up the good work, it's much appreciated!

 

Patty

[prekteacher]

Just caught up - another fabulous review. I really enjoy cruising with you and your mom as I'm going nowhere soon. Thanks for all your time! It's amazing!!!

Barb

[Michthebeech]

Michthebeech: Yeah this trip was definitely not cheap, but that is the price you pay for being in the inaugural season. I am glad to know that you're reading other reviews and not just RCCL, it really puzzles me how some folks can be so loyal to some lines. In all honesty I think I have found something to like about every line that I have sailed. Oh my cameras, please don't get me started. It is not just the camera, it is also about the lens. which canon did you buy? For the Silli I did tons of editing, but for this one I plan to do much less, maybe a little sharpening and color boosting. That is pretty much what I did for the Allure one and I see how much people liked my work. But I can tell you, that even if I did not edit them, the results would be very close to what I have not. She is a very powerful camera!

 

I purchased the Canon Rebel T3i I got a kit with the basic lense (18-55) and the telephoto which is 55-250 and some frivolous accessories for about $1000. (a crappy bag, a cleaning kit, memory card, and some junk) My pictures of my Oasis cruise look nothing like yours. Actually the girl at Best Buy was trying to steer me to the Sony. I hadn't researched the Sony at all so I ignored her. I had researched the Canon T3i and Nikon 5100. I probably should have listened to her but that would have meant another week of on-line research. LOL Shoulda, woulda, coulda.... :(

 

BTW, I called for the heck of it yesterday to price out the Quantum. Actually considering I priced Christmas week, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I asked for connecting balcony rooms and they were already sold out!!!! They only had adjacents left but not connecting. And they were on the 6th floor. We are on the 8th on the Oasis.

[gambee]

They both arrived to our room soon enough and we had a fun time catching up and talking about past cruises. It was really nice to finally put a face to their screen name. They were also nice enough to bring us these fabulous cookies from their home town, some pins to get stronger drinks and some cloths to clean my camera lens.

 

Soon enough the ship started moving and oh boy was it moving. It felt like a massive earth quake going on. Since they had an aft cabin on the Epic I asked them how they compared and they said that this one was worse than the Epic. But the vibration did not last long and actually for the rest of the voyage it was almost unnoticeable. It was mainly only that time pulling out out of port.

 

We offered them cake and drinks, it was a good thing that they were there to enjoy the cake. It was so huge there was no way that mom and I could eat it alone. Actually a lot of it went unused, they simply make them too large.

 

Sail away was just ok, the weather was just horrible. The only thing that made it better was that we had good company to share our balcony with.

 

And we are moving.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[gambee]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[gambee]

 

Nice yacht!

 

Those sailings tours around New York must be great!

 

 

Freedom tower is there somewhere.

 

 

 

Edited May 29, 2013 by gambee

[gambee]

 

 

 

This was pretty awesome!

 

 

 

[gambee]

 

 

 

 

The entire sail away takes about 50 minutes to an hour. Definitely the longest I've ever done. I just wished it had been in better weather. They left the room soon after sail away. It was then that mom and I decided to put our bathing suits and head out to the Tubs in H2O. A place that I would become very familiar with for the rest of the cruise.

 

 

All these pics were taken with the TX camera, like I said I am looking for a replacement for this camera. I simply don't like the results.

 

We were the only people on H2O for the time we were there. It was fun to have the tub all for ourselves for that time.

 

 

At first I was not crazy about the screen, but it grew on me. It actually looks nice with a lot of scenery videos playing all the time.

 

 

[gambee]

The water here is heated.

 

 

And there we are in our tub.

 

 

I bought that travel mug for this trip. It is seal proof and maintains the temperatures for a very long time. I am sure you know what was inside it :D. Let it be said that I was pretty happy by then.

 

 

[gambee]

 

 

I took a few more pictures once it was a little darker.

 

 

 

 

Jacuzzi time was just great, just the perfect way for us to start our vacation. The Gambee was in his natural habitat, and our vacation was just getting started.

 

[gambee]

We then headed to the room to change and get ready for dinner. We had no real plans for dinner on day one, and since it was lobster night on the MDR we decided to go there.

 

While in the room I took a pic of the TV system.

 

It took mom sometime to find the hairdryer. But once she found it, she said is the best he's used on a ship.

 

 

 

 

 

I also took a picture of the delicious cookies that SliceOfLife got us. Thank you =).

 

 

 

[gambee]

So at about 8:00pm we headed to the MDR, we diced to go the Manhattan room. When we got there, there were a lot of people outside, we got in line and I asked long to be seated. She said about 45 minutes, I told my mom no way, I rather pay. We looked at savor and taste and they were even worse. So we kept on walking and decided to go to la Cucina. By the way if you want to know we never made it to the MDR, every time we wanted to try it we encountered long waits. But I will elaborate on that more as we go on. I am not entirely sure if it was because it was a new ship and they are adjusting. But honestly I feel like the free dinning venues are not large enough for this ship. A lot of people that I talked to complained about long waits to be seated and long waits for service.

 

The only way to avoid this was to go early or later at night. Honestly I had no patience for it, I much rather pay extra, go to the buffet or order room service. But also take into account that I don't like sitting for long during dinner. I like quick meals and get out fast. Actually I loved the sushi bar, noodle bar and raw bar, they are perfect for me.

 

I will also tell you a pattern that I noticed, although this might change now that I will put the information out there. From what I noticed at the beginning of the cruise the MDR was packed and specialty restaurants are empty. Then as the cruise goes by it reverses and the MDR becomes not as congested and the specialty restaurants get all booked. So I guess in a way I am recommending you to do your specialty restaurants early on the cruise and the MDR later in the cruise. This might not be true for all the sailings, but it was for ours. It is kind of the opposite way of how I like to do things.

 

Another thing that I will never do again is pre-book my restaurants from shore. The freestyle cruise concept really does apply on this ship and booking everything in advance sorta messes up that concept. We fund ourselves moving reservations, and having issues with availability. And the ironic part is that they almost always had somewhere you could eat without lines, but since we precooked we were tied to that place. I think from now on, I will just wing it and go fully freestyle. I am not telling you to do this, but I just think it might work better.

 

 

But like I said, I will elaborate as I go.

 

 

So anyway lets keep on going.

 

The hallways are somewhat narrow. Only the ones on the deck 5 are super wide, but then they get narrow again towards the front of the ship.

 

That chandelier is just incredible.

 

Looking down at bistro

 

Piano by Shakers bar

 

Looking at the Raw bar across

 

 

 

[gambee]

The coats for the Ice bar

 

Fat cats is right across from la Cucina

 

 

Maltings is next to Fat cats

 

 

And here is la Cucina