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

[tammy531]

Gambee,

Thanks for a great review, I just stumbled across it last night and finished it this morning, we're traveling on the Breakaway next month and being a fan of RCL, going on NCL worried me just a little. We loved the service on Allure, our waiter remembered my son's chocolate ice cream before he even asked. I'm going to read your review of the Allure next.

Joanna

 

Even though ncl is freestyle, somehow the waiters (all different) knew my then 3 year old liked rolls with multiple packets of butter, pizza, and "green ice cream" for dinner.. we would not even say anything and would have them served.. the only problem was the night "green ice cream" was wasabi...

 

sent from my Samsung galaxy s3

[Renzulli2618]

We look at your posts almost daily in anticipation of our Sept cruise :) Thanks for being so detailed & giving us a head start on planning!!!!!

[PathfinderEss]

Thanks for the great review of your cruise.

[polkadots]

Dear Gambee,

 

Thank you for writing this amazing review, and also for your other reviews. Someone in my roll call for this November posted a link to your Allure review, and then of course I had to move on and read all your others too. I feel like I just went on four different cruises with you and your mom (and bf too!)

 

I am glad you are cruising so often. Maybe some day I will end up on a ship with you and I can tell you in person how much I enjoyed your reviews! (Too bad you want to keep trying new ships instead of revisiting your beloved Allure .... say in November!! :p)

[Bella O]

Gambee!!!

 

Late to the party as I just got off the Allure (which for us too, was "magical" and my best cruise of the four I've taken!). No need to reply, but many thanks for an amazing review! I have no interest in the Breakway, but have always wanted to go to Bermuda, and after your beautiful photos, I will definately be going.

 

Maybe I'll see you on the Quantam once it starts doing a route including Bermuda! I would love to buy your mom and yourself a drink:)

[fourel]

Thank you for all your time and wonderful information. I am putting this thread in my favorites.

 

Synopsis

 

Follow me on

Facebook and Twitter :)

I encourage you to ask questions to trigger my memory.

Also if you sailed in this voyage and have something to add, please do so =).

This will be my first time reviewing a brand new ship!

I have a ton of information that I would like to share with you all!

Including: Dailies, Documents, Menus, Wine/Drink lists, tips and much more.

But more than that I have a story to tell and a vacation to share.

I hope everyone enjoys the ride ^_^

 

We invite you to come with us and experience "The Beautiful Norwegian Breakaway!"

 

 

 

 

I would like to start by dedicating this review in the loving memory of Kev, "luv2cruise53", fellow CC member and review writer. His witty and outgoing personality brought laughs and joy to many here in Cruise Critic. I remember finding his review when I was looking for information about Bermuda and I was immediately hooked into his storytelling method. I got to know him through his posts and thought of him like a friend. In order to keep his spirit alive, I am posting the link of his wonderful review. If you have some free time, please stop by his review and enjoy it. Here is the link: Review of NCL Star to Bermuda. May he rest in peace next to his beloved partner. You will always be remembered, Kevin.

 

 

 

Hello everyone, how are you all doing? I am a 29 year old guy (I will forever be 29, ok! ;)) traveling with his mom. As some of you have probably figured out by now my bf is not very keen about cruising, so for now it is just my mom and I.

 

We are new to cruising and so far we have been on X, NCL and RCCL. We are currently on our plan of traveling on every cruise line within our price range to find which one suits us the most. However, I tend to get bored when I do the same thing over and over again, and this is why I think I will never settle for a specific cruise line. Only time will tell.

 

This is my third time around writing a fully detailed guide to a cruise ship. First, I wrote a short review of the Norwegian Sky. It was my first cruise and I did not go into deep details within the report. My first detailed review was the Allure of the Seas Review. I am very proud of this review and I think it was the main reason for getting into writing reviews. My second report was the X Silhouette Review. It was a great cruise that was unfortunately impacted by very bad weather during almost the entire voyage. This was also the first time that Gambee realized he had grown his sea legs :D. Now I will try to bring you aboard Breakaway and let you experience the magic of NCL from the comfort of your home or office (most likely office, I hope you can get some work done during these following weeks ;)).

 

I have also expanded and I now have both Facebook and Twitter accounts dedicated to cruising. The Facebook is mainly for those who just like looking at my pictures. It is easier to do so from there, so please feel free to friend request me. For the Twitter account, I plan on doing LIVE updates and such. Feel free to join me there too =).

 

 

 

I will start from where I left off..

 

Like I said, we traveled on the Allure on November 4, 2012. After I got home, I started the review immediately, and it took me roughly 2 weeks to complete it. Writing it was as much fun as the cruise itself and I am eternally thankful for everyone that was a part of it. After I was done with the review, the cruise blues started to hit me. Although the review kept me entertained for some time, once it was finished, I was starting to get bored.

 

 

And what better way to cure the blues than to start looking for another?

 

 

[dmwnc1959]

Hi Gambee!

 

Finally got the chance to get caught up and I finished reading your review tonight. As before with Allure of the Seas and Celebrity Silhouette your have accomplished an amazing and stunning pictorial review. The detail and photography is second to none, and this is by far the best review I've ever read.

 

A job well done, my friend. Congratulations!!! :D

 

David

[Odesitka70]

Hello there! Have you joined our roll call yet? Hope to connect at M&G:)

 

Hello, yes I joined roll call and looking worward meeting you all on Monday at Cagneys. :eek:

[powerofx]

Hello there! Have you joined our roll call yet? Hope to connect at M&G:)

 

What is this "roll call" and how do you join. Our family is sailing on the 7/7 cruise with 5 other families. We're excited for a great time and watched the Breakaway make its initial departure for Bermuda back in May. Was so great seeing the ship sail by.

 

Then, reading through this amazing review has really got us psyched for the cruise in 3 weeks!

 

Sorry for the newbie question.

Edited June 17, 2013 by powerofx

[Red-Sol]

What is this "roll call" and how do you join. Our family is sailing on the 7/7 cruise with 5 other families. We're excited for a great time and watched the Breakaway make its initial departure for Bermuda back in May. Was so great seeing the ship sail by.

 

Then, reading through this amazing review has really got us psyched for the cruise in 3 weeks!

 

Sorry for the newbie question.

 

Basically a roll call is a listing pf people that are going on the same sailing. The thread for your July 7th on the Breakaway is located here:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1506129

[tammy531]

What is this "roll call" and how do you join. Our family is sailing on the 7/7 cruise with 5 other families. We're excited for a great time and watched the Breakaway make its initial departure for Bermuda back in May. Was so great seeing the ship sail by.

 

Then, reading through this amazing review has really got us psyched for the cruise in 3 weeks!

 

Sorry for the newbie question.

 

You go to the forum marked "roll calls", choose Norwegian, then the ship, then the date you are sailing.

 

sent from my Samsung galaxy s3

[powerofx]

Never mind. I found roll call and just posted. Excited for July 7th to get here!

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[powerofx]

You go to the forum marked "roll calls", choose Norwegian, then the ship, then the date you are sailing.

 

sent from my Samsung galaxy s3

 

Thanks tammy531. Appreciate the help.

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[raerom]

Wow Gambee your reviews keep getting better and better. Loved your pictures of Bermuda! We will eventually make our way to this beautiful island! Thanks for all your hard work, you know I’ll be subscribing to your Breeze's review! Have a great summer! Hear from you soon!

[Dandy7]

I think they call those spring clamp - you can get them at Home Depot

 

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/catalog/servlet/Search?storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&keyword=spring+clamp&Ns=None&Ntpr=1&Ntpc=1&selectedCatgry=Search+All

 

I believe they are called Boca Clips. My wife got them as a gift from her sister-in-law when in Fla.

[Dandy7]

Gambee - thanks for taking out the time to write this review of your trip. It was great to relive the week and to know there's a place I can go if I start to forget how beautiful Bermuda and the ship are. It was also a pleasure to meet and talk to you on the last day when the weather was so crazy. We started with a windy, cloudy day to sunshine and a rainbow and then back to windy, driving rain. not to mention the waves. To tell you the truth, they never bothered me or my wife. I think it was a testament to how well the ship is built. I hope you don't mind that I've attached a couple of our pictures below. Our camera is nowhere in the league of yours. However, if you ever go back to Bermuda be sure to go to Tobacco Bay. It's loaded with fish. Also, Elbow Beach is very secluded. We actually ran into some of the dancers from Burn The Floor there. That rainbow was fantastic.

[cruisenshop]

Gambee! Thank you for the sharing the excitement for the Breakaway and then your experience on it. I had to take a break (pun intended) from your review to cruise the Breakaway on June 9.... Just getting caught up now. Thank you for all of your input that helped make our family Breakaway trip special. We loved the ship, food in specialty dining venues and the entertainment. Like you, I found guest services lacking in the ability to communicate and handle issues. I won't go into detail and hijack your review but those people need some serious training! As for rating cruises and lines, I have been on more than 30 cruises on six or so lines and there are positives and negatives found in all of them. If its VACATION and I am on a cruise I am happy. Don't sweat the small stuff. Move forward planning your Breeze cruise in a positive manner! Having sailed her twice in the last year I can say you will have FUN. Since you don't do shows you won't be disappointed in them. You won't be nickled and dimed. Please go to the Steakhouse!!!! So good! Eat at Guys Burger Joint ... The pizza at pizza pirate is amazing... Don't miss the Free italian restaurant for lunch, I could go on... Please contact me with any questions or for feedback about our experiences! or have Sarah do so- you have my email and Facebook! My best and happy cruising,

Rachelle

 

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[SweetpeaOne]

Hi Gambee, found this review about a week ago and just now finished it. Read everyone of your posts. You should get a professional job as a cruise blogger. That is really cool that you travel with your mother. Has your BF ever cruised with you? Going to go read your other reports. Thanks very much...

[gambee]

Well it took me two days to catch up with you. Breakaway to Bermuda - another absolutely wonderful review! You did it again!

 

What an experience this was for the last few months from the Everything Breakaway thread to your review. Not only are you a great reviewer but the time and dedication you spent researching that ship was amazing. (If I had a nickel for every person that asked you to find their stateroom I could go on two cruises.)

 

Looking forward to your Carnival Breeze review!

 

Thank you for following along, we are very excited to see what the Breeze brings my way. I am also in camera shopping mode, and I think by the time the Breeze gets here I will almost an entirely new arsenal of equipment :D. I am very excited about it, although my wallet keeps complaining :D.

[gambee]

Thank you for another amazing review!!

I have only cruised on Royal Caribbean (I LOVED your Allure review!) and Carnival so it is really nice to see such an in-depth review of a different cruise line/ship so you can see what they are like!

I also really liked your comprehensive review of Bermuda, I had never thought of it as a place to visit before, but now I think it is something I want to look into!

Thank you again!

 

You never know, I think NCL is very comparable to RCCL. They might have a few slight differences, but nothing really out of this world. You will be surprised how much one can really enjoy new experiences. That is why I never limit myself from something that I might have a lot of run with.

[gambee]

Gambee, this is great. I have always wanted to try NCL and experience Bermuda. Who better to be my guide than one of my favorite travelers and CC reviewers. I'll only gazed through your excellent photos so far but plan to go back and read every word. Hope you enjoy this trip as much as I plan to be reading about it.

 

 

We definitely had a blast, with a few issues, yes. I wish that NCL really took a good look at their customer service department and improved upon. If they do that they will really have a product that will very hard to rival.

[gambee]

Darn....no volleyball on board :(. We had tons of fun playing adult volleyball on the Allure and Oasis.

 

Can't wait for the Breakaway though.

 

Thank you Gambee!

 

Hmmmm, never noticed that in the Allure... Oh wait, on the beach pool.

 

 

I started reading the great review Gambee has done and got to page 9 but it is a little hard to follow with all the posts in between and reposting of stuff in replies.

Is there a way to just filter out the review portion ?

 

I looked on the Cruise Critic passenger reviews section for Breakaway and there are several reviews but this one is not there.

 

No, sorry. I am planning to start a blog, but for now this is the only way.

[gambee]

Thanks for the great review! I really enjoyed the pictures and videos. Our first cruise was on Princess and to this day it was the best cruise. Maybe because we did not have kids yet and we had great table mates that we clicked with. Nothing like having a professional comedian at your table. We closed down the dining room every night.

 

Our second cruise was on NCL Dawn out of NYC we had a good time but said we liked Princess better but freestyle was better as a family. This was our first time traveling as a family. Third cruise was on NCL Gem for a New Year's Eve cruise out of NY. We had horrible weather plus we were a group of 22 but we made the best of it. My MIL was turning green with the 24 feet plus waves. We had a forward cabin on deck 10 and the sea spray was higher the our balcony railing. Lots of memories which is what counts.

 

We leave on Sunday on the Breakaway this time as a group of 8. Hopefully we will have smooth sailing.

 

Lol, funny you must be in Bermuda by now. Hope you're having a great time.

 

Fab review :)

 

Thank you :)

[gambee]

Thanks gambee, it was a pleasure reading your review.

 

Thank you for taking the to do so :).

[gambee]

Wow Gambee, what a special dedication to Kev! He would have been on

the Breakaway this week and you would have traded some awesome

stories! I'm sure he's proud of your work here:)

My husband and I have been following along with your elaborate and

informative review. Thank you so much for all the time and effort you

put into this, including replying to each individual post. We truly appreciate everything!

Perhaps we may meet on Disney Fantasy Thanksgiving 2014?!? You can use

my kids as props for your pictures. It's one way to repay you since

they seem to think that Mr. Gambee has been working super hard as Mommy's

personal travel planner;)

Thanks again!!

 

Lol, The fantasy you say. That ship only does 7 day cruises, I don't think I could afford in Disney. At least for now, we have our eyes on Disney, but it will have to be with the Florida discount. For now they only offer it with their shorter cruises.

 

Anyway, thank you for following along. Glad you liked the review :).