SliceofLife's 5/19 Breakaway to Bermuda Review

[SliceOfLife]

What an excellent review, thank you! My husband, adult daughter and I will be sailing on the Breakaway on June 23rd (for our daughter's birthday, which is on the 23rd). I have cruised before, but never to Bermuda, and I am extremely anxious about getting sea sick! I am not sure how I will manage if we have rough 21 foot wave type seas like you just experienced :eek:

 

Happy early birthday to your daughter. A cruise is a great way to celebrate!!

 

Like you, I was very paranoid about getting seasick. I find that Bonine works great for me, it doesn't make me tired at all or cranky. Dramamine doesn't work for me and it makes me very very irritable! Start taking Bonine or whatever works for you the day before you cruise (take one pill twice a day about 12 hours apart).

 

Invest in the pressure point bands. I used to use sea bands that look like sweat band cuffs. For this cruise I bought PSI bands (http://www.amazon.com/Psi-Bands-Acupressure-Wrist-Band/dp/B000X9V2H8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1369670149&sr=8-1&keywords=psi+bands) I like the PSI Bands because they look more fashionable than the sea bands, plus they're made out of plastic and don't get grimey.

 

Next up, get ginger gum or ginger chews (I bought both!) and eat them whenever you start feeling a bit queasy. I bought a bag of Reed's Ginger Chews from Amazon and Sea Band brand Ginger Gum.

 

Third, I brought along Nauzene Upset Stomach chewable tablets. These taste really weird even though they're cherry flavor. They work like magic!

 

Make sure you keep up with Bonine everyday while on the cruise even if you're feeling fine. It's best to keep on top of it!

 

I hope this helps you out :)

[SliceOfLife]

So the steak at Ocean Blue comes with NO sides???

 

That would be correct, nothing comes with a side dish. I am not sure why they did it this way. It's a lot of money to spend for no side dish, however the steak really is worth it. It was melt in your mouth and seasoned perfectly.

[david_sobe]

That would be correct, nothing comes with a side dish. I am not sure why they did it this way. It's a lot of money to spend for no side dish, however the steak really is worth it. It was melt in your mouth and seasoned perfectly.

WOW Incredible

Do they sell side dishes?

[Tralfie]

What a fantastic review! As a foodie, I especially appreciated all the information about your meals! I love reading what people ordered, what they liked, what they didn't like.

 

I believe you said you were on Gambee's aft-facing balcony when the ship left NYC. I was curious about that. I'm going to be in an aft-facing balcony on deck 12 for my cruise. Couldn't decide if I should enjoy the view from my balcony or head up to the deck as the boat leaves. Thoughts?

 

Again, thanks for the fantastic review!

 

Richard/Tralfie

[jeanico]

Happy early birthday to your daughter. A cruise is a great way to celebrate!!

 

Like you, I was very paranoid about getting seasick. I find that Bonine works great for me, it doesn't make me tired at all or cranky. Dramamine doesn't work for me and it makes me very very irritable! Start taking Bonine or whatever works for you the day before you cruise (take one pill twice a day about 12 hours apart).

 

Invest in the pressure point bands. I used to use sea bands that look like sweat band cuffs. For this cruise I bought PSI bands (http://www.amazon.com/Psi-Bands-Acupressure-Wrist-Band/dp/B000X9V2H8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1369670149&sr=8-1&keywords=psi+bands) I like the PSI Bands because they look more fashionable than the sea bands, plus they're made out of plastic and don't get grimey.

 

Next up, get ginger gum or ginger chews (I bought both!) and eat them whenever you start feeling a bit queasy. I bought a bag of Reed's Ginger Chews from Amazon and Sea Band brand Ginger Gum.

 

Third, I brought along Nauzene Upset Stomach chewable tablets. These taste really weird even though they're cherry flavor. They work like magic!

 

Make sure you keep up with Bonine everyday while on the cruise even if you're feeling fine. It's best to keep on top of it!

 

I hope this helps you out :)

 

Thanks so much for the great tips! I am extremely grateful to you for these and will do as you suggest! :)

[xenagurl]

Great meeting you both and I agree with Slice of Life...I will never think of the Glow Party and not think of you! Thanks for all the organizing and lunch was wonderful!

 

It was wonderful meeting you and your husband! :D lol that Glow party was fun. The words "free drink" motivate me. haha! Glad to have helped :)

[Gershep]

Thank you so much for your wonderful review. I was getting hungry reading about the meals that you and your husband ate. My husband is an eggs benedict guy so he will be happy. I almost forgot how rough the water is from Bermuda to New York. It was the only time I got sick on a cruise. I was thinking of getting the patch since I never tried that. I will definitely pick up Bonine since Dramamine does not work for me either. Can you buy Nauzene in any store? I never heard of it.

 

Thanks again!!

[boyreporter]

Thanks very much for this, the Bermuda parts were especially helpful.

[travelbig]

It was enjoyable to us as we love the music but it most definitely was not a NYC Broadway production although I know they did the whole show...what we found most interesting is with all the plays Broadway offers why then would NCL chose Rock of Ages? Word around the ship regarding the show was very, very mixed!

 

My husband and I were wondering this also. If NCL felt it was necessary to have a show like this, then it should be a late night show. In our opinion, all 7pm shows should be family friendly. Yes, it is REALLY not appropriate for kids, or even young teenagers (seeing and hearing this sort of stuff just makes them think it is acceptable), but there are a lot of adults who don't think this is appropriate either. I'm really disappointed with NCL and their choice with this.

[SliceOfLife]

WOW Incredible

Do they sell side dishes?

 

Nope :(

[SliceOfLife]

I remembered some stuff to add.

 

I love the hand washing stations in the Garden Cafe and Uptown Grill. Great addition to keeping germs at bay.

 

On another note about germs, some of the doors you have to touch a sensor to open, now that doesn't make sense since you're trying to keep germ contact to a minimum. :confused:

 

I thought the A/C in the room worked great. There is a little button on the side of the thermostat that has a snowflake that you can press and it lights up blue. I have no idea what it does. Someone from the rollcall asked their room steward what it did and they didn't even know. On our cabin crawl a few people had their heat on and their rooms were toasty!

 

The balconies have a light on them.

 

There are plenty of fun little sitting areas scattered inside the ship.

 

All the way forward on the public sundeck there are three cabanas, padded lounger chairs and padded lounge beds. There is only a handful so if you want them, you better make your way there quickly in the morning.

[Donna_In_India]

Great review! Thanks for sharing. We leave on June 9th (8 of us and are so excited).

 

A couple of questions...did you let NCL about your husband's birthday prior to sailing. One of us will have a birthday the first night of the cruise. I'd like to make sure we can get a cake/some singing for her in the dining room.

 

Also...what time is the dinner buffet open until? If we make the 7:00 show, we may want to eat after the show...

[SliceOfLife]

Great review! Thanks for sharing. We leave on June 9th (8 of us and are so excited).

 

A couple of questions...did you let NCL about your husband's birthday prior to sailing. One of us will have a birthday the first night of the cruise. I'd like to make sure we can get a cake/some singing for her in the dining room.

 

Also...what time is the dinner buffet open until? If we make the 7:00 show, we may want to eat after the show...

 

I bought the birthday party package. For $35 you get your room decorated with balloons, streamers, two birthday signs, a decent sized round cake (we only ate half of it over the course of three days), and then the special card to take to the restaurant.

 

The dinner buffet was open until 9:30.

[Donna_In_India]

Thanks!

[daslog]

My wife and I were on the same cruise, and we didn't have as good an experience as you did. After the Spice H2O Techno beats kept us awake until 1:45 in the morning on the second night, we got a new room. Too bad, I was really enjoying the aft balcony too. I still can't believe how poorly the ship was designed.

 

Also, my B-day is one day after your husband's. The cake that comes with package could feed about 20 people!

[SliceOfLife]

My wife and I were on the same cruise, and we didn't have as good an experience as you did. After the Spice H2O Techno beats kept us awake until 1:45 in the morning on the second night, we got a new room. Too bad, I was really enjoying the aft balcony too. I still can't believe how poorly the ship was designed.

 

Also, my B-day is one day after your husband's. The cake that comes with package could feed about 20 people!

 

Oh no, I'm sorry to hear your experience was not as nice. What else happened? What deck was your aft balcony on?

 

I had a deck 12 aft on the Epic and the bass music kept me up all night. I don't think I would ever book an aft again because of that (and the movement!)

 

Minus the casino being a central part of the ship I didn't think it was poorly designed. What specially are you talking about?

 

Haha, and yes, that cake could feed a small army!!

Edited May 28, 2013 by SliceOfLife

[daslog]

Oh no, I'm sorry to hear your experience was not as nice. What else happened? What deck was your aft balcony on?

 

I had a deck 12 aft on the Epic and the bass music kept me up all night. I don't think I would ever book an aft again because of that (and the movement!)

 

Minus the casino being a central part of the ship I didn't think it was poorly designed. What specially are you talking about?

 

Haha, and yes, that cake could feed a small army!!

 

Deck 13. I uploaded what it sounded like from my phone camera.

 

 

Here is a quick list:

 

#1: The Casino. Not only is the location bad, but It smells bad from all the cigarette smoke.

 

#2: We had smokers on both sides of us, and the cigarette smoke would flow into our cabin whenever we used the balcony. (this was in our revised room on deck 12)

 

#3: There are only about 8 deck chairs where you can watch kids from while they are in the pool. There is no other line of sight available unless you stand right there. We brought an 8 year old, and we had to take turns watching her swim.

 

#4: Same problem with the slides. You can forget watching your kids from your deck chair.

 

#5: The Hot tubs are not hot. My guess is that NCL is afraid of legal liability and keeps the temperature down.

 

#6: The kids club is closed from 5 to 7. On other NCL cruises we have done, it opened at 6. I know it's just an hour, but it's tough to make the early shows that start at 7 if the kid's club is just opening. They did open one day at 6:45, but that lead to us rushing around the ship trying to get her checked in and make the show.

 

It wasn't all bad. The staff was pretty good, and our room steward at our second room 12162 was excellent.

 

I think we are going to stick to the smaller ships. Bigger isn't better.

[English101]

Friday May 24

 

We stayed on our balcony for the sailaway because we had to get ready for our 6:00pm dinner reservation at Modnero. We left late because 5 passengers were unaccounted for. After waiting almost a half hour we left at 5:30pm without them. Oops! I am amazed how people cannot make it back to the ship on time. Oh well, that was an expensive mistake on their part!!! I also want to point out how amazing the Breakaway maneuvers. We did a 180 degree turn from the dock so smoothly.

 

[/font]

 

I'm really enjoying your review. Does anyone know what happened to those 5 passengers!? :eek:

[SliceOfLife]

I'm really enjoying your review. Does anyone know what happened to those 5 passengers!? :eek:

 

I didn't hear what happened. I know one of the passengers that was left behind was with their girlfriend and the girlfriend didn't know he wasn't on the ship until they called his name and we left. Oops!

[janeyzee]

Saturday May 25

Thankfully I never got sick, yay for Bonine, pressure point bands, and ginger chews!! Anyway, Slam was amazing!! I really wish we could have seen his show more than once. We stayed for almost 2 hours and then I needed to get up and walk around because the ship motion was driving me crazy.

 

Where do you find the Ginger Chews? I tend to get seasick and want to stock up for the Oasis TransAtlantic cruise in 2014. Do you normally get seasick? If so, did all of the above help you to feel OK while on the Breakaway in those high seas?

[SliceOfLife]

Where do you find the Ginger Chews? I tend to get seasick and want to stock up for the Oasis TransAtlantic cruise in 2014. Do you normally get seasick? If so, did all of the above help you to feel OK while on the Breakaway in those high seas?

 

I bought the Reed's Ginger Chews from Amazon.com. I don't know where you find them in stores.

 

I don't know if I get seasick or not, the fear of the unknown has always made me take Bonine, wear the wrist bands, and eat ginger stuff.

 

At one point during the day my head was really starting to feel it so I took an extra Bonine, pretty sure you're not supposed to but I didn't care. I ate some ginger chews and I was good to go again. I did start to feel sick to my stomach during the night, so I ate one of those Nauzene chews and within minutes I felt much better.

[SliceOfLife]

What a fantastic review! As a foodie, I especially appreciated all the information about your meals! I love reading what people ordered, what they liked, what they didn't like.

 

I believe you said you were on Gambee's aft-facing balcony when the ship left NYC. I was curious about that. I'm going to be in an aft-facing balcony on deck 12 for my cruise. Couldn't decide if I should enjoy the view from my balcony or head up to the deck as the boat leaves. Thoughts?

 

Again, thanks for the fantastic review!

 

Richard/Tralfie

 

I would stay on your aft balcony for the sailaway. From what we could see due to limited visability from the rain/fog it was a great view! It was hard to tell when we would be passing the bridge so Gambee would lean back against the balcony and look up. He spotted it just in time for us to get our cameras out and snap pictures.

[SliceOfLife]

Thank you so much for your wonderful review. I was getting hungry reading about the meals that you and your husband ate. My husband is an eggs benedict guy so he will be happy. I almost forgot how rough the water is from Bermuda to New York. It was the only time I got sick on a cruise. I was thinking of getting the patch since I never tried that. I will definitely pick up Bonine since Dramamine does not work for me either. Can you buy Nauzene in any store? I never heard of it.

 

Thanks again!!

 

I found Nauzene at CVS, I can't remember which aisle it was in.

 

The eggs benedict was always coming hot off the gridle so it was fresh and the eggs were cooked perfectly according to my husband. He was a happy camper!

[English101]

My husband and I were wondering this also. If NCL felt it was necessary to have a show like this, then it should be a late night show. In our opinion, all 7pm shows should be family friendly. Yes, it is REALLY not appropriate for kids, or even young teenagers (seeing and hearing this sort of stuff just makes them think it is acceptable), but there are a lot of adults who don't think this is appropriate either. I'm really disappointed with NCL and their choice with this.

 

If it were a late show, people with kids couldn't go at all, or pay for late care at splash. (I wouldn't pay for late care because my kids would be exhausted!) A 7oclock show allows parents to drop off children at splash and enjoy the show. I agree there are so many other shows that would be more appropriate. I remember being on NCL Dawn and there were several broadway shows during the week....why just the one? Smaller theater?

[English101]

I bought the Reed's Ginger Chews from Amazon.com. I don't know where you find them in stores.

 

I don't know if I get seasick or not, the fear of the unknown has always made me take Bonine, wear the wrist bands, and eat ginger stuff.

 

At one point during the day my head was really starting to feel it so I took an extra Bonine, pretty sure you're not supposed to but I didn't care. I ate some ginger chews and I was good to go again. I did start to feel sick to my stomach during the night, so I ate one of those Nauzene chews and within minutes I felt much better.

 

I've bought the ginger chews from the health food section at my grocery store. In my store, it's by the protein powders & bars, gluten free foods, whole grains (steel cut oats, buckwheat, etc).

 

I LOVE ginger so i tried the chews and fell in love! They are kinda spicy. I have never gotten sea sick but, felt queasy on a fishing boat last summer....could have been the lack of sleep and alcohol the night before but could also be my body is changing. I have been affected differently by certain things ever since I had kids. Then again, if it was lack of sleep and alcohol....I'll be having that on the ship as well as staying in an aft balcony!! I think I'll take all those things just in case, like you. There's no side effects!?

Edited May 28, 2013 by English101