Breakaway Review - 8/25/13 - 9/1/13

[NYGirl1002]

My daughter, 15 year old niece and I arrived at the port of NY at about 10:00 am. We waiting outside for my sister who arrived 10 minutes later, along with her 15 year old daughter and 8 year old son.

 

 

This was my first cruise with children in my party. I usually try to cruise in May or September, usually when the kids are in school.

 

Check in was a breeze and we were on the ship at 11:15 am. I liked that you took the embarking photo right there in the terminal. It made boarding that much easier.It was very festive once we got on deck and we danced with Spongebob and the Staff.

 

 

We went directly to pay for the soda program for the kids and I bought a 4 bottles of wine package.

 

We were able to leave our carryons in the cabin as our cabins were ready. I was in 13796 which is considered a mini-suite but frankly the room is the same size as my sister's which was just a balcony room. The only difference was the shower. It was much larger in my room.

I loved our room but I have to say that I hate the bed next to the closet. We had the steward, Budi, separate the beds for us. I slept on the closet side and found it very hard to get things in and out of the closet.

 

I felt bad for her because she had 2 teenage girls with her..and they brought 2 suitcases each! Her room was pretty crowded but they managed. The kids would come shower in my room most days so it helped.

 

After dropping the carryons we went to lunch in Savor. Very nice lunch with a very amiable waiter. Our cruise was starting off on a good note.

 

We then explored a little before we made our way to the Atrium which was our muster station. Of course this is very painlessly done now and we were finished in no time.

 

This is one of the only times that the crowded ship was evident as you could not get an elevator back up to the pool deck for sailaway. However, if you are patient the crowds subside in about 10 minutes and you are able to get into an elevator.

 

Sailaway was fun. I then realized the Cruise Director was Dan the Man who was the CD on the Jewel when I was on her in November.

 

After sailaway we went to our rooms to unpack and get ready for dinner. We had made reservations online for Teppanaki and my nieces wanted us all to wear maxi dresses to start off our cruise in a glamorous way! We had 7:00 reservation. The food was really fabulous. We also got a free bottle of wine.

 

During dinner the girls left us to go to the Entourage which is the teen club. Apparently if you miss that first meet and greet it's hard to meet people later on. We also took my nephew to the kid's club to register.

 

We did some more exploring and then made way to our respective cabin. My nieces got back to their cabin at 12:00. Curfew for the teens is 1:00 am according to the Navigator. I don't think this is enforced.

 

End of day one. I loved the ship and really had no problem getting around at this point. My cabin was pretty close to the forward stairs/elevators and it was a good meeting place to meet my sister when we had places to go.

[NYGirl1002]

The Celebrity Summit was with us all the way to Bermuda.

 

This is sunset on that first day:

 

[bmlovell]

Great start keep it going :D

[jdvmd]

Thanks for sharing your comments! Keep 'em coming!

[cruisebear84]

Looking forward to this review! Great start so far :)

[NYGirl1002]

On Sunday my sister noticed the cupcake decorating class and called to sign us up. As it turned out it was the only class of the week. 10:00 in La Cucina. I was going to cancel for myself and my daughter but she wanted to do it so I said what the heck.

 

Shockingly the teens were up early and we all had breakfast at the buffet. Plenty of seats available at 9:00 am. We never once had a problem getting a table there. The food was pretty good too. No complaints.

 

While we were eating is when my sister spotted Buddy (Cake Boss) and his whole family. I thought she was going to have a cow! She's telling me all their names and going on and on. This stems from the fact that my brother in law is a chef and they all watch the show and have been to the bakery and in fact have ordered a party cake from them. Now she was so excited thinking that Buddy was going to direct our decorating class. Now I was dying because I'm not good at that stuff and I thought I would embarrass myself.

 

After breakfast we went down to La Cucina. (For some reason our elevators seemed to be central to everything because even though they were considered forward..they weren't all the way forward.

 

I breathed a sigh of relief when I realized the only Buddy we saw was the one welcoming us on a movie screen. We really had fun doing the decorating. The kids really enjoyed it. When we were almost done who shows us? Buddy and his whole family! My sister took the opportunity to get pictures with her whole family at this point.

 

Here's Buddy watching us:

 

 

 

Here's me with my finished product:

 

 

Here's my nieces and to show you the venue:

 

 

The class ended around 11:00 and I ended up late for the Cruise Critic Meet and Greet up at Cagneys. We had a pretty big turnout and it was nice to put a face to the screen names.

 

We then went down to O'Sheehans for wings. I found the service here much better than the Blue Lagoon on the Jewel. As we were eating we saw a couple eating a giant ice cream so we ordered ice cream. We didn't know that O'Sheehans was also an old fashioned ice cream parlor and you had to order the ice cream from a separate menu and of course pay for it. So we ordered ice cream from the regular menu and my nephew was disappointed that we didn't get the sundaes.

 

We went to change and sit by the pool for awhile and we had no problem getting a seat. My nephew went in the kid's pool and had fun.

 

We had made reservations for Cirque du Dreams. We got to the venue about 15 minutes before it began and we were seated in a comfortable round booth by the back wall. They were great seats. The performers came out of a door right next to us.

 

The dinner consisted of an appetizer of mozzarella and tomatoes and then steak and coconut shrimp. For dessert there was coffee and a trio of pastries. The food was pretty good. Now the performers are coming out while you are eating. For some reason this "Beetle" took a liking to me. He was in the whole show as he played different instruments. He scared the hell out of me no less than 10 times. You'd think I'd be aware that he was going to do it again but I was oblivious! Near the end they bring up someone from the audience and they took my sister. I won't spoil it for you but it was fun. The performers were amazing and the costumes were beautiful.

 

After the show the girls made way to the teen club and the rest of us went to our cabins.

 

I missed the Welcome Aboard show for some reason.

[NYGirl1002]

Again we had breakfast at the buffet. The girls didn't join us as they were now coming in at 1:00 am. This was listed as curfew for the teens in the Freestyle Daily but somehow I don't think it was enforced as much to my sister's consternation they'd come home after 1 am.

 

After breakfast we had a little bit of trouble finding chairs but managed to find them between both pools. As I was reading I noticed some crew in white outfits come over and put yellow dots on chairs that had just towels or magazines and hadn't been used in awhile.

 

Well..do you think they came back later on to actually enforce this? Of course not! Those dots stayed there all day.

 

After a quick lunch in the buffet we changed our clothes and went up to the rope course as my sister and nephew wanted to do it. It was an hour wait.

 

 

We had a 6:30 reservation for Rock of Ages so we then went down to get ready. We were told it was inappropriate for children and the kid's club was open for the specific show time.

 

What I do have to say is that we received a message on our interactive TV that the times changed for our Rock of Ages show from 7:00 to 6:30 and also for our Michael Finney show on Friday from 9:00 to 9:30. We never found out why.

 

We really enjoyed the show. The cast is great. I had never seen it before. We got there 15 minutes before and got good seats in the middle.

 

Some things on the ship make no sense and one of them is the theater. It's not very big and there's no mezzanine to fit more people. Also whereas other ships hold various events in the theater, the Breakaway does not. Bingo was in a crowded Headliners. Deal or No Deal and other games were all in the Atrium where maybe at tops there are 100 seats. (I'm being generous here). I can understand doing this on smaller ships but not on one that holds 4,000 people.

 

The other thing I noticed is that crowd control is very good. It never seemed crowded. However........... when it rained? The elevators were very crowded and everyone would seem to congregate on the main level with the Atrium and the specialty restaurants. That's when you realize there are 4,000 people on this ship with you!

 

We then picked up my nephew and went to dinner in La Cucina. I was very disappointed. We had eaten in La Cucina on the Jewel and it was fabulous. This time the pizza was so so..and I could not eat the Ossobucco..it was so fatty. However my daughter said the chicken parmagiana was good. Dessert was delicious though :)

 

Bedtime! Tomorrow we will be docking in Bermuda.

[ibcnusoon]

Enjoying your review! :D

[twinlges]

I thought about you all week, and wondered how it was going. The pictures look awesome. You are making me even more excited for my turn!! Just wish you were gonna be with us. I know the bingo will be great even with the awkward placement :)

 

I can picture your surprised face, from the "beetle"! I bet Jenny found that hysterical! Great review! Keep it coming :D

 

Katie

[NYGirl1002]

Katie..you are going to love it! The ship is great.

 

As a matter of fact my sister won Bingo on Tuesday. She had to share the jackpot and won $150.

 

On Saturday morning I won along with 7 other people and only got $51. Jennifer was no longer excited because she needed 1 number and felt she should have won instead of me!! LOL

[twinlges]

I agree with her! I remember being in the same boat, so to speak!!! Congrats to you and your sister!

 

Didn't Barb win big when we were there? I'll have to ask her! 'Seems people who hang with YOU end up winning!

 

Katie

[itravelalot]

Thanks for the review!! The pictures look great!! Enjoy!:)

[Stillfloatin']

Enjoying the review!

[sjnyc323]

Thanks for sharing awesome

 

Suzanne

[NYGirl1002]

We made it. After a very smooth sailing from NYC we made it to Bermuda.

 

 

We ate breakfast at O'Sheehans and must have gotten off the ship by 9:00 am. We made way to the kiosk and bought a 3 day ferry/bus pass. It came to $35 per adult and $17.50 for the children.

 

I could not believe the line for the bus to Horseshoe Bay! We were informed that there were 10 buses on the way but they had been held up in traffic. We got on the second bus and luckily got seats. The way these people drive it was a good thing to be seated.

 

We got to Horseshoe Bay around 10:00 and rented chairs and umbrellas. The beach was pretty crowded:

 

I also paid for 3 hours of wifi for $6.00. A very bad move as I never did get online. I saw countless people back at the store complaining that the wifi didn't work. My sister bought 3 snorkels for $30 each because the girls wanted to snorkel. I believe they were worth like $5.97 at a pharmacy but what can you do. It turned out 2 of them were broken so she ended up not even using them. She took them back and at least got a refund. My nephew at least got to use his.

 

 

Sorry for the thumbs but it was a new camera.

 

Lots of people were swimming out to the rocks and diving off.

 

 

As you can see it was a beautiful day. The beach was one of the most beautiful I've ever been on. The water was a perfect temperature. The sand is like powder.

 

We left the beach around 3:30 and took the van to the top. For the rest of the trip we expounded on how much the van guy made a year. LOL

 

We got the second bus as there was already a line. This bus driver was nuts and it felt like we were on a roller coaster. When we got to the dock the whole bus gave him a hand! My nephew kept wanting to ride the bus after that.

 

My daughter and I wanted to check out Harbour Nights but my sister and the kids wanted to stay onboard so we parted ways. After showering and getting dressed it was after 6:00 so I was figuring it would take too long to eat dinner on the ship so we thought we'd just catch something to eat in Hamilton. The line for the ferry was horrendous! We did end up sitting with a wonderful family and were lucky to get a seat.

 

I didn't take any pictures in Hamilton. We found an Italian restaurant. We hadn't had lunch so we were starving. The best part was that they had free wifi and throughout the meal I was able to iMessage my sons who thought we were lost in the Bermuda Triangle.

 

Harbour Nights was a little boring. Nothing excited us. So we made our way back to the ship around 8:30..just before the crowd.

 

Once we got off the ferry we were greeted with a welcoming sight:

 

 

We found my sister and nephew eating in O'Sheehans so we joined them for an ice cream:

 

 

You can see why my nephew's mouth was watering when he saw these.

[NYGirl1002]

My sister informed me that she had made a 10:30 reservation at the ice bar for her and I. We walked around the ship a little after eating our ice cream and then went to the cabin.

 

My daughter and nephew stayed together doing rainbow loom (rolling my eyes) bracelets, and watching TV. They were very happy.

 

I kept my capris on but I put closed shoes on and a sweat jacket. We LOVED the ice bar.

 

Here's some pictures. Everything is made of ice..the chairs, the bar, the glasses!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was cold in there but the vodka drinks were delicious and really warmed you up. We had a nice crowd of people with us and we all kept taking pictures for each other.

 

It was very enjoyable.

 

We got out of there around 11:00 and by then we were beat from the busy day.

[dcollette]

Thank you for sharing your review. Looks fantastic so far! The ship looks so amazing all lit up at night!

[NYGirl1002]

Thank you dcollette!

[NYGirl1002]

In my research on the Ports forum of cruise critic, I learned of the CoCo Reef hotel so I had emailed them a couple of weeks ago for reservations. They charged $49 for each adult and my nephew was free but you had to pay for his lunch. The fee included towels, chairs, use of the pool and private beach along with a delicious lunch and a glass of wine! I ended up drinking my wine and my daughter's glass because she doesn't drink. She had sweet tea.

 

After a quick breakfast in the buffet, we left the ship around 9:30 and grabbed the ferry to Hamilton. When we docked we got into a taxi who took us to the hotel. It cost $12.00. The only problem was the fact that it was a cloudy day and looked like it was ready to storm all day.

 

We settled ourselves into chairs by the pool and went for a swim. We probably were there a half hour before it started to rain. We took that time to eat lunch and by the time we finished eating it had stopped raining but the sun never really came out.

 

We took a walk down to the beach but there was no way we were going to go for a swim as it was very very rough. Here's some pictures.

 

 

We went back up to sit by the pool again. After awhile we decided to leave for the ship. We probably got back to the ship around 5. We showered and relaxed and about 7:30 we went to TV Tune Trivia. We got stumped on Charlies Angels believe it or not and we came out second.

 

I had made a reservation at Le Bistro that morning so we made our way there at 8:00 for our 8:15 reservation. The restaurant was very crowded and the hostess was definitely overwhelmed. She seemed like she didn't know what she was doing and really was not clear in her explanations to people so there were plenty riled up people in line.

 

We eventually were seated at 8:30 and the food was delicious! We had a wonderful waitress.

 

After dinner we made way to our cabins for the night. As you could see we are not much for night life.

[NYGirl1002]

The teens have been having a ball at night and getting back to the cabin later and later so it's no wonder my sister couldn't get them up on Friday.

 

By this time my daughter and I had been up and ready so we went for breakfast and then disembarked to explore the Dockyard. It was sunny out so our plans were going to be going to snorkel park so the teens could finally snorkel but alas..the best laid plans.

 

Okay here's my gripe! We wanted to take the tram to the shopping center. We were waiting with a couple and their granddaughter who was on crutches with a broken leg.

 

A tram comes by and ignores us, making way to the Celebrity ship! Huh?? why doesn't it go to the NCL ship too..so we don't have to walk the whole dock. Of course it fills up with Celebrity people and by the time it got to us it was full. Another one comes right behind it and stays by the Celebrity ship until it fills up! Same deal. It gets to us and no seats. By the time the third one came I walked to the Celebrity ship and got on. I probably could have walked to the shopping in the same amount of time but I wanted to ride the tram to see all that was available.

 

My daughter and I spent about $100 in the pharmacy which happens to be my most favorite souvenir shop in the world! We then went to the Clocktower mall and I'm amazed how it changed since we were last there in 2010. Eventually we ran into my sister and gang and she bought 2 smoothies in Hagan Daz...$17.00!!

 

We walked to the pharmacy for 2 things I forgot and then waited for the tram to go back to the ship. So what do you think happened? If you guessed that a bunch of trams passed by full of Celebrity passengers you'd be right!

 

We then started walking to the ship and halfway there a big gust of wind came along and a second later it started pouring!! We were soaked by the time we got back to the ship. By now it was 2 hours before all aboard so we just changed to our bathing suits and made way to the pool deck.

 

After a buffet lunch, my daughter and nephew went on the slides and my sister and I went into the adult pool. There was a crew member with a whistle who was enforcing the no kids in hot tub or pool. Shocking.

 

 

 

We had made a reservation for Manhattan..our first dinner in the dining room. The teens insisted on 6:00 so they could attend some teen function after sailaway.

 

We sat on the balcony for sailaway and I was watching the Celebrity ship leave and then a storm rolling in. Here's the pictures:

 

Here's a picture from dinner:

 

 

The teens left us after dinner so my sister nephew daughter and I made way down to the theater for the comedy and magic of Michael Finney.

 

We were actually in the front of the line but I chose to sit in the second row lest we get picked to be in the show. We ordered drinks from a waiter who was putting on a show by twirling his tray and the mood was festive...

 

Until............... all of a sudden I see three adults yelling and cursing at a teenager sitting in the first row. His family was across the aisle in the first row there. Apparently he saved seats for the other kids in his family and these 3 adults took offense. No matter what he did there was no excuse for cursing at him and the young kids with him.

 

I swear this whole thing took over a half hour to resolve with Dan the Cruise Director and 2 Security guys getting involved. Nothing changed after that and the seating stayed the same. The Security guys got a hand when they were leaving.

 

The show was very good and of course the teenager in the first row was called up on stage much to the consternation of the 3 angry adults.

 

We couldn't wait to get to bed just for the gentle rocking.

[coscab]

Thanks for the informative review. Do you happen to remember if the back of the couch removes when it is used for a bed or is it just as narrow as it looks in the pictures. Thanks again for the great review.

[NYGirl1002]

My sister slept on the couch. She said it was very comfortable. Below is a picture of her room made up.

 

[coscab]

My sister slept on the couch. She said it was very comfortable. Below is a picture of her room made up.

 

 

 

Thanks so much for the quick reply, I guess the bolster from the back of the couch gets put in the closet or taken right out of the room, I am thinking if my DH snores too loud I might banish him to the couch (but I have a feeling it will be more like me moving to the couch, I am much smaller than him;))

[NYGirl1002]

We began the day with breakfast in Savor. I love having breakfast in the dining rooms and I was happy to do it that day. Nice and peaceful.

 

Afterwards we went over to look at the photos. This is the only ship I've ever been on where they have lost photos. My photo with Buddy from the cake decorating was missing. My sister had a picture where she walked the plank on the ropes and another portrait of her and her son missing. The staff searched and couldn't find any of them.

 

I was given a free embarkation photo and a $20 credit. My sister got a bunch of free photos and a credit too. Still..we'd rather have the photos as they were definitely photos we'd take home.

 

My daughter and I went to bingo at 11:00 while my sister went upstairs to search for seats by the pool. Turns out I won a bingo but had to share with 7 people!! I ended up with $51 but it's better than nothing.

 

We found my sister and the 4 of us went to the Waterfront to have Lobster rolls! Very very good!. Some time later in the day we also went to Dolce Gelato and had a scoop of gelato..that was good too.

 

After we finished all of our errands we went up to the pool. There were no chairs to be found but tons of towels. Eventually we found 1 chair and shared it. By about 3:00 I couldn't stand it anymore and went to the cabin to do the depressing job of packing. After packing I went to get on the elevator to go to the final bingo and it was packed with people. There was a downpour and everybody was coming down at the same time.

 

We had a reservation for Second City at 7:00 so we got ready. We really enjoyed the show. They are very funny.

 

We then went to Taste for dinner so we were able to say we ate in all 3 dining rooms. Dinner was very good.

 

While my sister went to Guest Services about her bill my daughter and nephew watched Spiderman in the Atrium. I went up to bed..I was tired again.

 

I ended up hardly sleeping that last night. My throat was killing me. I thought for sure I had strep throat and I was going to have my son take me directly to the doctor but believe it or not ..right after breakfast it stopped hurting. I can't figure out what happened! Maybe it was the a/c. I had it low all week.

 

I had put one of my credit cards in the slot and kept it there all week.

 

The teens were supposed to be back at the cabin by 1:00 am but my sister told me she was walking around the ship at 5:30 am searching for them. Turns out they were with their friends just sitting on the pool deck. They didn't want the cruise to end and felt it was worth it to get punished for it.

 

Disembarkation was pretty easy. We at breakfast in Savor. We left our luggage out the night before and found it pretty quick. We had a porter with a cart help us and he took it across the street so we could meet our pickups. We gave him $20 each for a tip.

[Nalagh]

This review may just have sent me over the top with excitement! I leave on Sunday on the BA and we are going to the same resort next Thursday! :D

 

Thank you so much for sharing your review and taking the time to post the photos!!