Breakaway Sept 8-15 Trip Report

[albean99]

I started doing a normal trip report and it was getting too wordy so decided to change it up and have sections. We had so much fun on this trip and the highlight for us was meeting fellow Cruise Critic members. We came away with new friends.

 

Part 1 (will post the rest tomorrow)

 

The Ship:

 

There’s so much to like about this ship. If you’ve been on the Epic it’s very similar in layout with some differences. I will say that I preferred some things on the Epic and the layout of was one of them. Even so it was easy to get around and the interactive screens were very helpful. I also loved the fish on the carpet in the cabin walkways because you could tell if you were heading forward or aft.

 

The cabins were very nice. I loved the bathrooms in our balcony cabin. Lots of storage and the shower was a good size & had a glass door. The only bad thing was that there were no plugs in there and therefore the dryer was in the main cabin much to Al’s dismay when I was getting ready & he was trying to sleep. Yes the balcony is small but it was fine for us. We loved our cabin steward, Marcella, & they took care of a hornet/fly problem our first night very fast. We received a bottle of wine & chocolate dipped strawberries the next day. We were in 11296 which was an excellent location for us because it wasn’t far to the stairs/elevators in port/aft side. We were only 3 flights up to the Garden Grill which was convenient and only had to go 3 or 4 down to the action. We like to do the stairs most of the time.

 

Loved the Waterfront. It’s fun to walk around and there were a few things you could buy to eat or drink out there plus some of the specialty dining had seats outside (maybe all – we only ate at one). The only bad thing for me was that there were often smokers out there sitting.

 

The Casino was smoky and I didn’t spend a lot of time there but usually could for a while without adverse affects. I didn’t like that Shanghai Noodle was open to it so we never ate there. It would have been so easy to close it off so that’s a miss imo. Other than that the smoking didn’t bother me and I’ve read a lot about it. Our ship wasn’t as full as before school went back however.

 

The Rope’s Course was hard & fun. I’m not a fan of heights so walking the plank and even the course itself was scary. I’m proud to have done it and have the picture on the plank to prove it. Most fun for me was the short zipline at the end.

 

I can’t comment on the pools because we didn’t use them. The only time I was nearby was when we were watching the fireworks. I’m not sure why we missed the waterfall at Spice H2O as they looked good.

[bambione]

Thanks for posting this, it sounds like a fun cruise.

Karen

[albean99]

The Entertainment:

 

We loved Rock of Ages. I get that it’s not for everyone and it surprised me that they’d pick it for the headliner but we loved it. The production, acting, & singing was excellent. We met a couple of youngish guys (our boys ages more or less so early to mid 20s) at dinner one night and their buddy was the narrator who was really good. Apparently the whole cast was at the end of their 6 months and would be changing out the next week. It was fun and a full house. Yes a few people (very few) left but there were plenty of warnings prior.

 

2nd City was good but not great. We went to 2 different shows and there wasn’t enough difference. We liked Howl at the Moon, especially the female singer. Burn the Floor was really good but probably too long for us and to be fair there was a Cowboys/Giants game calling our name. We didn’t do the Cirque Dreams Jungle Fantasy having done the one on the Epic. The magician, Michael Finney, was funny but also very old school.

 

There was so much we didn’t do including most of the parties at Spice H2O. We went to 80s night because I was part of a flash mob dancing to Thriller although must say that most of the dancers were planted & were staff. I was a little embarrassed but what the hey. There’s so much to do that it’s impossible to do everything so I don’t feel too bad about what we missed. There was so much we did enjoy.

 

The food:

 

I thought overall it was good but just know that we’re not food snobs at all. I liked the drink options and mostly had the Mango flavored water or ice tea. The only specialty dining we tried was La Cucina on sailaway night. They had a special offer of a free bottle of wine for that night only if you dined at any of the pay venues. It was a great deal because our cover charge was only $15 each and our food was really good.

 

We mostly ate breakfast & lunch at the Garden Café which was busy but we were always able to find a spot to sit. The food was good & fresh and easier for us than the dining rooms. We did have breakfast at Taste one morning and it was very good.

 

For snacks or burgers/sandwiches there’s also Uptown Grill but I thought it was just okay. It was nice that it was partially open and wasn’t usually busy on our cruise anyway. I didn’t love the breakfast though.

 

O’Sheehan’s is always good & we had a lunch & dinner there. I think we spent more time there on the Epic because of the World Series when the Rangers were playing. We enjoyed the fish & chips, Shepherd’s pie, the mozzarella appetizers, & the apple pie a la mode.

 

The only real negative for me was the coffee. A lot of people were talking about it all week and everyone agreed it was strange. At first I thought my milk was sour but then realized there was a flavor in the coffee that smelled & tasted very strange. I got so I’d have coffee in the cabin from the little coffee maker and then tea at breakfast after I found that even cinnamon didn’t disguise the flavor.

[albean99]

Activities:

 

I didn’t do a lot of them unlike previous cruises possibly because of conflicts. I did do one dance class & it was the Thriller one where they have you do a flash mob dance at the 80’s party later that week. Fun. They had movies in the Atrium & even had popcorn.

 

We watched Win Lose or Draw but didn’t play (other than dh who enjoyed the video game one at the Casino). He liked the Adult Quest game that I missed. I don’t even know when they had bingo but heard it was expensive to play.

 

I know this is going to sound bad but our favorite activity was the drink tastings. We did Margarita (2), Martini, & Mohito tastings which are so much fun & a great deal. Everyone can have their own or 2 can share and they were $15 each plus tax/tip. You also learn something and try different flavors but even more importantly make some new friends. It was like a little party afterward. They were either at Maltings or the Shaker Bar. There are also beer & wine tasting that we didn’t go to. The Ice Bar was fun but cold of course. We met 2 couples from Poland and saw them a few more times during the week. I liked the drinks and is fun to drink out of an ice glass (with a glass holder).

 

Bermuda: We were delayed arriving for 12 hrs due to a tropical storm which was a drag but still have fun onboard. We did get off the ship at 9 p.m. but it was very dark & windy and we just wandered around without really finding anything open that we wanted to go to. The next day was drizzly & windy in the morning so went out in our 94 cent ponchos from Academy Sports so didn’t have to buy the $3 ship ones. We took the ferry to Hamilton and decided to take a bus to Crystal Caves because it just didn’t feel like a beach day. We met 2 interns from the Dolphin Quest and they led us to the bus stop which seemed a long way from the dock. We decided to do both caves which seemed like a good idea at the time but just Crystal Cave would have been enough for us. It was a cool place & we got our Bendy Man photo.

 

We headed by bus to St Georges after and had lunch & wandered around the town. It was a quiet little place but interesting. I wish now we’d checked out Tobacco Bay but there aren’t that many ferries and we wanted to catch the one back to the pier at 3:30 because we had an excursion booked. For some reason we got free wifi outside a little bookstore which was nice & the only time I checked emails all week. We had a Sunset Catamaran cruise booked and there was a little sun by then. They gave us unlimited Rum Swizzlers (weak although they did top one off with rum) and we have a nice talk with other cruisers. The other rum cruise out there had seats which may have been nice. Most of us were sitting on the deck on something like cushioned tarps.

 

The next day was sunny so went by bus to Horseshoe Bay. There’s a special bus there right outside where the ship’s docked. We’re not beach people so only stayed a couple of hours but still enjoyed it. I took lots of pics of the beach & the rock formations which makes it so interesting. It’s a long walk down to get there & a couple of vans were charging $2 if you didn’t want to walk up. We walked because we’re all about getting steps on our Fitbits. You can change and wash off the sand there & we brought beach towels from the ship. The food & drinks seem very pricy and we didn’t have any. Back at Kings Wharf we stopped at the Frog & Onion Pub and Al had to try the Dark & Stormy which was something like $8.95. I went shopping instead and got a couple of things. The best deals for souvenirs wasn’t there but I wasn’t going anywhere else so found some decent prices at a drugstore. We might have done more with the extra 12 hours but still enjoyed Bermuda. It’s a beautiful and charming place.

[albean99]

Priceless:

 

Meeting our fellow cruisers and making new friends. Thanks to Tiffany (Tiffygirl) for organizing the Meet & Greet where we met the ship’s officers and other CC members. Kyle gave us the afore-mentioned Bendy Man and Mardi Gras beads which was nice and Jo Ann made us great name tags. That’s where we met Lisa & Rick from PA who ended up being dinner & drink buddies during the cruise. Tiffany also organized a Slot Pull which was fun even with a stingy slot machine.

 

Kyle organized a cabin crawl for the next day. . It was lots of fun & we saw an aft balcony, mini-suite, inside, studio (Kyle was so sweet & made us mimosa’s & Bloody Mary’s in the lounge), and ended at Cherie & Daniel’s suite plus Anne & Eric’s connecting balcony. Thanks to everyone who opened up their cabins. We all did a group shot in the suite’s balcony which is huge especially when compared to our tiny one. Cherie invited us all back for a Sailaway party from Bermuda. We all chatted throughout and I met so many nice people. I’m so bad at names but I remember you all – and we have that great group pic.

 

The Sailaway party was wonderful thanks to Cherie & Daniel. We were served us drinks & appetizers on their wonderful balcony. It was perfect and nice to touch base with everyone.

 

We ran into CC members on the ship & while in Bermuda which made for fun cruise. We will remember this as a special cruise. We also met Mark & Joanne from the Toronto area at a couple of the tastings. Mark’s a CC member. Also hi to Jennifer who's a strong & fun lady.

 

As you can tell by my report, we really enjoyed the Breakaway. This still ended up being long. I guess so much fun takes time to talk about. :)

 

(Not knowing how to do pics the way others do they're all at this link - password is Breakaway13 )

 

http://smg.photobucket.com/user/albean/library/NCL%20Breakaway%20Sept%208-15%202013

[Chrislynn55]

Thanks for your review and for your tip about the coffee. DH and I often take Starbucks instant coffee 'sticks' on cruises just in case the ship's coffee isn't that great....we'll definitely take them on the Breakaway next week!

[JuneauWhatIMean]

What a beautiful review! Thank you so much! :D

[BSR]

Enjoyed your review. How long did ya last in the Ice Bar and was it really that cold? Trying to decide if we should try it.

[albean99]

Enjoyed your review. How long did ya last in the Ice Bar and was it really that cold? Trying to decide if we should try it.

 

It's funny because it seemed colder than when we did it on the Epic. We stayed about 20 mins I think. Long enough to drink the 2 drinks & take pics. The bartender was great and offered to take pics for everyone. If you do it wear long pants & shoes if you have them. They give you a warm poncho to wear and tiny stretchy gloves. I think it's more fun if you're there with more people but we enjoyed it. I think twice is enough for me.

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[sjnyc323]

Great review

[Nalagh]

Fantastic review and beautiful pictures! :)