Our Breakaway Diary

[jdvmd]

But if you are using your Platinum benefit for the dinner you would not make the reservation prior to sailing (as the OP had inquired) because you would have to prepay that or not?

Person asking about the Platinum benefit was not the OP.

All reservations made ahead of time have to be prepaid. It is not a problem to get the time you want once onboard because Platinum cruisers have access to the concierge.

[whenisthemidnightbuffet?]

Person asking about the Platinum benefit was not the OP.

All reservations made ahead of time have to be prepaid. It is not a problem to get the time you want once onboard because Platinum cruisers have access to the concierge.

 

I meant original poster inquiring about the Plat. dinner - thank you for confirming that prebooking would mean prepaying!

[JuneauMe]

Thank you guys for the info. I also noticed that I have so many typo's in my posts that it might have been necessary to use "google translate" to read them, LOL. Oh & I didn't know about the concierge, thanks!

Edited March 4, 2014 by JuneauMe

[Birdnutty]

We have not yet been on the newest ships, but when on all the others including the Epic, we have never had a problem getting seating without reservations if we go early, like 5:30 to 6. And the board listing is frequently wrong, so we learned never to rely on it. Although we've never really used him or her, I'm sure the concierge can really help.

Edited March 5, 2014 by Birdnutty
Stupid autofill

[JuneauMe]

Thanks Birdnutty

[cruisebear84]

Hi, I love reading your review!!! I just booked the Breakaway for Sept. I'm very excited, but unlike the other NCL ships I've been on, this one is so big that I'm am starting my research now so that I don't miss anything, LOL! I have a question. I recently became Platinum, and this will be my 1st cruise where I get to enjoy a complimentary dinner in a specialty restuarant. Do I need to book this, & if I book it, will the Beakaway know that it is the comped benifit, & lastly, could I wait untill I'm on the ship?

 

Thanks

 

I don't think it's necessary to pre-book depending on when you go. I was on the ship in December and booked one restaurant on embarkation day. I booked Teppanyaki on Thursday for Saturday with no problem. September may have smaller crowds depending on when you go because most tri-state area kids will be back at school. And the concierge can definitely hook you up. Have fun! Loved the BA!! :)

 

 

 

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[NCLbigfan]

Hi, I love reading your review!!! I just booked the Breakaway for Sept. I'm very excited, but unlike the other NCL ships I've been on, this one is so big that I'm am starting my research now so that I don't miss anything, LOL!

 

Thanks

 

Hint...we were in cabin 11182 which was right near the elevators in the first half of the ship. Being in this cabin meant that we never had to walk a long distance from the elevator, and in essence, cut down on the size of the ship for us. Check out cabins near the front elevators on all floors to minimize walking and the size of the ship.

[NCLbigfan]

If you are Platinum, you will receive an envelope in your cabin. You will make the reservation and fill out and bring the free dinner for two certificate with you to dinner. It is a wonderful benefit. You will also receive a bottle of wine. If your cabin mate is also Platinum, then you both receive a certificate hence two dinners for two and two bottles of wine.

 

We received the two certificates for dinner but did not use them. However, although we are both platinum, we only received one bottle of wine.

[NCLbigfan]

I'll have a quick update tonight as I was away for the past few days. No, not on a cruise, unfortunately.

[JuneauMe]

Hint...we were in cabin 11182 which was right near the elevators in the first half of the ship. Being in this cabin meant that we never had to walk a long distance from the elevator, and in essence, cut down on the size of the ship for us. Check out cabins near the front elevators on all floors to minimize walking and the size of the ship.

I booked 11872, right near the aft elevator, but it wasn't because I did my research. It just happened to be what the offered, LOL!!! Thank you again for all the great info!

[NCLbigfan]

It was late afternoon when I met my wife back at the cabin and we prepared for this evening’s events together. There was a photo opportunity with Captain Evans Hoyt from 6 to 6:15 in the Atrium. However, the line was so long that the Captain was there until slightly before 7pm. I’m not fond of having my picture taken but the wife loves it. She especially loves taking her picture with the Captain so I had to wait until she was finished.

 

From there we went to the Fat Cats lounge to participate in the nightly karaoke that was being held from 6pm to 8pm. Karaoke is another one of my wife’s favorite things to do. On previous cruises she could choose from a printed list of songs that were available but on the Breakaway she had to choose her song from a fancy laptop but there was only one laptop available. By the time she was able to secure it, the DJ announced that he wasn’t accepting any more requests. Oh well.

 

After dinner we went to the Burn The Floor show. This was only one of the two shows that we had booked online before getting on the ship (Rock of Ages was the other). Doing that ahead of time was something that I was not used to doing. On a normal cruise, there would be two showings of a show each night with different shows each night. I wondered whether booking these two shows would interfere with the regular daily shows. I didn’t know it at the time but that is not how it is on the Breakaway. They have several shows that are shown 4 to 6 times a week.

The show was promoted as being on Broadway but it wasn’t a traditional Broadway show like I was used to. There was no dialog and no plot. It was just a group of dancers dancing to a male lead vocal and a female lead vocal who took turns singing. Sometimes they even sang together. But don’t get me wrong. There was a lot of hard work involved to learn the dances and the show was very good. There was dancing to rock songs like “Ballroom Blitz” and to a Tina Turner. There were a couple of other songs that I recognized but whose titles escape me now. Despite the great dance moves, the thing that I liked most about the show was the drummer. He pounded his large set of drums like a madman and his long hair soon became matted in sweat. He definitely carried the beat.

 

Afterwards we went for a late night snack at O’Sheehan’s, which is a fancier version of other ship’s Blue Lagoon; a 24 hour eatery where you can eat chicken fingers, mozzarella sticks, sandwiches and other comfort food. However, O’Sheehan’s is different because while you could get anything off the regular menu at Blue Lagoon all day long, O’Sheehan’s has a limited menu after 11pm. And when we were arrived at 10:45 we were told that we could not get any chicken fingers. After some complaining, the waiter brought over one order of 2 chicken fingers. I settled on a corned beef sandwich which had two slices of corned beef on it. We really didn’t enjoy this meal and did not eat here anymore on this vacation.

 

Next Up:

Finally, warm weather and our first port of call; Cape Canaveral.

[peg013]

We received the two certificates for dinner but did not use them. However, although we are both platinum, we only received one bottle of wine.

 

It's one per cabin sparkling wine no matter how many are platinum but then you also get a bottle of wine with each dinner for two certificate during your dinner. So 3 bottles total if you use your two dinner for two certificates.

Edited March 7, 2014 by peg013

[welove2cruise232]

Enjoying your review! Thanks!

[mizLORInj]

. . .

 

After dinner we went to the Burn The Floor show. . .

 

. . . Despite the great dance moves, the thing that I liked most about the show was the drummer. He pounded his large set of drums like a madman and his long hair soon became matted in sweat. He definitely carried the beat.

 

. . .

 

YES! I thought the drummer was as entertaining as the fabulous dancers!

[NCLbigfan]

Tuesday, February 18th. Today was the day that many of the people on the ship had waited for. It was the first warm day that many of us had since the winter began. The sun was shining brightly and there was a warm breeze in the air as the ship glided across the water to its mooring berth at Cape Canaveral.

 

Since there wasn’t an official sailaway party when we left New York two days earlier, there was an official sail-in party with the band, Impac, at the pool playing some of the current popular hits as well as some Caribbean favorites. Thousands of passengers donned swimsuits, or short sleeve shirts, blouses, and shorts. Many lathered up with suntan lotion and either played in and around the pool area or lounged on their chairs or, like me, watched as the ship was welcomed into port with an electronic scrolling sign at the dock.

 

 

In the distance I could see the many buses start to arrive that would take many on their excursions. One of them would be taking the wife and me to Epcot Center today. I’ve heard or read all the negative comments. “It’s not enough time.” “It’s takes too long to get there.” “It’s too expensive”. Well, my response is, “Who cares”. We have done all the Disney theme parks many times. We have done the Universal and Sea World parks many times. We have done the Kennedy Space Center tour many times. We know what there is to see and do in most of these places because we have done it all before. However, there’s something about Disney that brings out the kid in my wife. This time she wanted to do to Epcot Center and I mapped out a plan ahead of time to try and catch as much as possible.

 

The combined travel to and from the park and admission fee was $169 a person and we were told to meet up with our excursion group in the Breakaway Theatre at 11:45am. From there we were taken out a back entrance behind the theatre and led to the group of waiting buses. There were five buses headed to the Disney parks today and we were on bus number four. We gave the attendant our excursion ticket and was handed a park admission ticket and another pink ticket which was our return trip bus ticket with a cell phone number on it. If we were having any problems getting back to the transportation center for our return back to the ship, we would need to call that number. If, for some reason, we decided to leave the park early and take a taxi back to the ship, we would need to call. However, a taxi ride would cost approximately $150.00 so I’m not sure why anyone would do that. Soon we were on our way.

 

We arrived at the transportation center about an hour and 15 minutes later. We boarded the monorail and arrived at Epcot center a few minutes after that. I had planned and mapped out several attractions but as soon as we got to the park the wife was hungry; something that I hadn’t really planned. Oh well. We ate in one of the restaurants where two orders of chicken fingers and fries and two sodas cost us $30.00.

 

Over the next few hours we went through several attractions including a video and slow ride with Ellen DeGeneres about energy, a movie with the characters from The Lion King about recycling, a boat ride through an environment where certain fruits and vegetables are grown without the use of soil and a couple of other attractions. We never did get to visit any of the attractions in the world showcase but we did get to visit many souvenir shops; a passion of my wife.

 

We timed it so that we would make the last bus back to the ship at about 7:15 but as had happened in the past, we were forced to wait for several people who used the telephone number on the pink ticket to call and hold the bus. We finally left at 7:30 and made it back to the ship just before 9:00, the intended sailaway time. Since we were on an official excursion of NCL we were never in fear of the ship leaving without us.

 

When we returned to the cabin I noticed that the next day’s Freestyle Daily was promoting a comedy magician by the name of Martin Brock, a 28 year old from Copenhagen, Denmark. He had actually performed tonight but since we were in Disney all day we did not see his show. Wanting to guarantee our attendance at one of his shows the next night we made reservations on one of the many touch screens located throughout the ship. There was one right outside our cabin right next to the elevators. I was actually having fun throughout the cruise just tapping away for information on those screens.

 

Afterwards we grabbed a quick dinner at the buffet and headed to Spice H2O, the outside dance venue located at the top and back of the ship. Tonight’s theme was the 70’s Disco Groove Party at 10:30. Many of the cruise ship hosts were dressed as characters from the Village People as songs from the 70’s were blasted from the sound system. This was my first time in the venue and I noticed that the place was very crowded. Hopefully the next class of ships will have a larger Spice area. I guess people wanted to enjoy the warm breeze as we continued south to our next destination.

 

Up next: The Private Island.

[Birdnutty]

I'm living vicariously through this review. So complete!

 

Thanks, and keep it coming!

[piglet55cc]

My husband and I will be on the Breakaway on 3/23. I have truly enjoyed your story. After reading so many bad reviews I got worried. You have lifted my spirit. Thank you.;)

[English101]

I'm enjoying your review. Looking forward to the next installment!

[ncklhaus]

Can't wait to read more!

[Teesa1021]

Tuesday, February 18th. Today was the day that many of the people on the ship had waited for. It was the first warm day that many of us had since the winter began. The sun was shining brightly and there was a warm breeze in the air as the ship glided across the water to its mooring berth at Cape Canaveral.

 

 

 

Since there wasn’t an official sailaway party when we left New York two days earlier, there was an official sail-in party with the band, Impac, at the pool playing some of the current popular hits as well as some Caribbean favorites. Thousands of passengers donned swimsuits, or short sleeve shirts, blouses, and shorts. Many lathered up with suntan lotion and either played in and around the pool area or lounged on their chairs or, like me, watched as the ship was welcomed into port with an electronic scrolling sign at the dock.

 

 

 

 

 

In the distance I could see the many buses start to arrive that would take many on their excursions. One of them would be taking the wife and me to Epcot Center today. I’ve heard or read all the negative comments. “It’s not enough time.” “It’s takes too long to get there.” “It’s too expensive”. Well, my response is, “Who cares”. We have done all the Disney theme parks many times. We have done the Universal and Sea World parks many times. We have done the Kennedy Space Center tour many times. We know what there is to see and do in most of these places because we have done it all before. However, there’s something about Disney that brings out the kid in my wife. This time she wanted to do to Epcot Center and I mapped out a plan ahead of time to try and catch as much as possible.

 

 

 

The combined travel to and from the park and admission fee was $169 a person and we were told to meet up with our excursion group in the Breakaway Theatre at 11:45am. From there we were taken out a back entrance behind the theatre and led to the group of waiting buses. There were five buses headed to the Disney parks today and we were on bus number four. We gave the attendant our excursion ticket and was handed a park admission ticket and another pink ticket which was our return trip bus ticket with a cell phone number on it. If we were having any problems getting back to the transportation center for our return back to the ship, we would need to call that number. If, for some reason, we decided to leave the park early and take a taxi back to the ship, we would need to call. However, a taxi ride would cost approximately $150.00 so I’m not sure why anyone would do that. Soon we were on our way.

 

 

 

We arrived at the transportation center about an hour and 15 minutes later. We boarded the monorail and arrived at Epcot center a few minutes after that. I had planned and mapped out several attractions but as soon as we got to the park the wife was hungry; something that I hadn’t really planned. Oh well. We ate in one of the restaurants where two orders of chicken fingers and fries and two sodas cost us $30.00.

 

 

 

Over the next few hours we went through several attractions including a video and slow ride with Ellen DeGeneres about energy, a movie with the characters from The Lion King about recycling, a boat ride through an environment where certain fruits and vegetables are grown without the use of soil and a couple of other attractions. We never did get to visit any of the attractions in the world showcase but we did get to visit many souvenir shops; a passion of my wife.

 

 

 

We timed it so that we would make the last bus back to the ship at about 7:15 but as had happened in the past, we were forced to wait for several people who used the telephone number on the pink ticket to call and hold the bus. We finally left at 7:30 and made it back to the ship just before 9:00, the intended sailaway time. Since we were on an official excursion of NCL we were never in fear of the ship leaving without us.

 

 

 

When we returned to the cabin I noticed that the next day’s Freestyle Daily was promoting a comedy magician by the name of Martin Brock, a 28 year old from Copenhagen, Denmark. He had actually performed tonight but since we were in Disney all day we did not see his show. Wanting to guarantee our attendance at one of his shows the next night we made reservations on one of the many touch screens located throughout the ship. There was one right outside our cabin right next to the elevators. I was actually having fun throughout the cruise just tapping away for information on those screens.

 

 

 

Afterwards we grabbed a quick dinner at the buffet and headed to Spice H2O, the outside dance venue located at the top and back of the ship. Tonight’s theme was the 70’s Disco Groove Party at 10:30. Many of the cruise ship hosts were dressed as characters from the Village People as songs from the 70’s were blasted from the sound system. This was my first time in the venue and I noticed that the place was very crowded. Hopefully the next class of ships will have a larger Spice area. I guess people wanted to enjoy the warm breeze as we continued south to our next destination.

 

 

 

Up next: The Private Island.

 

 

I am doing the islands of adventure excursion next week on the breakaway. Is there only one time the bus takes you back to the ship or more than one option?

 

 

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[lexave]

We will be on the Breakaway in April. We are planning a trip to Disney for the day. Costs wont be too bad, because we all have tickets and like you said, it brings out the kids in us!

 

So that said, I do wish it was a longer time in port. Here's the thing, my older daughter, a freshman in college who has spring break next week so cant go with us, is going to fly down to Disney and meet us. It will be a surprise for my husband and younger daughter.

 

You said you met at 11:45 for departure from the ship, do you remember what time you pulled into Disney? And was the only option to go to Ticket and Transportation Center? as opposed to going directly to any of the parks?

 

Thanks for your help!

[NCLbigfan]

I am doing the islands of adventure excursion next week on the breakaway. Is there only one time the bus takes you back to the ship or more than one option?

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

 

I don't know for sure but if it was anything like the Disney situation it would depend on the number of buses going there. If there is only one bus it would leave once.If there are two boxes, then the first one leaves after it fills up while the second one would leave a few minutes later after it filled up. If you needed to get back to the ship sooner, you would need to get a taxi, hence the approximate $150.00 cost.

 

It is not like a shuttle situation where a bus leaves every hour or so. Don't forget it is a good 40 to 50 mile trip each way so the buses are only looking to make one trip back and forth

[NCLbigfan]

We will be on the Breakaway in April. We are planning a trip to Disney for the day. Costs wont be too bad, because we all have tickets and like you said, it brings out the kids in us!

 

So that said, I do wish it was a longer time in port. Here's the thing, my older daughter, a freshman in college who has spring break next week so cant go with us, is going to fly down to Disney and meet us. It will be a surprise for my husband and younger daughter.

 

You said you met at 11:45 for departure from the ship, do you remember what time you pulled into Disney? And was the only option to go to Ticket and Transportation Center? as opposed to going directly to any of the parks?

 

Thanks for your help!

 

That is a nice surprise and I hope everything goes well.

 

Yes we met in the Breakaway theatre at 11:45 but by the time we waited a few extra minutes for people to come into the theatre, and until the ship was cleared, and until they called us, and until we got off the ship, and until we were led to our buses, and until we got on the bus, and until we got to Disney it was probably around 1pm to 1:30. (I made that a run-on sentence on purpose to show the tediousness of all of this.)

 

The only option is to go to the transportation center as that is where the bus will sit all day. From the transportation center you can either take the monorail or boat to Magic Kingdom; the monorail to Epcot Center or a bus dedicated to either Animal Kingdom or Hollywood Studios. Your best bet would be to meet her at the front enterance of the park that you are going to.

 

And to everyone else...I will have another update tonight!!!

[NCLbigfan]

Wednesday, Feb 19, Day Four of Cruise.

 

Today was private island day. NCL had spent millions of dollars to upgrade the place and were finally finished with the renovation. The wife and I had been to the island a number of times, the last being just over two years ago in the middle of the changes. The place had improved greatly with the renovations as there were a lot more things to do there than in the past.

 

We really are not water people so any of the scuba or snorkeling events were out of the question for us. There was one excursion that seemed perfect for us and that was a pontoon boat ride around the island. When we tried to book this trip online two days before the cruise it was unavailable. However, we did manage to reserve a ride shortly after getting on the Breakaway.

 

Being platinum latitude members we were able to be one of the first ones off the ship at 9am and onto the tenders but that is not our style. Instead we relaxingly sat on our balcony and watched as the tenders ferried people to the island. We had time to meet our excursion group until 11:20 on the island at the information and tour booth for our “Marine Life Eco Boat Tour.”

 

Eventually we made our way down to the fourth deck and out onto one of the tenders. There wasn’t a cloud in the blue sky and the water was as calm as could be, well, until we started moving. The ride to the island was a little choppy but probably nothing out of the ordinary. Once our tender docked we were met by one of the cruise ship hosts, crazy Christine, who fed us information over a microphone system. She welcomed us to the island and told us where and when lunch would be served, where the information and tour booth was and that all the bathrooms are contained in buildings painted blue. (Believe me...that bit of information helped a lot).

 

Once there we waited for late comers and were led to the opposite end of the island; an area that we had never been to before. We boarded a small boat that was only able to hold about 15 to 20 people. Before we could pull away from the small dock the upsell began. They were offering a CD with pictures of many of the sights and marine life that we would see with any pictures of the attendees that were taken on the boat that would be sprinkled throughout the disc.

 

Our first ‘highlight’ of the trip was a statuesque pose from some kind of kimono dragon or large lizard. It stood on a small table that was next to two beach chairs on land. Next to the lizard thing were two empty bottles of beer. This whole scene looked staged to me and the narrator claimed he was posing for us. Suddenly everyone on the right side of the boat ran to the left side of the boat to take pictures and for a second I thought we were going to capsize. We waited there for about five minutes and the damn thing didn’t move. Suddenly the captain yelled out something and the photographer ran to the right side of the boat. Apparently there was some kind of fish that no one saw except for the photographer who claimed he got a great picture. Maybe it’s me but I felt like we were being played for a fool. Once a New Yorker, always a New Yorker.

 

I started to get into the action a little by telling the photographer that I could see a snake on the island and that it was waving to us. I told him to get a picture of that and as he raised the camera to his face he must have realized I was joking because he gave me a strange look.

 

Actually it was an enjoyable and calm one hour ride and we did get to see some stingrays and a couple of items were taken out of the water for us to look at and touch such as a sea cucumber and sea urchins. However, it wasn’t worth the $39.95 each that I paid for the wife and for myself.

 

Once back on land we ate lunch and spent time on the beach as there were plenty of empty lounge chairs to be found around 2:30. The wife spent some time wadding in the water and I could feel the heat beating down on my skin. I would actually get sunburn which is what I wanted to make all my friends and coworkers jealous when I got back home. After all, they were going through another snow storm back home.

 

After an hour of that we made our way back to the tenders and onto the ship. We received a notice in our cabin that we had won a lottery to eat with some of the officers of the ship later that week and that we would have to RSVP before later in the evening, which we did. The wife loves to do this so she enters this lottery on every cruise. We have eaten in the past with the captain, the staff captain, an art auction lady and some electrician. Later in the week we would be eating with Chief Engineer Anders Nedal and Chief Electrical Engineer Slavimir Vukovic.

 

Next Up: An evening heading toward Nassau including the Latitudes gathering, the comedy magic of Martin Brock and the Glow party.

[kba1988]

More! More!

 

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