July 20-27 Breakaway to Bermuda

[VickiD59]

Hooray...the day is finally here! Been up since before dawn, like a kid trying to sleep on Christmas Eve :)

We'll be leaving in about an hour to meet up with the rest of our group, and we're being picked-up at 10:00 to head to the port. I AM SO EXCITED!!!! Judging by last weeks starboard docking in Bermuda, seems like a pretty good chance we'll be port side this week; maybe we'll even get that aft to aft configuration I've been hoping for.

I'll use this same thread to maybe pop in during the week, and for my post-cruise thoughts.

Have a great week everyone!!!!

[meatball_nyc]

Bon Voyage VickiD! Your day is finally here :)

Will be watching your sailaway this afternoon. You guys are gonna have a great cruise to beautiful Bermuda.

Safe Sailing!

 

 

~Robin

Every Day at Sea is a Great Day

[KirkNC]

Bon voyage!

[NJLVW]

Have a great cruise!!!

[ImADaneFan]

VickiD, have a fabulous time. If you do happen to dock port side can you see if you can get

wifi from the dockyard on your balcony? We will be in an aft port side suite in September

and I would love to use the dockyard wifi while we're there.

 

Linda

 

 

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[NJ Johnny]

Have a wonderful vacation. Wish we were going again this week! Smooth sailing and sunny skies. Carol

[wasiii]

.....only 8 short weeks till I am on the Breakaway again!

 

:D

 

wasiii

[meatball_nyc]

Don't forget to sit outside and have drinks at Malting's or Fat Cat's on the Waterfront, starboard. Say hi to the bar waiter Nacho from Robin and Brian :D

You should be boarding in about an hour.

Have fun!

 

 

~Robin

Every Day at Sea is a Great Day

[puddles99]

Have a super time! :D

 

 

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[VickiD59]

We just got home about an hour ago - so sorry to have the week end.

NCL's debarkation process was the smoothest we've ever had. As soon as we got into the luggage hanger we immediately found our bags and were with through customs and outside in no time.

 

Our aft cabin was amazing (11310), the corner suite next to us was never occupied - we were tempted to open the dividers and go hangout (kidding of course), but speaking of dividers; we asked our steward Eric the first day if he could open ours and 11312 and 11314. He said he couldn't, and that even while in Bermuda they could not be opened. Youngest son was in the midship mini with his gf's family. They also had several cabins in a row and their steward opened theirs for them once arriving in Bermuda.

Well...hubby always travels with his leathermen tool set - it took just a twist and it opened right up. We only had the dividers opened once we arrived to Bermuda and only when we were all sitting outside together. We'd close them up when we were done. It was a shame that we could only "hang out" with our friends and family while standing up at the railing. We purposely chose our spacious aft balconies for that benefit - so for about 15 minutes each night in Bermuda, we opened our dividers for a pre-dinner cocktail time. Mostly the men folk hung out together while we women got ready.

Side note - we carried on water and small 8pk cans of soda. There was no issue with our packed rum-runners.

 

That's it for now.. will add my 2cents on a couple of other things later on. For now it's laundry and a nap!!

Edited July 27, 2014 by VickiD59

[VickiD59]

Having only ever cruised twice before, and both on the same Carnival ship, it's sort of like comparing apples to oranges - but there were times when I did prefer one over the other for some things.

 

We loved the decor of the Breakaway - very upscale resort

The Waterfront was the perfect place to hang out after dinner - very mellow.

Casino smoke was not as terrible as I imagined - it's definitely there, but not to the extent I had expected. Trying to walk through there could be a challenge at times - slow meandering walkers who just sort of zoned out trying to find the next machine to play on- we referred to them as the Walking Dead. I did win consistently at the penny slots. I'd only play with 20.00 bucks and either I would lose it and would walk away, or would get it to 120.00-130.00 and cash out. This happened a few times, and I was up 320.00 by the end of the trip. One person in our group won 1000.00 on 1.00 Wheel of Fortune slot. Score!

We ate primarily in Taste or Savor - this was because our first night in the Manhattan Room was painfully slow. We had originally reserved most dinners at 8:30, but soon changed our dining time to 5:30 (never thought we'd eat that early) but eating so late... and having it take so long to complete, gave us no nightlife - we were too tired after dinner to want to do anything.

Moderno- I wanted to like it more; we had a group dinner (25 people) after our cocktail hour in Shakers. Maybe it was too many rum punches before hand ;) or again... too late of a dining time.

From that point on we ate earlier and didn't feel so sluggish and tired afterwards. We tried Manhattan again at an earlier time, and unbeknownst to us it was a night that Burn the Floor preformed - very nice bonus.

MDR Menus- I'm sure 90% of you will disagree with me, but this is where I have to give it to Carnival (or at least our experience with Carnival) - there was a lack of choices on Breakaway, and the food was never piping hot. I found I ended up eating the same few things because there wasn't much to choice from. Even the buffet had the same things over and over. But again, food is subjective - one mans steak is another mans hamburger.

Nightlife- LOVED the themed deck parties! We literally danced the night away. Sail-away party was great as we left NY, and the Glow Party was awesome. It was raining as we left Bermuda, and we thought the fireworks were cancelled. Having had too much sun I went to bed early. I woke up to what sounded like gun shots :eek: but found it was the fireworks after all. We watched them from our aft balcony, then I went back to bed zzzzzz.

Edited July 27, 2014 by VickiD59

[VickiD59]

For those of us skeptical about trying a new cruise line, no one had any complaints. Or if there was, it was primarily food related, but believe me... no one starved. I think we've exhausted the sailings out of NY and may have to venture to FL to get some different port choices. We've been cruising every two years - I really hope we don't have to wait that long for the next one. Of course by then RCCL's newest will be in operation and we might give that a whirl. Or...more than likely we might try an all-inclusive land resort next year. But who knows.. right now we're all on that post vacation high ya get after having had a fantastic week with family and friends. :D

[meatball_nyc]

Welcome home!

Sounds like you guys had a good time. How did you like your aft balconies?

Ever meet Nacho? We liked eating dinner earlier, too. Gave us more time for nightlife.

Glad to hear you enjoyed your cruise :) come back and let us know what you did in Bermuda!

 

 

~Robin

Every Day at Sea is a Great Day

[VickiD59]

Never met Nacho. Actually never had one particular bartender that stood out - probably because we never sat at anyone one spot long enough to form an attachment.

We LOVED our aft balcony and I can't imagine not booking one all the time from here on in. Initially my concern was that if we had rough waters we'd feel it more, but the water was so smooth on this sailing. Coming home we felt the waves a little more, but I think it was because coming back you're going faster. Really would have loved that extra sea day on the way home as well. Our Carnival sailings were 8 nights, and that extra day really is wonderful.

Can't believe after all the planning it's come and gone so quickly. This time last week we were at dinner (the one that took forever), and I so wish we were back there.

[jrm116]

Thanks for the info! Counting down the days! And with the food, you (not you in particular VickiD59 but "you" as a general term) are on a CRUISE SHIP. No need to complain about food when there's more than you possibly need!! I think it's silly to complain about food if you're lucky enough to be able to afford a cruise.

 

But anyway, I do have a real question: so they can open up the balcony dividers? Other family members will be staying next to us,but it's not a connecting room. Not a huge deal , but just wondering

[js]

Welcome home. Im on Breakaway in two weeks.

 

Jrm, we had four BA balconies on Deck 13 last year and had all the dividers opened from day one. We came back from dinner on our last night and they were all closed but were open to/in/from Bermuda.

[VickiD59]

I'm sure there are balcony divider rules, and depending on your room steward, whether they are hard rules, or soft rules. The dividers for our aft cabins were on a slant, and only the first triangular shaped section opened, but not completely flat against itself - it only opened 90 degrees, which did cut into the floor space of the balcony. It was just enough for us to pass from one balcony to the other. Again, we didn't keep them open much, just for when we were all hanging out together, then we'd lock them up again.

[tel2]

Well...hubby always travels with his leathermen tool set - it took just a twist and it opened right up. We only had the dividers opened once we arrived to Bermuda and only when we were all sitting outside together. We'd close them up when we were done. !!

 

Hi

 

We have the same situation in a fee weeks -- three cabins in a row. What tool exactly do we need? I want to be prepared.

 

Terry

[js]

My dh used a pen i think.

 

This is 3 BA cabins opened. My dh had not yet opened the last divider we had four cabins total.

[tel2]

Thanks!