Breakaway to Bermuda review: July 19-26, 2015

[juniortrooper]

@juniortrooper - this is a great, and very detailed review. Thanks for taking the time out of your life to do this for us. We sail Breakaway in a few more weeks.

 

Would love to know what you & hubby did on the island of Bermuda. Thanks again for the details. Any pics??? LOL!!! :p:p

 

Hi,

Bermuda details are coming! Weather was NOT on our side, unfortunately, so our "plan A" turned into a "plan B" for day 2. I have lots of pictures, but I haven't finished downloading them and I don't even know how to upload them to the site. If I can figure it out, I will put some in! Enjoy your trip!

 

 

Amy

[Gotts123]

Amy, you are a doll. Thank you so much.

[juniortrooper]

I was pleasantly surprised when I entered Tradewinds--there was everything from liquor (if purchased it would be delivered to your room at the end of the cruise), basic NCL t shirts, bags, wristlets ($7), stuffed animals, Christmas ornaments of the Breakaway ($15), and a small selection of some fancier cover ups or shirts. There was lots of jewelry--both costume and fine jewelry. They also had watches and hand bags.

 

Outside of the pool area there were beach towels, sunscreen, small stuffed toys, sunglasses, hats, and bags.

 

I was looking for a place that sold essentials all week--you know, like basic meds, snacks, mints, etc. I couldn't believe I could buy a fine diamond ring but not Tylenol!! It wasn't until Saturday afternoon that we found it....we walked into the liquor store area and there was a wall of essentials for sale. We weren't in the market for liquor so didn't bother walking in there until the last day. So, FYI--if you need essentials, check the liquor store, LOL! (they really should put a little note about this in the Dailies!)

 

I bought some sugar-free mints in a decorative small tin with a picture of Breakaway on it ($3.95 ea). We also (previously mentioned) purchased 4 pressed pennies in O'Sheehan's ($1/each) for the kids. I think that is it as far a purchases on board. The rest of the things we purchased was in Bermuda (coming up, I promise!)

 

There were lots of specials throughout the trip--I didn't pay much attention since I wasn't in the market for any of the watches or jewelry they were selling. I will say that if you see something you must have, purchase it early because it's not likely they will have extras "in the back". I noticed they had cute captain's hats for kids the first day. A few days later, they were gone!

 

Up Next: Arriving in Bermuda!!

[juniortrooper]

I thought this might need a post on its own since it was one of the few things I was a little unhappy about and it seems like such an easy fix on NCL's part....

 

Anyway, I woke up early to the sight of land! Hooray! After 2 1/2 days at sea, land looked good! Tuesday was particularly rocky, so I was looking forward to 3 days of a still boat!

 

I had scoured the daily the evening before for information about where and when to disembark. All I knew was that we were arriving at 8am. I didn't know if that meant we were able to get off then or not. As we got closer, it seemed like we should be able to get off about 8, based on the fact that we were at the dock and I couldn't imagine things too terribly long to get settled so passengers could leave.

 

Anyway, we packed our things for the day and asked someone where we go to get off. They said Deck 4, so we headed down the Aft stairs to 5 and realized we couldn't go any further. Luckily, I saw a laminated sign in the cabin hallway that said disembarkation with an arrow. We walked down 5 to the Forward stairs and took them to deck 4, where we saw several people directing us off the ship. Bottled water and ponchos were also for sale. One of the crew members was also letting passengers know they needed their room cards to punch off the ship then an additional form of government ID (driver's license was ok, as well as a Passport) to get back ON. Lots of people were upset by this because they didn't know beforehand. It seems like this would be really easy to put in the Daily that comes to the room the night before, right?! Luckily, we had thought to bring our licenses, but many other passengers didn't and were quite flustered. (NOTE: children didn't need an official government photo ID, just adults)

 

We were standing downstairs for 20 minutes at least (waiting for our friends to get their IDs and jackets) before an official announcement was made that people could start disembarking and to bring a form of photo ID.

 

So, 2 lessons--you CAN head down before the announcement and (when traveling to Bermuda at least), bring a photo ID and your room key!!

 

It was just frustrating by the lack of information provided ahead of time by NCL. Is there a reason why they wouldn't put some of the pertinent info in the Daily?

 

Getting off was a breeze and we were on our way to the beach!!!

 

Up Next: Bermuda Beaches!! Horseshoe Bay, Warwick Long Bay, and our adventure in between.....

[Sizzlechest]

One of the crew members was also letting passengers know they needed their room cards to punch off the ship then an additional form of government ID (driver's license was ok, as well as a Passport) to get back ON. Lots of people were upset by this because they didn't know beforehand. It seems like this would be really easy to put in the Daily that comes to the room the night before, right?! Luckily, we had thought to bring our licenses, but many other passengers didn't and were quite flustered. (NOTE: children didn't need an official government photo ID, just adults)

 

We were standing downstairs for 20 minutes at least (waiting for our friends to get their IDs and jackets) before an official announcement was made that people could start disembarking and to bring a form of photo ID.

 

So, 2 lessons--you CAN head down before the announcement and (when traveling to Bermuda at least), bring a photo ID and your room key!!

 

It was just frustrating by the lack of information provided ahead of time by NCL. Is there a reason why they wouldn't put some of the pertinent info in the Daily?

 

Same thing happened with our Florida excursion on the Gem. The lack of communication about having the correct forms of ID are systemic.

[KweezyCruiser]

Actually, the need for a photo ID and your room key IS included in the Daily. See the upper right of the first page from the Day 4 Daily included in the link you posted above.

[hansolosmom]

The drunkard's hump cracked me up. Dh & I did a trip on RCI without our kids and had the drink package. It was really nice to not worry about being mom for a week and having some fun.

 

Thanks for the review!

[juniortrooper]

Actually, the need for a photo ID and your room key IS included in the Daily. See the upper right of the first page from the Day 4 Daily included in the link you posted above.

 

Thanks for pointing this out! Unfortunately, after looking at the scanned ones from May above and looking closely at ours, they aren't the same. They were formatted a little differently. I see the scooter advisory and port agent info, top excursions, and how to book an excursion on the first page, along with What to do on Board, but nothing about what to bring.

 

They apparently switched up some things with the dailies from May - July and decided to omit some information (or at least hid it so well that it was really hard to find--I just don't see it)

[juniortrooper]

*One note I don't think I included before is that we purchased our 2-day transportation passes (bus/ferry) on board. It seemed to be the same price as purchasing it in Bermuda and one less stop before boarding the busses!

 

We asked someone where we should go to get to the busses and they pointed us to where we needed to go. The bus stop had a bus there and the bus driver was outside. I asked if it was bus 7 because it said "out of service" on it. He said yes, he would take us to Horseshoe Bay and was very friendly. The bus eventually filled mostly up and we were off! Our bus driver seemed to know everyone and honked at everyone (in a friendly manner) the whole trip! It was quite a narrow and windy road. The walk down to Horseshoe was a little long, but we didn't have young kids with us so it didn't matter.

 

The bathrooms were clean, even with little vases of fresh flowers on the sink! Our friends rented chairs. It was too windy for umbrella rentals.

 

We went to the right to a little cove or bay area that wasn't very crowded. (we were probably the first couple busses to arrive). We sat down and laid out our things, got the obligatory pictures of the beautiful surroundings and a family proceeded to drop their things down in front of us, totally blocking any view. (there were plenty of other areas to sit, mind you!) We laughed about it and as it got more and more crowded, we scoped out a new place to go. We went to the far area of Horseshoe Bay (to the left) near the rocks. It was less crowded there.

 

My husband and I went on a walk to the left past the rocks and found lots of little coves and bays and scenic areas. There was a group jumping off the rocks/cliff into the water. Lots of neat little places to discover. On a map, I have no idea where we were, but we were to the left of Horseshoe, looking at the water if that helps. I had my nice DSLR camera with me so we enjoyed getting lots of beautiful shots of the scenery and the beaches.

 

By the time we came back, the winds had really picked up and sand was getting everywhere. There was no "relaxing on the beach with a book"--it was more like "shielding your eyes from the sand as much as possible" type of beach day. Our friends went on a walk for about and hour and by the time they returned, we had had enough of free exfoliating and decided it was time to grab some lunch at the Swizzle Inn via the paths from Horseshoe to Warwick Long Bay.

 

The husbands took the chairs back and we enjoyed watching some of the cliff jumpers before our next adventure to find Swizzle Inn began!

 

I thought I had read on the Bermuda board where you could walk to Swizzle Inn from Warwick Long Bay and I knew there was a path from Horseshoe to there that was about a mile, so I figured to get to Swizzle Inn wouldn't be that difficult......

 

There were lots of little sandy paths headed away from Horseshoe. We picked the largest, most defined path and headed on our way. The scenery was beautiful. We walked mostly above the beaches but saw some nice foliage and could catch some pictures of the water below. We came out at this parking lot, but I had no idea where we were. We followed the parking lot to the road and just followed the road (which was narrow and windy) until the husbands insisted we were catching a bus. Looking back, we probably should have crossed the parking lot and looked for another beach path rather than going on the road.

 

We eventually stopped at a bus stop and got on bus 7 towards Hamilton. We figured Swizzle Inn must be close by this point, but the guys were getting impatient at this point and the adventure fun was starting to wear off (I think it was like an hour we had been walking!). Swizzle Inn was literally the next stop (figures!), so we could have made it, but oh well!

 

We were seated immediately at a tiny table meant for two, but we made do. The server was slow, but they seemed rather busy for after lunchtime (it was probably after 1:30?). I ordered the BBQ chicken nachos, my friends/husband all ordered the grilled fish sandwiches. We also ordered a 1/2 pitcher of the Rum Swizzle then eventually ordered another 1/2 pitcher! All of the food was good, especially after our long (unintended) hike!

 

We got back onto bus 7 headed towards the Dockyard. It was packed but within a few stops we were all sitting down.

 

I would have loved to have spent more time on the beaches but with the sand it just wasn't fun. :( It was unusually windy that day apparently.

 

I forgot to mention, with the wind and the weather forecasted to be similar the next day, we called and had to cancel our full-day pontoon boat rental from KS Watersports. They were great and understood. It just wouldn't have been fun battling the winds the whole time. (turns out we'd be battling rain the next day in addition to the winds).

 

We got cleaned up, ate a quick meal in the buffet and headed to the ferry for Harbor Nights!

 

Questions?

Up next: Harbor Nights!

[justschuttme]

We did that exact same walk from Horseshoe Bay to Swizzle Inn! That is hilarious! We were a group of 4 in our 30's without kids too and we went on the Breakaway last September (going again this September!!). I told the group that Swizzle Inn was pretty close to Horseshoe - you just had to walk down the beach about a mile but it would be a pretty walk. As you discovered, not so much. We too came up from the beach at some point and started walking along the road. It turns out that Swizzle Inn is actually 2.5 miles from the entrance of Horseshoe Bay. That may not sound too bad, but as you saw, there are no sidewalks and even areas where there is very little grass on the side of the road to keep from being in the road on some blind turns. My party was not too happy with me, but we kept on chugging and finally ended up there!

 

Glad you had a great trip and thanks for the detailed review. It's great to relive it again before we get back on for another trip!

[juniortrooper]

We did that exact same walk from Horseshoe Bay to Swizzle Inn! That is hilarious! We were a group of 4 in our 30's without kids too and we went on the Breakaway last September (going again this September!!). I told the group that Swizzle Inn was pretty close to Horseshoe - you just had to walk down the beach about a mile but it would be a pretty walk. As you discovered, not so much. We too came up from the beach at some point and started walking along the road. It turns out that Swizzle Inn is actually 2.5 miles from the entrance of Horseshoe Bay. That may not sound too bad, but as you saw, there are no sidewalks and even areas where there is very little grass on the side of the road to keep from being in the road on some blind turns. My party was not too happy with me, but we kept on chugging and finally ended up there!

 

Glad you had a great trip and thanks for the detailed review. It's great to relive it again before we get back on for another trip!

 

This sounds exactly like our trek across Bermuda in search of a Rum Swizzle...or two! I can't believe it was only 2.5 miles. It totally felt like more! Probably between the heat and the wind, and the skeptics in our group and the worries of being run over in Bermuda by a scooter or car or bus.....did I mention I had to go chase down my map that blew away at one point?! It was a fun adventure, that's for sure.

 

I'm glad someone else could relate to my story. Enjoy your second trip to Bermuda! I'm thinking since the weather was not on our side, it's a good excuse to go back sooner rather than later, right?!

 

Amy

[bestbudz]

Thank you for your great review!

[Laszlo]

Horseshoe Bay to the Swizzle Inn is 11.2 miles

[KweezyCruiser]

Horseshoe Bay to the Swizzle Inn is 11.2 miles

 

That's to the original, not the one in Warwick.

http://www.swizzleinn.com/locations.php

[RC Dancers]

Thank you for a very nice review.

 

Are there Zumba classes on the ship? When I did a Google search, there were posts from a couple of years ago that they had classes in the Manhattan Room, but I didn't see anything recently.

[Seago2]

Thank you for your excellent and detailed review.

[Laszlo]

That's to the original, not the one in Warwick.

http://www.swizzleinn.com/locations.php

 

Sorry my bad, didn't even know they had one on the south shore

Edited August 3, 2015 by Laszlo

[juniortrooper]

Thank you for a very nice review.

 

Are there Zumba classes on the ship? When I did a Google search, there were posts from a couple of years ago that they had classes in the Manhattan Room, but I didn't see anything recently.

 

 

After a quick search through the Dailies, I didn't notice any Zumba classes. I did see a lot of other classes offered. The first day you can go to the fitness area where you can see the classes offered and sign up for any that interest you. I didn't look carefully at the offerings when I was there, sorry!

 

Amy

[juniortrooper]

We originally planned on getting to Hamilton early and enjoying dinner there but by the time we got back from the beach and cleaned up, we decided based on the ferry schedule to grab a bite to eat in the buffet then head to the ferry.

 

We lined up for the ferry then found seats near the exit inside. It was cool and comfortable! The trip went quickly--I'd say it was 15-20 minutes. When we got off the ferry, we were right at the festival--no navigating was needed.

 

There were lots of vendors (jewelry, food, handmade trinkets, and artwork). Plus, most of the shops on Front Street were open. We ventured off of the main road and they weren't open as late.

 

I had been eyeing a jeweler since I started planning our trip (http://www.alexandramosher.com), specifically a tiny ring made with pink sand. I had e-mailed them to see if they were going to be open on Harbor Nights and if they had rings in stock or if they were custom orders. They had a nice display along the street and I ended up getting a petite "Splash" circle ring with pink sand in the middle. It is smaller than pictured on the website. It is a perfect reminder of this special vacation and an early birthday present. (the husband didn't even need to shop!)

 

After purchasing the ring, we went along the main way into shops looking for gifts for the kids and my parents and my sister and her husband (both parties were watching our kids all week!) We purchased a t shirt (12.95), earrings

(9.99) and a sticker for the car ($3). I used cash (US) for everything. I got most of the change in US, but somewhere along the way, I ended up with 3 Bermudian dime equivalents. I didn't realize until a week later when I was searching for change for the kids' VBS change drive! They are the same size as our dimes, so easily confused. Another cheap souvenir!

 

We caught the ferry back to the docks and called it a night I think. (I don't remember going to any of the events in the Daily).

 

Up Next: Dockyard and Hamilton, day 2!

[juniortrooper]

When we woke up, it was cloudy and rainy. yuck! If you remember, we had originally planned a full day pontoon rental in Hamilton through KS Watersports. Because of the bad winds the day before and the forcasted winds the next day, we called and cancelled the rental.

 

Our friends decided to go to St. George for the day. At the last minute, we decided to do some shopping around the Dockyard then Hamilton.

 

We went to the craft market (on the road past where the bus stop is in the Dockyard). It is a little hidden, but it is worth the search if you have time. Lots of local crafts, photos, jewelry, books, food, and other trinkets. We ended up purchasing an old photo here for my mom--it was a picture of Shirley Temple on a cruise boat in Bermuda. She is a Shirley Temple fan. :)

It was also here that I saw the "Bermudian Girl" book display. (Think "American Girl" but...Bermuda!) One of the characters they advertised was named Sara and one named Anna and those are two of our girls' names, so we knew we needed to find more books in the series! Unfortunately as the day progressed we heard that this series was no longer in print but there was a different book I purchased in Brown and Co. in Hamilton that had Sara and Anna in it.

 

We also went to the Rum Cake Company and Glassworks (same building, two different sides of the building). I didn't really care for the taste of the cake, so we didn't purchase any. I did find lots of cute "critters" for sale in the Glassworks place that were reasonable--my kids would love the fish, turtles, ladybugs, etc. On the last day I ended up coming back here to purchase a couple of the fish, a snail, two turtles, and a bird. These were multicolored--no two are the same. Of course my husband was nervous about me purchasing glass for the children, but I convinced him it would be ok. The person wrapped each one really well, included an artist bio and information about the animal. I was able to label each animal as he wrapped them. (they made it home in one piece but my four year old's turtle lost part of his foot on day 1...oh well!)

 

We also went to the pottery place. Lots of beautiful works of art but out of our price range! The Dockyard Mall was nice--lots of little shops, lots of souvenirs and other Bermuda novelties. We went to the pharmacy as well, just to look around. (the pharmacy wasn't the typical Walgreens/CVS/Rite Aid in the US--it also had souvenirs as well as a lunch counter with sandwiches, etc.)

 

We caught the ferry to Hamilton to do some more shopping and find some lunch. We found our way to the Lobster Pot. I had a lobster and shrimp wrap and my husband had grilled Wahoo I believe. It was good, but I'd try some place else next time for variety--I've heard of many good restaurants in Hamilton, so might as well try different ones!

 

It was raining off and on throughout the day, so I am glad we ended up cancelling our pontoon boat--it would have been miserable.

 

In Hamilton, we stopped in at many shops and boutiques. We didn't really purchase much, just the Bermudian Girl book at Brown and Co--a department store with lots of levels and areas to lose loved ones. Just saying! :)

 

We also headed to a local grocery store--Miles Market--in hopes in finding some sort of local Bermudian food to take back. Everything we saw was manufactures in the US, and they didn't have and Bermuda wines, so we ended up with a 6 back of the Ginger Beer and a gelato. We checked out some prices of things....wowsers! over $7 for a box of cereal! brownie mix was over $5. It was interesting to see the differences between US and Bermuda as far as grocery stores. I know they ship everything in so there is the added cost because of that.

 

The sun was starting to peek out by the time we got back to the ship. We decided to do the ropes course since the sun was out. (later it started raining again). More on the Ropes Course later!

 

Next Up: Day 3 in Bermuda--Restless Native Snorkel/Sail trip!

[juniortrooper]

I booked this on our own a couple months in advance on their website. This same excursion was offered through NCL for roughly $20 more per person.

 

Before we booked, I did a spreadsheet comparing three snorkel trips based on reviews on the Bermuda board. I compared: Restless Native, Rising Son II, and Jessie James. We ultimately decided on Restless Native for a few reasons--less guests than Rising Son II--20-30 guests compared to 75 guests. yes, it was a smaller catamaran as well, but it was still plenty big. The price was a bit cheaper than Rising Son, and Rum Swizzle(s) and warm fresh chocolate chip cookies were included too! (boy, they were delicious!)

 

We met and checked in at the Dockyard area close to the ship. They had moved the catamaran close to the ships for easy access. (Did I mention it had been cloudy and looked like it was going to storm? again? !)

 

When we got to the catamaran, the captain (Xander), said he checked the weather and it looked as though the storm was going the opposite way, but he didn't want to make anyone go who didn't want to go, so offered to people to back out because of the weather. One family of 3 did, but the rest of us were in!

 

Once we got the safety information and other tidbits, we were underway. About half of the group was sitting above on the front of the catamaran, the rest of us were down below on benches. When it started pouring, the rest of the group came down--seating for everyone down below. We shut the windows and hunkered down. The captain came down and asked what we thought--if we wanted to go out or not-in his opinion it wouldn't be worth it and not a fun time, so we took his advice and said we'd go back. Then, about 5 minutes later, the sun came out and it stopped raining again. He came down again and we all were chuckling at this crazy weather by this point....

He offered to go back to the docks to let anyone off who wanted to go then extend the trip by 1/2 hour to 1pm for the rest of us. I thought this was really generous! No one wanted to go back--we were all in! So, we continued to our snorkeling location. It was pretty close actually. On the way out he talked to all of us about Bermuda-- He said it hadn't rained in 6 weeks before we came and it was hardly ever windy (like the day before). He had canceled several trips because of the weather that week and he didn't usually have to do that in the summer. Figures!!

 

Turns out Xander is Michael Douglas's cousin. Michael Douglas's mother is from Bermuda, so he has citizenship there. He also talked about the rich and famous who have houses in Bermuda, and the various records Bermuda holds, along with the rainwater collection system through the roofs. Very interesting!

 

We ended up at a little cove with a small beach and a few caves. He encouraged us to look for sea glass and paddle board (2 of them available), kayak (two available), or snorkel. He gave us all either swim noodles or snorkel vests to wear while snorkeling and let us enjoy a couple hours in the area!

 

I tried snorkeling while we were on our honeymoon in St. Thomas. I enjoyed it, and didn't have any reason to think I wouldn't on this trip! Unfortunately, since having kids I've become claustrophobic. As soon as I put my face in the water with the mask covering my nose, I knew snorkeling wasn't for me. I encouraged my husband to go with our friends and I would be fine. I ended up just swimming around with the noodle, taking some pictures, and looking for sea glass. I found a couple pieces of blue and lots of green, and a couple pieces of brown sea glass. I talked with a mom and her two grown daughters about their time on the Summit as well.

 

While we were there, Rising Son II came up (with music blasting and all 75 people, LOL). I was concerned our quiet, secluded little cove was going to be overrun with people. Surprisingly enough, they kept to their side and we kept to ours--they were close, but they didn't really snorkel on our side.

 

Rinsing Son looked like lots of fun, but for this trip I was looking for something a little smaller and more calm.

 

I personally didn't try paddle boarding or the kayaks but my husband and my friends all paddle boarded. I wasn't sure with one two of each if everyone who wanted a turn would be able to, but it seemed like by "last call", everyone had had a turn who wanted a turn. They said the snorkeling was alright, but that there were some kids who were splashing a lot and kept scaring the fish.

 

We headed back on the boat where a pitcher of rum swizzle and warm chocolate chip cookies awaited us! The cookies were delicious! We also enjoyed the rum swizzles. It was a bit confusing, because they said you get a complimentary drink and additional ones were 2/$5 (a great deal). You also got complimentary water and juices. They were offering everyone more rum swizzles (complimentary), so I guess they finished up the pitchers they made then started charging? I'm not sure I ever saw anyone pay for them. On the way back, he also offered people shots of something in a swim noodle. A few people tried it, but we didn't.

 

It was a great excursion! We came back at 12:30, which was still plenty of time to finish up shopping in a few stores (Glassworks and Bermuda Outfitters for a t shirt) AND head back to the ship in time for our 3pm departure. I would definitely recommend Restless Native and plan on going again if/when we head back to Bermuda with the kids.

 

We ended up getting on board about 2pm then made our way to the Garden Café to snag a window seat and people watch as it got closer to departure time.

 

Up Next: Departing Bermuda

[lkj1301]

Thanks for the great detailed review. We'll be on this cruise in 32 days. Was considering Restless Native. Now you've help me decide to book them. ;):D

[justschuttme]

We also went to the Rum Cake Company and Glassworks (same building, two different sides of the building). I didn't really care for the taste of the cake, so we didn't purchase any. I did find lots of cute "critters" for sale in the Glassworks place that were reasonable--my kids would love the fish, turtles, ladybugs, etc. On the last day I ended up coming back here to purchase a couple of the fish, a snail, two turtles, and a bird. These were multicolored--no two are the same. Of course my husband was nervous about me purchasing glass for the children, but I convinced him it would be ok. The person wrapped each one really well, included an artist bio and information about the animal. I was able to label each animal as he wrapped them. (they made it home in one piece but my four year old's turtle lost part of his foot on day 1...oh well!)

 

 

 

Ok- now I feel like we are living parallel lives. We too purchased one of the tiny glass turtles for our 6 year old. His lasted about 10 seconds out of the box before this happened....

 

Pretty hilarious. Maybe we will trust him with a new one when we go back in September.

[travelchick989]

Thank you so much for this review! This would be my second cruise. Considering this one a real cruise, as another one I went on wasn't that great lol I am so excited. Going with my best friend and her family.

 

I'm just wondering how were you able to get your own snacks and water on the boat? Did you have to put it it your suitcase so it can get cleared? I was thinking about bringing the teeny bottles of water, and some crackers. Thanks!

[First_Timer_2015]

Hey Amy,

Awesome review!!! Wish I had this to read before going on our first cruise. We also have 4 kids and haven't been away alone since probably our honeymoon LOL.

We did a lot of the same things, stayed in Secaucus, drove in and parked at the pier ($280, ouch...but worth having the car right there...easy on/easy off). We stayed in a spa mini suite celebrating our 25 year anniversary, no complaints about the room, but...would have loved the "bigger balcony with loungers", although I/We enjoy people watching, so the crowded pool area was solved with VIBE passes when we wanted "space".

 

Enjoyed all of the shows, Burn the Floor, Rock of Ages was awesome! Donna Vivino was really good also!

Headliners/Dueling Pianos was awesome! We did bingo because the wife isn't big on casinos, it was fun...came close a couple times but alas no luck...some lucky lady did win a free cruise though!!! Shout out to my bartender "Tan" who was really good. Tan worked the pool bar during the day and Headliners at night. That being said, a lot of the bartenders were really good at remembering who you were, especially if you tip extra.

 

One thing you neglected to mention was Julie the cruise director, was she still on board? She was unbelievable, from the shows in the Atrium, the theater, H2O and being a part of the dance productions. We thought to ourselves, we couldn't say anything negative about one crew member or the time we had other than a bigger pool or an additional pool would have been nice.

 

We met a really nice couple from NY, had dinner together a few times, food I thought was really good everywhere we ate, no complaints, only regret was not trying Cagney's. We too had the UBP, would take this anytime, loved experimenting without worrying about the cost :)

 

For our first cruise, we had a tremendous time and cannot wait to go again. As nice as it was to go alone, the whole time I was thinking the kids would LOVE this! We took advantage of the deal they had to purchase a future room and get an OBC for that cruise.

As for Bermuda, we were in relaxation mode and pretty much just did Horseshoe and Tobacco Bay (which were both awesome), next time we will take in Hamilton for sure. We also had our first ever massages, it was heaven, just wish I didn't get sucked in to buying the lotions I will probably never use :) Live and learn!

Wish I could have convinced the wife to cruise years ago...until the next time.

 

Thanks again for your very detailed review which was very accurate,

 

Mark