MITSUGIRLY BREAKAWAY's 1 last time for the year-review/pictorial

[BingoSlots]

Hi Mitsugirly!

 

Looking forward to this review. Just got off the Dawn from Boston to Bermuda, had a fabulous time! Such a fabulous time that we put money down for our next cruise which happens to be on the Breakaway! (NYC to Bahamas/FL)

 

As I am no longer a "newbie", I am looking forward to reading your Breakaway review and see how the ship is!

 

Happy reviewing!

[Seatbelt_Bag_LOVE]

Glad to find your review when it is just starting! I am already enjoying it. We stayed at the Same Embassy suites last year when it was brand new for one pre cruise night before our Celebrity Summit Bermuda cruise. They had much more/better selection of food for the nightly reception then. We also are beer drinkers and the selection wasn't the worst. They told us normally Embassy suites have free drinks for the whole reception, but it is against New Jersey law, which I thought was interesting. My husband,who is not a shopper at all, loved the Jersey gardens outlet mall across the street. I will definitely be following along with your review. Thanks for all the time and effort you put into the review being so detailed!!

[I'manewbie]

So excited to see your review Mitsugirly! I was on the Dawn a week after you and came home with bronchitis just like you - can't wait to read your comparisons of the two Bermuda cruises!

[MandyMommyof2]

I always look forward to your reviews!! :) I have been stalking you waiting for a return :cool: hahaha!! Welcome back! Can't wait to see how your week went!!!

[N55cruiser]

Subscribed

Edited October 18, 2015 by N55cruiser

[retiring soon]

Hi all!

 

mitsugirly ~ thanks for starting your review. I, too have been waiting not so patiently.;) That's strange about the different Embassy Suites. The one in Boston had lots of food & not being a drinker I didn't notice drinks. Drury in NOLA was great with quite enough food to make a meal of.

 

I'm interested in knowing now that you've done Epic, Getaway & Breakaway is Epic still your fave? I'm looking forward to the new improved Epic in December.

 

What are you thinking of on Carnival, Sunshine, Vista or something else?

I love the Carnival vibe but love the solo options on NCL.

 

Carry on with your awesome as usual review!

 

~ Jo ~ :)

[worktocruise610]

You got my interest right from the start, can't wait for more! I'm going on the BA in 3 weeks so can't wait to hear your review. Thank you so much for taking the time & effort to share your experiences with us :D

Edited October 18, 2015 by worktocruise610

[starfish the second]

cant wait to read your review we did the getaway the week before your cruise also ran into the storm

[hansolosmom]

Great start so far - well for the review, not your welcome to NYC. The same thing happened to my dh on Amtrack some guy tried to take his suitcase.

 

Thanks for the tip on the Embassy Suites and the parking, I'm still deciding on the driving up there or taking the train. The parking at the pier is a killer.

[slhopper]

Happy to get to read another one of your awesome reviews :) We are booked for our first ever cruise, the New Years cruise on the NCL Dawn out of NOLA. I have read everything I can find from you and am looking forward to the Dawn and LFK! Thank you, you do a great service to newbies like me. :)

[Cilosgirl]

Adding. I'll be on the Breakaway in 3 weeks, I'm looking forward to the rest of your review.

[mitsugirly]

Thanks for posting again tonight. That darn decadron is keeping me up.:mad:

LGA is not my favorite airport, I'm a JFK girl myself. :p

I was able to reschedule my Breakaway cruise to April 3rd, so I will be completely healthy by then again. And I'll have a brand new set by then too! :D

 

We had to go with the cheapest airport AND a place that still had flights available for when we were going. :eek: (Yea, I procrastinated on booking trying to decide if we really wanted to risk the long drive with the kids or the ease of just flying but paying more).

 

So glad you could reschedule your BA cruise. You'll have a new set by then? AWESOME! You go girl!

 

Glad you made it back safe from your pop adventure. The snacks laid out were Embassy brand standard. Many evening reception bartenders equate stronger drinks with bigger tips. And frozen drinks at evening reception, along with hot snacks, are actually against the brand standard.

 

I'm looking forward to your trip report. You always do an amazing job. You've quickly become a favorite for me since I joined cc in anticipation for my first cruise in a little under 2 months.

 

Enjoy breakfast in the morning. And stay away from the breakfast potatoes on the buffet. Unless you see an attendant setting them out, they're just disappointing. :)

 

Happy cruising!

 

Disclaimer: I'm sure someone on this board will respond with "Well the Embassy in *name a city* had..." I'm aware. I was an evening reception bartender for 3 years. Just because *name a city " did it, does not mean every Embassy will do it. I've heard my fair share of "but that Embassy did" stories.

 

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

 

Thanks for the info on the "Embassy" brand. I'll keep that in mind next time when booking, although it was ok since we did have someplace that we could go to basically on the grounds. I agree, what one place may do (at any hotels), does not mean another will do. :)

[mitsugirly]

You flew into EWR. ;)

 

Oops, you are so right. We flew into EWR and flew back from LGA. :eek:

 

EWR is only 5 minutes from the Embassy west or 3.5 miles

and LGA is 33 minutes without traffic from 95 Glimcher Realty Way, Elizabeth, NJ 07201, USA or 42 miles

 

Yep. :p

[mitsugirly]

I have stayed at Embassy Suites and your experience with the happy hour was different fro ours. I think this was because this E.S. had their own restaurant. They sure didn't want to put out a lot of free food if they were looking for dinner customers. Also, we weren't limited to one drink. I only like wine and beer and I remember having more than one glass of wine. The price you paid for the room was a very good one for that area.

 

You have a point there. That makes a lot of sense about not putting out a lot of food for people when they have a restaurant they are trying to make money off of. :)

 

When we checked in, they gave us a coupon to use for the drinks. It was only 1 coupon per person. :(

 

Following!!!

 

Hiya Laszlo! :)

[mitsugirly]

That looks like a gourmet meal compared to what we got at Embassy in Orlando by the airport. We got Goldfish crackers and chips and salsa. We did get unlimited free drinks during a certain time period, though.

 

:eek:Goldfish? Well I guess Sakari would have been in heaven if they had goldfish to eat. She loves those things (I kinda like to munch on them too). hehe

 

I wouldn't have minded some chips and salsa. Sounds yummy...or maybe I'm just hungry right now. :D

 

Hi Mitsugirly!

 

Looking forward to this review. Just got off the Dawn from Boston to Bermuda, had a fabulous time! Such a fabulous time that we put money down for our next cruise which happens to be on the Breakaway! (NYC to Bahamas/FL)

 

As I am no longer a "newbie", I am looking forward to reading your Breakaway review and see how the ship is!

 

Happy reviewing!

 

Glad to hear you had a wonderful time on the Dawn to Bermuda. Congrats on no longer being a newbie. :D

 

Glad to have you here.

[mitsugirly]

Glad to find your review when it is just starting! I am already enjoying it. We stayed at the Same Embassy suites last year when it was brand new for one pre cruise night before our Celebrity Summit Bermuda cruise. They had much more/better selection of food for the nightly reception then. We also are beer drinkers and the selection wasn't the worst. They told us normally Embassy suites have free drinks for the whole reception, but it is against New Jersey law, which I thought was interesting. My husband,who is not a shopper at all, loved the Jersey gardens outlet mall across the street. I will definitely be following along with your review. Thanks for all the time and effort you put into the review being so detailed!!

 

Glad to have you join and catch it from the beginning.

 

It sounds like things have changed a bit since you have been. We are not real beer drinkers (the hubby can drink beer every so often, but not for the most part), so I honestly didn't pay attention to the selection for that.

 

I had really hoped to check out the mall, but there just wasn't enough time this time around. :)

 

So excited to see your review Mitsugirly! I was on the Dawn a week after you and came home with bronchitis just like you - can't wait to read your comparisons of the two Bermuda cruises!

 

I'm excited to have you along for the review.

 

Wow, I'm really beginning to wonder about this Bermuda thing. So many people ended up with various sicknesses after my Dawn cruise that I started thinking it was the Dawn...and needing a good sanitizing! But not, I'm starting to think it's Bermuda. TONS of people are complaining from our roll call that they are sick after returning. :eek:

[mitsugirly]

I always look forward to your reviews!! :) I have been stalking you waiting for a return :cool: hahaha!! Welcome back! Can't wait to see how your week went!!!

 

Glad to have you stalking. :D Thanks for the welcome back.

 

 

Subscribed

 

Thanks

[mitsugirly]

Hi all!

 

mitsugirly ~ thanks for starting your review. I, too have been waiting not so patiently.;) That's strange about the different Embassy Suites. The one in Boston had lots of food & not being a drinker I didn't notice drinks. Drury in NOLA was great with quite enough food to make a meal of.

 

I'm interested in knowing now that you've done Epic, Getaway & Breakaway is Epic still your fave? I'm looking forward to the new improved Epic in December.

 

What are you thinking of on Carnival, Sunshine, Vista or something else?

I love the Carnival vibe but love the solo options on NCL.

 

Carry on with your awesome as usual review!

 

~ Jo ~ :)

 

Hi there. Sorry it has taken awhile to get started. Life happens and I'm busy trying to get into the swing of things again.

 

Epic...still my #1 ship. :D

 

Hmm, I have REALLY been wanting to do the Breeze for quite some time now. But I would happily take the Breeze, Sunshine, Magic or Vista (now that Matt is moving there) or...who knows, any of the others that have the 2.0 upgrades. I'm craving a Guys Burger right now! So, it would kinda depend on the itinerary as well and the price. I could probably be talked into just about any. :p

 

You got my interest right from the start, can't wait for more! I'm going on the BA in 3 weeks so can't wait to hear your review. Thank you so much for taking the time & effort to share your experiences with us :D

 

Thanks for coming in and joining me. I hope you have a wonderful cruise on the BA. :)

[mitsugirly]

cant wait to read your review we did the getaway the week before your cruise also ran into the storm

 

I do remember stalking the web cam in Bermuda and seeing all the rain off and on. I was so fearful that the hurricane was going to just have it pouring the whole time. :(

 

Great start so far - well for the review, not your welcome to NYC. The same thing happened to my dh on Amtrack some guy tried to take his suitcase.

 

Thanks for the tip on the Embassy Suites and the parking, I'm still deciding on the driving up there or taking the train. The parking at the pier is a killer.

 

So I take it this is a normally activity in NY...the stealing of the suitcases. :rolleyes:

 

Honestly the ES hotel is an awesome place if you are driving in. You just can't beat the $0 price for parking for the week. :)

[mitsugirly]

Happy to get to read another one of your awesome reviews :) We are booked for our first ever cruise, the New Years cruise on the NCL Dawn out of NOLA. I have read everything I can find from you and am looking forward to the Dawn and LFK! Thank you, you do a great service to newbies like me. :)

 

Thanks for the compliments. Glad you are here.

 

Ooooo, cruise newbies. I'm happy you decided to give it a try and who knows...you might become hooked like us. :p

 

NOLA is an awesome place to stay pre-cruise. So many things to do there within walking distance.

 

LFK is amazing and I hope you have a wonderful time there. I am honestly missing the Caribbean cruising and will probably make sure that the next cruise goes back to Roatan just so we can return again. Every time we go there, there's more added to the place.

 

I'm honored to have been able to help you and thanks for the kind words.

 

Adding. I'll be on the Breakaway in 3 weeks, I'm looking forward to the rest of your review.

 

Glad to have you here and I hope you have a wonderful cruise.

[luv2swimwdolphins]

Stumbled on to this review. Pics are great. Family vacations are a blessing! However stealing suitcases is not a New York thing!!

[bobg529]

Thanks for the compliments. Glad you are here.

 

Ooooo, cruise newbies. I'm happy you decided to give it a try and who knows...you might become hooked like us. :p

 

NOLA is an awesome place to stay pre-cruise. So many things to do there within walking distance.

 

LFK is amazing and I hope you have a wonderful time there. I am honestly missing the Caribbean cruising and will probably make sure that the next cruise goes back to Roatan just so we can return again. Every time we go there, there's more added to the place.

 

I'm honored to have been able to help you and thanks for the kind words.

 

 

 

Glad to have you here and I hope you have a wonderful cruise.

 

 

Thank God for the Internet. I had to look up LFK, I never heard of it. First search I came up with Lawrence F***ing Kansas :confused:, then I came up with Light French Kissing. :eek: Finally I got Little French Key. I've been to Roatan too! Damn acronyms!:mad:

[mitsugirly]

I set my alarm for 7:30am and I swear it must have went off 10 minutes after I went to bed. Did I really get any sleep?

 

I finished my last minute packing, called the kids, got dressed, then we all headed down to the lobby for what we hoped would be a better eating experience than the night before.

 

When we arrived, the place was hoping and people were everywhere like buzzards that had just found fresh food. I guess everyone was starving and trying to make up for the nibbler food from the night before.

 

We were not disappointed in the selection. There was plenty of hot and cold food and we got our bellies full. I must have been really hungry because I don't show any food pictures on my camera from this time frame.

 

After eating, we went up to grab our luggage and headed down to the lobby at 9:30am. I didn't want to keep our transportation waiting because they had stated several times that if they had to wait at all, they would charge extra. They also stated 1 luggage per person or they would charge an extra $10 per luggage if it had to go up front with you. Yikes! Now we always carry an extra duffel bag on wheels luggage to put our pop in it to carry on the ship. However, we didn't want to be charged extra so we managed to pack lightly enough that we could put our pop inside our regular luggage with our clothes and then would later take it back out and put it in its own luggage to check in at the port.

 

We booked Carmel Transportation due to many people recommending them to us and their great service. With the amount of people we had (10), we had to book 2 cars to accommodate us plus our luggage.

 

We booked for a 10:00am pick up time. They do have an app for your phone and the app is pretty neat. You can use it to book if you haven't already, see your booking and even see where your current driver is located. However, we did learn that the map and the drivers location will not show up on the app until 5 minutes prior to your booking time. So, I was unable to see how far away our driver was.

 

At 9:45am, I receive a phone call from Jin and Loux. They tell me they are the 2 drivers from Carmel and they are outside the hotel waiting on us. SAY WHAT?!? It's only 9:45am and our reservation is for 10am. Kendra and family and Kenny and family are still upstairs doing their last minute packing. :eek: Oh no!

 

I quickly call Kendra and tell her that they are already here and to hurry and get down here if she didn't want to incur any additional charges. Of course her reply was "I booked for a 10am pick up, if they arrived earlier than that and I'm not ready, it's on them!" Which I guess she had a point there.

 

We headed outside S-L-O-W-L-Y and creeped to the last van handing our luggage to the driver 1 by 1 and trying to stall for Kendra & Kenny and while I said "You guys (smile) are early (smile). We booked (smile) for 10am (smile) and the rest of our family (smile) wasn't quite ready (smile) but they are on their way down (smile). Or otherwise....hint hint...YOU ARE TOO EARLY!

 

Now I swear everyone that works for Carmel is Asian and I'm not quite sure they even spoke English...just an observation from our drivers to the port and returning. Not 1 word from them. No conversation. No anything but a simple "yes" and "18" came out of their mouths.

 

 

 

Kendra and Kenny finally made it downstairs with about 2 minutes to spare. They loaded them up and we pulled out together.

 

 

 

I was getting updates from Kendra via text messages about how their driver was KA-RAY-ZEE with his driving skills weaving in and out of traffic, slamming on breaks, punching the gas while they all feared for their lives. :p Meanwhile, our driver is as calm as any driver I have ever encountered.

 

Somehow Kendra's van managed to get far behind us despite his erratic driving maneuvers and at one point I looked behind us and the road was splitting off...we went 1 way, they "started" to go another, then slammed on their breaks in the middle of the freeway and sat there...then darted over. Yikes! It looked like they were at the amusement park. We still managed to pull ahead and lost them somehow.

 

As we pulled up to the tolls...I managed to snap this picture of the pricing???

 

 

Of course the drivers have the EZ pass and didn't have to stop and just zoomed on by.

 

When I ask the driver if I could use the app to pay for the ride...I got a simple "yes". I ask how much for the tolls, I got a simple "18". So, I'm not sure about the $14 pricing shown on the sign. I assume that it's different pricing depending on the size of the vehicle or even the amount of people in the vehicle? But I was thinking that this was a little high since several people had quoted me "no more than $15" for a ride there.

[Leeloo74]

Hi there, Mitsugirly! Love your reviews. I'm looking forward to reading about your fams adventures and your Breakaway thoughts. :)

[mitsugirly]

We approached the tunnel...I did one last quick check on my phone app to see how far behind Kendra & Kenny was...and they were a ways back there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We were making good time and zooming right along in the tunnel.

 

 

 

ON NO...there's a car coming our way!!!

 

 

 

Just kidding, I threw the camera over my shoulder and snapped a picture real quick. I'm surprised it even came out ok.

 

As we came out of the tunnel, I notice that the traffic right directly outside the tunnel was stopped...I said it was STOPPED! OMG, DOES OUR DRIVER SEE THAT THE TRAFFIC IS STOPPED???? At the very last moment I let out a gasp and the driver slammed on his brakes coming within inches of the stopped traffic. Did he zone out? What the heck. From there on out...the driving was all down hill. Sigh

 

He started weaving in and out of traffic, cutting people off, making his own lane, even went on the opposite side onto oncoming traffic to go around cars that were stopped headed in our direction. YIKES! Did some demon possess his body as we entered New York?

 

At that point I could not wait to get out of the van. Kendra was laughing at me of course...since their driver was like that the entire time.

 

We pulled up to the pier, piled out of the van, tried several times to pay using a cc on the app, with it not working every time, so I finally gave up and just gave him cash. Our luggage was dropped curbside and we started rolling it toward the people that take your luggage.