Breakaway 14 Day Southern Caribbean Review with lots of pictures (and the Haven)

[ncklhaus]

Day 10, Tuesday January 12, Fort de France, Martinique

 

I don't know why all of these pictures are sideways. Sorry.

 

[ncklhaus]

They had the laundry special again today so we took advantage of it again. It was great to go home with some clean clothes.

 

 

We were going to do a cave tubing excursion today but decided that it probably wasn't the best idea for me to do. Maybe next time.

 

So we slept in this morning and skipped breakfast and then went to O'Sheehan's for lunch.

 

Spinach and artichoke dip. Runny as has been mentioned in other reviews.

 

 

 

Chicken tenders. Crispy and yummy.

 

Chicken Pot Pie

It was really good and extremely hot. It took a while before it cooled down enough to eat.

 

[Barb Nahoumi]

You are an inspiration, and thank you for sharing your story.

[ncklhaus]

You are an inspiration, and thank you for sharing your story.

 

Thank you Barb!

[ncklhaus]

We went to the pool deck for a while this afternoon maybe for an hour or two and then back to the room to shower and relax on the balcony.

I took these pictures.

 

 

 

 

After a while Melissa and I decided to wander for a while and Mike was going to snooze on the balcony.

 

They were still working on the children's splash area.

[ncklhaus]

We decided to get off the ship and just walk around and explore the shops set up near the pier.

 

 

 

 

 

[ncklhaus]

The beautiful Norwegian Breakaway

 

 

The carousel

 

 

This is one of my favorite pictures of the Breakaway I have taken

 

 

 

We explored the shops and purchased a hat for each of us and 3 pretty shawls. They were great to throw over our shoulders when on the ship. I mostly wore nice tank tops or sleeveless shirts at night and it got a little cool in some areas.

[ncklhaus]

We ate in the Haven restaurant tonight and then Melissa went to Splash Academy for a while for Boys vs Girls. (It ended in a tie)

 

 

 

 

We just hung out in the Haven lounge this evening and it was fun but relaxing.

 

Tomorrow would be our last port day and we had an excursion planned. We were going to a beach in Antigua for a day at the beach with lunch.

 

I picked up Melissa and went back to the room and found this guy.

 

 

I also took a picture of the mini bar price slip. IMHO, the prices are fair.

 

Edited March 1, 2016 by ncklhaus

[ncklhaus]

Day 11, Wednesday, January 13, St John's, Antigua

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ncklhaus]

 

 

 

The excursion we were going on was the Antigua Beach Escape with Lunch.

 

 

[ncklhaus]

The excursion was to begin at 9:15 and we needed to meet our group outside on the pier next to the ship. But first, breakfast in the Haven with the couple that were newlyweds. He was the one fixing my phone. Gotta love him.

 

 

After we ate, we made our way back to our room to get ready to head downstairs, but first a quick picture of our Maitre D' Jo Ann. Love her!!

 

In the meantime, the P&O Brittania was docked next to us so I took a few pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ncklhaus]

Once we were down on the pier, we met up with our group. So we waited. And waited. So I took more pictures.

 

 

 

 

Melissa and her new hat

 

 

Our friends from breakfast taking a picture of me taking a picture of him

 

 

 

See ya later! They decided to just go wander for a while. Meanwhile, we were still waiting.

[ncklhaus]

Me and my new hat

 

 

Wasting time waiting....

 

It turns out there had been an accident with a pedestrian fatality near where we were getting picked up so that is what caused the delay.

 

After around a half hour of waiting in the hot sun we finally made our way to the minivan that would take us to the beach. Yay! It was a tight squeeze, but at least we were going to go to a beautiful beach for a fantastic day of sun, fun, relaxation, food, and drink. Or were we........

 

 

 

A stray dog just hanging out in the street. Poor baby.

 

 

The driver on the right, Mike sitting up front on the left

 

 

So we finally get to the beach and we are given our wrist bands which entitle us to 2 drinks, lunch, and a lounge chair each. We are shown where to go on the beach and it is already a mad house. The second we set foot on the sand we were attacked by vendors trying to sell us stuff. We hadn't even gotten to our chairs yet!

We start looking for chairs and it is just chaos. One employee found 3 for us and we put down our things and sat. 2 of the chairs were broken! And here come people trying to sell us stuff again! It was no use trying to get chairs that weren't broken, because they were telling people to walk down the beach a bit to get chairs and once they got there, they were told to go back the other way because they didn't have any more there.

The beach front was dirty, with garbage everywhere. And since it was almost high tide, this area of beach only had maybe 25 feet of beach before you were in the water, at best. There were areas that the water was all the way up to the walk ways.

On top of all that, there were a bunch of stray cats wandering around under the chairs. Mike is deathly allergic to cats, even outside. If they are close enough his throat will start to close. So that isn't good and Melissa is getting worried that daddy will die from the cats. What a sweet kid.

So we decide to try and go into the water. Don't you know that the people selling things and wanting to braid hair actually followed us into the water! Seriously?

We were so unhappy with this excursion and it was 5 hours long, we were to meet our driver again at 1:45. It's only around 10:15 now.

We heard a bunch of other people that were on the excursion saying that they were going to grab a taxi and go back to the ship. This isn't what we expected at all. Then we spot the excursion leader and she's apologizing to everyone. They oversold the excursion and that's why they didn't have enough chairs. Anyone that wanted to go back to the ship, would be given a free taxi ride back and would get their money refunded. We wrote our names and stateroom number on her clipboard and got one of our free "rum punches". More like rubbing alcohol. Yuck. Even Melissa said the fruit punch was nasty.

So they put us all in taxis and back to the ship we went. Once onboard, we went to Guest Services (even though we put our names on the clipboard) and told them what happened. They obviously believed us because there were at least 50 families that returned to the ship from that excursion. Probably more because that's how many had been on the clipboard before us! And there were more after. Guest Services said we needed to speak to Shore Excursions, but they were closed right now. I figured I'd go back later. Turns out I didn't need to because within a few hours our onboard account was already credited back for the excursion. Kudos NCL! It wasn't your fault that the excursion company offered more than they could deliver.

We were back on the ship by 11:00am. What a waste of a morning.

[ncklhaus]

We walked around a bit to see how the children's splash area was coming along. It was done, but deserted. Then again, it was usually deserted even when it was Sponge Bob and Friends.

 

 

 

Children's pool rules. Notice #7. More on that later.

 

 

We decided to have lunch by the Haven pool.

 

[ncklhaus]

This hallway in the Haven is on deck 15 once you go through the Haven access door. Fascinating stuff isn't it? LOL

 

 

Make a right turn through that doorway and this is what you see. I told you it was fascinating.

 

 

Left turn

 

 

 

Those are the steps that lead to deck 16. If you have mobility issues or are bringing children in strollers, I would advise you to book a room on deck 16. There is no elevator within the Haven complex that I am aware of. If you are on 15 and want to go to 16 without using the stairs, you need to leave the Haven, go out to the elevators, take it to 16, and then go back into the Haven complex.

[xcell]

Thanks I was wonder the layout... what's the spa? Is that free? Can the kids go to the bar with the adults? So we can sip on our UBP while we play cards

 

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[ncklhaus]

Thanks I was wonder the layout... what's the spa? Is that free? Can the kids go to the bar with the adults? So we can sip on our UBP while we play cards

 

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No, the spa is not free. I don't know the prices because I didn't use it. Maybe I have a picture of some prices somewhere but I haven't come across it as of yet.

In the Haven the kids can sit at the bar, sometimes. Otherwise there are seats right near the bar and my daughter was able to sit both places.

In the rest of the bars on the ship, kids cannot sit directly at the bar, but again, there are generally seats right near the bar and you can sit there with them, no problem.

And yes. Sip away while playing cards. :D

[kgtgirl]

Children's pool rules. Notice #7. More on that later.

 

 

 

Any idea if that's the same rule for the splash park area, were there next week and I have a little one(19M), and I'm fine not doing the pool but I hope the he can at least run around and get sprayed.

[ncklhaus]

There were plenty of kids in swim diapers (which ARE allowed ) in the splash area and also in the pool. Your little one will love it!

[BrandoMan13]

We did have the dining plan and it is true that the platter we had was not included, so we did pay extra. It was worth every penny. I would recommend getting the SDP if you plan on going to multiple specialty restaurants.

 

Thank you for your kind words about my review. I'm glad I could help. We loved the Breakaway. This was our 2nd time on her and we will definitely go back again. Enjoy your cruise!

 

Hey, I have a follow up question. They've now updated the T&C to mention that if you order that extravaganza they will waive the upcharge on the SDP.

 

My question is, the plate is $39.99, was that discounted for the SDP or you just pay that price and they waive the $15 upcharge?

 

Thanks again. I really want to try it, but I dont think it would make sense to pay $20+ for the SDP and then pay another $40 for that, guess I'll just settle for a lobster by its lonesome lol.

[ncklhaus]

Hey, I have a follow up question. They've now updated the T&C to mention that if you order that extravaganza they will waive the upcharge on the SDP.

 

My question is, the plate is $39.99, was that discounted for the SDP or you just pay that price and they waive the $15 upcharge?

 

Thanks again. I really want to try it, but I dont think it would make sense to pay $20+ for the SDP and then pay another $40 for that, guess I'll just settle for a lobster by its lonesome lol.

 

You would just pay the price for the plate, not the SDP upcharge. That's what we paid. We didn't use our SDP in Ocean Blue for that meal.

[ncklhaus]

While we were back in our room I took pictures of the hair dryer. This thing was great! I liked that it had hot, warm, and cool settings along with multiple speeds. It is better than the one I have at home.

 

 

[ncklhaus]

It was getting close to our final sailaway so we decided to watch from our balcony.

 

I noticed that there was another ship next to the P&O ship. They would leave before us, then we would go.

 

 

[ncklhaus]

Balcony pictures. It was a pretty decent size. Not nearly as large as the one we had last cruise, but that was an M6 (mini suite with large balcony).

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[ncklhaus]