Review / Tips Breakaway to Bermuda Aug 14-21

[Tammyd549]

Hello all,

 

First time reviewer so bare with me. I apologize for the late review but better late than never. I hope to add some pics but they will mostlybe by request only, so if you want pics of something in particular , let me know oterwise, I will post what I can :) I'm a stay home mom with 2 small kids and have VERY little free time on my hands and will post what what can :)

 

I wanted to above all, provide some tips for people to help make their cruise even more awesome than it already will be. I had Ana amazing cruise and planning to book the exact same one for June of next year.

 

I will start by a short summary of our cruise , then add my tips for making your trip the best it can be

 

I want to apologize in advance to my roll call peeps, I totally forgot to print out/write down the details of our meet up and never made it :( feel so so bad but, hope it was great. It was a small groups and I had really hoped to go. Felt so bad about this the whole time :(

 

We flew in on the Friday, into Newark, stayed at the Marriott at the airport, it was awesome. shuttle , serivice , food , location , all could not be beat for 105/night. So so pleased with that decision.

 

Rented a car the next day and drove to the Jersey Shore, was so fun, had amazing Lobster in Point Pleasant, was way to hot for the beach but enjoyed the view. Had a great day and caught up on some sleep.

 

Sunday morning took a cab to Hoboken , cost about 60 , had leisurely breakfast at the W hotel, they held our bags and we walked the waterfront and had An amazing morning enjoying the skyline and view before taking the water taxi over to midtown and then a quick cab to the pier. highly recommend this method of getting to the pier for anyone arriving into Newark and not having a lot of luggage :)

 

Check in was pretty quick. Start to finish, less than one hour , we arrived at 11 and were on board by noon.

 

Rest of our cruise is going to be pretty vague as I did t take detailed notes but am happy o answer any questions.

 

We LOVED our cruise , not much to criticize but we are easy going people and could see how uptight people could be critical of this ship. I understand the previous negative reviews but for me the good outweighs the bad and I can't wait to book this cruise again!

 

Debarkation was a breeze, not sure what all the fuss was about. We chose to walk off, went down at about 8:30am and we were off by 9:15, in a cab headed for Times Square.

 

I hAve TONS of tips that I really want to share, will have to add them in tomorrow as I'm so tired tonight.

 

I will try and attach a few pics in the meantime, hope they work :)

Edited September 5, 2016 by Tammyd549

[Clarea]

Appreciate the feedback.

[jkpetronis]

Doing this cruise with 2 kids next year. We're the kids with you? I'll have a 3.5 and 7.5 year old. Tips for kids?

 

 

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[BirdTravels]

Thanks for taking the time to do a first time review. Great!

[Tammyd549]

Just reread my post from last night, and I apologize for the spelling issues, I'm typing this from my iPad and forgot to spellcheck before posting :)

 

As I mentioned, we really enjoyed our cruise, although I have 2 small kids at home, this cruise was taken with my 19 yr old daughter.

 

We LOVED the spa pass, absolute best money you can spend on the ship, if you are able to go regularly. We went at least twice day. Was never too busy except for the afternoon on the second day at sea.

 

Food was really good for us. We never made it to any of the dining rooms lol. We ate mostly at the buffet, OSheenans, room service and Sushi. We also ate at Ocean Blue, meal was just okay but service was amazing.

 

Speaking of service, we found the service all over the ship top notch. Everyone was happy , smiling and so nice. Only one grumpy person we ran into the whole time and that was a person at the ropes course. Service was a main part that made our trip so enjoyable.

 

We swam in the pool almost every evening before dinner, we eat later than most people on the ship so enjoyed an almost empty pool pretty much every day. The salt water is so nice to swim in the buoyancy was fun.

 

Waterslides were fun but a little scary, never saw any major line ups myself but I'm sure there were some line ups on the sea days.

 

My next post will be my tips. These I wrote down as I went, I should have made more detailed notes on our activities on the cruise but was so busy having fun, I didn't get a chance.

 

Happy to answer any specific questions though :)

Edited September 5, 2016 by Tammyd549

[Tammyd549]

Here are my tips, in no particular order:

 

My first tip is not actually mine, I got it off a CC board and it was the main tip that made our cruise so enjoyable. ZIG when everyone ZAGS!! For example, don't eat dinner at 6. Have a snack at 4 and then eat at 8, you will have your pick of any restaurant, no reservations needed. Swim at dinner time, no crowding at the pools hottubs. Don't try and get off the boat immediately in Bermuda, if you can. We stayed on board till after lunch, enjoyed the pool and waterslides and empty spa. Try and be flexible and don't do what everyone else is doing at the same times they are doing it.

 

Port side mid ship or forward has the best views. We were port side , mid ship, 10th floor and I really think this is the best location on the ship , 11/12 floors would have been fine too. We had the best view sailing out of Manhatten and faced the dock while in Bermuda (not sure if this can change though) sailing down to Bermuda we enjoyed the sunrises and then had shade for the hot afternoon. If you prefer sunsets going down, you will want starboard.

 

Special foods are at the front of the buffet. ALWAYS do a walk around before selecting food at the buffet, they have random things at certain stations, especially at the front and you could miss out on some yummy things. Case it out first ;)

 

Dinner reservations do not show up on the app. Bit of a pain but we actually ended up cancelling most of our reservations anyways as we were enjoying the buffet and OSheenans so much

 

Don't try and go to guest services till after 9 on first day or better yet, just wait till the next morning. I had an OBC credit missing and it was all cleared up at 8am on the second with no wait in line.

 

We did the first day spa special, 75 min massage for price of 50. We were shorted some mins and should have complained but I just started my vacation and was not in the mood to complain lol. Spa is nice but don't expect it to be the same quality as a land spa. The massage rooms were noisy for both of us and the sales pitch was hard, a little too hard in my opinion. It was a joke for us for the rest of the trip.

 

The top , top Sundeck was best for sail away , you can almost feel like you are going to touch the bridge when going under, very special experience

 

Bringing wine on was simple and painless. We didn't do the beverage package, just a great base deal for our cruise and are still happy for saving so much money as we didn't need unlimited beverages. There is room for 2 bottles of wine In the fridge without having to remove anything.

 

Bring water bottles and travel mugs, came in so handy.

 

Bathroom has a ton of storage, main storage is limited, lots of shelves but no drawers so if you are not using the sofa, I would ask the room steward to remove the bedding from the drawers below and you will have a ton more storage space.

 

If the is something loud going on in the atrium and you want to eat at OSheenans, just ask to sit in the back, you may get a beautiful window seat and it's pretty quiet.

 

 

More to come later....

Edited September 5, 2016 by Tammyd549

[Varavfan]

Thank you for the review, looking forward to our same cruise in April, 2017! How was the entertainment? Can you book Rock of Ages more than once? Thank you. Oh and the spa pass? Was that one of your booking options? Or did you get that when onboard? What did it include?

 

 

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[Tammyd549]

Doing this cruise with 2 kids next year. We're the kids with you? I'll have a 3.5 and 7.5 year old. Tips for kids?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

 

 

My littles didn't come on this cruise so I didn't experience the kids club or anything. One tip I can offer is that when in Bermuda, there is a fantastic play ground and splash pad right near the ship, towards snorkel park. I know my kids would have loved it.

 

Also, bring floaties for them. Blow up pool noodles or something like that, we really enjoyed ours.

 

And definitely buy one of the sundaes at OSheenans, their eyes will pop out, so big and fun!

 

If I think of more, I will let you know :)

[Tammyd549]

Thank you for the review, looking forward to our same cruise in April, 2017! How was the entertainment? Can you book Rock of Ages more than once? Thank you. Oh and the spa pass? Was that one of your booking options? Or did you get that when onboard? What did it include?

 

 

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We didn't go to Rock of Ages or Burn the Floor, but we did enjoy Second City, a lot and wish we had booked shows there every night. After the first night, Second City was sold out for the rest of the cruise. You can book multiple shows , just not the same night.

 

I bought the spa pass online before we left. It's available 90 days prior to your cruise and they only sell 120 , I think. It includes full access to the thermal suite and lovely change rooms. There are a couple tour videos on YouTube, look it up, much better than me trying to describe it :)

[destiny217]

Found this info on the Thermal Suite on Norwegian Escape:

 

http://eatsleepcruise.com/2016/03/review-thermal-suite-on-norwegian-escape/

 

We booked online before our cruise.

[Varavfan]

We didn't go to Rock of Ages or Burn the Floor, but we did enjoy Second City, a lot and wish we had booked shows there every night. After the first night, Second City was sold out for the rest of the cruise. You can book multiple shows , just not the same night.

 

 

 

I bought the spa pass online before we left. It's available 90 days prior to your cruise and they only sell 120 , I think. It includes full access to the thermal suite and lovely change rooms. There are a couple tour videos on YouTube, look it up, much better than me trying to describe it :)

 

 

Thanks so much! I will look that up. We are all looking forward to Rock of ages. I've seen it on Broadway and twice on tour. My husband really wants to see it and I'm thinking we may book it twice if possible [emoji6]

 

I also would like to do other shows too, we will see. I'm also going to check the spa! Thanks!

 

 

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[markf]

nice to hear a positive comment on Osheehans--my experience and most others have been negative. poor service and tasteless food

[cincicruisers]

Following

[darlene62]

nice to hear a positive comment on Osheehans--my experience and most others have been negative. poor service and tasteless food

 

Everybody seems to say that! Except for 2 minor glitches with service that the manager in my opinion blamed a "new" staff person who I thought was doing the best he could with what he had to work with and I was very angry that he blamed the poor young man and told him so. And a rather snotty host one night. I was very pleased. I don't care for buffets and the dining rooms seemed to take a long time to get thru a meal. Some of the specials and drink orders seemed to take a long time to arrive ....I had the same issues in the other restaurants including the haven. I was very happy with the prime rib, ribs specials and loved the burgers and chicken wings....although i missed the mozzerella sticks. Food is very subjective though It's a relatively easy place to eat LOL and close to the casino which was my fav. After my "issue" with the manager he was exceedingly pleasant toward me an my mother...but what totally changed my mind on him was his his very sincere interaction with a very fussy young child ..you cant fake the joy in his face when he was able to make the child laugh and see the relief in the faces of the parent........everyone can have a bad day.... I let NCL know of my experience ......I hoped they passed it on.

[markf]

You explained your position and opinion completely.

Actually the Osheehans on the Gem was embarassingly poor.

I think the venue on breakaway , makes for a larger and likely better experience

[darlene62]

You explained your position and opinion completely.

Actually the Osheehans on the Gem was embarassingly poor.

I think the venue on breakaway , makes for a larger and likely better experience

I hope you don't think I was being disrespectful! Food is very subjective and not all the food choices available in osheehans was for me. I am not a foodie by any stretch. Not just NCL but on all the cruiselines I get very antsy and feel very "closed in" when I am in a crowded venue and dinner etc takes over an hour...but that's MY issue. Luckily I cruise with people who understand me. Osheehans was just an easier fit for me and I liked the food.

[easyboy]

Thanks for the review.

[markf]

Absolutely no apologizes needed---actually while I enjoy good food--i also find sitting thru a 2 hour meal for 7 days in a row , or more for a longer cruise is too much, I have been on 14 day cruises and then I go to the buffet a few times

[Moomduck1]

What pier did the Breakaway depart from? Thanks!

[markf]

Usually pier 88 which is on 48street on the West Side hway

[surfone]

I am enjoying your review. We are on Breakaway next month (our 1st NCL cruise)

I am curious to see why it only has a 60% review satisfaction. I don't take those too seriously because we like you are really not hard to please and don't get bent out of shape when things don't go exactly as planned, but none the less I have wondered and will find out for myself when we go the BA. We usually sail Carnival but have been on Celebrity and Royal and Holland. I like reading your tips, too. We found out when we do anytime dining on Carnival that the later we ate the better, no waiting, and service was faster. Thanks for your review:)

[darlene62]

Absolutely no apologizes needed---actually while I enjoy good food--i also find sitting thru a 2 hour meal for 7 days in a row , or more for a longer cruise is too much, I have been on 14 day cruises and then I go to the buffet a few times

 

Very happy you understood.....often times on posts and emails thoughts can be quickly misconstrued and it doesn't offer valuable points of view to other posters. I rely on these post .....with a thought that what works for one doesn't work for someone else to give me insight.