Spring BREAKAWAY Live! 3/10/19

[Gatorj]

That's not bad--thanks for the info. They used to be around 6 small martinis--those look full size, are they? Can't wait to do this!

Half size. More than with it. The 3 regular size afterwards are taking their toll.

[Gatorj]

Half size. More than with it. The 3 regular size afterwards are taking their toll.

Worth it. Not with it. Sheesh.

[Gatorj]

Yikes! This is (quite literally) my nightmare. I currently have 135 signed up (for the 3/24 sailing) and they had to change the venue because our numbers are so big. May I ask...did the meet & greet coordinator volunteer do everything they could to make sure people showed?
 
I've hyped it up like crazy, we have prizes to give away that I've shown in the roll call, I'm delivering invitations to each cabin on Sunday night, I'm responding personally to everyone beyond the "got you." We have a gift exchange, a slot pull, and a cabin crawl and pub crawl later in the week. What else should I be doing to ensure a high turnout?

Turns out it wasn’t well handled by NCL. We have another one scheduled for tomorrow for which they’ve sent invites to everyone’s cabin. Let’s hope this one is better.

[Gatorj]

We have timewarped to a different ship. Holy Smokes.

[Gatorj]

After tee many martoonies this is no longer a chandelier but a door to another dimension.

[Gatorj]

Second homage of the cruise. This time to the Dougout. Going to try the stairs. If you can do it, you know.

[redmomof4]

On 3/12/2019 at 4:03 PM, Gatorj said:

Day 3 dailies.

Is anyone planning on using the Bags Program shown on page one here? I'd love to hear how it goes 

[MandyGirl]

On 3/11/2019 at 11:55 AM, Gatorj said:

So, I do have a little vent, so if you don’t appreciate what I have to say, skip this section and move along.

There were 12 people at the meet and greet. 12. NCL has a very nice food and beverage setup and there were 9 officers. It was embarrassing. I know we had 30-40 on the meet and greet signup, so....if you’re not going to show, don’t sign up.

Hopping off the soap box now.

 

So we were the opposite... I was the only one who signed up but brought two extras from my family. So we were three of those 12. Plus my parents were a little late and stood outside to not interrupt and listened just off to the left, enter right as the officers left. They weren't signed up either.  Definitely the smallest I have ever attended of being on CruiseCritic for 19 years...

[tomservo]

27 minutes ago, MandyGirl said:

 

So we were the opposite... I was the only one who signed up but brought two extras from my family. So we were three of those 12. Plus my parents were a little late and stood outside to not interrupt and listened just off to the left, enter right as the officers left. They weren't signed up either.  Definitely the smallest I have ever attended of being on CruiseCritic for 19 years...

Check out post 204 - apparently NCL messed up and they’re going to re-do it. 

[Nclgetawaymenhoney]

Thank you so much for sharing your cruise with us all.  Enjoy your last day!

[Gatorj]

Thank you so much for sharing your cruise with us all.  Enjoy your last day!

Thank you for being the first to officially remind me. [emoji22]

Osheehans for nachos with extra cheese and extra bacon will cure that funk.

[MandyGirl]

7 hours ago, tomservo said:

Check out post 204 - apparently NCL messed up and they’re going to re-do it. 

 

Yep- received the card for the new one but conflicts with something else I already have for Saturday. I marked my calendar from the rollcall thread for the Monday CC greet and it was definitely communicated there.  I just watched that thread for any changes and everything seemed like Monday was a go - had the normal setup as well.

[MandyGirl]

Hopefully weather will be better today - they were expecting weather last night and secured all of our balcony furniture when leaving Costa Maya  as well as the aft balcony nextdoor. Said they would re-evaluate today. Yesterday didn’t seem bad at all IMHO - we ave ate dinner outside for Moderno and it was still pretty calm outside when the medical evacuation was in progress to Cancun later in the evening (which I hope he gets better quickly). 

[Gatorj]

Day 7 Daily

[Gatorj]

As Mandygirl said, they had to stop the ship last night for a medical evacuation. A coast guard (Mexican navy?) patrol boat came out from Cancun to meet the ship. Transfer took all of 10 minutes and we were off again. I do hope the person is ok. It must be terrifying for a family to have this occur, especially far from home.

Cruise Critic M&G take 2 is at 11am today. Let’s hope for a better turnout.

[newmexicoNita]

11 hours ago, MandyGirl said:

 

So we were the opposite... I was the only one who signed up but brought two extras from my family. So we were three of those 12. Plus my parents were a little late and stood outside to not interrupt and listened just off to the left, enter right as the officers left. They weren't signed up either.  Definitely the smallest I have ever attended of being on CruiseCritic for 19 years...

and on our last cruise: the Dawn we had a fantastic turnout. We actually had 65 for the slot pull but our Bermuda cruise last spring was like you are talking about: a bummer for the officers who take time to come. Yes, please people remember, things do come up but if you sign up, please come. 

 

I am heading up one in Oct on the Breakaway. Hope it is more successful. Work does go into these M&Gs. 

[newmexicoNita]

I have one more question:Is Heineken included in the beverage package? 

[Gatorj]

I have one more question:Is Heineken included in the beverage package? 

Should be. All drinks (including beers) under $15 are included.

[Gatorj]

Cruise Critic M&G was equally attended this time around. Big difference however was the interaction of the ship’s officers who seemed genuinely interested to hear what we had to say about our week. They were taking notes and handing out business cards. Nice touch.

All in all it’s been a really good trip.

Weather today is crappy; cloudy, windy, and getting cooler. Upper decks are pretty empty.

[Gatorj]

Quick sound bite on travel arrangements. Got an email from Southwest yesterday that our flight home has been cancelled. Yep, it was a 737 Max 8. Please contact them for rebooking. Of course all other flights home are already full and we were offered another travel day.

No thanks. Refund please. New flights on Delta through Atlanta.

[eileeshb]

16 minutes ago, Gatorj said:

Quick sound bite on travel arrangements. Got an email from Southwest yesterday that our flight home has been cancelled. Yep, it was a 737 Max 8. Please contact them for rebooking. Of course all other flights home are already full and we were offered another travel day.

No thanks. Refund please. New flights on Delta through Atlanta.

 

Bound to be quite a few affected by  the Boeing issues for the next while. On my first cruise I happened to check the news from back home before disembarkation and discovered my airline had a major IT meltdown that was causing them to cancel all their flights. I’d originally planned to just drop my bags at the airport and head into the city (Miami) for the day as I had an evening flight. Instead I spent hours queuing at the airline desk waiting for alternative flight details. There was a big group ahead of me that were discussing how long check-in seemed to be taking and people looking annoyed. They hadn’t heard about the IT meltdown and cancellations, the IT meltdown caused issues even for transferring people to other airlines. I got lucky and got the last seat on a flight that was actually departing earlier then my original booking so it meant I’d have no trouble making my connection in London back to Ireland. 

[fabnfortysomething]

on subject of meet and greets-Ihave attended and hosted several

 

there is always a drop out rate from those who say will attend and dont

 

however when NCL  changes the date time or venue last minute and you only get to know as co Ordinator when you get a letter in your cabin it can be a bit tricky especially if they bring it forward!

 

last cruise where brought forward 1 hour to a different venue

 

cruise director stood up and said he had changed venue to Margaraitaville as weather good and wanted to showcase the [underused] venue then commented how low turn out was!!!!

 

I made sure he knew why!

 

now I make every effort to get people to email me their cabin numbers so can communicate last minute changes

[Gatorj]

What’s the saddest thing about the last night on NCL?

Last chicken wing nightcap.

I’ll post more when we’re back on land.

Thanks for following along!

[Von & John]

Safe Travels tomorrow...

[James_Elmore]

Hope you took care of her we will be on in a few.