Mitsugirly BREAKAWAYs for a summer cruise: Review/Pictorial

[mitsugirly]

 

 

By this time, everyone was off the ship and here and it was getting crowded in the pool area. There were plenty of seating available at the beach though.

 

 

 

We decided to take a dip in the ocean. I basically had to talk Sakari into it. She didn't want to come out of the pool.

 

 

 

 

 

 

She immediately noticed the zip lining. She shouted "I wanna do that!" and I told her the cost and told her that if I paid for it, she better not get up there and back out! Then she seen the other little zip line (not over the water) and said she'd rather do that because it looked like it wasn't as high. I told her that it came out of the same lighthouse building and the same height so....in the end, she said she would do it, but I wasn't convinced and ended up saying no. I knew we had a day at another port that would test her and see if she'd do the zip lining and if she did it there, I'd know for future reference.

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

 

 

I spent so much in pop that day I swear. It was just so hot out and I needed to quench my thirst. We did end up asking for a cup with ice after awhile because getting a bottle (although it was ice cold when it was delivered) it would get hot really fast and be wasted. After asking the first time, they'd always bring the cup with ice.

 

 

 

 

We had several visitors around us.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

He was making a run for it. They are so funny looking when they run.

 

[mitsugirly]

 

 

 

 

 

 

We were getting ready to pack up and leave when it was discovered that some time during the day a rather large iguana had swam across the water and went to the little island in the middle of the pool. He was now the main attraction to those still left swimming in the pool. Sakari swam over to get pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We packed up our things and started to head out...over the bridge and through the wilderness we go.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The shallow area with some fountains and zero entry

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

They had a Belize sign here...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

We started our long journey down the pier to the ship.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sakari took off running all of a sudden. I thought she was in a hurry to get back to the ship and into the pool. Instead she spotted one of her friends from the ship. This would be Hector's (the kid that looks like Brayden) younger sister. Amazing they were at the same place today and never ran across each other to hang out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The carts they give you rides in

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And back on the ship we go...

[mitsugirly]

Harvest Caye was super nice! We really enjoyed ourselves there that day. I personally would highly recommend visiting it. I know it's a commercialized man made place designed to sucker cruisers into donating more money to the cruise lines, but I personally don't mind spending a day here and there on a cruise in a beautiful place like this. Just like I enjoy going to the cruise lines private islands like Great Stirrup Cay or Half Moon Cay. It's a nice change to go somewhere really nice and enjoy everything and not be hassled by the vendors or paying to get to a nice beach or resort. We really enjoyed this. Is it for everyone? Of course not and those that don't enjoy a break from visiting other countries that might be poverty stricken or begging for money can always book an excursion away from the island. But that's just my opinion of the island...it's gorgeous!

 

 

Ok, I'm stopping for the night. My pain has been creeping up and the numbness is getting bad at the moment. Time for some meds and some rest. If tonight is anything like the last 2 nights, I'll be up in a couple hours, not being able to sleep, and may continue with more of the review.

 

I hope everyone is still enjoying it.

 

Good night. ❤️

[perfect match]

Glad to hear your husband has found a dive mask that works for him. I remember how much he was looking forward to diving when you first started looking into it, and now he is able to enjoy diving without having to worry about his ears.

 

Harvest Caye looks beautiful, but where are all the people? 🤫  You must have been the first people out there. I’m impressed that you got those awesome pictures! 

 

[mitsugirly]

10 hours ago, dporter said:

Mitsugirly, i am enjoying your review, thank you. I am sorry to hear about your injury and wish you a speedy recovery.

 

I have followed many of your reviews and they are always spectacular! You give tons of information and take fantastic pictures. I agree with others that you should have some sort of cruise blog.  Have you ever followed John Heald on Facebook, he is with Carnival, I don’t know his title, but his English humor keeps me laughing. You should pick your favorite cruise line and get the same type of job with them, you would be fantastic!

 

You are the reason we did a NCL cruise a few years back and loved it, even repeated the ship the following year. We will be on the Epic in February, I contemplated the Breakaway but based on some of what you shared in this review I am glad we opted for Epic. We know the bathroom  layout is a little weird but who cares someone else is cooking and cleaning so that’s a win in my book.  We pick cruises based on itinerary more than ship or cruise line so I will probably never be platinum or whatever anywhere. I can remember when loyalty meant a free cruise, gone are those rewards.

 

Thanks so much and glad you are enjoying the review. Thanks for the speedy recovery wishes. I appreciate it.

 

I have never started a cruise blog because honestly...I just don't get how they work and I feel they are hard to manuever and find content within it when you are looking for it. Yes, I follow John Heald and he's a hoot. He's the brand ambassador and cruise director.

 

Yea, I usually try to pick the itinerary as well and then the ship (hoping it's one I haven't sailed with yet). I love exploring new places but then again, going to old familiar places has it's benefits too because there's always something new to try out eat time.

 

 

10 hours ago, Cruzinnana47 said:

First off, so sorry, Kim about your accident and am joining others here to wish you a speedy recovery.  As always, enjoying your review and pics...great job as usual!  

 

Have to comment on your observations & concerns about the Breakaway and how you enjoyed your 1st cruise on her more than this recent one,  We sailed on her within the 1st year of service (early 2014) and although the ship was still very new, attractive and innovative,  we found her TOO BIG for us.  The idea of having to reserve just about everything on a ship touting the NCL "Freestyle" theme was a turn-off, as well as the crowds everywhere we went.  Sorry to read that so many features were not available or not working during your cruise.  

 

Have to agree that NCL cut-backs are making it harder to enjoy achieving Platinum status. We sailed this past spring on the NCL Sun and were "underwhelmed" with service and some of the food. Also, we had a major problem with customer service not delivering what they promised.  We are taking a break from NCL for awhile--even cancelled a cruise we had booked with an FCC.

 

Ok, enough of that.  Looking forward to reading the rest of your review!  

 

 

Thank you so much for the speedy recovery wishes. Glad you are enjoying the review.

 

I have said the same thing you did multiple times...having to reserve things just takes away from the "freestyle" brand they try to portray. I want to do things on my own time not have to be scheduled because things change constantly for us. I hate knowing I am obligated to be at a certain place at a certain time when cruising.

 

I have also discovered that I would much rather sail on a smaller ship because even when it is at max capacity, it still never seems crowded to me. However, sailing on the ships with all the bells and whistles always gives us something to do on those sea days and I know the mini human likes them.

 

I'm not sure when I'll return to NCL...if I do, it will only be to try out one of the new ships that Sakari has been begging to go on. I won't repeat another I have been on.

 

7 hours ago, perfect match said:

Glad to hear your husband has found a dive mask that works for him. I remember how much he was looking forward to diving when you first started looking into it, and now he is able to enjoy diving without having to worry about his ears.

 

Harvest Caye looks beautiful, but where are all the people? 🤫  You must have been the first people out there. I’m impressed that you got those awesome pictures! 

 

 

Yea, I'm glad he was able to find something that works for him as well. He had some terrible and painful dives resulting in terrible ear infections before finding that mask.

 

Most pictures were taken when I first got there. The place is so huge that everyone must have been all spread out. It gets a little crowded as the day goes on and then thins out again later in the day with people returning to the ship early. It was a very nice day there.

[mitsugirly]

After we returned to the ship, we were all a little hungry. Even though we had ate at Harvest Caye, we had ate early that day and it was now almost 5pm.

 

We headed to the buffet and I found some egg salad and grabbed a roll and decided to make a sandwich. It was a nice change in offerings. We didn't want to get too full because that morning, prior to getting off the ship, a spot become available to book one of our specialty dinings and we would be eating again later that evening.

 

 

 

Of course Sakari never gets enough water time so after eating, we headed to the kid pool and she hung out with her friends while we sat around and.......

 

 

 

 

 

Now I have been talking about the lack of service on the ship this time around. However, there was a lady server that covered the pool and bar area and she was always checking on us and she was very friendly. We always spoke and she always joked around with us and everyone else in the area. While we were on the island, she was there with her husband and was walking by and said hello to us and then pulled down her sunglasses and said "you didn't recognize me when I'm not in my uniform huh" (she had her bikini on). She introduced us to her husband...which the conversation carried over onto the ship later that day. She told us about her hours, her contract, her husband working with her and so on. She's in a 7 month contract and this would be her second contract. Her first was on the Pearl to Alaska and she enjoyed it very much. Her hours are from 7am-11am and then they get 4 hours off and have to be back at 3pm to work. Most of the workers spend that 4 hours sleeping because they don't get to do a lot of that she says. Then they work 3-11pm. So, a total of 12 hour days each day. She's been working on the pool deck for a few months and she said they switch her location every so many months. She lucked out when she got to work with her husband, who is the bar tender at the adult pool area. For the most part, she said she loves her job and seems to make decent money. She did say there are some cruises that she runs across the obnoxious and mean cruiser that ruins her day but other cruisers make up for it and are nice. I can't imagine anyone being mean to her...she just had that very outgoing personality and so friendly. She did mention how crowded this ship was compared to the Pearl and it was a possibility that she would seek to work for another cruise line after this contract. She made me the above drink and put a heart in it. So sweet.

 

 

Sakari was in the pool playing with Brayden...I mean Hector and a few of the other "normal" kids and dad she was hanging out with this cruise.

 

 

 

 

 

We let her play for several hours and then it was time to drag her out of the pool to go get showers and get ready for dinner that night. We had given her the option to go with us (and get food from the kids meal) or go to the buffet or O'Sheehans before or after our dinner. She opted to go with us. She likes to dress up and go places.

 

She brought her graduation dress and heals with her and strutted her stuff like she was an adult that night. LOL

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

We had a little bit of time to kill before our reservation time and decided to check out the buffet to see the decorations for the night.

 

It must have been fruit and vegetable night....

 

 

Just kidding...it was Caribbean night.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And this is how I knew it was Caribbean night....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

We headed off to dinner at Moderno. I'm not a meat person, but read they had meats other than red meat and figured I'd do the chicken and still have a great time. Hubby likes red meat sometimes and Sakari loves it. So, I figured why not try it out for the experience.

 

We were instantly seated and Sakari was handed the kids meal and a crayon. She looked at me like "I'm not a child". LOL

 

The waitress photo bombed our picture and I just laughed because the hubby had no idea.

 

 

 

So Moderno is a Brazilian steakhouse. It comes with quite the salad bar and I could (and basically did) fill up on just that alone. There's a wide selection of freshly prepared salads, tuna, French beans, potato, shrimp and roasted garlic, hearts of palm, ceviche, European cured meats and artisan cheeses. Meat comes to the table on skewers and is sliced off  and you put it on your plate. It is one price and as much as you can eat. They give you little cards: one side is green that means bring more meat and the other side is red which means hold all meat for the moment.

 

 

 

Everything comes around, so you don't order anything off the menu, but they give you one anyhow.

 

 

We started off with the salad bar

 

 

 

Everything was excellent.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

 

They brought out side dishes to go with the meats.

 

 

 

Sakari is a big soup lover. So, she went with the soup.

 

 

 

 

Now remember....this place was booked to capacity and we hadn't been able to get in all week until now. I had checked several times a day and an opening popped up for this day and I booked. After booking, there were no more available seats. But here's what it looked like in the restaurant.

 

 

 

 

 

Then the meats started to come out. I was happy to see they had sausages.

 

 

 

 

 

I also tried the bacon covered chicken. I have to say I didn't really like it too much. The consistency of the chicken was weird.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then they brought out some red meat. I said I'd try it, but all I could see was the red uncooked portion and I thought I would vomit at that point. I know a lot of people eat their meat this way but I just can't stomach it. Knowing it's not cooked...yak

 

However, I ended up giving mine to Sakari and she loved it.

 

They then brought out this pineapple OH EM GEE! It was heaven! Roasted in cinnamon and brown sugar. I absolutely loved it! I let Sakari try a bite and she fell in love and said it was the best thing she had ever tasted. LOL

 

 

I loved it so much I had them bring out more because that would be my dinner. LOL

 

I had tried lamb before and I don't like the taste at all. The hubby had tried it as well (back on Epic in 2010) and didn't care for it either. But, it's been years and he thought he'd try it. Nope, he immediately spit it out. He let Sakari try it....

 

 

 

 

 

She had a weird look on her face and said she really didn't care for it but it was "ok". She said she'd much rather have the pineapple. LOL

 

 

 

 

 

After dinner we headed back to the room for the night.

 

 

 

 

 

[ajomtl]

Just came across your post. I am on the Breakaway in October.

Was loving the review until the picture of your ankle! Wow!

I hope you recover fast and that you are not in too much pain.

[GA Dave]

1 hour ago, mitsugirly said:

 

Now remember....this place was booked to capacity and we hadn't been able to get in all week until now. I had checked several times a day and an opening popped up for this day and I booked. After booking, there were no more available seats. But here's what it looked like in the restaurant.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kim,

Loving your review!  My wife and I did this cruise last fall on the Getaway and we also loved Harvest Caye!  So relaxing, as you can see in the picture below.

 

As for the restaurants being as you showed above, we found the same thing on the Getaway.  We had pre-booked our three specialties months ahead, but decided day 2 on the ship to add Ocean Blue to burn off some OBC.  The Haven Concierge told us it was showing booked for the entire week, but he would see what he could do.  He got us a 6:30 PM for the Friday evening of our cruise.  When we arrived, the place was EMPTY!  I asked the server about it and she said that many people are booking the specialties ahead of time, and then just not showing up!  It may get to the point where they may start charging people who are no-shows like many of the land-based restaurants do now (i.e., Disney Springs establishments).

 

[davy jones]

10 hours ago, mitsugirly said:

Harvest Caye was super nice! We really enjoyed ourselves there that day. I personally would highly recommend visiting it. I know it's a commercialized man made place designed to sucker cruisers into donating more money to the cruise lines, but I personally don't mind spending a day here and there on a cruise in a beautiful place like this. Just like I enjoy going to the cruise lines private islands like Great Stirrup Cay or Half Moon Cay. It's a nice change to go somewhere really nice and enjoy everything and not be hassled by the vendors or paying to get to a nice beach or resort. We really enjoyed this. Is it for everyone? Of course not and those that don't enjoy a break from visiting other countries that might be poverty stricken or begging for money can always book an excursion away from the island. But that's just my opinion of the island...it's gorgeous!

 

 

 

Good to hear that you enjoyed HC.  Get well soon and do whatever the physical therapist says to do.

[zencruisers]

We have really enjoyed Harvest Caye both times we have been there. The whole island is beautiful. I hope we can someday use our ship card for purchases. Carry cash is kind of a hassle. 

[cincicruisers]

Do you happen to know if you can rent the clamshells at Harvest Caye and use the $50 discount on shore excursions?

[Carolina Girl 99]

21 hours ago, mitsugirly said:

There's one thing that you can say about Harvest Caye and that is that it's beautifully decorated. A lot of thought went into the layout and landscaping of this place and it was just gorgeous!!! Everywhere you look there were flowers and greenery, bushes and palms and umbrella and everything that could be thought up. It was just so nice there.

I wholeheartedly agree with you- I thought the island was gorgeous!

You also mentioned the water being murky- I also found that to be the case when we went for our first time in Oct 2017, so I don't think it had anything to do with being new 

[Sand and Seas]

33 minutes ago, cincicruisers said:

Do you happen to know if you can rent the clamshells at Harvest Caye and use the $50 discount on shore excursions?

We were able to do this last year at H Caye

[cincicruisers]

15 minutes ago, Sand and Seas said:

We were able to do this last year at H Caye

Great. I am assuming I need to reserve on board?  Is the cost still $40?

[mitsugirly]

11 hours ago, ajomtl said:

Just came across your post. I am on the Breakaway in October.

Was loving the review until the picture of your ankle! Wow!

I hope you recover fast and that you are not in too much pain.

 

Thanks so much!

 

11 hours ago, GA Dave said:

Kim,

Loving your review!  My wife and I did this cruise last fall on the Getaway and we also loved Harvest Caye!  So relaxing, as you can see in the picture below.

 

As for the restaurants being as you showed above, we found the same thing on the Getaway.  We had pre-booked our three specialties months ahead, but decided day 2 on the ship to add Ocean Blue to burn off some OBC.  The Haven Concierge told us it was showing booked for the entire week, but he would see what he could do.  He got us a 6:30 PM for the Friday evening of our cruise.  When we arrived, the place was EMPTY!  I asked the server about it and she said that many people are booking the specialties ahead of time, and then just not showing up!  It may get to the point where they may start charging people who are no-shows like many of the land-based restaurants do now (i.e., Disney Springs establishments).

 

 

 

That's just crappy that people book them all up and then don't show. I agree with start charging them if they are a no-show unless they call to cancel. People, like me that's platinum and has "earned" this, can't even get in to collect on our benefits. It just sucks!

 

 

10 hours ago, davy jones said:

Good to hear that you enjoyed HC.  Get well soon and do whatever the physical therapist says to do.

 

Yes we did and thanks. I will definitely do everything I'm told. I want a complete and full recovery.

 

3 hours ago, zencruisers said:

We have really enjoyed Harvest Caye both times we have been there. The whole island is beautiful. I hope we can someday use our ship card for purchases. Carry cash is kind of a hassle. 

 

It is very beautiful there! Hopefully some day we will be able to use the ship cards for purchases. That sure would be nice.

 

1 hour ago, cincicruisers said:

Do you happen to know if you can rent the clamshells at Harvest Caye and use the $50 discount on shore excursions?

 

I do believe you can.

 

 

57 minutes ago, Carolina Girl 99 said:

I wholeheartedly agree with you- I thought the island was gorgeous!

You also mentioned the water being murky- I also found that to be the case when we went for our first time in Oct 2017, so I don't think it had anything to do with being new 

 

It is gorgeous. It may not paint a true picture of Belize and a third world country, but when most people talk about cruising or going to the Caribbean, they are usually picturing something beautiful and pristine anyhow. That's what this place is.

 

Maybe the water is just too stirred up in this area and will never clear up. That sucks.

[Sand and Seas]

49 minutes ago, cincicruisers said:

Great. I am assuming I need to reserve on board?  Is the cost still $40?

Yes, we reserved our clamshell onboard.   I can't recall the exact price but it was less than the $50 shore ex credit.

[perfect match]

15 hours ago, mitsugirly said:

 

 

 

 

 

 

OMG! Sakari looks all grown up in that dress! You’re not going to be able to call her your mini human much longer! She’s becoming a beautiful young woman! 

[Jenner9]

10 hours ago, Sand and Seas said:

Yes, we reserved our clamshell onboard.   I can't recall the exact price but it was less than the $50 shore ex credit.

Do you reserve this at the excursion desk?

[mitsugirly]

11 hours ago, perfect match said:

 

OMG! Sakari looks all grown up in that dress! You’re not going to be able to call her your mini human much longer! She’s becoming a beautiful young woman! 

 

She does don't she? She'll always be my mini human 🥰