Off the Breakaway February 6 - New Orleans

[PaperSniper4]

9 hours ago, JCDCA said:

How was the WiFi onboard?  Would one be able to work fairly easily onboard, including the occasional video call?

I have no actual experience, but I'd think that video calling would not be possible with the basic plan. Surely not an issue with the extra cost plan, I think it's around $100 for one device? Sounds like a business expense to me....😉

 

Doug

[MtnCliner]

9 hours ago, JCDCA said:

How was the WiFi onboard?  Would one be able to work fairly easily onboard, including the occasional video call?

I wouldn't count on the quality of WiFi for work, based on my experience using my cell phone.

The service was pretty sporadic.  Maybe others have had a better experience.

[JCDCA]

6 hours ago, MtnCliner said:

I wouldn't count on the quality of WiFi for work, based on my experience using my cell phone.

The service was pretty sporadic.  Maybe others have had a better experience.

That’s too bad.  And yes was referring to after buying the surf and stream plan or whatever NCL calls it.  Royal seems to have NCL beat on this front.  

[aimee0715]

I was on this cruise as well.  There were specials in the spa.  They had a deal where there was progressive savings the more treatments you had.  For example, I had a hot stone massage, then the lime and ginger salt scrub with a massage, and then the seaweed wrap with a massage.  I got 10% off the first service, 20% off the second, and 30% off the third.  

 

With regard to the internet, I upgraded to the unlimited premium.  I was amazed that I was able to stream The Book of Boba Fett on my Disney+ app with no issues whatsoever.  It streamed as well as it does on my Roku at home.  

 

I was told by an employee that there were 1200 passengers on board.

 

The covid testing site is at the Marriott across the street from the port, it's in the red brick building that is attached to the hotel tower.  It's pretty well marked.

 

The security staff at Harvest Caye told us that we had to wear our masks while walking around outside.  I think they said wear your mask unless you are in the water.  We only walked around a bit and went back to the ship to enjoy the thermal suite in the spa.

 

We went to Playa Mia in Cozumel and Little French Key in Roatan both places were well below capacity--like probably at 25% capacity.  It was really nice. 

[PaperSniper4]

12 hours ago, aimee0715 said:

.......

The security staff at Harvest Caye told us that we had to wear our masks while walking around outside.  I think they said wear your mask unless you are in the water..........

That sounds odd, unless of course you were walking around outside in the middle of a crowd of people. I'm one of those nuts who wear a mask anytime I'm around people, but outside, with few people and those 20 feet away or so, I never bother. What you described has probably changed anyway starting 1 March with NCL's updated COVID policies.

 

Doug

[aimee0715]

8 hours ago, PaperSniper4 said:

That sounds odd, unless of course you were walking around outside in the middle of a crowd of people. I'm one of those nuts who wear a mask anytime I'm around people, but outside, with few people and those 20 feet away or so, I never bother. What you described has probably changed anyway starting 1 March with NCL's updated COVID policies.

 

Doug

Even the lifeguards sitting up in those tall chairs were wearing masks.  I felt sorry for them because it was so hot.  The people who told us to put on masks were wearing uniforms and did not appear to work for NCL.  They were standing at the entrance to Harvest Caye. I thought maybe the masks were something the government of Belize required.  

[PaperSniper4]

15 hours ago, aimee0715 said:

............  The people who told us to put on masks were wearing uniforms and did not appear to work for NCL.  They were standing at the entrance to Harvest Caye. I thought maybe the masks were something the government of Belize required.  

I bet you are correct.

[PaperSniper4]

Does NCL still put a paper "tomorrow's activities" <not sure of the name> in ones cabin each evening? Or is it only available online, like on a phone/tablet?

 

Doug

[debenson0723]

59 minutes ago, PaperSniper4 said:

Does NCL still put a paper "tomorrow's activities" <not sure of the name> in ones cabin each evening? Or is it only available online, like on a phone/tablet?

 

Doug

The paper Dailies are left in your cabin every night for the next day.

[PaperSniper4]

7 hours ago, debenson0723 said:

The paper Dailies are left in your cabin every night for the next day.

Thanks for the reply. We like getting those dailies (ship's schedule) on paper each evening. We take a highlighter and mark the items that interest us, then cut them down to size and put them in a pocket. I know a lot of folks like them on their phone or tablet, but we are old school I suppose. 😎

 

Doug

Edited February 13, 2022 by PaperSniper4

[gigem_aggies]

Just booked a last minute sailing on the Breakaway for mid-March.  Favorite specialty dining?  We have a balcony and free at sea, so have 2 specialty meals included.  My birthday is the first sea day, so trying to decide is hard!  😄 

[MtnCliner]

15 hours ago, gigem_aggies said:

Just booked a last minute sailing on the Breakaway for mid-March.  Favorite specialty dining?  We have a balcony and free at sea, so have 2 specialty meals included.  My birthday is the first sea day, so trying to decide is hard!  😄 

We would rate our favorites as Ocean Blue, Cagneys and the Bistro. Personally, I like the Moderno salad bar and meat skewers, but I'm the only one in our foursome that does.

Ocean Blue isn't on that many ships, so we consider it a special treat.

Edited February 21, 2022 by MtnCliner

[gigem_aggies]

3 hours ago, MtnCliner said:

We would rate our favorites as Ocean Blue, Cagneys and the Bistro. Personally, I like the Moderno salad bar and meat skewers, but I'm the only one in our foursome that does.

Ocean Blue isn't on that many ships, so we consider it a special treat.

Ocean Blue and Cagney's is where we are leaning since we can have hibachi and churrascaria meals in our home town.  But, hard to decide since we love both.  🙂

[MtnCliner]

10 minutes ago, gigem_aggies said:

Ocean Blue and Cagney's is where we are leaning since we can have hibachi and churrascaria meals in our home town.  But, hard to decide since we love both.  🙂

The wonderful thing is that there are no bad choices!

[SimplyAlbert]

We were on this sailing too and both felt it was one of the best cruises we've ever done.  We were on the fence about going, but decided to take and plunge and were glad we did.  

 

We did get off at Harvest Caye to walk around and were also told we have to wear our masks while outside, so I think it's a Belize thing.  We walked around in Cozumel and only masked up in the stores.  We ended up just staying on the ship in Roatan and Costa Maya.  We've done this itinerary several times and decided to just relax on this trip.

[crowandzah]

@MtnCliner @SimplyAlbert

 

Question - you have your terminal arrival time...did you get in line for the tests prior to that time or at that time? I would think prior, but the hubs is arguing.

 

thanks

[SimplyAlbert]

1 hour ago, crowandzah said:

@MtnCliner @SimplyAlbert

 

Question - you have your terminal arrival time...did you get in line for the tests prior to that time or at that time? I would think prior, but the hubs is arguing.

 

thanks

We got in line about 5 minutes prior to our terminal arrival time.

[crowandzah]

@SimplyAlbert thanks

[bigrednole]

2 hours ago, crowandzah said:

@MtnCliner @SimplyAlbert

 

Question - you have your terminal arrival time...did you get in line for the tests prior to that time or at that time? I would think prior, but the hubs is arguing.

 

thanks

If you aren't sailing this week, at least in the US, there is no pier side testing anymore. You do it at home within 2 days of embarkation starting March 1.

[MNcruisingcouple]

On 2/10/2022 at 6:56 AM, PaperSniper4 said:

I have no actual experience, but I'd think that video calling would not be possible with the basic plan. Surely not an issue with the extra cost plan, I think it's around $100 for one device? Sounds like a business expense to me....😉

 

Doug

I had the upgraded streaming internet in December on our Breakaway cruise as I had to work too.  The video calling worked ok.  I used Zoom.  I did get dropped a few times one day.  The internet speeds even with the streaming plan are slow like 2mb download and 1.5 upload.

[MtnCliner]

5 hours ago, crowandzah said:

@MtnCliner @SimplyAlbert

 

Question - you have your terminal arrival time...did you get in line for the tests prior to that time or at that time? I would think prior, but the hubs is arguing.

 

thanks

We were a bit early for ours, but no one even asked about times - they just put us into the queue.

[crowandzah]

On 2/22/2022 at 10:57 AM, bigrednole said:

If you aren't sailing this week, at least in the US, there is no pier side testing anymore. You do it at home within 2 days of embarkation starting March 1.

I sail the 27th...just missing that cut off.

[luckycharmed]

Getting on the Breakaway out of NOLA in a few weeks, our first time on NCL. Are there any 'theme' nights like we've experienced on Royal Caribbean? 70's night or 80's night? If so, do passengers dress up for the theme  nights?

 

Thank you!