Breakaway, February 6th - 13th - Review of Trip

[SimplyAlbert]

We arrived early to New Orleans (Friday afternoon).  Since we were up at an ungodly hour for our early morning flight, we ended up going to Mulates cajun restaurant for a late lunch/early dinner.  They were closed when we were there last year because the Nicholas Cage movie Renfield was being filmed there.   I highly recommend it.  The food was great.  We split a fried alligator appetizer, I had baked stuffed shrimp, DH had fried catfish, DS had the jambalaya and his girlfriend had the crawfish etouffee.   Drinks were also good.   We walked around for a bit before heading back to the hotel (Hampton Inn & Suites Convention Center) for an early night.

 

Saturday we got up early, had breakfast (free at the hotel) and went to walk around the French Quarter.  There was a festival going on so we saw several marching bands perform.  There was also a pavilion set up at the end of the French Market with Jazz band playing.  It was definitely livelier than when we were there this same time last year.  We walked all over, hit Jackson Square and Bourbon Street, had appetizers and drinks on a balcony above Bourbon Street, and just took in all the sights.  I think we clocked about 6 miles of walking around.  Had dinner at Dragos (also excellent) and headed back to the hotel for bed.

 

Sunday – Embarkation Day.   Our arrival time was 11:30 – 12:00 p.m.   Lines weren’t too bad and moved fairly quickly.   We only waited about 20 minutes before our boarding group was called.  We did a RCCL cruise last fall and I have to say their process was much better/easier.  With RCCL as long as you did all of your paperwork and loaded your photos on-line there was no wait for the same time slot.  We never stopped walking and just walked right on the ship.  Keycards were in the room.  With NCL you still had to go the desk and check in and get your keycards.  We all agreed that we preferred the RCCL process.  Rooms were not ready until 2:30 pm, about an hour later than other sailings on NCL.   This was most likely due to the new once a day room cleaning.  Our steward had 22 rooms to service.  We heard from someone else that their steward had 28.  A live muster drill was done at 3:30 p.m. before we sailed.  We prefer the on-line one that we did last year.

 

We had dinner at Le Bistro.  DS and I both had the filet and it was excellent.  DH enjoyed his Dover Sole and DS’ girlfriend had the duck, which she said was excellent.  I had a chocolate log mousse dessert that was really good.  DS & GF shared a strawberry dessert and DH opted out of dessert as he was full.

 

After dinner DH and I  went to the theater for the magician and the kids went to the Comedy Club.  The magician was very good and funny.  Kids said the comedian was ok.  DH and were off to bed after that.  Kids went up to the Welcome Aboard Dance Party, but only stayed for a little bit before they turned in too.

 

Monday – Day at Sea:  DH & I slept in a bit and had breakfast in the dining room.  Food was ok.  He had eggs benedict and I had French toast. We pretty much relaxed on our aft balcony all day.  Kids roamed the ship, hit the bars and arcades.  DH and I had dinner in the dining room.  Again, it was ok.  I honestly don’t even remember what we had.  No idea where the kids ate.  I went to see Six and it was excellent.  DH didn’t come with me.  We saw it last year and he didn’t care for it.  After Six, DH and I went to the Dueling Pianos for an hour or so before turning in.  Kids went to the Awesome 80’s party and had a blast.  They didn’t get back to there room until around 2 am (oh to be young again).

 

Tuesday- Costa Maya:  DH and I have been to all of these ports multiple times so we didn’t book anything.  We got off the ship and walked around a bit.  DS has cruised multiple times before, but nothing since 2017 and his GF has never cruised.  It was really fun being with them as she was so excited about everything.  They booked the ATV Jungle/Beach Break Tour.  They had a blast!  We happened to run into them when they were on their way back to the ship and they were covered in mud from head to toe!  They didn’t stay long at the beach break.  They both said the drinks were really watered down, they were muddy and wanted to clean up, and there were some passing showers.  It was an $8 cab ride back to the ship.  Both said the ATV portion was great and if the weather had been better the beach was really nice.   DH and I had dinner at the Shanghai Noodle Bar.  It was excellent.  We both had spring rolls, and shared the fried dumplings.  I had the shrimp fried rice and he had some noodle dish with shrimp.  Everything was really good.  We skipped dessert as were both full.  I’m pretty sure the kids ate at the buffet a lot.  I didn’t hear any complaints so I’m assuming it was good.  After dinner DH and I spent some time in the casino.  DH ended up about $5 and I lost 65 cents.  We hung out at the Dueling Pianos again for about an hour before heading off to bed.

 

Wednesday – Belize:  DH and I planned to just hang out on the beach and the kids had book parasailing.  It was very windy so the parasailing was cancelled and they ended up doing the ziplining instead, which they enjoyed.  We all ended up hanging out at the beach for most of the day.  They walked through the butterfly house and saw the birds.  We did it the prior year so skipped that.  When we got back to the ship we had a salad at O’Sheehans.  I had the Cobb salad and DH had the Caesar salad and pretzel bites.  Everything was good.  The kids had dinner at Teppanyaki that night and both loved it.  Said their chef was great and the food was really good.  DH and I had dinner at La Cucina.  While it was good, I don’t think I’d book there again.   He had the fettuccine alfredo and I had the pork medallions.   After hearing about the kids experience we both wished we’d gone to Teppanyaki.   Oh well, next year.  After dinner we lined up to see Rumors at Syd Normans.  What a great show!  Kids went to the comedy club and it was a bust.  They said the comedian really wasn’t funny and they were pretty sure he cut his set short.  Lots of people walking out.

 

Thursday – Roatan:  We all booked the Jolly Roger Catamaran tour and had a ball!  The crew was great.  The snorkeling was neither the best or worst I’ve ever done.  I love to snorkel and have snorkeled all over the Caribbean.  They don’t feed the fish so you see everything in its natural habitat.  After snorkeling, the drinks were flowing (and they were good) and lunch, also very good, was served.  Because it was a bit windy there were some waves.  Nothing that bothered any of us, but the seas were not smooth.  We all ended up having dinner at the buffet that night.  Everything we had was good.  We all went to the theater to see the magician/comedian again. It was a different show and it was just as good as the first one.  Kids went to the 90’s Throwback Party but only stayed for a short period of time.  They said it was ok, but knew they had to get up early the next morning.

 

Friday – Cozumel:  The kids booked the dolphin swim and DH and I went as observers to get pictures.  The place was just down from the ship.  They provided transportation to and from, but we ended up walking back as the kids wanted to do some souvenir shopping.  This excursion was the highlight of the trip for them.  Both loved it!  They were in the pool for quite a bit of time and had a lot of interaction with the dolphins.  The excursion was all inclusive so we had lunch there (DS, GF and I had the chicken quesadillas and DH had a burger and fries), but the drinks were really watered down.  There was snorkeling and kayaks available here (included), but we decided to walk back toward the ship after lunch.  Kids bought their souvenirs and went back to the ship to clear up.  DH and I continued to walk around before we went back since it was a really nice day.  Dinner was at Ocean Blue.  DH and GF had a dish that was seafood in a tomato broth and they both loved it.  DS and I had the fried fisherman’s platter.  DS and I agreed that our dinner was just ok.  The batter was heavy and greasy and didn’t seem to be cooked all the way through.  We live in New England where fried seafood is great so we were a bit disappointed.  We both ended up removing the batter portion and then just eating the shrimp, scallops, octopus & fish.   After dinner DH and I went to see Burn the Floor which was excellent.  The kids went to the Glow Party but didn’t stay long.  They said it was really crowded.   They heard the next day that it ended up getting shut down early because a fight broke out.

 

Saturday – 2^nd Sea Day:  Woke up to pouring rain so we slept in.  The skies cleared in the afternoon and it ended up being a nice day, other than the ship was very rocky.  We really didn’t do much.  Got packed up, had a few drinks, spent some time in the casino, had dinner at the buffet, saw Burn the Floor again with the kids (we were surprised they still did it with the way the ship was rocking), hung out at the Mixx Bar for a bit and then off to bed.

 

Sunday – Debarkation:  We did the walk-off with our luggage.  Process was super easy, and the line kept moving.  We took a taxi to the airport and got home late Sunday night.

 

Some last thoughts.

 

We had a great trip!  It was really fun spending some one on one time with our youngest (he’s 29) and his GF.  We really got to know her a lot better and while we really liked her before, we like her even more now.  They had a ball and are already planning to do a cruise on their own, probably next year.

 

We really preferred the RCCL embarkation process.  It was much faster and easier with no waiting around.  We also preferred the on-line muster drill to the in-person one.

 

The once a day room cleaning was fine with us.  We tend to be really neat and don’t need twice a day service.  The only issue we had is that when we got to the room the beds were not separated, which I had asked for in advance.  Also DH wanted an extra pillow and we wanted extra towels.  We called housekeeping and our steward was there very quickly and took care of all of our needs.  In the past we would just have left a note about those things and they would be taken care of during the evening turn down.   We tipped him well throughout the week and at the end.  Also, the room stewards are no longer doing towel animals due to lack of time.  DS had talked them up to his GF and they were a bit disappointed to not get one the first night.  We had the same steward so I asked him if one day if he had time if he would make them an animal (and tipped appropriately).  He was awesome and ended up making one for them the whole week!

 

All of the crew we encountered were wonderful.  We ate in the main dining rooms, specialty dining, buffet, O’Sheehans and Shanghai and did not have a bad meal anywhere.

 

The kids did their excursions through the ship, just to be on the safe side, and liked everything they did.

 

I thought the ship was clean throughout and in good shape.

 

While it was sunny throughout the cruise, other than the rain the last morning, it was really windy and the ship “rocked” a bit.  It wasn’t really noticeable until the last night.

 

Two days after we got home DH got COVID, so it’s still out there.  So far DS, GF and I are testing negative and symptom free.  The ironic part is that he was the most careful out of all of us.  We all wore masks on the bus, in the airport, and on the airplane.  DH went even further and wore his when indoors on the ship.  While there’s no way to tell for sure, given the timing he most likely caught it while on the cruise, either on the ship or in port.  So far his symptoms are mild.  He’s fully vaccinated and boosted so just will just have to ride it out.  I’m just mentioning it because if people are on the fence about cruising due to COVID they should be aware.  It won’t stop us from traveling.  We’ll take reasonable precautions and deal with any fallout (like we are now).

[RocketMan275]

Thanks for the excellent review.

If you preferred the emuster process, be sure and let NCL know that when you fill out the post-cruise survey.

Particularly glad to hear that you had only a brief wait for embarkation.  We stood in long lines last year when we arrived at 1000.  

We're booked for 1130 to 1200 this year and we're hoping for a smooth process.  

Good to hear you're doing well with the COVID.  

 

Edited February 15, 2023 by RocketMan275

[SimplyAlbert]

One other thought I had - the internet was really wonky for us on this trip.  We usually don't have any trouble with it, but with a full ship it didn't seem to run as well.  I had hoped to do a semi-live review, but kept getting kicked off.   It wasn't a big deal for us, more of an annoyance.   I know people have asked about being able to use the internet for work and I wouldn't recommend it.