Live info from the Breakaway (Rome round trip - Greece and Italy)

[mexicobob]

Thanks for posting the activities, etc onboard. Greatly appreciated. We will be on the Breakaway in February and look forward to it.

[KeithJenner]

Day 6 dailies.

[KeithJenner]

We went to Ocean Blue yesterday. We’ve not been before as my wife isn’t a big fan of seafood, but it was a really excellent meal. Probably my new favourite NCL restaurant.

[KeithJenner]

On 9/3/2023 at 5:17 PM, www3traveler said:

Hi,

Hope you have a wonderful cruise.  Are there 3 of you this time or just 2?

When you can, would you please post the Ship's Officers both Hotel and Bridge??

 

Mandy

Finally managed to get a picture.

[Jetsetter372]

Highly recommend Best of Olympia Tour!! We had a blast!!! It was so fun, informative and yummy!!! We usually do the Selfie Tour!!! Don’t do those! Check this out and book before it sells out!!! 

[KeithJenner]

I agree that Olympia is clearly the main attraction from Katakolon.

 

We’ve been here once before and we hired a car to go there last time. This time was just stayed in Katakolon. It is a small town and we had some excellent ice cream at Maniera Gelateria.

 

We are going to be more busy in the next few days (it’s our first time in both Valetta and Messina).

[www3traveler]

3 hours ago, KeithJenner said:

Finally managed to get a picture.

Thank You   I have known Miky and Charlin a very long time.

[Jetsetter372]

On 9/7/2023 at 7:41 AM, KeithJenner said:

Tendering at Mykonos seems to be going well. 40 minutes in and they have just called group 18.

Also remember if you’re a Latitudes Gold+ member, you have priority tenders if you aren’t on a tour! 

[Eggs2Go]

Keith, hope your cruise is continuing to be relaxing and enjoyable. My heart goes out to the Greek people when I see the videos of the flooding they are enduring. Suppose the Breakaway is far out to sea away from all that. Next week we'll be passing as you disembark from your adventure and I embark to begin mine on the same Greek Isles itinerary. Thanks for posting this positive and informative thread. As Jimmy Buffett told his sister: Have fun. 

 

[KeithJenner]

Day 7 dailies

[KeithJenner]

Day 8 dailies.

[KeithJenner]

A bit of catching up to now, now we have been to the two new ports.

 

I was a little disappointed with Valletta. It is a nice port and maybe my expectations were a little high. When we go to a new port which is within walking distance to town we tend to walk around to get a feel of the place. It is a nice town with a lot to see.

 

There we’re plenty of taxis outside the port, along with hop on hop off buses also running.

 

Overall I liked it, and we would certainly enjoy going back (when we would pick some specific places to visit).

 

A great port, but I was hoping that it would really wow us, which didn’t quite happen.

 

[KeithJenner]

Today in Messina we took the “Taormina on your own” tour.

 

The original plan was to take the train, but I found out a while ago that it doesn’t run on Sundays (or was too late in the day, something like that). The on your own tour was cheap with free at sea plus, and it worked fairly well. We had about two and a half hours in town. It is a really nice place and did wow us, although it was very busy.

 

I would certainly recommend a visit.

[Jetsetter2023]

We did the Highlights of Taormina today! It included entrance and a walk through the Ancient Greece Theatre! Then we hung out  near the port for awhile! Great visit! 

[KKB]

On 9/7/2023 at 7:08 PM, Jetsetter372 said:

We are on board the ship now.  We’ve had quite a few interesting experiences. I would not recommend the Selfie Tours.  We had 1 in Santorini that was so quick that we barely had time to view the domes. The traffic walking up and down was insane and time-consuming; our tour guide rushed us in and out.  We tried the same tour again in Athens. It was raining so the guide wanted us to take photos of the Acropolis from the window! We jumped off the bus, leaving the group, and explored Athens on our own,

I'm glad to hear your report.

We did this cruise the 1st 2 weeks of Aug.

We had selfie tour in Santorini booked--to avoid those initial long lines as earlier suggested.

Well, DD was overserved the 1st night & I knew there was NO way she could tolerate the tenders, the heat, the crowds. So I accepted eathing our tour.

We docked at 1PM & at 1:45 they halted tenders due to port congestion.

They did not start up again until 3:45--in the end, they cancelled & refunded ALL excursions, so we actually got lucky, lol.

 

In Athens we grabbed a HOHO bus at the port. I loved HOHO in Belfast...this one, not so much.

Got to Acropolis; thought we would stay on & see more of Athens. 

NOPE--that bus was going back to the port. HUH??

Mass confusion there, big crowds.

We opened Uber app, called a cab & went down to La Plata & just wandered for hours. 

It was lovely.

 

 

[KKB]

6 hours ago, KeithJenner said:

A bit of catching up to now, now we have been to the two new ports.

 

I was a little disappointed with Valletta. It is a nice port and maybe my expectations were a little high. When we go to a new port which is within walking distance to town we tend to walk around to get a feel of the place. It is a nice town with a lot to see.

 

There we’re plenty of taxis outside the port, along with hop on hop off buses also running.

 

Overall I liked it, and we would certainly enjoy going back (when we would pick some specific places to visit).

 

A great port, but I was hoping that it would really wow us, which didn’t quite happen.

 

Interesting--we LOVED Valetta! 

Wandered as we did in Athens--including a lovely hand painted scarf of the Valetta skyline.

Ate some Maltese food, shopped a bit, took many pics. 

 

6 hours ago, KeithJenner said:

Today in Messina we took the “Taormina on your own” tour.

 

The original plan was to take the train, but I found out a while ago that it doesn’t run on Sundays (or was too late in the day, something like that). The on your own tour was cheap with free at sea plus, and it worked fairly well. We had about two and a half hours in town. It is a really nice place and did wow us, although it was very busy.

 

I would certainly recommend a visit.

 

Alas I missed Sicily as I pulled a hamstring that morning. 

DD walked around & said I didn't miss much.

She said she heard Taormina was the way to go--tuck that in my notes for next time!

[KeithJenner]

In a rather interesting development, I was at the bar on o’Sheehans watching the NFL when a passenger who we had been talking to earlier came and sat next to me, started shouting abuse, punched me on the arm and drank my beer.

 

He was last seen being escorted away by security. It isn’t NCLs fault, but it also isn’t what you expect when on holiday. We will have discussions tomorrow.

[www3traveler]

1 hour ago, KeithJenner said:

In a rather interesting development, I was at the bar on o’Sheehans watching the NFL when a passenger who we had been talking to earlier came and sat next to me, started shouting abuse, punched me on the arm and drank my beer.

 

He was last seen being escorted away by security. It isn’t NCLs fault, but it also isn’t what you expect when on holiday. We will have discussions tomorrow.

WOW!!!  Are you okay?

[KeithJenner]

4 hours ago, www3traveler said:

WOW!!!  Are you okay?

Yes thanks. Not happy though.

[www3traveler]

22 minutes ago, KeithJenner said:

Yes thanks. Not happy though.

I am glad that you are okay.  I hope they replaced your beer.

Was an interesting day for the pro football teams.  Several teams that should have won or been in close games, lost by a lot.  The Dallas Cowboys beat the New York Giants 40-0 for example.

Edited September 11, 2023 by www3traveler
made a correction

[gatorchinsky]

What a crazy experience that was for you @KeithJenner. Glad he was stopped before the situation got uglier.

 

I’m surprised NFL was on since the ship is in Europe but I guess it’s the satellite. My DH will be happy he can watch a game or two when we are on in November.

[CCTES]

On 9/7/2023 at 9:08 PM, Jetsetter372 said:

We are on board the ship now.  We’ve had quite a few interesting experiences. I would not recommend the Selfie Tours.  We had 1 in Santorini that was so quick that we barely had time to view the domes. The traffic walking up and down was insane and time-consuming; our tour guide rushed us in and out.  We tried the same tour again in Athens. It was raining so the guide wanted us to take photos of the Acropolis from the window! We jumped off the bus, leaving the group, and explored Athens on our own, including going inside the Acropolis. I heard a lot of Acropolis ticket-holders were denied, including the tour guide, because their tickets did not have a time-frame on them.  If you go to Athens, you must see the Acropolis and make sure your ticket is time-stamped.  We have incredible photos from doing our own exploration day! 
I’ve cruised NCL many times and it’s usually my favorite cruise line, however, this cruise seems to have random flukes, almost as though the staff are still in training. It’s little things like not having a pen or robes inside the cabin, our room wasn’t made up and when we called to make it up, they somewhat fought us on it?! It was so strange because 100% of the time they’re very accommodating or apologetic. They also forgot to charge us for our Cagneys photo and hunted us down in the Atrium an hour or two after dinner was over.  Just very strange tiny things, like we added a small tip for room service and the attendant was like, no don’t, we don’t get the tip anyway.  We already pre-paid tips, but it was unexpected he would say that. Anyway, we’re having fun but research your excursions again before committing! 

Who time stamps the Acropolis tickets? My mother and I are booked for that excursion on the Oct 23 sailing and I don't want to be denied entry.

[Jetsetter2023]

29 minutes ago, CCTES said:

Who time stamps the Acropolis tickets? My mother and I are booked for that excursion on the Oct 23 sailing and I don't want to be denied entry.

Go to HHTicket.gr   That’s where I bought mine and it had a timed entry based on the time I chose to arrive   The line was 2hours even with the ticket but we only waited 15-30 because it rained 

 

30 minutes ago, CCTES said:

Who time stamps the Acropolis tickets? My mother and I are booked for that excursion on the Oct 23 sailing and I don't want to be denied entry.

 

[CCTES]

3 minutes ago, Jetsetter2023 said:

Go to HHTicket.gr   That’s where I bought mine and it had a timed entry based on the time I chose to arrive   The line was 2hours even with the ticket but we only waited 15-30 because it rained 

 

 

According to NCL excursions, the cruise lead tours are exempt from the time stamp rule, I hope that is the case, I would be less than impressed to be turned away!

[CCTES]

Thanks for all the great info!!