Live from Norwegian Breakaway (Western Caribbean) - December 17-24, 2023

[HoosierShipmate]

View of Breakaway from the pier. 

[HoosierShipmate]

In the cabin category we are in we get two free laundry service bags - Freestyle Daily added to show scale.  My socks might fit 🙂

 

[www3traveler]

1 hour ago, ltmguy said:

Can u post a pic of the Officer board? Deck 10 I believe. 
 Favorite Bartender?

Did u go to Sid’s yet? 
Once you see the comedian and dueling pianos can u report back? 
 

Officer Picture Board should be on Deck 6 between the restrooms and the forward staircase.

[HoosierShipmate]

33 minutes ago, www3traveler said:

Officer Picture Board should be on Deck 6 between the restrooms and the forward staircase.

Thank you @www3traveler I’ll get the pic today!

 

[HoosierShipmate]

Hey @sarahandmike23 should we be worried you fell overboard or maybe had too many margaritas at the Haven bar? LOL

[HoosierShipmate]

2 hours ago, ltmguy said:

Can u post a pic of the Officer board? Deck 10 I believe. 
 Favorite Bartender?

Did u go to Sid’s yet? 
Once you see the comedian and dueling pianos can u report back? 
 

@ltmguy This is the officer board I believe you were asking for. Have a 30 minute wait for O’Sheehans so wandered down. It’s digital and I’m uploading highest quality level to help if you zoom in but not the best…

 

 

 

[HoosierShipmate]

I’m entering my breakfast report from O’Sheehans as I wait for lunch at O’Sheehans.  Seriously we do more than eat I promise!

The menu:

 

I went with the breakfast sandwich which was very good. Josh and Angie had the same.
 

 

Chelsie chose French toast.  Also said it was good. Small portion so I couldn’t steal a taste without being stabbed by her fork.

 

 

Bagel basket

 

service was fast, food was good.  Next we do lunch to see if it’s the same.  

 

[RocketMan275]

2 hours ago, HoosierShipmate said:

View of Breakaway from the pier. 

We were on Breakaway last March.

Very much looking forward to Prima in about six weeks.

We hardly ever leave the ship, except maybe one time to get some presents. 

[HoosierShipmate]

1 minute ago, RocketMan275 said:

We were on Breakaway last March.

Very much looking forward to Prima in about six weeks.

We hardly ever leave the ship, except maybe one time to get some presents. 

This is why I like being on the ship while in port….don’t have to wrestle people for chairs!

 

 

[RocketMan275]

7 minutes ago, HoosierShipmate said:

This is why I like being on the ship while in port….don’t have to wrestle people for chairs!

The only time we left the ship last march was to get a bottle of liquor to give our son back home.  That was in Cozumel.  

Funny thing, he's on Carnival Valor docked today in Cozumel.  Hope he buys his own liquor so we don't have to leave the ship in Feb.  I'm sure his mom will insist on buying him something.  

We're dog sitting for him.  When he dropped the dogs I told him not to bring me anything.

The thing we like about staying on board is the lack of crowds, perfect time to enjoy the ship.  

Edited December 19, 2023 by RocketMan275

[broth]

On 12/18/2023 at 11:33 AM, ltmguy said:

For those that are veterans and 50% disabled it is free with the appropriate paperwork 

 

Appreciate the tip, as I would have never known! Between this, and discovering that there's an OBC for existing NCL Shareholders, I'm about +$250 from my CC forum reading today.

 

Starting my final research to be ready to board the Breakaway on January 7th, and downright love these type of threads... Thanks to all for sharing the knowledge!

 

Parking Info: https://portnola.com/cruise/parking-directions

Shareholder OBC: https://www.nclhltd.com/investors/shareholder-benefits

[HoosierShipmate]

16 minutes ago, broth said:

 

Appreciate the tip, as I would have never known! Between this, and discovering that there's an OBC for existing NCL Shareholders, I'm about +$250 from my CC forum reading today.

 

Starting my final research to be ready to board the Breakaway on January 7th, and downright love these type of threads... Thanks to all for sharing the knowledge!

 

Parking Info: https://portnola.com/cruise/parking-directions

Shareholder OBC: https://www.nclhltd.com/investors/shareholder-benefits

The OBC is a fantastic deal - during pandemic both NCL and CCL were dirt cheap and cashing in on the credit makes 100 shares a bargain if you cruise a bunch.  

[HoosierShipmate]

Current internet speed - parked in Cozumel sitting on deck 16 overlooking the pool.  It’s not blazing fast but it almost never drops and seems consistent everywhere except our balcony. Before starlink it was off and on all day. 

 

[RocketMan275]

55 minutes ago, broth said:

 

Appreciate the tip, as I would have never known! Between this, and discovering that there's an OBC for existing NCL Shareholders, I'm about +$250 from my CC forum reading today.

 

Starting my final research to be ready to board the Breakaway on January 7th, and downright love these type of threads... Thanks to all for sharing the knowledge!

 

Parking Info: https://portnola.com/cruise/parking-directions

Shareholder OBC: https://www.nclhltd.com/investors/shareholder-benefits

You might find this link useful as well.

https://www.saintgregtravel.com/new-orleans-parking/

Saint Greg is a frequent poster here on CC and his not in the travel business.  There is also some useful information places to stay in NOLA and elsewhere.

One other point, on our March NOLA cruise, I really wanted to stay in the Hilton Riveside.  Completely booked out three months in advance.  I kept checking and about 10 days before our cruise a bunch of rooms opened up. I asked at the checkin desk and they said other travel sites would book blocks of rooms which would then show the hotel website as fully booked.  About ten days our those sites would return their unsold rooms and they hotel would have rooms to book.

Funny thing, our cruise was after mardi gras, the first week in March.  The hampton inn convention center was selling rooms for almost a thousand dollars.  I have no explanation for why anyone would rent a hampton for a thousand.  BTW, there were no major events scheduled. 

[disneyduncan]

48 minutes ago, HoosierShipmate said:

Current internet speed - parked in Cozumel sitting on deck 16 overlooking the pool.  It’s not blazing fast but it almost never drops and seems consistent everywhere except our balcony. Before starlink it was off and on all day. 

 

Which internet package did you get? 

[HoosierShipmate]

Just now, disneyduncan said:

Which internet package did you get? 

Unlimited but not the streaming level, the one under that.  There were four basketball games I would have streamed but otherwise didn’t need it - didn’t inquire as to what the upgrade would have been. 

[HoosierShipmate]

 Norwegian vs. Carnival

 

So many posts are NCL vs. Carnival. We have cruised both several times along with a couple others.  
 

Straws…..NCL wins. They use straws rather than those nasty paper or candy straws.  I bring my own but have been happy every time I get a traditional straw. So on this topic, Norwegian wins.

[HoosierShipmate]

Mixx for a quick drink before dinner…

 

[HoosierShipmate]

30 minute wait for Taste or Savor so will use that time to recap O’Sheehans for lunch.  Same wait there maybe they just always say that timeframe?!  
 

Lunch tasted great but the service was a bit challenged.  It was just Josh and myself,  and we started with wings (me) and nachos (J) for an appetizer. I’ll tell you we split the pretzel bites but that might be inaccurate and we may have ordered two 😉

the service was so odd I forgot to take a photo of the pretzel bites.

 

First a menu:

 

 

My wings came first.

 

About 5 minutes later the nachos arrive.

 

 

Then my burger (custom bacon cheddar) came while J was finishing his nachos. No pretzel bites yet. Burger was great by the way.

 

First order of pretzel bites arrive and the second a few minutes later.

 

Then a long pause. Long enough that I finished my burger and all pretzel bites were gone.  
 

About 10 minutes later we had his Coney Island Hot Dog. He also said it was great.

 

 

The food was all great but it was a weird experience as we couldn’t figure out the method to our servers madness.  We will return bc I need one of those coneys too!

 

[slavens_09]

2 hours ago, HoosierShipmate said:

30 minute wait for Taste or Savor so will use that time to recap O’Sheehans for lunch.  Same wait there maybe they just always say that timeframe?!  
 

Lunch tasted great but the service was a bit challenged.  It was just Josh and myself,  and we started with wings (me) and nachos (J) for an appetizer. I’ll tell you we split the pretzel bites but that might be inaccurate and we may have ordered two 😉

the service was so odd I forgot to take a photo of the pretzel bites.

 

First a menu:

 

 

My wings came first.

 

About 5 minutes later the nachos arrive.

 

 

Then my burger (custom bacon cheddar) came while J was finishing his nachos. No pretzel bites yet. Burger was great by the way.

 

First order of pretzel bites arrive and the second a few minutes later.

 

Then a long pause. Long enough that I finished my burger and all pretzel bites were gone.  
 

About 10 minutes later we had his Coney Island Hot Dog. He also said it was great.

 

 

The food was all great but it was a weird experience as we couldn’t figure out the method to our servers madness.  We will return bc I need one of those coneys too!

 

I’ll be sailing on the breakaway in March. 
 

Random food question. Do they have beans in the chili that they but on the nachos or the coney?

 

thanks 

[mexicobob]

Great review. Really enjoying it as we will be on the Breakaway in February. Keep it up.

[thedoc29ca]

Loving the review.  Getting excited for our turn in March.  Thanks for posting the dailies.  

[LincolnLog]

10 hours ago, HoosierShipmate said:

In the cabin category we are in we get two free laundry service bags - Freestyle Daily added to show scale.  My socks might fit 🙂

 

We were on this cruise in March. Same ship, same itinerary, same cabin class. But we definitely did not get any free bags of laundry! I’m thinking it might be because of your latitudes level? I don’t think it’s because of your cabin category. 

[HoosierShipmate]

57 minutes ago, slavens_09 said:

I’ll be sailing on the breakaway in March. 
 

Random food question. Do they have beans in the chili that they but on the nachos or the coney?

 

thanks 

@slavens_09 Some additional ‘research’ this evening allows me to state definitively there are no beans in nachos or coney 🙂. 

Edited December 20, 2023 by HoosierShipmate

[slavens_09]

54 minutes ago, HoosierShipmate said:

@slavens_09 Some additional ‘research’ this evening allows me to state definitively there are no beans in nachos or coney 🙂. 

Thank you for the information. I hope the ‘research’ wasn’t too taxing lol.

 

A bit off topic but I did enjoy watching my Jayhawks beat the Hoosiers the other day 😜.

Edited December 20, 2023 by slavens_09