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flyingandcruising

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    Escape NYC to Bermuda 5/13 Trip Report

    in Norwegian Cruise Line

    Posted

    Day 8. Disembarkation.

    I’m not usually in a hurry to get off the ship but we were meeting the husband’s brother at the Bronx Zoo and I was worried about being late with 5,000 other passengers so we chose early self-disembarkaton (is that really a word?). It went very smoothly, breezed through customs with our duty free rum and we were off in midtown Manhattan. BTW Bronx Zoo is AMAZING. Seriously one of the best zoos in the world.

     

     

    We are going to Bronx zoo after our cruise in August. How far was the zoo? What time did you end up getting there? and how long did you stay? was it enough time?

     

    Thank you

    Just off breakaway, aug 6-13. Any questions?

    in Norwegian Cruise Line

    Posted

    What was the largest Internet package being offered? The 250 minute plan?

     

    Can people on the unlimited beverage plan drink at margaritaville?

     

    Was Rock of Ages still playing and how many performances?

     

    Thanks for posting!

     

    Sorry, I don't know about the internet and drink plan. However Rock of Ages was still playing and they had several performances. Maybe 6?

    Just off breakaway, aug 6-13. Any questions?

    in Norwegian Cruise Line

    Posted

    Hi,

     

    My daughter is on the Breakaway this week. Are there any live feeds that I can see? i saw that there is one facing the ocean but I was wondering of there were any on board.

     

    Thanks,

    Karen

    There is no 'live feed' other than the front of the ship. However, there were a few kiosks on the ship that allowed you to take your picture and email it to someone with a message. One was right accross from La Cacina.

    is Margaritaville still $15pp?

    Yes

    Just off breakaway, aug 6-13. Any questions?

    in Norwegian Cruise Line

    Posted

    Just got off the breakaway on Sunday and got back home last night. I will post our experience when I get a chance, and will post photos if I can figure it out. Please ask any questions. I was not in haven, this was my first NCL experience.

     

    We are a family of 4 including a 2 yr old and my mom who required wheelchair assistance during embarkation/debarkation.

     

    I have photos of most menus, but no pics of daily schedule as I forgot to take them.

    Driving to Manhattan Cruise Terminal

    in East Coast Departures

    Posted

    Sunday morning us the best traffic morning of the week. The Parsipanny area has nice business hotels that have good weekend rates. I'm seeing lots of choices in your $100 price range.

     

    Crossing the George Washington Bridge eastbound

     

    If you end up on the upper bridge, you want to be in the far right lane and take the very first exit at the end of the bridge to get onto the Henry Hudson Parkway South. If you end up on the lower bridge, you want to be in the far left lane to take the very first exit onto the Henry Hudson Parkway South.

     

    On an average sunday morning (930ish), how long do you think it would take from Parsipanny to the port? We're staying at the Embassy Suites.

    Breakaway Boarding and Departure

    in Norwegian Cruise Line

    Posted

     

    Boarding is done by groups, Pax with disabilities, Haven, Platinum and Casino Guests and then after in the order you checked in.

    .

     

    Are you sure that disabilities get priority boarding? I called NCL and they told me wheelchair assist gets boarded when their number is called. My mom needs wheelchair assist and we are not sure when to arrive at pier.

     

    Thanks

    Just off Breakaway (7/2-7/9 sailing)

    in Norwegian Cruise Line

    Posted

    So let me start off by saying none of the 24 cruises we've been on have been bad cruises, including this one. We've been on some fantastic ones, some really good ones, a few average ones … and, frankly, this very disappointing one. We've been on almost all the mainstream lines at this point, plus Cunard and Azamara, but Celebrity and Royal Caribbean are our favorite and most frequent choices.

     

    We had only been on NCL once previously - the Dawn from Boston to Bermuda a few years ago. That was a pleasant surprise and we enjoyed our NCL experience enough to try the Breakaway last minute. Although we managed to find a way to enjoy ourselves on this ship, it requires effort… and that in itself was a first for us and says a lot about our experience.

     

    The ship is indeed far too crowded. Although we've been on bigger ships, Oasis and Allure, this ship is not designed or staffed to handled the number of passengers. The pool deck is a madhouse … even when compared to the 2 early Carnival cruises we did long ago. No deck chair availability, pools and hot tubs so crowded you would be lucky to step into one.

     

    So to deal with that, we paid $400 for a spa package for 2 for the week. That was really nice. Plenty of chairs, including those heated tiled chairs, along with nice sauna, steam room, salt room, and most importantly, a great indoor thelossatherapy pool with awesome massaging jets and other nice features, including a lack of crowds.

     

    We had a balcony guarantee and were very happy with our cabin mid ship on 13 (so between passenger decks). Comfy bed, and nice relatively roomy bathroom. Balconies are indeed tiny on this ship but fine for sitting for a few minutes in the morning and evenings with coffee or whatever.

     

    Other pluses, the soft serve ice cream was the best we've ever had on a ship. Not icy or flavorless like many we've experienced, but DQ quality creamy and delicious. Actually all the desserts were notably good. The rest of the food was average … with no real improvements in quality from buffet to dining room to specialty restaurants (we tried 3 and would only recommend Teppanyaki).

     

    The most frustrating aspect of the cruise was the freestyle dining concept. It really only works for the specialty restaurants where u can make reservations, but most of those were completely booked up almost immediately after boarding. They have 3 regular dining rooms where the drill is u show up, wait in a line for 5-10 minutes to give them your cabin number. They give u a beeper and you wait another 15 minutes of so for a table. Then once you are finally seated, everything takes forever because the restaurants are so understaffed. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner, we waited 5-10 minutes to be welcomed or to get water. Then the friendly wait staff (its not their fault NCL under staffs so badly) tell you they will be with you as soon as possible. So you wait another 10 minutes or so before you can order a drink or your meal. It's just the way NCL runs it, and for us, it's just a really unpleasant experience, which is too bad because the dining experiences on other cruise lines are regularly among the best parts of the cruise.

     

    The other thing I'd caution folks on that may be considering this cruise. Almost everyone seemed to have the "all you can drink" package - either as a TA perk or because they purchased it. It's also common on Celebrity and Royal, but I've never seen it used to the embarrassingly drunken degree so many folks on this cruise used it. It's just not fun being around a ship full of folks drinking around the clock and to see and smell the consequences of those who had one (or 10) too many.

     

    So as I said, we found ways to enjoy this cruise, too, but we are agreed that NCL's freestyle dining, problems with understaffing, too many drunken passengers, and way too crowded conditions, mean this was our last NCL experienc

     

     

    Sent from my iPhone using Forums

     

    What time did you usually eat in the MDR?

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