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Looks like someone uploaded these videos to youtube, here are the links...

 

NORWEGIAN BREAKAWAY THE VOYAGE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tu4wBPuVwHs

 

NORWEGIAN BREAKAWAY THE BUILD

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fkG6BTW7DI

Thanks.

I decided to take a page from the movie "Christmas With the Kranks" and offered my sons a cruise instead of Christmas. They of course jumped on it. None of us have ever cruised before. I have done a lot of reading and I think I have a lot of it figured out but I'm still willing to take any and all advice. Help with "Manly" excursions would be greatly appreciated as well. I'm a single father and live in PA and I have three sons who will be going. We aren't all together too often so we are really looking forward to this trip. My sons are 17 (lives with me) 28 (lives in Florida) and 30 (lives 2 hours from me)

 

Departing from Tampa on Norwegian "Dawn"

Jan. 12, 2014 - Jan. 19, 2014 (I will turn 51 while on the cruise)

Family suite (no balcony) Deck 12

Stops in Roatan, Belize City, Costa Maya and Cozumel

As for Cozumel I have been to Cancun, Playa Del Carmen and Riviera Maya five times on land trips so I think I have that area figured out as far as excursions go.

 

Again I appreciate any advice or what to expect.

The family suites on 12 are nice and they are new in the last couple of years as they moved the lounge that was there down to the back of the ship. You can walk down the hall through the sliding door to the pool and farther down to the buffet. Up a couple floors to the bar that is covered that serves limited food.

Hi-

Wow! I am totally overwhelmed!

I just got home from work to see a great response to my question. I am so grateful for all of the information, hints and tips ya'all shared. That is quite a welcome!:)

 

I do want you to know, I am super open-minded about NCL AND I like a change now and again. I think this will be great fun.

 

We are staying in a suite, and I think NCL suite perks are awesome! On Princess, you get unlimited laundry. I am not sure about NCL.

 

I do like food. I may even be a bit of a foodie. With that said, food will not make or break a cruise for me. I can be just as happy with a banana and toast as I can be with Beef Wellington and a soufflé.

 

I am really excited for this adventure!

 

Keep the tips and ideas coming! I am so appreciative!:)

Tracie-Lynn

No free laundry in a suite unless you are Platinum. That is one area NCL could improve is to add free laundry for a suite. Since the Spirit doesn't have a ton of suites you should get pretty good treatment and most of those suites on the Spirit are unique in a special way.

Thank you! I do like having the use of a table during a show to set my drink down on :)

As pointed out, there are a few tables on the Sun in the front few rows (like the first 4) in the main show area. On the Sun the show lounge is in the back of the ship and on the Dawn it is in the front. The Sun has a Great Outdoors. The Sun is more traditional inside with more wood/brass. However, it has a small buffet. If you have kids the Dawn would be a better option because of the back pool.

ETA: The Sun has a forward facing lounge area whereas on the Dawn they moved it to the back so there isn't one anymore.

That package looked great - wish they did have it fleet wide.

if we are re-routed to Nassau, what is there to do? I understand there are a lot of expensive options but since I did not plan to spend a lot of money at GSC if at all I would want something free or inexpensive at Nassau.

If you are looking for a beach, Junkanoo is free and within walking distance. Go out the terminal building, past straw market, past Senor Frogs, Past the hotel and it is there. Maybe a 10 minute walk. The nicest beach, no, but doable and there are huts around there selling drinks.

Hi-

I have sailed primarily on Princess (I am Platinum). My mother and I just booked our first NCL cruise on the Spirit in January.

 

While I am very familiar with the Princess product, I know very little about NCL.

 

I would love to know a little more about NCL and the Spirit! Thank you for any responses!:)

Tracie-Lynn

I happened to be over on the Princess board this morning and saw your post. NCL was getting pretty beat up over there at that time.

We were on the Spirit in 2007 and had read many bad things about the ship before we went. We had a great time and really liked the ship. It is more classic with wood, brass, Asian inspired throughout.

Look for a review of the Spirit from computerworks (sp) who has tons of great pics of the ship.

We will be down a couple rooms from yours in March so I can find out about the white area if somebody doesn't answer by then. From looking at several floors above/below it would appear to be crew area and or storage, basically back of the house type of stuff.

Couple of recent ports for us:

Boston: gave luggage to porters downstairs, went upstairs, through security and lady there with clipboard who took us to correct line.

Seattle: took luggage to luggage carts where a couple folks loaded them onto big carts. Separate table with a couple ladies to the right of the luggage area. She gathered us as a group and took us to front of line for security then led us up to suite check in area where we actually sat while they checked us in.

I have a few miles with Southwest and would like to fly into Seattle. What is the best or most efficient way to get from Seattle to Vancouver for a DCL cruise? Thanks!

Bus or train are the main methods folks take. The train is supposed to be pretty nice but we opted for the bus. Can't think of the name now but if you do some basic searches, they will pop up. There routes start at the airport and have a couple stops in Seattle and a couple north. Think name was Quick Coach. Normally you will have two to three times to choose from depending on how early or late you want to get to Vancouver.

When we went we all had to get out and go through Canadian customs (inside the building) but we only had to take our carry-on items - the rest stayed in the hold. They had one girl who got dropped off downtime then on to the piers. FWIW the buses also had wi-fi included.

Hi.

We sailed the Breakaway last July in a few BA cabins on Deck 13.

Now we are "Movin on Up" LOL.

Just changed my Gem sailing to Breakaway for August and booked the Haven S4 cabin!

Booked cabin 16706, which I think is the correct side to book since I have just the Haven sundeck above me. Is this correct?

 

Also, what is the big box that is outside my cabin? What is the Private Spa.

 

Also, the Haven on Breakaway is much differnet than the Gem, correct?

We will have our own restaurant and lounge and there is a retractable roof. Has anyone ever sat in the Haven while it was raining? Do they cover it with the roof if raining?

We usually try to do speciality restaurants. For those that have sailed on the Breakaway Haven, is the restaurant worth to go and forgo 1-2 nights in a speciality?

 

 

Thank you all very much!

Right, your room will be under the Haven outside deck area.

We have two cruises b2b next April on the Wonder. We have the same cabin so no worry about transferring clothes, etc. however, can anyone tell me about the procedure on transfer day. On Celebrity we were taken off the ship as a b2b group so that we could go through customs. Some went back on the ship immediately. Is this possible on the Wonder? Can we go back to the cabin? As we are with our grandson we would like to use the swimming pool. Possible?

Are you going out of Miami? We have done it at PC before.

Anyone know if these wings are available on the POA and where they would be found? We sail out on 11/30 and love, love, love good wings!!!

Not sure if they have the wings, but the similar place is Cadillac Diner.

Nassau is one of our least favorite ports but as said above you have the Hilton option or just past that for free is Junkanoo beach. We did that once and it was nice enough. There are a few huts with beverages and snacks and you can see the ships off in the distance. Also there is the pirate museum for kids that age is an option. That is only a couple blocks from the ship terminal.

Yes I believe its the Costa Notmuch ..;)

You have to like the hull artwork - rust.

Hey folks, we were on the Celebrity Infinity in Nassau on Wednesday (Nov. 6), our first land since Lisbon (westbound TA). The Sky preceded us into the harbor at Nassau early in the morning, and the Breakaway arrived later in the afternoon, docking across from the Sky. Lots of cheering back and forth between the passengers on the two NCL ships as the Breakaway pulled in. I enjoyed seeing the Breakaway up close and personal.

 

Here's a shot of the two ships together. Enjoy.

 

 

(photo by turtles06)

Is that a Costa ship in the lower right corner?

Don't forget about the Great Outdoors which has a buffet for breakfast, lunch, and sometimes open for late afternoon snacks. That is just out the sliding doors from the Sports Bar or on the other side out the doors from the buffet. Plus Moderno area serves breakfast and lunch items (a few).

I will usually sit through a whole show of whatever just to keep an open mind but last time at the Second City show I walked out after 10 minutes it was that bad.

The other thing that is old is Fountains or whatever it is called. Seeing it the first time is funny. Going on a ship again and seeing it as an option offers nothing. I should add watching crew members fold towel animals at an afternoon show is much better than the two options above.

Has anyone ever sailed out of NY while it was snowing? I live in NJ and am taking my first cruise out of NY. The others all from Florida. I like cruising in the winter months because I feel it shortens my winter, or at least breaks it up.

This years cruise is a little late, March 30th. But I have a few questions:

 

1 - Has anyone left in the snow. I think it would be cool to be on a boat while snowing.

 

2 - If you have left in the cold weather, how long until you are in warmer weather? 5 hours? next day?

 

3 - Does the ship seem super crowded on Embarkation since most people are inside?

 

I'm sure I will have tons of more questions before March:D.

Hoping not to have to find out since you are on the BA the week after us.

Well the Gem is a 10 day multi island cruise, but we would do an inside cabin ($419.00), 12/4/13 the prices are SO LOW right now!! or Breakaway balcony ($500.00), 7 day just to FL and bahama. We have been on Sprite, jewel, a few others? thought Breakaway would be very different then those. early dec. I would think would be slowish?? We eat late arond 9 so really never have to wait or even reserve tables on the ships we've been on. Not sure what to do

Remember that NCL serves Pepsi products so it would be Sierra Mist. (insert smiley face.)

Norway. I had considered it after our first on NCL but ended up going on a different line.

Not sure about Disney's or RCCL's islands nearby, but HAL and Carnival have the same problems stopping at Half Moon Cay...

 

DW and I have been lucky to have made it to HMC, 4 out of 5 tries. (sadly the one time we brought my in-laws, was the one time we missed due to high winds)

 

Bill

DCL rarely misses their stop at Castaway Cay.

We went last year on June 8 but on the Dawn from Boston. While there weren't a ton of younger kids, there were a ton of college age kids. It felt very much like spring break. Even security was out in force like I've never seen before on a ship. That said, it was a bit raucous at times but everyone was pretty well behaved and we had a good time.

Oh, and as far as weather, we had perfect, warm weather the whole trip except the last sea day coming back was a bit cooler and gray although still fine for the pool.

We just got back last week from an NCL cruise and while we had a great time, my only complaint was the kids club. The young kids were great, it was the 10-12 yr old that got left out. I'll check with RCI too. When we go on the next cruise the 6 yr old won't be 6 anymore :0. So maybe RCI would be a better choice.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

I saw your post on the CC NCL board for your recent trip. On sailings with fewer kids NCL tends to group the kids from our experience when there aren't many kids on board. In some ways that can be good or bad.

DCL will have more kids year round even in the off seasons so the kids clubs will run pretty much the same year round. It also depends which ship you are looking at, what itinerary, etc as far as things to keep busy. If you stop at Castaway Cay, that day you can pretty much plan to spend the whole day as a family doing things.

We last went when kids were 12 & 9 and they always have a great time. Next year we are going and our DD who will be 15 might be a bit bored so we are taking one of her friends so they can do things together.

So the AARP associate membership makes one a junior senior?