TracyESQ

On 12/31/2018 at 4:07 PM, mitsugirly said:

 

After the crafts, the kids wanted to head up to the sports court and ride the skyride and do the ropes course. We headed back to the room to change into tennis shoes because they won't let you on it without them. 

 

The line at the skyride wasn't really that long. However, the small line stated it was an hour wait from "here". Within 5 minutes we were to the "45 minute wait from here" and within about another 5 minutes we had progressed to the "30 minute wait from here" sign. Hmmm....not bad. However, the 30 minute sign was probably accurate on the time. 

 

They do have 4 carts running total and the timing all depends on just how fast your little legs can take you around the course. 

 

 

 

There's that tongue again....

 

 

 

Sakari got on and you could tell by the look on her face that she was immediately nervous! I'm not sure what's gotten into her lately. She's been scared to go on any zip lines or anything high lately and she used to be my fearless child that would do anything. I guess she's getting more aware of what "danger" means. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The hubby and I were going to race but I made it a point to tell him to stay with me at the beginning because I knew they had a camera up there that takes your picture. 

 

 

 

Well later after looking at the pics, they didn't even take mine (at either location) and the hubby had several. Blah

 

At least Kendra was able to capture a photo to prove I did it!

 

 

They did capture a photo of Sakari and by the looks of it, she had a good time. 

 

 

 

This ride is fun and I'm glad that it was open while we were on the cruise. I had heard, prior to the cruise, that it was closed a lot but this wasn't the case on our cruise. 

 

If you take the outer course then when you get down to the end your cart takes off and goes down a small hill, which gives you a lot of momentum and puts you under the other cart. The other cart doesn't catch up for a while. It's fun to watch the faces of those on the carts as the other one zooms past them and they are left behind until they get to the other side. LOL It's so unexpected. 

We were on the Horizon last June and it was closed for our whole 4-day sailing.  Womp womp.    

Does Captain Marvin take a big group?  I'm trying to be economical for my family of four, and some of the ones posted in this thread are a bit more expensive.  I've narrowed to Captain Marvin's or Moby Dick's.  I had NativeWay in there but the comments in this thread have persuaded me otherwise.  I believe I tried contacting them several times in the fall with no response.  

There's nothing sacred about walking every inch of the Freedom Trail. It's just a suggested walking route for tourists that goes past the historical sites that are nestled between the more modern buildings.

 

If you want to see the Constitution, I suggest you Uber to that site first to do most of the Trail backwards. Take the MBTA water taxi from the Constitution to Long Wharf to get an upper harbor cruise for $3.50/pp. Walk through Christopher Columbus Park into the North End and pick up the Trail backwards to Faneuil Hall continuing on through downtown to Boston Common. From there you can walk back to the port, take the Red Line and Silver Line from Park St. back to the port for $2.75/pp, or Uber back to the port. IMO the walk between the port and Boston Common and between the Constitution and the North End is not that interesting.

 

 

Take a look at the map and post back with questions. https://www.thefreedomtrail.org/pdfs/NPS%20BOST%20Map%20Jan%202013.pdf

This is really valuable information. Thank you. We're not sailing in to Boston, but we'll be visiting for the first time in August for the weekend.

We did Hilton Rose Hall resort. It was really great. Not much beach, but pools, lazy river, buffet was good. Very relaxing. It was a ship sponsored tour.

Did you do the Hilton from a ship docked in Ochos Rios? It looks pretty far on the map, and much closer to Montego Bay.

Agreed. It’s facade food. All show and nothing inside. It’s a mystery to me how food that looks that good can have no taste!!

 

 

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There was a funfetti cheesecake on our first sea day last week on the Horizon that was actually really good. Usually any cheesecake is gelatinous and disgusting, but this was honest to goodness cheesecake. The "frosting" that was on the outside to decorate, on the other hand, was basically tasteless grease.

The “Chocolate Extravaganza” is typically only on cruises that are 7 days or longer. It’s only during lunch on the last sea day in the Lido.

We just sailed the Horizon on a 4-day and they had it in the Lido at lunch on the last sea day. Maybe they do more on a 7-day? All I noticed was a chocolate fountain and all the cakes in the Sweets area were chocolate themed.

I tried the chocolate layer cake which was decent and the chocolate mousse cake which was gross.

Can anybody comment on weather you were able to use the calling feature on Facebook messenger? Not the video chat but standard calling from messenger to messenger

We're just off the Horizon and no, we were not able to connect to wi-fi calling with the Messenger app on the Social plan. Only messages.

Thinking about getting a card for our upcoming cruise. Just want it put on our S&S account for any on board expenses since everything else is already paid in full. Is it a hassle to add once on board, or should I use it in advance and buy cruise cash? Is an e-card just as good/easy to use, or should I get a regular card? How long does it take to receive in the mail? We sail in just over 2 weeks. Thanks!

Congratulations on finishing the review! I'll be checking for your Chicago review on your blog soon. We just visited for the first time last October and we really loved the city.

I love your review! It's so funny and detailed and your pictures are great. We're sailing on the Horizon in just over a month so I'm simultaneously reading this one and your Vista review to prepare.

I just upgraded to 9201 on the Horizon. I know it's not a scenic OV, but it seemed like a better cabin than the regular interior (2202) we had originally booked.

How is the noise, movement, location of this cabin?

Going in June for the first time and really looking forward to it. We could really only do the 4 day cruise, as hubby owns his own business. Hoping it’s not as bad as the previous replies suggest!!!

It won't be bad at all. It's only one day at port, but you'll pick one thing to do this time, and you'll definitely want to return. My husband and I are doing a 4-day on the Horizon in June. We have young kids and a dog, so it's as long as I really want to be away from them. This is our third time to Bermuda though. Our first two trips were on 7-day cruises.

We did end up using Hat Trick & it was a fantastic day! We would definitely use them again, and have recommended them to our family. I can’t believe no one else has posted on this thread[emoji23]

 

 

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Thank you for the update! I'm seriously considering this tour, although hopefully it's still available since they take a small group. I emailed last week and they were available.

Your pictures from the airplane are amazing. I can't believe how clear you got them.

Bumping this up to see if there is any new information.

Just booked! So excited! 75 days!

Thanks for the feedback!

 

It has varied from ship to ship. In some cases, we are told we need to do the reservation daily and when the maitre d' sees that we do show up each night (and appropriately dressed for the MDR in which we are eating), will gradually extend the number of nights we can reserve in advance until the maitre d' will just make us a standing reservation for the length of the cruise (and this has happened usually by the third night of the cruise).

 

That's so nice that you were allowed to do that. When we were on the Breakaway in December, we were not allowed to make reservations for the MDRs at all once on board. Prior to boarding, we were able to though.

I was just wondering if someone who has cruised both ships could tell me the differences on the Escape, good and bad. We cruised on the Breakaway in December, so wondering what's worse or better or the same about the Escape.

Thanks!

We were just on the Breakaway out of NYC a few weeks ago and I brought along my 24oz metal Contigo and two 12oz metal Contigos for my kids without issue. We also brought them on and off the ship at ports remembering to bring them back empty, and never were we bothered about them at all.

What a lucky lady! Hope you guys have a great cruise.

I'd skip the cake. It's tasty and a sweet gesture, but there is so much other food/desserts to eat that it usually goes to waste. The strawberries are probably enough.

Tracy

Excuse me if I sound naïve here. You have to make reservations for the dining rooms?

Are you assigned a dining room or can you just go to whichever one you want?

What are the differences? I did a look see at the Breakaway and saw there are 3 free dining rooms? How does that work, can you go to any one you want? Again, I really do not understand the 'reservation'; thing at all? Where can I go to do this or just read about it?

 

As mentioned, no you do not HAVE to make reservations for the free dining rooms, but you CAN if you go online to your NCL account prior to boarding. The free dining rooms are Taste and Savor, which are basically mirror images of each other and across the deck from each other. They serve breakfast, lunch and dinner. Lunch menu is the same everyday. Breakfast has a few specials each day (except disembarkation morning). The dinner menus at Taste/Savor and the Manhattan dining room are all the same, but change each day. Manhattan is only open for dinner. Hope that helps.

This is not all that accurate. We hardly ever prebook anything, other than Teppenyaki and dinner the last night of the cruise. We, however prefer dining late. I understand that folks who must eat early, say at 7, have problems booking on board. Also, lots of folks are no-shows for the big shows in the big ships. We’ve never had a problem just showing up.

 

 

 

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Everyone's mileage will vary. We preferred to have reservations for dinner as we were traveling with small children and did need to eat earlier. The Manhattan dining room would have a line at 5pm when it opened. And one evening by 6pm there was a 45 minute wait.

We also prefer not to walk in late to shows as many other people do and step over people to get to any empty seats. Both shows we had tickets for were quite full.

A couple of questions if you don't mind. If I read this correct, there is no Prom anode Deck? We always enjoyed sitting on the Promenade Deck, away from a lot of the noise of the upper decks. Is that kind of scenario available on the Breakaway. Myself, I have had 2 cases of melanoma and try and avoid sitting in the sun, AT ALL. Are there places to sit in the shade on the Breakaway that are readily available and away from the hub bub of the main parts of the ship?

How are the main dining rooms? and the food there? Is there a place to get, say a pizza, later at night?

Thanks for any help with these?

 

As mentioned, the outside of Deck 8 is the Waterfront. It makes almost a complete loop around the ship, and there are cool portholes in a couple places on one end (both sides). There is outside seating for the specialty restaurants (Cagney's, Moderno, La Cucina, Ocean Blue) and bars (the bar side is smoking) but in the other areas, there are comfy chairs to lounge or read. The restaurant seating is only used by the restaurants in the evenings, weather permitting. Our experience on the Breakaway last week was that when one side is sunny, the other is not, but all of the seating is under cover. Also, if you did want to be on the pool decks (15/16), there are still plenty of places in the shade, unless you encounter the same chair hogs that we did.

We ate at Savor/Taste every morning for breakfast and it was fine. The food, in my opinion is the same food as is served at the buffet, just more civilized. Lunch time in Savor/Taste is the same menu every day and the service was routinely terrible, though I think that largely depended on the waiter. My parents and my family ate lunch once in the same dining room at the same time at different tables and had completely different experiences. Manhattan Dining room is only open for dinner. We ate there twice. First was fine, second was a little slow and disjointed. Again, I believe it depends on the waiter. Quality of food in all three dining rooms was fine. Skip the lava cake and get the chocolate mousse.

Late night pizza...I'm not sure. The only place I saw pizza was at the buffet, and it's availability would depend on the times it is open.

TracyESQ, I do agree that some of the perks of a mega-ship such as mini-golf, rock wall, water slides, rope course are not things I would be interested in so a smaller ship would probably be a better fit. I am not sure which ship is coming to NYC to replace the BA but a mid-sized ship would be nice.

I do enjoy having some of those perks on the ship, but on a cruise in cold weather, the practicality of having them is lost. There were so few days to use them, and/or such limited time when they were actually open, that we weren't able to do much.