SMerritt

ALL of the above are Excellent! Be sure to not forget your concierge and butler - they will book all of your shows, excursions, and dining reservations, including - your concierge can usually "fit" you into shows, dining, and other events even if they are showing full.

ALWAYS ask your concierge where to meet for priority/escorted disembarkation for ports, tendering, and last day disembarkation.

When you board the first day, find the VIP room - you will be checked-in and escorted through the "back doors" to the Haven.

Do not be "shy" with your butler - they are always happy to help! i.e. We do not care for the little "toast" appetizers so request a fruit, cheese & cracker plate or, pretzel rolls in the afternoon ;0)

WARNING! Once you have sailed in the Haven, you can't go back - we are on #18 - ENJOY!

We met a couple on NCL on boarding day....due to Gluten Intolerance their adorable 19 y/o daughter needed to be on a Gluten Free diet.

The NCL dietitian hovered over her, creating luscious meals and appetizers every meal, every day. I am sure ships dietitians can help with other food requirements and information.

If you are considering renting scooters, take the time to read Big Mike's Guide - Should You Rent a Scooter in Bermuda.

 

 

SBtS

Good Read, thanks!

Hello One and All,

My bride to be and I decided to sail out on The NCL Breakaway out of NYC In a BA Category for our Honeymoon. Only my 2 Cruise ever and Our first time on NCL. We have never been to Bermuda either. We are sailing the first week of Sept. Any info about the island, Port in NYC and the ship would help. Same with the room Choice we picked.

Thanks ahead of time.

 

 

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PERFECT Honeymoon Location & PERFECT Honeymoon Ship!

Bermuda has unbelievable beaches and affordable bus transportation. It is too long to post, but think twice about renting scooters (see my previous posts).

The Breakaway has a great selection of restaurants but do have a romantic dinner sitting outside at The Frog & Onion Pub in Dockyard. The port itself is fun to visit.

Let the crew & dining room manager know you are on your honeymoon ;)

If you need car service in NY, we were "newbies" to area and found on the forums here, Dial7 car service https://www.dial7.com/ which was easy, reliable and got us to to and from airport and port seamlessly and at a reasonable price according to our shipboard neighbors that live in NYC. ALSO there are many coupons and deals available for Dial7

Have a GREAT HONEYMOON - The Breakaway is stellar!

Jamaica and most of the Western Caribbean - We booked a tour to the Falls etc. in Jamaica, it was interesting but stressful with the crowds, very aggressive locals and even warnings from our fortunately experienced tour guide.

Nassau - Go for all of my shopping and a $4.00 fun ferry boat ride to Atlantis for an amazing Conch Fritter lunch in the marina.

St. Thomas - NEVER MISS Meagan's Bay!

As for the Western Caribbean, we live in California, might as well take a cheap Mexico cruise

Like a few others posting here, we have many years of riding two-up 45+ years

We rented from Oleander twice, they have newer scooters and are convenient to the ship. Not any instructions except the brakes and lights. We watched people taking off in flip-flops, shorts etc., many were quite unstable - I watched passengers putting their feet down, drivers braking too hard

So ok we took off........

Concentrating on staying on the left hand side of the roads

Traffic, cobblestones in places, more traffic

You are on a very under powered bike that can not get out of its own way

On our first ride......we just "beach hopped" for a day

Our second Cruise - about 20 minutes on the road, three locals on scooters decided to split between us and a bus coming the other way, clipped the scooter and scraped my shoe. Fortunately "instincts" kicked in and we stayed up.

A little further we stopped to help a couple that had just dumped their scooter, in talking with the police officers that stopped - there are more deaths and injuries are #1 in Bermuda on scooters - locals and tourists.

We rented the scooter for 3 days, turned it in after one

IF you do rent a scooter, please take good shoes and long-sleeved shirts. Also, there is a basket on the back that dug into my back, a beach towel worked some but on the second cruise I brought a piece of foam (swim noodle) and tape which worked Great!

Opinions Vary.......if you decide to scooter, ride safe! Also, Oleander scooters all looked well - maintained and they are very accommodating

Are there any directions to Scooter's?

NO! Just here is the throttle, back brake, front brake and let you go!

Disappointing yes.

If anyone on the ship wants to trade places with me I would be happy to board. Being on Breakaway is waaay better than being at work!

 

Take a look at what happened to RCI Grandeur of the Seas between leaving Baltimore yesterday on a Bermuda trip and today....They are now headed for Port Liberty, Bayonne NJ.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2410797

 

I hope you all can just enjoy the ship and hopefully calmer seas (and passengers!) tomorrow.

Safe Sailing!

P.S. Go to Malting's for drinks and say hi to Elliot. He's a great bartender

Great Post! If I was on this cruise, would be SO RELIEVED we were not sailing to Nova Scotia........which has happened. Soooooo...tropical climate and an AMAZING Ship!

Have never been concerned with the safety of our laptop on ships, we do slip it into the desk drawer when it is not being used is all.

We do have a laptop locking cable that was purchased on Amazon that we carry and use when we feel the "need".

Our netbook has fit in some safes on NCL ships

Ok, I realize that after Matthew things may be different (trust me, there is angst over Castaway Cay on Disney forums as well), but...

 

I'm booked on my first NCL cruise on the Breakaway on the 4/9 sailing, and am starting to do my research - just on this one as I'm pretty familiar with Nassau and VERY familiar with the Orlando area.

 

I found the map on the NCL site and see several places to rent clamshells. Is this super necessary? Or are there chairs and umbrellas around? Is there a place that's geared for 18+ like Serenity Bay on Castaway Cay? Or is everything for everyone - other than the part that's exclusive for Haven people?

 

What are the top tips for a newbie for a day at GSC?

 

Thanks!!

Yes reserve Clamshells - your concierge will do it for you, as posted, chairs galore but no umbrellas.

Haven Guests have priority tender boarding - your concierge will escort you onto a tender.

Does anyone know if the illusionarium show is really loud? I was thinking of taking my 7 yr old son but sometimes he gets scared of loud noises. I think he would enjoy the magic show but I dont want to spend the money on tickets and he ends up covering his ears the whole time.

Our 4 y/o grandson LOVED this show! He is a little "reserved" usually, and I was concerned that it would be a little "over his head", but the show had something for everyone.

There is so much going on through the whole show that your son probably will not even notice any loud moments.

Tino Melendez - One Man Party

On the Pearl - Every night was so much fun with him!

I would book a cruise on any & every ship he was appearing on!:D

Tino Melendez One Man Party Washy Washy Music Video for NCL Pearl

We have used on line TA's for years. Never heard of this before. We will only deal with, and we check, with TA's that do not charge for re-fares, cabin changes, cancellations, etc.

 

Never heard of this before. We certainly would not deal with a TA that did this. No reason since there are competitors that do not.

Agree 100% wouldn't pay any fees. I would check the reviews on your TA

We can and have booked directly through the cruise lines, although, many times we have received some incredible perks from the service we have used for many years now - wish I could mention her here

It is also much easier to call her than go through ques and be on hold with a Cruise Line with questions, upgrades, and she has also helped when fares have dropped before the cruise.

Also, if you "shop" many have great perks, and a bottle of bubbly from her when we board :D

Boarded the POA last Saturday 9/03

James - Concierge Just Left for Vacation

Kai Torkinen - Hotel Director - Just Left for Vacation

Christopher - Favorite Butler - Just Left for Vacation

Fav Waitress (name?) Just Left for Vacation

All replacements are great but.....just sayin :rolleyes:

Did Ruth retire? We sailed with her 5 times!

Ryan Ravi always makes a memorable cruise - Concierge on Epic once

Omar Concierge on Jade thru at least July.

Omar is Amazing! We joked that he implanted a tracking device on us. Just wonder about something, get lost, be standing in a line and he appeared!

Pack some warm clothes - Nova Scotia is a little chilly:D

Soorry, couldn't resist as we are sailing on the POA in Hawaii tomorrow, so far, we have beem just being flooded with calls from NCL that the captain wants to leave at 4:00 PM instead of 7:00 PM. First & Last time we fly in the same day we sail!

I doubt that I will sleep until we are on the plane, then the ship

The first question is when and where is the next port. During the hurricane last month, they ended up with a sea day because the port on Maui were closed. The weather going toward Maui (sailing into the storm) will be poor. Safe travels.

 

Marine Forecast: Heading toward Maui

 

Saturday

Tropical storm conditions possible with hurricane conditions also possible. Northwest winds 30 kt. Wind waves 20 ft. East swell 6 ft. Showers likely.

 

Saturday Night

Tropical storm conditions possible with hurricane conditions also possible. Southwest winds 30 kt becoming south 15 kt after midnight. Wind waves 18 ft decreasing to 11 ft after midnight. East swell 5 ft. Showers likely.

 

Sunday

Southeast winds 10 kt rising to 20 kt in the afternoon. Wind waves 7 ft. East swell 3 ft. Haze. Showers likely.

Thanks for the well-wishes

We land at 11:00 first and last time we fly in anywhere the day we sail:o

Going to be interesting how it all plays out.....we have done this cruise twice before so a few sea days will be fine.

Over on the HI Boards, someone is flying in at 3:30 and another at around 2:30

All of the calls from NCL say to check their site but, nothing so far

Aloha :D

Soooo we have been bombarded with updates from NCL

Just received a call asking us to please arrive early so that we can leave at 4:00 PM instead of 7:00 to avoid a storm.

We will be on time - flight from SFO permitting -

As for others that have "pushed the limits" on flights etc. we have been wondering how the captain decides to leave behind? The weather is not going to be good at the next port to catch up with the ship.

So ... after months of waiting for the cabana bookings to open, and grabbing one as soon as the bookings were available, I am now having second thoughts. Not sure I want to spend $450 on a cabana. We are on GSC from 7am - 3pm, but I cannot see us off the ship at 7. 8am, probably ... anyway ... thoughts? It is new year's eve week, so I am sure the ship (and hence the beach) will be crowded, so having the cabana at that time is a plus. The weather may or may not be ideal, who knows. Anyway, just looking for opinions on whether it is worth the cost or not.

The Cabanas are a nice Luxury and make the day living like the "rich & famous" with service etc.

And yes it can get windy on GSC - we usuallly just get clam shells but, if, I could swing one of the Cabanas I would, if anything, just to make it another fun and memorable day - great way to relax.

Somewhere here on Cruise Critic there is information on the best Cabana location for you and how to reserve the Cabana of your choice - hopefully, someone in the forums here will help you choose the Cabana that best suits you.

If you are a true photography buff or a professional, I'd just go for a "doors off". If you just want to take vacation snap shots like most of us, I'd go with Blue Hawaiian and instead buy their video of "your" personal tour. I started out thinking I'd take some pictures, but the experience was so overwhelming, I quickly decided to simply immerse myself in it and to heck with the pictures. It is hard to covey the exhilarion, awe and emotion this tour brings out in you. The pilot tries to talk to each passenger throughout in order to have your comments on the video. I was completely speechless the entire trip, couldn't utter a single syllable.:D.

 

One tip I have seen is to avoid wearing white in order to reduce reflection in the glass.

Agree 100% on all of the above! Thanks for the white clothing tip. They offer two videos, one generic, and one personal with you in it. Reasonably priced quality videos - we have actually played them often, you don't want to miss anything messing with a phone or camera.....

Karen, not sure if they still have this but NCL used to have a 24 hour price guarantee. If you call them you may lower it or they may be nice and give you a portion of it in on board credit

We have done this a few times, called and rec'd OBC.

Our neighbors on one sailing, were offered a cabin upgrade......

Have a dinner at the Frog & Onion Pub in the port!

The food is amazing - fish caught the same day and everything is FRESH!

Eat outside with the treefrogs:D

The servers are amazing and make it a true Bermuda experience.

Which almost goes to prove that you do not need "ABSOLUTELY POSITIVELY HAS TO BE HANDLED WITH EXPENSIVE OVERNIGHT EXPRESS SERVICE" !

More than a month skip the express stuff.

You ship sails at dawn well that is not going to help either.

Still yet it is not a good idea to have a high wire act just before sailing.

Give your government a "RUSH JOB" and it may likely be botched on the time limits !

Nice that the government gave you a heads up on the expected delivery as if meeting time limits wasn't stressful enough already !

 

Enjoy your cruise !

You forgot hopefully all of your "T's" were crossed and "i's" are dotted.....a clerical error can delay things forever.....they make something so easy a logistical nightmare.

As a FL native familiar with the area, I agree completely.

 

MIA is a nightmare and would not rent a car for such a short period of time. Make life easy. Uber is the way to go.

 

And I've never been stuck by Hotwire. Always very happy with accommodations.

 

Have a great trip!!

 

 

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YES! Please DO NOT rent a car and drive yourself!

Not sure how old your daughter is but my son is 11. We contacted all of his teachers and most of his work ahead of time. Math was done before we left. Most of his classed accepted a presentation of the trip as homework. So we tooks lots of pictures and wrote down some of the historic info we learned on tours so we could do a presentation. His reading and writing teacher told him to write about his trip.

 

One teacher even said, he was such a good student with grades and character, to not even worry about homework other than to show her the prezi he was making for another class.

 

So it was nice, he was free to enjoy his vacation and catching up when he got back was a breeze.

Exactly what I was thinking - our sons teachers did almost the same thing as packer99 posted!

I have experienced slow internet speeds on ALL Cruise Lines -

If need be, work offline, then send.

We have our own business and have to be online daily * Get the unlimited plan so you are not freaking out watching the minutes. Do the work offline, then connect & send. Even though we have a high-end laptop, I feel things move faster and more efficient in the internet center, try to go early in the morning or during the main dinner hours.

He wrote his trip presentation on the flight home:D