C-line

In Headliners they had family friendly comedy earlier in the evening. Howl at the Moon is billed as family friendly (or at least PG) up to a certain time as well.

"Kid friendly" is pretty subjective - depends how laid back the parents are. :)

Well, $396.66 if you want to be exact, but that's the going rate? I was just checking for our cruise in January on the Breakaway and was a bit shocked at that price.

We're on a 13 day on the Breakaway in January. Spa passes were purchased online for $289 USD each. Taking into account the extra day and the exchange rate it sounds like the $396.66 might be a Canadian price.

Edited to add - we looked at Spa balconies but compared to our balcony the increase in price would be much more than the cost of the spa passes.

Just leave the tag holders on your suitcase at all times. never lose them that way! :)

We use our suitcases for other travel - I'd be worried about the tag holders getting torn off while flying. I thought of this after my original comment - we have handy zippered pouches inside our luggage and they would be the ideal place to store our cruise luggage tags. :)

NCL will provide distilled water, however the last time we cruised the jug of distilled water they provided wasn't sealed and it wasn't a full jug. It looked like maybe it had been left over from a previous passenger. DH wasn't comfortable using it so he ended up using regular bottled water (this was in the spring before the water carry on ban). I'm sure if we'd mentioned it they would have given us a full sealed jug but we didn't want to make a fuss. We figured the distilled water wouldn't hurt for such a short period. The next time (also this spring) we just took a jug of distilled water ourselves. When we cruise in January hopefully we can get a sealed jug of water. :)

I read there are pop/soda machines after security in the Manhattan terminal, but I didn't notice them myself.

MIL and I are fine with ship water, not sure about FIL and SO, so we'll bring a couple of Brita filter bottles in case they feel like they need them.

I read this in some recent dailies for the Breakaway too. Has anyone done this? I have *zero* painting talent but I thought it would be fun activity.

Someone posted recent Dailies here and in the second page of the first one it doesn't say they're banned outright, just to keep an eye on them while they're charging.

We just print them out, fold them over as suggested, and staple to our bags when we're unloading at the pier. We've never had a problem with losing a tag in several cruises with NCL. I thought about buying the plastic sleeves but I figured it would just be one more thing we need to keep track of, and we've been in an endless renovation so I'm choosing my battles! :)

I'm almost certain they open at 8 am. :) They close early the last night (8 pm maybe?).

we are also going in April with a 13 yo boy and 14 yo girl have done Disney several times and KSC so was wondering about the gator boat tours. I don't see anything like that listed in the excursions on the NCL website. will they add it or do you book it on your own?

I linked to them earlier in the thread, but we booked a tour through Airboat Rides Melbourne. My MIL booked it and they picked us up right at the ship and took us back afterwards. I don't remember how long the actual ride was, but we thought it was a good deal and we all enjoyed it.

We have never been asked this, nor have we ever heard anyone else asked. It's certainly not standard.

We have never been asked this either, and if we were we'd definitely do it.

The last time we shared a table with someone we didn't know in the MDR on NCL we were checking in with the hostess at the same time as another couple and we just asked them if they'd like to join us. We had a fantastic conversation with them and everyone enjoyed themselves. I think asking to be seated with strangers is something that wouldn't occur to most people.

In Nassau you can see much of the island on bus #10 for just $1.50 each. Get on downtown and just don't get off till it arrives back in town.

We did this as a group of four adults and it was a great way to see more of the island without having to hire a taxi. The bus did get crowded at times, but we never felt unsafe and everyone was super friendly. On the way back to the ship we got off the bus at Junkanoo Beach, but we didn't actually go down to the beach so I can't comment on that. We just had a bite to eat at one of the restaurants.

The only place in Nassau I really felt pressured to buy things was in the straw market (of course) and to a lesser degree at the little marketplace on the way back to the ship (the hair braiders were the most vocal ones there).

Edit - you can definitely stay on the ship for the whole cruise and still find plenty to do! :) It's nice to be able to enjoy the ship when everyone else in on shore.

We travel with my inlaws, who are close in age to your mother in law (one a little older, one a little younger). Our cruise in January will be the fifth time we've all been on the Breakaway together. They really enjoy the entertainment and my father in law has even done the ropes course. We all spring for the thermal suite pass as well - that might be something your mother in law would enjoy. The ship is big, but we haven't found it to be an issue - we're on vacation so we're not in a rush to get anywhere.

Since you're cruising in January it's likely a 14 day, correct? We found that we had an older demographic on our 14 day cruise last February than on the 7 day cruises on the Breakaway. In addition to the usual shows they had some different entertainment in the theatre that seemed geared towards an older crowd, like a Four Seasons tribute group and an Irish singer.

I may have to try this just to see what I'm missing. :)

There are always wall phones on the ship and my husband and I call our cabin and leave messages for each other. Your MIL or her friend could call their own phone from anywhere on the ship and listen to a message you leave on their phone about meeting place and time. (That would save them having to return to their cabin to look for a note on the door.:):D

 

That's a really great idea! We've used the phones to call each other but we hadn't thought of checking messages without going back to the cabin.

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I remember the thread... I think they said deck 8 aft (outside of Cagney's/Moderno) because not many people think to go there. You would get a panoramic view from there too.

We've been on the Breakaway a few times and we'll be on the sailing after the Dec 26 one. We love that we can drive to the port.

Maybe the reason we love the Breakaway is because we don't have a problem with some of the things other people complain about. We don't hang out by the main pool area, so we haven't noticed if it's crowded or impossible to get a chair. We don't watch much of the entertainment in the Atrium, and if we do we haven't had trouble getting a seat, even if we have to sit up at O'Sheehans. We've done both specialty restaurants and the MDR and we're happy with the food overall. We don't do the Garden Cafe buffet often, and we know to expect it to be a bit chaotic when we do. We don't have any complaints about the crew. We don't find smoke to be a problem on the ship, and none of us are smokers. We've eaten "outside" at Le Bistro and haven't had a problem with smoke.

Like CasinoCruzGirl said, "A cruise is what you make of it." :)

I've seen them posted along the "I-91" corridor and they seem to be motivational to continue doing a great job.)

This is what pushed us to start taking the cards seriously. We try to fill a few out each cruise now, and like others have mentioned we look for opportunities to fill them out for crew members who are doing a fantastic job but that wouldn't normally get recognized.

MDR can do mimosas :)

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There is a bar at the buffet on the getaway and escape so I would assume there is one on the breakaway as well.

There is one on the Breakaway (at the very back of the buffet) but I haven't noticed if it's open for breakfast.

Go to http://cruisett.com/content.php?

 

then ports

I recently realized if you select your ship and then select your month you don't have to keep clicking back and checking all the ports individually. For the Escape for January 2017 - http://ships.cruisett.com/schedule/Norwegian_Cruise_Line/Norwegian_Escape/January_2017/

Disclaimer - I've found this is pretty close, but it's not 100% accurate.

Can you eat at the bar in OSheehans? Or have to be sat at a table....

We've eaten at the bar side of O'Sheenans quite a few times. Not right up at the bar, but at the taller pub tables and along the railing overlooking the atrium. The pub menu has fewer items on it than the restaurant menu, but still lots of great choices!

Thanks - have booked dining already. I also got the SPA pass - can't wait to use that. I am hoping it is open early since I am an early riser.

Every time we've sailed the hours are 8 am - 10 pm daily but they close early on the the last evening (I'm thinking 8 pm). There's something in the back of my head saying that they closed early another night too so the crew could use the spa. I just asked DH and he remembers that too. Can anyone else chime in on this?

When you get on-board where do you book that comedy shows.

They have touch screens near the elevators where you can make reservations. I think they can do it at the box office in the theatre too. For Howl at the Moon if it's super busy at first we've always just left and come back and we've never had trouble getting seats later in the evening.

Getting some good laughs from this review. Looking forward to day 4. :) (Especially looking forward to your thoughts on Rock of Ages!)

(To my fellow readers: This kind of reminds me of the book "A Confederacy of Dunces." It sounds like a review written by the main character, Ignatius J. Reilly. If you enjoy the writing style of this review you might enjoy the book.)