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Breakaway to Bermuda review of 5/11 cruise


rednose83
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Cast:

 

Me (30) and my DH (29). Also, our four beautiful fur-monsters!

 

Background:

 

As you can see by my signature, we’ve done a decent amount of cruising in the last 6ish years. DH decided after our last cruise that he’d like to start taking some land trips. We have many on our list but decided to cross-off a big stateside trip this year. So, his choices were California and New York. We decided on New York. Once that decision was made, I floated adding on a Bermuda cruise since he didn’t go with me last year. I sold him on it because of the 3 days in the same port.

 

Booking:

 

This turned into quite the fiasco. Originally, we wanted to go on the Breakaway but it was $600 more than the Celebrity Summit for the same itinerary. Due to the money issue, we booked the Summit. About two weeks later, the Breakaway prices dropped $200 pp so we cancelled Summit and booked Breakaway!

 

I initially booked us into an inside guarantee. However, due to price drops after final payment, I upgraded us to an oceanview on 4/19 for no additional charge. Then on 4/24, prices dropped again and I upgraded us to a balcony guarantee for a net cost of $15. (I paid $40 more but they increased my OBC by $25). I didn’t tell DH about the balcony, it was a surprise!

 

Planning:

 

I am our vacation planner extraordinaire. This trip has many more variables than normal due to combining the land trip with the cruise. Also, we usually drive to port and this time we have to fly which adds another couple of details.

 

To keep everything straight, I used a spreadsheet made in Google Drive.

 

Health Information:

 

In the weeks leading up to our cruise, there was somewhat of a ruckus caused over articles such as this one:

http://www.royalgazette.com/article/20140331/NEWS/140339974

which was somewhat concerning even though we didn’t plan to do much (if any) swimming in the affected area.

 

We were already planning on getting HEP A shots in June (for a possible trip to China) so I just moved it up and got the first shot in 4/11. DH got the first shot on 4/28 (he’s the bigger procrastinator). I figured better safe than sorry, especially since we had already planned on getting the vax. I don’t know if I would have chosen to get it, if we were not already planning a land trip that recommended it. For us, it was “free” under our health insurance. The second shot is due in October (6 months).

 

 

Information:

 

I wouldn’t consider ourselves loyal to one cruise line. We have cruised CCL, NCL, RCI and Celebrity. I’ve loved and not-cared-for different pieces of each line. I have enjoyed all of my cruises and would not hesitate to cruise any of these lines, if the price, itinerary, dates, and ship met my needs. Now, I am platinum on CCL so we obviously cruise them the most often. Mostly because my family always chooses CCL. Also, we are from Florida and CCL has lots of ports near us- and I’ve sailed out of every single port in Florida!

 

With that being said, both my husband and I say that our favorite cruise was the one we took on the NCL Spirit. Our stop in Guatemala was amazing. I cannot believe it was dropped from that itinerary. It was the highlight of our cruise. We loved the freestyle way and all of the specialty restaurants. We went overboard and I think we tried every single one that was available. So, this time, we bought the Ultimate Dining Plan- knowing that we’d be in a specialty restaurant every night anyways!

 

Fuzz monsters:

 

Usually when we pack for our trip, they are the first thing that we pack. Mostly because as soon as we lay out our suitcases, they jump in! But, cruise ships don’t understand our need for some fuzzy love so they must stay home.

 

We decided to try something new for this trip due to the length of it and the expense of boarding all four. We hired an in-home petsitter that slept over with the girls every other night.

 

So, here’s my beauties:

 

pups.jpg

 

What you won’t see in this review:

 

- food porn. I don’t carry a camera around on the ship. I am absent-minded and would leave it somewhere- possibly never to be seen again. I lost it once in San Juan, PR on a bus tour- luckily someone turned it into guest services though.

 

- ship shore excursions. We rarely book them. Most often, we do have an arranged private tour. Sometimes, we just walk off the ship and find something to do. For Bermuda, we had a planned itinerary and a list of sites that we wanted to see using public transportation.

 

Photos:

 

I wish I had more of an “eye” for cool pictures. I often see others pictures taken in a different angle that look really cool- but somehow I don’t see that when I’m there.

 

Pre-cruise rituals:

 

Mani-Pedis! I had departure day off of work and planned on getting a mani-pedi. A friend found out so she took the day off and we got mani-pedis together and had lunch at a local eatery.

 

I forgot to take pics!

 

5K- this is a new tradition for us. We ran the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving before our Dec 1 cruise on the Carnival Breeze. After that, we decided to run a race before each of our trips. This time we ran the trails for tails 5k, a race to benefit homeless animals in our community.

 

run.jpg

 

Now, without further adieu,

 

The trip:

 

May 9-

 

So, our flight was scheduled for 6:00 am on the 10th. Which would have made us getting up at about 12:30 am to make it on time- no thanks! We decided to make the drive from Tallahassee to Jacksonville the night before so we could “sleep in” until 3:00 am.

 

I had pre-booked a room at Comfort Suites Airport in Jacksonville, Florida. The price included a shuttle to the airport (both directions) and 17 days of parking.

 

The plan for this day was for DH to get off work around 4pm so we could check into our hotel in Jacksonville around 7:00 pm and grab some dinner.

 

We ended up leaving around 6pm because two of our dogs got sick and we spent the time cleaning up the results of that fiasco.

 

On the way over, we stopped at a little Italian restaurant called Perard’s. Nothing special.

 

We checked in around 10pm. Here’s the room:

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I'm absolutely in love with your furbabies/fuzz monsters! I just had to comment to tell you that! They are gorgeous!!! As a mommy to a furry-kid myself, I know how hard it is to leave them to go on vacation, but coming home to them makes up for your cruise being over, doesn't it? ☺

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Cliff Hanger-------waiting for the rest of the story.

 

Great review so far.

 

I actually have it all written out. We had camera issues so we were forced to take all pictures with our phones- which makes it quite the process to get them all on the computer and uploaded to share.

 

I'm absolutely in love with your furbabies/fuzz monsters! I just had to comment to tell you that! They are gorgeous!!! As a mommy to a furry-kid myself, I know how hard it is to leave them to go on vacation, but coming home to them makes up for your cruise being over, doesn't it? ☺

 

Missing my fur-daughters is the hardest part. I'm still amazed that the photographer got all four of them sitting nicely and looking at the camera- I can never manage that!

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Subscribed! Been waiting for some Breakaway to Bermuda cruise crack :)

Please make my day and say you have dailies to post ;) :o

 

Sorry, I don't. I'm a less-is-best kind of girl so I throw them away as soon as we go to bed that night.

 

Your dogs are so cute, I have 4 also and as soon as they see the suitcases

they start to pout. More Review Please!! LOL

 

Our girls do the pouting and moping. They love to travel though so we do take them on land trips.

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cant wait for more!!

 

OK, you hooked me. More, more, more please! :D

 

Coming right up.

 

ETA: Photo bucket is down! So, I can't get the links to share in the posts!

Edited by rednose83
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Just realized that I never posted the room photos from Jacksonville. We had the king suite. It was perfect for us. The couch was a sleeper so it could fit 4 people.

 

jax.jpg

 

jax2.jpg

 

The room was clean with no signs of bed bugs. (I'm obsessive about checking!)

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Pre-Cruise Day One:

 

Our flight was scheduled for 6am so we signed up for the 4am shuttle to the airport. Since we'd only gone to bed at

midnight, we were exhausted!

 

The hotel was only about 1.5 miles from the airport so we were there in no time. There was one other person on our early

shuttle. The shuttle dropped us off at the entrance to JetBlue and we were on our way.

 

A quick trip through the line to drop our two checked bags (1 bag allowed per person for free). There were about 5 people

in front of us.

 

Up next, everyone's favortie part: security! We went through with out any problems in mere minutes and were at our gate

around 4:30 am. On the way in, we walked past a Starbucks so when it opened at 5am, DH got coffee.

 

We started boarding at 5:30am and left on time at 6:00am. The flight went without any issues and we arrived early at JFK.

The pilot did announce that due to fog, he couldn't see so would be using autoland.

 

And here- we made our first mistake. For one, we are native Floridians so when we dressed this morning both put on shorts.

When we landed in NY, it was chilly and I had to rummage through my bags to find my only pair of jeans.

 

We got into a taxi and went to our hotel to drop our bags because it was too early to check in. The taxi cost $69 including

tolls and gratuities.

 

After dropping off our bags at the hotel, we decided to find some breakfast.

 

We walked around and came across a small bakery called BreadSoul where we purchased a Cinnamon Yogurt muffin and banana nut

bread. We took our finds to Central Park to eat.

 

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Our food was amazing. Fresh and tasty. YUM!

 

When we dropped our bags, we were told to come back around 10:30 and we could get into our room. It was about that time so

we started walking back towards the hotel.

 

Upon arrival, we checked in and were given an upgrade to a room with a private bath, room 308.

 

We expected small but this was more like a large closet than a room :) The bed was a double and there was room to just walk

by on one side to enter the also tiny bathroom.

 

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The room was fine for our purposes though. It was clean and upon inspection, I found NO traces of bedbugs.

 

We loved the location on W 79th St. We were just across the street from the Natural History Museum and only a block from

Central Park.

 

This was DH's first visit to NYC so he was super-excited to ride the subway. A short walk and a few minutes later, here we

were.

 

10255901_10200986296418951_7837451609462602348_n.jpg

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We walked all around- visiting Macy's (WAY TOO MUCH STUFF) and Times Square. We ate lunch at John's Pizzeria on 44th and

the are no other words to describe it besides amazing!

 

This place was packed but we only had to wait 15 minutes for a table. We ordered garlic knots and a medium pizza. Both

were fresh, well-cooked, and to die for yummy.

 

pizza.jpg

 

pizza1.jpg

 

We also stopped at a bakery, some bread company, (I didn't write down the name) near the Macy's and purchased cheesecake

and strawberry shortcake. I do not recommend this bakery and wish I remembered the name.

 

After our walk, we took the subway back to our hotel.

 

Because we had gotten up so early, we were exhausted. We took our bakery finds back to our room and settled in for a snack

and a nap.

 

This was our first disappointment- the bakery foods looked amazing. However, they were so bland- they just had no flavor.

We didn't even finish them. Then it was nap time.

 

After nap time- we took quick showers and dressed for dinner. This was more for comfort than anything else because we just

grabbed dinner at The Shake Shack near our hotel. I ordered a burger and a chocolate milkshake and DH ordered a burger,

fries, and a diet coke.

 

This place had really good reviews online and we found it to be acceptable. I wouldn't say it was anything great but better

than typical fast food.

 

We took our food and enjoyed it in Central Park. Then, we strolled around CP which was practically empty.

 

1002876_10200987913539378_850611138555545479_n.jpg

 

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Quick walk back to the hotel and it was bed time!

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1908006_10200987929099767_2742075425642856302_n.jpg

 

It's cruise time! Day 1- Embarkation

 

We got up about 8am and went for breakfast at a small eatery just down the street called, Columbus Gourmet. I ordered french

toast and a blueberry muffin. DH ordered a bacon,egg and cheese sandwhich on toast. Our food and two sodas was $17 and change-

not bad for NY.

 

After breakfast, we went back to the room and packed up our stuff. After packing, we showered/dressed and attached our luggage

tags to our bags (borrowed a stapler from the desk downstairs).

 

We were using Uber (taxi service) to get to the port since I had a $20 credit with them. This was the first time we used the

service and we both really liked it. You schedule a pick-up using an app on your phone and it will send the driver to you. It

will give you updates as to the drivers location and tells you the drivers name and vehicle so you know what to look for.

 

The fare includes tip and is charged directly through the credit card you have on file- eliminating any awkwardness at the end

of the ride re: tipping.

 

It was a short ride to port (about 3 miles). Our fare was (including tip) was $14.61 which they round down to $14.

 

We got out of the taxi and there was already a porter collecting our bags!

 

We went into the terminal and went through the security and check-in lines. Neither were too long. We arrived at just after

10:15 am and were sitting waiting to board at 10:45 am.

 

We were scheduled to start boarding at 11:30.

 

Boarding went off without a hitch and after boarding the ship, we went directly to our cabin to drop our only carry-on. We

had balcony cabin, 9180.

 

10334441_10200992842502599_5456619671340699605_n.jpg

 

10348311_10200992843662628_6101119719062252266_n.jpg

 

 

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Which we loved. First off, it was bigger than our hotel room the night before :) but more importantly, it had an awesome

location near the stairs elevators.

 

I think we had the perfect location to be honest and we lucked out as none of our neighbors were heavy smokers (something

I was very worried about).

 

This cabin is the last cabin that is directly over The Waterfront. I will post videos of the view later but we did not feel

this was a negative feature of the cabin.

 

And then, it was off to lunch. Which was had at the Moderno Buffet. When we were there- there was only one other couple there

eating. Much better than the packed buffet on deck 15. There were several choices of foods, cheeses, breads, soup and salad

items.

 

After eating our fill, we stopped by Carlos Bakery and split a lobster tail. YUM!

10314576_10200993071028312_7902758644784733788_n.jpg

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We explored the ship a little and spent some time in the forward lounge beds.

10260018_10200993406996711_6018088483296754955_n.jpg

 

10174977_10200993476798456_2769130853234053505_n.jpg

 

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10309656_10200993415796931_2975313981009510417_n.jpg

 

And then it was time for muster. Which was in the atrium. Same old, same old. Check-in with the attendant (make sure they scan

your card) and then stand around until they're done talking.

 

After muster, we went upstairs for sailaway. We stood on deck 15 starboard and watched NY, NJ, and the Statue of Liberty pass

us by (or rather, we passed it).

 

We had purchased the UDP since we spent a fortune on the Spirit at the specialties.

 

Tonight, we had reservations at Teppenyaki and Cirque Dreams.

 

Up first, Teppenyaki. All I can say is YUM! Same consistent yumminess that we expected. Neither of us cared for the desert

choices.

 

After dinner, we did some relaxing and then went to the Speigel Tent for Cirque Dreams. We really enjoyed the show. We were sat

at the first table in the front when you walk in, which gave us a good view.

 

The dinner- not so much. I didn't eat any of it and none of it looked appetizing at all. DH ate the shrimp of both of our plates

and said it was okay. He also tried the cupcake which he deemed "edible".

 

I really think it would be better as just a show. The dinner is sub-par and really distracting. The servers have to be around

constantly to change the plates, fill glasses, etc which disrupts you trying to watch the show.

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Day Two- SEA DAY

 

The sea days are going to be shorter since we don't carry a camera around on the ship. I will focus mostly on food and shows.

 

Breakfast- O'Sheehan's- I had the french toast (yum) and scrambled eggs (yuck). DH had the omelet which he liked. Service was

fast.

 

Played some air hockey and one game of bowling. DH bowled the odd frames-I bowled the even frames. I won both bowling and air

hockey :).

 

Lunch- O'Sheehan's- We ordered a bunch of starters and just tried them. Didn't care for the cheesesticks.

 

Afternoon fun- Hot tub and lounging in SPice H20. We were easily able to find two loungers- one in the sun for me. The area was not

crowded and there were several chairs available. The hot dog cart was in Spice so DH had a hot dog.

 

Snack- Carlos Bakery- Carrot Cupcake (shared) YUM!

 

Dinner- Moderno- OMG. This was amazing. Any place that has all you can eat filet- sign me up! But, the star of the night was

the grilled pineapple. I literally couldn't get enough. IMO, this is well worth the $20 cover.

 

Show- Burn The Floor- enjoyed it. Much better than the shows that we are used to seeing.

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We explored the ship a little and spent some time in the forward lounge beds.

 

10260018_10200993406996711_6018088483296754955_n.jpg

 

 

 

10174977_10200993476798456_2769130853234053505_n.jpg

 

 

 

1012593_10200993511519324_3506667846477072650_n.jpg

 

 

 

10309656_10200993415796931_2975313981009510417_n.jpg

 

 

 

And then it was time for muster. Which was in the atrium. Same old, same old. Check-in with the attendant (make sure they scan

 

your card) and then stand around until they're done talking.

 

 

 

After muster, we went upstairs for sailaway. We stood on deck 15 starboard and watched NY, NJ, and the Statue of Liberty pass

 

us by (or rather, we passed it).

 

 

 

We had purchased the UDP since we spent a fortune on the Spirit at the specialties.

 

 

 

Tonight, we had reservations at Teppenyaki and Cirque Dreams.

 

 

 

Up first, Teppenyaki. All I can say is YUM! Same consistent yumminess that we expected. Neither of us cared for the desert

 

choices.

 

 

 

After dinner, we did some relaxing and then went to the Speigel Tent for Cirque Dreams. We really enjoyed the show. We were sat

 

at the first table in the front when you walk in, which gave us a good view.

 

 

 

The dinner- not so much. I didn't eat any of it and none of it looked appetizing at all. DH ate the shrimp of both of our plates

 

and said it was okay. He also tried the cupcake which he deemed "edible".

 

 

 

I really think it would be better as just a show. The dinner is sub-par and really distracting. The servers have to be around

 

constantly to change the plates, fill glasses, etc which disrupts you trying to watch the show.

 

 

Great review so far! Were these lounge beds available to anyone? What deck are they on?

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

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This is such a great preview to my upcoming Breakaway cruise. Thanks for sharing! I didn't know lunch could be had at Moderno on embarkation day. Is there a cover charge? Is it just the salad bar?

 

No cover charge. It's just a smaller selection from the regular buffet.

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Great review so far! Were these lounge beds available to anyone? What deck are they on?

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

 

They were available to everyone. I don't remember what deck because we never found them again :o

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