Mitsugirlys graduation getaway cruise

[mjkacmom]

It would freeze and not respond...they said they were having issues with it bcs it was new at the time and hadn't been on the ship long.

I figured it was just the two of us so it didn't matter..

Next time we cruise on NCL we can try to use it again.

It is a really cool concept though and I think all cruise lines should follow suit...lol

 

I had trouble with it, too. They refunded me my $8, although 3 of my kids used it without any issues. They have iphones, I have a droid - I don't know if that made the difference, or the age gap...

[Bgem75]

AT least the Bliss was nicer on the GETAWAY than the BREAKAWAY....

Bliss on the Breakaway was lack luster..not what I am used to with ncl..Normally we cant wait to go to Bliss...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bliss was kind of right in the middle of the ship and across from the Noodle bar.... It was barely used...and on their other ships Bliss was always hopping!!

[LrgPizza]

The baths are on Tortola - Virgin Gorda Baths (right now 1/2 day stop on the Gem 9 day - to be expanded I believe to a whole day in 2015 - not sure what ship)

Actually the baths are not on Tortola. As you said, they are at Virgin Gorda, which is a separate British Virgin Island.

[mitsugirly]

I heard that as well. Already booked Illusionarium, Burn The Floor, Legally Blond, Levity and three specialty dining options. I too like to plan ahead. :D

 

I wish I would have. But I had no clue you had to book for free shows and I was so busy prior to the cruise with finals, graduation, moving and trying to pack that I never really had time to read up on it. I will know next time (if we sail the Breakaway). :D

 

Kim/Queen!

 

Congrats on your graduation! I followed that all on facebook and couldn't be happier for you. I know you have put a ton of work in over the last several years.

 

I hate how you started your vacation with such a panic. That kind of thing tends to hang with you for a while. I know she's your flesh and blood, but I might have thrown my kid overboard if they made me miss a flight. That's just total BS and inexcusable in my book.

 

While you might be unhappy with the number of pictures and how the review is going, the rest of us love it and are very thankful that you've posted so much information and so many beautiful pictures of this ship.

 

Hope things get better!

 

Thanks King Mike. It has been a long road, but thank goodness the worse part is over. Now I just have to get to studying for boards.

 

Thanks for the compliment on the pictures. I just feel like I missed so much and didn't get the quantity or quality of pictures I normally do. But, it is what it is and will have to do. :D

[mitsugirly]

Any card would work to keep the electricity on. I used some old discount card which was some type of hard paper, not even plastic.

 

Yep. I didn't leave the lights or electric on when we left though. It was a game to pull the card at the last minute and turn everything off on the hubby. :D There was only 1 day I put something in there (last day of the cruise) and I had pulled off a hard tag from one of Sakari's new clothes and it worked great. (It wasn't even the size of a cc). When we returned to our room, the room steward had removed it. :p

 

Thank you so much for this review, loved all the photos. So sorry for all your troubles on this trip. And congratulations on your graduation.

 

You're very welcome and thanks for the congrats. :)

[mitsugirly]

Kim, I started telling my DH about all the problems you encountered on your cruise this afternoon. I am sure if Kendra was travelling with him, he would have left her right at her house when she wasn't ready to go. :eek: Let's just say I think he will be having nightmares about it tonight! He will be relieved to know your DH finally got his luggage, but not so happy to hear about your broken toe.

 

Your pictures, as usual, are wonderful! I really enjoyed touring the ship with you. I know you are a bit disappointed by them, but really, the rest of us think you did a great job. I am totally looking forward to the rest of your review. :D

 

Nancy

 

Yea, there was one point were I was standing outside at the suburban with my hubby and Kolin and I told them both "I'm seriously about to pull my luggage out and put them back in my car and meet you guys there. She's going to cause me to miss the flight." The one and ONLY reason that I didn't do that was...I purposely drove my car over to her house (my oldest son lives with her) and I was leaving my car there for him to fix while I was gone. He was going to change my timing belt because it was a little overdue. Thanks goodness I decided to do that. When he changed it, it was shredding and the timing tensioner was locked up. I have been down that road before and had a timing belt brake on me. It cost me thousands to rebuild the head (and that was with us doing it and not the dealership).

 

Finally got caught up. We just got our internet back on after 24 hours of problems.

 

I am thinking the seating area outside of Bliss must have been for those who were recovering from seizures!

 

Hmm, you could be right, but the seating outside of the Bliss was the bar. :D (Unless you are referring to the dark room inside the bliss that I had no idea what it was supposed to be for). :p

[mitsugirly]

It would freeze and not respond...they said they were having issues with it bcs it was new at the time and hadn't been on the ship long.

I figured it was just the two of us so it didn't matter..

Next time we cruise on NCL we can try to use it again.

It is a really cool concept though and I think all cruise lines should follow suit...lol

 

Maybe they have it fixed now. I didn't have any of those problems. The only issue I had was having to reconnect to the wifi a few times on the balcony. Now that I think about it, it might have had something to do with those times that it happened, we were in port that day. So maybe my phone started trying to connect to wifi in the port or something? I'm not sure. But it worked pretty good for us. :)

 

I had trouble with it, too. They refunded me my $8, although 3 of my kids used it without any issues. They have iphones, I have a droid - I don't know if that made the difference, or the age gap...

 

 

We do have iphones, so maybe that was the problem for you? I'm not sure. Kendra has a droid and she was too late (IMAGINE THAT), downloading the program, so she didn't get to have it put on her phone. But she's the only one with a Droid.

[mitsugirly]

AT least the Bliss was nicer on the GETAWAY than the BREAKAWAY....

Bliss on the Breakaway was lack luster..not what I am used to with ncl..Normally we cant wait to go to Bliss...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bliss was kind of right in the middle of the ship and across from the Noodle bar.... It was barely used...and on their other ships Bliss was always hopping!!

 

That looks like the same set up as the Getaway, but where are all the high tables and chairs in that open area? Did they ever put any there? I can't imagine they had much room for people to sit if they kept it that way.

 

To me, it looks about the same, they just don't have the lights on at the time you took the picture, which would made all the difference in the world.

 

Maybe I just expect too much from the Bliss these days. None will ever (and has never) lived up to the one on the Epic. Maybe I liked it so much because that's where we all gathered for our Epic M&G and had the White Hot party. It just seemed so big and so fancy. I loved the entrance to the Bliss with the fog and the girls dancing.

 

Actually the baths are not on Tortola. As you said, they are at Virgin Gorda, which is a separate British Virgin Island.

 

 

I need to find a cruise that goes there. :D

[Bgem75]

That was all the seating they had. It was very bare and even with the lights wasn't that impressive..Lol

 

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[ShannonSC2]

Do you have a cruise binder for all your planning? I am a planner also & I have been planning our Med. cruise forever. I have been putting all the information in folders but they are getting too full. I don't know what I am going to do once we go on the cruise.

 

Love your pictures. We are going on the EPIC in a few weeks and I am concerned about getting lost. It took me a couple of days to figure out the Pearl & the Sun. Much smaller ships though.

 

As for the daughter I have one who moves at her own pace. I have to stay on her about not being late. She has made us late for a lot of things & she is only 14. :) There is still time to train her, right?

[Susie51]

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are pre-programmed Contact information for various services if you need to contact them.

 

 

 

You can hit the Contacts button and that would show you who you put in there for your contacts to be able to call or message them. We had one other cruiser in our family that had the app and it let us be able to contact them for breakfast or where to meet.

 

You do get your "own number", which isn't your phone number, but a number assigned to your app.

 

You are also able to call anywhere on the ship, rooms, or another cell phone with this app.

 

We used messaging the most. It was pretty awesome if I say so myself.

 

There are a few things that I wish they would improve with this program.

 

* I wish that when you clicked on a venue that instead of it telling you to check the dailies, it would tell you the actual times they are open.

 

Another thing was the "Account Review". This let you check your account for all of the charges occurred and gives you a balance. However, it will show everything under your name even though it has an option to chose another cruiser in your party. I'm not sure if they are just developing this part and it might change in the future or if it will stay this way.

 

Either way, if they had this on every ship, I'm sure I would use it. :D

 

Do I understand you correctly? This app is not available on Jewel

[mitsugirly]

Do you have a cruise binder for all your planning? I am a planner also & I have been planning our Med. cruise forever. I have been putting all the information in folders but they are getting too full. I don't know what I am going to do once we go on the cruise.

 

Love your pictures. We are going on the EPIC in a few weeks and I am concerned about getting lost. It took me a couple of days to figure out the Pearl & the Sun. Much smaller ships though.

 

As for the daughter I have one who moves at her own pace. I have to stay on her about not being late. She has made us late for a lot of things & she is only 14. :) There is still time to train her, right?

 

I have a folder for each thing: Airflight, Hotel, Ship, Casino, each port. Inside each folder is a spread sheet I make for each with my estimations on $$ to spend. Then an envelop with the money in it. I will put things needed in there that I may have collected such as maps, coupons and info.

 

Training...hmm. Kendra is 25 and isn't trained yet. Actually I think once she got out on her own is when she developed this bad habit. She was never like this as a teenager and was never late to school or work. :cool:

 

Do I understand you correctly? This app is not available on Jewel

 

 

I do not know. Someone else mentioned on here that they are rolling it out on other ships...so fingers crossed. :)

[Susie51]

My heart goes out to you. I'm also a planner. By researching and making plans, I get to do more things I want to do while on the cruise. I also study the deck plans so I can get an idea of where things are on the ship. For instance, MDR for embark. day lunch, spa to make resv., and the place to make resv. for spec. dining. Planning is a big part of the enjoyment of cruising for me.

[meltingmoments]

Hee hee, at first it didn't seem like much walking across it. Then after staring down at the ocean going by, that's when it kinda kicked in that you were standing over the ocean. However, it's not right below you, it's kinda a few floors down (the ocean :D). Plus another thing is the glass is like a crinkle cut glass, so it's not too clear to directly view it. You might just be able to do this. ;) :eek:

 

I'll be sure to let you know in a couple of months time!! :)

[spidybabe]

My husband thinks I'm crazy, but I love to plan also...I make spread sheets with times and events......clothing lists.....folders with important papers..... I agree ..a lot of the fun is also my planning prior to sailing. Wish we had something planned now, but my mom's health is limiting us now.

Safe sailing

 

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[meltingmoments]

A few random pictures from Deck 8:

 

 

Here's a little area of glass you walk across and on the other side of it was open to the floor below. You could see people playing the slot machines. I know Epic had an area something like this but it was a lot bigger. This was a small opening and was a nice added touch.

 

 

 

Crikey!! There you go again! ;) I'd forgotten about that area on the Epic.......and NOW I have to face it again!! He he!! :D

[mitsugirly]

Here we go with DAY 2:

 

I set the alarm to wake up at 9:30am since it was a sea day. But for some reason I woke up earlier.

 

I have to say that for being a new ship, the bed was extremely hard. Not at all what I have experienced on the other ships in the fleet. I felt like I was sleeping on a board. There was no lead way to sinking in and getting comfortable.

 

It was kind of cloudy today and 77 degrees out. The ship was rocking some and had several big waves. It didn't bother me, but since it was Courtneys first cruise, she was a little unsure about it.

 

We got ready and messaged the kids to see if they were awake and wanted to head to breakfast. Of course Kolin and Courtney were, while Kendra and the rest of the family were still sleeping. I let the hubby sleep in today and decided to head out with the kids. So off to breakfast we went.

 

We usually always head to the buffet for breakfast. I'm usually hungry when I first wake up and I don't like going to a MDR and having to wait to order and then wait for my food to come out. I also enjoying being able to get a variety of things and to go back for seconds if it's something I really enjoy. I'm just not your MDR kinda girl I guess.

 

We had our fill of eggs, sausage, bacon, cereal, boiled eggs, waffles and french toast. WHAT IS IN THE WHIPPED TOPPING ON NCL THAT MAKES IT SO DARN YUMMY? I have yet to find this anywhere else, including other ships (Carnival) or on land. This stuff is SO GOOD. I want the recipe. I'm not sure if they take whipped topping and add confectionery sugar or what. I just can't get enough of it and I know all the fleets at NCL has it.

 

Anyhow, after breakfast Sakari wanted to go to the kids club. Since she didn't go the night before, this was her first visit. When signing her in, they had me make up a password that we would have to tell them each time we picked her up. Sakari decided she wanted it to be "Dolphin". So, dolphin it was. (This was something new and we had never had to have a password previously on cruises).

 

Also, they put a wrist band on her and told us that we would need to have her keep it on the entire cruise. Another new thing we have never encountered (other than on Carnival). They informed us that if it was ever removed, we would be charged $5.

 

This new ship came with all the bells and whistles and it was on a "new system" which was all computerized. They could pick up their monitors and hand them to you. I had to sign my name using my finger.

 

Sakari was off to make new friends and away we went.

 

We went up to the ropes course to see about doing it and they informed us that you had to have closed toe shoes on in order to be on the ropes course. Well, NONE of Kendra's family brought tennis shoes and neither did Courtney. Sigh, really? Everyone had sandals. So we changed our plans.

 

We had purchased the slotplay coupons prior to going on the cruise (as we ALWAYS do since it's a great value) and we headed back to the room to grab them (hubby still sleeping) and off to the casino we went. We went to the desk, got our cards and headed to find a slot machine that looked intriguing.

 

Kolin & I picked out our first machine and sat down. Neither of our cards worked. Sigh. Courtneys did. Back up to the casino desk to get them taken care of. The next time around they worked fine. I managed to stay ahead in my winnings, the kids didn't have much luck. (It's the first time they have ever played slots since you have to be 21 back home).

 

When we were done, we headed back to Kolin's room and I called Sam from my cell (using that wonderful iConceirge program) and he answered the phone. For some reason he couldn't hear me though. I parted ways with the kids and headed back to the room to find that he was no longer there. Man he's quick.

 

I hung out in the room for awhile on the balcony and it wasn't long before he showed up....with less hair. He had been to the barber shop where the barber (he said) played with his hair, commented how healthy it was, brought other employees over to check it out, then put "clay" in it to hold the style. A hair cut/playing session cost him $45 plus tip. They tried to talk him into a "special shave", which the employee claimed that once he tried it out, he would constantly want it done. The cost $95 :eek: He decided against it.

 

We picked up Sakari from the kids club and headed to O'Sheehans to eat lunch. I have always loved their food...any time of the day.

 

I ordered a dirty banana only to find out our room cards were no longer working again. BIG SIGH. One room worked, the other room didn't. So here we go again. (Of course they still let you get your drink and have you sign a receipt type paper).

 

For lunch I had the mild wings and fries with a side of artichoke dip.

 

 

 

I noticed that the artichoke dip seemed to be different than it normally taste (not to mention they had chopped tomatoes on the top and I do not like tomatoes) but it was still good.

 

 

 

We snapped a few pictures and after returning from this cruise and looking at the pictures, I have come to realize just how lazy I get while cruising. I have a tendency to just pull my long hair up and not bother with make up a lot. So don't mind the scary pictures of me. It's just my "cruise look". :D

 

 

 

 

 

Yep, Kendra was up by now and met us there.

 

 

 

 

Now one thing that I absolutely LOVE at O'Sheehans is their cheesecake. On previous cruises, I will stop nightly just to get a cheesecake to take back to the room for a midnight snack. THE MENU HAS CHANGED....everywhere. There was no longer a regular cheesecake. They now have a brownie cheesecake. Sigh again. (I would later find that other venues had different variations of cheesecakes too, but no regular cheesecake).

[mitsugirly]

Our dailies said they were having a Dora Dance Party at 1:15 in the Atrium, so after eating, we headed to the Atrium.

 

We arrived just in time to see that the kids club was practicing their "Circus Big Top" skills for the show they have every cruise at the end. So Sakari jumped right in and decided she wanted to try the spinning plates.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

She got the hang of it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's a couple of random pictures from earlier in the day. At the elevators were the cabins are, they have various pictures and everyone was always taking pictures there. They munchkins decided they wanted their picture taken a few times.

 

Not a great picture, but they love each other so much. They always hug when they say goodbye and they were hugging for the picture.

 

 

 

 

 

Holding hands

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

The circus practice ended and it was time for Dora's Dance Party.

 

 

 

 

Dora came out did the backpack song and then the kids did a bunch of dancing to songs like Row Row Row Your Boat, BINGO and so on. It was the same as they did on the Jewel and Sakari loves it. They tell a story about Dora trying to make it over the bridge and the songs go along with the story. Since this was Sakari's second Nickelodeon cruise, she knew what to expect and was right up in front the entire time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I thought this picture was funny. All the kids and everything is in focus....BUT SAKARI. She was just too fast and dancing her little heart out.

 

 

 

Brayden was playing the shy act and wouldn't go out there. He hung with his mommy during the entire time even though Sakari tried really hard to get him to come out there.

Edited May 29, 2014 by mitsugirly

[mitsugirly]

I'm not sure how this happened, but Sam headed off to the casino with the boys and us girls (and B) decided to go back up to the ropes course to check it out.

 

Now as you recall, they didn't bring any closed toe shoes. Kendra did have her water shoes, so she decided to wear them up there. I changed into my tennis shoes and I let Courtney borrow my water shoes. Brayden put on his water shoes...and of course Sakari had tennis shoes because this mom comes prepared for anything.

 

When we arrived, we measured the kids and they were both too small to go on the big ropes course. Even though Brayden is 3 months younger than Sakari, he is still about 3" taller than her and was just shy of making the mark. I guess it's a good thing because I think Sakari would have been in tears if he got to do it and she didn't. This is the child that was zip-lining in the rainforest in Roatan by herself at 3 years old after all.

 

I decided to stay back with the kids while Kendra and Courtney tried out the ropes course.

 

They geared up and away they went. The ropes course goes down one side of the ship, around the middle and over to the other side. It's pretty huge and really neat.

 

Kendra getting the hang of it

 

 

 

 

Courtney trying to compose herself for a cool picture while hanging on for dear life.

 

 

 

 

 

Now I don't know how I managed to capture this, but I'm now wondering just where Courtney's foot is about to be placed. Did she fall?

 

 

 

 

Nope, she made it and off they went.

 

 

 

 

Walking the tightrope...it wasn't that easy for her. Do you hang on to the ropes or do you hang on to the belt holding you for stability? You be the judge.

 

 

 

 

Courtney made it out to the plank and was real happy about her accomplishment.

 

[mitsugirly]

Meanwhile I'm running back and forth trying to get pictures of everyone testing out their balancing skills.

 

Here's the little ones getting ready to do their mini-ropes course.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The kids arrived to the mini course and the disappointment with Sakari was almost unbearable to watch. You don't know how bad she wanted to go on the big course and not the "baby" course. Of course Brayden tried several times to slide by the worker and head up the stairs to the big course and mawmaw had to scold him over and over to get him to stop. He wasn't happy about it either.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[EBONI325]

at least the bliss was nicer on the getaway than the breakaway....

Bliss on the breakaway was lack luster..not what i am used to with ncl..normally we cant wait to go to bliss...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

bliss was kind of right in the middle of the ship and across from the noodle bar.... It was barely used...and on their other ships bliss was always hopping!!

 

i didn't care for bliss on the breakaway either, very dull, and unfriendly looking. Loved bliss on the gem, went every night.

[mitsugirly]

I guess the good thing about the kids course was that there wasn't very many kids on it. So they were able to go back and forth over and over as much as they wanted without having to stop.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back to the "big kids" for more pictures once the munchkins were done on their course.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm so glad I spent thousands and thousands of dollars on Kendra growing up in competitive gymnastics. At least somehow her skills paid off. LOL

She still has her balance beam skills even though I couldn't convince her to do a back handspring on it.

 

 

 

 

The little ones decided they would play some putt putt while Kendra and Courtney were finished their ropes course.

 

 

[mitsugirly]

So here we are...time to introduce Kendra's personality. I told you she was a free spirit and she loves to have fun. She is not the least bit shy and keeps us laughing (well, when she's not making us late that is).

 

 

 

 

She is daring and will try anything of course.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The kids still playing putt putt

 

 

[The Mister]

The kids arrived to the mini course and the disappointment with Sakari was almost unbearable to watch. You don't know how bad she wanted to go on the big course and not the "baby" course. Of course Brayden tried several times to slide by the worker and head up the stairs to the big course and mawmaw had to scold him over and over to get him to stop. He wasn't happy about it either.

 

<pictures>

Oh, geez. So, basically, like any set of platforms at any playground for 2-5 year olds, and DOESN'T require a safety harness. But with a harness. And without slides or swings or anything that actually makes a playground fun. :rolleyes: I say, don't waste time with the harness and let them run around.

Edited May 29, 2014 by The Mister