My Favorite Things About Breakaway July 6-13, 2014

[meatball_nyc]

Not really a review I guess. Just my thoughts as I sit here wishing I was still onboard the ship.

 

We were a group of ten family members: me, my son (18), my sister, her husband and daughter (14), sister's mother-in-law, sister-in-law, her two sons (17 & 23) and a girlfriend (23).*

Our main goal for this cruise was to relax and unwind from my high stress job, my son working 7 days a week and to erase the memory of the brutal winter we had. We were also celebrating Brian's 18th birthday, sis in law's 50th, nephew's college graduation.

 

 

Since we live 20 minutes from Pier 88 it's a no brainer to sail from there. Husband dropped us off about 10:30am right in front of the entrance. We chose NCL Breakaway to Bermuda for both the ship and the three day stop. Easy to plan with three days at sea, three days in one port and a last sea day home.

 

 

Boarding last Sunday morning was as easy as it gets. Breakaway is by far the most beautiful ship we've ever been on, both inside and out. Our first two cruises were on Carnival Legend and Miracle. We had a BD stateroom with angled balcony, port side, aft. Room a little small compared to Carnival, but beds were comfortable and the bigger balcony more than made up for it. We could have fit a lounge chair, regular chair and the small table there. Bathroom and shower perfectly fine. We did spend a lot of time on our balcony just chilling, watching the ocean go by and having drinks. It was a killer sailaway of course. The weather was perfect. We watched from the balcony and had fun waving to the NYPD boats that were escorting us, the Circle Line and the Staten Island Ferry. Everyone on the Circle Line were taking pics of us!

 

 

The first day or so the sea was a little rough from the after effects of Arthur, but that made it more fun.*We had sun the whole week, which is a big deal for me. I need sun when I am on vacation no matter where I am. The crew were constantly cleaning and maintaining the ship. They all work so hard. We were impressed. Thanks to all the crew for taking such good care of us, making sure our trip was special. We felt very well taken care of.*

 

 

Favorite places onboard:

1) Our balcony

2) The Waterfront on Deck 8

3) Spice H2O during the day

4) Savor

5) Outside at Fat Cats, Shakers and Malting's

6) Sun deck on 17, port side, all the way forward

7) The Manhattan Room

8) Buffet for breakfast, pretzel rolls and hand scooped vanilla ice cream with hot caramel sauce for dessert

9) My son loved the chicken parmigiana at La Cucina.

 

 

Favorite things to do:

1) Relax on our balcony

2) Relax in the sun on the upper sun decks and in H2O. Sitting in the water fountain area was great when it got hot. Sitting watching the wake of the ship for hours was very easy to do!

3) Hot Tubs

4) Pre and Post Dinner Drinks at Fat Cats or Malting's out on the Waterfront. Our server, Nacho from Macedonia treated us so well. He could be Johnny Knoxville's twin brother with his Ray Ban sunglasses on. Great guy. Just came on Breakaway after doing 3 years on the Spirit.*

5) Malting's on the Waterfront. Seeing big schools of dolphins racing us on the way back home!!

6) The "kids" loved the water slides, ropes course, basketball court, walking the Plank

7) Humidor Cigar Lounge

8) Second City Unscripted in Headliners

9) The frozen little towels the crew handed out on the sun decks and when coming back to the ship after a hot day doing excursions. And no, we were not in Vibe. Everyone on the public decks got them too ;)

10) Meet and Greet. Thank you to NJ Johnny and the NCL officers who attended

11) Watch the fireworks from our balcony!!!

 

 

Favorite things to do in Bermuda:

1) Horseshoe Bay Beach

2) The coves in between HB and Warwick Long Bay Beach

3) Rising Son II Catamaran Snorkel and Swim Excursion

4) Watching all the Dockyard activities going on. The jet ski guys who were flying through the air on these hoses attached to their feet. Sorry, I don't remember the actual name of it. We watched them for a long time!

5) Talking to the locals and hearing their stories

6) Fast Ferry to St. George

7) St. Peter's Church

8) The town of St. George

9) Feeling the cool ocean breezes

 

 

It's Good to Cruise Like a Norwegian!

We would cruise to Bermuda on Breakaway again in a heartbeat.*In fact, I am ready to book for early next June :)

Thank you NCL!

 

 

P.S. Just to add in case anyone would wonder:

Least favorite things about Breakaway:

1) Main adult pool deck 15 on sea days (stay away!)

2) Room Service pizza (being from New York it's hard to please me)

3) Tradewinds Duty Free Shop on Saturday. Yikes!

 

 

 

~Robin

Every Day at Sea is a Great Day

[Hikini]

A nice read - thanks for sharing with us!

[familycruzer]

I may be with you since we are going in June or May ... Loved BA and Bermuda goes without saying.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[VickiD59]

YAY! I was hoping you'd share your trip with us. We leave Sunday and I can't believe it's finally here. We've been counting down since June 2013 - it's been so long it doesn't seem real. Well... the piles of clothes waiting to be either washed... folded...ironed...or packed are all too real :rolleyes:

[welove2cruise232]

Thanks for the review! We are looking forward to our Breakaway cruise in September! I heard some kind of work was being done on the water feature in Spice - was it done and what did they do?

 

Did you by chance make a list of ship's officers?

Edited July 18, 2014 by welove2cruise232

[meatball_nyc]

Familycruzer: Let's go!! Figure it's cooler in early June.

 

VickiD: you are going to love Breakaway and Bermuda. Put away all those clothes and concentrate on bathing suits and cover ups. Make room for the good stuff you will be buying on BA and in Bermuda. The wait will be worth it. Trust me. I will be watching your sailaway on Sunday. Safe travels and fair winds to all of you. Have a drink for me on your aft balcony!

 

welove2cruise232: Hoyt Evans was our Captain. My list of Ship's Officers is in my suitcase which my son brought down to our garage. No access right now. Work was completed on the pillars that are within the fountain feature of Spice H2O. The place to CHILL and relax is Spice H2O. Trust me.

 

Enjoy your cruises everyone. Our Breakaway cruise to Bermuda was, by far, our favorite trip in a long time. If I think of anything else I will be back.

 

Thanks NCL. You rock. Thanks to everyone on CC for helping me in my research for this trip. :)

You really rock.

P.S. Do not take the sand from Horseshoe Bay Beach in a soda bottle. It will be confiscated upon your arrival back to the ship. Buy a small bottle from one of the shops in the Dockyard for $3.00. It benefits Bermuda's Wellness Institute. FYI.

 

~Robin

Every Day at Sea is a Great Day

Edited July 18, 2014 by meatball_nyc

[alsgirl]

I am sailing this sunday also I cant wait !!!!! I sailed rccl in june to bermuda and hated that ship. It was a five day cruise and it just wasnt long enough in bermuda. All my friends were doing the Breakaway this Sunday so i decided last week to hop on and I am sooooo excited. I sailed her last year and I love the ship but the pool has alot to be desired. The things I love about that ship is the Decor, the waterfront,H20, and the haven is so amazing on this ship.

 

Happy sailing to all, vacations are what we make it and I plan on having a good one !

[Kenlorz]

I enjoyed how you outlined everything in this mini review. Thanks for posting! I'm ingesting everything Breakaway right now for our cruise next year. If you do end up cruising in early June, perhaps we'll see you there. We're cruising May 31-June 6, 2015.

[puddles99]

Thank you for your post - I wasn't sure it was possible, but I am now even more giddy for our upcoming turn on the Breakaway! :D

[Chesneygirl]

Not really a review I guess. Just my thoughts as I sit here wishing I was still onboard the ship.

 

We were a group of ten family members: me, my son (18), my sister, her husband and daughter (14), sister's mother-in-law, sister-in-law, her two sons (17 & 23) and a girlfriend (23).*

Our main goal for this cruise was to relax and unwind from my high stress job, my son working 7 days a week and to erase the memory of the brutal winter we had. We were also celebrating Brian's 18th birthday, sis in law's 50th, nephew's college graduation.

 

 

Since we live 20 minutes from Pier 88 it's a no brainer to sail from there. Husband dropped us off about 10:30am right in front of the entrance. We chose NCL Breakaway to Bermuda for both the ship and the three day stop. Easy to plan with three days at sea, three days in one port and a last sea day home.

 

 

Boarding last Sunday morning was as easy as it gets. Breakaway is by far the most beautiful ship we've ever been on, both inside and out. Our first two cruises were on Carnival Legend and Miracle. We had a BD stateroom with angled balcony, port side, aft. Room a little small compared to Carnival, but beds were comfortable and the bigger balcony more than made up for it. We could have fit a lounge chair, regular chair and the small table there. Bathroom and shower perfectly fine. We did spend a lot of time on our balcony just chilling, watching the ocean go by and having drinks. It was a killer sailaway of course. The weather was perfect. We watched from the balcony and had fun waving to the NYPD boats that were escorting us, the Circle Line and the Staten Island Ferry. Everyone on the Circle Line were taking pics of us!

 

 

The first day or so the sea was a little rough from the after effects of Arthur, but that made it more fun.*We had sun the whole week, which is a big deal for me. I need sun when I am on vacation no matter where I am. The crew were constantly cleaning and maintaining the ship. They all work so hard. We were impressed. Thanks to all the crew for taking such good care of us, making sure our trip was special. We felt very well taken care of.*

 

 

Favorite places onboard:

1) Our balcony

2) The Waterfront on Deck 8

3) Spice H2O during the day

4) Savor

5) Outside at Fat Cats, Shakers and Malting's

6) Sun deck on 17, port side, all the way forward

7) The Manhattan Room

8) Buffet for breakfast, pretzel rolls and hand scooped vanilla ice cream with hot caramel sauce for dessert

9) My son loved the chicken parmigiana at La Cucina.

 

 

Favorite things to do:

1) Relax on our balcony

2) Relax in the sun on the upper sun decks and in H2O. Sitting in the water fountain area was great when it got hot. Sitting watching the wake of the ship for hours was very easy to do!

3) Hot Tubs

4) Pre and Post Dinner Drinks at Fat Cats or Malting's out on the Waterfront. Our server, Nacho from Macedonia treated us so well. He could be Johnny Knoxville's twin brother with his Ray Ban sunglasses on. Great guy. Just came on Breakaway after doing 3 years on the Spirit.*

5) Malting's on the Waterfront. Seeing big schools of dolphins racing us on the way back home!!

6) The "kids" loved the water slides, ropes course, basketball court, walking the Plank

7) Humidor Cigar Lounge

8) Second City Unscripted in Headliners

9) The frozen little towels the crew handed out on the sun decks and when coming back to the ship after a hot day doing excursions. And no, we were not in Vibe. Everyone on the public decks got them too ;)

10) Meet and Greet. Thank you to NJ Johnny and the NCL officers who attended

11) Watch the fireworks from our balcony!!!

 

 

Favorite things to do in Bermuda:

1) Horseshoe Bay Beach

2) The coves in between HB and Warwick Long Bay Beach

3) Rising Son II Catamaran Snorkel and Swim Excursion

4) Watching all the Dockyard activities going on. The jet ski guys who were flying through the air on these hoses attached to their feet. Sorry, I don't remember the actual name of it. We watched them for a long time!

5) Talking to the locals and hearing their stories

6) Fast Ferry to St. George

7) St. Peter's Church

8) The town of St. George

9) Feeling the cool ocean breezes

 

 

It's Good to Cruise Like a Norwegian!

We would cruise to Bermuda on Breakaway again in a heartbeat.*In fact, I am ready to book for early next June :)

Thank you NCL!

 

 

P.S. Just to add in case anyone would wonder:

Least favorite things about Breakaway:

1) Main adult pool deck 15 on sea days (stay away!)

2) Room Service pizza (being from New York it's hard to please me)

3) Tradewinds Duty Free Shop on Saturday. Yikes!

 

 

 

~Robin

Every Day at Sea is a Great Day

 

Welcome back and thanks for posting your thoughts and comments. I am so glad that you all had an excellent vacation. I hope your cabin and angular balcony lived up to your expectations. ;)

 

Did you like your cabin steward? We thought he was very sweet but definitely on the shy/quiet side.

[lnew1gd1]

Oh thank you! Going on our first NCL on the Breakaway in September.

 

Hubby concerned with how he needs to dress in the dining rooms and speciality restaurants for dinner. Suggestions? Does he need long pants for dinner or will nice shorts and a dress shirt suffice?

 

Thanks for your thoughts

[cruisin07family]

Was the Rising Son II excursion private or an NCL excursion? Can you give any details, like duration, cost, what's included, etc.?

[Vacationlover2]

What was wrong with the adult pool on sea days? Crowds?

[amyben40]

Thanks for the review.

 

How warm was the water at the beaches? We're looking to book July 5-12, 2015 but my DH is worried the water will be cold. As compared to Nassau. (We were on the gem and went to Atlantis last summer and spent an hour in heavenly warm water) thanks!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[meatball_nyc]

Thanks everyone for the comments.

Chesneygirl,yes our steward was every nice, but shy and quiet. He did a very nice job of keeping me stocked with ice for my wine. The room was always spotless except for my sons clothes everywhere.

 

NCL is freestyle, so there is no formal night. Monday night was dress up or not. A lot of people did dress up. As for the restaurants, only the Manhattan Room and Le Bistro required pants and shoes with a nice polo for the men. Women could wear Capri pants and nice sandals. While docked in Bermuda, men were allowed shorts there. It was very cool so bring a light sweater or scarf for your shoulders.

 

Deck 15 Adult Only Pool (strictly enforced, btw) got loud and crowded. We avoided it by going up to Spice H2O which is adult only during the day. They played low calming music which I preferred. There is a nice fountain feature if you get hot.

 

Ocean temps were about 79-80*, which was very warm for us. We are used to 68-72* in August on the Jersey Shore.

 

Have fun! Breakaway is a beautiful ship with gorgeous decor. Bermuda is so worth visiting. We didn't do half of what we wanted, so I really hope to go back. If you are a beach person, please go to Horseshoe Beach and the South Shore beaches. Nothing like it, and I've been to a lot of beaches in my life. HB is my favorite now.

 

 

 

 

~Robin

Every Day at Sea is a Great Day

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the report!

[Keith1010]

Very well formatted and summarized.

 

I enjoyed the report/review.

 

Keith

[bandp407]

Not really a review I guess. Just my thoughts as I sit here wishing I was still onboard the ship.

 

We were a group of ten family members: me, my son (18), my sister, her husband and daughter (14), sister's mother-in-law, sister-in-law, her two sons (17 & 23) and a girlfriend (23).*

Our main goal for this cruise was to relax and unwind from my high stress job, my son working 7 days a week and to erase the memory of the brutal winter we had. We were also celebrating Brian's 18th birthday, sis in law's 50th, nephew's college graduation.

 

 

Since we live 20 minutes from Pier 88 it's a no brainer to sail from there. Husband dropped us off about 10:30am right in front of the entrance. We chose NCL Breakaway to Bermuda for both the ship and the three day stop. Easy to plan with three days at sea, three days in one port and a last sea day home.

 

 

Boarding last Sunday morning was as easy as it gets. Breakaway is by far the most beautiful ship we've ever been on, both inside and out. Our first two cruises were on Carnival Legend and Miracle. We had a BD stateroom with angled balcony, port side, aft. Room a little small compared to Carnival, but beds were comfortable and the bigger balcony more than made up for it. We could have fit a lounge chair, regular chair and the small table there. Bathroom and shower perfectly fine. We did spend a lot of time on our balcony just chilling, watching the ocean go by and having drinks. It was a killer sailaway of course. The weather was perfect. We watched from the balcony and had fun waving to the NYPD boats that were escorting us, the Circle Line and the Staten Island Ferry. Everyone on the Circle Line were taking pics of us!

 

 

The first day or so the sea was a little rough from the after effects of Arthur, but that made it more fun.*We had sun the whole week, which is a big deal for me. I need sun when I am on vacation no matter where I am. The crew were constantly cleaning and maintaining the ship. They all work so hard. We were impressed. Thanks to all the crew for taking such good care of us, making sure our trip was special. We felt very well taken care of.*

 

 

Favorite places onboard:

1) Our balcony

2) The Waterfront on Deck 8

3) Spice H2O during the day

4) Savor

5) Outside at Fat Cats, Shakers and Malting's

6) Sun deck on 17, port side, all the way forward

7) The Manhattan Room

8) Buffet for breakfast, pretzel rolls and hand scooped vanilla ice cream with hot caramel sauce for dessert

9) My son loved the chicken parmigiana at La Cucina.

 

 

Favorite things to do:

1) Relax on our balcony

2) Relax in the sun on the upper sun decks and in H2O. Sitting in the water fountain area was great when it got hot. Sitting watching the wake of the ship for hours was very easy to do!

3) Hot Tubs

4) Pre and Post Dinner Drinks at Fat Cats or Malting's out on the Waterfront. Our server, Nacho from Macedonia treated us so well. He could be Johnny Knoxville's twin brother with his Ray Ban sunglasses on. Great guy. Just came on Breakaway after doing 3 years on the Spirit.*

5) Malting's on the Waterfront. Seeing big schools of dolphins racing us on the way back home!!

6) The "kids" loved the water slides, ropes course, basketball court, walking the Plank

7) Humidor Cigar Lounge

8) Second City Unscripted in Headliners

9) The frozen little towels the crew handed out on the sun decks and when coming back to the ship after a hot day doing excursions. And no, we were not in Vibe. Everyone on the public decks got them too ;)

10) Meet and Greet. Thank you to NJ Johnny and the NCL officers who attended

11) Watch the fireworks from our balcony!!!

 

 

Favorite things to do in Bermuda:

1) Horseshoe Bay Beach

2) The coves in between HB and Warwick Long Bay Beach

3) Rising Son II Catamaran Snorkel and Swim Excursion

4) Watching all the Dockyard activities going on. The jet ski guys who were flying through the air on these hoses attached to their feet. Sorry, I don't remember the actual name of it. We watched them for a long time!

5) Talking to the locals and hearing their stories

6) Fast Ferry to St. George

7) St. Peter's Church

8) The town of St. George

9) Feeling the cool ocean breezes

 

 

It's Good to Cruise Like a Norwegian!

We would cruise to Bermuda on Breakaway again in a heartbeat.*In fact, I am ready to book for early next June :)

Thank you NCL!

 

 

P.S. Just to add in case anyone would wonder:

Least favorite things about Breakaway:

1) Main adult pool deck 15 on sea days (stay away!)

2) Room Service pizza (being from New York it's hard to please me)

3) Tradewinds Duty Free Shop on Saturday. Yikes!

 

 

 

~Robin

Every Day at Sea is a Great Day

 

Hi Robin-

 

Love you reviews and excitement about the ship!! Was considering an aft cabin for my brother & wife( 25th Wedding Anniversary) next June but am having doubts after some of the photos and comments about the soot . You note that you were in a BD port side angle balcony. Could you see the fire works from there?? With the crowds I can't even imagine being on deck for them..What deck were you on? My biggest concern about this ship are the crowds & the very small balconies.

 

Appreciate your feedback! Paula

[meatball_nyc]

Hi Robin-

 

Love you reviews and excitement about the ship!! Was considering an aft cabin for my brother & wife( 25th Wedding Anniversary) next June but am having doubts after some of the photos and comments about the soot . You note that you were in a BD port side angle balcony. Could you see the fire works from there?? With the crowds I can't even imagine being on deck for them..What deck were you on? My biggest concern about this ship are the crowds & the very small balconies.

 

Appreciate your feedback! Paula

 

 

Thanks. We really loved the Breakaway ALOT.

We were in deck 10, port side, aft with a forward facing angled balcony.

Yes, we were there to watch the fireworks with a perfect view at exactly 10:45. Drinks in hands, in our pj's, watching fireworks in a cruise ship in the Atlantic Ocean was very cool. They only lasted about 5-7 minutes but it was way cool.

Another note about all balconies while docked in Bermuda for 3 days: They get hot if you have the sun on them all day and this includes the afts as well.

Can't comment on soot problems.

It's easy to avoid the crowds on deck 15 pool side. Go up to deck 16 or to17 forward starboard side.

Of course after Muster it's a mad dash up the stairs to the top for sailaway but that's every ship.

Go to everything early and you should be fine.

Have fun! Breakaway is a big beautiful ship.

 

 

~Robin

Every Day at Sea is a Great Day

[Vettebuf]

Thanks for your post, Meatball. I just copied your favorite things to my "Breakaway" word doc so I have it handy for our turn in March.

[bandp407]

Thanks Robin!!!

 

Any problem with wind on the forward angle balcony? Did you really have lounge chairs on the balcony - that would be terrific!!

 

Hope you get to sail on the Breakaway again next year!

 

~Paula

[Malamel]

How was Spice H2O during the day? Crowded or was it easy to.find a chair?

 

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Forums mobile app

[mcsb11]

FYI... Nacho the waiter she speaks of. His real name is doncho. He works the pool during the day and waterfront in the eve. He is the best person on this ship.... By far!

[English101]

FYI... Nacho the waiter she speaks of. His real name is doncho. He works the pool during the day and waterfront in the eve. He is the best person on this ship.... By far!

 

I am getting so excited for my cruise!! In the past, I'd read names of crew members and figured my cruise was too far away (been counting down since early March 2013!!) and those crew members wouldn't be there when I go.

 

I have a feeling I'm going to spot Nacho! That name (I'm sure I'll recognize his real name, Doncho) and the fact that he'll be wearing sunglasses all the time is going to stick with me!

[meatball_nyc]

Hi Paula,

No problems with wind on our balcony. We definitely could have fit one lounger there, but never requested one. Balconies get hot once docked in Bermuda.

 

Malamel, H2O was awesome during the day. I am an early riser, therefore had a couple loungers for my son and I at the very back with no problem. It did get filled up as the day went by. No kids allowed and strictly enforced except for the last day when some kid ran around with a painted face and was promptly escorted out.

 

English101,

Have a great cruise. Seek out Nacho/Doncho. He is your friend. A righteous dude from Macedonia. Tell him Robin and Brian say What Up??

 

Breakaway Rocks.

 

We will be sailing on her again next year for sure.

 

 

 

~Robin

Every Day at Sea is a Great Day