Breakaway family cruise 11/30/14

[CasinoCruzGirl]

Hi All

 

I am going to attempt to write a review on my recent Breakaway cruise. Please bare with me I am not a seasoned writer like some of the great reviews i have read here on CC. This review is MY opinion not to sway anyone in any direction just things I felt I noticed and saw on our cruise.

 

First off I took my first NCL cruise in March of 2014. I had taken many cruises on Carnival and one on Royal Caribbean more than 10 years ago. My DH Bill is a workaholic and thinks the world will come to an end if he has no phone or internet access but I persuaded him to go on this cruise with me. He was not on the last NCL cruise with me as a mater of fact he was on one cruise more than 10 years ago on carnival and it was a 3 day weekend cruise. We go to Las Vegas twice a year for his business so I actually get those trips as a vacation while he is working there. Sure he gets to relax a little bit each night while we are there for 2 weeks but its where his work is so he feels secure with access and meetings with people.

 

Anyway after my last NCL cruise on the Breakaway with my SIL and niece i wanted to book another cruise and have him come with me. After 29 years of marriage I missed him on the previous cruise and i felt he needed a REAL vacation.

 

My name is Geri and I am 57 my DH Bill is 51, sure I'm robbing the cradle lol. My son had just graduated from The University of Maine where he was on full scholarship playing football. Mike is 23 years old. He had all of his eggs in one basket and thought he would play in the NFL once he graduated. He went to the Washington Redskins where he tore his pec and poof that dream ended and now works for his dad. He met his GF Jessica up at school and they are doing a long distance relationship right now so they can save money and move in together. I'm very proud of them for doing the long distance thing. It's gotta be hard so I invited them both to come on this cruise with me and Bill and they both were excited to come.

 

I booked originally a balcony cabin on deck 11 with an angled balcony for me and Bill and an inside GTY for Mike and his GF. My cabin was a comp from CAS and I got 10% discount for Mike and Jess. My sister Michele then said you know me and my DH Jose and 2 boys Michael 12 and Jose Jr 14 would really like to come so they also booked an Inside GTY. This cruise was for thanksgiving week, November 23. A few weeks after booking the KSF promo came out but it was not good for that week so we decided to push it off for the following week so she could get that promo. My sister was able to get a balcony GTY and It saved her $1,000.00. I also got a postcard offer from CAS comping me a balcony and $150 free play so called and was able to apply this to my cruise and originally I had a comp oceanview and paid to upgrade to the balcony so was able to get the deal which saved me money. Now were were set and the count down started. During this time as we all know the new smoking policy was to start on November 1st. So I found out where smoking was permitted on the BA and the waterfront was my best option so I was able to change my cabin from deck 11 to deck 8 the last cabin right next to fat cats and maltings (more about that later).

 

I am going to stop here for a little while since I just got back yesterday and need to go food shopping lol So be back in a little bit.

 

Me and my sister Michele

 

DH Bill

 

Son Mike and GF Jessica

[long Island]

thank you for the review so far.... Can't wait to hear the rest. Where was the inside staterooms located ? we just got assigned ninth floor forward 9451

[CasinoCruzGirl]

thank you for the review so far.... Can't wait to hear the rest. Where was the inside staterooms located ? we just got assigned ninth floor forward 9451

 

 

They actually got an upgrade to a mini suite ill tell you about that

[meatball_nyc]

Kids are cute!

 

 

~Robin

Every Day at Sea is a Great Day

2014 July Breakaway

[CasinoCruzGirl]

Before our cruise we were able to upgrade to a mini suite for my room and my sons room. They were GTY rooms so I decided to keep my balcony because of location and upgraded my son for free because he wouldnt care if he was sleeping in a coat closet lol. He got really lucky and got cabin 10786 right near the elevator. I said i wanted to switch but then I thought oh its going to be a hassle with the sign and sail cards and I was happy with my location so i stayed put. They had a wonderful shower that I was jealous of and they would have happily switched cabins with me but all was good. Next time I would ask for that cabin. My sister got a GTY balcony on deck 13 forward not bad considering she had her 2 sons with her which utilized the kids and teen clubs.

 

 

Pre Cruise we booked all the shows, Rock of Ages, Burn the Floor and Second City for all 8 of us. Did not prebook any dinners and it was never a problem getting a time and date we wanted. Also purchased a large cabana for GSC which I was so excited to go to since my March sailing had missed the stop due to high winds. I have been to Nassau tons of times and stayed at the Atlantis at least 5 times so really had no plans to go there and florida well florida is florida. I did not do this cruise for the Itinerery.

 

The day arrived we woke up early and had a van picking us up @ 9:00 am to take us to the port we live in NJ about 45 minutes south of NYC. the Cost was $225 tolls and tip included for all 8 of us. We got to the pier about 9:45 and gave our luggage to the Porter that was so easy they actually came right up to the van when we pulled up last time we had to wait around and find a porter. Entered the lobby took and elevator and was directed to security. Going through security there was no line at all. Once we went through the security person said to my son "you have a knife in your bag" he was like huh? well they opened up his duffle bag and sure enough he had a butter knife in it he said OHHHH didn't remember I had that to stir my protein shake lol So yes the security people do a good job. We were then directed to CAS to check in. Waited only about 10 minutes and were given boarding #6 and told to wait in the CAS boarding area. Only waited about 15 minutes and was time to board and start our vacation.

 

First thing we did was go to deck 6 so my sister could put cash on her kids accounts so they would not have access to my sisters credit card. After that we went to SAVOR for our first on board lunch. I wasn't to hungry so got a chicken soup i have no idea why they put broccoli in chicken soup (I love soup had it every dinner) salad and buffalo shrimp. The shrimp was great. Soup was so so and a salad is well a salad lol

 

 

 

 

[CasinoCruzGirl]

Went to Muster Drill that was quick and easy then off to Maltings outside on deck 8 for sailaway. Weather was not to bad.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That night we had dinner in O'Sheehans this is where we had a problem. There were 8 of us so we asked for a table for 8 and was told they could not accommodate us so I told them its ok if you split us up to two tables of 4 she didn't seem to comprehend what I was telling her and said we should go over to the other side (Bar area) and we could order off the same menu. So we walked over and 5 of us sat at one of the tables that are high and small and the other 3 sat along the railing. A waiter came over and we told him our order which most of us were getting prime rib because it was prime rib night there and were told no we could not order that on this side of O'Sheehans I said YES we can we were told we could by the time they got it straightened out the table that sat after us had already finished their appetizers and got their meals we had not even gotten silverware yet and that table had PRIME RIB I was furious. Once we got our food we picked up the corn on the cob that comes with the dinner and it was FROZEN I was like OMG are they kidding is this what we are in for for the next 7 days?????? Luckily that was not the case. After dinner we hit the casino for a while, DH was in bed by 8 pm and I followed at 9 exhausted. The bed was very comfortable you could not even tell it was 2 beds put together.

 

End of Day 1

[spazzy216]

Cant wait to here more!!!

[martyparty76]

Looking forward to day 2. When did your son graduate UMaine? I played at UNH from 2003-2007.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[CasinoCruzGirl]

Looking forward to day 2. When did your son graduate UMaine? I played at UNH from 2003-2007.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

 

Oh wow. He just graduated this past May. Damn unh and that musket lol

[ncklhaus]

Loving your review! Can't wait to read more.

For someone who wasn't sure if they could write a review, you sure are doing a great job. Thanks for sharing with us.

[CasinoCruzGirl]

 

 

Forgot to mention on day one because my DH is a workaholic I was so happy they had a great plan for the internet he purchased the 1000 megabites for $89 and it was great he used the internet a lot and never ran out of access. He also got the international phone plan and we have yet to see our verizon bill OMG i am scared to see that lol

 

 

 

 

 

DAY 2 SEA DAY

 

 

Woke up around 6 am because I went to sleep so early I guess. This is where I will talk about the smoking aboard the ship. In the morning I like to have a cup of coffee with my cigarette so the cabin I picked was convenient to the waterfront where smoking is permitted. I didn't bother to get dressed hand on pajamas and a sweater lol if they want to take away my balcony smoking they need to deal with my horrendous morning appearance. Well I wasn't alone in my thinking when I went out to the waterfront that first morning. There were actually people out there with their hair standing up higher than mine and in pajamas lol Down in front of Maltings are 2 coffee urns regular and decaf and an urn of hot water for tea and also out there on the bar were pastry. Good Job NCL for actually thinking of us smokers. I met the most amazing people out there every day. I really didn't mind the no smoking on the balcony as I thought I would have because going out to the deck on the waterfront forced me to be more social and meet many people I probably would not have met. As for smoking in the casino well If I was smoking at a machine and got up and had a lit cigarette in my hand walking around no one said a word to me now I'm I'm not sure if it was because they knew I was playing a lot but I was not being active. I was on my WAY to be active so maybe thats why. I didn't have any problems with non smokers sitting next to me if I had a cigarette i would either put it in my other hand away from the person and usually make it a quick one. No one said it bothered them. Also smoking allowed up on 15 in the enclosed area by the pool and the bar in front of the pool.

 

Went to Breakfast in the buffet for the ONLY time I would have breakfast there its chaos in the morning up there. The food was good the line for omlettes was horrible so I passed on that.

 

I was running our Meet and Greet and Slot pull set up for 11 am today. I met the best people on my roll call. I highly encourage you to join your roll call. It was great saying hi to so many people throughout the cruise. At 11:00 i went to LaCucina for our Meet and Greet and i think we had about 50-60 people show up. Rick had volunteered to do a bingo game and trivia game for us and I bought a birthday cake which was beautiful for some of the girls who I knew were celebrating birthdays on board. Afterwards we had a slot pull with 27 participants we didn't win but it was fun. During our meet and greet the senior officers introduced themselves afterwards I approached the restaurant manager and told him of my mishap at O'Sheehans the night before he asked my cabin # etc. I have read on CC that if you have a problem you should speak up while on board. Well nothing happened no I'm sorry no strawberrys delivered lol

 

cake for Birthday Gang I bought

 

 

Waterfront where smoking is permitted

 

 

 

Afterwards we explored the ship found the Uptown Grill for lunch OMG amazing burgers and salad bar. Burgers were huge. they had either beef or turkey burgers with any kind of topping you could possibly want.

 

My nephews 12 and 14 we barely saw on this cruise. The 12 year old was part of the dolphins group and the 14 year old was in the teen group. They said they had the best time. They never ate dinner with us they would run to the buffet most every night and run back to their groups. This night we are in Taste I had the strip steak and french onion soup which was very good.

 

 

Be back soon to write some more.

Edited December 9, 2014 by FootballParent

[conandrob240]

This is great. We had a similar family group a few weeks ago and had a great time. Our teen "went missing" the whole cruise also although he did eat breakfast room service with us and 4 dinners! LOL

[CasinoCruzGirl]

This is great. We had a similar family group a few weeks ago and had a great time. Our teen "went missing" the whole cruise also although he did eat breakfast room service with us and 4 dinners! LOL

 

 

They really loved it. My sister was afraid they would be missing their "texting" but they never did they really had a ball

[Winston Wolf]

Oh, Breakaway....I miss you so...

[long Island]

Great review Geri,we are cruising on the breakaway January 18 -30th ,can't wait !

I have a question ,can you order a steak the first day for lunch ?

[CasinoCruzGirl]

Great review Geri,we are cruising on the breakaway January 18 -30th ,can't wait !

I have a question ,can you order a steak the first day for lunch ?

 

 

Yes you sure can it was on the lunch menu

[CasinoCruzGirl]

DAY 3 FLORIDA!!!

 

 

woke up early again and went to O'Sheehans with my sister for breakfast. This turned out to be common me and her going for breakfast while everyone did their own thing. My family all 7 of them got off the ship and went to Cocoa Beach for the Day. I opted to stay on board and go to the Spa for a pedicure ($70 plus tip $82) for fire and ice pedi. It was a lovely day I had. My family was worried about me being alone. Little did they know I had the most relaxing day of the entire cruise lol.

 

Cocoa Beach

 

 

We went t Kareoke that afternoon it was so much fun my sister sang.

Tonight we went to LaCucnia because hubby wanted Italian. I heard its like olive garden and since I am itallian I wasn't looking forward to it but agreed to go. Surprise to me it was delicious.

 

I had pasta Fagoli Soup that you could get either shrimp or sausage in I got the sausage and then a salad and Shrimp with Eggplant and Rosoto. The shrimp was excellent the Rosoto not so much but the Soup was incredible.

 

 

 

 

 

[CasinoCruzGirl]

DAY 4 - NO GSC AGAIN FOR ME!!!!

 

 

So woke up this morning and went on deck saw the wind and I KNEW we were not stopping. It was more windy than my March cruise and we didn't stop then. I was so disappointed. We had reserved the large cabana and would not get to use it again. <sigh> we were told we would be getting into Nassau around 4 pm. So off we went to the hot tubs and my nephews to the ropes courses.

 

 

 

 

 

Tonight we saw Burn the Floor, the Newlywed Game not so newlywed, we ate in the Manhattan Room which I thought was the best of the 3 MDR

 

Warm Chocolate Volcano

 

[ncklhaus]

Since you didn't get to go to GSC and had rented a cabaña, how did they give you back your money? Did they refund your credit card or did they give you OBC?

[CasinoCruzGirl]

adding some pictures from earlier

 

Meet & Greet

 

 

slot pull

 

 

My sisters room 13138 sleeps 4

 

 

me and sis

 

[teseo]

warm chocolate volcano!!!!! the best dessert in the whole ship :p:p:p

[CasinoCruzGirl]

Since you didn't get to go to GSC and had rented a cabaña, how did they give you back your money? Did they refund your credit card or did they give you OBC?

 

 

JoAnne they gave me $400 OBC immediately. Never had to ask for it it came quickly.

[CasinoCruzGirl]

warm chocolate volcano!!!!! the best dessert in the whole ship :p:p:p

 

I had it twice is was so yummy

[ncklhaus]

JoAnne they gave me $400 OBC immediately. Never had to ask for it it came quickly.

 

Thanks. Good to know. I love GSC!

[teseo]

Since you didn't get to go to GSC and had rented a cabaña, how did they give you back your money? Did they refund your credit card or did they give you OBC?

 

I was on the BA over Thanksgiving week, in my case we had the airboat tour in FL booked ahead and charged to my CC ($89 pp), we got late to FL so all the tours were canceled. we got a refund of $178 in OBC, which you can use for anything including the DSC, if you do not use it all, they will refund the remaining amount by check a few weeks later. is not too bad but sometimes sucks, if you have more OBC, in our case we had some other OBC from the booking plus we bought 3 future cruise rewards certificates, so that is other $300 OBC. DH had some refund from the casino that they couldn't apply because all of the OBC we had it was no way to apply to any of the other charges, so the casino hostess said they will apply it on the next cruise in feb/15. That is way prepay the DSC is not good idea in many cases.