Anybody off the breakaway 12 nt jan/16/2015?

[teseo]

Any reviews? Freestyle dailies? more shows other than Rock of Ages and Burn the Floor?

 

Taking the BA 12 NT in Feb 01 and would love to know what is different from the regular 7 days entertainment schedule.

[corey07850]

Just going from memory, in addition to the Rock of Ages and Burn the Floor shows (which were both awesome) there was a comedic juggler, a hypnotist, a tribute show to Frankie Valli and a couple more but we just went to the main shows.

 

Cruise was great, weather was perfect for the most part. We were on deck on day two in short sleeves. Food great as you would imagine, we didn't even bother going to a specialty restaurant the whole trip which was a change for us.

 

We opted for the spa pass which was really expensive but we felt was totally worth it to use on the sea days and avoiding the crowds, sitting in a heated lounger while sailing from NYC with snow falling was priceless.

 

Main complaint was the cruise director Julie. I'm not sure what it was about her that we didn't like specifically but she just seemed to have this aura that she was a celebrity. We never saw her around the ship unless it was for a specific event she was hosting and made cameos in the main shows. Maybe it was just us but thought she wasn't the best we've had.

 

Interesting event we had was the night before docking in NYC we made a slight diversion toward Cape May/AC so the Coast Guard could airlift a sick passenger off. The whole event could be seen on the bow cam in the stateroom.

 

Any specific questions let me know

[iluv2cruise830]

Hi! I just got back from that cruise - the shows in the theater were: Oh what a night, a Hypnotist, a broadway singer, a comedian, and a Juggler, besides Burn the Floor and Rock of Ages. there was also a Welcome aboard show. Some shows were shown more than once.

[corey07850]

Just remembered one of the other shows was a Broadway singer performing

 

Regarding the dailies, I didn't save any of them because we used the NCL connect app which was awesome. We used our iphone as a camera so always had it with us and it was super easy to check the app for upcoming events, your account, look up menus etc. It can use some improvements but overall much easier than carrying around the dailies.

[teseo]

Questions? oh yeah i have many, LOL LOL.

 

We've been on the BA twice already and we love it, we want to know more about the entertainment and the parties, any other theme parties in addition to the white/glow party, the 70's, 80's? how was the itinerary? the ports? tour excursions? etc.

 

Thanks

[corey07850]

Can't answer too much on the parties as we are usually doing other stuff at night but what you mentioned sounds right, nothing stands out as missing from your list...

 

Ports are great and one if the main reason we take the longer cruises from NYC, we don't like the normal boring Nassau/Florida stops. We've been to St Thomas, San Juan and St Maarten before and always happy to go back. St Lucia, Barbados, and St Kitts were new to us. Barbados was great almost exclusively because if how close you are to Carlisle Bay (5 minute can ride). We went to the Boatyard there which is a sort of beach club/bar/restaurant. You pay $15/pp but you get a free drink, free taxi back to the ship, and use of their chairs, umbrellas, water trampoline, rope swing etc. 2 for 1 drinks before noon too :). St Kitts was probably our favorite for sheer beauty and loved how well everything seemed to be kept up. We went to Cockleshell Beach and recommend it a lot. $7pp cab ride about 25 minutes away and you pay $15 for two chairs and umbrella at one of the bars there.

 

St lucia was our least favorite destination however. Based on tripadvisor we went to the Tet Paul Nature Trail. While it was indeed beautiful it was around a two hour cab ride away, each way! The roads are not good, the cab drivers will stop at differing roadside "shops" where locals will try to sell you various items. Then you drive through a few very poor villages. Overall it was just a LOT of driving through less than desirable conditions. All of the main sights are in the same general area which is far from port. If we were to stop again I would look into some sort of boating/sailing tour as I imagine they can get you to the Pitons quicker than via road. The ship does not sail past the Pitons so if you want to see them you'll need to do it via tour/excursion.

[luvtheships]

This cruise was perfect. Deck chairs easy to get. Great demographic of pax. The buffet was so good we were there 3 or 4 nights. Osheehans is a delight spice h2o is perfect but they need to amp up the music just a little as it is too low during the day

 

Great deck parties. Ship is spotless

 

The weather perfect except for last sea day

 

Ports were excellent

 

Ship excursions well done

 

Cruise director Julie a delight

 

Entertainment fantastic. We saw roa and 4 seasons tribute and practically everything else they offered. Loved the hypotenuse show and officer Armstrong!!!! Those who were at that show know what I mean. Lol. And the ****** whistler too!! L ol

 

My girls made friends with second city and we saw them several times

 

The comedian Sam fedele was great

 

The final port side party was very cute

 

The fireworks fun

 

The slides and ropes course great

 

The Sabrett hot dog cart a treasure and delicious

 

Uptown grill perfect and IMHO salads superb there

 

We ate at la cucina as that was the only speciality we hadn't tried in past cruises Waste of time and money IMO

 

Manhattan room meals were huge with incredible large steaks

 

Same with taste and savor

 

Buffet crepes delicious as was all the buffet food. The buffet was very nicely designed as well. Good traffic flow.

 

Cabin steward wonderful

 

All staff extremely friendly

 

We bought a cruise certificate of course but not liking the Bermuda prices at the moment at all!!!!

 

I sailed with my 2 college kids in an I nside guarantee and paid $2150 for all of us including tax and port. With tips excursions etc we still spent under $4000 total for 12 days for 3 pax!!!!

 

Next jan the girls are staying home to watch their younger sis and dh who stayed behind to watch her this time and I will do this cruise

 

She would never miss 10 days of school which included mid terms nor would I have ever taken her out either. Just the way we operate in my family. There were some 8 and under kids and very few families with kids between 9 and 17. Most were empty nesters and retired types and of course a number of families with their college break kids

 

AlSo many young 20 something type couples

 

No rowdy groups and I never laid eyes on a drunk. No pushing of drinks either

 

I loved the wine by the glass at the buffet. Get a plate of cheese fruit and crusty breads from the great buffet and just self purchase wines by the taste or the glass at the wine kiosk!!!

Just slide your card and they have nice long stemmed glasses right there

 

Simple and fun

 

Great cruise.... Only complaint.... They only do them in jan and feb from NYC..... A few in June July and August would be nice

 

And so would more 1 and 2 night ctns!!!!!! I would book those in the spring and summer and fall in a heartbeat!!

 

Last year the gem did monthly winter spring 1 night ctns. They need to do that more often!!!

 

Also bought the $39 Internet package and it was perfect on my wifi only iPad. No worries about chargeable data!!!!

 

 

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[teseo]

Thanks. This is great info. Looking forward for a long cruise. It looks like is gonna be a lot of fun.