MITSUGIRLY BREAKAWAY's 1 last time for the year-review/pictorial

[medicalma'am]

I have read that The World owners are allowed to have a guest for up to a week at a time - Love to be one of those! I would just like to meet a resident in port and talk to them about the experience and travels.

 

The hull was built in Sweden and it was completed in Norway in 2002

Operator: ResidenSea (address: “14471 Miramar Parkway, Miramar, FL 33027, USA”, tel: +1 (954) 416-3644). Original owner – Knut Kloster Jr (the former chairman of “Royal Viking Line” and NCL – “Norwegian Cruise Lines”).

Bought by the residents in October 2003

165 apartments owned by 130 families

Owners from 19 countries: 50 % North Americans, 35% Europeans, 15% from Asia, Australia, South America and South Africa

12 decks, 1 helicopter pad, 2 pools, one mini golf, 4 restaurants, a deli and a pool grill,1 tennis court, health club, spa

250 staff/crew

Short-term rentals – you can rent some of The World’s cruise apartments (depending on category) from ~$550 for a studio apartment (per person per night, min for 5 days) to suite rentals – from ~$20,000 a month. Some of the residences are also available for rent – at US$2100 a day. Discounts are available for repeat guests

Service fees range from $60,000 to $270,000 a year!

 

It would take more than the lottery to live aboard this ship, LOL. That is quite a maintenance fee.

 

[Bra_BE2014]

Don't forget the little stool chair you sit on at the desk. The seat part comes off and there's storage down in there too if you need it.

 

 

I really wish we had some type of choice to pick from when we turn platinum, but I know that would just be too confusing and create more work for the employees. I just don't like chocolate (so that eliminates both chocolate items) and we don't like wine or champagne either. Scratch that off the list of platinum goodies as well. Sigh. I would be much happier if they could just give added OBC or something...anything...other than those items. Send me a plate of bacon, leave me a piece of cheesecake, throw in a few cans of pop...just anything I can personally make use of.

 

Oh well, I guess it's the thought that counts. I'm sure I'll find someone that will eat the items.

 

 

You don't like chocolate and champagne?! What's the matter with you girl :D

[jenseib]

Got myself caught up!

The ship is beautiful! I have had this one on my radar for a bit. I just need to win the lottery so I can cruise every ship I want and not have my husband complain! ;)

 

We had the drink package too and I enjoyed trying a few new drinks. My favorite was the Mango Meltdown....boy that was darn good!

 

I bet you would love Alaska. It was such an amazing cruise and the scenery is just breath taking. I hope you do decide to make it there in the future.

[mitsugirly]

I also noticed you were docked next to "The World"! She's a condo cruise ship, each cabin suite is privately owned. I would love to be an owner there, but the price is WAY ABOVE my price range! Do a search and you will find a lot more info.

 

I loved seeing Sakari on the ropes course! She did a great job out there! She certainly earned her bragging rights, and I expect Brayden was motivated to keep up with her.

 

The NY city skyline pictures are beautiful. Almost makes me want to head back up north for a visit. Then I remember it's Oct now, it's getting cold up there, and here in FL where we live now it's in the 80's. I'm like you, I don't like the cold. I'm staying right here!

 

I did some research...WOW! I found pictures of the "apartments" and they are beautiful. The price on them though....OUCH! My hubby said "You know I could do my job from a cruise ship, only need internet and you could be the nurse on the ship." I told him the starting prices for just a studio. He said "I think I'll keep my current location." LOL

 

Yep, Sakari earned her bragging rights...with just a small melt down in the middle of bragging. :p She actually would ask to do it again later in the week. :eek:

 

Yea, I wouldn't give up the Florida weather for the weather up north here now for anything. :p

 

 

 

The World is a cruise ship where you buy your cabin (They call it an apartment) and live there! It's super expensive, but you cruise literally all the time! It has overnight stays of 2-5 nights per port and the itinerary is voted on by the residents. I would love to do that, but I would have to win the lottery (Possibly more than once)! But a man can dream :rolleyes:.

 

I had no idea anything like this existed. I really wish I would have known when we were sitting beside it. I would have paid attention to it a little more and maybe got better pictures.

[mitsugirly]

I just want to say how much I enjoy your reviews. Although I sail Princess, it is because of your reviews that I have booked Maya Key, and doing Shark Alley in Belize, though we will be flying over to Ambergris Caye for our upcoming cruise. Because Princess does not do an excursion for Shark Alley, I wouldn't of known that except for your review. I hope my photos turn out half as well as yours. Glad you had a wonderful time with your family, and keep up the good writing!

 

Aww, thank you so much for the kind words. I hope you end up with some awesome pictures and a lot of fun to go along with that. :)

 

I have read that The World owners are allowed to have a guest for up to a week at a time - Love to be one of those! I would just like to meet a resident in port and talk to them about the experience and travels.

 

The hull was built in Sweden and it was completed in Norway in 2002

Operator: ResidenSea (address: “14471 Miramar Parkway' date=' Miramar, FL 33027, USA”, tel: +1 (954) 416-3644). Original owner – Knut Kloster Jr (the former chairman of “Royal Viking Line” and NCL – “Norwegian Cruise Lines”).

Bought by the residents in October 2003

165 apartments owned by 130 families

Owners from 19 countries: 50 % North Americans, 35% Europeans, 15% from Asia, Australia, South America and South Africa

12 decks, 1 helicopter pad, 2 pools, one mini golf, 4 restaurants, a deli and a pool grill,1 tennis court, health club, spa

250 staff/crew

Short-term rentals – you can rent some of The World’s cruise apartments (depending on category) from ~$550 for a studio apartment (per person per night, min for 5 days) to suite rentals – from ~$20,000 a month. Some of the residences are also available for rent – at US$2100 a day. Discounts are available for repeat guests

Service fees range from $60,000 to $270,000 a year!

 

It would take more than the lottery to live aboard this ship, LOL. That is quite a maintenance fee.[/size']

 

I did a search on it last night and I read this information and couldn't believe the pricing. WOW! Yea, I don't think the lottery would work at this point. LOL I can't even imagine who lives on there or owns one of those. Like "where did I go wrong" with my career choice? LOL :D

[mitsugirly]

You don't like chocolate and champagne?! What's the matter with you girl :D

 

I know, I'm weird. I also don't like things like steak or pork chops or a lot of meat. :eek: No, I'm not a vegetarian either. LOL

 

I guess I should clarify a little...I do like white chocolate. :D But not just to still around and eat it plain. It has to have something else with it like peanut butter...in a Reese's. But that doesn't happen often.

 

Got myself caught up!

The ship is beautiful! I have had this one on my radar for a bit. I just need to win the lottery so I can cruise every ship I want and not have my husband complain! ;)

 

We had the drink package too and I enjoyed trying a few new drinks. My favorite was the Mango Meltdown....boy that was darn good!

 

I bet you would love Alaska. It was such an amazing cruise and the scenery is just breath taking. I hope you do decide to make it there in the future.

 

YES! I also loved the Mango Meltdown! I noticed another passenger getting that drink and it "looked" pretty so I had to order one....and loved it.

 

I have a feeling I would love the Alaska cruise as well...just not the weather. I would probably be over my 50# weight limit with the airlines packing for that cruise. Here at home, during the winter, I usually wear my long johns, pants over that, a long sleeve tight shirt with a tee over that and then a hoodie over that...then my heavy coat, 2 pairs of socks and my boots...then all the "accessories" to bundle up. YES, I also usually have all that on in the house minus the boots and coat. :p AND sit with a space heater on most of the time. Brrrr...I'm just not a cold loving person.

[mickev99]

I did a search on it last night and I read this information and couldn't believe the pricing. WOW! Yea, I don't think the lottery would work at this point. LOL I can't even imagine who lives on there or owns one of those. Like "where did I go wrong" with my career choice? LOL :D

 

Yeah, my husband and I ask that all the time when we drive through the expensive (and expensive isn't even the word) areas of Atlanta just to dream. My kids love to go for a drive to look at the "rich people houses". It's nice to look and dream, but we will never be living in one of those...the World OR the rich people houses, LOL.

[mitsugirly]

I just wanted to finish up this Day 1 part before I head off to work for a few hours...

 

 

So after taking a few pictures from the balcony (and now discovering what The World Cruise ship is) we just hung out in the room for the rest of the night since the casino was not open, the shops where not open and now having the munchkin with us, we were pretty limited to what we could do...especially with it being cold out.

 

We were able to meet our room steward "Ruby" and she was extremely nice.

 

I also noticed that we did not have our latitudes ship pins and ask her for those. This has become the "norm" on our last 4-5 cruises...not getting our pins in the room and having to ask for them. She said she would locate some and bring them to us tomorrow, but usually you could ask for some at the customer service desk.

 

Ruby also apologized for not having our robes in the room. :confused: Now I have noticed that sometimes we have robes (usually when we have been VIP status before) and other times we don't. So, I'm wondering why you get them in the first place? Is it the new Plantinum level status we obtained that now gets us robes on each cruise? I'm really not sure. However, we never use them. So, it really doesn't matter if she forgot them or not. We never use robes at home, even though we both have them, so I imagine having them on the cruise isn't going to change that. Ruby stated she would bring them tomorrow and kept apologizing. I told her it was no big deal, not to worry about it.

 

Even though the shops were not open today, I wanted to share our pictures from this day...since it's goes along with this Day 1 review.

 

The hubby and I both wore our "Bermuda" shirts from our previous cruise a few months ago. (I have to admit, I need to start planning this a little better with the color coordination. Man we're a hot mess)

 

 

 

Then a picture with the entire group...all my kiddies TOGETHER this time...woo hoo.

 

 

We were up early at the hotel and we had a busy day on the ship and even busier night bar hoping and we were all a little tired. I believe we went to bed around midnight or so and I knew I would miss going by the Statue of Liberty, but I figured I would just catch it on the way back. I was just too tired!

 

 

However, I do remember feeling the ship pulling out of port...at least I think that's what I felt when sleeping. Then at some point I jumped up to see if we really were and I might decide to stay up to take some pictures. I ran to the balcony only to discover we were out in the middle of nowhere and nothing was around us anymore. :( I guess I had missed it and we were now out to sea. Oh well, on the way back I'll catch it and back to bed I went.

 

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

END OF DAY 1

[#55worktoplay]

..IT WAS MY HUSBANDS LUGGAGE!!! At first I thought the hubby was moving up toward me, but as I raised my head, I seen the guy pulling it along and...being a nurse, all I could think of was "save the luggage" and I went into action. The guy pushed his luggage off the tram, he stepped foot off the tram and just before they hubbys luggage also went off the tram, I grabbed the handle and yanked it from this monsters claws as the door shut! SERIOUSLY???

 

Hi Kim, First Inwant to thank you for your wonderful reviews, I have yet to sail on Norwegian but will some day, local casino keeps giving me free cruises but I only want to go on 5day max cruises due to missing my 4 legged baby at home! They won't let me go on the shorter cruises except for the 3 or 4 day ones on the Sky and that is probably going to what I do eventually.

 

I love your reviews and have even gone to a place in Cozumel based on your review, I believe it was Playa Mia, it was great too.

 

So about the luggage, the same thing happened to me last year in Fort Lauderdale but not actually someone walking off with it but the shuttle driver to what I think taking it away with him and the empty bus.

 

There were 8 of us and I like you are the ring leader so I always make sure everyone is off the bus with luggage the bus was just about to drive off when I notice my luggage wasn't with us as the bus is driving away. I got chasing the bus on foot while banging on the side of the bus and he stopped and opened the door and there was my very Large suitcase sitting in the middle of the floor that he would have to walk around to get to his seat. I said "trying to take off with my luggage huh, as I got up and took it off the bus myself as I looked at him with complete disgust, this is even after I tipped him 2.00 per piece of all of the bags with our group. What a mess I would have been in if I didn't clue in at the moment I did that my bag wasn't with us.

 

Thanks again for the review!

[mitsugirly]

Hi Kim, First Inwant to thank you for your wonderful reviews, I have yet to sail on Norwegian but will some day, local casino keeps giving me free cruises but I only want to go on 5day max cruises due to missing my 4 legged baby at home! They won't let me go on the shorter cruises except for the 3 or 4 day ones on the Sky and that is probably going to what I do eventually.

 

I love your reviews and have even gone to a place in Cozumel based on your review, I believe it was Playa Mia, it was great too.

 

So about the luggage, the same thing happened to me last year in Fort Lauderdale but not actually someone walking off with it but the shuttle driver to what I think taking it away with him and the empty bus.

 

There were 8 of us and I like you are the ring leader so I always make sure everyone is off the bus with luggage the bus was just about to drive off when I notice my luggage wasn't with us as the bus is driving away. I got chasing the bus on foot while banging on the side of the bus and he stopped and opened the door and there was my very Large suitcase sitting in the middle of the floor that he would have to walk around to get to his seat. I said "trying to take off with my luggage huh, as I got up and took it off the bus myself as I looked at him with complete disgust, this is even after I tipped him 2.00 per piece of all of the bags with our group. What a mess I would have been in if I didn't clue in at the moment I did that my bag wasn't with us.

 

Thanks again for the review!

 

Thank you for posting and the kind words. I'm glad to hear you had a good day at Playa Mia based on my review. That's awesome.

 

So sorry to hear about your luggage in FLL. Wow, it just amazes me things people do. Glad to hear you got it back just in time. This world is loaded with shady people. It just sickens me.

[gmazz]

Loved your balcony surprise!

 

We surprised our girls with an upgrade from a balcony to a minisuite compliments if NCL. We were originally booked on the BA cruise for the July 4th week and about a month or so before the cruise they offered the upgrade if you would switch to the week before which turned out to be a better week for my husband to be away from work and my younger daughter was done with school the Monday before so it was a no brainer for us. We told the girls that NCL was looking for people to go the week earlier to fill the boat and that hubby really needed to change the date. Loved getting to surprise them when we got to the rooms and they had the bon voyage decorations from us and I did the chocolate covered strawberries for hubbie. They were awesome!

 

Really enjoying your review!!!

[mitsugirly]

DAY 2: MONDAY OCTOBER 5

 

Our first full sea day and I had completely intended to sleep in. Well, that didn't happen. I'm not sure what it is about cruising. It completely throws my normal schedule off. I'm not an early morning person. I get up around 10:30am-11am and stay up half the night with around a 2-3am bed time...most of the time. But while cruising, I become "normal". LOL

 

The ocean had released her furry on us and she was making it known that she was pissed that Joaquin had disturbed her sleep. (She must be on the same schedule as me). The ship was rocking back and forth and I started to wonder just how much I actually drank the night before. I thought I had behaved myself for the most part. I was now doubting myself.

 

A quick call to the kids to see if they were wanting to head to breakfast and I find Kenny sick as a dog. He woke up to the ship moving back and forth and he was throwing up everywhere. He tried to take a shower and threw up several times in there as well. He's always been my child (after becoming an adult) that refused to go to the theme parks and ride the rides saying he would get sick or a headache. We never believed him because he sure didn't have this problem growing up. He also refuses to ride in the back seat of a car saying it makes him sick. Yea right, you just want to ride of front. But this time...there was proof. Poor baby.

 

So Kolin and I head upstairs to check out the weather, hoping for "warmer" weather than yesterday. It was still pretty chilly and not my idea of cruise weather.

 

We get up there and the pool water was splashing so high from both ends as the ship rocked back and forth, up and down. I attempted to take pictures several times, but my reaction time just wasn't the greatest that early in the morning. We sat and people watched for awhile. The pool was like a hawk waiting for it's pray to come along. The minute someone walked between the pool and the pool bar, 8-10' waves came spashing out of the pool at them. Some were able to dodge it, others were not so lucky.

 

We headed back to our rooms and I woke up the hubs and Sakari and told them I was going to breakfast. This strategy always seems to work in getting them up because they think they're going to get left behind...especially when I say "goodbye, see ya later." It's the magical word. :D

 

I took out the daily to see what was going on today while they were getting ready:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Out on the balcony, I took a short video of the waves. I honestly didn't think they were "that" bad, but then again, I don't get sea sick either, so I can't quite comprehend what others go through. I have to say, we are quite lucky. The hubs, Sakari and I all do not get sea sick and I'd like to keep it that was Joaquin!! So settle yourself down.

 

Video below (click):

 

 

No, I don't think the waves looked too bad, but the Captain reported (I believe) 25-28' waves at any given time. Maybe I just didn't catch it at the right moment because to me, the waves looked small at the moment. It would continue throughout the day and I think it was more noticeable up on the pool deck, especially when you are either looking toward the front or back of the ship. You will see the end of the ship going up and down compared to the horizon and THEN you could really tell.

[mitsugirly]

We are not big MDR eaters while on the cruise. Most of the time it's non-stop go-go-go for us and we always like to grab a quick bite to eat and be gone, especially on port days. For any given cruise, we may eat dinner at the MDR once or twice and maybe breakfast once. For lunch we have done it a few times. However, I swear the times they are open are never the times that we are hungry and looking for a place to eat. Plus, they close early for breakfast compared to other places.

 

We eat at the buffets a lot because it's just so simple to do, especially when you have a big group. I like buffets at home, I like buffets on the ship. There's so much to chose from and I like the fact that you can actually see the food first. I always sit back and scratch my head at the people that say they don't like the buffets, the food, it was bad and so on. The buffet is HUGE, there's a WIDE variety of various foods. I'm sorry, if you can't find SOMETHING you like then...well, let's just say I find this weird and leave it at that.

 

If it looks appealing, why not try it. The greatest thing is, if you don't like it, you can go back and try something else that you might find. If you do like it, there's plenty more for round 2...or 3. Plus you don't have to wait to be seated, you don't have to wait for someone to take your order. You don't have to wait for your food to come out. MDR meals usually take 1-1 1/2 hours and when you don't want to spend that time there, buffets are just the thing for us. So a majority of our meals are done buffet style.

 

HOWEVER, since this was a sea day and we were not in a hurry to get to anywhere. We decided to head some place other than the buffet and relax in each others company. We headed to O'Sheehans. I bet I just completely confused you all after all that talk about the buffet huh?

 

O'Sheehans has a simple breakfast menu to pick from and it has everything on it that I would normally pick while at the buffet or out to eat. So, you can't go wrong.

 

 

 

 

 

They ask if you'd like some danishes and of course I'm not going to pass that up.

 

 

 

We placed our order and I ask for my normal orange juice and diet Pepsi. I don't drink coffee, so have to get my caffeine fix other ways. (Notice the Pepsi can...NEW YORK)

 

 

 

 

Our breakfast came and it was YUMMY!

 

 

I don't know what type of mushrooms they use or how they sautée them, but they are so good.

[workingmom200112]

 

So after taking a few pictures from the balcony (and now discovering what The World Cruise ship is) we just hung out in the room for the rest of the night since the casino was not open, the shops where not open and now having the munchkin with us, we were pretty limited to what we could do...especially with it being cold out.

 

 

So glad you took those pictures! I am planning on parking at the port for my up coming cruise, but have been very nervous about availability (since you can not make a reservation) but from your pictures it looks like there is plenty of parking. So I feel much better now, so thank you :D

[CTSandy]

Kim, I don't know how I missed your first postings about this trip, but I just found it yesterday and have been getting caught up on your adventures! We did Breakaway to Bermuda on 9/20 to 9/27 - had great weather, one of the sea days was a little rough and I saw barf bags set out by the elevators, but we were fine. Hope you all enjoyed the balcony - I've always sailled with one, but my niece and her husband had an inside cabin and they said they found it very comfortable. Looking forward to reading the rest of your report!

Thanks for sharing - Sandy

[mitsugirly]

After breakfast Sakari decided she wanted to go to the Kids Club for a little while. It was 10:30 and I told her she would not have much time there since they close at 12 noon, but she insisted that she was wanting to go and see her "friends". Sakari is such an outgoing child and makes friends easily and loves to be around other kids no matter the age. She quickly became friends with a few of the girls in her age group and she would play and talk to them outside of the kids club.

 

 

 

Todays decor in the kids club:

 

 

At 12 noon, after picking up Sakari, we headed down to the atrium where they would be having Dora's dance party. Sakari has always attended these when they are available and she enjoys them. They sing and dance to various (what I would call Nursery type rhymes)...and when there's dancing involved, she's there.

 

 

 

We took a seat at the bar and I had my first drink of the day. A smile to brighten my day. It's not too early to start drinking right? I mean I already feel as if I've had quite a few with the way the ship was rocking. My thoughts were to get a few drinks in me and maybe it would even out the rocking and I'd be able to walk normal. :p

 

 

 

The party continued and the kids there had a blast. I did notice that the main girl there directing the songs and dances we had just seen on another ship doing the same thing. I'm not sure if it was the Dawn or maybe a ship before that last year. She definitely has a recognizable face/hair to me because she reminds me a lot like a girl I worked with in the ER. She's great and is so full of energy and looks like she really enjoys what she does.

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

After the dance party, we were a little unsure of what to do...involving the munchkin. It was too cold to swim or head to the water slides. We had already done the ropes course. To me, it was a little cold outside and I would much rather stay inside where it was warm.

 

On our Carnival cruise, Kendra's sister in law took the kids to the game room where they all played Monopoly and Sakari loved it. I guess I have never thought about playing games, cards or anything like that while on a cruise. My thoughts were always "You can play games at home, why spend precious time doing that on a cruise?" However, that was the first thought I had after the show...take Sakari to play some games inside.

 

We headed to the card/game room to see what we could find that would be appropriate for her "age" while daddy looked at me wondering what we were about to do. (See, the thought never crossed his mind before either).

 

We decided we would play Chutes & Ladders. Sakari has this game at home and for some reason she never bothers to play it. So why not now?

 

 

We finished the game and mommy won. Thanks to daddy constantly sliding down the chute, he would come in last allowing Sakari to finish in second place. In the end, we all remained friends and met at the finish line.

 

 

 

Next up was a game of Yahtzee. This would be the first time I found out that daddy has never played this game before. Seriously? I never knew this. Every time they rolled, they looked to the pro, me, to see what I thought would be the best to do with their roll. I so could have cheated during this game, but I kept it clean and honest. I guess I didn't have enough drinks in me yet to be mischievous.

 

 

So much for me being the pro at Yahtzee. Sakari beat us both!

 

 

Right around the corner of the game room is the Cirque theater. Sakari likes to mimic the various characters/statues she will see on the ships and this would not be the exception.

 

[mitsugirly]

It was time for some lunch and Sakari said she wanted some pizza so off to the buffet we went.

 

Fries, pizza and some mac a cheese...always a good combo. lol

 

 

 

Just fries and pizza for me with a little bit of some type of cold risotto dish that was pretty yummy.

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

Our bellies were full and we decided to try the pool deck and see if it was warm enough to spend a little bit of time outside. If it wasn't, we were going to get some drinks in our system to warm up. Well, honestly, if it was warm, we were still going to get some drinks in our system.

 

It was still cold and windy so we came up with a better idea. Grab some drinks to take back to our room and warm up.

 

Once back at the room, I looked out to the sea and seen this:

 

 

I snapped a picture of down below:

 

 

 

I looked up again and the rainbow had moved:

 

 

It just kept moving all over the place. At one point there was even one that went up and down, but my picture did not turn out too well. You could tell it was there, but barely.

 

A few more pictures of the Breakaway making her way toward Bermuda in the rough seas:

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

When we arrived back to the room, Ruby the room steward handed us our bath robes. I thanked her, but knew we would probably never use them and tucked them away in the corner.

 

 

She also handed me 2 small note pads and a pEn. I thanked her again, but I obviously must have had a bewildered look on my face because she had this questionable look on her face after this. Then she said "You wanted a pen!?". OHHHHH, I get it now. Nooo, not that kind of pEn. I wanted a pIn. Not the kind you write with. The kind you would take the backing off and like...put it on your shirt and put the backing back on. Kinda like an earring. I really didn't know how to explain it to her. It was like playing charades and I was failing miserably. I think I used several different examples before she finally caught on. Then she said they don't have those and she would not be able to get me any. SAY WHAT? She went back and ask her supervisor about them and came back and confirmed that she would not be able to get any, but I could go down to the Latitudes desk to get mine.

 

I have never heard of such a thing. Every cruise I have been on the room steward always has a bag of them that you can get them when asked. This would be a first. Not a problem for me of course, but still a first. I have managed to get them at the Customer Service desk as well. So if any of you looking for them and can't find any...try the Customer Service desk or the latitudes desk (where you book a cruise or buy your deposits) and you should be able to locate some. ALSO, if you get back home and didn't get one, you can also email latitudes and they'll ship them to you using regular mail. I have done this once before with no issues.

 

I went down to the latitudes desk and they handed me our 3 pIns. I was a happy cruiser now.

 

 

We checked on the kids to find that Kenny was still extremely sick. Kendra sometimes get motion sickness so she comes prepared with every type of medication and bracelet possible. She had given him some, which was making him sleepy. But he said "At least when I'm sleeping, I don't know I'm feeling sick." Kendra was also feeling ill and staying in bed all day. I think everyone pretty much slept off the day except us.

 

 

At 2pm, Sakari headed back to the kids club for awhile and us big kids headed to the casino. Woo hoo, come to momma. Momma needs a new pair of shoes...or in my case, another cruise.

 

We didn't have much luck today, so we didn't stay there too long. My all time favorite game that I played and won continuously was not so nice to me. Not 1 bonus round and only a few winning lines. Ugh. So disappointing.

 

After we donated our money, we headed to the casino bar to drown our sorrows for awhile and then off to the shops to check out what they had to offer.

 

I really didn't see too many things that caught my eye and I have noticed on the last few ships that they seem to have next to nothing for children. I have always allowed Sakari to pick out 1 item each ship, which usually consist of a stuffed animal of some type of animal. She has quite a collection going and she can tell you exactly which ship she got all of them on. They had no stuffed animals, just like the last few cruises. But, I did manage to locate her collector ship ornament for this cruise. So, I was happy about that and knew she would be happy about it too since she was already asking me for one the first day when the shops were not open. Now, that I knew they had them, I would continue to use this as a "behave yourself device" during the week and then she would be awarded toward the end of the cruise with one if she earned it. :D (We all know she's going to earn it no matter what...but still).

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

At 5pm we picked up the munchkin and headed back to the Atrium where we knew it was meet & greet time with some of the Nick characters. I honestly had no idea who was going to be there, but knew it was something Sakari would enjoy and it was a way to pass the time by.

 

When we arrived, we found Kendra and Brayden down there. They had come out of hiding for awhile and Kendra said she was still feeling a little sick, but wanted Brayden to do something since they had been sleeping all day.

 

We managed to be first in line and the kids headed out to meet the characters and get their pictures taken.

 

They do allow you to take a picture using your own camera.

 

 

 

Of course it's never going to look a groovy as the ships photographers picture because they add in all the special effects, have a flash and can do a white balance to make them look nice.

 

 

After that, we headed upstairs so that Kendra could eat for the first time today and of course we grabbed another drink at the bar. Sakari managed to bat her eyes at the bar tender and he made her a special drink complete with cherries...which she loves.

 

 

After Kendra & Brayden were done eating, we headed back down to the Atrium for awhile, just to hang out. Kolin and Courtney showed up and soon after that we found Kenny & Michelle coming. All the kids had emerged and none of them looked too white. Kenny was complaining of still feeling sick and I got my first "I will never do this again mom!" Sigh. I tried to explain to him it's not normally like this and it was because of the hurricane. I'm not so sure he believed me.

 

He had to go over to customer service to get his card fixed. For some reason it was not working at the bars, which is all he had used it for so far. Since we were always in a big group and we all had the UBP, when he ordered his drinks the night before, they would just end up putting his drink on one of our cards. Lucky us, since we had to pay the taxes on the drinks that night. They fixed his card and he left to try to get a bite to eat and we all decided to go to our rooms for awhile and hang out until it was time to eat again...which would be shortly. LOL

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

Around 7pm, the hubs, Sakari and I decided it was time to eat again. We headed up to the buffet to see what was going on and they were having a sea food night.

 

It made for some pretty pictures with the carvings and Sakari grabbed her a plate, which I knew she was not going to eat, but she insisted she wanted to try it. HAHAHAHAHA! We'll see.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

...because every plate of seafood and such should come with a pretzel roll...

 

 

My meal was yummy. Sakari's...well, just as I thought. The look on her face said it all and she quickly held it in her mouth after the first bite, just waiting for permission to spit it out with disgust. I knew she wasn't going to like it. I really wish I would have caught her expression at first, but this was a little after as she took it out of her mouth.

 

 

Ok, time to get you something else to eat little one. Off we went for some "kid friendly" food.

 

Once again, the pool was splishing and splashing as everyone walked by. Yep, this ship was still rocking with no signs of letting up. Once again, I didn't catch the real high waves/splashes. Darnit! I'm blaming this one on being too full to move to be fast enough to catch the splash....or my shutter speed was too slow. Yea, maybe that's it.

 

 

We dropped Sakari off back at the kids club after she insisted that's where she wanted to go instead of going to the show we had booked that night. Ok, well it's her cruise too, so she got to do what she wanted and off she went.

[mitsugirly]

We headed back to the room to change into something nice and would head to the show around 9:15pm to watch Burn the Floor.

 

To be honest, tonight, I was feeling a little uneasy with the belly. I think that the waves were starting to get to me a little as well. I did notice that if I was up and moving around, I didn't notice much. But the minute that I sat down and was still for awhile or laid down, my stomach started to get queasy.

 

At 9:15pm, we headed to the theater. Man it was packed! Kendra and family and Kolin and family joined us. Kenny was still sick and back to bed he went. We ended up sitting at the very back along the high table with bar stools. That was the only way we were going to find a place to sit together and some of the guys stood by us. We headed over to the bar to get some drinks for the show.

 

 

 

They started by introducing some of the staff.

 

 

Then the show began. To be quite honest, I really didn't care too much for the show or the singer, which I think might have been the lady from the atrium in the group fire & ice or something like that. I could tell the kids wasn't really enjoying the show either. We ended up leaving about 1/2 hour into the show and was glad we decided to take those back seats.

 

We picked Sakari up from the kids club after we left the show and she insisted that we needed ice cream. So we headed to the ice cream station.

 

 

 

 

 

Back to the room and we somehow had a new pet to take care of.

 

 

 

This doggie delivered a message to us letting us know that we were to change our clocks forward 1 hour. Well I'm glad they decide to do this on a sea day so we don't lose that hour right before getting into port and being super tired.

 

Sakari got ready for bed and took out her handy-dandy notebook and started drawing pictures, like always.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

Now there is one thing that I wanted to discuss here.

 

When Del Rio came in, he made tons of changes all within a matter of months, most without notifying the customers, which pissed off a lot of people.

 

One of the things he decided to implement was that you were no longer allowed to bring back food to your room. This outraged a lot of people. The cruisers spoke up, canceled bookings and in the end, their voice was heard and Andy Stewart announced they had reversed their decision that they would go back to their old policy of allowing food to be brought back to the room.

 

One of the reasons that Del Rio said they decided on this policy was the dirty plates in the hallways. He didn't want this type of impression of the ship. But, people did not buy this excuse...and neither did I. Why? Because they still allowed room service, which food is being brought to the room...BUT for a service fee now. But there are still dirty dishes and they are still put out in the hallway after they are done with them. (Of course another reason was the safety of food temps and bacteria growing and not being consumed during a timely matter. Obviously this was just another excuse because how often do the room stewards bring food to your room as a gift...like the chocolate covered strawberries, fruit plates and so on. You could be out of your room all day and the food sitting before you found it. So...no).

 

Now people have speculated the best way to get rid of the dirty dishes without cluttering the halls: anywhere from calling housekeeping to pick them up, taking them with you when you leave and returning to the buffet or any dinning area to putting them in the shower stall so that when the room steward is cleaning, they would know that you were ready for it to be taken away. I personally have experienced problems getting the room steward to remove dirty dishes and they will sit there for days before I end up putting them out in the hallway for removal. I can only take so long of them sitting on the desk taking up space when it's obvious that it's been there for days.

 

Welllllll.....

 

I would continue to notice on this cruise that the ROOM STEWARD was the one putting the dishes in the hallway on the floor. We witnessed her bringing dishes, cups, trays, either empty or still having food on them, out of rooms and setting them on the floor. She did not take them with her. She left them there. Kendra also stated that she (Ruby) had put hers out in the hallway as well when she cleaned. I did get pictures of this, but of course can't locate anything when it's needed. But, I did want to address this.

 

So whenever you see dirty dishes out in the hall, don't just assume that people are being inconsiderate and putting them out there. It just might be your room steward doing it. Maybe they have a system now that the room steward puts them out there and then calls someone to pick it up. I don't know. :confused:

[mitsugirly]

Loved your balcony surprise!

 

We surprised our girls with an upgrade from a balcony to a minisuite compliments if NCL. We were originally booked on the BA cruise for the July 4th week and about a month or so before the cruise they offered the upgrade if you would switch to the week before which turned out to be a better week for my husband to be away from work and my younger daughter was done with school the Monday before so it was a no brainer for us. We told the girls that NCL was looking for people to go the week earlier to fill the boat and that hubby really needed to change the date. Loved getting to surprise them when we got to the rooms and they had the bon voyage decorations from us and I did the chocolate covered strawberries for hubbie. They were awesome!

 

Really enjoying your review!!!

 

Thanks and glad you are enjoying the review.

 

Awesome that you were able to upgrade your girls to a mini suite. I know they appreciated that. :)

 

So glad you took those pictures! I am planning on parking at the port for my up coming cruise, but have been very nervous about availability (since you can not make a reservation) but from your pictures it looks like there is plenty of parking. So I feel much better now, so thank you :D

 

I had wondered if that area was the parking spot for the cruise ship parking, but wasn't sure since we didn't have to use it. Yea, it didn't seem to full at the time. Although it did fill up a little more (which you will see on my pictures after returning) there was still plenty of room. :)