Breakaway, May 8 - 15

[cdec77]

I booked a large balcony more than a year ago in April, 2015. This room was for me, my wife, my 6 year old daughter, and my 17 month old son. My 20 year old daughter and her friend booked a regular balcony room.

 

About a month prior to sailing I got an upsell email offering me a Haven forward facing penthouse or a courtyard penthouse for $750 each for the first two passengers or a 2 bedroom family villa for $1500 each. After a few hours of thinking about it I decided on the courtyard penthouse. I called the upsell line and the agent told me all they had left was a family villa for $1500 each. “Do you want it?” I paused for 30 seconds; I hate making decisions like that on the spot. “Yes, let’s do it,” I finally said, almost in a whisper. My $3,000 family vacation just turned into a $6,000 vacation. But, still significantly cheaper than the Haven rooms I was looking at several weeks earlier. The nature of this vacation just changed.

 

For background, this was my sixth cruise, having sailed on Explorer of the Seas to Bermuda in 2008 and their eastern Caribbean route in 2009, and Norwegian Jewel in 2011; as well as the old Celebrity Meridian in the early 1990’s and Sovereign of the Seas also in the early 1990’s when I was a teenager.

 

Embarkation: This was a breeze. I happen to have a family member who is a longshoreman so he placed a few calls and we had personal service from curbside until we were in the Haven waiting area. He also walked my daughter and her friend into the Haven waiting area with us after they checked in even though not Haven guests. So, they got to board with us.

 

We boarded the ship around noon and were brought up to the Deck 16 Haven area, where we were introduced to our Concierge, David, and his team. We then went down a floor to our Deck 15 family villa. Our luggage was already there. We hung out a bit, taking pictures of the room and of the GWB in the distance. We then walked our daughter and her friend to their room, deck 11, aft. We then went to the Splash Academy to register our 6 year old and to lunch at Savor.

 

Meals: When I booked the cruise initially I chose the UBP and when I took the upsell I wasn’t permitted to get the other perks, so no UDP. We ate dinner at Savor three times, the Manhattan Room twice, the Haven Restaurant twice, and Moderno once (on Monday night). Probably would have eaten at the Haven Restaurant more often, but we wanted to eat with my daughter who was not in the Haven.

 

I ate in the Haven Restaurant for breakfast six days. I wake up early to workout, so I ate there alone those mornings.

 

For lunch, it was a mix of buffet, Haven courtyard, and Uptown Grill. I recommend the Uptown Grill for the best burgers, but twice they forget to include one of the burgers I ordered.

 

Bermuda: We got lucky with nearly perfect weather, unlike the week before, of about 75 degrees each day, which felt really hot after the stretch of weather we have been experiencing in NYC the last few weeks. On Wednesday we did the aquarium and caves excursion. The price was a bit steep, $99 for the two adults, and $85 for the six year old (free for our 17 month old), but probably about the same price I would have paid if we took taxis to these places on our own.

 

The tour was in individual taxis. Our family was placed with another family of 3. It turned out the family with us lives about a mile away from us, fortuitously. So, we became fast friends. The tour kicked off around 1:15, taking us to Crystal Caves first and the aquarium/zoo second. We were done around 4:10 there and made it to Hamilton for the 4:30 pm ferry. It was too early to stay for Harbour Nights with the kids.

 

When we first docked that morning I bought a $15 wifi package. I previously bought a $59 package onboard, but it stopped working on Tuesday morning. I took the refund they offered onboard. The Bermuda wifi package was fine for checking work email, sending a few business texts, and reading some news.

 

On Thursday we took a taxi to Horseshoe Bay. Last time we were there in 2008 it was late April and about 60 degrees and rainy. So, we didn’t get to experience it. This day was different. The beach was packed and the sun was out. We spent about 4 hours there. I was afraid of cold water temperatures, but it was fine for us northeasterners. We took a taxi back.

 

On Friday, we did a little shopping and exploring of the Dockyard area and returned to the ship. My oldest daughter said she saw people sprinting to make the ship right before it was to sail away, and two people didn’t make it. Later on I overheard others saying they saw that these two that missed the boat were delivered to our ship on the pilot boat. I didn’t see that so I can’t confirm.

 

The Haven: Our butler, Gian, was great. He and our Steward, Eugene, called out for the kids every time they saw us walking in the hall. By the end of the week, they were all fast friends and gave each fives whenever seeing each other. While still in port in NYC, I made the mistake of ordering room service from the general room service number. When I told Gian when he stopped by he reminded me to call him for all our needs.

 

We had a late breakfast delivered 4 days, a second breakfast for me after an early one in the Haven restaurant, and a first breakfast for my wife and the kids.

 

We spent three days in the Haven courtyard pool. It never even got close to getting crowded in there, max I saw in the pool area was about 10 pool (pool and hot tubs). The crowds at the main pool juxtaposed to the Haven pool area were striking, and I appreciated this perk.

 

Another perk I appreciated was the Haven cell phone. It made it so much easier dealing with the Splash Academy, since two nights my six year old wanted to leave early. It was so much better to tell them to call you on the phone if needed, instead of trying to guess where you would be that night so they can track you down.

 

Some random observations: I will probably add more when I have time to write more. The ship is big and there are a lot of people onboard. It was annoying at times when people felt the need to squeeze themselves into an already full elevator. The elevators are efficient and one was never far from your floor. So, it wasn’t necessary to squeeze in, ever.

 

Something funny I noticed is that even after six days some people still didn’t understand that to open the doors going outside you just had to touch the little circle with the hand in it. It was funny watching some people trying to figure it out after they had been on board almost a week.

 

This was my first cruise with an UBP. And some people drink a lot, starting at 9:00am. I’ll admit I had some drinks, particularly Glenfiddich on the rocks at night, but nowhere near what many people had. Almost every bar was packed at all hours and I saw people stumbling around at all times.

 

Our room was amazing. I am not sure how I will cruise in a regular room again. I priced out the same room for the same cruise next year, and it came out to just about double the $6,000 I paid. So, if there is no upsell, this will likely be our only Haven experience. For $12,000 there are many other trips I can do, or go on three cruises in a year.

 

We took advantage of the rock wall on multiple occasions, as well as the rope course. Neither of these were too crowded on the days we did them (Monday and Tuesday). People were more interested in daytime drinking, I think.

 

If anyone has any questions, let me know. I may or may not post more to this review, but will gladly answer any questions. Thanks for reading!

[Viva_la_Vida]

Thanks for the great review! I'm glad you guys had nice weather in Bermuda.

[Gershep]

Great review!

[CMW5060]

My husband and I were on this same sailing. It was our first NCL cruise. We had a very enjoyable time, the weather was perfect and we found the crew to be very accommodating and friendly. These folks work very hard to try and please. I would go back to Bermuda in a heartbeat! Lovely!

[wndmom]

How much is the cab to horseshoe bay?

[cdec77]

Taxi was $32 each direction.

 

 

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[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[Sizzlechest]

Why did you take a cab for $32 each way when there's a shuttle bus for half the price? The Number 7 bus will get you there for even less.

[cdec77]

There were 6 of us that I was paying for, well, really 5. So, the math worked out for me to travel in more privacy. The taxi should have been $40 because of the extra passengers (the two kids under 12 added up to one passenger, which makes 5, which means there is an extra charge, but neither taxi driver charged the extra).

 

 

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[Clarea]

Appreciate the feedback.

[cruise4family]

cdec77, thank you for the review. Just so I understand correctly, you paid $32 each way total for everyone (5 people) to taxi to Horseshoe Bay? Thank you for the information regarding the Haven too.

[cdec77]

cdec77, thank you for the review. Just so I understand correctly, you paid $32 each way total for everyone (5 people) to taxi to Horseshoe Bay? Thank you for the information regarding the Haven too.

 

Yes, that is correct. Taxi was $32 each way.

[fluffysue]

I'll admit I came over here mostly to find out what happened to the folks who got left behind; I was on the Summit watching the Breakaway leave and saw them running to make the ship after it left. (they were over half an hour late). I thought I saw them walking away a short time later, it didn't seem like they got on a boat, unless that happened much later. I had heard they tried to get on the Summit but of course regulations do not allow that. (Too bad, as the cab ride from Bayonne to NYC would've been much less than plane fare from Bermuda. I think. :rolleyes:).

 

Of course I can't comment on Breakaway, though it sounds like an awesome ship from the people I spoke to who were on it...I'd love to try that waterslide! Many of us bought 2-day bus passes on Wednesday but on Thursday those of us going to Horseshoe Bay ended up taking a cab due to the bus line (Apparently everyone on both ships was trying to leave at the same time.) I'd researched cab prices and they sounded much more expensive than what we ended up being charged ($7 or $8 per person). Next time I'd consider skipping the bus pass and maybe buy a book of tickets (which I saw no option to buy at the Dockyard).

 

Glad we had such lovely weather, and the water while a bit cool was at least not bone-chillingly cold like NJ beaches at this time of year, not to mention a lot prettier. :)

 

I'm curious to know more about the Breakaway but I will have to research what it is like for those who don't want to pay for the extras like the special pool areas and such. :)