7/31 - 8/7 Breakaway to Bermuda Review

[DebQ5]

I wanted to jot down some thoughts about our Bermuda cruise before the details got away from me. It turned into more of a review than I thought, and I enjoyed reliving it while writing. I'm sure I've left some things out, but wanted to provide my take on the Breakaway and Bermuda. I'm happy to answer any questions. Hate to be back in reality!

 

Preface: This was our 2nd NCL cruise but the last was 8 years ago on the Dawn. We had a great time then and another great time was had by all this time as well. We have previously cruised 4 times on Carnival and once on Disney. With me were my son and daughter, both in their early 20’s.

 

Room: We shared an AFT balcony room on the 11th floor and loved it. The balcony was phenomenal and held 2 lounge chairs, 2 regular chairs, and a small table, with plenty of room to walk around. We had 6 people out there last night and it didn’t feel crowded at all. The room itself was small but adequate for our needs. The bathroom was very good sized. My 3 friends shared the cabin next to us and felt the same. I recommend bringing extra hangers. We also used soft sided packing cubes (different colors for each of us) which worked really well with the shelves that were in the closet. Our cabin steward was fantastic. There were several times when my son was sleeping in the cabin and didn’t want to be disturbed and Gerando (sp?) always sought me out to ask if everything was ok and if we needed anything, etc. We didn’t care if the room wasn’t made up but he always wanted to make sure that we had everything we needed. We definitely experienced some vibration at different times during the trip and could faintly hear the music from Spice H20 some nights. None of this bothered us to any great extent. I did feel like I could hear other cabin doors slamming on occasion and I was surprised that the sound proofing wasn’t better.

 

Embarkation: We drove to NYC from Boston and parked at the cruise ship terminal for a total of $280. Worth every penny when we disembarked today and were in our car and on the road in short order. We had a 9:30 check in time and we arrived at the terminal at almost exactly 9:30 am. The first area you wait in had very little seating. Around 9:45 am people started lining up to enter the roped off line to go through security. If you want to get on the ship early you should get in this line. Once through security you get placed in a line to check-in. Try to keep your group together as ours got separated and got different boarding numbers. We got 5 and our friends got 17. Although initially denied, my friend was ultimately able to get a 5 from the person that we got ours from, but that person wasn’t happy about it. It’s not as easy to get different boarding cards as I thought it would be, based on some posts I read. Once through check-in you get placed in a certain area to continue to wait for boarding. There is a coffee cart and some snacks, etc. available. I don’t believe there is any particular reason why you have to sit in a certain area. We were placed in area B, which was fine for the first part of the wait, but we ultimately moved to the far end of the terminal (Section 2 I believe), where we periodically asked someone when we should board (not difficult to act dumb) and eventually were told to go ahead. This was prior to any announcements for boarding groups, however the Haven and CAS people had/were boarding. We got a bit held up as the card scanning machines seemed not to be working very well, but eventually we boarded the ship around 11:45.

 

O’Sheehans: We went to O’Sheehan’s for lunch the first day. They tried to steer us towards the buffet and main dining rooms but we were quite determined to stay and so we did and it was great. The service only got better as the cruise went on. The portions (with the exception of the hamburgers) aren’t huge but are just right. We thought the wings were great albeit extremely spicy the last time we got them. We had the UBP and we got drinks right away, and never had a problem throughout the cruise with the exception of one particularly busy night at the martini bar. We ate at O’Sheehans another day for appetizers during a rain spell. It was really crowded but well-staffed and we got seats and were served very quickly. One note: O’Sheehan’s is basically split into 2 sides, the restaurant side and the bar side. The bar side is first come first serve, and has a pool table and darts. The restaurant side has a hostess who you give your key card to and who will seat you. I did see some times where there was a wait to get in but we never waited during the times that we went. The bar side opens up to the other games (skee ball, car driving games, etc. and tucked in behind are the bowling lanes, which were actually very fun if a bit pricey ($5 per person). We also played pool one night which is a favorite of ours ($2 per game). We had dinner at O’Sheehans one night where Ingra served us. He was the best waiter we encountered during the trip. He was friendly, efficient, and seemed to enjoy what he was doing.

 

Specialty Dining: We had the 4 night UDP and ate at Cagney’s, Le Bistro and Teppenyaki. We used one of the nights on the Cirque show (and paid an additional fee, around $20/pp?). Cagney’s was as good as I remembered from the Dawn 8 years ago, however I feel like the Dawn’s Cagney’s had a better atmosphere. On the Breakaway Cagney’s is open to the Moderno restaurant and thus it had a less intimate feeling. Someone (the manager?) came by and explained how the UDP worked at Cagneys. He mentioned you could get one appetizer, one soup/salad, one entrée and 2 sides. When the server, who was lovely, came by she also explained the menu and noted that we could have as many appetizers and sides as we wanted and only one entrée, but could have additional entrees if we wanted and would pay the a la carte price. I know I had the shrimp, which were very good, and the sirloin steak with roasted Brussel sprouts and mushrooms, all of which were really good. We had various glasses of wine with dinner and the service was very good. The kids had the filet mignon and various sides and also enjoyed their meals.

 

Le Bistro: This restaurant was also different from the one on the Dawn in décor, and again I think I liked the Dawn’s better. This had a more modern feel. The service was formal and attentive. The appetizers were ok (wasn’t a big fan of the goat cheese salad that appeared to have no goat cheese) but the onion soup was very good and my filet was outstanding. It was a huge piece of steak that was well seasoned. Both kids got that as well and really liked it. My friends got the veal, a seafood dish, and something else that I can’t remember and everyone thoroughly enjoyed their food. This was a bit of a drawn out affair, which is good to keep in mind if you have a show reservation. We were there from 8:00 til about 9:45 or so, which included coffee and dessert.

 

Teppenyaki: We always try to eat at teppenyaki style restaurants when we travel. This one did not disappoint. Our chef was very good and entertaining. The fried rice was exceptional as was the chef special of filet and lobster tail. The desserts were not that great but I couldn’t have eaten another bite anyway. My daughter thought there could be more vegetables, but was otherwise very happy with her filet and chicken choice. My son rated this experience 2nd only to the surprisingly great meal and entertainment we had in Dublin a few back. I would highly recommend booking Teppenyaki.

 

Cirque Jungle of Dreams: I read all the reviews about this show and prepared my group regarding the potentially average/bad quality of the dinner. Most of us made sure we didn’t go in starving (never an issue on a cruise!). The dinner was ok, actually more of a distraction than anything, as you are served during the show. The servers participate in the show as well so service was a bit spotty but overall good. The show itself was very good. I am not a “cirque” type person and was happy to pay a much smaller ticket price to see a version of it. I was really surprised at the quality of the performers but don’t have anything to compare it to. It was thoroughly entertaining and my group really enjoyed themselves, including the one person who had been to several cirque shows.

 

Regular Dining: We ate most breakfasts in the dining room (a first for me). It was very nice, and it was particularly nice not to have to deal with the crowds in the buffet. That’s where you really saw how many people were on the ship. We did eat there on occasion for lunch and a few fast breakfasts. We never had to wait, the food was good, and there was always a table available. Of note, I’ve never seen such excellent service in a buffet before. There was staff everywhere clearing tables, replenishing silverware, etc. The only downside was the amount of people and the noise level. We ate in the Manhattan room one night, and it was very good. We were lucky enough to catch the burn the floor dancers perform a mini-show and we really enjoyed it. We tried the noodle bar one night and didn’t think it was worth the wait. The dumplings were good but the noodles had a weird tasting sauce on them. My friend thought the noodle soup bowl thing that she got was very good. That same friend and another tried the Sushi place another night and said it was very good and well worth the extra charge.

 

Deck/pool areas: Yes, the pool area is extremely crowded. That is not our scene and so we stayed mostly in the Vibe area, which we were fortunate enough to get passes for. While walking around the ship we always saw areas that weren’t as crowded and had open lounge chairs. The people in the pool area always seemed to be having a good time. We did not check out Spice H20 during the day but did go there at night a few times and it seemed nice. The decks were pretty hot in the sun but there were some places that were shaded.

 

Extra activities: We had an absolute blast on the ropes course. I’m not particularly agile and it was just challenging enough for me on some of the easier paths. My daughter is very agile and had fun on the more challenging paths. We both walked the plank which was extremely scary and cool at the same time. The zip line is a nice touch as well. The line moves pretty quickly so don’t be put off by it. As noted by many others, closed toe shoes are a must and I heard someone being asked if she had shorts on under her dress (it was actually a romper so that was all good) so apparently no skirts/dresses (not sure why you would wear that anyway, but it’s possible that someone could go in a bathing suit and a cover up and may get turned away.

 

We did not do the waterslides, rock wall or trampoline. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves though. We did several of the activities in the atrium area, including country line dancing (very good instructions!) and trivia (only a few times due to the timing). We watched several shows from the balcony area of O’Sheehans, which could get crowded at times. The 55 to stay alive game was particularly entertaining. The atrium area is smallish, as noted by many other reviewers, but during our cruise at least, seemed adequate. There were lounge type singers there every night which did not appeal to me but others seemed to enjoy them.

 

Shows: We saw burn the floor which was excellent. We caught them in the Manhattan dining room one night and then saw the full show. Very talented performers and well-choreographed. The full show had a live band and singer which was an unexpected but nice touch. We saw Rock of Ages which everyone liked. We see a lot of musicals and this doesn’t happen to be a favorite of mine, but it was well done. We also caught the end of Carla Stickler’s performance, which was good. I felt like they could have done a bit more in regards to staging or support for her singing, but she herself was great. We caught a late show of Second City which was pretty good. The short skits were better than the longer ones. I personally did not love the layout of Headliners, which were rows of chairs which some small side tables in between. I prefer individual tables with chairs around them, but I’m sure it’s set up this way to accommodate more people. I found it particularly annoying for the dueling piano show, for some reason, and only went once, when I usually love those types of things.

 

Bars: We had a great time trying out all the different bars. The Martini bar (crowded as not earlier) made excellent martinis if you were ok with waiting. There was a piano player/singer there each night who had a steady following. We went to Fat Cats several times. The band was ok, we went most often for karaoke, which was fun to watch. I had brought a lot of singles to tip the bartenders (yes I know that tips are included in the UBP) and I don’t believe it made any particular difference in the level of service. I got the same friendly, fast service if I had cash in my hand or if I didn’t. I still liked to give some extra here and there, as I’m convinced that the servers deserve and appreciate it. We sat at the whiskey bar one night and got exceptional service even when sitting on the couches. Servers were always around asking if anyone needed anything.

 

Bermuda: This was our first time in Bermuda and we loved it. It was really hot and when we go again we will probably try for late June. We booked only one excursion, which was a catamaran snorkel thing with Rising Son II. I got the recommendation from posts on the Bermuda board, and then double checked with Trip Advisor (highly recommended there too). It lived up to all expectations. The crew was excellent. We went to a spot called Deep Cove and although there were other boats there as well, there was plenty of room for all. The Rising Son catamaran looked to be the better equipped vessel, with a larger net area which is fun for sitting on while sailing. There were deep ladders for getting on and off the boat or you could just jump off the side. They had all the snorkel gear (I had brought my own) and it was fun to swim around the rocky shore, but I saw no fish at all. Maybe others had better luck. The crew did throw some goldfish (strangely ironic) into the water and bunches of fish started jumping out to eat them. They were some sort of pale white fish. We spent the majority of the time floating around in the beautiful water on noodles they provided. It was extremely relaxing. There were paddle boards as well, although we didn’t try them. The Rum Swizzle drinks were outstanding. The crew made them up in front of us and the amount of alcohol in them is not evident by the taste. Be careful!

 

On the full day we took a taxi to Warwick Long Bay. I can’t stress enough how easy the taxi system is. It cost $42 for 6 of us and we had the mini van to ourselves. The driver was so nice and knowledgeable about the area and chatted the whole way, about 20-25 minutes. The beach was stunning and had a bathhouse and a cart with chicken fingers, hot dogs, etc. I did not see chair or umbrella rentals. One thing I would do differently next time is that I would bring an umbrella of some sort. As noted earlier, it was really hot and a little shade would have been good. I might have gone in search of an umbrella but we knew we weren’t staying the whole day. After a few hours we started making our way to Horseshoe Bay via the trail. It is not a long walk, but at the beginning the sand is deep and did I mention it was HOT? Our intention was to stop in the unbelievably uncrowded and beautiful coves along the way but no one wanted to unpack our stuff and then have to pack up again so we just stopped for photo ops. Next time…. We did end up at Horseshoe Bay which although crowded, was beautiful. We ended up on the far right which is almost like a small tidal pool area surrounding by a beautiful rock scape. There is a deep section where some kids were jumping off the rocks. Here is where we saw a beautiful blue fish that appeared to be somewhat tame. I saw people feeding it bread later which may have explained things. As you made your way through the shallow area between the rocks the water got deeper and rougher and made for some fun rock climbing/swimming. We spent at least 2 more hours here and had a great time despite the fact that it was crowded. I was worried about getting a taxi back to the ship, and had heard many things about having to change out of bathing suits, being dressed appropriately, etc. We did not change, but did rinse off all the sand (they have outdoor shower heads) and made sure we had cover ups on and were mostly dry. We had no problem getting a taxi for the same $42 for the 6 of us. Again, the driver was extremely kind and chatty and we had a great ride. I know there is a lot of information about the bus systems on these boards but I’m very happy that we took taxis.

 

The last day we (and everyone else) just stayed around the dockyard and did some shopping. We got back on board pretty quickly. We did try and get internet at both the Frog and Onion (cool place to stop) and the Bonefish Grill (not as cool) and both services were marginal at best. It seems like a bit of a bait and switch to get you in there. They give out codes but only so many people can connect at a time so you need to keep trying. We did get on eventually but it was a lot of effort. We really loved Bermuda and will definitely go back!

 

Debarkation: We chose to walk ourselves and our luggage off the ship. It was nice not to have to leave our luggage out the night before. We went down to the Taste restaurant at 7:00 am for a nice farewell breakfast. People were already lined up to debark, however I’m not sure why as they made many announcements that we would not be let off the ship until 8:30. At 8:15 we made our way down the elevator to find the reason that people lined up early. There was a line that wound itself through the casino. The only real issue, however, was figuring out where the end of the line was while people glared at you for “cutting”. Not our intention at all! It was very confusing getting off the elevator and that is the only area that I could see might be better done. Otherwise the line itself moved quickly, and we were off the ship, through customs and in our car by 9:10.

 

Conclusion: We had a fantastic vacation on the Breakaway. My daughter put it well when she said “this is a vacation, not just a trip” and we all knew what she meant. We were so well taken care of by the NCL staff and could be as busy or as relaxed as we wanted to be at any given time. We all liked the variety of entertainment that was offered on this very large ship, and despite the crowds, were able to do all the things we wanted to.

[Diane123boys]

Thank you! Going in 2 weeks on the Breakaway and CANT WAIT!!!

[Sprasa03]

Love the review and your positive attitude about it all is what makes it! I'm glad you enjoyed yourself. I'm on in about 3 weeks and I am beyond excited and get even more excited with every review!

Edited August 8, 2016 by Sprasa03

[easyboy]

Thanks for sharing.

[thistimeplease]

Enjoyed your review. We got off as you were getting on but your trip sounds just like ours. Our itinerary was exactly like yours except we did the Crystal Caves before arriving at Warwick Long Bay, although we didn't go to Horseshoe due to the beach party there. We already booked our next cruise on the Breakaway.

[foundmyMcGyver]

DH and I are on Breakaway for 14 days in Jan, your review of restaurants bars etc was awesome, thanks for taking the time. I also love Bermuda, great island to be docked at to explore for an extended time. Glad you all had a great time.

[Clarea]

Excellent review, thanks!

[luckyinpa]

i like 'what' you reviewed and how you did it. little things like the embark info mean a lot to newbies to the terminal.

 

i'm also considering self debark. however i do not see myself waiting in line over 1 hour to get off like you saw those others. id prefer to sit on a comfy couch somewhere and wait that hour.

 

you stated you did breakfast in the dining room. would it be fair to say every day was less crowded than the buffet there? id definitely prefer a more relaxed bfast experience than fighting buffet lines. also i dont really want to fill up at a buffet as there's free food all day everywhere

[thistimeplease]

i like 'what' you reviewed and how you did it. little things like the embark info mean a lot to newbies to the terminal.

 

i'm also considering self debark. however i do not see myself waiting in line over 1 hour to get off like you saw those others. id prefer to sit on a comfy couch somewhere and wait that hour.

 

you stated you did breakfast in the dining room. would it be fair to say every day was less crowded than the buffet there? id definitely prefer a more relaxed bfast experience than fighting buffet lines. also i dont really want to fill up at a buffet as there's free food all day everywhere

 

We were on the BA the week before the OP but never waited to be seated for breakfast in the dining rooms. Also, Moderno's has a smaller version of the buffet and it was wonderful. We went here as well, although this was only open on seadays.

[Zigggypup]

Great review, I enjoyed reading it. Thanks

 

One thing I was waiting for that never materialized was "I smelled cigarette smoke from 2 miles away and I went into convulsions".........lol. Thanks again.

[DebQ5]

The main dining room breakfasts were absolutely less crowded than the buffet and were very relaxing. They did have limited hours, however (can't remember exactly what they were but I do know we went down at 10:00 one morning and it was over) so check the times!

 

One clarification, part of the hour it took to get off the ship would be experienced by both self debark and "timed" debarks. I saw one poster say that they were supposed to get off at 9:15 and didn't get through customs until 1:00 pm! That woud have been worse in my mind.

 

Enjoy your cruise!!

 

 

i like 'what' you reviewed and how you did it. little things like the embark info mean a lot to newbies to the terminal.

 

i'm also considering self debark. however i do not see myself waiting in line over 1 hour to get off like you saw those others. id prefer to sit on a comfy couch somewhere and wait that hour.

 

you stated you did breakfast in the dining room. would it be fair to say every day was less crowded than the buffet there? id definitely prefer a more relaxed bfast experience than fighting buffet lines. also i dont really want to fill up at a buffet as there's free food all day everywhere

[DebQ5]

Ha! We did smell some smoke but did not hang out in the casino so it wasn't an issue for us.

[ACMcCord]

Any feedback on the quality of the coffee? We've sailed on the Pearl where they've had a machine in the buffet that grinds beans that makes better coffee, but the regular coffee in the buffet is not that great. Is there a similar machine in the buffet on the Breakaway?

 

Thanks!

[DebQ5]

I'm sorry to say that I didn't notice any special coffee machines in the buffet. That doesn't mean they weren't there. I'm not a huge coffee afficiando so the coffee in the regular machines tasted fine to me. My only complaint would be that the cups are tiny! They are bigger in the main dining room restaurants and they'll leave a little pot for you if you ask. My friend got smart and started filling up two cups at the same time. :)

 

 

Any feedback on the quality of the coffee? We've sailed on the Pearl where they've had a machine in the buffet that grinds beans that makes better coffee, but the regular coffee in the buffet is not that great. Is there a similar machine in the buffet on the Breakaway?

 

Thanks!

[cruising and boozing]

I wanted to jot down some thoughts about our Bermuda cruise before the details got away from me. It turned into more of a review than I thought, and I enjoyed reliving it while writing. I'm sure I've left some things out, but wanted to provide my take on the Breakaway and Bermuda. I'm happy to answer any questions. Hate to be back in reality!

 

Preface: This was our 2nd NCL cruise but the last was 8 years ago on the Dawn. We had a great time then and another great time was had by all this time as well. We have previously cruised 4 times on Carnival and once on Disney. With me were my son and daughter, both in their early 20’s.

 

Room: We shared an AFT balcony room on the 11th floor and loved it. The balcony was phenomenal and held 2 lounge chairs, 2 regular chairs, and a small table, with plenty of room to walk around. We had 6 people out there last night and it didn’t feel crowded at all. The room itself was small but adequate for our needs. The bathroom was very good sized. My 3 friends shared the cabin next to us and felt the same. I recommend bringing extra hangers. We also used soft sided packing cubes (different colors for each of us) which worked really well with the shelves that were in the closet. Our cabin steward was fantastic. There were several times when my son was sleeping in the cabin and didn’t want to be disturbed and Gerando (sp?) always sought me out to ask if everything was ok and if we needed anything, etc. We didn’t care if the room wasn’t made up but he always wanted to make sure that we had everything we needed. We definitely experienced some vibration at different times during the trip and could faintly hear the music from Spice H20 some nights. None of this bothered us to any great extent. I did feel like I could hear other cabin doors slamming on occasion and I was surprised that the sound proofing wasn’t better.

 

Embarkation: We drove to NYC from Boston and parked at the cruise ship terminal for a total of $280. Worth every penny when we disembarked today and were in our car and on the road in short order. We had a 9:30 check in time and we arrived at the terminal at almost exactly 9:30 am. The first area you wait in had very little seating. Around 9:45 am people started lining up to enter the roped off line to go through security. If you want to get on the ship early you should get in this line. Once through security you get placed in a line to check-in. Try to keep your group together as ours got separated and got different boarding numbers. We got 5 and our friends got 17. Although initially denied, my friend was ultimately able to get a 5 from the person that we got ours from, but that person wasn’t happy about it. It’s not as easy to get different boarding cards as I thought it would be, based on some posts I read. Once through check-in you get placed in a certain area to continue to wait for boarding. There is a coffee cart and some snacks, etc. available. I don’t believe there is any particular reason why you have to sit in a certain area. We were placed in area B, which was fine for the first part of the wait, but we ultimately moved to the far end of the terminal (Section 2 I believe), where we periodically asked someone when we should board (not difficult to act dumb) and eventually were told to go ahead. This was prior to any announcements for boarding groups, however the Haven and CAS people had/were boarding. We got a bit held up as the card scanning machines seemed not to be working very well, but eventually we boarded the ship around 11:45.

 

O’Sheehans: We went to O’Sheehan’s for lunch the first day. They tried to steer us towards the buffet and main dining rooms but we were quite determined to stay and so we did and it was great. The service only got better as the cruise went on. The portions (with the exception of the hamburgers) aren’t huge but are just right. We thought the wings were great albeit extremely spicy the last time we got them. We had the UBP and we got drinks right away, and never had a problem throughout the cruise with the exception of one particularly busy night at the martini bar. We ate at O’Sheehans another day for appetizers during a rain spell. It was really crowded but well-staffed and we got seats and were served very quickly. One note: O’Sheehan’s is basically split into 2 sides, the restaurant side and the bar side. The bar side is first come first serve, and has a pool table and darts. The restaurant side has a hostess who you give your key card to and who will seat you. I did see some times where there was a wait to get in but we never waited during the times that we went. The bar side opens up to the other games (skee ball, car driving games, etc. and tucked in behind are the bowling lanes, which were actually very fun if a bit pricey ($5 per person). We also played pool one night which is a favorite of ours ($2 per game). We had dinner at O’Sheehans one night where Ingra served us. He was the best waiter we encountered during the trip. He was friendly, efficient, and seemed to enjoy what he was doing.

 

Specialty Dining: We had the 4 night UDP and ate at Cagney’s, Le Bistro and Teppenyaki. We used one of the nights on the Cirque show (and paid an additional fee, around $20/pp?). Cagney’s was as good as I remembered from the Dawn 8 years ago, however I feel like the Dawn’s Cagney’s had a better atmosphere. On the Breakaway Cagney’s is open to the Moderno restaurant and thus it had a less intimate feeling. Someone (the manager?) came by and explained how the UDP worked at Cagneys. He mentioned you could get one appetizer, one soup/salad, one entrée and 2 sides. When the server, who was lovely, came by she also explained the menu and noted that we could have as many appetizers and sides as we wanted and only one entrée, but could have additional entrees if we wanted and would pay the a la carte price. I know I had the shrimp, which were very good, and the sirloin steak with roasted Brussel sprouts and mushrooms, all of which were really good. We had various glasses of wine with dinner and the service was very good. The kids had the filet mignon and various sides and also enjoyed their meals.

 

Le Bistro: This restaurant was also different from the one on the Dawn in décor, and again I think I liked the Dawn’s better. This had a more modern feel. The service was formal and attentive. The appetizers were ok (wasn’t a big fan of the goat cheese salad that appeared to have no goat cheese) but the onion soup was very good and my filet was outstanding. It was a huge piece of steak that was well seasoned. Both kids got that as well and really liked it. My friends got the veal, a seafood dish, and something else that I can’t remember and everyone thoroughly enjoyed their food. This was a bit of a drawn out affair, which is good to keep in mind if you have a show reservation. We were there from 8:00 til about 9:45 or so, which included coffee and dessert.

 

Teppenyaki: We always try to eat at teppenyaki style restaurants when we travel. This one did not disappoint. Our chef was very good and entertaining. The fried rice was exceptional as was the chef special of filet and lobster tail. The desserts were not that great but I couldn’t have eaten another bite anyway. My daughter thought there could be more vegetables, but was otherwise very happy with her filet and chicken choice. My son rated this experience 2nd only to the surprisingly great meal and entertainment we had in Dublin a few back. I would highly recommend booking Teppenyaki.

 

Cirque Jungle of Dreams: I read all the reviews about this show and prepared my group regarding the potentially average/bad quality of the dinner. Most of us made sure we didn’t go in starving (never an issue on a cruise!). The dinner was ok, actually more of a distraction than anything, as you are served during the show. The servers participate in the show as well so service was a bit spotty but overall good. The show itself was very good. I am not a “cirque” type person and was happy to pay a much smaller ticket price to see a version of it. I was really surprised at the quality of the performers but don’t have anything to compare it to. It was thoroughly entertaining and my group really enjoyed themselves, including the one person who had been to several cirque shows.

 

Regular Dining: We ate most breakfasts in the dining room (a first for me). It was very nice, and it was particularly nice not to have to deal with the crowds in the buffet. That’s where you really saw how many people were on the ship. We did eat there on occasion for lunch and a few fast breakfasts. We never had to wait, the food was good, and there was always a table available. Of note, I’ve never seen such excellent service in a buffet before. There was staff everywhere clearing tables, replenishing silverware, etc. The only downside was the amount of people and the noise level. We ate in the Manhattan room one night, and it was very good. We were lucky enough to catch the burn the floor dancers perform a mini-show and we really enjoyed it. We tried the noodle bar one night and didn’t think it was worth the wait. The dumplings were good but the noodles had a weird tasting sauce on them. My friend thought the noodle soup bowl thing that she got was very good. That same friend and another tried the Sushi place another night and said it was very good and well worth the extra charge.

 

Deck/pool areas: Yes, the pool area is extremely crowded. That is not our scene and so we stayed mostly in the Vibe area, which we were fortunate enough to get passes for. While walking around the ship we always saw areas that weren’t as crowded and had open lounge chairs. The people in the pool area always seemed to be having a good time. We did not check out Spice H20 during the day but did go there at night a few times and it seemed nice. The decks were pretty hot in the sun but there were some places that were shaded.

 

Extra activities: We had an absolute blast on the ropes course. I’m not particularly agile and it was just challenging enough for me on some of the easier paths. My daughter is very agile and had fun on the more challenging paths. We both walked the plank which was extremely scary and cool at the same time. The zip line is a nice touch as well. The line moves pretty quickly so don’t be put off by it. As noted by many others, closed toe shoes are a must and I heard someone being asked if she had shorts on under her dress (it was actually a romper so that was all good) so apparently no skirts/dresses (not sure why you would wear that anyway, but it’s possible that someone could go in a bathing suit and a cover up and may get turned away.

 

We did not do the waterslides, rock wall or trampoline. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves though. We did several of the activities in the atrium area, including country line dancing (very good instructions!) and trivia (only a few times due to the timing). We watched several shows from the balcony area of O’Sheehans, which could get crowded at times. The 55 to stay alive game was particularly entertaining. The atrium area is smallish, as noted by many other reviewers, but during our cruise at least, seemed adequate. There were lounge type singers there every night which did not appeal to me but others seemed to enjoy them.

 

Shows: We saw burn the floor which was excellent. We caught them in the Manhattan dining room one night and then saw the full show. Very talented performers and well-choreographed. The full show had a live band and singer which was an unexpected but nice touch. We saw Rock of Ages which everyone liked. We see a lot of musicals and this doesn’t happen to be a favorite of mine, but it was well done. We also caught the end of Carla Stickler’s performance, which was good. I felt like they could have done a bit more in regards to staging or support for her singing, but she herself was great. We caught a late show of Second City which was pretty good. The short skits were better than the longer ones. I personally did not love the layout of Headliners, which were rows of chairs which some small side tables in between. I prefer individual tables with chairs around them, but I’m sure it’s set up this way to accommodate more people. I found it particularly annoying for the dueling piano show, for some reason, and only went once, when I usually love those types of things.

 

Bars: We had a great time trying out all the different bars. The Martini bar (crowded as not earlier) made excellent martinis if you were ok with waiting. There was a piano player/singer there each night who had a steady following. We went to Fat Cats several times. The band was ok, we went most often for karaoke, which was fun to watch. I had brought a lot of singles to tip the bartenders (yes I know that tips are included in the UBP) and I don’t believe it made any particular difference in the level of service. I got the same friendly, fast service if I had cash in my hand or if I didn’t. I still liked to give some extra here and there, as I’m convinced that the servers deserve and appreciate it. We sat at the whiskey bar one night and got exceptional service even when sitting on the couches. Servers were always around asking if anyone needed anything.

 

Bermuda: This was our first time in Bermuda and we loved it. It was really hot and when we go again we will probably try for late June. We booked only one excursion, which was a catamaran snorkel thing with Rising Son II. I got the recommendation from posts on the Bermuda board, and then double checked with Trip Advisor (highly recommended there too). It lived up to all expectations. The crew was excellent. We went to a spot called Deep Cove and although there were other boats there as well, there was plenty of room for all. The Rising Son catamaran looked to be the better equipped vessel, with a larger net area which is fun for sitting on while sailing. There were deep ladders for getting on and off the boat or you could just jump off the side. They had all the snorkel gear (I had brought my own) and it was fun to swim around the rocky shore, but I saw no fish at all. Maybe others had better luck. The crew did throw some goldfish (strangely ironic) into the water and bunches of fish started jumping out to eat them. They were some sort of pale white fish. We spent the majority of the time floating around in the beautiful water on noodles they provided. It was extremely relaxing. There were paddle boards as well, although we didn’t try them. The Rum Swizzle drinks were outstanding. The crew made them up in front of us and the amount of alcohol in them is not evident by the taste. Be careful!

 

On the full day we took a taxi to Warwick Long Bay. I can’t stress enough how easy the taxi system is. It cost $42 for 6 of us and we had the mini van to ourselves. The driver was so nice and knowledgeable about the area and chatted the whole way, about 20-25 minutes. The beach was stunning and had a bathhouse and a cart with chicken fingers, hot dogs, etc. I did not see chair or umbrella rentals. One thing I would do differently next time is that I would bring an umbrella of some sort. As noted earlier, it was really hot and a little shade would have been good. I might have gone in search of an umbrella but we knew we weren’t staying the whole day. After a few hours we started making our way to Horseshoe Bay via the trail. It is not a long walk, but at the beginning the sand is deep and did I mention it was HOT? Our intention was to stop in the unbelievably uncrowded and beautiful coves along the way but no one wanted to unpack our stuff and then have to pack up again so we just stopped for photo ops. Next time…. We did end up at Horseshoe Bay which although crowded, was beautiful. We ended up on the far right which is almost like a small tidal pool area surrounding by a beautiful rock scape. There is a deep section where some kids were jumping off the rocks. Here is where we saw a beautiful blue fish that appeared to be somewhat tame. I saw people feeding it bread later which may have explained things. As you made your way through the shallow area between the rocks the water got deeper and rougher and made for some fun rock climbing/swimming. We spent at least 2 more hours here and had a great time despite the fact that it was crowded. I was worried about getting a taxi back to the ship, and had heard many things about having to change out of bathing suits, being dressed appropriately, etc. We did not change, but did rinse off all the sand (they have outdoor shower heads) and made sure we had cover ups on and were mostly dry. We had no problem getting a taxi for the same $42 for the 6 of us. Again, the driver was extremely kind and chatty and we had a great ride. I know there is a lot of information about the bus systems on these boards but I’m very happy that we took taxis.

 

The last day we (and everyone else) just stayed around the dockyard and did some shopping. We got back on board pretty quickly. We did try and get internet at both the Frog and Onion (cool place to stop) and the Bonefish Grill (not as cool) and both services were marginal at best. It seems like a bit of a bait and switch to get you in there. They give out codes but only so many people can connect at a time so you need to keep trying. We did get on eventually but it was a lot of effort. We really loved Bermuda and will definitely go back!

 

Debarkation: We chose to walk ourselves and our luggage off the ship. It was nice not to have to leave our luggage out the night before. We went down to the Taste restaurant at 7:00 am for a nice farewell breakfast. People were already lined up to debark, however I’m not sure why as they made many announcements that we would not be let off the ship until 8:30. At 8:15 we made our way down the elevator to find the reason that people lined up early. There was a line that wound itself through the casino. The only real issue, however, was figuring out where the end of the line was while people glared at you for “cutting”. Not our intention at all! It was very confusing getting off the elevator and that is the only area that I could see might be better done. Otherwise the line itself moved quickly, and we were off the ship, through customs and in our car by 9:10.

 

Conclusion: We had a fantastic vacation on the Breakaway. My daughter put it well when she said “this is a vacation, not just a trip” and we all knew what she meant. We were so well taken care of by the NCL staff and could be as busy or as relaxed as we wanted to be at any given time. We all liked the variety of entertainment that was offered on this very large ship, and despite the crowds, were able to do all the things we wanted to.

 

 

 

Thank you for the review. Question I live in southern nh, how was the drive?

How long it take roughly? Did you do 95 or the back way through Hartford?

Also sounds like when you said got into the terminal and second waiting area with coffee and snacks you were in the haven lounge?

Thank you

[ACMcCord]

I'm sorry to say that I didn't notice any special coffee machines in the buffet. That doesn't mean they weren't there. I'm not a huge coffee afficiando so the coffee in the regular machines tasted fine to me. My only complaint would be that the cups are tiny! They are bigger in the main dining room restaurants and they'll leave a little pot for you if you ask. My friend got smart and started filling up two cups at the same time. :)

OK, thank you!

[warb]

Great Report ! I agree that using a Taxi is the way to go.

[Letsgo 2]

I wanted to jot down some thoughts about our Bermuda cruise before the details got away from me. It turned into more of a review than I thought, and I enjoyed reliving it while writing. I'm sure I've left some things out, but wanted to provide my take on the Breakaway and Bermuda. I'm happy to answer any questions. Hate to be back in reality!

 

Preface: This was our 2nd NCL cruise but the last was 8 years ago on the Dawn. We had a great time then and another great time was had by all this time as well. We have previously cruised 4 times on Carnival and once on Disney. With me were my son and daughter, both in their early 20’s.

 

Room: We shared an AFT balcony room on the 11th floor and loved it. The balcony was phenomenal and held 2 lounge chairs, 2 regular chairs, and a small table, with plenty of room to walk around. We had 6 people out there last night and it didn’t feel crowded at all. The room itself was small but adequate for our needs. The bathroom was very good sized. My 3 friends shared the cabin next to us and felt the same. I recommend bringing extra hangers. We also used soft sided packing cubes (different colors for each of us) which worked really well with the shelves that were in the closet. Our cabin steward was fantastic. There were several times when my son was sleeping in the cabin and didn’t want to be disturbed and Gerando (sp?) always sought me out to ask if everything was ok and if we needed anything, etc. We didn’t care if the room wasn’t made up but he always wanted to make sure that we had everything we needed. We definitely experienced some vibration at different times during the trip and could faintly hear the music from Spice H20 some nights. None of this bothered us to any great extent. I did feel like I could hear other cabin doors slamming on occasion and I was surprised that the sound proofing wasn’t better.

 

Embarkation: We drove to NYC from Boston and parked at the cruise ship terminal for a total of $280. Worth every penny when we disembarked today and were in our car and on the road in short order. We had a 9:30 check in time and we arrived at the terminal at almost exactly 9:30 am. The first area you wait in had very little seating. Around 9:45 am people started lining up to enter the roped off line to go through security. If you want to get on the ship early you should get in this line. Once through security you get placed in a line to check-in. Try to keep your group together as ours got separated and got different boarding numbers. We got 5 and our friends got 17. Although initially denied, my friend was ultimately able to get a 5 from the person that we got ours from, but that person wasn’t happy about it. It’s not as easy to get different boarding cards as I thought it would be, based on some posts I read. Once through check-in you get placed in a certain area to continue to wait for boarding. There is a coffee cart and some snacks, etc. available. I don’t believe there is any particular reason why you have to sit in a certain area. We were placed in area B, which was fine for the first part of the wait, but we ultimately moved to the far end of the terminal (Section 2 I believe), where we periodically asked someone when we should board (not difficult to act dumb) and eventually were told to go ahead. This was prior to any announcements for boarding groups, however the Haven and CAS people had/were boarding. We got a bit held up as the card scanning machines seemed not to be working very well, but eventually we boarded the ship around 11:45.

 

O’Sheehans: We went to O’Sheehan’s for lunch the first day. They tried to steer us towards the buffet and main dining rooms but we were quite determined to stay and so we did and it was great. The service only got better as the cruise went on. The portions (with the exception of the hamburgers) aren’t huge but are just right. We thought the wings were great albeit extremely spicy the last time we got them. We had the UBP and we got drinks right away, and never had a problem throughout the cruise with the exception of one particularly busy night at the martini bar. We ate at O’Sheehans another day for appetizers during a rain spell. It was really crowded but well-staffed and we got seats and were served very quickly. One note: O’Sheehan’s is basically split into 2 sides, the restaurant side and the bar side. The bar side is first come first serve, and has a pool table and darts. The restaurant side has a hostess who you give your key card to and who will seat you. I did see some times where there was a wait to get in but we never waited during the times that we went. The bar side opens up to the other games (skee ball, car driving games, etc. and tucked in behind are the bowling lanes, which were actually very fun if a bit pricey ($5 per person). We also played pool one night which is a favorite of ours ($2 per game). We had dinner at O’Sheehans one night where Ingra served us. He was the best waiter we encountered during the trip. He was friendly, efficient, and seemed to enjoy what he was doing.

 

Specialty Dining: We had the 4 night UDP and ate at Cagney’s, Le Bistro and Teppenyaki. We used one of the nights on the Cirque show (and paid an additional fee, around $20/pp?). Cagney’s was as good as I remembered from the Dawn 8 years ago, however I feel like the Dawn’s Cagney’s had a better atmosphere. On the Breakaway Cagney’s is open to the Moderno restaurant and thus it had a less intimate feeling. Someone (the manager?) came by and explained how the UDP worked at Cagneys. He mentioned you could get one appetizer, one soup/salad, one entrée and 2 sides. When the server, who was lovely, came by she also explained the menu and noted that we could have as many appetizers and sides as we wanted and only one entrée, but could have additional entrees if we wanted and would pay the a la carte price. I know I had the shrimp, which were very good, and the sirloin steak with roasted Brussel sprouts and mushrooms, all of which were really good. We had various glasses of wine with dinner and the service was very good. The kids had the filet mignon and various sides and also enjoyed their meals.

 

Le Bistro: This restaurant was also different from the one on the Dawn in décor, and again I think I liked the Dawn’s better. This had a more modern feel. The service was formal and attentive. The appetizers were ok (wasn’t a big fan of the goat cheese salad that appeared to have no goat cheese) but the onion soup was very good and my filet was outstanding. It was a huge piece of steak that was well seasoned. Both kids got that as well and really liked it. My friends got the veal, a seafood dish, and something else that I can’t remember and everyone thoroughly enjoyed their food. This was a bit of a drawn out affair, which is good to keep in mind if you have a show reservation. We were there from 8:00 til about 9:45 or so, which included coffee and dessert.

 

Teppenyaki: We always try to eat at teppenyaki style restaurants when we travel. This one did not disappoint. Our chef was very good and entertaining. The fried rice was exceptional as was the chef special of filet and lobster tail. The desserts were not that great but I couldn’t have eaten another bite anyway. My daughter thought there could be more vegetables, but was otherwise very happy with her filet and chicken choice. My son rated this experience 2nd only to the surprisingly great meal and entertainment we had in Dublin a few back. I would highly recommend booking Teppenyaki.

 

Cirque Jungle of Dreams: I read all the reviews about this show and prepared my group regarding the potentially average/bad quality of the dinner. Most of us made sure we didn’t go in starving (never an issue on a cruise!). The dinner was ok, actually more of a distraction than anything, as you are served during the show. The servers participate in the show as well so service was a bit spotty but overall good. The show itself was very good. I am not a “cirque” type person and was happy to pay a much smaller ticket price to see a version of it. I was really surprised at the quality of the performers but don’t have anything to compare it to. It was thoroughly entertaining and my group really enjoyed themselves, including the one person who had been to several cirque shows.

 

Regular Dining: We ate most breakfasts in the dining room (a first for me). It was very nice, and it was particularly nice not to have to deal with the crowds in the buffet. That’s where you really saw how many people were on the ship. We did eat there on occasion for lunch and a few fast breakfasts. We never had to wait, the food was good, and there was always a table available. Of note, I’ve never seen such excellent service in a buffet before. There was staff everywhere clearing tables, replenishing silverware, etc. The only downside was the amount of people and the noise level. We ate in the Manhattan room one night, and it was very good. We were lucky enough to catch the burn the floor dancers perform a mini-show and we really enjoyed it. We tried the noodle bar one night and didn’t think it was worth the wait. The dumplings were good but the noodles had a weird tasting sauce on them. My friend thought the noodle soup bowl thing that she got was very good. That same friend and another tried the Sushi place another night and said it was very good and well worth the extra charge.

 

Deck/pool areas: Yes, the pool area is extremely crowded. That is not our scene and so we stayed mostly in the Vibe area, which we were fortunate enough to get passes for. While walking around the ship we always saw areas that weren’t as crowded and had open lounge chairs. The people in the pool area always seemed to be having a good time. We did not check out Spice H20 during the day but did go there at night a few times and it seemed nice. The decks were pretty hot in the sun but there were some places that were shaded.

 

Extra activities: We had an absolute blast on the ropes course. I’m not particularly agile and it was just challenging enough for me on some of the easier paths. My daughter is very agile and had fun on the more challenging paths. We both walked the plank which was extremely scary and cool at the same time. The zip line is a nice touch as well. The line moves pretty quickly so don’t be put off by it. As noted by many others, closed toe shoes are a must and I heard someone being asked if she had shorts on under her dress (it was actually a romper so that was all good) so apparently no skirts/dresses (not sure why you would wear that anyway, but it’s possible that someone could go in a bathing suit and a cover up and may get turned away.

 

We did not do the waterslides, rock wall or trampoline. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves though. We did several of the activities in the atrium area, including country line dancing (very good instructions!) and trivia (only a few times due to the timing). We watched several shows from the balcony area of O’Sheehans, which could get crowded at times. The 55 to stay alive game was particularly entertaining. The atrium area is smallish, as noted by many other reviewers, but during our cruise at least, seemed adequate. There were lounge type singers there every night which did not appeal to me but others seemed to enjoy them.

 

Shows: We saw burn the floor which was excellent. We caught them in the Manhattan dining room one night and then saw the full show. Very talented performers and well-choreographed. The full show had a live band and singer which was an unexpected but nice touch. We saw Rock of Ages which everyone liked. We see a lot of musicals and this doesn’t happen to be a favorite of mine, but it was well done. We also caught the end of Carla Stickler’s performance, which was good. I felt like they could have done a bit more in regards to staging or support for her singing, but she herself was great. We caught a late show of Second City which was pretty good. The short skits were better than the longer ones. I personally did not love the layout of Headliners, which were rows of chairs which some small side tables in between. I prefer individual tables with chairs around them, but I’m sure it’s set up this way to accommodate more people. I found it particularly annoying for the dueling piano show, for some reason, and only went once, when I usually love those types of things.

 

Bars: We had a great time trying out all the different bars. The Martini bar (crowded as not earlier) made excellent martinis if you were ok with waiting. There was a piano player/singer there each night who had a steady following. We went to Fat Cats several times. The band was ok, we went most often for karaoke, which was fun to watch. I had brought a lot of singles to tip the bartenders (yes I know that tips are included in the UBP) and I don’t believe it made any particular difference in the level of service. I got the same friendly, fast service if I had cash in my hand or if I didn’t. I still liked to give some extra here and there, as I’m convinced that the servers deserve and appreciate it. We sat at the whiskey bar one night and got exceptional service even when sitting on the couches. Servers were always around asking if anyone needed anything.

 

Bermuda: This was our first time in Bermuda and we loved it. It was really hot and when we go again we will probably try for late June. We booked only one excursion, which was a catamaran snorkel thing with Rising Son II. I got the recommendation from posts on the Bermuda board, and then double checked with Trip Advisor (highly recommended there too). It lived up to all expectations. The crew was excellent. We went to a spot called Deep Cove and although there were other boats there as well, there was plenty of room for all. The Rising Son catamaran looked to be the better equipped vessel, with a larger net area which is fun for sitting on while sailing. There were deep ladders for getting on and off the boat or you could just jump off the side. They had all the snorkel gear (I had brought my own) and it was fun to swim around the rocky shore, but I saw no fish at all. Maybe others had better luck. The crew did throw some goldfish (strangely ironic) into the water and bunches of fish started jumping out to eat them. They were some sort of pale white fish. We spent the majority of the time floating around in the beautiful water on noodles they provided. It was extremely relaxing. There were paddle boards as well, although we didn’t try them. The Rum Swizzle drinks were outstanding. The crew made them up in front of us and the amount of alcohol in them is not evident by the taste. Be careful!

 

On the full day we took a taxi to Warwick Long Bay. I can’t stress enough how easy the taxi system is. It cost $42 for 6 of us and we had the mini van to ourselves. The driver was so nice and knowledgeable about the area and chatted the whole way, about 20-25 minutes. The beach was stunning and had a bathhouse and a cart with chicken fingers, hot dogs, etc. I did not see chair or umbrella rentals. One thing I would do differently next time is that I would bring an umbrella of some sort. As noted earlier, it was really hot and a little shade would have been good. I might have gone in search of an umbrella but we knew we weren’t staying the whole day. After a few hours we started making our way to Horseshoe Bay via the trail. It is not a long walk, but at the beginning the sand is deep and did I mention it was HOT? Our intention was to stop in the unbelievably uncrowded and beautiful coves along the way but no one wanted to unpack our stuff and then have to pack up again so we just stopped for photo ops. Next time…. We did end up at Horseshoe Bay which although crowded, was beautiful. We ended up on the far right which is almost like a small tidal pool area surrounding by a beautiful rock scape. There is a deep section where some kids were jumping off the rocks. Here is where we saw a beautiful blue fish that appeared to be somewhat tame. I saw people feeding it bread later which may have explained things. As you made your way through the shallow area between the rocks the water got deeper and rougher and made for some fun rock climbing/swimming. We spent at least 2 more hours here and had a great time despite the fact that it was crowded. I was worried about getting a taxi back to the ship, and had heard many things about having to change out of bathing suits, being dressed appropriately, etc. We did not change, but did rinse off all the sand (they have outdoor shower heads) and made sure we had cover ups on and were mostly dry. We had no problem getting a taxi for the same $42 for the 6 of us. Again, the driver was extremely kind and chatty and we had a great ride. I know there is a lot of information about the bus systems on these boards but I’m very happy that we took taxis.

 

The last day we (and everyone else) just stayed around the dockyard and did some shopping. We got back on board pretty quickly. We did try and get internet at both the Frog and Onion (cool place to stop) and the Bonefish Grill (not as cool) and both services were marginal at best. It seems like a bit of a bait and switch to get you in there. They give out codes but only so many people can connect at a time so you need to keep trying. We did get on eventually but it was a lot of effort. We really loved Bermuda and will definitely go back!

 

Debarkation: We chose to walk ourselves and our luggage off the ship. It was nice not to have to leave our luggage out the night before. We went down to the Taste restaurant at 7:00 am for a nice farewell breakfast. People were already lined up to debark, however I’m not sure why as they made many announcements that we would not be let off the ship until 8:30. At 8:15 we made our way down the elevator to find the reason that people lined up early. There was a line that wound itself through the casino. The only real issue, however, was figuring out where the end of the line was while people glared at you for “cutting”. Not our intention at all! It was very confusing getting off the elevator and that is the only area that I could see might be better done. Otherwise the line itself moved quickly, and we were off the ship, through customs and in our car by 9:10.

 

Conclusion: We had a fantastic vacation on the Breakaway. My daughter put it well when she said “this is a vacation, not just a trip” and we all knew what she meant. We were so well taken care of by the NCL staff and could be as busy or as relaxed as we wanted to be at any given time. We all liked the variety of entertainment that was offered on this very large ship, and despite the crowds, were able to do all the things we wanted to.

 

 

Thank you for a great review, it made me smile, anytime somebody says something nice about the NCL crew, it put a smile on my face, they work so hard to make our vacation a great one.

I'm glad you said that about the rope course, I'm no spring chicken, and was not sure if I could do it.

[luckyinpa]

The main dining room breakfasts were absolutely less crowded than the buffet and were very relaxing. They did have limited hours, however (can't remember exactly what they were but I do know we went down at 10:00 one morning and it was over) so check the times!

 

One clarification, part of the hour it took to get off the ship would be experienced by both self debark and "timed" debarks. I saw one poster say that they were supposed to get off at 9:15 and didn't get through customs until 1:00 pm! That woud have been worse in my mind.

 

Enjoy your cruise!!

 

thanks for the info. is it true if you get off the ship and find a porter to take your luggage that you get through customs more quickly?

[cincicruisers]

Thanks for sharing your review with us.

[breetai3]

thanks for the info. is it true if you get off the ship and find a porter to take your luggage that you get through customs more quickly?

 

Yes, it's true. But the much longer wait is actually getting off the ship. Once we got into the customs line it wasn't that bad.

 

Was just on this cruise as well and getting off the ship was horrible. I'll never do self embark again, I'll wait it out.

 

Can't really blame Norwegian, Customs only had 5 lines open. Your federal government, working hard for you *cough cough*

 

Other than that I've been on 7 cruises and the caliber of entertainment compared to others was through the roof. The cast of Rock of Ages did an amazing job and the Burn the Floor dancers were just incredible.

[mking8288]

This past weekend (and, also last month) both the GEM and Breakaway managed to arrive "right on time" at 8 AM, a few more times to tied her up and connect the gangways, and begin the clearing process for the ship with local officials, etc. meant the earliest time for passengers to start the Express Self Walk-Off, those at the front of the line, is closer to 8:30 AM.

 

With perhaps 800 to 1,000 people (whatever the max. # allowed) in two lines that always seemed to snake around the ship, both using the FWD and the AFT gangways - you're fortunate to be out quickly and in your car (assumed it's rooftop parking) by 9:10 ... hopefully, those with color tags didn't missed their ground and/or flight connection, etc. - I'm sure those inside the terminal & upstairs waiting to embark were not happy waiting in that overcrowded terminal.

 

The questions will come up again, and again, under East Coast / NY Departure of someone wishing to book that Amtrak train departure at 10 AM - and, the madness to rush off the ship by pushing & cutting in lines, etc. Best to allow extra time, relax and do the leisure walkoff - while watching the runners with oversized luggage heading for the gangways ... and it's a long walk out to 12th Avenue.

 

P.S. Yes, we used porter services and with 200 to 300+ in the regular exit lines inside the building, it took us less than 5 minutes once we found a porter & he took us out on the shortcut, exclusive lanes reserved for porter use - no wait at all, probably saving 15+ minutes and it seemed most of the CBP booths were opened & manned (didn't count how many of them on duty, sorry)

[pacruiser13]

Thanks for the great review. It's nice to see some nice things said about the BA. While I understand some people are upset with recent changes, being on any cruise is way better than being at work! We're excited for our first NCL cruise in a few weeks. Since most of our "vacations" are traveling with our daughter's softball team where we're lugging water, gatorade, snacks, chairs, etc., I agree with you that this will be a vacation and not a trip!

[easyboy]

Thanks for the great review. It's nice to see some nice things said about the BA. While I understand some people are upset with recent changes,

being on any cruise is way better than being at work! We're excited for our first NCL cruise in a few weeks. Since most of our "vacations" are traveling with our daughter's softball team where we're lugging water, gatorade, snacks, chairs, etc., I agree with you that this will be a vacation and not a trip!

I agree. Enjoy your vacation!

[luckyinpa]

Yes, it's true. But the much longer wait is actually getting off the ship. Once we got into the customs line it wasn't that bad.

 

Was just on this cruise as well and getting off the ship was horrible. I'll never do self embark again, I'll wait it out.

 

Can't really blame Norwegian, Customs only had 5 lines open. Your federal government, working hard for you *cough cough*

 

Other than that I've been on 7 cruises and the caliber of entertainment compared to others was through the roof. The cast of Rock of Ages did an amazing job and the Burn the Floor dancers were just incredible.

 

sounds like it pays to sit on a comfy couch and leave around 10? :)