Breakaway Live! March 10-17, 2019

[sailorchick17]

We will be following your posts as we also board the Breakaway on March 17 when you leave the ship.  We are coming in from Canada and will be arriving in NOLA on Wednesday prior to sailing.

 

Looking forward to following along with your posts and seeing what we have in store for us 🙂

[asen2asen]

On 3/5/2019 at 5:57 PM, Gatorj said:

@asen2asen

We were on the Bliss this summer for an Alaska run.  Loved the ship and the DW loved the country themed venue at night.  

 

Our group is going to try for Vibe passes.  We're Platinum, so shouldn't an issue getting there in time.  If however, they are at the new price of $209 per person, I think we will scope out a nice spot in Spice H2O and save the Vibe cash for the casino.   

 

I know Jake is going to have his hands full with the Live reports.  I'll add the Dailies for each day so everyone can see what the theme of the day is. 

 

For reference, we're a small group of 5, DW and me in a minisute on deck 11, our kids, ages 25 and 21 in studios, and a dear friend also in a studio.  Fee free to shoot cabin questions and we'll try to answer.  

Thanks @Gatorj ...totally appreciate!!

 

[jakeawhite]

10 hours ago, MrFunInTheSun said:

Looking forward to sailing along with you!

 

As a "Live" trip reporter myself, fully understand the time that goes into them, thanks for bringing us along. For being your first "Live" your off to a superb start! Keep up the great work and happy sailing.

Thanks! I'm naturally long winded while writing, so this suits me!

[jakeawhite]

Ports:

We do not have a lot planned for our ports this trip, but here's what we're thinking!

I'd be happy to hear your suggestions for places to eat or easy/casual things to explore or see!

 

 

Cozumel, Mexico 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM 

In Cozumel we have Mr. Sanchos reserved. We've never done an all-inclusive before so wanted to try it out. We went back and forth on Mr. Sanchos vs. several others. Eventually just clicked book for Sanchos. If y'all have better suggestions we can still change this!

 

Belize City, Belize 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM 

I'll stock up on some fake Oakleys & Raybans here. It's fun to negotiate with the vendors and cheap sunglasses are always needed! We've talked about going to the Zoo, but it's quite a long bus ride. Also the Belize Museum might be interesting. 

 

Y'all have any suggestions? Not looking to do cave/river tubing this time around, but maybe on a later trip!

 

Harvest Caye, Belize 8:00 AM - 4:00 PM 

Undecided, this may be our day to stay on the ship and enjoy the pool, etc. We always like to have at least one port day during a cruise to enjoy the ship with less passengers onboard. Might also check out the port for the morning and return early.

I find it a little annoying that this "Private Island" is not more tied to the ship - food, drink package, etc.

 

Costa Maya, Mexico 7:00 AM - 1:30 PM 

We're excited to explore this port a little. I've heard great things about a taco place here that I'd like to try!

 

[HouNew2Cruise]

43 minutes ago, jakeawhite said:

Ports:

We do not have a lot planned for our ports this trip, but here's what we're thinking!

I'd be happy to hear your suggestions for places to eat or easy/casual things to explore or see!

..

..

 

Harvest Caye, Belize 8:00 AM - 4:00 PM 

Undecided, this may be our day to stay on the ship and enjoy the pool, etc. We always like to have at least one port day during a cruise to enjoy the ship with less passengers onboard. Might also check out the port for the morning and return early.

I find it a little annoying that this "Private Island" is not more tied to the ship - food, drink package, etc.

 

Costa Maya, Mexico 7:00 AM - 1:30 PM 

We're excited to explore this port a little. I've heard great things about a taco place here that I'd like to try!

 

 

I will be on this cruise as well.

 

Harvest Caye does have a nice pool, but I think I read your plans wrong on that port.   Enjoy drinking at the pool, as what I should have read.  And that can be done on the small pool on the ship.

 

I am with you on this port.   I spend little time on the island and get back to the ship for eating and drinking.  

 

I didn't realize we leave that early on Costa Maya.  Wow.  1:30

[deedle7544]

We liked just walking around the port at Costa Maya, and there's a cute bar on the water, its right past the pool with the dolphins!

[MINILvr]

Looking forward to your trip report.  We will be boarding her on April 7th.

[jakeawhite]

Sitting here at work makes me wish I took today off! These 2 1/2 hours feel like 8 when there's a vacation waiting on the other side!

Going to run and get some last minute things at lunch, tonight is packing. I like to get everything together in once place then pack it all fairly close to leaving - that way I don't over pack multiples of the same thing.

 

Tonight I'll pack, get gas, and charge the batteries to everything. We'll leave centex around 9am tomorrow and expect to arrive in Baton Rouge around 5pm, check in at the hotel then go find some dinner.

 

Any suggestions for some good cajun food in the Baton Rouge area?

[jakeawhite]

Truck got a bath at lunch today!

We do have a much more fuel efficient car that we COULD take, but it's much less comfortable to ride in! Plus, I like being able to see over cars in traffic. All fueled up and ready to go now!

 

[drvmywifecrzy]

Yumm Tacos are great in Costa Maya.  You should go see the ruins with Native tours.

[beaucajun]

5 hours ago, jakeawhite said:

 

Any suggestions for some good cajun food in the Baton Rouge area?

Now that is a funny question. Good Cajun food in Baton Rouge?  None that I have ever heard of.

 

Now if you want good Cajun food, you need to stop in Cajun Country not Baton Rouge.

Try this right off the interstate west of Lafayette.  https://www.fezzos.com/scott

 

From there it's 1.5 hours to BR.

[vacation44]

Looking forward to reading your live review.  Thank you for taking the time to share your vacation. 

[LeesaB]

Will be following along as well!  Loved cruising out of New Orleans.

 

Second the recommendation for The Native Choice for Mayan ruins as well.  The Mayan Experience tour that they offer is outstanding.

 

Looking heavily at Mr Sanchos for our trip next year, so be verbose on that writeup!

[jakeawhite]

We made it to Baton Rouge after a long day of traveling! We had plenty of time so we took our time.

 

First stop, Buc-ee's! For years I didn't understand everyone's obsession with this place, now I plan my stops hundreds of miles out!

 

Onward to our super fancy lunch at Chick-fil-a (the lords Chicken, that's what makes it fancy!)

 

Back on the road to our destination for the night. About 10 miles out from our hotel coming into Baton Rouge we hit some major traffic. Stand-still for about 10 minutes, then took 1.5 hours to go 10 miles!

 

 

About 50 minutes we noticed something weird going on in the car in front of us. The man in the front seat climbed to the back and was sitting rather odd - we thought at first he was changing pants.

Then the driver climed to the passenger seat and the man in the back seat moved to driver seat. The now passenger climbed to back seat and we then realized he was peeing in a bottle and the now driver had done the same!

We got a good laugh out of it as they poured 4 bottles of pee out the window!

 

 

Another hour and we arrived at our hotel in Baton Rouge, the Courtyard Marriott. I booked this hotel on a name-your-price rate without seeing which hotel first, got it for $68.

The front desk clerks were the NICEST I've ever encountered! The place is very clean and my wife was impressed with the tea-tree products in the shower!

 

 

 

 

[jakeawhite]

We're very excited to get underway tomorrow! Looks like Breakaway is about to enter the Mississippi, on its way to us.

[bs209438]

Looking forward to following along ....  Thank you for doing this!

[MrFunInTheSun]

46 minutes ago, jakeawhite said:

We made it to Baton Rouge after a long day of traveling! We had plenty of time so we took our time.

 

 

 

 

 

HA. Now this wins the best picture of the day award. Kudo's to the hotel for setting its guest up with the proper expectations. But, well at least you know things are expected to be a tad bit loud. Not to mention its already hard enough to sleep that night before a cruise, its like being a kid on Christmas eve, waiting for Christmas morning.  No matter how many cruises one goes on that excitement for cruise day is like its the first cruise.  🙂

 

 

[HouNew2Cruise]

1.5 hour for the last 10 miles blows.   I hope it is smooth sailing for you tomorrow.  

[Human Speedbump]

On 3/8/2019 at 10:36 AM, jakeawhite said:

Sitting here at work makes me wish I took today off! These 2 1/2 hours feel like 8 when there's a vacation waiting on the other side!

Going to run and get some last minute things at lunch, tonight is packing. I like to get everything together in once place then pack it all fairly close to leaving - that way I don't over pack multiples of the same thing.

 

Tonight I'll pack, get gas, and charge the batteries to everything. We'll leave centex around 9am tomorrow and expect to arrive in Baton Rouge around 5pm, check in at the hotel then go find some dinner.

 

Any suggestions for some good cajun food in the Baton Rouge area?

 

 

We are on the March 17 cruise, and we live in the Baton Rouge area.

 

Our favorite cajun/seafood restaurant in Baton Rouge is Parrain's on Perkins Road. Acme Oyster House is almost next door if that's more your liking.

 

In the event that you run late getting in to Baton Rouge, Lafayette has one of bthe best cajun restaurants there is anywhere. Its called Prejean's and its about 2 miles north of I-10 on the service road to I-49.

 

Happy eating...ask away if you need any BR info.

 

Edit: I just realized im a day late...DUH!!!

Edited March 10, 2019 by Human Speedbump
I'm a Dummy

[Luvmypups]

Back on the road to our destination for the night. About 10 miles out from our hotel coming into Baton Rouge we hit some major traffic. Stand-still for about 10 minutes, then took 1.5 hours to go 10 miles!
 
 
About 50 minutes we noticed something weird going on in the car in front of us. The man in the front seat climbed to the back and was sitting rather odd - we thought at first he was changing pants.
Then the driver climed to the passenger seat and the man in the back seat moved to driver seat. The now passenger climbed to back seat and we then realized he was peeing in a bottle and the now driver had done the same!
We got a good laugh out of it as they poured 4 bottles of pee out the window!
 


Welcome to Baton Rouge!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[blarko]

I’ve only cruised Carnival as well. Following along to get your perspective of NCL, as I’m thinking of “jumping ship” from Carnival and branching out to other lines. Looking forward to your Live review.

[James_Elmore]

On next week's sailing also following should make my week go faster.

[jakeawhite]

Wow! It's been a crazy day!

 

We left Baton Rouge this morning around 8:50am, got gas and then on the road to New Orleans. Everything was gong great until we exited.... we spent the next 1.5 hours moving 1.1 miles into the cruise terminal. I got a little heated at one point, other cars kept zooming down our lane of cars that had been waiting and cutting in - drove me insane.

 

The port in New Orleans is a mess. It seems like no one knows anything and none of the flow was ever thought through. I'm assuming this was not built to handle cruise traffic? I've never cruised out of here before, if I do again I'll arrive around 8am and just wait around to avoid traffic.

 

Once we dropped off luggage (they had us parking, unloading, then backing out into busy lanes of cars....) and parked the truck we made our way into the terminal (though not before waiting on a long freight train). Once in the terminal we made our way quickly through security and check-in. We never stopped moving and were on the ship in just minutes with our key cards!

 

We made our way to the buffet and had some lunch. It was not too busy (around noon I believe)  and the food was pretty decent. We found ourselves comparing to Carnival and I think the food on the buffet is generally much better.

We then explored the ship a little, found the game room, library, etc. Afterwords we went to check on our room, it was ready right at 1:30! We dropped our carry-on baggage then went to hang out on the lido deck and people watch.

 

 

 

From there we went on to Muster, we are E7 indoors on deck 6, that seemed to go much more smoothly than carnival has in the past! Plus, it was great to be indoors!

 

Following muster we explored a little more then went down to our room around 4pm and our luggage had arrived so we unpacked then got ready to go down to an early dinner in the Manhattan room.

 

I had the Beef Medallions and they were cooked surprisingly well! For desert we had Chocolate Lava Cake and Strawberry cheesecake that were both delicious!

 

 

[jakeawhite]

We left a little late from NOLA it seems. Scheduled to depart at 4pm, but didn't actually shove off until around 6:20pm while we were eating dinner. The maneuver to turn around to head down the Mississippi River was pretty cool.

 

We explored the ship a little more then went to the welcome aboard show which wasn't bad. The seats in the Breakaway Theater are incredibly uncomfortable though.

 

So far we're really enjoying the trip! Tomorrow is a sea day so I'm sure we'll see a lot more of Breakaway. Happy to answer any questions, let me know if there's something specific any of you want to see!

 

[caligirl1960]

I'm on the Breakaway in 41 days (not like I'm looking at the countdown calendar every day) and I'm enjoying your review. This will be my 2nd cruise, 1st on NCL. I'll be out of Miami which sounds like a good idea as I've read several stories about confusion at NO terminal. As a solo cruiser I don't want confusion as I'm embarking. Have a blast and thanks for doing this review @jakeawhite.