Shadowmeboy Breakaway Adventure from New Orleans to the Western Caribbean!

shadowmeboy · May 13, 2022

2 hours ago, AKR2011 said:

Hooray! Matthew and Susan are back 😀 I am so excited for this review. I'm so happy you made it back to sea.

❤⚓ Ashley

Thanks Ashley! We were glad to be back at Sea!

shadowmeboy · May 13, 2022

So... I guess you are supposed to get some sleep on a Red Eye right? Does an hour nap count? #askingforafriend 😉

Well, since I couldn't sleep, the alternative is to take pictures right?

Pictured above and below is Oklahoma City. You can figure out the State right?

Shreveport, LA

Baton Rouge, LA

We are getting closer!

Southeast of Baton Rouge

Finally on the ground in New Orleans, well Kenner. New Orleans International Airport. The people in the cabin next to us were from Kenner, they had a quick commute to the port.

Pulling into Gate B3 at MSY.

Just a note: The MSY Landing video will hit my YouTube channel on 5/23/22. You know you want to watch it.

shadowmeboy · May 13, 2022

I Spy with my camera a Café Du Monde! No, we did not stop to get a Beignet. Susan wanted too!

Waiting for the bags to come off the plane. Just a note the Lady (with the green bag) and Gentleman to the left of the 3 sign is Carol and Dennis. They are from just North of Seattle.

We got all the bags and headed outside to get the masks off for a few minutes, get some fresh air, then go catch an Uber to the Port.

Beautiful Sunrise

The Superdome! The NCAA Final Four was being played in NOLA this weekend. So it was quite busy in town, hence we why we had to settle for a Red Eye from Seattle.

US Highway 90 bridge over the Mississippi.

I just realized how many times I will have to type Mississippi in this review. Maybe I should just copy and paste it. What fun would that be? I mean half the fun is spelling M i double S i Double S i double P i each time in your head. See I made you do it! Lol!

There she is! Unfortunately for us, we were really early to the port. Half the Breakaway cruise people from our flight were hanging out with us.

Luckily, we found a awesome Porter, who stacked our bags to be loaded onto the ship. this way we didn't have to carry everything for several hours!

So the Riverwalk is a cool Mall area, but it didn't open up till 9am or so. So we walked down by Harrah's Casino and the Hilton Hotel.

Gorgeous Morning!

This artwork was in the Hilton Hotel. I found it fascinating at 7:30 in the morning after a Red Eye. Its still a really cool picture.

So we hung out in the Hilton for a while. Then Carol and Dennis joined us in the Hilton conference area until the Riverwalk opened up and we could meander back to the ship and start Check-in!

shadowmeboy · May 13, 2022

So entered the terminal around 10 am and were able to start the process. Well before out 1pm check-in time. We had our Vaccine cards checked and the negative covid test results. Then we headed through Security!

We hit the Platinum line and went almost immediately to an agent.

Dennis and Carol checking in as well!

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Yes, we are smiling that big! Its official, we are leaving on a cruise finally!

Boarding Photo area

Waiting area. We hung out here for a bit before moving closer to the boarding door and sitting near Dennis and Carol.

Finally, Platinum and above were called and we practically ran to the ship. Well, walked really fast!

Carnival Glory was ahead of us in port.

Finally aboard! It was only 1,023 days since Susan and I disembarked the Norwegian Dawn in New York City back in 2019. Way too long.

Edited May 13, 2022 by shadowmeboy
Forgot a picture!

shadowmeboy · May 13, 2022

I loved the Chandelier here on the Breakaway!

Le Bistro - a restaurant we would not be eating at

They had Restaurant menus on the right, and reservations for restaurants in the Comedy Club. Photo people pushing the Perspectives Studio.

Susan and I didn't have breakfast. So first order of business on the ship was to get lunch! We headed to Savor to savor our first meal aboard the ship. We had met up with Dennis and Carol once onboard and went to lunch with them.

Menus

Wedge Salad minus the blue cheese and blue cheese dressing. Yuck. I added Cheddar and Ranch. Much Better!

Susan got the Roasted Tomato Soup for her app.

Susan's entrée was the Turkey Cottage Pie

I got the classic Cheeseburger but added Bacon. Bacon makes everything better! My only gripe is why do they think a little cup of ketchup is going to be enough? That is enough for 5 fries or so. Come on NCL give the people more ketchup.

Now, before I get a bunch of comments. I am joking. I know they would have gone and gotten me plenty more ketchup, if I had asked. Did I? No. I was hungry and the fries barely had time to be dipped in ketchup!

Crème Caramel for dessert

While we were eating lunch, they announced that Staterooms were available! We said farewell to Dennis and Carol and headed up the aft elevators to deck 11 and our Stateroom!

shadowmeboy · May 13, 2022

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Here a very tired Susan points to our stateroom sign!

Welcome to our Aft B1 Balcony, Stateroom 11910. The photographers came to memorize it, since we took so many pictures.

The view from the Balcony!

Barge!

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Here is the stateroom tour video we did!

I am going to call it a night. I will pick it up from here! Good Evening!

CrabbyPatti · May 13, 2022

Glad to see you doing another review. We sailed on the Breakaway from New Orleans in January 2019! Loved it. Then we took a last minute trip to Alaska on the Joy in July of 2019. (I had retired so we spoiled ourselves with a second cruise that year) We were making plans for another cruise the spring of 2020 and we know what happened then.

We have plans for more cruises, but have put them on the back burner for the moment as Dad needs more care right now. I enjoy following your travels.

Have a great cruise, post lots of pictures!

Denise

shadowmeboy · May 14, 2022

23 hours ago, CrabbyPatti said:

     Glad to see you doing another review. We sailed on the Breakaway from New Orleans in January 2019! Loved it. Then we took a last minute trip to Alaska on the Joy in July of 2019. (I had retired so we spoiled ourselves with a second cruise that year) We were making plans for another cruise the spring of 2020 and we know what happened then.

       We have plans for more cruises, but have put them on the back burner for the moment as Dad needs more care right now. I enjoy following your travels.

       Have a great cruise, post lots of pictures!

Denise

Denise,

I hope you get to sail soon! Although, Family is important and that takes president. Glad to see someone else from our side of the hump!

I hope you enjoy all the pictures I have to share!

shadowmeboy · May 14, 2022

We started getting settled into our cabin. Went down and checked in with our Muster Station. Then took a short nap as we both did not sleep well and we didn't want to be crashing at 7pm.

After the nap, I hung out in the room while Susan went to get the Sticker for the Thermal Suite put on her key card.

Along the way she took some pictures.

Entrance to the Garden Café on deck 15.

The fitness center

The sign to the Mandara Spa.

Another Sign

The Haven Entrance Sign

I feel like I am on a Bill Engvall sketch about Here's your Sign! I need to coach that secondary camera person about what these comprehensive reviews need in the form of pictures.

Here are the Yellow and Purple tube slides.

Every time I went through this area, it seemed like the kid area was closed. Susan said she saw it open.

shadowmeboy · May 14, 2022

Finally it was time to throw lines!

The Carnival Glory left port first.

There she goes.

The tug was cool!

As you can see, the Big Muddy lives up to its name here in NOLA!

We were supposed to head out next, but we had to wait for Mississippi River traffic.

Like this Ocean going ship heading up river.

These birds looked so peaceful on the lines. Little did they know that their perch would soon be gone from under them.

This is where an Aft Balcony is awesome!

I wondered why he was so far over to the far bank.

Then this tanker ship passed us and the other ship on its way out to the Gulf of Mexico.

Then a Tug and the Sternwheeler rounded the corner and I was hopefully we would depart. It was starting to get warm on the Balcony.

A few more pictures of the two larger ships.

The Creole Queen does short trips along the Mississippi and is coming into its dock. The boat just beyond it is the passenger ferry between the Canal St. Terminal and the Algiers Terminal on the far shore of the river.

Another barge tow heading downriver. Are we ever going to head out?

Downtown

shadowmeboy · May 14, 2022

Finally we pulled out of the Julia St Terminal!

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Another Tug heading upriver

The bridge is US Highway 90

Goodbye NOLA! See you in a week!

Creole Queen at its dock.

Audubon Aquarium of the Americas and the Canal St. Ferry terminal.

Downtown and the French Quarter

It was fascinating watching the river traffic and NOLA getting smaller in the distance!

Before we departed the pier, I set up the GoPro to do a Time-lapse River Transit. Here is the time-lapse video!

shadowmeboy · May 14, 2022

We soon had a knock on the door and our Latitudes Chocolate Covered Strawberries arrived!

We went down to Deck 8 to the Prime Meridian Bar between Cagney's and Moderno and got our first drinks of the trip! I got a Mr. Worldwide and Susan got a Painkiller!

Afterwards, we headed up to the Stateroom and got ready for Dinner!

The ship Photographers had one station set up this first night. So we had to start taking pictures for our package. Looking at this photo now, we look so tired. Its amazing we were still upright.

We headed to Ocean Blue for Dinner.

Ocean Blue is on Deck 8 Mid above the Casino looking out on the Chandelier.

Wasabi is next door.

Along with the Raw Bar.

Ocean Blue Menu

I apologize for the quality of the picture. I used the DSLR and it was just too dark for a good Menu Shot.

I got the Tiger Shrimp Cocktail.

Susan got the Seared Scallops over Pork Belly.

I got Clam Chowder but added a little bit of Butter from the table. It helps to finish the chowder taste.

Susan got the Beet Salad and it was beautifully plated. She said it was excellent.

I got a modified Wedge Salad minus the Blue cheese.

I got the Surf and Turf. When using a Dining Package meal, its a $25 surcharge.

Susan got the Pan Seared Seabass

Desert Menu

Susan got the Key Lime Meringue Pie. She said it was excellent!

I got the best dessert they offer! Vanilla Cheesecake "In a Jar"

We enjoyed our first dinner onboard. But we were tired and headed back to the cabin. We watched a few of the final miles of Mississippi River transit in the dark, and then got ready for bed. We quickly fell asleep as it had been a very very very long day for us.

odie1024 · May 14, 2022

So glad to see you are back, think I found your reviews prior to Covid and thoroughly enjoyed them. Had a number of cancelled cruises starting with March 2020 and got on the Breakaway last October doing Bermuda from NYC. Our favorite restauarant on the BA was Ocean Blue. Look forward to reading the rest of your review.

shadowmeboy · May 15, 2022

11 hours ago, odie1024 said:

So glad to see you are back, think I found your reviews prior to Covid and thoroughly enjoyed them. Had a number of cancelled cruises starting with March 2020 and got on the Breakaway last October doing Bermuda from NYC. Our favorite restauarant on the BA was Ocean Blue. Look forward to reading the rest of your review.

Thank you! I bet it felt great to finally sail again!

shadowmeboy · May 15, 2022

April 4th, 2022 - Sea Day

This photo was in the elevator lobby of Deck 10 Aft. It took me to happy places every time I saw it!

We felt 1000% percent better after an excellent night of sleep. I always sleep well on a cruise ship, something about the motion of the Ocean!

Mixx Bar between Taste and Savor on Deck 6 Aft

Taste Restaurant for breakfast this morning!

We weren't the first people in the restaurant, but were definitely not the last.

I failed to get menu photos this morning

I got a half Grapefruit with some Cottage Cheese on the side.

Susan got a Yogurt Parfait - Strawberry flavored

Susan got the Biscuits and Gravy with Sausage. I ended up with her grilled tomato.

Ham, Bacon, Eggs, and Hashbrowns. In the past, they used to have medallion sized hashbrowns that tasted like a hashbrown you get from McDonald's. This time, they had this hashbrown slab, with little flavor and unique texture. It was nasty. The country potatoes weren't any better. Which was a disappointment for a hashbrown lover like myself.

I also got Eggs Benedict with those flavorless country potatoes.

shadowmeboy · May 15, 2022

After breakfast, Susan headed up to the Thermal Spa. I headed for the Waterfront and some Vitamin Sea! I wanted to just relax, smell the Ocean, and hear the waves while reading my train magazines I had brought with me! It was amazing!

Waterfront Pictures

After a while, I went Meandering. Looking down on Le Bistro from the Casino.

The Casino

A look at Teppanyaki as we were not going to eat here.

Susan and I met up and headed to the Latitudes Party for Silver and above!

The party was occurring in the Spiegel Tent, Deck 6 Forward.

The Captain

It was the first Latitudes Party they had held since the Breakaway started back up sailing post Covid.

Some of you might be wondering where the pictures are from the Cruise Critic Meet & Greet. Short answer, we didn't have one. I had volunteered to lead it but nobody said they wanted to participate until two weeks before and it was only like 4 other people. Not worth the time and effort to put it together that late in the game.

ckmedsec · May 15, 2022

Yay!!! You are back. So happy to come across your review tonight. Looking forward to reading about your cruise.

shadowmeboy · May 15, 2022

We snuck into Taste just before they closed for Lunch.

Menu Screenshot from my phone

Doing this was easier than taking Menu Shots honestly. Plus its not blurry.

I got the Bay Scallop Gratin. It was amazing. The only downside was the bread. How many do you see? Yeah, not nearly enough for the appetizer. I requested more, lots more!

Susan got the Bistro Salad.

Susan got the Monte Cristo Sandwich for her entrée.

I coupled the Chicken Flautas with the Queso Frito Tortilla Bowl for my entrée.

The deep fried cheese sticks on top seemed out of place.

Warm

Warm Chocolate Lava Cake, oh how I have missed you!

Susan got the Tiramisu.

Got to pause for dinner. I need to Grill a flank Steak. I will do some more in a little bit.

shadowmeboy · May 15, 2022

So we took a short nap after lunch, because we can and we are on vacation!

Once we got up, we decided to go to Spice H2O. When we sailed the Escape, we found the water feature on the last day. I wasn't going to make that mistake again.