Live-NCL Breakaway 10/30-11/06/2022-New England/Canada-Club Balcony Suite

[vacation44]

9 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

 

The rest?  Quick bite...hard to beat getting wings, a sandwich, mozzarella sticks, etc from O'Sheehans.  Seems I would also stop in there for either a post excursion or late night snack.  If I were up for a full breakfast, that was the place for me, too.

 

 

 

Mozzarella sticks?   Are they back?

[cruiseny4life]

9 minutes ago, vacation44 said:

Mozzarella sticks?   Are they back?

Gosh I hope so!!! I'll be at O'Sheehan's every day, three times a day. And, my scale will show me even heavier than after most cruises. Eeeeeeek, maybe this ain't good for me haha

[ChiefMateJRK]

26 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

Surprised the pizza was pretty good.

Yeah, I noticed the same on the Joy last month.  The pizza in the buffet was a lot better than it used to be.

[graphicguy]

1 hour ago, vacation44 said:

Mozzarella sticks?   Are they back?

I thought I saw them!

Edited November 7, 2022 by graphicguy

[smillerholmes]

3 hours ago, graphicguy said:

Maybe irrelevant to those who have not used ONPOINT Testing for COVID, but many of us paid them and found them to be unresponsive.  I have already received a refund from AMEX.  Irritates me to know they took fees knowing they were going out of business.  Further, they never contacted anyone letting us know that they could not complete any testing scheduled with them.  

 

In order to keep ONPOINT from continuing to take money from others, I filed a complaint with my state's AG.  Just received this note from them.  FYI!

 

"Thank you for filing your complaint with the Ohio Attorney General’s Office. 

We have made several attempts to contact On Point Testing, but our efforts have been unsuccessful as our letters have been returned and the telephone number appears to be disconnected. Because we are unable to locate or contact On Point Testing, it is possible they have gone out of business. If so, we are unable to move forward with your complaint. At this time, your complaint will be closed. 

However, if you have additional information that suggests the supplier is continuing to operate under this or any other name in Ohio, please contact us with that information. A copy of your complaint will remain in our complaint retention system. 

Additionally, to our knowledge the supplier has not yet filed for bankruptcy, so your claim has not been discharged by any court and may still be viable. You may wish to contact a private attorney of your choosing to determine what legal options are available to you.

Thank you again for contacting the Ohio Attorney General’s Office. We appreciate your patience and regret we cannot be of assistance at this time.

Very respectfully yours,

DAVE YOST
Ohio Attorney General

I also filed a complaint - Dave is probably like WTH?!? 

[rxlowry]

4 hours ago, vacation44 said:

Mozzarella sticks?   Are they back?

I was on the same cruise and did not see that on menu.  Sorry. 

[jhoover69]

I was also on this cruise with my sister @JamieLogicalfor anybody that wants to know at the talk with 

the officers they said there was 2782 passengers on board.

[Nclgetawaymenhoney]

Thank you for taking us along on a great review, we were on the breakaway oct 16-23, so just a week before you got on, I thought the ship and service was great!   I did miss the beaches you get with a warm climate cruise but it was fun.

[graphicguy]

1 hour ago, jhoover69 said:

I was also on this cruise with my sister @JamieLogicalfor anybody that wants to know at the talk with 

the officers they said there was 2782 passengers on board.

Thanks for the exact count….we met briefly at O’Sheehans.  Hope you guys had a good time!

[graphicguy]

1 hour ago, Nclgetawaymenhoney said:

Thank you for taking us along on a great review, we were on the breakaway oct 16-23, so just a week before you got on, I thought the ship and service was great!   I did miss the beaches you get with a warm climate cruise but it was fun.

Have some thoughts and reviews of the ports upcoming!

[mking8288]

Glad to know that disembarkation was easy & quick, looking at that picture - the line was quite short and you weren't among the last to do the express walk-off.  Got to EWR without rushing for the gate & the "Friendly Skies" were good to you ... while using NCL"s shuttle bus services.  Whatever happened to Big Blue a/k/a Super Shuttle's booking (personally, I would not recommend them as they have a miserable reputation here and per my nephews that work ground ops at JFK)   I see the GoAirLink shuttle vans dashing all over & across the city but seldom see SS's blue van anywhere.  Interesting to ready the report that Sunday's Marathon didn't really affect and/or disrupt those disembarking the ship & heading for the airports ... some taxi & car service drivers were known to take the day off, not wanting to deal with all the closures & go-arounds, which probably help explained Uber's surge pricing when demand spiked up around Pier 88.  

 

Congrats on hitting 50 states on your personal travel map with Maine as the last pin.  

[graphicguy]

7 minutes ago, mking8288 said:

Glad to know that disembarkation was easy & quick, looking at that picture - the line was quite short and you weren't among the last to do the express walk-off.  Got to EWR without rushing for the gate & the "Friendly Skies" were good to you ... while using NCL"s shuttle bus services.  Whatever happened to Big Blue a/k/a Super Shuttle's booking (personally, I would not recommend them as they have a miserable reputation here and per my nephews that work ground ops at JFK)   I see the GoAirLink shuttle vans dashing all over & across the city but seldom see SS's blue van anywhere.  Interesting to ready the report that Sunday's Marathon didn't really affect and/or disrupt those disembarking the ship & heading for the airports ... some taxi & car service drivers were known to take the day off, not wanting to deal with all the closures & go-arounds, which probably help explained Uber's surge pricing when demand spiked up around Pier 88.  

 

Congrats on hitting 50 states on your personal travel map with Maine as the last pin.  

Thanks..no drama at the pier.  That’s always a good thing.

 

Contested the SS charge.  Once AMEX contacted them, they refunded the entire transport fare.  I guess AMEX is a pretty big chunk of their payment streams.

 

You’re right…Marathon didn’t interfere with the ride to EWR.  The airport itself?  Still kind of a mess.  All AMEX Centurion Lounges are also closed!

 

On a positive note, we took off on time.  So, I had that going for me!  😉

[genealogyfan]

Did you notice on embarkation day, the wrong announcement? After the wheelchair/disabled people boarded, it looked like the Haven people boarded. Then they announced the Platinum and above latitude members could board.  Before they started calling out boarding group numbers, they accidentally announced, all Gold, Silver and Bronze latitude members can board (of course that's everyone else). I happened to be sitting next to the boarding area, so I got up and starting walking through the line (confused at first), and the poor two employees said to each other how the announcement was wrong, and something about everyone will be boarding, it'll be a mad rush. I overheard them say just let them through and then stop letting anyone else through. I walked on, even though I had boarding group 4.

 

Does anyone know what happened afterwards? Did they start announcing by boarding group?

Edited November 8, 2022 by genealogyfan

[JamieLogical]

9 hours ago, genealogyfan said:

Did you notice on embarkation day, the wrong announcement? After the wheelchair/disabled people boarded, it looked like the Haven people boarded. Then they announced the Platinum and above latitude members could board.  Before they started calling out boarding group numbers, they accidentally announced, all Gold, Silver and Bronze latitude members can board (of course that's everyone else). I happened to be sitting next to the boarding area, so I got up and starting walking through the line (confused at first), and the poor two employees said to each other how the announcement was wrong, and something about everyone will be boarding, it'll be a mad rush. I overheard them say just let them through and then stop letting anyone else through. I walked on, even though I had boarding group 4.

 

Does anyone know what happened afterwards? Did they start announcing by boarding group?

 

I boarded with Platinum, so I didn't hear any of the announcements afterward.

[graphicguy]

I didn’t hear anything after the Sapphire/Platinum announcements, either.

 

Boarding was orderly as best as I observed.

[graphicguy]

PORTS…

 

I must be part Irish (actually, 100% Italian but indulge me with the shamrock theme for a moment).  

 

I sail during Hurricane Season to the Caribbean.  I sale end of season to Alaska.  Now, I’ve sailed the last cruise out of NY on NCL for the Canadian itinerary.  Aside from a cancellation on a Hurricane Season NCL cruise (a whole other issue handled poorly by NCL) before the COVID shutdown, I’ve had wonderful weather on ALL of them.  Luck has blessed me weatherwise when cruising.  I think Lady Luck needs to have a conversation with the casino gods, though. 😉

 

So, this was a port intensive cruise….

 

-Portland, ME

-Bar Harbor, ME

-St John, New Brunswick

-Halifax, Nova Scotia

 

Temps were in the 60ºs and sunny during the day, every day.  My clothes were not too dissimilar than when I sail the Caribbean.  Shorts, boat shoes (or tennis shoes depending on how much I walk) and instead of a Hawaiian shirt, I wear hoodies.  Got a little sweaty a couple of times wearing a hoodie on some of the longer walking excursions.

 

As an aside, I must crow a little bit here.  I’m fresh off having a heart attack and having a stent put into place a few weeks ago (outlined earlier in this inordinately long thread).  I walked 10,000+ steps/day (some days way more).  Covered at least 3 miles/day (sometimes traversing the ship fore to aft and back several times).  Feeling pretty good about being able to do those things shortly after my little ‘incident”.  

 

What’s the adage?  Can’t keep a good man down?  No…no…that’s not appropriate for me.

 

Oh….wait…I got it…..I’m too old to rock and roll and too young to die.  Yeah, that’s it!  Although, I still like to rock and roll, too.  Wait….Too old to die young?  Whatever!

 

ANYWAY…back on track.

 

Posted the pics of the ports.

 

I love the east coast.  Being land locked in OH (if you don’t count the lake to the North and the Ohio River to the South), I don’t get to celebrate being in close proximity to large bodies of water, like the Atlantic.  

 

Given the North East Coast of North America was home to the first European visitors/settlers, there is a rich history that is sparse in my home state.  We have the Indian Burial Mounds, which we revere.  And, we have some military history. But, nothing quite as rich as the East Coast.

 

As such, I immensely enjoy exploring the the eastern citifies/ports. If anything, I wished I could spend much more time in each of them to learn more. Each one of them has a story to tell.  Each one of them is historically rich in maritime lore.

 

I will do this itinerary, again!  It was a first for me.

 

[graphicguy]

THE CABIN….

 

All positive….Club Balcony Cabin.

 

Maybe a bit big for a solo, but I wasn’t complaining.  

 

I had Ferdinand, my steward, get me a foam bed topper, which made it quite comfy.  I like keeping the cabin on the cool side, which I was able to do.  The toilet worked as expected….always a good thing.

 

The shower….OH….THE SHOWER.  It was to die for.  Big, GREAT water pressure, jetted to where you can direct where the water goes.  Plus, it was easy to walk in in and out of  (no big bathtub step).

 

I used the balcony, but not nearly as much as I would on a Mexico, Caribbean or a Mediterranean cruise.

 

a.  We were port intensive and I didn’t dally on the balcony much

b.  During the evenings, it did get a bit chilly, so I tended not to have my traditional “night caps” on my balcony.

 

But, I did have morning coffee on the Balcony to watch the sun come up (when, more likely “if” I drug my dear derrière out of bed that early).  And, I liked throwing open the curtains upon me groggily rising to see where we were and what the day’s weather looked to be.

 

If there were a complaint, it’s that there were no power plugs bedside.  Big deal to me?  Not really. More of a convenience thing.  I would set my phone’s alarm, and would have to get out of bed to see the time (or yell “hey Siri…turn off the alarm”).  A bit of a shock to the system when all you want to do is to roll over and grab another 10 minutes…..or 30 minutes…..or 2 hours of sleep to see if the the hydration packets taken the nite before had done they job.

 

That said, there were two U.S. type plugs.  Mentioned I’m in the Apple ecosystem.  So, needed a Mag Safe cradle for my iPhone (also have a lightning cable), a USB A mag charger for my Apple Watch, and a USB C cable for my iPad.  That meant I needed both plugs and had to use one portable plug with 2 ports to charge everything at once.  Big deal?  Nope!  Just a few more plugs I needed to carry vs having plugs  on either side of the bed.

 

There was no coffee maker in the cabin.  Ferdinand fetched me one as it was my first request.

 

Maybe I’m a snob, but the coffee in the buffet is swill.  I am a coffee drinker, and I consider it about the same as a cup of coffee out of those old coffee vending machines.  That’s not good.

 

While not ideal, I bring those Starbucks coffee packets with me.  Not ideal, but way better than the buffet coffee.  I also bring my own Stevia with me.  I go down to the buffet on embarkation day to get those little cartons of milk, which I stash in the cabin fridge.  I’m all set for my own personal coffee service in the cabin, with not need for room service.

 

[dcipjr]

Great review, @graphicguy!

 

I was hoping to be able to meet you and @JamieLogical while onboard, but it turned out to be a busier cruise than anticipated, which happens when you only have a single sea day.

 

I did stop by Spice H20 at 5 PM on Sunday, but nobody seemed to know anything about CruiseCritic—it's Zuckerbergs all the way down these days, I'm afraid. Since it was an 18+ venue, and I wanted to spend time with my daughter (who's 5), I wasn't able to stick around. Alas.

 

I was able to catch the World Series on ESPN Radio using my Free at Sea minutes, as well as terrestrial radio with my AM radio. The ship, as expected, did not carry the baseball Fall Classic—but if you love tennis, it must have been a dream come true.  The Phillies lost anyway. Again, alas.

 

It was a lovely cruise. The ports were beautiful, and the weather terrific. We saw, walked, and ate a lot.

 

Maine is pretty spectacular, isn't it? We walked across the Bar Harbor sandbar and hiked up Bar Island for some great views. Many people had told me how beautiful Maine is, and they weren't lying. We'll be back.

 

We received excellent service the whole way through, and the food and ship were terrific. Breakaway is still in fine shape almost 10 years on; I wouldn't hesitate to sail her again.

 

I was told there were 2700 people onboard, which contributed to short / no lines.

 

In terms of bang-for-the-buck, it's among the best cruises we've ever taken.

Edited November 8, 2022 by dcipjr

[Sugar Magnolia]

1 hour ago, graphicguy said:

PORTS…

 

I must be part Irish (actually, 100% Italian but indulge me with the shamrock theme for a moment).  

 

I sail during Hurricane Season to the Caribbean.  I sale end of season to Alaska.  Now, I’ve sailed the last cruise out of NY on NCL for the Canadian itinerary.  Aside from a cancellation on a Hurricane Season NCL cruise (a whole other issue handled poorly by NCL) before the COVID shutdown, I’ve had wonderful weather on ALL of them.  Luck has blessed me weatherwise when cruising.  I think Lady Luck needs to have a conversation with the casino gods, though. 😉

 

So, this was a port intensive cruise….

 

-Portland, ME

-Bar Harbor, ME

-St John, New Brunswick

-Halifax, Nova Scotia

 

Temps were in the 60ºs and sunny during the day, every day.  My clothes were not too dissimilar than when I sail the Caribbean.  Shorts, boat shoes (or tennis shoes depending on how much I walk) and instead of a Hawaiian shirt, I wear hoodies.  Got a little sweaty a couple of times wearing a hoodie on some of the longer walking excursions.

 

As an aside, I must crow a little bit here.  I’m fresh off having a heart attack and having a stent put into place a few weeks ago (outlined earlier in this inordinately long thread).  I walked 10,000+ steps/day (some days way more).  Covered at least 3 miles/day (sometimes traversing the ship fore to aft and back several times).  Feeling pretty good about being able to do those things shortly after my little ‘incident”.  

 

What’s the adage?  Can’t keep a good man down?  No…no…that’s not appropriate for me.

 

Oh….wait…I got it…..I’m too old to rock and roll and too young to die.  Yeah, that’s it!  Although, I still like to rock and roll, too.  Wait….Too old to die young?  Whatever!

 

ANYWAY…back on track.

 

Posted the pics of the ports.

 

I love the east coast.  Being land locked in OH (if you don’t count the lake to the North and the Ohio River to the South), I don’t get to celebrate being in close proximity to large bodies of water, like the Atlantic.  

 

Given the North East Coast of North America was home to the first European visitors/settlers, there is a rich history that is sparse in my home state.  We have the Indian Burial Mounds, which we revere.  And, we have some military history. But, nothing quite as rich as the East Coast.

 

As such, I immensely enjoy exploring the the eastern citifies/ports. If anything, I wished I could spend much more time in each of them to learn more. Each one of them has a story to tell.  Each one of them is historically rich in maritime lore.

 

I will do this itinerary, again!  It was a first for me.

 

 

Also Newport, RI...must have been a rough morning 😉

 

 

[graphicguy]

52 minutes ago, dcipjr said:

Great review, @graphicguy!

 

I was hoping to be able to meet you and @JamieLogical while onboard, but it turned out to be a busier cruise than anticipated, which happens when you only have a single sea day.

 

I did stop by Spice H20 at 5 PM on Sunday, but nobody seemed to know anything about CruiseCritic—it's Zuckerbergs all the way down these days, I'm afraid. Since it was an 18+ venue, and I wanted to spend time with my daughter (who's 5), I wasn't able to stick around. Alas.

 

I was able to catch the World Series on ESPN Radio using my Free at Sea minutes, as well as terrestrial radio with my AM radio. The ship, as expected, did not carry the baseball Fall Classic—but if you love tennis, it must have been a dream come true.  The Phillies lost anyway. Again, alas.

 

It was a lovely cruise. The ports were beautiful, and the weather terrific. We saw, walked, and ate a lot.

 

Maine is pretty spectacular, isn't it? We walked across the Bar Harbor sandbar and hiked up Bar Island for some great views. Many people had told me how beautiful Maine is, and they weren't lying. We'll be back.

 

We received excellent service the whole way through, and the food and ship were terrific. Breakaway is still in fine shape almost 10 years on; I wouldn't hesitate to sail her again.

 

I was told there were 2700 people onboard, which contributed to short / no lines.

 

In terms of bang-for-the-buck, it's among the best cruises we've ever taken.

Sorry we missed each other.  The M&Gs (or lack thereof) were a little kludgy.  I get the reasoning….lots of ports.  The solo M&Gs arranged by NCL were good.  “Handsome Rob” was our host and did a great job.

 

He got us preferred seatings in the MDRs and the shows.  Plus, we all got a chance to meet and mingle every day before going wherever we were headed.

 

I missed more than a few people I had hoped to meet.  But, as you say, just way too much going on…which I suppose is the best way to cruise.

 

Those who I did get the chance to meet up with were wonderful.  And we all had a good time when we met up…which many times was random and unplanned.  This was probably the biggest group of CCers I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting on any cruise.  Plus, the solo contingency was large, too.

 

I may try my hand at organizing one when I cruise again.

 

Don’t disagree with anything you stated….probably the best cruise I’ve ever taken.  Although, I say that with just about every cruise I take (few exceptions here and there).   I’ve never taken a “bad” cruise.

[graphicguy]

6 minutes ago, Sugar Magnolia said:

 

Also Newport, RI...must have been a rough morning 😉

 

 

Thank you!  Yes, RI.  I actually think it was one of those rough mornings now that I think of it.  LOL!  I have pictures.  So, I know I was there.  LOL!

 

Thanks for having my back….ONCE AGAIN! 😉

Edited November 8, 2022 by graphicguy

[graphicguy]

Not NCL, but just got this in the mail today……what a temptress……

[graphicguy]

ENTERTAINMENT…..in short, NCL puts on the best entertainment at sea, bar none.

 

From the Main Theater performances I saw …

 

-Comedians

-Six

 

To the Main Atrium Performances (too many to mention)

 

To the band in Syd Normans (if you only see one show, the band in Syd’s is the one you want to see)

 

….In all my cruises, NCL has yet to be bested for entertainment.

 

 

The mention of other guests, as always, it’s the interface with other like minded cruisers is what makes cruises, IMHO!  This one was no exception.

 

I’ve been so very fortunate to have met, and cruised with many people who post on these boards.  All of them have been wonderful and have sincerely made me a better person by traveling with them.

 

Way too many to name here.  But, y’all know who you are.  Even those I haven’t met on a cruise, yet have taken the time to post here, I’m grateful.

 

Sincerest thanks!

 

I’ll have some misc comments and pics which I will post.  But, overall, I hope I’ve painted a picture of this cruise…the places, the entertainment, the excursions, the ship, the people….all of it, just great!  I’ll remember this one for a very long time.

 

To those I met, I hope we meet again, soon.  To those I didn’t meet, my sincerest wish is that we get the chance to meet on another cruise.  Aside from a couple of….well…ahem….unlikeable types (none or you, I’m sure), cruisers are the best!!!!!!

[ChiefMateJRK]

12 hours ago, genealogyfan said:

all Gold, Silver and Bronze latitude members can board (of course that's everyone else)

I believe that all first time cruisers are not bronze until after their first cruise.  I may be mistaken.

[All-ready2cruise]

4 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

I believe that all first time cruisers are not bronze until after their first cruise.  I may be mistaken.

Correct