Live from Norwegian Breakaway (Western Caribbean) - December 17-24, 2023

[HoosierShipmate]

A lot of discussion on the whale lot - as of last week, we parked in the whale lot, which was being run by Hilton employees. They do have new fencing up, we’re charging $150 for the week as a flat fee.  It’s not covered parking like the garages, but I felt very safe leaving my car there.  It may not be ‘official’ by the port, but it’s a real parking option, very easy to access and you can park, take your luggage a very short walk over to the handlers and you’re done.  It has easy access to both the ship and the Riverwalk shops.  

[Rosequin]

Thank you for sharing! I was debating booking this in March for my birthday and your post convinced me lol. First time on this itinerary, any recommendations for excursions? Is the snorkeling decent at Harvest Caye? And is it similar to Great Stirrup Cay in that you can use drink package/etc? Thanks! 🙂 

[PaperSniper4]

13 hours ago, RocketMan275 said:

100 Poydras Garage is much more secure than the Whale Lot.  Many reports of vehicles broken into and items stolen.   

Very true. However, $25-$26 is still very expensive for parking.

[wolft927]

6 hours ago, Rosequin said:

Thank you for sharing! I was debating booking this in March for my birthday and your post convinced me lol. First time on this itinerary, any recommendations for excursions? Is the snorkeling decent at Harvest Caye? And is it similar to Great Stirrup Cay in that you can use drink package/etc? Thanks! 🙂 

Drink Package does not Work on Harvest Cay. 

[cruiseny4life]

30 minutes ago, PaperSniper4 said:

Very true. However, $25-$26 is still very expensive for parking.

You're not from NY are you? $25/day sounds great to me! I know, it's all relative.

[Sam & Soph]

On 12/22/2023 at 7:13 AM, PaperSniper4 said:

I'm enjoying his posts also, very informative. I think he ought to ignore his unappreciative wife's rolling of the eyes!😉

 

You asked about coffee in the cabin, which is important to us also. Nothing quite like sipping good coffee on the balcony watching the ocean roll by.

Here's something I clipped from another thread on CC somewhere concerning coffee on the Breakaway. I might be a year old:

 

==> COFFEE: We can ask the steward to bring us a Hamilton Beach coffee maker. “I think the coffee from the Hamilton Beach machines is pretty good. I generally bring some extra pods with me to avoid having to ask for extra pods every day - from Amazon etc. "Senseo coffee pods".

 

I have not decided if it's worth the hassle of asking for the coffee maker and perhaps getting some of those extra pods to bring with us. Coffee in the morning is super important for us, so we mainly use cabin service if available early (as in 0600), or I'll hike up to the lido deck with our insulated cups, or to the coffee bar is our cruise includes specialty coffees....we don't have that on this cruise; we have the "cheap seats" standard beverage package. Plus the $6 NCL charges for just coffee on their ships irritates me a bit.....I am so cheap I might always hike up to the lido for coffee every morning.....I wear cargo pants and carry insulated cups with lids...the croissants will fit into my cargo pants.....I've done it before!😎

 

 Doug

Hey Doug here’s a little tip for you if you’re going to do the hike up for coffee. My husband packs a cardboard 6-pack holder from beer. It folds flat in the suitcase and when you get your coffee, the cups fit great in the holder and a little extra room for extras. In his case a danish or 2. Packs it back for home. I think the Corona beer one has been on about 10 cruises with us.👍

[G-DawgMN]

On 12/24/2023 at 11:03 AM, HoosierShipmate said:

 

Thanks for following along this week. I read trip reports all the time for entertainment and planning and knew it would be work but I enjoyed it more than I thought I would!  
 

Everyone enjoy whatever holiday you celebrate and look for the recap later in the week!

 

J

 

 

 

 Thank you so much for the in-depth review. We'll be doing this cruise next month!

[PaperSniper4]

11 hours ago, HoosierShipmate said:

A lot of discussion on the whale lot - as of last week, we parked in the whale lot, which was being run by Hilton employees. They do have new fencing up, we’re charging $150 for the week as a flat fee.  It’s not covered parking like the garages, but I felt very safe leaving my car there.  It may not be ‘official’ by the port, but it’s a real parking option, very easy to access and you can park, take your luggage a very short walk over to the handlers and you’re done.  It has easy access to both the ship and the Riverwalk shops.  

I dunno, that link sounds like cruise passengers can no longer use the Whale Lot. Of course, there has been misinformation on the interest before......😉

 

 Doug

[PaperSniper4]

57 minutes ago, Sam & Soph said:

Hey Doug here’s a little tip for you if you’re going to do the hike up for coffee. My husband packs a cardboard 6-pack holder from beer. It folds flat in the suitcase and when you get your coffee, the cups fit great in the holder and a little extra room for extras. In his case a danish or 2. Packs it back for home. I think the Corona beer one has been on about 10 cruises with us.👍

What a great tip, Kat! Thank you for that good idea.

 

 Doug

[GuelphCruisers]

On 12/19/2023 at 12:38 AM, HoosierShipmate said:

Ok on one of our first cruises, might have been Celebrity Galaxy, we saw a show - ‘Mike Price: Master Juggler’ and oddly he was ridiculously talented and amazing. But since then most shows have disappointed me.

 

Until SIX.  In the world of cruise ship theater I was very impressed. Great production, and I now understand why it’s always a sold out show.  I understand they’re not going to be on board much longer, but if you’re sailing soon, make the reservation early and enjoy the show! I might even try to talk the fam

into the standby line later this week.

 

Any idea what they are replacing Six with?

Disappointed we will miss that show on our Breakaway sailing later this year.

[APDMOM]

Thank you for the detailed review!  We are booked on Breakaway for July 2024 🙂

[OurAnniversary25]

On 12/28/2023 at 3:18 PM, RocketMan275 said:

Exit the Omni.  Turn right on Convention Center Blvd.  Turn left on Julia Street.  Walk straight ahead till you see the terminal and the porters should be out front.  About two tenths of a mile.  

Or, when you exit the Omni, the Whale Parking lot will be to your front.  Walk across the lot and the porters will be there.  

 

google is your friend.

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/29.9455194,-90.06481/29.9437166,-90.062279/@29.9440847,-90.0649916,364m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m2!4m1!3e2?entry=ttu

 

"google is your friend" is a line I often use myself, but it wasn't my friend in this case.  Thank you so much!

[HoosierShipmate]

On 12/29/2023 at 1:51 AM, Rosequin said:

Thank you for sharing! I was debating booking this in March for my birthday and your post convinced me lol. First time on this itinerary, any recommendations for excursions? Is the snorkeling decent at Harvest Caye? And is it similar to Great Stirrup Cay in that you can use drink package/etc? Thanks! 🙂 

The drink package on NCL unfortunately only works on the ship itself. It’s pay as you go at private island/ports etc.  We aren’t big excursion people but will say the snorkeling at Roatan when we did it was amazing. We hired a private driver and went to a resort with snorkeling right off the beach and it was terrific.  

[HoosierShipmate]

On 12/29/2023 at 8:53 AM, Sam & Soph said:

Hey Doug here’s a little tip for you if you’re going to do the hike up for coffee. My husband packs a cardboard 6-pack holder from beer. It folds flat in the suitcase and when you get your coffee, the cups fit great in the holder and a little extra room for extras. In his case a danish or 2. Packs it back for home. I think the Corona beer one has been on about 10 cruises with us.👍

Nice idea!  I would fill it with bagels and coffee and just sit on the balcony until I got moving to eat second breakfast in the MDR 🙂

[HoosierShipmate]

23 hours ago, GuelphCruisers said:

Any idea what they are replacing Six with?

Disappointed we will miss that show on our Breakaway sailing later this year.

I haven’t heard yet, but am sad that Six is going away. I had heard so many great things, and it surpassed my expectations. Going to need to see the full show somewhere eventually!

[www3traveler]

38 minutes ago, HoosierShipmate said:

The drink package on NCL unfortunately only works on the ship itself. It’s pay as you go at private island/ports etc.  We aren’t big excursion people but will say the snorkeling at Roatan when we did it was amazing. We hired a private driver and went to a resort with snorkeling right off the beach and it was terrific.  

Your drink package will work at Great Stirrup Caye but not at Harvest Caye.  Harvest Caye is a collaboration between the government of Belize and NCL.  A Hospitality Company manages and employees people from Belize to work on the island.  With Great Stirrup Caye, ship staff work on the island.  

[red11]

12 hours ago, HoosierShipmate said:

I haven’t heard yet, but am sad that Six is going away. I had heard so many great things, and it surpassed my expectations. Going to need to see the full show somewhere eventually!

Is SIX not the full show on board? It’s only a 90 minute show without intermission on land (when it came to St. Louis). 
 

Did you have to tender at any ports? TIA

[IamPEBJ]

21 hours ago, red11 said:

Is SIX not the full show on board? It’s only a 90 minute show without intermission on land (when it came to St. Louis). 
 

Did you have to tender at any ports? TIA

I'll let you know tomorrow. On board! 😃

[RaiderFaninNM]

On 12/30/2023 at 10:54 AM, www3traveler said:

Your drink package will work at Great Stirrup Caye but not at Harvest Caye.  Harvest Caye is a collaboration between the government of Belize and NCL.  A Hospitality Company manages and employees people from Belize to work on the island.  With Great Stirrup Caye, ship staff work on the island.  

Nice to know!!

[HoosierShipmate]

On 12/31/2023 at 1:08 AM, red11 said:

Is SIX not the full show on board? It’s only a 90 minute show without intermission on land (when it came to St. Louis). 
 

Did you have to tender at any ports? TIA

Now that you’ve said it’s only 90 minutes in total, I wonder if it is the whole show. It ‘felt’ complete but I assumed they had cut something.  Still great, either way.

 

As to tender ports - none on this cruise for us, but don’t know if weather could affect that. 

[IamPEBJ]

By the way... Syd Normans lived up to the hype. We have Six tonight but I wish we could have went again. We will later this week for sure!

[crdtrnr]

Do you know what the cost to upgrade the wifi was, if you waited to do it on board?

It is $109. if I do it now..  just wanted to know if it would be cheaper to do it when I get on board.

 

Thanks

[debenson0723]

6 hours ago, HoosierShipmate said:

Now that you’ve said it’s only 90 minutes in total, I wonder if it is the whole show. It ‘felt’ complete but I assumed they had cut something.  Still great, either way.

 

As to tender ports - none on this cruise for us, but don’t know if weather could affect that. 

It is the whole show. Quite expensive on the West End in London when you can see it for free on a cruise ship (multiple times!).

[IamPEBJ]

1 hour ago, crdtrnr said:

Do you know what the cost to upgrade the wifi was, if you waited to do it on board?

It is $109. if I do it now..  just wanted to know if it would be cheaper to do it when I get on board.

 

Thanks

I got it pre-board. It is more on board but I don't see how much

[IamPEBJ]

Six got postponed tonight till tomorrow night for some reason.