Spring Break...away - Semi-Live from the NCL Breakaway! March 10-17, 2024

[aggie182]

We're a family of 4 heading out on our first cruise on NCL over Spring Break.  I am 43, the wife is 41, and the kids are 13 (boy) and 12 (girl).  All of our cruising as a family of 4 has been on Carnival and my wife and I have a few other cruises on Princess.  We're looking forward to exploring what NCL has to offer!  The goal of this trip is to just get away, as a family.  Work for me has been wild this year and I have experienced some work-load led stress.  I need a week away, though I plan to check in daily and forward emails as needed.

 

The current travel plan is to pick the kids up from school and drive from there (SW of Fort Worth, TX) about 4.5 hours to Natchitoches, LA tonight.  Tomorrow morning, we'll head the rest of the way to NOLA where we're staying pre-cruise and leaving our vehicle for the week at the Hampton Inn near the port.  In New Orleans, we have no real pre-cruise plans other than breakfast at Cafe DuMonde Sunday morning.  Don't judge if you see me boarding the ship with powdered sugar all over my shirt!

 

Onboard, we have a few specialty dining meals reserved at Moderno and Cagneys.  Outside of that, we'll likely go to Manhattan, Savor, and Taste.  I like to eat as a family when we're on vacation.  Between soccer, band, church youth group, track, and other kid activities.....dinners at home and at the kitchen table, are extremely rare.  We paid to upgrade to Free at Sea Plus.  I am looking forward to lots of drinks, food, and fun.  I am hoping to spend some time at the tables in the casino and plenty of time at the bars and otherwise just relaxing.  We love cruising because the kids can have their fun in the kids club and the wife and I can hang out kid-free for a few hours at a time (again, with all of the above activities on top of work, that can be rare too!).

 

Currently we have a few excursions booked:

Cozumel - Playa Mia through NCL

Roatan - Sloths and Monkeys through NCL

Harvest Caye - Nothing booked, just planning to relax on the beach

Costa Maya - Maya Chan

 

I will apologize in advance for posting while intoxicated while on the trip, poor grammar and spelling, short posts, and the randomness that may appear in this thread.  I will do my best to post as often as I can without making it feel like work!

[cruiseny4life]

1 hour ago, aggie182 said:

I will apologize in advance for posting while intoxicated while on the trip, poor grammar and spelling, short posts, and the randomness that may appear in this thread.  I will do my best to post as often as I can without making it feel like work!

I'm so looking forward to your review! It'll be fun to see this run again, after having watched it with @boffoboffo onboard this week. And, the above part I quoted, well those are the most fun posts of lives!! 

 

Have a great time - enjoy all the time with your wife and kids! 

[justhappy]

Looking forward to your review! I’ll be on the ship with you, hoping for sunny skies and warm clear waters🍀

[aggie182]

Traffic on IH20 south of Dallas sucks!

[aggie182]

Traffic on IH20 south of Dallas sucks!

[aggie182]

Since traffic in Dallas wasn’t miserable enough, we decided to fight both human and vehicular traffic with a bucees stop. The parking lot and store are both packed!  Bucees is a road trip tradition unlike any other though!!

[Nilbog]

Glad we're waiting until she's in Miami on May 8th.  Don't need that Texas traffic...

[aggie182]

8 minutes ago, Nilbog said:

Glad we're waiting until she's in Miami on May 8th.  Don't need that Texas traffic...

It was rough, with the weather adding to it. What should have been around 4.5 hours + stops took us ~6.5 hours, which included one stop at Bucees in Terrell which was about 20 minutes. 

[aggie182]

I booked the Fairfield Inn and Suites in Natchitoches for last night, free with points from some work trips. We rolled in at 10:30p and checked in quickly. The room was big and plenty clean. The front desk lady was very nice and we were in the room less than 5 minutes after parking. 
 

One nice thing about staying in hotels a night or 2 before cruises….you get to ease in to the cruise ship 1-ply! Going straight from charmin ultra strong to cruise ship 1 ply can be a difficult and quick transition! Having the step in the middle of hotel level 1-ply better prepares you for the cruise ship 1-ply. Baby steps folks, baby steps!
 

Stay tuned for tomorrow morning’s Hampton Inn toilet paper report!
 

 

[aggie182]

In the words of Willie Nelson. On the road again. New Orleans bound!

[L1211]

Enjoy your vacay with your family!  I long for those swim meet, weekend volleyball tournament days!  They grow up fast. 

[aggie182]

1 minute ago, L1211 said:

Enjoy your vacay with your family!  I long for those swim meet, weekend volleyball tournament days!  They grow up fast. 

I hear you. In the stress of it all, it’s rough! We also frequently say that we know we’ll miss it soon!

[dexddd]

17 hours ago, aggie182 said:

Traffic on IH20 south of Dallas sucks!

Are you drinking already?

[aggie182]

[aggie182]

[Juncti]

We're going to be on this sailing as well. Probably our last for a while since we've been on this ship a few times but can't beat the 20 minute ride to the port so we just sail on whatever ship comes here. 

 

We're packing up now, always the chaotic scramble to make sure we pack everything.

 

11 hours ago, aggie182 said:

One nice thing about staying in hotels a night or 2 before cruises….you get to ease in to the cruise ship 1-ply! Going straight from charmin ultra strong to cruise ship 1 ply can be a difficult and quick transition! Having the step in the middle of hotel level 1-ply better prepares you for the cruise ship 1-ply. Baby steps folks, baby steps!

 

 

Try going from a bidet to cruise ship TP. Even worse. Surprised they haven't done bidets on the ships since they have pretty fragile plumbing and need to minimize what's put through the system. 

 

 

[aggie182]

I feel like a kid on Christmas morning!

[cheersforbeers]

Hope ya’ll have a great trip.  Enjoys the trip and getaway, and take care. 

[aggie182]

22 hours ago, aggie182 said:

 

Stay tuned for tomorrow morning’s Hampton Inn toilet paper report!

 

 

I know most of you came back for the Hampton Inn toilet paper report so I won’t keep you waiting any longer. 
 

The toilet paper was essentially the same. The Marriott chain and Hilton chain appear to have the same supplier, or at least purchase the same grade of toilet paper. 
 

Hampton Inn does lose a few points for placement. Why do hotels put the toilet paper holders to where you have to turn over 90 degrees to get it from essentially behind you?  It reminds me of handing fries to a kid in the backseat of the car while

driving! I’m a big dude and I’m in there on business. I have no intent of doing special stretches to prepare myself for deploying toilet paper. Having a foot fall asleep while in there adds enough challenge to the situation!  Not complaining, just reporting facts!

 

The points they lost were immediately made up by their water pressure. Holy crap, I now know what the sidewalk feels like when I pressure wash it!  The water pressure was glorious and just shy of the threshold of pain!  I loved it. 

 

Man, I’m so ready to cruise. I’m already in a good place right now if toilet paper quality and placement is my biggest gripe! 
 

The plan this morning is to get everyone showered/pressure washed and ready and to pack the dirty clothes in to our “weekend” bag so we can leave it in the vehicle for the week. We’ll go get the car out of valet and head to the big Cafe DuMonde for breakfast before returning here for final prep!  Let’s go!!!  We have 11:30-12 check in and a 11:30 appt for the shuttle. 
 

One last note…the autocorrect on here is not the same as my iPhone so it doesn’t “know me” yet. Please please please forgive my combination of fat thumbs, horrible spelling, and haste when posting! 

 

 

[dominicr]

Have fun on the cruise.  We are on the boat also but our kids are younger….8 and 4.  
 

I can tell you the toilet paper at the Hyatt isn’t any better. 

[aggie182]

[tcmagnum]

1 hour ago, aggie182 said:

Heaven on earth!!!

[aggie182]

We’re hanging in the room during that awkward pre-cruising too early to leave, not enough time to do something else, time period. We were told to be at valet at 11:15 for our 11:30 shuttle. 

 

The 12 year old is doing dances with her phone propped in the window while the 13 year old Makes fun of her in the background. 

[dexddd]

Have a great time.

[rcstrot]

Have a great trip, following, we sail on the Breakway out of NOLA on 03/31, can hardly wait!  Many cruises out of NOLA, 2nd on Breakaway, READY!