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

[aggie182]

I just got a massage. $25 for 1/2 an hour. It was great. I’m a big dude so I probably looked like a beached whale on that table laying there with my shirt off and an inch of crack hanging out of my trunks. I made a conscious decision as I crawled on to the table to pull my trunks all the way up but the lower back/upper butt portion of the massage most likely uncovered some upper crack. There wasn’t enough breeze to know the full effect of the exposure!  That poor lady!
 

I wanted to do the massage early so I wouldn’t be a 6 pack in needing to pee every 5 minutes as she poked and prodded my back. 
 

 

[aggie182]

The seaweed situation in costa maya seems to always be a hot topic. Before we got in the van to come here they showed us a video of the beach from this morning to show us that there’s a line of seaweed along the beach and some seaweed in the water. If we didn’t want to go because of this, we’d be refunded. Very nice gesture on their part. We knew about this from videos and other info we saw before booking. The place is beautiful and the service has been top notch so far!

[aggie182]

[aggie182]

Boy wonder pulled his nose out of his phone (with the decent wifi here so he’s “catching up”) when they mentioned chocolate milkshake. 
 

Baby girl is testing gravity on a Mexican beach. Her milkshake is on the way. 

 

 

[Elsammo46]

Thanks for the great live! I just have a question for Maya Chan, I've always wanted to go, but am leery about transportation that far away from the ship on your own (I often travel solo). Are you responsible for organizing your own transportation to Maya Chan, or does the company handle transportation and include it in your booking? Do you have a certain amount of time there and then shuttled back to the ship as a group? That'd make me feel a lot better about potentially booking it for a future trip, thanks again and enjoy the rest of your cruise!! 

[aggie182]

You walk out of the port and there’s a sign for Maya Chan near the big Mayan display. It’s not a short walk, but not terribly long either. You sign the waiver there and they send you in a van. It’s around a 20-25 minute ride. I’m not sure how it works getting back but I’ll let you know.  I think you tell them when you want to depart, and they arrange the taxi, but I am not 100% sure.  Transportation is included along with drinks, food, some classes, and use of a bunch of water toys and sand toys. The only thing that is extra is the massage if you want one.  They aren’t pushy at all on the massage. A simple no and they’ll move on. 

[aggie182]

They just came around offering a 12, 12:30, 1, and 1:30 shuttle back to port while we ate lunch.
 

Lunch is a taco buffet and it’s delicious!  No photos, I consumed it too fast. 

[aggie182]

11 minutes ago, aggie182 said:

They just came around offering a 12, 12:30, 1, and 1:30 shuttle back to port…

Back on board time is 2:30 for reference. 

[tcmagnum]

2 hours ago, aggie182 said:

The seaweed situation in costa maya seems to always be a hot topic. Before we got in the van to come here they showed us a video of the beach from this morning to show us that there’s a line of seaweed along the beach and some seaweed in the water. If we didn’t want to go because of this, we’d be refunded. Very nice gesture on their part. We knew about this from videos and other info we saw before booking. The place is beautiful and the service has been top notch so far!

Now that is top notch service.  I respect them for that.

Glad you guys are having a good day...

[Travelicious]

I read somewhere that Maya Chan now has a swimming pool.  Is this true?

[aggie182]

Yes. It’s small but adequate. 

[aggie182]

Trying a new flavor. The Pacifico sauce was great. We’ll see how the Clara is. 

[The Traveling Man]

On 3/14/2024 at 10:28 AM, aggie182 said:

All of our ducks have NCL cruise cards with individual names. We have around 200-250 duck pun names. 
 

Swimmy Buffett (RIP!), Quacky Chan, Duck Norris, LuDUCKris, Feather Locklear, Andrew Quackson, Quack Nicholas, Duck Prescott, Bryson DuckChambeau, and so forth. I enjoyed brainstorming these names. I created the tags in AutoCAD and printed them. My family thinks the whole duck thing is weird but I enjoy it!  Truth is, they do too because they’re constantly asking for the ducks to hide. 

For fans of the NCIS show, you missed the most obvious - Dr. Donald Mallard.

[aggie182]

Back on ship wifi. Maya Chan was great. Transportation back to the ship was waiting for us when we got to the bar at 12:25 for our 12:30 departure. They asked if I wanted a beer for the cab ride. Duh!  So they gave me 2. 
 

Maya Chan hit the spot for our family. I enjoy drinking beer and fruity drinks, but I don’t really enjoy partying, if that makes sense. You won’t find me doing the limbo, dancing, hooting and hollering, etc etc. I never had an empty beer today, I never felt the need to do anything I didn’t want to do and the food was darn good!  
 

The staff was always there but never imposing. We’ll certainly be back. There’s always hesitation for our booking outside of the cruise line….I know I know, we’re missing out….but there was zero concern today doing it. 

[aggie182]

2 hours ago, The Traveling Man said:

For fans of the NCIS show, you missed the most obvious - Dr. Donald Mallard.

Any Duck related or duck pun names you xan think of, send them my way and we’ll ad them!

[aggie182]

I guess it’s buy one get one. Ordered one and got 2. 
 

This thing is super sweet after drink beach beers all day!

[dominicr]

No reservation noodle bar was booked for the night by 645.  

[aggie182]

Pai Gow beat down tonight. We’re down about $275 overall. We’ve probably played ~14-15 hours if I had to guess. We were within a green chip of being even at one point tonight then they laid the hammer down!  
 

My buzz level is pretty solid right now but we just ordered at osheehans so that should dilute the beer some. 

 

I’m ready to devour some wings and pretzels like a champ!

[aggie182]

The food made me tired. Buzz level isn’t as high as I thought. If it was, I wouldn’t have agreed to come to bed. I’d have kept on down that road! We’re on vacation right!?!?!?

[aggie182]

Good Lord the 13 year old has serious gas tonight. Pray for us! The 12 year old isn’t having it and she’s ready to strangle him!!

 

#dadlife

 

[aggie182]

Worst day of the cruise. Last sea day. Call it what you want, but it’s sad!  
 

 

 

[aggie182]

I’m done with the shower and morning ritual and about to head down to the lobby for my morning Diet Coke and the wife shocks me by being vertical! She’s up and moving. She is getting her own Starbucks this morning while I plant a few ducks in the lobby. Kids are still horizontal. 
 

We’ve had a great time this week so far. There are definitely things we prefer about Carnival and some things we absolutely prefer about NCL. 
 

We’re heading to one of the dining rooms for breakfast soon.  I love me some breakfast!

 

I am hoping we (I won’t lie, I mean “she” here) can fold dirty clothes throughout the day instead of all at once. We’ll evacuate the kids and both get it done if needed. I’d imagine the kids will be out of the room anyways most of the day. 
 

 

[aggie182]

Yesterday the wife and youngest offspring did the painting class yesterday for $35 each. Neither were overly impressed and didn’t feel like it was worth the $$$. I went in a grabbed a few photos and the vibe wasn’t there at all. 

 

[bkrickles1]

40 minutes ago, aggie182 said:

Yesterday the wife and youngest offspring did the painting class yesterday for $35 each. Neither were overly impressed and didn’t feel like it was worth the $$$. I went in a grabbed a few photos and the vibe wasn’t there at all. 

 

I was thinking about this for my wife and daughter but maybe I won't mention it now. Lol 😂 

Thanks for a terrific live review! 

[aggie182]

You may have a very different experience. When we were on the Carnival Spirit over Thanksgiving, their free arts/crafts classes were more involved and more fun for them. They enjoyed the guy leading and the paintings and projects. The 12 year old doesn’t care if it’s free or $500, she’s not

footing the bill (though she’s in that “if it costs more it’s better” time of her life), and she preferred the free ones on the Spirit.