Live from the Breakaway March 17-31, 2024

[YVRteacher]

@GALSews which dates? I’m on the Jewel April 29-May 13.

[rwest898]

Being fairly new to NCL, only cruised on the Bliss, if I purchase a Cruise Next Certificate I Cruise? It  on my December Joy cruise?  Thank you 😊 

[www3traveler]

Very happy that things are going well.

Have you met Charlin yet?  I have not sailed with her in a long time.

BIG BIG BIG BIG HUG

Love and prayers always

[GALSews]

8 hours ago, YVRteacher said:

@GALSews which dates? I’m on the Jewel April 29-May 13.

You'll be getting off as we are getting on.

We're arriving two days early. As a kid, I saw a gardening show which talked about Butchart Gardens. I've wanted to visit that place ever since. So, we'll be doing a day trip over to Victoria while you're having a day at sea. 

Wishing you fun travels.

 

Oh, do you intend to do a live from the Jewel, then? If so, I will definitely need to follow as I enjoy your reviews. 

 

Edited March 19 by GALSews
Left a lot of words out

[vacation44]

@YVRteacher  I cannot say enough of how much I really enjoy reading your live (and the non live) trip reports.    Thank you, again, for always sharing your adventures with us.

 

Regarding the latitudes Behind the Scenes Tour, how did you know they would offer you the latter option when you said no to the 8:00 a.m. tour?    Every time we signed up, we have only been given one option which was on the early side.     

 

Last month on the Encore, we had two incorrect charges on our cabin account which I caught immediately.   In one case, they added a $10 tip to one of our MDR dinners when we left a cash tip that night.   The Guest Services representative had the attitude like I was trying to take back the tip.       

 

Very happy to read you are having a wonderful time and looking forward to continuing following along.

[tcmagnum]

On 3/18/2024 at 1:04 AM, YVRteacher said:

This was the single best night I’ve ever had on NCL!!!

Glad you had a great first night.

First - What happened at your school is UNACCEPTABLE.  And I applaud you for stepping up and calling the idiot out.  If he had done what he did to you to me, he wouldn't have walked out of that school on his own.  He would have been 'helped' by local law enforcement.  He is disgusting.  I'm very sorry he actions have soured your feelings on a job that you obviously love.  I hope this trip is a good reset and when you return, you find that love again.

 

Second - Love all the New Orleans pictures.

 

Have a great trip!!!

[tcmagnum]

11 hours ago, YVRteacher said:

Having the whole thalassotherapy pool to myself, I bobbed, swam and floated to my heart’s delight. At one point I found myself twirling and thought to myself, “who is this relaxed person twirling and swirling in a pool?”

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Overheard in the thermal spa from grandma and grandpa as they tried to extract themselves from the heated ceramic loungers: “lord Jesus help us!” This was followed by bursts of giggles. I love couples who laugh together!

 

Makes me smile to read "found myself twirling and thought to myself, “who is this relaxed person twirling and swirling in a pool?”...  You are definitely relaxing on this cruise.  And laughing.

 

I would want to have drinks with that grandpa/grandma.  They sound delightful...

[cruiseny4life]

13 hours ago, YVRteacher said:

Overheard in the thermal spa from grandma and grandpa as they tried to extract themselves from the heated ceramic loungers: “lord Jesus help us!” This was followed by bursts of giggles. I love couples who laugh together!

The suction cup effect is real on those loungers!! But gosh, I still love em. 

[YVRteacher]

Day 3

I am turning into a party person! The first night I shut down Howl at the Moon, last night I shut down (wait for it!) the Garden Cafe!

 

That afternoon and evening in the spa was so perfect and so needed.

 

Roberto’s gangway announcement for Cozumel woke me up so we must have docked around 7:30am.

 

NCL should have and could have done a better job with people who had booked shore excursions through them. There was no rep on the pier and once I got through the pier there was no sign for my excursion. I asked a private tour operator and he showed me where to wait.

 

Wait we did. For 45 minutes in the soaking scorching humidity. Old people were wanting to sit, young ones were getting cranky, rich ones paid $5 US for popsicles from the man with a cart and I stood there fanning myself with my shore excursion ticket, ruing the choice I made. It was a terrible way to start the day.

 

After 45 minutes of cooking and dripping communication started happening between the two shore excursion providers with walkie talkies. A bunch of us found some NCL Shore Ex staff and asked them to tell us what was going on. We had to push for this. Turns out we are all teachers who were being vocal.  The Shore Ex person has a soft voice so I had her speak the news to me then I used my teacher voice to loudly relay the scoop to the masses.  We were told the boat we needed to take us to Paradise Island had no captain.  I asked Shore Ex to provide us with water and the woman said there was nothing she could do. I was like “there is a GM on the ship. Call him and make arrangements. People are not doing ok here.” 

 

Eventually we were told that the boat we needed to take to get to Passion Island had mechanical issues on the way over on their first trip this morning. They thought they fixed it. They didn’t.

 

While I understand that things happen unexpectedly, if we had received full and proper communication right when the wait started it would have made for a better situation.

 

We were offered either a full refund or the opportunity to go via bus to Playa Mia. Of course I chose Playa Mia and I felt so badly for all the senior citizens that were not able to tolerate the heat, the sun, the standing and the lack of water and who had already headed back to the ship.  I asked how long the wait would be for the bus and was told 10 minutes. It has now been many more than that and the only progress is we have moved from waiting hut 3 to waiting hut 1.

 

This is the walk through the port

This is our tour operator giving us getting-back-to-the-bus-on-time instructions.

I thought his name was Slippery but realized later in the day that is the brand of shirt.

 

This is the drive to Playa Mia

Now we arrive!

We left the port at 10:38 and arrived at Playa Mia at 10:51am. At 11:02 my oceanfront lounge chair was set up to my liking and my first drink appeared at 11:21.

Subsequently, the first raindrops plopped down at 11:23am.

 

At 12:03 my umbrella fell down on me.

 

My lovely caretaker (drinks bringer) for the day is Mau. 

 

The lunch buffet was meat heavy. I opted for freshly made tortilla chips which were wonderful, flavourful rice and beans and basically a whole papaya. You know when papaya is underripe and it just tastes like unripe crunchiness and when it’s overripe it tastes like perfume? This papaya was perfect! Soft, ripe and so yummy. If I had room I’d go back for more. 

 

At 12:38 torrential rain happened and a baby spider took shelter under my umbrella. It was small so I let it stay.  The challenge with rain on beach day shore excursions is you have a set time to return to the ship. I still have 3 hours here so I lowered my umbrella until it was more tent-like and ordered a margarita.  Us Vancouverites know how to manage in a rainstorm.

You know it’s raining hard when the banana boat driver stops to wring out his shirt.

 

Eventually the umbrella soaked through so it was raining inside the umbrella. 

The sun pushed those cumulonimbus clouds away so I walked around and took some photos

 

then asked a staff member if I could hop on an earlier bus back to the port. The answer was a yes and now I’m on bus 81 and it feels like a school field trip.  You can paint the outside of the bus in tropical birds and flowers but it’s still a school bus!! Tip: on buses with plastic seats, place your towel down first and sit on that. Prevents sticking to the sweaty seat.

 

I actually did enjoy my time at Playa Mia. The drinks and food were great, the ocean was warm and beautiful, the sand was soft, the people next to me (hello Indiana) were nice to chat with and the beach chairs/umbrellas were not all squashed together. As far as a beach shore excursion went it was better than others (looking at you, disastrous day in Valletta where the beach was strewn with broken glass and cigarette butts and the bus driver drove with no hands on the wheel!) The ocean activities and the included water park would be fun for little kids

and it felt to me like this would be a good option for families. The beach massages were ridiculously overpriced.

My plan was to walk back to the Breakaway, drop off my rain-soaked towels and walk to and through town.

This plan was thwarted by NCL not having any towel drop off stations until passengers were fully back on board and by that time I was just done.

 

Now I’m in the spa in my natural habitat.

 

 

This is a boat similar to the one we never took.

Edited March 19 by YVRteacher

[YVRteacher]

16 hours ago, rwest898 said:

Being fairly new to NCL, only cruised on the Bliss, if I purchase a Cruise Next Certificate I Cruise? It  on my December Joy cruise?  Thank you 😊 

Yes

[KACTravels]

19 hours ago, YVRteacher said:

Kelly, I said hi to Bir from you and Mike/Bailey! I reminded him you were on the Beeakaway this past summer and he said he had dinner with you in Savor. He remembers you (of course he remembers you! You and Mike/ Bailey are two of the kindest people ever!)

Mike/Bailey said that’s funny…tell “Yvette” I said hello 🤣🤣🤣

[we12brich]

On 3/18/2024 at 5:32 PM, justhappy said:

Not surprisingly the studio cabin on the Breakaway looks just like the one I had on the Getaway. I loved it, it felt so cozy, but not at all claustrophobic to me. I think the white walls and bright lights helped.

 

Also now on board and speaking of toilet, I am always mystified how to properly use the flushed button. It takes me awhile to find the correct pressure points 😂.

[YVRteacher]

6 hours ago, KACTravels said:

Mike/Bailey said that’s funny…tell “Yvette” I said hello 🤣🤣🤣

You mean Lorraine!!

[YVRteacher]

What is making this cruise for me? The thermal spa and Howl at the Moon!  I appreciate the showers where I can move as opposed to the ones in the studio cabin where if you drop the soap you’re hooped. I also appreciate the pure entertainment for 4 hours in the evening.

 

Needing some sustenance for all my effort in the spa, I grabbed two crispy-edged, soft in the middle chocolate chip cookies from the Studio Lounge before getting in the elevator. A man got in on the same floor, took one look and asked mournfully, “where’d you get the cookies??” I wish I had a plateful to give him.  On the Bliss last year I heard a woman sucking up to the chef after the How to Run a Floating Hotel session, telling him how much she loved NCL’s cookies and could he please send some to her room. He said he would! So if you find yourself cookieless, try that tactic or make friends with someone in a studio cabin. 

 

With a 5:30 reservation for Teppanyaki I had to move swiftly to transition from the spa to dinner. 

 

Dinner was a bust. Our server was incompetent. He took drink orders once and never returned.  He only had 10 people to look after and there was no looking after happening.  I flagged down a busboy and asked if he could send someone to take a drink order but he forgot.  Then I asked the hostess and she sent someone. I ordered vegetable yakisoba (noodles) and what I was served was vegetable teriyaki (no noodles.) My food came after everybody already had their food so I didn’t want to be the only one still eating.  The chef was quite blah plus he arrived late so the meal was 90 minutes of mostly waiting. Normally they don’t cook the meat and seafood until the vegetables and rice are done but this one just did a big old seafood dump right up against the vegetables so that eliminated my veggies. Not to be totally negative: they had miso soup without dashi that I could eat, the rice was delicious, the wasabi cocktail that did arrive was excellent and the couple next to me from Portland were awesome. This is their first time on NCL.  The woman said, “I’m so sorry they brought you the wrong food” and I said something I don’t think I should write here. You can infer. She laughed. Her husband didn’t have his hearing aids in but I bet he would have laughed if he heard me.

My friends from home who are cruising with me next week arrived in New Orleans today and are so impressed with their hotel. I’ll post where they stayed once they have checked out. I’m so excited to cruise with them next week. 

 

 

After dinner I ventured over to the Shore Excursions desk to have a little chat about what happened this morning. The Shore Ex manager was not at all open to feedback and was very defensive. She tried to make it sound like we ended up in such a good situation and they did a good job coming up with an alternative. She also lied and said we left the pier at 10:20. I said no, I timed it and we left at 10:38. Why lie? 

 

There was no refund provided. She said the captain of the boat wasn’t even answering his phone when he didn’t show up this morning.  That is awful. He has a responsibility to NCL and to us as customers. When I was in Longyearbyen last summer and my walrus excursion booked through Hurtigruten was cancelled they at least informed us the night before. There were not any replacement options so I ended up without a daytime excursion but at least the tour operator communicated.

 

I’m annoyed with NCL for both the dinner and the poor handling of the shore excursion today but I’m not letting annoyances impact my vacation.

 

I went to see Nikki Carr, the comedian in the theatre tonight. She obviously hadn’t prepared her set and was stumbling and bumbling. I normally enjoy crowd work but she couldn’t do it. Such a crappy show.  If you want to see amazing crowd work go on a cruise with Kristin Key (or follow her on social media.) she is amazing and hilarious and brilliant. Nikki let us down tonight; if you’re being paid to entertain a crowd in a full theatre, you should at the very minimum prepare your set.

 

You know it’s Spring Break when…

 

note: I’m tracking unlimited internet upgrade offers. Maybe this will be useful to somebody. These photos show day 1, day 2 and day 3 offers.

 

Now it’s time for 4 hours of duelling pianos with Howl at the Moon! Can’t wait!

 

A woman came up to me before Howl at the Moon started and she said “you were here by yourself the other night. Are you still by yourself?”

What am I supposed to say to that? Describe some sort of cruise ship hook up situation that would make me not solo???  Good retort suggestions are welcome. (She was actually very nice to talk to!)

 

I’m going to end tonight’s writing by saying that Jen from Howl at the Moon did Baby Got Back and it was stellar!!!! I really hope she and Alisa are both on board next week too.

[graphicguy]

8 hours ago, YVRteacher said:

What is making this cruise for me? The thermal spa and Howl at the Moon!  I appreciate the showers where I can move as opposed to the ones in the studio cabin where if you drop the soap you’re hooped. I also appreciate the pure entertainment for 4 hours in the evening.

 

Needing some sustenance for all my effort in the spa, I grabbed two crispy-edged, soft in the middle chocolate chip cookies from the Studio Lounge before getting in the elevator. A man got in on the same floor, took one look and asked mournfully, “where’d you get the cookies??” I wish I had a plateful to give him.  On the Bliss last year I heard a woman sucking up to the chef after the How to Run a Floating Hotel session, telling him how much she loved NCL’s cookies and could he please send some to her room. He said he would! So if you find yourself cookieless, try that tactic or make friends with someone in a studio cabin. 

 

With a 5:30 reservation for Teppanyaki I had to move swiftly to transition from the spa to dinner. 

 

Dinner was a bust. Our server was incompetent. He took drink orders once and never returned.  He only had 10 people to look after and there was no looking after happening.  I flagged down a busboy and asked if he could send someone to take a drink order but he forgot.  Then I asked the hostess and she sent someone. I ordered vegetable yakisoba (noodles) and what I was served was vegetable teriyaki (no noodles.) My food came after everybody already had their food so I didn’t want to be the only one still eating.  The chef was quite blah plus he arrived late so the meal was 90 minutes of mostly waiting. Normally they don’t cook the meat and seafood until the vegetables and rice are done but this one just did a big old seafood dump right up against the vegetables so that eliminated my veggies. Not to be totally negative: they had miso soup without dashi that I could eat, the rice was delicious, the wasabi cocktail that did arrive was excellent and the couple next to me from Portland were awesome. This is their first time on NCL.  The woman said, “I’m so sorry they brought you the wrong food” and I said something I don’t think I should write here. You can infer. She laughed. Her husband didn’t have his hearing aids in but I bet he would have laughed if he heard me.

My friends from home who are cruising with me next week arrived in New Orleans today and are so impressed with their hotel. I’ll post where they stayed once they have checked out. I’m so excited to cruise with them next week. 

 

 

After dinner I ventured over to the Shore Excursions desk to have a little chat about what happened this morning. The Shore Ex manager was not at all open to feedback and was very defensive. She tried to make it sound like we ended up in such a good situation and they did a good job coming up with an alternative. She also lied and said we left the pier at 10:20. I said no, I timed it and we left at 10:38. Why lie? 

 

There was no refund provided. She said the captain of the boat wasn’t even answering his phone when he didn’t show up this morning.  That is awful. He has a responsibility to NCL and to us as customers. When I was in Longyearbyen last summer and my walrus excursion booked through Hurtigruten was cancelled they at least informed us the night before. There were not any replacement options so I ended up without a daytime excursion but at least the tour operator communicated.

 

I’m annoyed with NCL for both the dinner and the poor handling of the shore excursion today but I’m not letting annoyances impact my vacation.

 

I went to see Nikki Carr, the comedian in the theatre tonight. She obviously hadn’t prepared her set and was stumbling and bumbling. I normally enjoy crowd work but she couldn’t do it. Such a crappy show.  If you want to see amazing crowd work go on a cruise with Kristin Key (or follow her on social media.) she is amazing and hilarious and brilliant. Nikki let us down tonight; if you’re being paid to entertain a crowd in a full theatre, you should at the very minimum prepare your set.

 

You know it’s Spring Break when…

 

note: I’m tracking unlimited internet upgrade offers. Maybe this will be useful to somebody. These photos show day 1, day 2 and day 3 offers.

 

Now it’s time for 4 hours of duelling pianos with Howl at the Moon! Can’t wait!

 

A woman came up to me before Howl at the Moon started and she said “you were here by yourself the other night. Are you still by yourself?”

What am I supposed to say to that? Describe some sort of cruise ship hook up situation that would make me not solo???  Good retort suggestions are welcome. (She was actually very nice to talk to!)

 

I’m going to end tonight’s writing by saying that Jen from Howl at the Moon did Baby Got Back and it was stellar!!!! I really hope she and Alisa are both on board next week too.

Well....that's mostly disappointing (except for Howl).  Sorry to hear about the faux pas and ambivalence.  That's unacceptable.

[schmoopie17]

Studio cabin? Don't studios normally have bright lights, microphones and cameras? If so, you might want to make sure there's no "On the air" sign outside your door.

[Sugar Magnolia]

13 minutes ago, schmoopie17 said:

Studio cabin? Don't studios normally have bright lights, microphones and cameras? If so, you might want to make sure there's no "On the air" sign outside your door.

 

You're just jealous you've been shut out of the studio lounge...no cookies for you.

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

17 hours ago, YVRteacher said:

A woman came up to me before Howl at the Moon started and she said “you were here by yourself the other night. Are you still by yourself?”

What am I supposed to say to that? Describe some sort of cruise ship hook up situation that would make me not solo???  Good retort suggestions are welcome

 

"Glad you asked. In fact, I am no longer by myself. The unusual tasting Sidecar cocktail I had last night must have created mitosis overnight, so now there are two of us and we've been kicked out of the solo studio. Thankfully, we can shower at the spa."

 

I get those questions directed at me all the time, but I have a good working RBF so I don't even return with a verbal response.

 

[YVRteacher]

Day 4

We gained an hour of sleep through the time change last night which was fortunate because I had an early-ish excursion to Maya Key.  I do all my organizing for excursions the evenings before so I can just get up, eat and go. Today I wasn’t super hungry so enjoyed some banana bread in the studio lounge. I knew from the timing of the excursion that the included lunch would be served early today and I wanted to partake. 

 

Here are some glimpses of Roatan from deck 15. You can see the coral from the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef.

 

 

 

Like yesterday there were minimal signs for shore excursions and the meeting place was in the port shopping area, not on the dock. I had a little bit of browsing time so looked but didn’t buy anything. The port of Coxen Hole has been completely developed and revitalized since the last time I was here and it’s very nice. Like Costa Maya the port has a swimming pool for cruise ship passengers to enjoy. There is a now a fake beach with a sit in the water on stools bar,

 

 plenty of bars, beach chairs as well as people wanting to braid your hair and sell you trinkets or $30 sunscreen (same price as it was in Cozumel. Rip off price.)  I saw a man take his drink in a pineapple into the men’s bathroom and come out still sipping it. Ew ew ew.

 

Once we had checked in with the tour operator and had wrist bands we boarded the boat for a five minute trip to Maya Key. It was a wheeeee kind of a boat ride which I loved.

When we arrived at Maya Key our greeter hopped on board the board to provide an overview of activities and locations.  I knew it would get hotter as the day progressed so I explored the cultural center, Mayan ruins

rainforest and mangrove swamp 

and animals 

 

before selecting a beach chair.  As you can see the chairs are plentiful and comfortable and are right on the edge of the ocean for prime vacationing.

Kidding. These were in the rainforest. So were these:

Iguana photos 

I saw some animals today and I don’t know what they are. 

 

In addition to the rescued animals, there are wild light brown things that look like miniature capybaras. They are too fast to photograph but I asked one of the maintenance workers and he showed me on his phone what they are.

He said they are related to those large South American rodents so I assume he means capybaras. Has anyone read Hooway for Wodney Wat? Great book for kids about bullying and features a capybara. The world needs more picture books with giant rodents.

 

This poor guy hadn’t had his morning Cheerios yet and was grumpier than a cruise ship passenger waiting in line for bacon at the Garden Cafe.

All the walking and exploring made me hungry so I had an earlier than normal lunch. They had servers at each station so the food was kept very sanitary. They gave people as much as they wanted. When I told the salad lady I’m a vegetarian she said, “oh-you get lots of salad!” 

 

The variety was small (iceberg lettuce salad, rice and beans mixed together, fish sticks, chicken and fried plantains.) Good thing I love salad, rice and beans and plantains. Lunch was simple and yummy. Unlike yesterday this beach excursion was not all inclusive: tropical drinks were $12. Iced tea was included so I enjoyed that. I don’t pay $12 for drinks when the ship has them for “free.”

 

Maya Key was beautiful.

I was super impressed with the upkeep, the Mayan ruins, the animals, the condition of the walking paths, the delicious lunch, friendly staff, plentiful beach chairs, clean beach, gorgeous trees and the opportunity to swim or snorkel in such a beautiful location. As I was walking toward the ocean I heard someone say, “this is warmer than the hot tubs on board.” They weren’t wrong! What a spectacular swim that was in the pristine turquoise water.  It must have a high salt content because floating was easy.  However, I made a swift exit when the jellyfish arrived, not wanting to repeat the jellyfish stinging incident at the Lido in Italy where I had to wake up the lifeguard because I thought I was going to die.

 

It was a 5-ship day for Roatan: we were docked next to the massive Harmony of the Seas 

and the Enchantment of the Seas was tendered at Coxen Hole while the Carnival Dream and Regal Princess were at Mahogany Bay on the other side of the island. 

 

Speaking of Mahogany, here are some of the knick knacks for sale in the port shops on Roatan:

 

 

(That was a really good segue!)

The tour company had boats zipping back to the main island every 30 minutes so once I sat in the sun to dry off I took the boat back to the pier and left the port area to wander through town.

 

With every step I was approached to buy something or take a tour or have my hair braided. The poor dogs and cats were so emaciated they didn’t even lift their heads. People were screaming and swearing. The police presence was heavy. One Honduran mama told me to be safe.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I found a market!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

A older couple hit the town checkpoint to return back to the ship (not the port security) at the same time I did and they looked scared. I said, “that may not have been the smartest thing I’ve ever done” and the husband said, “didn’t your parents teach you how to be safe?” I said my mom would have done exactly what I just did! I do like to explore.

 

Back on board the Breakaway I cooled off with a Mango Meltdown.

If you remember throughout the last year NCL has had some difficulty with the supply chain and there were times when they didn’t have the mango mix on board. The brand used to be Oasis and now it is Sun something. I told myself I would remember but the drink made me forget.  (Update: it’s Sunsation.) I’ve been getting my vitamin C to prevent scurvy through margaritas but needed some more vitamin D so I held down a lounger in the sunshine on deck 16 for as long as I could (not long at all: it’s hotter than that performer’s temper) before doing my time in the thermal spa.

 

On other NCL ships there have been signs saying the spa is a quiet area but I haven’t seen that sign on this ship and it’s quite a noisy spa. Lots of people have loud conversations so if you like a quiet spa this may not be for you. 

 

I loved my time in the thalassotherapy pool, hot tub, sauna and salt room today. Aahhhhh. <—— that was me making relaxing noise. But quietly. I’m not a spa loud person. 

 

Just to correct a couple mistakes from earlier posts: -there were about 200 people at the Latitudes party, not 200 Latitudes members on board.

 

-my morning Behind the Scenes Tour had a meeting time of 9:50am and a start time of 10:00am. Not pm🤦🏻‍♀️

 

-yes, I know I am on the Breakaway. Not the Beakaway, though this macaw from Maya Key may have something to say about that

 

 

I have Dinner with the Officers tonight. Wish me well…

[SETTINGSUN76]

Hi,

 

We are on the cruise departing NOLA on 31st March, could any advise if we need to fill in the Honduran Immigration Online Form for Roatan ?

 

Many Thanks

 

SS

[floridafish]

For non vegetarians, having Iguana in Roatan is a must. 

[www3traveler]

Have you found Myo Ko either in the Manhattan for dinner or the Local for breakfast?

 

How did the Officers Dinner go?

 

BIG BIG BIG BIG HUG

 

I pray that the rest of this week and next week go well.

 

Record heat the last few days in the Pacific Northwest.  Mid to high 50's by the weekend and rain again.

[YVRteacher]

Day 4 part 2

 

Forget about burying the lede. I’m just going to come right out and state it: Dinner with the Officers was fabulous! We laughed until we had tears streaming and we couldn’t catch our breath. The officers were John from Ireland who is the Human Resources Manager and Merlina from St. Lucia now living in Jamaica who is the assistant cruise director this week and will be cruise director next week when Roberto goes home. There were four guests. 3 of us were awesome, one (not me!) had issues.

 

For the curious, my food was great from start to finish. I had two appetizers (potato croquettes and roma tomato salad.) For the main course the two vegetarian options were baked ziti and eggplant parmigiana.  I don’t like either of these on NCL so asked for something with vegetables and tofu with no spice and I had the most wonderful Pad Thai.

During the meal one of the guys revealed that this was his early birthday cruise so John surreptitiously made a little phone call with some winks of encouragement from me and we had birthday cake! I love birthday cake when it is white cake with white icing.

Another phone call was made by Merlina when I asked if Jen and Alisa from Howl at the Moon would be here next week. They will! Yay!!

 

We met at 5:45 and at 8:30 were still sharing and laughing.  One of the guests thought it was fitting to describe the births of her three children in extraordinary detail. She began with her daughter and son which took place during the two appetizer rounds then really got going with her Caesarian during the main course. 5 of us were gagging and trying to change the subject but she persevered. When John hugged me at the end of the night he thanked me for rescuing him from her many inappropriate stories. Poor fellow was seated next to her and she just had no perception of when to talk and when to listen. This was her first dinner with the officers. She spent a lot of time digging around in her mouth searching for a stuck piece of corn cake and I won’t lie: it was so gross. Birth stories and teeth picking aside, I’m so glad I went and so happy to have shared a meal with some hilarious and delightful humans. John and I are having dinner again next week! I told him if this HR thing doesn’t work out he could apply for a position with Levity Comedy. 

 

I was on my way to the late 80s Broadway revue when I met new friend from the pool deck and we ended up spending the evening doing a bar crawl, trying new to us drinks at each bar. We finished the night at Shakers for Espresso Martinis, made more new friends and stayed long after the bar closed at midnight.

My internet minutes are depleted so I will catch up on posts on Sunday. This is by far one of my favourite cruises and I’m super impressed with the Breakaway.

[YVRteacher]

On 3/21/2024 at 5:36 AM, SETTINGSUN76 said:

Hi,

 

We are on the cruise departing NOLA on 31st March, could any advise if we need to fill in the Honduran Immigration Online Form for Roatan ?

 

Many Thanks

 

SS

No, you don’t.

[www3traveler]

YEAH!!!  I am glad for you.

Can not wait to wait about the rest of your adventures.

BIG BIG BIG BIG HUG

Love and prayers always