Live from the Breakaway 3/10 - 3/17

[justhappy]

We couldn’t decide what to do for the rest of the evening as by that time Rumors had started in Sid Normans and it would be standing room only if you could find a place to stand, and the Motown tribute in Headliners had just emptied the long line of folks waiting to get in and didn’t look to have much seating left.

 We took a stroll through the casino and we both found machines we like to play, I ended up $180 and DH ended down $40.

By this time it was closing in on 10pm and we decided to forgo the 70’s  party at Spice H2o  

 We headed back to bed and at the end of day two my drink total was 5, thanks to a bushwhacker and the mystery drink I had in the Haven.

The ship was rocking a good bit so it helped put us sleep fairly quickly for once.

 I had checked our dinner reservations for the following night and discovered I had foolishly booked Cagneys for 9:30pm on Tuesday night. The concierge was able to get us into La Cucina at 8pm so we switched. I would be falling asleep in my appetizer if I had kept that reservation!

 

I have 5 specialty restaurants booked due to free at sea, latitudes rewards and my Amex card perk.

[justhappy]

This morning the ship pulled into port just around sunrise, and although I would have enjoyed staying in bed longer, I knew getting off the ship early vs later would get us into the One excursion we have for this cruise, the Mega store run. Lots of crew make this excursion as well because they tell

me shopping is so close by and the prices at the Mega store are good. 
They also like Cozumel because there are several restaurants offering food from their homeland.
Mega is like Walmart but cleaner and selling scooters and such.

 

 We had breakfast in the Haven at 8 am and found it still quite empty.

Those folks with real shore excursions were probably already lined up to get off the ship.

 I decided since my stomach was doing ok to go with the Tahitian French toast while DH carbed it up with the pancakes

plus a side of bacon

 

 

[justhappy]

With us in port were at least 4 other ships that I could see. Scarlet Lady was docked next to us.

 

 We were off the ship with no lines at all at 9 am. We’re pretty sure the pier has been resurfaced since our last visit.

 

 

  We made it through the gauntlet of eager and overzealous salespeople and by taking the nonworking escalator ( sorry for your convenience) RIP Mitch Hedberg.

   The Mega is a short walk once you convince all the taxi drivers you don’t need a ride to go half a block.

  We really enjoy picking up crew gifts of snacks and goodies for the people who work so hard for us to enjoy our vacation.

I bring a suitcase full with me but we also  ask what treats they like and make a run for them.

 20 minutes later we were done and on our way back. Thank goodness security never asks why we need so many bags of chips and canned sardines🤣

Our decision to go early was a good one as the store was empty and the snack isle was well stocked. I can guarantee you it’s wiped clean right now.

It was cooler and less humid this morning and by the walk back it was getting warmer.

We passed lots of crew head to the Mega store as we left.

DH pretending to be lugging all the goodies back😉

 You guys I carried half of those!

 

 

 

 

 

[justhappy]

Back on the ship we organized the goodies and made bags to hand out.

 After putting everything away we hung out on the balcony for a bit then decided since it was a port day and we had two days of Haven lunches to try the buffet. At 12pm it was not crowded at all.

 

It was Mexican day and DH found some chicken fajitas and I found vegetable lo mein and Korean bbq beef to put on top. I also got a slice of mushroom pizza that was hot and delicious.

 

 

 After lunch we went back to the room , I started working on this amazingly boring trip report and DH went in search of arcade games to play. When he discovered you have to buy a pass he decided to take a pass on that, and stopped by O’Sheehans bar where he got the worst mojito he’s ever been served. 
 He corrected that mistake by going to the Haven bar where they make a proper one!

He also got a pineapple coconut mojito for me and brought them back to the stateroom where we have been ever since lunch, chillin and reading and napping.

We are starting to move as slowly as sloths.

At 4:37 they announced two passenger names and we know what that means. All aboard was 4:30pm.

we sailed away at about 5pm. Hopefully the two made it back.

 Lots of traffic 

 

Edited March 12 by justhappy

[Lush LaRue]

Okok… Captain Ron has been added to my queue.. I can’t take it anymore - I think there is also a 2? 

[justhappy]

13 hours ago, Lush LaRue said:

Okok… Captain Ron has been added to my queue.. I can’t take it anymore - I think there is also a 2? 

There’s no sequel that I know of, but hopefully you don’t regret it when you watch Captain Ron.😁

[justhappy]

We spent a few glorious hours doing nothing but watching the wake and the amazing sunset until it was time to head to La Cucina for dinner.
 

 

Edited March 13 by justhappy

[justhappy]

I forgot to mention that yesterday coming back onboard the ship from our Mega Store excursion we got to witness a passenger have a meltdown over having to pour out her water bottles. She was threatening the pour security guy and blaming him for all her problems. 
I really think she knew she was not allowed because she kept saying really? Really? YOU’RE making me do this.
Some people are their own problem I’ve discovered over the years.
 

[Defhermit]

thanks for the thread! I'm on Breakaway on the 24th and getting hyped for it! now I need to watch Captain Ron!

[sid_9169]

Alright, my interest has been piqued about the whole Captain Ron thing... DVD ordered from Amazon...

 

 

[justhappy]

4 minutes ago, sid_9169 said:

Alright, my interest has been piqued about the whole Captain Ron thing... DVD ordered from Amazon...

 

 

Please @sid_9169 let me know what you think of the movie! It’s cornball but a drink or two makes it funnier.

I admire all your trip reports so I’m honored that you’re following mine, as boring as it is.

[justhappy]

Our La Cucina dinner was good, nothing special but the service was very good.

Continuing to have a small appetite I opted for the calamari fritti as an appetizer and the spaghetti carbonara as my entree.

DH had with the mixed greens salad with pears walnuts and Gorgonzola cheese, and for his entree the fettuccine Alfredo con funghi.

 

 

 

 The portion sizes were generous and we both could only finish half of them.

Our server seemed surprised we didn’t want anything else, and talked us into looking at the dessert menu. We ending up sharing a tiramisu and glad we did. It was delicious, one of the better ones I’ve had.

we both had more glasses of the Shades of Blue Riesling. I wish I could get it or something similar on land. It’s just the right balance for me.

 
Again tonight none of the entertainment options were appealing so we walked around the casino until we found our favorite slot machines.

Wolf Run Eclipse started out great and then those wolves turned on me.

I ended up giving the casino back $100 of my winnings and DH broke even, which in his mind is winning☘️

So far we are +$40.

I started getting tired so we headed back to the stateroom and decided that tomorrow we’d use up the $450 OBC we had (thanks to my Amex card, shareholders credit and my TA) on the port day massage special.

 

Tonight the clocks go back so a bit of extra sleep which I need.

   Since January 18th I hadn’t had a full nights sleep with having to get up throughout the night to administer medication to our 14 year old dog.

For the first 8 days it was every 2 hours, then every 4 hours and just before we left for the cruise every 6 hours. 
 Having to cancel our January cruise last minute, made the anticipation of this cruise get me through it.

Edited March 13 by justhappy

[cruiseny4life]

It sounds like you had a lovely meal and finished it off with the best white wine! I have no palate for fancy wine, but I tried the Shades of Blue Riesling, and by golly, it could easily get me drunk! It's up there with my cherry wine from Montana that could also easily get me drunk. This is how I determine if a wine is good or not. If I want to drink more than a glass a time, then it's great! 

 

I'm so glad you're able to be on this trip and hope you're not worrying too much about your beloved pup at home. I know how stressful that is - I was in NY when my dog was hit by a car in Montana. Actually, I was on my first date with my now husband. Until I knew the results of the vet visit, my stomach was in all kinds of knots. But, my now husband was able to bring my stress down to a manageable level and he's said that he knew I was the "one" based on how much I cared about my dog. Smudge, our beautiful pup, is still with us. She's starting to get a bit deaf, but still enjoying life. 

 

I am wishing you the best possible time with your 14 year old beauty when you get home, and hopefully a little bit more sleep too. 

[justhappy]

32 minutes ago, cruiseny4life said:

It sounds like you had a lovely meal and finished it off with the best white wine! I have no palate for fancy wine, but I tried the Shades of Blue Riesling, and by golly, it could easily get me drunk! It's up there with my cherry wine from Montana that could also easily get me drunk. This is how I determine if a wine is good or not. If I want to drink more than a glass a time, then it's great! 

 

I'm so glad you're able to be on this trip and hope you're not worrying too much about your beloved pup at home. I know how stressful that is - I was in NY when my dog was hit by a car in Montana. Actually, I was on my first date with my now husband. Until I knew the results of the vet visit, my stomach was in all kinds of knots. But, my now husband was able to bring my stress down to a manageable level and he's said that he knew I was the "one" based on how much I cared about my dog. Smudge, our beautiful pup, is still with us. She's starting to get a bit deaf, but still enjoying life. 

 

I am wishing you the best possible time with your 14 year old beauty when you get home, and hopefully a little bit more sleep too. 

Holy Moly no wonder you were stressed being so far away from Smudge! I’m glad she’s still with you ❤️  
And your husband for being so wonderful to understand. ❤️❤️

  
I’m trying not to worry too much as she’s being boarded at the amazing vet we’ve had since she was a puppy and they love her there. She’s in good hands.

 I don’t know wines, but I know what I like and Shades of Blue is it.

NCL used to carry another Riesling that I liked a few years ago that had blue in the name too but I was unable to find it in any stores.

 

[justhappy]

Day 4 Roatan 

NOT  TEDS

 

 

 We woke up to discover 7am was only 6 am since we forgot to set the clocks back last night.

It feels like we got a bonus hour of vacation but I’ll know it’ll be snatched back from us later.

 Today is a banner day for me

 
 

 To try keep my senior mind alert and challenged I started learning Spanish on Duolingo.

Helpful now that my IPhone thinks I live in Mexico since yesterday. Es verdad.

 

 Arriving close after sunrise to Roatan you’re greeted by crowing roosters and barking dogs. The horn honking comes later..

 DH decided he wanted some Starbucks coffee so after getting ready we head down to the Atruim at 6:45 to find a 20 minute line for coffee.

DH is many things but patient does not even come up on the list of qualities he has.

So we head up to the Haven and it’s still 10 minutes until the restaurant opens and the courtyard is not set up yet with coffee.

He should have gotten coffee from our stateroom.

His mood:

Just imagine the word after gonna.

So, never giving up we head back to our stateroom and grab the gift bags for the Haven crew and head back there with a detour past the Atrium again to find the line for SB is longer still.

The Haven restaurant is now open and he gets his coffee that’s not SB but still very good he admits.

Don't worry he gets his SB later this morning.

Breakfast is the same as usual, except I do miss those hash brown pucks and would even enjoy regular hash browns instead of the cold undercooked breakfast potatoes.

 

All the back and forth from aft to forward is helping us get our steps in , averaging 10k a day.

Edited March 13 by justhappy

[justhappy]

After breakfast we headed down to the spa to see about booking today’s special.

As we were booked for 9am we had very little time to wait.

A 75 minute hot stone or bamboo massage for $179. 

With the gratuity it pretty much used up our OBC but it was worth every free to us penny.

Relaxed and renewed, we headed back to our stateroom to continue relaxing.

A look at the pool on a port day

 

 

 

[justhappy]

Feeling like limp noodles after excellent massages, when noon rolled around we decided to call our butler and order lunch in.

At 12:45pm we had our French dip sandwich (DH) and Cobb salad (me)

we both had the Banana banoffee cream dessert.

 

We spent the rest of the afternoon between the piping hot balcony with no shade and the icebox living room reading and digesting

lunch.

 

Sailaway was promptly at 5pm and we enjoyed another beautiful sunset.

 

Edited March 14 by justhappy

[justhappy]

Dinner was at Le Bistro courtesy of Amex. We were served by Rainer, who is the husband of our server from Ocean Blue and the Haven.

  Although busy when we first arrived the tables emptied as it got close to showtimes onboard.

  We had a wonderful dinner with my choices of the escargot, the goat cheese croquettes and the Dover Sole.

Dessert I opted for vanilla ice cream since I’d brought the celebration card to the restaurant and knew a cake would be coming out.

DH had the Mushroom soup and the 

Lamb shank and lamb chops.

 

 

 

 

 So good it posted twice.

 

After cake and ice cream we rolled out and planned to attend the 80’s Broadway show tunes concert in the Spiegal Tent. Would we make it? 
Stay tuned!

Edited March 14 by justhappy

[justhappy]

We had an hour to kill before the doors opened to the show so we headed to the casino where I seeked revenge from those cheating wolves, and DH went in search of treasure from a Gold Hills machine.

 After 20 minutes of doing battle with the wolves and falling short, DH popped by to say his machine had shut down and the techs were working on it🤨

 After submitting defeat to the wolves again, I found DH surrounded by slot technicians studying the guts of his slot machine. 
 30 minutes later they asked him how much was on the ticket he put in the machine. And what was that last game he played on. 
It was not looking good folks…

 

After awhile it was several slot attendants and several suit’s standing around discussing what to do.

Finally someone had the bright idea to pull out the last voucher inserted into the game.

After they determined it was his, they tried inserting it into another machine and it was rejected, so after much discussion among the suits, they took it to the cashier and cashed it and gave him his money back.

 The casino staff were very kind and apologetic about the whole thing.

   By this time the show was about to start and we knew there would probably be no good seats left and DH was scared off of trying another slot.

  So back to our stateroom, and in bed by 10pm.

We passed this artwork in the deck 6 hall and thought about our puppy.

 

 

Edited March 14 by justhappy

[zqvol]

2 hours ago, justhappy said:

Dinner was at Le Bistro courtesy of Amex. We were served by Rainer, who is the husband of our server from Ocean Blue and the Haven.

  Although busy when we first arrived the tables emptied as it got close to showtimes onboard.

  We had a wonderful dinner with my choices of the escargot, the goat cheese croquettes and the Dover Sole.

Dessert I opted for vanilla ice cream since I’d brought the celebration card to the restaurant and knew a cake would be coming out.

DH had the Mushroom soup and the 

Lamb shank and lamb chops.

 

 

 

 

 So good it posted twice.

 

After cake and ice cream we rolled out and planned to attend the 80’s Broadway show tunes concert in the Spiegal Tent. Would we make it? 
Stay tuned!

I like Le Bistro, but it seems that they have decreased their menu options and I am so over escargot. I like them but wish they had something different. 

[justhappy]

37 minutes ago, zqvol said:

I like Le Bistro, but it seems that they have decreased their menu options and I am so over escargot. I like them but wish they had something different. 

They have definitely reduced the menu choices vs 8 years ago.

I rarely eat escargot except when it’s on a cruise ship so I’m not tired of them yet. The ones last night were good, but then I’m just as happy to have French bread dipped in the garlic butter. After all that’s what the escargot taste like, a garlic and butter delivery system!

 

[justhappy]

Day 5 Harvest Cay ??

 We woke up around 7am to see us sailing away from Harvest Cay,  assuming the island with the lighthouse way in the distance was indeed, Harvest Cay.

Suspicions confirmed when the Captain announced that they had tried to dock but deemed the winds too dangerous.

I was sitting on my balcony so I could hear the collective groaning and mumbling from other aft balconies.

  We made our way to breakfast and enjoyed more carbs than I’ve had in a long time.

During breakfast there was a code ALPHA outside the buffet on deck 15 near the beverage station. Hoping whoever it was is ok🙏

   

 

The famous almond croissant 

 Pancakes

 

His eggs Benedict -the country potatoes still sad..

 

Edited March 14 by justhappy

[laudergayle]

@justhappy Belated Happy Birthday 🎂🎉

Edited March 14 by laudergayle

[justhappy]

9 minutes ago, laudergayle said:

@justhappy Belated Happy Birthday 🎂🎉

Thank you but  it’s actually on Sunday, I just used the voucher last night since I knew I didn’t care for any of the dessert items at Le Bistro 😉.

[justhappy]

Since everyone seems resolved to make up for the lack of Harvest Cay plans by treating their livers to an alcohol rinse today, I imagine there will be lots of sunburned zombies about when the sun goes down tonight.

 

My total drink count for the cruise so far- 11

Gone are the days when we could drink all day!

 You’d never know we have an Irish pub in our house by my drinking, although DH tries to pick up my slack.

Edited March 14 by justhappy