kboltwkreations

We were so happy to find DIVE BVI for our port day in Tortola off the NCL BREAKAWAY. There are so many options for excursions in this area that we wanted to use our time wisely and hit up more than one, so we private chartered the Sea Bandit for a half day knowing we wanted to get to THE BATHS early and have lunch somewhere, the rest was up to the great folks at DIVE BVI. Steve picked us up at the Village Cay Marina, which was a short safe walk from the cruise terminal (they provided a great map of the area). The boat was more than we could ever have expected with great comfy seating, fully stocked cooler, and all the gear we would need for snorkeling. We were able to get under way to the baths quickly, beat the huge crowds and jump right off the boat to the start of the trail. After this quick stop Steve took us to 2 of THE BEST snorkeling spots in the area, Cooper Island and Norman Island. He was such a great guide to show us all the best spots and creatures/beautiful fish. After snorkeling we headed over to the famous Willy T's where lunch was already ordered for us to save time! What a cool spot with EXCELLENT food and pain killers ;) Hiring DIVE BVI was the highlight of our trip and we are already planning to go back to the area for more adventures!

On 5/7/2019 at 6:38 PM, dbrown84 said:

just got off the breakaway on Sunday.  They do show moves a few nights at Spice H2O.  I remember they showed 42 one night.  I know there was at lease one more, but I can't remember what it was.  They do also show movies in the atrium and in the theater.  

Here are the schedules from the 5/5 sailing... movies at Spice almost every night.

On 5/12/2019 at 10:22 AM, Sand and Seas said:

Loved your review and all the great pictures!

We were on the sailing after you.  Do you know why your disembarkation took so long?  We were at the terminal waiting to board and could see they were holding up people from your cruise from going down the escalators to customs.  If I remember correctly, it was almost 11am and they weren't allowing a long line to go down that escalator to customs.  We talked to a lady on a back to back and she said they held them in the customs area for 3 or 4 hours.  (She was NOT happy about that!)

 

Our cruise was fine, but I could see differences in the ship since we were last onboard in November.    Was not happy to see they were no longer serving the lunch buffets in Moderno on sea days anymore.  Loved those on prior Breakaway cruises.   

The gangway was broken for our embarkation day 5/5. We were in the Haven group and didn’t get on until way later that expected. I also was VERY disappointed about not having the Moderno lunch option, was really looking forward to that 😞. Also no country dance night that we usually look forward to. The dailies were VERY different from what I had seen of previous sailings. 

Thanks again for a great review with great pictures! Watching her dock now and patiently waiting to get on! 🤩

Thanks for the review!! Finally glad to hear someone say the walk from the Aft suites to the Haven isn't THAT bad! We board on Sunday and cannot wait!!

Have a great cruise! happy birthday!

34 minutes ago, realcindylouwho said:

Help please. I'm currently sitting in Moderno for embarkation lunch, on the Dawn and I've used the search but I'm not having much luck.

Someone posted a couple of months ago, a "Recipe book" of the ingredients and measurements for NCL drinks. It was dated from this year and had 3 pages of beverages NCL used to have on the drinks menus once upon a time but have taken off. Could someone locate that thread and post it for me?  I bookmarked it on my laptop but forgot to put it on my phone!!!

Saved it to my phone 🙂

NCL_UBP_FAV_DRINKS.pdf

Thanks for posting! 11 more days to go for us!

3 hours ago, YankeesFan4Life said:

 

Now I'm a heavy wine drinker, and love my great bourbons (as I'm sipping a Bulleit and Ginger right now), but you're saying that you paid $70pp per day?  PLUS the $22 (I think) pp per day gratuities on the Free at Sea promo?  Something doesn't add up.  That's $92 (give or take) to drink.  That seems awfully high.  I thought I saw it was something like $30-$35pp per day for the PPBP.  We're debating doing it IF it was under $500 total for the both of us

@kboltwkreations we're going on BA in August, if you could please report back after your trip, I would definitely appreciate it!

Will let you know for sure! We are BIG wine drinkers so this seems like a no brainer for us to add on.  Not much to pick from under the $15/glass mark 

Just wanted to clarify, it was a $30 limit for you?? Another thread stated the cutoff was $35 per drink with PPBP. Trying to decide for our Breakaway cruise in 2 weeks. Thanks!

Have you looked into the Sandals Butler level suites? Service/Food/Price all on par with NCL Haven...drinks a little lower quality, but truly unlimited so very nice option. Entertainment would be the only thing lacking here... but relaxing for sure.

A little off topic, but how extensive is the by the bottle selection in specialty restaurants? Above and beyond what you see on the normal drink menu, or still pretty limited?

Go check out EECC Travels on YouTube! They have GREAT video reviews from the Breakaway!

Hope your trip was fabulous. Any pictures of updated GV?

Hot craps table!! :d:d:d

Thank you! My DH called the upsell dept. He didn't believe there would be any chance that they would grant his request. We were originally booked in the 2 bedroom family suite with balcony. Surprisingly, she said YES! We paid an additional $1,500 each for he and I. We were fine with that!

 

I promise, I'll post pictures when we return!

Have a great trip!!

My DH JUST booked the garden villa today for the August 12 sailing! I am excited beyond words! We sailed the Dawn last July in an inside cabin....I think it may be a bit different than that! :D I would love to see more updated (after refurb) pictures if anyone has them!

Please please please take lots of pics!!! :D

Pics look great!! Cant wait to see more! Would like to see the casino as well!

Thank you Thank you! Cant wait to see pics!

Le Bistro was my favorite- Had the french onion soup, fruits de mer (was to die for!), and escargot. All very rich and elegant.

Cagneys came in 2nd; shimp cocktail was great, potato soup was better than the wedge salad, and I had a ribeye that was just ok. Dining experience was wonderful though, and wine was great that night.

Moderno was a very close favorite behind Cagneys as the salad bar presentation was wonderful. Only a few of the meats were impressive but all were good. Best I had were the chicken legs and the grilled pineapple.

La Cucina was just ok in our book. I had the carbonara which was great compared to the other dishes on the table, the pesto pasta, and the lasagna which looked inedible. Brushetta here was fabulous though.

Did not have teppanyaki, but heard wonderful reviews. We have a teppanyaki place right by our house at home and eat there all the time so just wasnt what we were looking for on vacation.

Worst meal we had was at Indigo.

How about the coffee maker, is it a Keurig? grandpa wants to bring his own Dunkin Donuts[emoji6]

No its a Lavazza coffee maker with small pods.

We love Park West and cruise ship art auctions. Our first piece was from a Princess cruise in 2014, and we bought 5 pieces on our last NCL cruise in May. I have looked at the online reviews and do not understand why there is so much negativity towards them. We have been very pleased with their customer service and artwork. Glad to hear another positive review in the mix with ALL the bad ones.

Oh, please tell us about the GV experience. WEre you on the Pearl?

Yes we were on the Pearl in 14500. Whole experience was amazing. Our sailing was a little cool to enjoy the top deck a whole lot but having the floor to ceiling windows to watch everything was a dream. There were 5 of us in the suite and we never bothered each other. Super priority boarding (took us 45 min from setting our bags down curbside to being on the ship). Priority disembark was great also at each port, Suzie came and got us and led us down so we never waited in any lines. We had breakfast pastries each morning with fresh fruit, snacks each afternoon (sandwich platters, chips, wings, tenders, fries, etc). Butler was fantastic.

I can answer any specifics for you as well. The only downside of being in that room is that it is mid-ship and that set of elevators is always crowded so most times we took the stairs. It was a fantastic time and we already booked GV on the Dawn for next year.

Cant go wrong with Waterfront Marriott! Its such a good location, we walked to EVERYTHING and never had to take a car. And you just walk right accross the street and get on the boat! Cant beat that!

We were on the May 15th sailing! First of all you are going to have AMAZING staff with Susie (con) and Robin (butler) if they are the same as we had (we were in 14500). There were 5 of us in the Garden Villa so we tipped $400 to each of them. Amazing room and great service from everyone.