sasilke

We did Teppanyaki, and the kids loved it. The food was great. We also did the Cirque dinner, which was fabulous.

Shanghai's Noodle Bar was good as well -- although that is not one of the upcharge restaurants, if that's what you're asking about. The only other upcharge restaurant we did was LeBistro. Our kids actually did that on their own, for a fancy dinner together. They really liked the fanciness of it all, and the service was fast so they didn't get bored.

They only release 25% of the reservations to pre-booking. We had no problem making reservations the day we wanted to eat somewhere.

It's two lanes in O'Sheehans, $5 a game. Not a full bowling alley, and seems more like an addition to the arcade area of the restaurant.

Just a heads up for those non-drinkers or people in general who like ginger beer: It was available on our cruise on the Breakaway to Bermuda last week, which made me very happy. We had the Unlimited Drinks Package, which seemed like a waste on me since I don't drink, but once I saw there was ginger beer I was a happy person. I like the sharpness of ginger beer -- and it makes me feel more like an adult than just getting Diet Pepsi all the time. Also, there are only so many virgin sugary drinks one can handle in a week.

But at the end of the cruise, I was reprimanded by a bartender for ordering it. It was in the Moderno restaurant at lunch. He said he would have to charge me, because it was not on the drinks package. It is considered a mixer on the drinks package, but if you want to consume it WITHOUT alcohol, they will charge you.

I checked my account, and had not been charged for it all week, so I thought maybe he had the facts wrong. But later that night, at the Cirque de Soleil dinner, the waiter told me the same thing. So I stopped ordering them.

I'm glad someone told me they charged for them, because if I'd been charged when expecting my drinks were covered by the package, I would have felt very annoyed. I don't quite understand the logic, and I feel like it takes advantage of non drinkers. It felt like another step by the cruise to nickle and dime people on board.

So that's just a heads up for anyone else who likes ginger beer. It's not supposed to be free. You may get charged if you order it, even with the drinks package.

I was excited to see they had Ginger Beer on our Breakaway cruise earlier this month. We had the Unlimited Drinks Package, which came with our reservation. I don't drink, so it was kind of a waste on me. But I ordered a lot of Ginger Beer and was enjoying it, until the very end of the trip when one of the bartenders notified me that it was NOT on the drinks package and that he would have to charge me for it. I was so confused. He said it is a mixer, not a drink, and if I wanted it without alcohol I would have to pay extra.

Another waiter told me the same thing later that day. I checked my account, and hadn't been charged up to that point, which is good because I probably would have been quite unhappy if I'd been getting charged all week.

So I stopped ordering Ginger Beers after that, which was a bummer. The virgin daiquiris and pina coladas were fine.

Ship - Breakaway

Deck - 11

Stateroom # - 11296 and 11298

Stateroom Category – BC

Starboard or Port Side - Port

Quiet Stateroom? – Sort of. The connecting doors between the rooms made it impossible to NOT hear our children next door, even when both doors were closed. The door to the bathroom in 11296 squeaks really loudly, so anytime anyone got up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, everyone in our party of 5 could hear it. And there was a fair amount of noise coming from the balcony area; other guests nearby had a tendency to have loud family arguments with their balcony door open, but we also had our balcony door open a fair amount. We probably would have heard less of that if we closed the balcony door.

Was stateroom a connecting stateroom? Yes

Balcony View - Unobstructed view in both rooms. Great view.

Balcony Size? Normal size. Fit two chairs and a small table. Perfect for reading or watching sunsets.

Was wind a problem? Only when the balcony door wasn't fully latched. The wind would whine through the crack in the door, but if you pull the handle up the noise goes away.

If an aft cabin, was soot a problem? - No. I think the room is considered more mid-ship, but it's more aft of mid ship.

Any specific problems with this cabin? I made the mistake of locking the balcony door of 11298 one evening with the upper lock, and it would not unlock. Took a visit from maintenance to get it unlocked; that took about 12 hours to happen. Also, in room 11298 one of the closet doors is off its track and so it bangs a bit when the boat is rocky.

Any other comments? I thought deck 11 was the perfect place to be. A few decks below the craziness of the pool area, and a few decks above the craziness of the casino/restaurant area. Other than the random noise that comes from being in a large hotel area with other people, we couldn't hear anything from the dance clubs or daytime pool craziness. My kids loved the ropes course and Entourage club, which are located aft, so being toward the rear of the ship was good for us.

Our kids are 17, 14 and 10. We did the connecting room because you have to have an adult in each room. I was registered to one and my husband to the other, but my husband and I slept together and the kids slept in a room together. We won't be cruising again until after my oldest is 18. Still, I don't think I'd do connecting rooms again. It was hard to get a break from the kids. If I had to do it again, I would get two rooms and pay for each of them to use the messenger app on board so they could contact us without constantly feeling the need to be in our room.