Amo57

Finally...all caught up and sad that it's over. Great job as usual and thanks a lot for adding to my stress. Now, because of this review I NEED to figure out a way to get on Royal next year (Anthem out of New Jersey). If I'm staying with a local port it's either the Breakaway (again), Carnival Sunshine or Royals Anthem. You really made up my mind that my first choice is Royal but needing 2 rooms and only able to go during peak times my wallet doesn't agree. [emoji16][emoji23]. Looking forward to your Escape review and how she compares to Breakaway.

 

 

 

 

 

What an amazing Shot! Here is to me shooting random pics, Cheers! LoL

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'd like to say I'm following along but as usual I'm catching up. Either way I'm enjoying your review as always and using it as research for my 2017 cruise (undecided on what line we will be on at the moment). I have a camera question for you. How do you keep the lens from fogging up when you go from the cool room to the hot balcony?

P.S. The only thing I'm missing from this review is the usual illustration shots. Still my favorite effect.

 

 

 

 

 

I am intrigued what the hero 5 will look like when it comes out. They sure are expensive cameras, but they are fabulous!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Have you seen this one? Unbelievable how small their getting.

 

What I do is that I set the camera to take a picture every 2 seconds. I pull the camera out of my bathing suit. My selfie stick is already long enough in the compressed position, so I do not have to extend it any further. Then I press the shutter button and I take about 10 seconds of pictures (5 shots). Then use photosweeper to select the best one and erase the other.

 

Sorry for the long answer, I hope I made myself clear.

Never apologize for a long answer. :) Thanks for the help. Never realized the time-lapse feature took regular pictures and that i could just select what I want to keep instead of the whole time lapse. Was never interested in the Go Pro but Verizon offered me a brand new hero 3+ silver for $50 when I upgraded a phone on my account so it was too good to pass up, now I love it. Thanks again.

Following along, loving your pics and stories as usual. One quick question. When you have a the go pro on the mono pod are you using a remote to activate the shutter, or mostly shooting video and grabbing screen captures?

Marty

I only heard of one passenger that was irrational and upset over the change. She went bananas at the captain when he was doing a q&a in the atrium and was escorted away.

 

Everyone else I came across said the same thing, "NCL doesn't control the weather." Yes there was disappointment but the overwhelming attitude was gratitude for keeping is safe and insuring we stayed in the sunshine every day. The only bad weather we experienced was one night and one morning when we arrived in Nassau. That changed in about an hour to blue skies.

 

People were understanding and realistic.

 

 

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That must have been the same person my mother saw getting off the elevator cursing and yelling "this is F****ng ridiculous, I'm F****ng flying home from florida, this is unbelievable" When she got off the elevator a bunch of people clapped and said "have a nice trip". lol Rick is right though, everyone i spoke to was grateful to have good weather and smooth sailing. Also, any show we went to and the captain was introduced he got a HUGE applause.

Your situation was either unusual, or you're not telling the whole story.

 

 

 

I have cruised for 20 years and only once (my Christmas cruise) were the prices best before final payment date.

 

 

 

If you just get upgrades and have no problem with that, then that's cool. However, I prefer selecting the category I want and then getting the best price, rather than getting upgrades.

Just my 2 cents (and experience). I'm sailing on the Breakaway on 8/24. I booked in early August of last yr because I wanted an inside and balcony room across from each other and due to the new interior corridor design there are not many locations to choose from where I could get this. I didn't know at the time if earlier was better or not and whatever happened to the price later I was ok with ( I am not one that feels I should be refunded for a price drop after final payment). So any way...about a month before final payment I saved $600 on the balcony and $100 on the inside and got the UDP free for the balcony room. Now with almost 2 weeks left my balcony is down almost $200 more BUT the inside is UP around $100. So my balcony best price is now ( and not really if you consider the UDP cost) but the inside best price was before final payment.

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So is everyone's money on starboard for next week? :D

 

 

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We have a winner - Starboard side today!!

Next 2 weeks port??

No, they are not that stupid.

 

By the way, a few years back, you could buy cheap tracfone and use it on the ship. They were not able to block the calls. They eventually figured that out.

Didn't think anyone was stupid, just figured even if they charged more than the normal 1 unit per minute for international calls it would be cheaper than the ship or cell phone. No big deal, i am fine with the fact that my office can't get in touch with me :D I've had enough vacation interruptions and look forward to one without any. My parents and in laws will be with us so i have nobody expecting to hear from me. Like i said , I'll have someone else's kid with me and I'm sure her parents will want to hear from her so wifi in Bermuda along with a phone calling app will do. I also heard you can use the concierge app to make calls for .69 per minute. Don't know if thats correct or not but thats not terrible if its right.

Check very carefully. Have to doubt that a $10 trac fone, which is designed only for US use, will work in Bermuda.

Looks like you're right. Really didn't look into anything before today. Was just gonna talk to someone in the store. Just googled it and looks like tracfone is just in the US. Was planning on buying the wifi in Bermuda at the dock anyway so looks like an app might be the way to go.

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I'm going to the store in the next couple of days to look into a $10 flip Tracfone or something similar with prepaid minutes. Just need to make sure it works in Bermuda. Only need it for emergencies and my daughters friend to ck in with her family once or twice.

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May to June had a nice little pattern going and then July messed it up. No guessing what I'll be looking at for 8/27 except...ah heck, who cares. I won't be looking at my desk is the important thing. :)

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I agree. The Seafood in Le Bistro is great. It's worth the $20-$30 extra.

Can't wait. Le Bistro is going to be my quiet dinner with just DW and I. No kids, parents or in laws.

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I know about the key card to keep the electric on but if you don't does it also affect the AC?

Also, does anyone know how much the fitness classes are like yoga or spin?

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Next-

Things my husband NEVER thought he would hear me say!!!

 

I have never in my adult life cruised in a non-suite.

 

You do not need one on this ship.

 

SAVE YOUR MONEY AND DO A BACK TO BACK!!

 

Or two cruises!

 

THAT's RIGHT-I SAID IT!!!

 

We used the Haven for sleeping.

Eating breakfast. THAT IS IT!! Dinner a few times.

 

Yes, the staff are lovely, attentive- sweet.

But the Getaway isn't a sleepy ship as are the Jewel, Pearl, Gem.

She needs us to be out and about.

 

For a family of 5 there a limited options if you like to bunk together. On Royal and NCL and Disney we have always chosen the 2BR suites. Royal's suites offer zip in the way of special treatment except for a cocktail hour and a goodie now and the. Yes, priority debark, blah blah blah. Just a ruse on RCL!

 

NCL does the suite life right. You USUALLY don't want to leave the Haven. EXCEPT ON THE GETAWAY. We are not twenty-something sun worshipers, the teens are too old to hangout with the kiddies in the pool..and there is a TON to do on Getaway.

 

On our particular sailing the Haven pool was filled with sun worshippers and children, and the pools with older , scantily-clad European couples. Without giving details, use your Spongebob IMAGINATION (SPEEDO SPEEDO SPEEDO). It was interesting. Everyone was friendly, but there were many "avert your gaze" moments. Times that I was thankful for VERY DARK sunglasses!!Poor Daphne had some moments of sheer mortification, and Brad received some inadvertent physics lessons re: bikini tops and 68 year olds.

 

If you are traveling as a family, the slides themselves, as well as the other activities for kids, are enough incentive to skip the Haven. I know, I know- wash that mouth out with soap!!

 

I guess a better way to put it- when I read a Haven-Ravin' Review- now I feel almost sad- because those people missed so much!!!GET OUT THERE - (OMG!! ROYAL CARIBBEAN IS GONNA SUE ME!!) have a lobster roll!! Go on a slide! Play Deal or no Deal! Gamble! Sing! Shop! Bid on SOMETHING!! Have a mojito!Bowl! Play a game of Ping Pong! Hide that silver, Haven card and be a part of the SHIP!!!!Hang out at Sugarcanes and meet some friends-new ones! Talk to JC Sanchez!! See what's up with Frank!!And, yes, even Haven folk can wander into SPice H2o!!

 

Bowl. We had a BLAST on that little bowling alley. We laughed so hard- and we drew an audience!!! TRY IT- loved the pub feel at O'sheehans. EVERYONE seems friendly. Cheers on steroids.

 

Sorry. Lecture over.

 

Next trip I plan to see Burn the Floor. Eat at Flamingo and the MDRs. Go to Tropicana. Go to ALL THREE NITES of HOWLat the MOON.

Actually DO the drop slide.

See Legally Blonde-maybe.

Do the circus training.

Have a mojito flight.

And maybe another one.

Wear SOCKS to the ice bar. I LOVED the icebar. I left very quickly. It was FUN!!

Go to the Grammy Experience for an ENTIRE SHOW!!!

Watch the crew variety show.

Win a GIANT JACKPOT in the Casino.

Avoid invisible jellyfish.

Sing Karaoke. Really!

Eat at O'Sheehans- never tried the pot pie!!

Do trivia- never did trivia, and I'm a trivia WIZ!! We ALWAYS win!!

Walk the Plank.

Zip line.

 

 

If anyone has any questions, just ask.

 

I know that I am gushing, but we enjoyed this cruise immensely. We are already booked again for next year in mini suite connecting to one of those angled -balcony family balcony rooms. I am SURE that i can find something to spend the savings on!!

 

 

Thanks for listening!!!

Annmeat

Hi - Just wanted to say thanks for your review. I am sailing on the Breakaway in a few weeks and since I've read everything i can about her i figured the Getaway is close enough, I'll read these too. OK and your Kevin Sheehan comment caught my attention having just watched Undercover Boss. I will admit when i started reading it and you started ranting about "dark wood" and hating it I thought...Well it's not important want I thought. Anyway i kept reading and saw you really have a great sense of humor and it made the review very pleasant to read. Then came the post i have quoted here.....this is the BEST single post I have ever read by anyone staying in a suite. It really shows what kind of people you are and I'm glad you enjoyed your trip so much and I hope to enjoy mine just as much. Thanks again.

The entire pool is 6ft deep. At first both pools allowed all ages, but yes, after the drowning, they changed the main pools on Breakaway and Getaway to adult only. The funny thing is that they still do Nickelodeon Spongebob stuff at that main pool stage. The AREA isn't adult only - just the pool itself. 2 of the 4 hot tubs at the main pool are adult only and the other 2 allow kids.

 

People completely line the edges of the pool, sitting thigh to thigh. I'm not a strong swimmer, and I wouldn't even brave it for that reason. If I'd gotten tired, I'd have had no where to go to grab on to the side unless I grabbed a leg. I wish the attendants would keep the edges cleared.

Well that puts it into a different perspective. My kids could swim but yeah, with a crowd like that and 6' deep all around..yikes. I'm surprised they designed it that way. With the water sloshing around it can sometimes become difficult to swim even on a calm sea day

The main pool doesn't allow children!?!? This just sounds insanel! I thought the only adults only areas were h20 and vibe. I see the mention that this has only been changed after a tragedy. I just don't understand how segregation of the kids to the other pool is any safer. Obviously if this is the rule we will follow.

No, not a joke. Actually, the only reason i was looking into it was because I saw someone post a complaint on the NCL FB page after getting off the Getaway. I guess I will just have to wait and see what happens. Seems to be different experiences regarding teens. Like i said, not going to ruin my vacation, we'll get over it.

This is something that bothered me a little bit as I just found this out myself a few days ago. I booked over a year ago and since then have ready review after review (I mean seriously obsessed 😜) and anything and everything I could about this ship and have not seen this mentioned anywhere. Even now that I know I can't find it on ncl's website either. I don't think I've ever seen the main pool be adults only on any of my cruises. I understand and welcome adult only areas like h20 and serenity (Carnival) but I don't think I like this. I'm traveling with two 16 year old girls that like to take the sun and dip in the pool, not run around and be the rowdy kids most would complain about. I am also not one of these parents that will drop the kid off at the pool and go on my way but now the way I see it I will have to hang out in the back by the kids pool where there looks to not be many chairs or much room around it in general to keep an eye on them. Don't get me wrong, I'm still SO excited to go and I probably would've booked anyway had I known but I'm hoping this does not put a damper on things for us. Oh well, rant over, 24 more days and will have a great time anyway. 😄

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this is the first time that I have ever had a cruise director speak to me, and the first time that I have cared!

This is a hard one to explain. I had the same experience a few years ago. It was the first time in 6 cruises my wife or I even spoke to a cruise director. I don't know why, we didn't do anything different than we normally do but we got friendly with him and another member of the entertainment staff. They sat with us at a comedy show, bought us drinks and gave us bottles of champagne. We still keep in touch with one of them on Facebook. It made for the best week ever.

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The instant ticket is the same one you get as a bonus when buying some of the bingo card packages. There are multiple chances to win cash. You pull of little strips and if the symbols match a winning combo, you win that amount. I think up to $2,000 or something. For all my waiting in line, I won $1 on mine.

 

 

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On my first NCL cruise (2004). My mother won a free cruise on the instant tickets.

I went to Ft. Wadsworth on 7/6 to watch the ship at the Verrazano. If you were on your balcony at the time I probably have a picture if you're interested.

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We'll be in a suite on our next cruise and NCL furnishes us a portable phone we can take with us anywhere on the ship.

 

 

 

We're traveling with friends who will not have a NCL phone.

 

 

 

Does anyone know if we'll be able to communicate if they get the iconcierge app and we use our NCL phone?

I don't know from experience but I have been researching the app as well for my upcoming trip and from what I've read, once you pay for the app you get a phone number that you should be able to call from your suite phone. I read about one person using it as an emergency contact for their child in camp.

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I usually don't comment on threads like this because every comment is just someone's opinion and leads to more unnecessary bickering, but.......now that I've gone through 56 posts with the hopes of seeing an explanation of what the real problem is (since more than $150 was spent on other things) and my heads spinning, all I can figure is this...."it's the principle" must be some other language I'm not familiar with and best I can figure is it translates into "I NEED something to complain about"

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Sure thing! I had to check with my kids because I hadn't heard about this. According to them, you could go in any of the pools any time of day - except the hot tubs at Spice H2O. BUT they said that the pool towards the front, where the DJ, music etc was had a lot of "adult" activity - as they referred to it - grinding - as they said! :eek: going on! Then there is the "kid" pool where there the kid zone type is - and then the pool by the slides - which was more family friendly. That one was between 3 and 4 feet deep if they remember correctly!

 

 

 

I hope all that is accurate - but for sure, they felt uncomfortable in any pool other than the one between the slides!

Thank you for the info.

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I agree that the analogy is completely off-base because context is incredibly relevant. Another poster said something about (and I paraphrase): you're free to screw up your kid as you please.

 

1. Taking your kid to a show that features sexually inspired content is no way comparable to a creepy adult in a park "simulating" sexual acts. The idea that it is is totally preposterous.

 

2. Taking your young child to a Broadway show is the opposite of "screwing her up." It's opening her world to art, entertainment and culture.

 

Take her! Enjoy it! If she gets bored, leave early.

 

I have a 5-year-old son, and I wouldn't think twice about taking him to this show if I thought he'd enjoy it (his R-rated experiences lean more to the LOTR style entertainment). These experiences will only make our children more well-rounded.

So glad to hear I'm not the only one who didn't agree with that analogy. I was not going to comment because I didn't want to come off as confrontational and start an argument on here for something that really wasn't important. We are all going to do what we want with our own kids regardless of what anyone else thinks and frankly (and unfortunately) i think they hear worse in school but mine are 13 & 16, not 5.

Quick question if you could. Something I would never have thought to look into to but just noticed a comment on another page. The main pool is for adults only? And kids are only allowed in the pool in the back by the kiddie area? If so do you know how deep that pool is?

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