Breakaway Thoughts: Que Sera, Sera

The Breakaway has been reviewed ad nauseam so I thought I would just give you some of my thoughts and experiences as I await our flight out of NYC back to sunny AZ. I've got 4 hours to kill so here we go!

We set sail out of NYC 10/8/17 with my DH and i (4th cruise) DS 9 (2nd cruise), DS 23 (1st timer) and our old MA neighbors (1st timers).

We flew in from AZ a few nights early to explore NYC, but we only met our friends on the ship since they drove up from Mass with high expectations.

Those expectations were sufficiently crushed as the trip went on. We stressed to them the need to arrive at port early since they were driving in the day of the cruise. They got to port around 9:00 am and had to drag their luggage through the pouring rain to wait in the terminal. They were pretty much drowned rats by the time we met up with them an hour later, in the security line. They told us so far every vacation that they have taken in the last two years it poured rain on them. [emoji50]Right, good to know, so far they were on track.

To say embarkation at the Manhattan port is a chaotic nightmare is a bit of a stretch, but I can't think of any hyperbole that is just a bit less than that, so let's just go with that. We quickly made it through security once it opened then we made our way to check in. There were 2 sets of check in desks and they asked us to keep walking to the far set of desks. We were directed to the long line. We told them we were Latitudes and got in the line with only 3 people in front of us and we got boarding pass #2! Our friends went through the long line and actually made it faster than we did, but they got boArding #12. So It was worth it to wait to get boArding pass #2, if you want the Vibe and don't have status try to go to the Latitudes line.

Well, we waited and waited and about 12 pm I asked a worker if the people I saw walking by were Haven guests. He said in his heavy NY accent "No. those are people still disembarking from the last cruise" he told me how the Manhattan terminal is too small for the BA and can't handle all the people at once. A few mins later they came on the speaker and announced that they were completely stopping check in until they got some guests boarded the ship bc the terminal was full. [emoji33]I would have been pretty perturbed if I was waiting to check in bc it was stopped for a while.

It was after 12 pm and we were finally walking up the ramp to our cruise! On the way up I joked about all the luggage that is at the bottom of the Hudson and we all had a good laugh. I would soon find out karma is a bitch!

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We were on the Breakaway sailing Oct 1, the week before you. It was CHAO's getting OFF the ship Oct 8, so that's probably why your embarkation was a nightmare.

The ship was 2 hrs late getting into port. Apparently a small ship was docked at the pier where Breakaway was supposed to be. You know what rolls down hill??? need I say more?? Walk off's were not called until 9am!:mad:

ppl were standing everywhere on deck 7 and 8 trying to get off. We stood in line for 2 hrs. :mad: only to finally get

to street level in the pouring rain. We had a 1pm flight at LGA we almost missed. We agreed, we would much

rather sail from FLORIDA any day.

First thing we did was sign up for Escape the Big Top. This was super easy to do as we boarded right at the theater. We chose the first available time on Monday.

There were only 4 of us so they gave us 4 more people at our table. The more the merrier! The challenge was more of puzzles and not stuff hidden around the room like other escapes. I was super excited to do this but it wasn't what I was expecting. I don't want to give anything away, but the short of it was we lost.... to a table full of kids.

Next we went up to sign up DS for Splash Academy. They told us there was 700 kids on this sailing so I asked about them reaching capacity and they said that it was probable most days. We decided that we would just go early and wait in line before it opened. We always went 15 to 20 mins before opening. If I had to wait in line for 20 mins anyway I figured I might as well wait 20 mins and ensure him a spot. For the life of me, I can't figure out why check/drop off for the kids has to take so long every time. There has got to be a better way to do this.

Last year on the Jade my son LOVED Splash, this year not as much. He said it had too many kids. Yeah...like triple what there was on the Jade. I'm not sure if it was that or just bc it's exactly the same as last year. I told him if he didn't want to go then he can pretty much kiss cruising good bye for awhile. Oddly enough his attitude changed for the better.[emoji23]

As usual the staff at Splash was phenomenal. My son liked Captain Crunch and Stitch!

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We were on the Breakaway sailing Oct 1, the week before you. It was CHAO's getting OFF the ship Oct 8, so that's probably why your embarkation was a nightmare.

 

The ship was 2 hrs late getting into port. Apparently a small ship was docked at the pier where Breakaway was supposed to be. You know what rolls down hill??? need I say more?? Walk off's were not called until 9am!:mad:

 

ppl were standing everywhere on deck 7 and 8 trying to get off. We stood in line for 2 hrs. :mad: only to finally get

 

to street level in the pouring rain. We had a 1pm flight at LGA we almost missed. We agreed, we would much

 

rather sail from FLORIDA any day.

Ah, so it's YOUR fault! I knew it! Ha, ha, ha.

That makes sense I didn't realize the ship was late getting into port. When we were walking out I heard them announce they were stopping check in again today. So I don't think today went smooth either.

I agree FL is much better.

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I asked my friend to download the iconcierge app since we had won an upgrade to the mid-ship mini suite and would no longer have a cabin near them. I explained it would be hard to keep in touch on the ship. I have to say the text on the ship stinks. It only works when it wants to. We had to keep opening and closing the app to get new messages. We spent a ton of time looking for each other.

For sail away we went to H2O. It was no longer raining (a bit humid) thank goodness and sail-away was a great and exciting time! I loved that they played Proud to Be an American as we sailed past the Statue of Liberty and Ground zero. That was truly touching.

After lunch and exploring the ship we went up to the room to find most of our luggage. My DS Star Wars suitcase was missing. Ok, don't panic.... it will show up.

NCL had us look on deck 5 for it with the other lost bags but it wasn't there. There was nothing but his clothes in it anyway, his Id and iPad were with me. My DH had some of his PJ's and dirty clothes in his suit case.

Day 2 still no case. "No worries, just put your dirty clothes on for now". By the end of

Day 2 NCL called off the search and left me voicemail that said it was in reference to "my request to speak to a manager". I never requested one, so I guess they did that for me. They gave me a $100 credit. I figured it was worth a bit more but oh well. I was happy with how quickly they handled the situation.

So his luggage was lost, tomorrow was Port Canaveral anyway. Que Sera, Sera.

I actually just read on FB that someone from my M and G's luggage was dumped into the Hudson and they got back only the stuff they were able to retrieve. I'm guessing the BB8 suitcase was not good at swimming and now lives at the bottom of the Hudson with all the others. Lol

My mistake for making fun of all of the people with suitcases that fell into the ocean. Karma!!

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I had pre purchased the Thermal Suite because coming from AZ in October I expected it to be too cool to hang out on deck.

Boy was I wrong! It was so hot and humid from NYC all the way down to Nassau. It was 80% humidity in port Canaveral. I also talked my friend into purchasing the spa so we could get away. This was another mistake, who knew she would hate it in there? She went once and never went back. I felt bad she had wasted $200. She said it was not any better than outside with the humidity. It was hot inside and out and there really was no respite. I went a few times and thoroughly enjoyed the relaxation.

So Port Canaveral sucked, we went to the pier and sat and had a few drinks but it was so hot it was not At all enjoyable. I grabbed some clothes for my son and we went back to the ship after about an hour in port. I never want to go back there again.

I didn't realize the shirt I got my son that said Oyster Bar in the front said "mothershuckers" on the back. Oops, what do you want when it's 2 for $10? Ha ha.

After port Canaveral came GSC day. Well, as usual we missed that port. It was sunny but windy and choppy. I had set my expectations low that we would actually make it to this port so I wasn't surprised. My friends on the other hand were really disappointed. They had never gone to a beautiful island before and this would have been a slice of paradise, plus free booze.

I heard a lot of upset people over this. I'm pretty sure they knew long before we got there we weren't going there. Ugh.. Que Sera, sera.

We instead pressed on to Nassau where it proceeded to rain all night. We got off for an hour and shopped and got drenched. They took pictures of us with our trash bags on. I bet not a lot of you have great drowned rat photos like that. We had 10 free photos so I bought them all. The next morning was beautiful for most of the day. We booked the 10 am water taxi to Blue Lagoon which is awesome!! Heaven! I tried to motivate everyone to get up for the 8;30 shuttle but that just didn't happen. We had about 2 hours at the Lagoon before it rained. Sigh.

So let me tell you what I loved, Charlie Love from Fat Cats! Wow what a great performer. I don't even like jazz or blues but I liked Charlie.

Also I liked Second city ( the adult version) and Rock of Ages. Both very fun and with seeing.

I loved the waterfront, and drinks at Margaritaville. The buffet and all the food! I thought the staff was mostly friendly and we never ran into rude staff or rude passengers. If you ran into my friends I'm sorry. They were the drunk ones in the elevator and on the waterfront.

My friend the first timer ended up getting sea sick for 2-3 days and my DS 23 got bored with all the sea days and was disappointed to not be on the islands.

In a nutshell the trip was fun, but I did learn a few things. (Notice I didn't blame NCL for any of this before you flame me)

1. Don't take first timers

2. Don't sail in October

3. Don't take ungrateful kids

4. Don't pack anything important in your luggage

5. Roll with the punches

6. Cruise more often!!

7. Crap happens, Que Sera, sera!!

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Sotermarler you had me laughing throughout your recount of the cruise. I'll take your recommendations to heart. Que sera, sera

Great attitude even with rain and lost luggage.

My biggest fear is lost luggasge but I'm glad u had a good time. Im on the breakaway in December and I can't wait. Talked my mum n sister into coming too since I had so much fun last year.

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One more reason why I take a fully packed carry on which does not leave my sight until we get to our cabin

Awesome attitude and outlook! I hate to admit it... but I've made a few of the same mistakes as you. It only took me one time and I'm happy to say I've learned from it!!! I only cruise with my husband going forward (because he doesn't care what we do or where we go). Glad you made the best of sticky/stinky situation!!!

Omg, I was crying at the mothershuckers shirt! Thanks so much for sharing.

We were on the 10/8 sailing as well. I will say that we are 1st time NCL cruisers (having been on a Disney Cruise 2yrs ago). Nothing, and I mean Nothing will ever compare to the service & food quality of Disney. So, needless to say, this was disappointing for us. We were in the Haven and it was perfect for not having to wait in line & go through the nightmares of waiting etc. We were off the ship at 7:45 this morning. It was very choppy and I ended up sick almost the entire vacation. There just wasn't a wow factor with food or service...even in the haven. I'm sad & shocked to even have to say that. I'm working on an indepth review & have already put up some Youtube videos of our room, etc.

Do you happen to have a current copy of the dailies from the cruise?

Thanks for the sera sera.

Just too funny! Really enjoyed reading!:D

We were on the 10/8 sailing as well. I will say that we are 1st time NCL cruisers (having been on a Disney Cruise 2yrs ago). Nothing, and I mean Nothing will ever compare to the service & food quality of Disney. So, needless to say, this was disappointing for us. We were in the Haven and it was perfect for not having to wait in line & go through the nightmares of waiting etc. We were off the ship at 7:45 this morning. It was very choppy and I ended up sick almost the entire vacation. There just wasn't a wow factor with food or service...even in the haven. I'm sad & shocked to even have to say that. I'm working on an indepth review & have already put up some Youtube videos of our room, etc.

Awesome attitude and outlook! I hate to admit it... but I've made a few of the same mistakes as you. It only took me one time and I'm happy to say I've learned from it!!! I only cruise with my husband going forward (because he doesn't care what we do or where we go). Glad you made the best of sticky/stinky situation!!!

Thanks! I was just happy to be on vacation. Yes it sucks that it was hot, rainy, and lost luggage but I wasn't going to let any one ruin my 7 days of fun.

Whenever I heard moaning and groaning I just distanced myself from that as i didn't want to be brought down.

There is really nothing a few Pain Killers can't fix!

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We were on the 10/8 sailing as well. I will say that we are 1st time NCL cruisers (having been on a Disney Cruise 2yrs ago). Nothing, and I mean Nothing will ever compare to the service & food quality of Disney. So, needless to say, this was disappointing for us. We were in the Haven and it was perfect for not having to wait in line & go through the nightmares of waiting etc. We were off the ship at 7:45 this morning. It was very choppy and I ended up sick almost the entire vacation. There just wasn't a wow factor with food or service...even in the haven. I'm sad & shocked to even have to say that. I'm working on an indepth review & have already put up some Youtube videos of our room, etc.

I'm sorry your cruise wasn't up to your expectations. I've heard Disney is amazing and wouldn't be surprised If Disney was miles above NCL for service and food. So I can understand your disappointment. The thing is, I can't beat the value of NCL.

We got 3&4 th passengers free, plus free UBP, 10 free photos, free phone calls, 100 OBC, $50 casino credits, 100 mins internet free. & mini suite for $2700. I can't even imagine what a cabin for 4 on Disney with a drink package for 7 days would cost. Because of all this I can look the other way on service and froo froo food. I guess it's just what is more important to you.

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Do you happen to have a current copy of the dailies from the cruise?

No, sorry. We don't follow the crowds. I don't even read them. If I want to go to a show i go to the standby line if there is a game going on we just stop and watch it.

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I'm sorry your cruise wasn't up to your expectations. I've heard Disney is amazing and wouldn't be surprised If Disney was miles above NCL for service and food. So I can understand your disappointment. The thing is, I can't beat the value of NCL.

 

We got 3&4 th passengers free, plus free UBP, 10 free photos, free phone calls, 100 OBC, $50 casino credits, 100 mins internet free. & mini suite for $2700. I can't even imagine what a cabin for 4 on Disney with a drink package for 7 days would cost. Because of all this I can look the other way on service and froo froo food. I guess it's just what is more important to you.

 

 

 

 

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I thoroughly enjoyed your honest review of your cruise.You have a great attitude!

I also received the same bonus perk package as you.

How did it work with the free Stateroom phone calls, did it work easily?

Also, the casino credits, what did you have to do to use them on the slots?

Thanks!!

I thoroughly enjoyed your honest review of your cruise.You have a great attitude!

 

 

 

I also received the same bonus perk package as you.

 

How did it work with the free Stateroom phone calls, did it work easily?

 

Also, the casino credits, what did you have to do to use them on the slots?

 

 

 

Thanks!!

I never used the phone calls because we were in FL by day three so I just used my cell. If it was the Caribbean I may have used the calls.

The cAsino credits were loaded on your room key. Stick your room card in the slot to load the $$ to your card. Good luck!

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I never used the phone calls because we were in FL by day three so I just used my cell. If it was the Caribbean I may have used the calls.

 

The cAsino credits were loaded on your room key. Stick your room card in the slot to load the $$ to your card. Good luck!

 

 

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Did u have to use the entire credit or could u cash out after 1 round and keep the rest?

 

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I'm not sure, we used all the credits.

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Usually with casino credits you have to gamble the full amount of the credit, but that doesn't mean you can't cash out with a win. Just keep track of your spins, until you've actually bet the full amount allotted to you, and then you can cash out whatever is left over. The other alternative (though I don't know if NCL is this sophisticated) is to download only the amount that you want to bet at a given machine (or time), gamble enough to fulfill that download, and then cash out. You can usually do that until your casino credits are gone....at least that's how it works in land based casinos.