WOW, how things have changed.

[KEPE]

I haven't been on a cruise in about 9 years. We just booked a mid ship balcony on the new breakaway. Things sure have changed in the past 8 years. There are so many more room types to choose from and so many more things to do on the ship. I will have a blast searching these boards for info but wanted to ask a few questions.

 

1 - I have a mid-ship balcony booked but am thinking of maybe upgrading to a spa mini suite. My DH LOVES the spa's and will plan some type of spa treatment once each day. I heard that the spa mini suite will give you access to the thermal spa and stuff. Is it worth the upgrade? The PCC said you can also buy a daily or weekly pass for this? Would I be better off doing this instead?

 

2 - I see the ships now have so many more shows and activities, blue man group, legends, bowling, etc. Do these cost extra or are they included?

 

3 - If I decided to go all out an book a real suite are chidlren welcome in the havan sections? How about in their dinning area?

 

Thanks in advance. I hope I don't annoy you all with my dozens of questions. So excited to plan this trip!!:D

[Sauer-kraut]

Welcome to Cruise Critic!

 

So, some of those shows you mention are on the EPIC and yes there are couple of for fee venues. Right now ALL OTHER ships have free entertainment shows.

 

No one knows what the Breakaway will be like, since she's not even finished yet. Bowling costs $5 per game right now but not all ships have alleys.

 

Sign up for your Roll Call, you will find those boards on the Main C.C. page under the cruise line headings. You will meet people pre cruise, your group might arrange a meet & greet and other activities to get you more involved.

 

Sorry I can't help with the spa questions, hopefully someone will chime in.

[KEPE]

Thanks for the reply. I am so excited to see what the breakaway will have so yes, I am using some things I see on Epic, just as a reference point since its the most recent. Hoping for similar stuff. I'll check out that rollcall board.

 

THANKS!!

[njhorseman]

Having a spa suite or buying a spa pass doesn't entitle you to any spa services...it just buys admission to the thermal suites. If what you want are spa services like massages, then it doesn't make sense to spend the extra money for a spa suite or the spa pass.

[KEPE]

Thanks NJ horseman, I know the actual spa services will be extra but I was under the impression that it will still give him access to the thermal suite where he can use the sauna, hot tub and some type of spa chairs?? I thought if we are in a "spa mini suite" he would have free access to this or if we are in a the regular balcony room we could buy a weekly pass for him to have the same access? Please correct me if the info is wrong. I may have misunderstood to PCC.

 

Thanks

[palmyrafan]

I haven't been on a cruise in about 9 years. We just booked a mid ship balcony on the new breakaway. Things sure have changed in the past 8 years. There are so many more room types to choose from and so many more things to do on the ship. I will have a blast searching these boards for info but wanted to ask a few questions.

 

1 - I have a mid-ship balcony booked but am thinking of maybe upgrading to a spa mini suite. My DH LOVES the spa's and will plan some type of spa treatment once each day. I heard that the spa mini suite will give you access to the thermal spa and stuff. Is it worth the upgrade? The PCC said you can also buy a daily or weekly pass for this? Would I be better off doing this instead?

 

2 - I see the ships now have so many more shows and activities, blue man group, legends, bowling, etc. Do these cost extra or are they included?

 

3 - If I decided to go all out an book a real suite are chidlren welcome in the havan sections? How about in their dinning area?

 

Thanks in advance. I hope I don't annoy you all with my dozens of questions. So excited to plan this trip!!:D

 

Unless the Breakaway is totally different, all the shows should be free of charge, while bowling is $5.

 

As for the Spa pass, I have never used it, but read a post earlier today with the same question and they OP was told that if the spa is sold out, then there will be no daily passes.

 

As for the Haven? Children of suite cruisers are allowed in the Haven area. The pool area is quite small and the Haven Suite cruisers just ask that the parents of children show respect for everyone else and not let the kids rule the roost by taking over the pool and hot tub. We saw kids in the pool area with diaper swimmies on and while we told the Concierge about it, we avoided the pool for the rest of the cruise. Kind of a bummer.

 

You might also enjoy the freestyle dining that NCL offers. There are many nice restaurants, some with an extra surcharge and some without.

 

Will be interested to hear about your cruise on the Breakaway.

 

Have a great time!

[njhorseman]

Thanks NJ horseman, I know the actual spa services will be extra but I was under the impression that it will still give him access to the thermal suite where he can use the sauna, hot tub and some type of spa chairs?? I thought if we are in a "spa mini suite" he would have free access to this or if we are in a the regular balcony room we could buy a weekly pass for him to have the same access? Please correct me if the info is wrong. I may have misunderstood to PCC.

 

Thanks

 

Yes, if you're in a spa mini or a spa suite, or if you buy the spa pass you get admission to the thermal suites (and that's all you get for it...no spa services are included). At one time buying a spa treatment would also also get you access to the thermal suites, but that practice was discontinued years ago. There have been occasional reports of an exception being made, but I haven't seen any lately. They need to strictly control how many passengers have access to the thermal suites in order to prevent overcrowding (and it can get crowded anyway).

[Vitality08]

Which Breakaway cruise did you purchase? I'm considering the Jan 5, 2014. It's 12 days leaving from NY.

[js]

I haven't been on a cruise in about 9 years. We just booked a mid ship balcony on the new breakaway. Things sure have changed in the past 8 years. There are so many more room types to choose from and so many more things to do on the ship. I will have a blast searching these boards for info but wanted to ask a few questions.

 

1 - I have a mid-ship balcony booked but am thinking of maybe upgrading to a spa mini suite. My DH LOVES the spa's and will plan some type of spa treatment once each day. I heard that the spa mini suite will give you access to the thermal spa and stuff. Is it worth the upgrade? The PCC said you can also buy a daily or weekly pass for this? Would I be better off doing this instead?

 

2 - I see the ships now have so many more shows and activities, blue man group, legends, bowling, etc. Do these cost extra or are they included?

 

3 - If I decided to go all out an book a real suite are chidlren welcome in the havan sections? How about in their dinning area?

 

Thanks in advance. I hope I don't annoy you all with my dozens of questions. So excited to plan this trip!!:D

 

Hi KEPE. My family usually sails RCCL but we, too, booked the Breakaway. We were originally booked on RCCL Allure but decided to try Breakaway and drive to the port, which is wonderful! We have sailed out of Bayonne and it is great not having to take a flight.

Anyway, we are booked for July 2013.

 

I see you said you are in a midship balcony. Did you see on NCLs site they are having upgrades on all cabins. I believe right now they have mini suites(which are just a little bigger cabin, not getting suite perks) available for Spa Cabin prices. I looked and the price is $400 more for me to "upgrade" so I'm staying put. We have 2 connecting BCs (balconys) with 2 IC (insides) directly across the hall on Deck 13.

 

I read on these boards that there will be more information about the Breakaway coming mid March. I really look forward to reading more about what the ship will offer.

 

Happy planning!

[Medtech2]

I haven't been on a cruise in about 9 years. We just booked a mid ship balcony on the new breakaway. Things sure have changed in the past 8 years. There are so many more room types to choose from and so many more things to do on the ship. I will have a blast searching these boards for info but wanted to ask a few questions.

 

1 - I have a mid-ship balcony booked but am thinking of maybe upgrading to a spa mini suite. My DH LOVES the spa's and will plan some type of spa treatment once each day. I heard that the spa mini suite will give you access to the thermal spa and stuff. Is it worth the upgrade? The PCC said you can also buy a daily or weekly pass for this? Would I be better off doing this instead?

 

2 - I see the ships now have so many more shows and activities, blue man group, legends, bowling, etc. Do these cost extra or are they included?

 

3 - If I decided to go all out an book a real suite are chidlren welcome in the havan sections? How about in their dinning area?

 

Thanks in advance. I hope I don't annoy you all with my dozens of questions. So excited to plan this trip!!:D

On our Epic sailing it was MUCH cheaper for us to be in a regular balcony and buy a Spa Pass for access to the Thermal pool and such.

 

If it is like the Epic you should go STRAIGHT to the Spa when you board and buy your passes. In the Miami terminal they actually had an information table unobtrusively set up in the waiting area and we signed up for the Spa Passes there.

 

While the Spa Balconies are certainly convenient to the Spa, that extra money could be used for other things!

[KEPE]

Palmyrafan, thanks for the info. Very helpful. The more I think about it, I think we'll avoid the haven. While, I get kids are allowed I can unerstand that people are paying a lot of money more a more secluded experience. Plus I think my daughter will probably have more fun in the main section and the kids pool (if there is one) so we probably wouldn't use it much. No point in spending that money if we won't use the facilities. Still interested in the spa mini suite though.

 

thanks again, NJ horeman, I do think Dh would love the thermal spa so this is something for me to consider.

 

Vitality, I booked the Thanksgiving cruise for 2013 bahama's and Fl. Very excited.

 

Js, we too are excited about sailing right out of NY and not having to take any flights. We'll be home from vacation in 30 minutes :). I looked on the site but can't tell if I'm reading it correctly, the price listed next to the minisuite is the cost or the price next to the spa cabin is what it would cost for a mini suite? For the spa cabin, I would upgrade in a minute, I think the price would be worth it but I can't book a spa cabin becuase we have a child with us and it only holds two. The Spa suite can hold us but the cost is about $1000 more than what we are paying now, so I'm trying to figure out if its worth it. If I could get the spa mini for the spa cabin price, I would jump on that!! I also see something about a $400 onboard credit? I emailed our PCC this morning to ask about both. She is going to hate me because I ask a million questions :). Maybe now that I found these boards I'll be able to bother her a little less. I can't wait to hear more info on this cruise. Thanks for the helpful info and enjoy your cruise!!

 

Medtech, thanks for the info. If we don't upgrade for sure I will be runnin to get those passes before they sell out!!

 

Thank you all for taking your time to answer my questions. So very helpful!!!

[nursebubba]

One other thought, I think you can sign up for spa things ahead of time like you do shore excursions.

[njhorseman]

One other thought, I think you can sign up for spa things ahead of time like you do shore excursions.

 

No, spa services or passes can't be booked in advance. You have to wait until you are on the ship (Sometimes there will be a place to sign up in the cruise terminal waiting room, but that's as far in advance as you can do it.).

[VonChap]

I usually purchase the Spa Pass for each cruise that includes one. Love it. I usually spend time in the thermal suite every day.

 

You do have to purchase one as you board the ship. So, to ensure that you have one, you may want to consider upgrading to the spa suite.--Although, the difference in price may make the pass more of an option. On some ships the pass runs about $20 a day.

 

We are sailing on the Breakaway TA and I plan to purchase the pass.

 

Like you, I cant wait to hear more about the Breakaway!

 

Kim