!!! BREAKAWAY !!! To Bermuda ^_^ Our Ultimate Review and Complete Pictorial Guide!

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

In "variety of food options" I'm thinking it would... though I could go for a Park Cafe roast beef sandwich right about now! :D

 

Pertaining to those in suites: Being familiar with the butler service on NCL (which RCI does not provide) I'd say that stateroom service would be superior. Having the dedicated (fee included) restaurant in the Haven... hard to beat that.

 

Tom

 

Probably better stated as "included in cruise fare".

 

Tom

[jenny105]

Gambee wow! I felt like I was cruising with you. Everything is so detailed and you took some fantastic pictures & video. I've been to Bermuda twice and am now dying to go back thanks to your review! I can't wait to see the ship for myself but I still have 4 1/2 months to go. Special thanks for the room tour. We are booked in a deck 12 aft cabin so it was nice to see exactly what we are getting and that nice big balcony! With loungers! ;) Wonderful review.

[gambee]

Gambee thanks again for this great review and wonderful pictures. I think your scoring and comparison was very fair. Somehow I felt you would still give the edge to Allure But obviously there was not a big difference between all three in scoring.

 

I won't be able to compare Oasis(Or Allure which is coming up in just over 5 months), Silhouette, and Breakaway till I sail on Breakaway. I dare say your review got me interested in trying it out again :)

 

Thank you for all the posts you did on this review!

 

Who knows maybe I will see a live review from you soon on the Breakaway.

[gambee]

It's crickets over here... lol.

 

This was really fun to follow and I am sure everyone appreciates all the work you put in to complete it. Bravo! Now go to sleep young man!!!!! lol ;) :D :cool:

 

Thank you :)

[gambee]

Congrats, G-man. You clearly are proud of this, and that makes me happy, because you should be. This guide will be invaluable to many. Thanks, one last time, for doing it.

 

Thank you for being a part of this :)

[gambee]

Thanks Gambee for the wonderful review of the Getaway. It was just awesome in all ways: review, pictures, video, etc. I didn't even feel that bad about my cancelled cruise. I went to Bermuda anyway. Just virtually with you. Couldn't ask for more.

 

I also want to thank your Mom for raising such a great son. She deserves a lot of praise. I am sure she is very proud of you, as well she should be.

 

Thanks for taking the time to do this review. It is so greatly appreciated by all of us here at CC. I know it takes a lot of work and hopefully now you can sit back, relax and get some needed rest.

 

Take care and I guess we will be hearing from you in August. Can't wait........

 

Gwen :)

 

 

Thank you very much Gwen, I really hope that the other cruises that you have planned for this year go without a problem.

 

It was really nice having you present throughout my review :)

[gambee]

Thanks Gambee for another awesome review. I can't get enough of your photography. Simply fantastic :D

 

Thank you :)

 

Hey Gambee

I was on the cruise with you with one of the small balconies and I really enjoyed being able to open the door and enjoy the breeze. The cost difference was much smaller when compared to Holland America. Your review was great. Cagney's was awesome, Ocean Blue was ok, I enjoyed the osco busco at la cuccina and le bistro was ok. I really enjoyed slam alan at fat cats, no wait at mdr at 6 a couple of nights wed and thurs.

 

Glad you had a good cruise as well, I can't wait to get Getaway here in Miami to try it out. It seems like you did not enjoy Blue so much, I think most people I heard from said it was fantastic.

[gambee]

Well Mr. Gambee another great review. I want to thank you for taking the time out of your cruise and your normal life to share your experiences with all of us. I understand it is a hobby of yours but sometimes hobbies can become work. The level of detail you provide tells me you must be spending a lot of time away from family and friends to keep us entertained -- Thanks!

 

I am still not sure about NCL as a cruise vacation but you have opened my eyes toward Bermuda and I am interested in the 3 night stay over there. Seems like the best of both worlds.

 

You have mentioned the Quantum? Will that do summer runs from NYC?

 

Looking forward to your next adventure.

 

Bill

 

Thank you Bill, you should totally consider Bermuda! You only travel RCCL right? who knows you might even enjoy NCL, maybe worth giving a try?

[gambee]

What can I say, Gambee, except . . . BRAVO!!!!!!

 

Loved the review, photos, ALL of your videos (a complete talking "walkabout" just about blew me away), and of course, all of the sacrifices you and your Mom made with all of that food, just to be able to show it to us!

 

Hope you enjoy a well-earned rest. We'll "see" you gain in August (can't wait"). Wish you could join me and the sister on the Freedom OTS in December.

 

Thank you :D. I might have to consider doing the walking tours more often, they are not as easy to do as one would think. But they came out really nice, and I am very proud of them.

 

Have a great Freedom cruise :)

[gambee]

Thank you for the great review! The details are amazing!

 

One thing...I couldn't put my finger what was not right with some of the crew members attitude.

And then I read in your review...

 

"The overall feel of the ship was not the same as the Allure where the crew just felt proud of their vessel. There was a feeling of disconnection of the staff with the ship. "

That's it! Thank you for finally putting into the words what I was feeling about the crew after my May 26 cruise.

 

At the Latitudes party we spoke with one of the officers who said they didn't have "new hires" on the ship, only experienced crew was called.

 

Well, some of them did have an Attitude. I'm very easy to please but sometimes I felt like the crew members were annoyed when they were asked a question.

 

Hopefully the things will improve. Again thank you for an OUTSTANDING review!

 

Actually my mom put those words in my mouth, lol. She nailed it right on, NCL could seriously work on this and improve upon.

 

Glad you enjoyed the review :)

[gambee]

I had a VERY stong feeling that in the end the Allure will be the winner. IMO, the overall experience are those ships is just SO unique that nothing, I mean nothing can match it. Yes, I am a big fan!;)

 

Well Gambee its great to know that besides Carnival the next two ships on your list are exactly the same as mine. Royal Princess interior photos are starting to come in.....she looks STUNNING! It would be great to meet you one day and thank you in person for all the help you provide in your reviews!

 

I'm even more excited about the Breakway after watching those videos. Another fantastic review.....it is much appreciated.

 

You never know, one ship might match it one day. I think overall NCL had a good chance at matching it, but unfortunately for them they fell behind in a few crucial aspects. Quantum, could maybe?

 

I am excited about Royal Princes, but at same time a little scared that the ship might be too slow for my pace. I will have to wait for the reviews to start pouring in.

 

Thank you for following my review, it is truly appreciated.

[gambee]

Hello!

 

Just wanted to say I'm loving your review and your past reviews! Keep up the good work!

 

Please don't dismiss the RSVP cruises on prices alone, they are worth every penny! The RSVP product is night and day different from a regular non charter cruise. I made an attempt of a day by day pictorial of this past February's RSVP which was on the Eurodam, the frequent posters on the HAL boards wanted to know what was different the week RSVP takes over compared to every other week.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1794253

 

I will look into them, but unfortunately for now $$$ is a big deal for me, and I have to carefully look how I spend my money. I really don't see any all gay charters in my near future, but then again you just never know.

 

Thank you for the link, I will stop by and check it out.

[gambee]

You need to look at Ernie's photos from the Disney Dream, he did a great job with those. It will make you want to pick that ship for your next cruise!

 

 

Thank you for sharing the link, I will bookmark it and look at it in a little while.

[gambee]

Really great review, as usual. We all appreciate the time and effort. One of the first things I do when I check my computer in the morning and you are in the middle of a review is look for updates. I'm sorry it is ending!

 

Thank you for following along :)

 

Gambee, forgive me if I missed it somewhere along the way, or if this has been asked and answered previously....but where did you come up with the moniker "gambee," and what does it mean? Thanks....

 

The explanation is in the first post of the Allure review :)

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1737751

[gambee]

Hi Gambee, loved your review of the Breakaway! I'm taking my daughter on it in September as a present for graduating from college. How much is the cab fare from the ship to the airport and how long did it take to get there on a Sunday morning? Did you do the walk off?

 

 

Send from device_name using Cruise Critic your_app_name App

 

Yes we did the walk off, it was so easy. The cab was actually pretty cheap from port 88 to LGA it was $28, there was no traffic whatsoever. The other way around it was horrible $56, traffic was insane!

[gambee]

Thank you so much Gambee for a such a in-depth review filled with gorgeous pictures. My husband & I have been reading, enjoying and considering everything you posted. We are so grateful for all of your input and tips. We will definitely be using some of your suggestions when we board the Breakaway in ONE WEEK! (so happy you finished the review with time to spare ;))

Thanks again for an outstanding review!

Monica :):)

 

You're very welcome Monica, have a great cruise! :)

[gambee]

Well I guess that is about it.

 

Disembarkation was very fast, nothing like the Silli terminal. We must of gone through it as fast as we could walk. After that we crossed the street and took a taxi to LGA. We had a really cool cab driver, very nice guy, we had a fun talking.

 

Our flight was not until later, so I purchased the 24/hr pass for internet and started posting the review.

 

Our flight home was uneventful.

 

 

I will post the conclusion later on.

 

[/b][/color]

 

Gambee,

I have been reading your review from the beginning but have not posted until now. As others have said, this has been a very well done, thorough review. Your pictures have been great.

I have not been able to watch the videos on CC but have been able to see them on Facebook. Thanks for that as a backup.

I am glad you enjoyed Bermuda. As you can see in my signature, I (we) love Bermuda too.

Looking forward to your posting of the conclusion.

Thank you again.

 

Dick

 

Thank you very much for following along, I am very glad you enjoyed the review.

 

Just a side note, the conclusion is a few pages back :)

[gambee]

What else is there to say' date=' great job Gambee! After reading your review, I have nothing else to do for our cruise except pack :)[/quote']

 

Thank you :o

 

 

Gambee-Thank you so much for your amazing review and your time in putting it together! The pictures of the ship and Bermuda were amazing!

 

Happy cruising!

Coffeecat

 

 

You're welcome and Thank you :)

[gambee]

Thank you so very, very much Gambee!! You've absolutely convinced me to give Bermuda a try.

 

I am so sorry you had such issues with customer service. It's not the NCL norm but they do have work to do in this area. I wonder if it's the bigger ships? We had a similar issue on Epic but not others. Disappointing at any rate.

 

You're very welcome.

 

Not sure, I heard in the past people complain about the customer service with NCL. But on our sailing on the Sky, it was much different, we had no issues.

[gambee]

Like so many others, I have followed since the beginning. I actually feel like crying that your review is over! I couldn't wait to get home and read your review. I do have my own Breakaway cruise to look forward to on July 7, but will miss your words.

 

As a famous quote from a movie about a cruise ship "You have a gift, you do!" You should really think about doing this for a living. Not many people can write the way the speak, and make people feel like they are along for the ride!!!!

 

I hope you will have a great cruise!

 

thank you for following along :)

 

Thank you so much for such an awesome review. I can not believe you were walking around in rain and wind from hell, to do a video tape review for us. That was above and beyond. :)

 

Thanks to you and Mom . :). You took time out from your vacation to help CC members. Thanks just isn't enough :). Lol. Can't wait for your next review. If I wasn't already booked on the Breakaway, after your review I would have booked. :).

 

 

You're very welcome.

[gambee]

Gambee ... I love sailing & the catamarans we've done in the Caribbean. Glad you had a good time ... it sure looked like a great cat! I've wanted to go to Bermuda but DH wasn't sure ... your pictures are certainly helping me convince him .. THANK YOU!

We are going on the Sili in March ... followed your review of that cruise too since it will be the same itinerary for us. Just hope we have better weather than you had ... it's our first western carib cruise.

I'm also watching the Quantum .... I was interested in the SoCarib ... my favorite places & leaving from NJ means just a 3+ hour ride to the port vs a flight.

 

I am sure you will have some nice weather on the Silli, our case was just the worst of the worst.

 

As far as Quantum, I think I will wait until they announce the summer Itti.

 

Thank you for following along on both review.

[gambee]

Thank you for that! The DISNEY DREAM is truly a dream, and it's hard to top Disney Cruise Line for a large-ship cruise line. They are expensive, but worth every penny. The quality and attention to detail are second to none.

 

Ernie

 

I might be able to try Disney with my Florida Discount, I am thinking maybe winter 2014.

[gambee]

Amazing review, thank you!!

 

Interesting to note that if you'd reviewed your own cabin and had the service that NCL is known for, it would have beaten Allure.

 

I don't think I'm heading back to RCi anytime soon, but knowing how much you loved Allure, that says a lot for Breakaway.

 

Thanks again!

 

Not really, I still believe that the Allure holds out ahead of Breakaway. While the Breakaway is fantastic, it just does not hold the tittle that the Allure has.

[gambee]

Gambee, Thank you for a fabulous review. Your pictures of Bermuda were

beautiful. Seeing them brought back many memories of our visits there.

139 days until we board, we can't wait. It has been a pleasure following

your review.

Elaine

 

 

You're very welcome, I hope you have a great cruise!

[gambee]

Very informative and fun review, it was great to travel along with you. I like your format, taking day by day and summing up at the end.

I must say that I felt bad for Gambees' Mom, being sick on that last day. Yikes! you certainly tempted fate, eating a seafood pie on a rocky sea day.

I am looking forward to your next adventure.

 

I felt really bad for her as well, but at least she recovered towards the end of the day.

 

 

Thank you for following along :)