NYC Breakaway 9-15-2013 w/ pics

[Medtech2]

Wow, you certainly got around! I was impressed that you were able to see lower Manhattan, now you're on the roof of the Met! I've lived in Jersey all my life, been to Manhattan many times, I even work a day or two in the city during the week ... but I haven't done half of what you both accomplished!

___

 

The view from the Roof Garden at the Met--a must do!

 

Thanks! I do have a tendency to keep wandering...I guess it started when I was young and they first opened Disney World. My father insisted we could do everything in one day so we would not have to pay another admission!

[Medtech2]

wow! You packed a week of sightseeing into a couple of days. You need that cruise to get some rest! :)

Oh, I'm still waiting...This week back at work has been horrendous, hence the drawn out review. Must sleep in tomorrow!

[happy cruzin]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

VERY cool picture....wish I has thought to get one from that angle!!

[Red-Sol]

Many Kudos on your review so far! :) We really enjoyed the cruise at the same time and will love following the rest of it. Keep this up and gambee will have competiton ;)

[happy cruzin]

Many Kudos on your review so far! :) We really enjoyed the cruise at the same time and will love following the rest of it. Keep this up and gambee will have competiton ;)

 

 

True! ;) :D

[bluesea777]

I'll have to say you took some of the BEST photos of New York and the Breakaway - just the ones I love to see. Wish we went with you two. You both seem to have had fantastic time and making the best of things!

 

looking forward to the rest of your review, esp of Bermuda.

 

:);)

[ibcnusoon]

 

Not fixed yet, or am I wrong?

 

 

 

Nope! Manhattan still should be Jersey! :P

 

I gotta get my picture taken in front of this! :p

[AL25]

Great review so far! Can't wait to see more!

[ColinIllinois]

Great job on the review. Thanks for all the work. :D

[Aldeya]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gorgeous picture!

[Tyskie]

September 15 2013

 

We went by the Spa but decided not to get passes. It was nice but it did not seem as nice as the Epic to me, which had the aft balcony area attached and what seemed like a larger hydrotherapy pool. We're going in December and figure the weather won't be that great, thoughts of the spa for then???

 

We went to the Box Office to see if we could add the Cirque Dinner as I did not want to pre-book and then have to prepay. I wanted to use OBC. It is also a bonus that it is 25% off the first night, so $29.99. Glad to hear they still discount on the first night, our plan too!

 

I also talked to a very irate woman who was furious that her mother's walker would not fit through their cabin door. There were no handicapped rooms available so they had to leave the walker in the hall. Frankly, if you have limitations and/or equipment you really need to do your due diligence when booking. What's surprising is that the walker wasn't one that closed/folded - an easy fix would have been a loaner for the week. Working in the healthcare industry for 45+ years there are so many travel options...................hummmmmmm.

 

Thanks for you great review and pictures! It's quite an undertaking to post a detailed review and it's appreciated. :)

[Tyskie]

If you have a special occasion noted on your reservation you get one of these. It translates into a small cake and you can get it any night. We received a small white layer cake with fruit filling.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have never found a place on our reservation to note a special occasion. Yes, I could order a special occasion pkg. for a fee. I have gone the route of ordering a cake once on board..................would love to note it on the reservation.

[peg013]

I have never found a place on our reservation to note a special occasion. Yes, I could order a special occasion pkg. for a fee. I have gone the route of ordering a cake once on board..................would love to note it on the reservation.

 

Jane, Your TA or PCC just needs to note it on your reservation. You can also tell them in any dining room and they will bring a cake at the end of your meal AND sing to you even if it's not noted on your reservation. Mention your occasion during the meet and greet and you may even get a bottle of wine or drinks with your celebratory meal like we did on the Star.

[Medtech2]

Many Kudos on your review so far! :) We really enjoyed the cruise at the same time and will love following the rest of it. Keep this up and gambee will have competiton ;)

Awwww shucks! But no one can best the Gambee!

[Medtech2]

I'll have to say you took some of the BEST photos of New York and the Breakaway - just the ones I love to see. Wish we went with you two. You both seem to have had fantastic time and making the best of things!

 

looking forward to the rest of your review, esp of Bermuda.

 

:);)

Thanks! Will get to it tomorrow. Today was catch up with Mom day. :)

[Medtech2]

Thanks for you great review and pictures! It's quite an undertaking to post a detailed review and it's appreciated. :)

We're not lounge by the pool people and since we had a balcony with the bed by the door I would just lounge on the bed with the door open, since the heat/air cuts off when the door is open and the weather was nice. However, in December I would definitely consider a Spa Pass.

 

We actually have an inside booked for the Getaway and are definitely getting Spa Passes then.

 

As far as the walker I wondered the same thing about the folding. I did also notice a large scooter "parked" in the elevator area so I take it it was too large to go down the hall and the person was able enough to make it to their cabin...

 

The interior hallway design for the insides definitely cuts into hallway width on this ship, not the best idea but does give you more private and quieter halls as there were no doors across from our room.

[Medtech2]

After Cirque we went to Fat Cats. Slam Allen was on vacation and another group was playing. DH went up to help sing a song. While this group was good, I just was not as impressed as I was with Slam, but that’s just my preference.

 

 

DH plays string bass at home

 

 

The bowling alley is ten pin, using small balls and having the pins strung up, so that when you knock some down the machine just pulls them up by the strings and resets them

 

 

[Medtech2]

September 16 2013

 

Since this was an anniversary cruise I had booked the Fire & Ice Pedicure for DH in the Spa. I was disappointed to learn that it did not include actually clipping his toe nails, just buffing, as with his hip arthritis he has limited mobility to do that himself. Further, when he came back he had a VERY small container of some type of oil for $55! Talk about an upsell! It should not be allowed that children or husbands can be sold anything during a treatment. Needless to say, this DW marched it right back to the Spa for a refund. Not cool!

 

While he was gone I decided to make coffee in the room. Be careful. This particular unit turned on as soon as I plugged it in. The on switch is a small area at the front of the mug area which is easily jostled and hence put in the "on" mode. The heating coils were already heating quickly before I had even put in water so I unplugged it, let it cool, filled it with water, then turned it back on. Half & Half was provided in the room. The finished product was not that much better than the buffet so after this I just got my coffee there.

 

DH went to play trivia for the first of many times and came back having won a coozie. Turns out he played all week with Dolphins from our Roll Call, and I only figured that out after the cruise.

 

Our M & G was scheduled at 11am in Cagney’s. We went there at 10:30 to set up. I had planned a Poker Run during the Cabin Crawl, which was coordinated by NYCCRUISEGIRL. I had cards in each of 5 bags for people to draw from. We had 6 cabins so at the last cabin people showed their hands to determine the winners. I had asked while setting up the M & G if the ship could provide a prize and Raewyn and Merci (Breakaway Group Coordinators) came through with 5 Breakaway Inaugural Season Tote Bags with assorted goodies. Thank You! We had roughly 110 people who had said they would attend, and I believe almost that number showed up. It was hectic, at least for me, and I was unable to meet everyone or even say hello to the officers who came in.

 

The officers, including the Captain, lined up and were introduced by Dan the Man, our Cruise Director, but then they all left to attend to their duties. Dan did a Q & A for everyone who had questions. I had also asked that a ship photographer be there to take a group picture and this became a two-edged sword. On the one hand, the picture turned out phenomenal, but I had assumed that it would be taken in Cagney’s, and not disrupt our M & G. As it was, the photographer was on a time crunch and wanted to take it at the grand staircase. That abruptly ended the M & G, and in turn any chance at meeting everybody. The majority met at the staircase and patiently grouped and posed for a picture. The photo was available for purchase in the Photo Shop and was posted on the wall. There was no way to put one in everyone’s portfolio so hopefully people browsed the walls and saw it. Then we started the Cabin Crawl. We saw a Studio, Balcony, Balcony Mini-Suite, Large Balcony, Aft Facing Balcony, and an Aft Facing Suite. We did not see an inside or oceanview do to time constraints. It was great to see the various cabins and I believe people really enjoyed themselves. Congratulations to the winners of the Poker Run. I have no idea who ultimately won as my losing hand needed to get out of the way for others to see the last cabin. Also, I would like to take the time here to apologize to those I was not able to meet personally on our Roll Call.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 29, 2013 by Medtech2

[Medtech2]

 

 

 

After we met up with several people for lunch in Taste. The fellowship was great but the service was horribly slow. There were too few servers and our meals came out basically 1 or 2 at a time. We missed the margarita tasting that day because lunch took so long. I went back to the room to relax on the balcony while DH won another coozie at trivia. He then attended the Veterans Social which was listed in the Daily. While a venue was provided, the ship did not provide a drink or snack for anyone but he enjoyed talking with his fellows.

 

 

The Spring Rolls my absolute favorite

 

[Medtech2]

We dressed for dinner as I wanted the official photo with Captain Hakan this time. On the Epic we had bumped into him out and about and I had bumped into Captain Tommy on the Sun and gotten candid photos both times but on this ship I did not think I would bump into anyone as they were so busy. We went to the buffet for the lobster tails that are no longer served in the MDR. You were served 1 split tail. It was very tender and steamed with herbs but I believe was the cause of indigestion later in the evening. One thing I did not like at all was the fact that it was “Norwegian Night Out”, you’re all dressed up, but you have to go to the buffet for lobster, instead of having a waiter serve you. Seriously, if they are trying to spread people out it would still be accomplished having the lobster in both the buffet and MDR. It felt totally out of place for me to be in a long dress at the buffet.

 

After we went to see the Comedy Magician Michael Finney. We both enjoyed the show and he engaged what appeared to be the only child in the audience. Apparently there were only 150 children on this sailing as opposed to 1500 when school is out. I want to mention here that the Theatre itself is a disappointment. It was not decorated but basically drab and dark. I suppose that it makes the stage props stand out more but it was not a festive atmosphere. Also, the chairs were horrible. The seats were not supportive and there was a hard bar right where my bum should have been, if I was able to sit upright. In order to avoid this hard bar I had to slouch in the seat, not comfortable for longer than 10 minutes. There were cup holders on every arm rest and there was pretty ample legroom, however.

 

We changed clothes to try Karaoke in Bliss but there were too few chairs to sit and listen to people. This was another area with dark and dreary decorating. The song selection was digitized and not amenable for browsing. You needed to know what you wanted beforehand. The person running that was not helpful to DH so we left and went to Howl at the Moon. The music was very enjoyable but the constant mentioning of tips and $5 bills was NOT and a real turn off.

 

The Norwegian Night Out party was fun but when we arrived they were having you dance 15 minutes with no stopping for a chance to win a prize (a drink). We could only last 30 minutes as it was basically a Zumba Class. Fun but a bit much for arthritis sufferers. Even people with walkers were dancing, which was great as long as they did not go into the middle of the dance floor, for safety reasons. We were so parched we left to grab a beer at O’Sheehans and watch the end of a football game.

 

 

 

 

 

The night before the cabin next to us had left their balcony light on all night and we were trying to find our steward to see if he would show them how to turn it off as I suspected they could not find the switch. We asked another steward who told us our steward had just found out his mother died. We went to Guest Services to see if there was anything we could do for him and they gave me an envelope to put some money in and said they would alert him to pick it up. He was not able to leave that week to attend her funeral and we spoke with him several times. I wanted to just hug him but truthfully I did not want to make him cry. I have to say he always kept a smile on his face even while grieving. I can also tell you quite honestly that tipping extra at the beginning of your cruise is not going to get you extra service as some on these boards like to say. We were certainly not expecting anything and we received the same excellent service the rest of the week as we had the first day. We just wanted him to be able to send flowers or whatever back home. I also filled out a Style Card for him at the end of the week.

 

 

 

[Medtech2]

September 17 2013

 

We ate breakfast at the Uptown Grill. I had a Swiss cheese and ham puff pastry that was delicious, filling, huge, non-dietary, you name it, but good! We decided to try Bingo and bought the $49 package. Latitudes members also got a small card free with purchase but wearing a Norwegian Bingo T Shirt got you nada, even though I had been told on other ships that you did. I know people love Bingo but I think it is so expensive I did not play again. I would have just as much fun with smaller prices and prizes.

 

 

Lunch was at Uptown Grill again with a burger and a meat pie. Needless to say I did not go here again all week because it was sooooo good and not good for you! I missed the actual ice carving but did see the finished result. The Breakaway has a major flaw on deck in that there is no room in front of the stage to dance or really watch activities. DH had gone to soak in a hot tub and had not eaten so I kind of bullied him into entering the hotdog eating contest. It was very hard for Joey who was handling it to get anyone to sign up. Finally DH had some competition but he ultimately won. Of course, everyone was a winner and they all won a drink. DH picked a Daiquiri that I swear was 100% alcohol.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Medtech2]

We ended up putting his daiquiri in our fridge for later and went to a margarita tasting. You got 5 small margaritas for $15: regular, cherry. apple (yum), peach and frozen strawberry. I won a free drink for answering the following: What do you get if you throw a red stone into a blue ocean? A wet stone, of course.

 

We staggered back to our room to relax and noticed Bermuda in sight. This was the day that a woman had fallen 2 stories and needed to be taken to the hospital post haste. I do not know why a helicopter wasn’t used but we apparently boogied and a tug picked her up. I can tell you that the sea was like glass and even at such speed I never felt any motion on this ship.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Since we knew we would be attending the ABBA 70’s party later we wore tie-dye shirts that we wear to our local Single A Baseball Games (the Charleston Riverdogs, coincidentally a farm team for the NY Yankees) to see Rock of Ages. It takes up very little room so if you have a tie-dye shirt of any kind, bring it for this show and the party! Rock of Ages was very good. Ours was the first week with new performers and I thought they were great. I had watched the Tom Cruise movie on cable so I would know what to expect and I can tell you I hated the movie and loved this show. I know there is a lot of controversy about this show but I see no reason there can’t be an Adult show on the ship. Surely people should do their homework before attending ANY show with a child unless it is with Sponge Bob and, quite frankly, that starfish friend of his looks like a certain part to me, so I don’t understand the hysteria over this show. Perhaps the people at the door should just stop people with children from entering, period. A couple near us had a crying baby with them. Luckily they finally got a clue and left, because they were really disturbing those around them.

 

The party was fun but people were hesitant to dance. I have found at this party in particular the crew spend too much time doing little choreography skits which keeps people from dancing. Whether they mean to or not the routines establish a boundary psychologically that people are unwilling to cross. As I don’t seem to recognize boundaries I just started dancing and DH and I had a few “discussions” about him not joining me. He seemed to feel like everyone else about staying off to the side but later, after talking with a crew member about why people were not dancing, they both came to realize the psychology of the situation. To make it clear, yes, they are putting on routines to entertain but also to get people hyped up to dance so join in! As an aside, several of the young ladies kept breaking out in “Thriller” moves and I have to say here that it is the wrong decade...these people are just too young, lol.

 

 

[Medtech2]

 

[happy cruzin]

We ended up putting his daiquiri in our fridge for later and went to a margarita tasting. You got 5 small margaritas for $15: regular, cherry. apple (yum), peach and frozen strawberry. I won a free drink for answering the following: What do you get if you throw a red stone into a blue ocean? A wet stone, of course.

 

We staggered back to our room to relax and noticed Bermuda in sight. This was the day that a woman had fallen 2 stories and needed to be taken to the hospital post haste. I do not know why a helicopter wasn’t used but we apparently boogied and a tug picked her up. I can tell you that the sea was like glass and even at such speed I never felt any motion on this ship.

 

 

 

 

 

[....edited]

 

 

 

HEY....I recognize those margaritas!! But....by the time the stawberry one arrived the rest of ours were empty :eek: ;)

 

Thanks for listing the flavors - we were just telling some friends about them last night and couldn't remember them all. :o

 

Still think the peach was my favorite!!

[Medtech2]

September 18 2013

 

We finally docked in Bermuda. We ended up starboard side to the dock this time, facing an AIDA ship with huge lips on its front. We ate a quick breakfast in O'Sheehans, meeting up with a small group of fellow Cruise Critics for a private tour with Julie of Winsome Tours. It was 6 hours and covered the entire 22 miles of Bermuda in depth. There was much to see but no time to stop at a beach or really get pictures. While it was comfortable, the ceiling of the van was a bit too obstructing and the windows were not tall enough. Seated in the middle of a row I was able to lean each way to see sights but people on the ends had obstructed views of the opposite side. If anyone is going to tour with Julie in the future note that she goes through a crowded mid or lower class section of the island that has a beautiful view of all the multi-colored houses as she rounds over a hill top. Ask her beforehand if she can stop so you can get a picture. It was past before I knew it and I believe CC anyman in the front seat was the only one able to snap a picture. We stopped to do a tour of Crystal Cave and walked around historic St. George.