Mitsugirlys graduation getaway cruise

[perfect match]

Wow, Kim, you certainly have had a lot going on in your life! Congratulations to you on your graduation from nursing school. That is truly an accomplishment to be proud of.

 

As for this cruise, once again I have to say WOW! After hearing all that has happened so far, and knowing that there is more to come I am really glad you are as organized as you are. I am sure that kept things from being even worse. I also really appreciate the fact that you didn't let all the glitches keep you from having a good time. It's not everyome who can take life's lemons and turn them into a tasty lemomade, but that is exactly what it sounds like you did.

 

I am going to grab myself a BIG bag of popcorn - I really love popcorn - and settle myself in to enjoy the rest of your review. I am sure it will continue to be amazing.

Edited May 28, 2014 by perfect match

[NayRN]

Sigh, don't remind me. I have to get this review done so that I can get the rest of my house put together to start studying for the NCLEX. Aren't you the one that told me about the "nursing cruises" for classes during one review? :D

 

Not for NCLEX review.....for contact hours! I've been on two!! One to Alaska on the Star and another one to the Caribbean on the Pearl! I'm at work....once I get hime I'll send you the link!! Best thing EVER invented for continuing nursing education!!!!:cool:

 

The best things for NCLEX review are the Kaplan review course and by purchasing a couple different NCLEX review books....do 50-100 questions daily...along with a cocktail until the night before the exam. At that point, put all your books aside and chill...at the spa or a night alone at a hotel.

 

You CAN .... And WILL do this exam.....the first time!! :D

[ferfoodle]

Gasp, Gambee went on the Breeze? As in Carnival? Point me to that direciton. I will need to read that. That's one of the ships I have wanted to try. I love his reviews.

 

Yep, more stuff to come and yes, just as bad if not worse. ;)

 

 

 

Yep, the Carnival Breeze:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2042692

 

Now don't get too wrapped up in it...

[mjkacmom]

Lol about the salad. I was just commenting the other day, wondering who still eats iceburg lettuce (which I grew up on). Tomatoes and fresh mozzarella are a staple where I live, as is proscuitto. As common as tuna salad! I though it was a boring choice by NCL.

[mitsugirly]

 

I love your review with pictures. I can't wait for more!

 

And congratulations on your graduation! You're done with the hard part! The NCLEX wasn't that bad. I took it 20+ years ago and my daughter just took it in February. Seems to be about the same old questions!

 

Thanks. Everyone I have spoke to said that doing ATI was harder than the NCLEX, so I'm hoping that is true.

 

The same old questions? What are the questions then? :p :D

 

Wow, Kim, you certainly have had a lot going on in your life! Congratulations to you on your graduation from nursing school. That is truly an accomplishment to be proud of.

 

As for this cruise, once again I have to say WOW! After hearing all that has happened so far, and knowing that there is more to come I am really glad you are as organized as you are. I am sure that kept things from being even worse. I also really appreciate the fact that you didn't let all the glitches keep you from having a good time. It's not everyome who can take life's lemons and turn them into a tasty lemomade, but that is exactly what it sounds like you did.

 

I am going to grab myself a BIG bag of popcorn - I really love popcorn - and settle myself in to enjoy the rest of your review. I am sure it will continue to be amazing.

 

Thanks for the comments. I try not to let too many things get to me. If I did, I would be a complete mess by now after nursing school.

 

Funny how everyone is mentioning popcorn. My husband went to the grocery store last night on the way home and he walked in with a huge box of popcorn. :D I may have to have myself some tonight just to keep going. :p

[mitsugirly]

 

Not for NCLEX review.....for contact hours! I've been on two!! One to Alaska on the Star and another one to the Caribbean on the Pearl! I'm at work....once I get hime I'll send you the link!! Best thing EVER invented for continuing nursing education!!!!:cool:

 

The best things for NCLEX review are the Kaplan review course and by purchasing a couple different NCLEX review books....do 50-100 questions daily...along with a cocktail until the night before the exam. At that point, put all your books aside and chill...at the spa or a night alone at a hotel.

 

You CAN .... And WILL do this exam.....the first time!! :D

 

Yep, that's what I meant. For continuing education classes. It sounds awesome. I will definitely look into it.

 

I just organized all my nursing books after the move yesterday and wow, there's a lot to go back and review. YIKES! I had thought about getting the NCLEX review books along the way during school and just never had time to actually get one and I would have never even had time to study it. Maybe now's the time.

 

Yep, the Carnival Breeze:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2042692

 

Now don't get too wrapped up in it...

 

Actually I did find it last night and started reading. It's hard to stop once you start. :p

[AngAndBoys]

Thanks. Everyone I have spoke to said that doing ATI was harder than the NCLEX, so I'm hoping that is true.

 

The same old questions? What are the questions then? :p :D

 

 

As I recall....from 20 years ago, a lot of them had to do with prioritization. As in, if your patient is doing THIS, what would you do FIRST. I did very well with that by just remembering that priority is always ABC, Airway, Breathing, Circulation.

 

It was pretty hard, but not THAT bad. I had a freaking pencil tapper sitting behind me while I took it! TAPTAPTAPTAPTAP! Haha! Good times! The other thing I remember is quite a few questions on DM. THat's all I can remember.

 

Agree with other advice to just answer those practice questions over and over and look at the rationale for the ones you get wrong so you understand the underlying reasons for the right answer and what is wrong with the wrong answer.

 

Good luck!!

Edited May 28, 2014 by AngAndBoys

[mitsugirly]

I'm going to finish up my 1st day now with more details of the missing luggage and our now non-working cards. :(

 

So once again, the lady at customer service had shown us "all" the luggage they had left over and none of them were the hubby's. She pulled out a form once we got back around to the desk and we started filling it out with a description, the color and circling the "type" of luggage it was from all the pictures on the paper. She ask if there was anything "distinct" about the luggage and I had to laugh and told her "well, it no longer has a front pocket." :p She had a funny look on her face and ask more about it. I explained that it arrived at the airport that way and the story. She said "I just came on board today and as I was checking in, I seen that luggage!!!! Who could miss it and I thought it was odd that there wasn't a front pocket."

 

So now we had hope. She said "Hold on, I'll be right back" and left. Now she had just told us that there wasn't any more luggage anywhere, but now all of a sudden there was?

 

Yep, here she came with the hubby's luggage. There wasn't a room tag on it anymore, so she said that they didn't know where to deliver it.

 

Sorry hubby, no new wardrobe for you after all. :p

 

 

 

 

Now on to the cards not working in the other room. When she checked things out, she said there was a problem because we used 2 different cards for the 2 rooms, but the same card number. (Since the daughter is an AU on my NCL cc, it has the same exact cc number listed on the card, but just has her name on hers...unlike Amex that will give all AU cardholders their own cc #)

 

She explained that I would need to put everyone's charges on 1 account and everything would be fine. I told her just charge it all to my account/room as long as when everyone swiped their card, it would show who used their card with names. She assured me that it would.

 

She fixed the account and said "Everyone's cards are active again" and away we went.

 

 

So this ends Day 1-Embarkation Day

[mitsugirly]

Now I'm going to take the time to show you around the ship with what pictures I did get of it. Like I said, this was not my "normal" cruise experience. I forgot a lot of things and didn't take as many pictures as I normally do. I forgot to wonder into certain areas for pictures and sometimes I would be somewhere and tell myself that I needed to come back there to get pictures when it's less crowded...then never returned. Loser status I tell ya.

 

Also, there will be more pictures of around the ship during the review (but since they have us doing activities in them, I figured I would just save them for the daily review itself).

 

Some where walking shot and may not be that clear. It was one of those things that you couldn't remember if you had a picture of that so "snap" as you walked by=blurry and not so good.

 

I think one of the main problems with this cruise was that we had a port day on the last day of the cruise. I'm not use to this. Usually the last day of the cruise is a sea day for us and that's the day I usually wonder around taking pictures. I will start on the lowest deck and walk from end to end getting pictures of everything. Since we were in Nassau, and the times we were there were until 7pm!!! that pretty much messed up my normal picture taking plans for the day.

 

Amazing how an itinerary change can mess up your entire photography skills for reviews.

 

 

So here we are...the beautiful Norwegian Getaway. The newest ship of the NCL fleet in all her glory.

 

 

 

Build in Meyer Werft Germany and entered service in January 2014.

 

She is 146,600 gross tons and 1062 feet long.

Capacity says 4,028 at double occupancy...HOWEVER, we were told that there were 4,400 on board this cruise. YIKES. I'm wondering if this was because, like us, a lot of people booked the 3rd person and up for free and had multiple people in their room this time around?

 

 

 

Here's a few odds & ends.

 

You will find these touch screens all over the ship (usually close to the elevators or around the corner from them). You can look up any information on them and also book dining from them. They came in handy a few times.

 

 

 

When they are not being used, they have a ripple water look like a computer drawing you in to touch it. (Kinda like Windows with the bubbles screen saver...you just gotta wiggle the mouse every time you walk by just because)

 

 

 

This was a really beautiful "picture" that was 3D of butterflies.

 

 

 

All the elevators had this pretty and bright color at the back of them.

 

 

[mitsugirly]

We will start on Deck 6.

 

Here's the Art Gallery area.

 

 

 

 

The Atrium Cafe. Here you can gets drinks, specialty coffee and they have a display of items from Carlos Bake Shop that you can purchase here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is Headliners Comedy Club for the stand-up comedy shows (Levity Entertainment Group). It is also used for the dueling pianos for Howl at the Moon.

 

 

 

 

Of course the Illusionarium is located on this deck (which I have already showed you around there since we did this on the first night)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now for the centerpiece of the ship. It probably holds a record for the most pictures ever taken of item on the ship. The beautiful chandelier that hangs in the middle of deck 6, 7, & 8 at 678 Ocean Place (haha, I just figured out why they named this 678 Ocean Place)...I'm a little slow this cruise. It changes colors during the day and evening and you know everyone on the ship will stop to take a picture a few times a day. It's just that beautiful. I will be no different and take tons of pictures as it changes colors and now I will share them with you.

 

 

[mitsugirly]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mg33626]

I've read many of your posts, mostly those about ports of call versus ships or actual cruise reviews. I'm curious why I you don't appear to cruise Southern Caribbean or much on the Eastern side? My first several cruises were Western, but I really love islands like Barbados, St Kitts, and St Lucia much more. Of course, those require longer cruises or starting in San Juan.

 

Just curious?

[mitsugirly]

 

 

 

Just a side note...the pictures like above are so vibrant in color because they were shot during the evening and without the flash I believe. It really made the colors pop. However, I'm still unsure if I like them that bright. The pictures I took during the day or with the flash looked much more natural, but yet somewhat dull.

 

 

Here we have Le Bistro. I remember seeing pictures of this area, which is located still on Deck 6 and in the chandelier atrium and was thinking to myself that this looked a little like what RCL did with the inner portion of the Oasis/Allure. I absolutely loved the way it looked there. However, once onboard, I guess I didn't realize it was sort of a focus point to the restaurant with inside or "outside" atrium dining and was a little disappointed that this area really had no place to sit and "hang out" in.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here we have the library, which is located right off the other main atrium and down the hall:

 

 

 

 

 

The hallway where you find the library and the game room

 

 

[mitsugirly]

I thought this was interesting...in the "Library" hall, they had this picture...THE SEAWARD. This was the very first cruise that I ever took back in 1989.

 

 

 

 

Here you will find 1 of the 3 main dining rooms. This is the largest of the 3 and is located at the end of the ship. It has a two deck high central area that includes a dance floor. I tried to go in here several times (not only to eat, but to take pictures) and it was closed each time. They had the blinds drawn and once people were in there either practicing for a show or doing a class. So I never did get to take a picture of it with the blinds open.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

Taste is one of the other MDR's located on Deck 6 and to the side.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We never did get to eat in any of the MDR's. Our timing was just off this cruise. Every time we showed up, they were not open. :(

[mitsugirly]

Savor is the other MDR that is located right across the hall and is basically decorated the same, but in different colors.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Susie51]

Thank you for posting so many pics of the chandelier. It's so nice to hear the end of the luggage story and the bag arrived.

[mitsugirly]

Moving up to Deck 7 we have the theater. As you enter on one side, you have the Box Office. At this place, you can get information to the shows they have in the theater (Burn the Floor and Legally Blonde) and also book the shows. This is one thing that I DIDN'T research and had no clue that you had to reserve a seat to see the show. Needless to say, we didn't get to see many shows due to this. I have to say, this didn't work out too well for us and we are use to just going to the theater every night for a different show. No bookings needed and no "sold out" free shows. I did not like this style at all. I thought it should be like any other show on previous cruises...you show up, find a seat, watch the show. Sigh

 

I really didn't get the point of going to the Box Office to reserve a seat either. It could be done from your iConceirge phone, from the touch screens in the hallways around the ship or using your TV in the cabin.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A few really crappy blurry pictures of me walking in the casino. Another one of those "I forgot to go back and take pictures of this area" moment. I really thought (and expected) the casino to be something like that on the Epic...2 stories tall, but it wasn't. I kept thinking "Where's the rest of it?" The casino was completely different than what we are used to on any of te other cruise ships. They didn't have ANY of the popular games that the other ships had like Gold Fish, Penguins, my favorite: Cave King and so on. It was really weird to not see any of those on board. Everything was different than what I usually play and love. It took me awhile to really find anything that "interest" me with the slots. It seem like they had a lot of the really high colored, seizure making, slots on this ship (which I admit I do like), but I still missed my Gold Fish and Cave King.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The casino was really spread out too. You would find slots in different areas and even along the walkways leading from one area to the atrium. I always felt like I was missing something.

[mitsugirly]

Here is the Bliss Lounge. On the Epic, this was one of our favorite spots. But this place seemed really small. If you want to provoke a seizure, this is the place to go and get started. The lights were so bright. However, every time we went in here, the place just wasn't hopping. Even when we went to the Glow Party out on the deck, at 11:30pm, the dailies said that they would move it into the Bliss to continue the party. We went in there around midnight and there wasn't anyone on the dance floor and very little people in there. We absolutely loved the Epic's Bliss area. They had a stage you could dance on and even an area on the side of the stage that was a mini-stage with bars (which I hear it has been removed now), but it was a lot of fun. To me, this area was just disappointing and very very small.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you turn to the right as you walk in to Bliss, there's an area (that I have no idea what it is supposed to be for) with chairs to sit in. It's part of Bliss, but yet feels detached from the club itself. They had some black see-through curtains around it. It was just weird.

 

 

 

[graphicguy]

mitsugirly....great shots. Glad that the luggage travails were finally behind you.

 

Man, do I like the decor and ambiance of NCL's newer ships.

[mitsugirly]

If you are in the main Atrium and around O'Sheehans, if you go over to the side and around the corner you will find their pin bowling. They have 2 lanes. We always seen people using it and it seemed like fun (yes we tried it out and will be in the review later).

 

 

 

Across from that you will find games such as basketball, skeetball, and air hockey.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Moving along down the side and toward O'Sheehans are dart boards and a pool table.

 

 

 

 

 

 

O'Sheehans...another place that I also forgot to take pictures of other than once when we were sitting down eating. I looked to the right to snap a picture and to the left for another. Loser status again.

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

Of course here's the other main Atrium...with the 2 story tall tv center piece. They did use this area a lot (Deck 6) for trivia, games, entertainment, Nick character meets and so on. It seem to be utilized a lot.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wasabi (it's really weird that I hardly ever seen anyone here)

 

 

 

 

 

Raw Bar

 

 

 

 

 

This will conclude Deck 7 and the pictures I did manage to get. I'm sure I'm probably missing a lot of things. :(

[mitsugirly]

I've read many of your posts, mostly those about ports of call versus ships or actual cruise reviews. I'm curious why I you don't appear to cruise Southern Caribbean or much on the Eastern side? My first several cruises were Western, but I really love islands like Barbados, St Kitts, and St Lucia much more. Of course, those require longer cruises or starting in San Juan.

 

Just curious?

 

I would absolutely LOVE to do a Southern Caribbean cruise. It's definitely on my to-do list. However, being in school for the last 4 years, it only gave me a certain time to cruise and only for so long. Most of the time we were out between semesters for only a week. The only time we had an extended time out was during Christmas/New Years Eve break before returning. We have been cruising the week before Christmas, but I wouldn't want to be gone for Christmas or New Years because of the kids.

 

So, this pretty much did not allow me to do a Southern cruise since they involve 9-10 days. :( Now that I'm out of school. I will definitely consider it.

 

Also, being a nursing student (or a student in general) I had to pick the cheapest cruises I could find in order to cruise at all. So, I quickly found that the Western cruise is always the cheapest and therefore that's what we cruised the most.

 

We had only done the Eastern once (and loved it) and with every Western cruise we booked, all I could say is "I miss the Eastern and next cruise we book will be Eastern"...but it never happened until now. Now that I have been back to the Eastern, I have to admit, I think I like the Western better for some reason. It just feels like there's more to do on the Western and more of a variety of things to do.

 

We have our Western Caribbean cruise scheduled for this November and then after that, I plan on either doing Bermuda or Southern. I need something different. It's just the deals we get on the Western just can't be beat. I would rather go on 2 cheaper western cruises a year than only 1 more expensive eastern or southern cruise. :(

 

Thank you for posting so many pics of the chandelier. It's so nice to hear the end of the luggage story and the bag arrived.

 

You are welcome. :) I figured everyone would get tired of seeing so many.

[mitsugirly]

mitsugirly....great shots. Glad that the luggage travails were finally behind you.

 

Man, do I like the decor and ambiance of NCL's newer ships.

 

Thanks. I really like the decor too. Everything is neutral but yet elegant looking. I know when I go back on the older ships I'll be like "Wow, they had an imagination when they put this carpet in" :D Then again, times change and 10 years from now we may look back and say "Why was 2014 so bland in color?" LOL

 

Either way, I'm liking the new decor for now. :)

Edited May 28, 2014 by mitsugirly