5/17 Breakaway Bremuda crise

[figment9999]

I’m finally getting around to sharing some thoughts from the Breakaway cruise 5/17 to Bermuda; much has been already posted in other strings so I’ll try to stay away from items discussed elsewhere, hope they’re useful.

 

. Entering your cabin for the first time – the door opens outward and you must insert your sail away card into the reader mounted inside your cabin, and leave it there, to turn on the lights. Take out the card and the lights go off. This feature takes some getting used to and leads to many “where’s my card” moments over the next week; program yourself to laugh when they occur.

. The fish on the hall carpets swim towards the bow.

. The ropes course is a hoot; I’m 67 so you can do it and walk the plank. There is an automated camera set up with the plank, check out the photo gallery before you do the course so you can see how not to look when it snaps your pix. Same story with the zip line pictures, if you do your homework you’ll be happy with the results.

. The waterslide area is impressive, the slides with a trap door on them, resulting in an immediate vertical drop, are really fun. Note; no rings, watched, glasses, etc.; better to know this before you stand on line.

. The Ice Bar, a must do, lots of laughs with folks you never met before.

. The Rock of Ages show is a really good. I was unable to pre-book on-line (they limit tickets); so I went to the box office to get seats. At first they said seats were not available for the show I wanted but after some conversation I got the show I wanted. Moral of the story – a bit of persistence is worth it.

. We loved the Burn the floor show; don’t miss it.

. I booked the behind-the scenes tour (at the excursion desk). Two hours ($79/pp); well worth it to see many departments (the stage, galley, bridge, laundry, etc.) and meet with their heads.

 

Julie, the cruise director, did a fabulous job of managing all the events & shows. The ship had a lot of energy all week and it was a result of Julie & her staff’s hard work.

 

Bermuda is a pretty island, do some homework before-hand you go you’ll enjoy it more.

 

First day

We purchased tickets for the shuttle to Horseshoe Bay ($16/pp/rt); it takes you right to the beach. This is relatively new option, which worked really well. The only issue was finding the bus stop. It took us talking w about 6 information helpers to find out that the stop was on the pier, on the center causeway. When we were done for the day the shuttle was right there to bring is back to the ship.

 

We did the NCL Sunset Swizzle Catamaran Cruise; a nice way to end the day. A great crew & lots of rum swizzles.

 

Second day

Took a ferry to George. We had booked a one hour carriage tour ourselves with Bronco Stables and Crystal met us at the ferry terminal. She gave us a great tour around town & out to Gates Fort; we highly recommend the tour. After that lunch at the White Horse Tavern, some shopping, and the 5:30 ferry back to the Dockyard. We had dinner at the Frog & Onion Pub, good food, great beer (I recommend their Amber Ale).

 

Around the corner is an Arts Center, local artist’s works, very well done and reasonable prices. We indulged in a two hour sail on the Spirit of Bermuda from the Dockyard and really enjoyed it.

 

Third day

The morning was spent shopping in the dockyard. One place not to be missed is the Arts Center where local artists display their paintings, jewelry, etc. This is a great place to find a “special” souvenir.

 

We capped off Bermuda with a two hour boat tour off the dockyard thru NCL, their "Famous Homes & Hideaways tour. Excellent tour, well worth the time to get the running narrative of the homes around the bays. Mark & Jamie did a great job of explaining details around the homes and their owners. One benefit here too is that with a 5PM sailing there’s always a worry of getting back to the ship on-time. This two hour tour leaves the dock at 2PM, and since it’s an NCL tour it’d be highly unlikely that the ship would sail without 100 passengers. We were back at 4:30; just in time to sail away.

 

Also – If possible make some time to visit the Bermuda Museum in the Dockyard, great place to see history.

 

A great cruise; seven days on the Breakaway is just not enough time to see/do everything; NCL did a fabulous job.

[Mrs. H.]

Loved your review, flgment!! :) Big Thanks!!! :D

[meatball_nyc]

Nice review. Thanks for taking the time to share!

You are a much braver person than myself to try the drop slides!! My son loved them too and tried to persuade me to do them, but there was noooo way!!

Glad you had a great cruise!

 

~Robin

[cruisin0504]

Great info - thanks for sharing it!

[cruzkitty]

Thanks for posting your Informative Review! Sailing to BA to Bermuda next year for first time.

[hansolosmom]

thanks for sharing

[scgssny]

Great quick review, thanks for the info. Glad you had a great cruise.

[mraven]

Glab to hear the house beers at the Frog and Onion has improved since our visit in 2009. Everything was horribly infected on our visit.

[marshalls1963]

Thank you for your review. Where did you purchase the tickets for the shuttle to the beach? Onboard?

[JC168]

Thanks for your detail review. I will be sailing with Breakaway this Sunday and noticed you also have a hard time pre-book the Rock of Ages.I do understand that they run several shows thru out the cruise. Since we are quite flexible, would it be easier to book on board any available show. Also did you try to book the show right when you onboard or the night before the show？In addition, did you watch any comedy show (Second City）. Do they require reservation or charge a fee?

[figment9999]

I like to get those things out of the way the first day so that's what I did; especially since I wanted ROA on the next night. Sorry, didn't see the comedy show, although we heard it was good.

Edited June 11, 2015 by figment9999