Stacey's Girl Getaway on the Breakaway- BA to BDA 10/4-10/11

[worktocruise610]

I can't wait to hear how L made out, I hope she got better & had a great time! :confused:

[hansolosmom]

Omgosh your poor friend. We were in stormy seas once and people were sick left and right. I got the pills from the front desk and was ok (thankfully)

 

The martini flights looked great, too bad they weren't that good. I love getting those, although my favorite was a daiquiri flight on Celebrity.

[SoCalGuy1904]

I'm on pins and needles hoping L had better days!!!!

 

Also, so what is the purpose of the TV if they're just showing NCL channel. Boring. I'm just curious. So they don't show anything else other than this?

[MJSailors]

Stacey - I hope you and your friends had an enjoyable vacation after the rough start you have described.

My DH and I sailed on the Breakaway in a mini suite this past September.

I am just curious.

Where did you find the room to store clothes,toiletries and luggage for four women?

I am looking forward to reading more of your review.

PS I agree about the tv - really no selection to watch.

 

 

 

.

[jimbri]

Enjoying your review!

[scgssny]

Great review so far, enjoying the stories. Sorry for the lousy weather.

 

Thanks,

Sean

[Mikkar]

I'm really enjoying your review. We were on the same cruise but, luckily, we have pretty good sea legs and didn't have any problem with being sick, but the seas were extremely rough. It was impossible to walk a straight line, with or without alcohol involved. LOL I'm so sorry that you and your friends weren't so lucky.

[borntoshop29]

Can you tell me if the Dallies would be the same for our sailing on 10/25/15? I believe we are the first NY-Bahamas sailing. I am a big planner and would love to know if those would apply to our sailing.

 

Thank you!!

[sunbird21]

Hi everyone, planning to post a three summary later today once I am done with work for the week yay!

 

I do not know if the dailies will be the same for the New York to Bahamas cruise, I'm sure some of the activities Will be the same. I would imagine the days would change as the sea days are probably not the same on both itineraries.

 

Re: storage space, I do believe there probably was enough storage to hold most of our stuff. However, two of my friends pretty much live out of their suitcases so that left a lot of empty shelves. There were about six shelves alongside the closet and two drawers underneath the couch that could've held a lot. There were also two cupboards next to the mini fridge that had three shelves each, and two nightstands with two shelves but they were pretty narrow. In the bathroom, there were two cupboards with a couple shelves in there and one long shelf over the double sink. needless to say, the room got very messy very quickly, which I kind of learned to just deal with it for that week. this may have been a reason that our Steward came to hate us, which I will detail in coming segments.

 

Thanks again for all the comments/compliments on this review, it's good to know that people are reading!

 

Stacey

 

 

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[Chesneygirl]

I feel like I'm reading a great novel and can't wait for the next chapter! You are very talented.

 

 

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[Willowmina]

Looking forward to reading the rest of your review/story!

[sunbird21]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[sunbird21]

Day 3

 

 

 

Once again, I was up early, despite a brief wake up from the night owls C and V. They had attended the late night Second City show, and were raving about how funny it was. I was a bit disappointed that I had missed it, but knew that it would be on again. I was also surprised, as it hadn’t been that great on the Epic.

 

 

 

 

I noticed that the rocking had decreased considerably, so I decided to attempt the gym/spa again. This time, I got a machine in the back, which helped with the opposing motion feeling. While I was jogging(oh, who’s kidding, maybe walking briskly) one of the women next to me commented about how the ship had changed course and was headed back to the States.

 

 

 

Credit: J. Gohl

 

 

 

 

My initial thought was that Joaquin had a smackdown with Bermuda, and we were headed to the Bahamas after all. A couple of us inquired as to where she had her info, and she said that she noticed the course change on the navigation channel. Another person from down the line piped up that she heard that there was some sort of medical emergency, and we were going back to port along the coast.

 

 

 

 

Well, with that ambiguous information, I finished my workout, used the spa shower( again, this was worth the pass alone) and decided to treat myself to a sitdown breakfast. It was barely 8am (told you I was up early) and I figured that I could relax in the spa more easily on a full tummy.

 

 

 

As I trotted down to deck 6, I noticed that the seas were still a bit rough, but much less so.It was also cloudy-quite debatable if we were going to have a sunny day.

 

 

 

I came to the Fork in Two Roads-i.e., the choice between Taste and Savor. I chose Savor for no particular reason other than it had seemed nice when I ate there on Sunday. I was greeted by the host, they swiped my card(not sure why the complimentary dining areas did this) and I was seated in less than 2 minutes.

 

 

 

 

The server came by quickly and took my order, and was very polite. Just as he left, an announcement came on from the captain. He stated that there was, in fact, an emergency, so the ship was meeting up with a Medevac helicopter off of the coast. He warned that the ride could get rocky because the ship needed to speed up to meet the helicopter. He also said that all outside forward decks were closed until further notice, and reminded people not to use open flames-which shouldn’t have been allowed on board anyway, RIGHT?-or flash photography, as this would impede the helicopter’s vision.

 

 

 

 

 

With that, I did spot the helicopter fly by the window and attempted to get a photo. Unfortunately, that didn’t turn out well, but you can see the weather that we were encountering at the moment…

 

 

Then my double breakfast came out….yes, I was being a pig today.

 

 

 

 

 

As I was dining, I did notice that the ship seemed to get a bit bumpier, and saw the helicopter whiz by the window a few more times. The captain repeated his announcement twice before declaring the evacuation complete, stating that we were headed back to Bermuda.

 

 

 

I guess Joaquin left it intact after all. Hope he left some sunshine along the way.

 

 

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[sunbird21]

After breakfast, I headed to the spa, noting that the upper decks-i.e., Vibe- were still closed. This time, The rocking was definitely much better, AND I found a nice heated lounger. I spent the next couple of hours reading and dozing. I had my NCL iConcierge app on so that I could get a call from the night owls if they awoke, but wasn’t holding out much hope for the time being.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Around 10:30 or so, I got a call saying that they were awake and going to the buffet. I rested a bit longer, then headed out to the pool deck, noting some momentary sun. I went up to Vibe,but it was empty and all of the sunbeds were tied down. Sigh.

 

 

 

I ran into the three on my way down to 15, and thankfully, L looked much happier that she had consumed some bacon and kept it down. They had circled the activities that they wanted to see/do on the Daily-my planning must be rubbing off at last!

 

 

 

 

Since Vibe was dead, and I had already been in the spa, I decided to tag along. The first activity was the tango dance lesson in the atrium. We walked in an watched the lessons for a bit, and since I was standing near the Carlos Bakery counter, I felt that I should adopt one of the lonely little chocolate ganache cakes.

 

 

 

 

I managed a bite or two, it was so rich, before boxing it up. Sadly, it spent the remainder of its days in the mini fridge.

 

 

 

Just then C stated that she wanted to go to the art auction with Guy #1. No one else was interested, so we made plans to meet up on Deck 15 to watch the pool events in a bit. V wanted to do the liquor tasting, and L very wisely decided to sit that one out. I didn’t want V to get lonely, so I went with her, agreeing to meet L up at 15 shortly afterwards.

 

 

 

We went to Deck 8, to the liquor store, where they were setting up the tasting. It consisted of Kahlua, Baileys, a fruity liquor, a combo liquor that tasted like Kahlua and Baileys combined, a vodka, and a local rum. Being the first two there, the host formed the line behind us, and we went in a circle, sampling each liquor.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While in line, I saw a member from the roll call that had hosted the pub crawl that was supposed to have taken place the day before. I had skipped it due to the rocking, figuring that the martini tasting would be enough at the time. I inquired as to how it went, and she said that they did manage to hit all of the bars, and spent the afternoon resting.

 

 

 

 

 

After the liquor tasting, they were having another jewelry raffle,so we got our tickets but again, did not win. With that, we headed up to 15 and attempted to track down L, but she was nowhere to be found, not was C. Instead, we settled at Waves and had a beverage, or two. We watched the poolside quest game, which was entertaining.

 

 

 

Once that was done, V decided to do another walk around looking for them. After she left, I spotted J and T at the other Waves bar, and went over to say hi. They had one of the bartenders, Jomar, that they knew from previous cruises concocting up a special drink. I believe they called it the Spicy Mango Mojito(?) They brought in their own Siracha sauce for it, so I had to try it. I forget exactly what went into it other than a couple types of rum and the siracha sauce, but it was quite interesting..it was spicy with a fruity aftertaste. Anyway, here’s a pic of the drink and it’s creator(or executor).

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just then V came back, and I introduced them all, having her take a sip of the drink.She quickly determined that the combo was not for her. She had no luck finding the other two, so we decided to check the cabin just to ensure that L was at least not ill. No one was in the cabin, but I took the opportunity to unload some of the items I had collected in my bag over the course of the morning.

 

 

 

V called the gentlemen’s cabin to see if anyone had ended up there, but still no luck. We figured that we may as well go back to 15 and relax.

 

 

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[sunbird21]

A few more drinks and a dirty water dog each later, one of the hosts started calling women to sign up for the Norwegian Babe competition. Since there were about 50 people total on the deck at that time, and only 2 or 3 signing up, I tried to talk V into going up there. I figured that she would have a good shot, since she was certainly outgoing and pretty. She balked for several minutes, and then when they kept calling, said she would only do it if she had a Fireball shot.

 

 

 

J and T were at the other end of the bar at that point and tried to egg us both on to go up. Just then, the host begged for more contestants, so I waved and pointed to V, who was rapidly ordering her Fireball.

 

 

 

But then, the cruel host said, “ Great! You can BOTH come up!”

 

 

 

WHAAT??!? That wasn’t in the game plan! I wanted to watch and make fun of V!!

 

 

 

 

I called out that I was waiting on a drink, and the host just yelled, “Bring them up!” Poor Jomar was swamped and had given us our recent painkillers, so there was no time to collect the Fireball before someone else came and swept us towards the stage. I left my bag with J and T, pleading with them that no photos of this catastrophe would surface on social media.

 

 

 

 

To date, they have been very good about keeping that promise ;-)

 

 

 

 

So we went up to the stage, V whimpering, me gulping down the painkiller as fast as I could without choking. We huddled with the other poor 8 souls who had decided in an inebriated moment that this was a good idea.

 

 

 

 

The host (I know it wasn’t Zack or Silas, but cannot recall his name) gave a rundown of the competition and had us line up,giving our names and locations. OK, so far, so good.

 

 

 

 

Then he herded us to the side of the stage and gave us our challenge. We had to do a “sexy walk” across the platform and do some sort of dance in front of the four male judges. They couldn’t touch us but, as he amped up, we could touch them. Oh,lordy, this was going to be a barrel of fun.

 

 

 

Have I mentioned how glad I was that the deck was mostly empty?

 

 

 

 

V was having a heart attack next to me, which made me reconsider the level of outgoingness. She insisted that she would’ve been fine had we downed the Fireball.

 

 

 

 

I must digress here and discuss the amazing powers of Fireball whiskey. It seems to be the shot of choice on the last several cruises that I’ve been on. If you haven’t had it, you should try it at least once, and if you do, try to get it from one of the chilled dispensers at the bar (Waves has one). It’s a cinnamon whiskey, and it tastes smooth at first, burns quickly, but that is not the magic of it. You can get a level of bravery and levity within minutes of consuming it, though what activities you participate in after that are at your own risk. It’s probably best not to have a camera around after consuming Fireball,unless in the hands of someone you really, really trust.

 

 

 

 

 

OK, back from our sponsors now. (Just kidding).

 

 

 

 

 

So as the first few girls trotted across the deck, I decided to just do a tame copy of their walk/hands on the guys shoulder/ booty shake, which I did, While it may not have been groundbreaking, at least I didn’t end up flopping onto my back like one of the girls before me-whew!

 

 

 

 

 

I pretty much figured that the girl who climbed onto the stage and twerked would have taken the (virtual) trophy, but in the end, they awarded the contestant who was from the Coast Guard. Applause and warm fuzzies, everyone. Now we could scurry back to the bar, where NOW Jomar had our Fireball waiting and ready.

 

 

 

 

 

I fetched my bag from J, who told me that one of the judges was from the roll call. Oops, should’ve worked that angle. My bad.

 

 

 

 

After gulping down the Fireball, V looked through the Daily and asked if I wanted to do the digital scavenger hunt game. Deciding that I needed a reprieve from the pool area, I agreed.

 

 

 

 

 

We headed down to Cagneys, where we were a few minutes late, passing clusters of people running past with cameras ready. Luckily, they still let our “team” of two enter, and gave a list of about 25 different photos that we had to take-in 20 minutes!

 

 

 

 

The photos basically consisted of getting various groups of people doing funny poses in locales all across the ship. Clearly,we were not meant to get them all, but whoever had the most would win.

 

 

 

 

 

The Fireball had given us that extra boost finally, and we ran around like lunatics(which I’m sure some thought we were). We convinced strangers to fake sleep in Maltings, a couple of teenage girls to do the cat pose in front of Fat Cats, and others to do a mock pyramid in front of the theater. We raced up to the pool deck where we drunkenly begged poor sunbathers to participate. Thankfully, most did, even one woman who tried to get her four children to do the YMCA pose multiple, despite one child sobbing and burying his face in her waist.

 

 

 

 

 

Don’t worry, we gave that group a pass- Random Mom, if you are reading, I hope your child was traumatized.

 

 

 

 

 

At any rate, the twenty minutes FLEW by, and with two minutes left, V and I raced down the stairs to Deck 8. Just as we reach the bottom of the staircase, we saw L and C out of the corner of our eyes, who cheerfully tried to grab our attention. But, the Fireball had us on a mission, and we bolted past them and across the deck.

 

 

 

 

 

I heard one of them calling out something about lunch, to which I yelled “Wait 5 minutes!” before tearing down the hall.

 

 

 

 

 

We zoomed into Cagney’s, breathlessly handing in our form. Since V had the camera, she stayed up at the desk to show her proof of our poses while I collapsed into a nearby chair.

 

 

 

 

 

A few minutes later, the winners were announced with 12 pictures. Sadly, it wasn’t us, but we did placed 3rd, with 9 pics!! Not bad for 20 minutes!

 

 

 

 

 

Semi-victorious, we walked out of Cagney’s expecting to find C and L waiting nearby. Not so much.

 

 

 

I tried to call the room. Nada.

 

 

 

We figured that they must have headed back to Deck 15. Two laps around, no sign of them.

 

 

 

They did mention lunch, so we checked the buffet. Once again, empty.

 

 

 

OK, now it was time to be strategic. We decided to go to all of the interior public decks and check each location, one by one. The only success we had here was cementing the layout of each of these decks in our brains.

 

 

 

I tried calling both our cabin and the gentlemens. I left messages on both. Still nothing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

At this point , you are probably asking yourself-Stacey, you said that you had the iConcierge app, why didn’t you just call one of their phones?

 

 

 

And as we climbed our way back to Deck 15 to check all of the outdoor areas, I’ll tell you.

 

 

 

I, being the hypervigilant planner, did research and inform the other three about iConcierge, and encouraged them all to download it. L did, the other two waited until the boat took off and wifi was nonexistent.

 

 

 

In all fairness, L had prepurchased the unlimited internet plan,($175) and was allowing us to use it as well, so V and C had thought that they would just download it at some point off of that. However, L had trouble setting up the plan-something to do with it rejecting the username she chose-and couldn’t reach anyone at guest service/internet café to assist of Sunday.Monday, she was clearly preoccupied. She had planned to look into in today, but in the meantime-I was the only one with iConcierge, which did no good except for allowing me to call the cabin and vice versa.

 

 

 

 

 

So, back to our search….

 

 

 

We hiked up to Vibe,found three other people there but no L or C. We said hi to Richard Banz, one of the bartenders up there who mixes really good drinks. We may have sampled one of those drinks. Then we walked around 15 and 16, since they had mentioned wanting to do the rock climbing wall or mini golf.

 

 

 

I’m sure you can guess our success rate at this point.

 

 

 

As we walked away from the rock climbing wall, we wandered into Uptown Grill, and were starving, so we ordered a couple of burgers to soak up the alcohol. They were pretty good, and you can get them customized, but there was a pretty lengthy line (yet, no C or L).

 

We were about ready to give up after our lunch, and it was nearing 430pm. We had Rock of Ages reserved for 6:30 that night, and since it was 70’s night, we had 70’s outfits planned. We figured that we should head back to the room to start getting ready.

 

 

 

On our way inside, we passed a staff member from the spa giving sample massages, of course to promote spa sales. I am not one to pass up any massage, even a sample, so we indulged in the three minute apiece relaxation from Adrian before ending up back at the cabin.

 

 

 

Guess what we found when we returned?

 

 

 

We didn’t find L or C, but we did find our cabin somewhat cleaned.

 

 

 

About 20 minutes later, at long last, they returned. They supposedly were looking for us for awhile before they ended up also at Uptown for lunch, and then ran into the gentlemen, and spent the afternoon playing video games at O’Sheehans and the teen video arcade with them.

 

 

 

Well, at least L was definitely better, and hydrated.

 

 

 

The next half hour or so was a cluster of us getting ready and me continuously watching the clock. I was ready first, so I left a little after six to get decent seats at the theater. Before I left, we all made sure that the do not disturb light was off so that we would get turndown service that evening. Remember, we had had it on accidentally on Sunday, and on Monday Levi skipped us because of L’s illness.

 

 

 

 

 

These were acceptable reasons, but turndown service is one of the indulgences of a cruise that I enjoy, so I was missing it the first two nights.

 

 

 

 

Oh, who am I kidding. I just wanted a towel animal.

 

 

 

 

I went down to the theater, found it not that full,and was able to check in all four of us even though the others weren’t there. I found an empty row about halfway down, and sat three seats in, where I spent the next 15 minutes strategically holding three seats with one arm flung over the two seats between myself and the aisle, and the other on the seat next to me.

 

 

 

 

You would think that this idiotic pose would clue people in, but I can’t tell you how many times people approached me asking if I was saving the seats. No, jack***, I just figured the theater was a great place to try some yoga.

 

 

 

Thankfully, the others showed up just as they were doing the final light flicker and announcement that the show was no Bueno for kiddos.

 

 

 

So began Rock of Ages. I’ve seen many, many contrasting reviews of this show and Burn the Floor, and I’m not going to enter the battle, just offer my $.02. No, it’s not Broadway caliber, though it is a Broadway show. However, I do like musicals, and I am no theater expert, and I found it entertaining. I laughed, I cringed at some of the jokes, but overall, I liked it. It’s probably not the best production at sea, but I did find it better than a lot of the garden variety magician and talent shows that I’ve seen on other lines(sorry Whale Tail, I’m looking at you here).

 

 

 

At the end, we took a photo with the cast standing outside.

 

 

 

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[sunbird21]

Once that was done, we headed for the dining rooms, debating on where to eat. Everyone kind of hemmed and hawed, and as we passed Teppanyaki, I saw L and C’s eyes light up. C, especially, who was worried about another plate of gnocchi in the main dining room.

 

 

 

 

 

Teppanyaki/hibachi food isn’t my favorite, but I was willing to sacrifice for something different, although part of me was debating vocalizing a split (and heading to Le Bistro).

 

 

 

Then V spoke up, stating that she hated hibachi, giving me the perfect opening. So after some quick discussion, and reassuring the two of them that it was okay to like different foods and split for dinner, they headed into Teppanyaki.

 

 

 

 

 

V and I glanced at the main dining menu for a minute before she decided that she preferred the buffet. Considering I liked the buffet about as much as Teppanyaki, I gracefully executed another split and pulled up my iConcierge app in hopes of scoring a table for one at either Le Bistro or La Cucina.

 

 

 

 

 

Nothing was showing up on the app, but I didn’t despair-I was certain that either rone could find time to squeeze me in, so I went to the cabin, called restaurant reservations, and sure enough, scored a table at La Cucina ten minutes later.

 

 

 

 

 

I did get a few odd looks when I requested my solo table, but was otherwise seated quickly and had very good service. I relaxed with my iPad and chowed down on bruschetta (really good bite sized portion) chicken parm(okay) and tiramisu(very good).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once I was done, I met up with the others outside the Tradewinds shops, as we were going to attempt to do the whiskey tasting, but we weren’t in the mood, so instead we browsed through our photos at the photo gallery, and took some photos inside.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Soon it was time for the 70’s party, so we headed to Spice H20, which was actually the first time that I had seen in thus far.

 

 

 

 

 

There wasn’t a huge crowd, since it was windy and cooler, but V and I had an additional shot of Fireball (the others declined) and we all went onto the dance floor for a bit. Unfortunately, a friend of Joaquin’s decided to visit, and the skies opened up, soaking the deck. Someone(I think it was Zack) kept crying out over the microphone to wait it out, but the 50 or so people getting soaked were already running inside. So much for the 70’s party!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All dressed up and nowhere to go…well, until C and V decided that we should head to Bliss. Other than the few minutes the first night, I hadn’t really been in here either. I do have to say I miss the larger version on the Epic. They had some Latin music playing, and we danced for a bit. I started to get a bit bored with it, so I went down to Howl at the Moon for awhile, as it was one of the late night activities I’ve enjoyed on the Epic.

 

 

 

 

Sure enough, HATM didn’t disappoint, and I was giggling away in my seat and singing along with their improvised version of “Friends in Low Places.” (I’m a country music girl). After awhile, I could feel the fatigue setting in, so I went back up to Bliss for awhile and tried to dance through it.

 

 

 

 

 

I managed to hang out until about 1am, and that’s when the evil Fireball shots from the day told me that I was done, so I bid farewell to the other three and headed back to our cabin to cuddle with the awaiting towel animal.

 

 

 

Except…..this was not to be.

 

 

 

I arrived back at our cabin and found it in the exact state that we left it earlier-beds were still made but not turned down, bathroom hadn’t been touched, lights weren’t on, and THERE WERE NO TOWEL ANIMALS!!!!!!

 

 

 

 

***??!?!

 

 

 

I did find a copy of the next day’s Freestyle Daily tossed haphazardly onto my bed,but other than that-nothing.

 

 

 

I checked the call lights-we didn’t have the do not disturb light on.

 

 

 

What was going on?

 

 

 

As I got ready and curled up in bed, I began to contemplate that I perhaps I was on a ship where towel animals didn’t exist…..

 

 

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[sunbird21]

A few more pics from night 3..... Hate this six pic limit!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Until tomorrow, folks!!!!

Stacey

 

 

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[Toola99709]

Wonderful writing style. I'm really enjoying your review!

[cruisin0504]

I'm thoroughly enjoying your review! Thank you!

[agennis]

As a matter of fact, we were sitting a couple of seats down from you while you bravely fended off those wanting to have your seats for Rock of Ages. We were happy to see your friends arrive so you could relax your stance, that clearly indicated the seats were taken. Looking forward to the rest of your review....enjoying your sense of humor. Kind regards, Audra

[happyscmom]

This is one of the best reviews ever! Can't wait to read day 4.

[thistimeplease]

I am really enjoying your review. Can't wait for more.

[sunbird21]

Day 4

 

 

 

I had forgotten to mention the day before, but due to the medical evacuation, we were told that we would not be arriving in Bermuda until 2pm today. For this reason, I wasn’t in a huge hurry to wake up and race off the ship, BUT I was still up at 6:30,thanks to the time change.

 

 

 

 

 

At least the sun was shining through the balcony window ( we never could seem to remember to pull the curtain, though I doubt that’s what kept waking me up). I decided to take advantage of a quiet, unplanned morning and go up to Vibe for some sunshine at last.

 

 

 

 

 

Since it was too early to eat, I went to the gym(yay, I was doing well on this cruise), and showered in the spa. I returned to the cabin to drop off my gym items and was greeted by a half-awake V. L woke up a minute later, and I relayed my breakfast plans.

 

 

 

When they heard that the sit down breakfast ended at 9:30, they both collectively said , “Forget it,” and went back to sleep.

 

 

 

 

 

As I left the cabin, I ran into Levi. I inquired about the lack of turndown service the night before, and he muttered, “Your do not disturb light was on.” I Explained that we had checked it before and after leaving the cabin, and it was off. He shrugged and said, “Oh well, your green light was off then.”

 

 

 

Green light? WTH?

 

 

 

 

 

He explained that apparently you have to have a certain light ON as well as OFF in order to receive turn down service.

 

 

 

This was ridiculous! I had never had so much trouble requesting service on the Epic or Whale Tail. I said that I would try to manipulate the lights, but asked if he would be able to provide turndown service regardless. He shrugged.

 

 

 

 

 

Oo-kay then. We’ll see how this goes.

 

 

 

I went to eat at Taste today to give a try, and once again, was seated quickly at a window table. I really wish I had noticed the name of today’s server, as he was really sweet, bringing me extra coffee and toast. He was just really nice.

 

 

 

As I was eating, I noticed the ocean turning bluer and clearer- Bermuda was getting closer!

 

 

 

 

I went upstairs to Vibe and managed to relax on a (tied down) sunbed for a couple of hours before I got the call from the room indicating that the night owls were up and getting ready. L also mentioned that she had the Internet straightened out, so I returned to check it out while they were getting ready.

 

 

 

Everyone noticed the bluer water and land within sight, so we took turns taking photos. C and I attempted to use Facetime to place a couple of calls and checked Facebook,etc. With the Internet plan, we were able to use two devices at once, supposedly, but the connection was poor.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The land was coming closer, and we soon heard that we would actually be in Bermuda at 12:30 instead of 2pm!

 

 

 

 

We went up to their favorite breakfast locale and I took the time to take some pictures of that area on my camera, trying out some of the photo filters. I noticed that we docked portside (our cabin was starboard).

 

 

 

 

 

After they finished, we decided to get a beverage from Waves before heading out. At that time, the pool area was actually pretty crowded, and they had some competition going on with a mens and womens team performing competitions.

 

 

 

 

 

We took our beverages to the edge of the pool and watched. Each team had to perform some sort of synchronized swimming routine. We wanted to root for the women of course, but…they were a bit discombobulated. In contrast, the guys had a perfectly synched dive into the pool and a finale of um, cupping their goods, before back flopping into the pool. They were the clear winners.

 

 

 

It was almost disappointing that it was a port day-this was the first time all cruise that the sun was shining and there was a good crowd out on the decks.

 

 

 

But, Bermuda was sprawled out before us with its colorful buildings and irresistible sparkling turquoise water, so off the ship we must go!

 

 

 

Since I knew how, um, time challenged some of my group could be, I had made sure that we had our beach bags packed before we left the cabin, so that we could head straight for the gangway after they ate. We even snapped photos of our passports in the event of-well, something bad happening. So I assumed that once we left deck 15, we would be off the ship within minutes.

 

 

 

 

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[sunbird21]

All was going well as we headed to the elevators-until V turned to me and said, “How about a shot of Fireball before we leave?”

 

 

 

 

 

Since we were at the elevators, I agreed to stop at a bar on the way out. How long could it possibly take?

 

 

 

 

 

We got off the elevators at Deck 8, and went onto the Waterfront to Maltings. It was pretty empty so we quickly ordered, me a single shot and her a double. C and L were laughing at the two of us.

 

 

 

 

The bartender(I really was terrible with most names this trip-had to be the Fireball) was a pretty cool guy as well, and took photos of the four of us by the railing. So we decided to be polite and order a second shot.

 

 

 

 

I’m not sure exactly how we left the bar, but we did- I think I went to the restroom inside and met up with the others at the elevators. I’m also not sure how we ended up doing crazy poses OUTSIDE the elevator-I think we were telling the other two about our cat pose for the scavenger hunt, and had to do a demo. Somehow, this led to us doing the pyramid, and of course we had to do this with different combos of us and with all of our phones/cameras.

 

 

 

 

 

I don’t think anyone walked by at this point in time. At least, if they did, I’m blocking it from my memory LOL.

 

 

 

Then V decided that we might as well get “one more shot for the road” so back outside we went.

 

 

 

After this, C, who I lovingly refer to as the least time oriented member of the group, started exclaiming that we “were never going to get off the ship” and tried to hustle us inside the elevators.

 

 

 

She caught up to us as we were greeting our friend at the bar. He poured us our third round saying

 

“ You know, it’s a REALLY nice day out on the island….”

 

 

 

He was also chatting with a member of the Creole band playing in Fat Cats, who offered to take our next round of silly pics. I bought him a drink in return and we promised to check out his show….which( insert guilty face here) we never seemed to get to. Please forgive us!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once this was consumed, C grabbed my arm, L grabbed V’s, and they literally dragged us to the elevator.

 

 

 

 

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I would like to add, that even in my inebriated state, I recalled not only which floor the gangway was on, but managed to convey the plan for the day. Remember, I was the planner, and although I was leaving the options open if everyone wanted to do other activities, I had a general idea of what to do on what day that we could fall back on if everyone was in a true laissez faire mode.

 

 

 

 

 

That’s how you plan without the others knowing that their day has been planned (wink).

 

 

 

 

 

In any case, we swiped the cards off the ship, took our professional photos with all of the characters, and headed into the terminal building, which had a store and information desk. I herded my group to the info desk to get our unlimited ferry/bus passes.

 

 

The others blinked and looked a bit overwhelmed with the transportation options, but I took the authoritarian role at this point and basically told them this pass was what we were getting. They complied, citing that I “ probably knew what I was doing since I researched this trip for months.”

 

 

 

 

 

While at the desk, the rep, Anita, I believe, gave us brochures and recommendations for different areas. At this point, one of my friends said that they assumed that I had the itinerary down to the minute.

 

 

 

 

 

Hmm, so much for my covert planning.

 

 

 

 

 

Then V asked Anita which beach had the best cliff diving. Anita gave her a look at this point.

 

 

 

 

 

“I can’t really recommend that activity. My son died doing cliff diving. It’s not safe.”

 

 

 

Oops.

 

 

 

 

 

We all mumbled apologies, just as someone behind us (we didn’t even notice the next group hanging back there) said, “So, what OTHER spot would be good to go cliff diving then?”

 

 

 

Silence.

 

 

 

With that, we slunk away.

 

 

 

 

 

Outside, we headed down the long dock in search of the ferries. We saw Calico Jack’s, the boat bar with the plank, and walked by the Bonefish Grill and Bar, where I stopped to sneak in and use the facilities. As I came back out, I spied A and little A eating, so I stopped to chat for a minute. While I was here, my friends noticed two of their gentlemen friends eating, so they came in to talk as well.

 

 

 

 

 

Finally, we made our way across the little street to the ferry dock, where we found that the ferry to St George wasn’t leaving for an hour, but the Hamilton ferry was leaving in ten minutes.

 

 

 

 

 

OK, so time to revise plans for the day. The original unplanned plan was to do the caves, Tobacco Bay, St George today, and end up in Hamilton for Harbor Nights. I had figured that Horseshoe Bay was likely to be crowded on the first day, but it wasn’t an impossible swap.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yes, if I had been thinking a bit more clearly, I would have remembered the direct buses to Horseshoe, but-it is what it is. So instead we took the ferry to Hamilton, walked around a bit, then took a cab to Horseshoe.

 

 

 

If anyone is at all interested in this choppy plan, the cab took about 15 minutes from Hamilton and was about $20.

 

 

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