Breakaway 14 Day Southern Caribbean Review with lots of pictures (and the Haven)

[CasinoCruzGirl]

We had originally booked a 7 night cruise on the Breakaway from NYC to the Bahamas and Florida with a stop at Great Stirrup Cay. GSC would be the only port we would get off at as we have done this itinerary a few times before and it has become a been there, done that kind of thing. But we love GSC and had a small cabana last time we were there. You can read all about it in the review below my signature. How's that for a shameless plug?

 

We were originally booked for April 10, 2016 and I just wasn't sure I REALLY wanted that date. I was trying to line up our cruise date with the New York State Common Core tests as we were not going to make our daughter take them if she didn't want to. If we were away for one week of the tests, good for us.

 

It turns out I booked the wrong week. The tests were to be held starting the week earlier, so we changed the cruise to the week of April 3, 2016. It just so happens that we would be in GSC on April 6th. That's our daughters 9th birthday. We were able to get the cabana for $349 and life was good.

 

Then we decided we didn't want to wait until April to go on the cruise so after a lot of research, we decided on November 8th. We booked it and scored the cabana for $419. To us, it was still worth every penny. We were set.

 

And that's when real life got in the way. Cue the foreboding music. "Dun dun dun".

My birthday is August and I kept putting of my "lady parts" exam. I hadn't gone when I turned 43 in 2014, and I finally gave in and made my appointment for March of 2015. Everything was good and I got my prescription to get my mammogram and sonogram. I had previously had a false positive mammogram and had a breast biopsy to find that I had a benign fibroadenoma I the left breast. Whew. That was scary.

 

So you would think I would follow up with my screening ASAP. Nope. I finally made my mammogram and sonogram appointment for June 26, 2015. No big deal, right? All will be good, right? Well....no. The sonographer said that the fibroadenoma had shrunk, but now she sees something else. Oh crap.

Around 4 or 5 days later, I am at the pool with my daughter when I see a missed call on my cell phone from my OB/GYN. Double crap. I call back and they say that the sonogram was "suspicious" and I needed a biopsy once again in my left breast. I set up an appointment for 3 days later on Thursday July 2nd. So I go for the biopsy and then I hear nothing for a few days. I keep calling the doctor and they have no results yet. I call the place that did the biopsy on July 8th to find out if they have results and the girl says "We don't have the final pathology yet, but I'll send what we have to your doctor". My reaction to that (in my head) was Oh F--k! I knew that wasn't good.

 

I have already been a childhood cancer survivor. When I was 15, I was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. I went through almost 3 years of chemotherapy. I lost all of my hair as a junior in high school. I was one of the first 100 children in NY to participate in the Make A Wish program. Yes, I went to Walt Disney World. It was awesome. The chemo not only saved my life but it also destroyed most of my joints. So far, I have had 5 hip replacements and a shoulder replacement. I will still need the other shoulder and both knees replaced but I'm just not ready yet.

 

Anyway, back to the summer.

 

So I'm at home with my daughter waiting and waiting for the results. I call the doctors office again and the nurse says she'll call me back with the results. Around 2pm the phone rings. Caller ID says it's the doctors office. I am really nervous. I answer. It's the doctor, not the nurse. My blood runs cold. I know. He says the words I've been dreading. "I am so sorry, but you have breast cancer." He says that it doesn't mean I will die. Many women will survive. Mind you, I'm home alone with my 7 year old daughter. He's giving me referrals to surgical oncologists. My mind is in a blur.

 

I hear "Mommy, why are you crying?" Oh no. She's been watching and listening to me talking to the doctor. What do I tell her? I tell her the truth. Mommy has breast cancer. She's so strong and smart. "Don't worry mommy. You beat cancer before, you'll do it again. Plus you have me and daddy now. We will take care of you." From the mouths of babes.

 

Sorry to stop here, but I need a moment to regroup. I didn't think this would be so hard to tell.

 

 

JoAnn

 

This is as far as I have gotten yet but just wanted to ❤️❤️❤️❤️

[ncklhaus]

JoAnn

 

This is as far as I have gotten yet but just wanted to ❤️❤️❤️❤️

 

Thanks Geri!

[ncklhaus]

So after muster it was time for Sail-away!! Being that we were in the Haven, we were invited to the Champagne Sail-away Party in the private sun deck at 4pm. They were passing around Champagne and hors d'oeuvres in the Haven pool area and on the sun deck. It was a little chilly up there. It is the very front of the ship and the views were amazing. The sun was setting as we sailed away and Lady Liberty was a beautiful sight.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ncklhaus]

 

 

 

 

 

[ncklhaus]

[ncklhaus]

 

 

 

 

 

[ncklhaus]

[ncklhaus]

After Sail-away, we had reservations at Le Bistro. Here's the menu.

 

 

 

 

The French Manhattan

 

 

And one of my new favorite drinks, Pear Pleasure

 

 

One of the cool light fixtures in Le Bistro

 

 

Mike and Melissa. You can see her appetizer in front of her in the pot. She got the mussels and loved them.

 

 

Mike and I had the escargot. Delish. Melissa tried one and she liked it too. Until I reminded her that escargot are snails. But she had already swallowed it so - Ha Ha!

[ncklhaus]

The asparagus appetizer. Yum. Grilled asparagus, shiitake mushrooms, and orange hollandaise.

 

Our awesome waitress.

 

For our main course, Melissa had the Cold Water Butter Roasted Lobster Tail. We are training her early to not be a cheap date.

 

 

Mike and I had the Fruits Dr Mer - Lobster, shrimp, scallops, fennel in a puff pastry. Fantastic.

 

[ncklhaus]

The ship has photographers everywhere. They were constantly asking to take our pictures. During this meal, 3 different photographers asked to take our picture. Well, I decided to have some fun with it and I turned the camera on them. LOL

 

Don't get me wrong, I didn't really mind. They took some nice pictures. I would end up buying 50 pictures plus the USB.

 

The lovely Maitre D' at Le Bistro

 

 

I think we were too full for dessert so we asked for the check. With the UBP and the UDP our bill came to $0. Even with the upcharge items, it was covered in the package. We added on an additional tip for exceptional service.

[SandG]

Luckily, we have a really good friend that agreed to take care of our dog while we were gone and another friend that would feed the goldfish. We've had this goldfish for over a year. He was won at a carnival and was barely an inch long. Fast forward a year and Gilbert is around 8 inches long and living in a 10 gallon tank. :eek: The carnival fish outlived 3 other store bought goldfish.

<...>

 

We had a goldfish like that, won at an elementary school carnival and brought home in a plastic sandwich bag. He (she?) also happily lived in a 10 gallon tank with a filter, tank decorations, etc. and also got really big. He was also full of personality for a fish - enjoyed our company, and got so excited when it was feeding time. We had that fish nearly 9 years, so I was pretty sad when he got sick at one point and died. I read someplace that they can live 20 years!

 

Sue

[sjnyc323]

Thanks for sharing Jo

[djny1077]

The Cruise Director was Scott Mikelonis but he was leaving for vacation and Dan Dan was taking over.

 

I'll be on the BA in June. Do you by any chance know if Dan Dan will still be there? Just curious who the CD will be then. My last (and only other) cruise was the Gem in 2012 with Sinan. He absolutely made the cruise. He was hilarious!

 

Wishing you a speedy recovery! I admire your strength and courage! My mom had lymphoma a few years ago and thankfully is now cancer free! Big big hugs to you!! :)

[CasinoCruzGirl]

All caught up. Your doing wonderful. I hope your feeling good today.

[njmomof2]

Holy crap, they did lipo to fill you out? That stuff can hurt worse than the surgery itself.

 

My cousin had it done many years ago. Was a couple of weeks (I think) post procedure at my older niece's bat mitzvah. She was wrapped all around with some sort of bandages to keep things compressed and in shape. Ended up with all this blood pooling to the bottoms of her feet until they turned black like awful bruises. It was terrible. I think she was happy with the results but the recovery sucked.

 

I'm so sorry that you're feeling so much pain. I do believe, in the end, that you'll probably be really happy with the results (using more of your own body tissue instead of any sort of filler) but the road to recovery can be a hard one.

 

Really enjoying your report. Thanks for continuing it.

[Shocked91]

Loving your review and photos.We booked Breakaway for next Jan while on Escape.Never cruised with NCL before but we loved this cruise we booked another.Are there any hotels close to the port?We would only need it for one night before getting on the ship.Thanks.

Edited January 28, 2016 by Shocked91

[ncklhaus]

I'll be on the BA in June. Do you by any chance know if Dan Dan will still be there? Just curious who the CD will be then. My last (and only other) cruise was the Gem in 2012 with Sinan. He absolutely made the cruise. He was hilarious!

 

Wishing you a speedy recovery! I admire your strength and courage! My mom had lymphoma a few years ago and thankfully is now cancer free! Big big hugs to you!! :)

 

I think Scott said he was going to the Escape after his vacation, so maybe Dan Dan is staying on the Breakaway. Sinan is no longer with NCL.

 

Congrats to your mom! Continued health to her.

[ncklhaus]

Thanks for sharing Jo

 

XOXO Suzanne!

[ncklhaus]

Holy crap, they did lipo to fill you out? That stuff can hurt worse than the surgery itself.

 

My cousin had it done many years ago. Was a couple of weeks (I think) post procedure at my older niece's bat mitzvah. She was wrapped all around with some sort of bandages to keep things compressed and in shape. Ended up with all this blood pooling to the bottoms of her feet until they turned black like awful bruises. It was terrible. I think she was happy with the results but the recovery sucked.

 

I'm so sorry that you're feeling so much pain. I do believe, in the end, that you'll probably be really happy with the results (using more of your own body tissue instead of any sort of filler) but the road to recovery can be a hard one.

 

Really enjoying your report. Thanks for continuing it.

 

Yep. I counted and I found 10 holes all over my torso where they sucked out a little bit here and there. I am bruised all over. Today, I'm not in as much pain as before. It just feels like I worked out nonstop for a few days. And that's something I would NEVER do! LOL

 

The plastic surgeon thinks I will be "very happy with the results". Hopefully that translates to "smoking hot body".

[ncklhaus]

Loving your review and photos.We booked Breakaway for next Jan while on Escape.Never cruised with NCL before but we loved this cruise we booked another.Are there any hotels close to the port?We would only need it for one night before getting on the ship.Thanks.

 

Thanks so much!

 

I'm not sure about hotels near the pier because I only live around 45 minutes away. Hopefully someone else will have an answer for you.

[ncklhaus]

After dinner, we decided to walk around the ship for a bit.

 

We peeked in at the Welcome Aboard Show in the Theatre

 

We explored the pool deck

 

 

Notice the Nickelodeon stuff is still in the children's pool splash area

[ncklhaus]

 

This is the slide in the children's splash area. I have read others reviews and on other social media talking about this slide and how it is dangerous because the paint is peeling and children can get hurt. I want to set the record straight. It is peeling, but it is not paint. It is a layer of a wet suit like material (maybe neoprene) that has peeled but there are more layers under it. The children are not getting hurt by it and it is scheduled to be replaced. The Nickelodeon stuff does get removed during this cruise, but the slide does not. A different company is responsible for it than the character switch.

[ncklhaus]

By then it had been a long day, so we went back to the room and found these snacks.

 

I had asked for 2 copies of the Freestyle Dailies. And every night there were chocolates for each of us.

 

On second thought, it wasn't THAT late, so let's go to the Haven bar for a drink or two.

I had a Mudslide. Look how pretty!

Edited January 29, 2016 by ncklhaus

[ncklhaus]

The Haven lounge and restaurant staff have to be some of the most wonderful people we met.

 

This is Jo Ann. Love her! She has a really cool tattoo on her neck. And she just loved Melissa.

[njmomof2]

Logged in today to catch up on your review and...the pictures are visible!!!

 

Of course, now I had to go back to page 1 and read it all again, this time seeing the pictures you had posted. Melissa is adorable and you look terrific!!! Now that I've seen that mudslide, I might have to order one next time I'm out and not driving!

 

Looking forward to reading the remainder, and hoping the pictures stay visible for me.