First time on NCL, Breakaway to Bermuda May 1-8, 2016

[KellyABelly]

I thought I'd write up a review of our first experience with Norwegian on the Breakaway out of NYC. This might take a couple tries as we have tiny ones.

This was for my husband and my 5 year wedding anniversary so we left our youngest sleuth the grandparents and brought our just turned 3 year old along thinking he'd enjoy the kids club.

 

Originally I was in an angled family balcony near the kids club. We were able to upgrade for a small fee (less than $15) to a mini suite with prepaid gratuities for one of us and $100 OBC. We did go from 4 dining to 3 but I figured the grats and OBC covered it.

Last minute I decided this was a big trip for us and paid to get into a 2 bedroom haven (all they had left). I kept it a secret from the hubs :).

We were coming from the Albany area and decided to drive to North White Plains. I heard they had a new garage and it seemed very safe. We took the metro north to grand central and caught a cab to the port.

The port was crazy! Apparently the previous passengers got off late so it was just people everywhere. We went and followed signs for the Haven and skipped the lines. I told my hubby I upgraded our boarding for our anniversary. It was pretty smooth and we sat in a sectioned off area and waited a while.

[nancynana9950]

Looking forward to the rest of your review. I think you had some bad weather in Bermuda. Those that returned today had great weather. Hope you still had a great cruise. Great that you got to stay in the Haven!

[Linda the Book Lover]

Congratulations on your anniversary. What a nice surprise you gave your DH. I am waiting to read the rest of your review.

[Sand and Seas]

Can't wait to hear more about your surprise Haven week:D

[Gershep]

Looking forward to the rest of your review.

[KellyABelly]

Thanks everyone! So after a delayed boarding and some snacks from the haven check in area we were able to get on the ship. It seemed more rushed than I have read previously. There was a tour coming out of the haven entry door and it was backed up down the hall. Once we got up into the concierge area David welcomed us quickly in the lounge and said we should go to our rooms to get settled. I did have a passed drink first and saw they were passing around sliders as well but since the boarding was delayed I wanted to just get a good lunch. Our room was on the 15th floor, which there is a convenient stairway right in the haven area for. We had our stroller and a roller carryon so we headed back to the elevator. We went down the nicely decorated but extremely narrow hallway to our room and I surprised my husband with our 2 bedroom suite! He had caught on that I upgraded us but was still expecting a one room suite. He loved it and my son was exited to have his own little room and bathroom! There were fresh flowers, free in demand movies, a free coffee maker and a beautiful master bathroom. There was also tons of storage, more than we would need. The butler wasn't there yet...I'm pretty sure the ship actually got to port a little late so they were sill prepping for us. They did have a dummy key all set for us to keep the power and air on in the room so I didn't need to use the one I had brought. My son liked pulling this in and out. They also had a note about a sail away party in the haven area and a captains party. We dropped our stuff then headed back up by the haven pool for lunch. It was a little slow and disorganized getting started. They gave us the snack menu when we were supposed to have the lunch menu and took a while to get us our drinks but this was the only time we had issues with haven service. It was a great lunch! After that we took a walk around. The weather was chilly, windy and wet! We got my son checked in for the kids club and were told we could use our room phone if he needed us (he has not yet fully mastered the potty training). We also hit the guppies room which is on deck 16 and he played with some toys then kept asking for that room all week :-). I took some pool and deck pics and checked things out. I will try to get some of my pics uploaded so I can...I went a little crazy and took over 1000. That night we had reserved dinner at Savor. I had gone through and made reservations back when we had the 4 specialty restaurants and no haven restaurant so we had David the concierge help us move some things around. We kept our reservation at Savor tho and had a nice meal. The dining room was nice and the food was good I thought. After dinner we walked around more and then got ready for the sail away party. I loved seeing the Statue of Liberty and going under the bridge. The party was nice and they had passed drinks. We tried to go outside but it was rainy. It was still a fun sail away though. That night we unpacked (butler did not offer to do this for us as others have mentioned). I wouldn't want him to anyhow. We did get my son to go to kids club for about an hour to see if he liked it. He was ok as it wasn't crowded then and we had some drinks and relaxed. We had the ultimate beverage package along with the specialty dining and having that bad right upstairs in haven was nice. A great first day!

[KellyABelly]

Monday - Day at Sea

We had breakfast in the Haven which was great! They had a buffet with cut up fruit, different cheeses, parfaits and cereal, etc. it was a really nice spread. I noticed out by the pool they were cutting up fresh fruit. They also had a full menu and the French toast is excellent!

For lunch we went to the Moderno buffet (free) for their Indian event. I really liked this but my son and husband couldn't handle the spice. We followed it up with the Garden Cafe which was actually quite nice. We went here before or after meals a lot during the week to grab my son something to eat.

For dinner we had the Cirque jungle fantasy show planned and it was great! Since we were in Haven they brought us in early so we were front row but everyone seemed to have a really good seat here. I can't say enough about how great this was. I even liked the meal which I was prepared to expect not much from due to the reviews. I recommend this one. We used a speciality dining night on it so it was around $11 for each of us.

[KellyABelly]

Tuesday -day at sea

Today we tried the Uptown Grill for breakfast since it was open. The breakfast sandwiches were cold and my bagel had mold on it. I grabbed another one. I wish we had skipped it. We hit the kiddie pool which is on the side of the ship with the smoke but it wasn't too bad once you passed that area. My son had a blast and there seemed to be places to sit. For lunch we did the buffet then took some naps. The ship rocking was killing me. After I tried a salad form uptown grill and it was very good. My husband said the burger line was pretty long but it smelled great. We never did end up trying a burger there unfortunately. Dinner was at the haven dining room and the surf and turf is amazing.

[KellyABelly]

Wednesday - first day in Bermuda

Today we wanted to get off the ship early so we had room service for breakfast which is free in the haven. We took a shuttle for $7 pp to Horseshoe Bay and went to the baby beach to the right. It was beautiful and amazing! The sand isn't really pink so much but it's beautiful anyhow. We didn't walk much up the beach, maybe next time. After that we walked up the hill (the shuttle brings you down it) and took a public bus to go to the aquarium. It was wast to figure out but I had thought the aquarium was in between us and Hamilton for some reason. We had to go waaaay out to Hamilton then take another bus. The nice bus driver told us not to pay and let us go to the Hamilton station first to get a two day pass. Everyone was so friendly! The aquarium is small but was perfect for us . There's a little zoo included along with a museum and playground. I'd recommend it if you have little ones. The area it was in bordered the water and I thought it was gorgeous. We took the Hamilton ferry back to the dockyard and grabbed a late lunch then later had dinner at the Haven. It was a long fun day!

[KellyABelly]

[KellyABelly]

[KellyABelly]

Thursday - second day in Bermuda

It was a little windy today so we took our time and had a nice breakfast in the Haven. We went and caught a ferry over to St George with a ton of other people. It was packed but I prefer the ferry to the bus as it would be quicker and we can take the stroller without having to fold it up. When we got toward St George it was really rocking back and forth. It wasn't too bad but I can see some people having issues if they weren't used to boating. We went and walked around St George, saw kings square and St Peter's. There was a pretty park near there in the way to the unfinished church. We walked to tobacco bay and the wind was blocked. It turned out to be a warm day and I was glad we went out. They had loungers with sun shields for $10 which helped with the wind as well. The sand wasn't as nice as at horseshoe but it was still very nice. We spent a while there then took a little taxi up to St George for a few dollars. Otherwise it's a long walk back, but doable. The next ferry wasn't for over an hour so we went to catch the bus. The first flew by and was full!

[Sprasa03]

following!!!

[Le Cruisester]

following

[KellyABelly]

The next bus stopped and was packed but we all made it on! My son was sleeping but people in the back said there was a seat so it worked out ok. A lot of people were standing for the trip back to Hamilton tho! Our plan was to try to do a glass bottom boat. Unfortunately they had all been cancelled due to the winds and were already cancelled for Friday when a large storm was supposed to head in. On the bus ride we had heard from a man that was on the Celebrity that their captain decided to pull out early due to the storm so they left that night. Since we had gone to harbour nights wed night we decided to just head back to the dockyard at this point and check out the fort there as last admission was at 4. We took the ferry back and it wasn't rocking as bad. The fort was nice although the house there wasn't open. They had enough to see and you can watch the dolphin encounter and go to the playground if you have kids. It was extremely windy at this point so we headed back to the ship. We decided to try out the noodle bar. It was already full one minute after it opened. Usually this place is covered in smoke due to its location but the casino tables weren't open yet so it was fine. We had some apps and I thought they were all tasty. Following that we headed to our reservation at Tappenyaki and had a fun time. They take pictures here then print them and try to sell them to you. My steak was let cut up enough and there are no knives. It was also so rare I couldn't eat some of it. I switched with my husband and that was fine as he's ok with very rare. We had both ordered medium rare. They can't use fire but they did other things to make the show fun. I'd probably go again. We had two full days in Bermuda so we slept well that night!

[Clarea]

Enjoying the review.