Breakaway, February 6th - 13th - Mini-review

[Travelicious]

On all of the NCL cruises I've been on, we've always been notified to adjust the time to reflect local times.

[brovol]

Wife and I have been on about 30 cruises over the years, and recall that any and every time the ships have entered a new time zone, ships time changes accordingly, and changes back when we renter to original time zone.  Cant imagine doing it another way either.  The time is what the time is where you are on the globe.

[BeerMan007]

21 hours ago, SimplyAlbert said:

To the best of my memory the theater shows were:

 

Sunday -Vocalist

Monday - Six (show times were 7:30 and 10:00 pm) We saw Velvet.

Tuesday - Six........

On the 1/30 sailing , Burn the floor was earlier in the week and Six was later in the week, so it may change week to week, but the show times should be able to be planned around.

 

This is the third iteration I've seen of Burn the Floor.  Everyone's taste is individual, but I have to say - WOW - on this production.

[RN_Prof]

Is there a site where they report how full the ship is? We are sailing 3/26 - 4/3 and if the ship is that empty I may forego the spa pass and aim for the deck pools.

 

Does anyone know where to get a COVID test in downtown New Orleans? We are taking the train in and are staying a few blocks away from the train station. All the testing site I see are away from the downtown area.

[paf910]

RN_Prof. I know there is a Walgreens on Canal Street. I usually get a rapid antigen test from them but on the Westbank. Results within 24 hours

[leveedogs]

On 2/18/2022 at 10:31 PM, RN_Prof said:

Is there a site where they report how full the ship is? We are sailing 3/26 - 4/3 and if the ship is that empty I may forego the spa pass and aim for the deck pools.

 

Cruise lines probably want to keep this stat hidden to avoid exactly what you are considering.  And there is less time pressure to book and pay deposits early if cruisers know there are loads of open cabins in all categories.  In fact, if you know a cruise is looking very empty then it would be better to wait for last minute deals and enticements before booking.  Connected travel agents might have real-time booking rates per itinerary on hand, but not us regular people. 

 

However, you can get a rough estimate of occupied vs open rooms by pretending to book your same cruise after first logging out or with a different device/browser.  On cabin selection page and while browsing through forward/aft/rear, inside/balcony options you can see roughly the proportion of rooms that are available, at least for the moment.  This is probably accurate for cruises disembarking in the next few months.

 

However, with cruises in the distant future cruise lines may have the incentive to block out rooms and make them look reserved so that you feel pressured to book now before the ship is full or rates increase.  Then they can slowly make those blocked cabins available over time.

[DwayneG]

Is Breakaway still using the old key cards you stick in the slot or have they changed to the proximity ones you just wave around?  Want to know whether we can punch our cards for lanyards or need the kind with a pocket.

[MagnoliaBlossom]

Time change also varies according to whether we are on Standard Time, or Daylight Savings Time.

[SimplyAlbert]

On 2/20/2022 at 3:48 PM, DwayneG said:

Is Breakaway still using the old key cards you stick in the slot or have they changed to the proximity ones you just wave around?  Want to know whether we can punch our cards for lanyards or need the kind with a pocket.

We just had to wave ours, but we were in a handicap room so I don't know if that is different from the rest of the rooms.

[PaperSniper4]

On 2/18/2022 at 10:31 PM, RN_Prof said:

Is there a site where they report how full the ship is? We are sailing 3/26 - 4/3 and if the ship is that empty I may forego the spa pass and aim for the deck pools.

 

Does anyone know where to get a COVID test in downtown New Orleans? We are taking the train in and are staying a few blocks away from the train station. All the testing site I see are away from the downtown area.

I'm on the NCL Breakaway which sails from NOLA 27 March 2022. Sounds like we ought to be on the same sailing, but you typed 3/26. Just checking.....probably a typo.😎

 

Doug

[MtnCliner]

On 2/20/2022 at 2:48 PM, DwayneG said:

Is Breakaway still using the old key cards you stick in the slot or have they changed to the proximity ones you just wave around?  Want to know whether we can punch our cards for lanyards or need the kind with a pocket.

Just got off the Breakaway - we were in a regular balcony and just had to wave the card to unlock the door.

[vinotinto]

Thank you for the mini-review! I just booked the Breakaway 35 days out, so frantically planning everything last minute. When I log online none of the entertainment is bookable, says none available, check on the ship, etc. Do you need advance reservations for any of them or do you just show up or will they open reservations once you are onboard?

[PaperSniper4]

46 minutes ago, vinotinto said:

Thank you for the mini-review! I just booked the Breakaway 35 days out, so frantically planning everything last minute. When I log online none of the entertainment is bookable, says none available, check on the ship, etc. Do you need advance reservations for any of them or do you just show up or will they open reservations once you are onboard?

Only a guess on my part, but maybe we cannot be book entertainment until 21 days before sailing (week from today), which is the same date we can start our online check in for the cruise? Seems weird since we have been able to book specialty dining for a long time.

 

Doug

[bigrednole]

1 hour ago, vinotinto said:

Thank you for the mini-review! I just booked the Breakaway 35 days out, so frantically planning everything last minute. When I log online none of the entertainment is bookable, says none available, check on the ship, etc. Do you need advance reservations for any of them or do you just show up or will they open reservations once you are onboard?

I am on the week after you. I have a feeling that the ship capacity is lower and there is no need for reservations. 

[SimplyAlbert]

23 hours ago, vinotinto said:

Thank you for the mini-review! I just booked the Breakaway 35 days out, so frantically planning everything last minute. When I log online none of the entertainment is bookable, says none available, check on the ship, etc. Do you need advance reservations for any of them or do you just show up or will they open reservations once you are onboard?

 

There were so few people on our sailing that you didn't need to make reservations.  We couldn't pre-book any entertainment, but once we got on the ship we were able to book everything using the electronic boards, which are all over the ship.  We were able to pre-book our dining reservations, but there were plenty of open times on-board.   

[vinotinto]

2 minutes ago, SimplyAlbert said:

 

There were so few people on our sailing that you didn't need to make reservations.  We couldn't pre-book any entertainment, but once we got on the ship we were able to book everything using the electronic boards, which are all over the ship.  We were able to pre-book our dining reservations, but there were plenty of open times on-board.   

Ohhh, thank you! Sounds great! Hope it stays like this, at least for a while.

[Earthworm Jim]

On 2/18/2022 at 11:31 PM, RN_Prof said:

Is there a site where they report how full the ship is? We are sailing 3/26 - 4/3 and if the ship is that empty I may forego the spa pass and aim for the deck pools.

 

I don't know for sure, but I'd speculate it will be more than the 1000-1100 the OP estimated as the Dec/Jan peak omicron wave is further behind us and people are increasingly willing to cruise. Also spring break could be a factor increasing passenger load.

[SimplyAlbert]

15 hours ago, Earthworm Jim said:

 

I don't know for sure, but I'd speculate it will be more than the 1000-1100 the OP estimated as the Dec/Jan peak omicron wave is further behind us and people are increasingly willing to cruise. Also spring break could be a factor increasing passenger load.

 Plus they're now allowing unvaccinated children (11 and under), which may bring more families on board.   There were very few children on our cruise.

[wolft927]

I am on the Breakaway on March 6th, was on it in December and the retractable roof in the Haven was not working, anyone know if it has worked since then?

[rmurray847]

On 2/18/2022 at 8:27 AM, brovol said:

Wife and I have been on about 30 cruises over the years, and recall that any and every time the ships have entered a new time zone, ships time changes accordingly, and changes back when we renter to original time zone.  Cant imagine doing it another way either.  The time is what the time is where you are on the globe.

We did a transatlantic on Breakaway in 2018.  When we were in LaHavre, the ship time did NOT match local time and we were reminded frequently to stay on SHIP time.  Lots of confusion.  Almost like they were hoping people would screw up and miss the ship!

[brovol]

15 hours ago, rmurray847 said:

We did a transatlantic on Breakaway in 2018.  When we were in LaHavre, the ship time did NOT match local time and we were reminded frequently to stay on SHIP time.  Lots of confusion.  Almost like they were hoping people would screw up and miss the ship!

HAHA.  Maybe that was the plan.  I'm sure there are times when ships stay on the original port "ship-time" while traveling through time zones, but I think it is more typical to change with the zones.  The time, anywhere you are, is what it is where you are.  A ship cant change what the time actually is; it can just advise that for all things scheduled on the ship they are going to ignore the actual time, and utilize its own for ships purpose.  But I'm not disagreeing with you at all.  All of our cruises over the years have been Caribbean, or Atlantic to Bermuda or Bahamas, so, while we have been on 30 or so, they have been limited to those sections of the world.