NCL Breakaway March 3-10 from New Orleans semi-live

[Panhandle Couple]

53 minutes ago, PaperSniper4 said:

I looked it up at the hotel's web page:

Parking

On-Site Parking Available

• Guests may park in the covered self-park garage attached to hotel for $40 per day. Over-sized vehicles, bus, or RV parking available in the adjacent outdoor lot at additional cost, not affiliated with the hotel.
• Cost: $40 USD

 

Ouch, that would be $280 for the week, about $100 more than I'm paying near the dock. I think I'll stick with my regular plan; drive 5 hours from home to Hammond LA on Saturday, then drive the rest of the way (90 minutes or so) to the parking area near the dock.

 

 Doug

You have to use the stay and park rate when booking on line or calling direct. 

[boffoboffo]

Finally made it to Cave City about half an hour before sunset. Sun goes down pretty early when you’re on the far eastern edge of a time zone. Fairly uneventful drive once we got past the bit of snow. 

Stopped for lunch at the McDonald’s in Wapakoneta, Ohio which was right next door to the Armstrong Air and Space Museum. Might have been an interesting place to check out if we had more time. 

A 52 foot tall Jesus seems like a good way to tell you’ve officially entered the Bible Belt. 

Crossing the Ohio River from Cincinnati entering into Kentucky. 

Our poor car in Kentucky still showing off what the roads in Ontario did to it. 

Figured I’d better post this for some reason. 
 

Sadly no time to do anything in and around this area as it looks like there are plenty of tourist attractions nearby. May have to consider a future trip just to spend some time here. 

[cruiseny4life]

Continued safe travels to you! And happy Bucees time!! 

[slavigne5577]

We were in Costa Maya on 2/12/24 and had made reservations to go to Maya Chan. It is our new go to place for Costa Maya. They have separate seating (lounging) areas on the beach for each group already assigned. My husband and I were so happy enjoying our lazy day at their beach. We were not close enough to anyone to hear their conversations. The transportation, food, drinks  are all included and they were so great at letting us do what we wanted which was nothing. Food was all fresh and very tasty. We loved it! We are not into swimming, just relaxed on the quiet beach in the shade of our very own. If you are interested, you can Google it. They have a website and answer questions very quickly. Have a Great Cruise.

[boffoboffo]

Not taking the time for comments but just a quick picture to satisfy everyone. 

[Qball714]

54 minutes ago, boffoboffo said:

Not taking the time for comments but just a quick picture to satisfy everyone. 

Woohoo! Greatest place ever. Had I seen this in time I would have given you must-do's for Buc-ee's. Safe travels.

BTW, I'm new to this thread, but very appreciative. We are doing your exact same cruise one week later (Mar 10-17).

[boffoboffo]

Not much in the way of tales to tell for today. I drove the first half so didn’t get any pictures from then. It was nice seeing the countryside sticking to the backroads but it did rain most of the day. There must be nearly one Dollar General and one Baptist Church for every household down here, or at least so it seems. In West Point, Mississippi for the night. 

Tennessee was nice enough to welcome us because Alabama didn’t.

Some court house and church somewhere. 

This was somewhere in Alabama. I don’t remember where. I had a brisket sandwich for lunch and my wife had turkey. 

At least with the rainy day we got a free car wash out of it. 

Almost missed this welcome sign but at least it was better than Alabama. 

[boffoboffo]

Turns out the problem with a 2,000 km road trip on the way to a cruise is you totally forget about the cruise while doing it. It’s very weird at the moment to think we’ll be getting on a cruise ship tomorrow. I assume that will change once we make it to New Orleans today. 

[boffoboffo]

We’ve made it to New Orleans. Well I’m sure it’s actually a suburb of some sort. We’re like  8 miles from the cruise terminal. Overcast all the way here but no real rain. 

Random road in Mississippi. 
 

There was no welcome to Louisiana sign so this was the best I could do. 

Crossing the Lake Pontchartrain causeway. 

A random street near our motel. 
 

[boffoboffo]

As planned we drove just down the road a ways to check out the Bayou Sauvage National Wildlife Refuge. My wife would have better pictures of birds we saw since she has a real camera instead of just a cell phone but we did see a bunch. 

We did get to see a small gator in the water. 

And lots of rabbits not in the water. 

And I really appreciated the specificity of this sign just around the corner from our motel. 

[boffoboffo]

Got an email this morning to watch the safety video again. Got an email yesterday morning to watch the safety video again. Got another email yesterday morning to let us know that our upgrade bid was being reviewed and to keep checking my email up until 0 hours before the cruise to see if we get upgraded. Got another email the day before yesterday morning to watch the safety video again. Since I can only watch it so many times and NCL is clearly desperate for YouTube page views, enjoy. 
 

 

[Bngfan]

Having a hard time getting the cameras wifi to work so photos of photos will have to do for now. 😁

Boat-tailed Grackle

 

American Coot

  

 

Common Moorhen (or Common Gallinule)

 

Little Blue Heron

 

Double-crested Cormorant

 

Anhinga

 

White-faced Ibis

 

Snowy Egret (this guys got some great hair - I’m jealous! 🤣)

Black-bellied Whistling Duck

 

And a baby Alligator

Don’t worry - we didn’t feed or harass him 🐊 

 

[AKR2011]

5 minutes ago, Bngfan said:

Having a hard time getting the cameras wifi to work so photos of photos will have to do for now. 😁

Boat-tailed Grackle

 

American Coot

  

 

Common Moorhen (or Common Gallinule)

 

Little Blue Heron

 

Double-crested Cormorant

 

Anhinga

 

White-faced Ibis

 

Snowy Egret (this guys got some great hair - I’m jealous! 🤣)

Black-bellied Whistling Duck

 

And a baby Alligator

Don’t worry - we didn’t feed or harass him 🐊 

 

Just jumping in to join this review. Excited fir The Breakaway myself next year and DH I an avid birder. You took some beautiful photos! ❤️⚓️

[boffoboffo]

Looks like the Breakaway is pulling into port at 6am.  

[James_Elmore]

Enjoying ready for your cruise will be on in two weeks!

[boffoboffo]

Short drive to the terminal became longer with a train stopped on the road. Made it up the parking garage and on the shuttle bus. NYC is much easier. 

 

Edited March 3 by boffoboffo

[boffoboffo]

Once we found our way through the masses getting off the ship that was fast and easy. 10:05 and we’re already checked in and waiting. 

[graphicguy]

On 2/29/2024 at 8:32 PM, boffoboffo said:

Finally made it to Cave City about half an hour before sunset. Sun goes down pretty early when you’re on the far eastern edge of a time zone. Fairly uneventful drive once we got past the bit of snow. 

Stopped for lunch at the McDonald’s in Wapakoneta, Ohio which was right next door to the Armstrong Air and Space Museum. Might have been an interesting place to check out if we had more time. 

A 52 foot tall Jesus seems like a good way to tell you’ve officially entered the Bible Belt. 

Crossing the Ohio River from Cincinnati entering into Kentucky. 

Our poor car in Kentucky still showing off what the roads in Ontario did to it. 

Figured I’d better post this for some reason. 
 

Sadly no time to do anything in and around this area as it looks like there are plenty of tourist attractions nearby. May have to consider a future trip just to spend some time here. 

You’re driving right through the heart of my home!  Welcome!

[boffoboffo]

In the interest of being very thorough in my posting here’s what the carpet in the waiting area looks like, in case anyone was curious. 

Or maybe I’m just bored and now y’all(a couple days in the south and I’m already picking up the language) have to suffer too. 

[boffoboffo]

10:56 and special assistance guests have been called to board. 

[Bngfan]

14 hours ago, AKR2011 said:

Just jumping in to join this review. Excited fir The Breakaway myself next year and DH I an avid birder. You took some beautiful photos! ❤️⚓️

Thanks so much!  Highly recommend Bayou - both the driving portion and the boardwalk trail. 😁

[boffoboffo]

Called group 3 at 11:10. Onboard, mustered and waiting for Taste/Savor to open in 8 minutes at 11:30. 

[boffoboffo]

The second group seated and service was kind of slow but it’s not like we have much else to do until the rooms are ready. 

Lunch with a view. 

Cobb salad. 

Turkey cottage pie. 

Orange chocolate mousse. 

[boffoboffo]

Currently sitting at the front of the ship relaxing. Nice and quiet here with only a few people around. 

Our first glimpse of the ship while on the shuttle.

I’m taking the stairs while on the ship so I might as well take them to get on the ship, even though I don’t have the same beef with escalators that I do with elevators. 

Shhh! Don’t tell anyone. 

First step on board. 

New Orleans. 

My view at this exact moment. 

[boffoboffo]

Call was made around 2:30 that cabins were ready. Turns out it pays to be on deck 5 since everyone else is trying to go up to their rooms and we’re the only ones going down. 

Not only that but we get a double wide hall down here. 

Our cabin is certainly not double wide. One of our bags has arrived with three more to go. 

Haven’t been to the buffet to see if there are any there but the studio lounge has easily accessible cookies. Just need to find a solo friend to travel with or a stranger you can bribe to get access. 

Found a quiet spot on the shady side of the Waterfront watch things go by.