Day 7
Gulf of Mexico
Saturday, November 24, 2018
It's our LAST DAY!
It was our last day on board the NCL Breakaway and there were still things we had not seen and wanted to try. We were all tired from a busy trip but we made the most of our last day!
Morning
Luke and I woke up and had our morning balcony time before the other two joined us. It was a beautiful sunny day and the seas were fairly calm.
Luke and I got to witness the sunrise and that was really neat!
Luke truly LOVED this balcony!
I am going to miss this quiet stillness!
There were some choppy waves but still very smooth seas.
We noticed in the FreeStyles that Moderno was offering an "Express Breakfast" so we opted to try it out. I was expecting a sit-down and order type of thing but it was more of a buffet. They had most of the same items offered in the Garden Cafe and it was not crowded at all. TIP- This was offered most days and seemed very well organized and the food was great.
Overall, this was a good breakfast experience and I wish we would have found out about it prior to the last day of the cruise.
After breakfast we walked around the ship exploring all we had not seen on the Breakaway, including the Vibe Beach club. TIP- NCL offers the Vibe Club passes to a VERY LIMITED number of guests on embarkation day. You literally have to run to Guest Services to get the tickets. However, it looked like a great place to spend your cruise and with limited number of people allowed in the club, a PERFECT way spend 7 days!
The VIBE BEACH club offering private Hot Tubs and clam-shells.
The kids loved this ship!
A view of the main pool area from Deck 17.
The hot tub on the right is for ADULTS only but the one on the left allows kids.
We wanted to play shuffleboard but it had been raining so we were not getting good traction. Later a worker told us it was too wet to play, for safety reasons, so we opted to go play mini-golf (of course) instead. We played several rounds before spending hours in the pool and hot tub. The kids rode the Family and Whip water-slides and Natalie was "almost" ready to get up the courage to ride the FreeFall with me; however, it was still not open.
We never really played by the official rules but the kids LOVED shuffleboard.
My own little TIGER WOODS!
After a few hours at the AquaPark we got dried off and then went to the towel folding demonstration in the atrium. I was expecting it to be like Carnival and they would TEACH YOU how to fold these animals but it was just a demonstration.
Towel Folding Fun!
Afternoon
We made our way to the Shanghai Noodle Bar at 11:35AM since they opened at 12PM. I guess all 4,800 other passengers did the same because we were in a very long line. REMINDER- This Noodle Bar only has 42 seats and is only open on Sea Days for lunch from 12-2PM. We got to the front of the line at 12:05PM and we were handed the 1st pager. So in essence, we were the 1st LOSERS. We were quoted a 45 minutes wait.
Luke was STARVING and HANGRY so we went up to Moderno on Deck 8 to check out the "Mexican Buffet". This was a small buffet that featured all kinds of "Mexican" dishes, including tacos, burritos and fajitas. Pretty much everything but the tortillas... and salsa! Hello NCL? Do you know where you sailed out of... We want NEED the salsa! We waited about 15 minutes for them to get the tortillas. The comments from the other guests was pretty funny! And let's just say it left much to be desired so we went back to the Noodle Bar for our real lunch. This was just a snack!
They paged us that our table was ready at Shanghai around 12:45PM. People were still getting in line but the Maitre' D was telling them no more service since it was an hour wait and they closed at 2PM. As much as I LOVED this food, this is almost a waste of NCL's time and money. If you can only feed 120 people in a 2 hour span... Not really worth it!
We got to sit at a bar near the kitchen in the Noodle Bar and this was very interesting to see the chefs cook the food. But unlike sea day #1, our service on this day was AWFUL. The waitress could have cared less and we literally saw our food get plated and then sit there for 15 minutes. We were a little aggravated but still made the most of our lunch.
Our view from our seats!
Waiting patiently for our food!
Even after the "Mexican" buffet in Morderno, he still destroyed his food!
He must be going through a growth spurt.
I think y'all need to go ahead and start praying for me and those teenage years NOW!
After we got done eating quickly ran to the Captain's question and answer session as this is Chris's favorite thing to do on a cruise. This was a neat experience as Natalie got to ask questions as well. We learned that our Captain's favorite destination to sail to was... ANTARTICA! We were all pretty impressed with that answer.
TIP- If you like to learn while you cruise, be sure to check out the Captain's Question and Answer sessions. We have seen them across ALL the major cruise lines and it really is interesting to learn about how these floating resorts work.
After the Q&A, we went straight to the Ropes Course, but the line was as long as it had ever been and Natalie decided she did not want to spend her last afternoon on board in a line. This is where we began to question if our family is ready for DISNEYLAND. Luke HATES the lines and so does Chris and by the end of the trip Natalie was not enjoying the wait times either. We are going to rethink our California 2019 Disneyland plans after this!
FYI- If it rains, the Rock Wall will not be open for the remainder of the day. The mats are wet and it is not safe! We saw a few customers get rude with the Sports workers, which was uncalled for, but just a heads up!
Natalie finally decided she wanted to do the FreeFall water-slide but as we were going to our room to change back into swimsuits she saw a young girl get stuck and had to use the escape pod! Yeah... That idea went out the window! We did not get to ride that slide this cruise. I guess that means we will have to come back! We went to the arcade instead.
I think Luke could have spent the whole cruise in here!
We then went to the Waterfront to enjoy the rest of our sea day and some shuffleboard. We got a few drinks at the Shakers Martini Bar and enjoyed the live music before getting ready for dinner.
This was taken at 4:30PM... I did not know the sun would set at 4:58PM.
Evening
I noticed the sun was setting but at 4:45PM, I thought I had enough time to go get dressed for dinner and then come back to the Waterfront. I misjudged the timing and we missed the official sunset but enjoyed the riminents anyway.
I may have missed the actual sunset but God sure does paint a GORGEOUS picture!
I love when He uses PINKS!
I love when He uses PINKS!
It's the last night... WHAT A GREAT CRUISE!
We then went to dinner at Savor MDR and enjoyed a fairly quick meal. The service was good and the food was exceptional as it had been most of the trip. We quickly scurried off to the theater as we had "Burn the Floor" tickets for the 7PM show. TIP- Once again, I feel NCL missed it here as you HAVE to have tickets for this show but you must also get your tickets scanned by 6:50PM or they will be given to the Standby Line. Thus only allowing you 1:20 minutes for dinner in the MDR as they do not open until 5:30. It is just my opinion, but the timing seems like it needs some improvements.
Natalie's usual of "Mozzarella Ravioli"! She would order double and even TRIPLE orders!
And as predicted Luke had strawberry ice cream.
The "Burn the Floor" show as good but not as good as we would have hoped. The kids stayed engaged for most of the show but not all of the show. Afterwards we, once again, quickly hurried over to Headliner's for a family friendly Comedy Show. It turned out to be the exact same guy, with the exact same jokes, but the kids loved it so it was all worth it. Again, I am not a fan of how NCL does the comedy shows and comedians.
Selfie time at the Comedy Show!
By now it was 10PM and we knew we would be reaching the mouth of the Mississippi River soon. We grabbed some cupcakes at Carlos Bakery in the Atrium, which were good and reasonably priced, and then went to our balcony to watch the water change. We did not see the Pilot get on board this cruise but it was INCREDIBLY foggy on this evening. The Carnival Dream was behind us and between these 2 ships, the horns were blowing almost every minute. We reached the Mississippi right before 11PM and then we packed up our bags and went to bed. We were all tired and had a LONG day of driving back to Houston the following day.
Here you can see us entering the mouth of the Mississippi River around 11PM.
The kids had a GREAT TIME!
It was a glorious CRUISE! Now... To plan the next one!
This day was a great day of a little bit of this and a little bit of that on board the Breakaway. The kids had a great time and so did the adults. It's hard to believe this cruise is over! We have had SO MUCH FUN!
Here is a RECAP of Day 7!
Y'all stay tuned for our FOOD BLOG and our disembarkation recap!
We appreciate y'all following along!
Thanks for sharing your experience and valuable thoughts with us. I am sure it has been an inspiration for many people. Keep it up!!
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Hi guys. I went onboard a year later in our summer vacation.
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DeleteAnd then A Year later July 2019 we went onboard. But except from Miami. Were planning an NCL Encore cruise near or home from San Francisco then Miami then flight to SF back home.
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