All About the Kids
Cruising- Gulf of Mexico
Monday, November 19, 2018
This was a day to explore as much of the Norwegian Breakaway as possible. The kids watched so many YouTube videos prior to this cruise, they knew exactly what they wanted to do and it was a matter of doing it. They were so excited.
Morning
As typical for a middle of the school year cruise, I woke up at 5:45AM. I went to the balcony to enjoy the sunrise and Luke later woke up and joined me. He was my early morning balcony buddy the whole trip and I LOVED it.
Chris and Natalie both woke up shortly after 7AM and we all got ready and went to breakfast in the Garden Cafe. This was a typical cruise ship buffet but it did offer multiple omelet stations as well as a Vegetarian station, if that tickles your fancy. The kids loved being able to get “whatever they wanted” (ex- 6 pancakes for Luke! Mom Fail) and eat as much as they wanted as well.
We then spent the rest of the morning enjoying the pools, hot tubs and AquaPark complex. We chased each other in the Kiddie Pool, enjoyed the warmer temps in the hot tub and rode the slides. TIP- The water slides all open at 9AM on SEADAYS. Get there early to enjoy unlimited rides without lines.
The Breakaway has 4 hot tubs in the main Lido area.
2 are adults only (PORT SIDE) and 2 allow kids!
I LOVE Cruising with my 2 favorite people!
Luke loved this slide. I think he rode it over a dozen times on this day alone!
Natalie liked this slide too but enjoyed the WHIP (tunnel) slides more!
2 are adults only (PORT SIDE) and 2 allow kids!
The kids LOVED this open slide!
We all enjoyed the Family slide and rode it about 4-5 times before the Whip Slide opened at 9:30AM. TIP- These Whip Slides are tubed slides and are a lot faster than the “open” Family slide. You can even race each other. The purple slide is a little bit faster than the yellow. The kids and I each did those slides 3-5 more times before retiring in the hot tub for the morning.
Luke said he was not tired from all of the swimming and sliding so he went and ran 2 miles on the jogging track. Natalie enjoyed some of the deck games while Chris and I laid out and enjoyed the shade from our deck chairs. TIP- There was ALWAYS a deck chair while we were on the Breakaway. In fact, this ship offered the most chairs and the most deck space of any cruise ship we have been on. We NEVER had to look for chairs, even 3-4 together, and most of the time, they were front and center of the action. Furthermore, the Breakaway had LOTS of covered areas. Our sensitive, red-head skin, appreciated that very much.
The seas were as smooth as glass! Some of our calmest seas ever!
Afternoon
We knew we wanted to eat at the Shanghai Noodle Bar and it opened around 12PM so at 11:30AM, we headed back to our room to get dry and ready for lunch. We made our way to deck 7 aft for the Noodle Bar and found a line of about 10 people deep. There were people already eating in this TINY restaurant. I asked the hostess if I read the FreeStyle wrong and she informed me that I had the time wrong. We had moved our clocks forward in preparation of Mexico time but I was unaware. This was a little aggravating as I expected it to be posted in the FreeStyle or a note with our turn down service. Nonetheless, we got in line and waited about 30 minutes before getting seated in the Noodle Bar. TIP- The Shanghai Noodle Bar is only open for lunch on SEADAYS from 12-2PM. It is also open for dinner 5-9PM but with multiple Specialty Dining Restaurant included in our cruise fair a perk, we had to eat at these at night. This particular restaurant is very small and only houses 42 people at a time. With that being said, this was the start of us noticing that NCL didn’t have enough options for lunch. In fact, it was here where we began to wonder if NCL knew how to do a “Mega Ship”. The layout of the ship was awful and there were many design flaws; for example, this Noodle Bar. For a ship carrying 4,800 passengers this “free” option only housed 42 people at a time. Meanwhile, only 1 of the Main Dining Rooms was open for sit-down lunch and the Garden Cafe was crowded with people up on the Lido Deck. This was the beginning of a realization that larger NCL ships may not be for us.
The Noodle Bar menu!
Trust me... The food is superb! It is worth the wait!
Trust me... The food is superb! It is worth the wait!
However, our lunch was outstanding. The food and overall service were superb, despite the wait to get seated. The kids LOVED the Asian style food and this quickly became their favorite restaurant on the ship. Of course… it’s only open 2 days of the cruise.
Natalie LOVED these dumplings!
She was a BIG fan!
She was a BIG fan!
After lunch we made our way back towards the Lido area and made our way to the Spice H20 area on deck 16 aft. This was a HUGE open space with ample deck chairs and even a large screen for movies and parties. TIP- This is an adults only area until 7pm (which we did not realize at the time) and has a great waterfall pool area built right in. It also features 2 adults only hot tubs. I do feel, however, this would be a great spot for an additional pool as the Breakaway only has 1 pool for adults and a small pool for kids. This area was not busy at this 2PM time and we were able to get a quick nap before realizing it was an Adults Only area (truly, sorry… I did not know).
In the Spice H2O area!
By this time, Luke was yearning to play mini-golf and Natalie wanted to do the Ropes Course again so we set up camp on Deck 17 for the Sport Complex. Luke played golf for over an hour as we sat in line for Natalie to do the Ropes Course again. She did the ENTIRE thing this time and did each and every single traverse. I was very proud of her. I will join her next time! TIP- Remember, the line for the Ropes Course was almost always 50+ people deep and over an hour wait. Try to do it on the 1st night or 1st time it is open to avoid these long lines.
Luke was more than pleased to play golf while we waited.
The before picture!
She loved the Ropes Course!
She did it! She walked the Plank!
And then completed the course on the zipline!
Natalie's Ropes Course adventure!
The After picture!
By this time, Luke was yearning to play mini-golf and Natalie wanted to do the Ropes Course again so we set up camp on Deck 17 for the Sport Complex. Luke played golf for over an hour as we sat in line for Natalie to do the Ropes Course again. She did the ENTIRE thing this time and did each and every single traverse. I was very proud of her. I will join her next time! TIP- Remember, the line for the Ropes Course was almost always 50+ people deep and over an hour wait. Try to do it on the 1st night or 1st time it is open to avoid these long lines.
The before picture!
She loved the Ropes Course!
She did it! She walked the Plank!
#AdventureswithNattieGrace
The After picture!
Way to go Nattie Grace! We are proud of you!
We then made our way to the Box Office to reserve our seats for the entertainment on board. NCL’s Mega Ships have Broadway style entertainment on board and reservations are required. I knew this going into the cruise and tried to pre-book online prior to the cruise but was not able to. Once I made my way to the box office, I encountered a line about 10 parties deep. I waited about 30-45 minutes to speak to a representative. We reserved seats for the 2 Broadway shows and a few comedy shows. I was a little aggravated by this as NCL preaches “Freestyle Cruising” and “Do what you want, when you want”. I did not want to stand in line in the middle of my seaday for 45 minutes to get tickets to the shows. We got our tickets and all was well but I did not like having to reserve tickets. TIP- I learned later in the cruise that you could book these seats using the large TVs on every floor.
After we got the tickets we went to O’Sheehans to play arcade games for the rest of the afternoon. TIP- The Breakaway has 2 arcade areas on board. The main arcade is on Deck 16 aft and has LOTS of games but O’Sheehans, on Deck 7, also has multiple games and much less of a crowd. In addition, O’Sheehans offers BOWLING on Deck 7. These games are very well priced at $1-2 per game. The BOWLING was $6 per game but could have up to 4 people play at a time. We played games for about an hour before heading to the room to get ready for dinner.
The kids loved the bowling on the ship. TIP- Be sure to check how many players. We ended up paying 2 times because we only checked 1 player.
Nat Nat... My Skeetball girl!
We had to make a pit stop at MY FAVORITE place on the ship... the WAKE!
Me and my mini-me!
Me and my mini-me!
Evening
Our evening started with watching the sunset from our balcony! This is one of my all-time favorite things to do while on a cruise ship and this sunset did not disappoint!
Sunset on the balcony!
I love these 2 SO MUCH!
Sunset happened at 5:10PM... Gotta love winter cruises.
Our evening started with watching the sunset from our balcony! This is one of my all-time favorite things to do while on a cruise ship and this sunset did not disappoint!
I love these 2 SO MUCH!
Sunset happened at 5:10PM... Gotta love winter cruises.
We made reservations at Teppanyaki prior to our cruise, knowing it was a VERY popular dining venue. Our reservations were for 6PM for all four of us. Since all 4 of us were dining, we had to pay for the kids to eat at this Specialty Dining. TIP- Norwegian does not have a Kids Specialty Dining price. All of the specialty dining is priced the same. Teppanyaki has a set price of $30 per person no matter if it is for an adult or child. Other Specailty Dining is priced a la carte. I appreciate Royal Caribbean who has a set price of $10 for kids in Specialty Dining. However, NCL offers FREE kids menu options (same menu as the MDR). We ended up buying 1 extra $30 plate and then had Luke order off of the regular kids menu. The waiters were great in allowing the kids to share the $30 plate.
Poor Luke was so tired of taking pictures!
Not Natalie... she is all smiles.
Luke was really hungry! He ate 3 plates of edamame.
#CruiselikeaDavis
Not Natalie... she is all smiles.
Luke was really hungry! He ate 3 plates of edamame.
#CruiselikeaDavis
The food and overall experience at Teppanyaki was fantastic and we all had a GREAT time. The service was not as good as our previous Teppanyaki experience on the Pearl but it was still very good. We did have to wait a while to have our chef arrive and prepare our meal. We had 6PM reservations and he did not start cooking until 7PM. The chef did the typical tricks but the kids loved EVERY minute of it. He even allowed everyone to catch some food. This was a sight to see, for sure.
Luke catching the food from the chef!
Natalie's turn! It took her 3 tries but she got it!
Of course... Chris got it on the 1st try but it is not his first rodeo!
Of course... Chris got it on the 1st try but it is not his first rodeo!
After dinner we ran back to the room to have the kids change clothes and 3 out of the 4 of us fell asleep. After our short nap, we went to play shuffleboard on Deck 7. None of us really knew how to play but each of the kids told us the rules! The kids also played checkers on the Waterfront while we enjoyed some drinks from the Shakers Martini Bar. Then we all four enjoyed singing along at the Piano Bar. I even got up and sang with the performer.
We had a "WELCOME BACK" gift in our room.
The kids loved telling us the rules for shuffleboard.
Luke won the game of checkers!
Champagne for being a Bronze NCL member.
The kids loved telling us the rules for shuffleboard.
Luke won the game of checkers!
We made a quick pit stop by the Garden Cafe to check out the “late night snacks” and for Luke to get some ice cream. The late night options were not great but we appreciated them being there because I don't know how but each of us were a little hungry.
After our late night snacks we made our way back to our room for some late night balcony time before calling it a night.
This seaday was filled with lots of fun and memories shared by the whole family. The next day was our first of FOUR port days. We were in our 2nd home… Cozumel, Mexico! I swear we practically pay property taxes there!
A recap of our 2nd day aboard the beautiful NCL Breakaway!
THANKS FOR FOLLOWING ALONG !
THANKS FOR FOLLOWING ALONG !
Stay Tuned... Cozumel is up next!
GOD IS GOOD... ALL THE TIME!
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