National Family Play Date Day Fun aboard the Norwegian Breakaway

Play Date-I had mentioned in the last couple of entries-May 10th was the day!  And we were aboard the Norwegian Breakaway! 

When you think of a play date, what comes to mind?  In the old days, it was go to you neighbors house and told your kids "I'll see you at dinner time."  Now it is: I will accompany my child to a stranger's house and I will sit and chat with the mom while the children play together.  But it is never rarely that little man and I have a play date, just him and I.  Well, actually we do play pretend, do obstacle courses, play star wars and power rangers.  But I never make it an appointment on my iPhone.  I never make a point of it.  It just happens-when it can.  Yet everything else I schedule, this is one thing I don't and I should.  It is just important to make that play date with your kid as it is to remember a birthday or go for a mani pedi.  So for now on I vow to make a play date with my man!

However, a scheduled date was made.  On May 10, my family-my sisters, niece, mom, and little man had a play date.  It was National Family Play Date Day, and my niece came up with a scavenger hunt.  Our date was set.  She compiled the list and we were scheduled to run around the boat and locate things like salt and pepper shakers, a picture with a crew person, etc. 
My team, the blue team,  was mom, Allison and me.  Niece's team, the white team, was Dan, Michele, and her. 

You know who we thought was going to win right?

But we were proved wrong!!! 

List in hand and we were off.
We immediately ran up the stairs to get the things on the buffet level, ran back down to the waterfront level to get the remaining things and then back to the room.  Whoever returned first with all things in hand won.

Who do you think we thought was going to win?

Well, the blue team returned first, way ahead of the white team. 

We are accused of cheating but that's subjective because I don't think the rules were clearly stated.  The only rule we heard was you must get all things on the list.  We will leave that challenge for another day but what's fair is fair.  BLUE team won!!!  
Even though we thought the white team would score big!

Check out the Active Family Project for more info on keeping active with the family and locate activities in your area by clicking here!!  Happy Summer Fun!

Breakaway from these chains..Sail away from your mind...

Okay so last blog entry was a little off.  It really wasn't my voice.  Well it was...but I was told that I sounded like a snooty food critic.  Wait, I'm not a food critic???  I think my humor really didn't come through, as the time on board the Norwegian Breakaway was awesome, just some flaws...we all have flaws and don't we LOVE to hear about them so we can improve?  That's how I roll...

I also think my entry could have been off because I have not been feeling well.  I don't get it...I eat healthy...for the most part...I sleep 7-8 hours a night...well I put my head to the pillow at 8:30 PM and wake up at 5:30 AM, and then there are those nasty creatures that wake me up during the night...dreams...thoughts...birds!  And I exercise...Why don't I feel like the 22 year old I am?  Oh wait, that's Taylor Swift's new song, not my age.  Crap!  Okay why don't I feel like the beautiful, energized, outgoing 30 something woman I am??? I need to call that doctor for the enlarged lymph node, and and that mammogram too.  Thanks to the peeps for reminding me. 

Anywho, let me try to get my tone right for this next "review." 
If you asked little man how this cruise was-he would say AMAZING!! And when are we going again?  Oh wait, he did say that..."So, we are coming back in July mom?"  Yikes...

So here in a nut shell, or a clam shell-Spongebob and friends are on board, get it?- are the remaining features of the ship that I would like to highlight. 

Dan the man asks: "How are they surviving up here?" Smart kid...

Pool/Water Area-2 pools-1 family 1 adult.  I preferred the family one...SMOKE was surrounding the adults only area.  Bar included. Yes, I HATE smoke.  I love adults, and especially when I am on a trip with no kids, I really like adults.  But the pool is small with barely any room to sun.  Yes, my favorite thing at the pool!  So my next trip I need to upgrade to the Haven or something!  The water area for kids was awesome.  Water but not too much water.  Dan hates to have water spilled over his head but he loved it here!  And the slides.  I was way too scared to go on the freefall.  Maybe next trip...But little man was tall enough to go on the "blue" slide and he loved it.   He would have gone on more times but so much to do in so little time.  

Sports Deck- My niece played some basketball here and loved it.  We also played miniature golf.  It was fun.  As fun as miniature golf could be.  Can you hear the sarcasm?  But it was nice hitting golf balls as we passed the Statue of Liberty.  Rock Climbing-little man, myself, and my niece all attempted.  None of us made it to the top but I swear I went the furthest up!  I am a bad ass with my Spartan Race self, and Tough Mudder electricity, okay not yet, but daunting is the best word to describe the feeling when I looked down around me and saw the open waters as I was reaching for the bell. Next time, I do it better!!  Then there was the rope course which we did not get to do, again, it was the weather and the fitting so much into so little time.  It did look like fun though.  Next time.  Yes! 

Entertainment-We sat in on the dueling pianos which I always love because I am a singer!!  Yep, I am the one screaming out Brown Eyed Girl or Sweet Caroline at any bar or party and here was no different.  Both of the entertainers kept up the jokes and had a great flair about them. We went twice. 

Then we saw Rock of Ages and Cirque du Soleil "Jungle Fantasy."  Rock of Ages was just as good as the Broadway performance I saw and the theatre was very nice.  Seemed smaller than others but great viewing.  Cirque was very awesome according to little man.  There was a full 3 course meal given there and I hear it was yummy.  I actually didn't attend.  i decided to take a trip to the gym.

The Gym-Spin room!  So sad I didn't sign up for FlyWheel but the bikes looked amazing.  Maybe on my next trip.  Did some cardio and there were a lot of machines.  Much more in comparison to other ships I have been on.  And I did an ab class which was also great.  Instructor was very knowledgeable and kept us going for 4 rounds...
Kid's Club-what's there not to love.  It was clean, safe, friendly and inviting and Dan wanted to stay there all the time!  But since it was a short trip, it was only short trips that I allowed.  This was our time to experience a boat.  But it did give us the opportunity to do "adult" things in the evening.  He loved it!

Drinks-They were FREEEEEEE!!!! What can I say?  However they did run out of lime so I couldn't get a mojito at one bar.  Thought that was weird.  But hey I opted for a chocolate martini instead...the things you have to do!  Ice Bar-Usually fro $20 you get two drinks and 30 minutes to chill.  Literally chill..  And kids are allowed in too.  They get soda.  What a fun thing to do in a half hour.  Short and sweet...and cold!

Casino-SMOKEY!  Great machines and tables!! I love me some roulette!  But did I say SMOKEY????? those carpets are going to be destroyed by July! 

Oh well, stairs and elevators worked well.  Public bathrooms clean.  A good time by all.  Can't wait to sail away to Bermuda.

Hey mom-are we upgrading to the Haven??

Next blog entry will be about our Family Play date for National Family Play date day, May 10! We had fun...did you???

Blue Team is #1 even though the White team might disagree!

It was TIME to BREAKAWAY to EAT Part 1

Last weekend I was afforded a trip aboard the Norwegian Breakaway out of New York City.  As a Sandy Mom, my family was invited and paid in full by Katie Couric and her amazing show!  It was FREE drinks for all and free speciality restaurants and entertainment.  I will be boarding the Breakaway later this summer and look forward to it.

Besides all the great free things that we were adorned with, I am a cruiser and do have some things to say about the generous and professional crew aboard and some short comings.  Never mind meeting Kevin Sheehan and wanting to tell him everything we see going on this ship...things that need some tweaking...things that were wonderful.  But we didn't want to crash the party and my niece was just so excited to meet the Undercover Boss.  She also was excited to meet Buddy from Carlo's Bakery and Geoffrey Zakarian from Iron Chef fame and Ocean Blue abord the Norwegian Breakaway.

Boarding: Smooth, as usual, except that we wanted to attach one credit card to two rooms and the check-in people were not able to do it so I had to go to Guest Services to get that done once aboard.  That took too long. 

Allison, Mom, Me, Michele,Meg, Dan
#StatenIslandStrong

Rooms:  We were in an inside room 12627.  Room is much smaller than an inside room aboard the Jewel but it was a complimentary trip so who complains.  However for our next trip, it will be the larger room with Window.  Tight closet space, lots of cubicles, and the best was the big bathroom with shower door!!!!  We did get to see rooms in every category as there were viewing hours.  This was great because it helped us see what rooms were best for our next trips.

 



Chilling in the Bunk Bed eating Cheerios

  Dining:  Let me remind you that all dining, including speciality restaurants were free.  So by the time we booked through their touch screen method on board much was booked for prime dining.  We did get the opportunity to eat at the Italian restaurant "La Cucina."  I have eaten at the same restaurant aboard the Jewel and it has been good.  This time around we had some issues.  The pork and gnocchi dish was not very flavorful.  The gnocchi was cooked well and was the best on the dish though.  The beef carpaccio was also flavorless and I understand that the pasta carbonara had too little sauce and not very tasty.  The other dishes were also very salty.

Garden Buffet:
Lunch-Found it weird there was no "kid" friendly portion of the buffet.  The assortment of foods was abundant and the area clean.  Quality was good too: pasta selections, hamburgers with bacon and pineapple, swiss and mushroom, hot dogs, pizzas, panninis, veggies, breads, desserts. However the service was sparse.  We needed to bus our own table, in comparison to other cruises we have taken, the staff rarely, if ever, cleared our table when we were finished with our plates.  Nor did they ask if we needed anything.  We did look for them to get some juices, alcoholic beverages, and sodas at a point since we didn't want to leave the kiddies and the kiddies didn't want to walk, but nobody to be found.  We have had this type of service on Norwegian before so we were surprised by it.

Breakfast-Again assortment of foods were okay.  Omelet Station, pancakes, which tasted like citrus hence didn't go well with the table, waffles (didn't try them),and french toast-not cinnamon enough and had raisins- but was thick and cooked well.  What was not cooked well was the bacon!!!  Always looked raw and fatty.  Had to dig for a little well done piece here and there. Cinnamon buns though were amazing.  Some fresh fruits and hot cereal were also good, watermelon not so ripe though. 

Manhattan Room: The larger dining room, we ate here only once and it was for a Special Brunch.  Salmon for appetizer, Fillet Mignon and an egg pattie for main course and eclair for dessert.  Salmon was salty which made it taste fishy however the cream cheese helped.  Fillet Mignon was delish which made me eat my sis' too!  The egg was okay.  Didn't love it but it was fine. And dessert was also fine.  Which means...Didn't need seconds on both.  And in teh Manhattan Room later in the day I was able to take a dance class with the Rockettes!!  It was very amazing.

Me enjoying the Meat

Bloody just like I like it!



Rockette Dance line Michele and me

 Taste:

Lunch-Philly Cheese Steak-I don't even eat these but I did share some bites and it was GOOODDDD!  Service was also good but slow.  And it was no where near filled like it would be on a regular journey.  So something to look at here and in all the restaurants is service.  Timeliness and quality.  All were very sweet but I can see where theere will be shortcomings. Club sandwich which had ham, bacon and turkey on it.  I couldn't look at the meats, they looked processed so I passed. 

Savor:
Dinner-Tilapia was my main course after a pumpkin soup, followed by a piece of apple pie and pistachio creme brulee.  Both dishes were my second best meal to the fillet mmignon!  Apple pie was no favorite and the creme brulee-wish I had two but it was a large serving!

Breakfast-Sad to go but breakfast was hearty.  Hot cereals, choice of eggs and carbs, hashbrowns were nice and toasty, little man loved it all!  Even the sausage and scrambled eggs.  Did not like the pancakes though, clearly. I did ask for whole wheat toast but they didn't deliver and I didn't say anything...who needed more carbs?

Carlo's Bakery-This was the ONLY thing I paid for on the ship.  I had a chocolate covered cannoli, lobster tail, and chocolate cupcake.  Okay, we SHARED these!!!  Really liked the lobster tail and the cannoli but didn't love the cupcake.   

I did find it weird that there were no chocolate chip cookies in the buffet when we ate but we did find them hidden in some high end areas...

Casino time-Mom enjoying the lobster tail from Carlo's Bakery