For those unfamiliar with the ship or cruises in general, here are some stats to refer back to when I reference them in later posts (this is especially true of the deck descriptions). I felt it appropriate that I describe the setting in fine detail and without embellishment so that it will be easy to look back to if things I describe are unclear.
The Norwegian Cruise Line ship 'Breakaway' launched in April of 2013 and is the 9th largest cruise ship in world at 1069 feet in length and 144,017 gross tonnes. It boasts 18 decks:
- Decks 1-4 are blocked off from passengers, presumably for cargo, engineering, and staff quarters.
- Deck 5 has medical services and, I presume, several luxury suites. Passenger stairs only reach the forward end of this floor, though, leading me to suspect that the majority is meant for staff of the ship.
- Decks 6-8 are largely devoted to restaurants, spas, the casino, guest services, a cigar etc., as well as a few luxury suites:
- 6: the Manhattan Room, Taste, and Savor restaurants (the only other free eateries for all passengers), The Teppenyaki (hibachi grill), Le Bistro (French), art gallery, and Spiegel Tent. Also, guest services, the library, a comedy club, a card room, and an Internet cafe.
(yes, this boat is really, really big.)
- 7: I literally did almost nothing on this deck, except play in the casino on the last night. Suffice it to say that there's a bunch of stuff on this deck - none of which I plan on referencing, so I'll skip it.
- 8: Drinks, meat, and more drinks. Malting's Beer and Whiskey bar, the Humidor Cigar Lounge, Shaker's Cocktail bar, Tradewinds Tax & Duty-Free liquor and cigarette store, Cagney's (Brazilian) Steakhouse, Prime Meridian Bar, Moderno Churrascaria (another bar, I think), Fat Cats Jazz & Blues club, and the SVEDKA/Inniskilli Ice Bar (not a bar for ice, but a bar MADE of ice). Deck 8 also hosted all of the lifeboats, which I'll come back to later.
Note: Deck 8 was one of the few decks I could actually walk around 95% of the circumference of the ship on the lower levels, and I spent a lot of my time vaping outside the Humidor (with the smokers - more on this).
Another note: When I say 'outside', I mean that the outer portions of the deck usually either had balconies of staterooms separated by easily-closed barriers or were open for walking around portions of the outside of the ship.
- Decks 9-14 are almost entirely reserved for balcony and indoor staterooms.
- The aft segment of deck 15 hosts the Garden Cafe, which is the 24/7 all-you-can-eat buffet free to all passengers. Deck 15 extends into pool areas, hot tubs, and the initial portions of the sunning deck all open to the air. A bar runs tangent to the adult pool, and a glass-enshrouded section near the pool is reserved for smokers/vapers. The forward end has ping pong tables underneath deck 16's sun deck, straddling spas and a fitness room and salon.
- Deck 16 is largely open to the sky, hosting many sundecks, a jogging track, and access to the rock wall. On the aft side, indoors, is the teen lounge and 'Spice H20' (neither of which I explored). On the forward end, private suites and restaurants.
- Decks 17 and 18 are really just extensions of 16 - more sundecks, and more activities akin to the rock wall: a ropes course, mini golf, a bungee trampoline, and two spectacular water slides - one of which, named the Free Fall, required that Aaron remove his earrings (for obvious, and horrific reasons). On top of everything is a caged basketball court (full size) and, yes, another sun deck.
Most of my wanderings happened on 15 and above at night and dusk, where I could wander and vape in peace and quiet and watch the stars and sea.
Please post questions if you have them. :) I'll also be using this as reference for posts as they come to me. So much to write about...
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