NCL has done a great job with their solo cabins, as well as the accompanying Studio Lounge and solo activities coordinator for solo travellers. The solo cabins seem to be modular and identical among their ships. As usual, my cabin had everything needed: a bed plenty large for one person, with plenty of sheets & pillows, and luggage storage underneath, a shower stall, toilet stall, bathroom sink, closet cabinets, in-room safe, interactive TV, and telephone with messaging system. The bed is even large enough for two people my size, though the rest of the cabin would be a bit tight for two people. I had some trouble with the sliding doors on the closet cabinets getting stuck in place. Once I reported this to my cabin steward, he had it fixed within a day.

Mystic Mountain is a mountain top outdoor activity comlex, and so the first activity on arriving is the charilift gondola to take you to the top. The ride is very beautiful and peaceful, gliding above the tropical forest canopy, listening to birds and other wild critters of the jungle. Along most of the way up, you can see the beaches, city, and cruise port of Ocho Rios. At 2 clearly marked stops along the chairlift a camera takes your photo. You can then purchase print or electronic copies of the photos in the museum gift shop. Electronic photos are $10 for the first one and $6 for each after, which is quite reasonable. No one was pushy for sales throughout the entire complex.

For the zipline, we geared up with helmets and harnesses, and were introduced to our four zipline guides. They did a good job of keeping our group together on the course and keeping everything safe. They would call to each other using interesting bird noises, to let the other tour guides know what was going on. The zipline course here had 5 ropes and a suspension bridge. The views are breathtaking, whooshing through the tropical rain forest, and occassionally seeing the beach and city of Ocho Rios. They take your photo once on the zipline course, but don't tell you when, so my photo came out rather poor. The zipline course finishes on a platform mid-way down the return path of the gondola ride, which then takes you back down to the exit to the park, and our bus took us back to Falmouth port. 

The bobsled ride is like a wheeled single person roller coaster, going over bumps and curves whooshing through the tropical rain forest, except you have a hand brake lever to control your speed. The whole ride lasts about 3-4 minutes. Excited screaming is totally normal on this ride. At the bottom of the ride, you must slow your vehicle to about walking speed, and a roller coaster style chainlift then takes you along the remaining track back to the start point. I enjoyed it immensely. 

This tour felt very rushed compared with my tour the previous day. 
Our tour guide Papi loaded us on the bus and took us straight to Hell, our first attraction. It's a small village named for strange volcanic rock formations. There's a small post office here, where you can send a postcard from Hell to someone. I was glad to have purchased and filled in my postcards ahead of time, as we stopped barely long enough to buy some stamps and drop the cards in the mailbox. I sent one to my boss and one to my girlfriend. Then Papi took us to a different Tortuga shop, where we were given free samples of rum and rum cakes, and encouraged to buy some, but again there was not enough time. This store also offered delivery of products to our ship, which is a nice feature. Then we went to the Turtle Center, also known as the Turtle Farm. There is a small museum here about turtles, along with a large outdoor tank and several smaller tanks, which hold the various breeds of turtles in various stages of development. The green sea turtle grows about six feet long, which is the Cayman national animal. One year turtles are about a foot long, and included in about half a dozen touch tanks near the back of the facility. However, folks are no longer allowed to hold turtles, as in previous years. The gift shop here is rather large, featuring all sorts of sea & turtle things. Our tour guide Papi took us back to the cruise dock, telling us all about the island, pointing out several government buildings and landmarks along the way. He is a true native of the island, full of tales & trivia! Look him up at Papi's Tours. 

This tour is very similar to the Cozumel Highlights & Shopping Tour, but with a glass bottom boat tour for the second half, in place of circling the vegetation of the island and seeing the El Mirador land point. It also does not include the Discover Mexico local art museum and diaramas of historical life. So, I consider that tour slightly better than this, but both are great. 

We met up at marked signpost #5 in the center of the cruise port, with our tour guide Rueben, who led us to a small bus. We were off to first see the Mayan Cocoa Company, a popular local Mexican chocolate factory. I have been here before many times, and it's still a favorite. We got a blessing from a Mayan priest dressed as a wild cat. We got to see replicas of several small Mayan village buildings. We got to sample the original Mexican formula for chocolate, and see it made by hand from cocoa beans. And all of this was among beautiful gardens.
Then we went to a local tequila tasting. Another tour guide explained to us the history and categories of tequila, and we got to sample several types. Once again, I confirmed that my choice is tequila blanco, which is the clear, raw, unaged form of tequila. Most folks prefer smother oak aged tequila. I learned that oak does not grow in Mexico, so most tequila aging barrels are purchased second hand from whiskey distilleries in the south-east United States. 
We were next taken back to the cruise port, and told to wait for the sea part of our tour, which was to be hosted by Jesus (pronounced Hay-sues in the Hispanic tongue). We had to wait standing in the heat for over 45 minutes unitl he arrived. Several people in our tour became impatient and hungry and left to go to a restaurant instead. We felt abandoned, but still safe. Jesus finally showed up, and walked us to the glass bottom boat tour. The windows in the bottom of this boat were large and flat, perfect for broad views and photography. The water was also quite clear. We saw all kinds of beautiful corals and fish and other marine life. Our tour guide told us about them, but I could barely understand his accent. Although I have been on other glass bottom boat tours, this was one of the better ones. I loved the paintings of ocean life on the topside interior of our boat, truly making us feel like we were immersed under water. 

As I have said before, this place is amazing! On this 2nd visit, I got to see everything I missed the first time. Last time I took the bus tour of the launch complexes, so I skipped it this time, and had plenty to time for everything left. Our tour guide was much older and low key than last time, but still had impressive knowledge. We got to see the Astronaut Hall of Fame. I got to see some exhibits on local Florida wildlife, and how the Space Center is working to protect it. I got to see what technical challenges a journey to Mars would involve, and found out that volunteers are still wanted for it. I got to watch a 3D show about exploring the stars and the boundaries of the universe. I got to see proto-types of the space capsules for launching people, equipment, and supplies into space on upcoming missions. I got to try several simulators of various tasks & skills needed for space missions. I had lunch at the Orbit Cafe, which offers the most complete dining experience, even though it is still a fast food cafe. I really liked the futuristic touch screens used to order your meal, and you pick up your order when ready at one of the assigned "docking bays." I also had plenty of time to browse the gift shop and pick up some souvenirs. This place is truly out of this world, and a great way to wind up a vacation. Our tour bus took us back to the Orlando airport around 3:00PM. 

Vacation review & journal 

Norwegian Breakaway cruise ship, Feb29-Mar07, 2020 

  Western Caribbean itinerary sailing from Port Canaveral: Falmouth, Grand Cayman, Cozumel 

Walt Disney World, Mar07-Mar10 (2 full days)

review by screen-name RocketSci73, Huntsville, AL 

male, solo traveler, age 46, 14th cruise, 12th with Norwegian 

Summary review: 

Dark, drab, noisy, & depressing environment.We were next taken back to the cruise port, and told to wait for the sea part of our tour, which was to be hosted by Jesus (pronounced Hay-sues in the Hispanic tongue).

Norwegian Breakaway Review

Plenty of fun! Too much noise, ship needs more color.

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Studio Stateroom

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