Category: 2013 – Norwegian Breakaway, Maiden from Rotterdam, 28 – 29 Apr

Our whirlwind weekend is nearly over and we are just making the final approach into Southampton. We have been tracked for the last hour by a helicopter which is making a right racket. It will be a shame to get off but it has been a fantastic experience.

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With the muster all done we have set sail from Rotterdam. The locals have all turned out to wave goodbye and there balloons and streamers let off from the quay side. The tugs even sprayed water and it was quite a party atmosphere.
Off to grab a cocktail now!

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Very quickly on and are in the cabin. First impressions are thumbs up.

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Safely at the cruise terminal and there big queues to get on. Looks like everyone has the same idea. Hopefully we won’t be hanging around too long.

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After a couple of hours more sleep we can now see the ship in daylight across the river. She is still a bit too far away to be able to see the restaurant style prom deck which NCL have called the Waterfront. All this will happen properly later on today.
One little thing we spotted this morning is that she has yellow guide ropes holding her to the quay.

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At 6:00am the Norwegian Breakaway has arrived in Rotterdam on schedule. We have been able to lie in bed and watch her edge slowly into her mooring position.

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We have just spent the last hour just sitting and watching everything that’s happening on the river in front of our window. So many boats going up and down the river from the Spido’s to the container boats, the water taxis, the river cruisers and a whole load more. Who needs TV!
The Rotterdam has just conducted its muster ready for sailing at 5:00pm. They started at 4:00 and have been out there at least 20 minutes.

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After getting the non stop train to Rotterdam we took a taxi to the hotel to drop the case off. With 2 hours to kill we decided to take the Spido boat tour of the port which cost €10.75 each for a 75 minute narrated trip around the port. Thoroughly good value and only really spoilt by a chilly wind on the open decks. The tour took us past the SS Rotterdam which was our overnight stop on our previous visit. We also spotted the Splash Boat tour which was bobbing all over the place, very pleased we chose the Spido option.

Our hotel room has a river view and it is even better than I could have anticipated. Where else can you sit in front of the window and have a birds eye view of a cruise ship and terminal.
The room is lovely and clean and there is really big shower with 2 heads?
Looks like we had the best of the weather as it is now raining. We are just wondering what time the Rotterdam will be sailing tonight. A bit of trivia picked up today is that she is the 6th ship to bear that name.

We should get a fantastic view of the Norwegian Breakaway tomorrow morning when she comes in.

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Stage one completed and we have arrived at Schiphol on time. A very smooth flight and we are just stopping off for a bite to eat before catching the train to Rotterdam.

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Today, NCL’s newest ship was floated out of the shed at the Meyer Werft ship yard in Germany. There are a couple significant things about today’s float out,  firstly at 146,600-tonnes she is the largest cruise ship to ever be built in Germany and secondly she is the first to be floated out bow first.

Not long now until we do our one night cruise on her from Rotterdam.