midiman

Don't think that a late docking is a serious emergency. How would you know how the crew would act in the case of a fire or flooding? It's purely conjecture on your part.

 

It's shameful that fist fights nearly broke out. Perhaps the disorder is caused by the pax.

No, a late docking is by no means an emergency. What is disturbing is that the only instructions given to the passengers were to come to the theatre on deck 7 to disembark. What should have happened is to give instructions to wait in cabins until we were called, and then to call passengers down to the gangway in a specific order.

The crew's inability to direct passengers in an orderly manner during what should have been a fairly simple non-event demonstrates clear lack of emergency protocols as these should have kicked in automatically to direct passengers in a clear manner.

Not true. I was on the ship also and I just did what was asked. Please wait in your room not in the public areas. They announced the problem long before anyone should have been heading to the gangway.

Not sure where you were on the ship, but we waited until we were instructed to move to the gangway. We also left our luggage in our room, went to the restaurant for a relaxing breakfast, and had no intention of bringing our bags downstairs until the last minute. We didn't bring our bags downstairs until the announcements instructed us to do so.

Just out of curiosity -- why didn't people just go back to their rooms and wait it out? If they tried to kick you out of your room, I would have just said "I'll leave the room as soon as the ship has cleared customs."

 

Why wait in the public areas?

As I mentioned in an earlier post, returning to the rooms was impossible. Within minutes of exiting the elevator, we were all packed like sardines in the common area and the elevators were inaccessible due to the crowds.

Based on your account, I'm far more shocked at how thoroughly unprepared the passengers were for such an event. Holy moly!

 

Do you really believe this? Aren't you being a tad dramatic? Or are you the same person who packed their medication in their checked baggage? :rolleyes:

I can't comment on the other passengers, but we waited until what we thought would be the last possible moment. The captain had announced that we had pulled into port, the ship was in the process of getting its paperwork cleared, and that we would begin disembarking momentarily.

I'm not being dramatic at all with regard to my observations. With the exception of a few passengers, nearly everyone was following the few instructions we received from the crew. Unfortunately, these instructions resulted in a massive bottleneck at all points of egress. I fail to see how that's not a dangerous situation for all.

My wife and I just returned from being stuck on the Breakaway while it was attempting to dock in NYC. We were both shocked at how thoroughly unprepared the staff was for such an event.

There was complete chaos, confusion, and overcrowding surrounding points of egress and at one point, tempers flared so much that a fistfight nearly broke out. There were hardly any crew members present to direct passengers and very little meaningful information was being conveyed from the captain.

It was clear that the staff was untrained in any safety protocols and that if there had been serious emergency such as fire or flooding, there would likely have been unnecessary injuries and/or mortalities.

A little planning would have gone a long way to help with an orderly disembarkation. I'm happy to share more details if anyone is curious.

Many thanks for the info!

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Does anyone know if there are kettlebells in the fitness center on the Breakaway?

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Thank you Keith! This info is very helpful - much appreciated!

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Trying to determine what time to arrival on the day of embarkation. Considering arriving early and spending the time working out in the gym, visiting the spa (we'll be in a spa balcony), and grabbing something to eat.

Does anyone know if the gym and spa will be open prior to cast off as well as which restaurants might be open?

Many thanks!

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Perfect, and very easy. Thank you very much!

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Will I need to supply my own lock for the spa lockers on the Breakaway or are they provided onboard? If so, is there a charge for them? And if there is a charge, would this service be included as part of my cabin rate, having selected a Spa Balcony?

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You might also consider using one of the independent offsite long term parking lots near the Newark airport and either taking a taxi or NJ Transit into the city. Would likely be much less expensive than parking at a hotel in midtown Manhattan.

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