Bellyflopchamp

They will most likely have one game on at 1pm. It very well could be the giants game on instead. They do not have Fox or CBS. They have a sports channel that mostly plays soccer. When we were on in November they played one game for each time slot.

When we were on in November the cigarette smoke was not that bad. Yes it was noticeable, but for the most part we were able to avoid those areas. We did not smell it in the atrium or really even in O'Sheehan's. It was pretty bad by Maltings as there is smoking outside on that side of the ship. Also on the pool deck there is a smoking section near all the kids stuff which doesnt make sense.

It is a large ship and there will be a lot of people but for the most part we did not encounter many lines or excessive wait times, but we also did early dinners and avoided the buffet most of the time. Obviously when shows get out there will be a lot of people. Embarkation and debarkation were all really easy. We did only get off in Nassau tho and came back a few hours before the ship was set to leave.

Overall I thought it was a pretty good ship, but the staff seemed overworked and not as friendly as we have experienced in the past on RCCL. But by June I am sure the staff would have turned over a bit so that might not be relevant for you.

Ok so what's the earliest you can show up to go through the lines and grab a seat?

I believe around 9 or 9:30.

Thanks to all. Based on info. here I called and they said they would have a complimentary bottle in the room on both legs of this adventure. Appreciate the help, until I think of something else.

You may also have to request this from your room steward. I had requested it trough the accessibility number but it was not in the room the first day. Our stateroom attendant got it for us the following day when we had asked about it.

So leading up to my cruise last week on the Breakaway i kept reading about new "issues" that people were noticing. Me being one that does not worry much I took them in stride, but I know some on here might have a different mindset. Well I figured I would take a few of the concerns that I might have had going in and let you all know how they panned out. This will not be a full review of the cruise but more of just some of the things I have seen people complain about as of late. There is another thread started by OFHS93 with his review of this sailing and I added some details about my experience as well in that one. Anyway, might as well get started.

Smoking and common areas:

For the most part this did not impact our vacation that much. We spent a good amount of time in O'Sheehan's without really noticing the smoke that much. My wife is over sensitive to it and it did not bother her much in there. It was pretty bad on deck 8 especially during sailaway near Maltings. The Waterfront on that side is all smoking and it was blowing in really badly into the area. So much so that it turned me off on spending much time there the entire cruise. The other place where it did not make sense is on the pool deck. For some reason they have a semi enclosed section on the port side for smoking. It wouldn't be an issue but it is mid ship, in front of the kids aqua park and across from the hot tubs kids are allowed in. Just overall poor planning. Should be aft and on starboard as there is not much kids activities there.

Vibration issues:

We were in an Aft balcony on deck 12. We did feel vibrations every now and then and it seemed to be worse when the ship was rocking and rolling. The way back was not bad at all as the ship was only going about 14 knots. Unless you are a super light sleeper this should not be much of an issue for you.

Noise from Spice:

As stated we had an Aft balcony. The noise from Spice during the parties was pretty loud on the balcony. When we were docked overnight in Nassau we were able to hear the music perfectly, but it was the 80s rock party and we were stuck in the room with our toddler anyway so we enjoyed sitting out there listening to it. When the ship was moving you could mostly only hear the bass and in the room you could still hear it, but it did not keep us up.

Soot on Aft balconies:

This one did not concern me going in at all but I have seen the question come up many times. We noticed little to no soot on our balcony throughout the entire cruise.

Crowding/Chair hogs:

We did not notice much crowding. Dropping off and picking up at Splash always took 15-20 minutes and sometimes longer, but that was the only time we really felt like there were a ton of people on the ship. The buffet was busy but never too bad and we always found a seat, outside seating was always available and abundant. If you want a place to go that is quite go to the Waterfront on the Port side. It was empty whenever I went there.

We did not really notice many chair hogs and we were always able to get 2 loungers right by the kids aqua park. Granted we were usually there around 8:30 or 9, but we never had much of an issue.

Overall we had a good cruise. It was not our best, but a day at sea is better than a day in the office. If anyone else has any questions or other things that might be making them nervous I'd be happy to try and answer it for you.

 

As a note....the BA is huge. If you want space you need to be in the Haven or get a spa pass. Probably coming from a densely populated area is why I don't find the BA crowded (except for my 12/2016 trip). As far as the weather....you just have to work with it.

 

As always it took forever to get off the ship. This time we waited until all the colors had been called...and it still took an hour and a half from leaving the buffet to getting in a cab.

Only time I had felt it truely crowded was dropping my daughter off at Splash Academy. I was just really surprised at the number of kids on this sailing as school is still in session in the US. It might have been a holiday in Canada or something. When I wanted to escape from people I just went to the port side waterfront. There was never anyone there. Only problem is that the bars also were not open when I was there. The kids aqua park also got very crowded by around 10/10:30 but by that point we had been there for almost 2 hours anyway and were about to finish up.

Getting off for us was also easy. We had the second self disembark tag. We were off and on the street in probably 30 minutes. For some reason it seemed like the elevators just stopped working from the afternoon of day 7 till we got off. I felt like I was waiting for one for like 5 minutes each time I went to get one. The rest of the trip they were fine. We we were leaving the ship we ended up taking an elevator up from 12 to go down to 7 and that worked well.

I think the fact that we had the toddler with us probably changed our view a bit. I would rate the relaxation of this cruise a little higher than my last Allure cruise, but with that one our daughter was under 2 and couldn't use the clubs so that put a big damper on that vacation. This cruise was still a lot of fun, just never really felt like anything special.

Exactly our experience...and we did the same in regards to gerting in line early later in the week.

 

GSC...I knew it could happen...but it still doesn't take the disappointment away...unfortunately in *my* mind that itinerary's success hinges on whether you get to GSC or not...and by the time u get to Nassau at 4pm on Weds it's too late to do much of anything there...at least anything that is family friendly.

The day we missed GSC was probably one of my favorite days on the ship. Since we kinda expected it we already had a backup plan to head up to the pool area as soon as the announcement was made. We were one of the first up there at the kids aqua park. One thing that annoyed me was that I went to guest services about something else and figured ask them when the announcement was normally made. The guy seemed surprised that I was asking and kept saying that we are a go for tendering and that they didn't know until we did that it would be canceled. All I tried asking as when it is usually announced that the stop is canceled. If it really is about a 50/50 shot I am sure that they kinda know when that decision is made. I was also at the desk probably only like 15 minutes before the announcement was made.

We just did the pools and hot tubs with our daughter and then dropped her at the kids club at night so we could go see Rock of Ages. Since we saw the 6:30 show it was almost empty in the theater as a lot of people got off the ship when it docked.

Overall we had a very good time and we did not let the little things like the slow service/no beverage service in the MDR, quality of food, lines for kids club really bother us. It was just something we noticed as compared to our previous sailings. There just wasn't the wow factor that we have had previous or any specific crew member that stood out. Even our stateroom attendant was just ok. Our room was always clean and made up but as far as interactions with her went there really wasn't much. Again just seemed like she was there to do a job, more like a regular hotel housekeeper. This was the same on our second cruise on the Allure. I think we just got spoiled on our first one as we had an awesome attendant on that one.

We will go on NCL again. Not the Breakaway as I believe it is moving to NOLA soon. I do want to try the Escape as it looks like it has more for the little kids to do and it also has the District Brew House. I really want to try a few different ships between RCCL and NCL. Wife wants to do Disney at some point too. I personally do not think making a comparison between only 2 ships from different companies is a fair representation of both lines, especially when one is the top ship in the line (Allure was the newest in the fleet our first cruise and still probably one of the better ones the second) and the other is not.

I can now report back on how the bed on the Breakaway is set up. So the top portion of the sofa actually slides away from the wall a bit. The back cushion then drops down a bit. We ended up putting the top cushion on the floor and sliding the bed back against the wall as the first night our daughter fell out of the bed. It is hard to tell in this picture but the two drawers on under the sofa also get pulled out to help support the bed.

I agree with your assessment of this cruise. We found most of the same things. Our daughter loved the kids club and we went at least once a day but the line to get in and out was insane. It did seem like there were a ton of kids on this cruise, way more than I had expected. I think part of this might have been the Gem cancellation as ours ended up being fully booked.

The service in the restaurants and bars surprised us the most. It was not bad service, but it just was not personal at all. On our previous cruise on the Allure of the Seas 2 and 4 years ago we were able to get to know our waiters and some of the bar staff. On this cruise it seemed like they were just there to do a job. Part of this is the freestyle since you can go anytime you want wherever you want you do not carry the same waitstaff the entire week. We did the my time dining on RCCL and even with that we were sat in the same section most nights. Even in the bars it didn't seem like the bartenders were all that interested in carrying a conversation and we were at O'Sheehan's quite often.

The flow of the ship was weird. I did not like how they had a bunch of the glass partitions in the middle of walkways on the waterfront and the pool/sundeck. It made walking through difficult. I understand it is to cut down on wind but it really made traversing the ship hard. I was also surprised by the smoking section on the pool deck being on the same side as the kids splash park and the hot tubs the kids could use. While it was somewhat enclosed it still seeped into those areas. No clue why they would not have put it on the adult side of the ship as that is the side that smoking is allowed on the waterfront.

We still had a good time and would probably go on NCL again. I am hoping that the service part of the experience was just the breakaway. We will probably try the Escape next and maybe try another RCCL ship to get an accurate comparison.

Just got off the Breakaway yesterday. The safe uses a 4 digit pin that you put in. We used a hotel key card for the electricity. We would partially remove it so it was disengaged but our steward would leave it on. She also did not unplug anything but we never left things charging that I can remember.

We always pack a bunch of meds - any prescriptions, tylenol, ibuprofin, alieve, benadryl, neosporin, bandaids, tums, pepto, gas X, and dramamine. We did not really need to use most of these. We only used the ibuprofin and the pepto. I can say that the ship was pretty rocky at times. fortunately we do not get seasick easily.

I would also make sure to bring some type of warmer clothes. It was pretty chilly especially on deck with the wind hitting. We did get pretty lucky with the weather and it was warm enough to use the pools and hot tubs just about every day. But at night the wind made it pretty cold if you are outside and they do a lot of parties outside in Spice H2O.

Actually, $735.14 - can't forget that 18% that gets tacked on!!

I purposely omitted the gratuity as if they were in another cabin they would have to pay that on the "free" package.

If they are not getting the UBP package and you are using the free 3'rd and 4th guest it will be cheaper to go all in one cabin, but it is going to be tight. Even the minisuites are not that big. Most of the extra space is used in the bathroom.

Well I would love to find out which rooms have the actual PULL OUT sofa bed. With 4 adults this could get quite interesting or comical. Good thing for the UBP!

4 adults would probably be tight to fit into one cabin unless you go with some of the Haven suites. It might be better to go for connecting cabins in that case. Plus if you do 2 cabins then all 4 get the UBP "free" and only have to pay the grats for it. If you stuff 4 adults into one cabin then 2 of them will need to pay full price for the UBP, which would be $623 per person for a 7 night cruise. ($89pp/pd).

If I remember to take a picture and come back here I can share it with you. We will be in a balcony room with our daughter so we will have the sofa made into a bed for her.

From what I have seen through reviews, videos, and pictures it looks like they remove the back of the sofa and put it on the floor in front of it the sofa. That is for the 3rd person. If the room allows for 4 people there will be a pullman bed on either the wall or ceiling.

This video show how a mini suite on the getaway is setup with a pullman and sofa setup as beds. Like I said before, I think the back of the sofa might come off to give more room.

I'm sure you can book using whatever country's site you want. I am not sure if you can transfer it. Just be aware that if you live in the US and book on the UK website you are tied to their terms and conditions which I believe are not quite as consumer friendly as the US ones.

I'll be on the same cruise as you! Did you join the roll call (I haven't yet, still deciding lol) I'm sure you're going to have a great time. I've heard NCL is great for solo cruisers, and I love the BA - this will be my 2nd time on it.

I too am on the Nov 12 sailing. Come on over to the roll call and join us. We won't bite I swear.

The ropes course for kids looks a little small. The video below has it in it around the 21:00 mark.

I will be on the Breakaway in 3 weeks with my 3 year old. I can report back on some of this. We will not be bringing her to burn the floor or Cirque but can let you know about other family friendly activities that they have. We are hoping that she will do splash a decent amount. It will be her first time being able to go to the kids club but she is now in daycare and preschool so we think she may enjoy it.

I do believe that there is a ropes course for the younger kids. I can report back on how that is. From pictures I've seen it looks like it is more like a jungle gym type thing you would see at a playground.

Let me know if you have anything in particular that you want me to try to find out for you.

Hi, I just ordered sea bands and Bonine and Dramanine (went overboard) little bit. But Just in case I want to be prepared

It is also recommended (at least from what I've seen on these boards) to start taking the meds a day or so before sailing if you think you might get sick. This way it builds up in your system a bit. They also have patches that you can put behind your ear that I have seen people wearing. You might need to get those from a doctor tho. For your 7 year old I would highly recommend calling their pediatrician.

There are other things that help a bit too, like ginger. They should sell ginger pills in with the vitamins. There are also ginger candies. My wife used those sometimes during pregnancy to help with nausea.

We will be on this sailing too. If you want go ahead and join our roll call:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2441817&page=24

I have not been on Escape but from reviews that I have read it does sound like they have live music in the District Brew House. I dont know if it is a band or just one guy but the reviews say that it is great.

*Sigh* Holds on Debit cards are dependent upon your banks policy, NOT a blanket thing.

 

I have no debt, no mortgage (own home), no car payments (own cars), no credit cards (smart). I just have a debit card. My banks policy is all holds MUST close by end of business. Meaning the vendor who put the hold on my card either has completed the transaction or the hold is removed. If your bank is holding your money for a long period of time I recommend a new bank.

 

To carry a MasterCard or Visa logo on their debit cards all banks MUST comply with certain rules and MAY comply with others. My debit card works exactly like a credit card, with the exact same benefits and protections. Shop around, find a bank that offers a great debit card, and cut up your credit cards.

Is there a fellow Dave Ramsey follower here? Sounds like it. I like how another poster stated that this way is wrong and not good financial advice. They must have missed the fact that you own your cars outright, own your home outright and have no debt at all. But yeah, getting that 3% cash back on a credit card is good financial advice. I'm gonna go with the person that has no debt, but that is just me.

I have never traveled on a credit card or used a credit card while traveling (aside from when on business trips as my company requires me to use their card). To the OP if I were you I would bring the cash that you are willing to spend. You should be fine. You could always leave some in your room safe or hidden in your luggage when you are out at port. You should also be OK with using your debit card for anything as well.

Just curious, why people think this is confusion?

People probably do not think about the deposit going onto their onboard account when they sign up for it or when they are hearing about it for the first time. Thats what it was for me when I read the previous posters comment about it. Makes total sense as you use your onboard account for everything, just when you hear it the way it is advertised it makes it sound like you get $100 off your current balance not with the $250 added.

They are also less private as the balcony above you can see into the majority of your balcony. Just looked at my cruise in November and there are still a good number of Aft Facing balconies remaining as well.

From the US we are able to see the UK webpage. Are you able to google "NCL US website" to get it? That is how I've gotten the UK one before.

Has anyone heard of the minimum bid allowed going down as you get closer? I would assume not. I was hoping to bid for an Aft Haven Penthouse from my aft balcony. There are 4 of the suites still let but the minimum bid is $1500 total. I am happy with my cabin but was hoping to maybe score an amazing deal and place a total bid of $1000 ($500 pp) to try for an upgrade. The current min puts it out of my price range

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I would highly recommend reading "The Total Money Makeover" by Dave Ramsey. He also has a daily radio show/podcast that is great to listen to. He lays out how to win with money into 7 "baby steps" which helps you focus on one task at a time.

It sounds to me that you are asking for ways of saving money in order to afford to go on the cruise. One of the best things that we have done was doing an every dollar budget, where at the beginning of the month you assign every dollar that you make somewhere to go. We found that it felt like we got a raise when we did that. We had absolutely no clue where our money was going each month and we found a good amount after doing the budget, and sticking to it. There is an app and website called "Every Dollar" that we use. Again it is from Dave Ramsey.

Use the cruise as a reward for getting out of debt and into financial shape. You could also make a chart or have a picture of some sort that you color in as you get closer to being able to pay for the cruise in full.