keep on cruisin

We did the breakaway 10/8-10/15 in the Haven and I was disappointed in the service and quality of food on the ship. Haven was best part of it, but each and every day our food was messed up. Shouldn't be that way & shouldn't have to wait 25 min for a glass of wine! Hope you have better experience. (Our port of call at GSC was canceled.)

Was the poor service in Haven restaurant or accross the entire ship? We have a had less the perfect service in the port side MDR, don't recall Taste or Savor, but that appeared to be due to under staffing as compared to a bad waiter. We have never had anything but exceptional service in the Haven restaurant including bringing appetizers and deserts from other restaurants. Will be interesting to see if they will still do this with the change to a la carte pricing. They were happy to do so, but asked that we try to let them know ahead time to get to the other kitchen prep areas.

 

I have noticed from some of the MDR menus that they don't have much exciting options for the nightly specials, but may have not seen enough menus to really judge. Hope you will have better service on your next cruising adventure Haven or otherwise.

 

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I don't recall if the main pools are heated. Seen conflicting reports on that.

 

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I will try and check with the IT manager. I apologize in advance if I fail as I my not be near there during their hours of operations but I will try.

 

 

 

 

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No apologies needed. This is your vacation. If you don't get there I will find out when I get there in 2 weeks. Enjoy yourself.

 

Thank you.

 

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Here are the listed Internet Plans/Packages. I will stop by when someone is on duty to ask about ant Social Media Package as one is not listed that I could see but they do have a 300 mb plan, which is not much if posting pics and such on social media.

 

 

 

 

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Thank you Seadog, do you know how upgrading works if I were to reach 1000? Would the system give me an option to upgrade to the unlimited or would that have to be done at the cafe, or would I have to buy a whole new plan? I have been told you can upgrade but am not sure how that works.

 

Loving your review. Have another great day.

 

 

 

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Glad it appears to be being handled smoothly. Hopefully your cousins health will improve quickly and you can enjoy your cruise just a little delayed.

 

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Sadly no charging ports or upgraded bedsides lights at least not in the category cabin..

 

 

 

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Perhaps that is part of the drydock plans for next year.

 

Enjoying sailing with you.

Kick back a bit. I thought you were working for us here. Lol. Kick back alot and enjoy yourself. Save your back and have fun.

 

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BON VOYAGE

 

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Will do, check back and I will post. Have a blast in 2 weeks!

 

 

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Thank you.

 

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I am only going to say this one last time and not return. I was told by NCL PCC and butler that it is allowed provided only 2 are booked in each room. I have not actually booked it as such. But if and when I do. And if I am given that information I would get it in writing. I have never said it is or is not the policy. Only that it is what I personally was told. I have supported reasons as to why it would make sense. Many have made reason it would not. The only constant is if you ask NCL you are sure to varying answers depending on who you speak to

 

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Good day Cruise Critics. Well it is that time again, thankfully, for the Seadogs to hit the high seas once again and Breakaway from the everyday and enjoy a sail down the east coast.

 

Hope you can join us as we head out today heading to:

 

 

 

We are planning on heading up the NJ Turnpike in the next hour, heading to the Manhattan Cruise Terminal:

 

https://www.nycruise.com/manhattan-terminal/

 

 

 

Sadly, this will be our first Cruise on Breakaway where we are not in the Haven....Gladly, even with booking so late, we were able to snag an Aft-Balcony, so we will see all week where we have come from :) with no idea where we are heading LOL. So no Suite Life this trip, but we are still pretty stoked to cruise this week.

 

So far we have 5 out of 7 Nights booked in a specialty restaurant, and one excursion booked so far for Port Canaveral, which is:

 

Pontoon Boat on the Banana River: (yes just call me Chet )

 

 

 

 

 

Well, I hope to keep up with this as "Live" as possible, as I do know the wifi onboard the Breakaway is only sufficient to upload pictures, so I will do my best to keep it interesting and post as many photos ( that most of us have seen plenty of already), as I can. Hope you can follow along as we invade Florida and the Bahamas!

 

Next post from the Joyce Kilmer Rest Stop on the NJ Turnpike!

 

Seadog67 out... for now.

 

Seadog67,

 

Looking forward to following along live this time. Have read your last live start to finish.

 

Could you please post the internet package rates. We will have 3 needing internet in 2 weeks. Hoping to get 1 unlimited and 2 smaller plans. Speed and connection worked well for us last time on Breakaway.

 

Have a great trip.

Elhenry,

 

Condolences on the loss of both your parents. Wonderful that you were able to honor their memories so nicely. I was especially moved by your take on his last meal in Cagney's. Couldn't agree more with you take on it being a great way to go.

 

I hope you and your extended family have a great and safe cruise. I am sure they will be sitting on their balcony in heaven looking down and raising a glass to you as you raise yours to them.

 

 

 

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I have never felt any vibrations on Oasis, Allure, Independance and Quantum. Our rooms were very well taken care of, no problem. However would it hurt to smile from time to time or even to say hello. As for the watch you are totally right, i should have checked the price, my fault there I totally agree. But since the watch WAS sold on the ship well I have to consider this part of my cruise experience. NCL just has to make sure that all sales are legit.

 

Thanks for your input.

Hopefully they will take care of the defective watch for you.

 

Another poster mentioned the vibration being known problem that will be fixed next dry dock. Will see in 2 weeks how much difference we feel from prior 2 trips. I agree with you that a simple smile is not to much to ask.

 

 

 

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Again you are paying the price for a cabin without the added benefits, if it included the amenities it would have a higher price. It is a separate cabin and you are getting whatever free at sea perks for both cabins, in my case we are putting 6 people in our cabin and only myself and my husband will get the perks. Does that mean that if they all get access to the Haven that the 2 in the adjoining cabin are willing to give up all of their free at sea perks?

Perhaps that could be the case. But would go by what NCL quote me when booking and hold them to it.

 

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Sorry you had those difficulties. How was the rest if the cruise? I hope you didn't allow those things to ruin the entire trip.

 

The vibrations will vary from sailing to sailing. We have not experienced it on either of our 2 Breakaway sailings but did have some on the Gem and Spirit in the past. Also on the Freedom if the seas and Celebrity Summit last year, but did not notice it much last month on the Summit. Every sailing is different

 

As for the room attendent My question would be was the room taken care of properly? I have had room attendants that have done a great, but we never saw them. And some that you constantly see but the room is a bit well attended to. If the former is the case, who cares. If they did not take care of the room properly than I would have complained to the hotel director.

 

For the watch I would assume they have taken care if the defect, if not call customer service immediately as they usually have a time frame for defective replacement. As to the price. I would never buy on the ship without checking the price first to verify the deal. You may have saved 30% on the ship but another vendor on Amazon discounts 50%. Typical mark up is usually about cost plus 100 to 150% minus any discounts.

 

I can find plenty of things I prefer on other lines. But also things I prefer about NCL.

 

Hope your future cruises are better no matter which lines you choose.

 

 

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I don’t think that it is that we don’t understand what you are saying. I agree that it is a design flaw, however it goes beyond DSC being the same for both rooms. That adjoining cabin would probably not be the same cost if it included the Haven amenities. I am sure they would raise the price of it if it included all of the Haven benefits. It would be great if they found a way to rent that room both ways. The regular price or for an additional cost for this cabin when rented as an adjoining room you can all have Haven access and then they also adjust the DSC accordingly.

I said that quite a few post ago. But as far as the cost of the Haven Amenities to them they have not changed provided the stipulation we were told applies that you do not exceed the total of 4 Haven passengers that would be allowed in the Aft penthouse if only 2 people were booked in each room

 

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I don't understand what you all don't understand. I would only book this if they put in writing that I would get what I was told was allowed. I would be paying more and would agree that the balcony should than be considered Haven for DSC so again payin more. The fact that they do not offer an adjoining cabin that qualifies is a design flaw on the ship and one they can easily allow. As some personel will tell his absolutely no problem. While others say it us not.

 

And if they didn't expect this to be booked this way why make it adjoining cabin.

 

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Again if I ever actually book this scenario I would make sure i have something in writing before i would make final payment.

 

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Why book anothe aft suite? Don't need 2. And the aft is as far away from the Have courtyard suites as is possible. Adjoining makes much more sense.

 

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Your philosophy is flawed. There is NO

difference between their 2 in a balcony and everybody else in a balcony. If the suite actually has an occupancy for four then you should all go in there and then you would get suite perks but your trade off is you're a little cramped with each other. so be it.

 

 

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No flaw in my philosophy. The flaw is with NCL telling people it is allowed, and telling people it is not. You may disagree with my reasoning for them to allow it. And since it has been allowed on a case by case basis that just shows the confusion. But that does not make my reasoning. It actually supports it.

 

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Your thinking (no matter how much sense it makes) doesn't override NCL's decision. If they say yes, great. If they say no, that's how it is.

As I have stated many times. All I can do is go by what I was personally told by both my former PCC as well as the butler we had when in the aft penthouse. Have never actually tried to do it. But was told as long as you don't exceed the aft capacity it was allowed. Perhaps that is controlled by the concierge that is handling the ship, I don't know. All I am saying is how NCL could easily justify their decision to allow it. But since they do not have a written policy to allow it, but do allow on a case by case basis. They make it a confusing situation.

 

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There are good and bad things. I preferred the pool area on the gem. I felt there to be more room. The main adult pool on the Breakaway is not big enough for the amount of passengers and if i recall it was very deep. The children's pool doesn't have enough seating around it. That may have been intentionally done so parents would keep a better eye on the kids. You will have access to the Haven courtyard which has a small pool and retractable roof for inclement weather.(the main reason we bid on Haven suite for cold weather sailing)

 

The shows are good on the Breakaway. But the theatre seats are not comfortable. We enjoyed O'Sheehans, regularly stop for an order of wings. Recently saw posts that you can order

from them through your butler.

 

The game area is fun. But expensive. Preferred the full bowling alley on the Gem, to the mini bowling on Breakaway.

 

We loved both Haven cabins we have been in. Deck 9 Aft penthouse was incredible, and the 2 bedroom was great although we didn't utilize the second bedroom as it was just my wife and i for that one. Both have 2 bathrooms which is convenient.

 

We preferred the 2 bedroom due to it being within the Haven proper. We felt we didn't take as much advantage of it from the Aft. That being said, I would have been just as thrilled to have had that bid accepted.

 

Have a great trip.

 

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Well, there are a couple of rather huge flaws in your logic.

 

First, the people in the balcony cabin did not pay for the Haven amenities. The people in the suite did, as the cost is included in their fare. Those amenities are not offered for FREE, they are offered to the people who pay for them. No Haven guest has the right, or authority, to give Haven amenities to people who didn't pay for them.

 

Second, NCL does not "link" reservations. On cruise lines that still have assigned dining, people can link reservations. This is done so that people traveling with people in different cabins can be assigned to the same dining table. Since NCL does not assign dining in any way, shape, or form, the don't "link" reservations...there is simply no need. (That said, a good many people don't understand this simple concept. Rather than having to explain it to people over and over again, many PCCs and TAs simply tell their guests a little white lie ("I linked your reservations") which harms no one since the pretend "linking" doesn't actually do anything.)

 

Bottom line: if you want Haven amenities, then book a Haven suite. Booking a connecting room or claiming to "know someone" in the Haven isn't sufficient. It isn't fair to the people who actually did pay for those amenities. Either book the entire party IN the Haven, or book the entire party OUT of the Haven. Pick one.

They paid for a room that allows priveledges for 4 in the room. They could either pay a reduced 3rd and 4th person rate in the room, or even 0 if 3rd and 4th free if applicable. Or they could pay full fare for another cabin and be given the same benefit of the invisible people in the paid Haven. But the group has paid more in this option than they would have. And even if what you say about linking is correct, which I find hard to believe, it would not be difficult for notes to be in both reservation allowing it. They as a group have paid more for 2 rooms than they would have with 1. And since they will not allow them to book the same passengers as the 3rd and 4th in the H6 and the connecting room which could alleviate all of the problems of everyone saying they didn't pay for Haven suite.

 

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My family.

 

Last cruise in August we celebrated both my birthday, our anniversary, brother and SIL anniversary. So seventeen familyand friends was perfect.

 

 

For this next sailing we celebrated our sons birthday. We purchased the birthday package. Cheesy but fun. Hopefully they will be able to have it done by the time we get in the cabin. If not, not the end of the world.

Allow me to present this in a different light which may help with the answer.

 

In the described scenario, the OP has a group of 4 and they want to put 2 in the Haven cabin and 2 in the connecting balcony (non-haven) cabin. They question is can the 2 in balcony cabin have Haven access they did not pay for?

 

Look at it this way: Let's say the OP and his/her spouse were in the same Haven suite. And presume that the connecting balcony cabin is occupied by two people who are total strangers to the OP and their spouse. Would those 2 total strangers still get Haven access? Remember, they would be in the same cabin with the same connecting door as the 2 people in the OP's scenario.

 

If the answer is "yes" for one, it has to be "yes" for the other.

 

As stated before, they can easily determine if the bookings are linked. If they are not a linked booking than no access. If they are linked allow access but adjust DSC to Haven for both rooms.