shadowlover

tutumomma can I ask where you got your car deal? We would also like to rent a car and drop it near port of miami

I feel like that's a tad unfair, seeing as nobody actually forces anyone to squeeze onto the ship. People know exactly how big the ship is when they book it (certainly its size has been one of the selling points), and anyone can easily find out exactly how many passengers it holds. The beauty of cruising is that people can seek out the ship that is right for them based on many factors, including its size and the number of guests it holds.

 

Richard/Tralfie

Quite true. It's just that I absolutely loved the allure of the seas which is the biggest ship on the seas- the design of the ship is amazing and it is clear that it is done for the enjoyment of all the passengers, not just those that want to pay extra for specialty restaurants or who gamble excessively etc. So, it's not about the numbers or size it's about the philosophy and design. Customer service is also some of the worst that I've experienced in my years of sailing and after reading threads I'm not alone in how I feel.

There are similar cabins on every ship, we were just on Jade in a fwd suite on deck 9 and had similar "issue" and never figured out where the sound travelled to our cabin as the hallway outside our cabin door was completely quiet. However this isn't a problem to many people who do other things onboard than stay in their cabin all the time - and the shows were usually over shortly after 10pm.

Not true. Rock of Ages- have you ever seen it??? It is an extremely loud show with rock music blaring. Shows do not ever end at 10, try midnight. The show started at 10. She was traveling with three children! The cabin noise needs to be aware to all travel agents and disclosed prior to being sold. I can't begin to explain to you how loud it was inside her cabin...it vibrated and you could hear the singing as though you were sitting right in the theatre.

i looked at the deckplan. deck 9 fwd has cabins above and also cabins below (deck 8). the theater music is down on deck 6. explain the noise to me please?

Like I said...cabins 9441 and 9445 had the noise issue not mine. The noise is as clear as if you are sitting in the theatre itself. My cabin was very quiet.

Maybe NCL needs to reconsider how many passengers they cram onto their ships. I have seen many posts where past cruisers have voiced opinions that the Breakaway is overcrowded for its size. The more I read it sounds like maybe they are true. When we traveled with RCCL we never had to wait in lines for food or shows and there were always plenty of loungers to go around. We never had to wait or reserve one. And am I hearing right? Are the only chairs/tables available located in the lounge at the rear of the ship in a no children allowed area? So much for enjoying my grandchildren as they play in the pool. Sounds like NCL isn't really handicapped friendly.

Unfortunately this is true. If you want to enjoy your grandchildren while they are in the kid pool then you will need to stand by them because there are not seats right by the kid pool anyway. The chairs by the kid pool are closer to the windows...it's a strange design but you can't see the kid pool if you are sitting in the lounge chair area. The nicest place to sit in my opinion is spice h2o but no kids under 18. The other areas are the front of the ship or upper decks nowhere near a pool. I do not think this ship was designed for the sole enjoyment of the passengers. I believe the ship is designed to make money. The areas that we enjoy on other ships we have sailed were well thought out and not so restricted.

I did not wait in line for any show even the ones I did not pre-book. I only had to wait one time to 7 of us) at various times all week. We did wait a long time for our food because service was a bit chaotic. Forget getting drink refills. All of the food we ordered did come correctly and was not cold or anything like that. I saw from previous posts that the food was not hot in the buffet and I will agree with this. It seems that they have a hard time keeping the food hot in some cases. Get the food that is being made to order fresh-most times it is delicious.

Shadowlover~I just upgraded to a large balcony on deck 9..What was your cabin number?

Our cabin number was 9732 and we were very pleased with it. You can fit at least two lounge chairs and two regular chairs but I forgot to mention that you have to ask/plead with your cabin steward to bring you a lounge chair. We found one right outside our room which was great! I think no one would bother you if you carried some up from the pool deck.

Couple other tips I forgot.. As we were in a forward cabin the cafe was pretty far away so I went in search of coffee in the morning. There is some yummy coffee in the atrium cafe for a nominal charge but also O'sheehans has breakfast and take out coffee or juice every morning. I loved that.

The shows you should pre book however we had no trouble getting into any show we wanted to see. We didn't even have to wait in a standby line.

I loved the mushroom quesadilla appetizer in the dining room...yum! We liked the Manhatten room the best. Service was chaotic and not what you are used to on other ships however everyone was very pleasant. There is a chocolate decadent desert with a fruit compote one night that is out of this world delicious. I really didn't care for the desserts other than this in the dining room which is good for me!! In the buffet the cobblers and rice pudding are also delicious!

You can get off the ship in Bermuda as early as 8am if they dock as quickly as we did. The ferries hold a lot of people so never fret. They have plenty of busses so don't worry about getting where you need to be.

If you do a jet ski tour- book it on your own with sommerset bridge water sports and do the early bird special. It's at 8 am but it is truly the best. We were the only ones on the tour-the three of us. Harry was our guide and he gave us an awesome tour. You can snorkel right off the jet ski if you ask him.

We are very particular about smoke, and really didn't feel it was nearly as bad as your experience.

Wow...where did you hang out?

Just off the break away and wanted to share some things I wish I had known so perhaps can be of help to someone else! For sailaway we went to deck 16 after eating lunch and sat all the way to the right on a comfy bed. It was shaded and a great spot! Make sure you save it quickly after boarding.

We booked a large balcony cabin on deck 9 and were sooo glad we did. There aren't any quiet comfy places to sit like I remember from the allure. Spent a lot of time on the balcony so very worth the investment!

Think like you would in disney and do things opposite what most do...eat at off hours. Get to the ropes course 30 minutes prior to open and you will be first in line. You can stay on it for as long as you like which is why the line is so slow! Go on the water slides late afternoon and you will have no line.

The pool is so small so I don't understand why people want to get a chair right near it...sit in spice h2o which is much nicer and quiet!!

Bring a nose plug if you hate smoke-I'm really serious.

Bring a pillow to sit on the uncomfortable chairs- your bottom will thank you.

Cash is needed in Bermuda to buy the transportation passes- no credit accepted!

DO NOT rely on your tv for your room statement. Get a hard copy of your charges and credit early in your sailing. On the tv it appears that all on board credit goes directly to the daily service charges making you think you have no credit left to spend and more reluctant perhaps to spend. We found out the last night that we had 80 dollars of NON REFUNDABLE credit that had to be spent or lose. Son had no trouble spending it in the gift shop but still...I thought this was deceptive and misleading.

Found a free wifi hot spot in Hamilton!! It is at a french bistro down the street from the ferry dock. I think it's called Bouchee. It was closed but we sat outside at their tables and enjoyed catching up.

Do not accept inside cabins on deck 9 forward. You can hear the noise/music from the shows in the theatre all afternoon and night long as though you were sitting in the show. Sister had cabins 9441 and 9445. Thought it was disgusting that they sold these cabins knowing full well we couldn't be the first to complain.

Don't worry about finding seats in the garden cafe- never a problem. Food is great.

I can not stress how poorly designed the ship is with the casino smack dab in the middle of the atrium. The noise and horrid stale smoke smell is such a shame you could cry. Quite clear to me that this ship was mainly built to make money not for the pure enjoyment of the paying guests. All the restaraunts have "outdoor" seating right below the casino which, again, is open to everything allowing the smoke to drift down while eating. We are just not used to this in this day and age. Does NCL just not know the dangers of second hand smoke??

Go to the gym late afternoon-it's empty at that time. The gym is way too small for the ship.

Try not to be bothered by the lack of enforcement on kids not being in the hot tub etc. They don't enforce any rules on the ship, good or bad. Oh, but they did enforce the no one under the age of 16 in the health club to exercise. Really? My poor athlete neice had to have her mom fight for this at guest services.

We had a great time because of our room and being on vacation to bermuda however I will never sail this ship again. I LOVED the allure...I was totally spoiled on her. sigh...

Thanks for this thread. The other one is a little daunting. We went on our first Explorer cruise in April and have another planned for April 2012.

 

I read on the Cruise Director thread that Chris Northey is no longer on the Explorer (an not with RCCL anymore). Bummer.

Oh no. Who is the cruise director then??