Breakaway pros and not so pros

We are a family of 7 just got back from our June 9th Breakaway cruise.

BACKGROUND ABOUT US:

Myself and my other half 50, father in law 74, nieces 21 and 24 and sister/brother in law 51 and 52 years of age.

We are all very experienced cruisers, been cruising other cruise ship lines, this was my 50th cruise. We had three cabins on deck 11 one on deck 12 all aft between the 7 of us.

I will give you an outline of the pros and not so good about the Breakaway, if I upset anybody please remember it is our opinions as we are all different but all 7 of us agree to what I write here about the Breakaway.

PROS:

*Embarkation and disembarkation is wonderful, easy and simple. We got on the ship from arriving at the terminal at 10:45 in 25 minutes and off the ship (you are allowed to choose your disembarkation times) in 10 minutes, about time we found our luggage and went through custums it was less than 30 minutes total.

*Getting off and on ship in Bermuda excellent, never lines even the first day we docked we got off at 10:00am with no lines whatsoever

*My other half and I never stood on an island overnight and we were quite worried about being bored...the casino is closed and couldn't imagine us getting through this but we did and it was fine. Of course we wanted the casino open as so many others, we spent the nights doing a show and one evening we walked to the Frog and Onion Pub a place that was interesting (although I don't think I ever would eat there only to drink to me its not clean) where we had drinks, very pricey but they give you the souvenier glass a clean one to take home with you. I call it a hole in the wall type of place but very interesting to see and have a drink. There is a complimentary tram that runs every 20 minutes from the dockside to the shops there. The weather is always a constant breeze in Bermuda was really nice. My other half came home from the casino with $1500.00 more, I lost a total of 50 entire cruise.

*Ship is very large. I have been on large cruises that even accomodate 6k persons, this ship totally made us feel crowded alot of the time. When the venues end, everybody has to walk through the casino, causing "traffic jams" and we found this ship to always be warm especially on deck 7 twice I had to fan myself for air, but this was when venues were leaving and I was at a slot machine and it was so crowded around us that the air flow was not decent.

*MDR did get a line but they give you beepers and many times seen lots of people waiting for a table for dinner.

*The first evening is lobster night, I assume because of one of two reasons, firstly, not all passengers eat dinner the first night they been travelling and go to the buffet or just skip dinner and secondly, the lobster could be fresh and they servve it the first night at its freshest. The lobster was perfect but all of us said TOTALLY SALTY!

*We dined at Savor the first evening for lobster love the fact that Savor and Taste are quaint dining rooms which made us feel as if we were dining at a local restaurant....no crowds, no larger room, no feeling of banquet style quality, although service was lacking here, it took us 20 minutes to finally order a cocktail and 30 minutes to order our meal. Six of us ordered the lobster and we all agrees way too salty! Desserts were good. I have to be gluten free and the waitress knew this before I ordered my main course and she made sure she gave me flourless chocolate cake which was very good.

*We dined the second evening at Manhatten Room which was a very large banquet quality dining room filled with large tables that were very close together. This was our least favorite place, although having a band play music was a nice touch, the service was very lacking also in the beginning. It took 15 minutes to order a cocktail. I ordered the steak it was ok. The salads were excellent fresh and crisp and the appetizers were good. Desserts were just good.

*We went to Cirque d'Soleil the first evening, thankfully we ate at Savor earlier because the dinner here was just ok. It was surf and turf I don't eat seafood asked them not to give the fried shrimp only to get the fried shrimp on my plate...the steak was ok, I ordered it medium rare and got it medium well. The tomato caprese to me was fair quality, I would never eat this dinner again but the show was excellent. We did find the show to drag out a bit, such as the guy who did the ring toss got boring same old stuff, he could elimate half his act as so some others.

*Second night we went to Burn the Floor now take it to mind 4 of us are middle age and one senior citizen...four out of five of us fell asleep it was too boring for us, we did not know the music of that era and didn't find the dancing worth seeing...my father in law enjoyed the music as it was his era and said it was just ok. To us this is a show to be missed for us. We did not want to walk out, well we couldn't few of us took a siesta during this show lol.

*The bathroom had plenty of storage space...two long and wide shelves under the countertop and under the sink were two level large shelves plenty of room for storage.

*People talked about having difficulty getting to the closet when their bed was next to it, never a problem there is plenty of room to walk to get to the closet and it was fine.

*Shower was the largest (with shower doors) that I ever had on any ship but the water pressure was lacking, probably the lowest pressure we ever had on our past 12 cruises. I did like the fact they had racks to place my own shampoo on and they did offer liquid body wash and shampoo dispensers, bring your own hair shampoo, I used theirs once and never again.

*The mattresses were shorter, I am 5'7" and my toes were hanging over the mattress and my other half is 6'1" his entire foot hung over the bed. The mattresses were excellent but the pillows were horrible, felt as if they old thin pillows that needed replacement. They do give you four on the bed and two in the drawer under the sofa all were horrible. For a new ship this was a huge disappointment. The towels were very good and if you like soap bars bring your own because they only provide liquid soap in the dispenser next to the sink which I liked. I have a huge 30.5" suitcase totalling 62" and that fit perfectly under the bed. Next to the mini frig are two cabinets with shelves to place things, yes, I prefer the drawers but you still have storage here. They provide a blowdryer which is not as good as mine but was fine but it was permanently secured under the desk so I had to sit on the bench stool (that opens for more storage) and still had to put my head down a bit because the cord was not long enough. There is a coffee pot which is very nice, we never had this in any other ship, although the coffee was just ok it was there with tea. The closets are built in the opposite direction than any other cruise ship we been on which means the ship did rock side to side so at night we all heard the hangers banging around, but my other half took the entire rack off and leaned it on the bottom so we were able to sleep peacefully.

*All of us had noises of some type in our stateroom. I heard the people next door to me flush their toilet during the night as well hearing the shower upstairs and you can hear alot, this ship was not as quiet. If you have somebody on the balcony upstairs or next to you talking you will hear them as we all did.

*We understand going green but hate it! One night I got in my room at 3am and could not find the slot to place my card to get the lights on but I did eventually...the ac does turn off when you leave the cabin unless you place a dummy card in the slot, the cabin steward will not make up your room unless you place the make up the room light on which is inside your cabin with the do not disturb light. One morning I forgot to turn on the light came back later afternoon to find the room not made up...called guest services they had the cabin steward come and make up our room so don't forget to turn the light on when you want your room made up am and pm time. The outlets do not work unless your card is in the room also which to me is stupid. By the way, the room never got warm they must have it set to a certain temperature probably 76. I understand going green but this was to the extreme surely they probably could of figured out a better way.

*We called maintence one day our bathroom lights didn't work, the other day both the outlets next to the desk did not work and another time our ac was not working, maintence came within 20 minutes all three times and fixed things fine.

*Elevators worked nicely fast also

*In the casino is a small area where they provide some food and coffee which is a nice touch. Late night they had cheeses, veggie and dip, daytime sandwiches, and pasteries and such in the am.

*We ate two breakfasts in the MDR which were very good both times service was excellent, typical menu and very good. I order my eggs over medium and were served to me perfectly.

*Cocktails were inexpensive the cheapest out of all the other cruise lines we been on and the glasses were decent size too! 5 of us had the UBP which I will talk about later on.

*O'Sheehans- I must be gluten free so the only things for me to eat were french fries. I ordered a corned beef sandwich but there were only three slices of corned beef on the sandwich (of course left the bread) My father in law had the shepards pie and he said it was very good. I wish they added non gluten items to this menu as it is the only thing to eat past 11 pm, but the casino did offer cubed cheeses, veggies and dip. My other half had the chicken wings a few times and he said they were very good, but asked for extra celery to only get three tiny thin pieces of celery each time.

*Rock of Ages very good interesting and wonderful music show. Many people in other posts didn't care for it but we all did, we all were familiar with the songs of the 80's and it was a very nice story overall. (none of us fell asleep lol)

*Slam Allen is excellent, very interesting and recommend seeing his show, wonderful songs nice talent!

*Ocean Blu- We paid $35 before the price went up....I have to say we all rate it excellent with the exception of the NY Strip Steak as it had a very very sweet marinade sauce on it, which totally turned me off but the steak was just good nothing more than that, I was disappointed as few other posts stated it was the best NY Strip they ever had, but we do go to fine steak houses so perhaps my expectations on quality and taste in beef is higher than others? I love Mortons, and I love Peter Lugar but this was not even close to Ruth Chris either...Longhorn has a tastier NY Strip Steak for sure!! Others had the pork belly that said it was very good and scallops....we ordered additonal items off the menu from the raw bar which included little neck clams, shrimp, oysters all were excellent! All the appetizers were very good to excellent, desserts were good nothing amazing, little disappointed in this but everything was fresh and excellent including the service here. Four people had the Dove Sole and said it was spectacular!!

*Moderno- Salad bar was excellent with many choices of meats, cheeses, salads, ceviche, buffalo mozzerella and tomatoes, excellent overall and all fresh and tasty. They mostly come around with the sausages, ribs and short ribs (to me the less costly types of beef), we had to ask for the sirloin twice as it only came around to us once, they also had excellent lamb, the sirloin was very good, the chicken was very good also. Dessert was disappointing but what they had was just good. We probably would not dine here again if going back or IF we decide to go on NCL.

*We did a restaurant crawl one night, we went to the Raw Bar which is next to Ocean Blu and everything was excellent (calamari, oysters, shrimp) but my littleneck clams left me repeating fishy clams in my mouth for hour and half, I recommend going here the first four nights when things are more fresher, we went here on night 6. We went to the Noodle Bar it was excellent, we all had different items.

*We went one afternoon for lunch at Wasabi, it was excellent, wonderful service and alot of fun doing the saki bombs.

*LeBistro I have to say was my favorite restaurant. All the appetizers we had, the sides, the main entrees were very good to excellent! I had the duck and it was excellent! The desserts were very good also and the service excellent too.

*Cagneys was a disappointment to me and most of the others. We heard how wonderful it is but the steaks are not quality, although the size and thickness of the steaks are appealing and large, there just wasen't a good taste to the beef. I have to say Longhorn Steakhouse had a much tastier Rib Eye and NY Strip. Father in law had the Bison which was full of fat, never had bison that had fat on it, very odd. The shrimp was soft not good two of us couldn't eat it, just was not fresh again, we dined here night 7 so I suggest any seafood you want to eat by night 5. The crab cake everybody said was excellent and the salads were fresh and crisp, the potato soup was ok, desserts were good and three of us had the raspberry creme brulee to find it to be absolutely too sweet and only tasted sweet raspberry and not the creme brulee, I had two bites could not eat it as so did my father in law. The oreo cookie cheesecake probably is the best of the desserts offered here. I also would not choose to dine here again.

*We found the overall majority of foods to be very salty on this ship, my father in laws ankels were a bit swollen from the sodium in his foods.

*Past posters have stated that their toilets in the staterooms did not flush well, all of ours worked perfectly.

*STAFF this is one of the biggest disappointments we had, we were not the only ones as I have spoken to other passengers who also said the very same thing. On other cruise lines when we walked in the hallways the cabin stewards would say hello, good morning/afternoon and such but none said hello here, totally ignored us as we walked by. The bar staff had difficulty in understanding english, for instance, my other half drinks only jack and soda water/seltzer and he was given johnny walker and soda water and scotch and soda water, they do not understand english very well and definately not speak it very well either because so many times I had to ask them to please repeat what they just had said. Many times I would order a drink for them to ask me two times what I wanted....the staff did their jobs but it didn't give us the feeling of being friendly as other cruise lines made us feel more special.

*Hallways on balcony stateroom levels were all narrow, if a person in a wheelchair had to get by and somebody walking the other way needed to pass you could have problems.

*Carlos Bake Shop excellent, we tried a few different items, shared it between the seven of us and all were excellent. The average price for a pastry which was large that could be shared by four people only cost $5.

*Sabbrett Hot Dog Cart nice touch, hot dogs over boiled.

*Shopping on the ship is the worst I ever had even on the smaller ships. There was no drug store, they only had one clothing shop which was very limited in items and not a huge selection in tee shirts and other items, no flip flops were sold, again, poor selection and I just don't understand why? If somebody had lost luggage they have difficulty finding clothing.

*LAYOUT OF SHIP this is the second biggest disappointment on this ship. When venues ended everybody had to walk out and into the casino, it was so crowded at times, never ever did I experience such huge "traffic jams" on any ship even on ships that hold more than this one did.

*OUTDOOR DECK SPACE is terribly planned and not thought out in our opinions. You go to the top and outside to find yourself like enclosed in these "cubicles", its difficult finding a place to sit on a chair or lie out overlooking the ocean/a view of the ocean. The pools are tiny, I just not understand having 4k passengers and putting a pool that is alot smaller than the Epics on this one! The decks around the pools were horrible, so crowded and the pool had tons of people in there that looked like a can of packed sardines. I would never get in that small pool with soooo many passengers, to me its discusting. Spice H2O is where my sister in law and nieces lied in the sun probably the best area as it was not packed to compacity as the other places. Vibe is not worth extra fees and we also heard other passengers say the same thing....extra fee for really nothing extra, we took a peek in there and decided just for some chairs, chaises, hot tub and small bar its just not worth any extra fee! They did have a live band out at the main pool in the daytime which was nice but again, its so loud and crowded.

*Spice H20 Deck Night parties alot of fun, great breezes outside in Bermuda decent music

*Drinking water was very chlorinated could not drink it

*Breakfast buffet- not bad not all the choices as Royal Caribbean offers but sufficient and alot better than Carnival but perhaps more similiar to Princess I think. The omelet station was the best out of all my cruises because they offered more options of what we can have in our omelet (hot peppers, spanish omelet, cheese, ham, mushrooms, onions, spinach, peppers) than any other cruise line. I did think there was a limited amount but sufficient amount of pastries and all, bacon was abundent, cooked fine, sausage was ok, turkey sausage discusting lol, they always had some type of herring/white fish type (I not like seafood so didn't know what it was) and salmon, cheese, deli meats, the scrambled eggs are horrible (those liquid "fake" eggs), hard boiled eggs, you can ask for fried eggs at omelet station, corned beef hash, oatmeal, grits/cream of wheat, fruit, dry cereal and yogurts available as well as roasted potatoes and these potatoes which tasted like latka's to me but they call it hashed browns. They did have different types of teas, coffee, iced tea, apple juice, crandberry cocktail and orange juice offered at this time here.

*Lunch Buffet- THE MOST DISAPPOINTING on this ship. The first day they had a prime rib carving but after that NO CARVING OF ANY MEATS! One day they had a meatloaf, they always had some type of veal or lamb stew (all contain gluten which I cannot have), they had 3-4 choices of asian foods, sometimes saw an indian dish or two, two soups, salad bar was small and limited but sufficient and fresh, cool and crisp...cheeses, deli meats, sandwiches, burgers, fries, hot dogs (left side was pork burgers, right side beef burgers), they always had chicken which was always excellent. One day they had meatballs my other half raved about it said not full of breadcrumbs so I tried three meatballs and were all meat and not once did I get sick so it was mostly all meat, the meatballs were excellent and I am italian so I know, they also had pastas and the tomato sauce I feel is all homemade and very good. I being gluten I count on veggies, potatoes and meat carvings, so it was very limited on what to eat for me. They did have soft and hard ice cream offered here (8 choices of hard ice cream/sherbert, along with different types of toppings), desserts were very good decent selection but again not the best I seen, lemonade, iced tea, flavored water, my favorite was the lemonade was very good and not the powder type stuff. I have to say this buffet is better than the smaller carnival ships but not as good as Royal Caribbean and Princess as both cruise lines have two different type of meat carvings daily, larger assortment of different types of salads and more hot meat entrees. There was pizza also offered here none of us tried it. I have to rate this buffet good and everything was fresh and there was NEVER any lines, great planning on this buffet area!

*Cocktails were made very decent, although I love a great mojito I find NCLs mojitos, Long Island Iced Teas as well as any drink using OJ not that good. Martini's were always excellent, try the chocolate martini.

*Bingo was decent and fair, they always had something happening all times on this ship. During afternoons in the Atrium large screen they would show decent movies and serve you a bag of pop corn. Nice touch for those who are interested.

*I found the casino to be very smokey the last two evenings other than that and I having asthma I never was bothered by any smoke here and only smelled it in the casino.

ULTIMATE BEVERAGE PACKAGE:

Two of us didn't have it because my sister in law does not drink at all, so brother in law purchased his drinks and the rest of us had this package. Speaking for my other half and myself it did save us alot of money, we would average 11 drinks per day/night which means it saved us half the money getting this package. I have to say the average cost of drinks is around $7.50 so I feel if you drink less than 6 a day/night it probably won't be worth it for you. Martinisnot included although I did have apple martini's with a less quality vodka (Gibby's) that was included in the package but the others and any other drinks over $8.50 are not included and there is NO LIMIT as to how many juices, soda's and cocktails you have a day, there is no such thing as 15 drink maximum, all of us had asked different bar tenders and all got the very same answer, no limits. Wines under $10 were available for this program and all types of wines were offered under this price, and beer under $5.50. BUT if you order say a Miller Lite in a bottle its included because that is $5.50 but if you order it on draft it is 5.75 you will be charged for it. I drank champagne, mimosa's and bloody mary's in the am all included...I also drank tequila sunrise, rum swizzle, pina colada, frozen mudslide, white russian, black russian, mojito, margaritas (jose cuervo, suaza included in package), crandberry and vodka (except for the kettle one but beveldere was included in package as so was Van Gogh and other type vodkas) all included in this package. You must really think how much you drink, but for us we did have two days we both had 12 drinks a piece,no we were not even buzzed, because we had them over 18 hour period. We did tip extra to the bartenders we used more often such as one in O'Sheehans and Shakers Bar. I read others stating that this program is not offered in Ocean Blu it was not the case, they honored this program with the exception of Geoffrey's specialty cocktails that were not included. Again if you drink 6 drinks or more a day its worth it.

GLITCH IN UBP SYSTEM: You will be "fakely charged" for all drinks if you look at your bill on the tv in your stateroom but YOU WILL NOT BE ACTUALLY CHARGED ON YOUR BILL OR IF YOU GO TO GUEST SERVICES FOR YOUR ROOM BILL, they seem to failed to have a program in showing that your drinks are included with no cost when purchasing this program. We were not charged for any drinks that were included in this package on our shipboard credit so no panic when you see these drink charges on the tv, you will not have to pay for the, but do make sure the copy that you hand back to the bartender does have the initials "UBP" and keep the other copy for your own records.

*Martini, Mojito and Tequila tasting- We did the tequila tasting it was only $15 definately worth the fun, laughs and the full size drinks they gave us (5 total)

*Cirque du Soleil- We had premium seats but the regular seats were fine also, mostly in 180 degree booths, where the premium seats were tables.

*Fireworks were cancelled due to bad weather.

*This is my 50th cruise and I must say every sailing she did since the first one from NY she had a not good return, for us also. Friday night into Saturday late afternoon this ship rocked the most I ever felt on all my 50 cruises I been on, total 16 hours! There were some white caps, and captain said we had 18 ft waves but honestly being on so many cruises and all of us agree it should not rock as bad as she did as it was not bad at all, the waves did not look bad and can't understand how much rocking she did do. My father in law and niece said when they were in the elevator she listed where they felt the elevator go sideways and when they got out had to hold onto the handles in the hallways to stand up....I just feel this ship is built diffrerently because many other passengers said the same thing she should not rock as bad as she did, was not very bad weather at all, very weird! (I believe when she goes against currents this will be a common problem for her). I not saying that I never had any rocking on other ships because I have but it was not as bad as this one and for only one to three hours tops ever and this one was for 16 hours, now this is our first cruise out of NY so is it normal in this type of seas???

*We purchased internet time and got free minutes with a package my other half chose, have to say the slowest internet we ever had on any cruise but it did work but so slowly.

*Some bars did offer a "munchie of a type of snack" which is a nice touch and were given to us individually in these glasses.

*Martini Bar very nice area and wonderful martini's.

*Ocean Blu-Try Geoffrey Zackarians white russian its the best and included in the UBP

*When we boarded we had to go to a line next to Guest Services to combine our specialty dining room tables as we were a total of 7 and six person maximum to a table if you reserve prior to your cruise, we were combined with no problems to sit together.

*The womens bathroom toilets do not flush right away (everybody hated this and alot of talk about this in all the ladies rooms) you have to actually leave the toilet stall and then in five seconds it flushes but what we did and others we would just come out hold the door until it flushed then let the next person in.

SUMMARY:

Is bigger better the answer is NO. We did feel a crowded feeling especially on deck 7, it was nice to have all the variety of dining choices both complimetary and pay. The lunch buffet lacked meat carving something I never seen on all other cruise lines and ships that I have been on. Cons on this ship were not major but we found abundent of "little things" that do add up when you think of the overall cruise. Yes, we had a fantastic time, yes I would go back or even try the Getaway but yes I and my other half, father in law would definately choose RC above NCL. This ship lacked the "friendliness" of staff overall, the outdoor deck space and feeling open in seeing the ocean clearly was very limited, the pools were so tiny, this ship contained 4k passengers and we did see and feel it, the specialty restaurants had flaws (we would not go back to Moderno, Cagneys very disappointed here) along with the other tiny little things that we did not like even though were not major did add up to us and therefore, not sure whether we would take NCL again.

But remember, any cruise is better than no cruise. I love the variety of shows NCL offers, I love the specialty dining choices as well has having multiple dining option complimentary, yes had a wonderful time but not sure if we go NCL again???

Thanks for taking the time to pull this together.

Keith

Great review. We were on Breakaway in end of May, and I agree with a lot of what you said.

- Cirque rings juggler was trying too hard! He kept dropping rings, it was very odd, as the show was in Bermuda, no rocking of the ship whatsoever. I say cut him!

- Loved Rock of Ages

- cabins are noisy. We had an added program with Spice H2O on top of us, but overall, especially bathrooms, you can hear people above you. One time I was in the bathroom, and I heard what I thought was a baby, crying! -- then realized couple upstairs was having s*x - oh boy they were loud!

- our weather was good there and back, fireworks show rocked!

- internet super-slow! ugh... tons of frustration here

- ship very crowded. I"d give them A for concept and D for execution. crowds everywhere. hallways narrow. etc.

- cabin attendants were OK.. yes, not as friendly as other ships

When we were on our last day of this cruise i said: back in 5 years, not earlier. Let this crazy ship settle and get sorted out, i'll stick to other NCL offerings. I'm actually going back to Royal Caribbean next year... enough NCL for now.

Thanks for your review, I have to correct one thing though: Lobster like any other meat comes onboard frozen fleetwide for both logistics and quality reasons (heard this during the Behind the Scenes tour on Pearl just this Feb), so there is no difference in freshness whether it's served first or last day. :)

Thanks for posting your review. Glad you didn't let some of the low points stop you from having a fantastic cruise.

I was disappointed (for you) to read your overall impression of the Norwegian crew not being friendly. From the smallest (Spirit) to largest (Epic) Norwegian ships we've sailed on the crew has been pretty much outstanding and is one of the many things that keep us coming back.

At some point we will say Breakaway / Getaway but will wait for the newness to wear off and prices to come down. We're booked on the Epic again for January and the Pride of America for next October. Will definitely sail on the Sun again - our Alaska cruise just completed was fabulous.

Thanks for posting your review. Glad you didn't let some of the low points stop you from having a fantastic cruise.

 

I was disappointed (for you) to read your overall impression of the Norwegian crew not being friendly. From the smallest (Spirit) to largest (Epic) Norwegian ships we've sailed on the crew has been pretty much outstanding and is one of the many things that keep us coming back.

 

I was on this same sailing, and agree with some points made here but totally disagree with others (but we each have our own experiences and opinions). I will post a short recap of my cruise in the next day or two.

One point I do agree with was the crew not being very friendly. Rarely did the crew members say hello in the hallways. A lot of the waiters seemed distant, rushed, and didn't seem to want to be bothered. It wasn't that the service was bad, but nothing they did really impressed me. I would rate them a 5, or 6, at best out of 10. Nothing wrong, but nothing stood out either.

An exception to this I found were the folks who worked on the sports deck. The guys (I think all guys?) who worked at the water slide/ropes course/rock climbing wall were all really friendly.

Our cabin attendant was the worst I've had in recent memory (and our companion cabin across the ship had the same experience). Not very friendly, never converted the bed back to a couch the entire week. Didn't clean very well.

Just my experience during this sailing.

Thanks for the review!

-I believe the crew was very friendly. Our steward Claudia was exceptionally nice and helpful. My grandmother was in a wheelchair and everyone helped us even though the halls were a little tight.

- Cagney's and Moderno were both amazing restaurants that I would definitely go back to. Cirque dreams was a great show and I thought the dinner was very good. I believe it's a great value considering I live in NYC and the price of the cirque show near me is very expensive.

- Ocean Blue, however, was very disappointing. I had pre booked it so we paid 35 pp but I don't even believe that was worth it. The food was good but there wasn't enough options and the portions are beyond small. The sea bass is a 5 ounce piece, on a dish without any sides. I cannot believe they believe its worth 50 pp. there should be surf and turf for that kind of money. I would have rather went back to cagneys or moderno.

- Slam Allen was very talented and Rock of ages was truly a broadway caliber show, probably the best I've seen in a while. The second city comedy show was very disappointing. I usually love comedy shows on cruises but the improv act wasn't very funny and barely an hour long.

-we had an amazing time on the breakaway and I would love to go back. The ship is amazing, modern and beautiful. It never felt crowded considering the number of people on the ship. I can't believe how many negative reviews I had read, but I would highly recommend it to anyone.

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-we had an amazing time on the breakaway and I would love to go back. The ship is amazing, modern and beautiful. It never felt crowded considering the number of people on the ship. I can't believe how many negative reviews I had read, but I would highly recommend it to anyone.

Agreed. I highly recommend it too. There were some negatives, but nothing to prevent me from enjoying my cruise. I would easily recommend this ship to anyone.

-I believe the crew was very friendly. Our steward Claudia was exceptionally nice and helpful. My grandmother was in a wheelchair and everyone helped us even though the halls were a little tight.

 

- Cagney's and Moderno were both amazing restaurants that I would definitely go back to. Cirque dreams was a great show and I thought the dinner was very good. I believe it's a great value considering I live in NYC and the price of the cirque show near me is very expensive.

 

- Ocean Blue, however, was very disappointing. I had pre booked it so we paid 35 pp but I don't even believe that was worth it. The food was good but there wasn't enough options and the portions are beyond small. The sea bass is a 5 ounce piece, on a dish without any sides. I cannot believe they believe its worth 50 pp. there should be surf and turf for that kind of money. I would have rather went back to cagneys or moderno.

 

- Slam Allen was very talented and Rock of ages was truly a broadway caliber show, probably the best I've seen in a while. The second city comedy show was very disappointing. I usually love comedy shows on cruises but the improv act wasn't very funny and barely an hour long.

 

-we had an amazing time on the breakaway and I would love to go back. The ship is amazing, modern and beautiful. It never felt crowded considering the number of people on the ship. I can't believe how many negative reviews I had read, but I would highly recommend it to anyone.

There were a TON of negative reviews about the Epic too, but I have been on her twice already, and absolutely love her!

Thanks for taking the time to post an detailed, honest review!

Thanks for the wonderful and detailed review.

Bravo!

Thank you for taking time to write this review - all views and opinions expressed are your own and I appreciate the way you presented the facts as you see them.

Would you mind telling me what your cabin numbers were? We are on the Sept 22nd sailing and have mid-ship Mini-Suites 11788 & 11790 and chose these specifically because of the location.

DW and I were on your sailing and enjoyed your review. My two cents is in red. We get "free" cruises through Harrah's / CAS which means I pay double up front as a normal passenger.:eek: We had a great time and thought the ship excellent but crowded. Of our six NCL cruises, this had by far the best included food - MDRs, Buffet, Specialty free places. The quality in Taste / Savor was heads and tails above our last two cruises - really a welcome surprise. Cagney's was a disappointment for me (maybe ordered wrong item), but Moderno was awesome as usual. La Cuchina had a spectacular lasagna!! We downgraded our balcony stateroom to a spa balcony (in size) - I recommend this for anyone traveling as a couple. The unlimited ability to escape to the spa was heaven!!! The casino was totally unfair as they kept taking my money, but the dealers and floor people were wonderful as always.;) We enjoyed Bermuda and Horseshoe Bay may be my favorite beach of all time. We're looking at two additional cruises on NCL.

We are a family of 7 just got back from our June 9th Breakaway cruise.

BACKGROUND ABOUT US:

Myself and my other half 50, father in law 74, nieces 21 and 24 and sister/brother in law 51 and 52 years of age.

We are all very experienced cruisers, been cruising other cruise ship lines, this was my 50th cruise. We had three cabins on deck 11 one on deck 12 all aft between the 7 of us.

I will give you an outline of the pros and not so good about the Breakaway, if I upset anybody please remember it is our opinions as we are all different but all 7 of us agree to what I write here about the Breakaway.

PROS:

*Embarkation and disembarkation is wonderful, easy and simple. We got on the ship from arriving at the terminal at 10:45 in 25 minutes and off the ship (you are allowed to choose your disembarkation times) in 10 minutes, about time we found our luggage and went through custums it was less than 30 minutes total. Totally agree

*Getting off and on ship in Bermuda excellent, never lines even the first day we docked we got off at 10:00am with no lines whatsoever Totally agree

*My other half and I never stood on an island overnight and we were quite worried about being bored...the casino is closed and couldn't imagine us getting through this but we did and it was fine. Of course we wanted the casino open as so many others, we spent the nights doing a show and one evening we walked to the Frog and Onion Pub a place that was interesting (although I don't think I ever would eat there only to drink to me its not clean) where we had drinks, very pricey but they give you the souvenier glass a clean one to take home with you. I call it a hole in the wall type of place but very interesting to see and have a drink. There is a complimentary tram that runs every 20 minutes from the dockside to the shops there. The weather is always a constant breeze in Bermuda was really nice. My other half came home from the casino with $1500.00 more, I lost a total of 50 entire cruise. I lost my shirt!

*Ship is very large. I have been on large cruises that even accomodate 6k persons, this ship totally made us feel crowded alot of the time. When the venues end, everybody has to walk through the casino, causing "traffic jams" and we found this ship to always be warm especially on deck 7 twice I had to fan myself for air, but this was when venues were leaving and I was at a slot machine and it was so crowded around us that the air flow was not decent. It sometimes seemed very crowded; much more so then the Epic.

*MDR did get a line but they give you beepers and many times seen lots of people waiting for a table for dinner. Only the first day, all other times were walk in.

*The first evening is lobster night, I assume because of one of two reasons, firstly, not all passengers eat dinner the first night they been travelling and go to the buffet or just skip dinner and secondly, the lobster could be fresh and they servve it the first night at its freshest. The lobster was perfect but all of us said TOTALLY SALTY! My wife loved it.

*We dined at Savor the first evening for lobster love the fact that Savor and Taste are quaint dining rooms which made us feel as if we were dining at a local restaurant....no crowds, no larger room, no feeling of banquet style quality, although service was lacking here, it took us 20 minutes to finally order a cocktail and 30 minutes to order our meal. Six of us ordered the lobster and we all agrees way too salty! Desserts were good. I have to be gluten free and the waitress knew this before I ordered my main course and she made sure she gave me flourless chocolate cake which was very good. Our service was ok.

*We dined the second evening at Manhatten Room which was a very large banquet quality dining room filled with large tables that were very close together. This was our least favorite place, although having a band play music was a nice touch, the service was very lacking also in the beginning. It took 15 minutes to order a cocktail. I ordered the steak it was ok. The salads were excellent fresh and crisp and the appetizers were good. Desserts were just good. Never dined in the Manhatten Room.

*We went to Cirque d'Soleil the first evening, thankfully we ate at Savor earlier because the dinner here was just ok. It was surf and turf I don't eat seafood asked them not to give the fried shrimp only to get the fried shrimp on my plate...the steak was ok, I ordered it medium rare and got it medium well. The tomato caprese to me was fair quality, I would never eat this dinner again but the show was excellent. We did find the show to drag out a bit, such as the guy who did the ring toss got boring same old stuff, he could elimate half his act as so some others. Did not go to.

*Second night we went to Burn the Floor now take it to mind 4 of us are middle age and one senior citizen...four out of five of us fell asleep it was too boring for us, we did not know the music of that era and didn't find the dancing worth seeing...my father in law enjoyed the music as it was his era and said it was just ok. To us this is a show to be missed for us. We did not want to walk out, well we couldn't few of us took a siesta during this show lol. Agree - total snoozer.

*The bathroom had plenty of storage space...two long and wide shelves under the countertop and under the sink were two level large shelves plenty of room for storage. Good bathroom layout - much more space.

*People talked about having difficulty getting to the closet when their bed was next to it, never a problem there is plenty of room to walk to get to the closet and it was fine. Enough room for us.

*Shower was the largest (with shower doors) that I ever had on any ship but the water pressure was lacking, probably the lowest pressure we ever had on our past 12 cruises. I did like the fact they had racks to place my own shampoo on and they did offer liquid body wash and shampoo dispensers, bring your own hair shampoo, I used theirs once and never again. Agree on shower - I'm bald (shampoo not an issue).

*The mattresses were shorter, I am 5'7" and my toes were hanging over the mattress and my other half is 6'1" his entire foot hung over the bed. The mattresses were excellent but the pillows were horrible, felt as if they old thin pillows that needed replacement. They do give you four on the bed and two in the drawer under the sofa all were horrible. For a new ship this was a huge disappointment. The towels were very good and if you like soap bars bring your own because they only provide liquid soap in the dispenser next to the sink which I liked. I have a huge 30.5" suitcase totalling 62" and that fit perfectly under the bed. Next to the mini frig are two cabinets with shelves to place things, yes, I prefer the drawers but you still have storage here. They provide a blowdryer which is not as good as mine but was fine but it was permanently secured under the desk so I had to sit on the bench stool (that opens for more storage) and still had to put my head down a bit because the cord was not long enough. There is a coffee pot which is very nice, we never had this in any other ship, although the coffee was just ok it was there with tea. The closets are built in the opposite direction than any other cruise ship we been on which means the ship did rock side to side so at night we all heard the hangers banging around, but my other half took the entire rack off and leaned it on the bottom so we were able to sleep peacefully. Our bed was plenty large, but made squeeked noises as the ship rocked.

*All of us had noises of some type in our stateroom. I heard the people next door to me flush their toilet during the night as well hearing the shower upstairs and you can hear alot, this ship was not as quiet. If you have somebody on the balcony upstairs or next to you talking you will hear them as we all did. I did not notice this.

*We understand going green but hate it! One night I got in my room at 3am and could not find the slot to place my card to get the lights on but I did eventually...the ac does turn off when you leave the cabin unless you place a dummy card in the slot, the cabin steward will not make up your room unless you place the make up the room light on which is inside your cabin with the do not disturb light. One morning I forgot to turn on the light came back later afternoon to find the room not made up...called guest services they had the cabin steward come and make up our room so don't forget to turn the light on when you want your room made up am and pm time. The outlets do not work unless your card is in the room also which to me is stupid. By the way, the room never got warm they must have it set to a certain temperature probably 76. I understand going green but this was to the extreme surely they probably could of figured out a better way. We did not have any trouble with this.

*We called maintence one day our bathroom lights didn't work, the other day both the outlets next to the desk did not work and another time our ac was not working, maintence came within 20 minutes all three times and fixed things fine. Everything worked well in our cabin.

*Elevators worked nicely fast also Agreed.

*In the casino is a small area where they provide some food and coffee which is a nice touch. Late night they had cheeses, veggie and dip, daytime sandwiches, and pasteries and such in the am. This is where I got my morning coffee!!:D

*We ate two breakfasts in the MDR which were very good both times service was excellent, typical menu and very good. I order my eggs over medium and were served to me perfectly. Good breakfast.

*Cocktails were inexpensive the cheapest out of all the other cruise lines we been on and the glasses were decent size too! 5 of us had the UBP which I will talk about later on. Only paid for a couple and it was reasonable.

*O'Sheehans- I must be gluten free so the only things for me to eat were french fries. I ordered a corned beef sandwich but there were only three slices of corned beef on the sandwich (of course left the bread) My father in law had the shepards pie and he said it was very good. I wish they added non gluten items to this menu as it is the only thing to eat past 11 pm, but the casino did offer cubed cheeses, veggies and dip. My other half had the chicken wings a few times and he said they were very good, but asked for extra celery to only get three tiny thin pieces of celery each time. I'm not a big fan; I do like the tuna and wifey loves spinach and artichoke dip!

*Rock of Ages very good interesting and wonderful music show. Many people in other posts didn't care for it but we all did, we all were familiar with the songs of the 80's and it was a very nice story overall. (none of us fell asleep lol) Refreshingly entertaining!

*Slam Allen is excellent, very interesting and recommend seeing his show, wonderful songs nice talent! Didn't see.

*Ocean Blu- We paid $35 before the price went up....I have to say we all rate it excellent with the exception of the NY Strip Steak as it had a very very sweet marinade sauce on it, which totally turned me off but the steak was just good nothing more than that, I was disappointed as few other posts stated it was the best NY Strip they ever had, but we do go to fine steak houses so perhaps my expectations on quality and taste in beef is higher than others? I love Mortons, and I love Peter Lugar but this was not even close to Ruth Chris either...Longhorn has a tastier NY Strip Steak for sure!! Others had the pork belly that said it was very good and scallops....we ordered additonal items off the menu from the raw bar which included little neck clams, shrimp, oysters all were excellent! All the appetizers were very good to excellent, desserts were good nothing amazing, little disappointed in this but everything was fresh and excellent including the service here. Four people had the Dove Sole and said it was spectacular!! Didn't go

*Moderno- Salad bar was excellent with many choices of meats, cheeses, salads, ceviche, buffalo mozzerella and tomatoes, excellent overall and all fresh and tasty. They mostly come around with the sausages, ribs and short ribs (to me the less costly types of beef), we had to ask for the sirloin twice as it only came around to us once, they also had excellent lamb, the sirloin was very good, the chicken was very good also. Dessert was disappointing but what they had was just good. We probably would not dine here again if going back or IF we decide to go on NCL. We love Moderno and it did not disappoint - wifey had multiple filet pieces and I stuffed myself.

*We did a restaurant crawl one night, we went to the Raw Bar which is next to Ocean Blu and everything was excellent (calamari, oysters, shrimp) but my littleneck clams left me repeating fishy clams in my mouth for hour and half, I recommend going here the first four nights when things are more fresher, we went here on night 6. We went to the Noodle Bar it was excellent, we all had different items. Cool

*We went one afternoon for lunch at Wasabi, it was excellent, wonderful service and alot of fun doing the saki bombs.

*LeBistro I have to say was my favorite restaurant. All the appetizers we had, the sides, the main entrees were very good to excellent! I had the duck and it was excellent! The desserts were very good also and the service excellent too.

*Cagneys was a disappointment to me and most of the others. We heard how wonderful it is but the steaks are not quality, although the size and thickness of the steaks are appealing and large, there just wasen't a good taste to the beef. I have to say Longhorn Steakhouse had a much tastier Rib Eye and NY Strip. Father in law had the Bison which was full of fat, never had bison that had fat on it, very odd. The shrimp was soft not good two of us couldn't eat it, just was not fresh again, we dined here night 7 so I suggest any seafood you want to eat by night 5. The crab cake everybody said was excellent and the salads were fresh and crisp, the potato soup was ok, desserts were good and three of us had the raspberry creme brulee to find it to be absolutely too sweet and only tasted sweet raspberry and not the creme brulee, I had two bites could not eat it as so did my father in law. The oreo cookie cheesecake probably is the best of the desserts offered here. I also would not choose to dine here again. I did not enjoy my Bison Sirloin; Wifey loved her lobster!

*We found the overall majority of foods to be very salty on this ship, my father in laws ankels were a bit swollen from the sodium in his foods. Didn't notice saltiness.

*Past posters have stated that their toilets in the staterooms did not flush well, all of ours worked perfectly. Initially ours was "tricky" and then worked fine.

*STAFF this is one of the biggest disappointments we had, we were not the only ones as I have spoken to other passengers who also said the very same thing. On other cruise lines when we walked in the hallways the cabin stewards would say hello, good morning/afternoon and such but none said hello here, totally ignored us as we walked by. The bar staff had difficulty in understanding english, for instance, my other half drinks only jack and soda water/seltzer and he was given johnny walker and soda water and scotch and soda water, they do not understand english very well and definately not speak it very well either because so many times I had to ask them to please repeat what they just had said. Many times I would order a drink for them to ask me two times what I wanted....the staff did their jobs but it didn't give us the feeling of being friendly as other cruise lines made us feel more special. WOW, I cannot disagree more - our cabin steward and EVERYONE I passed in a hallway said, "Hello" or "Good Morning".

*Hallways on balcony stateroom levels were all narrow, if a person in a wheelchair had to get by and somebody walking the other way needed to pass you could have problems. Agree

*Carlos Bake Shop excellent, we tried a few different items, shared it between the seven of us and all were excellent. The average price for a pastry which was large that could be shared by four people only cost $5. Didn't try

*Sabbrett Hot Dog Cart nice touch, hot dogs over boiled. Didn't try

*Shopping on the ship is the worst I ever had even on the smaller ships. There was no drug store, they only had one clothing shop which was very limited in items and not a huge selection in tee shirts and other items, no flip flops were sold, again, poor selection and I just don't understand why? If somebody had lost luggage they have difficulty finding clothing. Not a shopper, but sundries were slim picking - no Alka Seltzer (just some Tums).

*LAYOUT OF SHIP this is the second biggest disappointment on this ship. When venues ended everybody had to walk out and into the casino, it was so crowded at times, never ever did I experience such huge "traffic jams" on any ship even on ships that hold more than this one did. At times very crowded

*OUTDOOR DECK SPACE is terribly planned and not thought out in our opinions. You go to the top and outside to find yourself like enclosed in these "cubicles", its difficult finding a place to sit on a chair or lie out overlooking the ocean/a view of the ocean. The pools are tiny, I just not understand having 4k passengers and putting a pool that is alot smaller than the Epics on this one! The decks around the pools were horrible, so crowded and the pool had tons of people in there that looked like a can of packed sardines. I would never get in that small pool with soooo many passengers, to me its discusting. Spice H2O is where my sister in law and nieces lied in the sun probably the best area as it was not packed to compacity as the other places. Vibe is not worth extra fees and we also heard other passengers say the same thing....extra fee for really nothing extra, we took a peek in there and decided just for some chairs, chaises, hot tub and small bar its just not worth any extra fee! They did have a live band out at the main pool in the daytime which was nice but again, its so loud and crowded. Just passed through - no comment.

*Spice H20 Deck Night parties alot of fun, great breezes outside in Bermuda decent music Didn't go

*Drinking water was very chlorinated could not drink it It was ok for me

*Breakfast buffet- not bad not all the choices as Royal Caribbean offers but sufficient and alot better than Carnival but perhaps more similiar to Princess I think. The omelet station was the best out of all my cruises because they offered more options of what we can have in our omelet (hot peppers, spanish omelet, cheese, ham, mushrooms, onions, spinach, peppers) than any other cruise line. I did think there was a limited amount but sufficient amount of pastries and all, bacon was abundent, cooked fine, sausage was ok, turkey sausage discusting lol, they always had some type of herring/white fish type (I not like seafood so didn't know what it was) and salmon, cheese, deli meats, the scrambled eggs are horrible (those liquid "fake" eggs), hard boiled eggs, you can ask for fried eggs at omelet station, corned beef hash, oatmeal, grits/cream of wheat, fruit, dry cereal and yogurts available as well as roasted potatoes and these potatoes which tasted like latka's to me but they call it hashed browns. They did have different types of teas, coffee, iced tea, apple juice, crandberry cocktail and orange juice offered at this time here. Buffet ok - bacon a little greasy, but plenty decent to eat.

*Lunch Buffet- THE MOST DISAPPOINTING on this ship. The first day they had a prime rib carving but after that NO CARVING OF ANY MEATS! One day they had a meatloaf, they always had some type of veal or lamb stew (all contain gluten which I cannot have), they had 3-4 choices of asian foods, sometimes saw an indian dish or two, two soups, salad bar was small and limited but sufficient and fresh, cool and crisp...cheeses, deli meats, sandwiches, burgers, fries, hot dogs (left side was pork burgers, right side beef burgers), they always had chicken which was always excellent. One day they had meatballs my other half raved about it said not full of breadcrumbs so I tried three meatballs and were all meat and not once did I get sick so it was mostly all meat, the meatballs were excellent and I am italian so I know, they also had pastas and the tomato sauce I feel is all homemade and very good. I being gluten I count on veggies, potatoes and meat carvings, so it was very limited on what to eat for me. They did have soft and hard ice cream offered here (8 choices of hard ice cream/sherbert, along with different types of toppings), desserts were very good decent selection but again not the best I seen, lemonade, iced tea, flavored water, my favorite was the lemonade was very good and not the powder type stuff. I have to say this buffet is better than the smaller carnival ships but not as good as Royal Caribbean and Princess as both cruise lines have two different type of meat carvings daily, larger assortment of different types of salads and more hot meat entrees. There was pizza also offered here none of us tried it. I have to rate this buffet good and everything was fresh and there was NEVER any lines, great planning on this buffet area! Lunch buffet was decent, but the hidden gem is the Deck 16 outdoor mini buffet with handmade sammies - corned beef was awesome!

*Cocktails were made very decent, although I love a great mojito I find NCLs mojitos, Long Island Iced Teas as well as any drink using OJ not that good. Martini's were always excellent, try the chocolate martini.

*Bingo was decent and fair, they always had something happening all times on this ship. During afternoons in the Atrium large screen they would show decent movies and serve you a bag of pop corn. Nice touch for those who are interested. Didn't play.

*I found the casino to be very smokey the last two evenings other than that and I having asthma I never was bothered by any smoke here and only smelled it in the casino. Agree

ULTIMATE BEVERAGE PACKAGE:

Two of us didn't have it because my sister in law does not drink at all, so brother in law purchased his drinks and the rest of us had this package. Speaking for my other half and myself it did save us alot of money, we would average 11 drinks per day/night which means it saved us half the money getting this package. I have to say the average cost of drinks is around $7.50 so I feel if you drink less than 6 a day/night it probably won't be worth it for you. Martinisnot included although I did have apple martini's with a less quality vodka (Gibby's) that was included in the package but the others and any other drinks over $8.50 are not included and there is NO LIMIT as to how many juices, soda's and cocktails you have a day, there is no such thing as 15 drink maximum, all of us had asked different bar tenders and all got the very same answer, no limits. Wines under $10 were available for this program and all types of wines were offered under this price, and beer under $5.50. BUT if you order say a Miller Lite in a bottle its included because that is $5.50 but if you order it on draft it is 5.75 you will be charged for it. I drank champagne, mimosa's and bloody mary's in the am all included...I also drank tequila sunrise, rum swizzle, pina colada, frozen mudslide, white russian, black russian, mojito, margaritas (jose cuervo, suaza included in package), crandberry and vodka (except for the kettle one but beveldere was included in package as so was Van Gogh and other type vodkas) all included in this package. You must really think how much you drink, but for us we did have two days we both had 12 drinks a piece,no we were not even buzzed, because we had them over 18 hour period. We did tip extra to the bartenders we used more often such as one in O'Sheehans and Shakers Bar. I read others stating that this program is not offered in Ocean Blu it was not the case, they honored this program with the exception of Geoffrey's specialty cocktails that were not included. Again if you drink 6 drinks or more a day its worth it. WOW! Actually, I had the CAS drink card which kept me in Coronas

GLITCH IN UBP SYSTEM: You will be "fakely charged" for all drinks if you look at your bill on the tv in your stateroom but YOU WILL NOT BE ACTUALLY CHARGED ON YOUR BILL OR IF YOU GO TO GUEST SERVICES FOR YOUR ROOM BILL, they seem to failed to have a program in showing that your drinks are included with no cost when purchasing this program. We were not charged for any drinks that were included in this package on our shipboard credit so no panic when you see these drink charges on the tv, you will not have to pay for the, but do make sure the copy that you hand back to the bartender does have the initials "UBP" and keep the other copy for your own records.

*Martini, Mojito and Tequila tasting- We did the tequila tasting it was only $15 definately worth the fun, laughs and the full size drinks they gave us (5 total)

*Cirque du Soleil- We had premium seats but the regular seats were fine also, mostly in 180 degree booths, where the premium seats were tables.

*Fireworks were cancelled due to bad weather.

*This is my 50th cruise and I must say every sailing she did since the first one from NY she had a not good return, for us also. Friday night into Saturday late afternoon this ship rocked the most I ever felt on all my 50 cruises I been on, total 16 hours! There were some white caps, and captain said we had 18 ft waves but honestly being on so many cruises and all of us agree it should not rock as bad as she did as it was not bad at all, the waves did not look bad and can't understand how much rocking she did do. My father in law and niece said when they were in the elevator she listed where they felt the elevator go sideways and when they got out had to hold onto the handles in the hallways to stand up....I just feel this ship is built diffrerently because many other passengers said the same thing she should not rock as bad as she did, was not very bad weather at all, very weird! (I believe when she goes against currents this will be a common problem for her). I not saying that I never had any rocking on other ships because I have but it was not as bad as this one and for only one to three hours tops ever and this one was for 16 hours, now this is our first cruise out of NY so is it normal in this type of seas???

*We purchased internet time and got free minutes with a package my other half chose, have to say the slowest internet we ever had on any cruise but it did work but so slowly.

*Some bars did offer a "munchie of a type of snack" which is a nice touch and were given to us individually in these glasses.

*Martini Bar very nice area and wonderful martini's.

*Ocean Blu-Try Geoffrey Zackarians white russian its the best and included in the UBP

*When we boarded we had to go to a line next to Guest Services to combine our specialty dining room tables as we were a total of 7 and six person maximum to a table if you reserve prior to your cruise, we were combined with no problems to sit together.

*The womens bathroom toilets do not flush right away (everybody hated this and alot of talk about this in all the ladies rooms) you have to actually leave the toilet stall and then in five seconds it flushes but what we did and others we would just come out hold the door until it flushed then let the next person in. Men's do not flush either; kinda disconcerting at times. I do not like the feature?

SUMMARY:

Is bigger better the answer is NO. We did feel a crowded feeling especially on deck 7, it was nice to have all the variety of dining choices both complimetary and pay. The lunch buffet lacked meat carving something I never seen on all other cruise lines and ships that I have been on. Cons on this ship were not major but we found abundent of "little things" that do add up when you think of the overall cruise. Yes, we had a fantastic time, yes I would go back or even try the Getaway but yes I and my other half, father in law would definately choose RC above NCL. This ship lacked the "friendliness" of staff overall, the outdoor deck space and feeling open in seeing the ocean clearly was very limited, the pools were so tiny, this ship contained 4k passengers and we did see and feel it, the specialty restaurants had flaws (we would not go back to Moderno, Cagneys very disappointed here) along with the other tiny little things that we did not like even though were not major did add up to us and therefore, not sure whether we would take NCL again.

But remember, any cruise is better than no cruise. I love the variety of shows NCL offers, I love the specialty dining choices as well has having multiple dining option complimentary, yes had a wonderful time but not sure if we go NCL again???

I appreciate your well thought out review

You all are very welcome!!

kgquilts- sister/brother in law and their daughters went on the Epic last year and said that ship was nothing like this they loved the Epic. They also would choose the Epic over the Breakaway.

Demonytye I also figured lobster must be frozen but it didn't taste frozen if only all that sodium wasen't poured on the lobster it be excellent.

SNL4- wow, I wish I went where you went...lets see not friendly staff were the cabin stewards that I past in the hallway never a hello or smile, and only met my cabin steward once in entire cruise. There was only one staff worker a bartender named August who was friendly addressed me by my name he worked in O'Sheehans but I guess that's because I tipped him a 20 the second night. We went for cocktails at the Mix Bar, Atrium Bar. Shakers and another forgot the name but no friendly staff there....the MDR staff weren't friendly either. I guess I am used to staff saying hello, good afternoon/morning/evening, how are you just like they ALL DO on RC even on Carnival. I actually thought at one point perhaps its because NCL has a rule that staff can't speak to the passengers other than just doing their job.

Bacchybella23- I am so happy to hear you were pleased with both Cagneys and Moderno and the Cirque dinner, we all different, I dine in fine restaurants but honestly I thought simple inexpensive Longhorn Steakhouse had better tasting/quality steaks, and Cirque dinner was equivalent to a buffet quality but so glad you enjoyed your meal and I agree show is excellent. I thought the price for Ocean Blu was decent $35 is nothing to us, and maybe because we ordered from the Ocean Bar additional items is why we thought we had enough on our plates there. My steak was not good with that sweet sauce on top but it was 10-12 ounces pretty decent size I think. I guess to each their own right. :rolleyes:

Your very welcome and if you have any questions feel free to ask me.

Chetsky 11902, 11900, 11989, 129894

Hello Wondo sorry you lost your shirt, my father in law did and brother in law your not alone at least one of us beat the casino. I did not enjoy the slots they are newer type and not as fun as the older ones but we had slots so I was happy.

Im sorry the bed made noises, actually father in law had some type of banging sound near his balcony door that we could not figure out what caused it but we all had banging hanger noises, minus mine as my other half took down the rod in the closet lol of course he put it back up upon leaving.

Now that you mentioned that your wife loved the lobster in Cagneys one of my nieces had it and loved it also, but the bison was the worst.

What deck were you on that the cabin stewards said hello we were on deck 11 and 12 and none of us got any hello's or anything.

Claiming bingo is fair on any NCL cruise is a huge stretch. I guess if you just want some mindless entertainment it's ok, but fair payouts? Come on.

Claiming bingo is fair on any NCL cruise is a huge stretch. I guess if you just want some mindless entertainment it's ok, but fair payouts? Come on.

Agreed. The rolling jackpot on every single cruise is a big indicator ;)

I think this review is fair but to compare a ships steak house to Peter Lugar's or even Mortons is a little weak.

Dolittle your right I did say both places I written that Longhorn Steakhouse was a lot tastier and better.

I can't help but wonder if the reason that it feels more constricted (and as a result, crowded) is that part of the normal width for these common areas is allocated to outdoor eating spaces.

If you lose 10 - 12 feet of width, that's a huge impact INside.

Stephen

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We were on the June 2 sailing. Our cabin attendant placed a dummy card in the electric slot. Thought that problem was solved.

Chetsky 11902, 11900, 11989, 129894

 

Hello Wondo sorry you lost your shirt, my father in law did and brother in law your not alone at least one of us beat the casino. I did not enjoy the slots they are newer type and not as fun as the older ones but we had slots so I was happy.

 

Im sorry the bed made noises, actually father in law had some type of banging sound near his balcony door that we could not figure out what caused it but we all had banging hanger noises, minus mine as my other half took down the rod in the closet lol of course he put it back up upon leaving.

Now that you mentioned that your wife loved the lobster in Cagneys one of my nieces had it and loved it also, but the bison was the worst.

 

What deck were you on that the cabin stewards said hello we were on deck 11 and 12 and none of us got any hello's or anything.

Lyndamr,

We were on 14 (14108) and it wasnt restricted to that deck for us although I don't believed we hoofed your decks. I'm sorry that you did not enjoy the same experience. It seems like we are of the same mindset; if something is perceived to be wrong, note it and then go have a great time - we're cruisin'; how bad can life be?:)

So true we thoroughly enjoyed the Breakaway, so we ran into little issues but they didn't make things bad we just compare cruise lines when we were flying home. ;)