Loved the Breakaway!

[Mooder]

I’m probably going to sound like a cheerleader, but I really loved this cruise. Without intending to be contrary, I find that most of the comments I want to make concern negatives I read before I left. I guess its natural that that’s what I was paying closest attention to.

 

Big ship/crowds: I only felt the crowds twice. Immediately after muster and after Rock of Ages (the theater lets out very close to the elevators). Otherwise, I kept wondering where they were. I think the elevator banks are great, especially the aft elevators (I was in an aft cabin). Unlike on the Jewel class ships they are not in a hallway needed by people just passing through. So, it never felt as crazy as the elevator lobbies on those smaller ships. Other than after muster, we never waited more than a minute for an elevator, usually much less. The Garden Cafe was the biggest surprise. No matter the time of day, we were always able to find a table easily, again unlike on Jewel class ships. If one area had a bit of a line, I was always able to walk to the next area and get the same thing without a line. So, waiting for omelets, custom pasta, etc. was never a problem.

 

Service: The grumpy crew must have been sent home because we couldn’t find them. Our room steward was like our den mother and the wait staff was great. Contrary to what we had read, there are indeed WASHY WASHY HAPPY HAPPY and WAKEY WAKEY, EGGS AND BAKEY crew at the entrance to the buffet. They were a joy. We had a bit of a nasty experience checking in on the dock, but that's not crew.

 

Food: The food on the Breakaway is superb. I had gotten tired of Teppanyaki but my nephew wanted to go and am I glad. It was the best hibachi dinner I have ever had! We also ate at Bistro, Cagneys, O’Sheehans and Moderno and enjoyed them all. The low point is probably the dessert at Teppanyaki, but there is plenty of good dessert elsewhere on the ship. The buffet food was good and the LOBSTER and shrimp on seafood night was amazing! My lips are smacking just thinking about it. My only disappointment in the buffet was that grits are only served every other day... they are my cruise breakfast staple. :) I missed the Great Outdoors, but the Uptown Grill is a decent substitute. I even enjoyed the dirty water dogs at the Sabbretts cart.

 

Activities: Biggest problem is finding time to try out everything. The spa is great, with the therapy pool being the best I’ve seen. The “family” slide was a thrill and enough of a thrill for me but the rest of my family tried them all and enjoyed them a lot. The lines were quick. The lines for the ropes course were a bit more difficult but they managed to find good times to do it. Margarita and Martini Tastings were a blast and we met some great people.

 

The timing was such that we never got to eat on the Waterfront but we had drinks and relaxed out there several times and loved it. It never seems crowded.

 

Entertainment: We enjoyed Cirque, Rock of Ages, and Slam Allen a LOT. We returned to Slam on multiple nights. We love the intimate settings as opposed to giant theaters. We also enjoyed the dueling pianos and the comedian/magician.

 

Cabin: Great layout, feeling roomier than on Jewel class ships. I missed drawers but there are two big ones under the sofa (in addition to shelves) so we had plenty of storage. The deck 12 aft balcony is huge and we were easily able to open the partitions to have one humungous balcony where we spent a lot of time drinking our own pina coladas (no problem bringing blender on in our luggage).

 

Those are my initial thoughts. I will post again if I think of more and will be happy to answer questions.

[Mooder]

How did you open the dividers and how many people fit once u opened it?

 

We used the handle of a nail clipper. A butter knife would probably work.

[Mooder]

Jusy curious, are the alternatives to the crowded pool deck all free or must you pay an additional fee?

 

Vibe and Spa have a fee. But no fee for H2O or the multiple outside areas where you can find seating.

[Mooder]

Welcome back! Can't wait for the full review. Wondering if they had an outdoor theater?

 

There is a big movie screen at H2O but we were never there at night so we didn't see it used.

[Mooder]

Mooder. Great to hear you had a good time but would expect you would as you have always seemed like a positive person. :)

 

Thanks. I find it hard to be negative about a vacation. But I will honestly say what I don't like. :cool:

[dtb195]

I am so happy you had a great time also-I went the week before you and posted a full review as well. People thought I loved the Breakaway because I was a casino guest, but that is farthest from the truth-it was a beautiful cruise overall from beginning to end. It is nice to hear from everyone on here that they also enjoyed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Woohoo-missing it everyday

[peg013]

Could you see the fireworks from your balcony? How loud was the music from Spice above you?

[Mooder]

Could you see the fireworks from your balcony? How loud was the music from Spice above you?

 

 

 

Sadly, fireworks were cancelled because of rain and wind that night - we were just glad it waited until that night to rain! But we were told we would probably not see it from our balcony. The music was a little loud if we kept our door open, but not enough to bother us. With the door closed we heard nothing. We kept it closed most of the time because of the heat and air conditioning, not because of noise. And our neighbors on each side supposedly had loud tv a couple nights and we received apologies from parents, but we never heard anything - so much for the reports of paper-thin walls. :)

[Mooder]

I am so happy you had a great time also-I went the week before you and posted a full review as well. People thought I loved the Breakaway because I was a casino guest, but that is farthest from the truth-it was a beautiful cruise overall from beginning to end. It is nice to hear from everyone on here that they also enjoyed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Woohoo-missing it everyday

 

 

I miss it too - and didn't spend a minute in the casino.

 

Sent from my BlackBerry 9930 using Tapatalk

[pixiedustdawn]

Sadly, fireworks were cancelled because of rain and wind that night - we were just glad it waited until that night to rain! But we were told we would probably not see it from our balcony. The music was a little loud if we kept our door open, but not enough to bother us. With the door closed we heard nothing. We kept it closed most of the time because of the heat and air conditioning, not because of noise. And our neighbors on each side supposedly had loud tv a couple nights and we received apologies from parents, but we never heard anything - so much for the reports of paper-thin walls. :)

 

These cabins must be sound proof then! I know my cabin, that was right next to you was rockin well into the wee hours as well as our balcony party one night. I still can't believe you didn't hear anything! I am happy we didn't keep you awake.

 

We also enjoyed this ship more than we expected too. Food was superb on this ship, even at the buffet. Sorry about your grits. lol

 

I liked that the cabin stewards washed down the balcony glass railing, balcony glass doors and balcony floor. My cabin steward did a great job cleaning my balcony glass doors. It looked as though they were open, even when closed. ;)

 

Dawn

[Dawnmcl123]

How was the noise from H2O in your room?

[WildcatRock]

Mooder, thanks for the review - it brought a smile to my face reading about your experience. I can't wait until we make it to Bermuda someday. You've been on a lot of cruises - how would you rank the Breakaway and your cruise experience compared to all of your previous cruises?

 

 

Sent from my DROID4 using Forums mobile app

[peg013]

How was the noise from H2O in your room?

 

See post #33. She already answered this question.

[Mooder]

Mooder, thanks for the review - it brought a smile to my face reading about your experience. I can't wait until we make it to Bermuda someday. You've been on a lot of cruises - how would you rank the Breakaway and your cruise experience compared to all of your previous cruises?

 

 

Sent from my DROID4 using Forums mobile app

 

Wow, that's a tough question, but I'll try to answer by saying what I would choose in the future. For a cruise with multiple sea days, I would make Breakaway my top choice. However, for a port-intensive cruise like a European cruise, I would not pay the extra money since I'm on the ship less. If the prices were equivalent, I would probably choose the Breakaway but its a very close call with the Jewel class ships. I can tell you that I will find a way to be on the Breakaway again because I still haven't experienced everything she has to offer. :) And Bermuda calls to me, so...

[WildcatRock]

Wow, that's a tough question, but I'll try to answer by saying what I would choose in the future. For a cruise with multiple sea days, I would make Breakaway my top choice. However, for a port-intensive cruise like a European cruise, I would not pay the extra money since I'm on the ship less. If the prices were equivalent, I would probably choose the Breakaway but its a very close call with the Jewel class ships. I can tell you that I will find a way to be on the Breakaway again because I still haven't experienced everything she has to offer. :) And Bermuda calls to me, so...

 

My DW and I love the Jewel class ships and never thought we'd go on a bigger ship. But after seeing the posts/reviews, and getting the perspectives of experienced cruisers like you, we're close to dipping our toe in the big ship waters by maybe booking a 2015 cruise on the EPIC. We also really want to make it to Bermuda sometime and imagine we'll have to choose between the Breakaway and whatever ship NCL has out of Boston then. Thanks again for sharing your perspective!

 

Sent from my DROID4 using Forums mobile app

[Dawnmcl123]

Did you stay in room 12906? If so, can you tell me where the bed is?

Thanks

[Mooder]

Did you stay in room 12906? If so, can you tell me where the bed is?

Thanks

 

Yes, we were in 12906 and the beds were closer to the balcony door.

[karensi]

How did you open the dividers and how many people fit once u opened it?

 

I had brought a scissor on board and just stuck the scissor in the little round opening and dividers opened up easily. I also wanted to add that our room steward left the dividers open throughout the cruise. I was wondering if this would be the case as I had read reviews saying that some of the room stewards would reclose the dividers after a guest had opened them. Not so in our case, they remained open until we returned to our cabin on the last night only to find they had been closed. It just made us sad cause it made it so obvious that our cruise was coming to an end.

As to how many people fit on the balconies once the dividers are opened,the balconies are smaller and narrower than any I have had on previous cruises. Even opened, only 2 people could fit on any one balcony. But with the dividers opened it is easy to talk with the rest of your party who are on the balcony next to you.

[Mooder]

My cabin steward did a great job cleaning my balcony glass doors. It looked as though they were open, even when closed. ;)

 

Dawn

 

Really?!?!?!?! :rolleyes:

[jdvmd]

Glad to hear you had a great time! Thanks!

[kmurph22]

Thank you Thank you to you Mooder and all the others who have recently written positive reivews of the Breakaway!

 

My family and I have booked it for a Christmas cruise and I was starting to get slightly worried. Particularly all the comments about crew attitude, which seems to have been reversed. Phew!

 

Counting down...