First NCL cruise - My Breakaway experience 8/11/2013

[roe2ship]

We just returned from the August 11th cruise on board the Breakaway. This was our ninth cruise but my family’s first experience with NCL. I will admit that before deciding on this cruise, I was hesitant on trying NCL because of many things either that I read on the CC boards or heard from family or friends. As with anything in life, I like to try new things myself and form my own opinions. We enjoy the large ships so when NCL introduced the Breakaway and its homeport, I figured this may be the perfect time to give NCL a try. Prior to the cruise, I read many mixed reviews about the Breakaway so I was well prepared and went in with slightly lower expectations. Here now are some details on a daily basis and MY experience on board the Breakaway.

 

I’ll post what I can for now and finish up in the next couple of days.

 

Sunday

 

We arrived at the terminal at 10:30 and check in was a breeze. They were handing out papers “A Look at your Week” which was basically a short rundown of entertainment options and showtimes. After reading this, I realized that two of my shows that I booked prior to the cruise were changed to different times. The one time change (Rock of Ages) was to my liking however the other (Burn the Floor) one was not. So check your reservations to be sure they have not made any changes. At 11:20, they began the boarding process and we were so ready to begin our cruise and a new experience.

 

So up the gangway (love this part) our first step onto the ship we were greeted by a few crew members dancing with music to welcome us on board….nice little touch. Our first stop was at the Box Office to change our Burn the Floor reservations. There were about 10 people in line but the line did move quickly. I believe you can make changes thru the interactive tv in your cabin, however I did not want to take any chances to wait until the cabin was available. After that, we dropped off our carry on bags in our cabin. Hallways are indeed narrow but never really an issue throughout the week. We now headed to the buffet to have our first lunch. We thought the buffet was open and airy, nicely decorated with plenty of seating. We had a few other lunches and late night snacks in there during the week and never had a problem finding tables. We thought the buffet food was a little less than average and most times the temperature of the food was lukewarm at best. Next we headed out to explore the ship and walked over to the 3 story atrium, 678 Ocean Place. I expected this area to be a bit larger from the artist renderings. The ceilings were low and the space around it appeared to be small. In the evenings, this area is somewhat congested more so on deck 7 because of the casino. Speaking of the casino, for those of you who are really concerned about the smell of smoke, I suggest you do walk through deck 7 at all to get from one side of the ship to the other. Use deck 6 or 8 and then walk up or down the stairs. The Waterfront on deck 8 is really nice and not as narrow as I thought from the first few pictures that were posted on here before the Transatlantic cruise.

 

We had a balcony cabin 10908 (bed by closet) and I would have much preferred the bed by the balcony door. The space in between the bed and the closet is probably six inches, very tight and sometimes annoying. The balcony is certainly tiny, actually the smallest I ever had but it served its purpose on this cruise and it really wasn’t all that bad. What I noticed is there was lots of space between the balcony curtain and the balcony glass door, I thought to myself why couldn’t this empty space be utilized to make the balconies a tad larger. The amount of storage in the cabin was more than adequate and there were three of us. This was the first time ever that I had plenty of left over space to store things. Bathroom is a really nice size also with plenty of storage. There are pumps of soap, shampoo and shower gel. I much prefer bars of soap….I thought the shower gel was awful with a bad scent. Cabin steward never introduced himself however he appeared to be shy when we did meet him in the hallway the next day. He did his job and I appreciated that he made towel animals for us the whole week.

 

We went to dinner tonight at Taste dining room at 6:00 pm, no wait. Waiter did not introduce himself, something that we are use to from other lines. Service this evening was okay, a little slow and there were not many people in there either. We had a hard time understanding our waiter tonight. I only remember I had the Grilled Shrimp (good) and DH had cream of broccoli soup and some beef dish. Soup was excellent however the beef was not good, loaded with fat. Desserts were strawberry cheesecake and DH found his new love dessert…warm bread and butter pudding…he thought it was excellent. Son had his ice cream every night for the rest of the cruise.

 

Entertainment tonight was supposed to be Burn the Floor but we moved it to another night. We went to see Slam Allen and we thought he was very good. Stayed for about one hour and decided to finish unpacking and head to sleep.

 

Monday

 

I tried the jogging track early this morning at 7:30 am. The size and location is really ridiculous. I did two miles and decided to change it to the gym however at this time every machine was taken. The gym is also too small. We had breakfast in one of the dining rooms and found the service not so friendly this morning. The omelettes were not prepared well and were this way all week. Hash browns though were very good. Now DH and I are coffee addicts, we found the coffee on NCL in a word – bad. Not as bad as the undrinkable coffee on Princess but bad. Thankfully we brought on our own coffee pot. We enjoy a great cup of coffee first thing in the morning on our balcony.

 

We went up on the pool deck around 10:15 am, the only loungers left were those on deck 17 port side. Within 15 minutes ALL loungers in this area now were also gone. This seemed to be a common complaint today and the next sea day. I have always found loungers on my other cruises at one end or another no matter what time but I came to the conclusion that the Breakaway has insufficient pool deck space. There is not enough space for extra loungers because of areas such as the Haven, Vibe, Aqua Park, and marketplace….they take up a whole lot of room. So this in my opinion could have been better designed. We all tried the aqua park today…great fun. Son and I did all the slides except free fall however DH did try this one and said it was a blast. Pools are small but to me they are all small and don't expect nothing larger on cruise ships. We don't use them much... only to cool off and we're done.

 

Lunch was at the buffet. Some pastas and rice was overcooked, sandwiches okay, other items just not good and most dishes were again lukewarm. The desserts looked appetizing however they were very bland…most were tasteless.

 

We all went to bingo and found the prices to be equally the same as other lines. They had a raffle drawing for some prizes and for the first time ever, we actually won an 8 x 10 photo of the ship with the NY skyline….very nice!

 

Dinner tonight was in the Manhattan room at 5:50 pm, walked right in. We were seated on the dance floor area and the lighting (spotlights) there was right in your face, not pleasant. I expected this DR to be better but we all found it to be quite noisy. We had cream of broccoli soups….again excellent. Salmon was tasty and pretty good but again another different beef/steak dish and found it poor...lots of fat. Service was very friendly although it was still taking some time and we had a reservation for Burn the Floor. After waiting for our entrées for a while, DH informed our waiter that we had reservations at 7:45. He did get us out of there in time and DH thanked him and said he will fill out the comment card. Only then the waiter told us his name. I guess he had to at that point so he can be recognized for this excellent service.

 

Entertainment tonight was Burn the Floor at 7:45 in the theater. Dancers and music were good but I found 50 minutes for this show a bit too long. What didn’t help for this show were the people sitting right behind us. There were two very young children here and throughout the show were talking, whining and up and down from their parents laps so ended up kicking my son’s chair during the last half hour of the show. Unfortunately the parents thought nothing of this even after we all turned around at different times to give them a hint. Really I most certainly understand to attend a show with children but for goodness sake it doesn't take much to realize you child is distracting others. After 10 or 15 minutes, they should have left...sigh.

 

I will have to finish this up hopefully tomorrow.

[bingo3]

Looking forward to your review, hope some of these continued concerns are addressed by the time I sail next May! But, at least I'll know what to expect (or not).

[JJS329]

Just a quick comment about 678 ocean place -- while I loved my cruise overall, I also expected a larger and grander atrium. My mom compared how all the bars, stores, and restaurants on top of each other is like the foxwoods casino for those in the northeast

[dcollette]

Thank you for taking the time to post part of your review (especially so quickly). It is always nice to get different perspectives on things. I'm sure with it still being summer vacation that the ship must be very busy! I did start a post about suggestions with my youngest son during dinner and I have a feeling that we may need to be flexible with what we want to do and when, as I don't feel he will have the patience for many shows and long dinners. I feel your pain as I am usually the one who gets the child sitting behind me kicking my chair repeatedly. That is rude to others. Some people don't seem to pay any mind to it at all.

 

As to another person's reference to 678 being like Foxwoods--please say it isn't so! I don't like Foxwoods :( I am familiar with their layout and I am not fond of it at all. I have watched some videos of walk throughs of the area, and while everything is rather "centralized" it doesn't look all that horrible. Will have to wait and see

 

Can't wait to read more of your review when you get the chance to post!!

[Stillfloatin']

I'm enjoying the excellent detailing of your review. Looking forward to its continuation. :)

[roe2ship]

Tuesday

 

This was our second sea day. Another great sunny day, we decided to get an earlier start. After breakfast, we head up to the pool decks now one hour earlier than yesterday approximately 9:15 am. We found the same thing, only chairs left were some on deck 17 port side. I imagine the issue with the lack of loungers available probably created more chair hogs today.

 

Today we decided to try O’Sheehans for lunch. We found the service and food to be very good and our meals here were hot. Chicken pot pie, chicken tenders and a cheeseburger….all very good. Nice change from the buffet. After lunch, loungers on the open decks were frustrating to find. Decided to find something else to do instead, think we did some shopping and take some more pictures. We tried again to find some loungers, no luck whatsoever. I was afraid at this point that NCL may really stand for “No Chairs Left”. At this point, DH and son decided to try the ropes course. They said it was a little harder than they thought. I got nervous so never tried it. We got there around 3:00 pm, wait was about 30 minutes, not bad at all. The Sports complex area is very impressive. This ship is very kid friendly and those who enjoy being very active will not be disappointed.

 

Dinner tonight was in Taste around 6:30 pm. DS had a soda sticker and often had a long wait to receive his drink. Tonight was no different. The Specialty entrée was Chateaubriand but you can only get it one way which was medium rare. We thought this was strange. I decided to try it and thought the fillet was quite good and very tender but the sauce they used changed the meal. The sauce was not good at all. The wait between our entrees and desserts tonight was 25 to 30 minutes.

 

Entertainment was Rock of Ages at 9:30 pm. This show is spectacular! They had fantastic talent, a great performance by all. One character who played Arsenal (Staci) sounded exactly like Bon Jovi. We really enjoyed all the music and this show was our favorite by far. Reminder to all parents with young children it is definitely not suitable for them. It is listed in the daily also. A family walked in with two young kids (probably ages 10-13) in the middle of the show. Within ten minutes they walked right out. I guessed they missed it in the daily. Prior to the cruise, the duration for this show is listed for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Well, it is not, it ended at appoximately 11:10 which is a total of 1 hour and 40 minutes. I wish I knew this because our son expected to be picked up from the kids club earlier. Not such a big deal at all but how hard is it to have the correct times on their own website.

 

Wednesday

 

Arrived in Bermuda and it was a picture perfect day. We went to breakfast at Savor at 8:00am. The waitress (not a happy one) took our orders and did not return with them for a half hour. By now, we realized this was a common theme…a little frustrated especially today when we wanted to get an early start out in Bermuda. We purchased our transportation passes and then went over to the Dolphin Quest to schedule a dolphin swim. We chose the Dolphin Dip which is $215.00 pp. We picked our time for the next day Thursday at 9:30am. From there we took the bus over to Horseshoe Bay. I think we arrived there at around 10:45 and it was crowded just as I expected. This beach is just beautiful.

 

We had reservations tonight for LeBistro at 7:00 pm. They specifically state in the daily and tell you in person when you make the reservation regarding the no shorts policy. Well, sure enough there were two men in shorts, one was ahead of us waiting to be seated and one was sitting down in the outside seating area. I don’t understand why people can’t follow a simple rule. Anyhow on to our dinner…. the best meals we had all week. I had the scallops and the salad cones for appetizer and the beef filet for my entrée. DH had escargot with the duck for his entrée. All were excellent! Our waiter Ronnie was also outstanding. The one thing that we thought was a little over the top was the Maitre’D came over to the table after our orders were taken, once again after our appetizers, again after the entrees, then again after our desserts. Checking to see if things are going smoothly is wonderful however coming by four times can be a little disturbing. The atmosphere is warm and inviting and we really enjoyed our dinner there. I now know why many love LeBistro and is among favorites by so many.

[wasiii]

.....keep it coming. I'm sitting here drooling because my cruise is only 6 days away on her.

 

:D

 

wasiii

[eaglesfan5034]

Thanks for posting I am leaving 8/25 on our 2nd NCL with mY husband and daughter. I can't wait a little unsettling with some of the reviews. But I am sure we will have a good time. Any advise??? wasiii I see we will be on the same cruise with all your experience any advice???

[bingo3]

.....keep it coming. I'm sitting here drooling because my cruise is only 6 days away on her.

 

 

Have a great time and be sure to let us know how your experience is, especially since school should be back in session, I guess??? It is down here, ours went back today! I hope yours are still in school the end of May so my cruise won't be as crowded ;)

 

I am particularly interested in the issues with cigarette smoke as I can't stand it, sorry to the smokers, but it gives me a headache. I hope NCL puts something in place to address this. I had no issues with smoke on RCCL Freedom of the Seas this year (and the food was good in the main dining rooms too....just say'in).

 

But, I can deal with the food as long as I don't have to cook it I guess! It is a little disconcerting to hear from many reviews the main dining room food is not good, as though if you don't pay extra for speciality restaurants, you're going to get the sub-standard! It should not be that way. I guess it's hard to offer something and require people to pay extra and then have something similar for "free" in the main diningrooms, sad it is coming to this though..... and with all the speciality restaurants on this ship, doesn't leave much else to serve for "free". At the same time, there is no way all 4000+ passengers could eat in the specialty restaurants.

 

NCL - "No Chairs Left"- too funny (unless you're wanting a chair I guess :rolleyes:)!

 

Thanks for the review!

Debbie

[roe2ship]

Thursday

We woke up to a dark gloomy day with heavy rain for almost about 3 hours. We walked over to Dolphin Quest for our scheduled swim as they do the programs either rain or shine. We were drenched by the time we got there. Lightening began so they allowed us to reschedule our swim for later in the day. I was glad and hoping it will clear up and thankfully it did. Back on to the ship, I went to the gym at 11:45 and DH and son played at the game tables near O’Sheehans. Since the weather was so bad, the gym had many people. There were two treadmills left when I came. We decided to have our first lunch in one of the dining rooms. Lunch menu has a nice variety. Fried Calarmari, Cheesesteak and the Chicken Milenese all were very good to excellent. Our waitress was nice and friendly until we had to ask her for the missing pepsi for DS. He was half way through his meal when we politely said to her “can we have his pepsi please” by her facial expression and body language, she appeared to be annoyed that we asked for it. After lunch it cleared up, went back to Dophin Quest. The dolphin dip is 30 minutes and it just flies by. DS loved his experience here. It was great however I do hear that the dolphin swim at Blue Lagoon in Nassau and Cozumel are much better and they cost less money too.

 

Dinner tonight was back in Taste at 7:00 pm. Never had a wait yet for any of the dining rooms as some previous cruisers did. I was pleasantly surprised as this was one of my concerns. Our waiter tonight was Hendi and he was very friendly and efficient, great service. Meals were penne pasta with creamy bacon carbonara, spaghetti with marinara sauce and the mahi mahi fish. The fish was excellent and the pastas with the sauces were just good.

 

Entertainment tonight was reservations for 9:00 pm for Second City. It is a comedy improv show with some audience participation. It was a very good show. It was freezing here tonight and then I realized how many times this week I said to DH I was really cold. The Breakaway is a very cold ship. If you are usually cold, I suggest you bring a sweater along.

[wasiii]

Thanks for posting I am leaving 8/25 on our 2nd NCL with mY husband and daughter. I can't wait a little unsettling with some of the reviews. But I am sure we will have a good time. Any advise??? wasiii I see we will be on the same cruise with all your experience any advice???

 

.....I will gladly help you with any questions you have. My only suggestion is to talk over on the roll call instead of here. Don't want to bore the masses with our discussion.

 

:cool:

 

wasiii

[iratherbesailing]

Do you happen to remember which night they serve lobster? Great detail in your review.

[roe2ship]

Do you happen to remember which night they serve lobster? Great detail in your review.

They do not serve lobster in the dining rooms. Lobster tails are served in the buffet for dinner on Monday night. Enjoy your cruise!

[roe2ship]

Friday

 

Today we took the ferry into Hamilton for some shopping. I just love taking this ride here with the beautiful views. After that the plans were to go to Elbow Beach however it was getting a little late and just decided to go back to Horseshoe since it is a little closer to the dockyard. Passengers were to be back on board at 4:30, we usually get back on board ship two hours prior to sailaway, this makes me feel better. Plenty of loungers were still available by the pool deck areas. There was a hot tub in the main pool area (port side) that was available for kids to use. DS and I went in and two adults with no children were in there. Two other kids followed us. Within two minutes, a staff member told the two adults they do not belong in there to please leave and use the other three hot tubs. The woman said “this is ridiculous” and the man continued to sit there for the next few minutes and totally ignored what the staff was telling him.:rolleyes:

They both did walk away after a few minutes. I thought this was hysterical that I witnessed this. The tables were turned…..the adults weren’t following the rules and the kids didn’t complain.

 

At 5:00 pm the Breakaway leaves Bermuda. At around 4:50 I believe four passengers were being called. The ship just starts pulling away from the pier and what do you know, a young couple gets out of their taxi, the woman begins RUNNING while it looked like the guy was paying the taxi driver. He then begins to run as fast as he could but the ship is slowly moving more and more away.:eek: They pass thru the building and are standing there watching their ship leaving…the guy bend down as if he was ready to vomit. I really did feel bad for them. They proceeded to walk up the ramp with security to hop on the tugboat to board the ship. What a sailaway this was! First time I witnessed something like this. It certainly was an exciting form of entertainment.;) I hope this young couple learned their lesson and boy do they have some story to tell about their cruise vacation.

 

We decided to try the Manhattan Dining Room again tonight. Son was not happy about this decision because he enjoyed wearing his shorts in the Taste or Savor dining rooms the previous nights. He said he likes Norwegian because of this, lol. We arrived at 7:15 pm and walked right in. We all had the cream of broccoli soups (so good) salmon and the specialty which was spaghetti with mussels in a white creamy sauce. Everyone enjoyed their meals and our waiter was good however once again the pepsi took forever. This dining room was quite noisy again and once the band began to play, it obviously became louder and it reminded me of being at a wedding. I thought I was not going to like the smaller dining rooms on the Breakaway but I was pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed the more intimate feel of Taste and Savor over the Manhattan room. Additionally, we had great seats near the windows in Taste and Savor. Although, we thought the service was much better in the Manhattan dining room. Even the hostess was friendlier there. Upon leaving this dining room which was probably about 8:45 pm. the line to get in was VERY long. First time I saw this all week. The ship had some movement tonight since we left Bermuda but it got better later on in the evening. I actually loved it and this is one thing that I miss on the Bermuda cruises is the ship does not move for almost three days.

 

Tonight we had reservations at 9:30 pm to see Michael Finney. He is a comedian/magician and is nothing to write home about. The show is about 50 minutes long and it felt like it was never going to end. Fireworks were tonight and I did not even attempt to go up to deck 15 at this point because it was too close to start time. The large screen at the atrium was playing the The Dark Knight Rises at 10:45pm (same time as fireworks) and DH and son wanted to see some of it. I figured let me try nearby on the Waterfront (port side) to see if I can get a glimpse of the fireworks there. I did for about two minutes and they were okay. I arrived there late and it was not crowded at all. So this may be another good place to view the fireworks. I then joined DH and son at the atrium for the movie. We left after 30 minutes as we all were pretty tired at this point from our days in Bermuda. The chairs at the atrium are very comfortable and the area is nice. You do have to arrive at least 20 minutes early if you wish to get a seat for the entertainment here. There is also circular seating above on deck 7 in the middle of O'Sheehans that has a nice view for the screen and down onto the atrium stage area. You do hear a lot of background noise in the atrium vicinity. I think it is from the arcade games and bar from O'Sheehans.

[JJS329]

Friday

 

Today we took the ferry into Hamilton for some shopping. I just love taking this ride here with the beautiful views. After that the plans were to go to Elbow Beach however it was getting a little late and just decided to go back to Horseshoe since it is a little closer to the dockyard. Passengers were to be back on board at 4:30, we usually get back on board ship two hours prior to sailaway, this makes me feel better. Plenty of loungers were still available by the pool deck areas. There was a hot tub in the main pool area (port side) that was available for kids to use. DS and I went in and two adults with no children were in there. Two other kids followed us. Within two minutes, a staff member told the two adults they do not belong in there to please leave and use the other three hot tubs. The woman said “this is ridiculous” and the man continued to sit there for the next few minutes and totally ignored what the staff was telling him.:rolleyes:

They both did walk away after a few minutes. I thought this was hysterical that I witnessed this. The tables were turned…..the adults weren’t following the rules and the kids didn’t complain.

 

At 5:00 pm the Breakaway leaves Bermuda. At around 4:50 I believe four passengers were being called. The ship just starts pulling away from the pier and what do you know, a young couple gets out of their taxi, the woman begins RUNNING while it looked like the guy was paying the taxi driver. He then begins to run as fast as he could but the ship is slowly moving more and more away.:eek: They pass thru the building and are standing there watching their ship leaving…the guy bend down as if he was ready to vomit. I really did feel bad for them. They proceeded to walk up the ramp with security to hop on the tugboat to board the ship. What a sailaway this was! First time I witnessed something like this. It certainly was an exciting form of entertainment.;) I hope this young couple learned their lesson and boy do they have some story to tell about their cruise vacation.

 

We decided to try the Manhattan Dining Room again tonight. Son was not happy about this decision because he enjoyed wearing his shorts in the Taste or Savor dining rooms the previous nights. He said he likes Norwegian because of this, lol. We arrived at 7:15 pm and walked right in. We all had the cream of broccoli soups (so good) salmon and the specialty which was spaghetti with mussels in a white creamy sauce. Everyone enjoyed their meals and our waiter was good however once again the pepsi took forever. This dining room was quite noisy again and once the band began to play, it obviously became louder and it reminded me of being at a wedding. I thought I was not going to like the smaller dining rooms on the Breakaway but I was pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed the more intimate feel of Taste and Savor over the Manhattan room. Additionally, we had great seats near the windows in Taste and Savor. Although, we thought the service was much better in the Manhattan dining room. Even the hostess was friendlier there. Upon leaving this dining room which was probably about 8:45 pm. the line to get in was VERY long. First time I saw this all week. The ship had some movement tonight since we left Bermuda but it got better later on in the evening. I actually loved it and this is one thing that I miss on the Bermuda cruises is the ship does not move for almost three days.

 

Tonight we had reservations at 9:30 pm to see Michael Finney. He is a comedian/magician and is nothing to write home about. The show is about 50 minutes long and it felt like it was never going to end. Fireworks were tonight and I did not even attempt to go up to deck 15 at this point because it was too close to start time. The large screen at the atrium was playing the The Dark Knight Rises at 10:45pm (same time as fireworks) and DH and son wanted to see some of it. I figured let me try nearby on the Waterfront (port side) to see if I can get a glimpse of the fireworks there. I did for about two minutes and they were okay. I arrived there late and it was not crowded at all. So this may be another good place to view the fireworks. I then joined DH and son at the atrium for the movie. We left after 30 minutes as we all were pretty tired at this point from our days in Bermuda. The chairs at the atrium are very comfortable and the area is nice. You do have to arrive at least 20 minutes early if you wish to get a seat for the entertainment here. There is also circular seating above on deck 7 in the middle of O'Sheehans that has a nice view for the screen and down onto the atrium stage area. You do hear a lot of background noise in the atrium vicinity. I think it is from the arcade games and bar from O'Sheehans.

 

I agree Michael Finney is horrible! So boring and outdated...

[momtojandj]

Also was on same sailing, also from Jersey. Was amazed , seemed everyone I met on board was NY, Jersey or Connecticut it seemed!

[newyorkray]

As a 9 times Celebrity cruiser I too am going on my first NCL (family get together, they chose) After reading reviews the past 2 months many were very negative, some very positive and alot like yours. I know I will enjoy the cruise but after so much time on Celebrity where the food and entertainment was fine, after I read about the crowds, some complaints about not so good food and other little things I am sure most will just be annoyances but they add up. I was well satisfied with celebrity all the time. First time I am going on a cruise with a little sense of disappointment even before leaving (and I tend to be an very optimistic person)

[roe2ship]

Also was on same sailing, also from Jersey. Was amazed , seemed everyone I met on board was NY, Jersey or Connecticut it seemed!

I'm glad you mentioned this as this reminded me that I wanted to comment that this cruise had the absolute best mix of happy passengers. It was great!:)

 

As a 9 times Celebrity cruiser I too am going on my first NCL (family get together, they chose) After reading reviews the past 2 months many were very negative, some very positive and alot like yours. I know I will enjoy the cruise but after so much time on Celebrity where the food and entertainment was fine, after I read about the crowds, some complaints about not so good food and other little things I am sure most will just be annoyances but they add up. I was well satisfied with celebrity all the time. First time I am going on a cruise with a little sense of disappointment even before leaving (and I tend to be an very optimistic person)

I'm sure you will have a great time. Go in with an open mind and try not to compare too much. Many of the cruise lines have their pros and cons.... see for yourself and then decide if you are willing to take another NCL cruise. Enjoy!:)

[roe2ship]

Saturday

 

We had breakfast at O’Sheehans this morning. The breakfast meals here were hotter and a little better than the dining rooms. Even the service here was better. From there, we went to the photo gallery to check out all our pictures taken during the week. They have an awesome set up….all your pictures are in a binder and your binder number is on your key card. You can also view them on the large screens there by simply swiping your card. 8 x 10 pictures are $19.95 very similar to other lines. There were many people here at this time so it is a good idea if you plan to purchase any pictures get in done early on your last day. The weather today was partly sunny in the morning so I expected the same thing out by the pool decks. We went straight to deck 17 at about 10:00am and again only a small amount of loungers left. So if you snooze, you lose. Within 45 minutes, it started to rain and from that point the weather changed to clouds and it got very windy that the ropes course and some slides even closed for a while. We decided to play some bingo and this time it was in the theater. Many people came and someone did win a cruise, unfortunately it wasn't me. Maybe next time! From there we went to lunch in the dining room and enjoyed our last lunch there. Service was okay …our waiter had a hard time understanding and speaking English. Later on, my son wanted to try the rock climbing wall. We had been there before in the week but found it too crowded and the other time we went it was closed. They have a schedule of the times on the sides when it is open and this place is more closed than open so plan accordingly if you have plans to try it.

 

Dinner tonight was at Savor at approximately 7:00 pm and we walked right in. Our waitress tonight was very good, the most efficient and friendly we had all week with the exception of LeBristro. Our meals were seafood chowder soups, beef stroganoff, risotto dish and spaghetti with marinara sauce. The soups were delicious, the beef was good, risotto was good but way too salty and the spaghetti with marinara just okay.

 

Entertainment tonight was a tribute to Tina Turner performed by Fire and Ice in the theater at 9:45pm, no reservations required. This was a fantastic performance. “Rosie” the singer is amazing with her energy. Right after this was NCL's farewell show. I thought the show was great and very touching, actually it was the best that we have ever experienced. Dan “the man” was the cruise director and we thought he did a fine job.

 

Sunday

 

Last day, boohoo!:( I decided to wake up early to watch us sail by the NYC skyline all lit up. Our cabin was starboard side so my balcony was perfect, I loved it. Disembarkation – We decided for the first time to do the easy walk off and it is exactly what they call it…easy! So happy we made this decision to do so. We left our cabin at 8:30 am and were off the ship across the street on 48th and 12th Avenue less than 15 minutes. What a pleasure to have my luggage that morning for last minute packing than trying to squeeze packing in on my last full day. From now on this is the way to go. We were in the aft section of the ship so we used the aft elevators. It was so quick, the elevators were fast and not too many people around. Once off the ship before entering the building to go through Customs, there were a lot more people coming from the forward section. I read this from another review a while ago so maybe the aft elevators is the way to go if you decide on the easy walk off program.

[ExtonTraveler]

Thanks for your interesting and detailed review. Happy to hear Dolphin Quest worked out for you!

[eaglesfan5034]

I am leaving on Sunday...I am worried about some of the mixed reviews however I did read yours and I am a little at ease...But I do have a coffee question is the regular coffee free in Taste and savor I have heard different opinions on that some say yes some say no we are doing several speciality dining??? and any advice you can give me?

[NYcruzzer]

I am leaving on Sunday...I am worried about some of the mixed reviews however I did read yours and I am a little at ease...But I do have a coffee question is the regular coffee free in Taste and savor I have heard different opinions on that some say yes some say no we are doing several speciality dining??? and any advice you can give me?

 

I'm on the same cruise as you. Most of the recent reviews have been more positive. See you onboard.

[tikilover]

Are there refrigerators in the cabins?

 

Thank you!

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[roe2ship]

Overall and final impressions

 

Did we enjoy our cruise on the Breakaway? You bet we did, we have not had a bad cruise yet, some are just better than others.

 

I loved the ship I think it has so much to offer and as the week went on I loved it even more. It is easy to navigate and I thought the ship is tastefully decorated. For the most part, I think the only issues with crowds is at the outdoor decks by the pool. I have to say it was probably the worst that I have experienced from other ships, maybe a close tie to Radiance of the Seas. This was one of my concerns about NCL and from what I can tell now the problem is not solved on their newest and greatest. The main problem is there are simply not enough loungers around because there is no where left to place them. I guess you can’t have it all because the Aqua Park and everything aft from that point was utilized a whole lot. You really have to hunt for loungers and at certain times of the day, they really are all gone. Another issue is on deck 16 and 17, when you walk in between the loungers if each side has their lounger fully down…. the walkway in between results to a single file of people passing through. The lane to pass through becomes so narrow that I noticed many people bumping their toes onto the legs of the loungers. There seems to be lots of “narrow” feels around the Breakaway. Nonetheless, I still loved her!

 

Service - Being that the Breakaway is NCL’s new pride and joy, many people comment only the best crew members are placed on new ships. Well, if this is truly the case, I don’t think I would like to experience what is on rest of the fleet. The level of service needs some improvement. We experienced “once too many” slow service issues. While most crew members were friendly in the hallways and throughout the ship, the waiters and waitresses in the dining rooms were not too friendly. Half of them seemed distant and did not want to be bothered. Overall, it wasn’t bad, but when comparing the level of service to other cruise lines, there is no comparison. Our waiter in LeBistro was the only outstanding one so perhaps the service is different in the specialty restaurants.

 

Dining - Here is where I have to agree with some of the others who comment that to have better meals you must pay for the specialty restaurants. The buffet could use improvement and the dining room menus need a better variety. Overall, the quality of food in the dining rooms is just okay, nothing really stands out. We also thought that this was the first time ever we experienced many lukewarm meals in the dining rooms. I can expect this sometimes but this was more than the usual from our past cruises. This is one of the reasons we try to avoid the buffet when possible.

 

Entertainment – there certainly is a very good variety. Rock of Ages is one of the best shows I have seen at sea. I can see that again in a heartbeat while the others were good I’m not too sure they are worth repeating. Plenty of activities going on during the day no matter what age you are, again this ship has something for everyone.

 

Will I sail the Breakaway again? Maybe. Since food and service are some of the more important factors while we cruise, I now know for myself that the specialty restaurants are a must for us on this ship.

[roe2ship]

Thanks for your interesting and detailed review. Happy to hear Dolphin Quest worked out for you!

Thanks!:) The glow in my son's eyes and smile from ear to ear is worth a lifetime!