Yet another, Breakaway/1-31 CTN review

[LegallyBlonder]

I apologize in advance- I have no idea how this quick CTN turned into a massive review- I guess I have the “gift of Gab”. Overall, we had an amazing time on this little weekend getaway (this was our first CTN of any kind), and would do it again in a heartbeat. This was also our first time on breakaway, so this will be half general Breakaway impressions, as well as impressions of this particular CTN.

 

For a bit of background, it was just my husband and myself on this sailing. We are mid-30s and typically travel with our very young boys (6, 4, and 18 mo.), as well as my parents, and often even some extended family and friends thrown in there. We live on Long Island, so we decided to pop on this CTN since it coincided with both of our birthdays.

 

Despite being Superbowl weekend, we were able to take a 10am train into Penn Station and grab a taxi to the pier with absolutely no trouble at all. We were at the pier before 11:30am. As others have mentioned, our embarkation process was a little sticky due to the combination of having to check in at a neighboring pier (due to the Bud Light Hotel on Getaway next door), and an alleged smoke condition on the prior sailing that had to be cleared. The first passengers started to embark around 1pm (to my knowledge), and we were on board just about 2pm. This probably would have bothered me a lot more before having kids, but having done embarkation with them, and knowing it was just us this time- I really wasn't fazed. We walked onto the boat and straight into O'Sheehan's for what was now quite the late lunch. I had the burger and my husband had fish and chips. Neither was particularly noteworthy, but did the trick. We then headed straight to our balcony cabin on deck 13, which was ready upon our arrival.

 

Having mostly cruised in suites lately, I was a little nervous about abandoning the "suite life" for this sailing, but determined that I could "rough it" for two nights. Mind you, my husband and I started cruising together about 10 years ago, and did so happily in inside cabins for quite some time. But, the suite life does spoil you quickly :-) In any case, I actually found our room to be more spacious than I expected (Again, maybe this is because I am now used to half of any room being occupied by strollers, pack-n-plays, toys, etc.) and very nicely appointed. In fact, we found the decor of the entire ship to be very classy, nautical and understated (in a very good way). The balcony itself is pretty much a joke, as many have reported, but it didn't bother us at all since we only stepped out on it a few times during this cruise.

 

Once we settled and unpacked, we headed out to explore the ship. First stop: pool deck, since we weren't sure how the wind and cold would effect our ability to be out there once the boat started moving. As I mentioned briefly in another post, the pool deck is the only physical feature of Breakaway that I was really not impressed by. The deck seemed "compartmentalized" into sections, rather than the open, visible lido deck that I am used to. I actually felt a bit claustrophobic no matter which part of the deck I was walking through. If I planned to spend a lot of time up there during a summer cruise as I used to, I definitely would not be happy with this set-up. Nowadays with our young children, we do not spend much time up there, so it would not be as much of an issue for me now. That said, the pool deck does seemingly have a lot to offer in terms of water slides, kid's pool, etc. I heard that some people took advantage of these offerings on our sailing since the weather was so nice, but we did not.

 

Next, we walked around the Waterfront, which we thought would be a great place to spend time relaxing in the nice weather. Since Friday was in the 50s in NY, there were some passengers out there with cocktails, etc. It also seemed like a popular destination for smokers. We then made our way to the inside decks near the atrium. I actually loved the atrium area of these inside decks, and thought that the flow was good and made for a celebratory atmosphere in that area. We are not gamblers, so we never entered the casino. I did not notice an overwhelming smoke smell emanating from the casino as some have reported. We sat at the atrium bar to enjoy a cocktail before muster. I loved the atrium bar, probably most for the people watching. My husband had a slight preference for Shaker’s Cocktail Bar, because of how bright and open it is up there. For muster, we literally just had to walk about 30 feet from the atrium bar to our meeting place. While muster is never a super enjoyable experience for anyone, I did think that it was relatively well organized and painless, especially since this sailing was full with over 4,000 passengers. We headed straight back to a bar (Shaker’s, this time) after Muster in order to avoid the herds descending upon the elevators and stairs. I picked that tip up from a review of the 1/17 CTN, and was quite grateful for it. Before we knew it, sail away was upon us and we popped outside on deck to wave goodbye to Getaway and the rest of New York Harbor. We then headed back to our room to change for our 8pm reservation at Ocean Blue.

 

Now, as background, we ALWAYS eat dinner at Specialty Restaurants on NCL. We like many of them, have our favorites, and generally believe that the money spent on cover charges is worth every penny. We have never, however, expected cruise fair of any kind to be the caliber of an exquisite Manhattan restaurant- to expect that on a main stream cruise line is setting yourself up for certain disappointment, in my opinion. Nevertheless, our expectations were a bit higher for Ocean Blue. Perhaps it was the higher cover charge, but more likely, just the fact that it is billed as a “New York” restaurant onboard, with a legit NYC chef behind it’s creation. I was hopeful and confident that I would disagree with some of the previous negative reviews, but unfortunately, some of it rang true. I had the curry soup appetizer and my husband had the calamari and we did enjoy both of those dishes, though neither was so memorable that we would strongly crave having it again. For entrée, we both had the Dover sole. It probably would have made sense to order different dishes, but that’s what we both wanted, especially since it is supposed to be the signature dish. Well, it was fine, but it no way comparable to what I expect from a high end NYC restaurant. My sole was very literally swimming in the extremely caper-heavy sauce. For me, it was just one of those situations where less would have been more. I have never, ever had fish served in a top-notch restaurant that was almost soggy from sauce. My husband was not quite as turned off by that dish as I was, but agreed that it is not what he would expect on land. We both had a decent cheese plate for dessert. In the end, we both agreed that we prefer Le Bistro, or even Cagney’s, to Ocean Blue, cover charge differences not withstanding. The restaurant was fairly empty, but the service was somewhat pedestrian regardless, which leads me to the most bizarre part of the experience. We were waiting so long to settle up at the end of dinner, that I decided to use the Ladies Room (which is always right outside the restaurants) while my husband took care of the bill. Well on my way back into the restaurant about 5 minutes later, the hostess stopped me and told me that my husband had already left. Um, what? I questioned her on it, because my husband would never leave before I returned, unless he was waiting right outside, but she insisted. Ok. So I waited outside the restaurant for about 10 minutes incase he had stopped into the restroom himself, but then decided I better head for the cabin. When I got to the cabin, he was nowhere to be found. I began having visions straight out of a Lifetime movie, so I called the front desk, thinking perhaps they would have to make an announcement. When I learned that the process required me to go down and fill out a “missing persons” report, I decided that I should give it some more time before elevating it to that level, despite my growing anxiety. Thankfully, the door opened within 10 minutes and my husband and I let out a collective, “Oh, thank God!” Perhaps we were dramatic, but it is VERY unlike us to lose track of each other, even for a short time. As it turns out, my husband was waiting AT THE TABLE in the restaurant the whole time, and when he finally decided to leave the restaurant to check on me, the hostess said, “Oh, I told your wife you left already”. Again, um, what? A mistake? Of course, but we found the whole incident very strange. Should I have insisted on going back into the restaurant to check? Probably, but I was fairly sure that this woman would not tell me that husband left, on an unsolicited basis, unless she was absolutely certain. It’s not the biggest deal, and I certainly wasn’t interested in getting anyone in trouble, but it did cause us about 30 minutes of very unnecessary anxiety. We decided to turn in for the night at that point, which was just before 10pm.

 

The strong bright side of our early retirement the night before, is that we were awake and well rested by 7am the next morning. We watched the beautiful sunrise out of our balcony window, and leisurely got ready for the gym. We are fairly devoted runners and thus, we fancy ourselves gym connoisseurs. Well, we were quite happy with this gym. It has a separate “cardio” room, distinct from a weight room and exercise studio. The cardio room had at least 16 or 17 treadmills, which are always at a premium on cruise ships, as well as other cardio machines such as stationary bikes and elliptical trainers. We did not have trouble finding treadmills, and were each able to complete our 5 mile runs with a beautiful view of the ocean. Toward the end of our workout, each of our treadmills slowed to a stop, seemingly force-imposing the 30 minute cardio limit- clever! Since no one was waiting (ie there were empty treadmills) however, we simply restarted them to finish the workouts. I found it curious that they did not have a water cooler and paper cups in the gym (as they do on most other ships, and gyms in general), but rather, only a water fountain. This seems less sanitary in the face of noro, etc., but oh well. I just waited and purchased a bottle on the way back to the room.

 

We then showered and headed up to the Garden Café for a quick breakfast before the Meet & Greet. We are not picky breakfast eaters: hard boil egg/English muffin sandwiches and coffee, or at the most, an omelet. We could, of course, get all of those things, and were actually quite impressed with the organization of the Garden Café on this ship (waffles/pancakes here, eggs here, breakfast meats here, etc.). Yes, it was crowded, but we fully expected that, especially at a peak time. I was also very impressed with the décor of the buffet, which really was a noticeable step up from most others I’ve encountered, and led to a much more sophisticated feel.

 

Our Meet & Greet was great! We found out that it was the largest recorded in CC history, largely due to a large number of CC staff members (about 40) on board for a company trip. It was in Savor restaurant, and very well organized by our roll call moderator. Of course the ship’s officers attended, and it was interesting to hear about their jobs, however brief the description. We enjoyed chatting with other CC members and staff. Although my husband is typically skeptical of my CC addiction, he enjoyed the M&G, and in particular, a conversation with a member of the staff from CC UK. My husband is a “business nerd”, so learning about CC from a corporate angle really appealed to him ☺ Afterwards, we did a little souvenir shopping for our (jealous) little guys at home before heading to Teppanakyi for lunch. What a great idea that was! I had never ventured to Teppanakyi before, but we really had a wonderfully enjoyable and relaxing lunch. We are sailing with a large group on Dawn in June, and definitely plan a big Teppanakyi lunch for one of the days. Also, one other note about shopping: I found it surprising that there actually seemed to be less shopping on the Breakaway than on Jewel class ships. Would you believe that there was not one single youth sized t-shirt on board?!? I couldn’t find Breakaway t-shirts for my guys, and finally broke down and asked- NONE on board- they THINK they sold out. With all the kids on board each week, what if one tears a shirt, or stains it beyond repair and needs a new one? Seems like there would definitely be a market worthy of staying in stock on youth t-shirts. Again, please don’t take these notes as life-changing problems- just quirks that confused me. Anyhow, after lunch, I was finally able to send a quick email home to the boys (the internet had been down for a lot of the day, for whatever reason), and then we actually decided to rest in our cabin for a couple of hours. My husband napped, and I rested while watching the loop of “Might Ships: Breakaway”. It may be a sign that I am really getting old, but I found it very enjoyable to watch those programs while actually on the ship!

 

We leisurely dressed for dinner and headed out for a pre-dinner cocktail (or two!) We had earlier noticed that the small bar at La Cucina was charming, so we went there and had some nice, quiet cocktails and conversation. Dinner was at Le Bistro, one of our old favorites. As usual, we were very satisfied. Le Bistro was absolutely PACKED, and they did not have enough servers to handle it, which really makes sense since everyone is trying to squeeze their favorites into two nights, as opposed to a regular cruise where people choose to frequent Specialties on different nights. The result was longer waiting times (between courses, etc.) and we felt that although very good, our entrées had likely sat under a warming lamp for some time, as they were just a bit tougher than we’re used to. My husband had escargot followed by the duck. I had the mushroom soup and lobster. We shared a cheese plate, and then ordered profiteroles and crème brulee, respectively. We enjoyed all of it.

 

After dinner, we headed across the hall to see the dueling pianos. All of the performers are talented, and the young man who busts out the fiddle at some point, is particularly gifted. We found it enjoyable, and probably stayed out about an hour longer than we should have considering that our dinner reservation was on the later side (8pm) to begin with, but hey, it was our last night before back to reality! Before heading back to the cabin, my husband wanted a late night snack, so we headed to O’Sheehan’s, as it seems as though that is the only late-night food venue on this sailing since the buffet is closed and room service is not available for CTNs. Someone please correct me if I missed an option- I would actually love to know if something else is available during the wee hours. Long-ish story short, we spent quite some time trying to get served there, and ended up going down to the desk to express our disappointment that there was seemingly no way to food at this hour, between O’Sheehan’s being completely overwhelmed, and no other options being available. I even mentioned that because we typically travel with little ones (and also in suites where Fairy-Godbutlers seem to arrive with food at all hours), we are thoroughly inexperienced in the late-night dining scene. Well, they could not have been nicer, and actually escorted us back upstairs to O’Sheehan’s where we were promptly seated in the back of the dining area- amazing service! We were then off for our last few hours of being rocked to sleep by the waves.

 

Disembarkation was singly the easiest I have ever experienced, though in fairness, also my only one where only carry-on baggage was permitted. We heard an announcement that disembarkation would begin around 7am, gathered our stuff, headed downstairs to deck 7, and waited less than 5 minutes before walking off the ship. The customs officer took our forms and told us to keep walking. We left the terminal, crossed the West Side highway, and jumped in one of about 15 taxis waiting across the street. We were on an 8:45 LIRR train back home.

 

Overall, despite any prior concerns I may have had, we had a fabulous quick, weekend away and absolutely loved exploring Breakaway. I would also like to note that we found many more guests dressed up for Saturday evening than we have seen in many years on NCL ships. NCL’s “freestyle” attitude suits us right now with our young family, but my husband and I do miss the fancy evenings, so we were quite happy with that. I’m guessing it is because many people were celebrating an occasion onboard, but whatever it was, made the atmosphere very festive. I’m not sure the “mega ship” thing is exactly right for us for a longer cruise, but I would certainly sail her on a CTN again next year!

[kayhil3]

Thank You for the great review. Glad you had a great weekend .:D

[Chesneygirl]

Excellent review!!!

We also had dinner reservations for Ocean Blue but on Saturday night.

 

We've experienced the other specialty restaurants on past cruises and so we were really looking forward to our meal at Ocean Blue since it was something new and different. We thought the food was just "ok". The calamari appetizer was very good but everything else was average. We both got the Dover Sole and it was good but not great. We both agreed that we would not waste our money on that restaurant in the future.

[mizLORInj]

. . . Before heading back to the cabin, my husband wanted a late night snack, so we headed to O’Sheehan’s, as it seems as though that is the only late-night food venue on this sailing since the buffet is closed and room service is not available for CTNs. Someone please correct me if I missed an option- I would actually love to know if something else is available during the wee hours.

 

Hi there. Sorry we didn't get to meet at the M&G!

 

A small part of the starboard-side buffet was open late at night; we were there after midnight on Saturday (ok, technically Sunday morning). I've found that on most CTN a small part of the buffet is open very late.

I think a CTN in winter is a great little weekend getaway.:)

Edited February 6, 2014 by mizlorinj

[meatball_nyc]

Thanks for the nice review!

 

 

 

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[LegallyBlonder]

Thanks all for reading my long winded post! I loved reliving as I wrote.

 

Mizlorinj- thank you- great to know! This will be useful on what I'm sure will be another CTN for us! In the meantime, I will enjoy my butler snacks in June- ha! Hopefully we'll meet at the next M&G :-)

 

 

 

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[LegallyBlonder]

Excellent review!!!

 

We also had dinner reservations for Ocean Blue but on Saturday night.

 

 

 

We've experienced the other specialty restaurants on past cruises and so we were really looking forward to our meal at Ocean Blue since it was something new and different. We thought the food was just "ok". The calamari appetizer was very good but everything else was average. We both got the Dover Sole and it was good but not great. We both agreed that we would not waste our money on that restaurant in the future.

 

 

Seems like we had an almost identical Ocean Blue experience, Chesneygirl! Any chance you're planning on next year's CTN? I think I'm catching the itch to join that one!

 

 

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[Babyrocko1908]

Seems like we had an almost identical Ocean Blue experience, Chesneygirl! Any chance you're planning on next year's CTN? I think I'm catching the itch to join that one!

 

 

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FYI we are looking at the 1/30/15 CTN.

[spidybabe]

We had a great weekend too..The meet and greet was unbelievable!!

FYI--Teppanakyi is usually opened for lunch only on the last sea day. That's our favorite time to go, although we went for dinner this trip, cuz they said no lunch when we went to casino to have host make reservation for us

Safe sailing

Edited February 7, 2014 by spidybabe

[Chesneygirl]

Seems like we had an almost identical Ocean Blue experience, Chesneygirl! Any chance you're planning on next year's CTN? I think I'm catching the itch to join that one!

 

 

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We had a great time and we are definitely considering doing this again next year. Just need to keep an eye on this prices!!

 

I am also considering a 7 day to Bermuda this summer. I think my kids would love the Breakaway! Hopefully a good deal will come my way!! :)

[LegallyBlonder]

This thread is basically just a continuation of our roll call- ha! I guess I should have just posted it there!

 

 

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[LegallyBlonder]

FYI--Teppanakyi is usually opened for lunch only on the last sea day. That's our favorite time to go, although we went for dinner this trip, cuz they said no lunch when we went to casino to have host make reservation for us

 

Safe sailing

 

 

This is great to know- I never would have known that!

 

 

 

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[bean24]

It was great seeing you guys the other day. I agree with the Ocean Blue thoughts, we found it better in October, not sure we would go again. Thinking about next year also. Enjoy the Dawn

 

 

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[LegallyBlonder]

It was great seeing you guys the other day. I agree with the Ocean Blue thoughts, we found it better in October, not sure we would go again. Thinking about next year also. Enjoy the Dawn

 

 

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Great to see you guys, too! Thanks so much for the tip re: having a BBQ on the GV deck- that's awesome- we can't wait!

 

 

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[trivia nut]

It was great seeing you guys the other day. I agree with the Ocean Blue thoughts, we found it better in October, not sure we would go again. Thinking about next year also. Enjoy the Dawn

 

 

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Hi Michelle,

We're off to the Bahamas next week, weather permitting. Can't wait to see the Breakaway.

 

Happy "45th" Birthday on the 23rd! The day we get back! Celebrate big!:)

 

We are so tired of the snow and 0 to 20 degree weather...not normal for lower Delaware. Can't wait for GS Cay and lots of trivia in the sun.

 

Take care,

PAT

[bean24]

Hi Michelle,

We're off to the Bahamas next week, weather permitting. Can't wait to see the Breakaway.

 

Happy "45th" Birthday on the 23rd! The day we get back! Celebrate big!:)

 

We are so tired of the snow and 0 to 20 degree weather...not normal for lower Delaware. Can't wait for GS Cay and lots of trivia in the sun.

 

Take care,

PAT

 

Hi Pat

Glad to hear you are going on the BA it was a lot of fun. There is plenty to do there. Thanks for the BDay wishes it should be good. Talk to you soon & send my regards to Bill

Michelle

 

 

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[ilovewdw]

Thank you so much for a great review, neighbor! I see you live in Garden City…I live a few towns over in Floral Park Village. Small world!

 

Thank you for your opinions. We sail on the Breakaway on Sunday and we are VERY excited! This will be our first time on the Breakaway and I didn't book ANY specialty restaurants. I do want to experience each of the three main dining rooms and we have also booked Cirque du Soleil Dinner Show as well. Will we book specialty restaurants once we are onboard? Not sure! My kids are 12 & 8 and LOVE Teppanyaki. Since we go often at home (Love Shiro's of Japan!), not sure we will go for it, since we have been on other NCL ships. We shall see though!

 

I love the idea of a NCL CTN from NY. I never really looked into it! It seems like a really great way to spend a weekend. :)

Edited February 10, 2014 by ilovewdw

[puddles99]

I somehow managed to meet absolutely no one on board despite the HUGE M&G :p we did have a lovely conversation with Jim from CC's sales team.

 

We had a very similar experience to much of what you said although we did have a more positive Ocean Blue experience - but with different entrees. I had the Jonah Crab Risotto and it was pretty close to the best thing I've ever eaten. I too was very surprised by the shopping on both Breakaway and Getaway - the selection of NCL and ship-branded items was crazy small & disappointing, but at least that left me with a bigger drink budget ;)

 

I'm looking forward to sailing Breakaway with my entire family in August - can't come soon enough!

[irismike]

Can you make reservations to see the Cirque du Soleil Dinner Show before you board the ship? Did everyone park at the pier? I understand it is $40 per day. We used to live in Merrick, NY but moved so I can't go on the LIRR.....too bad. What time can you go on the ship and when do they let you disembark?

Any tips would be appreciated. Thanks.

[ilovewdw]

Can you make reservations to see the Cirque du Soleil Dinner Show before you board the ship? Did everyone park at the pier? I understand it is $40 per day. We used to live in Merrick, NY but moved so I can't go on the LIRR.....too bad. What time can you go on the ship and when do they let you disembark?

Any tips would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

Hi there!

 

Yes, you can book Cirque du Soleil Dinner Show before you board. You can start booking that at 45 days before sail date. I have sailed from NYC before and we have parked there a few times and found it EXTREMELY easy! Yes, it's pricey at $40 a day but we didn't have anyone who could drive us and it was much more convenient to have our own car there than having to worry about a cab.

 

As far as what time you can board the ship…they usually start boarding at 11:30ish. We like to get there before 10am so we are in the first group to board.

 

We sail the Breakaway for the first time on Sunday…EXCITED!

[gelo7]

Great review.

[jakeT]

Thank you for a great review

[LegallyBlonder]

Thank you so much for a great review, neighbor! I see you live in Garden City…I live a few towns over in Floral Park Village. Small world!

 

Thank you for your opinions. We sail on the Breakaway on Sunday and we are VERY excited! This will be our first time on the Breakaway and I didn't book ANY specialty restaurants. I do want to experience each of the three main dining rooms and we have also booked Cirque du Soleil Dinner Show as well. Will we book specialty restaurants once we are onboard? Not sure! My kids are 12 & 8 and LOVE Teppanyaki. Since we go often at home (Love Shiro's of Japan!), not sure we will go for it, since we have been on other NCL ships. We shall see though!

 

I love the idea of a NCL CTN from NY. I never really looked into it! It seems like a really great way to spend a weekend. :)

 

 

How funny! We live on the western side of GC, so we are probably about 5 minutes from you :-) Have a FABULOUS time- it sounds like your kids are the perfect age for taking advantage of all Breakaway has to offer! BTW, where is Shiro's of Japan- sounds familiar and I would like to try the hibachi thing with our kids before our next cruise in June. This was our first CTN, but we LOVED the CTN idea- super fun little getaway!

[irismike]

we are doing breakaway in October. Are you allowed to go to different dining rooms everyday? we have 3 specialty restaurants and we want to do Cirque du Soleil Dinner Show but also don't want to miss lobster night. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for a former Merrick resident. Iris

[geegee1]

....Are you allowed to go to different dining rooms everyday? we have 3 specialty restaurants and we want to do ...

 

Yes