Why Bad Reviews for Breakaway?

[SissasMomE]

I sailed on Carnival Miracle our of Baltimore many years back and the crew was wonderful but they all shuddered when I mentioned their next port of sailing - New York.

 

Our senior waitress who was the most wonderful sweet girl you could ever wish to meet said simply "New Yorkers are such horrible people, they always want more and are never satisfied".

 

I think that may be your clue.

 

It's the NY, north Jersey impatient culture. I've seen it over and over again. I did it myself until I moved to Florida. My friends used to tell me to "lose the Jersey" ... and it's true. We are impatient and want everything now. Too many little things set people off. My life is much more enjoyable since we moved to Florida. It's way more laid back and relaxed. Granted, we are mostly back in north jersey for the time being, but definitely have not lost that appreciation for the laid back lifestyle. People can get angry all they like, but it's true! Look at the difference in the reviews between Getaway and Breakaway. I wouldn't categorize everyone as rude, but definitely impatient or high stung as a whole. My husband grew up in Upper Saddle River and he absolutely refuses to sail from NJ or NY. We have to go to Boston when we finally do our Bermuda cruise LOL

Edited March 5, 2014 by SissasMomE

[mylife4Jesus]

I sailed on Carnival Miracle our of Baltimore many years back and the crew was wonderful but they all shuddered when I mentioned their next port of sailing - New York.

 

Our senior waitress who was the most wonderful sweet girl you could ever wish to meet said simply "New Yorkers are such horrible people, they always want more and are never satisfied".

 

I think that may be your clue.

 

Do know that there are good and bad characters everywhere on this earth.. In, and outside of NY.

[SissasMomE]

Do know that there are good and bad characters everywhere on this earth.. In, and outside of NY.

 

I'm pretty sure the OP meant as a whole. Situations are always worse in a group, as opposed to just one. PS - I love your screen name :-)

Edited March 5, 2014 by SissasMomE

[Winchester Ranger]

Do know that there are good and bad characters everywhere on this earth.. In, and outside of NY.

 

Absolutely - and I didn't mean to ding all New Yorkers, but that perception of them (right or wrong) is widespread and for the young woman I quoted it was based on her first hand experience of serving at least some of them.

Edited March 5, 2014 by Winchester Ranger

[vacation luvver]

Our senior waitress who was the most wonderful sweet girl you could ever wish to meet said simply "New Yorkers are such horrible people, they always want more and are never satisfied".

I'm wondering how this most wonderful sweet girl knew who on the ship was from New York, who was from New Jersey, who was from Connecticut, who was from Pennsylvania, etc. Sorry, but she does not sound so sweet and wonderful to me, if she is lumping together all of the passengers based on the city they sail from.

 

I have never been on the Breakaway, although I am sailing on it on Marh 16. I wonder if that sweet wonderful girl will know which state I am from.

 

Sometimes it does seem to me that different people take different cruises when on the same cruise ship sailing on the same day. What I mean is that I have received absolutely horrible service in the MDR at breakfast, only to hear that someone else received great service. And someone else told me that I should have eaten at the buffet.

 

On one cruise (not NCL), even though the daily newsletter said that there would be a piano player, there wasn't. I was told that he had gotten off the ship before it set sail from New Jersey, and there wasn't a replacement for him. Whenever the newsletter said that a string trio would perform, they did not. The barbershop quartet did not show up most of the time. When I mentioned this to people after I got home, they asked me if the ship provided substitute entertainment. No, they did not. But someone who couldn't care less about music wouldn't have wanted to see these performances, and they would have no idea that they were canceled.

 

On that cruise, the newsletter would say that certain events would take place, but I would go there and find nothing. I complained to Guest Services, who told me that I was wrong about the time. He checked his computer, and he insisted that the events were held at different times. I showed him my newsletter, and he was forced to admit that the newsletters we had been given were wrong.

 

On another cruise, we all had to meet in the theatre to take a ship's excursion, even though the ship docked at the port. There were about 8 or 9 excursions all taking place at the same time, and each group was taken off one at a time and put on their buses. It seemed that the tour I was taking was always the last one to be called, and by the time we got on our bus, the tour director told us that we were late, and we would miss part of the tour that we had already paid for. It would have been better if we had been allowed to find the bus by ourselves, instead of having to sit and wait and wait and wait in the theater for our tour number to be called. However, people who were in the first group to be called had no complaints.

 

Again, I have no idea how that sweet wonderful girl knew which passengers were from New York and which ones were from other states. Were they forced to wear tags saying what state they were from?

[geegee1]

Was on the 2/16 Breakaway sailing. From reading the reviews we went in expecting the worse. NCL was messing with our room 3 days before we left and had a mixup after we got on the boat. Besides that, it was a great cruise. Yes the pool area is too small for such a large boat and the theater might be too small as well. But besides that it's a great boat that we are seriously thinking about doing our first warm weather cruise out of NY next summer.

[Kocalli]

So, it seems like we should all post our AWESOME reviews of this gorgeous ship ASAP in order to curb all the Negative Nellly's!

 

Even if it's short, make your voice heard!

 

I'm posting my thorough review tonight!

[meatball_nyc]

Thank you for your post, Kocalli.

 

We are taking our first NCL trip this summer. I've done a lot of reading and researching since booking on September 11th

 

I hope that I am as rude as other posters have proved New Yorkers to be. I plan on having zero patience and try to enter elevators before others have exited. I plan on cutting in on the line at the buffet, as well as hogging all the chairs on the lido deck.

I plan on talking loudly and demanding for extra napkins at dinner as well as chilled towels when we get back from our excursions

 

Sorry, we don't have a suite, therefore no butler to do all our reservations, etc etc. when is my butler supposed to call me as an example. Never understood that at all.

 

We are sailing July 6th if you would like to join us rude impatient New Yorkers. Anyone is invited.

 

Thank you and Happy Sailing.

 

 

Robin

Norwegian Breakaway July 2014

Carnival Miracle 2010

Carnival Legend 2006

Every Day at Sea is a Great Day

Edited March 6, 2014 by meatball_nyc

[Kocalli]

Also, for the record, I don't think NYers have anything to do with this. I think people in general tend to set expectations too high and let little things ruin their entire vacations, which in my mind is a colossal waste of money. And trust me, if you have any issues, just tell the Hotel Director Prem, he'll take care of you ASAP. He gives you his CELL PHONE number on Day 1 at the Welcome Show. All of the crew was very helpful.

 

Check out my full review in the forum.

 

GO ENJOY YOURSELF!

[Ontime Departure]

I'm wondering how this most wonderful sweet girl knew who on the ship was from New York, who was from New Jersey, who was from Connecticut, who was from Pennsylvania, etc. Sorry, but she does not sound so sweet and wonderful to me, if she is lumping together all of the passengers based on the city they sail from.

 

I have never been on the Breakaway, although I am sailing on it on Marh 16. I wonder if that sweet wonderful girl will know which state I am from.

 

Sometimes it does seem to me that different people take different cruises when on the same cruise ship sailing on the same day. What I mean is that I have received absolutely horrible service in the MDR at breakfast, only to hear that someone else received great service. And someone else told me that I should have eaten at the buffet.

 

On one cruise (not NCL), even though the daily newsletter said that there would be a piano player, there wasn't. I was told that he had gotten off the ship before it set sail from New Jersey, and there wasn't a replacement for him. Whenever the newsletter said that a string trio would perform, they did not. The barbershop quartet did not show up most of the time. When I mentioned this to people after I got home, they asked me if the ship provided substitute entertainment. No, they did not. But someone who couldn't care less about music wouldn't have wanted to see these performances, and they would have no idea that they were canceled.

 

On that cruise, the newsletter would say that certain events would take place, but I would go there and find nothing. I complained to Guest Services, who told me that I was wrong about the time. He checked his computer, and he insisted that the events were held at different times. I showed him my newsletter, and he was forced to admit that the newsletters we had been given were wrong.

 

On another cruise, we all had to meet in the theatre to take a ship's excursion, even though the ship docked at the port. There were about 8 or 9 excursions all taking place at the same time, and each group was taken off one at a time and put on their buses. It seemed that the tour I was taking was always the last one to be called, and by the time we got on our bus, the tour director told us that we were late, and we would miss part of the tour that we had already paid for. It would have been better if we had been allowed to find the bus by ourselves, instead of having to sit and wait and wait and wait in the theater for our tour number to be called. However, people who were in the first group to be called had no complaints.

 

Again, I have no idea how that sweet wonderful girl knew which passengers were from New York and which ones were from other states. Were they forced to wear tags saying what state they were from?

 

Thanks for that response. I couldn't agree more. Being a New Yorker and having sailed from NYC a number of times I can tell you that some the rudest people I have come across were not from the NY Metro area, I could tell that because they didn't have New Yawk or New Joisey accents!

[Dave85]

I sailed on Carnival Miracle our of Baltimore many years back and the crew was wonderful but they all shuddered when I mentioned their next port of sailing - New York.

 

Our senior waitress who was the most wonderful sweet girl you could ever wish to meet said simply "New Yorkers are such horrible people, they always want more and are never satisfied".

 

I think that may be your clue.

 

It's the NY, north Jersey impatient culture. I've seen it over and over again. I did it myself until I moved to Florida. My friends used to tell me to "lose the Jersey" ... and it's true. We are impatient and want everything now. Too many little things set people off. My life is much more enjoyable since we moved to Florida. It's way more laid back and relaxed. Granted, we are mostly back in north jersey for the time being, but definitely have not lost that appreciation for the laid back lifestyle. People can get angry all they like, but it's true! Look at the difference in the reviews between Getaway and Breakaway. I wouldn't categorize everyone as rude, but definitely impatient or high stung as a whole. My husband grew up in Upper Saddle River and he absolutely refuses to sail from NJ or NY. We have to go to Boston when we finally do our Bermuda cruise LOL

 

See that's interesting to me, becuase the Explorer of the Seas, which has been sailing year round out of the New York market with these oh so rude, horrible New Yorkers for YEARS now, has a 82% "loved it" rating on Cruise Critic...

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/reviews/review.cfm?ShipID=186

 

Breakaway currently sits at 60%.

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/reviews/review.cfm?ShipID=642

 

Hmm....

 

Just saying. :rolleyes:

Edited March 6, 2014 by Dave85

[Kattus]

See that's interesting to me, becuase the Explorer of the Seas, which has been sailing year round out of the New York market with these oh so rude, horrible New Yorkers for YEARS now, has a 82% "loved it" rating on Cruise Critic...

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/reviews/review.cfm?ShipID=186

 

Breakaway currently sits at 60%.

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/reviews/review.cfm?ShipID=642

 

Hmm....

 

Just saying. :rolleyes:

 

 

:rolleyes:

[dtchgrl618]

I also think that the Breakaway has brought a lot of cruisers who've never sailed Norwegian before and are unfamiliar with "freestyle", which to me is more than eating whenever you want. They're surprised at all the restaurants that you can pay for and it skews their entire attitude. I personally love having the choice to eat in all those different restaurants and don't mind paying extra. I did find the meals at the MDR really good.

 

So instead of understanding the system of pay vs. non pay, they rip apart the cruise saying they're nickel and dimed. Along with the $12/day DSC which is completely on par with the other mass market lines, they just don't get it.

 

I think that skews a lot of people against Norwegian in general and I will never ever understand that. I really enjoyed Breakaway and wish I could get onboard again this summer!!

 

Amen! I honestly think it is not understanding the free style concept (I know I didn't, although I didn't post some horrible review, but I just didn't quite get it at first)

 

May I recommend that everyone, who loves their NCL cruise, be it Breakaway or any ship for that matter, to take 5 minutes and post their happy review? For some reason the negative Nellies seem to tip the balance and that can only be countered by the many people who actually enjoyed their experience.

[spk9075]

Nice post. I really think some people like to complain. I did not find anyone rude on our cruise they work very hard. Freestyle is very relaxing in my opinion and I don't think people understand what to expect. Your vacation is what you make of it.

 

 

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[piglet55cc]

Thanks for post good info about the ship. I'm sailing on 3/23. Was wondering what time most of you arrived for embarkation and what time you were permitted on the ship?

[antsnanny]

First, I would like to say I have sailed the Breakaway twice and plan on cruising on her as much as I possibly can.

I have sailed many times out of NY , NJ and Florida and I can tell you this... There are nice people and there are rude people sailing out of all ports. Let me take you back to 9-11 and you will see what New Yorkers are made of. Remember those rude firefighters, rude police, and all of the other NY hero's who risked their own lives to save others? Remember the long line of people waiting to give blood in case it was needed? Remember all the people who carried strangers, who opened up their homes to strangers, remember them? They are New Yorkers !! This is what New Yorkers are made of, they have proven themselves to be brave, caring, generous and friendly, treating each other as if they were family.. As for me, I am their neighbor, I am a proud resident of the great state of NJ. As one poster suggested " I will not loose my New Jersey", I like it.. Why do people always have to judge others?? Perhaps it makes them feel better about themselves..
In the meantime, I will continue to sail on the Breakaway, awesome ship, great crew, great food and I enjoyed all of my fellow passengers..

[SissasMomE]

OP - you really just have to go on your cruise with the mindset that you will have a good time. I really think that people who come home hating their cruise, or complaining about their ship, really just need something to complain about! Treat others how you want to be treated and go and have fun! You're on vacation!! :D :D :D Unless it's a Carnival cruise with toilets exploding all over the place, how bad can it be?!!

[HowardK]

I went on it last year and am heading back in the fall.
I was going to try the Getaway, but I am from NJ as well and it is always enjoyable and interesting spending the Saturday night in NYC and seeing a show or concert.
My safe didn't work and the person assigned to my room (who was excellent as well) called someone and they were there within 5 minutes to reset it.
The uptown grill was great and sometimes I ate smaller dinners because of a 4pm sandwich.
People were very friendly and from all over. People are either going to be unhappy or happy irregardless of whether the ship is sailing from New York or Miami.
I will say though, the time of the year is probably more of a factor.
I went mid-December on the Epic and it did feel slightly more festive than going in September.- But then Miami is farther away for me.

[geegee1]

[QUOTE=kristin's mom;41944573]Thanks for post good info about the ship. I'm sailing on 3/23. Was wondering what time most of you arrived for embarkation and what time you were permitted on the ship?[/QUOTE]

On 2/16 we got there around 10:30 and they started letting people on around 11:45

[vacation luvver]

[quote]There are nice people and there are rude people sailing out of all ports. Let me take you back to 9-11 and you will see what New Yorkers are made of. Remember those rude firefighters, rude police, and all of the other NY hero's who risked their own lives to save others? Remember the long line of people waiting to give blood in case it was needed? Remember all the people who carried strangers, who opened up their homes to strangers, remember them? They are New Yorkers !! This is what New Yorkers are made of, they have proven themselves to be brave, caring, generous and friendly, treating each other as if they were family.. As for me, I am their neighbor, I am a proud resident of the great state of NJ. As one poster suggested " I will not loose my New Jersey", I like it.. Why do people always have to judge others?? Perhaps it makes them feel better about themselves..[/quote]
Very well said! I just wish there was a way to tell this to that sweet wonderful girl (who IMHO is not so sweet and wonderful).