Breakaway-3 points of view in one review

[kernie968]

Rushed out to the last holiday party yesterday and forgot to do the teen section about the room

 

Teen-The rooms felt cramped and too narrow in spots, but the balcony made up for it. Lots of space for taking pictures. Biggest complaint about the room was the TV. There was nothing to watch, but the building of the Breakaway which I watched multiple times. I heard no noise from any other rooms and I liked the swaying of the ship.

 

Grumpy-the TV took a while to figure out how to use, but after I got it I could check the accounts for spending and check our reservations. There was not much too watch. Never heard any noise from the other rooms.

 

The master bathroom was amazing. We never even came close to filling all the drawers and shelves. Three of us used this bathroom and we could easily have had Grumpy's stuff in the bathroom too.

 

 

The shower is heaven. There is a huge rainfall shower, then there are six jets that you can move to hit where you want. My biggest problem on the ship was getting into the shower and not wanting to ever get out! Those jets feel amazing on sore shoulder. I want to redo our bathroom!

 

 

Neither of the bathrooms had fans so a tip to make the trip more enjoyable would be pack some kind of spray air freshener.

[kernie968]

The balcony

Loved the balcony. I never watched any TV because I was always out on the balcony. The sound of the wake is like a giant white noise machine. I would get sleepy as soon as I walked out the door. I took many short naps on the lounge chairs. I would have stayed on the balcony the entire time if I could have.

 

It was cold and raining the first full day out, but I could still get out on the balcony and stay dry because of the over hang.

 

 

 

 

The size of the balcony did not disappoint me. I had said the room seemed smaller that the pictures, but the balcony was just as I had pictured it.

 

Yes there was soot. There were days that you could not smell the fumes and there were days you could. The lounge chairs looked dirty because of all the soot stains. I asked our room steward for clean mats and he said no problem. The clean ones looked dirty too. I just used one of the Haven Robes as a cover when I laid out. If you got out on the balcony with sock they will get dirty, so I just used the slippers. Would any of these problems stop me from booking an aft balcony again? No way, it is worth every penny to have that balcony!

 

We could see the fireworks from the balcony and because of the wind I got hit in the face with a small piece of fireworks! I thought that was kind of cool.I kept that piece as a souvenir.When they did the big finally we actually had a lot of embers land on our balcony, so I began to think that maybe what I thought were soot stains were actually burn marks on the loungers. The room steward must not clean the balcony because the firework residue stayed.

 

The next two pictures will show what you see if you look lean against the rail of the balcony and look up.

 

 

 

 

As for noise from H20 the night of the fireworks we could easily hear the music enough to sing along with the song, but that was the only night we could hear it. We never heard it in our room at all.

 

For me it was easier to go to the balcony using the bedroom door. The sliding door was heavy and I could never remember if the handle should be up or down. I only used the sliding door if the boys were sleeping.

 

One of the tips I had used from scouring Cruise Critic forums was to bring a small clothes line and clips. It was great to hang out the bathing suits. They dry very quickly on the balcony.Of course do not hang anything the night of the fireworks!

 

 

Another tip would be do not leave any food on the balcony while in port. I carried my coffee and chocolate croissants out to the balcony table while in Nassau. I went in to the room to get my camera, which took me a minute to find it and I went back out to the balcony to find 10 sea gulls. One was actually standing on the plate. If you yell at them they stay. I tried waving my arms and clapping, but more came so I grabbed the plate with the sea gull and started toward the room. For a couple of seconds I thought all the seagulls were going to fly into the room with me. I managed to close the heavy sliding door and laugh as a sea gull was still trying to get the food of the plate in my hand next to the glass. He just kept flying up to the plate and grab at the food through the glass. I never have the video camera on when I need it.

[kernie968]

The best part of the balcony is a good sunset and a drink.

 

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Grumpy-the balcony was nice .Took a few naps out there.It was very quiet.

 

Teen-the balcony was large and enjoyable.

[kernie968]

It is hard to do a fair review of the Breakaway because we avoided the crowds by hanging out in the Haven or our room. We made the mistake once of getting off the aft elevator on Deck 15 which is the Buffet. It was totally insane with the amount of people. We got out of that are as fast as we could.

 

Our first day was a sea day and it was gloomy and rainy with 20 foot swells. I loved going out on the balcony and looking at the waves. We could feel the boat rocking, but none of us got sea sick. The first night we hit a few good waves because I felt like my feet rocked up higher than my head.Our biggest problem the first night was a lot of creaking noises because of the waves. The door from the living room to the bedroom was not a tight fit so it made a lot of noise. In the morning I found the electrical tape we had packed and we had no problem fixing the door to stop the noise.

 

The second day was Florida and the captain made an announcement that we would be arriving a hour later than scheduled. No problem for us, but I felt bad for the people going to the theme parks. We had chosen to do the NCL bus to Cocoa Beach. We went to the buffet for lunch and this was our only time at the buffet. It was crowded, but the few things I tried were OK. We could not find a table at first, then I could not find silverware, so I ate with my hands. When I finished a worker brought over silverware. The desserts were gross and I could not even eat them.

 

We had waited about 30 minutes after they said we could get off the ship and went to the lower decks to get off. The line went on for ever. We finally got off and then had to stand in line to get on a bus. If you do this tour just wait two hours to get off and you will not have to waste half the day in line.

 

The bus is a short drive to the Shark Pit where they drop you off. We were surprised there were not any signs to tell us where the beach was. We figured it out and walked the 2 blocks to the beach. There was no changing rooms or bathrooms that we could see. We got our feet wet and walked back to the stores. That is about all there was to do was shop and have a terrible $1 Margarita at the Shark Pit. It was gross and upset my stomach even though I only had a couple sips. I would not do that again.

 

Grumpy-Florida was a waste of time. I wish I had stayed in the room and slept. There was nothing to do, but shop.

 

Teen-I loved Florida. I want to move there!

[kernie968]

The slides were a lot of fun. We did the purple and yellow slides on Monday when it was freezing out so we did not have to wait in line. I just wish we could have found a faster way to get back up to the top to go down again. It was cold running up those steps to the slide. We did the free fall slide after we came back from our Florida adventure. It was warmer out, but there was still no lines. The free fall slide is fun and not like any other slide I had ever done. You have to try it at least once.

 

Teen-The free fall slide is the best! The only problem is it is not open very often. The purple and yellow slides are fun. The blue slide is only good for little kids.

 

The casino was a big disappointment. It is bigger than any other ship I have been on, but they did not have very many cheap slot machines. I like to play penny slots so it takes a little while to lose my twenty dollars. All the penny slots were actually thirty to seventy-five cents for every play. The pay outs were few and far between. I had brought hundred dollars to lose, but when I could only get 5 minutes of play time before I lost my twenty I decided it was not fun and they could not have any more of my money.

[kernie968]

We a woke on Wednesday and the sun was shining, the waves were small so we were sure we were headed to Great Stirrup Cay. We noticed on the TV that we were not following the red course and sure enough the captain came on the loud speakers to tell us that we would not be going to Great Stirrup Cay as the undercurrents were too strong for the tenders to come out and get us! We were amused as the day went on and we watched on the TV as we made a huge rectangle as we headed to Nassau. One thing that NCL was great at was putting OBC onto our accounts for the excursions that were canceled at GSC. It was on our accounts as soon as the captain announced that we were missing the island.

 

So we had extra money to spend so we booked the Cirque Dream show. I had read many reviews that said the food was not good at the show, so we went to the Haven Restaurant for dinner. While there Anoop, the concierge, came to our table to remind us that dinner would be served at the show. We told him we wanted to watch the show and not eat.

 

Anoop led us and a few other Haven people down to the show and we were the first ones in. They gave us a table center stage front row. We noticed after just a few minutes that the chairs were very uncomfortable. There are booths in the back and I wish we had switched to one them. If you have a bad back take a booth.

 

I had read so many reviews, but I still did not know what kind of show it actually was. It turns out it is a bunch of acts like juggling, balancing and strength. My feeling was it was like having front row seats to America's Got Talent. It was amazing sitting close enough to see every rippling muscle. Many times I thought for sure some one or some thing would fly out to our table.

 

The food was OK and I ate a few bites, but if you look down for even a second you miss parts of the act and they are awesome acts. To think that they can perform these acts on a moving ship is mind blowing!

 

Grumpy-If you eat you miss the show and the show is really good. A lot of the food was terrible. Good thing we ate first. The chairs hurt.

 

Teen-The show was phenomenal! The food sucked.The chairs hurt my back.

[macruise]

 

The casino was a big disappointment. It is bigger than any other ship I have been on, but they did not have very many cheap slot machines. I like to play penny slots so it takes a little while to lose my twenty dollars. All the penny slots were actually thirty to seventy-five cents for every play. The pay outs were few and far between. I had brought hundred dollars to lose, but when I could only get 5 minutes of play time before I lost my twenty I decided it was not fun and they could not have any more of my money.

 

I am with you on your slot theory. Of course, the casino always wins, but at least they could make the fun a bit longer than 5 minutes. Like you, I eventually decided that they couldn't have any more of my money.

Loving your review.

[kernie968]

The only pay restaurant we tried was Teppanyaki. I had read so many different reviews about it and most had been good reviews. My opinion is it was OK.The show part was fun even though the chef dropped his spatulas quite a few times. The chef seemed very stressed out trying to get all the different orders prepared. The lobster was very chewy, but the scallops were perfect. The desserts were terrible. It was very hot in there, so dress lightly!

 

Grumpy-The food gave me indigestion. The soup and rice were terrible. The salad was OK. The beef and scallops were really good. Lobster was chewy and the dessert was not good at all.

 

Teen-The show was good, the food was not.

 

The coolest thing on the ship is the rope course. We had mastered an extreme rope course before so we figured this should be easy. The way it is set up when you get to a platform you have to decided which way you want to go,some are really easy and some are harder. I like that you can choose and not have to stand and wait for someone else to finish. A couple time younger kids would get half way out and start to cry because it was scary to them and their parents would have to go out and get them. It takes balance to do some of the course.

 

We did the course at night while still in port in Florida. The two teens and I had just started on the course when all of the lights went out. The employees yelled for everyone to stay still until the lights came back on. It took them about 4 minutes to get the lights on. I did the plank which I thought would not be scary, but it was. The one thing I wish I had known is that when you go on the zip line you have to go off the course. I had only done half the course when I ended up at the zip line. After zipping across, the path takes you to the steps down and we would have had to get in line again. It was fun and I would do it again.

 

Teen-Florida at night was the best because it was not crowded. Every other time it was very crowded with lines.

[MACE]

We were on the 12/21/14 sailing, we enjoyed it quite a bit but did discuss how small our cabin and balcony were compared to previous cruises on CCL and RCI, how narrow the hallways are to the point two people passing in opposite directions was a tight fit, how small the Atrium was for trying to hold the many shows staged there, not to mention the theater only holds 800 paxs with very uncomfortable seats (not pleasant sitting in them for the 1HR45MIN Rock of Ages show), and the 3 MDRs are also small and not very "grand" looking with just average food, though our Friday night meal in Taste was very good.

 

The Garden Cafe had above average food, though finding a table was usually a challenge.

 

I thought the Surf&Turf meal our last night of the cruise at the Cirque Dreams show was awesome, the meal was served hot, and cooked to perfection, probably one of the best steaks I've had in a long time.

 

The Casino was nice to me, I play video poker and all the machines gave you options on what coin/dollar value to play. I usually put a $10 bill in and was entertained for 30 minutes or so each time I played. Did walk away with a small winnings of $40 by the time our cruise was over.

 

Regardless of our smaller than usual balcony, eating breakfast on it, viewing the sunrises and sunsets, and being able to tan on our balcony, plus leaving it open at night to hear the ocean, negated its small size!

Edited December 29, 2014 by MACE

[kernie968]

The Haven is worth the extra money. Excellent is the first word that comes to mind it I had to choose one word. It was always peaceful and there were so many times that we had the place to ourselves. There were kids, but they were well behaved and not loud at all. Grumpy would have been much grumpier if he could not have escaped from the crowds into the Haven.

 

There were times that kids were in both of the hot tubs, but if an adult went into the hot tub the kids got out and went to the pool. I could have sat in the hot tubs all day. The sauna was always empty and another place I could have stayed in all day.

 

Most morning there were mimosa in the courtyard which we could take in to the restaurant. The Haven restaurant manager would offer to get you another mimosa as soon as you finished your glass.

 

There were always snacks and water and orange juice available in the courtyard. Almost every time we went we could have had a lounger by the pool.The upstairs is empty almost all the time.

 

 

The menu for the courtyard is very limited, but the onion rings are the best I ever had. We only ate lunch in the courtyard once, but I wish we would have done it more often.

 

I struggled when deciding on a room if we would be better off in the actual Haven area instead of the aft. I loved our balcony and I spent a lot of time out there, but I know we would have used the Haven area a lot more if we had been in the front of the ship. There were so many times that by the time we had walked to our room I was too tired to think about walking all the way up to the front of the ship to sit in a hot tub. If you have any kind of back or leg pain then the walk is just too much. I am glad we had the room we had, but I know that the next time I would stay in the Haven. The Haven sundeck always had loungers available and they bring you snacks! No one brought me a snack while I laid on my lounger on the balcony.

 

Grumpy-it was too hot in the courtyard, but the sundeck was nice.

 

Teen-The courtyard was very enjoyable, but humid. The sundeck was great.

 

The Haven bar was so nice as we could have a conversation with the bartender and the few other people at the bar. As soon as you enter the Haven everyone learns your name. The people that work there are amazing at making you feel special.

 

The Haven Restaurant is incredible. Dinners were fast which is what we wanted. We only had to plan for an hour for dinner and sometimes it was less than that. The rolls and breads were awesome. One of the hardest things for us was to remember that we did not have to order from just the menu. We loved ordering shrimp cocktails for appetizers because they use big shrimp. Grumpy ordered soup from Taste one night and it was not a problem. Most people complain that the menu is limited, but I could have eaten the filet of beef every night! The servers were incredible and the manager came by every time we were there to see if we needed anything.

 

Grumpy- Everything I ate was excellent! The servers were very friendly, but the selection of food was too small. They should have two specials every night.

 

Teen-It was amazing. The duck with the wild rice was great. I loved the mushroom ravioli, but the special the last night was the best food I have ever eaten.

[Anngeojes]

Love the multiple perspectives

[kernie968]

To everyone who has commented that they enjoy the review,thank you.This is my first time doing a review and I took lots of note, but I have really bad hand writing and I cannot read half of what I wrote.

 

The last part of the Haven review would be about the butler and concierge. I was not sure if I would like or hate having a butler. I guess for me the butler was mostly an invisible person who did things for us whether we asked or not.We did meet him the first day when he tried to show us how to work the Lavazza coffee machine. He had a phone on him that rang non-stop. He mumbled something about not enjoying the first day, so I know other guest needed him. We had requested certain types of pillows and they all looked the same to me, but he could point at a pillow and tell us what kind it was. I was impressed. To the previous Haven guests who said they never received a reading wedge pillow that is because it is not a wedge, just a normal looking pillow.

 

It took me quite a few tries before I got really good at making the Lavazza coffees.Once I got good at it I had no problem downing three or four in a row. It took the butler a couple days before he understood that we only wanted coffee and no teas. We did order a hot breakfast every morning to be dropped off between 6:30 and 7:00. The butler would call at 6:50 to tell us he was coming. He would put a tablecloth on the table and set out breakfast.The mornings I was up he was not very talkative, but when it was just him and Grumpy he talked a lot! Maybe he did not like me.

 

The best part of having a butler is coming back to the room after being in port and finding three plates of snacks waiting for us. He gave us canapes twice and we left a note telling him that we did not like them.We left a note because we only saw him when he delivered breakfast and he only talked to Grumpy.He left us plates of cookies and mini sandwiches which were great. The chocolate covered strawberries were not that good. The cheese plate was OK and the chocolates were very good. So it was not bad having a butler because we really did not see him.

 

When we booked the room I said we will never use the concierge, so I will not have to tip him much, but I was wrong. The first day there was a letter in our room telling us that the Rock of Ages show we had booked 90 days out had been changed to a different night, so this started a chain reaction of pretty much every thing we had booked needed to be changed. Thank God for the concierge assistant, Kadek. Kadek is Anoop's assistant and he was our man. He was very patient as we argued about what days and times we wanted to change. Now I do not know what I would do without a concierge.

 

Grumpy-I did not enjoy most of the snacks, but I did enjoy chatting with the butler every morning. I liked having breakfast in the room.

 

Teen-I loved the sandwiches for snacks. The cookies were OK.

 

Just for the record the other teen who does not talk loved the cookies because he would grab the plate of cookies and run!

 

 

We did eat twice at O'Sheenans and it is hit or miss with the exception of the Chicken Pot Pie which was always perfect. One time my mozzarella sticks were cold and gross another time they were perfect. I could live without ever eating there again.The teen had a burger from the Uptown Grill and said it was awesome,but filling so he really was not hungry the rest of the day.

 

One thing I was really looking forward to was playing Deal or No Deal. I kept missing it by being in another part of the ship doing something else or just too tired to get down to it until the last day when I finally made it to the Atrium. The atrium is always packed because something is always happening on the stage. I could not find anyone who knew where to go to buy a ticket to play, even employees could not tell me. Finally I found the sign at shore excursion desk to buy a ticket. It was fun and entertaining and I won fifty dollars!

 

The teens spent a lot of time playing the giant chess game. It was nice to know they could play something that was not attached to a screen.

 

 

For us the last night on the ship was fun. We put on our warm gear and headed up to the sports deck. We played miniature golf and had the whole place to ourselves. We played basketball and walked around the outside areas of the ship without seeing anyone else. It was like we were the only ones on this huge ship. Bring your winter gear and have fun!

[kernie968]

I almost forgot about Nassau. We missed the private island and had a extra sea day while we cruised in a big loop waiting for a berth is Nassau. I loved sea days because I could nap on the lounger for hours and not feel guilty. We docked early evening and after dinner the teen decided to walk into Nassau to see what was there.I had told him I did not think it was a good idea to go to Nassau at night by himself, but he is a teen, so off he went. When he came back he admitted that it was not good idea. He was offered drugs and Cuban cigars multiple time while he walked down the main street.

 

When they canceled the private island I sent an email to Cheryl's Bahama Taxi and Private tours. We figure we saved a lot of money with the shore excursions we did not do, so lets do a private tour of Nassau. Cheryl emailed me back quickly and we set up a two hour tour. We got off the ship and found a man holding a sign with my name. He was standing next to Cheryl, so we chatted a few minutes then we were off.The driver, Derrick, took us to many places we never would have seen if we were walking. He took us to a craft store that had hand made crafts from the island. He said you will not find things like this at the straw market and he was right. I bought many souvenirs at the shop.

 

He took us to a place where a lady made us a fresh conch salad and it was amazingly good. He was very understandable and gave us history facts that I never would have known. We did stop and go in to one of the forts that I thought would be boring, but it was really cool. We had the tour end at John Watlings distillery and there was Cheryl. She asked how our tour went and we told her it was great. From there we walked down to Junkaroo beach and I was surprised that the water was warm enough to swim, but I did not have my suit. As we walked back to the ship every store pretty much sold the same thing, nothing special like the place Derrick had taken us.

 

Grumpy-I liked the conch salad part of the tour and that was it. I only remember him showing us churches. The beach looked nice we should have spent the day there.

[kernie968]

I had to call the teen to get his review of Nassau.

 

Teen-Never get off at night it was creepy! There were giant rats on the docks. I did not feel safe. The tour was worth the money we saw a lot and I learned a lot. The distillery was great.I loved the Pina Colada. Senor Frogs was loud, but fun.I did not like the Straw Market at all. They follow you around trying to get you to buy stuff. I tried a Bahama beer and it was so good and I do not even like beer!

 

I forgot to mention that traveling with two 19 year old's in the Bahamas was entertaining. The first thing every one asks is how old are you to the boys and when they say nineteen every one smiles and says you can drink here! My son chooses not to drink and when he would order a soda the waiter would remind him he could drink. I watched my son explain multiple times to people that he chooses not to drink and they would all look at me like he was lying. One person even asked him to explain why he does not drink. I started to realize that my son is in the minority of 19 year old's and I am proud of him.

[kernie968]

Disembarkation was a breeze. We got up at 4:30 so we could see New York City as we went up the river. The bridge was beautiful at night.

 

 

We dragged our bags up to the Haven for our last breakfast. The boys ate quickly and took off. Minutes later they came and said we were cleared to get off the ship. Our buddy, Kadek, led us to a secret elevator. He took us down, grabbed our cards, scanned them and sent us on our way. We were one of the first off the ship. We had to drag our bags all the way to the back of the terminal, just to go in and walk all the way to the front of the terminal. If you can disembark from the back of the ship you will save a lot of steps. No waiting at customs and we crossed the street and got a taxi to Penn Station. We made the 8:15 train and were home by twelve.

 

For me I loved this vacation. I had a list of thirty things to do on the ship and I did not even do a quarter of them. I think they know you will have to come back to do everything there is to do. If we had not been in the Haven I am not sure I would have loved it as much. We never had to wait to be seated at the Haven restaurant and the service was better than any service we have ever received. We never went to the pool area except to use the slides because we used the Haven Courtyard. I am already planning another cruise on the Breakaway to Bermuda in May or June. The haven is out of my price range, so I will be using all of the ship that I avoided on this cruise. The bottom line is if you can afford the Haven it is worth it.

 

Grumpy-NCL could not do anything to improve the staff. Every crew member we met was smiling and friendly.The only way I would do this cruise again would be to stay in a room in the Haven area in the front of the ship. The walk from the back to the front was too much.

 

Teen-I would give the ship a 4.5 out of 5. The biggest problem was there was too much to do and not enough time to do it in. I did the rope course multiple times, but never got to do the rock wall because it is hardly ever open. The yellow and purple slides were open a lot, but the free fall was only open a couple of times. Totally loved the perks of the Haven. I cannot wait to go again.

[cathyoo]

thank you for your review. It was a very nice read. The only downside to it was now I really want to book a haven room.