Just off the Breakaway--brief review

[Kroozen]

Just got off the Breakaway this morning. I had a great trip, and I would recommend the Breakaway to anyone. Here is a brief review of our trip. Any questions, let me know.

 

Embarkation:

We stayed overnight in NYC at the Grand Hyatt New York. The Grand Hyatt is connected to Grand Central, so it’s very easy to get to. When you get off your train, you just go to the top level and the hotel is right there. The hotel is very modern, and the rooms were nice. The morning of the cruise we took a taxi to the port. Including tip, it was only $20. We arrived at the pier at 10am, and there was no line at check-in. The ship was late arriving that morning, but that didn’t tell us until we arrived at the terminal. This caused a lot of problems because they didn’t start boarding until 12pm. The terminal isn’t that big, and it couldn’t really accommodate all the passengers that were arriving. There weren’t enough chairs for everyone, and this was causing frustration for a lot of people. After waiting for 2 hours, we were allowed to board.

Main Dining Rooms:

This was my 4th cruise on NCL, and the service in the main dining rooms has really gotten quite poor. We ate several dinners and breakfasts in Manhattan Room, Taste & Savor. The food was very, very good, but the service was lacking, especially in Manhattan Room. The waiters/waitresses barely spoke at all, and they never checked in after your entrée was served until it was time to clear the plates and order dessert. However, I cannot comment enough at how good the food was in all the main dining rooms. We ate dinner between 6p-7p, and we only had to wait once, and it was only 10 minutes.

La Cucina:

La Cucina was delicious. Service was very good, and the food was even better.

Modernos:

Modernos was great. The salad bar was fantastic, and all the meat was served hot.

Raw Bar:

We went to the Raw Bar on the last night of the cruise specifically to get the Seafood Plateau. Once we were ready to order, we were told that they had run out of oysters and clams (Oysters and clams are half of the seafood plateau). However, we were never told this when we were walking in. We decided to just get drinks instead.

Wasabi:

The sushi was very good, and the prices were not bad. It was $15 for 3 sushi rolls and an appetizer.

Buffet:

The buffet was one of the best buffets I’ve seen on the sea or on land. Everything was hot and tasty. There were lines, but there were a lot of stations so everything moved quickly.

Bar:

We had the ultimate drinking package, so our alcoholic drinks were covered. Most drinks were $10 or under, so we didn’t run into any issues.

Stateroom:

We had an M6 Mini-Suite with a large balcony on the 8th deck. Being on the 8th floor is very convenient because you’re near the waterfront, the casino, the theater, shops and all the restaurants on the 6th, 7th and 8th floors. The balcony was huge! We had 2 regular chairs, 2 lounge chairs and a large table. The bathroom was huge, and the shower and multiple jets…Very nice!

Outside activities:

We did the water slides several times. The water in the slides was heated, so you didn’t freeze. We tried to play mini golf, but there were no more golf balls. There is a huge ropes course, but by the time we had decided to do it, it was too windy so it was closed. However, I saw many people doing it throughout the week. The waterfront was great…probably my favorite feature of the ship. There were many outdoor dining areas, as well as many chairs, loungers and couches.

Inside activities:

There were always a lot of trivia games, game shows, etc going on. However, a lot of these were done in small areas and there was nowhere enough seats for everyone. People ended up sitting on the floor, or standing in the hallways which caused a lot of traffic jams.

[bbryan5]

Nice review! I'll be on the Breakaway in May for the second time. I can't wait!

[meatball_nyc]

Welcome home to the snow. Glad you had a good cruise.

Good to know no issues with the UBP.

We will be on deck 8 for our next Breakaway trip. Any noise from the theater below at all?

Thanks for the report.

[Kroozen]

No noise from the theater at all, and we were right above it. The only time we had noise was when the anchor was being dropped at GSC...it was loud!

[meatball_nyc]

Haha. You were lucky making GSC.

What was your favorite thing about the island?

Hoping we will be lucky to hear that loud anchor drop in early November ;)

[Kroozen]

I've been to GSC twice before, but I noticed that they've done a lot of upgrades since then. However, it was so crowded that we couldn't find lounge chairs anywhere...and we walked to a few different areas of the island. I don't think the island is capable of handling 4000 + passengers, so it was overcrowded. We only stayed long enough to grab a burger, walk around and then we went back to the ship.

[meatball_nyc]

Ah well. Thanks for the help. Cheers!

[eric135i]

I've been to GSC twice before, but I noticed that they've done a lot of upgrades since then. However, it was so crowded that we couldn't find lounge chairs anywhere...and we walked to a few different areas of the island. I don't think the island is capable of handling 4000 + passengers, so it was overcrowded. We only stayed long enough to grab a burger, walk around and then we went back to the ship.

 

shoveled snow the day before boarding and shoveled today when i got home from the pier!

 

re: GSC - you should have taken the ride over to the Lagoon area. we were there all day and there must have been only around 50 ppl there. PLENTY of chairs!!! the tenders did take a while to get off the ship (took us 45-50 min wait at the theater waiting for the rides) only bad part was that they made no annoucements about the lunch stopping at 2pm, so some ppl missed out. they cleared up the food real quick.

[dolphin lady]

I was also on the Breakaway last week...The reason we didn't get on the ship till 12:30 is because the ship came in late due to waiting for the ice to be broken up in the Hudson.. I'm assuming this is why NCL did not or could not inform passengers before hand because they were not aware of the situation before they arrived.

 

Also, agreed with everything that was posted.

[LOWTYD]

We were on GSC also. We had a small cabana and the beach the cabanas were on wasn't too crowded. I was able to get a lounge chair down there even after a couple hours. If you can handle the walk ( There is also a tram) go the lagoon, which is a little beyond the cabana beach. I took a walk to it and there was hardly anyone there. I took a dip in the water and there was food and drink available. I guess a lot of people either don't know it's there or they don't want to go that far.

Just another option to get away from the crowds. :)

[meatball_nyc]

That's what I figured. Always always always a way to avoid the crowds.

Same thing as Horseshoe Bay Beach in BDA.

Thanks :)

[b00br]

We steered clear of La Cucina because of its proximity to tobacco smoke. It's a shame that they designed so much of the ship's activity and specialty dining areas to be susceptible to smoke. I would rather be getting occasional whiffs of smoke on my balcony than having to smell it anytime I walk through the hub of the ship.

Edited March 2, 2015 by b00br

[mrobstad]

I'm booked for 12/27 and thinking of getting the spa pass so that I have a place to go on cool days. I'm not really a bingo kind of girl. I usually get Vibe. What's your opinion, cuz it's expensive at $199 for the week....

[cage keeper]

Do you think the relaxed service in the dining rooms is because of the auto tipping? If they don't have to go out of their way so you will leave them a bigger tip because it's now added? We always tip the waitstaff, bar staff and room attendants extra. But we have always gotten extra special service. I guess we will see on 3 weeks.

[mjkacmom]

Do you think the relaxed service in the dining rooms is because of the auto tipping? If they don't have to go out of their way so you will leave them a bigger tip because it's now added? We always tip the waitstaff, bar staff and room attendants extra. But we have always gotten extra special service. I guess we will see on 3 weeks.

 

I've been sailing NCL for 10 years (with auto tipping), and believe the lack in service seems to be caused by the amount of passengers on this mega ships.

 

We always sail from NYC, and have never boarded before 12 (maybe just unlucky). There is not enough seating for the Breakaway passengers, so if this is an issue, come early or late.

[WMQueenie]

Thank you for posting! We leave Sunday!

 

How long before it felt warm out?

[Kroozen]

It was in the low 60's by noon on the first sea day, however, it was rainy.

[ceomom703]

Thank you for your review! We will booked later this month and looking forward to our first family cruise. Your review is very helpful.

[CasinoCruzGirl]

I'm booked on the BA for my 3rd time love it. Was in a balcony cabin on deck 8 last time loved the location actually booked an M6 this time cabin 8134 which cabin did you have?

 

Glad u had a great time and welcome back.

 

Geri

Edited March 2, 2015 by FootballParent

[UPNYGuy]

to find a great spot on GSC, you need to walk over to the lagoon. It is beyond where the cabanas are located, and is fairly secluded. DW and I were also on this cruise, and spent the day over there. Plenty of loungers were available.

[bangzoom6877]

Great review! We're going on the Breakaway in July and can't wait. This will be our 5th time on NCL, but my 16th cruise overall. We don't have the UDP or UBP but we will eat at Cagney's one evening with our group of 11, and at Le Bistro one evening just me and DH for a date night. And we love our drinks on a cruise, just that the UBP isn't worth the cost for the amount we drink, we have maybe 2 or 3 drinks each per day and that's it and we don't drink soda. The kids don't drink soda either and everyone in the cabin has to be on a drink package. So we just pay as we go.

 

Glad the food in the dining room was great! Did you by any chance have the chocolate volcano dessert? That's one I'm looking forward to!

[travelerblue]

Bonnie, did you at least take the on board credit? Otherwise the beverage and dining packages are free right now. Or you can get your daily service charges paid for.

[travelerblue]

I'm booked for 12/27 and thinking of getting the spa pass so that I have a place to go on cool days. I'm not really a bingo kind of girl. I usually get Vibe. What's your opinion, cuz it's expensive at $199 for the week....

 

We had the spa pass when we sailed on the BA in October. The spa is really nice and we used it every day to get our monies worth. It is nice to have a place to go to on those cooler days. But it is expensive. I would do it again though if I were sailing in December.

[mrobstad]

Thanks traveler. Though it's 2x the price of Vibe, I think it's a viable option. What did you like best?

[doggfan7]

Thanks for the review! How was the weather on the first and last sea day? We are going on Breakaway in a few months and we are concerned that it would be too cold to enjoy the ship outside.