Breakaway 4/3: Good, Bad, Mostly Ugly

[momtonoah]

We (myself 39, hubby 42, son 6) traveled with a group of 22 extended family members on the 4/3 Breakaway. We are experienced cruisers, sailing 10 times now on RCI, Disney, Princess, and one prior sailing on the NCL Pearl. We were pretty disappointed with our Pearl experience. Fast forward 6 years, and we needed a NYC departure to accommodate the east coast members of my family as well as a sailing during my son's spring break, so we had no other options. So we gave NCL a second chance. We read a lot of reviews, and thought the negative ones had to be exaggerating, or written by folks who just didn't enjoy cruising. We were hopeful for a great trip, but were very wrong.

GOOD:

-I would say the best part of the sailing was Splash Academy. We were pleasantly surprised by how much my son enjoyed it. The staff were extremely nice and engaged.

-Ropes Course and Slides. Limited hours due to weather, but very fun!

-Late night buffet for junk food. A lot of cruise lines don't offer this anymore.

-Uptown Grill. Great burgers and waffle fries. We also liked the breakfast as no one was ever there and they had good egg sandwiches.

-Beverage package. This was free with promo. We really had little problem getting drinks in timely manner. Drinks are NOT weak at all!!

-Rock of Ages and Howl at the Moon were very good, comedy pretty good, jazz club singers were very good, family Karaoke was a hit with the kiddos

BAD:

-We had cool weather going in and out of NYC. This of course would be expected. However when the outside decks are not open, there is really nothing to do in the ship if you don't gamble. This is the first ship that I was actually bored at times. They do all the games in the atrium, and that takes an act of God to get a seat there, so we skipped them all. I found that we wandered around the ship often, not really doing anything. Usually I am running from one place to another doing all the activities.

-We just don't get the Freestyle way. Freestyle = no style. We were lucky and our travel agent got us a reservation in the Manhattan room since we were with a large group. But every night there were long lines of folks waiting for tables. Service in the Manhattan room was extremely blah. Servers did not chat with you, nor really even give you eye contact. Food was edible, but that's about it. I think we were only able to actually order drinks 2 of the 7 nights. We went to noodle bar one late night; the food was actually pretty good there but they never brought my husband's main course. We finally just left. We were not surprised of course.

-Our balcony cabin was the smallest cabin I have ever seen, even compared to inside cabins. It was also FILTHY. I put my beach bag on the upper shelf in the closet and it was covered in dust. The little rack below the TV had about 1/4 inch of dust on it. We had 1 conversation with our cabin steward. It was the first night when he said "you have a kid in there, right?". Um, shouldn't you KNOW that???? He also never bothered to put the bunk back into the ceiling about 1/2 the days, so you had to be careful not to knock your head. I guess that was too much work.

UGLY:

-SMOKE. It is everywhere. The Waterfront area is a really neat place to hang out for drinks, but nonsmokers can't enjoy any of it. Twice I had smoke blown in my face when ordering a drink. The casino is right in the middle of the ship, so smoke flows everywhere. I left the cruise with a sore throat and eyes due to the smoke.

-CROWDS. This is my main point of this review. This ship was built to hold 4,000 people in their rooms, but like 1,000 in the common areas. We have sailed Oasis of the Seas twice which holds 6,000 and never felt crowded ever. I had a panic attack in the buffet at breakfast and ended up not being able to go back in for food! (At least I had a Mimosa!). We ate outside when using the buffet even in the cold weather because none of us could handle the crowds. You can't walk anywhere in the main areas without people being in every square inch. Its insane. I wanted to fly home 1/2 way through the trip due to the claustrophobia. The hallways by the cabins are also about 1/2 the width of any cruise hallway I have ever seen. Getting off the ship is a complete fire hazard due to the crowds as well.

In summary, I will not sail NCL again even if you paid me.

[Lady Arwen]

Thank you for sharing your perspective of your cruise on Breakaway. What seems annoying to some people can also be trivial to others. Honestly, the dust for me would be no big deal. As long as my cabin is reasonably clean, I don't look for perfection. The cabins are the size that is posted on the website, so really no surprise there.

 

Mega ships are not for everyone and not every cruiseline is for everyone. Also, the entire experience could be completely different from one week to the next.

 

I have also read many times about the disorganized disembarkment, so we planned a later flight home to alleviate some stress.

 

We leave on Sunday on the Breakaway and we really expect to have a wonderful time. We don't let the small things bother us and just roll with it. We're on a cruise! Someone else is cooking, cleaning and doing the driving......happy dance!

[Crusin6]

I agree 100% about the BA and that's why we chose the Gem for our next cruise as well as our recent cruise

 

I'm not running away from ncl but I only book the cheapest insides these days and look for the best deals which I usually find and I plan to stay away from the mega ship or at least the BA for the immediate future

 

 

We would like to cruise to Bermuda but celebrity has much better deals than ncl so that will be our first choice

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[Clarea]

Appreciate the feedback.

[Sizzlechest]

Thank you for sharing your perspective of your cruise on Breakaway. What seems annoying to some people can also be trivial to others. Honestly, the dust for me would be no big deal. As long as my cabin is reasonably clean, I don't look for perfection. The cabins are the size that is posted on the website, so really no surprise there.

 

It doesn't sound like she was looking for perfection. It sounds like she was looking for a clean room. A thick layer of dust implies that part of the room never gets cleaned.

 

Mega ships are not for everyone and not every cruiseline is for everyone. Also, the entire experience could be completely different from one week to the next.

 

She said she was on megaships before. She even sailed on one that's BIGGER than the Breakaway. Her problem is with the Breakaway's design, and it's a complaint that others have had regarding overcrowding, too.

[john kaz]

I agree about service in the dining rooms. In my short review of the Escape, servers in dining room come to table 5 times. Bring our menu's, Take our order, bring 3 courses or food, that's it. We had to leave our tables and go get our own refills of water, wine and drinks every night. We only ate dinner in dining rooms 3 nights because of this. Loved Escape, ding rooms need much better service. Shame shame on NCL.

[mjkacmom]

It doesn't sound like she was looking for perfection. It sounds like she was looking for a clean room. A thick layer of dust implies that part of the room never gets cleaned.

 

 

 

She said she was on megaships before. She even sailed on one that's BIGGER than the Breakaway. Her problem is with the Breakaway's design, and it's a complaint that others have had regarding overcrowding, too.

 

This was spring break, so the ship was extra crowded. I've experienced a horrible disembarkment in NYC before, plus two smooth ones. It's customs, not the cruise line. We only ate in the Manhattan MDR once, agree about the service, so we ate in the other MDR's for dinner. We love freestyle, family of 7, and never had to wait for a table, lines always moved quickly.

[graphicguy]

As much as I liked the Allure of the Seas, I felt the same way about it as the OP described about the Breakaway. I liked both, but felt way overcrowded on the Allure.

 

Spring Break? All bets are off regarding service, crowding or food....on any cruise line.

 

I'm a non-smoker, and have to say I've never had any issues with smoking on any of these large ships (Solstice, Conquest, Allure, Epic, Breakaway).

 

I think the old adage, one man's (or woman's) ceiling is another one's floor may apply here.

 

I love Freestyle, and think NCL does it better than anyone.

 

Trying to understand the inability to find things to do on the ship......I'm struggling with that one. Every time you turn around on Breakaway, I ran into something interesting to do.

 

Did you get off the ship? How did you like Bermuda? Did you hit any of the beautiful beaches?

Edited May 5, 2016 by graphicguy

[Marine Mom]

We sailed on that sailing and I wasn't happy with BA and will never sail her again. I agree with you regarding the atrium and finding a seat. I will go NCL again and we like the Gem so much better. I think the "megaship" is not for us.

[NYcruzzer]

Welcome home. Thank you for taking a few moments to post your thoughts and for letting us know that you are done with NCL.

[luvtheships]

I agree about service in the dining rooms. In my short review of the Escape, servers in dining room come to table 5 times. Bring our menu's, Take our order, bring 3 courses or food, that's it. We had to leave our tables and go get our own refills of water, wine and drinks every night. We only ate dinner in dining rooms 3 nights because of this. Loved Escape, ding rooms need much better service. Shame shame on NCL.

 

 

Next time you solve the water issue by stating you want a full pitcher left on the table at all times

 

Tell the waiter

Tell the assistant

Tell the hostess in front of the maitre d or waiter or whomever is in earshot

 

Tell them you must have the water for medical issues

 

Tell them to note it on your account if need be

 

Overkill...well of course

 

Unfortunately that might be what it takes

 

Alternately just keep getting up to get your own water...someone will notice and stop you....as you will be in the way and only cause others to follow suit...remember social norms are quite strong. Lol

 

You will get your water.

[momtonoah]

Thank you for sharing your perspective of your cruise on Breakaway. What seems annoying to some people can also be trivial to others. Honestly, the dust for me would be no big deal. As long as my cabin is reasonably clean, I don't look for perfection. The cabins are the size that is posted on the website, so really no surprise there.

 

Mega ships are not for everyone and not every cruiseline is for everyone. Also, the entire experience could be completely different from one week to the next. /QUOTE]

 

It is hard to convey in a review, but we are actually extremely easy going travelers. Cruising is our love of life, so it is rare I complaint at all about it!

Dust is also not a big deal to me. My point was if there was that much dust in a room which was just previously occupied and supposedly cleaned, what else was not clean??? This was the obvious thing we could see. The floor was also filthy, but I didn't mention that. I also have never had a cabin steward introduce himself. It did save us the extra tip we usually give them though!

 

As I wrote, we have sailed Oasis (a bigger ship) twice and loved it enough to sail her again this July. We actually LOVE mega ships, and gravitate to them always, and fear smaller ships. We love the options mega ships offer. But the BA was not build to accommodate the crowds, plain and simple. It would be better if it sailed from warmer location so at least people could always occupy the outside space as well. This definitely helps things.

[packer99]

Our cabin steward on the escape left the bed down the whole week. At first I was annoyed, then I realized what a pain it would be for her to be constantly moving that thing up and down each day. And by day 3, we pretty much forgot it was there. And there were a couple days that we would get some down time and it was nice that my son could crawl up there and catch a cat nap etc. I supposed you could have asked or left a note that you wanted it up.

[momtonoah]

It was my son's spring break in Seattle. Most of the passengers were from the east coast, so no, they weren't on spring break. So I don't think that explains the crowds (not to mention others have said this about the BA). There actually didn't seem to be an over abundance of kiddos in the clubs.

As for nothing to do on the ship, I think that I just couldn't stand the thought of fighting through crowds to get to the inside game/activity/etc so that's why we were somewhat bored. The outside spaces had a lot to offer (slides, rope course, rock climbing, golf) but of course those are limited by weather.

[momtonoah]

Yeah, and I would add that the cabin was not "reasonably clean" unfortunately. And I realize that putting the bed up every day is work, but I have never seen another cruise not do it (We have used the bunk on about 5 different ships now).

[Love my butler]

The design with NCL's latest ships, Epic, Getaway, Breakaway, Escape, is all about packing as many rooms as possible on the ships and squeezing every nickel possible from their 'valued' customers. Other companies have mega ships but they don't squeeze the customer nearly as much, literally and figuratively.

 

New cruisers might not see this, but anyone with cruising experience can easily see it. As far as I can tell, NCL does not care as long as they are turning a profit. Might come back to bite them in the future though.

[spidybabe]

We have never encountered poor staff or service on the BA, but we have to agree that the ship design is poor. Atrium and pool. Its very poor planning on NCL's part to have events held in the atrium. I love the dance classes that they have, but I will not participate when it is held in the atrium, with people looking on, and a balcony looking also. I'm not entertainment for the ship!! We do like the entertainment on the BA better, but the Gem is still our favorite.

Safe sailing

[Jerseygirl1416]

I have to agree with the OP about the design of the BA. I love big ships but this ship design is awful. There just isn't anything that has that grand open feel. It really felt like a budget cruise ship to me. I know people on this board love to put their noses up at Carnival but I've been on many Carnival ships that felt much more upscale than this ship and all these mainstream cruise lines are filled with the same demographics.

 

As far as smoking, I agree with the OP. I felt like there was smoking allowed all over this ship. It doesn't bother me too much but I definetly noticed it more on the BA than any other ship I've been on.

 

We had a great cruise in spite of the ship. We had a B1 on the 9th floor, spa passes, Vibe cabana, and 4 specialty dinners. Without all this I'm not so sure we'd have enjoyed our cruise. I definetly wouldn't pick this ship in the future. Too many other ships in the sea!

[Linda the Book Lover]

"-SMOKE. It is everywhere. The Waterfront area is a really neat place to hang out for drinks, but nonsmokers can't enjoy any of it. Twice I had smoke blown in my face when ordering a drink. The casino is right in the middle of the ship, so smoke flows everywhere. I left the cruise with a sore throat and eyes due to the smoke."

 

This statement makes me pause and do a re-think about the Breakaway. We just returned from our Jade cruise and I had similar issues with smoke. My cigarette smoke allergy kicked in and i had red eyes and coughed alot. We found bar areas to drink in and kept our time in the Martini Bar to just a drink pre-dinner. The Jade was so bad that we decided we would not cruise on her again. I am hoping to find paths without alot smoke on the Breakaway the same as we skirted the smoke on the Epic. I have heard mixed reviews about the Waterfront and smoke but I am game to give it a try. :)

[momtonoah]

If you are sensitive to smoke, I would caution booking the BA. Even folks in my family that don't normally notice smoke were complaining. I don't usually mind smoke when I am outside on other ships, but for some reason it really bothered us at most places in the waterfront. That was really sad, since I loved the design and feel of the waterfront. I would suppose it would depend on your sailing, as I am sure # of smokers varies. I am very used to the casinos being smoky, but on this ship it seemed to float out to all the common areas. :(

[NJsharon]

I can totally agree about it being crowded pretty much everywhere on the BA! Especially in the public areas when they were doing a game, like in the atrium especially. The ice carving by the pool was crazy too, couldn't see a thing so gave up. And yes, the hallways being so tiny & narrow... what is up with that?!

 

We have sailed the Gem though & loved it, so next time we sail NCL we will go back to the smaller class ships.

[LrgPizza]

I'm sorry your cruise wasn't all you dreamed. My worst cruise ever was also my first NCL cruise. However, my best cruise ever was on NCL, too. For that reason, I'm glad I didn't quit after one. Maybe give a different ship a try?

Edited May 5, 2016 by LrgPizza

[Jerseygirl1416]

The bar and surrounding area on deck 17 outside of the entrance to Vibe was another smoking location that we had to go through to get into the Vibe. You could also smoke at the bar in Vibe but luckily on our sailing there was only one person who did so.

 

The door to the Waterfront area in front of La Cucina was open so often the smell of smoke was strong by La Cucina too on our sailing.

 

NCL needs to limit smoking to fewer and more confined areas on the BA so that only the people wanting to inhale the carcinogens do so.

[zackarykeef]

Thanks for your review...haven't sailed Breakaway yet, but really want to go to Bermuda!

 

The thing that everyone just has to remember when reading these reviews is that everything is subjective. I love reading reviews, but I would never not choose something based off one. I've seen way too many people saying that they are considering rebooking elsewhere simply because of reviews...I don't get it. You need to experience it for yourself.

 

On here and even on the Royal boards, there are plenty of people who complain about the poor design and crowds of Oasis/Allure, stating that NCL is better. OP preferred Royal...doesn't mean you will.

 

I can only speak to the Getaway, but it's the same ship (except theme). I've never felt any more crowded on the Getaway than on any other ship I've been on.

 

One poster mentioned that even people who normally aren't sensitive to smoke thought it was bad. I HATE smoke and am extremely sensitive, but I did not think the smell was bad at all. It all depends on how many smokers are on board. Also saying that you can't use the Waterfront because of it...smoking is only allowed at one bar on one side of the Waterfront. The other side is smoke-free, so I wouldn't worry too much about that. If there were people smoking on the other side, they should be reported.

 

Service is also something that varies. They are changing crew all the time, so just because you had a bad server once does not mean you will have a bad server on another cruise.

 

Basically, I think we should read reviews and be cautiously optimistic. We are cruising, after all...I couldn't go into vacation with a negative attitude! :cool:

Edited May 5, 2016 by zackarykeef

[momtonoah]

We have tried another NCL...the pearl in Alaska. I would say that cruise was "ok"....not great, but not horrible. I do remember the staff being pretty unfriendly though. After the second blah experience with NCL I am done. There are too many ships in the sea to sail!