Breakaway March 26 - April 2 Review

[mkmaj]

I'm not normally a reviewer, but reading reviews on here during the planning phase was so helpful that I decided to pay it forward and share some thoughts.

 

About us:

First time family cruisers from the Great Lakes area. Late 30s - early 40s parents, 13 & 9 year old kids. We've been on several land beach vacations, an all inclusive, and the requisite Disney trip in the past. My husband and I did one Carnival cruise together around 15 years ago.

 

We drove into NJ the night before our cruise to the Hilton Garden Inn in Ridgefield Park, NJ for their park & cruise package. The drive was an easy straight shot, hotel was very nice, and the included breakfast was great. There was a car service doing the shuttle service so we signed up for a pickup time (10am) and waited in the lobby with many others for our ride. The driver was crazy. Or maybe that's just NYC driving... Whatever the case - the drive to port was short but scary. Other than that, we had zero complaints and will absolutely utilize the same package if we ever cruise out of Manhattan again.

 

Embarkation was easy. We got to the port around 10:40. It was crazy crowded but we were able to sign the kids up for Splash/Entourage right there in the terminal while waiting. We had boarding #23 and I'm almost positive that we were onboard by around 12 if not before.

Since the kids' stuff was taken care of we went and dropped off our carry ons in the room (not quite ready, but close) and headed for food.

Knowing that the buffet would be crazy, we first went to see if the Moderno buffet was set up (nope) and wound up at Savor for lunch. Lunch was good and fairly quick. By the time we were done our room was ready and some luggage had arrived.

We explored it a bit and then went to find our muster station - Savor! We know where that is! Muster was quick and painless and by the time it was over it was time to find a spot for Sail Away.

Sail Away - It was FREEZING. We went directly to the 18th deck (one of many great tips from Esm on here, who was so very helpful prior to our trip) for a fantastic view of everything. Took some pictures and took off after the bridge.

 

The Ship: We thought the ship was fantastic. It's huge (and crowded which is exactly what we expected) and meticulously clean. The setup took a bit to get used to because some decks don't go all the way through but otherwise the signage throughout the ship made it easy to navigate.

I will admit that walking through the casino smelled like the home of a 50 year chain smoker but we did not notice the smell anywhere else on the ship.

The pool setup is just weird if you have kids. The family pool was kind of stuck blocked off from everything with not so much seating as you could relax and keep an eye on the kids. We went in on the 2nd sea day and never went back. Again, we knew of the pool issues going into the trip and really hadn't planned to spend much time there with so many activities available elsewhere.

The ropes/slides/rock wall were all cool. I may or may not have chickened out when I got to the ropes platform and was meant to step onto a rope ladder swinging in the wind... I'll never tell. Wait times were minimal.

The Atrium - I also knew from reviews that there are seating issues there so we went early when there was something that we wanted to see. We did some games, trivia, a couple of presentations, and a movie. Getting there as the previous activities were ending was the perfect time to snag good seats and the bar is right there, so grab a drink and wait for your activity to begin!

 

Our Room: We were near the aft staircase starboard side in a 9th deck balcony. We lived the location, the room was adequate, and our room steward was amazing. Shout out to Carlo! (We tipped him extra and made sure to fill out a hero card)

 

FOOD: There was plenty of it!! The kids loved the buffet. I seriously think that we could've taken them to a warehouse with a buffet full of pizza and ice cream and they'd be just as happy with our vacation. We ate most breakfasts and lunches there (there was NO Moderno breakfast buffet during our trip and the specialty lunch buffets there had the ice cream and pizza-aholics veto). I was very pleasantly surprised by the variety and quality of the buffet food and we managed to get there when it wasn't as crowded for the most part.

For dinners we tried all of the complimentary restaurants except the noodle bar (we waited until the last night and there was an hour wait). This is where the cruise dropped off just a bit for me. The wait staff wasn't rude but not exceptionally friendly - it was clear that they were getting worked like dogs and this made me unhappy for them probably more than unhappy for us. Also, the menus changed from what is circulating online and I just didn't find most of the items to be particularly appealing. Everything we had was cooked well, just turned out to be a *meh* experience for me. O'Sheehan's was good pub food and we enjoyed it. The kids liked the hot dog cart.

 

Drinks: Plenty of them! Bar service was pretty good. We tipped the tenders but I didn't see any difference in level of service so for those that ask or imply- do what you feel is right. Pretty much everything was premade. We never went without and tried a lot of drinks that we never would've at home.

 

Activities: As mentioned above, we enjoyed quite a few of the activities in the atrium. We also went to Howl at the Moon and Second City (PG 13 show) and they were HUGE hits. Reserve Second City in advance, the standby line was long. Burn the Floor was also good.

The escape room... I think needs some work. We hadn't been to one before, so take it with a grain of salt, but we found it confusing and they gave little direction. No one escaped.

We didn't see Rock of Ages because the kids hated the kids' clubs and wouldn't go back after the first night. I think this was more due to their ages in relation to the groups and not as much a reflection of the groups themselves. My almost 10 daughter was bored with mostly 6 year olds and my son was a little intimidated by the older teens and there were no real activities to get them talking to eachother the first night.

 

 

Ports:

In Port Canaveral we took the shuttle to Cocoa Beach where we've been and liked before. Shuttle was easy to use and the driver was cool. The beach was a bit dirtier than we remembered probably because of college spring break the week before and the water was freeeeeeezing. We still had a great time, got some relaxing and souvenir shopping in.

Great Stirrup Cay was our absolute favorite. We reserved a clamshell (1st day onboard at a touch screen), brought our own snorkel gear, rented a couple of mats, and enjoyed the drink service, food, sunshine, and gorgeous scenery. The clamshells got us priority tenders and we were one of the first on. Selected a shell on the far right beach for the kids and claimed the 2 chairs in front of the shell for us. Perfect, perfect day.

Nassau- We booked the Blue Lagoon beach day. It was ok, but we'd probably choose something else next time. Still had a great time.

 

Disembarking: We did self assist. They called it a bit early and we were off the ship, through customs, and calling for our car by 8:03. Easy, easy, easy. I'd highly recommended this route if you're able to carry your stuff out.

 

Random things we found helpful:

Cheap over the door hooks for hanging wet suits, hoodies, etc.

A pop up hamper - 4 people to a room gets cramped and I hate garbage bags of dirty clothes on the floor.

Travel mug and refillable water bottles - a must.

****Room service will deliver 2 pitchers of water at a time for no charge. We were encouraged to do this by a very friendly buffet waiter. (Hero card and shout out to Roxanne as well.

**** Nickel and diming - I didn't feel that way at all. We actually had to work to spend our $150 OBC. Like, dash to duty free to pick up a bottle for the neighbors watching our house so we didn't leave an extra $50 unspent.

 

Overall, we had a fantastic vacation and would definitely cruise again.

 

I think that about does it... If I left anything out, feel free to ask!

 

 

 

 

 

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[eml30fan]

Thanks for the review. I was on the Breakaway the eek before and had many of the same observations. Moderno does not have a complimentary breakfast buffet, but Margaritaville does.

[NLH Arizona]

Thanks for your review.

[Gershep]

Thanks for your review and the tip about the water pitcher delivered to your cabin. What is the escape room. We were on the BA in June and I don't remember that, is it new?

[mkmaj]

Thanks for the review. I was on the Breakaway the eek before and had many of the same observations. Moderno does not have a complimentary breakfast buffet, but Margaritaville does.

Moderno used to have a breakfast buffet - I'm not sure when they got rid of it but it's a pretty recent change I think.

 

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[mkmaj]

Thanks for your review and the tip about the water pitcher delivered to your cabin. What is the escape room. We were on the BA in June and I don't remember that, is it new?

The escape room is called Escape the Big Top. They added it maybe a month ago? You go into the Speigel tent and assigned groups. They give you a bag of clues to solve.

 

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[mkmaj]

You're welcome everyone - thanks for reading!

 

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[marianneyaya]

You mentioned OBC....can that be used towards the "service/tip charge" that is automatically charged?

[mkmaj]

You mentioned OBC....can that be used towards the "service/tip charge" that is automatically charged?

I'm not sure of the answer to that one because we prepaid our service charge. I would assume so but don't want to give bad info. Maybe someone else can chime in?

 

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[esm54687]

Great review mkmaj!!

 

Concerning OBC being used for DSC.... only "refundable" can. Any "non-refundable" OBC cannot.

 

That's a shame no more Moderno buffet breakfast...... one of the best kept secrets.....maybe too good and they couldn't justify keeping it going.

[PorkChopKid]

Disembarking: We did self assist. They called it a bit early and we were off the ship, through customs, and calling for our car by 8:03. Easy, easy, easy. I'd highly recommended this route if you're able to carry your stuff out.

Nice concise review, thanks for sharing. I do have a question about the car service you used. Who did you have arrangements with? 4 seniors will be cruising together and will need a ride to the Port Authority Bus Terminal. There's usually a mob scene across the street trying to get a cab so we're thinking maybe a car service would work better for us. Thanks again....

[mkmaj]

Nice concise review, thanks for sharing. I do have a question about the car service you used. Who did you have arrangements with? 4 seniors will be cruising together and will need a ride to the Port Authority Bus Terminal. There's usually a mob scene across the street trying to get a cab so we're thinking maybe a car service would work better for us. Thanks again....

Thank you. The car service was through the hotel as part of the cruise and stay package.

 

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[mkmaj]

Nice concise review, thanks for sharing. I do have a question about the car service you used. Who did you have arrangements with? 4 seniors will be cruising together and will need a ride to the Port Authority Bus Terminal. There's usually a mob scene across the street trying to get a cab so we're thinking maybe a car service would work better for us. Thanks again....

Forgot to add- the car service picked up across the street as well. When you cross the street there are taxis to the right and car pick up to the left.

 

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[Gershep]

The escape room is called Escape the Big Top. They added it maybe a month ago? You go into the Speigel tent and assigned groups. They give you a bag of clues to solve.

 

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I thought this was new. We would have done it had they had this in June. We have done Escape on land and if done right is a lot of fun.

[mkmaj]

I thought this was new. We would have done it had they had this in June. We have done Escape on land and if done right is a lot of fun.

I'd be interested to hear from someone who has done both land and ship to see how they compare. I don't know if I could talk my family into trying another one after that..

 

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[firstimecruiseronncl]

Thanks for the review. I was on the Breakaway the eek before and had many of the same observations. Moderno does not have a complimentary breakfast buffet, but Margaritaville does.

 

I was on the March 5th sailing and Moderno did have the complimentary buffet breakfast. It wasn't offered every day though.

[mkmaj]

I was on the March 5th sailing and Moderno did have the complimentary buffet breakfast. It wasn't offered every day though.

I still have my dailies, it definitely wasn't offered on mine. I wonder if it was on the following cruises? Maybe there was something going on my week?

 

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[Marine Mom]

Thanks for the review. I was on the Breakaway the eek before and had many of the same observations. Moderno does not have a complimentary breakfast buffet, but Margaritaville does.

 

 

I was on the same sailing as you and yes Moderno still has the breakfast buffet. My DH and I didn't realize it until we were walking the deck and decided to cut through the restaurant and there it was! It was nice, not crowded and food was great. The hostess told us they have the breakfast buffet in Moderno/Cagney's on sail days.