My Breakaway December 6th cruise - good, bad and ugly

[NLH Arizona]

2 hours ago, AllAmericanAmy said:

Thanks so much - I appreciate your willingness to help! 

When you're taking a 2nd look at them, can you also please let me know the exact days & time Escape the Big Top escape room was offered?   We are doing this same itinerary as you did, so ours should be the same.  I'm trying to coordinate a group from my roll call and it'd be great to know ahead and be able to plan it before we get onboard.

Thanks again ---   btw, do you have your next cruise planned already?   If so, go ahead and tell me so I can be all jealous!     I live vicariously thru others! 

Never found Melvin Howard on the dailies.  Could he be under another name or group?

 

Only found Escape The Big Top on Day 1 - 7:00pm, Spiegel Tent, Deck 6, Forward.  It said for more information or to sign=up, visit the Box Office during opening hours.  Space is limited.

 

No, don't have my next cruise planned; I'll be working on that shortly.

 

Have a great cruise.

[Georgia_Peaches]

Was on Breakaway over Thanksgiving and found embarkation to very much as you described...chaotic.  I chalked it up to the shore side staff being new.  As for the service on your sailing, I do know that many, many ship crew ended their contract when we returned and a new crew boarded for the 11/25 sailing...just the week prior to yours.  (we actually saw them lined up in the ship yard waiting to process into the ship as we disembarked.) The lack of service may have been a result of the new crew and the associated learning curve.  We were also in the Haven and experienced excellent service in those areas as well.  It's a bummer that folks got sick.  Thanks for the review!

[AllAmericanAmy]

1 hour ago, NLH Arizona said:

Never found Melvin Howard on the dailies.  Could he be under another name or group?

 

Only found Escape The Big Top on Day 1 - 7:00pm, Spiegel Tent, Deck 6, Forward.  It said for more information or to sign=up, visit the Box Office during opening hours.  Space is limited.

 

No, don't have my next cruise planned; I'll be working on that shortly.

 

Have a great cruise.

TY for looking for Melvin Howard - appreciate it!  I don't think there's a different name/group.  Hubby loves acoustic guitar so I was just hoping!

 

UGH re: Escape Big Top only on first day.  Was hoping for more choices, but... guess what I'll be doing at 7pm on Day 1  . 

 

You've cruised a lot!   I'm very jealous!   Happy planning...

Amy

[NLH Arizona]

16 minutes ago, AllAmericanAmy said:

TY for looking for Melvin Howard - appreciate it!  I don't think there's a different name/group.  Hubby loves acoustic guitar so I was just hoping!

 

UGH re: Escape Big Top only on first day.  Was hoping for more choices, but... guess what I'll be doing at 7pm on Day 1  . 

 

You've cruised a lot!   I'm very jealous!   Happy planning...

Amy

There is guitar with Bernie and he plays in Maltings Bar and Shakers Bar on a some nights.

[erieboater]

On 12/18/2018 at 8:39 PM, esm54687 said:

Fantastic review...... just curious because a poster on another forum / app is reporting that on your week there were "3 - 4 deaths" and "passengers being burned by flaming embers coming out of the smoke stack falling down on the deck" .......  any of this happen? 

There were two evacuations.  I saw one and it seemed to be a medical situation, not a death.  There was a build up of soot in the stack from the slow 8 hour trip down the river.  Apparently when the Capt. put some pressure on the engines, the soot burned off sending burning embers into the air.  I don't know there was anyone injured from that incident.

[Budget Queen]

I was also on this cruise.    Picking up a last minute $349  bargain,   solo rate.  :)   With the bottom rates I cruise with,  I'm totally accepting of lines.  It's actually pretty amazing that 4000+  passengers can be processed and loaded in 4 hours-      This port -   is extremely limited-  with the requirement of waiting in lines due to lack of inside space and no seating  after processing.     So,  lines are managed outside of security-  which isn't typical.   

 

I was very pleased with what this cruise offered.   I don't second guess, ship decisions,  by people who know very well what they are doing.  :)    so no complaints regarding the Cayman port cancellation.   Amazing the speculations and claims,  in my opinion   by uninformed,  passengers. 

[FranknBeans]

On 12/18/2018 at 12:05 PM, NLH Arizona said:

Overall, had a wonderful cruise, but not sure I would cruise on one of the mega ships again, it is just too big and way too many people for my taste.

 

The good

• My aft-penthouse was awesome.  Unlike the ones I’ve been in on the smaller ships, this cabin had a living room, a bedroom, two bathrooms and an extremely huge balcony.
• Concierge, Bowen, was totally awesome.  First time I’ve ever tipped the Concierge more than my Butler.
• Cabin Steward, Ulysses, was the best.
• Dining.  Ate at Cagney’s a number of times and it was fantastic, same for the Teppanyaki restaurant.  The Manager at the Teppanyaki restaurant was the best Manager I’ve seen.  When it got busy, she wasn’t afraid to help out and clear tables, bring drinks, etc.  Also had a couple of lunches at Margaritaville and it was very good….put some salsa in the queso and it is great.
• Spa.  Had two services by Ireana and they was great.

The bad

• Safe in cabin was very, very small.  You couldn’t even lay down an Ipad flat, you had to put it in at a diagonal, which took up a lot of space.
• Playing a guppies video in the atrium one morning.  There was one child and some adults waiting for it to finish.  This just seemed strange to me.
• La Cucina changed their menu, nothing interested me. 
• The pool deck drink servers didn’t seem to want to work.  There were three servers and they spent most of their time standing around talking.  One stood in the bar about 10 minutes and then made some drinks and took them to deliver them.  One day, they noticed the Captain coming past and boy did they scatter, but unfortunately after he was gone, they went back to standing around talking. 
• Other than the Cabin Stewards, Haven crew and specialty restaurant staff, many of the crew didn’t seem that friendly and would actually look down as they passed. First time I’ve encountered this.
• Drink service in the casino was pretty much non-existent.
• Embarkation was the worst I’ve ever seen in New Orleans.  You couldn’t tell where the embarkation line was versus the disembarkation line and the port staff didn’t have a clue where to send folks.  I had to ask four people where the suite check in was.  Not to mention that there was construction, which made everything worse. 

The ugly

• Diapered and non-potty trained kids in the splash zone.  Even though the signed said no diapers or no non-trained children, parents took them in.  One grandmother kept trying to tuck in her grandchild’s diaper into her bathing suit, so you know she knew the rules.  When I asked the lifeguard, her first comment was that was not her area and that it was hot and there was no place for children to cool off.  Then she said, if a parent tells her, even though the child is wearing swim diapers, that they are potty trained, she will let them in the pool she is responsible for.
• The smoking section on the pool deck is great, but unfortunately some would stand outside it and the smell of smoke was awful when in the lounger area around the area. I would put a door on the smoking cube, so folks had to stay inside to smoke.
• Folks would be smoking in the non-smoking section of the casino.
• Unfortunately the ship had an outbreak of the norovirus.  On about day six or seven, they took the ketchup and salt & pepper off the tables in the buffet.  Many numbers have been bantered around, as to how many had the norovirus, but who knows.  Folks also complaining about getting colds, etc., but then again it is the cold and flu season.  Saw lots of folks coughing and sneezing without covering their mouths spreading their germs to everyone.  Luckily, I didn’t get either the virus or a cold.
• Disembarkation was a cluster.  Suites were allowed to disembark and then the port personnel made is stand there for 20 to 30 minutes before we could go in and get our luggage.  I spoke with a lady who was not in a suite and she said they had them standing in this huge line forever, before they let them in.

Misc

• Never received a straw in any drinks, but also never asked nor did I hear anyone complaining about not getting one.  Didn’t miss them.
• There was no ribeye steak my first night at Cagney’s (first day of cruise), but by my next visit, two days later they were back in stock and folks were ordering it.
• I did bring back the dailies.  I won't post them, but if you have any questions, I'll try to answer them.

Ah what were you doing in the splash pool.

[EngerMark]

We were also on this cruise.  I can say they did have a problem with burning embers problem.  My wife rode the elevator with another gal who had burnt spots on her clothing and smoldering hair.  Stating that they didn't know what would have happened if they weren't up there to put out the ash.  My wife was freaking out so we went up to look and the area on deck 16 had been hosed down a lot.  They had extra carpet to elevators with air driers and black foot prints on carpet.  We walked the stairs by the basketball court and there was ash all over the stairs.

[LD Silver]

Great review......love the bullet point style.  Thanks for taking the time to write it.

[Katrina23]

On 12/19/2018 at 1:18 PM, NLH Arizona said:

There is guitar with Bernie and he plays in Maltings Bar and Shakers Bar on a some nights.

Bernie is great.  Our group followed him wherever he was playing. 

[seemoreroyals]

We liked Bernie as well.  We saw him a couple of years ago on the Jewel or Gem I forget which.  And we were pleasantly surprised to see him again on the Breakaway in November.  He kind of has a dry sense of humor but once we watched him a few times we found ourselves following him around as well.

[Nator72]

Thank you for your review. I think it’s important to read about the good, the bad, and the ugly.

We are sailing on the Breakaway in September (have sailed on the Escape and the Bliss).

Do you happen to have a current picture of the bar menu? Without a District Brew House on board, hubby is wondering if he can get a decent beer.

[NLH Arizona]

3 minutes ago, Nator72 said:

Thank you for your review. I think it’s important to read about the good, the bad, and the ugly.

We are sailing on the Breakaway in September (have sailed on the Escape and the Bliss).

Do you happen to have a current picture of the bar menu? Without a District Brew House on board, hubby is wondering if he can get a decent beer.

Sorry I don't.

[AllAmericanAmy]

On ‎12‎/‎19‎/‎2018 at 2:18 PM, NLH Arizona said:

There is guitar with Bernie and he plays in Maltings Bar and Shakers Bar on a some nights.

On ‎12‎/‎25‎/‎2018 at 12:26 PM, Katrina23 said:

Bernie is great.  Our group followed him wherever he was playing. 

 

19 hours ago, seemoreroyals said:

We liked Bernie as well.  We saw him a couple of years ago on the Jewel or Gem I forget which.  And we were pleasantly surprised to see him again on the Breakaway in November.  He kind of has a dry sense of humor but once we watched him a few times we found ourselves following him around as well.

 

Thanks all for the input.... we'll be SURE to look him up!

Counting down...

Amy