Breakaway dirtiest cruise ship?

[Harvest02]

Anyone that has recently been on Breakaway, how was it? Hubby and I just booked our first cruise for April on this ship. Hope we won't regret our decision!! 

[imacruiser99]

I was on it right after the last inspection and did not see any issues at all.  Ship was very clean.

[KeithJenner]

A report issued in May 2019 will have very little relevance to a cruise in April 2020. 

[BirdTravels]

1 hour ago, Harvest02 said:

Anyone that has recently been on Breakaway, how was it? Hubby and I just booked our first cruise for April on this ship. Hope we won't regret our decision!! 

The ship is beautiful. I never understood how people spend their time on a cruise looking for things to regret. 

[BullyLvr]

We loved it and didn’t notice any areas of concern regarding cleanliness in February.  

[LD Silver]

To be honest, in over 30 cruises and I've never felt any ship I sailed on was dirty.

Edited May 11, 2019 by LD Silver

[AL3XCruise]

5 hours ago, Harvest02 said:

Anyone that has recently been on Breakaway, how was it? Hubby and I just booked our first cruise for April on this ship. Hope we won't regret our decision!! 

 

I saw that Business Insider and Fodors recently brought this up again for some reason, even though the inspection is several months old.  Check out this thread about it which includes some comments from a member that has served as a senior officer on a cruise ship:

 

 

 

Obviously, it wasn't good, but the detailed findings were a little less concerning than the media was making it out to be.  Most of the issues could be fixed almost immediately, and the ship still far exceeds the satiation levels many restaurants even at its worse.  In addition, the ship will undergo more inspections before your cruise, so you'll know it passed an inspection before you board. 

 

In short: don't worry and enjoy your cruise.

Edited May 11, 2019 by AL3XCruise

[rydi8]

It's probably more about following proper protocols than cleanliness. I'll be on the Breakaway for a Halloween cruise in October and I'll try my best not to leave a big mess, so everyone who cruises after me won't need to worry 😉

[newmexicoNita]

It is sorta like reading the reports on our local restaurants each week which appear in our paper. They list all the rules that the restaurant isn't following an some are just make us laugh. As someone mentioned: it is rare to be on any ship that one could consider dirty. They failed one inspection but that was awhile back and my gut feeling is: they got the problems taken care of immediately. I was on one ship, years ago that was dirty. It also belonged to a company that went belly up shortly after that. 

[chengkp75]

I haven't read the inspection report, nor the corrective action report, but I do have a unique perspective, having worked for NCL in a capacity where my equipment and personnel were governed by the USPH, and having trained and worked with USPH inspectors.  Those inspectors, almost all being former state and local health inspectors, many from NYC, will tell you that they would prefer to eat on most ships that fail an inspection to eating in most restaurants ashore.  Knowing NCL's commitment to the USPH sanitation culture, this does show a breakdown in management and leadership, and I know that some heads have rolled over this, and the corporate compliance team has visited the ship for several weeks.  But my personal and professional perspective is that what is more important than one inspection score (a snapshot of the ship at that moment) is the trend of the scores over a long period, which indicates the depth to which the USPH culture has been accepted.

[Laszlo]

If they inspected local restaurants like they do cruise ships I bet 75% would fail Lol

 

[chengkp75]

1 hour ago, Laszlo said:

If they inspected local restaurants like they do cruise ships I bet 75% would fail Lol

 

I know, from a CDC study, that 75% of public pools would fail a USPH inspection.

[bones774]

1 hour ago, chengkp75 said:

I know, from a CDC study, that 75% of public pools would fail a USPH inspection.

I don't know if the CDC study applies to cruise pools also? Do you think/know that cruise line pools have higher standards? In any case I don't go in public pools, just wondering.

[Steff79]

last year in the Baltics the Breakaway was clean and great staff. Only some families in the garden cafe leave their tables like a mess.

[chengkp75]

2 hours ago, bones774 said:

I don't know if the CDC study applies to cruise pools also? Do you think/know that cruise line pools have higher standards? In any case I don't go in public pools, just wondering.

If you look at the USPH VSP (Vessel Sanitation Program) manuals, you will see that nearly every aspect of ship operation is covered.  Food safety, pool chemistry, potable water, medical center, kids center, provisions, laundry, garbage storage/disposal, lighting, ventilation, housekeeping, hazardous materials, pest control, and more.  There is even a construction manual that dictates how many areas of the ship must be built (ever hear of that for a restaurant?), and things like the fact you cannot use slotted or Phillips headed screws on galley equipment (there are special USPH headed fasteners that must be used as these are more easily cleaned).

 

USPH works under the CDC for the cruise ship program, and use the CDC's standards for pools.  As stated, the CDC did a study of about 1400 pools around the US, and 75% of them would have been in violation of USPH requirements, and over 90% of swim diaper splash areas would have been immediately shut down by the CDC/USPH if their standards were required.  However, USPH inspectors will tell you that ship's pools are far easier to maintain than land pools, since the pool must be drained every 7 days.  Many public pools only get drained when they are getting painted (a year or more), and when the pool chemistry gets too far out of hand, they will only do a partial draining.  By changing the water more frequently, you reduce the byproducts of sanitation that will build up in the water, and more exotic chemicals are needed to remove these.

[Laszlo]

I've seen ship pools emptied every night then refilled early AM. Its easier since they are using filtered salt water

[AK Dreaming]

I was on this ship the week before the inspection.  It was a wonderful cruise and very clean ship.  I have two more booked on the Breakaway this year.  No worries.  Anything slightly amiss will be looked at even harder than normal.  Probably the cleanest ship in the fleet after that report.

[newmexicoNita]

22 hours ago, Laszlo said:

If they inspected local restaurants like they do cruise ships I bet 75% would fail Lol

 

so true and how about our own homes,especially our kitchens, even if you are Mr or Mrs Clean?

[Gershep]

I was shocked to read that the Breakaway was listed as a dirtiest ship. Every NCL ship I have ever been on has almost been so clean including the Breakaway.

[Son of a son of a ...]

33 minutes ago, Gershep said:

I was shocked to read that the Breakaway was listed as a dirtiest ship. Every NCL ship I have ever been on has almost been so clean including the Breakaway.

 

I defer to CHENG, but I’m guessing some of the areas gigged are not accessible to the public so we (cruisers) would never see them in our day-to-day comings and goings

[chengkp75]

1 hour ago, Son of a son of a ... said:

 

I defer to CHENG, but I’m guessing some of the areas gigged are not accessible to the public so we (cruisers) would never see them in our day-to-day comings and goings

Almost all of them.  Even ones that are visible to passengers, like the scotch flight holder and the wine dispenser, might well be clean to look at, but you would not know that they are "not easily cleaned", and so therefore not allowed.

[bobsfamily]

2 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

Almost all of them.  Even ones that are visible to passengers, like the scotch flight holder and the wine dispenser, might well be clean to look at, but you would not know that they are "not easily cleaned", and so therefore not allowed.

Thanks once again for your work and insightful comments. Will be on her in a week and am looking forward to a great cruise!

[GrammyLove]

We just got off the Breakaway this morning and the ship was beautiful and clean! Saw people cleaning all over the ship and an abundance of supervisors checking on progress. Great cruise!

[BeachyBoo]

1 hour ago, bobsfamily said:

Thanks once again for your work and insightful comments. Will be on her in a week and am looking forward to a great cruise!

I’m on her in a week too! I’m not too concerned. I’m just looking forward to vacation!

[bobsfamily]

On 5/12/2019 at 8:27 PM, BeachyBoo said:

I’m on her in a week too! I’m not too concerned. I’m just looking forward to vacation!

Yes, a good cruise is one I am not working, a great cruise is one I bring more money home than I took!