Just off Breakaway (7/2-7/9 sailing)

Totally agree, the design of the ship is poor for flow. On Breakaway everywhere you go feels crowded. I've never really felt that way on any other ship I've been on.

Agree. Was on Allure last summer and much nicer and only seemed crowded at 70's party and the parade. BA should be designed better or limit passengers to less.

I have put up my hate shield to say this, but I have no problem moving towels to sit in a chair.

 

I watch for around 10-15 minutes to make sure it see it wasn't a quick dip in a pool or a bathroom trip, but I just fold the towel, put it underneath the chair, and sit down. If someone comes, I move to another chair nearby that has been empty for awhile. Most of the time nobody comes.

 

 

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Smart idea! Should have done that myself. We did go up early the last day but all were still taken.

Who was the cruise director?

We were on the June 25th sailing and it was Alvin. Not sure what happened to Dan Dan. Maybe vacation??

Silly question. When you are on the ropes course where do you put your phone, purse etc? Last time I was on it my daughter was too young and didn't want to climb it. Now we would all like to go on at the same time.

Silly question. When you are on the ropes course where do you put your phone, purse etc? Last time I was on it my daughter was too young and didn't want to climb it. Now we would all like to go on at the same time.

Back of ship past the running track and above buffet.

Not sure there is a place to leave anything but if you know you are going don't take anything. Cannot have anything in your pockets and must wear shoes.

Enjoy

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The 10-day cruise on the BA I did last year echos a lot of what the OP experienced. It's sad that the under-staffing issue hasn't been addressed.

Sorry, hit by mistake

I was also on the Breakaway on July 2. The ship was packed. Way too overcrowded. I looked at the capacity on their website and it said 3963 BASED on Double Occupancy! I wish they would tell how many actual passengers with 3 and 4 in a room can be on the ship at a time! What is full capacity? There were times you could not move on upper decks. I thought the review was very accurate.

We were on the June 25th sailing and it was Alvin. Not sure what happened to Dan Dan. Maybe vacation??

I am sure vacation for Dan Dan. Darn! I've had Alvin for the last three cruises, lol... He is great, but Dan Dan is amazing. He'll be our cruise director again one day!

Heard he was so much fun!!!

I was also on the Breakaway on July 2. The ship was packed. Way too overcrowded. I looked at the capacity on their website and it said 3963 BASED on Double Occupancy! I wish they would tell how many actual passengers with 3 and 4 in a room can be on the ship at a time! What is full capacity? There were times you could not move on upper decks. I thought the review was very accurate.

Ugh! We are the BA for our second NCL cruise. I sure hope it goes better than these reviews state.

We were on the NCL Epic and I am sure most people had the UBP as we did and we didn't notice nay drunkenness or long lines for drinks. I think the pool deck set up is better on the Epic than Breakaway. We never had issues with pool deck sitting but we also did pools and pool deck early and than moved inside for inside activities during the day.

I sure hope that this cruise goes well - Fingerscrossed!

Ugh! We are the BA for our second NCL cruise. I sure hope it goes better than these reviews state.

 

 

 

We were on the NCL Epic and I am sure most people had the UBP as we did and we didn't notice nay drunkenness or long lines for drinks. I think the pool deck set up is better on the Epic than Breakaway. We never had issues with pool deck sitting but we also did pools and pool deck early and than moved inside for inside activities during the day.

 

 

 

I sure hope that this cruise goes well - Fingerscrossed!

Don't worry about it. I've been on BA three times and people just find things to complain about. If you go into the cruise looking or anticipating to be annoyed.... it will happen.

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If you go in the summer time be prepared for large crowds. The pool deck was poorly designed IMO! It is too closed off into sections. The concept of freestyle is not a reality on the larger NCL ships it takes planning and prebooking unless you don't care where or when you eat (I guess that technically is freestyle). I've sailed on breakaway numerous times and would again it's just jarring for those who go on not being aware what they are in for.

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Don't worry about it. I've been on BA three times and people just find things to complain about. If you go into the cruise looking or anticipating to be annoyed.... it will happen.

 

 

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Thank you for you comment! :)Reading this thread a week out from a trip wasn't ideal :rolleyes: so I appreciate your comments and know that some people loved their experience on the BA.

If you go in the summer time be prepared for large crowds. The pool deck was poorly designed IMO! It is too closed off into sections. The concept of freestyle is not a reality on the larger NCL ships it takes planning and prebooking unless you don't care where or when you eat (I guess that technically is freestyle). I've sailed on breakaway numerous times and would again it's just jarring for those who go on not being aware what they are in for.

 

 

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Yes we are sailing in summer;pNext week in fact :) In general we try avoid the pool deck on sea days between 10am and 4pm on all cruise ships.

We have done Disney Fantasy 4 times it was always way too crazy to hang on the pool deck on a sea day. I know that a lot of people are shocked and complain about Disney Dream and Fantasy pool deck set up too on sea days and everyone fighting for a chair.

We did the Regal Princess last spring and the same thing. It took almost 30 minutes of circling to find a spot on the pool deck on a sea day. I still had a lovely time.

Our plan is to go early to the pool and late afternoon/evening to pool deck. We try to flow the opposite way of the crowds so hopefully we can avoid the issues people had in these comments. This is where freestyle dining is a plus for us cause we can enjoying the pool in the evening and eat at buffet or have a late dinner in MDR.

Well we just got back yesterday from another great cruise on the BA. Maybe I wasn't looking hard enough but didn't see the drinking that has been mentioned. We never had a problem finding chairs in H20 no matter what time we went. We decided to try the pool on Tues and arrived 8am. We found 2 loungers on the pool level in the shade by the stage. There were plenty of chairs available at 8am but staff was marking chairs that had towels on them with no one there. We never waited for a drink, our meals were great with the only night we experienced a long wait for food in Cagneys and we were a party of 8. Always found seats in the Atrium for the shows. Pool area was crowded and after a few hours we decided to head back to H20. Loved the bar at Margaritaville. We had a angled balcony on the 14th floor and would highly recommend that.

I sure hope so. We are not fussy people and we never had any complaints when cruising NCL. But we are booked for the Breakaway in Jan for 14 days so reading some of these negative reviews has me concerned. Also...about the "over served" drunks. Perhaps they did not have the free UBP bonus the last time you went. You may see a difference now. We got that package as I am sure many others have as well..........but we don't plan on spending our vacation in a coma so it won't be us walking around looking for our next drink. ha! Enjoy your cruise and thanks for the "ray of hope" with your positive comment.

My husband and I are die hard Gem cruisers but decided we needed to see Bermuda for a change of pace. We actually enjoyed Breakaway. Yes the atrium and pool deck was crowded-we enjoyed SPICE H20. We had no problem getting elevators (the only problem was photographers using stairs for pics and we would ahve to take elevator for 1 floor) The bars were hopping but the people we were with that ordered drinks got served pretty fast. We did not have the package. We ate in MDR 3 or 4 times including embarkation lunch and found the waiters to be attentive and the meal lasting around 45-1hr at the most. I think the time you eat is what makes it fast or slow. We also never got or needed a beeper. We had booked all our specialty restaurants and Rock of ages at home. Glad we did. Yes the freestyle isn't as freestyle as it used to be but we were fine with it. Buffet was ok-I think Gems is better!

There is a big difference between the crowds on the BA depending on when you sail her

The 7 day cruises to Bermuda in the summer are nothing at all like the Jan/feb 14 day cruises.

If you just use a little common sense you can easily figure this out but just to make it clear...

7 day summer Bermuda cruises will be sailing well above capacity and be full of families with kids of all ages enjoying a boisterous summer vacay...(as it should be) and pax that can only squeeze in 1 week off from their jobs and are in desperate need of a vacay plus you will find a less than seasoned traveler as well. I.E....the type that considers this cruise the cruise of a lifetime and usually just takes a road trip to the beach as an annual vacay. You will of course have loads of honeymooners and other couples cruising without kids and yes groups of single 20 somethings cruising with their 10 best friends and getting very little sleep. You also will encounter that other demographic....where an adult or 2 will be chaperoning a group of say 10 teenagers ...perhaps celebrating a sweet 16 or high school graduation. This particular demographic is interesting to observe. Lol

That's not to say you won't find your older couples and singles as well as low key types just relaxing on this cruise. You basically find all types but the majority will be like those described above.

14 day Jan/feb Carib cruises will be sailing only at Capacity and will include many many retired folks ...numerous Canadians...parents of college kids ( semester 6 week break time ) cruising with their soon to be grads and many other tight knit family groups that are looking to spend quality time together and can swing time off on a great cruise out of NYC to very warm climates that don't require flying. You also find the self employed where winter is their slow time (such as mom n pop types) You rarely find families with high school age due to school requirements but you will find some families with kids aged 10 and under but very few because 14 days is just too long a cruise. It's rare to see more than a handful of very young kids in these cruises as well. You also find many Brits escaping their homes and have plenty of vacay time. They perhaps combine 3/4 days in NYC with this cruise. Remember Europeans are used to taking long vacays a good from them I say!!!

The demographic differences between these 2 itineraries is astounding

I've done 2 January cruises in recent years and highly recommend them but as an industrial engineer it is actually quite simple to figure out the demographics of these 2 highly different itineraries with a little research

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IMO it should never reach the level where one person who has exceeded their own personal drink limit causes harm to another passenger with no provocation. While the UBP does not "force" anyone to drink over their own limit it does facilitate the process because their rationale to keep drinking is that they have the UBP and they intend to use it as much as humanly possible regardless.

 

MARAPRINCE

Surely anyone who has paid for the UBP will want to get their money's worth. And at $79+gratuity per day, that's a LOT of alcohol. I'm honestly flabbergasted that anyone would think that purchasing the UBP is a good idea. I guess I'm just not a hardcore drinker. I like a beer every so often, but I turned down the free UBP option because "free" would still cost us $28 per day, and I'm not even going to drink that much (my wife doesn't drink alcohol at all, but she'd still have to get the package and pay the gratuity)

Surely anyone who has paid for the UBP will want to get their money's worth. And at $79+gratuity per day, that's a LOT of alcohol. I'm honestly flabbergasted that anyone would think that purchasing the UBP is a good idea. I guess I'm just not a hardcore drinker. I like a beer every so often, but I turned down the free UBP option because "free" would still cost us $28 per day, and I'm not even going to drink that much (my wife doesn't drink alcohol at all, but she'd still have to get the package and pay the gratuity)

Surely anyone who has paid for the UBP will want to get their money's worth. And at $79+gratuity per day, that's a LOT of alcohol. I'm honestly flabbergasted that anyone would think that purchasing the UBP is a good idea. I guess I'm just not a hardcore drinker. I like a beer every so often, but I turned down the free UBP option because "free" would still cost us $28 per day, and I'm not even going to drink that much (my wife doesn't drink alcohol at all, but she'd still have to get the package and pay the gratuity)

Not everyone feels the need to "get their money's worth" the $28 would cover 3-4 drinks. Some people like the UBP for a lot of reasons like simply not thinking about a bar bill at the end of the trip for those couple drinks or because the other "free" options aren't appealing.

did not notice on your post about smoking on the casino floor ,did it flow to the other rooms on that floor? or did the they ban smoking? ..

Surely anyone who has paid for the UBP will want to get their money's worth. And at $79+gratuity per day, that's a LOT of alcohol. I'm honestly flabbergasted that anyone would think that purchasing the UBP is a good idea. I guess I'm just not a hardcore drinker. I like a beer every so often, but I turned down the free UBP option because "free" would still cost us $28 per day, and I'm not even going to drink that much (my wife doesn't drink alcohol at all, but she'd still have to get the package and pay the gratuity)

Not such a bargain if you do not drink alcohol. IMO better to pay for just what you really do drink rather than feel you "must" drink a lot to get your money's worth with UBP. NCL is nobody's fool when it comes to the UBP by making you pay for the tips on "free" packages.:D

MARAPRINCE

The drinks on Norwegian are over priced to begin with. It's not free - and the tips you give on it cover the fact that they never give you a receipt like on other cruise lines when they expect you to tip above the 15-18% you have already paid on the package. Anyone who drinks at all on the cruise will agree that the package is well worth what you pay for it. If you don't think that way then you should not pick this as an option and enjoy what you do pick. My wife and I thought that $100 tip charge per person was well worth the price we paid to not see a bar bill at the end of the cruise. We don't drink heavily but for sure ended up ahead had we paid by the drink.

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I sure hope so. We are not fussy people and we never had any complaints when cruising NCL. But we are booked for the Breakaway in Jan for 14 days so reading some of these negative reviews has me concerned. Also...about the "over served" drunks. Perhaps they did not have the free UBP bonus the last time you went. You may see a difference now. We got that package as I am sure many others have as well..........but we don't plan on spending our vacation in a coma so it won't be us walking around looking for our next drink. ha! Enjoy your cruise and thanks for the "ray of hope" with your positive comment.

We did the 14 night 1/29/17 cruise on the Breakaway and are repeating 2/2/18. I think you will find the 14 night in January or February to be a totally different dynamic. The pool will be crowded yes, but far less children than you would find in summer and while people will be enjoying a few cocktails, I doubt they will be falling down drunk, at lest that was not my experience.