Vyhanek

I think you should re-think 4 nights in those particular Specialty Dining.   Its not the best food on the ship.

IMHO, the best food is in Food Republic.    It's casual and creative and a la carte, not a part of the Specialty Dining packages.    I loved it so much I went twice.

The other dinner I wouldn't miss on the Escape is the Cirque Show with the dinner included.   The show is really good and the food is pretty good too.    It's a whole experience, so, so much better than the standard Specialty Dining options.

Teppanyaki on NCL is your basic......very, very basic teppanyaki that you can get in any medium sized city.    There is absolutely nothing special about NCL's teppanyaki.    

La Cucina is very basic Italian.  I'd say on par with the Olive Garden.  I love the Olive Garden, I'm not bashing La Cucina but given the other choice of the Cirque dinner show there is no comparison.

On 6/14/2019 at 5:02 PM, rattanchair said:

For what it is worth, I have another Breakaway observation. We just started this 'ship within a ship' concept of cruising. We thought we could spend all our time within The Haven, as within the Coastal Kitchen, the Luminae, the Retreat, or the Yacht Club. We started out with a big misconception with the NCL Haven when it comes to dining. NCL posters sold us a bill of goods when it comes to circumventing the limited, never changing Haven breakfast, lunch, and dinner menus. Several have posted Haven guests can order off Main or Specialty Restaurants menus and have them delivered to the Haven Restaurant for your dining pleasure.This we found to be untrue on this sailing, June 09. You can accomplish this, but delivery will only be through your butler and only to your cabin. Now who likes to dress up and eat dinner in their cabin? Yes, perhaps if you are sick, incapacitated, or quarantined. Then forget about people watching and catching a 'show'. So from the very start of your cruise be ever so adventurous and book all the Specialty Restaurant venues and the Manhattan Supper Club (when the dance band is playing). We missed all the Specialty venues this cruise (did not use our 3x specialty perk). You might as well, as we discovered that the Haven is not really as NCL is marketing it to be--it is exactly like the rest of the ship.

The Haven restaurant was never intended for all meals and the menus have never changed in the Haven restaurant.   Just as the menu in Cagney's or Le Bistro never change daily either!     The idea is not that you will eat in the Haven every meal, the venue isn't large enough to have every Haven passenger eat every meal there.    Its a dining option, it's clear it's a dining option otherwise why do you think you get several Specialty Dining perks included in your Haven package?   This design keeps the Haven restaurant small and intimate and the waiters can give individual attention.   If all Haven guests were eating there very night it would be a very busy place, less intimate, less personal service.    Keeping the menu the same, keeps the Haven restaurant small and personal.    Your expectation is unreasonable here.

Same with the expectation that you'd go into the Haven restaurant and order a meal from a different Specialty restaurant.    I don't know why that idea has floated around this board.   It's never been regularly practiced.    I've been a Haven cruiser at least 10 times,  waiters in the Haven DO NOT RUN ALL OVER THE SHIP to bring you a meal from another restaurant.    If you want a meal from Le Bistro, use your free perk as part of your Haven package and go to Le Bistro.  Or use your Butler.   Again, your expectation here is unreasonable, and lacks basic courtesy and common sense.   Even if other passengers have done this, it's still not appropriate.   That equates to something similar as bringing a meal in from McDonald's while the rest of your family is eating at the Outback Steakhouse.    

I've been on all the cruise lines you've mentioned.    The NCL product with the Haven is still better than anything labeled...."A ship within a ship"    The NCL Haven product is a ship within a ship with the additional included perk of dining at the other Specialty Restaurants on board included in your fare.    

There are plenty of legitimate things to complain about in the Breakaway Haven such as......The extreme lack of sundeck space and loungers on the Haven sundeck for the Haven passengers.    The sundeck needs to be 3-4 times the size.     Or that the Haven lounge/bar area needs to be 3/4 times larger.    I think there's about 5 or 6 bar chairs maybe at the bar.    It's completely inadequate for the number of Haven guests.    I also think there should be a bar on the Haven sundeck.    Expecting passengers to go down 2 floors to the one Haven bar is a lot.    The servers are overwhelmed running those 2 flights and that makes bar service very slow.     There are legitimate concerns about the Breakaway Haven.

I wouldn't eve begin to entertain the thought of all 4 of you for 14 days.   Its not the Mother in Law, its the teenager that would have a really difficult time under those circumstances and that would affect everyone.    Those rooms are too small for 4 people even when two are children IMO.    No way a teenager and a MIL.   

You might consider you and husband in the balcony and MIL and teenager across the hall in an inside.   

I hear Sweet Caroline on every NCL ship.   No matter leaving from Boston or Miami.    It's pretty much played nightly on every ship and shouldn't be a factor.   At all.

I've been on both the Escape and Gem and I much prefer the Gem.   A bigger ship doesn't mean better.    

On the Away ships, NCL learned how much more profit they can make by squeezing a lot more people on the ships.   You notice this everywhere.   Especially on the ships decks but even in the theater, lounges, etc.  There's just always a lot more people everywhere on the Away ships.   

The decor is the same.   The Gem doesn't look older or feel older.   Its well decorated, just noticeably more room for everyone.   When a piano player is in the Atrium, you probably could even get a seat on the Gem, on the Away ships you're standing 3 or 4 people deep to listen to the entertainment.     I love the Spinikar Lounge on the Gem, its tastefully decorated and during the day makes a great place for the view or to take a book and read, and at night there's always something going on and the thing is, you can always go in and get a seat.    On the Escape, I never felt like there was anything like that.   No where to take your book and go sit.    There is no extra space like that on the Escape.   Any extra space is made into a cabin, more people, more revenue, less public space.    

The food is the same.   The restaurants are the same with the exception of Food Republic on the Escape which is A la carte.    I love that restaurant but it isn't a part of any dining program, lots of people never get there for that reason.   But as far as Cagney's, Le Bistro, La Cucina, sushi bar, Teppenaki, main dining room, it's all the same.

As far as comparing cabin size, you could find that out pretty easily.   

The Gem doesn't have the water slides or the ropes course but once you've done that a time or two, most people don't need to do that again.    I did like the outdoor dining from the Specialty restaurants on the Escape but it was so hard to get an outdoor table reservation unless you're booked in the Haven anyways.   

The bigger ships, the Away ships, mean bigger and more people, a lot more people comparitively.   You'll notice the difference if you get a chance to get back to a smaller ship.    

The menu is fixed, does not change.    But still it is the best dining on the ship and definitely the best service.    Cagney's for steaks, great but it won't be any better than the steak you'll get in the Haven restaurant with better Haven service.    

The other great food is at Food Republic.   Its tapas.    Creative, small plates in a very casual setting.   Food Republic is not a part of the dining plans, it's a la carte.    I also liked the dinner theater, I liked the show and the food wasn't bad no matter what the reviews say!    If you book this the first night of the cruise there is a discount.    The other restaurants were all fine but a big step below the haven dining.    My recommendation with Haven dining is to let all the other Haaven guests dine there the first evening of the cruise.   Its really, really busy that night, then the next night all those Haven guests get the idea to go somewhere else for dinner, the second night of the cruise the Haven dining room isn't crowded at all.   This is a great night to go!    

I like the Escape Haven, it's not as nice as the Epic Haven.   Its pretty crowded as far as Haven'tsgo.   They really have maxed out the amount of Haven guests they can squeeze in.   The bar is really small and located inside the lobby with the concierge desk.    Other NCL ships have separate dedicated Haven bars.   But it is still nice.   The sundeck is too small for the amount of Haven passengers on this ship.   Unlike other NCL Haven's it is so small that there aren't nearly enough sun loungers and the chair hogs come out.    Also the Haven smoking area is on this small sun deck, it's already small enough and now they have a half partition blocked off for the smokers, it doesn't even keep the smoke out of the sundeck very well......but still nice.    

My other advice, if booking Specialty Dining, wait until you get on the ship and let the Haven concierge book that.   Don't book it ahead online.    The Haven Conceirge will be able to get you the exact time you want to eat, also when they make the reservation you will get the best choice of seating in the restaurant.   If you want a booth, you can request.   Not so trying to book online.   

Not in a million years.   The problem is, you will have to be south of Cape Canaveral in December to have an outside sea day.    It will be the end of the second day that it will be nice enough.      Two days cold on the way down, two days cold days on the way back.    Fly to Miami and enjoy your cruise.    

Definitely book late for the best deals!     Late as in,  a week or two weeks before you want to cruise.

I just got back from Bermuda on the Gem.   I booked 8 days in advance and got a Mini Suite for $729 from a major online site.    That's a huge savings you'd never get booking early.    

I was on this cruise a week before you and my main comment was how easy it was to cruise out of Boston.  I'm Platinum Plus, so I've done my share of NCL cruises and this Boston port was the easiest departure for sure.     My husband drove my girlfriend and I to the port and dropped us off around 12.15pm.    There was zero traffic.    We pulled right up to the port with no lines, multiple porters came to greet us, they were friendly.    WE sailed right thru security with no lines, reached the NCL counter, again no lines at 12:15 and walked directly onto the ship.   This I have learned from multiple cruises, the best embarkation will not occur at 10am with 2 thousand other cruisers.    Let them hassle the lines and crowds and show up at noon.   It will be very pleasant!

I also felt the Gem did a better job than other NCL ships for activities during the day.   Not the activities in the Atrium but the daily activities that happened in the Spinnaker Lounge.   One day we watched the Cruise Director's Staff do a movie trivia, it was hilarious and everyone seemed to love it.     The next day, we attended the Captains Question and Answer session also in the Spinnaker Lounge.   It was very interesting.

Another day Justin Goland, the comedy pianist did a daytime show in the bar that's right outside of Le Bistro, He was hilarious!

I was actually very happy with all the shows and all the daytime entertainment it was all fun.

I agree with you that the crew was very friendly.   WE had a rainy, cold week with a lot of cranky passengers but the crew made it fun.   I was happy with the food, I like the Jewel Class ships better than the newer bigger ships that pack on the people and have squeezed the outdoor space too much.   

The one negative thing I've noticed on this cruise is the increase in drink prices.   I think NCL has actually priced themselves to the point where people aren't drinking.   In all my cruises, this was by far the cruise where I noticed over and over no one was drinking.     For us to buy the unlimited drink package it would cost $1000 more for the week.    We chose, like most passengers to forgo the $1000 drink package.    I found our mini suite for $729 so there was no way we were spending an additional $1000 for unlimited drinks!     But purchasing the drinks individually was ridiculously expensive.    I had a diet coke with Malibu for $12 in a regular smallish cup!    Gin and Tonic $12, same smallish cup.    One night I had a double shot of Bailey's because one shot of Bailey's is really small.......that cost $24!!     I looked around often and noticed hardly anyone was drinking at all.    People weren't paying $1000 for the drink package, people weren't paying $12 for a mixed drink.    NCL has finally priced themselves out of people buying drinks.    

Keeping in mind too just...."Ask for it" means you've got to find your Room Steward, it could be hours before you see him again.    It's the first day at sea and you want to sit on your balcony and pop a soda from your mini fridge.  You don't even realize the ice buckets have been removed because it's expected.    You won't see your Room Steward again until he's back at it at 6pm.   Its not so easy as to just "ask" and even then, just asking always comes with a wait which obviously didn't happen back when ice buckets were standard in your room.

Now if you never use the ice in your room then of course, weigh in here about how it's a waste and tell us all about how you don't need it because we want to hear that!    Some of us don't use a pillow on the bed but we aren't going to support the removal of all pillows in the rooms to save costs because we don't use it.      

And yes, eliminating the ice bucket and towel animals means your Room Steward probably now has an additional 3 Roomshe's now responsible to clean.   NCL has to make their profits year over year to report to the share holders.   How are they going to improve on their profits for next year?   Will they eliminate the soft serve ice cream?   Will they eliminate the singer in the piano bar?   Will they stop the evening turn down service?    When you start allowing things to be eliminated and shrug...."Oh, I never use the ice bucket and that's all fine", you're asking for your thing to be eliminated next year without a single issue.   

You will need to double check with these other cruise lines again.   They are all moving to this same policy.   Cruise lines do market analysis and compare practices across the industry.    

I was on the Gem last week.   I saw a woman with a knee scooter and many, many other people in wheel chairs!    I would bring both.   

Honestly the elevator crowding was not as bad on the Gem as it is on the larger ships.  I think you will be OK.   

I just returned from the Gem to Bermuda.   There are some things I noticed.

Ice bucket in the room used to be filled automatically.    Now you won't even see the ice bucket unless you ask your steward specifically.   Which is fine but when you want ice and it's hot and you pull a soda out of your mini bar to discover....wth, where's the ice?!  and then you have to go for another day before you see your room steward, it is annoying.   When you know, ice used to be standard practice.  

I also noticed this cruise, if someone had their Do Not Disturb sign up, and it was time for the rooms to be cleaned, their room would get skipped and a note would be left out on their sign with a message along the lines of...."I was here to clean your room but your Do Not Disturb Sign" was on.    I am sure there are some who legitimately have their sign up all morning because they don't want to be disturbed.   I'm also sure there are many cruisers that had that Do Not Disturb sign up for the night before, then the next morning got up, went out to enjoy Bermuda and forgot to turn the sign.    They came back to the note on the door and the room not made up.

I noticed in the dining room, for breakfast, no longer does a server come around with a huge tray of pastries and you pick what you want.   That doesn't happen at all.   Pastries are now very understated and listed on the menu but you have to ask specifically, then after asking specifically you get a basket with a few, not the good kinds, not the chocolate croissants or the chocolate muffins.   I always go the old lady bran muffins and pastries with jelly fillings.   

I also noticed on the dining tables there would be one or two pads of butter.   Fine if one or two people are dining but when there's 4 it was always an issue.   No big deal to have to ask the server the next time they came around but again, same thing, you gotta ask, you then gotta wait, it's inconvenient.

I noticed they've eliminated a couple soft serve ice cream machines.  They used to be a few.    Now there is exactly one and during lunch there is a guy making the ice cream cones for you.   He makes them tiny.    

Same thing with cherries in your drinks like Shirley Temples, Roy Rogers.    I was charged $6 for a small Shirley (no alcohol) I sort of expect the cherry.   Is it a big deal?   no, I'm an adult.   If I asked, of course I got one with a smile but again.....get my drink and get back to my seat to realize....hey no cherry and then I gotta get up and go ask.   Its the little inconveniences that add up over and over.

I'll weigh in on towel animals.    If you've been on more than one cruise then of course, it's no big deal.   If you're an adult and you've been on multiple cruises and you've already experienced for yourself towel animals then i can see how you don't mind them being cost cut'ed.    But if it's your first cruise and everything is new to you, you really like them.   If you have young kids, they really like them.   It is a really big deal for those cruisers.   Maybe not you.

I also noticed how much drink prices have gone up!   Wow.   I paid $25 for a dirty martini without specific alcohol!    I paid $25 for a double shot of Bailey's.    A soda was $3.75.    Small Jack and Diet (no lime) was $14.    There were very, very, very few people on this cruise drinking.    Not too many drink packages sold besides Haven guests.   When I went to inquire about a drink package for my mini suite I was told it would cost another $1000.    Wow!     I did get a great price on my mini suite $729 so I can't complain but WOW drinks have jumped up in price dramatically and it was a really sober cruise for everybody.      

Just placed a bid for my cruise on Friday on the Gem.

I was booked in a mini suite garuntee.  I'm Platinum Plus.  I bid $510 for a Penthouse Suite and it was declined.    There were lots of empty suites.   I bid on the lowest level suite.   Some of the higher level suites had the bidding starting at like $1700 additional per person.   

I'm sort of happy it was declined, I would have lost my package perks.   

I have an Upgrade Fairy story.  This is probably 5 years ago on the Pearl.   I had booked 2 mini suites connecting rooms.   I get a call from the upgrade fairy to upgrade to the Garden Villa.   I was so excited.   The NCL rep tells me how much extra I will have to pay.........$19k.   For an additional 19 THOUSAND DOLLARS I could have the Garden Villa.   That's after paying for my 2 mini suites, on top of that another 19k.   

I'm Platinum Plus.   In all these years that's the closest I've ever come to an upgrade.   Two sad upgrade stories.   

Its not meant for kids.   Nothing about that second bedroom is miniature.    I have 2 larger teens and they were very comfortable.  Even the bedding was comfortable.   What this picture doesn't show is the pop down bunk from the ceiling.    Technically 3 could sleep in that room!    Now that would be tight but again, the room really is only for sleeping because lounging would take place in the main living room area.   

It's not designed to be a cabin.   It's designed to be a sleeping area because of the shared living room.    

I think sharing the cabin with another couple is a great way for everyone to enjoy the Haven experience.    If it were me, I'd probably make a deal where each couple gets to enjoy the main master bedroom.    Say the first couple gets the bedroom for 3 days, then you switch.    Talk to your cabin steward about changing out the sheets after day 3 and changing out the towels.   Give the cabin steward an extra tip after day 3.     

Either that or the couple in the main bedroom pays 2/3 of the total price of the cabin.    

I've been on a lot of cruises as well.   The Epic is far from my favorite as well but I've been on worse ships.   Royal Carribean has some older ships I didn't care for Enchantment of the Seas, Carnival has some old ships I hated Fantasy, Celebration they sucked.    Every cruise line has some dogs.     

I do know what you're saying though.   If it weren't for the Epic Haven, I'd never cruise on the Epic again.    Mainly my issues are the deck space outside is so limited and inside the ship there are so few places you can look out and see the ocean!   I also hate the jogging track.

I don't know if the beds in the Haven are different than the other beds but I loved the Haven beds!   Loved them so much I would throw out my high end Tempurpedic for it!    

As far as drinks and service, the food service (wait staff in the restaurants) and the bar servers are two totally different groups.   The waiters in the dining rooms do only food, they could care less if you are ordering drinks.   There are different servers for food and drinks......just like all the other cruise lines.    I have noticed if you are ordering drinks in a restaurant it takes a lot longer.   The server needs to leave the restaurant with several orders, go to a bar get all those drinks and then make her way back.   It takes a really, really long time to get a drink from ordering in a restaurant.   But I too have been on many cruises and cruise lines, I think maybe 20 cruises in all and this is how they all work!     My advice, get your drink at a bar before entering the restaurant.   They don't mind if you walk in with it.   

I've never heard of waiting for tenders for 4 hours!    Again, I've been on the Epic twice but only in the Haven so no issues with tenders but I don't think anyone every waited 4 hours!    Something sounds very off about that.   

Im the Haven guest who always buys Vibe passes.    There are no children in Vibe while the Haven pool is overwhelmed.    But at $200 each, for the last several cruises I've been on with terrible weather, I'd have to pass.

My problem with the whole thing is the handicapped people and their families getting priority to the Vibe passes over Platinum.   I have no problem with handicapped families boarding first, taking their time and not getting run over but I don't think they should be allowed to cut the line for a handicap family privilege for the coveted Vibe passes.   

NCL does a much better job with disembarking than Carnival.   If you have an early flight, 10:30 or 11 you will have no problem getting off, grabbing a taxi and to the airport on time with self disembark.

ON NCL people aren't sitting in common areas waiting to get called off the ship in groups like they are on Carnival.   You wait in your state room and leave when you want.  People who want to self disembark early (and it's a lot of people, more than Carnival) wait in the hallway and leave as soon as the door opens. Everyone else who's not in a hurry walks off when they're ready.  There is a line but it moves.   NCL opens the door to self disembarkers as soon as the port authority lets them.   NCL wants you off the ship asap.   

As far as if the ship gets into the port early, can you leave early.  No, the port authority dictates when disembarkation begins.   They are in charge of the process, they are the one's who have the immigration agents ready, etc.  The ship will get into the port often times in the middle of the night.  It could be 5am the ship arrives in port and that's before the port opens.   The ships wait for the port to open, for the port based employees to arrive to their jobs and start the disembarkation process for each ship.   These port agents aren't employees who work on the ship, they are employees who live in Miami or wherever and leave home and arrive to their job at whatever time 7am or whatever.   Disembakation starts when they get to work, open up their workstation and start processing people.   The ships arrive in port at 4am, 5am, 6am and wait until the port opens and processes people.    

You aren't going to be able to go on too many cruises if you have a problem repeating destinations.    It probably would be an issue if you've been on only one cruise before and your second cruise had the exact itinerary as your first cruise.   If that's the case then ok, I might pick another ship to see a few new islands.

But in general cruisers usually adapt really well and welcome returning to favorite islands.   

I would call back in hopes of getting a PCC that knows how to handle this.   If they redirect you to the website, ask for a supervisor.   

I can't believe NCL would have ever decided to be in the airline business, surely they had to have known in the planning phase before launching free airfare that there would be all sorts of flight issues and cancelled cruises and issues like this.    

As far as the itinerary, I think it depends on what type of things you do in the ports.   If you're a shopper, you're going to be way out of luck.   But if you get to the ports and find a beach or if you do a beach excursion or snorkel trip you will be fine.

I think you can count on most of the shops being closed the afternoon of Xmas Eve and Xmas Day, whether it's San Juan or St. Thomas.   They might be open the morning of Xmas Eve but by afternoon they will be closing up.   Xmas Day they will be closed.

Over and over it's pretty clear you want to wait to book after the final payment period.    The ship doesn't sellout, ( maybe on Christmas week)  and you'll do much better with price, cabin and perks!

Food Republic was my favorite place by far.    I think it is the same menu lunch and dinner.   

I think the rule of thumb is 1 1/2 days wasted out of Boston and NYC trying to get to warm weather.     Both ways.