thistimeplease

Looking forward to my first Breakaway cruise next year :cool::cool::cool:

You will love this ship, we changed from only doing land vacations to loving cruising because of the BA. I dismissed this review after reading the complaints about mac and cheese, pizza and not enjoying a bottle of merlot and strawberries. I have worked in many upscale restaurants and mistakes happen and I think they handled it correctly.

Thanks for the review, we are sailing on the GA in July and am very excited.

Thanks for a great review. I'm glad it worked out with the Vibe, I always wanted to try the Vibe for the reason of having a lounger available.

I agree! We seem to have had very similar experiences. It wasn't an awful cruise. There were great things and not so great things. We still had a lot of fun. I'm not going to let things I can't control dictate whether I have fun or not. We made the most of everything we did and worked around the rest.

 

I didn't add it to my weird list, but that open-air smokers lounge was WEIRD. They took all the effort to isolate it, but it isn't actually closed off to anything????? That was super strange. I know we played ping pong over there and it got rough with the smoke.

 

 

 

You do know this forum is created on the basis of reviewing cruises???????????????????????????????????

 

Cruise Critic is the actual name of the site. To give critique of cruises is why it exists.

 

Of course everyone has their own perspective and that's why we should all try to provide as many facts as we can. "The food was good" is an opinion. You can certainly say you enjoyed the food, but simple reviews that say things like that over and over aren't beneficial to others. I really tried my hardest to point out specific reasons why we liked things and didn't like other things and to give specific examples for them.

 

But making a blanket statement that my comments should be ignored and taken with a grain of salt because they don't reflect your experiences is a tad rude, eh?

I don't believe I said your comments should be ignored but I have to say you lost me with your "Weird" part. If you read my reviews they praise the ship and the staff but does that mean that everyone does? No, of course not so I also believe that people have to judge for themselves. In my opinion your review is a little harsh but I wasn't on your cruise. Will be cruising the GA in July so I will judge for myself and take yours and future reviews with a grain of salt. As the saying goes "to each his own".

We just booked this cruise for later this spring - and now I am terrified I made an awful mistake. You listed my top 3 annoyances - smoke, drunks, and poor customer service... not exactly how I want to spend a $7k vacation.

Please take these reviews with a grain of salt. If I believed everything I read I'd never leave the house. We sailed on the BA and thought it was the best cruise ship and yet if you read other reviews you'd think I sailed on a different ship. Two people could cruise on the same ship,same time and have totally different opinions on a trip. My advise is to stop reading reviews and have a great trip, don't look for things to annoy you.

OP so glad to hear it worked out.

I already booked for my July 2018 cruise.

Thanks for the review, glad you had a great trip.

Not sure where you cruise was originally scheduled to go but I would be prepared - I would expect Maya Chan to be very similar to the rest of the locations mentioned here. I do not remember the bathrooms specifically but it is a very rustic location just along the road from Almaplena. As others have said this is very normal practice in much of the Caribbean.

While nothing can totally prepare me I am trying, my husband said I should start practicing at home lol. Sorry can't help how I am, as much as I'm trying to picture a dream trip it still reminds me of camping, lol. :D

I second that - I can't believe people are actually having a long thread about toilets and toilet paper - LOL

Sorry if that bothers you but it is a major concern of mine and others. Although I'm not happy about this situation we have decided to stay with the Western itinerary and I have already booked Maya Chan for that day. Have read many good things and am looking forward to it.

yes, we were disappointed too...but probably going to stick with sailing date b/c of air already booked and so on..would be a hassle and expense to change that all around! :( Also, really want to sail on the Getaway so will make the best of it!

We are in the same boat, so to speak, airfare and hotel already booked so we have decided to give it a shot. Certainly not a itinerary I ever would have picked as we have no desire for these ports but am going to make the best of it. I booked Maya Chan for Costa Maya yesterday and now will look into Roatan and Cozumel, although might just stay in port area at Roatan. I consider Cozumel in the same category as Nassau so no loss there. We might try a food tour in Cozumel just like what we were going to do in Nassau. Good luck with what you decide.

Just an FYI I've never been to a place in Mexico where they allowed you to flush any type of paper in the toilets.

So glad I read this. Our itinerary was just changed to Western Caribbean and I wasn't sure about changing our cruise but now I have. This is definitely not what I want on my vacation. I didn't really want to go on a Western Caribbean cruise before and now definitely don't. Gross:(

I have been reading quite a bit about it, and I do realize that many have written about going through the storm (which is why we wait for winter to be over to go on our cruises personally) But with it being our first time on a Mega ship as well I am a little worried. I do always try to see things positively.

A few years ago my dh and I cruised on the Jewel. While we enjoyed it, it wasn't a cruise that made us say "lets cruise again". Two years ago I saw a great deal on the BA and thought let's give it another try. Best decision ever made. Hands down we love mega ships and now want to cruise on every vacation. We cruised on the BA again last year and I was afraid it wasn't going to compare to our other cruise, I was wrong. We still found new things to do as well as doing the things we enjoyed the year before. Not every ship is for every person. Is everything perfect, maybe not but to us it was. We are scheduled to sail on the Getaway this summer, may change due to itinerary change, and can't wait. Last thing I'll say is I never would cruise out of NY in the winter, too many things can spoil your cruise.

I was scheduled to go out of Miami on 9/2 on this cruise. Cancelling and going on Carnival for similar cruise. Lost my $100 deposit but I'll live.

I'm now looking at RCL Harmony of the Seas out of Port Canaveral, just concerned if they switch also. I have until Apr to make a decision.

following

Just spoke with NCL and they confirmed that they are changing the itinerary for the Eastern Caribbean to Western Caribbean from Apr 2018 - Sept 2018. According to the girl I spoke with NCL needs more time to repair the ports. This is just a heads up for those already booked or thinking of booking. Not NCL fault but my dh and I have no desire for this itinerary and will probably cancel. Thankfully we have plenty of time.

I was on this cruise. I was not traumatized by it, but I fail to see how those of you making fun of my fellow passengers is adding anything to further the discourse.

 

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Agree with this completely

Were there a lot of other kids their age?

Yes there were. The boys didn't come happily the first time as they thought they'd be bored but boy were they mistaken.

Even when it's in port?

Absolutely, you have the Glow Party, Howl at the Moon and other options as well.

We traveled twice with 18 yo and 20 yo and they had a blast. Stayed up much later than we did. In fact when asked this year if they wanted to try the Escape, meaning Bermuda a third time, or the Getaway out of Miami they didn't even give it a minute to tell us they wanted to cruise on the Escape to Bermuda again. Guess where their family is headed.

Your subtlety was willfully ignored ;)

 

Perhaps I was harsh with my opening sentence but after reading pages and pages of apologist remarks, it was my first thought and thus, the first I wrote. I do stand behind it as it remains my opinion.

 

In PA, we received the exact amount of snow forecast by the news as did our home in Vermont. The use of the word "bombogenesis" was used from day one. I still have the date and time index in my search engine from when I queried that word as I had recalled hearing it before but not its meaning.

 

 

 

 

 

It also remains my opinion that NCL knew of the risks and that the decision to sail through it was made not by the person with maritime experience but rather a suit in hong kong. I suspect only the suits, the Captain and his wife will ever know the truth.

I agree with you, I believe that this was a corporate decision, but then again what do I know.

Depends on if it's refundable or not. If it's non-refundable OBC, originally came from NCL, then it cannot be used for DSC. Ask your TA what kind it is.[/

 

Thank you, it's refundable from the TA.

going to add or clarify some of what you are saying. You are right about OBCs given by NCL not being able to be used for gratuities and it makes good sense. As for OBC given my your TA, no, of course you can not turn around and get credit on your credit card, but you do not have to use them in the gift shop. If it is a refundable credit, given as a gift you can use it anywhere on the ship for anything, not just in the gift shop.

Sorry if this is redundant but can you use the OBC from a TA for DSC? I know it's probably been answered over and over but I don't remember seeing it.

I'm reading all this negativity and have to say we've cruised on the BA twice and found it to be our favorite ship. We sailed both times in July so I'm thinking maybe it's different when the activities are indoors more. In fact our cruise experiences were so different than yours that I thought I was reading about another ship with another cruiseline. Sorry you didn't enjoy your cruise but I can't wait to sail on the BA again next summer.

We dined there this summer and it was the best meal we had on the ship. We were very disappointed with the Italian restaurant. We are planning on going there again this summer. Enjoy, in my opinion definitely worth the up charge.