Cubechick Posted May 8, 2013 #1 Share Posted May 8, 2013 For those that have read my reviews in the past, this one is going to have a different format. I posted most of my review in my blog as we sailed this beautiful ship (see link in signature), so rather than rewriting all of that I will focus on a mostly pictorial review with some comments thrown in. Also I can see that we have several excellent reviews already, so let's try a different approach. We'll see how this goes! Before I begin just let me say that the Breakaway is a gorgeous ship. She truly is the best of the Epic and Jewel classes combined with a few tricks of her own. Our cruises weren't perfect (we were on both the one-night cruise from Rotterdam and the transatlantic from Southampton), but I am sure these growing pains will be ironed out quickly as the crew gets used to the new surroundings and in some cases new menus. Our adventure with the Breakaway begins in Rotterdam on April 28, 2013. I chose the Hotel New York for its proximity to the cruise terminal. Here was our view from the front door of the hotel on that first morning: We walked around the pier, snapping more photos before walking our luggage the two minutes to the cruise port: Check in went smoothly, now it's to the "hurry up and wait" portion of today's events. Could the clock move more slowly??? At last we are on board!!!! (The Hotel New York as seen from Spice H20.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lubiya Posted May 8, 2013 #2 Share Posted May 8, 2013 Thank you for your review. I can always see more photos of the Breakaway. Can't get enough of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cubechick Posted May 8, 2013 Author #3 Share Posted May 8, 2013 Please feel free to ask any questions as I go along. I'll try to answer anything that I can! To continue... We boarded at the forward section of deck 5. Our cabin for the one-nighter was 12310, an aft-facing balcony. We avoided the long lines for the forward elevators by hiking our bags to the aft elevators. A perfect plan as we were whisked to deck twelve with no wait! Our first glimpse of our one-night home: From the other side...notice that the door is opening into the hall! There were several times that we couldn't get into the room because we were pushing on the door! Huge balcony...about 75% covered: The cabin next to ours was an HC balcony and was open for display purposes. My goodness was it huge!!! Check out the size of that balcony! View of Rotterdam from our balcony: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tragone Posted May 8, 2013 #4 Share Posted May 8, 2013 Great pics and blog, Cubechick. I really enjoyed reading about your experience on the Breakaway. I cannot wait until June 2nd so I can see her myself! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Journey11 Posted May 8, 2013 #5 Share Posted May 8, 2013 Thanks for the great review and pictures. So glad you enjoyed your cruise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcollette Posted May 8, 2013 #6 Share Posted May 8, 2013 Thank you for the additional pictures. I have been following your review from your blog/site. Very informative! You do a fantastic job! I know you got on deck 5 in Rotterdam, but when you got off in NY, what deck did they have you disembark from? Does it seem as though they will be embarking on the same deck from NY? Thank you, Debbie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deladypilot Posted May 8, 2013 #7 Share Posted May 8, 2013 Thank you for sharing. I look forward to the rest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cubechick Posted May 8, 2013 Author #8 Share Posted May 8, 2013 Thank you for the additional pictures. I have been following your review from your blog/site. Very informative! You do a fantastic job! I know you got on deck 5 in Rotterdam, but when you got off in NY, what deck did they have you disembark from? Does it seem as though they will be embarking on the same deck from NY? Thank you, Debbie Thanks for the lovely compliments! In NY we disembarked on deck 7. Being that it's the first time the ship has been in NY, it's impossible to say for sure that it will be deck 7 going forward. They may play around and see what works best? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metalmynx Posted May 8, 2013 #9 Share Posted May 8, 2013 Thank you so much for the cabin pics - I have booked 12308, which is the one next to yours, in September, so it was great to see what the room and balcony look like! :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdmike Posted May 8, 2013 #10 Share Posted May 8, 2013 Holy cow! What room number was that HC balcony? We get lots of questions on CC about HC rooms and that looks like a winner! Interesting looking hotel there. I'm with you about location though. We stayed across the street from the port in Seattle for our AK cruise and it was neat waking up and seeing the ship...and even neater having the hotel bellman hand our bags to the ship porters. :) Looking forward to more! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdmike Posted May 8, 2013 #11 Share Posted May 8, 2013 Questions What's the logic of the doors opening into the hall, and how did that work out? I can see people getting killed hustling down the hallway only to *WHAM* :) A previous poster said that power outlets were shut off when you didn't have a card in the slot by the door (e.g., outlets were off when you weren't in the room, not just lights). Is this correct from your experience as well? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cubechick Posted May 8, 2013 Author #12 Share Posted May 8, 2013 After getting settled (which was really just dumping the bags since we weren't unpacking yet), we went to Spice H20 for a beverage. We noticed right away that this is a great spot to see those who are adventurous enough to walk The Plank: After a quick lunch at Savor (standard lunch menu) and the boat drill we dashed back to Spice for the sail away party: They need a lot of bartenders for sail away! The City of Rotterdam really gave us a nice send-off: You get two pictures of the fire boats because I just loved them! After sail away, we "snuck" into the Haven for a glimpse. (They had opened up access for travel agents.) We will be staying in the Haven during the transatlantic, so you'll get plenty of pics of that...but here we spy some finishing touches being applied: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ibcnusoon Posted May 8, 2013 #13 Share Posted May 8, 2013 Thanks for the pictures! My elderly parents have that handicap cabin on the aft, we are next store on the other side! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cubechick Posted May 8, 2013 Author #14 Share Posted May 8, 2013 Questions What's the logic of the doors opening into the hall, and how did that work out? I can see people getting killed hustling down the hallway only to *WHAM* :) A previous poster said that power outlets were shut off when you didn't have a card in the slot by the door (e.g., outlets were off when you weren't in the room, not just lights). Is this correct from your experience as well? Thanks We were trying to figure out the door thing too. :) First let me say that the entrances to the rooms are recessed so the doors won't open into the hall and impede (or smack into!) other people. We thought maybe it was a safety thing until we realized that the cabins in the Haven open inward just like "normal". So now we're thinking maybe it opens up the useable space in the cabin and makes it feel bigger. These cabins seem to have been put together with a high level of detail and they maximize every inch. We've never been in a room that had so many nooks and crannies to stash stuff. ETA, we just left a key in the slot at all times to keep the power on, so I can't confirm that the outlets go off if you remove the card. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ibcnusoon Posted May 8, 2013 #15 Share Posted May 8, 2013 holy cow! What room number was that hc balcony? We get lots of questions on cc about hc rooms and that looks like a winner! Looking forward to more! 12908 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
green eyed lady Posted May 8, 2013 #16 Share Posted May 8, 2013 We were trying to figure out the door thing too. :) First let me say that the entrances to the rooms are recessed so the doors won't open into the hall and impede (or smack into!) other people. We thought maybe it was a safety thing until we realized that the cabins in the Haven open inward just like "normal". So now we're thinking maybe it opens up the useable space in the cabin and makes it feel bigger. These cabins seem to have been put together with a high level of detail and they maximize every inch. We've never been in a room that had so many nooks and crannies to stash stuff. ETA, we just left a key in the slot at all times to keep the power on, so I can't confirm that the outlets go off if you remove the card. The doors opening into the hallway are definitely to give more space in the cabins. They are the same way on Oasis and Allure...excellent feature so when someone is getting something from the closet they don't get whacked with the door of another person entering the cabin :eek::D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cubechick Posted May 8, 2013 Author #17 Share Posted May 8, 2013 12908 12910 according to the deck plans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ibcnusoon Posted May 8, 2013 #18 Share Posted May 8, 2013 12910 according to the deck plans. sorry, yes the HC cabin is 12910. I was looking at my confirmation instead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
generichandle Posted May 8, 2013 #19 Share Posted May 8, 2013 Only one thing I hate so far. That tiny little table on the balcony. No place for two people to have a meal. Will they bring you one if you have a balcony dinner? Doug Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cubechick Posted May 8, 2013 Author #20 Share Posted May 8, 2013 A couple of more pictures from sail away: If you're in the Netherlands, you need at least one picture of a windmill: Eventually we needed a snack, so we found the Raw Bar that is part of Ocean Blue. After being assured that the oysters had indeed come from Rotterdam, DH ordered a half dozen...here's a pic minus a couple: While I had the dungeness crab toasts: Both were very good (although DH did say the oysters he had at the hotel the night before were better). Unfortunately, this was our only experience with Ocean Blue, so we can't comment further. We walked around, took the first of 1,000 photos of the famous chandelier: At the end of the evening, we spent some time with Slam Allen. So glad to see/hear him again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vondofife Posted May 8, 2013 #21 Share Posted May 8, 2013 Fantastic review. Really looking forward to your review of the Haven. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cubechick Posted May 8, 2013 Author #22 Share Posted May 8, 2013 Only one thing I hate so far. That tiny little table on the balcony. No place for two people to have a meal. Will they bring you one if you have a balcony dinner? Doug I believe the table you see is the standard size on all of the balconies. Our balcony happens to be larger than normal (which is the best part about it!). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cubechick Posted May 8, 2013 Author #23 Share Posted May 8, 2013 Now we move on the the transatlantic. We've been kicked off our ship, but stop for a quick photo before heading to the hotel. We got a great deal on the Holiday Inn Southampton, again a hotel that was just minutes from the port. Once the clerk realized I was sailing, she made sure to give me a room facing the pier. Here was our view: Once on the ship the next day, here is our home away from home for the week (so nice to finally unpack!!!). Haven Villa 16720...a little on the small side compared to other 2-bedroom suites we've been in, but very, very nice: More in the next post! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cubechick Posted May 8, 2013 Author #24 Share Posted May 8, 2013 You may notice in the photos of the master bedroom, there are two things on the bed. These are a visitor's guide of NYC and a tote back with inaugural transatlantic stamped on them. A gesture that hasn't been seen on other maiden crossings. Very nice! Master bath: Second bedroom and bath: Unlike other two-bedroom suites, the bath in the second bedroom is at the back of the room rather than by the entrance. Not the most convenient set up, especially when the bed is open and made up for the night. (Note all of those shelves for storage!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maryfrei Posted May 8, 2013 #25 Share Posted May 8, 2013 Fantastic pictures, thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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