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Breakaway Review - June 9, 2013 cruise

mizLORInj

By mizLORInj,
in Norwegian Cruise Line

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mizLORInj Great Review Rare

mizLORInj

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About us: 2 friends who have cruised Norwegian and other cruiselines. Booked this trip mainly due to the Breakaway being new.

 

We arrived and were in the quite short Security line by 11:20. After Security you need to pay attention as deck #s are broken out into different check-in lines, as well as lines by Latitudes or non-Latitudes or gold/plat/suites/vip.

 

Quick check-in and we went right to our cabins. Lovely category BA balcony cabin on deck 11, over the shuffleboard area. Bed near sliding glass door. Bathroom had good storage space and felt quite spacious for a ship. Closet is divided in two: half is hangers (we brought extra which was a good idea) and half shelves. Safe is on one of those shelves. There were 2 robes in the closet already.

 

Counter top with phone, ice, glasses, and coffee maker which I loved. A shelf above this counter which came in very handy. Some more storage under the counter too, and a fridge. Very pleasant cabin with regards to décor and storage space. The balcony was not as small as I thought it would be; seemed to be about the same size on Jewel, Gem, etc. Clean and shiny though! I would have liked at least one chair that had a reclining back. One oddity was there is a gap between the 2 sliding glass doors when closed. I wondered why we could hear outside conversations so clearly while in the cabin, and even the sound of the waves (that’s not a problem) but I thought it strange to see this gap. Also made it a bit annoying when people had outside conversations at 2am.

 

Our Muster station was the theater, as it was for way too many others. The stairwells were moving very slowly due to the number of people. The theater was overflowing with nowhere near enough seats for all the people assigned to this muster station. We let the person at our # station scan our cards then we stood in the back as all seats were taken. Many stood in the back too. I can’t imagine what this would be like in a real emergency. At least it was quick.

 

The buffet, O’Sheehan’s, and one of the dining rooms were open for lunch day of embarkation.

 

I love NCL’s buffets—breakfast, lunch or dinner. Spent the most time at the Asian station. Could always find something we liked. Various hot dishes, meats and/or veggie/pasta dishes, pizza, burgers, soups, salad bar. Ice cream! Soft serve in 4 places (if I remember correctly) and hard ice cream behind a counter on the starboard side buffet during lunch and dinner times. Macadamia brittle was wonderful! Breakfast was the same every day but a very good variety. For us, NCL’s food is the standout in the mass market cruiseline world. Also, a new feature is sinks in various cutouts in the buffet area for hand-washing, which we used instead of the antibacterial cleanser dispensers. No washy-washy person in the buffet. We had breakfast at O’Sheehans one day. It was usually quite busy. The bar near the ice room (which we didn’t go into) was nice and had great cocktails. All the dining rooms were lovely though we only ate in one of them once. Didn’t really use the Waterfront area for any meals. We had a cupcake from Carlo’s; it was good. Didn’t feel the need to buy the other desserts though they looked good.

 

Waterpark was very cool and we did get on most of the slides later in the cruise. Didn’t get to do to the ropes course but will next time. Kiddie waterpark was very nice and the kids seemed to enjoy it. Pool area was very crowded on sea days as would be expected. I thought there were plenty of loungers all over the various top decks and at Spice H20 aft.

 

If you order your show tickets online ahead of time, you do not get a paper ticket. We didn’t know this and waited in a long box office line just to find out that no ticket is needed—just a scan of our cruise card upon arrival at our show time. If it said that anywhere, I must have missed it. Shows we saw were The Second City—I enjoy the skits and then the improv more than just the improv. Rock of Ages was ok. Burn the Floor was amazing—the dancers and the musicians. I think I enjoyed watching the drummer as much as the dancers. I would go to this show again. Dancing with the Breakaway Stars was quite entertaining. Slam Allen & his band in Fat Cats lounge were incredible. Howl at the Moon did well—it was fun to watch them play off each other. Some nights it was more interactive than others.

 

The Library is tucked away down a hallway along with some conference rooms and the Card Room. Library has some Rockettes costumes which were very cool. I always like Bob Mackie’s designs.

 

Gift shop for t-shirts, gold by the inch, etc. is set up in a corridor that you have to walk through which is good for their business, but not so good for those just passing through. Creates blocks in moving along.

 

Went to Guest Services to change some $ and was a bit surprised at being told quite curtly “we don’t have change”. Now we do occasionally do this on various cruises, and never ever have I heard that one! Asking how this could be on the third day of a cruise, some change did show up and our mission was accomplished. One other time I stopped by to ask about the fireworks and again found a less-than-friendly agent. There is a separate “onboard credit” desk which is open certain hours.

 

Unfortunately we were downwind from smokers. Perhaps someday NCL will reevaluate their smoking policy. The casino was also very smoky and since it was near the 3-tiered chandelier open atrium area, the entire area would smell smoky, as far forward as O’Sheehans. Not a good design.

 

Our M&G was Monday and we had a great turnout (though still the 20% or so fall-through from the looks of the badges still sitting there). Next day was a cabin crawl so we got to see a balcony cabin, solo (very cool and the lounge was nice too), aft PH suite (fabulous!!), spa suite (different with a non-carpeted floor) and Haven 2 br suite. All were nice but only the aft PH had a great balcony.

 

There are touch screens throughout the ship to give you directions to a place on the ship or see what events are going on anytime during the day. I liked this feature.

 

Elevators. I had mentioned in my recent Celebrity Equinox review that a ship with 3,000 people needs more than 2 elevator banks. This ship is 4,000 people with 2 elevator banks. Just not efficient for passengers (but I’m sure it is a cost savings for NCL). There were times the elevator would ding but the area was so crowded with others waiting for one of the 8 elevators that you couldn’t get to the elevator in time. Then there were people who would actually hit the door close button as you approached the door (and it wasn’t by accident—I witnessed someone doing it !).

 

There were the following tastings for fee: beer, wine, margarita and mojito.

 

There was a (maybe more than one) silver/gold/platinum Latitudes Rewards party at Spice H20. I do like that outdoor space. The only issue is if the weather is less than cooperative, there is not a similarly large space anywhere on the ship, so the 80s party ended up in the Atrium which just isn’t large enough.

 

Bring back the WHITE HOT PARTY! Yes there are other parties but White Hot was NCL’s “thing” and I missed it.

 

Why are the menus not on the TV in the cabin? You can order show tickets which is convenient. Very few tv channels but we did watch America’s Test Kitchen one evening while waiting to go to some event (a PBS sort of station).

 

Jogging track is in a bad place among deck chairs and is also very short.

 

I do wish people would be more considerate with noise, e.g., rearranging their few pieces of deck furniture (really—for 5 minutes??), walking loudly, slamming doors (why would you do that?!) and just being aware that they are not the only people on the ship.

 

In Bermuda we ported starboard side to the dock. We had day passes at Coco Reef so we shared a taxi with some others from our roll call. What a fabulous resort with beach, pool and facilities. The second day we got a bus/ferry pass and went to St. Georges, wandered around a bit, stopped at Supermart to get some drinks and snacks, and walked up the hill past the Unfinished Church (which you can no longer go in) and over to Tobacco Bay. Lovely. We took a bus back into Hamilton, wandered a bit, and then the ferry back to the ship. We did an evening sunset sail out of Hamilton as well.

 

4:30 or so Celebrity Summit left the dock and it was fun to hoot and holler with them. 5:00 rolls around and people are still being paged to call Guest Services. I had the portbermudawebcam site open on my iphone and saw 2 people running to the ship. Shortly after this the lines were brought in and off we went. It was now quite windy but the water is so beautiful so we stayed out on the balcony. When we saw the Summit turn northwest we knew our turn was coming soon and we watched the pilot boat pull up alongside. Due to the winds that evening the fireworks were cancelled and though the captain said it would maybe happen Saturday, no fireworks this cruise. That was disappointing. There were huge swells and it made for a pitch and roll that I liked a lot. That was the first time we felt any motion on the ship but we didn’t find it to be a lot or disturbing at all. Thought the ship handled it quite well. By mid-day Saturday the sea was very calm again.

 

We went under the Verrazano at 4:30am and were at the dock by 5:30am. First easy walk-off (that I heard) was at 6:45am. We had breakfast and then walked off at 7:30am. Very nice and quick.

 

So, in summary, I liked this ship a lot. Even though the cabin was not soundproof (we had a heavy walker above us who liked to get up early, we could hear people talking in the cabin next door, toilets flushing, etc.), our cabin was functional and comfortable. As I mentioned, I’m a fan of NCL’s food. So many activities and entertainment options on this ship. Is it perfect? Of course not, but I don’t expect perfection. And yes, I’d sail it again! :)

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Aldeya

Aldeya

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Went to Guest Services to change some $ and was a bit surprised at being told quite curtly “we don’t have change”. Now we do occasionally do this on various cruises, and never ever have I heard that one! Asking how this could be on the third day of a cruise, some change did show up and our mission was accomplished. One other time I stopped by to ask about the fireworks and again found a less-than-friendly agent. There is a separate “onboard credit” desk which is open certain hours.

 

 

Based on the reviews I read and our own experience there is no improvement in the "crew factor" on the Breakaway.

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OnTheGoMom921

OnTheGoMom921

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Hi Lori!! Thank you for posting your review. Glad to hear it was a mostly positive experience. I have 4 more days to wait! We will be in one of those aft PH suites, and I'm wondering which cabin you saw on your crawl. Was it on 11 or 14 with the opposite layout (bedroom near balcony)? Or with the bathroom near balcony? Thanks for your insights on the ship. I am hoping to love her as much as the other ships I've been on. Crowded and smoky are not my favorite thing, so I have to wait and see...Thanks!:)

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mizLORInj Great Review Rare

mizLORInj

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Hi Michele.

It was deck 14 starboard side. Absolutely amazing suite!

You will be under a carpeted area in the buffet and won't have people right next to you as the bathroom buffers on one side and the living room on the other.

ENJOY!!

We are back on it for a January CTN too.

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mizLORInj Great Review Rare

mizLORInj

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How do day passes for coco reef work ? Where did you purchase?

I emailed them directly and set it up in advance. $49pp for use of the resort and it includes a 2 course lunch with either wine or beer. Not a bad deal. The resort is nice with a great pool, pristine beach, and showers/facilities. Ahh last week at this time I was there! sigh. I just posted a review on tripadvisor yesterday.

 

Someone else asked about Ice Bar--we did not go in. I didn't want to be cold!

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david_sobe

david_sobe

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Thanks for the review!

Your review is the 5th or 6th that mentions how easily you can hear your neighbors in the cabin. Never really heard this issue in reviews before. Mostly in the studios section but never read about it in Epic reviews.

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Novastar

Novastar

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5:00 rolls around and people are still being paged to call Guest Services. I had the portbermudawebcam site open on my iphone and saw 2 people running to the ship.

 

I saw that too. Hilarious! Today there were 6 dock runners! Wonder how many cruises it will take until the captain gets tired of waiting and just leaves on time. She was more than 30 minutes late leaving today.

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mizLORInj Great Review Rare

mizLORInj

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Afterthoughts:

Remembered something else: Interior cabins have their own access corridor. Their doors are not across from the balcony cabins. If you are at the forward (really more mid-ship) elevator banks and look aft down the center hallway between the port and starboard elevators, those are interior cabins. There is also another set of interiors forward.

Also it would be nice if NCL did as Princess does when you acheive the next loyalty program tier on a cruise--send a Welcome to [next level] to your cabin the last day of the cruise.

 

And I know I'm hoping in vain, but I wish we'd see the self-service laundry facilities brought back on NCL so I could pack less.

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