Breakaway Review 9/1/13-9/8/13

[Fredric22]

Just got back from the Breakaway yesterday and had a great time. Overall, it was a great vacation with very little to complain about. I will separate the review into short sections and comment on them individually. Also, a quick note about me. I have taken over 30 cruises on all of the major cruise lines so I do have a good base of experience to compare this to.

 

Food: Overall the food on the ship was excellent.

 

Dining Room Lunch: The menu was nice and the food was very good. The service was a bit slow, however so we did not opt to return after dining there the first day. It was a nice place to go on the first day to avoid the crowds at the buffet.

 

Dining Room Dinner: We dined in the Manhattan Room (gorgeous space) three nights and found the food each night to be delicious. There was a risotto and shrimp dish one night that was the nightly special and it may have been the best risotto dish I have ever had. The quality has certainly improved over my last cruise on the Epic. The desserts were also very good. The cheesecake and the bread and butter pudding were highlights. (I read a review recently that said that there was not one single dessert on the Breakaway that was good. That person must be extremely picky!) The dining room quality of food was right underneath Celebrity and above all of the other major lines.

 

Le Bistro: Amazing dinner. While the service was just OK, the actual meal was delicious. We opted for the steak for 2 (additional $20 surcharge) and it was worth every penny. It was one of the best steaks I have ever had.

 

La Cucina: I was actually pleasantly surprised by this restaurant. Growing up in Brooklyn and eating a lot of Italian food, I thought this would be very "Olive garden-esqe" but in fact they have a great menu with excellent food. We dined outside on the Waterfront on this night and the views while eating were spectacular. If it is a nice night out, I would highly recommend eating outside.

 

Moderno: Once again, another delicious meal. The food here was actually better than Texas de Brazil (famous Brazilian steakhouse chain). The salad bar has many high end selections and the meats were top notch. I was worried about not being able to get the meats rare, however it was never a problem. Each type of meat they brought around had varying degrees of doneness and finding a piece that was less cooked was never a problem.

 

Ocean Blue on the Waterfront: While we did not dine here for dinner (perhaps next time), we did have lunch at the waterfront one day. We were able to try most of the selections on the small menu and each one was better than the last. I would highly recommend coming here for lunch one day.

 

Sushi: We also had lunch here one day and the sushi was very good. The prices were pretty reasonable too.

 

Noodle bar: Had a late night snack here one night and the food was excellent. The noodles are prepared fresh right in front of you.

 

Carlos Bakery: I could not resist the chocolate covered cannoli. They tasted just as good as they looked.

 

O'Sheehan's: This was the only restaurant where I felt like the quality has gone downhill since my cruise on the Epic in 2010. The menu shrunk severely after 11pm. On our last cruise, we enjoyed having a late night snack around midnight. With only 4 or 5 selections (and no real desserts on the menu) it just was not as good. I will say the wings were very good though. The service here was also lacking. Many times it was slow and the servers seemed very short and unhappy. Overall, it was not one of my favorite places. I think the concept is great but I hope NCL fixes the limited menu. At least put some ice cream on the menu for dessert!!

 

Buffet: No matter when we went it seemed crowded. However, we always were able to find a spot to eat at lunch. Food was very good and there were a lot of choices.

 

Uptown grill: This was a great place to get breakfast while avoiding the crowds in the Buffet! Plenty of seats and a good selection of food.

 

Entertainment:

 

Burn the floor: The dancers are extremely talented. I was a little bored during the show, however. There is no real plot to follow so it can get a bit monotonous after a while. Many people did seem to enjoy it though so I may be in the minority about this.

 

Rock of Ages: Excellent! I had heard so much negative feedback about the show that I really was not looking forward to attending. I am happy to say I could not have been more wrong about it. I was extremely impressed by the quality of the performance and the talents of the cast. I really did feel like I was on Broadway watching a full production. It is true that this is not a kid friendly show, however. I also did see many people leaving during the show. I can see how it is not everyone's cup of tea. But for me it was one of the highlights of the cruise.

 

Cirque Jungle Fantasy: Another excellent show. The performers were so talented. It was great to be able to watch them up close. The dinner part of it was fine. The food was pretty good. I would have been happy watching it without the food (I didn't want to take my eyes off of the show) but I felt that it was more than adequate. I was certainly not hungry after the show.

 

Second City: OK, here is one area where NCL needs to improve. The act they do is getting very tired. They actually used many of the same skits we saw on the Breakaway two years ago. The cast also shouted the whole time making it pretty uncomfortable to listen to them. They had a few funny moments but overall I think this idea needs to be reworked or at least injected with new material! Carnival definitely wins in the comedy club category. They bring on 4 different comedians on a 7 day cruise.

 

Howl at the Moon: I thought they were fine. I didn't enjoy it enough to go night after night, however.

 

Fat Cats: The jazz band is extremely talented! Watching them was certainly one of the highlights of the cruise.

 

Ice bar: We did this on the Epic. It was fun to do again. I am not sure I would do it a third time, but if you have never gone I think it is worth the trip. The two drinks were also very good.

 

Casino: We spent a lot of time here. Overall, I found the slots to be quite "friendly". I did not come away a winner but I didn't really lose either. For playing as much as I did the whole week, that is actually winning! Also, I do think the smoke is a bit much in certain areas of the casino. Often times I did not realize I was in the smoking section and then someone would light up right next to me. However, I will say that I did not smell any smoke outside of the smoking sections. I did not smell any smoke in the atrium on decks 6 or 8 or even just walking through the main passage way in the casino.

 

Other things

 

Vibe: We were group number one and were one of the first people on the ship. We almost ran to guest services to get passes to Vibe and when we arrived we were given the last four tickets. I could not believe how quickly it sold out. A few people who came too late were outraged and proceeded to yell at the manager. Someone even started questioning me as to why I was able to board before him. It was really not a nice way to start vacation. I think NCL should open Vibe reservations online like they do with the restaurants.

 

Waterslides: So much fun! NCL definitely wins in this category.

 

Fireworks: It was novel to see fireworks on a cruise ship. It was not the best fireworks display I've seen, but I give it an A for effort!

 

Atrium: They really need to find a better venue for Deal or No Deal and showing movies. I am not sure why NCL thinks the lobby is an appropriate place to host these kinds of activities. There are not nearly enough seats and the area is prone to noise from pretty much every direction.

 

Drink prices: Quite reasonable! The drink of the day was 6.95 which I thought was a good deal.

 

Disembarkation: Quickest I have ever experienced. We chose the walk off option and were off the ship by 8am. It took 5 minutes to clear customs and we were home before 9!

 

Overall Impressions:

 

The Breakaway is a very nice ship. The decor is beautiful. I do think there are some crowding issues and generally the ship just has a crowded feel to it. That is not to say we waited in many long lines or had hard time getting seated for dinner. But wherever you look, there are just a lot of people. It would not stop me from going on the Breakaway again but I do think that overall I prefer the design of the Epic a little more.

 

Please feel free to ask me questions!

[bmlovell]

Great concise review I can tell your a fair minded person by this review and feel your experience with all the lines made your review even better . Thank you can't wait to step on board ourselves just under 2 weeks

[SissasMomE]

Vibe: We were group number one and were one of the first people on the ship. We almost ran to guest services to get passes to Vibe and when we arrived we were given the last four tickets. I could not believe how quickly it sold out. A few people who came too late were outraged and proceeded to yell at the manager. Someone even started questioning me as to why I was able to board before him. It was really not a nice way to start vacation. I think NCL should open Vibe reservations online like they do with the restaurants.

 

 

Oh geez :rolleyes: I would have laughed and walked away. People are crazy.

[aboud50]

Great review - we too are going out on the 22nd of Sept. Can't wait! :):)

[Coastalbreezes]

Great review -- I can't wait to be on Breakaway again in 12 days!

 

Tracy

[karen119]

Last year we sailed the NYC/Florida/Bahamas itinerary on the Jewel and we thoroughly enjoyed the hypnotist and comedian/magician shows. They were a lot of fun and there were both family-friendly and adult-rated versions of the performances, so it was appropriate for everyone. Are there any shows like that on board the Breakaway? We're sailing the same week/itinerary in November this year. Thanks!

[bingo3]

Thanks for your review, the newest ones just posted on the review section aren't very complimentary.

debbie

[Fredric22]

Last year we sailed the NYC/Florida/Bahamas itinerary on the Jewel and we thoroughly enjoyed the hypnotist and comedian/magician shows. They were a lot of fun and there were both family-friendly and adult-rated versions of the performances, so it was appropriate for everyone. Are there any shows like that on board the Breakaway? We're sailing the same week/itinerary in November this year. Thanks!

 

 

Yes, I forgot to mention that they did have a comedian/magician one night of the cruise performing in the main theater. Unfortunately, I have to say his act was pretty bad. There were a few parts that were entertaining but the rest was just very...bad. I think NCL can find someone with a little more talent. The second city act does have a family show, however. I did not see it, but that may also be a good option. There was also a Tina Turner tribute show one night in the main theater, but I did not attend.

 

Also, I forgot to mention my time at the fitness center. I signed up for a yoga class on the first day of the cruise. The actual class was held the morning of the first sea day. Although it was billed as "yoga" it was actually something called Chi Ball Yoga which really had no resemblance to actual yoga (I am a pretty avid yogi). Needless to say I was not happy that I paid $12 for a yoga class that was not in fact a yoga class. I did not expect a top notch class, but I did think we would at least do regular yoga poses. At the end of the class the "instructor" tried to sell the class on a bunch of seminars. She used our valuable glass time to sell us stuff. The actual facility of the fitness center looked very nice. The weight room did seem a bit small for the number of guests on board. However, it seemed that as the week went on less and less people actually made it to the gym.

[culinarc]

Fredric thanks for taking the time to share this with us. Very informative and fun review that gets me exited to experience it soon for myself. I so glad you enjoyed your vacation.:D:D

[karen119]

There was also a Tina Turner tribute show one night in the main theater, but I did not attend.

 

That is Fire and Ice. They were on the Jewel last year and were pretty good. In addition to the Tina Turner tribute, they also did a Michael Jackson tribute one night. That woman has A LOT of energy.

[Fl0werChild_]

What time did you arrive at the port to be able to get into the first boarding group?

[Keith1010]

Very well written review.

 

Thank you.

 

Keith

[Highboy90]

Nice review Fredric22. Thanks for sharing.

[Fredric22]

What time did you arrive at the port to be able to get into the first boarding group?

 

We arrived around 10am.