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Cruising with Zay - A Breakaway Review

TnomadX

By TnomadX,
in Norwegian Cruise Line

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TnomadX

TnomadX

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Hi all,

 

I just wanted to share my cruise experience on the Norwegian Breakaway on October 20-27, 2013. So that I have a chance to give you every detail of the cruise, I'm going to break it down for each day. Please be patient with me as I want to ensure I capture everything so that you'll have an idea of what to expect should you sail on the Breakaway.

 

Here we go....

 

Day 1 - Embarkation and Sailing Day

 

I had read a lot of reviews about the Breakaway, and quite a few were pretty negative. I was a little worried about my trip on it, but must say I was pleasantly surprised. I had a pretty good first day.

 

I arrived to the port at around 11:30am, and would you believe I was on the ship by noon? I just knew there were going to be crowds of people, but many were already on board. The embarkation process was very simple and painless. There was not a long wait at all, and the process was very organized.

 

After I got on board, I decided to find my stateroom. I was in a studio cabin #10503. Finding the room was very difficult. You really have to watch the signs to find the studio cabins because they're kinda hidden. You actually need to use your room key to enter the section for the studios because they are more private than most of the ship. The studio area also has a studio lounge for those traveling solo can meet others that are traveling solo. It's a small area, but very quaint. Honestly, I was expecting that there would be younger people in the studio lounge. To my surprise, there were more older people who were traveling by themselves. It was great getting to talk with them and learning from their experience. More on that later.

 

After finally finding my room, I was actually quite impressed with the studio. It was not the largest room, but there was definitely enough space to put my things. It had a full-size bed, mirror and sink, two closets, shower, and toilet with a door. There's also a window that can be opened for a little extra lighting. Don't worry. No one can see in and you can't see out. I was quite happy with the studio. The closet doors were a little hard to close, but it wasn't a big deal. I loved the cabin very much.

 

I decided to go grab some lunch, so I went to find my friends I had met on cruise critic. We had lunch at Savor. I had the fish and chips along with a fruit plate. I thought the food was really good. Our server was very attentive, and I was very pleased with his service. I was still wondering why there were a number of complaints about the service. Everything has been great so far. Savor had a nice feel to it. It wasn't big, but it wasn't small. My friends and I even talked with a couple we had met from Spain, and they were also enjoying themselves so far. I was starting to really get excited now.

 

About an hour or so after lunch, it was time for the muster drill. This is where you will learn the ship's procedure in the event of an emergency. It took a while to get everyone to their stations, so I just starting randomly talking to people who were in our section. I can't recall the conversations, but we laughed and talked until time for the drill. Once started, it was actually very short. Warning!!!! They will not start the drill until every passenger is at their station. It doesn't matter if you have cruised previously or not. Everyone has to still attend.

 

The ship finally started moving around 5pm. We were late because some people were not at their muster stations AND they were waiting for people to get off the ship who attended a wedding. I went up to deck 14 as the ship was sailing, and stood next to a family from New Jersey. They had two 4 y/o twins (boy and girl) who were the sweetest little things. They were very entertaining, and made me laugh a great deal. Just as we were cruising past the Statue of Liberty, both of them got very excited (and so did I). We had a beautiful view of her. It is very crowded on the 14th deck during sail away. If you want to get a good view of her, Try to get there earlyYou want to be on the right side of the ship (the side where the slides are next to the Garden Cafe) to get the best view of her. Otherwise, if you have an aft balcony, that will be the best view.

 

I had Dinner in the Manhattan dining room. I ordered the cream of mushroom soup for an appetizer, and it was absolutely terrific. The entree' was garlic shrimp and broccoli. It was a little on the salty side, but it was still good. Be sure to tell your server to bring you two entree's if you like to eat. The portion sizes are pretty small, and the service may be a little slow because they seemed to be short-staffed. For desert, I had the key-lime pie which was very good.

 

Later on, I went to see the welcome aboard show. This is a show where they give you a little taste of everything you'll enjoy onboard as far as shows go. They've got some very entertaining singers, but I was very interested in the Burn the Floor show. They were very energetic and they're movements were almost nonstop. I'm glad I had made reservations for this show.

 

After the show, I walked around just to explore the ship. As I got towards the center of the ship on deck six, I could really smell the smoke from the casino. It is very strong. For me, it was almost unbearably strong, but that may be just because I don't smoke. I had to hold my breath sometimes just so I could get through it.

 

I later decided to go up to O'Sheehans Restaurant and Pub. I decided to have a little bit of Shepherd's pie that is made with Lamb. To my surprise, it was very good. I then went to my cabin and got ready for bed. All in all, it was a good night. I couldn't wait to see what the next day brings since it's a day at sea.

 

To be continued...

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TnomadX

TnomadX

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Leaving tomorrow on Breakaway ... thanks for posting :)

 

I don't think I'll be done before you take off tomorrow. Let me give you a few key points before you head off.

 

There may be a few delays in service. The ship is definitely understaffed.

Take your documents with you so that you'll have proof of what you paid for in advance. The staff onboard may not have an accurate record.

Remember that you're on vacation, so no matter what, have fun.

Go to all the shows you can. Many of them are enjoyable.

They may possibly make staff changes when you reach Port Canaveral. Don't be alarmed if you have a new room steward on Tuesday night.

Please go to the muster drill so the ship is not delayed.

Don't forget to tell us all about your vacation when you return.;)

 

--

Zay

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bingo3

bingo3

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Thanks so much for your review! Well, I don't like smoke either, so if not dealt with by my cruise next May, I'll be staying far away from it, so hope they don't need my money anywhere near it..... I have been on 5 cruises, 2 on Carnival and 3 on RCCL, never had a "smoke" issue. Kinda weird being a new ship to have such a problem and this is mentioned often. :(

debbie

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TnomadX

TnomadX

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I woke up around 9AM and went to the Garden Cafe' to have breakfast. They had what I consider to be a really good selection. I had sausage, bacon, eggs, and hashed browns. You MUST have the hashed browns. They are really good. They don't look like hashed browns initially, but they are absolutely delicious. (Come back, Zay....finish this review...lol). It was a pretty good breakfast I thought. I sat with the family I met on sail away. My favorite twins were still just as entertaining as they were the day before. The mother had some hot cereal that her son thought were more tasty than she did. Before mom knew it, her son had finished them off and bragging about it. It was the funniest thing. Then her daughter showed me something on my phone I didn't know existed. If you should ever have a problem with your cell phone, just ask any nearby kid. They will be happy to show you all the features of your phone and then some ;)

 

Around 11AM, I went to our Cruise Critic Meet & Mingle at Cagney's Steakhouse. It was great to meet some of the people I have been communicating with. We were provided with a few snacks, and got a chance to meet some of the senior staff on the ship. The Cruise Director, Dan the Man, stayed and answered many of the questions we had. Some of us stayed behind and visited a little more before getting ready for our scheduled cabin crawl at 1PM.

 

Some people were not participating in the cabin crawl, but I got a chance to visit with a few of them. We even did somewhat of a mini cabin crawl. I showed them my studio cabin, and they were just as impressed as I was. I also got a chance to see two balconies with two different setups but the same category. One seemed more spacious than the other it seemed.

 

I then went to the cabin crawl with the larger group. I'm so glad I did. I didn't realize how much fun these could be. I thought it was terrific. some of the rooms really surprised me (in a good way). We saw a couple of accessible rooms that have so much space in them. We were able to fit our entire group of cabin crawlers in them. The accessible rooms appear to have very nice balconies. They also have nicer bathrooms (I thought).

 

Now, we learned a pretty good lesson. The ship has limited hallway space on many of the floors. We had people traveling in scooters, and it was very difficult getting through when the stewards were cleaning the rooms ad their carts are in the hallway. I know we must have frustrated the stewards asking them to move the carts. If you do a cabin crawl, please keep those that may be in wheel chairs or scooters in mind. If you have studio cabins, it is helpful if you have more than one studio to view so that the group can split up to see them.

 

After the cabin crawl, I went to visit with some cruise critic friends in their aft cabin. We had a wonderful time just talking and visiting. It was a beautiful aft balcony, and I almost moved in lol. I wished I had known that they were there as they had an excellent view of the Statute of Liberty. We visited for nearly two hours. We had a great time.

 

After leaving them, I decided to head back to O'Sheehans again. I had the chicken pot pie and spinach dip. The spinach dip was a bit cool, and wasn't very tasty. The Pot Pie was actually really good. The service was good, and I was able to get in and out pretty quickly.

 

After having lunch, I decided to check my stateroom account and noticed I had been charged the gratuity for day 1. I had already prepaid my gratuities before I boarded, so I went to talk with Guest Services. Here's where I started to have problems. I explained to the representative that I had already paid the gratuities, but she insisted that I didn't. The way she spoke to me was very shocking. She didn't smile at all, and was not willing to assist me in resolving the issue. She was adamant that I hadn't paid them at all. Without getting upset, I told her I would bring down the receipt to show it was already taken care of. I got the receipt and took back down to another representative. She was a little nicer than the first. She took a copy of my receipt and told me it would take a couple of days to research it. Within a couple of days, she said I should see it credited back to my account. I accepted this and moved forward. I was still a little worried after the first experience with guest services.

 

For Dinner, I decided to eat at Savor. I wasn't very pleased tonight. I got the black bean soup and Tilapia. The soup was pretty good, but the Tilapia was just okay. It was served with tomatoes and olives, which seemed like a weird combination to me. The tilapia was overcooked a little, and tasted more like the olives. For desert, I ordered the cheesecake, but I must not have had a taste for it really I didn't find it to be good, and I hadn't met a cheesecake that I didn't like before. :(

 

It gets better. After dinner, I went to the show for the evening which was Burn the Floor. I LOVED this show. It's ballroom dancing meets Greece. It's almost non-stop dancing. The cast was great, and the singers were phenomenal. My only negative critique is that I felt the music was a little loud. Sometimes it seemed to overpower the singers. Other than that, Burn the Floor was an awesome show. I believe everyone who saw this show enjoyed it.

 

I went to the dance party afterwards, and it was just okay for me. I left early and met another couple from New Jersey, and they were both very nice. I enjoyed talking with them very much.

 

One of my fellow cruises had invited me to go to see Fat Kats, so I decided to go. Fat Kats is a group that actually sings well. They do all kinds of music and feeds off of the audience. They were such a hoot. Keep in mind that any show you go to after 9pm becomes more of an adult show. It was well after 9pm, so I got a real adult show here. It was still fun and I'm glad I went. They were so much fun and energetic.

 

That's it for day 2. Let me know if you have any questions. I'm happy to answer them. Next is day 3.

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chiapet

chiapet

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I don't think I'll be done before you take off tomorrow. Let me give you a few key points before you head off.

 

There may be a few delays in service. The ship is definitely understaffed.

Take your documents with you so that you'll have proof of what you paid for in advance. The staff onboard may not have an accurate record.

Remember that you're on vacation, so no matter what, have fun.

Go to all the shows you can. Many of them are enjoyable.

They may possibly make staff changes when you reach Port Canaveral. Don't be alarmed if you have a new room steward on Tuesday night.

Please go to the muster drill so the ship is not delayed.

Don't forget to tell us all about your vacation when you return.;)

 

--

Zay

 

WOW ... you are totally awesome ... thanks for thinking of me :p

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chiapet

chiapet

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You are quite welcome. I've posted two dailies to at least give you an idea of what to expect. You should have a good time. I'm excited for you. :D

 

Can't thank you enough ... we'll definitely have a great time ... as we were already on the Breakaway for a 2nt Inaugural ... and had a blast :p

 

And I think everyone would have a great time too ... if they just followed your advice to:

 

"Remember that you're on vacation, so no matter what, have fun."

 

;)

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TnomadX

TnomadX

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Looking forward to reading the rest of your review. I am excited to see a solo's perspective of this itinerary. I am going solo on this ship in March. :)

 

I thought the solo area was really nice. Many people said the Epic's studio's area was much bigger and better, but I haven't sailed it yet. I thought it was great on the Breakaway. I'll be curious to hear your thoughts when you sail it.

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TnomadX

TnomadX

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Thanks so much for your review! Well, I don't like smoke either, so if not dealt with by my cruise next May, I'll be staying far away from it, so hope they don't need my money anywhere near it..... I have been on 5 cruises, 2 on Carnival and 3 on RCCL, never had a "smoke" issue. Kinda weird being a new ship to have such a problem and this is mentioned often. :(

debbie

 

It was pretty bad. The thing that makes it worse is that the casino is an open area, so the smoke travels quickly. I really hope they do something about it soon as it was very uncomfortable for many on our sailing.

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TnomadX

TnomadX

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Ohhh....

Did you go and listen to Les Getrex 'n' Creole Cookin band? Did you enjoy them?

 

Unfortunately I missed those :(. I really tried to get around to everything, but I missed some things. There is so much to do on board. I think I will have to sail again to catch those things I missed.

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mariana31

mariana31

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I thought the solo area was really nice. Many people said the Epic's studio's area was much bigger and better, but I haven't sailed it yet. I thought it was great on the Breakaway. I'll be curious to hear your thoughts when you sail it.

 

I have been on the Epic twice now and loved every second of it. Just a tad nervous about meeting other solos - especially since there aren't nearly as many solo cabins. But then again - being able to experience a new ship is going to still be fun :)

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TnomadX

TnomadX

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I have been on the Epic twice now and loved every second of it. Just a tad nervous about meeting other solos - especially since there aren't nearly as many solo cabins. But then again - being able to experience a new ship is going to still be fun :)

 

Don't be nervous. you will meet great people. I found that everyone in the studio lounge was great to talk to. There were some very interesting stories. You'll see ;)

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ljandiernp

ljandiernp

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Hi, I am looking forward to reading your review as I am going to be on Breakaway in May 2014 and I have never sailed with NCL, so I have a lot of learning to do. I see from the daily paper that tickets are required for Second City. Did you see them and if so, was it difficult to obtain tickets? I'd hate to miss a show because I didn't know that I needed to get tickets beforehand and it would never occur to me if I hadn't read your post. Thanks! Laurie

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