Norwegian breakaway - nov 2013 - trip report

[Dicenator]

This cruise departed on Sunday Nov. 10th out of Manhattan and returned one week later on Sunday Nov. 17th. The itinerary was supposed to be Port Canaveral, Great Stirrup Cay (private island) and then Nassau, Bahamas. There was a change in that we never made it to Stirrup Cay due to excessively high winds which prevents the tenders from operating safely. What we did instead was dock overnight in Nassau so we had 1 1/2 days there.

The Breakaway is the newest ship in Norwegian's line and made its' first voyage in Late April or May of this year. It is the largest ship that we've ever been on displacing 146,000 tons and it is 1062 feet long with a 130 foot beam. The whole ship has New York themes throughout in its decorations starting with the hull painting by Peter Maxx. In a lot of the hallways are framed paintings and pictures of New York scenes.

The layout of this ship was very easy to find your way around on. All you had to know was that the buffet was on deck 15 aft and everything else other than your stateroom was on decks 6, 7 or 8. The central area of the ship was called 678 Ocean Plaza. Deck 6 has guest services, shore excursions, comedy club and some restaurants. Deck 7 had the theater, casino, a casual restaurant, O'Sheehans which was open 24/7. Deck 8 was all specialty restaurants, outside boardwalk area and the Fat Cats jazz club plus the shops. What united these 3 decks together was a 60 foot diameter open area right in the center from deck 6 to deck 8 with circular staircases connecting them. There was a huge chandelier right in the center which changed lighting colors.

As I had mentioned in a posting a few days before this cruise my wife and myself got a free upgrade from a spa balcony to a Haven Penthouse balcony suite. This free upgrade was worth close to $5,000 compared to what we originally booked this cruise for.

The Haven is an exclusive enclave on the front of the ship comprising 42 staterooms on deck 16 and deck 15. Our stateroom was number 15106 on the port side of the ship and it was 280 square feet with a 14 foot long balcony. The bed was a king size with a pillow top mattress and was extremely comfortable. You needed key card access to even enter the Haven area on the ship. Now for some of the features of the Haven which aren't available to the other 3900 passengers on the ship:

1- Concierge

2- Butler

3- Private pool area with 2 hot tubs and a retractable dome.

4- Private lounge with bar.

5- Private restaurant open for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

6- Private steam room.

7- Expedited embarkation and debarkation.

8- Reserved area in the theater just for Haven guests.

9- Private reception with the ships Captain and other top officers.

10- Champagne in the room upon arrival.

11- Fresh fruit and hor dourves every day.

12- Full in suite dining if desired.

13- Coffee maker in the room.

14- Private elevator.

So, were we spoiled? You bet we were.

Dining and Shows:

For the first two nights we ate in the Haven restaurant. The service was exceptional because the waiter did not have 15 tables to service. If you wanted something that wasn't on the menu as long as it was on some menu in the 20 restaurants on the ship they would get it for you.

The third night we ate at the buffet because we were stressed for time between the Captains cocktail reception and the 7:30 show that we were seeing. The dinner time food in the buffet was quite good and it only took us 30 minutes to eat so we were able to get everything done. The show that we saw this night was "Burn the Floor" which was a dancing show which I think was on Broadway. The 12 dancers were incredible and performed almost non-stop for 70 minutes. We were very impressed.

Next night we had a reservation at La Cuchina, the Italian restaurant. The cover charge was $15/pp. The food here was very good also, I had the Chicken Parmesan. My wife, who is very kind, invited this woman who was there by herself to join us at our table. Her name was Barbara and her husband, an attorney, couldn't come with her at the last moment due to a case he was working on.

That evening we went to the theater after dinner and saw a comedy magician. I thought he was good but my wife was laughing so much I had to ask her "what did you do with my wife?"

Dinner on the next night was in the Manhattan room which is one of the three free main dining rooms on the ship and the nicest one. It is on the back of the ship with full picture windows. What is unique about this restaurant is that there is a dance floor right in the middle of the restaurant. That night during dinner we had a show put on by the dancers from Burn the Floor which again was fantastic. The dinner was just so-so and it took almost 2 hours from the time we sat down until we finished our dessert. My wife ordered flounder and it come out fried. The menu said nothing about fried flounder and she won't eat fried food so she sent it back and got something else. This was somewhat disappointing. After dinner we went to the theater for another spectacular show which was "Rock of Ages". This show lasted 1 hour and 40 minutes. It was excellent, the only problem being that other than the songs that I recognized I couldn't make out clearly the lyrics they were singing. Still, I enjoyed this show immensely.

The next night was Cagney's Steakhouse which is an extra cost, $30 each, restaurant. I had the rib eye and was not disappointed. This restaurant was right on the back of the ship with windows all around the outside. We were seated at an inside table which overlooked the Manhattan dining room right below us. During our dinner the "Burn the Floor" dancers were doing another show on the dance floor so we had a perfect view.

The last show we went to was Cirque du Soleil under the Spiegel tent. This was a dinner show. The dinner was nothing to brag about but the show was spectacular. Being Haven guests we got priority seating and my wife and myself were in the first row no more than 5 feet from the circular stage which was right in the middle of the Spiegel tent. The extra cost of this show and dinner was $39.95 each and it was worth it.

So I got my wife to go to 4 shows during the week which is as many as she has gone to in all of her 27 previous cruises.

Now its Casino Time:

This casino was very large and was basically split into 4 sections. Some of this was due to the big circular opening in the center of the deck that I previously mentioned.

Coming from the front of the ship when you got to the casino you would be right at the circular opening. If you went to the right and back slightly there was a high roller pit.

High Roller Pit:

Baccarat - $25 min

Baccarat - $100 min

Baccarat - $100 min

Pit to Right of Circular opening:

Blackjack - $25 min

Ultimate Texas Hold em - $5 min

3 card poker - $10

Roulette - $10 min

Blackjack - $100 min

Blackjack - $50 min

Blackjack - $50 min

Pit to Left of Circular opening:

Craps - $10 min

3 card poker - $10 min

Ultimate Texas Hold em - $5 min

Roulette - $10 min

Craps - $10 min

Blackjack - $15 min

Blackjack - $6 min

Blackjack - $15 min

Poker - $2/$5 Texas hold em with a 10% rake

Non-smoking pit in the back:

Blackjack - $6 min

3 Card Poker - $10 min

Let it Ride - $10 min

Blackjack - $15 min

Blackjack - $15 min

Blackjack - $15 min

I didn't count the slot machines but there were a lot of them of which I only recognized maybe 20% that I've seen in other casinos.

The overall impression was that the table limits were exceptionally high and I spoke to a few dealers concerning this and their response was that sailing out of New York there was a high demand for the casino and the higher limits were justified.

Now for Craps:

I was surprised to find that this ship had 2 craps tables both of which were identical in every way. 12 feet long with a micro fiber layout which was the most colorful, loud and distracting layout I've ever seen anywhere. I will post pictures of this in a few days. The odds were 3X 4X 5X with no proposition bets other than hard ways and horn bets. To avoid the wall curvature you would have to throw down the don't pass lane or throw at an angle. I had gotten some feedback that these tables were very bouncy and I confirmed that the first afternoon on the ship when I made about 10 practice throws. Not only was the table extremely bouncy but the rubber pyramids on the wall were very bouncy also. I would equate these tables to the Borgata in Atlantic City for playability.

Now for some additional aggravation. This is like my 27th cruise and 8th on Norwegian and this was the first ship that I've been on where they told us you have to bet on the player throwing before you otherwise they would pass you with the dice. More aggravation, this table had a $10 minimum all week long and your minimum odds had to be $10 also. In AC even if the table minimum is $10, you could make a $5 odds bet if you so choose to do. I was expecting a $5 minimum at craps which is what it has been on every other cruise I've been on. I had only brought $800 to gamble with for the week expecting the $5 minimum so I was severely under funded for a $10 game.

One craps table was open all the time starting at 11 AM on the at sea days. The second table would typically open at 10 PM and then usually with only 2 dealers instead of three. During prime evening time the table was filled most of the time but occasionally I was able to get there with a low population and get in a few hands before the players came out of the wood work. All of the players except for me were chicken feeders with very few long 20 plus hands that I saw all week. Things were so bad that on the last night for my last hand I chicken fed the dice myself figuring can I do worse than I've been doing all week.

Here are my throwing results for the week:

DAY #1

METHOD HAND #THROWS #POINTS CO WINS

UH RIGHT 2 PSO

UH RIGHT 12 1 1

PARR LEFT 8 4

UH RIGHT 12 1

SPIN RIGHT 11

UH RIGHT 15 3 2

UH RIGHT 8 1

UH RIGHT 6

DAY #2

METHOD HAND #THROWS #POINTS CO WINS

UH LEFT 10 1 1

UH LEFT 6 3

UH RIGHT 6

UH RIGHT 6

UH RIGHT 6

UH RIGHT 15 1 2

UH RIGHT 12 1

DAY #3

NO CRAPS PLAY - SHIP LEFT PORT AT 10 PM - CASINO OPENED AT 11 PM AND THE CRAPS TABLE WAS FILLED WHEN I WANTED TO PLAY.

DAY #4

METHOD HAND #THROWS #POINTS CO WINS

UH RIGHT 6

UH RIGHT 5

UH RIGHT 9 1 1

PARR RIGHT 15 2 2

UH RIGHT 11 2 2

UH RIGHT 8 1

UH RIGHT 5 2

UH RIGHT 6

PARR RIGHT 30 4 3

DAY #5

METHOD HAND #THROWS #POINTS CO WINS

UH RIGHT 5 1

PARR LEFT 11 1 1

PARR LEFT 14 2 2

DAY #6

METHOD HAND #THROWS #POINTS CO WINS

UH LEFT 11 1 1

UH LEFT 20 1

PARR RIGHT 6 1

UH LEFT 12 1 5

PARR RIGHT 5 2

PARR RIGHT 11 2

UH LEFT 10 1

UH LEFT 8 1

PARR RIGHT 10 1

PARR RIGHT 8 1

UH LEFT 21 1 2

PARR RIGHT 6 1

UH LEFT 2 PSO

UH LEFT 19 1 3

UH LEFT 13 1

UH LEFT 5 1

DAY #7

METHOD HAND #THROWS #POINTS CO WINS

UH LEFT 10 1

UH LEFT 14 1 2

UH LEFT 10 2 1

CHK FEED RIGHT 6

My long hand for the cruise was 30 throws using Parr with my right hand from SL1. I made throws from both SR and SL using Parr and Underhand without too much success. The excessive bounciness was a killer and was so discouraging that I never even wanted to practice on the table. The $10 limit with having to bet on the chicken feeder before you was inhibiting also. On very few hands did I have any consistency with repeating numbers so my betting was very conservative.

In 47 hands I made 33 points for a rate of 70.2% which I consider to be terrible. My come out win percentage was fairly good with 51 come out wins in 47 hands for a rate of 108.5%.

I ended up losing $250 at craps during this cruise which was OK since I was anticipating bad playing conditions before I even got on board the ship. Unfortunately they were much worse than I anticipated.

The overall cruise experience was excellent due to the Haven experience. We have another cruise booked on this ship for May of next year with my brother and sister in law.

Dicenator

[Grandpaul]

We sailed on the Breakaway on its maiden TransAtlantic. Really liked it. What they had in the Manhattan dining room was a small dance band that was excellent. Different type of layout from most ships which I liked. And I enjoyed Second City comedy. LeBistro was its' usual excellent food. I was supposed to sail on it this month but had to cancel. I've never done that before. But we live no too far from NYC so we'll do it again for sure.

[Artemus]

Excellent Trip Report, Dicenator.

You made me get out my AARP magazine and read about The Getaway, which is NCL's sister ship to The Breakaway and now I want to sail on NCL, which I've never done. The article describes "opulent suites in The Haven, the ultimate in luxury accommodations". The article also talks about "The Waterfront, a variety of interconnected indoor and outdoor venues on three dynamic decks, creating a multiplex of dining, activities and more while enhancing guests' connection with the ocean"

Thank you for your Trip Report, Dice. I appreciate it.

Edited November 18, 2013 by Artemus

[Keith1010]

Thanks for sharing your trip report.

 

Keith

[Grandpaul]

ABout a third of the times we've gone to Great Stirrup Cay we haven't gone ashore because of the waves.

[pusywillow]

Sounds like a very nice cruise. Thanks for sharing.

[orangeglitter]

great review. Thanks

[Grandpaul]

Question. How long did it take you to get off the ship and get through customs?

I have to get back to Albany by 2 PM and want to decide what method to use.

[Dicenator]

grandpaul,

 

The ship docked at 6:15 AM and we had clearance to get off with the self carry of your bags by 7 AM. Getting through customs and immigration was very quick. If you have your luggage collected the night before then the earliest group was called at 8 AM.

 

We weren't in a rush to get off the ship because we weren't being picked up until 9:30.

 

dicenator

[Grandpaul]

I'm usually the last person off the ship because I like to wander around the ship when no one is on it. But I'm coaching a 6th grade girls basketball team this year(my Granddaughter is on it) and we have a game at noon in Albany. SO I'll have to hurry. Last time we docked in NYC there was a problem with the customs people. Apparently they straightened that out. Thanks for the info.

[Vinegarjoe10]

Dicenator- Thanks for the trip report.

 

I sailed the Breakaway 10/13- 10/20.

 

Spent a fair amount of time on the dice tables.

 

It was $10.00 min that week as well...

 

I found the crews to be competent, friendly and they really appreciated tokes or action.

 

No heat what so ever for setting or for not hitting the back wall.

 

The only thing I didn't like is that if you didn't have at least $10 on the line during the comeout roll, you had to have at least $10 worth of action on the center bets. ( I normally don't bet the line on a shooter the first time he/she gets the dice, but will throw the occasional $4.00 horn bet out, but that wasn't allowed on the Breakaway)

 

Have you ever been aboard the Gem ? That will be the next NCL ship for me, wondering about dice table conditions ??

 

If you ever get up to the Turning Stone Casino in Verona, NY, send me a PM on here, sounds like we have similar approaches to dice.

 

Regards,

 

Vinegarjoe

[Grandpaul]

I just got back from Turning Stone.

[Dicenator]

vinegarjoe10,

 

I've been on the Gem twice for 9 night cruises out of New York. The first was in November, 2011 and the second was in late March this year.

 

In my opinion its the best craps table I've played on the Norwegian cruise line and this covers the Dawn, Jewel, Gem, Star and Breakaway.

 

I set my personal record on the Gem in 2011 with a 54 throw hand where I made 10 points.

 

This past March the table was still good but there were significantly more craps players on that cruise and I didn't play nearly as much. $5 minimums with no BS like having to bet on the player before you.

 

I'm considering the Gem again for sometime next year.

 

Dicenator

[Vinegarjoe10]

Dicenator,

 

Thanks for the info on the Gem.

 

We are booked on the 9 day in January '15. CAS offer, couldn't refuse, lol.

Edited November 23, 2013 by Vinegarjoe10

[Grandpaul]

I've sailed the Gem many times so obviously I like her. Some great stories in that casino. And some have to do with gambling.

[Dicenator]

Vinegarjoe 10

 

I posted my trip reports on the two Norwegian Gem cruises here on this website in the casino section.

 

Dicenator

[Drunkard of the Seas]

dont understand a thing about craps but i still very much enjoy your reviews. lol looking forward to your next trip!

-Roger

[Sika Dellick]

Nice report but I have no idea in hell what a chicken feeder is! :)