Breakaway advice?

[parasailor]

I will appreciate any practical advice about the Breakaway, which I am taking on 1/5, such as how to avoid the reported long lines for food; which entertainment venues are best; how much you tip per person in specialty restaurants; whether there any tucked away Asian lunch stations; whether you can get an advance look at the main dining menus to decide which nights to eat elsewhere; etc

 

Thanks very much!

[janus287]

Just got back from 12/22-12/29 Breakaway cruise, when there were 4,800 passengers aboard (well above "normal" due Xmas week with many families with 3 or 4 to a room).

 

Here are is my advice for avoiding lines for food (It's really only dinner where lines can be an issue):

 

1) For MDRs, if you are willing to eat early, you will avoid lines. We went to MDRs at 5:30 pm most nights, and were done by 6:30 pm leaving us plenty of time to do all the evening entertainment events.

 

2) If you are booking specialty restaurants, I suggest booking them for the last two sea nights. MDRs/buffet are busier on sea days, and more people are looking for some variety the last two nights. Book the specialty restaurants early, as the best times get taken quickly.

 

3) For Lobster night at buffet (2nd night), I read many of the posts and knew the buffet would be a zoo. We didn't want the aggravation, so went to a MDR that night for an early diner. After first evening entertainment, we dropped by the buffet at around 8:15 pm, and found there was no line at all for the lobster, and plenty of seating. I got two tails, and went back for a third with no line. So skip the lobster (not worth a long wait), or go later.

 

4) At buffet, walk around a bit to find less busy stations, and areas that aren't as crowded. If there is a long line, come back later. e.g. there was a long line for crepe station one night. I just skipped it and dropped by later between shows, and got crepes with no line.

 

5) For MDRs, service is slower in Manhattan Room (room is larger, and further from kitchen). I also observed longer lines to get into Manhattan room. The Manhattan room has a live band and a dance floor, so for people who enjoy ballroom dancing during dinner, it's a good choice. If you're not into ballroom dancing, service is quicker in the smaller Taste/Savor MDRs.

 

For Entertainment, we enjoyed all the entertainment.

-- everyone I've talked to enjoys Burn the Floor. They are world class dancers.

-- Howl at the Moon, Slem Allen, were very good.

-- Rock of Ages, I thought was good, not great. If you read CC, you would know that the show is not recommended for children and has vulgar language and sexually suggestive content. Some people who were offended walked out. In my view, it nothing worse than you would see in a PG-13 movie, and they do warn you in advance. The show on NCL is basically the same as the show on Broadway or the movie version (which was rated PG-13).

 

-- Second City, gets very mixed reviews here on CC. Some love it, some hate it. Depends on type of humour you enjoy. The 7 pm and 11 pm (adults) is mostly improv, so how it goes depends a bit on the audience interaction. The 9 pm slow has more sketches and less improv. My group enjoyed Second City and saw them four times (getting to all three time slots). Most of the people we saw in the audience seemed to really enjoy the show.

Edited December 31, 2013 by janus287

[parasailor]

Thanks very much! That is extremely good advice. On some ships, I have found tucked away buffet stations at lunch and/or dinner offering Indian or Chinese dishes, which are often very good, since the cooks are fom there. Did you spot any on Breakaway?

[meatball_nyc]

Good advise Janus. Thanks so much!

 

Happy New Year!

 

189 days till we sail on her :)

 

 

 

~robin and brian~

Norwegian Breakaway 2014

Carnival Miracle 2010

Carnival Legend 2006

Every Day at Sea is a Great Day

[janus287]

Thanks very much! That is extremely good advice. On some ships, I have found tucked away buffet stations at lunch and/or dinner offering Indian or Chinese dishes, which are often very good, since the cooks are fom there. Did you spot any on Breakaway?

 

Yes, there is an Asian station that has both Indian and Chinese dishes.

-- Indian always had Naan and Papadum, and three or four Indian dishes.

-- Chinese I think had three items: always a stir fried veggie, and a noodle dish, and one other dish, and rice.

 

EDIT: for entertainment, forgot to mention we also really enjoyed the comedy/magic act (Michael Finney).

Edited December 31, 2013 by janus287

[metsinfirst]

I was on the same sailing. The buffet did have some areas that had Asian food, plus some bread that you'd find in an Indian restaurant.

 

We did speciality restaurants 5 nights at 5:30 each time. If you go at that time, you get nice seats at the window. For Cagneys and Moderno, that meant dinner facing Atlantis since the ship was berthed aft facing Atlantis. There were many large groups at Moderno, and our waiter made sure that the servers with the meat skewers went to the back of the room where there were four tops seated, so all the skewers did not get wiped out by the large groups.

 

At the buffet, some stations were more crowded than others. I'd stay away from those stations closes to the doors coming in from the pool area and directly by the entrance from the stairs/elevator.

 

Enjoy your trip. We found it to be a great, beautiful ship with wonderful, friendly staff. The speciality restaurant food in particular was quite good.

[sailingnut]

The noodle bar was great and it was an experience~~meet an interesting couple! Along with many other specialty restaurants! Had so much fun~~off again in October for an 11-day to the Caribbean!:)

[parasailor]

thanks!

 

How much, if anything, did you tip per person at the specialty restaurants and how were people dressed?

 

Thanks