CCL Cruise takes on NCL 2 nite CTN

[cruisercathy]

I last cruised NCL over 30 years ago... Most of my cruises have been either Princess or Carnival. Time to try Breakaway..see if NCL Freestyle is for me.

 

Check in was a breeze for us....when we got there at noon there were hundreds of people waiting online. We had a "connection" at the pier so we went straight to VIP...sorry guys...We were on the ship right away and went to O'Sheehans for lunch. Hmmm..Hmmmm good...O'Sheehans turned out to be our hangout for the cruise...loved the pub atmosphere and how you could enjoy the entertainment in the Atrium.

 

To our cabins. We had a balcony mid ship, starboard, deck 12. Loved the bathroom...NCL wins on bathroom, however not on cabin or balcony. It felt very small. I also had a hard time getting to the closet, the sofa was almost smack up against it. We had two issues in the cabin, no cold water(happened on and off) and a fuse blew when had the TV and curling iron and hair dryer on.

 

Friday night was went to the Cirque de Solieil dinner show. ($39.00 per person) It was very nice...however sight lines were not good. Our booth was right next to the kitchen so servers were constantly walking in front of our table and there was also a pole in the sight line.

 

Saturday morning off to Manhattan room for breakfast at 9:15....we were seated immediately and ordered immediately.....we were served our food somewhere around 10:45...Not good...there were maybe 10 people in the dining room when we left at 11:15. Something was wrong in the kitchen.....

 

Saturday was spent inside as it was cold and windy. Stopped at the smoky casino. Set up of shops were weird...kiosks in the main walkway of the deck??? Sooo crowded. Saturday dinner we went back to the Manhattan room with maitre D's business card in hand. We were told to present in when we were seated so they could call him over to make sure we would be served in a timely manner, not like the morning. All went well. We did have to wait for a table for over 30 minutes though (this was at 8PM) then off to Rock of Ages. We sat in the 3rd row, left side...show was loud....risque....but entertaining. I was told by a friend who sat in the back many people left.

 

We ate breakfast in o'Sheehans and were off the ship by 9.

 

 

 

I had a great time. I am not sure I would do a longer cruise on NCL. I felt very crowded on a huge ship. Freestyle might not be for me.

 

I wasn't cooking, cleaning so I was thrilled......Happy Crusing to all.

[Demonyte]

Thanks for your review.

 

What comes to feeling crowded, that has nothing to do with Freestyle Cruising but the design on newest NCL ships. I love Freestyle but tried Epic once and realized that NCL megaships are not my cup of tea, I prefer staying on smaller ships - I suggest you trying for example Gem before writing NCL off completely. :) Of course, we all can't like the same things but a 2-night CTN is completely different than a longer cruise because everybody is trying to cram week's worth of entertainment in to those two nights.

[champagne123]

Thanks for your review.

 

What comes to feeling crowded, that has nothing to do with Freestyle Cruising but the design on newest NCL ships. I love Freestyle but tried Epic once and realized that NCL megaships are not my cup of tea, I prefer staying on smaller ships - I suggest you trying for example Gem before writing NCL off completely. :) Of course, we all can't like the same things but a 2-night CTN is completely different than a longer cruise because everybody is trying to cram week's worth of entertainment in to those two nights.

 

Agreed. PLUS...if the weather was bad and everyone was inside, I am sure it did feel more crowded. We were on the Breakaway in September when everyone was outside. This was our first NCL cruise and we loved the ship.