Nervous about the Breakaway

[geegee1]

We're (wife, myself, 2 girls 8&5) about to book a cruise on Breakaway. But reading a lot of the reviews has gotten us a little nervous. There barely seems to be a good review out there. We've been on NCL in the past and it's our favorite line. Does anyone have anything nice about it?

[champagne123]

loved it.

[beachmonkey]

We really enjoyed the Breakaway. We sailed her last year and we are getting married onboard her later this year. We enjoyed good food, great service, and lots of laughs.

 

Some people think that being critical means that they are a seasoned pro with the final word on a ship or cruise line. At the end of the day, we all enjoy different foods, cruise line styles, etc.

[rvsullivan]

With over 4000 passengers on each cruising, how many do you see post a negative review for each trip? Very few, most end a cruise and go home. The very few that have a "real" issue and the never happy folks will tend to post. No ship is perfect nor are they completely bad. You are already a seasoned NCL cruiser and must have found you liked them? If so, go and see for yourself. The vast majority are very happy with each cruise.

[LrgPizza]

Here's my take... I've seen lots of negative reviews also, and I've seen some really good reviews. A common theme in many of the negative ones that I've read has to do with poor service, overcrowded, and food quality in MDRs. To me, none of those things are deal breakers, so I can ignore those negative reviews and simply focus on the positive points. Even if 90% were negative, if it's based on those things, then I wouldn't care.

 

My point is, don't focus on whether they are negative or positive. Look at specifically what the issues are, and see if those issues relate to you before you decide.

[Partyatsea]

We were on the Breakaway early December and had a great time. In fact going back in 11 months :)

[rubytuesday0604]

We (DH, myself, kids: 11, 7, 4) just booked for the end of March. I was super excited, and then started reading all these horrible reviews about unclean rooms, stained sheets, etc. Now, I am nervous, because cleanliness is a factor for me, especially the sheets and bathrooms.

 

DH keeps telling me that for 4000 people, only 1% will come back and have bad experiences, and that they are the ones who write the poor reviews. Is it silly of me to be freaking out a bit???:confused:

[champagne123]

We (DH, myself, kids: 11, 7, 4) just booked for the end of March. I was super excited, and then started reading all these horrible reviews about unclean rooms, stained sheets, etc. Now, I am nervous, because cleanliness is a factor for me, especially the sheets and bathrooms.

 

DH keeps telling me that for 4000 people, only 1% will come back and have bad experiences, and that they are the ones who write the poor reviews. Is it silly of me to be freaking out a bit???:confused:

 

Omg...sounds like someone wanted to deter people from booking this ship..This ship is spotless...amazing...fun....great food....great service...great people....great shows. This was our first NCL cruise and we will happily be booking NCL again...that is how much we loved it.

[kayhil3]

yes it is . If something isn't right let them knowI am sure they will do their best to correct it. I have also read the same reviews and I cand wait to get on her in about 45 days. Have a great time. It is what you make it!

[youngestof9]

We sailed in October and really enjoyed it. Were there things I didn't like? Sure. There's things that go wrong everywhere, every ship, every vacation. It's how you deal with them. We enjoyed ourselves because we were happy to be on vacation. We had excellent service from our great room steward Joemar to my favorite bartender Julio and we met other great bartenders and staff along the way. Food was good - wasn't gourmet, but meals were served hot and tasty. Teppenyaki was awesome - food and fun.

 

Didn't have our kids onboard so I can't speak to the kids club, but my kids in the past have thoroughly enjoyed the club aboard Epic and I imagine things are similar.

 

As far as cleanliness, our room was spotless and the public areas were too. No issues there at all. If you find something wrong, take it to the next level and it will get corrected. Go to the CC meet & greet so you can meet face to face with hotel director and food & beverage director. You'll feel comfortable calling them if any issues arise. Don't wait until you return - they want you to have a good cruise and will help you rectify any situation that could arise.

 

Go with an open mind, a great attitude and I bet you'll have a great time!

[SliceOfLife]

I loved the Breakaway and I just booked a cruise on the Getaway!

 

There are good reviews out there, take a look at mine and my pictures :)

[dongordon]

Having just sailed on the Breakaway, here are some comments I would make to future cruisers:

 

There are good and "not" so good things about the Breakaway.

It depends what is important to you.

 

Yes, it is a very large ship and with that, it might mean an extended wait for the MDRs.

If that really matters, than perhaps the Breakaway is not a good choice.

I ate in the specialty restaurants almost every night and had no problems getting reservations for those restaurants. The food was great and as was the service!

 

The side balconies are very small and if I had one, I would be disappointed. (I had an Aft-Facing Balcony and it was great.)

 

Because of 4000 passengers onboard, you must make reservations for the major shows and show up at the theatre 30 minutes before showtime. I missed one show because of that, but was able to book the next night. No big deal....saw all the shows I wanted to see.

 

No "Great Outdoors" which was one of my favorite spots on other NCL ships.

That was probably my biggest disappointment, but you adjust and make the best of it.

 

The outdoor seating venues for most of the specialty restaurants and lounges was fantastic and loved it!!

 

There was a nice cigar lounge...nice people there and nice big leather chairs...so nice! :D

 

Plenty of activities (rope walk, water slides, climbing wall and miniature golf) if that is important.

 

Great ports on my 12-day cruise....and that to me was fantastic.

 

Would I prefer a different ship?

The Gem is still my favorite NCL ship and I probably would opt for that next winter instead of the Breakaway because of my personal preferences.

 

That being said, I had a wonderful cruise!! :)

 

Don

[antsnanny]

Loved the Breakaway, we sailed on her in Oct. and booked again Feb. 2. Can't wait, She is a beautiful ship, great service, awesome food and lots of great activities for kids.

I dont even understand some of the bad reviews, some people are very hard to please. Again, I loved the ship as did most people I met and spoke to on my Oct. sailing.

Happy Sailing..

[Highboy90]

Look at my sig line and read my brief review. I almost canceled before the cruise and are glad I didn't. Was it perfect? No. Then again, most vacations aren't at some point or another for various reasons.

 

Good luck!

[SMerritt]

We really enjoyed the Breakaway. We sailed her last year and we are getting married onboard her later this year. We enjoyed good food, great service, and lots of laughs.

 

Some people think that being critical means that they are a seasoned pro with the final word on a ship or cruise line. At the end of the day, we all enjoy different foods, cruise line styles, etc.

 

After our cruise on the Breakaway, we booked the Getaway

 

We are taking our Son, DIL, and 3.5 year old grandson, after checking out all of the children friendly activities, meals, sponge bob pools - the Getaway won the vote over Disney......

 

As above, lot of laughs and entertainment for everyone

[nets33]

A satisfied customer will tell three friends, an angry customer will tell as many people as they can how unhappy they were (and then post about it online everywhere they can). It's always best to take the good with the bad and add a pinch of salt.

 

If I believed every bad thing I read in a review everyone one of my 10+ cruises would have been miserable experiences. I loved everyone. Go in with a positive mind-set to enjoy yourself and you will. :)

[spidybabe]

Having just sailed on the Breakaway, here are some comments I would make to future cruisers:

 

There are good and "not" so good things about the Breakaway.

It depends what is important to you. AGREE

 

Yes, it is a very large ship and with that, it might mean an extended wait for the MDRs. AGREE - Also pool, theater, and atrium smaller- feels crowded at times.

If that really matters, than perhaps the Breakaway is not a good choice.

I ate in the specialty restaurants almost every night and had no problems getting reservations for those restaurants. The food was great and as was the service! We ate in both specialty and MDR and have no complaints about either

 

The side balconies are very small and if I had one, I would be disappointed. (I had an Aft-Facing Balcony and it was great.) Didn't have aft on our trip, but our OV room was more spacious than our friends balcony mini suite

 

Because of 4000 passengers onboard, you must make reservations for the major shows and show up at the theatre 30 minutes before showtime. I missed one show because of that, but was able to book the next night. No big deal....saw all the shows I wanted to see. We booked our shows 45 days out--np and they are wonderful

 

No "Great Outdoors" which was one of my favorite spots on other NCL ships. AGREE:mad:

That was probably my biggest disappointment, but you adjust and make the best of it.

 

The outdoor seating venues for most of the specialty restaurants and lounges was fantastic and loved it!!

 

There was a nice cigar lounge...nice people there and nice big leather chairs...so nice! :D LOVE IT THERE! and you can smoke outdoors at the bar there too CIGARS

 

Plenty of activities (rope walk, water slides, climbing wall and miniature golf) if that is important.

 

Great ports on my 12-day cruise....and that to me was fantastic.

 

Would I prefer a different ship?

The Gem is still my favorite NCL ship and I probably would opt for that next winter instead of the Breakaway because of my personal preferences. We went back to the Gem, but doing two night CTN on the Breakaway. Because of the NY weather, outdoor venues will prob be closed, forcing everybody indoors, so we are expecting crowds, but won't let it bother us We on mini vacation!!!

 

That being said, I had a wonderful cruise!! :) WE DID TOO NCL never disappoints us

 

Don

 

Safe sailing

[Bars7816]

Loved the Breakaway. One thing I haven't seen mentioned is that the elevator lobbies on Deck 5 are just as classy as Deck 14. No feeling of "steerage" on the lower deck.

 

Would recommend an angled balcony cabin due to the very small balconies on the Breakaway in several balcony categories. We were on Deck 13, which gets you up above the lifeboats and roof of the Waterfront deck.

[Aixia]

My husband and I loved Breakaway so much we booked Getaway almost immediately after returning home. Of course there were small problems, especially since we were onboard only the second sailing to Bermuda. New ships are going to have issues, and we realized that going in. But, nothing was a deal breaker for us, and we had an incredible time. I know there have been a lot of complaints about service, but personally, that wasn't a problem for us at all. We had great customer service all around.

 

If you go in ready to nitpick, you aren't going to be able to enjoy yourself. If you go in ready for fun and ready to go with the flow, you're going to have a good time. It's all about attitude.

[socrdad]

We're (wife, myself, 2 girls 8&5) about to book a cruise on Breakaway. But reading a lot of the reviews has gotten us a little nervous. There barely seems to be a good review out there. We've been on NCL in the past and it's our favorite line. Does anyone have anything nice about it?

 

My wife and I will be traveling on the Breakaway on March 2. I have read every review and they do not bother me at all, here's why. There have been approximately 36 cruises that the Breakaway has made. Conservative figure of 3,500 - 4,000 passengers per cruise, so about 126,000 - 144,000 passengers have experienced the Breakaway. Out of that many passengers 421 have decided to write a review on CC or 0.3% of the passengers have written a review. Of the 421 reviews, 32 have given a 1 star rating. Less than 1 person per cruise had such a horrible experience that they wanted everyone to know about it. Of all of the complaints, if you took out the cigarette smoke, MDR's and balcony size, most of the complaints would be wiped out. There is not much I can do about the cigarette smoke but I know about it and I can avoid it or put up with it. MDR's, I will purchase the UDP ($238 to wipe out the biggest complaint) and that will solve that problem. Small balcony, I know about it and I can either get a different room (I have a suite:)) or if I get a balcony I should expect it to be small. If you look at the possible problems and try to find a way to solve it, or ask yourself it that problem would ruin your vacation, you will know if you should book the cruise or not. I have been on 6 cruises and never had a bad time. I can just about guarantee you I will not have a bad time on this cruise either. Take the Breakaway cruise, get on board knowing what to expect and have a fabulous time! I hope you have a wonderful vacation no matter what you decide to do:).

[dongordon]

100% CORRECT!!

 

Know the issues before you board and find solutions to correct them or live with it and enjoy your cruise vacation!!

 

Don

[spiritualtraveller]

my family and myself cruised on breakaway the beginning of december, and i will say that out of all my years of cruising, this was our best and most fun cruise!! go with an open mind and a grateful spirit, and you will have fun. enjoy.

[cruisebear84]

We (beau and i) took this cruise in December and had THE BEST TIME. We also met a few people who were not as happy as we were-- mainly seasoned cruisers who were on a big ship for the first time and decided that they preferred the smaller ones. As others have posted, their concerns were mainly the wait for the MDR. Personally, there was only one night that I didn't just walk right up to the MDR and get seated. Reservations I made for specialities-- one before the trip (I think the week before actually) and one on the ship the night before. I think you by asking the question, "tell me something good about the BA", you're going to have plenty of people respond affirmatively. I had a clean room everyday, great steward, really nice servers, a cool bartender one night, even cracking jokes in Spanish with the guy helping out on the ropes course! Go in open-minded and enjoy yourself! :)

[geegee1]

Thanks everybody. We booked it for the zoo that will be President's week. Already booked the dining plan, looks like that should take care of most of the complaints I've read.

[DGP1111]

. . . Of the 421 reviews, 32 have given a 1 star rating. Less than 1 person per cruise had such a horrible experience that they wanted everyone to know about it.

 

Hypothetically, though, there could be some who didn't find a great deal of favor with their cruise experience onboard Norwegian Breakaway, but they chose to not go forward with printed review . . . because they fully know how the Cruise Critic 'audience' can potentially react to those, even with complete proof of the onboard challenges.

 

Sometime silence truly is golden . . . for both sides of the situation.

 

Simply put (for me only) given the opportunity to repeat my September cruise vacation onboard Norwegian Breakway, would I do it again?

Not just No, but Heck No.

Loved Bermuda, and loved the great passenger friends I was with, but I'd fly to Bermuda instead.

 

The NCL sailing I took a few months before Breakaway I'd repeat in a hearbeat. The NCL sailing I took a few weeks after Breakaway I'd repeat in a heartbeat.

Heading out on NCL next month, and I intend to have a total blast. :)

 

Sometimes things just happen that can't be predicted in advance because they are almost totally the result of a particular sailing. Life goes on.

 

.