Back From the 10/4 Breakaway...

[kollegekreed]

Back today from the "Hurricane Joaquin" Bermuda cruise. Not going to do a full review - just hopefully going to provide my positives and negatives for the "big" categories. This was my ninth cruise, seventh on NCL, but I'm in no means a cheerleader - all lines have good and bad.

 

The biggest question everyone had when we were leaving is if we would go to Bermuda at all. We ended up leaving at 2am in the morning, with the intention of still getting to Bermuda in time. By Tuesday, we had headed 175 miles back towards the US for a med-evac. That delayed our arrival to Bermuda until 2PM Wednesday, but the captain pushed it and made it somewhere shortly around or after noon, as far as I know (I was asleep).

 

Food:

 

Main Dining Room: Food was very good. I will say they seemed to have some more issues with "temperature control" on the Breakaway than previous cruises I had been on. But, the flavor was good and the warm volcano was delectable as always!

 

Specialty Restaurants: Twice at Cagneys, Twice at La Cucina. My dad loves Cagneys, I love La Cucina. We did have the specialty dining package which gave us four free dinners. I love the Bruschetta and Caprese Insalata at LC; the chocolate torte is to die for. Was not a big fan of the lasagna but the meatballs are yummy. I don't eat much at Cagneys; I just got four side orders and the iceberg wedge.

 

O'Sheehans: Remarkably slow to get seated, waited on, and food delivered. Even with mostly empty tables, and then the food often came out reheated/cold. Beginning to believe the conspiracy theorists that they try to drive you away from the free restaurants....

 

Uptown: Burgers really were very good. Waffle fries came out cold both times we ate there. Food was very slow; 20 mins both times to get burger, BUT they are cooked to order so I have some understanding.

 

I ate in the buffet exactly one for lunch, and it was "ok". id not make it to shanghai for noodles.

 

Stateroom

 

Stateroom was 11762. We had the uncanny ability to always end up on the wrong side of the ship, but that's a common problem. We aren't fussy at all. My Dad certainly commented on the smaller balcony versus the Dawn, but the room was fine for the two of us. Steward cleaned once daily at night as we had the do not disturb sign up during the morning in general. Steward's name was Vinoth and he was pleasant, but a little awkward. IE, didn't seem to know when a conversation was over. He did a good job with the space.

 

Entertainment/Casino

 

Rock of Ages was very good. I was absolutely shocked (though I don't know why I was shocked) at the number of parents that totally ignored the multiple warnings about the show and brought their 4, 5, and 6 year old kids. The majority of them left in a huff after the first couple songs. Not like they weren't told a dozen times not to bring the kids...

 

Did not see Burn the Floor. Saw it on the Getaway and did not like it.

 

Broadway singer Donna Vivino was on the ship for one night only. She has a great voice and I enjoyed her show. She overacted just a little...maybe that's the wrong word. Overrehearsed? But she has some pipes and most of her song choices sat well with the crowd.

 

Highlight of the entertainment was Howl at the Moon. Singers Laurie Chris and Dave were probably the best out of the four casts I've watched on the ships. Really enjoyable and they started "Adult hour" REALLY early...oops.

 

Casino was usually pretty busy. As has been the custom the last few cruises, I didn't find the staff particularly enjoyable. Everything else was customary for an NCL casino. I did make one colossal mistake on this cruise, though. We got the free drink card with the room my Dad booked, so I didn't get the beverage package. It never occurred to me that the card only works when the casino is OPEN. With the delayed departure and the days in Bermuda, plus the $5 limit for the casino drink card, I would have been better off with the UBP.

 

Did the mini golf (3 times to make 27 holes...tee hee) and did the ropes course (at least what was open) on the last night. Plank side and zip line side were closed off. It was lightly raining and wind was 20ish MPH so it was a little more challenging! Did not use the pools or waterslides this cruise.

 

Service and Staff

 

O'Sheehans staff was abysmal. Took orders while frowning at you, took 10 minutes to get a soda, took 4 requests for a coffee then 3 more for a refill that never came. This was not an isolated issue; I ate there 4-5 times and there was quite a bit of grumbling. I still love their mozzarella sticks, thought!

 

The crew and service on the ship as a whole were fine. Its hard to put into words, and maybe others can do a better job, I just got the overall feeling that no one really wanted to be there and they really hated their job. Certainly not everyone, but smiles were hard to find at times and you were more likely to stand at a bar and wait a few minutes to be acknowledged then helped right away. Part of the negative feeling is certainly me comparing the Breakaway to the Getaway, which I was on last year. If you didn't know better, it would be hard to tell what ship you were on in a lot of places. But the Getaway staff tripped over themselves to be helpful and friendly and it just wasn't there on the Breakaway. I had kind of dismissed earlier reviews saying the same thing but when its not one person, but one hundred, NCL may want to pay attention to the hotel director selection, or whatnot.

 

Anyway, it was a fun trip and nice to get away. Despite the minor issues, I'm still considering hopping on the 12 day Getaway in 20 days! If anyone has any specific questions I'm glad to try to help, but this was very much a low key cruise.

[njhorseman]

Having been on the same cruise, we got smiles and good service from almost every crew member we encountered. Even crew members whose service wasn't top notch were generally friendly.

 

We specifically do not go to O'Sheehan's because of its reputation for crowds and bad service and it sounds as though that's exactly what you found.

 

In the interest of full disclosure, we stay in Haven suites on the BA and eat only in the Haven restaurant and the specialty restaurants, so I suspect we encounter mostly high-performing crew. Our butler wasn't "high-performing" but even he was friendly the two times we actually saw him ;) .

Edited October 12, 2015 by njhorseman

[janetz]

Welcome back. We were on the week before you and spent many evenings at Howl. :D

[Barb Nahoumi]

Hi welcome home,

 

How is post hurricane Bermuda doing? I hope that they fared well with little or no damage.

Were you able to use the beaches?7

[cantthinkofanythingfun]

I was on the same cruise. I ate at O'Sheehan's once and did notice the service issues. A manager even stepped in. I didn't eat in any of the MDRs and stuck with the specialty restaurants and one night in the buffet. I thought the staff was super friendly, as they always are. I was in the last boarding group and still managed to get 2 vibe passes. I guess the weather scared people off. I got good use out of it. Even with the weather issues I thought Vibe was well worth the money. I also noticed a lot of children in Rock of Ages. We had a couple with a fussy baby sitting right behind us, and we were sitting towards the front. They ask that if you are going to ignore their warnings about children that you sit in the back. It just verifies my theory that most issues you encounter on a cruise are caused by passengers and not the cruise line or staff. My only other issue was when I went to guest services to get the Vibe passes they moved me to another shorter line. A passenger that had been standing in the longer line started cussing me out and making a scene, even dropping the F bomb a few times. I told him that they told me to go to the shorter line. Again, a passenger problem.

 

For those asking how Bermuda fared the storm. It was fine. The taxi drivers said it was nothing. The beaches were great. We got to stay at port until 5PM on the last day since we arrived a couple hours late. I stayed on the ship the last day and hung out in Vibe.

[TardisDance]

I found a bit of the opposite. I went to O'Sheenans a couple times and found the service to be quick. Actually, it seemed that all the MDRs have improved on service since my last cruise in Sept '14.

 

However, I found Le Bistro to be super slow. We were a party of two and it took 2 hours to finish our service. I think it's because we were seated near a party of 10. We went to guest services and complained. The maitre d' came over and said this was "normal" and tried to buy us off with a free bottle of wine. We had the contact card from the meet and greet and called up the restaurant manager. He said it was definitely not normal and gave us a free meal at La Cucina. We must have been on the "list," because we had our meal completed in 45 minutes. Food was even better than Le Bistro. I wanted to try Cagney's but they were totally booked.

[Keith1010]

i enjoyed reading your review.

 

Keith

[worktocruise610]

Thanks for your review, I'm going on the BA in 4 weeks and am super excited.

I have a question about the ropes course - I know you need closed toe shoes but do they specifically need to be sneakers or any type of laced up shoe? I have skechers go walk (no laces, closed but slip on) do you think they would be ok?

Hope you make it on the Getaway in 20 days, I'm a little jealous lol, and have a great time ;)

[obzhagen]

...My only other issue was when I went to guest services to get the Vibe passes they moved me to another shorter line. A passenger that had been standing in the longer line started cussing me out and making a scene, even dropping the F bomb a few times. I told him that they told me to go to the shorter line...

 

We were in line in front of you when that happened, also buying Vibe passes. I was trying to figure out what was going on, but my wife told me to stop being so nosy! Glad you were able to get Vibe passes - we really loved spending time up there away from the crowds!

[mgasparro1]

How much are the Vibe passes? We are going on the Breakaway on 22 November?

[MMMD]

I was also on this cruise in an Aft Suite.

 

Worst Suite experience ever & one that has soured me on a future cruise with NCL. We had planned on putting down a deposit, but didn't.

 

Just wanted to chime in on O'Sheehans. I loved it there. I usually went around noon time & always had great service.

I was in love with their chicken tenders. They were hot & fresh & I ate them 3 days in a row! :eek:

I had breakfast there one day & was happy with it all. My husband really liked their fish & chips. The batter was light & the fish well cooked. They had a special one night of fried chicken. Big portions & very good chicken. And yes, I ordered the chicken tenders that night too. :)

 

Never ate in any of the main restaurants and although we had access to the Haven restaurant, the food was only OK there. Breakfast was the best. The same menu every day of just OK food sent us elsewhere.

Cagneys was delicious & La Cuchina also only OK.

 

If you ever encountered Bernadette as your server in La Cuchina or the Haven, she was a doll. Loved her. All in all, except for an invisible Butler (Renato) we had a lovely man for our room Steward & met some wonderful staff who always had a smile for us.

 

Wasn't a fan of the ship itself. I felt most places were far too small for the amount of passengers.

 

I wouldn't sail again on the Breakaway & think we'll do some land vacations for the next couple years.

[DannyN]

I found a bit of the opposite. I went to O'Sheenans a couple times and found the service to be quick. Actually, it seemed that all the MDRs have improved on service since my last cruise in Sept '14.

 

However, I found Le Bistro to be super slow. We were a party of two and it took 2 hours to finish our service. I think it's because we were seated near a party of 10. We went to guest services and complained. The maitre d' came over and said this was "normal" and tried to buy us off with a free bottle of wine. We had the contact card from the meet and greet and called up the restaurant manager. He said it was definitely not normal and gave us a free meal at La Cucina. We must have been on the "list," because we had our meal completed in 45 minutes. Food was even better than Le Bistro. I wanted to try Cagney's but they were totally booked.

Hi Christine and Tim

We had a great time getting to know you both !!!

Enjoy your next cruise :)

 

Cheers

Cheri and Dan :)

[DannyN]

Having been on the same cruise, we got smiles and good service from almost every crew member we encountered. Even crew members whose service wasn't top notch were generally friendly.

 

We specifically do not go to O'Sheehan's because of its reputation for crowds and bad service and it sounds as though that's exactly what you found.

 

In the interest of full disclosure, we stay in Haven suites on the BA and eat only in the Haven restaurant and the specialty restaurants, so I suspect we encounter mostly high-performing crew. Our butler wasn't "high-performing" but even he was friendly the two times we actually saw him ;) .

Hi Paul and Ellie

 

Hope you had a safe trip home and thanks again for all your info

Cheri :)