Breakaway Feb 14-21 2016 Review: DOS H2 (16102)

[eagle92]

Hey everyone,

 

This is my first review and will be chopped up in parts so bear with me. I promise it will be worth your wait - especially if you love pictures of the Deluxe Owner's Suite on the Norwegian Breakaway.

 

Some background - we are not avid cruisers. My wife and I have only been on one cruise about 7 years ago (Carnival Sensation - 4 night cruise) and felt cruising was just not for us. We never thought we would ever cruise again.

 

We decided on a whim New Year's weekend to book something during President's Day week. Mainly because we were about to start a kitchen renovation in our house and we felt like we needed to get away. Since we had literally just sent in my daughter's passport in for renewal a few days before we didn't want to chance booking something that would require a passport so we chose a cruise and wanted to cruise out of NYC so that we wouldn't have to worry about flying as we will live in NJ (this would prove to have not been an issue - to be explained below).

 

This would be the first cruise for our kids. I'm an avid traveler and research everything very thoroughly. We are the types that like to go on nice vacations, especially with our kids.

 

I was swaying back and forth between booking the Breakaway or RCI Anthem of the Seas. Both were comparable to each other online and both had some decent promotions. After spending an entire weekend doing mock bookings between the two it was a toss up so we decided to book Anthem since it left from NJ, but when I came to book suddenly the ship was sold out. I went ahead and booked Breakaway. Funny thing is an hour later I did a mock booking on Anthem and it was available. Clearly someone didn't want us going on Anthem. ;-)

 

My daughter's passport ended up coming in on January 12th...less than three weeks from the time we had sent it in even with routine. Go Figure.

 

We booked via a TA a MA Mini-Suite guarantee. About mid-January we were assigned a M6 Mini-Suite with Large Balcony. Felt good about the category and felt we did well.

 

The promotions we got were the UBP for my wife and I, the UDP (4 nights for my wife and I) and a $190 OBC. This would later turn into a total of $365 OBC when I took an upsell as described below.

 

Based on the invaluable research on here I pre-booked our specialty dining reservations. Decided on Jungle Fantasy the first night, and Cagney's, Ocean Blue, and Moderno the last three nights. All at 6:00pm except for Jungle Fantasy which we booked for 5:15 (I would later change it to 8:30pm as I felt it would be too close to missing the sail under the Verrazano...this would prove to be important since we ended up sailing late due to the late arrival of Breakaway). More on that later.

 

We also wanted to book the double wave runner at GSC. I made the mistake of waiting too long to book that and it sold out...was told to get on the waiting list once on the ship...more on that later as well.

 

We booked Burn the Floor at 7pm for the second night and Rock of Ages for the 6:30pm show on Day 4 after GSC. We booked the NASA Space Center for Day 3 and a Dolphin adventure for when we were in Nassau via a non-NCL Tour Operator recommended by our travel agent. So we got a good mix of things that I can share on here.

 

The ship was looking pretty sold out a good month before...even the Haven looked pretty much sold out. I didn't get any upsell emails or anything, but based on all the research on this board I figured I would give the upsell number a call and see what they may have. I proactively called them 17 days out.

 

The call lasted a total of 5 minutes. The lady on the other line offered me the Deluxe Owner's Suite (H2) port side stateroom 16102 for $2,500 total...meaning it would be an additional $675 per person for my wife, myself, and my two children. I polled the group on here if it was a good deal or not and was told unanimously to take the deal.

 

I took the deal. And let me tell you...it was Worth. Every. Single. Penny.

 

And how I kept it a secret from my wife all the way until we entered the room was both sheer luck, circumstances outside my control falling into place, and a very expensive kitchen renovation in our house that started the day we left that kept my wife pre-occupied. :D

Edited February 28, 2016 by eagle92

[eagle92]

As we approached embarkation day I struggled to keep the secret from my wife. I knew that the jig would probably be up when we would check-in at The Haven lounge...or at least when we would get escorted to the ship by the Concierge/Butler being the fist ones to board. But two things happened.

 

1 - I told my wife that NCL has a deal with United and would honor my status so we could get priority check-in with Haven guests (she had no idea what the Haven was not to mention she was steadily getting annoyed I was spending more time online researching and reading on Cruise Critic rather than doing more to help her with packing up the kitchen).

 

2 - The Breakaway ended up arriving late from its previous sailing. I only knew based on reading on this board. Allegedly some folks got calls from NCL. We didn't...which meant others didn't. Which meant the pier was going to be a zoo. Which indeed it was...on the coldest day of the year (it was easily 2 degrees with wind chill that day).

 

We got to the pier and it was mayhem. We got there around 11:30/11:45. They had told folks not to come to the pier until noon as the ship was arriving late, but it was a sea of humanity with folks trying to enter and exit the pier. Both folks trying to get into the pier to check-in and folks still trickling off the ship. The last folks from my understanding didn't leave the ship until as late as 1:15pm!

 

We made our way to The Haven check-in. Nice ladies checked us off a list and motioned us to go to the Haven lounge. The status matching thing continued to work.

 

When we got to the Lounge (it was around 12 at this point) it was standing room only and hot as hell. We were called up after about 5 minutes and the lady behind the desk was in routine mode. She took our pictures, swiped my card, etc. She then proceeded to give us our keycards and mentioned the words "Deluxe Owner's Suite"...but my wife was busy corralling the kids...so the secret was still intact!

 

By around 1:30pm they began the process of boarding (we were on the other side of the room so we knew it would be a while). But at that moment the computers crashed. LOL...oy vey...they were boarding folks from The Haven Lounge about one family every 3-4 minutes...they finally got the computers working but by the time we got our keycards swiped a good 25% of the ship had boarded.

 

Due to the late arrival of the ship there were no Butler or Concierge escorts. We made our way up to the ship and took the elevators up to the 16th floor. When we got there the Concierge, Anoop, introduced himself to us and a group of about 15 of us and began talking about the amenities of the Haven.

 

My wife looked over to me like "are we supposed to be here?" I told her not to worry and that it didn't apply to us...we were just here as part of my status match...and at that point Anoop said we could all proceed to our rooms.

 

We exited the Haven from the port side and made a right down the hallway...as we got to the end I turned around, confessed to my wife that I had lied to her, and opened the door into the corner suite that is the Deluxe Owners Suite (16102). She immediately forgave me for not helping her pack the kitchen.

 

Like I said...worth every...single...penny... :D

Edited February 28, 2016 by eagle92

[cyndepet]

Thank you SO MUCH for doing this review! We will be in that suite in 7 days - I can't wait to hear all about it :-)

[eagle92]

After springing the surprise on my wife we proceeded to the Haven restaurant for lunch. Here is the menu:

 

 

I had the lobster bisque and French dip.

 

 

 

Here are some other dishes from the table.

 

 

 

The ship didn't push off until after 6pm. This and some heavy winds and chop would affect our itinerary later on.

 

I went to the concierge to get on the wait list for the wave runner tour at GSC but he told us it wasn't sold out as they keep a few in reserve for Haven guests. SCORE! So were booked and ready to. Before heading down to jungle fantasy I got this great shot of the Verrazano before we sailed under it. After only 5 minutes outside I was getting frostbite so we came back in and got ready to go to jingle fantasy.

 

 

 

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Edited February 28, 2016 by eagle92

[cookmg40]

OMG! I'm loving this. We board the Breakaway tomorrow and are in the Haven. I can't get my DH to do anything to help plan our vacations....except telling me what he wants!

 

 

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[eagle92]

Freestyle Daily Day 1

 

 

 

 

 

Our invitation for sail away and captains cocktail party.

 

 

Haven Restaurant Hours

 

 

 

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[poona1]

hey eagle...love your review so far....i will be sailing ba on 3/6...i like your style, you certainly know to present a great way of getting your review across using spaces in between sentences and passages...great style...

and i hope to see anoop too...i have heard a lot of great things about him....like they say, once you go haven, you never go back.

 

B.K.

[eagle92]

Our reservation for Jungle Fantasy was at 8:30pm. But Anoop, the concierge, informed us to meet him at his desk in The Haven lounge at around 8:05 so that we would get escorted down.

 

We met at his desk and he took all the Haven guests with reservations to the crew elevator and escorted us down to a back entrance and checked into the Spigel tent before anyone else. And we all got front row seats. The Haven amenities was already paying off!

 

I found the food to actually be pretty good despite the negative reviews on here.

 

 

 

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[eagle92]

I forgot to mention that since we were delayed in the pier I was able to get our kids (ages 8 and 9) registered for Splash Academy. Their computers were also a mess but with 700 kids on the cruise we didn't want to deal with that mayhem once on board.

 

Here is the seals program review.

 

 

 

Our kids only went to splash academy a handful of times. Our kids like to hang with us and we are totally fine with it. One day they won't want to hang with mom and dad so we are enjoying it. The one time where we forced them to go was during Rock of Ages.

 

Otherwise I got calls on the suite handheld (in a suite there is a phone that u can take with you around the ship and can be called with your room number followed by the number 3).

 

This proved invaluable as our kids could tell the counsellors when they were ready to be picked up and they would call us on the phone. I later realized the academy was very full and my kids had a hard time enjoying. So they would ask to get picked up or my son would pretend he was sick/tired to have us pick them up.

 

My kids, and us for that matter, are the types to sleep early anyway so the first day with jungle fantasy ending at 10 was late as it was for us.

 

 

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Edited February 28, 2016 by eagle92

[Jerseygirl1416]

Thanks for sharing. I've been looking forward to a Florida/Bahamas Breakaway review. Glad you were able to surprise your wife!

[eagle92]

Before I continue I know you are all waiting for the room pictures. Tee hee. Ok...here are some to whet your appetite before I continue with Day 2...I took these pics on day 2 (Monday morning).

 

Jose, our butler, always kept our table stocked with snacks. The first night he left this for us. Each day it would progressively increase in quantity and variety. You will see it all so keep reading...

 

 

 

 

 

Our wet bar...it would fill up over the course of the cruise.

 

 

The guest bathroom.

 

 

 

 

 

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[eagle92]

The bridge two decks below us looking out from the bathroom.

 

 

Looking forward at the wraparound balcony from the bathtub.

 

 

What bathtub you ask? This bathtub overlooking the ocean.

 

 

The vanity. Yes. A full vanity. Ladies don't drool.

 

 

Our closet. Yes we overpacked.

 

 

His and hers sinks with the main toilet to the left.

 

 

 

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[eagle92]

The shower. We had already hit the hot tubs in the morning so we had to dry our swimsuits.

 

 

The living room with the sofa bed still extended. Still lots of room.

 

 

One of the amenities of the DOS was three complimentary bottles of liquor. We also had our minibar stocked and refilled with bottled water, milk, juice, soda...whatever we wanted. Jose evened hooked me up with almond milk for my coffee.

 

We chose these three for our complimentary bottles.

 

 

And the snacks kept on coming.

 

 

Ok need to take a break. Will bring you day 2 and the rest in the coming days.

 

Stay tuned and hope you are enjoying the review. I have the dailies for each day's and some good pictures of the Haven Sanctuary (and video of the room if I can get it to work and post) and will review each show and dining establishment we went to.

 

Thanks!

 

 

 

 

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Edited February 28, 2016 by eagle92

[CruiserGirl15]

Amazing! Thanks for the great review so far, looking forward to more. I'll be sailing in the Haven in one week, this is getting me even more excited!

[Toya1228]

Great review so far!!! We will be sailing on the BA on 4/3 in the Haven suites. Can't wait. So your review is getting us so excited for out trip[emoji847][emoji847][emoji847]

 

 

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[jrodriguez718]

Thank you for your review! I am traveling with my daughter 18 and my mother 82 in a couple of weeks on the Breakaway. I was booked in a interior room and was offered a upsell to the The Haven Courtyard Penthouse with Balcony or the Spa Mini Suite the difference was only $200. I chose the Spa Mini Suite because I thought my mother would enjoy access to the Spa but your review of the Haven is making me rethink my choice. I hope you don't mind a few questions. Are there covered areas in the Haven pool area? Did you use the spa? Thank you!

[nycchic12]

Such a great review! Love the details and pics. Looking forward to the rest. I'm kind of regretting not taking the upsell to the Haven. I will definitely have to next time.

[Keith1010]

Nice narrative and photos.

 

Keith

[eagle92]

Thank you for your review! I am traveling with my daughter 18 and my mother 82 in a couple of weeks on the Breakaway. I was booked in a interior room and was offered a upsell to the The Haven Courtyard Penthouse with Balcony or the Spa Mini Suite the difference was only $200. I chose the Spa Mini Suite because I thought my mother would enjoy access to the Spa but your review of the Haven is making me rethink my choice. I hope you don't mind a few questions. Are there covered areas in the Haven pool area? Did you use the spa? Thank you!

 

The Haven Pool area on the Breakaway has a glass retractable roof so it is protected from the elements. This proved to be invaluable on this trip given the amount of wind we had that shut down most of the outdoor activities on other parts of the ship. People who did not have access to the Haven were NOT happy.

 

We did not use the spa. The Haven has a sauna in it behind one of the hot tubs. Spa did not appeal to us because we have two younger children and we wouldn't have spent much time there as we don't tend to be apart from them for very long (and they have no desire to be too far away from us). :-)

 

Such a great review! Love the details and pics. Looking forward to the rest. I'm kind of regretting not taking the upsell to the Haven. I will definitely have to next time.

 

It was well worth it...especially on the larger ships where the concierge was able to get us into sold out shows, change reservations for us, and the priority disembarkation, priority table availability at the non reservation restaurants, etc. were worth it!

Edited February 28, 2016 by eagle92

[xcell]

Can't wait for the rest of your review. I'm trying to hold my h4 upgrade from a balcony from my wife and kids. But alas, once we do the check in they will figure it out....

 

Quick question...the mini fridge....are items free to use in that? Or charged expense?

 

Did your kids like the haven's pool...I saw pictures and it looks like you can pretty much do nothing in it....

 

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Edited February 28, 2016 by xcell

[eagle92]

Can't wait for the rest of your review. I'm trying to hold my h4 upgrade from a balcony from my wife and kids. But alas, once we do the check in they will figure it out....

 

Quick question...the mini fridge....are items free to use in that? Or charged expense?

 

Did your kids like the haven's pool...I saw pictures and it looks like you can pretty much do nothing in it....

 

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Definitely free for us being in an H2. Not sure about H4. Our butler, Jose, kept it stocked with both still and sparkling water, milk and chocolate milk (for the kids), almond milk for me, variety of sodas, etc.

 

Kids loved the Haven pool...it was regular water as opposed to salt water in the main pools outside. They also loved the hot tubs as well.

Edited February 28, 2016 by eagle92

[amydandrea]

Great review! Fun to read and dream of the Haven

[Merriem]

We had that suite in September. Loved it.

[Sundiego]

Wonderful review! I remember when you took the upgrade and am so happy you are back with details of your trip and these awesome pics!

 

~Denise

[funkqwita]

Omg this is a great review! Can't wait to read more thanks!