Breakaway review 4/10/16-4/17/16

[melis11577]

Just a little background information to start. We were a party of 10 with 7 adults and 3 children who had 3 different cabins. My husband and two little ones (1.5 and 4) with our 84 year old grandmother stayed in Haven 2 bedroom, our two older daughters 18 and 20 had an inside cabin and brother, sister in law and 2 year old had a balcony cabin. All of us have cruised before in fact this was our 3rd time on breakaway and everyones elses first time on this ship. It was grandmas first time ever cruising and i have a feeling it will be her last. We celebrated the birthdays of thr 18 year old 20 year old and 2 year last week.

 

Let me start by saying that we are not overly picky people and are usually very easy to please. Because we have the two little ones and do love to vacation we figure that cruises are the way to go until they are older. We do love that in the past the crew has treated are kids wonderful and have always accommodated ours and our kids needs and we expected nothing less on this vacation. With that being said we certainty do not want our kids running wild or negatively affecting others people's vacations either.

 

The haven was wonderful and made embarkation very smooth considering it was a mess on Sunday morning...we always cruise out of NY and never seen the terminal like that. It was spring break week (contributed to craziness and overcrowding) which we didn't realize when we booked last year and usually try to avoid those weeks. We went to the Haven lounge and quickly boarded. Our two older daughters were on before us ....not sure how that happened but they are very resourceful. We met in the buffet which we usually try to avoid with the little ones. The food was good there.

 

The first night we all went to dinner at the cirque dreams. The concierge was very nice to escort us to dinner but we did get a lecture for being a little late...they are very prompt which took a bit of getting used to (my husband is actually worse then the kids when getting ready ha ha). Dinner was great and we celebrated both older girls birthdays and at the end the servers came over to sign and bring cake which was very nice. We had the UDP which when we booked was 7 nights, my brother had the UBP but bought 4 dinner package and grandmother bought the 4 dinner package as well. We just paid for older girls because they initially wanted to do own thing but did end up eating with us when not getting room service.

 

Back to the Haven....Jose our butler was very attentive and patient especially with grandma who had a difficult time using coffee machine he would come in and make her a cup of coffee even ice coffee!! Our older two daughters hung out in our room A LOT and they would all order room service at different times, they drove this man crazy ( we tipped him very generously at the end of the cruise). He would also bring a ton of treats to the room forcthe little ones throughout the day. The Haven pool area was great for the kids on cooler days unfortunately that seemed to be about 4 days (2 in beginning and 2 at end which also had rough seas). The last two days I spent most of the time in the room with my 20 year old, neither of us felt well... another reason I'm glad we got the haven.

 

We didn't eat in speciality every night and probably only used 5 nights of it. We did cagney's, le bistro, teppanaki, and italian. We loved moderno's last year and had reservations but cancelled because I wasn't feeling well and never got around to rescheduling.

 

We did eat in taste, savor and o'sheehans quite a bit. We did not go to manhattan room as i felt that was a bit to fancy for the little ones. We did eat in haven restaurant for breakfast and lunch one day and the service was amazing. The service in the haven is what I remember the standard of service being in other restaurants which seemed to be lacking this cruise. We also tried the noodle bar which was great...loved it and was hoping to go there again but never got to (not a place to take the little ones). There was a server in the main dining rooms (taste/savor) and evenings in teppanaki named Grace who was wonderful; however it seems that the extraordinary staff was exception and not the norm for this cruise. This was our 4th ncl cruise with last one being in may 2015 and I'm amazed how the service has declined in the last year. The staff was not very friendly or accomodating. In the past they would go out of their was to help make our experience unforgettable (being extra friendly and talking with kids) and for someone traveling with young kids that makes all the difference. We had asked staff not hold off courses and bring food out as it was ready to speed up the dinner and avoid the kids acting up...in previous ncl cruises this was not a problem, this time I was told it was not possible. One (actually morecthen one evening he acted up) evening my son acted up and my husband took him to room, we asked to have husbands food sent up to room and had to get manager to get it approved....staff were giving us different answers. One morning in taste or savor we had a server that was downright rude. My brother asked for the basket of danish that they bring to table so his daughter could start eating....he has to ask her several times and she still didn't bring it and when his oatmeal came out she banged it on the table in front of him. We had to ask manager for another server. I was at table next to then and luckily had a different server who brought our food and danish out before theirs even though they ordered before I walked into restaurant (we were running late again lol).

 

Overall the vacation was very good and I attribute that mainly to the haven experience. Teppanaki was wonderful and one of our favorites. Was not a fan of the Bahama itinary and will probably stick with Bermuda moving forward. Although we had a good time this was my least favorite NCL cruise...I didn't get the pampered feeling. Staff seemed rude and unhappy. At times I felt as though I didn't want to ask for anything from them. My brother had a horrible experience with spa staff (very long story) but these don't seem to be isolated reports which is more concerning.

 

We did buy 2 more cruise next deposits which we have done on each cruise so far and hope that most of these issues had to do with spring break. We will give NCL one more chance at this point. I think that's about it for my review.

Edited April 19, 2016 by melis11577

[Marine Mom]

Staff seed rude and unhappy. At times I felt as though I didn't want to ask for anything from them. My brother had a horrible experience with spa staff (very long story) but these don't seem to be isolated reports which is more concerning.

 

I agree with you. We were on the BA the week before you and felt this was our least favorite cruise so far. We also stayed in the Haven and were thankful for that. The staff in the Haven is amazing but the rest of the ship, not so much. Will not go on the BA again as we really like the Gem and find the service, entertainment and staff much, much better.

[melis11577]

I agree with you. We were on the BA the week before you and felt this was our least favorite cruise so far. We also stayed in the Haven and were thankful for that. The staff in the Haven is amazing but the rest of the ship, not so much. Will not go on the BA again as we really like the Gem and find the service, entertainment and staff much, much better.

 

We have been on the Gem and really enjoyed it. I think the BA has more for the kids. Maybe we just need to try a less busy time of year.

[Clarea]

Appreciate the feedback on the Haven.

[SandG]

The haven was wonderful and made embarkation very smooth considering it was a mess on Sunday morning...we always cruise out of NY and never seen the terminal like that.

 

We were also on the cruise before yours, and it was a big mess for us coming off the ship. I suspect that all the people jammed up in the terminal and our slow disembarkation had a lot to do with what you were seeing.

 

I'm curious if you were able to make it to GSC. We missed it and heard that the previous two cruises didn't either. Maybe it was the time of year.

[prg2101]

We have been on the Gem and really enjoyed it. I think the BA has more for the kids. Maybe we just need to try a less busy time of year.

 

My sister was on the Getaway with her husband and 2 daughters for the

spring break cruise and had the same thing to say about some of the crew. I think cruise crew hate Spring Break week cause she said much of the same things...ship was great but some of the crew was annoyed. My wife and I are on the Breakaway in 3 weeks in the Haven so I will report back if anything is the same or different.....;)

[rachel_95762]

We were also on the cruise before yours, and it was a big mess for us coming off the ship. I suspect that all the people jammed up in the terminal and our slow disembarkation had a lot to do with what you were seeing.

 

I'm curious if you were able to make it to GSC. We missed it and heard that the previous two cruises didn't either. Maybe it was the time of year.

 

Yes, we had made it to GSC. Beautiful weather and island. Sorry you missed it.

 

Embarkation was the worst we have experienced. Still don't see the logic of stopping checking people in thereby trapping them in line. Stop letting people into the building if it's crowded. By the time they started checking people in again we walked right onto the ship.

[Keith1010]

Thank you for your review.

 

Keith

[darrengs]

I was on this cruise and I set up the Meet and Greet. This is why, in my opinion it is important to have at least one member of the traveling party attend the meet and greet. The Officers are there and you are given a card with all of their names and direct contact numbers. If you run into any issues they want you are to call them immediately and let them know. They are very attentive and will listen and correct any deficiencies. They tell you at the M&G, their goal is to make sure you have a great vacation and they want to correct issues then and there instead of finding about it on Cruise Critic after the fact.

Edited April 19, 2016 by darrengs

[melis11577]

 

I'm curious if you were able to make it to GSC. We missed it and heard that the previous two cruises didn't either. Maybe it was the time of year.

 

Yes we did make it to GSC and it was a beautiful day there. I didn't stay long and went back to the boat with the kids after a couple of hours. The food was very good too. In the future, I think we will rent a cabana??? In exploring the island my husband said we would have really liked the privacy and shade it offered.

[js]

Hi. Thank you for your review.

May I please ask who the concierge was for your sailing?

Did you do sailaway in the Haven?

Thanks so much!

[Wendellbee]

I agree with you. We were on the BA the week before you and felt this was our least favorite cruise so far. We also stayed in the Haven and were thankful for that. The staff in the Haven is amazing but the rest of the ship, not so much. Will not go on the BA again as we really like the Gem and find the service, entertainment and staff much, much better.

Agree regarding "rest of" staff. A few very friendly including our Steward, Ruste.

Many simply indifferent or down right snotty. Waitress in O'Sheehan's clearly wanted nothing to do with anyone.

[Wendellbee]

I was on this cruise and I set up the Meet and Greet. This is why, in my opinion it is important to have at least one member of the traveling party attend the meet and greet. The Officers are there and you are given a card with all of their names and direct contact numbers. If you run into any issues they want you are to call them immediately and let them know. They are very attentive and will listen and correct any deficiencies. They tell you at the M&G, their goal is to make sure you have a great vacation and they want to correct issues then and there instead of finding about it on Cruise Critic after the fact.

Hey Darren and all from 4/10 Breakaway!

 

Thanks for setting up the M&G, it was nice to meet others and crew!

While (overall) we had a nice trip, I do not think I would sail on the Breakaway again for a few reasons.

 

First, the ship is WAY too crowded. It didn't seem much bigger than the Regal Princess which holds half the passengers. It just seems to have more passenger decks. There's no more common space or things to do, really...just people everywhere! There was no space to sit and relax.

Yes, it was spring break for most families so there were a million kids--ours included. To be honest, I felt like I was on Carnival. The hot tubs overflowed with splashing, obnoxious kids. The main pool was so tiny that swimming was impossible.

 

 

The food was not great either. I felt like it was better on the Dawn and WAY better on Princess. (We did not go to the up-charge restaurants.) We did go to the Cirque show and I thought the food was horrible. One out of 4 of us ate. O'Sheehans was meh and the waitress we had (twice) could not have acted more bored or annoyed. Pleasant people, children and staff were the exception not the rule.

 

Our steward (Ruste) was fantastic. He took care of both our room and the sloppy girls' room and was so friendly. Also, one of the Casino managers was great about asking a woman in the non-smoking portion to stop chain-smoking.

We watched an interesting display at the Atrium bar one morning by a guy who was a real jerk to the crew. He was mouthing off saying he was going to bad mouth the ship online and how everyone on board hated it--all because he was turned away from the dining room for wearing a tank top. Dude, just change your shirt...

 

We bought the weekly pass for the Vibe that we used for maybe one hour. The weather sucked and not only was it cold and or windy, but they actually roped the area off so nobody could enter the area. $ down the drain. I understand no refunds if I don't want to go because it's cold or windy but we SHOULD be refunded if they don't ALLOW us to enter.

 

Kids/Teen clubs--our girls didn't go. Their words: The kids club was full of 10 year old boys running around like maniacs and the Teen club was all 13 year olds. Whatever. They ate junk from the buffet and watched "Criminal Minds" re-runs...

 

We all really enjoyed "Rock of Ages", Second City was super funny when we saw them in the past. They were ok this time. We missed Burn the Floor because we got there too late-even with reservations. (Note-get there early!)

 

We did have nice sunny days in Florida and the Bahamas. We took surfing lessons in Cocoa Beach and had dinner at the Sandbar. Great price and individual attention for the lessons, great guys at Next Gen-- lots of fun!

At GSK we did the Stingray City which was fine. Inexpensive and a nice getaway from the super crowded beach area.

We decided on Dolphin Cay interaction at Atlantis for our third excursion. Interacting with our group's "own" dolphin was so cool. The trainers are nice and funny and informative. Photos are expensive but it's your kids' childhood right? The rest of the day we were allowed on to the beach at the Cove area. Just beautiful! (I might be bummed if I were vacationing there and 2 cruise ships pulled up and dumped a few thousand people on the beach though).

 

Mother Nature took over the remainder of our trip by giving us rough seas and high winds. Those who could walk were up gambling and drinking, making the most out of it. We chose this cruise to appeal to the kids and fit with school vacation which it did. I'm exhausted! Next time I think we will go back to the smaller ship and a more "couples-friendly" itinerary.

 

Curious what others thought...

[melis11577]

I was on this cruise and I set up the Meet and Greet. This is why, in my opinion it is important to have at least one member of the traveling party attend the meet and greet. The Officers are there and you are given a card with all of their names and direct contact numbers. If you run into any issues they want you are to call them immediately and let them know. They are very attentive and will listen and correct any deficiencies. They tell you at the M&G, their goal is to make sure you have a great vacation and they want to correct issues then and there instead of finding about it on Cruise Critic after the fact.

 

I wish I attended the m&g. I will know better in the future. I'm really glad the Officers were open to feedback. In all honesty, I have never had a less then stellar experience with NCL and didn't even think about the m&g being an opportunity to meet the officers. It was my own ignorance and will definitely know better in the future.

[melis11577]

Hi. Thank you for your review.

May I please ask who the concierge was for your sailing?

Did you do sailaway in the Haven?

Thanks so much!

 

The concierge was David I believe. I didn't really use them to really rate them. We did sail away in our room.

[Jerseygirl1416]

We're on the BA now. Sitting in our Cabana in Vibe docked in PC so thank goodness back to Verizon. I will say the wifi on this ship stinks! My last ship wifi experience was on the Oasis and I guess I got spoiled. The ships layout for the sun decks is terrible. It feels so crowded and I'm so happy we were able to get the Vibe passes. As much as I hated reading that over and over pre cruise I'm forced to concur.

 

We arrived at the pier parking lot at 9:30 but had to wait in line to park. We were at check in around 10:10 and got boarding #23. We went straight to guest services probably got there around 12:00 (they started #1 at 11:30) and were able to get the last cabana. They had about 5 regular passes left. It looked like the regular passes only went up to 66. These were taken by the time we got through the line to pay.

 

Everything else is good. Food is fine- been to Ocean Blue, O'Sheehans, Savor lunch, Manhattan room, Moderno lunch buffet, regular buffet for breakfast.

 

The Oasis is definetly better designed for the masses and never felt crowded like this ship does. Without the guarantee of Vibe passes I wouldn't sail this ship again. We have a huge B1 balcony but I'm a sun person and can't really layout for long back there with sun placement.

 

Also if you want a treadmill without waiting, get to the gym before 7:30am.

 

The weather has been beautiful so maybe that accounts for the crowded sun decks??

 

Didn't mean to hijack your thread OP just thought I'd chime in. Thanks

[Cruise a holic]

Since part of your family was not in the Haven how did that work out? IMO the Haven was wonderful- never crowded. The boarding for haven guests was also wonderful- I assume the non Haven guests didn't have the same level of service you had.

[Marine Mom]

First, the ship is WAY too crowded. It didn't seem much bigger than the Regal Princess which holds half the passengers. It just seems to have more passenger decks. There's no more common space or things to do, really...just people everywhere! There was no space to sit and relax.

Yes, it was spring break for most families so there were a million kids--ours included. To be honest, I felt like I was on Carnival. The hot tubs overflowed with splashing, obnoxious kids. The main pool was so tiny that swimming was impossible.

 

The food was not great either. I felt like it was better on the Dawn and WAY better on Princess. (We did not go to the up-charge restaurants.) We did go to the Cirque show and I thought the food was horrible. One out of 4 of us ate. O'Sheehans was meh and the waitress we had (twice) could not have acted more bored or annoyed. Pleasant people, children and staff were the exception not the rule.

 

Mother Nature took over the remainder of our trip by giving us rough seas and high winds. Those who could walk were up gambling and drinking, making the most out of it. We chose this cruise to appeal to the kids and fit with school vacation which it did. I'm exhausted! Next time I think we will go back to the smaller ship and a more "couples-friendly" itinerary.

 

Curious what others thought...

 

We got off the Breakaway the day you were getting on. I felt exactly like you. Not our favorite and will stay with the smaller ships (Gem, etc.). Matter of fact, I feel like we got jipped on this vacation so I booked the Gem for July to make up for that disaster. Our only saving grace on this cruise was we were staying in the Haven so we were lucky. We had friends on the cruise (unfortunately they were not in the Haven) who only sailed with Carnival and they hated this ship. They said they will never sail NCL again and I tried to tell them that NCL is really good it was just this ship.

[mrsbucketlist]

I'm surprised everyone thought that it was so bad! My review is already posted so I won't go into much detail, but maybe the difference is that I have only cruised Carnival and MSC before.

 

I do agree that overall the itinerary wasn't my favorite ... much preferred the 5 port cruise I took from San Juan, but I did pick the itinerary and also knew the weather risk of cruising from New York which definitely impacted the last two days.

 

I didn't find the service bad at all. I actually though that everyone was super friendly, minus one server who was really rude to my mom one morning at breakfast (maybe the same one!). Snapped at her for trying to order a mimosa when they asked if she wanted coffee, and when she ordered an omlette without specifying what she wanted in it. Made her terrified to say anything, but it was definitely a one off (although I do agree not something I ever experienced on any other cruise). Other than that everyone went out of their way and we often gave a tip when leaving dinner. We found they did a lot of little touches, filling our glass immediately, putting a cover over one members meal when she was at the washroom when it was delivered to keep it warm, substituting items, etc.

 

Overall I did think there was a lot more good than bad. I loved every meal I had, never had to wait longer than a minute or two at a bar for UBP, thought that the entertainment was great, and even got a special gift delivered to my room when we had to call because we didn't have a remote on the first day.

 

Anyway, not saying I disagree with your opinions if that is what you experience, but just wanted to throw this out there so people reading will get a balance of opinions!

[Marine Mom]

Since part of your family was not in the Haven how did that work out? IMO the Haven was wonderful- never crowded. The boarding for haven guests was also wonderful- I assume the non Haven guests didn't have the same level of service you had.

 

We barely spent any time in the Haven other than a few mornings for breakfast and a dip in the hot tub (never anyone there) and dinner at the Haven restaurant which, IMO, was the best food we had the entire cruise. The service in the Haven is amazing and we loved every minute of it.

 

It was fine that we weren't all staying in the Haven. My DH likes to be at the main pool with all the people and we ate with our friends at the buffet a couple of times. I did show them our room but that was the extent of it.

[js]

The concierge was David I believe. I didn't really use them to really rate them. We did sail away in our room.

 

Thank you.

I haven't been reading great things about David.

 

Last time I was in Haven, two years ago, there was a champagne sailaway. Hoping they still do this.

 

Thanks.

[melis11577]

Thank you.

I haven't been reading great things about David.

 

Last time I was in Haven, two years ago, there was a champagne sailaway. Hoping they still do this.

 

Thanks.

 

We did receive a bottle of champagne in our room so I had a private sail away party ;)

[melis11577]

Since part of your family was not in the Haven how did that work out? IMO the Haven was wonderful- never crowded. The boarding for haven guests was also wonderful- I assume the non Haven guests didn't have the same level of service you had.

 

It was OK. My daughters were in our room a lot and they took advantage of room service. We didn't really eat in haven with anyone else although we did eat at poolside one day with daughter and it wasn't an issue. They let our kids tender with us at GSC. The girls did go in hottub one night. Other then we didn't really use a lot of haven amenities.

[djmcwilliams106]

We're on the BA now. Sitting in our Cabana in Vibe docked in PC so thank goodness back to Verizon. I will say the wifi on this ship stinks! My last ship wifi experience was on the Oasis and I guess I got spoiled. The ships layout for the sun decks is terrible. It feels so crowded and I'm so happy we were able to get the Vibe passes. As much as I hated reading that over and over pre cruise I'm forced to concur.

 

We arrived at the pier parking lot at 9:30 but had to wait in line to park. We were at check in around 10:10 and got boarding #23. We went straight to guest services probably got there around 12:00 (they started #1 at 11:30) and were able to get the last cabana. They had about 5 regular passes left. It looked like the regular passes only went up to 66. These were taken by the time we got through the line to pay.

 

Everything else is good. Food is fine- been to Ocean Blue, O'Sheehans, Savor lunch, Manhattan room, Moderno lunch buffet, regular buffet for breakfast.

 

The Oasis is definetly better designed for the masses and never felt crowded like this ship does. Without the guarantee of Vibe passes I wouldn't sail this ship again. We have a huge B1 balcony but I'm a sun person and can't really layout for long back there with sun placement.

 

Also if you want a treadmill without waiting, get to the gym before 7:30am.

 

The weather has been beautiful so maybe that accounts for the crowded sun decks??

 

Didn't mean to hijack your thread OP just thought I'd chime in. Thanks

 

I'd love to hear your full review when you get back. I sail on 5/29 and am currently hoping to snag affordable upsell to Haven Spa Suite. But if not will buy spa passes and hopefully get Vibe Cabana for the week.

[Cruise a holic]

The Haven was great! The only way to sail on the breakaway. I agree with the assesment that on the oasis or allure rc ships crowds aren't an issue. Ships have a better plan design. The exception is on the quantum class that fells like the breakaway with horrible crowding