Quick Breakaway review 7/31-8/7

[nkwoman]

Gregor-Plenty of others are partaking in the pool- don't worry she's not hogging it. She spends most of her time in the kids club but thanks for the negativity!

 

I really was trying to just be helpful to fellow cruisers. No wonder so many lurk rather than dare post anything.

Edited August 9, 2016 by nkwoman

[Shawnino]

Frankly we are cruising in 2 weeks on the Breakaway with a 21yo( turning that on the 15th) and a 19 yo ... both boys.. if ANYONE sees my boys acting disrespectful, ugly or rude? you have my PERMISSION (and my husbands) to put hem in their place! and their place meaning In the ROoM for TIME OUT!!!

 

Oh I have so little tolerance for the ugly teens - thankfully mine arent that way !!!

 

As if anyone would know which brats were yours.

[Sizzlechest]

There are a lot things "wrong" with NCL but dining isn't one of those.

 

There's a big issue with the concept of "freestyle" dining. Sure you can have diner anytime you like. Just don't expect to do that AND attend the show you want. If you want to do that, then you'd better have dinner at 5:30, which means for specialties, make reservations ASAP. Every cruise prior to my last, I was able to do a 5:30 dinner and make the 7:00 show. Not anymore. Dinner was a 2 hour affair at the MDRs and specialties. Thankfully I reserved the later shows when possible.

[lennyfitz]

 

Embarkation was a nightmare for us as well. We were at the pier and checked in by 10 am. Got number 19 (not good). Did not board til 1 pm.

 

 

Did you get number 19 because there were that many people there before you or are they giving out the numbers randomly? I read in another post that they're doing that now at the NYC port. I'm sailing the Breakaway in September and planned to get there early for a shot at Vibe. I will not be doing that if they're just giving out random boarding numbers instead of based on arrival time.

[KevintheIrishDJ]

Why did you state that your thread was deleted? It's right on the first page.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2387987

 

Thanks. I found it.

[Luvcruzing2]

Lennyfitz,

 

I can honestly tell you that while we were waiting, the boarding numbers seemed very random. After at least 2 hours of waiting, we saw people coming out of the check in lanes with numbers 1 and 7. However, they were different colors.

 

Being new to NCL, I thought maybe the colors meant something different. To my horror, they called only numbers (not colors) for boarding. In my opinion, there was no rhyme or reason to the numbers anyone received at the check in counter. That is what made it so frustrating.

 

Prior to my saiing, people on CC said that the earlier you get to the port, the lower the number. For me, this statement is FALSE. Not so. People got there at least 2 hours after we did,, and boarded first. (FYI: my check in time online at NCL was 9 am... the earliest you can check in). From my experience, at least, per the groans and cheers at the pier, it seemed like the majority of passengers on the ship had number 19.....

[NYcruzzer]

She probably had it to herself because people like me will wait for others to leave the tiny pool before taking my turn cooling off. The pool is small, it's not suitable for spending a lot of time in or others won't get a turn.

 

The Jewel class ships this is especially true.

 

Is this a passive aggressive way of saying that the 12 year old spent too much time in the Haven pool ? Additionally are you suggesting that the Haven pool is not suitable for more than one passenger to utilize at a time ?

[Jezo]

I wonder if we can start tipping the check in people for lower boarding group numbers, similar to the $20 trick at Vegas hotels.

[SuiteCruiser]

Freestyle dining has never been about "eat whenever you want", it's about not having fixed dinner times and table assignments - just like in restaurants on land. Also being able to make a reservation is very different from getting a table as a walk-in.

 

We (party of 2) have never had any problems getting a table with Freestyle dining (Freestyle Cruising is why we fell in love with NCL in the first place), but then again we are flexible and understand that there is no way they can guarantee that everyone could be accommodated exactly where they want, when they want.

 

Actually, that's not true. I started cruising NCL in 2007 and 2014 was the first time I was given anything but "it may take 15 minutes" to get into a specialty restaurant. The UDP and SDP have totally taken that "freestyle" ability to decide on a whim what you feel like eating that night. The only restaurant we ever made reservations for was Teppanyaki. This is a totally different experience now.

[Nyc2tropics]

Breakaway has the worst pool deck at sea.

[Gregor4500]

Is this a passive aggressive way of saying that the 12 year old spent too much time in the Haven pool ? Additionally are you suggesting that the Haven pool is not suitable for more than one passenger to utilize at a time ?

 

I didn't mean to be negative or offend. . . but. .

 

Last time we were on the Breakaway it happened to be Jersey week. And the Haven pool was monopolized by kids. They were well behaved, but they would also spend hours on end in the pool. It didn't bother me too much. I did get in the pool once.

 

Once on the gem a similar situation but the last day I found out the kids were not staying in the Haven, Their grandparents were.

 

The Haven pool on the Gem (as I recall it's been several years) is a lap pool, so yes, If one passenger is swimming against the current no others can use it.

[cliffs56]

Diane, my wife and my 23-year-old son will be on the Breakaway with you I think (August 21-28) staying in the haven. My son is pretty quiet and respectful, but he and his brothers grew up as military dependents and learned respect along the way. Maybe we will run into your family during the trip and compare notes.

[easyboy]

Now my big complaint. I like kids, I really do. Have 2 of my own. And the little guys, you barley knew were there. The problem was the teenagers. At two of the night parties (80's and Glow) there were tons of them. Which would be fine if they behaved. They were drunk. They were fighting. There were 3 fist fights in the hour that the 80s party lasted. They were asking people in our party to buy them drinks. When a lady asked the bartender to call security because of a fist fight he said "Sorry, not my problem. I can't do anything about it" When a friend was walking down the stairs and said excuse me, a girl told her to go F herself and find another way down. I did speak to the ship about this. I was taken down to the Chief Security Officers office to sit down and speak with him. He was livid. he asked me to write a letter to NCL because they only give him a handful of security guards.

 

Bermuda was nice. We did the crystal cave and the other one (can't remember the name!) Went to St George. Took the ferry to Hamilton for Harbor Nights. Was a little disappointed in this. A friend rented a private boat for 7 of us and they took us all over the island. That was a highlight. Went to Horseshoe Bay on the last morning and seem to have avoided a lot of the crowds. It was beautiful. Saw some cool fish.

 

Disembarkation was a NIGHTMARE. We had the light blue tag for approx. 9:15am. We finally got through customs at almost noon.

 

Overall the cruise was ok. Not bad, and we still enjoyed ourselves but a bunch of little things that added up. We may try NCL again but not the Breakaway. There was just something about the ship we didn't care for and I LOVE Mega ships.

Thanks for sharing. Glad you enjoyed it despite those hitches.

[easyboy]

Chair hogs were everywhere. I saw empty chairs for a few hours at a time. I overheard one man tell a NCL staff member that he would be chair hogging the whole cruise and that he purposely got up at 6:30 am to do just that.

Chair hogs are really very irritating, though it is common across cruise lines and ships.

I guess cruise officers and staff are avoiding to displease their abusive guests, forgetting the offended guests

[Sprasa03]

I really like Norwegian but I need to find a cruise with less kids but still a nightlife. Not sure what that cruise is but maybe it's really about timing.

 

When you find that, please let me know LOL!

[lennyfitz]

Lennyfitz,

 

I can honestly tell you that while we were waiting, the boarding numbers seemed very random. After at least 2 hours of waiting, we saw people coming out of the check in lanes with numbers 1 and 7. However, they were different colors.

 

Being new to NCL, I thought maybe the colors meant something different. To my horror, they called only numbers (not colors) for boarding. In my opinion, there was no rhyme or reason to the numbers anyone received at the check in counter. That is what made it so frustrating.

 

Prior to my saiing, people on CC said that the earlier you get to the port, the lower the number. For me, this statement is FALSE. Not so. People got there at least 2 hours after we did,, and boarded first. (FYI: my check in time online at NCL was 9 am... the earliest you can check in). From my experience, at least, per the groans and cheers at the pier, it seemed like the majority of passengers on the ship had number 19.....

 

Thank you. That's really a bummer :( I'm sorry you experienced that

[DeeT]

As if anyone would know which brats were yours.

 

Yikes! that was nasty.