Breakaway pool question

[VikingD]

My wife and our two daughters (11 & 10) are considering the Breakaway for May 28, 2017. We are attracted to the Breakaway because of the many activities for the girls such as the ropes course, water slides, golf etc. However I keep reading the it has a terrible pool deck and the adults area is always packed. But what about the kids pool? Is the pool shoulder to shoulder with kids or will they have some room to play around. And will the time of year make a difference since most schools around are still in session?

[Gershep]

Time of year will make a difference. Both pools are usually packed. We were on the BA in June and July and they were crowded. July was certainly worse then June. If you stay on the ship while the ship is in port the pools aren't as crowded.

[SuiteTraveler]

If you are in The Haven, there should be room for the girls to play in that pool. The regular pool deck is very overcrowded and there are so many standing around and in the pool there is nowhere to swim. The ropes course is closed a lot due to winds, rain, etc. But on the other hand, there are the water slides, rock climbing, mini-golf and bowling plus the great kids clubs. Your girls could always wait to swim until you are in port. We generally avoid the regular pool deck on NCL ships as it is so overcrowded, but in The Haven, it is nowhere near as crowded.

[cb at sea]

On sea days, the pools are PACKED...always! Ship pools are small, and the number of passengers are large.....can't be helped! That's why we like many port days....if you want to stay onboard and use the ship, that's the time to do it!

[riclop]

My wife and our two daughters (11 & 10) are considering the Breakaway for May 28, 2017. We are attracted to the Breakaway because of the many activities for the girls such as the ropes course, water slides, golf etc. However I keep reading the it has a terrible pool deck and the adults area is always packed. But what about the kids pool? Is the pool shoulder to shoulder with kids or will they have some room to play around. And will the time of year make a difference since most schools around are still in session?

 

It has the worst pool area of any line, look else where??

[baflagg]

Does anyone recall if on port days the adult pool is open to anyone? Thinking this next trip to Bermuda we may skip going to the beach and just hangout on the ship. I thought I remembered from last year the "adult only" pool sign coming down when we were docked.

[Dayana]

I have gone on the BA during winter break. (February). The kids pool did not seem packed. There is enough room for playing and there is a monitor available (however guardians should keep watch). Not every kid is in the pool area at the same time. Remember there is splash academy, entourage as well as the water slides, so it's not like there will be 100 kids in the pool at one given time. Some of the comments are quite exaggerated. If you are leaving end of May (which means not every kid has started their summer vacations yet) you should be fine.

 

 

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[Vyhanek]

I have to agree ^^^

The newer NCL ships truly have the worst pool deck areas of any cruise line. Epic, Escape, Breakaway.......They are terrible. Basically they take the same space that should go to deck space, a larger swimming pool, area for more loungers, etc and they use that floor space for the ropes course, the structure for the water slide, etc. Those activities may be nice but it creates a huge burden on the rest of the outdoor deck space.

 

The older NCL ships were more respectful of outdoor lounging space. On sea days it's a huge issue.

[smilz]

Is there water in the pool on embarkation day in NYC?

[BirdTravels]

Yes. The pool is open on embarkation day.

 

There were 740 passengers 20 and under (269 kids 11 and under) on the Breakaway 2 weeks ago.

 

People sound silly when they talk about having a sun deck that will accommodate 5000 passengers around a pool. Remove everything from the top deck and not have space for 5000 loungers. With 4800 passengers on the Breakaway 2 weeks ago, there were always loungers available. Yes, not pool side, but that is just too silly.

 

 

 

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[ChelePA]

The kids' pool was the one disappointment. The size is small but we just didn't like the layout. If you swim in the evening, there is no one in it. During the day, it was crazy but the adult pool was even crazier. Shoulder to shoulder.