First NCL cruise under my belt, the good and the bad [Breakaway]

[boopsahoy]

You should try a cruise on the Pearl or the Gem and I think you will be very pleased with the layout and flow, especially in the Garden Cafe and Great Outdoors. Those are two of the best ships in the entire cruise industry.

 

Where is the LIKE button? :D

[missdenise]

Is that something that pops up closer to sail date (I'm 181 days out now)? I already completed all the stuff there where it said "check in" and there was nothing about a check-in time selection.

 

Honestly, I don't remember. I know our check in time was between 1 - 1:30PM. It was on our boarding pass and I know I picked that time somehow.

[missdenise]

See I was on the ship for 7 days, and went near H2O several times and never knew that. Thanks for the info, a little late for me now. Also look at the way you explained how to get there, doesn't sound easy does it? Doesn't sound like you'd just discover it, you have to know where you're going.

 

My husband is the one that always discovers the little hideouts etc. He has a habit of wondering around aimlessly. He found the nude sunbathing deck on the Jewel.... guess that is what he was looking for on the BA also...LOL

[JamesGNYC]

I Found your assessment to be balanced and your negatives were not rant-like.

 

Thanks for posting.

 

 

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I'm 28 years old and born and raised and still living in ny. It's an undeniable fact that you have a larger percentage of people here who are jerks compared to other parts of the country, and i travel domestically a lot. I find myself often going above and beyond when it comes to being nice to compensate for others. I wouldn't however stop cruising out of Nyc because some other people may be jerks. I can't imagine them being so rude that it would damper my vacation. Just ignore them.

 

 

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[JAMESCC]

I Found your assessment to be balanced and your negatives were not rant-like.

 

Thanks for posting.

 

 

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Thank you, I appreciate that.

[JAMESCC]

I'm 28 years old and born and raised and still living in ny. It's an undeniable fact that you have a larger percentage of people here who are jerks compared to other parts of the country, and i travel domestically a lot. I find myself often going above and beyond when it comes to being nice to compensate for others. I wouldn't however stop cruising out of Nyc because some other people may be jerks. I can't imagine them being so rude that it would damper my vacation. Just ignore them.

 

 

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I will sail out of the NY area, just Cape Liberty NJ.

[Frogmandoc]

My first time with NCL. Was on the Splendor of the Seas one month ago, a newer and fancier ship. The Breakaway is not in the same league. The NYC terminal is in poor condition. Its more like a warehouse that has been poorly rehabilitated. Agree with all the negatives that have been listed. There seems to be a morale problem on this ship. There were excellent caring workers but the bad ones stood out. The front desk staff was mostly nasty and irritable. The waiters and some bar tenders looked like they'd rather be elsewhere. They either hate the NYC crowd or they are abused by supervisors or the NCL company. The bad outweighed the good even though there were some very pleasant people working on this ship. The company needs to arrange an intervention and investigate why there is such crew animosity on this ship.

Now about the ship. It has a caotic layout and no maps were given out. The worse areas are topside in the pool area and above. You suddenly find yourself in a dead end and have to retrace your steps. The casino is in the middle of a 3 level open area and tobacco smoke permeates the entire area.`The food was mediocre compared to Disney and Royal Caribbean as were the shows. Of the specialty restaurant, I went to La Cucina, Wasabe, Le Bistro, Ocean Blue.The sushi was bland and tasteless (my local restaurant much better), Le Bistro was no better. I ordered Coq au vin and was disappointed. At Ocean Blue crab legs were dry and tasteless. La Cucina was the better of the four. Dinner in the Savor, Taste and Manhatttan Club was not memorable. They try to nickle and dime you at every turn on this ship.

I wont be going on this ship again and will think twice about sailing on NCL again

Edited October 11, 2016 by Frogmandoc

[JAMESCC]

My first time with NCL. Was on the Splendor of the Seas one month ago, a newer and fancier ship. The Breakaway is not in the same league. The NYC terminal is in poor condition. Its more like a warehouse that has been poorly rehabilitated. Agree with all the negatives that have been listed. There seems to be a morale problem on this ship. There were excellent caring workers but the bad ones stood out. The front desk staff was mostly nasty and irritable. The waiters and some bar tenders looked like they'd rather be elsewhere. They either hate the NYC crowd or they are abused by supervisors or the NCL company. The bad outweighed the good even though there were some very pleasant people working on this ship. The company needs to arrange an intervention and investigate why there is such crew animosity on this ship.

Now about the ship. It has a caotic layout and no maps were given out. The worse areas are topside in the pool area and above. You suddenly find yourself in a dead end and have to retrace your steps. The casino is in the middle of a 3 level open area and tobacco smoke permeates the entire area.`The food was mediocre compared to Disney and Royal Caribbean as were the shows. Of the specialty restaurant, I went to La Cucina, Wasabe, Le Bistro, Ocean Blue.The sushi was bland and tasteless (my local restaurant much better), Le Bistro was no better. I ordered Coq au vin and was disappointed. At Ocean Blue crab legs were dry and tasteless. La Cucina was the better of the four. Dinner in the Savor, Taste and Manhatttan Club was not memorable. They try to nickle and dime you at every turn on this ship.

I wont be going on this ship again and will think twice about sailing on NCL again

 

Exactly what you said. You said what I wanted to say just in a more concise and detailed way than I could, thank you. What is with the top deck, its just a mess of I don't know what. The pool deck and the sun deck I guess you could call it. Just terrible planning and design.

[JamesGNYC]

People in ny may be jerks but they do too well! You'd think the NCL staff would be happier for that alone

[txagfan]

I would recommend the OP come and sail out of Houston, but sadly they aren't sailing out of there. Boat full of friendly Texans, so different than the cruises I've taken out of Miami.

 

 

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[MJSailors]

In a previous post,someone mentioned that the terminal embarkation and disembarkation processes were the responsibility of the port and not that of NCL.

This is true,to a point.

The NY Port of Authority manages the terminal and personnel who work there.

However,IMHO,NCL should be concerned about the arrival and departure experiences of their passengers. If so many passengers have experienced negative situations, NCL should be aware of these situations and use their commercial influence to improve conditions in the terminal. Or,perhaps,NCL should consider another pier location.

I plan to note this on the post cruise survey from NCL when I finally receive it.

Many years ago, Cunard used the Manhattan terminal.

Apparently,the passenger experience there became unacceptable because Cunard built another terminal in Red Hook,Brooklyn for the new Queen Mary II . Princess also uses this terminal.

We have sailed numerous times out of Brooklyn. The facilities are bright and clean, processing goes well and the harbor views are stunning.

[DMH15]

I would recommend the OP come and sail out of Houston, but sadly they aren't sailing out of there. Boat full of friendly Texans, so different than the cruises I've taken out of Miami.

 

 

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THIS!

 

 

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[thistimeplease]

That's kind of my thinking...give her a try and see. At least then I will have a leg to stand on in discussions of megaships vs. smaller ships.

 

I'm planning to buy a spa pass in advance. And I'm hoping I get an early enough boarding (how does getting your boarding time work - is it random or do you select from available choices?) time to get a Vibe pass so I'll have one or two places to retreat to if things get too intense otherwise.

 

My husband and I were very nervous about the BA based on comments here on CC but I can tell you we were very surprised by how much we loved the BA. We had previously been on the Jewel and after that trip had decided that cruising was not for us, we didn't like the ship at all, but then friends convinced us to try a megaship. We loved, loved, loved it. We went in July and had no issues getting around the ship. The staff was wonderful, food very good and we never seemed to experience the "crowds" that everyone complains about. I had gotten a extra balcony because I was afraid that we would have to spend most our time there and we never used it except for breakfast. Our favorite spot was H20 and we never had problems getting chairs. We have already booked another cruise on the BA and am already counting the days.

[Alegeeter]

We have always cruised NCL (10 cruises) out of New York and never had any problems with the staff. Usually it is with the rudeness of the passengers. The staff always go above and beyond to make our vacation a memorable one. They are always smiling and very helpful. Treat them as you would like to be treated, they are people too and working very hard.

 

 

 

 

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Agree witht his 100%. Show them respect and you get it in return. I've spoken to many crew members from the northeast ports and in general they seem more worn out from the crowds on these ships. Several have even asked me how it's possible that I am from New York because I don't behave a certain way. It saddens me the impression that they have gotten from being based out of New York. That said, even when faced with attitude and disrespect from other passengers I have only seen crew members smile back with kindness and do their best (to the point where I want to get involved and knock some proverbial sense into some people).

[CruisinHarvey]

We've taken a lot of cruises, and the 2 we've taken from NYC were different. On all our other cruises there were was a good mix of passengers from everywhere. That's not the case when cruising out of NYC. The fast majority are from NY, NJ and you can tell. The crew members can tell. It's not bad, just a completely different vibe.

 

I'll also say that their view of cruising is bit different than most. The majority we talked to, don't want to fly, for cost or whatever reason. As a result, have never taken a cruise other than NYC, or maybe Boston.

[mjkacmom]

We've taken a lot of cruises, and the 2 we've taken from NYC were different. On all our other cruises there were was a good mix of passengers from everywhere. That's not the case when cruising out of NYC. The fast majority are from NY, NJ and you can tell. The crew members can tell. It's not bad, just a completely different vibe.

 

I'll also say that their view of cruising is bit different than most. The majority we talked to, don't want to fly, for cost or whatever reason. As a result, have never taken a cruise other than NYC, or maybe Boston.

 

Living in the area, we are used to not diving far for anything (shopping, entertainment, dining, services), plus our airports are horrible!

[missdenise]

In a previous post,someone mentioned that the terminal embarkation and disembarkation processes were the responsibility of the port and not that of NCL.

This is true,to a point.

The NY Port of Authority manages the terminal and personnel who work there.

However,IMHO,NCL should be concerned about the arrival and departure experiences of their passengers. If so many passengers have experienced negative situations, NCL should be aware of these situations and use their commercial influence to improve conditions in the terminal. Or,perhaps,NCL should consider another pier location.

I plan to note this on the post cruise survey from NCL when I finally receive it.

Many years ago, Cunard used the Manhattan terminal.

Apparently,the passenger experience there became unacceptable because Cunard built another terminal in Red Hook,Brooklyn for the new Queen Mary II . Princess also uses this terminal.

We have sailed numerous times out of Brooklyn. The facilities are bright and clean, processing goes well and the harbor views are stunning.

 

Agree 100%,..... Embarkation and disembarkation was by far the worst part of the cruise. And NCL should care even if it is not their fault. I have cruise Princess several times but out of FL and Vancouver.. maybe it is time to check out the Brooklyn Terminal.

[njhorseman]

In a previous post,someone mentioned that the terminal embarkation and disembarkation processes were the responsibility of the port and not that of NCL.

This is true,to a point.

The NY Port of Authority manages the terminal and personnel who work there.

However,IMHO,NCL should be concerned about the arrival and departure experiences of their passengers. If so many passengers have experienced negative situations, NCL should be aware of these situations and use their commercial influence to improve conditions in the terminal. Or,perhaps,NCL should consider another pier location.

I plan to note this on the post cruise survey from NCL when I finally receive it.

Many years ago, Cunard used the Manhattan terminal.

Apparently,the passenger experience there became unacceptable because Cunard built another terminal in Red Hook,Brooklyn for the new Queen Mary II . Princess also uses this terminal.

We have sailed numerous times out of Brooklyn. The facilities are bright and clean, processing goes well and the harbor views are stunning.

 

The Port Authority neither owns nor manages the Manhattan and Brooklyn Cruise Terminals. They are owned by NY City through the NY City Economic Development Corp.

 

The Manhattan cruise Terminal is managed under contract by Ports America, a large US-based port operator and stevedore.

 

The Brooklyn Cruise Terminal is managed under contract by a different stevedore and port operator, Metro Services.

 

Cunard didn't build the Brooklyn Terminal. Their parent corporation, Carnival, contracted with the city for use of the terminal by their Cunard and Princess subsidiaries, with the terminal being used once in a great while by other cruise lines when there is no space to dock in Manhattan. The primary reason for building the Brooklyn facility was the lack of available docking space in Manhattan during the peak summer and fall cruising seasons. Too many ships for too few quays.

 

The problem with the Manhattan terminal is that they are old, smaller quays, which could not be expanded because of lack of space to do so. They were not built to handle 4,000 passenger ships like the Breakaway...hence the embarkation and disembarkation processes are far from ideal. There really isn't a serious problem in Manhattan when smaller ships with up to about 2,500 passengers, such as the Norwegian Gem use the terminal.

 

Because there was room to expand in Brooklyn, the terminal configuration wasn't constrained the way it is in Manhattan. In addition, the QM2, while of similar physical size to the Breakaway, only carries about 2,700 passengers, not 4,000. I sailed on the QM2 out of Manhattan before Brooklyn was built, and there was not nearly the problem embarking and disembarking as there is with the Breakaway, very simply due to the passenger count.

[njhorseman]

Agree 100%,..... Embarkation and disembarkation was by far the worst part of the cruise. And NCL should care even if it is not their fault. I have cruise Princess several times but out of FL and Vancouver.. maybe it is time to check out the Brooklyn Terminal.

 

Why do you think NCL doesn't care? Do you think they want to make the process annoying to their passengers? They have zero control over it...it's as simple as that. I'm sure they would prefer that NY City had the space and the money to build a cruise terminal that could better handle 4,000 passenger ships like the Breakaway, but the space and the money aren't there.

[JAMESCC]

Why do you think NCL doesn't care? Do you think they want to make the process annoying to their passengers? They have zero control over it...it's as simple as that. I'm sure they would prefer that NY City had the space and the money to build a cruise terminal that could better handle 4,000 passenger ships like the Breakaway, but the space and the money aren't there.

 

Question for you, you might know the answer or someone else. Our first cruise, oh about 10 years ago was on the Crown Princess out of Red Hook Brooklyn and i remember it being a very smooth and nice terminal with lots of room. Can't NCL use that terminal? Manhattan just ain't the place to board on and un-board 4,000+ passengers.

[njhorseman]

Question for you, you might know the answer or someone else. Our first cruise, oh about 10 years ago was on the Crown Princess out of Red Hook Brooklyn and i remember it being a very smooth and nice terminal with lots of room. Can't NCL use that terminal? Manhattan just ain't the place to board on and un-board 4,000+ passengers.

 

The answer is implied in my post immediately preceding the one you quoted. Carnival Corp. has the primary contractual right to use Brooklyn for its Cunard and Princess subsidiaries. As there's only a single quay in Brooklyn, the terminal isn't regularly available available for use by other cruise lines. NCL runs two ships out of NY year-round, and hence needs a pier that is available every week, not just now and again.

 

By the way, Pier 88 had to be refitted with two new passenger gangways in order to allow the Breakaway to dock there, so I'm sure NYCEDC had to get a lengthy contractual commitment from NCL to use Manhattan in order to justify spending the money for the new gangways, as well as for the other renovations that were made to Pier 88. Believe me, not that many years ago The Manhattan terminal was pretty dingy compared to what it looks like today.

[JAMESCC]

The answer is implied in my post immediately preceding the one you quoted. Carnival Corp. has the primary contractual right to use Brooklyn for its Cunard and Princess subsidiaries. As there's only a single quay in Brooklyn, the terminal isn't regularly available available for use by other cruise lines. NCL runs two ships out of NY year-round, and hence needs a pier that is available every week, not just now and again.

 

By the way, Pier 88 had to be refitted with two new passenger gangways in order to allow the Breakaway to dock there, so I'm sure NYCEDC had to get a lengthy contractual commitment from NCL to use Manhattan in order to justify spending the money for the new gangways, as well as for the other renovations that were made to Pier 88. Believe me, not that many years ago The Manhattan terminal was pretty dingy compared to what it looks like today.

 

I guess RCI wasn't so stupid for choosing Cape Liberty for their terminal. I think they look pretty smart.

Edited October 11, 2016 by JAMESCC

[missdenise]

Why do you think NCL doesn't care? Do you think they want to make the process annoying to their passengers? They have zero control over it...it's as simple as that. I'm sure they would prefer that NY City had the space and the money to build a cruise terminal that could better handle 4,000 passenger ships like the Breakaway, but the space and the money aren't there.

 

If the weather is bad such as this past Sunday or even worse say 10 degrees outside. Couldn't they limit the amount of people standing outside? Our color luggage tag was called 25 minutes before the time that was stated, isn't that under NCL's control? Why, were we told to disembark if it meant standing on the dock for an hour? We could have stayed on the ship until the time stated and by then the line would not have been as long. I would have been much happier sitting in the Atrium.

[mjkacmom]

If the weather is bad such as this past Sunday or even worse say 10 degrees outside. Couldn't they limit the amount of people standing outside? Our color luggage tag was called 25 minutes before the time that was stated, isn't that under NCL's control? Why, were we told to disembark if it meant standing on the dock for an hour? We could have stayed on the ship until the time stated and by then the line would not have been as long. I would have been much happier sitting in the Atrium.

 

They need to get passengers off of the ship ASAP in order to clean the public areas so that those arriving can start to board.

[missdenise]

They need to get passengers off of the ship ASAP in order to clean the public areas so that those arriving can start to board.

 

I understand that.. but we were sent off early. Our designated time, I am sure, accounted for the clean of the ship.