Breakaway Review - Christmas week/New Year 2017

[SassyGirl]

I posted a full review under the reviews section, but just wanted to comment on our experience on the Breakaway. I took my mom on this cruise for her birthday and Christmas and overall we had a decent time, but it definitely was not my favorite cruise. In fact, by the end, I couldn't wait to get off the ship, and I don't think I have ever felt that way on a cruise.

 

In a nutshell, the main problem (for me, and it also bugged my mom) was the NOISE and CROWDS. The ship is not well laid out for the number of passengers, public areas (especially the Atrium) are too small to accommodate the people who want to participate in the shows/events. I forgot to mention this in my formal review, but there is a serious problem with cigarette smoke on this ship. The casino is wide open, the smoke spreads beyond the casino into other areas of the ship. On top of that, there is an outside deck that is a smoking area, and the smoke from that deck permeates a large area inside the ship - I think it was deck 8, near the Italian specialty restaurant.

 

There is loud music EVERYWHERE and much of it is annoying teeny bopper music. The cruise director was manic and seemed to be screaming into microphones at every event. We had a hard time finding quiet areas to "chill" away from the crowds and chaos. The Waterfront deck was nice and quiet, but some days it was too chilly to sit out there. The Atrium has non-stop activities and with all of them, the sound system is blasting and the entire area is totally crammed with people. There is only seating for about 150 total in that area, which is nowhere sufficient.

 

I am not sure who designed the Breakaway Theater but the seats in there are the most uncomfortable I have ever sat in. The seat bottom slants downwards, so you slide down on the seat. If you try to scoot your butt backwards, your hit a wooden bar in the back of the seat. They are terrible. The deck loungers are also very uncomfortable.

 

On New Years Eve, we went to the blues bar, which was a nice escape from the manic cruise director and bad music elsewhere on the ship. At 11:25, the blues band took a break, and a large projection screen was unfurled and a simulcast of the New Years Eve party at Spice H2O was broadcast into the blues bar, with Alvin the cruise director yelling and screaming the entire time. We went to the blues bar to escape that insanity and now we were forced to endure 35 minutes of Alvin screaming. We stayed because we didn't want to lose our seats.

 

On the plus side, we loved the main shows, Burn the Floor and Rock of Ages. These were 2 of the best shows I have ever seen at sea. The blues band, Les Getrix and Creole Cooking Band, was very good, although some of their material repeated itself on different nights. We didn't eat at any speciality restaurants, but the food in the complimentary areas (other than the buffet) was consistently decent to very good. My favorite thing was the molten chocolate volcano cake, which was offered every evening and was just scrumptious. So was the creme brulee. Some of the buffet food was inedible and disgusting. Just looking at the watery scrambled "eggs" made my stomach turn. The pizza wasn't even as good as Ellio's.

 

In a nutshell, the Breakaway seems to be ship that is geared toward chaos and partying. It's non-stop noise and people everywhere. It seemed like the majority of real estate on the ship was dedicated to extra-fee stuff and there wasn't much that was included. We were really disappointed that there was no solarium, which has always been my favorite area on the ship to hang out during the day. I think there was one, but it was for "Haven" guests only (i.e. extra fee).

[mjkacmom]

I have 5 kids, you couldnt pay me to go on a cruise Christmas week! Too many kids, too frantic. I'm guessing there were more kids on that cruise than adults, of course they are going to hear music to them. I'm guessing this week's sailing is sedate.

[SassyGirl]

You know, I was worried about how many kids there would be on board, but there didn't seem to be an unreasonable amount and overall they were well-behaved (with a few exceptions). There were many more adults on board than kids.

[mjkacmom]

I would expect that week to have more children than any other week, because every school is on vacation. We have cruised during the week of NJ teachers convention, when many residents get 2/3 days off, and there are over 1000 kids even then. It feels extra crowded.

[pegdave]

I posted a full review under the reviews section, but just wanted to comment on our experience on the Breakaway. I took my mom on this cruise for her birthday and Christmas and overall we had a decent time, but it definitely was not my favorite cruise. In fact, by the end, I couldn't wait to get off the ship, and I don't think I have ever felt that way on a cruise.

 

 

 

In a nutshell, the main problem (for me, and it also bugged my mom) was the NOISE and CROWDS. The ship is not well laid out for the number of passengers, public areas (especially the Atrium) are too small to accommodate the people who want to participate in the shows/events. I forgot to mention this in my formal review, but there is a serious problem with cigarette smoke on this ship. The casino is wide open, the smoke spreads beyond the casino into other areas of the ship. On top of that, there is an outside deck that is a smoking area, and the smoke from that deck permeates a large area inside the ship - I think it was deck 8, near the Italian specialty restaurant.

 

 

 

There is loud music EVERYWHERE and much of it is annoying teeny bopper music. The cruise director was manic and seemed to be screaming into microphones at every event. We had a hard time finding quiet areas to "chill" away from the crowds and chaos. The Waterfront deck was nice and quiet, but some days it was too chilly to sit out there. The Atrium has non-stop activities and with all of them, the sound system is blasting and the entire area is totally crammed with people. There is only seating for about 150 total in that area, which is nowhere sufficient.

 

 

 

I am not sure who designed the Breakaway Theater but the seats in there are the most uncomfortable I have ever sat in. The seat bottom slants downwards, so you slide down on the seat. If you try to scoot your butt backwards, your hit a wooden bar in the back of the seat. They are terrible. The deck loungers are also very uncomfortable.

 

 

 

On New Years Eve, we went to the blues bar, which was a nice escape from the manic cruise director and bad music elsewhere on the ship. At 11:25, the blues band took a break, and a large projection screen was unfurled and a simulcast of the New Years Eve party at Spice H2O was broadcast into the blues bar, with Alvin the cruise director yelling and screaming the entire time. We went to the blues bar to escape that insanity and now we were forced to endure 35 minutes of Alvin screaming. We stayed because we didn't want to lose our seats.

 

 

 

On the plus side, we loved the main shows, Burn the Floor and Rock of Ages. These were 2 of the best shows I have ever seen at sea. The blues band, Les Getrix and Creole Cooking Band, was very good, although some of their material repeated itself on different nights. We didn't eat at any speciality restaurants, but the food in the complimentary areas (other than the buffet) was consistently decent to very good. My favorite thing was the molten chocolate volcano cake, which was offered every evening and was just scrumptious. So was the creme brulee. Some of the buffet food was inedible and disgusting. Just looking at the watery scrambled "eggs" made my stomach turn. The pizza wasn't even as good as Ellio's.

 

 

 

In a nutshell, the Breakaway seems to be ship that is geared toward chaos and partying. It's non-stop noise and people everywhere. It seemed like the majority of real estate on the ship was dedicated to extra-fee stuff and there wasn't much that was included. We were really disappointed that there was no solarium, which has always been my favorite area on the ship to hang out during the day. I think there was one, but it was for "Haven" guests only (i.e. extra fee).

 

 

Is Dan Dan still the Cruise Director? Was the Margaritaville open?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Edited January 3, 2017 by pegdave

[TheDougOut]

At 11:25, the blues band took a break, and a large projection screen was unfurled and a simulcast of the New Years Eve party at Spice H2O was broadcast into the blues bar, with Alvin the cruise director yelling and screaming the entire time.

 

I saw a FB Live feed of the BA's countdown at midnight, taken from Spice H20. To me, it appeared that the big screen in Spice H20 was broadcasting a simulcast from the atrium where the captain was doing the final few second countdown. Was that not the case? Or were they switching between live feeds throughout the ship? Regardless - what a cool way to ring in the new year!

 

Is Dan Dan still the Cruise Director?

 

The post mentions "Alvin the cruise director".

[SassyGirl]

I am not sure, but they may have been simulcasting parties from various areas of the ship into other areas. All I can say is the Spice H2O party was non-stop screaming from Alvin.

 

The ship was sold out but I didn't think the proportion of kids to adults was out of balance. There were many more adults than kids but there certainly were more kids than there would be on a non-holiday cruise.

 

Yes, Margaritaville was open.

[schildiams]

Agree with everything said. Will never do the BA again.

Edited January 3, 2017 by schildiams

[easyboy]

Too bad the noise, including those from the CD, spoiled your otherwise enjoyable cruise. Thanks for the feedback.

[luckyinpa]

the room service pizza is much better than the buffet. id try that next time.

[Clarea]

Thanks for the report, sorry to hear about the non-stop chaos.

[BEACHBARB]

I really hope NCL reads these boards because I have been on Breakaway and Getaway and after both wrote to NCL to compliment them on food and other things but to complain on the VOLUME!!!! Especially in the atrium. I don't get what the purpose is for making everything so loud!!! Even when a woman was playing a piano - it was SOOOO loud. They need to move that stuff to the theater or do away with one of the specialty restaurants to make room for things like that. I liked the layout on the Sun much better. But we like the itinerary of the Breakaway so we're doing it again in 3 weeks. Can't beat the price - we'll just have to try to find some quiet space to read and people watch.

[WashyWashyHappyHappy95]

I'm with you on there being way too much loud lousy teen music being pumped through the ship.

 

It was especially annoying Deck 17 forward, near the bow. On the Gem that is a designated quite area, and it's GREAT. Perfect place to get some sun and also have quiet, but on the BA they had the shi**est music blasting through the speakers at all hours.

 

Weirdly, some of the best music was in the cabin corridors? Anyone else notice this? All 70's classic rock. Allman Brothers, Pink Floyd, Black Sabbath, etc. A few times I took the long way around just to let a song finish!

[luckyinpa]

i dont even know if i really heard any loud music on BA. maybe i'm very good at tuning things out. heck i was in the hot tubs late at nite and unsure i heard any music.

 

as far as music in cabin halls..really? wow. ill have to ask my cruisemates if they heard any.

[SassyGirl]

Of course, music is subjective and what one person may think of as great music is crap to another.

 

There was only one day during our cruise where we were both pleased with the music we heard playing. It was during a day in port when we stayed on the ship. My mom and I hung at the pool and they were playing what I consider to be awesome music all day...basically 70s classic rock....like Led Zeppelin, Bad Company, Pink Floyd, etc. My mom even liked it, and she is in her early 70s. The rest of the cruise, all we heard was modern pop music, which we both think sucks. Oh, except in the hallways, elevators and bathrooms, where they were playing Christmas music all week, which was odd because our cruise started the day after Christmas.

 

There were NO quiet outdoor decks that were free of music, except portions of the Waterfront. Every other space that we checked out had music playing, which was either crappy, too loud, or both.

 

Even though we loved the classic rock playing on the pool deck that one day, I will say that the volume was too loud. My mom and I agreed that if they had been playing less appealing music, we would not have been able to tolerate it because of how loud it was.

[WeehawkenCruiser]

i dont even know if i really heard any loud music on BA. maybe i'm very good at tuning things out. heck i was in the hot tubs late at nite and unsure i heard any music.

 

as far as music in cabin halls..really? wow. ill have to ask my cruisemates if they heard any.

 

there was definitely better music in the hallway than at the pool. I like to party as much as the next guy but the volume at some of the events at the pool hurt my ears!

 

Only tried to go to one event in the atrium, cake decorating competition, and couldn't even get near it!

[luckyinpa]

family cupcake decorating in the buffet is a bit more attainable than cake decorating. kids go through line and choose what toppings they want the staff to put on their plate then they go back to their table and decorate

[cage keeper]

I do agree with most of your review. But we are doing Breakaway because one of the pleasures of cruising for us is night time entertainment. This ship has by far the best. We rarely go out so on a cruise we really enjoy this. Howl at the moon played a lot of classic rock but it was late night. Differently agree with the atrium being the worst. We just avoided it. H20 was nice and quiet during the day. As was the spa.