Breakaway Dec. 30th-Jan. 6th - Quick Review

[Jeffcel]

Hello All,

 

Just returned from a week on the Breakaway and thought I would share some information with all of you.

This is my 8th cruise ( 7 NCL + 1 Princess). I will avoid talking about food as that is so subjective. I would say we had some nice meals at Taste and some misses as well ( this always depended on the individual order).

 

The trip was myself ( M57), my wife ( F47) and out son (M 16).

 

This was our first cruise out of NO.

 

We flew into New Orleans the day prior to let my son see it - as you likely know most places will not let teens in - so plan accordingly. 

So after much research we went to BB Kings and Cafe Beignet both allow teens in - allowed us to see some live music which was great.

 

The real revelation of our stay was being able to walk to the cruise terminal from our hotel ( Marriott at the Convention Centre). It was an easy 5 minute walk to the luggage drop -off.

 

Boarding was quick and painless.

 

In order to keep this short here are some overall likes/dislikes and info.

 

Likes

 

Sailing out of NO - loved going down the Mississippi  -  it crazy foggy on the way out which made it seem pretty cool.

 

The new Pour House is really great. We went the first night - had no trouble getting seats about 15-20 minutes in. By the end of the week - you needed to get there abut 45-60 minutes. It is very popular and fun. You will know every song that they play. One night there was a Queen cover band.

 

My guess is that when the Getaway goes into drydock they will switch Fat Cats out and put this in.

 

Cozumel - we usually go to one of the beach resorts - thought we would switch it up and signed my son up for surfing with Cozumel Surfing. What a great choice. It was on the other side of the island which we had never seen - really pretty. We booked diectly with Cozumel Surfing - they were great, meet at the pick-up spot, had a great day - would highly recomment.

 

Costa Maya - went to Jamie's at The Blue Reef - really nice sport with great food and services.

 

Private Island - my son did the Ziplining - he really enjoyed it.

 

Rock of Ages - really enjoyed it and I hate musicals.

 

The Cirque Show -  was a nice evening of entertainment but the meal was only so so.

 

Dislikes

Very few but here goes

 

Private Island - I dont care if you charge me stuff just dont make me take my wallet. Please figure out how room keys can work for food and beverage. All so on private island - it doesnt seem there are enough restaurant food options to make sure people are not in line for long waits.

 

Main dining room breakfasts - the main dining rooms close a bit early for breakfast - perhaps one of them could be open until 10:00am.

 

O'Sheehans menu - seems to have gone from about 8-10 options to about 5-7 -  would br great if a bit more choice. Also was told they no longer let you eat at the rail facing he attrium . This was a bit of a drag as on the Escape that is where we would eat and watch activities below.

 

Leaving Costa Maya too early. Not sure why they need to leave at 2:00pm- we were at the Mississipi well before around 10:00pm on the way back. it seemed that we had about 10 hours of leeway

 

Not enough Trivia - but thats because I really enjoy it.

 

General Observations based on previous things I have read on this board. I am not saying it did not happen to the people as stated but this was my experience.

 

Taking a long-time to get drinks. We really didnt find this ( and we drank alot :) ) . Perhaps at the pool bar ( which we only went to once or twice) but generally we were served quickly in all locations ( the only time we seemed to wait a while was if someone was ordering 2-3 different mixed drinks - which is understandable). Most of the time I was served righ away or within 5 minutes. Even after our safety drill in O'Sheehans with the bar about 2 or 3 deep ( as this was our station) and an NFL game on  -I was served in about 10 minutes.

 

Slow service in the main dining-rooms - again this did not happen to us. I found our meals took between 60-90 minutes. First night it took about 20 minutes to be seated, which seemed good to me as we had no reservation and everyone the first day seems to eat at the same time.

 

Unhappy staff. We did find that more staff than we have found on previous NCL cruises did not seem to either be happy or unable to fake being happy. We found many who went above and beyond the call of duty and who always were happy to chit chat, that being said their were many others who really made no effort. That being said I am sure it is not easy being away over the holiday with your family 1,000s of miles away.

 

All in all a nice vacation. I do not have any menus or dailys but will try to answer any questions thrown my way.

 

Thanks

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Pauser]

Thanks for taking the time to post this! Sounds like you had a great cruise.

[Scoreboard2017]

We were on the same cruise. We had a blast - no regrets.

 

If I was going to be nitpick I would say I personally thought service was pretty slow compared to our 2 other NCL cruises on the Star & Jewel. I figured it was the large size of the Breakaway. I also felt there were not many seats at any of the bars if you wanted to hang out and listen to the band, etc... Atrium was nearly impossible to find a seat so we spent many nights sitting up at O'Sheehans looking over the rail (which was fine with us). Never saw seats available in Shakers when someone was performing. 

 

I felt bad for the bartenders because they were just slammed the whole time. I mean drink after drink with no break for them, time for small talk, etc... I bartended in college and I think it was the most demanding job I could imagine for a bartender. They were making drinks and taking the next drink orders simultaneously. 

 

The size of the ship allowed for lots of great shows and activities though. Rock Of Ages was incredibly well done for a cruise ship. Embarkation/Disembarkation was a breeze. 

 

Anyhow, just my opinion. I would sail the Breakaway again and out of NO again.

[Captain-John]

We were on Breakaway in the summer and generally had a good time too.

 

Can't believe they 'ban' you from eating at the railing overlooking the atrium though!

 

In the summer I didn't notice too much of a service issue. Pour House was always packed though and too loud for my taste.

 

One thing I was impressed with compared to previous cruises: the wings in O'Sheehans were HUGE. I was expecting tiny wings like in years gone by but they've upped their game there, I'd say.

 

Glad you enjoyed.

[Jeffcel]

Scoreboard - glad you had a great cruise. I found that Maltings and Shakers were not too bad in terms of being slammed - We were on deck 8 - so visted those very often. 

 

I hope my "review" didnt sound negative - we had a great time and are looking at booking the exact same time next year on the Getaway.

 

The Atrium is always a challenge - even on the Escape where I think it is a little bigger - it was always packed. 

 

A few other items I thought of later. I love the O'sheehans concept, the wings were great, if you walked up to the bar it really didnt take long to get a drink. Loved being able to bowl or play pop a shot with my son.

 

 

[prekcruiser]

Thanks for your review. We'll be on the ship in a couple of months and I'm glad to hear that all was good.  We usually sail on smaller ships.  I was worried about the size of the Breakaway.  My dinners and shows are booked and I'm starting to get excited.

[Stlcardsfan79]

Thanks for the review, we will be on The Breakaway on the 17th, can't wait! 

[oracer]

Do you remember what movies on the big screen were showing?

 

Did you do the Cirque Show, if so, were did you sit and was it worth the extra price?

 

 

[Jeffcel]

For Cirque we were at a table with other people.

 

Was it worth the price? The dinner was not very good/ show was entertaining - so I would say yes. If we were on the same ship again we would likely not see it again.

 

I did find that you could find some areas that were a bit more secluded and less crowded. I commented to my wife at one point that I was surprised we could find a place where there were only about 10 other people on a ship of 5,000

[aslevy]

Thanks for taking the time to share your observations and for addressing some of the criticisms from this board and ship reviews. I was reading some of the recent CC reviews of the Breakaway and they are fairly negative. I know you have to take reviews with a grain of salt, but had we never cruised on NCL before, I think I'd be pretty nervous. 

 

I was looking at Jamie's at Blue Reef (trying to decide between that vs. Tropicante and Krazy Lobster) so glad you had a good experience there! 

[Alan C]

Thanks for the review and sharing your feelings.  I sail in the Breakaway on the 27th for 12 days, and personally love sailing out of NOLA.  I always take the negative posts from poeple as there views, and not mine.  I am on a cruise, a vacation, and personally with all the good and bad, you are there to have fun.  It's up to you to make that happen or not.  I appreciate some comments like smoking on ships and what/where to go, but food, shows and staterooms are selective.  Just chill and enjoy ..   Thanks again and looking forward to the Breakaway, my first time on a Mega Ship.