Review Breakaway 4/10/22 sailing (long review, sorry)

[nattie]

First of all THANK YOU to everyone on NCL Cruisecritic boards that helped me plan this cruise and shared their wisdom. You are truly an amazing community!

 

A bit about us, since I believe it will provide some context to the review. We are seasoned Princess cruises (even my preteen has one more cruise until Elite) and decided to try NCL because of the possibility of sailing from NOLA. We upgraded to Haven for my grandma, who ended up not coming on the cruise. We also sailed with friends who were not in the Haven area, so we ended up constantly comparing the Haven vs. General experiences. Also, I compare NCL to Princess a lot here because Princess is what we are used to and we just sailed Regal in Jan 22.

Overall score: Haven (areas/service/quality) – “A”; general areas – “C-“.

Embarkation: Rudest and most disorganized port staff EVER ( we have sailed out of Miami, FLL, NY, Bayonne, San Juan in US, so we do have something to compare to). Haven “Priority Line” starts after security but it is well hidden by the staff and we almost missed it. Security is a “free for all” and ridiculously restrictive comparing to other ports, but that’s not really NCL’s fault and they don’t have any influence there. After finding the Priority lounge, we were fairly quickly escorted up to the Haven area. No presentation was given on amenities, etc.

Room: AMAZING, except balcony is tiny. Master Bathroom is bigger and nicer than what I have at home! There is an excellent video on youtube showing the Haven 2 br family suite and it is exactly like the video. I was a bit concerned about sea sickness being so high up, we ended up not having any issues besides some hangers banging. Also, it is worth to note that there is so much storage! Every nook and cranny is a little storage spot. The only ding besides the balcony size I would give the room is outlets. I mean this is fairly new ship, can we please have more than one outlet per room!

Butler: We did not have any issues and had very good and responsive service. Granted, we didn’t ask for much outside of some snacks and couple of pizza deliveries. We did give him the “Gary letter” with half the tip upfront. The only thing that was not done was CPAP water for my husband, we used our prepurchased water instead.

Concierge: I know a lot of people don’t see the value in them, but an option of not having to go to general “front desk” is worth $$$ in my personal opinion. Especially when you compare the ease of handling issues for me vs. what my friends had to go through with general “front desk” whose answer was always NO.

Service in other Haven areas: Bar service was OUTSTANDING, bar tenders regularly circled lounge areas offering drinks, learned your likes/dislikes and suggested things based on that. Restaurant was hit or miss, some servers were good and others were subpar. I would note that restaurant manager was VERY present and was able to handle any issues very well. Food quality in Haven restaurant was always very good. Overall, you fell pampered and taken care of in Haven. Such an outstanding experience.

Haven vs. General areas: Night and day. I mean if we didn’t upgrade, we probably would have absolutely hated the cruise and wrote off NCL to be on par with Carnival. It was like stepping from your serene 5 star hotel and spa experience into a busy NYC street. The cruise was about 2/3 full (Haven was sold out) but ship felt so crowded. Our biggest issues were:

·         lack of pools (two teeny tiny pools that are only 4 ft deep are so not enough!);

·         casino smoking up the entire 7^th floor as well as half of 6^th and 8^th;

·         generally too much of cigarette smoke everywhere, even open decks smelled because you have smoking area right smack in the middle of the ship;

·         constant nickel and diming, ie “free dining” promo applies to only 2 people in cabin, so you have to pay full price for your kid, “arcade” pass is not really an all inclusive pass, wine that’s included in “P+” is not available and substitution costs extra (somehow in Haven it doesn’t, go figure). That was just our gripes, our friends who didn’t have P+ and other upgrades had way more;

·         Overall everything on NCL costs more than on Princess. Spa pass (underwhelming, everything was lukewarm, even the sauna), spa treatments (basic massage was $199 vs $129 on Princess in Jan), excursions, specialty dining, etc.;

·         Lack of entertainment (in our opinion). I do have to note that SIX was great!

Specialty dining and buffet: We tried Ocean Blue (“C-“, meh service, subpar food), “Wasabi” (“B”, good service and food, but they ended giving my DH’s cruise card to someone else after the meal) and “Moderno” (“A”, excellent service and good food). We never ate in regular dining rooms so cant comment on that. Buffet selections were a bit limited (again we are comparing to Princess with cooked to order burgers and fresh pizza on the pool deck), but you would not go hungry. The food was overly salty in some cases. I would also add that NCL had a lot of challenges handling my friend’s dietary restriction (soy).

Entertainment: We had high expectations here, since I felt that would be the area where NCL has the upper hand. As I said, SIX was great. The other show was cancelled for our sailing, so cant comment. Comedians were one good to very good (Mark) and awful (Maija). “Rockaway Duo” was awful – meh karaoke with autotune. We didn’t see the magician, but our friends said he was quite good. Not sure if there was some other entertainment besides game shows. They were OK also, but they were done in the open area on the 6^th next to “front desk” where sitting is very limited and not very comfortable.

Kids activities: Again, I felt that NCL should excel here. The kids club was closed, half the slides were always closed for “maintenance” and ropes course was open once the entire cruise. Quoting my preteen “keep the waterslides, I want to go back to Princess”. When I asked why his main reason was better pool deck.

Overall ship impression: Everything felt crammed together but there were also completely wasted areas, like on the 7^th floor all the way aft. WHY was that round seat there??? Also so much cigarette smoke! Smoking areas smack in the middle of the ship are not a good idea.

Ports:

·         Cozumel. We did “clear” boat excursion on our own and it was very good. I have never been on fully acrylic boat, quite an experience.

·         Roatan. Didn’t dock there, ended up being an extra sea day. We have visited Roatan numerous times, so no big deal for us, but some people were upset since Roatan was highlight of the cruise for them. Also, I have expected NCL to refund us port fees and give a token credit for missing the port (customary on Princess). That didn’t happen.

·         Belize. Its not really Belize, just NCL’s private island. Nice pool and beach area with plenty of seating. Water is murky (not dirty, just murky), so no snorkeling. Unless you are getting drunk, quite boring.

·         Costa Maya. It was very short stop. I have recommended our friends to go to Mayan ruins here and they liked the excursion (we did it before and were very impressed). We got off the ship to walk the “tourist trap” area. There is no access to any beach / natural water there as everything is cordoned off and most of the waterfront is given to the Dolphinarium. On the right side of the “tourist trap” area there is a small beach with what looked like a small hobo camp but we couldn’t figure out how to go there. We were in this port in Dec 2019 last time and had much better experience. Writing this off due to COVID hardships.

My apologies for comparing so much to Princess, NCL has a winning product in Haven experience which is unparallel with everything we have experienced in cruising so far. If we decide to venture NCL again, it will have to be in Haven and out of interesting port Princess doesn’t sail from (looking at you, San Juan!). On the other hand, our friends that were in “general areas” swore off cruising. That’s very sad since it was their first cruise.

[tampadee]

Very interesting review, thanks!

 

We love the haven but Breakway is my least favorite ship.  You may have heard that new ships have a non smoking area available in the casino.  

[applequeen]

You are 100% correct about the smoking!!! I was shocked at how bad it was on the pool deck (I stayed on the other side because of it). I noticed it inside around the casino too (and adjacent floors) but the outside area really bothered me. having the smoking area in the middle of deck 15 seemed odd to me. It took up a space that could have been used for shady chairs (something badly needed). The smoke covered that entire side of the pool deck. 

 

The wine selection was terrible. I'm normally a wine drinker and the complete lack of pinot noir was odd. On cruises I tend to drink more mixed drinks and only wine at dinner so it wasn't a big deal but I did notice the lack of selection. I made do with the shiraz and malbec options and it was fine for a glass or two each day but it does seem that wine selections are very limited for the package compared to what other lines offer. 

[Old & Retired]

NOLA cruise port is a disaster.  So unorganized, small and the staff are rude and dismissive.  Worst embarkation port ever in our experience.

[JF - retired RRT]

2 hours ago, nattie said:

The only thing that was not done was CPAP water for my husband, we used our prepurchased water instead.

 

You could have used the tap water. It's much closer to distilled than regular bottled water.

The only reason that distilled is "required" for CPAP is to prevent a build-up of minerals in the chamber. Easily solved...if there is ever any build-up. One part water to 2 parts vinegar, let soak, rinse.

[Cruising Lynne]

I am glad you liked the Haven. I understand some of your issues, and think that you or your friends might prefer one of NCL's smaller ships if you ever give NCL another try. One of the things I don't like on the away ships is some small venues, like the comedy club and the Pour House. Two things we really like though, are the Waterfront and Spice H2O, which I do not know if you ever experienced those.

 

We love that round seat for taking pictures. We have had to wait for other families to finish their pictures so we could do ours. Apparently they didn't think it was wasted space either.

 

Also, I am pretty sure the adult only pool is over four feet deep. We just got off Breakaway's sister ship, and I definitely had to tread water the whole time I was in the adult pool. I am 5 feet 3 inches and could not touch bottom.

[FM]

Enjoyed the review - particularly from the perspective of an avid Princess cruiser. 

 

For your non-Haven friends, was there anything in particular they did not find appetizing with NCL - the service, food, entertainment, public areas?

 

[nini]

@nattie It is sad about your friends swearing off cruising. Take them on Princess - like to Alaska... they may really love it.

[nattie]

On 4/19/2022 at 5:40 PM, FM said:

Enjoyed the review - particularly from the perspective of an avid Princess cruiser. 

 

For your non-Haven friends, was there anything in particular they did not find appetizing with NCL - the service, food, entertainment, public areas?

 

They specifically disliked public areas (smoke) and lack of pools. They did like the entertainment and most of the family enjoyed the food (less my soy intolerant friend). The service was OK they said except for front desk experiences.

[AF-1]

Thanks for your great review.  I have sailed on NCL Jade which has the haven in a penthouse suite.  Never thought I would use both the butler and concierge; they did come in handy.  We were onboard for 14 nights, we ate in almost every venue, and I have to say, the staff, food, and crew were all great. I have only sailed in Suites with Princess, and we like the laid-back experience.  Have been in suites with Royal Caribbean and I think Freedom Class is as large as we want to go with RCCL.  Same goes for NCL, only the smaller ships without the amusement parks.  Have a great day, I also read your review on Princess site.  Cheers