My return to cruising Breakaway Easter cruise (long)

[hoopslover]

This was our first cruise since covid after having 9 NCL cruises cancelled.  This was our 8th NCL cruise and we are platinum.  We chose this because it left from New Orleans.  The Breakaway was the largest NCL ship we have been on.  It is a beautiful ship (except for the pool) and we never felt crowded.  The crew said there were 2600 onboard but I don't know if that is correct.  We never had to wait for food or elevators.

CONS:

1.  Embarkation took over 2 hours with no priority line except for Haven people.  After going through 2 checkpoints and the scanner we finally got priority boarding where we skipped the last queue and went to the counter for our key card.  We were supposed to sail at 4 but because of the long embarkation lines people were still boarding at 4.

2. This is the worst trained waitstaff I have encountered.  All were very nice but got our orders wrong on 3 separate nights.  Either wrong entrees, missing salad or appetizer or some other issue.  Maybe it was a mask issue or a language problem.  This problem was especially evident around the pool.  Every day we received incorrect drinks.  Many of the servers were great but they were not always on duty when we were by the pool.  The bartenders were all awesome with no errors and great drinks.  The pool was the smallest I have ever seen.

3.  Our ports of call were switched and we weren't informed.  I had a problem with our shore excursion ticket so they reprinted it at the desk and I noticed that the date was not the same.  They flipped Roatan for Harvest Caye and we were never informed.  I checked our edocs and it was not switched on them.

4.  The shows were not at consistent.  We loved SIX and wanted to see Burn the Floor but it was cancelled.  It was probably illness with the crew but it was replaced with Clifford the Red Dog movie.  The singer on opening night and several nights later only performed at 7:30 and didn't have a later show so we couldn't see him because of our specialty dining times.  When Burn the Floor was cancelled they moved the Levity comedy show to the theater which was great because all of the Levity shows at the Headliner were totally unavailable as soon as we reached our cabin to book them.  Couldn't get into Syd Norman's Pour House ever.

 

PROS:

1.  Cruising is back and I am looking forward to my 3 other NCL cruises this year.  Breakaway is beautiful and it was clean and had lots of room except for the shows in alternate venues.

2. The food was fine but the specialty dining was excellent along with their service.  We ate at Tappanyaki, Ocean Blue and Cagneys.  All were very enjoyable.

3.  Our cabin was very nice and we liked the larger bathroom.  The balcony was small but it was so warm that we didn't use it very much.  Our cabin attendant was named Fred and he was very efficient and friendly.

4.  The great majority of the crew was friendly and helpful.  I think it was mostly a training problem with receiving incorrect or missing orders.  Those servers may have been brand new but it happened 3 times in Taste or Savor. They always repeated our orders to us so maybe it was a problem putting the orders into the computer.  

5.  The buffet was well organized and we served ourselves.  There were shield guards in some areas.  Ice cream was delicious and they had many flavors.  Everyone was cooperative when asked to wash before entering.

6.  Loved the beverage station outside the buffet area so we could get coffee or water without going into the buffet.

 

Overall it was a wonderful cruise and I can't wait to our next one in August.  If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

[Warm Breezes]

We were on this cruise with you.  We got to the port at 10:15 and had a short wait to get checked in and were sitting in the waiting room for about an hour before before getting let onboard.  We were in group 9.  We did notice the line was starting to get long when they called our group to board.  We did  get a paper at the check in counter notifying us of the port changes.  We had a 9:45 excursion in Belize that they moved to 1:30 on the new day.  We purposely booked a morning excursion to avoid the heat of the day so we ended up cancelling our excursion.  They were very helpful in getting it cancelled.

 

We didn't have any issues with the servers getting our orders incorrect.  The MDRs were a little slow for dinner but otherwise our service was great.  We thought the food was excellent in all the venues we ate at.  Too good actually.  We both put on some weight on this trip.  The Mudslides, BBC's and Bushwhackers might of helped with that too.  I normally lose what I gained on this trip.  We dined at Taste, Savor, O' Sheehans, Garden Cafe, Moderno, and  Cagney's.  I loved how the buffet switched up their options during the day.  They had breakfast, lunch, tea time, dinner, and late night snacks.  I normally struggle to find food I like in the buffet but not on this trip.  Everything we had was good.

 

The entertainment was a little disappointing.  We enjoyed Syd Norman's in the main theater and in the Pour House both of which were packed.  We weren't interested in Six or Burn the Floor (which we had seen before) so we weren't affected by the cancellations.  We weren't impressed with Howl at the Moon at all.  The worst Howl at the Moon we have been to on NCL.  The comedian we saw was ok and magician was pretty good.   We always enjoy the 80's dance party. 

 

We had an angled balcony at the Aft on deck 12.  There were only a couple of rooms from ours to the back of the ship that were occupied on all the decks.  It made for some nice privacy on our balcony.  I spent a lot of time out there. 

 

We thought debarkation was a little unorganized.  We picked the last time for independent debarkation.  They called our color 30 minutes before the anticipated time but then we had to wait in line to get off the ship for about 45 minutes.  It would have been nice if they just would have waited to call our color and let us relax a little longer.  

 

Overall we had a great time.  This was our 2nd cruise since the shut down.  Our 1st was on Carnival Mardi Gras last October.  I think there was the same amount of passengers on both ships but Mardi Gras felt more crowded on the inside and less crowded on the outside....must be the layouts of ships.  We had a great time on both.

Edited April 30, 2022 by Warm Breezes

[hoopslover]

We really enjoyed our cruise too.  It was just a different experience than pre-covid.  A couple of errors in orders could be overlooked, but every day around the pool we received incorrect drinks.  At dinner my husband ordered prime rib and was served a steak.  I missed my mediterranean salad on the last evening.  He brought my appetizer and then brought my entree along with my husband's incorrect entree.  That was the worst night and it was the last evening in Savor.  Overall the food was very good.

 

We were only handed our key cards at the check in desk and no notice about the change in port order.  It worked out fine and didn't impact our trip. 

 

Our disembarkation was supposed to be in the last independent group and we waited 30 minutes for them to let us head down the ramp.  We were then stopped again before the luggage room for 10 minutes.  After retrieving luggage we went out the door for Uber and Lyft but a train went by stopping cars into the port.  When I tried to re-book an Uber we didn't have internet.  After waiting 30 minutes for Uber to come we went to the taxi door and were charged double (driver wouldn't turn on meter or accept credit card) and our cost was $16 for a one mile trip.  Uber was supposed to be $8.

 

Most of my issues were a result of not enough personnel working in the port.  I will definitely cruise with NCL again.  In fact I have 3 more booked this year and one next year.  It was a nice cruise vacation and can't wait to cruise again in August.

[sheila77]

I was on the April 17 sailing and I do agree that the servers were not at their best.  I previously sailed on the Breakaway in February and the service was outstanding.  To me, they were just "off".  The pool bar servers were not that available.  The bar staff in the Atrium was not attentive.  The service in Manhattan was not as good as previous cruise.  

 

The bartenders were good, but this cruise seemed to lack enough food and beverage servers.  We did eat at the buffet several times (I had my 6 year old. granddaughter) so meals were easier there.  The food was always good.  

 

I still enjoyed my cruise!!  - This was just my observation, that the servers were just "off".

 

 

[Nanannjen]

A couple of comments - we were on the Easter cruise also. I agree, the pool was ridiculously small. I definitely agree that Howl at the Moon was underwhelming - I was looking forward to it so that was a disappointment. 

 

This was our first NCL cruise (D+ on RCL),  and overall it was a good experience - we bought future cruise credits lol. 

 

I wish, however, that NCL had somehow been able to notify us that covid was spreading on the ship. Many on our FB page have tested positive (including us). Apparently many crew were testing positive, and I heard that the quarantine area was hopping (from someone with a cabin on that deck). 

 

Our cruise in late Feb on RCL was notable because crew members told us that the only place they were allowed to disembark was on the private island, where everyone was safe. I'm guessing that may not have been the case with NCL (although I have no idea). RCL's cleaning process was much superior to NCL (at that time, not sure now). 

 

I'm now picking up our kids and grand baby at WDW wearing a mask and unable to hold him for another couple of days. 😢😢