NCL Breakaway - Differences between April 2022 and Jan 2023 sailings

[CaliMom05]

My husband and I went on the Breakaway in April 2022 and had such a great time so we decided to sail again to celebrate our 25th anniversary in Jan 2023.  This sailing had the same itinerary but we sailed in a nicer cabin (from regular balcony to club spa balcony) and this time we had friends who traveled with us (they were in an inside stateroom).  Here are some of the differences we observed:

Boarding Process:

April 2022 - We used NCL transportation to the port and arrived with the masses!  Even though it wasn't a full sailing (I don't remember the number of passengers but it was between 2,000 and 3,000 guests - no kids club was available - I remember that) it was a cluster**** waiting to board the ship.  We were booked with Casinos at Sea (CAS) and had priority boarding but after checking in had to wait in the terminal in the infamous plastic chairs for at least 90 mins.

Jan 2023 - We stayed in NOLA prior to the cruise so we took an Uber to the port and checked in after 11:00 a.m.  Ship was full (4,300 passengers) but the lines moved pretty quickly.  They didn't separate out anyone except for Haven guests (even though we were again CAS guests) but after check-in we asked what boarding group we were in and the girl who checked us in said "Oh they didn't give you a number?  Just go in with the next group called."  So we walked into the terminal area and bypassed the plastic chairs and just walked onto the ship when they called the next group.  Probably would have had to wait another hour or so if we had a number so I guess we got lucky.

Disembarkation:

April 2022 - We were staying in NOLA so we planned on taking a taxi to our hotel.  We selected a 10:00 a.m. disembarking time and lined up and didn't get off the ship until almost 11:30.  It was a hot mess as they had multiple lines exiting and merging off the ship.  We found our bags without any issue and had a porter get us to the front of the exit line super quickly.  Left the port by noon.

Jan 2023 - Again we were staying in NOLA but had a food tour scheduled at noon so we got off at 9:00 a.m.  This time Breakaway staff had it figured out because there was one dedicated line with only Haven guests merging in at the very end.  Again we got a porter and he and the other porters (they were awesome, making sure we moved swiftly down the HUGE line of people waiting) were a great help and we were out waitng for our Lyft driver by 9:45.  In NOLA I totally recommend using a porter.  They work off tips and you'll save SO much time getting to the exit doors at the port.

Ports:

April 2022 - We had a lot of time in all the ports but Roatan was cancelled due to docking issues with Royal Caribbean (NCL pays to use the dock and a RCL ship was docked and didn't leave enough room for us).  Very disappointing to go all the way up to the dock and then back out and go back out to sea!  When this happened the staff worked hard to add activities so it ended up being a fun sea day.  Not as fun as playing with sloths but it was okay.

Jan 2023 - Found out about itinerary changes at check-in.  Costa Maya port time was decreased by several hours!  Instead of arriving in the morning, arrival time was 2 or 2:30.  We had a private excursion booked so the tour company adjusted it for us but our friends booked an NCL excursion and it was cancelled.  Numerous excursions were cancelled in Costa Maya.  Cozumel port time was shortened also.  My girlfriend and I had booked Nachi Cocom on our own so it was fine for us but her husband had a full day NCL excursion booked.  He showed up to meet his excursion per the shore excursion ticket meeting place and no one was there!  He found a shore excurion staff member and they found out it had been cancelled due to the shortened port time but he wasn't notified.  If we had known of the cancellation he could have come with us to the beach so that was a bummer.  We did stop in Roatan and yay I got to see the sloths.  We booked with Daniel Johnson and they are so awesome I highly recommend.  I had booked them last April and rebooked because of the missed port and our tour guide said she had been waiting at the port in April 2022 and saw the Breakaway backing up and thought it was one of the strangest things she had ever seen.  I agreed!

Dining:

April 2022 - We had two specialty dinners plus two platinum so my husband and I agreed on Cagney's, Moderno, Ocean Blue, and Teppanyaki.  He hates Le Bistro and doesn't particularly care for La Cucina so I suffer with his choices LOL.  We had great meals in all four.  Servers were attentive and meal times were reasonable.  We also ate at Taste/Savor (we don't do the main MDR as it's a little too stuffy for us), O'Sheehan's, and did the buffet a couple of times.  Can't say we had a bad meal anywhere and buffet wasn't crowded at all.

Jan 2023 - Same specialty dining situation and same restaurants.  This time we noticed a HUGE change in the wait staff.  I ususally fill out a ton of vacation hero cards.  This time, we felt a lot of the wait staff were just not very happy.  And we had a huge issue in Cagney's.  Our meal time was over 2-1/2 hours which was crazy since the tables on each side of us (one a table of four, like ours, and the other a table of two) both came in after us and both left before we even finished our meals.  Believe me, we are not needy people.  We are super happy to be on a cruise and rarely ever complain.  Give us our cocktails and we are good to go.  But we planned on seeing SIX (the theater show) at 10:00 and we arrived at Cagney's at 7:15.  Honestly I assumed that would give us plenty of time.  Because it was so long of a meal, our friend skipped dessert to make sure he saved us seats.  We had show reservations but we wanted to sit together!  At 9:45 we just received our dessert (after letting our server know we needed to leave by 9:45 to make the show).  Pretty frustrating.  I always leave at least $10 tip (usually $20 if it's super good service) when we eat in a specialty restaurant but my husband didn't even want to tip so I left a measly $5.

Other restaurants were more of the same with a few exceptions.  We had a couple of awesome servers in Savor and Ocean Blue.  And the wine steward in Ocean Blue was a gem.  Buffet was super packed but food was good - only went there for breakfast once and lunch twice.

 

BIG ISSUE REGARDING BUFFET!!!

So, my husband loves his late night cookies.  He sometimes skips desserts or just orders a scoop of ice cream at dinner and then we hit up the buffet before bed.  First night we went to the buffet and it was closed around 10.  I thought maybe it was because it was the first night.  Second night, same thing.  Weird so the next day we did lunch in the buffet and my husband went and spoke with the manager working the buffet and asked about late night - especially cookies.  Buffet manager said, "Fleetwide decision to forego late night dining in the buffet!!!  But if we ever want cookies while the buffet is open, just ask a staff member and they will get them for you."  Okay, this stinks!  My husband spends time in the casino (as you can tell since we book with CAS) and we always cruise by the buffet at night.  We were on the Prima in October/November and it was open late night.  So I'm assuming this is a recent change?  I haven't been on Cruise Critic for a few weeks so I'm wondering if anyone else has confirmed this on other ships?  Very disappointed if this is actually a fleetwide decision!!!

 

Room and Room Steward:

April 2022:  Balcony room was okay - plenty of room and our room steward was absolutely the best!  Addressed us by name and came by and introduced himself on the first day.  Made us towel animals a couple of times even though we didn't request them.  Always smiling and helpful!

Jan 2023:  Room was really awesome - especially the bathroom!  Super big.  Room steward was a grump.  My husband never met him until day five!  He made up the room after noon each day and did an okay job but just not very happy.  Did he have too many rooms to clean?  I don't know.  He did turn down service each night also so we did have two visits a day.  Our friends liked their room but said their steward was MIA a few nights and they rarely saw her either.  So maybe they have too much work to do?  I don't know as our guy was not very talkative so we didn't really engage in much conversation.

 

Finally, production shows on both sailings were the same but we had different comedians, singers, and other variety acts.  We enjoyed the shows and felt the entertainment value was great on both sailings.  We had fun in the atrium enjoying the various trivia offerings and other game shows.  We did the thermal spa this time and that was amazing!  We also did a couple's massage (for our anniversary!) and the therapists were great.  We don't hang out at the pool so I can't comment on how crowded it might have been.  I enjoyed the ropes course with my friend and saw people using the free sports courts so I'm glad those are still available at no charge for anyone that wants to use them.  Bar service was great.  Sometimes a little wait for the bar servers but they were hustling so no complaints.  As I previously mentioned it was a very full sailing but it didn't feel super crowded on the ship, except in the buffet.  My friend has limited mobility and uses a cane or a wheelchair so we always used the elevators and didn't have much of a wait except on port days to disembark, so no problems there.

 

So...would we sail Breakawy again.  Yes!  We are giving the ship another chance and booked a transatlantic sailing in November 2023.  I'm thinking the ship will be less crowded as it is a 16-day sailing so I'm hoping for a happier cruise staff and who knows - maybe they'll bring back the late night buffet!!!!

 

[Burrata]

Thanks for your post! The Breakaway was our first NCL ship.

Jealous of your November 2023 cruise!

[cruiseny4life]

1 hour ago, CaliMom05 said:

I haven't been on Cruise Critic for a few weeks so I'm wondering if anyone else has confirmed this on other ships?  Very disappointed if this is actually a fleetwide decision!!!

My sailing on Breakaway's sister, Getaway had a late night buffet only on New Year's Eve which was our first night onboard. The rest of the evening's the buffet closed at (9:30 or 10 - don't remember). O'Sheehan's and room service were the only options after this.

[sarahwalker2007]

1 hour ago, CaliMom05 said:

My husband and I went on the Breakaway in April 2022 and had such a great time so we decided to sail again to celebrate our 25th anniversary in Jan 2023.  This sailing had the same itinerary but we sailed in a nicer cabin (from regular balcony to club spa balcony) and this time we had friends who traveled with us (they were in an inside stateroom).  Here are some of the differences we observed:

Boarding Process:

April 2022 - We used NCL transportation to the port and arrived with the masses!  Even though it wasn't a full sailing (I don't remember the number of passengers but it was between 2,000 and 3,000 guests - no kids club was available - I remember that) it was a cluster**** waiting to board the ship.  We were booked with Casinos at Sea (CAS) and had priority boarding but after checking in had to wait in the terminal in the infamous plastic chairs for at least 90 mins.

Jan 2023 - We stayed in NOLA prior to the cruise so we took an Uber to the port and checked in after 11:00 a.m.  Ship was full (4,300 passengers) but the lines moved pretty quickly.  They didn't separate out anyone except for Haven guests (even though we were again CAS guests) but after check-in we asked what boarding group we were in and the girl who checked us in said "Oh they didn't give you a number?  Just go in with the next group called."  So we walked into the terminal area and bypassed the plastic chairs and just walked onto the ship when they called the next group.  Probably would have had to wait another hour or so if we had a number so I guess we got lucky.

Disembarkation:

April 2022 - We were staying in NOLA so we planned on taking a taxi to our hotel.  We selected a 10:00 a.m. disembarking time and lined up and didn't get off the ship until almost 11:30.  It was a hot mess as they had multiple lines exiting and merging off the ship.  We found our bags without any issue and had a porter get us to the front of the exit line super quickly.  Left the port by noon.

Jan 2023 - Again we were staying in NOLA but had a food tour scheduled at noon so we got off at 9:00 a.m.  This time Breakaway staff had it figured out because there was one dedicated line with only Haven guests merging in at the very end.  Again we got a porter and he and the other porters (they were awesome, making sure we moved swiftly down the HUGE line of people waiting) were a great help and we were out waitng for our Lyft driver by 9:45.  In NOLA I totally recommend using a porter.  They work off tips and you'll save SO much time getting to the exit doors at the port.

Ports:

April 2022 - We had a lot of time in all the ports but Roatan was cancelled due to docking issues with Royal Caribbean (NCL pays to use the dock and a RCL ship was docked and didn't leave enough room for us).  Very disappointing to go all the way up to the dock and then back out and go back out to sea!  When this happened the staff worked hard to add activities so it ended up being a fun sea day.  Not as fun as playing with sloths but it was okay.

Jan 2023 - Found out about itinerary changes at check-in.  Costa Maya port time was decreased by several hours!  Instead of arriving in the morning, arrival time was 2 or 2:30.  We had a private excursion booked so the tour company adjusted it for us but our friends booked an NCL excursion and it was cancelled.  Numerous excursions were cancelled in Costa Maya.  Cozumel port time was shortened also.  My girlfriend and I had booked Nachi Cocom on our own so it was fine for us but her husband had a full day NCL excursion booked.  He showed up to meet his excursion per the shore excursion ticket meeting place and no one was there!  He found a shore excurion staff member and they found out it had been cancelled due to the shortened port time but he wasn't notified.  If we had known of the cancellation he could have come with us to the beach so that was a bummer.  We did stop in Roatan and yay I got to see the sloths.  We booked with Daniel Johnson and they are so awesome I highly recommend.  I had booked them last April and rebooked because of the missed port and our tour guide said she had been waiting at the port in April 2022 and saw the Breakaway backing up and thought it was one of the strangest things she had ever seen.  I agreed!

Dining:

April 2022 - We had two specialty dinners plus two platinum so my husband and I agreed on Cagney's, Moderno, Ocean Blue, and Teppanyaki.  He hates Le Bistro and doesn't particularly care for La Cucina so I suffer with his choices LOL.  We had great meals in all four.  Servers were attentive and meal times were reasonable.  We also ate at Taste/Savor (we don't do the main MDR as it's a little too stuffy for us), O'Sheehan's, and did the buffet a couple of times.  Can't say we had a bad meal anywhere and buffet wasn't crowded at all.

Jan 2023 - Same specialty dining situation and same restaurants.  This time we noticed a HUGE change in the wait staff.  I ususally fill out a ton of vacation hero cards.  This time, we felt a lot of the wait staff were just not very happy.  And we had a huge issue in Cagney's.  Our meal time was over 2-1/2 hours which was crazy since the tables on each side of us (one a table of four, like ours, and the other a table of two) both came in after us and both left before we even finished our meals.  Believe me, we are not needy people.  We are super happy to be on a cruise and rarely ever complain.  Give us our cocktails and we are good to go.  But we planned on seeing SIX (the theater show) at 10:00 and we arrived at Cagney's at 7:15.  Honestly I assumed that would give us plenty of time.  Because it was so long of a meal, our friend skipped dessert to make sure he saved us seats.  We had show reservations but we wanted to sit together!  At 9:45 we just received our dessert (after letting our server know we needed to leave by 9:45 to make the show).  Pretty frustrating.  I always leave at least $10 tip (usually $20 if it's super good service) when we eat in a specialty restaurant but my husband didn't even want to tip so I left a measly $5.

Other restaurants were more of the same with a few exceptions.  We had a couple of awesome servers in Savor and Ocean Blue.  And the wine steward in Ocean Blue was a gem.  Buffet was super packed but food was good - only went there for breakfast once and lunch twice.

 

BIG ISSUE REGARDING BUFFET!!!

So, my husband loves his late night cookies.  He sometimes skips desserts or just orders a scoop of ice cream at dinner and then we hit up the buffet before bed.  First night we went to the buffet and it was closed around 10.  I thought maybe it was because it was the first night.  Second night, same thing.  Weird so the next day we did lunch in the buffet and my husband went and spoke with the manager working the buffet and asked about late night - especially cookies.  Buffet manager said, "Fleetwide decision to forego late night dining in the buffet!!!  But if we ever want cookies while the buffet is open, just ask a staff member and they will get them for you."  Okay, this stinks!  My husband spends time in the casino (as you can tell since we book with CAS) and we always cruise by the buffet at night.  We were on the Prima in October/November and it was open late night.  So I'm assuming this is a recent change?  I haven't been on Cruise Critic for a few weeks so I'm wondering if anyone else has confirmed this on other ships?  Very disappointed if this is actually a fleetwide decision!!!

 

Room and Room Steward:

April 2022:  Balcony room was okay - plenty of room and our room steward was absolutely the best!  Addressed us by name and came by and introduced himself on the first day.  Made us towel animals a couple of times even though we didn't request them.  Always smiling and helpful!

Jan 2023:  Room was really awesome - especially the bathroom!  Super big.  Room steward was a grump.  My husband never met him until day five!  He made up the room after noon each day and did an okay job but just not very happy.  Did he have too many rooms to clean?  I don't know.  He did turn down service each night also so we did have two visits a day.  Our friends liked their room but said their steward was MIA a few nights and they rarely saw her either.  So maybe they have too much work to do?  I don't know as our guy was not very talkative so we didn't really engage in much conversation.

 

Finally, production shows on both sailings were the same but we had different comedians, singers, and other variety acts.  We enjoyed the shows and felt the entertainment value was great on both sailings.  We had fun in the atrium enjoying the various trivia offerings and other game shows.  We did the thermal spa this time and that was amazing!  We also did a couple's massage (for our anniversary!) and the therapists were great.  We don't hang out at the pool so I can't comment on how crowded it might have been.  I enjoyed the ropes course with my friend and saw people using the free sports courts so I'm glad those are still available at no charge for anyone that wants to use them.  Bar service was great.  Sometimes a little wait for the bar servers but they were hustling so no complaints.  As I previously mentioned it was a very full sailing but it didn't feel super crowded on the ship, except in the buffet.  My friend has limited mobility and uses a cane or a wheelchair so we always used the elevators and didn't have much of a wait except on port days to disembark, so no problems there.

 

So...would we sail Breakawy again.  Yes!  We are giving the ship another chance and booked a transatlantic sailing in November 2023.  I'm thinking the ship will be less crowded as it is a 16-day sailing so I'm hoping for a happier cruise staff and who knows - maybe they'll bring back the late night buffet!!!!

 

We just booked the november 2023 transatlantic trip. this will be our third TA but first time on NCL. Can I ask what the laundry service/cost is like? we are travelling with our 3 children and when we are on Holland America I always buy the unlimited laundry (kids are messy) but haven't seen that with NCL.

[CaliMom05]

2 hours ago, cruiseny4life said:

My sailing on Breakaway's sister, Getaway had a late night buffet only on New Year's Eve which was our first night onboard. The rest of the evening's the buffet closed at (9:30 or 10 - don't remember). O'Sheehan's and room service were the only options after this.

Thanks for the info.  Quite possibly NCL has removed the late night buffet option which is a real bummer.

[CaliMom05]

2 hours ago, sarahwalker2007 said:

We just booked the november 2023 transatlantic trip. this will be our third TA but first time on NCL. Can I ask what the laundry service/cost is like? we are travelling with our 3 children and when we are on Holland America I always buy the unlimited laundry (kids are messy) but haven't seen that with NCL.

As this will be our first TA I don't know the answer to your question but maybe someone else can chime in?

Edited January 22, 2023 by CaliMom05

[Sand and Seas]

@CaliMom05 ,  We just got off the Breakaway two weeks ago. 

Never looked for a late night buffet, but had great meals everywhere we went.   Let your husband know we usually see cookies in the Casino late night.  They have an area with some snacks.  My husband loves cookies too😋   

[CaliMom05]

16 hours ago, Sand and Seas said:

@CaliMom05 ,  We just got off the Breakaway two weeks ago. 

Never looked for a late night buffet, but had great meals everywhere we went.   Let your husband know we usually see cookies in the Casino late night.  They have an area with some snacks.  My husband loves cookies too😋   

Thanks!  We never saw them there but will be sure to check it out when we're back on her in November.

[CruisinMaterial]

It appears they've shut the buffet down and everyone is redirected to O'Sheehans on the ships that have them for any meal after 10-10:30PM. It was the same on the Gem recently.

[rnr4thatsme]

Just off the same cruise, and we had a similar experience with our room steward.  We only saw him once.  He was friendly enough and said there was a new cabin distribution for them and he was also cleaning rooms on another floor. This makes me wonder if the workload hasn’t increased.  We did have to request the shower gels be refilled as they were empty and there were some dusty areas: nothing serious and any service requested was promptly fulfilled. I wouldn’t consider it a reason to avoid NCL in the future, but almost considered not tipping above and beyond the service charge as I usually do (but then felt bad for the poor guy and tipped extra anyway).

[MyAuntFanny]

4 hours ago, rnr4thatsme said:

Just off the same cruise, and we had a similar experience with our room steward.  We only saw him once.  He was friendly enough and said there was a new cabin distribution for them and he was also cleaning rooms on another floor. This makes me wonder if the workload hasn’t increased.  We did have to request the shower gels be refilled as they were empty and there were some dusty areas: nothing serious and any service requested was promptly fulfilled. I wouldn’t consider it a reason to avoid NCL in the future, but almost considered not tipping above and beyond the service charge as I usually do (but then felt bad for the poor guy and tipped extra anyway).

 Same trip.  Just off Breakaway.  When we got to the cabin there was still toiletries in the shower from the last guests!  The room seemed cleaned though.  Just missed clearing that one thing.  Then our cabin got completely skipped on the next day- no towels, no bed and no mail/paperwork. The following day we stopped back in our room late in the afternoon and it was still not touched. We finally called Housekeeping because the TP was getting low.  The Steward apologized and said he's just been increased to 24 cabins! It seemed there was constantly teams of housekeeping on our floor.  They are really struggling to keep up though. I wouldn't expect towel animals!

Edited January 23, 2023 by MyAuntFanny

[like2cruise]

Did anyone notice when you were on the Breakaway with the open bar drink package (not premium +) if they served fountain diet coke or canned diet coke?  I am a bit of a diet coke (not zero coke) can snob for my one bad vice 😉!

[MyAuntFanny]

2 hours ago, like2cruise said:

Did anyone notice when you were on the Breakaway with the open bar drink package (not premium +) if they served fountain diet coke or canned diet coke?  I am a bit of a diet coke (not zero coke) can snob for my one bad vice 😉!

All of my Diet Coke came from the fountain/gun at the bars.  I didn't see any cans.

[Sand and Seas]

49 minutes ago, MyAuntFanny said:

All of my Diet Coke came from the fountain/gun at the bars.  I didn't see any cans.

Yes, that was our experience.  The fountain 'gun' had Diet coke at all the bars.  You could get cans of Coke Zero at the casino bar if you have the CAS drink card.

[pandncruisers]

We are on b2b on the breakaway and our cabin has been cleaned perfectly every day. They  clean anywhere  between 10am and 5pm daily. We have had no issues with our steward. If you are having an issue I suggest calling housekeeping