Semi Live Haven Breakaway Report July 7-14

[firstmickey]

Posted at the lookout (because you can take the girl out of Pittsburgh but not the Pittsburgh out of the girl)! 
 

 

 

 

 

I totally ignored the huge Tom Brady poster because well, IYKYK. 

[firstmickey]

That concludes our BVI history lesson of the day.   lol

 

Back on the ship, we were starving so we headed directly to the Haven restaurant for lunch.  He asked about bread and I just wanted one pretzel bread and one is apparently not in the vocabulary because we got a plateful.  They were warm and delicious.  We both got the fritto misto seafood appetizer and had no idea it was so large. We could have shared one.  I hate wasting food but I couldn't eat that and lunch too.  I had the French dip (salty but yummy), and Dan had the burger which he said was very good also. 
 

 

 

 

 

can’t beat this lunch view!

Edited July 15 by firstmickey

[firstmickey]

Dinner on Thursday was at Ocean Blue.  It was our first time dining here. It was so so.  I had heard mixed reviews but I love sea bass which unfortunately is not on the Haven Menu. Their only "fish" they have is trout and I am not a fan.  I wish they had grouper, sole, sea bass, or some other type of white mild fish on their menu. 

 

We always visit Reymond for a drink at the Haven bar first.  He really is spectacular and a genuinely nice guy. We wanted something light and refreshing so we got raspberry refreshers with a "raspberry kabob" as Dan called it.  Reymond then put some type of Kabob on all of our drinks.  
 

 

 

 

 

At Ocean Blue, we didn't like our first table and asked to move outside, then decided it was too hot so we moved back to our first table.  The configuration was weird with booths directly facing each other.  The hostess tried three times to sit people at the booth right across from us looking directly at us and all three they asked to be moved. (hey, we showered first). lol It was just an odd seating arrangement. We got over it because the wine sommelier came over quickly.  She was nice but a little pushy. Dan made her happy with his upgraded wine choice.  I had basic pinot grigio not the upsell Sauvignon Blanc she tried. 

 

I had clam chowder which was tasty and not as salty as other soups.  Dan had the scallop on the pork belly.   The scallop was good.  He liked the pork belly but I thought it was odd together. I had the sea bass which was ok - a little bit mushy and the mango salsa was too heavy for it. I'd recommend getting the wine/butter sauce.  The cole slaw was the same as the Haven and tasty, but the potatoes au gratin were not edible for me. Too oily. 

 

 

 

 

 

Dan had the cioppino which he said was ok but not very flavorful. The seafood was prepared well however. 

 

 

 

For dessert, I had the chocolate mousse with salted caramel popcorn which I liked and Dan had the key lime tart which was good also. 

 

 

 

 

After dinner, we headed to our favorite haunt, Syd Norman's Pour House for another great show. They really are extremely talented!

 

 

Edited July 15 by firstmickey

[firstmickey]

Friday July 12 was a blissful day at sea! Three port days in a row were exhausting. 
 

 

 

 

[firstmickey]

As I mentioned during the semi-live report, I had a wonderful spa day with manicure and got lured by the head to toe special at the spa - 75 mins for $169 plus taxes plus gratuities.  It was basically a long massage with eye collagen treatment then a hard sell for products which I declined because good old Cerave lotion and clinique facial products work well enough for me. It was very relaxing and I visited the thermal spa for a while.  Dan stayed on the upper Haven sun deck where he became friends with the bartenders, Luis and Gheeta (we called her Sassy).   He usually really likes the main pool action but it was too crowded with no seats every time we visited.  

haven sundeck

 

 

We had minimal sweet treats from our butler, Aldrin on our return. 

 

 

 

On the first day of the cruise, we booked the Ice Bar for tonight.  My advice would be to book it right away if you really want to do it.  People were trying to get in without success at the end of the cruise. I'm glad we did it - it was really fun and we had fun people inside also.  The drinks were awful except for the non alcoholic one.  No one liked any of them. I wish they would just do a simple vodka drink.  I had the Frangelico, vodka, and lemon.  It was nutty and sour.  Not a good combo.  The other two tasted like lighter fluid to me ( I tasted Dan's).   He got a nonalcoholic and mixed them and they still tasted strong.

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Advice: wear long pants and shoes and socks. You get a cape and it's not enough. I'm glad we did it but I don't think I need to do it again.  

 

We were supposed to do Cagneys that night but since it was our third specialty restaurant and we would self pay, we decided to cancel it and do the Haven again. It's just better food and you can mix and match as you please.  

 

 

Edited July 15 by firstmickey

[firstmickey]

Visit to the Haven bar where Raymond was making smoked old fashions. Dan had to have one and I had a delicious cosmo (extra splash of Cranberry)!

 

 

 

 

some our favorite Haven staff:

Carmel by the Sea

 

ernestine

 

Jason. It’s his last week this week!

 

Gheeta who we called “Sassy”

[firstmickey]

 

Dinner for Dan was the prime rib with side of risotto and I had the crab cakes again with mixed vegetables and side of risotto. Dessert was OMg cheesecake and a mudslide. Delicious but worth the treadmill time???!!!

 

 

 

Trying to tempt me with another!

 

 

After dinner, we visited the Cowboy on deck 8. He was holding picture sessions! Watching him interact with everyone is highly entertaining. I ordered ice water and he started closing bar up. Usually he makes you shake what your mamma gave you to get water! 
 

 

there was very little entertainment this night for some reason. It was very odd. 
we headed to bed early. 

[dexddd]

Where was Bufford?

[firstmickey]

1 minute ago, dexddd said:

Where was Bufford?

I'm not sure who Bufford is?  I didn't come across him. 

[firstmickey]

Saturday, July 13th was Great Stirrup Cay day.  We had been there one other time in 2021 and had a lagoon villa.  For this cruise, I booked us a Silver Cove ocean view villa (immediately after booking my cruise).  Worth every penny to me to have the bathroom and the shower.   Last time we visited, there wasn't a silver cove pool and I don't remember the ocean view villas - just the lagoon. Maybe I was just unaware of them at the time. For the two of us, the ocean villa is enough. It's close to the restaurant. We had #109 which was in the middle part.  You pay one price ($499) for the villa (not per person).  It includes an air conditioned room with lounging couch, frig, full bathroom with shower, big closet and safe. On the porch is a ceiling fan, two loungers and a small table.  Plus plenty of noseeums. Seriously, use the bug spray provided in the bathroom!    You also get six loungers and one umbrella down by the water.  I liked the ocean cove better than the lagoon cove we had last time.  The water didn't disappear when the tide went out.  There are also big yellow foam float mats for heavenly floating. Very peaceful without all of the noise, music, and crowds of the other part of the island. The zipliners went right over the cove but there weren't many of them. 

In your room, the have six aluminum water bottles, a basket of whole fruit, and they bring you chips and salsa.  You have access to the Silver Cove buffet for lunch.  You also have the option to order additional food items such as shrimp, charcuterie trays, etc.  You have to let them know by Tuesday how many total people and place an order for any additional food. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was very gray and drizzly on the tender ride over.  Haven customers receive priority tendering off the ship to the island and more importantly, priority tendering on the way back between 3pm-5pm. Worth every cent of the Haven cabin price to get the priority on the way back.  The line for the return tender had to be over an hour long wait in the heat.  We followed the attendant with the Haven sign to the front of the line.   Convenience - it's the Haven perk I like most.   

 

Edited July 15 by firstmickey

[firstmickey]

We walked over to see the new infinity pool. It’s all the way over past the restaurant and the lagoon where the gazebo is. It was storming off and on so it was empty and it was refreshingly cold. The ocean was much warmer. It was beautiful but so far that it’s not that usable for full vs lagoon guests. 
 

 

 

 

 

[firstmickey]

That night was our last night so we went to the Haven bar for a drink - more cosmos and a Manhattan for Dan.  We had surf and turf again (no new pictures) and no dessert. It was disappointing that all of the entertainment was at that same time. We really liked the comedian, Nery, but it was at the same time as the "80's Prom Night" at Syd Normans and we weren't missing that.   We got in the already formed line at 8:30pm (9:30pm show start).  It was extremely fun and interactive with great 80's tunes.  Afterwards, we went to the Haven bar for one drink then to put our luggage out (booo hoooo) and get to bed. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 15 by firstmickey

[firstmickey]

So a great trip came to an end.  For those of you asking about the concierge, Monica, she was leaving Sunday to fly to Copenhagen and will be on the Dawn.   Someone named Omar will be taking over. Christian is returning to guest services and there will be a new assistant concierge.  There is a new bartender with Reymond, name Ezme, and she was wonderful too. Cowboy is on the ship until January 2025. 

 

Some of my final thoughts are:

 

• Haven experience on the Breakaway was impeccable.  We didn't notice any decrease in the level of service. The staff were attentive and fun. They nicknamed us D & D. In my opinion, I'd rather cruise less with Haven then more without it.  That's just me. We love the convenience and smaller ship within the ship concept.  
• Tipping: We do tip bartenders and wait staff frequently from the beginning of the trip to the end. We tip the butler, concierge, assistant concierge, assistant maître d, and room steward at the end of the trip. 
• Cost cutting measures:  although we didn't see evidence of this in the Haven, we noticed it (and heard about it from others) through the rest of the ship.  In the specialty bars such as headliners, there would be one bartender and one waitstaff and long lines for drinks. Many people saved there seats then went to grab a drink elsewhere and brought it back. We learned to take our Haven drinks with us.  We heard there were extremely long lines at the pool bars.  Everything seemed to fill up quickly - restaurants, specialty bookings, etc.   At the captains party, there was one appetizer on a spoon and trays of drinks passed after you went through the line to meet the officers.  In past ones we attended, there were multiple appetizers and different drinks. 
• Unfortunately, I can't speak much about the Breakaway mainstream experience because this is the first time, we kinda stayed in the Haven bubble. It's setup with the 6-7-8 main area concept. We ate in Garden cafe twice at lunch (yuk) and at two specialty restaurants - Teppanyaki (yes) and Ocean Blue (no). 
• Haven Menu:  it's delicious and the best food on the ship and it doesn't change, but you can rearrange your sides and mix and match and they happily accommodate.  I think the only wow dessert is the OMG cheesecake.  I wish they would bring back the Pear Crumble with ice cream.  Anyone remember that? It's amazing. I wish they would offer another fish choice like grouper, snapper, flounder, sole. Anything except or in addition to trout.  Breakfast is amazing and so is the breakfast bar. 
• NCL Entertainment - not as many shows as I remember. We saw Burn the Floor and it was offered several times but once was enough. I wish they had another big show, and I wish some of the shows in smaller venues had a larger space.  If you didn't go early, you didn't get a seat. The exception was Howl at the Moon where people would come and go throughout the night. It seemed like all of the entertainment was scheduled on night before at sea days. On actual at sea days, there was little to do. 
• Overeager upselling noticed in several areas (more than in past experiences) - CruiseNext (stop with the phone messages - even after we bought them - we still got them), the spa, the sommelier. 

 

In summary, Dan and I both thought this was one of our best vacations we ever had. We bought several cruise next certificates on the "special" sale. We currently have a long 18 day (post retirement ...shhhh, don't call it that) trip planned to the Pacific Northwest, Seattle, Vancouver, and Portland which involves lots of driving, maneuvering, and meticulous planning. We are considering doing an Alaskan cruise now instead.  That's my plan to research this week. If anyone, has a crash course, please let me know.  lol 

 

Thanks for reading along, all your positive comments, and understanding when it got too much fun to be "live" reporting any longer.  I'm happy to answer any questions.  

 

 

[Niffernay]

On 7/7/2024 at 5:31 PM, firstmickey said:

The Chocolate Cowboy is on the Breakaway! We had him on the Escape at the Five OClock Somewhere bar which he told us is the best bar ever! 
he is currently on the Waterfront Deck 8 at the Sustainable bar. 

Love Clarence!! Last I knew he was on the Pr1ma. (I think 🤣). He's fantastic!

[LaCal]

8 hours ago, firstmickey said:

That concludes our BVI history lesson of the day.   lol

 

Back on the ship, we were starving so we headed directly to the Haven restaurant for lunch.  He asked about bread and I just wanted one pretzel bread and one is apparently not in the vocabulary because we got a plateful.  They were warm and delicious.  We both got the fritto misto seafood appetizer and had no idea it was so large. We could have shared one.  I hate wasting food but I couldn't eat that and lunch too.  I had the French dip (salty but yummy), and Dan had the burger which he said was very good also. 
 

 

 

 

 

can’t beat this lunch view!

I plan on having the French Dip for lunch on embark day and Thanks for the tip about the Frito Miso seafood appetizer, We’ll make sure to split it between us…..Have to save room for dessert 😜🍹🍹

[LaCal]

Thanks Again for taking the time to do such a Excellent review with Excellent photos 

 

The end of September can’t get here quick enough so we can board the Breakaway ourselves in a suite 😜🍹🍹

[www3traveler]

Just some Alaska thoughts for you:

  Which works better for you--Saturday to Saturday sailing (Bliss)

                                             Sunday to Sunday sailing (Encore)

  The Sun which is a smaller but very wonderful ship has been doing 9 Day itineraries from 

    from Seattle.

 

Lots to see and do in Seattle including a Seattle Mariner's baseball game if you have the time.

[firstmickey]

Just now, www3traveler said:

Just some Alaska thoughts for you:

  Which works better for you--Saturday to Saturday sailing (Bliss)

                                             Sunday to Sunday sailing (Encore)

  The Sun which is a smaller but very wonderful ship has been doing 9 Day itineraries from 

    from Seattle.

 

Lots to see and do in Seattle including a Seattle Mariner's baseball game if you have the time.

thank you! We decided today to keep our planned Seattle- Olympic National Park- Victoria- Vancouver- Willamette Valley itinerary and plan an Alaska cruise for next year. I can’t try to plan that this fast. I need more research! 

[Seas2mountains]

Thank you for your live review. You confirmed some of the same service concerns we experienced on our May 26-June 2 cruise with long lines or extended waits to get drinks at bars and lounges. We also tip for drinks and we did get served faster in the atrium when the bar servers remembered we tipped and came over to us. In Shakers, the bar server was helping the bartender who was constantly slammed and could rarely get out from behind the bar especially when Matthew was performing. That is disappointing about your food experiences in GC and Ocean Blue but it is nice to hear the Haven was a wonderful experience. 

Did you happen to catch Matthew singing? He was fantastic and Prelude Duo is one of my favorite duos. I don't understand how the CD on Breakaway had them scheduled as it was very different than other cruises and with other entertainment as you mentioned.

 

We also had a wonderful cruise with our family but we experienced more service quality issues than we have experienced on other recent sailings on NCL ships. We did have a Lagoon Villa reserved but GSC was canceled due to valid weather concerns and it definitely makes GSC an excellent experience with the villas from our past experience in one this year.

NCL Joy has some great 9 and 10 day itineraries in Alaska next summer. We are booked on a 10 day one with some decent time in ports compared to what you would experience with Encore or Bliss. If this is your first Alaskan cruise, I do recommend booking one with Glacier Bay. 

 

 

[firstmickey]

@Seas2mountains thank you! I enjoyed your report tremendously! Unfortunately, we never experienced Prelude because it was always packed when we walked by there or the times conflicted with something else. Next time!

 

and I will look at the joy also! 

[SaltyPawz]

Thank you for the wonderfully detailed review! ❤️

 

We’ll soon be enjoying the Haven Breakaway to New England/Canada. After reading your review, we are even more excited! I might just have to show the photos of your drinks at the Haven bar. They all looked tasty!