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A foodie guide to dining on the breakaway.


rocky55
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Hi! I was on the Breakaway July 7-July 14. We had a great time! A little about me, this was my 8th cruise. I am a 44 year old mom to 2 wonderful children ages 10 and 14. I went on this cruise with my 10 year old daughter. My son is autistic and he stayed with his dad part of the time and his grandma the other part. (I am going again with both kids Nov. 3, and my former mother-in-law and her boyfriend are also coming for the vacation and to help). I have been on Celebrity, Royal Caribbean and Carnival in the past. This was my first Norwegian Cruise. I live in NJ so this was easy for me to leave out of NYC.

 

I love to eat out which I don't get to do to much because of my children and my work schedule. I have eaten in amazing restaurants in many parts of the world. I travelled a lot before I had children. I also love to cook all types of food. I always try to get the best ingredients!

 

When I heard about all the speciality restaurants on board, I decided to try many of them, since I don't go out as much as I would like and I love to try all kinds of foods. I pre-booked them 45 days before my cruise. Just a few tidbits before I get started. If you pre-book for a child, you do have to pay full price for them, but once you eat at the restaurant, they will credit your on-board account half the price if the child is 12 or under, or the full amount if they order off the regular kids menu (think hamburgers, chicken fingers etc.)

 

Let's get this review started!!!!!

Sunday July 7

Lunch at Savor free dining room - 12PM no wait

I had a club sandwich with french fries. Both were very good. My daughter had a cheeseburger with french fries which she enjoyed.

Service I thought was good.

 

Dinner: Cagneys at 6:30. We sat outside. It was a perfect night to be outside!! Sooo beautiful!

Appetizer: Arugula salad. It was ok, not much flavor. Dinner was strip steak. I ordered it Medium rare, it was overcooked, but I did not send it back or complain (I usually don't complain to wait staff) I was hungry and didn't want to wait. Again the steak didn't have much flavor and didn't seem top quality. The sauces served with the steak were pretty good. For dessert, my daughter shared the apple dessert and the oreo cheesecake. I didn't love the apple dessert. The Oreo cheesecake was amazing!!!!! I definitely recommend it.

The service was very good. The view was amazing.

Bottom line: If you go to more than a couple of restaurants I would consider Cagneys. The steak was not impressive (I also heard other people say that) but the view is great! Some of the outside dining overlooks lifeboats, but not at Cagneys, it is at the end of the Boardwalk so there was also less foot traffic.

 

Monday July 8

Breakfast: Buffet very crowded, hard to find a table. (This stuff doesn't bother me on cruises, I know the buffets are crowded and I always seem to find a table - just letting you know to make your own decisions.) I got oatmeal, scrambled eggs and coffee. I wanted to get an omelet but the line was too long for me. I disliked the eggs, I didn't eat them. They were the powdered stuff. The oatmeal was good. The coffee was not good either. I got some bacon, which was fine. I was going to get an omelet but my daughter was feeling great so we left.

 

I am going to do the rest tomorrow, have to get up early, just wanted to get this started.

Coming up: Ocean Blue, Le Bistro, Teppanaki, Moderno, Sushi Bar, Ocean Blue on the waterfront, Carlo's Bakery, Manhattan room, Irish pub, Uptown Grill and the gelato store. (Boy I ate a lot!!)

 

 

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Hi! I was on the Breakaway July 7-July 14. We had a great time! A little about me, this was my 8th cruise. I am a 44 year old mom to 2 wonderful children ages 10 and 14. I went on this cruise with my 10 year old daughter. My son is autistic and he stayed with his dad part of the time and his grandma the other part. (I am going again with both kids Nov. 3, and my former mother-in-law and her boyfriend are also coming for the vacation and to help). I have been on Celebrity, Royal Caribbean and Carnival in the past. This was my first Norwegian Cruise. I live in NJ so this was easy for me to leave out of NYC.

 

I love to eat out which I don't get to do to much because of my children and my work schedule. I have eaten in amazing restaurants in many parts of the world. I travelled a lot before I had children. I also love to cook all types of food. I always try to get the best ingredients!

 

When I heard about all the speciality restaurants on board, I decided to try many of them, since I don't go out as much as I would like and I love to try all kinds of foods. I pre-booked them 45 days before my cruise. Just a few tidbits before I get started. If you pre-book for a child, you do have to pay full price for them, but once you eat at the restaurant, they will credit your on-board account half the price if the child is 12 or under, or the full amount if they order off the regular kids menu (think hamburgers, chicken fingers etc.)

 

Let's get this review started!!!!!

Sunday July 7

Lunch at Savor free dining room - 12PM no wait

I had a club sandwich with french fries. Both were very good. My daughter had a cheeseburger with french fries which she enjoyed.

Service I thought was good.

 

Dinner: Cagneys at 6:30. We sat outside. It was a perfect night to be outside!! Sooo beautiful!

Appetizer: Arugula salad. It was ok, not much flavor. Dinner was strip steak. I ordered it Medium rare, it was overcooked, but I did not send it back or complain (I usually don't complain to wait staff) I was hungry and didn't want to wait. Again the steak didn't have much flavor and didn't seem top quality. The sauces served with the steak were pretty good. For dessert, my daughter shared the apple dessert and the oreo cheesecake. I didn't love the apple dessert. The Oreo cheesecake was amazing!!!!! I definitely recommend it.

The service was very good. The view was amazing.

Bottom line: If you go to more than a couple of restaurants I would consider Cagneys. The steak was not impressive (I also heard other people say that) but the view is great! Some of the outside dining overlooks lifeboats, but not at Cagneys, it is at the end of the Boardwalk so there was also less foot traffic.

 

Monday July 8

Breakfast: Buffet very crowded, hard to find a table. (This stuff doesn't bother me on cruises, I know the buffets are crowded and I always seem to find a table - just letting you know to make your own decisions.) I got oatmeal, scrambled eggs and coffee. I wanted to get an omelet but the line was too long for me. I disliked the eggs, I didn't eat them. They were the powdered stuff. The oatmeal was good. The coffee was not good either. I got some bacon, which was fine. I was going to get an omelet but my daughter was feeling great so we left.

 

I am going to do the rest tomorrow, have to get up early, just wanted to get this started.

Coming up: Ocean Blue, Le Bistro, Teppanaki, Moderno, Sushi Bar, Ocean Blue on the waterfront, Carlo's Bakery, Manhattan room, Irish pub, Uptown Grill and the gelato store. (Boy I ate a lot!!)

 

 

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Keep it coming! I'm enjoying this and want to see the rest. We haven't been on an NCL cruise.

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Powered Eggs at Breakfast? Really?

NCL even serves powdered eggs in the MDR. This is one perk of booking a suite. They serve REAL eggs in the Epic Club or Cagneys.

BUT you can request real eggs if you want. They will always serve real eggs for sunny side up but powdered eggs if you order scrambled. If you like scrambled eggs, please request real eggs in the MDR. I THNK you can still request them. Or at least I hope you can.

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Powered Eggs at Breakfast? Really?

I would like someone who does the Behind the Scenes tour to specifically ask to see this product.

 

Are they powdered or just liquid in the cartons, or really real but so well mixed people don't believe it?

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I would like someone who does the Behind the Scenes tour to specifically ask to see this product.

 

Are they powdered or just liquid in the cartons, or really real but so well mixed people don't believe it?

 

I remember seeing liquid eggs in cartons during the tour on the Jewel a couple of years ago. They said they were used for scrambled eggs and for cooking and baking. Of course, things might have changed since then.

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I remember seeing liquid eggs in cartons during the tour on the Jewel a couple of years ago. They said they were used for scrambled eggs and for cooking and baking. Of course, things might have changed since then.

 

They are the liquid carton eggs. Most people, if they don't see bits of white mixed with the yellow, assume "powdered" eggs, though powdered eggs are fairly rare. The carton eggs remove the salmonella threat since the shells are gone, and the product is pasteurized. It also saves time and energy in cracking thousands of eggs just to scramble them, and the waste removal for thousands of egg shells.

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Rocky55 your doing great thank you! I totally agree with your review, Cagneys my NY Strip was tasteless I was very disappointed and said that simple Longhorn Steakhouse gave me a much tastier steak. I agree with you about the salad also.

 

I also dined at the others (not Teppanaki and La Cucina, we tried all the others) and I can't wait to hear your reviews!

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Great to read your review! Just got off on Sunday too. I completely echo your thoughts about Cagneys- biggest food disappointment. Steak was tough, lobster was mushy and fishy. Shrimp cocktail was fine but server forgot the sauce initially. Oreo cheesecake was very good but very huge.

 

I wished we had spent the $ at Ocean Blue or Wasabi.

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Liquid/powdered eggs are horrible, some people don't mind them but all of us hate them in fact I forgot about this and when I got my eggs I could not eat it, so from now on I ordered fried eggs to make sure I get the real stuff. The buffet did have hard boiled eggs...If I didn't have to be gluten free I would of made myself a BLT each morning. :p

 

I failed to mention that a few of us (not myself as I do not eat shrimp) ordered the shrimp cocktail and the shrimp was way too soft it was bad but then again this is night 6 so it should of not been served in the first place since it was not good).

 

Hipmamas1- I can't wait till I hear from the OP experience on Ocean Blu. Since its his/her post I will wait for the review to come its the right thing to do. ;)

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Good afternoon everyone! I will answer any questions you have. Let's get back to the review!

After breakfast I went to the Atrium Cafe (Deck 6) to try their coffee. I have to admit that I am a huge coffee addict!! I brew my own organic coffee at home in the real world. I ordered a large Cafe Americano (not sure of spelling). It is basically espresso with steamed water. It was excellent!!! They have creamers and different types of milk if you ask. I use lowfat or skim in mine. The cost was under $3. For me it was well worth it! I went there most mornings even if I ate at some other places because it was that good.

 

Lunch: Wasabi (sushi restaurant). They have inside and outside tables and a sushi bar you can sit at. It is waitress service and a la carte. We sat inside at the sushi bar. I ordered the seaweed salad. It was pretty good. A little small. Than we ordered a Dynamite roll (yellowtail, salmon tempura style) which was very good! My daughter ordered chicken dumplings which also were good. I ordered (yes I did eat a lot on this cruise and shh I am a trainer on dry land) the chicken yakotori which tasted off to me. I told the waitress and they were very nice and offered me something else and took it off the bill. My daughter loved the dynamite roll so we ordered another one. My eyes were bigger than my stomach and we didn't finish it.

Bottom line: sushi is good. The prices were very fair! It's a nice place to go for a quick lunch or eating outside at night on the Broadwalk.

 

Have to train a client, more later. Up next Ocean Blue for dinner.

 

 

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I'm back! Now on to Ocean Blue. There has been a lot of controversy surrounding Ocean Blue because they raised the prices from $35 to $49 after a few cruises. I paid $49 for myself, and $24.50 for my daughter. Was it worth it? I'll give my thoughts at the end of this section.

The decor inside is beautiful. From the moment we arrived, the level of service was top notch. I did have one minor problem with the service at the end of the meal which I'll explain soon. You could tell the servers really wanted you to be happy. We ate outside, another beautiful night. You do see a lifeboat, but it really didn't bother me. I wish it wasn't there, but again not a big deal.

We started with the calamari - excellent! We also had the prawn panzanella (shrimp with tomatoes, olives in a olive vinagrette) which the waiter recommended when I ask for one. Also excellent. Dinner was the risotto of Jonah Crab (it had mushrooms, parmesan olive oil sauce). It was very good. I had the Dover Sole which the chef is know for. It was good but a little salty for me, and I love salt. For dessert (again asking for the waiter suggestions) we had the warm chocolate flourless cake served with ice cream and the apple strudle with cardamon served with gelato. The cake was good not great. I did not care for the apple dessert because I thought the cardamon overpowered it. It could just be that I don't like that spice.

Service again was top notch except at the end. (Yes I am being picky but for that amount I think we should be.) We went to the bathroom after dinner before dessert was served. When we got back our desserts were on the table and the ice cream was half melted. I do think they should have seen we were at the bathroom and brought them back to the kitchen. Again not a big deal overall.

Bottom line: would I recommend it? Is it worth the price? If money is a factor, I would opt for a less expensive choice. (I'll wait to tell you my favorite place regarding food when I get to that restaurant.) If you want to sit outside the sushi place is nice choice. If you are willing to splurge and this is not your only speciality restaurant, I would go. I think this is a good place for a romantic dinner. (I met someone who proposed to his girlfriend here and they thought the food was amazing and he owned a restaurant.) A big group of people, or kids, I would also opt for a different choice.

 

 

 

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Rocky is back yey!!

 

Dang, we have to wait for your favorite place hahahaha...you really keeping me on suspense here. As for Ocean Blu, the rest of my family raved about it ONLY because they ordered items from the raw bar which was extra cost (we had many items between the seven of us all were excellent on the raw bar, dinner was good to very good depending upon what you order) although on the 6th day we went to the raw bar before dinner and my little neck clams had me burping them up for two hours. If you go here I suggest the first four days to get the freshest seafood. I tried it and experienced it, agree service was excellent overall but won't go again....now waiting for your favorite and the others can't wait!

Edited by lyndamr
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Rocky55 your doing great thank you! I totally agree with your review, Cagneys my NY Strip was tasteless I was very disappointed and said that simple Longhorn Steakhouse gave me a much tastier steak. I agree with you about the salad also.

 

It is so funny how people's taste are different. I did Cagney's on the Pearl and the filet was fantastic; cooked perfectly and seasoned appropriately. Just last week I went to Longhorn Steakhouse and had to send my steak back because I thought it was overly seasoned - you couldn't taste the meat, all you tasted was their seasoning. I don't think a restaurant can please everyone, but I would prefer a steak underseasoned (I can always add more) than overseasoned.

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NLH Arizona actually the steakhouses that I do go to are 4/5 star places, but at times I will go to a Longhorn when I visit my parents because they think its a great restaurant for steak (lol) and I never had any seasons on my steak, besides some salt. There are steak items on the menu that they do indeed add seasonings on the steak. I always ask for no marinade and such I want a plain steak medium rare. But Cagneys did not have seasoning, that wasen't the problem, the problem is the steak was not tasty at all. :(

Edited by lyndamr
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NLH Arizona actually the steakhouses that I do go to are 4/5 star places, but at times I will go to a Longhorn when I visit my parents because they think its a great restaurant for steak (lol) and I never had any seasons on my steak, besides some salt. There are steak items on the menu that they do indeed add seasonings on the steak. I always ask for no marinade and such I want a plain steak medium rare. But Cagneys did not have seasoning, that wasen't the problem, the problem is the steak was not tasty at all. :(

I know good steak all to well. My favorite places are Manny's in Minneapolis, Peter Luger's in New York, Mastro's in Chicago and also like The Palm.'

 

I like my steak with just some salt and pepper (and not too much), because I don't like to cover any of the taste of the steak, maybe that is why I like Cagneys and my filet was juicy and tasted great. If they ever started to put a lot seasonings on their steaks, I would not go.

 

I think the problem is that there are so many different taste. You like seasonings and I don't, so what does a restaurant do. Possibly they can ask if you want heavy, light or no seasoning on your steak.

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Hi! One more final note regarding Ocean Blue. I have seen comments from other posts that say the portions were small. I was stuffed at the end of dinner. Most fine dining restaurants do have smaller portions than chains. I thought the portions were adequate.

 

Let's get to the next day.

Breakfast: room service. You can get cold cereals, yogurts, fruits, danish, muffins, croissants etc. There is nothing available hot for breakfast (unless of course you are in a suite). That is fine with me most days as I prefer not a huge breakfast (I prefer to eat more at dinner - I know its better to do the opposite! :) ) I got fruit and all-bran and my daughter had fruit and raison bran. I put the card out the night before and it came a little earlier than the time I posted which was fine with me. I made my own coffee in the room. (I brought some of my own coffee from home and filters) Remember coffee addict!! You can bring your own ground coffee and I bbrought the melitta single cup coffee filters that I found in a grocery store. I love room service on vacation, so this was lovely!!!

 

Lunch at Savor (free dining room) 12:20 no wait.

I got Chicken noodle soup - tasted very fresh. Shrimp Ceaser salad. Way too much dressing for me - should have asked for light dressing and 3 small shrimp. It was fine with me, but some of you might need to order more shrimp. My daughter had her staple on vacation cheeseburger and french fries which were very good. No dessert at Savor. I found the service good.

 

Afternoon snack: Carlos Bakery at the Atrium Cafe

NOW I KNOW WHY PEOPLE DRIVE FROM ALL OVER TO GO TO HOBOKEN AND WAIT IN LINE FOR THE CAKE BOSS'S STUFF!! IT WAS AMAZING! OMG! My mouth is already watering when I think of me being able to go in Nov when we go back on the cruise. YOU HAVE TO GO!!! We shared a "lobster tail" and a peanut butter cupcake. The lobster tail is this creamy inside and crunchy outside!

 

 

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Remember coffee addict!! You can bring your own ground coffee and I bbrought the melitta single cup coffee filters that I found in a grocery store. I love room service on vacation, so this was lovely!!!

Exactly what I do. :p

 

I knew it was mistake to read a foodie's review... I'm hungry now. :p Thanks for writing. Can't wait to read more and can't wait to be on Breakaway again soon. Very sorry you have to put up with hijacking attempts on YOUR review. I only wish iggy'ing someone would also block quotes from them.

Edited by kylenyc
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Tues for dinner: cirque dinner show. Since this is a post on food, I'll concentrate on that. I do have to mention the show was amazing. I do recommend it. As for the food. I did not like mine very much.I heard other people say that and also heard some liked the food. Their are no choices (unless I guess you have food restrictions) App was tomato with mozzarella cheese with a balsamic dressing. This was pretty good. Hard to mess up. Dinner was fried shrimp - tasted like frozen kind - and filet. They didn't ask you how you wanted it cooked, they just served it. Mine was very overdone. I didn't eat much. The dessert was fair. Everyone got four little desserts, one was fruit, one was chocolate, I forgot the other 2. I still recommend going to the show. It was a very good show. Service was good for a dinner show.

 

Wed first port day:

Breakfast at O'sheehan's Irish pub

 

This restaurant is a sit down service restaurant that is open 24 hours a day which is such a nice thing to have on a cruise. We got sat down right away, but waited a long time and no one came over. I nicely asked the hostess to have our server come over. She was very nice and had someone come over right away. I ordered an egg white omelet with salmon and onions and whole wheat toast. My daughter ordered french toast. My omelet came out with cheese and spinach instead of what I ordered. I kept it since I like that also and we were anxious to get the beach. My daughter liked her french toast. The eggs tasted good this time. This is a great restaurant to go to for breakfast or lunch or a snack. I never made it to the main dining room for breakfast. They were only open from I think 7:30 to 9. I do think they should have longer hours. O'sheehans was good but a limited menu and my daughter would have liked more options. I know we could have gone to the buffet, but I do prefer sit down for most of my meals. The maitre'd did come over and ask how everything was.

 

Lunch was in Bermuda. A quick note, we got a day pass to Coco Reef hotel to use their facilities. It included a lunch which was excellent! I had Vegetable panini with french fries which were some of the best I had! My daughter had her usual cheeseburger with french fries. (In the real world she eats much healthier.)

 

 

 

 

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