My Breakaway Review - March 15, 2015

Background

Family of 4. This is my 12th cruise, 7th with NCL. Chose Breakaway because it was leaving from Manhattan and we could drive from the port and I got an excellent deal. We booked 2 OV guarentee cabins and ended up with 2 balcony cabins 4 doors down from each other.

Hotel

We arrived the day before the cruise and stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn on east 52nd street. When we arrived there was a parking spot on the road so we didn't have to pay to park. This was a great perk we weren't expecting. Overall the hotel was very nice and we had no issues until the morning when we had to drive to the port. There was a 1/2 marathon going on and we thought we had the driving directions worked out but it ended up taking us 2 hours to get to the port when it should have been at 10 minute drive. Not the fault of the cruiseline though.

Embarkation

We arrived at the port around 11 and quickly checked in and were probably on the ship by 11:30. Once we arrived we had no problems with check-in. We decided we were going to get on board and familiarize ourselves with the ship. We went to our cabins (11112 and 11120) and dropped off our carry on. The rooms weren't ready but we had no problem dropping our bags there. We immediately headed to the box office to book the Cirque show for that night. We were told it was sold out and the lady working at the box office was the most unpleasant person I ever encountered. She was down right rude. I wasn't happy that it was sold out but there was nothing we could do so we went to have lunch at Taste. It was very good and a nice experience.

Ship Information

We loved our balcony cabins. We had the beds by the balcony. The room was very spacious and had amazing storage space. I don't know why anyone would call these cabins small. Having had balcony cabins on the Epic and the Dawn I would say that the Breakaway has much larger cabins. The balcony itself was tiny and basically useless but the cabin was excellent. We enjoyed the coffee maker and we always had ice, clean towels etc. etc. Overall impression was a 9.5.

My favourite part of the ship itself was the Waterfront. It is just lovely. We enjoyed our Moderno dinner outside and it was an excellent atmosphere. I only wish the weather was warmer the whole time so we could have enjoyed this area more.

My overall impression of the ship was excellent. The main areas inside are clean and modern. I did not like the Epic and was a bit worried about taking another trip on a large ship but the Breakaway did not disappoint.

Food

Overall NCL has excellent food choices. The buffet is not designed well and it was very crowded most of the time. The best thing was to either go to the very end or go somewhere else at breakfast time. I feel the layout just doesn't work. The food however was always tasty and I enjoyed the omellette station.

For lunch the best place IMHO is the burger place. They had amazing burgers and it was worth the wait. They would give you a number and deliver your burger to your table. They also had a made to order salad bar.

We had good service for dinner in the Manhattan Room but not in Savor or Taste. The service in both of those restaurants is slow and annoying. It took us almost 2 hours to have dinner and it wasn't even that good. We stopped going there for dinner after 2 tries.

O'Sheehan's is always a favourite of ours and it did not disappoint. Fast, friendly service with good pub style food.

We did eat at Moderno and enjoyed that meal and we did attend Cirque. Like I said earlier, they said that Cirque was sold out on the first night but it turned out that we did get seats after standing and waiting. The restaurant ended up not even being full. I wonder if some guests didn't try for stand-by after dealing with the rude lady at the box office. I wasn't going to let her ruin my night so we chose to show up and ended up with great seats. Overall, this was worth every penny. The show and the costumes were amazing and the meal wasn't too bad although the steaks were overcooked.

Activities/Shows

We enjoyed Burn the Floor so much that we saw it twice. We also saw Rock of Ages which was okay although everyone was extremely talented. We also had the pleasure of seeing Kate Shindle who did a whole show of broadway tunes which was definitely a highlight of the shows for us.

We did play some trivia and the kids watched movies in the theatre and Spice H20. I would also suggest going to some of the craft activities. They actually give you things for scrapbooking and we even got picture frames which was a nice souvenir to bring home. All in all, there was always something to do.

There were many activities at night such as the Glow Party but our favourite was the 80's Party with the fireworks. It was actually quite the show.

Pool

The pool area does seem small but we always found lounge chairs. We didn't go in the pool much though because it was a bit chilly. There are also plenty of hot tubs.

During the day, Spice H20 is adults only and we enjoyed the waterfall feature although it would have been nice if there had been a pool there too.

Gym

Way too small. Literally, this is the smallest gym I have ever seen on a ship. There are too many passengers to have such a small gym. We only went twice because of the size when typically we would have went 5 times. This was not well thought out.

Entourage

We had 2 teens travelling with us, 1 of which enjoyed Entourage. It was the typical teen get together place with activities.

Disembarkation

NIGHTMARE. We were driving and wanted a quick exit from the ship so we could start our drive. Easy-walk off was not easy at all. We arrived on the 7th around 7:45 and there were hundreds of people in line. It literally took us until 9:15 to get off the ship and in the building. We were standing outside by the dock in the freezing cold for at least 30 minutes. It was completely unorganized and horrible. I would never do easy-walk off at this port ever again. I would just wait until the crowds were gone and get off last. It was not worth the frustration!

Summary

The Breakaway could very well now be my favourite NCL ship. I'm really surprised at all the low ratings this ship seems to get. We enjoyed everything from the cabin to the food, the entertainment and the activities. I would love to sail on the Breakaway for longer and with warm weather the whole time. Although this wasn't my favourite cruise, it is definitely in the top 3!

Forgot 1 thing. The IConcierge App worked out amazing for my family. We got it on 2 devices and it cost $16 for the week for both. We were always able to stay in touch with the kids which was great. I highly recommend this app for anyone with teenagers. It definitely made checking in with each other a lot easier!

Great review! Thanks so much. Did you check out Howl At The Moon? We love it in Boston and plan on spending time at that venue. :)

What is the burger place?

Thanks for the review. Honest and to the point. I hope to sail on this ship in the future.

Nice review - thanks for the detail. My family and I will be sailing at the end of May. I was getting nervous about the reviews.

Can you tell me more about iConcierge? I was thinking about walkie talkies to keep in touch with the kids. Will this be easier?

Did you mean the Uptown Grill for burgers?

Thank you so much for the thorough review. We are going June 21st out of Manhattan and I was worried about some of the negative reviews for boarding and overall ship impression. We were going to do Cirque on the first night. Will definitely make reservations for it. Do you know if there is still a discount for booking the first night? Thanks again!

I'm surprised you had trouble getting off the ship. We walked off, and was the ship and in our living room at 8:30.

Great review! Thanks so much. Did you check out Howl At The Moon? We love it in Boston and plan on spending time at that venue. :)

Sad to say that we missed it. We wanted to see it the last night but unfortunately I came down with a cold and was too tired to go. Definitely next time. I heard it was fantastic!

Nice review - thanks for the detail. My family and I will be sailing at the end of May. I was getting nervous about the reviews.

 

Can you tell me more about iConcierge? I was thinking about walkie talkies to keep in touch with the kids. Will this be easier?

Basically you download the app before you leave home. Make sure you say yes to the notifications because that is the only way you will hear the messages come through once on the ship. All you do is once you are on board, is sign on to the ships wifi (make sure your phone is in airplane mode so that your carrier isn't charging you) and then go to the app where you can purchase the plan for $7.95. It gives you a unique phone number and then you can call rooms and other phones with that number by adding them to your contacts. The app also allows you to check your account (things are posted almost immediately), make dining reservations, make entertainment reservations (although most shows were reservations free), book shore excursions and see what is going on on-board. We loved it and will definitely use it again when the kids are with us.

I've never used walkie talkies on board but I'm sure that would work as well. I just liked knowing that the messages delivered and I could call at anytime.

Did you mean the Uptown Grill for burgers?

Yes Uptown Grill. I don't know how I ever forgot the name of it. My daughter and I ordered a burger each, cut them in half and gave that to my husband. So, we each had half a burger and he had a whole one. I was stuffed when I finished eating that thing. It was the best burger I have ever had on a ship and we really enjoyed Uptown Grill for breakfast as well. It was quiet in the mornings and they had breakfast sandwiches and yogurt and granola.

I'm surprised you had trouble getting off the ship. We walked off, and was the ship and in our living room at 8:30.

I would be interested to know what time you lined up at? Were you at the aft or front of the ship? I noticed when we got off they were letting people off at the other end too. I wish I had had your experience! We actually did easy walk-off from the Gem in August and had no trouble. I figured it was just due to the large number of passengers on the Breakaway. We still had a 10 hour drive ahead of us so we certainly didn't make it home by 8:30;)

Basically you download the app before you leave home. Make sure you say yes to the notifications because that is the only way you will hear the messages come through once on the ship. All you do is once you are on board, is sign on to the ships wifi (make sure your phone is in airplane mode so that your carrier isn't charging you) and then go to the app where you can purchase the plan for $7.95. It gives you a unique phone number and then you can call rooms and other phones with that number by adding them to your contacts. The app also allows you to check your account (things are posted almost immediately), make dining reservations, make entertainment reservations (although most shows were reservations free), book shore excursions and see what is going on on-board. We loved it and will definitely use it again when the kids are with us.

 

I've never used walkie talkies on board but I'm sure that would work as well. I just liked knowing that the messages delivered and I could call at anytime.

Thanks so much! Can't wait to go!

Thanks so much! Can't wait to go!

I'm sure you will have a great time. I thought the Breakaway was fantastic. Of course there were minor things that irritated me a bit but I was on vacation on a beautiful ship so those minor things were really nothing in the grand scheme of it. Have a great cruise:)

Thanks for sharing your review.

I forgot to mention anything about the slides. We enjoyed the purple and yellow ones but beware to anyone that has piercings. You cannot go on the free fall slide if you have any piercings whatsoever. Both of my DDs have ear piercings on the inside of their ears (can't remember what you call them...LOL) and they have never taken them out and they don't even know how to. They were extremely disappointed that they couldn't go on this slide. I'm sure it is for some safety reason but literally these are earrings that are so far inside their ears that they couldn't get caught on anything. It's weird to because one guy went on it with a loose shirt and shorts. You would think that would be more of a safety concern.

I would be interested to know what time you lined up at? Were you at the aft or front of the ship? I noticed when we got off they were letting people off at the other end too. I wish I had had your experience! We actually did easy walk-off from the Gem in August and had no trouble. I figured it was just due to the large number of passengers on the Breakaway. We still had a 10 hour drive ahead of us so we certainly didn't make it home by 8:30;)

Hi, our cabin was on the 11th deck, mid ship. Right near the elevators. I would say we left the cabin around 7ish. The only problem was actually getting on a elevator. Seemed by the time they got to the 11th they were already packed. Hopefully we don't run into the problem you had when we sail Breakaway again in Sept.

I can totally understand how you were feeling about trying to get to the ship during the marathon. We've sailed this itinerary twice, first on the Jewel and then on the Gem. Both times during our Ontario spring break. When we disembarked from the Jewel, the marathon was on and I feel the ship should have notified the thousands of passengers disembarking that there would be an issue with traffic in NYC. We knew we needed to get to the Lincoln Tunnel to head for home, but it was closed. We ended up in a major traffic jam. None of the police officers we asked for help gave us a clear or the same response. We finally used a road map to figure out we needed to get to the George Washington Bridge. The following year we were prepared for this annual marathon, took a left coming out of the pier and were on our way home!

We are booked for next March Break on the Breakaway and will likely take the train to Syracuse home. We won't need to rush off the ship. What is the best plan for disembarking? How late can we wait to get off? Should we pass on easy walk off?

Thanks for your great review.

Enjoyed your review!

Could you bring us up to date on the entertainment in Fat Cats? Not sure who the current band might be.

Also who is the house band/reggae band?

Did you have a Meet & Greet? We've always found the officers to be so visible and approachable. Hope you had the same experience.

Thanks again!

Thank you for your review! I'll be on Breakaway to Bermuda this July and cannot wait to go!

Uptown Grill sounds fantastic, especially for lunch. How often did you go to breakfast there, and was it fairly easy to get a table over there at breakfast time? We usually go to the MDR for breakfast because the buffet crowds are just too much, plus finding a table, etc. By the time we all sit down to eat our food is cold. We find the MDR less stressful overall, but if Uptown a Grill is less crowded and easier to find a seat, I would live to go there a couple of mornings for breakfast sandwiches!

Thanks so much for your review, justcake!

I think disembarkation is hit-or-miss regardless of the ship. We waited on a very long line to disembark the Dawn two summers ago, and then last summer, walked right off the Gem with no wait whatsoever. By the time we got off the Gem and into a cab, we could see a HUGE line of people waiting to get off the ship as we pulled away. But, because the cruise is over, I'm a cranky little witch either way, so the wait doesn't matter :p

I am glad you enjoyed yourself...I am so excited to sail the Breakaway this summer!

Thank you so much for the thorough review. We are going June 21st out of Manhattan and I was worried about some of the negative reviews for boarding and overall ship impression. We were going to do Cirque on the first night. Will definitely make reservations for it. Do you know if there is still a discount for booking the first night? Thanks again!

I can verify that at least in November, 2014, we were able to make reservations before hand (at the regular price) and then get the discount credited at guest relations. I believe it was credited in OBC, not to the card we made the reservations on.

Gym

Way too small. Literally, this is the smallest gym I have ever seen on a ship. There are too many passengers to have such a small gym. We only went twice because of the size when typically we would have went 5 times. This was not well thought out.

Thanks for the great review.

I'm a little surprised by your comments on the Gym, I thought it was a good size but to be honest, despite my best intentions, I didn't actually workout there, so I can't comment on the experience.

Awesome! Thanks for the review! Going on the Breakaway June 21st and cannot wait! First time and our review makes it all the more appealing. Thanks again!!!