LizG12

I sailed the Breakaway last June and spent a lot of time at O'Sheehans and honestly never noticed any smoke. I also sat out on the Waterfront and there were ashtrays on the tables at Shakers Martini Bar. Didn't use the outdoor restaurant area of the Waterfront.

I agree and I was on Breakaway just a few weeks ago. I was pleasantly surprised.

Walking through the casino when it was busy, sure, you'd notice the smoke. But I found it easy enough to avoid walking the casino most of the time (the times I didn't was when I got mixed up figuring out the "you are here" vs "you want to be there" route).

that's true, but about 10 minutes beforehand, they open up the doors to anyone, so if you're not committed to a date/time, you don't need to reserve the shows. (Not sure if that's true for Circque too, since it's a dinner & fee)

to the OP - whenever NCL opens up the cruise for pre-planning (45 days prior?) reserve your shows, any speciality restaurants (although you can do those on board too), and any tours you're interested in.

It's about 30 minutes away (I think, I wasn't paying that much attention to the drive time).

We arrived around 1 and they had a special showing of one of the 3D movies arranged for us. The show was at the end of day, and from the theater we went to the buses and back to the ship. The park was closed by the time the movie ended and no way were they letting you wander around by yourself at that point.

Back on the ship around 6

I remember back in the day you could get 5 cards for $10. that was when they had the old fashion bingo cards...now they have this punch out recycleable paper that probably cost less then .25 give you a 'package deal' for $40 or more....I do NOT play. that is like gambling to me...

I don't understand, isn't bingo gambling whether you pay $10 or $40 for cards?

those little machines in the casino where are you have to do is swipe your card $1 and you move the knob key in the hole and you can win money, ipads, dr. dre beats...ect...i had dayum near 30 $1 charges on my account!

sounds like gambling to me :confused:

I guess I don't understand why $40 for bingo cards is gambling, but $10 for bingo cards or $30 in the casino machine is not gambling?

I asked how they could have mistaken him for a Linda and the just said "sorry".

Pretty easily if English, or more likely a latin-based, language isn't theirs. Not every language follows 'the rule' that names ending in 'a' are female.

If you can carry all your bags off the ship, they have an early disembarkation that ends about 8.30 (started about 7, I think). If you have to claim your bags, I think the earliest to get off the ship was either 8 or 8.30

What I mean is, if I order pizza from room service I get charged $5 but a burger is free?

I heard that the pizza charge came up because they were getting prank orders (people would order pizza to be delivered to a cabin and when the pizza got there, nobody in the cabin had ordered the pizza.) Same kind of reasoning for the after-midnight room service charge

The recent review from CC member eess was ....... wow. Not sure what to say there.

I just started reading that review (I only got about halfway before I stopped).

I was on the same ship & date as eess was. But it sure wasn't the same cruise. (fwiw, I don't usually drink either, and anyplace I go, land or sea, getting a virgin cocktail is a PITA. It's not a cruise-bar thing. )

Smoke is a recurring issue, seen in many reviews. I'll be staying far away from the casino and anything around it if not corrected somehow before May!

I was concerned about the smoke too. I didn't find it as bad as the reviews made it seem. The casino is midship deck 7, OSheehan's is near the casino, but I didn't notice any smoke when I was in OSheehan's (although I didn't go at dinner time, so evenings might be different). Beause of the where the stairs/elevators are, going up to 8, or down to 6 is easy enough to avoid walking through the casino itself.

.... Where I do have a problem is, if one chooses to only eat in the MDR's and the food or service has been diminished over the years, in favor of the specialty restaurants, then that is not right.

 

The 2 other times I cruised, in the late 90's, I found the MDR's to be outstanding, (Premier and Carnival). Always very good and tasty, outstanding service, etc. Yet many here on CC have told me that it's no longer like that on most of the cruise lines and ships. So one of the big draws about cruising, that almost all is paid for, has really been diminished if this is what they are doing.

 

FYI, on my upcoming cruise, we plan to only eat in the MDR's and make the best of it. I hope to be pleasantly surprised and find it better than what many have said it to be like.

I was on Breakaway a few weeks ago, and Dawn about 2 yrs ago. I didn't eat at any of the speciality restaurants and I had perfectly good meals in all the restaurants I was at.

I wasn't over-the-top thrilled with Breakaway (in general, not just the MDR) but I certainly wasn't sacrificing anything by staying out of the speciality restaurants. I thought Breakaway was a little more obvious than Dawn with the "we have cafe/drinks/restaurants for an extra charge" attitude.

I cruised Carnival (and a few others) back in the 90's too, and I don't remember the food quality that clearly, but I do feel that there's a less formal (? not sure that's the right word) attitude overall now on the ships than back then. Not just the dining rooms.

Uptown Grill was not busy at all for embarkation lunch but O'Sheehan's and the buffet were a mad house.

Depends on the time, I went to O'Sheehans on embarkation day early (by noon) and no wait at all.

My first solo cruise was 6 months after my husband died (the cruise was about 2 yrs ago) and I felt the same way.

What helped me was that on the first day, I walk up & down all the decks and get all the "oh, hubby would've loved to see this" stuff found all at once. Sounds wierd, but it's better (at least for me) to spend an hour or 2 doing this instead of finding them piecemeal all week long.

Don't get me wrong, there's still those moments of "s/he would've loved this" (or hated) but at least seeing that piece of artwork that you KNOW your wife would've have reacted to doesn't surprise you when you see it for the first time halfway through the cruise. Get all those things found as early as possible.

On Princess (I think) they name the outside decks instead of numbering them. IIRC Lido is the pool deck so deck 15 on the Breakaway.

No access to the bow area on NCL ships.

 

(With the exception of the panama canal)

but there is an area up front on deck 16 or 17 that's open to passengers. they must expect people because there's lounge chairs etc up there.

if you don't have anything plugged in when you're OUT of the room, then you don't need an extra card to put in the slot. I liked having a definite place to leave the room key so I didn't have to look for it when I was leaving the room.

I was in a Breakaway studio - one plug near the bed and 3 (or 4) near the sink. Depends how many things you need to have plugged in at once if that's enough or not :)

I was told there was 1500 kids on the Breakaway over New Years. I didn't see any problems with kids.

yes, it was in the Bliss lounge (deck 7 or 8) on the New Years cruise. Don't forget to go back and pick it up! They don't deliver :)

I was on Breakaway 2 weeks ago, there were 4 or 5 shows that repeated all week (2 different shows each night IIRC). Burn The Floor was the only one I went to in the theater. I didn't realize until now that those were the only shows in the theater. I went to shows if they sounded interesting, not because of where they were :)

The Slam Allen Blues was good, and if the weather's good on your trip, the club has seats outside on deck 8. One or 2 nights I sat outside and listened to them instead of inside the club.

I saw a little bit of the Revenge of the Sexes - not a show, but funny to watch.

I had dinner every night between 5.30 and 7, and the only time I had a wait was on one of the port days at 6.45 - I didn't realize that pretty much was the earliest time that everyone was back on ship, cleaned up from the beach etc, and heading to dinner. Except for that day (20 min wait), I had no wait at all. I usually went to Taste and Savor, I didn't like the Manhattan as much. (the food/service was the same in all 3 MDRs, it was more of the physical layout of the restaurants)

I ate solo though, no idea if there were waits for larger parties. I didn't plan my dinner time around the wait boards, although I did check them on my way down to see if any of the MDRs were red and go to one of the other ones. I don't remember that any of the MDR were red at the times I went.

I can't answer for the Sun, but the pedi I got on the Breakaway was not rushed, and the polish is included (and so was the view of the ocean :) ) IIRC, $55 for the 'standard' and $70 for the fire&ice (cooling moisturizer and hot stone massage). They were both about an hour. 18% gratuity automatically added when they give you the slip to sign.

What do you mean by a 'full pedi'? The one I got was the fire&ice, and it was the same kind of pedi I get at home (well, I don't get a hot stone massage at home, but the rest of it)

If you're a latitudes member, ask about discounts before booking the session. Breakaway had a latitutde member discount if it was done on port days (I did it in the morning before we docked - still counts as a port day, but didn't take up any port time)

I remember Dawn having spa specials too, but I don't remember the details (plus it's been about 2yrs, so I'm sure they've changed since then)

On the Breakaway, I'm pretty sure one of the MDR (usually Taste or Savor) was open for lunch. O'Sheehan's (also complimentary, but not a MDR) was always open for lunch

I used the passenger maximum's on NCL and RCCL websites, I don't know how they calculate it.

I was really surprised that Breakaway was a smaller ship, although at that size, unless they're side by side it's hard to judge.

if you're in a studio, there's not as much space as in a regular cabin.

Help! I am looking to travel solo on most likely the NCL Breakaway out of NY in Feb since I can get there via car or train, though the cold worries me for the @ sea days so I am thinking going on the Epic out Of Miami.

 

Actually what I need help with is deciding the dates. I am torn between. The 2/9 sailing and the 2/16 sailing. If I do 2/9 it will be over the "hallmark holiday" Valentine's day. Does anyone think there would be mostly couples on that sailing on either the Epic or Breakaway?

 

I know I probably sound bitter but I am really not, I just like to have a cool social experience. The first cruise I want on solo , I met some great people who have even become cruise buddies that I have since cruise with.

 

any input is welcomed. Thanks!

 

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In Feb, I'd avoid flying (that's just me though) so if you can drive to NY, that's a big plus. I just got back from Breakaway (NY - Bahamas) and unless you're a must-spend-every-waking-minute-outside kind of cruiser, don't worry about the cold seadays.

The first sea day after leaving NY was cool on deck (mainly due to the wind) but if you find a relatively wind-free spot, and have a heavy-ish sweater (or even just a blanket to cover up a little, it's ok. Not sun-bathing warm by any means, but nice to be outside. Same with the last sea-day on the way back.

we just did NCL Sun and the layout of the ship meant that we never felt that they were pushing anything

 

the shops came out at the back of the casino and we would not walk through the smoky casino

 

they laid things out on deck 5 atrium and we never walked through there - we walked through deck 6

 

the photo gallery never had any staff in it trying to sell anything and there was only 3 adverts for specialty restaurants in 10 nights

 

unusual I have to say for NCL but we didn't spend any less than we normally do as it's our choice what we spend

that's how I felt on the Dawn. I knew those extras were there, but they weren't a big pushy thing. Breakaway was different, those extras were much more obvious (to me)

the cabin steward should be able to split the bed too. my parents split the bed in the cabin because they say it's easier to walk around the room with one bed against each wall instead.