aimish

What is the difference between breakaway class and breakaway plus?

Planning a cruise for April 2022. Escape’s dates are slightly more convenient but I like Encore’s itinerary better. Encore is around $4k more. Is Encore worth it? I will have 2 teenagers with me, as well as a 10 year old. I know Encore was rated a top ship for teens, but I don’t know how Escape compares.

TIA!

I had a similar experience to DWP1127, except that I was on Quantum with my family (4 kids who were then 4, 8, 10 and 12).  Here is a little comparison: Full disclosure...Quantum was brand new at the time, so I assume RCCL has fixed some of our issues.

1. CROWDS:

RCCL - The crowds were outrageous and there were huge lines for everything. The pool area was mobbed and the wait for elevators was crazy.  Definitely the worst on Day 1, but the lines were awful the entire time.

NCL- We have never experienced that on NCL and have been on NCL ships  of varying sizes.

2. DINING-

RCCL-The Quantum tried to perfect "anytime dining" and it was awful. We had 8:30 reservations at Chops one night and they didn't seat us until almost 9:30! Long waits were the norm for meals the whole cruise. On a positive...I thought the buffet on RCCL was substantially better than NCL's.

NCL - has many more dining options and a much better reservation system. I love that you can see which restaurants have short wait times or no wait times. Cirque du soleil on NCL is a great experience. Like others have said, NCL seems to have more flexible times to eat.

3. EMBARKATION-

RCCL - The day before we were boarding we received an email telling us to come an hour later. We did and it still took over two-and-a-half hours to get through the check-in line. Nightmarish! I don't know if that was just the NJ port or if RCCL has that issue elsewhere, but it sucked, lol.

NCL- Never had issues checking-in. I have been in regular balcony cabins and the Haven and either way, never had more than one or two families in front of me on line.

4. ENTERTAINMENT- (Nothing beats DCL for kids club experience)

RCCL - I actually loved the entertainment on board. Thought it was better than NCLs. The shows were comparable, but the entertainment for the kids was better on RCCL than most of the NCL ships we've been on. My kids loved the bumper cars and arcade, and my oldest loved the wave rider. We didn't participate in as many things as we wanted, because of the vast crowds. My kids did hate their kids' club though, but they don't love NCL's either.

NCL- Great shows, including the comedy shows and Howl at the Moon. Love bowling and the painting classes you can sign-up for and the water slides on NCL can't be beat (depending on the ship). Burn the Floor is one of my favs.

5. CREW-

RCCL- Other than the neverending lines (and their losing my luggage for a day) my biggest gripe with RCCL was how completely miserable the crew members were. They were just awful and so unapproachable. Many passengers were talking about it, so I think it may have been an anomaly, but seriously the most miserable crew we have ever encountered.

NCL - Not quite up there with Disney Cruise Line's cheerfulness, but have only had pleasant encounters with them.

6. CABINS-

Hard to compare since they only had cabins that could sleep two available, so my family stayed in three cabins. We used to stay in adjoining balconies on NCL and now stay in a two-bedroom Haven. NCL's Haven obviously blows RCCL's cabins away, but I have never stayed in RCCL's suites, so it is not a fair comparison.

All in all, we prefer NCL over our one RCCL experience. I really want to try the Oasis class ships since everyone says they are fabulous, but I have a stubborn husband who refuses to give RCCL another chance since he loves NCL. My honest opinion is that if you go on Breakaway or one of NCL's even never ships, you will have a fabulous time. They have much more to do for kids and grownups than some of NCL's older ships.

Good luck!

Went on the Breakaway to Bermuda two years in a row.  

I had the opposite experience happen when I booked the Alaska trip that my family went on this past summer. The cruise came up at the right price, but when I tried to add the land tour, the price jumped to over $200k! Called and they said that it was wrong but they couldn’t price it correctly right away. By the time they left a message telling me that I could call back and correctly book it, the moment had past and we decided to just do the cruise without the land tour. 

Serious question...If DSC is split between a large percentage of the crew, then how would one cabin removing their DSC (or even a few cabins per cruise) really affect any crew member? Seems like they’d lose pennies.

Also, wth is NCL doing with all the money they are getting? My fare has literally gone up over $6k in the last couple of years, plus they have raised the DSC. Let them stop building new ships every month and give their employees a raise!

I may not be that helpful because I have never been on the Bliss and only sailed in the Haven onboard the Epic, but here’s my 2-cents anyway, lol. Among the reasons we did not sail the Bliss to Alaska was that my kids love the sports deck and the Bliss doesn’t have one. Most probably won’t care about that but just throwing it out there. Personally, my family loved the Epic, though I know there are people with strong opinions both ways about that particular ship.

Can’t lose either way!

On my next cruise I have 250 minutes of free internet (promo), two 30 minute free internet packages (Latitudes freebie) and one free, unlimited internet package. Can I use them all separately for each family member or do they all overlap, which would mean that only the unlimited package has any value?

Also, I know NCL has crappy internet or you can upgrade for better internet. Can I upgrade the free unlimited package and just pay the difference?

I have been pricing out cruises from NY for my childrens’ spring break. There are two. One to Bermuda (that you booked) and one that does the Bahamas itinerary (that you actually got). The Bermuda one is $1,002 more for my family. I’d be ticked if all I got back was a whooping $180! Even if everything else was perfect on your cruise, I don’t blame you for feeling that NCL dropped the ball on a refund.

OP...Several years ago, I went on a cruise (not NCL) that was just awful. I swear, this is not all that happened....They lost my luggage for a day and a half, water in our cabin stopped working several times, we had a broken virtual balcony (that blared out static for two days and we couldn’t sleep), despite numerous phone calls and in-person requests to fix it, they charged my debit card and overdrew my bank account, despite my having given them a different cc to charge before boarding, it took 3 1/2 hours (no joke) to check-in at the pier because they screwed up our cabin keys, they didn’t honor our dinner reservation so we had to wait 1 1/2 hours to eat, our cabins weren’t ready until after dinner the first day, and worst of all, the cabins that their rep booked us in specifically because they were across the hall from each other, were literally no where near each other in reality. I did not adjust the DSC. Instead I wrote an angry letter (the first and only time I’ve ever done this) to the cruise line when I got home and received over $1,200 towards another sailing. Just something to think about.

Does anyone here have any experience with easitaly's tour of Rome? I tried searching on the Excursion's boards but couldn't find much info on them.

Thinking about booking them for August tour of Rome. They seem slightly more expensive than some of the others, so I want to know if it's worth it.

Thanks!

Great advice, thank you!

Btw, my kids were on the Quantum with us so they were each given a credit :)

Hmmm.... Then maybe next she can try the DCL or Carnival forums? Just want to cover all bases. :cool:

I was asking on NCL because this is the forum I am usually on since I am a Gold Latitudes member and you guys have been helpful in the past. Also I know others here travel on other cruise lines, including RCL.

Sorry if my question's misplaced.

I would call. As long as you booked it within the timeframe they "MIGHT" allow you to use it. Fairly certain that there is no way you will get money back.

I wouldn't expect to get money back now. I just want to extend the timeframe so I can use the money this summer. I will try calling them. Thanks

I think at this point you are out of luck. If you weren't happy with their offer of money off a future cruise it should have been dealt with then not going back almost a year later to ask for something different.

I don't want anything different. I want to extend the credit so I can use it this summer instead of April.

Anyone know what should do or if there is anyone I contact about this?

I went on a nightmare of a cruise with RCCL this past February and afterwards I wrote a letter (the only time in my life I ever did this) to them to express my dissatisfaction. As a result of that letter I was given the standard money off of a next cruise.

Because of the experience onboard, my dh refuses to sail RCCL again so I thought maybe I'd take my girls this summer on Oasis, which I have heard good things about. I figure if we have an amazing time, I might be able to talk my dh into giving RCCL another shot!

Last night I looked at the email which contains the credit (and actually read the fine print!). It expires this April! I am so ticked off. We paid a lot of money to go on Quantum and it was awful. My dh and I are not complainers and it was bad enough for us to complain and for him to swear off the whole cruise line! The only reason I was considering giving them a second chance was because of the discount. There is no way we can go before April since we are already going away on the kids' school breaks through April.

Everyone had told me when RCCL made the offer that I should demand a partial refund of our money vs. a discount off a future cruise, but I didn't push it. Am I SOL on this?

I wouldn't even know where to call since I'm sure no one is authorized at reservations to help with this.

So, I know I'm being a baby, but could use some advice. I went on a nightmare of a cruise with RCCL this past February and afterwards I wrote a letter (the only time in my life I ever did this) to them to express my dissatisfaction. As a result of that letter I was given the standard money off of a next cruise.

Because of the experience onboard, my husband refuses to sail RCCL again so I thought maybe I'd take my girls this summer on Oasis, which I have heard good things about. Last night I looked at the email which contains the credit (and actually read the fine print!). It expires in April! I am so ticked off. We paid a lot of money to go on Quantum and it was awful. My dh and I are not complainers and it was bad enough for us to complain and for him to swear off the whole cruise line! The only reason I was considering giving them a second chance was because of the discount. There is no way we can go before April since we are already going away on the kids' school breaks through April.

Everyone had told me when RCCL made the offer that I should demand a partial refund of our money vs. a discount off a future cruise, but I didn't push it. Am I SOL on this? I know this isn't NCL but figure there are other NCLers here who used to deal with RCCL who may have advice.

I wouldn't even know where to call since I'm sure no one is authorized at reservations to help with this.

I have not booked a non-promo room on NCL for more than 2 people yet, but on other lines I've booked, the rate for the 3rd+ passengers is always less than it is for the 1st and 2nd passengers. Is that not true of NCL?

I am getting confused because people keep talking about how the 1/2 price is off of the true rate for the 3rd and 4th passengers, but on every other line I've been on the true rate is less for those passengers.

RCL needs to reduce Caribbean capacity and increase their presence else where in the world if they want to effectively compete. Their concentration in the Caribbean (as a percentage of their total capacity) means that they are really hit by the need to discount.

Strange that Royal Caribbean would be mainly

focused on the Caribbean. :D

15 US Code 13 Discrimination in Pricing, Services, or Facilities. It is perfectly legal to raise prices to encourage, for instance, big spenders; it is illegal to raise prices "purposely" to discriminate by exclusion against certain individuals or groups, i.e. I don't want to offer services to people from "the poor side of town" so I'll price them out and they can go somewhere else.

I am not trying to be obnoxious here, but as an attorney, I have worked with 15 U.S. Code sec. 13 and it has nothing to do with charging more than a lower economic class of people can afford. It has to do with preventing monopolies.

If it was illegal to "discriminate" against poor people, than pretty much every high-end business would be in violation of that policy for charging too much, which clearly prevents poor people from purchasing their product.

I have actually been on the Breakaway to Bermuda a few times and enjoyed it, but think I may be a little bored if I go on it again, that's why I was thinking of going with RCI, just for some variety. My girls (ages 11 & 12) have not been on NCL yet, but have been on Quantum.

I was kind of hoping there'd be a definite front-runner here, but that doesn't seem to be the case. Y'all are pretty split on which to choose :)

For Bermuda this summer -- just me and my daughters...

Do you think I should book:

RCCL Liberty of the Seas or NCL Breakaway?

Does anyone know if they have matzah onboard the Quantum this week? I am meeting my sister in Florida in two days and will need to run out and buy some for her if they don't.

Thanks!

I called RCI and asked them directly. They said 13 is minimum age with a parent present, and 16 is the minimum age without a parent present. She suggested we use the Rock Climbing Wall (minimum age for that is 6). Even though she likes climbing, I am not exactly stoked for that. Thought the on-board gym would be a good mother/daughter bonding experience...the rock climbing wall?...not so much.

I realize there is an outside track, but my daughter is not exactly an early riser or morning person, and as some have said, the weather and crowds can dictate whether that'll work!

Alfaeric...your post made me laugh...you can judge away!

Does anyone know if a 12 year old is allowed to go to the on-board fitness center? My daughter does not use weights or anything, but she walks on the treadmill or rides a bike just to get some exercise.