NCL Breakaway - 9/18-9/25 just got back

Hi

Just got back from the 9/18 NCL Breakaway cruise yesteday...very nice ship.

Cruise was awesome as expected. Definitely way too many people on there forums complaining in the threads I read prior to cruise.

First, what is not to like about taking a vacation cruising to a beautiful island, Bermuda.

There was a couple of CONS, disembarkation was poor...but was it bad, NO....remember 4K passengers...the dock area is rather small compared to other cruise terminals..it is NYC

You will hear people probably complaining about leaving Bermuda early because of Tropical depression Carl....yes the Captain decided to leave at 1pm on Friday...VERY GOOD Call made by him.

Rock of Ages was ehhhhh, seen better.....like Cats Pajamas on the EPIC or David DaVinci on the DAWN

Burn the Floor was good, wasn't expecting much..but enjoyed the show.

Dueling Pianos.....don't miss it...plays four night...Sun/Tues/Thur/Sat...AWESOME Show.....again don't miss it. Ben Michaels (beard) Jeff Taylor and Josh "BabyFace" Hamilton was great entertainers. I did stump Ben with a request. It was a song he had never had requested in 23 years. He knew the song.

Second City...was ehhhh as well...comedians.....nothing really new, same old material....but they were funny...

Didn't do any special dinning...but Manhattan Room - waitress Armi is fantastic..she did a great job and we requested her area each time we ate there.

Rope course, my son enjoyed and the water slide free drop needs to be 99lbs greater, he was bummed he was too light.

the NCL Breakaway definitely needs a magician onboard.....

the threads you read about Atrium is true...small area for the gatherings they do there, should use the Breakaway theater for some of the stuff.

the Breakaway is very close layout to the Epic.

I think we were the last to be able to eat at Uptown....very good burgers. There was all sorts of work getting done on yesterday prior to getting off the ship with jack hammers, so MargaritaVilla is coming soon

Although we got rain on Wednesday while on the moped.....no one can complain...hurricane season.....you should know the time of year when booking what to expect.

The Captain was one of the best ones in 10 cruises.....

The QA with the officers - glad we attended.

UBP package was well worth the $90 gratuity up front we had to spend.

Getting on the ship, I saw no problem on my end...we are GOLD lattitude members so we had our own check in.....got to the dock around 11am, and on ship around 12:30p.

Any other questions about the cruise, feel free to ask, I will reply with my thoughts.

How was the water (waves) on the way back, was the ship rocky?

Thanks for sharing your review with us.

Cruise was awesome as expected. Definitely way too many people on there forums complaining in the threads I read prior to cruise.

Definitely the way I expect to feel when our cruise is done. I'm typically a "half glass empty" kind of guy but it takes a lot for me to have a negative vacation experience. Seems like a lot of people expect perfection at all times and demand their every whim and desire to be met immediately. If you expect to have a bad experience you'll probably find a way to make that happen. Otherwise, try to have a good time and chalk up any negative experiences into a lesson learned and a potential funny story to tell later.

How was the water (waves) on the way back, was the ship rocky?

Actually really didn't feel any rocky-ness on the return travel to NYC. I think due to the ship being almost double the tonnage as the Dawn. The Breakaway handles the 8ft-12ft waves effortlessly.

Definitely the way I expect to feel when our cruise is done. I'm typically a "half glass empty" kind of guy but it takes a lot for me to have a negative vacation experience. Seems like a lot of people expect perfection at all times and demand their every whim and desire to be met immediately. If you expect to have a bad experience you'll probably find a way to make that happen. Otherwise, try to have a good time and chalk up any negative experiences into a lesson learned and a potential funny story to tell later.

Agree, why would you complain about a vacation period. You are away from your everyday busy schedules. and definitely agree people MOST will always find negativity even if it is the smallest pebble on the beach.

Sorry one more thing to add, and yes sorry a CON...water bottle prices are INSANE.......NCL you need to figure out a better pricing chart.

what did you do in Bermuda ?

How much is the water?

what did you do in Bermuda ?

Good question, since it was like my 8th time to Bermuda via a cruise....we know ahead of time what we want to see.

we rented mopeds......

Day 1 headed to hamilton - ate lunch at Pickled Onion (usually very good, this time just ok) then went to Horseshoe Beach........lots of rain while driving, but at horseshoe beach, the rain let up for 2.5 hours and had some great waves due to the approaching TS Carl.

Day 2 ferry over to hamilton to cut down drive time to St George, stopped at the Crystal Caves (only went there on first cruise to Bermuda), St George for lunch... can't miss Mama Angies, then went to St David lighthouse (been a few trips since visiting there) then headed west to Horseshoe Beach - returned mopeds

Day 3 walked around the dockyard area

Glad you enjoyed your cruise. Thanks for sharing.

Sorry one more thing to add, and yes sorry a CON...water bottle prices are INSANE.......NCL you need to figure out a better pricing chart.

I truly don't understand that big deal about bottled water.. the ship water is purified water just like the bottled water you buy. It tastes that same. I have a well at home and drink almost only water and love the ship water, I would never pay for bottled water on aboard and never try to lug cases of water... I was sooo happy when they ended that ridiculous policy to allow people to look like fools going on a vacation with a stack of cases of water.

and the ship water is FREE!!!!!

I truly don't understand that big deal about bottled water.. the ship water is purified water just like the bottled water you buy. It tastes that same. I have a well at home and drink almost only water and love the ship water, I would never pay for bottled water on aboard and never try to lug cases of water... I was sooo happy when they ended that ridiculous policy to allow people to look like fools going on a vacation with a stack of cases of water.

 

 

 

and the ship water is FREE!!!!!

Prepare for a few hundred posts by the bottled water huggers! Coming in 3.....2.....1......

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I've just joined CC today so please bear with me if I fumble through here. Hope I do this correctly, but I'm sure I'll get the hang of it. Anyway, we are sailing on the BA on 10/16 and staying in the Haven Penthouse Suite. We stayed in a balcony room last year and decided to bump it up a bit. I was wondering who the Captain will be, if anyone knows the schedule. We had Captain Svedung last year and thought he was a really nice guy.

I'm really looking forward to this cruise. This time of year is my favorite to cruise, hurricane season or not!

We were on this cruise as well and can add a few thoughts.

We felt the ship was rocky on the way down to Bermuda. Did not feel it in our cabin on 5 but did when on the upper decks. We had a family oceanview and it was huge. Quite a nice cabin.

I took my daughter and 2 grandkids, 3 and 5. The kids loved Splash Academy this time, has not been the case on the 2 other cruises they took on the Dawn and Gem.

Embarkation was a breeze. Our cabin was ready early so we unloaded our carryon and took the kids to the pool area. At first both kids loved the aqua area for kids but then the older one got bored. Her mom took her on some of the slides but the little one was too short. The family pool is tiny, tiny and not at all a good place with the kids. That left us kind of out of a place to take all of us that would work for swimming.

We had SDP and ate in LeBistro, Cagneys, LaCuchina, and Teppanyaki. All of our food was good, steaks excellent. Service was slow, however, and there seem to be so many fewer staff than in the past.

I had a massage which was excellent. I wrote on my slip that I would not be purchasing any products but still got a tiny sales pitch. I politely declined.

The only show we did was Oh What A Night which I have seen many times and could still see it over and over again. I had seen the other shows previously.

The first day in Bermuda as noted above, there was quite a bit of rain. I bit the bullet and we took the kids to swim with the dolphins. The oldest and her mom went first and absolutely loved it. I took the little one for a dolphin experience as we was too young to swim with the dolphins. He loved it as well. It was quite expensive but worth it. We then had lunch on the ship, Splash Academy, etc.

Day two we went to Horseshoe Bay. As noted above waves were quite high and we spent most of our time in Baby Bay. It was great for the kids. Crowds were not bad.

Day three we just decided to stay on the ship due to early departure. My daughter went shopping at Dockside and I just hung out with the kids.

Weather was not bad going back to New York which was a pleasant surprise.

I do wish that they would schedule more things for families with young kids to do on the ship. There were only a few activities. It is either take them to Splash or use the inadequate pool area.

Debarkation was slow as noted above but we made, whiny and tired kids in tow. We had driven from Ohio so we had a long day ahead. The kids were worn out and slept a lot and it was a beautiful day.

All in all it was a very good cruise. The oldest one cried when we had to leave.

Sorry, to jump in on this review but I just kept thinking of things. Any questions, please ask.

Prepare for a few hundred posts by the bottled water huggers! Coming in 3.....2.....1......

 

 

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HaHa, I too am waiting for the rush of "hate posts" on this topic. My wife and I were also on the 9/18 BA cruise.

Glad you all had a good trip. Just a few months left for us.

Question, what was your disembarkation number and what time did you get off the ship?

Thanks!

Glad you all had a good trip. Just a few months left for us.

 

Question, what was your disembarkation number and what time did you get off the ship?

 

Thanks!

Hi, not sure we had a #.....latittude GOLD, so we have 9am.

I think we started to get off around 9:30a...getting in line and then it took about 2.5 hours UGH to get to my jeep in the parking garage next to the ship.

Painful....but who cares I didn't let it ruin my vacation.

HaHa, I too am waiting for the rush of "hate posts" on this topic. My wife and I were also on the 9/18 BA cruise.

Hope you guys enjoyed the cruise!!!

You mentioned in your review that your captain was the best one you've had in the last 10 cruises but didn't say who he was. Was it Captain Svedung? We cruised with him last September and thought he was very friendly and had a good sense of humor.

You mentioned in your review that your captain was the best one you've had in the last 10 cruises but didn't say who he was. Was it Captain Svedung? We cruised with him last September and thought he was very friendly and had a good sense of humor.

I was on this cruise as well. It's Captain Mikael Hilden.

Okay, thanks.

You mentioned in your review that your captain was the best one you've had in the last 10 cruises but didn't say who he was. Was it Captain Svedung? We cruised with him last September and thought he was very friendly and had a good sense of humor.

sorry didn't catch his name......prolly same Captain as you had.

My DH and I were also on this cruise.

Disembarkation was not a pleasant experience. I would liken it to being in a cattle drive.

When our color was called at 9: 30, we found ourselves on a long line that snaked around the casino,passed O'Sheehans and onto a long line on the pier entering the terminal. It took at least 45 minutes to leave the ship and enter the terminal.

When we finally got to the baggage area,we found one of our bags was missing.

Yes,it is a black,soft sided,spinner bag,much like many others. But we have a large,

orange leather address tag attached to distinguish it from other bags.

It took an hour and a half and a few port staff to try to locate the bag.

Someone had taken our bag by mistake! ! Really,who does this??!!

Thankfully,the person returned the bag to the terminal while I was filing out a claim form.

We had a driver waiting for us , so my DH gave him a generous tip to compensate for the extra time he sat waiting for us.

I do agree that the captain was very professional, keeping the passengers informed of weather and sea conditions. That is a pro for the cruise.

However, there are several cons about his cruise. We found the daytime activities to be lacking, and the atrium area to be very loud.

The smoke that permeates through the atrium from the casino is not pleasant. Neither is the smoke emanating from the smoking area near Maltings.

With so many passengers on the ship,we found areas to be congested and difficult to walk through at times.

We made the best of the cruise by relaxing on the balcony and enjoying our time in Bermuda.

IMHO, the best part of he cruise was being able to get to Bermuda.

We have decided that NCL is not the cruise line for us.

We are looking forward to a cruise at the end of October on Princess.

For us, Princess is a better fit.

Hope you guys enjoyed the cruise!!!

YES, loved it. Thanks!