Breakaway Haven Owner's Suite vs. 2-Bedroom Family Villa

Hi, all:

We're currently booked in a Haven 2-bedroom family villa on the Breakaway, but we're second-guessing our choice. On our first cruise, we were in an Owner's Suite on the Jewel and loved it. We're only two people, but the appeal of having two full bathrooms, rather than one full bathroom and a half bathroom, was what drove us to book the 2-bedroom family villa this time on the Breakaway.

Here's our hang-up that's causing us to consider changing from the family villa to the owner's suite: the balcony. The balcony on the family villa just looks tiny. No loungers and tight. The owner's suite, however, has a massive balcony, including two loungers and regular seating. The problem, though, is that the owner's suite balcony is forward-facing, so we're assuming we wouldn't really be able to use it on sea days.

Can any of you speak to your experience with the balcony in an owner's suite on the Breakaway? Is it totally unusable on sea days?

Thanks for your help!

Jason

The question you have to ask yourself is a larger balcony worth $4000? That's the difference between an H4 and an H2 on our two upcoming Epic TAs. We stuck with the H4 (2-BR) and are using the difference for our European vacations. The DOS is great, no doubt, but the 2-BRs are damn good, too. Incidentally, the fwd-facing OS have an enclosed balcony with two sliding windows, so you can use the balcony in all conditions. You just might not to open the windows sometimes.

Yeah, the price difference between the 2-bedroom family villa and the owner's suite on our sailing of the Breakaway was small enough to be inconsequential in the grand scheme of things. Unfortunately, the owner's suite balcony on the Breakaway is not enclosed.

Have you considered an aft haven suite? It's a bit far from the Haven area BUT the balcony is the best we've ever had. We left the beach in Aruba early just to go back to your wonderful balcony with 3 loungers, a table with 4 chairs and additional chairs. A door from the living room and one from the bedroom. The 2nd bathroom is so tiny I would consider it more of a 1/2 bath - I showered in there once and that was it.

Yes! That's what we really wanted -- the aft haven suite! Alas, they are completely sold out for our sailing. I keep refreshing to see if one will become available, though! Glad to know you enjoyed it because your description is exactly what we were hoping it'd be.

Never sailed in an H3 on the Breakaway, but I have sailed in the H2 3 times. It is certainly windy when you open the door, but we used the balcony every single day of the cruise. Once you sit down at the table or on a lounger the wind shield effectively blocks the wind out. We love the view from the front of the ship and find it less bumpy than the aft (at least on the Breakaway). For some reason, every time I'm in the aft section of the Breakaway I feel this shimmy and vibrating (it was the worst at Cagney's).

Once you sit down at the table or on a lounger the wind shield effectively blocks the wind out. [/Quote]I've never sailed in the H2 or H3 but many others report the same as you. I might try them one day but I just prefer the H6 so much....plus, they cost less.

 

 

For some reason, every time I'm in the aft section of the Breakaway I feel this shimmy and vibrating (it was the worst at Cagney's).

Breakaway has a mechanical problem which should be fixed soon. A minor shimmy is normal (Escape is the same) but BA's is borderline violent.

We stayed in the H2 on BA. That has the balcony that wraps with a door between the front and the back.

When you sit down the railing funnels most wind over your head but it can be windy so H3 would be the same.

Note that noise can leak between the H2 and H3 in the corner where the door stores, we could easily hear our neighbors when they sat at their table and talked in normal tone.

We did tour the H4 and yeah the balcony is tiny. The room, especially if only 2, is great. I'd probably stay there. You can always go to Haven area outside.