Just returned from seven days aboard the Breakaway

I'm going to skip the full formal review, their is a plethora of reviews to read already and far more elaborate than I'd be!

I will just hot a few high and a few low points. This was our first cruise so many things were new for us.

First, our steward, Ferdinand, was FANTASTIC. He made a new towel animal every day for the kids. They loved coming back to the room to see what he crafted next. I brought two of them home!

The cabin was nice, the bed not too firm. My pillow made sleeping on the mattress endurable. My wife liked it as she likes a firm mattress. I avoided personal wipes and the charmin.....BIG mistake. To hell with the consequence, next time I'm bringing both. Yes, I know, I'll have to use a toiletry can and bags but it is a small price to pay for comfort. Say what you will but that sandpaper Norwegian has to supply is not bad on day one but by day seven? after all the food available onboard? Charmin may not even be up to the task!

The restaurants we tried, Cagneys, Le Bistro and La Cucina were all ....meh.

Tiramisu had gelatin in it, I asked and the chef confirmed....claimed it was for "structure" of the dessert. I call BS.

Not a single creme brulee was unadulterated with either mint, berries, lime or pineapple. On that note, they had mint tiramisu. Yuk.

Filet at Cagney's tasted EXACTLY like a flame broiled Whopper, just in steak form.

The Garden Cafe was always fantastic. The desserts were always tasty and changed every day. The gelato was not bad, no mint so our kids were disappointed but quickly forgot about that with the self serve soft ice cream machines. The entrees were on par with any from the premium restaurants and the selection was better. I did have to skip my pancake ritual but it was replaced with french toast and bananas foster sauce...YUM! YUM! YUM!

We LOVED Shanghai's Noodle Bar, one of the best places we tried!

Our cabin was mid ship so we missed out on some of the motion we were hoping to feel. We couldn't use our balcony much, it seemed like every day the guy next door was clipping his nails on his balcony. I was beginning to think he has issues, who needs to clip them every day???

I did observe a lot of the rudeness so many others commented on but I also met many friendly people. The staff are incredible. They put in 12 hour days seven days a week. HOLY $%#@!♪ &*^%!! That's indentured servitude! but they always had a smile on, were friendly and attentive to the kids. They earn every cent of what ever percentage they get from the DSC. I also asked our steward, they keep what ever tips they get, no pooling. I was glad to hear that.

We missed out on the second stop at NCL's island. The Captain cancelled the tender due to "bad weather".

I made a video showing the ocean, the island and you decide if you think the weather was bad. The funny thing is, he let Haven people go.

Video will be posted later, after I figure out how to!

The chef’s rationale on their use of gelatin for the tiramisu is indeed funny. My grandsons like the towel animals too.

Looking forward to your video.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Thank you for your trip report.

Keith

I'm going to skip the full formal review, their is a plethora of reviews to read already and far more elaborate than I'd be!

 

I will just hot a few high and a few low points. This was our first cruise so many things were new for us.

 

First, our steward, Ferdinand, was FANTASTIC. He made a new towel animal every day for the kids. They loved coming back to the room to see what he crafted next. I brought two of them home!

 

The cabin was nice, the bed not too firm. My pillow made sleeping on the mattress endurable. My wife liked it as she likes a firm mattress. I avoided personal wipes and the charmin.....BIG mistake. To hell with the consequence, next time I'm bringing both. Yes, I know, I'll have to use a toiletry can and bags but it is a small price to pay for comfort. Say what you will but that sandpaper Norwegian has to supply is not bad on day one but by day seven? after all the food available onboard? Charmin may not even be up to the task!

 

The restaurants we tried, Cagneys, Le Bistro and La Cucina were all ....meh.

Tiramisu had gelatin in it, I asked and the chef confirmed....claimed it was for "structure" of the dessert. I call BS.

Not a single creme brulee was unadulterated with either mint, berries, lime or pineapple. On that note, they had mint tiramisu. Yuk.

Filet at Cagney's tasted EXACTLY like a flame broiled Whopper, just in steak form.

 

The Garden Cafe was always fantastic. The desserts were always tasty and changed every day. The gelato was not bad, no mint so our kids were disappointed but quickly forgot about that with the self serve soft ice cream machines. The entrees were on par with any from the premium restaurants and the selection was better. I did have to skip my pancake ritual but it was replaced with french toast and bananas foster sauce...YUM! YUM! YUM!

 

 

We LOVED Shanghai's Noodle Bar, one of the best places we tried!

 

Our cabin was mid ship so we missed out on some of the motion we were hoping to feel. We couldn't use our balcony much, it seemed like every day the guy next door was clipping his nails on his balcony. I was beginning to think he has issues, who needs to clip them every day???

 

 

I did observe a lot of the rudeness so many others commented on but I also met many friendly people. The staff are incredible. They put in 12 hour days seven days a week. HOLY $%#@!♪ &*^%!! That's indentured servitude! but they always had a smile on, were friendly and attentive to the kids. They earn every cent of what ever percentage they get from the DSC. I also asked our steward, they keep what ever tips they get, no pooling. I was glad to hear that.

 

 

We missed out on the second stop at NCL's island. The Captain cancelled the tender due to "bad weather".

I made a video showing the ocean, the island and you decide if you think the weather was bad. The funny thing is, he let Haven people go.

 

Video will be posted later, after I figure out how to!

funny comment about the guy on the balcony next to yours, but I know it must have been discouraging not being able to use your balcony.

As for the somewhat rudeness, we ran into the same think on the Breakaway back in April. That was the worst part of our cruise.

The folks in the Haven tender first. I assume they weren’t there all day. Private islands are skipped frequently due to currents, it can be very dangerous. NCL has no incentive to skip the island and pay port charges in Nassau (where passengers can then get off of the ship and spend their money elsewhere).

Thanks for the report.

LOL on the toilet paper!!! HA HA HA

I agree about the food. Love the buffet....great selection for healthy food.

I call the dining rooms "pretend pretentious".

Thanks for your review.

Thanks for the review......I have to ask, was that guy clipping his nails all day long? Can't imagine that you could not use your balcony at all. Nail clipping takes me all of 10 minutes at the very most. Certainly not every day and probably not even once a week for me so yes, that guy has issues.

↑ He seemed to clip his nails at 9am, right when we wanted to have coffee and sit on the balcony.

We weren't back to the cabin until after lunch to freshen up, then not again until after dinner. By then, we were stuffed and not in the mood for coffee or anything but laying down and relaxing.

I have to first pull the video from my phone...I forgot I set it to record 1080p at 60fps so its a short clip, 30 seconds but a very large file, 200MB. I was hoping to email it to myself or upload directly to YT from the phone but YT changes its procedures so often that I no longer know how to do it!

I did rewatch the video and the ocean does look choppier than I recall standing on the deck. I'll get it uploaded...

I thoroughly enjoyed this cruise. The ship is amazing, it doesn't look abused at all as some have said. I can't get over how the staff work 7 days a week for 6 months straight and at 12 hours a day and with a genuine friendliness. They appear completely stoic, interested solely in helping the passengers. Only a few were distant and unwilling to engage, a by product of their native environments....(think socialist communism).

I'm looking forward to our March cruise with even greater anticipation, especially given we're in the Haven.

I can see us cruising twice a year for at least several years....

Thanks for your review!

I was on the same cruise , was in mini suite and made it to the private island. We had letter D to tender. We were on the island for about 2 hours before we were told we had to head back to the ship. Had a couple of drinks and a burger, overall a good time. Sorry you didn't make it to the island. The downside - People were not allowed in the water due to an ell :eek:.