Breakaway 6/2-6/9 with pics

[graphicguy]

Hello....it's taken me a bit to bring myself to post my impressions of my Breakaway adventure, but finally blocked out some time to do so.

 

This started as a plan for the GF and I to sail after having such a wonderful Epic cruise. We had a Celebrity Solstice and RCCL Alure of the Seas in between, but were excited about the Breakaway.

 

In a certain sense, Breakaway was an appropos name for the cruise for me given that the GF and I split up before final payment of the cruise was due. At first, I was just going to cancel. But, given it was happening over my birthday week also, I seemed destined to cruise the Breakaway. So, an aft balcony cabin was traded in for a Studio Cabin.

 

Since I have no particular aversion to sail with any cruise line or any ship, and since I have sailed what I consider some of the best ships at sea currently, I'll do some compare and contrast along the way.

 

All that said...let's get this rolling......

 

Edited June 14, 2013 by graphicguy

[graphicguy]

Since we're sailing to Bermuda....we need the national Bermudan drink...the DARK AND STORMY...

 

[graphicguy]

Let me pause for a moment to talk about saling out of NYC to Bermuda with NCL.

 

I flew in the day of the cruise. A "no-no" to many of you. It couldn't be helped as I'm nt from the NY/NJ area (from Ohio). As such, I can't drive in. While spending time in NYC over the weekend is appealing, it's also something I didn't have time to do, nor was particularly planning to do with the budget. Getting a hotel room in Manhattan, or anywhere near the pier would have added a minimum of $500 to the budget once you account for room, food, taxis, etc for 2 extra nights in NYC.

 

So, wheels up at 9:30 a.m. Sunday at home. Lansing gear deployed on the approach of LaGuardia @ 11:00 a.m but didn't have the doors of the plane opened until 11:30 a.m. We circled the airport for 15-20 minutes for some reason or another. Plus, as long and as many times airlines have operated the motorized walkways, they still can't seem to find qualified individuals to get them deployed in a timely basis.

 

I had nothing but two carry ons...one of which had to be retrieved plane side. By the time I had all my luggage, I had pre-arranged a limo to pick me up (Dial 7). Their instructions were to call when I had my luggage, which I did. I headed out to the passenger arrival area, where within 5 minutes, my Town Car arrived. Cost....$30 to the pier (88) plus toll ($7.50) minus coupon (-$3). So, for $40 with tip, I was at the pier by 12:30 p.m.

 

You'll hear more of this throughout these posts, but NCL seems to have cut some services to the bone. Embarkation is no exception. What I saw at the pier was a loooong line for check-in and embarkation. Won't bore you with details except to say there were too few NCL assistants in the embarkation and check in lines to handle anywhere near the amount of people The Breakaway can hold.

 

That said, after an hour, I was indeed on the ship. It is beautiful.

 

Found out later that some people who showed up earlier were in line as long as 2 hours.:eek:

[camz]

Graphic: Thanks for taking the time to write a review. Sounds good so far, looking forward to following your journey. :) Sorry about the break-up prior to final payment, but glad to see you decided to try the solo route. I am hoping it was a great experience.

[Stillfloatin']

Looking forward to the remainder of your review.

[graphicguy]

No problem about the break up. It's something that had been fermenting for a while. It needed to happen. Just wasn't going to let that dampen my spirits. It's a first solo cruise for me (actually, a first solo vacation).

 

 

Once checked in and on board, things were looking up. And, looking quite familiar to the Epic. Of course, the standout icon you see is this.....

 

 

However...it changes colors seemingly depending on the day and time of day.....

 

 

 

Edited June 14, 2013 by graphicguy

[puddles99]

Thanks so much for your pictures . . . looking forward to more!

[greatlakesgirl]

Great start! Looking forward to reading the rest of your adventure! :)

[UnionCruiser2007]

Thanks for the review. I am looking to do the Breakaway next year in a Studio cabin, so looking forward to the rest.

[seafam5]

Thank you for sharing your experiences. It appears that the embarkation process didn't take long for those that cruised in May. I suppose that now we're officially in the summer holiday season, which means we have to expect longer queues:(

Looking forward to more of your travels!

[Keith1010]

Enjoying all of this. Thank you.

 

Keith

[VickiD59]

Don't stop now! :eek:

[graphicguy]

After getting aboard, knowing the Garden Cafe would be packed, I decided to head to O'Sheans for a burger....juicy, done medium well....perfect. I sat right at the bar and service was great. As always, it was excellent, even with all the chaos with people coming aboard.

 

Just some side notes, I felt a little strange trying to take pictures of my food. Don't ask me why, I just consider it odd. It's a quirk. So, you won't see any. I can just imagine fellow passengers seeing me sitting alone whispering "....ah honey....look at that poor man....no friends except his food that he's taking pictures of.....".;)

 

Further...I noticed a lot of the people who had worked on the Epic, were now a part of Breakaway's staff. My favorite bartender, OKA, was there. She remembered me, and I remembered her.

 

Edited June 15, 2013 by graphicguy

[graphicguy]

So....after hanging at O'Sheehans for a burger and a beer, it was time to check out my Studio Cabin.

 

Let me say up front, finding the entrance to the Studio isn't easy. There are pointers to where it's located, but it's not easy to find the door to the entrance as it's inconspicuously marked (how about something more noticeable NCL?).

 

 

 

Finding this door leads to this door....

 

 

Which leads to this area (looking down into the actual Studio Lounge space....

 

Which is part of this lounge space which is really pretty cool...

 

 

It had pastries and croissants, as well as a cappucinio machine. The bar area was not staffed except in the evenings between 5-6. I just used the space to get hot water for my own Starbucks packet coffee that I brought with me. A quick cup of coffee and a pastry in the morning without trecking all the way to the Garden Cafe was wonderful.

Edited June 15, 2013 by graphicguy

[graphicguy]

Looking from the main part of the lounge up into its 2nd floor area....

 

 

The lounge area actually leads to the doors for the Studio Cabins....the colors of the hall always changed, not sure when, or how, but they did. Pretty cool!

 

[graphicguy]

This next part is kind of a sensitive subject, but I'm just going to put it out there.

 

At one point in my life, I had shattered my right leg in a motorcycle accident. I fully recovered. But, for a year plus, I was either in a wheelchair, using a walker, using crutches or using a cane....sometimes using all of those in the same day. So, I've experienced limited mobility. It's not fun.

 

That said, if there's any way that you can get by without an electric scooter, wheelchair, walker, etc, then this is the time to leave those things at home. Even if you have to walk in fits and starts, and rest every 20 steps, leave all that other stuff at home.

 

The Breakaway is not conducive to using any of those assists. The halls are narrow (NCL's attempt throughout the ship to squeeze in more revenue producing square footage). I saw in in the hallways around the cabin areas (and not just the Studio Lounge hallways), in and out of the casino, etc.

 

You're going to really frustrate yourself if you absolutely, positively, unequivocally try to use scooters, walkers, etc.

 

Same goes for those who are using strollers. You'll be much happier carrying your little ones than trying to negotiate the narrowness of the ship's halls.

 

 

I'm an average size...5'10"...medium build. Even without having any obstacles blocking the aisles and halls, having two people walk at the same time in the halls, one would have to at the very least turn sideways. Forget it if there are any people in the aisles with cleaning or maintenance carts. Someone with a scooter, walker or stroller? You're going to constantly be backing up into whatever open space you can find to let someone else pass by you. There was a lot of bumping, upsetting, and general frustration trying to move around this ship.

 

It's not the number of people on board, it's the way NCL stipulated slicing off a few inches here, and a few inches there not only in the cabin aisleways, but also throughout the ship. I didn't notice the same on the Epic (which I consider the Breakaway closest to).

Edited June 15, 2013 by graphicguy

[graphicguy]

Time to make my way to my cabin....

 

 

 

My wonderful TA sent this, along with a $150 OBC...

 

 

 

 

 

Was it comfortable? Yep...sure was. But again, NCL didn't think certain things through. For example, my shower door would hit the door to the adjoining cabin down from me. I'm sure I woke up whomever was in the adjoining cabin. Plus, I could hear everything the person in the adjoining cabin was doing (and I do mean EVERYTHING).

 

Whenever I rolled out of bed in the a.m., I knocked the phone out of its cradle. Did the same whenever I tried to retrieve clothes from the closet next to the bed.

 

Yes, the cabin was small. That didn't bother me. It's just with a little more forthought in the placement of doors, phone, clossets, etc, and a little more insulation, it would have been a much better experience. Again, these are all signs of cost cutting NCL implemented from what I consider the Father of these types of ships, the Epic (which suffered from none of this).

 

This is a brand new ship. Most of this shouldn't be an issue. But, another example of cost cutting....my closset door kept falling from its hinges (more like "crashing"). Maintenance kept trying to fix it, but clearly there was something amiss with the construction of the clossets as it continued to be an issue (at least in my cabin).

Edited June 15, 2013 by graphicguy

[graphicguy]

The infamous shower door that just "banged" into my neighbor's cabin....

 

 

This is also an issue as it could break the mirror that's on the door.

 

Lots of people asked me if you could see into the portholes of the cabins. The short answer is "no". I think those portholes were more for "effect" than they were to look into or out of (although, for some reason, they did have shades).

 

 

Here's a look across the hall from my cabin door's "Peep hole"...

 

[Julie MacCoy]

Thank you so much for your review and all of your beautiful photographs. I'm going on the Breakway next March, and I eagerly await reading your future posts.

 

I would appreciate it if you could tell me if McSheehan's charged you for your burger on embarkation day, or if their food is included. Do you know of any other restaurants besides the buffet that were open for lunch at embarkation?

[graphicguy]

Thank you so much for your review and all of your beautiful photographs. I'm going on the Breakway next March, and I eagerly await reading your future posts.

 

I would appreciate it if you could tell me if McSheehan's charged you for your burger on embarkation day, or if their food is included. Do you know of any other restaurants besides the buffet that were open for lunch at embarkation?

 

Hi Julie....you'll enjoy it.

 

O'Sheehans food is no extra charge. They charge for alcohol and softdrinks, but the food is free. My favorites were the above mentioned burgers. I had the chicket pot pie, which was excellent, too. And, there's nothing like a late night (early morning) helping of their mozzarella sticks, and/or wings as a way to top off a party day.

[The P]

I'll be in a studio next year and your text/pix are so helpful. What cabin # were you in? Were there enough hangers?

[PathfinderEss]

Enjoying your review and pictures of the Breakaway.

[graphicguy]

I'll be in a studio next year and your text/pix are so helpful. What cabin # were you in? Were there enough hangers?

 

Cabin# 11517. I had plenty of hangers, but there was limited drawer space. So, there's no way to have a "dirty laundery" pile in the room. I had to pull my suitcase out from under the bed (not really enough space to leave it set up in the cabin) to deposit all of my dirty clothes every day, and shove it back under the bed.

 

Thanks, Melodie!

Edited June 15, 2013 by graphicguy

[david_sobe]

Thanks for the review

You are the second person to mention the noise and how thin the walls are in the studio cabins. One woman said she could never sleep. You are right, this was never a reported issue on Epic.

[graphicguy]

Thanks for the review

You are the second person to mention the noise and how thin the walls are in the studio cabins. One woman said she could never sleep. You are right, this was never a reported issue on Epic.

 

Hi David....it's not only the Studio Cabins that have issues, I heard from other passengers that their balconies were significantly smaller than on any other ship they had been on. More cost cutting moves. I think the Getaway is going to be a clone of the Breakaway.

 

I'll say this up front. The Epic is the better ship. Breakaway has its strong points, which I'll outline as I sort through the rest of the pics and post them. But, given a choice between the Epic or Breakaway, the Epic gets the nod.