Another (first-hand) Breakaway New Years Review

[mmmken]

Hi CC. This is my first post here on CC from lurker status, so please be patient with me. We just got back last night from the New Years cruise aboard the Breakaway.

 

My family and I go on bi-annual cruises usually with RCI but decided to try out NCL this time. This trip on the Breakaway is our first with NCL. My girlfriend and I were in an Interior room on Deck 13 while my parents were in a mini-suite on 9. I'm 25 and a Canadian Asian male if that has any bearing on how you read this review.

 

I'll try to categorize my review for easy reading.

 

 

Cabin & Housekeeping

 

The good

 

The newer Breakaway has really nice accommodations in comparison to other ships. Loved the faux wood modern trim, and the larger washrooms (in comparison to RCI). You also can remove the television from the mount by lifting up; exposing the connections behind. A single HDMI connection is available as I was able to connect my Google Chromecast successfully. There is also ample storage space.

 

Our stateroom attendant was also fairly nice although we didn't run into him that often.

 

The bad

 

Our sheets didn't look like they were washed properly and neither were the towels. This wasn't really that much of an issue, as our stateroom attendant quickly replaced them for us. The remote used for the televisions is terrible, and it takes multiple presses to register commands even in direct sight a few centimetres away.

 

While our own (interior) stateroom attendant was great, my parents' (in a mini-suite) was really awkward. He never greeted us, and it was always us greeting him first (met with a really awkward nod instead of an actual greeting). Asking him for things (like toiletries and towels) was always really awkward. He wasn't rude by any means, but it was always really awkward running into him.

 

 

Entertainment

 

The good

 

IMPAC, Burn the Floor, etc were all excellent productions. Loved the choice of movies played during the cruise. Loved the fireworks and the NYE parties. Everything was planned well and was exciting.

 

The bad

 

Nothing really. There could have been more things to do as there were some times where we just stayed in our rooms. Someone else mentioned in another review here that a good deal of the activities planned were just upsells - and this is correct by my account. Things were closed due to weather, but this isn't their fault.

 

 

Food & Dining

 

The good

 

More 24/7 selection than RCI. Impressed with the selection in the late hours at O'Sheehans: wings, burgers, hot dogs, etc were being offered instead of just croissants and pizza on RCI ships. Great "impression" of more selection with the numerous dining venues scattered around the ship.

 

Ice cream (both soft serve and cream) is served free in the buffet - instead of the random times that the frozen soft serve machine is open on RCI ships.

 

AYCE (All you can eat) lobster on the second night was a bonus.

 

Didn't really have to wait for the MDR's - but we dine pretty late (at 7-8PM).

 

The bad

 

Unfortunately, this is where this review falls apart.

 

While there are numerous dining venues throughout the ship, and 3 different complementary MDR's (Taste, Savor, and the Manhattan Room) - they are all mostly the same with different naming schemes. The food in all of the complimentary venues are bland. Everything is either a sandwich or mashed processed ingredients. Every single night, there was a "tartar" of some kind that looked like it came straight from a can (even had the shape of a can) - have this once and never order it again, trust me.

 

In the Garden Buffet, tables are barely cleaned and plates are rarely collected. Cutlery and cloths aren't spotless (can't say they're dirty, but they definitely aren't clean). Food never changes here. It's almost the same every night, and you can barely tell the difference between their lunch and dinner offerings.

 

In the Manhattan Room, hosts are clueless and have no idea where seats are when you are being seated. Waiters seem untrained and unmotivated. I didn't get a single waiter's name nor did they get mine as they were never introduced to us (something we love on RCI: personalized service). Food was never recommended to us, and when we had questions about the menus: they seemed annoyed and were clearly getting impatient with us. Water and drinks were never refilled and we had to flag other waiters down because our own waiter had simply disappeared for almost 30 minutes.

 

I ordered a rare steak one night and my father had a well-done steak. When the waiter brought them to our table, I questioned if my steak was actually rare or not as it was visibly much smaller than my fathers and was more charred. Our waiter quickly looked at both steaks and ensured that my steak was indeed rare and that my father's was also correct. Low and behold, cutting into the steak revealed the opposite. The shocker was that there was even a wooden peg with the words "RARE" on my father's steak. How did the waiter goof this up? Pure carelessness.

 

Did I say that dishes are rarely collected? This happened in all MDR's. By the time we were at dessert, we still had multiple empty appetizer plates still remaining on our table.

 

On our last night in Savor, we had a waiter who didn't even care about who the dishes were for or where they were to be placed. He just left everything on a corner of the table without saying anything and expected us to sort it out ourselves. Where was this guy trained?

 

We have never met our Head Waiter, nor our Maitre'd. On every ship (with RCI and Princess) we've been on, they always have that one day where they all visit each and every table for a quick introduction (and maybe some cheap tricks for the kids if they're creative) and to show their appreciation for their guests. Not with NCL apparently.

 

 

Medical Center

 

The good

 

My mother had a huge headache which was attributed to a fever so we had the unfortunate experience of the medical facilities onboard. The doctors were friendly and gave her immediate treatment which did help immensely.

 

The bad

 

Disclaimer: We are Canadian and do receive "free" healthcare, so perhaps our understanding of healthcare outside of Canada is a little jaded.

 

Since her fever was persistent for two days and the limited facilities onboard, the doctors recommended that we visit an actual hospital in Nassau. We agreed and the doctors told us that they would arrange the port agent to take us there and would communicate with the hospital in advance with all the necessary medical information. We were told to be ready by 7:40 AM as the port agent would be waiting to take us off at 8:00 AM. We also had to cancel a shore excursion for this unfortunately.

 

Fast forward to the morning at Nassau. As told, we were at the medical center at exactly 7:40 AM and were told to go back to our cabins as the doctor "was still on the phone with the local doctor in Nassau". Long story short, we didn't leave the ship until 12:00 PM. This isn't that big of a deal, so just keep reading. Port agent photocopies our passports, picks us up in a golf cart to the cab stand, and flags down a random cab driver to take us to the hospital.. along with a bunch of people he picked up to take to Atlantis.. ok. We get to the hospital under the understanding that there would be either a doctor or nurse in communication with the ship doctors, but this was not the case. Apparently despite what Breakaway doctors had told us, the local nurse insisted that no one from the ship had contacted them about us (or even at all). They also wanted a $1,500 cash deposit before doing anything at all and said that they would return the unused amounts from the $1,500 if there was any. When we tried asking them for estimates on how much things basic things cost, they kept deflecting back to the deposit amount. Since there was apparently no communication between the ship and the local hospital and that this wasn't that big of a deal, we weren't really willing to write them a $1,500 blank cheque.

 

Now, I understand whatever happened at the local hospital in Nassau had nothing to do with the ship nor NCL - it could have definitely been handled better. Had the local hospital actually known about our situation, I would have felt much more confident in paying the $1,500.

 

When we got back on the ship to ask the nurse what happened (and mildly complain), she insisted that this was standard procedure and never even apologized for the inconvenience of wasting our day.

 

 

GSC (Great Stirrup Cay)

 

The good

 

The weather.

 

The bad

 

We were hoping that the beaches here were going to be really nice. They weren't. Avoid the far (man made) beaches with mini islands in them. They're dirty and the sand is sticky. The main beach is the only usable one on GSC (unless there are farther ones that we didn't see). It's also packed and full of rocks.

 

Getting off the ship was messy. We were told to head to the theatre for the tenders - and then redirected to O'Sheehan's to wait since the theatre was full. This was fine, except that there was a single staff to manage all of this and she had only cared about the elevators. There was no line whatsoever at O'Sheehans and since we were there first and had chairs to sit on waiting, latecomers ended up getting off way before us since they were closer to the theatre when they announced that we were to move there instead.

 

This happened when we left the island as well for the tenders back to the ship. Since there wasn't anyone managing the line(s), there were people cutting in front of others who had been there much longer.

 

This was poorly planned out and I could see a bunch of visibly agitated cruisers because of this.

 

 

Overall

 

The good

 

We were impressed by the Breakaway on embarkation from the newer modern rooms to the "newness" of the ship, but unfortunately, this is the Breakaway's only real saving point. The entertainment onboard is great when there is something to do, but there isn't much planned (actual activities and not upsells dressed as activities).

 

Although the internet is expensive, it is pretty quick and reliable (can't say that about RCI ships).

 

The bad

 

I prefer the layout on RCI's ships - where everything is generally within reach in the "main hallway". The Breakaway was a little confusing and you could not avoid the smoke coming from the 678/Casino area. There aren't many visually appealing areas to take photos at on the ship, but this is my own opinion of course.

 

Although the CD (Sinan) was great, his jingles before each and every announcement were starting to get annoying by the third day.

 

The

terrible

 

As mentioned previously (and my two very specific examples), the crew onboard this new ship seem tired, unmotivated, untrained, indifferent, and probably a combination of everything mentioned. No one took any responsibility or ownership and were always trying to offload us on other crew members to handle. When my mother was sick, it felt like all the medical center was trying to do was to get us off the ship (from the un-communication and the scanning of our passports). Managers (the ones in suits) weren't any better in the customer service area. I hate to sound whiny and full of complaints, but NCL didn't do anything to help that. In fact, I sent in a short letter to their "Dear Hugo" comment box on the fourth day and I didn't even get a response. What's that for?

 

On RCI and Princess ships, we have never had problems and always felt right at home with excellent personalized service. On the Breakaway, we felt like we were in a fancy soup kitchen begging for food. Maybe it's the New York port (doubt it, since we usually sail out of Bayonne), the weather/waves/sickness, New Years Eve, or the Typhoon in the Philippines. Whatever it was, this is unfortunately our first and last sailing with NCL.

 

Disappointment.

[david_sobe]

Welcome to CC and thanks for sharing. The story about the service in the Manhattan room seems to be a common complaint.

Sorry to hear about your mother and her fever. The doctor on board a ship can only do so much. I am sure that had a huge impact on your cruise in a negative way. It would for many people. It could have been so much worse if the doctors thought your mother was contagious and would have quarantined her for the entire cruise.

Your note about the Canadian healthcare is a bit off because everyone would have experienced the same situation. Very few insurance plans cover international costs or even in international waters. If a Bahamian citizen is on vacation in Canada, can they get free healthcare? I would be surprised if that was the case. No doctor is going to treat someone for free unless it is a life or death emergency.

It was your decision and choice to go to the Bahamian hospital. Not sure why you would go back to the ship to complain to NCL about the treatment you got at the hospital or for not contacting the hospital in advance. Even if they would have contacted the hospital, your mother would have still been bombarded with the same questions about medical history and symptoms. It seems unfair to blame the Bahamian doctors for asking the patient about this important information.

Not attacking you in this post but it appears this incident definitely impacted your cruise in a negative way as it would for many.

 

I say this because we had a very similar situation on our last Epic cruise and had to take a taxi full of tourists to a remote part of St Maarten for an emergency dental procedure. The ship gave us the address to go to. The doctor/dentist must get first hand information about the patient, not from a cruise ship doctor.

Edited January 6, 2014 by david_sobe

[esp13]

Thank you for providing such a detailed review. Very helpful.

[milanojosh]

I'm with you on the tendering process--that was excruciating.

 

We did, however, have three really great meals at the Manhattan Room. Our first server actually stopped us to say hello whenever she saw us around for the rest of the cruise. It's a bummer that you didn't experience the same.

[SissasMomE]

I"m sorry you had a bad experience. Your review is not uncommon, it seems. Sorry your mom got sick. Did they ever find out what was wrong?

[SissasMomE]

Welcome to CC and thanks for sharing. The story about the service in the Manhattan room seems to be a common complaint.

Sorry to hear about your mother and her fever. The doctor on board a ship can only do so much. I am sure that had a huge impact on your cruise in a negative way. It would for many people. It could have been so much worse if the doctors thought your mother was contagious and would have quarantined her for the entire cruise.

Your note about the Canadian healthcare is a bit off because everyone would have experienced the same situation. Very few insurance plans cover international costs or even in international waters. If a Bahamian citizen is on vacation in Canada, can they get free healthcare? I would be surprised if that was the case. No doctor is going to treat someone for free unless it is a life or death emergency.

It was your decision and choice to go to the Bahamian hospital. Not sure why you would go back to the ship to complain to NCL about the treatment you got at the hospital or for not contacting the hospital in advance. Even if they would have contacted the hospital, your mother would have still been bombarded with the same questions about medical history and symptoms. It seems unfair to blame the Bahamian doctors for asking the patient about this important information.

Not attacking you in this post but it appears this incident definitely impacted your cruise in a negative way as it would for many.

 

I say this because we had a very similar situation on our last Epic cruise and had to take a taxi full of tourists to a remote part of St Maarten for an emergency dental procedure. The ship gave us the address to go to. The doctor/dentist must get first hand information about the patient, not from a cruise ship doctor.

 

Our health insurance covers us anywhere in the world. Not sure about the dental, but I know the medical follows us.

[mmmken]

Welcome to CC and thanks for sharing. The story about the service in the Manhattan room seems to be a common complaint.

Sorry to hear about your mother and her fever. The doctor on board a ship can only do so much. I am sure that had a huge impact on your cruise in a negative way. It would for many people. It could have been so much worse if the doctors thought your mother was contagious and would have quarantined her for the entire cruise.

Your note about the Canadian healthcare is a bit off because everyone would have experienced the same situation. Very few insurance plans cover international costs or even in international waters. If a Bahamian citizen is on vacation in Canada, can they get free healthcare? I would be surprised if that was the case. No doctor is going to treat someone for free unless it is a life or death emergency.

It was your decision and choice to go to the Bahamian hospital. Not sure why you would go back to the ship to complain to NCL about the treatment you got at the hospital or for not contacting the hospital in advance. Even if they would have contacted the hospital, your mother would have still been bombarded with the same questions about medical history and symptoms. It seems unfair to blame the Bahamian doctors for asking the patient about this important information.

Not attacking you in this post but it appears this incident definitely impacted your cruise in a negative way as it would for many.

 

I say this because we had a very similar situation on our last Epic cruise and had to take a taxi full of tourists to a remote part of St Maarten for an emergency dental procedure. The ship gave us the address to go to. The doctor/dentist must get first hand information about the patient, not from a cruise ship doctor.

 

Thanks!

 

We totally understood the limitations of facilities onboard: we know it isn't possible to have everything onboard after all. My mother wasn't contagious and the fever was a result of something more personal that I would not want to share on a public forum. The doctors dropping her off the ship would have been reasonable if that were the case.

 

Regarding the note about Canadian health care: perhaps my explanation is unclear or you misunderstood, but it was just a "disclaimer". We're used to free healthcare up here, but we do know things like this outside our country means money. Our concern was not financial of any kind, but the way it was handled.

 

To tell us that everything was communicated to the local hospital by the doctor himself, and then being told by the hospital that they have never been contacted whatsoever and that they would only do anything at all after a $1,500 deposit is sketchy by my own personal standards. My disclaimer was to signal that while I am not used to this administrative procedure, many others here may be.. so take my opinion on the "Medical Center" with a grain of salt.

 

I would have no issues paying $1,500 if they at least had some form of communication with the doctor who referred us there. I did not expect any form of free work from the local doctors. It was also not our "decision and choice". The doctors simply told us to go. We could have said no, but they would have shoved a legal waiver in front of us (which they actually did).

 

The Bahamian doctors were nice. We didn't have any complaints about them except for how they didn't just charge us upfront for a check up and then determine costs afterwards once we have a preliminary diagnosis instead of just a "blank cheque" $1,500 deposit. Our problem was with the supposed communication that should have taken place according to the ship doctors.

 

Although it did affect our vacation in a negative way; it was very minor. My main complaint is really about the lack of responsibility amongst the ship crew. From the poorly trained wait staff, the officer managing the tender lines, to even the medical center - it seemed to me that everyone has a very specific set of responsibilities handed down by the brass, and anything outside of that (even though very slightly) was the problem of someone else's. Aboard a RCI ship, I think I could ask a waiter to bring me a beach towel and they'd happily comply (I obviously wouldn't in real life and this is just theoretical to make a point), but on NCL - I'd just get a big fat no and nothing else.

 

The level and quality of service on NCL is what I'm complaining about here.

[Demonyte]

Thanks for the balanced and detailed review. Too bad that failures with Breakaway staff lead you to write off NCL fleet completely - from what I've experienced first hand and read from here, these kind of problems do tend to multiply when there are 4000+ passengers onboard, especially on high-season holiday cruises.

 

We tried Epic last February, confirmed my initial fears about the megaships not being my cup of tea and will stick with the smaller ships from now on. In 2013 we sailed with NCL for over three weeks and never would describe the staff on any of the three ships as tired, unmotivated or indifferent - I'm truly sorry that you got that impression from the service your party received. While there have been similar reports across the board because of the crew changes caused by the new ships entering service, I do believe that NCL will get back on their feet also with the service. Our next two NCL cruises are in April and May and I do hope that things especially on Jade are as great as they have been in the past.

Edited January 6, 2014 by Demonyte

[esp13]

I would guess that the service problems are the direct result of two new megaships (hundreds of new crew positions to fill) and possibly the disaster in the Philippines in November. I'm guessing that in addition to the large numbers of new crew, there may have been some turnover and/or simply people more worried about folks at home than on the ship. I'm not making excuses exactly, but I can't imagine that something like that happening wouldn't make it harder for me to concentrate on my job.

 

I'm hopeful that after the Getaway gets into service and crew situations stabilize (I can't imagine that there hasn't been a lot of transfers to new ships, new leadership on older ships, and the like) that we will start to see fewer service complaints. I've honestly had nothing but good crew experiences on my cruises (not cheerleading, just being honest) and I choose to be optimistic that NCL will be working to fix these issues (that may be cheerleading, but what can I say, I'm an optimistic soul at heart).

 

I do appreciate the information provided as it helps me temper my expectations a bit for my next cruise.

[Dave85]

My main complaint is really about the lack of responsibility amongst the ship crew. From the poorly trained wait staff, the officer managing the tender lines, to even the medical center - it seemed to me that everyone has a very specific set of responsibilities handed down by the brass, and anything outside of that (even though very slightly) was the problem of someone else's. Aboard a RCI ship, I think I could ask a waiter to bring me a beach towel and they'd happily comply (I obviously wouldn't in real life and this is just theoretical to make a point), but on NCL - I'd just get a big fat no and nothing else.

 

The level and quality of service on NCL is what I'm complaining about here.

 

OP, thank you for such a balanced and thoughtful review -- an excellent first post, hopefully with many more to come. :)

 

I took quite a bit of flak on another thread today for daring to make such an insinuation :rolleyes:, but the issues you've described sound to me like management issues issues on the ship. I'm not claiming to have any special insider knowledge or facts of Breakaway's observations, just a bunch of cruises under my belt on several different lines. The officers / upper management are responsible for training their crew, putting them in position to succeed, motivating them, and disciplining them where necessary. Based on your observations, it doesn't sound like they're successfully doing so. Biggest red flag, IMHO: the weird service you received from multiple different wait staffs in the MDRs. I've never seen anything so strange in 29 cruises...

 

Thanks again for a balanced review, OP. Hope you have a better time on your next cruise (Quantum perhaps)?

[Cruisercl]

I am so disappointed in the healthcare your Mom received or did not receive during her medical problem. I'd like to think medical care is better than this. I am a Master's prepared RN and the 'treatment' on the ship was really unacceptable bordering on negligence.

 

If they refer a patient to a hospital because they have first seen the patient they had better contact the hospital to which they are referring. The NCL medical center was the first point of care and are obligated by the Hippocratic oath to make sure they followed through to the best of their capabilities; which in this case really was only a telephone call and communication with the family. This is a global standard in health care and I don't believe the NCL ship has unlicensed and lower standards; licensure and medical healthcare standards carry the same responsibilities.

 

I would report this to the Chief Medical Officer of the cruise line. This is very poor patient care.

[Dave85]

I've honestly had nothing but good crew experiences on my cruises (not cheerleading, just being honest) and I choose to be optimistic that NCL will be working to fix these issues (that may be cheerleading, but what can I say, I'm an optimistic soul at heart).

 

I do appreciate the information provided as it helps me temper my expectations a bit for my next cruise.

 

I'm confident they'll right the ship in due time. Miami (I love how all the lines are seemingly HQed in Miami lol) will only tolerate so many weeks of bad reviews / comment cards before they start demanding answers from the on board management... The vision of NCL's upper management in designing new, innovative, and exciting ships like Epic, Breakaway, Getaway, etc., is one of the major reasons I decided to finally give NCL a try after so many years sailing their competitor lines. I have a hard time, logically, believing that they'll allow such basic and correctable crew issues to let down Breakaway, a ship in which they've invested so much.

Edited January 6, 2014 by Dave85

[mmmken]

OP, thank you for such a balanced and thoughtful review -- an excellent first post, hopefully with many more to come. :)

 

I took quite a bit of flak on another thread today for daring to make such an insinuation :rolleyes:, but the issues you've described sound to me like management issues issues on the ship. I'm not claiming to have any special insider knowledge or facts of Breakaway's observations, just a bunch of cruises under my belt on several different lines. The officers / upper management are responsible for training their crew, putting them in position to succeed, motivating them, and disciplining them where necessary. Based on your observations, it doesn't sound like they're successfully doing so. Biggest red flag, IMHO: the weird service you received from multiple different wait staffs in the MDRs. I've never seen anything so strange in 29 cruises...

 

Thanks again for a balanced review, OP. Hope you have a better time on your next cruise (Quantum perhaps)?

 

I kept thinking to myself: "how much does NCL pay these people to have them look so miserable"?

 

Quantum looks interesting. :)

 

I am so disappointed in the healthcare your Mom received or did not receive during her medical problem. I'd like to think medical care is better than this. I am a Master's prepared RN and the 'treatment' on the ship was really unacceptable bordering on negligence.

 

If they refer a patient to a hospital because they have first seen the patient they had better contact the hospital to which they are referring. The NCL medical center was the first point of care and are obligated by the Hippocratic oath to make sure they followed through to the best of their capabilities; which in this case really was only a telephone call and communication with the family. This is a global standard in health care and I don't believe the NCL ship has unlicensed and lower standards; licensure and medical healthcare standards carry the same responsibilities.

 

I would report this to the Chief Medical Officer of the cruise line. This is very poor patient care.

 

Thanks! This is what I thought as well. Fortunately, we're back home safe and my mother has recovered so it's not that big of a deal.

 

I'm sure NCL has appointed a dude to read these boards exclusively to look out for things like this. If the Chief Medical Officer or NCL cares at all about their image and service, they'd probably find a way to contact me directly for more detail or just resolve these issues on their own.

[Cruisercl]

I'm confident they'll right the ship in due time. Miami (I love how all the lines are seemingly HQed in Miami lol) will only tolerate so many weeks of bad reviews / comment cards before they start demanding answers from the on board management... The vision of NCL's upper management in designing new, innovative, and exciting ships like Epic, Breakaway, Getaway, etc., is one of the major reasons I decided to finally give NCL a try after so many years sailing their competitor lines. I have a hard time, logically, believing that they'll allow such basic and correctable crew issues to let down Breakaway, a ship in which they've invested so much.

 

 

I totally agree with you. I sailed on the Breakaway and loved it but did not have any of the issues the OP talks about. Cruising and what we want out of it is subjective but if there are many of the same complaints NCL appears to want to improve.

 

I am a relatively new NCL cruiser, having sailed Princess, HAL, Carnival and RCCL before; I have had a really good experience with NCL. I am trying Celebrity in a couple of weeks.

 

I believe each cruise line wants to put together a good product; NCL is not the exception. If they want to stand out, this is sometimes where the different opinions are; i.e. entertainment, dining.

 

Happy and safe cruising. :D

[maja651]

Thank you for the detailed review. I am sorry you didn't have as good of a time as you should have, but I appreciate you taking the time to post your experiences.

 

One thing that I have taken from your review is to stick to our plan to dine in the specialty restaurants. It may be hard to believe, but in 3 7 day cruises, we have only eaten at a main dining room one time, and couple of times at the 24 hour restaurants. We have never eaten at the buffets. Maybe it is because of this, we have almost always had very good service at the restaurants. My opinion, if you cruise in a non suite, figure out how much extra the specialty restaurants will cost you for the week, and just add that to the cost of your cruise. Maybe if you do that, you won't have to deal with poor service at the main dining rooms.

[Love my butler]

You have a right to be disappointed. Your family spent a lot of money for a New Years cruise and I don't think you got anywhere near what you paid for. The myriad of excuses some posters offer are unacceptable. If the problems did exist, which I have no doubt, a partial refund is in order.

[Infiniti820]

So did you actually pay the $1500.00 to be seen and treated in the Bahamas? My biggest fear while on a cruise is exactly this..how scary for your family. Hope your Mom is doing better.

[hartsnvt]

Thank you for the detailed review. I am sorry you didn't have as good of a time as you should have, but I appreciate you taking the time to post your experiences.

 

One thing that I have taken from your review is to stick to our plan to dine in the specialty restaurants. It may be hard to believe, but in 3 7 day cruises, we have only eaten at a main dining room one time, and couple of times at the 24 hour restaurants. We have never eaten at the buffets. Maybe it is because of this, we have almost always had very good service at the restaurants. My opinion, if you cruise in a non suite, figure out how much extra the specialty restaurants will cost you for the week, and just add that to the cost of your cruise. Maybe if you do that, you won't have to deal with poor service at the main dining rooms.

 

Michelle,

That's not the point! The service in the MDRs should be as good as the pay for restaurants. I have never had an issue in MDR service, but I am sure that the horrendous events in the Phillipines has certainly affected the crew and will for some time. We pay a pretty penny to go on a cruise and the food and service is usually on par for the price we pay. If you want to spend the extra bucks for every meal, more power to you, but that should not be the norm for the everyday cruiser who saves for months and months to go on a cruise. I think the pay for restaurants are a great option for those who want to experience something different or are so sure that the food and service stink in the MDRs, but for most of us, the included food is just fine.

[david_sobe]

Our health insurance covers us anywhere in the world. Not sure about the dental, but I know the medical follows us.

That is the difference between private insurance vs government insurance ;)

[Seanote]

The bad

 

Unfortunately, this is where this review falls apart.

 

While there are numerous dining venues throughout the ship, and 3 different complementary MDR's (Taste, Savor, and the Manhattan Room) - they are all mostly the same with different naming schemes. The food in all of the complimentary venues are bland. Everything is either a sandwich or mashed processed ingredients.

Every single night, there was a "tartar" of some kind that looked like it came straight from a can (even had the shape of a can) - have this once and never order it again, trust me.

 

 

Out of a can?

FWIW, in some exquisite restaurants, as I assume the case here, tatare is pressed into a round mold before being plated. It's part of a traditional presentation. :rolleyes:

[coach jim]

mmmken,

 

Thank you for your thoughtful, detailed and balanced review. We sailed the Breakaway during the summer to Bermuda and had a great time, but I fully understand some of your concerns and criticisms, in particular with the medical staff. Please, as has been suggested, contact NCL about your concerns and do not depend on them reading CC. Our experience in the MDR was very good all but one night. That night it was obvious we had an inexperienced and overworked waiter who also struggled with the English language. New ship with a mix of new and experienced staff, it can be luck of the draw. Not an excuse, but this will happen on any new, big ship. This gets back to earlier statements about the supervisors and the training and help they are giving the wait staff. Like I said the other five nights service was great. I also found their attention to our son's food allergy to be absolutely outstanding, better than any line we have been on (Disney, RCCL, Celebrity) I also found the ship's staff to be very attentive to every concern we brought to them, though there were very few. One last thought concerning the room steward, the awkwardness may have been a language issue. Again, thank you for spending the time to do a thoughtful review, please contact NCL with your concerns, and don't write off NCL, but free style is not for everyone. You do not get that more personal connection with the MDR wait staff, but for us, the flexibility and choices are key and outweigh the benefits of traditional dining. We will be returning to the BA for the two night CTN to celebrate my birthday!

 

Happy sailing,

 

Coach Jim

[LizG12]

I was on this cruise too (haven't posted a review yet though). I had the same problem with the remote, I called the guest services desk and asked for new batteries - my remote at home behaves the same way when the batteries are low. Not even fifteen minutes later a brand-new remote was delivered to the cabin.

[mmmken]

I was on this cruise too (haven't posted a review yet though). I had the same problem with the remote, I called the guest services desk and asked for new batteries - my remote at home behaves the same way when the batteries are low. Not even fifteen minutes later a brand-new remote was delivered to the cabin.

 

That didn't occur to me at the time. The remotes in both room were problematic, so I thought it was just bad tech (considering the televisions are made by Solé and not a more reputable manufacturer). Good catch!

 

Out of a can?

FWIW, in some exquisite restaurants, as I assume the case here, tatare is pressed into a round mold before being plated. It's part of a traditional presentation. :rolleyes:

 

I'm used to tatare served on bread or crackers and not separately. I didn't know that the traditional presentation was the round mold on a plate. My apologies. It was just a little troubling that there were other dishes that looked exactly like this (canned shape, garnish, and all) and didn't contain the words "tartar" or tartare in them (see: crabcakes).

 

.. and yes, it was spelt "tartar" (like the sauce) on the menu, which was why I quoted it in my original post.

[mmmken]

So did you actually pay the $1500.00 to be seen and treated in the Bahamas? My biggest fear while on a cruise is exactly this..how scary for your family. Hope your Mom is doing better.

 

Since the Bahamian doctors had no idea what they were looking at my mother for (even though the ship doctors had already had a diagnosis and implied that all that was needed was a simple blood test), and we couldn't reach the ship by any means from the hospital (did you know the only way of calling the ship is a $7.99/minute charge to the caller?), we refused the treatments and they discharged us back to the ship.

 

The local hospital had to treat our visit as a the first point of contact rather than just a simple referral for a blood test, so everything had to be done from scratch. We had already paid the ship almost $300 and it looked like a complete waste at this point. :(

[pokerpro5]

Michelle,

That's not the point! The service in the MDRs should be as good as the pay for restaurants. I have never had an issue in MDR service, but I am sure that the horrendous events in the Phillipines has certainly affected the crew and will for some time. We pay a pretty penny to go on a cruise and the food and service is usually on par for the price we pay. If you want to spend the extra bucks for every meal, more power to you, but that should not be the norm for the everyday cruiser who saves for months and months to go on a cruise. I think the pay for restaurants are a great option for those who want to experience something different or are so sure that the food and service stink in the MDRs, but for most of us, the included food is just fine.

 

The bolded part is false.

 

The food AND the service should be better in the specialties. That's why you're paying extra.

 

They are smaller and more personal.

 

I'm not excusing bad service in the MDR, but to say that MDR passenger should expect specialty-restaurant-level service is as unrealistic as saying that inside cabin passengers deserve the same perks as The Haven.