Another (first-hand) Breakaway New Years Review

[pokerpro5]

On a side note, given the numerous complaints about the New Year's Breakaway we're seeing here, I think it's pretty indicative they have a real problem, especially with service.

 

Anyone still in denial about this must be an NCL cheerleader.

[LizG12]

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).

 

I'm not big on shellfish, but all the crabcakes I remember seeing are round. Doesn't mean they came out of a can. Especially not at the beachfront 'seafood shacks' that make the cakes themselves.

[mpk218]

Its a shame you had such an awful time . I would suggest you try Carnival .

Its my understanding they are able to avoid most of these issues.. ;)

Come back and let us know..

 

Good luck. tight sails.

[DCP]

I am sorry you had a bad experience on your sailing. We've not sailed on one of the bigger ships yet (will be in Dec. though!) so I don't know how things will be on it.

 

I didn't see anywhere in your post where you contacted those in charge to fill them in on the issues you were having? I read where you mentioned the people in the *suits* - did you actually go to Guest Services or speak to the Management (other than passing in the hallway)?

 

 

I am glad they didn't quarantine your Mother, that would have been an even worse situation.

 

It's too bad this sailing gave you a bad experience. We've been loyal to NCL because of all the positive ones we have had. It makes me sad for you that you didn't have an experience like we have had. No one wants to have a crappy vacation.

 

I hope you have a better time on your next trip - whatever it may be.

[3DBeach]

Thanks for sharing a detailed review. I'm sorry to hear the negatives though, especially for a New Year's cruise. Hope your mom is feeling better.

[Hey Wang]

Looks like I'm waiting for them to get the bugs/kinks out of the new ships for at least a year..... Sounds like bigger isn't better here yet.

 

What a shame! :mad:

[Cruisercl]

Its a shame you had such an awful time .

I would suggest you try Carnival .

Its my understanding they are able to avoid most of these issues.. ;)

Come back and let us know..

 

Good luck. tight sails.

 

Hi,

 

Can I ask you what you mean here? It is not clear and appears to not fit the OP comments. The OP's opinion of their cruise was good and bad and he is entitled to both. Do you not agree?

 

I thank you and respect your opinion.

 

Happy and safe cruising. :)

[maja651]

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.

 

Let me restate what I meant. I am in no way excusing bad service or food in the MDRs. NCL should provide good meals and good service in all dining venues. I too would be upset if I had received bad service and bad food from the MDRs. However, from what I have read in quite a few reviews, the MDRs seem to provide inconsistent food quality and service. My personal experiences in the speciality restaurants have been very good. This review just clinched it for me to keep doing what we have been doing, eating at the speciality restaurants.

[Medtech2]

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. :(

It sounds like we should all remember this and insist on a WRITTEN referral/note/order from the ship's doctor in such a situation.

 

I am also concerned about posting a $1500 cash or check bond. I don't carry that much cash or any checks on vacation! Would they have taken a credit card? Does anyone know if you have trip insurance can you just call them for assistance at this time?

 

As far as service it is a shame. I had pretty bad service on my CCL Fantasy cruise, a ship most other people seem to love. That is a small older ship, disproving that your bad service is somehow the result of a new big ship, as some on here are suggesting. Bad service can occur anywhere, any time. If anyone should ever come by my place of work you would see grim faces coping with corporate cutbacks. We are constantly told we are overstaffed while more and more is foisted upon us. In today's world economy and in my case a specialized profession you cannot just up and find another job. I have no doubt the crews on these ships are being asked to do more with less and it is showing...

 

Glad your mother is doing fine now.

Edited January 7, 2014 by Medtech2

[bguppies]

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.

 

I didn't take the OP as asking for a fancier level of service.

 

I took his concerns as expecting COMPETENT service, which clearly he did not receive, multiple times.

 

I don't think anyone expects the best waiters to be in the main dining room, versus the specialty restaurants.

 

But the paying customer at ANY dining venue, does have the right to expect decent service that you would receive at any Applebees, Olive Garden, etc.. at home.

 

Clearly from the sheer volume of bad reviews about the dining rooms on this cruise, NCL is dropping the ball with the standard of staff they are accepting.

 

Bill

[diskids2]

Let me restate what I meant. I am in no way excusing bad service or food in the MDRs. NCL should provide good meals and good service in all dining venues. I too would be upset if I had received bad service and bad food from the MDRs. However, from what I have read in quite a few reviews, the MDRs seem to provide inconsistent food quality and service. My personal experiences in the speciality restaurants have been very good. This review just clinched it for me to keep doing what we have been doing, eating at the speciality restaurants.

 

I have to agree with you 100%.

[Will Sail For Food]

 

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

 

I completely disagree with this statement. I think good service should be expected by anyone in any restaurant on a cruise regardless of whether or not they pay extra. I have received excellent service on each of the cruises I have taken, with the exception of the MDR on an NCL ship. If there are actually passengers who think it's okay to give less-than-great service since I didn't pay extra for a specialty restaurant, that is ludicrous. I understand the whole "you get what you pay for" theory, but any service industry should pride itself on the service it gives, regardless of how much the customer has paid.

[mjkacmom]

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.

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.

.[/indent][/indent][/indent]

 

Just a FYI, many restaurants use presentation rings/forms to plate food, especially tartare (I don't think I've seen it served many other ways). I think it's even becoming a bit dated, with it's popularity.

 

https://www.google.com/search?q=presentation+rings+with+presser&rlz=1C1OPRB_enUS553US553&espv=210&es_sm=93&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=Aw3MUuO1I5SssQSZioGIDw&ved=0CE0QsAQ&biw=1309&bih=725

[mpk218]

Hi,

 

Can I ask you what you mean here? It is not clear and appears to not fit the OP comments. The OP's opinion of their cruise was good and bad and he is entitled to both. Do you not agree?

 

I thank you and respect your opinion.

 

Happy and safe cruising. :)

 

I was pointing out since they will not be sailing NCL ever again . They should try Carnival based on what they Did Not like about NCL ..

Then come back and let us know . RCL and Princess have worked out for Her in an amazing family feel way but branched out to NCL for something eles .

Im guessing Carnival will be that something ..

 

Is that Ok ?? Im not sure if Im entitled to suggest that or not ..;)

I'll try to fit "in" to the parameters of acceptance next time , Im not very PC ..

Ask anybody ... right LB :D

[Cruisercl]

I was pointing out since they will not be sailing NCL ever again . They should try Carnival based on what they Did Not like about NCL ..

Then come back and let us know . RCL and Princess have worked out for Her in an amazing family feel way but branched out to NCL for something eles .

Im guessing Carnival will be that something ..

 

Is that Ok ?? Im not sure if Im entitled to suggest that or not ..;)

I'll try to fit "in" to the parameters of acceptance next time , Im not very PC ..

Ask anybody ... right LB :D

 

Thanks for the clarification! :)

 

The OP had good and bad listed in their post so I wasn't sure what you meant. I like that you encouraged them to try something else that may better fit their cruising needs.

 

My apologies, there was no bad intent here; I did not think there were 'PC' issues in your post.

[shiphound]

My wife and I also were on the New Year's cruise on Breakaway. There were things I really liked and things I did not like on Breakaway. I have been on RC, Celebrity and Carnival before, so my comparisons are to those ships.

 

I thought the entertainment was first rate, as good or better than any ship I have been on. Esp. liked Rock of Ages and Second City.

 

I liked the private island. The beach was nice and I enjoyed playing beach volleyball. But the tenders were the most disorganized thing I have ever seen. Crew seemed totally untrained and it took much longer to load and unload the tenders than on any other boat I have been on.

 

As for the dining rooms, the "free" dining rooms were well below RC and Celebrity. I thought the buffet was boring with the same food everyday. Much below all other ships, including Carnival. Manhatten and Savor were also quite boring. Poor menus. Mediocre food. Way below Celebrity and RC. We found the wait staff in these restaurants to be very poorly trained. They seemed nice, but did not really know how to provide proper service. The worst wait staff on any ship. Manhatten was a disaster new year's eve. We came there late because we did not get back from Epcot until late. We went straight to the restaurant from the boat (about 8:30). We asked how long the wait would be and were told 1/2 hour. We did not get in until after 10:00. Then, we did not get any food or really any attention from a waiter until 10:30. Had we known of the extended delay, we would have gone elsewhere. Very poor. And, in the restaurant, there clearly was insufficient staff. The whole place looked like a zoo.

 

Then, the next night we went to Savor and was told there would be a 1/2 hour wait again. We got in after 5 minutes and (to our surprise) the restaurant was half empty. Why were we told 1/2 hour wait?

 

The main restaurants are a mess and need to be completely overhauled.

 

The better restaurants (Cagney's, le Bistro, and the Italian restaurant) were major steps up. The waiters were much better but still I thought were undertrained. The highlight of the cruise was the maitre d at Cagney's named Lulia. She was just wonderful and really helped my wife, who has dietary needs.

 

The food in these three restaurants was good, not great. In fact, the food at David's (the steakhouse on Carnival) was better.

 

Our cabin steward was nice and helpful, but he seemed overworked - too many cabins to take care of.

 

So, a mixed review of the ship. Great entertainment, mediocred food, a ship in need of additional training.

 

I emphasize training because the staff seemed very nice and tried to be helpful - they just did not always seem to know what to do.

Edited January 7, 2014 by shiphound

[shiphound]

A couple more things. Interesting, the process of getting onboard Breakaway was the worst and most disorganized I have ever seen getting on a ship. It took 15-30 minutes (in cold and rain outside) to just drop off checked luggage. Total time from arrival at the port to getting on the ship was almost 2 hours. Just a disaster.

 

But, getting off the ship was a delight. The easiest and fasted time getting off a ship that I have had.

 

Also, a lot of the big spaces, the buffet restaurant and the theatre for example, seemed very undersized for the size of the ship. Interesting ship, very tall, very long, not very wide.

[LizG12]

what time did you arrive? The bus I took got to the terminal about 9.45, and by 10.15 I was checked in just waiting for them to let us board at 11.30. OTOH, I didn't have any luggage to drop off, I just had a carry-on that I brought on myself.

 

>Interesting ship, very tall, very long, not very wide.

 

very true :)

[Cloudyrain]

OP - thanks for your review, it is appreciated and a nice change from some of these three sentence rants that seem to be the rage :D

 

Sorry your mum was ill. In the UK we too get free state healthcare so I would be completely the same as you in the circumstances. I think when you are used to being treated for "free" it's such a weird concept. I'm glad she is now under the care of her own doctors now and hope she is on the road to recovery.

 

Sorry you had a "thumbs down", it seems that a lot of it (entertainment and ship) was good but ruined by the healthcare issue and the MDR service.

 

If I were you I would write and point out that the communication between the ship and hospital wasn't as you would expect. In reality none of us know wether this was the ships fault (as the "flamers" will say) or the hospital (as the "cheerleaders" will say). Regardless of fault I think that if the matter was raised they would be able to reassess their procedures and maybe consider providing patients with paperwork to take to on hospital referrals.

 

I think it's all such a shame as I wonder what your review would have been if the medical problems hadn't occurred?

 

Thanks again! :)

[shiphound]

what time did you arrive? The bus I took got to the terminal about 9.45, and by 10.15 I was checked in just waiting for them to let us board at 11.30. OTOH, I didn't have any luggage to drop off, I just had a carry-on that I brought on myself.

 

 

We took a train up from DC on Sunday morning and so were there around noon. Was almost 2:00 when we got on board.

[nycruise]

How was the weather and seas during the New Years cruise? Thanks.

[LizG12]

If I'm remembering right -

It rained the day we left NY

First SeaDay was cool & cloudy, smooth sailing

Pt Canaveral and the private island days were nice

Bahamas was warm/hot

3rd Sea Day - Rocky, rocky, rocky - from the storm that hit the US east cost

4th Sea Day - beautifu,l sunny, smooth sailing, and cool/cold depending on the wind

Arrive NY - cold & rainy

[mmmken]

I didn't see anywhere in your post where you contacted those in charge to fill them in on the issues you were having? I read where you mentioned the people in the *suits* - did you actually go to Guest Services or speak to the Management (other than passing in the hallway)?

 

I never really felt like the poor service was worth complaining about to the suits, as no one was actually really rude (just poorly trained or unmotivated). The only attempt at contact was the "Dear Hugo" letter I dropped into a box. There was no response though.

 

However, dealing with the suits for restaurant reservations and stuff gave me the same feeling as dealing with the regular staff. The problem is widespread.

 

I didn't take the OP as asking for a fancier level of service.

 

I took his concerns as expecting COMPETENT service, which clearly he did not receive, multiple times.

 

I don't think anyone expects the best waiters to be in the main dining room, versus the specialty restaurants.

 

But the paying customer at ANY dining venue, does have the right to expect decent service that you would receive at any Applebees, Olive Garden, etc.. at home.

 

Clearly from the sheer volume of bad reviews about the dining rooms on this cruise, NCL is dropping the ball with the standard of staff they are accepting.

 

Bill

 

This is correct.

 

I didn't expect stellar service from anyone, though it would be a bonus of course. I was honestly tempted in cutting off the daily service charge, but that wouldn't be fair to the few that were actually good to me and my soft-heartedness got the better of me so I left it. I probably should have; considering we technically received not much more service from the wait staff than I would have at McDonald's - and I definitely don't tip the people at McDonald's. Oh well. I guess that's what you get from living in a society that implies that tipping is mandatory regardless of whether the service was good or not.

 

However poor the service was on this ship, I still managed to have fun on my own at least.. but then again, I can have fun holed up in a small room with some food and electronics to play with.

 

I'll probably take the suggestion of sending a quick email or something to NCL and see if they react. Thanks all!

[Cruisercl]

OP - thanks for your review, it is appreciated and a nice change from some of these three sentence rants that seem to be the rage :D

 

Sorry your mum was ill. In the UK we too get free state healthcare so I would be completely the same as you in the circumstances. I think when you are used to being treated for "free" it's such a weird concept. I'm glad she is now under the care of her own doctors now and hope she is on the road to recovery.

 

Sorry you had a "thumbs down", it seems that a lot of it (entertainment and ship) was good but ruined by the healthcare issue and the MDR service.

 

If I were you I would write and point out that the communication between the ship and hospital wasn't as you would expect. In reality none of us know wether this was the ships fault (as the "flamers" will say) or the hospital (as the "cheerleaders" will say). Regardless of fault I think that if the matter was raised they would be able to reassess their procedures and maybe consider providing patients with paperwork to take to on hospital referrals.

 

I think it's all such a shame as I wonder what your review would have been if the medical problems hadn't occurred?

 

Thanks again! :)

 

I appreciate your opinion but I am confused. Are you in healthcare?

 

To have their situation (called a crisis in healthcare) happen and then be expected to accept the type of treatment they received when they were in a very stressful situation only adds to the stress. If you are in healthcare then you know the situation they were put in is unacceptable and people should expect better care.

 

In healthcare when someone is sick enough to ask for medical help it is a very stressful situation. Perception is reality. Their perception is that they did not get good care and from what the OP described IMHO it wasn't and should be reported. IMO, calling the healthcare people/process on possible negligence should not be dismissed as flaming or cheerleading depending on which side you happen to be on. We all deserve better than this; it should be an expectation that healthcare has higher standards. It should not matter what healthcare facility you are utilizing.

[mmmken]

Then, the next night we went to Savor and was told there would be a 1/2 hour wait again. We got in after 5 minutes and (to our surprise) the restaurant was half empty. Why were we told 1/2 hour wait?

 

Our opinions of the cruise are nearly identical.

 

The funny thing is that this exact thing (at Taste) happened to us as well. Can't complain about not having to line up though!

 

What I suspect is that the crew is trained in a really static format and are treated by the brass as just dumb help (instead of empowering them to make decisions on their own). It's the same idea as the automated "Our agents are experiencing higher than normal call volumes and the next available.." message that plays everyday regardless of actual call volume - and then getting a live person on the phone in a minute or two. They're probably trained to say that exact line regardless to avoid over-promising and conflict.

 

NCL trains robots.