Breakaway Feb 2-9

[dznymom]

As always we had a ton of fun.

 

Embarkation was not as smooth as usual because it was Super Bowl Sunday and NCL had called multiple times to encourage us (and everyone else) to arrive early. Driving into the city was fine, but there was gridlock on the pier with folks trying to leave the parking lot and the rest of us trying to get in. We also had to park at Pier 88, and then check in at Pier 90 where we waited to be walked back to Pier 88 to board. It didn't seem that the staff really had a handle on how things were working, so there was plenty of confusion but we were onboard having lunch in O'Sheehan's shortly after noon.

 

Our stateroom was 9134, a 6B large balcony forward. We loved it! There was plenty of storage for 2 females with lots of stuff. We didn't even use our over the door shoe holder because we didn't need the extra storage. The balcony was a great size with one lounger, 2 chairs and a small table. My roommate always takes the sofa bed, and in this case it worked out better than usual. The sofa didn't need to be opened and closed as it was like a day bed & it was very comfortable. There was no problem getting to and from the balcony at any time which was nice. (Our configuraton had the bed next to the balcony.) We also had no problem getting in and out of the closet as I have seen reported here. Our room was immaculate when we checked in, and Juana, our awesome attendant kept it that way in spite of us :) Our friend was in 9136, and he had an angled balcony that was really nice. It was the perfect location to watch the fireworks, with no divider to block the view. The location was also great, with a not too long walk to the forward elevator/stairwell. I would take either of those rooms again and could find no fault with either of them.

 

Dining is important to us, but we don't do things like most people.

 

Breakfasts were at the buffet and O'Sheehans. We were not comfortable with the temperature of many of the foods on the buffet, so we chose very carefully. The omelets were good, and I had hard boiled eggs a couple days. I dont eat bacon at home, so it is a treat when cruising, but for some reason the bacon on this ship was lousy – it just tasted like grease. Breakfast at O'Sheehans was more for convenience and because we didn't seem to be on the right schedule to go to the main dining room which had very limited breakfast hours.

 

We had one lunch in the Manhattan room and the food and service were good, but the menu was uninspired so we didn't return. We tried the lobster roll from Ocean Blue one day and it was good, and a nice change of pace, especially sitting outside. We tried the Uptown Grill once, and I was surprised that there so many kinds of meatballs. It seemed weird to me, but they tasted good so why not? I expected it to feel more 'outdoors' than it did, but it was quiet and pleasant enough.

 

We ate often at O'Sheehans. The chicken pot pie was good, the prime rib dinner was excellent, and the chicken fingers were really good every time. I don't recommend ordering the ice cream off the upcharge menu though, as our sundaes were not so good. Stick to the free desserts instead! Service was pretty good with the exception of the first day when they got slammed.

 

We had a couple of dinners in the buffet and it was okay but not as good as we have found on the Jewel class ships. There was plenty of seating available and it was nice up there. I did manage to get my lemon crepe the first night, which is one of my favorite NCL treats and I enjoyed the sherbet selections.

 

For specialty restaurants we did Cagney's which was very good. I had the filet, C had a ribeye and S had a big giant steak of some sort. They were all good and cooked correctly. Service was excellent but we ordered too many sides :) We also had ordered a cake from Carlos (we were celebrating S's retirement) which arrived on schedule and was DELICIOUS. I highly recommend the chocolate mousse cake!

 

We chose La Cuccina for Nassau night, and we ate outside during sailaway. It was divine!! We shared a pizza for an appetizer and it was fabulous. I could have had that for my dinner and been happy! 2 of us had the chicken parmesan and it was a large portion cooked perfectly and quite delicious. S had the osso bucco, and he almost wept in pleasure. Desserts were only okay, but we were already full so it didn't matter one bit. This was our favorite meal of the week, which was surprising as we have found La Cuccina to be inconsistent fleetwide.

 

Our final dinner was at Le Bistro. We all had the filet of beef, and as usual it was very, very good. My onion soup was good, the scallops were very good, and C loves the way the mussels are prepared, and they did not disapoint. We all finished with crème brulee and french press coffee, and this meal was excellent.

 

Coffee at the coffee shop at the Atrium was very good and very reasonable. We only did this a couple of times, but the coffee in Osheehans was not so good most of the time, so it was nice to have this an option. None of us liked Carlos' lobster tails – go figure?

 

We were Casino guests, and spend lots of time there. Compared to other ships we felt that there was no personal touch, but I think there were more gamblers than usual onboard as the place was mobbed every day starting mid afternoon right through the wee hours. The video poker odds were poor, which is common on all ships, but we never got so much as a single quad. The slot variety was very good for a ship, but tight as usual. We are smokers, and were surprised that with as much of a smoke smell as there was, that only about a third of the casino was 'smoking'. It's a shame that they couldn't find a better way to contain the smoke as I know it bothered a lot of people. There was a party for casino guests before it opened, with cocktails and hors d'ouvres in headliners. It was packed!

 

I am not much of a shopper, but even if I was I could spend no time in the stores as the perfume smell was absolutely unbearable. I don't know if they were trying to cover the smoke smell from down below, or if someone was spraying the carpets and the air but it was brutal. So I have no idea what they had in the shops!

 

We always have good intentions to see lots of shows, but as usual we fell short on this cruise. We saw Burn the Floor, and were not impressed, but many people loved it so there ya go. We also saw Rock of Ages, and if they weren't screaming so much it would have been good. I saw it in Vegas and I was surprised that this was the full show, and it was well done with the exception of the screaming. It was too bad because there were some talented performers, but that got lost in the din. We don't do Second City and we missed Howling at the Moon and Slam Allen, but have enjoyed both in the past.

 

We checked out the pool and activity deck, and everything looked like lots of fun although as usual, the pool deck seemed crowded. That is not our thing though.

 

Ports of Call are what they are. In Port Canaveral we always rent a car and go visit C's parents in Kissimmee, so that was a nice day that we enjoyed. I stayed onboard in Nassau as I have been there a bunch and didn't feel like making the effort to get off. S went to Atlantis on a ship's excursion and said it was okay. He wanted to check the place out in consideration of a future visit, but he said he didn't get to see enough to make a decision. I told him so :p

 

We rented a small cabana on Great Stirrup Cay and it was wonderful. We did not get any service in the cabana, and had chosen to purchase drinks there rather than preorder from the provided menu. It would have been nice if servers had come to our cabana, but they were clearly inept and it was actually pretty funny to watch them. We just walked to the bar for our drinks. Also, our fridge wasn't working, so our water and fruit were not cold, but no biggie. We did let someone know at the end of the day so they could fix it for next time, hopefully. $349 is pretty steep, and I don't know if I would pay that again, but we did enjoy the day and consider ourselves lucky that we got there at all knowing that GSC is a crap shoot, especially in the winter.

 

The ship overall is beautiful and tastefully decorated. There were many more outdoor spaces than on the Epic, and we liked that a lot. My biggest complaint in general, is that this ship was LOUD. There was always something going on in the Atrium and it was always so loud that you couldn't even carry on a conversation in O'Sheehans. There seemed to be more announcements for Bingo, etc than usual, but that may just have been because I was getting over sensitized to noise. The casino was extremely loud, with most machines having no volume control but set on high. YUCK! The shows were so loud it was hard to understand the words. Loud, loud, loud!

 

The seas were very cooperative, as we had very little motion for the whole week. Both sea days returning were too cold to enjoy the outdoors which was a bummer, but it is February... It had snowed while we were gone, and they had very nicely plowed all the cars in on the pier, and then it rained so the snow was like cement and there was ice under the tires. Getting out of there was a challenge, but we had gone to O'Sheehans for breakfast with our luggage, and did easy walk off and were in the car by 7:45 which was the best debarkation ever!

 

We had a very nice cruise, but I am now sure that I prefer the Jewel class ships for more personal attention and a slightly more sedate experience. That is in no way to say that the Breakaway is bad, because it is wonderful in it's own way!

 

I just want to close with a message of love and peace to everyone touched by the tragedy onboard our sailing.

[LrgPizza]

Thanks for your thorough review. Well done.

[meatball_nyc]

Thank you for your thoughts and review.

Loved hearing about all the food :D

Can't wait for our turn!!

 

Happy Sailing

 

 

 

 

Robin

Norwegian Breakaway July 2014

Carnival Miracle 2010

Carnival Legend 2006

[RVachon]

Funny - I see a pattern; everything is loud to you.:D To me, the only time it was loud is when they had the kids stuff in the Atrium. That was unbearable. Rest of the place was fine for me, including the shows.

[antsnanny]

What a great review. We had a large cabana and I agree, the service was not good. That said, we still loved having the cabana and at the end of the day we also reported the lack of service hoping that things will improve for next time. We preordered a bucket of beer which took hours to arrive and when it did there was no bottle opener.

When I first sailed on the Breakaway I kept comparing it to the Jewel class ships, which I love but after sailing on the BA twice, I love them both!

I absolutely love the Great Outdoors on the Jewel Class and equally love the Waterfront on the Breakaway.

I really like having choices now...Too many ships, too little time!!!

[Tralfie]

Great review... as with everything I read about Breakaway, it gets me more excited for my own voyage upon her, which is now 17 days away... not that I'm counting!

 

Question: The prime rib at O'Sheehan's. Was that on the regular menu, or only on one night? I'm a huge fan of prime rib... although who knows if I'll get to it, seeing as I bought the Ultimate Dining Package and, at the moment, plan to eat in specialty restaurants every night! LOL

 

Richard/Tralfie

[antsnanny]

Great review... as with everything I read about Breakaway, it gets me more excited for my own voyage upon her, which is now 17 days away... not that I'm counting!

 

Question: The prime rib at O'Sheehan's. Was that on the regular menu, or only on one night? I'm a huge fan of prime rib... although who knows if I'll get to it, seeing as I bought the Ultimate Dining Package and, at the moment, plan to eat in specialty restaurants every night! LOL

 

Richard/Tralfie

 

On my sailing 2-3 it was only on one night. It seems O'Sheehan's has a different dinner added to its menu each day. Enjoy your cruise, Im sure you will…..

[dznymom]

Funny - I see a pattern; everything is loud to you.:D To me, the only time it was loud is when they had the kids stuff in the Atrium. That was unbearable. Rest of the place was fine for me, including the shows.

 

I know, right? I don't recall having that problem in the past, so it's not just that I am a cranky old lady :p It may be in part because we lived forward and spent so much of our time in the Atrium/Casino area. I don't know, but my ears were ringing a lot.

[dznymom]

Great review... as with everything I read about Breakaway, it gets me more excited for my own voyage upon her, which is now 17 days away... not that I'm counting!

 

Question: The prime rib at O'Sheehan's. Was that on the regular menu, or only on one night? I'm a huge fan of prime rib... although who knows if I'll get to it, seeing as I bought the Ultimate Dining Package and, at the moment, plan to eat in specialty restaurants every night! LOL

 

Richard/Tralfie

 

Prime rib was only one night in O'Sheehans. From reading previous reviews, I expected it to be Night 1, but it was mid week sometime. Other nights they had different specials in there - ribs & fried chicken are the ones I recall.

 

If you got the UDP, I can't imagine that you will be having dinner in O'Sheehan's though! Enjoy the Specialty restaurants!

[dznymom]

I forgot to mention that we ordered one of the $5 pizzas one night. If you are looking for a large thick cardboard disc covered in a ton of mozzarella, then this is for you. If you are craving pizza, go to La Cuccina!

[antsnanny]

I forgot to mention that we ordered one of the $5 pizzas one night. If you are looking for a large thick cardboard disc covered in a ton of mozzarella, then this is for you. If you are craving pizza, go to La Cuccina!

 

Thanks for the warning!

[Cruiser2490]

Great Review!

 

I am leaving for the Bahamas on Saturday, also staying in a Large Balcony Room! Looking forward to that, especially the larger balcony! Could you see the fireworks from them, or only the angled balcony???

 

Thanks-

[antsnanny]

I know, right? I don't recall having that problem in the past, so it's not just that I am a cranky old lady :p It may be in part because we lived forward and spent so much of our time in the Atrium/Casino area. I don't know, but my ears were ringing a lot.

 

There were so many activities in the atrium that normally would be held elsewhere on other ships so I get what your saying. I see the good and bad in that, it was a bit noisy trying to eat in O'Sheehan's but it certainly was lively and sometimes I stumbled on things I normally wouldn't have. One was Dancing with the Stars, I never go to them, I had no idea it was so funny and it was hysterical…

:D

[RVachon]

I forgot to mention that we ordered one of the $5 pizzas one night. If you are looking for a large thick cardboard disc covered in a ton of mozzarella, then this is for you. If you are craving pizza, go to La Cuccina!

I actually enjoyed the $5 pizza. :-)

 

 

 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

[meatball_nyc]

I'm going to try both!

 

 

 

Robin

Norwegian Breakaway July 2014

Carnival Miracle 2010

Carnival Legend 2006

[antsnanny]

Great Review!

 

I am leaving for the Bahamas on Saturday, also staying in a Large Balcony Room! Looking forward to that, especially the larger balcony! Could you see the fireworks from them, or only the angled balcony???

 

Thanks-

 

Yes but only on the port side of the ship. We watched from deck 8 by one of the bars, it was great fun and a good view.

[ncklhaus]

Yes but only on the port side of the ship. We watched from deck 8 by one of the bars, it was great fun and a good view.

 

Yay! We have a large balcony mini-suite on deck 8 port side! Not until October though.

Edited February 14, 2014 by ncklhaus

[antsnanny]

It's worth the wait!!!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[dznymom]

Yay! We have a large balcony mini-suite on deck 8 port side! Not until October though.

 

You will love it! I really thought the location was perfect and having the large balcony is a real treat!

[cruise777]

do you remember what night was formal night?

[gelo7]

Thanks, for sharing your thoughts.