Breakaway Review 9/14-9/21 cruise

[beachcomberbill]

Background information:

We live in NYC and have all of our lives, so we had no trouble finding our way to the Manhattan Cruise Passenger terminal. The entrance to the terminal is at 55th St and 12th Ave. Just cross over the West side Hwy when the light turns green and make a left onto the ramp, then go down to pier 88.

When you disembark you will leave the terminal on the ground floor (kind of like Jetblue at Kennedy). So be sure if someone is picking you up when you leave to have them meet you downstairs somewhere. If you need to get a taxi, there is a taxi line right across the west side highway (again just like at the airport).

One of our sons dropped us off in the morning around 9am. The documentation process started about an hour after that, and boarding began at about noon.

 

Ship information: The ship is enormous and beautiful; not too glitzy but not to staid either. We had an aft cabin on deck 11. If you have the opportunity, purchase one of these cabins. The baclonies are easily twice the size of the ones on the port or starboard sides and accomodate two lounge chairs (the same lounges that are by the pools and on the Spicewater H20 decks) two regular chairs and a table (again the same as found on the common decks). Choose this especially if you've never been to NY before because when the ship leaves port you will have a panoramic view of the Hudson river all the way up to the George Washington Bridge, the Westside of Manhattan and New Jersey across the river. All of the famous landmarks are easily viewed: The Empire State Building, The new 107 story Freedom Tower by the World Trade Center, Battery Park, Statue of LIberty, Ellis Island, The Brooklyn Bridge and the Verrazano Narrows Bridge.

The size of the cabins on the Breakaway are typical of NCL, in that they are smaller than comparable cabins on other lines, but for a party of two, ours was more than adequate. The bathroom shower stall has liquid soap and shampoo, but no conditioner. So if you like soap bars and conditioners you need to bring your own. Our suite also did not come with robes, but there is an ample supply of towels and if you need more just ask the room attendant. There is a hairdryer but for some reason it is not in the bathroom but under the desk in the "living room" area. There are two electrical outlets located on top of the desk which take standard US plugs. If you are carrying laptops and any other devices that need charging, bring a power strip with you so you'll have enough outlets.

The bed (Queen) was very comfortable with a nice firm mattress, and four pillows. Again, if you need extra pillows ask the cabin attendant.

There is a wide screen TV that plays a few stations, about half of which are info and promo stations for the ship. The other stations are MSNBC, FOX (faux)News, BBC. ESPN and another sports station. There was one cartoon station for the kids, one "favorite TV shows" station, and one "favorite movies" station that show a variety of shows or movies 24/7 but not any you can pick yourself.

We took along our laptop and a music cube ( wireless mini-speaker) which enabled us to have the music we wanted on our balcony.

The ship is over 1,000 feet long from bow to stern so if you go to the main pool and forget something, you've just managed to walk almost a half mile back and forth (which is a good thing).

Prior reviews of the Breakaway have complained that the size of the pools onboard were inadequate for the population on the ship. We didn't find that to be so, but then we were on a cruise with several hundred travel agents holding a convention on board and during the day they were all occupied with meetings and presentations so that could have been a factor. Our cruise also had very few children, and most of those were pre-schoolers. That was what we had expected, and that was why we chose the date we did. During the summer half of the passengers (about 2,000) are 18 and under.

But speaking of kids, the ship is very kid friendly. Lot's for them to do: Rock climbing wall, rope course, zipline course, video game room, miniature golf, and of course ping pong and shuffleboard (somewhere, we never found the shuffleboard). There is even a giant chess set located out on the prominade, but we never saw anyone use it. There is a camp available for the kids as well and it is divided by age groups.

We are not big drinkers, but there are 15 bars on the ship both indoor and outdoor, so you are never more than a few yards from a cocktail or a beer. If you are too lazy to walk those few steps, do not fear; a waiter or waitress are constantly circulating to take your drink order.

We found the food on board to range from good to excellent depending on the venue. The buffet had many selections ranging from Indian, S.E. Asian, German and Italian to the usual Pizza, Hot dogs, hamburgers and french fries. The indian food on the buffet was particularly good, and we wondered if that had to do with the fact that the executive chef for the ship is Indian. On the other hand, the pizza was substandard (but we're from Noo Yawk so we're spoiled) and the burgers were on a par with McDonald's.

The hotdogs were Sabrett, just like the corner vender stands all over the city. We're partial to Nathan's.

The food in the main dining rooms (Manhattan, Savor and Taste) were all very good and had a nice varied selection each evening. The menus for those three are the same. The difference is what room you prefer. Savor and Taste are smaller and quieter rooms. The Manhattan club tries to evoke memories of the famed Rainbow Room and has a bandstand and dance floor. The band gets going around 7:45 and plays lots of standards from the great american song book. Very nice. The service in these rooms is also a bit faster than in the optional restaurants. However ALL of the staff in any of the rooms are extremely courteous. If you only want a table for two, there is no difficulty being accomodated.

We had dinner one night at LeBistro. The duck entree was excellent. All of the restaurants are a bit stingy when it comes to the soup gratinee. I was hard pressed to find the gratinee, but the broth was tasty.

On another evening we ate at Cagney's which is the steak house. Be prepared to have a more leisurely meal there than you would in the other restaurants. The couple next to us complained to the maitre d' because their dinner took two hours. Ours did too, but we were enjoying the wine and the conversation. I had the filet mignon which was done exactly right to my order, and the Black Angus beef was delicious.

We found the sushi bar, Wasabi to be excellent, and all of the servings are prepared to order. The saki choices are Ghekkikan and another called Pearl which is served chilled.

We loved the noodle bar which for some reason (space?) is tucked into a corner of the casino. We had the dim sum (all of them) and the seafood noodle soup and the entire tab for both of us came to $25.

The first day on board we went to the Irish pub called O'Sheehans. If you have a craving for buffalo chicken wings at 3am you can get them there, and they're nicely spiced. There is also a very good selection of domestic and foreign beers.

The entertainment on NCL is top notch, which is what we remembered from years ago. Their entertainers just seem to be more talented than on some other cruise lines. Burn The Floor was so outstanding that we decided to see it twice. The female singer in that show is hands down the best singer on the ship. The dancers are spectacular and during the week a few of them give dance lessons to the passengers at no charge. The other two entertainment venues which we took advantage of were Fat Cats Jazz Club and The Second City comedy troupe. The lead singer/musician in Fat Cats is super, and is very funny and engaging with the audience. Second City is hysterical, and if you like them, book reservations for their shows when you get on board because we couldn't get second ones. The one that goes first is, of course, the "adult" show at 11pm.

A word about Rock of Ages. The production is advertised as adult entertainment. They tell you this in no uncertain terms before you walk in, and while you are in your seats before the show starts. So don't get up in a huff dragging your six year old behind you when they start telling penis jokes. Just don't go in to begin with. The cast again is first rate, but if 80s heavy metal is not to your taste, once again.. there is plenty of other music all over the ship. Try the duo Fire and Ice. She's a dead ringer for a young Tina Turner, and does much of her music.

Disembarkation was a breeze. We each brought on board only carry-on luggage. One that would go overhead on an airline and the other that would go under the seat. We found those two pieces more than adequate as we actually came home with some clean clothes. My wife also had a large leather purse and I had my canvas murse for our valuables. Oh, there is a safe in your cabin and it is large enough for wallets, watches, jewelry, passports etc. At disembarkation if you do not care to leave your luggage out for pick up, you just take everything off with you and can get off the ship once it clears the port authority. On our cruise that happened at 7:15 am and we were off the ship by 7:30, got a cab by 7:45 and got back to our home in eastern Queens by 8:20 am.

We had never been to Bermuda before, and found it to be a lovely island country. The people are courteous and very friendly and eager to discuss their home with you. We spent the first day exploring both the world heritage site of St. George and then going back to Hamilton. Getting around is very easy and we didn't find it necessary to take any guided tours. The information center is located right off of the ship on the Heritage wharf dock. There you can pick up all of the maps and brochures of Bermuda that you need, as well as one, two, or three days bus/ferry passes. The three day pass is $35. That was what we took. We boarded the first ferry leaving for St. George at 9:15 am and that got us there about 40 minutes later. We walked around the downtown and then walked over to Tobacco Bay beach (you have to go up a hill and then down a hill), then followed the road around to the St. Catherine Fort, then up a hill and down a hill back to the center of town. We then took the #11 bus back into Hamilton, looked around there for a while, took another ferry back to the ship, had lunch, refreshed and took the Hamilton ferry back to go to Gosling's to buy mass quantities of their rum. Gosling's is located one block from the ferry dock.

We spent the second day going to Horsehoe Bay beach which just like all the travel brochures describe.

However, the sand is NOT pink. It is pinkish, actually more beige than pink. Frankly it didn't seem to be much different than the color of the sand at all of the south shore beaches on Long Island. But after you

take your pictures you can photoshop it to saturate the color a bit so you can fool your relatives.

Horseshoe bay has chair rentals, a food stand, men's and women's bathrooms and showers.

Be aware though that the beach is at the bottom of a steep road and hill. There is a shuttle that will take you back up to the top of the hill to where the bus stops for $2.50. There are also taxis stationed in the parking lot, and to get back to the ship will cost $32 for up to four passengers. We took a taxi, and our female driver was just as good as any tour guide describing the island and their life there.

On the last day we stayed at the Dockyard. We found the history museum inside the fort to be very informative and well designed. If you are a war history buff definitely go inside the Governor's mansion to see those exhibits, and stand on the ramparts for some terrific views. We looked into the Dolphin Quest which is right inside the fort as well. We then spent about two hours at Snorkle Beach where the water is very shallow and you feed bread to the fish who will swarm all around you. The beach is just outside the wall of the fortress. All of the familiar tourist trap shops are available at the Clocktower Mall, selling trinkets, T-shirts, refrigerator magnets etc.

Overall it was a wonderful seven days. We liked it so much that we are going to take our two sons, their wives and our five grandchildren back this summer. This was our fourth cruise on NCL, and they've never dissapointed us.

[CTBob]

Thanks for your review. We are taking our three sons, their wives and six Grandchildren next summer for our 50th Wedding Anniversary. Maybe we'll see you there. We have reserved an aft cabin on deck 12.

 

Bob

[SASA13]

Thanks for the review. We sail in March and can't wait.

Thanks for the info on the MDR's. I was wondering if they all had the same menu. Thanks again.:)

Edited September 22, 2014 by SASA13

[beachcomberbill]

Thanks for your review. We are taking our three sons, their wives and six Grandchildren next summer for our 50th Wedding Anniversary. Maybe we'll see you there. We have reserved an aft cabin on deck 12.

 

Bob

 

I contacted the NCL rep this morning and she told me that the aft cabins go very fast. We were deck 11 port side middle cabin. Loved it. We're tentatively looking at the 7/26 date and trying to coordinate everyone's schedules. Hopefully it will all come together. It will be DW's 65th Bday and our 44th Anniversary. We'll have lots of fun watching the 11 and 9 yr olds do the rock wall, rope and zip lines, the watersides and play basketball. At least I'll play miniature golf with them. Maybe they'll give me a game of chess. I know the five year olds will have a blast in the pools and maybe on the slides as well. I'm sure their dads will help them with the climbing as well. There isn't that much for a one year old to do except look cute. :-)

But a summer cruise on this ship will have about 2,000 kids under 18 and a lot of them will be (arggghhh!!!!) teenagers. I'm going to bring my noise canceling headphones on this trip. :-)

[Red-Sol]

Thanks for your review beachcomberbill!

 

We were on the Breakaway just about a year ago and will be going on her again next May.

 

From my perspective I agree with pretty much everything you experienced.(even including seeing Burn the Floor twice) I hope very much that Fire and Ice will be on when we sail again next year. Her energy was nothing short of incredible!

[Z0LIN]

I was on this same cruise. This review is spot on. What a great week at sea.

 

I will add one tip for any of the big drinkers planning to go on NCL. Get the drink package, and tip $1 extra every once in a while.... The waiters and waitresses will go out of the way for you constantly. I found it to be very helpful ... plus I believe these workers deserve a little extra. They are all fantastic and extremely hard workers.... something I rarely see expect to see in NJ

[roddy good boy]

I was also on this cruise and appreciate your review. It is spot on. I would add that my husband and I were in a Haven Spa Suite and the Haven staff were wonderful. The spa was well worth the money (there was always ample space) since our sailing wasn't quite full :D and many of our fellow cruisers were attending conferences during the day. We are planning our next trip now! We may even try to bring our adult children! It's hard to coordinate schedules. One is in grad school and the other just started his "work life":p

[CTBob]

I contacted the NCL rep this morning and she told me that the aft cabins go very fast. We were deck 11 port side middle cabin. Loved it. We're tentatively looking at the 7/26 date and trying to coordinate everyone's schedules. Hopefully it will all come together. It will be DW's 65th Bday and our 44th Anniversary. We'll have lots of fun watching the 11 and 9 yr olds do the rock wall, rope and zip lines, the watersides and play basketball. At least I'll play miniature golf with them. Maybe they'll give me a game of chess. I know the five year olds will have a blast in the pools and maybe on the slides as well. I'm sure their dads will help them with the climbing as well. There isn't that much for a one year old to do except look cute. :-)

But a summer cruise on this ship will have about 2,000 kids under 18 and a lot of them will be (arggghhh!!!!) teenagers. I'm going to bring my noise canceling headphones on this trip. :-)

We are booked for 7/26 and will be bringing a couple of teenagers as well as kids age 3, 5, 10 and 12. We can throw them all together and get out of the way!

[Keith1010]

Thank you for the review.

 

Keith

[beachcomberbill]

We are booked for 7/26 and will be bringing a couple of teenagers as well as kids age 3, 5, 10 and 12. We can throw them all together and get out of the way!

 

Fantastic idea!!! Works for us. My guess is that our d-i-l's will put the two five year olds in the day camp. I'm not sure about the 9 and ll yr.olds; as to whether they'll just let them run amok or put them in the older program as well. The one year old will no doubt be strollered around in some really cute bathing suit and t, of which of course, grandma and grandpa will pick out several choices. :D

 

We're trying to get this 7/26 cruise finalized by the end of this week.

 

Bill

[snorklinbarb]

Thanks for the review. We sail in March and can't wait.

Thanks for the info on the MDR's. I was wondering if they all had the same menu. Thanks again.:)

 

Not the OP but, unless they've totally changed things, we found slight differences in the DR menus. Savor and Taste had exactly the same but there was an appetizer or 2 and a couple of entrees that differed from Manhattan Room. For example, chateaubriand was offered in Manhattan Room one nt while some other beef dish at the other two venues. So, it's worth at least taking a look at the menus.

 

Are they also still offering a nightly "regional dish" special?

 

Excellent review. My SIL is going on this weekend and will find your comments very helpful!

[bangzoom6877]

Thank you for such a great, detailed review! We're going on the Breakaway in July and we are also from NYC. I completely agree with you on hot dogs...we are also partial to Nathan's (and the kosher delis around here), but DH likes Sabrett also and will probably have one for the goof.

 

We loved Le a Bistro on our cruise in 2011 on the Jewel. I also had the duck entree and it was outstanding. DH had swordfish for the first time there and he loved his dinner as well. We've never been to Cagney's yet but plan to go on the Breakaway, just not sure if we will go just the two of us or with the kids. My kids love steak and I've read they have a kids' menu for half price, so it might be nice to bring them there, but they would enjoy the steak in the dining room just fine too. I'd like to go back to Le Bistro again possibly, too. We plan to dine in the manhattan room most evenings. We will be traveling with my parents, my sister, brother-in-law and my 2 nieces and my nephew. We have a total of 5 inside cabins on deck 12, all next to each other. My sister has 2 adjoining rooms and so do we. We did this on our last two cruises (Norwegian Jewel and Carnival Splendor) and DH and I wouldn't cruise any other way! The extra space is fantastic, and having two bathrooms is just wonderful. It's not that much more money than a single inside cabin for 4 people either! Well worth the extra.

 

We are really looking forward to this cruise so much. We've all been wanting to go on this ship ever since they announced it was coming out! We all love NCL also. We enjoyed the Jewel very much in 2011 and my sister even went back on it for her honeymoon! :)

[bangzoom6877]

Question..did they have a chocoholic night in the MDR where they had special chocolate desserts? If so, which night was it?

 

Do they ever offer filet mignon or chateaubriand in the MDR? If so, which night or nights? I will be getting filet at Cagney's but it would be nice to have it twice, or to have chateaubriand in addition on a different night.

[beachcomberbill]

Question..did they have a chocoholic night in the MDR where they had special chocolate desserts? If so, which night was it?

 

 

 

Do they ever offer filet mignon or chateaubriand in the MDR? If so, which night or nights? I will be getting filet at Cagney's but it would be nice to have it twice, or to have chateaubriand in addition on a different night.

 

They did have a "chocoholic night" in the MDRs, and I believe it was on Fri. night which was the next to last night. Unfortunately I can't partake in that. However with that said, each night in the MDRs there is a sugar free dessert listed and that was what I had.

Now the night that we dined in Cagney's (which apparently has the most experienced staff on the ship) I was disappointed when there was no sugar free desserts listed. The waiter came out and did the obviously coached line since we had heard it a few times already that week , "Are you ready for the best part of the meal?" (Frankly I always consider the appetizers the best part). I told him I couldn't have any of those items and he actually went somewhere on the ship and brought me back a sugar free chocolate eclair and a dish of no sugar added ice cream. That the wait staff and maitre d' were especially good at Cagney's made us annoyed when the couple dining next to us complained about the slow service.

We didn't find it slow, we found it appropriate for dining at a "better restaurant". It is a dining experience. If you are simply refueling to get to the next activity then why not just go and pick from the buffets on 15 and 16? (Which it seems a lot of people do.) You sit and enjoy a nice bottle of wine, listen to the dinner music which was background standards, have a nice conversation, and take your time. That's what dining should be in our opinion. So be prepared to spend two hours there. We once took our older son and the rest of the family to a restaurant in New Orleans which is on the best ten list for the entire United States, for his law school graduation. Dinner lasted FOUR HOURS. No one complained about slow service; because it was meant to be food as an art form.

Now there was one night, as I recall the last night, in which Prime Ribs were a choice in all of the MDRs as well as at O'Sheehans. I don't remember seeing filet mignon listed. I think other than at Cagney's it was also a choice at LeBistro, though.

[bangzoom6877]

They did have a "chocoholic night" in the MDRs, and I believe it was on Fri. night which was the next to last night. Unfortunately I can't partake in that. However with that said, each night in the MDRs there is a sugar free dessert listed and that was what I had.

Now the night that we dined in Cagney's (which apparently has the most experienced staff on the ship) I was disappointed when there was no sugar free desserts listed. The waiter came out and did the obviously coached line since we had heard it a few times already that week , "Are you ready for the best part of the meal?" (Frankly I always consider the appetizers the best part). I told him I couldn't have any of those items and he actually went somewhere on the ship and brought me back a sugar free chocolate eclair and a dish of no sugar added ice cream. That the wait staff and maitre d' were especially good at Cagney's made us annoyed when the couple dining next to us complained about the slow service.

We didn't find it slow, we found it appropriate for dining at a "better restaurant". It is a dining experience. If you are simply refueling to get to the next activity then why not just go and pick from the buffets on 15 and 16? (Which it seems a lot of people do.) You sit and enjoy a nice bottle of wine, listen to the dinner music which was background standards, have a nice conversation, and take your time. That's what dining should be in our opinion. So be prepared to spend two hours there. We once took our older son and the rest of the family to a restaurant in New Orleans which is on the best ten list for the entire United States, for his law school graduation. Dinner lasted FOUR HOURS. No one complained about slow service; because it was meant to be food as an art form.

Now there was one night, as I recall the last night, in which Prime Ribs were a choice in all of the MDRs as well as at O'Sheehans. I don't remember seeing filet mignon listed. I think other than at Cagney's it was also a choice at LeBistro, though.

 

I completely agree with you about fine dining taking longer...and it should! The last thing I want on vacation is to be rushed out of a restaurant by the staff. I always expect dinner in the MDR to take two hours, and my children have been accustomed to that from an early age (18 months old for my big one on his first cruise, and on our second and third ones with kids my big one was 6 and then 8 respectively, and my little one was 4 and then 6, respectively). We also take them to nice restaurants whenever we celebrate an occasion with the family, ever since they were babies. Appropriate places that welcome children of course, but still nice places and we eat a multi course dinner that takes a couple of hours, sometimes closer to 3 hours. And I'm very proud to say that we never let our sons bring any electronics to a restaurant. It's just against our own personal beliefs, I'm not bashing anyone who allows their children to do so, so I hope no one takes that the wrong way.

 

I would have felt the same way you felt about the couple complaining that it was taking too long. We rush every day in our daily routine of real life, and on vacation we want to take our time and relax more. That's also why we never eat dinner in the buffet. On every cruise I've been on, the buffet is the most crowded venue at dinner. We never ate dinner there, but a couple of times DH and I had dinner just the two of us, so we took the boys to eat something at the buffet first before they went to the camp. DH and I looked at each other and asked each other if all those people even knew that they could be served a nice dinner every night in the MDR! But that's why they have lots of choices on cruises today...I remember back in the early 1990s when my family started cruising, the only option for dinner was the MDR unless you got room service which was 24 hours a day. Imagine that today on a ship! ;)