Design of the Breakaway

[Crusin6]

I agree. People were having a blast. I watched the "battle of the sexes" in the Atrium and cheered everyone on. I just think the idea of putting those events in the same space as guest services, where people are trying to sort out problem is an odd choice.

 

 

 

Like I said, the cruise was great. But the ship was just not my favorite. Le Bistro and the casino in the same space (one floor up, but you could smell the smoke on the "terrace" of Le Bistro) - who though that was a good match ?

 

 

We chose to pass on le bistro because of its proximity to the casino

 

We only do one specialty these days as we feel the quality is diminished compared to a few years ago

 

But I digress....

 

Anyway ncl lost our le bistro money

 

 

 

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[CanadaJulie]

Our group of 11 was sitting towards the end of the cruise discussing what we had done and seen and my Mom asked if we'd book NCL again. This was our first time with NCL and I am not sure if I'd choose them again...

 

For one, there were lots of unexplained changes before we sailed - from the spontaneous addition of the room service charge after a 1 week 'trial', to the 2 increases in DSC. They dis-allowed bringing food to the room, then revoked that. They changed our departure from Bermuda to 3pm instead of 5pm about (for no apparent reason) 3 week before our sail date so I had to switch some of our plans around. I mean, we booked in March - this is a lot of changes in a few months.

 

On board, the issue with our missing OBC kinda weighed on me. 1600$ of yours (me and my brother combined) goes missing, you worry about it ! It took the entire cruise to sort it out.

 

My mom was actually hit IN THE HEAD by one of those plexiglass exit signs. It fell out of it's socket on the ceiling and hit her on the head, then scraped a decent amount of skin off her arm on the way down. She was knocked out for a few seconds and came to on the floor, bleeding. She was brought down to the medical facilities and released shortly after her but then no follow up was ever done. I mean - some object falls onto your head (totally NCL's fault - she didn't trip down the stairs because she was wearing flip flops) and no one ever bothers to even call her the next day to see how she is doing ? Not the medical team, security, no one ? *WE* watched for signs of a concussion and infection but no one from the ship followed up ?? I really thought that was poor service.

 

(side note: the lady from security who came down to the medical sneter with us said she's "seen loose signs and signs fallen on the floor but had never seen anyone injured by the signs falling on them" - SERIOUSLY ?? What does it take for your maintenance team to check ALL the damn signs ?? Someone getting hit in the head with one ?)

 

I'm not one to scream "compensation !!" but somehow a call from the Guest Services Manager to apologize after the OBC mess, or a free meal at Le Bistro for my Mom after her injury would have gone a long way. As it is, we went through all this and it seems NCL is like "oh, it' fixed now".

 

Unless I get the DEAL OF THE CENTURY I'm pretty sure NCL is NOT where I will spend my next vacation dollars...

Edited September 2, 2015 by CanadaJulie

[liveonbeach]

That is awful CanadaJulie!!! My husband keeps complaining that I booked with NCL after hating NCL's style of always nickeling and diming you for everything. But,I got a really good deal with the ultimate beverage package included for both of us and a soda package for my daughter included it really better be worth it on this gem are we definitely will never go again with NC I got a really good deal with the ultimate beverage package include for both of us and a soda package for my daughter included. It really better be worth it on this gem are we definitely will never go again with NCL. We usually cruise with Royal. We did go with Carnival once, our very first cruise. We liked it, no complaints.

[Knobhdy]

One thing I noticed on the Breakaway was that all the public spaces seemed about 2" too narrow. You couldn't pass someone in the stateroom hallways without one of you turning sideways a bit. If not, shoulders would have rubbed. I felt the same way in the atrium and some of the restaurants.

It wasn't super noticeable (I'm in design, so these things stand out to me) because many of us unconsciously make purse smaller to give others space everyday - think squeezing yourself into a seat on the subway so you don't touch the person next to you.

 

Still people become stressed when they are repeatedly squeezed and I noticed that stress manifesting in short tempers when crowds formed. Everyone seemed just a bit not happy.

 

It's too bad they choose to use a design that adds to stress and tension instead of one that fosters relaxation, but people equals money, and money is why ncl (and every other company) is in business.

[liveonbeach]

Yes the hallways were terrible. That's my reference to being packed in like sardines. Yes if you want more people because they equal more money then make bigger and bigger, never compromise. And when they do compromise they don't lower the prices. In fact any time you want to sail on one of the newest ships it costs on average an extra $2,000.

[CanadaJulie]

We really noticed the hallways and tight spaces !! A few days before our cruise, my brother ruptured his Achilles tendon and required an operation. We was in a wheelchair for the cruise. I called and was told the door was 26". My brother measured his wheelchair and we figured we were all set. Nope - the door does not open all the way and would not let his 25" wheelchair through, sigh... :rolleyes:

 

Deck 10's hallway was insanely narrow. Deck 5 seemed pretty good

[liveonbeach]

Yes the hallways were terrible. That's my reference to being packed in like sardines. Yes if you want more people because they equal more money then make bigger and bigger, never compromise. And when they do compromise they don't lower the prices. In fact any time you want to sail on one of the newest ships it costs on average an extra $2,000.

[bbryan5]

I thought the design was just fine :D:D:D

[adivineeternity]

I've only sailed on the Breakaway, so obviously I can't really compare her to anything. My boyfriend and I were in a BD with an angled balcony last September and he was the one who commented on the room being a little smaller than he expected, but that it wasn't that big of a deal overall. Our balcony was decently-sized, as we could both sit out there and set up a tripod with no huge issues, but the bed was pretty freaking close to the closet. We've got a BA with an angled balcony for next month and this time the bed will be by the far side and with the couch by the closet. That may wind up helping us a great deal.

 

I personally am an asthmatic with an allergy to smoke, so the only way for me to be 100% comfortable is for there to be no cigarette smoking anywhere I go. I definitely noticed the smoke in the casino and surrounding area, as a result, but was usually okay as long as I didn't linger. We ate inside at Le Bistro so it wouldn't be a factor.

 

Neither of us are huge on just randomly swimming, so we stuck to the water slides and didn't have much of an issue as a result while on the pool deck. We found a couple loungers in the shade quickly (don't get me wrong, it was bursting with people and activity), put our stuff down carefully so it wouldn't be tempting, and never had to wait more than 5 or so minutes for a slide in the 2 hours we spent on them.

 

Buffet was no issue for us ever. We ate there multiple times but never had a problem finding seating or dealing with overly long lines. Multiple stations with the same thing was nice, actually, cause if one line ran out or was just *too* long, we would find the next closest one.

 

Again, we have nothing to compare it to, but we both fell in love with the ship and are looking forward to boarding in 17.5 days! BERMUDAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

 

ETA: I should mention we actually very rarely encountered crowds on our sailing despite a fully-booked ship. Not quite as fully-booked as a summer sailing when the kids are on-board, but there weren't empty cabins, either. I think we had some 4100 or so people and yet our longest wait for dinner was 15 minutes.

Edited September 3, 2015 by adivineeternity

[sverigecruiser]

We chose to pass on le bistro because of its proximity to the casino

 

We only do one specialty these days as we feel the quality is diminished compared to a few years ago

 

But I digress....

 

Anyway ncl lost our le bistro money

 

 

 

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We weren't bothered by noice or smoke from the casino in Le Bistro.

 

I may agree that the quality is diminished but I still think that Le Bistro is worth the extra Money.

[liveonbeach]

Double posted

Edited September 3, 2015 by liveonbeach
Sorry posted twice by accident

[maywell]

If one thinks about for a second - the time of year you sail affects how bad / intolerable or good / well the Breakaway design are.

 

Giving credit to Seadog67 for taking a picture of main adult pool in the summertime because the contrast from winter sailing is completely different - it was massively overcrowded all-around in August compare to my November-December sailing, where you can actually swim in the pool plus no one was standing around it even when it was balmy 80 degrees. That's a startling difference - I wish I taken a photo of main pool when I had sailed because it really is huge difference, it like two different worlds on the same ship due to the seasons.

 

Gotta remember - the high season for cruise lines operating in the Caribbean is the summer months and holidays when kids are out of school. While the off or low season for cruise ships in that area is when school or colleges are in session (this only pertains to cruise lines, the actual islands themselves - its mostly the reverse due to hurricane season). This effects how many people are onboard - a soldout sailing in November thats not holiday week has a different volume of people in the cabin , where its mostly 2 people in a cabin, compare to same month but its Thanksgiving week and its mostly 3-4 people in most rooms.

 

Gotta take all those factors into consideration when discussing the design of the Breakaway (and by extension, other cruise ships like Allure of the Seas or Carnival Glory). It does make a difference from getting drink service, buffet setup, activities, noise volume, etc on a ship.

 

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[Ms.Eva]

Ms.Eva I'm glad you like the Gem. So you enjoyed the Queen Mary 11 as well? Is that ship too fancy though? If so, we would probably feel too out of place. We are just down to earth tee shirt and shorts type of people.

 

I like QM2 because the ship is large but doesn't feel crowded, IMO the BA felt too crowded.

 

I like the Gem because it didn't feel crowded, and it's a relaxed ship. To me anybody can wear anything and be "down to earth." For me, tee shirts and shorts are relaxed, so for that, I go for the Gem.

[barnacle_boy]

Queen Mary 2 (QM2) is a completely different type of ship. She was designed and built a decade earlier for a differing clientele, predominantly older Brits. It's not really sensible to compare her to Breakaway, a much newer ship aimed at American families.

 

With no question NCL is the better option for "t-shirts and shorts." After a while the formality of Cunard seems a bit pretentious, but that's just my opinion.

 

I've done 10 cruises on QM2, and she has many, many design issues of her own. Breakaway is a much better cruise ship in my opinion. QM2 suffers greatly from all of the compromises her designers made to make her a "liner."

[rydan]

I agree with the OP. The layout almost seems like an afterthought in many ways.

The pool deck is a huge problem during vacation season and holiday sailings. But, this is not exclusive to NCL. But I most others think the market place area is wasted space that the engineers could have done a better job with.

 

The balcony cabin is funky, especially when the bed is by the closet. However, the bathroom layout is one of the best I've seen in my cruising experiences.

 

The buffet lacks personality, but still functions like it should.

[adivineeternity]

I agree with the OP. The layout almost seems like an afterthought in many ways.

The pool deck is a huge problem during vacation season and holiday sailings. But, this is not exclusive to NCL. But I most others think the market place area is wasted space that the engineers could have done a better job with.

 

The balcony cabin is funky, especially when the bed is by the closet. However, the bathroom layout is one of the best I've seen in my cruising experiences.

 

The buffet lacks personality, but still functions like it should.

I don't care if my buffet has personality. I go there to eat, so it darn well better have food, and lots of it! [emoji14]

 

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[Ms.Eva]

Queen Mary 2 (QM2) is a completely different type of ship. She was designed and built a decade earlier for a differing clientele, predominantly older Brits. It's not really sensible to compare her to Breakaway, a much newer ship aimed at American families.

 

With no question NCL is the better option for "t-shirts and shorts." After a while the formality of Cunard seems a bit pretentious, but that's just my opinion.

 

I've done 10 cruises on QM2, and she has many, many design issues of her own. Breakaway is a much better cruise ship in my opinion. QM2 suffers greatly from all of the compromises her designers made to make her a "liner."

 

The reason I mentioned the QM2 was because the QM2 is larger than the BA, yet the BA has more passengers. I never felt crowded on the QM2 or on the Gem the way I did on the BA. However some of that could have been the time of year I was on the BA, which was in July.

[bjtravelnews]

We sailed at the end of June and our ship was at maximum passenger capacity. It was crowded in many places. I still say there were some design flaws, especially in the venues for public events. Spice H2O was mobbed for the sail-away party, glow party and fireworks. There is no way 4000 people can fit into an area that's designed for a fraction of that number (I'd love to know what the capacity is for the area). The theater, compared to other ships we have sailed on, is very tiny. The atrium is nice, but also crowded, especially in the evening. There also should be a few more elevators. The balcony was the smallest we have ever had. We managed to make it work by setting the chairs sideways, otherwise there is not enough leg room. The rooms, themselves also seemed to be more cramped.

Just to be fair - the Breakaway is still our favorite ship. It is the easiest to navigate in the stateroom corridors (just follow the fish). There are so many different free places to eat and there are lots of activities. We never thought we would like free style dining, but now find that we prefer it. No worrying about getting back from an excursion to get our table and we can eat earlier or later than normal. Overall, the staff was the most friendly we have ever encountered.

So, despite the shortcomings I have found, we are sailing on the Breakaway again next June. We know what to expect (sailing at about the same time, to the same destination), so we will get to events at Spice H2O a lot earlier, we will take a room towel for the back of the uncomfortable seats in the theater and we will still have fun. (And I will make sure I get hubby to do the ropes course this time!)

[rydan]

I don't care if my buffet has personality. I go there to eat, so it darn well better have food, and lots of it! [emoji14]

 

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TRUE[emoji12]. You got me on that one....

[KMVigs]

Just sailed on the Breakaway in mid-August of this year. This was my first time on NCL. Thought the layout was great. It was easy to remember where everything was! The buffet was fine.. You don't have to wait in line for just one thing. They have multiple stations everywhere. I never felt it was crowded. However, i did have to go to guest services and it was difficult to talk to the person behind the desk... It didn't ruin my cruise, though. The main pool area was VERY crowded and poorly designed. Now THAT felt like an afterthought. I sailed on the Carnival Splendor in June... That layout is a mess. Always got messed up trying to figure out how to get to dinner!

 

I definitely liked the Breakaway. One of the best cruises I've done so far. Definitely recommend the Haven. Had a very large room with tons of storage!

[liveonbeach]

I would LOVE to get a haven room, but would never be able to afford it or justify spending that ton of money.

[bjinouno]

Always swore from the day the BA came to NY NO way, it's too big which means to many kids.... and a big ship with 7 day sailings in the summer, I would never get to see or enjoy what this ship has to offer, Well I went last Jan for a 12 day cruise, I saw Everything the ship had to offer and more! yes atrium is crazy, wish they held some of this great stuff in the theather, where everyone could see what is going on, Some day someone is going to go over one of those railings watching things,,

as far as Medic, My brother became ill and was asked to try to stay in his room for at least 24 hours which turned into 2 days, (he thought he was in the hospital.. the nurse would come up 3 to 4 times a day to take his temp and see how he was feeling, They also made sure he got room service of Foods he could eat (low sodium) at any time of the day (meaning breakfast food) Love the fact that guard is by the adult pool at 7/8/9/10 pm and they don't open it up for kids.... What IF I wanted to take a nigh time swim? it's adults only.

As far as the closet OK so it's a bit tight.. How long do u need to stand in front of it to pick out your PRE selected outfits, IF there are only two of you in the room ask your room stward to remove the extra's under the couch and US that drawer for easy access to shoes and what ever... The balcony I'm sure you all heard and saw how small they were before you booked it,, There are SOOOOO many places to sit, lounge, suntan, read all over the ship besides the pool area..... I really enjoyed the entire ship... and with all important things on 6/7/and 8 all you need are the stairs, leave the elevators for those who NEED it, That is where the problem is, People jumping on elevators before someone in a wheel chair or using a cane... wow did I ramble... can't wait to be packed back on next year for 14 days.. while schools are is session