My Breakway to Bermuda review, 10/11/15-10/18/15

[MastaBlasta]

A bit about me: This was my wife and I's 3rd cruise, celebrating our 5yr anniversary. I like to do reviews and feel I've been on a few boats now and can gauge what is what.

 

The Breakaway herself: This was the largest ship we've ever been on and certainly the newest. We were impressed with its size, it truly is a massive vessel.

 

There seemed to be a lot of crew, mostly happy and saying hello when they see you - whether in restaurants, shops, the casino, hallways, out on deck. Someone was always doing something. The ship itself is in excellent shape and looks "new".

 

We had rough seas the day before arriving and the day after leaving Bermuda and I was amazed at how well the ship handled it. At one point we had 30mph winds and 14ft waves and ship handled it like an absolute champ, very confidence inspiring.

 

Muster Drill: In a word, atrocious. It took 45 mins and we had to meet in the theater, of all places. Seating was assigned and was an absolute mess, imagine it during an emergency? Norwegian needs to change this practice ASAP. Everyone was agitated by the end and was a bit of a drag to start our cruise this way. Royal Caribbean's MD is actually on the deck where you should be and takes 15 minutes flat, no excuses for NCL's to be this complex.

 

Stateroom: We upgraded last minute from inside cabin to a guaranteed balcony room and couldn't have been happier. We were on Deck 8, Stateroom 8762 (BB!). The size, layout, storage space, comfort and function were all excellent. And because of our location, we were super close to all the popular decks which made dining and walking around a breeze.

 

I feel the ceiling was the lowest of the other cruise lines we've sailed before but can't say for sure, at nearly 5'10 the step-up bathroom was a tad cramped, but not a big deal because I don't spend much time in there anyway. The toilet area had just enough space for me and I'm not a small guy. Shower had good space but I found we suffered from varying levels of pressure, it never felt strong the whole trip but was average most of the time. The water always seems to feel hot no matter how much cold you introduced.

 

The balcony had just enough space for my and my wife to sit, it's small but never felt cramped , plenty of room to stretch out facing each other, with large comfortable railings to lean on. All-in-all a fine room with no complaints.

 

Our Steward was ok at best. Room was decorated for our anniversary but barely met her standard duties afterwards. Shower soap was never refilled and I had to call her for that. After 1 room makeup she only gave us 1 towel. We kept calling her for service/towels since only 2 were in the room (for showering) so you think she'd double up for us? Wife was a little disappointed there were no towel animals with the exception for 1 night, and it was a very simplistic crab....or so we think. Again, nothing that ruined our time but was a bit annoying to deal with it as many times as we did.

 

The FOOD: My wife and I were both impressed with the quality of the food (for a cruise line). Everything we had was "good" or better.

 

Buffet: We heard nightmare stories about how horribly crowded the buffet was, so in an act of defiance and curiosity I had to check it out. Long story short - crowds were in line with what we've seen on other cruise lines - so Average in our opinion. We often found a table right next to the window.

 

We ate breakfast there 4 times and arrived right around 8:30am each morning. Usually about 3-4 people per omelette line, some times 1 or none - no longer than 5 minute wait times. Food always looked and tasted fresh. My wife stuck to Omelettes (which were very good) while I found the thick cut French Toast to be very tasty, as well as the Orange Juice which was refreshing and tasted like fresh squeezed.

 

Overall the Buffet was not nearly as bad as I've read it to be. If you don't need a ton of variety and want less drama. Head up 1 more deck and enjoy the Uptown Grill. The couple time we went up there we found it to be much quieter, with all the popular choices of the buffet (including the omelette station).

 

O'Sheehan's: This is the go-to 24hr pub centrally located on Deck 7. We ate lunch here once and had a few late night snacks here. Again, food was good here. My wife really enjoyed the Corn beef and Cabbage soup, while I thought the burgers were always tasty and above-average.

 

The Manhattan Room: Huge dining room with entertainment in the center. I had this reserved with really high hopes. We ended up having a poor service experience which turned us off, it took 2 hours to eat dinner combined with a forgetful waitress made us ignore our remaining reservations and move on to Taste and Savor.

 

Taste/Savor: These were our choices every night of the cruise for dinner and most lunches. The experience is much more refined, personal and what you would expect from a cruise dining experience. Food is the same between either but service was always top notch. Save the time and just book these.

 

La Cucina: We decided to eat here on the recommendation of a family friend and for $20/pp it was worth it. Food and service was excellent, similar to any $100+ couples dinner. Fresh baked bread was delicious, excellent pizza, perfectly cooked pasta, excellent seafood. It was ideal for a romantic dinner for two.

 

Bars: All the bars had generally very attentive staff and respected our UBP cards by giving us top middle to top shelf every drinks. They were always made properly and looked the right way. We has a special experience as the Mixx bar. We meant a great bartender named Joaquim. He is a great guy, very personable and very professional, well-trained bartender. Give him a look from 5-11pm, you won't regret it.

 

One odd thing I noticed was that most of these bars had very weird seating that wasn't the least bit comfortable. Either the stools were hard, too high to tuck your legs under, or too small to fit your butt on. Mixx has good seats and a good bar tender so we parked there most nights before/after dinner.

 

Shows/Entertainment/Open Areas:

Adult Only Comedy Improv: Booked this with no expectations as most people said it was "Okay" and I tend to agree for the most part. By the time the 11pm show rolled around we had a few drinks in us and that certainly helped, we smiled a lot and laughed a bit so it wasn't a waste of time at all. Book it as something to do.

 

Rock of Ages: This is the big show. Despite being born in the 80's I wasn't really "pumped" for the show but after the first 5 minutes you really get into it. It was well done, had plenty of good songs, enough skin, innuendo and comedy to keep it interesting the whole way through. Wife really enjoyed it and I'm glad I saw it too.

 

We missed Burn the Floor and others due to random reasons, either being too tired or felt like doing other things.

 

Glow Party

Something my wife really wanted to see, we went there and got our first dose of Silas the Cruise Director. We didn't really care for him or his ...flamboyant demeanor. He didn't seem funny or that entertaining to us, almost into himself more then the guests.

 

Couples Games If you've seen one, you've seen them all. As always, the quality of the show depends on the couples picked.

 

Rope Course/Water Slides:Very fun and exciting. Gets the adrenaline pumping. I had no clue these were the fastest slides at sea until after I rode them and they're a blast. Rope Course was just as fun. My wife instantly mastered the various crossings and passed grown men holding on for dear life, very entertaining.

 

Deck 15/16While we didn't partake in the pools or hot tubs we found their to be plenty of space and chairs to sun bathe. The Sun Deck was never packed or busy. I think people simply don't explore enough but that was THE spot to get away from a crowd and relax, a bar is right at the bottom of the steps too.

 

Shopping: There are plenty of shopping options on this ship. The jewelry store was bigger than what's in most malls. The liquor shop was smallish but well stocked, we took advantage of some truly good deals. There was a couple souvenir and clothing shops as well as a camera/tech shop with several kiosks in between. They sell some decent stuff on here if you look around but most of it is junk you can find back home or online.

 

Casino:Probably my biggest let down of the cruise, I'm using that term somewhat lightly because the cruise was truly fantastic but as a Roulette player I was devastated. Only two tables - both with $10 minimums and $2 chips! I'm not well off and I'm not poor either but losing $50 in 3 minutes plus having to cash out $8 because I don't have $2 more was a real drag - they slash your odds of winning tremendously because you cant fork out $20 a spin.

 

My last RC cruise had no min and $1 chips. I could be there for an hour with $50, winning and losing, having a real good time. So coming from that to this was a tough pill to swallow.

 

The open air design and layout in the middle of the ship is horrible, plain and simple. The decks above and below wreak of smoke because of it. You have to go through the casino if you want to go forward or aft on Deck 7, forcing you to pass a gauntlet of smoke. The slots are totally unorganized and seem like they're just jammed in to as many rows as they can fit. I like and prefer a casino ROOM. This casino doesn't have the same feel and it's a little odd playing table games while families and kids are passing by you in this giant open area.

 

End Result

We had a fantastic cruise. What really made it special was having perfect weather for a Full 2 and half days in Bermuda. Our last cruise was rained out and we left early because a hurricane was coming so this was a huge risk we took and it payed off beautifully.

 

The Breakaway is impressive in every facet. Food, Drink, Style and Sea handling abilities were top notch. We took advantage of the $250 deposit to get $100 credit this cruise as we plan on going again (credit good for 4yrs, any cruise) so it was a no-brainer. Services and amenities were all flawless with a few minor exceptions that you hardly can remember when you look back on all the fine memories.

 

Cruise this boat without hesitation!

[bumorgan]

thanks for a informative review! You made a couple of pointers I will keep in mind for our May cruise.

 

Dan

[Willowmina]

Thanks for posting your review!

[hansolosmom]

Thanks for the review, sounds like it was a good time. I'm bummed to hear about the roulette table, I'm one too who brings $20 to gamble and that's my favorite game to play.

[MastaBlasta]

Thanks for the replies and I apologize for the typos. I was stopping and starting several times as I typed this up at work.

 

Any questions let me know.

[ncklhaus]

Great review. Thanks for sharing.

[justus4recks]

We were on this same cruise and enjoyed it very much as well ! We have been on several cruise lines for 7 cruises and this being our 2nd NCL cruise. By far this was the nicest crew and fellow passengers we have experienced. Food was excellent ( although we only ate at the specialty restraunts). I have read so many negative posts about the Breakaway lately that I just had to chime in with something good ;) I would not hesitate to cruise on this ship again. We did the deposit as well and can't wait to cruise on NCL again .

[MastaBlasta]

We were on this same cruise and enjoyed it very much as well ! We have been on several cruise lines for 7 cruises and this being our 2nd NCL cruise. By far this was the nicest crew and fellow passengers we have experienced. Food was excellent ( although we only ate at the specialty restraunts). I have read so many negative posts about the Breakaway lately that I just had to chime in with something good ;) I would not hesitate to cruise on this ship again. We did the deposit as well and can't wait to cruise on NCL again .

 

I agree about the negativity going around about the BA, I can't really understand how 1 or 2 "bad" meals can ruin a 7 day cruise. No ship is perfect, each has it's ups and downs but some people aren't giving it a fair shake.

 

To complain that the inside decks getting busy when it rains outside is just unfair, all ships are effected in this way.

 

I will agree the public spaces inside could have been bigger, but the outside decks are expansive and have plenty of room for the ship to sun bathe - you just can't have it all! :)

[Vacationlover2]

I agree that the Breakaway is an amazing ship. So much fun. We had an awesome time.

[garnet115]

Muster Drill: In a word, atrocious. It took 45 mins and we had to meet in the theater, of all places. Seating was assigned and was an absolute mess, imagine it during an emergency? Norwegian needs to change this practice ASAP. Everyone was agitated by the end and was a bit of a drag to start our cruise this way. Royal Caribbean's MD is actually on the deck where you should be and takes 15 minutes flat, no excuses for NCL's to be this complex.

 

Thank you for a very balanced and detailed review. Glad you had a great trip. I agree with most of your observations. The one place where I really must disagree is regarding the muster drill. I LOVED when my muster station was in the theater. There were clearly defined sections with a place for everyone to sit. I had a similar experience when my muster station was in the Manhattan Room. The only time I ever had a problem was when we were assigned to the atrium - that was truly chaotic and tiresome with everyone crammed in and not enough places to sit. When I was on Holland America a few years back, we had to muster out on deck that was similar to my atrium experience: crowded and chaotic. I keep my fingers crossed that I am assigned to the theater on my next sailing.

[BobbyD]

Thanks for the review! I have been on RCCL, X, and Carnival and have thought about taking a NCL cruise on one of the newer ships. My wife has been on 2 NCL cruises on smaller, older ships and had mixed feelings. Cruising out of NYC has its appeal as we live in CT. Thanks again!

[meatball_nyc]

Enjoyed reading your review very much. Thanks for taking the time to share your experiences and for the tip on the bartender at Mixx Bar ;).

Breakaway to Bermuda is a fantastic trip, especially with good weather there.

We will be back onboard in 10 days and really wish it was back to BDA.

 

Thanks again and happy sailing!

[MastaBlasta]

Thank you for a very balanced and detailed review. Glad you had a great trip. I agree with most of your observations. The one place where I really must disagree is regarding the muster drill. I LOVED when my muster station was in the theater. There were clearly defined sections with a place for everyone to sit. I had a similar experience when my muster station was in the Manhattan Room. The only time I ever had a problem was when we were assigned to the atrium - that was truly chaotic and tiresome with everyone crammed in and not enough places to sit. When I was on Holland America a few years back, we had to muster out on deck that was similar to my atrium experience: crowded and chaotic. I keep my fingers crossed that I am assigned to the theater on my next sailing.

 

I guess what caused a lot of problems were people just generally not understanding what was going on. The fact you have to scan your room key to "vouch" for you being there is kinda lame too. I was also in section A - all the way at the bottom - so it took a long time to get down and even longer to get back up.

 

It wouldn't be half as bad if they had a 3rd staircase but all those middle rows take a long time to empty.

 

Again, I'm used to standing out on deck for 10-15 mins and walking back in any way I choose, so this process was not fun but I'd endure it again from another BA trip!

[kapcruiser]

Was bed by balcony or closet?