A mom’s Breakaway review – Thanksgiving 2015

[Willowmina]

After reading countless reviews before our cruise I wanted to write a brief (maybe not so brief) review of our Thanksgiving cruise on the Breakaway. A little background – it was my hubby, two daughters (ages 10&12) and me. We stayed in a 2-bedroom suite in the Haven.

Edited December 13, 2015 by nancypaz

[Willowmina]

Getting To the Boat - Very easy! We live on Long Island (Suffolk County). After dropping off our dog at the sitter, we headed into the city. The line to park was long, but went pretty fast. We were in the terminal by 11am and on the boat at noon.

 

Splash Academy - Since there were so many children on board this week, ages 10-12 Splash Academy was held in the Bliss Lounge. I gave my girls permission to check themselves in and out. The rules are… if your child checks themselves in they must stay 2 hrs or until the end of the current session. We downloaded the iconcierge app so they could text us when they left. With the 2 hr rule, they generally end up having to stay until the end of the session so most of the time we just met them in the room.

 

Burn to the Floor – definitely not for 10 & 12 year olds. My girls enjoyed the first 15 minutes, and then they were bored – and so was I. But my goodness – people are so incredibly rude & disrespectful. The show was about 45 minutes long. You could see that the performers were very talented, hard-working people. What would make anyone feel it’s okay to get up and leave in the middle of a performance? By the time the show was over, the theatre was ½ full. And yes – the bar on the back of those seats is really annoying!

 

Rock of Ages – I had read previous reviews that this show was not appropriate for children. I had reservations for all of us to see the show, knowing that I probably wouldn’t take the girls. A few of their friends were going, and they wanted to also go, but I decided we would go see Second City Family Improv instead. Friends of ours said they had to walk out of Rock of Ages because it was over the top inappropriate.

 

Second City – this was the only show we enjoyed as a family! We attended the all ages improv show – it was great! FYI – you need reservations. And get there early to get good seats.

 

Cirque Dreams Jungle Fantasy – we loved the cirque show on the Epic. The show on the Epic had a great MC who made us laugh and there was audience interaction. This was not the case on the BA. My issue with the show was that it was non-stop performances, no audience interaction to break things up a bit. The food was okay – don’t go see this show for the food!

 

Atrium – I read many comments that the atrium is not big enough for the activities. It takes a little getting used to, but I liked the ability to come and go to the atrium events as I pleased. It was definitely cozy at times!

 

Ropes Course/Rock Wall/Breakaway Bounce – If these activities are what is supposed to make the BA great for kids, then why such limited hours??? I do not understand. This only leads to long lines and gets everyone frustrated.

 

Pool – okay this was a surprise to me. There are two pools on deck 15. One is adjacent to the slides and kids aqua park. Then there is a pool adjacent to the waves pool bar. The pool next to the waves pool bar is adults only?? Seriously?? Is Spice H2O not enough for adults? The kids pool was jam packed with people while the adults pool was empty.

 

Video Games/Bowling – my girls had lots of fun in the arcade. We all enjoyed bowling and playing games at O’Sheehan’s. But the games add up quickly $$$$!

 

The Waterfront – I can see how this area is great during nice weather. Unfortunately we were not able to enjoy it on this cruise.

 

Weather – we were not lucky with the weather and had to miss Great Stirrup Cay. It was a bummer, but nothing you can do about the weather! Kudos to the captain who gave daily informative weather updates.

 

Food – By day 4 I was tired of figuring out what to eat next! Eating becomes a chore for me on a cruise. But, I thought overall the food was really good.

 

Taste – yummy! Had dinner once and lunch once there. Enjoyed both meals.

 

Haven Restaurant – We ate breakfast there everyday. And dinner most nights. One night I asked them for a meal from the MDR that I had in Taste – no problem! It would be nice if the HR would change the menu every few days.

 

Uptown Grille – Very tasty! Enjoyed the salad bar.

 

Buffet – The girls enjoyed lunch there with their friends almost every afternoon. My husband and I ate there once and it was really good. Service was great. Everything was clean and organized.

 

O’Sheehan’s – as always the wings were great! This is a great place to grab a late-night bite before bed.

 

Unlimited Beverage Package – Wonderful! The only bar that I felt was ever crowded was O’Sheehan’s. There are so many other bars in a minute walk with no wait.

 

With the UBP, a majority of the time they would just swipe your card and hand you your drink. No signing. Bring cash if you want to tip extra!

 

Staff/Service – The entire staff was amazing! I’m really not sure how people can complain about bad service. If you feel the service is bad – just walk away and then try to imagine yourself in their shoes. These are hard working men and women. Treat others how you want to be treated and you will have no complaints.

 

Overall – The shows were my biggest disappointment of the week. Part of the reason I love cruising is for the nightly family entertainment options and the BA was definitely lacking. We didn’t luck out with the weather and that definitely impacts your cruise experience. Cruising in and out of NY is awesome! Not having to get on a plane and deal with all that nonsense is priceless.

Edited December 13, 2015 by nancypaz

[mjkacmom]

My 10 and 12 year old girls Loved Burn the Floor! I think they would have gone to a second time, but we went the last night. I'd rate Rock of Ages a pg13+ - we saw it with ds15 and dd17, and there were no uncomfortable moments. On our sailing, the adult pool was packed, the kids pool wasn't - I guess it depends on the week. I do think they opened up the adult pool to kids here and there with a sign, but that was before the drowning.

[Cruzinbabe06]

Thank you for taking the time to post your review.:)

[cincicruisers]

Sounds like you had a great trip. Thanks for taking the time to post your review.

[farmersescape]

I am taking my girls on the Escape...they are also 10 and 12. Did your 12 year old enjoy the kids club? I am worried she might find it a little young for her.

[Keith1010]

Enjoyed your review.

Keith

[Willowmina]

I am taking my girls on the Escape...they are also 10 and 12. Did your 12 year old enjoy the kids club? I am worried she might find it a little young for her.

 

My 12 yo enjoyed the club most of the time, but my 10 yo enjoyed it more. They had a session where the 10-12's went to the Entourage Teen club and my 12 yo really liked it there. Not all 12 yo's are the same - mine happens to be on the more immature side. I think whether your 12 yo will like Splash Academy depends a lot on if they make a friend right away.

[Cruise-mom]

Thanks for your review, I enjoyed reading it.

[17cruisesnsl]

Thank you for your review. Having been on the ship previously, I agree with your comments about Rock of Ages. Was there any mention of its being replaced? It's been playing since the BA debuted!

[luckyinpa]

nancy thanks for the great review of the BA. we are thinking about a thanksgiving week cruise. from what you are saying about the overflow of the kids activities, i'm assuming thankgiving week is a much higher % of children than normal? i saw one report of 1500 on one thanksgiving

[jackparts]

We also were on the same cruise and have to agree with the limited hours of activities, ie rope course etc. Overall the cruise was good and their was indeed a lot of kids on board. However, I thought that their behavior was excellent and other than problems with Guest Services it went smoothly.

[deehnsly]

After reading your review, I'm rethinking our reservations for Rock of Ages. I skipped on Burn the Floor based solely on the image used to advertise the show as we have will have just turned 5 and a will turn 12 a few days after disembarking girls. :confused: