Monster Photo Review of NCL Breakaway Cruise 7/31 to 8/7

[Smitty74]

First off, let me start by telling you this was a great cruise. I will have points in this review where I criticize NCL, the embarkation, the chair hogs, etc... But I want to make sure that you know that overall, we had a great time.

 

A little back ground on my family. we are a married couple in our early 40's with a daughter thats 9 years old. there are a couple of specific things that I hope will make my review different than the ones you have previously read.

 

1. This is our 4th cruise. We took an NCL cruise many years ago, but more recently, we have taken two Carnival cruises. I consider myself a Carnival Cruiser, so will the Breakaway pull me over to being a NCL cruiser?

 

2. We are Southerners from North Carolina cruising on a ship that is almost completely full of Northerners from New Jersey and New York. How will we view the cruise with our comparatively more laid back attitude than our Northern friends?

 

3. We got a "free" upgrade to the Ultimate Drink Package. How will a married couple that maybe has 6 alcoholic drinks a year act when the liquor is free for a week?

 

4. and finally (this is the big one) I took ALOT of pictures. I didnt just take pretty pictures, I took informational pictures that hopefully will give you an idea what your getting into when you book your own cruise on the Breakaway. I had my DSLR with me the entire time, and anytime I saw something curious, interesting, or odd, I took a picture of it. I hope you like pictures, cause here we go......

 

Leaving the house....Maybe..... (T minus 2 days till the cruise)

 

The Plan was to leave North Carolina at Oh Dark Thirty on Friday morning, and jump on a plane to Manhattan. we would then spend two days in the city, followed by by embarkation on the Breakaway Sunday Morning. That was the plan. what actually happened was a little different. when we woke up Friday morning, My daughter was coughing like crazy and was in no condition to fly, let alone get on a cruise ship. We delayed our flights, and took her to the doctor Friday morning. the doctor diagnosed her with Bronchitis, gave her anti-biotics just in case, and told us we were cleared to take her on the plane as long as we rested her before the cruise. By Sunday when the cruise left, she would have three doses of medicine in her, and there would be no danger of being contagious or anything.

 

With the doctors assurances that we were good to go, we left for New York Friday afternoon.

 

Here we are in the taxi from the airport.

 

Our hotel had a 4th floor sitting area, and while my wife and daughter slept in the room, I liked coming out here to read.

 

That same patio in the morning, looking the other way.

 

Touring NY City, T Minus 1 day till Cruise

 

By Saturday, My daughter was feeling somewhat better. good enough to get out of the room for a few hours, and visit the Museum of Natural History. we could have spent two days in this place, but after a coupe of hours, my recovering child pooped out, and we took her back to the room to sleep.

 

Bagels for Breakfast.

 

The museum

 

who knew dinosaurs had feathers?

 

to Be continued.....

Edited August 10, 2016 by Smitty74

[Smitty74]

T Minus 1 day till the cruise continued....

 

 

 

 

the girls go for a walk in Central Park.

 

I even got to sneak out that night and go to Time Square.

 

As a side note, I got a piece of cheese cake from Juniors. Truly an amazing experience.

 

Embarkation day. Day 1 of the Cruise.

 

We arrived at the pier at 9:30 am.

 

[easyboy]

Nice shots!

[JimnSuzie]

Hi Smitty 74! I have been anxiously awaiting your review and look forward to all you have to say...and all the awesome pictures.

 

Glad you had a great time!!!

[Mississippi1]

Yay! I've been waiting all week for this Breakaway review by a fellow southerner!

[Smitty74]

Embarkation Day. Day 1 of the cruise continued.....

 

 

At 9:30, there was probably only about 20 people that got there before us.

 

By 10:30, it was still not crowded, but you could see the lines of sad people in the background that are still leaving the ship.

 

Here is a information paper they handed us in on the peir while we waited to board.

 

 

By 11:30, the crowds were much thicker. there was alot of confusion. and there were alot of pople trying to figure out ways to "Game the system" so they could board early, or in some other way get an "advantage" in boarding early.

 

Unfortunately the port is configured in such a way that alot of people were able to take advantage of the situation. this is the 4th port I have embarked at, and its definitely the most confusing and unfair situation that I have been a part of. For an example, when you walk in the door of the port, I went through security at the front of the building, then I was told to walk to the back end of the building to check in, then back to the middle of the building to sit in my assigned waiting area. When it was time to board, I then went back to the rear of the building to board. there were people everywhere. Alot of them did not appear to know where they were supposed to be, and the rest were trying to sneak into the haven or platinum waiting areas that were boarding first.

 

[easyboy]

Nice shots!

[Smitty74]

Embarkation, Day 1 of the cruise continued...

 

finally, a little after Noon, we got to board the ship, and our first stop was Savor for lunch. the crowd in the restaurant was very light. I was told later that the buffet was a madhouse. when in doubt, always go to the restaurant for Lunch on embarkation day.

 

 

 

After Lunch, we went to Splash academy to register our daugther. this club was two decks tall. It was MUCH bigger than the kids club on a Carnival ship.

 

 

Registering....

 

 

[Smitty74]

Embarkation, Day 1 continued.....

 

Each age group has there own daily schedules. This was very handy to keep track of what activities are available for your child.

 

the following documents are for each age gorup. the front side only shows the first three days of activities. Sorry I didnt scan the back sides.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 10, 2016 by Smitty74

[Loralye]

I must say... you planned your two days in NYC quite well. The Museum of Natural History is a must do... as are the bagels, Central Park and Times Square!!!

[Smitty74]

Embarkation, Day 1 continued.....

 

After registering at Spalsh Academy, we went to take a tour of the spa.

 

When we booked our room, we booked a Guaranteed (GTY) balcony. With a GTY, you are guaranteed to "atleast" get a balcony cabin, your allowing NCL to decide which room you get. As bad as that sounds to most, the advantages are its usually cheaper, and if there are any free upgrades to be had, the GTY people are the first to get them. In our case, they upgraded us to a spa balcony. This room is the same size as a regular balcony, but it automatically comes with rights to the thermal suite in the spa area for the entire week. Usually this costs $179 per person if you register ahead of time. $200 per person if you sign up on the ship. My wife was ecstatic to get this access. I could have cared less.

 

Here are some pictures from were we toured the spa.

 

 

kids are not allowed in the spa, so this was my daughters only chance to try out the thermal lounger.

 

 

 

The salt room

 

the loungers had a great view out the front of the ship. You can see we are still in dock here.

 

so skipping ahead here a little, let me just say that I didnt really use the Thermal Suite. My wife used it a few times and loved it. I went in there twice during the cruise. The first time, there was 4 frat boys in the hot tub being loud. the second time, It was very quiet and peaceful. I never had a hard time getting a lounger, and the locker room was awesome. Usually before dinner, either my wife or I would go down to the thermal suites locker room to get showered and dressed. the facilities there were twice as nice, and ALOT bigger than anything my cabin bathroom could offer. Overall, I didnt use it enough to pay for it, but if saunas and therapy pools and heated chairs sound like heaven to you, then it may be a good upgrade for you.

[Clarea]

Beautiful photos, following.:)

[Smitty74]

Day 1 continued......

 

After touring the Sauna, we went by our cabin around 1pm. Luckily it was ready and we dropped off our carry on luggage. Next on the list was a walk about the ship and maybe a drink.

 

You can just see the pure joy in my daughters face. doesnt she look happy? :p I think she is practicing for when she becomes a teenager and is unhappy about everything.

 

Mini golf

 

At 3:30, we had to go to Muster drill. our assigned station was the theater. It was boring, but relatively painless. Maybe 20 minutes once they started the briefing.

 

 

Finally about 4 PM, we set sail and left the port.

 

Here is a pic of the USS Intrepid, its a old Navy aircraft carrier thats been turned into a museum, and is docked right next to the port. One of the port agents told me he was once asked by a cruiser what airport this was. (haha) also notice the big building on the flight deck, theres a space shuttle under there!

Edited August 10, 2016 by Smitty74

[Smitty74]

Day 1, setting sail continued....

 

JHeres a pick of the Empire State building.

 

 

World Trade center

 

As we got further away from the dock, it appeared that EVERYBODY decided to go to the top of the ship and watch the Statue of Liberty go by. I would jokingly say that the ship was leaning to the Starboard side (right side) because so many people were trying to get a good spot on that side.

 

 

 

here is Ellis island.

[Smitty74]

More review later. 46 pictures in, and we havent even gotten out of Manhattan yet. we got a long way to go.....

[andychris]

Enjoying your review. Thank you for taking the time to do it.

[Smitty74]

Should I use bigger pictures, or are the ones in my newest posts big enough?

[Sprasa03]

love love love the review so far and your daughter is a cutie. I have to vouch for the spa, the jet wall in the pool, the heated loungers pointed towards a fantastic view, and on my last cruise (may 2015) I didn't experience any rowdy boys, it was so so so so nice if you can manage it.

[MrsPhoenix91]

Should I use bigger pictures, or are the ones in my newest posts big enough?

 

The ones in your newest posts are big enough. Thank you for taking the time to review your cruise!

[fastman86]

Should I use bigger pictures, or are the ones in my newest posts big enough?

 

Pictures look great! Also I have to say size on the menus is perfect and that is normally the biggest complain I have when reading these mega threads. I can't wait to see all the menus if that is how you took the photos. Also if you have any of the beverage menus with the updated prices I am very interested to see them.

[Smitty74]

Pictures look great! Also I have to say size on the menus is perfect and that is normally the biggest complain I have when reading these mega threads. I can't wait to see all the menus if that is how you took the photos. Also if you have any of the beverage menus with the updated prices I am very interested to see them.

 

Haha, you touched on an internal debate I'm having. I have ALOT of pictures of drink menus. Enough pictures to warrant them having their own thread. I want them in this thread for completeness, but I don't want to bury information in this thread that I Know others would want to debate and discuss on its own outside this review.

[Burrata]

looking forward to the rest of your review. The pictures are great!

[Samstress]

I am following & looking forward to the rest of the review and all of the gazillion pictures:-). Bring it on!

Cheers..

Edited August 10, 2016 by Samstress

[Chesneygirl]

Great start to your review! :)

[cincicruisers]

More please...