Why does the Breakaway seem to have so many bad reviews?

[Mississippian]

I'm thinking about booking a trans-Atlantic on the Breakaway because it has no single supplement and is cheap. I've never sailed NCL before, but my brother likes it, although he eats every meal in specialty restaurants; I am more likely to eat in the main dining room. In any event, a lot of people seem very unhappy with their experience, far more than with others ships. I'm just trying to figure out what is going on. FWIW, I am not a super-demanding person, but crap on me enough and I will snarl.

[craig01020]

I sailed on Breakaway last May and really enjoyed it.  It has flaws, but overall it's a beautiful ship. The food in the main dining room was great as well as the shows in the theater.

[www3traveler]

The last several weeks are considered "Spring Break Season" and as a result the ship is very very full with lots of kids.  Some parents think that since ships are a closed envirorment, that kids can be allowed to run free of thier supervision.  Some kids are polite and others are not.

 

A transatlantic cruise would be quieter-- less passengers and less kids.

 

Enjoy  A cruise is what you yourself make it.  There are activities scheduled from about 8 A.M. until after midnight.  Pick and choose what appeals to you or find a quiet place to read or watch the world go by.

[butterfly4108]

The ship is beautiful but our sailing in January was somewhat disappointing as well.  They ran out of so many things it was hard to order food or drinks! The entertainment dancers and singers apparently were all sick (totally not NCL's fault) so no shows except the repeated magician and not so funny comedian (he was the only one laughing) and unbeknownst to us it was still winter break in other countries so we were bombarded with screaming kids with no parental supervision (again, NOT NCL's fault), the one thing I do fault NCL for other than the food is the lack of space for people to branch out.  Everyone was crammed in the Atrium area and they were playing games in there as well as people lining up for restaurants.  Due to overcrowding and lack of space planning people were lined up to eat all the way to the elevators which also made getting anywhere difficult if you weren't in line to eat. We eventually gave up and ordered room service, then grabbed a dessert later in the buffet.  The food wasn't that great anyway in the MDR.  Cagney's was great however!  So does the Breakaway suck?  Not really...poor planning on ship layout, and lack of information on our part made it harder for us but we're going on it again in April to give it a fair try... 😄 Our cruise is TA and 16 days so not expecting so many little ones...

Edited March 2, 2023 by butterfly4108

[shof515]

the only thing i hate the breakaway and its sister ships is:

the smokey casino effects the whole decks 7 and 8 area. it can make it hard to enjoy the events they do in the nightclub area due to this

the crowded atrium they used for game shows and other events. it might be possible to watch the show up top from o'sheehan's but the biggest issue is the bar noise makes it impossible to hear anything

[laudergayle]

We sailed BReakaway in mid October’22…7 day NE/Canada.  83% occup, no adults. Mostly indoor. No problem with crowds. A TA should be fine.  We liked the Breakaway a lot.

[SeaShark]

1 hour ago, Mississippian said:

I'm thinking about booking a trans-Atlantic on the Breakaway because it has no single supplement and is cheap. I've never sailed NCL before, but my brother likes it, although he eats every meal in specialty restaurants; I am more likely to eat in the main dining room. In any event, a lot of people seem very unhappy with their experience, far more than with others ships. I'm just trying to figure out what is going on. FWIW, I am not a super-demanding person, but crap on me enough and I will snarl.

 

The answer is really simple...people, in general, are more likely to complain than not. This is why you see the "complaint department" but not a "compliment department".

 

Think about the big picture...THOUSANDS of people are onboard for each and every Breakaway sailing. When you see "a lot of unhappy people" think about how many there are vs how many people are happy and simply saying nothing.

[Two Wheels Only]

17 minutes ago, laudergayle said:

We sailed BReakaway in mid October’22…7 day NE/Canada.  83% occup, no adults.

 

Really?😳

[laudergayle]

3 minutes ago, Two Wheels Only said:

 

Really?😳

Lol…great catch.  Made me chuckle, too😂

 

Original  said “no adults” …haha…May have been true with the drink plans.  Should have said no kids🤣

[graphicguy]

Have sailed her 3 times…..from a solo cabin to the Haven.  Loved the experience every time.  Away and Away+ ships are ny favorites in the entire NCL fleet.  Great combination of entertainment, service and beautiful ship.

[cruisinmeme]

Have sailed Breakaway 3 times. Once out of Miami and twice out of New Orleans. I think possibly the ship gets a bad wrap from the screwed up embarkation in New Orleans. Joking/not joking. We were almost 2 hours leaving port. 
last sailing was in January and everything was great. I will say I don’t ever remember the hundreds of people in the lobby before(or was it thousands) try to go to the service desk and ask a question and carry on a conversation with the microphone blaring and people yelling.  Not a good fit. 
 

for me the food was good but I find by mid week not a lot pleases me cause I am just tired of eating so damn much every day.

 

[RocketMan275]

7 hours ago, cruisinmeme said:

Have sailed Breakaway 3 times. Once out of Miami and twice out of New Orleans. I think possibly the ship gets a bad wrap from the screwed up embarkation in New Orleans. Joking/not joking. We were almost 2 hours leaving port. 

Yes, embarkation in NOLA is terrible but that must be blamed on the port and not the ship.  Once you get past port security, all is smooth.

[DCGuy64]

10 hours ago, SeaShark said:

 

The answer is really simple...people, in general, are more likely to complain than not. This is why you see the "complaint department" but not a "compliment department".

 

Think about the big picture...THOUSANDS of people are onboard for each and every Breakaway sailing. When you see "a lot of unhappy people" think about how many there are vs how many people are happy and simply saying nothing.

^^^ This 100%! It simply amazes me how often people read the bad reviews, assume they represent the totality of the ship, and then become worried. Put your thinking caps on, people. As @SeaShark points out, these mega ships run with 1,000s of people PER SAILING. If you don't see tons of great reviews (and most people don't even know what Cruise Critic is, let alone post reviews), then don't assume the bad reviews are typical; they aren't. I'm not trying to have a go at the OP, but it does bear repeating: take all reviews with a grain of salt. We're booked on the Breakaway for November and I am not worried even a jot.

[Lionkingrichard]

2 times before COVID and one canceled because of COVID.

 

Would go again for sure if flights are good. We end up near Mardi Gras and flight and hotels get up in prices.

 

Out of PC no problem.

[BostonGal35]

weve sailed breakaway multiple times, we love her.

 

for some reason she (and Epic) seem to the ship that people love to hate.

[Redsky5292]

We have sailed the Breakaway three times, and her sister ship the Getaway once.  We were just on the Breakaway this past July and are going on her again this April out of New Orleans.  I take the negative reviews with a grain of salt.  There are staff shortages EVERYWHERE.  I am a special education teacher and we are having issues staffing our department.  On ship we spend a lot of time on deck 8 on the waterfront, our balcony and just walking around.  We did experience some supply chain issues in July but they were able to restock when we ported in San Juan.  Were there annoyances, of course, but were they bad enough for me to write a negative review, no.  The hospitality industry as a whole is struggling, if you go in with the mind set that things won't be exactly has they have been in the  past, but hey I am still on vacation, you will have a great time.

Edited March 2, 2023 by Redsky5292

[SimplyAlbert]

We just sailed the Breakaway in February and had a great trip.  You can see my review on this site.

 

Ship was completely full and we didn't have any issues seeing shows, getting dining reservations, or booking shore excursions.  Food ranged from ok to excellent.  Never waited more than 5 minutes at a bar for a drink.  About the only bad thing I can say is that the internet was wonky during the entire week.

[Mississippian]

Thanks for the replies. Since the cruise I'm looking at is a T/A, I don't expect it to be at capacity. Since my post I've talked to my brother, and he says NCL is his favorite line and the Breakaway his favorite ship. From what I gather it doesn't handle 100% capacity very well, but otherwise everything should be good.

[schmoopie17]

We did the Escape TA in November and it was (maybe) half full...and we saw maybe three kids.

Not everyone can do them due to work, school, etc...(which is why they're half full)...but if you want to avoid crowds, a TA is the way to go.

[LisaLisa87]

We sailed on Breakaway last May. We enjoyed the cruise overall, but we didn’t love the ship. The following were negatives for us:

 

-Smoke smell emanating from the casino

-Lots of smoking and strong smoke smell in Spice H20 (which was an area we had hoped to utilize)

-Very small pool area and extremely crowded pool deck

-Congestion/crowding in several of the key public areas. This ship didn’t do as good a job spreading people out as some other large ships we’ve been on.

-Lack of information, especially about disembarking in ports (huge cluster on our sailing)

 

The kicker is that we were told our sailing was at 75% capacity I can’t even imagine what it would’ve been like if it had been closer to 100%!

[Panhandle Couple]

Here is my review from earlier this year:

 

So adding a few thoughts.

 

The Breakaway was the first extra large class ship for NCL, hence the class term Breakaway and Breakaway plus.  Some of its design flaws were changed as each subsequent ship was designed and built.  When people sail those ships first, then the Breakaway, the different designs are obvious.

 

That being said....I think on a TA, you will have a good time.  

Deck 8 outside is an NCL plus.  Bars, restaurant seating, and comfy loungers that allow ocean views.  You won't feel crowded there no matter how crowded it is overall.

 

Plenty of posts about NCL specialty restaurants, Breakaway has all of them.

 

I don't know which port you are leaving from, but it has to be better than NOLA for moving people around.  If it is NOLA, well read up on the threads here.

 

Sail, have fun.  Talk to the bartenders.  The ones we liked (if still there, 9 month rotation) are Cortney and Dr. L at Syd Norman's outside bar.  Dr. L is an outrageous guy, Cortney is nice with lots of stories.  He has literally sailed around the world.

 

[kitkat343]

On 3/1/2023 at 8:10 PM, Mississippian said:

I'm thinking about booking a trans-Atlantic on the Breakaway because it has no single supplement and is cheap. I've never sailed NCL before, but my brother likes it, although he eats every meal in specialty restaurants; I am more likely to eat in the main dining room. In any event, a lot of people seem very unhappy with their experience, far more than with others ships. I'm just trying to figure out what is going on. FWIW, I am not a super-demanding person, but crap on me enough and I will snarl.

I don't think people are much happier on the getaway.   https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=696487  .  

 

The getaway has a bunch of ports that keep getting dropped on a number of recent cruises.

[Mississippian]

1 hour ago, kitkat343 said:

I don't think people are much happier on the getaway.   https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=696487  .  

 

The getaway has a bunch of ports that keep getting dropped on a number of recent cruises.

One of the complaints is no towel animals. I think I've had maybe one towel animal in my entire life, cruises and hotels combined. Maybe two.

[phillygwm]

On 3/1/2023 at 8:44 PM, shof515 said:

the only thing i hate the breakaway and its sister ships is:

the smokey casino effects the whole decks 7 and 8 area. it can make it hard to enjoy the events they do in the nightclub area due to this

 

I've been on BA twice, albeit when the ship was newer in 2014-2015.  My big issue was the smoke, specifically in the casino.  Aside from that, it would have been great. 

 

If they ever went non-smoking or maybe built those compartments for smokers in the casino, similar to the BA+ ships, I'd go back in a minute.

[LouChamp]

Aloha. We have sailed countless times on NCL and the other mainstream lines. As for the Breakway it is a beautiful ship and the crew was excellent. That said, the ships are huge and when sailing during a school is out period the amount of kids onboard can result in full capacity so the experience is a lot different than other times. I have never been on a ship I didn’t like….now the passengers is another story.  I find the NY departures result in a NY crowd which I find less enjoyable. This is coming from a lifelong NY born a raised who divides time between NY and Hawaii now. With all due respect that is why I sold our place in Florida. Too many NY transplants.  LOL!