July 2015 - 7 Night Bermuda (New York Roundtrip) Cruise on Norwegian Breakaway
Haven is heaven...but
GailandJohn
Purser
Joined 08/2015
1
Cruise2
Reviews65
Helpful VotesPast cruises
Norwegian Breakaway
Sail date: July 26, 2015
If you were on the rest of the ship it was CROWDED!...too many people with too few lounge chairs and too little seating in the buffet area. Also, the safety drill was ridiculous; people kept talking throughout it so that you couldn't hear the instructions. Luckily, we were near the person doing the life vest demo so we got to see that at least.
HOWEVER,, if you can afford the Haven it was WONDERFUL - great suite (10176), quiet, uncrowded area with great service.Private pool and deck area. The food was very good, and we got the unlimited beverage and dining package. I think the Haven is the only way to go on this huge ship..
Veendam
Sail date: August 04, 2018
overall good to fair; great staff
Even though my comments as I reread them are pretty negative it was a good cruise. We gambled every night (and lost every night:-) but the dealers and pit bosses and the manager, Corina were all very pleasant- It is a small casino but if there was not a table open (blackjack) they would open one for us. Minimum smoking in the casino - by certain slot machines only. Food in the Pinnacle was cold at breaKfast but, again staff very pleasant. Dinner in the Pinnacle (filet) was very good. Our room stewards, Romy and Agung were EXCELLENT and our suite was kept immaculate. Our concierge, Mary, was very helpful in many ways (We never know how much to tip) And, Fatima, who we did not see that often was also very nice. Our waiters at night Jimmy and Moises were also very good even though they had too many people to care for. And even though we don't drink we met Micky, the wine steward, who would come over and talk to us each night. Again, a very pleasant staff with the one exception that I mentioned - Albert, the Executive Housekeeper)
Cruise tips
We've been to Key West before. We couldn't find a nice, upscale restaurant for lunch. Ended up walking to D.J.'s a walk up and order and sit at a picnic bench-type eatery. Food ok - nothing special.
Half Moon Cay, Bahamas (Private Island)
Tendered to this island. Beautiful beach and sandy water (NO ROCKS:-) Color of the water was fantastic. A lady was feeding the fish and they (the fish:-) were jumping around all over us. Nice excursion
dirty and nothing to see; bought some T shirts at a reasonable price...tried not to haggle since those people certainly need the money more than we do.
We docked at a different port than we were scheduled for. Only transportation available was taxis so we stayed on the ship. (My husband got off, looked around, and returned immediately.)
Havana is very poor (which we expected) and very dirty. We did an excursion on our own usingoldcars.com and they were excellent! They charged 80 cucs for two of us for a 2-hour tour (which was plenty because it was HOT). We got to select our car (which you can't do through the ship's excursion) and we chose a 1956 Ford Fairlane convertible. We ate at Nao's which is just a few blocks from the cruise port. My husband had a red snapper which he said was delicious.
It was Sunday and everything was closed. We ate a Sharkeys which was nothing special.
This is, of course, where we boarded, and the young women who took our bags was very friendly and helpful. I know she is not part of the Veendam staff but I thought I should mention her.
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If you were on the rest of the ship it was CROWDED!...too many people with too few lounge chairs and too little seating in the buffet area. Also, the safety drill was ridiculous; people kept talking throughout it so that you couldn't hear the instructions. Luckily, we were near the person doing the life vest demo so we got to see that at least.
HOWEVER,, if you can afford the Haven it was WONDERFUL - great suite (10176), quiet, uncrowded area with great service.Private pool and deck area. The food was very good, and we got the unlimited beverage and dining package. I think the Haven is the only way to go on this huge ship..