My entire cruise felt like a long running chain of very poor communication, very poor event planning, lackadaisical house keeping, and lack-luster customer service (and very expensive drinks but thats expected)
I was also disappointed that the fun-loving Washy Washy, Happy Happy people from my first NCL cruise was nowhere to be found on this cruise. Technically, yes, they were there but they didn't care. There was no washy washy or happy happy from them and they really couldn't have cared less if you disinfected your hands at all. One time i even put my hands out to be sprayed and that person gave me a look like i was inconveniencing them by asking and reluctantly spritzed my hands without hardly so much as even eye contact, much less a word.
Embarkation
1 out of 5
The curbside luggage handling was chaos. There were no instructions on what to do with our luggage or how to get it checked in. I had to just keep wandering around from person to person until the short quips that each person kept barking at me finally was concise enough for me to know what to do amongst the 100's of people at curbside also trying to check in. I made the mistake of going inside with my luggage for a moment until i was greeted by a grumpy lady yelling at me to get my luggage outside.
Once on the ship it was too cold to go on deck so they held their embarkation party in their atrium which was way too small for anybody to enjoy. The weather caused us to be delayed 5 hours in leaving port but no matter who i asked none of the staff knew anything about when we might take off or any announcements regarding taking off. And there was no activities done to pass the time so we sat in the cafe for 5 hours twiddling our thumbs.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
3 out of 5
Food was good. There was an unexpectedly large amount of restaurants whose food was complimentary to the cruise rather than costing extra so i ate at those rather than the main buffet most the time. Food quality in those restaurants was good and the wait staff was mostly nice. There were a few grumpy hostesses but the wait staff was very nice.
Onboard Activities
1 out of 5
All major events were held in the Atrium because it was either too windy or too cold to have them on deck but the Atrium was 1) too small for that many people so we couldn't fit on stage or find seating 2) out in the wide open center of the ship so all activities had to share space with people just trying to get through the main area and were blared to every surrounding restaurant.
Daily itineraries where changed a couple times without any notice other than having updated print copies by guest services that you were supposed to just know was there.
Most of the clubs were booked the majority of the time with either a seminar or little kid activites so you couldn't get to the clubs until late at night.
Whenever an activity was held up on deck it was always "weather pending" between up on deck or somewhere inside but it was never announced where so you just had to go looking for yourself where it was at.
There were only two major shows included in the cruise. The other two shows cost a steep premium to see.
When the Great Stirrup Cay day was cancelled the buffet that was intended for that day was moved to a restaurant, but they didnt tell anybody that. You just had to find out.
Entertainment
1 out of 5
There were only two major shows included in the cruise. The other two shows cost a steep premium to see.
Most of the clubs were booked the majority of the time with either a seminar or little kid activites so you couldn't get to the clubs until late at night.
Children's Programs
i had no children with me
Service and Staff
2 out of 5
Guest Services was polite but unknowledgeable about most questions i asked.
Excursion Services ruined one of my excursions and almost two. They never told me I had to be staged in a certain area at a certain time for my Orlando excursion and so when i was finally able to get off the boat in Port Canaveral my bus had already left without me and then i was told it was my fault because i didn't get off the boat in time even though everytime i asked if it was time to go i was told i had to wait for the announcement that didnt come until after debarkation already happened.
Photo Staff: i was in the photo area when a staff member caught somebody trying to take pictures of the photos with their phone (yes, everybody knows thats against the rules and you shouldn't do it) but the staff person that caught him doing it berated and publicly shamed the guy for doing it. She clapped her hands and yelled "hey you!" at the guy from across the room which caught everybody's attention so we all watched as she yelled at him to delete every picture he took and that she was not leaving until he showed her that they were all deleted right there in the middle of the photo area. Even though he broke the rules, i felt bad for him because of how she treated him.
House keeping: I told guest services twice that my toilet didnt flush well, that my sheets were dirty from the previous cruise (had to be because they were stained from the moment i got in the room) and that my remote was broken but the entire cruise they were never remedied. The ice bucket had melted ice from the previous cruise and we found personal belongings of the people from the previous cruise and my shower had a crack in its floor that let water through.
Ship Quality
1 out of 5
The worst thing about the ship was that its casino was centrally located which meant that everywhere from the 6th floor to the 8th (the main 3 floors of the ship) from mid-ship to almost ends reeked of the cigarette smoke from the open casino. I left the cruise with most my clothes smelling like smoke just from having to pass near/through the casino to get to restaurants.
By about day 4 there were some public bathrooms that i knew to avoid because they just smelled like urine too badly every time i'd go in them. I dont think they were cleaned all that well.
Cabin / Stateroom
2 out of 5
Broken toilet that took me a while to figure out "the touch" to get it to flush because nobody ever came to fix it despite multiple promises to do so.
My sheets had stains on them from before i got there and never changed despite me asking for them to be.
My TV remote had some broken buttons and was never replaced despite multiple promises that it would be.
My shower had a crack in its floor that let water through.
My ice bucket had melted ice from the previous cruise.
We found personal belongings of the previous occupants of our room.
But the steward was a nice guy.
Ship tip
my one piece of advice would be to choose another ship. The Breakaways cruise Director is inexperienced and the hotel manager doesnt seem to pride thoroughness and the hospitality manager doesnt seem to pride employee knowledge or courtesies.
Ground crews were very inconsiderate, pointing fingers and barking to go talk to the next guy and blamed me for not being informed as to how to catch my bus.
When purchasing tickets for Atlantis aboard the cruise, i was not told that i had to convert my voucher to an Atlantis ticket at a specific place at a specific time so i took a tour or Nassau and then ended at Atlantis and when i got to Atlantis i was told that my voucher was no good because i didnt convert it to a ticket in time and so i had to wait at the Atlantis boxoffice for an hour for an NCL representative to come and meet me to vouch for me and convert my voucher to tickets.
In all my cruises with NCL, I’ve not had a bad experience. When there has been a problem and I reported it- it was taken care right away.
Maybe cruising isn’t for you.
Much different than our experience on the Breakaway in pretty much every area. We had a great experience from beginning to end once we got on the ship. We cruised out of and back into NYC in cold and rainy weather, but NCL seemed to have that routine down and it all went off without a hitch. Sorry you had so many dissapointments.
JUST a question??? Did you try tipping your room steward on first or second or last day of cruise. ?You know, $20 or $50 goes a long way.
Sorry you had not enjoyed the cruise. Cruising during winter months is always tough, But you get what you paid for, 50% of peak months. Don't get discouraged, try cruising on smaller ship and best time to sail is once kids go back to School or week prior. NCL loves you.
*Cruiseline.com is not a booking agent or travel agency,
and does not charge any service fees to users of our site. Our partners
(travel agencies and cruise lines) provide prices, which we list for our
users' convenience. Cruiseline.com does not guarantee any specific rates or
prices. While prices are updated daily, please check with the booking site
for the exact amount. Cruiseline.com is not responsible for content on
external web sites.
Contact us
Submitting...
Need help from a personal vacation planner?
Loading...
Find the perfect cruise with weekly tips and cruise deals for as little as $30/night!
Sign up for weekly cruise deals
Join other subscribers and get the best
cruise deals of the week in your inbox every Thursday.
