Customer Service is not what it used to be

I thought Haven Guest were treated special. Not so on initial entry.

The specialty restaurants were NOT worth extra money. The food was overcooked and dry. The service was remedial at best, except for the Haven restaurant. They had their act together, but Moderno, Teppanyaki, and Cagney's had major issues with service and food. Teppanyaki: It must have been our cooks first day, because she started by burning the garlic and still added it to the rice, and went on to overcook all the proteins though we asked for medium rare. She clearly needs more time to be able to cook and sing at the same time. She also needs to practice the words. On the Encore ship in January we had a spectacular time in their Teppanyaki, so had expectations that were definitely NOT met. Cagney's: We received our food after the table who sat down after us. They received their steaks and sides a the same time, because we watched and were envious. We were initially given the wrong temperature steaks, and received our sides when we were halfway through our steaks. To credit, the manager tried to make us happy, but the mistakes were already made. Training the staff may help. Moderno: We saved this for our last night on the ship, and boy were we disappointed. All the waiter could think or talk about was him getting off the ship the next day. We were an after thought, and he still did not hear much of what we said. The proteins were thoroughly dry and overcooked. One member of my party just didn't eat she felt it was that bad. As for desert, the waiter told us not to bother, because it was all coconut and he didn't like coconut. I said three times I like coconut, but never got to see the deserts. As I said, he was NOT listening to us.

Casino: I like to gamble, so I frequented the casino. The slots were nice to me and I left the ship with money, but the smoking is omnipresent! I liked on the Encore where they had a smoking section that was cordoned off from the main casino for smokers. There was no place on the Breakaway to gamble and not be accosted by a smoker or smoke. Very un healthy, and for this reason will not sail the Breakaway again.

We saw "Six" and "Burn the Floor". Maybe it was just me and my 70-80 year old friends, but we could not understand most of the wording. The voices were good, but it would have been better if we could have followed the show more closely. We were looking for the history in it as well as great singing. Burn the Floor was spectacular dancing. They are extremely talented! The music selection was less popular pieces, so would have enjoyed it more if I could recognize the music.

As my title states: Service is not what it used to be. It felt more like, "I will serve you at my convenience" instead of "How may I help you." I will say it saved me on TIPS, which represents To Insure Prompt Service. The only outstanding service was in the Haven Restaurant. All the staff their seemed very amiable, and ready to serve. Our Cabin steward was very good. He had extra to do every night, because we needed the couch made up as well as the two bedroom family suite. Our Butler wanted us to know her story more than she wanted to help us. For the most part I was unimpressed, except for the time we asked for popcorn. She had bought microwave popcorn on shore thinking one of her guests would like that, so for that I gave her huge credit. I did leave her $150 TIP, but she could have earned more. As for specialty restaurants, read above post regarding these. I would not return to those venues.

Every place I went seemed very clean and well maintained.

It was not aft-facing Penthouse with balcony. That is next years cruise to Iceland. Cabin 16720 was our forward facing Family Suite with balcony. It was a two bedroom suite with the smallest balcony I have ever seen! I would give one star for the balcony. The second bedroom boasts two beds, but the problem is the second bed comes from the ceiling, and I was travelling with septa and octogenarians. So, we could not utilize the second bed. Princess has two beds on the ground in their family suite, and a much bigger balcony. The balcony could barely fit two chairs and a tiny table! The master bedroom is cramped. The person on the side by the wall has to hug the wall to get in and out of bed. There is barely enough room to open the second closet, let alone move with the closet door open. Yes, it is excellent to have a king size bed, and yes it is excellent to have two closets, but being able to move around the room should have also been included in the planning of the room. Master bath has a curtain between the bedroom and bathroom?! Not sure I understand this logic, but maybe better than a door. The door on the toilet recess was more a hindrance than a help, because it opened outwards, so inhibited moving about the rest of the bathroom. Very little to no storage for bathroom toiletries. No shelves anywhere in the bathroom, and only one drawer beneath each sink. The trash receptacle for the bathroom was under the sinks, and not within reach of the toilet area. We asked for a second trash receptacle and given a little pushback, but won in the end. The good: The table in the living area was very useful for us (4 women). Having two bathrooms was excellent. The bar setup was equally as enjoyable for ice and snacks. Our butler did make sure we had snacks every night. Our cabin steward kept us clean and orderly.

For this journey the disembarkation was a breeze. Most likely because we were Haven Guests. We were escorting via the food elevator to the checkout area, so no wait. We were off the boat in 10 minutes flat.