I don't get the impression there really is anywhere quiet on the Breakaway.
Plus their whole "freestyle" thing is WAY too confusing. Tell me when and where my dinner is - don't make me think on vacation!
Trust me, there is NOT a quiet area
except for the library -- which has a door and walls, your stateroom and any of the restaurants that are enclosed. And the library hours were ridiculous -- they were only open like two hours a day -- sometimes two hours in the morning and two hours in the evening! Even on sea days.
Their set up is one of the most annoying we've ever experienced. Right in the center of the ship, going up three floors with viewing rails is a stage with giant speakers, a movie screen and microphones. They were constantly playing music, running game shows, having a live band or showing a movie. This noisy vibrating indoor sound system is set up smack in the middle of the area where the guest service, shore excursion and internet cafe are. None of them have walls and the activity in this area NEVER stops. We went for breakfast on the floor above at 8 a.m. and they were already playing music which was bouncing up the three levels and off the walls. When you sat in the restaurant, you could feel the vibration through your feet! In order to speak with anyone at those venues, you had to shout and they resorted to writing their answers down! What design idiot thought that was a good idea. The ONLY day it was quiet was debarkation morning, and it was so peaceful. There are fabulous chairs and couches there that would be fun to use to people watch, etc, but only if you can stand the noise. There were people everywhere on the ship smoking in non-smoking areas. One guy was standing right in front of the sign on the promenade deck smoking!
Our favorite restaurant became O'Sheehan's (because the buffet on this ship was insane and bizarre -- more later). It's an Irish Pub. It has no walls of any kind except those around the side and back. It is situated right above the area I described. The first night, my husband and I could not even have a conversation because of the headbanging throbbing singing coming from below. The waiters had to practically hug you to hear your order! If they had just put up glass walls, we would have had a nice pub environment with maybe Irish music playing! After that we asked to be seated at the very back around the corner behind a wall just to buffer the sound.
Carnival Glory also had this bizarre set up in the lobby with a live DJ who made it difficult to hear guest services or shore excursions -- but they were not performing night and day and that ship had many other areas we could relax.
The Breakaway also set up their casino to encompass the whole middle of deck 6 -- so there was no way to avoid having to walk smack through it to get to the other side. The smell of cigarette smoke was so bad and toxic that we resorted to getting off a floor above and walking forward and then down to get where we were going just to avoid that area. On all our other cruises the casino was always on one side -- sometimes even in a room to itself. And their casino was huge -- it went side to side and ran a good 1/2 of that deck.
The cafe -- UGH. Let me just put it simply: it was cafeteria style -- which is fine, except that they placed plates on both ends. So you would be walking down the line and suddenly have a crowd coming toward you in the same line! And their layout of food was the most bizarre we've ever seen -- there would be hot dishes, then salads, then more hot dishes, then sandwiches, then more salad type stuff, then another room had soup and desserts, but then if you walked through that and into the next area there was MORE hot foods and salads of different types. Nothing was grouped together. And don't even get me started about trying to handle the crowds and trying to get food at the same time. That's why we hit up O'Sheehan's and the main dining rooms for breakfasts and lunches.
I will say, however, that their lighting and decor was very pretty and quite soothing. Their hallways on the upper decks, their rooms, their doorways and their verandahs are the smallest we have ever seen. The verandah is literally about 3-4 feet wide, the doorway is the size of a closet door and butt up against the door next to you! And they open out, into the hallway. THAT was fun trying not to whack people every time you went out. The plus -- the insulation and soundproofing was amazing. We never heard our neighbors and once you shut the verandah door it was air tight. And in 16 cruises, we had one of the BEST room stewards ever.
At least this NCL ship was cleaner, better crew and attitude and better food than our Pride of America experience!
[Sorry -- need to do a trip report. Didn't mean to pour so much out LOL]
