NCL Breakaway Breakdown

Wow. What a ripoff.

Wow is right. Scratch NCL from my list of possibilities.

I wonder if other cruise ships in the Baltic at the same time had to skip these ports. If yes, then there's not much you can do. If other cruise ships stopped at these ports and Norwegian did not, I'd be (insert language not allowed on this forum)!!

We have not done the cruise thing, and posts like this reinforce my lack of general interest for this approach.

You should post this on the Tips and Trips section so others might see it that are looking there.

Ships are being built larger and larger, with interior designs that force passengers to walk past the shopping or through the casinos to get anywhere. Decks are becoming the width of gang planks to keep us inside gambling or shopping, Give me an ship with a deck and chairs any time over these big new monsters. I agree completely to know your ship. When I see it’s the Breakaway or other monster ships, it’s a deal breaker.

As for libraries: Holland America tried eliminating them completely but there was such protest that they compromised but with books only about ports, etc. How stupid do they think their passengers are. Thanks for the Muzak heads up. That’s another deal breaker.

Ports: a ship’s biggest challenge is wind because all those stacks of decks act as sails, so in a tight port situation or bad weather, kiss your excursion good-bye. Maybe smaller ships could negotiate the channels, so what others did is irrelevant. Passenger discomfort isn’t a factor but safety is. I’ve been on NCL crossing the Atlantic at the tail of storms. You just steal yourself mentally, take medicine, put anti-nausea oil behind your ear, buy pressure point wristbands, or stop eating. They don’t care.

However, you deserve more than only port fees reimbursed. Has NCL offered vouchers for future cruises? What are others saying on cruisecritic.com? Have you checked your Cruise Critic Roll Call to see if anyone is taking action?

You’re right to say know your ship and I’ll add know your company. Not sure I’d want to sail with a Norwegian captain, but all the crews we’ve sailed with balanced safety, storms, ports, slow cruising vs full steam to evacuate an injured person to the closest port when we were too far at sea for a helicopter.

Good luck. I hope you can get better compensation—though NCL is known to be tight— at least vouchers and a warm vacation somewhere.

Indeed, this whole event illustrates the downsides of cruising. My dream when my DH retires is a World Cruise. It’s a few years away, but starting my reasearch early! I already know that on a World Cruise, some ports will be missed. I just hope it’s not the ones I most want to visit. The ship we pick, will not have a casino or bright lights, or loud music.

Read the contract - you are not guaranteed that the planned route will be followed. Just today, there are two ships out of L.A. that were going to Mexico, but instead had to go north toward San Francisco.

Yes, I would be irritated too, but there is always that possibility.

diveloonie, please share your research on an around the world cruise when you come to some conclusions. I don't know that we'll ever have that kind of money, but if our ship comes in that's the only kind of ocean cruise I would consider because only unpacking once would really be nice in that situation.

@Cala—I follow several blogs by people who have done World Cruises. I think it’s a great way to see many places, although obviouly not in depth. Right now, we like Crystal Cruises, but that could change. The itinerary will play a big part on our choice.

I went on a Baltic cruise that began in late July and ended in early August. If you go, you really should only plan for July and August because it's the only time of the year the weather is reasonably reliable that far north. During our July/August cruise, we didn't miss any ports (on Princess lines) but we did have one day at sea with bad enough weather to close the pools and most services.

I always check the ship's services/amenities before I book. It's good to go to cruisecritic.com to check ship and port reviews. People there aren't the same type of traveler I am (as one example they tend toward ship excursions that I avoid completely) but you can judge from their criticisms whether it's something that would concern you or not.

I'm not sure booking a mega ship is always the answer. I booked on one of the biggest ships afloat in March and hated the bed. One other lady at my dinner table agreed that her bed was horrible. It was bad enough to make me question ever choosing RCI again. I have heard that the thin mattresses start out very hard then start feeling like a regular mattress - so maybe it was just a new mattress? To put it in context, I camped, in a tent, in the French Pyrenees in June with a sleeping bag and 7 euro foam pad but the bed on RCI stands out as noticeably uncomfortable.

I sincerely am sorry for your bad experience. These experiences can be instructive for future travel e.g. how thoroughly you research the ship, the weather in the Baltics in September and other aspects before booking a trip.

I hope your next trip goes better.

Yes, there's always the chance unfortunately. Like waters running low on river cruises and having to take the bus.

Everyone I know who has taken a cruise has enjoyed it, and one family friend won't even step aboard a ship which does not have a large casino. Many years ago we took our children on a Disney cruise and I was the only one who could not stand it. It's definitely not muzak to my ears.

Aarthur, nice to see you back, hope you are well. Were you lost in thought, dreaming of the Balkan Mountains?

As regards boats not being able to dock because of the weather. I recommend this news article and video. A ferry trying to dock in Barcelona today was having some problems: https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-europe-46049744/barcelona-port-fire-as-ferry-crashes-into-crane

To all those who might jump to conclusions and think "mylist's" experience reflects the norm of cruising, it really does not..........not, IF (important word) you book with a higher-end, more customer-oriented cruise line.

We have successfully cruised with Silversea several times, Seabourn, and National Geographic (which is operated by Lindblad), in addition to one river cruise with Tauck. With those four, there will be no annoying promotional announcements, no loud music in common areas, and there is understated, yet comfortable, elegance of the decor....no neon, flashing lights, or cheesy games. But, on those cruise lines you will not get the Vegas type entertainment late into the evening.....some people want that; we do not. When were very young, we took two Carnival cruises and had no point of comparison; then once we moved to small ships, we plan to never return to the crowds of mega ships.

There are several other cruise lines (on which we have not cruised) that may offer similar experiences.

I think, just like hotels, there are the Motel 8 type hotels and there are the Ritz type hotels, and there are locally-owned charming boutique hotels and also locally owned flea-bag dumps. It is very important to do one's homework (and part of that includes reading reviews such as what mylist just shared) to make sure the cruise line you select matches your demographic group, your idea of what a great cruise would look like, and the comforts you seek. We personally do not like HUGE ships...anything over 500 people is large to us, over 1,000 is HUGE and over that is a floating city (in our eyes). 240-480 is our comfort range, and even smaller (for polar expeditions or sail boating, such as with National Geographic). We have booked cruises when the itinerary made sense and seemed the easiest and most efficient way to move from location-to-location with a little down time to rest, too.

To mylist, yes, push hard on the cruise line, if their promises have not been fulfilled. If you are not aware of www.cruisecritic.com, check it out, and you might want to post a review there, too. Do let us know how it all settles out for you.