Norwegian Breakaway

Mediterranean Cruise

October

Pros: Cleanliness and spa

Cons: Excursions and entertainment

Recommended: Yes

We found the Breakaway very clean and most dining experiences were enjoyable. We never went hungry. I missed speciality night dining that you find on other cruise lines. We purchased the Spa package, and thank goodness. It was so relaxing and such a nice place to relax after a long day of exploring. We did have trouble with our excursions, one was canceled because we arrived later in the port because of the ship’s technical problems. We were refunded our ticket for the excursion, but there were no other options for us to use. We had to travel on our own. Also, we got double booked and I had to prove that I did not take both excursions to get refunded. The ship’s main theater offered three shows, one that was not family appropriate, one that was very amateur, and one that was actually entertaining.

Italy / Greece Trip

October

Pros: Ports

Cons: Lines, the need to schedule events, lack of entertainment and food quality.

Recommended: No

The cruise itself was good, but NCL does not tell you what you should be aware of prior to the sailing. They failed to tell you that you are subject to a 22% sales tax on all purchases on the ship, they fail to tell you that there are no nightly live shows planned in the theatre, these are expected for those individuals who are frequent to cruising. Over the years we've seen cruise companies cut back on services to improve their bottom line, but NCL takes it to a new level, they nickel and dime you for everything. I won't say all of the staff were rude, but I did meet a number of crew members who were. I also met others who were exceptional, such as Mahendra Bandodker and Janet from Taste and Jeff the manager at the Manhattan, these individuals went above and beyond.

Home away from home

February

Pros: The crew made you feel like you were wanted and needed.

Cons: None

Recommended: Yes

A great experience for a first cruise

July

Pros: Dining Options, water slides, Bars everywhere, Music clubs, Service Staff, Thermal Spa, Art Auctions

Cons: The show "Six", on board account billing statements

Recommended: Yes

I will focus on the ship as shore excursions will vary by group and need. I am fulltime single father traveling with my teenage son and his best friend. There was plenty for us to do together and separate. Syd Norman's Pour House, The show Burn the Floor, comedy show, magic show, dueling pianos were all the best entertainment nightly. The show "Six" was not bad, but it was not my cup of tea. My boys were not at all into it and we would have preferred to watch Burn the Floor a second time or another show. After the shows the boys would go back to the room and I headed out for some night life. I love to dance and while I was not looking at this as a singles cruise I found a couple of people to socialize with and dance with until 2am when the clubs closed. Club H2O was the go to and both the latin night and Glow Party night were awesome. It would end at 11:30pm at which point everyone would go to the Bliss club until 2am. Day time activities including the art auctions, finding a chair on the sun deck, slides, high ropes, etc. were all spectacular. I am in finance and so did not have an issue with how billing works daily in the cruise app. However, lines at the service counter were long as I asked and most people would be constantly confused about their bills. The staff were amazing in all areas (dining, bartending, housekeeping, etc). Super friendly, always looking out for the littlest thing you may need. 3:1 ratio definitely works and we never went without. My boys pointed out how their waters would be refilled within 2 minutes of being empty. We made a game of it and confirmed. The staff is on top of things on this ship!! Already booked my next cruise with Norwegian. That should tell you everything.

Nice ship with friendly staff

March

Pros: Clean, Friendly, Great Food

Cons: Entertainment, Music during dinner in Manhattan Room, Pool, Thermal Spa

Recommended: Yes

Really enjoyed the cruise and the food at the buffet was the best I've had in eleven cruises. All of the crew were extremely friendly. There were only about 2800 passengers out of 3964 capacity. Pools were extremely small and the ship seemed to be geared for families with young kids. Did not like the live music at the Manhattan Dining Room as it was too loud to talk.

Good, but not great

February

Pros: Service, entertainment

Cons: Embarkation, food variety

Recommended: Yes

The Breakaway does not do particularly well with crosswinds. And we had two days of high winds. Low ceilings, dark paneling, and narrow passageways make the ship seem crowded. Given the large number of passengers on the ship there are relatively limited pools and hot tubs. Boarding was rather chaotic, slowed by extra security introduced to ensure passengers with recent travels to China didn't board. The entertainment was very good, though there was little dancing during convenient times. Musicians were talented, though the band in Syd's Pour House need to learn that volume is in direct opposition to music quality. I doubt more than half a dozen people on the ship understood the history behind "Six". The comedians did a fine job. The mainstage performance by Syd's Pour House band was so loud the performance lasted three stanzas for us. There was little "upscale" food like lobster, shrimp, salmon, steaks, escargots outside of the specialty dining restaurants. Perhaps to encourage people to eat there. Service was exceptional by both the stateroom stewards, wait staff, and hostesses, particularly in the Manhattan and Savor restaurants/ One thing that I noticed is that information was available only if it was asked about. The welcome-back party was announced only 5 minutes before the event was held. Elite-tier events, if they were held, were not announced nor invitations offered. Although tendering tickets were given, it did not appear that they were used. Tender boats were filled by one large line.

Amazing!!!

December

Pros: Relaxing, Adventurous, Beautiful

Cons: Delayed at one of our stops due to technical failure on the ship

Recommended: Yes

This trip was definitely one of the best trips I've ever been on! Every stop we went to was absolutely amazing. We had perfect weather everywhere we went and the ocean water was SO BLUE! Absolutely breath-taking! 10/10!

Big Ship Big Fun

October

Pros: Room Right size, Entertainment locations convenient, Specialty Restaurants Good Food, Staff Fun Pleasant and helpful

Cons: No dedicated Adult Swim Area, No Male or Female only spa amenities, No Chapel or prayer space for personal prayer time.time

Recommended: Yes

The ship is beautiful easy to get around, be prepared to walk but that was fine for me. The cons may seem lengthy but I feel being aware of the situations can help for a more pleasant travel experience. I travel by myself and the room that I got was a perfect size for me, I was in 10810 Balcony. The Porter Kept it clean and he was a great guy. I needed distilled water and he brought it right to my room within 5 mins. Entertainment venues for the most part are located amid ships with 2 theater exceptions and that is fine as it provides for a better theater experience. The food at the specialty offerings was great the main open dining rooms and buffet were ok. I love the freestyle dining NCL provides I cant eat late. Bartenders are attentive considering the large amount of passengers to deal with and drinks are made very well. You get the right bartender and they are fun to deal with. Some staff to mention, If you see Gabby Go to whatever she is doing, her energy is contagious, The Baristas at the coffee shop Rachelle and Alexandra are fun, Funny and fast. Chris was my Porter he did a great job on my room. I dont tend to leave a mess but what little mess there was the place was kept nicely. Cons No Dedicated Adult Swim area, not everyone wants kids crawling all over them or listen to Zumba classes or loud music at the pool. There needs to be a dedicated adult swimming area or time where adults can converse and have relax time with no loud music or Kids. I spent 199.00 for the spa package and will not do so again if the setup is the same on other NCL vessels as it was on Breakaway. I dont want to listen to couples arguing or women chattering about itchy bosoms. YES IT HAPPENED I went once it was a huge waste of cash. If the offering has a men's and women's only areas and coed great. otherwise I can listen to that kind of conversation on deck. I also desired a private prayer area with a small alter and couldn't find it also was told none was available. The sizable gymnasium was never completely in use I could imagine a small area could be carved out for a small prayer area.

my cruise

October

Pros: Great boarding and disembarking, Velvet, well kept ship,bartenders

Cons: Dining Staff, upcharges for most everything,

Recommended: Yes

Boarding and disembarking were quick and easy, The 1 show I saw Velvet was a great show and well performed. The bartenders and our cabin porter were top notch. The rest of the staff was either very good or very bad with no middle ground. All the upcharges were disappointing seems most everything had a charge to it. The dining package is overpriced as far as I,m concerned $30.00 pp, it appears no consideration is taken into account for the meals already paid for in the price of the cruise. Prices were extremely high on the menu's compared to comparable restaurants elsewhere, even taking into consideration its aboard ship .

Great Experience

October

Pros: The workers were great.

Cons: There was a mess when leaving. Don't think the place is big enough for such a large ship.

Recommended: Yes

Great experience

Wonderful trip

October

Pros: Staff was excellent, and made everything more fun.

Cons:

Recommended: Yes

Enjoyed the room, amenities, staff and food.

Norwegian Breakaway

October

Pros: Beautiful Ship, Friendly Crew Members, and lots of wonderful venues to explore

Cons: Sheehan's get a lot busy and it took awhile to get service,not only us but a lot of people

Recommended: Yes

My full 7 day experience with Norwegian Breakaway was an awesome experienced thzt Ill always remember

Cruising

June

Pros: Beautiful time

Cons: None

Recommended: Yes

It was an amazing first time experience cruising. I will definitely do it again

Best cruise!

April

Pros: Very good food, marvelous shore excursions, friendly crew and clean, clean, clean!

Cons: twin sized bedding didn't have fitted sheets.

Recommended: Yes

My friend and I had a wonderful trip; she had never been on a cruise before but enjoyed every minute of the adventure, as I did. We got to visit other countries and explore their culture in a safe environment, which we would not have done otherwise. Loved every minute of the trip! Thank you NCL.

Breakaway cruise March 31-April 7

April

Pros:

Cons:

Recommended: Yes

Great trip.

A great way to get to Mexico

March

Pros: Great food, great people. The room was very clean and quiet.

Cons: We did not have any.

Recommended: No

Breakaway Trip

February

Pros: dining & entertainment

Cons: Ports

Recommended: Yes

Do not wish to make any comments.

Beautiful ship and fantastic staff! The Haven was pure luxury.

February

Pros:

Cons:

Recommended: Yes

Large ship that didn't feel overwhelming. Lots of smaller venues to enjoy. Cirque Dreams dinner show WOW! Staff was very fun and friendly. Extremely clean. Lines were sometimes long (tendering) but usually manageable.

PROS AND CONS

February

Pros: Very clean ship , buffet food was great, the bathroom set up was very well thought out ( plenty of space for everything) shower was larger than normal. Our room steward was really great as were most of the crew The elevators were fast and functional and the locations were great.

Cons: The biggest concern we had was the smoke in the casino. There seemed to be no ventilation or air exchanges and the no smoking area was a joke. The price of drinks and the addon charges were the highest we have ever seen ($14 for a large beer ! ) My wife’s biggest complaint other than the casino smoke was the setup of the closet, the side with the clothes rack was hard to access because of the length of the couch .

Recommended: No

I'll love this cruise in another 20 years.

February

Pros: Wonderful staff, good base value.

Cons: Definitely not the all-inclusive line I'm accustomed to. Reservations needed for everything.

Recommended: Yes

First off, I love the studio cabin option. Just what I wanted and needed. Lots of room for storage, full size bed. Mini fridge would have been nice. Staff was wonderful and plentiful, extremely helpful, never a cold shoulder. The bartenders are very generous with the cocktails. The officers are very visible. 40 yr old solo on a cruise targeted to 55+ and children. Obviously, not the ship's fault, but it colored my opinions a bit. That being said, the line absolutely caters to solo travelers like no other line! The food was not bad, but the good meals all cost extra. And the restaurants and shows all need reservations, no room for walk-ins. 11 night cruise, the review shows were repeated rather than a unique one each night. The ports were full 8 hrs, which was very nice for long excursions.

Great cruise!

June

Pros: Beautiful stateroom with balcony, wonderful entertainment, great housekeeping, good food, top-notch excursions

Cons: Ship overcrowded, long waits for food in some restaurants, out-of-control children, too few complimentary restaurants

Recommended: Yes

This was my first cruise, and a wonderful experience. Staff throughout the ship were VERY cordial, well-informed, and helpful. Our suite was very comfortable, well-designed, and clean. The entertainment was FIRST-RATE— only wish they could have been a bit longer. I love kids — have two young grandchildren, but many children were unsupervised— running and bumping into other passengers, screaming and running around in restaurants, etc. staff did nothing about this.j

Norwegian Breakaway

May

Pros: Special dining is the best experience, thanks a lot!

Cons: June 3, 9:30pm call Rock of Ages, it was terrible!

Recommended: Yes

The lady plays violin, is a excellent show. June 6, 9:30pm Burn the Floor is excellent show, I wish in the future I have chances to watch it again.

norweigan breakaway

April

Pros:

Cons:

Recommended: Yes

great entertainment, great food, needed a little more time at destinations

Last cruise was 44 years ago, finally tried again :-)

October

Pros: Manhattan Dock 1/2 hour from our home!! Wonderful performances at shows, crew made cruise happy & fun!

Cons: Heard renovation noise in middle of nite, also exiting ship in NY line did move people piled up!

Recommended: Yes

Our room Stewart was very thoughtful & Pleasent to us :-) We had FUN IT's a party ship!!! I felt great the whole trip, sea air SOOO clean. Didn't want to leave.

Fun Time!

August

Pros: Service was amazing - food was plentiful

Cons: The Adult Pool area had games and a DJ - but not for the kids.

Recommended: Yes

We had a great time - we did find that we had to entertain our pre-teens & Teens around the pool in the afternoons. They were disappointed they could not be involved in the games by the adult pool and they did not want to be inside with the club. Overall great family time!!

Great time

August

Pros: clean, friendly staff,entertainment great

Cons: food could have been better, deck should have been kept dry

Recommended: Yes

I witnessed 2 guest slip and fall because of a wet deck.Overall the cruise was wonderful

Breakaway eperience

July

Pros: Crew was always willing to assist, food was good

Cons: Adult swimming pool was too small for the amount of passengers. For a ship of that size there should have been two adult pools

Recommended: Yes

Extremely disappointed on boarding the ship and getting off the ship. This should have been more organized. It took several hours to do both.

3 generations of memories

June

Pros: Freestyle dining, great shows, rope course, water slides

Cons: Coffee, crowded pools and too few hot tubs

Recommended: Yes

So many choices of activities, including deck chairs for quiet relaxation. The four water slides and the rope course with the eight foot plank overlooking the ocean, as well as the zip lining were exhilarating. From Cirque acrobats to Second City Comedy, always top notch entertainment options. Delicious food in both complementary and speciality restaurants, including a Japanese Steakhouse, a French Bistro and a Brazilian churrascuria! They even allowed flexibility to change reservations when we chose to do so.

great staff lots of fun

June

Pros: loved it all

Cons: more pools

Recommended: Yes

I dont know where to begin such a friendly staff and so many fun things to do we were never bored....... made our 25th anniversary celebration all that much better thank you all it was a blast!!

June 5 Cruise to Bermuda

June

Pros: familiarity with ship and Bermuda; enjoy cruising

Cons: service on ship was not up to par; room setup was not satisfactory; disembarkment was a nightmare

Recommended: Yes

We found the service staff was very hard to understand and had a hard time understanding us. They were also not the typical friendly, accommodating people we are used to on the Norwegian line. The stateroom was a balcony room but set up with the bed within 8" of the balcony door rather than when you first walk in. A couch was where the bed is normally and was only 8" from the closet making it difficult to stand in front of closet. Disembarking from the ship was horrible -- never ran into this before. We are Latitude members and should have priority status leaving, but there was no way of telling who was leaving at what point in time. The lines to enter the port were very long and we waited an hour in line after leaving ship to enter port which caused us additional fees to our limo driver due to wait time. Never experienced this in the past. It was a good trip but certainly not what we have been accustomed to in the past when cruising with Norwegian.

Fun for kids

April

Pros: Very clean ship food was good lots to do if you want

Cons: Tendering off the ship was a nightmare disembarking was a night mare

Recommended: Yes

Breakaway to Bermuda - Good Times

October

Pros: Service was excellent. A lot of dining options, with food being particularly good in the specialty restaurants, but the no-fee dining areas were also good. Great entertainment. The Waterfront is a great place to sit out and eat, drink, or just read or watch the waves.

Cons: A few smoky areas (casino, part of the Waterfront. Not enough activities. The Atrium area was crowded.

Recommended: Yes

This was a nice trip and the ship had a lot to commend it. A lot of good dining places with plenty of variety in food options. The staff was uniformly excellent, with the cruise director staff being particular good--made the activities a lot of fun, but I wish there were more activities going on. The smoky casino on Deck 8 was unavoidable when going along that deck. Balconies are small and cabins lack drawers, but the bathroom in the mini-suites are great--big double sink and giant shower. Beds are very comfortable. The entertainment is great--Rock of Ages, Cirque Dreams, and Burn the Floor are particularly good, but more production shows would have been nice.

Family Cruise

June

Pros: NCL provides something for everyone, no matter the age !

Cons: Didn't have time to do everything we wanted to do.

Recommended: Yes

We have sailed a number of times with NCL. We enjoy the freestyle concept. The excursions are well planned and quite enjoyable.

Overall experience

May

Pros: Ship is beautiful.

Cons: Not being able to watch the Stanley cup hockey playoffs or get scores of any sports events other than tennis or soccer

Recommended: Yes

For many sports fans not being able to get scores of games especially the Stanley cup playoffs is very upsetting. The ships are equipt with lots of technology now a days and to not get sports games is a big disappointment.

Norwegian Breakaway 8/10-8/17

August

Pros: Service, Solo cabins, Solo Lounge, Solo Host, Activities, and Shows,

Cons: Smoke odor in atrium and no lobster dinner on dress-up night

Recommended: Yes

The customer service and Solo Host were exemplorary. NCL really caters to the solo traveller.

Had a great time.

June

Pros: Everything. Well taken of.

Cons: Had to wait 1hr and 15min for the ride from the ship to the airport.

Recommended: Yes

Breakaway

June

Pros: Nice people, staff, good food. Kids loved it.

Cons: Kids Pools- Seemed like an after thought, there was no visiablity between the Kids pool and the kiddie pool, so you could not watch both pools at the same time. The kid's swimming pool was stuck in the middle under the slides and it was like a sunken pit, very dangerous. The adult pool had a better lay out for the kids to use. The kiddie pool was also very dangerous with the white bars in the pool, the way the waves were moving kids could have easily gotten their legs/arms trapped. Kids camp was great for the older ones, 6-9 years but for the 3-5 I was not pleased with the care.

Recommended: Yes

This ship was a lot of fun, nice people, great food. A lot of things to do. My kids just loved being on the Ship and didnt want to go home. They are looking forward to the next one.