Somehow, we made it home from the Breakaway! Beautiful but poorly designed boat

Norwegian Breakaway Cruise Review to Bermuda

Cruises: 4-6 cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 43

Overall rating:

2 out of 5
Verified Review
Norwegian Breakaway

Sail date: July 26, 2015

Ship: Norwegian Breakaway

Cabin type: Inside

Cabin number: 5100

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 9 years ago

Review summary

We were so very excited to go on the Breakaway after only having been on Carnival before--we can't wait to go back to carnival.

With regards to our room:

1)It was right next to the crew door, so we heard that door all the time.

2) It was right under the theater that had Cirque Dreams-so we heard that twice a day if we tried to rest in our room

3) NCL kept from us the fact that Bermuda has "Cup Match" (a cricket match) for 2 of the 3 days that we were there-a national holiday that shuts down Bermuda for 2 days. They only told us as we got on the boat with a note in our room. They knew, but didn't tell us because they knew they couldn't fill the boat I they did.

4) Over 4,000 guests and 1 main pool-are you kidding?

5) Bumpy ride on the way back rom Bermuda. Before you flame me for this one, here's the story: It was so bad our bunk bed that was in the ceiling fell out and other guests reported that they fell out of bed. But, it wasn't just rough weather. We were told this happens every week on the last day of this run because the captain has to floor it while going against the current to get back on time. So every Friday, you can be sure this boat is rocking. I would rather 12 less hours in Bermuda and not getting sick the next 24 hours. (I NEVER get sick, but got sick 5 times because of this). We had to sleep in the lobby because our room rocked so bad-and several others did the same.

We don't expect perfection and are not entitled people at all, but if NCL doesn't entice us to come back somehow, we never will

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5

Entertainment

3 out of 5

Children's Programs

5 out of 5

Service and Staff

3 out of 5
nice but unknowledgeable

Ship Quality

1 out of 5
clean but awful design

Cabin / Stateroom

1 out of 5
read above comments for more about our terrible room experience

Ship tip

a bigger boat isn't better if it is just bigger because they packed more staterooms on it.

Ports of call

New York, New York

3 out of 5

Royal Naval Dockyard, West End, Bermuda

5 out of 5
Was this review helpful? 43

21 Comments

Gwbigdog    1 year ago

Thanks for sharing your cruise with us.

keng23    9 years ago

The fifth floor is the cheapest rooms, the lower the deck, the more rockier it is, next time spend a little more and choose your room ahead of time

pdot1010    9 years ago

all ships have rooms in undesirable locations

TazJMT    9 years ago

Yeah, so you are telling me I should do my research to avoid the crappy rooms on the boat...by why are there ANY crappy rooms on the boat in the first place? If you are going to defend NCL no matter what, then why even comment? I had stayed high/low/forward/aft/mid on other cruiselines and never had any of these issues.

And for the 3rd time-I did not make up the reason for the rough ride-the crew told us this is why it was happening. Why would they just make up that story for no reason? it's not like it was making them look any better.

I think I am starting to find out that if you don't say "Oh what a wonderful cruise we had" that people on this site are just going to argue with you. It's my review. we had a bad experience. if you don't like it, move on-but why argue with me. I have no reason to fabricate these stories. This might be the only review I ever do here-literally no reason for me to have to defend my personal experiences.

Dennis107    9 years ago

Checking deck plans to get a sense of what's above, below and adjacent to a cabin can spare a lot of grief. As for the rough ride, the Breakaway travels at 21.5 knots on the way back compared to the 13 for the trip to Bermuda. While speed can be a contributing factor, rough seas are typically the primary reason for a less-than-smooth ride.

pdot1010    9 years ago

For someone who has cruised before, you didnt do a whole lot of homework and research. Ive been to Bermuda many of times on ncl and had issues that required the captain to speed the ship up and never had any issues that you mentioned. Mother nature is mother nature. Repeat cruisers know to do research on rooms and locations as well as itenaraies.

TazJMT    9 years ago

Truffle and Denise-I was told by the crew this is why the boat was rocking in this way-I didn't fabricate the story, it is what I was told by several crew members including guest services

TazJMT    9 years ago

Dana-I am supposed to research to make sure there isn't a cricket match in Bermuda? How would I even know to look for that? Should I also make sure there isn't a Barbie convention in Portugal in November? It was clear they hid it-they only told us the instant we got on the boat

As far as researching what is above us-we are to assume they didn't check that you can hear the show through the ceiling? Never happened on other cruiselines. It seems that your advice is "NCL will probably do some dumb things, so make sure you check everything first to avoid those thing". Or, they could just rehearse the show and walk on the 5th floor themselves-then notice there is a problem and fix it. Why do I need to do their job?

frank212    9 years ago

I was on the sister ship (the getaway) very smooth ride

minervaacevedo    9 years ago

Elizabethmakatura we r going Nov 15 to 22

Dana98    9 years ago

I seriously doubt NCL was hiding a major holiday from cruise passengers, it's called researching prior to your booking dates and as for you cabin noise, have you never bothered checking what is above and below you, that's the first thing you should do,

gllwave    9 years ago

Last year got knocked to my bed fifteen times on the GEM, I was O.K., what am I doing this year🚢, cruising! Go with the flow!

gllwave    9 years ago

Be careful what cabin you chose!

sfitts    9 years ago

we had rough seas on the Dawn going to Bermuda and I got sick but found a way to help if I started to feel sick again. Eat green apples found that out from the crew on the ship.

denisetommy    9 years ago

No way is that why the boat rocked. The ocean was rough that's why it was rocking. We had smooth sailing all the way home on that cruise in June. you can't control Mother Nature. I was thrown out if bed on the Disney cruise do to rough seas but didn't blame the captain!!!!! That's just crazy to think that the captain would do that and piss off all the passengers on purpose.

Truffle    9 years ago

Was on the Breakaway the week of July 12 and we did not experience ANY rough sailing on the way back to NY. We had some big waves on Tuesday on the way down to Bermuda but the water was very calm on the way back. This doesn't happen every time as you said.

Elizabethmakatura    9 years ago

Minervaacevedo. We're going November 1 when are you going?

minervaacevedo    9 years ago

OMG I be going inthe Breakaway in Nov I hope everything be fine, I'm gonna be in the 10 floor.

TazJMT    9 years ago

we were in #5100 asmeyer-front of the boat-but we have been in the front/back/middle/top/bottom-all over on other boats and it never mattered at all!

JusMe    9 years ago

Thanks for your review.   I'm surprised you gave it  2 stars and not just one.  In the future I guess you will book a specific room and check its location for what is above, below and next to it.   I always go to the cruise line site or Vacationstogo.com where I can see the deck plans of the ship to see where my cabin is and what is around it.  

You were the first cabin at the front of the ship and under the theater.  I had the cabin at the very front of the ship on the Carnival Glory and almost got rolled out of bed one night,   all the drawers slid open that night.  

I do agree Carnival is a better product.   Best wishes your next cruise is better.

asmyer    9 years ago

What room were you in?

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