Great first time cruise experience.

Norwegian Breakaway Cruise Review to Bermuda

Cruises: 1 cruise (first)
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 12

Overall rating:

4 out of 5
Verified Review
Norwegian Breakaway

Sail date: June 19, 2016

Ship: Norwegian Breakaway

Cabin type: Oceanview

Cabin number: 5830

Traveled as: Large Group

Reviewed: 8 years ago

Review summary

I've been on cruises as a kid with my parents, but this was my first time cruising as an adult. I got a drink and specialty dining package as part of a promotion and it was great! All four of the speciality restaurants I attended were amazing and the drink package is definitely worth it! If I booked a cruise in the future and there was no drink package promotion being offered, I would still purchase the package. As for the food overall, the buffet and the free dining were delicious as well and I would be okay with not even dining in any of the speciality restaurants. The staff were so friendly and the service was on point. As an example, the water was not going down the shower drain (probably due to my hair) and I called housekeeping, who sent a plumber to fix the issue immediately. The housekeeping was okay, not immaculate, but our particular housekeeper (Arlene) was so cute and sweet. However, a few of my friends that had a different housekeeper, were not a fan of theirs. Which brings me to my main complaint. There is a daily service charge of $13.50 PER PERSON staying in the room, which I was told is gratuity for the housekeeper. I was not informed of this prior to the cruise, and a friend who cruised with Norwegian a year prior was not aware of this either, because she cruised in Feb 2015 and apparently this was just implemented in March of 2015. Now I had every intention of leaving a nice tip for my housekeeper before I knew about this automatic service charge and I understand that some people are cheaper and probably wouldn't even leave a tip, but that comes out to $95 for a 7 day cruise per person. So with a room of two people, that's a mandatory almost $200 service charge. My friends who were not fond of their housekeeper, we're not fond of this charge lol. Anyway, overall, I give it a solid 4 stars and would definitely cruise with Norwegian again (and will now be prepared for that service charge). 

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5

Onboard Activities

5 out of 5

Entertainment

5 out of 5

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5
Was this review helpful? 12

9 Comments

Gwbigdog    1 year ago

Thanks for sharing your cruise.

TiarraB    8 years ago

You can go to guest services & have the charge removed

brat81978    8 years ago

The service charge is split between many ppl on board, steward, dining staff, etc so really if u had to tip each of the ppl that share that $13.50/day, it would cost quite a bit more. I prepay mine so I don't have to factor it in to my budget when we sail, with the added benefit of NCL honoring the prepaid tips if u manage to upgrade to a suite which has a higher daily Svc chg.

JCioc    8 years ago

Your butler and concierge is not included in your gratuities so I always tip them first as I do my bartenders it helps for great service

ckaplwn    8 years ago

You can always opt out of the gratuity by going to guest services and getting their form to fill out. Then you are free to tip on your own

gllwave    8 years ago

I always tip extra!

tracyandchuck    8 years ago

On RCI for a Jr Suite our daily charge was $14.25 per person, a little less for non suite cabins. With RCI it's divided between cabin steward and main dining room staff. We prepaid ours and tipped extra, ours were worth it. I can definitely understand how not knowing about the charges in advance could be upsetting. I'm am glad that cruise lines have taken into account that unfortunately most people don't tip correctly and they insure this for their workers. Fun fact.....people use to tip at the beginning of the meal in restaurants. Tips stands for "To Insure Proper Service"

maktas    8 years ago

There is always a automatic gratuity per person per day. I've been on 15+ cruises and always been charged. It covers all the workers not just your housekeeper. Who ever you booked with should have informed you. The Breakaway is a beautiful ship.

seagal5    8 years ago

Thank you for your review. Very informative . So glad you enjoyed the cruise. I'll be on the breakaway for the 2nd time this September ..can hardly wait ☀️👍

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