Norwegian never fails!

Item: Norwegian Breakaway
Rating: 5
Author: Wajiha23

Norwegian Breakaway Cruise Review to Bermuda

Wajiha23

Contributor Level: Third Mate

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 21

Overall rating:

5 out of 5

Verified Review

7 Night Bermuda (New York Roundtrip)

Sail date: October 16, 2016

Ship: Norwegian Breakaway

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 12854

Traveled as: Singles/Friends

Reviewed: 8 years ago

Review summary

Norwegian Cruise Line never fails me! This was the 7th cruise I sailed with Norwegian and they did not disappoint. The food, entertainment, service, drinks were all absolutely amazing. I had the unlimited beverage package and it had the best liquor and drinks all included. If anything was more than $15, you would just have to pay the difference which didn't really happen to us. I had a balcony room and it was nice and clean, the room stewardess was extremely kind. The bartenders in every bar work so efficiently and quick you really do not have to wait too long for drinks. This was a bigger ship than I have usually been on so the pool areas were usually packed but I didn't mind. The cruise director Dan Dan was extremely hilarious and we had actually met him on the Norwegian Gem and he remembered us and ended up giving us free tickets to the Wine Musical show. Overall, it was amazing and the staff at NCL always make you feel welcome.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5

Onboard Activities

5 out of 5

Entertainment

5 out of 5

Children's Programs

Didn't use

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

Ports of call

New York, New York

5 out of 5

Royal Naval Dockyard, West End, Bermuda

5 out of 5

51 Comments

Gwbigdog 2 years ago

Thanks for sharing your cruise.

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mpsncms16 8 years ago

This turn out to be a great thread!! See u all 12/11

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arirangtravelagency 8 years ago

Smilin64 yes always helps to kill em with the kindness :) we always approach all crew and other passengers with respect.. no reason not too. I hate when cruisers get irate, like get a drink and calm it down. Its always over such small things i see people flip out about.

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arirangtravelagency 8 years ago

Esm54687 reschedule

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arirangtravelagency 8 years ago

Clferr we always end up carrying our wine that we brought on back off... maybe i will leave off this time and bring two bottles of champagne that always goes. Cant wait to try some of the martinis and mixed drinks on the breakaway. Ive seen some good drinks on the menu pics

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esm54687 8 years ago

What is RS?

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arirangtravelagency 8 years ago

Esm54687 lol too funny im nervous im going to drink the whole mini bar with all the cheese available. Did u rs ur cruise? I hope u can rs soon!!

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esm54687 8 years ago

That's why I empty the mini bar!!

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clferr 8 years ago

Never thought to bring cheese and stuff back to room. Now i know why i keep baggies in my luggage

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CruisingQueen21 8 years ago

Pizza is great on the breakaway. That's my 10pm snack. Grab a plate head to your balcony. My daughter loved it. Live o' sheehans wings. Great 2am snack !!!!_ lol

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smilin64 8 years ago

Someone also mentioned late night cheeses etc. Our experience, again on the Getaway, was a late evening buffet that ran until about 11:30. It wasn't super extensive but it had a lot of hot food offerings. I even saw people bringing plates of chicken wings into the duelling pianos venue. But after having dinner at about 8:00 I don't know who would be hungry for a buffet later on! Ok maybe pizza :)

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smilin64 8 years ago

@Esm and @denholm we got the take out from o'Sheehan's on the Getaway last New Year's. (I'm sure my teen boys did it at least three times during the week!) As the Breakaway is the sister ship I'm assuming the offerings would be comparable. I could be wrong but asking really politely can go a long way to crew members bending the rules a bit :)

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kinjon 8 years ago

if the breakaway is anything like the getaway you'l l have a great cruise.

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arirangtravelagency 8 years ago

Esm54687 ty for the clamshell pic, will certainly get one of those, i see what ur saying about the mesh. I like the feeling of having a cover like that, thanks for the tip!

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arirangtravelagency 8 years ago

Smilin64 ohh good to know about the take out, we thought we would be carrying plates back... i love the dip. Ty!!!

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esm54687 8 years ago

smilin64: is that new? They didn't do "to go" when I was on the Breakaway. Would love that option!! denholmcruise: not so much padded but cloth like. Notice some have the mesh and some don't. https://goo.gl/images/XfCXXn

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garythack 8 years ago

Great review We have been on NCL before and enjoyed We leave New York 13th November on Breakaway Cannot wait Bigger ship than used to but will have fun exploring

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smilin64 8 years ago

O'Sheehan's is open 24/7 and they will box your meal to go back to your room. The late-night menu is not all that extensive but the food is good and FREE :) As denholmcruise mentions, always best to explore the ship really well and also read the Freestyle Daily and highlight all your food options. I would recommend the Norwegian themed Face book groups for positive feedback and helpful tips.

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jchrist 8 years ago

What a wonderful post!

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arirangtravelagency 8 years ago

@esm54687 are the clamshells padded? $30 is a good price for a clamshell and i def need shade as well as hubby

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arirangtravelagency 8 years ago

About gsc and its condition

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arirangtravelagency 8 years ago

@Clferr please keep us posted

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arirangtravelagency 8 years ago

Hahahaha the nickel and dime complaint i will steer away from, bc ncl breakaway has low fares for this itenarary so i expect to pay more, even with the 18% grats we always pay extra in cash to those we feel went the extra mile. I cant complain about the extra charges... just the rm service but i guess in return we get the expanded menu. And i will indulge anyways :) but ive read so many reviews about the past ncl breakaway to bermuda, they didnt get any options to change or get off or future cruise credit. So ive been reading a lot of rants on cc. Will stay off ccritic for a while, this forum seems much more positive. Ive had great experiences on the phone so far with ncl.

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esm54687 8 years ago

I'm not sure it's "bait and switch" when: they are dealing with hurricane clean up, delays in construction because they were cleaning up and now the seas may be rougher transporting the material to GSC because of winter currents.... I'm sure NCL would much rather have GSC open then to pay The Bahamas the extra port charges, or extra fuel for sea days and the negative appearance when people say it's "bait and switch".... . I'm sure your parents can confirm what I said Sorry for the mini rant but next will be the "nickel & dime" complaint

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arirangtravelagency 8 years ago

We are crusing on 12/11 on ncl breakaway out of nyc since we live in ny. Im so worried that great stirrup cay will still be closed and we will be baited and switched. Id rather know beforehand.... than i wont pack our snorkel gear. This app is great, ive been trying to find all our old cruise cards to plug them into our past cruises... bear with me. My parents own a travel and tour agency in nyc so we do travel with a critical eye due to the fact we are preshopping for our clients. I post most of the time (mrs.) We r in our 30s now and have been cruising for a very long time. We took a break to do some europe tours but its too tiring for us... so back to crusing. Esp with the brutal ny winters.

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andrew2600 8 years ago

I've been on the Breakaway twice and never had an issue. The crew members are great!

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CruisingQueen21 8 years ago

@clferr. I hope so for u. We called ncl they said by the end of November if weather holds up. I love it there but I'm so disappointed we are not going !

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clferr 8 years ago

Said it should be open for the 11/20 cruise. Im hoping it is.

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CruisingQueen21 8 years ago

Ok ty ! N

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esm54687 8 years ago

He's lucky... Dec 11th if you click on their avatar and they are truthful about their cruises then it's there

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CruisingQueen21 8 years ago

@denholmscruise. Great stirrup cay is closed for at least another 4 weeks. When are u going ?

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esm54687 8 years ago

I was able to go in March this year but my Breakaway in 12 days had it cancelled because of hurricane. Tip: I'm Scottish so very fair skinned. Not a ton of shade unless you get a cabana so I get a clamshell (only can book on board ).... they are $30, include two loungers that have a shade thing (when you have the attendant set it up, ask for a mesh panel so there's airflow or it gets HOT).... you pick the beach and they are first come first serve BUT they are excursions so you get priority tender

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arirangtravelagency 8 years ago

Ty ty @esm54687 @clferr and @joydsantos7 will certrainly seek out eating areas that arent the buffet during peak hours. I hope we have decent weather, was great stirrup cay open for ur sailings?

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esm54687 8 years ago

joydsantos7 is correct..... I had ala carte on the mind because you order it ala carte but it's free.

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esm54687 8 years ago

Noodle Bar is ala carte and gets real busy (in the casino so it's also smokey) but yummy. If you are doing those three specialty restaurants I would recommend the SDP. Moderno has the best salad bar but will ruin the meat fest!! Margaritaville is also part of UDP and SDP. Tip that many people don't know: Moderno has a great themed lunch buffet (theme changes daily) on sea days.

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CruisingQueen21 8 years ago

Yes noodle bar free

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clferr 8 years ago

I think noodle might be a freebie one. Just a heads up. On sea days they have a breakfast buffet in moderno. Less crowds and plenty of seating.

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arirangtravelagency 8 years ago

Ty im so glad to be getting the 411 on the breakaway, cruise critic can be too critcal at times and can set u up to see the worst.

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arirangtravelagency 8 years ago

@esm54687 @clferr i agree as well. Gotta focus on the pros, and go with the flow. My mission is to know the ship well before we sail, then expect to do any actvitity when we see its open. We signed up for cagneys may switch to a specialty dining package. To try moderno and teppanyaki as well. I cant figure out if noodle bar is ala carte, may call ncl tonight to change some arrangements.

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clferr 8 years ago

Those are the people who complain its too hot when they cruise in July and August, rough seas, rain and the list goes on and on....if they are like that on a cruise, what are they like at home?

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esm54687 8 years ago

Tip: have room steward empty fridge so you aren't tempted by those drunken state thoughts of "just one more" and makes more room for snacks. I agree with clferr...... some people have incredibly unrealistic expectations that if someone doesn't say "God bless you" when they sneeze then the whole vacation is ruined and the crew is inattentive.... I find about 86% of the time, if there is an issue.... it's because of a passenger being unreasonable not the crew. IMO, you will have a great time if you understand "shit happens"

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CruisingQueen21 8 years ago

@denholmscruise. Yw. I hear ya. You're on vacay. Go for it. Get room service and enjoy.

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arirangtravelagency 8 years ago

@joydsantos7 thats were planning on as well, i heard btwn 930 and 1130 they have assorted cheeses so ill have to stop for those. Also fridges in all rooms so i could always grab some snacks and keep em stored in there. Ncl already made me happier than ccl bc they have fridges in all the rooms. Ccl sunshine only had fridges in certain balconies and higher. Im sure im gonna cave and order rm srv 2 to 3 times in a drunken state but im accepting the $8 charge as my fate. Lol. Thanks for the tip!

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bonbon326 8 years ago

I concur we had a blast everything was great

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CruisingQueen21 8 years ago

@denholmscruise we would go by the buffet like 10pm. Grab some food and go back to our room and chill out on the balcony

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arirangtravelagency 8 years ago

This is our 2nd sailing with ncl and our 16th cruise. I loved the gem in 2012, and i also understand that its a huge ship with 4000 people so were already prepared for that. We prefer larger ships, more places and activities to experience.

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arirangtravelagency 8 years ago

Hubby and i sailed carnival sunshine in mid oct. Was soso but service was decent. I agree about having read a lot of negative reviews about the breakaway... we r booked for a balcony, hope they have good on board service, the $8 rm service fee has me annoyed, however going in with an open mind. Since its meant to be a relaxing vacation. Better than being at work!

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clferr 8 years ago

There are those who expect everything to be perfect when they cruise. Have to realize there are 4000 people on board and some who have nothing better to do but find something not to their liking. Cruising is a time to relax and just have fun. We are headed out 11/20 and cant wait to be back on board.

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CruisingQueen21 8 years ago

I only sail ncl. Love it

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mpsncms16 8 years ago

Totally agree with Brenda there! We have never cruised before(sailing 12/11 as well) after 8 months of reading so many negative reviews I was getting skeptical if I had made the wrong vacation plans.. This is not the first positive review I saw, however too few. Soo glad u had a good time❗️41 days and counting!!!!!!

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brendahallock 8 years ago

I am so happy to see a review like this! We leave on 12/11 and for the most part I have been reading negative reviews from everyone but Haven guest. I was starting to get nervous because we have a balcony! Glad to see the service is great there also.

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Other reviews of this sailing

OK cuise

Great food and beverage package

Amazing time onboard the Breakaway!