If you have completely read my review you can probably imagine I would never go on this ship again. The amenities are tired, worn and more importantly - dirty. The food is really atrocious. Its a shame because its so convenient to leave out of New York. My advice would be to fly to FL and explore some of the better cruise options from Royal Caribbean, Celebrity (I think the best overall experience), or even Carnival before you book Norwegian Breakaway. I hate leaving reviews like this but hopefully you are able to make your own decision based on what I reviewed.
Embarkation
4 out of 5
Standard process with no issues.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
1 out of 5
The food was the worst part of the trip. Buffet food is inedible. Room service (comes from the buffet) was also inedible. If your favorite restaurant food is from Denny's or a Diner then this is the cruise for you. The specialty restaurants were better but not worth the "up charge". By the way, dont bother getting the beverage or food packages. Everything you will want isnt included in either. Opt for the wifi package (179.00) so you can connect to the mainland while in the Bahamas.
I cannot honestly say one good thing about the food on this ship other than the waitstaff was excellent and work really hard.
Onboard Activities
3 out of 5
Pools are small and if your traveling with children, most of the pools and hot tubs are off limits to them. The water slides are also not heated so when traveling from the north east, plan on spending a lot of money indoors on Bingo and Deal or No Deal. the ropes course and rock climbing were good for the kids and they were forced to spend a lot of time there and on the sport court. The casino in the middle of the ship and smoking is allowed! If you walk thru the middle of the ship or plan on dining in any of the specialty restaurants (same deck as casino) plan on putting your clothes outside on the balcony to air out. Cant understand why smoking, of all things, is allowed inside a cruise ship.
Entertainment
3 out of 5
The magician show (Dizzy) was actually very funny and entertaining (we attended both part 1 and part 2). The cirque show was also excellent but incredibly abbreviated (30-45min) from the original cirque de soliel productions. Rock of Ages is nothing like the original from Broadway and is more sexually explicit as well. The show was OK.
Service and Staff
4 out of 5
Everyone works really hard on this ship and the motto is "up charge and tips". I am not a fan of this style of cruising but the staff works hard and good service was provided.
Ship Quality
1 out of 5
2nd worst part of the cruise. When we first arrived in our mini suite balcony stateroom was filthy. We immediately left the room and requested the soiled linens and carpet be cleaned. They ended up changing the linens and vacuumed the carpet, however, our shoes still stuck to it!! Disgusting! We laid all our bath towels down on the carpet so we didn't have to walk on it. Inexcusable. We asked for 5 more towels everyday just to do this.
Later we realized why the staterooms are the way they are. We disembarked the ship at 10 am Sunday and new passengers were boarding at 11:30 am. The stewards had exactly 1 and a half hours to turn over god knows how many rooms. Its just not possible to effectively clean all rooms in 1 1/2 hours.
Cabin / Stateroom
1 out of 5
See notes above.
Ship tip
Plan on spending another 1000-1500 on extra charges. Every time you turn around there is a charge. Nothing on this ship is free (including the pool towels that require a deposit until returned) except the buffet and you cant eat it. We had raw waffles one day, raw pancakes another, then tried the prepared lunches and they were awful as well. Resorted to eating in the "specialty restaurants" which were at least better but this is mass produced Diner food except the food at the Diner is much better.
Not worth getting off the ship unless you want to go to Space Center. Downtown is seedy and the Orlando theme parks are too far away to get to on the allotted time in port.
Really one of the most beautiful private islands I have been to. Best part of the trip. Too bad other ships couldn't go here as I would love to go back (just not on Norwegian).
If you've never been to Atlantis, you must go, especially with children. This is a great port and worth the cost of admission to the water park. Downtown is interesting but I do not recommend going alone or with small children. Street peddlers are everywhere and very pushy.
Seriously? We were on the same cruise and have no clue why you say the food was bad. Where were you eating anyway? Been on BA 6 times and never any problems. Obviously cruising is NOT for you! We arrived at port at 1140 and were on board and eating lunch at one of the restaurants by 1. Try to avoid the buffet most days, but no problem with what is served. Yes the casino does get smokey but just use deck 6. I find the worse part are the rudeness of some passengers who think they are the only ones on the ship and everyone is in their way.
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