Disappointing cruise on NCL Breakaway
Norwegian Breakaway Cruise Review to Europe - Northern Europe
9 Night Scandinavia & Russia (Copenhagen Roundtrip)
Sail date: September 23, 2018
Ship: Norwegian Breakaway
Cabin type: Balcony
Cabin number: 10866
Traveled as: Family (older children)
Reviewed: 5 years ago
Review summary
We decided to invite our adult children to join us on their first cruise. We were all looking forward to the Baltic cruise and exploring the 5 ports that we believed that we would be visiting. On embarkation we were informed that our first stop, Warnemunde, was cancelled. Passengers who were joining the cruise in Warnemunde were informed before the cruise to make their way to Copenhagen as the ship would not be stopping there. We did not receive any prior notification. Our first stopover was at Tallinn and we enjoyed visiting this lovely medieval city. We were suppose to stay one day, however it ended up being a 2 day stopover, and it was at Tallinn that we were told that we would be visiting st. Petersburg, but that Helsinki and Stockholm were cancelled. The captain claimed it was due to the weather. For two days were observed large ferries coming and going from Tallinn to Sweden and Finland, they were much smaller vessels than the NCL Breakaway, and we all wondered why they could make the journeys but we were stranded. The two day stopover at St Petersburg stopover was great. 4,000 passengers confined to the ship for 5 days, instead of the advertised itinerary of 2 sea days wasn’t pleasant at all. There was no additional activities, shows etc provided. While the food was good, we didn’t go on the cruise to eat all day long, we chose the cruise for the ports advertised. It ended up being a costly holiday for what we saw. If we were offered a full refund prior to departure then we would have accepted this, and then flown to all the cities. At the Q & A with the captain, the theatre was full of very unhappy passengers. Perhaps one of the most frustrating thing we experienced on the cruise was the poor and lack of communication to passengers. While we will cruise again, not with this company, our children have told us that they will not cruise anytime in the distant future.Embarkation
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Onboard Activities
Entertainment
Children's Programs
Service and Staff
Ship Quality
Cabin / Stateroom
Ship tip
Be prepared for long queues and lack of communication
Ports of call
Warnemunde (Berlin), Germany Did not visit port
St. Petersburg, Russian Federation
Helsinki, Finland Did not visit port
Nynashamn (Stockholm), Sweden Did not visit port