Christmas cruise fun

Item: Norwegian Breakaway
Rating: 3.9
Author: DNA3AR2cruisers

Norwegian Breakaway Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western

DNA3AR2cruisers

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 2-3 cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 40

Overall rating:

3.9 out of 5

7 Night Western Caribbean (New Orleans Roundtrip)

Sail date: December 23, 2018

Ship: Norwegian Breakaway

Traveled as: Family (older children)

Reviewed: 5 years ago

Review summary

Christmas family cruise and fun for our group. We typically decide that we’re going to have fun and do. This ship might be a bit too big as we cruised previously on NCL’s Sun (summer 2016 - Alaska) & the Pearl (Christmas cruise 2017). We heard other cruisers comments that were disappointed with the gratuity and up-selling.

Embarkation

4 out of 5

With construction near the port, it can be confusing navigating bag drop off and parking. We didn’t have long to wait once we got into the security queue, keycard queue, and then wait in seats rather than outside.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

4 out of 5

We enjoyed dining at Le Bistro, Teppanyaki, Cagney’s, and Manhattan dining rooms. We also dined at Shanghai Noodles (expect to wait), Taste, and Savor. We slowed our pace for some breakfasts and lunches dining in Taste or Savor.

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5

Items we did - ropes course, mini golf, aqua park, pool, walking on deck 8, paid extra $ (pre-cruise purchase) for spa for adults

Entertainment

4 out of 5

We reserved seats for Rock of Ages & Burn the Floor (dance) in advance. We were standby seating two evenings for comedy (& were seated). All were well done. We saw Jason Anderson (?) magician in the theater. We reserved space and participated in Escape the Big Top (challenging escape-room type event).

Children's Programs

Teenager

Service and Staff

4 out of 5

We found Shakers Martini Bar (CJ as bartender) & Vinu waiter to be friendly and helpful on Deck 8 (oceanfront). The seating is nice to enjoy watching the scenery, reading a book, or even a nap / siesta before evening activities.

Ship Quality

3 out of 5

If only the casino on Deck 7 smoke didn’t waft up to Deck 8 and down to Deck 6 outside Le Bistro & Headliners comedy club area.

Cabin / Stateroom

4 out of 5

10437 - interior accessible room that can sleep 3 was our first interior room. It should allow maneuverability if you are in a wheelchair.

Ship tip

Plenty to do, we enjoyed Deck 8 in the afternoon as a quiet space especially near Shakers Martini Bar. (CJ is there to sometime in February. Vinu is there until April if my memory is correct.)

Thumbs up

Ports of call

New Orleans, Louisiana

5 out of 5

NOLA is a very walkable city with plenty to do near port (outlet shopping) and easy walk / ride to the French Quarter.

Thumbs Up 4

Cozumel, Mexico

4 out of 5

No excursion - just browsed some shops near the port

Thumbs Up 3

Harvest Caye, Belize

4 out of 5

Nice beach break day with some shopping and excursions offered. We played in the pool and ocean before browsing some. (Mojo chocolate is yummy!) We enjoyed the nature area.

Thumbs Up 3

Costa Maya (Mahahual), Mexico

4 out of 5

Went on Lost Mayan Kingdom water park / ziplines with my teen while my husband browsed port shops with his parents. The Lost Mayan Kingdom during our experience was safety conscious, checking and tightening harnesses. It was fun completing a zip line into water. The elevators to get you to slides or zip line platforms was nice. $5 for locker rental during the day was “extra”. Photos on a flash drive were $29 or more depending on number of people in your group.

Thumbs Up 2

Disembarkation

3 out of 5

Line on the ship to disembark, but wasn’t terrible

Traveler Photos

2 Comments

Gwbigdog 2 years ago

Thanks for sharing your cruise.

Thumbs Up 0

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esm54687 5 years ago

Glad you and you family had a nice time together. Nice review. Cruisers who were disappointed with gratuity and up-selling have probably never been on vacation outside of their back yard..... you get that on all cruise lines, land based resorts, rental cars and airlines. All the CCL diehards will be having fits over the fact CCL now charges ala carte for room service (gratuity NOT included).

Thumbs Up 3

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