Big Disappointment

Norwegian Breakaway Cruise Review to Caribbean - Eastern

hteegarden

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 4-6 cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 51

Overall rating:

2.3 out of 5

7 Night Eastern Caribbean (Miami Roundtrip)

Sail date: September 22, 2019

Ship: Norwegian Breakaway

Traveled as: Family (older children)

Reviewed: 5 years ago

Review summary

This cruise was totally disappointing. We had previously cruised on Royal Caribbean and heard that Norwegian was comparable. We are a family of 5 traveling with a total party of 12. It was a 7 day cruise which was supposed to stop at Puerto Rico, Tortola, St. Thomas and Bahamas. We were following a tropical storm so they decided to cancel St. Thomas. Disappointing but fair enough (even though the weather cleared up the day we we due to be there). Then when sleeping another night, there was a medical emergency so they turned the ship around to meet a helicopter. It was 3 hours late, so we did not have time to go to the Bahamas, so another day on the ship. We missed half the destinations. The ship itself is no where near the ship of Royal Caribbean. There was no grand prominade, no areas like central park, no wow factor at all. The central part of the ship is filled with smoke from the casino. The food was so/so and we ate at 'specialty' dining 3 of the nights. 2 of the 5 water slides were closed the entire voyage. The show we had reserved for night 2, cancelled. The bars were so understaffed there were 5 people deep almost always and impossible to get a waiter to deliver a drink to you around the deck. The staff did their jobs, but was not friendly. On our other cruises, we always seemed to get to know our waiter, our cabin stew. Not this one. Not one staff member. The entire cruise (which we had looked forward to for many months) was absolutely difficult to stomach. We were shocked at how bad it was. I hope our story prevents this heartbreak of a vacation for some other family.

Embarkation

3 out of 5

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

1 out of 5

Food was so so and we ate at specialty restaurants 3 nights. Bars were always 5 people deep. Spent a lot of time waiting in line.

Onboard Activities

1 out of 5

2 of the 5 water slides closed the entire ship, only one sport court, one bowling lane (xtra charge), small rock climbing wall. Pools overflowing with people.

Entertainment

3 out of 5

One night show that we reserved cancelled. Otherwise good shows but racy for young teens and kids.

Children's Programs

1 out of 5

Service and Staff

1 out of 5

No one was friendly. Did not get to know one single staff member.

Ship Quality

1 out of 5

No 'wow' factor. Smoky. No where to walk around or go. No really nice bar to sit and have a drink.and relax.

Cabin / Stateroom

3 out of 5

Ship tip

Don't

Thumbs up

Ports of call

San Juan, Puerto Rico

4 out of 5

Tortola, British Virgin Islands

4 out of 5

Disembarkation

2 out of 5

It was OK.

9 Comments

jess8297 5 years ago

I was on the same cruise. NOTHING was done to help ease the pain of being stuck on a ship for 3 days. Sorry but this was my 5th cruise and my first with NCL. Never again! I agree with this review 100%. I saved for 2 years for this "vacation" it was a disaster! So for the ones that say it's the risk ect. It may be but the way the situations were handled plus the lack of empathy for keeping me hostage on a ship is redicouls. I wanted off and they say for over 15hrs in one spot claiming "we didn't have time" to make it to the next port. Then sat infront of that port for another 12hr. So no I am not happy at all.

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Scottie55 5 years ago

I had a great cruise on the Breakaway and the Epic. Would do it all over again. Not one bad work on either. I do prefer smaller ships than the mega ones. I have never done an RC cruise.

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mrsTAM 5 years ago

It was one of our least favorite cruises... we still had a nice time, but definitely sub par. Lack of communication & poor decisions by NCL definitely were a disappointment, as was the food. We received $100 OBC, port fees refunded, and 20% a future cruise. At this point, we're jumping off the NCL train, temporarily. I canceled 2 of my 3 upcoming NCL cruises the day we returned. I'm sure we'll return at some point, but definitely on their smaller ships...

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mouse4583 5 years ago

To be fair...RCCL ships I have sailed on are better laid out and provide a very awesome ‘wow’ factor. I sail exclusively on NCL now because of the freestyle and ‘free at sea’. I really miss the open space promenades of RCCL....but love my NCL cruises. A vacation is what you make of it. Happy sailing, no matter what!!

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willwork4cruz 5 years ago

Apparently you do not realize that only a few of the Royal Caribbean ships are those mega 5,000 plus passenger ships with the promenades in the center. Most of RC ships are older and smaller than the NCL ship you were on. The oldest RC ships are a decade older than the oldest NCL ships. It would be fair to say you found out you prefer the mega ships but just uninformed to say RC ships are all mega ships and therefore better than NCL. I can't believe someone would book a cruise and look forward to it for so long but have no initiative to find out the size of it. FYI, the next class of NCL ships will be smaller. Lots of people just don't like the mega ship experience. To each his own.

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Chandy25 5 years ago

Just asking if you usually cruise Royal why did you pick Norwegian for this trip?

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cruisereckoning 5 years ago

Sorry for your disappointment, we have never cruised on Norwegian. We really like RCCL, I have also traded on Celebrity and I felt it rated up with RCCL.

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cali41 5 years ago

I know theres a risk of not being able to port because of the weather but, did they offer ANY concessions? Thanks for the review because I've been thinking of trying them out. The whole appeal to cruising the larger ships are for the grandeur of it all!

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dragz 5 years ago

😕

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