I have nothing negative to say about the overall cruise experience on NCL. For the past 20 years, we've usually taken an annual cruise on Princess, Carnival, RCCL or NCL. Each one has positive and negatives. We usually travel with mostly adults but have been with children and grandchildren as well. I suggest going off season if possible to avoid up to 50% children on board during summers and holidays. We went once during Thanksgiving break and it seemed the parents let the children run-a-muck. Never again during peak times! Most of our cruises have been in winter and this seems to work well for us.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
No issues with embarkation. We arrived and had lunch in the formal Main dining room. at 1:15, much better than trying to maneuver thru the large buffet as you have to do on most ships. This was our 4th cruise with NCL and compared with other cruise lines, NCL is better at embarkation.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
We enjoyed the food in the main dining rooms. Most days at lunch, NCL offers a smaller complimentary buffet in the Moderno Specialty dining room. We enjoyed this venue as it is a much better experience for us than the larger Garden Cafe. We were also able to have breakfast in the main dining room on the morning of debarkation, again preferable to the Garden Cafe.
O'Sheehan's Neighborhood Bar and Grille
4 out of 5
Good fajitas.
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
We enjoyed the Pyramid Game as 3 of us were participants selected to compete. My sister also was selected for the Cake Wars. We also played the Bag-0 game. (corn hole) We used the hot tubs in the Spice H2O adult only area.
Entertainment
4 out of 5
We enjoy the family friendly comedy. There were two comedians and a magic/comedy show that were all good. We especially liked the comedy magic show. Don't miss it.
Breakaway Theater
4 out of 5
Nice comfortable seating.
Service and Staff
4 out of 5
Some of the staff were super nice and helpful. others not so much. But, you never know what people are personally experiencing. I think it would be a very difficult job to always be happy with the long hours and time away from family.
Ship Quality
4 out of 5
We were a group of 6 adults. I missed the beautiful serene adults only area provided on the the RCCL Oasis and other larger RCCL ships. The Breakaway is clean and well designed. We didn't have any problems with the design. The touch screens available in all the elevator lobbies. is easy to use for mapping where you want to go.
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
We booked a mini suite because there were three adult females (sister's cruise) sharing a room. We had ample storage and and a nice large bathroom with a tub and double sink.
Ship tip
If you want to see complimentary shows that are already sold out don't let that stop you from going. We never had a problem just showing up and presenting our room key. We didn't try any other the other shows that cost extra.
It seems most people now do self debarkation and that works for us. We were on the road by 8:00 after a relaxing breakfast in the main dining room at 6:30.
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