Fun family adventure at sea.
Norwegian Breakaway Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western
Contributor Level:
Purser
Cruises: 1 cruise (first)
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 26
7 Night Western Caribbean (New Orleans Roundtrip)
Sail date: March 20, 2022
Ship: Norwegian Breakaway
Cabin type: Suite
Cabin number: 12828
Traveled as: Large Group
Reviewed: 2 years ago
Review summary
Great trip with many adventures, lost of entertainment, and good food and drink. Look forward to our next adventure and maybe getting more family to come.Embarkation
Easy process. Long lines went quickly. Crew allowed my family to board with my mom who needed a wheel chair. Just the beginning of great customer service experience.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Specialty dining experience was fantastic. Went to Tepenyaki and Ocean Blue. Tepenyaki the seafood was over cooked as we enjoyed the experience of singing a bit too much. Everything was flavored exactly the same just provided two dipping sauces on the side but neither were fantastic. Rice, veggies, and soup were very tasty. The matcha chocolate dessert was great but the exotic fruit plate was just basic fruit (melon/strawberry/pear). If you are sensitive to loud volume this is not an experience for you.
Ocean Blue was very tasty. ,Had a table of 4 and we played round Robbin with each dish so we could try everything. Full service for the meal took about 2 hours. Would highly recommend to anyone who likes seafood.
Non specialty dinning we enjoyed included the noodle bar (so good we went twice), taste (once for breakfast once for dinner), savor (only so-so experience felt like waiters were in training) and Manhattan room (twice for dinner).
The garden cafe was visited off and on and had good food but often it was not very hot. Breakfast was always the same and the omelette bar was always the best. Had to send toast through the toaster multiple times before it was lightly toasted. All of the crew were fantastic at keeping everything very clean and helped out if ever you had a question or needed assistance.
We also often used the morning breakfast room-service as well since we had very early excursions. Since I had my own coffee mug I would also just indicate on the ordering sheet to not bring extra utensils or china since it just cluttered up the room.
Onboard Activities
Casino was fun in small amounts of time. I cannot handle how smokey it is.
We did multiple shows and trivia games in the atrium. Always well done and lots of fun. Most memorable was the line dancing class. It was a total hoot and counted as a bit of exercise so perfect.
The pools were interesting. Think they aren't large enough for a ship this size, but I only went in once because I couldn't handle how much salt was in the water. Would highly recommend wearing goggles. Also recommend rinsing off every time you get out of the pool since the salt will rub between you and your swim suit and did cause rashes for my niece on the first couple days.
The hot tubs were anything but. Tried even the one at spice H20 (adult only section) and it was colder than my bath. I am sure this is a safety thing when you have so many adults with drink packages in the warm Caribbean sun. Regardless, the hot tubs were always full. My parents had the spa suite and they said the water in the spa was also tempered and the only way to get warm was the sauna.
The water slides were a big hit! Lines weren't ever very long and you could quickly get back on the next slide. Be careful of your elbows on the purple slide as it goes so much faster than you think and can cause a significant friction burn ( 2 persons in our party had matching elbows). The free fall slide was great fun. I was only able to rise the pink one (the other was closed). My daughter told me that any teens going on had a different count down then the adults.
Went to the arcade and the games looked like fun but pretty expensive. Could try some more next time. Did use the penny press. Had to purchase three pennies since the machine images were not set correctly. Also visited the fitness center to he first day. Equipment looked great and facilities were meticulas but I did not use.
Entertainment
Watched both Six and Burn the Floor. Both were very different but amazingly done. The cast was powerful and now my daughter has a new favorite musical (six). Service before the show was also great and the box office was very helpful.
Children's Programs
The splash academy was open for select hours where an adult could accompany your young children to play video games, board games or color. Though my niece enjoyed coloring and made a friend to play a board game with, the two staff seemed board/unengaged and seemed more like lifeguards just in case an emergency came up. It would have been so easy for them to do some sort of guided activity for families? Even a simple heads up game or duck duck goose. Just something so parents aren't trying to figure out what to do.
The entourage (teen) room on the other hand was enjoyed by my daughter but I have two complaints. The hours are not great. I understand that teens wish to stay out late. But 1am before an early port day is not appropriate. And not having time available during the day for teens to just have a place to get away and hang out ( my daughter loves reading and really wanted a get away sometimes from all us adults to just read.) Secondly, some of the games they played seemed rather sexists. They should take a step back and look at this programming and make sure it still is appropriate for what we want and expect of our young adults today.
Service and Staff
Amazing customer service. Yes some seemed to be in training and might not get something the first time. But they always had a smile and went above and beyond yo make sure you were having the best time possible. I had an incident where my room was getting wet for to issues in the room next door. They continuously checked in and made sure we were comfortable and taken care of.
Ship Quality
Loved the ship. Few thing I wish was that maybe the casino was at the aft of the ship so you didn't have to walk through it to get to other places? Wish the pool was larger and had better balance of fresh to salt. And wish you could open the balcony between the adjoined rooms.
Cleanliness was never an issue everything was constantly being scrubbed down including walls and stairways.
Cabin / Stateroom
Loved our cabin. Enjoyed looking out the balcony from the bed. It was nice to have my niece stay over in the bunk beds.
The bath tub was awkward to get in and out of, but I did enjoy a nice hot bath one evening. Overall was perfect setup.
Ship tip
Enjoy! And maybe learn how to say thank you in multiple languages before boarding. My brother in law was able to make so many staff smile and positively engage by just saying hello and thank you in their native tongue. Made for some fun specialty drinks as well. 🙂
Thumbs up
0
Ports of call
Did not really visit Cozumel since we took the ferry right from the dock to playa del Carmen and did the cennotes and spiritual cleanse excursion. Excursion was great. Spiritual cleanse included a sauna that only one in our party did since it was not recommend for young, claustrophobic, or people who have asthma. It was way too hot but many enjoyed this. The cennotes we're amazing to walk and swim through. I brought our own snorkel gear so I could see more with staying longer under water. Lunch was the best of the trip. My neice even had two tamales and we need to find a recipe for the green chilli taco filling they had. Unfortunately the worst part of this t to ip was the ferry back and forth from Cozumel to playa del Carmen. The ship was clean safe an DC well maintained. But because of the high surf you can't help but get sea sick. Plan accordingly. I brought Dramamine and took it before heading back and I think it helped dramatically.
Coxen Hole, Roatan, Bay Islands, Honduras Did not visit port
Unfortunately we were not able to dock at this Port due to unsafe conditions. This was the port that we were most looking forward to. We will just have to find another time.
Great beach day. Please make sure you have good sunscreen. Three in our party ended up with horrible sunburns and blisters not because they didn't use it, but because it didn't work here. Shopping was fun but a couple of the shops aren't getting inventory so they were almost empty. The butterfly garden and wild life park were a fun free perk. Did the wave runner excursion but it was too intense for me with my daughter. But still had fun.
Port looked great but was packed and felt like a maze when you are trying to get back to the ship. We did the Chochoben Mayan ruin excursion which was an hour drive out then back. The guide was amazing and so detailed. He even engaged the youngest with a quick archeological find. The ruins we're amazing and the educational value was priceless. Driver in our van was very safe and helpful. Overall great experience.
Disembarkation
Couldn't be easier.
Traveler Photos
