I felt the "Meh" more than I felt the "Wow!"

Embarkation at the Manhattan Cruise Terminal was absolutely painless! The staff was incredibly friendly and did their job efficiently. There was a little waiting around, as we arrived a bit early (10:00 AM), but you get assigned a boarding group at check-in and these were called in quite rapid succession once boarding started.

We tried many different venues throughout this cruise. We tried all three main dining rooms, Savor, Taste and The Manhattan Room, the Garden Café (buffet), Shanghai's and O'Sheehan's. We had two specialty dinners included with our fare and we chose Le Bistro for the first and Cagney's for the second. Both were excellent! At Le Bistro, our waiter, Paulo, from the Philippines was an absolute gem! He was efficient, welcoming, knowledgeable and courteous. We felt like cherished guests in Paulo's home. It was explained to us that, with the dining package, we were to select one appetizer, one item from the soups and salads, one main dish and one dessert. Everything was incredible! Our second specialty dinner was at Cagney's the ship's steakhouse. Again, it was explained to us that, with the dining package, we were to select one starter, one item from the soups and salads, one main dish, one of the sauces, two of the side dishes and one dessert. Everything was really good! We couldn't stay long at Cagney's because we had a show to catch and our waiter proactively offered to have our desserts delivered to our room. AMAZING service! I would NOT go to any of the specialty restaurants on Norwegian Cruise Line that have à la carte pricing WITHOUT a dining package, as the cost per item can REALLY add up. The main dining rooms, Savor, Taste and The Manhattan Room, offer the EXACT SAME menu. The only difference is that there is a live band performing in The Manhattan Room and it's also MUCH bigger than Savor and Taste. In fact, I was amazed by how tiny Savor and Taste were. We visited all three of them on multiple occasions for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The staff is excellent, especially at dinner. For breakfast, they were often very frazzled and we'd have items missing or double-delivered. Coffee was delivered promptly, but tea took FOREVER. The food in these dining rooms had some hits, but, more often than not, there were quite a few misses and I grew bored with the same menu daily and there only being a very small handful of dishes that were different. The Garden Café (buffet) was a nice space. Unfortunately, at times it was pretty difficult to find an empty table. The staff were fantastic! So friendly and so attentive and ready to answer any questions. I also like that everybody was continuously encouraged to wash their hands before entering the buffet. There is something for everyone and there is a daily theme for lunch and dinner, which you will find in your Freestyle Daily. My favorites were all the different french toasts at breakfast (DO try the mocha french toast and the apple french toast), the omelet station, and at lunch and dinner, I LOVED the Asian section and the Hot Entrées section offered something different and good. A bonus tip: The Garden Café has FANTASTIC Indian food on board, especially the Indian meat dishes in the Asian section (chicken makhani, lamb sahi, etc.). If I got any of those dishes in a restaurant, I'd be really happy. That's how good they are! Skip the pizza, though. Just... nope! One of the evenings for dinner, we decided to try Shanghai's, the complimentary Asian noodle bar right across Bar 21 in the casino (The smell of cigarette smoke can be discouraging). That place was incredibly small and fills up quite quickly, which gave us about an hour wait. We tried the pot stickers and shrimp dumplings, which were really gummy and I couldn't discern the filling. The spring rolls were fried perfectly, though. I tried the Beef Chow Fun Noodles, which were supposed to have a dark soy sauce, but it seemed to be missing from my order, because these noodles were DRY A.F. The beef was also shoe-leather dry and tough. My friend said she really liked her spicy seafood Udon noodle soup. I have to say the combination fried rice was the BEST rice I had the entire week and I wish it were accompanied by a meat main (like some beef and broccoli or general tso's chicken). For dessert, I tried the Five Spice Chocolate Cake and it was incredibly dry and rich. Honestly, go right when they open so you can be seated right away if you want to try this place, because it is NOT worth a one hour wait. The last place we tried was O'Sheehan's, the complimentary Irish Pub. I was excited about this place because my friends who have sailed on NCL previously raved about how good the wings are. We tried buffalo wings and the Korean chili wings, the nachos and a couple of burgers. ZERO complaint about the nachos! The wings were a disappointment. Very bland buffalo wings. I guess it's a different story when you're drunk and O'Sheehan's is the only late night food game in town, as it's open 24/7. I got to taste some of the gelato from the pay gelato place on Deck 8 and it's NOT worth the extra cash. Also the cupcakes from The Bake Shop did not appeal to me. Speaking of desserts, Norwegian Cruise Line should fire their pastry chefs. The desserts were generally NOT very good. Especially the cakes. EPIC FAIL! Honorable mention, though goes for their bread bakers as those were EXCELLENT! The scones that were served in the Garden Café for tea time were TO DIE FOR, so not all is lost. One last thing I should mention are the drinks. We had the Premium Beverage Package and every drink we ordered at the bars, the theater, restaurants, etc. was incredibly well-made! The bartenders on the Norwegian Breakaway really shine!

I was very surprised to see not so many activities organized by staff throughout the ship. For example, pretty much one trivia contest per day, and if you happen to miss it, you miss it. The library and the card room were TINY for a ship this size. There were ONLY four tables here and were ALWAYS full. I didn't get to use the pools on this ship as it was quite cool and windy out.

I have to say, the entertainment on this ship blew me away! The reason I don't give this section five stars is that it was a bit of a pain to line up for longer than a half hour right after boarding in order to get tickets for these shows and also having to decide on the spot when and what to go see, also, we couldn't get into Syd Norman's Pour House due to the crowds, but everything was INCREDIBLE! We saw the musical Six, which we've seen on Broadway and it's nearly IDENTICAL to the New York production. I dare say I like the cast on the Norwegian Breakaway a little better than the one on Broadway. We also saw the magic comedy show with the husband and wife team and it was great! They work so well together and have incredible charisma. Burn The Floor was an AMAZING dance extravaganza and I felt like I was in a Broadway theater instead of a ship. We also saw the dueling pianos show and we went to an adult comedy show and we had a GREAT time at both!

The staff was AMAZING! Everybody we came across without exception seemed (because one of my friends saw a female employee crying her eyes out in the ladies room one time) genuinely happy to be there and to give us guests the best vacation experience they could give. My friends had the room next door (8750) and their room steward was AWESOME! Always there with a smile and a kind word. Our cabin steward was the complete opposite. Sure, the room was tidied up daily and the beds were made, but a lot of stuff we used (towels, glasses) did not get replaced and I saw him a total of three or four times this entire past week.

I was under the impression from watching YouTube videos that this ship would have a mini golf course right under the ropes course, but it's been removed. I also think this ship has the WORST-placed jogging track in any ship I've ever stepped into. It's constantly full of people moving around from one part of the deck to the next and, especially, right at the entrance to American Diner, quite crowded and I don't see how anybody can get ANY jogging done. For these ship's designers, it was a serious afterthought. I HATED the smell of cigarette smoke that covers the entire atrium due to the openness of the casino right in the middle of Deck 7. There is also not too much space on the top deck to walk around, unless you're staying at The Haven, or pony up for a Vibe Beach Club pass. Spice H2O doesn't cut the mustard.

I have never stayed in a balcony cabin this small before! For two people it was OK, but I honestly don't see how more than two people can manage without going bonkers! The balcony was also incredibly tiny. Also, you can slightly hear the noise from the theater below and from deck parties above at night. Our toilet had SERIOUS issues with the flushing mechanism. Sometimes, we'd hear it finally flush a good five to ten minutes after the button was pressed. The beds were incredibly comfortable! Nice mattresses and linens. Also, there is PLENTY of storage space. I didn't manage to use it all.

A little bit of a line to get off the ship, but it was incredibly easy to find our luggage. Immigration and customs were absolutely painless with the facial recognition technology that allows CBP to process most passengers in ten seconds. I was across the street catching an Uber home in no time!