Great cruise with great main dining room and specialty restaurant food.
Norwegian Breakaway Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western
7 Night Western Caribbean (New Orleans Roundtrip)
Sail date: April 09, 2023
Ship: Norwegian Breakaway
Cabin type: Inside
Cabin number: 9413
Traveled as: Singles/Friends
Reviewed: 1 year ago
Review summary
I sailed the 7-night April 9-16, 2023 cruise aboard the NCL Breakaway. The cruise departed from and returned to New Orleans. POSITIVES: *Great food in the three main restaurants. NCL really stands out in this area. I can say this is a company-wide trait and one that influences me to keep sailing NCL. *Water slides were great when working. *Harvest Caye is excellent. *The crew is well-trained to smile and speak to guests. Even the "Washy Washy" lady did a great job and her singing was fun and delightful. *The bartenders were almost uniformly above-average although my requests for light pours were sometimes disregarded. *The main theater shows - “Six” and “Burn the Floor” - were magnificent. These are the best two cruise shows I have seen in 45 years of cruising. *Blue Ocean cuisine is very, very good. Also, the service was top-notch. An outstanding dining experience. *The best desserts at the buffet were the freshly made desserts in the large cooking pans such as bread pudding and flan. These weren’t as artfully presented as the other desserts but they tasted fantastic. *The Behind the Scenes cruise tour was very good, thorough, and complimentary. ********* While the positives greatly outweighed the negatives, here is where I think NCL can improve: *Overall, the buffet was average in food quality and variety, and below average in seating options. *The ship was full. With seating around the pool being limited, I had to go to the pool early to "save" a lounge chair in order to get one. *I never heard live music at the pool. *I miss the dress code that once was in place for Savor and Taste. *Getting specialty dining reservations at normal meal times was difficult. *Calling the operator or guest services from the room was a waste of time. Either my calls were not answered, the operator did not know the answer to my questions, or, in one case gave me incorrect information. *While the water slides and ropes course were great, the freefall slides were often inoperable. Also, the hours for the slides and ropes course were limited even on sea days.Embarkation
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Onboard Activities
Entertainment
Service and Staff
Ship Quality
Cabin / Stateroom
Ship tip
As soon as you board, go straight to the specialty dining reservations area and make your reservations immediately (or change what you have to better times). Ask if you can make more reservations than you have paid for. Remember, you can always cancel reservations later. Then immediately go to the theater box office and reserve seats for the shows and times you want. NCL has a number of shows with reservations. Then go to the Guest Services Desk to inquire about getting a room upgrade. It won't be free but will usually be much less than the online cost to upgrade. Even if you don’t take the offer you get, you will learn something about NCL’s last-minute pricing policy. If you don’t get the specialty dining reservation days/times you want, stop by your desired specialty restaurant on the day you want it to see if it has openings. Of then they do. Also, ask if it has tables that can’t be reserved. This is common and if so, then just come back early (usually before 7 is sufficient) and get one of these tables.
Ports of call
Coxen Hole, Roatan, Bay Islands, Honduras
Disembarkation
11 Comments
dealcatcher 1 year ago
shipbarnicle 1 year ago