Norwegian Breakaway Cruise Reviews - Reviews

We started our trip with a 24+ hour flight delay. I caught a cold about the 3rd day and missed London. The weather was so windy the outside areas were closed most of the time. As rough as it was we barely felt it in our cabin.

a very enjoyable time for both of us. We saw new ports of call.

To be fair we chose this cruise for the itinerary…not the ship. However, the ship was a big disappointment. The upper decks were closed for the vast majority of the cruise and there were no accommodations made even though there were 4000 people jammed in the lower decks. They have 3 main restaurants and they were almost never open at the same time. We utilized the “pay’ restaurants 6 times and they were great (as usual). The other restaurants were extremely slow. Our average meal was 1 and ½ hours. This includes breakfast. Several times our food was either wrong or didn’t show up at all. As for the entertainment, it was average. The Cirque Jungle Fantasy was very good. Many things were not working on the ship. The pool was drained and only available on the last 2 days. The spa hot tub was broken for 2 days and the spa therapy pool was broken for the last 5 days. The “ropes” course on the upper deck was closed for the majority of the cruise and, when it was to open, they would not open even one minute early. When they did and we “walked the plank” we found out that the camera was not working so….no photo opportunity. Overall the experience was poor to say the least. This is our 6th cruise with Norwegian and was our worst.

This was our seventh Transatlantic cruise and the worst yet because of Breakaway. This ship is only good for warm weather cruising with very little entertainment other than the two preregister shows. We don't recommend Breakaway for anything but a Caribbean cruise.

Very poor, last minute communication of itinerary changes. Still hope to see Berlin, Helsinki and Stockholm someday, but it won't be on this cruise line.

The captain canceled three out of six ports because of weather which ruined the cruise. I didn’t pay a lot of money to sit on a ship. I wanted to see the destinations advertised. I would have been a lot happier if Norwegian would have offered to refund or at least give us a large credit on another cruise. But since I won’t cruise with them again I would prefer a 50% cash refund.

Horrible cruise. Made it to only two ports, Estonia and St. Petersburg. Horrible ships captain, horrible rude staff, everyone was unhappy which made for a depressing experience . Everyone had to scramble to make new arrangements since ports were cancelled and everyone lost money and cringed every time the captain made his daily announcement. When the captain didn’t his Q&A the questions were directed at his choices in navigation (which was to sit still) and why the ports were cancelled (they could’ve easily changed the itinerary and moved the ports) it was really bad when he would move on to another person when he didn’t like a question so the next person would ask the same question and he’s refuse to answer and everyone got upset because basically he didn’t care that he didn’t have to cancel he just chose to arbitrarily and only because corporate made him go, he actually went to Russia or else that would’ve been missed too. Worst cruise ever EVER!! Oh also NCL is notorious for not giving a care if they cancel a port. They make their money either way.

It's disappointing that there were so many days without any ports, having lost three of the five ports. Instead of taking one day at sea at the end of the cruise, it was two days at sea. No explanation, beside weather conditions, was provided. Ship cruising speed was greatly reduced to fill the two days. A knowledgeable passenger (his father was a sea captain) said the ship could have been going faster, which would have allowed a stop at Finland. I guess we will never know the logic behind the decisions (e.g. why St. Petersburg wasn't changed to one day instead of two so that we could have gone to another port).

Not up to Norwegian standards. Visited only 2 of 5 scheduled ports due to weather, although other ships were going to same ports. Had lifeboat drill during lunchtime hours and closed all restaurants. Only 2 opened after drill. Took 45 minutes to be seated Went 5 days with no coffee in staterooms because not enough was ordered. Had to go to Guest Services 6 times to receive on board credit that was due. Much misinformation given by Guest Services. Lost 77 minutes of internet minutes due to their error and Internet manager refused to give them to us. They deactivated numerous room key cards during the cruise, including ours. Long line at Guest Services to get new keys. The management of this ship needs to be reviewed by NCL.

Things were fine until we were told we had to disembark in Copenhagen and not go on to Germany. We were told we had to make alternative travel arrangements. We were on our on trying to do,this on the last night of the cruise. No one has control of the weather but NCL could of handled the situation so much better.

The cruise overall is excellent. Except we didn't get to see Sweden because of the weather. Everyone should have a credit of some kind for not going to the last Port.

We had an amazing time because we researched our stops, and tours. The weather was beautiful except for one day of rain and it was still an amazing port (Tallin). I have mentioned some of this several times but it bears repeating: 1. The cruise ship is huge 2. The specialty restaurants are delicious 3. Most of the staff is very friendly and helpful (Nicole 3 card poker table dealer had no personality and did not make losing our money even remotely fun). Vern??? she was amazing. 4. Eat, drink, BINGO, Shows REPEAT Three days at sea due to a missed port was AWFUL and sorry I was bored took my husband until Saturday to feel this way, I was over it Friday morning. 5. NORWEGIAN needs to get it together, if you have a ship and you have trouble docking it have a backup plan or port we paid a lot of money to be stuck on your ship. Longer port calls would also be nicer. Will think twice before sailing you again I am afraid I do not trust you will dock as promised. I will stick to smaller ships and better cruise lines next time, loved Holland America and Royal Caribbean.

We loved the ship and ports that we went to. The only real downside was the TV channels were very limited to mostly ship related with a few international channels (not English). I wish they would have had at least 2 or 3 more English channels and may be CNN for US news. They did have current movies that you could purchase for $9.95. Most ship activities revolved around shopping, gambling or drinking. The remaining activities were either outside (cold and raining for us) or were held in the Atrium which had limited viewing and seating.

Enjoyed the cruise. A few minor issues with the stateroom. Did not enjoy the “cheesy” extras - raffle tickets, purchasing bottled water, etc.

With this cruise we have had four with NCL. The best all around has been the one departing from Venice and ending in Barcelona. Unfortunately, the Baltic cruise had too many issues and the weather wasn't very pleasant. We basically missed two stops of the 5 we were supposed to have. One because of rain and the other for technical reasons. But no matter, it was a loss. We will reconsider next time season and size of ship.

Overall this cruise, based on several past cruises, was a disappointment. When we wanted to spend time in a quiet place, they were difficult to find and those that are considered as quiet areas (library and card room) were full. Using the atrium for game shows is a bad choice of space. With Guest Services, IT Manager and Shore Excursions all in the atrium, it was quite often impossible to carry on a conversation with these staff people with shouting to be heard. If the staff feels it has to provide entertainment here, consider easy listening type music, not raucous, loud music. Very dissatisfied with this cruise. BTW, we had invited another couple with us on this cruise; they too were disappointed with the experience.

While I would consider Norwegian in the future, I would only book the Breakaway if the itinerary was fantastic and the price exceptional.

The cruise is wonderful. This part of the world is beautiful, full of history and culture, and a must see.

Enjoy the Art Gallery. We made a few purchases. The food was plentiful. The pools are small. We were too busy to try the ropes course. Got on the water slide once.

Its a huge ship and I loved how many ports were stopped at. All in all a great cruise. Buy the dining package and enjoy the specialty restaurants.