Norwegian Breakaway Cruise Reviews - Reviews

For such a large passenger ship, it never felt crowded. We were told there were over 4,500 on board. Rarely ever saw people on the stairwells. Never had to wait to get into one of the 3 main dinning rooms. Teppenyaki, Cagney's, and La Cucina were very good. Housekeeping for our room was poor. We wouldn't have tipped him $27.00 a day if we had the choice. Evidently there are supposed to be bathrobes in the cabins. We never saw any. There are supposed to be separate pool towels. We never saw any. Coffee packets for the coffee maker never replaced. Dirty glasses never replaced.  I think the ship also has a problem with vegetarians, as in certain circumstances they are clueless. We purchased the Romance Package, as we have done twice on the NCL Jewel with no issues. It entitles you to evening canapes and an afternoon tea service. The evening the canapes were to be served, we sat in our room waiting for 90 minutes, no one ever showed up. We rescheduled for the next night at 5:30pm. At around 4pm someone knocks on the door, hands us chocolate covered strawberries and a bottle of wine, and says "Here, I don't know why i am delivering this, I was just told to do it". Was this the canapes? An hour and a half early. Weren't weren't sure, so we waited.....and waited. Guess what, the strawberries....those were the canapes??????  For the tea service, there are usually, scones, finger sandwiches, and sweets. We got the scones, we got the sweets....but since we told them no meat, no pork, no chicken....you'd think maybe tuna, salmon or egg salad??? Nope, more sweets.

Can two people really eat 4 scones, 8 pieces of cake, and 8 cookies?? Mind, you, they were delicious. Clearly, just not much effort.  Overall, we had a good time, nut if i had a choice between one of NCL's smaller ships, or the larger ones....I choose smaller.

This trip had a few problems mostly related to food service.  On three occasions my dinner took to long.  I ordered prime rib at Cagney's and watched it sit under the warming lights until it changed to a light brown color.  Other meals around the ship were mediocre in presentation and flavor.  How about a scallop entree with just 4 scallops?  The entertainment was geared to much younger people than my wife and me. Rock of Ages for seniors doesn't do it for me. So NCL will not be my first choice on my next vacation.

My husband and I just returned from our cruise to Bermuda with our 2 year old son.  We sailed in the Deluxe Owners Suite in the Haven.  From start to finish the entire trip was amazing.  The staff in the Haven was incredible, not a single thing to complain about.  The staff we encountered outside of the Haven was also fantastic. From entertainment, food and activities everything was wonderful.  Can't wait to sail Norwegian again.

I'm not an expert in cruises. However, NCL (Breakaway) is the best. Many options, freestyle dining, free dressing, wonderful & exciting activities and dedicated staff. I highly recommend it.

Great entertainment, excellent crew.. Unbelievable bartenders.

Even with some rough seas the captain did great.. Big ship for sure.. Only this that needs improvement is the length of time to be on board.

We had a great time on the cruise. My son loved the rock wall, ropes course, water slides, miniature golf and the free ice cream. Bermuda was beautiful. We did some shopping and stopped at a nearby beach.

I was very disappointed with the Breakaway no wow factor to that ship at all. Service was pretty good, food in main dining rooms was good but could not believe all the upcharges on food in complimentary dining rooms. Even a charge for room service now. Drinks were so watered down don't think there was any alcohol in them. Our room was 8100 directly at the front of the boat there was very rocky seas which of course is not the cruise lines fault but that room was uninhabitable we were falling out of bed it was insane made them switch me to another room on the way back to new York...my daughter got so seasick it brought on a vertigo attack they should not give that particular room to anybody. And having one pool for 4 thousand people is insane also you could never get near it. Shows were good but you even have to pay for one of them. and there is no outdoor dining by the pool. You have to walk quite a distance to the buffet. This was my 5th cruise and I have never  had a  bad experience before. :( 

While we enjoyed our stay in Bermuda - the country is beautiful and the people are friendly and helpful - the trip was another story. The Breakaway is certainly a beautiful ship, but we found the activities available rather boring. That's just us, of course. You may enjoy ridiculous "game shows" and simplistic trivia contests, or the "Ms Biceps" competition. And if you like to drink, gamble and buy expensive (tacky) jewelry (we don't), a Norwegian cruise ship is the place to be. Perhaps we expected too much, having sailed on the SS Norway (the greatest cruise ship ever) years ago, but we spent most of our on-board time bored. One exception - the production of "Rock of Ages" was outstanding.

The Norwegian Breakaway is an incredible ship.  I believe it is the largest in the NCL fleet at it shows as there is quite a bit to do on board.  The dinning is great as are the specialty upgraded dinning options. Lebistro and Cagneys are fantastic.  I was somewhat less impressed with the Brazilian steak house dinning upgrade.  Once you've been to Fogo De Chao nothing else really comes close.  But it is still a good value if you can really put away the meat.

The pool deck was a party during out sea days with everyone dancing along and really having a great time.  We had the opportunity to see the "Rock of Ages" show in the main theater room.  Its a free show (but requires advance reservations) that completely exceeded all expectations.  Amazing.  Definitely make a point to see it while on board.

The only negatives I can think of involve the weather.  Our time on Bermuda was very overcast and windy (though warm).  I think we were just unlucky in our timing.  Despite this Bermuda was still beautiful, clean, and polite.  We made the best of the weather and explored the island on our own making use of the public transportation.  

Also worth noting is that the final night on the voyage home was a bit rocky for me.  This is probably mostly related to the weather being extremely windy and creating larger waves.  Not the fault of the cruise line, though they definitely go much faster on the way home which may contribute some.  If you get seasick easily I would advice not having your fancy dinner or big show on the final night.

Overall a great experience.

We both really enjoyed the on board entertainment, the staff and wonderful food. The port where we docked was great with many things to do. Easily accessible to buses and water ferries.

 Out of 7+ cruise on Norwegian this was by far our worst one. This was supposed to be their biggest and best ship yet personally I think this is the worst. In order to do anything on the ship you need a reservation it takes away the whole "free style" experience  they pride themselves for.  Instead of doing whatever you want whenever you want in regards to shows because some shows you don't find out when they are until the night before you know have to basically preplanned your vacation a week or two if not a month before you actually get on the boat without knowing one shows are. Beyond that I feel like they also took away a lot of things that are on other ships for example the outside barbecue, a hypnotist, comedian, chocolate night, farewell show, toga party  and that's just to name a few. The crew was also not very friendly  all the other ships the crew seem to go out of their way just to say hi and make sure everything is OK on the ship it was hard for them to even talk to you let alone say good morning. it seems no they are also charging for stuff that is normally free for example room service is no longer free and they charged a yet nominal fee of $7.95. also always on every ship the first night is a land and sea dinner which is a lobster tail and steak that is served at all free restaurants but yet now they are charging $24.95 along with a few other meals.  I hope this is not a fleetwide thing because it will definitely change my view about Norwegian. Our favorite ship by far is the Gem we will try to cruise on that next if the same thing occurs on that boat as it did on the breakaway I will definitely rethink what cruise line I want to spend my money on.

My 6th cruise, 2nd with NCL. Im really not a fussy person but the service on this cruise was poor. 3 days of shower flooding, had to ask for ice frequently, went half the cruise with out face cloth or hand towels. Don't bother getting the drink package you will never get enough drink service to make it worth it. Funny this was one of their free choice options when booking. Constant lines at bars for drinks, bartenders had no ideas who was waiting patiently for their turn and who just cut in. People were standing in line for drinks while other bars were closed. Never had anyone the entire cruise offer bar service. I'm really not a big drinker but people are on vacation. The ship was very under staffed, average of two hours to get through dinner, waiting to take order, waiting to be served, drink order often finally taken halfway through meal and by the waiter. Food was good but certainly not hot. Orders were getting mixed up and cruise cards given back to wrong people. Always check you name on your card as it may not be yours. Buffet was a good selection but often overcrowded, hard to find table. Again no one ever came around to take a drink order or even refill your coffee. On several days they closed half the buffet for maintenance having people enter and exit from same way, mass confusion. I was very disappointed. The ship was big and nice but due to weather and ruff seas a lot of options were canceled and closed off with no alternatives. Im new to this freestyle and although its a great idea NCL is not geared up for it. You definitely give up good service for this freestyle approach. And be prepared to pay extra for a lot. Freestyle does not mean free. I have never complained about a cruise before. Traveled with Royal, Princess, Celebrity and NCL back in 2008. Things have really changed. I don't blame the staff they were overwhelmed and understaffed and poorly directed. Our 3 days in Bermuda cruise was redirected due to hurricane Nicole instead made a short stop in CapeCanverial and Bahamas both just hit by hurricane Mathew. Not a great option. They offered a $200.00 onboard credit which had to be used or loosed. Really??

We made some complaints one night about food service and next day got 4 chocolate covered strawberries sent to our room. Really food reward on a cruise ship LOL .How about a massage, specialty dinner, or free show. Well if you've stayed with me this long thanks and good luck. I truly hope you NCL experience is better. BTW the ship was not full, I heard it was down 1500 passengers, can't imagine what it would have been like fully booked. 

So to be brief-we were watching the weather all week, knowing that the hurricane was heading for Bermuda.  We called Norwegian SEVERAL times asking if we would be having a change in itinerary and they kept telling us no, we are all set to sail!  No changes.  They WAIT until we are all on board to make the announcement that we were not going to make it to Bermuda, instead we would go to Florida and Bahamas.  So we figure we would make the best of it.  Due to hurricane damage at both ports, we were limited to what we could do and excursions were not even offered in the Bahamas because we were only there for 6 hours!

They offered us an on board credit of $200, which was BS because that just paid for our gratuities at the end of the week.  The way they handled this was absurd!

We had friends who were sailing on Carnival to Bermuda that same week and we were going to meet up there.  THEY were informed by Carnival 72 hours before their departure of the itinerary change and were given the option to cancel and get 50% off their next cruise OR get 50% off this cruise.  Obviously Carnival knows how to do business and take care of their customers!  Norwegian does not.

The crew was absolutely horrendous.  Service at the main dining rooms was terrible.  It took us close to 2 hours to get dinner every night and we went specifically when it wasn't busy.....funny thing is we got quicker service when it was busy at the main dining rooms.

Everyone was miserable.  We tried to make the best of it but you spend a lot of money to go on a cruise and to be treated the way we did was unacceptable.  We contacted Norwegian about all of our issues and were basically told to go fly a kite.  Nice......will never cruise with them again!

staff was very nice.  but I feel like we were deceived and trapped onboard  spent a lot of money to spend 8 hours in port Canaveral and 6 hours in Nassau. the 200 dollar stateroom credit was a joke for all the inconvience. I would never recommend Norwegian to anyone. I know the weather was an issue but what we received was totally a JOKE.    I'm sure that there must have been other alternatives to solve this problem.    what did anyone have time to do in port????? totally disgusted and couldn't wait to get home and get off the ship. if we were told that this was the alternative to burmuda we wouldn't even have got on the ship.EXTREMELY DISSATISFIED.

The Ship the Breakaway was an outstanding ship with great restaurants.The ship had many activities and great entertainment.   Freestyle dinning was the greatest.The trip was suppose to go to Bermuda but when we arrived at the ship the captain decided to change course and go to Port Canaveral and Nassau in the Bahamas.  There was a storm in the Bermuda area.  My wife and I never left the ship on Port Canaveral and I was the only one to get off in Nassau.  If we were given a choice we would have left but our bus was not coming back until next week at the end of the cruise. There were many disappointed cruisers and some who could canceled and left the ship,

Held overnight in NYC due to Nicole, then diverted to Port Canavaral and Nassau instead.  Neither port stay - half a day each - long enough to do much.  No excursions even offered in Nassau.  Better a full day in Nassau and in San Juan, say.  Enjoyed the ship very much, with only one bad meal in Cagney's, of all places; slow and cold.  Shows good, music good, comedy club fun.  Service on the whole was very good.  Seas a bit rough though.

NCL fumbled wheelchair assistance on both embarkation and disembarkation.

Unfortunately, due to Hurricanes Matthew and Nicole, the cruise did not go to Bermuda. Very disappointing but understandable. It called on two much inferior ports, Port Canaveral and Nassau Bahamas.

What is not understandable was the reaction of NCL. They gave a $200 credit per cabin, for all cabins, no matter the level of cabin. So we, who had a balcony got the same compensation as those in an inside cabin. Very unfair.

No incentives were offered for future cruises, which we found very disappointing. While the ship, the personnel and services in general were satisfactory, the issue of compensation was very badly handled and left a bad taste. I doubt we will cruise again with Norwegian.

You can shere these comments with NCL if you wish.

Due to the hurricane the Breakaway went to Florida and the Bahamas. The trip was fun, especially the Fat Cats Blues bar. Live Blues music. I would have liked to find an outside space that was quiet.  

Food was excellent, service was excellent.

Will do it again

Norwegian's cruise line was nice, however due to the hurricane, we did not cruise to Bermuda. We were not notified that we were not cruising to Bermuda until the next day and at that time was not given an alternative decision to refuse the cruise given. The cruise to Bermuda was replaced with Florida and Bahamas, which both places were washed up from the hurricane. We spent most of time on the boat. The boat was lovely, but I think we should have been given the option to cruise or be refunded more than a on board credit of $200, that is given back to the cruise line. It definitely wasn't the Anniversary I was looking forward too.

Disappointed!

-Darlene Pixley

Cruise was not good as cruise line made decisions that were not in the best interest of the passengers. The cruise promised three days in Bermuda but due to weather problems we traveled to Port Canaveral Florida and Nassau Bahamas. Neither port was comparable to Bermuda and the visit including both ports was 15 hours total compared to the promised 3 days in Bermuda. The NCL provided $200 shipboard credit per cabin compensation which was woefully inadequate. Since the $200 per cabin credit must be spend on the ship coupled with the NCL savings from not paying the Bermuda tourist tax it appears that NCL gave very little in compensation back to the passengers. Also NCL should have given passengers the option of opting out of the cruise after announcing in New York City that that there would be no cruise to Bermuda with no information on the alternate ports until the next day while the ship was still at the NYC pier.The announcements should have stated that passengers could opt out, outlined the financial considerations for doing so and the debarkation procedures. None of that was done and I felt like I was held captive going to places that I did not want to go. In light of this, I am requesting adequate compensation so that sometime in the future I will be able to enjoy the cruise that I paid good money for and did not receive.