Norwegian Breakaway Cruise Reviews - Reviews

I am ok with nature causing unplanned havoc but a lack of organization, courtesy or remediation is what made this experience so awful. 1 1/2 hours of waiting outside in 7 degree weather to enter the pier/customs/check-in area. Apparently, there was a docking delay we were not made aware of, people from the previous cruise were still disembarking. Then a 2 hour wait inside, all the while people are skipping lines and the right hand, doesn't know what the left is doing. Curt announcements over the loud speaker excusing their curtness due to the cold and unplanned delay. They were getting paid to be courteous, we paid to get treated like crap, and they were making announcements insisting we be patient with them. This let me know this was not going to be a great cruise, and we truly put forth every effort to try and enjoy ourselves, after all we were paying higher prices this week because schools were out. We had to make extra effort to do so because Norweigan definitely did not make it easy. We arrived at the pier at 1150am,  we finally boarded at 3:50 with not a single staff member in sight. No welcome aboard, no one to help the elderly or those laden with children who waited for hours standing up the deck. We were on our own, no one  to direct us to our rooms, I was shocked I'd never been on such an unfriendly cruise before. When we get to our floor our luggage is in the hall, not near or in our stateroom. We roll it to our rooms, anyone could have taken our luggage. One bag is missing we call regarding the missing luggage we are given several excuses and times it should arrive. Lunch was attended after our mandatory safety drill which was held :40min after we boarded. The food was ok , not hot, not what we're expecting, after being cold I needed to warm up and ordered a shot of patron with lime. They had lemons no lime no salt. We visited the spa let them know we had a spa balcony and wanted to see the spa as its part of our room package. Our cards were stickered and we were told to "give ourselves a tour". We did- although we noted in comparison to our other cruise experiences the customer service was sorely lacking. We visited the spa and the gym which were very nice. We then noted people actually receiving tours of the spa, so we found it odd we were told to self tour. We use the spa & gym, enjoyed ourselves finally and head back to our room, still no bag. We call for an iron @ 853pm as we have our specialty dinner at 930. We were told housekeeping only operates between 9am & 9pm and would likely not get there in time call back at 9am. I am appalled, after all we'd been through, frostbite from being in the cold, the disorganization, being treated poorly and now no iron? My husband got out of the shower and when I told him what was said he was angry and called fuming, asking where were they going, we were in the middle of the ocean that they could not deliver an iron.he received more excuses. We had to attend the specialty dinner with wrinkled clothing. At 9:10 we were then called to come to guest services to pick up our bag. I go to pick up my luggage and bring it to dinner. The ambience at Cagneys steakhouse was wonderful, our server was gracious, the seafood was awful. Too bad we don't eat red meat, I hope the steaks were good because the seafood was atrocious. We were pretty disgusted. And this is just Day ONE!  We call for an iron @ 9 m & are told to call back when we were done, yeah we were really going to make that call! We iron our clothes for the day and evening dinner and go exploring in search of breakfast, we walked out on the deck 15 to get to breakfast it was freezing and the place was PACKED, difficult to find a place to eat, food was good, hot, fresh, nice variety. We are not expecting much at this point after our first day we are just determined to get through the next 6 days. I order the Internet service it barely works. I miss out on completing a quiz for school. I paid $180 for nothing please don't bother. I could not access the school site in a continuous manner anywhere on the ship or reserve a car for Port Canaveral internet service was awful. The ship is beautiful, from the outside decor to the inside amenities. Dinner that night at Le Bistros is FANTASTIC! Everything was perfect, staff, food, ambience we enjoyed ourselves so much we switched our other specialty dinner reservations to LeBistros we didn't want to risk not enjoying ourselves. Our dinner was at 930 and we left our room at 925 the iron was still there. Imagine our surprise when we returned to find it gone. It would seem they pick up irons after 9pm just don't deliver them. Rough waters, ship began rocking from the second night on, there was a storm we were informed we would have to slow down as a result we would not go to the private island but straight to Port Canaveral. Everyone was angry, we were commiserating with several passengers about the poor customer service, we believe over half the crew was new and inexperienced.  Everyone I spoke to would have rather gone to the private island and skipped Port Canaveral. Many ppl were seasick, the spa pools overflowed because of the rough weather. It's 3 days later and I still feel like I'm on a ship. We can't control nature but no effort was made to compensate us at all. I receive a call about going to the casino to pick up a free chip. They tell me when I get there after waiting 20 minutes after they check papers it was a mistake.  The staff was downright rude on more than one occasion.My husband is on the omelet line, another gentleman walks up my husband is ignored and the other gentleman is asked what he would like. The gentleman says he was next, you can help me afterwards, the cook insists no it's okay. I'll take your order. My husband is livid and asks what you don't see me standing here, making him and the other gentleman uncomfortable. My husband deals with someone else not wanting him to prepare his food any longer. There was so much miscommunication between the buffet staff, where they served turkey sausage, burgers etc.  No one knew answers to questions, you got an answer from someone followed their directions, asked the people you were directed to, they had another answer- so frustrating. The singers were awful, they should stop the performing during breakfast it's not enjoyable, especially when it's crowded, noisy, cold and you can't find seats. They spray your hands at the Garden Buffet with disinfectant from a spray bottle that looks like industrial household cleaner, very disconcerting not at all chic. I'm having a drink at Fat Cats lounge I order Pisco punch, rum, lemon bitters, fresh strawberries and pineapples and pineapple juice- it tastes awful. I tell my server, I'm sorry miss that's how Pisco punch tastes -another server hears me complaining and asks if I'd prefer something else. The other server is now even more curt, not making eye contact and when he does rolling his eyes, slamming the pen foe. With my check. In fact most staff members avoided eye contact and did not greet you on the ship. Only at the two ports did they greet us upon returning with the spray bottle disinfectant, and smiles.  Did I mention the spa and Le Bistro and our steward Abdul and the other stewards on floor 14 were great.  Everyone we spoke to complained. The general consensus - never cruise  Norweigan from NY in the winter.  I don't think I'm ever cruising Norweigan again, stuff happens I've  cruised during hurricane season, it's how you handle emergencies that distinguishes you as a premiere cruise line- Norweigan failed miserably- Breakaway's staff needs an overhaul!

please buy your soda package before entering ship, took us 4 hours and 5 lines before we finally got the right reply of the crew and hostesses asked no one knew the correct info even customer service sent us to the wrong people.

chocolate lovers night was a brownie with chocolate ice cream, when asked at customer service we were told even when it was chocolate lovers night that it was what ever was in restaurant, when at the restaurants they did not even know according to hostesses that there was such a thing scheduled for that night.

when booking excursions ask questions, we booked kyacking at manatee bay which you would think involved manatees. it did not. this was the wrong time of year which no one told us till too late. this was booked on the ship. it was a wonderful excursion  and i would have done it just to see the birds.

we would have had fun no matter what, i did not like that we would not get correct answers from people who should have known as it is there job doing it every day  the food while plentyful was never hot, it was always warm to cool. would i do it again yes maybe not with norwegian this was the first time we had gone with them but i would cruise again, i would book thew  we just did not need the drama, the lack of correct replys as compaired to our other trips this was good not great

We waited in long lines to board ship. Set sail two hours late. Never got to private island. Port Canaveral should have been skipped. Kennedy Space Center was way over priced. Nassau was terrible. Beach was awful. Long lines for activities on ship.

We didn't enjoy ourselves for several reasons. Starting with the ship arriving late, toilet not working in cabin most of the trip and was never offered another room, one destination was canceled. 

Embarkation was actually a nightmare, we were left out in the cold for almost an hour and there was a major mess with luggages, they let us cram into the terminal only to tell us we have to go out again and deposit the luggages elsewhere.

Once on board, on the second day we discover that due to weather, we were delayed, so they decided to cancel the first Bahamas island and stop in Florida for a few hours.  Since this was a Bahamas cruise, I would have expected the Florida stop to be cancelled.

The Barmen are terribly slow, at one point I waited 30 minutes, at a bar with only 3 people waiting for drinks, to get a drink.  I asked the waiter why they were so slow, he laughed and said he had even forgotten who the drink he had just prepared was for!

Otherwise, the food is actually very good and the shows were amazing, and I did not appreciate that the service charge was withdrawn from my account without my approving it, and I am only given the option to claim a refund after the cruise, with at least a 2 week wait.  Nice way to earn interest anyway NCL.

Love all the kids activities and the freestyle dining - never had to wait in any of the restaurants even with a fully booked ship! The only suggestion I would make is better monitoring of the teen center to insure that all are age appropriate.

All in all we can't say enough about the crew, ship and entertainment. Howl at the Moon at Headliners is not to be missed. Burn the Floor and Rock of Ages were both excellent. This was our fifth cruise (3rd with the kids) and the first time we tried Norwegian. We are hooked - Thanks Norwegian Breakaway!!

We enjoyed our Breakaway cruise and the staff was ever attentive, kind, and helpful.  Unfortunately stormy weather and high winds led to the cancellation of our port stop in Stirrup Cay, leaving us with only two port days  - one in Cape Canaveral and one in Nassua. Those stops were good, but we wished for warmer weather.  The cruise cannot be held accountable for the weather, but what I didn't realize ahead of time was that many of the on-board activities which I had planned for my kids to use, were closed due to the weather as well.  The ropes course, rock climbing, and water slides all were mostly closed due to the weather... so the few times they were open the lines were outrageous.  Also, since everyone was on the ship an extra day and all outside activities were out (too windy and cold even for the regular pools/hot tubs, mini golf, and ping pong) - it was super crowded in the other areas of the ship that offered activities or buffet meals.  Next time we'll either do a different month or a different ship.  But if you go when it's not crowded (this was a school break week), it probably would be a very different experience.  Kudos to the great staff and the wonderful evening entertainment - Burn the Floor, 2nd City, Dueling Pianos, and Carla Strickler!

2nd time on this ship we really like the smaller ships better like the jewel and jem we didn't get to go to great stirrup cay witch was a huge disappointment we had a group of 14 that we had so excited about it so that really stunk there is really not a lot to do that you don't have to pay for the other ships there is a different free show every night wich is really nice

Had a wonderful time the all inclusive beverage plan was great. The restaurant and the shows were amazing. Rock of ages, cirque de sol was excellent. Bar hopping wagrear

For a brand new ship the studo cabin's condition was pretty shabby. I requested and got a change in our cabin steward, the first one did not clean the room thoroughly or restock it. The heat malfunctioned and was never fixed, despite 3 or 4 attempts by ship crew. The cabin was freezing. That was on top of our having to line up in NYC's freezing, sub-zero degree weather for 2 hours to check in our luggage. The ship had arrived late and so deboarding and boarding/checkin occurred simultaneously. It was 2 hours in the cold to check our bags and another 1 1/2 hours in the terminal to check in and get our admission card. Guest Services were clueless; even they who supposedly spoke English did not understand English. The management of the hotel at sea is clueless and needs to be changed. They were slow and inefficient at responding to complaints. The ship was overcrowded, and the waits long for everything. Food was bland and monotonous; it seemed as if we were being served warmed-over leftovers from the days before. No fish, just chicken, pork and "beef".. Menu was more to the liking of kids who had ample pizza and burgers and ice cream. A 3 PM departure did not happen, until close to 7 PM. Already late, due to strong winds, the ship was slowed down--which put us in the first port at night--missing a rendezvous I had planned with friends in Orlando. We couldn't get off the ship until the next morning, in Port Canaveral, the equivalent of a parking lot--nothuing to do. Without compensation, for the second year in a row, the private island port was canceled; we proceeded to the Bahamas, which was only mildly cool to warm, at best, not balmy weather..The crew seems fixated with themselves, and self-absorbed. That goes for the top echelon and not just for the peons who service or don't service the tables. With bad weather, there were not enough tables in the buffet cafeteria and virtually impossible to get reservations to other venues at reasonable times. Once we were in the sun there was hardly space to sit and relax in the sun, the decks are that narrow! There are no quuiet spaces aboard. The entertainment in the theater was so awful. The cast of "Rock of Ages" was pathetic. "Burn the Floor" dancers were atrocious. Why have the same shows every year? They change the casts, why not the shows, too? The cleanliness of the ship's public spaces has deteriorated, and there is hardly any enforcement of sanitary conditions at the buffet, where passengers bring their own nasty bottles and jugs and place them at the nozzles of the beverage machines in order to carry with them juice and lemonade and other drinks. The only saving grace about this trip was the captain; he came off through his reassuring booming announcements about safety procedures and course changes, as competent and wise. Norwegian offered no apologies or comepnasation for the inordinate delays in boarding and departure, for keeping us out in freezing weather for 2 hours!!! to check our bags--or for the abruot change in our itinerary. 

Overall it was a good cruise. Returning to New York, captain did a great job controlling the ship through very rough storm.

Our cabin steward, Clevard was very good, respectful, and always ready to assist.

Food in Garden Cafe was good. Manhattan restaurant menu should be better. Almost the same family of food every day.

Freefall water slide, rope course and zip line were awesome.

I really enjoyed my Carribbean cruise aboard the Norweigian Breakaway. The ship is truly beautiful. There were a lot of things to do on board. I went on the giant water slides. It was great fun. The shows and entertainment were first class. I especially liked the Rock of Ages show. The food was excellent at the buffet and free restaurants. I tried a few of the specialty restaurants and they were great too.

I enjoy cruising to the Eastern and Southern Carribbean the best. The water there is absolutely beautiful. My favorite islands are St Thomas, St. Maarten, Tortola, Barbados, and St Kitts.  This is my second time cruising to these islands and I can never get tired to see them. Overall I enjoy cruising Norwegian Cruise line the best.  

Overall, an enjoyable experience but not without some issues. This is my 19th cruise (NCL, Royal Caribbean, Princess, Stella Solaris, Seabourn, Cunard, Carnival, Maxim Gorky), so I have a lot to compare it to. Went on cruise with girlfriend.

Positives:

Price

As a relatively new ship most of the facilities are in good shape

Pretty stable in rough weather

Some interesting outdoor spaces for relaxing

Entertainment was good and varied (including recent star of Wicked). Blues club.

Food was fair to good

I spite of its large size their generally was a sense of space around you

Exercise equipment was in good shape.

Not so good

We had an inside cabin which actually lacked drawers to store clothing (very inconvenient). Bathroom was adequate.

Service was spotty. Room was not done when requested, extra towels took a full day to get. At some meals servers got orders wrong or did not bring drinks as requested

Lacks wow factor in not having high atrium or glass elevators

Pool was too small for a ship with this many passengers

Does not have covered pool area which makes no sense since they are sailing from New York in winter

The "nickel and dime" factor of NCL.

They charge extra for some of the entertainment.

This was the first cruise I have been on where there was not a free steam room or sauna to use (they want you to pay extra for spa use). Most other lines have more attractive workout areas.

Whoever designed the theater seats was incompetent. Very uncomfortable.

Drinks are ridiculously expensive

Medical staff seemed uninterested when a physical issue was brought to their attention

We thoroughly enjoyed the cruise. We are so looking forward to our next one. We also enjoyed the length of the cruise. 14 Days are our new standard!!!

Karen is the Greatest Travel Agent. . .We recommend her highly.

Menus in main dining rooms much improved.  Had some truly terrific meals in La Cucina and Cagney's.  Tappanyaki continues to be crowded and of uneven quality , noisy. and felt hustled.  Drink package was great.  The wait staff and bar service folks were marvelous, kind, solicitous, friendly, mostly knowledgeable.  Embarkation and disembarkation were awful, one mistake after another, delayed to the point we feared missing our limo service.  The weather cooperated until the last choppy day at sea.  Our cabin was fine, except my walker wouldn't fit in the door, so I couldn't use it on the ship.  Entertainment was good except for "Rock of Ages" which is unnecessarily crude and vulgar, despite improved staging.  

My wife and I had a very nice time on the Breakaway . We book at the last moment as we were not ready to go anywhere. It was our last minute decision... It was our first cruise in the past 17 years or so... Your price was not too bad. Our cabin was a little small , but the bed was large and comfortable. The Food and Services were excellent. The weather was nice. We made a few mistake here and there but we learn for the next time... 

Maurice & Margaret H.

We booked an impromptu cruise for January out of NYC.  Great experience and no flights involved.  Took bus to Port Authority and then a cab to the dock.  Great trip and wonderful itinerary.  Great bar O'sheehan's where we had lunch almost every day and tried the drink of the day many times.  Food great, service great, entertainment could have been better.  Great dancers, however, and singers in main dining room.. Wonderful bartender:s: Junald Trazo, Ramil Santos, and Rohit Shetty. 

The variety of food was wonderful and very good.  The staff were very friendly and would do whatever to help you.  I had a complaint about the slow service one night at the beginning of the cruise.  They listened and gave me a little special treatment.  Great cruise for a reasonable price.

We have not been on Norwegian for a few years as we liked other cruise lines better, were treated better, and food was better.  But Norwegian has improved greatly.  The staff is wonderful, everyone is greeting us wherever we are and they are so attentive.  The food is much better than in the past and the options of what to eat is outstanding.  In the complementary restaurants we had 16 main dishes to choose from.  Lunch at the Garden Café on deck 16 was fabulous with the made to order burgers and huge New York style salad bar.  It was fun to watch the bartenders making drinks at Shakers and the atmosphere in the Irish pub with its bar and restaurant made it feel like we were at home.  The ship is large but other than the first day it did not seem crowded, and even on sea days one could find a room to sit in the sun on deck.  The entertainment options were the best we have ever had as sea.  Broadway shows, SNL comedy, Hypnotist, Comedians, 3D movies were exceptional.  Outdoors they had the ropes course, Bounce, rock wall and the 5 water slides with the two where the floor drops out from under you.   We were on board 14 days with stops at 8 islands, we were never board with all that their was to do.  So much to do that it is impossible to do everything.  NCL you are on the right course, keep it up.

I booked myself for my 60th birthday cruise to get away from winter and I was happily surprised to find the Breakaway had a solo traveller's club. If I go again I would book a studio, as they rooms are located near the solo lounge which had the best espresso machine and coffee & snacks. All solo travellers were invited to meet every night around 5:00 - 5:30 p.m. in the solo lounge to meet and chat with otehrs and a member of the crew Antonio, who was very helpful & made dinner & show reservations for those who were interested. The first night we were 39 solo travellers at dinner, wow. For a lady travelling solo this was a fantastic unexpected plus, I had dinner companions every night on the ship and I met some very interesting people, some of who I went on excusions with, it was lots of fun. The only negative comments I have, are in my opinion 14 nights was a little long for me, I think 10 -12 nights would have been sufficient, and the other thing is unfortunately we travelled through a low pressure system at 3:00 a.m. that awoke us all, that caused a lot a rough ride on the last couple of night and day. Otherwise, I had a great time and I met a lot of nice people.