Norwegian Breakaway Cruise Reviews - Reviews

the cruise trip overall is good. The service is okay. What we don't like is just little bit crowded in the restaurant and the hot tub. And the food need to be improved. There's not too many choice of food type. 

First let me say I am not the type of person who complains when something going wrong but in this case it was just one thing after another... I had a wonderful trip despite the disorganization of Norwegian Cruise Line. We were suppose to stop at three ports, first one was Florida. Number 1 we arrived to port late, it took the captain about 2 hours to get the boat docked, it took us another 2 1/2+ hours to stand in line to get off the boat and get a shuttle to go to Cocoa Beach. VERY VERY disorganized!!! Plus after spending a very limited amount of time at Cocoa Beach because the ship was leaving soon, we got back to the ship to spend another 45ish minutes to get back on. Our second port was suppose to be Great Stirrup Cay, we wanted to rent jet skis while on the island, the shore excursion desk lady just laughed at us. Apparently there were only 14 jet skis for a ship of 4000+ people but in the end it did not matter we sailed right past the island because it was to choppy for us to be tendered in. I would just like to point out as we sailed by our private island there were two Royal Caribbean cruise ships at the island next to ours. When we asked the cruise directors why the other ships were able to stop and we were not they answered because they have a different tendering system. OK they have a better tendering system?? And either Norwegian should upgrade or we should take a Royal Caribbean cruise next time???... Our third port was Nassau, the cruise line did just about everything correctly here but I do want to let people know when traveling to Nassau to book a shore excursion through the cruise line, it is the safest way to go. We unfortunately did not and completely regret it. As soon as we got off the boat (while still in the secured area) we were offered jet skis and when we said no thank you to those they offered us drugs. After that happened a few times we were very uncomfortable and did not feel safe sticking around so we went back to the ship and spent a nice quiet day there. My last complaint is about the food service, first of all the food was not good, I was not expecting a lot from the food but this food was less than I was expecting- NOT GOOD. Secondly, the service- I do want to add some positive things here to, the bartenders were AWESOME!! They knew our names from the first drink on, loved them. And the lady who made my crepes for me- wonderful lady!! But going to the sit down restaurants for dinner, the food was clearly taken from the buffet and served to us, not worth the extra money!! And even the ones we didn't pay extra for- the service sucked! It was VERY slow, the rushed us out of our seats before we were even done. And the sit down breakfasts, again VERY SLOW, and most of the restaurants were only open for an hour at a time. And the breakfast room service menu was a joke! No cereal, had to pay extra for eggs and meat, no waffles, no pancakes, no french toast. I know I sound like a snob there but I have been on other cruises where that stuff was included, I was disappointed not to be able to do room service more without having an extra charge and also not getting the options I would like on the menu. Lastly, trying to get off the ship on disembarkation day, what a disaster!! We were told to go to the back of line- totally makes sense!! But I watched others come right off the stairs and jump everyone in line, cutting everyone else who had been standing there for 45- 60 minutes - NOT OK! Very disorganized, you would think after being in business for so many years they would know what they were doing. I guess I just expected more. Oh and almost forgot, we did not get to see a single show- they were all booked up WAY in advance. They either need more shows or something!!

Like I said other than the cruise line I had a wonderful time with my boyfriend and can not wait until our next vacation but I know one thing, it will NOT be with Norwegian! 

We really enjoyed our vacation on the Breakaway.  The ship was beautifully maintained, and the crew was always cleaning.  The crew was friendly, helpful, and the other passengers were just terrific.  

We regret sailing out of NYC, it was just too cold to enjoy 2 of the 4 days at Sea.  Which turned out to be 5 days at sea, unfortunately.  Once again the conditions were too rough for the ship to go to the private island, and while I understand, what I don't understand is why they don't change their itinerary if they continuously cannot go to that port, it was disappointing and 5 days at Sea was way too much for our family, especially, as I said, with 2 of them being too cold to be outside.  

If we cruise again, we would definitely choose Norwegian.  I will elaborate further down below in comments! 

very clean, nice crews.  great food. the only disappointment we have was not any group between 18 years old to 21 old.  you assume 18 years old and up will be sitting in a bar drinking.   the previous cruised we have when my son was 17 years old was grate because he was able to join a group of ages and just sit and play game.

We chose this cruise as it had several days at sea and it stopped at a private island.  We wanted to be entertained by shows and eat great food.  

Pros:

We were pleasantly surprised with the size of our inside cabin and pleased with our room steward. The food in the specialty extra cost restaurants was very good.  The teppanykai was a great time, the steak house was excellent and the french bistro was wonderful. The Vibe(extra charge)was a great way to unwind as most of the passengers aboard the Christmas cruise were families so they could not belong to it.  The shows that were fee free were well done.  The ice bar (extra charge) was a very unique experience.

Cons:

The food in the main dining was poor and we named the buffet the 'trough'  as the food was of low quality and overly carbohydrate laden.

We felt 'nickel and dimed' by all the extra costs while aboard the ship..shows, group exercise classes, many of the activities, etc.  The upper decks were closed much of the time while 'at sea'.  Though, curiously were opened after we complained to guest services. The smoking in the casino wafted throughout the other public areas. Smoking on the pool deck is in the middle thus spreading the smell around the area.  We did not get to experience the private island as the tenders were not 'safe' that day as it was deemed too rough.

Overall, this cruise was at best mediocre.  The most impressive part of the cruise was the view of Statue of Liberty and Governor's Island when we set sail out of NYC.  Also, the staff and crew members were friendly, and the food was very good (not too salty).  Otherwise, entertainment was minimal, shows were not attractive, cleanliness was so-so (found hair in our towels and bedsheets), and ports of call were rundown and unpleasant.  Would I go on this cruise again?  No.  

The entertainment was wonderful with the exception of the DJ blasting his bass to the degree that our bed shook!  We were on the 14th floor and on back to back nights couldn't sleep until the DJ was done (1:00 a.m.).  Yes, we did notify guest relations via telephone the first night (twice) and then on night #2 personally went down at 11:30 and then again at 12:15 a.m. and asked them to please decrease the bass.  We might be able to sleep through loud music, but we can't sleep with a room that is vibrating due to the obnoxious bass blasting.  Evidently there wasn't anything that could be done to stop the bass.  We weren't the only ones impacted - in speaking with others they had chosen not to go to guest services but were going to use their travel agent, Travelocity, facebook etc to voice their complaints. 

Overall the cruise was good. Service was always at hand and food readily available. I would recommend booking some of the complimentary dinners ahead of time so you don't have to wait in long lines during prime time dinner hours. Some of the people on board were irritating in public but that's what you have to deal with on such a large ship. However, nice lady did give my boyfriend and I two free tickets to the circus and dinner show after she won it in a contest and already had plans with her family to do something else. However, when we used it the staff actually charged us even though it should have been waived. We later realized this on our statement which we were extremely annoyed about. Being in our early twenties, we did find it difficult to find some things on board for us to do during the day. I do recommend the martini tastings though. We also had a lot of fun at the Florida Beer Company (excursion at Port Canaveral). As for the comedy shows, we went to a lot of them since we weren't into gambling most of the time at the casino. Second City was funny but we did go to a couple of shows were they did the same previous sketch as a night before. In the future, if we plan on cruising again we may go on a shorter cruise where there are less days at sea as we enjoyed traveling to the Bahamas but the long ride back with no stops made us feel a little more seasick as we approached stormy weather.

Still waiting for the itemized bill from my resent cruise the name is Benjamin Neiger Phone 2129962113,  email   bbneiger@gmail.com   Please email it to me...Thanks a million   Benjamin (platinum member)

The cruise was good but we a little disappointed with the personnel.  They all look miserable like they hate their job.  Not even single smile and it looked like they had an attitude.  This was a very different experience to compare to Carnival Splendor cruise that me and my brother took two years ago.  The crew was super friendly and funny, very positive people always smiling.  We became so close with all of them that we didn't want to leave the boat. This year we took a Norweigian  cruise with my parents for their anniversary and set very high expectations for them since this was their first cruise and also because of how we raved about our Carnival experience.  We were very disappointed with service.  The housekeeping people who made our rooms were the only nice and pleasant ones and also two or three bartenders and receptionists.  Everybody else, especially the wait staff in the restaurants were dampening our vacation mood. If we could only transport the Carnival staff to Norweigian, we would have had a much more pleasant experience.  The boat in overall was beautiful.  There were a lot of activities for kids which was a big plus to compare to Carnival that didn't have as many.  The food was good but not great.  The spa was very expensive and very disappointing.  The smell of chlorine burned our noses and eyes. We were going to take three packages online before the cruise and were very happy that we didn't.  This would have been the biggest waste of money.  Highly recommend the beverage package.  The drinks are delicious and it is all top shelf liquors. 

5 stars to MARY DUGAN our amazing cruise planner who arranged the best choice in balcony cabins.The ship has many decks and a few thousand cabins knowledge of the ship 1st priority.THE DRINKS PCKG a first if 12 year old scotch is your thing.sailing from manhattan is a must the shows[BROADWAY] singers comedians Sailing bye theLADY is a great way to start and finish.The food is 5 stars and the bordwalk GREAT.5 stars to the entire crew for a job well done

Will cruise like a NORWEIGAN again

had too many accounting issues onboard...service seemed below what I expected..had to rush to one excursion...almost missed it...food was exceptional ..only had one thing that was disappointing (leathery pork chop)...kids had a blast

I was looking forward to my first cruise as my honeymoon and it was the WORST experience of my life.  To start, when I got my keycard it said SODA on it although I had purchased the Unlimited Beverage Package.  When I asked about it, I was rudely told there was nothing they could do and I had to wait till I got onboard and went to Customer Service on Deck 6.  When I got there, the line was extremely long and then after an exuberant amount of time, I was told that since it was Sunday there was nothing anyone could do for me until Monday and that whatever drinks I ordered, I would NOT be reimbursed for.  The wait staff was rude and slow.  There were only a select few waiters that we would continuous go to because the others did NOT smile let alone WANT to help us.  There would be more bartenders than guests and not ONE of the guests had drinks!  The bartenders were too busy laughing and hanging out amongst themselves.  We took this cruise with other friends and family and the restaurants gave us problems accommodating our party so eating together (other than at the buffet) was a huge issue.  When we did eat together at the buffet, trying to get tables together was an issue also.  On the last night of our cruise, there was a family pizza making party in the buffet.  The weather was windy so outside food places were closed due to inclement weather.  The buffet only had ONE side open (on seafood night) and it was the same side that the people were in line to make their pizzas.  There was not enough seafood so if you wanted certain food items, you waited over a half an hour for them to be replenished.  Overall, it sucked and I was very disappointed.

My family and I enjoyed our cruise.  The staff was very pleasant and attentive.  We all are trying to plan the next vacation.  Highly recommend this cruise.

What a wonderful time we had on the cruise with family and friends. The weather was great. Dining and entertainment matched the weather. Absolutely loved the uptown grill with their famous burgers. And what a service from the crew.

This is a huge and fabulous ship with tons to do.  The kids were well entertained and mostly stayed out of our way.  The balcony room was totally worth the upgrade.  The food was great, but I'd recommend the buffet over the included sit down restaurants because service was slow and unfriendly.  The extra-fee restaurants were fabulous.  Watch out for the energetic salespeople at the spa!  They'll get every penny you have. 

The ports were lackluster - touristy and uninteresting - but the boat more than made up for it and we were happy to explore and enjoy the activities.

The pool is small - too small for laps - which was disappointing, but the decks are very walkable and there was a ton to do when the weather got iffy. 

I highly recommend this ship!  The staff was incredible.

The Norwegian Breakaway Ship is amazing. It felt like I was in a hotel. There were a lot of activities to choose  from which was a plus.

I found it overwhelming because there was not enough time to do everything that I wanted.

The dinner Friday night was good. However, my dinner selection on Saturday which was a steak was not good and extremely difficult to eat.

Overall the experience sharing with beautiful people was something that I will never forget.

Many will review the ship, the excursions, the food and the service and be very picky on each individual item.  I am looking at the vacation as a whole and looking at the entire experience as one that made a wonderful impression.  Yes, the food became mundane after 12 days - but we were able to make it better by requesting alterations to the menu and the staff was more than accommodating !  Our stateroom attendant made sure we were taken care of with our odd hours and we always had clean towels and freshly made beds and the most wonderful towel animals.  The cruise director staff ensured that the entertainment and events were geared to all ages and interests and the parties were all ages which was welcoming.  The dance classes were super fun and we became trivia addicts.  I cant say anything bad about any of the service we experienced from start to finish.  We also enjoyed the excursions and the way NCL was able to ensure everyone made it to their appointed tours on time was wonderful and very smoothly handled.  

The entertainment was outstanding - from Burn the Floor, to Rock of Ages and then Oh What a Night - and who can forget the crew talent night - the crew themselves are some of the most talented.  They actually sing while serving meals and greeting you for breakfast..... "washy, washy, happy, happy" :)

We had such a great time, we even booked our next cruise while we were on the ship !  

 The staff and the Garden Cafe need praise ! To many restaurants where you had to pay. Why do you have to make reservations for activities?

The pools too small for so many guests. 

The food was good,The staff was pleasant but the seating capacity in the main theater ,was way too small , my family and I had to stand a lot in order to see some of the entertainment that was showing.