Norwegian Breakaway Cruise Reviews - Reviews

What an amazing experience! Everything was perfect! Service was amazing and Bermuda is beautiful! Everyone is so welcoming and nice :) Rohit is by far the best bartender! I would go on a cruise line just to have him as my bartender. I felt like a superstar on this ship and I'm already planning my next one! The ship is so clean and I just can't recommend this trip enough!!! I went with a group of 5 and we all agree this was the best vacation of all time!!!

Cruising to Bermuda will not cost you an arm and a leg.  Sailing with NCL made it even more worth it with the variety of restaurants on board, entertainment, and staff.  Breakaway was a big ship, but not so big when you'real on to for 7 days.  There is a lot to do, food was great especially Ocean Blue, and relaxation is so easy.  They kept the kids occupied very well through their programs.  Stopping at Bermuda for 2.5 days waste best way to see Bermuda.  You can get on and off as often as you please which felt more relaxed to enjoy the port.  The only thing is if you sail Breakaway, be sure to reserve tickets for the shows as they do "sell out" quickly.  All the "theater" venues were small. It's mostly complimentary but you need to reserve a spot inside. 

This cruise ship is oddly designed.  Passengers were rude, mind you they majority of the passengers were older than 35.  Even a fight broke out by the pool area.  Passengers smoked without even given other passengers the common courtesy of asking if they could light up.  Smoking should be ban at all areas where the majority of the passengers met and a designated area for smokers only should be instituted.  Before entering the casino which is smack in the middle of the cruise ship it reeks of cigarette smoke. I dubbed that the "toxic zone" and tried to avoid it which was nearly impossible.  The casino should be located at the back of the ship so that passengers can avoid it if the smell of smoke makes them sick.  Other than that it was a good cruise.

 

This was not the class ship it could have been! Four thousand people and lots of nasal, high pitched noise prompted us numerous times to retreat to our cell where the only available chair for guests, willing to pull straws, was the toilet!  Our suitcases occupied the couch because in order to use the closet shelves, one would neccessarily end up with curled feet, falling back on any poor soul seated there. Awe, the beds.. somehow confused with ironing boards in the design phase of the ship’s layout…but  other passengers may not have noticed if they were smaller people who migrated from areas where mats served the same function.  Good thing or we wouldn’t have been able to walk one foot in front of the other around these (beds) to the tiny balcony.    The stewards were excellent, as was the "Garden Cafe" food when you could get to it without being crushed in the rush. There seemed to be enough to do if you were children and they were many and adorable!  The decibel levels of drums  from 9 to 1 were so load, that in order to sleep, you would have to close your balcony door instead of enjoying the sounds of wave crashing that many people wait for a cruise to experience first hand. Just as well .. made jumping overboard  less of an option. And  being prompted “ to voluntarily use your towels more than once to save water ” assured us that the captain and officers most surely do. We always thought that the sea water, from which NCl  gets its supply, was nearly endless. What fools we are!,    We have spent most of our lives at or on the ocean so we do love the rolling seas..We are like kids. It really doesn’t take much to amuse us. That part was excellent even as we almost ran out of verses to the "Ninety Nine Bottles of Beer on The Wall " travelling  ballad in our efforts to find more sophisticated things to do on-board.   As for Bermuda, it would have been nice if there had been some warning about the ants on the local beaches..but inhabiting a cabin with less than 12 square feet of foot space toughened us up enough to take them on.    All in all, we have decided on  A SMALLER, CLASSIER SHIP NEXT TIME, a much more interesting destination, even more waves and motion, and a lot more respect for our patronage. Gratuities for management..Are you kidding?!   Vi and Bruce Ryerson   

This was my second cruise and my husbands first.  The boarding process went quickly and seamlessly.  We arrived around 11 and we were on the boat by 12.  I will definitely make a different room selection next time.  The first 2 nights something was wrong with our cabin door and it whistled all night long.  We reported this to our steward who then notified his supervisor and she had engineering check it and it was fixed, thank god because I could not sleep with that noise!  The other issue with this room is that the final 2 nights there was something banging in the wind on the floor below us it made me crazy.  Luckily guest services had provided us with free ear plugs from the first 2 nights.  It still was very loud though and kept us awake.  Our room steward was great.  All of the food was good.  We always seemed to go to the complimentary restaurants at just the right time because we never had an issue getting seating, we never had to wait, but on the way out there was always a line.  I would say that the adult pool is s little small to accommodate the number of people.  There were very few kids on this cruise and many adults.  It was difficult at times to get into the pool because there were so many people.  One thing that bothered my husband was that there is a cigar room, which is supposed to be for cigar smokers only!  The cigarette smokers complain on the outside decks when the cigar smokers smoke out there, but yet, on our way back when all decks were closed because of the rain, the cigarette smokers pack the cigar room.  Quite unfair.  All of the events were great, the shows were great, the dance parties were great. Love, Love Love!  Also, an important thing was that they are very big on sanitizing.  Have a sanitizing station almost everywhere and having people at the entrances of the buffets spraying sanitizer.  They have signs everywhere to wash often, but some people would still walk out of the bathroom and not wash their hands or sanitize, which blows my minds.  This behavior is what leads to intestinal issues on cruise ships.  Not rocket science to wash your hands people!

This ship is huge and amazing.  I am sure we did not even get to see the whole boat.  So clean.  The crew/staff is wonderful.  The food was good and never had to wait in line for a table.  I will go again.  I loved the onboard touchscreens they were very helpful.  

We went on this cruise the day after we got married for our honeymoon, it was horrible and ruined our honeymoon. The staff was rude, we had the drink package but they didn't come over to take our order they went to the older crowed the whole time. Our cruise director and his staff were amazing but too many of their programs overlapped so we ended up with nothing to do. Fire and Ice were horrible and shouldn't be the only group at the atrium. The atrium its self is tooo small for all the guest as is the pool we could literally only fit in it one day. The best part of the boat was the spa and our room attendant. Waiters and Waitresses were rude and when you went up to the bar for a drink you still had to wait. Food on board was also horrible, we were sick almost every night of our honeymoon. We ate at all the dinning rooms except the one night when we couldn't eat any of the specials so we went to the Italian restaurant and we got sick their too. Everything on the ship was just as expensive as off the ship with tax. We loved Bermuda it was beautiful but we wish we would have gotten their a different way. If I could give them no stars I would. 

Love Norwegian! I have been on two cruises, both with Norwegian and I don't think I will ever try a different one. You can't beat the low prices and the nice staff. Freestyle is also a huge plus. Last year I went on the Norwegian Dawn and it was a completely different feel than the Breakaway. The Breakaway is twice as big and had so much to do on it that I couldn't even get to everything. The rock wall and the ropes course were included in your cruise fee which was a pleasant surprise. I was expecting them to be an additional cost. There was literally something for every age. I don't know if it is the best boat for older people because there's a lot of younger people and kids. And its so big the older cruisers can get tired really quickly. I would recommend the Dawn for older people because it is smaller and more intimate. I loved how the boat had a pool area for just adults and one for just kids!! Will definitely be going on this ship again!

Every complimentary restaurant we sampled was terrific.  Entertainment was great but the theater was on the small side.  Make sure you make reservations to both theaters and restaurants.  Pool was too small.  Also, people should not be allowed to put towels on chairs at 7:00 AM in the morning and hold the chairs for the entire day in case they want them.  Almost every chair had a towel or bag or book, but I never saw anyone in them.  I thought there was no saving spaces.

 

I know a guarantee cabin means they can put you anywhere but there are a lot, and I mean a lot, of inside cabins on that massive boat. So when I got stuck in what was to me, one of the crappiest cabins you can get on a cruise, I was very unhappy. I figured I had paid my dues over the years as I worked my way up to Gold status, but I quickly found out that Gold means very little in the scheme of NCL.

Below is the email I sent to NCL customer service before the cruise due to my frustration and absolutely nothing came of it.

So how the cruise was after I completed it is completely irrelevant as I was pretty much disappointed and angry from the second I stepped on the boat for the 4th time in as many years.

The email below went to my travel rep and I decided to post it here, as well instead of a review, as this is what I really cared about, just to share my frustration with my cabin assignment on my trip to Bermuda Sept 2015.

Dear NCL,

See, the more I think about it, it kinda feels like someone at NCL was telling me to take a flying leap for some reason. I mean, there aren't many more worse cabins than the 3 that are as forward as you can go on deck 8, or any deck for that matter. Am I being punished 'cause I picked the low cost choice? I know it was a GTY cabin, but wow, out of all the interior cabins on that massive ship, that's where they put me and my wife? Those should be the last cabins on the entire ship to be filled with GTY. I guess they were telling me i can take my Gold status and wipe my **** with it, for all it matters. You know, there are a lot of non NCL ships out of Bayonee NJ. maybe next year I will look into those; try another cruise line for a while. There are positives and negatives for all lines but maybe it's time to give another line more business and work my way to a higher level, then see who cares more for customer loyalty.

PS: As all I will get is a piece of chocolate each day in my crappy cabin for being Gold, I look forward to sharing this story with any passenger that wants to hear it while on the cruise, and though you people don't know me, what you should know is that like a car salesman, I am very persuasive when I want something, or like something, or in this case, am dissatisfied. So when I tell everyone my story of my crappy cabin assignment--and I have thousands of people to choose from on the boat--, when I get to the end, the moral of the story is: Don’t bother sailing with NCL repeatedly and working your way to a higher level, as in the end, it won't get you anything but a cabin at the absolute tip of the boat

Oh, and a piece of chocolate.

Addendum: Knowing my cabin would be terrible, I upgraded to a balcony and got the free UDP diner package as well. Made it a million times better cruise. But though on deck 12, it was still not good enough to avoid being up late, as party on H20 Deck (deck 16) was so loud, bass so powerful, it shook me and my wife out of bed at 12:30 AM. (we were going to bed early--around 11 or so--and getting up early to avoid crowds on pool deck. FYI: it works great).

On this size boat, be very careful where you choose your cab on, as it's so packed with restaurants and clubs to soak cash from guests you may end up above or below something horrible. And never choose a guarantee only on this boat, spend the little extra and pick something, or enjoy walking forever each day.

Despite the drama above, as we are used to this ship, we had a nice time, and though there are always hiccups along the way, if you come home, fat, happy and with fun memories, count it as a great cruise--which it was.

The weather was great, no waves at sea, great food, and wonderful staff. This was actually one of the best cruises yet as it all came together. And guest services offered to move our cabin and sent wine as an apology for the noise. But we liked out cabin's location by day, though, loved it even, but at night there were some issues. But that's what happens when 4000 people are crammed on one ship.

 *** EDITED 9/24/15 TO REMOVE PROFANITY ***

 

My husband and I had a great time. We are a Muslim couple and we were very nervous that people would mistreat us because of the way we dressed ( I cover my hair) however, I was very surprised by how friendly everyone was. The staff was great and they helped us figure out what meals had no pork and what we could eat. We had a great time and my husband and I agreed to now do another cruise next year.

My children were worried about our safety, but we came home safely and had an amazing time.

 

Thank you,

 

Rahela Matin  

very good trip very good trip very good trip very good trip very good trip very good trip very good trip very good trip very good trip very good trip very good trip very good trip very good trip very good trip very good trip very good trip very good trip

Had a great time in spite of the poor stateroom design, lack of corridor space, limited food choice and nickle and diming. Met great people on ship and island and the food available was tasty.

The Norwegian Breakaway is a great cruise ship with many activities onboard. The restaurants had a variety of food. The only disappointment was they didn't offer any lobster tails unless you went to a specialty restaurant. The entertainment was good. The best show was the cirque show but you had to pay an additional fee. Our cabin was clean and we loved the balcony but it was small. Overall loved the cruise and had a great time.

Repeatations of complimentary Shows. No varieties. Extra charge for certain shows. No complimentary sauna room. There are extra charges of what used to be free on other cruises. Overall disappointing.

The cruise was overall o.k.. The food was of decent quality. The same menu was repeated over seven days and it got boring. The entertainment was of poor quality. The shows presented were of poor taste and not enjoyable at all. NCL was charging us for any little things here and there. I do not recommend this cruise at all. I heard the similar comments form other passengers in the ship.  NCL need to review their cruise details and improve on the important items. 

Cruise was wonderful. Ship was clean, staff was great, saw Rock of Ages, which was fabulous.  The only real complaint was O'heens irish pub, which was the only place to get food after 11pm.  The food was awful.  Other than that, great trip! 

  Check-in was swift and seamless, friendly professional staff, delicious food, first rate entertainment and fun activities.  Only downside, from my point of view, only one adult pool, it was small and way too close to the children's pool.  

Enjoyed the food and the many entertainment offers on the ship.   One thing  seriously lacking was a good dance venue with a nice dance floor.   There were several places to dance but not with a good dance band nor a good floor for dancing.  Very disappointing in that regard.  

Overall very good cruise. Our cabin Stewart was excellent. Entertainment was terrific and balcony cabin was roomy. Food was adequate and we were disappointed with how small the pool area is.  We loved the outdoor bar areas- drinks were tasty!