Norwegian Breakaway Cruise Reviews - Reviews

This was my first time taking a cruise.  So, I was really surprised the first day at how the other guests treated each other and grabbed all of the food from the Garden Cafeteria like they had never eaten before and would never eat again.  Later, I realized that the guests at the Garden Cafeteria were like that all day and many of them were like that in any setting.  The tour operators were good but could have been better at redirecting these inappropriate behaviors. 

For example sitting in the Atrium lounge area, some of these very rude guests would walk right in front of you and stand blocking your view or even put their chair right in front of other guests.  Even though there was a rule regarding saving chairs, apparently this did not count in the Atrium or lounge areas.  Many of the guests would leave a hat or scarf on a chair and then leave to eat, come back an hour later to block the people who were patiently waiting.   The tour operators could have arranged the chairs initially and then observed to ensure people were not leaving to eat or do other errands for an hour or two to return later.

The cleaning crew, particularly Sedrick, was really good and even made towel displays for the room!  That was nice and he even showed us how to turn on the light if we needed additional service.

The last two days of the cruise did get long and boring.  It was tedious to attempt to go to the Garden Cafeteria where one could get run over by other guests pushing and taking all the food.  It was even worse to go to most of the complementary food areas as the service was generally very slow -- except for one waitress Connie in the Manhattan.  The tour could have provided additional activities that had not already been done previously for those last two days for entertainment.

Also, some of the tour activities were scheduled to overlap and guests had to make a choice on whether to go to the International Talent Show or another event.  Additionally, a lot of the Park West Art events were long and drawn out ruining the possibility of attending other events scheduled on the cruise.  The comedy show could have had an afternoon venue for family, as could have the other Theater events.  I overheard one of the guests complaining that the theater shows were not family friendly -- perhaps the tour should not allow anyone under 18 to attend comedy events or theater events after 9 pm as many bars do.

Great cruise with lots of fun activities, but I do not recommend purchasing a beverage package. I made the mistake and feel it had a very negative impact on my cruising experience because I felt a strong desire to 'get my moneys worth' out of the package - basically I was always drunk or hungover. Which isn't what I was looking for or anticipating for this cruise.

Enjoyed everthing. Things I would have changed , we were first time cruisers.

1. Would not do Bingo again , to much money for to little chances

2. Would do vibe only on anticipated good days. We asked for rebates on bad weather days. First two days out and last day back. We were told no.

3. Beware  - Final on ship expenses were totaled and applied to my credit card. Copy was outside our cabin early Sunday Morning. My expenses were about $1100 , including 500 on future cruise. When I get home late Sunday evening I check my online bank account and low and behold my credit card is maxed out. Monday Morning I call and inquire and my Bank tells me the cruise line has put a hold on my account to the tune of $1400 !  I am told by an agent of the cruise line that this hold is put on in case I charge more expenses before I leave the ship. Now correct me if I am wrong but there was nothing open to charge anything Sunday Morning , except maybe a drink with breakfast . Certainly nothing to the tune of $1400.

4. I was also disappointed that we didn't get to the island. I wish the cruise line would advise potential cruisers of the potential of going to the island by month. Apparently November and December are months that the success rate of reaching the island is poor.

5. If a area is posted Adults only then that rule should be enforced.

Would I cruise this ship and line again. Yes. With my eyes wide open to these issues.

My biggest disappointment with this cruise was with the ship the breakaway.   its just not the level of luxury that I'm used too.  The ship's public areas are not big enough for the 4000 guests it packs into the ship, all the finishing touches on the ship are pretty plain and inelegant.  I was very aware of waiting for elevators, and the staircases were rather industrial rather than majestic.   Even the grand circular staircase in the 3 level open atrium was not impressive when you were on it. The stair case is less than 6 feet wide, the atrium is very small, and there are no windows. 

The biggest problem with the ship is the placement of the casino in the middle of the public areas.  Lets face facts, casinos are ugly, the people that hang out in them are generally low class, and the worst part of all: they allow smoking.  As the casino was center to the ship, in the middle deck of the the 3 deck open area, the cigarette smoke permeated all parts of the ship.   Totally gross. Then when I was forced to walk through the casino, I've got to walk past rows and rows of overweight senor citizens with blank stares at their slot machines.  

The other issue I had with the ship was the lack of big windows looking out.  For whatever reason, this ship does not afford beautiful views from inside the ship.   This may have been better in the front half of the ship, but that part of the ship was closed off unless you had a haven suite.   There was no view anywhere on the ship forward from inside the ship without paying for the view. 

My rating is based on my comparison of this ship to the norwegian gem, IMO a much better ship. Simple math should of been my first clue:  The gem has 3 banks of elevators, for 2000 guests. The breakaway has 2 banks of elevators for 4000 guests and 3 more decks to have to service. There is absolutely no way that was going to work.  

To show off the differences in elegance of the ships lets look at the theaters on both ships:  the gem sat 1100 people with a balcony and side booths: no reservations, no sold out shows.   the breakaway (with double the number of guest remember,) 800 seats, you must make reservations and constantly sold out shows.  Now look at the two theaters:  which one impresses you?  Mind you the theater is just an example, but the rest of the trim levels on both ships were similar. 

the Gem theater: 

the breakaway theater: 

I found it ironic that the breakaway prides itself on modeling itself after Manhattan, but has a mall style movie screen, whereas the Gem which makes no claim to Manhattan chic has a Old style NY Broadway theater complete with balcony and side booths.  

excelled organization, programs, foods and very clean

 very good qualty of shows

There were many activites

This my secound trip ogf Norvagian, Ilikedbefore but this is more bigeer and cleaner.

We could not stop secound point reason of wheathe but we did not upset beacuse found many different thing

si will go again soon

Several attempts to get the charge removed from the bill (purchased the dinner package, but was charged again on the bill)

The $50 onboard credit was not shown on the final bill as we thought it will be automatically applied on our final bill.

The ship can't dock at the island (Stirrup) due to the weather, which is the major point of attraction, and there is no compensation or what so ever to the guests.

The cruise was my present to my husband for his special birthday and it was a disappointed experience. 

good except venues to small for the amount of people on board. the ship needs more places to do there  activitys.  planty of places to eat but stay away from the beffet

We had a wonderful time on our cruise.  Dealing with Olive and   was the easiest way to book our cruise.  I have recommended and Olive to more than one family member and friends.  We are looking forward to booking our next cruise with Olive.  We needed a handicapped cabin and Olive informed us of a cabin that was handicapped and had a balcony.   We were so impressed with the cabin that I called her before we left the port to tell her how happy we were.  The Breakaway was a wonderful ship and we had a great time.

private deck is so small if you change your mind you need to go inside your room, never saw a smaller deck.  The main theater held only 800 people the had two shows of any act that means only 1600 of 4000 people on board could see any show.  The seats were terrible.  There were no seats around the ship to relax in public areas.  They conducted many acts in the open area in the ship seating for about 25% of the people. Room service was poor, had to complain to Customer Service to get the room made up, and another time to get towels.  I will never cruise on Norwegian again.  I have cruised at least 25 times.

This was our second trip on a Norwegian Cruise, the first was 3 nights on the Sky.We enjoyed it so much that we decided the Breakaway was a longer trip and left closer to home. Our mid-ship balcony was large and very comfortable. The food was most excellent and the waitstaff were all very polite and efficient. Our ship steward, Nicole, always had the room clean and ready when we returned. He made the most adorable towel animals which we looked forward to seeing every night. We chose to dine in the Italian Specialty Restaurant one night and the food was beyond fabulous! It was perfect timing as we were just leaving Nassau and sitting at an outside part of the ship and got to see the village.We also chose to see Cirque, the show was phenominal! We can't wait to take another cruise!

Food was average with a couple exceptions: Burgers in Uptown and Chateaubriand in main dining rooms.  Had to pay extra in the many "specialty" dining rooms for good food apparently and no lobster, etc. in main dining so as to not compete.  Casino was a rip-off especially giving no "bonus points" on blackjack anywhere near the amount wagered.  Dining and room staff were great however.  Ship is HUGE for good or bad.  Staff on microphones were LOUD in atrium and pool area.  Have been on many cruises and would not do this one again.

I was on Breakaway for engagement celebration. We were told by Kelvin the offshore shopping guide about how the Norwegian Guarantee shopping purchases price on selected stores in Nassau, Bahamas. I trusted Kelvin, I trusted who Kelvin represents the Norwegian. You guys led me down. I couldn't find nor contact Kelvin to resolve this purchase from one of the "Recommended Stores"  Effy Jewelry. Probably it is my fault to believe the Norwegian and Effy Jewelry sales team on their worlds, "Guarantee service and guarantee great price or Money back". I bought a loose diamond (Dumb...), which I never consider until Norwegian guaranteed, I figure it would be a nice upgrade for my wife. 

I went to one of the recommended store by Norwegian, Effy Jewelry and purchased a loose diamond. I wasn't a complete idiot I asked for a diamond grading. One sales person gave me an EGL diamond rating and a price ("this was an old diamond in-stock; you would never get this price anywhere else"). I asked them about GIA report, they claimed GIA and EGL are the same at their grading and people just pay more for a GIA for their brand, unbelievable after you do some research on what they claimed. I got my diamond appraised by a GIA specialist after came back to NYC and found out the diamond was much worst quality and the lies they told me about EGL and GIA. Later I contacted Effy Jewelry sales and their representative (Rafi) in NYC. They didn't care about their Guarantee according to Norwegian and basically told me GIA and EGL are different, GIA being better and I paid for an EGL Graded diamond not a GIA diamond. I asked for a refund and they refused and said "all sales were final". Also, the rep refused to believe me about what sales person told me during point of purchase, EGL and GIA being the same. The money I spent on the EGL graded loose diamond I purchased on Effy would be very similar to a same graded GIA loose diamond I would spent on Blue Nile web site. According to the appraised grading in GIA I would only spend half of what I paid on a similar diamond at Blue Nile web site. 

Long story short don't believe the Guarantee just avoid buying from a cruise trip. 

Being an experienced cruise traveler, I was traveling with my wife and two sons ages 16 and 13. Overall this was a nice cruise.  The ship was spacious and well laid out.  The cabins while small were compact and comfortable.  The food was good.  The specialty restaurants were excellent.  The entertainment was good.  The only negative was the pool deck was small and overcrowded and the ship had no indoor pool.  Traveling from New York at Thanksgiving and in the winter months the ship should have an indoor pool or retractable roof over the pool area.  It seems like they used all the space on the pool deck for the haven suites.  The casino was in an open area and the smoke from the casino would reach other areas of the ship.  We loved the waterfront.  It was nice and peaceful to sit out and look over the ocean.  I would recommend this ship. The private island was nice and Nassau is always enjoyable.  The ship got into Florida late and all the shore excursions were canceled.  If you don't do a shore excursion in Florida there is really nothing to do because the ship docks far from everything. It is always good to leave from Manhattan and sail past the Statue of Liberty and under the Verrazano Bridge.  

This cruise was good, but I probably wouldn't do it again.  It was just WAY too crowded.  There were over 4000 people on the ship, not including the crew, so there wasn't really any way to find space to be alone or quiet.  The balcony room was a good size and nicely furnished as were the main spaces.  The cruise director and his staff were over the top to the point of annoying.  Might have been good for kids, but I found them to be un-involved and very impressed with themselves.  The embarkation in NY was a MESS.  There wasn't enough staff, they were lazy and no one seemed to know what they were doing which set a poor tone for the first day of a vacation.  The restaurant staff was great and always willing to go above and beyond to make your meal special.  I certainly hope they are recognized for their stellar performance.  Some of the shows on the ship were good, but others were much too raunchy for me.  There wasn't need for the crude language and behavior in Rock of Ages.  It was also annoying that they make you book tickets for all of the shows and performances before you even get on the boat.  Also they charged for everything.  It would have been nice to have more activities that you could take part in that were free.  Overall it was a fine trip, but not nearly as nice as my experiences with Princess cruises.

We took a chance cruising out of New York and we unfortunately had horrible weather. The boat rocked horribly the first night and second day and we were unable to get to our first port Cape Canaveral in time for any excursions to be had. Service in the restaurants except for Cagney's Steakhouse was lacking and slow. Big disappointment in Le Bistro where we paid extra and had one lonely person doing everything for us. It was our anniversary and we didn't get our food at the same time and waited a ridiculous amount of time for it.

We took the Breakaway cruise from New New York to Cape Canaveral to Bahamas on November 23. This was our first cruise ever.

We experienced some rough weather that caused delays in arriving to the Cape Canaveral port and the cancelation of many excursions. Also many of the attractions on the ship were closed as a result of the weather.

Despite the rough weather, the experience was an unforgettable one. The food was excellent (specially deck 15), the shows very enjoyable, and the service was fantastic.

My family still misses deck 15 where the buffet restaurant is. We enjoyed very much that we could go to deck 15 at any time of the day and eat anything we want for as much as we want. The variety of food was great. There was something for every body.

We also enjoyed very much all the performance by Fire and Ice. Rosie has an unbelievable voice and her energy is a show on itself. We all enjoyed the Cirque Dreams Jungle Fantasy acrobatics. My wife and daughter enjoyed very much the Burn the Floor show and my son enjoyed Deal or Not Deal.

On Nassau we had the opportunity to swim with the dolphins. It is a once in a life experience that I recommend for every one to have.

On our last night we dinned at Teppanyaki, a Japanese Hibachi restaurant. We had some much fun that the Chef is on one of the photos in our Christmas Card

I thank Norwegian and it staff for making this a very memorable vacation for my family.

Our special thank to Djamel Bentmane, the Hotel Director, for his hospitality and all his attentions. He made our family feel very special and help us create some memories on my wife 50s birthday.

for the most part the cruise was good, we missed are excrution because of the weather, but the rest of the excrutons were good, the food was great, as were the shows, the staff was ok, but they were not as good as the other cruise that we have been on.

The cruise was good but I just got a little bit sea sick. If the band could be provided at customer service desk, it will be better. People are nice, and the cleaner for my room named Michael is so nice and he could remember my name at first time. 

My family thoroughly enjoyed our cruise.  The food was very good and the entertainment was phenomenal.  My only complaint was the lack of supervision in the dining area.  We cruised during the Thanksgiving break, so there were a lot of kids and teens on our ship and they were running wild through the dining area grabbing food with their hands, running up and down the aisles, cutting in front of people.  I know it is the parent's job to monitor their children, but I think Norwegian should have a over 16 policy in their dining area that nobody under 16 should be allowed in the dining areas without a parent.  That would have solved the issue.  

1.   Check in cost over 100 minutes, Online book without online book in same wait line, it waste time.

2.   Off ship to island road condition very bad.

3.   Food cooking low level and kinds poor!