Norwegian Breakaway Cruise Reviews - Reviews

Beautiful ship, great food, warm and helpful staff, enjoyable shows, and the food was delicious!

Only complant was that the seats in the theatre were very uncomfortable...board sticking in your back someone should be suited for that.

We love this cruise. There are so much thing to do on the cruise and too many shows to see. Foods are good, House keeping persons are so nice. Everything are excellent

An excellent cruise although two complaints with the aspect. 1) The advertised special offers that caused us to book with were not all provided. A Specialty Dining offer was "sold out" when I went to book. Don't believe this as all the specialty restaurants were not busy during the cruise. In fact Norwegian was pusing the "$119 for all specialty restaurants" deal because of under-subscription at the beginning and then were heavily advertising deals for any of the specialty restaurants all during the cruise. 2) The one excursion that we booked was through - Best Bermuda Snorkel Adventure. It was cancelled at the arranged rendezvous because of "high winds". Doubt this, as all the Norwegian snorkling excursions went. I believe that it was cancelled because not enough people had booked it. A refund had to be requested through , although the contact said that it would be automatically processed by them.

THE BREAKAWAY IS BEAUTIFUL---THE WEATHER WA GREAT---AND BERMUDA WAS THE

BEST DESTINATION.

THE CREW OF THE BREAKAWAY WAS EXCEPTIONAL; THE FOOD WAS ABOVE PAR AND

THE CABIN WAS WELL-KEPT.

ALTHOUGH THE MUSIC (ROCK OF AGES) DIDN'T PLEASE US, SINCE WE ARE SENIORS,

WE FOUND OTHER ENTERTAINMENTS.

Loved the Breakaway.  It was a lot of fun and catered equaly to all age groups from young families, single young adults, to older seniors.  The food was great.  I'm not a fan of buffets, so I avoided it but there was plenty of great food at the 3 complementary resturaunts.  The ship was clean and modern.  Some of the entertainment was a little "cheesy", although I love MJ, didn't care for the impersonator as well as the the Whitney show.  Loved Headliners, Dualing Pianos, Rock of Ages, Burn the Floor and Cirque was wonderful.  Loved Bermuda.  It's clean, great public tranportation and we felt safe.  Beaches and oceans were perstine.  We thought the 7 day cruise was perfect.  I would do it again but I would like to see some updated, contemporary entertainment.  We felt some of the music parties were too old in the music styles.

I never cruised before this trip. The Norwegian crew made this  easy and enjoyable. First class dining and entertainment. Any needs or wants met by the crew as if you are the most important person on the ship. I recommend this cruise to anyone who wants or needs to "leave the world behind" for a week. 

Whether relaxing in the spa, which I highly recommend, or walking the ropes course, every day was magical. I would go see the shows Burn the Floor' and 'Cirque' again in a heartbeat. Musicians performing throughout the ship were professional calibre, and our stateroom was kept immaculate. Best bet to get the select restaurant program to fully enjoy every meal. Then soak up the sun in the most beautiful country I've ever visited - Bermuda, then fall asleep in the comfortable beds being gently rocked to sleep. Go! Don't delay!

I posted this review on a few sites I am on: Did the Easy Walk Off for the first time and think I'll do it every time from now on! Got to the line of people waiting for the okay to leave at 0710. We were in walking past the luggage being lined up and heading for a taxi at 0732. At least the NY customs building stair nazi wasn't at the post this time, she would let only one person go down th escalator at one time last year. Created a huge logjam. This time, a different lady allowed about 10 feet between people. Okay, the cruise: 1. Tops down, the best entertainment I've seen in my whole 5 cruises (1 RC, 3 NCL, 1 Carnival). The Cirque starts hokey, but that is just the support crew. It was amazing. Food, not so much. Dark in the venue and hard to cut/eat and watch the act at the same time. Rock of ages was awesome! So much talent! Not exactly like the movie, but great! Burn the Floor was also amazing, the dancing and singing was excellent! The magician act (Michael Finney) was great as well. As for the ship's movement...hardly felt anything until the last two days, but we hit the swells coming from the storm that hit the east on Wednesday. I like the movement. We had a normal balcony stateroom with 2 twins and a couch. With the twin set-up it was difficult to get around the beds. Rooms are smaller than what we had on the Gem, which was the same type of room. Shower water pressure SUCKED, no other way to put it. It was difficult to get cold water once people started taking showers, in fact, the water was painfully hot. Sometimes the toilet wouldn't flush, had to reseat the lid or pound on the knobby (wall protector) on the wall behind the seat. That was the room. For the cruise, there are far too many pay only options. Ultimate dining pkg gives one a specialty restaurant each night with the cirque show on night one included, cost is $119. Does NOT include Ocean's ($49) or the ala carte Raw Bar or Noodle/sushi bar. The gelato, Cake Boss, and cappaccino is also pricey. Drinks, of course, cost. I do like the soda package at around $50. You get a cup to haul around for refills or just get a glass filled at any bar AND any restaurant. It is fountain, not out of a can, and bar staff are nice about it (that lacking was my pet peeve about Carnival). My biggest issue was with the Mandara Spa pass I had been so excited to get. Unlike the Gem, which was $99 and had a womens, mens, and co-ed spa with all of them including jacuzzi's, wet and dry saunas, showers, as well as both cushioned and warmed ceramic lounge chairs. They also only sold around 100 passes. Breakaway had a small co-ed location with one large jacuzzi, four different saunas, rain showers (that some were not working correctly), 10 ceramic chairs and maybe 30 cushioned chairs and they sold 120 passes that cost $199. On sea days, it was impossible to get a lounge chair. I will be critiquing NCL on that one. I was told they made it smaller to accommodate more rooms, probably the Spa Haven suites. They wouldn't get seats either. I found out there is a top deck pool area for adults only called Vibe. At least a hot tub and some chairs, but no way to see in there. No idea the cost and they sold out of passes. However, the water slides were the bomb!!!!! Note (since there wasn't a sign) NO jewelry allowed, to include wedding rings. The ropes course was also a total blast!!!! My fat butt fit both of those fun things!! Buffet was pretty good. Cagney's was awesome, Teppanyaki pretty good, and Moderno's okay (a bit to odd for me, but the salad was great). Pizza 24/7 was good, but at a cost of $5 and delivered anywhere. The casino is mid-ship, located around the multi-deck stairways (where photos are taken). Meaning, the smoke wasn't as bad as being confine in a closed room HOWEVER, you could smell smoke downstairs in Le Bistro (a specialty restaurant). The internet area was open and next to the atrium so people would sit there when they were out of seats if something was on the screen or an activity was going on. Stupid. The "stores" were kind of open as well which made it a bit chaotic as it is a major walk way. It incorporated the photo area. I did like the binder system for photos. MUCH easier to find your photo. Don't know how someone got away with the designs. Would I take the Breakaway or equivalent again? ONLY if I got a deal I couldn't pass up. Bear in mind, I don't complain about everything, but I expected more and won't blow sunshine up to gloss things over! I'll stick to the Gem/Jade. This one was too big and too many extra costs. 

To summarize this 7 day cruise to Bermuda on the NCL Breakaway I would have to say it was a very enjoyable travel experience. We booked this trip just 7 days before sailing with departing from NY.  I have read the reviews of the ship and there were both positive and negative comments which did not deter us from going. 

The BOOKING was very easy via a phone call to their representative since we were doing this on short notice and wanted to speak with a live person. She was very polite, helpful and detailed in her explanations.

I was somewhat apprehensive with going on a Megaship (4000 travelers) but overall it was not a problem and you never encountered everyone all at one time since the Breakaway was so huge. The only problem we seen as far as crowds was at the pool and getting some deck chairs. They really need another pool for adults since most of the time the kids pool was closed. We traveled after spring break so I can imagine the chasos during that time. 

We have been on 4+ cruise ships but this is the first time with freestyle diinning. I did enjoy it since i was in control of my dinning time. The only issue I had with it was the menu was the same in all three complimentary dinning rooms each day. I would of liked more variety. We tried to reserve one specialty dinning room but it was booked already and we were not going to spend the more additional money for another one. Overall the quality of food was very good. We went to the garden buffet for breakfast and lunch and the dinning rooms for dinner. Service was very good at all three dinning rooms.

The stateroom was assigned to us and we lucked out with ours. It was on the stern of the ship with a larger balcony (a lounge and two chairs). I had my doubts about being in the back of the ship with the noise from the engines, rooftop disco etc but it was not a problem sine we were on the 13th deck. the room was big enough for two people and the beds were the most comfortable i have ever slept on. Our stewart was also very accomadating and polite. The only negative was to the bathroom showerhead. it had no pressure at all, something they need to look into.

Since we were to Bermuda before on a ship and by plane we were familar with the area we docked at, Kings Wharf. We did one excursion to St.George which was very helpful since we never been to that part of the island. We returned the next day on our own to the same area and went to Tobaco Beach which was beautiful. Spending 3 days in Bermuda was great but you always want more time there hense we will return at some future date.

Overall a very enjoyable trip with minor bumps but definitely recommend it.

We loved the heated salt water pool onboard.  It was over 6' deep and big enough to swim in comfortably.  The balcony room was very nicely appointed although I wouldn't say it was extremely roomy.  We would have enjoyed the spa facilities if it weren't so expensive.  I know other cruise lines allow free access to their spa - we wish Norwegian did the same.  The entertainment was very good compared to other cruise lines.  We enjoy a cruise that has plenty of choices for entertainment.

We didn't try any of the specialty restaurants because we found the free style complimentary dining quite good.

The cruise met my greatest expectations. Embarkation was a little rough, because of the incident on 5/4; however once inside the terminal everything went smoothly. staff was well trained and totally attentive.  The ship was well kept and easy to navigate. 

Allways when cruising NCL there are many promises (before you pay for the cruise), but when you board

the ship the upgrades and promises never materialize.

We had an amazing experience on our trip.  The day we were scheduled to depart (May 4, 2014) the ship was unable to dock because it apparently hit a whale which caused the propulsion system to have issues.  If the Norweigan employees knew this was the reason why, then they refused to tell us.  This frustrated us as well as the passengers waiting with us and those waiting to get off the ship.  The employees were also disorganized getting us onto the boat.  Once we departed, the trip was outstanding.  The employees on the ship were incredible.  Very professional, very friendly, and were more than willing to go the extra mile to ensure the entire trip was memorable.

Traveled to Bermuda beginning of May with Mom, almost 94 years old, sister and self (both in our 60s).  I've been on 6 cruises with 3 other major cruiselines; this one on NCL was a first.  Hugh ship, but honestly, there isn't much difference between having 3,000 or 4,000 other passengers.  Places where I would have expected crowd problems - elevators, dining rooms, show spots - were fine.  

Saw Cirque, Rock of Ages, Burn the Floor, Magician shows; all were fun, especially those fabulous dancers and singers at the Burn show.  

Ate in the main dining room (Manhattan, very elegant with a fine singer to set the urban mood), other made-to-order dining rooms (Savor, Taste), and 3 specialty restaurants (La Cucina, Le Bistro, Tappanaki).  Food quality was uneven - some very good meals, others less than desirable.  I don't think the (reasonable) cost for specialty restaurants was particularly well spent given the cuisine.  We ate at the Buffet 3 times; lots of choices, but food was pretty awful.  We consistently had good experiences in the Manhattan.

The biggest problem for us:  Mom is pushed in a small, folding wheelchair.  The hallways are very narrow so we had to wait until a steward moved the cleaning cart out of the way before proceeding - and there were lots of carts.  Also, the entrance to the room was so narrow that we couldn't roll it into the room; it had to be folded in the hallway, picked up & carried sideways into the suite-make sure you have someone strong enough in your party to do this.  We were in an upgraded mini-suite on Deck 10 and there wasn't any room for it to be safely stored.  (We left the light on at night so we wouldn't trip over it.)  

As others have mentioned, the balcony is very tiny - room for only 2 deck chairs.  Large, comfortable bathroom.  Room itself is pretty narrow.  It would have been fine for 2 persons, but with 3 it was tight. All things considered, we enjoyed our 7 day cruise with NCL.  The various service persons were great, appropriately & sincerely pleasant.  Although I didn't like to spend another $ 199 for use of the spa, it was a wonderful daily activity.  It did seem like we had to (over)pay for some things which other cruiselines include, i.e. spa pool & movies for $ 10 each on t.v.  Bermuda was warm

& beautiful.

And, If you like gaudy, this isn't the ship for you.  It's more like a floating hotel-decor is very subtle, actually pretty vacant.  I've enjoyed the art work done on other ships, in hallways and common areas.  The Breakaway has some standard photographs- the kind you'd fine in hotel rooms- on the walls, but a little more sophistication could have been put into the ship's design style.  

The Breakaway is a beautiful ship but is really too big.  There is a point of diminishing returns when the size of the ship can actually have a negative affect on the operation of the ship.  Boarding and disembarking become more of a problem.  The dinner meal was place where assigned seating was an asset.  It was a great way to meet people and strike up new friendships.  The waiters became a friend of yours by the end of the trip.  They knew your likes and dislikes and made your meal much more enjoyable!  With open seating a new waiter every night and you are usually eating alone.

The biggest disappointment of all was the $79.00 charge the tour of the bridge and the galley.  I can't tell you the feeling I had when they told me the price...OUTRAGEOUS....I have more to say but I'm a lousy typist.

nice ship, clean, good food, shows could be better, service was ok.

recommend brazilian and italian restaurants. kids program was ok. the private island  is beautiful.

Its a beautiful ship resturants are excellent.Service is great.We had a mini sweet big bathroom great shower.Great shows.Make sure you get off early on private island not enough chairs.Cruise director Dan the man great.

The Breakaway was a very large ship but as I am an enginereer, it was very well designed. All of the most important venues were on the 6th, 7th, and 8th floors. The 15th floor contained the Spa, Exercise rooms, and an entrance to the outside deck which also led to the Garden buffet dining area, pool areas, and Water park. The staff from the cabin stewards, to the dining staff, and ships crew were all very friendly and made us feel very special. The entertainment was top notch! The shopping areas were beautiful and the prices excellent for the quality of the jewelry and other goods. We are home only 2 weeks and are already going on our 2nd cruise with NCL this weekend.

Injuries on excursions received poor treatment and poor drat practice-no lead apron to reduce radiation exposure. Kids program located in the middle of a smoke filled casino, unfriendly staff. Do not recommend. No value for the expense and avoidance of all responsibility for poorly staffed, poorly planned and injurious ncl excursions. No attention to teens drinking under age around the clock. Bad news, bad trip all around. Will not recommend to friends and colleagues. Very disappointed.

We got much better service and food at O'Sheenan's. Jefferson who worked in O'Sheenan gave us great service and was very pleasant to talk to. Antolin who worked in the Manhatten Room also gave us good service and was very pleasant.

Our Cabin #10844 was very nice and Miguel our cabin stewart kept the cabin clean and remembered our names from day one .

This was our first time cruising with Norwegin and probably our last.The only really good thing about it was that it left from New York.Maybe if we were crusing with children it would have been a better experience ,because i think the Breakaway is more geared for families with children.