This was our second NCL Cruise; first one was on the Dawn to Bermuda. Our previous cruises (all out of NY/NJ) were with Carnival once (never again) and Royal Caribbean three times. We were on the July 14th sailing to Bermuda and our party of 10 (2 couples in our early 50's with adult children aged 17, 19, 20 and 22; and a 40 year old couple) was excited to sail on a new ship out of New York. We had five cabins (2 mini-suites, 2 insides and an ocean view). I kept up with all the reviews before we left so there would be no surprises. For the most part, the reviews were accurate.

Embarkation was AWFUL! We arrived at 11:15 after a two hour drive from CT and waited over an hour. The lines were very long and several check-in stations were actually closed. The person who checked in my family had an unpleasant attitude.

The Breakaway is a beautiful ship and the crew was polite but not overly friendly. I use Royal Caribbean as the model for staff friendliness. The cabins were small as noted in other reviews. Our mini-suite was comfortable with a great bathroom. The bed was by the closet and there was enough space to get to it when needed and lots of places to store things. In my opinion, this configuration made the cabin more open with the couch and balcony area being together. My sons inside cabin was small but fine. In retrospect, I regret upgrading to the mini-suite (MA) from a balcony (BA); its not worth the extra cost. I wont even mention the size of the balcony. Our cabin attendant took good care of the stateroom. We loved the towel animals every night! The beds were comfortable but then again, they had only been in use for 9 weeks. The hallways are narrow but it wasn't an issue. Read more