Norwegian Breakaway Review

4.5 / 5.0
3,883 reviews

Breakaway Hits the Mark

Review for Bermuda Cruise on Norwegian Breakaway
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revhapy
First Time Cruiser • Age 40s

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Sail Date: Sep 2013

Hello! My wife and I just returned from our weeklong cruise on the Norwegian Breakaway to Bermuda from September 1-8. A bit about ourselves before jumping into the review so those reading can equate my comments to our age group. I am 36 years old and my wife is 30 years old. We are both in the healthcare profession. This was my first ever cruise, and only the second for my wife (the last one was a bargain basement spring break cruise 10 years ago). We are very social people and were looking to enjoy great entertainment, great food, and a vibrant social scene. We also wanted an upscale experience, so we chose to stay in the Haven.

EMBARKATION: This has been covered in nearly every review. It was seamless. Probably the easiest check in I have ever experienced. We walked up to Pier 88 and simply gave our bags to a porter and they were gone. Since we were Haven guests, we were immediately directed into a separate Haven check in area after we went through general security. We walked right up to the clerk with zero wait, exchanged our documents, and got our cruise cards printed. We then waited maybe 5-10 minutes in the waiting area with maybe 10 other people. There were light refreshments such as cookies and desserts, as well as water, coffee, and juice. A Norwegian representative was escorting small groups up into the ship and directly into the Haven every ten minutes or so. I must say, Norwegian already had us feeling special even after just something as simple as check in. We were escorted to the Haven and our concierge gave us an informal 5 minute presentation. At that time we were able to fill out dinner reservation requests as well as show requests. Then we were cut loose to go explore.

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS: I won't break this thing down into a day-by-day review like some others have done, instead I would like to share my thoughts in a loose time progression. Right after our concierge talked with us, we headed to the Haven bar for a drink. At this time we decided to bite the bullet and go for the Unlimited Beverage Package (UBP). It was $50 per person per cabin per day (so $100 a day for my wife and I). It ended up being around $788 because I guess they either threw in tax or gratuity. The package included all soft drinks as well as beers $5.50 or less, glasses of wine $9.50 or less, and mixed drinks $8.50 or less (don't quote me directly on those wine and drink numbers, but they are very close). They will explain to you in detail if you are interested, but really, it is great because they have set those price limits so that essentially EVERY POSSIBLE DRINK is included. There are a few pricier beers (such as a huge 23 ounce Grolsch) or mixed drinks that are above the price point, but that was never an issue. There were probably 10-12 beers to choose from. As far as liquor goes, things such as Grey Goose, Ketel One, Jack Daniels, Barcardi(s), Johnnie Walker Black, etc. are ALL included. So you can catch my drift here: there won't be a single thing you could want that isn't realistically on the list. Regarding the drink menus, they were mostly standardized throughout the ship, but some bars did have a few signature drinks. And again, essentially every drink on their menus was included with the UBP. Bottles of wine or liquor were available for purchase, but of course those are an additional charge. One last thing about the UBP: it works in all of the restaurants as well, so your drinks with your meals are covered (that is what pushed us to go ahead and get it -- if drinks in the restaurants were NOT included we would have passed on the package).

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