It had been 4 years since I have sailed on Norwegian so when I seen a rate I could not pass up for their Studio Cabin back in July I had to book this cruise. This would be my first cruise as a solo passenger, to say the least I was very apprehensive about traveling alone.

While I did hear about a planned "march" in Manhattan the day before our embarkation in the vicinity of the cruise terminal - I was a little bit disappointed that NCL was not made aware of this rally so they could notify the passengers via email or phone. From reports, over 200 people had missed this sailing due to this rally and either had to be flown to Bermuda or chose another sailing. Not that this is NCL's fault in anyway, a heads up to arrive at the port earlier would have been nice. This being said, I did not miss my sailing - but came close to being caught up in the traffic.

Once I arrived at the pier, security and check in was quick and efficient as usual - love to sail out of NYC for this reason alone; plus its only a few hours from home. Once we boarded I could not contain myself, I had been anticipating this cruise for sometime and was thrilled to be on the Breakaway. My 1st impression was this ship was MASSIVE! I knew from the moment I stepped on board it would take a day or so just getting acclimated to the ship and all that it had to offer. So the first few hours I spent walking around the ship, getting to know the areas I would like to see during the cruise. Found a few quiet spots on the upper decks for sunbathing and even took a spa tour which was quite pleasant. The Mandara Spa was impeccable.. I had planned on using the facilities during this cruise, but never got around to it as there was so much other stuff going on. After walking around for a bit, I stopped at the Garden Cafe for lunch and had a quick bite to eat... right then and there I knew the food was going to be good for the rest of the cruise. Read more