Norwegian Breakaway Review

Breakaway Changed My Mind about NCL

Review for the Bahamas Cruise on Norwegian Breakaway
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cjm61
10+ Cruises • Age 60s

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Sail Date: Mar 2015
Cabin: Mid-Ship Balcony Stateroom

NCL Breakaway to Florida and the Bahamas March 15, 2015 sailing out of NYC. What can I say, it was an amazing trip! Breakaway totally changed my mind about NCL. I had not sailed NCL since 2008 on the Pearl. That sailing left me with a less than favorable experience with NCL, so I stayed away. I have sailed Carnival (30 + cruises), Royal (7+ cruises) NCL (2 Cruises), Princess (2 cruises) and thoroughly enjoy each for a different reason. Very good friends of mine switched from Royal to NCL and raved about their experience. Needing to get away after a very long and frigid winter, the Breakaway is home-ported close to my home, so no flying. I travelled with my sister, both of us in our early fifties, and we were pleasantly surprised and amazed at how much NCL has improved their product.

Embarkation - Drove to NYC from our homes about 80 miles north of the city. Arrived at the pier at 10:30am. A bit early, but we knew the NYC Half Marathon was that day and did not want to chance heavy traffic. Rooftop parking at the pier was $280 for the week. Worth the money for the convenience and already knew NYC parking was a bit pricey. No porters available to take our bags, so we brought them down to curbside ourselves. A bit cumbersome, as we had to take the elevator down to the ground floor to drop the bags only to have to get back in the elevator to go to the 2nd floor to check in. When we have sailed previously out of NYC, there were always porters at the rooftop parking to take the bags so you would immediately park the car and go directly to check in. Check in was a breeze and very efficient. It took about ten minutes and we were given group 8 for boarding.

Boarding - Upon entering the ship, all we could say was "WOW!" Very impressive! Beautiful and tasteful decor. A bit upscale and very contemporary. The space was open and inviting. This was just the beginning to what turned out to be one of the most beautiful ships I have sailed on. We were boarded around 11:30am and were told we could go to our cabin to drop off our carry-ons. Although the rooms may not be completely finished, but we were welcome to drop these things off and go on to lunch. We went directly to the cabin and it was already completed prepared waiting for our arrival. We then decided to avoid the Garden Cafe Buffet and not get caught up in the crowd, so we went to O'Sheehans to have lunch. Only half the tables were taken and we were seated immediately. Good choice. A relaxing lunch without a crowd and we started our indulgence immediately.

Cabin Review

Mid-Ship Balcony Stateroom

Cabin BB

Cabin - Balcony cabin Deck 10 Cabin 10752. Nice cabin, but I had come to learn and expect, NCL's balcony cabins are smaller with less storage than I am used to on other lines. The small extends to the balcony as well. This was not a deal breaker, but knowing this for the future, if there are three of us to travel, there is definitely not enough room in this cabin for more than two. We would definitely need a larger cabin. We were able to store everything we packed, so neither of us lived out of a suitcase. If our other sister had been with us, we we would have been severely handicapped with storage space. The bathroom was average size for a balcony cabin, with reasonable bathroom storage space, and the added bonus of a shower door instead of the clingy shower curtain. The shower is a bit awkward as the handheld shower head is very close to the wall, and with no way of extending it out, you find that standing under it while it is in the holder is next to impossible. You have to use the handheld. If the water pressure was stronger, you would be able to use it without removing from the holder. But, the water pressure was just acceptable. Do not expect to get strong water flow, it doesn't happen. The shower had a gel body wash dispenser and shampoo dispenser. The sink had liquid hand soap. If you prefer bar soap, you'll need to bring your own.

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