This was the sixth cruise for my wife and me but it was the first time we brought our kids, ages 8 and 12. They loved it, and it was great to see things as if for the first time, through their eyes.

This was our first time on Norwegian since our honeymoon in 1993; we have taken Royal Caribbean and Celebrity since then. We chose Breakaway because it was convenient (we live two hours away from NYC and have no interest in flying the kids down to Florida just to hop on a cruise ship) and because it is marketed as good for the kids, with the water slides and all...

Fortunately I am an early riser, so it was not a hardship for me to reserve lounge chairs, but I can see how it would really stink to get up at 6AM only for that reason if you prefer to sleep late on your vacation. This is a common problem on many vacations though, both on land and at sea - except on Royal Caribean's Oasis class ships, where I don't remember having such problems due to the ample multi-deck seating. Read more