Norwegian Breakaway Review

Bad Food, Terrible Service

Review for Bermuda Cruise on Norwegian Breakaway
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dtrani56
10+ Cruises • Age 60s

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Sail Date: Aug 2015

Having been on 11 prior cruises, I felt I certainly had some experience cruising when I went on my first Norwegian cruise. My first night in the Manhattan dining room on board it took 30 minutes to get an appetizer, yes 30 minutes. We were a group of 22 split into 2 tables. Bread was brought out and never replaced and only water was served and we were never asked if we wanted anything else to drink. The waiter's attitude was miserable. It took 30 minutes for the entree and another 30 minutes for dessert with no offer of coffee or tea. On my other cruises appetizers were served in 5 or 10 minutes and drinks were offered and refilled regularly and the nights following you didn't even have to ask for the drinks they were poured as they took note of what you liked. The service never improved and after the 3rd night I left my group and went to the buffet at the Garden Cafe which took me less than an hour to eat at but unfortunately the food was not good. I did note a few women remarking the food was disgusting so it wasn't just me. On the other ships, Royal and Carnival even in the buffet settings the workers will come over and be friendly and ask you if you would like a drink, but not on Norwegian. Only one day I got up late due to a bad headache and I must admit they went out of their way to scrounge up a plate of muffins and danish for me and they brought me a cup of tea, so points for them on that day.

The entertainment was the only thing that saved this cruise for me. Rock of Ages, a Broadway show was really top notch and well done and I spoke to many people on board who enjoyed it as well. There was also the Dueling Pianos in the Headliners nightclub which consisted of two men and a woman that took turns on pianos and sometimes drums singing and playing pianos and getting the crowd to sing along. They were fantastic. In that same nightclub they had Second City comedy troupe and they were very good. There was a singer in the atrium who was pretty good at times. There was a jazz club called Fat Cats and instrumentally they were really good. Their singer wasn't the best but he had soul for sure and they were worth listening to. Having been on 11 cruises I can say that Norwegian had really good entertainment choices as opposed to other ships. What was a turnoff was they actually had the nerve to charge for some Cirque de Soleil type show. I mean really. Bad enough they have pay restaurants but now they're going to start charging for shows too. I think not.

The ship being only 2 yrs. old and having a capacity of over 4000 guests is not laid out well at all. I mean 1 pool really. The adult section has a waterfall setup and no pool. The ship has no ambiance. It is very generic looking for a newer ship. The casino barely has any quarter slots in it. It is mostly $1 machines now and even $25 machines if you can believe it.

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