We take 4-5 cruises per year over the past few years. This is our 4th time on the Breakaway and our 35th cruise overall. In one of my other lives, I am an author. I have written a book and over 400 published articles. I consider writing cruise reviews practically a duty. I like doing it and I think that I am a fair reviewer. This is my 15th review for Cruise Critic. My wife and I are both around 60 years old, are foodies and really enjoy cruising. We have been to 21 countries on cruise ships. We have yet to sail on any but the mass-market lines, and that suits us just fine. We almost always select an inexpensive cabin. Often, like this time, a guarantee inside cabin. We would rather cruise often and spend a minimum on a stateroom than sail once a year and spend 4-5 times more. The vacation is still over in a week, no matter how luxurious the stateroom.

I have reviewed the other 3 Breakaway cruises, one of which was the maiden voyage to Bermuda. They have all been positive. We have never been on any other ship 4 times and we have spent more total days on this ship than on any other. To be clear, this isn’t because we think that it is the best ship on the planet. It is a combination of three very good reasons that each play a big part:

1. It home ports in NY. This is a 4-hour drive for us. When you do business travelling as much as I do, vacationing without a flight involved is a very big plus. Not too many years ago, only the aging ships home ported from the outlying cities. Read more