My wife and I just returned from another wonderful NCL cruise, this time on the Breakaway (I've been cruising mostly NCL, but others since 1988). We can't say enough about the great time we had and the service we received from all NCL staff from beginning to end. We travel a few times a year to the islands, etc. beside cruising so we're constantly reading reviews and perusing the message boards. We're both NCL Platinum but this was our first experience on a megaship. After reading so many negative reviews we were a little apprehensive as to what to expect but understood as with so many other destinations what we experienced was far from what most posters portray. Again, the great majority of negative reviewers choose to post comments and reviews while the happy ones choose to cherish their great memories in private.

We started our embarkation day by driving to the pier from southern New Jersey. No problems with traffic that early on a Sunday morning. We arrived around 10am and had no problem finding a parking space - even the parking attendant in the payment booth was friendly! After taking our bags to the elevator and dropping them off to the baggage handlers we finally felt that our vacation was beginning - and what a vacation it was! After quickly going through one of the multiple security lines we were directed to the Haven waiting area. Once there, a staff member whisked us to be checked in which took about 5 minutes. In about 45 minutes we were the first two escorted onto the ship and taken directly to the Haven courtyard for a briefing by the concierge. During the wait we were served sliders and had a cocktail at the bar. The Haven dining room opened a short time later and we met what was to be our "family" for the next week. We dined most meals (other than two dinners in Cagney's) in the dining room and were well taken care of by the hostess, servers and maitre d' whom we got to know and addressed us by name the entire week. The facilities in the Haven are nothing short of amazing. We ran into some rain during our sea days and had one day of HEAVY rain in Bermuda. During these times it was nice to be able to retreat to the covered courtyard of the Haven where we could still enjoy relaxing on the soft-cushioned loungers and use the hot tubs and pool. On hot, sunny days the Haven attendant came around with snacks and fruit, also with a mister to cool you off!

Our aft balcony suite sported a huge balcony with two loungers, a table with four chairs and two additional cushioned chairs and another table. The bed was extremely comfortable, large master bathroom and tons of closet space. We even had a second full bathroom that we didn't even use. Our butler (Rogin) was always there for us, serving us anything we desired beside always being available to answer any questions we had. I seemed to have problems figuring out the Kuerig, a mental lapse I suppose... Every afternoon my wife would use the bathtub, having a cup of tea while looking out the huge window overlooking the ocean. We spent a lot of time on our balcony reading and just taking in the magnificent views. Didn't want to forget a shout out to our cabin steward (Jeffrey) who took very good care of us and addressed us by name again from the very first day. We saw him a few times a day and was always very friendly. Read more