We choose this cruise because we have had good experience with Norwegian in the past and the cruise was available for the only week we could go. We also like the Freestyle type cruise where we have more flexibility to each when we want. We wanted a total R&R trip and we definitely found it. While there are always going to be things that “go wrong” on a trip, it is how they are dealt with that makes the difference. We loved all of the specialty restaurants. We ate at Ocean Blue, LaCucina, and Le Bistro. All were top notch. The food was amazing. I highly recommend them all. We also ate in the Manahattan dining room twice and Savor once. The food in these dining rooms was excellent. One night we weren’t Hungary so we ate in O’Shehans bar and grill. The menu there is not fancy but the food is good and the service is quick. If there is one “major” issue with this cruise it is the service at the bars on the first day and during busy times on the ship. You can wait a long time for a drink. I frustrated others more than me as I didn’t drink much but when I did want a drink, it had to wait a long time. They really need to address that issue. We never had a hard time getting a chair in the sun on sea days. That was nice. Plenty of room. The entertainment was top notch. There is lots to do at night. Read Less

Just returned from a cruise on the Breakaway May 5-12, 2019. It was FANTASTIC! Embarkation in Miami was a bit unorganized and a mess. After we were able to get on board things went smooth. We had a balcony cabin on Deck 11 Cabin 11840. It was very spacious and very clean. The ship throughout was very clean. The food was great. Many options to choose from. On sea days is when you noticed that you were travelling with 4,000 people. Everyone was very nice and courteous. Wake up early on sea days to secure your spots on the pool decks. Entertainment was good too. We thoroughly enjoyed the jazz bar on deck 7 outside the casino. We saw the dueling pianos and were not very impressed. Do the specialty dining at Teppankani (Japanese hibachi), Moderno Churrasco (Brazilian style steakhouse). We skipped Ocean Blue which had an upcharge of $12 pp and only allowed you to have 1 appetizer, 1 entrée and 1 dessert. The lobster is extra and were small. Unfortunately, no captains dinners or all white nights. Those were removed. Great ports Tortola, St Thomas and Nassau. Very nice ports with great beach excursions. Can't wait to book my next cruise on Norwegian. Read Less

I just returned from my very first cruise, a seven-day adventure aboard the Norwegian Breakaway. We sailed from Miami to Tortola, St. Thomas, and Nassau. We had a comfortably sized outside stateroom with a private balcony, just the right spot to sit quietly and enjoy the beautiful, deep-blue sea on our at-sea days. Since I'm an introvert, my greatest fear was that the ship would be wall-to-wall people and noise. But in addition to the balcony, there were plenty of quiet spots to sit and read or soak up the sun. We took excursions on all three islands -- snorkeling on Tortola, enjoying a bus tour of St. Thomas plus time on a private beach, and a harbor tour and private beach on Nassau (I recommend the Blue Island Island trip, but pay extra to get into the the VIP area if you want fewer people in the water and no children. For $56 (for two people), you get a buffet, two free Mimosas, all the cold water you want, a shaded chair, and a personal valet ... it's worth it!) If you are traveling with kids, however, there were lots of inflatable play equipment in the water for them to enjoy. We also enjoyed the various spa treatments -- from the whole body lime/ginger scrub and massage, to the hot stone massage, and a seaweed wrap+massage. I also had three acupuncture treatments for chronic hip pain. The staff members were knowledgeable, super-friendly, and fun to chat with. The spa treatments are expensive, but the spa offers discounts based on the number of sessions you schedule (just watch out for the "upsale" on beauty products ... that can REALLY get expensive if you have no self-control). We ate at three of the speciality restaurnats (La Cucina was our favorite, followed closely by Le Bistro), but the restaurants and buffet included in the basic cruise price were very good, too. My daughter, who has been on several Carnival cruises, remarked that the food was much better on Breakaway, and that the overall decor a lot more elegant. The service we received from ALL the staff (at every level) was outstanding. My only complaint was the they allowed smoking in the casino area, which could be a problem for someone who is allergic to cigarette smoke (I merely find it stinky!). I wish they would ban smoking everywhere (or only allow it in a closed off area on the open deck. Read Less

I earned this cruise as part of an incentive program with work. Had I actually paid for the cruise-I would feel much different-like possibly demanding my money back different. Some things I loved: The stateroom was clean and steward was great. The ship itself is beautiful and we loved the "Ocean View" concept with bars and outdoor seating with the restaurants as well-it made it feel much more resort style. Also, their methods for embarkation, muster call and disembarkation were the best I have experienced. However, The atruim smells like stale smoke all the time even though No Smoking signs are everywhere. I'm allergic so I had constant congestion on the trip. We were on the 5th floor with a ocean view room and had CONSTANT noise above us from midnight-3am every night. We reported it several times and it was never handled. Someone called our room the day before the cruise was over and asked if it was "ok now"...when we said no, their response was that we should have called them each night-seriously?! Also-there is no way this was a first time problem for them-so just be upfront from the beginning the noise isn't going away. As for eating and entertainment...they boast you have a freestyle cruise you can do your trip your way. To me, that means I get to decide each day what I want to do and when for eating and shows etc...or at the very least wait until I'm ON THE CRUISE to decide. We quickly learned that if you didn't book specialty restaurants and shows BEFORE the cruise you would miss out or be eating after 9pm, as was the case for us each night. We didn't get into any shows. The food was ok-if you're a foodie then you'll struggle to find food you consider great...we had random dishes that were great and others that were flat out bad. Also, the service overall from the dining room and staff was subpar. Ironically the best service we had was in the buffet (though the food wasn't great) and just in the mornings in the dining room. I have been on Royal Carribean and and Carnival where they are ON IT and provide great service even with full ships. I would say overall if you expect excellent food and service this is not the cruise line for you. If you just like the ports and the cost of Norwegian or like the idea of having lots of specialty restaurants etc then you'll maybe like it. I have sailed with Norwegian twice and found each time wanting. I would never go again unless it's an incentive trip-though I have conveyed to my company I don't want to take another cruise with this line. Time and again for my money I prefer Royal Caribbean and would pay to sail with them. Also-I would have loved to convey some of this in my post trip survey direct to Norwegian...but their survey basically asks multiple choice questions and no room for comments or a way to express real concerns. It seemed more like a way for them to collect information about my employment, income, race and how much I want to spend on vacation than actually getting feedback. Read Less

Me and my husband decided to try Norwegian after being on 3 Royal Caribbean cruises. The ship is pretty new and clean. The cabin was great and clean we had an oceanview cabin. Things that we didn’t like: Service was very poor comparing to Royal Caribbean. I really enjoyed dining at Manhattan Room – I liked the live music and the restaurant is beautiful, but most of the time service was so slow and the selection of food was poor. I asked for French Onion soup and was expecting the cheese to be melted on top like it’s supposed to be but no, the cheese was inside (it’s little things like that). Italian Restaurant and the Brazilian steakhouse were nice! Service was better! Alcohol: We were told we could bring 2 bottles of wine which we did. We didn’t get our luggage not until very late that night. The two bottles were taken away. I did not like that they opened the luggage without asking us for approval. Apparently the corking fee is $15 for each bottle. That’s horrible. Entertainment: I enjoyed the games by the pool! It was truly a great time! But I can’t believe that they have only 1 pool for 3,000 people. That’s insane! It’s very hard to find space near the pool too. I also think there weren’t a lot of things to do on the ship. No good shows. It was getting kind of boring after the dinner. I was very excited to watch the “Love and Marriage show” or whatever it’s called. But when we arrived to the Atrium, there were barely any place to stand I’m not even talking about sits. It would be better for them to do the show at the theater, so that way everyone can sit down and enjoy it. Disembarkation day: It took us more than an hour to leave the ship and we were carrying our own luggage. It was way too long. We won’t be back. Honestly in our opinion RCI is so much better. The food, the service, entertainment was so much better. Read Less

We had an amazing week on the Breakaway. Great weather, great food, great service and great people. We had many "vacation heroes" throughout the week. From our room steward Richard to out shore excursion clerk on the last day. We couldn't have asked for a better week. Our stateroom was great and we had amazing views at each port. The dining was very surprising in the main dining rooms. We did not expect the kind of service we received or the quality of the food. Cagneys, La Cuccina and Teppanyaki were all delicious but we absolutely loved Le Bistro. All of the ports and excursions were great. We especially loved Costa Maya and Roatan. The only negatives for us were the casino being so open with the smoke (and people feeling that they can smoke wherever) and the "running track" which was small and in a heavily populated area. We already have booked our next cruise on Norwegian. Read Less

Third time on the NCL cruise line. One tends to get hooked when you’ve Enjoyed one cruise...what vacation can you go on and wake up in a different country every morning, eat unlimited food, enjoy entertainment at your leisure and just relax on land or shore. Plus, meet people that are always happy and without all their daily cares? I went with my 87yr old mother and her best friend from College. We stayed in a balcony suite (which, is always nice to have when you're anywhere and want to see God’s beautiful and serene calm in the morning and sunset in the night). Embarkation was a breeze with my mother in a wheel chair. But even without it’s been a breeze and quite organized on all my NCL cruises. Disembarking took just a little longer but because we used their wheelchair service it was much faster. By the way, there were lots of people in wheelchairs and elderly. So, if your parents or grand parents would like to tick something off their bucket list - don’t hesitate. They will have great fun and get a renewed sense of not feeling that getting old means staying home. Since they had no interest in the Western Caribbean (Honduras, Belize, Costa Maya and Cozumel) - we did no tours but, we did leave the ship in Belize, Costa Maya and Cozumel. Ports were lovely and in the first two you could use their pools, free of charge and buy food/drinks, and it had shopping. Cozumel - we hired a taxi for $18 one way to Playa del Mia, paid $28 to use their pool, beaches and water slides. I think it was just a bit cheaper than purchasing a shore excursion on the ship. Food/ drinks, massages and motorized water sports were for an additional fee. There were also other choices that we could visit but my family and I always enjoy going there when we visit Cozumel. Entertainment was varied and always fun. I had been on the Getaway exactly a year before and the Bliss in December of 2018. All very similar and with great entertainment. Burn the Floor was an exquisite show. It felt like I was watching a $500 show for free. It was well choreographed, sexy, tasteful, professional and the outfits were beautiful - it was very elegantly done and extremely Then, we attended their comedy night - well, it was funny but could have been better. I had seen better before on the Getaway. The Atrium always had very entertaining events with guests as the entertainers - always a hoot. Even my mom enjoyed it! Newly wed couples, and the Perfect couples, karoke, etc. Then, since I was solo, I decided to have a little fun... so I attended the sólo meet up the first night but prospects were quite disappointing for women (ranging from 25-70). Not enough men that would be a catch or worth compromising your relationship for. Maybe because it was low season. MSo, there definitely was something for everyone. However, the evenings had fun entertainment from 10pm (salsa dancing, line dancing, glow night, pure Finally, staff were great, food was good not Disney great but acceptable - always lots to eat so one could always find something. And you’d never need to spend a penny at the specialty restaurants. Just don’t bother with the Shanghai Noodle complimentary restaurant - better food elsewhere on the ship, especially in the Garden café. And to work off the food, there were Stretch, Abs and Yoga classes every morning at 7:00am -8:00am, as well as, a great gym. After, one could relax in the Breakaway’s Thermal Spa, using their sauna, steam room, thermal lounge chairs and bading for some alone time before you set out to a smorgasbord breakfast and day of fun or just more relaxation and sun. ALL in all a fun time. Just one last thing - get a porter to help you through the lines and immigration (if he knows the ropes). Don’t know why people chose to self assist with their luggage and not use the luggage system on the ship the night before. It made getting off easier the next day and without having to wait for an empty elevator with lots of Luggage. Finally, if you intend to rent a car - I highly recommend using Enterprise car rental with their free shuttle bus going to and from the Miami airport. But you must have a confirmation to show the bus driver. NCL gets to be addictive and looking forward to another cruise before summer is over. Read Less

I chose this Cruise because it offered past guests double rewards points. Also because it was a ship I had never been on. My husband and I had no problems on this ship. We had the premium beverage package and had no issues with service or lack of drinks. We had a balcony room aft 931 4. Oddly enough we did not make it to a single show we were having our own fun in the casino. So much fun I became a casino at Sea VIP. The only problem I encountered was the day after I left this ship and bordered the NCL sky, the Breakaway still had a hold on a few thousand dollars even though I had settled my account in cash. This proved to be a problem for me on the sky. We ate at Cagney's my husband steak was cold after waiting an extremely long amount of time. They made everything right with us And gave us a second night on them at Cagney's. We went to Moderno which is our favorite, we felt a little rushed but the food was good. On our last night we ate at Le Bistro and encountered no issues. we ate at both taste and Savor for breakfast lunch and dinner our service was good. NCL is getting better at offering drinks and the dining rooms. we canceled our La Bamba Beach Getaway on Costa Maya Port due to many bad reviews. We did not get off the ship in Belize at the Private Island. People coming back from the island or complaining that the water had too much algae in it to swim, the food and drinks were expensive and it was cash or credit card only. Over all my husband and I really enjoyed the Breakaway. Read Less

30th Anniversary, have never tried Norwegian before, we have sailed on Carnival and Royal Caribbean & really like Celebrity Cruise lines. thought we would try out Norwegian. Too many un supervised small kid's & loud people. definitely going back to Celebrity for our next cruise. We had a aft facing penthouse corner suite with neighbor's who hung over & around the partition to look at us. how rude. to do anything we had to up grade. The Haven courtyard was taken over by one family with 3 very un supervised kid's who were running and jumping in and out of the hot tub's & pool non stop every day only saw the father a couple of times. the Haven bar was nice and the bartenders very good however again small kid's sitting at bar. The Haven restaurant was very good. The photographer's very good and nice however compared to other cruises Celebrity particularly the package prices are very high. Read Less

We chose this cruise as our first cruise because we went in a group of 14 who were going so I didn’t do any comparing of the other ships. I did however do a lot of research on this ship and was extremely excited. The ship was exceeding my expectations! We were so excited! We only live about 2 hours from Miami, our embarkation city so we didn’t do any sightseeing before getting in the ship. We drove over early and were one of the first ones on! Ray, who took our bags was top notch! He really set a good high standard for the line as we were pumped and ready to go. Embarkation was a very simple process however disembarkation was another story (we will get to that later). The ship did live up to the expectations as far as entertainment goes! It was top notch. It was filled with activities and things to do! Let’s just say we didn’t have much down time! (Even on a cruise!) The Water slides filled our day with joyful fun. All were great except the blue free fall. That one hurt just a bit going down! The bands and shows were just amazing. Especially the Guilty pleasures at Syd Normans Pour House. They were so good we cancelled a couple of other shows in order to see them more. The reason for not getting a 5 out of 5 tho for this cruise was the service & food. Working in the service industry I should give it a 3 star. It was not up to par. We had a few shining spots however. Cagneys Steakhouse the Food was out of this world. As was Le Bistro. However I beg of you NEVER to eat at La cucina. Dinner and Service there were so awful. I can’t describe to you how bad the food tasted and staff was downright mean. We did get to enjoy the Manhattan Room on the last night of our cruise and that was the bright spot of our trip. Food and Service were stellar. Miles and Miles and a hundred more miles better than Taste it Savor. And please don’t get me started on OSheehans. Their service is so awful I think the quickest we got our food was about an hour and a half. I don’t expect much but I do expect somewhat decent service on a boat. And I was just disappointed. As far as our cabin goes, we had a very nice one. We were in a 9th floor balcony. It was quite convenient being close to all the action however I would have liked a balcony a little higher I believe. Nancy our room steward was sensational. Alway personable and pleasure able. She made us feel right at home. Overall the trip was nice. I wouldn’t say that we would never go again, but I think I want to check the other cruise lines for comparison. Nothing against NCL, it’s just only fair to spend our money on the best, and I don’t know what the best is yet. Read Less