First time on NCL. If not for the staff and food this would have been a two star review. First - shout out to the friendly and professional bartenders. Dr. Lawrence at the Pour House and pool bar - world class! Christian at the Whiskey Bar and all the other bartenders are top shelf. The “coffee with love women” in the breakfast buffet area were awesome as were the “washy washy“ folks. Fun breakfast experience. Food not bad overall - really really good in specialty dining restaurants. Otherwise disorganized cruise, nothing special about the ship, on line services lacking, after hours food non-existent. The passengers were diverse but there were a lot who just drank from early AM until late night, sloppy and some angry drunks who just ruined the cruise vibe for me. I am sad that I won’t be seeing the crew again but would not consider a second cruise on this ship. The cost was really very high in relation to other better overall cruises we’ve been on. Read Less

We thought this would be a nice cruise with great ports for my 76 yr old mom and handicapped sister for a girls getaway. I also use a cane. Food was ok, nothing special. Buffet was limited at night to one type of cuisine, main restaurants took very long for the three courses, which were very small portioned. (I am glad my husband wasn’t there, he would have had to order two entrees!) I expected more out of the cuisine, The ship is nice, clean, but very crowded. Common spaces were always full. And the main customer service area always had a long line. Difficult to get a deck chair. Entertainment lacked any interesting premise. Felt like watching high school entertainment, although the singers had wonderful voices, the shows were juvenile. And the stand up comedy shows needed some better comedians. Activities were the usual, bingo, trivia, music at the pool. I never saw the cruise director except when he introduced himself at the beginning of a show. And they were always selling raffle tickets at every show. I found that everything revolves around how much they can get you to spend onboard. Our room was sufficient and clean, although the step up into the bathroom was higher than anticipated and mom tripped into the bathroom one night. The step should have a light up or glow in the dark strip not just a small notice near the door the same color as the wall. The crew is very nice and helpful. This was my second cruise this year with Norwegian and I didn’t find the first one much better so I will not be using Norwegian for cruising again. Read Less

We embarked on a family cruise of 12 people and took advantage of the 5 free promotion. We had a balcony room on the 14th deck and it was everything you need for a comfortable cruise. The all you can drink package was a GREAT incentive and was a big reason we chose Norwegian. The service was great overall and the staff was incredibly friendly. I spent alot of time on the 16th deck bar and the bartenders were awesome (mostly Jesus and Christopher)! The premium dining package was awesome and wished it was more than 3 days. Ivy was our server at Ocean Blue and she was the best. The buffett was very very good also for anytime eats.There was so much to do on the ship for entertainment. Headliners was great for the comics and the Howl at the Moon was soo fun. Stomp the yard was a great show. I got to hug a sloth in Roatan and that made my vacation. The beach in Belize was very nice and a very different from my last experience in Belize. The staff was great overall and soo friendly. Our steward Alex was the absolute best. He took care of all of our needs when traveling with our 2 yr old. I was very happy with all the perks and I think I found a new company to cruise with. It was a much much better experience than Carnival. I would love to do the 16 day Panama Canal cruise from LA to MIA or vise versa. Read Less

We mostly had a great time , the pool on the ship was WAY to small, and always crowded. The food was great, mostly the specialty restaurants. The excursions were nice too, everyone on the islands was so nice . Will definitely do another cruise for sure . We did not travel with children. Went to see the comedians twice, very good show. Honduras was a little scary, just a very poor island and I felt very sad for the children and starving dogs on the streets . Our snorkeling excursion in Belize got canceled because of a storm coming in, but noone can control the weather, so that can always happen. Getting off the ship when we got home was very smooth and quick, however we had a shuttle to the airport but our flight didn't leave till 6 hours later. So we were stuck at the airport for like 6 hours. Maybe Norwegian could book the flights with not so much layover for flights, that would be great Read Less

the staff was great, food was good, ports horrible and worst of all was the casino is on floor 7 open to 6 and 8 by the 3 story open staircases. This allows all the smoke from casino to filter up and down to the major gathering areas. It is so bad that it stings the eyes leaves you smelling of smoke. I am a former smoker and could not stay in casino for more than a few minutes. The library and game room was closed and no other choices were provided. Every seat we sat in in the theater was broken slating down to floor and very uncomfortable. The staff was very good the food was good cruise food a good selection we stay with the included dining and was pleased we did not like the Manhatten room it was very noisy. The garden buffet was good but was growded. Read Less

6th cruise, 2nd time on the breakaway. Other than being told I needed to wear pants to eat in some of the restaurants (i didnt bring any, I'm from the northeast and we dont wear pants when its 50 degrees, why should i when its 87?) My wife and I and our 5 singleish friends had a blast. Brought my own glow body paint for glow party and my kick ass 80s rocker attire for the 80s party. I highly recommend bringing costumes for Norwegians parties on any ship, it makes it way more fun! The casino dealers were really nice, they let me feel like a drunken king in blackjack where I was doubling 12s and 13s and nailing 21 lol. They did however make sure they got it all back by the end of the trip... those meanies. I absolutely loved the excursions my group did, Gumbalimba park in Roatan, monkeys and macaws climbing all over you? Must do! We also went river tubing in Belize, quite a bit of travel for it, but in my opinion, it was the coolest thing I've ever done. I go river tubing back home, but to be in that jungle-esq atmosphere and seeing iguanas and hot springs was cool. We had calm waters the entire trip which I haven't been fortunate to have on a few previous trips, but I also go during hurricane season cause its the cheapest lol. Disembarking was simple but they did have us in what felt like a rat maze around deck 7 which I guess made it feel like the line is moving faster. Live music was all really good around the ship, I danced pretty much everywhere I went. The wait staff and bar tenders were all incredible even when they have to tolerate "those people" you know who you are you snotty drunk entitled people. But they handled you like champs and brushed it off. Room steward kept our room clean and stocked, I definitely felt multiple hints and pressure for a cash tip, which I normally leave a hundo anyways, but this guy was definitely pushing the subject. Overall, great week! Cant wait to be able to afford another! Haha! Read Less

My wife and I have taken two additional cruises on Princess, and with us taking our son (15 yo) with us, we wanted one that had a more kid friendly environment (arcade, wall-climbing, slides, and a club for his age (Entourage)) and others who had taken Norwegian recommended them as a kid friendly company. Check in at Miami was great. We had a small amount of waiting time, but once we passed through, we had a great time touring the ship to locate where things were at. The layout of the ship was significantly different than the other Princess ships we had been on. I wasn't sure how I was going to like the layout, which in my opinion, never did grow on me. We arrived at the boat at 11 am. Once we got access to our room at 1pm, it was nicely set up, about what we expected with a Balcony room. Our bags arrived shortly there after. However, not all of our bags arrived. We went to Guest Services to locate them, and they could not find them. We proposed the idea that they may have been placed in my fathers room. They called his room and verified that the bags were placed in the wrong room. Upon finding the bags, I verified that the tags put on the bags were identified to my room, solidifying the conclusion that the staff had made a mistake with our bags. On board activities fill up fast, and being as some of them need to be made when you arrive, it should be on your list of things to do as soon as you get onboard. There is difficulty on setting up reservations when you don't know your schedule 3 or 4 days in the future. When the daily schedule does come out every evening, it may require you to shuffle your schedule to meet obligations on the cruise. That part was very irritating. Our first show reservation did not go as planned. We had "Burn the Floor" scheduled on the first evening, but when we made it to our room, we found out that our reservation was moved to the next night at a different time, requiring us to shuffle our evening as we already had a dinner planned with family. We had to leave the restaurant early to make it to the show. When we arrived to our reservation at 7:27 pm for a 7:30 pm show, we were told our reservations that we made months in advance, which was changed to the following evening, had been given away to others as we didn't arrive 10 minutes prior to the show start. We were told it was standing room only. The Box Office staff were very unhelpful and rude, and asked us to leave the Theater. We did not know about the 10 minute requirement, which made us reschedule the show 5 days later. The mobile app and NCL.com doesn't mention the 10 minute requirement as well. Our first excursion port was in Roatan, Honduras. Roatan seemed very cluttered and not very picturesque. We bought the Ultimate Big French Key excursion. The excursion included either a snorkeling or boat tour. We decided to do the snorkeling. My wife an I wanted to document some pictures underwater, so we bought one of the phone bag/selfie sticks onboard for $40. When we bought it, I was skeptical on its protection of the phone in water. We all jumped into the water, and my wife told me the phone had come off the stick and fell into the water down to the bottom. We told the tour guide and he managed to dive down ~50 ft and retrieved my wife's brand new iPhone 11 Pro from the reef. We never expected him to do that, and this impressed us greatly. The phone bag maintained the seal from water and protected my wife's phone from water. The tour guide received a great tip from that. Once we returned to the beach, we relaxed for another couple of hours and the food was great. Overall, the excursion was great, and the tour guides turned our crappy vacation into a great one. We would definitely recommend this excursion to others. The next day, we went to Harvest Caye, Belize. It sounds like a legit name, however, this is just a name for Norwegian's private island. You don't actually get to see Belize's mainland. That being said, my family purchased the Villa's for $700 a pop. I was skeptical on the quality for the price. We arrived to the Villa by cart, and found a beautiful room and our own private beach and amenities. This part surpassed my initial thought. It was definitely a nice experience, but I don't think it is worth the $700 as you still have to buy your own drinks and food on top of it. Even though the island is owned by Norwegian and we had the beverage/alcohol/food packages, everything you buy is for an additional cost. We did the paddleboat excursion, which was far more activity than we expected, but it was good for the $29 my wife and I paid as a whole, not individually. Next up, we had a parasailing excursion at 1pm. The staff were very helpful and nice. When we got out to the parasailing site, we were told that it was cancelled due to inclimate weather (lightning). We were bummed that it was cancelled, but we knew we were getting our money back. We had a nice relaxing part of the day. Our concierge assigned to our Villa heard about the excursion cancellation and expressed sorrow. However, later in the day at 3pm she came and told us there were openings for the parasailing, which we capitalized on. The excursion went well, and my wife has a newfound likeness toward parasailing. Overall, a very good day in Harvest Caye. Would definitely recommend the parasailing and the Villa. Paddleboat maybe not as much. Next up, Costa Maya. Back in 2003, my wife and I took our honeymoon and this place had just opened up. We did not have a very good experience and were dreading visiting this place again. This time we decided to take the Maya Waterpark excursion. Upon arriving at the meeting area, the area is much bigger and full of more activities than we remember. There is a dolphin adventure, more places to eat and drink, and more shops to shop in. The meeting area was difficult to locate, but we found it. We took the bus to the park and went in. The park looks bigger than it actually is. The park has a large man made Mayan temple to which all of the water slides are attached at different levels. They also have zip lines over the park, but we didn't do that. The bad part, they only have 2 elevators for the multitude of floors. making elevator wait times bad. The alternative is to climb the stairs to the level you want. Of the slides we went on, they were very good. We did get tired of climbing stairs, so we went to their lazy river which was very nice, with the exception of another day of inclimate weather (rain/lightning). We didn't spend much time at the park due to the weather, but we felt we got our money's worth and we returned to the main area of Costa Maya. We walked around a bit and returned to the ship a little early. Overall, a nice day and the area is significant improvement from what we experienced in 2003. Excursion is worth the time and money, as long as the weather plays nice. Final excursion port, Cozumel, Mexico. In the past, this had become my wife's favorite port due to the activities and the shopping. We decided to do the Xel-ha all-inclusive water park. This was scheduled in advance for $129 a person. All three of us were booked. This excursion was different than the others, as we had to meet up in the Breakaway Theater where other excursions made us meet up on the pier. We didn't understand that part. It wasted a lot of our time. It was at this point that we found out we had to go to the mainland for the excursion. Once our group was called, we exited the ship and made our way to the ferry, which was about a 40 minute ride to the mainland to Playa del Carmen. Once we arrived, we had to find the right tour. Once we found it, we waited in line about 20 minutes before we started to mobilize. We moved further up into a shopping center, where again, we waitied about another 15 minutes. More time lost. We mobilized once again to walk to the bus which was to take us to the park. We boarded the bus and rode it for another 35 to 40 minutes to reach the park. Keep in mind, our day started at 7:50 am in the theater. We arrived at the park at 11am and were told we had to meet up at 2:30pm to leave for the ship. This was only allowing us 3 and a half hours for an all-inlcusive excursion! The tour guide told us we couldn't use our sunblock due to natural concerns in their park, so we had to buy theirs which was a small aerosol spray for $17. It was very expensive. We felt rushed through the park. The food and drinks were very good. The river tube and snorkeling were fun, what we had of it. We met up at 2:30pm to leave at the entrance, where we waited another 20 minutes for everyone to arrive. We took the bus and the ferry back to Cozumel and arrived 15 minutes behind schedule. Guess what though? No shopping. My wife was very upset about the excursion and the time wasted which we could have used to buy gifts for others. We would definitely not recommend this excursion to others. This is something best for an all-inclusive resort in Playa del Carmen and not for Cruise takers. There is just not enough time to get all you want done with the transit times being so long. For a place we looked into visiting once again, it turned to be a complete disappointment. Upon arrival back at the ship at 4:45 pm, many of the Xel-ha excursion proceeded to the Guest Services desk as the Shore Excursion desk was vacant. Guest Services told us that there was nothing they could do because it fell on the Shore Excursion desk, which wasn't going to be manned until 6pm. Many of us were upset. Guest Services would not get someone from Shore Excursions to alleviate our concerns. It seemed as if they were hoping we would go back to our room and cool down and forget about going to the Shore Excursion desk as a group. My wife caught one of the Officer's attention which happened to be the General Manager. We expressed our unhappiness, and he called the Shore Excursion manager up to the desk. The General Manager remained until the Shore Excursion manager arrived. As a group, we expressed our concerns and unhappiness to the Shore Excursion manager. He looked into it, and we did receive half of our money back from the excursion. Now the overall cruise comments. Food at the specialty restaurants is exceptional. Food as the Main Dining Rooms (Manhattan, Savor, and Taste) can take quite a long time with larger groups. We had a party of twelve, and our dinners were taking on average about 2 hours. When we had a party of three, we were finished within an hour. I understand it will take a little more time and coordination with the larger party, but it was an extra hour. When we did eat at Margaritaville, my wife's chicken had an unexpected bone in it. Other than that, Margaritaville was great. Garden Cafe Buffet has a great selection of food, but the quality is noticeable when compared to the other restaurants. Onboard shows were great. had a good time at each one we went to (Burn the Floor, Rock of Ages, and Wine Lovers). They also had a "Deal or No Deal" show frequently during the cruise. It was a good time. Every ticket is $25 and lasts for that days show in the Atrium. Even though you may not be called up to the front, you still play along and have a potential to win something. A couple of nights we went to Syd Norman's Pour House. If you like Rock music, that is the place to go. Good atmosphere and great music. We did do the Skyy Ice bar. For $15 a person, you effectively go into a freezer, have a couple of included drinks with ice sculptures around you and leave. Not a bad experience for the cost. Some subtle things were different when compared to our previous cruises with Princess. At no time during this Norwegian cruise did we have animals made out of towels or mints on the pillows as we did with Princess. Pools and jacuzzis close at 10pm. At that time, nets are put up, preventing access until the next morning. Kind of irritating as that is the perfect time to relax after a busy day of activities. Now the conclusion. All we have to compare it with are those we took with Princess. We did have a good time and the days were busy with activities. The beverage and food packages assisted in maintaining the cost low, but there is still some money to be spent even though everything was prearranged before the cruise began. At the end, we ended spending an additional $300 which is quite low. With the experiences we had, my wife and I would not recommend Norwegian to others, and will more than likely go back to Princess Cruises. Read Less

I'll preface to say that I work in hotels, and reading reviews ahead of time is something I do religiously. There were a ton of negative reviews about this ship, so I was very nervous. HOWEVER, the trip was awesome, and my wife and I enjoyed it thoroughly. Most of the negative reviews we saw ahead of time were about O'Sheehans, turns out, this is where we hung out the majority of our trip! Our bartender Sachin, or "Sachi" as he became known, made our trip, he was awesome. Our cabin steward Lemuel, "Lemmy" was amazing as well, never missed a beat. TIP - there's a button in the room you have to click if you want service, if you keep the do not distrub button on, you can't complain your room didn't get cleaned! We did not eat in any of the main dining rooms, as we had the premium package. We ate at Moderno, La Cucina, and Teppyanaki, all 3 were awesome! The buffet was lacking slightly, but still just fine for us. I can see where people say that this ship nickle and dimes you a bit, because that's apparent with the premium drink package we had, not including bottled water or energy drinks. C'mon, we're paying $220 each/per day, and you can't throw in bottled water or some red bull?? Loved our excursions, snorkeling at Tabyana Beach in Honduras was amazing! We also thought the secret river in Cozumel was a once in a lifetime bucket list item, so we were glad we did it. A few more tips ... tip your bartenders, room stewards, etc. Yes, you prepay for those tips, but a few extra bucks goes a long way with them, and you're on vacation, right?? Try and get the private Spa room, I forget the name of it. It's worth the money. This ship has 1 pool for 4,000 passengers. A private pool, with no kids, equipped with 2 saunas, a steam room, salt room, heated loungers is worth every penny!!! Other than that, don't be scared of negative reviews, no trip is going to be perfect, and yes, you might have to wait for a drink here and there, but so what?? Read Less

Several issues keep me from rating the overall experience as excellent. 1. The Blue Lagoon excursion was a dump with terrible food and a total waste of time. I would have preferred to be on the Ship or back in Costa Maya. Senior Management should visit and evaluate before charging guests for the experience. 2. The Guest Service Desks (All) should be in a quieter area, and not in the main very loud atrium. Consider you have multi-lingual staff and guests trying to understand each other, with constant craziness just feet away. 3. The demeanor of the photography manager seemed sharp and arrogant and not friendly. The photographers were phenomenal. 4. The pools were cold and extremely crowded. It would be nice to have a relaxing pool with light music for older adults. 5. Restaurant reservations were hard to get. Better instructions should be provided to first time cruisers, or some reservations withheld knowing they will get booked on the ship. Read Less

To start. Buffet shuts down early, low quality food, not much changes. I got to a point where I was eating salad for lunch and diner. The salad bowl is always empty, the celery is brown, and a lot of the romaine lettuce was brown too. The tomatoes was always mushy, and a lot of the buffet food was just salty, and low quality. Fruits salad bowl consist of watermelons, and cantaloupes, and it was always bruise. I saw you tube reviews before I went on this cruise. They mention Wednesday was seafood buffet, and Osheehan have prime rib. Could not find one shrimp, or prime rib anywhere unless you paid for it at Cagney. Service people was not very friendly. From buffet to house keeper, from casino dealers, to dinning room staff. In my pass cruise. Dinning room staff know you by you first name after your first dining, and knows your drink, and how you like your foods. I did not feel that personal level of service on NCL. Manhattan, Taste, and Savor menu are the same. Read Less

Been on 5 cruises total. This was my first with Norwegian and I'm sad to say it will be my last. We traveled with a group of ten, ages ranging from 35 to 65, all who have cruised before and all were pretty disappointed. The bars were not staffed for the amount of people needing to be served, and if you wanted to enjoy any shows, comedy clubs, or entertainment, you better make sure you make a reservation the moment you get on board and plan your whole week out right away. Which is not something they tell you. Without a reservation you are unable to enjoy the entertainment they have. I have never had to book to see shows on a ship. We did manage to get into the rock of ages show!! Super amazing, if you get a reservation I highly recommend it. I've also never had to have a reservation for the free normal evening dining. The food is so so. I was not impressed. We enjoyed three of the specialty restaurants along with the normal Buffett and evening dining, the only one I was impressed with was the French restaurant. The service in the restaurants was wonderful as well as our room service and staff. However when out and about on the boat I found it odd to not see staff members waiting on guest or seeing if guests needed drinks etc. The atmosphere for myself and the group I went with was way to laid back. The whole ship was quiet most of the time including leaving port. Missed the music, dancing and excitement that usually comes with a cruise to the Caribbean. Lastly the two shore excursions we did were wonderful. I've been to Tabayana beach more than once it's still one of my favorites for snorkeling. We also did four wheeling in Cozumel, this too was wonderful. Have nothing bad to say about the ports. Overall this was the most expensive cruise I've been on, with the poorest overall service and enjoyment. Read Less

Day one before we even left port, we had a bomb scare on the ship, which delayed us from leaving port. Day one and two, very rocky waters, hard to walk on the ship. Now I do understand it is hurricane season, so forgiven there. Day 3 we finally arrived in Puerto Rico around 4 pm to find that the town had pretty much closed down. There had been an earth quake on the island, so people were urged to stay home, so only a few store and restaurants open. Again mother nature. We were to leave at midnight on day 3, but had to stay in port over night and all day the next day. With this being said, we missed our next port which was to be St Thomas. So we started onto the Bahama's late the day around 6 pm. Overnight there was a person who was so drunk, was kicked out of some the entertainment clubs, and then went into a bathroom falling and cracking/cutting her head open. So when we got up early Saturday morning about 6 am, we had the coast guard come to get the patient off the ship, only to find out we were back at Puerto Rico. Needless to say for the next 2 days we were sailing back to Miami because again, we missed out port in the Bahama's. All because of a drunk person. Not a happy person at all. I do understand that the weather played a part into missing one port, but not the second port. Both the ports we missed was the 2 that my husband and I wanted to see. Many of the people on board was going to customer service desk to see about what Norwegian was going to do for us. At the desk, it was very confusing. The desk could not give us any answers, as we were told we would have to contact the main office in Miami. However, over night we received a letter that they were giving us a $50 credit for on board us. This is and was very unacceptable. Yes, I will never go on another Norwegian cruise again, and I will be contacting Miami about all the issues. Read Less

I've been on many cruises on many lines. I've read many of the review of the Breakaway and can't believe the comments made by disgruntled passengers. I thought the food was very good. I ate breakfast ast the buffet every day because I got up too late to go to the dining rooms. The food was very good. The omelets were delicious. The pastries and fruit were also very good. Even the precooked scrambled eggs were good. I ate at Cagne's, Le Bistro and La Cucina. The service was impeccable, the ambiance very pleasant, and the food excellent. Not your top end restaurant quality, but one step below. I had the filet mignon twice and the lamb chops once and they were cooked perfeclly and were delicious. The appetizers and deserts were outstanding. The ship was in excellent shape and nicely laid out. The staff everywhere were polite and friendly. Also very efficient. The entertainment was great. The dueling pianos and the Billy Idol show were outstanding. I didn't care for Rock of Ages, too weird for me. I booked the Spa Package and used it every day. It was well worth the money. I don't bother getting off the boat because I've been to all the islands before and don't care to do them again. My cabin steward was extremly frienly and efficient. I aways book an inside cabin because I only use it to sleep in. It was plenty roomy, had lots of hangers and had a large shower and bathroom. I use the Spa to shower after using all the facilities: sauna, steam room, jacuzzi, etc. People complain about the smoke in the casino, but as an ex smoker, it didn't bother me. One of my complaints was that the cigar lounge was used by cigarette smokers who hogged the place. Another was the price of drinks: $17.00 for a shot of bourbon, or $19.00 for a martini was excessive. Read Less

This cruise was totally disappointing. We had previously cruised on Royal Caribbean and heard that Norwegian was comparable. We are a family of 5 traveling with a total party of 12. It was a 7 day cruise which was supposed to stop at Puerto Rico, Tortola, St. Thomas and Bahamas. We were following a tropical storm so they decided to cancel St. Thomas. Disappointing but fair enough (even though the weather cleared up the day we we due to be there). Then when sleeping another night, there was a medical emergency so they turned the ship around to meet a helicopter. It was 3 hours late, so we did not have time to go to the Bahamas, so another day on the ship. We missed half the destinations. The ship itself is no where near the ship of Royal Caribbean. There was no grand prominade, no areas like central park, no wow factor at all. The central part of the ship is filled with smoke from the casino. The food was so/so and we ate at 'specialty' dining 3 of the nights. 2 of the 5 water slides were closed the entire voyage. The show we had reserved for night 2, cancelled. The bars were so understaffed there were 5 people deep almost always and impossible to get a waiter to deliver a drink to you around the deck. The staff did their jobs, but was not friendly. On our other cruises, we always seemed to get to know our waiter, our cabin stew. Not this one. Not one staff member. The entire cruise (which we had looked forward to for many months) was absolutely difficult to stomach. We were shocked at how bad it was. I hope our story prevents this heartbreak of a vacation for some other family. Read Less

We chose this cruise line because we wanted to try a different one for our 20th year anniversary. HUGE MISTAKE!!! To start we only made 2 of our 4 stops. First missed stop was due to the weather which was poor planning because the forecast was the same before we left Miami or just greed because NCL did not want to pay to reroute us elsewhere. Missed stop #2 was due to a sick passenger which i can understand and hope she is ok however, you can't tell thousands of other vacationers that because 1 person fell ill that their vacation is over. NCL gave each cabin a $100 credit (this seems like a refund of port fees) and 20% discount on a future cruise. Unless they are willing to put that discount towards another cruise line i feel it's only fair to refund this trip. Next is the rude and uncaring staff. Not to mention the one who felt it necessary to follow the black passengers around the gift shop a look over their shoulder every time one touched an item to look at it. The amazing part about that is a couple of older white passengers noticed that and checked the gift shop attendant afterwards giving 2 black passengers their contact info in case a witness was needed. I THOUGHT THIS WAS 2019!!! Room steward was great and so was the staff in all the specialty restaurants. The staff at the gift shops were good with the exception of the one young lady selling smart watches in the hall. I feel this is not only a reflection on the Breakaway but NORWEGIAN CRUIS LINE as a whole. TO TOP IT ALL OFF,2 PHONE CALLS WERE MADE AND 3 EMAILS WERE SENT (1 while still on the ship) AND NO ONE HAS YET TO RESPOND TO US!!! Read Less

We are beyond upset with our cruise experience with Norwegian Breakaway. This was our first big cruise and we were excited to visit four islands but ended up visiting only two, missing out on the two we were most excited for (and the reason we decided to take the cruise in the first place). After taking 8 days off work and spending a lot of money that we had set aside for this trip, it's safe to say Norwegian ruined our vacation. The ship didn’t go to St. Thomas which was due to weather – we can understand that, however, when they announced that they wouldn’t be going to Nassau either, that was the cherry on top. There was a medical emergency and while that’s understandable, there has got to be a better way to handle it than taking away the experience of the 3,000 other people on board!! Not only that, but the captain had come out and introduced himself to us during one of the onboard shows - he had specifically said that if we couldn't go to one of the ports due to weather, they would redirect us to another port so we can at least visit a different island. But of course that never happened. Instead we got stuck in Puerto Rico for two days with nothing to do. The ship was full of rude workers who didn’t understand English well. The waiters always, always, always got our food and drink orders wrong or forgot one of our drink orders, and of course the balcony stateroom curtains and bed sheets were dirty and disgusting. The ‘hospital’ onboard had a rude receptionist who didn’t want to give me one band-aid for my husband’s bleeding foot – I had to make multiple trips from up and down the decks to scramble for a few quarters to use the ‘vending’ machine for a band-aid. When I finally asked her for changed cause she didn’t have it after which she finally told me I could use my card to pay for it. Really!?! Why couldn’t she have said that initially before I went scrambling for change for one stinkin’ band-aid?!? A small first aid kit in the balcony rooms would have been an important gesture for those of us who pay so much more for being in a slightly better room. We paid $311 for internet for two devices and it was terrible!! We went to the IT man three different times to have it fixed – and because we never went to St. Thomas, we ended up being in Puerto Rico’s port for 2 days and DIDN’T NEED WIFI there, our phone was working since it's US territory. To make things worse, the disembarkation process was the WORST. The cruise line wants to max out the number of guests they take onboard to make a ton of money, but once it’s time to leave, guests are rushed out the doors. We were told if we took our own bags out when leaving the ship, the disembarkation process would be MUCH faster. We took all 5 of our heavy bags with us only to be dragged in the longest line that was 3 decks long and took over 2 hours!! I had blisters on my hands by the end of the trip from lugging around baggage because, once again, we were misinformed!! After our trip I called them to submit a complaint and they redirected me to their website for complaints. I went online and submitted a complaint and waited over 10 days to hear back. When I didn't, I called them to follow up only to be told my initial submission never went through and that I would need to resubmit my complaint. Then, it would take at least 30 days to hear back from the captain via email. Wow. Just wow. I will say that the onboard entertainment - the shows - were the only great part of our trip, if anything. Save your money and headaches and skip this cruise line. It's clear they only care about making money and nothing else once they rid you of the ship. Read Less

Staff is so rude and cocky, toilet didn’t flush half the time, room wasn’t cleaned very well and never changed our dirty sheets, no towel animals claiming shortages on towels, room service very poor hot pop no ice twice and claimed out of mayo, missed the best two ports Bahamas and St. Thomas but rewarded with 20% off future cruise no thank you! It was ruff seas and missed St. Thomas due to which was disappointing and to make matters worse someone took Turn for the worse and we turned around back towards Tortola for medical evacuation thus no longer time to stop at the Bahamas. I asked for some kind of refund and voiced my complaints but feel it did no good as corporate seemed as unfriendly as the ship crew. Maybe cruising just isn’t near what it use to be, the staff was always so friendly and inviting, so maybe times have changed or is it just this ship or Norwegian? Read Less

We were on this cruise for a friend's wedding and were excited to try Norwegian for the first time. With all that was included upfront, we paid a little more than other cruise lines like Celebrity, MSC, and Royal but received such robotic and impersonal service. I usually walk off a boat with a long list of memorable and personal staff members to rave about and I had 4 which made the list this time. Loved our cabin and steward, so kind. We missed each other on our first day but she made sure to find me on our second morning and introduce herself. Ship cleanliness was pretty good minus a much-needed exterior cleaning. Cruise Director and his direct staff were friendly and fun. Activities were cool but the Atrium is such a small space to hold some of the activities. Public space in general on this ship seemed at a minimum. There are many other ships of the same tonnage with about 1000 less passengers and you could tell on sea days. F&B left much to be desired as far as service and value. I understand the freestyle concept and I usual dine an average of 3 meals at a specialty restaurant on other lines, but it is no longer serving it's original objective and it is clearly a revenue generating function. Every time we were greeted at a meal, it was "Hi, what can I get you?" and our meals ranged from incredibly slow to being shoved out of the restaurant. (Especially in the specialty restaurants where I am paying A La Carte prices higher than on land and getting half the service and cold food.) What really irked me about the service was if we made a request for something to be redone or let them know something was cold, there was never a sincere apology, just an ok and then an explanation about how far the galley was, aka an excuse. The steakhouse was really good but again, I was paying such a high price like on land that the value is a bit underwhelming. We had an amazing server our last day for lunch at Savor named Leonard that was so full of personality, it was a breath of fresh air. The service was polite but lacked any personality you can find on any other cruise lines we've sailed. Reservations and ability was a sticking point too. Our group (8 people) usually use dinner to come together after doing our own things all day. We always had to wait 30-45 minutes for a complimentary restaurant and they wouldn't allow us to make a reservation because they are "freestyle". So we tried the specialties and they were always booked but half full because so many people no-show for their reservation and NCL doesn't have the backbone to charge people and hold them accountable for missing reservations. We wanted to treat my mother-in-law and her partner to dinner at the french restaurant and were told they could only take a party of 2. So we went and surprise, half the restaurant is empty and we were sat at a table for 4. Almost every table of 4 had 2 people. There is something missing between actual table tracking and the data in the reservation system. We had a diversion due to a tropical storm and then a medical evac, but those didn't even effect me or the party. Another sea day to do nothing or everything. Rock of Ages is AMAZING! Such a high caliber production and the cast was amazing. Velvet was advertised like many of the in-your-face Vegas burlesque shows but was more subtle innuendo and less edgy. WHY?!!!! You get edgy with Rock of Ages, be like Absinthe in Vegas, screw the easily offended and make the show it's full Studio 54 glory! Overall, I am on the fence about cruising NCL again. Perhaps a different ship or itinerary will make a change, but I am also a true believer about first impressions in the service industry, usually a second chance just validates the first. I am in my upper 30s and I really think NCL is missing the mark on my age market when it comes to service. I have plenty of money to spend and when I am served by people with personality and create genuine connections, I am comfortable spending even more. NCL could build more loyal guests with a staff that strives to create connections and show genuine interest in their passengers instead of just being polite and hitting the service points they are trained on. Read Less

This was my first cruise and I must say the overall experience was fair. Document check was quick and smooth. Norma provide us with spot on service with a smile. Boarding the ship was quick and effortless and the room available sooner than expected. Even luggage arrived in a timely fashion. News letter was a great help and informative. The trip listed 4 ports, we got to see two. Trip was to see the St Thomas/Bahamas. Understand that things happen but to miss two parts. Recvd money but not enough!! Service in the restaurants was on the slow side. Had reservations - arrived early but still had to wait beyond book time. Selection of food was OK – no shrimp or lobster offered and prime rib was post on menu only to be removed!! Pool needed to be cleaned more often as it was full of hair! Was Very disappointed Read Less

My wife and I had the best time ever on a vacation. It was long over due and for a cruise. The restaurants food and service were great. The room was perfect and the room was always clean. The entertainment was always fun and exciting. Laying out by the pool or just hanging out in the atrium was perfect. I just wish we could have had more port stoops as planned, but weather and other things happen. No matter what I’m so ready to book and go on another cruise. Norwegian cruise line was perfect for our first cruise and couldn’t have asked for a better vacation. We meet lots of great people for all over the world. The cruise director and his staff always had exciting club nights and they also participated. From the first day to the last day it was a very rememberable vacation. We are so ready to do it all over again. Read Less

Replaced the Cuba cruise that was canceled. Breakaway is large ship, Compliments Large bathrooms in cabin Entertainment was great Concerns: Smokey Casino 10 TVs in sports bar but only one game on, staff said that was all that they could get. Having to make reservations at entertainment was a joke and waste of time. Entertainment would should sold out but if you went they had plenty of room. Platinum guest can not book dinning before getting on the ship. Everything was crowed. This is a large ship , but because the large number of cabins and limited common space everything was always crowed. Had to spend the night in San Juan because of St. Thomas port being closed and then missed Nassua because of a medicial emergency . But can't blame the cruise line for bad weather or medical emergencys. Being a large ship getting off at ports was very slow.. Read Less

This cruise started off strangely, we were assigned cabin 14613, which, when we got there we found was a "handicapped" cabin. It was larger than most inside cabins but there were other differences. For example the mirror in the bathroom was set for a person in a wheelchair. Being 6'3" i had to take the chair from the desk to comb my hair......no big deal. However, this room was 1 deck below the buffet and at 3 or 4 in the morning the noise from above was awful. I went to the service desk and asked for another cabin, a few hours later they called and gave us another inside cabin on a lower deck. They even sent a porter to pick up our luggage and take it to the new cabin. The ship and the staff were excellent however, this was the wrong time of year to cruise. Our first port was san juan and when we got there it was basically closed. Reports of a storm coming in made everyone close thier doors. We got ther around 4pm and were to leave at 11:30pm...however, due to a medical emergency we got stuck there all night. No one was allowed off the ship and the casino was closed while in port. Then we went to tortola, which has a very small shopping area at the pier. Our ports of st. Thomas and nassau were canceled due to weather. So all in all it was the worst trip we've had. But once again the ship and crew did everything they could to make it enjoyable. Stay away from deck 14 in the area of cabin 14613 and try to book at a better time of year. Read Less

We chose this cruise to experience NCL. The Breakaway is a beautiful ship. Embarkation is very smooth and easy and we were in the ship in no time. Our ocean view cabin, 10102, is very nice. It is located at the very front of the ship. It seems bigger than the usual ocean view cabin. It has a huge window looking out the front of the ship. There is a huge bench right in front of the window where you can actually lie down. On the last day of the cruise we slept on this bench and we had a view of the sky and the stars. It's sleeping under the stars in comfort. Wonderful experience! We would not mind choosing this cabin again. Dining is excellent, the food is very good. There are several complimentary dining venues to choose from. We really appreciate this freestyle cruising. You do not have to dress up in the two dining rooms, Savor and Taste. The Manhattan restaurant is nice, too, if you want to experience dinner with a show or live music. Then you have Shanghai Noodles which offer noodles, fried rice and other Asian delicacies. O'Sheehan, the 24 hour, eatery is excellent. We love the chicken wings. The service is outstanding, specially the cabin steward. Jon Paulo, our steward made sure that our vacation was the best. He caters wonderfully to our requests with a smile. Andy, of the Bar Staff is another excellent crew. When we ask for water to take medication, he immediately respondent and even brought us the free peanuts. We missed two ports on this cruise due to weather and medical emergency. However, NCL was generous enough to give us a $100 on board credit. The dining staff were great. We want to make a special mention to Pedro, the Asst Maitre D, Kimberly, Juliet and the rest of the dining crew. We were not impressed with the shows. Rock of Ages and Burn The Floor were just boring and no other shows were presented. The negatives: 1. Ship communication and dissemination of information should be improved. NCL needs to use the TV channels to disseminate important information. The multiple channels on the ship television were pretty much used to sell ships excursion, spa, and merchandise. They should devote one channel to publish information. For example; we learned that the ship will miss its second port from an angry passenger in the shops. We did not know that the ship will spend another sea day and returning back to Miami until we heard it from this angry passenger. They could have used one of the TV channels to broadcast this information. 2. Shanghai Noodle Restaurant is located next to the casino and you can smell the cigarette smoke emanating from the casino. Several passengers eating were sneezing due to the casino cigarette smoke. They need to relocate or cover the restaurant from the casino. 3. The soap dispenser in the bathroom (at least the Men's bathroom) does not dispense or won't dispense the soap. In an environment that emphasize cleanliness, they need to make the soap dispenser to easily dispense hand soap. But overall, it was a nice and enjoyable cruise Read Less

This was out first cruise for our 1 year wedding anniversary and we were looking forward to it for many months. We chose NCL over many other cruise lines for the extras we were getting for "free" turns out free is not free there is always a cost some are just very well hidden. our trouble started when our free airfare had us landing at the airport approx. 1.5 hrs before the ship was to sail (they want you on the ship and checked in a full 2 hrs. before leaving. After spending over an hour waiting on the phone we were told yes that is too close you'll get an email from us with the change. Waited another 3 or 4 days to get updated flights first one leaving @ 5:00 am. well we figured better early than late right. Our specialty dining package was one of the highlights as Cagney's and Tappanyaki were both excellent quality and service. Moderno was just okay. due to a trop. storm were had to spend 2 days in San Juan and the place we wanted to see most ST. Thomas got cancelled. they had no back up excursion plans for day 2 you dropped the ball NCL sorry. Then we had a medical emergency who had to be airlifted of the ship! again not ncl's fault but why did we back track all the way back to PR ? we were on our way to Bahamas? why not take the person there? so we lost almost a whole day and had ANOTHER day stuck on the ship as we had to haul it just to get back to miami in time. Some people may have been fine with just being on the ship. Not us we paid for a carribbean island vacation (spent approx. 2 hrs. on the beach in Tortola) not to be stuck on the ship for 5 of the 7 days with a bunch of drunks at the too small overcrowded pool with not much else to do. Read Less

We had a great time on the Breakaway. Our only disappointment was the behaviour of the other passengers who we found to be most unreasonable given the difficult circumstances the captain had to face. Sadly one passenger had to be medically evacuated from the ship (I can’t imagine how worried their family would have been.) The captains actions could have saved that persons life. Yet people were complaining that we missed the Bahamas since the ship had to turn around and backtrack a long way in order for the helicopter to be in range for the evacuation. St Thomas was another missed call due to a tropical storm, I’m glad we were kept safe in the port of San Juan. I understand no other cruise ships made it to St Thomas that day too. We loved the ship and the entertainment too, particularly the duelling pianos in headliners they were hilarious! We enjoyed watching a show every night in the theatre. The food was great, we used the garden cafe quite often as we have a teenage daughter and the great variety suited us all. Also dined in Savour and The Manhattan lounge with Late nights in O Sheehan’s after the casino too! Sometimes the bar service was a little slow but we still got served. We’ve already taken advantage of the cruise next deal and look forward to sailing with Norwegian again. Read Less