Norwegian Breakaway Review
Rating by category
Additional details
We arrived in the UK on the 24th of April and stayed with friends in Poole, near Bournemouth pre-cruise, and they drove us to the port on the day of departure, so I do not have any tips on hotels in the area of the port.
Embarkation in Southampton was smooth for us. We arrived at the terminal around 10:45a, and were allowed to proceed directly through security and into the check-in lobby. I was curious as if we were going to be allowed in early as our e-documents requested that you not arrive before 11:00, and that boarding would not commence until noon. Once inside, I was surprised at the number of people already checked in considering the directions about arrival time given in the documents, but there was plenty of seating in the holding area. Boarding commenced a little before noon, and shortly after the day visitors were invited to board.
We were asked to not go to the cabins yet as they were not quiet ready, so we took the opportunity to look around the ship. Sometime just before 1p, I think, an announcement that the cabins were ready was made, and we proceeded to ours to drop the luggage off.
Cabin Review
We found the cabin set-up to be a huge improvement over the cabins on Epic, but it did seem tight. The balcony was very small....any smaller and it would be a "French balcony". The decor was very subtle and nice, but it was interesting that the only piece of art in the cabin was on the wall behind the sofa. Pretty standard desk with mirror and hair dryer below the desk surface. There were two small cabinets underneath the television for storing some of your stuff, and then a cabinet with the mini-bar refrigerator. The closet had shelves on one side - one with the safe, and hanging space on the other. The hangers were the kind where the ring was permanently attached to the bar and you lifted the hanger off the ring. Several of ours would not stay on the ring, so ended up laying either in the top or bottom of the closet for the entire trip. Hard to believe that they feel the need to go with this set-up, I guess I wasn't aware that hanger theft was a huge issue, so it basically said "we're cheap" to me. The bathroom was pretty standard NCL from Jewel class ships. Interestingly, the life vests are stored in a basket under the beds, but even with the basket, there was room for 3 suitcases, and we could have probably gotten an additional small bag or two under there. Speaking of luggage, ours arrived at our cabin very quickly. Dennis, our cabin steward, introduced himself day 1 and was very available. He did a great job keeping the cabin during the trip. Note that on Breakaway, the "Make Up Cabin" and "Do Not Disturb" indicators are electronic, and controlled by switches that are high on the wall by the door. Also note that the cabin electrical system is activated by putting the key, or some other card, in the slot by the door. This seemed to control ALL the cabin power including the power outlets, so if you need something to charge, do it overnight, or bring along a card key from a hotel and leave that in the slot while you are out.
We had the opportunity to view a Spa Mini-suite, category M9 as it was still open for the day visitors. Interestingly enough, the cabin itself did not appear any larger than ours. The bathroom is definitely larger though, with double sinks. The mini-suite balcony was the same size as ours. From viewing this cabin, I am not sure that the cabin would be worth the higher cost.