This was our 3rd NCL cruise and we traveled with friends who'd never cruised with NCL before. They are seasoned cruisers with Oceania and Crystal and other "luxury" lines and proclaimed this the finest boat and the finest cruise experience they'd ever had. In fact, they were apprehensive about NCL given their prior experience (as were we given that we'd never been on a ship with more than 2,000 or so passengers, give or take). But from the moment we entered the boarding area to the time we stepped into our cab for the airport upon disembarkation, I don't think we had to wait in line more than 15 minutes for the entire cruise (including the ferry lines at the Dockyards in Bermuda). And our cruise was considered fully booked at 4,200 passengers.

NCL has a 1:3 (or so) ratio of crew to passengers so the level of service is exquisite. Our steward, Jovi, is easily head and shoulders above any steward we've had on a ship, a plane, a train, a resort or a hotel. An amazingly accommodating and gracious human being and a real credit to his ship and his company.

Exceptional: The ship; our spa balcony room (brilliant design - can't understand why so many other people found the storage wanting...they must be cruising on the Queen Mary or something because we had room to stow the contents of 3 suitcases, two brief cases and a dive bad AND the suitcases themselves (easily accommodated under the bed)); the service; the spa (most amazing hot tub experience I've ever encountered with waterfalls and multiple "stations"); the buffet (quality, quantity and service...even table side coffee service) and the appointment of the buffet area itself. The entire area is ingeniously partitioned out so you don't feel like you're eating in a big room. It was as close to a restaurant experience as I've ever had on a cruise ship...again, brilliantly designed. The ability of this ship to accommodate so many people so effortlessly is a miracle. She is a beauty and we will sail Breakaway again. Read more