Embarkation: The New York passenger terminals can be overwhelming due to tight curbside spaces and passengers attempting to board such a large ship as the Breakaway. We are Platinum Latitudes members and we found the expedited line easily and quickly, we were on the ship curb to deck 15 poolside in under 30 minutes.

Fellow Cruisers: In Florida the kids went back to school the second week of August; obviously not the case in NY and NJ. I was told that there were approximately 1900 children and young adults under the age of 18 onboard and this bore out throughout the trip. The Crew did a good job of enforcing 'Adult Only' areas and 'Curfews' but there were a lot of kinds and I think the ship's facilities and crew were overwhelmed by the sheer number. My companion and I will forever refer to this cruise as our 'Jersey Shore at Sea experience'. While most people were quite nice the passenger load was LOUD ( bellowing across public rooms, dining rooms), Colorful in language and wardrobe, Boisterous, and did I mention LOUD!!! Beware if you find New Yorkers or New Jerseyites hard to handle en masse this may not be the ship for you. This cruise saw very large families and groups mostly from NJ and NY.

Ship Overall: A really beautiful ship, the d'cor is very rich and warm. We were surprised for a mass market ship and having been on 65 ships, the Breakaway had some of the loveliest public areas we have seen. In many ways the ship looked like it should have been part of the Celebrity Fleet. Of special notice is the Manhattan Dining Room, really gorgeous. The outdoor areas of the ship are crowded and the pools are woefully undersized for the passenger load, the outside 'Uptown Grill' was a great place to escape to the shade and a good place to have breakfast and avoid the maddening crowd one deck down at the Garden Caf'. Oceanside areas on Deck 8 were ok, the space was compact and if you ate outside you were subject to passerbys and those who smoked. Better execution of this concept was on the Carnival Breeze. The SPA is gorgeous (but the EPIC's is better) with forward facing windows over the bridge and a wonderful series of steam and salt rooms as well as a large therapy pool. The men's changing room was very nice and actually had a place to sit and cool down! The treatment rooms were nice and located one floor below the SPA. No kids allowed and it was enforced. I was amazed at what an incredible job the crew did with keeping the ship spotless! Even packed as it was and with all the kids! I have a real thing about dirty dishes in hallways or public areas ' never saw it. Witnessed crew members constantly cleaning, the ship was maintained to a spotless standard. Casino reeks of cigarette smoke, they try to move the air and to deodorize but the smell is omnipresent and the non-smoking areas are invaded either by smokers directly or indirectly through wafting clouds of smoke. Favorite outdoor area was deck 7 forward where the shuffleboard courts are located ' big expansive deck at the rail and very much under utilized. Read more