Norwegian Breakaway Review
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Despite the widely mixed reviews, we decided to sail on the Mar 30 sailing of the NCL Breakaway from NYC. My wife and I have now been on 7 cruises, 4 on NCL and mainly cruise for convenience to see incredible ports - past favorites include Istanbul, Israel, and St. Petersburg. We have been on Princess (Panama Canal), Holland (Alaska), and Disney (Alaska), but sailed with relatives on the Breakaway primarily to enjoy a great cruise and not explore incredible cities. The March 30 sailing took place in a relatively unpopular week for Spring Break (Ivy League schools were out, but not many younger folks) which made booking a Haven suite thru the world's largest warehouse club travel agency quite reasonable. Thanks to the large number of unreserved suites, we actually waited until Feb 14 to book the cruise which turned out to be about the lowest price available to the public.
We traveled from Seattle to NYC on the Saturday before embarkation - NYC was raining cats and dogs! We did little expect watch NCAA games in the Midtown Hilton and enjoy Ray's Original Pizza. I did get to run the reservoir in the morning as the rain subsided. We took a taxi for 8 blocks after a Noon checkout, and boarded the Breakaway. NCL does a great job with Haven guests having a separate lobby for check-in and escort to the Breakaway Lounge. We met the concierge, Ruth and got the usual introduction to the Haven. The Breakaway Haven includes a nice lounge with bar, the typical retractable room pool area (two levels on the Breakaway) and a nice restaurant. After a lunch in the Haven Restaurant, we enjoyed the sail away including great views of the Statue of Liberty.
My opinions on the NCL Breakaway:
Cabin Review
We went into our room and found a nicely decorated 2 bedroom suite. Compared with the Jade, we felt the second bedroom was more functional including nice storage spaces and a much more functional (larger) bathroom. The sitting area was very nice, and the master bedroom was perhaps a bit squeezed with the King Sized bed but the bath did not disappoint - very spacious, amazing shower, bathtub with a picture window into the ocean. My biggest disappointment was the size of the balcony which was very small - but for this type of cruise, the bi-level pool area and the outdoor sun deck at the very front of the ship more than made up for this. Overall, the cruise was a very relaxing vacation made better by a friendly crew and the luxurious haven. The Breakaway is a beautiful ship with entertainment that sets a new standard. I just wish it sailed out of Seattle!