Norwegian Breakaway Review
Rating by category
Additional details
I am doing this trip report to pay back everyone for all of the trip reports I have read/researched, ect. I appreciated all of the input everyone had and found them extremely helpful in planning our trip.
We are a married couple who are in our 50’s and empty nesters. We chose this cruise as a last minute anniversary get-away and we are within driving distance to the port and don’t have to fly. We are seasoned cruisers with RCI (Diamond) and usually sail on Voyager class or larger (although we haven’t been on the Oasis class yet). I am going to be doing a comparison between the two lines and please know all of our opinions are just that- our opinions- everyone has very different ideas of what they like and dislike in everything from food to entertainment …….so now that the disclaimer is over…..
Pre Cruise- We are within a 3 hour drive to the Manhattan or Bayonne Port. We found that the price to park at the Manhattan pier is almost double of parking in Bayonne(where we have sailed out of before), so I researched options. We ended up staying at the Hilton Garden Inn in Ridgefield NJ as they had a park & stay option that was cheaper than parking at the pier. For the price you were able to stay the night, park, breakfast, and private car service to and from the pier. In addition, the public bus stop to NYC to Port Authority Terminal was right next to the hotel and we could go to NYC the day before for 4.50/pp using public transit. Very nice hotel/stay and great deal. Had a great day in NYC and would definitely do this again even if we weren’t cruising.
Cabin Review
Inside Stateroom
This is the FIRST time I have ever done an inside cabin- While it was adequate to sleep, I will never be sailing in one of these again. Too small- not enough space. Lack of ability to tell what time of day it was, was a real problem for us.
Port Reviews
Nassau
In Nassau, we went to the British Colonial Hilton and got a day pass for $65. It is within walking distance of the ship, and you receive $40 in food/drink credit along with use of their pool/beach/facilities. Very nice and would do this again as well.
Great Stirrup Cay
This trip stopped in Great Stirrup Cay and the only negative was you had to tender. Other than that this island was awesome. We walked past the main beach area and found a shady spot under some trees off the smaller beach area. Very nice beaches, bars, and shopping area. Really enjoyed the grilled hamburgers (they even had a taco buffet area). Several bars and the Barcardi bar had some fun happenings going on throughout the day. We have been to RCI’s Labadee several times (which we love), but this was really great in so many areas. We especially loved the fact that you could get food from 11 to 2 or 3 where on Labadee the service is very limited.