The cruise out of this port was so beautiful. Leaving after the sun went down was even better with all the lights on in the city and sailing past the statue of liberty or under the brooklyn bridge that was all lit up was awesome. The itinerary changes, weather etc. didn't bother us. There was a medical emergency on this cruise and we had to port in Cozumel instead of Costa Maya which was totally understandable. We also like the freestyle dining. It was nice to be a little more casual than a formal dinner. Our mini suite had a nice size bathroom and was modern and clean. The Christmas decorations were a nice bonus, it started with a few decorations then by the end of the cruise it was fully decorated with 2 gingerbread villages, one with a train running through it. What we thought made this a 3 star cruise was the lack of types of entertainment during the day. The shows were great but there was way to many trivia games. Except for a security person at Port Canaveral that acted unprofessional to guests and unfriendly, rude and demanding staff at the N.Y. pier, the staff on the ship was very nice and polite but what we thought was unusual was that not one staff member we met stood out like on other cruises. Maybe it's because of the automatic tipping.

Because this was a 12 day cruise we spent more time in our cabin than on a shorter cruise, which meant we watched more tv than normal. 2 tv channels had the same 24/7 recorded soccer games, there was also 24/7 fox, msnbc, cnbc and bbc news channels all in real time. A recorded tv sitcom channel and a movie channel that replayed about 15 movies and a nature channel. The rest of the channels were cruise ship channels like shopping, navigation, shore excursions etc. and one recorded newlywed, not so newlywed game. Because of the colder climate most of the shows were in the atrium. We wished the atrium was larger to accomidate the larger clouds. The theatre on most ships we've been on have balconies and is very beautiful with great seating. The theatre on the breakaway was smaller with no balcony, it was like walking into an outdated theatre in the 80's that they tried to modernize it by hanging a couple cool lights on the walls. The seating was so uncomfortable that the staff would joke about it in their presentations.

Many people complained to me about the food, the complaints I had as many others did was that almost all the food was mediocre at best when it came to the quality and selections. Except for the new york steaks the food in the dining rooms was the same food served in the buffet just served a little different. And all 3 dining rooms had the same menues. This cruise was only 70% full maybe that's why they cut back on the quality of food. There was an elderly lady on this cruise that said that she has sailed on 80 Norwegian cruises and this is her last because of the food went downhill and they refused to change her to another room because of a nasty smell in her room. Embarkation was quicker and easier than on other cruises weve been on. Debarkation left 100's standing and waiting in line for about a half hour on the open pier in 20 degree F weather after it snowed hours before. They should have kept people on the ship a little longer so they didn't have to stand out in the cold. Unless I get a deal I can't refuse I don't think I will do another Norwegian cruise. Management needs to go on a competitors cruise, be open minded and learn from it.