This was our first holiday cruise as our oldest child is now in elementary school. We booked 20 months out and were originally slated for the Gem out of NOLA, but they decided almost a year out to reposition the Breakaway to NOLA instead. I was disappointed as I had managed to book my first aft-facing minisuite on the Gem and was unable to book the same on the BA. I chose a minisuite with a large balcony (M6) instead and was very pleased with the room, ESPECIALLY the huge balcony. We had plenty of room out there for two full-size loungers, a table and two chairs, AND the portable double-size hammock we thought to bring with us. The service was excellent and our room steward Rogelio was amazing! We skipped the dining rooms and stuck with the buffet, and we were not disappointed with the quality or variety of the food served. The only real drawback for us was the size of the ship. It was very large but still managed to be overcrowded in many areas, even though most of the fellow passengers were polite and friendly. There was just too much to do and too many people already in line waiting. We have decided based on this experience that we prefer a smaller, less crowded ship, but we enjoyed ourselves very much otherwise.