Norwegian Breakaway Review
Get your ship together NCL- do not go on this cruise if service is your thing
Rating by category
Additional details
Ok, I rarely write reviews however I frequently read them and appreciate the time and thought others put into them. I find it helpful in finding a good fit from similar perspectives so I will give a little background. I will start by saying we are very low maintenance sort of people and not fussed but servers falling over us. We much prefer a friendly and humorous staff, some people love the over the top service that is not us. No worries here we didn't get any of it, humorous or any real service really. We have cruised over 20 times in the last 30+ years. We are in our late 40's and we were travelling with a group of 14 16-83 years of age. two seniors, six early twenties late teenagers (2 from each family mostly girls) and six middle aged people (Three couples 40/50's). Kids are all in late high school, college or just finished. We are all avid travelers and love exploring the world. We thought this would be a good option for this spread in age The family is the only thing that made this ship bearable. You need your own group to make this cruise work, but good luck getting a dining reservation together or find a place to all gather to sit and chat before and after dinner.
The ship itself if there were not so many people is very well appointed with average cabins no complaints really on the floorplan and décor. Restaurants were nice, casino was smoky but fine, bars were pretty and over all it was nicely done. Lots and lots of very nice places for photo ops if that is your thing, pretty stairs and backdrops by the elevators while you wait. And you will wait, and wait on this ship. Lines are everywhere and slow.
Honestly for a cruise of this level I didn't have huge expectations, but I thought the food was above average. Honestly it was some of the best cruise food we have had over the years. The Ocean Blue had amazing food and our best waiter by far everything was seasoned and prepared well. The buffet was standard and just what you would expect in a cruise buffet, nothing special but not bad either with lots of options. The staff was very efficient and the tables were cleaned quickly and over all we didn't struggle too much to find seating here. No complaints and thought the buffet ran very smoothly. Lots of options and a good option when somebody wasn't thrilled with the regular dinner option or had dietary restrictions. If you didn't have rock solid reservations or wanted to change anything up at a restaurant it was a nightmare. Other than two exceptional waiters the staff was downright rude. The bartenders, wait staff and even the experiences at the front desk were all equally disappointing. Do not go on this ship for the service. It was impossible to get into even them main dining rooms and the servers were downright rude. They never smiled, didn't like questions and overall it was a rushed and unpleasant experience.The food was pretty good though if you were lucky enough to get into a place.
Cabin Review
Mid-Ship Mini-Suite with Balcony
Cabin was fine, we took the NCL Epic this summer in the med and was a very similar ship but the storage in the cabin was heads and tails above Breakaway which was adequate, Epic was wonderful. The Breakaway had a very, very small balcony in this cabin that had two small chairs and a table and very tight, more of a French balcony than a true balcony. It's a cabin with a small area to go outside I think a suite is a stretch for sure, but we don't spend a lot of time in the room usually. Though I will say this ship is so overcrowded in hindsight I would have put money into more space in your own area, shared areas were a disaster. The decks and shared spaces were unbelievably crowded and people were getting very grumpy and mean because of it, not adding to a good experience. We never met or knew who the room steward was until the final day when an hour before we were to be out of our room she came in without even knocking and we were not fully dressed, no apology and seemed irked. The room was clean and we didn't have any real issues though, very impersonal compared to previous cruises but overall except for the end it was fine though we are don't require or expect much other than cleaning the bathroom and making the bed. If this was the only issue on this cruise it really wouldn't be an issue or stop me from cruising this ship or line again, but unfortunately this was probably the best part of the trip.