I choice this cruise for the jazz promotion. The ship is beautiful and there were plenty of restaurants. Getting on and off ship was smooth. I did not like this ship for jazz shows. Venues are too small for that kind of activity with so many people. The worst part was the cabin. We had a balcony and a pull out bed for 3rd person. Not worth the money for a balcony. Rooms look like they are chopped in half. Beds were comfortable, but not sofa bed. Don't recommend 3 in a room. Balcony was small. This ship would not be my first choice. Food was good and I like they have all kinds of food available until late in the night. Most ships are limited. Room service was superb. Getting ship in New York was wonderful for me, coming from Baltimore,Md. Entertainment was not the usual cruise entertainment. Company brought out ship for the Smooth Jazz Event. Really enjoyed shows. I forgot there are no drawers to put your clothes. Read Less

We chose the cruise because we found out we had CruiseNext deposits expiring in November. We had taken this cruise about 3 years ago and thought it would be fun to do it again. Personally, we like embarking from NYC since our son lives there so we get a mini visit with him on both ends of the cruise. Embarkation in New York was the fastest we have ever experienced. We went through security and had to ask which way to go next. Our area seemed to be Haven only, but it was ours, too. After getting our health form, we moved so quickly there was no time to fill it out, so we did while we were getting out cabin key cards. We had a new trainee checking us in, and that slowed us down by about a minute but I think we went from Uber to onboard in about 15 minutes. Disembarkation went as well as possible. We put our bags out by 11 on Saturday night, vacated our cabin by 9:00 am and went to the buffet with the carryon bags. The only problem was hearing them call the groups to disembark. Some of the areas he signs that said, but the buffet did not. We were one of the last groups to be called so it was quite a long line getting to the final checkout but we walked off the ship pretty quickly. Our baggage was altogether in the "Blue" area. We got that and customs was quite speedy. And, we were out on the street. Our son and fiancé met us and we were in an Uber within about 10 minutes. The cabin was what we expected it to be. Not super-large, but on par with other cruises. The bed was very comfy and possibly king-size. We had hurricane conditions for most of the sea days and the closet doors would rock back and forth on their rollers and slam into the opposite wall. Very noisy at night until we used backpacks as stoppers. One thing that was new to me was the inclusion of used sharps containers in the cabin bathroom and around the ship. I'm on daily injections now and it would have been good to know this before investing in travel-sized sharps containers. One morning, there was an issue with non-flushing toilets. My DH complained and it turned out someone had put something in the toilet that shouldn't have been there. Guest services sent us chocolate covered strawberries and wine for his efforts We didn't do any of the entertainment or activities this time. The ones we were interested in we did last time around and this year, most of the activities were closed due to some serious hurricane activity. The pools were usually closed as were the rock-climbing wall, ropes course and many of the decks. We did enjoy sitting in the comfy chairs on Deck 8 when the cushions were available, though. We love Bermuda, which is partly why we chose this particular cruise. Unfortunately, due to the hurricanes (Jose and Maria), we left a day early. I particularly like the new NCL ferry to St. George. That was very convenient and saved us some money. We did an excursion, but not through NCL, although the same one was offered through them. We were supposed to go out on Friday, on the Rising Son but, when we learned that our ship was leaving port on Thursday afternoon, I contacted them to cancel. They offered us a Thursday morning snorkel trip, which I accepted. Had we been on the same excursion as offered by NCL, it would have cost us more money at the outset but it would have been automatically canceled, so we would have missed out. We did not travel with children. We would go again in a heartbeat! Read Less

We were with a special interest cruise. I would not choose to cruise in hurricane season, but that is when the group was going so we did. We knew if would be an adventure. We left on September 17th, out of NYC. Embarkation was a breeze. We ate a good breakfast at our hotel so we could just relax in the shade with some cocktails, waiting for our room to be ready. Our room was ready by 1:30, which was awesome! We wish someone would have knocked on the door when the luggage arrived though. We went to dinner and it was there, we have no idea how long it sat out in the hall. I thought our balcony room, 9294, AFT I think was amazing. No trouble finding a place for everything, We thought the balcony was a perfect size, very private, we loved it. The room steward was great and we had no trouble figuring out the electricity/do not disturb lights at all. The bathroom was the same size as mine at home, no complaints there. We ate at Taste, Savor, OSheas, Wasabi, Teppenyaki, Moderno, Margaritaville, and the Garden Cafe. It was all great! Service is slow at Taste and Savor, so just be prepared to relax. Garden Cafe is a complete madhouse, we only did that once, too crazy. The view from Margaritaville is awesome, and portions are huge but you can't take leftovers to your room. We loved the penny slots and did pretty good, well, on Wheel of Fortune, I did good. We never waited in line for anything, and were able to get last minute reservations for specialty dining. We had a ball in the Ice Bar, thought that was hysterical. We never saw any shows, as we were pretty busy with our special interest group. Due to weather, we only had one night in Bermuda, no ones fault, just the Captain keeping us safe. We were surprised how much the ship rocked though, on the way to Bermuda, such a big ship, we didn't expect that. We carried our own luggage to get off the ship, but man, it's really really far to walk. Probably a couple miles, just be prepared. Overall, I prefer a cruise where everything is included, I really didn't like the cover charges, automatic tips, paying for gelato, etc. I also think the staff is way overworked. They all told me they work 10 hours a day, for 8 months straight. I know Carnival has a pool for their staff, but not NCL. I asked. I think I prefer a smaller ship in the future. I enjoyed it though, the ship really was beautiful. Leaving from NYC is really fun too. Read Less

I chose this cruise because i have been on about 16 norwegian cruises. They were all excellent. The cruise on the breakaway was a little disapointing. For the size of the ship the pool was quit small and was closed for the majority of the cruise. Also for 6200 people on board they only had 4 hot tubs. 2 of which were always cold. The two that were at least warm was swarmed with kids. They were using it as a pool. They were jumping up and down and landing on the adults feet. Also we lost one day in bermuda on account of the weather. We lost one of our days in port. THE CABIN WAS SMALL, BUT THAT WAS ALRIGHHT THE DINING WAS EXCELLENT AND THE SERVICE WAS EXCELLENT I was suprised that you had to make reservations for the shows. I was turned away from a show for not having reservations. Also the games that they played on the ship were so crowded that if you were not there a half hour before they started you had to stand and couldn't see the game anyway. For a ship that big the theater and other gathering areas are to small. I love norwegian cruises and will go on norwegian again,but not on the getaway. The smaller ships to me are a better cruise. Read Less

We loved NCL so much we booked the same ship, same stateroom but a different location. Due to Hurricane Jose we had to leave Bermuda a day early. The Captain always had our safety in mind and other than a few rocky moments, we felt safe. If you're looking to celebrate a milestone I would suggest booking the Haven. Once you travel that way, you'll never want to stay in a different area. When the weather was rough we lounged in the Haven Courtyard. The pool and hot tubs were still available to us as they are indoors even though the pool was closed in the main area. There are no lines at our bar and the Haven restaurant is nothing but the best. If you want a cheeseburger made specifically to your tastes, they will do it. Embarking and disembarking are so easy being in the Haven. You get escorted priority boarding as well as escorted priority embarking. No escalators for you, you get an elevator. For those who think you will be secluded from children in the Haven, that is not true. There are children in the area but not many unless you travel during school break. If you just want to hang out in your stateroom, you can without feeling you're in tight quarters. The rooms are large and airy. We ended up using the stairs for our exercise as the gym was constantly full. No matter what time of the day. Read Less

i do not like to fly and ncl has the most ships sailing from nyc.one of the mani reasons i may try a different line is because the dining package is getting to be a sad experience you pay the price they ask and then you do not get the benefits they have in the free dining rooms .Also they have taken the better foods off the menu like they have surf and turf (shrimp and steak no lobster) they changed the shrimp cocktail to 3 from 4 and added extra you can order and pay another separate fee for the package only covers a 20.00 main dish on the menu and the waiters have to explain this to you and suffer the gripe from passengers making it not a pleasant experience when must people are upset over being nickel and dimed to death for no good reason charge more if you must but spell it out on the menu give the waiters a break Read Less

i just went on the Breakaway from NYC to Bermuda 9/17 to 9/24....everyday for the first 5 days bathrooms on our end of ship (12 deck ,aft section) would not flush. Norrwegian cruise line could care less about the inconvience of its customers...! As of now i would recomend going to any other Cruise line...! Most of crew were excelent, some had attitudes in the early am...since i had to find a working bathroom i went for early coffee run....staff wasn't to happy to see early risers. How can you trust a ship if bathrooms dont work.... The entertainment was really good,24 K was excellent,The better dining was only above average,I went to le bistro,Ocean Blue and Cagneys....i was expecting better..Ocean Blue was the best out of the three,The food was good at all of the restaurants , the staff at all of them were excellent. I did like the ship was clean and always had sanitizers everywhere! The ship had to leave early from Bermuda because of hurricanes , I applaud the Captain for looking out for the safety of everyone... if asked would i go on Norwegian ? as of now no...there are plenty of other crusie lines and in my opionion they dont care that much about there passengers inconveniences once they have your money....! Read Less

Took this cruise with my mom and 2 sisters. Stayed in side by side staterooms. My third cruise, sailed on Norwegian Jade in January. This is a much larger ship. Took some time to get used to the size. Departed NYC for Bermuda and had a rough couple of first days. Overcast and rough seas compliments of Hurricane Jose. Arrived in Bermuda on time but were VERY disappointed when the Navigation Crew and Captain announced we would be leaving Bermuda Thursday at 6 rather than Friday at 3. I get it...until the journey home, although smoother and with one good day of weather, landed us back in NYC EARLY!! I set my alarm early in the hopes of seeing the city upon our return but when I got up at 5 a.m. we were already docked! We were then encouraged to disembark early by our cruise director as well! Not completely sure why we lost a day in Bermuda, OUR DESTINATION. The cruise home was slower and we arrived early! The ship was fine. Crowded with plenty of kids, which I expect with this cruise line. The food was quite good. It did not however, wash away the bad taste of our early departure. The decks on this ship were closed much of the trip due to weather. I get it. The pools were also closed most of the trip. On our final day, the main pool was closed, even though the deck was open, crowded, and other activities continued. It wasn't even particularly rough. Some other minor annoyances: the last day sale when the shopping area was RIDICULOUS, the scheduled entertainment in The Manhattan was M.I.A., lack of coffee available for our staterooms, s-l-o-w service in the a la cartes, the 60 min. auction went over 2 hours and never did offer many of the works chosen. This was my second and final cruise with NCL. Too many nagging issues. Our other cruise had it's own issues. LOVED Bermuda though! Looking forward to continuing my exploration cut short... Read Less

We arrived at the terminal around 11:00 am, and we were on the ship within 15 minutes, didn't even get a chance to sit down. We were in cabin 9918 aft. I LOVE the aft !! This was our 3rd time on the Breakaway, we heard creaks and groans this time around that we didn't hear before. I heard the ship is going in for a dry dock, and it makes sense with that size. Our cabin steward Maria was great. No problems with housekeeping at all. There were however issues with some passengers on our deck that kept clogging the toilets 3 nights in a row. After the 3rd night it seemed they has communicated what was to be put down the toilets and what wasn't. Guest services sent us chocolate covered strawberries, and a bottle of wine... and then the next night they sent us a cheese tray and wine, lol. We are mainly a fly by the seat of our pants type of family. We eat when we are hungry, and do stuff when we are bored. We aren't really reservation and timeline type of people. That being said we did go to Savor and we reserved a time at 5:30. We had prompt attentive service, and the food was good as well. We saw Rock of Ages for the 3rd time, loved it. We saw the Man From Mars, which was decent. We also saw another act which was mostly card tricks, and the guy bounce around in a purple balloon, which was funny. Over all that show was meh, but good if you had nothing else to do. The waterfront is my favorite spot on the ship to pull up a chair and read, or just watch the ocean go by. Spent many many hours here. This was our second time to Bermuda, and I just love the people and the atmosphere. I can't express enough how friendly and safe I feel Bermuda is. We visited the Aquarium and zoo, and Tobacco Bay on the first day followed by drinks at the Frog and Onion. We had a shortened stay due to Hurricane Jose, and Maria, so the second day we hung walked to the glass beach, and shopped at the dockyard, and visited the Commissioners house. After we left we visited O'sheehans. This is the only place on the ship after 3 cruises that has not improved in service. It is very slow on the sports bar side. and the restaurant side wasn't much better. I was hoping for the chicken pot pie, but it was off the menu.. boo. We tend to eat more in the garden cafe due to flexibility, and every day we found enough fresh food, and variety to keep us satisfied. Flavors were good, hearty. All in all a cruise is what you make it, and we enjoyed our time on the Breakaway very much. Within a week I have used our cruise next certificate to book the Escape, the Breakaways sister ship. Read Less

We sailed the Breakaway in Feb 2016 with our kids and then decided to take a cruise ourselves.. We picked Bermuda due to having 3 days on land so we thought it was a great mixture.. The seas were very rough in the beginning so there were many sick passengers. We planned ahead just in case and used the Patch for motion sickness which worked perfect. We splurged and stayed on the Spa level which gave us free access into the Thermal suites to use the Salt room, Sauna, steam room & thermal pools which was awesome since the main pool wasn't open while at sea due to wind and roughness. The heated lounge chairs they have were wonderful. We enjoyed time at the Spa this cruise and splurged for a massage which was wonderful- expensive but worth it especially since we had on-board credit. The Breakaway normally never disappoints (that is as long as you don't want a seat by the main pool or to use the main hot tubs). Even when we sailed with the kids this place was never accessible because there is such limited space around the pool area it's always packed and that's where they have the smoking area. The 2 bars they have located there are also packed don't go there for a drink you wait FOREVER!! There is plenty to do when on the ship for sure. Rock of Ages is the greatest show and I've seen it twice so far, The Cirque & dinner show is well worth it and very entertaining, The Atrium always has some great things going on. 24 Karat is a great duo to listen to they really get the crowd involved and know how to put on a show.. However the Atrium is also an area that is short on seating as people show up and reserve seats for entire families so lots of times there is no where to sit but if you're good with standing you'll always find a spot out of the way.. Food on-board was great. The Buffet is just that a buffet where everyone and their brother eats and if you hit it at the wrong time its CRAZY BUSY! They carry the normal dinner items you would think and have different themed food evenings. We only ate here for lunch & breakfast which seemed to be the best food (in my opinion). If you do any specialty dinning I highly recommend Moderno- EXCELLENT food & atmosphere. It was awesome to see the skewers of meat that they bring around to your table. And everything was so delicious. Cagney's serves a great pork chop which I opted for since I had a ton of red meat the night before & their Prime Rib & Porterhouse steak were mouth watering to look at. The Japanese Teppanyaki was so entertaining and very tasty. So for tips while in Bermuda- DON'T book an excursion to Horseshoe Bay through the boat crazy expensive and at the end of the pier they have mini buses that will take you to the beach drop you off for the day and another will take you back to the ship for $8 a person each way. Nicest people in the world and they tell you about the island on the way. We also bought tokens for the paid ferry to Hamilton and spent as much time there as we had wanted to. Caught the Ferry back and it was like $36 for 4 people round trip. They have a free ferry also but it takes and hour to get there where the paid ferry only takes 20 minutes. If you sit through one of the for lack of a better term lectures from Shannon the shopping guru on the ship she will give you great tips to save money!!!! So now for the Disappointments that we encountered this time. We had to leave Bermuda early on the captains decision, Didn't get to see all of the things we had on the list for Bermuda due to this which was SOOOO disappointing, pool was never open when @ sea, hot tubs were packed, when shopping the sales everyone is a vulture it's like they've never seen anything for $10 before, ice cream was extra $$. But that's about it.. Will I sail with Norwegian again ABSOLUTELY!!!! Read Less