Was very disappointed from the moment we came on the ship. Room was not as advertised and when we went to front desk to complain they couldn't have cared less. I know the ship was booked but no one even said I'm sorry you're upset; just said there was nothing they could do! Cabin Steward was not very friendly. Never said hello when saw us in the hallway or even asked how our day was. Food in the dining room was very disappointing. Menu was small and choices were strange. One night two of the menu choices were chicken parm and beef terriayki - is it Asian night or Italian? Also food frequently arrived cold and service was very slow. Embarkation was a nightmare - took over an hour! Made us walk the entire length of the casino twice - felt like cattle! Filled out survey several weeks ago and no one has even bothered to follow up. Told them we were celebrating our 25th Anniverary and second day of the cruise received a card that said give to waiter to let them know you are celebrating a special occasion. Felt weird to tell waiter we were celebrating something - they should have taken care of that in advance. Buyer beware! Much better cruise lines out there for the money. We have taken several Royal Carribean Cruises and have never been disappointed! Not to be totally negative food and service in specality restaurants was good - but expect that since paying extra. Entertainment on boat was also good. Read Less

We choose this cruise because we did not have to fly anywhere. The ship was way too crowded. The service in the main dinning rooms was terrible. They did not have our dinning reservations which we made on line and had confirmations for, they just said "it is not our fault". The pool was too small for that size ship! There were extra charges for almost everything on the ship, example a$7.95 service fee for room service, $20 a person to go in the ice bar. We will never take another Norwegian cruise again!!!! P.S. once the cruise was over you could not get picked up at the pier, they said you had to leave the property and go across 12th ave. to get picked up where the cops wouldn't let you get picked up. With that many people leaving the ship it was impossible for car service to find you. Read Less

We had used Norwegian before this cruise was convenient because we could take the train to the port in NYC. We also have been on two other cruises with another line. As far as the ship was concerned the balcony was very small . Only to people could fit on it and that would be close. The food,entertainment , staff and interior was good. The big problem with the ship was the way the staff and crew managed the people on the ship. To describe the other passengers, it was like you were stuck at a crowded Jersey shore beach with Jersey Shore people. Individuals were allowed to take over sections of the boat at the expense of others. Forget about getting a chair by the pool. Families would have someone come early and leave a towel so they could save the whole area for the day. The pool area was very overcrowded. When I was finally able to get in the pool I swam over and leaned wall of the pool while in the pool and someone near me tapped me on the shoulder and said "That spot is saved". So the all the edges of the pool are saved. Even in the Theater you would get there every for a show only to find some saving a whole row , so there family members can come late and still have seats. When I complained about this to the staff they did nothing. So if you like to get into fights with people, this is the cruise for you. So this cruise ship is very very poor in managing people. I had some suggestions, For the theater they should have reserved seating but those that want that have to pay for it. If the seats are first come first serve the usher should be a usher and prevent people for saving blocks of seats. For the pool in certain areas individuals should get a time limit per day to use the area so others get a change to enjoy the cruise, We will never use Norwegian again Read Less

Bermuda was so spectacular, but that was in no part because of this ship. This ship was extremely disappointing. We chose this cruise because we wanted to go to Bermuda for our honeymoon (no Zika) and there aren't many options. We are seasoned cruises, and typically choose Princess, but took a leap of faith and tried NCL. Bad decision for our honeymoon, let me tell you. I mean, we mentioned it was our honeymoon several times, just hoping for a "congratulations" or maybe a candle on our dessert... not acknowledged ONCE on the entire cruise. No sign in our room, no mentions at dinners, nothing. Not that I expected a lot of recognition, but I plan to only get married once and only once, so this was a one time shot at our honeymoon and NCL completely blew it. I also want to add, we are pretty laid back people and eat normal (no restrictions like GF or SF) so my opinions are based on the average level of expected service for any type of entertainment. 20 Things that Suck and 5 that are pretty cool: THE BAD STUFF 1. Had the ultimate beverage package. Couldn't get a bottle of Water... Isn't that the ULTIMATE BEVERAGE? 2. Get hounded to use hand sanitizer everywhere, but still have to touch the doors leading to the outside decks... um, really??? (its a touch activated door, should be motion sensor, right?) 3. Best item on the menu to eat is a hot dog at O'Sheehans... which coincidently is the ONLY place to get edible food on the entire ship. 4. Cagney's: the Lobster Bisque tasted like turkey gravy at Thanksgiving. And my (supposedly) "medium rare" steak was nearly burnt. Severly disappointed. 5. Speaking of ultimate beverage package, just don't do it. It's bottom shelf liquor that just makes you feel sick, not drunk. I was sick basically every day after feeling forced to drink Bahama Mamas (since we had the ubp, I felt obligated) 6. Ocean Blue: Alaskan Crab Legs are literally the only item that we would consider "tasty". Everything was really dull and definitely not worth the price. 7. The wait staff is extremely rude or unpersonable. We went to "higher end" restaurants and were greeted with "what do you want" instead of "hi, I'm Mark, how can i help you?" or something similar. I'd like to be greeted, even if you just want to turn over your tables. No one likes to tip a rude server. 8. The crowds everywhere, you just can't get away from them (except in the spa, which I'll mention further down in the good stuff section). Bathrooms, bars, restaurants, mini-golfing... you name it, it's gonna be crowded. It was built to corral guests, not give them room to breathe. 9. The trivia was the dumbest "entertainment' I've witnessed ever. There are so many people, they divide you into 2 groups and display A or B on the projector. Groups would then choose their answers by standing in front of A or B. So no real winners here. 10. Second City: ABSOLUTE WASTE OF TIME. We attempted to watch 3 skits, all different layouts from sketch impromptu, to scripted, to amateur and walked out less than ten minutes into all 3. The comedians were so vulgar in some of their skits, they just weren't funny and i couldn't stand to hear any more. This was probably the biggest disappointment as we love comedy and are always visiting comedy clubs. 11. Noisy estate rooms: we were in a mini-suite and did get to choose our room of course, but had no idea we were right between two families with little kids. Woken up at 4 or 5 am almost everyday by one screaming child or another (we love kids, we just won't travel with ours until they are at least 7yo). There was also banging in the walls which we couldn't control, and had 2 absolutely sleepless nights because of it when we were in rough waters. 12. Big ship, big motion sickness. Not only was the alcohol making me sick, but I think I had motion sickness as well. I've heard you feel the waves less with the bigger ships. Not true. 13. Poor entertainment all around. Even Karaoke sucked. If I hear Frozen's "Let It Go" anytime in the next year, it'll be too soon (I think everyone sang that song, we even heard it 5 times IN A ROW at one point)... VARIETY IS PRICELESS! 14. Speaking of variety, the menus were exactly the same every morning, noon, and night. Go to breakfast, same as yesterday... Lunch, same as yesterday. It's gross and dull and your guests would appreciate menu variations. 15. We aren't buffet people, but the one time I ate at the buffet, I can say it was better than the dining room. On every other ship the buffet is the gross option and the dining room is the good option. Opposite on Breakaway, if you don't have sanitary reservations from buffets (like I sort of do) skip the dining rooms. 16. Ropes course was closed a lot: eveytime we tried to go to the ropes course, it was closed. Don't even know if it was even open after the first day because we never saw people on it. 17. Lack of anytime eating. There is no 24-hour pizza place, no free late night room service ($7.95 service charge, you have to be kidding me), no burger joint, or sandwhich place. And all I wanted was a grilled cheese or a slice of pizza. Nada, zip, zilch, not happening. 19. Announcements will wake you up at 8 am or earlier everyday. No chance of sleeping in, they are incredibly loud. Maybe earplugs would help? 20. And last but not least, the beach towel situation was frustrating. Each person gets one towel and if you lose it, you get charged. You can exchange your towel for a new clean one, but you still only get one. We just took the white towels from the spa and took those with us places. At least if you left them somewhere, you didn't get charged. THE GOOD STUFF 1. The Mandara Cruise Spa is pretty spectacular and the single best place to get some peace and quiet. I took many naps with headphones in here on the heated chairs. It's $200 per person, only 120 people are allowed to buy passes, and totally made the ship tolerable. If it weren't for the spa, we may have stayed in Bermuda. Steam room, therapy pool, hot tub, hot beds, ocean views, it's definitely worth it! 2. Your hotel and meals are all paid for on Bermuda, via the ship. Bermuda is really pricey and it was nice to not have to pay for additional room and board on the island. It didn't taste good, but we were able to eat enough to not be hungry while exploring the island. You can go on and off the ship at your leisure, so you had a beachside hotel. Three days in Bermuda and I am in love with the island, btw. Amazing place, truly!!! Magical even. 3. The adults only pool, Spice H2O was a nice relaxing spot on the back of this ship sans screaming kiddos. at least during the day. It's adults only from 10-6 everyday. 4. The gym is pretty great. It's right near the spa and almost always empty. Not a lot of people apparently work out on vacation. It was a friendly change from the crowds on the deck. 5. It's a great way to lose weight. You walk long distances everywhere, food is terrible so we hardly ate anything, the gym and spa are the best places to hang out, and got sick daily due to alcohol and motion sickness. Can't say this was a bad thing when I lost 8 pounds in one week! So overall, I'd say this was a pretty poor honeymoon choice. We are fun-loving people, so we made the cruise fun for ourselves since no one with NCL was trying at all. Mostly by picking fun at all the crappy parts... It's really what you make of it. I will never make the mistake of cruising with NCL ever again, and this has strengthened my loyalty to Princess. Next time we want to go to Bermuda, we will fly. Read Less

We are avid cruisers - over 40 cruises - 60 years old Too crowded - all public areas were too small to accommodate the large number of passengers on this ship. Balcony was so small , if you sat on the chair your knees touch the railing (32 sf - RCCL's is 65 sf). Service was non-existent - had to go to the bar to get a drink. Service in Buffett was horrible Stateroom attendant was the worst The atrium had a very large tv screen that was broadcasting excursions and other commercials No relaxing music anywhere on the ship. The Pool was 1/2 the normal size and always very crowded - no adult pool on this ship. Food was not good, even in specialty restaurants. Ocean Blue was even worse - you would expect better since paying an additional $17 pp - the food, service, and decor were horrible. Don't wast your time or money on this ship. The NCL Jade was a much better experience. Read Less

We chose this cruise ship the Breakaway because of the close proximity of the port. No problems with parking right at the dock and walking on to the ship. So much easier and convenient, both getting on and off. Now on to the cabin & services, I guess we were spoiled not once but twice by sailing on the NCL Epic, that when we booked the well awaited and needed Thermal Spa package & cabins we just knew it was going to be heavenly. That thought diminished quick , fast and in a hurry. Our balcony was so small we almost had to sit out one at a time and sit side ways. The paint on the walls were peeling and dropping chips on us as we sat outside. The doors, weird , opened out and were heavy. The Mandara Thermal spa, where we were sooooo ready to just grab our robes, towels and sink into the whirlpool or heated seats, or even the serenity of the lounge chair and look out towards the ocean, after a nice sip of flavored water, came to a screeching halt. The excessive amount of people who were permitted to just walk in , without "paying pass" was ridiculous and absurd. It was so NOISY any moment of serenity was blown overboard and out to sea. The stress I thought I was going to have an chance to get rid of, elevated. On to the Beverage package, it sucks if you thought you could get bottled water since you don't drink sodas. NCL should be ashamed to charge $5.50 for a 1 liter bottle of water that cost $1.50 !!!! Oh and the INTERNET PACKAGE RIP RIP RIP OFF !!! We lost over $100 just trying to SIGN ON & get connected. VERY POOR connection and service. The attendant was of no help , of course he attempted to show how it worked on his phone, ummm sure you have a direct service and more MB than the average travel guest. DO NOT WASTE YOUR HARD EARNED MONEY ON INTERNET SERVICE, NOR BOTTLES OF WATER !!! On to the food, most was good however after a couple of days the food was saltier and saltier to the point I could not eat it and my legs and hands swelled from fluid retention. I/ We were not impressed with the NCL Breakaway and will not return to this ship. Read Less

First and last cruise! This ship is so outdated I felt like I was in a really bad 80's wedding the whole week. The entertainment is very painful to watch unless you enjoy 70 songs being sung very badly. The décor is tacky and vases and light fixtures are caked in dust. They allow smoking in the casino in 2017 and as a result there are numerous burns in the carpet! The food can be compared to Golden Coral it is horrible and unrecognizable.. No worth while entertainment unless you want to choose between learning to make balloon animals or folding towels or if you feel real adventurous you can watch fruit being carved. NO JOKE. The crew are not that friendly. Video games , bowling , bingo etc are all extra charges.. A word of advice for anyone with food allergies -they do not know how to handle them. .I have Celiac disease and was assured I would be safe and have food options.. The first night at the buffet I asked what was gluten free and the chef pointed to the green beans only out of 10 dishes. I ended up eating a hot dog and piece of plain chicken and salad every night for dinner. I saw a child being turned away from ice cream because they could not tell him what was nut free.. Any time I asked a question I was referred to others. I went to guest service about gluten free and they were clueless. The ship is run very badly. Do not waste your money on Norwegian. If I could have jumped overboard and swam home I would have. I just want to erase this week from my memory. Read Less

Dining was sub-par, food was the same almost every day. Drinks were inconsistent and the bartenders barely knew how to make them. Staff barely spoke english and were not very friendly or welcoming. Drinking card did not include bottled water. Entertainment was ameture at best. Felt like they wanted to get us on, take our money and get us off. Felt no appreciation that my family and I sacrificed our time off from work and our hard earned money to be there. The last morning at 7:30am i awoke to banging in the hall which turned out to be six customs agents in full tactical gear doing a random search. Turns out it was my grandparents room, who are in their 70's and my grandmother is in a wheelchair on oxygen. They forced them into the hall in her nightgown and made her sit there exposed to passing patrons. The level of disrespect in this situation I felt was very high. As a consumer I feel I have been cheated out of my money and would never support Norwegian Cruise Lines business again. I will make sure that none of my friends and family participate in their business as well. Read Less

Our family travels at least once annually as a group. Together we have taken MANY cruises, this was our first and last experience with Norwegian unless they take action to compensate us for our terrible experience. Embarkation was Horrible, staff was extremely rude, consequently confused our bank accounts and room cards, our cards were unusable for onboard purchases at times, resulted in my bank account becoming frozen, caused undo conflict in regards to additional purchases during and after cruise until I was able to go to my bank and correct. Luggage was not delivered timely, toilets did not flush the majority of our vacation, Many of the restaurant staff were rude and inattentive, it took us 2 hours to get our food one evening only to receive food that was not made to order. The cruise itself was very limited due to the account issues created by the original embarkation process, the onboard activities were closed more than they were open. And then there is debarkation. We should have been off of the ship by 9:30, instead we were locked in an elevator for at least 1 hour and waited in line for more than 5 hours, with a disabled child and no way to even go to the restroom. not getting off of the boat until 1:30, our return flight was scheduled for 2:25. Needless to say we missed our flight and had to arrange for a new flight (5 hours and several hundreds of dollars later) we were able to catch a new flight home. This was a terrible experience overall, Bermuda was beautiful but Norwegian was poorly represented throughout our vacation. We have all cruised many times, myself more than a dozen, previously with Carnival Cruise Lines. I was told that Norwegian is Superior to Carnival, We would definitely not agree. This cruise was twice the cost and not even half the experience and enjoyment that we have had in our previous cruises. Read Less

My husband and I have taken NCL cruises from The Manhatten Cruise Terminal once a year for the past 6 years. The last 3 years we have sailed on The Breakaway and have stayed in The Haven. This year was by far the worst trip ever. Service from the Butler and the Cabin Steward was terrible. For example the cabin steward told me that I must change out my beach towels myself. When I showed him the sign in our cabin stating a different policy where he changes them out the cabin steward replied "They don't give them to me." My mother in law who also stayed in The Haven in a different cabin did not have this ongoing issue and her towels were changed out daily by her cabin steward. When I asked the Butler he stated "I don't know". There are many other examples of terrible service in The Haven-holes in the bed linens, requested ice at turndown service and was only done 50% of the time, bath linens like wash clothes not changed out. Terrible service for a $7000 cabin. In addition the common areas in the Haven were taken over by toddlers. The parents and grandparents of the toddlers were more interested in drinking mass quantities of alcoholic beverages and smoking rather than paying attention to the children. The private Haven dining room became more like a Mc Donald's play land rather than a nice dining experience. Again not my expectations after paying $7000 for a cabin. If you like extremely poor service, the sound of screaming toddlers every minute that the Haven's pool is open and flying food and more screaming from toddlers the Haven is for you. If you are a lazy parent or grandparent who loves to drink and smoke and look on as your toddlers run wild in a small space you will love the Haven. Read Less

The advertised package included a 16 day transatlantic cruise from miami with stops in ponte delgado, brest france, brussels belgium, southampton u.k., rotterdam netherlands,copenhagen denmark, a 2 night post cruise hotel stay and the flight back to miami. also included were six specialty dining meals for two. the ship hit a log damaging on of the five azi pods outside ponte delgado. we were unable to dock at ponte delgado. the damage slowed our speed from 22 knots to 14 knots. as a result we reached southampton at noon instead of 8:00 a.m., were called to immigration at 2:30 p.m., stood in line for an hour and a half to show our passports, tell them we were flying home on 05/18 and actually set foot on land at 4:30 p.m. of course all of the things we wanted to see were closed by then. we had about 2 hours in brest france and had brussels dropped from our itinerary. fortunately we did make it to rotterdam and copenhagen on time. The food? the buffet was fine except for the noticeable lack of service. The "complimentary" restaurants (replaces dining rooms) were good for breakfast. my wife was served a raw chicken cordon bleu one night! another night our skewered shrimp and filet minion dinners were left cooling, and arrived cold along with lots of excuses, while meals arriving later were delivered! The entertainment? gone are the traditional large showrooms! they have been replaced by much smaller venues for which you need reservations, if you can get them. what are your odds as one of 4,000 passengers??? Formal nights? none!!! Gratuities? i for one feel that $13.99 per person per day is beyond excessive! furthermore, according to the purser, the company has programmed the computers so that they can't adjust the amount of your gratuity until one day before the cruise is over. i guess they figure it will be a mob at the last minute and most people will just give up. Self serve laundromats? none!!! Now i remember why out of my 17 or so cruises only three have been on norwegian!!! Avoid at all costs. not worth the $7,000.00 plus, including hotels and airfare from california to miami. in fact the best part was the flight home on sas. great airline!!! Read Less

We took this cruise because the dates were right for the amount of time my daughter was available. She finished exams Apr 22 and back to Spring classes May 1. We were very excited to cruise to Bermuda. The island was beautiful. We did the hidden gems excursion and well worth the price. Saw the entire island.It was a full day excursion. The problem was with the hotel director and his staff. There was absolutely no hospitality on the ship with guest relations all the way to the hotel director. We had a problem with guest relation deactivating are on board key cards. Which stayed deactivated for four days. We made purchases in the gift shop and told them we needed to transfer money from a saving to the MasterCard which would take a couple of days. There was no communication on board and we were blamed for the issue because they assumed we had no money. I have don't transfer that that in the passed we absolutely no problems at all. I have cruise on over 30 cruises about 18 with NCL . Still in disbelief on how we were treated. I won't cruise with them again. Appalled at the way we were treated. Read Less

We chose this cruise as a class reunion. The ship knew in advance the size of our party and promised reserved tables for us. Nobody informed the dining staff. The food was bland, way below average, and not always hot or cold as is should be. This dining staff was mostly polite, but very, very rushed and appeared inexperienced. Once on the ship, the "nickel and dime you to death" We are experience cruisers and expect a certain amount of "upsetting" but this was ridiculous. When we complained, the staff said "free at sea" was just a promotion. Truer words were never spoken. The entertain was blah, well below average, and CROWDED. In fact crowded with with a none-ending background of noise, noise, noise was the theme. The ship was diverted because of a hurricane, so we had more time at sea. The change of ports was necessary for our safety, but the choice of ports Cape Canaveral for a few hours - just recovering from a hurricane, and Nassau, not yet recovered. Nassau had just reopened its port (a priority) and the afternoon was spent on a taxi tour of an island crippled by no power, tree down, and houses destroyed. The driver said he had no electricity for 10 days. This was the highlight of the cruise? The only this we enjoyed was the company of class mates during our 60th reunion. Read Less

We chose this cruise specifically because we wanted to have three days in Bermuda to scuba dive. We had taken a prior trip on another cruise line several years ago and chose this itinerary because it offered the most time in Bermuda. Unfortunately, we did not get what we paid for because the ship never sailed to Bermuda. We waited in long lines to embark in spite of arriving early. Just prior to the time that the ship should have left port we heard an announcement from the Captain that due to a weather forecast of hurricane conditions in Bermuda later in the week, that we would most likely not be going to Bermuda and that the crew was working out a new itinerary. It was also announced that this time that the ship would be docked in NY overnight. A "nice" bonus of staying overnight in NY was that we got to pay NY taxes on all purchases on board that night. This meant that even though we had purchased the Premium Beverage package (supposedly with tax and gratuities included) that we had to pay NY taxes on all of our drinks while overnight in NY. Since this was not our choice to spend the night in NY, NCL could have covered the taxes, but they did not. The next day we left port early in the morning and an announcement was made that we were going to Port Canaveral for 10 hours on Wed. and Nassau, Bahamas for 6 hours on Thursday. It was also announced that as a "gesture of goodwill" NCL would give a $200 non-refundable on-board credit per cabin. I did the math, the $200 credit was 7% of the cruise fare that we paid (not including the specialty dining package or other extras). Hardly made up for the fact that we did not get the trip that we paid for. While NCL cannot control the weather (especially during Hurricane Season) they certainly could have notified passengers at check-in of the complete change in itinerary and offered us options to re-book or get a portion of our $$ back. They did not. So, we sailed to FL and the Bahamas with many other dissatisfied passengers. Having been on four previous cruises with another cruise line at a similar price point, we expected a certain level of service and attentiveness from the crew. Again, we were disappointed. We had good service in the specialty restaurants Teppanyaki and Moderno Churrascaria, but the service in the main dining rooms at breakfast and dinner was terrible. We waited more that 15 minutes in most cases to be greeted and offered drinks after being seated. Breakfast was the worst which seems counter-intuitive as it was much less busy than dinner. After two harrowing experiences with unruly crowds, dirty buffet plates in the clean rack, and no place to sit, we avoided the Garden Cafe (main buffet) unless we had no other options. The worst meal experience was also the most expensive - Ocean Blue. We were so looking forward to enjoying some seafood, but the best part of the meal was a beet salad that my spouse ordered. I ordered Stone Crab claws as an appetizer and they were waterlogged and tasteless. We did not participate in most of the activities on board. My spouse tried to attend a beer & whiskey pairing event, but it was full even though he arrived 15 min before it was scheduled to begin. This was indicative of most activities and facilities on this ship - over crowded. It did not seem that the crew added much to the daily activities agenda even though our change in itinerary made it so that the passengers were on on board for much longer than planned. There were a few highlights - the Ice Bar and the Thermal Spa were a nice features that were unique and enjoyable. The thing that we were most dismayed about was the fact that the crew seemed completely disinterested in their jobs and in working to make it a good experience for their guests. One example of this occurred while we were sitting on the pool deck (pool was closed for last 2 days of trip) - there was an empty cup lying on the walkway and three crew members (including an officer!) walked past it and never stopped to pick it up. Another example was that our stateroom attendant never came an introduced himself and our cabin was not serviced for the first two days of the cruise. We called housekeeping twice and no one answered the phone. It was not until we visited Guest Services to ask about this that it was addressed. Even then, the Guest Services crew member questioned us about having the Do Not Disturb indicator on (we didn't even know it was there!) We have never encountered this kind of lack of customer focus on our previous cruises. Overall, we are very disappointed in this experience. We gave NCL a try on this cruise, and they did not meet our expectations. It is doubtful that we will give them a second chance. Read Less

Where to begin? Like other reviews who reviewed our cruise, we called numerous times leading up to, and on the day of departure. NCL reps kept reassuring us Bermuda was our destination and would not change. All of this despite the fact all weather model guidance during the 3-5 days preceding our departure date were predicting Nicole was headed for Bermuda. About an hour after we embarked an announcement was made by the captain that our itinerary was changing and we would not be leaving port until the following day. I could barely hear this announcement as nobody quieted down to listen. We had to ask a few people to cobble together what was said. The looks on people's faces as they realized they were not going to Bermuda and NCL basically waited until the ship was fully boarded to make the announcement was one of anger. As a token of their appreciation NCL gave each passenger a $200 per stateroom onboard credit. Do you know what this $200 amounted to? It covered their mandatory gratuity charge. Gee, thanks NCL! Both Royal Caribbean and Carnival had to delayed and/or change itineraries for ships sailing around that time. Each of them offered passengers the chance to cancel for a full refund and both offered a heavy discount on a future cruise (100% RCL, 50% Carnival). Some passengers started getting wind of this and the anger got to a boiling point. The next day everyone learned our ports of call would be Port Canaveral and Nassau; both for less than half a day. And Nassau basically for a quick 5.5 hour stopover. Someone thats an insider with the industry told me NCL only tacked on Nassau so they wouldn't get fined as they were required to dock at an international port on this sailing. The hits keep on coming. NCL knew about the impending weather situation for Bermuda well ahead of time. In fact, they removed the weather advisory note on their website more than 36 hours prior to our departure, easing passengers into a sense of security regarding their Bermuda itinerary. This was their first chance to step up on par with RCL and CCL and send out weather alerts via website, text or automated call. They could have also offered cancellation for a refund. Instead they chose the bait and switch approach. Unbelievable business practices from a company that relies on repeat business. The second chance to rectify the situation was upon making the itinerary change announcement- they could have offered passengers a chance to cancel and disembark with a full refund like other lines did. Or they could have apologized for the 11th hour change and offered a 100% future credit. They did neither. What they did serve up was a collective slap in the face to roughly 4,000 people. I hate to make this review about NCL as a company but I believe it's important that people make an educated decision about where they place their "disposable" income. We all have many choices when it comes to cruise lines and vacationing in general. With NCL's lack of understanding and communication they basically guaranteed a majority of that cruise's passengers will look elsewhere next time they travel. A few quick points on the ship itself: - The size is only a hindrance because the ratio of staff to passengers is way too low. Oftentimes we waited well over 20 minutes for a drink. Having 1 bartender at a giant 3 station bar seems silly - and cheap. - The food was good. We ate at several specialty restaurants and all were above average. The buffet was mediocre but it's a buffet. Good for a snack. We never made it into the MDR - lines were always too long. Same food selection at Taste and Savor - go there instead. - There are two sides to O'Sheenans with two menus. The side with the games only offers a "snack" menu while the other, larger side offers an expanded menu during the day. That menu is reduced to the snack menu later at night. - The shows are very good. It was the best part about this ship. Book Rock of Ages and Burn the Floor before you get on the ship. Weeks ahead of time if possible. They are great shows and fill up fast. - Many nights they play piano music at Shakers. Manny is the pianist's name and he's very talented. - Howl at the Moon was fun but repetitive. Same songs most nights. These guys are also very talented. - The sports/activity course seemed to be closed every time we tried to go. Any kind of wind and these shut down. - Don't even think about using the pool. Can't get near it. - Having the game shows and trivia in the atrium is a complete joke. These turned out to be very popular events (given we didn't really go to any ports) and many times we arrived 30 minutes early and could not get a seat. I'd say more people stood around or had to sit upstairs at O'Sheenans than could sit around the screen. These need to be moved to the theater. That's everything I have off the top of my head. There's nothing that could have been done to salvage the Bermuda call but NCL had every opportunity to present itself as a company that takes care of its passengers in the end and it failed miserably. Suggest taking your hard earned vacation dollars to Royal Caribbean or Carnival. It's a safer bet they'll try to make things right when things go wrong. Read Less

This was by far our worst cruise on NCL. There was a complete lack of communication before embarkation that the itinerary was being changed from three days Bermuda to nine hours in Port Canaveral and six hours in Nassau with no excursions. Basically, with no excursions in Nassau and the shops closing at 5:00, we basically had two hours in Nassau. All in all, it was a seven day cruise to nowhere with a ship full of drunks. Never again ... on top of the lack of communication, NCL has the worst customer service of the three lines we previously sailed. I have politely and succinctly raised concerns twice with NCL (I even put them in writing) and still no response. Perhaps I should have been drunk and loud like the rest of the passengers at Guest Services. I have grave concerns about cruising with a line that does not respond to passenger concerns. If this is what happens with itinerary changes, then I don't want to be aboard when something far more significant occurs. On the plus side, Tapenaki and Rock of Ages were good entertainment. Cirque was merely OK - I recommend the two-story Spiegel Tent on the Epic. PS - no "fill the bag" laundry offered mid-cruise. You now have to pay by the piece. Read Less

During the week leading up to our cruise departure, due to Hurricane Matthew and Tropical Storm (at the time) Nicole, I checked daily on possible itinerary changes up to and including Saturday night at 9 PM. We were consistently told that there was no anticipated itinerary changes. We arrived at the Pier at about 945 AM for a check in slot of 10-1030 AM. Again we inquired of any possible changes and again were told, 'of course not'. We boarded about 1150 AM. It was at 3 PM (when you would anticipate most if not ALL passengers were at least checked in) when the Captain announced that we were NOT going anywhere near Bermuda, that we would not sail today, that we would sail in the morning but we didn't know yet where we would sail?!?!?!? Later that night, miraculously, we received the news that we would sail to Port Canaveral and Nassau, 2 ports that were hit just days prior by Hurricane Matthew. To add insult to injury we would arrive late to both ports, noon to Port Canaveral and 3 PM to Nassau. Not only were neither port even closely comparable to Bermuda they also had very few excursion options and in fact Norwegian didn't even run any shore excursions in Nassau. In my opinion, ALL of the decisions made by Norwegian were based on THEIR financial interest and not the satisfaction of their customers. There is NO WAY that Norwegian didn't know exactly what they were doing and what they would do.That said I believe that were loaded onto the ship and were in essence held hostage for the week. In any case what they did was at best UNETHICAL and at worst FRAUDULENT! Now a few words about the ship and my service during my week of captivity...the Breakaway was put into service in 2013...a newer ship you would think but still in the stone ages with design flaws (financial decisions again). There are over 18 million Americans that have been diagnosed with sleep apnea and yet there were no outlets at bedside into which you cold plug a CPAP machine. The result of this is that you have to borrow an extension cord and create a tripping hazard in your stateroom. The ship's main theatre was too small for a ship that has a potential 4000 passenger maximum. The seating capacity is slightly over 1000 but the real problem is that because Norwegian wanted to put the most people they could in the smallest area they could, the incline between rows is not steep enough...so much so that when a person of average stature sits in front of you they completely block your view to the stage. The jogging track is a joke; it is very narrow and in a very congested part of the ship, if some one is going slower and you try to pas them on the right or left you would have to navigate lounge chairs, what a joke!! Finally ALL of the general passenger areas are too small for a ship that potentially has 4000 passengers. People were on top of each other everywhere!! The business model for Norwegian Cruise line is severely flawed because the Freestyle system does little to motivate the crew to offer good service let alone courteous service. I would say that about 75% of the crew could just about look at you and those that did were looking at you in disgust because you were an inconvenience to them. The only exception to this were those in the foodservice area. Again the Freestyle business model does NOT work when you look at the disembarkation where they put out multiple color luggage tags and passengers pick the color (time) that they want to join to disembark with no capacity controls...fine on paper but when the majority of the passengers pick the same color/time there are tremendous bottlenecks on the ship and the terminal as we experienced on the day of our release. Obviously, I will NEVER consider a cruise on Norwegian no matter the price and or itinerary. Read Less

We were very unhappy with the way NCL handled the re routing of the ship. Even though the storms were well known they did not inform us that we were not going to Bermuda until we were on the ship. We were not given any alternatives or information about rescheduling. Most everyone on board was outraged at NCL for not calling this out before we boarded, and offering to reschedule those that did not want to travel to Cape Canaveral or Nassau which is where we went. Everyone understood why we werent headed for Bermuda but we felt trapped and completely controlled for a week by NCL. They we only concerned for themselves and their business. I really like to make a complaint about this cruise whereas me and my wife were not very Happy. For me its my 4th time I take a cruise and the captain appeared to everyone in other cruises I went to but in this cruise he appeared to whom he chosed to and we felt indifferent and left out. This is the worst cruise I ever went where the service was horrible were supposed to go to 7 days in Bermuda but instead they cancelled it because of a hurricane in which I understood. We lost a day at sea and stayed a night in New York city Port and plus I wasn’t happy the choice they made in picking the islands of Port Canaveral and Nassau Bahamas and the hours in which given to us to visit. In which both went through hurricane Matthew as well and the hours for Port Canaveral was from 1pm to 9pm and Bahamas 3pm to 9pm in which while visiting Paradise Island, the beach was closed. So all of it we didn’t go to either beach because of the weather and circumstances. Plus the charges to go to Bermuda port for 3 days I paid 160.00 for each person and we went only 2 days on port Canaveral and Nassau which is a lot less. Other complains I had was that on the fourth schedule day, me and my wife went on deck 16 in H2O section where the Dj was playing 70 disco music. On the boat, it was a bit rough and that night it rained. The floors were completely wet and while we were dancing my wife slipped and fell hurting her foot and couldn’t walk or get up. When she managed gingerly to get up and walk, only then they took action to dry the floors. She really hurt herself from her leg to her foot. We were really upset at what happened. We went to the 5th floor to see the doctor but he was not available. We went to see the service department the next day and explained the situation. At the complimentary restaurants we went to, some of the waiters were very rude and served others before us and made us wait long and always forgot what we ordered. We told them why but they ignored us to answer. So me and my wife want to know is if we can have a total refund of our money. Read Less

As you are aware the sailing of the Norwegian Breakaway on 10/9/16 was rerouted due to the hurricane. Now let me start by saying that I understand hurricanes happen and itineraries can change. My whole issue is how NCL responded to this : 1.) NCL lies to ALL of us and says there are no itinerary changes. They do this so we will all board because the more people u have onboard the more money NCL will make 2.) they announce the nite we are supossed to depart nyc that we are now going to Port Canaveral and Nassau. And keep us docked for almost a day and a half in NYC. So they wasted a day and a half of our cruise. We could have been at their private island had they of not wasted a day and a half in NYC. Granted they were probably trying to find us ports to dock but think about this a 7 nite cruise to bermuda where we were supossed to be docked for three days now turns into two stops! 3.) Who books a cruise to go to Port Canaveral? Then they get us to Nassau at 330 pm where it gets dark by 6 pm and because of this they offer no excursions for Nassau. Does this sound like a vacation? 4.) NCL decided to give all staterooms an onboard credit of $200 per stateroom due to the change of itinerary and wasting time in NYC. Really? 98 percent of us stayed on this boat for 7 nites and did not ever get off the boat. All i did was drink and eat on this cruise! THIS WAS NOT A VACATION. I CAN EAT AND DRINK AT HOME. 5.) Dont they want us as customers to come back ? Dont they want to satisfy their customers ? All of us kept waiting to hear we were being offered money back or a discount on a future cruise. I have had this happen before where i was rerouted and Royal Carribbean gave us all a $150 onboard credit and $300 to use on a future cruise if we booked within two years. 6.) I and many others tried to get off this boat when we remained docked in NYC. I thought well if we get off, NCL will be nice and offer us a refund or let us book another cruise?? Boy was i wrong . NCL said if i got off there would be no refunds because i boarded! So kudos to u NCL u got us all on the boat and made money off of us for 7 nites.i could have not boarded because i had travel insurance. I easily could have gotten a dr's not saying was unable to travel due to a virus! But they lied and got me on as 3500 other cruisers . 3 days we were to be docked in bermuda and because of the hurricane we get crap ports... port canaveral and a stop in nassau that is so late we cant even do excursions. Would u pay for a vacation for that? Bottom line is we paid for a Bermuda cruise and we did not get a Bermuda Cruise. A Bermuda cruise is significantly a lot more money than a cruise to Nassau and Port Canaveral. Ncl should have recognized this. 7.) ropes course was only opened twice in a 7 day pd, Ocean Blue outside which was supossed to be open on sea days was only opened once, the sports decks were closed 80 percent of the time because of the weather, the food was always cold especially in the specialty restaurants, and ncl entertainment was horrible. They cannot act and have had the same shows going for almost 3 years. 8.) Satisfy your customers please. I guess its no skin off your back u made your money. But what about us who booked this cruise to go to bermuda and worked our butts off to pay for this cruise? We didnt book this cruise to eat and drink. Granted again itineraries can change but as a major corporation u should be wanting to make it up to us and do whatever u can to keep us as customers . . Things happens, weather happens and circumstances get in the way of things.....but satisfy your customers !!!! Carnival and Royal Caribbean both rerouted that week because of the hurricane and they gave onboard credit and a discount offer future Cruise! Read Less

I have been on 5 Norwegian cruises, with the 6th cruise already scheduled prior to this cruise. I have also cruised on other cruise lines in the past. This was absolutely the worst vacation I have ever been on. Unfortunately, our cruise was diverted from Bermuda because of the hurricane but that isn't why I am so upset with Norwegian. The service received on this cruise was horrible. Food, bar, casino, and entertainment. The only positive thing I have to say is that my room steward kept my room clean for 7 days. Food service and quality was ridiculous. Waiting time to be served was horrible. Staff was not attentive, felt like I had to ask constantly for someone to PLEASE take our order. We got up and left after waiting over an hour for someone to take our order, not just once but twice. Bar service in the casino was almost as bad. Could not get into any entertainment options because every option was FULL prior to us being told that you had to register ahead of time. This cruise was expensive (not counting the fact that we had to fly to New York) just to get on the ship from Missouri. So paying twice as much as normal to be treated horribly and see absolutely NOTHING (Port Canaveral & Bahamas) after the hurricane makes me furious at Norwegian because of the complete disregard for my business by failing to answer the phone, respond via mail or email. Customer service has left me waiting every time I call for over 30 minutes a total of 11 times as of today. I have yet been able to speak to a live person. 2 emails & 11 calls, NO RESPONSE!!! I do NOT recommend cruising with Norwegian. Read Less

I chose this cruise as an easy port of departure to visit Bermuda. The international crew is friendly. While the ship is well laid out, they have made it a "smoker friendly" environment with indoor smoking in the casino and multiple outdoor smoking areas. The inside of the ship reeks of cigarette smoke and I constantly could smell smoke on my 9th deck balcony. The meals in the "complementary" Manhattan Room were not memorable and featured a boring menu with small portions and minimal vegetables. On the same menu you could pay extra for additional meals (lobster, etc). I traveled with a group of 32 and arrangements were made for us to eat at four reserved tables. The table service was consistently poor and so was the drink service. The two themed buffet lunches in the Cafe Moderno were very good. The embarkation was plagued by IT/computed problems. The disembarkation was poorly executed, with walk-offs having priority over our tour group, which then took us 1.5 hours to get to our bus. Having sailed one previous time with NCL, I will never sail with NCL again. Read Less

If you think that spending a week with the cast of Jersy Shore sounds like fun then by all means book a sailing on the Breakaway. While we did run in to a handful of nice and polite fellow guests they were certainly in the minority. Here is who your fellow passangers are: Loud, me first, pushing, shoving, foul mouthed jerks. NCL has chosen to market to the lowest common denominator of those that live the great New York City area and this combines with NCL's every escalating ala carte style of reaching into your pocket while cruising makes for a truly miserable experience. Even if the fellow passengers had been the nicest people in the world I would not recommend this cruise for one key reason: the food offerings ranged from meh to dreadful. We had perhaps two good meals the whole time that we were on board and that was in Ocean blue (burning a Specialty meal cards AND an "upgrade charge") and the other decent meal we had was in Cagneys. By far the most horrible meal we had was in Le Bistro which, with the menu changes NCL made earlier this year, has now become some horrible Americanized and cost saving driven version of French food that would make the French themeselves weep and nash their teeth. What do I mean? Here is an example: A Warm Goat Cheese salad, which is a French cuisine classic featuring a good church of goat cheese warmed in the over and served with a salad dressed with a French vinegrette, was instead a salad with Argula mixed with romaine lettuce accompanied by two very small rounds of French bread smeared with less than a teaspoon of goat cheese. The Duck confit was actually a chopped mixture of cooked "duck" formed like a meatloaf patty topped with mashed potatoes and the rack of lamb has been replaced with "lamb tenderloin" which was roughly 3-4 oz of over cooked lamb with about a teaspoon of sauce. NCL also continues to find more and more creative uses of the ala carte impulse buying concept of cruisers by charging you for everything possible. I swear that it won't be long before NCL wants to charge you for the soap and toilet paper in your state room. You can expect that your ultimate beverage package doesnt include essentials like bottled water, which NCL now forbids you to bring on (as well as ANY liquid beverages at all as of July 2016) so that the can charge you an obscene amount of money to buy a water package while on board. Most activities on board are either things you must pay extra for (mini golf, rock climbing wall, any group fitness classes, etc) or "activities" that are really a prolonged sales pitch for something NCL really wants you to impulse buy on board. Quasi medical procedures and/or products are disguised as information lectures or "ladies pamper parties". The $20 Beer, Wine or Whiskey tastings include such unusual products as Sam Adams or Jack Daniels, and all items "tasted" are also available in your UBP so why pay $20 bucks to hear you bartender extols the virtual of a beer you can buy at your supermarket at home? Service was moderately ok, but it was pretty clear that the staff takes a lot of abuse from the crowd that NCL has decided to attract and therefore many of them have a "whatever" attitude. Clearly being assigned to this ship amounted to a form of punishment for many of the crew members we spoke to who all said that they would not do more that one contract on this particular ship. And that should tell you something about the experience you can expect if you choose to take this cruise. I should add that I am a Lattitudes Gold member having taken a fair share of Crusise with this line. But this one will be my last. I simply can not recommend this line to anyone at this point because there is nothing special or relaxing about being barraged with a week long sales pitch at every turn while being fed low quality food. I will be finding another line to cruise with and I suggest that you do the same. Years ago when I first started sailing this line I would have recommended then to friends and family. Now I recommend you find other options. Read Less

The staff was horrible, the food was horrendous and the entertainment was almost non existent. You can no longer bring water or soda on board but you can bring wine probably because they charge a corkage fee. Don't even try to contest the water policy because they file a report with the mall security team on the ship and then they threaten to remove you from the ship... Had sailed on NCL 10 or 11 times but never again. Cruiser beware. 75 % of the time water stations in cafe were out of order or lacking ice. Free flavored drinks constantly out of the flavoring. Can't remove tips on ship for people who like to personally pay the servers you have to go on line and fill out a form to get tips removed. It's all about the money not the customer anymore. Don't cruise on this ship it sucks. Read Less

Too many hidden costs and not enough activities. I injured myself on the second day of the cruise on one of the cleaning karts due to the narrow corridors. It's also very difficult to meet people and all of the restaurants had the exact same menu and cooks daily. Nothing to do past 11 pm except gamble at the casinos as even movies were done. The food was of very poor quality at buffets and they could not even make rice. Customer service was incompetent and could not help you after waiting hours in line and much of your cruise is spent waiting for help with service such as for dysfunctional Internet service. You pay daily for cabin service whether your cabin is serviced or not and they also charge outrageous prices for bottled water left in your room. I'd rather know all the costs up front beforehand than to be nickeled and dimed all throughout the cruise. The cabins were not cleaned. Read Less

We went on this cruise for a wedding / honeymoon for my best friend. I have cruised before, but never with Norwegian. After this experience I will NEVER go on another Norwegian cruise ship again! The ship & room was mediocre at best. We paid for a mini suite and we could barely fit 2 people on our balcony. The people who came in a cleaned the room were the friendliest staff on the ship! I have never been on a cruise where the service staff was horrific to a point you didn't even want to ask them for anything cause you didn't want to deal with their attitude. Everyone had an attitude problem when you asked them for something and acted like they hated being there, which definitely rubs off. The food was disgusting and when you ordered food at the sit down places it would often come out cold or over cooked, unless you went to their pay for restaurant. Cruises normally have great food, so this was very disappointing. There were more restaurants you had to pay for then not, which when you spend that much money on a vacation you should not have to keep coming out of pocket! They charged for every little thing they could squeeze out of you. They had 2 restaurants included in the package that were sit down order places that were only open for a total of 3 hours a day! 1 hour for breakfast, 1 hour for lunch, and 1 hour for dinner! If you didn't make it before they closed your options were buffet, which I hate, or pay for your food. The amenities of the ship were horrible, and there were kids in areas that were adults only with no monitoring! The last thing that in your 30's you want to do it go to a dance club with 14 year olds drinking and bumping into you! There was no control by staff of the 21 and up areas at all. The casino smelled like stale cigarettes and sweat! I dreaded having to walk through it! The ice bar on ship is a joke! if it was't for a special event that we went I would have demanded my money back! Its a small freezer they cramp people in and give them a drink and call it an ice bar. After going to the Ice Pub in Prague I had something to compare it to, and it was a joke. Don't waste your money! The ship upon arrival had no organization on how to efficiently disembark, it took us 2 hours to get off the ship and go through customs! And we carried our bags off. Bermuda was amazing! I would not shore change this amazing island and wish we would have booked a flight to Bermuda and spent the week there in this charming and gorgeous island! Definitely a must see and would be cheaper than taking a cruise! Excursions were awesome and pricing was fair. Do yourself and your pockets a favor and go directly to Bermuda! Biggest waste of $6500! My husband and I could have went to Europe with that money! Read Less