I will never go on a NCL ever again after the experience my boyfriend and I had. We did get a good price because we booked it two weeks before our sail date. However, it was not worth what we paid. One of the only things we enjoyed was seeing the stand-up comedians and a comedic magician in the Breakaway Theater. They were both very talented and amusing. As for the things we did not like...when we first got on the ship and into our room, our toilet would not flush and I had to tell a worker who then said the entire hallway's toilets were not working either. The first island we were supposed to dock at was Bahamas. The morning of that, the captain said we would not be stopping at all because of the windy conditions. While I understand that they cannot control the weather, I feel like we should of been compensated in some way for missing an entire port - the one I was most excited for. Because of that, we were at sea for another whole day. In addition, the main pool was closed for 2 days because of the wind. Again, another compensation would of been nice. Two days at sea and no one can even swim? Also, the tendering process was by far the worst and most unorganized process I've ever experienced on a cruise. And this is my 5th cruise. We had specific times we were supposed to be on the tender, but the tender boats were hours late for every port. This made us very late for our NCL booked excursions those days. In Cozumel we were supposed to be at our excursion meeting point at 12:15 pm for a 4.5 hour excursion - a speedboat and snorkel session for $135 per person. The ticket said allow 45 minutes for tendering so we needed to be on the tender around 11:30 am. We were all forced to wait in the theater until at least 1:00 pm because they said there were no tenders for anyone yet. While the speed boats were fun our snorkel session was about 20 minutes and I saw about 5 fish total. Then he made us get back in the speed boat and return to shore at 2:30 pm. We were very upset we did not get to have the full time. The taxis picked us up at 3:45 pm. When we complained to the Shore Excursion desk, the lady was rude and did not believe us. She ended up giving us both 20% off the excursion after arguing with her for 20 minutes. Lastly, the food was not the best. My boyfriend and I had to eat at the buffet at least one meal a day because there was not many complimentary places to eat at. And the Manhattan Room (main dining room) was not very big and a dress code is required for men. I've cruised with NCL before and the last time was nothing like this. I do not recommend Norwegian Breakaway. Read Less

We chose this cruise based on their itinerary and length totally forgetting this is the beginning of Spring break, more later.... We left Cape Canaveral on March 3 and returned March 8th. Our destinations were Key West Fl. and Cozumel MX. The ship was the Norwegian Sun. This ship is one of the smaller ships in service in the Florida Caribbean circuit, the Norwegian Sun was renovated last year and it still has a clean ambiance to it and the cabin was still very fresh, actually, the cabin was the best part of the cruise in my opinion. The trip as a whole rates a 3 out of 5 in our opinion, there was some good and some not so good issues with this cruise, nothing horrible but nothing great either. Being Spring break, The young adults aboard for this cruise were definitely out for a good time BUT ship security were very good at keeping control of the situation at all times. Evening was quite busy to be expected and the young adults were out in full attire to attract their mates, it was rather nice watching, yes a lot of drinking BUT again they all seemed to be well under control, I've seen much worse at local bars in our city. The food on this cruise was simply put okay, the specialty restaurants we ate at were nothing special, we ate at the Italian and Steakhouse, both were in many ways disappointments, especially the steakhouse as I was expecting something much better. The beef was not very flavourful nor the texture very appealing, we feel, we may have done just as good having dinners at the buffet. We did spent a lot of time in the casino after dinner, oh how I wish they would ban smoking in those places, the smell is just so overpowering. So as a final note, like all cruises, this one had it's issues, nothing great but nothing horrible, would we cruise Norwegian again? I doubt it, we prefer the other lines we have travelled much more and next cruise will be with Celebrity we expect... Read Less

Due to having to use tenders, one port was canceled. At the other two, it took hours to re-board. The cruise director did a TERRIBLE job of communicating in Cozumel. Yes, there were a lot of ships which I understand makes it more congested. However, they refused to communicate over the loudspeakers as to how we were to disembark on the tenders, leading to mass confusion. It took us 4 hours to get off the ship. We were told they were going to make sure we got there for the excursion, but that time came and went. Then they said the excursions would wait, but when we finally got ashore we were told they left without us. We had a grand total of 2 hours at the port before we stood in line another 2 hours to get back on the boat. I completely blame the cruise director and the crew for their terrible communication and organization. They made an already difficult situation 10 times worse and ruined our vacation. I used to love Norwegian but I will never sail with them again after this. Learn how to make proper announcements so people can plan accordingly and disembark in an organized manner. The dining was actually good, especially Ocean Blue. Many of the cruise staff were amazing through everything, but several were really obnoxious. We missed our first port because of choppy waters, but Jamaica and Grand Cayman were awesome. I highly recommend the ATV excursion in Jamaica and checking out Seven Mile Beach in Grand Cayman. The parties on the ship were lackluster at best, and we really missed the white party which they normally have on Norwegian but didn't this time. Syd Norman Pour House was cool for music but usually too crowded to enjoy. Same thing for the pool. The shows were great as well. We loved Six! All in all, I would not go on another huge ship like the Breakaway again. Q Read Less

1st time cruise Waited in extreme long lines to tender off and on the ship,Over 2 hours each way. I feel we should have been compensated because lf lack of enough tenders to get us off the Ship. Leaving us with little time in each port It was my understanding with the price we paid we would get Steak and lobster .. The lobster was a additional charge /same for crab legs. Most places to eat charged extra, even with specialty dining package. Did not make the first port (Bahamas) due to rough seas. Most music was bad. we seen as little as 25 people watching a show The Champagne Catamaran excursion should have been canceled as well. That was a joke trying to get people on and off their boat without falling in Was made to wear a lifejacket when snorkeling ( I don't think they understand you must go underwater to snorkel. another joke ) They have a Bar called Bar 21 worst bar for service. There were video poker machines at each seat at the bar . Some worked some won't If you sat at a broken one they wouldn't take your drink order You were told to move to another machine .All bartenders ignored you. I guess they thought we should be paying for each drink Never again Read Less

I have been on few cruises with RCL, Carnival before, and this is my first time with NCL, the experience with NCL is the lowest I must say. Highlights: - Smooth Embarkation - Great service by most Restaurant staff - Clean Ship Lowlights: - Poor quality of buffet at Garden Cafe and low quality food at some restaurants similar to those at University canteens but with more varieties - Need to pay extra for specialty dining but overall quality was meh, worst part they charge some items in addition to the already paid package meaning you pay twice. With RCL and Carnival its free with much better quality - Overall Quality of nightly entertainments in the theatre were low, one show we even left without finish watching it, the next night they had the same show so we didn't even bother going - We were supposed to visit 4 islands, first one due to wind we missed without any alternative island or compensation, well things happened..2nd island Ocho Rios weather was not good so not their fault, Cayman by the time we were able to get on the tender and landed we only got 3 hours to visit the beach and back, last Cozumel we were the second group to get on the tender so thought we would have plenty of time to do things but again it was their fault to let us disembark very late so it left us a bit over 3 hours to do things, can't imagine those disembark much later than us may just get a drink somewhere, go to washroom and have to go back with a long line up. - Overall Guest Services is poor, and the guy from Chile seems like he is doing you a favour for letting you ask questions and answering you. I do not know the other cruises with NCL so can't comment on them. Would I recommend Breakaway? I would recommend to stay far away from it. Read Less

We chose this cruise for a 65 birthday occasion, and for snorkelling. This is our 10th cruise (all but one Norwegian) and we’re looking forward to it. Paid extra for Vibe, and then suffered from lack of service. First two days closed (but that was the weather). I understand th ere is “no refunds for weather” but really, when you pay over $400 that is too much for like max 6 hours use. Also the bartender (s) spent too much time at the outsid bar, three times we had to go there to be served. Paid for the spa upgrade and for 2 days there was no hot tub and no water/tea Fruit. Food was ok, esp in specialty restaurants, and manhattan room. Six was great! Took too long for tenders on Cozumel. And it seemed “groups” were given priority, not platinum level members or ncl booked shore excursions. So out three snorkelling trips turned out to be one half excursion. Not enough trivia! Read Less

Very disappointed with this cruise. The people that worked on the ship were the rudest people ever. With that being said our cabin steward Jason was AWESOME!! The room was ok the. They did an excellent job keeping our hands washed and ship clean. We are over the age of 18 and we visited deck 16 H2O Spice bar everyday. The bar was not opened until 2:00 everyday and they closed at 5:00 everyday due to private parties. Very rude the way they made everyone leave...…..the beverage selection was awesome. Guest Services were a JOKE!!!! Getting off the boat In Grand Caymen and Cozmuel was the most disorganized thing I have ever been a part of. The food was fair.....nothing to brag about. I would not recommend this Cruise to anyone. We will think long and hard about future cruise travel. My advice to them get employees that like their job. Read Less

We chose this cruise mostly due to it's economical price. But, also it fit into our schedule and after 2 cruises on another line we thought we would give Norwegian another try. We really liked Port Canaveral. It had good baggage service, the signage was easy to follow, and the Customer service reps were friendly and helpful. The Boarding process went smoothly as well. Once we found where to register for the VIBE and restaurant reservations, things went pretty smoothly. We did have one snafu when registering for the VIBE, the rep did not realize we wanted to reserve a cabana and needed to start over with our reservation. The original reservation was not cancelled which resulted in a double charge to our account. NCL was quick to adjust the mistake. The ship was clean and easy to navigate, Our room was also clean and a nice size. 2 complaints though, the balcony was very small in comparison to other ships and the bathroom smelled of urine which progressively got worse throughout the cruise. Probably due to keeping a permanent toilet brush inside the room, not a good choice. We found the food in the dining room much improved since the last time we cruised with NCL We ate at 3 specialty restaurants, the food was good, but nothing special. The biggest complaint was the service. It was spotty at best. Sometimes we would wait forever between courses. Once my husband did not get one of his courses. Sometimes though the service was excellent. Also, making reservations in the main dining room did not get us priority seating and we were sometimes seated in areas next to service stations or in corners of the room when there was plenty of space including window seats. The biggest disappointment was the VIBE, a special adults only area which we reserved for an extra fee. Because you pay extra it is supposed to come with top notch service with extras such as meal and drink service. For $600.00 we had reserved a cabana which was a small clam shell shaped enclosed area with 2 lounge chairs. It was nice on windy days, but like an oven on sunny days. We had little to no service. We had to go to the bar to get our own drinks and were never offered meal service. The one day it was too hot to be in our cabana and sat outside of it, we got the best service which was still poor. We noticed that our bar tenders were busy serving guests in the area outside of the VIBE. It was an unusual set up, the bar extended from the VIBE into the outside area so the bar tenders had to serve both areas. There were usually only 2 of them. Shame on you NCL. We would not recommend going to Falmouth unless you are going on an excursion. Once, outside the port shopping area we were constantly approached by the locals to visit their stores go on their excursions etc. Very uncomfortable and felt dangerous. We went to only one show which we enjoyed. We would have liked to go to a couple others ,but they were held in small bar areas which did not have enough seating. So, we would not recommend the VIBE, Falmouth, or specialty dining unless you get it as a package deal as we did. We would recommend dining in the main dining room, the buffet choices were good so would recommend that. But, all in all it was just an o.k. experience. Read Less

My parents took us on this cruise as a way to introduce us to one of their favorite past times. While it wasn’t flawless, it was incredible and we cannot wait to cruise again! HIGHLIGHTS: staff, beautiful ship, fun atmosphere, cabin LOWLIGHTS: leaving :( The first two days of the trip were rough seas. The ship’s staff did everything they could to help make us comfortable. 4/5 of us did just fine while one person spent one day a little green, but recouped with Dramamine and Sea Bands. On/Off: Embarkation was easier than I anticipated. Disembarkation was as well despite some guests immediately reverting to rudeness once we returned to port. Ship: The ship itself is beautiful! She had everything we needed and even in 7 nights we didn’t see or do everything. I have heard many complaints about the layout of the ship, but there wasn’t a smoky smell throughout-just in certain areas of the casino. Cabin: Our cabin had a balcony and was more than enough space and storage. We were comfortable for our entire voyage. Our room connected to my parents on deck 13. It was a great location especially to Splash Academy dropoff/pickup on deck 12. Dining: The Garden Cafe on deck 15 was my son’s favorite and had varied, tasty options. Occasionally something wasn’t up to par, but it is what it is but you can go pick something else and find your favorites. The hash brown circles in the morning were a must! During our trip, they went from self serve to staff serve due to Coronavirus and the staff handled this gracefully. I honestly wish it would stay this way. Teppenyaki was good for our first night, but not as incredible as I expected based off reviews. The Manhattan Room was hands down one of our favorites. Chrisologo was one of the best servers I have ever had anywhere! The food was delicious and the menu changes slightly each day. La Cucina was good per my parents report. Moderno Churrascaria was okay- seemed rushed, but the food was good- especially the fried yucca, Brazilian cheese bread, and white rice. The American Diner was slow and stumbly for service, but the food was phenomenal and it was a nice little escape. Entertainment: Wonderful! Highly recommend the Howl at Sea experience. My son loved Splash Academy and the kids pool. Decks 17 and 18 were closed due to high winds for almost all of our cruise so no bungee jump, mini golf, or ropes course, but we had plenty to do and this didn’t alter our experience. Service: I cannot day enough about this! These crew members were out of this world and went out of their way to ensure a good time was had and Coronavirus changes were implemented smoothly. This was all despite the fact that the cruise industry was shutting down and they would be out of jobs for the foreseeable future. I applaud them for being away from their families for so long and bringing so much joy despite some pushy, elitist people on board. Ports: Great Stirrup Cay cancelled due to weather. I was fine with this as I wouldn’t have wanted to tender in the waves we were riding. Ochos Rios Jamaica offered great excursions and was enjoyable. Do the chair lift and bobsled even if wary of heights it was a highlight and not as scary as I thought! Grand Cayman was fun, but the tendering process back to the ship was long and hot. We waited in line for an hour due to difficulties, but staff brought drinks and cool towels out. Cozumel another tendering mess, but I think this was less due to NCL and more due to world events. The port itself was fun and I wish we had been there longer! Other: My son had to visit the hospital for bronchitis and the nurse, Diogo, and doctor were fantastic, caring, and thorough! No trip will be perfect, but you gettin out of it if you can go with the flow. I am already researching other cruises and contacting NCL about the staff members I have mentioned here. Read Less

We had a fabulous time on board the Breakaway. The ship is beautiful. There is so much to do. Great shows, comedy club, live bands, games, movies, pub, dining. And lots of daily activities to participate in, if you choose. We loved the Manhatten Room, Ocean Blue and La Cucina for dinners. The stateroom was great! Comfy beds and pillows. The wait staff were terrific. Our cabin steward was awesome. All of the staff we encountered were friendly and so accommodating. And very hard working. Always a smile for us. We got off on each of the islands, except for Stirrup Cay. Due to rough water and wind we were unable to tender to it. Can't wait for our next cruise. It will be with Norwegian!! We were the last cruise due to the Covid-19 virus. We were very happy with the precautionary measures Norwegian took to help keep everyone safe. Great job! Read Less

I thought this would be the most pleasureable cruise to take.. Boy was I wrong!! Terrible, Terrible, Terrible This cruise was done on the last ship (Breakaway) before the corona virus shut down. Crew served the food at buffet. (Another princess druise was found to have 21 cases of corona virus. 19 of 21 infected were crew members not passengers. But the crew was instructed tofeed us...dumb) Never stopped at ports without tenuring (Wife gets sick from smaller boats). Boat always seemed to be running late or last place to other cruises. Treated like the passengers were infected with corona virus. Food was served over more than once (reheated) and way below average cooking. Meat was so tough I thought it would break my bridge work. this happened more often than not. I thought norwegian cruise lines was above an average cruise but it was worse than the cheapest cruise I've taken. My expectations were so much higher of norwegian cruise lines and to get treated like we did was absolutely discusting. I'll never be back!!! Read Less

We have been on 18 cruises since 2000 with 9 of those cruises being NCL. The wind, Majesty, Sky twice, Pride of America, Pearl, Epic and Bliss. Last March we went on the Bliss and it was great. In December we went on the Royal Caribbean Symphony of the Seas and it to was a great experience. I don't know where to start on the break away but the first issues was the microscopic balcony, almost unusable due to being so narrow. The room layout was not very well thought out with the closet being parallel with the bed. Also, very limited storage for a mini-suite. The shower is nice with full closing doors. The main dinning room is way to small and there is always a wait. The specialty restaurants, small but having great food are hard to get reservations. The pool floor is a joke with a bad lay out and design. The main out door pool area should be much bigger for a ship that carries 4000 people. The Up town Bar and Grill hamburger joint on 16 is a waste of space and should be redesigned. The casino layout is the worst of any ship I have been on except for the Epic. Having the Casino located at the atrium makes the ship a lot more smokey. The worst part of the cruise, even though it was better than being at work, was the food in the Manhattan Restaurant was maybe a few points better than a Golden Corral restaurant. The Garden Cafe was also just a lot of cheap food even though their Omelettes were great and the milk, ice cold. Aboard the Symphony of the Seas the fresh squeezed OJ was included with the drink package, $3.00 of Breakaway. Also RCCL has lobster night, not NCL. I think NCL needs to rethink Free Style Cruising and stop cheapening it out . It's a great idea but they need better quality food, ships that can accommodate the amount of guest on board with more common areas and not just more rooms. Read Less

Dining: All 3 complimentary dining rooms were very crowded every night. Menu didn't change much over 7 days. They added a couple entrees each night. Sorry to find out Prime Rib was never served! Entertainment: Theater shows were crowded, reservations were needed some nights. They have another venue with a dinner & show which of course was an extra fee. There were no house band(s) playing music for dancing and really no place to dance except on the aft deck outside. The Bliss Lounge was very small and not used much at all. Music was basically a DJ. I've been on smaller ships with 2 bands playing every night in different dance venues. There was a small lounge with rock bands which was very loud and crowded. Only entertainment bright spot was the 3 comedians and "dueling pianos" in the Headliners Comedy club. Pools: No separate one for for adults, packed with kids every day. Elevators: Only 2 banks, one fwd, one aft always crowded, should have a third bank. Margaritaville restaurant has been replaced with American Diner. Breakfast is free, lunch and dinner are ala carte fee. My impression of the Breakaway is that the builders crammed as many cabins as possible in the ship and didn't give much thought about how to handle the 4500 passengers. Will not sail on this ship again! Read Less

We liked the itinerary, Port Canaveral is closer to home, embarkation was good, but this ship was too over-crowded and extremely noisy. Disembarking was an extremely long walk from one end of ship to the other & back again, and down many walkways to finally get to where our luggage was staged. Food was good and plentiful and we had good service most of the time. O’Sheehan’s was our favorite place to eat although we ate in LaCucina, Cagney’s Steakhouse, Savor, Taste, LeBistro, the Manhattan, and the Garden Cafe. We must have had the best cabin steward, Jonathan Babao, a very caring young man who went above and beyond to take care of our cabin and us. The best feature of our mini-suite was the bathroom as the cabin itself was no bigger than a regular balcony cabin. We enjoyed the piano player from Brazil, the magician, and Burn the Floor show. Sixx was not too much to my liking. Our shore excursions to Jamaica and Cozumel was very nice and informative. Did not go ashore to Grand Carmen having been there before so we enjoyed the quieter ship and just relaxed. The pool is too small for the size of this ship. We will cruise with NCL again but not on the Breakaway. Read Less

We have been on 16 cruises. We have traveled with NCL, Carnival and Royal Caribbean. We almost always sail the newer ships but decided to sail breakaway because we wanted to sail out of Orlando. We were a group of 14 from 70’s -young kids. Positives: Teppanyaki, less people, buffet, piano bar, karaoke, getting on and off the ship was great super fast , osheehans Negatives: kids club, moderno, check in people were so grumpy!!! Smoke from casino Getting in the ship was a breeze. The pool deck is not ideal for a sailaway party but it was fun. The biggest disappointment was the kids club. The 10-12 yo club staff has some issues. One ended up quitting in front of the kids. My son usually loves going but this staff made them play the quiet game while they played on their phone and kept extending it for over 20 minutes at a time. This happened multiple times until my son did not want to go anymore. We missed great stirrup cay because of wind but we made the best of it on the pool deck. Food was good... not as good as carnival but decent. Smoke from the casino was awful we went on bliss last year and it was smoke free! So much better!! Piano bar was awesome the husband and wife that did the dualing pianos were awesome. There was tons to do. Weather was not ideal but that’s not NCL’s fault. Cruise director was energetic. Moderno was terrible!! Meats were salty. Osheehans was great. We all had a good time but will definitely sail newer ships everything was dated Read Less

My hubby and I decided to do the NCL Breakaway for our 10-year anniversary. We have done two other NCL ships in the past, this was the best yet! Cabin: We got upgraded into a handicap accessible room for some odd reason and were we’re shocked when we walked in and saw the size of the cabin. It was HUGE! We had a nice balcony and enough space to even have a lounger on the patio next to the two chairs. Very nice NCL! We were cabin 14586 and the location was our favorite. Just a couple flights away from our favorite spots on the ship. Our room attendant was beyond excellent and greeted us by name every time he saw us in the hallway. We left him an extra tip when we left and felt he was the best we've ever had. Entertainment: We saw Rock the Floor but missed SIX. I enjoyed Rock the Floor but wouldn't write home about it. The comedians were our favorite entertainment. The 18+ shows in the theater and at Headliners, were HILARIOUS. I would highly recommend trying one of these shows if you aren't with little ones. We enjoyed the shows and games in the atrium. We’d watch anytime we walked by and they were having so much fun. Excursions: We missed GSC due to weather which was very disappointing. We really wanted a great day at the beach. So instead, we went down to the shore excursion desk and saw what Jamaica had to offer. To our surprise, we found a $39 beach day and booked it right away. With our shore excursion credit, we spend $20 for the two of us to spend a great day lounging on the beach with transportation. I looked high and low through the shore excursions available before we left, this was not on there. Our favorite excursion was Sting Ray City in Grand Cayman. This will go down in my mind as one of the best things I've ever done. This excursion took us into the middle of the ocean and once in the water we were about chest deep and the sand beneath our feet was so soft. Swimming, kissing, feeding and holding WILD sting rays was unbelievable! We would do this excursion again and again! Air Included Promo: We booked air through NCL, we were booked on United on the way out and American on the way home. Our flight out took us through 3 airports (Phoenix(home), Denver and Orlando) We left at 7:30pm on a Friday night and landed in Orlando at 5:30am on Saturday. This was a hell of a trip to get to Orlando lol. We were exhausted and couldn't wait to get to our cabin. Luckily, after waiting for 5 hours at the Orlando airport we were taken to the port and quicker than ever before our cabin was ready at around 1pm. It was a VERY long day. We did have a direct flight home which was nice. The transportation to and from was also a nice tough. With the ride from the airport to port being around 45 minutes, it was nice to be in a charter bus with a bathroom instead of a small cramped 12-seater van. We left around 9:45am going back to the airport even though our flight wasn’t until 4:30pm… but we enjoyed the airport more this time since we didn’t have an overnight flight beforehand. Food: We had specialty dining and tried 3 of them on the ship. Teppanyaki, Le Bistro and Moderno. All were beyond good but teppanyaki was the best with Moderno coming in a close second. The specialty dining filled up FAST, my suggestion would be to book first thing when you get on board. I wasn’t sure how the specialty dining would work with our promos but they seem to have it all worked out. You order what you want and then they ask if you want to use your credit and that’s it! It was much easier than I thought it would be. We tried all 11 meats at Moderno but we LOVED the filet. The salad bar was impressive and delicious and even had my smoked salmon Read Less

we chose this cruise at the last minute,two weeks before the cruise because of the price. the embarkation went very quick. the sail away was on time.there was a lot of kids on this cruise,of course the parents just let them run wild all over the ship.they take kids to shows that they should not take them to,the comedians even committed about it. parents PLEASE KEEP your kids out of the hot tubs. the show six was horrible,that is an hour of my life i cant get back. burn the floor was very good. the food in the restaurants was very good.the ship seemed over crowded.the weather was not the best the fist couple of days,but it got a little better from jamaica on.I was not crazy about the cruise director paquito,potato or whatever his name was.your cruise director needs to be able to speak very clear english. alot of older people were having some difficulty understanding him.the staff was very friendly.the captain was one of the best we have had he was very friendly and talkative. overall the cruise was good and we will keep cruising with NCL,just not in a inside room any more. Read Less

Even with the Carona scare the embarkation was quick. And debarkation even quicker. The food was good overall, my only negative would be the buffet. They have super reduced the variety at the buffet. The food at the buffet was ok, but not something that I would get excited about. The main dining rooms were good. I like the European speed of eating a meal (one and a half to two hours). It encourages conversation and a relaxed meal. So if you are looking for something faster you are going to be disappointed. The specialty restaurants are good. They are not going to be the best food you have ever eaten, but you will leave satisfied. The cruise director, Richard, is one of the best that I have experienced. He is funny, engaging, and highly entertaining. I especially like the Cake Bake Off. The service all over the ship was great. With the exception of the bar staff. I assume that since so many people are on the drinks package that Norwegian under staffs the bars to slow the pace down. The entertainment was good. Liked the magician and the comedian. The dance troop are standard across most cruise lines. Cabins were smallish but good. Loved the redesigned public rooms. They did a good job during the last dry dock. I would recommend this cruise to most people. Drinks package tends to attract a more social crowd. Read Less

This was my 7th cruise and my first time on NCL. I have to say I was very impressed. Upon reading the previous reviews, I was nervous about the food but the quality exceeded my expectations. The buffet, dinning room, and sports bar were really good. We never had to wait in line at the buffet which was nice. The ship was renovated and had a newer look. Although, it is small. I actually enjoyed it as it was more intimate and you didn't get lost in the crowds. Staff was attentive and friendly. The entertainment was really good, such as the productions shows, magician, and comedian. My only complaint, which is more of a remark, is that I found it was strange that the pool bars only served drinks in plastic beer cups. This is really not eco friendly due to the amounts of cups being used. The other thing is the ship was very rocky, I believe this was due to it not having stabilizers (read this in a previous comment), therefore the movements of the ship were constantly felt. Overall, I was very impressed with the cruise and will definitely be trying out NCL again. I would really like to try out one of their newer ships. Read Less

This was the worst ship I have ever been on. I don’t know who designed it. By the main pool was so small I have seen bigger pools in peoples yards. This one is for 4000 guests. They offer a vibe for adults. We were on board by 1120 trying to sign into vibe and it was sold out. All week long we looked at vibes and saw hardly anyone there. The casino is open to the Atrium area, so all you smell is cigarette smoke and you have to walk through it to get from area to another. We went to a specialty area and the people at the table were so loud and drunk that we came out with a splitting headache. I mentioned it to the waitress and she just laughed. The Atrium area is loud and has low level games with a lot of noise, so you cannot enjoy a drink. Customer Service Reps were rude. The balcony was so small that you could only use small chairs sideways. The highest deck is a spaghetti of water tubes; all wasted space that should be pool areas. The SIX show was horrible. A lot of people walked out. I could go on for ever. Worse cruise ever and I have been on 10 cruises Read Less

Let me start by saying I have been on many cruises. CCL, NCL, RCL, Disney and on the River Nile. Any time in the Caribbean in February is nothing I can complain about. Embarkation was pretty smooth. Debarkation was chaotic. I don't understand why St. Thomas was such a short stop. Either you went to the beach for a couple of hours or you shopped. No real time to explore St. Thomas or St. John. The ship was absolutely packed to the gills. Only two elevator banks for that many people? We thought we remembered more on the Getaway two years ago, or different location for them. Perhaps someone elss knows if I am wrong about that. The bars were ridiculous. You had to wait way too long for drinka. When you know you have that many who have the alcohol pkg, you should increase your number of bartenders. The bartenders did an amazing job considering that challenge. The food. Boring pretty much in the main dining. Nothing special. No filet or lobster night. And their salad bars are a joke. That is one of the things I most look forward to on Carnival ships. They have an amazing salad bar. Upcharge restaurants - it is true, no more crab at Ocean Blue. Cagney's was pretty good, except that we hsd a couple of crew, young performers on the ship clearly on their first date, and they gossiped about many of their colleagues by name all during the meal. Moderno was pretty good. Best salad bar on the boat, and never-ending meat, some of which was overcooked. The pool area. What pools? One pool for over 4,000 people? It looked like spring in Cancun. And the hot tubs were crawling with children all day. We thought we remembered at least another pool on the Getaway back by the Spice H2O area. The thermal suite was amazing. Well worth the money. The rest of tg h ed spa is just expensive, as usual. Entertainment - good. We saw Six, which I really liked. Those girls can sing and dance. We did not see Velvet. Escape The Big Top was sold out. The 80s band, Switch, at Syd's Pour House was good. The other band that played there I thought was only ok. Nowhere near as big a crowd. Didn't go in the disco. Stateroom - We upgrade bidded for a spa balcony. Probably paid too much, but I'm not sure of that. It was fine, deck 14 way up front near the bridge. Alot of people had problems with their toilet not flushing.no more towel animals and our room steward had absolutely no personality but he did an ok job. I think that is all I have to say. Maybe I will think of more. But I will not go on the Breakaway again. Too many others to choose from. And I am selling my cruise credits. A friend of mine was cruising Royal at the same time, and he posted a picture of them all dining on filet one night, and 30 lobster tails to share between 10 of them. This was in the regular dining room. You still get that on Carnival in the regular dining. Read Less

Have spent over 50 nights on NCL. We have been on the large and Mid size ships. Overall Program is very good . Each Cruise ship has its own personality , regarding cruise and experiences. NCL attempts to maintain consistency and they do a good job at what they can control. Hear are the positives and negatives we experienced on this trip . ----Boarding and Departure- very good - The heavy screening that is going on all over the country showed some backups on opening day , nothing to awful, Staff was friendly . Departure was excellent, especially with facial recognition they are now using, probably the fastest departure from a ship to date ( remember this ship had 4500 passengers ) . ---Meals in the garden cafe were themed at night - recommend going to the chef to cook the meal of the day ( Italian/ Mexican etc.) vs going to the cafe style food, It wasn't bad but sometimes not as hot as we would like. ---Specialty meals - We did LiBistro - Excellent ..period ...Staff excellent ....highly recommend.. not real excited about Cagneys on this ship - was just OK , probably wouldn't go back to them on this ship. Staff was just ok at cagneys . ---- CABIN Rooms - always good rooms - We had a mini Suite- Only issue We have with this class of ship with NCL ( Breakaway / Escape/ Getaway) is that the Balcony is smaller than the next class down ships with NCL. chairs on the balcony sitting straight puts my knees at the glass ( I am 6 foot). the next class down of NCL ships has more legroom on the balcony's. ---Casino- This might be the BIGGEST reason for us not returning to this ship. NCL has designated smoking areas . The casino is one of them ( supposedly for active players only) The smoke is so bad in there that you will NEVER get the smoke out of your clothes after stepping in there for two minutes. It is the worst experience of any ship NCL or others that we have gone on. Period. Ventilation is so poor . If you are a non smoker and this bothers you , FIND AN OTHER SHIP TO SAIL...... also the Bar area is much smaller than on the Escape and Breakaway .. The equivalent of six or seven seats wide. This is were you get your drinks for the whole casino if you get them yourself. Bar tenders were average at best in terms of speed and communication with the guests. Cruise director on this ship was not as good (personality wise) as on other ships we have sailed. Its is March 2020 and the shifts for these workers is 9 months , so My guess is that he will be on this ship for the next 1/2 a year. They change frequently and run the same set weekly , so the personality of the cruise director is what separates the excellent from good to average to bad... This guy was average ... we have had better cruise directors on other ships... -----Excursions We had a full day on Tortola - did a trip to the beach on the other side of the island ( called Island Beach Break) Two Mega ships in Port that Day ( us and a Disney Ship) Went there only to find about 4 Million people on this little beach ) Think of NY City with some sand ) stayed about 2 hours and returned to the ship. 2nd excursion was St Thomas - Great place , HOWEVER we only were in port for 6 Hours---7 am to 2 PM . excursion the St Johns island (St. John Beach Escape & Snorkel) was EXCELLENT Boat that took us over (island Girl) was EXCELLENT both ways ) Highly recommend this excursion..... only issue with St Thomas was is was not a lot of time on that island Last Excursion was Harvest Caye- - nice island , no issues , we liked the day on the beach ... These were the high and low points of this cruise. everything else with the cruise was in the satisfactory range, that being consistent with what NCL tries to deliver on each cruise regardless of destination and ship....... Read Less

We were on this cruise because my Wife is a Sweet Adeline's International Champion/Queen and she was asked to fill in for a missing "Tenor" in a quartet that was part of the faculty/program for "Harmony 2020" onboard the Breakaway. There were about 80 people participating in this year's "Harmony" cruise. If my Wife hadn't been part of the faculty/program we wouldn’t have normally chosen this cruise. We've been to BVI and USVI before. BVI and USVI have few reasons to revisit and this cruise wasn't a bargain. We've been on NCL four times before and on six other cruises before as well. I have several observations..... Port Canaveral is a less than ideal port. Getting from the nearest airport (Orlando) is expensive and time consuming. The 1 to 1-1/2 hour travel time from and to Orlando adds risk and significant COST to your getting to and from the ship. It means you have to carefully plan for related air travel. If you choose other airports in the "area" like Ft. Lauderdale or Miami that are farther away this compounds your challenges. We used "Always Superb Transport" out of Orlando for our transfer to and from the ship. Their service WAS superb, comfortable, and timely. It was occasionally hard to understand their staff on the phone when making arrangements, and they were relatively expensive, but we enjoyed using them. We stayed at the Orlando Airport Residence Inn the night before the cruise because we had a "FREE NIGHT" certificate from Marriott Rewards we could use for the lodging and the hotel provides a free airport shuttle service. Compared to other Residence Inns we've stayed at in the past I was disappointed in the quality of the room and the breakfast but it was serviceable and it met our needs (though I feel a newer Hampton Inn, Fairfield Inn or Springhill Suites might have been of higher quality if available). Embarkation for this cruise was a REAL PAIN. It took us 1-1/2 hours STANDING IN LINE from curb to cabin (the longest we've ever experienced on any of our previous cruises), but with extra passport checks due to COVID-19 and a rumored passenger who didn't disembark as expected from the previous cruise I can chalk this up to unusual and atypical events. However NCL could have done something significantly more than a few "announcements" in the terminal about why it took so long to process the embarking passengers (like adding more staff to the "checking passports" process). Our steward appeared at our cabin when we arrived and brought an extension cord for my CPAP and pointed out he'd already placed a gallon of distilled water in the cabin. It appears from this that NCL maintains a fairly detailed record of previous guests and some of their needs and preferences (something we've suspected for several cruises). While this was a nice gesture, there was NO follow-up to this service. I asked for a longer extension cord so I could use my CPAP on the side of the bed I usually sleep on, but the steward only suggested I should sleep on the other side of the bed. Fortunately I always travel with a couple extension cords, so I could fix the problem myself. However, I did ask him if he could bring us some "Duck" or wide masking tape so we could affix the cords to the floor so we wouldn't trip over them in the night. He gave a non-specific response and WE NEVER SAW HIM AGAIN FOR THE REST OF THE CRUISE (and the requested tape NEVER appeared either). There were only TWO well-worn and hard to plug into 110v outlets in the cabin (there's a "shaver" outlet in the bathroom but that's all it's good for). This is normal for most cruise ships we've experienced and even though Breakaway is a "newer" ship there are still not enough outlets. If you bring the usual amount of phones, tablets, laptops, curling irons, or similar you will need to bring a way to expand your power possibilities. Note that the cabin on Breakaway is wired like many European hotel rooms. You insert your key card in a slot by the door to enable power. When you remove your key card the power ends shortly after. This means you cannot charge phones, tablets, laptops etc. in the room in your absence. You can insert cards like your room key into the slot (a library card, half of an expired credit card, etc. could be used) and leave them, but you’re at risk that the room steward will remove them at cleaning. Our balcony cabin was smaller than we expected, especially the space between the bed and the closet. It was very awkward to turn around in the tiny space provided at this spot. The rest of the cabin was fairly normal, but we missed the extensive cupboards and storage spaces we'd found previously on the EPIC. The bathroom was fairly normal for a NCL ship and since there were only 2 of us we had enough space for our "stuff". If we'd been a "family" (since there was a small space for ONE other person to sleep on the "couch") the bathroom space for toiletries would have been a challenge. Overall our experience onboard tells me this ship was built to "house" LOTS of revenue-generating passengers but didn't plan well to "serve" the passengers. The public areas seemed always to be crowded and very hard to navigate because they were cramped. The restaurants and buffet were always crowded (on "sea days" they "opened" additional places where you could get Breakfast or Lunch beyond the buffet, regular restaurants or even O'Sheehan's because the "normal" places were overcrowded). There was a "line" almost everywhere. You had to "make a reservation" to "see" even the "free" shows (I've NEVER experienced this before). The pool appeared tiny and crowded when we saw it. The "specialty" restaurants were comparatively small, more like those in size that we've seen on Pride of America, Jewel and Dawn. It seemed that all the public areas and services were sized for a smaller ship. The library had space for about 6 small card/game tables and only a few bookcases. It was the smallest library I’ve ever seen on a NCL ship. The “take one leave one” space only occupied about six feet of shelving and half of the books shelved were in German. I'd read the reviews that admonished people to make reservations EARLY in the cruise, or even pre-cruise for the specialty restaurants, but we were unable to do this because of the unsettled schedule for the "Harmony 2020" activities. By the time the schedule was established we could only use our specialty dining package for two meals because the special restaurants were almost FULLY booked. To use the two opportunities we found ourselves eating at 9:15PM and 9:30PM. We wasted/lost the 3rd opportunity in our package. We ate in Moderno and Le Bistro. Our Moderno experience was mediocre at best. The waitress was nice and personable. The salad bar was not up to par and the meats were OK but not superb. We were expecting something akin to Fogo de Chao and instead got an ersatz or generic version. Le Bistro had very good food but comparatively mediocre service. In both cases we felt we were being "tolerated" by the end of the meal as the waitstaff cleaned up the restaurant and prepared for the following day. On a good note the quality of food on the buffet has improved since our last NCL cruise on Dawn, when it was more like a CHEAP Golden Corral. We still missed almost any vegetables. Though they're very hard to do well on a buffet at least Golden Corral can turn out some vegetables that are palatable. NCL seems to have forgotten what vegetables are except for providing salads. The buffet was HEAVY on carbs. However the food quality on the buffet has improved and the nightly focus on a different cuisine is entertaining. The service quality of waiters, bartenders, and similar support staff has continued to decline over our experience with NCL. Waiters no longer "serve from the left and remove from the right" in ANY of the venues we used as they should (even in the specialty restaurants). Bartenders don't know what a Sazerac is and haven't heard of a Vieux Carre. The quality of drinks whether it's a Bloody Mary, a "Mudslide", a Manhattan, an Old Fashioned or a Margarita varies throughout the ship (there is NO consistency). Based on earlier reviews about the lack of service from bar waiters I avoided them. I never had a problem getting prompt service at any of the bars I used. Rather than depending on the RARE bar waiter I usually ordered our drinks at the bar and carried them back to wherever we were seated. If I'd waited for a bar waiter I doubt we'd ever have been served in any of the venues we used. We "walked off" carrying our own luggage, which made disembarkation much easier. I'd also note a major improvement in our ability to disembark was that NCL offered the usual "room service" continental breakfast on the disembarking day. In the past this hasn’t been an option. This saved us lots of time, even though the breakfast arrived 30 minutes earlier than expected. Disembarkation was far faster than embarkation, though that was not hard to accomplish. Now that we're "Gold" in the Latitude program and MIGHT get a modicum of better service I MIGHT consider a future NCL cruise, but this cruise did NOT make me say I can't wait to take another NCL cruise, especially one as expensive as this one was and as poorly as it was executed. Read Less

NCL was our go-to cruise line for several years. My son wanted to try a larger ship so we took an Eastern Caribbean cruise on Breakaway. Been there, done that. Too many people for the size of the amenities. Tiny main pool. Difficulty getting a drink order during busy times and a horrible layout for smoking areas. The casino is a smoking area and unfortunately is open to the entire deck so after a day or two it smells like a giant ashtray. Not a problem if you smoke but hard on the rest of us. Also, the top deck smoking area is literally right next to the kiddie pool. An attempt to recruit new smokers? We have not cruised on NCL in four years. Celebrity and Princess since then, and it appears NCL has moved more toward Carnival. No enforced dress codes for dining, even at the Specialty restaurants. At Cagney's, their primary steak restaurant, the table next to mine was a girl in a tank top, short shorts and flip flops. I like to go with a blazer or sport coat and I am trying to show my son how to dress for dinner. The French Specialty restaurant had many diners in tee shirts. If the rest of NCL has moved in this direction, I probably need to move on to other cruise lines. We bought the Priority Access package so our boarding and debarkation was with the Platinum and Haven people so it could not have gone smoother, other than lack of directions for the paying passengers. Even some of the crew were not familiar with the program. My son has Aspergers so I wanted to get passes to the Vibe Beach Club which is less crowded but they only have 60 spaces and cannot be booked or reserved in advance. If you are not very first in line, chances are slim. We missed out. Service was not the crews' fault. Too many people. Dinner was a 2 hour experience on most nights which cost us our entertainment reservations twice. The main pool is the smallest I have seen on a cruise ship. Way too small for 4000 passengers. Chaise hogs were the norm with towels being spread around as early as 7 in the morning. Never saw a crew member doing anything about it. The Spa is very small based on ship size. The Pearl Spa is larger with more choices and Pearl carries almost half the passengers that Breakaway boards. Several times all the warm ceramic loungers were full, with people pulling the chaise hog routine in the spa.with draped towels on the loungers. The entertainment was good but everything was booked up months before the cruise. Several of the shows could only be booked onboard which gave those without early reservations a chance. There is a cruise on Pearl next year my son is interested in but with the excesses of those on the free drink packages and the apparent lowering of NCL's dinner and evening dress codes, It may be time to move on to another cruise line. Read Less

This cruise was chosen for my kids & grand kids. The cruise was good ,crew members were friendly & accommodating. Cabin was alright enough storage but the balcony was to small. Dining was nice specially at OSheehan's, good food. Manhattan room was a nice dining experience with entertainment while you eat. This is first cruise I have been on where shrimp cocktail wasn't offered or Lobster at least once during the week. Entertainment was very good the show Burn the floor & Six were very energetic. Tortola beach was fun nice and sandy. St Thomas same as always lots of jewelry. Stirrup Cay was a lot of fun. Now for the complains why have the casino in the middle of ship that you have walk through to get to certain areas with kids & all the smelly smoke stinks ,so did my wife's sweater after walking though just once. Then another smoking place right at pool side great smell again. Then people come out of the smoking area & smoke at the pool bar I found. Our bus transfer from the motel to ship had no air for the 45 min ride. I love cruising but probably not going on NCL to soon.Embarkation was very long should have set times like Celebrity cruise has less line ups. Disembarkation was better than embarkation. I didn't take any excusions went on our own. went to canne garden beach on Tortola was great the kids loved it. Read Less