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

In general I think Disney does a terrific job of embarkation and disembarkation compared to other cruise lines I’ve experienced. There is a line to stand in to get your initial embarkation “ticket”, and the woman who served us was a bit of an idiot, including writing the wrong stateroom numbers on our boarding passes, but otherwise it was smooth. The only other thing which was TERRIBLY annoying at embarkation is that they don’t tell you you cannot bring any food on board so the many $$ of snacks we had with us were all thrown away. Disembarkation was similarly smooth except at Disney Cay because our arrival was so delayed that there were huge crowds waiting to get off and it was a long time before they got things organized and started letting people off. The staterooms are very spacious and well appointed. Only two annoyances - first, we had side by side staterooms and wanted the decks to be left adjoining but regardless of repeated requests it never happened; also, one day when I was relaxing and reading on my deck they were washing the deck above me and soaked me with dirty water - not cool! It was very annoying that they never seemed to announce time changes which caused us a great deal of confusion as we changed time zones several times during the cruise - in general I felt communication during the cruise was lacking. The everything free except alcohol isn’t really true. For example, I like to drink plain soda water - only available at bars and not free - really??? Also there is an ice cream and candy store where everything costs money, as does popcorn at movies and shows. That said, the food generally was fabulous - above average for cruise food - and constantly available with good service. The teen club was a lot of fun for our two teens. I thought the kids club was absolutely fabulous but my six year old didn’t really like it as they didn’t have as high a counselor to child ratio as she has experienced in other vacation situations. I think if you have a child who is more outgoing and curious they would really have a fabulous time. The two shows we saw - Aladdin and Frozen were spectacular with amazing performers. The app is very helpful and we all used it and the free chat it enables throughout the cruise. A great choice for family cruising. 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

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

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

Ship needs refurbishment badly. Rips, tears and holes in furniture throughout. Stained, dirty upholstery. Ripped, stained, faded flooring throughout. Chipped and peeling paint throughout. Broken window in the Silver dining room. Decor is very old, odd colors, strange designs. Water shut off during lunch hours two days into the trip for floors 8&9. 9 is Lido, the buffet. Sewer problem 1st floor. Oceanview rooms are on floors 1 & 2. Staff party hard with loud, thumping music, yelling and cheering until the wee hours 1am, 2:30 am. Their game room is mid ship, floor zero. So if you have a midship Oceanview room, good luck getting any sleep. Had to complain several times. Customer service is poor and many of them are seen walking around doing nothing or cutting up. A select few staff tried really hard to correct what the others lacked. Breakfast service and evening dining service in the Silver dining room was enjoyable. Staff were efficient. They could do without showtime because it just interrupts the dinner experience. They could really do away with elegant night. Not many people dress up anymore because most people vacation to relax. Pool areas were relatively clean. Photographers are pushy especially in the walkway on the 5th floor next to the casino. I felt like we were in Nassau being harassed to take photos. We didn’t care to have a photographer walking around the dining room trying to take pictures while we were attempting to eat. Lido buffet was always organized and clean. Food was good. Except for the barbecue upstairs. It was terrible-dry, greasy, overcooked. Overall the ship is ok. The staff needs to be trained in customer service. She ship needs the 2.0 upgrade and dry dock overhall. Read Less

Our friends recommended HOS. We had an amazing time with our two teen daughters and group of friends which consisted of 4 other families. The weather/wind is beyond the control of the captain. We didn’t get to port at Costa Maya because of the high winds that day and there were a few times of rough seas. Will never do a sailing for Roatan again. That port was over crowded and not very clean. Scale of 1-10 and 10 being the most cleanliness, Roatan gets a 5. Do NOT go beyond the taxis at Roatan to do some self exploring of the city. We stepped across the street from the taxis to do this and immediately turned around to go back to the port shops. Our teen daughters as well as their friend, were getting some very uncomfortable stares from the local men in Roatan. Perfect Day was fun and the food was a good variety. The pool Water was freezing! We rented a taxi in Cozumel and visited a free local beach for the day. The restaurant there was decent. We only had the chips and guac and beer. The mariachi band sang happy birthday to our 14 year old that day. The shop employees at the port were not pushy. They did want you to buy their products, but were not rude about it if you didn’t stop in the store. Read Less

We are a family of four from Montreal, Canada, who cruise extensively. We have 9 previous cruises with Carnival, 22 overall. This trip was supposed to be husband, wife, and son only, but my daughter’s school trip to Europe was cancelled at the very last minute due to “the virus that shall not be named”, so we had to scramble to book her to travel with us. We got absolutely killed on airfare, but Carnival (kudos to them) were very reasonable about changing our booking from a triple to a quad cabin. The fourth passenger’s fare was only slightly more than my son’s, and we upgraded from a porthole to a large outside cabin. Good on them. EMBARKATION: We had Faster to the Fun, so we basically walked onboard at 11am. No delays whatsoever. There is one major flaw to this system, however: there is no counter stop in the boarding process anymore to attach our credit card to the ship-board account. The result was: charges were being declined soon after we sailed. The lineup at guest services was an hour long, with everyone trying to fix this issue. One employee in the terminal could have saved many passengers a lot of trouble: “Is your credit card attached to your account? No? Over here, please.” Faster to the Fun allowed me to skip the line and use the Platinum/Diamond line, so that alone was worth the cost. Waited 10 minutes max and credit was established. Our cabin was ready right away, and keycards were in the mailbox, but no luggage was to be seen. It was supposed to be there already, due to FTTF. Luggage arrived later, after Muster drill. CABIN: We had a large outside cabin, which featured two bathrooms, but only one toilet. Cabin was initially very clean, and we only had it made up once a day, so everything was as expected. TV remote didn’t work properly all cruise. We showed it to our steward, but it decided to work whenever we showed it to him. Then malfunction later on. There was only one news channel, and the news was looped and cut for time. I did manage to locate an audio output on the back of the tv to connect headphones (great for watching TV and not disturbing others who might be sleeping). The fridge worked, sort of…. I propped the cabinet door open but the fridge didn’t work any better. Mattresses on the beds were old, lumpy and uncomfortable. FOOD: This is very subjective, but this was our 9th cruise with Carnival over the years, and every passing year the quality seems to decline, particularly at the Lido lunch buffet. There were perhaps four meat choices, including one carvery choice. Carnival “used to” have the best lunch options at sea, remembering back to our cruises on Dream and Freedom. Not any more. Guy’s Burgers was ok… I found it a bit dry. Mongolian Wok was excellent, as usual. We also ate at the Seafood Shack (snow crab), Italian restaurant and steakhouse, all of which were excellent. We had Your Time Dining, and because we ate late (8:30-9pm) we never had to wait for a table. In fact, the room was nearly empty. The dining room menu had the usual hit-or-miss fare. Prime rib, filet mignon and lobster were good, most chicken dishes were dry/overcooked/kept warm, and the rest was so uninspired I have already forgotten it. Service teams ran the gamut from excellent to downright surly. Room service took about 30 minutes, and the food was ok, I expected better since there is a charge per item now. My wife was looking forward to the dessert offerings and was generally disappointed. She found the cakes lacked sweetness. One night in the Bliss dining room, the accent lighting was blue, which made the food on our plates look absolutely disgusting. Fix this, Carnival! No blue lighting in the dining room. I also found that many Lido buffet servers just stood around, until elbowed by a supervisor to wake up – customer is waiting…. Also, food counter closing times, as announced in the Fun Times, seemed very arbitrary. Some counters closed on time, others were kept open late. No way of knowing in advance. DRINKS AND BAR SERVICE: Drinks were consistently mixed and had a decent amount of alcohol. Service was good, with one exception: during one comedy show in the Limelight Lounge, the floor waiters were short-staffed, and the second waitress (Alejandra, in her infinite wisdom) decided to follow the same route as the other waitress, leaving half the room un-served. I actually got up and asked her to serve our side of the room, but she ignored me. I know she heard me. No drinks were sold in our half of the room that night, and many were not happy. Profits lost, Carnival! Train your staff! ENTERTAINMENT: Cruise director was very good at his job, keeping everyone entertained. Production shows were spotty: some singers were excellent, some were WAY off pitch, and no falsetto voice for the Michael Jackson songs??? Special effects and lighting were very good. Soundtrack was pre-recorded. One thing of note: This ship had the most clueless, abysmal DJs of any ship I have ever been on. The same 12 songs played over and over again. AC-DC and Rob Base seemed to rule, with Run DMC (It’s Tricky) thrown in ad nauseum. The 80’s party had the absolute worst song choices…. and Rob Base & DJ EZ Rock (It Takes Two To Play This Song So Much – and there were indeed TWO most awful DJs on this cruise) cleared the dance floor completely. Good job, Mr. DJ! (perhaps you should stick to reggae… just sayin’). On a positive note, the Quest show was hilarious, and the comedians were mostly very good (again, subjective). Some very ill-bred passengers, of which there were many on this sailing, kept a screaming baby in the lounge for the entire comedy show, and a fistfight almost broke out after the show. Some people have no class whatsoever. Take your child and step outside…. PLEASE! The comedian kept his composure throughout the distraction, to his immense credit. No staff member did step in, though. Afraid… I guess. One piece of advice for those wanting to attend the comedy shows: get there 45 minutes early or you will have to stand. DEBARKATION: An absolute cluster-(you know what) with people blocking the way with later assigned times, waiting to jump first in line. No staff to guide us. Elevators jammed. People exited elevators and jumped a very long line. So we waited an eternity. Once past the card scan, we flowed smoothly, and were outside in minutes with our luggage. CONCLUSION: The itinerary was very good if you like nice beaches. This was a very ordinary cruise, where the only things that truly stood out cost extra. Food was a complete disappointment. We will try another line for our next cruise. 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 husband and I have done many cruises and this was our third carnival cruise. The food was awful and cold breakfast and dinner regardless of eating at the tiny buffet or dining room. It seemed like there wasn't enough crew to take care of the guests on board. The ladies room on the pool deck only had two stalls and one was broken from the moment we got on board. The pool was rusted and not pretty to look at. The ship is going to dry dock 23 days after our cruise and the attitude for the crew on board matched. They ran out of miller lite/bud lite on the last night of the cruise and my husband was very upset after paying for the cheers package these are the only beers he drinks. Also, they started packing up (shrink wrapping) chairs on the last full day made us feel not welcomed (serenity deck). The only plus was the burgers and fries which is only open for lunch. Read Less

We planned a 5 day trip to Disney and decided to take a cruise. Family of 5. My husband 40, myself 40, daughter 19, son 14, and youngest daughter 8. I had no preconceived thoughts. My first cruise. I would have rather just take the money spent on this cause and booked a week long vacation at Destin, FL. The room was spacious and it accommodated us just fine. We really enjoyed our private balcony. However, it was not clean. The bathroom smelled of urine/sewage and was hard to stomach. The water was yellow that came out of the faucet. The boat was extremely rocky but I realized I was in the middle of the ocean. I felt there were surprise charges that were not properly explained. We paid them because, it is what it is. The formal dinner was a joke. The only thing I loved food wise would be Guy burgers...yum. Hong was an awesome server! He appeared everywhere. The room service food was gross. Nassau was trashy. We could not afford anything excursion at the ports. Freeport was better with a cute shopping area at port. You can not walk to or see the ocean unless you taxi out of the gates fenced port area. Again we could not afford an excursion. Let some 2 for 5 people. I was shocked at how raggedy the boat looked. Read Less

We choose this cruise because it was an affordable quick getaway. Have been on the same RC ships several times and we wanted to be on a ship that was new to us. Carnival had a cruise that met our needs so we booked it. We had been given a boarding time of 12:30pm because we had booked the cruise so late but when we arrived at 10:45am, we were allowed to board almost immediately. The buffet was set up already and the food was excellent. There was a huge array to pick from and everything was delicious. We ate and wandered around the ship to explore it. The ship was in average condition but it is very old so we expected this. The lobby was beautiful and the whole ship is decorated in French design and it was lovely. Our cabin was perfect and we had plenty of room and plenty of storage. The sink in the bathroom did not drain properly so we had to be mindful of this. The shower also did not drain properly. We ended up using our body towels on the floor after drying our bodies. They were needed to absorb the water that was on the floor after each shower. Our room steward was always kind and remembered our names each time he saw us. He had the cutest towel animals for us every night. Our cabin was spotless and I only wish I could remember how to spell his name. We were in room 6262. Be aware that this room is next to the storage area so there is occasional noise. We also could hear some of the lobby entertainment in our room at night but it did not last late into the night so it was ok. We ate at the buffet every night to give us more evening time. The buffet always served what was offered in the dining room so it was basically the same meals. We tried Guy's Burgers one afternoon and it was amazing. I thought it looked greasy and the fries looked too well done BUT that was wrong. The burger was not greasy and the fries were delicious too. I would recommend trying it. We did not do any excursions because we have been to the Bahamas several times already. We did get off the boat in Nassau and did a little bit of shopping. The lobby entertainment was great. Lots of different types of trivia in the afternoons and Lizzy did a great job of keeping us amused. She even took the time to talk to us afterward and what a lovely person she is. Rico Suave was also lots of fun. He took over the trivia one of the days we were there for some fun. I only used the pool once. The water was very cold and smelled strongly of chlorine. I expected it to be cold due to it being February. MarcQ is a wonderful cruise director. I am impressed that I could actually understand everything that was said over the speakers no matter where I was. This is the first time I have been able to understand what was being said whether I was in my cabin or on the deck. He is funny and very personable, which is not what we have found in a cruise director in the past. I wish all cruise directors were like him. We loved being at the Versailles Adult Area and service there was wonderful. Special shout out to Danilo at the bar. No matter how busy he was, he always found time to make sure you were taken care of and was pleasant and funny. He answered all our questions and was right to suggest the drink package to us. We looked forward to seeing him every day. Another shout out to the men who dished out the pizza in this same adult area. They were always busy and always served with a smile. Wonderful hard workers. I didn't think I could sit thru another Love & Marriage show on another cruise but I'm so glad we went to see it on this cruise. MarcQ was hilarious and we laughed the whole time. My husband used the spa twice and said it was amazing. He had gotten on the ship with some lower back pain and once he had a massage onboard, he was pain free. Great service at the spa. I would definitely go on another cruise on Liberty. Everyone on the ship was kind and helpful. Another surprise was that all the guests seemed happy. It was nice to have everyone always saying good morning and smiling at each other. I believe the guests were happy because of the wonderful service that was given on this ship. Read Less

I previously took a 6-day Royal Caribbean cruise on Freedom of the Seas and loved it. Tremendous service! Housekeeping was attentive, and gave us lots of advice on getting around the ship and ports. They removed the barrier between two ocean balcony rooms, so friends could share that space. My Time Dining was flexible, we didn't need to book dinner or entertainment in advance of the trip. On Harmony, we had to pre-book every dinner and show, and even then, got bad timeslots. In spite of this, My Time Dining was a disaster the first couple of nights. Throngs of upset customers crowded the third deck, asking for more reasonable times. Even more waited for hours to be seated. Housekeeping was minimally adequate; we had to ask multiple times for toilet paper, tissues, soap & blankets. We asked Guest Services at least three times to remove the barrier between our balcony patios, and no one ever helped. We did eventually have a great time with our My Time Dining team. Yay for Antra and Imad on table 300! Love those guys. That said, we'll stick with Freedom of the Seas, or try another cruise line for the next trip. Read Less

We chose this cruise to experience sailing on an Oasis class ship and to compare Royal Caribbean to other cruise lines we have sailed. This ship and crew far exceeded our expectations and provided us with a wonderful cruise. We found the ships crew from the captain on down were all professional and genuinely happy to be on board, something we haven’t always found. The entertainment was outstanding and the Fine Line aqua show is not to be missed! If asked would we recommend sailing with Royal Caribbean on a Oasis class ship based on this last cruise, our response would be definitely yes! You can find anything from music to a quite cup of coffee in Central Park. The rest of the ship has such a wide choice of entertainment and food selections that you can not take it all in with the time you have and we had seven days! Coco Beach Club was a definite plus on our Perfect Day at Coco Cay. Yes it is an up charge but well worth it for the food and setting. We also booked the key and found it to be good value for the cost for the expedited boarding and reserved seating areas for the shows and the internet. Read Less

While the seas were rough and the weather cold in Florida and the Bahamas, we had a lot of fun as first-time cruisers. Our trip took us from Port Canaveral Florida to Tortola BVI, St Thomas USVI and Great Stirrup Cay (Bahamas). We enjoyed the shopping, history and the beach the most of any of the islands in Tortola. St Thomas is very small and commercialized, but the Jet Boat ride is one to not miss! Great Stirrup Cay was underwhelming with cold temperatures, a beach on the “wrong” side so as to get lots of wind and a beach full of seaweed to step around before getting into the water. There were vendors here, all of which pretty much sold the same stuff and seemed to be set up more life a street faire with the ability to close up and disappear when no ships were in port. Dinner at Cagney’s was not good, the steak was tough and service mediocre, prices exorbitant. Teppenyaki was AMAZING for the money, entertainment value and great food, some of the best food on the ship IMO. Moderno was ok, good value, but make sure you are seated in a main thoroughfare so as to not be missed by the many different offerings. By 9:00 the Moderno buffet was pretty wiped out and not restocked unless you specifically asked for. Taste/Savor were amazing food choices and quality to be included in the complimentary dining. Wait times were minimal. Dress code was changed and you may no longer wear shorts in the Manhattan Room, therefore we opted for Taste/ Savor instead. The Garden Buffet worked best for our family for any meal as everyone could get what they liked, the rotating themes for dinner kept the menu fresh. Poolside music by Natural Mystic was wonderful reggae with some Bob Marley trivia interwoven. Bars seemed to be understaffed, although keep exploring and find your favorite bar with the least crowds, tip the bartender and you will have no problems. We preferred the outdoor Syd Norman’s with Courtney as the bartender. Our room was decent, quiet with the exception of neighbors allowing their doors to slam. Our cabin Steward, Michael, went above and beyond daily with towel animal creations and knew us by name, a little cash each day in gratitude for their service goes a long way! We enjoyed Six, Burn the Floor and Howl at the Moon. The comedians left something to be desired. The Splash Academy did great at engaging the children and encouraging their attendance. I do wish the Splash Academy schedules were available on the NCL app. We enjoyed the family games and game shows hosted in the Atrium. Open smoking in the casino on Deck 8 was a huge turnoff and we often went out of our way to avoid this area on floors 6-8. Embarkation and dembarkation were terribly and seemingly unnecessarily long (hours!) Beware, Norwegian booked our flight home and we had 8 hours to kill in the airport! Ugh! Overall this was a great first cruise and we look forward to more. 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

the boat was 3 hours late. We got on the boat around 12 pm when we were supposed to be on at 8-9am. We stayed at the port until 6pm with nothing to do you couldn’t smoke or gamble while the ship was docked. They said we were delayed because of a medical issue with a guest. They said we had to turn around.we never left the dock! Oh and we couldn’t eat and the pool and two front jacuzzis were not working because they “hit a storm” coming back and things weren’t working. we left the port at 6pm with half a motor working. They skipped amber cove and only gave us 50$ back. The whole trip was horrible food was awful. Our floor always smelled like diarrhea. We docked on time and they set sail for next cruise! Spend the extra money and get a better ship ! Read Less

We were 1st time cruisers and chose this one because of the short length incase we didnt like it. We left 3 hours late from the port because the crew was still loading supplies. Then as we shoved off the was a medical emergency and had to go back. Then the boat couldn't get up to cruising speed and we were in rough waters. You felt every wave as we were only going 10-11 knots, we were told mechanical issues. The next day in the afternoon we were told we wouldn't be able to make Amber Cove so we would cruise to Grand Turk. The boat was barely moving, we were given 50 on board credit, which really means here is 50 bucks to spend on overpriced drinks or in the Casino. Either way you are spending it on the ship or you dont get it. We made it to Grand Turk and had a fabulous day. Its breathtaking there. The food isn't that great, unless you have a burger at Guys. The formal dinner was ok. The boat itself.is very old. A lot of rust on exterior. The interior needs a major update. Elevators were often not working or out of service. Staff was friendly. Overall is was disappointing for 1st time cruising. All my friends that go on a cruise tell me that we shouldn't give up cruising, just dont use carnival. 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

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

We selected this cruise so that we could revisit Cozumel, Belize and Roatan. The Breeze was resently refurbised and the decor was far nicer that any Carnival ship that we have been on. It had muted and tasteful colors which is a departure from their usual scheme. The food was also far better than we've previously experienced. We were pleased with all of our meals and service. Instead of the standard early or late seating, we chose Your Time dining. We would reserve on the App and our table was ready by the time we went downstairs to the restaurant. Our balcony room as spacious and very nice. We are normally very happy with the evening entertainment but this particular cast was subpar. There was only one female vocalist that was on pitch. The dancing was fine. We also enjoyed a violin trio that played covers of popular songs and movie themes. One night we listened to the 88 Keys program and it was awful. The warm up entertainer could not sing or play and we were actually embarrassed for him. The main act that followed was silly and we left. The Beginner Scuba on Cozumel excursion was fantastic. It also counted toward PADI certification. I was thrilled with it. Mahogany Bay beach on Roatan was riduculously overcrowded and we ended up leaving. The snorkeling excursion in Belize was a fantastic water experiece but it was 4.5 hours on a boat with no toilet facilities or shade in the 95 degree heat. The snorkel sites were fantastic but it was an hour back and forth to it on a boat with no facilities. The only way into the water was to jump off the side which meant that my mother in law was stuck on the boat with no company or staff remaining behind. We used a simple gunwale swim ladder to board which was impossible for older participants. But all in all, this was the best Carnival ship that we've been on. To summarize our only complaints had to do with the live entertainment in the main theater and our snorkeling excursion. Read Less

Mid winter 50 TH birthday cruise on the Carnival Elation, Some good, some bad and some real ugly. For the record this was my families 8 TH Carnival Cruise since 2013 and our 12 TH cruise overall. This ship is in desperate need of the dry dock scheduled for next month. I was surprised on how much rust was on the exterior of this ship but not all was bad. We had two rooms E-52 & E-56 and also we were with of group of 38 people in 14 different room, all of which I helped to book, all good friends on mid winter recess from New York State.This was the third cruise in three years that I've help book over 10 + rooms for our Mid Winter recess in February. We will start with the Good: The food, from the MDR (breakfast, dinner & sea day brunch) to Guy's Burgers as well as the Blue Iguana you can't go wrong. The Cruise Director Alex, outstanding job, He is full of energy. The Cowboy Comedian at Punchlines Comedy Club, one of the best I've seen !! Book him long term on all your ships !! The Cabin Stewards, absolute great job once they realized we were upgraded to there block of rooms that they were taken care of. The Itinerary, 5 night with port of calls to Amber Cove & Grand Turks. The Bad: The smaller size boat with less bells & whistles. Not having any additional for charge restaurant options on the cruise. (no steakhouse) Guest Services, no real managers, just a bunch of folks reading what the last representative wrote on the computer screen from previous visits to the guest service desk. Much smaller shopping area. Terribly small Serenity deck that had black soot from the smoke stake dropping on guest utilizing this area. The smell of sewer in hallways on all different decks during the 5 night cruise. The Ugly: The super strong smell of sewer that kept backing up into our stateroom cabin bath room vent and drains. This started right after the mustard drill and got progressively worse. We called and they sent a guest service representative to see for herself, she almost got sick. They said they would send someone to sanitize the bathroom and a plummer to hopefully fix the problem. Day number two this smell got even worse, Went to the guest service desk to complain and they said they will try to fix the problem again and I said that I would like there rooms manger to please come and see for him or herself. Then then admitted that this has been an ongoing problem with this room E-52 and wouldn't be able to fix this until it was in dry dock. They would need to move us to a lower floor, only room available was on the Riviera deck and give us a $200 we are sorry for the bad experience in on board nonrefundable credit. Which we were OK with but it meant leaving our 17 year old son and 18 year old nephew alone three floors up. We trust them so we accepted the move to the Riviera deck R-195 and to be away from that horrid smell. Next comes the ugly, the next day a different customer service representative called to ask if we were satisfied with the way things were handled, We told them that we are still upset and that we do not see the on board credit to our account.The women who was speaking to my wife on the cabin phone stated that it wasn't Carnival's policy to move rooms and give on board money credit, she told my wife that she must be making this all up. My wife was livid being basically called a lair by this representative. We have now wasted over 4 hours dealing with this situation and moving rooms. When it was all said and done we were given the on board credit because the manger who was helping us failed to write this up correctly on there guest services computer. No apologies were offered by the representative for her bad choice of not being a not so good guest relations employee by saying my wife was wrong. If they would've communicated correctly they could've avoided making a bad situation even worse. I felt we were very reasonable and just wanted to be dealt with professionally. I hope someone from cooperate Carnival reaches out to us, I would like them to explain why my family should be loyal to the Brand and someday Cruise a 9 Th time on one of there ships. With so many cruise lines, I'm not sure I will be back without a proper apology from someone from the corporate staff. Read Less

My father in law booked a cruise for 6 to make it a family vacation. We had a balcony, free at sea package, etc. It was OK. The food was good to average, bars were always full and usually had to wait. Seemed under staffed. A nice tip here and there upped the service levels on future visits. Entertainment was good. The illusionist was great, really got the kids involved. The singers had some highlights, a couple sounded like they were heading to Broadway. The russian lady that did the Stevie Wonder tribute was just unexpected. Not great. I went by to see the bingo costs and was shocked. Never play that. Also went the the "art auction". Surprised to see original Peter Max and Dali. One Max sold for over $12k before I had to leave. Who would have thought people cruise to buy art. Used the dining package at the Steak and mexican. Steak was surprisingly good. The mexican was average but the quantity was over the top for what you could order. Felt bad about what was not eaten. With that said, don't order the max dishes available. The pool area stayed packed and loud. did not stay there much. Some nice places to read but inside. The slots are what everyone says, way leaning to the house. Rooms were OK. First time with a balcony and enjoyed that. In laws balcony door would not latch and kept flying open. Had to get maintenance up to beat on it to lock. A good thing. The last night the seas were crazy for about 4-5 hours. 15-20 ft seas, could not stand up in our room, doors slamming open, etc An upside, They really did due diligence for the corona virus. One agent checked your passport and asked the questions then another person went through every page to make sure no china trips recently. Would I go on this ship again? Maybe in Alaska Read Less

This was our first RCCL cruise, we've also done Princess and Carnival several times. I liked the cruise a lot, but probably will not sail with RCCL again. PROS: - The crew was extremely friendly and the service was outstanding. - The ship was very clean, including the bathrooms. There were Purrell hand santiizers everywhere. There was a hand washing station at the buffet that you had to walk through to get to the buffet. - The ship looked very modern and stylish, with nice artwork and contemporary decor. - We had an ocean-view balcony. The room was plenty big for myself, my wife, and our two small children. The trundle beds (converted from a couch) was comfortable for the kids. I slept in one of the twin beds one night and it was fine for me too. The king bed my wife and I shared the other nights was comfortable too, though the pillows were a little hard. The balcony was sufficiently big to put our feet up an relax. The door had a child lock and sealed off the sound from outside too, we never heard anything and there was no soot on the balcony either (we were towards the back of the ship). The showed was comparatively big with the round "glass" door providing a lot of space, and good water pressure too. - There were a lot of activities on the boat and a lot too do all the time (probably too much to do, we had to skip some things). -The shows we went to were fantastic, especially the Columbus musical. That was really really good. The Aqua Theater show (the Fine Line) was also really good with incredible diving and acrobatics. I've never seen shows that good on a ship, it rivaled Vegas. - Roatan is a great stop, probably one of the best beaches we've been to in the Caribbean. Go to West Bay beach and walk around the West End area if you go. It's great! -Embarkation was smooth and fast. We got there at 10 and we were on the ship by 10:45. You should scan your passport using the app so that you can use the expidited line to get on faster. -Debarkation was very fast, we walked off the ship at 9am (we chose to stat on a little later) and were off the boat and through customs 10 mins later using their facial recognition. One of our bags got lost (someone wasn't paying attention and walked off with our bag, but left it outside the terminal when they realized their mistake). The port staff helped track it down after about 20 mins of us looking inside. I was very relieved they found it, but it would be great if they had a more secure way for people to confirm their bags (e.g. showing some form of ID, or using a barcode scanning process). - The comedian they had was really good, but he did the same act each night. Carnival has great comedians and they do a different act every night, so you can go every night and see something good. CONS - The food was sub-par all around. The dinner in the MDR had a pretty repetitive menu and the cuts of meat were not very good. I wasn't looking forward to dinner. The dessert were generally uninspired and they only had a warm cookie or brownie one night (I really like warm desserts with ice cream on top, rather than just a cold cake). Food is the main reason I cruise, so that deficiency on this ship is a show-stopper for me. I only ate in one specialty restaurant (Izumi Hibachi, which was very good itself and the show there was fantastic), but the food in the MDR and Windjammer were mediocre at best. I think they are trying to get you to buy the upsold specialty restaurants. I thought the food on Carnival was much better, especially since I like burgers and pizza. The Guy's burgers on Carnival are really good and their pizza is better than HOTS too. The breakfast and desserts on Carnival were also much better, they have melting chocolate cake every night. - The cruise director and his staff were not very visible for the first few days of the sailing. One of the questions at trivia on the third day was "what's the name of your cruise director." I think it speaks volumes that that was a trivia question. The atmosphere on the ship was not as fun as past cruises we've been on. - The stop at Costa Maya was not very interesting. We got off the ship for 30 mins and then got back on. - The ice skating was only open for a few hours the entire cruise and you had to get there early to get a slot. We ended up having to skip that due to its limited availability. - The kids club was ok. My 4 year old liked it a lot, but my 7 year old did not have such a great time there. He really wanted to play a specific video game they had there, but there was another kid that was hogging it the whole time and the staff did nothing to enforce time limits or sharing among the kids, despite me asking them multiple times to ensure my son got a turn. - Elevator wait times were not great, but I recommend using the stairs if you aren't too lazy and if you aren't disabled. Read Less

This was our first cruise and one of our last family vacations before our oldest goes to college. We chose the week of President's day because NY has the week off for winter break. The itinerary was also a deciding factor for the cruise. It was the Eastern Caribbean with port stops in Amber Cove, St Thomas, San Juan-PR, and Grand Turk. Weather was warm and sunny. There was always high winds on sea day so that prevented us from entirely enjoying the lido deck. There were A LOT of kids due to the break but that didn't impact our enjoyment at all. Ship was very clean and at full capacity according to the CD. I never felt overcrowded but we didn't hang out on Lido all the time. Staff was cleaning and they even painted the hull (?) during our port days in Amber Cove and St. Thomas. Public bathrooms were clean and well stocked. Fun shops were okay. Casino was the only negative. So smoky!!! It drifted out of the casino into the atrium and ocean plaza. There were small ionizer within the casino and it actually was less smoky when you walked through the casino. I did not see any ionizers outside the casina and there should be because the stench was unbearable on sea days in the atrium. Cabin was a Cove balcony on deck 2. We had connecting cabins for our family and two bathrooms and more room saved us from many arguments. Luggage can be stored under beds and there were three closets. two for hanging and one had open shelves. Steward's name is Carmina. She was so kind and friendly. Did a great job!! Food was plentiful. We didn't reserve any specialty dinning. We had Any Time Dining and were assigned the Sapphire dinning room. On the Carnival Hub app you can reserve at your leisure but can't request a table or server. the wait was never more than 10 minutes. The MDR service was alway great. We never had the same servers but they were all excellent. Buffet was okay. Mongolian Wok made to order was excellent. Guy's Burgers were very good. We ate pasta Cucina del Capitano for lunch and it was delicious (upcharge for dinner but not lunch), Pig and Anchor was very good. I had pulled pork and mac & cheese that was yummy. Entertainment was good. Comedy was good. Went twice because the times were conflicting with Ovation theater productions and by the time you walked to Lime Light theater it was standing room only. Band in Ocean Plaza had a very good. The band called Quite My Tempo & Nice Brass was excellent and the female singer was fantastic. The Piano Bar was the only major disappointment. We tried him twice and both times it was not good. Craig was the name. Nice guy but not gregarious. The violin trio in the atrium is another great act. There were others that we didn't see but overall music is very plentiful. Cruise Director was Leigh. He is from Australia so the accent had me at "hello". Great with kids and had the type of humor that I like. Port and Shore Excursion were the highlight of our trip: Amber Cove, Dominican Republic - Very nice port and had our passport stamped here. We did a non-Carnival excursion with Marysol Tours to Damajagua Falls. It was so much fun and I highly recommend both the tour company and tour. We also hired the paparazzi and it was well worth the $50+tip. We had over 150 pictures and 10 videos. St Thomas - Beautiful and still recovery from the hurricanes. We did a non-Carnival tour with Godfrey Tours included open bus ride of the City and Beach Break at Sapphire Beach. Again, the tour was good and highly recommend the tour and Godrey. San Juan PR - My favorite port. We walked to the visitors center (across from CVS) and they mapped a walk. So fun!! Went to Barrichina's for lunch and Pina Coladas, walked to the fort and Governor's mansion. Grand Turk - Did a beach day. Elation was in port before us and the free area was too crowded. We walked to Shark Reef Bar and rented 4 loungers and two umbrella's for $30. We just swam in the clear water, had drinks (very expensive compared to even Carnival) and toured the port area. I stuck up a conversation with a guest from Elation that did a snorkel tour and really enjoyed it. Read Less