Getaway vs Breeze. Anyone do both?

I'm considering a last minute cruise on either Norwegian Getaway or Carnival Breeze. Has anyone been on both....or even Breakaway Class and Dream Class....who can give a fair comparison and recommendation?

Prices are similar and itinerary doesn't matter since I've been to all the ports.

My concerns for both are reports of Breeze being too crowded and for NCL, my own experience of poor service and blah ships. To be fair, I've never cruised Carnival and the newest NCL ship I've sailed is Dawn.

BTW...Breeze is 8 nights and Getaway is 7. Also, I don't care about Freestyle vs traditional in this case.

Gambee (who has a FABULOUS Breakaway review on here) I believe just got off the Breeze. He should be posting a review soon and I'm sure he'll also include a comparison.

We've done the Breakaway and the Breeze (x2) - with the Getaway and Escape booked - if you think I could help any....

Gambee (who has a FABULOUS Breakaway review on here) I believe just got off the Breeze. He should be posting a review soon and I'm sure he'll also include a comparison.

Gambee's reviews are FANTASTIC!! Can't wait to see what he has to say about the Breeze.

We've done the Breakaway and the Breeze (x2) - with the Getaway and Escape booked - if you think I could help any....

Overall, which would you say is better...ship wise...between Breakaway and Breeze? What about my fear of crowding on Breeze...is that true?

And yes, I will look for Gambee's reviews. I know how good those are!

Overall, which would you say is better...ship wise...between Breakaway and Breeze? What about my fear of crowding on Breeze...is that true?

 

And yes, I will look for Gambee's reviews. I know how good those are!

We certainly enjoyed BOTH - I think it depends what YOU cruise for. We cruise for warm weather and time together so ports are not a deciding factor for us but the options on board the ship are!

NCL wins for entertainment and dining options - for sure. We felt right at home having sailed the Epic - really liked the layout, specialty restaurants choices and Haven areas. Howl at the Moon and Second City shows were enjoyable in addition to Rock of Ages, Burn the Floor and the Cirque Show.

But....the Breeze was good too! We got off the first time feeling like there were many things that we just never got around to doing. We ended up booking it again for a family cruise 6 months later and enjoyed it as much the second time.

It's a completely different feel for a Carnival ship - very relaxed and resort like. The crowds were never an issue for us. We really liked just hanging out in the Red Frog Pub and adult only Serenity area. Their specialty restaurants were good too (Bonsai Sushi, Italian and the Steakhouse) - we also enjoyed the Sea Day Brunch. There are also "new" options for dining on Lido too - Guys Burgers, Blue Iguana Cantina, etc. which are quite enjoyable and a departure from your typical Lido buffet.

Entertainment on Carnival left a lot to be desired - in our opinion. Comedians were ok - piano bar was GREAT the first time and disappointing the second. We didn't go to any of the main lounge shows. But we spent most nights enjoying the live music in the Red Frog Pub - which was always a good time.

Tough to pick one over the other...they were both good experiences for us!

If you have any other specific questions - I will try to help!

Thank you very much, happy cruzin, for that detailed response. Like you, the ports aren't a deciding factor for me either. I just want to try something new and enjoy what the ship has to offer. This cruise is nothing more than a last minute "getaway."

Ref entertainment, I also kinda got the feeling there was nothing special on Breeze. I see Getaway at least has one highlight show, Legally Blond, but what's with these reviews saying there are only 2 shows all week? Surely, that can't be right....is it?

Ref the Epic, if that ship was in the running for me, my mind would already be made up. I can easily see that ship has the best entertainment of the 3.

I've been on the Breeze and the Epic (twice). I'm booked for the Breakaway later this year. I don't know if this will be helpful because it's not exactly the two ships you are talking about, but there are a lot of similarities between the Epic and Getaway... so here goes.

Hands down, NCL beats Carnival for me. The Breeze had a few things that we really liked, the Steakhouse was much better than all of my experiences at Cagneys, we were able to get a balcony room for about the price of an inside on the Epic (but you're saying the prices are the same for your sailing), and the Red Frog Pub was great. We loved the trivia offered on the Breeze (much better than NCL) and there were two musicians on board that I enjoyed more than any other cruise (although I've always liked NCL's live music too).

Here are the bad things: The Breeze totally falls apart for food at lunch time. Every day we struggled to find something to eat between 12-3pm. The buffet was open in one tiny area with about 7 different trays of things. Guy's burgers was open, but having one of the first day was enough for me, forever. There was pizza in the back of the ship, but the line was always a half hour or more long. We ordered room service the first day that we realized we just could not find any food that we liked, and it took over 45 minutes to arrive. One day we just bit the bullet and paid around $25 to eat lunch at Red Frog Pub (they have small bar bites, which were admittedly very good). It was a nightmare coming back from ports and trying to find something to eat before dinner options opened up. The Guy's line consistently wrapped around the entire middle pool deck area. It was just terrible. I've never had a hard time finding food on a cruise ship until that cruise. Same thing happened for late-night food. I really missed the ease of going to something like O'Sheehans on the Breeze. There was hardly anything to eat late except waiting a half hour for pizza. Other things that weren't great-- the entertainment options. NCL's new ships blow the Breeze out of the water (PUN INTENDED). The night life was only ok. The piano bar was fun, but only for one night, whereas on the Epic I went to Howl at the Moon every chance I could get. The water slides on the Epic (and I'm assuming Getaway, which have more than the Epic) are much more fun than the Breeze. We loved the water area on the Epic and it was one of the reasons we booked the Breeze, but it just didn't compare. Slides were shorter and slower and they closed down while we were waiting in line too many times for us to keep wanting to make the time commitment. The casino was very small and not as fun as the Epics. Additionally, I have always preferred NCL's staff over Carnivals, and the Breeze was no exception. NCL staff is always smiling and saying hello, and the Carnival staff basically ignored us unless we specifically asked a question or said hello first. It was just a different vibe. Thank goodness we had our balcony... we spent most of our time in our cabin just talking and looking at the water and spending time together. If we had had an inside cabin I think I would been really disappointed in the trip.

Sorry, that was a long rant. Long story short = NCL. NCL. NCL.

dos equis - Thank you very much. The longer the better. ;) You hit a few points I was actually concerned about. The Breeze tends to be notorious for lines. Gawd, I hate long lines!

Ref food choices, I live a low carb lifestyle, so that's always a consideration of mine when looking at restaurants options. I probably wouldn't eat in the Italian restaurant and if I ate Guy's, it would be without the bun. But I'll be damned if I'm going to wait in a line that wraps around the Lido deck just to get a hamburger patty.

Thanks again for your advice. I'm really starting to lean toward the Getaway. BTW, I did ask this on both boards and I don't seem to be getting any positive advice on Breeze over there either. :confused:

Oh, and ref pricing, Breeze is advertised as considerably lower than Getaway. But I'm learning that Carnival is very tricky in their pricing. If you want to choose your room, it costs considerably more. You even have to pay extra depending on what deck you want...even for the same category of room. That's a first for me...I've never been nickel and dimed for room selection before. So even though they are advertised lower, by the time you choose your room, or even a general location, the costs is about even, or even a little more.

Did the Breeze and Breakaway. Will that help?

Have review links below.

Generally speaking, I liked the Breakaway more. Actually, I liked it so much, I'm sailing her again in about 3 weeks.

Carnival really has their target market pegged. And, they pack a lot into their cruises at a decent price.

That said, I found the food on the Breakaway to be fresher tasting. And, their MDR food to be more creative than what we found on the Breeze.

That said, the Breeze had some good "go to" food, like Guy's Burgers (just remember to tell them you want a double order of fries to get more than just a few), Jimmy's BBQ is another good place to go for comfort food.

O'Sheehans was open 24/7. We stopped there a lot, usually for breakfast instead of the usual craziness one finds on any cruise line's breakfast buffet.

The entertainment on the Breakaway was in a whole other league over Carnival Breeze (or any other cruise line for that matter). After having sailed the Conquest a few years ago. It does seem that Carnival is putting more and more responsibility on fewer people when we sailed the Breeze. That said, on the Breeze, we never waited an inordinate amount of time.....for anything.

Decor is a matter of taste, but I do like the new decor on the Breeze. That said, I really, really like what NCL has been doing with their newer ships (Epic and Breakaway). The Breakaway is the most beautiful ship I've ever sailed (followed by the Allure, the Epic and then the Breeze).

On both ships, there's lots of open, outdoor, space, which I loved. This is different than what I experienced with the Allure of the Seas, for example, which felt more like an indoor mall.

Pick one over the other? Hmmmmm....tough choice. 8 days vs 7. Carnival pricing is kind of weird as they're dissecting pricing, as you point out, not only for picking your own cabin, but picking your own floor. I don't like that much. But, they seem to be doing that more and more. On the flip side, they aren't charging for Guy's Burgers or Mongolian or BBQ either.

I'd probably pick the Getaway because the entertainment is going to be much better than on the Breeze (most fun on the Breeze was the piano bar).

Thank you very much, happy cruzin, for that detailed response. Like you, the ports aren't a deciding factor for me either. I just want to try something new and enjoy what the ship has to offer. This cruise is nothing more than a last minute "getaway."

 

Ref entertainment, I also kinda got the feeling there was nothing special on Breeze. I see Getaway at least has one highlight show, Legally Blond, but what's with these reviews saying there are only 2 shows all week? Surely, that can't be right....is it?

 

Ref the Epic, if that ship was in the running for me, my mind would already be made up. I can easily see that ship has the best entertainment of the 3.

TRUE....with that many people on board there are bound to be some lines - especially if you go to the Lido at noon. I guess we didn't have that problem because we tend eat a later breakfast and then lunch and dinner a little later too. You have to be careful with that too though....because the Lido food lines close down between 2 and 3. Leaving Guys, Pizza the Deli, room service and maybe Blue Iguana as your choices until the dinner buffet opens.

One other note....there are several places - other than the Lido - to get lunch on the Breeze, especially sea days, when the lines are likely to the the worst. The MDR serves a Brunch on sea days and on the Lanai there is Jimmy's BBQ and the soup, salad, wrap station. The line for the BBQ can be long - and is outside - but it moves quickly.

We never had any problem finding food on Breeze - several buffet lines open during the main hours. Even if there were lines we felt the move efficiently.

We have been on Breeze twice, Breakaway last summer. I actually thought that it was harder to find a lounger on Breakaway than Breeze. Luckily, we paid for the Vibe beach club, and that was fantastic. We always found chairs near the hottubs on deck 5 of Breeze - especially outside the casino. Nice and quiet there! Entertainment? Breakaway wins, hands down. Food? It was a toss-up. Enjoyed the difference in buffets. It was our first experience with freestyle dining, and we really enjoyed it! Loved O'Sheehans! Decor of ship doesn't count in our equation. Lines/crowds? Found them to be just about the same on both ships. Loved the fact that NCL "greets" you with music when you get back on ship at a port. Carnival gives you great bang for your buck. I don't think you can go wrong with either ship.