Breakaway Review

[candacew]

Just returned from a great trip on the Breakaway to Bermuda! We are avid cruisers and have sailed on more than 20 cruises on Carnival, RCCL, Princess, and NCL throughout the Caribbean and the Med.

 

Ship – The Breakaway is gorgeous! Easily one of the prettiest ships I’ve been on. The décor is sophisticated and the overall feel different than most ships. Despite its massive size and the number of passengers, I rarely felt crowded.

 

Cabins – Beautifully decorated but smaller than what we have become used to on Carnival. The balcony was also small but served the purpose of being able to enjoy the spectacular views.

 

Public Spaces – While I liked the layout of the ship, there are some problems. The Atrium is lovely, but is used for way too many events and was often congested. Showing movies in this space seems like a good idea but in reality it creates a great deal of noise in the surrounding areas. I felt like I was eating lunch in the middle of WWIII during one movie. Many popular events, including various game shows and the married game were held here and there just isn’t enough seating and it is often difficult to see what is being shown on the screen.

 

The Theater seemed small and you can only access the side aisles from one side meaning that you had to crawl over everyone to get to a seat. And forget coming in a minute or two late. For ticketed events this wasn’t as much of an issue, but for smaller events like the magician and the crew talent show crowds of people stood in the back, not because there weren’t empty seats, but because it was too much trouble to get to them.

 

We enjoyed Spice H2O for lounging and never had trouble finding three chairs together there or in other areas. Used a couple of the slides and they were a lot of fun. Planned on doing the ropes course but never got around to it. It was always full of people.

 

I usually spend some time in the gym and on the running track. The placement of the running track is simply ridiculous. It’s small and is right in the middle of lounge chairs and traffic from the buffet to the pool. I didn’t even bother trying to use it because I know I would have been frustrated. The gym is chopped up between cardio and weights but is a beautiful space with lots of options. I would have loved to take some of the classes, but the prices were outrageous ($30 for cycling.) I missed having a sauna to use and don’t like the pay for use of the basic spa features. I considered buying a spa pass but couldn’t justify it after taking a tour.

 

Food – I personally feel there isn’t much difference in the offerings and quality of the food between the lines we’ve sailed on but overall I was disappointed in the food on this cruise. Not bad, but not great. I really can’t put my finger on it.

 

We ate in all three of the complimentary dining rooms. The Manhattan Room has the most traditional cruise ship dining room feel. Savor and Taste are slightly more casual and all three are very attractive. The menus were just OK. Usually, I’m struggling to decide between several options and several nights I struggled to find anything that I was excited about. Again, nothing was bad, and a few things (the crab cakes and the striploin steak) were delicious. My husband was disappointed that shrimp cocktail was never offered. Only offering lobster on the buffet is odd as well.

 

We loved O’Sheehan’s and ate here for breakfast once and lunch several times. The chicken pot pie is fabulous and the fish and chips were really good as well. The Upstairs Grill was a nice spot for breakfast and lunch as well. Tucked away in a corner, I don’t think many passengers knew about it. The baby peach pies at lunch were delicious. Especially if you walk down a floor to the buffet and add a scoop of ice cream!

 

We made our first trip to Teppanyaki and it was OK. We had onboard credit to use up and our first choices were already fully reserved. Our chef was a lot of fun and the food was OK. I probably wouldn’t pay the service charge for this restaurant out of my own pocket. We also had a cannoli from the bakery and some gelato. The prices here were fair but again, the food was just OK.

 

The layout of the buffet was fine and I found it easier to get to food on this ship than others. The problem is that there wasn’t much I wanted to get too. I had a few items that were quite tasty but found it difficult to come up with a complete meal that I enjoyed. We did love the crepe station at night and that they changed the available fillings throughout the week.

 

Entertainment – Here is where NCL truly excels! Rock of Ages was a blast! Loved, loved, loved it! We also enjoyed Fire & Ice and one of the Second City shows. The band in Fat Cats was awesome as well as a pianist in one of the smaller venues. The fireworks show was pretty bad ass and one of the highlights of the trip for me.

 

Bermuda – Easily one of the most beautiful places I’ve had the good fortune to visit! I loved being in one spot for three days and getting a chance to truly explore the island. We went paddle boarding on our first day as well as the Harbor Nights festival in Hamilton, and both were a ton of fun. Horseshoe Bay is spectacular! There aren’t enough words for how beautiful this place is. Our final day was spent wandering around St. Georges. Again, gorgeous! The people in Bermuda are so friendly and helpful. Loved it!

 

Overall this was a great trip. I would sail on the Breakaway again and would definitely go to Bermuda again! Feel free to ask me if you have any questions!

[Ilovesailing]

Thanks for taking the time to do a review.

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the report!

[TravelDiva88]

I'm just in love with how many folks from our sailing have posed reviews.

[mimi217]

Nice review...cruised the week before. Agree completely !

[Dave85]

Thanks for the balanced review, very helpful!

[PathfinderEss]

Nice report, thanks for taking the time to write and post it. Glad you enjoyed it.

[Keith1010]

Great review and happy that you enjoyed the cruise.

 

Thanks for taking the time to write this review and to share it with everyone.

 

Keith

[VickiD59]

I'm just in love with how many folks from our sailing have posed reviews.

Every Sun when the Breakaway returns, and begin to start looking for reviews; they've been very few and far between over the last few weeks - but this week :D it's like Reviewapalooza! Thank you everyone for taking the time to do it - it's so very appreciated.

[NJ Johnny]

Great review - thanks

[wasiii]

Thanks for the review.

 

:D

 

wasiii

[TexDisneyMom]

Thanks for taking the time to do a review!

 

 

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[Susie51]

Thank you for your info about the theater seating.