Norwegian Getaway vs Carnival Breeze

[CFERNANDEZJR1]

My wife, son and I are Diamond members with Royal Caribbean and were loyal to Royal for years. We tried the Carnival Breeze in 2013 and redid it in 2014. We loved the Breeze it was relaxing, food was excellent, service was great- we felt we had been missing out with sticking to Royal. This year we decided to try NCL for the first time and booked the Getaway. We are curious if anyone has tried both ships and has comparison stories in which ship ranks best. We are excited for "Freestyle" dinning and having more choices in restaurants. Any details we would greatly appreciate on how these two ships compete.

 

Thanks in advance.

[SissasMomE]

My wife, son and I are Diamond members with Royal Caribbean and were loyal to Royal for years. We tried the Carnival Breeze in 2013 and redid it in 2014. We loved the Breeze it was relaxing, food was excellent, service was great- we felt we had been missing out with sticking to Royal. This year we decided to try NCL for the first time and booked the Getaway. We are curious if anyone has tried both ships and has comparison stories in which ship ranks best. We are excited for "Freestyle" dinning and having more choices in restaurants. Any details we would greatly appreciate on how these two ships compete.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

I'm not a Carnival fan, but the Breeze always did look like a fun ship to me, no pun intended. I haven't sailed that ship, but the two do look to be alike in a lot of ways, with the water park and ropes course. Anyway, I will be waiting to hear what others have to say!

[CFERNANDEZJR1]

We have to say we have never been Carnival fans until we tried the Breeze. This ship is a blast- there is fun for all ages. We have done over 12 cruise and can say the Breeze has been our favorite both times. You have to give this ship a try.

[SissasMomE]

We have to say we have never been Carnival fans until we tried the Breeze. This ship is a blast- there is fun for all ages. We have done over 12 cruise and can say the Breeze has been our favorite both times. You have to give this ship a try.

 

I will definitely consider that, thanks! We do have friends who have sailed that ship, and said the same. They really enjoyed it.

[CFERNANDEZJR1]

We booked it because we received a great deal. Up until the day we set sail we were hesitant on whether we would like it or not. Enjoyed it so much we are now worried about trying NCL and it not living up to the Breeze lol

[HarpHarp]

I've been on the Breeze and the Breakaway, not the Getaway.

 

On the Breeze

I loved the deck 5 promenade, especially the area outside the nightclub & the spas.

The lido deck, pool area was nicer

The balcony was larger

 

The entertainment had big problems. The volume on everything was so loud that the music from the piano bar bled into the red frog singer & the band in the ocean plaza was best listened to in the casino. We had to wear earplugs in the theater.

 

The Breakaway

The food was a bit better & the buffet was the best I've seen. The Uptown grill & O'Sheehans are not to be missed

The entertainment was great There was always something happening on 678 & always some place to sit & relax with a glass of wine & listen to pleasant music .

Deck parties

The ropes course.

live calypso music!

the cabin bathroom was better

Edited April 7, 2015 by HarpHarp

[CFERNANDEZJR1]

Thank you for the review! By any chance did you happen to travel with children? Our son is 4 and we are wondering which is better with children. We loved the Lido deck on Breeze - Getaway's Lido deck looks very plain and simple when compared.

[eroller]

My wife, son and I are Diamond members with Royal Caribbean and were loyal to Royal for years. We tried the Carnival Breeze in 2013 and redid it in 2014. We loved the Breeze it was relaxing, food was excellent, service was great- we felt we had been missing out with sticking to Royal. This year we decided to try NCL for the first time and booked the Getaway. We are curious if anyone has tried both ships and has comparison stories in which ship ranks best. We are excited for "Freestyle" dinning and having more choices in restaurants. Any details we would greatly appreciate on how these two ships compete.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

 

 

Also Diamond with Royal Caribbean, plus Platinum with Carnival and NCL. I've sailed on both the BREEZE and GETAWAY. Did not care for the BREEZE at all. Service was horrible, entertainment poor (hate the new Playlist Productions), the ship was ultra-crowded and warm, and food so-so. The best things? The Guy's Burgers and the Serenity Deck. BREEZE is based off a 20-year old design (DESTINY) and it shows. Unfortunately the few positives were not enough to make me a fan of the ship and I really wish Carnival would come up with something truly original. The new VISTA is basically the BREEZE but with even more cabins and less public space all squeezed into the same footprint. No thank you.

 

On the GETAWAY I experienced excellent food and service, fantastic entertainment, exceptional dining choices, and a wonderful state of the art ship design that is truly innovative. Is the ship perfect? Nope but none are. There are not enough pools, they are too small, deck space is too crowded, and the gym is too small. Those are really my only negatives and the pool and deck space issues apply to BREEZE as well. More than anything, the GETAWAY had a fantastic vibe about her. Full of life and very vibrant in a good way, not an obnoxious way. The layout is excellent (unlike BREEZE) and I never felt crowded (except on the upper decks) or herded like cattle like I did on BREEZE. Best of all real live music in lounges and on deck and not the ridiculous DJ's that Carnival has employed everywhere to save $$.

 

Good luck with your choice!

[CFERNANDEZJR1]

Eroller, thank you for your review. Very helpful.

[HarpHarp]

Thank you for the review! By any chance did you happen to travel with children? Our son is 4 and we are wondering which is better with children. We loved the Lido deck on Breeze - Getaway's Lido deck looks very plain and simple when compared.

 

Didn't travel with children, but the kids aqua park on the breakaway looked like a blast. Here's a picture of the one on the getaway.

[eroller]

Eroller, thank you for your review. Very helpful.

 

 

You're welcome. BTW I took tons of photos of GETAWAY. They may help with your decision. Here is the link:

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/eroller/sets/72157650103209279/

 

 

GETAWAY is a stylish and comfortable ship, but I'll be honest and say there is not a lot of WOW factor. No giant atriums, ice skating rinks, 3-level dining rooms, or a Royal Promenade like on Royal Caribbean. Even so, I loved the ship and as I stated before, there is just a great vibe about her. Hard to explain but everything just worked and everyone (pax and crew) seemed quite happy on my cruise.

[CFERNANDEZJR1]

We really appreciate your help.

[CFERNANDEZJR1]

Thanks Eroller- we will take a look at the photos. A great vibe is what it is all about. We loved Royal- buy became bored after so many.

[CFERNANDEZJR1]

Thank you for sharing the photos. NCL does not have many photos on their site. This was very helpful- ship appears much nicer than Breeze. Again, thank you!

[eroller]

Thanks Eroller- we will take a look at the photos. A great vibe is what it is all about. We loved Royal- buy became bored after so many.

 

 

NCL created this video to the "Happy" song by Pharrel Williams. It's all filmed onboard the GETAWAY. It sort of illustrates the great vibe onboard I was speaking of. People generally happy to be there. I love the video and if it doesn't put you in the mood to book a cruise on GETAWAY nothing will! LOL

 

[ohioNCLcruiser]

Funny I literally almost asked this same exact thing a few days ago. We are going to do the Carnival Breeze and are super excited. The ship looks great and the itin is much better!

 

James

[Atlgator]

Reviews are alot like opinions. Just like reading Trip Advisor and yes, even here on CC, you will see varied reviews on the same subject. You have to take in account the age and experience of the cruisers and what they expect out of a cruise. With that said, here is my opinion as to your question between the Getaway and the Breeze.

 

As you can see, I have been on both of these ships before and I have trips planned on both of these ships again coming up in Oct & Jan. So obviously I like BOTH ships. I chose the Breeze because of their itinerary and because we had a blast on the ship. We had excellent service all around but especially from the room steward that went the extra effort. There was lots to do and the food was pretty good.

 

The Getaway was also alot of fun with lots to do with the rope course and the water slides. NCL also has the specialty restaurants that are nice to treat your self to when you would like. The itinerary in not that great and the cost is more than Carnival, but NCL is offering several promotions that make the difference in cost a little easier to bare. Such as the Ultimate Beverage or Dining Package or Excursion Credits. Because of these promotions, I chose both cruises.

 

Hope that helps a little.

[CFERNANDEZJR1]

Ohio we loved The Breeze!!!! The pool deck was a blast- with Guys Burgers and Blue Iguana. We had one of our best cruises on this ship. We tried her twice and are seeking for a new adventure, Eroller has us excited with his great reviews on the Getaway.

[CFERNANDEZJR1]

Atlgator-thank you. We went with beverage package on Getaway. What a great deal. Depending on how we like NCL Getaway will determine whether we do the new Carnival Vista or new Norwegian Escape next year. We cruise yearly.

[Heather1972]

I've sailed both Carnival Breeze and NCL Getaway. You really can't go wrong with either ship. The entertainment on Getaway is far superior to the Breeze. On the Getaway, my only complaint was the pools. Our kid was not a fan of the kiddie pool... very small. I didn't like that the adult pool was very deep, causing you to have to tread water. So, you couldn't just stand in the pool with a drink. My kid LOVED the kids' club on NCL. It's better than Carnival hands down.

 

I think that Freestyle on NCL isn't really Freestyle. I feel you have to plan the cruise a whole lot more. If you want to see all the shows, you have to work your meals around them and reserve your seats for the shows ahead of time... which defeats the purpose of freestyle.

 

... 3 words: Le Bistro... LAMB!

 

All in all, I'd give the Breeze an A- and the Getaway an A.

[retiring soon]

HI all!

 

I (a senior woman) did a BTB last May on Breeze then Getaway! I loved them both (2nd time on Breeze). Getaway is beautiful, has great shows & a great Miami/Cuban vibe. The food was also very good as were the options for it.

 

Breeze has Guy's, Cucina, Thrill Theatre, lots of trivia, a great fun vibe & cove balconies.

 

I'd do either of them again.

 

~ Jo ~ :)

[moesyk4]

Like this thread...our last cruise was on the Breeze in a cove balcony and our next cruise is on a spa balcony on the Getaway. The Breeze was a great ship, we loved they layout, the food was fantastic, and plenty to do. The weather was very chilly and breezy (polar vortex hit the caribbean too!) and it was also our first cruise with our son so didn't get to experience things like the ropes course or the adults only area very much. Really liked the kid's water area, but again, it was so cold I think we only went once. We have sailed Carnival several times and my biggest complaint is the entertainment, yuck. When we went back in 2007 on the Triumph with a B2B with the Freedom of the Seas, we thought the entertainment on the Triumph was so much better...great costumes and set changes. Now, blech.

However, I fell in love with a cove balcony, and would totally book Carnival again for the right price to sail one of those again.

[amscene1]

If you liked the breeze you will love the getaway more! I personally ran in to long lines on the breeze.

[HazelSmrf]

I'm on the Getaway in a few weeks so I'll be able to compare better then, but last year I did do a back to back Epic/Breeze cruise and wrote the comparisons here:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1980606

[Windy56]

We did a back to back on the Breeze last year and a back to back on the Getaway this year. For us the clear winner was The Breeze.

 

Others have mentioned it and I agree that the Getaway lacks a WOW factor. The tacky chandelier on the Getaway paled in comparison to the huge lighting fixture on the Breeze. The theatre is small and uncomfortable on the Getaway. Whoever designed the frontward tilting seats with the bar at the back should be seriously punished! The long well padded seating on the Breeze with the small drink tables were great.

 

 

While we enjoyed the deep salt water pool on the Getaway, the children's water park was not nearly as nice as the water area for kids on the Breeze. The lounge seating along the promenade deck was great. The Waterfront was hugely disappointing to me on the Getaway, whereas I sat and cooled off under umbrella topped tables in the Ocean Plaza each day that I was on the Breeze. It was so comfortable and cool.

 

The crowd congestion on The Getaway really got to me. The atrium was overpacked with fold out chairs every night and making your way through it was a nightmare. There were not nearly enough elevators and thanks to the UBP, you frequently had to step over and around empty drink glasses on the floor. Speaking of drinks, I finally settled on a Long Island Iced Tea as my drink. All of the others I tried were awful. The bar tenders and servers are over extended on this ship. I felt sorry for them. Overall, the crew on the Breeze just seemed happier and more collegial, whereas the crew on the Getaway seemed harried and nervous,

 

We really felt nickel and dimed on the Getaway. I don't understand the kudos given for entertainment. You get to see some amazing dancers and a very lack lustre performance of Legally Blond - the Musical. You won't walk away humming any of the tunes. The magic show comes with a fee. Sugar Blue, the harmonica player, is excellent, but not all people like that kind of music. The duelling piano guys are good but it gets repetitive. The other musical performers were average and certainly not memorable. I didn't feel nickel and dimed on the Breeze and we danced every night to the house band. The Latin duo was great and the acoustic guitar players in the pub were excellent. The piano player was just ok. Overall, there was a wider appeal to the music venues. I really liked the huge variety of theatre shows - four in all - and they ran under an hour.

 

Food on the Breeze was very good on the deck and easily accessed but not great in the dining rooms. The pizza was excellent. The variety of food on the Getaway was very good but the pay venues were not good. The best paid venue food was at the noodle bar which was right next to the casino, unfortunately. The stench of cigarette smoke permeated this part of the ship and other sections smelled like an old apartment building. This was the first ship I was on that actually smelled bad.

 

I wish I could report otherwise, but as much as our cruise on the Breeze exceeded our expectations, our cruise on the Getaway disappointed to the degree that I would never, ever cruise on NCL, again.

 

A few tips for your Getaway cruise. If you decide to try the pay restaurants, book them well in advance online. Do the same for the shows and comedians, as well. We witnessed a lot of disappointed people who were not interested in dining at 9:00 and who were waiting in stand by lines for the comedy shows and did not get in. The best time to use the pool is on port days. If you can swing it, purchase a spa pass. It was our sanctuary from the crowds. There is an outdoor buffet on the upper deck that most people don't know about and it is a good spot for lunch. Wash your hands with soap as often as you can. Much more effective than the hand sanitizer. Avoid touching the hand rails if you can. My husband showed symptoms of a cold on our flight home. We hadn't been off the ship in the second week, so he caught it on the ship. We never saw any crew wiping the railings. It was the sickest I had seen him in a decade. We both agreed that the ship could have been cleaner.

 

I hope you post when you get back. I would love to hear your opinion. While the Getaway was my least favourite ship in over twenty years of cruising, barring an injury or mechanical failure, there is no such thing as a bad cruise in my mind. I hope you have a good vacation!