NCL Breakaway : Certainly Different!

[babs135]

Some of you may recall that I had reservations about cruising on the Breakaway over New Year's Eve. As it was part of a larger package there was no chance of changing it. Main concern was that DH didn't seem to realise that it was going to be different to the Queen Mary 2, the ship we had sailed on to New York and returning on to Southampton. Matters were not helped when a number of passengers on the QM2, Americans and Brits, rolled their eyes and muttered 'sailing out of New York over NYE, you must be mad'

 

Anyway, as promised here is my rather lengthy review. I hope you enjoy reading it.

 

 

 

As part of our recent holiday package we had a 7 nights tripon the NCL Breakaway to Florida and the Bahamas over New Year's Eve. We had arrived in New York on the Queen Mary2 and would be returning to the UK on the QM2 so the Breakaway was somethingquite different!!

 

 

Embarkation was quite chaotic and a couple of days after wehad set sail we were asked to go to the Guest Services to complete ourchecking-in. I believe this was simply amatter of taking photocopies of our passports which had not been done onembarkation due to the long queues. Ourcabin was clean and bright with adequate cupboard space but it was small.

 

 

The smell of smoking which emanates from the casino was onecomment I had picked up in reviews of the ship but maybe we were lucky as itwasn't bad at all. It is a little weirdthough that you have to walk through the casino to get to just about anywhereon the ship. Smoking is allowed on partof one deck (7 I think) and there is a bus-like shelter also available forthose who want shade. We were quitealarmed to see babies in buggies in this small area which was heavily pollutedwith smoke. Clearly some parents haven'theard of the dangers of second hand smoke.

 

 

Food was good both in the complimentary eateries and thebuffet. We didn't try any of thespeciality restaurants. Service was goodbut tailed off as the week progressed. We had the Ultimate Beverage Package and made full use of it! A nice perk and we were pleased (or lucky)not to see anyone 'worse for wear' having overindulged. Dress after the formality of Cunard wasn'ttoo bad, although someone wearing the shortest pair of shorts I have ever seento dinner was a little off-putting. It was also nice to see some people makingan effort on NYE, the men in their dinner suits and the ladies suitablyattired.

 

 

Usually cruise either out of season or on a line thatdoesn't particularly cater for children so it was interesting having to copewith lots of children. Mostly they werewell behaved so that was pleasant. NCLcaters well for children so they were occupied much of the time.

 

 

Ports were good. Friends from Orlando met us in Port Canaveral and we were surprised thatthey were able to drive right up to the ship. We stayed on board at GreatStirrup Cay as with most people seemingly going ashore we had the ship almostto ourselves. Nassau looked interestingbut unfortunately hubby was brewing up a chest infection and didn't feel likedoing too much.

 

 

Returning to New York disembarkation was quite speedy. Must say that sailing in and out of Manhattanis an experience in itself. Did we enjoythe experience? Yes, all our 'fears'were laid to rest and we had a lovely time. The only real grumble we had was the lack of a lounge that wasn'tattached to a bar. First thing in themorning it would be pleasant enough to sit and read, but as the day wore on itgot quite noisy. A quiet space woulddefinitely improve the ship.

Would evenbe prepared to do another NCL cruise!!!

[hansolosmom]

Thanks for your review. Glad you enjoyed your trip

[BirdTravels]

We're glad that NCL was not too bad. We are platinum members on both NCL and Cunard and enjoy both lines for different reasons (our first cruise was a transatlantic on the QE2 in Grill class).

[cage keeper]

WOW, such an amazing trip. Glad you had a great time.

[C-line]

The only real grumble we had was the lack of a lounge that wasn'tattached to a bar.First thing in themorning it would be pleasant enough to sit and read, but as the day wore on itgot quite noisy.A quiet space woulddefinitely improve the ship.

Would evenbe prepared to do another NCL cruise!!!

 

Glad you had a good time! :) The Breakaway does have a library with comfy chairs. It's easy to miss - it's tucked in on the starboard side of the ship between the Atrium and the Spiegel Tent. There's also a games room next door.