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Norwegian Breakaway

371 reviews
 All photos (4,523)4,523
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Traveller (1,313)
Common Areas (2,198)
Dining and Bars (1,469)
Itineraries for this ship
Itinerary
14 Night Cruise to Europe
Departure date
Friday, 14/03/25
Route
Southampton, Brugge (Bruges), Le Havre, La Rochelle-La Pallice, Le Verdon, Bilbao, La Coruna, Vigo, Lisbon, Cádiz (Seville), Motril, Ibiza, Palma de Mallorca (Majorca), Barcelona
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Overview

About
Passengers: 3,963   |   Crew: 1,657
Passengers to crew: 2.39:1
Passengers to space: 36.4:1
Launched: 2013   |   Refurbished: 2020

Decks

Additional decks
Deck 5 layout
 

Cabins

Activities & entertainment

Activities (44)
  • Aqua Park
  • Arts and Crafts Classes
  • Barber Shop*
  • Basketball Court
  • Behind the Scenes Tour*
  • Bungee Trampoline
  • Climbing Wall
  • Dance Classes
  • Bliss Ultra Lounge
  • Deck Parties
  • Fitness Center
  • Fitness Classes*
  • Breakaway Casino*
  • Free Fall
  • Gaming Lessons*
  • Whirlpools (8)
  • Hydrotherapy Pool*
  • Internet Cafe*
  • Jogging Track
  • Karaoke
  • Late Night Dancing
  • Pools 4 (4)
  • Poolside Games
  • Ropes Course
  • Salon*
  • Salt Room*
  • Spa*
  • Spa Thermal Suite*
  • Sports Complex
  • The Library
  • The Whip
  • Trivia
  • Vibe Beach Club
  • Video Arcade*
  • Waterslides (3)
  • Wine Tasting*
  • Entourage Teen Lounge
  • Kids Area
  • Kids Aqua Park
  • Splash Academy
  • Bowling*
  • The Humidor Cigar Lounge
  • The Haven Lounge _ Suite Guests
  • Medical Center
Entertainment (11)
  • Breakaway Theater
  • Headliners Comedy Club
  • Onboard Movie Screenings
  • Studio Lounge
  • Spiegel Tent*
  • Velvet
  • Howl at the Moon
  • Live Nightly Music
  • Syd Normans Pour House
  • Game Shows
  • Sports Games Televised
Dining (29)
  • Savor Restaurant - Main
  • Taste Restaurant - Main
  • The Manhattan Room Restaurant - Main
  • Shanghais Noodle Bar - Asian
  • Wasabi - Asian*
  • Bar at the Atrium - Atrium Bar*
  • Moderno Churrascaria - Brazillian*
  • Garden Cafe - Buffet
  • Prime Meridian Bar - Clubby Bar*
  • Bar 21 - Cocktail Bar*
  • Mixx Bar - Cocktail Bar*
  • Le Bistro French Restaurant - French*
  • Dolce Gelato - Gelato*
  • La Cucina Italian Restaurant - Italian*
  • Teppanyaki - Japanese*
  • American Diner - Diner*
  • Shakers Cocktail Bar - Martini Bar*
  • The Bake Shop - Pastries*
  • Waves Pool Bar - Pool Bar*
  • OSheehans Neighborhood Bar and Grill - Pub
  • The Raw Bar - Raw Fare*
  • Ocean Blue - Seafood*
  • Cagneys Steakhouse - Steakhouse*
  • The Haven Restaurant - Suite Guests
  • Maltings Beer and Whiskey Bar - Whiskey Bar*
  • Headliners Bar - Comedy Club Bar*
  • Skyy Vodka - Vodka Bar*
  • Syd Normans Pour House - Beer Bar*
  • Room Service*
* May require additional fees

Reviews
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Cheryl M wrote a review 1 Feb
5 contributions1 helpful vote
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Just returned from 9 day Caribbean cruise on the Breakaway. Had a wonderful experience. Good food, pleasant, attentive staff and a very comfortable bed. All ports of call were great. Shout outs to Aldrin our cabin attendent and Gibson our excellent server in the steakhouse. Did 3 a la cartes - La Cucina Italian was excellent with fantastic service and food, Cagney's steakhouse very good and Le Bistro was okay. Only thing I wasn't impressed with was the confusion with the service at Manhattan restaurant. Servers overlapping, sommelier coming over after wine already ordered, servers coming to take our order when someone else had already taken it and staff absolutely FREAKING OUT because I mentioned a food allergy that I am well capable of explaining and managing. All in all this cruise was a wonderful experience and it was hard to leave the ship when it was over. Also, shout out of staff in the buffet restaurant, Great food, super organized and clean! I highly recommend this cruise.
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Charles D wrote a review Jan 2025
Vancouver, Washington14 contributions66 helpful votes
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Beware the overall TripAdvisor rating of 3 stars is an average of many years of reviews. Read the more recent ones to understand just how the NCL experience has declined to a consistent 1-star, or maybe 2-star...if one is generous. 20+ lifetime cruises...this was the worst. One and done with NCL. Postage stamp balconies...crowded, noisy venues. Long lines, long waits for everything. Food quality and presentation makes one long for an Applebees or Chili's back on dry land. Overworked, indifferent staff. Service was "transactional," waiters took order and delivered food without engagement. You'd get more customer engagement buying socks at Target. Huge, smoky casino in middle of ship open to 2 floors above it to ensure everyone didn't miss out on the cigarette smoke. Few drink servers on decks...everyone had to go stand in line at bar to (eventually) get service. We usually cruise with Princess and have always been very pleased. Nothing like this cattle-car crowded experience! Tellingly, I have yet to receive a post-cruise customer survey. NCL apparently doesn't need me to tell them they are providing a poor experience. Clearly, they already know and they just don't care. Money, money, money...
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Neal J wrote a review Jan 2025
1 contribution1 helpful vote
2.0 of 5 bubbles
We did a 11 day Caribbean cruise in December 2024 on Breakaway. We were upgraded through their bid system and was given an upgrade to a club balcony suite from a balcony cabin. The cabin was an aft facing cabin. Cabin was larger (500 sq ft) and balcony was large. However, if was a handicapped room with no couch, no shelves in bathroom. I tried to switch to another cabin but was denied due to cruise being full. We always book mid ship due to motion sickness and being didn’t help at all. I don’t know if it’s an issue with the ship but it was constantly side to side motion with shuddering. Post cruise I filed a complaint with the company but was given a small apology about the cabin with zero compensation. They said they were firm on the upgrade policies. During the cruise the food was mediocre in the buffered it never changed. 11 days and the menus were the same every day. The complimentary restaurants were ok but nothing to write home about. Specialty restaurants were good. Overall, the cruise itself was good with 8 port calls, however, their lack of customer service on an issue that pretty much ruined our vacation, has cost them a customer. That was my fifth cruise on NCL and even though I have silver status, I will be looking for another cruise line.
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1 Helpful vote
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OlgaJenks_Oklahoma wrote a review Jan 2025
Jenks, Oklahoma95 contributions43 helpful votes
+1
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Excellent 10-day journey to the Eastern Caribbean with the following itinerary: Miami - Puerto Plata (Dominican Republic) - San Juan (Puerto Rico) - Charlotte Amalie, St. John (US Virgin Islands) - Antigua - Sint Maarten - Tortola (British Virgin Islands) - Great Stirrup Cay (Bahamas) - Miami. Multi-hour stay at each destination (usually 9 am - 6 pm). The only exception is Tortola (9 am - 1 pm). 2 full days at sea. You can book excursions through Norwegian, but also plenty of safe and reliable opportunities through alternative advance booking or on site. Regarding cruise and ship itself: 1. Embarkation/ disembarkation: Easy, streamlined. At ports of call, you just need to scan your ship card to alight and then re-board. 2. Stateroom: Had a suite stateroom w/ a balcony on deck 9. Good choice. Decks 9-14 are cabins only, so quieter. Room was very functional, had a convertible sofa (child slept on it); main bed was king. Surprisingly spacious bathroom, his-and-hers sink, good shower stall, various shower modes with additional massage jets, good drainage. 3. Dining: Apparently, ship restaurant reservations open through the NCL app months ahead of sail dates. Specialty restaurants were booked solid before we even set foot on the ship, so book them early (you will also need to pay a cover charge, and these restaurants are not included in most packages)! There are 3 open-access restaurants (The Manhattan Room, Savor and Taste), but they also fill up very quickly and long wait times. Come no later than 5:30 pm, if you have a party of more than 3 people. We ate in the buffet (Garden Cafe) almost every time. It had a splendid, extensive selection and was reliably open and accessible at all times. 5 stars to the Garden Cafe! There is one 24/7 food option - Irish pub on deck 7. 4. Room service: Very good. Good idea to order breakfast delivered to the room on the final day (early disembarkation in Miami) and on days when excursions or ports call start earlier. $5 charge for delivery. As far as maid services, they are excellent. Have a generous tip ready. 5. Staff: Very friendly and hard-working. Mostly Filipino employees. Many from South America as well. 6. Activities: There was such a wealth of activities, and they were different every day! We tried: - ropes course on deck 17 - unforgettable. You get to balance so high in the air above the ship and the sea far down below; if ship is in harbor, the views around while on the ropes course are unbelievable. Open only 3-6 pm. Bring a family member with you to take pictures. - photo session (unscheduled; we could buy prints or digital files later) - bowling (paid additionally, $7/ game, deck 7) - library - checked out books - basketball court - pools. Pools are too crowded at all times! Also, pools close early at 8 pm. - hot tubs. Hot tubs have very small control buttons. For two days, we didn't notice them despite looking all around, so we thought the hot tubs turned off ahead of schedule. - water slides - for activities scheduled at a certain time, arrive early! We were 2 min late to a cosplay-type adventure with a superhero, and the doors of the facility were already closed, no one allowed. - impressed with the inventiveness and variety of friendly competition team/ couple games. 7. Other amenities: - the spa. Though we did not make it to the spa, it's shocking how many services were included, free of upcharge, such as certain massages, evaluations, and sample skin boost treatments. - the gym. Lots of equipment, very well "stocked"! 8. Ship layout: I think ship's design is good overall. Split floor plans on decks 15 and up were confusing at first and somewhat resulted in sectioning off certain amenities on the ship. E.g., our staterooms were closer to the aft, so we didn't realize all the sun decks, clubs, and spa services available towards the front of the ship on the upper decks. If you don't like the sense of chaos around, install the NCL app ahead of time and peruse. Join FB and other chat groups for tips. 9. Childcare: good amount of things for kids to do. Good Splash Academy (kids' club, where staff is on watch). 10. Booking: If you're a member of Costco, consider booking a cruise through them! It's app. 6-8% cheaper to book that way, and you can get hefty vouchers to spend at Costco after the completion of the cruise. Additional tips: - take advantage of one free load of laundry services if offered. - there are rubber ducky scavenger hunts that people do on the ships. May be a fun idea with kids too. - towels are passed out on deck 15, only in one location; you're aloud to take NCL towels with you to shore. - You will have to buy unlimited WiFi per day. Otherwise, you're toast! Some promos offer a set number of free WiFi minutes, but it doesn't actually work. Lots of frustration.
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223dave wrote a review Jan 2025
St. Petersburg, Florida10 contributions7 helpful votes
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Nice cruise...9 nights from Miami. Staff were mostly excellent, a couple of blips. Food was good to excellent. Complaints - Spice H2O...giant screen, played football games and some good throw back nights. Beyond that, showed endless, boring scenery on a short loop. Give me a break! Huge TV...show/play music! No DJ or request nights. Bar staff at Spice were excellent. No movies on deck at night, again lame. The venue is there and wasted with crap scenery on a loop. Even with Club upgrade, balcony is tiny. Barely worth having. Club bathroom was awesome though. Tiny, not smart TVs in room. Brought our ROKU to no avail. Norwegian is way too militant on smoking areas. Ship had a fairly liberal smoking area at Spice and small, enclosed room on the pool deck. Lighten up! Spice deck had a total of 2 umbrellas...TWO! Entertainment is extremely meh. The main duet couple suck out loud. Can't carry a tune. Clearly Norwegian doesn't give a rip about quality. Overall, most likely back to Royal Caribbean.
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Upcoming itineraries

Itinerary
14 Night Cruise to Europe
Departure date
Friday, 14/03/25
The map for this itinerary is not available at this time.
Itinerary
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Prices are cruise only, per person, double occupancy, and are provided by our partners. Taxes, fees and port expenses are not included. Fuel supplements may apply. Availability of prices is subject to the supplier’s pricing availability.