X Summit or NCL Breakaway--help choosing?

Hi everybody, we are planning a family vacation in 2015 to Bermuda for 8. Our party is made up of two adults in our 60s and our children and their significant others (6 total, ages 22-30). Both ships seem to have relatively the same time spent in Bermuda and dock in the same place, but NCL is a little more convenient as it departs from NY and X departs from NJ, which would require a limo ride. We sailed X once in Europe and NCL once for a transatlantic and enjoyed both experiences. For this family trip, does anybody have any info on things I should consider when deciding? I was thinking NCL might work better for the younger set. Any help would be appreciated!

Haven't been on either ship. But given a choice, I would choose NCL Breakaway.

Brand new ship

Much bigger

Much more choices in dining and activities

As you say, more convenient for you.

Easy choice, no? :)

We are looking forward to Bermuda in less than 4 weeks.

Based on my friends recent NCL cruise with her 20 something kids I would go with Breakaway. look at the rope course and other activities that ship has. I am booked on Summit for Bermuda but if I was taking my kids it would be NCL.

We were on Breakaway to Bermuda this summer. Our family group of 10 ranged in age from 14-60.

We all had a really good time and were never bored. There is so much to do both on the ship and in Bermuda that we didn't get time to do everything, even with 3 days in port. My son and I are going back next summer!

There is really something for everyone. Outdoor activities: Water slides, hot tubs, fountain features, mini golf, basketball, sports court, rock climbing wall.

Indoor activities: Trivia, wine, beer and martini tastings, movies, karaoke, games, shows, bowling, darts.

Have fun no matter which you choose. Bermuda is a great place to visit.

http://www.ncl.com/cruise-ship/breakaway/overview

~Robin

Every Day at Sea is a Great Day

Breakaway!!!

Thanks all! This is very good to hear. I drive myself crazy second-guessing my instincts, so this is really helpful.

Meatball_nyc, could I ask how your family arranged the stateroom locations? Were you all clustered in one area of the ship? I have never done anything like this before, and it would seem to make sense to have everybody close by, but I thought I would ask.

Music mom, never second guess your instincts!

We booked way ahead of our July 6th sailing. Sister booked through NCL family all on deck 11. BA balconies and insides across the hall.

I booked a month later through NCL, took a BD on deck 10.

Sis and family were later on upgraded to all mini suites on deck 13 (bigger bathroom) over the winter due to price drops.

My son and I stuck with our angled balcony because we preferred a bigger balcony over a bigger bathroom.

So therefore, we did not have staterooms together in one area. No need with the NCL iConcierge app. You can always call each other on the ship phone and leave messages.

Dinner all together most nights, we would make plans for the next day and meet up in the morning at breakfast.

Excursions all together, booked prior to boarding to ensure we were on the same time/day.

Even being on a ship the size of Breakaway, it wasn't hard to find each other at all.

Here is more info on the iConcierge app. It really worked very well for us. Have fun and hope this helps!!

P.S. We had a total of 5 staterooms if this helps. Ask away if any more questions. It really was one of the best cruises we've ever taken!

http://www.ncl.com/downloads/iconcierge

~Robin

Every Day at Sea is a Great Day

We sailed Breakaway last summer and Summit this summer. While the Breakaway does have more things to do for the younger crowd, overall we preferred the Summit. Much more of a traditional cruise feel. No need to book shows and dinners in advance. And MUCH better food in the MDR. I would not sail NCL again without including the cost of their Ultimate Dinning Plan in my cost comparison. NCL with splurging for specialty restaurants each night would be pretty close to Celebrity and eating in the MDR, at least for us.

The other big consideration is crowding. If you are sailing during the summer months, or any time the kids are out of school, then be aware that the Breakaway usually sails close to 20% over its standard double occupancy capacity because of all the extra children on board. The Breakaway reviews for September are much, much better than the same sailings in July and August. This was not an issue for the Summit.

I strongly suggest you read all the reviews for the ships you are considering, for the time period you plan to sail, before making your decision.

NCL Breakaway member reviews:

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/getreviews.cfm?action=ship&ShipID=642

X Summit member reviews:

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/getreviews.cfm?action=ship&ShipID=251

That's terrific information, meatball_nyc, many thanks. I probably would not have found the app on my own, but now it's bookmarked--sounds very convenient. Our plan was to book our activities together beforehand and also to have dinner and breakfast together, just as your family did. We are going to be booking 4 staterooms--1 balcony and three insides. That mini-suite upgrade would be nice! I guess where we wind up on the ship in proximity to each other will depend on what's available when I book, but it doesn't sound like, from your experience, that it's anything to worry about. This is our first family vacation now that the kids are grown, and I am hoping it will be a memorable one with plenty of time to be together and relax.

OceanBlue123 I definitely have a LOT of reading to do and thank you for including the helpful links. Shows and dinners have to be booked ahead on the Breakaway? When we did our transatlantic with NCL, everything was walk-in, so that is a surprise.

We were planning to sail to Bermuda in the window from late May to mid-June--maybe, now that I think about the kid factor, I'll amend that to early June! The Ultimate Dining Plan upgrade would not be in the cards for this family trip...was the food in the complimentary venues unsatisfactory because of choices, or preparation, or ingredient quality? One of our crowd is a budding gourmet cook and another is a very picky eater. Yikes!

OceanBlue123 I definitely have a LOT of reading to do and thank you for including the helpful links. Shows and dinners have to be booked ahead on the Breakaway? When we did our transatlantic with NCL, everything was walk-in, so that is a surprise.

 

We were planning to sail to Bermuda in the window from late May to mid-June--maybe, now that I think about the kid factor, I'll amend that to early June! The Ultimate Dining Plan upgrade would not be in the cards for this family trip...was the food in the complimentary venues unsatisfactory because of choices, or preparation, or ingredient quality? One of our crowd is a budding gourmet cook and another is a very picky eater. Yikes!

For MDR food, most would rank Celebrity (and maybe Princess and HAL) as the best among the mass market lines, with Carnival and NCL being the worst. For many, NCL makes up for this by offering the most extra cost specialty restaurants, but if you are not willing to pay the $20-$30 extra per person each night, you may be disappointed. "Choices, or preparation, or ingredient quality?" A bit of each, and also slower service. Please do not just take my word on it. Look at those reviews to get as many different viewpoints as possible.

On the other hand, NCL is known for having the best entertainment (again among the mass market lines) and Breakaway delivers that. Although the Cirque show will cost you about $40 a person (might be half price if booked on the ship the first night), the rest are free. Rock of Ages was easily the best show I have ever seen on a cruise ship.

We had a good time on the Breakaway. We just had a better time on the Summit.

I've cruised a lot on both NCL and Celebrity, and while the MDR food is in general better on Celebrity, I've never found the food on NCL to be unsatisfactory...we can always find something we like.

While you might want to sample a specialty restaurant on NCL, there's certainly no need to eat in one every night. My wife and I each get a comp meal for two in certain of the specialty restaurants due to our frequent cruiser status on NCL, so we do eat in a specialty restaurant twice during a cruise, but we have never found the need to pay for one beyond what is comped...which means the other nights we eat in the MDR or buffet and are perfectly OK with it.

NCL's entertainment is hands down superior to Celebrity's.

My only complaint about the Breakaway is that public areas can be crowded at times.

It is so good to get this feedback--thank you! Something about the idea of being responsible for the good time of six young adults sort of ups my anxiety ante. In my reading (thanks again OceanBlue123), the crowdedness of Breakaway keeps coming up, which is interesting since my husband and I always prefer less hustle and bustle--but that is probably exactly what would make Breakaway more appealing to the kids (they call it "life," we call it "noise!") Glad to know your take on the food, njhorseman. Even in odd situations--and we did a transatlantic on Princess where the buffet and main dining room both seemed out of sorts for several days, probably because we got stuck at sea for 6 days in a row trying to outrun various storms)--we have always been able to find something good to eat. It is good to know that we would not have to feel driven to spend at the specialty restaurants, which would be very costly for our group so not in the cards. While we would not be attending the Cirque show for the same reason that we will not be enjoying specialty dining, I am a little concerned about being locked out of the complimentary shows because of space limitations, as many reviews mention that. But one cannot control everything!

Almost no one gets locked out of the complimentary shows on the Breakaway. If you can't get a reservation, show up at the door prior to the show...not everyone who makes a reservation shows up and they start filling open seats shortly before show time.

Frankly I don't pay much attention to the member reviews. Too many of them seem to be written by people with an agenda...in both directions...as knockers or cheerleaders.

We've had some experience with both NCL and X to Bermuda :rolleyes:, and sailed the Breakaway her first season. All the posts here have good points, especially Oceanblue. For us, although we'll be in Bermuda less time (:(), next year we chose RCCL partially based on the Breakaway's crowds, vs. how relatively staid the Summit can be (also we found the food on the Summit this year not as good as previously). Tough call, but all considered, I think the variety of entertainment available on the Breakaway, particularly for your 20-30ish crew, gives it the edge.

Thanks again all--njhorseman, that is an excellent tip about going standby. And jdarch, it's looking like the Breakaway for us exactly because of the activities and entertainment.

OceanBlue123 I definitely have a LOT of reading to do and thank you for including the helpful links. Shows and dinners have to be booked ahead on the Breakaway? When we did our transatlantic with NCL, everything was walk-in, so that is a surprise.

 

We were planning to sail to Bermuda in the window from late May to mid-June--maybe, now that I think about the kid factor, I'll amend that to early June! The Ultimate Dining Plan upgrade would not be in the cards for this family trip...was the food in the complimentary venues unsatisfactory because of choices, or preparation, or ingredient quality? One of our crowd is a budding gourmet cook and another is a very picky eater. Yikes!

We are on the May 31 - June 7 sailing... if you end up booking that week we will hopefully see you on the Roll Call board and ON BOARD :D:D:D

We just got back from our first NCL cruise (Breakaway) after three on Celebrity (Equinox, Silhouette, Summit). I don't think one is overall "better" than the other, they are just a little different:

In my opinion, Celebrity wins hands down in the food department, but NCL wins in the entertainment department by leaps and bounds.

Celebrity's food was more upscale and seemed to use better ingredients. Even the little things, like the poolside/outdoor cafe burgers, Celebrity's were juicy and tasty, the melted cheese for the cheeseburgers and good bread for the buns. NCL's burgers at Uptown grill were a little dry, you could put a piece of cheese on it yourself (but none available with melted cheese) and the bun was a little tasteless. In the buffet for breakfast, on celebrity I always got a ham, goat cheese, and asparagus made to order omelette, on NCL they didn't have goat cheese or asparagus, and the cheese choice was "cheddar", which definitely tasted like cheese product, not real cheese. Dinners I also found on celebrity to use better ingredients and have more choices not on NCL's dinner menu - duck entree, lobster entree. Don't get me wrong, I never went hungry on NCL, but the food was not a memorable highlight of the cruise like on Celebrity.

I also found Celebrity's drink selection to be far more innovative and creative. The martini bar on celebrity has a four page list of martinis, where as NCL had one page of martinis (other pages of other drinks too, but not martinis). NCL has noting like the drinks at the Molecular bar on X. I also liked the celebrity drink package better as it includes coffee bar drinks and bottled water. NCL includes neither and the price is the same.

Entertainment, on the other hand, NCL was heads and shoulders above Celebrity. Recognize I was on the Breakaway, and from what I read is sounds like the newest ships have the best entertainment. There were far more bands (and larger bands) on NCL than on X. The shows (Burn the floor and Rock of Ages) were amazing. When I have heard people in the past say that cruise ship shows are like Broadway, I have thought they must have never actually been to Broadway, but NCL's production of Rock of Ages was surprisingly close to the Broadway show. I was super impressed. The dueling piano bar (howl at the moon) and the comedy troupe (second city) were so much fun. We went to headliners every night to see either the comedy or dueling pianos and had SO much fun! Breakaway even has fireworks! On X ships, we are frequently in bed between 11-midnight. On NCL, we were up until 12-2am every night because we were having so much fun! I haven't done enough research to know if entertainment on NCL's older ships is the same or not.

I found the cost of the cruises to be comparable, especially if you book X when you get a free drink package and factor that into the equation.

Overall, I would not hesitate to sail either Celebrity or NCL again, but each had a different emphasis. For your group, I think you pick what's most important to you.

Cruised both to Bermuda.

My personal choice would be Breakaway.

I've also cruised both to Bermuda. For the age groups in your party, I'd go for the Breakaway as well. I love NCL but sailed the Summit this past summer and really loved it but it was only myself and BF (ages in the 50's). When I sailed the BA, we had 5 younger people (ages 14-21) and they loved it. I'd sail either ship again, but I think for the younger crowd, the BA wins hands down. Enjoy!

I would go with the Breakaway because the Freestyle option works so well in Bermuda when you are staying overnight. You can explore the island and not have to worry about getting back to the ship for dinner. And as others wrote the younger people will have more nightlife on Breakaway.