Breakaway Stateroom Advice

Hey everyone. I am looking to book a sailing on the Breakaway in November and I am torn between two staterooms. I am not sure if I want an Aft balcony on deck 12 or the Mini Suite with a large balcony on deck 8.

Little about us. It will be me, my wife, and 3 year old daughter in the stateroom. We have sailed on the Allure twice in a balcony room both times.

I know that the location of the mini suites are probably closer to a lot of stuff as they are on deck 8 and they also have a much nicer bathroom, which is a plus for me as I am a larger guy. The Aft balcony of course as the awesome view. The price between the two is almost the same with the Aft balcony being $26 more for the week. Just wanted to get your thoughts on which you would go with as I have never sailed NCL before.

You pretty much know the difference between the two.

Personally I would take the aft. Not only for the view but sailing north the last couple of days you have the sun on your balcony and no wind.

Also, I know they don't call you to upsell anymore, but every time we got the call we were booked in an aft facing cabin.

i did not research aft balconies, are they bigger than the rest of the standard balconies?

you seem to value the bigger bathroom and bigger balcony of the MS. so if the aft has a std. balc along with a std. bathroom id do the MS.

i stayed in a balcony last trip and knew it would be smaller than my haven spa bathroom. but even as a medium/larger guy, i just missed the space. but i had an angled balcony so even in december when the MS came down to the balcony price i didnt jump to it.

also in november you probably can get good use out of the larger balcony still.

also note you may have some noise issues on 12 from spice at nite. many threads on that.

I would go with the Aft.

i did not research aft balconies, are they bigger than the rest of the standard balconies?

 

you seem to value the bigger bathroom and bigger balcony of the MS. so if the aft has a std. balc along with a std. bathroom id do the MS.

 

i stayed in a balcony last trip and knew it would be smaller than my haven spa bathroom. but even as a medium/larger guy, i just missed the space. but i had an angled balcony so even in december when the MS came down to the balcony price i didnt jump to it.

 

also in november you probably can get good use out of the larger balcony still.

 

also note you may have some noise issues on 12 from spice at nite. many threads on that.

From videos I've seen the Aft Balcony and Mini Suite large balcony are about the same size. I think the only difference is there is about 10 sqft difference in the mini suite which looks to be all in the bathroom. Location is also different.

I am leaning towards the aft balcony for the Breakaway. If it were the escape I would go for the mini suite with large balcony as it is really close to the brewhouse. On breakaway it looks like the corridor is longer to get to the public area of deck 8.

The 2 questions that popped into my head were:

How much time do you spend on your balcony?

Do you need a tub for your daughter?

The pros on the aft are the view and the big balcony. So if you needed to put your daughter down for a nap you could hang out on the balcony while she sleeps.

The pro for the mini-suite would be the bathroom with the tub. You said you're a bigger guy so there would be more room for you plus there's a tub so you can give your daughter a bath. Again, just like the balcony, you need to weigh how much time do you actually spend in the bathroom vs the rest of the trip.

If it were me, I'd go for the bigger balcony and the aft. I think it also makes me feel better about the extra food and drink during the trip because "I'm walking it off"

Daughter does fine with showers and she loved the tube style one on the Allure. The shower for me doesn't really matter as I'm only in there for like 5 minutes. I can function in the smaller one. More the knee and shoulder room while doing my business sitting in there.

The size of the two balconies are about the same. Last time we were out there a decent amount. Daughter probably won't nap as she is hit or miss at home. Last time she never did and it didn't go well towards the end of the week. Also the mini suite has a shower not a tub anyway. Just a bigger one.

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Last time on Breakaway we had a standard balcony and the bathroom was fine. I'm 6'4" 210lbs

From videos I've seen the Aft Balcony and Mini Suite large balcony are about the same size. I think the only difference is there is about 10 sqft difference in the mini suite which looks to be all in the bathroom. Location is also different.

 

I am leaning towards the aft balcony for the Breakaway. If it were the escape I would go for the mini suite with large balcony as it is really close to the brewhouse. On breakaway it looks like the corridor is longer to get to the public area of deck 8.

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I am debating between these two types of staterooms too (for a late July cruise with my two teen sons). We are considering (well, are currently booked into) a 9th floor aft balcony. Those are the biggest of the aft balconies. I think they are 156 square feet which really is a bit bigger than the mini suite's balcony on 8. We picked 9 as it is the quitest deck. As others have mentioned, you may hear noise from Spice on 12. Is that a concern for your daughter, or is she a sound sleeper at night?

Though I would love the bigger, nicer bathroom (we aren't big people--I'm just a sucker for a nice bathroom, lol), I am a little concerned about the long walk on 8, the distance from the fun teen activities on the high aft decks (probably not a concern for you), and also the lack of privacy on the 8 mini balconies. Would it be weird to be lying on a lounge chair and have people from above looking down? I guess I don't know since I haven't tried it.

To get super nit-picky, from photos, it appears that the deck 8 large balconies feel more like "tunnels" than the aft 9 ones do. This may be not so much due to size, but due to the shape of the privacy dividers. If you look at photos, the ones on 9 slope a little more as they approach the railing. It makes them appear a little less closed in. Again, super nit-picky, and I'm only looking at photos--have never seen the real thing.

For you guys: you may want to consider how much you plan to utilize the Garden Cafe (buffet). It's a lot closer to the Aft balcony you are looking at. How far can your 3 year-old walk, or how much do you want to carry her?

The size of the two balconies are about the same. Last time we were out there a decent amount. Daughter probably won't nap as she is hit or miss at home. Last time she never did and it didn't go well towards the end of the week. Also the mini suite has a shower not a tub anyway. Just a bigger one.

 

 

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I didn't know that, I was under the impression all the away class ship mini-suites all had tubs. I also missed that is was the extended balcony mini-suite you were looking at.

In all honesty then I would take the mini-suite.

I didn't know that, I was under the impression all the away class ship mini-suites all had tubs. I also missed that is was the extended balcony mini-suite you were looking at.

 

In all honesty then I would take the mini-suite.

The shower they have is much larger. Basically the size of a tub from the pics/videos I've seen. I think that the family mini suite has a tub. I'd prefer the shower personally.

Pretty sure I'll go with the aft balcony. Now to convince the wife.

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