Just Off Norwegian Breakaway (June 7 - June 16) Thoughts

We are just off the Norwegian Breakaway Baltic cruise (June 7-16th) and I wanted to provide some insights to those that will be on future cruises this summer on boat and this itinerary. Also, I’ll add a few of my opinions as well.

Here are the top questions that I had prior to our cruise and hope it helps those that are still trying to find some answers.

• Transportation to the cruise terminal: we took a large taxi from Kongens Nytorv to the cruise terminal for 340 Danish Krone (approx $50-$55). The ride took only about 15 minutes or so with no traffic.
  
• Boarding Time: Check-in was quick and efficient and we were on the boat around 11:15am. There was literally no line when we arrived (around 10:45am) and people not in the Haven were already boarding before we did. Very easy and efficient cruise terminal.
  
• Updates to the Breakaway: Aside from Syd Norman’s I believe Norwegian changed out a massive amount of carpet and probably replaced worn items. The ship was in really good shape.
  
• Reservations: we reserved all of our meals and shows prior to boarding, but used the Haven concierge to help get in for the Escape Room game and to move things around. I suspect that most people will get what they want if they take care of it early on embarkation day.
  
• Shows: we only went to Burn the Floor and Rock of Ages and both were entertaining. Definitely don’t recommend Rock of Ages for kids younger than 16 or so. Escape room was fun but virtually impossible to solve in the 45-minutes given.
  
• St Petersburg Tours: the biggest question was what tour company to use for St. Petersburg. We went with Alla Tours and they were fantastic. But, I did see SPG, TJ, and the rest at the same places doing the same thing so my recommendation would be to go with whoever seems to be most responsive or provides the best itinerary or price. These companies are all great.
  
• Tours or On Your Own: We did a segway tour on our own (segtours) in Warnemunde, Tallinn on our own, Alla Tours in St Petersburg, HOHO in Helsinki, and Stockholm on our own. It all depends on how much walking you want to do, and what you want to accomplish at each port. Except for St Petersburg, all the ports were easy to do on our own and I would recommend that for most. Keep in mind, there are a lot of pickpockets so keep your valuables secure.
  
• Stockholm Free Transportation: we booked a while ago and qualified for the free transportation from Norwegian. We got a sticker for our key card which allowed us to get a free 24-hour transport pass for Stockholm. Norwegian pulled this off flawlessly, as they had representatives give people with the sticker a 24-hour transport card as you left the pier and directed you to buses that took you 5-minutes down the road to the train station. The walk would’ve been around 20-25 minutes and the bus saved a lot of time and effort--I strongly suggest taking the free bus to the train station. The train was an easy 55-minute ride to the city center (Stockholm City is the stop) and an easy 5 minute walk to Gamla Stan. On the return, they gave us a list of returning train times and had buses ready to transport from the train station to the ship. Kudos Norwegian, this was pulled off flawlessly in my opinion.
  
• Debarkation: we did the walk off the boat ourselves route as we had an early flight. Worried that if we weren’t first off the boat there would be few taxi’s we were let off at 6:50am. There were about 15 taxi’s ready and waiting, some of them were extra large sized which handle up to 8 people. The ride on an early Saturday only took 25 minutes to the airport and cost 620 DKK. I did notice that one group not from the Haven walked off in front of us so there seemingly wasn’t a big rush of people running to get off the boat. I don’t know how busy it got after us, but there were enough taxis and I saw more heading to port as we were driving away.
  

Some of my opinions:

Food: I would classify the food at the Haven and the specialty restaurants as good not great. We ate at every specialty restaurant and everyone in my group ranked Ocean Blue the best (Teppanyaki a close 2nd) and they had the best bread as well. La Cucina was probably our least favorite. I had high hopes for the noodle restaurant but it was disappointing. The Sushi restaurant was pretty good, but all the rest were fun to try but nothing special. The buffet is what you’d expect and they did have the good soft serve ice cream. I feel that if you’re a foodie or travel on the higher end cruise ships, then the food will let you down. I think Norwegian hits the mark with it’s target cruisers by serving good (not great) food.

Best Food Items: Vanilla soft serve ice cream from buffet, blueberry muffins, bread in Ocean Blue and Moderno, hamburger in Haven, banana dessert in Moderno, Sushi at Wasabi. Nothing else really knocked our socks off to list as a must try.

Drink Package: Seems like everyone has the drink package and its a drink olympics because of that. Drink prices were actually pretty reasonable (around $10ea) if paying for each drink and if you’re not drinking more than two drinks per day you’d be ahead by not taking the drink package and avoid paying the $200 taxes.

Overall: Norwegian does a good job

Haven: definitely offers a different cruise experience but I’m not sold that it’s on par with the higher end cruises. I’m not a big cruiser so my experience is limited but if you are only paying a small amount for the upgrade then it would be worthwhile, whereas paying the full fare is hard to fathom that the experience would be up to the standard of Regent, Oceania, Viking, etc.

The itinerary was great and cruising was the best way to quickly see the highlights for all of these ports. Feel free to ask questions and I’ll try to respond.

Thanks for taking the time to post a review. I'm on this cruise in Aug and only question is disembarkation running smoothly for those not doing a ships tour in St Petersburg?

Thank you for the review! We go next month.

Thanks for the taxi update getting off. We kept hearing last season about lack of taxis so looking for this seasons reviews on them!

Great review, thanks for writing, it has given us a bit more insite into what to expect when we do the same cruise in August. (y)

I can't figure out how to edit my post so I can add the disembarkation at St. Petersburg. It was super easy, here was our experience.

The boat was on time to the port meaning that it appears that we pulled in about 90-minutes prior to the scheduled port time. I believe they gave the all-clear around 7:15am or so but we didn't head down until 7:45am. I believe the arranged tours via Norwegian assembled around 6:45am or so and headed out first. Since we were in the Haven, we simply went down the service elevator and off the boat so I didn't see the extent of lines. But I also didn't see a huge line to get off the boat so I don't believe there to be a problem to get off the boat for anyone at 7:45am.

As for immigration, there were two areas where people were funneled. Neither looked long--maybe 15 people deep for each line whether Haven or not. It took us approximately 20-30 minutes to get through immigration without any problems. Those Russian immigration agents certainly don't like their jobs as they don't speak a word or crack a smile.

Keep in mind that we were the only ship at this particular terminal so maybe on this day we had it all to ourselves whereas on other days it might be shared with another boat. Either way, I don't think people on private tours should fear that Norwegian could hold them back. We didn't schedule to start our tour until 8:30am and if you're worried maybe schedule your tour to start 8:30am or 9am and your guide will wait for you.

One thing I did notice is that a tour group from Norwegian was running late and they hustled all the people in that particular group to the front of the immigration line so they wouldn't miss their bus. This pushed people in line back a few minutes but nothing major.

Hope this answers your question or gives info that you were seeking.

I can't figure out how to edit my post so I can add the disembarkation at St. Petersburg. It was super easy, here was our experience.

 

The boat was on time to the port meaning that it appears that we pulled in about 90-minutes prior to the scheduled port time. I believe they gave the all-clear around 7:15am or so but we didn't head down until 7:45am. I believe the arranged tours via Norwegian assembled around 6:45am or so and headed out first. Since we were in the Haven, we simply went down the service elevator and off the boat so I didn't see the extent of lines. But I also didn't see a huge line to get off the boat so I don't believe there to be a problem to get off the boat for anyone at 7:45am.

 

As for immigration, there were two areas where people were funneled. Neither looked long--maybe 15 people deep for each line whether Haven or not. It took us approximately 20-30 minutes to get through immigration without any problems. Those Russian immigration agents certainly don't like their jobs as they don't speak a word or crack a smile.

 

Keep in mind that we were the only ship at this particular terminal so maybe on this day we had it all to ourselves whereas on other days it might be shared with another boat. Either way, I don't think people on private tours should fear that Norwegian could hold them back. We didn't schedule to start our tour until 8:30am and if you're worried maybe schedule your tour to start 8:30am or 9am and your guide will wait for you.

 

One thing I did notice is that a tour group from Norwegian was running late and they hustled all the people in that particular group to the front of the immigration line so they wouldn't miss their bus. This pushed people in line back a few minutes but nothing major.

 

Hope this answers your question or gives info that you were seeking.

Yes it does, thanks for the response

One more BIG note regarding St. Petersburg. All the tours seem to end on the second day at the same time -- approx 5pm. Therefore, everyone arrives back at the cruise terminal at the same time and huge lines are created. It's not the end of the world, but will take about 30-minutes to get through the metal detectors before immigration.

HUGE SECRET: on our cruise all the tours drop the groups off at the same place the tours started from. But, there is another entrance to get through the metal detectors and to the shops on the other side that had only 10 people waiting (versus about 200 people waiting). These lines are to get through the metal detectors and then into the shops which then can go to either of two boats in port (there was a second boat in port on our second day). Since I'm writing this now, others will now know the secret so don't expect it to be such a large disparity in the line, but pay attention as your tour guide pulls back into the terminal and you can judge for yourself if its worthwhile walking to the other side for faster entry or now.

Lastly, in the cruise terminal they have an broad selection of gifts at reasonable prices. I suggest taking a look at the shops after your tour on day #1 and compare prices so you can purchase some things in the city or at the port on your way back.

Thank you for posting so quickly upon return and you answered most of my questions (on this cruise in 5 weeks). It sounds like NCL has the Stockholm transfer figured out then. I've been reading some horror stories and was seriously considering doing one of their tours just to not have to deal with the mess of the free transport.

Thank you for your review! Quick (personal) question: what currency/currencies did you bring with you for this cruise? As there are so many different countries, did you use mostly euros? We plan on using our credit card as much as possible, and also plan on bringing euros, but wanted to know about rubles, danish kroner, etc.

Do you think it's necessary to be at airport 3 hours before departure or will 2 hours do? We are leaving next day and have an 8:30 AM flight, thinking maybe I need to change that to a later flight provided United doesn't want a boatload of $$$$ to change

Thank you for the review. A few questions:

- Is there a formal night on this cruise?

- Do the taxis in Copenhagen use meters?

- Are ATMs easy to find in all ports?

I have another question :) What was the weather like? I've been reading that it's cooler than expected and that Tallin especially was "cold". We'll be doing this same trip at the end of July.

OP, thank you for sharing your experience with us. I am looking forward to our voyage in August.

Thanks so much!!

pe4all, I'm like you and wanted to use my credit cards as much as possible. First, I'm armed with a Schwab account as it has the best no-fee international ATM / debit card programs out there and is free. That way, I can always hit an ATM when I need it and not worry about foreign exchange fees or charges. I went over with cash to pay for the St Petersburg tip set aside which is what those tour companies require. Aside from that only brought $150 USD cash and also $100 Euros and ended up getting another $100 Euro along the way--using this mainly for tips on the cruise and some knick-knacks along the way. Small vendors would also take Euro's and didn't have a problem. 99% of what we bought was on credit card.

Here is my breakdown of currency usage: Copenhagen all credit card (even the hot dog stand), Warnemunde needed cash to pay the private segway tour but all CC otherwise, Tallinn all CC except needed 9 Euros for 5 of us to climb St. Olafs Church, St. Pete used Euros at small stand and paid tour tip using cash but everything was CC, Helsinki CC and Euros, Stockholm all CC.

In summary, bring cash to pay for your St. Petersburg tip and set that aside. Bring a CC with no transaction fees, bring an ATM with no transaction fees if possible, and you can bring or get a couple hundred Euro and you'll be fine. Tips for the cruise service people (butler, room steward, concierge, bartenders, matre d's, etc. was where I spent most of my cash not in the actual cities--it was almost exclusively CC.

Hope this answers your question.

njkate, if your flight is to another European country first, then I believe it's just 2-hours. If direct back to the USA, then it might be 3-hours. We arrived at 7:20am with a flight at 10:50am, but had a ticketing problem for our kids which wasted an hour so we got our bags checked at 8:20am (2 1/2 hours prior to our flight) and we were going through London first. My in-laws were on a flight at 1pm to London and arrived at the airport around 9:30am and they said they wouldn't allow them to check-in until 2-hours ahead. I'm sure we were allowed to check-in 3 hours or so early because there weren't any other people in line--but later on there were many flights and they wanted to get the earlier flights all checked-in before tackling the later flights.

Once you get your bags checked, you walk up through security, then walk through a mall-like experience and need to get through an immigration line before getting to your gate. You need to allow for time for this--it didn't take us long, maybe 5-minutes for the security and 15-minutes for the immigration line--but we didn't even know about line #2 until we tried to guess our gate ahead of time and if we didn't head that way until our gate was listed could've been an issue.

Now for my thoughts, coming back from the cruise you get back an hour from Helsinki to Stockholm so you'll probably wake up early anyway. I always prefer to get out of town early and not wait around, so I wouldn't want to pay the hefty change fee to move the flight back. Personally, I'd rally and head to the airport at 6am or so arriving about 2-hours ahead of time. There won't be much traffic--it's only 15-20 minutes to get to the airport and shouldn't have too much problem there. If nervous about time, then head over at 5:45am--but if you're like me, you'll be up anyway in anticipation for the flight. Besides, the sun is up so early that I found it hard to sleep in anyway in these countries.

lizasantaana, we're not the dress up type of family so I can't be sure about my answer for the formal night question. I believe there is an optional formal night as I recall seeing lots of people all dressed up and taking pictures on the steps near LeBistro. Taxi's I believe have both a fixed rate option from the airport and meters--we only used taxi's twice, and both times they used meters. ATM's were easy to find in all ports and I would be picky to find the actual banks instead of currency exchange places. Google maps helped me find them but I wouldn't stumbled on the ATM's just in normal touring at the ports (or asking someone).

heliwoman, the weather for our cruise couldn't have been any better. I think it sprinkled on us for 5-minutes in St. Petersburg and we had sunshine or mostly sunny days and high 60's or mid 70's the entire trip. In every port the locals commented how the weather this past May and early June has been the best in years. St. Petersburg for some reason is like 10 degrees colder than the other nearby cities--but it doesn't really affect anything as you'll be on a tour that is busy (not sun-bathing).

Our day in Tallinn, the weather was like 64 degrees as we disembarked, but it got to about 74 degrees (felt warm) by the time we got back to the boat. I found that 68 degrees in the sun would be the start to shorts and t-shirt weather--it just seems warmer than the temperature and a lot depends on if it's sunny or not. BTW--I'm from Scottsdale, AZ and am used to hot weather so being comfortable (and not freezing) at 70 degrees says something.

njkate, if your flight is to another European country first, then I believe it's just 2-hours. If direct back to the USA, then it might be 3-hours. We arrived at 7:20am with a flight at 10:50am, but had a ticketing problem for our kids which wasted an hour so we got our bags checked at 8:20am (2 1/2 hours prior to our flight) and we were going through London first. My in-laws were on a flight at 1pm to London and arrived at the airport around 9:30am and they said they wouldn't allow them to check-in until 2-hours ahead. I'm sure we were allowed to check-in 3 hours or so early because there weren't any other people in line--but later on there were many flights and they wanted to get the earlier flights all checked-in before tackling the later flights.

 

Once you get your bags checked, you walk up through security, then walk through a mall-like experience and need to get through an immigration line before getting to your gate. You need to allow for time for this--it didn't take us long, maybe 5-minutes for the security and 15-minutes for the immigration line--but we didn't even know about line #2 until we tried to guess our gate ahead of time and if we didn't head that way until our gate was listed could've been an issue.

 

Now for my thoughts, coming back from the cruise you get back an hour from Helsinki to Stockholm so you'll probably wake up early anyway. I always prefer to get out of town early and not wait around, so I wouldn't want to pay the hefty change fee to move the flight back. Personally, I'd rally and head to the airport at 6am or so arriving about 2-hours ahead of time. There won't be much traffic--it's only 15-20 minutes to get to the airport and shouldn't have too much problem there. If nervous about time, then head over at 5:45am--but if you're like me, you'll be up anyway in anticipation for the flight. Besides, the sun is up so early that I found it hard to sleep in anyway in these countries.

Thanks, that helps. We are returning to US via a stop in Iceland, wish I had more time to gap the flight back to US and explore but I don't.

Not even sure if we will have to through immigration as Iceland is also a Schengen country, may not have to do immigration until we depart Iceland for US, I'll have to check,

We are flying in via Zurich and have been told because Switzerland as well as Denmark are Schengen counties I would do immigration in Zurich but would not have to do it in Copenhagen

when did you book the "Escape from Big Top"? Was it the on the day of or can you book in advance (eg book on embarkation day to do it on a sea day?)

Thanks!

Elaine

SClakeliving, we requested to book it the moment we were onboard. Since we were in the Haven we had the concierge put in the request. I believe it was at 1pm of the first sea day. They had something like 8-teams of 6 or so.

Quick question about currency—will all the countries (with the exception of Russia and rubles) accept Euros?

Thanks for the review. Can you tell me more about the shows? Why do you not recommend Rock of Ages for younger kids? We are a group of 24 and 10 of them will be under 16 when we go on the cruise.

Germany, Tallinn, and Helsinki use Euro's so that is easy. Stockholm and Copenhagen prefer credit cards over cash so we never got currency in either of these countries. Russia is the only questionable one and you'd need rubles for street vendors or just in case stuff (probably could use USD or Euros but pay more if needed)--but they accepted credit cards for all of our meals and purchases too. To be safe, you could bring a few rubles along with Euros and have no problems. Some people bring a little of each currency, but my experience (4 days in Stockholm, plus 3 days in Copenhagen) along with the cruise was that it's not really needed.

outtabux, I read about the shows prior to going and even when you are onboard it mentions the adult nature of Rock of Ages. It's very sexual in content and very inappropriate for kids (ie younger than 16 in my opinion). Google it or search on this forum and you'll see what I mean. Also, the music is from the 80's and 90's so some of the senior citizens didn't like it either and left early.

Funny story, my wife and I were having dinner by ourselves at Wasabi sushi bar and sat in between a few members of the cast. When we were talking we had to ask about how they felt when a kid was sitting in the front row during the prior night's show. He said he felt sorry for the lead character as he had to pick out a person up front and do a penis joke or the like. It's embarrassing for everyone. In fact, during our show a group of about 10 kids (aged 10-16) left early in the show from the 3rd row. You know it's going to be a raunchy show when a half naked woman is on the main poster on stage and there are two stripper poles.