My review of the Breakaway

[dolittle]

About me, married 58 young at heart(I know everyone says that )have been on all M.M. cruise lines more than once except Princess. We booked the Breakaway out of New York for a change we had been on 6 cruises that had complex ports and were in the mood for something simple. We took Amtrak from Phila. (first Time)to Penn station and walked to the ship about 23 blocks . Check in was somewhat crazy but it went fast and were on the ship in about 30 min. The ship WOW large and very nice .It is laid out well and had good flow. Our room was an inside it was large and laid out well very nice bathroom and large bed .We mostly hung out at the Waterfront outside on deck 8 we loved this space, outside close to the water, with a few bars on each side of the ship. The Whiskey bar was the most fun. The food : to me this was the most pleasant new thing about N.C.L. and the Breakaway ,we had breakfast every day in Savor or Taste (the small dinning rooms) the food every day was perfect ,great eggs cooked to order and much better coffee than upstairs great service and nice atmosphere. Lunch: we only had a few lunches on the ship all were in O'sheehans pub this one of the best new things on any ship a huge Irish bar in the middle of the ship on deck 7 .It has a lot of room to sit and eat ,watch T.V. or play games pool, darts and bowling .The food was good pub grub we had the pot pie ,sandwiches ,burgers and apps. all were good (Mrs Dolittle LOVED the pub) Diner: We had been on the Jewel and ate at the M.D.R. in 07 and found the food pretty mediocre. We were both shocked how good the food was in the M.D.R. on this ship I had the everyday steak (this was not so good) next nights yankee pot roast , N.Y. strip,rack of lamb, and lamb shank all were great as were all the side dishes .D.W. had fish and salads all were of very high quality . It was obvious to us that a major upgrade of the food in the M.D.R. has taken place. all of the salads and apps were made with fresh ingredients .Best were spianach salad and the best bread basket on any ship we have ever been on. The desserts were good but not outstanding (about the same as other ships ) I know I am going to get flamed on this but the M.D.R. s food was as good or better than X (we are big fans of Celebrity) Later I will write my experenece with the ports and the rest of the cruise , If you have any ques. please ask

[Cruiser Bruiser]

I'm excited to read the rest of your review. I think NCL has awesome food in their MDRs, and I love the bread, too. They bake it all fresh aboard ship. I'm going to have to wait to late 2016 or early 2017 to do it, but I'm excited about Breakaway. Thanks for the vicarious thrill. :)

[Kenlorz]

How long did it take you to walk to the pier? We are taking Amtrak to Penn Station and were thinking about walking to our hotel on West 46th street and then to the pier. I've been wondering about the walk. Could you elaborate? Thanks! Great to hear things went so well... We're greatly looking forward to our cruise on her in the spring :). Looking forward to hearing more. :)

[PathfinderEss]

Enjoying your review, looking forward to the rest.

[brikee]

Nice review. Glad to hear about the good food. May I ask where your room was located? I will be going with my inlaws and parents. We booked an IX cabin.

[dolittle]

How long did it take you to walk to the pier? We are taking Amtrak to Penn Station and were thinking about walking to our hotel on West 46th street and then to the pier. I've been wondering about the walk. Could you elaborate? Thanks! Great to hear things went so well... We're greatly looking forward to our cruise on her in the spring :). Looking forward to hearing more. :)

If you are walking from Penn Station to 46th I think it is 13 blocks ,as far as getting to the ship turn left on 50th and it is about 3 longer blocks .We got to New York about 11:am so we had pleanty of time . We had only one large suitcase for both of us it has rollers and it is a pretty good one, we took our time stoped to get and iced tea and took in the sights along the way I would say it took about an hour (we were taking our time).This is our third time walking to and from the ship, on our way back we had a lot of time so we detoured to Broadway and took in the sights , then slowly made it back to Penn Station.

[dolittle]

Nice review. Glad to hear about the good food. May I ask where your room was located? I will be going with my inlaws and parents. We booked an IX cabin.

The food was a real eye opener to us , as far as the room it was 5119 forward it was close to the main showroom . To me where a room is at makes little difference to the enjoyment of your trip . I know many feel otherwise.

[dolittle]

As far as the ports we had tickets to Universal Studio from 2004 so I thought why not rent a car and drive over to the parks.I am very familiar with driving in this part of Florida I found on this site Payless car rental in the port (2 miles away it is a big port). The price was right compared to ship excursions about 50 something with ins. Well the ship comes in at noon sharp but there is some snafu with immigration or something so we wait in long line to get off 45 min. late.The guy from the car place is there to meet us and zips us to the place(this went very quick). Along the way I take the wrong turn to Disney World ( force of habit I guess) this cost us more time but soon we sign to Universal and pull in and park 17 dollars(ouch)and get gight to the studio part of the parks. As it always is in this part of the world it is HOT but on the good side the park was empty I took charge and tied to hit the most rides in the best time. Mummy ride 10 min wait yes walked around and took it all in then went to the Harry Potter train ride to Islands of adventure this park also empty . It starts to pour (it always does) but we just keep on going hit the the double coaster the Harry Potter main ride (a real WOW)in less than 25 min .we than went on Jarassic park and a few others . I told my D.W. at 6:00 P.M. we must walk out we did in pouring rain . Ride back to ship a downpour so bad we had to ride with blinkers . Get to rental car spot others are waiting for cab back to ship (he works for them 15$ a van load) make it back to the ship with about 30 min. to spare.We do a lot of D.I.Y. s so we are used to it but I would not recomend most people do this from this port (port Canaveral)you do not have the time to get your moneys worth and we would not have without the old tickets.B.T.W. A lot of people missed the ship on this stop , they called out at least 15 names.Next : Great Stirip Cay it will be shorter.

[cv322]

I'm excited to read the rest of your review. I think NCL has awesome food in their MDRs, and I love the bread, too. They bake it all fresh aboard ship. I'm going to have to wait to late 2016 or early 2017 to do it, but I'm excited about Breakaway. Thanks for the vicarious thrill. :)

 

Don't mean to hijack the thread (:o)...but just HAVE to tell you...looking at your picture in your avatar...you have a twin who lives in Providence, RI...and his name is Donald L. :);).

 

OP - I'm enjoying your review, thanks for sharing!

[dolittle]

Ports continued : Great Stirrup Cay We took our time eating breakfast and let all others wait in line for tenders . Got off the ship about 11:00 A.M. the island was full , we walked to the end near the jetty and found many empty chairs , the water temp. was just right (it was very hot and sunny out) . There are no waves so it is easy for even non-swimmers, we stayed in the water for most of the day to avoid the heat, I had a small pair of swimming gogles and saw many fish mostly small a few big ones.We had a few beers at the bar under the umbrella at the tables (very nice) I did not eat any of the barbecue but D.W. says it was very good and went back twice (she is thin, me not so much) I had 2 of the ships Sabertt hot dogs from the cart next to the bar , they are very good. It is my experence at these Islands by about 3:00 P.M. most people have had enough and head back to the ship, about 3:30 or so it rained and thundered for about 15 min. we waited up at the bar and it passed over.After the storm there were very few people and we had the beach to ourselves . We stayed in the water till a few min. before 5:oo and quick showered and got on the last boat (with all the crew ) and went back to the ship D.W.was the last person back on the ship.All in all it is a very nice and easy day, while this island is very nice and would do fine by anyone for a good beach day it is fair to say it is not as nice as R.C.C.L island (which is next door) or Disneys island but if you have not been to these you would not notice.Next:Nassau and shows on the breakaway.

[dolittle]

Final stop Nassau : We had not been here in 10 years or so and it seemed to us that Nassau had cleaned up it's act it seemed nicer and cleaner and the people were nice and friendly. We got off pretty early to beat the heat (it was very hot) walked around the town and straw market for an hour or two and thought it best to head to the beach.I had heard about Junakroo beach(on this site) we came out of the ship walked to the right for about two hundres yards and saw the signs for this beach.I had read mixed reviews on this site about this beach and was glad to see that it was pretty nice . A local welcomed us and sold us 3 bottles of local beer for 10 dollars ,he had a shack that sold beer rented beach items and paddle boards and such.The beach was crowded with people from ours and another ship,if you go to your far right facing the water there is a park that has a lot of needed shade ,we stayed there for the rest of the day . when we were leaving we found a shower near the bathroom to get all the sand and salt off and walked back to the ship. I am sure there are nicer beaches in Nassau but we had been to the private island the day before so this was just right for us on this day.All in all a nice easy day.Next : The breakaway shows,and my final thoughts.

[Ms. Fun Bunch]

Enjoying your review! I will be on the Breakaway this Sunday, my first Norwegian cruise!

[dolittle]

The shows on this ship were an eye opner to say the least first Burn the Floor the more tradtional of the two is plotless but still very good ,it is full of ballroom dancers from around the world honestly I don't rember much about it (I should have keep notes) but it was very good . Now: ''Rock Of Ages ''WOW I have never seen anything like this on any cruise ship it is an adult R-rated version of the broadway hit with rock songs from the 80s and 90s . It has somewhat of a plot, boy meets girl ,boy gets girl in the end. It takes in sleezy club on the Sunset strip ,to say this show is sexy is and understatment it also is at times way over the top in trying to be cutting edge(on a cruise ship anyaway)it is alittle to long and sags in the middle but the last half is great and funny . You may not like it (a few walked out) but I must say I wont forget it WOW.

[dolittle]

Random thoughts I have been on 19 cruises all lines more than once except Princess I am shocked that 10 days later I am still somewhat wowed by this ship and this cruise line. We had been on the Jewel in Europe for 12 days in 07 and found it to be a good cruise but many of the bad things people say about this line were right on, that is not the case with the Breakaway.In fact a would call this ship the breakthrough and boy is it ,it has the most incl. food spots and irish pub (D.W.loved this) . The waterfront a real design breakthrough (I will bet other ships will soon have this)This is my new favorite ship (sorry Sillhoutte)and would love to cruise with her again. As far as things I did not like they are minor quibbles at best low water pressure in the shower and one thing I did miss from R.C.C.L. and X ships is the large night club on top of the ship. On this ship many things were held in the atrium which was to small to host many of the events.Also a small number of T.V. channels.There is one thing I more than likley be sorry I mention SMOKING(we do not) but this ship is very smoke frendly(it does not bother us)you can smoke at the waterfront, a lounge at pool ,the bar at the pool and in the casino. It was a great cruise and would tell anyone who asks , the Breakaway Yes. if you have any ques. please ask.

[Winston Wolf]

Glad you enjoyed the Breakaway. We did too!

[cathyoo]

Thank you for sharing your adventure. I will be doing my first NCL cruise on the Breakaway next year.

[cage keeper]

Great review. We will be on Breakaway in March for our first NCL cruise. You have eased some of our concerns.

[jerseyralph]

Random thoughts I have been on 19 cruises all lines more than once except Princess I am shocked that 10 days later I am still somewhat wowed by this ship and this cruise line. We had been on the Jewel in Europe for 12 days in 07 and found it to be a good cruise but many of the bad things people say about this line were right on, that is not the case with the Breakaway.In fact a would call this ship the breakthrough and boy is it ,it has the most incl. food spots and irish pub (D.W.loved this) . The waterfront a real design breakthrough (I will bet other ships will soon have this)This is my new favorite ship (sorry Sillhoutte)and would love to cruise with her again. As far as things I did not like they are minor quibbles at best low water pressure in the shower and one thing I did miss from R.C.C.L. and X ships is the large night club on top of the ship. On this ship many things were held in the atrium which was to small to host many of the events.Also a small number of T.V. channels.There is one thing I more than likley be sorry I mention SMOKING(we do not) but this ship is very smoke frendly(it does not bother us)you can smoke at the waterfront, a lounge at pool ,the bar at the pool and in the casino. It was a great cruise and would tell anyone who asks , the Breakaway Yes. if you have any ques. please ask.

 

I so agree with your comments. After a terrible experience a few year's back, we had decided we would never step foot on an NCL ship again. Then we were working too hard last winter and a two-day opportunity on the Breakaway was available and we said, "Why not?". We came off that ship just loving it. This year we took two more Breakaway adventures and still love it. It is our current favorite. We have sailed Carnival x 12, RCCL x 10, Disney x 2 and Celebrity x 3. We reserve the right to let Quantum change our minds.

 

Anyhow, the atrium is too small, the food is remarkably good in all venues. Ocean Blue is amazing. We did UDP and will do it again. That is not to say the no-upcharge venues were not good. They were very good. I do wish they would expand the tv channels but... must admit I loved cuddling with DH and watching Wizard of OZ. The smaller entertainment venues are great. We had so much fun with Les in Fat Cats and Howl at the Moon. The freebie, no reservations, Tina Turner show on day six was amazing. I love not wearing formal stuff for dinner. I love choosing where and when to eat. It is a gorgeous ship and we will board her again, asap. We just need more vacation time.

 

We had a mini-suite with large balcony, about 9 x 11 feet, a dining table with two chairs, two loungers. We loved the jetted shower built for two. It is powerful and so relaxing.

 

Glad to read you had a great time. We look so forward to doing it again and yes, we bought a certificate for our next visit.

 

Be well,

 

Gina