Norwegian Breakaway Review
Rating by category
Additional details
BUFFET: An awesome quantity, with enough variety for people with dietary restrictions, although it would have been better had they labelled which dishes were gluten free. I only wish the food had been hot - I never found anything (including coffee) better than lukewarm, which dropped to cold by the time I found a table in busy times. Staff were helpful, efficient and plentiful. Loved the fresh oatmeal, crepes and waffles at breakfast. Bread was generally stale - found mould on one hamburger bun.
RESTAURANTS: Le Bistro: good French/international food; parody of French service. Manhattan: very noisy live music, uninteresting food. Moderna: excellent Brazilian BBQ, great service. La Cucina: good Italian food, but served cold, and in a hurry.
KIDS: Our 9-year-old went to Kids Club a few times, but didn't enjoy it enough to stay, or return. Our 12-year-old (1 week short of 13) is in high school, but was refused entry to the teen club. He went to the Kids Club once, but didn't want to return. (They let such older kids check themselves out, but only after a minimum stay of 2 hours, which made him reluctant to start.) Royal Caribbean let him in to theirs more than a year previously, and he loved it. In consequence neither of our boys met any other kids they wanted to spend time with, which was a big pity.
Cabin Review
Mid-Ship Balcony Stateroom
Sofa turns into the third bed, and a fourth comes down from the ceiling (which steward must do). Good use of space. Good storage. The only irritation was the their refusal to open the barrier between our room and my Dad's room, next door. The reason given was "safety", which is difficult to understand.
Our steward was friendly and helpful.
Port Reviews
Copenhagen
Had a great time at Bakken amusement park, particularly on its old wooden roller coaster.
Rostock (Warnemunde)
Old church in Rostock was interesting, with its 16th century astronomical clock, but be there in time to watch its daily display. Not much else there that I could find, though the transport system was good. (We purchased day tickets at Warnemünde station, with help from station staff). Google Maps doesn't show the trams, but they are just what is needed to get from the Hauptbahnhof into the centre of town.
5km south of Warnemünde was the Schiffbau und Schifffahrenmuseem (Ship-building and Ship-navigation Museum). For me this was very interesting, because I'm interested in construction and engineering, but it's not for everyone. It was a 2km confusing walk from the nearest train station, or about 5km walk from Warnemünde. 5 Euro entry to the large park that it is in.
Tallinn
I had read a bit about this town before going there. Unfortunately the old town is overrun with tourists (including me), which leaves little spirit. I'm interested in the Hanseatic League, but I got more out of both Lübeck and Visby (Gotland) over Tallinn. Highlight for me was the Church of the Holy Spirit.
Helsinki
I'm not interested in modern architecture so we found a taxi to take us to Seurasaari island, where they have collected many old wooden buildings from around the country, within a natural forest. Seurasaari was interesting, and well-presented, but the buildings do not open until 11am (at which point you can buy tickets at the buildings themselves).
Stockholm
We split up so one group could see the Abba museum (disappointing) and the other Skansen (much larger than Seurasaari, but same idea, though fewer open buildings and less attractive environment, so not as good). Vasa museum was excellent and "worth a trip" (as Michelin guides would say).
The cruise offered only buses with late departure + late return or early departure + early return. So we took an early train in and used their late bus to return (we had complimentary tickets because the ship should have gone to Stockholm directly, not Nyneshavn). Buy your Stockholm day train+bus+tram+ferry tickets in the Tourist Information office just off the boat, where you can also get tickets for the shuttles to the station (or walk there in 20 minutes yourself).