Norwegian Breakaway Review

Not for non-smokers

Review for the Eastern Caribbean Cruise on Norwegian Breakaway
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mcfo
10+ Cruises • Age 70s

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Sail Date: Feb 2020
Cabin: Large Balcony Stateroom

NCL was our go-to cruise line for several years. My son wanted to try a larger ship so we took an Eastern Caribbean cruise on Breakaway. Been there, done that. Too many people for the size of the amenities. Tiny main pool. Difficulty getting a drink order during busy times and a horrible layout for smoking areas. The casino is a smoking area and unfortunately is open to the entire deck so after a day or two it smells like a giant ashtray. Not a problem if you smoke but hard on the rest of us. Also, the top deck smoking area is literally right next to the kiddie pool. An attempt to recruit new smokers?

We have not cruised on NCL in four years. Celebrity and Princess since then, and it appears NCL has moved more toward Carnival. No enforced dress codes for dining, even at the Specialty restaurants. At Cagney's, their primary steak restaurant, the table next to mine was a girl in a tank top, short shorts and flip flops. I like to go with a blazer or sport coat and I am trying to show my son how to dress for dinner. The French Specialty restaurant had many diners in tee shirts. If the rest of NCL has moved in this direction, I probably need to move on to other cruise lines.

We bought the Priority Access package so our boarding and debarkation was with the Platinum and Haven people so it could not have gone smoother, other than lack of directions for the paying passengers. Even some of the crew were not familiar with the program.

Cabin Review

Large Balcony Stateroom

Large balcony was nice but too many people were using their balconies as smoking areas. Not bad underway because we were forward but pretty bad in ports. Room was about average size for a balcony room. Very good shower.

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