Overview
About
Passengers: 3,963 | Crew: 1,657
Passengers to crew: 2.39:1
Passengers to space: 36.4:1
Launched: 2013 | Refurbished: 2020
Decks
- Deck 5
- Deck 6
- Deck 7
- Deck 8
- Deck 9
- Deck 10
Additional decks
Deck 5 layout
Cabins
Reviews
Traveler rating
- 83
- 65
- 56
- 32
- 50
Time of year
Language
Selected filters
- Filter
- English
First time on NCL and loved it. Service, food, entertainment were all excellent. Saw some fantastic shows and ate some wonderful food. The itinerary was perfect. Used both NCL tours and private tours. All great except NCL are more expensive. Had an inside room which was small but clean and compact. Never heard any noise and slept wonderfully. We spent very little time in it anyway and would prefer to spend any savings on a drinks package/tours. We would definitely book a NCL cruise again with no hesitation …
Read more
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Helpful
First time cruising and NCL were fantastic. We were travelling with our almost 3 year old, and whilst he was too young for splash academy, he still had lots of fun in the kids pool and on some of the arcades (which you have to pay extra for). The kids pool does say it’s not for kids in nappies, but there were ones in there - so they are not too strict on that rule. They can’t go in the bigger pools though as these are manned and the lifeguards won’t let you in with them. Getting on the ship was quick and easy, we never paid for priority or anything - however having a toddler with us probably did give us more priority than others - they are all great with the kids! We stayed in room 5138 which was an accessible family window room (it was allocated to us on booking - we never booked an accessible room on purpose). The room was massive with lots of storage. However, couple of things - it’s right next to where the bridge opens for people to get off the boat at each port and it’s VERY noisy!! Luckily our toddler want woken by it - but we were. Also, because it is an accessible room, the door opens by the press of a button and stays open for about 15 seconds which I totally get as it’s an accessible room, but if you are travelling with little ones just be cautious as they can get out just by pressing that button - no other lock on the door. We had to just put the pushchair in front of the door and cases in front of the button (pics of room on this review). All the food we had was amazing! Only place we weren’t keen on was Shanghai’s - food was nice, but not suitable for eating at with a toddler. But if you’re not travelling with little ones, it’s worth a go. The buffet was lovely - great selection. On sea days the pool is packed, and it’s the usual case with sun beds where people reserve them with towels and disappear for ages which is annoying, but guess that happens everywhere. I didn’t use the main pools or slides, but they all looked good. There are a few jacuzzi dotted around too. Entertainment was good too, some good bands and various things going on in the day. The shows are great too - but you need to book (they are free). We had the free at sea package with was great. It’s nice not having to worry what you are spending on food and drink. We didn’t bother with the water package - you can top up your water at most places on the ship, so just bring a refillable bottle. We never got one, but you can buy a lanyard on the ship to carry your room card around in as you have to show it everywhere. We will get one if we go again. Room bill: check it daily! We got charged $88 (that was for 2 Manhattans and 2 shots of Talisker apparently!) for some drinks we never had - they were great at sorting it out, but if we hadn’t have checked and questioned it on the ship we may not have had it refunded. Excursions: we booked via NCL as being first timers we were too scared to book elsewhere. We did 3: Olympia: Kourouta beech transfer. This was great! Was just a coach transfer to the beach, but we got a great spot as we were early. That was for around 3 hours. You get beach towels as you leave the ship - so don’t bother bringing any with you. Sorrento and Pompeii - I would not recommend this one, we had about an hour in sorrento and didn’t get to see a lot of Pompeii. It all just felt very rushed! Pisa and Florence - this was a good one, you’re about 1.5 hours in Pisa and about 3.5 in Florence. It’s a long day, there was an accident on the road on the way back and this got us back very late (about 1 hour after we should have been back on the ship). The ship did wait for us and we were the last coach back! I think there could have been slightly less time in Florence to allow time to get back at a better time. Check out was fine (once the bill was sorted!). You need to leave your cases out at 10pm on the final night, so keep a small bag of essentials with you. Overall, we would go with NCL again. Some great places to visit and it’s was just a great experience.…
Read more
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Helpful
My wife and I recently went on our first cruise on the Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) ship, Norwegian Breakaway. A 10 day affair around the Mediterranean. The crew were lovely, helpful and polite and always smiling despite clearly long days and shifts. Food was good and plentiful, our room was clean and well serviced, (thank you Mohammed), but we found many disappointing matters to report. Our pre booked excursion tickets were in our room. Good service. The tickets for the Acropolis/Acropolis museum excursion contained a warning notice that there may be long queues for the Acropolis itself and it was best to be prepared and carry water and sun protection. We visited the Acropolis museum at speed, saw the Acropolis from there high up on the adjacent hill, and then visited a restaurant for lunch! What about the Acropolis? No, we didn’t go. Most people on the excursion were questioning why. The excursion was meant to go there according to the documentation. Why provide a warning note of the heat otherwise? Why pay for a restaurant visit when food was available on the ship? The general consensus of the participants was disappointment and a feeling of being ripped off. We opted for a 150 minute internet package each, however, this was rapidly found to be inadequate and my wife purchased an upgrade to unlimited internet at a ludicrous sum. I persevered by logging on, downloading emails and logging off immediately. I thought this was reminiscent of dial up and unsatisfactory. Then I noticed that I would sign on with, say 120 minutes remaining, sign off with 119mins and 20 seconds remaining. When I next signed on, I noticed I had 119 minutes left. Where did my 20 seconds go? It was taken back by NCL. I was not getting what I paid for. Of course, if x mins and 59 seconds remained, bang went 59 seconds. I consider this to be very sharp practice indeed and certainly not what we paid for. At the end of the cruise, the Italian aviation industry went on strike on 15th July, the day we docked in Rome to disembark. This was obviously outside the control of NCL. On 14th July, NCL announced that free internet and phone calls would be available on board so passengers could rearrange flights and accommodation. I found 4 phones for 3900 passengers! Of course, they were overwhelmed. I was informed any calls from our room would be charged. This is not free calling. The internet access was no different so “free” was a myth. Mobile data calls were nearly impossible as we were at sea and distant from Italian coverage. Huge queues of passengers built up to make enquiries, wait times were over an hour, the desks were so understaffed it was a joke. I heard constant complaints of poor internet provision from the outset by passengers from multiple nations as they tried to contact relatives and friends all over the world to book a hotel in Rome on their behalf for however long was necessary to deal with the flight delays. We were bounced 4 days by our airline. By some miracle I got a mobile signal and called my brother in law in Switzerland for whatever help he might be able to provide. Then the signal dropped out so I had no idea what was happening. NCL could have done much better to assist passengers in a time of crisis. At midnight 14/15 July, the remaining 9 minutes of my internet plan were wiped out. Cinderella anyone? I, therefore, could not try to arrange any accommodation myself. We were cut off from the world. This would have happened ship wide. This must have left many people without the means to arrange anything. This is very poor customer service in extreme circumstances. I perceived no positive action to help those who had NOT booked flights through NCL. We were abandoned to our fate and NCL didn’t help with simple logistics regarding phones and internet. Very poor customer relations. By some miracle, my brother in law was able to book us an hotel in Rome on the 15th just as we were contemplating a 4 day stay at the airport. Basically, my complaint is of poor customer relations in general by management, very bad internet provision, not getting what we paid for by rounding down time allocation, cutting off at midnight on the last evening like Cinderella, and not providing what was booked on an excursion. NCL had the opportunity to assist passengers in extraordinary circumstances, thereby gaining kudos and instead they seemed to choose to hang us out to dry. …
Read more
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Helpful
Sailed on NCL Breakaway out of Rome Aug14-23. We were a group of 6 people. Will start with the positive, the destinations are stunning (not that we had enough time to enjoy them, but nontheless) and our room Stewart was wonderful. Room was always spotless. That’s where the positive points end. First of all, we have sailed on lots of other cruises (Royal, Disney, Costa…) and this was by far the tiniest room EVER. We had a balcony room for 4 and it was impossible for all 4 of us to move about the room at the same time. The bunk bed was always down (NCL saving money on no longer providing turndown service), which made it impossible to teach the closet and take anything in our out. There was no coffee table or thoughtful storage either. Literally a tuna can. First night, someone somewhere flushed something inappropriate in the toilet and they shut off water to alllllll the toilets, making it impossible to flush. Lovely. This went on all evening and part of the night. The stench in the hallways was horrific. Getting on and off the ship at ports, particularly the tender ports - was a complete sh*t show. We wasted a good 1.5-2 hours waiting on lines, both to leave and get back on. This was unacceptable, considering the stops are already significantly shorter than on any other cruise we’ve been on. For example, in Mykonos, the ship was departing at 2PM. We had to get on the tender line at 12 noon. Absurd. The line was also in the sweltering sun, with no shade or anything. We witnessed a person faint. There were probably more. Santorini was ridiculous as well. Took 1.5hrs to get off the ship and 2+ hours to get back on, also due long cable cart lines. These ports need a FULL day and more tenders. Wasted more time in lines in scorching heat then enjoying the towns. NOW, on to the best part - the food. In the specialty dining restaurants the food was pretty good. But in the main dining room and in the buffet it was absolutely disgusting. Found a giant bug in my salad at the buffet. It was huge and already dead, probably marinating in there god knows how long. We immediately brought this to the manager’s attention, whose response (or lack there of) was appalling. He basically shrugged it off and asked what is it we want. We requested dining vouchers so that we wouldn’t have to eat at the nasty buffet again. He said No and told us to go to customer service and talk to a higher level manager. Wasted the whole evening at customer service. He eventually showed up close to midnight and said he can’t do anything. Said he would call us the next day. Of course he didn’t call and we ended up wasting more time at customer service next day. At this point, we’re angry because now we’ve wasted so much of our vacation time. Eventually got to speak with head of food and were told we can go to specialty restaurants. Went to the Japanese restaurant and found a giant blob of mold in my daughter’s cup of soda. It was outrageous!!! And management’s lack of appropriate response was just shameful! They just kept brushing it off. Receiving no credit or compensation for wasted time. Zero. So to sum up, broken toilets, dirty infested food, and lots of wasted time. Would I ever sail on NCL again? NO. And I don’t recommend anyone to sail them either. Low quality, disgusting, crappy customer service.…
Read more
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Helpful
We did a nine-day Mediterranean cruise on the Breakaway with our four (mostly teenage) children. We have cruised on NCL and RC previously. Overall, we had a great time and would recommend this ship, though there are certainly some drawbacks when you are sharing a ship with four thousand other people. The seemingly endless upselling can also get to be a drag. Here’s more detailed feedback. DINING OPTIONS We primarily stuck with the complimentary dining options and were certainly satisfied. While the menu is the same at the three major sit-down restaurants, having three different spots offered some nice variety and helps when one gets more crowded. The food and service were both very good and there were kid and vegetarian friendly options. We rarely had to wait long for a table (and we were party of six) There is also an Irish pub style casual dining option that the kids liked, though we did not really care for the food there much. The buffet is what you would expect on large cruise ship: Abundant and endless food options with plenty of elbows and crowds to contend with. SERVICE The rooms were clean and we found the service to be quite good from the housekeeping staff to the waitstaff to the deck hands, etc. One caveat would be the Guest Services set-up. There was always a long-line here which was frustrating when you needed help with something. PORTS/ITINERARY Our cruise made stops in Greece, Italy and Malta. We really loved the itinerary. YOUTH PROGRAMS There are two main entertainment options for kids: Splash Academy for age 3-12 and Entourage Club for age 13-17. The Entourage Club was great for our 15 & 16 yr olds, but the Splash Academy was a big disappointment for our 12 year old. She felt like she was stuck with the little kids and was never really able to connect with other kids her age. It’s a tough age to be sure, but it would be nice if the ship offered some better options for 11 &12 year olds. SHORE EXCURSIONS We used the NCL hosted shore excursions for two ports and made our own arrangements for the rest. If I did over again I would probably not use the ship ones just because they tend to be pricier and more crowded. NCL PRIORITY ACCESS We paid extra for the NCL Priority Access passes because we had an early flight home and needed to get off the ship in a timely fashion to make it to airport in time. But it also came with some other perks that were nice, especially priority disembarkation for the two stops where we had to take a tender to get ashore. Without that you might be stuck waiting to get off the ship for a couple of hours. This only matters at ports that require tendering, but if you are doing a cruise like that it’s worth considering. POOLS We never used the pools, they were always too crowded. The decks were also pretty crowded most of the time. ENTERTAINMENT We saw production of SIX which was certainly a highlight. The were some fun game show type entertainment options and then some typical cruise fare music options. Casino was nice, though a bit too smokey. Could stand to have a few more options to do as a family. Overall I’d say the entertainment was adequate. …
Read more
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Helpful