There has been a lot of question about Norwegian Breakaway and how the outdoor spaces will stack up during sea days. While it doesn’t look overly huge, there are a lot of nooks and crannys that you can take residence up in while soaking up the sun. With that said, it will be a good test.
Three story sports complex.
The ropes course was very popular, walk the plank (that puts you eight feet over the edge of the ship) was a hit and the nine-hole mini-golf course kept the families happy for what seemed like hours.
Probably one of the biggest draws on the outside of the ship is the waterparks. Five waterslides that drops you, tests gravity and races you to the end. I am dealing with a fractured ankle right now so I wasn’t going to test the slides but everyone I talked to absolutely loved them.
There are night time fireworks on Norwegian Breakaway, which is a cool Disney-like feature. We didn’t get to experience the fireworks on our cruise because the weather was nasty on our last night at sea but the ship is going to have fireworks on every voyage too.
The Waterfront
In the way of cruise ship design there isn’t much that hasn’t been done. It seems that every cruise line has revolutionized the industry in one-way or another. Norwegian Cruise Line did the same with The Waterfront located on deck eight. Picture shops, bars, eateries and chill spots — on both sides of the ship. There’s a seafood take out window, NYC hotdogs, Brooklyn beers, Italian food and more.
The CEO of Norwegian Cruise Line, Kevin Sheehan, was on this sailing and I had a chance to ask him his thoughts on The Waterfront. You can hear the interview here. A lot of people use the word “game-changer” in the cruise industry, but in reality most of it has been done in one way or the other. Take The Waterfront. Carnival Breeze has that area on deck five where they have Jimmy’s C-Side BBQ. However, there is a difference. They have one venue outdoors and not as nearly the amount of options as Norwegian Breakaway. Also, Carnival Breeze has a big glass window pane on their lanai, Norwegian Breakaway just has a single railing that gives you an unrestricted view.
One thing that always concerns me on ships is “areas of mass congestion.” Places where people bottleneck and just a poor design or flow. We saw a couple of those spots on Norwegian Epic, but not so much on this ship. Granted, I was only on Norwegian Breakaway for a couple days but I didn’t experience any of those areas during my time.
The Haven
This is one part of the ship that I barely got to see. My time on the ship had me consumed with so much that there just wasn’t time for everything. The Haven has 42-suites, 24-hour butler service (a little high brow for this guy) and offers a secluded pool and dining only available to haven guests. Sounds cool!
Conclusion
Norwegian Breakaway was an awesome ship and I feel if they keep the trend up they’ll get right up there with the premium line ships. I mentioned in an earlier post that Norwegian Breakaway reminded me a lot of Celebrity Solstice in terms of design and color (think 5 star hotel). Where will the future take Norwegian? Time will only tell.
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