Unforgettable Holiday Cruise on the Norwegian Breakaway

Recently we went on our first holiday cruise. I had never been away from my hometown at Christmas before, but Jon and I lost a lot of family members in the past few years, including our little girl dog who loved Christmas, so we decided to escape to warmer climes.

After looking at several different possibilities, we decided on a Club Balcony Suite with Larger Balcony on the Norwegian Breakaway. The cruise covered many holidays leaving Miami on December 23 and returning on January 2, so I was excited to see how Norwegian Cruise Lines would celebrate Hanukkah, Christmas, Boxing Day, New Year’s Day, and other important cultural/religious moments.

We arrived in Florida a few days before the cruise in order to spend time with one of my dearest friends and her family. She and I hadn’t been in the same state for Christmas since the early 1990s, so it was a special treat to make pasta with her and her son and spend time with her parents, whom I dearly love.

After my friend dropped us off at the port, we had little time before we were ushered on to the ship. Key cards newly printed and ready, we went to one of the complimentary restaurants, O’Sheehan’s for lunch. Although we tend to dine more at the main dining rooms, O’Sheehan’s is always a favorite for pub food—and far less crowded than the buffet on embarkation day.

From that moment on fun flowed like the drinks in our Unlimited Beverage Package. We met many people who enriched our voyage (Jim, Toni, Jon, Donn, Phil, Tiffany, Amal, Artie, Leeanna, Alice, and Jamie were just a few). The service from the staff, especially the bartenders at the Pour House Waterfront and the dining rooms, was excellent. For 10 days and nights, we called the Breakaway our holiday home.

I worried that it would be too different from the norm and that would make my grief worse, but I traveled thousands of miles to find familiarity among thousands of strangers. Although I missed my family and friends, especially my life-long bestie and her (my adopted) mom/family, I was surrounded by holiday cheer and revelry. The Christmas Extravaganza show brought tears of happiness to my eyes as I listened to a gorgeous rendition of “Oh Holy Night.” Later that evening, we joined our voices with hundreds of others to sing carols in the atrium. (Truthfully, I just mouthed the words—it was my gift to those on the ship as anyone who has heard my singing voice can attest.) Surrounded by gingerbread houses, menorahs, Christmas trees, a wandering Santa, and enough holiday clothing to outfit a small nation, I regained a sense of awe and joy that I hadn’t realized I had lost.

Spending Christmas Day in the Dominican Republic was pretty awesome, too!

I enjoyed all the ports, but the Dominican Republic and St. Maarten were among my favorites. The port-intensive cruise also meant we were never bored.

Here was our itinerary:

• Day One: Miami
• Day Two: at sea
• Day 3 (Christmas Day): Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic
• Day 4: San Juan, Puerto Rico
• Day 5: St. Thomas, U.S Virgin Islands
• Day 6: St. John’s, Antigua
• Day 7: Philipsburg, St. Maarten
• Day 8: Tortola, British Virgin Islands
• Day 9: at sea
• Day 10 (New Year’s Day): Great Stirrup Cay, Bahamas
• Day 11: Miami

I have been on a few cruises in the past across various cruise lines (Norwegian, Royal Caribbean, Holland America) but the nature of being at sea during the holidays meant this was unlike all the others. I definitely would like to go on a December cruise again. Here are some of my thoughts on the Norwegian Breakaway and cruise travel tips in general that I’ve picked up over the years of going on cruises. Happy travels.

Favorite Parts of the Ship/Cruise

• The Norwegian Breakaway has a cool feature called the Waterfront on deck 8. Several of NCL’s ships have this space, which allows one to walk around the exterior of the deck and has restaurants and bars with outdoor seating areas. This is our favorite place to hang out, especially Syd Norman’s Pour House.
• Deck 16 has an adults-only area with a bar, lounging spaces, hot tubs, and other sun deck miscellany. This is a great place to enjoy the sun, cool off in the outdoor grotto area, watch a show (tv screens), or have a drink.
• We love the variety of dining options and the fact that “Free at Sea” (now More at Sea) includes dining at their specialty restaurants. Although the main dining room is very good, Le Bistro (French food) and Cagney’s (steak house) are excellent choices if you’re looking for something more upscale. Although I tend to avoid the buffet, I do appreciate that it has a wide variety of cuisines, including Indian food, and a carving station. Some days you will notice a “tea” being offered in the afternoon at the buffet. The Breakaway also has two complimentary casual restaurants, O’Sheehan’s and American Diner, in addition to its other complimentary dining options of the dining rooms and buffet.
• I find that cruise ships have a convivial atmosphere that makes them a different (and more friendly) type of vacation. In fact, when I asked Jon his favorite part of the cruise, he said, “the camaraderie.” Maybe it’s the drinking package, maybe it’s that you end up seeing the same people if you frequent the same places, but we tend to make friends fast on cruise ships—and have for years.

What We Didn’t Expect

• We didn’t realize there would be so many children, but in hindsight we can see why that is. For one, it was a holiday cruise so there was a lot of multi-generational travelers and, two, there are a lot of amenities that children would find attractive, like the ropes course, pool slides, arcades, and much more.
• We were a little surprised about the opportunities we felt were missed regarding holiday programming. For instance, on Christmas Eve they had no events (or very few if I missed them) that had to do with the holiday. The trivia that day was 80s trivia and the party that night was 80s-themed. Given the fact that billions of religious people were celebrating high holidays at the time, it seemed that holiday-themed trivia/parties would have been more appropriate. We were also disappointed with the holiday menu for Christmas Day, which didn’t seem festive at all. Our friends who were celebrating Hannukah and then Boxing Day were also disappointed. It wasn’t that the cruise line didn’t try—it was just that there were missed opportunities.
• The only other issue we didn’t expect was how narrow the hallways would be. We had previously cruised on the Norwegian Escape, which we thought looked very similar to the Breakaway. They were similar but the Breakaway is much older, so my husband couldn’t get past the cleaning cart on his own in his mobility scooter. This was surprising because his scooter has a very small profile (it folds up to the size of a large luggage bag) and the overall width is only 20 inches…quite narrow for a scooter/wheelchair. We had rented a scooter the year previous and it was wider by a full inch at the base and could pass the carts without needing them to be moved. Obviously Norwegian can’t extend the hallway but they could get narrower profile cleaning carts. The room service cart was narrow enough but the cart with linens was about and inch or two wider. We made mention of this with guest services, since the carts were there from about 8 am to 6 or 7 pm, but their solution was for us to call housekeeping when we needed it moved. That was doable when we were leaving the room, but when returning at any point during the day it meant having to stop at guest services and wait in line or find a phone or employee. This was a big miss from an accessibility standpoint that could be easily fixed with smaller carts (which they already have in service).

Travel Tips for a Cruise

• Immediately check out your room and make sure that everything works and that the things you asked for are there. Ask your room attendant for anything you need, such as mattress topper, extra pillows, to use iron/ironing board (NCL offers this but some cruise lines don’t), ice bucket, coffee machine, bathrobes, etc.
• Book entertainment as soon as you can, as well as make reservations for specialty dining.
• Check in at muster station right away to get it out of the way.
• Get travel insurance, but buy it separately. We use Travel Insurance dot com in order to compare policy prices and coverages easily. You can buy through the site—no markup—and the company you purchase from will email you your policy. It’s so easy. Do this within a week, generally, of making your first payment for the cruise though, so that you are covered for pre-existing conditions and for various circumstances if a travel carrier goes under or other catastrophes occur.
• Check out excursions from other companies. I wouldn’t book a full-day excursion separate from the cruise line, since the cruise line will only wait for you if you’re on one of their excursions, but I think it’s definitely worth your while to check out Viator or Shore Excursions Group for experiences/tours that get back well before “all-aboard” time. Since Jon has mobility issues, we need busses that can hold a folding scooter on board. We find this fairly easy to find, but not through the cruise line. The cruise line always wants us to book extremely expensive “accessible” excursions, when those are simply not necessary. Being mobility-challenged is already costly enough without the added price that companies want to charge to say they’re accessible. We have found the exact same excursion offered separately from the cruise line where they happily put his folding scooter in the storage space of the bus. If traveling with mobility issues, I recommend looking for the right fit for you…and your ability.
• If you need accessibility accommodations, make sure to fill out the form online and get in touch with the office ahead of your cruise. We find them to be accommodating, especially if they know our needs ahead of time. The cruise line is very good about food allergies, if that is an issue for you. Let them know ahead of time though to ensure the best service.
• Figure out your phone situation ahead of time. We have Tmobile, so we have great international coverage, but talk, text, or data on the ship itself is outrageously expensive. Around the world, including ships, we use WhatsApp. This app, frequently used in Europe, allows us to make phone calls or text as long as we have internet access. We put our phones on airplane mode and use the cruise line’s wifi (or our data in port) to make calls/texts and stay connected with people at home.

Some YouTube Videos about the Cruise:

Christmas show: https://youtu.be/pKHHcBndvhI

The ship: https://youtu.be/xmbSKdpmXY0

Dominican Republic port: https://youtu.be/eo9oWkjs1DA

Puerto Rico and USVI ports: https://youtu.be/F5owRoujzrg

Antigua and St. Maarten ports: https://youtu.be/Izw8cNMl8nc

British Virgin Islands and Bahamas ports: https://youtu.be/NCWpdYETbkI

I hope you enjoyed this overview of the Norwegian Breakaway. Have you taken a holiday cruise before? If so, what were your thoughts? Leave me a comment below. Happy travels!

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