Gem vs Breakaway, which is better?

[NOSaints1]

Norweigan Dawn!!

[margie1221]

OMG - this is an hour of my life I'll never get back...

 

Hafta respond to make it worth the read [emoji12]

 

Yes, drive three hours to Boston and take the Dawn to Bermuda or Canada as an alternate. Dawn is much more like the Gem - plus great itinerary choices. I understand you don't really want to drive that far (referencing Baltimore) so, have you considered taking Peter Pan, Academy or the Acela??

 

We've been on the Gem, Jewel and Dawn - these smaller ships seem more relaxed with incredibly attentive staff. We've also been on the Breakaway and the Getaway - these larger ships have a different vibe - a little more chaos but tons of fun all day and all night!!!

 

We loved every cruise for different reasons. Heck, we even enjoyed our 3-night cruise on the Sky that started with the 6-hour lockdown and security debacle!!!

 

After all is said and done, CC is intended to be a great forum for advice and opinions - then you take all that data and decide what's best for you... Sounds like the Gem meets your vacation parameters better than the Breakaway at this time.

 

Please continue to come back to these boards and let us know your experience - whether we agree or disagree is part of the dialog.... I guess...

[JennyLou97]

I think I might be late to the party -- but I asked a similar question last year before taking the breakaway to Bermuda.

 

Here are my thoughts -- I have been on gem, jewel and breakaway with NCL.

 

As the poster above me said, you have a different feel on a smaller ship. We got to really know the cruise staff on the smaller ships and there was much more attention to "details" on the smaller ships. I also want to point out that having similar rooms on all ships there is a huge difference on the balcony sizes on the larger ships. On both gem and jewel we had the exact same room (10620) which was a balcony stateroom with what seemed like a nice balcony -- and on the breakaway we had a spa balcony on deck 14 (I can't remember the room number) and the balcony was considerably smaller - as was the room itself. We usually travel with 2 adults and 2 children and on the gem and jewel we used the pull out couch for our boys (12/10) but had we all traveled on the breakaway together, that would not have been possible as there is not as much room.

 

I will say that there were so many more outdoor activities available on the breakaway -- mini golf/ropes course/multiple waterslides but with almost double the amount of passengers, things seemed a little more crowded -- like at the pool and theater events.

 

All in all, I loved both ships but you need to decide what kind of traveler you are and what is important to you -- the bigger ship is always bumping with people and things to do and the smaller ships are a more intimate experience with time for you to enjoy yourself (by yourself) ;)

[KevinsCruising]

Hi All,

 

For my family we will take the Gem over the Breakaway. We have sailed on both and definitely prefer the Gem. Much better pool layout especially if you have children. Not a big fan of slides taking up most of the deck room and much easier to keep an eye on your children in the Gem pool. The Gem pool also has stairs so you you can slowly wade into the water and the Breakaway just is deep all around.

 

One of the other BIG differences is also the Gem has the Spinnaker Lounge and the Breakaway does a lot in the small area by the lobby. The big parties are outside on the back deck and if it is cold out, it just dosent work. Totally different then being inside in the Spinnaker.

 

Gem is our favorite ship. We are looking forward to sailing her in April and seeing the changes after dry dock.

 

:)

[jleslie48]

Hi All,

 

 

One of the other BIG differences is also the Gem has the Spinnaker Lounge and the Breakaway does a lot in the small area by the lobby. The big parties are outside on the back deck and if it is cold out, it just dosent work. Totally different then being inside in the Spinnaker.

 

 

:)

 

Its the spinnaker that makes all the difference in the Gem over the Breakaway.

Edited January 1, 2016 by jleslie48

[KevinsCruising]

Also the Breakaway balconies are so small. So small that it really is ridiculous.