Found a Great Deal....

[Doc Rick]

I'm one cruise away from D+ with Royal Caribbean. I've been searching for a last minute cruise with either Rc or Celebrity, unfortunately nothing caught my eye - until I decide to check out Norwegian Cruise Line.

 

My wife and I booked a cruise on the Breakaway for half the price of Any RC cruise out of the northeast - and got their ultimate beverage package included for free . I'm excited to try a new cruise line - not sure if it will be. any better or worse, but still excited. The value was definitely there.

 

I'll let you now how it was when I return.

 

-Doc

[Big_G]

Looking forward to reading it. Enjoy your cruise.

[jennmaybe]

We had been looking at booking Allure for next Spring, but we can book a mini-suite on the upcoming NCL Escape for $700 less than an oceanview balcony on Allure for 3 of us.

 

We haven't cruised RC since 2012 and with the looks of it, we won't be sailing with them again anytime soon. Their prices are just ridiculous now!! :mad:

[nimbex1970]

OP, share your special, always looking for a good bargain. I agree that the Allure pricing is high, we paid it for her and the Conquest when it just came out. She is worth every cent. You really need two weeks to do everything on her. Haven't looked at Norwegian, but not opposed to other lines at all.

[nimbex1970]

We had been looking at booking Allure for next Spring, but we can book a mini-suite on the upcoming NCL Escape for $700 less than an oceanview balcony on Allure for 3 of us.

 

We haven't cruised RC since 2012 and with the looks of it, we won't be sailing with them again anytime soon. Their prices are just ridiculous now!! :mad:

 

I have to agree, this buy one get half off is based upon inflated prices and not a sale at all. So I'm looking for the next cruise, and it won't be RCL at these "sale" prices. Heck, princess is cheaper.

[molly361]

OP can you please share the details? Date, category and price. Thanks

[Robinhill]

what is "the Breakaway"

[Clarea]

what is "the Breakaway"

A ship in the NCL fleet.

[racerxspeedy]

My searches have shown the NCL Getaway out of Miami as one of the best value for spring break as well. New ship - great reviews - sounds nice to me.

 

This was enough to convice my family to give NCL Getaway at try this year.

 

If they enjoy the Getaway we plan to book Breakaway out of NY.

 

Sorry RC - but its time to take notice!

[Beardface]

This might sound petty, but I just can't see myself going on NCL again until they stop painting the hulls of the ships with those ridiculous designs. It makes the ships appear much less classy than the rest of the ships out there... I'm sure the ships themselves are great, and I really enjoyed my last NCL cruise nearly 20 years ago, but man... I just can't get over how the ships look.

[39august]

Ditto!

[Trainman-2]

Best wishes for a great cruise...

[Doc Rick]

OP can you please share the details? Date, category and price. Thanks

 

We needed a little break from this cold, snowy weather in the northeast, so a last-minute cruise came to mind. We considered the Grandeur and the Quantum, but both were over $1500 pp for a balcony stateroom.

 

My wife suggested we see what other cruise lines had available in the Baltimore, NJ, and NY area, and we came across the Norwegian Breakaway sailing this Sunday to Florida, Nassau, and Great Stirrup Cay, Bahamas. We booked a Balcony stateroom on the 9th floor, mid-ship, for $699 pp. They are running a "Ultimate Drink Package Deal," that was included in Ocean view and above staterooms. This is an $860 package - that was included for free with our booking. The cost of the stateroom remained $699 after we entered the promo code - so to the best of my knowledge, they did not inflate the price of the cabin to cover the cost of the package...

 

Our Crown and Anchor benefits (Diamond Lounge) are one of the things that have kept us loyal to Royal Caribbean, but NCL was offering the drink package - so this kind of negates the C&A perks - minus a little extra attention, a few small perks like laundry and internet discounts, etc. We do enjoy the socialization in the Diamond lounge.

 

The ship looks really nice - and it's less than 2 years old! I believe it was named one of Cruise critics "Best New Ships." We booked several shows and three specialty restaurants. We're excited to try a new line !

 

As I stated in my previous post, we have been loyal RC cruisers - just a few points away from D+. You could probably call me a RC cheerleader from 2000 to 2010, but I started to become more critical of RC in the past 5 years. I still enjoy their product, and will definitely cruise again with them in the future.

 

As with anything new, we're not really sure what to expect on the Breakaway. I'm sure there will be differences between NCL and Royal Caribbean - some good, and some bad, but you never know until you try it !

[Arubamoose]

We've been mostly Loyal to Royal - next cruise will put us at Diamond. The reason we haven't gotten Diamond yet....NCL.

 

We do enjoy their product at a much cheaper rate. Love the Epic. Great entertainment choices. We did the Jade last year in Europe - not too much love. But the price was absurd and we had such a port intensive cruise that we hardly noticed the ship.

 

But some folks either love it or hate it. I have an open mind - especially for the right price.

[ladysail2]

I'm one cruise away from D+ with Royal Caribbean. I've been searching for a last minute cruise with either Rc or Celebrity, unfortunately nothing caught my eye - until I decide to check out Norwegian Cruise Line.

 

My wife and I booked a cruise on the Breakaway

 

-Doc

 

But you won't reach Diamond+ on NCL !! LOL Good for you for finding a great deal. Enjoy your cruise!! I've always enjoyed my cruises on NCL.

:D

[Duke Mazer]

I hate to say it but Doc Rick is right. Was looking this week to book another cruise in October/November. Wanted Freedom/Liberty or Independence. Was looking for a deal did not find it. Then looked at NCL Getaway their newest ship was over between $1100-$1400 cheaper for a family of 3i in a balcony. Kids are free now and they gave us ultimate restaurant package and and $200 OBC's. We wanted a royal cruise but in same situation as Doc Rick. Price difference is huge it's a 50%. The wow deals are not so wow. I don't get it my Oasis cruise next Jan is cheaper. Why are the Freedom class so expensive? Did prices go up?

 

IF it really was a bogho we would have booked on the Indy. Hope the RCI guys are ready this...ya right! Wishful happy thinking

Edited February 19, 2015 by Duke Mazer

[Paddy41]

You will probably see from my cruise list that I am not loyal to any cruise line. We are going RCL this July on Adventure because we liked the itinerary but our last cruise was on NCL Jewel to Alaska. We bought the ultimate dinner package because I read a lot of reviews about the MDR food not being so great and the only specialty dining I wouldn't recommend was the Asian. However, we walked through the buffet area several times when dinner was out and the food looked great. We also ate in the dining room at lunch a few times and it was good food too. On the whole I would say the food on NCL was better than RCL but I haven't been on RCL for a few years.

You'll have a great cruise on NCL.

[biomedbob]

Tried to go to NCL. Found it difficult to get around the site. Hope to do better tomorrow!

[Buccaneergirl]

I booked Allure for this November and then looked at NCL and their new ship coming out in November and decided to have both booked for now, but decide on one by May. Escape was $150pp less for a balcony and they included the drink package, which being D+ is one of the reasons we keep sailing RCCL as we enjoy happy hour.

Looking forward to trying another cruiseline if we end up on NCL.

 

Doc Rick-please make sure you come back from your cruise and let us know what you liked/disliked. Would love to hear your comparison!

[spiedieone]

I am in the same boat. We sail Rccl allot, diamond members, we like going out of ny. But i was just looking for Jan.2016 and found one hell of a deal with NCL. Free drinks, onboard credit, and a Jr. suite much cheaper than an ob.view balcony, same amount of day's. We are leaving on the Quantum next sunday, was going to book onboard for next year on her sister but seriously thinking of booking the Breakaway instead.

 

Marie

[Doc Rick]

Well, we're back from our 7 Nights on the Norwegian Breakaway...

 

I just wanted to follow up with a brief review for comparison reasons. Please remember that my opinions are subjective, and others may have different views of the same cruise.

 

The ship came in late on embarkation day, so boarding was a bit long and hectic, but after we boarded and did the muster drill, things fell into place.

 

The breakaway was very nice, built in 2013, cost around 980 million dollars to build, and carries over 4,000 passengers. It's main decks for public entertainment are 6, 7, and 8 for entertainment, dining, bars, and casino. Decks 15 and 16 for pool, bars, and Uptown bar and Grill, water slide.

 

The food was excellent in just about every restaurant we tried -and there's 29 places to eat on board. The Garden Cafe is NCL's version of the Windjammer - and we loved it. The food quality and selection was better than any Windjammer we've ever been to. The layout of the buffet is simple, just a huge rectangle - so people could really only go in two directions, unlike most RC ships that have islands of food set up - which causes disorientation with people sometimes. The food here was also better than the three Celebrity cruise buffets I've been to also.

 

The main dining rooms consisted of Taste, Savor, and the Manhattan Room -all complimentary. The menu seemed to remain the same in all 3 every night. Food here was also very good to excellent - I'd have to say it was better than most RC main dining rooms we've been to in the last 6 or 7 years. The Manhattan Room is a slightly more formal dining room than the other two, and has live music every evening with dinner. It has a very large dance floor, so if you feel like a romantic dance before or after your meal - it's a great concept.

 

We ate at several of the specialty restaurants - La Cucina, LeBistro, Cagney's Steakhouse, Wasabe Sushi Bar, and the Noodle bar.

 

La Cucina is an Italian restaurant with a $15 pp cover charge. Food was good, but not excellent. It does not come close in comparison to Giovanni's. This would be better served as a complimentary restaurant in my opinion, but would be a good option for a nice pizza.

 

LeBistro is a French Restaurant. Food is excellent, service is excellent. Escargot was best I've ever eaten. Filet mignon comparable to Chops Grille on RC. Wife had duck - also excellent.

 

Cagney's Steakhouse was again excellent. Comparable to Chops Grille with several sauces available with your meat. Service was excellent.

 

Wasabi sushi bar was ok - we found the sushi to be a bit tough. Service was casual, but good.

 

The noodle bar was very good, but somewhat limited selection.

 

They have a burger bar (complimentary) with a small salad bar and beverage bar on deck 16 called the Uptown Grill. The burgers were so good, I don't think I've eaten a burger this good in many years - even on land. They come with delicious waffle fries, and all the tables have natural ketchup, spicy ketchup, horseradish mustard, and regular mustard bottles right on the tables - no need to search and fumble with ketchup packets.

 

There is a complimentary Irish bar called Sheehan's which over looks the atrium from 1 deck above. We had wings and a burger here, both were good.

 

They have several other specialty restaurants we did not have time to try, but heard good things. Moderno - which is a Brazilian steakhouse, Sea Blue, which is Iron Chef Geoffrey Zakarian's seafood restaurant, and the Raw Bar - a condensed version of Sea Blue.

 

A lot of these restaurants are on deck 8 - which is called the Waterfront. The outside of deck 8 is like a boardwalk surrounding the entire deck. On this deck you can choose to dine at many of these restaurants outside in the open air, with views of the sea. A great concept in my opinion, but one downfall is that people tended to congregate in an area on this deck to smoke - which kind of ruined the "open air" feeling for me.

 

It's dinner time, so gotta run - but I'll add more later... pool, cabins, service, bars, casino, entertainment etc.... If anyone has questions - I'd be happy to answer them.

 

- Doc

[LadyLion_AP]

Subscribed.

 

I'm relatively new to cruising but have sailed two Carnival ships (Liberty & Freedom) plus RCL: Oasis & the Indy with my 3rd RCL cruise on the Freedom coming up later this month. My family decided to cruise again this Xmas (first Xmas cruise was 8 days on the Indy...loved it!) We decided to give NCL's newest ship, Escape, a try due to RCL's current pricing & interest in doing a third Eastern itinerary. I was a little nervous because I really enjoy RCL's product; however, I'm a little excited at the same time. Thanks for coming back to report your experience! It's very helpful to hear others' experiences who also really enjoy RCL.

[mermaidgal]

I have booked my last cruise on RCCL recently, I'm D+ and I'm so over all the run around when making a reservation. I redeemed RCI Visa Points and was told that I Could use them for an upgrade worth $300.. so I redeemed them and when the final payment was due I was told I could only receive a $150. Credit towards the balance. Non combinable with the BOGO. despite the fact there was nothing on the RCI website that indicated that. The agents don't give you correct information, you get a different answer every time you call. So far my $150. Credit is missing in action. I have to keep calling. There are other options at this point with a lot less hassle. So I think I'm done with RCCI after this next trip.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[maggieq]

I'm one cruise away from D+ with Royal Caribbean. I've been searching for a last minute cruise with either Rc or Celebrity, unfortunately nothing caught my eye - until I decide to check out Norwegian Cruise Line.

 

My wife and I booked a cruise on the Breakaway for half the price of Any RC cruise out of the northeast - and got their ultimate beverage package included for free . I'm excited to try a new cruise line - not sure if it will be. any better or worse, but still excited. The value was definitely there.

 

I'll let you now how it was when I return.

 

We also looked at it as well for May as our ta is also offering ppd gratuities on to of the drink package. If they had of included st Martin, I would have booked. Tortola didn't appeal to me.

[dplusd]

Appreciate the posts about NCL. We've been looking to book something for this spring/summer but don't like Royal's pricing and I think we will give NCL a try this year. I'm sure they offer a great product too!