Just got home today from a week sailing on the Breakaway to Bermuda. It was my first time on NCL but my 7th cruise overall (all prior cruises with Carnival).

We were a party of 8 adults ranging from 23-56. First thing we did when we got on the ship was run over to guest services to buy passes to Vibe, the adult only section with comfy lounges and stuff like that. We got on the ship at 11:30 and by that time, all passes were sold out. Turns out we didn't need them b/c the other adult only section, Spice H20 had plenty of seats and only got really crowded after 11. Hot tubs on the first day were not hot. Warm, but not hot. It was pretty much impossible to get a seat by the pools so if we wanted to use the pools, we had to trek down from Spice.

Food was decent, better in the pay restaurants of course. Highly recommend the Moderno Churrascaria and Teppanyaki for pay restaurants. My dad and SM went to Le Bistro (French) and they thought it was fantastic. I thought the lunch served in the buffet was lacking. Dining room food was ok.

Activities were ok. Favorites were Adult Quest, Newlywed Game, and Howl at the Moon Dueling Pianos (fantastic!!!). We saw Rock of Ages, Cirque du Soleil (also really great!) and a comedy magician (eh).

Bermuda was gorgeous but the weather was only good for us on one day. First day, we went to a timeshare owned by a friend of my dad & SM b/c they have access to a private beach. When we were heading down from the apartment to catch the shuttle to the beach, we got stuck in the elevator! We dropped down about a foot and were stuck for about 15-20 minutes. I was sweating in places I didn't think I could sweat lol. We finally were rescued, got free drinks at the bar, and hopped on the shuttle and went to a gorgeous beach. That night, we had an excursion planned on a glass bottom boat to the Bermuda Triangle to see some shipwrecks. It was decent but we didn't see too much. But the view of the sky was breathtaking in the middle of the dark water. I have never seen so many stars in my life. Absolutely gorgeous! DH and I are a little into astronomy so we thought it was spectacular!

The next day we had an excursion with Rising Son Catamaran & Snorkel. I've been snorkeling at least 5 times and this was the best tour I've been on. I highly recommend! The guides were super informative and friendly. Their equipment was clean and in excellent condition. We had the option of using a noodle instead of a life jacket which I thought was great. I'm very comfortable in water and always find life jackets hinder my experience. They also had paddleboats and kayaks for people to use. We also were able to snorkel in a large area instead of sticking near the boat. Again, highly recommend!

Our last day we just took the free shuttle train over to the mall at the dockyard to get souvenirs. Weather was eh - one minute hot and sunny, the next windy and pouring. We finished our shopping and headed back to the ship.

We had an inside room on the lowest deck. I was afraid that we would really feel the ship and that we would hear noise above us b/c we were below a bar and restaurant. But, it was a free room so we had no choice. I was pleasantly surprised that it was quiet and we only felt the ship as much as the rest of the ship. It was a very smooth ride most of the time. Room was small but worked well for us. I never saw the room steward but the room was kept clean, ice filled, so no complaints really there. Oh except we had to request pool towels and if we wanted new ones, we had to go up to the pool the exchange whereas on my previous cruises, we got fresh ones every night. The AC in the room sucked. It would shut off after 5 minutes and there was no way to change it. DH and I sleep with a ceiling fan on in the winter and with the AC & Fan on in the summer so we like it cold. That made it for very uncomfortable sleeping.

I think I covered everything! And this turned out longer than I anticipated lol. Oh, Cake Boss and his family were on the cruise with us. We were in an elevator with them and they had to get out to let us out and they were very nice and apologized for blocking us in! I snuck a pic lol.

All in all it was a nice trip. It was hard to not compare NCL to Carnival but we did lol. DH and I both agreed that while we would sail NCL again, we prefer Carnival. I really missed having a lobster night and warm chocolate melting cake lol. I had a hard time believing it was a "freestyle" cruise when you have to book everything (shows, restaurants, etc.) in advanced in order to get a seat. Oh, speaking of seats, the seats in the main theater are SO UNCOMFORTABLE! There is a bar in the back that digs into your tailbone. We dreaded going in there.

If anyone has any questions, just let me know!