Breakaway class cruise ships
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PROFILE AND REVIEW
NORWEGIAN CRUISE LINE'S BREAKAWAY CLASS |
Norwegian Breakaway
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Norwegian Cruise Line's Breakaway class includes Norwegian Breakaway, Norwegian Getaway, Norwegian Escape, Norwegian Joy, Norwegian Bliss and Norwegian Encore. The latter four ships are sometimes referred to as “Breakaway-Plus” class because they are larger and have an additional deck. However, the overall design and layout of the ships is similar.
These are large cruise ships. They range in size from approximately 145,000 gross tons for Breakaway and Getaway to over 165,000 gross tons for the four Breakaway-Plus ships. Interestingly, although the Breakaway-Plus ships are larger, two of the four (Joy and Encore) can accommodate less passengers at double occupancy than Breakaway. (Bliss only slightly edges out Breakaway).
The ships provide a casual, resort-like cruise experience. They offer passengers a variety of alternatives in entertainment,
amusement-park features, bars, dining and sports facilities. The activities program is geared to light fun but there is a sprinkling of
cultural enrichment.
Under Norwegian's Freestyle cruising concept, guests are not assigned a table or time for dinner in the three main dining rooms. You come to whichever dining room you like when you want. This works fairly well but if you come during the peak dining hours, you may have to wait to be seated.
In addition to the main dining rooms, the Breakaways have quite a few alternative dining venues. Of course, there is the large
buffet restaurant but there also are a number of extra-tariff specialty restaurants and some complimentary casual venues. There are some slight differences in the line-up of dining venues on the various ships.
While the bulk of these ships are devoted to mass market cruising, each ship has “The Haven,” an exclusive section for guests staying in the suites. In addition to luxury accommodations, the Haven has its own restaurant, bar, courtyard with a small pool
and open deck. Guests can stay within the Haven or venture out and use the rest of the ship's facilities. The Haven has a number of
concierges to assist the guests.
All of the Breakaways except Norwegian Joy also have an area for the exclusive use of guests who are traveling solo. These areas include single-occupancy studio cabins and a dedicated lounge. A member of the ship's activities staff organizes meetings and
activities for those solo passengers who want to participate.
A feature that is open to all is the Waterfront, an outdoor promenade. Unlike traditional cruise ship promenades, these promenades have outdoor seating for some of the bars and specialty restaurants. This can be delightful on a warm night in the Caribbean.
The Breakaway class builds upon some of the concepts that premiered with Norwegian Epic. However, a number of the more radical ideas from Epic were dropped. For example, the Breakaways do not have curving cabin walls and except in the solo cabins, all of the bathroom facilities in the cabins are located together in one place.
Originally, each ship was dedicated to a particular home port. As the hull art indicates, Breakaway was the New York ship and
Getaway was the Miami ship. However, following a change in the top management, this deployment strategy ended. Along the same lines, Joy was built with the Asian market in mind but after a season or so was brought back to the Western Hemisphere.
All of the Breakaways were built by Meyer Werft in Germany. They are good quality ships. All have pod propulsion systems
using electricity generated by diesel engines. This makes the Breakaways maneuverable. Unlike Norwegian's Jewel class, they are not particularly fast with a top speed of approximately 23 knots.
These are large cruise ships. They range in size from approximately 145,000 gross tons for Breakaway and Getaway to over 165,000 gross tons for the four Breakaway-Plus ships. Interestingly, although the Breakaway-Plus ships are larger, two of the four (Joy and Encore) can accommodate less passengers at double occupancy than Breakaway. (Bliss only slightly edges out Breakaway).
The ships provide a casual, resort-like cruise experience. They offer passengers a variety of alternatives in entertainment,
amusement-park features, bars, dining and sports facilities. The activities program is geared to light fun but there is a sprinkling of
cultural enrichment.
Under Norwegian's Freestyle cruising concept, guests are not assigned a table or time for dinner in the three main dining rooms. You come to whichever dining room you like when you want. This works fairly well but if you come during the peak dining hours, you may have to wait to be seated.
In addition to the main dining rooms, the Breakaways have quite a few alternative dining venues. Of course, there is the large
buffet restaurant but there also are a number of extra-tariff specialty restaurants and some complimentary casual venues. There are some slight differences in the line-up of dining venues on the various ships.
While the bulk of these ships are devoted to mass market cruising, each ship has “The Haven,” an exclusive section for guests staying in the suites. In addition to luxury accommodations, the Haven has its own restaurant, bar, courtyard with a small pool
and open deck. Guests can stay within the Haven or venture out and use the rest of the ship's facilities. The Haven has a number of
concierges to assist the guests.
All of the Breakaways except Norwegian Joy also have an area for the exclusive use of guests who are traveling solo. These areas include single-occupancy studio cabins and a dedicated lounge. A member of the ship's activities staff organizes meetings and
activities for those solo passengers who want to participate.
A feature that is open to all is the Waterfront, an outdoor promenade. Unlike traditional cruise ship promenades, these promenades have outdoor seating for some of the bars and specialty restaurants. This can be delightful on a warm night in the Caribbean.
The Breakaway class builds upon some of the concepts that premiered with Norwegian Epic. However, a number of the more radical ideas from Epic were dropped. For example, the Breakaways do not have curving cabin walls and except in the solo cabins, all of the bathroom facilities in the cabins are located together in one place.
Originally, each ship was dedicated to a particular home port. As the hull art indicates, Breakaway was the New York ship and
Getaway was the Miami ship. However, following a change in the top management, this deployment strategy ended. Along the same lines, Joy was built with the Asian market in mind but after a season or so was brought back to the Western Hemisphere.
All of the Breakaways were built by Meyer Werft in Germany. They are good quality ships. All have pod propulsion systems
using electricity generated by diesel engines. This makes the Breakaways maneuverable. Unlike Norwegian's Jewel class, they are not particularly fast with a top speed of approximately 23 knots.
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Cruise ship class profile and review - - Norwegian Cruise Line - - Breakaway class