u/Accurate-Ad-5339

My partner and I took the breakaway on May 17-24th for my 50th birthday. Wanted to share our experience in the hopes it helps others.
First, this sub had been extremely helpful prior to our sailing for just general information and questions I had, I did some searching and read the main pinned post, which was really great.

I’ve also attached images of our Balcony Club room for others to see that aren’t stock NCL images. We were in stateroom 13796 for reference.
Embarkation in Boston: It was fine, we got there at our requested time and it was a fairly quick process, I dont think we waited more than 40 minutes to board the boat. We were able to get to our rooms around 3, our deck was the last one to be ready. Kind of annoying but also, I was not overly surprised. Our luggage was delivered around 8pm. I was prepared by bringing extra clothes and our bathing suits just in case this happened (I had read that might happen).

The room: it was a great size for the two of us, loved the double sink and the shower was a nice size. No outlets next to the bed which was annoying for charging phones at night. I bought a rechargeable charger for my Apple Watch so I could put that on the nightstand to charge at night and I could see what time it was when I inevitably had to get up in the night lol. The balcony was a decent size, not really big but enough for us to just sit and relax at night or early mornings.

Food: the buffet was alright, I mean no Michelin stars but hey, they’ve got tons of people on board with different tastes and expectations, so it was overall decent. The two sister restaurants Taste and Savor were really good for being included. We did most dinners in here other than the 3 included specialty restaurants. Cagney’s was really good! You’re not getting thick steaks but you are getting good steaks. So if you’re expecting to have nice 1 inch steaks, you’re not going to get that lol. But the selection was great. La Cucina, the Italian restaurant, was also really good. Tappenyaki’s was super fun and the chef was excellent. We really enjoyed that one too.

The Spa: we are two 50 somethings with no kids, so this was in our budget. We very much enjoyed the treatments we had, they do upsell you on the Elemis products they use. Which whatever, we bought some but you can get the same products on the Elemis website for less, especially if they are having a sale (learned this later on…) but also makes sense that they would have it be more $. The thermal spa was heaven. I spent a lot of time in here and really enjoyed it. I never had an issue finding a place to plop my overworked butt and relax. I took advantage of the sauna, steam room, pool and of course just relaxing. It was quiet and peaceful. The one aspect I did not enjoy about Mandara was the “trainer”. As a frequent visitor to the spa, they gave me a “complimentary” inbody scan….. I’m a very secure person and don’t generally let peoples opinions of me bother me. However, this South African dude was soooooo rude. I actually left there in tears. I had to tell him to stop telling me all the things that were wrong with me and to find something good. I was like you have no idea anything about me and my life. I explained that while his scam may show one thing, it doesn’t show the 100+ pounds I’ve lost and the 80” I’ve lost as well as surviving breast cancer last year. I know I didn’t owe him an explanation or anything but he had zero empathy which is why I’m explaining this.

Halifax: My partner wasn’t feeling going into Halifax so he stayed back on the ship, which was fine with me, cause I could do what I wanted lol. On the pier there is an immigration museum, which also has an ancestry research center. I went in there and they helped me find more info on my relatives that went to Quebec in the 1600’s from France. I did not do any excursions in Halifax, I had a taxi ride to the Citadel, and the man offered to give me a tour of the city himself. I felt safe and agreed. He was an older gentleman who emigrated from Afghanistan. We went to the Titanic Cemetery and he escorted me to the cemetery and then let me wander on my own for as long as I wanted. Then we went to the citadel, where we were in time to experience the Noon Cannon going off. He dropped me off at the pier near the titanic museum, I didn’t go in, I just leisurely walked back to the ship along the pier. He charged me $60 for the hour, I gave him $100, as he was really nice and like a grandfather protecting his granddaughter. Lol.

Bermuda: We did one excursion from the ship, it was the glass bottom boat tour, highly recommend that. It was great and we learned a lot. Otherwise we travelled around on our own and went to a couple beaches. The weather was great and made for walking around pleasant. We went to Horseshoe beach, Long key beach and Jobsons cove. Which is like a hidden gem and absolutely stunning and beautiful in every way. No lifeguard or chairs but with about 20 people who cares! The Royal Navy Dockyard was a great place to wander around. I really enjoyed that and the museum was $20 to get in. Some amazing views and interesting nooks and cranny’s inside the museum. Some places were off limits due to a wedding that was taking place.

The weather: we had amazing weather. One sea day was a bit rough, but neither of us suffer from seasickness.

Entertainment: was overall really good. Loved Howl at the Moon, the Rumours show was amazing, the guitarist…. All I can say was wow. She was amazing! The atrium had lots of game shows and contests, they were always fun to watch while just wandering the ship. We did the Q&A with the ships captain, chief engineer and the head of the hotel part (sorry can not remember his actual title). That was fascinating and I got to ask two questions. A man behind me asked if I had gone to maritime school….. I was like ummmm no, I just watch trashy tv like Below Deck hahahaha. We did not do anything late night, sorry.

Happy to answer any other questions regarding this ship and our experiences. I also hope that the woman who had to be rescued from the boat just after we pulled out of Bermuda is doing ok. She broke her leg on the water slide just after we left. They had to send a pilot rescue boat to get her and bring her back to Bermuda to go to the hospital.
Thanks for reading my long review.