Delicious, savory, delectable! These were all things that I thought of while dining onboard the Norwegian Breakaway. When you think of a cruise, most people think of the all you can eat buffet along with the fancy dining rooms and more charming restaurants. I have to say the dining department onboard the Breakaway was outstanding. There was not one meal that I received that I found to be unappetizing, and the wait staff treated us like family from day one.
First, let's discuss cruising with allergies. I am allergic to gluten, shellfish, and sesame, so it was essential for the wait staff to be aware. When sitting down for dinner on the first night, our waiter asked if we had any allergens. He then brought out the head waitress who went over all of the things I could and couldn’t eat. The part that truly showed their exceptional service was how he ran to guest services to create a tab that listed my allergens, which every waiter and waitress onboard could access.
The first dining option that I wanted to mention was the Garden Cafe. This restaurant is Norwegian’s buffet, and to say the least, they had quite the variety. Every morning I would wake up and dine in the Garden Cafe, and not once did I receive inadequate food. One great thing that I noticed, every night, the buffet incorporated cultural themes into the decor and cuisine. On Italian night onboard, they decorated the entire cafe with the Italian flag and colors that resembled it. I thought that the menu options that they served in the buffet were quite delicious and found all of the food to taste fresh. A tip for when dining in the Garden Cafe is to look for a table before you grab your food, it is a large venue, but there is difficulty finding a table during the peak dining times of the day and by the time I found a seat my food was cold.
The second set of restaurants I wanted to share was the main dining rooms. Onboard the Breakaway, there are three main dining rooms for you to choose amongst. I got the chance to eat in all three throughout the cruise, so I would like to highlight my experience in each of them quickly. The first dining room was called Savor. Savor is nearly identical to restaurant Taste. The two restaurants were quite small allowing for you to receive a more personable experience with your wait staff. Probably my favorite out of the two was their menus. The options every night changed with quite a large variety. Now onto the third dining room, The Manhattan Room. This was by far the fanciest out of the three and looked more like your traditional dining room. It offered a
stage in which a live band played and a dance floor to lose that weight you had just gained. One small critique that I had was that it was very packed when I ate which also made it quite noisy. Overall, the main dining rooms onboard the Breakaway were outstanding.
The last dining option that is worth mentioning is your specialty dining. I had purchased the three-night package. My all-time favorite restaurant onboard any ship is the Hibachi Grill. Norwegian's Hibachi venue is Teppanyaki, and I am happy to say that the show that our chef put on was incredible. He not only showed us the exciting tricks he could do but also engaged with our group making it a more personable experience. Surprisingly, the show was not the best part! The food in which he had prepared was delicious, and it was quite savory. The next specialty restaurant that I dined in was Ocean Blue (Norwegian’s Seafood Restaurant). This had to be hands down the best wait staff on the entire ship, they were very attentive and checked up on you frequently. Something that I expected was for my seafood to be super fresh, and thankfully, Norwegian exceeded that expectation, and it was an unbelievable meal.
The last dining option in my dining experience occurred before watching the show
Velvet. This was the only restaurant I wasn’t impressed with because they could not reach my dietary concerns to 100%. I was left eating steak without any sauce and plain unseasoned fries. As we moved into a dessert, they had prepared many gluten-free options that helped to make up for my poor dinner choice.
Overall, the Norwegian Breakaway has had some of the tastiest meals I have had at sea. My number one tip to everyone is to reserve all of your dining options (excluding the Garden Cafe) as far out in advance. Safe Cruising!