Breakaway Mini-Suite Review

We had a fabulous cruise from NYC to Bermuda on the Norwegian Breakaway.  When we were looking into cruises, I found it difficult to find a Breakaway mini-suite review that shows how the room converts to accommodate kids.  We didn’t know what to expect, but the kids loved our room & everything about the cruise so it was an excellent choice. In my Breakaway Mini-Suite Review, I will show you around Cabin 9830! Come have a look…

Breakaway Mini-Suite Cabin Converted for Kids:

The mini-suite is slightly larger than a standard balcony room & has a nicer bathroom. Really, it should be called a slightly nicer balcony cabin, rather than a mini-suite.  The door opens out into the hall.  You insert your room key into a slot inside the doorway to activate the lights & plugs for the room.  There is a hallway into the room. Our bathroom was on the left just after you walk in the cabin.

This photo is taken from the end of the entrance hallway.  To my left (out of sight) is the closet.  On the right is a desk, then further along the right wall is the TV.  The top bed comes down from the ceiling.  The bottom bed is a couch made into a bed.  NCL provided the travel cot / pack n play.  Straight ahead is the balcony door.

In this next photo, I am standing at the balcony, looking into the room.  You can see the closet straight ahead with brown timber sliding doors.  Beyond that is the hallway with the bathroom door open. Every other room is laid out like ours. Next door, the room is reversed with the couch near the balcony.

Here is a closer look at all of our beds.  Our room steward was amazing! He always organized the kids stuffed animals for them.

Opposite the couch / bunk beds is a desk with a shelf & outlets.  There are only 2 American outlets available & 1 European.  It’s a good idea to pack a power strip if you have more than two items to charge.  Below the desk is a cabinet with a mini-fridge.  It’s stocked with goodies.  I asked our room steward to empty the mini-fridge & we stored juice & water instead.  There is a phone with voicemail. You can call any room, restaurant or guest services. There’s a coffee maker & ice bucket on the tray. The stool top opens up for additional storage.  I didn’t put anything in there as I was afraid I’d forget it!

To the left of the desk is a flat-screen tv with a pouch for holding all of your cruise papers.  Below that are two cabinets with shelves.

Inside the closet, there are shelves along the left-hand side & along the top.  The right has a bar with timber hangers for hanging your clothing.  You may request additional hangers from your room steward if you don’t have enough.  I stored the suitcases under the bed.  All of our clothing & things fit easily into the storage spaces.  We had lovely NCL bathrobes in our closet but other cabins in our group did not.  I’m not sure what the difference was there except that we booked directly through NCL. There is a safe in the closet as well.  You enter a code of your choice to lock & unlock it.

Breakaway Mini-Suite Bathroom:

The bathroom was fabulous. It was spacious & spotlessly clean.  There is a double sink with a long, narrow shelf above it for your toiletries.  There is storage below the sink so there was plenty of room for all of our things.  The shower has lots of sprays that we didn’t use. I couldn’t figure out how to have the spray & showerhead on together. If I turned on a spray, then I got shot in somebody part & the shower head turned off. So, I stuck with just the showerhead. It’s very handy that the showerhead lifts down for washing the kids.  There is shampoo & body wash in the shower & a corner shelf for your bits & pieces. Also, there is a line across the top of the shower unit for drying swimsuits.

Breakaway Mini-Suite Balcony:

The balcony is quite narrow. There are two chairs & one small table on the balcony.  When we set sail, there were 9 people standing on our balcony (6 were kids).  We were crammed, but everyone was able to see the stunning view. 3 adults can fit sitting down (one sitting on the table).

I loved our balcony!  We sat out in the evenings watching the sea or looking out at Bermuda.  The views were spectacular & it was nice to get fresh air whenever we wanted it.  Here are two views from our balcony. The first is leaving Bermuda. The second is arriving back in NYC. Notice sea salt on the rail.

Overall Impression:

We were very comfortable.  We fit nicely in the cabin & were happy with the amount of storage space.   The bathroom was very nice & having a balcony was a huge bonus.  This was our first cruise & I’m totally spoiled now, I wouldn’t go again without a balcony.  Our room steward was excellent. The room was kept spotlessly clean, there was always ice in the bucket & he made the most amazing towel animals every day.

One day we came into the room & didn’t see an animal. The kids were so disappointed but then they spotted this little mouse hiding at the top of the bed! He was made out of a washcloth.

Read More Cruise Posts:

Tips for Cruising on the Breakaway  |  Tips for Cruising with Kids  |  Dining on the Breakaway  |  Tips for Flying with Kids

Have you been on a cruise? Let me know what your cabin was like!