Norwegian Breakaway’s 2025 Refit: What’s New? FIRST LOOK!

Norwegian Breakaway underwent a significant refurbishment project in early 2025. She arrived at the Damen shipyard in Brest, France, where she called home for a 3-week window, while she was refitted, upgraded and modernised. As part of this programme, new venues were added, others were removed, and the ship received lots of overall ‘TLC’.

I took a 9-night Mediterranean cruise onboard Norwegian Breakaway shortly after she re-entered service following her refit, and I’m excited to share with you what I found onboard. In this post, I’m going to share with you the new venues that have been added, and I’m also going to offer you a full update on the majority of key changes that have come about as a result of this refurbishment.

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Up first, let’s talk about the exterior of the ship.

Breakaway’s had a major exterior re-paint, making her look almost brand-new again. You can see the benefit of this when you look up towards elements like the lifeboats or her balcony staterooms - they now look so crisp and clean, thanks to a fresh coat of white paint.

One of the most noticeable exterior elements is her hull art, initially designed by New York-based artist Peter Max. This hull art, featuring elements including the New York Skyline and the Statue of Liberty, looks almost brand-new again - it’s looking GREAT considering it was initially installed back in 2013!

Let’s move onboard and look at what’s changed. I never cruised onboard Breakaway prior to this refurbishment, so I’m unable to compare the ‘now’ vs the ‘old’. My overall observations of the public areas would be that she’s been really well re-fitted with fresh carpets in lots of the key venues. These make areas like main hallways feel relatively premium, due to the fact that the carpets are back to feeling plush and fresh again. Isn’t that ‘new carpet feeling’ great?!

Silver Screen Bistro

You’ll find the brand new Silver Screen Bistro at the front of the ship on Deck 7. It’s a fully immersive movie and dining venue, and it replaces the Spiegel Tent venue that was here previously. Inside, you’ll find a luxurious cinema with large, over-sized leather chairs, each equipped with their own table and small light. There are three screens inside: one main auditorium in the centre of the venue, with two small screens (one on either side). It’s worth checking which screen your movie will be showing in if you are considering booking this during your cruise - you would get a totally different experience in one of the smaller cinema screens compared to the much larger and grander one in the middle of the venue.

Throughout my cruise, the movies played in here were very family friendly, and there weren’t any ‘adult only’ options available. I’d like to see some ‘18+’ movies featuring in here, in order to provide an alternative space for adults to spend time in the evening. That said, a new pricing structure would need to be considered to eliminate the dining offering from the late-night showings.

Price-wise, it costs $50 per person to use this venue. This includes a full dinner service, followed by the movie screening. Here are some pictures of the Silver Screen Bistro - I could smell the brand new carpets and leather chairs in here when I took these!

Next up, join me up on the top decks of the ship as we talk about the next brand new venue to be added as part of this refit.

Horizon Park

Horizon Park is the newest addition to the outdoor offering onboard Norwegian Breakaway. This venue has been installed on Deck 18, which positions it one deck above the Vibe Beach Club at the front of the ship (we’ll come back to this venue shortly).

Horizon Park is an outdoor recreational space, featuring outdoor games and various seating options. There’s artificial grass under-foot, and there’s even a small stage for entertainment to be hosted up here. There weren’t any events up here during my cruise, but I did speak with a member of crew who mentioned that they were hopeful to have live musicians playing up here from time to time, which I agree could be a nice touch if you were watching the ship sailing out of port, for example.

I’m not fully sold on this venue - not many people used it during my cruise, and I’m not sure that people who did come up here knew what the space was designed to be used for. A key observation from my side was that there weren’t any loungers up here - only upright chairs or beanbags. On the outer decks of a cruise ship, I only really see people sitting upright if they’re eating or drinking, but this venue is quite far away from both eating and drinking venues, so it seems like this could be a potential area for change.

That said, it’s clear (and really positive) that NCL are trying new things to alleviate stress on their very busy top deck spaces. There needs to be a reason for passengers to climb up to this space at the top of the ship, and I’m not convinced this is clear in its’ current form.

I’m confident this is ‘Phase 1’ for Horizon Park - let’s see what this evolves into over time…

Next, let’s talk about the changes to another venue on the outer deck spaces of the ship.

Vibe Beach Club

The Vibe Beach Club is the exclusive beach club-style venue onboard NCL Breakaway. To use this facility, you’ll need to purchase an access pass, which will usually offer you unlimited access for the duration of your cruise.

Behind the private keycard controlled door, you’ll find an exclusive sun deck that’s much quieter than the other outside spaces onboard. You’ll find lots of different seating options, including comfortable loungers and also chairs with tables for relaxing with your favourite drink.

There are two bars inside the beach club, making it a great spot to relax with your favourite tipple, especially during a day where the ship’s ‘at sea’ all day.

So, what’s changed with the refit of Breakaway, as this isn’t a new venue? Well, in short, the Vibe Beach Club has doubled in size! This venue previously took up one side of the ship up on Deck 17, but it now spans across the entire front section of the ship on that deck. This means that there is less deck space for ‘the masses’ to enjoy, but this didn’t cause any problems during my recent cruise.

Breakaway now features a number of day beds in the beach club, too. From speaking with members of the crew, it would seem that these are available on a ‘first come, first served’ basis, meaning that it’s the early risers who will probably secure these for their day of sunbathing!

Here’s some photos of the newly-expanded Vibe Beach Club.

Moving on from the Beach Club, let’s now move to look at the most exclusive part of the ship: The Haven.

The Haven by Norwegian

What’s changed in the Haven as a result of the dry dock? Well, it’s an easy one for the Haven - the key change up here is that the private sun deck has been expanded. This provides those paying the highest fares for the most luxurious suites onboard more options for relaxing onboard.

Here’s what the upgraded and enlarged sun deck now looks like within the Haven area of the ship.

The Casino

The Casino is another space onboard Breakaway that’s seen a noticeable change as a result of the recent upgrade programme. Prior to taking this cruise, I’d read lots of reviews that complained about the ship feeling quite ‘smoky’ as a result of the smoke from the casino moving through to other parts of the ship.

This has now been resolved on Breakaway through the installation of a thick glass wall with automatic doors, meaning that the smoking section of the Casino is now separated off from the rest of the venue.

This glass wall now means that Shanghai’s (the ‘included’ noodle bar venue) is now a smoke-free venue, making it a much better environment for cruisers to spend time (in particular, the non-smokers).

Here’s a few photos to show you the newly-installed glass dividers.

Next, let’s move onto the topic of Speciality Dining, by talking about one of my favourite food venues on this ship.

Cagney’s Steakhouse

It’s no secret - I always rave about Cagney’s Steakhouse - I’ve never had a bad meal in there!

Previously, this venue shared the space at the back of the ship on Deck 8 with Moderno, another Speciality restaurant. The recent refit has resulted in the removal of Moderno, and the whole space is now occupied by Cagney’s Steakhouse. This makes this restaurant MUCH larger than it was before - it’s doubled the size of it!

You’ll still find the Prime Meridian Bar in the middle, so don’t worry about not being able to enjoy your pre (or post) dinner drinks there.

At first, I thought this would make this venue far too big, and I was worried that it may feel quiet when you dine here. However, on most nights of my cruise, it was fully booked, so it appears to be a very healthy business decision from NCL to double the capacity of this one.

The Gelato Shop

Staying on Deck 8, the Gelato shop on the Waterfront / Promenade Deck area is no more. This has been removed, and no new venue has been installed in its’ place.

Don’t worry though - there’s plenty of ice cream still available onboard. You’ll find ice cream at the buffet restaurant, and you’ll also find Sundaes available to purchase at O’Sheehans Irish Bar on Deck 7.

Ocean Blue vs Palomar

Another change that you’ll find onboard comes when you move slightly further forward on Deck 8. ‘Ocean Blue’ has now been removed from Breakaway, and has been replaced by a restaurant called Palomar. This is a Greek-inspired venue, and it operated with a $60pp cover charge (this is the same as Cagney’s).

I felt this venue looked fantastic, and I spoke to multiple other passengers who dined in here during their cruise, and they gave it a big ‘thumbs up’.

Here’s some shots of Palomar.

So that’s it - a full overview of most of the changes that have come as a result of the 2025 upgrade of NCL Breakaway. If you enjoyed this post and would like to see more, please use the tabs at the top of the page to navigate to your chosen cruise line.

You can also see even more from the topic of Breakaway’s Dry Dock Refit in my YouTube video below.