Norwegian Breakaway, Getaway and Epic: The Big-Ship NCL Guide

Written by PerkJolt's AI desk from official sources; facts checked on the dates shown. We may earn a commission from links; it never changes what we recommend.

At a glance

• Ships: Norwegian Breakaway, Norwegian Getaway and Norwegian Epic, the large-ship trio that came before the Prima class.
• Guest capacity at double occupancy: Breakaway and Getaway 3,903 each, Epic 4,070 .
• Built: Breakaway 2013 , Getaway 2014 , Epic 2010 .
• Service charge for bookings made on or after Jan 1, 2023: $20 per person per day for Club Balcony Suite and below, $25 for The Haven and Suites, ages 3 and up .
• Specialty dining on the base Free at Sea offer: 3 meals on a 7-8 night sailing .
• Wi-Fi on the base offer: 150 minutes, one login and one device at a time .
• Representative week used here: a 7-night Caribbean round trip from PortMiami, labelled representative, not a published sailing.
• A common mistake on this class: waiting to book shows, specialty dining and excursions until you are aboard.

Who this class suits, and who it does not

It suits families, multigenerational groups and first-timers who want a lot of choice: a quarter-mile outdoor promenade called The Waterfront on Breakaway and Getaway , water slides and an Aqua Park, and a wide spread of bars and venues. It suits you less if you want a small, quiet ship, a ship with a very short walk from cabin to anywhere, or a newer-build feel; the Prima class is covered in /guides/cruises/norwegian-prima-class/.

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The ships in one paragraph

Breakaway was built in 2013 and refurbished in 2025 ; Getaway was built in 2014 and refurbished in 2024 ; Epic was built in 2010 and its page lists a 2025 refurbishment, while a travel-blog item on the same page mentions a 2020 one . Breakaway and Getaway are sisters at 145,655 GT each, per Wikipedia, unverified on https://www.ncl.com/cruise-ships/norwegian-breakaway; Epic is 155,873 GT, per Wikipedia, unverified on https://www.ncl.com/cruise-ships/norwegian-epic. Epic was the first NCL ship to carry The Haven .

Cabins in 150 words

The ship pages list The Haven, suites, balcony, oceanview, inside and solo staterooms . Inside cabins are the budget choice and suit people who only sleep there. Balcony cabins add private outdoor space; on a Caribbean week they are commonly the category travellers pay extra for, though that is general experience, not an NCL claim. The Haven is the private enclave with a butler, concierge, private courtyard pool and sundeck, restaurant and lounge, and priority embarkation . Epic is commonly described as having studios and curved-wall cabins, but those are Not confirmed on https://www.ncl.com/cruise-ships/norwegian-epic as of 2026-10-16, so check the exact category on the booking page. Pick the cabin by its deck neighbours (see our cabin guide at /guides/cruises/choosing-a-cruise-cabin/), not the label alone.

What is included, what is paid

• Included in the fare, typically: main dining venues, the entertainment theatre, pools and the Aqua Park. Ship pages describe complimentary dining as a wide variety of cuisines .
• Free at Sea base offer: specialty dining counts by length (2-4 nights 1 meal, 5-6 nights 2, 7-8 nights 3, 9+ nights 4) and 150 Wi-Fi minutes .
• Free at Sea Plus is $49.99 per person per day as an upgrade and adds premium drinks, Starbucks coffee drinks and unlimited streaming Wi-Fi .
• Paid: service charge (above), a 20% gratuity on non-complimentary drinks and special-occasion items , spa, photos, excursions, and room-service charges of up to $9.95 per order .

Sample week

A representative 7-night Caribbean round trip from PortMiami might look like: embark Miami, a sea day, Cozumel in Mexico, Grand Cayman, a second sea day, Great Stirrup Cay in the Bahamas, Nassau in the Bahamas, then back to Miami. It is representative, not a published sailing, and the ship pages do not tie any of these ships to a homeport or day. Great Stirrup Cay is named on https://www.ncl.com/free-at-sea only as a place where the open bar applies where available ; everything else about port order is typical.

Three free or low-cost things

1. A sunset walk along The Waterfront promenade on Breakaway or Getaway (image: Norwegian Getaway, The Waterfront promenade at sunset).
2. Sailaway from the upper pool deck leaving PortMiami through Government Cut (image: cruise ship sailing out of PortMiami past South Beach).
3. A free walk through Nassau's Queen's Staircase and Fort Fincastle on a port day (image: Queen's Staircase, Nassau).

Points primer in 80 words

Cruise fares themselves are usually cash. Points help in three places: flights to the homeport, the hotel the night before, and card-portal travel credits toward booked travel. Transfer partners matter for flights and hotels: per our transfer chart, checked 2026-10-08, 4 Chase points transfer to 3 Hyatt points, and 1 Chase point transfers to 1 United mile. Compare cash fare, points cost and what the points could do elsewhere before you redeem.

Before you book

Decide three things first: which ship fits your group (Epic is the biggest of the three by listed capacity; Breakaway and Getaway are sisters), which cabin type you will actually use, and whether the Free at Sea offer or a different promotion gives you better value on your dates. Open the line's search page, enter your homeport and dates, and read the fare breakdown line by line rather than the headline number. Then add the service charge for every guest aged 3 and up, because it is charged on top of many fares. Finally, set a reminder for online check-in, which the line says to complete at least 4 days before sailing .

Safety and advisories

Mexico: [read 2026-10-16, https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/traveladvisories.html — Level 2, issued 05/29/2026]. Cayman Islands: [read 2026-10-16, https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/traveladvisories.html — Level 1, issued 05/21/2026]. Bahamas: [read 2026-10-16, https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/traveladvisories.html — Level 2, issued 07/28/2026]. Re-read the page before you sail.

Related: /guides/cruises/norwegian-cruise-line/ and /guides/miami/.

This is the free lite guide. The full day-by-day guide, with maps, photo stops, rain plans and the points playbook, is part of PerkJolt All-Access.

Good to know before you go

Facts here were checked on 2026-10-16. Fares, fees, itineraries and policies move often, so confirm them on the line's official pages or in your booking and the line's app before you pay for anything.

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