natefish95

Ok, let's get this show back on the road. So I like I mentioned earlier, I didn't book this cruise until early March. I was in my last semester of grad school, so I didn't spend much time planning, which I really should have. I knew I wanted to fly in the day before the cruise left so I could explore San Juan a bit and not be stressed out by potentially missing the ship.

In St. Thomas I knew I wasn't doing anything and just wanted to relax on the ship. In Antigua I planned to go to Darkwood Beach after suggestions on our FB page and 10 minutes of research. In Barbados I booked the Harrisons' Cave Eco-Adventure through Carnival. In St. Lucia I booked the Spencer Ambrose Land and Sea Tour after reading about it on here. In St. Kitts I planned to take a ferry over to Nevis and spend the day at Sunshine's Beach bar. And finally in St. Maarten I planned to go to Maho beach and plane spot (I'm a big aviation geek). Y'all know things don't go as planned and things did not go as planned in St. Kitts and Antigua (for two different reasons).

In San Juan I reached out to a friend who lives there and he said he'd be around, so we made plans for dinner, but during the day I planned to go to El Morro and San Cristobal.

I found decent direct flights on Delta from ATL-SJU (it's so convenient living in Atlanta). Flights were booked. Excursions semi-planned. Gratuities pre-paid. What's next? Oh yeah, lets talk alcohol, y'all! So I've been spoiled on NCL with their Free at Sea promotions where you can get the Unlimited Beverage Package for only about $100 in gratuities. I decided to pre-purchase the CHEERS package because I wanted to do a little experiment to see if it would be worth it in the future. You'll find out if I did or not.

Another thing I decided to pre-purchase was the social media package. I'm like totes a millennial and can't let my streaks end on Snapchat! But actually though, since I'm traveling alone, I wanted to stay in contact with my friends and post pictures on Instagram to make them jealous. It was $7 a day I believe, which is a steal compared to NCL's, which was $12.50 per day.

Regarding hotels, I'm loyal to the Hilton brand, but prices were just outrageous. I looked into AirBnB, which I have used only once before. I researched this aspect more than any other thing. I'm very picky and didn't want to end up staying in a crack house. Thankfully, I found a place with a lot of good reviews in a good location for about $75 total for the night. I contacted the host and he was super nice, so I booked that. All that was left is to finish out my classes, graduate, go on my NCL cruise, do laundry, and repack.

Graduation came and went. My NCL cruise flew by. I got back home, did laundry, and started counting down the hours until I leave for the airport. The night before (Friday night), I did not get any sleep. I procrastinated packing and wanted to finish my Getaway review before I left. At 5:30am, I finished that review and started getting ready. The time had finally come to embark on my next adventure.

Hello everyone! My name is Nate and I just got off the Carnival Fascination on Sunday. This my first cruise on Carnival in many years and also my first solo cruise on Carnival. I just graduated from grad school (Go Jackets!! THWg!!) and this was part two of my graduation present to myself. Part 1 was a cruise on the NCL Getaway, which I have had booked, changed and booked again for nearly a year. Check out the NCL boards for that review. I think it's a pretty good read.

About this Review-

I'm a very detailed person, but I'm also not a crazy person. You're going to hear a lot of details, but it's (hopefully) not going to be too detailed to where you miss important info. I'll be honest and mention the highlights and positive moments, but I'm also going to talk about the low parts and any negative aspects I encountered. I'm also very sarcastic with a dry sense of humor, so sit there and laugh at my jokes dangit. You can't curse on here can you?

Best of all, I'll have photos!! I'm in the process of getting my pictures uploaded to PhotoBucket right now. I took plenty of pictures of menus, Fun Times, food, scenery, the ship, Sometimes I forgot to get menu or food pictures, but you can google enough and find menu pictures.

About me-

Like I said, I just graduated from grad school and this was a present to myself. I currently live in Atlanta, but I'm moving up to DC soon. I'll be close to the port of Baltimore, so I think I see the Pride somewhere in my future... I usually cruise for the ship and have pretty much only done the new mega ships of Norwegian. Size does matter. Ok then, Nate, so why did you pick a cruise on a ship built in 1994 that isn't even 100,000 tons? So glad you asked. First, this cruise was the cheapest 7 day I have ever seen and will probably ever see. I cruised solo, and despite paying 100% solo rate, it still came out to be a very reasonable price. Second, this was a simply incredible itinerary. It was as follows

Sunday-May 27th: Embark in San Juan

Monday-May 28th: St. Thomas

Tuesday-May 29th: Antigua

Wednesday-May 30th: Barbados

Thursday-May 31st: St. Lucia

Friday-June 1st: St. Kitts

Saturday-June 2nd: St. Maarten

Sunday-June 3rd: Get dragged off kicking and screaming in San Juan

Pre-Cruise

So part 2, or what I'll call, the unplanned part of my graduation present to myself began earlier this year. Sometime around March I was procrastinating writing a paper and looking at cruises. I had 6 weeks to play with between graduation and when I move. One of those weeks was my NCL cruise, but I really wanted to do another cruise since I had so much free time. I was mainly looking at 3-5 day cruises since they're the cheapest. I decided to check out 7 day cruises and came across this hidden gem of a 7 day cruise out of San Juan that was less than some of the 3-5 day cruises I was considering. I thought about it for a few days, consulted my bank account, and decided to do it. I've worked hard the past 5 years in school and have 2 degrees with time to spare. I live by "treat yo'self", so pulled the trigger and booked myself on the Carnival Fascination leaving May 27th.

Alright, my laptop is dying and I left my charger at home. I'll continue in a little bit with my pre-cruise planning and my initial comparisons between Carnival and NCL. Hope y'all stick around! I suck at starting reviews, but I promise it will get interesting!

We were on the Escape a year ago and Getaway a week ago. The differences our group noticed was the staff. In general they were professional and friendly on the Getaway. On the Escape, we felt they were professional, friendly and fun-loving. They joked, laughed and made even sanitizing fun! Our group felt that this up-beat mentality carried down to the general public. The weather was a little better on the Escape trip and I'm trying to be honest, but even the general public seemed more pleasant.

I totally agree. I have never encountered a "bad" crew member on any cruise, but the Escape staff really seemed to go the extra mile and were generally more engaging. I found that in the Atrium bartenders on Getaway, but not much else. Like I mentioned earlier, I think the bad management of the Getaway has trickled down and affected the staff. Just my thoughts on the matter.

I'm looking at that 9 day repositioning cruise too! I live in Boston so its super convenient. Not sure how I feel about the smaller ships though tbh.

 

I'm also looking at Jan 20-27th on the Getaway. I love that week because I take 1 less day of PTO (MLK day) and the Australian Open is on the TVs when I'm stumbling back to my studio cabin at 3am :).

I like the way you think! I'm really, really considering it now after enjoying the ports so much on my Carnival cruise. The Carnival ship was small (the Dawn is still bigger) and really enjoyed being on a small ship. I wish I would have come more prepared with books and podcasts. Since the smaller ships don't have the crazy amenities of bigger ships, you have to come prepared to fill your time. As much as I love drinking at bars, drinking alone on the Carnival ship got old pretty fast.

THWG! Congrats on getting out from a Tech wife and mom (daughter just finished first year and is currently studying abroad)!!!

 

We are sailing 6/3 for out second time on the Getaway. Thanks for your funny and great review! I love that, like many Tech students, you are a nerd in a variety of fields!

THWg! I'm sure you're daughter is having a blast! Studying abroad was one of the best things I ever did. Hope y'all are having a great trip right now!

Thanks so much for a great and entertaining review! We will be on the Getaway in three weeks and are definitely looking forward to it! ��

Thanks again for such a great review! I think I was holding my breath through the debark part - holy cow. Our flight the week earlier wasn't until 1pm and that still would have had me stressing out!!!

 

Have fun on your Carnival cruise... will have to visit that board just for your review. :)

It was crazy, but just another travel story to tell now! I'll start my Carnival review later today. It was very different than this cruise. Hope you check it out!

Yes, and that is because you are docked and the jurisdiction treats the ship like a land based bar in that regard. The amount is very small and hardly worth being upset about.

Thanks for your review! We are on the Getaway now, loved both comedians (different than your two though), thought Million Dollar Quartet was amazing, and having a great time. Rather than blame NCL for your flight issues, I hope you learned in the future not to book such an early flight. Disembarkation often gets delayed for various reasons, and you essentially cut the line yourself. I do agree with your thoughts on Vibe on the Getaway, and we wouldn't get it again, especially for such a port intensive week. But we are having a blast and so sad to be getting off tomorrow.

I don't recall ever blaming NCL for my flight issues. I said they communicated the delay very poorly and did little to help control the growing crowds. In my however many cruises, this is the only time I've experienced a delay, so I don't think "often" is very accurate. Furthermore, I did cut the line in the terminal, but on the ship I stayed in the line I had been waited and respected those who had been waiting before me. I ran ahead in the terminal after being told to do so by an NCL rep.

Congrats on your graduation and thanks for the funny review - I keep laughing thinking about you wiping out while running to get the vibe pass. Good times!

Every time I look down and see the faint scars, I'm reminded of it and think to myself what an idiot I am lol.

My younger cousin and a bunch of her friends just got back from the Southern Caribbean on the Fascination. They loved their trip and had a blast on the ship! It was a great itinerary... Enjoy!

 

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I just got back and loved it! Carnival is very different from NCL and each have their own pros and cons. Definitely want to do that itinerary again though!

Thank you for the great review and enjoy your next vacation! As it was for you, my Getaway trip is a graduation gift to myself (nursing school grad) although my husband and one of my 4 kids are also coming. It's nice to have something relaxing to look forward to after all the hard work! I've always wanted to sail out of PR, and I do love Carnival as well, so I will look for your next review!

Congratulations! Thinking about this trip definitely helped me get through the last few rough nights and papers. I'll be starting that review later today hopefully.

Thanks for your review! Cruising solo on Getaway on December. Been 3 times solo on Epic and liked it a lot so hopefully Getaway will deliver as well.

 

Did you check out the thermal spa? Am considering either pass for Vibe or thermal spa and probably will purchase the latter on.

You're going to have so much fun. I did not check out the thermal spa, but I knew of several people who did have thermal spa passes and they seemed to really enjoy themselves. Both are good choices it just depends on whether you want to spend more time in the sun or relaxing in the thermal spa.

Great honest review. Will be on the Getaway on June 10th. What you said about the Vibe goes with what I’ve been reading lately and is so disappointing. Rommel and the crew on Escape are incredible and while it might be the ‘higher ups’, it must be the higher ups on board as if you follow Rommel on Facebook you’ll know it’s still Shot O’clock every day.

 

Enjoy your Carnival trip.

 

 

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I do follow Rommel on FB and love seeing their pictures! I think the Getaway is definitely a poorly managed ship right now. I don't know where that poor management lies along the chain of command though.

Nate,

Loving your review!!! Yes, we were on the cruise with you. One of many MA cruisers. Love the pix. I am not !!! tech savy so mine will not come close to yours but glad you had a great cruise as did we.

Glad y'all had a great time as well!

Nice reveiw! Sailing on this ship again in 6 weeks. Price was outstanding due to Casino At Sea offer! We paid $446.00 each with $75 OBC each, Drink Card for Casino and chose UDP.

 

Enjoy your trip to PR!

I met many people with similar great CAS offers as well. I'm not much of a gambler, but I might have to start after hearing about their great offers.

Awesome review! I leave tomorrow on my first one! Hopefully weather holds out.

 

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Hope you had a great time! I got back late last night, so I'm catching up on this thread before I start my next review.

Enjoy the Southern Caribbean and the Fascination! Appreciate all the info and your sense of humor. Most enjoyable. 3 cheers...:)

I just got back late last night and had an amazing time. I'm catching up on this thread before I start that review.

Final Summary Post

Overall, I had a great time this week. I love NCL and I"m loyal to them because I've had consistently good service and I love the freestyle experience. Plus, there is not argument that they're the best line for solo travelers.

I feel like many areas of this cruise were not up to NCL standards.

• The solo experience left much to be desired.
  
• The Vibe experience was nothing close to what I experienced on the Escape.
  
• Million Dollar Quartet and Burn the Floor are just not interesting (to me at least)
  
• I never once met my cabin steward and had dirty sheets.
  
• The way debarkation was handled was simply unacceptable.
  
• An apology email would have been nice regarding debarkation. I know people have experienced worse, but NCL knows it was a mess and many have reported that it was just nasty. I'll take a generic stock email. Just something to show they recognize the issue and apologize. I did fill out the survey they send out though.
  

There were numerous high points

• Food was all-around delicious. I never ate something was just awful (other than the wretched minted berry tiramisu, but I did that to myself)
  
• Variety of activities throughout the day
  
• Cruise Director Zach and his staff (especially Sandra) were incredible and I saw them all over the ship
  
• Bar service was great. Despite most having the drink package, I never had to wait very long. The atrium bartenders and Sunset bartenders were the best.
  
• The social media package worked great! I had zero issues all week.
  
• Messaging via the iConcierge app worked well too. Numerous improvements need to be made, but it's functional and does the basic function well (viewing your account, viewing the daily activities, messaging, etc.)
  

Will I cruise NCL again? Definitely.

Would I go on the Getaway again? Yes.

Am I itching to get back on immediately? No. I think there are numerous high level management issues (especially with bars and housekeeping) that trickle down and affect the guest experience. That's my hypothesis at least.

I was very honest about all aspects, so please don't feel like I'm being nit picky. I always see the best in a situation, but I'm not going to completely ignore it. I hope you all enjoyed this review. Feel free to ask any questions and I'll respond whenever I get a chance.

It is now 5:15am and I have to leave for the airport in an hour. I'm flying down to Puerto Rico to begin part 2 of my graduation celebration. When I get back I'll do a similar review on the Carnival boards, so please pop over there and follow my travels to the Southern Caribbean on the Carnival Fascination.

I did purchase two CruiseNext certificates and now I'm trying to plan our how to use them. I have deposits for Bliss and Encore for February 2019 and February 2020, but there is a 9 day repo cruise on the Dawn later this year that looks enticing.

I'm thinking maybe the 9 day on the Dawn later this year and then perhaps the Encore inaugural transatlantic late next year?

Now that I'm not in school full-time and have a normal work schedule, I hope to be more active on here. I'm looking forward to chatting with you and hope you all have a great weekend! Happy Cruising!

Am I the only one who can't see the pictures?

I just scrolled back up and I can't see them now either-just blank spaced where picture should be. Not sure what the issue is, but Photobucket hasn't been working properly today, so maybe they'll magically appear when Photobucket starts working? Sorry about that.

Debarkation

Where do I even begin? The day before we received information about debarkation times. I had planned to self-debark because my flight was at 11:15 out of MIA. I did this last year on the Escape and was off the ship and at MIA by 8:45.

I woke up around 7:00 and turned the tv on to check out the bridge cam. I noticed we were pulling into the port. I thought that was odd because I think usually the ship arrives much earlier. I didn't think anything of it though. Last year on the Escape we walked off around 8:15, but I know the line is usually super line. I packed my stuff up and walked down around 7:30. First elevator that came had room. Awesome! Today is a good day. When I get off on deck 7, it was a little busy, but not awful. By this the line snaked from the exit by the theater, all the way down through the Casino, by Shanghai's and back down. I stood in line by the stairs at 678 Ocean Plaza overlooking Le Bistro. The line was long, but I remember it moving pretty quick. All good in the hood.

I was getting antsy because the paper said self-debark would be begin around 7:45 and the line was not moving at all. Around 8:00, Zach came over the speaker and mentioned that we were delayed and that port authorities were just now beginning to clear the ship. He mentioned to not wait on the stairs or corridors. What do people do? Cram into already crowded corridors and wait on the stairs. Really? Really? Do rules not apply to y'all? Come on man...

~8:15am. Still no sign of line movement. By this time the casino was starting to fill up. The line was still very much organized with Cruise Director staff members directing people.

~8:45am. STILL no sign of line movement. By this time the casino was very full with people sitting all over the floor and waiting wherever there was space. I told myself that at 9am if we still hadn't moved, I would ask a staff member for an update and mention my flight left at 11am.

~9:05am. No sign of movement. I went to up to one of the staff members and asked why we were delayed. He said he knew nothing. Okayyyyy...

~9:15am. We have movement people! I noticed on the other side of the casino that the line had started to move. I was antsy because I like to be at the airport 2 hour prior to departure and I still had to check a bag. It's fine though, we just have to walk down a little ways to Shanghai's, turn, and head back down and exit. That sounds so simple.

~9:20. We slowly started to inch forward. By this time the casino was packed with people and bags occupying every square inch. As we slowly started to inch forward people who had been waiting off to the and not gotten there early to wait in the nicely organized line had started to push their way into our line. This is when all hell broke loose.

When these...(insert expletive here) started pushing into our line, we started getting vocal and telling them to stop cutting in line. The CD Staff Members were helpless. We started yelling at them louder to back up and let us through, we had been waiting in line since 7:30. Y'all showed up at like 8:30. I have a flight to catch and you are not going to jump in line before me. The lady in front of me was from New York City and I love her. She was one of the most vocal at telling these people off. Our group in line had formed a bond and we weren't about to let these people push in.

I was getting my toes run over by her suitcase to ensure nobody found a space to cut in. I made sure the people behind kept their suitcase close to me too. There was a lot of yelling going on and it was a mess. The CD staff member (I forget his name but he was from Serbia) tried his best to tell people they couldn't cut into this line, but he needed about 5 more people to help him.

Once we passed that clusterf***, we inched our way past Shanghai's and down the ship on the other side of the casino. I scanned my key card and RAN down the gangway. I said nothing but "excuse me", "sorry" and "flight to catch!". Once we got into the terminal, the long line of pissed off people came to a halt. Lord Jesus stop testing me today! I found a lady with a teal NCL necktie and told her I had a flight to catch. She wasn't sure why the line was stopped, but said she'd go find a supervisor. She was gone maybe 5 minutes but it felt like an eternity. She told me and a family from Canada to wait on the side. She came back (with no supervisor) and told us to run ahead to the end and talk to the next NCL rep we see with a blue necktie.

I took off like Usain Bolt! More "sorry's", "excuse me's" and "flight to catch" came out of mouth as I ran down the terminal. I heard a few people yelling "Run! Run!" I ran to the front where the line was stopped. The rep told me that they were holding the line up here so Customs could clear out downstairs. You're killing me!!! After a few more minutes (which felt like another eternity) she gave the magic word and said we could go down. The nice couple at the front let me go ahead and I ran down that escalator into the warehouse looking area. No one said where to go, so I just got in a line that led to a CBP officer. Once he checked my passport, I took off running again. Someone said to slow down, but I didn't. I had a flight to catch.

I ran outside and started looking for a taxi. My original plan was Uber, but I didn't have time for that. I couldn't find a taxi right away and started internally freaking out. I knew they were around, but couldn't find them. A guy asked me where I was going. I told him MIA and he said his shuttle was leaving right now and it was $10. Now I was skeptical and confirmed it was actually leaving RIGHT NOW. I didn't have to wait for it to get completely full or anything. It was indeed leaving right then. So I loaded my bag into the back and hoped into the passenger's seat up front.

According to text message timestamps, it was now 9:58am. The drive to MIA is about 10 minutes, so normally not bad. For those not familiar, the pickup/drop off area at MIA is shaped like a U. The first airline is American, with some other airlines in the middle, and Delta at the end. Guess which airlines I was flying? If you guessed Delta, the last stop, you'd be correct. We dropped most people off at American, then a few at United and lastly me at Delta. I had checked in via the app, but I needed to check a bag. I went to the kiosk and paid for my checked bag. (I could have probably done this at the counter, but I didn't want to get up there and be told to the go the kiosk.) Thankfully only one person was in line. I went up to the counter, told her my flight and she said I made the cutoff to check a bag by 30 seconds! Most airlines have a checked baggage cutoff of 45 minutes prior to departure (10:30am for me). Now, I think my bag would have probably still made the flight even if I was later, but that's something I don't want to test.

Remember when I raved about having CLEAR at the beginning of this review? MIA has CLEAR and I would have certainly missed my flight if I didn't have it. I didn't really see the line, but I knew there was one because I skipped to the front of it after scanning my fingerprints and boarding pass at the CLEAR kiosk. Security was annoying because people seem to never understand what "take everything out of your pockets" means. Not that hard, people. Change and receipts are included under "everything". After going through that and recombobulating myself (shout out MKE airport), I ran down the terminal to the gate just as zone 1 was boarding. This was at 10:46am.

I MADE MY FLIGHT!

I treated myself to a drink on the plane because I needed it. I needed 3, but beverage service didn't last long due to turbulence.

Overall, debarkation was obviously a mess. NCL cannot control the weather (which is why we arrived late), but they can control how they deal with these types of situations. There was absolutely no communication between the higher ups and the poor CD staff members trying to control 4600 angry people. A far greater effort could have been made to organize people and help those with early flights. They handled this situation very, very poorly. Everyone in our FB group agreed its the worst debarkation we've ever experienced. There was yelling. There was shoving. People were getting very, very nasty and it was a very poor way to end a great cruise.

Well folks, that's it. That's my vacation! I'll post one final summary post.

Day 7-At Sea

I did my morning routine. Y'all know what it is. Eggs Benny and an iced latte.

I slept in today though, but I made it to Vibe around 11 I'd say. Today was pretty windy, but they still allowed us to have the umbrellas up, so I read in the shade for awhile and had some drinks at the bar. There was honestly nothing on the Daily that looked super appealing, so I had a very leisurely day just relaxing in the shade and enjoying my last day while wiping away my tears. At some point I went down to Dolce Gelato because I had clearly not eaten enough this week. A large cup, where you can get two flavors, is $4.25. I don't recommend the cone. They looked messy. I made a mess with a cup. It melts pretty fast, but I decided to eat it outside on the Waterfront.

I walked around the Waterfront, walked up to my room, and realized I left my card at Dolce. Walked all the way down and back again. I probably walked off like 5% of the gelato, so that's super awesome. I got chocolate and coffee, which were both very good. I think it was worth the price. Definitely a nice treat.

Our solo group of 5 had our final together that night in Taste or Savor. I had the cream of broccoli soup, crab and cheese souffle, and garlic snapped. The soup and souffle were both excellent. The snapper was just so so, but I'm not really a huge fish person to begin with. I'll post the menu when Photobucket decides it wants to work.

We need to talk about the last night dessert menu. Have y'all had the "minted berry tiramisu"? Without a doubt the worst thing I've ever had on an NCL cruise. I had it last year on the Escape and have not forgotten it. I actually got it again to make sure it's still awful and forced everyone to try it. Yup, still bad. There was noticeably less berry and heavier mint than I remember. I got the lava cake waiting in the wings to calm myself down. It worked.

After dinner, we went to pack, but had that night we had a reservation at 8:00 for "Escape the Big Top". I have never done an Escape room, but I've read about them. I thought this was super fun and really enjoyed it. Plus, it's free! I won't give anything away, but I highly recommend it. I can't remember seeing if there is an age limit, but it's definitely for teenagers and up. The puzzles were very tricky and littler kids would be bored. In our group of 8 at least 4 of us had advanced degrees and we still weren't able to escape. The room was a bit crowded, but still a lot of fun.

Afterwards we went to the farewell show in the theater. This was a really great way to end the cruise and it made me really sad to leave. After the show, we said our goodbyes and I cried myself to sleep.

Day 7-done

Next up-the debarkation from HELL. Buckle up, y'all. It's going to get crazy.

Alright y'all, it's 3am EST and I have to leave for the airport in 3.5 hours, so we are going to crank out the last few days right now. Ain't insomnia great? PhotoBucket has also decided to stop working, so when I get a chance I'll come back and upload Dailies for Day 6 and 7 and maybe some porn because those are pretty much the only pictures I took this week.

Day 6-Cozumel

So I decided to break from my normal MO and actually pre-booked something! After reading so much about it and liking the price, I booked Mr. Sanchos. The all-inclusive package is $55 with a $5 deposit being paid at the time of reservation. Once you arrive you pay the remaining amount. One thing to factor in is the taxi price. It is $18 one way from the Punta Langosta cruise terminal.

Thanks to Cruise Critic, I met an awesome couple and we arranged to meet up and share a taxi over to Mr. Sanchos. We walked off shortly after 8am and had no trouble finding a taxi. the ride was only about 20 minutes, so not bad at all. After I arrived, I paid the remaining money and set off exploring. I was really impressed when I first walked in. I watched plenty of YouTube videos, so I knew what to expect, but it's totally different thing to actually be there in person. There were several pools, bars, and a large beach area with tons of chairs. I slathered on some sunscreen and relaxed on my lounge chair and enjoy the fact that I was in paradise.

After about 5 minutes I started craving a margarita. Day drinking is not only acceptable but encouraged on vacation. Mr. Sanchos has amazing bartenders. Andres and Cristian took great care of me. I laid out a bit more and went to get wifi and check email. I overheard a server mention the signal is strongest by the buffet. Sidenote-it took about 30 minutes until a waiter approached me. I'm fine with getting my own drinks, so no big deal. Anyways, the wifi was decent to accomplish all I wanted, so no complaints there and it is strongest by the buffet.

I went back to my chair and ordered some guacamole. Y'all already know how much I love guac. It came out pretty quickly and I continued to relax, eat and drink in paradise. I went down to the end of the beach and got a kayak. It's included in the price of Mr. Sanchos, but you have to put down a $10 deposit, which you get back when you return. I kayaked for about 30 minutes in the little roped off area, which was nice. Took some GoPro footage and selfies, but nothing really turned out well. I thought the current was a little strong, but not too bad.

After kayaking I laid back down and had another drink because duh! Not going to lie though, I wasn't feeling great. No, I wasn't drunk. It's 11am and I have standards. I'm pretty sure I was just having some kind of heat exhaustion because it was really hot out there. I went and sat up at the bar, which had super fun swings in place of bar stools, and Andres/Cristian gave me a few bottles of water and made sure I was okay. These guys were seriously amazing. I wish I could have stayed longer, but I just was not feeling up to it. I think I left before noon. Did I get my money's worth? Probably not. Would I return to Mr. Sanchos? Definitely. Let this be a lesson to drink plenty of water early before it's too late.

I took a $18 taxi (ugh) back to Punta Langosta. I came to Cozumel with another mission in mind that I was going to accomplish: Starbucks. Now that you've rolled your eyes, let me explain. I studied abroad in Mexico city and fell in love with a drink called a cajeta frappuccino. I'm pretty basic and go to Starbucks more often than I should, but I never get fraps. I fell in love with this drink during study abroad. It's basically a caramel but a little bit sweeter and richer. I think it's delicious and the perfect thing on a hot day. There is a Starbucks right by Hooters in the port area. It's a real Starbucks where you can use the app to pay and everything (I think , I didn't ask but saw a sign advertising earning stars). I got my frap (and wifi) and was very content to finally have this drink after waiting four years. I relaxed in the shade and eventually got back on the ship.

Apparently MSC uses Cozumel as a port of embarkation, so it was strange seeing people with suitcases heading to the ship. Everything about MSC is strange though. *throws another judgy side eye

I met up with a few people from the FB page in the atrium and went to O'Sheehans for lunch. One of them got wings, which he said were really good. I got the spinach and artichoke dip, which was good and the fish and chips, which was also good. I went back to the room, napped, changed for dinner and went out to the waterfront to watch for pier runners. I didn't see any, but I did get a cool timelapse as we pulled away.

Tonight our group of 5 solos (plus L's mom) had a reservation for La Cucina. Overall, I'll say our experience was good. Not great, but not bad. I started off with the minestrone, which was very good. I then had the beef lasagna for my main. It was good but holy crap was it massive. There was enough meat in it to make a double quarter pounder and then some. The flavor was pretty good though, but could have used less meat. For dessert I had the tiramisu, which was also a solid dessert. Everything we ate was good, but nothing made us go "OMG this is absolutely delicious. I must Instragram it right now." I probably won't go back to La Cucina on my next cruises just because I love Teppanyaki and Cagney's so much.

That night I had reservations for a 9pm comedy show of Mike Jones and the 11pm comedy show of Dylan Mandalsohn (sp?)

Sidenote-from Roatan to Cozumel we went forward an hour and this night we went forward another hour to get back on EST

I saw Mike Jones during the welcome show and thought he was decent. I felt the same way after seeing his full show. Some of the topics he touched on were definitely more suited for an audience older than myself. Most people seemed to enjoy him. Between shows I went up to Sunset for more drinks and came back at 11 for the 18+ show. I thought Dylan was much better than Mike Jones. It's also probably because I enjoy adult and offensive humor. I overheard some people talking that were put off by the sexual themes. You're at an adult comedy show, so expect adult themes. Some people, I swear.

Now the guy that opened for both of these guys...was not good. As we say in the south, "Bless his heart". It's clear that he's new to comedy but he definitely has some work to do. He used the word "budding" (he was not talking about a flower) multiple times, which launched its way into my top three words that make me uncomfortable along with "moist" and "ointment". *shivers*

Overall, I thought the comedy was good. This was actually my first time seeing a comedy show on a ship, and I can't wait to go to more in the future.

After this show, I crashed in bed. I hate losing an hour.

Day 6-done

Next up-Day 7 at sea

Loving your review. My husband and I are doing our 1st NCL cruise in November on the Getaway... I might have missed it in the beginning of your review but where do you get the Vibe passes and how much are they?

Vibe passes are $99 each for the week or as a couple you can get a cabana for $249 for the week. You go to Guest Services once you board. You'll see a line already formed with a crew member handing out numbers for spots.

Looking forward to this review! I'm leaving tomorrow (from ATL as well) for my first solo trip on Carnival. Loved your NCL reviews, so I'm sure this will be great!

I just got off the Getaway and used the messaging feature. The app is free to download, but messaging costs $15 per device on the Getaway. I thought it was very useful and worth the price. You sometimes get push notifications when you get a message, but most of the time you have to open the app to see you got a message. You do not need to buy a WiFi package to use this feature.

Day 5-continued

After looking around and getting caught up on stuff, I got back on the ship. I spent most of the day relaxing, reading, and drinking. A perfect day in my book. Vibe was emptier than normal, so it was quite nice. I met Vimal the bartender from Mauritius and had a long conversation with him about travel, NCL, and languages. It's always nice to have a great conversation with a bartender. Lunch was in the garden cafe, which was delicious like usual. In the asian section they had a broccoli beef dish that was so delicious I may have gone back multiple times. It has broccoli so it must be healthy.

I did the slides again and filmed them on my GoPro. I have a short grip stick (still talking about my GoPro here folks and nothing else), but the slide attendant said no attachments are allowed. No worries. I went back up to Vibe and drank and took an amazing nap on one of the big loungers.

Sailaway

That night, I checked the MDR menu and didn't see anything that appealed to me, so I decided tonight would be the night I went to Wasabi for sushi. I went down around 6:15 and was seated immediately. I forgot to take pictures of the menu, but I thought it was priced pretty reasonably.

I started off with the Tsukune chicken "dumping" appetizer. They look like meatballs, but they're actually fried.

I then had the Californication roll

and the spider roll

The rolls were about $7 each and the appetizer was only $2 I think. Overall, the Tsukune and spider roll were great. The californication roll was just okay. I think the sushi from Food Republic on the Escape is better, but Wasabi is good for your sushi fix. Would definitely eat here again.

I went to the Sunset Bar around 7:00 and some nice people who invited to come along to the Million Dollar Quartet. I didn't have a reservation, but had no trouble getting a seat. Like I mentioned earlier, this just isn't my type of entertainment and I left after around 10 minutes. Don't judge me for walking out. Or do, I don't care.

As I was walking out, I ran into some friends from the FB group and chatted with them for awhile. Spent the rest of the evening with friends in the Sunset Bar.

Day 5-done

Next up-Day 6: Cozumel

I'm back! Sorry for the break. I'm leaving for Puerto Rico tomorrow for part dos of my vacation, so I'm getting all my stuff together again.

Day 5-Roatan, Honduras

Dailies

Bienvenidos a Roatan!

I did my usual routine of breakfast followed by an iced latte. I live an exciting life, I know. I got off the ship shortly after we docked and headed out into the port. There are a few shops for souvenirs and a restaurant I believe. I found a wifi kiosk that was selling passes. It was $8 for a 30 minute pass or $10 for a day pass. I didn't know how much I had to catch up on, so I just did the day pass. The wifi worked pretty well! Definitely sufficient to accomplish everything I needed to do. You probably won't be able to stream Netflix, but if you're trying to do that in the port area, that's a little weird. When looking at the port picture above, the wifi kiosk has a white top and blue siding. It's just to the right of the top right corner of the big blue awning. Just keep walking straight when you get off and you'll see it.

As you all know, a few weeks ago the MSC Armonia ran into the pier and damaged it. We had no issues docking. The footage I had seen made the damage look much worse than it actually is. I'm sure it will take a while to get repaired, but it should not impact future cruises. We saw the MSC Armonia in Cozumel and gave her the stink eye and silently judged it.

Went on her the first year she came out..your review is refreshing my memory! Taking her for Thanksgiving and I had a question..Are they offering a discount for the Dinner Show if you do it the first night? They were doing it years ago.

I do not remember seeing a discount on the Cirque show, but I wasn't exactly looking for one. I've heard of specialty restaurants being discounted the first night, but didn't see anything being advertised. Easily could have missed it though.

Taking a break from my review and catching up on yours. You have such a great writing style - informative and so funny. Now, I know that it is hard to keep going at about the half way point... so please keep adding to this!!! Otherwise I'll yell at you in my best mom voice (my oldest is your age, so I've had lots of practice!). Speaking of my oldest - I'm going to send him a link to your review. Now that he has a cruise under his belt, maybe he will consider cruising solo.

I'm going to finish it up today! I'm leaving for Puerto Rico tomorrow morning, so I've been getting all my stuff organized today. Just put some laundry in, so hopefully I can crank out a good bit now. If he is independent and content with being alone sometimes and open to talking to all type of people, he'll love solo traveling. In my normal life, I'm pretty shy, but I just find it so easy to talk to people on cruises. The CC roll call and FB group made all the difference too!

Loving your review as well!

I haven’t been on the Escape either. What makes it your favourite?

Part of why I loved the Escape was the group of people I was with. I met an amazing group in Vibe that I spent time with all week. The Vibe bartenders were also amazing, attentive, and funny. If I was on the ship, I was almost always there. I also spent a lot of time in the District Brewhouse and Food Republic. I vaguely remember the Escape feeling slightly more crowded. The interior spaces are almost the exact same, but the Escape carries more people. Nothing major, just one minor drawback.

Tagalog is so interesting to learn! I travel to the Philippines for work and the last time I was there for an extended period of time we would get the locals to teach us a little here and there. It’s tough to catch on to but one of my coworkers will randomly give me a Magandang Umaga in the morning or drop a kumusta ka and I’ll completely space on the response. They like to give me a hard time because I was so into it while the workers were teaching us and can’t remember much now.

 

 

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It really is! I loved it and I'm so glad they did this class. You're not going to become fluent by any means, but I think it's so nice to say good morning/evening/afternoon in someone's native language. The Philippines seem like a fascinating place to travel to!

Awesome review so far, I love all the pictures and thank you for posting the dailies and menus. Like others following I will be sailing on the Getaway 6/3.

I noticed you said you used the Iconierge app, on the 1st dailies where it described the app it said you could call home with it. Did you try that and does it work? I want to stay in touch with people at home and this would be cheaper than getting the WiFi(I am not planning on doing any work while on vacation) Thank you and keep posting.

Glad you like it! I did not use the calling feature and I unfortunately don't know how much it would cost. I just know that messaging people on the ship was $15.

Enjoying both your commentary and the pictures. Thanks SO much for bringing us along :D

Glad you're enjoying it!

Great review so far!!

 

We were on the Getaway TA last October - 14 days. We just did the activities when we felt like doing, and that was the first time we skipped all Bingo :eek:, and it was the first time we contributed more time at an Atrium Bar, and watched more movies there than any other TA cruises.

 

We have been on 20 NCL cruises, and sometimes we felt like doing something different, so what the hell, we ain't missing anything, there's always the next cruise. :D

Amen to that! There are so many different activities to do, and at the end of the day it's your vacation. I was barely off the boat, which some people thought was strange, but that's what I wanted to do. Sidenote- the bingo prices looked outrageous!

Night 4

Tonight the normal crew might up at Sugarcane like normal. We were joined tonight by two other solo travelers who were a lot of fun. Traveling solo is great because you can meet so many different people from all around the world.

Menu

I had the lime and dill shrimp, which was good. The shrimp were served over a bed of potato salad, which was strange, but the potato salad was actually really good. I'm from the south and know potato salad too.

My other app was probably the french onion soup of caesar salad. It was something I had already had earlier because I didn't take a picture of it.

My main was chicken parm, which was really good! AC had been waiting all week for it. We were all excited to finally try it after she talked it up so much. We were all pleased with it.

Looks like tonight was the 1 night I actually did take a picture of the dessert menu.

Pretty sure I got the ice cream or the lava cake. Both are delicious.

Deal or No Deal was tonight at 8:30, but you really need to get there much earlier to get a good seat. The atrium was packed! It was a lot of fun and you play along and try to get matches to win prizes. Two people are chosen to play in the real game. The first guy made a deal after like 2 rounds, which I think ended up being a smart decision. The second guy had a really strong start and was doing well. He made a deal for like $238 and at the end the two cases contained either $235 or $575 (or something like that). His case held $235, so he made the right choice, but it was so nerve-wracking!

After Deal or No Deal, was Battle of Sexes game show. This was one of the funniest things I've ever seen. The participants made the show great. I won't share pictures, but definitely encourage everyone to check this show out.

The rest of the evening was probably spent taking advantage of the UBP.

Day 4-done

Next up-Roatan