Spinelli1107

Thanks for joining!

Aw shucks, that is disappointing. Luckily for us, with a port intensive itinerary we may not even know it's missing but that is a bummer none the less. Thanks so much for the update!

Thank you so much!

Despite having a mere 6 and a half days before my flight, nothing crazy, wild or exciting has been going on. With the majority of my pre-cruise dealings having been taken care of already, the only thing left to do is pack. Which I've done and undone half a dozen times in my head. So with that said, I figured I'd talk a little bit about the Getaway and why I fell in lover with her and NCL 10 years ago. The Getaway is the second ship in the breakaway class and she boasts 18 decks housing the previously mentioned nearly 20 restaurants and eateries and over a dozen bars. Aside from food and beverage this ship has plenty of other entertainment and things to do. The theater host many Broadway style shows such as Million Dollar Quartet and various variety acts. Syd Norman's has an array of nightly entertainment starring the Pour House Band Members. Headliners is where you can catch a comedy show or Howl at the Moon's Dueling Pianos. The Ice Bar is always a cool place to chill and grab a drink or two or perhaps you'd like to try your hands and feet at the ropes course or rock climbing wall. Deck 5 is where you will find the medical center, otherwise this is the lowest deck for guests to book a cabin. Crew quarters and accommodations start n deck 5 and go down from there. Decks 6,7,8 make up the majority of the public spaces including the Waterfront. Here you will find a surplus of bars and restaurants mentioned above as well as the Bliss nightclub, Starbucks, the main atrium and the "photo stairs" and chandelier. Other than the Pool and Sports deck up top, this is likely where we will be spending the majority of our time on board. Decks 9-14 are the remaining cabins decks along with the studio lounge and kids clubs. Other than deck 9 where our cabin is, we won't be seeing much of these decks. Decks 15-18 is where you will find the spa, gym and majority of the outdoor spaces. This is also where the buffet along with multiple pools are. Deck 16 is where you'll find Spice H2O. During the day it is adults only, at night Spice H2O hosts the nightly theme deck parties. (Weather permitting) Without taking you all for a full deck by deck tour, this should give you a pretty decent idea of all this ship has to offer. This 9 night cruise is likely not long enough to see and do it all since there's also the casino, a basketball court, a jogging track, several water slides, mini golf and believe it or not, so much more! Hope you enjoyed this Getaway informational and now you might just see why I love this ship so much because there's literally something for everyone! Until next time....

That's awesome maybe we'll run into each other! Happy to have you following along!

Thanks for virtually hopping on board. She's a great ship, I think you'll love her.

So now that you know a little bit about me, the basic layout of my trip and some NCL perks, let's look at some of the fun facts of the Getaway. Everybody's favorite....or at least mine, let's talk dining. The Norwegian Getaway has over 15 eating establishments some of which are included and others that are at a premium. You very well could go on a cruise and not step foot into one of the specialty restaurants and you will have plenty of food made available to you but as I've introduced earlier, NCL's "Free at Sea" provides at least 1 complimentary specialty dining to be included in your sailing so why not take advantage of it. Furthermore, depending on your loyalty status and/or cabin booked you may be eligible for additional specialty dining packages. You can also purchase additional dinners above what is "included" Based on status and what we booked, we have a total of 6 specialty dining packages for this trip and we intend to put them to use. But first let me tell you about the restaurants on board. Specialties: Cagney's - Their Signature Steakhouse La Cucina - A Staple Italian Restaurant Le Bistro - The Resident French Eatery Moderno - NCL's Endless Brazilian Churrascaria Ocean Blue - Refined Seafood Cuisine The Raw Bar - Kinda Self Explanatory? Wasabi - Sushi Selection Teppanyaki - Japanese Knife Throwing Show (they're not too sharp!) Inclusions: O'Sheehans - 24 Hour Pub Savor, Taste and Tropicana Room - The Main Dining Rooms Shanghais - Noodle Bar American Diner - The Name Says it All Garden Cafe - Traditional Buffet With 9 nights aboard and 6 specialty dining packages I've laid out the following itinerary Night 1 - Barcelona - Cagneys: Because what better way to kick of a vacation Night 2 - Cannes - Le Bistro: Because France! Night 3 - Livorno - Complimentary Establishment Night 4 - Rome - Raw Bar: Because something light in the middle feels right Night 5 - Naples - La Cucina: Because Italy! Night 6 - Sicily - Moderno: For no other reason than it's one of my favorites! Night 7 - Olympia - Ocean Blue: Because Greece = Fresh Seafood right? Night 8 - Santorini - Complimentary Establishment Night 9 - Mykonos - complimentary Establishment Dining was eligible for booking as early as February 12th (120-125 days pre-sailing) for this sailing and Entertainment opened for pre-booking on May 22st (21-26 days in advance) and the 26th is when Check-In was available (21 days ahead of sail away) Well I think that's enough for today. I'll be back tomorrow with some more fun facts and or trip updates. Thanks for following along!

Thank you so much for following along. I hope I can do this blog and itinerary justice for your friends who are doing it in November without spoiling too much!!

Some of you are seasoned cruisers, and some of you may be first time cruisers or at the very least first time with NCL so I wanted to introduce you all to the brand and why I choose Norwegian! With Norwegian's Free at Sea promotion, there are a lot of amazing perks included in your price of admission. Starting with the "Free Open Bar" - Passengers 1-8 in a cabin are eligible to receive this incentive. If guest number 2 is under 21, NCL will substitute for the soda package, however if Guest 3-8 are under 21, unfortunately that benefit does not apply. In my opinion this is the best part of "Free At Sea" as it's good for spirits, cocktails, wine and beer up to $15. It also includes soda and juices. Keep in mind, if you select this benefit, you are subject to a 20% service fee on what the retail value of this package would be. Another great perk is the "Free Shore Excursions". Now this may be a bit debatable as it's not actually Free excursions, instead it's a $50 credit for passenger 1 towards any NCL excursion. Personally I enjoy this perk as I prefer the ease and convenience of booking directly through NCL but can understand why others may not find its appeal. The third perk is "Free Specialty Dining". While the majority of the food on the ship is included and the included food is very good, this FAS perk gives you the ability to check out some of the For a Fee restaurants. Depending on which cabin you book determines how many specialty dining meals you receive. For this sailing, we booked a balcony cabin and therefore are entitled to 2 specialty meals for each my husband and I. This benefit also carries a 20% service fee. Another benefit through FAS is "Free Wi-Fi" incase you haven't picked up yet, the parenthesis are because, let's face it, nothing is actually free here. This perk affords you a whopping 150 minutes of basic internet access for passengers 1 and 2 in the cabin. Some people can fully disconnect when they're away, but others may like to check in with loved ones back home. So this gives you the ability to do just that. Another potentially huge benefit is the "Free Airfare" with this perk, it's pay the NCL price for airfare for passenger 1 and passenger 2 flys free. You have the ability to select up to 2 days deviation pre and post cruise. NCL will do their best to guarantee no more than 2 connections for an international flight. While the value may be enticing, you do not decide when you leave or arrive and you may not receive your flight details until as close to 30 days before sailing. This can be great for those with more flexibility but may not be ideal for travelers who need to be more structured or hands on with their planning. While these perks all sound amazing, it's all dependent on your outlook and whether some, all or none are worthwhile to you. I've taken advantage of the drinks, dining, shore excursion credit and internet for this sailing. I couldn't relinquish control of flights so we booked our own. and it was relatively the same price for 2 that it would have been for 1 through NCL. I hope this helps some of you decide which FAS promotion you'd like to take advantage of without getting too in the weeds on each one, which is VERY easy to do! But more on perks and benefits and all the jazz later 😎

Hey Everyone! First time trying my hand at a live report, wish me luck! I'll start off with a brief introduction, the name's Brittany, I'm 35 (today's my birthday) and I'm getting away with my travel partner for life DH Chris. My first cruise was circa 1993/4 on the Song of America when I was a wee little girl. Since then, I've completed 20+ sailings, primarily in the Caribbean with a trip through the Panama Canal and a cool cruise to Alaska. My first (and favorite) NCL cruise was in 2014 on none other than the NCL Getaway. I've sailed with family, with friends and even 2 solo cruises. Together, Husband and I have done 5 cruises and we got engaged on the NCL Bliss during her inaugural season in 2018. We met some pretty awesome people on that sailing who are now our cruise buddies K&T. We did the Alaska sailing with them and they are joining us on this trip. Ok, now that we've got introductions out of the way, let's talk a little bit about this trip. Sailing from Barcelona, Spain; stopping in Cannes, France; Livorno, Italy; Civitavecchia, Italy; Naples, Italy; Messina, Sicily; Katakolon, Greece; Santorini, Greece; Mykonos, Greece and ending in Athens, Greece. Each day we will be in a new port and with call times ranging from 7-13 hours, I'm hoping we don't run ourselves totally ragged. One week from today, our Journey begins as we fly red-eye direct from JFK to BCN. When we land we'll spend 2 days in Barcelona before boarding the Getaway. After 9 nights of glorious sailing through a taste of Europe and the Mediterranean, we'll spend 4 nights on the Island of Crete before flying back home on the 29th. This 2 week dream turned reality is a trip of a lifetime for us that's been in the works for over a year. without giving too much away too soon, I'll leave it here for now so I can collect my thoughts for the next post. Till then, Happy Sailing!

What tour is that? Is it RCCL or private?

How does it work on the UDP? is there any limits to how much you can order per meal? I'm familiar with NCL's dining program where 4 a la carte items is equivalent to one dining package

Ooooo that looks so good! Will definitely have to add Izumi to my lunch lineup

OMG!!!! That is amazing. Thank you so much, I had NO idea I could do that!!

Sounds like you’re having a very nice time and enjoying the cruise so far! I can’t wait to be on her in 2 months. Would you be able to tell me, what times are the shows being offered? And how often throughout the sailing are they running them? Thank you!

Where on the promenade did you make your reservations? Trying to get the inside scoop in where and how to avoid the crowds lol. (Ah disregard a I see your follow up post answered this!) Which restaurants did you lock in other than the Mason Jar and 150? (disregard this question too lol!) Mason Jar looks amazing. I love the concept of this restaurant and definitely looking forward to trying it. That watermelon salad looks great! Looking forward to all your restaurant reviews and pictures! Super excited to live vicariously through you this week!!! Thank you so much for taking us all along with you!

Rolled would be eggplant rollatini, no? personally I enjoy them both but if I order one and get the other I’d be disappointed too as they are entirely different in my opinion…. hope you enjoy a nice relaxing evening as we all wait in anticipation for you to board the Wonder! If it’s not too much to ask, would you be so kind as to post pictures of the daily newsletters each day with the goings ons around the ship?

Safe Flight(s)!!!! LaGuardia and much of NY was under quite a bit of water yesterday. A true flash flood that came on quick and left many people abandoning their cars in the middle of parkways to seek safety. But enough about that! Im excited to follow along as I’ll be cruising WOS in 71 days after taking nearly 8 years off from RCCL! Can’t wait to read all about your food experience and all this ship has to offer