johnrich

There is a spreadsheet that I found a while back for the Away ships that has all of the cabin info as well as a bunch of photos. It is located here:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=38341623

The spreadsheet is also found on google docs

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/10YW7fMQarer30UCHKqKJ_zLDmbyMTczCTtYf2XRflh8/pub?single=true&gid=0&output=html

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1) Can the 250 internet minutes be divided on 2 devices in the same cabin or must they all be used on the same device. Booking shows they are credited to only me.

 

Since your booking shows your name for the Internet Credit be sure to use your name when logging in/registering for the first time. Somehow on our last one it was in my wife's name and not thinking I registered the internet under my name since I'd be using it. They ended up charging us and then we had to go to guest services who sent us to the Internet manager who took a while to fix the issue then back to guest services. It was a bit of a pain but mostly just aggravating waiting in line because of my own stupidity.

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DW and I are planning are planning a western Caribbean cruise on Escape in Sept or Oct. Prices for Aft Balcony and Spa Balcony are the same. Does anyone have a preference of one over the other?

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First question is, what airport are you flying out of, MIA or FLL?

 

It is impossible to tour around Miami AND Ft. Lauderdale within your timeframe of 5 hours. The cities are 25 miles apart (45 mins - 1+ hours) and traffic in either direction is heavy, even on weekends, if there is an accident on I-95.

 

If you're flying out of MIA ... here are some suggestions:

 

Sights to see in and around the greater Miami area are very spread out. Is there anyway that you can forgo the rental van and take the HOHO bus? I know this is not the least expensive option, but various cruise lines offer the HOHO excursion from your ship, with an airport drop-off (luggage stored either on the bus or sent to the airport through the luggage valet). This way, your party of 7 can be driven around without the stress of finding your way around town, parking, etc., and will definitely see all the highlights of the area. The route also includes a stop on South Beach.

 

There really is no "tour trail", but if the HOHO bus is not an option, you could look at the route online and drive the same route as the bus takes.

 

One other suggestion is to keep the van and go to South Beach for the day and have a leisurely lunch somewhere. You could park near Lincoln Road, where there is a plethora of restaurants. Understood there are some limitations with mobility, but many places are not far from the parking garages.

 

Now if you're flying from FLL ... You could head straight to Las Olas Blvd for lunch/shopping. There would not be enough time for the water taxi.

Thank you for the suggestions. We are flying out of FLL. We probably won't do shopping at Las Olas but is it a good place to just people watch for several hours and grab a bite to eat? Otherwise we may take your advice and just follow the HOHO map to see some of the sites.

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We will be renting a van after disembarking the Getaway. We have 5 hours before we need to be at the airport. There are 7 of us from 35-84. Since a couple have bad knees and hips, we cannot do a walking tour, but would like to drive around and see the sights Miami and Ft Lauderdale have to offer. Are there any set "tour trails" in the area? What are the "can't miss" attractions or sights. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks!

John

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I guess i am the odd one out on this but i didn't love it. I would not say it was bad by any means, there were good parts. I just didn't think it was as great as everyone said. Of course everyone has their opinion so this is just mine. The food was ok but that was not an issue cause if i still was hungry, there is always somewhere to get food after the show. Now the couple on americas got talent now was not in my show as far as i know. They are awesome on AGT. Sounds like most people like the show so you need to make your own opinion by seeing it i guess. Enjoy your cruise. The getaway is amazing

I agree with Karen. My wife and I didn't think the show was bad but we wouldn't go back to see it again. The food was good but not great. It was very dark while we were trying to eat and my wife did not like that aspect. The couple on AGT does not seem like the same couple we saw on the ship.

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There's no 5 o'clock somewhere bar on the getaway, but the UBP is good at the margaritaville bar...

Thanks. I was under the impression the restaurant portion was considered Margaritaville and the bar portion was considered 5 O'clock Somewhere. Thank you for clarifying.

Drinks are included (at least they are on the Escape).

 

 

 

By the way, how did you like the Celebrity Summit?

Thanks for the info.

We liked the Summit and the crew. Our only gripe was that we were in our forty's and felt like we were the youngest on the ship. We are not partiers but do like to stay out late when on vacation and we had a hard time finding open venues/entertainment after 10 or 11 at night.

We will be on the Getaway on Sept 18, the first day Margaritaville will be open on the GA. I know that you have to pay for the food but if you go to the 5 O'clock Somewhere Bar, are those drinks included in the UBP (up to $15) or is there a surcharge?

Thanks

John

I have three - one is most memorable overall, one is most adventurous and the third is most relaxing.

Most memorable was back in 2005 when we stopped in St. Lucia. We booked a tour on our own but expected there to be others on the tour as well. It was only $70/pp. Our tour guide met us at the dock and took us to his Range Rover. It was only my DW, mother and I and the guide. He had a cooler of various drinks for us. He took us all over the island: drove through the middle of a banana plantation, saw a volcano, went to a hot springs waterfall, drove us through several towns and villages, drove through the rain forest and saw a guy walking while carrying a 14 ft long snake wrapped around him, had a lunch buffet set up on a beach just for us. It lasted over 7 hours. There are always bits and pieces of different tours I remember but this tour was so awesome that I can remember the entire day!

The most adventurous was in Juneau. My mom, BIL, his wife and I decided to take a plane ride over the glaciers. We went to the airport and met the pilot who then drove us to a lake where the floatplane was located. We did not realize we were going on a float plane until that time. We were ok with it just a bit surprised. The pilot asked what the seating arrangements were going to be. My BIL and his wife wanted to sit beside each other so they sat in the middle, my mom sat in the single seat behind them so that left me to sit up front beside the pilot. He then told the other three they could walk around the lake for a few minutes while he taught me how to fly. We all laughed but he wasn't joking. It was just emergency procedure and stuff like that but still scary. We all had a wonderful time. We were up in the air for about 1.25 hours. Saw a lush green waterfall in the middle of a glacier which was beautiful.

The most relaxing is at Maya Chan Beach in Costa Maya. We love going there and just relaxing in the water chairs they have while the wait staff walkout in the water to bring you your drinks. The food and drinks are great and the staff is extremely friendly. Can't wait to be back there next month.

Thanks to others who've posted. It helps to plan for other excursions and tours.

John

Normally on cruises I have a Baileys and coffee almost every day. However, One drink that I enjoy at least one morning during my cruise is a lunchbox. Boy do I get the sneers from people around me when I order it. It is 1/2 glass of beer, topped with 1/4 glass of orange juice then a shot of amaretto. It is so tasty. A bartender I had on X Summit (Charles) told me after he made it for me he started suggesting it to others.

In our 11 cruises we have done mostly excursions on our own. We have joined a couple Cruise Critic tours. Only once did we do a ship tour and we chose it for a reason. We were the first ship to port into Falmouth. Since it was a new port we weren't sure how the private tours would be. Glad we did. We were one of the first people off the ship in fact my BIL got his picture in the local Jamaican newspaper. We went several places including Dunns River Falls. The tour lasted longer than anticipated. All aboard was, I believe, 4:30. At 4:30 we were still several miles from the dock. Because of the occasion of it being the first cruise ship to dock in Falmouth many of the townspeople were out in the streets to see the ship off. So much so that the tour van couldn't get back to the ship because the streets were filled with people. They actually had to send the police to escort our tour van through the crowd and back to the port. The van drove right up the gangway. We got on the ship at 5:05 and they pulled the gangway behind us. We weren't even back to our staterooms and the ship was pulling away from the dock. Lots of anxiety even with having the cruise line tour.

So, my advise to everyone is to book private or CC excursions unless it's a new port, then use the cruise line's excursions! [emoji3]

Thanks, the flights are canceled and now we have $$$ to use on another flight. Question--flights totaled $944 for both. Now deciding on cruise to FLL in Nov. those flights total (as of today) $670 for both of us. Since there will be $$ left will they keep them for us for some other time?? I know I sound like I'm confused--and I am!!

 

 

 

Thanks,

 

Carol

Yes, you will still have $274 left to use but that will still need to be used by April. Think of it as a gift card with an expiration date. You can use it as many times as you want as long as there is still money available on it, but it must be used by the expiration date.

My DW and I cruised with RCCL several times and loved it. We've also tried Princess and Celebrity. We had planned on going back to RCCL but ended up doing a family cruise with NCL. We absolutely loved it. In our opinion, the food was just as good if not better, the entertainment was much better and the staff has been great. I have attended CC Meet & Mingles on almost every cruise and the ones on NCL are the best. The officers and staff show up and talk with you and get to know you.

For those who complain about the Coke and water, they are lucky they were able to bring it on for as long as they did. We've had both water and caffeine free Coke Zero confiscated by RCCL.

We've never stayed in the Haven, so IMHO that has nothing to do with it. As others have said, it is what you make of it. When we cruised Princess to Alaska we though the staff was the most miserable we've ever encountered but we didn't let it bother us. We still had a great time. When we sailed on Celebrity we couldn't find much to do late at night but we made the best of it and still had a great time.

Our last cruise was on the Getaway and we encountered no problems whatsoever and it was by far the best we've ever had and the staff was magnificent. Several times we would be in various places around the ship and an officer or staff member we met at the Meet & Mingle or from a bar or restaurant would see us and not just say hello, but also address us by name. My birthday occurred during our cruise and I ended up getting 3 birthday cakes from the Captain, the Hotel Manager and the Maitre 'd, plus cupcakes from the F&B manager and chocolate covered strawberries from one of the MDR managers. And each one had a personalized birthday wish and was signed. To me, that is outstanding customer relations and something I've never experienced on other ships. (And no we couldn't eat all of the cakes but we did share them with the staff who were most appreciative!)

We are sailing NCL (Getaway) again in 43 days plus have two more planned. So, yes, we are NCL cheerleaders now.

Have a great and positive cruise!

Me too, please:

Getaway91816@gmail.com

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What part of PA? Philly, Pittsburgh, Scranton, Harrisburg, Erie? Depending what airport determines what is available.

We love the Getaway. We are both nonsmokers and I have asthma and never had a problem in the casino.

We did sail Celebrity (Summit) before. It was a nice ship but after 10 or 11 PM it was hard to find things to do. We never had that problem on the Getaway. There is always something going on. I am sure you and your family will enjoy it. And btw, I have our family booked for this Sept and chose the Getaway.

Does anyone know who the officers and CD are on the Getaway? We are sailing in Sept. I heard Silas will be the CD but not sure how reliable that info was.

Right now flights into ft launder dale are $200 cheaper:(

We always fly into FLL because the flights are usually so much cheaper. We've found shared shuttles for between $12 and $15 pp. We are taking a cruise out of Miami in Sept and flying into FLL saved us over $200 pp:).

The last time we were in Juneau we rented a van (there were 8 of us) and used Rent a Wreck as well and they were great. Cheapest I found and the van was less than a year old and in great condition.

Having a vehicle made it nice because we were able to visit many things on our own schedule - Chapel by the Lake, Mendenhall Glacier, Alaskan Brewing Company as well as drive to the airport where we took a plane over the glaciers. I highly recommend getting a car (or van for groups).

When viewing the websites of most of the shuttle services listed here, it looks like they only pick up at the top of the hour. Is that true? Our flight arrives at FLL at 8:25 AM. Not sure if we'll be able to get our luggage and walk to the shuttle stop before 9:00 AM? There are 7 of us so we would be unable to use Uber/Lyft. We've used Miami Port Express the last couple times and loved them but they raised their prices from $12 to $19.

Thanks in advance for your assistance.

So a wonderful NCL rep called me for a question I sent in and while I had her on the phone I asked about my EDocs not being ready. When she looked she said that although the final payment was the correct amount, the person who entered it transposed the cents portion of the payment so it was showing we were $0.63 short. The system will not accept an amount less than $1 so it errored out. That is why I was unable to print the Edocs when everyone else in our group was.

Btw, the NCL rep was great! Very polite and knowledgable.

We have three different cabins for our family. All have assigned cabin numbers (not guar). Everyone's checkin is at 100% (and has been for around two weeks) but only two of the rooms are we able to print/view e-docs. All three reservations are linked. Any suggestions?

We've been on both Dawn and Getaway and have been served while in the hot tub.