JCMALLARD1

Wanted to write a quick review of our trip on the Getaway.

Embarkation- Smooth and fast. Arrived around 12:45 to port. Parked at Premier Cruise Parking- good location but horrible time trying to get van to port so finally took Uber. Went to Haven checkin then straight to the Haven on the boat then to our room- Haven Forward Facing Penthouse Suite 10106

Room- Awesome. Quiet. Separate bedroom with true king bed, tv and porthole window facing the front of ship. Balcony with two chairs. Plenty of storage. Separate living room with eating area and large tv. Huge bathroom with separate shower, tub double sinks and toilet room. Coffee maker. It is at front of ship so is a trek to the room from elevators if mobility is an issue. One pet peev is the lack of TV channels. Would have been nice to have ESPN to watch some of the college playoff games on Saturday.

Ports- Really liked the ports

Roatan went to Bananarama as self booked tour. $35 pp for welcome drink, chairs and snorkel gear plus transport to the beach. You also get Wifi access. Well worth the money although quite crowded and with a lot of vendors who will hound you. Snorkeled the reef to the drop off and was very cool.

Harvest Caye very nice but husband called it very Disney like. Not a lot of shady areas and on our day there it was hot as Hades. Get off the boat early if you need shade. Nice pool area, snorkeling was very poor as this is a mangrove island with limited visibility off the man made beach area. Dock is very long and all food drinks are extra. They do have a shuttle that can take you to the gate if needed. Overall great job NCL.

Costa Maya- really has grown up. Lot of shops and vendors at the port. We went to Maya Chan Resort and recommend to anyone. All inclusive drinks and food and very nice folks. Wifi included plus use of snorkel gear, kayaks and SUP.

Cozumel- walked around and shopped. Shop around as you can find the same items for cheaper at certain vendors if you just look.

Ship- Choppy layout and also question use of atrium for a lot of the entertainment instead of the theater. Very bright pink to purple carpet. Ate one meal in o'Sheehan's and the wings were good. Ate a couple times at the Buffet and the food was good. Many different bars and restaurants. Waterslides, ropes course and climbing wall are cool to have. Gym was very well equipped.

Service

As mentioned by others it appears a lot of staff is training for the new ship to be based in China. Cruise Director was truly bad. Assistant CD as well. Our room steward Richard was so sweet and really good. Everyone was friendly of the staff we interacted with.

Haven- Compared to the Escape this was subpar. Service in the Haven restaurant was very very slow and spotty. Many times the meal was very very slow to have courses come out or get bread/water. Did not use the Concierge Virginia but she was very nice. Our Butler Benny was awesome. So much better then our Butler on the Escape. Layout of Haven on the ship is not as good as on the Escape- restaurant is smaller, no hot tub on top deck.

Entertainment- Only went to Comedy shows and they were OK. Best one was the show in the Theater where Lucas Bohn did his multi-media comedy. That was very funny. Casino is too high priced- $20 min on roulette led me not to play as that is too rich for my blood.

Disembarkation- Did walk off through Haven and it was very fast. Left around 8 am. Again took Uber back to parking as Premier Cruise Parking's shuttle was nowhere to be found.

Overall this was a nice cruise and the Haven is definitely worth the splurge, but the service was just lacking on the Getaway. Seemed crew was disorganized a lot of the time. Nice newer boat but prefer the Escape or RCL's Oasis or Allure.

I've been lurking on here since booking my cruise but just had an offer accepted so I thought I'd register. Sailing on the Getaway on 11/27 and was upgraded from BX to H7 (forward-facing penthouse) for $575pp. That was the lowest bid that moved the meter from "poor" to "fair".

Awesome job. Wish now I would have bid a little lower but did not want to chance it! Congrats!

We were just notified our bid to upgrade from BX to Haven was accepted. Bid $750 pp for 2 to move to a H7 Forward Facing penthouse. Yippee! Paying about 1/2 going rate is awesome.

Go for it. Great experience. Kids will think it is awesome

Ship - NCL Escape

Deck - 9

Stateroom # - 9106

Stateroom Category – H7

Starboard or Port Side - Port

Quiet Stateroom? (With comments on problems) – Yes, but crew area in front with some noise if holding a party

Was stateroom a connecting stateroom? - yes

Balcony View - Front view obscured by front hull

Balcony Size? Normal with two nice chairs and a table

Was wind a problem? - No

Any specific problems with this cabin? - some noise when anchoring

Any other comments? big and spacious, located all the way forward so good walk from elevators, large bathroom with tub, separate shower, water closet, two sinks. separate living room with large tv, couch, chair and table with 4 chairs. Large separate bedroom with proper king sized bed. two closets and lots of drawers and large round porthole overlooking the front deck. Premium linens and lighting. Excellent room.

The good and great:

• The Haven is the bomb. Great service, great food and a lot of neat perks such as priority embark/disembark
  
• Our H7 was a wonderful room. Separate living area, bedroom and huge bathroom. Balcony was just right in size. Location is far from forward elevators if you have a mobility issue.
  
• Haven pool area was peaceful. Had snacks and ice cream as well as water and tea available.
  
• Love the waterslides and ropes course- really neat features
  
• Large choice of restaurants with many fee added- we never did any of those
  
• Love the embarkation in ports with towel exchange, cold towel and drinks. Last day the crew lined up and sang to us
  
• Everyone was friendly on the staff. Loved our room steward who had two Haven rooms and 12 other rooms to handle
  
• Entertainment was OK- comics were pretty good, Cats Pajamas was good, GLOW party was really fun. Did not do any of the other major shows so can not comment
  
• Buffet had a large selection and most things I ate from there were good
  
• Towels and linens in the Haven rooms were luxurious. Flowers in the room and nice bath soap and shampoo provided
  

The bad or not so great:

• Main dining not as good as The Haven- but guess why would it be??
  
• Pool deck is horrible- too crowded and very loud music
  
• Lot of extra charge items but this is the same now on all main line cruise lines
  
• NCL Website sort of wonky with no way to cancel reservations made prior
  
• Cat's Pajamas- get those boys a fan or some headbands to catch the sweat
  

Tips:

• Book the minimum room you are comfortable in and look for ways to upgrade if you can
  
• Research your room placement if you have special needs to concerns
  
• Don't sweat the small stuff- you're are on a cruise- be thankful you get to do that
  
• Appreciate the folks taking care of you. Most of these folks earn peanuts so show them some love!
  
• Research on CC before you go as much as you can. The folks here can point you in the right direction based on their past experiences. Helped me immensely as this was a new line for us and knew nothing about the ship prior to researching here
  
• Search around for ways to save money if that is your thing. If not then take the path of least resistance
  
• Bring your own water and soft drinks on, especially if you like Coke products
  

Will be happy to send folks copies of the most recent Freestyle Dailies if you drop me a mail.

We are now spoiled by the Suite Live. Going to be very hard to go back.

When we awoke the next morning we were back in Miami. Since we had Priority Disembarkation we took our time and went up and had a final breakfast in The Haven.

Said goodbye to our room steward and then went to the special elevator which took us down to disembark. Walked off and went to find our bags. Found them in a priority section. At that time we got in line with the rest of the folks to go through customs. After we were about to the front of the line we saw where an NCL rep was taking folks with priority to the front to get out of the port. Was cool as the line went fast and was not a long wait.

Went outside to find our shuttle back to the parking garage. Had a family of 7 jump in front of us to get on the shuttle but made it on anyway! By 9:00 we were in the car headed back to Jupiter.

The boat got into Nassau around 11:00 and we could disembark around 12:00. After breakfast and watching us come into port from the ropes course we went up to get advanced disembark. We rushed off and went to find a cab to Atlantis.

Once I had got into port I called The Comfort Suites Paradise Island and booked a room for the day. This let all 4 of us do Atlantis for $380 which was significantly less than what the ship was charging. Taxi was $4 pp each way. Got checked in, got our pass card and walked over to Atlantis to get our arm bands.

Was overcast and drizzly but perfect for a waterpark day. Rented a locker for our stuff and proceeded to do all of the slides. Truly a fun place. Lines were longer then what we had encountered on prior trips but got to do all we really wanted to do. Tried out the casino and hubby won on the slots. I played even on roulette. Hate high limit tables as it quickly drains the cash, so once got back to even called it done.

Around 4:45 we caught a cab back to the boat. Line to get back through customs was quick and line to get on boat was fast.

Went back to the room and cleaned up then went for a final dinner in the Haven. Came back to the room with three cakes that evening as a goodbye present.

Packed up the large bags and left them in the hall. Had priority tags so would see what that meant tomorrow.

Decided to chill out that evening in the room for one final hoorah.

They had it open most of the cruise. They only closed it one day for a while when it rained for about 20 minutes. Pretty cool to watch it open and close. You will get limited sun in the bottom area and even in the top area hard to get full on sun unless you go outside to the open dec. They do close it at night

Going to try to post some photos of various places on ship

Last sea day so slept in, had breakfast, then went to the Glow party tshirt painting with DS. NCL provides white tshirts that you can paint and wear to the Glow Party. No fee. Off to Bingo, lay out, read on balcony, then afternoon Bingo.

We made last minute arrangements to go to the Cat's Pajamas show in the Supper Club. We were on the front row and as other have said watch out for the sweat! Otherwise the three course meal was good and the acapella group was really good.

We then headed to Headliners to see if we could get in standby for Vince Acevedo. We got in and he did a good job asking the audience questions to develop his routine. Kids then went to the Haven to get a couple of their chocolate cakes to eat in the room. They are very very yummy.

Back to the room to await the GLOW party. DH sat it out but the boys and I headed up to Spice H20 for the party. Music, lights and video wall was really cool. After jumping for 45 minutes we headed to get some cookies from the buffet and called it a night. GLOW party is really cool and hopping- or should I say JUMPIN!

We have never been to Tortola so was stoked to visit this island. Really wanted to experience The Baths so had decided to do the Speedy's Ferry trip over on our own. To accomplish this we decided to have breakfast served in our room. We ordered the night before and at 6:15 our butler came in and set up the table with our breakfast. We scarfed down our food and went up to The Haven for priority debarkation. This was a great perk of the room that allowed us to take a separate elevator down and go through a separate security check out to get off the boat fast. It is only available for a small time window at each port and we needed it as we wanted to make the 7:45 ferry to Virgin Gorda.

So we made it out and had to cook with gas to get over to the Speedy's Ferry to make the 7:45. It is about half a mile from the dock so build in that time to get there. Bought tickets- they will try to get you to pay in cash- but as I was cash light- I told them I would have to use my AMEX. Think the fare was $32 per person which included their bus from the dock in Virgin Gorda to The Baths and back.

Since we were some of the last to arrive we had an inside seat and the boat was fairly small so had to concentrate on looking out into the distance to keep from feeding the fishes. The boat was full with folks heading out for school, jobs and us tourists.

When you get to The Baths you pay to get into the National Park which is $3 per person- kids I think are $2. We headed down the path to the beach. When we arrived we were greeted by a buttload of snorkelers who had come in one a boat. They went ahead and made their way into The Baths. The kids of course took off to go into the caves while hubby and I found another tree and chilled out. I went looking for shells and took some photos.

At around 10:00 we decided we needed to round up the kids so we could make it back for the 11:30 ferry back to Tortola. My hubby went through The Baths to find the kids while I waited to see if they would finally come back to the beach. Well around 10:20 I decided it was time to go find the kids myself. I attempted to go trough the Caves but the lines were too backed up, so I turned back around and backtracked. When I came back to the beach there was my eldest, but where was the 12 year old?

Turns out they had separated so the eldest could go get his t-shirt from the beach. We both decided we would head up to the top of the park and see if my hubby has found the other kid. Like salmon going up stream, we almost ran uphill to the parking lot where we found my hubby but no youngest. At this point it was 10:45 and we knew the bus would leave around 11 to make the 11:30 ferry. There was another ferry later so we were not in jeopardy of missing the boat but were freaking out that we could not find the youngest.

Hubby and eldest headed out together to find my baby!!!:eek: About 3 minutes after they left, my youngest came up the path and when he saw me burst into tears. I felt so bad as he kept saying "I didn't want to miss the boat". Lordy! So now we are watching the clock to see if hubby and eldest make it back. With 1 minute to spare they come running up the path. BUT...the last bus leaves. Luckily another bus comes up and packs some of us in and waits. After a while the driver decides he is going to take us back and we actually get to the dock right as we begin boarding for the ferry back.

We got to ride back on Speedy's brand new ferry which was very nice with no sea sickness this time. Went to Pusser's Store and some other shops at the port, then made our way back to the ship. Port area is still under construction and will be really nice once complete. Overall Tortola is a beautiful place.

We have been to this beautiful place a couple times in the past and did the St. John thing and Coki Beach thing before. I am a beach and snorkel person so wanted to check out Sapphire Beach.

We weren't in a super hurry so had breakfast then walked off the ship to find a taxi. The kids were more interested in finding free internet. Remember there is nothing free anywhere and Verizon is not in St. Thomas so the kids were down they couldn't get internet. I was lucky for once to have AT&T so got to check up on my work email and FBook- yippee!

We quickly found a taxi to take us to Sapphire at $10 PP each way. Was an awesome van that was enclosed and air conditioned so was a nice trip over to Sapphire after a quick stop at Coki. Think we got to Sapphire around 10:30 so walked around the condos and found the beautiful beach. Found a tree with a concrete slab around it and claimed our spot for most of the day. Please keep in mind there are iguanas here and they sit up in the trees. Found this out when one big one almost dropped on my head.

There is a restaurant, a place to rent chairs and snorkel equipment and a place to buy snacks. We then spent the next 3 hours burning ourselves to a crisp while snorkeling in the water and collecting shells. Snorkel rental was $10 for a full day but you could pay less for less time. Hubby had a hamburger and he said it was good but around $12.

Snorkeling was pretty good with clear water and sandy bottom with some grass areas. In one of those areas my 12 year old and I saw a sting ray which was cool. We also snorkeled to the edges where there is coral and saw a plethora of fish. At one point I was alone and was looking all around making sure no sharks were sneaking up on me- too many viewings of Jaws. The funny thing is at one point the kids come running down the beach screaming for me to get out of the water. Turns out a baby shark was in the water between me and the beach and they were afraid I was going to be eaten! I think they were just afraid the spending money would dry up if I was eaten up, but I will take it for love!

After getting out and shell hunting for a while we decided to go back to the ship as our quiet spot under the tree had been taken over by a family not understanding the laws of personal space. Happy to share the shade but putting your head on my towel is where I draw the line!

We hopped another cab and made it back to town. Walked around the pier area looking for free internet and buying $4 cans of Pringles and $3 Kit Kats for the eldest brat- I mean child- and went back to the ship. Embarkation is so cool in that NCL greets you on the pier with cold wash clothes that smell heavenly, cold drinks and a towel exchange. That is top notch. My youngest and I dropped our bag, washed our hands and headed to o'Sheehan's. The wings are too die for. They were so so good. Also got turned on to the lemonade and decided that was my drink of choice for the remainder of the trip.

Went back to the room to clean up and chill out. The hubby and kids went to dinner somewhere- yes I am a bad Mom and I just chilled in the room as I was burnt to a crisp and tired. The family came back and we watched tv until nighty night time. Knew we were going to be up early so it was an early night.

So Day 3 was similar to Day 2- breakfast, Bingo, some lay out time- skipped lunch, then went to Andre's Big Bang Theory Trivia. Now we watch this show multiple times per night some nights and have seen each episode numerous times. If you want to win this thing you need to concentrate on the really obscure. That is all you are getting from me because if I had to stink it up then so do you :D

Bingo again- did I mention it was free- then off to dinner. Think we did Savor that night and quite honestly was not impressed. This was a definite result of eating in the Haven for other meals so take it with a grain of salt please. Had the steak and frites which when compared to the Filet made it of less quality. I am very sure if we had not eaten in the Haven before I would have given it 4 stars as I am not picky when it comes to food. If you can eat it and it is half way yummy and I do not have to make it then it is 4 stars.

We then went to see Frank Townsend in Headliners. He was truly funny. It was pretty packed but they did let folks in towards the start time without reservations. And yes as others have mentioned if you do not snag reservations early on you will have to go stand by, but honestly you should get in if you are patient.

Ok so it is now 8 pm. Pumpkin time and time to see some NHL so back to the room we go! The other cool thing about the H7 is the two rooms and the two tvs. The hubby and kids could watch the free on demand movies, while I, the sports lover in the family, could watch my sports. Was really really nice.

On the first night leaving Miami we did have some motion, but was not anything dramatic. The wind was gusting and waves were around 8 feet. Never has an issue with wind on the balcony or spray so we were lucky.

Sorry so long in coming back but had some issues with internet- thought I was on the ship again :) On Day 2 we did Bingo and proudly won Bingo Queen- which allowed us to play for free the rest of the week. Now it was momentous as this was the last thing we won all week- but was really fun to try our luck the rest of the week.

We laid out in the Haven on the upper deck and it was pretty deserted so was nice and calm. We also tried the water slides and the ropes course and they were both fun! Happy to say I made it through the Drop slide and did not get stuck or have any wardrobe malfunctions other than a major wedgie! Lines moved fast.

That evening was the Captain's Cocktail Party in the Haven which had all of the officers in attendance. We came in said a quick hello so the kids could meet the Captain and got out of dodge.

Since the NBA Finals were on headed back to the cabin after dinner to watch some hoops- yep told you we were boring!

Woke up to a beautiful sunny day. Together with my 12 yr old went to get breakfast in the Haven. He had the pancakes and I had the two egg breakfast. My oldest and my hubby had already eaten at the buffet. Had a wonderful cappuccino with my meal. It was then time to go explore the ship.

The Escape is a state of the art boat with touch screens throughout which allow you to make most dinner and entertainment reservations. I think you can also reserve shore excursions but I did not try that. You can also see the number of open seats for shows. In your stateroom you can also see your account balance, schedule tours and make some restaurant reservations on the stateroom tv. The main atrium and Spice H20 have huge video walls which are really neat to see movies or graphics on. The pool deck also has two large video screens. There are kiosks throughout the ship where you can take a photo and email it or post to twitter or Facebook.

Now with all the state of the art tech it is amazing that the ship has a pretty poor tv selection- mostly news channels and one channel that shows reruns of tv shows and one that shows movies. The Guy Harvey Channel is cool but by Day 2 you have seen the whole loop. In the regular rooms to see a current movie you will pay $9.95- I think that is the correct amount!!! I also did not use the internet but from other comments I understand it is slow. I do know it is very expensive so I did not purchase it for this trip.

The iConcierge app allows you to see current activities, as well as see your account balance. In addition you can pay to text or call others on the ship using the ships Wi-Fi. Each device would have to pay in order to text others or call them. We did not use this but probably should have.

We did have a phone in the Haven room that was portable that you could use to call other cabins on the ship. We used this to call the other room.

Will continue on later with Day 2.

Thanks Two Wheels. I stand corrected.. my big huge cabin was an H7 not an H6.:)

We drove down to Jupiter, FL the day prior and stayed with family. On this cruise are myself (48), DH (49), DS (14) and DS (12). We traveled down to Miami Saturday morning and arrived at our offsite parking garage at 11:30. After waiting for the shuttle we finally made it to the port around 12:15.

We went through security and then went to the Haven check in area. It is a small area which had limited people in it by the time we got there. Check in was fast and we were led past the folks in line to the ship and an express elevator to the Haven. Yes we did feel self conscious, but I hate lines so was so so nice.

In the Haven we were introduced to Adrian the Concierge and told specifics about meals, etc.. Nonalcoholic drinks were provided along with sliders. Rooms were open so we went down to 9 to check out our room. Once we left our bags in the room my DH and I went up to the Haven to eat lunch. We sat outside and ate. Service was a little slow but we attributed that to a large party at the table next to us. I had the Brie Burger which was excellent, while the DH had the Mahi sandwich which he said was great. After eating we went back down to the room to wait for the muster drill. Muster was in the Atrium by O'Sheehan's. After everyone settled down it was pretty quick and painless.

Due to the late sail away at 7:00 the muster was held at 4:30. We went back to the room, met our butler for the week Tota then wandered around the ship to see what was up. We watched sail away from the balcony, then headed to dinner back in the Haven. 12 year old had the Prime rib which was as big as his head, I had the filet, hubby had the surf and turf and 14 year old had chicken tenders. We had the chocolate cake for desert. Awesome. Service was still a little slow but was very attentive.

We are pretty much home bodies so headed back to the room to snuggle up and watch tv until bedtime.

Next up- Day 2 Sea Day

First time cruisers on NCL and decided to upsell to the Haven at the last minute. Had two cabins, a B6 on Deck 9 and the H6 Forward Facing Penthouse also on Deck 9. The B6 had a great balcony but the rest of the cabin was like all other balcony cabins. Beds were separated and by the closet. Would only recommend two people in the cabin.

The H6 was incredible. Separate living room with couch, ottoman, chair, dining table and 4 chairs. Decent size balcony with two padded chairs. Large tv with free movies. Separate bedroom with king size bed. Loads of drawers and storage. Another tv and a round porthole overlooking the front hull. Small makeup table and stool. The bathroom was huge. Separate water closet, large shower with rain shower head and jet spray tower, bathtub and double sinks. Room had an ipod dock clock radio and two bedside tables. Also had very cool lighting that could be turned to blue around the bed and nightstands.

The rooms were at the very front of the ship so you had a long trek to them from the forward elevators. Was very convenient to the main decks though and could ride up the elevator to the Haven. Haven room came with luxurious sheets, a choice of pillows, huge bath sheet towels and Bvulgari bath products.

Next up- a discussion of Day 1 Embarkation.

Enjoying your review. Could you tell me who is scheduled for entertainment this week on Escape? We sail on Saturday and are trying to plan entertainment. Appears it is a juggler but unsure of what else is on board besides After Midnight and For the Record. Appears the hypnotist has rotated off. Thanks for any help you can provide