Blondie008

We booked this last night. Wound up going with an inside cabin for $1900. The prices on this cruise were getting way out of hand. It was going to cost about $4k for 2 people in a spa mini-suite. I'm going to use your tip and just attempt to buy 2 thermal passes at 90 days out.

 

I can't see the upgraded bathroom/bvlgari products being worth $2100. That micro-balcony certainly wouldn't be anything to brag about. We do balconies when it makes sense financially, but this I couldn't justify in any way.

 

We've never stepped foot on a Celebrity ship, so the Solstice Persian gardens answer is no. We have been in the thermal spa on Disney's Dream and Fantasy. They were smaller than Getaway's appears to be, but they were really nice and relaxing. Very nice and worth every penny.

Fantastic!

Have a super cruise - Good plan!

I'm bringing my own 2 year old thread back from the dead! RISE ZOMBIE THREAD!

 

 

We decided against trying NCL back in 2015. We just couldn't find a cruise that met what we wanted. Then we decided to skip the Getaway and try the Escape. It never quite happened.

 

NOW things have changed. We've been invited to join a small family gathering on Getaway early next year. We have decided to join in on the fun. We normally cruise alone, but this should be manageable as it is only 12 people.

 

I'm watching a lot of YouTube videos and reading these forums for Getaway threads. I've made notes on the comments above, but if anyone would like to add a MUST DO, please feel free.

 

If you get a spa mini suite or spa balcony room are there any perks other than access to the Thermal spa? Do you get discounted treatments or priority?

Ah ha - the OP is the resurrection culprit :')

Spa cabin = so worth it. Sod any perks - the perk itself is that prized access to the thermal suites.

Have you been in the Persian gardens on Solstice class?

If so - forget them - they cannot touch the ambience or facilities offered on NCL's thermal suites. Getaway's space is awesome! The pool is fantastic - the steam rooms, salt room, saunas etc - its a vast space of R&R -

I think the only + perks if I remember rightly was the Bvlgari products in the cabin - and when you run out they are replenished.

16 nights on the Getaway this year -

Loved this ship so much!

For us - Getaway V Celebrity Solstice Class - Getaway wins hands down - On all counts!

Spa - If you like a place to go chill later afternoon (or early morning hangover cure) the Getaway Spa - like the Epic's - is awesome! Worth every cent and will be available to book for you at 100 days in for suites or 90 days in for regular cabins.

Million Dollar Quartet - we don't do shows. Period. Wouldn't have missed Million Dollar Quartet for the world. We stood all the way through the 1.5 hours of pure magic - It is superb and for sure - get it booked. If you want a seat go half an hour prior to doors opening.

Party Vibe - is always going on - aside from the organised events every night such as Glow Party/ Norwegian night out etc - There is always a vibe going on at every corner you turn. So many choices.

Sometimes we would just go hang out late at night at the outdoor sunset bar on the waterfront - always good for laughs.

Fat Cats and the other club (is it headliners on Getaway I forget?) - again - never a dull moment. Oh and if you can - catch the cast from Million Dollar Quartet having a jam session - so good!!

O'SHeehans - 24 hours. By day view a movie or activity from a ringside seat at O'Sheehans - By night - casual dining or 3am Fireball shots - its all happening in the wee sma' hours ;p

Bliss - Nightclubs never seem to hit the spot on cruise ships and yet we found Bliss on Getaway lively and great DJ.

Food - relax - don't stress over times. If you are not dining in speciality (although dining packages are in our book a don't miss and great value!). The free MDRs are Manhattan (dressier) - or Taste or Savor. Between Taste and Savor is MIXX bar. If you want that highly sought table for two by the window - its as simple as saying to the hostess you are happy to wait for it. She will give you a bleeper - then go sit at MIXX - relax and they will bleep you when your table is ready. Easy!

Speciality Dining is so worth it. Oddly enough La Cucina on other ships has been our least favourite whereas on Getaway it was our favourite. There are window seats looking out over the waterfront or as we preferred - tables almost in the walkway opposite Fatcats and the sunset bar, which are great for people watching. We loved those tables - loud music - buzz - but that's us - we live in a really rural environment so for us "street vibe" is a huge attraction. The OssuBucco - hmnom!!

Sugarcane Mojito Bar - we felt there was a lack of stools there. I did love the Jalapeno Mojitos though - so would grab one then set off around sunset bar or the bar of La Cucina (upcharge for Jalapeno but so worth it!).

Spice H20 is not as big as it is on Epic - but again - super adult space by day / family/adult by night.

Le Bistro - the Dover Sole is worth dining there a few times for - love it!

Our next three cruises are booked on Epic - we absolutely loved Epic - but Getaway for us was even better!!

We didn't have a hot weather cruise (maybe 4 out of 16 were sunny days) so a lot of our cruise was focused indoors. I can imagine however how fabulous it must be to enjoy the upper decks of Getaway in the glory of sunshine. Its a sign of a good ship however when you don't care about the weather and just enjoy what the ship has to offer.

My only criticism lies in the cabin. We had a spa balcony. For us - the storage was, I thought, awful. Luckily we had brought some packing cubes but even they drove me nuts. There is NO vanity drawer. I had to pile everything in the vanity seat (its a box with a lid) and twice a day, pull out my hair products and make up. There is a real lack of drawer space throughout the cabin. Bathroom was pretty. And for DH he was happy with his "man space". For me - nope - probably one of the worst cabin designs we have come across.

The balcony is tight. We don't spend any time in our cabins so wasn't an issue for us - but for those who like to spend time out on their balcony - its a tight space.

There is a salon style hairdryer so bonus points for that :)

Fantastic ship - what's not to love!

EDIT - just realised someone resurrected this post from 2015 - ah well - I'm sure the info is useful for someone reading lol!

I can't promise of course, but I'd suggest AquaMarine. They provided pick-up-return to the pier when we were there, and their dive sites are a little ways away from the port, shallower, and quite good. You won't get the wrecks that St. Thomas is famous for, but they may well be able to accommodate you. http://www.diveaquamarine.com/

 

Harris

Denver, CO

Thank you Harris - for sure going to check out all three and see who can accommodate us bearing in mind the immigration process.

Don't know if you remember but you kindly gave me details of diving in Azores.

I had planned to go (on the NCL Getaway Transatlantic) and said to them I would email them on route to confirm. I even found myself a dive buddy on board the ship. (Now I know the advantages of wearing any dive related T-shirt!).

Sadly - The Azores stop was cancelled - never mind - another day .

I am doing a refresher this month - haven't been in the water at all since I was certified so have found a PADI centre in Scotland who offer pool reviewer courses.

Thanks for all your help!

I recommend Blue Island Divers. I have dived with them twice and they are great! Their shop is within walking distance of where the cruise ships dock, maybe a block or two at most, an easy walk. Great guys and very accommodating. The second time I went with them they had a paralyzed diver as one of the passengers and they went out of their way to give him the best dive possible.

Thank you so much! Walking distance is a good option - thank you!

Coki beach dive center on Coki beach is great for beginers. It is beach diving with very easy entry. You can do a 1 or 2 tank dive. You will either go off to the right or left. We did both in march and were very surprised at the amount of fish and other creatures(turtles, lobster, shrimp, etc) we saw along with alot of coral. Some of it is grayed out but there is still plenty of great things to see. They are very affordable($70 for the 2 tank dive) and the the equipment was really good.

Thank you so much - I haven't tried a "shore entry" - although on my very first dive it took me 25 minutes to do my first "giant stride" lol! Thank you!

Hi

We are doing our usual TA cruise in November - Ships first port of call in the US - for immigration is St. Thomas.

We are non USA citizens.

We have stopped St Thomas previously a number of times - but never been in a hurry to get off the ship so haven't noticed times etc. I doubt however we will manage to get off the ship until at least around 10am or even later.

I would really love to go diving - and my husband would come out and snorkel (he doesn't dive) - I am a totally novice diver. I was only certified in January this year - Trying to get some pool refresher classes in beforehand. St Thomas would be a fantastic opportunity for me if I can somehow manage it.

So far NCL haven't released a dive as a shore ex. There is a snorkel to St John but no mention of a dive excursion.

We will clearly miss an early morning dive boat going out.

Any suggestions on how we could arrange a personal dive that would time it for us with whatever time we can get to them off the ship?

Any suggestions and recommendations appreciated.

Many thanks.

Whilst catching up with Cap'n Jack (see previous fancy dress pic) this morning, I came up with a game for later tonight. The cruisaversy soloistas are all Scottish, I'm the token Englander (and have been subjected to outrageous racism from the jocks!) so we will be playing 'spot the scot'. This will involve all of us saying the same sentence to random strangers and seeing if they can 'spot the scot'. Since 80% of us are Scottish, I'm hoping my special jocktastic accent will fool the passers by and I will win. Recommendations for the sentence are welcomed...feel free to use your childish imaginations as you see fit

Any sentence with the name "Karl" in it ;)

You wont roll the "R" - we Scots cannot say the name KARL in one syllable. :')

Stay away from the mixed frozen drinks.

Tell the bartender easy on the ice. Drinks get loaded with ice and as little alcohol as they can muster. Watch them - they are trained to fill those glasses with ice cubes -

We stick to pure drinks. Clean Martinis - avoid the sugary frozen pre mixed garbage.

Oh there is a drink in the sunset bar - I forget what it is called. It is served in a flute - I want to say there is star anise in it? Its a good one - It comes with a free shot of "I am the best karaoke star ever" :eek:

And if the wine fails, the Martinis fail and the Star Anise doesn't hit the spot

There is always Tequila shots and Fireball shots.

I'd love to see some Craft Gins on board. Not sure if Craft Gins are hitting the USA in the same trend as they are in the UK right now? Love all the flavoured Gins we have here right now - super diet friendly!!

PS - although - I have to add - the Mini Suites on Jade are my favourite cabins of all time. They are so well fitted, spacious - and built traditionally with lots of closet space. The balcony cabin on Getaway (my favourite ship) - has my least favourite cabins - worst vanity space ever on any ship.

Guess we cant seem to have it all *sighs*.

We wont do suites any more. We took suites for many years and then figured one day with the rising costs of our flights often costing more than the suite itself, and the fact we are only ever in the cabin to sleep/dress/shower etc it was time to downsize -

Spa cabins are now our "go to". And prefer the big ships.

Now if only we could have the refurbished mini suite on the Epic with the Getaway's waterfront...

That would be perfect lol!

Big ships all the way!

We do lots of Transatlantics. With NCL we took the Jade once - Its a nice ship - friendly crew and we came home with super memories - but there is no way it can compare to our other experiences on Getaway and Epic.

Getaway we thought was just amazing - our next three cruises are on Epic - and I fear we will miss the waterfront. Still though - Epic ticks 99% of the boxes for us :)

Thanks for the review - and super wee video at the end!

Note for the future if the cruise bug bit you! Travelling solo? Look at the transatlantic cruises - always great value! Do you bank with RBS? Royalties give 10% off NCL cruise website prices, free insurance + airport exec lounge vouchers!

Transatlantic head from Barcelona in November - and back from Florida in the Spring (April). (The November cruise sees better sunshine!) They are usually around two week cruises - lots of activities and partying as there are few sea days. We have done more TA cruises than I can remember and I always see there are a lot of solos on board. We take our cousin with us - he lost his wife some time back - he has a ball - sometimes we don't see him for days hah! He meets lots of people and enjoys all the fun of a TA.

Worth checking out!

NCL can and do issue BACS payments - give UK guest relations a call -

Did you follow it up when you came home or are you relying on Miami?

Who even uses cheques anymore? (hmm people who want to hold on to their money that's who).

NCL EU and UK for a fact I know - can remit by BACS.

Try ringing them and pushing for a BACS payment.

I have three bookings going as far as November 18 - All were made in the UK, and all before the new All Inclusive Programme was introduced.

I do- and always did, book my cruises without prepaying the grats AT THE TIME OF BOOKING - however - what I do, is simply go into My NCL account - and at some random time when it suits me - I pre pay my gratuities. The cost for pre paying in the UK is only £8.50 per person per day. That's a much better exchange rate than waiting to pay the $13.50 when on board. OP - you can pay that at any time during the period between making your reservation right up until a few days before your cruise.

We also, when we cruise - tip staff over and above who help make our day in some small way - No we are not super loaded. But we can afford to cruise - and we exchange a couple of hundred in small $$ notes to "share the love". What we don't use we simply put back in the cruise wallet for the next time.

I have to say when we were on the Jade TA in November 16 - I was embarrassed by the amount of British (and I mean Scots and English) who were mouthing off about not paying their DSC. The service and hard work on that cruise was faultless.:o

May Karma do her deed ;)

3 hour car drive + 2 x flights + 16 nights transatlantic + 6 hour time difference + another two long haul and short haul flights + another 3 hour car drive??

Dizzy? :') Cannae stand steady for a week but who cares!

OP - re your GHDs. I think this has been some over zealous inspection officer. There is absolutely NOTHING in the terms which state the prohibition of straighteners.

I'd have them for that when I come home! They owe you some gesture of goodwill - A "bad hair day" on vacation can mean a lot to many - You are stunning and although we all think you are gorgeous with or without them - You might not "feel dressed up" without your GHDs.

I'd have them for it! NOT acceptable! Kick up stink!

https://www.ncl.com/uk/en/faq#what-to-bring

What can't I bring onboard?

Passengers should not bring the following items onboard any Norwegian Cruise Line ship:

• Drones (Game Flying Device)
  Guests are not permitted to bring drones onboard for safety of other guests, as well as the welfare of the vessel.
  
  
• Samsung Galaxy Note7
  In light of recent safety issues with the Samsung Galaxy Note7, we are asking our guests who own this model to please avoid travelling with this mobile device. The Federal Aviation Administration has banned the Samsung Galaxy Note7 from all air travel, and until further notice, this device will be restricted from all Norwegian Cruise Line ships. Fire is one of the greatest threats at sea and due to the safety concerns these devices present, if one is found in a guest's possession or unattended in a stateroom onboard, our policy instructs the crew to confiscate the device for safekeeping. The device will remain in our possession, in a safe, monitored location, for the duration of the cruise. Guests can reclaim their device at the conclusion of the cruise from the reception desk.
  
  
• Alcoholic or non-alcoholic beverages of any kind including water, soda and juices*
  For more information read our FAQ about "Can I bring water or soda on board?".
  
  
• Unsealed food items will not be allowed onboard.
  
  
• Firearms, weapons of any kind, ammunition, explosive substances or any goods of a dangerous nature
  
  
• Irons / Ironing Boards and Steamers
  Guests are not permitted to bring and use their own irons or steamers onboard. Norwegian Cruise Line carries a limited number of irons and ironing boards which can be loaned to guests for a few hours at a time. They can be requested through housekeeping or Guest Services Desk.
  Irons and steamers would both be taken from guests at embarkation and returned at the end of the sailing.
  
  
• Animals of any kind, except service or guide animals, provided the passenger notifies Carrier prior to the cruise of his intention to bring such animal and agrees to take sole responsibility for any expense, damage, injuries or losses associated with or caused by such animal.
  

Hey - review is great! Thank you for feeding our addiction ;p

The Epic SPA is awesome - Since our last Epic cruise we have cruised twice in Aquaclass on Celebrity ships - The Persian Gardens access which comes with Aquaclass - ugh - what a major let down. We had been in an Epic Spa Mini for 14 nights - V Celebrity TA cruise also 14 nights .. It just cannot touch Epic. We also did the Jade and had SPA access for her too - its nice - but small (however still better than Celebrity!). We recently did the Getaway 16 nights in a spa cabin - and have to say yes, it does measure up to Epic. Loved it.

Next up for our next three cruises are all Epic. One of the cruises we couldn't get a spa cabin so need to be aiming for that spa pass before they sell out. Fingers Xd we get it!

Re La Cucina - I have come to the conclusion speciality restaurants range not only from ship to ship, but from crew to crew. On Epic and Jade we thought La Cucina was a waste of time and money. On Getaway - we dined there FIVE times - It was so good. Moderno on Epic for us was awesome, and on Jade a "never return"..

Le Bistro on Epic we had dreadful service - Le Bistro on Getaway was awesome..

I think its all so random. The Occu Bucco on Getaway - hmnom - and the Risotto Appetiser - (almost as good as my own!).

Cagneys on Epic was better than Cagneys on Getaway .. go figure..

Who knows - worth trying them all. I think next trip we will use our Platinum meals as a test for Le Bistro and La Cucina - see how we go. Will probably buy a 6 night package on top of those platinum meals although have to add we thought some of the MDR food we had was awesome - with service from Taste/Savor being superb -

Experiences seems to vary from crew to crew, ship to ship.

Thanks for the awesome review and pics. Epic has been refurbished since our last trip - Looking very much like Getaway now - can see the corporate identity running through. Love it all! We will miss the Waterfront from Getaway though - that was a real winner for us. Liked it very much. But - will be nice to "go home" to BigBoy Epic :)

What is this "window service" you speak of? :cool::o:D

The window service is the lunch offering which is available via a hatch on the waterfront.

Lobster rolls - are great - but the service = sooooooooo painful..

Good luck on that one! The staff are simply not interested - I'm sure it will change from cruise to cruise - but for sure on the 16 night TA cruise - it was the only bad service we experienced - and hey - we were tipping + buying three rolls at a time (between two of us) - and nope - talking to a lamppost.

"Lights were on nobody's home"...

Worst service on the Getaway throughout -

such a shame - great product - diabolical management of this very odd restaurant which SHOULD be a shining star...

Following along - thanks for your input :)

We tried so hard on the Getaway 16 night TA cruise - we bought around 7 or 8 lobster rolls each over the course of a few lunch times. The rolls were great - BUT OMG - the service - The WORST service on the entire ship- Brains (lack thereof) full of mince as we say - thick as two short planks - it just became too painful in the end to try and order so we gave up - We also approached the desk a number of times during our cruise to book for the evening - but again - were met with hostility and lack of interest - Friendly service and superb food in La Cucina, Le Bistro and Cagneys - Then - Ocean Blue - nil points - The funny thing was it never seemed busy and yet they never seemed interested in promoting the restaurant - The lunchtime counter service was beyond "Fawlty Towers!" I own a Scottish Tourist Board 5 star centre - my fifteen year old school work experience servers would put them to shame!

They will give you future cruise credit or total refunds. Recent NCL cruises I was on, due to Azipod issues I was given (all people on the cruise not just me) 20% future cruise credit for two changed ports, next cruise 100% future cruise credit plus $1000 US refundable onboard credit, for missing nearly half the ports, next cruise $500 onboard refundable credit for one changed port only and the Azipod was actually fixed for this cruise. So NCL do give credit towards another cruise. Other cruises I wasn't on got total refunds, plus future cruise credit, onboard credit and free shore excursions. The three cruises I was on were all far superior to the TA we just did.

This cruise it looks like they are giving to people on an individual basis. I met people onboard who had already been given onboard credit above what I received- $100. Some threatened to get their credit card charges reversed if they didn't get compensation. As I didn't complain or ask, just accepted what came my way I got just the $100.

I didn't complain or visit guest services. As you said, life is short and this cruise was 16 days of my life that I definitely won't get back again! Yes I like to look at the positives too, but there were just too many negatives. Hard to look at the glass half full when it's empty. I always remember the first day being told I couldn't go through the first entry as that was for the disabled. I was made to take the second entry which was entering through the ugly, smoky casino. I remember thinking as I coughed and wheezed my way through- 'well I wasn't disabled when I embarked, but my lungs are definitely disabled now.' And that was my introduction to this cruise- hardly impressive! So different to my first cruise on the Pearl 2007 where there were balloons, champagne, staff to welcome you onboard and the wow factor of the atrium. I remember how impressed and excited I felt.

 

Another thing that happened/ laundry ruined one of my dresses and I was asked to fill out a liability form, listing the value etc. I never heard back from them again once I'd filled it out. I'm assuming now this form was to absolve them of liability as they rang my cabin repeatedly, at least five times to ensure I filled the form out.

 

 

Another thing, not so much about our cruise, but I'm pretty sure this is the Captain's first cruise on a mega ship as I can remember at the Q&A on the Spirit last year he said he didn't want to work on the big ships as he prefers smaller. After the Spirit he went to the Gem and this was his first cruise on the Getaway after the Gem.

 

On the sailing after ours a friend of mine was told the Captain thought the ship was too big to take through the Archipelago which was one of the reasons why the Stockholm port was changed. NCL is still selling the Baltics cruise listing Stockholm when the Getaway in all likelihood isn't probably going to go there this season.

I know people are lodging claims as they booked the cruise advertising the Stockholm archipelago, after NCL knew they weren't going there. I'm interested to hear what future cruise credit or compensation they'll get.

Interesting factor on the Captain - No experience then of handling this big ship huh?

The ABOVE is exactly how I feel. 16 precious days - we worked hard to be able to take that time out. It wasn't NCL's job to suck the life out of any moment of any one of those days.

Yup. Appalling. Disgraceful. Totally unprofessional. (And do you remember the endless sales pitches for future cruise deposits for cheap?) Those were eye rolling moments.

I am in negotiation for another cruise. Can't say anything about it.

I plan to vote with my feet, and go back to Celebrity, Royal Carib. Both have been, in my experience, competent cruise lines...If there is a deal.....Oceania or Azamura.. They are truly amazing.

Cheers

I don't know that any line is perfect. We have had a few bad experiences - minor in Celebrity, major in Royal (as in will never ever go back on a Royal ship again). Don't even mention P&O hahahahahahaa...

Was it NCL - or was it the Captain and crew in this case?

My feelings were it was bad management - and yes, combined with instruction from Miami - however, the lack of safety and security - I lay blame on the ships management more so than the line itself.

I love NCL ships. Yes I will return for I have had more good experiences than bad.

I'm just not prepared however to be treated so badly and for no one to answer for incompetence.

I would like to try Azamara one day - don't feel "old enough" just yet. We did Celebrity's TA in 2015 and really did feel as much as we love their service and attention to detail, its not the Celebrity we know of earlier years, and the age group on the TA was REALLY much older than on NCL. It was very zzzzzzzzzzzing ....

BLU was fabulous - but Celebrity's "Persian gardens" don't come close to NCL's Thermal suites, and for us - we like a decent spa - particularly for the TA cruises which we take twice annually.

Such a shame such a large number of domino effect incidents deterred from the overall enjoyment of this cruise - we thought the ground level staff were outstanding, as was the food and entertainment. Lovely people on board - just a great vibe amongst the passengers.

But - it was marred. We shall see. We have more NCL cruises booked which we wont cancel. We would however like appropriate answers and responses to our valid complaints.

Hope you get a satisfactory outcome too!

I emailed a complaint to Guest Relations whilst onboard in reference to Brest and poor handling of Southampton and the skeleton staff on board which to me was critical to the reduced service. I called yesterday and again today to chase the response to the complain where they advised the case had been closed as Guest Services had spoken to me. The words of Guest Services onboard when I asked if they had received my email was "Yes I can confirm we've received your email". Me "Will I be getting a response whilst onboard?" GS "No, you'll have to speak to Guest Relations once off the ship". GS then contact GR and closed the matter saying they had spoken to me. I've worked in a Service based industry and never closed an incident or complaint without first checking with the client. Naturally I raised a further complaint but now NCL have a further 28 days to come back with an excuse. Poor Customer Service experience

This was very typical of the experiences I was having with Front Desk GS. Going back and forth - no response.

At no time did I raise my voice, I stood patiently in line - and was polite with my complaints and issues.

They just hit "ignore" and the Management run and hide.

I am also in the 28 day queue. ( as are, I imagine, thousands of us).

In the UK we have slight differences in our contracts - and we also are protected by ABTA - If we are not satisfied with the response to a complaint - then we can take it to ABTA Arbitration. For the breach of safety & security alone - ABTA will for sure have something to say.

I am a big DISLOYAL to ROYAL fan -

Cant stand their ships.

I do like Celebrity, but wont ever cruise with Royal again.

Different horses for different courses.

Clearly NCL is not for you.

My categorically must books would be:

Million Dollar Quartet - that was a sell out on our 16 nighter - Absolute highlight of the cruise.

Le Bistro (If you want a specific time)

Other than that - we prebooked nothing - and yet still managed to dine A L Carte I think 7-8 nights out of 16.

The MDRs Taste and Savor - have a great bar set between them (MIXX).

The hostesses are really sweet - they will give you a bleeper - relax, have a drink - and when your table is ready you are good to go.

We more often than not had a table for two - by the window - prime time around 8pmish - I didn't look at the clock - was in no rush - just went with the flow.

If we had something we wanted specifically to go to then we would work dinner around it.

Oddly enough - La Cucina has been our least favourite restaurant on other ships, and yet our favourite on Getaway. We dined there a lot.

Never pre booked any but I would say - Le Bistro was harder to come by - we did manage to get in twice - but took later dining. ie 8.45pm+

We didn't try the Tropicana - not sure why - but we really found service at Taste and Savor to be first class.

If you were on this cruise as I was you wouldn't jumping to NCL's defense. Southampton was botched badly. At arrival, the Getaway knew how long it would take to complete its immigration inspection. The Getaway posted a five hour long schedule for the inspections. What was obscene was that with full knowledge of the time required they dispatched elderly and infirm passengers to go and stand in line on deck 7 outside to stand for an hour and a half. I saw people with poor health suffering and in pain pointlessly trapped with no seating, no crew checked on us for over an hour one very old gentleman was near collapse. This was reckless. People could have been allowed to wait in their rooms or other safe spaces and dispatched to the line at later times so standing would be reduced and the elderly and infirm were not abused.

Ditto all that you said - however "an hour and a half?" - we were just under four hours in that deck 7 line :(

One lady's poor husband was on oxygen and the battery was running flat -

The cruise director kept calling deck numbers just "for the record" we thought. So that he could record a time for which a deck was called. The point being - he was calling decks long before deck 7 was ready to even cope with them on top of the mangled crowds already there...

Reckless indeed...