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My NCL Getaway Review - 3/1/14 sailing

ganggreen88

By ganggreen88,
in Norwegian Cruise Line

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ganggreen88

ganggreen88

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Since I have enjoyed reading other people’s reviews before getting on a cruise, I thought I would write one up for the recent NCL Getaway cruise that my wife and some of our friends went on. We were on the 3/1 sailing and when I tell you that this boat is amazing, I am 100% honest. We had a blast on this boat. My wife and I were on the EPIC just a few months back so most of my comparisons are vs the Epic. Both are great boats, but this boat was incredible. I will note a few opinions down below:

 

Embarkation

This was very smooth. We got there around 1030am and breezed right through the check in line. We waiting about 30 mins to board the ship and we were group 3. Once we were called, we entered the ship and for the next 7 days we didn’t stop. We immediately went to Guest Services to try to get Vibe Beach Club passes. This was accomplished and we also got a cabana. Great deal for the cabana. Its $299 for the week plus you get a $100 OBC as well. Well worth it. I will try to put some pictures below. Our friends also got Vibe passes and this was $79 for the week. Well worth it since we really had the place to ourselves. We never had to worry about chairs. The bar was ours. We became great friends with Kelvin, the bartender. This guy makes fantastic drinks. This area is well worth it. I can go on and on.

Ship

What a beautiful ship. Very nice and everything seemed to be very spread out and plenty of room. I specifically loved the Waterfront area. What a great idea. Bars, restaurants and cigar area all outside. It was so nice. Just seemed so much better laid out than the Epic.

Cabin

Our balcony stateroom (12274) was very spacious. You actually had room to walk around. Our balcony was small, but enough to sit down on your chair and enjoy the view. Our friends got the balcony next door (11272) and they had an angled balcony and this was bigger. It was nice. We also were told that they weren’t allowed to open the divider between rooms anymore. We went ahead and opened it ourselves and that was fun. I liked the bathroom (traditional setup), but I might be in the minority that liked the split setup of the Epic. One person can go to bathroom while the other showers. I am married but we respect each others personal time while in the bathroom so we don’t barge in on each other (unless its an emergency). Shower was ok, but water pressure was terrible. Due to the bad water pressure, you would have to be close to the shower head, and I would bump into all the trays for soap/shampoo all the time. Oh well, it could be worse.

Vibe

Great area. Like I mentioned above, we had it to ourselves most of the time. The cabana is great for naps and private time. We loved the view and we are having withdrawals of it. I heard before I left about them being strict about swapping cabana bracelets. They didn’t care. Our friends would enjoy it while we weren’t there. The bartenders were great, especially Kelvin from St Lucia. Each cabana has a cooler so they would fill with ice for us and we would put our cokes, waters and beer in there.

Restaurants

I love NCL’s restaurants. So good. Cagney’s is always fantastic, and the Teppanyaki was great as well. Our friends invited us to Ocean Blue and it was fantastic. You do get what you pay for. The ribeye was cooked perfect. My wife had the lobster risotto. Fantastic. We also enjoyed La Cucina and some sushi. Excellent as always.

Shows

Burn the Floor was great. I am a Miami native and Latin and this was right up our alley. Everyone enjoyed it. It was great. Legally Blond to me was ok, but my wife and our friends liked it. Dancing with the Getaway Stars is always a hilarious show. This one didn’t disappoint. The Illusionarium was awesome and well worth it. Really cool show.

Entertainment

The dance parties every night at Spice H2O were great. We had such a good time dancing. The 80s party was awesome and then it was during the fireworks show. How cool is that? Fireworks on a cruise. Very close up and great. Explosions to the music. Really nice. Casino was nicely spread out. A lot of money and time were spent there. LOL

Cruise Director

Julie was fantastic. This lady was everywhere. My wife thought I had a crush on her, but she was excellent. The asst cruise director Joel was good too. The whole staff was fantastic.

Excursions

We did the ‘Made in St Martin’ tour and a ferry to St Johns. Both were great tours. Well worth it. St Johns was amazing. I will try to put pictures as well below, but they don’t do the water justice.

Negatives

- Shower water pressure

- Small balcony (but not that bad)

- Tours were great, but to get lined up was disorganized

- We entered a poker tournament and it was chaotic to start

- I don’t understand the weird hours for some of the restaurants

 

Summary

I can go on and on about this boat. We loved it. Our favorite so far. So many things to do and everything was fun. We are thinking about going again if we get something like the great deal we got. Very highly recommended.

If there are any questions, I will try to answer them.

Take care.

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connolk

connolk

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Thanks for the great review! We'll be on board 4/19 - can't wait!!!

 

Question: was the $79 for the Vibe per person? Also, was there a shady area there?? Pictures would be awesome - trying to figure out if it's worth it for us; we always seek out quite/shady areas for naps. :)

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ganggreen88

ganggreen88

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Thanks for the great review! We'll be on board 4/19 - can't wait!!!

 

Question: was the $79 for the Vibe per person? Also, was there a shady area there?? Pictures would be awesome - trying to figure out if it's worth it for us; we always seek out quite/shady areas for naps. :)

 

Yes, the Vibe is $79 per person, unless you get a cabana, then its $299 per couple with $100 OBC.

 

There are shady areas up there, plus umbrellas. Of course there are areas in the sun.

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ganggreen88

ganggreen88

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Thank you for the review! I do have a couple of questions:

 

1) Did you hear noises from other rooms from your cabin?

2) Did smoke from the casino carryover to the atrium on deck 6 and 8?

 

Thank you.

 

1 - I only heard our neighbors one morning blasting their TV. I did hear that for some reason, but I can't say I heard to many other noises ever.

2 - You know what, we never commented about the smoke, so it wasn't a big deal to us at all. I heard our boat was less than capacity but it wasn't an issue at all.

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punkincc

punkincc

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How did you open the balcony divider? We have 2 cabins right next to each other and if they tell us no, we will open and close ourselves as well.

 

We found our divider open on the first day of our cruise, and we did not know the folks in that cabin. We tried to close it, but it would not latch. DH finally used an ink pen in the hole and it latched. I assume it can probably be opened the same way, which is why I made it a point to keep the sliding door locked the rest of the cruise!

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maja651

maja651

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We found our divider open on the first day of our cruise, and we did not know the folks in that cabin. We tried to close it, but it would not latch. DH finally used an ink pen in the hole and it latched. I assume it can probably be opened the same way, which is why I made it a point to keep the sliding door locked the rest of the cruise!

 

Thanks!

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GAPeach68

GAPeach68

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My husband and I will be sailing on 5/3 for our 10th anniversary. We are very interested in the Vibe area and a cabana. Are there any pools in that area? Do you overlook the ocean what is your view from the cabana? Thank you for your review.

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ganggreen88

ganggreen88

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My husband and I will be sailing on 5/3 for our 10th anniversary. We are very interested in the Vibe area and a cabana. Are there any pools in that area? Do you overlook the ocean what is your view from the cabana? Thank you for your review.

 

No pool, just 2 hot tubs. Your view from the cabana is out the glass. Nothing in your way except for glass and railing. Awesome view.

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miataman19

miataman19

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My husband and I will be sailing on 5/3 for our 10th anniversary. We are very interested in the Vibe area and a cabana. Are there any pools in that area? Do you overlook the ocean what is your view from the cabana? Thank you for your review.

No pools just 2 hot tubes. You do have The Haven pool one deck below, deck 16. if you are in a suite. The Vibe Beach Club is on deck 17 and the cabanas are facing out with a great view of the ocean. Somewhere on here is a great pic of the Breakaway from above showing Vibe, just can't find it..

Edited by miataman19
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Clem Kadiddlehopper

Clem Kadiddlehopper

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Here is a link to a picture of Vibe Beach Club on Breakaway..same layout on Getaway. No sliding Haven pool cover on Getaway

 

file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/user/Desktop/Cruise%20Folder/All%20sizes%20_%20Norwegian%20Breakaway%20in%20Rotterdam%20_%20Flickr%20-%20Photo%20Sharing!.htm

 

A link to a file on your hard drive does us no good! :P

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notthatpaulyd

notthatpaulyd

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I've read a lot about the $100 OBC included with the cabana... Is it just a folio credit or are there restrictions on what it can be used for? I plan on buying UBP and was wondering if this OBC could benefit us.

 

Thanks in advance!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

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ganggreen88

ganggreen88

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I've read a lot about the $100 OBC included with the cabana... Is it just a folio credit or are there restrictions on what it can be used for? I plan on buying UBP and was wondering if this OBC could benefit us.

 

Thanks in advance!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

 

No restrictions.

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ganggreen88

ganggreen88

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If your friends were in a forward facing angular balcony, did they find it useable when the ship was sailing. Was it very windy? I've heard that this could be a problem for the angular balconies that face forward. Thanks

 

Yes it was usable but at times windy. I would get one next time if possible

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Rdtbank

Rdtbank

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Great review! Thanks! Can you bring food from the buffet into the vibe? Can you have food delivered to the Vibe? What are the hours you can be in the Vibe? Do they have towels for the hot tubs there or do you have you get them from the main pool area? Do they have coffee available there? We don't sail until November but I'm a planner and want to know as much as possible before we go.

 

Thanks,

Margo

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile

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ganggreen88

ganggreen88

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Is your screen name gang green 88 related to college football....I know weird question but that's what they called the oregon ducks defense back then

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

 

I'm a NY Jets fan and that's what we are referred as time to time. :)

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