Just off the Getaway (4/19-26) My shorter review-the Good, the Bad and the WTH?!

[frankie79]

The Ship - LOVE the layout!! The restaurants on the waterfront was an awesome touch. Never a shortage of chairs on the sun decks.

 

The Cabin - We had a mini-suite and I like the layout. The only problem we encountered was that I was traveling with my mother and she uses a walker. We never need a "Wheelchair accessible" room because the walker always fit through normal doorways...except for the Getaway. I had to fold the walker to get it through the door. Plus, there is a 6-inch or so step up to get into the bathroom, not the easiest thing for someone with mobility issues. I never had a problem with this before but I cant fault NCL of this, should've done my homework better.

 

The Food - Let me start by saying that just from lurking on this board for a couple years, I'm aware that certain people generally do not care for buffets. I am NOT one of those people! I LOVED (!) the buffet on the Epic (the Mango Chutney is one of the best things I've ever eaten). That being said, the buffet on the Getaway sucks...it suuucks. If anyone wants a further explanation on why I feel this way, I'll be happy to offer it. I can say, with all seriousness, that I feel the buffet food is so abhorrent because that's NCL's passive-aggressive way of making you spend extra money on specialty restaurants.

 

Which I did, and I loved every minute of it.

 

LOVED the specialty restaurants!!! Ocean Blue was the wildest, most eye-opening culinary experience of my life. Ate at Cagney's twice and both times, was amazed at the food and service. Tried La Cucina and it was awesome. I liked the MDR's as well. I'm glad the buffet was so God awful because I got to eat some really great food that I wouldn't have otherwise.

 

Side note: I really liked the Flamingo Bar and Grill as well. Its a free buffet open for breakfast and lunch that features Latin foods. Fried plantains, yuca, chorizo, pulled pork... awesome!!!

 

Staff - Could not be more friendly and helpful. Housekeeper was wonderful. A+

 

Entertainment - Only show we watched was the Illusionarium. Started out kinda corny, figured I was gonna be in for a long and boring show. It got really good really quick! Loved it! It was fun to watch, hilarious comedic improv and I liked the food.

 

The WTH?! moment of the trip go to disembarkation day. Again, traveling with my mother who uses a walker. NCL offers wheelchair assistance to get off the ship. The problem is that the people have to meet at the Bliss Lounge. People are told to have a seat and wait for someone to help them. The Bliss has NOTHING but high-top tables and chairs, these very low to the ground wrap-around sofas and these weird shaped chairs with no armrests. These sofas and chairs are almost as bad as getting out of a bean-bag chair. I walked in and told my father not to sit down because he'll never get back up. A minute and a half later, another gentleman walked in with a cane and said "I hope I can get out of this thing" as he sat down. I heard a complete stranger say exactly what I was thinking, I know that there have been numerous people that have had the same difficulties. Why wouldn't NCL have people who need assistance wait in a restaurant with more conventional chairs rather than sofas that are 8 inches off the ground and high-top chairs that you have to climb up on?

 

Overall, we really enjoyed this ship, so much so that we are already talking about going out on the Getaway next year. Loved it and we cant wait to go back!

[JuneauWhatIMean]

Thank you for the honest review. I appreciate you taking the time. How was the rest of the cruise?

[c4sh]

Could you please go into further detail as to why you thought the buffet sucked? I am mostly looking forward to the buffets when going on a cruise. Seeing as I just recently booked and you mentioning that the buffet portion was terrible is definitely a big concern for me.

[RollTideGuy]

Did I read correctly that Flamingo Bar and Grill offers a buffet for breakfast and lunch?

That sounds really appealing if it is better then the main buffet.

 

Thanks for the review!

[TheSeaDragon]

Strange...

 

We were on the Getaway April 12-19 and found the buffet to be excellent.

 

:confused:

[destaw7182]

I would be interested in knowing what specifically was bad about the buffet. Thanks

[punkincc]

Very surprised you did not like the buffet! We were on Getaway in February and ate in MDR, Taste, and Cagneys, which as you said, was outstanding. But we found the buffet food to be so good, both in variety and quality, that we ate there on three nights although we had planned to visit a couple more specialties.:confused:. Wonder if something has changed, or maybe we were just lucky in our food selections. For those who have yet to sail on her, don't write off the buffet until you have tried it.

[hpecorari]

That being said, the buffet on the Getaway sucks...it suuucks. If anyone wants a further explanation on why I feel this way, I'll be happy to offer it. I can say, with all seriousness, that I feel the buffet food is so abhorrent because that's NCL's passive-aggressive way of making you spend extra money on specialty restaurants.

 

I don't believe they do this to make people spend mony for the specialty restaurants.......after all, there are three MDR's one can go to for free if they don't wish to go to the Buffet.

 

The WTH?! moment of the trip go to disembarkation day. Again, traveling with my mother who uses a walker. NCL offers wheelchair assistance to get off the ship. The problem is that the people have to meet at the Bliss Lounge. People are told to have a seat and wait for someone to help them. The Bliss has NOTHING but high-top tables and chairs, these very low to the ground wrap-around sofas and these weird shaped chairs with no armrests. These sofas and chairs are almost as bad as getting out of a bean-bag chair. I walked in and told my father not to sit down because he'll never get back up. A minute and a half later, another gentleman walked in with a cane and said "I hope I can get out of this thing" as he sat down. I heard a complete stranger say exactly what I was thinking, I know that there have been numerous people that have had the same difficulties. Why wouldn't NCL have people who need assistance wait in a restaurant with more conventional chairs rather than sofas that are 8 inches off the ground and high-top chairs that you have to climb up on?

 

This is strange but maybe they choose Bliss because it was less walking and closer to where you actually walked off the ship? I'm just guessing here.

 

It does sound like you had a wonderful time and I can't wait until my cruise in May!

 

Harriet

[lwrandall]

I was on the same cruise. I loved most of the buffet. Not all of the food was great. Some did have a strange taste to me (scrambled eggs had strange flavor). I would like to say, I hope the passenger who had to be medivac by the Coast Guard is getting better. After 5 days I was still getting to know the ship. 7 days to know the ship wasn't enough. Maybe that's NCL's way to get you to come back... I went to the CC Meet and Greet. I think it had a great turn out.

 

 

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[SissasMomE]

Did I read correctly that Flamingo Bar and Grill offers a buffet for breakfast and lunch?

That sounds really appealing if it is better then the main buffet.

 

Thanks for the review!

 

It is way better than the main buffet, and a lot less crowded. Still, if you can make it to the MDR for breakfast and lunch, do it at least once.

[SissasMomE]

The buffet on the Epic is way, way better than Getaway ..... we aren't buffet people. Can't stand the rudeness that comes with trying to eat in a buffet, but .... it was nice on the Epic. Food selections were better. Didn't care for it on the Getaway at all.

[alwayssingin]

We were on the Getaway a few weeks ago and thought the buffet was great! I'd say the set up and variety were the best yet!

[JenLovesToTravel]

I loved the buffet on the Getaway. To each their own I guess

 

 

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[bluesea777]

never mind

Edited April 27, 2014 by bluesea777

[gooch47]

The pros and cons about the buffet just proves that food preferences are subjective and you need to just decide for yourself.

[maja651]

Thanks for the review! :). Just short off 7 weeks and I will get to try her out myself! :)

[frankie79]

Thank you for the honest review. I appreciate you taking the time. How was the rest of the cruise?

 

The cruise was great! There were a few hiccups but every day on the ocean is a great day! :)

 

 

Could you please go into further detail as to why you thought the buffet sucked? I am mostly looking forward to the buffets when going on a cruise. Seeing as I just recently booked and you mentioning that the buffet portion was terrible is definitely a big concern for me.

 

First - The layout is great! The stations repeat themselves so you never have to travel too far to get to the different stations. There is a beautiful view of the ocean from practically EVERY seat there. You can also choose to go outside and eat on the deck. Even the handwashing station when you first walk in is a nice touch.

 

Another thing worth mentioning is that the dessert station was awesome! Hand scooped ice cream with a lot a topping you can add. The pre-made desserts were amazing. There was always a different variety and always a couple cakes to choose from. Really well done and REALLY tasty!

 

My problem was the actual food and the variety. There was:

Soup - Didnt try it, i went a few times and it was always consomme and hot and sour soup.

 

Cold salads - 2 or 3 different salads, the best one was an orzo salad that was decent.

 

Asian - 3 woks set up and nothing that sounded good. I settled for a pork curry and the pork was unbelievable chewy.

 

Middle Eastern - There was a wok of rice and 2 curry sauces. Not much in them, just the sauces. One time, there were peas I think. Tasted good but I wish they would have had some chicken in there!

 

Hot Dog/Hamburger station - Just that, a lot of overcooked pre-formed patties. The attempt to put different things on there (mushrooms and blue cheese) but there was a tablespoon full of ingredients on top. I added more blue cheese to my own but the patty was so bad, it didnt help.

 

Pizza - Barely passable as pizza. Looked kinda like pizza, smelled the same, tasted pizza-like.

 

Cold cuts - they left out a variety of cold cuts for a sandwich. It was a nice thought but when I go to a buffet, I dont want a cold sandwich.

 

Curly fries, regular fries. Then there were 10 or so additional selections on top of all that. But, I didnt like any of it.

 

There was "Bourbon soaked chicken" - Dry bone-in chicken with no flavor.

 

"White veal with sauce" or something like that - Beef stew with chewy meat.

 

"Turkey Chili" - Okay, this was really good! If I had the chance, was gonna go back and make a meal out of a few bowls of this.

 

"Seafood pie" - looked like clam chowder with mashed potatoes on top.

 

There was steak out one night, IT COULD NOT BE CUT! Now I understand you're not gonna get filet on a buffet but I can't imagine any chef that is in charge of ANY kitchen, even a buffet, that would have tried that and said "Serve it anyway" Every buffet I've ever been to has some standard of food, this was a lack of any standard.

 

Please don't be discouraged by my opinions, just try it out for yourselves. If you like it, GREAT! Like everyone here shows, it is subjective. If you don't like it, there are other complimentary dining options avail and they are awesome too.

 

 

It does sound like you had a wonderful time and I can't wait until my cruise in May!

 

Honestly, they could have served me Ramen noodles every other night, it STILL would have been the best vacation of my life! :)

 

 

Did I read correctly that Flamingo Bar and Grill offers a buffet for breakfast and lunch?

 

I believe the breakfast was pre-made sandwiches. All I had was lunch. It's not very big but the few things they offer are great. Try it early on your trip because that's where I kept coming back. They barely change the selection of food too, I didn't care, it was that good.

[SissasMomE]

Just to add to your dried out hamburger description in the buffet - the rolls were also either stale or just ... I don't know. They fell apart. I tried 2 different times to have a burger, and just couldn't get it down. What I missed from the Epic was the salad station. They make a fresh tossed salad for you on the Epic. You pick your ingredients, and they toss it in front of you. While there was a salad station on Getaway, it was not like the one on the Epic. I found the MDR food to be excellent. Also, we enjoyed the food from Flamingo, as well as O'Sheehan's.