Great time on the Getaway but prefer Royal Caribbean

[kaylie44]

Just off the Getaway today and had a great time! We did have several issues though and will probably stick with Royal Caribbean for future cruises.

 

We chose the Getaway because of the ropes course and slides for our 3 children ages 5, 7 and 9. They had a blast! Our cruise had around 200 kids on it. We were able to go on the ropes course over and over again without ever waiting in line. The same for the slides they had very short lines at the most maybe 5 to 8 people would be ahead of us. Spider mountain never had a line but has very limited hours. The longest we had to wait for anything was the trampoline but never more then 2-3 people ahead of us. My 5 year old loved the rock climbing wall and the man helping her made her day by giving her a little extra boost to reach the bell. My 5 year old also enjoyed the little ropes course. They let her go back and forth as many times as she wanted. The activities staff and kids club were the nicest staff we encountered onboard. By the second day they knew all my kids by name.

 

I will say multiple times we felt ignored by staff on this ship. I told my husband maybe it was because we had 3 kids and they accommodated older or non children people before us. I don't really know but I can overlook it once but it happened at least 5 times to us. He even agreed that at first he thought it was a coincidence but after the 3rd time we agreed it had to be because we had kids with us. At the Ocean Blue window we ordered 2 lobster rolls and about 5 minutes later 2 older women then ordered lobster rolls and sat down at the table next to us. They were served their 2 rolls about 5 minutes before we got ours. In teppenyaki we had reservations and were told we had to wait to be seated. Two families then came up and were seated immediately and about 5 minutes later she finally sat us at the exact same table! I was in line at Taste for dinner and the hostess literally looked past me and helped the the next two older people in line before I finally spoke up and said excuse me why are you not helping me I am next in line. Our cabin steward was just so so he did give us conflicting info though which was annoying. There is a paper in the cabin which states to leave your pool towels on the bathroom floor and they will be replaced with new ones. After day 1 he stopped us and told us we had to exchange them on the pool deck. So most days we would have wet towels in our room until the next morning when we went back to the pool. Also on disembarkation day the daily clearly states to be out of your cabin by 9am. So around 8:20 we were heading to breakfast and planned to leave bags in our cabin until we finished breakfast. He was outside our cabin as we were leaving and told us we had to be out by 8:30. So we then had to bring all our bags to breakfast.

 

The kids pool area was a lot of fun but whoever designed it must not have children of their own. I never knew where to sit to watch my kids. We sat in the wicker chairs by the pool or the edge of the pool but neither option was comfortable. One day I went up to deck 16 to sit in a lounger and look down on the kids swimming but that was not ideal. The purple slide comes out on deck 15 and the orange and red comes out on deck 16. So it was a lot of confusion trying to keep track of all 3 kids. My husband and I did go on the slides with the kids but let's face I can go a few times in a row but not a hundred!

 

Two jacuzzis by the adult only pool are also adult only. So we used the other 2 child friendly jacuzzis to watch the band and some of the games around the pool.

 

We had a great experience in the Tropicana dining room very friendly servers:)

 

Food was just so so for the most part. Our favorite was Teppanyaki. We liked La Cucina but agree it was similar to Olive Garden. The Garden Cafe was ok. Flamingo grill was also just ok but I am Cuban and know what it should taste like:)

 

I loved Legally Blonde. The comedy show was entertaining as well as the dueling pianos.

 

My kids said they saw some characters in splash academy. We went to the meet and greets and saw Cosmo and Wanda on sea day 1, Dora and Diego on sea day 2, Sponge Bob and Patrick on sea day 3. Dora's dance party is for the little ones. She sings Mary had a little Lamb, the wheels on the bus, etc... The pirate dance party on sea day 3 was really fun. All six characters come out and dance and take pictures. It was a lot of fun. They also sell an autograph book for $10 to use at the meet and greets on sea days at 9 or 9:30.

 

The glow party was a lot of fun. I had read on here you can make glow shirts during the arts and crafts but on the ship was told they stopped doing it. Instead they had sponge bob shirts for the kids to color on the same day as the glow party. In the daily it just said arts and crafts but when I asked about the glow shirts they told be about the sponge bob shirts.

 

My kids had a great time in splash academy and asked to go or stay longer when we picked them up.

 

Overall we had a great time but the issues we did have would make me think twice before going on Norwegian again.

 

Oh I almost forgot we had the Family oceanview that sleeps 5 on deck 5. I will say while it did work out fine it was TIGHT! We only booked that room to take advantage of the kids sail free promo. Next time we will definitely book 2 cabins no matter what the promo is! Let me know if you have any questions I will be happy to answer them:)

Edited May 4, 2014 by kaylie44

[LrgPizza]

Thank you for what sounds like a really fair opinion.

 

You mentioned Tropicana Room, and that might be the restaurant I am looking most forward to visiting (despite having UDP!) Were you there when entertainment was happening? I'm wondering if it's hit or miss, or if it's fairly regular. Also, do many tables have a view of the entertainment, or do you need to be seated up close? Thank you.

[marybaby08]

I'm traveling with my 7yo son, can he attend the glow party with us for sometime?

[kaylie44]

When we first sat down there was a band playing but they stopped at some point during our dinner. They have times listed in the daily for when the performance will start. I think there was 2 times listed each night. I would ask for a table up close because there are some tables pretty far back and some tables right on the dance floor.

[kaylie44]

I'm traveling with my 7yo son, can he attend the glow party with us for sometime?

 

Yes there were plenty of kids there in the beginning. They also will paint your face with glow paint. I would recommend getting there at least 10 minutes before the start of the party. They have a count down on the big screen until the glow party starts and have a pretty cool start to the party. Honestly my kids only lasted about 30 minutes. All the parties in spice start around 10:30 which I thought my kids would have no problem staying up for. But they wore themselves out during the day. The glow party is the only one we made it to. I tried so hard to keep them up for the fireworks but everyone crashed around 9:45!

 

Also we went to the Family Party the night before in Spice and they handed out foam glow wands to all the kids that were there at the end ( I think they were suppose to be raffled off but there was not many kids there at the end and they just gave them to everybody). They also raffle off a glow cup and 4 tickets to the Pajama Jam Breakfast!

[david_sobe]

Welcome home and thanks for the review.

Only beach towels can be exchanged at the pool not the bathroom towels. I think you misunderstood your room steward. Sometimes service does not work out perfectly. I seriously doubt just because you have kids there was a conspiracy to not treat your family equally as other passengers.

Thanks for sharing and good luck with Royal.

[eroller]

I believe Royal Caribbean has or is in the process of eliminating the stupid towel check out/in process. They will be available without checking them out/in and as many as you want just like they used to be years ago. So strike one up for Royal Caribbean! Celebrity, Holland America, Disney, and the higher end lines also have an unlimited pool towel policy that requires no checking in or out. They are always just available by the pool. I wish NCL would adopt the same policy. I hate having to worry about towels when I'm relaxing around the pool deck.

[kaylie44]

Welcome home and thanks for the review.

Only beach towels can be exchanged at the pool not the bathroom towels. I think you misunderstood your room steward. Sometimes service does not work out perfectly. I seriously doubt just because you have kids there was a conspiracy to not treat your family equally as other passengers.

Thanks for sharing and good luck with Royal.

 

Yes I am talking about the beach towels. There was a laminated piece of paper in the room that said you can exchange your beach towels at the pool OR leave them on the bathroom floor and your cabin steward would replace them. He told us he would not replace our beach towels and we had to take them to the pool deck. So the kids would walk back to the room wrapped in the beach towel because they were cold and they would stay in our cabin wet until we took them back to the pool to get new ones.

 

My husband said the same thing the first 2 times it happened but by the time it happened 3, 4 and 5 times it was definitely a pattern we didn't like.

 

We have been on Royal Caribbean twice and have never had any of these problems:)

Edited May 4, 2014 by kaylie44

[Single Cruiser]

Interesting review. I must admit I've experienced similar with the beach towels. On some cruises the Steward has exchanged them at night, sometime they just hang them up/fold them other times it's do it yourself at the pool deck.

 

I'm guessing (and from the newer ships) their cart is a lot narrower for the narrower corridors and maybe not as much space to have some spare pool towels as well as bathroom towels?

[Medtech2]

It looks like overall you had a great time. Your room steward sounded bad but I will tell you I had a bad one on my most recent Carnival cruise. He also had issues with doing his job concerning pool towels but I went to the trouble to talk to Guest Services, to make sure that my understanding of what he should be doing was correct. Hopefully you did this as it sounds like a training issue.

 

We've been overlooked in land based restaurants and I have been left waiting in a Dr's exam room because they forgot I was there! These things happen but there is no excuse, ever.

 

Maybe you will try Norwegian again and it will be perfect. Sounds like Royal has been a good fit for your family, and hopefully things like this won't happen to you there but I am reasonably sure that these things have happened at some point to someone on a Royal ship.

 

The lack of seating near the kid pool is a common complaint. Hopefully there is a fix in the future...

 

Thanks for your review!

[LrgPizza]

.....

 

The lack of seating near the kid pool is a common complaint. Hopefully there is a fix in the future...

 

 

I'm one that complains about that. Originally both pools were open to all. Making the main pool adult only is a somewhat recent change, and I'm not thrilled about it.

 

 

 

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[SissasMomE]

Welcome home and thanks for the review.

Only beach towels can be exchanged at the pool not the bathroom towels. I think you misunderstood your room steward. Sometimes service does not work out perfectly. I seriously doubt just because you have kids there was a conspiracy to not treat your family equally as other passengers.

Thanks for sharing and good luck with Royal.

 

Agreed wholeheartedly.

[lindy56]

OP, I know you know this, but only you and your husband knows how you were treated and how you felt about it. Please don't let anyone on here make you think you should feel any other way:)

[S.S.Oceanlover]

Yes I am talking about the beach towels. There was a laminated piece of paper in the room that said you can exchange your beach towels at the pool OR leave them on the bathroom floor and your cabin steward would replace them. He told us he would not replace our beach towels and we had to take them to the pool deck. So the kids would walk back to the room wrapped in the beach towel because they were cold and they would stay in our cabin wet until we took them back to the pool to get new ones.

 

My husband said the same thing the first 2 times it happened but by the time it happened 3, 4 and 5 times it was definitely a pattern we didn't like.

 

We have been on Royal Caribbean twice and have never had any of these problems:)

 

Your cabin steward was just flat out lazy.

 

Bill

[S.S.Oceanlover]

Welcome home and thanks for the review.

Only beach towels can be exchanged at the pool not the bathroom towels. I think you misunderstood your room steward. Sometimes service does not work out perfectly. I seriously doubt just because you have kids there was a conspiracy to not treat your family equally as other passengers.

Thanks for sharing and good luck with Royal.

 

Not sure where the misunderstanding was with the cabin steward. There was no mention of bathroom towels in the OP's post.

 

OP was clearly told by the cabin steward that he would not replace beach towels in spite of what was posted in the OP's cabin about the beach towel policy.

 

Bill

[SissasMomE]

Not sure where the misunderstanding was with the cabin steward. There was no mention of bathroom towels in the OP's post.

 

OP was clearly told by the cabin steward that he would not replace beach towels in spite of what was posted in the OP's cabin about the beach towel policy.

 

Bill

 

I honestly don't remember the cabin steward ever replacing the pool towels. We always exchanged them at the pool on all of our NCL cruises.

[out2sea]

Thanks for your review after 20 RCCL cruises, 2 with CCL (never again) and 1 NCL 2day trying NCL again. Little nervous but hope all expectations are good.

[S.S.Oceanlover]

I honestly don't remember the cabin steward ever replacing the pool towels. We always exchanged them at the pool on all of our NCL cruises.

 

That may have been true on your cruise so I certainly am not going to argue with you but the last 2 cruises we took on NCL we came back from the pool or an excursion with are wet/damp towels and left them on the bathroom floor as instructed and they were replaced with clean ones when the cabin steward made up our cabin.

 

But the OP said that they had something in their cabin telling them the towels would be replaced if they left them on the floor.

 

Clearly the steward was just being lazy.

 

Bill

[SissasMomE]

That may have been true on your cruise so I certainly am not going to argue with you but the last 2 cruises we took on NCL we came back from the pool or an excursion with are wet/damp towels and left them on the bathroom floor as instructed and they were replaced with clean ones when the cabin steward made up our cabin.

 

But the OP said that they had something in their cabin telling them the towels would be replaced if they left them on the floor.

 

Clearly the steward was just being lazy.

 

Bill

 

Oh, I didn't know that.

[Cruzn Bills Fan]

I honestly don't remember the cabin steward ever replacing the pool towels. We always exchanged them at the pool on all of our NCL cruises.

 

Ours did it on both of our most recent cruises.

[live2vayk]

Thanks for your review of the Getaway, now I am looking into this ship for next year! I have young teens, and I think they would really enjoy the ropes course and the slides, and I think I will too! We will be on our first NCL cruise this August, but not on a newer ship, we are on the Pearl to Alaska. But for us Alaska is more about the destination, much less about the ship. Ironically, I am looking forward to trying NCL because I had a not so wonderful experience on my last RCI cruise. I am now Platinum (I know, big deal, 5 cruises) on RCI, but the last cruise I was on with RCI, while it was for the most part fine, wasn't anything great, so while I will sail with them again in the future, September in fact, I am really excited to try some other lines. I have been on Disney, that was fun, and I actually have been on a couple of Carnival cruises that I liked. Experiences come down to so many variables, that I can't really say that the last cruise on RCI was not great because it was RCI. But I am looking forward to checking out other lines for sure. I don't think I can ever be in the "loyal to royal" camp, or probably any other line for that matter. Anyway, happy sailing!

[cruzsnooze]

Sounds like you had had more then your monies worth with 3 free kids sail free.

One thing I found outrageous about your pool experience. You said you went to an upper deck to look down on your children ages 5 , 7 & 9 in the pool. They could have drowned before you got to them. Parents should be right next to their very young children in and around water. Children drown in a heartbeat with people standing next them, please don't leave them unattended again.

Edited May 5, 2014 by cruzsnooze

[LrgPizza]

Sounds like you had had more then your monies worth with 3 free kids sail free.

One thing I found outrageous about your pool experience. You said you went to an upper deck to look down on your children ages 5 , 7 & 9 in the pool. They could have drowned before you got to them. Parents should be right next to their very young children in and around water. Children drown in a heartbeat with people standing next them, please don't leave them unattended again.

Cruzsnooze - that's the whole problem. That was probably the BEST vantage point for watching her kids. There is a wall surrounding the kids swimming pool. There is nowhere to easily observe your children swimming. It's a common complaint.

[hladygirl]

I'm one that complains about that. Originally both pools were open to all. Making the main pool adult only is a somewhat recent change, and I'm not thrilled about it.

 

 

 

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The rest of us without children are very happy with this.

[Medtech2]

I honestly don't remember the cabin steward ever replacing the pool towels. We always exchanged them at the pool on all of our NCL cruises.

Not only would they replace ours but two of them gave us extras...