Got Away on the Getaway! Review of our birthday celebration May 3- 10 2014

[saxgirl84]

Tonight was Fireworks night! they began around 10:45, we were out on the balcony enjoying the sounds from Spice H20 (this was the first night we could really hear the music from WAAAYYY up there....) it was 80's music, so right up our alley :) We got to see the fireworks from the Disney ship that was behind us, and knew (thanks to CC research) that our ships turn was coming up, so we all gathered at the railing of our balcony (we decided after a day in the sun, and another long day tomorrow, we would skip going up top to watch them...)

 

You could see them pretty well from our balcony, but I think any rooms past ours would have quite an obstruction (the best view would have been from 9316, the suite next door...)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was a good show for being at sea. lasted about 10 minutes, and the music went along with it (which is probably why we could hear it so clearly that night). Fun time, and I spent another hour or so out on the balcony enjoying the music while finishing up yet another book on my Kindle... then off to bed....

[saxgirl84]

I again woke up before the Sun and was able to grab some beautiful pictures as we pulled into St. Thomas!

 

 

 

 

 

we had booked the Turtle Cove catamaran snorkel excursion through NCL. We had to meet at 8 am in the theater, where they then took us out on the dock to meet with our tour guides. they took us down the LONG dock past the Disney Fantasy to their catamaran the Cat

 

 

and off we went!

 

 

I would highly recommend this excursion if you like to snorkel. it was pretty affordable ($64 per person) for 4 hours, and the crew on the Cat was great! very friendly, and informative. We had a great time.

[saxgirl84]

heading out to Buck Island to swim with some turtles and fish!

 

 

saw some amazing sea creatures

 

 

 

took some "aqua selfies"

 

 

 

and had a great time!

 

 

 

HIGHLY recommend this excursion (if you didn't see that earlier :)

[saxgirl84]

we got back to the ship around 12:30, and decided that we just wanted to hang out for the rest of the afternoon,instead of going back into town. (we were going to do the Paradise Point tram up to the top to take some pictures, but after hearing from a few others on the ship, I'm kind of glad we didn't b/c they said it was really really busy, and they didn't think it was worth the cost due to the amount of people that were up there.)

 

We at some lunch back on the ship and enjoyed the view of St. Thomas

 

 

then headed down to the Atrium to watch Superman- Man of Steel

 

 

 

Sailaway was just in time, as there was a storm headed for St. Thomas (which would eventually find us as well a couple hours after we sailed away)

 

 

[saxgirl84]

Tonight was the "Dancing with the Getaway Stars" show. What a great time!!! Our "favorite" Zesty Zach ended up winning, his partner was quite the character! We had so much fun.

 

 

As I said earlier, there was quite the thunder storm going on outside, so the ship was rocking a little bit, but not too bad. they did have to move the Latin party inside after the Dancing with the Stars, so it was quite loud in the Atrium and O'Sheehans around 10

 

Some more chandelier pics from the week:

 

 

 

 

And Seymore's new friend for the night!

[saxgirl84]

It was now time for our last Sea day...we played as much trivia as we could, played 2 for 1 bingo and just hung out.

 

 

Didn't Win

 

 

We did book Legally Blonde tonight as well, and decided we would go to dinner in the Tropicana room since they had listed there was going to be some "Burn the Floor" dancers there.

 

 

 

Enjoying a "toasted Almond" before the show...

 

Got back to the room and Seymore had a new friend just hanging around...

 

[saxgirl84]

Tonight was also the Glow party at Spice H20!!! We had been looking forward to this all week (I had an extra Redbull to make sure I could stay awake for it!) We picked up some glow stick stuff from the $1 area at the local Target before we left, so we'd be ready!

 

 

 

 

 

 

there were a lot of people up there. They gave out some rather large glow sticks to random people, had face painting (that we didn't get there in time for) it was a fun time, and I kind of wish I would have made it to a few more of the parties earlier in the week... i should have brought twice the ammount of Redbull on board to make sure I could make it :P

[SissasMomE]

Ahhh - Toasted Almond ... sooooooooooo good!!

[saxgirl84]

It was our last day on the ship, and also meant it was Nassau day! We had visited Nassau last year on our Sky trip, and did a glass bottom boat tour and then hung out at the beach near the pier. We decided this trip we were going to visit with some dolphins at Blue Lagoon.

 

I woke up early (Again!) to see the sunrise

 

since we weren't getting into Nassau until Noon, we went to an early session of trivia (our last of the trip) and enjoyed a late breakfast. My younger sister wanted one last shot at the ropes course/plank/zip line to hope to get a picture over the water (the first time she did it, was while we were docked in Miami so the picture had that in the background... the 2nd time she did it, apparently the cameras weren't working correctly because they never posted them in the photo gallery). She made it up there just as we were pulling into port, so the pictures turned out really cool...

 

 

 

 

pulling into port, here's the "infamous" light house

 

 

and of course- Atlantis

 

 

it seemed like we were parked soooo close to Atlantis!

 

Today we shared the pier with the Disney Dream

 

[saxgirl84]

We headed over to Blue Lagoon Island with about 200 other people to enjoy the beach and interact with some dolphins. Initially the excursion was scheduled to start at 3pm, the night before we got a notification that the new departure time was 12:50 to allow us more time at Blue Lagoon (yay!)

 

the boat ride over took about 45 minutes, and we got to sail past all houses of the rich and famous!

 

 

the stuff to do in the water (for an extra charge)

 

and the pens where the dolphin interaction took place

 

 

 

 

[saxgirl84]

More of the Dolphin Interaction---

 

 

 

 

 

 

[saxgirl84]

Dancing, hugging and getting a kiss from this awesome creature!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[SissasMomE]

Awww, he has a hole in his lip :(

[saxgirl84]

Petting the dolphin... feeling how smooth/rubbery his skin was and how his teeth felt. this was one of the coolest things I've gotten to do, and it was soooo worth the money! I absolutely LOVE dolphins, and have never gotten to get that close to one before.

 

 

Belly rubs

 

 

feeding the dolphin, even though he didn't have to come that far out of the water to grab it!

 

 

We chose the Blue Lagoon over the encounter at Atlantis for several reasons, mainly because we could bring our own camera, which meant we didn't have to spend an arm and a leg on their professional pictures (we did end up buying some of their pictures of the 3 of us...). They also have the interaction in a lagoon, instead of a pool, which from what I could see Atlantis was in a pool... and last but not least, it was $20 cheaper than the Atlantis excursion!

[saxgirl84]

Heading back to the ship for the last time...

 

 

 

Our last sunset on board-

 

 

 

It was bitter sweet that we knew this was our last night on board, we got back to the ship and there was a red carpet laid out with a ton of crew greeting us with the cold towels, jello "shots" (non-alcoholic) and lots of spirit!

 

We noticed there was a HUGE LONG LINE of people waiting to board the Carnival ship that was docked next to us, with absolutely no entertainment and no crew welcoming them back to the ship... one of the many reasons I LOVE NCL!

 

the rest of our night was not all that eventful... dinner at the buffet, packed our bags and left them in the hall for pick up (we chose the absolute latest disembark time so we didn't have to get off the ship until they made us :))

I did have a few slips from the casino that I had forgotten about, so I took those down to cash them in, however they ended up being "donated" back to the ship... I headed back to the room around 11:30 and finished up the 8th book of the trip on the balcony enjoying the last night of relaxation.

 

I woke up around 4:30 as we were slowing down and pulling into port, there was some major vibrations going on in our room (the same thing happened last year on the Sky on disembarkation day too...) so I started another book out on the balcony and waited for the sun to come up:

 

 

and we're back in Miami

 

[saxgirl84]

We rented a car at MIA since we were flying out of FLL that night... the shuttle to the airport was just pulling up when we got outside, so we climbed aboard. The shuttle was about 1/2 full from the NCL group, so the driver stopped at the Carnival terminal to pick up some more passengers... packed in like sardines, we made it to the airport to find a line a mile long to pick up the cars. Luckily I got to complete my check in at the kiosk and we were heading to pick up the car in about 10 minutes. We ended up going to some museum of Science in Fort Lauderdale to pass the time before our 5:30 flight:

 

hanging out with a bullfrog:

 

checking out some snakes!

 

took an "airboat ride" through the everglades...

 

 

got a little too close to Jaws!

 

having a conversation with some turtles:

 

and watching the otters play in the water

 

we then headed over to the Cheesecake factory for lunch when we ran out of things to do in the museum... then headed to the airport to wait for our flight. It was an uneventful flight home, and vacation was over.

 

This was one of the best weeks I've had in a LONG time! The crew on board was amazing! The ship is beautiful and the ports were perfect! I'm already missing the ship, and honestly, I could probably do a B2B and STILL miss half of the events!

 

It wasn't all rainbows and roses. As I mentioned throughout, there were some times that the service was SUPER slow, we had to ask for some things from our room steward several times, and it seemed like each time we asked for something, her response was "I'm going to take a break now, but I'll take care of it when I get back"...it was around 8pm the 2nd day when we finally got the fridge unlocked (not a huge deal for us, we try not to be demanding, and I'm sure she just forgot the 3 previous times we requested it...) We didn't complain on the ship, because it didn't ruin our vacation, she was very kind, and always greeted us by name and with a smile after we initially met her. I was very impressed with how friendly the hosekeeping staff was! every time we walked down the hall, it seemed there was always at least 2 people cleaning rooms, and they ALWAYS said Hi! how's your day going? or Have a great day on the Island etc.

 

One thing we did notice, in the buffet- there seemed to be quite a few crew members standing around (sometimes in people's way). Last year on the Sky, it seemed as soon as you took your last bite, someone was there to grab the plate from in front of you (we actually used to joke that we had to leave the last bite on the plate to keep them from coming around so much)... this time, we had several times where the plates were piled up on the edge of the table, and no one came to pick it up until after we left. We also noticed there were not a lot of empty tables available (especially on the last morning) so it was kind of annoying that they were just standing around. I'm guessing a lot of them were new, due to how the officers/management was kind of "directing" them throughout the week

 

the cruise staff (game crew) was EXCELLENT! they all did a great job encouraging everyone in the area to participate. They had such great energy (even super early in the morning) and seemed to really enjoy their jobs. Joel was the CD and he was great! so full of energy and soooo friendly! I think it was because of the cruise staff that I didn't spend much time out on the pool deck! I always wanted to be at trivia and the shows because they were so much fun.

 

I hope you enjoyed the LONG review! It was fun reliving the week aboard.

 

If you have any questions, feel free to ask, and I'll answer as best as I can!

thanks for joining me for the look back at our week at sea!

[saxgirl84]

Ahhh - Toasted Almond ... sooooooooooo good!!

 

 

it was my drink of choice! I ordered one the 2nd day in the Atrium while we were at one of the trivias, the server Andrew remembered it and every time he saw me in the atrium after that, he would make a beeline for me and ask if I wanted one. I felt obligated to buy one nearly every time, just because he remembered me :)

[saxgirl84]

Awww, he has a hole in his lip :(

 

 

the trainer said it happens sometimes when the younger dolphins play (this guy was only like 3 years old I believe) she said that it would heal over time, and doesn't affect the dolphin, as far as eating etc goes. I'm not sure how truthful that is, but he didn't seem bothered by it...

[schatzi10]

Thanks for your great review ! Now I really am excited ! Can't wait to be on the huge balcony !:)

[AF-1]

what's in the Toasted Almond drink?

[kylenyc]

The dolphin pictures are amazing and the toasted almond sounds yummy.

 

what the hay with the shark picture! :eek: :eek: :eek: Stupid question but was that a live shark that swam towards the glass trying to bite your or something? Talk about a memorable picture and great timing. I hope he didn't eat Seymore. :D ( Edit: nvm .. I see Seymore hanging there :eek: :eek: that's one creepy and gigantic taxidermy shark )

Edited May 14, 2014 by kylenyc

[wheatengirl]

Loved your review! Thank you for taking the time and providing great info. Glad you had a great time.

[Windy56]

Thank you for posting such a detailed review. We have booked a back-2-back on the Getaway for February. Water researching the ship, we thought there would be plenty to keep us busy for two weeks and your review backs that up.

 

It's our first time on A Norwegian ship. Regarding food, any dishes you would recommend? Did you enjoy the dancers in the Tropicana? Did you use the spa at all?

[aubreyc1988]

Tonight was also the Glow party at Spice H20!!! We had been looking forward to this all week (I had an extra Redbull to make sure I could stay awake for it!) We picked up some glow stick stuff from the $1 area at the local Target before we left, so we'd be ready!

 

 

 

 

 

 

there were a lot of people up there. They gave out some rather large glow sticks to random people, had face painting (that we didn't get there in time for) it was a fun time, and I kind of wish I would have made it to a few more of the parties earlier in the week... i should have brought twice the ammount of Redbull on board to make sure I could make it :P

 

 

We always get so tired around 9-10 pm when the goodactivites are started, so we combat this with caffeine pills. Cheaper than redbull, doesn't fill you up, no calories, easy to bring on board and stash in your purse (Not that Im advocated the pills) but for us, they really do help from time to time

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[saxgirl84]

Thank you for posting such a detailed review. We have booked a back-2-back on the Getaway for February. Water researching the ship, we thought there would be plenty to keep us busy for two weeks and your review backs that up.

 

It's our first time on A Norwegian ship. Regarding food, any dishes you would recommend? Did you enjoy the dancers in the Tropicana? Did you use the spa at all?

 

 

 

I'm soooo jealous you get a B2B!!! I was saying that in order to do everything I wanted, I'd have to do a B2B next time! the schedule changes from week to week for the shows/trivia/activities, but I could do the early morning thing the first week, and the late night things the 2nd! I don't think you'll run out of things to do!

 

As for the food- I had the prime rib (my all time favorite!) in the buffet I believe it was the 1st night. it was great! The sirloin at Moderno was outstanding, and I requested they bring it back a couple of times... I don't have any complaints about the food, but I'm not a "food snob". we actually talked about how many people complain about the food, as we couldn't figure it out (although the $5 pizza we ordered one night wasn't my favoirte, I probably would avoid that... the pizza on the buffet was 100X's better!)

 

The dancers in Tropicana was really cool. they announced it while we were sitting there for the Muster drill on embarkation day, so we decided we would head there on Thursday (I can't recall if it was listed in the dailies, as we weren't really looking for it since we already knew they'd be there the day we were going). They danced for about 30 minutes, and were quite entertaining. My chair was facing the wrong way, so I had to turn around to watch them, but it wasn't a huge deal.

 

We did not do the spa at all. It wasn't included in our room, and we didn't see the need to spend the extra $$ on it (we were trying to keep this trip as cheap as possible :) )