The Ultimate GETAWAY Review, Written by a Teen | Food Pics, Ship Tour, Etc. (8/23-30)

[PhaxXx]

Excellent review. Did you take the photos with your iPhone? Sorry if you may have already mentioned this.

[LuvBNatC]

Will confess I passed on this review for days because of "teen" in the subject line, thinking it would be, well...teenish.

 

WOW!! :D

 

Your writing is mind-blowingly mature and meticulous (not to mention clear, concise, and informative), and I'm saying this as someone who makes her living as a writer.

 

I never stopped being amazed at how you captured so many clear and crisp photos under so many different lighting conditions. Fantastic!! Please share your secret equipment/technique with us.

 

I'll be on Getaway myself in about 7 weeks, and your review really got me excited about it. And I'm now convinced I need to buy the UDP to make the most of the dining options. Thank you!

 

(PS: Looking forward to your Carnival Glory review. I've been on that one, and you're in for a totally different experience.)

[hscruiser]

Excellent review. Did you take the photos with your iPhone? Sorry if you may have already mentioned this.

Yes, my iPhone 5s. I think the quality of the photos actually turned out to be pretty good for a phone.

[hscruiser]

(PS: Looking forward to your Carnival Glory review. I've been on that one, and you're in for a totally different experience.)

Would you mind expanding on this? I'm curious to hear your thoughts. Our last (and only) Carnival cruise was back in 2010, and I understand there have been some changes/cutbacks. We're going with extended family, and are trying Carnival again because of the ridiculously good price for our sailing. (Below $2000 for a family of four in a balcony...)

[VegasChic]

I'm thrilled to be able to share my recent experience on Norwegian Getaway's 8/23 - 8/30 cruise. This is a full photo review, but I've done it a little differently: the review is posted day-by-day on a website I created in the interest of organization and readability. If you have any questions or just want to comment or discuss something, go ahead and post back on this thread.

 

This was a labor of love, and I certainly hope you enjoy it!

http://norwegiangetaway.weebly.com/

 

Again, I'd appreciate to hear any question or comments you may have! :)

 

Nice Review! Thanks for sharing!

 

Sent from my SM-G900T using Forums mobile app

[kenrod]

I thoroughly enjoyed your pictorial. Thank you for sharing your vacation with us.

[LuvBNatC]

Would you mind expanding on this? I'm curious to hear your thoughts. Our last (and only) Carnival cruise was back in 2010, and I understand there have been some changes/cutbacks. We're going with extended family, and are trying Carnival again because of the ridiculously good price for our sailing. (Below $2000 for a family of four in a balcony...)

 

I sailed on Carnival Glory 5 nights from Norfolk to the Bahamas to avoid flying and got a good price.

 

The ship itself is lovely, but lacking in the latest gimmicks. The crew was friendly and competent. The food edible, but not memorable. My balcony cabin was all I could ask for.

 

The passengers... something else. All I'll say is that at 2 a.m. one night I heard people yelling, fighting, swearing in the corridor outside my cabin, then Security, then doors slamming, and then loud shop vacs.

 

Cabin steward later said the carpet had been covered with liquor and vomit, and he hadn't been allowed in this group's 4-to-a-cabins in days and was afraid of what he'd find when he finally got in.

 

Guest Relations said the people would be put off the ship in the next port if it happened again. But with the short itinerary, they only had to lie low one more night and there was no next port. But it never happened again.

 

However, that afternoon I was sitting on my balcony near a party with very loud music nearby, and somebody yelled, "Hey, dude, don't do that! You'll go over!"

 

I never heard a splash, so I assume the "dude" survived. I don't know if it was the same group.

 

You mentioned Getaway has a nice party vibe at night, and I'm really looking forward to that because many ships go pretty dead right after dinner.

 

But there's "nice party" and there's "out of control party," and Carnival tends to have a high tolerance for the latter. I met quite a few middle-aged types like me who said it would be their last Carnival cruise because they didn't care for the vibe.

 

From your Getaway review, you'll probably feel you've come down a few notches.

 

But, hey, if the price is right and you score a good cabin, I say any day on ANY ship is better than any day on land! :D

Edited September 9, 2014 by LuvBNatC

[Aussie Jeep]

Fantastic review. Well done. Can't wait to get on the Getaway in April

[Rutheth]

Thanks for the detailed review and great photos. It's certainly helped make up my mind about the Getaway. :)

[seguetocaribe]

Wow! Wonderful review! I thoroughly enjoyed reading it although, you spoiled me as this was the first review that I read after booking the Getaway.;) Now all others will have to live up to yours until we get to go on her 6 months from now!

I do have a question for you.. Did your steward keep the 3rd and fourth beds (the couch and the pull-down) made up as beds during the day or did they get "put away" during the day time? (I'm hoping for the latter to free up living space during the day/ be able to use the couch as a couch).

[Paramour007]

Your review was great. Quick question, when you boarded the ship in Miami was there somewhere you could drop of your carry-ons until you were able to go to your cabin? On the Epic we were able to drop things off (I believe it was in Bliss), on my last 2 Pearl cruises we were able to go straight to the cabin to leave things....even if they weren't totally made up.

[hscruiser]

Wow! Wonderful review! I thoroughly enjoyed reading it although, you spoiled me as this was the first review that I read after booking the Getaway.;) Now all others will have to live up to yours until we get to go on her 6 months from now!

I do have a question for you.. Did your steward keep the 3rd and fourth beds (the couch and the pull-down) made up as beds during the day or did they get "put away" during the day time? (I'm hoping for the latter to free up living space during the day/ be able to use the couch as a couch).

Our steward put away both beds during the day. No matter what, you can always request your steward to put them away if he doesn't already.

[hscruiser]

Your review was great. Quick question, when you boarded the ship in Miami was there somewhere you could drop of your carry-ons until you were able to go to your cabin? On the Epic we were able to drop things off (I believe it was in Bliss), on my last 2 Pearl cruises we were able to go straight to the cabin to leave things....even if they weren't totally made up.

To be honest, I have no idea! We didn't have much carry-on, so it wasn't an issue for us. Sorry about that!

[seguetocaribe]

Our steward put away both beds during the day. No matter what, you can always request your steward to put them away if he doesn't already.

 

 

 

Ok, thanks. On one of our Carnival cruises, our steward insisted that both extra beds were to stay made as beds thru the entire cruise! He said, "I never do that" (put them away for the day). We compromised and he put the upper bunk away so we would not be hitting our heads thru the day but I really would like the couch to be made back into a couch as well.

[kba1988]

I enjoyed your review tremendously. It was well put together. I am blown away by the level of your knowledge in creating and manipulating your own website. BRAVO!!! And job well done!!

[TravlGrl]

As a current full-time marketing professional and former travel writer, I must compliment you on your gift for the written word...especially at such a young age. Oh how refreshing it is to know that our youth have such insightful views -- on food, cruising, brand marketing -- and know how to translate those thoughts into meaningful words on an easy-to-navigate website.

 

Keep this up, please! I look forward to reading more from you.

[Sweetpeax2]

Awesome review!

[hscruiser]

As a current full-time marketing professional and former travel writer, I must compliment you on your gift for the written word...especially at such a young age. Oh how refreshing it is to know that our youth have such insightful views -- on food, cruising, brand marketing -- and know how to translate those thoughts into meaningful words on an easy-to-navigate website.

 

Keep this up, please! I look forward to reading more from you.

 

I enjoyed your review tremendously. It was well put together. I am blown away by the level of your knowledge in creating and manipulating your own website. BRAVO!!! And job well done!!

I hate to sound like a broken record, but thanks again for reading and for the kind words! :)

[Cruisevirgin1965]

I too, will add my two cents worth. Wonderful, extremely well written review. I have shared with my two teens and they as well were blown away by your gift of writing and expressing yourself so well, not to mention the website you have created to share all this information. We are on the Getaway for New Year's Eve and you have made us even more excited.

As an educator, I am so impressed with your writing. You have a gift and I hope that writing has a place in your future. Your parents must be so proud.

[NYGirl1002]

Great review. I enjoyed it immensely. I especially liked your photos. Thank you for taking the time to write it.

[gaiamother]

LOVED your review!! Thank you:). We leave on the Getaway this Saturday!!

T

[Pugzila1022]

I have to echo what others have said. This was one of the best reviews I have ever read. I owned a large agency that focused on cruises for many years, and would have hired you on the spot - just based on this review.

 

I am booked on Getaway on Dec 13 and am looking forward to it even more now than I was before.

 

Thanks for the tremendous review and best of luck with whatever you end up doing in the future. My bet is you may end up as a top executive at a major travel company before it's over with!

[garris3404]

You have a gift for this type of thing. Very well done! I feel as if I just took a mini-vacation on the Getaway! :)

[Namelocg]

Great review. We were on the Getaway 2 weeks before you and I agree with everything you said. The only thing that I think you missed was eating at the Flamingo Grill near the back of deck 16 across from the arcade. They served great Cuban food at lunch time. I don't think many people know it is there. We only found it as we were going out to Spice H2O.

[hscruiser]

Great review. We were on the Getaway 2 weeks before you and I agree with everything you said. The only thing that I think you missed was eating at the Flamingo Grill near the back of deck 16 across from the arcade. They served great Cuban food at lunch time. I don't think many people know it is there. We only found it as we were going out to Spice H2O.

Yes! We were there several times -- the food was fantastic. The short ribs, especially.