Just got off the Getaway 11/22

[Sotermarler]

We are first time cruisers, so have nothing to compare this too, here is my opinion of the ship. We loved the cruise. We booed through Priceline and got a$100 credit, bottle of wine, and one dinner at La Cucina. We stayed in balcony forward cabin 9116, which was right under the bridge. The bottom of the bridge has a glass bottom, so you could see the captain walking over it, and one time he stopped and waved at us! I thought that was pretty cool. Room was great, but a long walk from everything. If you don't want to walk, stay midship.

 

The first thing we did on ship was head to guest services and buy the Vibe pass. I have mixed feelings about this because we went kid free so we wanted the Vibe for peace and quiet, but it was too windy the majority of the cruise to use it. They actually had to tie everything down, chairs cushioned etc so they wouldn't fly away. If it was not windy it would have been worth it, but not for our cruise we might have spent a total of 2 hours up there. I can't understand why they enclose the Haven but don't have wind walls for the Vibe. We complained and they did credit back one of our passes.

 

As I said we had high wind and 11ft waves, so we did feel the motion of the ship. I have nothing to compare the motion to, but I have to say I loved the motion, so for me the more the better.

 

I have to say it was a perk to be part of the Cruise Critic group. We had a meet and greet at Cagneys and the CEO showed up and spoke for a few minutes. He said that he was on ship to complete the purchase of Oceania and another cruise line. Also when I complained about the Vibe I put that I was part of this group on there so I think that helped with the refund of one pass, but I don't know for sure. We also did the slot pull and that was fun too.

 

The food was so so at best, even though it was ample I didn't find it great. Im no foodie or anything, but i really thought it on the level of Golden Corral. They had prime rib 3 or 4 nights, but I don't eat beef so I was annoyed they kept having that. Chicken and waffles wasn't impressive either. The deserts flat out sucked, except for the Lava cake, they weren't good. La Cucina was ok, nothing to write home about. The service was excellent all over the ship, the workers tried hard, everything was clean and fast.

 

The CD Joel was great, I couldn't believe how he was everywhere. We played trivia, and other games. I thought Deal or no Deal was not worth the $20 ticket price because only 2 players were picked and the rest played a match game. Of the 4 games I saw no one other than the players won any money. The most people won was a free photo, big deal.

 

We didn't spend anytime at the pool as it was small and way over crowded. We didn't get the drink package, and we went back and forth over whether we should get it or not. I thought maybe it would go down in price if we waited....WRONG! It went up! We didn't come close to the $800 thank god, my hubby got buckets of beer aNd brought extras back to the room, I limited myself to 2 girlie drinks a day. I would have drank more though if I had the package. I brought on soda each port and brought those to my meals with me. No one minded that.

 

We did the waterslides, excellent and the ropes course. It was so windy though we chickened out the first time, so we went back and conquered it while still in port.

 

Overall the ship was beautiful, shiny new, clean and lots of fun with tons to do. The food not great, but ample. So the million dollar question is, would I sail NCL again? The short answer is no, because I understand all the ships are pretty much the same, and the next time I go I want a completely different experience, so I want to try the new Oasis. But it's defiantly worth it, great ship and wonderful vacation!

[cmdchiefthom]

Thanks for taking the time to post and welcome to Cruise Critic as well. It's great to hear that you are already up for another cruising experience and I hope you'll share here.;)

[sue402001]

Thanks for your review, I'm glad you enjoyed it enough to go again. :)

[Sauer-kraut]

Great review!! Thanks for being brave and taking the time to post one. Now you do have the addiction, its time to keep your eye on the prices for the Oasis and see where they are going.

 

Have a great time on the next one! :D

[Rottweiler Puppy]

I was on the same cruise.

 

Great ship. I personally found the food to be the same as other lines but that's just me.

 

As you said, the crew were excellent.

[smilz]

Do either of you have the dailies that you can post?:D

[grovesteve]

My wie and I were on the same cruise and also at the Meet and Greet. It was nice to hear from Kevin Sheehan. I agree that the food in the Main Dinning rooms is like going to a big wedding, but like all of the larger cruise ships they are serving 1,000s of people at a time. My wife and I love dining once a cruise at Carneys. We loved The Illusionarium, and spent every night in Headliners either enjoying the comedian or Howl at the Moon. We spend more time in Headliners then any other place in the ship.

 

We have seen Legally Blonde twice once on the Getaway before and once at a theatre at home so we didn't do it on the ship this time.

What I didn't know is we had 11 foot waves, out cabin was in the middle of the ship on deck 13 and never really felt any motion.

It was a great cruise and now onto our best cruise which is always our next one.

Steve R from Ill

[RuthlessBoss]

I too was on that cruise. I was happy with the places I saw and took pictures of, but to get pictures of everything was impossible. I've viewed a few pictures others took, and I scratch my head and say what was that and where. I hope to book again.

[ptcruzers]

Although the Oasis of the Seas is not "new" since its inaugural sailing was in 2009 we have sailed her and it is truly a unique experience. As on all RCCL ships they do serve Roast Beef on Kummelweck which of course originated in the Western New York area. We had an inside balcony and asked ourselves, "are we on a ship??". Enjoy!!:D:cool:

[LrgPizza]

I've never heard of anyone complaining to Guest Services about wind. That's funny. The next time it rains on a cruise I'm going to try that. I'll report back.

[SissasMomE]

I've never heard of anyone complaining to Guest Services about wind. That's funny. The next time it rains on a cruise I'm going to try that. I'll report back.

 

Seriously :rolleyes:

[SissasMomE]

My wie and I were on the same cruise and also at the Meet and Greet. It was nice to hear from Kevin Sheehan. I agree that the food in the Main Dinning rooms is like going to a big wedding, but like all of the larger cruise ships they are serving 1,000s of people at a time. My wife and I love dining once a cruise at Carneys. We loved The Illusionarium, and spent every night in Headliners either enjoying the comedian or Howl at the Moon. We spend more time in Headliners then any other place in the ship.

 

We have seen Legally Blonde twice once on the Getaway before and once at a theatre at home so we didn't do it on the ship this time.

What I didn't know is we had 11 foot waves, out cabin was in the middle of the ship on deck 13 and never really felt any motion.

It was a great cruise and now onto our best cruise which is always our next one.

Steve R from Ill

 

I really wish they had larger balcony cabins mid-ship. You have to go all the way forward to get a decent balcony, or all the way aft. The motion doesn't bother me, but it sure is a long walk when it's late, and you're tired!!

[RuthlessBoss]

I really wish they had larger balcony cabins mid-ship. You have to go all the way forward to get a decent balcony, or all the way aft. The motion doesn't bother me, but it sure is a long walk when it's late, and you're tired!!

 

The balcony size is the payoff for that long walk. Mine was a last minute guarantee. Not sure how the real price of that cabin would have been, but for my first one it sure was a "spoiler":eek:

[SissasMomE]

The balcony size is the payoff for that long walk. Mine was a last minute guarantee. Not sure how the real price of that cabin would have been, but for my first one it sure was a "spoiler":eek:

 

We were upgraded for free to a large balcony. Believe me, after boarding and seeing those tiny things, I was more than happy! We have a M6 booked for the Escape. Depending on the size of the B1s, I may switch once more info is released. So far, we will have a huge balcony again :)

[RuthlessBoss]

We were upgraded for free to a large balcony. Believe me, after boarding and seeing those tiny things, I was more than happy! We have a M6 booked for the Escape. Depending on the size of the B1s, I may switch once more info is released. So far, we will have a huge balcony again :)

 

Mine wasn't terribly wide, but I'd guess it was 12-15' long. As I glanced over the rail, I saw those much smaller ones.

[Rottweiler Puppy]

Although the Oasis of the Seas is not "new" since its inaugural sailing was in 2009 we have sailed her and it is truly a unique experience. As on all RCCL ships they do serve Roast Beef on Kummelweck which of course originated in the Western New York area. We had an inside balcony and asked ourselves, "are we on a ship??". Enjoy!!:D:cool:

 

I hear its nice as well.

Edited December 5, 2014 by Rottweiler Puppy

[Sotermarler]

I've never heard of anyone complaining to Guest Services about wind. That's funny. The next time it rains on a cruise I'm going to try that. I'll report back.

 

Funny when you put it that way, ...but we paid extra for a service that was unusable. It would be one thing if it was in the cost of the ship, but at $80 pp extra, I should be able to use the service. They litterally had the chairs strapped down in a pile in the corner. I couldn't use them if I wanted to. If they can put up wind walls for the Haven, why not the Vibe?

Either way, I was happy with the partial refund.

[PathfinderEss]

Thanks for your nice review, sounds like you had a good time.