Just Off Getaway 03/14

[vargasjv]

My family and I took the Getaway out of Miami from 3/7 to 3/15 - this won't be a intensive review but I will share MY (yes MY :) ) personal thoughts.

 

If you have questions - send to me here or email.. main AT vargas DOT tv

 

Group = 8 people. 2 Adults, 3 Seniors and 3 kids from 6 to 11

 

Ship Embarkation:

We got to the dock at 10ish as we wanted to beat the crowds as much as possible, we waited to go thru security for about 30 minutes and we received Group 11. I am not sure how the numbers are assigned but I thought we would get a lower number. No problems however - we sat down and waited. Onboard @ approx. 11:30.

 

We went to the Spa and reserved some services for the week + SPA Pass. More below on SPA/SPA Pass. After we headed to lunch, more on food below.

My wife and I then headed to the pool area with the kids, so they could start riding the slides before too many people got on board.

 

Muster Drill:

Well I don't think anyone like doing this and on the Getaway, there is no exception to this rule. My family and I had to go to Floor 6 by the Guest Services Desk. The good news is that THIS was the worse part of the cruise. IT was hot and I didn't think it was well organized...

 

Back to Miami

IF you have not reads/heard about it - our ship and a Sailboat kissed out in the Channel somewhere, so we had to head back to Miami. Most of the passengers took it in stride, I will say that I did hear a few complaints from people in the Casino as basically one gambling night was lost. For a while there no one really knew what had happen and I expect the Captain only shared info when he knew what the facts where.. After several hours we headed back out to sea, I heard we where 6 hours behind schedule. At times the boat had some movement as I believe the Captain was pushing the boat a bit to catch up.

 

2 Sea Days

I loved having 2 sea days, the vacation to me felt longer because of this ~ the weather was good but at times (if I remember) it was windy.

 

Islands

We have gone on a few cruises and had gone to the Islands on our cruise already, so on St. Maarteen and St. Thomas we just grabbed transportation and headed to the beach. Simple, Easy and Fun for us.

 

Food

I thought the food was very good across the board, breakfast was a bit lack luster but it was fine. Highlights for me included Flamingo Grill for lunch --> VERY GOOD, Tropicana was fun (however where had a table that was a bit back and a blocked view of the stage) and we had a blast at Teppanyaki. The food at Teppanyaki was not bad at all, I was expecting it to be mediocre or worse so I was very surprised. Wasabi was a fun place to go for lunch with my son. We also went to Moderno, the food was OK but the service was slow. La Cucina was fine but we had a big lunch before we went there - so none of us where very hungry.

 

I am not sure how I feel about the lack of a big main dining room - plus and minus there. We would go to Teppanyaki, Wasabi, Tropicana/Savior/Taste again for sure, we would probably not go back to Moderno. we did not go to Cagney's or Ocean, etc. Carlos Bake Shop was fun to go one time -

 

 

UBP

I am not a huge drinker - but this is a convenient package to have. For me - I get to try NEW drink I would ordinarily not try and you don't have to worry about your bill at the end of the cruise. Interestingly enough - when you get drink while in the Port of Miami - you are charged TAXES :)

 

Disembarkation

Here is a TIP - best not to get the BLUE (9:30) timeframe. At this time the port is very busy because many folks are coming in and many people are waiting for their transportation. Next time we will plan to get off the Ship at around 8:30.

 

Other General Stuff:

- The pool set-up is akward at best for people with children, instead of watching the band/people watching :) - we where at the kids pool the entire time

- The slides, rope course and sports deck area are very nice and fun

- Casino = was not as filled with smoke smell as I had read previously here + the Casino crew was excellent

- Our room was on the 12th Floor, perfect for Splash Academy! We had a balcony, we sat out there some but only 2 people can sit out there at the same time.

- The Crew, I will say that everyone was very nice from our Cabin person to the Casino and drink staff. The Folks I least wanted to talk too or deal with where the Guest Services. Frankly, seemed that some of them didn't want to be there and made my experience with them not fun :(

- Howl at the Moon - wow it was great! We had an awesome time each time we went. Once we went early and took out kids. The played Vanilla Ice and my 6 year dance the entire time on stage!!!

- There was a card in place to turn on and off the lights, this might be new?? But it was a white generic card and our Cabin Steward never messed with it

- Legally Blonde - it was ok. We took our kids. Not sure I would have taken the kids if I would have known some of the content. It wasn't overly offensive, just a few parts that might have been better served for older kids. But no harm..

 

Summary

The Getaway is a very nice Ship and we had a great time, all of us. I would change a few things about her - but that isn't what I get paid for :) The only bad part was when we got off!

Edited March 15, 2015 by vargasjv
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[Vacationdreamer<><]

Thanks so much! This is my kind of trip report to read.

 

Did you consider doing the dinner/magic show. My mind is blanking. Illusionarium? Whatever.

[vargasjv]

Thanks so much! This is my kind of trip report to read.

 

Did you consider doing the dinner/magic show. My mind is blanking. Illusionarium? Whatever.

 

No - we decided against it, I read that the Magic Show + Food would be distracting. Plus my better half isn't into Magic, so we decided to skip it. I will say I walked thru the Illusionarium section and it looked pretty cool to me,

[MandyMommyof2]

Sounds like a great time! Thanks for the tip about being charged taxes on drinks while in port at Miami. I will remember to tell my husband this ;)

[aquarianne11]

Thanks so much for your review! :)

[ilovetotravel1977]

As for the taxes on drinks while in Miami, when are you officially out of the POM? One hour, 2 hours, etc?

[KanataKruiser]

I had noticed that if you bought a beverage package (i.e. soda) upon embarkation, you were charged an extra tax. Not sure if this is still the case.

Not sure what the best strategy is to avoid paying this (i.e. waiting until later to buy or buying ahead of time) If you've figure this out, please share with the rest of us.

[vargasjv]

As for the taxes on drinks while in Miami, when are you officially out of the POM? One hour, 2 hours, etc?

 

I assume once you leave Miami and are out a couple of miles - I am not sure. I did however notice that I was charged while at POM.

[vargasjv]

I forgot to mention a couple of things --

 

Concierge: We got this app on our devices and it worked fairly well - was it 100% NO, but if you where persistent :) you could get pretty good use out of it. Of course the downside it that you need to carry your phone.

 

SPA Pass

 

We got it and use it a bit - was it worth 199.00 per person, well I am not sure we used it that much. But the time we did have a chance to use it - it was relaxing! And not very full.

[Kruizin'Kath]

Thanks for taking the time to post! 6 more days until we are on The Getaway:D

[david_sobe]

Welcome back. I was on her 2 weeks before you. I agree the food was pretty good.

[f1mauro]

Glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for taking the time for your review.

[Jaco5NC]

Thank you for taking the time to write your review, sounds like you had a great time:)!

[kutanicrane]

Spa pass

[Beachgirl85]

What beach did you visit in St Thomas?

[vargasjv]

What beach did you visit in St Thomas?

 

We went to Magen's Bay - grab a transportation shuttle right at the dock and paid 5 pp.

 

We didn't plan to rent chairs - so we took towels and enjoyed the beach!

 

Easy.

[Beachgirl85]

We went to Magen's Bay - grab a transportation shuttle right at the dock and paid 5 pp.

 

 

 

We didn't plan to rent chairs - so we took towels and enjoyed the beach!

 

 

 

Easy.

 

 

Perfect Thank you. Trying to decide between Magen's Bay and Sapphire Beach.

[vargasjv]

Perfect Thank you. Trying to decide between Magen's Bay and Sapphire Beach.

 

How can you go wrong? Magen's was about a 15 minute ride up to the other side of the island. The sand/water very nice - there is public bathrooms, a gift shop and a restaurant right there and more importantly to me, no one trying to sell me stuff while I relaxed. Super easy

[ravens.grl]

Been to both beaches and I personally prefer Sapphire beach. Magen's beach is more crowded, whereas sapphire will only have a few people there. There are bathrooms and rentals at each place. Megans has an entrance fee, but I believe cab might be slightly cheaper. I think the views are prettier at Sapphire. You have a view of multiple islands in the background including St. John and the water is a pretty crystal blue. Megan's is more protected so I always feel water isn't as fresh. I'm slightly biased towards Sapphire obviously, but they are both beautiful beaches.

[mking8288]

Sapphire Beach was beautiful, quiet and not crowded at all - maybe 2 dozen people & not all of them from the ships - some vacationing on land. Nice sandy beaches & views, place to change/shower/restroom & rentals, refreshment & a small gift shop selling local crafts.

The ride back to the ship was a leisurely 20 minutes for us as driver took his time and had us back with plenty of time to do more shopping across the street at the mini malls, if we wished to.

These're taken when we sailed CCL - the top left pix is Magan's Beach with other 3's from Sapphire - I use these in rotation, among others, on my computers as wallpapers to day dream, LOL.

 

[Beachgirl85]

Sapphire Beach was beautiful, quiet and not crowded at all - maybe 2 dozen people & not all of them from the ships - some vacationing on land. Nice sandy beaches & views, place to change/shower/restroom & rentals, refreshment & a small gift shop selling local crafts.

The ride back to the ship was a leisurely 20 minutes for us as driver took his time and had us back with plenty of time to do more shopping across the street at the mini malls, if we wished to.

These're taken when we sailed CCL - the top left pix is Magan's Beach with other 3's from Sapphire - I use these in rotation, among others, on my computers as wallpapers to day dream, LOL.

 

 

Been to both beaches and I personally prefer Sapphire beach. Magen's beach is more crowded, whereas sapphire will only have a few people there. There are bathrooms and rentals at each place. Megans has an entrance fee, but I believe cab might be slightly cheaper. I think the views are prettier at Sapphire. You have a view of multiple islands in the background including St. John and the water is a pretty crystal blue. Megan's is more protected so I always feel water isn't as fresh. I'm slightly biased towards Sapphire obviously, but they are both beautiful beaches.

 

Thank you for the awesome beach info and pictures!! Both look great! I think I want to try Sapphire this trip :)

[mking8288]

BG85 - here's another one in our collection - noticed how empty the beach was - tons of loungers for rental, all stacked up @ Sapphire - no entrance fees for us. The all-in-one refreshment stand/gift shop/rental is next to the restrooms - and water via angle showerheads to rinse off the sand before getting back into one's sandels or shoes, etc. Next time we head back to St. Thomas, we will be going back for the day.

 

[GonzoWCS]

Thank you for this!

[drhall]

Thanks for the review!

 

Did you get into any nightlife activities? If so...what was your overall impression?

[vargasjv]

Thanks for the review!

 

Did you get into any nightlife activities? If so...what was your overall impression?

 

MY wife and I are mid 40's - we went out a bit (howl at the moon) (80's party) (dancing one night): we had a good time, of course we where together and always do...

 

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