Getaway Review- Spa Suite 14136 2/20

[sonntags]

I realize this might be a bit late, but I thought it might be helpful to share our experience anyway- if any of you are like me, in the weeks before our cruise, I like to browse the boards for tips and read other’s experience 

My husband and I love to cruise- we try to go every other year. We don’t have any kids are ages 36 and 32. We fly in to Miami on 2/20 from Utah- it’s always a long trip and try to come in the day before to avoid any possible delays. Our first cruise we did a red eye flight, and it did not bode well and I felt like we missed out on the first day of our trip because I was exhausted.

We stayed at the Hampton Inn Downtown (Brickell), which we’ve stayed at before. The taxi ride was about $30 from the airport for the both of us. I love this hotel because you can literally walk out of the door and be surrounded by fun music and delicious food. We ate some good food and hung out in the wonderful air. If you've lived in Salt Lake City, you know what I mean. The room was nice- bed was very comfy and the employees were helpful and friendly.

 

The Hampton Inn also has complimentary breakfast and a shuttle to the port, which is convenient. If you want to get to port early, I recommend signing up for the shuttle right away, as they fill up quickly. We were able to get on the 11 am shuttle and I believe it was $15 a person. Breakfast was typical- but they had some hot options, which was nice.

 

The trip to port was fast, and the lines were not long at all. I am almost sure our ship wasn’t too full- it seemed quite a bit less crowded than other cruises we’ve been on. Check-in was a breeze and we were whisked away with another couple into the Haven within 30 minutes of arriving. They had a private elevator that only was being used for Haven guests during embarkation (which was nice, we didn’t have to wait for an elevator). Once we arrived into the Haven, Adrian greeted us and gave a brief explanation of the Haven and what he could do as our concierge. One of the things that he said that stuck out to me was that he specifically said any non-Haven guests couldn’t use the dining facility or courtyard, but they could only visit in your room. I appreciated this- on our last cruise on the Epic, a guest threw a fit because he claimed someone told him he could have his family join him for breakfast each morning in the Haven restaurant. It got a bit out of control.

We took some time to relax in the courtyard and eat some delicious mini sliders and fries they were handing out. Delicious. I immediately felt more relaxed

 

After a bit of walking around and visiting the spa to check out the facilities, we headed to our room. We already had two bags there waiting for us and unpacked a bit. The Spa Suite is a bit smaller than we’re used to, and the balcony leaves a bit to be desired, but the use of space is really quite great. They have plenty of storage, and I really didn’t feel like we needed any more space. It would be a bit cramped if you had 3 people in there, though. I loved the shower and the bathroom setup. The whirlpool tub was especially nice- my husband and I used it a couple of times. My only complaint was about the tv/remote set up. My husband and I work pretty demanding, high pace jobs. When I go on vacation, we really like to relax in our rooms and sometimes we’ll bring DVDs to catch up. It’s just our thing . The TV is anchored to the wall in an angle that it is impossible to get a good signal unless you aim the remove just so. So, changing the channel is challenging.

After being in our room for a bit, our butler came to introduce himself- Willy was just the highlight of our trip (besides the great concierge). He made sure we knew how everything worked in the room, made sure we had our pillow choices (by the way, this was the first time that I had the pre-concierge requested items taken care of before boarding) and was just a joy all week. He would check on us occasionally check on us throughout the week and was just the best butler we’d ever had.

 

More to come!

[Love2travel4]

Following along! I will be on the Getaway in October....and I already have our room reserved at the Hampton Inn. Can you give me an idea of what is within walking distance? Also, any shopping, restaurants tips? I am hoping to make the metromover over to Bayside. Thank you!

Edited March 24, 2015 by Love2travel4

[Dollard des Ormeaux]

Hi Sonntag, reading your interesting post. I notice you were in the exact same suite I am booked in on August 22nd.

[timetaffy89]

Thank you for writing this! We are going to be in a haven spa suite on the Getaway in 4 weeks! It is our first time on the Getaway and in the Haven so we are soaking up any and all information :)

[DrNora]

Following along! I will be on the Getaway in October....and I already have our room reserved at the Hampton Inn. Can you give me an idea of what is within walking distance? Also, any shopping, restaurants tips? I am hoping to make the metromover over to Bayside. Thank you!

 

TheHamptonInn website has tons of info and links on it. We walked to dinner at a Greek restaurant ( there were many choices) there is a shopping area with lots of boutiques, a Publix supermarket, chocolate shops

 

http://www.marybrickellvillage.com/directoryalpha.html

[sjbdtz]

I was in this cabin in January....had a great time!

 

 

.

[Mouse's Shadow]

Thanks for your review. We're thinking of staying at the Hampton on our next cruise.

[sonntags]

Food:

This is our first cruise since the "updated" main dining room menu, and I have to say the quality of the food is a bit better than I remember. We ate at the Haven restaurant twice for dinner, and twice for breakfast. I love the little escape of the restaurant. The main dining room (Tropicana) we ate at twice, and then we went to Cagney's and Teppanyaki. Cagneys was amazing and Teppanyaki was fun, and I enjoyed it because I could have lobster, and I was missing it a bit. After a recommendation from CC, I got the volcano cake in the main dining room (and it was devine).

 

Excursions:

In St. Maarten we decided to book with Captain Bob with Soulinga Destinations. It was a bit tricky for us to understand the directions that were emailed to us, but we eventually found our way over. There were a lot of people that booked with Bob, but there were only 10 of us on the boat. Our captain was a young man, who was very familiar with the area and pointed out interesting facts as we went over the island. I feel bad I forgot his name, but we had a blast. I do have to mention a funny story while we were at the dock waiting to board with Bob. A woman and her two friends went up to Bob and asked him if they could specifically be on a boat without any kids, because she didn't want to be bothered by them. Bob told her point blank that it was a family excursion and there may be kids on the boat, but he was happy to refund her money and wouldn't kick kids out. She went off in a huff and wasn't happy. In St. Thomas we booked with Goldern Age Ranch- if you haven't heard of them, it is a sanctuary for retired race horses. They only take out 6 horses a day, and it was really a great experience. We also had a hard time finding this location, though (maybe its us? haha), and we ended up having to walk a bit to find it. If you like horseback riding, this excursion was really great. The trainer cares a lot about the horses and you can tell.

 

Entertainment:

I was really looking forward to the entertainment on this ship. If NCL is lacking anywhere on the smaller ships, I feel like it's the entertainment. When we went on the Epic a couple of years ago, I thought the Blue Man Group and Cirque show was so fun and I was excited to see what other larger type shows were on the Getaway. I pre-booked Legally Blonde, Burn The Floor, and The Illusionarium online. I always read mixed reviews on Legally Blonde, but my husband and I both enjoyed it. It was silly and different and we generally like musicals. The Illusionarium was fun- the magicians were super talented and we ejoyed trying to figure out how the illusions were performed.

 

I was only slightly disappointed in Burn the Floor. The first few numbers were entertaining, but I found some of the later performances so similar and strange (like the space/fog one) and also some of the costumes a bit

distracting. I've seen Burn The Floor touring in the states, so maybe my expectations were high, but I was a bit disappointed. They are such talented dancers, though. The fireworks were also a lot of fun- being on the port side

we were able to have a good view of them from our balcony.

 

I should make a note here about the casino (which we frequented more than I'd like to admit). My husband loves

that darn key game. Has anyone actually won??

 

Overall:

We seriously loved this ship and vacation. It probably made a difference because the ship wasn't full. The Haven was amazing and we adored our butler and steward, and Adrian the concierge! Our vacation couldn't have gone better and my husband and I both said we would book the Getaway again in a heartbeat We especially enjoyed the spa and the haven- while we were laying out in the courtyard they frequently brought around fruit skewers, mini shrimp cocktails, and freshly cut coconuts. As I sit here at my desk, I wish I was back!

[sonntags]

Hi Sonntag, reading your interesting post. I notice you were in the exact same suite I am booked in on August 22nd.

 

You will LOVE it! I madly researched and decided on this cabin- there aren't any service doors in front of you, and it is pole-less. Very quiet.

[sonntags]

Following along! I will be on the Getaway in October....and I already have our room reserved at the Hampton Inn. Can you give me an idea of what is within walking distance? Also, any shopping, restaurants tips? I am hoping to make the metromover over to Bayside. Thank you!

 

Yes- there is so much nearby. There's a Chinese restaurant right downstairs, and also Rosa Mexicana down two blocks (that's where we ate), but there was also a close seafood restaurant, and a few other sandwich and small places. It was very easy to walk around. We didn't shop much because we arrived to the hotel so late, but next time we want to try to go to Bayside.

[Love2travel4]

Thank you both for the tips!

[Dollard des Ormeaux]

You will LOVE it! I madly researched and decided on this cabin- there aren't any service doors in front of you, and it is pole-less. Very quiet.

 

Sonntag, I have one more question. This is our first time staying in the Haven and we were wondering how the tipping would work for our Butler. Do we tip the consierge as well?

[Tzitza]

Thank you for the review-- DH and I will be in Spa Suite in Sept so I am trying to find out all that I can in advance!