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Getaway was AMAZING!

Cruisermom2nick
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Cruisermom2nick

Cruisermom2nick

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After four cruises on Carnival the awesome offers from NCL inspired us to give them a try. I am SO glad we did! Here is a review from our family's perspective, which includes myself, my hubby and my 15 year old son. I really appreciated the reviews here on CC before our cruise so I wanted to offer some insight and perspective from a family point of view!

 

Room:

Our balcony room was 12730, forward on the family balcony deck. The room actually seemed a bit bigger as compared to previous balcony rooms on Carnival, but the balcony itself was a bit smaller. However, the balcony was still so very nice! The front of the ship is a place we prefer to be, and this location was perfect for little movement and no vibrations. We were over the Haven cabins so we could see their big balconies- they were really nice! Maybe we will try that sometime! We had families around us with little kids but we did not really hear much noise, which was good. No issues with smokers on the balcony- with the exception of a gentleman smoking on his Haven balcony one night after 11- although he was quite a ways from us I could smell it for awhile as we were not moving fast and the winds were light. I will say that if I had a Haven balcony and experienced that next to me I would have complained, as they have open wall areas between them and smoking is not permitted on any balcony. Our steward was nice but gave me the Spanish freestyle a few nights, even though I told him a few times I don't speak Spanish! We also needed to ask for more soap and tp- which I am used to Carnival stewards being more on top of. These are nitpicky things, however, but worth mentioning in a review.

 

Dining- WOW! We did not get the UDP-but we did eat at Moderno one night. It was excellent! My son loved the selection of meats, as did my husband. I am not a huge meat eater but the salad bar was fabulous, as well as the seafood chowder. My only complaint would be that all 3 desserts offered contained copious amounts of dairy, and my hubby could not partake as he is lactose intolerant. A fruit dessert or one without dairy would be nice. We were truthfully all so stuffed from the dinner that my son and I didn't eat much dessert anyhow, although the waiter brought us all 3 to try. The main dining rooms were wonderful-especially the Tropicana. We all really enjoyed the live music and Burn the Floor dancers. I actually made reservations for Moderno and the Tropicana before our sailing as we like to eat earlier, like 5:30ish. I was glad I did as we were seated quickly and got tables near the band and dance floor. Shanghai, the noodle restaurant that is now complimentary is SUPER! We ate dinner there a few nights and the food was consistently top notch. You can ask for jasmine tea as well-even though it is not on the menu. It also pays to get there right at 5:30, as they fill up fast and you will likely end up with a pager waiting to eat. It seemed that many folks went there at 5:30/6 for a "snack" before their real dinner at 8/9 pm. :) Savor and Taste were nice for a lunch a few days, as well as O'Sheehans. Breakfast was yummy in the main dining room, albeit a bit slow. The Flamingo Grill was tasty for breakfast and lunch. I didn't realize until on the ship that The Flamingo Grill was a buffet for breakfast and lunch- and the lunch selection do vary a bit daily too. The Garden Buffet was always clean, well stocked and tasty. The sinks and "washy washy" folks at the doors put my mind at ease regarding germs! We never did breakfast or dinner at the buffet but we did have lunch their 2 days and the selections were really good. My son liked their Indian food and my hubby enjoyed their Asian selections. The late night snacks were fabulous too- but dangerous for your waistline! :) From 9:30-11:30 they offered yummy pizza, hot dogs, cookies, cakes, ice cream, salads and more goodies. We also paid for a few snacks from Geoffrey Zakarian's Ocean on the waterfront, which were really delicious. Here were some of our favorite foods overall:

Moderno- seafood chowder, sausages (DH & DS), cheese selections, grilled pineapple

Tropicana- pistachio creme brulee, roasted tomato soup, duck papardelle, smoked salmon tartare, Mexican chocolate brownie

Savor/Taste-pho soup, open faced omelet, English breakfast with baked beans and the yummy banana pancakes

Shanghai-everything (really!)-if it's your dinner order a few dishes. :)

O'Sheehans-wings and fries

Garden Buffet-all of the Indian selections, which changed daily, hard scoop ice cream, sherbert and yogurt, tuna salad croissant (best tuna salad I ever had for real!), pizza, fries, beef chow fun, late night hot dogs (my son liked them!)

Ocean on the Waterfront-The lobster roll and crab toasts were perfect!

We need to back on the Getaway to try all the foods we never got to-I never even had a chance to get a cupcake from Carlo's bakery as I was too full every time I thought of it to get one! :)

Flamingos- My DH and DS loved the chicherenos and I loved the fried yuca.

Drinks- We got the UBP and to be truthful that is what sold my hubby and I on this trip. The idea of not having to worry about the cost of drinks was very appealing-and it turned out to be a perk we really want when we cruise again! We didn't even come close to what we would have paid for the package, monetary wise, but it was a win/win as we got it as a promotion. :) We enjoyed a variety of fun drinks around the ship and especially loved the Sugarcane Bar with "The Chocolate Cowboy" Claranse. He made the best Mojitos and would create ones for you as well. The Mixx bar was very good and I really loved the Moscow Mules on the ship. My hubby liked the selection of single malts, especially when he smoked his yearly cigar in the humidor lounge! My son did use the soda package, but as he is not big on soda I would not have purchased it if it was a promo. He got sierra mist with fresh lime in it which he liked. Oh! Pepsi products and Mug rootbeer are on the Getaway. One more note-the Atrium bar is also really good, and they have these tasty olives stuffed with pickles. I ate bunches of those too! All of the bar/wait staff was very accomodating and we really never waited long for a drink or food. Once in awhile the Mojito bar would get busy but the drinks took awhile to make so that is why.

Entertainment- The NCL Getaway met and far exceeded my hopes and expectations for entertainment!!! The CD Jersey Boy Joel was the ULTIMATE BEST CD EVER! He was vivacious, energetic,funny and it is obvious he loves what he does. The shows on board-Legally Blonde, Burn the Floor, Celebrity Dance off, the comedians, the welcome aboard and final night performances were top notch. We never got to the Grammy Experience or Howl at the Moon, not did we get to any of the parties in the evening. We need to go back soon to see everything we missed! My son attended 2 dance parties and karaoke at the Entourage teen club and he had fun. There were lots of kids from other countries so that was different for him but he likes meet new people. Unfortunatley he caught a cold towards the end of the week and didn't want to share the germs at the final dance party, so he missed that. We attended 3 comedy shows, including the one in the Getaway theater and they were all excellent.

Activities- We did hang poolside and didn't have trouble finding a spot-esp when we got back on board earlier than others when we were in port. My son and I played lots of ping pong, as well as shuffleboard, which was fun. We also went to play in O'Sheehan's game area and did pin bowling (lots of fun) and skeeball. You do get tickets from skee ball which you can redeem in the arcade. We ended up playing a few more arcade games to earn enough tickets for a little trinket from the prize areas! :) My niece will be happy with her $7 plastic princess harmonica! lol!

We did not do the ropes or rock climbing wall, or the gym/spa. We hope to get to them on our next Getaway trip.

Shore Excursions- We did the Tortola Land and Sea tour through NCL, which was well worth the $$. The tour ran smoothly and we all enjoyed seeing the beautiful areas of the BVI.

Embarkation and debarkation were fine- I was surprised with the fanfare when we entered and departed. The staff is caring, dedicated, kind, fun and really great. I plan to compare Carnival to NCL in another review- as I saw so many differences between the two which made me think about Carnival as a whole-esp. since they have raised their prices to be comparable to NCL!

 

*A few can't miss things on the Getaway (from our perspective)

1. Shanghai's

2. The Burn the Floor show

3. Live music during dinner in the Tropicana

4. The Mojitos at the Sugarcane bar

5. The Dance off show in the atrium-Joel the CD is SO great and the backstage footage is hysterical!

6. Legally Blonde

7. Moderno

 

*A few tips

1. Make reservations, even for the no charge events, such as the comedy shows. You can easily do this on your app once you get on the ship or on the touch screens all over the ship. We were told on board that we really didn't need res for the comedians, but I made them anyhow. I was glad because one of the nights they filled up and people could not get in! I also made reservations for the Burn the Floor and Legally Blonde show, and Moderno. I am a planner and would rather have a spot and not have to take what's left.

2. There is so much to do really go over the daily Freestyle with your family the night before and choose the things you all really want to do. We signed our DS up for Entourage the first day and he got a calendar of their event, which was a help in him planning things he wanted to attend. The shows are repeated several times throughout the week (unlike Carnival)- so you will have time to fit in many of the things you want to do.

3. You can order drinks at any restaurant, UDP or not, including Shanghai's. Ask for the menus as several bars service different places and they have special drinks.

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Paramour007

Paramour007

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Great review. Can't wait till we head out on May 30th. By any chance do you have the dallies and if so can you post them? If not do you remember when Burn the Floor dancers were at the Tropicana dining room?

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Cruisermom2nick

Cruisermom2nick

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Great review. Can't wait till we head out on May 30th. By any chance do you have the dallies and if so can you post them? If not do you remember when Burn the Floor dancers were at the Tropicana dining room?

 

I don't have the dailies avail to scan right now but I can tell you they performed the last 2 nights of the cruise at 5:45. So you will want to get a 5:30 seating so you can be up front. :)

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netchik

netchik

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Thank you for taking the time to review. We leave for our 2nd Getaway cruise this Sat. 5/16. This will be the first time with the UBP. I enjoyed Moderno too, mostly the salad bar, but the lamb was out of this world. And the Mojitos at Sugar Cane - coolest bar, drinks, & staff. Thx again! :)

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luvtovaca

luvtovaca

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Thanks for the positive review. Sounds like you had a great trip! Like you, we have cruised Carnival 4 times and are giving NCL a try. (We did cruise them many years ago when it was just DH and I.) We chose this cruise based on wanting to try one of the larger ships out there, not having an extremely port intensive cruise and visiting mostly ports we had not been to already. This left Carnival out of our equation this time (for the dates we could travel), which bummed me out, because we have enjoyed all of our cruises on them and like knowing what to expect. While we still love Carnival, we are excited for our cruise on the Getaway with NCL as well. The newly imposed fees, rules and all! It is after all vacation!!:)

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Cruisermom2nick

Cruisermom2nick

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Thanks for the positive review. Sounds like you had a great trip! Like you, we have cruised Carnival 4 times and are giving NCL a try. (We did cruise them many years ago when it was just DH and I.) We chose this cruise based on wanting to try one of the larger ships out there, not having an extremely port intensive cruise and visiting mostly ports we had not been to already. This left Carnival out of our equation this time (for the dates we could travel), which bummed me out, because we have enjoyed all of our cruises on them and like knowing what to expect. While we still love Carnival, we are excited for our cruise on the Getaway with NCL as well. The newly imposed fees, rules and all! It is after all vacation!!:)

 

I think you will pleasantly surprised at the differences between the two lines, and really love the entertainment!:)

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MandyMommyof2

MandyMommyof2

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:) Thanks so much for your review! We sail on the Getaway in July. I have already made our reservations for Legally Blonde and Burn the Floor. We are totally taking advantage of "freestyle" dining and are not planning on making dining reservations. Hopefully our habit of early diners 5:30-6:00 will work to our advantage. :) We are thinking of also eating at Moderno. My parents are celebrating their wedding anniversary, so I thought this would be a nice treat for them.

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Cruisermom2nick

Cruisermom2nick

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:) Thanks so much for your review! We sail on the Getaway in July. I have already made our reservations for Legally Blonde and Burn the Floor. We are totally taking advantage of "freestyle" dining and are not planning on making dining reservations. Hopefully our habit of early diners 5:30-6:00 will work to our advantage. :) We are thinking of also eating at Moderno. My parents are celebrating their wedding anniversary, so I thought this would be a nice treat for them.

 

We eat early too so it was nice to not have a wait. However, we were quite tempted to eat late night snacks at the buffet or O'Sheehans after eating so early! LOL! We are back home getting used to no more late night goodies!:D

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Smerri

Smerri

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I was on that same trip and have to say that the Getaway is absolutely amazing. Usually just cruise NCL with one Carnival trip a few years ago and I was floored when we got on the ship. The attention to detail was great. Everything about the trip was amazing. I never felt it was to crowded or waited for dinner and can't wait to cruise on the Breakaway or on the Escape and enjoy Margaritaville.

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FirstTimeFreddy

FirstTimeFreddy

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We cruised the Getaway from Miami in April, on an Eastern Caribbean. Lovely ship and the staff were attentive, warm and friendly.

 

We loved the promenade deck and found this to be a great haven during the day. We're definitely going to miss that on our Epic cruise this June.

 

The smell of smoke from the Casino wasn't very pleasant and the pools weren't big enough for a ship this size. Apart from that, we loved it.

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