Family of 5 on Getaway 5/9-5/16

[savannah2117]

Just getting home and settled after a great week and thought I'd write a quick review...

Myself and DH took our 3 kids, son-age 23 and daughters age 17 and 21. We booked 2 inside cabins on the 5th floor and as you probably know, these cabins weren't included in the UDP or UBP perks.

 

Precruise We flew into Ft. Lauderdale and we stayed at the Rodeway Inn for a Priceline deal of $65. The room had 2 queens and a tile floor--(I'll just stay a few of the family members didn't sleep so well!) I prebooked our transporation with KMC transportation from the hotel to the cruise port and then back to the Ft. Lauderdale airport. We felt they were attentive and affordable. ($140 RT for all 5 of us.)

Embarkation and disembarkation: We arrived at about 11:45am and got on the ship in about 20-30 minutes. We ate a O-Sheehans while we waited for our rooms to be ready. Disembarking was a breeze.

 

Staff and Ship: We thought the staff was really friendly and helpful-- lots of smiles and acknowledgement wherever we went. The ship is beautiful and super clean. As others have commented, we did notice the smoke when walking near the casino on deck 7 and 8. (it really wasn't a problem for us).

 

Fellow Passengers: We felt like it was a really diversified group: young families with babies, a few school age kids, some young adults, young married couples, middle age people, and a few elderly people. We met people from India, China, Europe, Miami, Arizona, Canada, and lots of other places!! We saw lots of people we having fun and enjoying their vacation--no real crazy, wild behavior. (but then we do go to bed rather early!)

 

Shows: We liked to atrium shows the best, especially the Newlywed game and the Dancing with the Getaway stars. Hilarious!!!! We thought the Glow Party was super neat and the kids liked the fireworks with the 80's night. (we were too tired and didn't make it back for the fireworks) Our favorite show was Burn the Floor--that show leaves you shaking your head in absolute amazement/ The other shows we attended were the Eric Buss-the magic show and one 7pm comedy in the Headliners venue.

 

***Here's my biggest complaint about the Getaway*** You need to reserve your shows right away!!--like right when you get on board. We didn't realize this until a couple of days into the cruise and almost every show was booked, especially the comedy shows. There were many disappointed and frustrated people at the guest service area who weren't able to get tickets to shows. We had never been on NCL before and didn't know this. It wasn't a deal breaker for having a good vacation but it definitely was frustrating to not get seats for many of the shows we wanted to see.

 

Food: We did complimentary dining and thought it was pretty good. DH didn't think is was as good as our other cruises but the kids and I thought it was good. The buffet food is very good-- I just didn't like the buffet because of the crowds. It's crazy there all the time, people everywhere--again, not a deal-breaker but it caused a fair amount of frustration on the trip. (Definitely go during off hours to minimize the crowds.)

 

A food highlight was on the last sea day. My DH was asking about guacamole all week and couldn't find any place that had it. He asked a cook at the buffett and he told him to "wait, I'll be right back". He reappeared a few minutes later with a freshed made bowl of guacamole that he prepared just for him. Yea!!!--that really made my hubby's day.

 

Activities: We enjoyed the water slides, the ropes course, the trampoline bouncie thing, Zumba and the pools, hot tubs. **Here's a shoutout to Christian, the Zumba instructor, he is fun and you should definitely go if you like Zumba. (also if you just want to try it, what a beautiful place to make a fun memory)

 

Ports:

 

St Thomas: We rented a car and went to Coki beach--our entire family enjoyed this day. (cost for a SUV for 5 people was about $90)

 

Tortola: Private tour to the baths. I'm not going to recommend doing the baths with this tour guy. I contacted him the week before (saw his name on CC) and he told us to get "right off the ship". We then waited for 1 1/2 hours for him to drum up more business, (eerrrr!!!) The boat we took wasn't very powerful--it took 1 hour and 20 minutes, almost everyone got seasick and then he got us a taxi to the Baths--we finally arrived and they were absolutely AMAZING!!!-- like the coolest thing I think I've ever done in my entire life.I wish we could have stayed longer. He had a taxi ready for us at 2pm got to his boat by 230pm. We were nervous that it took another hour + to get back to the ship. We arrived at 3:40pm (final boarding was at 3:30pm) Everyone aboard was from the Getaway, (about 20 people) and was frustrated by the close call. If I had to do it again, I think we would have taken the ferry by ourselves to maximize our time at the Baths. We talked with other passengers who also felt rushed by the NCL tour as well as another private tour trip. It is really beautiful and worth the effort to get there. DO IT!!!

Nassau- My husband and I were approached by a taxi/tour guy and did a city tour for $25. It was okay. Our kids just walked to Junkanoo Beach and did shopping.

 

Final thoughts: We are easy going people who are easy to please so we had a great vacation; we didn't let little things bug us. The negatives of the crowds and the show "sell outs" were a bit frustrating but we figured out ways to mostly avoid it being a continual problem. We felt like we were able to have a great vacation without needing to purchase all the extras. All three of the kids had fun and met people to hangout with, they loved the cruise!! The main goal was to spend time as a family and relax. Mission accomplished!!

[PCLMassachusetts]

Thanks for the review and good job not letting the little things ruin your vacation as too many on here appear to do.

[MandyMommyof2]

Such a wonderful review!!!! :) I really enjoyed reading it. We are sailing on the Getaway in July. I have already booked our Legally Blonde and Burn the Floor shows. Do I have to wait to book the comedy shows on board? I am really wanting to see the Newlywed game!! My husband and I have been to St. Thomas and are really wanting our girls and parents to see Coki Beach. If you don't mind, which car rental place did you use and was it difficult to find on your own? We are planning the Bath excursion but the one through NCL. My youngest is staying on the ship with my Mom and Dad for this one. We plan on taking advantage of just complimentary dining and totally "freestyling" it ;) We did get the beverage package when we booked.

[NLH Arizona]

A food highlight was on the last sea day. My DH was asking about guacamole all week and couldn't find any place that had it. He asked a cook at the buffett and he told him to "wait, I'll be right back". He reappeared a few minutes later with a freshed made bowl of guacamole that he prepared just for him. Yea!!!--that really made my hubby's day.

 

That is way cool!

[aquarianne11]

Precruise We flew into Ft. Lauderdale and we stayed at the Rodeway Inn for a Priceline deal of $65. The room had 2 queens and a tile floor--(I'll just stay a few of the family members didn't sleep so well!) I prebooked our transporation with KMC transportation from the hotel to the cruise port and then back to the Ft. Lauderdale airport. We felt they were attentive and affordable. ($140 RT for all 5 of us.)

 

Ports:

 

St Thomas: We rented a car and went to Coki beach--our entire family enjoyed this day. (cost for a SUV for 5 people was about $90)

 

Tortola: Private tour to the baths. I'm not going to recommend doing the baths with this tour guy. I contacted him the week before (saw his name on CC) and he told us to get "right off the ship". We then waited for 1 1/2 hours for him to drum up more business, (eerrrr!!!) The boat we took wasn't very powerful--it took 1 hour and 20 minutes, almost everyone got seasick and then he got us a taxi to the Baths--we finally arrived and they were absolutely AMAZING!!!-- like the coolest thing I think I've ever done in my entire life.I wish we could have stayed longer. He had a taxi ready for us at 2pm got to his boat by 230pm. We were nervous that it took another hour + to get back to the ship. We arrived at 3:40pm (final boarding was at 3:30pm) Everyone aboard was from the Getaway, (about 20 people) and was frustrated by the close call. If I had to do it again, I think we would have taken the ferry by ourselves to maximize our time at the Baths. We talked with other passengers who also felt rushed by the NCL tour as well as another private tour trip. It is really beautiful and worth the effort to get there. DO IT!!!

Nassau- My husband and I were approached by a taxi/tour guy and did a city tour for $25. It was okay. Our kids just walked to Junkanoo Beach and did shopping.

 

I enjoyed reading your wonderful review. Thank you! We will have the same itinerary for our December Escape cruise so I am very thankful that you included details about your pre-cruise experience and the ports.

 

Too bad about the Tortola/Baths tour, I would have been so stressed for sure. DD and I are prone to seasickness, we are okay on the big ships but catamarans and small boats aren't very compatible with us. Did you notice the size of the boat that was used for the NCL tour to the Baths? Thanks.

[Cruise-Crazy]

Thanks for the review! I will be there in less than two weeks.

[marshabear]

we have pre reserved Burn the Floor and Legally Blonde but no option to book the comedy and other shows....so you are saying once we board the ship, we need to book these other shows????

 

 

 

 

 

Marsha

[savannah2117]

I'm not too good at using the quote features, (or much else!) on CC, so I'll try to group the answers.

 

YES!! If you want to see the comedy shows, I would say go to one of the interactive boards shortly after boarding. They are usually near the elevators and you can select each day, (i think that is how it was) and the entertainment options available and then get your reservation in.

 

We used Avis rental car, it is about 1 block from the cruise ship port. You can find them by doing a St Thomas search. I will say, this was the biggest pain in the butt thing I did before the cruise, trying to get a rental car secured. Avis was helpful, the rest of the ones I called didn't want to bring it to the cruise ship port. I think that will be the longest lasting memory of the cruise, the four of us reminding dad to "Get to the Left!!" Boy, did the kids enjoy coaching Dad from the back seat!! (Probably getting even from those memories of having a learner's permit and having him micro-manage their driving!! LOL)

 

I didn't see the NCL boat that did the Baths. I heard their were about 240 people that did the tour, not sure how many boats they took. I did talk with someone who did the swim-in tour. They were frustrated that they couldn't take their camera along or their sunglasses, towels, ect. That might be something to consider. Again, I'm not too computer savy so I don't think I'll be able to post pictures but if you do a search of The Baths, Virgin Gorda you'll see lots of images to give you an idea. I think it's probably a good decision to not take a little one on that excursion. We saw people carrying strollers and several crying kids who just didn't want to walk, heck my 17 year old got a bit whiny and even cried a couple of times. :O I can testify from previous travel experiences, kids aren't always as enthusiastic as mom and dad about sightseeing.

 

Have a great trip everyone!! I'm trying to get back to real life, sigh...

Edited May 19, 2015 by savannah2117

[savannah2117]

if anyone is interested, I did a more detailed review of St. Thomas and getting a rental car there as well as our Baths experience. You'll find them in the port forum under St. Thomas and Tortola.;)

[dairyou]

Im so glad you had a great time. We leave in 2 weeks :) We usually go during off season and our two boys now 21 and 23 are bored. One of son is shy and my other is the social butterfly. Were there a lot of your kids age group on board? Was your son able to find plenty of people to hang out with?

 

We are excited for them to have a wonderful time!

 

Thank you so much for your report. It our second time on NCL. The last ship we were on was the Sun.

 

deb

[savannah2117]

I'm not really sure how many college age "kids" were on the ship, they found people to hang out with, i never really saw the kids with others, but they mentioned a few other passengers. I would guess in early June there would be LOTS of families with all kids of all ages.

 

I don't think the kids liked the enterainment that much but they seemed happy and content. When we went on a family cruise 7 years ago, I worried about if they would meet people or have fun. This cruise, I didn't waste any energy on it. We spent a little time as a family, (doing the ropes course, eating some breakfasts together, dinner and the shore excursions) and the rest of the time, they did their thing and we did ours.

 

You'll have a great time! Don't forget to take some family pictures. We only got one on the last night of dinner. I really wish we would have taken a family picture on the beach. (we were just chill'n and having fun.)

Edited May 24, 2015 by savannah2117

[dairyou]

I'm not really sure how many college age "kids" were on the ship, they found people to hang out with, i never really saw the kids with others, but they mentioned a few other passengers. I would guess in early June there would be LOTS of families with all kids of all ages.

 

I don't think the kids liked the enterainment that much but they seemed happy and content. When we went on a family cruise 7 years ago, I worried about if they would meet people or have fun. This cruise, I didn't waste any energy on it. We spent a little time as a family, (doing the ropes course, eating some breakfasts together, dinner and the shore excursions) and the rest of the time, they did their thing and we did ours.

 

You'll have a great time! Don't forget to take some family pictures. We only got one on the last night of dinner. I really wish we would have taken a family picture on the beach. (we were just chill'n and having fun.)

 

thank you for your wise words. yes, our kids are at the age too where we meet maybe once a day (at least) for dinner. it makes taking pictures hard to take :)

 

i hope they have as much fun as your kids! your trip sounded wonderful!

 

thanks again,

deb

[savannah2117]

My son (age 23) finally got the video put together of the cruise. ( he posted it under my login). This video is from his perspective and I would have organized it a bit different but it is a really nice memory for our family. I will apologize in advance, there are LOTS of pictures of us and only some of the ship.

 

As a side, personal note, our 21 year old daughter just got engaged to her highschool boyfriend. Yea! we are having a wedding in just 6 weeks. Haha, more pictures to take!:)