Getaway 16 May The Good, The Bad, The WT*

[Ericktina]

I am blonde (not naturally), but if that happened to me, I would just take it with a grain of salt. It would be a great story to laugh about.

While I agree it is not the end of the world, and it is a great story to tell in the future, the correct action on NCL's part would have been to get her a hair appointment in the spa IMMEDIATELY--particularly since it was the last night. Wine just does not do it.

[newmexicoNita]

Greetings

 

My SO and I returned from the 16 May cruise on Getaway. This is a quick summary of our trip.

 

The Good:

 

The boarding process went very smoothly. We arrived at the terminal around 10:20 and the check-in lines moved quickly. After just a few minutes we were upstairs awaiting the start of boarding. Boarding began at about 11:30 and we were on board at 11:45. We went up to the buffet for lunch, there were no big crowds as I was expecting to find. It was a very nice start to the week.

The ship is new, big, and beautiful. It carries about 4,000 passengers but it seldom seemed crowded. Yes, there were a few times everyone wanted to be in the same place, but for the most part it seemed no more crowded than the S-Class Celebrity ships we frequently sail. The pool area was always busy, but we always found loungers that were empty. There were old photos of Hemmingway and the Keys throughout the ship. It was fun just wandering around looking at all the photos (SO is a big fan of Papa).

 

The food was good, not spectacular. Our dinner at Le Bistro, the only premium venue we tried, came close to hitting the spectacular mark. A couple of items in the buffet were less than hot, but most items were fine. The lunches at the buffet did not change very much from day to day but there were plenty of choices. I was surprised that there were no carving stations at the lunch buffet. The prime rib at O’Sheehan’s was very tasty and lunches at Flamingo Grill were a nice change from standard fare. We only had one real issue with the food which I will touch on later.

 

Service was good throughout the week. Bars were busy but we never waited very long. The mojito bar was great. We met a lot of very nice people there.

We never met our cabin steward. He did a decent job, but he was not to be seen. Usually they introduce themselves at the start of the cruise, guess NCL does it differently.

 

The shows were quite good. We attended more shows on this cruise than usual because there was a good selection. All were well performed and were entertaining. At the Grammy show the poor singer’s mike was too low and she was overpowered by the music, but it was still a good show. My SO loved Burn the Floor. She wanted to go again, but we never got to it.

 

The ports are the ports. We have been to most of the ports so many times that now we cruise to have a relaxing time on a nice ship.

 

Debarkation was a breeze. We did the walk-off and it was the easiest we had for many cruises. We usually do walk-off and we have found it a bit unorganized on other cruises. Thecustoms lines were fast and we were in our car by 8:00AM.

 

The Bad:

 

It is a short list but let me cover some of the less than good moments.

 

On Tuesday night we ate in one of the regular dining rooms. They had a great sounding menu that included rack of lamb and chateaubriand. We decided to eat a bit lighter and selected the grilled grouper. What came had no relationship to grouper except they are both fish!!! We mentioned this to the waiter who said he was sure it was as listed but then the dining manager came over and said “she would inquire”. Next came the maître d who bashfully admitted it was not grouper but added that 95% of people do not know the difference. They offered another entrée but we had show reservations and did not have time to wait. If I had known it was “imitation grouper” I would have selected differently. In fact, here in Florida it is illegal to advertise grouper and serve/sell another fish. They were pulling a bait-and-switch hoping people would not notice.

 

Another minor dining issue was that the beverage servers were ok getting you an initial glass of wine, but you had to flag them down for a second glass. They seemed to be short staffed in this area.

 

The WT*:

 

Our final day was in Nassau. We decided to have an easy day. We let the crowds exit the ship, then we strolled into town and did one pass of the main street. We had just visited in December, so it was a stretch your legs and return to the ship kind of day. We decided to get cleaned up early and have the final sail-away with all our friends at the mojito bar then go directly to dinner. My SO got in the shower while I relaxed but soon my peaceful afternoon was shaken by a screaming/crying woman. The shower water had turned her hair green. Now I can tell you one thing, no matter how many time you tell a hysterical woman that she looks good with green hair and that you like the punk-rock style she does not hear you!!!!! She made a frantic call to customer relations where they said “we know of no problems with the water but we will get back to you”. She had green hair, the bottom of the shower was green and the shower walls were green. Something was amiss.

 

In reality, they were working on the water system and had water turned off on most the ship for maintenance. They perform this type of maintenance when most passengers are off the ship. They were in the process of restoring the water and had injected a major dose of chlorine which was to be flushed through the system. If you were unlucky enough to be taking your shower right at that time, well it wasn’t good.

 

Customer relations called back and said there had been no other reports of problems and they would “get back to her”. I had just strolled by the customer relations desk and saw an upset couple whose female member had green streaks in her hair. I stopped and chatted with her so she would know she wasn’t alone. I knew that my SO wasn’t the only unlucky person. After a considerable period of time, customer relations called and said there may have been an issue with the water and that they had tried to get her an appointment at the spa to correct her hair but no appointments were available. They said she should put ketchup in her hair and let it set for 20-30 minutes then wash it out. My SO was not happy, but she agreed to try the remedy. They sent down ketchup (we don’t normally keep any emergency ketchup in the cabin). My SO noticed that the steward had a tray full of ketchup bottles. Now maybe there were a number of room service orders for French fries where they had forgotten to provide ketchup, but I doubt it. There were several cruisers requiring “ketchup treatment”. The ketchup trick turned her hair from bright green to pale green but mainly just left her smelling like tomatoes.

 

Another call to customer relations followed by another “we will get back to you”. They finally got her an appointment at the spa – at 8:30 pm. At the spa she met some very nice fellow cruisers all with similar stories. Her stylist at the spa told her not to worry that this happens all the time and customer relations sends the ladies up and that he knew exactly what to do!!!!! So much for the “this has never happened before" claim. She emerged from the spa returned to her “natural” state just after 10:00pm.

 

The ordeal started a little before 3:00pm. Seven hours of our final evening lost never to return. Customer relations did keep sending her no charge glasses of wine (we had the UBP) even though the UBP does not include room service wine (there was no room service fee either). It was an unforgettable ending to the cruise.

 

Summary:

 

All in all we had a nice vacation. It did not exactly end on a high note, but we were on a nice ship with good drinks, decent food, and there were some great people we met along the way. While I would gladly try another NCL cruise, my SO may take some convincing. Maybe I could promise to bring extra ketchup.

 

Good Sailing

Tom

 

Thanks for your review: I am still smiling about the fish: no resemblance to grouper except they were both fish, are you sure?

[david_sobe]

Great review

Love the details.....sorry to hear about the hair mess. But wonderful that NCL sent everyone to the spa :)

[hansolosmom]

Thank you for sharing your story and the pretty good trip you had. I'm taking my mom & sister on Breakawy in March and we're really not planning on doing much in Nassau. I'll make sure though none of us take a shower while the ship is empty so we don't run into the same issue ;)

[Wendy&Grumpy]

I'm so sorry this happened to you. I hope you can look back on this incident years from now and laugh. I wonder what the room steward thought when given all those bottles of ketchup to deliver. I really question that "this happens all the time". If that were true I would think they'd find a better way to handle water system maintenance.

 

I'm guessing her "this happens all the time" was a reference to the basic blonde hair turning green experience. It's a VERY common occurrence for blondes who swim in chlorinated water a lot. Pools and hot tubs are highly chlorinated... but it's not actually the chlorine that turns hair green.

 

Here's an explanation for those who aren't aware of the science of it:

 

http://io9.com/5798825/why-does-pool-water-turn-your-hair-green-the-statue-of-liberty-holds-the-answer

 

After a week on a cruise, in and out of pools and hot tubs, there probably are a lot of Kermit impersonators!

 

I wonder too if flushing out the system doesn't also dislodge sediments -including copper - in the water system. A higher level of these sediments in the water would certainly turn hair greener quicker!

Edited June 1, 2015 by Wendy&Grumpy

[macneill61]

Greetings

 

My SO and I returned from the 16 May cruise on Getaway. This is a quick summary of our trip.

 

The Good:

 

The boarding process went very smoothly. We arrived at the terminal around 10:20 and the check-in lines moved quickly. After just a few minutes we were upstairs awaiting the start of boarding. Boarding began at about 11:30 and we were on board at 11:45. We went up to the buffet for lunch, there were no big crowds as I was expecting to find. It was a very nice start to the week.

The ship is new, big, and beautiful. It carries about 4,000 passengers but it seldom seemed crowded. Yes, there were a few times everyone wanted to be in the same place, but for the most part it seemed no more crowded than the S-Class Celebrity ships we frequently sail. The pool area was always busy, but we always found loungers that were empty. There were old photos of Hemmingway and the Keys throughout the ship. It was fun just wandering around looking at all the photos (SO is a big fan of Papa).

 

The food was good, not spectacular. Our dinner at Le Bistro, the only premium venue we tried, came close to hitting the spectacular mark. A couple of items in the buffet were less than hot, but most items were fine. The lunches at the buffet did not change very much from day to day but there were plenty of choices. I was surprised that there were no carving stations at the lunch buffet. The prime rib at O’Sheehan’s was very tasty and lunches at Flamingo Grill were a nice change from standard fare. We only had one real issue with the food which I will touch on later.

 

Service was good throughout the week. Bars were busy but we never waited very long. The mojito bar was great. We met a lot of very nice people there.

We never met our cabin steward. He did a decent job, but he was not to be seen. Usually they introduce themselves at the start of the cruise, guess NCL does it differently.

 

The shows were quite good. We attended more shows on this cruise than usual because there was a good selection. All were well performed and were entertaining. At the Grammy show the poor singer’s mike was too low and she was overpowered by the music, but it was still a good show. My SO loved Burn the Floor. She wanted to go again, but we never got to it.

 

The ports are the ports. We have been to most of the ports so many times that now we cruise to have a relaxing time on a nice ship.

 

Debarkation was a breeze. We did the walk-off and it was the easiest we had for many cruises. We usually do walk-off and we have found it a bit unorganized on other cruises. Thecustoms lines were fast and we were in our car by 8:00AM.

 

The Bad:

 

It is a short list but let me cover some of the less than good moments.

 

On Tuesday night we ate in one of the regular dining rooms. They had a great sounding menu that included rack of lamb and chateaubriand. We decided to eat a bit lighter and selected the grilled grouper. What came had no relationship to grouper except they are both fish!!! We mentioned this to the waiter who said he was sure it was as listed but then the dining manager came over and said “she would inquire”. Next came the maître d who bashfully admitted it was not grouper but added that 95% of people do not know the difference. They offered another entrée but we had show reservations and did not have time to wait. If I had known it was “imitation grouper” I would have selected differently. In fact, here in Florida it is illegal to advertise grouper and serve/sell another fish. They were pulling a bait-and-switch hoping people would not notice.

 

Another minor dining issue was that the beverage servers were ok getting you an initial glass of wine, but you had to flag them down for a second glass. They seemed to be short staffed in this area.

 

The WT*:

 

Our final day was in Nassau. We decided to have an easy day. We let the crowds exit the ship, then we strolled into town and did one pass of the main street. We had just visited in December, so it was a stretch your legs and return to the ship kind of day. We decided to get cleaned up early and have the final sail-away with all our friends at the mojito bar then go directly to dinner. My SO got in the shower while I relaxed but soon my peaceful afternoon was shaken by a screaming/crying woman. The shower water had turned her hair green. Now I can tell you one thing, no matter how many time you tell a hysterical woman that she looks good with green hair and that you like the punk-rock style she does not hear you!!!!! She made a frantic call to customer relations where they said “we know of no problems with the water but we will get back to you”. She had green hair, the bottom of the shower was green and the shower walls were green. Something was amiss.

 

In reality, they were working on the water system and had water turned off on most the ship for maintenance. They perform this type of maintenance when most passengers are off the ship. They were in the process of restoring the water and had injected a major dose of chlorine which was to be flushed through the system. If you were unlucky enough to be taking your shower right at that time, well it wasn’t good.

 

Customer relations called back and said there had been no other reports of problems and they would “get back to her”. I had just strolled by the customer relations desk and saw an upset couple whose female member had green streaks in her hair. I stopped and chatted with her so she would know she wasn’t alone. I knew that my SO wasn’t the only unlucky person. After a considerable period of time, customer relations called and said there may have been an issue with the water and that they had tried to get her an appointment at the spa to correct her hair but no appointments were available. They said she should put ketchup in her hair and let it set for 20-30 minutes then wash it out. My SO was not happy, but she agreed to try the remedy. They sent down ketchup (we don’t normally keep any emergency ketchup in the cabin). My SO noticed that the steward had a tray full of ketchup bottles. Now maybe there were a number of room service orders for French fries where they had forgotten to provide ketchup, but I doubt it. There were several cruisers requiring “ketchup treatment”. The ketchup trick turned her hair from bright green to pale green but mainly just left her smelling like tomatoes.

 

Another call to customer relations followed by another “we will get back to you”. They finally got her an appointment at the spa – at 8:30 pm. At the spa she met some very nice fellow cruisers all with similar stories. Her stylist at the spa told her not to worry that this happens all the time and customer relations sends the ladies up and that he knew exactly what to do!!!!! So much for the “this has never happened before" claim. She emerged from the spa returned to her “natural” state just after 10:00pm.

 

The ordeal started a little before 3:00pm. Seven hours of our final evening lost never to return. Customer relations did keep sending her no charge glasses of wine (we had the UBP) even though the UBP does not include room service wine (there was no room service fee either). It was an unforgettable ending to the cruise.

 

Summary:

 

All in all we had a nice vacation. It did not exactly end on a high note, but we were on a nice ship with good drinks, decent food, and there were some great people we met along the way. While I would gladly try another NCL cruise, my SO may take some convincing. Maybe I could promise to bring extra ketchup.

 

Good Sailing

Tom

wow now I know not to take a shower while in port in Nassau i'll be on the getaway in 2 weeks

[sweetpee_1993]

O.M.G.

 

I would DIE. I would be beyond inconsolable or hysterical. It'd be awful. They'd need to be sending me room service shots in 3's. I am now terrified to shower in port. :eek:

[dotti]

Thank you for sharing your story and the pretty good trip you had. I'm taking my mom & sister on Breakawy in March and we're really not planning on doing much in Nassau. I'll make sure though none of us take a shower while the ship is empty so we don't run into the same issue ;)

 

there are wonderful snorkel , scuba excursions, in the wonderfully clear water.

this is where they did all the underwater filming of a couple James Bond films.

there may be great deals on liqueurs and liquors at the shops on the main street

 

have fun

 

we will be on the NCL Getaway , oct 17 for the first time

[vacation luvver]

I did not find the story about the green hair the least bit funny. I am horrified. I don't know what's going on with the NCL PTB that they couldn't be bothered to put in the newsletter that they were going to be treating the water between this time and that time, and people should refrain from showering and drinking tap water. Instead, they just said to themselves, "So some people wind up with green hair. So what? Who cares? Not us!"

 

I have read that people with blonde or highlighted hair who intend to swim in chlorinated water should first thoroughly coat their hair with a sunscreen whose name has the word "Baby" or "Babies" in it so as to minimize greenness.