May 16 Getaway review- balcony cabin

[kac911]

First, about us - we have cruised 6 times, 4 Disney and 2 RCCL. Married, early 40s, no kids. This is in order by day, but within the days it’s in the order I thought of it, so sorry if stuff is out of order AND if there are typos!

Day 1 - We arrived to Miami port about 1200 via rental car shuttle from the airport, as first time NCL cruisers the line was pretty long but moved quickly. We were on board about 40 mins later. As with all cruise lines they try to get your photo as you get on, we just bypassed this and kept walking. Got on board and went to the ticket window to book a couple shows, but found the monitors there and used them, they were much faster. They announced the rooms ready about 130 but when we got to ours a few minutes later it was not ready, we dropped our bags and left. As with all cruises, the most crowded you will see things is day 1, people everywhere. We had the drink package so we got to work, hit the mojito bar, they were slow in coming but tasty (over time we thought inside was slower than outside). Thanks to this forum we knew to go to Flamingos for lunch, yum! Especially liked the pork, rice and black beans one regret of the trip was not eating there more. We did the spa tour but it was (as they all tend to be) a pushy sales pitch, although more pushy than some). We returned later for the sap drawing, they gave away credits of $50, $100, $150 and $200 so worthwhile, and not a ton of people there. But we didn’t win; spa prices were regular (expensive) cruise prices but they did have some decedent deals the first day. We tried to get into Vibe to see it, so we could see if we were interested but they even have it locked down day 1. We did like the bar just outside it, but it did get windy and cold at times. 430 safety drill, as always a waste of time, more seemingly disorganized than others. We arrived early so we could get a seat, if you are late plan to stand or floor sit. We felt some movement of the ship this day, it wasn’t really rocking but more of a vibration, because it was kind of windy we think it was that the shape of the ship (very boxy, not so aerodynamic) was subject to being tossed by the wind a bit. The room was clean, pretty tight, tiny balcony but really had a lot of storage, more than I am used to and I thought the shower (we just had a “regular” shower was actually a decent size and pretty much always had good water pressure and hot water. By early evening there really wasn’t a wait at the bars. We did O Sheehans the first night for prime rib, it was huge, and good. We also had a few appetizers and they were fair. We hit the dueling piano bar that night and meet the star of the ship at the bar, Lily. Wow, best staffer on the ship! We requested some songs from the get go but probably since we didn’t give them a dollar or 2 alongside we never heard our songs, we left about 1230. It was a good time, but just as you would expect if you have EVER been to a dueling piano bar. The UBP- super easy to use, a few times we gave them an extra dollar or 2 of cash and a few times we added it to the check, others we figured out 18% was plenty; depended on the service.

 

Day 2-We did the buffet for breakfast, it was crowded. I also found the cluster effect to be odd. There were lines but sometimes people waited in them, other times they didn’t so you would go from one thing to the next and not be able to get to it. Many of the stations have the same thing, but then all of a sudden there will be something different. It was pretty basic breakfast, we thought somewhat limited. We did the meet & mingle, they provided a light snack and the officers were there, very friendly & helpful and gave you cards with their contact info on it to call if you needed anything. Hands down the most accessible crew on any of my cruises, once you met them they even seemed to recall you and would say hi as you saw them around the ship. We really got to know O’Neill (Beverage manager) and he was great, helped me find a bartender to make a specific drink for me. Lunch was at Taste, it was OK, it’s lovely inside. A word about the Spicy Passion Mojito, it was very think and pretty spicy, way to hard to drink a whole one d/t the combo but fun to try (thanks UBP), I did very much like the cucumber jalapeno one. We got invited to the captain’s cocktail party that night, again lots of crew interaction and drinks. It was very windy this day, and more vibration of the ship (worse than night 1). I get pretty seasick, I was wearing a patch but didn’t think this was the kind of motion that would make me queasy it was also kind of noisy. If you want a quiet space, we found the library rarely had anyone there, and in addition to books they had daily games (crossword, Sudoku and trivia). We ate dinner at Tropicana, the live music did give it a super club feel and people were dancing. A few minutes wait, but really that was just for someone to free up to seat us. The food was good (this was our overall assessment of the food, good – a few not so good items and others were excellent but overall good). The steak was overcooked a bit. All over the ship they had spots set up to do photos, but it was really annoying because they were in all the walkways. This was dress up night and some were formal but not even the majority. We saw Burn the Floor, I was very glad we had a reservation to get good seats, it filled up pretty quickly (15 mins ahead, good luck). That was a great show, so much energy, amazing singers, good music, incredible dancing.

 

Day 3- again at sea. Breakfast was a Savor, basics but fine. We did the Cabin crawl, so kind of people to open their rooms for this (Thank you!), and fun to see the different cabins, especially impressed with the singles area. Lunch at Flamingos again. Dinner was at the noodle bar, this was by far the longest wait for food, we waited 35-40 mins, but we had a pager so we went and had a drink while we waited. We enjoyed the meal, the food came very quickly; but overall it was good. We watched deal or no deal, and decided to play. But unless you get picked to go up there it’s just so so, it is easy and unlike Bingo, I think it would be just as fun to watch and NOT play. We did get a free bingo card for later in eth cruise with our deal or no deal purchase. We did the comedy show that night and enjoyed it (and Lily again).

 

Day 4- St Thomas. Breakfast at Savor was slow. We did the ship tout to St John and island tour. It was disappointing, we generally don’t have the best luck with ship tours but with 3 big ships in town that day we were a bit nervous about trying to get back from St John ourselves and this seemed so easy. Nice boat ride over, captain gives a lot of good info about what you are seeing. Once there we were sent to the correct bus and despite there having been a bathroom on the ship, we immediately made a restroom stop for 10 mins; they should have said go on the boat and not stopped. Then we drive around awhile, the guide is decent, stops a few places to look over. And we get back to the ferry port about 40 mins early, so rather than drive us an extra 40 mins he dropped us off early for “shopping” he said (the tour was NOT advertised with shopping, I hate to shop and might not have signed up) and then he says that it’s also because he has to ensure we are back in time and we can’t just show up at the time to leave, but the other groups that shared the ferry with us (snorkelers, beach people & hikers all did). And we were back to the ship right on time as advertised (which was earlier than I would have designed it, but we learned they then had to go get passengers from the Oasis of the seas for their tour so if ours had been scheduled longer they could not have done 2 in one day). It was the length advertised, except the island tour that lets you off early. We were back so early they didn’t really have all the welcome back on board stuff out yet. Had lunch once back on board at Garden Café, same “is there a line or not” issue. There we definitely a line at the pasts station though. Keep walking and every now & again there will be something different. We got back off and walked the local shops, now they were set up for our return with drinks and cool towels. This evening we did the magic show in the big theater, again glad to have a reservation to get in “early” while there were still seats, although we did learn if you go last minute to the left side (as you face the stage) they give up the unfilled seats form the large block of Haven seats they had set aside. The show was good but cheesy. Dinner Tropicana, good. Fireworks were nice.

 

Weds Tortola day. Breakfast at O’Sheehans, they have a limited menu but it was pretty quick. We arrived to port early and were let off ship early, had we know this it would have changed things but because we had just sat down to breakfast we didn’t really get off the ship early enough to affect things. Plan was ferry on our own to Virgin Gorda. The port is very much under construction still, to get to the ferry dock go left once out of the ship and just keep following it around, through parking lots, etc. Just past a little area of colorful ships in the ferry dock. We just missed the 745 ferry but if we had gotten off at 730 we would’ve made it (we got off about 745 and got to port about 755). So we waited, bummer. We then got a taxi once at Virgin Gordo and he drove us over, we wanted to be early to beat the crowds and we somewhat made it, had we been on the earlier ferry it would have been awesome. They were neat, beautiful. But after we walked down (a pretty easy walk down, the baths themselves have some tight spots) and went inside the Baths the crowds from the ship started to show up in droves. They did have a guide with them who were giving nice info on what they were seeing but they were in masses. And because people are going both ways it was hard at times to get around. I would have liked to spend a bit more time here but just too many people. Nice little area for hanging in the water on the far side, some snorkeling. Water temp was great to cool off but still warm. Not really anywhere to leave your dry stuff though. There is then a beach, pretty crowded. Then we walked up. Small area to wash off your feet (2 taps but only one worked) and our driver was waiting for us (we got there about 15 mins early). He then drove us to the old copper mine to take a short hike around, and drove us all over the (small) island, it was a nice tour. Then we caught the ferry back to Tortola. It was $30 for the boat and $65 for our taxi to the baths and including the island tour of about an hour. Once back to Tortola we tried to hire a cab to drive us around for another 1 ½ or so but 2 taxi stands said all the cabs were sold out (and there really were not any waiting around so I think the influx of cruise passengers uses them all up). Lunch at O’Sheehans, good burger & good fish and chips. We wanted to do the water slides and they were empty this afternoon. We started on the circular curly Q one, it sucked! It was a little claustrophobic but the fast round and round made me so nauseous, I got off thinking I might vomit and all I wanted to do was sit and recoup . Hubby didn’t feel sick like I did, but hated it too. Hubby then did the one the floor drops out (I was still too ill) and enjoyed that one, I regret I didn’t do it, and he thought I would’ve liked it; scary but way better. Went to Spice H2O and cooled off in the mister waterfall thing, it was COLD, although it felt good. Again, while there were some people in lounge chairs it was pretty empty. We liked this area, nice and secluded; we hate that on the 2 newer Disney ships the adult area is a walkway and there are always kids going through. Not so here. Our room steward, barely saw him, far less than on any prior cruise. But he did what he needed to do and gave us towel animals. They have a neat lite feature where you push a switch to say you are in the room or out so he can tell by looking at the night, this is rather than a traditional doorknob sign. In addition to the bottle of Prosecco and chocolate strawberries we got day 1, we got strawberries or other mini desserts 2 more times (we were kind of there as guests of NCL). I wanted to take advantage of the ice cream in garden café and make a root beer float, but root beer is not a standard drink on the ship and only comes in cans, but they were kind enough to give it to me as part of the UBP (I’m guessing canned sodas are not included, certainly not the room mini bar). Room service- there was no menu in the room at all, but there was info about the 7.95 fee; I met a lady in the hall who was trying to find a menu as well because she also didn’t have one. Overall, weather and seas were great, very calm. We watched Legally Blonde this night, less crowds than past shows. I thought it reminded me of a high school play, just fair. We started to notice that some of the bars close kind of early, and it seemed the non smoking ones were the ones that closed first. Overall we noticed a fair amount of smoking on the ship (as people have said, especially the casino) but also the bars on the one side. We also noticed a lot of children, I even got into a conversation with a gal at a show about the number of kids everywhere. We are used to doing Disney, but WAY more kids here, or Disney just does a better job of entertaining them so they are occupied. Dinner was at taste, best meal of the cruise – the gnocchi were SO good! Service was efficient and this was also the nicest server we had, most of the rest just sort of did their job. Piano bar again this evening but it sort of lacked energy.

 

Thursday sea day- slept in. I sleep very well on boats. Did mini golf, kids running all over and not playing in turn. We encountered a few grumpy old people, at one point our favorite bartender even apologized to us for one of the other passengers. You can never find a trashcan, we found it very difficult. The Salt & pepper shakers at most meals didn’t work. It was the last cruise for Sassy (Sally) who was super fun at Bingo. Asst cruise director Tyler was promoted to cruise director on Sky after this cruise so he pretty much did everything and we barely saw Joel. But I think I liked Tyler’s spunk better so it was ok! I forget who was new Asst Cruise director but he was great too. We had diner at Cagneys this evening. We made the reservation Monday morning, when I called there were limited openings so I took 930, although it got posted as 945. But we were early and were sitting at the bar having a drink (and I saw the Brazilian cheese bread walk by and commented on it and they gave us a basket as we sat at the bar!!), as we sat we noted all the empty seats so we checked in early and they seated us right away, this was 1bout 815. That was nice. We didn’t finish our steak and the covered the plate beautifully for us to take back to the room for breakfast. Grammy show- Shannon McNally was playing, she’s folky blues music. Nice personality. Enjoyed that show a lot, went twice, by the end of the cruise it was empty and you practically had a private concert. Lots of live music all over the ship, I’d never seen that on any other cruise and it was great. Did the ice bar, very cold but tolerable, very empty, glad we did it although I didn’t love any of the drinks. Sometimes it was hard to get an elevator, we probably used the stairs about half the time. Room was on floor 13 so unless we were coming up from 6 it was doable, and we walked off some of the alcohol calories!

 

Friday Nassau- we got in early here too and were able to get off early. Fun to watch the ship come into the port especially. We were able to get off about 30 mins earlier than advertised. We walked to catch a bus (main street in town just before the ice cream place) and took it to Arwak Cay (AKA fish fry). Meet a nice gal who worked in one of the places getting off. Walked around, scoped it out. Picked one and went and had drinks and conch fritters. It was pricey, fritters were good but not a lot of conch. But I’d been wanting to do this, and as I’ve been to this port a number of times I didn’t need to see much else. We opted to walk back, easy walk, maybe 20-30 mins along the water. Hubby rock climbed, short wait. We both did the ropes course, I was hanging on for dear life at first. But once I got the nag of it and learned to hang onto my tether instead of the walls it got much easier and I got comfortable. I wish we had done it earlier so we could have done it multiple times. It’s one of the neatest things I’ve done on a ship, fantastic! Not sure I’d like it one a windy day. Spent some time at the pool great people watching. Lunch was at Garden Café again, it was fine. Dinner at Tropicana again, we ordered a TON of dishes as so much on the menu looked good and we hadn’t been too gluttonous. Most were good, there was something (I can’t recall) that I just really thought was bad and one thing (again, can’t recall what) that was very good). Ended with a last night of dueling pianos and Lily. We went back to the room maybe midnight, finished packing and put the bags out. Unlike other ships I’ve been on what was great about this was they didn’t have a time bags had to be out by, so it was way more convenient to a slightly later night (and coming from California we are 3 hours ahead).

 

Sat home day- we didn’t have our fight home until nearly 8pm. So we decided to do the ships hop on hop off (hoho) bus tour of Miami with airport transfer. We meet in the theater to get escorted off the ship (ie no waiting in line with the “regular” folk and getting off was quick, our baggage was in a special easy to get to area for us as well. Through customs, put our luggage with special tags on the truck and got on the bus. They took us to the main hoho bus station and gave us our options. They had busses to the airport every hour, last at 430 (which we took). So they helped you plan your day accordingly. If you went continuously I think you could have been done by maybe 230. We got off for lunch in little Havana so that cost some time, and we also got off on South Beach to walk around for a bit. And unfortunately they aren’t exactly timed well because we got back to the mail station to take the 3rd tour and had to wait an hour. There is somewhat of a mall there while you wait. But we did get to do all 3, back to the terminal by 4, waited till 430, got our bags off the truck and loaded onto the airport bus. It was pretty easy, stress free. Just annoying that we had to wait an hour. The live guide buses are definitely the best. They did have rain ponchos on board (it lightly rained so they offered them out). And because it was a holiday weekend the South Beach route was a little messed up, and because it was the start of a new season they didn’t have updated maps with the correct stops for us. I believe the company was the Big Red Bus.

 

Overall-

Ship –A

Service- B-

Food –B

Activities- B (always something going on in the atrium)

Shows- C+ (marked down for legally blonde primarily)

Drinks/Bars – B+ (strong and plentiful but bars could be better staffed, each just had 1 person making everything and they closed early a lot)

I’ve learned for something like a Caribbean cruise, you need one of these newer big ships with lots to offer and NCL certainly provided that. For something like the Med where it’s more a floating hotel a smaller ship is fine. I was worried I’d feel nickel and dimed (as I have on RCL), but I didn’t so much I think in large part to having the UBP and there being so many free dining options (even if they had the same menu the different “view” made them different), and I also think a little piece of it is that having done 2 RCL cruises already I’ve gotten more used to it. Would I do NCL again, certainly. But it’s not going to replace Disney as our favorite. But if it’s RCL vs NCL itinerary and price would be the only factors I’d consider.

[MandyMommyof2]

Thanks for your review Kelly!! I really enjoyed reading it. I have Flamingos wrote down for lunch our first day too! ;)

[Sand and Seas]

Thanks for your detailed review! We are planning another cruise on her as we enjoyed it so much the last time. Flamingo Grill is our favorite breakfast/lunch place so glad to hear others like it. Like you we loved Burn the Floor and weren't so exited about Legally Blonde:rolleyes:

[bradleyk]

thanks for sharing

[NSinMG]

Thanks for the review. Sounds like Spice H2O is a place I will like too.