Just off Getaway - 7/10-7/18/15 - mini review :)

[youngestof9]

Do you happen to have the dailies? If not, can you recall when the White Hot party is? Great review, by the way!

 

It's now called the "glow" party and it's on Thursday night at 10:15 in Spice H2O. Bring lots of glow stuff from the dollar store :)

[youngestof9]

Question:

 

My wife usually gets a Pandora charm when we cruise. We have gotten one in St. Thomas, so we will want to get one in Nassau or Tortola. You stated you got yours in Nassau, but went off the normal place, not sure we have enough time based on our excursion schedule, is there a Pandora right there at the port? Lastly, did you try getting one in Tortola?

 

Tortola shopping is not right in port - it's about a 10 minute walk. So I'm not sure.

 

In Nassau, right on Bay Street (the main drag in Nassau) there's an actual Pandora store and a little further down is John Bull, which is a huge jewelry store that has an entire separate Pandora counter. It's right on the other side of the port area, so it's not too far. We walked there first and from ship to store took about 10 minutes tops. They have an actual "Bahamas" charm which is why I really wanted it. Very cute.

[youngestof9]

Thanks for your review! I'll be in the same room 11274 in October. Glad to hear you enjoyed it. Were you bothered by any outside noises?

 

Not at all. I thought because it was so close to the elevator that it would be noisy, but nope - it was great. I have some pics of the cabin if you'd like me to send them to you - just give me your email address.

[bre]

Yay! So exciting...We just booked a cruise on the Getaway for Spring Break 2016. It's a family reunion of sorts. 35 of us. Littles, teens and adults. Look like we made a great choice. I am a little nervous, about my sis in law, who has had a stroke, and now needs a cane to get around. Your review, makes me feel a bit better, know that there will be kind souls to help her out.

[youngestof9]

Yay! So exciting...We just booked a cruise on the Getaway for Spring Break 2016. It's a family reunion of sorts. 35 of us. Littles, teens and adults. Look like we made a great choice. I am a little nervous, about my sis in law, who has had a stroke, and now needs a cane to get around. Your review, makes me feel a bit better, know that there will be kind souls to help her out.

 

We found everyone to be so helpful! My MIL never felt out of place even though she was using her cane. the only thing I'll say is be careful on the pool deck. Very slippery! But no problems at all getting elevators or going different venues - they helped us any time we needed it. Have fun!

[www3traveler]

youngestof9:

 

I passed your review on to Klaus. He says, "Thank You".

 

I will be back for two weeks for Christmas and I can not wait.

 

Mandy

[goin'toalaska]

Can you report back on whether there was problem getting into Splash Academy for kids? (Not sure how old yours are...).

And how were the lines for the ropes course, rock wall, mini-golf, etc?

[youngestof9]

Can you report back on whether there was problem getting into Splash Academy for kids? (Not sure how old yours are...).

And how were the lines for the ropes course' date=' rock wall, mini-golf, etc?[/quote']

 

My daughter is 9 and used Splash Academy a few times. PJ night is the last night btw. Very cute. And she got her face painted in the morning of Nassau - perfect time for us to pack while she hung at SA. She also went a couple other times during the week. I dropped her off around 7:15 2 nights without issue - no line. Easy pick up. Great staff. loved Kangaroo and Curly (LOL at their names).

 

Ropes course definitely has a line. It opens a lot at 10 am and by 9:20-9:30 there's a line. We were on line to do it when we had a quick rainstorm so they closed it. We ended up doing it (well them, not me lol) on the Nassau port day. It opened at 4 and there was no line. Unfortunately the camera on the plank was being repaired so they did the whole course except plank.

 

Rock wall lines were minimal all week. Same with mini golf. Waterslide lines were manageable. Surprisingly the lines for the freefall were shorter than for the purple slide and the twin orange and red slides. But still not too bad of a wait.

 

FYI I was told there were 4870 onboard (or 4780 I keep forgetting which lol) and it never felt crowded except for the muster (obviously, since everyone is out of their rooms and in public areas).

 

oh and a PSA...PLEASE SHUT UP during the muster! You'll get out of there so much quicker. Poor JC Sanchez (cruise director) had to ask at least 4 times for people to please be quiet during muster and listen. :rolleyes: 5 minutes of silence and you can be on your way!

 

Funny point about muster - my room and my MIL's room were right next to each other. But our muster stations were different (E4 and E5) which ended up having me and hubs in Taste and MIL and kids in Savor. It would have been interesting had there been a real emergency and we couldn't be together.

[cruisintpa]

We were on the same cruise and couldn't agree more with the OP. The crew was by far the friendliest I have ever encountered on any other cruise lines, Disney being a close second. I was amazed at seeing the various officers out and about during the entire cruise. The executive housekeeper was outside in port handing out wet towels to returning guests! The food at the buffet far exceeded my expectations, great variety, changed every day. We did UDP, specialties (even La Cucina) were good. MDR for breakfast and lunch, very good. No problem wrapping up an order to take to my daughter in the cabin. So much to do..we were extremely pleased.

[motleyfan]

Just returned home after a week on the beautiful Norwegian Getaway. Up until this point, Epic has been my favorite ship. This changed that. Getaway was really spectacular. I've also sailed Breakaway, but this ship was different, even though it's the same if that makes sense.

 

Flew in a day early, used SAS transport to get to Intercontinental in downtown Miami. Had dinner at Fratelli Milano (quick walk from hotel). excellent meal. Excellent hotel.

 

Arrived at port by 9:30 (wanted to secure vibe passes). Fairly empty and the late disembarkers were still looking for cabs. Easy check in and got boarding pass group 4. My MIL was with us and has a cane and before they boarded, they came and asked her if she needed help on, which was so nice, so we boarded before they called the groups. When we got on, I took key cards and went right to guest services to get vibe passes. Line was already forming! We secured our passes (which are wristbands and a separate keycard - they don't change your regular card to gain access). Not sure how many passes they sold, but it never seemed crowded.

 

First day we signed kids up for splash and teen club. We went to entourage to sign up for teen club but could also do the splash sign up there as well. Had a quick lunch in the buffet. Rooms were ready around 1.

 

Stateroom:

Balcony BC category 11274 and 11272. 11274 had the small angled balcony which was really nice. Right off aft elevators. Just a little bigger balcony. Bed was by the closet. So much storage - room has enough storage for everything and suitcases fit under beds just fine. 11272 had bed near the balcony and set up with 2 twins and the sofa for my MIL and 2 kids. It had plenty of storage as well, even for 3 people.

 

Food:

Ate in Tropicana room, Taste, Cagney's, La Cucina and the Buffet for dinners. La Cucina we dined on the waterfront so that wins for atmosphere. Food was really good. Cagney's had the best food of the places we ate, but service was a bit slow. Nice server, but slow (and we were early - 5:30 reservations and had to skip dessert to get to Legally Blonde at 7:30). Tropicana room is loud from not only the entertainment but the sheer size of it. Food was delicious. Service was fine. Taste was more intimate and I loved my food there. Service here was great. St. Thomas port night we were so exhausted and just decided on the buffet. It was excellent! I had a small grilled steak, a piece of bourbon chicken and some steamed veggies and a salad. Everything was great. Kids ate pizza, husband had some fish. They had a spicy orange beef in the Asian section that was great too.

 

Entertainment:

Did Illusionarium on Monday night at 5:30. Food was good - steak and shrimp. I took my daughter's steak and she took my shrimp :) Steak was tender and tasty. Veggies were good. The show was amazing. Now I know there's trickery involved, but we got picked on by the mind-reader. She figured out our last name and muster station from our card. She also read numbers from someones dollar bill. Then she had a woman write down a famous person and she drew it. It was crazy. All of the magicians were really great. Such an entertaining show. I thought it was well worth it.

 

Saw Burn the Floor - very talented - story was a little blah, but I was mesmerized by their talent. The muscles these dancers have. Wow.

 

Saw Legally Blonde - didn't care either way about going, but ended up really enjoying it. Great voices and very lighthearted. Much better than Rock of Ages, I'd say.

 

Our favorite entertainment is definitely Howl at the Moon. Went twice. Second time we got to Headliners just as it opened, and left at 1:30 am when they were finished. SO entertaining.

 

Did the Ice bar only because this is the 4th time we were on a ship with one and hadn't done it. LOL. It was cute, but only have to do it once.

 

Loved the mojito bar - great mango and raspberry mojitos. Had my favorite pecan shortbread at Carlo's. Kids had gelato - said it was good.

 

No java cafe, so if you're looking for coffee drinks, try the Atrium cafe on deck 6.

 

Didn't see the comedians or much of the live music around the ship. Just not enough time.

 

Ship:

The crew wins hands down. From every room steward you'd pass in the hall, to the pool bar servers to the wait staff - everyone was so pleasant. I sailed Royal back in February and commented that more staff were friendly and pleasant on day 1 than our entire Royal trip. We met the Hotel Director (Klaus, who was filling in for Errol who had an emergency I believe). He's so phenomenal. He goes out of his way to make you feel welcome and that drills down to the crew. In fact, when we spoke with him, he said "welcome home" and that's just how we felt. Our room steward was quiet, but efficient. Top award for crew goes to Rommel who was the bartender in Vibe. He was not only a great bartender, but he went out of his way to help my MIL get to Vibe with her cane. Always stopped what he was doing to help her. Also there was a guy outside the Garden Cafe every morning named Radik. He had a small ukulele. OMG he'd sing washy washy or you are my sunshine, or just a good morning song. It was such a nice touch - just puts you in a good mood.

 

Ports:

In St. Thomas we did a private tour of St. John that I booked through http://greatexplorationtours.com/st-john-day-trip.html. It was awesome. The driver met us at the gate exit at 9:00 and drove us to ferry terminal. Then we took the ferry. Met our tour driver in St. John. We toured the island and went to Cinnamon Bay to swim (our choice - you could have gone wherever you wanted on this tour). It was stunning. There's a small restaurant there where we had lunch. Part of it was covered by the price I paid for the tour ($13/person for lunch) and we paid the rest. After Cinnamon we toured some more, then back for 3:00 ferry. Driver met us in St. Thomas and back to port. Excellent tour. Not crowded at Cinnamon and great photo stops along the way.

 

In Tortola, we really wanted to visit Jost Van Dyke so we did a tour through NCL called "escape to Jost Van Dyke". EXCELLENT. I normally don't like ship-sponsored excursions but this was great. We did the 10:00 choice (there was an 8:15 choice too). Boarded the Rebel Yell catamaran for a 45 minute ride to JVD. Pulled up on White Bay (right to beach in ankle to mid-shin deep water - even my MIL was able to do it). Jumped right out. Staff on cat was nice. Set up in front of Gertrude's where I ordered a drink and she handed me the bottle of rum and told me to make it. My kind of bartender! $5 per chair there. Soggy Dollar has free chairs, but most were taken by the 8:15 group of people). There were some other chartered catamarans on the beach, but it wasn't crowded and the water was great. Kids snorkled and we had a quick lunch and back to cat by 2:30. I wish we were in port until 6 instead of 4. I would have loved another hour or two on JVD.

 

Nassau - our day pass at Hilton got screwed up, so we had no plans which turned out fine. Weather was iffy - huge thunderstorm on our way in and it was really muggy and overcast. Went into town to John Bull so I could get my Bahamas pandora charm (there's a pandora store too, but that was packed). Also got 2 alex & ani bracelets - one said bahamas one said caribbean. Very cute. But then back to ship to enjoy it almost empty.

 

Kids and husband did all 5 waterslides, rock wall and ropes course. I couldn't as I'm having shoulder surgery this week. SO bummed to not be able to do it! Plank was broken when they did it, so they couldn't walk it, but did everything else including zipline. I think it was the camera that was broken at the end, not the actual plank. All week the pool deck was hopping, although I was a little tired of the blaring latin music. I was good for the first few days, but a little variety would be nice!

 

Disembarkation was simple. Walked off and used SAS Transportation to get back to FLL for our noon flight.

 

All in all, it really was a fantastic cruise. I usually hate reviews where they say everything is perfect, but in reality I couldn't complain about anything.

 

Next up is Escape with these same ports. I may just do that same escape to JVD again because I loved it so much.

 

Any questions, just ask!

 

Awesome review, I love how you broke it up into different sections. Did you see the Grammy experience? I didn't see that mentioned. I eventually definitely want to try the getaway.

[travelin4fun]

Not at all. I thought because it was so close to the elevator that it would be noisy, but nope - it was great. I have some pics of the cabin if you'd like me to send them to you - just give me your email address.

 

That would be great if you could - my email is bets2248@aol.com. Thanks!:)

[skcruises]

We're sailing in a couple of weeks. Did they change the time for all cruises? I didn't get any notice.

 

I didn't get any notice either. Just noticed it when I was printing my edocs online.

[youngestof9]

Awesome review, I love how you broke it up into different sections. Did you see the Grammy experience? I didn't see that mentioned. I eventually definitely want to try the getaway.

 

We didn't! They definitely had live music in there - I believe it was Jazz. I was in the room for the captain's cocktail party, but other than that I didn't go. It was a neat room though!

[youngestof9]

That would be great if you could - my email is bets2248@aol.com. Thanks!:)

 

on it's way!

[belmat87]

Great review MB! Can't wait! My turn 73 days! :D

[youngestof9]

Great review MB! Can't wait! My turn 73 days! :D

 

YAY! Your signature next to Adventure of the Seas should say "cockleshell beach". LMAO!!!!

[salesmansam]

Thanks for the informative review. We sail in October and was glad to hear about Tortola. Was interested in the Illusionarium and wondered if you heard any talk about the show being included in the Ultimate Dining Plan on the first night? Glad to hear you enjoyed the flamingo grill as I plan on giving it a try.

[youngestof9]

Thanks for the informative review. We sail in October and was glad to hear about Tortola. Was interested in the Illusionarium and wondered if you heard any talk about the show being included in the Ultimate Dining Plan on the first night? Glad to hear you enjoyed the flamingo grill as I plan on giving it a try.

 

I don't believe Illusionarium is included with the UDP on the first night any longer. I'm dying for some of the lime cilantro sauce they had at Flamingo!

[luvtovaca]

Tortola shopping is not right in port - it's about a 10 minute walk. So I'm not sure.

 

In Nassau, right on Bay Street (the main drag in Nassau) there's an actual Pandora store and a little further down is John Bull, which is a huge jewelry store that has an entire separate Pandora counter. It's right on the other side of the port area, so it's not too far. We walked there first and from ship to store took about 10 minutes tops. They have an actual "Bahamas" charm which is why I really wanted it. Very cute.

 

Hi. I'm interested in the Pandora charms also although not set on them being actual Pandora as long as they fit my Pandora bracelet. Something that has to do with the island. I got a cute one in Bermuda with the moon gate and Bermuda longtail on it. Something along those lines...Did you see any of this type in St. Thomas, Tortola or the John Bull store you mentioned in Nassau? We weren't planning on getting off the ship in Nassau (been many times) but will if I can get a charm!

[youngestof9]

Hi. I'm interested in the Pandora charms also although not set on them being actual Pandora as long as they fit my Pandora bracelet. Something that has to do with the island. I got a cute one in Bermuda with the moon gate and Bermuda longtail on it. Something along those lines...Did you see any of this type in St. Thomas, Tortola or the John Bull store you mentioned in Nassau? We weren't planning on getting off the ship in Nassau (been many times) but will if I can get a charm!

 

Since I was specifically looking for the authentic Bahamas Pandora charm, that's what I sought out. So I didn't see anything that wasn't authentic, but like I said, I wasn't looking :)

 

I bought this: http://www.pandoramoa.com/bahamas-charm.html#.VbBO7bNVhBc

 

and even though you can buy it locally, I wanted to buy it IN the Bahamas to make it special. It was $60 with no tax.

 

We literally walked to John Bull, wandered back through the makeshift souvenir shops right at the port and back to the ship!

[pe4all]

Thanks for the informative review. We sail in October and was glad to hear about Tortola. Was interested in the Illusionarium and wondered if you heard any talk about the show being included in the Ultimate Dining Plan on the first night? Glad to hear you enjoyed the flamingo grill as I plan on giving it a try.

First off, ty for a great review! We will be on GA for the NYE cruise and can't wait. Salesmansam - Illusionarium is definitely NOT included anymore in the UDP the first night, but they give you a break on the prices - $10/15 tickets. We plan on still doing it the first night, as we got the UDP under the "old" price of $119.

[brookie848]

It sounds like you had a great cruise!

 

We are on the Escape on the same itinerary and had a few questions.

 

For your Tortola excursion, does the Rebel Yell have restrooms on board? My husband has kidney issues and that's always something I check on for him.

 

I looked at the company you used for St. Thomas and it says that they run the tours Wednesday-Saturday. You were there on a Tuesday, correct? I'm trying to figure out what we want to do for this trip.

 

Thanks!

[michaelp68]

Thank you for the review and all of the information.

 

We sail this Saturday. It's my wife and me with our two kids, ages 12 (son) and 9 (daughter). Also my in-laws.

 

I saw you mentioned that your daughter is 9. How old, if you don't mind me asking, is your other kid?

 

A few quick questions for you or anyone else familiar with the Getaway.

 

1. Best coffee?

 

What's your opinion on where to get the best coffee on the ship? :D

 

2. Internet and IConcierge App?

 

I have the unlimited internet (unfortunately for work purposes) but also intend to use the iConcierge app for on-board communication with my wife and in-laws. Do you know if I will need to switch wi-fi back and forth between the two or if the same sign-in will work for both?

 

3. Chairs by the pool?

 

I've read mixed comments about chairs by the pool. Are they really claimed by people early so that you need to do so, too, if you wish to have chairs? And did you find that the ship personnel enforced rules about how long you could leave a chair unattended?

 

Many thanks.

[youngestof9]

It sounds like you had a great cruise!

 

We are on the Escape on the same itinerary and had a few questions.

 

For your Tortola excursion, does the Rebel Yell have restrooms on board? My husband has kidney issues and that's always something I check on for him.

 

I looked at the company you used for St. Thomas and it says that they run the tours Wednesday-Saturday. You were there on a Tuesday, correct? I'm trying to figure out what we want to do for this trip.

 

Thanks!

 

Rebel yell had a great bathroom and you did not need to go downstairs

 

We did do our tour on Tuesday. They were great to work with. I'd send an email

[youngestof9]

Thank you for the review and all of the information.

 

We sail this Saturday. It's my wife and me with our two kids, ages 12 (son) and 9 (daughter). Also my in-laws.

 

I saw you mentioned that your daughter is 9. How old, if you don't mind me asking, is your other kid?

 

A few quick questions for you or anyone else familiar with the Getaway.

 

1. Best coffee?

 

What's your opinion on where to get the best coffee on the ship? :D

 

2. Internet and IConcierge App?

 

I have the unlimited internet (unfortunately for work purposes) but also intend to use the iConcierge app for on-board communication with my wife and in-laws. Do you know if I will need to switch wi-fi back and forth between the two or if the same sign-in will work for both?

 

3. Chairs by the pool?

 

I've read mixed comments about chairs by the pool. Are they really claimed by people early so that you need to do so, too, if you wish to have chairs? And did you find that the ship personnel enforced rules about how long you could leave a chair unattended?

 

Many thanks.

 

My other daughter is 16 and went to teen club twice. Don't drink coffee (!!) but my hubs said best coffee was at atrium cafe

 

Didn't use Internet or iconcierge. Sorry!!

 

Pool deck chairs had hogs but because we sat up one deck it was much better. Didn't pay attention to pool deck.