A Lengthy Review of a Fantastic Cruise on the Getaway [10/03 - 10/10)

[PaulInPGH]

I just binge read your review so far. I am loving it. We are on the November 22 sailing over Thanksgiving. Thank you for being so detailed. I can't wait for more!

 

Thank you! I feel a bit long-winded, but I enjoy it.

 

I'm sure you'll have a fantastic cruise. What a fun way to spend the holiday.

 

Cheers.

[PaulInPGH]

Day 3: Bloody Monday

 

We slept much better that second night, largely due to finally using the thermostat correctly. Really getting in to the spirit of vacation now, we stayed in bed until around 9:45 or so, when hunger won out over sleep.

 

Not wanting to face the hordes in the Garden Café, and having slept beyond breakfast time in the MDR, we headed down to try breakfast at O’Sheehan’s. Again, we were both pleasantly surprised by how tasty the offerings were; I had French toast, while my wife had an omelet. The only downside was the wait—I think it took nearly an hour to eat that morning. But on a lazy sea day, with nothing pressing on our agenda, it was worth the wait.

[PaulInPGH]

After our leisurely breakfast, we decided to take our first trip up to the pool deck and get in some fun in the sun. I’d read a lot about how the pool deck on Getaway is crowded, and that is definitely true. We usually like to grab a lounger a bit away from the pool though (and in the shade), so we didn’t have a problem finding a spot, even getting there around 11:00.

 

We enjoyed the pool, even though it was crowded. There was definitely not room to “swim,” but we prefer just bobbing around, so it worked for us. Even though the sun was out in full force, we decided to enjoy the hot tub for a short while. Maybe it was because it was so warm out, but there was actually some space available, and we spent an enjoyable twenty or so minutes chatting with our hot tub companions.

[PaulInPGH]

Done boiling alive for the moment, we retreated to our loungers and spent a comfortable hour or so sipping drinks and reading. We were starting to get a little hot though, so we decided to head up and check out the adults only Spice H20 and cool off in the waterfall.

 

Spice H20 was a bit of a mixed bag. On the one hand, spending any time there was made difficult by the fact that it is almost completely open and shadeless. Walking up there felt like what I imagine it must be like to walk on the surface of the sun. On the other hand though, the waterfall area was probably my favorite thing about this ship (ok, aside from the Flamingo Grill). The waterfall provided a number of places to sit and actually offered the best spot to find shade from the hot sun. We absolutely loved grabbing a drink from the bar and then sipping it with our feet in the water—occasionally getting up for a quick refreshing soak under one of the waterfalls. We spent a lot of time at the waterfall that week.

[PaulInPGH]

Feeling refreshed, we made our way over to the Flamingo Grill for our afternoon Cuban food fix. Full and content, we then headed back down to our cabin for a shower and some rest before the evening’s activities.

 

It was there, in our cabin, where we had our only major hiccup of the trip. After showering, my wife was attempting to clean her razor when she cut her thumb.

 

This was no mere shaving cut. Blood pretty much went everywhere. We didn’t see our cabin attendant at any point after that day, but I can only imagine what he must have thought had happened in that bathroom. Anyway, after waiting a little while to see if the bleeding would stop, we went down to the medical center on deck 5. They were not open for business at that point, so we ended up picking up some Band-Aids and triple antibiotic ointment, which they gave us free of charge. I think the fee to see a doctor was around $150, so my wife decided to see how her cut did with just the Band-Aids and ointment before spending the money to see someone. Luckily, while painful, her cut slowly healed and we did not need to go back and have it looked at, though we did have to stop back a couple more times for refills of antibiotic ointment.

 

My wife’s injury did necessitate one major change. We had been planning to visit Magens Bay in St. Thomas the following day, and while my wife still wanted to go, I advised against it as I didn’t think she’d enjoy putting that finger in the salty ocean. Luckily, we were planning on doing St. Thomas on our own and not through a ship excursion, so we had no need to make any formal changes or cancelations. That’s just one more good reason to make your own plans and arrangements for port stops.

[PaulInPGH]

Finger successfully bandaged, we decided to again try our luck at name that tune. The piano player must have decided yesterday’s contest was too easy though, as we did much more poorly the second time around. It was still fun though, so no complaints.

 

We tried dining in the Garden Café for dinner once more and were again disappointed. If you’re not doing a bunch of specialty dining, I would highly recommend skipping the buffet and heading straight to the MDR, especially given our fantastic experiences in the Tropicana Room later in the week, which I will be detailing shortly.

 

Now that we would be saving money by no longer heading to Magens Bay (due to my wife’s injury), we decided to see if we could grab a reservation at Cagney’s for later in the week. We were told that reservations were still available for both Thursday and Friday nights and we picked Friday night, to be a sort of end of trip celebration. Available dining times were either between 5:30-6:00, or 8:30 or later. So if you are flexible about when you’re able to eat, you shouldn’t have a problem making changes and adding or subtracting dining as you go.

[PaulInPGH]

One thing I would recommend making reservations for is the standup comedy at Headliners. Seats are limited and the standby line was always very long. We initially wanted to go to the later show (11:00) on day 2, but seats were not available. However, we were able to grab two seats for day 3 at 9:00.

 

Again, as with the rest of the entertainment onboard, I felt the standup comedians were head and shoulders better than any comedy I’d previously seen on a cruise. I would have liked to catch one of the later showings, as I assume there would be more adult content, but the earlier show was still quite good. Obviously, this can change as different entertainers come and go, so YMMV.

[PaulInPGH]

After leaving Headliners, we decided to grab a quick bite and nightcap at O’Sheehan’s before bed. I tried the chicken pot pie and man, was it great. Granted, I removed all the vegetables like a seven-year-old, but still…yum.

 

Late night dinner accomplished, we moseyed back to our cabin. The day was a little more eventful than we’d planned, but even a cut finger wasn’t going to stop us from having a good cruise.

 

Up next, day 4: A 1000 degree day in St. Thomas.

[appzoffear]

Love the review!

[rguy123]

Nice review

[cmdchiefthom]

Keep it up....you have me hooked;)

[Cruise-mom]

Enjoying your review :)

[PaulInPGH]

Day 4: You Might As Well Be Walking On The Sun

 

As I mentioned earlier, our plan for our stop in St. Thomas was to grab a taxi to Magens Bay beach. It seemed like a good option, especially since it would cost about half of what NCL would charge to take an excursion there later in the day. Unfortunately, we decided that salt water and a cut finger would not mix, so we decided to skip the beach.

 

This did mean, though, that we were free to once again sleep in (we do love our sleep) and grab a slightly later breakfast. This time, with many passengers already leaving for excursions, the Garden Café was not a complete disaster. We enjoyed a nice (relatively) relaxed breakfast before heading off the ship.

[PaulInPGH]

I always like to buy souvenir shot glasses at each port we visit, and we are always suckers for Tortuga Rum Cakes, so we headed to check out the shops at the Havensight pier.

 

Stepping off the ship that morning was, and I’m not exaggerating when I say this, like walking into a furnace—all be it a very humid one. For a person who grew up in Miami, I am remarkably ill-suited to the heat, and that morning in St. Thomas was one of the hottest days I’ve experienced in recent memory.

 

Our shopping was a success though; a shot glass and rum cakes were found and purchased. We also stopped at the Shipwreck Tavern to access their free Wi-Fi. Our goals accomplished, we headed back to enjoy the relatively empty ship for a few hours.

 

In desperate need of refreshment following our brief exposure to the hot St. Thomas sun, we headed up to Spice H20 and made straight for the waterfall, stopping only long enough to grab a couple frozen drinks. We whiled away a very enjoyable few hours splashing around in the waterfall, which we had completely to ourselves, and getting a nice buzz on thanks to some delicious tropical drinks.

[MBCruiser29]

Loving your review! We are sailing in 25 days with our kids. Our room is right across from Medical. I have never seen where the medical area is located on any of our other ruises. That is probably a good thing. Looking forward to reading more!

[Frenchygege]

What a great review!

My husband and I are going on our first cruise -- Gateway in a couple of weeks. We are excited and a bit nervous...

Can you tell me if Spice H20 free or is there a fee? Not sure if it is a part of the Spa pass that we need to purchase?

 

Also...it looks like you suggest doing your own excursions instead of using the one from NCL. Is that correct?

 

Thanks again!

[sid_9169]

What a great review!

My husband and I are going on our first cruise -- Gateway in a couple of weeks. We are excited and a bit nervous...

Can you tell me if Spice H20 free or is there a fee? Not sure if it is a part of the Spa pass that we need to purchase?

 

Also...it looks like you suggest doing your own excursions instead of using the one from NCL. Is that correct?

 

Thanks again!

 

Spice H2O is free and adults only during the day...

[cruiselife4me]

Paul, What a fantastic review so far! Loving every minute,

Mary

[Frenchygege]

Awesome! Thank you so much!

[PaulInPGH]

Loving your review! We are sailing in 25 days with our kids. Our room is right across from Medical. I have never seen where the medical area is located on any of our other ruises. That is probably a good thing. Looking forward to reading more!

 

You will love it, she's a fantastic ship.

 

Cheers.

[PaulInPGH]

What a great review!

My husband and I are going on our first cruise -- Gateway in a couple of weeks. We are excited and a bit nervous...

Can you tell me if Spice H20 free or is there a fee? Not sure if it is a part of the Spa pass that we need to purchase?

 

Also...it looks like you suggest doing your own excursions instead of using the one from NCL. Is that correct?

 

Thanks again!

 

Yes, Spice H20 is free and a great place to cool off, if not a great place to lounge (unless you like baking in the direct sun).

 

I like doing our own excursions and it's definitely less expensive than doing it through NCL. I'd just say, as it's your first cruise, be extra cautious with your planning. Make sure you have a good idea of how long it will take you to get to and from places you want to go and be sure to give yourself plenty of time to get back to the ship. The ship won't leave if your excursion gets delayed, but they will leave random passengers who strike out on their own, so be mindful. I did all ship excursions on my first cruise and then, once I had a better feel for the ports on my second cruise, I planned our own outings. I'd definitely recommend spending some quality time on the ports of call forums here on CC, that's where I did the bulk of my research for both our ship excursions and our solo adventures.

 

Cheers.

[PaulInPGH]

Paul, What a fantastic review so far! Loving every minute,

Mary

 

Thanks so much. I've really been struggling to find time to write more of it, but I'm hopeful I'll have some downtime over the holiday.

 

That being said, I'm happy to answer specific questions or give opinions on anything in the meantime as I try to write more of the review.

 

Cheers.

[KiwiFunCruiser]

Good review Thanks. Glad you had a great time.

[PaulInPGH]

We’d had enough sun for one day, so we grabbed our things and headed to find a couple loungers in some shade. We spent a quiet hour or so just reading and enjoying another beverage.

 

This should probably go without saying, but we once again grabbed lunch at the Flamingo Grill. Just thinking about it again now makes my mouth water.

 

After another great lunch, we took the long walk back to our cabin to shower and change. Because we’re old, we also decided to take a short nap before heading out for more adventures. Sitting here writing this now, a month in to a new, demanding job, I look back at those naps with longing.

[PaulInPGH]

Unfortunately, there was no name that tune that afternoon. We were forced to entertain ourselves, which we did with the help of a couple mojitos.

 

Having been underwhelmed by the Garden Café, we decided to grab dinner in the MDR for the first time. We’d avoided the MDR to this point, largely because we never really enjoyed the MDR experience on our two RCI cruises. Service typically took forever (and it was always just the two of us), and the food was never that great—or at least not so superior to what you could get at the buffet.

 

But NCL, at least on the Getaway, really nailed the MDR experience. We decided to dine in the Tropicana Room since there was to be live singing during part of dinner. We arrived at about 5:45 and we were seated right away—and seated with some separation from other passengers, unlike the MDRs on RCI, where you basically bump elbows with folks at other tables when you raise your fork to your mouth. Service was prompt and the food was fantastic, both in variety and taste. We were so happy with our experience in the Tropicana Room we ended up eating there every night for the rest of the trip.