First Time on NCL-- My Getaway Review 2/21/16

[iambumbo]

My story: 43yo guy, I've been on 5 RCL cruises (all Voyager class), 3 Carnival cruises, and 1 Princess. I went on this one with my 36yo girlfriend, who'd been on a bunch of Norwegian cruises, some Celebrity and Carnival as well, so we're both pretty seasoned veterans of the sea. I'll recap by day after sharing my initial thoughts so hopefully can get it out a little faster and will read better, but feel free to hit me up with any questions and I'll be happy to answer if I can!

 

My overall impressions:

 

*** Very good cruise! The ship was fairly well laid out and easy to navigate if you have any sense of direction. I join in the comments of others that you don't really feel like 4,000 passengers are on the ship with you except maybe on a sea day around the pool. We largely lucked out with the weather in that we didn't hit any rain, so that may have helped more evenly distribute where people hung out. Inside areas did feel a little more cramped on the last sea day when it only got to the upper 60's, but not painfully so.

 

*** I think the overall quality of service was high. Then again, my standards aren't too high as I've never had any significant service complaints on any of my earlier cruises. My GF said she was a little disappointed that there weren't as many servers wandering around asking if you wanted a drink, which she attributed to the increase of drink packages. I didn't notice that, but then I usually head to the bar myself when I get thirsty. Flamingo and Atrium bar staff probably the best on the ship.

 

*** Food quality was very good. I'm kind of particular in that I don't like a lot of spicy/exotic foods, but there were always a couple entrees for me to choose from. We ate at Le Bistro and Ocean Blue, and at all 3 of the free restaurants the other nights. If you think the food quality at the free restaurants is inedible or substandard, you have serious issues. Odd fact-- this is the first time I never saw fried chicken on a cruise buffet. Not that I'm a KFC gorger or anything, I just happened to realize it a few days in.

 

*** Plenty of entertainment options for any age. Kids seemed happy with the pool/sports options, and didn't hear any complaints from the grown-ups either. Probably more live music options than any cruise I'd been on, although I noticed they didn't appear to have a nightly option for people that want to go dancing to a live band. Not a complaint, just an observation. Guess they figured the people that want to dance would go to the DJ at the Spice H2O nightly parties or Bliss lounge late night.

 

*** Fun little surprise crew activities around the ship. Things like a handful of staff singing and playing a few instruments to greet you entering the buffet in the morning, or going around and offering you a Hazelnut bear claw in the morning with a little medley. Our favorite was a "red carpet" greeting back to the ship in Cozumel where they had a DJ and staff members lined up to give you high-fives as you were reboarding. Fun touch I hadn't seen before and the crew genuinely seemed to enjoy it!

 

*** The Glow party was a blast and unlike any ship-organized party I'd seen before. Probably the most fun I'd had at a specific party on any cruise line. They did a great job getting everyone involved-- even the little old ladies in wheelchairs were waving their glow sticks and swaying to the music!

 

Lots more to follow...

Edited March 2, 2016 by iambumbo

[shukapaw]

@iambumbo,

 

Thanks for the review. We'll be cruising on the Getaway in June so this is just the kind of information I want.

 

Brian

[Mistizoom]

Looking forward to the rest of your review!

[Yorkvillain]

Great start.

[iambumbo]

Pre-Cruise/Embarkation Day

 

We were flying out of Chicago early Saturday morning so did a Park Sleep Fly deal for Hyatt Regency O'Hare. Price of $133 with 10 days free covered parking was virtually what we'd pay for the parking alone so it was a no-brainer. No problem checking in-- room had kind of a weird design but adequate for our needs. Hopped on the airport shuttle at around 5:15am for our 7:30 nonstop flight to Miami on United. Slight mechanical delay but got into Miami just before noon.

 

We tried out Uber for the first time at the airport and ended up using it for all our travel on this cruise. We agreed the cars were nicer than cabs, no problem with the drivers, and cost was half a cab ride or less. Converted the GF, who was a skeptic. We arrived at the Fontainebleau on Miami Beach a little after 1:00. GF had gotten a great deal using a bunch of Expedia points so we paid less than $100-- incredible deal for a Saturday night in February. If you like Vegas hotels, you'll love the Fontainebleau. Very much an upscale, resort feel. Maybe the most comfortable hotel bed I've ever slept on and even had a partial view of the ocean (though no balcony). Beautiful pool area where we had lunch, then wandered down to the beach for a bit. Wandered down several blocks to an Italian restaurant for dinner and then walked back up along the beach boardwalk (a very cool walkway) to the room. Got a great night's rest with visions of cruising dancing in our heads.

 

Woke up and saw the cruise ships in the distance. Sailaway day was finally here! Enjoyed the room till check-out time at 11. Hopped an Uber and got down to the pier and dropped luggage off with no problems. Embarkation was fairly easy-- maybe 15 minutes till we got to the waiting area, where we probably waited another 15 minutes for our boarding group to be called. Like 94.82% of the other passengers, we headed to the buffet as we waited for the rooms to open. The pot roast was delicious-- disappointed I didn't see it again all week.

 

Rooms opened right around 2:00 and our luggage arrived fairly shortly thereafter. We were in cabin 14262, a "hump" balcony cabin. We had scouted out for a hump cabin in our category when we booked as I'd heard the regular balconies were pretty small. We were very happy with our balcony-- clearly oversized compared to the nearby cabins and plenty of room for 2 people to rest comfortably. The cabin itself was a pleasant surprise in size. Enough space for everything and the shower definitely seemed bigger than normal. Lots of deck/closet space in the general cabin and bathroom. One oddity I don't ever recall seeing before on other ships was that the cabin doors opened outward as you exited the room. You may not notice why that can be an issue until the moment you enter the cabin and your naked GF is exiting the shower and almost giving a passerby one heck of a show. :D

 

One caution for folks booking in this area though. May not be the best cabin if you're a light sleeper as you can hear some of the DJ thumping from the late evening parties in Spice H2O, and also chairs right above being moved around the buffet early in the morning (7:00am or so). It wasn't really an issue for us but we agreed others may have been disappointed with some of the noise issues. In hindsight, we'd probably have booked the cabin right below on deck 13 if it was open.

 

Our cabin steward Londo was efficient-- didn't see him much but always greeted us with a smile when we saw him. Both the GF and I were ecstatic he'd found a mouthguard (she's a snorer) that had disappeared somewhere in the bed but turned up 2 days later. A casualty of the anytime dining is that the stewards don't know when you're going to eat so they may not be able to clean your room before they finish their shift at 9:00 if you're having a late dinner and using the cabin till then. We did that one night and just asked him for extra towels so wasn't an issue for us.

 

Going back to the room, the GF had treated us to the romance package which she'd bought before boarding (but which she was disappointed I discovered the day before as I searched the NCL website to make sure our onboard credit had been applied to our account-- the lesson here, don't peek the week before!). Turned out to be an excellent deal-- we figured we'd gotten about $100 in extra value beyond the cost. Had a dozen beautiful roses awaiting us in the room and which we got to enjoy for the week. They were supposed to have a bottle of champagne waiting for us in the room along with chocolate covered strawberries but they didn't show up for sailaway. She was angry they didn't arrive on time and called a few times but no such luck. We asked them to send them the next day so we could enjoy it for sailaway from Great Stirrup Cay and they arrived then, no problems.

 

We enjoyed sailaway from the balcony (about a half hour after the muster station drill-- muster stations are inside so no standing in the hot sun with the masses) and then think we explored the ship for a bit. Also made reservations for Le Bistro for dinner that night. It was a very nice setting, can see why it was filled all week. Pricing now is a la carte but we didn't care as the romance package included dinner there or at La Cocina, the Italian restaurant. We got our choice of appetizer, entrée, and dessert, plus a bottle of wine. We got the drink package with our booking so we just saved the wine for our post-cruise hotel stay. They serenaded us after dinner with "Let Me Call You Sweetheart" and brought out a huge Happy Anniversary cake that was probably 4x6 and 3 inches thick. That was kind of awkward as we aren't married or even engaged but we played along. Food was very good and service was impeccable.

 

After dinner I think we wandered around for another drink and then off to bed. Tomorrow, Great Stirrup Cay!

[Cruzinbabe06]

I'm enjoying your review.

 

Thanks for taking the time to post.:)

[wizdiz]

Great review so far! I'm leaving on the Getaway March 13th and been waiting for a recent Getaway review. Thanks!

[Cruise-mom]

Great review, glad to hear your thoughts on the hump balcony, we have 1 booked for June on deck 13. There are 3 of us, do you think if we bring the stool from the room for my 13 yo daughter we would all be comfortable out there?

[Clarea]

Enjoying the review.

[Timbek2]

Following as well. Thanks for posting!

[iambumbo]

Great review, glad to hear your thoughts on the hump balcony, we have 1 booked for June on deck 13. There are 3 of us, do you think if we bring the stool from the room for my 13 yo daughter we would all be comfortable out there?

 

 

Yes, I think there would be plenty of room for 3 people out there with the extra hump space, although the person in the "hump" may not have as full of a view while sitting.

[js]

Hi.

 

Thank you very much for your review!

 

I have an angled balcony on Deck 14 (spa balcony).

Do you have lounger on the balcony?

Is there room for one?

 

Did you get a Vibe pass?

Did you make reservations for the specialty and shows prior to boarding?

 

Thank you!

Edited March 2, 2016 by js

[Cruise-mom]

Yes, I think there would be plenty of room for 3 people out there with the extra hump space, although the person in the "hump" may not have as full of a view while sitting.

 

Thank you, sounds good.

[iambumbo]

Hi.

 

Thank you very much for your review!

 

I have an angled balcony on Deck 14 (spa balcony).

Do you have lounger on the balcony?

Is there room for one?

 

Did you get a Vibe pass?

Did you make reservations for the specialty and shows prior to boarding?

 

Thank you!

 

One our balcony we got 2 chairs and a small table. I suppose there would be room for a lounger on a hump balcony like ours but not sure how you'd get it to the balcony.

 

We did not get a Vibe pass.

 

We did reserve dining at the main restaurants for every night and for the shows prior to boarding. I would recommend doing that just so you have a fallback. As soon as we got on board, we switched to Le Bistro for the first night and Ocean Blue for Saturday, though we ended up switching that to Friday after seeing the menu. They're happy to accommodate you although it sounds like the specialty restaurants fill up toward the end of the week.

[cardbucfan]

Loving your review and thanks for the tip about the romance package. We will be celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary on our May Spirit sailing so may have to look into that....

[happyscmom]

Loving this review! Thanks.

[iambumbo]

Monday-- Great Stirrup Cay

 

This is your first tender port, so you're supposed to reserve a tender time through your TV or app. (On a side note, the GF had the iConcierge app which she liked to use throughout the day to see what's going on, although she found it annoying that they didn't remove activities after the time had passed.) Here's the dirty little secret we figured out-- the tender reservations are just a crowd control method. You report down to the theater at your assigned time, where you then walk through back tunnels to the level 5 staircase, then down a level to the tenders. At no time do they check reservations so you basically can go at any time and they are none the wiser. (Shhh... don't tell them we figured it out!)

 

I think we went to the theater at 9:00am and when we got off the tender it was probably around 9:45. The chairs closest to the first bar we saw were pretty full but we got a few under a tree which proved to be nice shade later in the day. The "island" (really just a long stretch of private beach, which I think is shared around the corner with RCL as they had a boat docked offshore nearby too) is actually quite beautiful. Smooth sand, and shore protected by large rocks so not a ton of wave action. We pretty much just stayed in our lawn chairs except to cool off in the water on occasion. If you wanted space to yourself, you could walk way down the beach where they had a bunch of lawn chairs set up, although then it would be a hike back to the food and bars. Looks like nearly everyone stayed closer to the action. Some people were snorkeling out a ways and they had equipment to rent but I never heard if the underwater view was any good.

 

Until lunchtime, the bar lines were fairly long, probably around a 10 minute wait on average. While drinks are included with the beverage package at Great Stirrup Cay, they did have limited options in terms of frozen beverages. For example, I think one bar only had Bahama Mamas and lime maragaritas for awhile. They had plenty of beer and other refrigerated alcohol though. Contrary to other reports, I don't think they ever ran out of stuff-- I think the options were just limited and a lot of people would just grab whatever they had already made up.

 

Around noon they started serving lunch. They had a permanent fixture under which they had the largest spreads with BBQ type foods and lots of fruit/salad options along with some nonalcoholic beverages. They also had a temporary setup right by us which had more limited options, mostly hot dogs, burgers, etc. The GF ate some stuff from the temporary stand (said it was fine) but I really just wanted to hydrate so got a bunch of fruit and other snacks from the main area. Lines weren't too long, 5-10 minutes or so.

 

They had an open area where some people played volleyball and some other coordinated games/activities but we didn't participate. Had some nice DJ type music playing in that area which carried over to the beach at just the right volume. As the day progressed, bathrooms had lines of 10 or so for the ladies, guys go right in. What can I say, sometimes it good to be a guy. ;)

 

If you're interested in shopping, they had a small market with some locals selling their wares right by the tender area. I never got over to check it out but looked like the usual souvenir temporary kiosks you find in ports. The herd thinned out substantially after lunch as the sun presumably wore people out. We hopped on a tender around 3:30 or so-- I think last tender back is 4:00.

 

We had reservations that night at 8:30 in the Tropicana room. I was hoping to catch some of the live music/dancing that the room is known for, but it sounds like if you're a late eater like we are, you won't see much if any of it as that ends earlier in the night. Tropicana definitely has a traditional formal dining room feel to it, particularly in comparison to the other free dining options (Taste/Savor). We were seated toward the back of the room (and even further back later in the cruise on our next visit there), so if there's only 2 of you, you may not get to see or hear much of any entertainment anyways. Our server was good, and the food was decent. I always order 2 entrees (hey, I walk it off going up and down those stairs!) and think this was the only night I ordered anything off the "everyday" menu so lots of decent options all week for picky eaters like me. One nice thing about the anytime is if you order multiple entrees, you don't feel like you're messing up the server's timing like under traditional dining. While I still prefer traditional dining as the wait staff learns your preferences early on in the week, I think the dining staff was on the whole very good in accommodating whatever you wanted.

 

I don't remember what we did right after dinner-- I think we may have stopped off at Fat Cats for a drink and caught the tail end of one of the lounge groups, dB Love. That looked like a nice intimate setting for live music although as it turned out we never went back. Most nights we'd at least check out the Spice H2O party they'd have at around 10:30, so I'm guessing we did that here and that was probably the first time we noticed the sound when we got back to the room. As I mentioned earlier, not a big deal as we slept through it.

 

Tomorrow-- Day at Sea!

[crusingmomma101]

Loved reading your review. We are so torn between Norwegian and Carnival. It may not seem like such a big deal, however we went on RC last year and were very disappointed. I have called many different consolidators and have asked which is going to be the best deal. They tell me Norwegian hands down, We are more wanting to get different restaurants to eat at and also see different shows. Is this the boat for us??????

[iambumbo]

Loved reading your review. We are so torn between Norwegian and Carnival. It may not seem like such a big deal, however we went on RC last year and were very disappointed. I have called many different consolidators and have asked which is going to be the best deal. They tell me Norwegian hands down, We are more wanting to get different restaurants to eat at and also see different shows. Is this the boat for us??????

 

I can only speak to my experience on Getaway but I think it definitely exceeded Carnival. I was on Valor last year and was rather disappointed at how Carnival has become so much more of a nickel-and-dime operation than even 5 years ago. Norwegian definitely would have more options in terms of different restaurants if that's important to you. Carnival may be a closer call in terms of entertainment if you like new theater shows every night, as they excel in that area. But NCL certainly had plenty of entertainment options to choose from, as well.

[iambumbo]

Tuesday-- Day at Sea

 

By this point, weather had warmed up significantly and felt truly tropical. Beautiful warm, bright sunny day. We went out and settled into chairs on the deck overseeing the main pool maybe around 9am. Hung out for a little bit and then left our stuff to go get a bite to eat in the buffet. We certainly honored the "deck chair hog" rule and were probably back within about 40 minutes. Did the same when we went to lunch at the buffet. As for the buffet, no complaints about the food options-- definitely something for everyone although you may need to walk a bit. No issues with food temperature either.

 

We pretty much spent the whole day hanging out in the deck chairs until around 4 or so. They mixed up DJ music with live music and poolside activities so it never felt stagnant. I broke things up by taking a walk around to take pictures or get drinks. I did the ropes course, although I only got halfway through before they shut it down due to high winds. Kind of unnerving but as long as you remember you're not going anywhere as long as you hold the rope over your head, it's fun. They also only had the smallest waterslide open this day and it had a big line so I didn't bother. Seems like they're a little squeamish with high winds up there with kids. The big slides looked like fun but never got around to doing them. For those who like games, they've got all kinds of activities from awesome mini golf, to rock climbing, to shuffleboard, to ping pong, to giant Chess. And that's just the outdoor activities. I survived without the ice skating rink. ;)

 

While the GF took a nap, I hit the casino for a few hours. Usual mix of games from blackjack to craps to the carnival games like 3 card poker and let it ride. Blackjack started at $6 minimums but paid 6:5 on BJ. Next highest was $15 which paid full 3:2. Craps were $10 minimums, not sure of odds. Carny games started at $5. They also had what appeared to be a small VIP area for those high rollers who didn't want to gamble with us steerage class rifraff. Interesting to note that this is the first casino at sea I found that had a truly international mix of dealers rather than stacked with Brits and east Europeans. All the dealers were pretty solid, as were the floor persons, though I only stuck to the cheapo BJ tables to preserve the bankroll. Only casino complaint I have is drink service. Servers were all over and very pleasant but took forever for the drinks to arrive. Odd thing is they'd scan your card to send the drink order back immediately. Note to NCL: it's not working. Not even close.

 

We had dinner tonight at Taste at 7:30, which proved to be our favorite dining room. Ambience was the best of the free dining rooms with service to match. We were originally assigned a waiter who must've been a break-in because she seemed confused by the menu. They must have realized she wasn't working out because they replaced her before the food arrived. Probably helped that we were sitting right next to the maître D's hangout. Our replacement was awesome. I think this was the night they had a garlic shrimp entrée that I loved so much I had to have 3 of them. As the waiter took our picture at dinner, she probably was wondering if I'd fit in the frame after that demonstration of gluttony.

 

I believe we went upstairs to check out the Spice H20 party for a bit and then waddled back to the room around 11:15 as the mixture of all day drinking and gross amounts of food was kicking in. I claim I must have been roofied at the blackjack table to feel that out of it but the GF insisted I had just been a big pig/lush today. She might be right. :p

 

On to Jamaica tomorrow!

[CocoCandy]

Great review so far!

 

I leave on the Getaway on Sunday and am looking forward to it!

[Timbek2]

Great review so far!

 

I leave on the Getaway on Sunday and am looking forward to it!

 

Awesome! Please go to the roll call page and sign in if you haven't already!!:)

[jcathers1]

Great review, and a really refreshing attitude. It's not hard to see why you had such a great time!

 

I leave on the GA this Sunday, so keep the review comin'!

[iambumbo]

Wednesday-- Ocho Rios, Jamaica

 

This was my third time in Jamaica with previous stops in Montego Bay (bamboo raft river tour) and Falmouth (horseback riding). The GF had previously used Marva Shaw and liked her but we found a better tour option we liked with Peat Taylor. We did the combo tour of Dunn's River Falls, Cool Blue Hole, and River Tubing for $90/pp ($10/pp prepay through Paypal). Turned out to be an excellent value for a full afternoon of fun.

 

We met Peat's representative just outside the main area at the end of the long pier at 8:30, a half hour after docking. We were assigned to a big bus and then moved to a smaller van with 8 other people before departing. Turns out they were also all from Wisconsin so we had something to talk about and were a lot of fun (of course, all of us Cheeseheads are, duh). It was a short drive of maybe 15 minutes to Dunn's River Falls. If you don't have aqua socks, you can buy a pair there. We all got wrist bands from our guide and our driver said he'd meet us outside in 2 hours. Our group was assigned with maybe 15 other people to about 3 guides, who led us up the series of waterfalls. It wasn't too challenging for me, a little harder for the GF who's got shorter legs at 5'1. You hold hands with the people next to you through the trickier areas to help maintain balance. The guides are a lot of fun and make sure everyone is safe and has a blast. I'd seen videos online but they really don't do the experience justice-- it really is a beautiful hike and everyone should do it once. We finished after about 90 minutes which left us about a half hour to use the restroom and take some photos before getting back to our ride. There is a souvenir area you can shop at as you leave but we were short of time so didn't stop.

 

After a few minutes, our driver pulled over and the GF and I were transferred to a new car with Peat's son, or the infamous "Re-Peat". He was very informative and a nice guy. He took us to the Cool Blue Hole. Like Dunn's, the pictures don't capture the full scene. You're assigned a guide on arrival (Samuel), and he took us to the top and worked our way down. The waterfalls get progressively larger so you can build up your courage. Lots of great photo ops, which your guide will help you with. It took the first few waterfalls to convince our guide that I truly couldn't swim and I wasn't about to jump in and be the tourist statistic that meets a watery grave on vacation. About halfway through he was nice enough to go back and get a life vest for me, which made me comfortable enough to take a 10 foot jump with the GF and then do the big rope swing. The moral here is-- don't be a wuss, just tell them if you can't swim and they'll get you a vest. You won't regret it. Samuel more than earned his tip.

 

Re-Peat then drove us a short way to the White River for a 1 hour ride on big inner tubes. After the adrenaline rush of the previous stops, this was a nice relaxing way to finish the afternoon. Our guide made sure we didn't get stuck in low waters and it was another chance to see some beautiful scenery. Overall, this tour was great just going back and forth between the stops so we could check out the lush scenery during the maybe 1 total hour you're in a car. I've been to probably 15 spots in the Caribbean and Jamaica may well be the most naturally beautiful of them all. Re-Peat offered to drop us off wherever we wanted so we had him deliver us to one of the shopping areas maybe a half-mile from the pier. We picked up some souvenirs for the folks back home and then slowly made the walk back to the ship.

 

Think our first stop after getting back on board was O'Sheehan's. This is the place to go for comfort food if you're not interested in the buffet. The GF fell in love with the open faced roast beef sandwich. Good thing it's just a sandwich and not a person or I think she might have left me for it. I had the fish and chips which hit the spot. Only complaint I have is a few other times later in the week it took a bit for the food to arrive when O'Sheehan's didn't look that busy, but it's not like you're sitting there for 45 minutes either.

 

If memory serves, the GF went back for a nap and to get ready while I hit the casino for an hour or so. Dinner tonight was at Savor with an 8:30 reservation. The nice thing about the reservations was that if you showed up on time, they'd always seat you within a minute or two of arrival so no standing around. As a twosome, we usually were seated at a table for 4, which was fine having the extra space. Easier to take pics! Food and service were good in Savor but something about it just didn't feel as inviting as Taste. Probably just a personal preference.

 

I believe this was the night we had reserved seats at the late showing of Burn the Floor (think it was 10:00). It basically was like a live version of Dancing with the Stars. If you like that show, you'll love Burn the Floor. If you're not a fan of the show, this is probably not gonna be your cup of tea. Unfortunately the combination of a long day and not so much sleep the night before caught up with me and I may have dozed off for a few minutes halfway through. Definitely not an indictment of the talented dancers. Fortunately the seats have drink holders which led to only 1/4 of my champagne spilling when I leaned forward nodding off rather than the whole glass. As the GF said, classy. That was enough for us today so off to bed.

 

Tomorrow... Grand Cayman!

[Keith1010]

Great review and I will continue to follow.

 

Keith