Getaway experience (Feb21-28) compared to DCL

[bfamily4]

We are a family of 4, my DW is 38 and i'm 42. We have DD6 and DS5.We've never cruised outside of Disney but wanted to try the Getaway since its a newer ship that's supposed to be fun for the kids + kids sale free helps too.:) We had room 9734 (B6)

 

What we loved:

 

-Cruise staff were great and friendly like DCL!

-Cruise price was very reasonable

-Ship was clean (but not DCL clean lol!)

-Kids loved the Splash Academy

-Surprisingly, the buffet was great in terms of selection and taste (especially breakfast) and we are picky eaters. Bacon here was better (thicker) than DCL lol!

-Room was great with lots of storage space.

-Burn the Floor was good

-Shopping (a bit chaotic but its tolerable!)

-Layout of the ship, couldn't tell that there were 4,000+ people on board.

-Information Technology on the ship and stateroom TV; you can check everything, from your account to booking excursions.

-Casino smoke is not as bothersome as others described and my DW is a non smoker.

-I'm an avid boxer and Fight Klub was a nice program although i was the only one that showed up.:)

-There were only a handful of children using the kiddie pools and slides! at one time, i counted only 6 kids ! this would never happen at DCL! lol!

 

 

Could Be Better:

 

-Sail away party was a dud.:(

-OBC mix up ($1K) that didn't get fixed until 3rd day. We are Canadian and bought OBC at a favorable rate. They charged everything but $.01 on my cc. DW called NCl about the penny and they said not to worry. They couldn't charge my cc for a penny even if they wanted to. When we boarded we were expecting the obc certificate to be waiting for us in the stateroom. Went to OBC desk and inquired about it. They said it wasn't in the system yet...for 3 days! DW had to show her amenity invoice.This stressed out the DW given the feedback she read from previous posts about the timeliness of processing the OBC.

 

-This was the biggest for us...lack of family entertainment at night. We basically were just milling around most of the time looking for something to do that was family oriented. No shows or movies that we can all watch. I think that's why the kids wanted to go to Kids club instead.

-There were too many people leaving their empty beer bottles and cups everywhere; not enough garbage cans.

 

-If you are a soda drinker, you can only get this at the bar and you'd have to wait a long time for a Pepsi.

 

-You get charged for pool towels if you do not keep track of it. we're on vacation, i shouldn't have to worry about towels! hahahaha!

 

-Photos. On DCL they allow you to take photos with your own camera after the professional photographers are done taking pictures. We were disappointed that we couldn't take photos with our own camera in front of the photo booths.

 

- Cruise felt like it was nickel and diming operation lol!

 

Nevertheless, we had a great time ! Ultimately, A vacation really is what you make of it. No amount of "disappointments" will ruin it for us. We are not gonna beat ourselves up or feel slighted when things don't go exactly as planned or expected. We try to enjoy the time as much as we can without expecting "perfection". We still feel very blessed to be able to do this every year as a family.

 

This cruise, albeit fun and great, had a totally different feel in terms of the ambiance... For us personally, something was lacking. I remember we weren't as "sad" leaving the Getaway compared to everyone feeling " totally depressed" when we left DCL .. perhaps its the "pixie dust" lol!

 

The question DW had was if we would go back. If there is a really good promotional offer we would go in a heartbeat otherwise, its DCL for us :)

Edited March 25, 2016 by bfamily4
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[Clarea]

Found the comparison interesting, thanks.

[Keith1010]

Thank you for sharing your thoughts.

 

Keith

[KirkNC]

Thanks for your report.

[jacmom]

Do you have copies of the Splash Academy program for Seals (ages 6-9)?

[Cruise-mom]

Thanks for the feedback, we sailed DCL (1st cruise) last June and are on the Getaway this June so it's good to see your comparisons.

[bfamily4]

Do you have copies of the Splash Academy program for Seals (ages 6-9)?

 

 

Yes i do :) however when i try to attach the pics they become really small thumbnail size, anyone know how to post photos in here with out shrinking them dramatically ? :)

[jacmom]

Yes i do :) however when i try to attach the pics they become really small thumbnail size, anyone know how to post photos in here with out shrinking them dramatically ? :)

I do not know how, hopefully someone else does. :) Thank you!

[jacmom]

Yes i do :) however when i try to attach the pics they become really small thumbnail size, anyone know how to post photos in here with out shrinking them dramatically ? :)

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1714741&highlight=posting+photos <--how to post photos