Getaway Review - the New Itinerary - April 4 - May 1

[NYMac4]

This was a tender port and we had booked cave tubing through NCL so we didn't have to select a tender time. They did have those on the screens around the ship and I'm guessing in your room as well so if you don't have an NCL excursion you may want to look into that.

 

We again ate at the buffet and on our excursion tickets it said to meet in the Tropicana room at 7:50am. We sat there for a few minutes and then they called excursions one at a time and ours was first so we were on the tender and it all was fairly smooth. We found our excursion, loaded into a bus and we were off. We had two guides on the bus and they were good - they pointed out a lot of things along the way and told us some history of Belize. It was a fairly long bus ride - close to an hour I think but it was nice to see some of Belize on the way.

 

When we got to the park we rented a large locker for $8 for all of our stuff and they also had changing rooms available. You could rent water shoes if you needed them but I had read about this before and we all had our own. Since we had 9 in our party and they usually go in groups of 8 they made us a group of 16 with two guides for the cave. we got our gear - life vest, helmet with light, etc. then went through a short walk through the rain forest then picked up our tubes and went down quite a few steps to the cave entrance. It was not a hard walk as there were railings to hold on to but it is quite a few stairs both up and down. The water wasn't as cold as I had expected and actually felt good as it was a hot and humid day. You basically floated along holding on to other tubes in your group. At one point we got out and walked through the cave then back in the tubes. At the end you could swim in the lagoon part to the exit which was neat. They called the water "shockingly refreshing" and I'm a wimp when it comes to cold water but it wasn't bad at all.

 

Lunch was provided and it was the chicken, rice and beans like we had in Roatan Bay. They did have a bar and other food like nachos and tacos that you could purchase. We bought two pictures for $25 which I guess wasn't horrible. On the bus ride back a lot of people took a nap :)

 

Back on the ship we showered and changed then bought more sunscreen (which if you're looking which we were is in the liquor store - not sure why) then we went to shore excursions looking for something to do in Costa Maya the next day. Some of the more popular ones had sold out so just a heads up if you have your heart set on something special.

 

We had a late reservation at Cagney's - 9:15pm. It was worth the wait. With the free dining you could choose a starter than a soup or salad, then a meal and a dessert. You could get more than one starter or appetizer but just one meal which I can't imagine wanting more than one meal - we couldn't eat all of what we did order! I had the chilled shrimp, the lobster bisque then the surf and turf. It was all AMAZING! The service was great and moved right along at a nice pace. People at our table had steak and the pork chop and everyone loved everything. For dessert my daughter had the 7 layer cake and her dad shared it with her. I had the raspberry creme brulee and it was awesome! that was probably from start to finish one of the best meals I've ever had!

 

Everyone was tired so we called it a night after dinner - we had to push our clocks ahead one hour as tomorrow we'll be in Costa Maya ... the week was going by way too fast!!

[Clarea]

Enjoying the review.

[NYMac4]

We hadn't booked an excursion for this port - my oldest daughter is a huge history fan and is actually majoring in History/Secondary Ed next year in college so she wanted to go to the Mayan ruins and this port worked the best for us. My husband said he would go with her so they booked the 4 hour excursion and the 7 of us were undecided but leaning toward a beach day. The lady at shore excursions said she would feel comfortable taking a taxi to the beach so that was our plan.

 

After breakfast at the buffet - again with some wait staff singing and playing guitar as you came in by the elevators which was a cute touch - we left the ship around 9:30am. We walked around a little and took some pictures then headed out to find a taxi but instead a guy started talking to us about renting a golf cart for the day. He had one large one left that would fit all 7 of us and it cost $100 for 4 hours so we signed up. It was a great decision. We were able to drive all around on our own then he told us to find "Jimmy with the red flag" at the beach club and we could spend the day there. They set us up with lounge chairs and a covered little hut and we could order drinks and food all day. People kept coming around trying to sell stuff but a polite no thank you sent them on their way. We did buy a few things. They had amazing drinks in pineapples and "yards" and we had a great day - kayaks were available too. We drove around after leaving the beach again and then headed back to do a little shopping before getting back on the ship. The beach club was called The Maya Bar - definitely not the nicest I'd ever been to but it fit the bill and we had a lot of fun just kind of doing our own thing.

 

We had dinner reservations at 7 at La Cucina and dinner was good - not my favorite of the week and to be completely honest if I had to pay for it all I probably wouldn't do that one again. We watched the Celebrity Dance Off which was really funny but our seats weren't great - still not sure why they do those shows in the atrium.... we walked around outside, looked at some photographs the kids had taken and then called it a night.

 

Up next - the last off the boat day of the trip already :(

[turtleclanscott]

Thanks for the review. We've booked Maya Key for our Getaway cruise next month, so it was great to hear that it was fun. I think my girls (9, 10, and 12) will love seeing the monkeys!

[NYMac4]

We've booked Maya Key for our Getaway cruise next month, so it was great to hear that it was fun. I think my girls (9, 10, and 12) will love seeing the monkeys!

 

We enjoyed it :) The beach area wasn't huge but it was enough for us. Walk around and find the pool - beautiful scenery! there are also sea lion encounters but our group kept busy and didn't ask so we didn't either - figured if they were super interested someone would have said something. They don't charge for the monkey encounter but they do accept tips and they're great about taking pictures on your camera so the tip was well deserved in my opinion

[Lorey2007]

Love your review thanks so much. We were on the Getaway in February and totally agree with you about the activities in the Atrium. Seems like there should be a better place to have those. We found if you didn't get there extra early you had to sit on a folding chair or stand.

[NYMac4]

When I woke up and went out on the balcony around 7:30 am we were docking in Cozumel. This was the only place that we were on the wrong side of the ship :)I could already see at least two other ships docked or coming in so I knew it would be a busy day. We had booked the stingray excursion and it didn't meet until 11:25am so we weren't in a big hurry to get off the ship.

 

We left the ship a little after 10 and did some shopping. Here's a tip - if you're buying little gifts for family, friends, etc save it for this port -things were so much cheaper!! T shirts were $4 and $5, cute tote bags were $4 or less, all kinds of little things. I wish I had known that!!

 

We met at the pier for our stingray excursion and we had to sign a waiver then got into the vans/taxis in groups. The sting ray place was just maybe a 5-10 minute drive. We got out and of course they took everyone's picture that you could purchase later :) You could rent a locker for $3 but with a $10 deposit you got back when you turned in the key. The next part was a little chaotic - you got water shoes, snorkeling gear, etc and then waited in this area where they eventually gave a little presentation on how the day would work. The guide was great but then they were dividing people into who would snorkel first and who would do the stingray encounter and it seemed like quite a bit of time was wasted waiting around. We were in the group for the encounter first. I thought the time was good - 30 minutes for that and 30- minutes to snorkel. The sting rays and some pretty blue fish were swimming around us. We could touch them as they went by then were able to feed them a piece of fish. The guides later held them so individually you could pet them and later kiss them and they also gave you a lot of information about them. The snorkeling seemed good - my husband and younger daughter did that. My oldest got her hair braided and we just relaxed in the sun. They said "beach area" but there's nowhere to just swim on your own. They did give you a ticket for a free soda and there was a bar available. Before we left they brought out a bucket of crabs and you could pick one and they had the crabs race and the winners got prized - my youngest won 3rd and chose a bag of Doritos :) Guess older winners can get a shot at the bar - LOL! The CD for four people was $60 so we passed and just bought one picture for $20.

 

We did a little more shopping and at the pier getting back on the boat Norwegian staff were not only passing out cool towels and drinks like they had at every port but ice pops too :) We grabbed a bite to eat at the buffet then back to the room to shower and change

[NYMac4]

That seemed like it was getting long -guess I had a lot to say about Friday :)

Anyway, we decided to try the Noodle Bar for dinner and it was a great choice. It's not a big restaurant so sometimes when we walked by there was a wait but we didn't have to wait tonight. They have paper menus and pens on the high top tables and you can write down what you want. It's not a huge menu but the food was excellent. Our family loved the spring rolls and the fried rice especially.

After dinner we walked around, had a drink at the Waterfront, and found the little two lane bowling alley we had seen once before. It does cost $5 to play but it was fun.

 

Tonight was the Glow Party so we headed to the Spice H2O for that around 10:20pm and found a place near the railing to stand. It was fun and the kids loved it. Scott the cruise director and staff really brought a lot of energy to the party and they had great glow sticks to pass out.

 

My husband and I left around 11:40pm and went to the Mojito bar for one last drink of the night The guy playing piano was great and the crowd was really getting into it especially when he sang songs like "Sweet Caroline" Bum, bum, bum - you know you just sang that in your head!

 

We had to turn the clocks ahead an hour tonight ....I can't believe how fast the week was going by. We had picture perfect weather and smooth sailing. It was an awesome vacation!!

 

One more sea day .....

[YungCruzVet]

Do you remember which dock you at in Roatan? Coxen Hole or Mahogany Bay?

[beachbaby1218]

Great review! Can't wait to see your photos.:D We will be on the Getaway in 30 days! :D

[skoeper]

Do you remember which dock you at in Roatan? Coxen Hole or Mahogany Bay?

 

We were on this sailing and we docked at Coxen Hole :)

[Mizzori]

Thanks for sharing! Loved your review, would you have any dailies avail =) would love to see them, thanks...

 

I too was on this cruise. Great to see other perspective. I posted the dailies on a review I did

[NYMac4]

Do you remember which dock you at in Roatan? Coxen Hole or Mahogany Bay?

 

I'm sorry - I don't! I remember them mentioning it and I didn't realize there were two but I'm not sure which we were. We didn't tender - we docked if that helps. There were other ships in port that day but I never saw them ..

[NYMac4]

Can't wait to see your photos.

 

Wish I could figure that out - I have TONS :) LOL!! We came back to Senior Night for my daughter's lacrosse team and prom this weekend so it's been crazier than normal ...I will have to try to figure it out - it can't be that hard right??

[NYMac4]

Because of the glow party everyone was up late and slept in - I enjoyed some more quiet time on the balcony and most of the ship must have been doing the same thing and sleeping in because the internet was the fastest it had been so I answered emails and loaded some pictures on facebook. it was sunny but windy so we got some deck chairs, grabbed breakfast at the Flamingo Grill and set up to soak in as much sun as we could before going back to NY!

 

At 1pm there was family dodgeball which everyone thought was fun. Two of the teenagers spent the afternoon at Entourage and with friends they had met on the ship. They had Man Hunt and things like that planned which they enjoyed.

 

For dinner we had reservations at the Japanese Steak House and this was my second favorite place to eat of the trip - Cagney's was the first. Our chef was Jackson and he rocked! He sang and was funny and let the kids try some of his "tricks" ...we all really enjoyed him and the food was delicious too - my scallops were amazing!

 

After dinner we went to buy pictures - if you buy 10 it's $150 and for $20 you can get a disk with them on to print yourself so my suggestion would be wait until the last day to see which you like the best if you get a bunch taken and go with this deal. I love the way this ship had them organized in binders so you didn't have to walk around searching for yours. Great idea! The only catch is they're not by room numbers so check on your sign and sail card.

 

We got a drink at the atrium bar and a seat for the Perfect Couple show. This was okay - not my favorite. If you were there you probably understand why. Not judging...just saying .... Once it got going it was all right and some of the things they had to do were pretty funny. All three couples got into it and had a good time.

 

The older girls and I went to see the Farewell Show and enjoyed it. It was nice at the end to have so many of the staff on the stage and on the way out of the theater ...

 

The week went by soooooo fasTT