Norwegian Getaway Detailed Review - 7/17/16 - 7/24/16

[slei15]

I wanted to share some of our experiences from our recent cruise on the Getaway. We had a great time and an amazing trip. Let me preface this by saying that we were also on the Getaway in September 2015, and it was probably the worst cruise we have been on. Many reasons behind it, but most had to do with our kids and the Splash Academy, and the dining room. We solved those problems this trip by not bringing the kids and eating in specialty dining all 7 nights. My apologies for the lack of pictures with the review. Having a drink in one hand at all times with the UBP made it difficult to take pictures!

 

Day 1 – Embarkation

 

We drove down to Miami from our home Orlando on Sunday morning. We arrived to the port at around 11:45AM. By the time we checked our luggage with the porters, parked the car, and got into the terminal, it was around 12:15PM. There were signs all over the place outside of the terminal informing everybody that no liquids were allowed past that point. A security guy sitting at a podium outside the door kept watch to ensure beverages weren’t being carried, and the x-ray techs were also looking for it. We didn’t see anybody making a big deal of it or complaining at all. Once we got inside, we got into the Latitudes check-in line. It was probably about half as long as the general line, but still not short. We waiting about 20 minutes in line before we checked in. Once we checked in, we used a little trick we learned the last time to avoid the number system for boarding…If you take the elevator upstairs instead of the escalator, you exit directly into the boarding line instead of being handed a number for a boarding group and waiting with the masses.

 

Once we were on board, we went straight down to Taste for lunch. Chicken Nachos, Shrimp in spicy tomato sauce with pasta, Tomato Soup, and Philly Cheese Steak (with Cheese Wiz) were all tasty...A nice surprise after not liking the dining room food at all last year. It looked like the dining room lunch menu was the same for the entire cruise. After lunch, we walked around the ship a bit to re-familiarize. Cabins were ready around 2:30, at which time we headed to our BB mid-ship balcony cabin, #9182. This is one of the cabins right over the end of the awning on the waterfront. The view was fine, and there was very little noise from below, as the part of the waterfront below us was the outdoor dining for La Cucina. Our room was decorated with balloons and streamers and a Happy Anniversary banner, as well as a cake waiting for us, as we were celebrating our 10th anniversary on this trip. NCL gave us the anniversary party package as a courtesy when I called to complain about the itinerary change (Costa Maya and Cozumel being flipped, which caused us to not be able to do our Cozumel excursion we had planned). They made sure to tell me it was not compensation for the itinerary change in any way, but just a kind gesture on their part. Either way, the decorations were cute and made my wife smile, so it served a purpose.

 

After dropping our stuff, we went out to the muster drill, which was insanely long, loud, and unorganized. There was a Coast Guard ship inspection that day, so they were ensuring to have everything done by the book for the muster. We then walked around a bit more, went to the spa for the raffle (didn’t win), and got ready for dinner.

 

Dinner on night 1 was Cagney’s. The restaurant was empty that night, and service was great. The waiter explained the process of using our meal package, and let us know we could each pick one item from each section (appetizer, salad, entrée, dessert), and as many sides as we wanted. I didn’t debate or argue, as I knew we would be back to Cagney’s, and honestly, how much can one person eat. I had the Pork Belly appetizer and the Tomahawk Ribeye, both of which were excellent. My wife loved her crab cake, and the full 1.5 lb lobster came out cooked well, though she thought it was a bit small. A little note…The steaks that were previously “for two” on the pre-a la carte menu (29 oz Tomahawk Ribeye, 24 oz Porterhouse, and 32 oz King Cut prime rib), can be ordered as one entrée on the dining plan. Two of you dining on the plan could each order your own one of these large steaks. We had sides of brussell sprouts, mashed potatoes, onion rings, and asparagus. Veggies were ordinary. Mashed potatoes were creamy and rich, and the onion rings were crispy and well seasoned. Dessert was a massive brownie with ice cream, which was underwhelming.

We ended up skipping the welcome aboard show and went to the hot tub for a while, and then turned in early as it had been a long day.

Edited July 28, 2016 by slei15

[BeachBecky]

Thank you for your review looking forward to more. How was your cabin with the awning below? Was it too bright when the sun was on that side to sit out?

Interesting comment on Cagney's first night almost empty, what time was your reservation? It was good to hear your second trip on the Getaway was nicer.

[slei15]

More to come later today. The cabin was fine with the awning. We never found it to be too bright, and the awning have a feeling of more privacy from below. It wasn't reflective at all.

 

 

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[slei15]

Cagneys was at 6:30 that night.

 

 

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[slei15]

Day 2 – At Sea

 

We woke up pretty early the morning of day 2. We tried to go to the gym at around 7 to get on the treadmills for a little while, and there was already a line for them with 4 or 5 people waiting. This was a common theme for the trip, and we ultimately never made it to the gym. The ship could definitely use a bigger gym or a second gym. We went to breakfast in the buffet. It was a typical cruise ship breakfast buffet. Decent omelette, crispy bacon, and pretty good hash browns. We then went up to the Flamingo Grill, as we remembered from our last trip they had the most amazing chocolate glazed cinnamon rolls up there. They were still there every morning, and we were thrilled. It will be a shame when the Flamingo disappears. Margaritaville is exciting to many, but living in Orlando, we have it all right at home and prefer the uniqueness Flamingo offered.

 

After breakfast we claimed our spot on the pool deck and spent most of the day there relaxing. Lunch today was also at the Flamingo…Day 2 lunch is the only time they have the chimichurri steak on the buffet up there…Best lunch item on the ship for the entire cruise. Poolside activities were excellent for people watching, although it did get annoying that the pool and hot tubs were so completely packed in like sardines. We had an early dinner tonight at Teppanyaki before Burn the Floor.

 

As we were seated waiting at Teppanyaki, we were watching the chefs at the other tables. They were all loud, boisterous, and extremely entertaining. They all love to sing and make very loud noises with their knives, spatulas, and salt and pepper shakers. Our chef was a bit more reserved than the others, but still very entertaining and a great meal. I had the Filet Mignon, and my wife had the Filet and Shrimp. She said the shrimp was excellent. The fried rice was great, with tons of fresh garlic and garlic butter cooked into it. The Miso soup was ordinary, and the seaweed salad not our cup of tea. They also start you with some Edamame.

 

Desserts here did not look the least bit appetizing, so we decided to wait on that until after the show and grab some at the buffet.

 

Burn the Floor was a great show. The dancers were highly skilled, and probably some of the best we have seen on a cruise ship. They had great routines, and great music to go with it.

 

After the show, we played a little blackjack and went back to the hot tub. No luck in the casino yet for us. Our big complaint about the casino from last year still exists…The whole thing reeks of smoke, even on the “non-smoking” side. There is also no roulette table on the non-smoking side, and that is my favorite game to play. I had to suffer through the smoke when I wanted to play. There is no ventilation in there, and it travels all through the promenade area between the casino, and shops, and the hallways there.

[slei15]

Day 3 – Roatan

 

We had no excursion planned for Roatan, so we took it easy in the morning. Ate breakfast, went to the hot tub for a bit, and then got off the ship. We walked around the port shopping area for a little while, and then decided to go explore “outside” of the gates a bit. As soon as we exited the gates, we couldn’t walk three feet without another taxi driver/tour guide wanting to be our personal guide for the day. They would walk up the street with us after we said no and keep trying to convince us. We finally got away from them and did some shopping. Shopping tip…There is a little “straw market” directly across the street from the entry gates to the port. The prices there are very negotiable, and less than half of what the vendors in the port will negotiate down to. We bought the kids some souvenirs, and a new pair of sandals for my wife (buying her and the kids stuff would become a common theme!). After shopping, we decided to go back on board and relax.

 

Lunch was at O’Sheehans. We were a little disappointed to see a new menu, as the chicken pot pie they used to have was amazing. We ordered the Thai Chili wings, which were very good, and I had Bangers and Mash, which could have used more flavor. The pool area was deserted today, with most of the passengers being on shore. We relaxed there for a few hours until dinner.

 

Dinner tonight was La Cucina. Appetizers were the Gnocchi in a basil pesto cream sauce, which were a bit doughy for our taste, the rigatoni and meatballs, which was very tasty, the eggplant stuffed with veal, interesting but tasty, and the beef carpaccio, which was seasoned well, but clearly not sliced fresh as it was completely stuck to the plate from being refrigerated that way. Entrées were the lobster fra diavlo, and the Gorgonzola crusted filet. My wife said the lobster was incredible, and the filet was cooked well and tasty. Dessert was affogato (espresso poured on top of gelato). Simple but good.

 

Nothing overly exciting after dinner tonight…We just relaxed in the hot tub for a while and did some browsing in the shops on board.

[rocklinmom]

Can't wait to read the rest of your review! I am looking at doing the Getaway in Europe next summer. We've always done the smaller NCL ships, so I appreciate your details.

[slei15]

Day 4 – Belize

 

Today was an exciting day. We had a private excursion booked to go cave tubing, zip-lining, and on an ATV trek. It was a great price, and the only place we could find for all three activities. Tip: Book your tender time as soon as you get on the ship the first day if you need to be off early. You can use any of the touch-screen monitors by the stairs/elevators. They didn’t really check ours, but we were also down there way early to make sure we were on the first tender. When we got off the 20 minute tender ride, we immediately found the tour group with the descriptions they gave us. They told us where to go wait, and we were off. It took a while to get organized, as there were around 90 people from our sailing doing excursions with them that day. Apparently we were the only ones doing a “triple tour”, vs. just cave tubing or doing cave tubing and one other activity. We were grouped with a bus with 2 other families who were doing the cave tubing and ATV ride. The bus ride was about an hour long, with a stop at their office for final payment to be made and water shoes to be rented if necessary. When we got to the cave tubing location, we learned that the water level was rising, and we had to hurry to make sure they didn’t close the caves down. Our amazing tour guides got us settled with our gear, and we started the 20 minute walk. The beautiful thing about this tour company, is that we did not have to carry our tubes all the way to the water. They already had them waiting for us at the river entrance. Because we didn’t have the extra weight, our tour guides were able to maneuver us on the path around a few larger groups to get us down to the water much more quickly. The cave tubing experience was very cool, and I would highly recommend it. After cave tubing, we went down to the zip-line and ATV property. It is owned by the tour company, so without booking through them, these activities do not exist. The zip-line was 7 runs, some up to 3,000 feet long. They went through beautiful scenery in the rainforest canopy, and over the river we had just been cave tubing in. It was amazing. While we zip-lined, the rest of the group went to the ATV area. We all finished those activities at about the same time. The rest of the group then cleaned up and was driven over to where we had lunch while we did our ATV trek. The ATV ride was entirely through the mud! It was tons of fun, and ridiculously messy! When we finished and got cleaned up, we met the rest of the group at the lunch place and ate an authentic Belizean meal. After lunch, we got back in the van with the group for the drive back to the port. It was another hour drive back. When we got back, we had about 2 hours for shopping before we had to catch the last tender back to the ship. This was an exhausting day, but an amazing experience. It will be a shame if these awesome Belize experiences are no longer available when NCL starts using Harvest Caye instead of Belize City.

 

When we got back to the ship, we immediately hit the showers to get the residual mud and clay off of us from the ATV, and then got ready for dinner. Tonight was Moderno. The meal started off great with the salad bar. There was lots of variety, and quality similar to the Brazilian steakhouses we have all over Orlando. Then the meats started coming. The meat was all VERY salty, and quite dried out, and due to the lack of using open flames on the ship, it was missing that great charred crust that it should have had. The cheese bread was delicious, but the meats were quite a disappointment.

 

After the exhausting day, we just relaxed in the hot tub for a while and headed in for the night. I decided I wasn’t quite ready yet, so I played some roulette for a little while. I ended up making back what we lost on blackjack the first night plus a little bit more. Luck was starting to turn in the casino.

[slei15]

Day 5 – Cozumel

One of the tough things with this itinerary is having 4 ports in 4 days. It gets exhausting. In Cozumel, our favorite thing to do is eat. Two years ago, we found an amazing cooking class at a local woman’s house in Cozumel, where she taught us how to make some amazing Mexican dishes, fresh tortillas, and lots of sauces, salsas, and guacamole. Last year, through the same tour operator, we did a local food tour, of restaurants out of the tourist area and “where the locals eat”. These are more like tables in people’s garages and living rooms, and tiny little restaurants. The food was amazing, so naturally we wanted to do it again with some new locations. We had everything worked out and set, and then the itinerary changed. The tour guide wasn’t available on Thursday, and all of a sudden, the activity we were most looking forward to was gone. I worked with the owner of the tour company, and she was able to give me names and addresses of the restaurants for us to do the tour self-guided. We found an awesome cab driver when we got off the ship (hint, don’t do this in the port area, walk out to the main road) and further into downtown. Thank goodness for Google Maps and a working data plan in Mexico, as some of these places were hard to find and the cab driver hadn’t heard of all of them! The food was all great, and we had a wonderful time doing it on our own, but I still liked having the tour guide better.

 

After eating, we walked around and did more of what we do best…Buying stuff for the kids! We then took our stuffed selves back to the ship to find a way to get hungry for dinner. That never happened, but having paid for the 7 night dining package, we went to Cagney’s anyway. Tonight was a shared dinner, with the King Cut prime rib and the lamb chops. Both were excellent.

 

After dinner, it was off to check out Spice H2O for the rest of the movie (NCL does not do their scheduling well on the ships. Too many activities overlap. Probably their way of crowd control...), and hanging out in the hot tub. Then on to the casino, where the roulette luck continued. Up another $100!

[SLRoth]

Can u provide the name of the tour operator in cozumel

[slei15]

The company is Cozumel Chef. http://www.cozumelchef. com

Owners name is Emily. She is an American expat from NJ. Amazing tours and a pleasure to work with. The cooking class with Josefina as well as the food tours are well worth it.

 

 

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[Clarea]

Enjoying this and looking forward to more. :)

[slei15]

Day 6 – Costa Maya

Today was a day we didn’t get out of bed much. After being so tired from the last two days, we relaxed, read, and hung out by the pool. Took some really good naps. We walked around Costa Maya in the port for a little while, but didn’t feel like venturing out to the main streets. Maybe next time…

 

Dinner tonight was back to La Cucina. The Veal Marsala was really good, and the chocolate torte was probably the best dessert on the ship. Then we went to see Million Dollar Quartet. The show was really well done. The music was excellent, and the acting was good. Again, kudos to the entertainment on this ship. They really know how to produce great shows at sea!

 

A little time in the casino afterwards, and another $100 up on roulette!

[slei15]

Day 7 – At Sea

 

Today was the day to do all the stuff on the ship we hadn’t done yet. We did the ropes course, which was lots of fun, more shopping, tried a bunch of different drinks, watched lots of poolside activities, etc. Another lunch in O’Sheehans, the Thai Chili wings were still great! Some afternoon casino time got me my final $100 up, ending the cruise up about $300 in the casino! I love when that happens! We watched Concussion in Spice H2O tonight, and finished up all of our packing. Dinner tonight was back to Teppanyaki, for more great entertainment and the same food as the first time.

 

Disembarkation the next morning was smooth and easy. We had the turquoise tags, and from the time they called us at about 8:45 AM, it took about 20 minutes to be off the ship and through customs.

 

Some general tips and comments:

 

1) The Sugarcane Mojito Bar had the best drinks. Try the Pineapple Coconut Mojito or the Ginger Mojito.

2) Eat in Flamingo before it is gone. Supposedly some of the food is moving to the regular buffet, but part of what makes it so good in Flamingo is that it is cooked in much smaller batches because not many people go up there.

3) When going to go on the ropes course, make sure you have your pockets empty, shorts, and a shirt with sleeves. They will not let you on without that.

4) If kids/teens are overrunning all the hot tubs, say something to one of the staff people. Two of the hot tubs are reserved for adults at all times, and the staff has no problem kicking the kids out.

5) 7 nights of dining plan was a bit much…We couldn’t even look at food at the end of the cruise.

6) Desserts were overall underwhelming all over the ship, with the exception of the chocolate torte in La Cucina.

7) For better service in the MDR’s, go to Taste or Savor. Tropicana seems to have the worst service for some reason.

8) If you want something to go from an MDR (we wanted to get a dessert one night to go back to the room), and one dining room says no, try another one. Taste told us no, but Tropicana gave it to us with no issue.

9) If there is something in the shops you see during one of the special nights that you want (ie the watch specials), don’t assume they will have them out another time. Buy it then if you really want it.

10) Room stewards are efficient, but they have so many rooms to clean, don’t have high expectations for the above and beyond. It is enough struggle for them just to clean all the rooms in enough time.

11) The pool decks are dangerously hot. Wear flip-flops at all times when not in the pool or you will have blisters on your feet.

12) Get the chocolate cinnamon rolls in the Flamingo for breakfast…YUM!

13) If you want seats for anything in the Atrium, get there early. It gets packed for every activity in there.

14) BYOB…Refillable water bottle that is…Throughout our cruise, we did not encounter any lines at the buffet stations for water, and they never stopped us from filling our bottles there (or any of the other hundreds of people we saw with water bottles), and every bartender on the ship was also willing to fill up our water bottles for us with fresh ice water. For those worried about the spread of Noro through the water stations, the water and ice spigots were protected by a large plastic barrier that did not let you anywhere near the actual spigot. They seemed to be designed for filling water bottles, rather than the tiny cups they have at the buffet.

[Podie]

Thanks for your great review. We'll be on Getaway Oct. 2, and I'm starting to get concerned about this flipping Cozumel and Costa Maya. How soon did you know and did they say why they were doing it? We have private excursions at each place and there is not another ship at Costa Maya when we're there so does that give us a good chance of NOT having the port visits flipped?

 

Also, since the meats at Moderno were salty (and because I know nothing could top Texas de Brazil in Orlando), do you think Cagney's is a better plan? We booked a night at each but we both dislike salty food so maybe we should stick to Cagney's?

 

Thanks!

[slei15]

The reason they have been doing the flip is to avoid multiple ships in Costa Maya. The weeks there was only one ship they did not flip it. We found out officially 10 days prior to sailing, but I had a pretty good idea it was going to happen with two ships scheduled in Costa Maya on Thursday.

 

I would go to Cagneys twice and skip Moderno. Compared to Texas de Brazil, Moderno will leave you very disappointed.

 

 

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[cruisetimeforme]

Did you attend any comedy or see Howl at the Moon? Thanks for an enjoyable, quick and to the point review. Plus you put it together quickly, not over the course of a week or so. Glad you had a great time

[stickey_mouse]

The reason they have been doing the flip is to avoid multiple ships in Costa Maya.

I don't know anything about this port (yet). Why can it not handle more than one ship at a time?

[AdoraBelle]

Thanks for your great review. We'll be on Getaway Oct. 2, and I'm starting to get concerned about this flipping Cozumel and Costa Maya. How soon did you know and did they say why they were doing it? We have private excursions at each place and there is not another ship at Costa Maya when we're there so does that give us a good chance of NOT having the port visits flipped?

 

 

 

Also, since the meats at Moderno were salty (and because I know nothing could top Texas de Brazil in Orlando), do you think Cagney's is a better plan? We booked a night at each but we both dislike salty food so maybe we should stick to Cagney's?

 

 

 

Thanks!

 

 

We found out about maybe a week prior to my cruise in early June. I honestly can't remember if NCL notified me or if I found out about it on CC first. No, I think I got the NCL email first because some folks on the sailing didn't believe us at first.

 

There was a mad scramble to swap our excursions (many of us were doing Nachi Cocum or Maya Chan or both). Maya Chan in Costa Maya was better about accommodating the last minute change and communicating with me. I tried to cancel with Nachi Cocum, but they ignored that part of my email and switched my days around instead.

[Susandt]

thanks for the review, going in march

[cincicruisers]

Great review, thanks for sharing.

[cruisetimeforme]

Did you happen to talk to any of the crew that mentioned the upcoming sailings to Rio?

[kickbutt10]

Thanks for your review! We have been on Getaway twice and we are booked to go again soon. Do you happen to know where they sell the passes for Vibe?

 

So happy you had a great time!

[Sand and Seas]

Excellent review and great tips! Thanks for sharing:D

[slei15]

We did not do comedy or Howl at the Moon. Again that problem of living in Orlando...Howl at the Moon is 5 minutes from our house! People we talked to that did both said they were fun.

 

Costa Maya is a relatively small port area. While the area can handle more than 1 ship for excursions, the port area itself would be an absolute zoo with multiple ships in port. There is a free pool in the port area with a swim up bar and some small beach areas right there.

 

Only 200 crew members were remaining on for the Rio trip. 700 passengers on the charter down there. Over 1500 crew members debarked with us on Sunday for vacation for 40 days.

 

Vibe passes are at guest services on deck 6. Get there early!

 

 

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