Getaway review 4/9 to 4/16 Spring Break Cruise

[jdl71115]

I’m going to give a shot at a trip report. I have used Cruise Critic so much to help me that I want to try to pay it forward if I can. So here goes….

This was a Spring Break trip for myself (35), my DH (43) and my DD (10). This is our 4th cruise on NCL and we have done two cruises on Carnival. We were booked in a mid-ship mini suite room # 9238. We had upgraded during a price drop from a mid-ship balcony. I had put in a poor bid for the Haven, but it was not accepted. We had the ultimate beverage program for both me and DH and 3 specialty dining package.

Embarkation-Sunday, April 9, 2017

We only live about 30 minutes from the Port of Miami. So Sunday morning I paced around my living room waiting to leave. DH told me to calm down and wait in the comfort of the house instead of waiting in the uncomfortable chairs at port. Finally at about 10:30 I couldn’t wait anymore and we left. We got to the port around 11, dropped of the luggage, parked the car and got through security by 11:50. We were in group 23 and at 11:55 they started calling groups 1, 2 & 3. Our group was called at 1:00.

Once onboard we went to Taste (or Savor…I really can’t remember since they are both pretty much the same) for lunch. The food was good, not great, not bad….good. Right after lunch I headed straight to the box office to make reservations for “Escape the Big Top.” That was the only thing that I really wanted to do but was not able to make reservations on line. Reservations were made no problem. We then went to the room to drop off our carry-on bag and headed to the muster drill. We were in the casino, it was quick and painless.

After the drill DH and DD went to the pool while I went to Splash Academy to register our daughter. I am so glad I sprinted up the registration. I was 4th in line and by the time I was done the line was down the stairs and out the hallway! One of the counselors told me that there were over 1200 kids on the ship for this sailing and that the Splash Academy only holds 120, so it would not be guaranteed that any of the kids would have a spot, it was first come first serve. However since our daughter was in the 10-12 age group a lot of the time they would be in Bliss Lounge and that had a max capacity of 110 itself.

By the time I was done with that I went back to the pool found the family and grabbed my first of many frozen drinks! While we were at the pool bar my husband and I both took out our cards to order a drink and we were getting DD a soda too. We fully expected to pay for her soda. But the bartender said he only needed one card for all 3 drinks. I tried to tell him that she did not have any kind of package for drinks, he again said he only needed one card. That was the norm for the rest of the week. We always tried to hand over two cards or make it a point of letting them know that one of the drinks was for our daughter. But no one cared. I was honestly not trying to get anything for free, but I think it was easier for the bartenders not to ring it up so they didn’t.

After unpacking and wandering around the ship to get the layout we went to the Tropicana Room for dinner. We had some very good apps and main courses. Our DD was itching to get to the first night of kids camp, she was so excited that she wanted to skip desert! We dropped her off and then went to play in the casino for a couple hours. We later picked up the kid and called it a night. We were exhausted!

[ncklhaus]

Great start. Looking forward to reading more. Thanks for sharing.

[goldie888]

Following your review. We will be sailing on the Gateway on April 30th.

 

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[rocklinmom]

Following,,,will be on the GA in July.

[jdl71115]

Day 2-Monday, April 10, 2017-Sea Day

The night before we had set our clocks back one hour. I’m an early riser to begin with so I was up even earlier than I should have been on my vacation! Even though we had a balcony room I still wanted to go find a cup of coffee and read outside in a comfy chair until my family woke up. I told my husband I would be back in an hour and went down one deck to the Waterfront. And this is where I found my favorite place in the whole ship! On the outside of the Sugarcane bar in the mornings they set up coffee and pastries. I grabbed a cup and found a super comfy padded chair and went to work on my book. I cannot tell you how nice it was out there and so few people seem to know about it. Really I was shocked at how few people I saw out there all week. And let me tell you I was out there, I actually finished two and a half books!!!

After a little while I headed back up to the room, DD was ready for some breakfast. Now let me preface this by saying I really hate buffets of any kind, but I especially hate cruise ship buffets. I don’t know what it is about them but people turn into crazies when it comes to a buffet on a cruise. Pushing, cutting, grabbing….I find it so stressful! That being said, I’m outnumbered in my family because DD and DH really like buffets for breakfast, so we must compromise! And the buffet was just as bad as I had remembered! The food was okay, I’m not a fan of breakfast foods anywhere so I would never say it was wonderful. DD and DH were happy so all is good!

DD and I love Bingo so we went to play after breakfast. We didn’t win…anything….all week….it was a terrible week for us and Bingo! But that didnt stop us from going!

I don’t remember what we did after or where we ate at for lunch so it probably wasn’t very memorable! But in the afternoon we went to Escape the Big Top. That was very fun. It’s held in the Illusionarium room. It says recommended for kids 12+ but all are welcome. I’m so glad our 10 year old came with us because between her and the 12 year old that was at our table they solved almost all the clues! We did not escape, if we would have had 5 more minutes we would have had it though! I won’t give away any secrets, but I must say if you have the chance, go! It’s so much fun!

After that DD did the ropes course. She had a really great time except the zip line kept getting stuck and they finally had to shut the zip line part down. That day it was too windy to do the walk the plank but she was able to do it later in the cruise.

We had reservations for the 5:30 Illusionarium. Food was really pretty good! The show itself though was just amazing. I love magic and this was an amazing show!!! After the show, it’s off to kids camp for DD. DH and I tried to watch the Newlywed not so Newlywed show. It was PACKED in the Atrium. I learned that if we wanted to do anything there that we must get there VERY early!! So since we couldn’t do that, it was back to the casino. LOVE my Roulette wheel! We picked the kid up at 10:30 and retired to the room for the night.

[Huntingdon1701]

Thanks for the tip about the Sugarcane bar!

[jdl71115]

Day 3-Tuesday, April 11, 2017-Roatan, Honduras

Last night we had to set our clocks back another hour, so this morning I was up with the roosters again! So, more coffee and Waterfront reading for me!! DH and I went to play some Sudoku Speed Challenge and Morning Trivia. After that we went back to the room to see if the princess was ready to get breakfast!! It was another buffet breakfast day.

We were supposed to dock in Roatan at 10am however we were running late and didn’t dock until almost noon. This port was the only one we had booked an excursion. It was to leave at 12:30. It was an NCL excursion so we were right there ready to go when we docked. We had booked the B.O.S.S underwater scuba thing. This is like being on a scooter under the water with a huge helmet on your head. When we originally booked it, I told my husband that I didn’t think I would be able to do it. I am severely claustrophobic and also have a very healthy fear of being out too far in the ocean. But DD fell in love when she saw it and I wanted her to be able to go.

We boarded a bus that took us to the west side of the island. From there we took a boat out to the snorkel/dive spot. They split us into three groups. One group would be in the B.O.S.S. scooters and the other two groups would snorkel. Everyone would get 20 minutes underwater in the B.O.S.S. We were the first group. They had told us how to get in….we were all ready….DD goes in hers first….DH next….I go underwater and get into mine…..and promptly start having a full on panic attack. Full blown hyperventilation and crying. Not pretty! They let me out and I did the swim of shame back to the boat. I was able to keep track of DD and DH because of the numbered buoys on that were attached to each scooter. After their 20 minutes were over my family came to join me on the boat. I was embarrassed that I couldn’t do it, but DH was so supportive and proud that I tried! DD had a BLAST so it was so worth it!! We spent the next 30-40 minutes snorkeling and enjoying the super beautiful water!

After the ride back we got back on the ship. DD wanted to play on the slides while the lines were not bad. We did that for a little while. Then went to the room, rested and showered. We originally had dinner reservations for all three of us at Ocean Blue, but DD said she would much rather eat at the buffet and go to Splash Academy. So that’s what we did with her and then DH and I went to Ocean Blue for dinner.

Ocean Blue for me was my favorite meal the whole trip. We ate outside on the waterfront. Love that! I had Oysters Rockefeller for an appetizer, and a fish and shrimp dish for dinner. It was spot on cooked absolutely delicious! While we were dining the ship was leaving port and it was really cool to be having a nice sit down dinner while slowly leaving port!

After dinner we had made reservations for the 9:00 comedy show with Mike Paramore. HYSTERICAL! We really enjoyed him! That was over at 9:45. We did have reservations for the 10 show of Burn the Floor but neither one of us was super excited about the show and we were both tired from being up so early and being in the water all day. So we picked up the kiddo and went back to the room to crash!!!

[cincicruisers]

Following, enjoying your review.

[zencruisers]

Following along. Thank you for sharing.

 

 

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[easyboy]

Enjoying your review. Following.

 

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[Seminole1975]

Enjoying your review.

[Dart17]

Keep going! Love it!

[jdl71115]

Day 4-Wednesday, April 12, 2017-Harvest Caye, Belize

I actually was able to sleep in a little bit this day! All the way to about 8am! We were supposed to arrive at Harvest Caye at 7am, but we were again a few hours late and it was rainy. No matter to us though because we had no plans other than to veg by the pool today. We are very lucky to live where people vacation, we see a lot of the beach in normal life so we didn’t need to run off the ship. DD was still sleeping, so DH and I went down to the Atrium to play Trivia and Sudoko. DH won the Sudoko speed challenge! Whoo Hoo!! We finally won something!!!

Back upstairs to grab the kiddo for buffet breakfast. After breakfast the rain had stopped and we got ready to go to the pool. Harvest Caye had a very nice pool that DD was very excited about, she was over all the salt water! By the time we got to the pool area there was NO chairs! However there were some guys that worked there that were dragging more loungers out. We asked if he could get us three when he got a chance. He did and we were front row right by the pool!

We were excited because we were right by the bar. DD and DH went in the pool and I said I would go get us drinks. No kidding 25 minutes later only 2 people had been waited on and there were still about 6 people ahead of me. The lady in front of me was making such a big stink about it that I just had to leave. I really didn’t love waiting either, however when you are on vacation how bad can life be really? So instead of being behind her constant complaining I just left the line and went to find hubby in the pool. We swam around for a little bit and then got out to lay in our perfectly placed chairs! After a little bit the bar line seemed to be moving a little better. We got our vacation frozen drinks and went back to the chairs. Just as soon as we were done with our drinks….the sky’s opened up. It was crazy bad rain.

We gathered all our stuff and ran back to the walkway to the ship. We got back and took showers and cleaned up. It was still drizzling. DD was bummed because she wanted to do the ropes course. Instead we went to play Celebrity Heads and then Bingo.

DD had another buffet dinner then off to Splash Academy. DH and I went to the stand-up comedy show in the theater. It was really good! We walked by as they were finishing up Deal or No Deal. I made a mental note that we had to go if they did it again.

We had 9:00 reservations for Le Bistro. It was another awesome dinner. I started with escargot, my FAV!! I had a duck dish and I cannot remember what DH had but he really liked it. Dinner was nice, relaxing, romantic and not rushed! Wonderful! No wonder that restaurant books up immediately!

It was just 10:30 when we were done so we ran upstairs to get DD from Splash and headed back to the room. We stayed up watching some movie all cuddled up in bed together. Even with the rain it was an great day!!!

[Two_UW_Badgers]

I'm enjoying your report! Just booked this cruise for April 2018 with our two kids!

 

 

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[LeesaB]

Following - please don't forget about us!

[pixidustmom]

Enjoying following along. Thank you.

[foxjim1]

On the Getaway Western Itinerary which side of the ship faces the land when you dock at the various ports. We are trying to decide if we want to be on the port or starboard side!