Getaway Review 4-22 to 4-29

[slickrich]

Since I researched so much here on cruise critic prior to my cruise I wanted to write a review on my experience. I sailed on the Getaway the week of April 22. This was my 5th cruise overall and 2nd on Norwegian; the other was on the Epic so that is my only comparison for NCL. We are a couple in our early 50’s and sailed with another couple.

 

Embarkation:

We flew into Fort Lauderdale the day before and rented a car at the airport from Budget with dropoff of the car in Miami and they provided a shuttle to the port. Drop off and shuttle were quick, we arrived at the pier about 11:00. Security and check in were very fast and I believe we were boarding group 12. We found a seat by the VIP area. I noticed as soon as they boarded the VIP group the guard also left the area and many people helped themselves to the leftover coffee and snacks in that area. We did not have a very long wait and were on the ship around noon.

 

Ship:

The ship was very clean and appeared well maintained. The overall feel was just too crowded though. I did not feel crowded when sailing on the Epic but on the Getaway the venues where entertainment took place seemed far too small for the number of passengers. Finding a seat or sometimes even a spot to stand to see the entertainment in lounges or the atrium was not possible unless you went long before the show started and waited. The Waterfront on deck 8 was a great place to go to feel like you were getting away from the crowd and be able to sit and relax.

 

Stateroom:

We had a balcony stateroom (BA). The room was clean and well maintained; our room steward did a fantastic job and serviced the room twice daily. The stateroom was small and I disliked that there was no real usable table space other than using a stool with a hard cover on it. The stool was just large enough to put a laptop on. Unfortunately I cannot unplug completely and do have to work a little on vacation, the design made this difficult. The balcony was so small that the chairs could not even be positioned to face outward. Storage was more than adequate for 2 of us. The coffee pot in the room was nice and I asked the room steward to always keep 6 regular coffees available which was never a problem. I found the coffee provided for the coffee pot to be far better than the free coffee provided around the ship. I also always stopped by a bar on my way to the room before bed and ordered a double shot of bailey’s to keep for my first cup of coffee the next day.

 

Internet:

I purchased the unlimited internet plan. Although expensive I did not find the speed to bad. I read that it would be comparable to dial up. Having actually used dial up I can say it is far faster than that. Probably more comparable to the first DSL service I had at home. I did encounter a few days that the Internet was completely down for a few hours but did come back up. Also no problem using the unlimited plan on multiple devices but only one can be logged on at a time. If you did get Internet and are flying home the final day of the cruise, you can go to the Internet Café (Deck 6 next to the Atrium Bar) and print your boarding pass for free from their computers. You log onto their computers and use your minutes to access the information to print. Don’t forget to log out when you are done. We did this with no problem or line the last evening of our cruise.

 

UBP and drinkservice:

We took the UBPas one of our free at seas and had no problem at all with drink service. The only bar that really seemed to get long lines was the Pool bar and it actually had an area roped to stand in line. At every bar I went to they were consistent with the policy that you could get 2 drinks per card. You could also walk up with 2 cards and order 4 drinks (both people did not have to be there). Always check to make sure they hand you back the right card, I had them try to give me somebody else’s a few times. The pour was with a jigger but you could order a double and it counted as 2 drinks. You could also order a drink and a shot or add a rum float to your frozen drink with your 2 drink per card entitlement. The new drink I found and enjoyed this cruise was at the Sunset Bar and was a Woodford Old Fashioned. Sunset was the only bar that I found which made this. I also enjoyed the Mojito bar. Sometimes when the Mojito bar is very busy inside, you can walk out the waterfront through the door on the side and they also have an outside bar with the same menu and there would be no wait there. What I found most disappointing was getting a Bailey’s and Coffee. I am an early riser and I enjoy having Bailey’s with my coffee in the morning or after dinner. I found no bar that would just serve a Baileys and Coffee together. The first bar to open each morning was the Atrium bar at 6:30. I had read that they would make one with the Coffee from the Café next store under the UBP. That was not my experience; I tried 3 separate mornings to order one and was told all 3 times I would be charged for the coffee. I would order a double shot of Bailey’s and then go to the coffee pot set up each morning on Deck 8 at the Sunset Bar or Mojito Bar to make my own. When the bars opened the coffee pots are no longer available. Having Bailey’s and Coffee becomes a do it yourself project. We were charged tax for drinks while in port at Miami but you could use non-refundable on board credits to pay the taxes.

 

Specialty Dining:

For our other free at sea we selected the 3 meal specialty dining.

Teppanyaki: We dined here on Epic and loved it. I am happy to say we had the same experience on the Getaway. Service was fantastic, chef was fantastic and entertaining and food was delicious. I had the seafood combination which included Shrimp, Scallops and Calamari. The food and experience was as good as or better than any land based Hibachi restaurant I have been to.

Ocean Blue: This was the best meal I had on the cruise.We really enjoy seafood so paid the $15 upcharge to go to Ocean Blue, it was worth every penny. The appetizer menu here looked so good I could just eat apps and skip the entrée. I was actually concerned because I read accounts on cruise critic you may be limited to 1 app, one entrée. I actually emailed customer service to clarify before paying the upcharge and they did call me and say I could have 1 entrée and unlimited apps. When we sat down the server did come over and ask if we were using our SDP and then said you can order one app and one entrée. I informed her I called and was told that was not the case and her immediate response was that they advertise one appetizer but you if you would like to order more they will accommodate you. All four of us ordered 4 appetizers and we had no problem and were not charged extra. I had the Oysters Rockefeller, Crab Cakes, Alaskan King Crab Legs and Florida Stone Crab Claws as appetizers and the Steamed Whole Cold Water Lobster as my entrée. The whole lobster was not actually whole; it came out cleaned with just the tail. I inquired about the claws as it really was only a lobster tail. They did then bring me the claws separate(and already shelled) after I asked. Our server did ask us after we finished our entrees if we would like any more appetizers before dessert.

Cagney’s: We went here on the Epic and had a terrible experience but we have read so many good things about Cagney’s we decided to try it again. I am happy to say our experience on Getaway was fantastic. The food was great, the steak cooked a perfect rare (as ordered) and service right on. We were not told we would be limited on apps but I did only order one as my eye was on the 16oz Ribeye. I did have the Oyster Rockefeller which was very good (but not as good as Ocean Blue) and the Lobster Bisque which was also very good. The steak was fantastic and when the restaurant manager asked us how our meals were I told him I did have one suggestion, they should offer a smaller size ribeye on the menu as I felt it was wasteful to order a 1 pound steak that I know I cannot finish.

 

Free Dining:

Main Dining Rooms: We had dinner in all three main dining rooms. The food was good but dinner was painfully slow each time. Every dinner there was 2+ hours. I made the mistake of scheduling dinner at 5:30 and a show at 7:30 anddid not make the show. We did say something to the restaurant managers when they asked how things were. They even tried to make it up to us by sending us a bottle of wine at dinner at Teppanyaki on night and sending truffles to our room on the other night. That was nice but it would be nicer if they just figured out why it is taking so long for the food to come out. The service itself and the actual meals were very good. Most nights I would not even mind the long meal when on vacation; just don’t make the mistake and think you can schedule something with a 2 hour window to eat in the main dining rooms.

O’Sheehans: We had lunch here twice and breakfast here twice. The food was good and service was prompt. Less than an hour each visit.

Shanghai: We haddinner here once and it was very good. They do fill up fast as it is a small venue. They open at 5:30; we got in line at 5:20 andwere seated right away when they opened. After our failed attempt to make a 7:30 show we went here the othernight we had a 7:30 show with no problem being in and out within an hour.

Buffet: We ate there for lunch once and a few late night snacks. The food at those times was OK, not great but good for a quick bite. We ate breakfast here most days and the food was good. The variety was great. I know I read complaints that it was the same thing every day which is true. The thing is there is so much variety you cannot possibly eat everything in one day and I cannot think of any other breakfast food they could add to the buffet to provide any more variety. The omelet station was great. There are several stations and sometimes when you get to the first one there is a long line. Keep walking, I found by the time you got to the station at the end there would be no line at all.

Desserts: I am not really a dessert person but dessertwas abundant everywhere. I do howeverenjoy a good crème brulee when made properly. This was the only dessert I ever ordered this cruise when I saw itavailable and no matter which restaurant I ordered from it was always spot onand delicious. The stand outs were thepistachio offered in the main dining room one night and the raspberry atCagney’s

 

Escape the BigTop:

We did this the first sea day. If this is something you are interested in, go schedule it right away. We went to the Box Office (Deck 7 forward) right after boarding and there was already little availability remaining. The event is held in Fat Cats and I really enjoyed it. I have never done an escape room before so have no comparison. You are paired into groups of 8 so I really enjoyed meeting some new people and working together with them to try to solve the puzzles. Our group did not win but had a good time trying and I liked they told you the solutions to all the puzzles when it was over. My tip for this: you can bring cocktails in with you. Go next door to the Sunset bar and order 2 drinks (one for each hand) before you enter and are locked in the room for an hour.

 

Million DollarQuartet:

This was the only show we ended up making it to. This is the best show I have been to on any of cruises. If it is offed again on a future cruise watching it again will be a must do for me. The couple we were with saw this show in Vegas and thought the production on the ship was even better than the production they saw in Vegas.

 

Ports:

Costa Maya: We took the deluxe tour to the ChacchobenMayan Ruins. I really enjoyed thetour. We were a small group of about 10transported in a van. The tour guideprovided some history about the local culture on the way to the site andprovided a guided tour of the site with lots of photo opportunities. Also beer, soda and water were provided onthe way there and back.

Harvest Caye: We rented a beach cabana for the day. It was expensive but I though worth it. Since food and drink were not provided we used to UBP to order double shots of whiskey whenever walking to the room and filled an empty water bottle. We order unopened cans of soda in the casino with CAS drink card. We then took our own whiskey and drink with us to the cabana. They did not mind and our butler even brought us a storage bag of ice to make our drinks with. We did order the chicken strips and fries for lunch and had it with the provided fruit platter. One meal was big enough for 2 people to share.

Roatan Bay: We did not plan an excursion here. There was not much at the actual port, we gotoff did a little shopping around and were back on the ship in an hour. There was a gentleman hand rolling cigarsright at the port. I spoke with severalpeople that had purchased and were enjoying them at the Sunset Bar and theysaid they were an excellent value and of excellent quality.

Cozumel: We had been to the port before on a Carnival Cruise. That time we docked at a different pier and I found the port area on Carnival there much nicer. It looked more authentic and had a nice beach. The area where we docked this time was more of a shopping mall. We got off the ship to shop around a bit and then back on. My wife did a snorkeling excursion here and really enjoyed it.

 

Casino:

It was packed every night, particularly in the smoking area where I would look for a seat. Many times I would go to play and there was not even a machine available. This may have been unique to the cruise, I was informed there was a CAS sponsored slot tournament and many invited guest for it on this sailing. I also did not realize the casino would comp some of your on board account. When checking my account the last night we had about an $80 balance due and looking the next morning the casino took it off without us asking. I am going to have to research more on how this works before our next cruise.

 

Smoking:

I saved this for last so if you are not a smoker you do not have to read. I am a smoker and I do smoke only in permitted areas. I want to provide smokers my perspective of the allowable smoking area. I will say this was the least smoker friendly ship I have been on. There is very little space for smokers. Smoking was permitted at Spice H2O but the smoking area only consists of 2 tables and about 8 additional chairs for a total capacity of about 16 smokers on a ship with 4,000 passengers. The tables there are in front of the bar and a nice place to sit but getting a seat is like winning the lottery. There is a glassed in area by the pool on deck 15. They basically built a glass cage on an open air deck for you to go into to smoke. The smoke just goes out through the gaps so not sure the purpose of it, doesn’t seem to benefit smokers or non-smokers. I guess they figure since us smokers are becoming an endangered species they can display us behind glass as an attraction. The casino had a smoking section on one side but it was very busy and hard to find a seat on my sailing. There is an indoor lounge on Deck 8 with no ventilation and a small ozone machine which did not help at all. If you want to smoke there you do not even need to light up, just go in and breathe. Unfortunately this the only allowable smoking area while docked in Miami. The place to be if you smoke is the Sunset Bar on the Water Front (Deck 8). There is a small sitting area (8 chairs) and smoking at most of the bar. This is the only place where you sit at a bar, watch sports on TV and order drinks all while smoking. The outdoor venue makes it extremely nice. The bar only seats about 11 people however so getting a seat can be difficult. Total seating at sunset is only about 19 people. It will also was more busy as the cruise goes on and more people find the location. These were the only smoking areas I was able to find. I am very respectful to the non-smokers. I just wish the ship would provide one area large enough for the smokers to be able to sit and relax with their drinks and smokes yet be out of the way so non-smokers can easily avoid the area. On a ship this size it doesn’t seem like it would be that difficult. There was this place I saw on deck 16 called margaritaville that was always either closed or empty. Somewhere like that would have made a great smoking bar / venue.

 

Overall I had a wonderful vacation. I just don’t think the Getaway is a ship for me. Not something I can really point to, every cruise I go on has aspects I like and aspects I dislike. It did just feel too crowded. And it is not that I dislike big ships, I would sail the Epic again without thinking twice.

 

Thanks for reading if you made it this far and thank you for all the great information I was able to gather from cruise critic before going on the cruise.

Edited May 4, 2018 by slickrich
formating

[rslinky]

Thanks for the review. Sailing on her sister ship, Breakaway, in about a month and have been concerned about the crowded aspect and slow service in dining room. I hate lines. And love to eat in the dining room. Thanks for the hint to use one of the other free dinner options. We use the buffet only for a breakfast. Reviews have been very consistent in those two things. Hoping since we have reservations for the later shows that the service may be better as dining rooms less crowded.