Getaway! May 6-13 Trip Report & Review

[MaryBethV]

My buddy and I are heading on this bad boy June 3rd. Less than 2 weeks, I believe. We are EXCITED! I'm following hoping you post more LOL. Do you know the cruise directors last name?

 

I knew I had snapped a photo of the staff wall - just had to find it. It looks like the cruise director's name is Zachary Flesch.

 

 

Have fun on your cruise! I will keep posting some more each day as time allows.

[MandyMommyof2]

Loving your review! We have previously sailed the Getaway and love her. We sail again in under 50 days. Can't wait to read more :)

[MaryBethV]

Tuesday, May 8th | Roatan, Honduras

 

Up at the crack of dawn for our Roatan day (well sort-of since you already know I didn’t see a single sunrise on this vacation - ha!). At this point we have set our clocks back an hour two times, and the ship time now matches Roatan time. DH and I woke up early knowing we had to get not 2, but 6 people off the ship on time.

Gorgeous day!

 

After making sure kids were at least in the process of getting up - we headed one whole floor up to the Garden Cafe. I’m not a buffet fan… but it was super convenient on port days. And the selection for breakfast was incredible - SO many options.

 

Since we still had a good amount of time still we popped up to Spice H2O and then went down to the Waterfront on deck 8 to watch the approach to Roatan.

Spice H2O-

 

Grotto -- I think I prefer this design over the faux rock grotto on the Escape just because it was more open and you could still enjoy the sunshine. Hot sunny day + frosty drink + grotto = HAPPY PLACE

 

 

Loved the curve of the wake as we rounded Roatan-

[MaryBethV]

One more view from Spice H2O-

 

... and from the Waterfront on deck 8-

 

 

My regular camera lens (Canon 5D mkII w/ 70-200IS lens for those that want to know) kept fogging up with the humidity, but it was still fun to be able to zoom in and see the coast (point goes to iPhone for clarity this am).

 

 

[Epic_Bear]

I was the Getaway this week too...such a great cruise with awesome weather!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[MaryBethV]

 

 

 

 

I spy the port-

 

As we approached I was curious to see if you could see damage from the

only a few weeks ago. Other than cones and a small half submerged yellow-painted cement section I didn't see much damage. And for what it is worth the Armonia (which was in port with us a few times this cruise) looked like she was in good condition as well.

[MaryBethV]

 

 

 

 

We learned on our tour that there are two competing zipline companies. They were showing off as we approached the port.

 

[trician24]

Loving your review so far! Awesome pictures - thanks for sharing them with all of us!

[zencruisers]

Enjoying your review and pictures. We were on the Getaway last November. Your review is bring back a lot of great memories. Thanks!

[MaryBethV]

The walk through the port area is nice and quick since it is right next to the ship.

 

 

 

 

 

[MaryBethV]

This is our guide Jonathan from Roatan Trips & Tours. He was really nice and told us all about everything we passed by, about the history of the island, and how life on Roatan differs from mainland Honduras. We booked RT&T's land and sea tour through Costco Travel, but you can book with them directly through their website.

 

 

 

 

We stopped for a minute to see an old shipwreck. Talk about old and new... old shipwreck with a Carnival cruise ship for a backdrop.

 

We passed this mansion of a former Roatan governor who Jonathan said did a lot of good for the island and invested a lot of his own money into roads, etc. After he was no longer governor he built this mansion for himself and his wife, but ran into money troubles and parts of the interior remains unfinished. If I remember correctly, he said it contains 9 bathrooms, some of which don't even have doors. Yikes!

[kevnick0814]

We are on the Getaway 6/3 & I am LOVING the Roatan pix! Keep them coming.

We (8 total) are doing a private tour with Victor Bodden. It is great to get this sneak peek into what we will see in our journey.

Roatan Day will also be my birthday....just sayin. ;)

[iamchrisstone]

We are on the Getaway 6/3 ;)

 

 

We will be on the same cruise!!!!!

[kevnick0814]

Nice!

Due to the size of our party, no M&M for us.

If you see 2 guys, me at 6'6", and my red haired son, 6'7", that would be 2 from our group.

I am the Kev part of my CC name, he is the Nick part. :)

[MaryBethV]

Next, we drove up a veeeeery steep drive to a hilltop resort/lookout. You could see both sides of the island from there and it was beautiful -- just stunning!

 

Looking North to Pristine Bay-

 

 

Looking South to French Harbor and Little French Cay (left) & Big French Cay (right)-

 

 

Then, due to the waves where we were supposed to snorkel - they had to change plans for us to snorkel inside the reef in a calmer area.

 

On the way to the snorkel site-

 

Part of a long mural on the wall outside a public school that is made out of bottle caps. Since almost all kids work while going to school in Roatan, they have three shifts - morning, afternoon, and evening. Jonathan mentioned that he worked during the day and attended high school at night when he was in school.

[MaryBethV]

OK - one thing about the sea part of the tour. When we booked through Costco travel there was a picture of a nice, large speedboat for the sea portion (probably a stock photo Costco used). That is not what they use - not at all. Check RT&T's website (as I should have) for photos of the boats they use (and that pretty much all snorkel excursions on the island use). I looked at the tour info. again on Costco's website just before writing this review - and they now have a generic scenic photo instead, which is good. The boat was fine - just not what we expected lol.

 

Sorry, no snorkel photos... I just used our GoPro in the water. That was about all I could manage while trying to keep tabs on kids and not bump into coral that was close to the surface!

 

boat ride-

 

Anthony, who was our driver for the first part - was our guide on the boat.

 

After a wavy ride back to meet back up with Jonathan, and a quick traditional bean-filled-tortilla for a snack, we headed to the chocolate factory. They gave us a quick "class" and taught us how they make all their own chocolate by hand -- and it is YUMMY. Let's just say that the $40 worth of chocolate bars we walked out of there with was worth every penny!

 

 

 

 

 

We considered going to the sloth sanctuary - and we could have. We had two guides for our family and the other family so that we could customize the tour at the end if we wanted to. However, we were tired and finally just decided to head back to the ship. Maybe next time...

Edited May 23, 2018 by MaryBethV

[MaryBethV]

First stop back on the ship was O'Sheehans for a late lunch... this time on the sit-down side. Service was good, as was the food.

 

 

 

Chicago Style Dog-

 

Spinach & Artichoke Dip-

 

Jamaican Jerk Wings-

 

Chipotle Chicken Sandwich-

[jsparents]

OK - one thing about the sea part of the tour. When we booked through Costco travel there was a picture of a nice, large speedboat for the sea portion (probably a stock photo Costco used). That is not what they use - not at all. Check RT&T's website (as I should have) for photos of the boats they use (and that pretty much all snorkel excursions on the island use). I looked at the tour info. again on Costco's website just before writing this review - and they now have a generic scenic photo instead, which is good. The boat was fine - just not what we expected lol.

 

Sorry, no snorkel photos... I just used our GoPro in the water. That was about all I could manage while trying to keep tabs on kids and not bump into coral that was close to the surface!

 

boat ride-

 

Anthony, who was our driver for the first part - was our guide on the boat.

 

After a wavy ride back to meet back up with Jonathan, and a quick traditional bean-filled-tortilla for a snack, we headed to the chocolate factory. They gave us a quick "class" and taught us how they make all their own chocolate by hand -- and it is YUMMY. Let's just say that the $40 worth of chocolate bars we walked out of there with was worth every penny!

 

 

 

 

 

We considered going to the sloth sanctuary - and we could have. We had two guides for our family and the other family so that we could customize the tour at the end if we wanted to. However, we were tired and finally just decided to head back to the ship. Maybe next time...

 

Thanks for posting. We are booked on the same tour (via Costco) in a couple weeks. How was the snorkeling? USD okay at the chocolate factory?

[MaryBethV]

Thanks for posting. We are booked on the same tour (via Costco) in a couple weeks. How was the snorkeling? USD okay at the chocolate factory?

 

I would say the snorkeling was fair, though I don't have much to compare it to (mainly other photos/videos that I looked at from Roatan). I think it would have been better if we had been able to go to the original location. It also would have been nice for more instruction from the dive expert that was with us... such as pointing out things or warning us about coral that was close to the surface. It was really nice to be in a small group of 12 though instead of an excursion with 50+ people in the water!

 

Yes, the chocolate factory accepted USD.

[FashionGirl12]

Loving your review!

[MaryBethV]

We relaxed on our balcony for the sail away from Roatan - and it was one of my favorite moments from our trip. The water was as smooth as glass, the blue sky seemed to just seamlessly melt into the water, and the setting sun over the island was so incredibly beautiful.

 

 

 

 

 

[MaryBethV]

Dinner tonight was at...

 

 

 

 

Garlic goodness coming right up! Mmm.

 

It was just the six of us at our "table" and we ordered our selections... five of us ordered Asuka (filet mignon & shrimp combo) and the oddball of the family, who doesn't like seafood, ordered Kamakura (filet mignon & chicken combo).

 

First up - appetizers! I am the only one in our family that likes edamame apparently. No one else touched theirs.

 

We have been to Japanese steakhouses a few times back home and I always love the miso soup. This miso soup was *very* different and almost tasted soapy. Sorry - I'm going to give you honest opinions here and this was really not edible.

 

The seaweed salad was very good - though three of the kids wouldn't touch it with a 10-foot pole. It isn't like they are strangers to green veggies at home, I swear! OK - well, maybe the college student is, but the ones that still depend on mom for their nutrition instead of the college buffet aren't.

[MaryBethV]

Our chef was really great! I somehow did not manage to get his name entered into my notes - oops. I would blame it on the sake, but I didn't have any! :') Stuck with wine. I felt a little bad for him though because it was just the six of us and many of the songs and jokes went over our kid's heads. He got a few deer-in-the-headlights looks from them.

 

 

The rice, the noodles, the veggies, the filet - all delicious! The shrimp was some of the best shrimp I've ever had - not overcooked at all - just perfect. Y-U-M, but so. much. food.

 

 

 

And then things took a turn for the worse. The culprit... not the restaurant... our kids. A spat between the baby of the family and mr. college student/serial snapchatter broke out over an 'unauthorized' photo being taken of her (with an awkward look) durning dinner and deliberately shared. You know how when you pause a video and the frozen frame catches the actor's face in some hilariously bad way -- that. Which is apparently the end of the world if you are a 14yo girl. This resulted with our oldest taking her out for a walk around to calm the heck down. We then got to order dessert with the youngest son and mr. instigator. Dessert? Whatever. More wine? Yes, please. :rolleyes:

 

 

After that spectacular ending - we decided to head to bed. Our plan was to let the kids sleep in and DH and I would go ashore to Harvest Caye early and get good spots for our clamshells for a "home base" for the day.

 

We apparently came back to our rooms too early because Riena didn't have time to turn them down yet. No problem... we just wanted to sleep.

Edited May 24, 2018 by MaryBethV

[MaryBethV]

Wednesday, May 9th | Harvest Caye, Belize

 

DH and I woke up early and grabbed breakfast at the Garden Cafe. The ship was shuddering like crazy... I even took a quick video of my utensils and coffee just shaking away. :') Then we popped up to Spice H2O to see if we could see Harvest Caye. Sure enough, the captain swung us around and backed us right into the island! Well done.

 

It is a long walk to the island, but it is covered and actually enjoyable because of that.

 

 

 

 

Mangrove trees line the water's edge.

 

[MaryBethV]

The island is gorgeous - beautifully developed and pristinely clean.

 

 

 

 

 

We selected clamshells right by the path leading to the pool & Landshark Bar & Grill. Perfect spot.