Getaway West Caribbean 1/17 general observations

[VtMac]

Just a quick recap:

Embarkation.  Quick, efficient, easy etc. Platinum, Haven, Priority, assisted, group 1

Courtyard on Iberville to O’Sheehan’s at  in less than an hour.  Arrived at the pier at 9:30am.   We did choose that time, and no, I did not see anyone turned away. 
 

Cabin. 11224 mini suite.  Skip the added cost, not worth imo. Steward was good, not around as much as years past but did a nice job, and was friendly

 

Food. (Full disclosure, Im a chef by trade). As always food was good, never bad.  Didnt like a item here or there but it was always made well.  Buffet was challenged with food temp for some reason but I felt the menu and overall experience was good.  They added something new in my experience with folks wandering around with morning specials.  They had one pillowy soft butter, sugar lemon danish that was ridiculous!  Dont miss it.  They also pulled two buffets at lunch out of Moderno. Didnt go but heard it was fantastic.  Cagneys was great, server made it so. Food was avg, imo.  Le Bistro however made me take notice, best meal on a cruise for me. 
 

Port calls

Costa Maya.  Did Maya Chan, the reviews are legit. Great staff, better meals, solid bartenders

Harvest Caye.  As expected. Stayed on the island and parasailed, zip line, etc.  all good

Roatan. Jolly Rodger snorkel.  These guys did the best they could in awful rain and cold. Would book again for sure

Grand Cayman.  Turtle Center it was fun, easy day.  We actually could not enter Georgetown as they closed the port due to winds. We went into Bodden Town. Not much over there but when we saw the surf at Georgetown.....Capt made the right call!

Ocho Rio.  Just walked around the port and hit Spice. Not much to see or say but we did feel safe the whole time if that helps  
 

The ship.  Well, this is tricky.  This was our first larger ship.  All previous have been Jewel class or similar.  We read all the complaints, all the negative stuff about staff, food, smells, casino smoke, etc.  I did not see any of it. The staff was great. Juni at Sugarcane’s is the top dog bartender for me!  Marjesh in Cagney’s again a top dog.  Cruise director was meh, mainly because I dont look for her and dont really interact with her or her staff. But they seemed good. The rest seemed as good or better than past cruises.  That said that size ship isnt my cup of tea. It will take the right itinerary for us to sail on a large ship again

 

Entertainment.  Million Dollar Quartet was good.  Did not see comedy.  All the lounge entertainers were very good.  However, Syd Norman’s Pour House is another level for us.  Great venue.  The ship production show was great and a ton of fun.  We also had Jeff Lyon’s Rockshow on board and they are real deal. They literally “were” Foreigner if you closed your eye.  The down side....Syd’s is way to small!!!  It can be tough to get a seat.  Arrive early, they open 30 minutes before any event and no reservations. 

 

Lastly, we had what I feel was a high number of medical calls on the trip.  Rumor has we had one soul pass the night before Costa Maya I have no direct knowledge, other than hearing the code alpha, and the rumor mill we all know a ship can be. I do know, as we watched it, that we had had two medivac via USCG as we entered the Mississippi last evening.  Very humbling to say the least.  The NCL team was all aces.  The USCG....we all know what they do, and why.  They did not disappoint.  None the less, next time you are fortunate enough to be on board a ship,  before you find the timy detail to complain about, remember you are there with someone you care about and not everyone goes home the way they intended.   Enjoy that time!  
 

Ask questions and I will answer if I can with more detail.   You wont hear much complaining from me though, not a cheerleader of anything other than not being in -7deg and 12” of snow while driving to work!

[Liljo22]

1 hour ago, VtMac said:

Just a quick recap:

Embarkation.  Quick, efficient, easy etc. Platinum, Haven, Priority, assisted, group 1

Courtyard on Iberville to O’Sheehan’s at  in less than an hour.  Arrived at the pier at 9:30am.   We did choose that time, and no, I did not see anyone turned away. 
 

Cabin. 11224 mini suite.  Skip the added cost, not worth imo. Steward was good, not around as much as years past but did a nice job, and was friendly

 

Food. (Full disclosure, Im a chef by trade). As always food was good, never bad.  Didnt like a item here or there but it was always made well.  Buffet was challenged with food temp for some reason but I felt the menu and overall experience was good.  They added something new in my experience with folks wandering around with morning specials.  They had one pillowy soft butter, sugar lemon danish that was ridiculous!  Dont miss it.  They also pulled two buffets at lunch out of Moderno. Didnt go but heard it was fantastic.  Cagneys was great, server made it so. Food was avg, imo.  Le Bistro however made me take notice, best meal on a cruise for me. 
 

Port calls

Costa Maya.  Did Maya Chan, the reviews are legit. Great staff, better meals, solid bartenders

Harvest Caye.  As expected. Stayed on the island and parasailed, zip line, etc.  all good

Roatan. Jolly Rodger snorkel.  These guys did the best they could in awful rain and cold. Would book again for sure

Grand Cayman.  Turtle Center it was fun, easy day.  We actually could not enter Georgetown as they closed the port due to winds. We went into Bodden Town. Not much over there but when we saw the surf at Georgetown.....Capt made the right call!

Ocho Rio.  Just walked around the port and hit Spice. Not much to see or say but we did feel safe the whole time if that helps  
 

The ship.  Well, this is tricky.  This was our first larger ship.  All previous have been Jewel class or similar.  We read all the complaints, all the negative stuff about staff, food, smells, casino smoke, etc.  I did not see any of it. The staff was great. Juni at Sugarcane’s is the top dog bartender for me!  Marjesh in Cagney’s again a top dog.  Cruise director was meh, mainly because I dont look for her and dont really interact with her or her staff. But they seemed good. The rest seemed as good or better than past cruises.  That said that size ship isnt my cup of tea. It will take the right itinerary for us to sail on a large ship again

 

Entertainment.  Million Dollar Quartet was good.  Did not see comedy.  All the lounge entertainers were very good.  However, Syd Norman’s Pour House is another level for us.  Great venue.  The ship production show was great and a ton of fun.  We also had Jeff Lyon’s Rockshow on board and they are real deal. They literally “were” Foreigner if you closed your eye.  The down side....Syd’s is way to small!!!  It can be tough to get a seat.  Arrive early, they open 30 minutes before any event and no reservations. 

 

Lastly, we had what I feel was a high number of medical calls on the trip.  Rumor has we had one soul pass the night before Costa Maya I have no direct knowledge, other than hearing the code alpha, and the rumor mill we all know a ship can be. I do know, as we watched it, that we had had two medivac via USCG as we entered the Mississippi last evening.  Very humbling to say the least.  The NCL team was all aces.  The USCG....we all know what they do, and why.  They did not disappoint.  None the less, next time you are fortunate enough to be on board a ship,  before you find the timy detail to complain about, remember you are there with someone you care about and not everyone goes home the way they intended.   Enjoy that time!  
 

Ask questions and I will answer if I can with more detail.   You wont hear much complaining from me though, not a cheerleader of anything other than not being in -7deg and 12” of snow while driving to work!

Thank you for the review.  Our countdown clock is at 41 days for our Getaway cruise.  Glad to hear you had a good time.  I think the CD is filling in for regular CD while he is on vacation.  

 

Did you dock to tender in Roatan?  If docked, was their another ship with you?

 

 

[waterjock]

Great review enjoyed your adventure on the Getaway. You said you would not travel on a large ship again. But why is it not your cup of tea. Their is so much more to do and see on a large cruise ship. 

[VtMac]

10 hours ago, Liljo22 said:

Thank you for the review.  Our countdown clock is at 41 days for our Getaway cruise.  Glad to hear you had a good time.  I think the CD is filling in for regular CD while he is on vacation.  

 

Did you dock to tender in Roatan?  If docked, was their another ship with you?

 

 

We docked in Coxen Hole.  There were two ships on the other side of the peninsula, Carnival and a Princess

[VtMac]

9 hours ago, waterjock said:

Great review enjoyed your adventure on the Getaway. You said you would not travel on a large ship again. But why is it not your cup of tea. Their is so much more to do and see on a large cruise ship. 

For us it required more planning for a reservation for dinner, entertainment, more bodies, smaller pool deck, and the Atrium was always packed for every event and people did not move all day which was fine.  Like I said, we would again given the right itinerary.  Just like the smaller Gem vibe. That said there was certainly stuff to do

[funredhead]

Great review!  Thank you. So nice to hear so much that is positive!  
What do you recommend at Le Bistro?  

How was the tendering in Grand Cayman?  On the Getaway FB page there was a post about your trip and issues with information being relayed about Grand Cayman.  It was a complaint based post so in was indiscernible what actually took place.  Would love your feedback.

We sail in a few weeks on the 9 night and trying to plan. 
‘thanks for your help!  So glad you had a great vacation.  

[trish99]

We were on this cruise and agree with everything the OP has said.  We did have some service issues the first day, but a "note to Errol" and they were all resolved.  Errol is the general manager for those that don't know and there's a box with note pads to drop a note in.  We've done several large ships and I definitely noticed the cutbacks others have mentioned here.  

 

We also loved Le Bistro,  but disappointed in Ocean Blue.   Other than specialty dining we did most of our dinners in Tropicana.

[VtMac]

3 hours ago, funredhead said:

Great review!  Thank you. So nice to hear so much that is positive!  
What do you recommend at Le Bistro?  

How was the tendering in Grand Cayman?  On the Getaway FB page there was a post about your trip and issues with information being relayed about Grand Cayman.  It was a complaint based post so in was indiscernible what actually took place.  Would love your feedback.

We sail in a few weeks on the 9 night and trying to plan. 
‘thanks for your help!  So glad you had a great vacation.  

We were told we were moving from Georgetown to Bodden fairly early.  On that side of the island it was calm, somewhat.  We had an excursion so we met in Tropicana.  We booked an excursion only so we would not have to deal with the potential tender anger.  While in Tropicana NCL got wind of excursions being canceled.  The vendors canceled all the Stingray City and dive events.  The tender process was being announced all the time and frequently.  Same tender vendors they use in Georgetown came over.  Load on top and exit on bottom in Bodden. Opposite coming back.  There was a delay at the dock simply because Carnival was using one side and NCL the other.  Only two fit at a time.  I thought NCL managed it well and once we saw the port at Georgetown I was grateful we did what we did

[VtMac]

3 hours ago, funredhead said:

Great review!  Thank you. So nice to hear so much that is positive!  
What do you recommend at Le Bistro?  
 

I had the veal and it was perfectly cooked.  My wife had the filet, again perfectly cooked.  Warm Asparagus salad and mussels were also very good

[joeyancho]

We did the nine-day version of this Cruise in December. It was terrific. We loved all the food in the main dining room and in the specialty dining rooms. The Teppan Grill was especially entertaining. One thing I will say is that we hated Harvest Caye. If you like Disneyland you will love Harvest Caye. If you like Disneyland prices you will love Harvest Caye. I know Norwegian has no control over the prices there but $8.75 is ridiculous for a local beer.

[funredhead]

OP-  thank you for you replies!