Just off the Getaway- wanted to share a few thoughts

[CaribbeanJen]

This was our first cruise in 3 years.  We had 2 cancelled due to Covid and were holding on to a TON of FCC.  

 

We had booked a balcony and then won and upgrade to a Club Mini with a Large Balcony.  We were excited!  

 

Embarkation could not have been easier. I went prepared to spend hours waiting.  Everything was so well organized and it was about an hour from the time we arrived to port and stepping on board the ship.  The covid testing was quick and easy.  We did have a little scare when my husband's results were "delayed"-- but it only took 10 minutes and we were on our way. 

 

Once on board we went our cabin to find it was not made up.  The bed had been slept in.  Dishes and old fruit were in the cabin.  The steward shooed us out of the room and said "They are getting you a different cabin."  They took us to Starbucks and bought us a coffee.  I made it clear I would not accept a small balcony and they promised we would get a large one.  In the end we were put in a FULL AFT balcony room!!  We love Aft cabins!!  The balcony was perfect!  They felt bad because we went from Club Mini to a balcony so they gave us each spa passes!  

 

The cruise reminded us of why we fell in love with cruising.  Food was exceptional.  Service was top notch.  We enjoyed dining on the Waterfront twice.  WOW!  Everyone wore masks indoors and people were pretty great about it. 

 

The weather was absolutely perfect.  We were accepted at ever port - Curacao- Bonaire- Aruba and the DR.   We liked our excursions but would select something else for Curacao if we return there. We did the "Beach Express" which is a mini tour and then they drop you at the beach for a couple hours.  It was a very small beach with a pretty cool beach bar.  We enjoyed it but others on the excursion complained loudly.  

 

It was our first time on the Getaway and we were late to learn about Spice.  This is perfect if you want quiet and not the loud pool band music.  

 

On our last port day we saw the red squares outside rooms on Deck 5.  It was obvious these are quarantine rooms.  Later we saw a red square by a room on the 11th deck.  That was our only indication that there was any covid trouble.  Covid did not affect our cruise at all but I later learned some passengers were quarantined.  As you know, the next cruise was cancelled.  

 

My only complaint is how they handled disembarking.  We were in the last group of luggage tags and we took our time.  We arrived downstairs to a line that was SOOOOOO long and it wasn't moving.  We were all crammed together with no ventilation and expected to stand in that line for over an hour!!  It was the only time I felt unsafe because social distancing was IMPOSSIBLE. Since the next cruise was cancelled they should have had us wait in our cabins and only called for us after each group had cleared.  To me it felt like NCL was saying "You're getting off the ship. If you catch Covid now it won't be our problem."   

 

Other than that we completely loved this cruise.  It was our first 9 day and I can't imagine going back to a 7 day one after this.  

Edited January 8, 2022 by CaribbeanJen
typo

[NJGeorge]

We love aft facing balcony cabins. They are always sell out first and cost more too! You lucked out in my view.

I hope cruising returns to normal soon. Not willing to jump through the ever changing covid flaming hoops.

 

Edited January 8, 2022 by NJGeorge

[drvmywifecrzy]

Was it about 50% capacity?  How was the casino?

[CaribbeanJen]

10 minutes ago, drvmywifecrzy said:

Was it about 50% capacity?  How was the casino?

We were told it was 60%.  No lines anywhere.  I made a bunch of money on 3 card poker!  We loved the Casino!!

[mking8288]

OP, thank you for that concise, balanced and nice GA report, very informative & fair.    Disembarkation, especially for the *away ship class, has always been - unpredictably - problematic, but at 60% capacity - awful to read, especially when social distancing is important these days.  Long lines going around and across, etc. should not be happening and unacceptable, well ... good to know & watch out for.  

 

But, even in the best of times, when we would get priority escorted to the gangway for disembarkation, that's where NCL handed off little, if any, responsibilities as you continue thru the rest of that walk down the gangway into the terminal building.  Haven guests, usually, get a little further help.  

 

How was your air travel & ground experience ?  Not that we need to deal with it, waiting until the ship make her way up the coast to NY, then when our turn is up - it's a quick ride direct to the pier.  

[CaribbeanJen]

1 hour ago, mking8288 said:

 

 

How was your air travel & ground experience ?  Not that we need to deal with it, waiting until the ship make her way up the coast to NY, then when our turn is up - it's a quick ride direct to the pier.  

 Travel was very frustrating.  Found out our flight was cancelled the morning we were flying into Miami.  Scrambled to get another on a different airline.  That was delayed several times but we finally made it.  

 

Our return flight didn't leave until 4:40.  I had not been to the Miami airport in years and I assumed it was like other airports with sit down restaurants and shops.  NOPE.  What a terrible airport!  We were stuck there for hours and had to walk forever to find one small restaurant.  Worse yet, it was FREEZING because the AC was set far too high.  I'm from BUFFALO and I was cold.  Our layover in Baltimore was much better.  

[katiecat]

Thanks for your review of your experience very much appreciated.

Going to board the Getaway on the 28th and very nervous I must say. There isn't a person in my community that would go on a cruise right now maybe not even in Canadian. lol 

Trying to figure out the best way to avoid that mess after the cruise are flight isn't until six so in no hurry for sure and only have carry ons. Any suggestions I'm thinking stay on the ship at spice until 10 it might be a cleared below.

 

[cruising sister]

 Agree I do not like Miami airport. I am seriously considering getting a hotel and flying out the next morning to avoid the crowds and nothing to do. 

[CaribbeanJen]

35 minutes ago, katiecat said:

Thanks for your review of your experience very much appreciated.

Going to board the Getaway on the 28th and very nervous I must say. There isn't a person in my community that would go on a cruise right now maybe not even in Canadian. lol 

Trying to figure out the best way to avoid that mess after the cruise are flight isn't until six so in no hurry for sure and only have carry ons. Any suggestions I'm thinking stay on the ship at spice until 10 it might be a cleared below.

 

My husband had reserved a rental car and I wish we had picked it up.  That's my suggestion.  You can get one for the day fairly cheap.  

[kayjay76]

11 hours ago, CaribbeanJen said:

The weather was absolutely perfect.  We were accepted at ever port - Curacao- Bonaire- Aruba and the DR.   We liked our excursions but would select something else for Curacao if we return there. We did the "Beach Express" which is a mini tour and then they drop you at the beach for a couple hours.  It was a very small beach with a pretty cool beach bar.  We enjoyed it but others on the excursion complained loudly.  

 

 

What did you do in Aruba and in the DR? The Dominican is throwing me off, not sure what to do t

[Epic_Bear]

We were on that cruise too and had an amazing time.  Great crew, ports, and it seemed like most people were following masking protocols.  There are a lot of people complaining via other social media sites about this trip, but that seems to be true of any cruise.

 

What we did in port: All recommended!

Curacao: Resort for a Day - Sunscape 

Bonaire: Junk Boat to Klein Bonaire (Through NCL).  

Aruba: Resort for a Day - Riu Palace

Puerta Plata: Party Boat (Through NCL) Super fun, great snorkeling and swimming off of it!

[bigrednole]

Nice to read this post. I am 50/50 for our cruise in April on the Breakaway. Covid is not going away, vaccinations are only to keep from getting serious symptoms. My only concern is not having it, someone else having symptoms, and NCL saying something about close contact. I am all for giving everyone a pool noodle. If they are close enough to you to whack with it, then they are too close.

[HerWife]

Just off the Breakaway and can report a similarly wonderful experience that was minimally impacted by COVID. Our upgrade to the Haven didn’t hurt either. 😉

[CrusinCousins]

We also enjoyed this cruise.  It was not perfect, but what is during these days of Covid!

 

The entertainment was far, far from “zero”, which we saw reported earlier by a fellow passenger.  The ships entertainers were very enthusiastic and full of energy.  Other entertainment, including comedians, was adequate.  Some repeat performances, which really is not up to par compared to previous cruises with NCL, but still enjoyable.

 

New Year’s Eve saw some real violations of Covid protocols, but was sort of to be expected and could have been avoided by not attending.

 

We did our own shore excursions, with a rental car on both Curaçao and Aruba.  With just a little planning and research, families can have a variety of experiences at significant savings. Lots of fun!

 

Our real concern for this cruise involved our experiences with NCL Air.  We are still working with NCL, but once things are fully addressed,  I plan to come back and review our experiences in this area on Cruise Critic.  Some real surprises, from our perspective.

 

Happy cruising everyone!

[GoldenGirl327]

6 hours ago, HerWife said:

Just off the Breakaway and can report a similarly wonderful experience that was minimally impacted by COVID. Our upgrade to the Haven didn’t hurt either. 😉

Hi! We are going on the Breakaway 1/23. Curious about checking bags at the pier vs bringing them with us. I don’t anticipate testing positive (have appointments set up in NOLA for pre-travel) but I’m that neurotic “what if” person. Did you see a lot of ppl bringing their own bags to get covid testing at the pier? 

Also how was the entertainment?

thanks!!

[CaribbeanJen]

On 1/9/2022 at 2:59 AM, kayjay76 said:

What did you do in Aruba and in the DR? The Dominican is throwing me off, not sure what to do t

 In Aruba we jumped in a cab and said "Take us to the best beach!"  It was cheap and I LOVED the beach.  We ended up here https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g147249-d7333795-Reviews-Coco_Loco_Beach_Bar_Restaurant_Aruba-Palm_Eagle_Beach_Aruba.html

 

In the DR we were stumped too because we have vacationed there twice.  The beaches are not great on this side of the island.  We ended doing the Buggies and Beach excursion and we LOVED it.  We road a dune buggy through trails and some mud and ended at a beach for about 30 minutes.  

[CaribbeanJen]

20 hours ago, GoldenGirl327 said:

Hi! We are going on the Breakaway 1/23. Curious about checking bags at the pier vs bringing them with us. I don’t anticipate testing positive (have appointments set up in NOLA for pre-travel) but I’m that neurotic “what if” person. Did you see a lot of ppl bringing their own bags to get covid testing at the pier? 

Also how was the entertainment?

thanks!!

I would check your bags.  While check in is smooth you will find you are going from line to line and moving around a bit.  I would not want luggage with me for this part.  

 

We saw the comedians and there was a comedy magic show.  We enjoyed them but nothing super special.  We are not people who generally go to many shows.  We are happy to enjoy the ocean.  We also really enjoyed dining on the waterfront.  Tip:  You can stop at any of the restaurants at 5:30 and request to eat at the waterfront.  It worked for us twice.   

Edited January 10, 2022 by CaribbeanJen

[jlseymour3]

On 1/9/2022 at 8:44 AM, bigrednole said:

Nice to read this post. I am 50/50 for our cruise in April on the Breakaway. Covid is not going away, vaccinations are only to keep from getting serious symptoms. My only concern is not having it, someone else having symptoms, and NCL saying something about close contact. I am all for giving everyone a pool noodle. If they are close enough to you to whack with it, then they are too close.

Pool noodle fights - excellent.

[GoldenGirl327]

33 minutes ago, CaribbeanJen said:

I would check your bags.  While check in is smooth you will find you are going from line to line and moving around a bit.  I would not want luggage with me for this part.  

 

We saw the comedians and there was a comedy magic show.  We enjoyed them but nothing super special.  We are not people who generally go to many shows.  We are happy to enjoy the ocean.  We also really enjoyed dining on the waterfront.  Tip:  You can stop at any of the restaurants at 5:30 and request to eat at the waterfront.  It worked for us twice.   

Thank you!

I'm  not big on the "big" shows but I know my son was looking forward to Six. Glad the comedians were performing. 

 

What do you mean dining on the waterfront? You mean by the pool? That's interesting. How does that work with what you order? They bring it to you up there? 

[ggTexasGal]

1 hour ago, GoldenGirl327 said:

Thank you!

I'm  not big on the "big" shows but I know my son was looking forward to Six. Glad the comedians were performing. 

 

What do you mean dining on the waterfront? You mean by the pool? That's interesting. How does that work with what you order? They bring it to you up there? 

I'm fairly certain I saw your post above state that you are going out of New Orleans on the Breakaway.

You can find answers to your questions about the Breakaway here:

https://www.ncl.com/cruise-ship/breakaway#!#whats-on-board   OR (more specifically)

https://www.ncl.com/cruise-ship/breakaway/deck-plans  (Specialty Restaurants outside on Deck 8!) 

[GoldenGirl327]

2 minutes ago, ggTexasGal said:

I'm fairly certain I saw your post above state that you are going out of New Orleans on the Breakaway.

You can find answers to your questions about the Breakaway here:

https://www.ncl.com/cruise-ship/breakaway#!#whats-on-board   OR (more specifically)

https://www.ncl.com/cruise-ship/breakaway/deck-plans  (Specialty Restaurants outside on Deck 8!) 

Last time we were on Breakaway was in 2015 and it was out of Florida. Maybe they added stuff since then so I'll take a look. Thanks for the links!

[CaribbeanJen]

1 hour ago, GoldenGirl327 said:

Thank you!

I'm  not big on the "big" shows but I know my son was looking forward to Six. Glad the comedians were performing. 

 

What do you mean dining on the waterfront? You mean by the pool? That's interesting. How does that work with what you order? They bring it to you up there? 

The waterfront is an outdoor area at some of the specialty restaurants. Same great service. Lovely view.

 

Edited January 10, 2022 by CaribbeanJen

[kpjb]

Nice to hear about some good customer service after all the bad reports lately. 

[MSUjohn]

On 1/8/2022 at 7:28 PM, cruising sister said:

 Agree I do not like Miami airport. I am seriously considering getting a hotel and flying out the next morning to avoid the crowds and nothing to do. 

i always fly in and out of Fort Lauderdale and then take a lyft or there is the brightline 

 

[vacation44]

We also always fly into Fort Lauderdale and take a car service to Miami.  Thank you for the Brightline information as I have never heard of them.