Getaway "semi-live" limited NY-Florida (PC)-GSC-Nassau 3.27.2022

[dexddd]

See from trackers and your post off Virginia.

 

Cave to DW's desire to stay on for second trip.  OV $599, balcony $649, Club $799.  Plus a bunch of taxes and fees, for your convenience, of course.

[mking8288]

Oops, typo - April 17th - Easter Week, expecting 4,000 guests.

 

Rope Course is / was open this morning.  Water Slide - ??? don't recall seeing anyone on it or said to be open 

Edited April 2, 2022 by mking8288

[Beer Belly]

Thanks for taking us along. Safe travels home.

[mking8288]

Casual lunch at Savor ... Italian wedding soup, salad, petite fish sandwich, and the best part, Tiramisusu with coffee.

 

Busy atrium lobby - noticed that all crew members continued to wear KN95 masks, bridge staff remains in their protective Covid safety bubble - no photos with the captain. Mario, the General Manager is the most senior officer present at the key gatherings.

 

Color coded luggage tags for pickup.

 

[mking8288]

iCafe has 12 Acer PC terminals - slow & sluggish.  The Card Room and nearby.  Issues with the Norwegian app's calling functions, texting is fine.

 

 

[mking8288]

Final evening, after a short walk on the Waterfront, watching the Anthem of the Sea on starboard side behind us.  Dinner at Trop MDR with short musical presentation by the BTF dancers. Mahi-Mahi & lamb for entrees, dessert & back to the stateroom just in time to watch a beautiful sunset. 

 

Time to finish packing our checked bags & photograph them for steward to collect before 11 pm. 

 

 

 

 

[meatball_nyc]

Enjoy your final night. Safe travels home. Pictures are beautiful...

 

thank you for taking us along!

 

 

[mking8288]

@Beer Belly We are almost home in NY, VZ Bridge ahead - your Roll Call's turn to embark later this morning. 

 

Passed an outbound cargo ship as we're cruising along the LI coastline - docking in about an hour, sunrise & Lady Liberty coming up ahead. 

 

 

 

 

Home sweet home - sad to say goodbye soon to an excellent & wonderful crew on the GA.

Edited April 3, 2022 by mking8288

[mking8288]

Passed under VZB - full 5G and 4G LTE cellular, home signal - no longer reliant on ship's slow WiFi.

 

 

[mking8288]

Statue of Liberty & NY Lower Bay / Harbor at dawn, port side view from our balcony

 

 

 

[Beer Belly]

Beautiful pictures, we've also been following you with the Cruise Tracker app. Once again, Thanks for posting.

[mking8288]

Continuing our disembarkation morning ritual, a full sit-down breakfast in Savor MDR.  Still not busy, while rush off the ship or line up for an hour, just relax & enjoy the services. Just docked at Pier 88 at 7:15 am - should be easy off around 9'ish.

 

 

[CTCruiser001]

Thanks for the review!

[mking8288]

Heading home, line was a bit slow going inside. Porter express, taxi line was long and Carmel service again to Queens.

 

Zipping north in an upgraded Honda minivan at 9:20 at no extra charge.

 

[JPL1966]

Thank you again, get home safe..

[meatball_nyc]

Safe travels!

 

Did you happen to notice if the Viva Vino packages were still being offered?

(just thought of this question now...). If not, no big deal.

 

Thanks again for taking us along!

 

 

[mking8288]

@meatball_nyc - Thanks and I think those pictures together are worth a million+ words in total, and, mostly speak for the wonderful week onboard by themselves.  Truly hard to say goodbye to the wonderful, warm, friendly, helpful & attentive crew and officers team on the GA.  We're back in NE Queens by 9:45 and disembarkation was fine too, very good as a whole - a few DYKWIA had to rush past elderly & accessible pax being escorted with hand luggage who apparently "delayed" their dash into the terminal building.  

 

Pre-Covid, I remember Viva Vino being promoted but really don't believe they are back yet - if it was held or announced in the Freestyle Dailies, I'll give it a good glance on whether the info was there or not.  Things are "ramping" up slowly in stages now, could be a matter of timing ... no crew's talent show in the main theater either, nor was there the special farewell show with officers & crew on stage. If I find them, will post it here.

 

Still got a few info-photos & (maybe) select video clips to post to cover a few minor area.  Planning or booked on a cruise yet ?

Edited April 3, 2022 by mking8288

[meatball_nyc]

Thanks for the info. No, nothing planned or booked yet...

 

Looking forward to more photos!

 

Welcome back to a bit of rain.

 

 

[JIMESOPUS]

@mking8288Thanks for the review, we jump aboard Easter Sunday. You mention 4000PAX for our cruise, slight jump in passengers from our 601PAX on the Gem in January

 

[mking8288]

@JIMESOPUS - Hmmm, yes - those were the figures at least 1 other CC roll call member (if not 2) - Sharon, The "P" and myself obtained, numbers appeared reliable & consistent - we agreed with having 1,700 guests onboard this past week of ours (1 possibly heard 1,800) - from the CruiseNext/Latitude team and restaurant's senior staff ... as otherwise, never seen 1 of 2 smaller MDR staying closed the entire week, resulting in doubled staffing in other places, especially across the corridor in Savor for breakfast, lunch & dinner. 

 

Beer Belly, I believe, should be able to help reaffirm whether there's like 2,700 onboard this week and next Sunday with 3,000.  We've initially heard 3,000 for Easter Week that you are sailing on - subsequently, numbers increased to 4,000 with last minute (families) booking as the rates droped ... and, now confirmed, the Double Up promo valid for last minute GA cruising before her T/A later this month.  Haven & spa cabins were upgraded with the bidding, thus sold out - quite full "upstairs" from what we heard but everywhere else - O'Sheehan's and even the 2 MDR's were pretty empty, never a long line or wait to get a table without prior reservations (like us) and easy to change or move Specialty Dining around to fit the scheduled (with the startup of the VIP cocktail hours, Latitude welcome back reception and even the Dine with Officers 2 evenings ago)  What a joy to be on this cruise - with CDC easing up on the cruising, it looks like last minute bookings will be up this month.  

 

4,000 sailing is still better than 4,400 or 4,500 on a fully sold-out *Away ship, typical of school breaks & major holidays.  We just walked in 10 minutes before "Burn The Floor" as it was on multiple nights but "Million Dollar Quartet" on for one evening with two 90 minutes showing would not be possible -we filled around 80% of the GA Theater's available seating for 9 pm.  Plan accordingly and things should work out.  Best wishes for a smooth, happy, safe and healthy cruise ahead - enjoy !!  

[Beach Life 1]

Thanks for the great review.  I was sad to see those suitcases packed at the end.  I’m sure not as sad as you🙁

[luvcruzing]

Thank you for a great trip report and the beautiful photos.  I especially loved the ones of the Statue of Liberty on your return home.

[mking8288]

FYI only - (disclaimer) not an endorsement to use the services.  These are the optional In-Room Dining options, including a small selection of hot breakfast choice, all with a flat delivery charge.  We didn't look into the SWIFT delivery details, but I supposed that NCL's own Uber-like on demand 24/7 delivery ... which are discussed elsewhere.

 

 

Telephone dialing info, land to ship and ship to land/mobile - $4.99 per minutes, ouch ... for emergencies. 

 

One of the best electrical 110 volts outlet adapter is this triple 3-prong cube, UL-listed by G.E. - fits tightly on the 2 outlets by the desk, non-surge protected. 

 

There are no (zero) bedside USB outlets or charging ports, which would've been useful & nice to have.  Bring a 15' USB extension cord if you plan to run devices by the sofa or bedside on the Getaway.  

 

The mini safe, big enough to fit 2 tablets/iPads and 11 inch travel notebook PC or Chromebook, passports & valuables, and those powered down smartphones & iPhones, etc.   Set your own personal 4 digits code to lock/unlock - ship security can override & open it if necessary (forgot your code)/in case of emergency/if you missed the ship as pier runners.  

Edited April 3, 2022 by mking8288

[mking8288]

Nassau, Bahamas - hi-resolution photos (DW took these on S/S Galaxy S21)

 

Comments - major constructions ongoing at the pier, straw market is closed/gone, dust & noises everywhere.  Those with accessible needs, be forewarned here that pier transportation is very limited with those golf carts - driver plus up to 3 passengers (less if a scooter, wheelchairs, etc. must be carried or taken along) - I can foresee long lines and wait for leaving the ship to go anywhere AND returning to the ship.  Did not see the previous shuttle services that carried more passengers - check with your contacts at the Access Desk about mobility options & availability, etc. and plan accordingly.  

 

 

[mking8288]

Great Stirrup Cay (GSC) - we're last there in 2018, then missed it twice due to weather & sea conditions, etc. - skipping it.  Lots of changes that we can see, has a Harvest Caye "feel" to it.  We didn't check out the exclusive cabana and villa areas - looking for info, search here on CC ... Google / Bing are your "helpers" online.  

 

Norwegian's private island at the northern tip of the Berry Islands, Bahamas - ship's WiFi signals used to be reachable & available on the beach, not anymore - but, a scan showed several active WiFi with strong & distinctive SSiD in use ... perhaps, a matter of limited bandwidth & priorities.  

 

BTC - one of Bahamas' 4G LTE signal is available at GSC, coverage is spotty depending on locations - because of technical configurations with our hardware, couldn't use it consistently this time.  

 

Let the pictures themselves tell the stories and let yourself imagine.  

P.S.  Those blue clam shells now cost $45 to rent for the day, it is not covered by the $50 shorex credit ... we've able to charge it to our Onboard Account, offset & reduced to zero from available, non-refundable OBC.  

 

Edited April 4, 2022 by mking8288