NCL Getaway Live Journey - 9/3 - 9/12

[cruiseny4life]

Day 7 (TODAY YAY) Freestyle:

 

 

 

 

[cruiseny4life]

Day 7 (TODAY YAY) Freestyle:

 

 

 

 

[cruiseny4life]

3 hours ago, wolft927 said:

Loving the review!!!! Wife and I are on the Getaway on the 29th this month....do you know what the ships occupancy is at this week? Should give us a good idea what to expect in a few weeks. 

Hello from Miami! We have 1,230 passengers on board. The rumor is next will have about 1,000 so I believe you'll have a light ship as well. Here's to hoping!

 

 

[wolft927]

3 minutes ago, cruiseny4life said:

Hello from Miami! We have 1,230 passengers on board. The rumor is next will have about 1,000 so I believe you'll have a light ship as well. Here's to hoping!

 

 

Thanks so much. I assumed so since these sailings just became available in March of this year, plus 9 night cruise with school being out! I have a feeling as well ship will be very light. Thanks again for your amazing live review. 

[cruiseny4life]

On 9/7/2022 at 11:13 PM, Seas2mountains said:

I think your Miami stop is coordinated to get hash browns.  @Sailing12Away is on the Joy that also left from NY and is also reporting on a Live review that there are no hash browns. Must be a hash brown supply chain issue? 
 

Thank you for the updates. Hope you are having a great cruise! 

Haha I hope so! The hash brown shortage of Sept. 2022 will be infamous thanks to @Sailing12Away and I! I will try to get some tomorrow. We shall see.

 

@ChiefMateJRK and @TheShrike they sure are the same as the buffet hash browns. I, and others, are sad about the no hash browns across all categories!

[cruiseny4life]

Yesterday we spent time in Nassau. My husband has a fondness for trying KFC in different countries with a hope that it will taste as good as his native country's KFC - that country being Russia. Let's just say we follow international news closely and leave it at that...we booked an excursion to Blue Lagoon, so weren't able to try Bahamas KFC as it was a good walk in either direction...if you were wondering, KFC in Canada, Bermuda, and Russia is (well was, for Russia) much better than American KFC. 

 

Back to Nassau! We wandered around the city in the morning. Bay St was crazy busy as there were three cruise ships in port - RCL's Oasis of the Seas, Independence of the Seas, and our Getaway. 

 

 

During the morning we ventured to the Queen's Staircase. Wow! I wasn't expecting the deep chasm cut into the rock. I knew about the stairs. We walked up, went into Fort Fincastle, and then wandered back down the Queen's Staircase. After, we spent some time on Bay St purchasing the requisite souvenirs, before heading to our excursion. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We took the tender boat over that played very loud 1980's music. Yall know how I feel about that old school music. 🤪 Anyway, we got off to a lot off people at Blue Lagoon. We went to the end of the beaches, where the VIP section was. There is a very rocky, junky beach here that we were chased away from as we were very not VIPs. 

 

Heading back to the regular people beach, we found two chairs with an umbrella, ser out bag down, and enjoyed the knee deep water. Lots of people, loud music, and no fish to see. I can't say I blame the fish for staying away. I felt like I was in a bit of a human cess pool...you know, like a hot tub shimmering with oil. 

 

At 2 we went to lunch for our included burger, hot dog, or chicken sandwich and accompaniments - decent BBQ chicken, corn on the cob (2 inches worth), and salads, including Sysco's famous three bean salad. 

 

 

House Recipe ketchup on the fried for the win!! Not really...Heinz is the only real catsup! 

 

 

After a not so scrumptious lunch with a couple sips of fruit punch,  we returned to a nearly empty beach as the other ship people went away!! The tide came in which also washed away the remnants of people oils.

 

 

What a difference! The water was up to our armpits, floating mats were available, and we didn't need to worry about bashing into other. It was a much more pleasant experience until the folks doing construction turned on their generator. 

 

 

Welp, an hour later we returned to our ship and the solitude of our cabin. 

 

Tl:dr don't go to Blue Lagoon. 

[cruiseny4life]

Thanks to the fine folks at customs we all had the privilege of disembarking so that the ship would be at zero passengers. NCL made sure we were all comfortable in their terminal. Water, coffee, and some pastries were available. 

 

 

The transmission of disease was also very kindly available to us, especially when we were allowed to embark. 

 

 

Thank you to CBP and NCL for any illness that occurs. Ahh travel in an epidemic world. Also, sorry to those in wheelchairs that were bashed several times by Haven travelers as they made their entitled way back on to the ship.

 

Disclaimer: I know cruising is not risk free. I do expect those responsible for crowd management to prepare for a large number of folks to board. I suppose NCL figures they aren't responsible in three days, so who cares

 

[cruiseny4life]

Thanks to the fine folks at customs we all had the privilege of disembarking so that the ship would be at zero passengers. NCL made sure we were all comfortable in their terminal. Water, coffee, and some pastries were available. 

 

 

The transmission of disease was also very kindly available to us, especially when we were allowed to embark. 

 

 

Thank you to CBP and NCL for any illness that occurs. Ahh travel in an epidemic world. Also, sorry to those in wheelchairs that were bashed several times by Haven travelers as they made their entitled way back on to the ship.

 

Disclaimer: I know cruising is not risk free. I do expect those responsible for crowd management to prepare for a large number of folks to board. I suppose NCL figures they aren't responsible in three days, so who cares

 

[Sailing12Away]

I'll try to get hash browns tomorrow... Been hearing mixed stories of some folks being able to get them and others not. I'll let someone borrow my fancy Haven card for an hour in exchange for some potatoes!

[gatorchinsky]

I don’t recall anyone asking this in this thread but is there Coke or Pepsi on this sailing?

[cruiseny4life]

1 hour ago, gatorchinsky said:

I don’t recall anyone asking this in this thread but is there Coke or Pepsi on this sailing?

COCA-COLA ALLELUIA!!!!

[mr woz]

Coke is available on the ship

[hrmkr]

6 hours ago, cruiseny4life said:

Hello from Miami! We have 1,230 passengers on board. The rumor is next will have about 1,000 so I believe you'll have a light ship as well. Here's to hoping!

 

 

Not that you are probably complaining but did the ship seem empty walking around?  It must be nice not having to deal with any lines

[cruiseny4life]

1 hour ago, hrmkr said:

Not that you are probably complaining but did the ship seem empty walking around?  It must be nice not having to deal with any lines

Oh yea! We just went to Spice H20 and there were, maybe 15 people there?

 

 

We have an aft suite, so oftentimes I walk past the buffet to get to the stairs. The buffet is so empty.

 

 

We've had a couple meals in Taste and Savor, with no wait time at all.

 

We haven't gone to the Tropicana Room as they require long pants in the evening, so I'm unsure what it looks like in there. I have definitely seen people with shorts and flip flops (not sandals) allowed in, but I don't want to make the staff uncomfortable so I stay out. Also...I don't like being at dinner with people dancing. Yep, I'm weird!

 

Finally, no wait at Shanghai Noodle Bar. In April it was a two hour wait every night. Last week, the hostess said there were 100 people in line most nights!

 

 

Oh, and I almost forgot!! I watched Million Dollar Quarter in the Getaway Theater last night and there were plenty of seats left after everyone was say for the show....even in rows one through ten!

Edited September 9, 2022 by cruiseny4life

[WorkingForOBC]

Is that an elusive picture of you and your husband? Looking good!

[Sailing12Away]

Day 4 of the great hash brown depression on the Joy. Status report on your end? 🙂

[The Shrike]

2 hours ago, Sailing12Away said:

Day 4 of the great hash brown depression on the Joy. Status report on your end? 🙂

😀

[cruiseny4life]

2 hours ago, Sailing12Away said:

Day 4 of the great hash brown depression on the Joy. Status report on your end? 🙂

The depression continues on the Getaway. No magical resupply in Miami. Today they did finally manage to cook the country potatoes. Onions were still mostly raw.

[cruiseny4life]

Currently waiting for the captain and chief engineer to tell us all about the technical side of the ship. The crowd is a bit slim and I'm, by far, the youngest in the crowd.

 

[hrmkr]

15 minutes ago, cruiseny4life said:

Currently waiting for the captain and chief engineer to tell us all about the technical side of the ship. The crowd is a bit slim and I'm, by far, the youngest in the crowd.

 

Since you may have the captains undivided attention, bring up the hash brown fiasco with him.  If he can't fix it, no one can.  LOL

[ChiefMateJRK]

18 minutes ago, cruiseny4life said:

Currently waiting for the captain and chief engineer to tell us all about the technical side of the ship. The crowd is a bit slim and I'm, by far, the youngest in the crowd.

 

We tried one of those on the Encore.  Some know-it-all passenger sat near the front with a prepared list of questions (most designed to demonstrate to the crew and audience how smart he was).  I bolted after one question (which was my plan anyways) but DW and DD endured the remainder.  It sounded like a crappy staff meeting back at MegaCorp.  Been there.  Done that.  Never again (unless physically forced to).  Hopefully yours goes/went better.  😎

[JGmf]

On 9/6/2022 at 1:52 PM, cruiseny4life said:

I was shamed by a burger. Given the copious food available, I'm now bored of eating. I'm thinking about seeing what interesting soup bowls they have in the buffet tonight as I want an option other than the normal. 

It happens to me too.  After day 2, most of it food options (and unlimited amounts) loses its (initially glorious) appeal.

 

[cruiseny4life]

 

5 hours ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

We tried one of those on the Encore.  Some know-it-all passenger sat near the front with a prepared list of questions (most designed to demonstrate to the crew and audience how smart he was).  I bolted after one question (which was my plan anyways) but DW and DD endured the remainder.  It sounded like a crappy staff meeting back at MegaCorp.  Been there.  Done that.  Never again (unless physically forced to).  Hopefully yours goes/went better.  😎

Ours was alright. I stayed the entire time, however I did consider leaving. There was a guy in front that enjoyed asking more than the one question that ought to be a societal norm! He wasn't a smartie, just wanted to waste our time. Actually we had three like this. Big surprise, they all knew each other. 

 

Thankfully, the captain had no issue calling these people out. One was asked, "why would you even ask something like that?" I should have applauded! 

 

To the next guy (mister bald head in the center of this photo), the captain was more blunt as he decided to ask three questions in a row. The captain told him, no more. Then the guy proceeded to ask two more at which point the captain (nicely) told him he was done asking questions. 

 

 

Here's what I learned: 

 

1. The ship uses 20 gallons of diesel per MINUTE going at our current speed of ten knots per hour. 

 

2. Black water sludge (that's poop folks) is sometimes disposed of in the ocean. 

 

3. Mr. Conor, of Albany, asked the same question twice. Surprisingly, the answer did not change. Over achiever Conor wanted to know the difference between working as a captain on a naval vessel, cargo ship, and cruise ship. Our captain has been on all three. The differences - the navy has guns, the cargo ships have 20 crew members, and cruise ships have a lot more crew, plus the cargo moves itself. I can't believe the answers stayed the same both times. 

 

4. A progressive lady wondered how many female captains and chief engineers NCL has. Apparently Pride of America has a female chief engineer. There are no female Capt Kate's on NCL. The bridge officers do have two ladies in the ranks, so there is hope for a female captain in the future. That is good. 

 

5. It took our captain 6 years of maritime academy and 22 years of experience to become a NCL captain. This might answer progressive lady's wonderings about female leaders onboard. 

 

Overall, the program was alright. I'm glad the captain gave some people a rough time. They deserved it and I enjoyed it. I likely won't go to another though. 

[cruiseny4life]

I haven't posted photos of our room yet, so here is the stateroom post. Our suite is an Aft Corner Haven Penthouse with balcony. We love our Haven Penthouse room on deck 14, 14130, but this one was available and we wanted to try it out. As this is our anniversary cruise, we did get the package that included some truly beautiful decorations...truly, not. 

 

A little backstory. We moved to this cruise about three weeks before our original five day Bermuda cruise. We paid about $1,000 more for this nine day cruise and that includes the 10% we lost on that initial booking since we were well inside the final payment date when we canceled. I thought we would be in 14130, however my lovely husband, and our PCC moved us to this lovely suite. He kept it a secret until we boarded the ship. I had a few clues when the check-in folks mentioned the room number, but didn't know for sure until we walked to the aft of the ship and scanned our key card. What a stunning surprise! 

 

Here are a few photos of the room.

 

Decorations first:

 

 

 

Living space and coffee/tea area:

 

 

 

 

 

The bedroom - king size bed, with a large closet and TV:

 

 

Master bathroom:

 

 

 

 

We do have a second bathroom. It has a toilet and smaller shower. I figured everyone knows what a toilet looks like so only have a shower photo - let me know if you'd like a photo of the toilet:

 

 

And, finally, the wonderfully large balcony! We have spent a lot of time here, and will continue to until we depart the ship on Monday morning:

 

[cruiseny4life]

6 hours ago, hrmkr said:

Since you may have the captains undivided attention, bring up the hash brown fiasco with him.  If he can't fix it, no one can.  LOL

There is nothing more important, after all....alas, I did not bring the hash brown depression to his attention.

Edited September 10, 2022 by cruiseny4life