Semi-Live Getaway 2.0 Jan 16 - Feb 1, 2023 NY - So. Caribbean ... 12 nights ( is it Live, Semi-Live or Limited ?? )

[Buford T Justiice]

Thanks for the review. I appreciate you taking the time to write about your experience.

 

We experienced the hard stop time of the buffet on the Pearl last June and had to adjust our snacking accordingly. I seem to recall in the past that the closing time was more drawn out with the appetizers and main courses disappearing first, followed by the desserts fifteen or so minutes later. Now the velvet rope goes up all the food disappears. 

[mking8288]

I mentioned earlier about sorting thru more pictures and videos, mostly taken by Mrs. - should be doing uploading them later.  

 

A few final thoughts about our 12 nights cruise last month and "takeaways" -

 

Many of us received NCL's post-cruise surveys about 5 or 6 days after disembarkation, filled ours with comments - noting the apparent / perceived shortage of staff, cutbacks and apparent lax attitudes onboard about health & wellness, lines & crowds, and food temperature, and abrupt changes in ports of calls and times after final payment - which were annoying and not something appreciated in the absence of fair, open & honest communication ... instead of using "due to unforeseen circumstances" as weather was NOT a factor.  Unconfirmed "rumors" heard from local island taxi/tour guides that the reason our ship skipped one island was due to NCL not wanted to do tendering with 3,900 pax onboard ... didn't help either.  Unlike previous surveys, NCL did not ask whether "we" heard of, affiliated with, use and research, post and/or write reviews on CruiseCritic and/or belong to other social media platforms, typically FB.  At the last section of the survey, we can write in the name(s) of vacation heros and/or crew member that should be recognized.  It seemed NCL isn't entirely surprised about some of the negative feedbacks while skipping over some other elements of the ship experience on this survey.

 

Taxi and/or local transportation is many of the island stops are regulated and based on a flat rate by zones - St. Thomas, USVI being one of them ... we nearly forgotten about one of our encounter with one of the taxi driver, he took a safari busload of us from Havensight pier on the short ride over to nearby downtown, an easy 5 to 10 minutes ride that's just a little over a mile away - officially posted rate is $6 USD per person per ride (one-way).  The driver was asked specifically to confirm the rate before we got on the open-air bus/taxi shuttle.  He is from "Best Taxi" - one of the several companies licensed by the USVI Taxi Commission to provide services.  As we exited the bus and pay him, he attempted to charge $20 per person, more than 3 times the published rates.  I had taken a picture of the posted taxi fares at the pier and nicely informed him, he tried again and I advised him that I am prepared to call 911 for police assistance, and we weren't going anywhere.  Apparently, hearing the heated conversation from nearby, another "uniformed" taxi personnel, possibly a dispatcher came around and "spoke" with the driver privately.  We just handed him $24 for the 4 of us and keep walking, left and went into one of the gift shops there.  Apparently, 4 of the other taxi passengers that're not fluent in English got taken for the short ride & foolishly paid a lot more than we did.  We didn't see how much they gave the driver as they're the first one off and left in a hurry - pretty sure they got "ripped" off.  

 

Here's a photo of the taxi & license plate, a photo of the "crooked" & dishonest taxi driver (wearing that blue polo shirt with taxi) - bringing shame & bad image for visitors to the island, and the posted taxi rates in St. Thomas - heads up if you are going to explore the island and town on your own.  We've been there a few times, seen Drake's Seat & other popular sites ... 

 

A formal complaint / report has been filed with the USVI Taxicab Commission https://tcc.vi.gov/ - just to put the abuse into their records.  Will put an alert in the destination forum for USVI here as heads up for others heading there.  

 

 

 

 

Edited February 12, 2023 by mking8288

[mking8288]

Some of the "extra" cruise-specific items, personal suggestions shared on the Roll Call for others to consider packing to include & bring along -  none of it "required" for cruising NCL, just ideas & common sense ... including 2 extra week's worth of personal medications as prescribed. 

 

We used up about 2 boxes of 3-ply surgical masks plus a good # of KN95 5-ply respirator masks last month on this cruise.  Disclosure - NYS Dept of Health just released guidance to healthcare facilities & hospitals on its newest "mask off" policies, starting next week as part of the newest C19 guidelines, dropping the requirement.  

 

Norovirus onboard - apparently, there're case but below the escalation cutoff ... 

  

 

 

Edited February 12, 2023 by mking8288

[mking8288]

Garden Cafe a/k/a "The buffet" - Deck 15 AFT (current hours as posted, closed after 9:30 p.m. nightly unless noted otherwise on the Getaway, as of January 2023) photo collections as compiled - you can find a variety of food options there, hot & cold ... portions are smaller, but you are free to get more, for your convenience.  On port days and if you return to the ship early/late - and in between lunch & dinner services in the MDR or Specialty, this is one of your 2 choices, besides O'Sheehan's (and "paid" Room Service for a fee ...) 

 

Thin-crust pizza cut in small slices were good & edible, it's a nice change compared to years ago.  In addition to the cook-to-order pasta and carving stations, you can usually find a noodles soup station at the Asian section, and they use a bigger bowl - ask for extra noodles if you wish, easily turn into a meal by itself ... add some sliced meat as extras on top ... yummy and enjoy.  The soup is hot and not as salty or high in sodium - good !!  

 

Toward the back (stern) of the buffet (ship's AFT) are more seating with excellent views all around - you will also feel a slight vibration if the ships is moving near top or full speed, it's usually not as crowded - with a longer walk to some of the food stations.  If it's past peak hours - one side might be closed off for cleaning (either port side or starboard side) - unless it's clearly roped off & mark closed, we find it great to sit back for coffee/tea & fresh fruits, dessert.  You will also some of the junior crew members with approved privileges to eat & gather in this area, usually in the late evening ... including the CD & his team.  

 

[mking8288]

Food pictures & scenes from O'Sheehan's and Shanghai Noodles - complimentary comfort / casual dining option.  Footnote ... the new Chicken Wings and personally speaking only, didn't like the preparation, old ways preferred.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Burger w. mushrooms & bacon and cheese, it's loaded - served juicy & hot, plenty of calories ... no need to paid for one at the "American Diner" upstairs

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shanghai Noodles has an "open kitchen" - sit at the counter & watch them cook to order your food ... stainless steel exhaust vent, spotless clean.  

 

Fried dumplings (2 per order) and mini egg rolls (2 per order)

 

 

Spicy seafood udon (extra) noodles soup

 

Singapore Rice Noodles, with just a touch of curry, not really spicy hot. 

Edited February 12, 2023 by mking8288

[mking8288]

Food pictures - MDR breakfast & lunch 

(well, the sliced banana was apparently one of the remaining ones still available onboard in the beginning ... then, they ran out of them).  Yogurt, hot oatmeal, and fresh fruits were in stock - assorted bakery items that used to come in a mini basket, now on a plate.  Smoked salmon on a toasted bagel half with cream cheese - also on the menu.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lunch in the MDR (open typically on full sea days only - with 2 daily specials and the everyday selections) 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sliders were just a starter, not an entree ... 

 

 

"Cooking Lite" pasta option with shrimp - not, just a very petite serving (maybe, they're running low on pasta ... 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 12, 2023 by mking8288

[mking8288]

More pictures from Specialty Dining - La Cucina ... using our vouchers and dining credits

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 12, 2023 by mking8288

[Red-Sol]

6 hours ago, mking8288 said:

More pictures from Specialty Dining - La Cucina ... using our vouchers and dining credits

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's too early in the morning for me to now be this hungry! All of your food pics though have now done it!

[cruiseny4life]

2 hours ago, Red-Sol said:

 

It's too early in the morning for me to now be this hungry! All of your food pics though have now done it!

Same! And I've already had my Sunday omelette.

 

Portions, not so crazy about, but the presentation is spot on. I'm so going to miss Shanghai next month onboard Joy.

Thanks for the photos! Looks like some yummy food and you may have just convinced me to give O'Sheehan's/Local a try.

[mking8288]

Here's the final 2 mini collection of MDR food pictures over 12 days (except for nights that we skipped) - in date sequence, not going to name them individually, portion sizes were mostly on the small & trending petite.  These should give most of you on shorter or similiar cruises a pretty good idea of the current variety in options for MDR meals - descriptions could be "misleading" but if you aren't happy with it, just ask for something else ...  The soup aren't as high in sodium as in years past and that's good - one can always add salt to taste.  

 

Except on the last 2 nights - when for whatever reasons, bigger and "normal" entree sizes were presented.   Do not recall seeing prime rib at all this time, not a deal breaker as the ones in Cagney's and La Cucina were just about perfectly done.  Most of the fishes were good to very good, except we avoided Tilapia and was hoping to see more salmon fillet, pricier even for farm raised.  We had an exceptional server/waiter in Tropicana - Jenny got the shout out for going above & beyond - check out the lamb shank - it was excellent ... practically the entire leg trimmed.   Despite these eating light & healthier choices that we picked, still managed to gain a little extra weight coming home ... time to get on that exercise bike later while watch Super Bowl.  

 

Next up - some of the desserts in the MDR, which seemed proportionately bigger than a typical entree ... watch those calories 👴 😁 😉   My sincere "apology" for causing some of you - not on a cruise or going soon - to raid your refrigerator and food pantry, LOL. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lamb Shank - OMG - tasty and it was a lot of meat !

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This turkey pie (??) was just salty for my taste - from the MDR lunch menu - thumbs down.  

Edited February 12, 2023 by mking8288

[mking8288]

MDR - selections of dessert, including plates of fruits ... 

Sorry for triggering raiding your refrigerator to look for these ... direct dial extension for room service delivery or "Swift" ... oops, maybe Uber Eats.  Or, just enjoy dreaming and planning another cruise to somewhere.  

 

That "jello" bowl (from the buffet) was just too small, LOL.  

 

Edited February 12, 2023 by mking8288

[mking8288]

Cagney's Steakhouse - we used 2 Platinum (1 voucher for 2) and 2 Specialty Dining (FAS) credits - 

 

 

 

 

 

Black tiger (3) jumbo prawn has been replaced by 3 large (jumbo) shrimp, MSRP $19 a la carte.  

 

 

Rib Eyes - 16 oz. cooked medium - no upcharge, choice of steak sauce included ... 

 

Grilled Fisherman's Platter ... 

 

 

 

Sides - no comments

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 12, 2023 by mking8288

[norwoodcruisergirl]

What time do you need to get online at Shanghai noodles on the getaway? 

[mking8288]

@norwoodcruisergirl - depending on your sailing's occupancy level & crowds, I suggest somewhere between 15 to 30 minutes before they open for dinner (and, on full sea days for lunch) - check the FreeStyle Dailies for hours of operation.  

[Sugar Magnolia]

@mking8288 thank you again for your posts which were so helpful for my 5 day cruise to Nowhereland. What did you and your group enjoy at La Cucina? I always find the quality to be inconsistent when I dine there, so I opted not to dine there last week. 

 

[mking8288]

1 hour ago, Sugar Magnolia said:

@mking8288 thank you again for your posts which were so helpful for my 5 day cruise to Nowhereland. What did you and your group enjoy at La Cucina? I always find the quality to be inconsistent when I dine there, so I opted not to dine there last week. 

SM - a belated "welcome" back to you & others from Almost Cruise To Nowhere last week ... on the somehow better end of things, at least, avoided the angry North Atlantic crossing in the middle of winter & NCL did issued some OBC and usable FCC on another sailing.  I've been hoping to see at least some posts on the current 12 nights Getaway but nothing, nada ... thus far, unless I'm missing, just feedbacks and reports from other NCL ships & sailings - which I'm catching up on the weekend.   

Answer your questions, I pulled up La Cucina's Menu & attached below (date "stamped") for others to see - it's the latest - was on my other smartphone & merging them into a folder.  Aside from the Beef Tenderloin, which was quite good & up to my expectations ... and the Red Snapper was pretty enjoyable - we had 2 orders of each (among 4 of us) and shared them together.  Disclaimer here - food impressions & opinions are highly personal, subjective and varied from one to another.  Being limited to 1-1-1 under the new rules, which the waiter was very clear & serious about ...  Nope, we did not go there with the intention of up-sizing the pizza or pasta item into an entree, using our dining credits or voucher.   The "very" limited choices in starters were just not up to par, the Antipasti was okay, as least it was a good size - serving wise.  The Calamari Fritti was on the greasy side, there wasn't much to share - nothing special at all about the salad and the potato mini dumplings.  We haven't dine there in years and wanted to give it another try ... it's going to be a while, a long ... long time before we go back.  They got rid of their veal dish(es) entirely ??  IMHO and DW concurred, should've gone to Ocean Blue instead or even Moderno.  As a matter of fact, our neighborhood Ristorante - an easy 10 minutes slow walk in NE Queens, does it better with their weekdays lunch and early bird dinner specials at $20 p/p including coffee/dessert.   Nice deco and looks fancy ... that's about it - short in terms of quality and variety, not one bit of that "wow" factor, not at all.  Well, speed was good as we didn't spent more than 90 minutes and were done with our not-so-fancy dinner there ... went upstairs to the buffet for coffee & fresh fruits.  

 

 

 

 

[mking8288]

Random batch of photos onboard the Getaway - including the "Dear GM" dropbox located at Guest Services, Deck 6 Fwd - next to the Restaurant Reservation Desk, all the dining menus are there to see ... neither the Norwegian App or the interactive stateroom TV were not showing anything or updating - also, no digital version of the Freestyle Dailies either. 

 

With long lines often seen outside the MDR and even Specialty, you will be handed one of these vibrating pagers once your table is ready ... wait wasn't too bad for us when we didn't have a reservation & just show up asking for a table to seat 4.  Sometimes we get a table for 4, other times a bigger round table for 6 - even one of the nicer location including window ones.  

 

We're on Deck 12 Fwd - same floor as Splash Academy and location-wise, plenty of Inside Staterooms where, apparently, there're lots of bunking with 3 to 4 in a room, perhaps - that help explain the usual number of strollers left in the hallway on a regular basis.  I still, however, find it unacceptable and a serious fire/safety & emergency egress hazard and violation that warrant immediate mitigation.  The rollator-walker that can be easily folded, stored and kept out of anyone & everyone's way (mom, FIL and older SIL all used them when they're still around and I've transported & carried them in the back of our SUV and car all the times)  The "walker" can block the occupant of that balcony stateroom from opening the door (outward) by stopping it from being swing out into the recessed area of the corridor.  

 

Starting with the over-crowded Platinum roped off "lounge" seating inside Pier 88 ... 

 

Plenty of additional parking next door at Pier 90

 

Typical "BA" Balcony Stateroom - ours with the bed next to the sliding door - no USB outlets on the bedside lamps.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 13, 2023 by mking8288

[Sugar Magnolia]

Thank you @mking8288. Agree that the $200 OBC and 20% FCC took some sting away. And although I expected and was prepared for the crowds thanks to your intel, I was not prepared for the staff storage and how that affected service.

 

I have heard that the Beef Tenderloin at La Cucina is good and will order that next time. Like you, I am surrounded by excellent Ristorantes so my palate has been spoiled.

 

In my very humble opinion, the quality at Onda on the Encore and the Prima far surpasses La Cucina.

 

[JIMESOPUS]

@mking8288Thanks again for a great review. We never got the post survey for this cruise which somehow didn't surprise us. For the most part our cruise, 1/8 was very similar to yours, even though you had a different GM.

We have one more cruise left on the Escape in April and after that I'm sad to say for us,  we are done with the Away ships until the staffing issues are somehow resolved.

Looking ahead to the winter 2024, NCL has decided to have only the GA sailing out of NYC. Guess we will have to look elsewhere.

We had the CruiseNext Manger at our dinner with the officers on the BA, she didn't realize that the GA has no roof over the Haven courtyard and they are the ones trying to sell cruises, surprised not really. 

 

Be well and safe

Jim

[mking8288]

With less than 2 weeks remaining to embarkation, NCL notified by email that the first port of call or stop in San Juan, PR was being changed, reduced by 1 hour - rejoiced  ☹️ 😳 🙄  woohoo (NOT) ... we gained an extra hour at sea, leaving there an hour early at 9:30 pm instead of 10:30 pm (hence, all abroad 9:00 pm or 21:00) ... with a scheduled arrival of 4 pm or 16:00.  That is a total of no more than 5 hours there and sunset typically around 6:15 pm in the evening.  

 

 

Of course, that's on top of the uncertainty of whether we are (un)likely to be goint to Puerto Plata, DR and maybe, nearby Amber Cove instead - 20 minutes by car, taxi, bus or shuttle via highway, not exactly walking distance.  St. Lucia was the only planned tender stop - which turned out also to be not true, it was replaced - and we were "dully" informed by the captain once we're onboard - on Day 2, due to unforeseen circumstances ... huh, oh.   

 

We ("I") owe much thanks to Laszlo, Jim and others on the January 8th Roll Call for their live updates and intel - along with other CC'ers sharing their stories with NCL on the slippery slope - hence, decided to not book a single shorex at all, not with NCL and just wing it.  It worked out well and also saved us plenty of headache and money in the process, without having to panic and scrambling to contact tour operators on the islands, etc.   We ended up in Roseau, Dominicia - and not having done any research ahead nor ever been to the island and with little expectations - got a chance to see quite a few popular attractions, at least briefly and with a little appreciation of life and its residents, etc.  

 

Here are some of the extra pictures (a mix of Pixel 7 Pro and Galaxy S22+ photos using digital zoom & wide angle lens) - as we approach Old San Juan with the historic Fort guarding the harbor's entrance ... and we made it up there on our bargain taxi tour for a scenic photo stops. We're late arriving at the pier, docking & getting the gangway set up and ship cleared resulted in more delays, the first wave of inpatient ship passengers did not hit terminal payment until about 5 p.m. Originally, we're going to stay onboard, eat dinner first and then maybe take a stroll along the waterfront only.  

 

This is also where many of us saw new crew members reporting for work, lined up alongside the pier with their luggage & bags, ready to come onboard - easily 75 to 100 of them.  

 

For all practical purposes, challenged to get anymore than 3.5 hour of time to do any sightseeing in the surrounding area.  We still managed to see the new San Juan over the bridge where all the hotels area are - our CAS friends seeing San Juan for the first time ... otherwise, we wouldn't have left the ship at all.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 13, 2023 by mking8288

[mking8288]

Additional pictures from St. Kitts - 

 

[mking8288]

Bridgetown, Barbados - more pictures

 

 

[mking8288]

Reseau, Dominicia (replaced St. Lucia) - local folks, including taxi & tour operators said NCL didn't want to tender 4,000 folks ashore (and, only 1 ship scheduled at SL) - more photos: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 13, 2023 by mking8288

[mking8288]

St. John's, Antigua - photos

 

 

Edited February 13, 2023 by mking8288

[mking8288]

St. Thomas, USVI - extra photos

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Never get tired of watching these beautiful sunset on a ship ... 

first one taken w Pixel 7 Pro, rest with Galaxy S22+

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 13, 2023 by mking8288