Let’s give it a go…sort of live-ish Getaway February 18-26, 2023–I’ll do my best!

[Dorhead1230]

The final countdown…2 days to go!

I have decided to make an attempt at keeping the live/semi-live Getaway reviews going. I’ve had a 3 1/2 year absence from cruising (and from these forums until a few weeks ago) but we’ve finally decided it’s time to set sail again. At first, I was doubtful that me doing another live(ish) Getaway review could really contribute anything to the stellar coverage of @cruiseny4life, @mking8288 , @Laszlo, etc., but then I realized there may be other items of interest unique to my trip. Firstly, we’re traveling with our 4-year-old little man (LM) in tow. We’re also Casinos at Sea guests. Plus, our itinerary is slightly different from that covered by @cruiseny4life several weeks ago, as we are scheduled for a Port Canaveral overnight. Also, perhaps we’ll be the lucky Getaway cruisers who actually make it to our port stop in Bermuda?! My guess is there’s a letter in the stateroom on Saturday, but time will tell…

 

I am procrastinating rather than taking care of preparing for the trip as I should be doing, so I’ll give some background about us and our cruising history, etc. I am 39, DH is 43, LM is 4, and my mom (DM) who is also sailing with us, is 69. If you’re wondering why we’d be insane enough to book a cruise out of NYC during a NY/CT mid-winter school vacation week, it’s because I’m a high school English teacher, so we have no choice 🙃. DH is NYPD and was able to take vacation that lined up perfectly with my school break and this cruise, and LM is a 4-year-old preschool freeloader who can take a vacation whenever he wants. 

 

DH and I are slot players, him at a much higher level than me, so CAS has continued to send him offers despite our last cruise being in August 2019. When they sent him a holiday offer for a balcony cabin for him PLUS an additional inside cabin, it was a no-brainer to finally get back to cruising. We booked ourselves an aft-facing balcony, and upgraded the other cabin for my mom and her lil’ roomie to another balcony that we thought was right around the corner. We’re on deck 13, which is the crummiest of the aft-facings on Getaway, but we didn’t book until mid-December and for what we paid with the casino offer, you’ll hear no complaints from me. However, the cabin assignments got screwed up and we didn’t realize it until this past weekend when I went to print luggage tags. We didn’t realize my mom should get a separate confirmation email for her cabin because of the way the CAS offer was (with both cabins being offered to DH) and we have had a LOT going on the past couple months (more on that later), so it wasn’t until I opened the luggage tags that I realized the CAS rep who told us DM was assigned to 13300 actually put her closer to mid-ship on deck 12. So of course we all freaked out a little, but it was too late for anything to be done. LM will only be there to sleep, anyway, most likely, and when we’re all away together on a trip and my mom is watching him I don’t go anywhere at night until I put him to bed, and then I go pick him up in the morning so DM can get ready. So I guess we’ll make it work. I really hope that mishap isn’t spelling doom for this whole trip, though, especially given the less-than-stellar feedback about Getaway around here lately. Ok, on to more mundane topics before I have another panic attack about the room assignments…

 

DH has only cruised NCL, and I have only cruised NCL as an adult (went on DCL and Princess once each as a teen). DM has cruised Royal and Princess in the past, but only NCL for her more recent cruises. LM cruised with us once before when he was 9 months old, but then he was mainly a cute little accessory we toted around with us. Now, he is a person with interests, ideas, and so, so very many demands he does not hesitate to express, so this will be an interesting new adventure! The only way we’ll sign him up for Splash Academy is if it’s necessary to do so for any of the family activities. We will not be dropping him off there. He’s still a wee fellow and I’m a nervous Nellie, plus DH and I both work so we really have no desire to spend time away from him on vacation (except when DM takes him to sleep at night so we can have some casino time 🫣). I will try to get the lowdown for anyone who needs info about SA, though. We definitely intend to bring him to the kids’ splash area, to some of the family activities like origami and animal balloon-making, plus I want to check out the outdoor games like the giant Jenga, etc. I was trying to keep the arcade a secret as long as possible, but DH blew that one up (mainly to attempt to stave off naughty behavior, as we’re post-Santa season now), so that will be their daddy-son thing to do together.

 

This would not be our first-choice itinerary, as Bermuda is our favorite place in the world and a few hours there (if we’re lucky enough to make it), wouldn’t quite scratch the itch, but I am super excited for any getaway we’re getting on the Getaway (pathetic wordplay from an English teacher—I am suitably ashamed). We have been renovating a house for over 3 years, doing much of the work ourselves, and the house was torn up to the point that we couldn’t live in it with LM. It has basically been a few years of pulling a thread to see what unravels next. We’ve finally whipped it into shape enough to live there, and just recently moved. We also have, as realtors like to tout, “room for mom,” so she also just moved from her apartment into the house. Everyone is exhausted—DH and I spent countless hours there outside of work hours and my mother, who is a saint, spent countless hours watching LM while we worked on the house and driving over an hour round-trip multiple days a week to where we were living to watch him on the days when we both work (DH’s days off rotate). So at this point, NCL could be sailing off pretty much anywhere and we’d be in, just to get a break! The overnight in Port Canaveral should work out well. We’re scheduled to arrive at 1PM Monday, and we have friends who moved to the Melbourne area a few years ago who we plan to visit with that day. Then we remain there until 6:30PM Tuesday, so we plan to head to SeaWorld. We’ll already have a rental car we’re picking up on Monday, so we intend to be there when the gates open—we’re not messing with the limited timing of the ship excursion. We spent about 12 seconds toying with the idea of a Disney park, but then regained our senses and realized it would be a hellish mission on Mardi Gras, during February break, with a small child who would (rightfully so) lose his mind over spending only a few hours at Disney and then being told to leave. So, we figured SeaWorld would be a good compromise as something a little special we could do in the time we have that hopefully won’t be packed to the gills (See what I did there? I’ll stop pointing them out now and just be quietly dorky.). We’ve done 2 past cruises with GSC on the itinerary and are 50-50 with making it there, so we’ll just be playing this all by ear and hoping for the best with hitting our scheduled ports.

 

Now that I’ve told you all you want to know and a bunch of things you don’t care about, I’ll sign off for now and do what I should be doing, which is packing. I’ll pop back on tomorrow to blather on some more and share my preparation progress. I am going to try my best to keep this going regularly during the cruise. Hopefully I won’t get too distracted chasing around LM! 

 

My home is the disaster area of people who just moved, so right now I’m just holding my breath that we can find everyone’s stuff to pack 😅.

Edited February 17, 2023 by Dorhead1230

[sailorusvi]

We are sailing with you!   It's DH's first cruise ever.  My 4th, but the last one was in 1997 🙂(but never with NCL).  We are child-free and picked a holiday week.  WHAT WERE WE THINKING??? 

 

Truth be told I wanted the 12-day itinerary, but thought it was too much for my 1st time cruising husband.  We have a very short window to go on vacation due to our jobs, so this trip won out.  We decided to go Haven AND Vibe. We like kids,  have tons of nieces and see them all the time, but yeah, We decided to go as kid-free as possible.   Wish us luck!!

 

Glad you are going live.

 

Happy sailing!

[Dorhead1230]

@sailorusvi, I’m excited for you for your husband’s first cruise! I hope he loves it! I am sure you’ll be pretty well insulated from the crowds in the Haven and Vibe. The only other during-the-school-year vacation when we sailed was several years ago during April break before we had our son. Ironically, we had a blast because there were so many kids on board, so no one was doing what we were doing 😂. The casino was empty half the time, late shows in the theater weren’t packed, 18+ comedy shows were easy to get in to, etc. etc. I’ve been hoping for a similar casino situation this time, actually. We are so fortunate to have my mom come with us and babysit at night, but with so many families with kids on board, casino attendance may be a little light!

[mking8288]

@Dorhead1230 ... Woohoo - go for it ... This is wonderful for CC addicts hovering on NCL and eager to read and learn about the latest & newest with the Getaway.  We've done our share and tried to maintain a little bit of continuity, carry on and keep the reports going - with your own style, angles & approach.  I like your plan for LM in Florida, your recognition of the pro's & con's of GSC - and good old Nassau (they are expanding the port facilities, completion by this May ...)  Will just see what'll NCL make of the Bermuda segment.  @sailorusvi  Embarkation & disembarkation will be much streamlined as the perks come with your bundled booking package.  If you get the butler to order the items we had from Shanghai Noodles & bring them upstairs for a private dining, you'll find the comfort food experience much nicer vs. sitting next to/behind the smoky casino area.  

 

@PistolPete13 commented earlier that he is considering, planning and going to try to contribute & do his share following this weekend's sailing on the 12 nights.  Cruise with an open mind, sense of humor and knowing that the crew as a whole are doing their best - the best cruise vacation is what and how you make the best & most out of it.   

 

Will be following along and that'll help us deal with missing our "at sea" experience ... as our next one isn't exactly around the corner.  Started looking at Windy and CruiseMapper apps plus the usual forecast apps. 

 

Have a wonderful cruise - ships nearly always sail at 110% and higher during school break - hopefully, NCL and Mario, the GM are working hard to turn those corners with all their resources & people-power on hand.  

Edited February 17, 2023 by mking8288

[norwoodcruisergirl]

I will be joining you tomorrow as well !! Looking forward to a great cruise! 

[Deacon22]

@Dorhead1230Glad you are doing it and not me.  This cruise is gonna be filled with teachers, cops, fireman and kids.  😬😃  

[Laszlo]

9 hours ago, Dorhead1230 said:

The final countdown…2 days to go!

I have decided to make an attempt at keeping the live/semi-live Getaway reviews going. I’ve had a 3 1/2 year absence from cruising (and from these forums until a few weeks ago) but we’ve finally decided it’s time to set sail again. At first, I was doubtful that me doing another live(ish) Getaway review could really contribute anything to the stellar coverage of @cruiseny4life, @mking8288 , @Laszlo, etc., but then I realized there may be other items of interest unique to my trip. Firstly, we’re traveling with our 4-year-old little man (LM) in tow. We’re also Casinos at Sea guests. Plus, our itinerary is slightly different from that covered by @cruiseny4life several weeks ago, as we are scheduled for a Port Canaveral overnight. Also, perhaps we’ll be the lucky Getaway cruisers who actually make it to our port stop in Bermuda?! My guess is there’s a letter in the stateroom on Saturday, but time will tell…

 

I am procrastinating rather than taking care of preparing for the trip as I should be doing, so I’ll give some background about us and our cruising history, etc. I am 39, DH is 43, LM is 4, and my mom (DM) who is also sailing with us, is 69. If you’re wondering why we’d be insane enough to book a cruise out of NYC during a NY/CT mid-winter school vacation week, it’s because I’m a high school English teacher, so we have no choice 🙃. DH is NYPD and was able to take vacation that lined up perfectly with my school break and this cruise, and LM is a 4-year-old preschool freeloader who can take a vacation whenever he wants. 

 

DH and I are slot players, him at a much higher level than me, so CAS has continued to send him offers despite our last cruise being in August 2019. When they sent him a holiday offer for a balcony cabin for him PLUS an additional inside cabin, it was a no-brainer to finally get back to cruising. We booked ourselves an aft-facing balcony, and upgraded the other cabin for my mom and her lil’ roomie to another balcony that we thought was right around the corner. We’re on deck 13, which is the crummiest of the aft-facings on Getaway, but we didn’t book until mid-December and for what we paid with the casino offer, you’ll hear no complaints from me. However, the cabin assignments got screwed up and we didn’t realize it until this past weekend when I went to print luggage tags. We didn’t realize my mom should get a separate confirmation email for her cabin because of the way the CAS offer was (with both cabins being offered to DH) and we have had a LOT going on the past couple months (more on that later), so it wasn’t until I opened the luggage tags that I realized the CAS rep who told us DM was assigned to 13300 actually put her closer to mid-ship on deck 12. So of course we all freaked out a little, but it was too late for anything to be done. LM will only be there to sleep, anyway, most likely, and when we’re all away together on a trip and my mom is watching him I don’t go anywhere at night until I put him to bed, and then I go pick him up in the morning so DM can get ready. So I guess we’ll make it work. I really hope that mishap isn’t spelling doom for this whole trip, though, especially given the less-than-stellar feedback about Getaway around here lately. Ok, on to more mundane topics before I have another panic attack about the room assignments…

 

DH has only cruised NCL, and I have only cruised NCL as an adult (went on DCL and Princess once each as a teen). DM has cruised Royal and Princess in the past, but only NCL for her more recent cruises. LM cruised with us once before when he was 9 months old, but then he was mainly a cute little accessory we toted around with us. Now, he is a person with interests, ideas, and so, so very many demands he does not hesitate to express, so this will be an interesting new adventure! The only way we’ll sign him up for Splash Academy is if it’s necessary to do so for any of the family activities. We will not be dropping him off there. He’s still a wee fellow and I’m a nervous Nellie, plus DH and I both work so we really have no desire to spend time away from him on vacation (except when DM takes him to sleep at night so we can have some casino time 🫣). I will try to get the lowdown for anyone who needs info about SA, though. We definitely intend to bring him to the kids’ splash area, to some of the family activities like origami and animal balloon-making, plus I want to check out the outdoor games like the giant Jenga, etc. I was trying to keep the arcade a secret as long as possible, but DH blew that one up (mainly to attempt to stave off naughty behavior, as we’re post-Santa season now), so that will be their daddy-son thing to do together.

 

This would not be our first-choice itinerary, as Bermuda is our favorite place in the world and a few hours there (if we’re lucky enough to make it), wouldn’t quite scratch the itch, but I am super excited for any getaway we’re getting on the Getaway (pathetic wordplay from an English teacher—I am suitably ashamed). We have been renovating a house for over 3 years, doing much of the work ourselves, and the house was torn up to the point that we couldn’t live in it with LM. It has basically been a few years of pulling a thread to see what unravels next. We’ve finally whipped it into shape enough to live there, and just recently moved. We also have, as realtors like to tout, “room for mom,” so she also just moved from her apartment into the house. Everyone is exhausted—DH and I spent countless hours there outside of work hours and my mother, who is a saint, spent countless hours watching LM while we worked on the house and driving over an hour round-trip multiple days a week to where we were living to watch him on the days when we both work (DH’s days off rotate). So at this point, NCL could be sailing off pretty much anywhere and we’d be in, just to get a break! The overnight in Port Canaveral should work out well. We’re scheduled to arrive at 1PM Monday, and we have friends who moved to the Melbourne area a few years ago who we plan to visit with that day. Then we remain there until 6:30PM Tuesday, so we plan to head to SeaWorld. We’ll already have a rental car we’re picking up on Monday, so we intend to be there when the gates open—we’re not messing with the limited timing of the ship excursion. We spent about 12 seconds toying with the idea of a Disney park, but then regained our senses and realized it would be a hellish mission on Mardi Gras, during February break, with a small child who would (rightfully so) lose his mind over spending only a few hours at Disney and then being told to leave. So, we figured SeaWorld would be a good compromise as something a little special we could do in the time we have that hopefully won’t be packed to the gills (See what I did there? I’ll stop pointing them out now and just be quietly dorky.). We’ve done 2 past cruises with GSC on the itinerary and are 50-50 with making it there, so we’ll just be playing this all by ear and hoping for the best with hitting our scheduled ports.

 

Now that I’ve told you all you want to know and a bunch of things you don’t care about, I’ll sign off for now and do what I should be doing, which is packing. I’ll pop back on tomorrow to blather on some more and share my preparation progress. I am going to try my best to keep this going regularly during the cruise. Hopefully I won’t get too distracted chasing around LM! 

 

My home is the disaster area of people who just moved, so right now I’m just holding my breath that we can find everyone’s stuff to pack 😅.

Hope you all have a Great time! My son is a HS History / English teacher in Arlington, VA

[Treasure Hunter]

We are also on your cruise. Grandparents, daughter and two kids 7 and 10 who had a hard winter and deserve some fun. We are in a two bedroom family suite in the Haven. I was told the Haven is totally sold out plus and that there are 1500 kids on board. We too are booked through the casino. Last time I was on the Getaway ( last spring) I had four hand pays on slots in the Casino and if it wasn't for the smoking ( no separate smokers room unlike the newer ships) it would be my favorite ship. We've been cruising Celebrity lately because of the non smoking casino but the slots on Celebrity are as tight as ( fill in the blank). We will all have a fabulous time with Million Dollar Quartet and Burn the Floor ( amazing entertainment) and I'm sure there will be a magician or two for the kids.  Also can't wait to show the kids and my daughter the Haven. It will be a lot of togetherness in one ( although large) suite. Fortunately my husband is happy being in the room at night with the kids. We have booked one extremely long day at Disney ( taking a car service) because the kids have never been. Hopefully 60 degree Bermuda will be cancelled and a warmer weather port put it but I think the itinerary is set.

[Treasure Hunter]

PS My son just moved from Arlington, VA to Atlanta! Small world.

[EllieinNJ]

Originally I was going to book this cruise but then I realized it was a President's Day cruise and there would be lots of kids so I wound up taking the Feb. 1st 5 day cruise to nowhere (suppose to be Bermuda).  We got a $200 OBC and 20% off our next cruise.  Because we got such a great deal on our BB Balcony and had a FCC from a previous cruise, this came out to a measly  $93 each for my DH & myself. 

 

Looking forward to following your report. 

 

 

[PistolPete13]

Looking forward to following along!

I'm on the 12-day Getaway sailing after your trip and will appreciate any and all last minute details of the ship you can provide.  And they better not run out of those fried hash brown patties for breakfast, I'm addicted to those!

[cruiseny4life]

Have a lovely time onboard! If it's playing, I'd suggest you let mom go to one of the Broadway Unplugged shows. Many of the shows are from before me (plenty of current shows too) and I think she'd enjoy having a drink, sitting at a table, albeit crowded, enjoying handsome men (and one lady) sing songs while joking with each other. 

 

@sailorusvi, we are childless as well. There's something about biology I've heard. We cruised last year in April, during the Easter school break. It was crowded with kids. They weren't the ones that annoyed me though. It was the adults. I think you'll be just fine, especially if you're cruising Haven and have Vibe! We were in the Haven and had the thermal suite passes. Thankful we did! 

 

Basically, before you get onboard you can choose to have a great time or a miserable time. All of you, including @Treasure Hunter, seem like the type of cruiser that will create great energy around you. I hope you all have a phenomenal time! Here's to turquoise waters, blue skies, and seeing the pink'ish sand of Bermuda. 

 

Clearwater Beach, Bermuda  - April, 22

[Laszlo]

4 minutes ago, PistolPete13 said:

Looking forward to following along!

I'm on the 12-day Getaway sailing after your trip and will appreciate any and all last minute details of the ship you can provide.  And they better not run out of those fried hash brown patties for breakfast, I'm addicted to those!

Hopefully they will have soft serve..... We had none on our cruise, they said the delivery truck never made it to the pier

[alchemist4]

Booked this when it was going to Miami. Hopefully going back there instead of Bermuda for 15 min 😉

[mking8288]

3 minutes ago, alchemist4 said:

Booked this when it was going to Miami. Hopefully going back there instead of Bermuda for 15 min 😉

Given a choice, especially this time of the year, would prefer a day in Miami instead of another sea day - visit Little Havana for a good cup of sidewalk Cuban coffee.  Norwegian Dawn used to do a 7 days out of NY back on the good old days on its Florida/Bahamas run with some interesting shorex available.  

 

 

[alchemist4]

11 minutes ago, mking8288 said:

Given a choice, especially this time of the year, would prefer a day in Miami instead of another sea day - visit Little Havana for a good cup of sidewalk Cuban coffee.  Norwegian Dawn used to do a 7 days out of NY back on the good old days on its Florida/Bahamas run with some interesting shorex available.  

 

 

Sounds lovely! Well there is no NCL ship in their Miami terminal in the back half of the week, so maybe if we all call we can beg for it back 😂

[Dorhead1230]

Hi, everyone! Glad to meet a few fellow passengers on this cruise! It’s going to be crowded and interesting lol. I definitely agree that I’d like to remain somewhere warm and sunny if Bermuda weather will be questionable. If it’s Miami, I’ll find something fun for us to do for the day. My gut is telling me it’ll be Nassau, in which case we’ll just remain onboard and enjoy the ship in warm weather with fewer crowds!

 

@Laszlo I can stand a lot of problems and cut-backs, but if they take away ice cream, I will throw down 😅. Although I prefer the hard ice cream anyway so c’est la vie I guess.

 

@Treasure Hunter I can’t lie, 1500 kids is more appealing to me personally than 1500 adults in their place lol. Kids are kids, but usually on a cruise or wherever it’s the behavior of adults I am most taken aback by. I guess that’s why I work with kids! Hopefully the casino won’t be too hard on us, either!

 

@cruiseny4life I did tell my mom about Broadway Unplugged already based on your descriptions of it from your review. I think she would really like that one!
 

Whew, only about an hour to go at work and then I’m out of here! I teach almost all juniors, so they don’t get that pre-break stir craziness too much; they just get tired and grumpy lol. Everyone needs a week away from here at this point!

 

I have packed nothing (have some stuff together-ish, but not one thing in a suitcase), so this afternoon and tonight should be hilariously frantic. Good thing I make very specific packing lists to help me get it together quickly! I just have to remind myself this time tomorrow I’ll be having lunch in Taste or Savor with a nice cocktail and then I regain inner peace 😌

[Grandmafreddie]

14 hours ago, Dorhead1230 said:

@sailorusvi, I’m excited for you for your husband’s first cruise! I hope he loves it! I am sure you’ll be pretty well insulated from the crowds in the Haven and Vibe. The only other during-the-school-year vacation when we sailed was several years ago during April break before we had our son. Ironically, we had a blast because there were so many kids on board, so no one was doing what we were doing 😂. The casino was empty half the time, late shows in the theater weren’t packed, 18+ comedy shows were easy to get in to, etc. etc. I’ve been hoping for a similar casino situation this time, actually. We are so fortunate to have my mom come with us and babysit at night, but with so many families with kids on board, casino attendance may be a little light!

Why would u book vibe and haven when heaven has own private deck right next to vibe. 

[Grandmafreddie]

The haven is the way to go with a lot of kids on board. A ship within a ship. Has private deck no kids allowed. No need to pay for vibe, same venue. Enjoy.

[Laszlo]

32 minutes ago, Dorhead1230 said:

@Laszlo I can stand a lot of problems and cut-backs, but if they take away ice cream, I will throw down 😅. Although I prefer the hard ice cream anyway so c’est la vie I guess.

 

My wife said when one of the managers at the buffet told me about having no soft serve on our cruise the look on my face was priceless 😆

[Treasure Hunter]

I believe Vibe has a bar upstairs while the Haven sundeck upstairs relies on the bar service from the Haven lounge. Otherwise the same and servers come up and make the rounds for drinks and lunch. Also you can put in an order at the bar before you go upstairs and someone will bring it up asap

[sailorusvi]

52 minutes ago, Grandmafreddie said:

The haven is the way to go with a lot of kids on board. A ship within a ship. Has private deck no kids allowed. No need to pay for vibe, same venue. 

 

Options.

 

We like the Vibe is on one level. Haven the bar and hot tubs are downstairs ,kid free upstairs.  My husband is a hangout 

out around the bar in a wet suit type. Haven Bar is indoors.

 

Again options.

 

Edited February 17, 2023 by sailorusvi

[cruiseny4life]

As for Vibe v. Haven...personally, I don't think I'd ever book Vibe if I had the Haven. I don't enjoy melting on loungers. Perhaps an Alaska cruise, but then I'm thinking everyone will be indoors shivering in their Canada Goose jackets, while I'm strutting around in my bathing suit on deck. Plus, Getaway doesn't go there, so there's that. 

 

Anyway, for those that do! I know one of the big selling points is you can get in a hot tub and not deal with kids. Kids are allowed in the Haven hot tubs. They're not allowed in the Vibe hot tubs. That is a wonderful thing for many! Me? Well, I know how to embarrass kids so they leave in a nice way. I was a school administrator for a few years and worked in youth development for nearly ten before that. Yea, I won't be weird, but they better have a sense of humor, eh? Besides, so long as I get my cocktail, I'm happy. Kids or not. 

 

Enjoy your time, however you'd like! I'll be sweating my muffin top off in the thermal suite! 

 

By the by!!! @Dorhead1230, I didn't thank you for the kind words about my live. I'm not sure it was "stellar." It was something...but I'm looking forward to hearing and seeing all about your cruise! I know you need the time off to relax, recharge, and get back in the classroom with those teens. 

[NYMama]

I am on this sailing as well.  Traveling with my boys for their February break.  I have heard it is at capacity ~4800.  Probably at least 1000 of the passengers being kids.  The weather is shaping up to be pleasant, so at least both indoor and outdoor spaces can be utilized most days.  

[Laszlo]

16 hours ago, Dorhead1230 said:

The final countdown…2 days to go!

I have decided to make an attempt at keeping the live/semi-live Getaway reviews going. I’ve had a 3 1/2 year absence from cruising (and from these forums until a few weeks ago) but we’ve finally decided it’s time to set sail again. At first, I was doubtful that me doing another live(ish) Getaway review could really contribute anything to the stellar coverage of @cruiseny4life, @mking8288 , @Laszlo, etc., but then I realized there may be other items of interest unique to my trip. Firstly, we’re traveling with our 4-year-old little man (LM) in tow. We’re also Casinos at Sea guests. Plus, our itinerary is slightly different from that covered by @cruiseny4life several weeks ago, as we are scheduled for a Port Canaveral overnight. Also, perhaps we’ll be the lucky Getaway cruisers who actually make it to our port stop in Bermuda?! My guess is there’s a letter in the stateroom on Saturday, but time will tell…

 

I am procrastinating rather than taking care of preparing for the trip as I should be doing, so I’ll give some background about us and our cruising history, etc. I am 39, DH is 43, LM is 4, and my mom (DM) who is also sailing with us, is 69. If you’re wondering why we’d be insane enough to book a cruise out of NYC during a NY/CT mid-winter school vacation week, it’s because I’m a high school English teacher, so we have no choice 🙃. DH is NYPD and was able to take vacation that lined up perfectly with my school break and this cruise, and LM is a 4-year-old preschool freeloader who can take a vacation whenever he wants. 

 

DH and I are slot players, him at a much higher level than me, so CAS has continued to send him offers despite our last cruise being in August 2019. When they sent him a holiday offer for a balcony cabin for him PLUS an additional inside cabin, it was a no-brainer to finally get back to cruising. We booked ourselves an aft-facing balcony, and upgraded the other cabin for my mom and her lil’ roomie to another balcony that we thought was right around the corner. We’re on deck 13, which is the crummiest of the aft-facings on Getaway, but we didn’t book until mid-December and for what we paid with the casino offer, you’ll hear no complaints from me. However, the cabin assignments got screwed up and we didn’t realize it until this past weekend when I went to print luggage tags. We didn’t realize my mom should get a separate confirmation email for her cabin because of the way the CAS offer was (with both cabins being offered to DH) and we have had a LOT going on the past couple months (more on that later), so it wasn’t until I opened the luggage tags that I realized the CAS rep who told us DM was assigned to 13300 actually put her closer to mid-ship on deck 12. So of course we all freaked out a little, but it was too late for anything to be done. LM will only be there to sleep, anyway, most likely, and when we’re all away together on a trip and my mom is watching him I don’t go anywhere at night until I put him to bed, and then I go pick him up in the morning so DM can get ready. So I guess we’ll make it work. I really hope that mishap isn’t spelling doom for this whole trip, though, especially given the less-than-stellar feedback about Getaway around here lately. Ok, on to more mundane topics before I have another panic attack about the room assignments…

 

DH has only cruised NCL, and I have only cruised NCL as an adult (went on DCL and Princess once each as a teen). DM has cruised Royal and Princess in the past, but only NCL for her more recent cruises. LM cruised with us once before when he was 9 months old, but then he was mainly a cute little accessory we toted around with us. Now, he is a person with interests, ideas, and so, so very many demands he does not hesitate to express, so this will be an interesting new adventure! The only way we’ll sign him up for Splash Academy is if it’s necessary to do so for any of the family activities. We will not be dropping him off there. He’s still a wee fellow and I’m a nervous Nellie, plus DH and I both work so we really have no desire to spend time away from him on vacation (except when DM takes him to sleep at night so we can have some casino time 🫣). I will try to get the lowdown for anyone who needs info about SA, though. We definitely intend to bring him to the kids’ splash area, to some of the family activities like origami and animal balloon-making, plus I want to check out the outdoor games like the giant Jenga, etc. I was trying to keep the arcade a secret as long as possible, but DH blew that one up (mainly to attempt to stave off naughty behavior, as we’re post-Santa season now), so that will be their daddy-son thing to do together.

 

This would not be our first-choice itinerary, as Bermuda is our favorite place in the world and a few hours there (if we’re lucky enough to make it), wouldn’t quite scratch the itch, but I am super excited for any getaway we’re getting on the Getaway (pathetic wordplay from an English teacher—I am suitably ashamed). We have been renovating a house for over 3 years, doing much of the work ourselves, and the house was torn up to the point that we couldn’t live in it with LM. It has basically been a few years of pulling a thread to see what unravels next. We’ve finally whipped it into shape enough to live there, and just recently moved. We also have, as realtors like to tout, “room for mom,” so she also just moved from her apartment into the house. Everyone is exhausted—DH and I spent countless hours there outside of work hours and my mother, who is a saint, spent countless hours watching LM while we worked on the house and driving over an hour round-trip multiple days a week to where we were living to watch him on the days when we both work (DH’s days off rotate). So at this point, NCL could be sailing off pretty much anywhere and we’d be in, just to get a break! The overnight in Port Canaveral should work out well. We’re scheduled to arrive at 1PM Monday, and we have friends who moved to the Melbourne area a few years ago who we plan to visit with that day. Then we remain there until 6:30PM Tuesday, so we plan to head to SeaWorld. We’ll already have a rental car we’re picking up on Monday, so we intend to be there when the gates open—we’re not messing with the limited timing of the ship excursion. We spent about 12 seconds toying with the idea of a Disney park, but then regained our senses and realized it would be a hellish mission on Mardi Gras, during February break, with a small child who would (rightfully so) lose his mind over spending only a few hours at Disney and then being told to leave. So, we figured SeaWorld would be a good compromise as something a little special we could do in the time we have that hopefully won’t be packed to the gills (See what I did there? I’ll stop pointing them out now and just be quietly dorky.). We’ve done 2 past cruises with GSC on the itinerary and are 50-50 with making it there, so we’ll just be playing this all by ear and hoping for the best with hitting our scheduled ports.

 

Now that I’ve told you all you want to know and a bunch of things you don’t care about, I’ll sign off for now and do what I should be doing, which is packing. I’ll pop back on tomorrow to blather on some more and share my preparation progress. I am going to try my best to keep this going regularly during the cruise. Hopefully I won’t get too distracted chasing around LM! 

 

My home is the disaster area of people who just moved, so right now I’m just holding my breath that we can find everyone’s stuff to pack 😅.

Here's a tour of the Haven on the Getaway I did about 6 weeks ago

 

 

 

 

Edited February 17, 2023 by Laszlo