First Time Norwegian Thoughts

[carribeanpirate18]

Just completed the May 26-Jun 3 sailing on Norwegian Getaway and overall, I thought NCL was very good.  Some good and bad below

 

Good 

• Food was excellent.  Many people complained about the buffet, but its a buffet.  If you are expecting anything more than diner grade food, you have the wrong expectations.  Complementary dining was good too.  We did 2 nights in the Tropicana room and 2 nights at the Noodle Bar.  Both were good, but Tropicana room made you feel like you were in a 1920's dining club.  We did Cagney's, Moderno and Teppanaki.  I'd pass on Moderno again, wasnt what I expected.  
• Shows were good.  Burn the Floor isnt my thing, but it was good.  Million Dollar Quartet was fantastic.  The pop up shows were good too, especially on the last sea day where it rained most of the day.
• Cabins were extremely quiet.  I couldnt hear noise from other rooms or the hallway.  And the cruise had plenty of kids running around
• Embarktion was quick.  We checked in around 10 and were on the ship by 11.  It felt like we had a full day of vacation on the ship.  Debarktion was a bit chaotic, but most seem to be that way.  No one cares about customer service when people are leaving.  
• Not NCL related, but since we live near Port Canaveral, we got to drive to the ship, which was a bonus.  This is our first cruise since moving to FL from NJ and was a great perk.  We did self debark and were off the ship and home by 10am.

 

Not so Good

• The sail away party wasnt much of a party.  The cruise director didnt even bother to show up.  It lasted about 20 min and wrapped up.
• There is one (1!) pool for 4000 people and there was room for less than 30 sun loungers that could actually be in the sun.  Also, for some reason, NCL decided to put 2 smoking areas directly adjacent to the pool, one on each side.  Good luck finding somewhere near the pool where you didnt smell smoke.  we decided to sit in the H2O area where there is a small plunge pool but only 30 people or so could be in there at one time.  Most people found a place in the pool and never left.  With two sea days and one port arrival at 1:30 in the afternoon, it was very disappointing not to be able to find a place to cool off after sitting in the sun.  

 

Overall, it was a fun trip, because our group of 10 made it fun.  I will sail on NCL again, but not on the Breakaway class.  The pool situation turned me off and most of the time the ship felt crowded.  Most of the activities were confined to the small atrium area with a few hundred or a thousand people trying to cram into a small area to watch a show, get a drink at the Atrium bar or Starbucks.  With the guest services and shore excursion areas adjacent to the atrium, it was always packed with people.  The entertainment staff were dull at best.  The food was excellent and the best when compared to other lines I've sailed.  

Edited June 5, 2023 by carribeanpirate18

[FLAHAM]

I have found the buffet a mixed bag.  The pizza is poor.  The burgers are marginally adequate.  On the other hand, the rotisserie snout-to-tail carved pork (special one night) was excellent.  The Indian dishes were pretty good.  Not a fan of the meats in Moderno, but the salad bar was the best on board.

 

A group of 10 will have problems finding seats in the Atrium.  However, one or two can almost always squeeze in.

[IrieBajan54]

8 minutes ago, FLAHAM said:

I have found the buffet a mixed bag.  The pizza is poor.  The burgers are marginally adequate.  On the other hand, the rotisserie snout-to-tail carved pork (special one night) was excellent.  The Indian dishes were pretty good.  Not a fan of the meats in Moderno, but the salad bar was the best on board.

 

A group of 10 will have problems finding seats in the Atrium.  However, one or two can almost always squeeze in.

Yeah, Moderno is awful except for the salad bar. The meats are tough and they got rid of lamb chops.

[carribeanpirate18]

13 minutes ago, FLAHAM said:

I have found the buffet a mixed bag.  The pizza is poor.  The burgers are marginally adequate.  On the other hand, the rotisserie snout-to-tail carved pork (special one night) was excellent.  The Indian dishes were pretty good.  Not a fan of the meats in Moderno, but the salad bar was the best on board.

 

A group of 10 will have problems finding seats in the Atrium.  However, one or two can almost always squeeze in.

Agree on the group, but it was hard to find somewhere for 2 to sit most nights.  The layout is not conducive to that much activity in a small space, there is too much going on.  On the level above the atrium, there is the Irish Pub and the entrance to the casino.  Most nights it was shoulder to shoulder just walking through. Its a poor design IMO.  I am assuming its the layout of the Breakaway class and not fleet wide issue

Edited June 5, 2023 by carribeanpirate18

[carribeanpirate18]

2 minutes ago, IrieBajan54 said:

Yeah, Moderno is awful except for the salad bar. The meats are tough and they got rid of lamb chops.

actually, our sailing had lamb.  It was the first time I tried it.

[graphicguy]

Thanks for your review.  Enjoyed it.

 

I think for many years now NCL (as well as many other cruise lines) have been treating the main pools more like wading pools vs legitimate "swimming" pools.  Carnival may be the exception.  But, even with them, their bigger pools are almost always way too crowded, too.

 

Personally, given my son is now grown, I don't even go to the main pools any more.  I will go to Spice H20 (adult area with some water features) or get a thermal Spa pass.  Some like getting VIBE passes.  I tried the VIBE once.  It had hot tubs and comfy and plentiful seating.   But personally didn't find much value there since NCL hiked the price.  I think I got a pass for $79/pp/week.  I think it's now $200+/pp/week.  Some love it.  For me, $200/pp/week for a Thermal Spa pass offers a lot more......hot tub, jetted swimming pool, saunas, steam room, salt room, showers, locker rooms, etc.

 

I prefer the Breakaway Plus ships, but Breakaway/Getaway ships are fun in their own right as you can find some really good deals on them.

Edited June 5, 2023 by graphicguy

[depplep]

I think the Thermal Spa is running $339 pp on my October cruise. I thought it was a novel idea until I saw the price. Thank you for a first timer review as it will be our first on NCL as well.

[Suntanz]

I was on the Getaway the week before you. I agree with a lot of what you said. I did enjoy Moderno though. The wait staff was great and as you said the salad bar was excellent. I also enjoyed the meats. 

The pool situation is poor. I was shocked with it, but I don't use the pool much anyway. Its a lot of people just sitting in the pool holding a drink.

The pool deck has minimal chairs in the sun, you need to go up a deck and there is ample chairs to sit in the sun.

 

I actually enjoyed the buffet. Like you said, its a buffet. 

I thought the comedians were great on our sailing, plus the magician/comedian.

 

I had sailed the Joy one year prior & you can see food/service is not as good, but I still enjoyed the Getaway. I was on vacation, so not much bothered me.

[DCGuy64]

Thanks for the review! Sounds like you had a good time. We aren't pool people (at least not the outside kind; the Thermal Spa is another matter, LOL.) Moderno's is one of my favorite things about NCL, but then again, I'm a huge fan of Brazilian steakhouses, and I've found Moderno to be as good as the ones I've visited on land. Sorry others didn't like it, I found the meat to be superb. My wife loves the salad bar since she doesn't eat meat. I really appreciated your review, @carribeanpirate18. Thank you for taking the time to write it.

[mjkacmom]

39 minutes ago, depplep said:

I think the Thermal Spa is running $339 pp on my October cruise. I thought it was a novel idea until I saw the price. Thank you for a first timer review as it will be our first on NCL as well.

When we were on the BA as soon as I saw the pool deck I immediately went to the spa and bought passes.

[DCGuy64]

41 minutes ago, depplep said:

I think the Thermal Spa is running $339 pp on my October cruise. I thought it was a novel idea until I saw the price. Thank you for a first timer review as it will be our first on NCL as well.

Curious how long your cruise is. I'm hoping to purchase Thermal Spa passes for ours but it's too far in the future to buy them at this point.

[depplep]

I would be very upset about the pool if we weren't going on an Alaskan cruise. You couldn't drag my cold, lifeless body away from the pool, which is why we've been doing a lot of AI's. 

[depplep]

Just now, DCGuy64 said:

Curious how long your cruise is. I'm hoping to purchase Thermal Spa passes for ours but it's too far in the future to buy them at this point.

7 days. Oct. 22 on Encore.

[DCGuy64]

Just now, depplep said:

7 days. Oct. 22 on Encore.

Thanks. Our cruise is only a couple of weeks after yours, but for some reason the site neither gives the cost nor the option to buy. $339 for 7 days is $48/day. They must be raising prices. Our last cruise (Dec 22) it was $35. In Sept 21 we only paid $19.

[depplep]

[carribeanpirate18]

1 hour ago, Suntanz said:

I was on the Getaway the week before you. I agree with a lot of what you said. I did enjoy Moderno though. The wait staff was great and as you said the salad bar was excellent. I also enjoyed the meats. 

The pool situation is poor. I was shocked with it, but I don't use the pool much anyway. Its a lot of people just sitting in the pool holding a drink.

The pool deck has minimal chairs in the sun, you need to go up a deck and there is ample chairs to sit in the sun.

 

I actually enjoyed the buffet. Like you said, its a buffet. 

I thought the comedians were great on our sailing, plus the magician/comedian.

 

I had sailed the Joy one year prior & you can see food/service is not as good, but I still enjoyed the Getaway. I was on vacation, so not much bothered me.

I did not mention the comedians, but they were great and so was Howl at the Moon dueling pianos in Headliners

[LatinaInTexas]

We were on the 9 night May 11-20 sailing, also was my first time sailing NCL.

I loved the MDR food, ate many breakfast, lunch, and dinners there and only had one dish I didn't care for.

It was a quiet cruise to me, only saw a handful of kids and like you said I never heard one door slam or any voices in the halls. Didn't feel crowded at all to me. No lines, no waits for drinks. There were short waits at the MDR at dinner if you didn't have a reservation, which we always had, we like to eat at a certain time each night.

Went to the pool on both sea days and at 9 am the first day and at 8 am the second day had my choice of where I wanted to sit. I saw no chair hogs at this time, nothing placed on loungers to hold them, just a row of empty chairs. One time I sat near the smoking area because it was across from the bar and pool and didn't smell any smoke the whole time. There were times I was the only person in the pool or hot tubs, it was great.

I didn't enjoy the entertainment much, both shows were ok. I was surprised there were only 2 comedians the whole 9 nights. Going to adult comedy was like going to G rated comedy, not very fun at all. When I am on Carnival the comedians change out often and when they say R rated comedy it's just that.

Also went to dueling pianos once so not sure if they were the same two guys each show but didn't find them entertaining. As soon as we saw numerous people leave early on we followed suit.

Didn't have issues getting seats when we wanted seats in the Atrium, people were always coming and going.

Our biggest issue was out of the 6 excursions we had booked two of them were pretty bad, one actually had people fearing for their lives due to a speeding, reckless, unsafe driver coming down a narrow 2 lane mountain road. Not to mention the 30 minutes we had to listen to disgusting, inappropriate blasting rap music. We heard the N word, the B word, the F word and all about various sexual acts.

Later that day I did go to the excursion desk to let them know and honestly the guy had the attitude of he couldn't care less, he wouldn't even look straight at me, kept his head down writing, never asked me any questions, didn't even apologize. Said he would her his supervisor know. I asked him did he want to hear the video I took of the music since he didn't seem to take me seriously and he ignored me. The other tour was called a PREMIUM city tour that was supposed to last 2 and a half hours. It started 30 minutes late as so it ended 30 minutes early. Out of the 2 hours we had exactly 2 stops for 10 minutes each. That was it. The rest of the time was spent on the bus driving in circles, stuck in traffic, going to a place that was gated close so we couldn't enter, and waiting an extra 20 minutes for people who took the ten minute stop and didn't return to the bus for 30 minutes while we all sat and waited.

Since it was my first sailing I didn't have anything to compare it to so I don't know if there were budget cuts or nickel and diming. I definitely didn't see any shortage of helpful, happy, upbeat workers.

Overall I loved this first cruise on NCL and found it a good deal price wise. I would not hesitate to book again.

 

[carribeanpirate18]

1 hour ago, DCGuy64 said:

Thanks for the review! Sounds like you had a good time. We aren't pool people (at least not the outside kind; the Thermal Spa is another matter, LOL.) Moderno's is one of my favorite things about NCL, but then again, I'm a huge fan of Brazilian steakhouses, and I've found Moderno to be as good as the ones I've visited on land. Sorry others didn't like it, I found the meat to be superb. My wife loves the salad bar since she doesn't eat meat. I really appreciated your review, @carribeanpirate18. Thank you for taking the time to write it.

We love Brazilian steakhouses as well, but the selection was minimal.  There were 3 steak selections, lamb and chicken.  I expected more but then realized its probably difficult to have 5-7 steak selections on a ship.  Good, but didnt meet my expectations

[carribeanpirate18]

1 hour ago, graphicguy said:

Thanks for your review.  Enjoyed it.

 

I think for many years now NCL (as well as many other cruise lines) have been treating the main pools more like wading pools vs legitimate "swimming" pools.  Carnival may be the exception.  But, even with them, their bigger pools are almost always way too crowded, too.

 

Personally, given my son is now grown, I don't even go to the main pools any more.  I will go to Spice H20 (adult area with some water features) or get a thermal Spa pass.  Some like getting VIBE passes.  I tried the VIBE once.  It had hot tubs and comfy and plentiful seating.   But personally didn't find much value there since NCL hiked the price.  I think I got a pass for $79/pp/week.  I think it's now $200+/pp/week.  Some love it.  For me, $200/pp/week for a Thermal Spa pass offers a lot more......hot tub, jetted swimming pool, saunas, steam room, salt room, showers, locker rooms, etc.

 

I prefer the Breakaway Plus ships, but Breakaway/Getaway ships are fun in their own right as you can find some really good deals on them.

We debated the Vibe passes and decided against it due to the cost.  In hindsight, we would have used them 2-3 days and would have felt better about purchasing.  Spice h2O was passable.

[cruiseny4life]

5 minutes ago, LatinaInTexas said:

We were on the 9 night May 11-20 sailing, also was my first time sailing NCL.

I loved the MDR food, ate many breakfast, lunch, and dinners there and only had one dish I didn't care for.

It was a quiet cruise to me, only saw a handful of kids and like you said I never heard one door slam or any voices in the halls. Didn't feel crowded at all to me. No lines, no waits for drinks. There were short waits at the MDR at dinner if you didn't have a reservation, which we always had, we like to eat at a certain time each night.

Went to the pool on both sea days and at 9 am the first day and at 8 am the second day had my choice of where I wanted to sit. I saw no chair hogs at this time, nothing placed on loungers to hold them, just a row of empty chairs. One time I sat near the smoking area because it was across from the bar and pool and didn't smell any smoke the whole time. There were times I was the only person in the pool or hot tubs, it was great.

I didn't enjoy the entertainment much, both shows were ok. I was surprised there were only 2 comedians the whole 9 nights. Going to adult comedy was like going to G rated comedy, not very fun at all. When I am on Carnival the comedians change out often and when they say R rated comedy it's just that.

Also went to dueling pianos once so not sure if they were the same two guys each show but didn't find them entertaining. As soon as we saw numerous people leave early on we followed suit.

Didn't have issues getting seats when we wanted seats in the Atrium, people were always coming and going.

Our biggest issue was out of the 6 excursions we had booked two of them were pretty bad, one actually had people fearing for their lives due to a speeding, reckless, unsafe driver coming down a narrow 2 lane mountain road. Not to mention the 30 minutes we had to listen to disgusting, inappropriate blasting rap music. We heard the N word, the B word, the F word and all about various sexual acts.

Later that day I did go to the excursion desk to let them know and honestly the guy had the attitude of he couldn't care less, he wouldn't even look straight at me, kept his head down writing, never asked me any questions, didn't even apologize. Said he would her his supervisor know. I asked him did he want to hear the video I took of the music since he didn't seem to take me seriously and he ignored me. The other tour was called a PREMIUM city tour that was supposed to last 2 and a half hours. It started 30 minutes late as so it ended 30 minutes early. Out of the 2 hours we had exactly 2 stops for 10 minutes each. That was it. The rest of the time was spent on the bus driving in circles, stuck in traffic, going to a place that was gated close so we couldn't enter, and waiting an extra 20 minutes for people who took the ten minute stop and didn't return to the bus for 30 minutes while we all sat and waited.

Since it was my first sailing I didn't have anything to compare it to so I don't know if there were budget cuts or nickel and diming. I definitely didn't see any shortage of helpful, happy, upbeat workers.

Overall I loved this first cruise on NCL and found it a good deal price wise. I would not hesitate to book again.

 

So......you want R-rated or not? I'd say NCL gave it to you! 

[LatinaInTexas]

29 minutes ago, cruiseny4life said:

So......you want R-rated or not? I'd say NCL gave it to you! 

HaHa good one. But I would prefer my R rated in a safe, stable, comfy seat not in a rickety open air taxi going 50 mph downhill😁

[YVRteacher]

@LatinaInTexas thank you for your additional review!  I really appreciate your perspective.  Do you mind sharing which ports had the bad excursions (I want to avoid those ones!)

[YVRteacher]

@carribeanpirate18

great review and perspective.  Thank you for writing it.

I haven’t been on the Getaway but the Bliss and the Encore have the same set up with lots going on in the atrium and then the Local one deck up.  I don’t love this design either although I do really love both ships for other reasons.

 

Do you think you will cruise NCL again?

[LatinaInTexas]

19 minutes ago, YVRteacher said:

@LatinaInTexas thank you for your additional review!  I really appreciate your perspective.  Do you mind sharing which ports had the bad excursions (I want to avoid those ones!)

The premium city tour was in Puerto Rico and the other was in St Thomas, the Sapphire Beach excursion.

[DCGuy64]

17 hours ago, depplep said:

Thanks, our cruise is Nov 2 and is also too early to book. However, the price is $329 for us (10 day cruise), which works out to $32.90 per day.

 

16 hours ago, carribeanpirate18 said:

We love Brazilian steakhouses as well, but the selection was minimal.  There were 3 steak selections, lamb and chicken.  I expected more but then realized its probably difficult to have 5-7 steak selections on a ship.  Good, but didnt meet my expectations

How odd! Back in December on the Epic, we had a lot of choices: bacon-wrapped filet mignon, sausage, lamb, chicken, fraldinha, picanha, roast beef, and a couple others. Did they mention why there were so few selections? That's really strange.

Edited June 6, 2023 by DCGuy64