Getaway dry dock

[sebas030]

I was on the Getaway last jan/feb for 10 days and whatever they do to the ship will be welcome.

 

The ship is tired, a lot of broken things, broken bar tops on the pool deck, the wooden steps to the hot tubs near the main pool were so rotten, rust everywhere, broken outside doors on upper decks, and so on and so on...

 

 The ship was not in the greatest shape

[Turtles06]

21 minutes ago, david_sobe said:

Enclosing the casino or making it smoke free is a great idea.  It was a bad design because the Away class ships had these "open concept" venues to save space.  Restaurants like La Cucina and the Asian/noodle place was open to the outside with no wall enclosing it from the walkway areas.  NCL put their casinos in these open areas and the smoke would just linger into these restaurants while you were trying to eat.  I remember sitting at the table outside at the noodle bar and my eyes burning from the smoke.

We sailed once on the Breakaway a few years ago. I was astonished by the poor design of the casino, given that smoking was allowed. As you said, the smell of cigarette smoke permeated other public spaces, including food venues. We never tried the noodle place because of that, and we tried to avoid those deck spaces as much as possible. 
 

While a glass enclosure for smokers in the casino would be nice, even better would be Celebrity’s policy of no indoor smoking anywhere. 

[cruiseny4life]

15 hours ago, The Traveling Man said:

We were supposed to sail on the Spirit in March of 2020.  It was in dry dock in February, then was to set sail from Civitavecchia for Capetown.  We were going to board it in Africa for the Seychelles, then on to Japan.  We were following closely the roll call for the cruise before ours, the one from Civitavecchia.  Those passengers ended up spending several extra nights in hotels in Italy while waiting for the Spirit to come out of dry dock.  Their cruise was cut short because of the extended dry dock, but their more significant problem was that they missed virtually every port of call because of COVID.  Our cruises on the Spirit never took place, of course, due to COVID.

 

On another occasion an NCL ship came out of dry dock on schedule, but much of the planned renovation work was not complete.  The ship (I don't recall if it was the Star, Spirit, or some other) sailed with dozens of workmen on board, several public areas roped off, and with lots of noise and paint fumes as the work continued.  There may be other examples, but these are ones I remember reading about or experiencing first hand.

 

15 hours ago, The Traveling Man said:

Here's a link to the roll call for the Spirit cruise that was delayed.  Post #2956 includes the letter NCL sent describing the delays.  The cruise was scheduled for 11 February, but did not begin boarding until Valentine's Day.

 

 

Thank you for providing some additional examples, though the Great Unpleasantness is certainly an anomaly. I suppose what you described can happen, but it seems rarely so. 3,000 replies to a live is a lot! I'm not so sure I can get through all that, but I'll take a gander after my first meeting of the morning (why do people schedule meetings to make themselves feel important).

 

13 hours ago, DorothyB said:

I just watched a you tube video where the creator said he found out at a Q&A on board that:

1) the casino will be enclosed, so no longer open to the atrium area

2) a venue will be changed to the Q restaurant (can't remember which venue as I didn't care 🙂 )

I agree with others that it's likely to be the Illusionarium. That's cool! Although, I did really enjoy hearing Broadway Unplugged in the Illusionarium. I don't think it really handled the shows NCL wanted well (the dinner theatre type).

 

I do think Q Texas Smokehouse has a place onboard, but I likely wouldn't go there. The meats are ok. I hope no one is expecting fantastic smoked meats while onboard a ship. You have to really tamp down your expectations. A lot! But, if you do, then you might be pleasantly surprised by the banana pudding. Just don't go expecting Joe's of Kansas City quality. Heck, I can't get that anywhere else on land, either.

 

2 hours ago, sebas030 said:

I was on the Getaway last jan/feb for 10 days and whatever they do to the ship will be welcome.

 

The ship is tired, a lot of broken things, broken bar tops on the pool deck, the wooden steps to the hot tubs near the main pool were so rotten, rust everywhere, broken outside doors on upper decks, and so on and so on...

 

 The ship was not in the greatest shape

Sounds like exactly what a dry dock would fix. Let's hope it's so! Getaway is my husband and I's first NCL ship, so we have a fondness for her.

Edited April 30 by cruiseny4life

[Seminole1975]

11 hours ago, stinkyharriet said:

The Imaginarium will be converted to Q.  I also heard that there would be an enclosed smoking room in the casino.  The smoke was really bad when I was on the Getaway in January.  I wonder if they’ll also ban smoking in Spice H2O, which happened after the Joy’s recent dry dock.

I heard from someone who works on board that the Imaginarium will stay the same. They do Broadway Unplugged in there. I have also heard that they will take up the dance floor in the Tropicana as Burn the Floor is no longer on the Getaway. 

[The Traveling Man]

8 hours ago, mertziek said:

Yes, I believe that next cruise or the one after it was stuck trying to find a port to disembark while the world was shutting down.  We felt very lucky to have stayed one jump ahead of Covid.  Several of our ports closed a day or two after we left.  We were a bit nervous about getting home but had a few days leeway to travel before everything was closed down.  Again, we were very lucky!

Then it was the cruise after yours, the sailing from Dubai to Capetown, which was the one I recall as having so many ports closed to them because of COVID.  Many of the passengers on that cruise had difficulties getting off the ship and onto a plane for a trip back home.  We were booked on the two Spirit cruises after that one, the sailing from Capetown to Singapore and then from Singapore to Japan.  Both of our cruises were cancelled, as were just about all other cruises after that for a year and a half.

[The Traveling Man]

1 hour ago, cruiseny4life said:

 

Thank you for providing some additional examples, though the Great Unpleasantness is certainly an anomaly. I suppose what you described can happen, but it seems rarely so. 3,000 replies to a live is a lot! I'm not so sure I can get through all that, but I'll take a gander after my first meeting of the morning (why do people schedule meetings to make themselves feel important).

Problems with dry docks which cause cruises to be cancelled, delayed, or cut short are rare, but they have occurred several times with NCL.  They probably also have happened on other cruise lines, but I have no knowledge of that.

 

There probably are a half dozen or so factors which folks who have cruised several times try to avoid when booking a cruise.  You might consider avoiding a Spring Break cruise, or selecting a stateroom directly under the pool deck or jogging track.  You might want to avoid an aft stateroom on ships which have reports of extreme vibration from the propellers. Traveling on a ship just before or just after a dry dock is on my list of things I try to avoid.  Each of these factors contribute to a judgement call.  Maybe you're willing to take a chance on putting up with one of them in order to book an ideal itinerary or to get a fantastic price on a cruise.  Some of them should be avoided at all costs.  YMMV.

[TPS123]

2 hours ago, Seminole1975 said:

I heard from someone who works on board that the Imaginarium will stay the same. They do Broadway Unplugged in there. I have also heard that they will take up the dance floor in the Tropicana as Burn the Floor is no longer on the Getaway. 

Nooooooo, Burn the Floor is a great show and I will miss it if it’s no longer on the ship. Do the ‘collective’ know if Million Dollar Quartet will still be the main theatre show post cruise? Please say yes. 

[roddy good boy]

3 minutes ago, TPS123 said:

Nooooooo, Burn the Floor is a great show and I will miss it if it’s no longer on the ship. Do the ‘collective’ know if Million Dollar Quartet will still be the main theatre show post cruise? Please say yes. 

I’m on the Getaway in Sept. and they are still allowing us to book the Million Dollar Quartet.

[Seminole1975]

10 minutes ago, TPS123 said:

Nooooooo, Burn the Floor is a great show and I will miss it if it’s no longer on the ship. Do the ‘collective’ know if Million Dollar Quartet will still be the main theatre show post cruise? Please say yes. 

From what I understand, NCL has MDQ's contract for two more years.

[TPS123]

4 minutes ago, roddy good boy said:

I’m on the Getaway in Sept. and they are still allowing us to book the Million Dollar Quartet.

Thank you! My May cruise is showing it too but saying it’s not available to book but I guess as it’s there it will be okay. It also does not show Burn the Floor which I will miss. 

[TPS123]

6 minutes ago, Seminole1975 said:

From what I understand, NCL has MDQ's contract for two more years.

That’s great news! Thank you. 

[Seminole1975]

It's Illusionarium not Imaginarium. My bad.

[Sand and Seas]

3 hours ago, Seminole1975 said:

I heard from someone who works on board that the Imaginarium will stay the same. They do Broadway Unplugged in there. I have also heard that they will take up the dance floor in the Tropicana as Burn the Floor is no longer on the Getaway. 

Absolutely LOVED Broadway Unplugged with the very talented cast of MDQ (and others) creating one of the best shows we have seen at sea.  Million Dollar Quartet is a production we never miss due to the great performances from the cast.   

[UKstages]

6 hours ago, david_sobe said:

Enclosing the casino or making it smoke free is a great idea.  It was a bad design because the Away class ships had these "open concept" venues to save space..

 

5 hours ago, Turtles06 said:

As you said, the smell of cigarette smoke permeated other public spaces, including food venues.

 

several ships have a "patio" with le bistro seating outside the restaurant proper, adjacent to the atrium or the staircase leading up to the casino. they tried to seat me there once and i said "no..." but i couldn't finish my sentence.  the hostess interrupted and said, "you want to be away from the smoke, right?"

 

3 hours ago, cruiseny4life said:

I agree with others that it's likely to be the Illusionarium. That's cool! Although, I did really enjoy hearing Broadway Unplugged in the Illusionarium.

 

i was told the illusionarium, too, when onboard earlier this year. it's a wonderful space and i'm sorry they feel the whole magic thang didn't work out for them. i do wonder if they realize how big magic is now, with several prime time TV shows showcasing magicians, plus AGT and other talent competitions. I think they kind of bungled the illusionarium and should still use it for magic.

 

i assume they will dismantle the memorabilia that lines the entryway. i thought it odd when going in to see "broadway unplugged," that i had to pass through shrines to houdini and blackstone.

 

personally, i think the space is too big for Q, given the limited audience the paid version of that restaurant seems to attract. the appeal is probably the ready-made stage, where they can house their country trios... although the stage is a bit big for that. they can still do "broadway unplugged" in there in the afternoons, if they want (they do broadway revues in Q on at least one other ship). or they can elevate it to a spot or two in the theatre. 

 

[Wvshimmy]

On 4/29/2024 at 12:53 PM, Sand and Seas said:

Have you heard that from someone official? 

 Or are we all just hoping 🤞

Definitely official; chatted with the floor mngr on recent cruises and they were trying to decide which machines to move into the smoking enclosure..

[WexIrl]

They should get rid of that American Diner on the pool deck, never seen or spoke to anyone who dined there. Maybe the Q restaurant would be a better swap here. 

[BirdTravels]

On 4/30/2024 at 7:09 AM, Turtles06 said:

I was astonished by the poor design of the casino, given that smoking was allowed. As you said, the smell of cigarette smoke permeated other public spaces, including food venues.

Consider Royal Caribbean where the smoking casino is at the door of the main dining room on a lot of their ships. Not a unique issue. And on Royal, the small glassed-in casino is for non-smokers while the big casino, which is a main walkway through the ship, is the smoking casino. 

[dbrown84]

27 minutes ago, WexIrl said:

They should get rid of that American Diner on the pool deck, never seen or spoke to anyone who dined there. Maybe the Q restaurant would be a better swap here. 

have you sailed since American Diner became complimentary?  a lot more people go there now

[WexIrl]

4 minutes ago, dbrown84 said:

have you sailed since American Diner became complimentary?  a lot more people go there now

No, I have not sailed on the Getaway since June 2023, I am actually here now in the process of booking a trip on her again in a few weeks. 

Nice to hear it is complimentary now, I hope it offers a different option(s) to what you can get in the buffet with regards fast food. (I like fast food!)

[Sand and Seas]

9 minutes ago, dbrown84 said:

have you sailed since American Diner became complimentary?  a lot more people go there now

Yes, we were sailing the first week it became complimentary on Encore.  It was packed every time we went for lunch.  Decent choices for a complimentary venue.

[Sand and Seas]

6 minutes ago, WexIrl said:

No, I have not sailed on the Getaway since June 2023, I am actually here now in the process of booking a trip on her again in a few weeks. 

Nice to hear it is complimentary now, I hope it offers a different option(s) to what you can get in the buffet with regards fast food. (I like fast food!)

The menu has a couple of choices similar to the Local/O'Sheehans.  

Here is a link:

https://www.norwegiancruiselineblog.com/blog/american-diner-menu

[Wvshimmy]

2 hours ago, WexIrl said:

They should get rid of that American Diner on the pool deck, never seen or spoke to anyone who dined there. Maybe the Q restaurant would be a better swap here. 

We popped in there numerous times for late lunches on recent cruises. 

 Especially nice on warm port days, dine outside. 

Reminiscent of the Uptown Grill on the Breakaway,  not sure what Getaway was called. 

 Since it's complimentary now,  usually busy,  but as with other things some still complain because they changed the menu when it became free.

[weisla]

They also had a smaller breakfast buffet in the American Diner on Getaway. It was half empty in March out of NY since it was still pretty cold for breakfast outdoors. A really nice alternative to fighting the crowds downstairs at the full buffet.