Getaway- July 12-19 Good and Bad Review

I love the details in this review - thanks for taking the time to share it with all of us.

I would have been upset with the service (or lack thereof) of your room steward. Not to vacuum is unacceptable - especially when you have pointed out the need. (Which he should have noticed anyway.)

But what would really upset me is that the rooms were made up FOR THE NEXT PASSENGERS before you were even out. I'm sure the new people coming in would NOT have appreciated that. You were considerate of them and that's great, but many people would not have been.

This ship has a few issues the ones that I had problems with are as follows:

Hallways are too small. When stewards had the carts in the halls you could hardly pass by without bumping the wall or the carts. Especially when carrying a beach bag or anything else.

Water in bathroom sink did not get hot (we had 2 rooms and this was an issue in both). Shower water heated up quickly.

Getaway Theater not very large for such a large ship. Seats are not as comfortable as some others we have used.

Room service is SLOW. We waited 1.5 hours for a late night snack.

Room service dishes sit in the halls forever. People put their dishes in the halls and hours later they were still there.

Amenities not open long enough (addressed this earlier).

You can not really "free style" when it comes to shows. You have to plan in order to get seats. You can not really be spontaneous.

Watch the prices in the ships store for booze prices are not really any better than the prices at your local box store.

You can not hear announcements in your room. We had to open our doors to hear anything they were saying.

Staff did not follow the rules on reservations being 15 minutes prior to show time. They also did not follow the "no late arrivals" rule. It was annoying to have people arriving late.

Buffet setup did not make sense in many areas.... for example the hand dipped ice cream. One one side you have sprinkles and stuff, then the ice cream cooler and on the other side was the chocolate and butterscotch sauce. So people walk up the to middle order and then have to go to both sides to get all the toppings they want. It was just a knotted up mess at times.

If you think you might want to see a show make reservations ahead of time-- before you board. If you wait until you board it may be too late to get into the shows you want to see.

If you want speciality restaurants book ahead. We thought about booking one for the last night, but everything was booked full.

Reservations system did not always work. We made reservations at home for some shows. When we printed our paperwork our reservations also printed. We arrived to a show only to be told we had to be stand by since we had no reservations. We showed them the printout that showed we had reservations and they said "we will be happy to seat you after you wait in standby." We got in but we got crappy seats. We were not the only ones to have this issue.

Cancel reservations if you decide not to go to a show, this will open it up for others to book seats.

I love the details in this review - thanks for taking the time to share it with all of us.

 

I would have been upset with the service (or lack thereof) of your room steward. Not to vacuum is unacceptable - especially when you have pointed out the need. (Which he should have noticed anyway.)

 

But what would really upset me is that the rooms were made up FOR THE NEXT PASSENGERS before you were even out. I'm sure the new people coming in would NOT have appreciated that. You were considerate of them and that's great, but many people would not have been.

It really upset me when we walked back into our room and saw that they had already redone the beds and towels.

I felt like slipping a note under the pillow for the next guest, but then decided against it.

Thanks for a great review. It is fantastic to be able to read a full review with out waiting days for the person to put it all up.

This ship has a few issues the ones that I had problems with are as follows:

 

Hallways are too small. When stewards had the carts in the halls you could hardly pass by without bumping the wall or the carts. Especially when carrying a beach bag or anything else.

 

Water in bathroom sink did not get hot (we had 2 rooms and this was an issue in both). Shower water heated up quickly.

 

Getaway Theater not very large for such a large ship. Seats are not as comfortable as some others we have used.

 

Room service is SLOW. We waited 1.5 hours for a late night snack.

 

Room service dishes sit in the halls forever. People put their dishes in the halls and hours later they were still there.

 

Amenities not open long enough (addressed this earlier).

 

You can not really "free style" when it comes to shows. You have to plan in order to get seats. You can not really be spontaneous.

 

Watch the prices in the ships store for booze prices are not really any better than the prices at your local box store.

 

You can not hear announcements in your room. We had to open our doors to hear anything they were saying.

 

Staff did not follow the rules on reservations being 15 minutes prior to show time. They also did not follow the "no late arrivals" rule. It was annoying to have people arriving late.

 

Buffet setup did not make sense in many areas.... for example the hand dipped ice cream. One one side you have sprinkles and stuff, then the ice cream cooler and on the other side was the chocolate and butterscotch sauce. So people walk up the to middle order and then have to go to both sides to get all the toppings they want. It was just a knotted up mess at times.

I will say, when we cruised on her in April, we had the same issue with our room steward. Room 10284, balcony. I started out by giving him a small gift from WDW (where I work), thought it would be a nice gesture and maybe work in our favor..it didn't.

We left a cup stain on the counter, and it didn't get wiped up for 3 days, this was even after cleaning up the counter and making sure it was free of debris, charging cables..etc.

We didn't have any problems walking down the corridors though..didn't have any problem with hot water and didn't have any problem with seating in the theater, being over crowded or what not.

but your review almost matches, what I had said about our cruise! LOL!

NEEDLESS TO SAY..WE BOOKED THE GETAWAY FOR MARCH 2015!! We loved it just enough to do it again...thanks for sharing your review!

Thank you so much for the review. We are taking our 6 yr old and 2 yr old in 19 days and your review has been very helpful!

I am worried about that Splash Pad with the big kids running through. Since it will be the only water spot we can take our 2 yr old, I planned on spending a fair amount of time there.

Do you think my 2 yr old (he's 2.5) and over 30 lbs can actually go on the trampoline? I really didn't expect he would meet any requirements for that?

I'm loving your detailed review. Your comments are very informative and I'll be keeping them in mind when we get to try Getaway for ourselves.

Thank you so much for the review. We are taking our 6 yr old and 2 yr old in 19 days and your review has been very helpful!

 

I am worried about that Splash Pad with the big kids running through. Since it will be the only water spot we can take our 2 yr old, I planned on spending a fair amount of time there.

 

Do you think my 2 yr old (he's 2.5) and over 30 lbs can actually go on the trampoline? I really didn't expect he would meet any requirements for that?

Splash pad may vary week by week based on the type of kids and parents that are present. There is an attendant and I noticed that when parents started to get up to say something he would blow the whistle at the kids and it would stop for a little while. As long as you stick with your little one it should be fine.

As far as the trampoline even if weight is met they may not be able to do the trampoline if they are a smaller build. They have a harness that must be worn and if the harness does not fit you can not do it. So even if your child is 30 pounds the harness may not fit. If it fits the child should be able to do it. I saw several young children to it, and some were turned away because of the harness issue.

Enjoyed your review, thanks for the detail. Getaway is on our short list of ships for our next cruise.

The Getaway Atrium is a hopping place at night. I have never been on a ship with such a lively atrium. Each and every night there was something going on in their.

They have some funny games that they do in there that require audience participation. We were passing through and just grabbed a seat for "Battle of the Sexes" and then stayed for "The Perfect Couple." These were so funny. I could not quit laughing.

Several nights they had a band called "New Seasons" playing. These guys were pretty good. They also play pool side a few days during the week.

A few nights during the week they set up for formal photos. It was so fun to watch the crazy poses the photographers put families and couples into. I foresee some of them being posted on "awkward family photos."

We are just back home from our Getaway Cruise. I start this by saying this was not our best cruise ever, and it was not the worst one ever either. We were disappointed in some aspects of this trip. I guess maybe we had expectations that were set too high. We did however have some great experiences. So over all the cruise was good just not excellent.

 

Embarkation: Smoothest one ever. We decided not to rush to the pier to be the 1st on for this trip. Normally we are one of the first families aboard. This time however, we decided to wait and sleep in a little since we were coming off of a week in Vero Beach. This trip was leg two of a two week vacation. We were at the pier around noon and onboard before 1:00. All in all the port was easy to use. Delivering luggage to the porters and parking went very well. Security line moved quickly and check in was the same.

 

Boarding: We were able to walk on with no waiting as soon as we checked in. We were advised that our rooms were ready so we headed there to drop off our carry-on bags and to get a few pictures of the rooms prior to messing them up. We had connecting balcony rooms on Deck 11 forward (11110 and 11112). The rooms were as expected and as pictured on many of the websites that discuss this ship. We liked that the bathroom had a shower that was bigger than the other ships that we had been on.

 

1st Meal: We wanted to avoid the buffet on the 1st day due to crowding. So we made our way to the Flamingo Grill. It was an excellent choice. There were about 6 other people up there. We had a nice view and a quiet place to eat lunch and plan our day.

 

Afternoon 1 Our daughter had her swim suit on under her dress so she was ready to swim. I will be honest and say like many others have said the pool area for kids is NOT WELL PLANNED. They have a little kid area and a pool and slides. But they have a glass wall between the "Family Pool" and the kids play area. Also, I never saw a minimum age/height for the SpongeBob play area. It was taken over by older kids all of the time. They would run and then slide onto the ground. It is amazing that no one was hurt. Our DD spent a little time in the Sponge Bob area and then went to the pool area. She is a "new" swimmer so DH got in with her. The pool was not over crowded during this time.

 

Sail Away: Miami is a great port to leave from. So many neat buildings to view as you are leaving. We watched sail away from our balconies. It was fun seeing all of the people on the shore and at the beach waving us off.

 

Balcony Note: Many have reported that the balconies are too small. We found it to be small but no smaller than the NCL Star or the Carnival ships we had sailed. We did ask for the balcony divider to be opened but our room stewart Geoffrey said that NCL no longer allows these dividers to be opened due to safety reasons.

 

The balconies a few floors down were much bigger, but they had no privacy from the people standing or sitting above them. We did note that not many used their balconies during the course of this trip.

 

Splash Academy: After we were on our way it was time to sign up for Splash Academy. The staff was very friendly. It only took a few minutes to sign up and get the schedule for the week. The area looked nice, clean and secure.

 

Dinner: So we are not big foodies so we did not pay for any of the speciality restaurants. We ate most of our meals in the Savor and found the food and service to be very good. The rack of lamb served later in the week was the best meal on the ship.

 

That about wraps up Day 1.

Hello leaving aug 30 can you tell me did you drive in that morning or stay at a hotel ?

On Thursday morning luggage tags for disembark are available in the atrium just around the corner from the dining reservations desk. They are hanging on the wall and easy to just walk right by.

On Thursday morning your room steward will place a letter in your room letting you know that tags are available. If you don't go back to your room all day you might not know to go pick up tags until later, and your desired time might be gone.

Hello leaving aug 30 can you tell me did you drive in that morning or stay at a hotel ?

We drove in that morning from Vero Beach as we spent the week their visiting family. We parked at the port and paid a hefty price of $20 a day. We could have gotten a room with parking for the same price. We will do better research on that next time.

Thanks for a great review. It is fantastic to be able to read a full review with out waiting days for the person to put it all up.

I totally agree! What a treat! Don't you love the ones that start off all gangbusters and then are abandoned?

We have a mid ship balcony on the Getaway for Aug 9th, can you tell me how many power outlets are in the room? I read only 2 and read of a recommendation to bring a power bar.

We will have a couple cameras, 2 cell phones and 2 tablets to get charged.

If you think you might want to see a show make reservations ahead of time-- before you board. If you wait until you board it may be too late to get into the shows you want to see.

 

If you want speciality restaurants book ahead. We thought about booking one for the last night, but everything was booked full.

 

Reservations system did not always work. We made reservations at home for some shows. When we printed our paperwork our reservations also printed. We arrived to a show only to be told we had to be stand by since we had no reservations. We showed them the printout that showed we had reservations and they said "we will be happy to seat you after you wait in standby." We got in but we got crappy seats. We were not the only ones to have this issue.

 

Cancel reservations if you decide not to go to a show, this will open it up for others to book seats.

Can you tell me is there a charge to book your shows and where do you book them at and also can you book the spec dinners online and do you have to book all of them of just one if wanted ? Did you go in casino at all?

We ate all of our dinner meals in Taste and Savor. We are not big foodies, so we did not feel the need to pay extra for the speciality restaurants.

 

We really enjoyed our meals. Bread was always fresh. Appetizers were good, and entree meals were better than other ships we have been on. By far my favorite meal was the Rack of Lamb, it was perfect. I also enjoyed the prime rib.

 

Service in these resturants was always good with one exception....

 

THE ISSUE: On nights that they have big performances in the Tropicana they serve them first and orders for Taste and Savor get pushed back. One night after waiting over 30 minutes for our appetizers I asked our server if there was an issue. She said it would be 5 more minutes, because they stop serving in the Tropicana when the Burn the Floor act is on, and that the galley has to get their meals first.

 

It would have been nice to know since we had tickets to a 7:00 show. We let our server know and our food was promptly brought out. However, we did not have time for dessert that night.

 

They should really let dinners know about delays that are going to be caused that they know about. It is really hard to entertain a hungry child in a restaurant for that long of time.

 

Other than that one issue we enjoyed the Savor and Taste.

I'm sorry for all ? This is our first on NCL 18 on carnival what is the Taste and Savor the dinning Room or buffet

We have a mid ship balcony on the Getaway for Aug 9th, can you tell me how many power outlets are in the room? I read only 2 and read of a recommendation to bring a power bar.

 

We will have a couple cameras, 2 cell phones and 2 tablets to get charged.

There is one outlet on the desk area and that is it. We brought a small power bar. We started the trip with everything charged even extra batteries for the camera. It was not as big as a hassle as we thought it would be.

Can you tell me is there a charge to book your shows and where do you book them at and also can you book the spec dinners online and do you have to book all of them of just one if wanted ? Did you go in casino at all?

There is no charge to book most shows. A few of them have a fee. You can log into ncl.com to book ahead of time. Speciality dinners can also be booked ahead of time online. If you wait to book after you board there you can do it in your room using the tv, or there are kiosk throughout the ship.

We did not go to the casino. We walked through a few times. It is larger than most and more spread out. It was very smokey, but it did not bother us.

Thank you very much for your review. With our upcoming sailing, our UDP & show reservations have been made. I wasn't really sure if the Getaway was for us but after reading your review, I know that the negatives that you experienced will not be an issue for us and are looking forward to our sailing more now than ever!!!

I'm sorry for all ? This is our first on NCL 18 on carnival what is the Taste and Savor the dinning Room or buffet

The Getaway has 3 main dining rooms. Taste and Savor are two of those. For these two you can dress casual (men in shorts, T-shirts, sandals). The third main dining room is called The Tropicania. They require better dress-- (no shorts on men, nicer shirts). They call it the "dinner club" experience. On select nights they have some acts perform.

Thank you very much for your review. With our upcoming sailing, our UDP & show reservations have been made. I wasn't really sure if the Getaway was for us but after reading your review, I know that the negatives that you experienced will not be an issue for us and are looking forward to our sailing more now than ever!!!

Glad that my review helped. I hope you enjoy your trip.

Thanks. As my kids are grown, alot of those issues won't be a problem. I have read other complaints, such as yours regarding pool layout, towel animals...etc.

Thank you so much for the review. We are taking our 6 yr old and 2 yr old in 19 days and your review has been very helpful!

 

I am worried about that Splash Pad with the big kids running through. Since it will be the only water spot we can take our 2 yr old, I planned on spending a fair amount of time there.

 

Do you think my 2 yr old (he's 2.5) and over 30 lbs can actually go on the trampoline? I really didn't expect he would meet any requirements for that?

theres my baby on it.

did not end well