Getaway Haven Review (July 12-19)

Just back from the July 12 sailing of NCL Getaway. I wanted to post a review to help anyone out there looking for information on the Getaway. This forum has really helped me out in my planning. Please ask questions!!! It may take some time to respond as I am catching up at work.

Background on our party: Our party was a family of 11, ranging in ages from 2 to 88. My dad has taken us all on an annual cruise for the past 3 years (Go Dad!). Disney year 1, NCL Jewel (Alaska) year 2, and NCL Getaway this year. We had 3 of the 2-Bedroom Family Villas in the Haven--15104, 15108 and 15116.

Background on my little group: My cabin consisted of me (39), beautiful wife (37), son (16) and daughter (2 3/4). We were in 15116. I have personally been on 10 (I think) cruises. Disney, RCCL, Celebrity and NCL. My wife and I really like NCL right now b/c NCL's Family Villas just seem made for our brood.

Cabin: 15116 was great! We knew what to expect as we had 2-Bedroom Family Suites (Non Haven) on the Jewel and I had done significant research on this forum. The space did seem a little smaller than on the Jewel, but I really think it had to do with the layout. It was kind of shorter and fatter, if that makes sense. It worked perfectly for us. 2nd bedroom and bathroom were larger than on the Jewel. Everything was new, and my wife loved the décor. Balcony was a little small, but worked fine for my wife and me to enjoy the views with a coffee or glass of wine. Master bath is outstanding...just love that shower.

Butler: We had Lucky. Lucky is kind of shy...I was worried at first that he wasn't going to work well for us. But I have to say that he turned out to be great. He did everything we asked and more.

Room Steward: We had Randolph. What a great personality. Always smiling and happy. My little girl loved him! He went above and beyond to help us. He is gone for a while now, as his wife just had a baby girl and he flew home to meet her.

Concierge: Ruth was the concierge. She was extremely nice and knowledgeable. I didn't utilize her services very much, but she was helpful when needed. I am sure that she would have been a great asset if our circumstances required her assistance.

I have to go to lunch now....I will continue later with reviews of the Haven in general, Haven dining, Getaway kiddy pool and water slides and ports. Please ask questions. I will be happy to elaborate on any topic.

Excited to hear more! How was Haven restaurant? What food is not to be missed?

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Looking fwd to more of your review. We are going in Feb 2015 and have a 2 bdr family suite in the Haven! How is the closet space in the Master? Is the table as small as it looks in pics? I heard outlets are sparse also. Is this true? Thanks again for you review.

Joe

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Ok...back at it

Haven: So I had not previously utilized the Haven. I did a Deluxe Owner's Suite on the Jewel years ago (maybe 2007??) that had Haven access...but I just utilized the suite's own outdoor area with hot tub....did Cagney's for breakfast a couple of times, but that was really it. So this was my first REAL time utilizing the Haven. We really enjoyed it...truly a ship within a ship. We would come back into the Haven from the main pool deck on 15, and it was a COMPLETELY different world. We loved the lounge/bar area. The bartenders Joyce and Ronald (sp) were great. They knew our names and drinks before we were out of Miami. The Haven pool area was very nice...fairly tranquil...but, just to warn, there were kids jumping around at times. (As expected on a family oriented cruise line during the middle of summer--more on this later). We played in the Haven pool a couple of times, but mainly took the 2 year old to the kiddy pool area. The upstairs sundeck was nice. I didn't utilize it, but my grandmother and pregnant sister-in-law really enjoyed laying under the shade up there.

Haven Restaurant: Loved having the Haven restaurant right there. Food was great...but the service was even better! Such friendly, wonderful people working in there. Josephine runs the restaurant, and she was super. All of the staff really made over our daughter and were really sweet to her. (In fact she painted pictures to give to Josephine, Ruth and Randolph b/c they were so good to her). Mushroom ravioli was excellent, burger was great, shrimp cakes were great, crab cakes benedict were great. Missed the Cagney's fries...but they did bring my brother the brownie with macadamia nut ice cream that wasn't on the menu. I can further elaborate if people have any questions.

Rocky55--Food not to be missed in the Haven restaurant...I would say the mushroom ravioli, shrimp cakes, and the sliders. We did the lobster night in the Haven....you have to get reservations for that...it was fun...lobster was good, not great

Looking fwd to more of your review. We are going in Feb 2015 and have a 2 bdr family suite in the Haven! How is the closet space in the Master? Is the table as small as it looks in pics? I heard outlets are sparse also. Is this true? Thanks again for you review.

 

Joe

 

 

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My wife and I found we had plenty of closet space and more than enough drawer space...and my wife can pack. There are 2 closets...but note that one is a little difficult to get to as you have to squeeze between the foot of the bed and TV...not a problem as my wife used that one! They have done a really good job of creating storage in these rooms. Also, plenty of drawers and shelves in the bathroom. Outlet situation was ok... you just had to look. Charged the Ipad in the living room...the desk area has a charger; charged the phones in the bedroom...charger at the vanity and another on the wall by the entry. I assume the 2nd bedroom has at least one as my son didn't complain and his phone was always playing music.

The table was pretty small. However, it worked for us. Teenager was out and about and the 2 year old was usually eating on the couch or floor. We did bring in dinner several nights for 2....Lucky got creative with stacking and placing the multiple courses. We just got each course and took them out to the balcony. 2 people could have easily sat at the table and had a nice meal. 3 or 4 could work, but I think you would need to be creative on placing different courses and be sure everyone had showered!

Thanks so much for the info and your quick reply! We have 2 boys 2 and 4 when we cruise so your review is well appreciated!

Joe (ICT Cruiser) going mobile from the CC iPhone app :-)

Getaway Kiddy pool: My daughter had a great time playing here. Neat little water features and a couple of slides. Met some nice parents and was generally pleased. However, there were some issues. As I have seen posted here before, some of the bigger kids are unsupervised and running around and sliding. I saw a few of the smaller kids get knocked down and some near misses. I don't blame the kids...it looked like fun. but I do think the parents should have been keeping a better eye on them. That being said, unless you are in the water with the kids, it is difficult to find a good place to monitor. I was in the water all the time b/c my little one can't swim very well and she is too young to not have eyes on at ALL times.

Also, another complaint. I had read on here and NCL website that all kids in the kiddy area had to be potty trained and no swimmy diapers were allowed. That makes sense to me. So my wife and I specifically began our daughter's potty training months ago to ensure that she was potty trained in time for the cruise...we didn't want here to miss out on that. She is in the pool daily at home and loves the water. Well, LOTS of people either didn't read or didn't care. Saw lots of swimmy diapers and lots of kids changing out of their wet swimsuits into diapers...obviously not potty trained. I just think that is a little disrespectful to the other kids (and kind of gross).

Thanks so much for the info and your quick reply! We have 2 boys 2 and 4 when we cruise so your review is well appreciated!

 

 

Joe (ICT Cruiser) going mobile from the CC iPhone app :-)

You should have a blast. The Haven staff is great with the kids. Let me know if you have any more questions.

Water slides and ropes course: These were lots of fun!!! Did the ropes course several times on the first sea day...kind of long line, but moved quickly. Really ingenious design. All the kids seemed to enjoy it...my 9 year old niece loved doing it with her dad. My 16 year old is scared of heights. He did it, but those parts at the edge of the ship looking out over the water got him a little bit nervous! We didn't get to "walk the plank" as it was too windy...but we got to stand on the plank and look out and down...pretty cool. Staff was fun.

We waited until day 2 to do the water slides as the lines were kind of long on day 1. Day 2 lines moved quickly. Drop slides were fun....I love that kind of stuff...lost my stomach...so fun. Did those multiple times. The enclosed whirly-bird slides were fun too...got some good g-forces going...but they had a longer line as the height requirement is lower than the drop slide. Advice...do the drop slides while still in port in Nassau...great view of some homes on Paradise Island (I think Paradise Island) next to where the ship docks.

Loving the review

Yes the mushroom ravioli is delicious!!!!!

Getaway Kiddy pool: My daughter had a great time playing here. Neat little water features and a couple of slides. Met some nice parents and was generally pleased. However, there were some issues. As I have seen posted here before, some of the bigger kids are unsupervised and running around and sliding. I saw a few of the smaller kids get knocked down and some near misses. I don't blame the kids...it looked like fun. but I do think the parents should have been keeping a better eye on them. That being said, unless you are in the water with the kids, it is difficult to find a good place to monitor. I was in the water all the time b/c my little one can't swim very well and she is too young to not have eyes on at ALL times.

 

Also, another complaint. I had read on here and NCL website that all kids in the kiddy area had to be potty trained and no swimmy diapers were allowed. That makes sense to me. So my wife and I specifically began our daughter's potty training months ago to ensure that she was potty trained in time for the cruise...we didn't want here to miss out on that. She is in the pool daily at home and loves the water. Well, LOTS of people either didn't read or didn't care. Saw lots of swimmy diapers and lots of kids changing out of their wet swimsuits into diapers...obviously not potty trained. I just think that is a little disrespectful to the other kids (and kind of gross).

We were on the same cruise.... I have the very same observations as you have about the kiddy pool area. There were some days when the older kids doing the sliding thing was out of control. I am very surprised that no one got hurt badly.

Great review. We're in 15114 on B2B cruises this Sep and can't wait. Thanks for posting...

Rocky55--Food not to be missed in the Haven restaurant...I would say the mushroom ravioli, shrimp cakes, and the sliders. We did the lobster night in the Haven....you have to get reservations for that...it was fun...lobster was good, not great

Reservations for Lobster Night? What night was that?

Labeled thanks for the review. My wife and I just booked a haven spa suite for October. This will be our first haven experience and it sounds amazing......your review is making me think we made a good choice. Can you give some more specific details about the haven restaurant.....some questions I have are.....

Is it a full breakfast menu in the haven such as omelettes pancakes French toast etc.......

From what I have read it seems the dinner menu is the same every night.....some have mentioned that the staff will allow to order off other restaurants menus.....can you elaborate a little on that.......the same dinner menu all week doesn't seem too enjoyable

I'm super excited about the haven.......any specifics would be much appreciated. By the way......my wife and I have sailed aqua class on celebrity several times.....if you have done this how does it compare.

Sorry......meant to say LAWBIRD......stupid auto correct

Thanks for the report!

Than you for writing and sharing this report.

Keith

Reservations for Lobster Night? What night was that?

I believe it was the 2nd night...that would have been Sunday. The Haven staff advised us when we got on board Saturday that there was Lobster night in the buffet on Sunday, but that they would also serve lobster in the Haven restaurant...they advised that reservations were encouraged if we wanted to do it in the Haven...keep in mind, we did have a large party.

Labeled thanks for the review. My wife and I just booked a haven spa suite for October. This will be our first haven experience and it sounds amazing......your review is making me think we made a good choice. Can you give some more specific details about the haven restaurant.....some questions I have are.....

Is it a full breakfast menu in the haven such as omelettes pancakes French toast etc.......

From what I have read it seems the dinner menu is the same every night.....some have mentioned that the staff will allow to order off other restaurants menus.....can you elaborate a little on that.......the same dinner menu all week doesn't seem too enjoyable

I'm super excited about the haven.......any specifics would be much appreciated. By the way......my wife and I have sailed aqua class on celebrity several times.....if you have done this how does it compare.

Bacon227....the breakfast menu in the Haven is a full menu. From omelettes, French toast, pancakes, waffles, eggs any style, steak and eggs. There is also a self serve breakfast bar with cereals, oatmeal, fruits, yogurt, breads, etc.

As far as dinner, I believe that you can order anything from the main dining room menus...I didn't try, but they brought my brother a desert that wasn't on the Haven menu. The Haven menu stays the same...there may be one nightly special, but I honestly don't remember. We ate in the Haven for dinner 3 nights...one was Lobster night, the other 2 I just tried different items on the menu. We had credits for 3 specialty restaurants, so we had those brought to the room (couldn't pass up the free deal). One night we went to Taste...nice change up...food was good, great view...but the staff, while friendly and fine, couldn't compare to the staff at the Haven restaurant.

As far as lunch, I didn't actually go into the restaurant for lunch (my mom did and enjoyed it). But we did do the Haven pool side lunch. It was a limited menu....wraps, hot dog, may have been a burger, onion rings...good pool side grub with friendly service.

If anything else comes to mind on the menus, I will post. But please ask me any more questions you may have.

Thanks for your review! We are in the Getaway Haven on Sept 13 and can't wait.

Ports:

St. Maarten: After reading Cruise Critic forums and Trip Advisor reviews, I decided to book an excursion through Robinson Speed Boat tours. I contacted Captain Mike, and he was very prompt in getting back to me. We chartered an entire boat, since there were 11 of us (only 10 went, as my pregnant sister in law wimped out--probably a good idea). Easy to work with them online. Note, if you want to pay by credit card, you must pay online (paypal) before the trip and they charge 4.5% fee; otherwise, you have to pay cash at the dock. The trip was awesome. Super sweet speedboat. Great guide. Snorkled, saw sea turtles, saw some awesome homes (including Donald Trump's new purchase), got to see several planes land and takeoff, had a great lunch experience at Pinel Island (magnificent beach-great frozen mojitos). Note that it can be pretty rough, especially in the front of the boat. My grandmother (88) sat next to the captain and had a blast. I can provide additional details if anyone has any questions.

St. Thomas: I have been there before. I was going to book another private boat and either hit St. Johns or head over to the BVI's and have some painkillers at Soggy Dollar. However, we decided not to do that as we weren't sure we had enough time and thought 2 days in a row in a speedboat may be too much for grandma and 2 year old. So, we just decided to hit the shops at the port (nothing too exciting). Ended up taking the 2 year old over to the butterfly farm right by the dock. That turned out to be a surprisingly fun adventure for the little one as well as for mom and dad. Nice people working there and some really pretty butterflies. We hooked back up with the rest of the group at the shops (sans the 16 year old; stayed sleeping his cave) and negotiated an open air taxi for our group for a couple of hours. I would say that this was the surprise highlight of the day. We had a wonderful time seeing the island and enjoying the great views. Banana daiquiris at Mountain Top were good. It was just a fun family time together.

Nassau: Been there, done that...didn't want to fight the crowds at Atlantis. Got off the ship for a bit, but it was CRAZY hot and humid. Went back on the ship and enjoyed the kiddy pool and the slides with no lines!

Labeled thanks for the review. My wife and I just booked a haven spa suite for October. This will be our first haven experience and it sounds amazing......your review is making me think we made a good choice. Can you give some more specific details about the haven restaurant.....some questions I have are.....

Is it a full breakfast menu in the haven such as omelettes pancakes French toast etc.......

From what I have read it seems the dinner menu is the same every night.....some have mentioned that the staff will allow to order off other restaurants menus.....can you elaborate a little on that.......the same dinner menu all week doesn't seem too enjoyable

I'm super excited about the haven.......any specifics would be much appreciated. By the way......my wife and I have sailed aqua class on celebrity several times.....if you have done this how does it compare.

I just returned from the same cruise and sailed in a Haven Spa Suite. we were a group of 4 and had neighboring suites. You will absolutley love the Haven Spa Suite . Our stateroom attendant was Made and our butler was Dilip. Both were phenomenal! I think the best part of the suite was the bed. The best bed I have ever slept in. It is so comfy I asked the hotel director, Sean, how to get one for home and he got me the contact info. Access to the Spa amenities was also nice. It was the first time I had ever used them and found it to be quite peaceful. We used the Haven restaurant and pool area a few times but did not have quite as glowing an experience as the OP. Yes you can order from other menus while in the Haven but the crew on this ship was hesitant to do it for you. One afternoon we had to be rather persistent to get the O'Sheenans menu delivered to us out at the pool so we could order lunch. After speaking with three people we finally got approval from a supervisor to get a menu. We tried to utilize the concierge, Ruth, but twice she told us she was too busy. When she did have one of her assistants help us, the reservation was messed up. The food in the Haven restaurant for breakfast and lunch was good but lots of service issues. Food would be ordered but not received even after asking for it a second or third time. DH and I have cruised in the Haven several times but the couple with us had not. They thouroughly enjoyed the experience even though we would have given it only a 3 out of 5 star experience because we knew what a great Haven experience is like having sailed on the Epic twice with Adrien as our Concierge plus the great Concierges on the Gem and the Jewel.

The breakfast menu in the Haven has a wide selection to include the items you mentioned plus a few more. You can also ask for variations too. I personally like the chocolate croissants and some type of almond croissants. Dilip delivered a plate of them and a pitcher of OJ to my room so I could have them in the morning when I didn't want to visit the restaurant. Take note though, the spa suite doesn't really have a table big enough for in suite dining. I have cruised on Celebrity before in a suite but not aqua class. I will tell you that my average experience on the ship still surpassed my suite experience on Celebrity. You will enjoy the pampering! Also, if you like the desserts at the specialty restaurants you can ask for them to be delivered to your room for no extra charge. While the whole meal would cost you, something like the Oreo Cheesecake from Cagney's would be complimentary. Just ask your butler. Plus the daily treats delivered to your suite can be changed if you want something different. For example, we don't care much for the standard treats so we asked for salty things like potato chips and pretzdl rolls. We also received some M&Ms and gummy bears which were nice for the occassional sweet snack. Enjoy yourself in October!

General ship notes: Getaway is brand new and beautiful. I personally liked the décor and the layout. The big chandelier was really cool...my daughter loved it. I will confess that I didn't see all of the ship. In fact, we didn't even leave the Haven until afternoon of Day 2, and that was just to go to the kiddy pool (not counting the life boat drill). You could literally never leave the Haven the entire cruise. The whole 678 Ocean Place was cool. I enjoyed walking through there and seeing everything. Everyone generally seemed to be having a good time.

I have read some complaints here about the smoke from the casino. Yes, you could smell it. Personally, it didn't bother me much. I am a former smoker, so that could be why I didn't have too much of an issue with it. We did hit the casino one night, and my clothes smelled fairly strongly of smoke.

On another note, the casino was fun. Played blackjack...dealer and pit boss were friendly enough, easy to get drinks, good atmosphere. Played several hours at $25.00/hand and ended up winning.....a total of $5.00...so that was a success!!

Embarkation and Debarkation were pretty easy. I think that has been a consensus on the forum. We just hung around the room and the Haven until about 9:15...then they walked us to a private elevator and right off the ship. Plenty of porters to help with bags through customs.

9 of us flew into Fort Lauderdale on Friday evening. We spent the night at the Holiday Inn Express Airport South. They sent the hotel shuttle for us. No problems, very easy. Hotel was fine for what we wanted. Breakfast was ok, staff was good. Location wasn't the best, but we weren't really there to do anything other than sleep.

We used Express Shuttle for transportation to and from the pier. On time, easy to contact...but we were supposed to have private van both ways. Had to share on the way, but it worked out and our co-passengers were nice people. Vans were a little dated...Didn't really bother me, but want to make full disclosure.