Getaway 10/9 - Dailies and Review

Just back last Sunday from the Getaway. It was our first Norwegian Cruise, and we had a great time, despite our pre-cruise plans being scuttled by Hurricane Matthew. I will be back when I have a chance to discuss what we liked about the cruise, and where we thought improvement could be made.

In the meantime, you can DL the Dailies from the following links, as I could not get CC to upload because of the size.

Days 1-4:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B062-xqGeLwFNkFBU3p5WHhjUzQ/view?usp=sharing

Days 5-7 plus teen schedule:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B062-xqGeLwFWEZUR3p0Wnh1SXM/view?usp=sharing

Just back last Sunday from the Getaway. It was our first Norwegian Cruise, and we had a great time, despite our pre-cruise plans being scuttled by Hurricane Matthew. I will be back when I have a chance to discuss what we liked about the cruise, and where we thought improvement could be made.

 

In the meantime, you can DL the Dailies from the following links, as I could not get CC to upload because of the size.

 

Days 1-4:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B062-xqGeLwFNkFBU3p5WHhjUzQ/view?usp=sharing

 

Days 5-7 plus teen schedule:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B062-xqGeLwFWEZUR3p0Wnh1SXM/view?usp=sharing

Thank you so much!

Sailing the Getaway in February and this will be a big help when I plan my dinners.

Thank you again!

You are welcome! I know that I scoured CC for these before my cruise - they are a big help, and always interesting!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Forums mobile app

You are welcome! I know that I scoured CC for these before my cruise - they are a big help, and always interesting!

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Forums mobile app

:)

I make my dinner ressies next month. Thank you again for keeping them and taking the time to scan and send. Have a great weekend!

Yes...thank you for the dailies. They are always helpful when I go into planning mode (actually, I'm already there...:)).

Thanks for the dailies! We are going in January and I make my reservations next week. Big Kudos!!!:)

Another big thanks. Looks like Prime rib is in O'Sheehan's at least twice. Like everyone else has said, it really helps with planning for our upcoming January cruise, especially since we are at the 90 day mark..

Thank you!

Thank you for these!

Awesome. Thank you!

Great job on doing the dailies as .pdf's and linking them on Google. The clarity and readability is so much better than scanning them into a .jpg or similar image format. I very much appreciate the time and effort you put into doing those and I am sure everyone that looks at them will as well! :) Thanks!

Looking forward to your review.

I see from the dailies that you did Cozumel first and then Costa Maya. When did you find out about this switch?

snow bunny

Thanks for the review.

OK – Here is the Review:

Norwegian Getaway – October 9, 2016

We are a family of four – two fortysomethings plus 16 and 14yo daughters. We were set to fly in early on Friday and spend a couple of days in the Keys with some friends that were going to meet up with us.

Unfortunately, Hurricane Matthew came to town and cancelled the flight, giving me grave concern that we might not even be able to make it from our home outside of Sacramento. Our Thursday red-eye was cancelled, and American let me know that they had kindly rescheduled me for a flight that arrived Sunday at 4:30pm – 30 minutes after our all-aboard time.

After a great deal of consternation, we ended up on a flight that arrived Saturday night, and our cruise was set! Naturally, on Sunday afternoon following the cruise, as we were set to fly from MIA to SFO, there was a massive weather system going through San Francisco, delaying us another 2.5 hours.

I booked this cruise way on back in March, 2015, when I got it for a great price. That great price included the beverage package back when the free part included tips for the drinks. We certainly got our money’s worth out of that free drink package!

I did call about an upsell to the Haven and took it when it was offered. I will not focus on the Haven here, as so many others have discussed it already, but I will say that the amenities are never overstated here. It was everything that we had hoped and more.

THE SHIP:

I really thought that the ship was laid out quite well. There are many Carnival and RC ships that have mid-ship dining rooms that will not let you walk from one end of the ship to the other, and Getaway does not have anything like that. The bars were numerous and never overly crowded, unless you were trying to get something from the pool bar on a sea day which was nuts.

There were certainly not enough pools or enough room for passengers on deck near the pool. I am not one who would tend to sit out by the pool all day, so this did not affect me much, but if I walked through the area, I felt cramped from just those few minutes. We generally would head down to the Waterfront, which was a great location, or the Haven and would hang out there.

The ropes course was great, and the kids enjoyed that many times during the cruise. There were many areas of the ship that we simply did not have a chance to utilize due to a lack of time.

DINING:

Since we booked when only one freebie was offered, we actually bout the 3 SDP plan for the four of us. We went to Cagney’s the first and last nights, with a visit to Le Bistro on the second night. The other nights we ate at the Haven Restaurant.

I thought Cagney’s was great. The Tomahawk steak was on the menu along with the lobster bisque, and I had both on the first night. I wasn’t quite sure why they called it a tomahawk until it arrived. At that point, my sharp intellect put it together. That was a great steak, although it was too much to eat and I swore that I would get something else when we returned at the end of the cruise… but I could not resist and ordered it again. We all tried something different, and nothing disappointed any of us. It was a fantastic dinner both times with great service.

Le Bistro was a sharp contrast to the Cagney’s experience. The service was lacking, and the food was ok. I love mussels, so I ordered them, along with one of my daughters, and that was a big mistake. They were horrible. They were both gritty and fishy. One mussel each, and we sent them back. The waiter did not apologize or offer a substitute when we explained that they were not satisfactory. I did bring it up to the Maître D’, who did offer such apologies, but we were certainly not lacking for a quantity of food, so we proceeded onward with our less-than-memorable meal. It was good, but nothing that stood out. I cannot even remember what I ordered otherwise.

I have to say it - the Haven Restaurant was incredible. We went there four nights, and the menu never changed, but we tried almost everything on it and were almost never disappointed. The scallop dinner that consisted of only three small scallops was not overly filling, but it did leave more room for dessert.

Margaritaville was open, and I did see it about half full at some times, but never more than that percentage. My journeys to Margaritaville were usually focused on acquiring one of their margaritas, as the Last Mango in Paris kept calling out to me! We never did eat there, nor were we ever tempted to do so. I do wish that they kept it open later than 5:00pm, simply so I could get more of those margaritas.

THE PORTS:

We did this exact itinerary on the Carnival Dream back in 2010 and we had a great time, so we knew what to expect. I would like to think that we learned a bot over the past six years, but still had a few missteps.

PORT #1 – ROATAN, HONDURAS

We pre-purchased the cruise ship package from Bananarama over in the West End. For $35pp, this included transportation to and from the facility, a chair and umbrella, a free drink, plus snorkel gear for 2 hours. Everything went smoothly, but the weather did not cooperate. It was rainy and windy, and not much of a beach day. This was the only bad weather that we would experience during the cruise.

We did get out to the reef for a few minutes during a break in the weather, but the reef has been thrashed and was in horrible shape compared to how it was six years ago. I would implore anyone who is snorkeling around a coral reef to watch yourself and make sure that you do not contact the coral. This area appears to be declining quickly.

PORT #2 – BELIZE CITY, BELIZE

We were originally scheduled to go to Harvest Caye, but got shifted to this port since Norwegian cannot manage their construction projects (eight months late). That was not a problem, however, since we really enjoy taking a snorkel trip out to Caye Caulker and snorkeling the reef, swimming with the stingrays, and walking around Caye Caulker. It was a great day.

PORT #3 – COZUMEL, MEXICO

This was originally supposed to be port #4, but was switched to avoid having multiple ships in port at CM. Instead, we had 5 ships in port at Cozumel on this day. I was concerned, but we charged onward with a day at Paradise Beach. It was a nice, easy day. The taxis were easily obtained, the weather cooperated, and the kids exhausted themselves on the water toys. We had some good ceviche, and enjoyed the day at the beach.

PORT #4 – COSTA MAYA, MEXICO

I believe that this is my favorite port, and it allows me to do a whole lot of very little. We took a taxi into town and grabbed some chairs at Tropicante, where we hung out in the water, which was gorgeous that day, and we had some good food, along with some good drinks. Another slow-paced, relaxing day, which is generally what I seek out in these locations.

SHIP’S ENTERTAINMENT:

I really enjoyed what we saw from the ship’s entertainment. Million Dollar Quartet was top-notch, although the style of music did not appeal as much to my teenaged-daughters’ ears. The performances were great and the talent there is considerable.

Burn the Floor was also good, but I am not as infatuated with dance shows as others might be. The shows were well prepared and performed. It is just not my thing. My loss.

We also went to Howl at the Moon three of the nights that it was on, and enjoyed each night tremendously. Apparently, not many other people did, as there were many available seats open not too long after the show started each night. Their loss.

FINAL COMMENTS:

We really enjoyed this cruise. I am sure that being in the Haven shaded things for the better, as it does make it difficult to be unhappy about anything for very long. We prepaid our gratuities and handed out singles when we ordered drinks frequently, but not always, since we did not pay for gratuities along with our free drink package.

Hanging out on this board certainly prepared me for a bad experience. We did not have that experience, although we have had some pretty rough cruises in the past (not with Norwegian). I did not see the unhappy staff that I keep hearing about (inside or outside of the Haven). It was a great experience, and I will certainly sail Norwegian again, although I would prefer to be in the Haven, and I would even pay more for it that I did (please do not tell them that).

Finally, I would be glad to answer any questions about anything that I have written here or might have seen/heard while onboard. I certainly owe a great deal of thanks to those who have previously contributed to this great collection of knowledge known as the Cruise Critic Message Boards, and hope that this bit adds to that knowledge somehow.

Thanks for the review.

Hello Ileis. Thank you for posting the ships magazine and review. I Love to read what different ships offer and about peoples cruise experience. Happy cruising. :)

1- can u use ubp in Margaritaville

2 what night is prime rib in o'sheengen

I see from the dailies that you did Cozumel first and then Costa Maya. When did you find out about this switch?

 

snow bunny

They sent us an email about four days before the cruise telling us about the switch. We did not really have much planned for either day, so it did not affect us. I did not hear many people that had an issue because of it. Cozumel and Costa Maya are both on Central Time (not sure how they handle daylight savings), so those are the ports to switch, as the other two are on Mountain Time.

1- can u use ubp in Margaritaville

 

2 what night is prime rib in o'sheengen

1 - The UBP worked fine in MV, and I did go there many times.

2 - I did not notice the prime rib in O'Sheehans, so I cannot answer that one.

Thanks for the dailies! We sail Getaway for the first time in late January. I've been searching for these. So helpful - many thanks!

I was also curious as to which nights Prime rib was served in O'Sheehan's. According to the dailies that "ileys" posted it looks like prime was on the menu both the 1st and 7th night. The 2nd night was ribs and shrimp.

"ileys" thanks for your review. Glad to hear the tomahawk steak is on the menu in Cagneys and you enjoyed it. Looking forward to trying it at least once as we have Cagneys booked twice also. Thanks again

1- can u use ubp in Margaritaville

 

2 what night is prime rib in o'sheengen

I was on this ship in January 2016 (and headed back next January) and the prime rib was on the last night. It was VERY good.

I just got back from the Norwegian Getaway this past Sunday. There was Prime Rib at O'Sheehans twice, I think. I'm not sure of the days,but I think the second one was on the last night (Saturday). I really liked Margarittaville. The burger was delicious, and so were the fries. The chips, salsa, and queso was yummy too. The nachos looked great, but I didn't have them. Yes, the UBP works in Margarittaville.

Great review! Thank you! Just curious, is there an upcharge for the food in Margaritaville?