Norwegian Getaway June 7-14

Hi All --- The follow is the ship portion of my trip report for the Norwegian Getaway. The info on the islands, pre-cruise hotel (what I did, suggestions on what to do, pricing etc is on my blog as well as more photos.)

Cruise: Norwegian Getaway

Rating: 4.5

Pre-cruise Hotel: Miami Conrad

Rating: 4

Islands visited:

St. Maarten

Activites: 3.5

St. Thomas (went to St. John via Ferry)

Activities: 5

Bahamas (Nassau)

Activities: 4

The Start

This past winter was rough. Forget the weather it was just an emotionally and physically painful, sad, long winter which carried over to an extremely busy Spring. I’d meant to take myself somewhere tropical a few months ago, but thought that it would be more fun to visit a friend closer by and it was. Thankfully it was warm where she was too. In late April I decided that it was indeed time to book a trip where the main goal was to lay out in the sun and get in the ocean. It didn’t matter in what part of the earth, but somewhere, the closer the better. “How about leaving on a cruise from Miami” I said to myself, and since I like cruising on Norwegian and I wanted to try their newest ship the Getaway, I thought “why not”.

I did have a couple of reservations after all it’s a sister ship to the Breakaway and virtually identical. Did I really want to go on a ship that was the same as one I’d been on? With all of the ships leaving out of Miami for Caribbean waters was this the best choice? I figured I’d try. There was a special where I could book an inside room that wasn’t a studio and not have to pay 200%, as well as $50 OBC and a BOGO for a free cruise on the Norwegian Sky. What was not to love.

Second challenge. Finding a friend to hang out with. Yes I enjoy traveling alone, but sometimes you want to spend time with a good friend while on vacation and who better than BJ! Yes BJ that I’d met on the Transatlantic two years ago, lost touch with, then met up again with on the 2013 Miami to Barcelona TA last year. I texted him, he said, sounds good and we booked. Now here’s the kicker. We booked with two different online agencies and do you know that we were put in room right across from each other. 10401 and 10403. Couldn’t have been planned better than that! Now I didn’t have to go far to bug him

On the Ship

So like I said, it had been a crazy winter, so this trip I didn’t think about looking for interviews, or even taking as many photos as I usually do as I didn’t feel like carrying my DSLR with me everywhere. So while I have photos this trip write up is going to be more written than imagery. A change for me, but it does encourage me to be more detailed.

It’s a beautiful ship! And despite being a sister ship to the Breakaway in my beloved New York there is something about the Getaway that I like even more. It really is a gorgeous ship, with sleek decoration especially around the Boardwalk.

Getting on board was a breeze. I left the hotel around 11:10am arrived at the pier by 11:30 and was inside on board the ship by 11:50.

Passengers / Vibe

The downside has nothing to do with the ship but rather some of the passengers (as usual). Specifically rowdy youngsters. If you, like me, and want to stay away far, far away from this crowd while on board I’ve a few suggestions. Well for one, book while they’ve back trying to cram in 16 credits, but if that’s not an option and you want to cruise during peak season, these tips might help.

If you’re booking inside cabins try to book on a higher floor. I booked a guarantee which thankfully put me on ten. If they don’t assign these manually perhaps the algorithms will base where you are by Latitudes status and age. I only say this because it seemed that the drunk, rowdy “I wish they were back on the other line where this is more acceptable” crowd seemed to be housed on 5. Perhaps they specifically booked it, maybe not, but I can say that on 10 Forward (love that Star trek reference) it was fairly quiet passenger wise.

Another way to stay away from the overly zealous and loud young ‘uns is to avoid he main pool deck on sea days and to book Vibe. It’s a $79 pass for the week and well worth it. There’s no separate pool (you’ll have to book the Haven for that) but there are two hot tubs, 2 small cabanas, plenty of lounges, umbrellas and an attentive bar staff. Tip: You actually have more of a breeze under the umbrellas than in the Cabanas on a hot day.

There are also 5 larger Cabanas that face the water, but they’re an additional $299 per week. For me I can’t think of a reason to justify the expense. They have a cooler, and the backs are to the rest of Vibe so you don’t have to look at anything but the water, however I think I’d just add a couple of more dollars and book a balcony if that’s what I was going for and could avoid other people all together. However by doing the two things mentioned above (book rooms on higher floors and buy a Vibe pass) we managed to avoid most rowdiness and except for once while on the dance floor at Spice H20 we rarely encountered them.

Of course the best idea to to probably book the Haven. Any age group can of course book this as well, but you’ll probably avoid the “just escaped my parents, now I’m acting like a fool” types. You’ll of course run into older drunks anywhere but after a life time of liver picking they’re usually a bit quieter. To be fair though the worst situation we heard of concerned no kid but rather a grown man, whose violence put his wife in the hospital in St. Thomas, he then proceeded to berate the security on board when they try to subdue him when he was acting up, and then because of his actions had to put him in the brig and then escort him off of the ship. We can only hope he’s on a permanent “no cruise” list with NCL.

Entertainment / Latitudes Party

On the second night in we head to the Illusionarium. Get to the theater and get on line early and ask for a seat closest to the stage if you bought floor seats. Banquet seats line the room around the back and are about $5 cheaper per person. Mind you getting there early is no guarantee of where you’ll be sat exactly as they seem to seat people based on group size.

As I don’t eat meat I asked to just have their seafood option which was fried shrimp, which suit me fine, they were tasty and I was satisfied. The dessert was a plate of 3 small deserts with a dip. The only one that I liked was the chocolate hazelnut torte that was on the right hand side. The other option was a mini cupcake and a flan.

The show while geared towards kids is also fun for adults. We sat next to a couple that were originally from Hungary. The husband was a Physicist and even he was trying to figure out how certain tricks were done.

Towards the end of the show they invited three people on stage at different times to help perform tricks, one was a little boy, one was a man and the other was a woman…that woman was me. I had a chance to make a table “float”. A cute memory.

We head over to the Latitudes party where I had the chance to see a few faces I hadn’t seen in a while including Jose Contreras, Deepak Gonsalves, and one of my favorite people on NCL Marites DeSouza also known as Mama Tes and Tek. We’d skipped the official photo with Captain Rune Myre the night before but I had a chance to get a snap with him at the party.

Mojito Tasting

So after a long day lounging hard at Vibe we head to a Mojito tasting at the Sugarcane bar. The tastings are fun. There’s lots of liquor, if you don’t have a tolerance sip slowly and only drink half. Nothing more to be said.

Wrap Up

It was a wonderfully relaxing trip with an amazing friend, great food and lots of entertainment and drinks. Even though the ports are familiar to me, there’s always something new to see wherever you go and so I definitely hope to get back on the Getaway and enjoy what she and the islands have to offer.

Info on the islands and pre-cruise hotel are on my blog.

All written material and photos Copyright © TravelXena.com 2014

Thanks for the report!

Glad you enjoyed the cruise and thanks for taking the time to write and share this extensive report.

Keith

Thanks for the report!

Glad you enjoyed the cruise and thanks for taking the time to write and share this extensive report.

 

Keith

Thank you both. :)

Nice report...thanks!

Nice report...thanks!

Sure thing. :)

OMG hearing about the violent wife beater just made me physically ill...

Otherwise enjoying your report but now just a bit nauseous...

OMG hearing about the violent wife beater just made me physically ill...

 

Otherwise enjoying your report but now just a bit nauseous...

He definitely had a lot of gall. Hopefully she will be going home to those that love her and not that wild beast.

Thanks for the review and blog, the ship does indeed look gorgeous!And so does Trunk Bay!

Hope the cruise gave you the lift you needed, nothing like a relaxing cruise to just enjoy life.

Look forward to reading about your next adventure!

Thanks for the review and blog, the ship does indeed look gorgeous!And so does Trunk Bay!

Hope the cruise gave you the lift you needed, nothing like a relaxing cruise to just enjoy life.

 

Look forward to reading about your next adventure!

Thank you QuattroRomeo. Very true. Sometimes the restart that pampering and relaxation brings is what the Doctor ordered. Happy cruising!:)

Thanks for your review.

Thanks for your review.

Thanks for reading it.

He definitely had a lot of gall. Hopefully she will be going home to those that love her and not that wild beast.

I wonder - we were in the medical bay on Friday around lunch time, and there was a man in one of the rooms, snoring like a bear while 2 guards watched him constantly. He woke up at one point and sounded like he was still drunk; I asked the nurse what was wrong with him and after a brief hesitation, she said he was "very sick." Surely it wasn't the same guy?

I wonder - we were in the medical bay on Friday around lunch time, and there was a man in one of the rooms, snoring like a bear while 2 guards watched him constantly. He woke up at one point and sounded like he was still drunk; I asked the nurse what was wrong with him and after a brief hesitation, she said he was "very sick." Surely it wasn't the same guy?

Sounds like it could have been the "beast". Especially since the guards were still watching him. I really hope the wife was able to, and did press charges. I hope that all was well with you and that you didn't have to be there for anything serious.