First time NCL Getaway Review 2/21-2/28

Hello! I'm Leah and just got back from our first cruise with NCL on the Getaway. I thoroughly enjoyed reading other reviews in the run up to our cruise so I made a few notes and took a few pictures (not of everything!).

I've been reading David's excellent review of the same cruise so I'll apologize for any duplication!

I think I'll try for a day-by-day review as I'm more likely to remember things that way! I was cruising with my husband Paul and my parents. We're originally from the UK but we've lived in New England since 2002. I'm writing this with other first-timers in mind (so I'm sorry for regular cruisers for some of the obvious info!)

Cruise Preparation

• We booked our cruise maybe 3 weeks ago. I read up on a ton of things on Cruise Critic.
  
• We got a free UBP and I added the UDP as I was interested in trying out a bunch of the specialty restaurants
  
• We both downloaded the Norwegian iConcierge app (you need to do this before boarding I believe) - free - just search in the app store on your phone
  
• We made a bunch of reservations before sailing on the My NCL website. Next time I would make most of our reservations a little later (based on sail-away times) as we sometimes missed the sail-away.
  

Helpful stuff to pack

• Obviously all your usual stuff ;)
  
• European power adaptors (don't run out and buy them but if you happen to have a couple lying around...there are 2 US power sockets and 2 European power sockets (two round pins)) - my husband always has an adaptor in his suitcase so it gave us an extra plug for phone/ipad charging
  
• I hung each outfit by day on thin hangers, this helped me not to overpack and also made packing/unpacking easier. I was pleasantly surprised at how many hangers were in the closet (maybe 15?)
  
• Post it notes to leave notes/direction for your room steward (or just say thank you!)
  
• A water bottle
  

Dress Code

In terms of dress code it really was "freestyle" - some people super dressed up in cocktail gowns and suits and others in smart shorts and golf shirts. My husband has to dress pretty smart for work and likes to be more casual on vacation, I was needlessly worried about this. In Ocean Blue and Le Bistro men are required to wear pants (not shorts). I brought some button down shirts/slacks but he chose to wear (smart) jeans and a nice golf shirt and didn't look out of place. I'd brought a couple of dressier outfits that I didn't end up using. If I was cruising again I'd be tempted to just pack 7 maxi dresses with a couple of light scarves/wraps. If you want to dress up to the nines - do it! If you want to be casual in shorts - do it!

Pre-cruise

We arrived at the Intercontinental Miami the night before our cruise at 4:41pm after a 3 hour flight from Boston. We walked up the 14 steps to the lobby to stand in line for 7 minutes. Our room had 3 closets with medium size hangers. Kidding!!!! :D

Who cares about the night before right? I'll just say The Intercontinental was great, just 0.5 miles to the port, easy to taxi over and within walking distance of Walgreens and Marshalls for last minute stuff you forgot to pack

Embarcation

• Helpful tip: look at your cruise documents to see which terminal you should board at. We got out of our taxi only to realize we were terminal B and my parents were terminal C - not to worry, just a short walk.
  
• We'd printed out our bag tags (and taped extra copies to the side of our luggage) and tipped the porter well.
  
• We arrived around 11:15am and stood in line for maybe 15-20 minutes. There are separate boarding areas for Haven guests, Casino at Sea and Latitudes members (we were not any of these so general boarding for us).
  
• It was fascinating to see people not prepared to board - they'd get to a check-in agent and then start rummaging in their bags for their documents.
  
• You need your cruise documents, your passports and a credit card.
  
• We were given our freestyle cards which already had the UDP and UBP stickers on them and a tag saying "Boarding Group 25". I thought this meant we'd be ages but once we went into the big holding area we only sat there for maybe 15 minutes more before boarding
  
• We boarded on deck 7 by the sort of back-door of O'Sheehans. As a "first-impression" it was a little underwhelming but I'm guessing it's not logistically possible to board everyone in the 678 area with the grand chandelier and staircase.
  
• Having read up on everything on Cruise Critic I was planning to race down to deck 6 to book The Illusionarium (included free of charge on the first day with the UDP). I thought I'd just try my luck dialing 073 from the first phone I saw (at O'Sheehans Grill) and it was answered immediately and our premium seats booked - score! We went for the 5:30pm seating but we didn't sail until maybe 6pm, next time I would choose the later seating.
  
• We figured we'd grab lunch in O'Sheehans whilst waiting for our rooms but it was mobbed. Maybe 2 waiters trying to serve full tables all over the bar area and just on guy behind the bar. After maybe 25 minutes of trying to get the attention of the super-overworked waiters we gave up and thought we'd try our luck at the Flamingo Grill on deck 16. Great idea! It was quiet and we had an excellent lunch of grilled chicken, rice, short ribs and flan.
  

:) I'm going to attempt to download my photos now and then I'll write more

Great tips so far, looking forward to your review/photos! :)

Thanks for the great tips. We will be first time cruisers so we are looking forward to your review. We scheduled the 5:30 show, because it shows our ship departing Miami at 4. We thought we'd get dressed early to go to the sail away, then straight to the Illusionariam show. Wondering from your review if this will work, or if we should try to move to the later show.

DAY 1 - Onboard - Miami

Here's the freestyle daily - hoping you can see this!

After getting to the port around 11:15am we were onboard by noon.

Delicious lunch in Flamingo Grill (this was our go-to place when everything else was crowded)

There was an announcement that rooms were ready around 12:30pm I think. Bags were delivered and left outside our cabin by maybe 3:30pm which I was really impressed with

Cabin 8136 on Getaway

• We were on the port side which was great for sunsets and fireworks
  
• It was a mini suite with a larger balcony (2 chairs, table and 2 loungers), I really liked having the extra space. I'm assuming you'd get less space on the starboard side?
  
• Our bed was closer to the door (than the balcony) and there was a sofa/vanity area near the balcony.
  
• Tons of storage space (no draws, just shelves so I packed tissue paper to line the shelves with).
  
• We used the nook over the bed to store the freestyle dailies.
  
• Bathroom was spacious with a double sink and large walk in shower.
  
• Shower gel and shampoo dispensers (I'd recommend bringing your own shampoo and conditioner, the shampoo felt kind of harsh)
  
• Lots of towels and two cotton robes in the room which was great
  
• Fairly powerful hairdryer underneath the desk/vanity, I had no problems using my straightening irons in the power sockets. There was also a handy shelf underneath the mirror where I kept my make up
  
• Beds were super comfortable - fairly firm so if you like a softer bed you might not like them
  
• Lights will only work with your card in the switch so we brought a spare hotel card and just left it in (turning the lights off when we went out but it meant we could leave stuff charging)
  
• AC seemed a little temperamental and would randomly switch itself on and off
  
• Tons of room under the bed to store your cases
  
• Nancy was our room steward and she was very friendly and helpful. We left $5-10 a day (depending on how messy we'd been ;)) and she was really lovely
  
• 2 US power sockets and 2 European power sockets in each room (bringing a European power adaptor gives you 2 extra sockets for charging your phone/camera etc)
  

Assembly Drill

• The mandatory muster seemed fairly disorganized and it was so loud in O'Sheehans (our muster point) that we couldn't hear most of the instructions.
  
• Your cabin card has a letter/number on it and that's where you go for the muster at 3:30pm.
  
• Bars/restaurants/entertainment all close at 3pm to give you time to get to your station
  
• You don't need to wear lifejackets.
  
• Here are the locations (once in your location you find the crew member with your number and "check in" with your room card
  A - Getaway Theatre (Deck 6&7 Fwd)
  B - O'Sheehans (Deck 7 Fwd)
  C - The Atrium (Deck 6 Mid)
  D - Casino/Bliss (Deck 7 Aft)
  E - Taste & Savor Restaurants (Deck 6 Aft)
  F - Tropicana Restaurant (Deck 7 Aft)
  
• Basically just come out of your cabin, have your card ready and you'll be directed to the correct location
  

Sunset Bar

• This was the closest bar to our cabin. I thought it would be nice to go get a couple of drinks and sit on our balcony.
  
• The bartenders were friendly but (and this seemed true of the whole cruise) horribly horribly understaffed. It was almost routine to go to any bar and find 4-6 people waiting and just 1 bartender working (having to make fairly complicated cocktails) so you'd wait a good 20 minutes to get a drink. Not the biggest tragedy in the world (#firstworldproblems right?) but it felt a little annoying.
  
• All of the bars (and restaurants) have great cocktail menus but I wonder if the people who've put them together have actually timed out how long it takes to make each drink. It seemed like each bar would be missing one of the more obscure ingredients and then the bartender would have to go hunt them down (or I'd just change our order)
  
• The sunset bar has both an inside and outside option for seating, it was one of my favorite low-key places to hang out.
  
• The cigar humidor room is next to it but the cigarette/cigar smell was barely noticeable.
  
• One thing I didn't like was people smoking at the outdoor bars - I thought this wasn't allowed but I didn't see anyone asked to stop. We'd sit down at an outdoor bar only to have the person next to us light up a cigarette and if the wind was blowing in our direction it was fairly unpleasant.
  

Ultimate Drink Package (UDP) Observations

• This was included with our booking. I believe it's $59/day to buy it (and all of the people in the cabin have to get it).
  
• You have a sticker on your key card marked UDP
  
• When you order drinks you get a regular check showing the value of the drinks and the automatic gratuity but then the value of the drinks is removed from your onboard account (the gratuity stays - we'd usually leave a couple of extra $1 bills too)
  
• You don't both have to go to the bar to get a drink but you need to show the two cards - they'd then just take one and charge it.
  
• If you're ordering with other people - we would often be with my parents who were in a separate cabin) - then you can show all 4 cards and they'll charge just one but then that means just one of you is paying all of the gratuity. It's not a big deal I just mention it as if my Mom and I ordered a drink they always seemed to take her card and I felt bad she was paying my gratuity!
  
• You can get wine by the glass but if you get a bottle then that's not included. So if the 4 of us were at dinner and we ordered 4 glasses of Shiraz or Prosecco it was included in the UDP but if we'd ordered a bottle we would have had to pay extra.
  
• Room service drinks and the wine machine drinks and any drinks over $10 are not included. Water (in bottles) in not included but we didn't have a problem getting glasses of ice water (and it didn't taste at all funky and I'm super fussy about water, there were also nice sugar-free flavored waters from the dispensers in The Garden Cafe and also the Flamingo bar - Tropical Mango and Strawberry Kiwi)
  
• We ordered a bottle of champagne a couple of times at dinner (knowing it wouldn't be included and were pleasantly surprised to see we got a 20% discount on it)
  
• Soda is included (Pepsi products)
  

Overall ship impressions

• The Getaway is a really beautiful ship.
  
• Everything was spotless and we routinely saw staff cleaning/painting/varnishing/polishing
  
• LOVED the Waterfront concept on Deck 8 (you can walk along outside on either side and there are bars and restaurants and super comfy chairs)
  
• The 678 area with the staircase and chandelier is lovely
  
• We didn't feel like it was overly busy (except for all of the bars being understaffed)
  
• There were always TONS of loungers, we didn't see any lounger hogging!
  
• Take a little time to really explore - the library is a beautiful space (albeit with strange opening hours) and the card room is nice
  
• Spice H20 was our preferred hang out location if we wanted a little sun, the main pool area always seemed a little chaotic/noisy (but I prefer a quieter scene, I'm sure most people loved the music/activities/entertainment)
  
• When you get on you think - oh, there's so much time to do everything but it all goes faster than you think. I didn't get around to mini golf or the ropes (not to worry - a reason to go back!)
  

Norwegian iConcierge Experience

• So you download the app before you board the ship and once on board you connect to the wifi (NCL Getaway)
  
• For $7.95 you can message and phone people onboard (they also need the app) but it's pretty tempremental
  
• Once connected - for iphones - you want to put your phone into Airplane mode (to avoid roaming charges) and then manually turn the wifi back on
  
• People in your cabin are added to your contacts automatically, other people can share their 8 digit number (assigned once you've paid the $7.95) and you can add them as a contact manually
  
• The phone thing barely worked
  
• The messaging thing worked maybe 60% of the time
  
• Helpful hint - once you've sent a message make sure it says "DELIVERED" underneath the message. If it just says "SENT" then the other person hasn't actually received it.
  
• I'd get the app again and pay the $7.95 but don't rely on it! If I got "sent" notifications I'd just move around and resend until I saw "delivered"
  
• My husband needed internet for work purposes so he bought one of the internet packages but it was horribly slow (faster in port)
  

The Illusionarium

• The Illusionarium is available free of charge on the first night only if you have the UDP (Ultimate Dining Package), we called 073 as soon as we got onboard and got seats no problem
  
• Seating is first come, first served (unless you're in the Haven I believe) and we got there around 5:10pm for great seats. I'd maybe get there at 5pm next time. There were a few open seats so it wasn't sold out.
  
• The 5:30pm showing meant we missed the sailaway so choose the 8:45pm show if you don't want to miss it
  
• I'd read mixed reviews about the food but it really wasn't bad! It's a little distracting when you're trying to watch the magic though
  
• The prosciutto/mozzarella/tomato appetizer was fine, the filet and shrimp was good. The dessert is escaping me (I didn't take pictures as it wasn't allowed). None of the dishes would win any food awards but we didn't leave hungry!
  
• The show was really entertaining. If you have the UDP I'd definitely take advantage of the free show on the first night. If you don't I'd still recommend paying the fee to see it.
  
• The dome above the show has various visual/video stuff shown but it really isn't essential to be able to see it. It didn't explain any of the magic, just showed images.
  
• There were 4-5 magicians who were pretty great. The "mindreader" was the most impressive. I won't give it away but I had an item removed from my purse so the mindreader could guess it and she got it right - it was pretty impressive.
  

@Anet01 - our schedule also showed 4pm and we didn't move until closer to 6pm. Not sure if this was an unexpected delay or usual. We brought on a small carry on of clothes so we could get changed but luckily our cases arrived around 3:30pm

Hope this helps!

One of the best review styles currently written. Thanks for the review/tips, I think those of us reading post are preparing for an upcoming cruise so hearing helpful tips helps us prepare.

Great review. Love the style. You mentioned that gratuity for the UBP was added to your onboard account and needed to be paid while others have said that it is covered under the package. Can you please clarify?

Thank you for taking the time to write this, I am appreciating your tips. Looking forward to more:).

Hello fellow cruiser! I do agree about the Sunset bar being understaffed. One night we waited and waited while one bartender tried to wait on everyone. We finally got waited on after a long wait. The sugarcane mojito bar also only had one bartender at sometimes. Anther one would come and go and not really help things out. Thankfully we did not experience any waits in the dining rooms.

Cant wait to read more. Its always an interesting perspective reading a review from the same cruise.

Hey Wanderlust81, Anet01, lattegirl10, nfglory1 and Jaco5NC - thanks for the comments! I wasn't sure if this was too boring a review! :) I don't have the itemized final bill with me right now so let me check about the gratuities..

Day 2 - At Sea (Sunday)

Freestyle Daily (is this too small to see? I'm being lazy and snapping a picture vs. scanning!)

Breakfast at The Garden Cafe

• First impressions of the buffet were great.
  
• Large room with lots of windows or you could find a spot outside
  
• I'd recommend walking all the way around, many things repeat (breakfast meats for example) but then other stuff is just in one spot (smoked salmon or waffles)
  
• Rather than post a breakfast review each day I'll list out all the stuff we tried/enjoyed here (but I promise we didn't eat it all in one day!)
  
• Toasted bagel and smoked salmon (with cream cheese and capers) was my go-to breakfast choice. The salmon wasn't at all slimy or excessively fatty nor too smoky (I'm kind of picky about my smoked salmon!) - just really good.
  
• Eggs Benedict (Hollandaise on the side) were great - perfect runny yolks. I'd switch out the Canadian bacon for regular crispy bacon
  
• My husband was happy to see English bacon and bangers and managed to eat his way through quite a few
  
• Lots of fruit (both pre cut as fruit salad or if you walked over to the ice cream/waffle area you could find nicer big slices of watermelon, cantaloupe and pineapple
  
• There was pretty much everything you could want for breakfast - yoghurt, brand name cereals (with full fat and skim milk), oatmeal, waffles, made to order omelets, continental style choices (cheeses, sliced meats), orange juice, apple juice, coffee etc
  
• Fresh squeezed juices were available for a fee (I kept meaning to try one and then would forget, although they weren't covered by the UBP)
  
• On a couple of days we'd grab some breakfast and then bring it back down to our balcony to eat outside (I know we could have ordered room service!)
  

Cruise Critic Meet Up!

After reading Cruise Critic for hours in the weeks before we sailed I figured it would be fun to attend the Cruise Critic Meet up! Hugest thanks to Margie & Steve for organising and running the meeting- especially for the super cute handmade lanyards and mini ship maps

• The meet up was held in Cagney's at 11am, there were a LOT of people there - maybe 60 or so?
  
• A bunch of ship staff and officers and chefs attended and made a great effort to talk with everyone. We had a great conversation with Chef Wayne (Exec chef at Le Bistro I think?) and a couple of days later received a delivery of tiny desserts and chocolate covered strawberries to our cabin (lovely!)
  
• Staff passed out complimentary strawberry or banana smoothies
  
• Margie thanked everyone for coming and then JC (Cruise Director) introduced a number of the staff members in attendance
  
• Spongebob Squarepants made a surprise appearance and everyone was encouraged to "twist and shout" (it felt a little early for dancing...but that's the reserved British part of me speaking!)
  
• Steve had a sign up sheet if you wanted to participate in the slot pull. I figured why not?!
  
• We moved to the casino for the slot pull at a Wheel of Fortune machine
  
• It was a lot of fun for $15 and I'd recommend joining in
  
• When your name was read from the list you fed your $15 (have the exact amount!) into the machine and did 3 spins. Any money won stays in the machine to be shared between all of the participants at the end.
  
• Sadly we didn't win millions but it was pretty amusing and I'm sure people passing by thought we were some avid Wheel of Fortune players!
  
• At the end we were all going to get approx $11 and change so it was suggested that we all take $10 and continued to play with the remainder (smart idea - it would have been a nightmare trying to get change for everyone to get $11.47 or whatever the number was)
  

Lunch at Wasabi Sushi

• We decided to check out Wasabi Sushi for lunch (not included in the UDP but you get a 20% discount)
  
• Friendly waitress explained we could order from the sushi menu and also the Ocean Blue Waterfront menu (crab toasts, lobster roll etc)
  
• Lychee martini was refreshing albeit on the sweet side. They were out of Sapporo but had Kirin Ichiban beer
  
• Miso soup was excellent, very flavorful and edamame were good
  
• We ordered the Ocean Blue crab toasts (you get 2 per order so good for sharing, there were 4 of us so we did 2 orders) - they were absolutely delicious. I think subtle fennel maybe and finely sliced olives with fresh and clean tasting crab. Yum.
  
• Sushi was OK. Fish was super fresh but sadly rice was kind of gloopy/glue-y. It wasn't bad as in couldn't eat it but it detracted from the fish (although husband is a sushi-snob having spent a ton of time in Japan)
  
• If you're super into sushi then I'd definitely recommend eating here but maybe get sashimi instead of nigiri
  

Pictures from Wasabi on the left 4 images (miso, a crab toast and a ton of sushi) and pictures from La Cucina on the right (soup, beef carpaccio, shrimp pasta and carbonara)

We spent some time in the casino (husband likes to play blackjack, more on that later) and then it was time for dinner. We ate a lot!

A side note on our cabin (Cabin 8136 - mini suite with large balcony), the bathroom was pretty great. The shower was spacious and you could choose between the rainshower head alone or with a combination of high pressure nozzles that fired straight out of the wall. When you go to turn on the shower make sure you turn the setting knob to just the overhead rainshower. One time it had been left on two of the high-pressure nozzles and I got a face full of cold water blasted at me as I reached around the shower door to turn it on :eek:

Dinner at La Cucina

• I'd read mixed reviews about La Cucina but I liked the look of it and we all like Italian food so thought we'd try it
  
• It's the "cheapest" of the specialty restaurants at $15 per person.
  
• It was fine. Next time (if doing the UDP and wanting to maximize specialty restaurants) I'd rather double up and eat at Cagney's or Le Bistro twice
  
• Husband liked his beef carpaccio
  
• I can't remember my appetizer so it probably wasn't anything too amazing
  
• The pasta was fine but certainly didn't taste homemade. The carbonara was a little heavy in my opinion.
  
• Affogato (ice cream with espresso poured over) was really good
  

Spa

Reading the freestyle dailies for the next day I was happy to see a spa special so I made a reservation for Wednesday. There were a couple of different specials offered through the week - usually a combination of treatments for $149 (supposedly a $117 saving)

Off to dinner now but I'll be back with Day 3 and 4 tomorrow (including Cagney's Ocean Blue and Shanghai along with St Maarten. Feel free to request any specific information or ask any questions. I'll also end this review with a mammoth bullet point list of tips and suggestions about the Getaway that I collated by reading through LOTS of other reviews :)

Thanks for reading and commenting!

LOVE your review style, especially the tips and suggestions. I will be sailing on the Getaways 12 day sailing in October!

Thank you so much for your review! I have a question for you: when you described your experience of the UBP, you mentioned that the price of each drink was taken off of the bill but the gratuities remained. This is the first that I am hearing this. So, you had to pay the gratuity on each of your drinks? (I don't mean the extra that you decided to give on your own). I thought that the whole cost of each drink, including gratuity, was covered under the UBP. Am I mistaken about this?

Our final bill is in my husband's suitcase so I can't check for sure until Friday but I think I made a mistake about the gratuities.

I was checking our online account on the iConcierge app and I'm sure I saw gratuities added (we usually tipped extra but in cash from the stash of singles that we brought with us) but I just double checked online and found this:

Ultimate Beverage Package:

Variety of spirits and cocktails, wines by the glass and bottled or draft beer up to $10. Includes fountain soda and juice, Non-alcoholic beer is included.

Ultimate beverage package option includes 18% gratuity on the package.

Ultimate beverage option is only available for guests 25 and older on any sailing from 3/1 - 4/15.

A 20% discount will be given on bottles of wine (champagne and sparkling included) purchased on board, Applicable taxes, US and VAT may apply based on certain destinations.

Does not apply to the Ice Bars. Variety of spirits, cocktails, wines by the glass and bottled or draft beer over $10.

Does not include room service, package sales ,bottled water, ship specific promotions or beer buckets, designated Super Premium brands (subject to change), bottled wine, mini bar purchases, fresh squeezed juices, Lavazza Coffee beverages, wine dispenser, energy drinks or vending machines.

Sorry about any confusion!!!

Nice review and wonderful photo's.

Really enjoying your review. We did the Breakaway 18 months ago and will sail the Getaway in October. Glad to know about the first night being free for the Illusion show. Also appreciate your thought on doubling up on Cagney's or Le Bistro rather than doing Cucina. We have the UDP scheduled so want to try as much as we can, but don't want to waste a precious evening on less than outstanding meals. Thanks again.

.....and the card room is nice

What's a card room?

Love your review!

Hey david_sobe! Loving your review, agree it's fun to read about someone else's experience on the same ship at the same time!

Thanks Love2Travel4, you'll have a blast in October!

Seguetocaribe - thanks and sorry for any confusion, hopefully you saw the edit about the UBP gratuities, I guess it is included and I wasn't looking at our onboard account correctly!

Thanks for reading PathfinderEss!

Salesmansam - have an amazing vacation! I would definitely get tickets for the Illusionarium on your first night with the UDP. There was nothing wrong with La Cucina and I know others have really enjoyed it, I personally thought Cagney's, Le Bistro and Ocean Blue were better. You could also double up on two restaurants in one night if you really wanted to! We spoke with a few people with UDP who would make an early reservation at one specialty restaurant and then a later one at another!

Mirrasi - the card room is just that! A room for playing cards, it's next to the library. It was a cute little room with people playing all sorts of fun card games

Day 3 - At Sea (Monday)

Freestyle Dailies - I'm just posting the essential info pages with the times

Does the Getaway rock/have excessive movement?

I've seen a bunch of people posting and asking about the rocking/motion on the Getaway. You obviously knew you were moving/sailing but it wasn't a bad feeling at all. My husband gets really seasick and he took a precautionary Dramamine on Saturday but didn't bother for the rest of the week. It was a little choppy/windy the first day and that's when we felt the most movement but it really wasn't an issue.

Probably the weirdest thing was being back on land on Saturday, if I moved too quickly I felt slightly disoriented like we were still sailing! I believe this is fairly common.

Some of the most choppy waves (no rocking, rolling or seasickness):

I found this quick snap showing our larger balcony (Cabin 8136) from the shuffleboard place on Deck 7. It was really great to have the larger space with the 2 loungers but the balcony wasn't super private as people above could look down. No big issue but just a heads up.

Lunch at Shanghai Noodle Bar

From top left to right - Glass noodles with chicken and vegetables in broth, spicy Singapore noodles, Beef Chow Fun, the cute little ordering pads, fried pork potstickers (you get 3 per order but I ate one before remember to take a picture!) and shrimp dumplings

• Shanghai is in a slightly weird location, it's on deck 7 sort of at the back of the casino and opposite Bar 21 and it's not super atmospheric (you're kind of right next to a bunch of blackjack tables and can hear the slot machines) but we REALLY liked it!
  
• I'd heard that you should skip the apps as they were "frozen" but I think pretty much everything is frozen on the boat and they were actually pretty tasty.
  
• The pork potstickers were our favorites, you can get them steamed or fried and there are 3 per order
  
• The shrimp dumplings were OK, a little heavy/gluey
  
• The noodles - oh so good!!! A couple of times on the cruise I felt myself just feel so bloated and heavy from all of the food we were eating and that was when I'd go to Shanghai for a bowl of Glass noodles in fragrant chicken broth with mushrooms (the ones beginning with s - CC is assuming I'm typing a curseword and changing it to ****ake!) and bamboo shoots. I'd always ask for a little hot chili sauce on the side to boost the heat. It's the perfect light meal (surprisingly filling) and also a good late morning option if you've had a couple of cocktails too many the night before (easy on your tummy!)
  
• Not pictured but just as delicious - the Peking shrimp and chicken stir fried noodles and the Shrimp fried rice
  
• Everything is in the $3.00-4.50 range so a generous lunch for 2 would come in at maybe $20 and then you'd get 20% off so $16 tops
  
• I was only sad that Shanghai (and Wasabi) weren't open for lunch when we were docked (only open for lunch when at sea) and it would also have been great if they were open later. A couple of times we'd head to bed around 1am and there would have been nothing better than a bowl of the noodle soup!
  
• Being in the middle of the casino it's not exactly romantic or intimate but it's a great place to people watch or sit at the counter and watch the food being prepared in big sizzling woks
  
• Shanghai would be in my list of "must-eat" places next time!
  

Casino:

• If we're up to Day 3 then I should probably mention the casino
  
• I'm a small time gambler - maybe $20 on roulette or $50 if I'm feeling crazy
  
• We both signed up for Players Club cards once the casino opened (free and they then track your play on both slots and tables)
  
• My Husband likes to play blackjack (Hello Mark & Lois!) and he played a little each morning and also after dinner.
  
• The dealers we met and also the pit bosses were all incredibly friendly
  
• Tip your dealers! Especially if they give you good advice on what "the book" would say!
  
• I was trying to make sense of the Player Club Guide and suggested we just check in at the Player Club counter (next to the cashier) to see how many points he had after the first few days
  
• The lady behind the desk couldn't have been nicer. She offered him a drinks package (but we already had UBP) so then she offered a free dinner at a specialty restaurant (but we already have UDP), she then suggested perhaps lunch at Wasabi or Shanghai (we'd already eaten at them both at this time) and then she asked if we had plans to go to Ocean Blue. Yes! We had a reservation for the following night. She said they'd take care of dinner and wine for us which was a nice little perk (Ocean Blue is not included in the UDP, it's $39.99/head but you get a 20% discount with UDP)
  
• Ocean Blue plus wine plus the Raw Bar menu was a WAY better deal than lunch at Shanghai or Wasabi...more on that later
  
• The casino is located on Deck 7 and is bang in the middle of the ship (presumably to catch you as you go from one end to the other)
  
• At times the smell of cigarette smoke was a little more noticeable than others but it wasn't too bad. I'm fairly sensitive to the smell of smoke and it didn't bother me. It also seemed confined to the casino area and I didn't notice it elsewhere. The only time I really noticed it was back in the cabin when I was packing up clothes that had been worn when we'd been in the casino for a few hours, you could smell a faint cigarette smoke on them
  
• There are a bunch of slot machines and stuff like Wheel of Fortune, Deal or No Deal
  
• Black Jack tables abound, I think the lowest minimum was maybe $6 and then there were $15, 25, 50 and in the high roller room it was usually $100
  
• Helpful tip (we didn't find out about this until the second to last night) - in the casino there's a little late night snack area (free) with cheese cubes, fruit and hot snacks (tiny deep fried spring rolls with dipping sauce on this specific night). You don't have to be playing to go make yourself a little plate. Just don't try to eat AT the table.
  
• There was a real mix of people playing. Usually the roulette table would be fairly full but they'd open the second one if you asked nicely. Just like David_sobe I saw the same guy playing #17 obsessively on roulette. He mentioned that he brought $12k on board and currently owed the ship $25k - ouch!
  
• The casino is only open when you're sailing - they have to be 3 miles out in US waters and have left port in other locations. I think they usually shut down an hour or so before docking.
  
• I'm jumping ahead but I'll keep all of the casino stuff in one place so on the last night we notice a big sign saying "Redeem your playing points before 10pm" we didn't know what this meant so figured we'd check in with the lovely Players Club lady again. She reviewed our account for a good 10-15 minutes and refunded back around $1200 to "offset our losses" and also gave us a business card for one of the Casino At Sea people in case we want to cruise again.
  

Dinner at Cagney's

• We'd heard so much good stuff about Cagney's that I made our reservation early in the week so we could eat there again later if it was as good as everyone said.
  
• There's a bar just outside inbetween Cagney's and Moderno where we had a pre-dinner drink.
  
• I ordered a "Sparkling Garden" and it was pretty great - St Germain, sparkling wine and fresh rosemary. Interestingly I'd tried to order one of these earlier at Bar 21 and the bartender made a face and said it wasn't very good. He insisted he'd make me "something special" which turned out to be mostly vodka and orange juice which I thought was a little strange. This happened a couple of times with different cocktails at different bars - I suspect it was due to the understaffing of the bar and the bartender trying to avoid running around to find fresh rosemary and make a complicated cocktail.
  
• The dining room was darker and atmospheric
  
• Our server was fabulous, friendly and accommodating
  
• We ordered from the wine list (by the glass due to the UBP). I stuck with the Sparkling Garden and my parents/husband enjoyed the Wolf Blass Shiraz with dinner
  
• The food was great. If you're a steak fan then I'd definitely recommend making a reservation here.
  
• Appetizers were very enjoyable, the Wagyu sliders are kind of filling so maybe split them or don't plan on eating both!
  
• My 5oz filet was perfectly cooked (there's also a 10oz filet option)
  
• My dad's 12oz ribeye didn't quite look 12oz but he enjoyed it
  
• The sides are fairly small but you can order as many as you like so go nuts!
  
• There were 4 of us and I think we got 2 gratin potatoes (divine! must must must order these), 1 Cagney fries (truffle and parmesan - tasty), 1 sauteed mushrooms (we probably should have ordered 3 of these there were so great) and I think an onion rings and mac n' cheese. I'd heard that some people thought the mac n' cheese was dry but this wasn't the case with ours, it was good and cheesy and nicely creamy (I hate it when the sauce splits and you have a big pool of oil at the bottom but this didn't happen)
  
• We actually skipped dessert because we were all so full but they looked amazing
  

From top left - a "sparkling garden" with fresh rosemary (highly recommend), the jumbo crab cake, Wagyu sliders, shrimp cocktail, 5oz filet with Bearnaise on the side, Shrimp pasta, 12oz ribeye and a bunch of sides.

Next up will be:

Day 4 - St Maarten (Maho Beach), a visit to the spa, Ocean Blue, fireworks and Howl in the Moon

Day 5 - St Thomas and Teppanyaki plus O'Sheehans food and bowling and The Grammy Experience

Day 6 - Le Bistro and the Ice Bar

Day 7 - disembarkation, final thoughts and copy and paste of my giant list of tips I made from previous Getaway reviews.

Feel free to comment/ask questions :)

Great review!

I loved the Breakaway so we are booked on Getaway for 2017- can't wait!

If you don't mind me asking, was your Husband playing BJ a ton to get those kind of perks. I typically will play BJ for about an hour or so a day, minimal stakes. Also, they refunded you $1200 for losses? Is that common? I wish I knew to ask for that.

Great review Leah, we have been 3 times on the Breakaway (Getaway's twin sister ship) and we love it, now we are going to try the Escape and the Getaway next November. Not trying to hijack your review but i wanna comment in a few of your postings since you stated you are writing mostly with the first time cruisers in mind.

I was pleasantly surprised at how many hangers were in the closet (maybe 15?)

you really do not need to bring hangers (as other reviews suggested), you just need to ask your steward and they will bring you more. Same thing with the robes if is not one in your closet if you are in a balcony cabin.

A water bottle

you can bring a whole case of water, even soda and juices, and they will treat it as a piece of luggage, just attach one of the luggage tags and drop it curb side with the rest of your luggage. Water will be delivered last after all the luggage has been delivered.

AC seemed a little temperamental and would randomly switch itself on and off

I wish you have told your steward, she would have showed you what yo need to do, is not temperamental, you just needed to lock the door. As you noticed, and this is for the first timers, you will see a knob on the top of the balcony door (i think is the kids' security lock) and also tighten the door, it needs to be lock everytime the door is lock if you want the AC to work properly, if not or if you want to sleep with the door open, the AC will shut off after 5 minutes.

I'm assuming you'd get less space on the starboard side?

Balcony space has nothing to do with which side of the ship you are on, is the different cabin types.

When you order drinks you get a regular check showing the value of the drinks and the automatic gratuity but then the value of the drinks is removed from your onboard account.

I know you already cleared this info, and is the same for the UDP (dinning package). we talked to the food and beverage manager on the BA last cruise and he asked the restaurant manager about the tips on the specialty restaurants and she told us the tips are built into the price of the package, regardless if you buy it or you get it included with your cruise fare. tipping extra is discretionary for either the UBP or UDP.

and the most important thing, about the Casino, KEEP THAT CARD THE CASINO HOST GAVE YOU, is the door to your next free cruise (you only pay taxes and fees). we are CAS (casinos at sea) players and we always get our cruises comped. i just booked our 3rd one for this year yesterday. with that many points you and your DH made yo probably will get at least a minisuite, and i would ask for either the H9 (SPA SUITE) OR at least the B9 or M9 which will give you free access to the spa all cruise long (on the Breakaway class and BA + class). it seems like you made VIP in a week, which is pretty good for casino standards, so take advantage of it. when you call the CAS phone number you can ask which level you are and then you will know your benefits, here is the link for the CAS program

http://www.ncl.com/why-cruise-norwegian/casino-cruise

looking forward to continue reading your review. :):)

I'm jumping ahead but I'll keep all of the casino stuff in one place so on the last night we notice a big sign saying "Redeem your playing points before 10pm" we didn't know what this meant so figured we'd check in with the lovely Players Club lady again. She reviewed our account for a good 10-15 minutes and refunded back around $1200 to "offset our losses" and also gave us a business card for one of the Casino At Sea people in case we want to cruise again.

 

 

DAMN!!! how much did you lose if they were willing to hand you 12 hundred $$$$ I've never heard of a casino just handing you cash, I must be doing something WRONG!

DAMN!!! how much did you lose if they were willing to hand you 12 hundred $$$$ I've never heard of a casino just handing you cash, I must be doing something WRONG!

LOL LOL is called cash back, all casinos do that someway or another. CAS is based on points earned while you played. the more you played..... you have to earn at least 1500 points, they credit to you onboard account at the end of the cruise.

Hi Leah: REALLY enjoying your review - great sailing with you!! We had an awesome time, too - loved this ship, staff and itinerary - weather was pretty good too!! Altho anything is better than -17 degrees and 90 inches of snow - ha ha

Can't wait for more installments of your review!!

I am following and thanks for sharing!