What was YOUR experience on the Getaway?

I am booked on the Getaway the week after Thanksgiving. A friend just returned last week and said the ship was crazy. Very crowded and not much going on on the ship. Starting to wonder if I should change plans. We sailed the Oasis at the same time last year and there was no crowd whatsoever! I'm thinking that they went at a popular time! Help!

We liked the Getaway a lot. Check out my review of the cruise from this past May.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2218693

We came home and were able to say it was a perfect vacation. We loved every minute of it! We traveled in January. We miss it and would take the exact vacation again in a heartbeat!

been on many cruises. All the mass market lines and like the getaway and had a great time. Understand the free style is different but that's what we enjoy now.

Loved the Getaway we sailed in Feb 2015 and are booked again Feb 2016! Yes the ship was busy in certain areas at certain times but never felt overcrowded except when they had muster drill and trying to make my way past the big sale...

We went on the Getaway in late April. Loved it. So much so we just booked another sailing for July 4. Quick drinks at the bars, great entertainment and very good food.

It was our 6th NCL cruise and first time on the new large 4000 pax class. I worried about crowds etc...no problem at all. We did have Haven access but we are not feeling the need for the Haven and have a mini-suite coming up for less than half the cost of the last one with the same itinerary.

We are fresh off the Getaway 6/6-6/13 and it was our first time on NCL and the Getaway. We have cruised Royal and Carnival multiple times. We loved it, we booked it again for a May 2016 western itinerary. We traveled with our two adult children, two younger children and my parents. My parents who cruise 4-6 times a year and have been all over the world on cruises said they had a fantastic time. This was also their first time on NCL and they have now booked the transatlantic cruise on the Escape in October.

We are fresh off the Getaway 6/6-6/13 and it was our first time on NCL and the Getaway. We have cruised Royal and Carnival multiple times. We loved it, we booked it again for a May 2016 western itinerary. We traveled with our two adult children, two younger children and my parents. My parents who cruise 4-6 times a year and have been all over the world on cruises said they had a fantastic time. This was also their first time on NCL and they have now booked the transatlantic cruise on the Escape in October.

We were on the same sailing as you and had a fantastic time. We dined in specialty restaurants, saw Legally Blonde, Burn the Floor and the Illusionarium shows, LOVED the water slides, hit the nighttime dance parties in Spice H20 and spent a fair amount of time enjoying the spa. Only went in the pool once, but spent time on the sun decks and never had to wait more than a few minutes for a drink at Waves pool bar.

On our drive home from Miami, my 18 yr old son asked "when is our next cruise?"

We went a year ago. We loved it! The thing about Breakaway and Getaway is that they can get crowded- IF you go to certain spots at certain times. The pool itself will be crowded, but on embarkation day we managed to snag a hot tub all to ourself for a good half hour during dinner. Go to the late show of the stage shows, they're less crowded. Don't try to get a lounge chair right by the pool, grab one on the upper deck and have empty chairs all around you. Watch the fireworks from the upper deck above Vibe, you'll be one of a handful. You just have to go to the out of the way places, and then you won't feel like it's crowded at all, you'll wonder where everyone is.

I can't wait to sail on Escape, I'm sure the tricks we found on the -Aways will be very much the same. I don't worry about the crowds at all.

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The Getaway is a great ship. I was just reading an article that listed the worlds best 25 cruise ships. Getaway was #8 and was the only NCL ship to make the list. There were things that I definitely liked better on Epic but Getaway is still a fine ship.

I have never been on a cruise ship that was not crowded :eek:

Having said that, I thought Getaway handled the crowds pretty good. Some of the venues are smaller on Getaway and that was one of my complaints. Getaway could have been better with some bigger venues to watch the shows. I am not talking about main shows but smaller shows they held in the Atrium or Bliss lounge.

I would give Getaway a B.

Very good ship with good entertainment, good restaurants and great outside waterfront area.

We were on Getaway first week of May. The crazy busy was the scene by the main pool and in the buffet - two areas of the ship we never use. We were in a Haven Spa Suite and we never hang out by the pool so...we never were in the crowd. Our hangout place was the spa. It was fabulous and not crowded at all. Our suite was awesome and we loved The Haven. We had breakfast and lunch in the Haven each day. Dinner was great in the various specialty restaurants. There were lots of shows and movies and games going on. We chose to only see one show (Illusionarium) and just did a lot of fine dining and relaxing in various bars which we enjoyed immensely. You can be as busy as you want to be or as quiet as you want to be. However, if you are someone whose idea of a vacation is to sit by the main pool and eat in the buffet, then I could see how you would think the ship was a madhouse.

We took the getaway last November and it was a great cruise. For being such a huge ship, there sure didn't seem to be much of a crowd anywhere. There were quite a few times where we were totally alone. The only crowded place was at the buffet on departure day. After that it was generally calm. On mega ships with so many people, they almost have to have multiple places for people to be eating at the same time or there would be a riot. ;)

The getaway is my wifes favorite ship now. Im still leaning towards the Jewel, but probably because there were some great memories on that cruise.

I cant imagine how anyone could feel like there wasn't much going on. There is almost always something happening, at night there must be on average 4 or 5 different places to either see a show, listen to music, or hear comedy.

Your friends may have felt it was crowded because more people go in the summer (when their kids are out of school).

We went in January and loved it. It felt less crowded than any other ship we have been on. The only time we felt crowded were a few nights in the casino, but it was busy and had tournaments and stuff going on. There was plenty to do on the ship. Maybe the offerings weren't suited to your friend's tastes. Take a look at the dailies that people have posted and see if its what you are looking for.

It's hard to have a bad time on that ship!

We sailed on the Getaway May 30th. This was my first cruise with Norwegian. The first day mid afternoon just before sail away I walked the pool deck to get to the forward area and it was very packed. I dont love huge crowds and craziness and thought for a minute about how hard it would be to get back off the ship. I didnt, and had a Wonderful cruise. NCL Getaway is a great ship! If you dont love crowds like us, it was easy to find time to do everything we wanted when things were less busy. I would definately sail the Getaway again, had a great time!