Norwegian Getaway June 7 - 14 - We All Survived!

So, if you were there and you saw us, and if we were out of the way or in any manner offensive, I do apologize, but we had a good day in St. Thomas without getting more than 500 feet from the ship.

 

And I bought the pictures.

I just spit my iced tea all over my ipad...

Keep it coming!,,

:cool: It was quite the day.

Great review!

By the next to last day of the cruise, we had perfected breakfast - we all went to Taste at the same time! While we had planned to stay on board from the beginning, I was trying to work my brain around getting Mom off the ship, just once. I spent some time that morning looking at shore excursions, but nothing seemed worth the money - I thought to broach the idea of taking a cab someplace, or at least to go shopping in town - something.

I was heartened by Dad's manner - clearly, he had NOT been having a good cruise, but that morning he looked fresh and relaxed and rested, and maybe was in the mood for an adventure. He is only 72, but he spent 40+ years in law enforcement and those stressful years have shown up with a vengeance. That said, he is still a fun-loving, vibrant man who likes to get out and take my mom around places. He reminds me of a gentleman I met on Horrible Hat Night - a Vet named Warren, who at age 82 was cruising solo for the first time and loving it. You can't give in to things.

Judging from the enormous breakfast he ate, Dad was ready for just about anything. He left us at the end of breakfast to run to the restroom, and was going to meet us back at the restaurant - after 10 minutes we went looking for him, and couldn't find him. Mom went up to the room to check, and DH and I kept looking. We whipped back and forth through the Atrium, occasionally stopping to hear something that the BTF and LB performers were saying in their group interview. Eventually, I found Dad sitting in the chairs outside Taste, waiting for us, and told him Mom was up in the room - he said he'd go meet her. I went to find DH, which took about 15 minutes, and then we called Mom to check on them for the day's activities - Dad wasn't there. After a heated 10 minutes of scouring floors, we found him on the 14th floor, in the elevator lobby, leaning up against a wall - he'd gotten turned around, and stopped to rest. We escorted him to his room, with frequent stops to rest - he thought he was having indigestion from his large breakfast. Once in the room, Mom gave him some medicine and we stood on the balcony for a bit, watching the Captain double-park Getaway at the pier in Nassau.

20 minutes later, Mom had called the emergency staff, and 10 minutes after that, we were down in the medical center, where an ekg and a chest xray confirmed that Dad was having a heart attack. The fun part of the cruise was over.

Oh dear Lord!!!!!

I thought you were going to miss the ship- something of the nature- a broken wrist, perhaps.

Not THIS!!

Oh, my!!

Oh my goodness! I was NOT expecting to read that. Your poor Dad.

My own heart just jumped a beat!

Hope everything turned out okay!

 

Instead, I tried acupuncture for the first time, on Sea Day 1. In April, I pulled a muscle in my neck which turned into a rotator cuff problem (I have no idea how) and I have been in fairly constant pain despite physical therapy – I was thrilled to pay $177 for an acupuncture session, because I was ready to cut my arm off otherwise.

The same thing happened to me when I was 16 but I was stupid enough to wait 2.5 years to get PT and now 5 years later I still have upper back pain..

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Oh man, wasn't expecting that.

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Now, before I write this next, I must tell you that I have children - between us, DH and I have 4. They range from 18 to 13, and we love children whether they are ours or not. Children are wonderful. They are cute, and endearing, and challenging, and worth every minute. They are proof that life should go on, etc. BUT. . . on this cruise, they were mostly horrible. Not all of them, and not all the time - one night, we were waiting for an elevator that showed up with 8 teenagers in it, sitting on the floor and playing Uno. They were having a blast and invited us in, but since the elevators on Getaway are plentiful and fast, we smiled and waved them on. THAT was cute. The family eating in the buffet on "dress up or not" night, sitting next to a table of their four kids in tuxedos and tennis shoes - THAT was pleasant. Sitting next to unaccompanied, sobbing 10 year olds at breakfast? Not pleasant. Eating at one of the specialty restaurants while a baby screamed across the room and the parents didn't take it out? Not pleasant. Watching your mother get tripped by a 10 year old who said "I'm in a hurry" and kept running? Most unpleasant. Eating lunch next to a crew of teens with the foulest mouths I've heard since Robin Williams? Impossible. On Getaway, we learned that appropriate cruise behavior for many parents with children ages 8 and up is to get on the ship, give them their key cards, and say good bye for the week. I expected to see a bunch of children - we cruised in June, for heaven's sake - but I hoped for better behaved or supervised children. They were inescapable. Even if you go to the adult pool, the crew will show up with a Nickelodeon-themed game and you'll have to cheer through it. The only safe place we found was Spice H20 and the ever wonderful and cheerful Bartender Rudy. So yes, my grumpy, kid-avoiding self has been broken from summer cruising. Rant over

Double L, aka LL, and I made the same cruise in mid-March 2014. We had a most enjoyable cruise; the ship was wonderful and although we spent a lot of time exploring the ship, we were only able to cover about one half of everything that was available. One of our favorite places was the Spice H2O area. The only negative thing about the cruise was the large number of children running amok. We are in our mid-60's, and were both ran into by running, screaming children five times between us. One time an urchin was running on the pool deck, looking back at another urchin chasing him and was on a course to collide with me. I just stood there and braced for impact. The urchin got the worst end of it, but he had the audacity to tell me that I should be watching where I was going.

Children certainly behave differently today than they did when I was growing up!

The spring breaker's were mostly entertaining, especially at Senor Frog's in Nassau where the drinking age is 18. The afternoon at Senor Frog's was most entertaining, especially when two sets of parents came to retrieve a young boy and girl that had seemingly met each other on the ship and had become incapacitated by alcohol. I wonder how the parents were contacted.

Except for the urchins I cannot say enough positive things about the cruise though! We liked it so much that we are going on the Breakaway out of NYC the week after Labor Day. There was also a promo running that if we purchased a certain package on the Breakaway, we would get a free cruise on the Pearl out of Miami. What a deal!

This is one of the best reviews I have read in a very long time and I thank you for taking the time to write it, but please tell us that your Dad is ok!

Tracy

You write really well! I was so enjoying this review, that is until the last paragraph. I think that it's everyone's nightmare. I am very anxious to hear about the outcome and hope and pray that your father has made a speedy recovery.

On a lighter note, my husband and I are booked for two weeks on the Getaway - the last week in February and the first week in March. We are really looking forward to it. We were on the Carnival Breeze, this last February, and had a ball. It was our first back to back cruise and now we are hooked. No matter how busy the ship is with activities and shows, you feel assured that you will get it all in. Then there is the certainty that you won't miss any food venue, too. So what if we have to eat cat food and crackers for the next twelve months. It was worth it...lol

I am so sorry that your father became so ill on this cruise and I wish you very happy future sailings.

Your review is great. We're going on Getaway in November. Weren't sure if we'd like such a big ship but your review convinced me it will be worth checking out.

Sorry to read you had to deal with family health issue. We've been fortunate with only minor issues (forgetting meds, recovering from fall in Rome, dealing with very rough sailing and stuck in our shoebox cabin...). Always hope for nothing too serious.

Thx for the review.

Looking forward to the good news coming up after your las entry

I was on this cruise and there was this pack of teenagers walking around the ship thinking they owned the whole place. My first run in with them was on the elevator. They were stomping up and down and pretending to beat up one of their friends. I actually almost went off on them. I'm 28 so I remember what it's like to be a teenager and it wasn't at all like that

Then on firework night there were a group of teenage boys and girls way to close for comfort in the hot tub.

My mom would have never allowed me to be in a hot tub with boys....YUCK!

Tons of little kids on this ship wondering alone also.

I mean it didn't ruin my vacation but it did make for a conversation or two. :)

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Great review and I hope your dad is ok!!!

Thanks for the report!

Just a note for those asking for OP to quickly return and advise if father is ok... just consult the thread title... "We All Survived'.

Breathe a sigh of relief, and we can wait to see what happened with somewhat less worry. :)

.

Enjoying your review but sorry about your dad.

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Double L, aka LL, and I made the same cruise in mid-March 2014. We had a most enjoyable cruise; the ship was wonderful and although we spent a lot of time exploring the ship, we were only able to cover about one half of everything that was available. One of our favorite places was the Spice H2O area. The only negative thing about the cruise was the large number of children running amok. We are in our mid-60's, and were both ran into by running, screaming children five times between us. One time an urchin was running on the pool deck, looking back at another urchin chasing him and was on a course to collide with me. I just stood there and braced for impact. The urchin got the worst end of it, but he had the audacity to tell me that I should be watching where I was going.

That was our experience - Mom and Dad spent half the cruise hollering at children who looked at them like they were rude and ridiculous.

Children certainly behave differently today than they did when I was growing up!

Not all! Mine are not always perfect, for sure, but they've got manners in public.

The spring breaker's were mostly entertaining, especially at Senor Frog's in Nassau where the drinking age is 18. The afternoon at Senor Frog's was most entertaining, especially when two sets of parents came to retrieve a young boy and girl that had seemingly met each other on the ship and had become incapacitated by alcohol. I wonder how the parents were contacted.

Except for the urchins I cannot say enough positive things about the cruise though! We liked it so much that we are going on the Breakaway out of NYC the week after Labor Day. There was also a promo running that if we purchased a certain package on the Breakaway, we would get a free cruise on the Pearl out of Miami. What a deal!

Urchins!!! I love it!

I was on this cruise and there was this pack of teenagers walking around the ship thinking they owned the whole place. My first run in with them was on the elevator. They were stomping up and down and pretending to beat up one of their friends. I actually almost went off on them. I'm 28 so I remember what it's like to be a teenager and it wasn't at all like that

 

Then on firework night there were a group of teenage boys and girls way to close for comfort in the hot tub.

 

My mom would have never allowed me to be in a hot tub with boys....YUCK!

 

Tons of little kids on this ship wondering alone also.

 

I mean it didn't ruin my vacation but it did make for a conversation or two. :)

 

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I think we met your pack of teens at lunch one day - they were older teens, big, tall, foul-mouthed and giving folks with tattoos a really bad name. And Americans - they were Americans. Actually, I'm sad to say that the unsupervised kids we encountered had American accents. Sigh. I wouldn't say our vacation was ruined, but it's hard to relax when your inner "Mom" instincts are making your head spin like the Exorcist, watching out for other peoples' children.

Hi everyone - I'm sorry for the delay, but I thank you for following along and for your good thoughts. At this moment, DH and Dad are sitting comfortably near me, watching the World Cup while Mom takes a nap - all is well.

Another note - I read a different review which spoke about an older lady on our sailing who fell near/on the Putt Putt course; the response from the Norwegian staff seemed less than what one would ask for. With Dad's situation, it was quite the opposite. The medical staff were at the 'rents' cabin within 7 minutes of Mom's call, and he received prompt, thorough and correct treatment the whole time he was on the ship. I unfortunately have forgotten the names of the doctor and nurse who treated Dad, and I regret that, because I would have liked to thank them, and to let them know that they diagnosed him correctly and he is recovering very well. But back to the story.

(Forgive me if I repeat - I want to tell you a few things that I think I left out last time.) Within 7 minutes of Mom calling for the medic, there was a doctor and a nurse at the cabin. Dad was lying on the bed; the nurse hopped on the bed and the doctor stood at the side, and within 3 minutes he had oxygen, blood pressure taken, pulse ox monitored, heart listened to, blood drawn and symptoms history taken. Since Dad's BP was 190/something high (I can't remember), they decided he needed more care in the med bay. A wheelchair was at the cabin about 5 minutes later, and we all followed the chair and the medical staff into the crew-only section of the ship, where we took a (very tiny and bare bones) elevator down to deck 5. DH and I had passed the med bay several times going to and from our room - we bypassed a desk with a receptionist and a waiting room, to go straight into the treatment rooms, which looked identical to that which you could find in any ER stateside. Once there, Dad's bloodwork was processed; he had an EKG and a chest xray, and morphine for pain along with oxygen constantly. All of that took maybe 30 minutes; at the end of it, the doctor diagnosed a heart attack and said that they were going to transfer Dad to a hospital in Nassau (Doctors' General.) That was the longest wait we had; apparently, there was some difficulty with the port agent communicating with the hospital to get an ambulance. We had barely docked when all this happened - if you recall, DH and I were on the balcony of Dad's room watching the ship get docked, just before Mom called for the medic. I think that added to the difficulty. Dad was ok, and receiving care; the wait actually gave us time to think a bit and do some quick calculating.

We hoped (silly us) that Dad could get some kind of treatment that would allow him to get back on the ship and go straight to a hospital in Miami. (Well, DH and I did; Mom is a retired xray tech and nurse, and I think she knew better. We were thinking Miami would be better than Nassau, logistically and financially.) Just in case that didn't happen, I raced up to their cabin and got passports and insurance cards and toiletries and a change of clothes for both of them. (It turns out that the medical staff on board needed the insurance cards, as well.) I worried about Mom - she's diabetic, so we needed to make sure she had her insulin and sharps and testing kit as well. In her distress, I figured she wouldn't stop to think about taking care of herself, but I wanted her to have supplies just in case. We hooked Dad's cell phone up to a charger in the med bay - it was dead as a doornail. Mom needed some way to be able to communicate with us and with other family once they left the ship.

The ambulance finally arrived around 2 pm, I think. We'd had some very quiet but heated discussions in the hallway; Mom refused to consider letting us accompany them to the hospital because a) she felt like she needed to concentrate on Dad, and b) she was worried about getting their room packed up for disembarkation the next day. Sometimes, when the person you love is holding on to a very, very thin thread, you have to let them make some decisions even if you don't agree with them - and we didn't agree with her, but we did what she wanted because it gave her peace and she desperately needed it. Plus, we realized later that in the stress of things, DH had gotten confused about all-aboard time that afternoon. I figured it was probably 6:30 and I wanted to take a cab to the hospital, but he was convinced it was 4:00 and was worried about fighting the traffic and getting back to the ship in time. I'm not one to argue with the family when it is in crisis, and I was still hoping the 'rents would make it back on the ship, as unlikely as it seemed. I figured that DH and I probably needed to stay on the ship - Mom had brought some very expensive jewelry and her personal items, and she's very, very particular about who touches her things, and our cabin also had to be packed up. Plus, our car was parked at the port, and we'd need a vehicle regardless of what happened. So DH and I decided to stay on the ship, and Mom would accompany Dad to the hospital.

We were all very, very worried about Dad - you never know when your time is up, and this was not the way he'd want things to be. Mom was a trooper - calm as long as she was unchallenged and in medical mode (we chuckled, because she insisted on helping the nurse place the films for Dad's xray, to make sure they got a good shot - I think the nurse was happy for the help.) The furthest Mom has traveled has been on 3 cruises; she's never been outside the US on her own, and she was about to be taking care of herself and Dad. I was reminded yet again that my mother is what folks call a "steel magnolia" - she looks pretty and smells good, but she's made of iron on the inside, where it counts.

Eventually the EMTs arrived for Dad, with a Bahamian ambulance. They loaded Dad up on a stretcher and took him down via the crew-only elevators; DH went with Mom and I stayed behind to sign something for the medical crew and get the bill for their services: $1300, to be settled to Mom's trip account. (She had planned on buying some jewelry - she got medical tests and morphine instead.) We also had to make sure that both Mom and Dad took their key cards - DH told me later that they were actually run through the little monitors that everybody sticks their cards in when we get off and on the ship. I explained about the rooms and the medical staff advised us we could go to guest services to get access to their cabin. I dashed down the stairs and met them as they were wheeling Dad down the ramp to get off the ship - the ambulance was parked and waiting just past the crew/photographer area on the pier.

On a very personal and selfish level, putting my parents on that ambulance and watching it drive away now ranks as the hardest thing I've ever done. It was very surreal - all the characters were outside with the photographers for pictures when Dad's stretcher went by, with 2 EMTs and Mom and DH and I trailing behind; for a second, I had the insane thought to take a picture. Stress and fear make you think really strange things.

We watched the ambulance drive away and walked down the pier a bit, to call my brother with the news.

The rest of the evening is surreal and it comes to me in strange bits and flashes. I had a nasty tendency to cry if I quit moving, so we kept moving. We visited Spice H2O and talked to Rudy; he was so very, very kind; DH spent some time studying the skyline of Nassau, trying to pick out which building was the hospital. (My husband loves both of my parents very much, and has already been through a heart attack with his own father.) We revisited the med bay to see if they had any news; we were told that they would be in communication with the port agent and would call our cabin with news. I couldn't stay in the cabin, stuck in a shoebox on deck 5, but we had the cell phone and knew Mom would call if she needed us. We went to Guest Services to see about getting access to their cabin to pack it up; initially we were told that the crew would pack the cabin, but we were given a key card after I explained that Mom wanted us to do it and we were willing. Plus, I had the combination to the safe. We rescheduled our dinner reservation - I had reserved Cagney's for 6:30, envisioning a relaxing, delicious dinner during sailaway and then some packing time. First I rescheduled it for 9:00, and when reality set in we just canceled it entirely - I couldn't face anything complicated, and sitting in a steakhouse eating without Mom and Dad was just too much.

We went walking around downtown Nassau, because we'd left souvenir hunting to the end; we finally settled on a tshirt for my brother but didn't have the heart for anything else. Plus, we hate the market you are forced to walk through, getting to and from the pier; it feels pushy even though it is very easy to get things there. We walked a couple of blocks on the main street behind the street that goes down the pier area; DH has carpentry for a hobby and was fortunate to see some Bahamian building in progress and he wasn't impressed. (It had something to do with straight lines.)

The ship still didn't have any news, so we called Mom; she confirmed that they were admitting Dad and he would stay there overnight. He was getting good care, but had definitely had a heart attack. Her goal was to get him stable enough for a medical flight the next day, and we were to pack up, get off in Miami, and wait to hear the destination of the flight.

After that, it was time to pack - finally, something I'm good at! We packed up both rooms in record time and wandered around some more. Getaway spent the week being rather calm; the last night, however, the party started. Everyone, it seemed, was out of their cabins and ready to party, shop, drink, eat and buy pictures. It was the first and only time that I FELT the ship's atmosphere, and it was rather frantic to have fun. DH and I ate prime rib again in O'Sheehan's; after that, we just went to bed. Every time I started to enjoy something, I thought of my parents and started crying again, so it was definitely time to get some rest.

OMG...I feel your pain when you watched the ambulance pull away. Horrible helpless feeling. Glad all is ok now

Safe sailing

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Just a note for those asking for OP to quickly return and advise if father is ok... just consult the thread title... "We All Survived'.

 

Breathe a sigh of relief, and we can wait to see what happened with somewhat less worry. :)

 

 

 

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OMG!

Are you serious?

OMG!

Are you serious?

Yes, I was serious. Did I miss something?

People were posting that OP needed to hurry back to find out whether the father survived, and I simply posted that it was in the title, that he did.... so they needn't worry.

How is that an OMG moment?

Stephen

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Yes, I was serious. Did I miss something?

 

 

People were posting that OP needed to hurry back to find out whether the father survived, and I simply posted that it was in the title, that he did.... so they needn't worry.

 

How is that an OMG moment?

 

 

Stephen

 

 

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She also says in post #46 that dad is watching soccer and that all is well. So glad to hear that!