First time Cruisers Review - Getaway 10/16

We were first time cruisers. 40’s, kids 9 and 12. So none of us was sure what to think. I decided to rate several areas that were important to me on 1-10 scale. We paid $2400 for a balcony room.

Embarkation.

Our first impression overall was positive. The embarkation was smooth and we were on the ship before noon, we waited around for about 2 hours. First we ate at the buffet. Then got the kids signed up at Splash Academy. Then off to the pool, finally to the room around 2. Rating - 8.

Room

We were in room 8710. Which is a balcony guarantee with a HUGE balcony. We had four chairs, a table, and two loungers out there, it was very nice. We did have noise on port days as we dropped anchor or tied off, but it didn’t bother us, we were up and moving around then anyway. I thought the layout of the room was nice, especially the bathroom and shower area. It was a long walk to the end of the hall, so if you have mobility issues it would be a pain, but we loved it. Room service was also nice. Rating - 9

TV Sports

Soccer. I played soccer in high school. I follow the EPL. But man, even I was tired of soccer. I was really disappointed in the TV quality. I wasn’t prepared for it to be satellite TV that was a constant scramble and blur. Also standard definition on HD TV’s stretched to the point that you couldn’t even see the score box in the upper left of the screen. I had to ask people the score, like it was 1984! Ha. Not a huge deal, but something I wasn’t prepared for. I don’t go on vacation to watch TV, but I did find myself sitting around in bars drinking a fair bit, and it would have been nice to have some variety or better quality viewing. There were NFL games on Sunday, Monday, Thursday, no college football on Saturday.

Rating - 4

Food

We were generally disappointed with the quality of the food. Again, we have never cruised and have no baseline, but in my mind, it was what I always thought cruise food would be like. It wasn’t bad food, just not much remarkable during our week. Lots and lots of really average food. I found the buffet to be just okay quality overall. During busy/peak times it was crazy in there, even though I think it was laid out pretty well.

We ate at the main dining rooms several times, Tropicana, and the Noodle Bar. Tropicana service was not good, but my pork dish was one of the better than I had on the cruise. The noodle bar was below average and bland with a very limited menu. My kids did like it however. And liked practicing with chop sticks. It was a 45 minute wait. My kids also like being able to order of the adult menu and try many different new foods, which was nice. Overall I thought the more ‘standard’ the dish, the better the execution. I tried to make ‘healthier” choices a few nights and ended up with overcooked swordfish or flounder. The NY strip, pork loin, or rotisserie chicken were much better, but still only “good” overall. It seemed the more delicate the dish, the poorer the execution.

We did get a couple of sushi rolls ($14 total) one night at Wasabi, and they were very good. Especially the soft shell crab.

They only specialty restaurant we ate at was Le Bistro ($62) as we didn’t have the SDP. We were both disappointed in the service and food quality here. The waiter didn’t take our order in stages, just everything all at once, cocktail, wine, app, entree. My wife had the duck. Which she really didn’t care for. It was like a duck meatloaf covered in mashed potatoes, I’ve never seen duck served like that. It wasn’t pretty bland. I had the Lamb, which was just ok. Overall, it just had this “fake fancy” feeling that I couldn’t shake.

The best food we had all week was off the ship.

Rating - 4

Sanitation

Sanitation stations and people spraying your hands everywhere. This was nice. I’m sure all cruises do it, but I appreciated it. Rating - 10

UBP

This was SO talked about on Cruise Critic and I don’t understand why. As a moderate drinker, it was great. If you don’t drink at all, then I can see why you might not value it. It was $200 for the week for us. We more than got our money out of this. 2 drinks from Margaritaville were $25.84. I tried everything on the drink menu there! Never saw more than a few people eating in there. Only open 12-5. 2 glasses of wine each at dinner, $52. It adds up fast. The quality of the included liquor was good and better than I expected. I drank a lot of Bombay and Tonics. The beer selection was poor to fair, so I’ll ding them for that, but I still had my share!

I also had no problem getting multiple drinks at a time using only 1 card. In fact, I could never get the bartenders to even take the second card, they only wanted one, so I quit even bringing my wife’s card. I also would routinely order 2 alcoholic drinks and root beer or sprite for my son on one card. No one batted an eye, and I think I should have been charged for the soda? But never was... We never paid port taxes on drinks either, other than in Miami. I thought we would in the other ports as well, but we weren’t. One factor I also didn’t consider, is all those $3 Diet Pepsi or Sprites, those would also add up. I appreciated that they weren’t overly stringent on the rules with this. I did tip every other time or so, most people didn’t.

Rating - 8 (beer selection, knocks this down a little).

Shows

These, along with the food, were one of the biggest let downs for us. I don’t know why I had higher expectations for a cruise ship show, maybe I read to many great reviews on CC. We’ve seen tons of broadway/west end shows, so we had a decent perspective on this. We saw MDQ, which was by far the best, but still only “good”. The bass player has to run out and pump up the crowd just to get the applause going for the encore before people could walk out. The performers were overall good, but I didn’t feel like it was ‘straight from broadway’, which I have seen used to describe this. Jerry Lee was the best part of the show.

Burn the Floor was just ok. Talented dancers, but it’s over an hour long, and just sort of repeats itself. The ending is super awkward. They do the big finale, people stand to applaud and start walking out, then they go into another number as ⅓ of the audience is walking out and others are sitting back down.

We also did the Illusionarium. My kids liked it. The food is a fixed menu, and just not that good. It was a lot of “prop” magic and making a women disappear about 14 times. I would have liked to see more up close and sleight of hand magic in that small venue, but it was the opposite, trying to be a BIG magic show. It was good overall, but also $140 extra.

Rating - 5

Splash Academy

My first impression of this was not great. It is a pretty small physical space. But they do all kinds of fun theming each night. Glow party, PJ night. My kids loved going to this. They went everyday for at least 2 hours. It wasn’t just a holding area. They were actively lead in group games the entire time during the evenings. No just sitting around playing Wii. (during the day, during freestyle play, I think they did more video games and movie watching) They participated in the big finale show, which was cute, and they were so pumped up about. My kids tend to go all in on these sorts of things, so I could see where some kids might think it was boring or stupid, but my kids had lots of fun. It was nice for us to go to dinner or go sit in the hot tub or whatever. This exceeded my expectations.

Rating - 9

Casino

This was better than I thought it'd be. I only played craps. They had 2 tables Ended the week being up a whopping $85 at the end of the cruise. Better than being down. I wish they had a $5 table, even during the day, I’d have played more. But it was always $10. I didn’t find the smoke, outside of deck 7 to be that bad.

Rating - 8

Ports

I wasn’t sure what it would be like to have 4000 people pile off a ship into a country for 7 hours. It wasn’t really too bad getting on/off the ship, even tendering in Belize. The tender times mean nothing. It’s not a great way to see the world in my opinion, but it did allow us to expose our children to some places that we would never have taken them to otherwise.

Roatan - We did a private tour with Rony Tours. It was fantastic and a highlight of the trip for us. We went to Jungle Top Zipline first. So much fun. You just walk in, plunk down some cash ($40 each), and off you go, no forms, no safety lecture, just jump into the bed of a pickup and go straight up a very steep road! The bridges between the ziplines were scarier than the actual ziplines! The guides that took us did crazy tricks, flips, bouncing off trees. It did inspire you to be braver. They worked very hard to make sure we all had fun and still were safety conscious.

We had brought a couple of backpacks of school supplies and some toys for the children. Ronald our driver had pre-arranged for some kids to be at his house for us to present them. There were probably 25-30 kids waiting for us. My kids handed out the stuff and it was gone in an instant. This was the highlight of the trip for us. My son loved it! There are so many kids who want to go to school that they go in 3 shifts, 7-12, 12-5, 5-10 each day. He also served us a welcome drink and showed us his soccer trophies. He helps run a soccer program for kids, but they have to be in school to be on the team. He had such pride in his country. We stopped by a road side stand for some lychee fruit, which was amazing. He then took us to Paradise in West Bay to spend the afternoon swimming. The beach is awesome here, but crowded, lots of blue NCL towels around! It was $100 for him to drive us around all day. It was a great day.

Belize -

We did Cave Tubing with Cave Tubing.Com Butts Up. The actual Cave Tubing part is very cool. But it took forever to get there. We got on the bus at 9 and finally hit the water at noon. My kids were cooked. Probably in the water for 40 minutes. There was also way too much lecturing from the guides about moving fast and not messing around, etc. etc., meanwhile we stopped multiple times to wait and let them shuttle other people onto our bus who were behind us and to let people off to do the ATV. They made it all feel very frantic and rushed. Make sure you don’t have to carry your own tube if you book with one of these companies ( we did not, and that was nice, we saw many others were carrying their tubes on the 25 minutes walk through the jungle). It was only $35 each, I’m glad we did it, but it was too long of ride.

Costa Maya -

Maya Chan beach day. 25 minute bumpy cab ride. But this place was fantastic. Best meal we had all week was the ‘taco’ bar. So yummy. Drinks, food, equipment, transportation, private beach hut with hammocks included. They wait on you floating in the ocean. Wife got a $25 massage. Kids liked the tree house. Beach isn’t pristine, but was nice enough. They limited the number of people (50-60?), so it was nice and quite. It was about $200 for all of us for the day.

Cozumel -

Just got off and bought a bunch of junk we didn’t need. I did manage to find La Casa Habano and get nice Cuban cigar to smoke. So many fakes being peddled on the street. Other than than we just got back on the ship.

Rating - 9 (we had a lot of fun in the ports)

Pools/Slides/Ropes Course

The pools are very small and crowded. The adult pool was very loud and crowded. The kids pools was too salty for my 9 year old. He really complained about it and didn’t like getting in it. Which is odd for him. The bars were slammed on sea days. I quickly started going up to Margaritaville to get our drinks, much much faster (best tip on this whole review :) ).

The waterslides were better than I thought they’d be, lots of fun, and the lines were short. The drop slides really give you a rush (you have to weigh at least 99 lbs and under 300 lbs). The ropes course was also a lot of fun for my son and I. We both walked the plank! We didn’t do the climbing wall or bungy jump as that was only open in the evenings? Like 3-6 or 5-8 or something like that. Kids liked the Arcade of course and we spent too much money on skee ball.

Overall the outside deck area just felt smaller to me than I thought it would/should be. Vibe and Spice H2O take up a lot of the deck space here. Waterfront area was nice.

Rating - 6

Fake fancy/What a deal/Final Thoughts/Future Cruising

Maybe it’s just me, and maybe all cruises are like this (I suspect they are), but it left us with this whole ‘fake fancy’ feeling. I don’t know how to describe it, but it was like all a bit too cheesy for us. I’m not going to do well putting it into words, without being insensitive or insulting, so I’ll just leave it there.

Also the constant “what a great shopping deal on diamonds”, “duty free!” or the bad Art auction, or VIP stores to shop at while in port was just flat out annoying to me.

I also think the UBP made for a pretty adult atmosphere, especially after about 8pm. This was ok, as our kids were in Splash Academy, but it got a little old by the end of the week, and I’m a moderate/heavy drinker.

Overall, it was a good time. As I read back through this it comes off pretty negative. We did have a good time overall, there were just some things that disappointed us, mostly the food. My kids enjoyed it even more than we did I think.

I would cruise again, it’s hard to replicate the value for 4 people getting to see and do so much. For what I paid for a week, I would say overall that we got our money out of it. I didn’t expect 4 or 5 star service for $600 a person. There is a lot going on and really is something for everyone to do. I learned that you can easily avoid those things that annoy you, it’s a big ship, and we just focused our energy elsewhere. It was a fun family vacation for all of us. But I don’t think it turned us into cruisers for life or anything.

Rating Overall - 7

Great review. I am cruising next month on NCL and have cruised with RC and Disney. I know what you mean by fake fancy. The food looks fantastic but generally doesn't taste that way [emoji6] it's not bad food but not the best I had either. I find buffet desserts to be pretty bland everywhere, some are ok though. On Disney they had these Mickey ice cream bars, yummy! Going in my food expectations aren't high as well as the tiny pool area. I'm really going for the itinerary and am too scared to try Carnival. Maybe next time!!

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Great review, lots of good information and well organized. Leaving on Getaway Nov 27th, best 2 tips were Rony's tours and hitting the Margaritaville bar during pool time....thanks again.

If you want to feel better about the food the next time you cruise, go to an all inclusive in Jamaica first.

If you want to feel better about the food the next time you cruise, go to an all inclusive in Jamaica first.

Lol we went to an AI in Cancun many years ago where the desserts looked delicious but tasted of nothing !

Thanks Op for the review , we don't go for a year but enjoy reading all we can about The Getaway :)

Honest review, which is appreciated. I did the Getaway last month and the older ship, the Star in 2012. I would have expected to be completely wowed by the food like I was on the Star, but I wasn't. The cafe food on the Star was far superior...except the crepe station. That rocked on the Getaway.

We also had a large balcony on the 8th dedicated, and that really made the vacation. I would love a balcony that size on a cruise any day.

The more I hear about Illusionarium is a reminder to never do it.

To all first time cruisers. Do not hesitate to ask for something else if you don't like what your served in the MDR or specialty restaurant! No need to pick a something you don't like, they will bring you a different meal!!

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Very objective assessment. Thanks.

I was on the same sailing as you on the Getaway and I really enjoyed the cruise overall. My husband and I tend to find the pools too busy and overcrowded on any cruiseship, so we got the thermal spa passes and used the hot pool in there each day. I enjoyed some of the food, but not all of it. I loved the crepe station at the buffet, as well as the ice cream, curry, and pizza. I enjoyed the turkey dinner and melting lava cake in the main dining room - yummy! I really liked the peanut butter cheesecake and philly cheesesteak in the dining room at lunch. In O'Sheehan's, the fajitas and pound cake were good, as well as the nachos for a snack. My husband really liked the wings. Breakfast was always good no matter the venue. I enjoyed the waffle, the french toast, poached eggs, and omelette. The croissants in the morning in delicious and the bread/buns are great in the dining room in the evening.

Thanks for sharing your review with us.

How very refreshing. An honest review with some good and some less than good feedback, however no whining or attacking. Job well done.

Thanks for your review. We're booked for our first NCL cruise in March on the Getaway.

As far as the beer selection on the UBP, do you recall if Heineken and Miller Lite were included?

I was on the same sailing as you on the Getaway and I really enjoyed the cruise overall. My husband and I tend to find the pools too busy and overcrowded on any cruiseship' date=' so we got the thermal spa passes and used the hot pool in there each day. I enjoyed some of the food, but not all of it. I loved the crepe station at the buffet, as well as the ice cream, curry, and pizza. I enjoyed the turkey dinner and melting lava cake in the main dining room - yummy! I really liked the peanut butter cheesecake and philly cheesesteak in the dining room at lunch. In O'Sheehan's, the fajitas and pound cake were good, as well as the nachos for a snack. My husband really liked the wings. Breakfast was always good no matter the venue. I enjoyed the waffle, the french toast, poached eggs, and omelette. The croissants in the morning in delicious and the bread/buns are great in the dining room in the evening.[/quote']

 

I forgot about the lava cake! My kids and I both enjoyed that several times.

Thanks for your review. We're booked for our first NCL cruise in March on the Getaway.

As far as the beer selection on the UBP, do you recall if Heineken and Miller Lite were included?

Yes and Yes. All the beers are included. Just not a huge selection. Most the expected domestic and basic imports.

They did have Lagunitas A Little Sumpin' Sumpin', which was my go to.

"Fake Fancy" is the best description of the MDR room I've ever heard.

Years ago, about 35 years ago...I paid more for my inside cabin than I do for a balcony today. Obviously....they can't deliver the same product for a fraction of the cost.

In general I've found the buffet food much better than the MDR. And, at least if you don't like something, you just go back and get something else.

Thanks for the review.

Thank you for your review!

Point of fact: if you had the UBP and the kids were in the same room with you...3/4/5th passengers get their soda for free, so you were good on the sodas for everyone part.

Thank you for your review!

 

Point of fact: if you had the UBP and the kids were in the same room with you...3/4/5th passengers get their soda for free, so you were good on the sodas for everyone part.

Do they still offer the soda program to the remaining passengers in the cabin?

Thanks for your honest review. We are going on the Getaway in January and the food is my biggest concern. My husband is in sales and is use to very high end restaurants and will not be fooled by "fake fancy", what a great description. We were on a 3 night trip on the Sky and he did not like the food so I was hoping the food on a larger ship would be better. I plan to try the specialty restaurants but seems that might not work either.

I was on the Escape earlier this year and found that the food quality was tiered.

The buffet was OK. Quick meal to not miss something I had plans to do. It will fill you up, but it wasn't anything to rave about. It had the benefit of fast and not changing out of my bathing suit.

MDR - Better. I went there 6 nights with a group of solo travelers. The group made the experience better but food wasn't out of this world good.

Teppenyaki/Cangney's - My experiences here were incredible. The meals (steaks) here would rival some high end restaurants. Some foodies may disagree, but I know I will have plans to visit both on my Getaway cruise in Feb 2017.

Also ate at Margaritaville one day for lunch. Big fan of the Volcano Nachos and they were as good onboard as in mainland stores. That and a couple of margaritas made for a great sea day meal.

Great review by the way.

Great review! Thank you! Is there a charge for eating at Margaritaville on the Getaway?

Yes there is a additional charge for the food.