jbitzer

Take away the buffet! I also don't like prefondled food. I was on the getaway in august and I walked through buffet once and found it too crowded! The second time we attempted found it again full of people do we just got drinks from the bar and left

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If you have access to the haven , the upper deck was wonderful!

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My final bill I'm august was 90 cents!

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We were on the august 16 to 23 voyage on the Getaway . We all preferred our prior year trip on the oasis.

The solarium area In oasis was beautiful and you didn't have to pay extra as in Haven or Vibe. We did a haven cabin on the trip and if we didn't we would have hated the ship... Too crowded and only one pool

It felt that there were more complimentary food options on the oasis. Mdr, park cafe, solarium cafe was just so much more convenient

It seemed there were more things to do on the oasis. More entertainment more active things that went later . To my teen (now 17) the teen program on the oasis was much better than norwegian !

Staff at Norwegian were awesome though!

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just got off the Aug 16-23 Getaway.

Set up your dining and entertainment reservations now. We liked legally Blonde, but wasn't too wild about Burn the Floor. howl at the moon was wonderful, headliners comedy was fun-- but the emcee told the same jokes at the two different shows =two different comics.

We had ubp and udp and was not charged extra for anything.. our final bill was 90 cents! mojito bar was wonderful-- we were thinking about doing the tasting- but that was considered an event and would be charged... so we just got two drinks at a time and made our own tastings...

osheenans has ice cream based alcoholic beverages they do not charge extra for if you have ubp. We got the Toasted almond one day-- it was great. o sheenans also does take out-- we got sandwiches to go one afternoon- to go with our mojito tastings

all beverage up to 10 was included we did many 9.75 glasses of wine.

you can get the upcharge entrees with the udp with no extra charge-- such as lobster tail and the fruit de mer in le bistro.

We were in the haven-which was wonderful--

Ice skating on royal carribean ships. There is no cost for that bit you must wear long pants and one of their supplies helmets

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Yes you can get stuck.

My daughter (16 and between a size 2 and 4) but over the height and weight requirement went on the Freefall slide last week on the Getaway.

She went down, got stuck and the water shot her back up! She said it was terrifying

Sounds like fun for sure!! My husband is a runner and I run only short races but much slower than him. I will look into it for sure!! Thanks!

I just started the Couch to 5k 3 weeks ago. MY daughter runs 5ks almost daily. Truth be told, WE jogged/ran about a third of it-- and I just couldn't handle the heat. We then began to power walk. Before the cruise, I was doing about 12-14 minute miles (very slow but fine for me!) but I just couldn't handle the heat and i live in a hot state!

They also have an east end running excursion for serious runners full of hills and harder trails. I do like running trails in my local park, but I didnt think i could handle this.

We were on the same cruise and went to the same show. We were impressed with the food. The filet was the best we had the whole cruise (and we ate in specialties every night.)

 

Most important - be there at 5pm or even a little before so you are there when the doors open and make them seat you center stage. Be assertive! The first 2 tables in and the last 2 tables around the circle can't really see. You're watching the show from the magician's back. Very frustrating ! Especially the white statue. They tell you that you can see from every seat because it's a circle stage but the actors don't turn much.

YOU must have gotten the good steaks. All three of us took one cut and it was cold. I found the steamed broccoli good. We all liked the caprese salad. The deserts weren't that good. I took about a 1/2 teaspoon and tasted= from each one and it wasn't that great. My daughter asked for a soda (she had the teen soda program) and it took over 10 minutes to get it.

We did make a reservation for dinner later that night. We ate at specialities all week and found steaks overly salty all over. We tend to eat fresh (not quite clean eating but close) and found meat over processed. We mostly stuck with seafood/soups and were never disappointed.

Thanks for the review. Can you tell me if "Bong" was the bartender in the Mojito bar?

no he wasnt there.

Ruth can do her magic..don't worry about that.

And we weren't charged at all in terms of dining- but we did have the UDP program. There were a few dinners where our party of three went down to a party of two-- and one place had an issue with it (I think it was Teppanyaki)

And it is a kid friendly show.. they did pull a little boy onstage to be a helper. The first night (free with UDP on embarkation day) was not crowded at all. I wouldn't call it empty but it wasn't full either.

Thanks for the review. I hope this is not rude but do you remember if your RCC cruise was more expensive then this one??

Yes it was. It was more expensive then the Oasis (which we all loved) but about the same as the Freedom.

We aren't sure if we will try Norwegian again-- and it we do it may be Haven only.

Thanks for the review. Can you tell me about the Active Island 5k run tour?

 

Thanks

Don't know if I can post a link.. but I will try. Here's the link http://www.activeislandvi.com/

If the link doesn't show up google active island tours virgin islands.

We met at Mojos (right near Paradise Point) at 830. We did a warm up walk past Havensight and through the Yacht area. Our guide Christine did a great job telling us about the yacht owners... Richard Bransons yacht was there. We then walked around the water front and jogged to downtown area. We jogged through the downtown area. We then went through downtown area we stopped for some pictures at about three different places. (older church, waterfront area, 99 steps). We went up a hill and the 99 steps and then jogged/walked back.

The tour included the run - a performance shirt (very cute) bottle of water, pictures from the tour and a coupon for a rum based drink at Mojo's afterward.

There are 530 shows. Did you try to book online?

And don't worry about the party the size of five. We were a party of three and had the same issue with party size. We would book party of four and tell them three when we got there.

Activities:

Played trivia a few times - that was fun. Chris Wade does a great one with piano tunes.

Saw Burn the Floor- left after 45 minutes-- just wasnt for us

Legally Blonde- good show, but does skew for the younger set. Saw older people leaving after the show started. Used the Haven reserved seating for Legally Blonde.

Howl at the Moon: fantastic--went to almost all the shows. On the last night the Legally Blonde cast came after work and did many guest songs- it was fantastic! I wish the seats at Headliners were more comfortable.

Comedy show- watched both performers- one was funnier than the other

Excursions: Did Captain Bob's excursion in St. Maarten! Fantastic! It was a great time- we snorkeled all day, had a great lunch and the drinks were flowing.

St Thomas: my daughter and I did Active Island Historical 5K run. It was informative, fun but very hot! Couldn't run the entire thing because of the heat, but we had a great time

Got off this cruise yesterday. Stayed in Haven cabin 16116, had the UDP and UBP program

We (family of three) were two adult and one 16 year old girl. This would be our 5th cruise- with others on Disney, Carnival Dream, RCCL Freedom of the Seas and RCCL Oasis of the Seas.

EMBARKATION: We had a 6:00 AM flight out of Philadelphia the day of the cruise. We usually stay the night prior but could not this time due to work schedules. No issues, and got to Miami around 830. Got luggage and were out of the airport at 9 am. Got a very friendly cab driver and got to Terminal C. Waited for about 5 minutes until they opened the doors. We sat on the inside benches for a few minutes and they they had us go through the doors. We were escorted to a priority lounge area and they checked us in. We then sat at a small room with food/coffee. Then they waited for one more family and then we sat in a walled area for suite customers with more food/pastries. After about a half hour we were escorted onto the ship to the haven area . We briefly met Ruth. We wound up eating at the HAVEN restaurant for lunch.

ILLUSIONARIOUM: We got this for free with our UDP plan. Maybe it was a long day, but I only found this ok. The food was pretty bad and the show seemed to drag a little bit. There was a couple who did a box trick and others, a mentalist couple, a person who did a statue illusion, one who did tricks with birds, and the main emcee who did comedy magic. Food was cold even though we were the first ones in the room. The steak tasted funny and the potatoes were funny tasting. The laser effects were interesting but didn't really add to the story (IMO) I wouldn't have paid for it, but was glad it was free.

UDP: Ate at all included specialty restaurants.

Favorites: Le Bistro

La Cucina ( fantastic wait service)

Good: Moderno: Good service from Jackie, but we just weren't in the mood. They seemed to be pushing the chicken drumsticks and not the higher cuts of meat.

Not so great:

Teppanyaki- we had 615 reservations and the restaurant called us at 600 telling us to come down now. We felt rushed. Food was ok-- there was someone with a screaching baby a table away the whole time.

Cagneys- wait staff seemed standoffish. We were there at our appointed time and they took a long time to be ready.

We did also eat in OSheenans four lunch and bar food, (very fast service), and did one lunch in Savor. Osheenans was great for take out food as well.

Haven Restaurant: ate there mostly for breakfast. Had great service there as well.

UBP: Loved it! Didn't like signing the slips-- wish they did it like RCCL beverage program with no slips-- just scan the card. Mojito bar was great- as well as the Haven lounge

Haven: very nice- but the adults like the Solarium on the Oasis better. Was glad we were in the Haven- the rest of the boat was CROWDED!

Teen programs: In one word from my daughter, sucked! The teen program had a policy if you werent participating in the set activity they could not stay and hang out (opposite of the Oasis Living Room concept). Seemed that the older teens didn't have much to do and the activities skewed to younger teen set. Due to this, there were older teens roaming around all the time.

Areas to improve: Small gym and running track. I would get up at 630 am to walk/run and would see people saving pool chairs. Running track was narrow. The gym does not have enough machines.

non haven pool area was too crowded and narrow.

Too many large crowds in the Atrium- felt like some of these activities could have been in the theater or poolside.

In all- we preferred the Oasis more.

Just got off getaway and I saw all types off clothing. Did see people get into le bistro with Tshirts and shorts twice. Saw lots of docker type pants with polo shirts. Lots of women had maxi dresses and skirts

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Thanks again. My older son isn't traveling with us so she gets to be by herself. Usually she finds a bunch if teens and does things with them. She normally doesn't have a problem but it sounds like the getaway skews younger than older in terms of activities.

Any comments on haven, butlers or concierge?

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Thanks so much ! That is very helpful. I'm aware if the balcony situation.

One more thing- you had the entourage dailies- did the teen you traveled with enjoy the activities or was it more meet other kids and go off On their own?

An older teen (very close to the cut off age ) is traveling with us

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Thanks! You were in cabin 16116?

I'm going there next week. What were some of the advantages or disadvantages to this room?

I just read the invention of wings by sue mink Kidd and still life with bread crumbs by Anna quindlen. Both were excellent reads

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I'm on the same cruise.. would like to know.

I'm reading all the recent review threads and it looks like Jo-el left and JC Sanchez is now there.

There was some confusion since Jo-el and JC have a similar or the very same last name

Thanks. I'll try zooming again. I didn't see the hooters. I've been to st Thomas before but it's been a while

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My daughter and I are doing a 5k run with active island during out cruise. The meeting place is Mojo's rum in Havensight. The directions say it is near the hooters. I tried to google map it but I couldn't really zoom in.

I'm doing the Norwegian getAway if that matters for directions.

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Leave the port, turn left and walk down the sidewalk. Its really the only street. Join your cruise's roll call and I am sure others will be headed that way, too!

I'm happy to hear that this is the only street. The map and pictures weren't specific enough for me-- I would like a turn by turn pictures, name of street, cross street, approximate mileage, etc...

Captain Bob's directions "street with the palm trees" directions wasn't specific enough for me.