danimalct

Even just walking over to one of he many tour taxis that sit right at the dock and hopping on one with 10 or 12 other people is cheap and simple. Don't worry about the open air pickup truck style taxis, they have been safe every time we used them.

The Sugarcane mojito bar is a great place to hang out. Many people like Bong bartending inside but I prefer to sit outside in the open air bar. If Clarence the chocolate cowboy is there then he will take good care of you as he has treated me great on 5 cruises so far. We took over that bar on our last cruise, 1 firefighter and 3 cops with our spouses. Just sitting there as the sea rolls by with a good drink is quite relaxing. Plenty of good activities on the ship, look for the oddball stuff like how to make sushi, towel animals. Any big show there is worth the time and effort too.

The sea was angry that night my friend......

Clarense the Chocolate Cowboy is the best! We took him ashore to the Sunset Bar/Grill at Maho Beach on our October Getaway cruise. He makes a mean Mojito but we first met him on the Gem several years ago. That was our 5th cruise with him and he is like family. Bong was working the inside Mojito bar on the Getaway so we finally got to meet him after hearing so much about him. Its too bad they are both on the same ship because I would have enjoyed hanging out with Bong too.

I started reading this thread and realized it was an old thread but it is still relevant today. Tomct is a friend of mine having met through here, now we see each other at Uconn basketball games. Tom, I have a couple nice bottles of JW Blue and Explorer series at my house if you really get thirsty.

As an aside the price on Blue is way down, I think it was 2/ $250 on the Getaway in October.

Rent a car from Budget port of Miami, drive to Dolphin Mall and drop car at MIA.

http://www.shopdolphinmall.com/

We just disembarked on 10/25 and found nothing out of ordinary with the Getaway but we had a good week, rain in Nassau but great weather the rest of week.

Just got off the Getaway Saturday, was on the Breakaway in February and sailed on the Summit to Bermuda in August. I was pleasantly surprised by the Summit but I would go on Breakaway without a second thought. I love the promenade deck 8 concept first of all. I had a concierge class balcony on Summit and found it to be not worth any difference over a regular balcony besides the comfy robes. There was better activities and a younger demographics on NCL too. I will give the Summit the edge for foodies, the Normandie specialty restaurant lobster flambe was cooked table side and was a phenomenal meal. There was definitely more formality on Summit which is not my style. My DW was walking from the casino back to the room in a tee shirt to get dressed up when a woman said to her " You do realize it is formal night?" Kinda says something about the people who think they are something and do sail on the X.

I've seen their headquarters in Miami, right off the highway, I think the Palmetto expressway, within a couple miles from Miami airport.

I took the shuttle in May, an early one into the city. Got on the first little train tour, went up to Notre Dame, saw a quick view of the city. That was enough for me as it seemed much of the downtown and port area was under construction. i took an early shuttle back as I had heard the horror stories. It was an ok day, just near the bottom of all the port stops I have made over the years.

We met him on the Gem in 2010 and 11. We saw him on the Epic in May in Barcelona. He was going on vacation in the summer and said he would be back on the Epic before he goes to Breakaway. We hope we will see him in December when we sail, and told him we would try the Breakaway in 2013 as long as he was there!