bambione

I am enjoying your review. I go Feb 5 on LOS. I am confused about something. You mentioned you ate once in the Windjammer for dinner. Is it a buffet at dinner or do you choose items from a menu?

thanks,

Karen

Thanks for your review. February 5 will be my first cruise with RCL,so I have a few questions.

1) Is smoking allowed by the pools? Do you know if there are specific areas where smoking is allowed? I'm a non smoker, so want to avoid those areas.

2) Is there an app that you can communicate through your phone with other members of your party? Norwegian has this and it's works really well.

3) Did you have any meals at the buffet? How was that?

Thank you, and I'm glad your first cruise was enjoyable.

Karen

I am reading this several months after you initially posted your review. Thank you! I have sailed several NCL cruises, and am now doing this RCL cruise Feb 5, and I'm a little nervous I won't enjoy myself quite as much. You get used to how certain cruise lines operate and have to relearn things when you switch to a different line. I feel a little more comfortable after reading your review, and now I'm going to read all of your pdf's that you posted. That will really give me an idea on what to expect. So I appreciate all the time you put into your review.

Karen

I was recently on the Getaway. I thought the staff was super friendly, and the shows were great. We saw Legally Blonde and Burn the Floor. The food in the main dining room was delicious, never ate at any of the pay restaurants. I was always able to find quiet spots to relax.

I think I was on this same cruise (Jan 10-17). And I agree with everything you said. Especially about the disembarkation. It was a total mess. I can understand why they only had one gangplank open (the weather), but the process just didn't seem organized. They were directing lines to go here, and then changing them, just didn't seem to have it together. Did you see any of the Cuban refugee rescue? We were also in a family oceanview and could just look out our window and see what was going on.

How far in advance can you book your dinner and show reservations?

We booked our show reservations back in September, and our dinner reservations for the main dining rooms we booked while on ship. I did hear that larger groups were having problems with reservations for the main dining halls if they waited until the last minute. So if you have a large group you might want to make the dining reservations as soon as you get on ship for the first few nights at least. The problem with a large group is you never really know who might decide to drop out at the last minute. The hostess won't seat you if the majority of your party isn't there.

None of my nieces did any of the kids activities, mainly because the dad just wanted to spend time with them and they had a lot of homework. I've heard it's a lot of fun, though.

IConcierge is 7.95 a week. In order for it to be effective for texting other people in your group have to do it as well, so you can text back and forth.

There is a bed that comes down from the ceiling. And lots of storage space. The bathroom is also quite big. While five in a room isn't ideal, it certainly is manageable. The curtain dividing the two areas will make a big difference. This is our second time staying in an Oceanview room.

Thanks for your review, it's interesting to hear what someone else says about the same cruise that you went on. We never saw our room steward, but he seemed to do everything he was supposed to. My sister on another floor loved her guy (Fred). I think you just got a dud there. But I would have been annoyed as well, considering your issue of needing a needle container.

We just got back from the Getaway and used the IConcierage app to text back and forth. It worked great, had no problems communicating. It was a little confusing at first setting up everyone's special phone numbers to use, but after that it's really easy. Well worth the money.

We were in a large group of people (16), ranging from my dad-age 90, my daughter age 21, nieces age 7,10, and then the rest of us middle aged people. We flew in from snowy Colorado (some from PA, Tx, Charleston and Chicago) and spent the night in Miami. We took an Uber ride (first time for me) from our hotel to the port. We arrived close to 11. Check in went great, everyone was excited, then we just sat and waited for our boarding group to go. This was my second Getaway adventure, so I knew what to expect. It is chaotic the first few hours on the ship. You can't go to your cabin, so people are just milling around. The Garden Café gets quite busy, so maybe go to another restaurant that's open. My dad (90) was unhappy that his wife's luggage didn't arrive until 5:30, and that the luggage is sitting in the hallway outside of the cabin, rather than being put in the room. He was concerned about theft. We did get a notice the next day in our Daily newsletter that one person never received their tote bag.

Cabins: We stayed in a family oceanview room 5178. We loved it. Had a large porthole, and a curtain to divide the bed from the couch area. Other family members had balconies 8150/8152. And on the 10th floor we had a few minisuites. I was surprised that there wasn't really any difference in room size between an oceanview and a balcony, or minisuite. My relatiives in the balconys said there was noise from the public areas most nights. We were able to see the Cuban refugee rescue from our port hole. Pretty amazing to see.

Food: If you have a large group, make a reservation and double check it! We had sixteen of us, so the first night we made a reservation for Taste. At the same time we made a reservation for the next night at Savor. The first night everything was fine, we had two tables of 8 and our wait staff were wonderful. The next night we showed up at Savor and they couldn't find our reservation! We weren't too happy. But they worked really hard to fix their error and found us three tables together in Tropicana. We made sure we had reservations for our group for each night and double checked them. If you are in a large group make sure you make your reservations a few days in advance.

Dining: We ate each night in one of the complementary main dining rooms. The food was wonderful. Everyone in our group was amazed at the quality of the food. And the wait staff were wonderful. The food was hot, tasty, and plentiful. The last night (Saturday) we ate at Savor, and the dining experience was really strange. Our food orders were messed up, service took a long time, it was just weird. But that was the exception. I now have 7 lbs to loose, ate too much of the wonderful bread. Ate occasionally at the Garden Café, food there is very good, with some different items like herring for breakfast, pate, crepes in the evening. But it does get chaotic in there. Don't stop at the first station, walk all around and see the choices. Final note, food excellent, wait staff exceptional, overall great!

Port and Shore stuff: First day we got off at GSC. It was very windy, so tendering took a long time. I could care less about this island. I'm just not one for sitting around in the sun. We had a large cabana, which was really nice. My brother did the jet ski thing, and really enjoyed it. Next time I'll just stay on the ship and miss this island (other people in my group loved it). Now coming back. I decided to leave the island early with my dad (90) to get a head start on the tendering. Didn't have to wait long (we left around 1:30). We had to talk up a little plank to get on the tender. Now my main complaint. They had water gushing out on the plank to wash off everyone's shoes. My 10 year old niece was with us and she almost slipped and fell. I was really concerned about my dad and being able to keep him steady on the plank with all the water on it. We made it, but I really had to hold on to him. I just felt it was a safety hazard with the water gushing on the plank.

Ochos Rios: I wasn't expecting too much here, and I was pleasantly surprised. We walked right off the ship to a little marketplace and shopping area. It was nice and clean and the people at the market stands weren't too obnoxious. The area looked like it had recently been overhauled and it showed. Very pleasant, nice and clean. I did a little shopping and bought some rum cream and a fake designer bag. My daughter and SIL went on a zip line and rafting excursion through the ship. They loved it, and said the area that they did it in was beautiful.

Georgetown: I'm a shopper, an avid shopper. I loved Georgetown and all the shops. I found some great deals. Be careful in the liquor stores. The first one I went into was really really pricey. Didn't buy anything. Found another one closer to the pier that was very cheap. Realized that store was duty free and only for cruise passengers. They deliver it to the ship and it's put into your cabin on the last night. So yes, I did indulge and bought a bottle of tequila for one of my kids.

Cozumel: I've been there a few times, and I really like the town. I decided to do a shore excursion with my sister and brother. We did Salsa and Salsa through the ship. It was a lot of fun. Lots of margarita's, learned how to make salsa, and did some dancing. Well worth the money. We did arrive late in Cozumel due to the Cuban refugees being rescued the night before, but they hustled to get us off the ship.

Entertainment: We booked our tickets for Legally Blonde, Burn the Floor, and Levity months in advance. I just like to be prepared. I loved the shows. My dad didn't like Legally Blonde, but then he prefers opera. We went to Dueling Pianos, which is always so much fun, and listened to music in the atrium. There was a band called Groove International, which played a variety of music. I loved their Motown show. My MIL liked the newlywed game, which I had seen before and enjoyed. Some members of our group went up to Spice h2o at night and enjoyed that as well. Lots of music all over the ship.

Service: Overall had no complaints. We enjoyed our dining room staff, were very friendly and professional. We had the UBP, and had to wait occasionally for a drink. But never that long. We always had a drink every night at Mixx, the bar between Taste and Savor. The bartender there was not very friendly, hardly smiled at all. But we got our drinks and I'm not there to make friends with the bartending staff anyway. Just an observation. There was always someone from management walking around, asking how things were going, checking that the dining room was running smoothly. It seemed that they really wanted our opinions. I can't say enough good things about the staff in Taste and Savor! Loved them.

Public areas: I walked through the casino a few times, and the smoke wasn't excessive and didn't bother me at all. However, someone else could walk through it at the same time and say the opposite, the smell of smoke is very objective.

Pool area: I'm not one to want to hang out by the pool in a lounge chair. I usually don't even put on a swim suit. But it's nice to relax in a lounge chair. Had no problems finding a place to sit. The sea days were really busy by the pool, with lots of people lounging around. So I didn't even attempt to be right by the pool. There are plenty of loungers if you don't care if you're right by the pool. All I wanted was to sit in a quiet area, read my book, and get away from the other members of my large group. But they always managed to track me down. It's a large ship, but if you think you can hide from certain people it's not going to happen. They will find you! I liked to sit up by the Flamingo grill, and there are lots of places on the ship where you can just relax and have quiet time.

Disembarkation: Woke up the last morning in Miami and it was rainy and windy. So they only opened up one gangplank to disembark. And it took forever! We tried to wait to disembark until 9:30, but it was chaotic. They kept moving the lines around and pushing us here and there. My 87 yr old MIL had fallen the night before (too much wine we think) and her tailbone was injured. I was concerned about all the walking she was doing. I didn't feel things were organized that well. But we eventually made it out and called Uber to come get us.

Iconcierage: Do this, it is worth the money to pay for the texting part. It was really nice to communicate with people all over the ship. Plus you can check all the activities that happen on the ship.

Summary: We had a few little things that went wrong or could have gone better. But those things were minor. Overall I loved, loved my cruise. Nice and relaxing, great food, beautiful weather, and the opportunity to get together with my family who came from all over.

No, I don't have copies of any dailies. But any other questions?

FYI, I just got back from the Getaway. There were 16 of us, Some in a mini suite, some with balconies, and some (me) in a family oceanview, and some in an inside cabin. I did not notice any size difference between the mini suite, the balcony, and the oceanview. Some of them commented that my room seemed to be bigger than their mini suite. I also liked that I had a curtain in my oceanview separating the bed from the couch area. The mini suites or balconies didn't have this.

I was also on this cruise, it's hard to come back to snowy weather when it was 82 degrees in the Caribbean. To answer your question about food and the complimentary venues. I loved the food. The food is the same at Taste, Savor, and Tropicana each night, and then changes daily. O'Sheahans has a pub style menu, burgers, fish/chips, wings, that type of thing. We had 16 in our group and some of them would sit in there and watch football games. We made reservations each night in one of the main dining rooms because we had a large party of 16, and my 90 yr old dad wanted to be waited on. The Garden Café can be chaotic, like the OP mentioned. But the food was quite good with a lot of variety. I would go in there for snacks, and end up with pate and other delicacies. There is also the Flamingo Grill, with Cuban style food. And the noodle bar is also now complimentary. That was good, but nothing I'd want to eat every night. There is something for everyone on the menus, prime rib the last night, Beef tenderloin, Mahi Mahi, lamb, shortribs. I better stop, I'm getting hungry and am now on a diet after eating too much of that good food.

I'm sure the OP will chime in here about the food as well.

Karen

How old are your kids? I just saw Burning the Floor, and Legally Blonde. Burning the Floor has men without shirts on (nice!) and some suggestive dancing, but around the same as Dancing with the Stars. It was a great show and I thought appropriate for children that would watch Dancing with the Stars. Legally Blonde was fine as well. Would you let your kids watch that movie? They do talk about "gay versus European" in the musical, which might offend some folks. But both shows are what I consider family oriented for the most part.

Karen

I was on this Getaway cruise and I was able to see them being rescued. We were on deck 5 and could look out our Oceanview window. My daughter and sister were on deck 8 above us watching from their balcony. They had an SOS flag attached to their raft and were yelling "help". There was a lifeboat activated ready to go but it was not released into the water. A crew member sat in the lifeboat and shined a spotlight on the Cuban raft to guide them to a door on deck 4. they managed to guide the raft to the side of the boat and were taken into deck 4. The next morning at breakfast some of the breakfast staff said the Cubans were released to the Mexican authorities. I hope they're not returned back to Cuba.

Karen

Thanks Keith,

That's kind of what I was thinking. I think the price of the app for a week of texting is pretty reasonable. And if I want to ignore someone texts I'll just say wifi wasn't working in my cocktail area.

Karen

We are leaving on the Getaway on Jan 10th (yeah!!). We are in a large group of 15 people or so. I suggested that we get the IConcierage app and sign up for the texting package. Someone in my group suggested that we could possibly use WhatsApp or Viber. Does anyone have any suggestions, would these other apps work onboard? For some reason I'm thinking only IConcierage will work, because that's on the ship's system. We would be too far away from anything for another app to work. But I could be wrong. I don't need to stay in touch with my relatives (and husband) every minute, but occasionally will be nice to meet up for cocktails.

I appreciate you posting this. Leaving on the Getaway Jan 10th, can't wait.

A year ago we had eight of us on the Getaway. In January we will be cruising with around 14 of us to celebrate my dad's 90th birthday. There is no way I would want to hang out with my relatives the entire time. I even need quiet time away from my husband! I would suggest that you pick an earlier time for dinner each night, 5 or 5:30. It seems the later a larger group eats, the longer it takes for them to serve the group. I brought along a few magnetic wipe-off boards that I stuck on the cabin doors. People could leave notes where they were going for everyone. I would also suggest the Iconcierge app to keep in touch with each other. Make sure you download the app before you get on board. But in our group some people were too cheap to pay the 7.95 for the texting option, or they didn't have the right phone. That's where the magnetic wipe off boards came in handy. I like going with a large group, because if I get tired of some people, I just go hang out with someone else! Have fun!

Keep up the work ladies! I've lost 5 lbs so far, which was my goal by Memorial Day. I'm using My Fitness Pal app and it's really helping me by logging all my calories. I'm also making better food choices. I'm really trying to increase my fiber content, which MFP tracks as well. I do fine as long as I'm home, but it's a lot harder when I have to eat out. But that's life, and as long as I don't do it every day that's OK. I'm trying to make better food choices when I do eat out, but that's hard as well. If you have to spend 20 bucks on something and nothing appeals to you on the menu that appears to be somewhat healthy that's when I struggle. So I just try to eat less and fill up on salad. My next goal weight is another 5lbs by the middle of July.

Karen

I like all the food ideas that people are posting here. I might have to try the romaine lettuce wrap with tuna inside. I've been doing My Fitness Pal for a month now and I've been doing well. Losing about a pound a week. What I've been noticing is that I'm just not that hungry anymore. I'm trying to eat more fiber and healthy whole grains and it's really been filling me up. I'm a little worried about this weekend because one of my kids is graduating from college. We'll be driving there for the weekend and eating out a lot. I do have an app that has all the nutrition and calories listed for major restaurants, so I'll try to do that. I think I'll just try to eat smaller portions. What does everyone else here do when they "have" to go out to eat?

Hi, All! I have Type 2 diabetes. About 5 years ago I had a health scare and decided it was time to take control. I was able to lose over 40 pounds and get my blood sugar down. I have been in maintenance mode and doing well, until our cruise last September. My blood sugar is up too high and I have gained almost 10 pounds.

 

I follow a low carb food plan and it has worked well for me. But, I have been craving sweets lately and it is my downfall. I walk about a mile every couple of days and go to Curves the other days. The scale is not moving. Just so frustrated. I am hoping with the warmer weather my appetite will decrease.

 

Anyway, I will continue to follow this thread and hope I get the motivation I need. It is really good to read about others' experiences.

It is certainly frustrating when those scales don't move. I started almost a month ago on my lifestyle diet. I am logging in all my calories into MyFiitnessPal app on my Ipad. I just think I should be losing a lot more than I am. But I'm not giving up! Can you get that sweetness taste without a lot of sugar? Maybe sucking on a lifesaver, or some sugarless jam? My weakness is potato chips and dips, and I can't eat just one. It's like I'm an addict! So I feel your pain! But keep it up, you can do this!

I've cruised just a few times in the past, and have never gotten a plate and taken it back to my cabin. However, I have always brought along my own Tupperware and Ziploc baggies and bagged a few things that I would enjoy later as a snack. (The same thing but I don't use NCL dinnerware) So this new policy doesn't change things for me, I'll just bring along more Tupperware to give to my relatives. Some might say why do this when there's plenty of food on board all the time. That is certainly true, but I can't always find the piece of brie cheese I saw earlier on the buffet at every food menu. I've always brought along my own larger coffee cup and larger insulated cup to hold my ice tea in. So that part won't change for me either.

Having an OV that I loved, I enjoyed hanging out in my cabin for a little piece and quiet occasionally. Having traveled before with young children (I have four) it was stressful to always go out to eat. Sometimes when we would be in hotel rooms we would order pizza in and the kids would watch TV. That was such a treat for them. So I can certainly understand parents wanting to bring food back to their rooms for their kids to enjoy. You don't always get the same food options from room service.

I want to thank the OP for their posting and contacting NCL. It's always good to know this stuff ahead of time so I can be prepared with extra Ziploc baggies.

It's not a state requirement...it's just a requirement of your bank (which doesn't sound very consumer-friendly to me). Most major banks will now allow the same protections to debit cards as we normally expect on credit cards (you're not responsible for any fraudulent charges). Of course, it's little relief if your bank account is drained and you're without money while you're waiting for it to be restored...which is why I never use debit card for purchases of anything, anywhere, period (still have to use them at ATMs but that's life).

 

I was stupidly using the same online password for a bunch of sites for a very long time. I was gradually changing it on different sites but I didn't change it on one of my bank logins. One of the other sites where I used it was hacked, and my login/password was used to login into my bank account and transfer $1000 out of it. The bank actually called me to let me know that they logged "suspicious online activity" on my account. They immediately closed the account and I got my money back a few days later. Didn't really have to jump through any hoops or file police reports or prove it other than saying "no, I didn't authorize this transfer".

 

I actually hate using that bank's website - it only uses a single-step login/password protocol. It's the only bank I use that's so lazy with their login procedures (I wouldn't be banking with them but my husband likes them, so our joint account is with them).

Can you tell me what bank this is? I'm just curious because I noticed you're from Denver. My bank (FirstBank) has a few different security procedures that if you're using a different computer you have to answer a few questions.

Since I work in a bank and handle fraud on daily basis. I tell you what I know.

 

Call or go to your bank. Tell them your card has been compromised. You have pending unauthorized charges. Let the bank works for you. They will dispute it with hotwire and fandago.

 

Just because the transactions showed up after our cruise doesn't mean it happens during our cruise. It is a possiblity though.

 

Did you use your debit card recently before the cruise? If you did, your card might be compromised at the stores that you make purchases from. Thieft will take your info. Some sell them to other people, that why some fraud charges are from overseas.

 

Normally, they will just charge something small hoping that you didn't notice it. Then bigger and bigger until the card is denied.

 

You can call hotwire if you want. They can track down the booking via your card #. BUT, i highly recommended you to let your bank do it.

 

Good luck.

I also worked at a bank, just recently retired after 30 years. I agree with everything this person says. Again, your bank will do everything, even though it's a debit card. Someone could have gotten ahold of your card number months ago, I highly doubt it's the room attendant. 99% likely you will never know how your card got compromised.