MacGuffin

Has there been any discussion about the Havana pool area turning into a loud night time party area as described on carnival web site? Those balconies overlooking the Havana pool will be rough for anyone who wants some sleep!:confused:

It's because some document in the cabin has ship stats and for the Away class they include the lifeboats, whereas for the Escape the figure is at the waterline.

 

You are correct that the Escape is wider but unfortunately the misinformation is starting to get established and keeps cropping up.

 

One person got quite upset about it in a thread last year.

That's very interesting that NCL uses a different standard when measuring the width of the Escape vs. Away class! It has the exact same length, and the extra tonnage is due to an additional 1.5 decks of cabins. It would be odd for them to only tweak the ship design by adding only a few extra feet in width, and not length. Not unheard of, as the Queen Elizabeth/Koningsdam is just a stretched and tweaked Zuiderdam. So perhaps the Escape and Away are also the same width, too, if measured at the same point?

I say this because our cruise on Getaway in calm calm seas had the most movement of any ship we've cruised on! We ventured back to the crowded Spice H2O one day and felt like we were getting whiplash. We only lasted about 30 min back there. It seemed inevitable that piling 2 extra decks on top of an already top heavy design would cause even more motion. And with 200+ more people on board, too! We've had the smoothest rides in some rough seas on the Breeze, HAL Vista class and Princess Grand+ class.

I noticed that many of the posts on this thread are from around 2013 so maybe things have changed since then, but I found my 2015 cruise on the Getaway to be the most noticeable (blatant) nickel & dime cruise I've been on yet. What set it apart from recent cruises on Carnival, Princess and Celebrity were the crowds. It seemed that on NCL you have to pay to get away from the hordes, and this was an 'off season' cruise.

The basic cruise fare on NCL was not cheap. Carnival fares are cheap but you get what you pay for. Princess was inexpensive for us because as previous cruisers can find good sales & discounts. NCL compared to our Celebrity fare, but that's where the "you get what you pay for" ends.

Included dining on NCL was terrible, worse than Carnival. Included dining on Princess & Celebrity were for the most part excellent, including the buffets. They simply do not compare. So on Princess & Celebrity going to an upcharge restaurant felt more like a special occasion, but on Getaway you're paying extra for decent food on top of the already expensive basic cruise fare. The Getaway's plethora of "choices" cost $$ but the quality we experienced in them only equaled what we got for free (I'm sorry, 'included') in our Princess & Celebrity cruises. Now I hear NCL is going the RCCL route and charging for prime rib and lobster in the 'included' dining room?? Yet another fee.

Celebrity did have a "cirque-type" show in their large, beautiful main lounge. We saw a fun but tacky magic show with bad food in the Getaway's extra-fee Imaginarium and two good, overlong but free musicals in her smallish Getaway theater. These shows compared well to the free musical "Fiera" on Regal Princess.

The Spa on Getaway was usually over sold (i.e. packed.) The Spas on Carnival Breeze, Princess and Celebrity were never crowded. The Spa on Regal Princess was the best I've been to yet.

Crowding on the Getaway's pool deck is ridiculous, so the $$ for Vibe was a nice respite. Yes, Princess charges for their Sanctuary, but the Princess ships have so many pools and expansive sun decks that there was never a need for us to try the Sanctuary. And Celebrity has their free adult Solarium which was never full.

All lines charge for specialty coffee, but Princess includes excellent free pastries in the International Café, and excellent free pizza in Alfredo's (on the ships that have Alfredo's.)

I have to agree with OceanBlue, it seems all of Getaway's public spaces are devoted to revenue generators. Princess, Celebrity and even Carnival ships are stuffed with lounges and free public spaces. This is probably why the Getaway felt so crowded - the minimal free, non-revenue generating public areas were always packed to the gills with people, while none of the space occupied by the specialty restaurants was even open during the day. Princess & Celebrity never feel crowded because the crowds are dispersed over several fee-free decks of pools and lounges.

The lone feature that stood out on Getaway were the water slides and ropes course, a little better than the Breeze. However, we missed the Princess & Carnival Movies Under the Stars on both NCL and Celebrity. Getaway did show one cartoon in the poorly designed Spice H2O. We were surprised they didn't show more movies back there.

The final deal breaker for us is the Getaway (and I've read the Escape) rocked a lot. Maybe it's the design, but the ship's movement was very noticeable in calm seas compared to almost every other ship we've been on. This alone is reason enough to not repeat.

So for all the NCL lovers out there who say that NCL just isn't for me, you're absolutely right! We won't be back on NCL any time soon. The OP asked for opinions, and I have one. Some people tout NCL's 'choices.' But who needs choices when the basic fare on Princess, Celebrity and even Carnival include great food, good shows and freedom from crowds? Some people call it "nickel & diming." I like to think of it as "bang for the buck." When you add up all costs for each cruise, NCL turned out to be the most expensive (and the most crowded.) Next time I want a great water slide I'll go back on Carnival and know that I'm getting what I pay for.

Like this one, which gave the ship 5 stars?

 

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=518087

 

 

 

Stephen

 

 

.

They stayed in the Haven. I hope it was 5 stars!

UDP? SDP? WT F?! Charging for lobster and prime rib in the 'free' dining rooms?? Can NCL make it any more complicated to nickel and dime their customers?? After reading the obviously confused NCL customers in this thread, and hearing about the confused passengers and employees in the restaurants, my bet is this new pricing scheme will be short lived. Under their new leadership, NCL has been publicly saying they're going re-vamp their image to focus more on customer service and less on nickel and diming. Streamlining their dining options would be a great start. Adding more pools and less passengers would be another. Anyone want to bet the Bliss (i.e. Breakaway Plus #3) will have some design changes? :rolleyes:

Hi. We are Elite with Princess and have sailed all Grand class plus Regal. Had a terrible experience on the Norwegian Pearl - the ship was tacky, cheaply made and the food was terrible. Vowed to never go on NCL again. However, all the publicity and decent to good reviews enticed us onto the Getaway and we splurged for the Haven. Long story short, we'll never do NCL again. Twice burned, twice shy. I'll try to be brief: Princess feels like a ship, Getaway like a new Miami Beach hotel. The ship was very nice, similar to the new Celebrity ships. But the compliments stop there. Grand class ships have FOUR outdoor pools for 3,000+ passengers, Getaway had ONE for 4,000+. We never failed to marvel at the stupidity of this design! Princess has MUTS, Getaway has Spice H2O, a cramped area on the rear of the ship with poor traffic flow and very, very limited seating for the one movie they showed. It felt like sitting in front of a jumbotron vs. MUTS drive in movie feel. Regal had excellent shows, on par with NCL, but really NCL's Burn the Floor and Legally Blond were just amped up versions of typical cruise ship shows with better dancers. Princess Crown Grill and Sabatini's are excellent extra charge dining options, and the dining in general is very good. The main dining on Getaway was not good, and the extra charge were good, but equivalent to Princess free dining. But my biggest shock with Getaway was EVERY SQUARE INCH of public space came with a fee or was designed to take your money! A rainy sea day forced us inside, but our only options were casino, bars or shops. That's it!!! There are literally NO free lounges to hang out it! The Getaway theater was closed, as were all specialty restaurants. The only no charge public spaces are a small game room/library, a secondary atrium with a big screen TV that showed reruns of Cake Boss to support the Cake Boss cakes on sale right behind you, Flamingo Grill, a very good alternative free buffet that did get boring after 6 days of eating the same menu, and the screamingly chaotic main buffet. That's it: excluding the small gym, only 4 free public spaces!! The ship and even the Haven and Thermal Suite were always crowded. So... while the Getaway did have A LOT of kids and families, be prepared to pay for EVERYTHING and fight for deck chair space. We went on a lark to see what all the fuss is about and missed our Ruby Princess every single day.

Wow! Those are really shortened. I just looked at my itinerary on the cruise personalizer and found that my port times have not changed. They are the same as your original postings. Have you contacted Princess to see why they've changed for your sailing?

:)

Bonnie

It appears that the new vibration problem after the refit is causing them to slow the ship's speed. Too many complaints unfortunately. Thankfully the Coral's refit has been postponed/canceled?

IMO you will be fine. :cool:

Keep the cabins.

FYI the first post-refit review was just posted for Island and the new Lido Deck balcony room vibrated so badly the poor guest had to be relocated... Thought this might be why the Coral refit was changed.

:eek:

There's a lot of chatter out there that the Coral refurb has been changed, delayed or cancelled. Some folks who booked 'new' cabins are getting letters from Princess with new cabin assignments, and the times the new deck plans are shown all the new suites are 'unavailable'!!! I also read the Island is having a lot of vibration problems with the new cabins, so hopefully Princess is rethinking or revising their plans! HAL did the same with the Veendam and Rotterdam. The plan was to retrofit more ships with new aft balconies, remove the aft pool for a 'retreat', etc., but after two ships getting butchered those plans were scrapped. The Volendam was given Lanai cabins and that's about it! Let's keep our fingers crossed for the Coral...

Thanks for the feedback everyone! It appears the butchering of the Coral has been delayed or cancelled!! So we're going Coral. I'd really like to check out the Zuider just to see what all the negative fuss is about. Maybe when she starts doing 3 day cruises to Freeport... :p

I'm glad. Sometimes 'follow the money'.....just.....doesn't.....work. They must be having some real issues with the new-build part added to the stern of Island Princess.

 

:cool:

I read online that some of the new aft cabins have bad vibration issues.

Oddly enough, this is exactly how I feel about Royal and Regal Princess.

Ditto. We just came back from the Regal and while it is definitely beautiful on the inside, what we missed from the Grand class far outweighs a glittery interior: 5 pools on tiered top decks, Skywalkers, a wrap around promenade, decent sized stateroom balconies and a main show lounge that isn't claustrophobic (the Grand class are small, but Regal's was tight!) We'd never say never to Regal, but if we have an option we'll go Ruby. Same with Island/Coral: still a beautiful ship on the inside, but they're no longer unique, and that means we now have options with other ships, and so the Island/Coral now have competition.

I know I'm setting myself up to get flamed here, but really folks, I don't think the new aft looks any worse than this:

 

 

And to call this a pool is really ludicrous:

 

 

In my humble opinion, the aft of Island Princess was nothing but underutilized and wasted space and that goes for the Universe Lounge as well; it was an ugly and uncomfortable cavern of a room. I have avoided Island Princess, primarily because it had no aft-facing balcony cabins; and now that it does, I'm back onboard.

That pool is actually bigger than the aft pool on the Regal!! And I agree with others that all that under utilized space was actually utilized by paying passengers for Canal and Alaska viewing. Now to get a view like that you have to pay extra for the Sanctuary.

Here is my photographic tour of the Westerdam from July 2014 in Alaska:

 

http://www.rogerjett-photography.com/travel-2/ms-westerdam-tour/

Thanks!!

It was very crowded for bingo as it was held in the lounge at the same time as the two for one drinks! Since they no longer have the vista lounge it does impact some of the events. The elevators were not working properly at the start of the trip but they seemed to have cleared that up by the end of the trip and no issues with crowding. I didn't notice any significant crowding at dinner or by the pool. They had workers working installing carpeting, painting, etc. during the cruise. We had ceiling tiles hanging (safely) in our hallway the whole cruise.

Thank you for the feedback!! We're considering the Coral Princess or Zuiderdam for a 2016 Panama Canal cruise, but we won't be able to sail until after the Coral's refit. She and Island have always rec'd the best reviews and are known for being spacious, so I was a little concerned about the extra passengers after the refit. It sounds like it's not really an issue, especially with all the construction still going on!

Thanks for the feedback everyone! The Zuiderdam gets great feedback on these boards as opposed to the maim review site. That's encouraging! We enjoyed our cruises on Nieuw ans Wester, even though she was a bit run down when we were on her. Any one have pictures or links to the new Zuiderdam and westerdam interiors? And the first feedback about the IslanD Princess refit sounds like wobbly vibrating cabins. Sounds like we'll have to live without must!!

Just back from 12-day Venice to Barcelona on Island Princess. We had a mini-suite on Dolphin deck mid-ship and it was terrific. However, I heard many, many complaints from rooms not being completed, leaks, vibrations/noise, and one suite that was supposed to be ADA-compliant did not have wide enough balcony for wheelchair. Two floors did not have working laundry facilities and although our floor had working facilities, the soap machine did not work. Missed having the Vista Lounge which was converted to rooms. Staff did not seem overly enthusiastic, very different from Alaska cruises. Tours were very good albeit exhausting but the guides were very good. A couple of medical emergencies held up the ship a few times and made for late arrivals. Overall, great trip and fabulous people on board but the Island Princess still needs to work out some bugs.

Hello and welcome back! Did you notice any crowding with the extra passengers in the dining, buffet, elevators and pools? That's our biggest concern about an upcoming canal cruise. Thanks!

Your post sounds like you were on a different Getaway. We just got off the Getaway yesterday and had a most wonderful cruise. Everything was perfect. Buffet crowded? Never! We always got a table immediately, whether at breakfast or lunch. I don't understand what you mean by main lounge only open for reservations. Are you referring to the theater? The two signature shows, Burn the Floor and Legally Blonde did of course requires reservations. But they performed several times and at different times, so there was opportunity for everyone. If they bothered.

 

As for Flamingo Grill. they were open every day until 5:00. From early AM all the way through. If you really needed a burger past 5:00, you could always get one in the Garden Cafe which was usually open until 9:30. And then they had more food; more than anyone could want. And then there is O'Sheehan's Pub which is open 24/7. YUM! Every ship and every cruise line is designed to "take your money." Every one of them wants you in the casino, at the bar, in the shops or on their shorex. Nothing different with NCL. This ship had three dining rooms, so you need not have spent money on specialty restaurants. We, OTOH, had specialty dinners 6 out of 7 nights.Atrium screen? They did all sorts of things there. Only once did I notice Cake Boss. ???

Sorry, the buffet was a mad house every time we went: breakfast, lunch, dinner, late night. The main lounge only had Burn the Floor and Legally Blond, both of which needed reservations for decent seats, both of which were repeated. There was a crew talent show on the last night. My point was more about being one of the few non-upcharge public places on the ship, it was only used at night for only 2 shows that repeated. Once you've seen the shows you're done with the Getaway Theater.

Flamingo Grill did have limited hours compared to Buffet. The food in Flamingo was great, but got repetitive. The food in the buffet and dining rooms were average. The food in O'Sheehans was terrible. Microwaved chicken wings? More like hot rubber.

All cruise lines are there to take your money, but NCL is the most blatant we've been on. Princess, HAL and Celebrity all have numerous, no charge public spaces that disperse the crowds. Getaway has... 3 free restaurants with limited hours, 1 free buffet, 1 free Flamingo Grill with limited hours, 1 tiny card room, 1 library, 1 pool, 1 cramped Spice H2O with no pool, and a high traffic atrium that showed Cake Boss ad nauseum - and 4,000+ passengers. Getaway was like going to a high end mall at high end prices. Even Carnival Breeze had more options! NCL is just too cynical for us.

We will be doing a Panama Canal in 2016. Unfortunately we only have time for a partial transit. Can anyone offer any comparisons between the Coral Princess and Zuiderdam? They both have plusses and minuses. We have been on Princess and HAL and loved both. Coral: not crazy about the itinerary with only a few hours in the morning in Aruba, no private island, and have heard mixed reviews about Cartagena. We can't sail until after her February refit and are concerned about crowding with 200+ more passengers in dining, buffet, elevators and pools, and the reduced public space with the removal of the Universe Lounge and reconfigured library. We also love a wrap around promenade that will soon be gone, so Canal viewing areas will be decreased. However, in general the Coral gets great reviews, Princess is always clean and well maintained, and we love MUTS. As for the Zuiderdam, the itinerary is much better with Half Moon Cay, Curacao and a full day in Aruba and she has the promenade and no crowding. But she still gets mediocre reviews on plumbing and upkeep, even after her 2015 refit. Being on a rundown ship for 10+ days is a deal breaker. We were on the Westerdam in 2011 and while we loved it, she was a bit 'shabby chic' and we nick named her the Rustydam. Our other concern is with no MUTS and not much nightlife on HAL, our nights might be a little dull. Also, Panama Canal lectures, cultural presentations and the actual Canal experience will have a huge impact on our decision. Thanks in advance!!

We will be doing a Panama Canal in 2016. Unfortunately we only have time for a partial transit. Can anyone offer any comparisons between the Coral Princess and Zuiderdam? They both have plusses and minuses. We have been on Princess and HAL and loved both. Coral: not crazy about the itinerary with only a few hours in the morning in Aruba, no private island, and have heard mixed reviews about Cartagena. We can't sail until after her February refit and are concerned about crowding with 200+ more passengers in dining, buffet, elevators and pools, and the reduced public space with the removal of the Universe Lounge and reconfigured library. We also love a wrap around promenade that will soon be gone, so Canal viewing areas will be decreased. However, in general the Coral gets great reviews, Princess is always clean and well maintained, and we love MUTS. As for the Zuiderdam, the itinerary is much better with Half Moon Cay, Curacao and a full day in Aruba and she has the promenade and no crowding. But she still gets mediocre reviews on plumbing and upkeep, even after her 2015 refit. Being on a rundown ship for 10+ days is a deal breaker. We were on the Westerdam in 2011 and while we loved it, she was a bit 'shabby chic' and we nick named her the Rustydam. Our other concern is with no MUTS and not much nightlife on HAL, our nights might be a little dull. Also, Panama Canal lectures, cultural presentations and the actual Canal experience will have a huge impact on our decision. Thanks in advance!!

We will be doing a Panama Canal in 2016. Unfortunately we only have time for a partial transit. Can anyone offer any comparisons between the Coral Princess and Zuiderdam? They both have plusses and minuses. We have been on Princess and HAL and loved both. Coral: not crazy about the itinerary with only a few hours in the morning in Aruba, no private island, and have heard mixed reviews about Cartagena. We can't sail until after her February refit and are concerned about crowding with 200+ more passengers in dining, buffet, elevators and pools, and the reduced public space with the removal of the Universe Lounge and reconfigured library. We also love a wrap around promenade that will soon be gone, so Canal viewing areas will be decreased. However, in general the Coral gets great reviews, Princess is always clean and well maintained, and we love MUTS. As for the Zuiderdam, the itinerary is much better with Half Moon Cay, Curacao and a full day in Aruba and she has the promenade and no crowding. But she still gets mediocre reviews on plumbing and upkeep, even after her 2015 refit. Being on a rundown ship for 10+ days is a deal breaker. We were on the Westerdam in 2011 and while we loved it, she was a bit 'shabby chic' and we nick named her the Rustydam. Our other concern is with no MUTS and not much nightlife on HAL, our nights might be a little dull. Also, Panama Canal lectures, cultural presentations and the actual Canal experience will have a huge impact on our decision. Thanks in advance!! ;)

It's funny how different people on the same ship can have completely different experiences. Just got back from the same Getaway cruise. Two years ago we had our worst cruise ever on the Norwegian Pearl. Thought we'd check out the new ship and give NCL a second shot. We even splurged for the Haven. Unfortunately our experience in the Haven, at a $1500 per person premium (over a regular balcony), equaled our experience on 3 princess and 2 Holland America cruises in standard balconies! The Getaway has only 1 pool for 4000+ passengers and EVERY interior public space is designed to take your money: casino, bars, extra charge restaurants and shops. There was a small library and card room for games, and a big screen in the second atrium that shows Cake Boss reruns all day (so you can step right over and buy the Cake Boss cakes in the same atrium.) The main lounge was free, but only open for shows that required reservations. That leaves the lido buffet, which was always frenetically busy, and the very good Flamingo Grill, which had limited hours. That's it for the no-charge public areas! An atrium and a buffet. The Thermal Suite was crowded, the Haven pool and sun decks were crowded, the nice Waterfront area had limited hours but was hot or windy when open, and the entire ship reeked of smoke - for some insane reason all outdoor smoking areas are towards the front of the ship, which means all non-smokers are down wind! The ship itself is very beautiful, but I felt like I'd be charged by NCL just to admire it. Princess has never let us down: great food, beautiful un-crowded ships, decent shows and lots of pools with lots of open decks. Even the Regal had free on demand movies in our standard room; the Getaway charged $10 per movie, even for Haven guests. It was fun once, we had great weather, but we'll never sail NCL again. I can't believe the new Escape has even more passengers, but basically the same amount of already crowded public space... and still only 1 pool!:eek:

Not many folks are commenting on the removal of the smokestack (fake) turbines. That is definitely a plus, but what's left makes the stack look unfinished. Hopeful but doubtful the stack isn't 100% finished. :confused:

The reason this thread of doom and gloom has been going on for an awfully long time is because the Island and Coral have an awful lot of loyal, repeat passengers, which is why they're constantly sold out. One of the biggest reasons for the loyal repeaters is simple: these two unique ships had the highest passenger space ratio of any ships sailing for a mass market company. Removing public space to add passenger capacity will lower this ratio. While the new gym and Sanctuary will probably be improvements, and the loss of a wrap around promenade is sad but no deal breaker, there's no way around the simple math that more passengers in less public space will mean bigger crowds in the dining room, lido buffet, lounges, elevators, sun decks and pools. The loyal repeaters flocked to these ships for their spaciousness. With the modifications, these ships will now be more ordinary with nothing much to make them stand out. I had my heart set on a partial Panama Canal on the Coral in April 2016, now I'm seriously considering the Zuiderdam because we prefer the ports and reviews after it's own recent refurb indicate many of the wear and tear problems she's had for years have finally been fixed. HAL fixed what was broken on that ship. Had the Coral not gone under the knife it would have been a no brainer for us. :confused:

The Coral is getting butchered in Feb, rebuilt with more cabins and less public space to match the Island. :(