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sunnyvegas

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Posts posted by sunnyvegas

    Getaway April 18-25 Review with Photos

    in Norwegian Cruise Line

    Posted

    Great review.

     

    My cruising experience is very limited.

     

    Roll calls, I get they are meet and greets. Any more info would be great. I'm going with family of 5 and a friends family of 4. Not sure if I should suggest we attend.

     

    Thanks.

     

    Sure...so there are quite a few things that can happen on a roll call.

     

    The roll call is a forum where cruisers get to know each other, plan separate excursions, and also setup events where they can meet in person.

     

    For the PC cruise that we were originally booked on I was coordinating the meet & greet, slot pull, gift exchange, cabin crawl, and sail away party. I made all of the attendees personalized invitations which sadly had to be thrown away :(. I have to say that the group on our PC roll call were amazing and I was so glad to have 6 of them on this trip. We had a blast together and I can't imagine what it would have been like to have all 89 of us together cruising the canal;). In fact, I correspond with quite a few of them and we have never even met--maybe one day on another cruise.

     

    Since we jumped on this ship so late in the game the meet & greet was already setup by another member, my mother offered to plan the gift exchange, and another gentleman had the slot pull. No one was interested in the cabin crawl.

     

    The meet & greet is a great way to meet your fellow roll call members but also spend time with the officers. Sometimes you will get a invitation for a bridge tour (didn't happen on this trip) and the officers will send treats to your cabin (happened twice on this trip). It was also nice to see friendly faces that you knew throughout the trip.

     

    Definitely worth it to go. However, if you say you are going please go even if its just for a few minutes. It can be embarrassing for the coordinator if only a handful of people show up when they plan on a crowd.

     

    Not sure if you want information on the other activities so just let me know if you do and i can send that over.

     

    Michelle

    Getaway April 18-25 Review with Photos

    in Norwegian Cruise Line

    Posted

    Michelle ok I read everything.

     

    Please tell me were you happy you reserved your dinners in advance or could you have just popped in at the specialty restaurants without a reservation and gone to eat each evening. Did you feel pressured to reserve all your dining restaurants beforehand?

     

    I would say that for the dinners that we definitely wanted to try for the first time I am very glad that we made reservations. Also, you have no idea how many of the guests booking the ship also took the dining perk so the places you really want to go may already be full at the time you want.

     

    We are early eaters so the restaurants were always quiet up until we were leaving at 7:00 pm or 7:30 pm. After that, they were very busy. If you are this time frame then I would book ahead.

     

    Teppanyaki was sold out on the night we went and I have read that generally this one does sell out since it has limited seating.

     

    La Cucina was not very busy anytime but Le Bistro was always busy. Cagney's and Moderno got very busy around 7 pm.

     

    Honestly, it is what is comfortable for you. I love freestyle because you eat when you want and that is what we did with our reservation times. If you want to just wing your day once on the ship then feel free to do it that way:D.

     

    Have a great time!!

    Michelle

    Getaway April 18-25 Review with Photos

    in Norwegian Cruise Line

    Posted · Edited by sunnyvegas

    Haven't read through the entire thread but just wondering if you knew? When we signed up for our cruise we were offered the dine around package as a perk. How do we reserve the restaurants? while on the ship or before we cruise? How are the reservations handled on the Breakaway for the specialty restaurants?

     

    Is it done on their webpage before we leave or is there a number to call while onboard? Please let me know if you can...

     

     

    Those are all great questions. I ended up reading as much Getaway reviews and information as I could before I left. CC information helps a great deal in what to expect and do before your cruise.

     

    Yes, you can go ahead and make your reservations online. It will automatically give you a zero dollar balance. Once you have all your reservations made then they will show up on your cruise documents along with your ship excursions.

     

    If you have more than 2 guests with the dining package you are able to make the reservations for the number of guests in your party (we had 4). The server will ask for a card from each cabin before bringing the check.

     

    We only had an issue once of where our paperwork said 6 pm but when I confirmed the time that day it was set for 5:30 pm. No biggie but I am glad that I double-checked.

     

    You can also make your entertainment reservations online the same way. Just note that there are some that have a fee.

     

    The only other thing that I did not mention in my review which was different from the smaller NCL ships is the placing of your room key into the electrical slot when you walk in the room. This will provide power to your cabin. This means that when you take out your card and you are charging devices they are not charging. Also, if you forget to take your card out you are locked out of your cabin unless another person has the card on them.

     

    I had read that you can use an old room key from a hotel to bypass the sea card in the slot but we did not do that. Our steward said that it confuses them since the outside white light above your door stays lit (means that the guests are inside the cabin) and that they would avoid bothering you:D.

     

    Michelle

    Getaway April 18-25 Review with Photos

    in Norwegian Cruise Line

    Posted

    Nice review!

    That is good to know, I have 2 rooms in August and 1 room got the UDP as a promo and the other room was paid for. Something tells me they will try to double charge me the 18% on the pre purchased room which means I will have to keep a copy of my receipt with me whenever we go to eat or join all the other people standing on line at guest services at the end of the cruise.

    Oh joy!

     

     

    Yes, I would definitely keep track as you go just for peace of mind. It also helps if you have the iconcierge app which is free to download since you can check your bill whenever you want. I loved that it was updated in real time. It definitely was great seeing exactly where we were each day in terms of dollars.

    Getaway April 18-25 Review with Photos

    in Norwegian Cruise Line

    Posted

    Thanks for the review and thanks for the memories.

    I agree with you about La Cucina. We had good/great food everywhere but La Cucina was the only bad meal the entire cruise. Its MDR quality. No need for an additional cover charge. We had the gnocchi at La Cucina and Taste and the gnocchi was definitely better at Taste.

     

     

    That is interesting that the gnocchi was better at Taste. I agree that if you do not have the UDP to skip La Cucina and spend your dollars somewhere else.

    Getaway April 18-25 Review with Photos

    in Norwegian Cruise Line

    Posted

    Dis you se a lot of dancing on this Cruise?

     

     

    The Bliss nightclub was always busy when we went past it and all the guests were dancing away. I had heard other reviewers say that they did not play dance music but it did not seem to be the case.

     

    They also had a 70's disco groove party, 80's deck party, and a 90's deck party which were all held outside in Spice. And then of course the GLOW dance party.

     

    You should have a great time:)

    Getaway April 18-25 Review with Photos

    in Norwegian Cruise Line

    Posted

    Love this review and all of your pictures! Can't wait to hear more. Did you try the fried Plantains at Flamingo Grill? I loved them last year.

    Thanks for posting:D

     

     

     

    Thank You!!

     

    Yes, I did :). They were so addictive.

     

    I also became obsessed with the key lime cinnamon roll. It was so big (bigger than my DH's hand) that we would share one each morning.

    Getaway April 18-25 Review with Photos

    in Norwegian Cruise Line

    Posted

    Overall, this was a relaxing vacation on a beautiful new ship. I would definitely recommend the getaway and would not hesitate to book it again if the ports were something that we were interested in seeing.

     

    I think the only thing we would do different would be waiting until we are onboard to decide when to eat dinner just so that we have more flexibility.

     

     

    FREESTYLE DAILIES

    If anyone is in need of the current freestyle dailies send me your email address. I plan on putting them all in a pdf tomorrow so they will be ready to be sent.

     

    QUESTIONS

    Feel free to ask any questions that you may have. I will do my best to answer them.

    Getaway April 18-25 Review with Photos

    in Norwegian Cruise Line

    Posted

    We took the 9:15 am tags and then played games until called to disembark. The disembarking was definitely crazier than I have seen on the smaller NCL ships. There are several holding rooms for luggage and it is not clearly marked.

     

    Also, there is so much luggage that it is hard to find yours unless it is a unique color or has something that sets it apart. Once you find your luggage then you wait in a long line to get to customs. There were only two custom agents working but it went quicker than I anticipated. We were completely out of the terminal by 10:00 am.

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