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Getaway! May 6-13 Trip Report & Review


MaryBethV
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Well, one week ago today we were enjoying our last sea day on the Norwegian Getaway and sailing somewhere North of Cuba. Having sailed on the Escape as first-time cruisers just a few months ago in February (that trip report is in my signature), my husband (DH) and I brought along our four kids on this trip for their first cruise. We have 3 boys (23, 22, and 15) and 1 girl (14).

 

There will be a fair bit of comparing this ship/cruise to the Escape. However know this in advance - a cruise with 4 kids is A WHOLE DIFFERENT THING than a cruise as a couple! Lets just say that even though we knew this going in, we didn’t realize the extent of that truth. A week has gone by - and I’m STILL badly in need of a long nap. And a massage. Seriously.

 

A few more things about us…

 

DH had a series of major surgeries in his early-20’s and has been in physical therapy of some sort for the last two decades. Thankfully, his mobility has improved over the last couple of months and he didn’t need a scooter on this cruise and only occasionally used his cane. Not having to deal with NCL’s ‘special assistance’ or navigating elevators with a scooter was so nice this time around!

 

I love to cook, grill a fabulous steak, pretend I’m Italian and make pasta, grow fresh ingredients, etc… SO - food on any vacation is pretty important to me and our family. Food photos will follow (when I remembered to take them) with my OPINIONS - and inevitable comparisons to the food on our Escape cruise. Remember, everyone is different and food is nothing if not subjective!

 

Saturday, May 5th | Travel to Miami

 

Our flight wasn’t until 5:30pm - so we had time to triple check our packing lists and travel from the West side of MI over to Detroit Airport on the East side of the state. Our flight there was uneventful (always a good thing) and we arrived in Miami on time.

 

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Beaches!

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Our two younger kids enjoyed window seats. Non-stop snapchat fun!

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I had to pass my phone over to my son on the other side of the plane to get a photo of the sunset for me. Goodness, sometimes God really shows off!

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We only waited a few short minutes this time for the hotel shuttle, and arrived at our hotel in no time. Our pre-cruise hotel was the Marriott Residence Inn Miami Airport. It was in the same little compound of Marriott hotels that we stayed at in February (we were in the Courtyard Marriott previously). It was nice to know a little bit what to expect - as far as the layout of the area and the dining choices. It was Cinco de Mayo and the sports bar in the adjacent hotel had a special Cinco de Mayo menu… so off we went for a late night dinner!

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I had the Mahi Mahi Fish Tacos again and they did not disappoint! SO yummy. DH had the Champions Burger and enjoyed that as well. A nice Cinco de Mayo margarita made it a great welcome-to-Miami meal.

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We got up fairly early and had breakfast at the hotel. A continental breakfast is included in the regular room rate (as opposed to an additional charge at the other two Marriott hotels) which is why we chose it. I wasn’t expecting much, but was pleasantly surprised at the selection of both hot and cold items! I would not hesitate to book this hotel again in the future.

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Sunday, May 6th | Embarkation

 

We decided to divide and conquer and took 2 UberXLs to the port and arrived around 9:30am. It was busy and chaotic, but we were in Terminal C which didn’t seem to have as long of lines.

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See those doors with signs over them that say Boarding C Door 1 and Boarding C Door 2? You would think those are the doors to go through right? Well, so did the boarding group 1 people who were excited to dash for Vibe tickets (I'm assuming). Group 1 was called and they were off... only to find that those doors didn't go anywhere. A single door at the far end of the room was the actual boarding door. I half felt sorry for them and half felt guilty at being so entertained by the mix-up.

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We were on the ship by about 11:45. They have beautiful artwork on this ship as well.

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DH and I took a seat in the atrium and ordered a much-deserved drink while we sent the kids off together to explore for half an hour or so. Just give mom and dad half an hour of peace and quiet - for the love!

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Our 15yo son next to me got the Chicken Nachos which he didn’t really like… so we passed them around. They tasted pretty good, but I wish they would serve the cheese on the side to keep the chips from getting soggy. They look pretty though!

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For an appetizer I ordered the Caesar Salad with Salmon. This was a favorite of ours on the Escape! However, the Getaway gives you a HUGE serving of salmon (NOT an appetizer portion) and it is just poached which makes it look (and taste) pretty blah. NCL - if you are reading this, please teach your chefs to finish the salmon with a quick sear in a hot skillet (and season it)!

 

Getaway Caesar Salad with Salmon

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Escape Caesar Salad with Salmon

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For an entree - I got the Shrimp Arrabiata and it was very good. It was spicy, but a perfect level of spicy for me. For our daughter it was too spicy... she has her dad's taste buds. ;)

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Sadly, I have to report that the service at lunch was quite slow and inattentive (we were passing around water glasses to share because they weren’t getting re-filled and the wait for apps and between apps and entrees seemed quite long) so we decided to not order dessert and get some later at the Garden Cafe. Decent food - but not the fabulous food & service experience we had for our first meal on the Escape.

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Our rooms were ready! We had balcony rooms right off of the aft elevators on the starboard side - rooms 14840 (kid’s room) and 14842 (our room with an angled balcony).

 

Miami from our balcony.

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Pros:

-great location - one floor up to the Garden Cafe and two floors up to Spice H20 and Entourage (the teen lounge) - a quick elevator ride down to Cagney’s, Moderno, Taste, Savor, and the Tropicana Room

-nicely decorated with plenty of storage

-the drop-down bunk bed in the kid’s room was really sturdy and we were able to have it left down so that our 15yo could always have a place to crash when needed.

-we loved our angled balcony!

 

Cons:

-our room (14842) must have been under a service area of the Garden Cafe or something - the scraping/moving noises we heard at all times of the day and night were more than a few chairs being moved. It wasn’t horrible by any means, but noticeable. If you are a light sleeper, it might be an issue in this room.

-Though overall the ship and room are in really great condition... small things are showing wear - such as the veneer on the closet handle had come off, and sheets, bath towels, and beach towels occasionally had noticeable stains on them. This was not the case on the Escape - though the Escape is a little bit newer.

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The bathroom amenities. The shower had a shampoo/conditioner combo (I highly recommend bringing your own conditioner - so glad I did!) and body wash. At the sink there was a hand soap dispenser which was great. And these were on the shelf - a bar soap (didn't use), and lotion (used a little - was nice to have).

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Following along. Nice thorough review. We liked the location on the 14th floor. This coming January will have a angled balcony. Did they provide you with a 3rd chair or better yet a lounger? Thanks.

~Gary Ray

 

We didn't ask for another chair or lounger. There would have been room for another chair, but I'm not sure about a lounger.

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Next we went up two floors to sign up our teenagers with Entourage (the teen club/hang out). They didn’t like it at first… the decor is pretty dated and they were drafted into activities when they just wanted to sit and talk and make friends. So they didn’t go much until probably Thursday… after that we couldn’t get them out of there. I loved the location in regards to our room and Spice H2O… and what a view!!!

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Having skipped dessert at lunch - we stopped in at the Garden Cafe to look around and get something sweet. I had a piece of cake and raspberry sherbet. The sherbet was delicious, as was the cake.

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Since our rooms were on the Starboard side we decided to go to the Waterfront on deck 8 for sail away. We checked out the aft walkway and then snagged a couch and some chairs -- the perfect spot.

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We had reservations at Moderno, but I did stop and snap photos of the main dining room menu through the glass (sorry for the glare). The strange thing is that this menu was the exact menu we had on the last night. Either they repeated a menu (day 1 and day 7) or they didn't swap out the menu in the case from the last night of the prior cruise. :confused:

 

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Edited by MaryBethV
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We went back to our rooms for a bit -- unpacked and briefly met our room steward, Riena.

 

Following that, we were treated to a gorgeous sunset from our balcony. If you read my trip report from a few months ago, you know how much I LOVE sunrises and sunsets. I’ll just lay this out here… I did not see or photograph a single sunrise on this trip. I don’t know if it was the multiple nights that had a time change or the fact that traveling with kids is exhausting - or both. No sunrises. But the sunsets were spectacular!

 

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Dinner was at Moderno. This was a first experience for all of us with a Brazilian Steakhouse and it was a fun meal. The “salad” bar was impressive and delicious. The lobster bisque was rich and yummy. The meat selections were very good, though I think we only sampled half of what was listed on the menu (good thing! So. Much. Meat.). The roasted pineapple stole the show and not even the tasty desserts could live up to it. In fact, I’ve already tried to replicate the pineapple here at home… it was pretty good, but not quite the same. The family is in favor of me trying again though to see if I can get closer to the original… as many times as it takes. They are troopers like that.

 

My plate from the salad bar -

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Flan -

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Banana Meringue Tart -

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Chocolate Cake with Coconut Frosting -

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Great review and pictures - keep them coming!

 

We have been on 20 NCL cruises, and have been on a few more than once. We do not compare any with previous cruises/ships; we just go along with what they have/offer/etc. ;p No two cruises are the same.

 

Getting great service is crapshoot, getting bad service is crapshoot also. Also getting great food is crapshoot, and getting not so good is a rare crapshoot (as we mostly like NCL food ;p). We are patient people and sometimes kid when we're not getting good service. Like one time (in a MDR) we got the entrée before the starter, we put it aside and told the waiter that we were waiting for the starter. :cool: But in most cases we get super service in MDR.

 

Each ship has a roster of crew so we do not see same crew when we return to same ship. In fact on some cruises we tend to bump into some crew we met/saw on previous cruises on other ships. Our last month's cruise was a memorable as it was my 60th and our fave bartender (from other ships in 2014 and 2016) was on the ship as Head Mixologist and we had great time, as well as the CD Pedro (yep on 2 other ships) - such fun!

 

Okay, please carry on with your review - I love the pictures as they bring back memories!

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