Quick review of Getaway 7/4/2015

Getaway

Sail date 7/4/2015

Islands – StThomas, Tortola, Nassau

Overview

We have been on many cruises, 20+, and this one ranks high on our list. I wouldn’t say it was the best, but definitely in the top 10. We were traveling with 11 family members, all with balcony cabins close to each other. We are a family of four (9, 12, 42, 44 yo), with 2 cabins that connected. This is how we usually cruise, but had some drama with making our reservations given we had 2 minors in the cabin. You can read a couple of my other posts on that. It all worked out fine and it was nice having the key cards work for the right cabins because usually we have 1 adult and 1 child in each cabin which made for some keycard drama. We had the UBP package and I have to say, was a huge benefit, especially on our final bill… It defiantly exceeded my expectations given it included some pretty high end liquor. Grey goose, JW platinum, Patron, etc. We were only expecting well type liquor similar to some all-inclusives we have been to.

Pre cruise

We flew in on the 3rd and stayed at the Homewood suites by the airport. Not a great hotel, but we got a 2 bedroom suite for the kids to hang out in and I used points so it worked out fine. The following morning we used uber to get the port and I would highly advise against that if you have a lot of luggage like we did. We requested an uber XL which is supposed to be a large suv or van, but we got neither. The first guy showed up in a chevy cruise, compact car, and said he made a mistake a quickly drove away, the second guy showed up in a kia sorento which was no where close to a large suv, but we made it work with each of us holding a suitcase in our laps. Lesson learned…

Embarkation

Super easy just like our last epic cruise. Arrived to the terminal around 11, there was no line. We literally walked up the check in person, got our room cards, documents, etc. and went to the waiting area. Maybe we hit it at the exact right time. We waited maybe 20 minutes before the called our number and we were on. I would say around 1130-1145. We knew we wouldn’t be able to get in our cabins until 130 or later so we brought our bathing suites so we could take advantage of the water slides which I would highly recommend because not many people do this so there is no lines. We rode all of them at least 5 times, kids im sure more.

Sea Days

We spent most of the time around the pools and yes they were crowded and people saved chairs very early in the morning, but I really don’t know how cruise lines are going to avoid that. Large ships = lots of people with limited deck space… We did a few activities during the day and had dinner at the Tropicana room. Great service and we enjoyed the music and dancing. The second sea day dinner we had at Taste. It was ok, but long. I think we had a new waiter. We had to take some of the kids out after about 2+ hours. Other than that, most of the family did their own thing exploring the ship and hanging out at the pool or different bars.

St Thomas

We did the Ship Wreck snorkel excursion and it was ok, but the water was pretty deep and there weren’t a lot of fish to see unless you ventured closer to shore. There were also a lot of other excursions going on in the same area so people were getting mixed in with other groups. All in all, it wasn’t bad, but I probably wouldn’t do it again. After that we did a little shopping in the port area then headed back to the pool. That night we had dinner at la cucina which was great. Our waitress was Italian and knew a lot about the food. Great recommendations from her as well.

Tortola

Hmm, this is an odd island. We had never been there before and I think the reason is because they are trying to build it up as a major cruise ship port, but it isn’t there yet. Nothing really around the port except for a lot of construction. We did the Van Dyke beach break tour and it was ok, but expensive for you get. Basically a boat ride to a beach where they drop you for 4 hours then pick you up and take you back to the ship. It was a nice beach that had a bar and facilities, but the snorkeling wasn’t great and that was a long time to wait for the boat to come back. We thought we might be stranded at one point… Guess there are worse places to be stranded. After the tour we got back on the ship because we really didn’t see anything within walking distance that looked interesting or tourist friendly. We had dinner that night at Ocean Blue what was really good. We thought it was odd that they had to tell you on the menu you could only order 1 item from each course at the top of the menu. None of the other restaurants did that and our waitress brought us our extra dishes on her own anyway which was great.

Sea day

Same as the others, sat by the pool, did some activities, etc. We had dinner at Le Bistro and it was not a good experience. Again, I think we got a new waiter and he got the order wrong, as well as the charges for the dinner, drinks, etc. Just not a good experience. Again, nothing to do with the restaurant, just got the wrong server… The head waiter realized it was not going toward the end of the meal and wanted to somehow correct the situation, but at that point, we just wanted to leave.

Nassau

I still cant figure out why the ships keep going there, but for whatever reason they do. We planned on just staying on the ship and doing the pool activities without the crowed, but did get off for about an hour to get a couple paintings at the straw market for my son whos into fish paintings. So we did that as quickly as possible and got back on the ship. We did the walk the plank which was probably one of the most scary things we have done. We all managed the courage to do it though and got some great pics. Very unique activity for a cruise ship. Lots of fun. Dinner that night was back at the Tropicana room which was again, very good. Great closing for the last night. We got a couple cakes from the cake boss bakery for 2 birthdays we were celebrating which were very good.

Entertainment

We saw the Illusionarium and the comedy show. Both very good and the kids loved the illusionarium. They obviously didn’t attend the comedy show, but all of the adults liked it. We thought it was ironic that one the comedians joked about stopping at Tortola so I think its pretty well known that that island isn’t up to par yet.

Overall

Again, great cruise, we all had a blast. Highlights would be the Tropicana which ironically was free and we felt better than the pay restaurants, walk the plank, cake boss bakery, UBP, o’sheehans, of course the water slides. Some things we would do differently would be picking the shore excursions, better itinerary given tortola and Nassau weren’t great, pick the pay restaurants a little more carefully, no uber to the port...

I would be happy to answer any questions or give more detail given its still fresh in our heads…

Thanks for giving us an update on the Getaway. We will be sailing on her next month for the 3rd time. Did you go to the Grammy experience and do you know who is playing in there now? Also wondering if they are now using the new menus in the MDRs that people have said were being changed fleetwide? I hope they keep souffles on the dessert menu! We also love the Flamingo Grill, did you try that? Love that Cuban food:D

Thanks for giving us an update on the Getaway. We will be sailing on her next month for the 3rd time. Did you go to the Grammy experience and do you know who is playing in there now? Also wondering if they are now using the new menus in the MDRs that people have said were being changed fleetwide? I hope they keep souffles on the dessert menu! We also love the Flamingo Grill, did you try that? Love that Cuban food:D

We didnt do the grammy experience so i cant comment on that and im not sure if they changed the menus or not, but i did see souffles on them. Yes, we did flamingo many times because we also love cuban food, but it was also much less crowded up there.

thx

Flamingo is a great little 'hidden' grill to avoid the crowds at the buffet....and they have good bartenders too! And like you, we don't know why they keep going to Nassau. Good day to spend on the ship and try those slides!

I hope they can get Tortola excursions expanded. We had been there many years ago on a Windjammer 'barefoot' cruise and loved the port. On the other side of the island is Cane Garden Bay, a really gorgeous beach. However it's a wild ride by taxi up and down the mountain:eek:

Thanks for sharing with us!

What was the dress code for the Tropicana Room? Would I be ok in slacks, polo, and Birkenstock's?

And like you, we don't know why they keep going to Nassau. Good day to spend on the ship and try those slides!

You and hundreds of thousands of other cruisers. Why Nassau? Why not Great Stirrup Cay? Or the Abacos or Freeport or Key West? Nassau is one of the worst PoCs in the region: expensive, slummy, and outright rude taxi drivers and other people making a living out of tourism. Yet cruise ships from all cruise lines keep docking there. It's really baffling.

What was the dress code for the Tropicana Room? Would I be ok in slacks, polo, and Birkenstock's?

Holy damn. Good question! That's my same style and what I bring as my "formal wear" on cruises.

What was the dress code for the Tropicana Room? Would I be ok in slacks, polo, and Birkenstock's?

yep, that is fine. I also saw a lot of people in shorts and t-shirts.

You and hundreds of thousands of other cruisers. Why Nassau? Why not Great Stirrup Cay? Or the Abacos or Freeport or Key West? Nassau is one of the worst PoCs in the region: expensive, slummy, and outright rude taxi drivers and other people making a living out of tourism. Yet cruise ships from all cruise lines keep docking there. It's really baffling.

we did debate this a bit when we were there and thought it might be because most ships are registered there, they have to stop there to keep the registration or get tax breaks, etc. Basically in exchange for cheap registration, they bring passengers to the island. Just a theory.