Getaway review 2-15 sailing - will answer questions

[kimgoblue]

We are forward and checking in at Terminal B.

 

Hmmm... organizing check-in by forward and aft between the two different terminals was the explanation given to us by the NCL rep at the port, but that wouldn't be the first time we've gotten misleading or inaccurate information from a well-meaning but misguided NCL employee. I guess the point is check your edocs for your embarkation terminal.

[SissasMomE]

Hmmm... organizing check-in by forward and aft between the two different terminals was the explanation given to us by the NCL rep at the port, but that wouldn't be the first time we've gotten misleading or inaccurate information from a well-meaning but misguided NCL employee. I guess the point is check your edocs for your embarkation terminal.

 

Maybe they mixed it up. We were AFT the last couple times we sailed on the Epic, and I'm pretty sure we were Terminal C.

[DDD06]

Maybe they mixed it up. We were AFT the last couple times we sailed on the Epic, and I'm pretty sure we were Terminal C.

 

 

The explanation for the terminals we were given was that it's done by deck. Even numbers are Terminal C while Odd is Terminal B.

 

 

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[DDD06]

 

 

 

2. I'm sorry, but since we never ate dinner in the main dining rooms, I can't say what night was lobster night. I believe that the second night was the seafood buffet in the Garden Café, but I'm not positive.

 

 

Lobster was not served in the MDR on this cruise. It was available in the Garden Cafe on the first or second night. I don't recall which as we did not know until later in the week.

 

 

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[Kimf]

If you buy the Cabana package for $299... how many people does that include - just two? I am traveling with my husband 11 year old son and my sister is now coming with us (my daughter bailed on us given state hockey playoffs for her team!). Anyway, I really want the vibe passes as I am a sun worshiper and my sister is willing to do so also, but then what to do about my husband and son! Agh.... There are times when my husband would like to hang out in the sun with us as well.

 

Thanks for your great review and responses to questions!

[youngestof9]

If you buy the Cabana package for $299... how many people does that include - just two? I am traveling with my husband 11 year old son and my sister is now coming with us (my daughter bailed on us given state hockey playoffs for her team!). Anyway, I really want the vibe passes as I am a sun worshiper and my sister is willing to do so also, but then what to do about my husband and son! Agh.... There are times when my husband would like to hang out in the sun with us as well.

 

Thanks for your great review and responses to questions!

 

The $299 is for 2 people. It's adults only, so your son is not allowed there. You could get the cabana for you and your husband and then your sister could buy a $79 pass. However, as I mentioned, your son is not allowed in. You cannot buy the cabana for 2 and mix and match between your husband and sister. The bartenders know who belongs and who doesn't. And they work it so your keycard opens the door so if you do the cabana for you and your husband, your sisters keycard will not work.

[kimgoblue]

If you buy the Cabana package for $299... how many people does that include - just two? I am traveling with my husband 11 year old son and my sister is now coming with us (my daughter bailed on us given state hockey playoffs for her team!). Anyway, I really want the vibe passes as I am a sun worshiper and my sister is willing to do so also, but then what to do about my husband and son! Agh.... There are times when my husband would like to hang out in the sun with us as well.

 

Thanks for your great review and responses to questions!

 

The cabana is just for two people, and your son would not be allowed in any case -- the Vibe is adults only. The other thing to know is that you can't mix and match -- for example, you and your sister couldn't get a cabana (or standard Vibe passes for that matter) and then have her decide not to go one day while you took your husband. Access is linked to your key card, and even if you switch those up, all Vibe pass holders will be wearing bright orange bracelets while cabana holders will be wearing clear ones with black lettering. The Vibe attendants were pretty diligent about making sure that only those who had paid were allowed access.

 

Although it doesn't help the situation with your son, Spice H20 (deck 16 aft, I believe) is an adults-only quiet sundeck during the day. We meant to check it out to see how crowded it got, but I would venture to say it's less crowded than the areas near the pools.

[kimgoblue]

The cabana is just for two people, and your son would not be allowed in any case -- the Vibe is adults only. The other thing to know is that you can't mix and match -- for example, you and your sister couldn't get a cabana (or standard Vibe passes for that matter) and then have her decide not to go one day while you took your husband. Access is linked to your key card, and even if you switch those up, all Vibe pass holders will be wearing bright orange bracelets while cabana holders will be wearing clear ones with black lettering. The Vibe attendants were pretty diligent about making sure that only those who had paid were allowed access.

 

Although it doesn't help the situation with your son, Spice H20 (deck 16 aft, I believe) is an adults-only quiet sundeck during the day. We meant to check it out to see how crowded it got, but I would venture to say it's less crowded than the areas near the pools.

 

Looks like Youngestof9 beat me to it!

[kimgoblue]

The explanation for the terminals we were given was that it's done by deck. Even numbers are Terminal C while Odd is Terminal B.

 

 

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That makes more sense -- we were deck 13. Thanks for clarifying!

[Kimf]

Thanks for the quick replies on the Cabana folks! I kind of figured it was two... and did know my son would not be allowed in, but was hoping we could mix and match so that someone could be with my son at all times! :) My daughter bailing on us really messed my plans up! :eek::(

 

Oh well - I will check out the other area and hope for the best.

[Beth 2001]

Tomorrow is Day 45 before my April 12th Getaway cruise and I'm trying to figure out whether I need to pre-book (and pre-pay for) any specialty restaurants or the Illusionarium. Did any seem to book up more quickly than others? We plan to try them all :)

[swedish weave]

Hmmm... organizing check-in by forward and aft between the two different terminals was the explanation given to us by the NCL rep at the port, but that wouldn't be the first time we've gotten misleading or inaccurate information from a well-meaning but misguided NCL employee. I guess the point is check your edocs for your embarkation terminal.

 

I would not criticize the employee. The ship will sometimes be docked facing the opposite direction and they will have to reverse the terminals to correspond with the way the ship is headed.

[debrajean]

Thanks for the quick replies on the Cabana folks! I kind of figured it was two... and did know my son would not be allowed in, but was hoping we could mix and match so that someone could be with my son at all times! :) My daughter bailing on us really messed my plans up! :eek::(

 

Oh well - I will check out the other area and hope for the best.

 

 

 

Just wondering... Was there a problem changing your reservation by adding your sister in your daughters place? What hockey team??? I'm from Northern Minnesota. Section 8A

[kimgoblue]

Tomorrow is Day 45 before my April 12th Getaway cruise and I'm trying to figure out whether I need to pre-book (and pre-pay for) any specialty restaurants or the Illusionarium. Did any seem to book up more quickly than others? We plan to try them all :)

 

I don't know if you absolutely need to, but we did, mostly because we had a preference about what night we wanted to go to the Illusionarium and what times we wanted to eat (we prefer a 7, 7:15, or 7:30 dinner). I will say that once we got onboard, we went to change one of our dinner reservations, and the only times available for a party of three were 6 or 9:15 (a party of two had more options). So, I'd say that if certain dining times are important to you, it makes sense to reserve ahead of time.

[kimgoblue]

I would not criticize the employee. The ship will sometimes be docked facing the opposite direction and they will have to reverse the terminals to correspond with the way the ship is headed.

 

That's true, although as DDD06 pointed out, the rationale for which terminal you board from is actually based on whether your cabin is on an odd or even numbered deck, not whether it is fore or aft. Perhaps we just misunderstood what the employee told us at the time.

[Beth 2001]

I don't know if you absolutely need to, but we did, mostly because we had a preference about what night we wanted to go to the Illusionarium and what times we wanted to eat (we prefer a 7, 7:15, or 7:30 dinner). I will say that once we got onboard, we went to change one of our dinner reservations, and the only times available for a party of three were 6 or 9:15 (a party of two had more options). So, I'd say that if certain dining times are important to you, it makes sense to reserve ahead of time.

 

Thanks so much for the advice! I went ahead and booked Illusionarium, Teppanyaki, Le Bistro and Moderno at 7:30 because we are a party of five and there were very limited time slots available. For Ocean Blue I had to book a table for four because no tables for five were available. I called customer service afterwards and the representative said she couldn't change it to five :( I will wait until we board to change it, and will have to book La Cucina then as well since the only time slot offered for a party of five was 6:00 p.m.

 

Did you eat at Cagney's? We are on the fence on this one. We tried it once on the Pearl and were underwhelmed but could be persuaded to try it again if we hear positive reports from the Getaway.

[kimgoblue]

Thanks so much for the advice! I went ahead and booked Illusionarium, Teppanyaki, Le Bistro and Moderno at 7:30 because we are a party of five and there were very limited time slots available. For Ocean Blue I had to book a table for four because no tables for five were available. I called customer service afterwards and the representative said she couldn't change it to five :( I will wait until we board to change it, and will have to book La Cucina then as well since the only time slot offered for a party of five was 6:00 p.m.

 

Did you eat at Cagney's? We are on the fence on this one. We tried it once on the Pearl and were underwhelmed but could be persuaded to try it again if we hear positive reports from the Getaway.

 

We did eat at Cagney's and really enjoyed it, but food is so subjective that it's hard to know if our positive experience would translate into your positive experience. Is there anything I can tell you specifically?

[mommiejaxx]

Thanks for your review.. We are considering the Getaway for later this year. Yours is about the third review that I have read that has mentioned something, for lack of a better word "negative" about the Burn the Floor show. Could you elaborate a little what you thought was not quite appropriate.

 

Thanks so much!!

[SissasMomE]

Tomorrow is Day 45 before my April 12th Getaway cruise and I'm trying to figure out whether I need to pre-book (and pre-pay for) any specialty restaurants or the Illusionarium. Did any seem to book up more quickly than others? We plan to try them all :)

 

Come join our roll call :)

[kimgoblue]

Thanks for your review.. We are considering the Getaway for later this year. Yours is about the third review that I have read that has mentioned something, for lack of a better word "negative" about the Burn the Floor show. Could you elaborate a little what you thought was not quite appropriate.

 

Thanks so much!!

 

I have to say that I hesitate to do this, for fear of the responses I might get back...

 

The show is made up of several different dance routines, and one routine featured one female dancer and several male dancers. The female dancer was blindfolded and, for lack of a better term, "passed" around as a partner to each of the male dancers. It just struck a very uncomfortable chord with me. I mentioned it to my husband, and it clearly didn't resonate with him in the same way. I listened as we left the theater to see if anyone else mentioned it, but all I heard were positive comments about the show.

 

I'm not at all sorry that we saw the show -- the performers were very good and the costuming was stunning. I just hit a little snag with that choreography (which occurred about 3/4 of the way through the show) that colored my perceptions of the rest.

[mommiejaxx]

Thanks for elaborating and I understand your hesitancy on here. We will be traveling with our younger kids and I just wanted a better understanding of what to expect and see if we should watch it. :)

[kimgoblue]

Thanks for elaborating and I understand your hesitancy on here. We will be traveling with our younger kids and I just wanted a better understanding of what to expect and see if we should watch it. :)

 

There were plenty of younger kids there, even though we were at the 10 pm show. I was a dancer as a young girl and a teen and I would have loved it; I can't imagine my 15-year-old son or any of his friends (who range from athletic to artistic to academic to video game addict types) would have enjoyed it at all. I guess it all depends on your kids' interests. The show was an hour long (if that helps).

[kimgoblue]

I thought I'd bump this up just in case anyone else had questions about our experience on the Getaway (it seems as if people are having trouble searching...)

[hateswaterloves2cruise]

Enjoyed your review very much. It was nice to read one where the person indicated that it was "their opinion" and not necessarily everyone elses. We have never gone on one of the "big" ships, Jewel class is the largest and we really like the Dawn and Gem. It seems like NCL, and other lines, are just going bigger. Not so sure I'd be comfortable on the bigger ships but if they are all we are going to have............................? DH is finding it harder to walk long distances, would you have a recommendation on room location? We love the aft balconies.

[Beth 2001]

We did eat at Cagney's and really enjoyed it, but food is so subjective that it's hard to know if our positive experience would translate into your positive experience. Is there anything I can tell you specifically?

 

I'm glad to hear you enjoyed Cagney's! I would love to hear your thoughts on specific menu items --did you order the filet or another entree? Are the fries as good as everyone says? And did you try the Oreo cheesecake or raspberry creme brulee?