Getaway 2/22 Cruise Thoughts

[Espresso Martini]

I bought a DVD a few years ago on the Epic for $200 or $250, that contained all of our pictures, along with a release so we could print any that we wanted. Perhaps now they replaced that with a USB.

 

Thank you so much for that info. I wouldn't mind that and I certainly don't need them all printed. As you can imagine where they printed ALL of the pictures they took on our 14 day cruise we had a lot of 8 x 10 pictures. What do you do with them all!!!??? Digital is good. Thanks again

[chisoxfan]

Thanks for your review Gopherhockey. I thought it well balanced and my expectations for a new ship would be high also. Some posters apparently have zero acceptance for airing any negative views even though this is the purpose of these forums. That said, we had considered the new NCL offerings (Breakway, Getaway) but were put off by our EPIC experience last year. We feel NCL has a wonderful suite 'experience' that they pioneered but perhaps have lost their way on these new ships. JMHO.

[SissasMomE]

Thank you so much for that info. I wouldn't mind that and I certainly don't need them all printed. As you can imagine where they printed ALL of the pictures they took on our 14 day cruise we had a lot of 8 x 10 pictures. What do you do with them all!!!??? Digital is good. Thanks again

 

Yeah, it's really great. We have it loaded on my daughter's computer and our main one. I don't think she printed any pics from it, but she definitely put them on FB lol

[Medtech2]

I bought a DVD a few years ago on the Epic for $200 or $250, that contained all of our pictures, along with a release so we could print any that we wanted. Perhaps now they replaced that with a USB.

Unfortunately, no. Now they have replaced that with the USB drive but it ONLY has the pictures you buy in printed form. If you don't buy the print, you don't get it on the USB...

[punkincc]

Thank you so much for that info. I wouldn't mind that and I certainly don't need them all printed. As you can imagine where they printed ALL of the pictures they took on our 14 day cruise we had a lot of 8 x 10 pictures. What do you do with them all!!!??? Digital is good. Thanks again

 

There were various package deals available. If I can locate the info I will let you know. The flash drive with our pictures was about $20 extra I think. Now if I can just figure out how to get them printed!

[punkincc]

Where can I find the bananas foster French toast? It sounds delicious!

 

It is on the buffet! Just look for the area with French toast, pancakes, etc. I think there may have been a made to order waffle station there. There are various toppings by the selections and the bananas foster topping was one of them. They also had a made to order crepe station with your choice of filling. Lots of people had one made for dessert in the evenings along with a little hand dipped ice cream.

[meatball_nyc]

I hope they have all that on Breakaway, too!!

My stomach is rumbling just thinking about it :)

 

 

 

~Robin

Norwegian Breakaway July 2014

Carnival Miracle 2010

Carnival Legend 2006

[punkincc]

Gopherhockey - I'm curious about the soot and mess all over your balcony. Do you think it's a design flaw? I ask because we have had aft facing balcony cabins on the Epic twice now and never had that issue. I wonder why that happened on the Getaway.

 

I wonder if it may depend on which way the wind is blowing. We were 8 forward and only saw it on one day out of seven, so not a huge problem for us. I have seen soot on other cruise lines as well. I'm sure from the smoke stacks, but you'd think with a new ship this would not be a problem so soon!

[tjaker11]

Sorry you found the service poor. You should have notified guest services immediately, problem have been solved day 1- problem whad you had attended the meet andwould have been solved. In the future try to get to a meet & greet (on any line) some of the officers and senior staff were present and offered direct lines to them. Let's face it they are in the hospitality business - hotel on the ocean.

 

We were on this sailing and had a totally differant opinion. This was our best cruise ever, until this sailing we had held Princess close to our hearts. We have sailed several other line and we have found that NCL Freestyle suits us bes, It is not for everyone though. We have only experienced happy, smiling faces every time (from not just 2 countries). We saw alot of the same happy crew we had sailed with in the past on other NCL ships.

 

We do not have expectations to see our cabin steward the 1st day (on any line) as they have alot of work to do that day between disembarkation and then embarkation. Our steward Jonel was great, quietly efficient.

 

The policy on any cruiseline we have been on clearly states you will pay a corkage if you choose to bring your own wine - (that includes smuggling)! Also the same with photos, yes they are terribly expensive but as you pose for the professional photos have someone take a picture with your own camera - problem solved. Also the closed shoes for the ropes, we read that prior to sailing- it is for your safety.

 

The information was on the TV and the door that if you had your balcony door open the air would shut off, along with the quick cool (which I did several times myself not realizing). Tim kept saying shut the door.

 

We did not have any issue with soot, or the balcony glass being dirty, although we were not on the aft. we did find they were VERY small.

 

We did see people trying to run on the track with people walking, not a great set up I agree, but found the gym to be very nice.

 

Although we chose to purchase the ultimate dining package, friends that sailed with us had no problem with the dining rooms or the seafood buffet.

I cannot comment on the dining room as we never ate in them. We mostly had breakfast at Flamingo (I found this to be a hidden gem :)) We did eat the buffet for lunch or O'Sheehans and found everything fresh with alot of options - we liked the many choices they had to offer.

 

Maybe Freestyle is not for you.

Jo-Anne

[Crusin-Suzan]

Was on the cruise and also had a soot problem one night ..had attendent clean it. Did have to ask him to do it tho!!! That's a first. Soot was from the ship slowing down when doing the fire works. Instead of flowing away from the smoke stacks it came down on the ship.

 

Other than that loved the cruise!!!!

[Beth 2001]

It is on the buffet! Just look for the area with French toast, pancakes, etc. I think there may have been a made to order waffle station there. There are various toppings by the selections and the bananas foster topping was one of them. They also had a made to order crepe station with your choice of filling. Lots of people had one made for dessert in the evenings along with a little hand dipped ice cream.

 

Sounds delicious! Thanks for letting me know where to find the bananas foster French toast. My usual buffet indulgences are chocolate croissants and pretzel rolls, but I will add this to my list :)

[SissasMomE]

The information was on the TV and the door that if you had your balcony door open the air would shut off, along with the quick cool (which I did several times myself not realizing). Tim kept saying shut the door.

 

Hi - how do you keep the A/C on without doing the quick cool? I do not want to inadvertently turn our A/C off!

[tjaker11]

Just turn ac to lowest setting not quick cool, when you use quick cool it will cool down but when reaching a preset temp it goes back to the medium setting, Never leave balcony door open and unlatched, always latch completely!!!

[gelo7]

Thanks, for sharing your thoughts.

[Maverick!]

We were also on the Feb 22 sailing with our 19-month-old DS and we really enjoyed ourselves. After a lacklustre sailing on the Pearl last year and being die-hard Princess fans, we weren't sure we'd be back on an NCL cruise. Glad we took another chance since the Getaway was truly a beautiful ship with activities galore and something for everyone.

 

Firstly, we had exceptional service everywhere we went, with smiles and salutations from every member of the staff we came across, be they from service, crew, or maintence. I have not seen teams of people working so hard. We also came across staff from Romania, Serbia, Australia, New Zealand, US, and countless other countries not limited to 2 of the more popular demographic groups.

 

We also had a balcony cabin on Deck 13 in the Aft port side. We loved the location - being close to the elevators, Garden Café and Guppies Play area was super convenient. Our LO adored taking the elevators and we found they came often and worked great. Our balcony was quite clean - no soot, clear glass, no complaints re: seating. Several times we heard faint music from the parties but it was more like soft background or white noise. If it didn't bother our baby, it really couldn't have been that bad. And no smoke to speak of - lucky for us - and we were on our balconies a couple of times a day. Our steward was there the moment we had access to our room and came several times daily to bring towels, announcements, empty garbage, bring extra hangers, etc. Apparently, when you leave the balcony doors open, the AC shuts down automatically and reboots once the door is subsequently closed properly. I noticed that the announcement for time changes were in the dailies (which I would think not everyone reads) which might have explained why 2 of the passengers were an hour late for all-aboard and missed the boat.

 

We loved the ropes course - it even had a sizeable section on the deck level for the baby who was hitched to his own harness ;) and we helped him manoeuvre his way around obstacles, stairs, and rope bridges. He LOVED it! The attendants were fantastic - they gave him a beach ball and flashing key chain as parting gifts. For the adults, it was fun for those not afraid of heights! Tough at first but gets much easier with each successive try. Once over the psychological impression of the course built 18 decks above sea level, the plank and the zip line are a must-try!

The water slides were also a lot of fun. We took turns with the LO who played in the toddlers' splash area while the other did any one of the 5 slides - the 2 free fall slides were incredible! There were never any lineups and seemed nobody was ever on them. Hot tubs were also a nice way to end the afternoon before supper and the poolside DJs/musicians provided fantastic mood music.

 

We aren't smokers and we hit the Deck 7 casino once or twice by accident having forgotten it was there on the way to the ship's drill or some restaurant. The smoke was pungent and annoying but it wasn't difficult to circumvent it after that by going on Deck 6 or 8 to avoid the smell. Otherwise, we came across a handful of smokers at the waterfront bars and that was really it.

 

The activities for kids was impressively good with a toy room opened from 9am-9pm everyday for a pop-in here and there. Otherwise, there were organized fingerprinting, story-telling, bubbles blowing twice a day for children under 3. Also fun were the family parties - we went to the one held in H2O - where face-painting, animal balloon blowing, music, dancing, snack food/pizza were offered.

 

With so many people on board, it still didn't feel overcrowded and we never had to wait for anything. Embarkation and debarkation was a breeze. Deck chairs were in ample supply and there was always room on the Sun Deck when poolside was busy. People we spoke to raved about the shows, the entertainment and the various "experiences" available on board (eg $20 pp for entrance to the ice bar with parka we found interesting but a bit steep for the cocktail that came with it). Movies in the atrium, bowling, arcade, shops, computerized photo area (no more wasted time looking for your shots), beautiful spa and fitness area...it's difficult to be bored on this ship.

 

The food was good (although I found certain selections a little too salty for my tastes) - we ate mostly in the Tropicana, Savor, Taste, OSheehans for pre-dinner snacks (the milkshakes are to die for!), Garden Cafe which was available pretty much all day long (they would extend breakfast and lunch hours informally to accommodate the latecomers such that there was always something to eat any time during the day). We ate at Le Bistro once and it was alright good (same menu and quality as on the Pearl). We wanted to try to satisfy ourselves with the regular cuisine without having to venture too much into the specialties (which we would indulge in pre-baby) to see if it was do-able. The service in each of the above was bend-over backwards amazing.

 

There is something to be said about sailing on a brand-spanking-new ship, like driving a new car home almost. Clean, fun, with no learning curve inefficiencies that we noticed.

 

The port calls were beach days and walking around on our own. Went to Galion Beach in St Maarten, nice and quiet, beautiful waters; then Coking Beach in St Thomas, also crystal clear water, not crowded considering there were 5 ships in port every day we docked (~ 17,000 ++ or so people potentially in town?)

We had drizzles in Nassau so not much fun that day we came back on board early.

 

Everyone we spoke to was having a great time and I can't imagine anyone booked on a future sailing will regret their trip. To all of you in that category, Bon voyage and have fun!

Edited March 9, 2014 by Maverick!

[Maverick!]

*Coki Beach...in St Thomas.

A little further out but well worth it to avoid the crowds.

Nice snorkelling area, too!

[Alliezona09]

We had adjacent rooms, but they would not open the deck divider stating it was now policy not to do it. (so why build it with opening doors then?) We opened our own... all you need is the cruise free pen - jam it in the square hold and turn.

They build them that way so they can clean the balconies~

 

We put wine in our checked bag and were notified it was confiscated and we had to pay $15 a bottle to get them back, but then could take them wherever we wanted (dinner, etc.) Not sure I like that policy, but a bottle we paid $12 + $15 corking fee was going for over $50 so I guess its a savings. They did not confiscate my Diet Mt. Dew

 

They didn't charge you $15 to get your wine back~ they charged you the $15 corkage fee that you should have paid at check-in, because you're supposed to carry your wine on.

 

Wine & Champagne Policy

Guests may bring bottles of wine and champagne on board. When bottles are brought on board and served or consumed in any restaurant, public room area or in their stateroom, a corkage fee will be charged according to bottle sizes noted below.

750 ml Bottle: $15.00

1,500 ml Magnum: $30.00

Wine or champagne sent directly to the ship by travel agents, friends, family, etc. or from another retail source, are subject to the same fees. Box wines are not allowed on board.

[meatball_nyc]

Maverick! Thank you for sharing your experiences :)

Glad you had such a good cruise!!

 

Cheers :)

 

 

 

Robin

Norwegian Breakaway July 2014

Carnival Miracle 2010

Carnival Legend 2006

Every Day at Sea is a Great Day