Another Getaway AFT SUITE review

[DrDetroit]

Some background information.

 

We are a family of four (myself, my wife, daughter 9 years old, and son 8 years old). This is our 3rd cruise in 3 years with NCL and all have been in the Haven. Our first 2 NCL cruises were aboard the EPIC in a 2-bedroom suite. We decided to try out the Getaway this time in an AFT suite on deck 14.

 

The Getaway is an amazing ship. The AFT suite is by far the best cabin we have ever been in. We will definitely sail again in an AFT cabin. Highlights of the trip were the AFT balcony, the Haven restaurant, the ropes course, the slides, and the suite experience.

 

We enjoyed some of the Illusionarium show. My wife and daughter enjoyed the Legally Blond musical. My wife and I saw the headliners comedy show twice. Really funny comedians but I would not bring kids (however, some parents brought their kids?!?!?!).

 

I will try to answer some general questions that I had prior to this trip.

 

1. I did not experience much soot on the balcony or our lounge chairs. We did put towels on the lounge chairs though.

 

2. The divider separating our balcony from the adjacent balcony was small. I became friends with our neighbor with daily talks.

 

3. Viewing the fireworks from the balcony were partially obstructed. Next time we will venture to Spice to see the firework show.

 

4. We loved having the "extra" door in our bedroom to the balcony (these are only on decks 11 and 14). You can hear the music from spice with the door open. However, with the door closed, you really don't notice the music. We enjoyed having the door open to hear the ocean sounds along with the music.

 

5. Kids enjoyed the kids club. They went several times but just were having too much fun on the cruise to go to the kids club.

 

6. YOU DO NOT NEED TO GO TO THE VIBE if you are in the Haven. There were enough lounge chairs for all guests. The Haven sundeck on deck 17 was very large and we never saw it full.

 

7. We are not smokers. The smoking in the casino wasn't bad at all. I believe that it was much worse on the Epic.

 

8. Loved the Haven Restaurant. They knew our names from day 1. Service was always amazing. Food top notch. The menu was limited. We invited some non-Haven guests for dinner but it did cost us $25 per person. However, it was well worth it.

 

9. Anoop the concierge was awesome along with our room steward, Doyle. Our Butler was average but we did not ask much. He shined my shoes, we did one breakfast on the balcony, and he brought afternoon treats.

 

10. Kids could only do 3 water slides (purple, red, and orange). These were actually really fast. Faster than I expected. The blue and green slides (The plunge slides) were definitely thrilling. You need to be 48 inches tall and over 100 pounds. Sorry kids, many in a few years.

 

11. The ropes course was WAY BETTER than I thought. My son and I did it twice. We did the plank twice and the zip-line once. The ropes course can be quite tough when it gets windy. They will "close" the plank when it gets too windy. WE LOVED THE PLANK! I bought the NCL pictures taken of us from the plank and zip line.

 

12. The running track is small and not heavily used. 8 laps equals 1 mile.

 

 

I will add some pictures. Please let me know if you have any questions regarding the AFT cabin, the Haven, or whatever. I would definitely recommend the Getaway and we are planning another trip for next year.

 

David.

[DrDetroit]

Here are some pictures:

 

 

 

[DScroggy5]

Awesome! Can't wait to see the pictures~ LaToya

 

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[DrDetroit]

More pictures:

 

Fireworks from the balcony. You have to lean over the rail to have a decent view of the fireworks.

 

 

 

 

Pictures of the Haven area:

 

 

 

These are pictures of the upper level Haven sun deck:

 

 

[funat55]

Thanks for sharing a lot of interesting information and for the great pictures.

[DrDetroit]

More good stuff:

 

 

 

 

And of course, the PLANK!

 

[maja651]

Thanks for the review and pictures! Can't wait until our turn on the Getaway!

[rocky55]

Hi. Love your review! I do have some questions. I am going with my 11 year old daughter in August I am staying in the haven spa suite. 1. Did you feel your butler treated you less than because you weren't in the actual Haven. 2. What did you do in the ports. I was wondering if you went to Orient beach. I have heard mixed things. Beautiful beach but maybe not great with a chile because even the not nude part still has nude people. Thank you so much!!!!

 

 

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[Jenjer]

I can answer your orient bay question. It is a French beach. We have taken our kids every year since they were 6 and 4 now 12 and 10. Its one of the best beaches ever and we love it.

 

It is a French beach. If you are uncomfortable with nudity then I would go somewhere else. On the normal side you will see topless people men & women of all shapes sizes and ages. Maybe a naked person but usually they have thongs on.

 

Its a very American thing to be uncomfortable with the body, something Europeans don't have issues with. My mom was Swedish so its not a issue for me or my family but we understand that some people do take issue with it.

 

Last year we took our very American friends with us. Their daughters (12 and 8) would blush and laugh a little but still had a great time. How could you not the water and sand are amazing.

 

My bet is the farther away from Orient club (the naked side) the less you will see but we have our fave spot and its pretty close to the club.

 

 

 

On St Thomas I will recommend Meagan's bay its a great calm beach and all American.

[rocky55]

I can answer your orient bay question. It is a French beach. We have taken our kids every year since they were 6 and 4 now 12 and 10. Its one of the best beaches ever and we love it.

 

It is a French beach. If you are uncomfortable with nudity then I would go somewhere else. On the normal side you will see topless people men & women of all shapes sizes and ages. Maybe a naked person but usually they have thongs on.

 

Its a very American thing to be uncomfortable with the body, something Europeans don't have issues with. My mom was Swedish so its not a issue for me or my family but we understand that some people do take issue with it.

 

Last year we took our very American friends with us. Their daughters (12 and 8) would blush and laugh a little but still had a great time. How could you not the water and sand are amazing.

 

My bet is the farther away from Orient club (the naked side) the less you will see but we have our fave spot and its pretty close to the club.

 

 

 

On St Thomas I will recommend Meagan's bay its a great calm beach and all American.

 

Thank you for your help. Did you go with the cruise or by yourself? Did you take the kids to the beach where the planes land? Also what did you do in Nassau? We went to Atlantis last time, and would love something different. I have heard that some people get a day pass to the Sheratin, beach, pool etc.

 

 

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[Greenesailor]

I did the Sheraton Day pass on my last cruise to Nassau and it was wonderful! The resort is beautiful! Many pools and lots of loungers on the beach! I think you get use of different water toys (floats, paddle boards and other things) for the $30.00.

[blueline7]

Thank you SO much for the review. We are scheduled to be in an Aft suite in June.

 

How did you manage with the walk to the Haven area?

 

As a previous poster asked; did you feel that the service was lesser than if you stayed within the Haven area proper?

[cruisingcasinos]

thanks for the review and pix. Glad you and your family enjoyed your crusie. I can't wait for mine- still a ways off. One question was your suite on port or starboard side?

[Bunnynme]

THanks for your review. I love the aft suites!

[Vacation Master]

Thank you for the review! When did you take pics of the Haven area? I don't see any other passengers.

 

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[DrDetroit]

I took those pictures right before we left the cruise.

[DrDetroit]

thanks for the review and pix. Glad you and your family enjoyed your crusie. I can't wait for mine- still a ways off. One question was your suite on port or starboard side?

 

 

We were on the PORT side.

[DrDetroit]

Hi. Love your review! I do have some questions. I am going with my 11 year old daughter in August I am staying in the haven spa suite. 1. Did you feel your butler treated you less than because you weren't in the actual Haven. 2. What did you do in the ports. I was wondering if you went to Orient beach. I have heard mixed things. Beautiful beach but maybe not great with a chile because even the not nude part still has nude people. Thank you so much!!!!

 

 

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1. Our butler had multiple rooms on multiple decks. He wasn't seen as much as our prior butlers. But, we definitely did not feel we were treated less. He did everything I asked of him.

 

2. We did the Golden Eagle catamaran in St. Maarten. It was a really fun excursion. The snorkeling was not that great. We still had a good time.

 

In St. Thomas, we took a taxi to Coki beach. It is a really nice beach. It did have bathrooms and food/drink areas.

 

In Nassau, we decided to take the cruise sponsored excursion to Atlantis. Everyone was very nice. We loved the lazy river (I believe they call it the wave rider). We did one slide. We left after 2 hours because the kids were hungry and tired and the food there is really expensive.

 

My wife and I have been to Orient Beach before. It is a very popular beach. It is a great beach. I don't recall whether there is nudity on the non-nude side.

[DrDetroit]

Thank you for your help. Did you go with the cruise or by yourself? Did you take the kids to the beach where the planes land? Also what did you do in Nassau? We went to Atlantis last time, and would love something different. I have heard that some people get a day pass to the Sheratin, beach, pool etc.

 

 

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We have done Maho beach many times before. This is the beach where planes literally fly over your head in St. Maarten. It has now become VERY CROWDED. It is an amazing experience if you haven't done it before.

[DrDetroit]

Thank you SO much for the review. We are scheduled to be in an Aft suite in June.

 

How did you manage with the walk to the Haven area?

 

As a previous poster asked; did you feel that the service was lesser than if you stayed within the Haven area proper?

 

 

1. We did not mind the walk to the Haven. It wasn't that bad. We enjoy walking and needed the exercise. Food was that good.

 

2. Our room steward was absolutely amazing. We loved Doyle. Our butler was very good. We just didn't ask much of him. He did shine my shoes, bring use morning breakfast on the balcony, and brought use some snacks. I had no complaints with our Butler.

[Vicki'sMom]

Thank you, DrDetroit, for your awesome review!

 

We have the same suite booked for our Feb 28 cruise and I was wondering we'd made the right decision with Deck 14. You have definitely reassured me and added to my excitement! :D

 

Thanks for posting the photos -- it's so nice to see photos of our actual suite! ;)

[Jenjer]

Thank you for your help. Did you go with the cruise or by yourself? Did you take the kids to the beach where the planes land? Also what did you do in Nassau? We went to Atlantis last time, and would love something different. I have heard that some people get a day pass to the Sheratin, beach, pool etc.

 

 

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We have always gone on cruises 6 times with our kids and a few times before kids. We head over in the morning and stay thru lunch. I can say one year w went in November and the beach was much smaller than in the summer FYI.

 

 

In Nassau we have taken out private charters but never gone to Atlantic other than to look at the boat show one year. I have heard and read to many negative reviews of Atlantis to make it a priority. Nassau is not one of my favorite ports. Its beautiful when you pull into port.

 

No we do not go to Maho beach. We live near a Air Force base. Nothing can top watching a stealth do touch and goes or watching one of the presidents planes fly so low over your house you can see the emblem on the door. Our house is in its flight plan. Different than other planes. I go the beach to escape from airplanes. :)

 

Lots of people love it but it goes against everything I was ever raised with, to stay away from the jet wash ect. My Dad would roll over in his grave :D

 

Seeing the pictures of people so close to landing planes makes my tummy flip. I am surprised more people are not hurt or killed.

[cruisestan2]

Thank you for pictures and info. We are in an Aft suite in February

[DrDetroit]

We LOVED the aft suite. We would definitely do it again.

Here are some pictures of the bathrooms. The first 2 are from the smaller bathroom. The last 3 are from the master bathroom.

 

 

 

 

 

[DrDetroit]

Hi. Love your review! I do have some questions. I am going with my 11 year old daughter in August I am staying in the haven spa suite. 1. Did you feel your butler treated you less than because you weren't in the actual Haven. 2. What did you do in the ports. I was wondering if you went to Orient beach. I have heard mixed things. Beautiful beach but maybe not great with a chile because even the not nude part still has nude people. Thank you so much!!!!

 

 

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Here are some pictures of COKI beach in St. Thomas.