Getaway June 7th review (not a Haven or VIP guy)

[darwinsrule]

The large balconies are cat. B6. They are on deck 9, forward. Upgraded to one a couple of days ago from a BC for our Aug. cruise on Getaway.

 

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[spidybabe]

We disliked events being held in the atrium also, when we were on the Breakaway. We were used to the Spinneker Lounge on the Jewel class ships, and sorely missed it. The theater is not used for the events because the stage sets are too hard to move and no way to cover them ( at least we were told that by crew member). The atrium is too loud, not nearly enough seating, and so very crowded during events.

Also glad we are not pool people. Horrible tiny pool

Still would much rather be cruising than anything else

Safe sailing

 

 

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[cruisin07family]

Sounds like you made the best of a situation that wasn't your first choice. Personally, I don't understand why anyone would enjoy traditional dining with strangers. I do not just as I can't imagine asking to sit with others in a restaurant at home, but that's just me.

 

It is a nice change to read a review from someone not in a suite. The majority of cruisers obviously do not cruise in suites, but it seems most of the reviews here are from suite cruisers.

[Cruise Leprechaun]

Do you recall if you have to wear socks and/or running shoes for the ropes course? This is not something I would normally pack for a warm weather holiday..

 

The catamaran - if you choose not to snorkel is your other option sitting on the beach or would there be something else nearby? My husband doesn't swim and we will have gear with us due to the kiddos, so I am happy they will at least rubber dingy you in! :D

 

You do have to wear sneakers (no flip flops) on the ropes course, No socks though.

 

Other option is staying on the boat or sitting on the beach, but what a beach -beautiful place to spend an hour or two. Actually I seem to recall there being a nearby kayak place there. I didn't see anyone doing it but I guess if you took cash with you he could take a kayak out? Also for the snorkel they give you a vest to blow up. I don't know if this would keep a non-swimmer up or not?

[Cruise Leprechaun]

You say you upgraded to a large balcony stateroom can you tell me what categorie this is? And what cabin # you had?

 

We are sailing in 2 months and have a BB Balcony with 4 person in it :eek::eek:

 

Kinda scared it's way too small for us 4....

 

Thanks for the review ;)

 

Cabin number was 9134. Don't remember the category though, B6 maybe? The room itself was no bigger than another balcony room, just the balcony itself. If you don't spend too much time on the balcony it may not make too much of a difference. One of our rooms, the standard balcony, had one adult and two kids. They didn't complain about lack of space.

[SissasMomE]

Cabin number was 9134. Don't remember the category though, B6 maybe? The room itself was no bigger than another balcony room, just the balcony itself. If you don't spend too much time on the balcony it may not make too much of a difference. One of our rooms, the standard balcony, had one adult and two kids. They didn't complain about lack of space.

 

We also had a B6 - large balcony. The balcony was huge! If I was sailing Getaway again, I'd definitely book this category.

[Cruise Leprechaun]

Sounds like you made the best of a situation that wasn't your first choice. Personally, I don't understand why anyone would enjoy traditional dining with strangers. I do not just as I can't imagine asking to sit with others in a restaurant at home, but that's just me.

 

It is a nice change to read a review from someone not in a suite. The majority of cruisers obviously do not cruise in suites, but it seems most of the reviews here are from suite cruisers.

 

Agreed. I'm not big on eating with strangers either (others love it and to each their own). I have been on 9 cruises and don't thik I have ever eaten with another family using "traditional dining". We have always asked for a table of 4 (or 7 whatever our party was) and always ate by ourselves. My definition of traditional is having the same, time and wait staff every night but still eating just as our family. Hope that clarified.

[nclgetaway95]

Atrium - I just wanted to mention something here, maybe others have different thoughts. I hated how the Atrium on this "ship" was used. Normally its a pretty good meeting spot or sitting spot, sometimes with activities like trivia going on. On this "ship" it was like a hectic second theatre. On other cruises we'd normally go to the typical "Newlywed" type show in the theatre some night, but on Getaway they do that and similar shows right smack in the middle of the Atrium. Unlike in a theatre where the seats go up as you go back so you don't sacrifice view, in the Getaway Atrium, people just pull up a chair and if you are not in the first or second row of people, you end up with a lousy view of the show. Then since its one of the highest traffic areas on the whole ship, even though you may have been lucky enough to have found a seat a few rows back, you constantly get people walking through the atrium from the casino for instance, and then of course stopping right in front of you to see what's going on. So whatever view you had is now completely gone. And the sound is not great either. You can see the Atrium from upstairs at O'Sheehans but only if you are in the first row of the horseshoe of seats, maybe 25 seats, that looks over the ledge. I just felt like there were several shows like the Newlywed show, perfect couple show, dancing with the Norwegian getaway stars, kinds of shows that we would have gone to the theatre to see but found it too frustrating to see since they held it in the Atrium. And heaven forbid if you are going to the Atrium to book a shore excursion or guest services during one of these shows, you cant hear a word they are saying with the show noise. I don't get NCL's use of this room. They did show the NBA and World Cup games in here and that seemed like a good use though as at least you could look up to see the action on the big screen. But I just felt like I would have seen more if they did more in the theatre like on other "ships".

 

 

Summary - As I stated earlier, I'm not a loyalist to one line over the other. The fact that I've got teenagers takes some lines out of the equation for me personally. My top two are Royal and Norwegian based on my family situation. I really enjoy going on newer "ships", even at the expense of the itinerary. But assuming Royal and Norwegian both came out with a new "ship" doing the same itinerary, and at the same price, personally I would book Royal myself. Primarily because of the more traditional dining, better food, Promenade areas and Atrium usage. But its not that dramatic of a difference and I've met others that are 100% opposite from me on the freestyle dining concept. But overall it was a great vacation, if I pointed out a few negatives, it was far more outweighed by hundreds of positives. I'd highly recommend the Getaway for a family vacation and I had a great time last week. If I can answer any specifics, feel free to ask. Otherwise, Happy Cruising and time for me to plan the next one!

 

Been on Oasis and Allure and fell in love with one of there breakfast and lunch places in central Park, I am almost sure it is called Park Cafe. This place had a spot where you could create your own salad and it was to die for... If you know what I am talking about. Please tell me if Getaway has something similar to this :cool: Thank you

[willise]

Cabin number was 9134. Don't remember the category though, B6 maybe? The room itself was no bigger than another balcony room, just the balcony itself. If you don't spend too much time on the balcony it may not make too much of a difference. One of our rooms, the standard balcony, had one adult and two kids. They didn't complain about lack of space.

 

We are staying in that room for one week of our B2B in April 2015.

 

I'd love to see some pictures of the room if you have any and don't mind sharing!

 

How was the sun on the balcony? Could you lie in the sun or the shade if you wanted to?

 

Thanks!!

[Cruise Leprechaun]

Been on Oasis and Allure and fell in love with one of there breakfast and lunch places in central Park, I am almost sure it is called Park Cafe. This place had a spot where you could create your own salad and it was to die for... If you know what I am talking about. Please tell me if Getaway has something similar to this :cool: Thank you

 

I know the place you are talking about and no, sadly, there was not a comparable place on the Getaway, in my mind anyway. The similar but very different option is O'Sheehans which is a mid-deck, free food outlet. But, its a loud, bar-like atmosphere where you get waited on (so it takes a little more time) and the food choices are burgers, dogs, chicken wings, mozz stix kind of fare). It was a nice change of pace for breakfast as you can get French toast or an omelette, but again a different experience than that Park Café in my mind - which I really liked as well. There is another free food choice, Flamingos, but its way up on Deck 16 and really just a few items out buffet style (latin themened maybe) but again, if you are going all the way up to Deck 16, you may as well go to the buffet.

[Cruise Leprechaun]

We are staying in that room for one week of our B2B in April 2015.

 

I'd love to see some pictures of the room if you have any and don't mind sharing!

 

How was the sun on the balcony? Could you lie in the sun or the shade if you wanted to?

 

Thanks!!

 

Sorry, I did not take pictures of the room. Make sure you ask the steward, (for us was Rommell) to get you a lounger or two if they are not there. We used it often for laying out there. Most of the time it seemed like the sun was on us at times that we wanted it to, but I guess someone could answer that more scientifically ? (port side of the ship heading east the first half of the trip - what time of the day is the sun on the north side?). As for shade/sun half the balcony was covered with an overhang from the balcony above so I guess there were times you could shade part of your body with the upstairs balcony or move yourself out into the sun under the uncovered part. Also - this was a good room to see the fireworks, we watched them from our balcony and were able to see them just fine towards the aft/port side.

[eiger]

Thank you for your review I appreciate the time and effort everyone puts in to post a review. Just ignore the negative comments !!

[DrNora]

Thanks for the terrific ® review.

 

The catamaran sail looks like an incredible excursion. We have been really flip- flopping about what to do. Had not even looked at this. Sounds terrific-plus it has the added SissasMomE seal of approval!,

 

Did you book this ahead of time or on the boatship?

 

We are going in 4 weeks - your review really has me excited!

Thanks for the teen information, too. We have 2 fifteen year olds and a thirteen year old.

 

Nora

[Irene7]

Thank you for sharing your cruise with us! Did you use the bowling alley and if so was there a charge? Secondly, did you need to make a reservation for the complimentary restaurants?

[Cruise Leprechaun]

Thanks for the terrific ® review.

 

The catamaran sail looks like an incredible excursion. We have been really flip- flopping about what to do. Had not even looked at this. Sounds terrific-plus it has the added SissasMomE seal of approval!,

 

Did you book this ahead of time or on the boatship?

 

We are going in 4 weeks - your review really has me excited!

Thanks for the teen information, too. We have 2 fifteen year olds and a thirteen year old.

 

Nora

 

we booked the ship's champagne catamaran excursion in advance through the NCL website, not once on board. Don't know if it sold out but, in my opinion, it was good enough to book in advance to make sure you get it.

[SissasMomE]

we booked the ship's champagne catamaran excursion in advance through the NCL website, not once on board. Don't know if it sold out but, in my opinion, it was good enough to book in advance to make sure you get it.

 

Definitely book this one in advance. We wanted to do it on the Epic the first time, and it was sold out. The second time, we booked in advance!

[Cruise Leprechaun]

Thank you for sharing your cruise with us! Did you use the bowling alley and if so was there a charge? Secondly, did you need to make a reservation for the complimentary restaurants?

 

Did not use the bowling alley so can't comment much on it. Its not really a bowling "alley" per se, its just an arcade type section of O'Sheehans where they have video games and ski ball and two lanes of kind of a miniature form of bowling. I encouraged the 4 teens to try it once or twice but I guess there was just so much else to do they never got around to it.

 

We did make a reservation for the MDR's most nights, with 7 of us being an odd-sized table. It was easy enough just to pick up the phone that afternoon and call down. But at the times we went, at about 6 pm, Taste and Savor, two of the MDR's were nearly half empty. Personally the conspiracy theorist in me says they made the service so terribly bad in there that it encouraged people to pay the upcharge to go to the specialty restaurants later in the cruise. Hope it didn't backfire on them causing them to drive people not to the specialty restaurants but to another cruise line for their next cruise because of the bad service. But that's a topic for another post.

[Annmeat]

My kids want to also thank you for this review. You nailed every aspect that is relevant to cruisers in a clear fashion.

We,too, have decided on the catamaran sal to St. John. So,glad that's we read what you and SissasmomE wrote, as the excursion sold out shortly after we booked it.

 

Keep up the good work!,

[my2grls98]

Ports and Excursions -

 

St. Maartens - We arranged, on our own, for a private tour of the island with Jo Junie tours. With 7 of us it wasn't too much different than if we paid individually, but we felt like we'd have a little more control of the trip if it was private. He took us, counter-clockwise around the island. A stop at an oyster bay where a guy showed us a few sea creatures. Could have done without but still not bad and we didn't stay for long. Went to Orient Beach next. Beautiful beach, very glad we went. We had some hesitation about this, being uptight Americans and having 4 teenaged boys with us, with the possibility of seeing nudity on the French beach. I'm glad common sense won out and we still did. He brought us to the "Bikini Beach" area of Orient I believe. Yes we saw maybe 2 topless middle-aged women, no one cared or made a big deal about it. We didn't walk up near the Orient beach nude beach where it might have been more prevalent though so it worked out fine. My only commentary here is, if you have hesitations for the same reason, go to the beach. Its beautiful and what little nudity you might encounter really was a non issue. We got chairs and umbrellas and the teens jumped on a water trampoline thing. All in all a great couple of hours. Next stop was the French village of Marigot. We stopped there to eat lunch. It seems all the restaurants are all connected to each other there and all seem identical. Anyway we chose one and were kind of disappointed. I ordered some kind of rib and chicken dish and the chicken leg looked like it was the size of a seagull and the ribs were tiny, I don't know what kind of animal they were ribs from... and I wasn't asking either. But there were an awful lot of iguanas on the island. And it was overpriced too. But its a pretty little town I guess and we did get pastries from Serrafinas, they were good. Next stop was Maho beach. The famous beach where the planes take off and land right on top of you. The beach was nice, the kids had a blast holding onto the fence for dear life as the jet engines tried to blow them into the water. Fun place to visit for an hour or two but not the place to go if you are looking for a peaceful tropical beach. After all that we were ready to get back to the "ship". I'd recommend Jo, he was great and had unlimited beer, water, soda and rum punch too. And he drives a much nicer van than the Bernards tours we saw. He has an 11 person Mercedes van, at least for our trip he did, which was very comfortable and always had the AC running for when we met up with him.

 

St. Thomas - On St Thomas we did an excursion through the ship, St John catamaran and champagne sail. I've done some great excursions in Alaska and Hawaii among other places and this ranks right up there with the best of them. After a 20 minute ride to the catamaran (forgive me if I call this one a boat?), you get on the boat with about 20 other people. It wasn't crowded, the crew was great, maybe a 45 minute ride over to St Johns. St Johns was awesome! Picturesque. The snorkeling was great, spent maybe an hour and a half there. You could snorkel or swim up to the beach (or they boat you up to the beach in their dingy if you prefer). Apparently this was the beach the Kenney Chesney and Rene Zelwegger got married on, if that means anything to you? Anyway the crew was great, the trip was great, and this goes down as the best thing we did all week. Highly recommend it.

 

Nassau - its Nassau. We've probably ben there 4 or 5 times, stayed at Atlantis a couple times so we had no desire to go to Atlantis or really see any more of Nassau and its straw markets. I wish NCL would change this stop to their private island instead. We just chose to walk off the boat and walk about a mile or so to Junkanoo beach. You could see it from the "ship". Not the best beach but still a beach in the Bahamas. It got us off the "ship" and a chance to stretch our legs and dip our feet in the Caribbean before going home the next day.

 

 

 

we will have a group of 10, can you give me any more details on Jo Junie Tours? Much appreciated and loved your review..we cruised on the Getaway in April and just booked it again for March of next year!

[Dklam]

Really enjoyed your posts. Just booked our cruise last weekend and doing lots of research between now and 11/15!

[buncobabe]

I am enjoying your review and I am now sold on doing the St.John Cat.!

[meatball_nyc]

Liked your review very much. Thank you for posting one that is not Haven related. Appreciate that a lot. Don't read Getaway reviews at all but did read yours because of the title. Thank you.

Happy Sailing!

 

 

Robin

Norwegian Breakaway July 2014

Carnival Miracle 2010

Carnival Legend 2006

Every Day at Sea is a Great Day

[snow bunny]

Do you recall what time the rooms were ready? It sounds like there is no place to drop off the carry on luggage so I am hoping the rooms are ready early!

 

snow bunny

[PathfinderEss]

Enjoyed your review. Thanks.

[Highboy90]

Nice review. Enjoyed reading. :)