Getaway 30 August Review

[tominabox1]

Getaway August 30, 2014 review

 

Hello everybody! Another Getaway review! A little background, my wife (aubrey1988) and I are from Iowa we've been on 7 cruises. 3 on Carnival, 3 on Royal Caribbean and finally this last one on the Getway. Obviously, we're not loyal to any one cruise line just yet. We've done Western and Eastern Caribbean itineraries and we did the same Eastern one on the Allure of the Seas last Labor Day in 2013. This itinerary goes to St Thomas, St Marten, and Nassau, and is 7 days long.

 

My wife and I on the right.

 

This will not be a "gambee" review with lots of great pictures, but I'll do my best to post some photos where it makes sense and I actually have pictures to share. Basically this one will probably be more of a reader than a looker.

 

There will be many critiques of NCL in this thread. This is written by and intended for people who have sailed on RCI or other lines as a point of comparison. Yes, RCI is our favorite line but we'd sail NCL again and again because they are cheap as heck and still far better than Carnival! Please keep that in mind as you read.

 

With that preface, lets get it started!

 

Day 1: Embarkation

We always fly in the day before, you never know what could go wrong when you have to do connecting flights. We stayed at the Element MIA which was a great place. They offer a free shuttle to the hotel as well as free internet and a nice free breakfast. They've even got a cool espresso machine in the lobby. We got a standard room with king sized bed. The room we had was on the smaller side, but was very comfortable and modern/chic. We paid 96.00 including tax for our room. We had thought about booking an executive suite, since it was only 30.00 more, but since our flight landed at midnight, we couldn't justify paying the extra amount as we wouldn't have hardly any time to enjoy it. Highly recommended. The whole hotel is very tastefully done. They also offer a shuttle to the port for $12 pp. Based on experience, this is pretty fair. A taxi would run about the same after tipping.

 

The lobby of the Element hotel.

 

We arrived at the port around 11:30 AM. Things were in full swing. We had no problem dropping our bags off with the porters who were happy to remind us to tip. We headed into the terminal and only had a short line to contend with until we were getting our room keys and things. There were no issues with this process, though I will note, the terminal is about as stark and ugly as you can get and if you've been on the Allure or Oasis out of FLL, you'll know why I think this. I suppose it is on par with other terminals we have been through though. We were put in boarding group 13 and had a seat to wait. The actual waiting area is good enough, with some water/lemonade available. Average is the theme here.

 

 

After about a 10 minute wait, we were heading across the gangway onto deck 7 forward right by O'Sheehan's. We were already hungry so we stopped there for lunch. I got Fish and Chips and Aubrey got a burger. We also got mozzarella sticks for an appetizer and were really surprised by the cute little fry baskets they are served in. O'Sheehans's food was good and one of our favorite places to stop by for a snack. Aubrey lost her prescription glasses while we were there and they never did turn up at lost and found. :(

 

We headed up to the Sunset Bar to meet up with our roll call group. The roll call for this cruise had been really active so we were excited to meet the people on the list. We had a quick chat with the other folks, stood on the Waterfront while we sailed away and then headed back to our room to check it out and change for dinner at the Illusionarium which we had booked as part of the Ultimate Dining Package.

 

Our cabin was 11910, an aft facing large balcony on the starboard side. The cabin seemed to be average sized based on the cabins we've had on other lines. The shower was bigger than average and I think this particular cabin has a very slightly bigger bathroom than most in the B1 category. The balcony was very large, and was already stocked with 2 loungers, a (very) small table, and 2 normal chairs. We asked our steward (Liberato) for a larger table like the M6 category has but he couldn't find one. He didn't take the $5 we left him to find one which we thought was interesting and evidence of his interest in making us happy. He did a fine job through the cruise, providing towel animals most days and always cleaning up our messy cabin. Usually we do a fair bit of work to keep things tidy so the stewards don't have to work too hard but we were pretty lazy this week.

 

 

As I mentioned, we had the Illusionarium booked for the evening. We got there around 7:30 for the 8:00 show, which apparently was not early enough. We had the dining package so the show was free for the banquet seats with a $10 pp additional fee for "premium" floor seats. Let this be a warning - EVEN IF YOU PURCHASE THE PREMIUM SEATS YOU MAY NOT GET FRONT ROW SEATS!! There are basically 3 rows of seating in the theater with the first 2 being the "premium" seats. The Illusionarium theater is basically a circle with a round stage in the center, with a dome over the stage area which is used to show projected images which are used as part of the "act". Unfortunately from our "premium" seats, we could not see into the dome, which detracted greatly from the experience. Additionally, we were seated on the side of the room, which meant we did not get the reveal of many of the tricks you might get from the front. This wasn't a big deal, I was more upset about being so far away. There's no way I would have considered my seat to be "premium" and we asked guest services to do something about it but they insisted that I did not pay extra for the "premium" seats and that they were included in my dining package but I am certain we paid extra for them. We walked away dissatisfied with the whole experience and without any refund. Oh well, we're on vacation after all, its just $20. We were not impressed by the food at the Illusionarium either. They served some sort of filet with a mushroom sauce, and fried shrimp (not sure of the seasoning). My wife does not like mushroom sauce and does not eat seafood so she was not happy with the meal at all and there is no alternative menu offered as far as I know. I liked the shrimp but the meal was quite underwhelming. You are also served in the dark, so it is a little weird to be eating when you can't even see what you're eating.

 

Then there's the actual performance. I have been into magic ever since I was a kid and I was really looking forward to seeing the show but I was disappointed by the caliber of the tricks. The first few acts were amateur illusions (woman in a box with swords) and things you'd learn as a beginner (magic rings?! really!?) There were some good ones though - the mentalists had me intrigued and the guy with the doves was really good, very talented slight of hand. Overall, the magic was underwhelming and I was expecting more technical and fresh tricks.

 

We headed to the casino to see what kind of trouble we could get into already. The casino is large and open, unlike most we've seen on ships. It is sort of divided into smoking and non-smoking sections though you could smell smoke through the whole casino, it was just worse in some areas over others. We spent quite a bit of time on the penny slots and came out about $80 ahead by the end of the cruise. My only complaint about the casino was the volume of the games, some were way too loud and did not have an obvious way to turn them down. We enjoyed playing a few rounds of the multi-player Deal or No Deal game with some of the others from our roll call, this is a cool feature that we have not seen before.

 

[tominabox1]

Day 2 and 3 are sea days on the Getway. Day 2 we had our Meet n Greet which featured visits from the Hotel Director (Sean) and his staff, including the Cruise Director, JC. NCL did a wonderful job of recognizing Cruise Critic and the staff and officers are aware of us on the ship. The Hotel Director gave each of us chocolate strawberries one night and he worked with me directly on another issue which was resolved swiftly and personally. We had a pleasant time and exchanged some gifts. We received a cool box of smoked salmon from a couple from Washington state. Following the meet & mingle, we did a cabin crawl which was pretty cool. Our favorite room was a Haven Spa suite which seemed to be on par size wise with the Jr. Suite we had on the Allure. The finishings in the Haven suites are a lot more interesting than the standard rooms which I liked. We may have to get a Haven the next time we sail with NCL.

 

 

Nothing else exciting happened on the first sea day. We had Moderno booked for dinner that night. If you intend to go their on your cruise, plan ahead and don't eat for the whole day before hand because you will need the room. Way too much food! As other reviews have noted, the salad bar is good, and the food is fairly good, there's just so much of it! We did not stay for dessert, and probably wouldn't go back, its just too much food and there are better options on the ship in our opinion.

 

After dinner we went to Burn the Floor, one of the ship's free shows. The show featured Latin dancing and music for about an hour. Coming most recently from RCI which we feel has really great shows, we had high expectations from NCL based on other reviews. The show did not have any plot or story line which was a letdown because the dancers were certainly talented but it seemed repetitive and overly long.

 

[tominabox1]

On Day 3 we had our slot pull with something like 50 people participating. I think we ended up with about $675 in the machine when we started. Unfortunately we won hardly anything and everybody ended up taking back about $9 of the $15 we put in. Oh well. I think we will do a different machine than the typical Wheel of Fortune on our next roll call if we can. At every roll call we have been on, we have done the slot pull on the WoF, and in our experience, WoF does not pay well and the spin feature is not common enough if you ask me!

 

The roll call group got together for dinner at Cagney's on the night of Day 3 to celebrate one of the members' birthdays. I was not super hungry but I got a lobster pasta dish and my wife got a strip steak. Both our dinners were good, and we were all passing around samples of some other meat cuts and everything tasted good (except the filet mignon someone got cooked medium-well!!!). We also got a bottle of Moscato which was only $26+ gratuity which we felt was a very fair price. Aubrey got a very tasty Oreo cheesecake dessert as well. We tried to get into Cagney's on the last day but they were booked and said they were not accepting walk-ins so make sure you book your dining early/before you cruise if you want to be sure you'll get in.

[tominabox1]

 

Day 4 we were in port at St Marten. The last time we were here on the Allure in 2013 the weather was iffy and we had not booked any excursions. We instead planned on visiting the French side for some food at Sarafina's and visiting Maho Beach. This year we decided we'd do some "active" excursions. We booked the 12 Meter America's Cup Regatta through the ship, since we'd at least get our money back if the excursion was canceled due to weather. Luck was upon us though and the weather was AMAZING for sailing, a nice stiff breeze and sunny skies. There's plenty of reviews of the America's Cup here and on the NCL booking pages so I won't bother explaining the details of our particular experience as I think it parallels what others have said: This is a "must do" excursion. We were lucky enough to end up on the Stars and Stripes vessel and raced against the Canadian True North. The Stars and Stripes is an old boat and I noted the grinding gears in the primary and the captain mentioned that she was going to dry dock this week, as was the True North. I don't know how long they will be out of water but if you're on the Getaway this week on the America's Cup excursion, don't expect to get the Stars to be your boat! We did not win our first race but we were surprised when the captain asked for volunteers to stay on for another race as the 2nd tour was short on people and he needed some muscle. I said "YES!" without hesitation. We beat the Canadians by a hair even after a rope broke and other big setbacks. What a rush!

 

 

As I mentioned, there's other reviews of America's Cup and I suggest you read them. It is a physical activity and unless you sail/work out regularly, you should expect to be sore the next couple of days! (unless of course you take up a less physical job like time keeper or bartender)

 

We got back to shore around 1:30 and set off for Marigot on the French side. Last year we couldn't figure out why Sarafina's was closed and we assumed it was a fluke but when we got there this time, I managed to decipher the note that was up (written in French) saying basically that they were taking the whole month of September off, which I suspect was the cause of their absence last year too! Oh well, for as luck would have it, we stopped at Les Toque instead, which is just down the road from Sarafina's. The restaurant is owned by a French family and offers traditional cuisine. They had a nice list of specials which included a Beef Wellington. My wife and I being huge Hell's Kitchen fans were eager to try out a beef wellington, Gordon Ramsey's most famous dishes. We were not sorry! The dish was amazing and I'd say it was the best meal I've ever had. You have to stop by this place next time you're in St Marten. The best way to travel is to go inland a few blocks until you find the island's bus system. The trip from Phillipsburg to Marigot is just $2 per person. We were both nodding off on the way back to the port, full and tired from an amazing day.

 

 

We were surprised when we got back to the pier and were offered cold towels and water/lemonade before boarding the ship. This is a really nice touch after a long hot day. Nice job NCL!

 

We got back to the ship and were so tired, we moved our reservation at Teppanyaki back to 7:30 and slept for a couple hours. When we finally got up to go, Aubrey wasn't feeling 100% and ended up leaving me at the restaurant to eat by myself while she went back and rested up some more. Teppanyaki was interesting. We had been to hibachi style places before but not one that does all the fancy flipping knives and eggs everywhere. After such a busy day, it may have been a bad choice because it is a very high-energy place. The chefs are banging metal on metal throughout the meal and its just a little jarring if you will. I might have had a better experience had we not been so worn out from the day. As far as the food goes, it was ok. I got the scallops and shrimp and Aubrey got the fillet. I felt the seasoning was over simplified - soy sauce and garlic, salt, and pepper was the extent of it which kind of made everything taste the same. In summary, we would have preferred a more relaxed experience but that just isn't what Teppenayaki is about.

[tominabox1]

Day 5 was St Thomas. Last year when we were here, it was pouring rain all day. It was downright miserable. Again, we lucked out this time and it was very nice. We booked the Champagne Catamaran Sail & Snorkel in St. John. To get to the excursion, you have to take a very tightly packed taxi-truck to Red Hook which is about a 30 min ride. Its quite exciting given the road system but in the heat it can be a bit uncomfortable. We motored to St. John where we'd be snorkeling. We've snorkeled in the Bahamas before on a Carnival cruise and we were really disappointed. This experience was FAR better. We had heard that St. John was the place to go and it was. The water was warm, calm and teaming with fish.

 

 

 

Others in our group saw turtles and stingrays but I think we just didn't get over that direction far enough. Before we knew it, it was time to go and we headed back to St Thomas. Unfortunately, the winds were calm so we couldn't sail back and had to motor back. We were offered rum punch, champagne, and beers. The rum punch was watered down and the champagne was cheap, neither of us were really "feeling it" by the time we got back to the marina which was a bit of a bummer, but we still had a good time. Now all sweaty and hot and tired, we had to cram into a taxi-truck again which is sure uncomfortable in those conditions. As expected I suppose!

 

We had Le Bistro booked for that evening and I was eager to check it out after our experience in St Marten. A few of the others in our roll call were having problems getting a reservation so we showed up as a group for our reservation and we got a table outside after a short wait. If you don't mind hearing the super loud casino games during dinner, then its no different from sitting inside if you ask me! I had escargot, French onion soup, and lamb chops, and Aubrey had pork loin and we both really enjoyed that. It was my favorite meal we had on the ship for sure. Aubrey still favors Cagney's but she's a beef lover.

 

[tominabox1]

Day 6 was our last sea day. We spent most of the day in the casino. We ate at the Flamingo Grill for lunch and were really disappointed. Maybe it is the "ethnic" cuisine but the food there was really poor in comparison to what we had eaten in the specialty dining so far. Aside from a few potato based offerings, the meats and other dishes were really bad.

 

 

For dinner we had La Cucina booked. My wife and I love a good pasta so we were eager to try this as well. Aubrey had chicken parmesan and I had lobster linguine. Aubrey's dish was not very high quality, the chicken was bland and the cheese was gross. My dish was OK, the lobster was a little chewy and nowhere near as good as the lobster pasta I had at Cagney's which I thought was odd since they're probably very nearly the same dish. We also got a pizza for an appetizer and it was like cafeteria pizza, not good at all.

 

We went to Legally Blonde that evening and that was really fun. Talented singers, and dancing. "Oh my God you guys!"

 

Finally, we had our stop in Nassau. This was our 6th time here and we did not get off the ship. We spent most of the day napping and reading on our balcony, which was incredibly nice in the afternoon after the sun was no longer blasting directly onto our balcony. I got a back massage in the spa in the afternoon which was very relaxing. The spa is really nice and I'd recommend a visit if you're on the ship. Prices for services are on par with what I've seen on other lines, though this is the first time I've used the spa on any cruise so I can't comment on the quality of service here.

 

For some reason, the only option for lunch was the Garden Cafe, which I thought was very unusual. We ate there and were not impressed by the quality or quantity of choices. We did find it nice that there was hand dipped ice cream available which is not something we've seen on other lines.

 

We intentionally did not pre-book a specialty restaurant on that evening as we intended to book on the ship after we had figured out where we liked to eat. Unfortunately by mid afternoon, the booking systems were showing no open spots. We did not fret, since earlier in the week we were able to add 3 to our reservation without any trouble at Le Bistro. We did not have that luck this time around. We visited Cagney's and Le Bistro and both said they were not taking any walk-ins. I did not press the issue, but we walked by both several times and it was clear that there were many open tables throughout the evening. Not eating at a specialty restaurant one night makes a pretty big impact on the value of the dining package so we were a bit miffed about that but at least it gave us a chance to eat in the main dining room once. I ordered French onion soup for appetizer and I was disappointed it was nowhere as good as the one I got at Le Bistro. Again, I assume its very nearly the same recipe so I don't know why it'd be any worse. For my main course, I got a prime rib and Aubrey got another steak. The main courses were good and comparable to what we've had in MDRs on other ships. We liked the live music and dancing as well, though we did not partake.

 

We went to the comedy show after dinner, which was short but very good. I wished we had gone earlier in the week during one of the late night sessions for more "adult" humor. As usual, I sat in the front row and got some comments from the comedian which I love. The set was short, only about 45 minutes.

 

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Howling at the Moon was on after the comedian which I had not seen earlier in the week which I also wish I had gone to. The pianists were very talented and played a few of my requests which I felt were a little "out there". We had a great time the final night of the cruise, it was a fitting farewell.

 

[tominabox1]

A final note on post-cruise transportation. We've done busses, taxis, and shuttles. I think we've finally found our preferred method of travel - Lyft. Lyft is a crowd sourced car-for-hire system. Individuals offer their services and you request service via a smart phone app, they come, get you, drop you off and everything is handled via the app. I had never used it before but there is a promo code for your first ride free so I figured why not. Our driver John showed up a few minutes after requesting a ride at the pier and he brought us to the airport easy peasy. No smelly 50 year old cab, but a comfortable newer Honda Fit. And cost? Just $20 plus tip. (well just $5 tip for us since we had the promo code) The app suggests a price for you and you can adjust it + or -. I think this is similar to or cheaper than a taxi and a little more personal. There's also another similar app called Uber but I have not used it. Look into these next time you're looking for short distance travel options!

 

Throughout the cruise, my wife and I as well as several members of the roll call were keeping in contact using the iConcierge app. Some of us were on iPhones, some on Android phones. During the beginning of the trip, the reliability was really terrible, and the app would often report "extension offline" or something when trying to send a text. We had limited use of the calling feature so I won't comment on that. We did receive a survey via the TV message system asking about various aspects of the app and after a scathing review, the app did seem to work a lot better in the days following the survey so maybe they were trying something new and reverted after seeing the survey results. It was really good when it worked! I'd still recommend you get it if you have others you'd like to keep in touch with.

 

The parties were really good, and better attended then we've seen on other lines and ships. The GLOW party was cool, the music was a little repetitive but I imagine with the right "encouragement" you might have a crazy good time. I personally did not see the fireworks, but my wife said they were amazing. I did step out on our balcony during the show and we did not have a good view, port side balconies would have had a good view. Spice H2O is obviously the best place since the music and everything that goes with the fireworks is there.

 

 

Drink menus at the bars were by and large the same which meant unless you knew what you wanted to drink, you'd have a bit of trouble browsing through a big menu of interesting drinks like we've seen on other lines. Usually we get one or two "drinks of the day" with a souvenir glass to take home but on this ship, it seemed like they did not advertise the drink of the day, or what glass it came in so we did not end up getting one.

 

 

The short story: Though we had lots of things to critique, we consider our Getaway cruise to be an absolutely great time. The crew was really great, everybody was interested in making us happy and NCL seems to be interested in keeping them happy too, as we often saw them around the ship and ports in off-hours, which is great. Will we sail NCL again? You bet! I'm well aware that this post does seem a little "negative" and if you look closely, the majority of my negativity is directed towards the food, which I think is a common critique of NCL. Luckily, eating is not the only thing to do on a cruise! NCL has some of the best prices available and when all things are considered, it is an incredible value. 10/10 would sail again.

[Sundiego]

Loved your review! I thought it was really positive. We like comparing lines as well and NCL is our favorite. And I thought your food comments were not negative at all! It sounds pretty much like how we would analyze things out. Fun read, thanks for posting. We sail 9/13 and your review adds to the pre-cruise excitement :)

 

~Denise

[david_sobe]

A+ review

Completely fair and balanced and not negative at all. Just because some things are not up to your expectations, it is perfectly normal to explain that. That is not being negative and you should not have to apologize.

Glad you had such a great time especially since you have sailed on Allure which is the biggest cruise ship in the world.

I agree with you about La Cucina. I want so much to like it but always let down. I don't even think they are the same quality as Olive Garden. Way worse. They recently changed the pizza and it got worse with cheaper ingredients and upped the charge. But other than that, I love NCL specialty restaurants especially Cagneys.

You are right about the port Everglads vs Miami. Port everglades bent over backwards for Royal to expand their port and make it so much better to land Oasis of the Seas. Miami's port could not be expanded so much and they were not going to change things so Miami got left out. But no surprise. I read once a poll of cruise ship workers and they voted the port of Miami their least favorite port. But just like everything else in Miami it is far below quality of anywhere else in the country.

 

Welcome home and thanks for the great photos and review!

Edited September 7, 2014 by david_sobe

[ColinIllinois]

Nice enjoyable review. Not too short and not too long. Just right. :D

[need2cruisesoon]

The last time we were here on the Allure in 2013 the weather was iffy and we had not booked any excursions

 

Can you extrapolate a little more more on the differences between the Getaway and Oasis/Allure? (Service, food, the ship).

Looking at either doing a Caribbean cruise during the winter and having a hard time deciding, any input you could give would be appreciated since you have sailed both. Thanks,

[aubreyc1988]

The last time we were here on the Allure in 2013 the weather was iffy and we had not booked any excursions

 

Can you extrapolate a little more more on the differences between the Getaway and Oasis/Allure? (Service, food, the ship).

Looking at either doing a Caribbean cruise during the winter and having a hard time deciding, any input you could give would be appreciated since you have sailed both. Thanks,

Hi I'm tominabox1's wife! My opinion is that the allure/oasis wins hands down on all three. Food - the allure had better dining options and the food in the buffet was waaaaay better than NCL getaway. However I liked Cagney's way better than RCI's Chops. I felt like Cagney's menu was bigger, food was better, and was all around the best place I have eaten on a cruise ship. Le bistro on getaway was also really good!

 

As for service, hands down royal. Not that our onboard service was terrible, but we have experienced much better on royal. Customer service is poor on NCL, everyone giving you a different answer to your questions.

 

Entertainment, royal wins hands down. It's just a higher caliber of entertainment, far more shows, and better production values. Legally blonde on NCL was good, but Chicago on allure was better. And the illusionarium and burn the floor I would never see again, while most RCI shows I would definitely do again.

 

Value, well NCL wins that one! The allure and oasis are very expensive and we got the getaway at half the price. Plus we ended up with 200 OBC with our balcony which I feel would never happen for a beginner on RCI.

 

Allure was a much better looking ship on the inside and was better planned out. I like how the inside is kinda of "cut out" on the allure, which makes you feel like you are always outside. On the getaway, I felt really closed in. I didn't like how they used the atrium as a theater of sorts. Osheehans surrounds the atrium big screen area and it is almost always too congested. I felt more crowded on the getaway than I did on allure.

 

Hope that helps. If you can afford it, book allure or oasis. Everyone should do those ships at least once, its a great experience

[need2cruisesoon]

Hi I'm tominabox1's wife! My opinion is that the allure/oasis wins hands down on all three. Food - the allure had better dining options and the food in the buffet was waaaaay better than NCL getaway. However I liked Cagney's way better than RCI's Chops. I felt like Cagney's menu was bigger, food was better, and was all around the best place I have eaten on a cruise ship. Le bistro on getaway was also really good!

 

As for service, hands down royal. Not that our onboard service was terrible, but we have experienced much better on royal. Customer service is poor on NCL, everyone giving you a different answer to your questions.

 

Entertainment, royal wins hands down. It's just a higher caliber of entertainment, far more shows, and better production values. Legally blonde on NCL was good, but Chicago on allure was better. And the illusionarium and burn the floor I would never see again, while most RCI shows I would definitely do again.

 

Value, well NCL wins that one! The allure and oasis are very expensive and we got the getaway at half the price. Plus we ended up with 200 OBC with our balcony which I feel would never happen for a beginner on RCI.

 

Allure was a much better looking ship on the inside and was better planned out. I like how the inside is kinda of "cut out" on the allure, which makes you feel like you are always outside. On the getaway, I felt really closed in. I didn't like how they used the atrium as a theater of sorts. Osheehans surrounds the atrium big screen area and it is almost always too congested. I felt more crowded on the getaway than I did on allure.

 

Hope that helps. If you can afford it, book allure or oasis. Everyone should do those ships at least once, its a great experience

 

Awesome, thank you for taking the time time and giving me your impressions of each ship Aubrey. I will consider all the points you outlined and make a decision.

[Redcat]

I have only sailed on Carnival but now am starting to branch out some of Carnivals new ships are really quite nice you seem to be comparing small ships to mega ships so really no comparison. Each of us has their own prefence I like medium size ships but wife loves Mega size so guess after Geataway we are trying Oasis but a cruise is wondeful even on Fantasy out of Charleston. Cruise well my freinds.

[tominabox1]

I have only sailed on Carnival but now am starting to branch out some of Carnivals new ships are really quite nice you seem to be comparing small ships to mega ships so really no comparison. Each of us has their own prefence I like medium size ships but wife loves Mega size so guess after Geataway we are trying Oasis but a cruise is wondeful even on Fantasy out of Charleston. Cruise well my freinds.

 

I disagree, the Getaway is no "small ship" it is in the same league as the Independence of the Seas which has 4300 passengers vs Getaway's 4000. We found the Indy to have the best food and the same entertainment we experienced on the Allure AND RCI's oldest (now retired) Monarch of the Seas. I do urge you to try some other lines, you might not know what you're missing! I'll try (almost) anything once!

[Aussie Jeep]

Great review. Its good to read a review that is not filled with 'the towels were not as soft as I expected or the bath products were wrong' and all the too often unessessary comments and words. Thanks heaps. You mentioned that you received gifts at the meet and greet. Is this normal? I have not been to a M & G before. I am really looking forward to my trip on the Getaway and your review just makes me want the time to the cruise come quicker.

[tominabox1]

Great review. Its good to read a review that is not filled with 'the towels were not as soft as I expected or the bath products were wrong' and all the too often unessessary comments and words. Thanks heaps. You mentioned that you received gifts at the meet and greet. Is this normal? I have not been to a M & G before. I am really looking forward to my trip on the Getaway and your review just makes me want the time to the cruise come quicker.

We had a gift exchange planned between members of the roll call, those were the gifts I mentioned, not from the cruise line although we did get the strawberries from the hotel director.

[BDCruz]

I was also on the August 30th sailing on the Getaway. My husband and I were disappointed ( to say the least)

Likes: Specialty Restaurants (especially Cagney's and Le Bistro)

Legally Blonde

Some games in the Atrium

The band, Groove International

Cruise staff was very friendly

Dislikes: THE POOL.(the one and only adult pool)

The music at the pool. The only day that was live music was Day 1. All other

time the DJ was playing either very loud dance music or a lot of Latin music.

The casino was smokey and the smell permeated the atrium.

Burn the Floor .

The magicians in the Illusionarium were quite boring.

Only 2 banks of elevators.

We love to cruise and we did have a good time but we will never go on NCL again. RCCL all the way!

[BrentD]

Just FYI in case anybody wonders about other options for transport FROM the port... I wound up taking a taxi back to my car parked at the Element Hotel near the MIA airport. I didn't want to wait outside in the humidity for a shuttle to have enough riders crammed in to go back, and didn't know about Lyft. Last I had read, Uber wasn't allowed to operate in Florida yet due to some outdated laws (along with Lyft, I now read), but apparently that's changed now. Anyway, taxi was clean, fairly new and cost right at $25. Would've been the same-ish rate to go to MIA instead. Shuttle guy told me $15 and I'd have to wait a bit to ride with him. Worth the $10 premium to me for the private and much faster ride. I was back to my car and on the road by 8:45 am.

Edited September 8, 2014 by BrentD