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SliceofLife's GETAWAY REVIEW (including pictures, MDR menu's and more!)

SliceOfLife

By SliceOfLife,
in Norwegian Cruise Line

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SliceOfLife

SliceOfLife

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Disembarkation :(

 

The cruise is over, we got up early to beat the insanity at the Garden Cafe, but it was still pretty crazy up there. We did manage to find a table to sit at and enjoy our last round of waffles and french toast. We rationed our maple syrup well and used the last of it up this morning. We heard the announcement at 7:30 am the ship was cleared and ready for passengers to being easy walk of disembarkation.

 

After breakfast we went back to our cabin to get our bags and make our way to the gangway on deck 7. We chose to do easy walk off so we just rolled on through O'Sheehan's into the long line to get off the ship. Thankfully we didn't have to wait to long to get through the line. It is amazing how many people are not prepared to get off the ship. Have you keycard ready people! We made it off and through customs in about a half hour or so.

 

We called SAS Transport once we got outside and they said they were on the way and to wait back where you exit Terminal B. We waited there for a good 20 minutes and then a police woman made us move. We saw someone holding a sign across the street for SAS so we went to him. He said our driver was Larry and we had to wait for him. In the meantime, we saw two SAS vans go by empty. What the heck? He guy left and took people with him leaving us behind. Over a half hour had passed and we were getting frustrated. My husband called the main SAS number again and asked what was going on. Same story, someone is on the way. We say another SAS van pull up and pick up their designated passengers, but not us. Again we were told to wait. Finally our driver showed up and we were off to go pick up more people. I understand they are a shared ride company. However, if you are waiting you should just be able to get in a van fill it up and go. Not wait for a specific driver to pick you up. We made three circles around the cruise terminal picking up people and we were finally on our way. Everyone was going to FLL except one person who was going to a hotel. The driver did not know any of our flight times and did not ask. He dropped the person off at the hotel first! Are you kidding me? Hotel people are not on a timeline! You need to drop off the airport passengers first! We allowed extra time knowing SAS can be slow, but this was now eating into our cushion window and I was getting very mad. We finally made it to the airport to huge lines at the ticket counter. Tip! It is worth it to pay by the minute on the ship internet to print out your boarding passes. We will be doing that next time. If you have a boarding pass you can skip the full service line and go to the express bag drop off where no one is waiting.

 

We finally got our tickets and bags checked and made it through security. It was about an hour until our flight so we didn't have to wait long. We stopped at Starbucks to fill up on caffeine and it was time to board. We were late leaving because someone decided to load bags from the next flight onto our flight. It made our plane overweight so they had to be removed. We arrived back home almost an hour weight because of that and waiting to take off.

 

Overall thoughts and other stuff

 

We had an amazing cruise and I cannot wait to go on another one! If you want to book a mid ship minisute and are worried about the walk to the elevators, choose the first grouping of minisuites, they are very close to the forward elevators. This cruise we spent less time at the pool deck and decided to check out the game shows and other going on's during the day. I'm glad we finally got to see and do many of the things we missed on the Breakaway. We never made it to the ropes course or the mini golf this cruise.

 

Another note, there are two picture taking machines through iSnap that you can stop and take your picture and choose you background. You can then email or share the picture on Facebook, iSnap, or Instagram. It's all free too!! We saw one right outside O'Sheehan's going towards the casino and other was outside the Grammy Experience.

 

There is a note in the dailies or maybe it was the Welcome Aboard, you're not allowed to use personal hairdryers. I thought that was odd because I had brought mine before and used it (except for the Breakaway). Well, I found out the hard way why that is. You'll blow a breaker! Oops! The 110 outlets are shared by the TV, fridge, and then whatever you plug into the outlets. It was too much for them to handle with my hair dryer. The ship's provided hairdryer is hardwired in and has its own dedicated breaker.

 

I have more pictures to post from snorkeling but I need to buy a card reader first. My underwater camera worked great all through the cruise and then died when I got home. I hope it can be saved!

 

 

 

I used my iPhone for some of the pictures and the rest I used my Canon EOS 7D camera with a Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM lens.

 

 

I hope you enjoyed the review and found it helpful in planning your next trip!

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LrgPizza

LrgPizza

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What a wonderful, well organized review. You take great pictures! I had a great time on the Getaway, and this takes me right back. I loved the pics of the fruit carving. That is something I never would have considered attending, but I might make a point of it next time. My son would love that.

 

That stinks that the weather was crappy at Nassau!

 

Recently several reviewers who take weeks to post complete reviews argued that it can't be done all at once. I tried to explain how it actually can, but having someone demonstrate it so well makes it so much better. Thanks!

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Mikkar

Mikkar

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I did the same thing with my hairdryer on the Breakaway. It took a couple of hours for them to reset the breaker and I ended up plugging in to the plug in the hallway to finish drying my hair. Now I just leave my dryer at home.

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CasinoCruzGirl

CasinoCruzGirl

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I can't begin to tell you how thrilled I was to read an entire review. It was wonderful. A lot of reviews I have started to read lately start and never finish. I applaud you for doing an entire review that was both entertaining and well written with marvelous pictures. Thanks again.

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NayRN

NayRN

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Your review and pictures were amazing! I wish my sail date was closer.....

 

Question....Did you purchase anything from Carlos Bakery? If so, was it expensive? Was it good? Reason I'm asking is I did try his NYC bakery...very overpriced and not as tasty as I would have thought! 😝

 

Thanks for the great review!!!

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retiring soon

retiring soon

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Hi all!

 

Hi Steven!:D

 

Thanks for the great prompt review. Loved the Getaway & reliving my cruise through you.

 

Did they have the "Dancing with the Getaway Stars" & "Wine Lovers the Musical" on your cruise? They both were a lot of fun on mine.

 

Is Zac still onboard, tall thin, hyper CD staff member? Love him!

 

How did you find the 3 latest NCL ships compare? I think Epic is still my fav.

 

Thanks again.

 

~ Jo ~:)

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lelder1

lelder1

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I like the tip about paying for the internet to print boarding passes the last day to avoid the full service line. Thank you! We will be flying home the Sunday after thanksgiving out of FLL so I know it will be a madhouse.

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pegdave

pegdave

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This was my 4th cruise (all with Norwegian). I was lucky to sail the Breakaway last year to Bermuda so it was fun to sail on the Getaway and compare the ships. It was just my husband and I, we are in our early 30’s, and we had a mid ship mini-suite cabin 10804.

 

Here is a fantastic tip I figured out from my cabin. If you view the casual dining options on your television you can see the menu for each day of the week for the main dining rooms. So, on day one of the cruise, you can view the entire seven days of dinner menus in advance. It makes it helpful if you don’t want to miss something in the MDR or know when to go to the specialty restaurants.

 

Adventures to FLL and Miami:

 

While going through airport security I noticed an Apple laptop got left behind. Luckily my husband saw who it belonged to and ran down the concourse to get the guy. He was thankful to be reunited with his laptop and he thanked us over and over again. This began our lucky vacation!

 

We flew into FLL on Friday and our wonderful captain managed to get us to the gate a half hour early!! I love FLL because your baggage is ready for pick up not long after you land. I think we waited about 10 minutes for our bags to arrive. I have used SAS transport for our past two cruises so I booked them again. I will sadly say I will not be booking them again after the pick up from the cruise debacle (more on that later). We walked out of the airport and stood in a waiting area for about a half hour before we were picked up. Once we were loaded on we had to circle the airport a few times to pick up more passengers and then we were off to area hotels to pick up more people. I believe after an hour we were finally on the road to Miami. We were lucky to be the first ones dropped off at our hotel.

 

On our Epic cruise we stayed at the JW Marriott Marquis Miami and loved it so I booked that hotel again. I am a Marriott Gold Elite member and booked the hotel on a free reward certificate. The advantage to being a Gold member is you are offered upgrades when available. It was a little before noon when we checked in and no rooms were ready. The front desk lady did say I was upgraded to a different room but didn’t tell me what the room type was. They took our luggage and stored it so we could roam around Miami and eat some lunch.

 

I love Yelp! It is my best friend while on vacation. After consulting some reviews we decided to go to Sparky’s Roadside Barbecue. It was packed but luckily we did not have to wait for a table. You are stuffed in there elbow to elbow with other patrons but it is worth it. I had the Tyler’s Pressed Sandwich (beef brisket, pulled pork, sautéed onions, American cheese & bbq sauce) and my husband and The Ex Patriot Pressed Sandwich (mojo bbq pork leg, sautéed onions, swiss cheese, mustard and pickles). My sandwich was amazing and the one my husband got was just okay. It was a little dry tasting. The service was quick and I would certainly go there again for lunch.

 

We still had a few more hours to kill before check in so we walked around the area and then sat on the second floor of the hotel in the sitting area until they called to let me know our room was ready. I went to the front desk and we were promptly given room keys to our upgraded room, a suite!! This room was so ridiculous and I wish we would have had more than one day to enjoy it. The suite had three separate rooms, a living room, office, and bedroom. It also had a half bath when you first walked in! The bedroom was huge and had a flat screen tv, attached to the bedroom was a gigantic bathroom. The bathroom had a tv in the mirror! A separate toilet closet, jetted bathtub and a large walk in shower. We spent some time relaxing watching tv before heading out to dinner.

 

For dinner we went to the Filling Station and Garage which is just a short walk from the hotel. We discovered it when we sailed on the Epic and knew we had to go back! The wait staff is very friendly and attentive and I can’t say enough good things about it. They have amazing tater tots! I ordered the Hog (fried chicken, smoked ham, peppered bacon and garickly mustardy mayo) and my husband ordered the J’s Challenger (buffalo chicken, fried mozzarella, swiss, bacon, lettuce, and pickle). Both sandwiches were amazing!! I love this place! If you’re in the area you have to go!

 

After dinner we walked back to the hotel and that is when I discovered I forgot to pack the bottle of maple syrup! I have heard how nasty the new syrup is on Norwegian and I didn’t want to chance a week of no waffles because I hated the syrup. We walked to CVS to pick up bottled water and the mini bottles of Coca-Cola. Unfortunately, they do not sell maple syrup. Sadness! I found a Publix about a half mile away so off we went on an adventure. It was about a fifteen minute walk through a really beautiful part of Miami and the weather was perfect. Maple syrup was acquired and we walked back to the hotel. While in the elevator an older lady inquired where we bought the water and gave her directions to the CVS. Later we would see her almost every day on our cruise. It’s a small world!

 

We were worn out from getting up at 4:00 am to catch our flight so it was early bedtime. Another perk to being a Gold member is access to the concierge lounge which means free breakfast. There was a nice variety of fresh fruit, yogurt, eggs, bacon, sausage, potatoes, assorted pastries, juice, coffee and tea. I forgot to mention the day before we learned the race route for the Komen for the Cure 5k had changed and would be going directly down the street of the hotel. We went to the front desk after breakfast to inquire about a taxi to the port. They advised to allow plenty of time to get to the port due to road closures. We packed up our bags, affixed our NCL luggage tags and went down to catch a taxi. We were lucky the roads near our hotel and just reopened (this was about 10:00 and the roads were expected to be closed until 1:00 pm). We caught a taxi and we were off to the port! It took just a little longer than usual with the extra traffic from the race. Our cab fare was close to $20.

 

 

I was on the same roll call and cruise with you. Your screen sounded familiar but it wasn't until I watch an episode of dexter tonight did I realize where I heard it before. I[emoji2][emoji2]

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Krapf

Krapf

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Great review. We were on the Breakaway last May and enjoyed your review of that ship too. We leave on the Getaway in two weeks on Nov. 15. Thanks for posting all the pictures.

Edited by Krapf
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