Wichitastatecruiser Getsaway for Halloween

[wichitastatecruiser]

Hello! Wichitaststaecruiser aka Mike here fresh off the Getaway as of yesterday morning. Finally finished most my return home errands and decided to start my travel log/review thread! I will have some pictures and will also give tips and my overall impression of the ship. So let's start shall we?

 

About me: 35 year old male traveling solo with a "hosted" company. We had 178 people in the group. This was my third cruise with my first being the Carnival Freedom in March 2013 and the second being the RCCL Oasis in October 2013.

 

Planning: I originally had the RCCL Allure booked for Halloween with another "hosted" company but cancelled and booked this one when it was added. At the time I booked a M6 which is a mini suite with large balcony for $2400. However there were major price drops on this sailing. My final price was $1800 plus $140 OBC. After final payment the price dropped even further reaching $1200 at one point. Of course at that point NCL would only offer me a free upgrade to a family balcony or pay $40 extra for a spa mini-suite. I wanted the large balcony so kept what I had. I tried to request a free spa pass but NCL would not do that.

 

Expectations: Being my first time on NCL I was excited to try the freestyle concept and being on a newer ship. I was also very excited about my large balcony. Would NCL live up to my expectations? Tune in to find out!

[wichitastatecruiser]

I flew out of Wichita at 6 am on Friday, October 24th. I had a layover in Atlanta were I met up with my best friend and his boyfriend. His boyfriend was flying stand-by and got a flight ahead of us but he and I were on the same flight from Atlanta to Miami. When we arrived in Miami it was a rainy and dreary day we met some more people in my travel group and had enough to get a Super Shuttle to ourselves for $12 a person. All of us were staying in the art-deco portion of South Beach. I was at the Clevelander. It was still raining off and on and we could see that the ocean was rough. The beach was technically closed with no life guards on duty but a few people still walked the beach. I checked into the hotel and they gave me a pina colada. Went to my room to check it out. Eventually met back up with my friends and we explored the area and ended up eating dinner at Mia Bella Roma an Italian place. Now for those of you visiting south beach for the first time there are dozens of restaurants there and they have seating on the sidewalk and you have to walk through them to get to one place to the other so expect to be asked if you would like to eat multiple times if you walk the area. After eating we hung out at Clevelander for awhile but it was slow because it was still trying to rain and the entire bar operates outside. My friends decided to go to the Palace a gay bar and I stayed there for a little bit before going to Mango's. Now Mango's is inside and it was happening. Their employees dance on a stage and they have a dance floor in the back. My friend eventually joined me and we had drinks and watched the fun. They eventually headed back and I went back to the Clevelander where it picked up a little bit. I got a big giant drink and after finishing it I headed to my room and went to bed.

 

Also FYI I am having issues uploading multiple pics so will try to fix that before continuing on with my review. Anyone have suggestions for a free photo hosting site?

[kjquilts]

You asked for photo sharing suggestions. We use photobucket. You get a certain amount of storage free and can buy more space for minimal cost.

 

Keep in mind if you delete a photo from Photobucket it also disappears from where you posted it.

 

I think cruise critic limits you to 6 photos per post. That count includes smilies.

[wichitastatecruiser]

Test

Edited November 3, 2014 by wichitastatecruiser

[rajjohnson]

82 days and we'll be on the Getaway - looking forward to more of your review. I always appreciate any pointers about the ship I'm about to board. Thanks for taking the time. Jenn

[wichitastatecruiser]

Picture of me:

 

South Beach 10/24/2014:

 

Exterior of hotel:

 

Check-in Pina Colada:

 

Double pool view room:

 

View of pool/bar from my room:

Edited November 3, 2014 by wichitastatecruiser

[wichitastatecruiser]

Clevelander at night:

 

Mango's:

 

Last drink of the night at Clevelander:

[SliceOfLife]

I've been waiting for a Halloween Getaway review! I hope there are costume pictures and other fun stuff!!

[Bunnynme]

Can't wait to read more! Keep it coming!

[wichitastatecruiser]

Day One:

 

I somehow woke up before my 10 am alarm despite all I drank the previous night with only a slight hangover. The blackout curtains work really well at the hotel because when I opened them up this is what greeted me:

 

I got up, showered and got a taxi to the port. Where I say the ship for the first time.

 

A friend in my group who I sailed with before did not bring her passport or birth certificate with her and NCL would not let her board without either one. However she was able to get a copy faxed to her so she was finally able to make it on board. Upon checking in I did the obligatory self ship tour to see what the ship had to offer:

 

 

 

[wichitastatecruiser]

 

 

 

 

 

[wichitastatecruiser]

I grabbed a light snack at the garden buffet since the first night is Prime rib night at the O'Sheehan's. Eventually the announcement came on that the rooms were ready so I went to my room to check out my mini-suite with large balcony!

 

 

 

 

Eventually the muster drill was called and it was the most informal muster drill I have ever witnessed on any line. After which I went to go unpack then went up to Spice H20 for the most anti-climatic sail away party ever! NCL put on this spectacular show including a countdown to sail away and the ship blowing its whistle. However after the countdown the ship just sat there, and sat there. Eventually an hour later the cruise director came on the intercom and asked ship visitors to leave the ship as they were delaying our departure. About 15 minutes after that we pushed away from the dock and we were on our way out to sea!

 

 

 

 

After a beautiful sunset I went and had a decent prime rib then headed back up to Spice H20 to check out the continuing deck party, checked out Bliss for awhile which was pretty slow and went back and ended up back in Spice before finally heading to bed probably @ 2 am. I had to make sure I got decent sleep as the next day was my meet and mingle and cabin crawl with cruise critic!