Just off Getaway...review to come but any questions?

[jchris1230]

Thanks for all the dailies and info

[moesyk4]

There are already several reviews floating around about this cruise (we must be a chatty group! lol) so I decided against doing a day by day recount, but instead am just going to include information that may help others, specifically ship overview, ports of call, and room.

 

Ship Overview:

 

As I stated, we have sailed RCCL and Carnival previously. I wouldn't hesitate to sail any of those lines again. I think Carnival provides a very good product at a great price, you will notice a difference in some areas (decor and entertainment primarily), but we love Carnival cruises. I felt compared to Norwegian, RCCL goes for more of the "wow" factor. Large, grand over the top spaces, unusual attractions, etc. The Getaway was just as gorgeous but much more understated. I never walked into a space and was blown away by the grandeur, but loved the dark woods, rich colors, and overall ambiance.

 

Service: We have, with the exception of one room steward, always had great services on cruises no matter the line. Norwegian was no exception. Every single employee said hello when you passed by the hallway, the bartenders were very responsive and you never waited long for a drink, and everyone was just friendly. It still amazes me they can provide such cheerful service day in and day out.

 

Activities: We tried just about every single one. Loved the drop slide and the ropes course, DS loved all the kid's activities and there were plenty. They DO watch both weight and height, I saw them weigh and/or measure people many times. Some got disgruntled, but they were doing their jobs.

 

 

Mini ropes course

 

 

Bungee tramponline- These had very limited hours and they generally closed it down to new people a 1/2 hour before closing time to get through the line, so pay attention!

 

 

Kid's club: Our first kid's club experience was on the Carnival Breeze and was on of my biggest disappointments. They had the TV or Wii on almost all the time and it felt just like a babysitting experience. My son LOVED the kid's club here. They told us at the beginning that they keep the kids active and they really did, always playing games, doing scavenger hunts, etc. I heard many kids beg to stay when they were picked up.

Face painting on super duper heroes night!

[moesyk4]

 

UBP: We chose this perk. You do pay for taxes while in Miami. We always took two cards to the bar but they always just asked if we were in the same room and put both on the same check. Generally when we just got soda they didn't even ring it up. Like I said, we avoided the pool bar on sea days, but we had great and fast service every time. Look at the thread on here for drink ideas! Loved sugarcane and also the mango meltdown. We did tip extra on occasion but it wasn't necessary for great service.

 

Dining: We chose to get the 4 day SDP and reserved Cagneys, Moderno, Le Bistro, and Teppanyaki as well as one night each in Taste, Savor, and Tropicana. We found both the complimentary and specialty dining to be consistantly good with the exception of the occasional dessert. I would not consider paying extra for specialty to be necessary at all. Some have complained of slow service, I guess on all my cruises dinner service was between 1 1/2 to 2 hours so based on that, it was about the same. As I stated earlier, we had a rough night at Le Bistro and it was almost 2 1/2 hours, that was way too slow. I would say our favorite was Cagneys, although I will admit at great risk to myself lol I didn't understand the obsession with truffle fries. :)

 

We did not try the premium items at the specialties, since we did not have the UDP it didn't make sense we would get those for free, so we didn't even try.

 

My MIL eats primarily no meat and found something at every restaurant to her liking.

 

 

Vegetarian entree at Le Bistro

 

 

Teppanyaki was a ton of fun and they let my son go behind the grill!

 

 

The gorgonzola sauce was amazing!

 

[moesyk4]

One note about the ship, we were mid September and although we had a surprising number of kids on board (There were 120 in the Turtles age range alone) they said a few weeks previous they had 1,700 on board. I honestly have no idea how they would fit that many in the kid's areas. The pools seemed packed to me and like I said, it was a low time for kids. Definitely a design flaw. Both my husband and I enjoyed that there were so many age specific things on board though (spider mountain and bungee trampoline for kids, vibe and h2o for adults, etc.)

 

Room: We had absolutely no choice in the week we went and the room we got. We needed a spa room that slept 4 and there is literally only one on the ship and there was only 1 available when we booked, so 14768 it was. It happened to be a mini suite. With 3 adults and 1 child, we had PLENTY of room. We had cabinets we never even used and never felt crowded. We just naturally spread out our use of the bathroom and in an emergency, the spa and/or pool deck bathroom were just above us. I had imagined the worse for the balcony and yes, it was small, but bigger than I had imagined lol. It fit all of us standing.

I normally really research room location, but as I said, didn't have a choice here. This is right below the pool deck...you do hear deck chairs scraping at 6 am and you will hear music and chatting on your balcony at all hours. Not my ideal, but didn't dampen the cruise enough to really notice. Something to note though for those looking for a super quiet balcony or light sleepers.

 

 

Bathroom and shower were amazing!

 

 

 

 

This is the room set up with 4 sleeping in there, still plenty of room!

[moesyk4]

Spa: We LOVED the spa. Go first thing in the morning for private space, that's when I took these pics. Before dinner it got busy, and lots of reserving of thermal chairs but I would either wait or few moments or remove something that was sitting with just a towel for awhile (which I also did on the pool deck if needed). No issues at all.

 

 

 

[moesyk4]

Pre and post cruise:

We flew United (NEVER again) but I won't elaborate but just give the useful stuff. A lot of people look for hotels with free shuttles, I used to myself. I now think they aren't worth it...generally you are on their time, they are crowded, and you have to wait forever for a return shuttle. Particularly in Miami, the hotels with free shuttles aren't the best in the best locations plus taxis are very inexpensive there. We can't afford South or Miami beach, but we stay downtown.

 

We used a "hidden name" site and got the Intercontinental for a night both pre and post cruise for very inexpensive. We used SAS from Ft. Lauderdale to the hotel for a great trip for $15 a person. The hotel was able to get us into our room around noon each day which was great. You pay a $10 hotel fee but it gives you access to the spa area. Taxis are plentiful...we got stopped by a train on the way to port and our total was still only $12.85. We took the taxi to the Miami airport on the way back and it was $25.25 with little traffic.

Nice pool, plenty of restaurants near by. We used Groupons to save extra cash and ate at Clos Bistro, the Cheese Course, Freshko Gourmet, and Biscayne Tavern. All in walking distance and all very good.

 

We saw a couple wearing Mr. and Mrs. shirts hoofing it over the bridge to the port. Note to the new Mr....not the best way to start off a marriage to save the $15 and make your new wife drag her suitcase over a giant bridge to the ship ;).

 

 

Clos Bistro...amazing empenadas and Coconut Pie!

 

[moesyk4]

Ok, final entry, ports!

 

We stopped at St. Thomas, Tortola, and Nassau. We have been to St. Thomas before. It was a little hard to find things that would please a 5 year old, two 30 year olds, and a 66 year old with limited mobility, but overall I think we all had fun.

 

St. Thomas: We hired Dean Chinnery (recommended over on the St. Thomas board). He was waiting sign in hand as soon as we got off the ship with his air conditioned van. He was the perfect tour guide to me...interesting and answered any questions, but didn't just talk to talk. He took us up to Paradise Point, the Mountain Top, and a couple of other look outs.

We ended up making a full circle of the island by the end of the day. The tour was between 2 to 2 1/2 hours and then we did a beach stop. We chose the pick up time. We ended up at Secret Harbour which we LOVED. So quiet and peaceful with plenty of coral right off the beach to snorkel around. They had a nice beach bar and chairs for rent, although we ended up accidentally on the hotel side and the nice guy working gave us a chair for my MIL with her cane. We all wished we would've told Dean we wanted to stay later as it was so lovely. It is a private tour BTW.

 

It never got busier than this!

 

 

 

View from the pool bar

 

Tortola: This was a tough one for me...I hate ship excursions. They are always too crowded, too short, and way too much "hurry up and wait". In the end though, since this was a new stop for us with a different island involved as well as a short port time and mobility issues, we chose to do NCL's excursion to the Baths. I had low expectations of the actual excursion, and they were probably about met. 200 people so a lot of waiting and wasting time getting organized. We also asked three time about the path directly to the beach for my MIL and they still ended up sending us down the wrong path, which was extremely stressful with her mobility and caused me to have to miss about 45 minutes of excursion time to help her back up from the bottom.

The NCL excursion had us meeting in the theater at 9:20 am. We were at the Baths from about 10:50 to 1 pm, and then back to the ship right at 2:30.

 

That being said, if the only way you feel comfortable going to the Baths is through NCL, it was worth it. The Baths are gorgeous and may have finally convinced me to someday do a land vacation again so I can spend all day there. My MIL made it to the top faster than I thought, and they have a nice pool and deck with a fantastic view. Although I could've spend days there, the 2 hours would be enough to go through the rocks a few times and go for a dip, so it was tolerable.

 

 

 

 

Pool at the top of the baths

 

Nassau: We decided on Blue Hole Watersports. They are located right on the beach of the British Colonial Hilton so an easy walk. After a quick stop at the Straw Market we were there about an hour before our 2:30 departure, but since we were the only ones scheduled, they were fine with leaving early. They could probably only fit about 6 people total on those small boats, so it would either be a private or almost private tour.

Very friendly and we enjoyed it thoroughly. We went out and around Paradise Island and Atlantis and stopped at a little snorkeling spot by an abandoned lighthouse. They timed it so we avoided the booze cruise that arrived while we were leaving.

We then went to a more protected area which he called the sea gardens. Love private excursions, I asked him how long we had in the water and he said "Plenty of time!" and we did. Absolutely beautiful and tons to look at. On the way back, he took us back through the pass that goes right up next to Atlantis. It is a little over 2 hours total. Highly recommend.

 

I do not have pics as my underwater camera died.

 

 

[moesyk4]

Phew, I think that is all the useful knowledge I have...if you have any questions though, I would be happy to answer!

[Nickyde69]

Thanks for the review, it looks like you all had an awesome time. We are leaving on the 17th and my only concern is the 2 sea days. We are on the 14th floor also, was there a lot of noticeable movement on these days or was it pretty calm?Thx!

[Windstar786]

How does the laundry thing work? You said 19.99, do we have to ask steward what day and pay in advance and what do we give the dirty clothes in, a bag they provide?, how long does it take to get stuff cleaned, and how much is allowed ( whole suitcase full?) or does it go by the pound? Also, you said you were on budget ( we are too) and wondering if you went on any excursions, and if so, which ones? cost wise were best? Additionally are all movies free and comedy club too? Thanks for info in advance.

[moesyk4]

The water was super calm our week so I can't speak to rough waters, but we didn't notice much movement at all...what concerns you about the two sea days? Maybe I could help. The laundry thing I believe was delivered on Tuesday, you filled your laundry bag and left it for the steward and it would be returned to your room Thursday morning.

[Windstar786]

The water was super calm our week so I can't speak to rough waters, but we didn't notice much movement at all...what concerns you about the two sea days? Maybe I could help. The laundry thing I believe was delivered on Tuesday, you filled your laundry bag and left it for the steward and it would be returned to your room Thursday morning.

 

 

Thanks for quick reply :)

[Cruise-mom]

Thanks for the great report, photos and dailies. Glad you had a great cruise.

[Nickyde69]

I think my concern re the sea days is there's no land in sight, so if it gets rough, we're out there. Just went through Hurricane Joaquin but I was on land so that I can handle. Am hoping for calm seas! :)

[cruiser81!*]

Can you describe "spider mountain for me? Also, how were the lines for the slides n ropes course? Thx!

[moopig]

Great review! I LOVED that you posted the Dailies---so fun to see what is offered each day! Also, thanks for posting pics of your room. We will be 4 in a balcony room so it was nice to see your pics to see the set up day vs. night.

[moesyk4]

[quote name='Nickyde69']I think my concern re the sea days is there's no land in sight, so if it gets rough, we're out there. Just went through Hurricane Joaquin but I was on land so that I can handle. Am hoping for calm seas! :)[/QUOTE]

Yes, my MIL gets motion sickness and vertigo VERY easily, her sister jokes that she gets motion sickness in a car that isn't even turned on. So I was worried to say the least. We were very lucky to have very calm seas with the exception of maybe 1-2 days. If you are prone to sickness, I would get the prescription patch. She had that and didn't get motion sickness even once, including when we were on the littler boats for the excursions. Overall though, I think you will do fine :).

Spider Mountain is a tower about 15 feet tall with "layers" of webbing kids can climb up and through. There is a slide at the top that is super fast to get down. I believe the weight limit was 120 for this? They limited it to about 6 kids on at a time but when we were there it wasn't a problem, no one really waited. It had limited hours, usually 10-12 and then occasionally back open 6-8.

I didn't find the lines at the slides or ropes course to be bad at all. They would vary, so we would wait 3 minutes for the drop slide and then immediately get back in line and wait 15 minutes. I don't think we ever waited more than 15 minutes though for either and that was only once or twice.

[Goldielocks222]

Hi,

Would you mind elaborating on your experience with your son? Our son will be 5 if we sail again and we just sailed on Disney Magic for the first time. He loved the water slide forkids under 48 in, the ice cream available any time of day and the kids club.

How did your son like it? What were his favorite things about the cruise? What things was he able to do (or not able to do) at his age/height? How about the slides, bungee, web climbing area - were there height requirements? What were his favorite activities in the kids club? We only did it for 2 hours on Disney, but my son loved it, so we might let him go a little more on the next cruise. We are just a little apprehensive to leave him.

The Disney prices are getting so extreme now, we are looking into NCL and RC. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem like a lot my son can do on RC right now between age/height requirements. I hate to walk by attractions and say no, you're not big enough yet.

Also, if there's anything else I didn't ask that you can think of, I would appreciate it!

Thank you in advance!!