Review Norwegian Getaway Christmas Week (12/20/2015) - A comparison

[Kmkub]

These are my observations while onboard the Norwegian Getaway, week of 12/20/2015. It was our 7th cruise, with the previous 6 on Princess. My observations are viewed from that perspective. (Even though that wasn't our intent when we set out.) This was also our first time cruising during a holiday, so I recognize that some of the issues may be related to that. There were SO many kids. The kids, for the most part, were well behaved, playful, just having a good time. OTOH, kids are kids and they can be trying at times. They are in their own little bubble... other people are just extras in their personal movie. LOL.

 

I tend to write in a short, no-nonsense, to-the-point style, rather than a diary of events. Below are notes I took when something was noteworthy, both good & bad.

 

Overall impression - we LOVED this ship! We had a fantastic time and the kids had far more to do on the Getaway than any Princess ship they've been on. They had the water slides, game room, ropes course, rock wall.... we rarely saw them. We had the dining package with my in-laws. The kids did not. We only ate dinner with them on Christmas Day, at Moderno. It was an excellent choice to pay for them to be in an upcharge. Will we cruise Norwegian again? Absolutely! Any negative comments are just observations - absolutely nothing was a deal breaker.

 

Please feel free to ask me questions.

 

 

Embarkation - On boarding - Princess has this process down so much better. Not being able to get to the room is really bad as a first impression. The common areas were ridiculously crowded for entirely too long. I don't really see the upside, either. Our 9:30 exit group was called to get off very early. It's just as well to get out of the room earlier to gain it on the front end, when you can't wait for relaxation to begin.

 

Staff - the staff were a bit chippy on this cruise. We've never been on a Christmas cruise, so it may not be an actual issue with Norwegian. There were tons and tons of kids, everywhere, all the time. This could have easily caused extra staff work. I'll bet most of those 3-4 person rooms get only two people most of the time. OTOH, staff did appear to have more fun than on Princess. They were much more out about their personal friendships with each other. It was refreshing, actually. To pretend you live with people months on end and not develop personal relationships seems silly. It didn't get unprofessional. It was playful, giving credence to my theory that the extra kids cause stress.

 

Room - we had an aft balcony, my in-laws had a aft-port balcony and the kids had an aft-inside. We were all the same neighborhood. The aft facing balcony could fit all six of us and did a few times during the week. It was a great way to visit! The couch/closet was very challenging for me. I shake a lot when excited, so I had a very hard time getting to the hangers, as the closet it very close to the couch and there's no room to get in front of it (the closet). Nesting on Princess takes very little time, but it was a project on Norwegian. The bathroom on Norwegian is top notch. The shower door instead of curtains is welcome. There's lots of storage. Bed - things can get lost in those tiny night stands. I like Princess bed set up much better.

 

Overall ship layout. Space is more segregated on Norwegian. Refreshing at times, but other times, it felt closed in.

 

Seating - much better shade seat availability on Norwegian. I did not see much chair hogging.

 

Boardwalk versus Promenade. No contest. The Boardwalk is a great way to get a good walk.

 

Atrium - This was our least favorite part of the ship. It was too noisy for us. We didn't spend much time here at all. We like the way Princess turns it into a calming atmosphere.

 

Entertainment - I found the two lines pretty comparable. Both do impressive costuming, casting, etc. Burn the Floor was as fabulous as advertised and reviewed. We thought it was a bit too long, though. Legally Blonde - we went for the camp and we got camp. No disappointment. :-) It was bad in a good way.

 

Noise - Quiet spaces on Norwegian were much harder to find than on Princess. That said, I didn't miss Tina Turner screaming at me on the Princess Lido Deck, at all.

 

Shopping - Norwegian has way less in-your-face sales tactics. A quick, one-page summary sheet with the daily mail instead of all those smaller flyers was a welcome touch. Their shopping area is really well thought-out. It's also combined with photo sales, which seems intuitive. It also looked like their photos were way more organized, but we don't really pay for pictures, so I'm not sure. I found a few cool nice things at really good prices. It's easier to take your time when the shop staff isn't hovering.

 

Art auction - our first art auction! I heard terrible things about Park West, but I'll have to read up on what the complaints are. I think we got a very good deal on the piece we purchased. We will give Princess art auction a try next year if we can find something compelling. I think Norwegian had a better selection, but I'll get a better feel in 2016.

 

Casino - I like a lot about Norwegian's casino. There are smoking and non-smoking sections and most of the games are offered in both spaces. The slot machines were very stingy, though. I think I spent less money because frustration is not a good incentive to spend more money. Overall, the casino felt less crowded than on Princess.

 

Thermal Spa - Wow! What can I say? That is an amazing way to relax. We bought the pass and I thought it was worth it. There is so much to do in there, but the best is the warm pool with the super powerful massagers... and the waterfall inside said pool. This was also the quietest place on this noisy ship. Plus, NO kids! Fabulous experience and I'm looking forward to trying the Enclave on the Royal Princess next year.

 

Television - Norwegian TV leaves a bad taste in my mouth. There is one tv channel that plays the same six episodes of three sitcoms, over and over the entire week. There are news channels, there is one movie channel that plays the same 2-3 movies over and over..... There are 50~ish on-demand movies, 47 of which cost $10. There is no filter to find the three freebies. The sales dude's shows on shopping in port were ridiculous. He was so boring; dry. No information channels that provide anything except the same 4 videos over and over..... very disappointing while trying to get ready, organize, relax, etc. Princess has a great way to communicate with their guests via the television. The Princess Wake Up Show may be cheesy, but in a good way. We missed that.

 

Dining package/specialty restaurants - I have very mixed feelings on this. The restaurants (all but one) were at least very good, but a few of them were amazing. The food on Norwegian is so good, though, the specialty restaurants may not be worth the cost. The concept of freestyle dining is compelling, but in reality, it felt like "completely scheduled days in advance" dining by day 1. That said, later in the week we were able to get last minute reservations, so people are likely over-reserving. The restaurants almost never looked fully reserved. It's almost as though they built more restaurant space in the restaurants than the size crew could handle. More on this in the individual restaurants section.

 

Food - Norwegian food was very good to excellent, most of the time. But, where's the asparagus? LOL - very prevalent on Princess, but we saw only once on Norwegian. More on individual restaurants coming. Princess wins on pizza!

 

Buffet - Buffet food was overall better and more on point on Norwegian. Service in buffet was overall worse than Princess. Flow of buffet I think works better than Norwegian on the Regal Princess, but not the Ruby/Crown style buffet.

 

Tropicana Grill - Deck 16 Cuban buffet!! We ate lunch here every day! A ship out of Miami should have Cuban food and this didn't disappoint. The food was authentic and excellent. This was a favorite spot.

 

O-Sheehans - This is a fantastic environment for a cruise ship. I love the way it flowed right from the casino. The pub food was really good. We didn't find any breakfast items interesting, so we didn't try that. Mini bowling, pool, darts.... all very well done.

 

Cagney's - Very tasty. Excellent service. Quite a few options. We went twice - it was that good. We also love Crown Grill on Princess. They both do a great job.

 

Moderno - Churrascaria. Endless supply of different meats until you cry uncle! Most of them were outstanding. A great experience. Love it.

 

Italian Cucina - This was good food. Nothing special. It was like Carrabba's, which we enjoy.

 

Teppanyaki - Ugh. Where to start? We couldn't get a reservation for four. We got a reservation for two at 5:15. We showed at 5:10 and were told to come back in 10 minutes. We got there 10 minutes later and 2 1/2 tables had been seated already. We sat alone in the space for six waiting for four other people for about 20 minutes. We waited another 20 minutes to get our drink order. The table ahead of us didn't even have a chef yet, they were still on soup. I finally told the waiter we were leaving and he ran off with my cruise card. I waited another 5 minutes for a manager to ask me why I was leaving. This restaurant suffers from bad process. There is no reason that restaurant should be run like that. There is no reason to make me wait when I am ready to leave. You know who I am, contact me later and let me go when I'm frustrated. There is also no reason that the restaurant should not be able to handle a 1/2 full restaurant.

 

French Bistro - Wow. Just wow. This food was our favorite of the entire week. Everything we had was well portioned and presented beautifully. It was also delicious. The French onion soup was fabulous. The snails were also fabulous. We loved this restaurant.

 

Room service - $8.00 / order? That seemed overly pricey so we didn't get to do room service on the balcony. That's a favorite experience on Princess.

 

Martini/piano bar - sadly lacking on Norwegian. The bar that appeared to be comparable to Crooners was not. There was also no service provided, so waiting at the bar before getting to relax with a drink kept us away.

 

Other bars in general. They all seemed to be self-serve. We had "couch" service once on the second day, but never again.

 

Rave clubs - Yikes! Norwegian had two of them. I had to leave the casino once Bliss got going around 11:00. I felt bad for the bartenders at Bar 21. I'm sure they are tolerating some OSHA violating decibels (that don't apply at sea.) The same goes for H20 Spice. My husband and I didn't make 60 seconds in there. It's ear-bleeding music, and we've been to a rave. We were on deck 10, aft balcony and even with the noise of the wake, we could hear lyrics and tell which song was playing.

[#1TravelMom]

How was the weather? What excursions did you do? We had friends on this sailing. It was their first cruise. They said the weather was awful and the ship really rocked - they will never try cruising again.

[Kmkub]

The weather - hmm. It was cloudy for a couple of days and it was humid. We live in South Florida and fall/winter hasn't been kind to us. It's been far more humid than is the norm. Overall, though, the weather was pretty nice.

 

The rocking wasn't too bad. There was one day we were rocking pretty good, but nothing like it can be! I didn't have any trouble getting my land legs back. This is usually an issue for me if there's been some rough seas.

 

We did one excursion in Jamaica - the Mystic Mountain sled/zip line. While a lot of fun, it was not a 4-hour excursion. It was about 8, with 5 of the hours waiting in one line or another. It was way overbooked.

[kjquilts]

Really enjoyed reading your report/review. I like your writing style. Getaway and Epic are the two newest of the 9 Norwegian ships we've sailed on and Getaway is our favorite ship to date.

 

The newer ships including Getaway offer a choice of bed by closet or bed by balcony door. We've had both setups and I much prefer bed by balcony. We keep some of our clothes in the suitcase under the bed - easier to pull it out than deal with tight space getting into closet.

 

We were on the Dawn in October and the Jewel this month. Both had more "piano bar" options available and we enjoyed them but really missed Howl at the Moon (dueling piano bar). It is one of our favorites on the newer ships including Getaway. Getaway has a small seating area next to the Sugarcane Mojito bar and a young couple played and sang there some evenings. They were really good but lack of seating was a downside. Also loved Groove International in the Atrium. Not quiet and we took turns getting drinks because there weren't many bar runners but we enjoyed the music.

 

So sorry about your Teppanyaki experience. That should never have happened. When/if you cruise NCL again be sure to join your roll call group and attend the Cruise Critic meet and greet. You'll be given a card with names and phone extension numbers of various personnel including the Hotel Director and Food and Beverage Director. They would have wanted to know about your situation.

[cmdchiefthom]

Thanks for taking the time to share a balanced review.:)

[www3traveler]

I was also on The Christmas cruise. For me this was the best Christmas in many years, so much so that I booked the Getaway for Christmas 2016.

[Cruise-mom]

Enjoyed your review, thanks.

[NLH Arizona]

Thanks so much for your review, it is probably the most balanced review I've seen.

[Kmkub]

I was also on The Christmas cruise. For me this was the best Christmas in many years, so much so that I booked the Getaway for Christmas 2016.

 

It was a whole different type of Christmas. We had so much fun being taken care of during this normally hectic week! But... so many kids. LOL - there was a group of 4 having a sit down in the elevator, just going wherever the elevator went. I'm not sure we'd cruise again Christmas week. While amazing, it wasn't the 100% relax-vacation that we tend to crave.

[Mandy412]

These are my observations while onboard the Norwegian Getaway, week of 12/20/2015. It was our 7th cruise, with the previous 6 on Princess. My observations are viewed from that perspective. (Even though that wasn't our intent when we set out.) This was also our first time cruising during a holiday, so I recognize that some of the issues may be related to that. There were SO many kids. The kids, for the most part, were well behaved, playful, just having a good time. OTOH, kids are kids and they can be trying at times. They are in their own little bubble... other people are just extras in their personal movie. LOL.

 

I tend to write in a short, no-nonsense, to-the-point style, rather than a diary of events. Below are notes I took when something was noteworthy, both good & bad.

 

Overall impression - we LOVED this ship! We had a fantastic time and the kids had far more to do on the Getaway than any Princess ship they've been on. They had the water slides, game room, ropes course, rock wall.... we rarely saw them. We had the dining package with my in-laws. The kids did not. We only ate dinner with them on Christmas Day, at Moderno. It was an excellent choice to pay for them to be in an upcharge. Will we cruise Norwegian again? Absolutely! Any negative comments are just observations - absolutely nothing was a deal breaker.

 

Please feel free to ask me questions.

 

 

Embarkation - On boarding - Princess has this process down so much better. Not being able to get to the room is really bad as a first impression. The common areas were ridiculously crowded for entirely too long. I don't really see the upside, either. Our 9:30 exit group was called to get off very early. It's just as well to get out of the room earlier to gain it on the front end, when you can't wait for relaxation to begin.

 

Staff - the staff were a bit chippy on this cruise. We've never been on a Christmas cruise, so it may not be an actual issue with Norwegian. There were tons and tons of kids, everywhere, all the time. This could have easily caused extra staff work. I'll bet most of those 3-4 person rooms get only two people most of the time. OTOH, staff did appear to have more fun than on Princess. They were much more out about their personal friendships with each other. It was refreshing, actually. To pretend you live with people months on end and not develop personal relationships seems silly. It didn't get unprofessional. It was playful, giving credence to my theory that the extra kids cause stress.

 

Room - we had an aft balcony, my in-laws had a aft-port balcony and the kids had an aft-inside. We were all the same neighborhood. The aft facing balcony could fit all six of us and did a few times during the week. It was a great way to visit! The couch/closet was very challenging for me. I shake a lot when excited, so I had a very hard time getting to the hangers, as the closet it very close to the couch and there's no room to get in front of it (the closet). Nesting on Princess takes very little time, but it was a project on Norwegian. The bathroom on Norwegian is top notch. The shower door instead of curtains is welcome. There's lots of storage. Bed - things can get lost in those tiny night stands. I like Princess bed set up much better.

 

Overall ship layout. Space is more segregated on Norwegian. Refreshing at times, but other times, it felt closed in.

 

Seating - much better shade seat availability on Norwegian. I did not see much chair hogging.

 

Boardwalk versus Promenade. No contest. The Boardwalk is a great way to get a good walk.

 

Atrium - This was our least favorite part of the ship. It was too noisy for us. We didn't spend much time here at all. We like the way Princess turns it into a calming atmosphere.

 

Entertainment - I found the two lines pretty comparable. Both do impressive costuming, casting, etc. Burn the Floor was as fabulous as advertised and reviewed. We thought it was a bit too long, though. Legally Blonde - we went for the camp and we got camp. No disappointment. :-) It was bad in a good way.

 

Noise - Quiet spaces on Norwegian were much harder to find than on Princess. That said, I didn't miss Tina Turner screaming at me on the Princess Lido Deck, at all.

 

Shopping - Norwegian has way less in-your-face sales tactics. A quick, one-page summary sheet with the daily mail instead of all those smaller flyers was a welcome touch. Their shopping area is really well thought-out. It's also combined with photo sales, which seems intuitive. It also looked like their photos were way more organized, but we don't really pay for pictures, so I'm not sure. I found a few cool nice things at really good prices. It's easier to take your time when the shop staff isn't hovering.

 

Art auction - our first art auction! I heard terrible things about Park West, but I'll have to read up on what the complaints are. I think we got a very good deal on the piece we purchased. We will give Princess art auction a try next year if we can find something compelling. I think Norwegian had a better selection, but I'll get a better feel in 2016.

 

Casino - I like a lot about Norwegian's casino. There are smoking and non-smoking sections and most of the games are offered in both spaces. The slot machines were very stingy, though. I think I spent less money because frustration is not a good incentive to spend more money. Overall, the casino felt less crowded than on Princess.

 

Thermal Spa - Wow! What can I say? That is an amazing way to relax. We bought the pass and I thought it was worth it. There is so much to do in there, but the best is the warm pool with the super powerful massagers... and the waterfall inside said pool. This was also the quietest place on this noisy ship. Plus, NO kids! Fabulous experience and I'm looking forward to trying the Enclave on the Royal Princess next year.

 

Television - Norwegian TV leaves a bad taste in my mouth. There is one tv channel that plays the same six episodes of three sitcoms, over and over the entire week. There are news channels, there is one movie channel that plays the same 2-3 movies over and over..... There are 50~ish on-demand movies, 47 of which cost $10. There is no filter to find the three freebies. The sales dude's shows on shopping in port were ridiculous. He was so boring; dry. No information channels that provide anything except the same 4 videos over and over..... very disappointing while trying to get ready, organize, relax, etc. Princess has a great way to communicate with their guests via the television. The Princess Wake Up Show may be cheesy, but in a good way. We missed that.

 

Dining package/specialty restaurants - I have very mixed feelings on this. The restaurants (all but one) were at least very good, but a few of them were amazing. The food on Norwegian is so good, though, the specialty restaurants may not be worth the cost. The concept of freestyle dining is compelling, but in reality, it felt like "completely scheduled days in advance" dining by day 1. That said, later in the week we were able to get last minute reservations, so people are likely over-reserving. The restaurants almost never looked fully reserved. It's almost as though they built more restaurant space in the restaurants than the size crew could handle. More on this in the individual restaurants section.

 

Food - Norwegian food was very good to excellent, most of the time. But, where's the asparagus? LOL - very prevalent on Princess, but we saw only once on Norwegian. More on individual restaurants coming. Princess wins on pizza!

 

Buffet - Buffet food was overall better and more on point on Norwegian. Service in buffet was overall worse than Princess. Flow of buffet I think works better than Norwegian on the Regal Princess, but not the Ruby/Crown style buffet.

 

Tropicana Grill - Deck 16 Cuban buffet!! We ate lunch here every day! A ship out of Miami should have Cuban food and this didn't disappoint. The food was authentic and excellent. This was a favorite spot.

 

O-Sheehans - This is a fantastic environment for a cruise ship. I love the way it flowed right from the casino. The pub food was really good. We didn't find any breakfast items interesting, so we didn't try that. Mini bowling, pool, darts.... all very well done.

 

Cagney's - Very tasty. Excellent service. Quite a few options. We went twice - it was that good. We also love Crown Grill on Princess. They both do a great job.

 

Moderno - Churrascaria. Endless supply of different meats until you cry uncle! Most of them were outstanding. A great experience. Love it.

 

Italian Cucina - This was good food. Nothing special. It was like Carrabba's, which we enjoy.

 

Teppanyaki - Ugh. Where to start? We couldn't get a reservation for four. We got a reservation for two at 5:15. We showed at 5:10 and were told to come back in 10 minutes. We got there 10 minutes later and 2 1/2 tables had been seated already. We sat alone in the space for six waiting for four other people for about 20 minutes. We waited another 20 minutes to get our drink order. The table ahead of us didn't even have a chef yet, they were still on soup. I finally told the waiter we were leaving and he ran off with my cruise card. I waited another 5 minutes for a manager to ask me why I was leaving. This restaurant suffers from bad process. There is no reason that restaurant should be run like that. There is no reason to make me wait when I am ready to leave. You know who I am, contact me later and let me go when I'm frustrated. There is also no reason that the restaurant should not be able to handle a 1/2 full restaurant.

 

French Bistro - Wow. Just wow. This food was our favorite of the entire week. Everything we had was well portioned and presented beautifully. It was also delicious. The French onion soup was fabulous. The snails were also fabulous. We loved this restaurant.

 

Room service - $8.00 / order? That seemed overly pricey so we didn't get to do room service on the balcony. That's a favorite experience on Princess.

 

Martini/piano bar - sadly lacking on Norwegian. The bar that appeared to be comparable to Crooners was not. There was also no service provided, so waiting at the bar before getting to relax with a drink kept us away.

 

Other bars in general. They all seemed to be self-serve. We had "couch" service once on the second day, but never again.

 

Rave clubs - Yikes! Norwegian had two of them. I had to leave the casino once Bliss got going around 11:00. I felt bad for the bartenders at Bar 21. I'm sure they are tolerating some OSHA violating decibels (that don't apply at sea.) The same goes for H20 Spice. My husband and I didn't make 60 seconds in there. It's ear-bleeding music, and we've been to a rave. We were on deck 10, aft balcony and even with the noise of the wake, we could hear lyrics and tell which song was playing.

 

Was it me or did they serve a ton of broccoli in the Getaway? Also I couldn't hear after a late night of dancing at Bliss. Lol it was fun though. Thanks for the review.

[Kmkub]

. We keep some of our clothes in the suitcase under the bed - easier to pull it out than deal with tight space getting into closet.

 

Good tip. Thanks!