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NCL Getaway Review w/ Pics - April 3-10 from a past Carnival perspective

santacap

By santacap,
in Norwegian Cruise Line

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santacap

santacap

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OK... now that's a long title :)

 

First review posted in this forum but have written one for every cruise my family and I have done, so no reason to stop now right?

 

Like most, best to start with a little background. This cruise was a long time coming, we had decided after our last Carnival cruise to try something else out. Not that we had any bad experiences with Carnival, with one main exception the food had become status quo and we loved the idea of the specialty dining restaurants, and the choices that were available. With that said early summer last year we booked this week on the NCL Getaway.

 

Booked this week were myself, my wife and son who is 6. In the build up to the cruise we were joined with my mother, my step brother and his wife and kids. We are balcony lovers and went with a mid-ship balcony this week (11848 to be exact) while my step brother was in an Aft balcony and my mother was next door.

 

The itinerary for this week... Great Stirrup Cay, Ocho Rios, Grand Cayman and Cozumel. Thankfully, with 2 ports that can be missed, all were made on time and with the exception of Ocho Rios, the weather co-operated.

 

I won't bore you with details of our pre cruise stay (unless anybody had questions) except to say we stayed at the Holiday Inn Kendall, which is about 30 minutes from Miami International Airport. We chose this as we had plans to visit friends and go deep sea fishing in Key Largo with those friends. Place was clean, friendly and typical of a HI, plus the price was right.

 

Post cruise we spent 2 nights at the Savoy on South Beach and was once again treated to a great post cruise vacation.

 

I will get plenty of pictures up through this review, so bare with me as laundry and other duties call

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santacap

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Day 1 - Miami Embarkation

 

We were up in the morning and after a usual hotel breakfast we were off to the port to drop off family members and then to bring back our rental cars (2 rented via priceline for 18 bucks a night, cant beat that). The return process was painless and we were in a cab and back to the port in 30 minutes tops after dropping people off, at the security gate about 11:30

 

Screening at security was much like other check ins, through the metal detectors and xrays then onto the next step. Getting our ID cards :D. Once again this was a breeze, and we all had our bronze coloured cards (yes, we are Canadian) and were given zone 15. We were kind of bummed, but little did we know that they called zones in odd numbers and if we waited more than 15 minutes to get called I would be incredibly surprised.

 

As an observation, it seems that with each cruise we have done, check in has gotten easier and easier and the process is constantly improving.

 

Once on to the deck we were greeted by friendly faces, and some dancing to DJ music which was a nice touch. With our rooms not ready yet, we headed to O'Sheehans for lunch and this would become a daily meeting spot for our group. Service was fast, friendly and the food was very good. Think through the group this meal we had wings, caesars, and fajitas. All the portions were appropriate size for a lunch and very much hit the spot.

 

Rooms were ready about 1:30 and we went to check out our home for 7 days. First impressions were like most the balcony was smaller then used to, but little things made the difference for us. On Carnival the door swings out and can cause quite a wind tunnel on certain days, and door slamming. The sliding door on the Getaway was a very nice touch for us. We got used to the smaller side tables very fast and found the storage ample for 3 people.

 

Another nice touch we found was the glassed in shower door. Doesn't take much to please us :) I will say this, the mirrors are not designed for tall people as I was staring at the recessed lighting every day. Nothing a little bend couldn't fix, but worth noting all the same.

 

Muster was super easy, and quick. Again a process that has been improved each cruise we have done.

 

All luggage was at our room including a case of water by 5 PM. Plenty of time to make our 5:30 reservations at La Cucina. dinner was very good and the service was fast, and they took good care of my son, even if he wasn't having the dinner package.

 

Just finishing uploading some pictures to a site so will get those up next of our first day.

 

As always, any questions let me know.:)

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santacap

santacap

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Awesome! Can't wait to read more. Thanks for posting.

 

I sail May 22 on the Getaway, my first NCL cruise. I've only been on Carnival as well so I'm looking forward to your opinion on NCL

I have no doubt you will completely enjoy.

 

momtomany Looking forward to the review. We are also past Carnival cruisers and are sailing on the Getaway on May 1, also in a Balcony on the 11th floor.
Sounds like very similar pasts and present cruises. Enjoy yours like we did ours.

 

Nice start, thank-you.:)
thanks, appreciate it.:)

NCteacherlovescruising Three-fourths of our previous cruises were with Carnival. We are going on the Getaway this July, so I'm super excited to read your review!

Great. Enjoy your trip. Hope I can help in any prep :cool:

Sand and Seas Nice start! Looking forward to the rest of your review:D

Thanks for reading, had to take a little break. Life of a 6 year old in all kinds of sports.

 

Cruisermom2nick We also transitioned from Carnival to NCL last year and so far we like it better! :) Curious to see what you thought..
So far so good. Enough so we bought 2 credits for future cruises. The choices just can't be compared IMO.

 

kapcruiser We also switched this year from carnival to Norwegian. Anxious to hear more
Sounds like there are many of us around here. Can't wait to write more :)
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santacap

santacap

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Miami Cont'd

 

After our meal at La Cucina we were able to see if the hostess about all other days reservations to see if we could change. Being a larger group we booked all our days before hand. Unfortunately, not many were able to be accomodated, which is fine but worth noting for future cruises with groups. We could only book online in groups of 2, and we had no problem only being a group of 7 for each dinner.

 

La Cucina was typically the most quiet every time we passed by, but was quite enjoyable. If I were to rank the restaurants we tried (cagneys, le bistro, illusionarium, la cucina and teppanyaki) I would say it would be 4th for food, 5th overall. Not that it was bad, it was just not as good as the rest for us.

 

My wife and I ventured over to Ice Bar as it was very quiet, and you know we were missing home in Toronto so much we needed to feel more ice:confused:. The 20 dollar charge and 3 drinks was fine by us. The drinks weren't the best, and fairly small, but it was the experience that made it great. My son would drag us on later in the week, which he loved sitting on the chairs and the overcoat.

 

Unfortunately in going through my pictures I didn't get many of our first night, but I got a few. Too much to see

 

20160403_124041_zps4bqvsyze.jpg

 

20160401_152537_zpsmaziwfvy.jpg

 

20160403_194037_zpsoyxk0net.jpg

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Seminole1975

Seminole1975

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We leave May 29 on the Getaway. I am enjoying your review! We will go to different ports however, but it is still very interesting. Thank you!

 

I am so glad to see the review of the ice bar. I haven't seen any other report on it. I like the cold and love Vodka so I am looking forward to going in there.

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santacap

santacap

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Some more on the ice bar. If you needed to find anybody in our group you could find us at the Sugarcane Mojito Bar which is in perfect view of the Ice Bar so to me it seemed to me to be quiet at most times, if there was a wait it wouldn't last long. Each time we went we were the only ones there. Good idea for NCL as visits don't last too long, and there is a good turnover of customers.

 

The bartender luckily didn't have to wait inside but was told when somebody was going to go in. The drinks were pre made, and if memory serves me there was 5 drinks, or you could have ice wine. For the kids, there were non alcoholic drinks as well.

 

Let's try these pics.... I was dared to take the parka thing off

 

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20160409_202325_zpsnxcockdi.jpg

 

20160409_202032_zps8rwe1d8h.jpg

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santacap

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Getting ready to sail the Getaway in June. Can't wait for the rest of the review.

 

Thanks, enjoy your cruise in June.

 

Can't wait to hear more.

 

Thanks, hopefully can keep it interesting throughout

:)

 

Great start, we are on the Getaway in June, can't wait to read more :)

 

Thanks, enjoy your cruise.

 

Enjoying your review

We leave May 29 on the Getaway. I am enjoying your review! We will go to different ports however, but it is still very interesting. Thank you!

 

I am so glad to see the review of the ice bar. I haven't seen any other report on it. I like the cold and love Vodka so I am looking forward to going in there.

 

Ice Bar Should fit you perfectly then :D. Which ports are you doing ?

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Seminole1975

Seminole1975

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Thanks, enjoy your cruise in June.

 

Thanks, hopefully can keep it interesting throughout

:)

Thanks, enjoy your cruise.

Ice Bar Should fit you perfectly then :D. Which ports are you doing ?

 

The Getaway on the May 29 cruise will go to Roatan, Belize City, Costa Maya and Cozumel.

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res2cue

res2cue

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I sail that itinerary as well. I believe it starts next week

 

yes it does, we are the first for this itinerary leaving on the 24th :) Not too excited about Belize but the other 3 stops should be lots of fun.

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