Getaway Review from First Time Cruiser (with a 3 and 5 year old in tow)

[mengel246]

Hello -

 

We returned from the Getaway on the 17th and wanted to post a few things about our trip, as not just a first time cruiser but also as someone traveling with a 3 and 5 year old.

 

We flew from Baltimore to Ft. Lauderdale the day before and stayed at a random place (nothing to write home about). Drove to Miami the next afternoon and uber'ed to the port from the car return place. We decided to do a later boarding time to avoid lines and lots of waiting since we'd have two young children with us. This worked out amazing, as we boarded the ship within 10 minutes of getting there. The longest part from our arrival to the port and walking onto the Getaway was stopping 5 times for our kids to go to the bathroom

 

I'll do ship review and then ports. This might be random cause I'm writing while doing a few other things at home.

 

I don't have any comparisons for ships so I thought the Getaway was nice and clean and big. I know there were a ton of people on it but besides around pool area it never felt that way to me. We were originally an inside. That got pushed to an oceanview but 2 days before leaving I called to try getting a balcony and ended up getting an amazing deal (while probably pissing off the NCL customer service people). I thought I screwed myself getting a balcony but we ended up in a great room on the 9th deck in the aft. Zero complaints about the location. I guess people say it could be far from places but we live in the city and walk a lot anyways so nothing felt like a long walk ever.

 

I bought myself a pass to the thermal spa prior to us leaving and can't say enough about that. I didn't think I would use it but I ended up going for a couple of hours each day or evening. I could have probably been fine just going down to the Waterfront (which I LOVED) but then I got to thinking that if we happened to have awful weather the whole week the spa would have been great. It's kind of pricey for the week but I knew me and that I'd want some alone time and it was great.

 

I cannot say enough good things about the camp. We used it daily and my kids never wanted to leave. The staff are amazing and whenever they saw my kids at ports or somewhere outside of the camp area they knew their names and came over to say hi. My 3 year old son.. god bless him but he's a handful. He was stopped a hundred times through our cruise complimenting his hair or his looks and I kept trying to give him away and said that he has to be so good looking to make up for his annoying 3 year phase. But the camp handled him amazing and never complained to us about him. The only time I ever felt he was something with them was at the circus show when I saw he had to be surrounded by two counselors while nobody else needed that. His big sis was on the complete other side of the stage. She told me he was being naughty and didn't want to stand near him then. When we were leaving the ship on the last day we dropped off a tip for the camp counselors.

 

People complained about the food on these boards so I went in there really expecting the worst but it wasn't bad at all. My husband loved the Garden Cafe but I finally put my foot down and said we're on vacation and I want someone to wait on me and me not wait on our family for a change. We ate at Teppenyaki, Moderno, Cagneys, O'Sheenen's (sp?), Flamingo Bar, Taste and Savor. My husband wasn't impressed with Moderno but everything else we thought was excellent.

 

I also read on these boards about bad attitudes with the crew on the Getaway but overall I didn't see or experience that at all. There was one situation at the end of our meal at Moderno where all of a sudden our server became short and moody with us. We didn't know if we did something but it came out of no where. There was also one particular bartender at the Mojito bar that was pretty unfriendly. But besides that I can't complain. There was nobody memorable for going out of their way but I guess I didn't expect that so I wasn't bothered.

 

The one thing I have to kind of bring up was the Cuban Refugee event. We were stopped for several hours and I heard lots of people share concerns and watch on. But then there were people complaining about missing a port because of this. And then two pretty unclassy events happened. The first was when we were leaving the pool deck area to go back inside and passed by the adult pool. Some game was starting where people were poking fun of the situation and took me by surprise. The second event was the same evening when I stopped at Sunset Bar to grab a drink before I met up with my husband (he was at the gym) and a man was at the bar going on about how we should have shot down the refugees. It was a real turn off to hear that and to have to be stuck on a ship with people that actually think like that. Not to get political, but I don't think any of us, who can afford to go on these cruises, can imagine getting on a homemade raft to go find a better life somewhere else. And the poking fun and comments and (the atrocity, us missing a port day to help people) really got to me.

 

Finally, onto the ports..

 

I have several friends that take their children to Jewel Runaway Bay in Ochos Rios so I used Resort for a day (or something like that) to get passes for us. It was pricy but the place was gorgeous and exactly what I knew would work for us. They had a beautiful beach, an amazing kids water park and pools for the kids. My husband and I took a turn each getting a break to go onto the beach (my kids are a rarity and complain whenever they're on one so I knew the water park would be great for them). It was all inclusive so lots of food and drinks throughout the day. Transportation was easy.

 

In Cayman Islands we visited Turtle Farm. I booked this myself, not through NCL and saved a ton of money. My son was free and I got 20% off the rest of us. We used public transportation and it was a quick easy walk to get the bus. Turtle Farm didn't impress me so much and I really wanted to be on a beach but my toddlers loved going in the turtle pools and then the water area (not the snorkeling area but the water area with a slide). I was hoping we could make it to a beach for a while but it never happened. We also didn't eat at all there so can't say anything about the food. Transportation was very easy too. I believe the public "buses" were $2.50/pp.

 

By Cozumel my husband and I kind of wanted a break from the kids and I really wanted a beach day so we opted to leave them in camp all day, rent a scooter and find a random beach. I had researched some things for us as a family in advance but at the last minute we went to Mr. Sanchos. My husband isn't a big drinker and I knew I didn't need $55 worth of food and drink myself so we opted to not go the all inclusive route. We walked in for free and found loungers on the beach and hung around for a few hours. Ordered some drinks a la carte and then went back to return the scooter. We've never ever been on a scooter before but it was a fun adventure. I think we were passed by everyone along the way cause I wouldn't let my husband go more than 25 mph.

 

I LOVED GSC. Thanks to Cruise Critic I heard about taking the tram straight to the lagoon. We left the ship kind of late to go to GSC so didn't need a tender ticket. As soon as we arrived it was jam packed and no seats were available. We found the tram and went to the lagoon where it was basically empty. We had no lines for drinks or food there. It was beautiful and amazing. My kids found friends from camp and played all afternoon. I know people say it's not as gorgeous as other private islands, but as someone who has nothing to compare it to it was my idea of paradise. I wish I could rent a house there for a week.

 

Ok I think that's it. This came out to be a book!

 

Editing to add: I didn't want to do a cruise but my husband wanted to try one out. I'm not sure they're for me. I really liked going off the boat for ports and think I'm much more of a resort person but he said he would do one again in the future.

Edited April 23, 2016 by mengel246

[Cruisermom2nick]

Sounds like you had fun! And lots of excitement! :) Did you actually miss a port?

[mengel246]

Sounds like you had fun! And lots of excitement! :) Did you actually miss a port?

 

 

We did not miss any ports! And we had great weather during the day for all of them. There was one evening of thunderstorms that was cool to watch but nothing to interrupt everything we did.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[retire2cruise55]

Thank you for your review!

[psk2347]

Great review! Thanks!

[Dotdale01]

We too were on the Getaway for the week you were. My husband and I were celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary - so our kids (22 & 18) were at home. We have cruised once previously on Royal and that was our comparison. We thoroughly enjoyed our cruise and struggled to find any negatives about the entire cruise. I've been putting together some thoughts about our cruise and hope to post a late review soon.

 

I just wanted to reiterate how odd we felt when others were complaining about the brief period that we had to stay near the "Cuban Refugee vessel". We too felt compassion for these people in a such a small craft trying to make their way towards a better life and people on the Getaway complaining about missing a port because of it. The actual event was really only ~ 4 hours and we arrived 1 hour late to the port of GSC.

 

Thanks for the review - I've just returned home this week from vacation as I had an extra two weeks at our condo in Florida post-cruise.

[lisakoivu]

A fair and balanced review - and they can be kinda rare, lol - so thank you!

[eggnoodle]

Which car rental company did you go with? How much was the Uber to POM?

TIA