Jason's Getaway Review 1/29-2/5

[Jason82]

Over the next few days I'll post some pics and details of my wife and my adventure on the Getaway this past week.

 

First, we are young 30 somethings. This was our 3rd cruise, first with NCL and first on a mega ship.

 

Miami: We arrived at 6:30 AM Saturday. With a full day to kill, we booked the Catalina and hung out in South Beach for the day, which was well worth it. Our room was comfy and quiet and we were just a block from the beach.

 

Embankment: While getting to the port was a bit crazy, once we arrived it seemed like a steady process to board. From arrival to boarding was an hour, but didn't seem like it. Because of where our Uber driver dropped us off, we somehow missed the station to check our luggage and ended up hauling it around with us. :eek:

 

Rooms: Our rooms were ready by 1:30 and the flowers I had ordered where delivered by 3:00 when our room steward came to introduce himself. He was marvelous and so warm and friendly.

 

We stayed in a standard balcony. As we know, these are small, but they work. We simply moved our chairs to the side and we able to stretch out. I'm still not sure why they designed these so small, unless it's to keep people out of their rooms and spending money. :rolleyes: Though I assume it's to open up the water front.

 

Bars: we never had a problem getting a drink. Sure, sometimes the more crowded areas were a bit busy, but I never felt the wait was that long.

 

Food: Food was good. I had an omelette every morning in the buffet and these were good. Also, the omelette station was quick and efficient. Though maybe I ate breakfast at the earlier end.

 

O'Sheehan's was our favorite. My wife loved the wings and I loved the burgers. Best burger I have had on a cruise ship. The burger was what I'd expect for pub food onshore. Again, service seemed fast and efficient.

 

MDR: We planned to eat at each MDR once for the experience, but actually only ate at the Tropicana 3 times. My favorite meal was the prime rib and baked potato. May not have been steak house good, but was still tasty. The lava cake though was absolutely amazing. :D

 

Service Overall I felt the service was efficient and the staff were kind and friendly. I especially enjoyed the morning serenade in the buffet.

 

Entertainment: Entertainment was amazing and there was always something to do. Burn the floor was great. A bit explicit, but nothing compared to the narration from the girls behind us.:rolleyes:

 

Levity Commedy was hilarious. We laughed so hard we were choking. The commedy club itself fills up fast, however on Wednesday they did a show in the theater and that is where we caught it.

 

We enjoyed Howl at the Moon and they played a good mix of 60's, 70's, and country. I was surprised the crowd seemed mostly older, even after 10.

 

One of our favorites was Aliah Sheffield, who was the pianist/vocalist often playing in the atrium or the Mojito bar. She was talented and we made a point to find her each night. I recommend catching her at least once.

 

Disembarkment: As others have noted, the disembarkment can be long. We had a late flight, so we didn't get off until 9:30 and the line to get off the ship was still long. Once we were off though it took even longer to clear customs. I felt this was the bottle neck as you had people coming and going through customs and it was chaotic and not much direction was provided by customs.

 

However, that was NOTHING compared to our flight home to Seattle to 8 inches of snow and a backed up airport. :eek:

 

I'll respond to any questions and post a bit more on ports and pics in the coming days. This was a beautiful ship and an amazing vacation. We'll absolutely sail NCL again and other breakaway class ships too. :cool:

[Two Wheels Only]

We stayed in a standard balcony. As we know, these are small, but they work. We simply moved our chairs to the side and we able to stretch out. I'm still not sure why they designed these so small, unless it's to keep people out of their rooms and spending money. :rolleyes: Though I assume it's to open up the water front.

 

From what I've read,the BA/GA balconies are small because they wanted more space to be devoted to the stateroom. The same reason is given for the narrow hallways.

 

Escape's balconies (side) are deeper and Escape also has a Waterfront. I don't think that they will make balconies as small as BA/GA in the future.

[SarpyCommish]

If you want a larger balcony..try the aft balcony rooms..a bit more expensive but totally worth it as the balcony is a long as the room iteslf on some decks. On 9 and 12 they can fit 2 lounge chairs and 4 smaller chairs with a table. Some parts in shade and some with direct sunlight.

 

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[TSM AND JP]

Thank you for your review. Going on the Getaway in March... can't wait!!!

[Jason82]

So here are a few pics.

 

I had the Harmony flowers delivered for my wife. They were beautiful and lasted the whole week and they could have gone longer too.

 

 

Our room steward even used my glasses for our towel pets. Here is one:

 

 

The Dale' drink I mentioned. You got to try these if you like tropical drinks!

 

 

Day 1 was cool and a bit of a drizzle, so sale away was moved in doors to the atrium. It was weird sailing out of Miami and the beach looking dead.

 

 

However day 2, our first sea day was beautiful. We spent most the day soaking up some sun and catching up on sleep. We also played mini-golf and tried out the water slides. They were fun and the lines weren't bad.

 

 

That night we went to the Tropicana and had steak and fries and the lava cake.

 

 

After dinner we went to Burn the Floor and then explored the ship a bit more before heading in for the night for our arrival in Honduras the next day.

Edited February 7, 2017 by Jason82

[Jason82]

Day 3 Roatan:

 

Roatan greeted us with some rain to start the day.

 

 

We visited Made in Roatan, a consignment shop run by missionaries where they support local families. My wife loved this shop and got several nice pieces of jewelry. We enjoyed talking with Bob and Debi and learning more about them. Highly recommend stopping here for some nice Roatan gifts.

 

 

Afterwards we took a trip with a Hyde Tours over to the West End. When we arrived the rain stopped and we had clouds the rest of the day.

 

We went to The Rusty Fish, a shop similar to Made in Roatan and found some other cool gifts.

 

 

Despite the clouds it was still warm enough and my wife and I spent the rest of the day on the empty beach.

 

 

Hyde Tours picked us up at the exact minute we asked them to. We enjoyed getting to know our driver and she shared about her family and life on the island. She got us back to Coxen Hole and stopped at several spots along the way for pictures. We explored the port a bit more before getting back on the Getaway.

 

 

 

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[easyboy]

Following along.

[FourUpState]

Enjoying this review!

 

 

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[luvcruzing]

Because of where our Uber driver dropped us off, we somehow missed the station to check our luggage and ended up hauling it around with us. :eek:

 

This is very interesting. My friend and I always carry on our luggage (24-inch size, not the large 28 or 30 inch), but one of the security guards insisted they were too large, and insisted we go back out of the building and check them. Another couple had complained that she made them do the same thing. Never had that happen before at any port.

[2jodirn2]

Following

 

 

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[rocklinmom]

Following...thanks for the great details so far. I have two balcony cabins booked on Getaway this summer and would love any info about them. What deck were you on?

[Gistfamily]

We are on the Getaway in mid april. Really enjoying your review! please keep posting.

[Jason82]

Following...thanks for the great details so far. I have two balcony cabins booked on Getaway this summer and would love any info about them. What deck were you on?

 

We were on deck 11 forward. Room was great. The balcony was still nice and I didn't feel crammed.

[inga418]

So here are a few pics.

 

I had the Harmony flowers delivered for my wife. They were beautiful and lasted the whole week and they could have gone longer too.

 

 

Our room steward even used my glasses for our towel pets. Here is one:

 

 

The Dale' drink I mentioned. You got to try these if you like tropical drinks!

 

 

Day 1 was cool and a bit of a drizzle, so sale away was moved in doors to the atrium. It was weird sailing out of Miami and the beach looking dead.

 

 

However day 2, our first sea day was beautiful. We spent most the day soaking up some sun and catching up on sleep. We also played mini-golf and tried out the water slides. They were fun and the lines weren't bad.

 

 

That night we went to the Tropicana and had steak and fries and the lava cake.

 

 

After dinner we went to Burn the Floor and then explored the ship a bit more before heading in for the night for our arrival in Honduras the next day.

That drink looks tasty. What is in it?

 

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[Vacationdreamer<><]

Loved the Getaway. Enjoying this.

Wish we could cruise her again. [emoji173]

 

 

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[grandmarnnurse]

I just cruised the Getaway 1/15-1/22, and Loved it! I agree with everything you've said so far. It was our first time on NCL, and we loved it so much, we booked the Getaway again for next January and will have several family members with us. I can't wait to read more of your review, and to relive my wonderful cruise through your review! [emoji4]

 

 

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[js]

Thank you for your review and pictures!

I am sailing Getaway in three weeks and can hardly stand myself any longer.

I'm packed, my outfit for plane is ironed and ready and I'm just waiting to go LOL

 

Hope you post more. Thank you again!

[kathiewe]

Thank you for your review and pictures!

I am sailing Getaway in three weeks and can hardly stand myself any longer.

I'm packed, my outfit for plane is ironed and ready and I'm just waiting to go LOL

 

Hope you post more. Thank you again!

 

Love it! We leave in 5 weeks and are just as excited! BTW, we are also DVCers.

[Jason82]

That drink looks tasty. What is in it?

 

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Here's the menu-3rd from the bottom. We typically got them at the pool bars or H2O

 

 

 

 

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[Jason82]

Day 4:

 

As you may have read our stop at Harvest Caye was cancelled due to an obstruction in the channel. The captain joked that if he tried it, the Getaway could become the largest stationary hotel in Belize.

 

So instead we had an extra sea day. I'm note sure if this was because it was too late to change to Belize City or if the weather would have cancelled tendering anyway, as supposedly it was quite rainy. This was a bummer as I was really looking forward to seeing this place. We did get a $50 credit.

 

Nonetheless, because I believe any day on a cruise ship is a good day, we made the most of it. We sailed out found the sun and clear skies. It felt we were barely moving too, which made sense since we had nowhere to go.

 

For lunch we had O'Sheehan's complete the the BBQ bacon burger, which was quite tasty.

 

 

The meat carving station for n the buffet was prime rib, so course I had some of that too. It may not have been steakhouse good, but I still enjoyed it.

 

 

That night we enjoyed a beautiful sunset.

 

 

For those who asked here's 2 pictures of our balcony

 

 

 

 

 

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[DCP]

We were on the same sailing (and on deck 11 aft! We had the tall guy on the scooter with us, if you saw him running around). We loved the cruise too, missed Harvest Caye (but like you said, being on the ship worked just fine too!) We had 4 balconies in a row, and they all want to go again next year. It's nice reading your review and seeing another view of our wonderful trip! Thanks for sharing!

[grandmarnnurse]

Thank you for your review and pictures!

I am sailing Getaway in three weeks and can hardly stand myself any longer.

I'm packed, my outfit for plane is ironed and ready and I'm just waiting to go LOL

 

Hope you post more. Thank you again!

 

You will LOVE the Getaway! I just got off her on January 22, and we rebooked the same cruise next January to share with family. I can't wait to return! It will be a long wait. Also--you sound like me--packed early and ready to go! My family makes fun of me because I start packing about 1month prior, but I'm the one that doesn't forget anything! 😎

[www3traveler]

Jason,

I was also on this cruise. As always, I had a wonderful time time. Disappointed about being able to go to Harvest Caye but Captain Lars and the Hotel Management staff handled it well.

 

I spend 2 nights sleeping in the airport in Seattle before I could fly to Walla Walla yesterday.

 

Can not wait to get back on The Getaway.

[Jason82]

I spend 2 nights sleeping in the airport in Seattle before I could fly to Walla Walla yesterday.

 

Can not wait to get back on The Getaway.

 

:eek::eek:

 

I'm sorry to hear that. Trading 80 and sun for what SeaTac greeeted is with was no fun. I was only sitting in the runway for 2 hours. I knew others had it worse. Glad you're home safe.

[Jason82]

Day 5: Costa Maya

 

Perfectly clear skies, warm air, and the bright blue sea greeted us in Costa Maya.

 

 

We booked the Chacchoben Mayan Ruins tour through Native Choice. I canny t recommend this tour company enough. The staff were warm, knowledgeable, and passionate about the Mayan history and culture. We were also given water bottles for our excursion.

 

We enjoyed a smooth bus ride to the site and got a brief history of the Mayans and the Yucatán peninsula. Once at the site we split into two groups and spent about two hours at the site where we saw 3 full temples and other ruins. Most of these we could only climb a few steps for safety and preservation.

 

 

After seeing the first temple, we got to climb steps that were restored remains to the other temples. Here they are:

 

 

After our climb we saw two other temples.

 

 

 

Eventually our tour wrapped up and we made our way back to the bus. We made it back on time and still had several hours to explore the port. This was a great tour and I cannot recommend Native Choice enough.

 

to be continued...

 

 

 

 

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