Multi-generational family cruise on the Getaway, March 26th thru April 2nd

[Pacclady]

Who We Are:

Twelve of us sailed on the Norwegian Getaway from March 26th through April 2nd. The trip was to celebrate my father's upcoming retirement. Sailing on the trip was:

My Family: DH and I are regular Norwegian cruisers, having sailed on the Pearl, the Dawn, the Sun, and the Pride of America for a total of 6 cruises. We also sailed on Carnival Dream a few years back. Joining us were our two sons; DS7 who sailed on the Carnival Dream with us back when he was 18 months old and DS3 who was on his first ever cruise.

My Parents: Mom and Dad are avid cruisers but this was their first Norwegian cruise.

Brother and his family: My brother, his wife and two sons (12 and 10) also sailed back on the Carnival Dream with us. They haven’t been a cruise since, until this one.

Cousin and her husband: This couple cruises 2-3 times a year, bouncing back and forth between Carnival and Norwegian. They sailed on this exact same Getaway cruise this same week last year.

 

Embarkation:

We all flew in that morning, on three different flights. We all landed around 11am and took cabs to the Port of Miami (20 minutes, $30). We pretty much walked through security. The line to check in was quite long. We went to the Latitudes line (well, my family did. My brother and his family had to go in the main line. We felt bad about leaving them but hey, a perk is a perk). And we were allowed in the Gold and above line even though we are only Silver. We walked right up to the counter and had our key cards in a few minutes. Then got our photo and walked right onto the ship. No waiting in a room, no boarding numbers. We were on board by 1pm. We immediately went to the Taste for lunch where we met up with my cousin and her husband. My brother and his family joined us about 20 minutes later so the line wasn't so bad. Our rooms were ready by 2pm. All in all, a very smooth embarkation.

 

Rooms:

We had three balcony rooms and one mini-suite for my parents. We weren't all side by side but pretty close. My brother's cabin (12812) was right next to ours (12814) and were the ones with a sofa bed and the drop down pullman. My cousin's cabin was 12808 and my parents were in 12804. My dad was disappointed by the size of his cabin. Personally, we thought the cabin was plenty large and the 4 of us fit in comfortably. I guess having a mini-suite and it being not at all bigger was annoying to Dad and I don't blame him. His bathroom was bigger though so that was nice. At first I was annoyed by the lack of drawer storage but once I got over that, we had no problem with space for everything (I just prefer drawers to shelves). We loved the storage in the bathroom, the most we've ever had in a cruise cabin. The balcony wasn't very deep but honestly we were totally fine with it. We spent plenty of time out there without having a problem. Well, ok, that's not completely true. Our cabins were right above the Sunset Bar on the Waterfront. That's the only outside bar that allows smoking. So some days, it reeked of smoke out there. But even worse was that since there aren't many smoking locations on the ship, the smokers tend to congregate and become good friends and spend a lot of time together. The endless noise coming from the Sunset Bar was annoying. Thankfully the balcony doors have an amazing seal so we couldn't hear anything inside. But there was never a moment of quiet out there, except maybe for first thing in the morning. So my recommendation is to only book balcony cabins on the port side. I know we will if we ever sail the Getaway again.

 

Crew:

Our room steward was Joey and he was great. He was the steward for all 12 of us and quickly learned our names. He called my parents “Mama” and “Papa.” We saw him often and he was always friendly. He didn’t do any of the cute additionals (using our hats and sunglasses on the towel animals, etc) but the room was always cleaned spotlessly, even with the mess our kids kept leaving.

 

Every crew member we encountered throughout the ship was incredibly friendly. We never met a single member of the crew who wasn’t eager to be helpful. I heard that a lot of the crew was leaving on Sunday but I didn’t notice that affecting anyone. My dad is gluten intolerant and he kept raving about how accommodating the crew was for him. Even in the Garden Buffet, everyone was so helpful to him. One day, one of the members of the crew walked him a\round the entire buffet, pointing out what was ok and what wasn’t. In the dining rooms, all he had to do was say “gluten free” and within seconds, he’d had his own bread and someone to help him with the menu (even though it was clearly marked with “GF” for anything gluten free). The crew in the youth center was great too. We just loved that all had nicknames (like Pikachu, Millionaire, Bo-bo, etc). DS3 went in a couple of times but after that he balked but due to no fault of the staff. They were great with him and tried their best to get him to go in. DS7 enjoyed the club and said all the staff were great.

 

Ship:

This was my family’s first time on a “Mega Ship.” I was somewhat nervous with the amount of passengers onboard. Though in the end, it didn’t seem more crowded than other ships. But I gotta admit, I had some issues with the layout. The casino being smack dab in the middle of the ship was very annoying. The smoke smell wasn’t too bad from it, except for on the 6th deck near the Bistro. But it just seems like a very odd place to have a casino. And like pretty much everyone says, the pool deck is a joke. Personally, I don’t hang out in the pool deck that much because it’s crowded on every ship. But this one is horrible. Having the buildings between the kids pool and the adult pool just squeezes everything else too much. And the kids pool never gets any sun so it’s always freezing. The splash pad for the young kids was great, though I wish someone would regulate the kids allowed in there. I seriously had to physically stop a 10 year old from plowing into my 3 year old. The running track is stupid too. It’s right in the middle of all the action. I feel like they just forgot to include that and squeezed it in the only place they could. And while the Atrium was lovely, we hated how much they did in there. All the game shows and some theater shows were held there. People are trying to walk through the Atrium but it’s too crowded with everything else going on. I miss the Spinnaker Lounge that used to be on every NCL ship.

 

Ok, enough with the negatives. Overall, we were very happy with the ship. We loved the Oceanfront and spent most of our time out there. The wide variety of bars and restaurants was great. There were plenty of places to take a nice walk. The spacious interior was unique. The décor was great, not too over-the-top. We enjoyed all the free adventure things, like the Ropes Course, the Putt Putt, the Getaway Bounce, and Spider Mountain. I’m so glad those were all included, even if it did result in some long lines. While I would have liked more inside quiet places, I felt like the ship had plenty of room for everyone. I do wish there was a middle stairwell but having only the forward and aft ones did help me walk enough to burn some calories. The number of elevators was great. I never felt like they were too crowded or slow, like I have on other ships. The Getaway is a beautiful ship with just a few flaws. But hey, nothing’s perfect.

 

Food/Restaurants:

I’ll just sum up the food and say that we didn’t have a single bad meal. While nothing stood out as amazing, everything we ate tasted great and most plates were finished completely. All 12 of us enjoyed our dishes, including the gluten free ones for my dad. We even found the food in the Garden Café to be very good.

 

Tropicana (MDR): We had made reservations for 5 nights for the 12 of us to eat here. In the end, we only ate here 3 nights due to various reasons. We were given the same table for those 3 nights but did not have the same server ever. The room is very elegant and we loved the dance floor (DS3 loved dancing on it). One night we saw the Burn the Floor dancers and that was a real treat. The Tropicana is a very nice restaurant. However, it is very loud. You had to somewhat yell to be heard. My kids begged to not to back for the 3rdnight because it’s so loud. Personally, I didn’t find it annoying as we were a table of 12. The other problem is something I had read about and had hoped was not true…the service is very slow. Like painfully slow. The first night it was fine but every night after it got progressively slower until the last night we ate here took over 2 hours. The servers were very friendly and kept the drinks coming. I just assume the kitchen can’t keep up.

 

Taste/Savor (MDRs): I’m grouping these together because honestly I can’t tell them apart. One is pink and one is blue but besides that, they’re the same. We ate here 4 times (2 breakfasts, 1 lunch, 1 dinner). Like the Tropicana, the servers were very nice and kept the drinks coming. But the food took forever to come out. One breakfast took almost an hour. DH and I hate the buffet and usually eat every meal in a restaurant but thanks to the slow service in Taste/Savor, we had to switch to the buffet for breakfast after 2 mornings. If we didn’t have the kids with us, it probably would have been a fine, relaxing meal.

 

Teppanaki: All 12 of us ate here. We were split 8 and 4 to connected tables with 2 chefs. We were seated with a family of 4 and ironically the father in that family went to the same high school as my brother and me (and our spouses as we both married high school sweethearts). The odds of that are just so crazy! This meal was the best. The show, the food, the service…it was all amazing. We would have eaten every night here if we could. The steak was so juicy. And the rice they serve…I ate two bowls of it. This was by far our favorite meal of the trip. My sons ordered from the kids menu (hot dogs) but both were also given rice and veggies from the grill. My nephews ordered from the main menu but my brother was not billed for them. He even asked about it and the staff said to not worry about it. In addition, the chef and one of the bus boys took our menus and made us several pieces of origami. I think we ended up with 5 different shapes. No matter what, eat here if you can.

 

Moderno: We had an adult only dinner here. Our server was Herbert from Jamaica and he was amazing. I had heard that the meat was very salty and my cousin (who had eaten here on her cruise the previous year) warned us of the same fact. I don’t know if my salt receptors just don’t work but I didn’t think anything tasted too salty. I tried every single piece of meat offered and it all tasted great. Everything was cooked perfectly. I think my favorite was the bacon wrapped fillet but I would easily eat all of it again. The salad bar was impressive but unfortunately I did not get the lobster bisque as I didn’t see it until it was too late. We really enjoyed our meal here.

 

Ocean Blue: DH and I did get one dinner for just the two if us and we chose to eat here. We had picked it as the nicest restaurant on the ship and figured it’d be perfect for a date. Thanks to changes to the Roatan itinerary (more on that below), when we arrived, we were told that we were the only people who showed up. 20 reservations were no shows. Ouch. We were given the table furthest in the back and it was nice and quiet…for about 15 minutes. Then they seated a family with two very young children near us. All kids who eat here are given an iPad. But this family already had iPhones for their kids too. And I am dead serious when I tell you that they let their 2 year old boy play with the iPad while watching a movie on the iPhone. With no headphones. At full volume. The older daughter couldn’t sit still and was loud as well. The father was very loud and obnoxious and complained about every single thing. We could tell that if we dared say anything to him, it would not end well. So DH and I just tolerated it for a while and then decided it was pretty damned funny and spent the rest of our dinner enjoying ourselves and laughing at it all. It helped that our server was amazing (I feel bad that I can’t remember her name) and was so friendly. I had ordered the most expensive glass of wine on the menu ($14.95 a glass) and she brought the whole bottle over to the table to fill my glass and then left with the bottle. She informed me that I better finish the bottle since it was opened just for me. A bottle of it would have cost $100. But since I had the UBP, she just kept giving me glass after glass. I did finish the bottle. The food was great as well, though the lobster tail I ordered actually ended up being a half of a lobster (with half his head and all). That was odd to me but still very tasty. We really enjoyed our meal, even with the inconsiderate and annoying family seated near us.

 

O’Sheehans: We ate lunch here 3 times, breakfast once and also stopped here for drinks many times. The food here is really good. We loved the fajitas so much. The wait staff was great. The last sea day did end up with some very slow service but besides that, it was quick. One day we watched a movie on the Atrium screen from here while we ate lunch. Looking back, I wish we had eaten more meals here. The food was so tasty.

 

Garden Café: As I said above, DH and I usually do everything we can to avoid the buffet. Not necessarily because of the food but more because of the crowds. I just hate having to fight for my food. But thanks to the slow MDR service and my kids who needed food RIGHT NOW, we ended up eating here way more than expected. And honestly, it was fine. There were a few times that we simply could not find a table and some days where the crowd was insane. But honestly the food was really good. And the staff in there was great. They were always smiling and happy to serve. One morning, a group of them walked the whole buffet singing a song for us. The head of the wait staff loved to walk around with a bunch of bananas on his head and sounding like a rooster. The tables got cleaned insanely quickly. Overall, we enjoyed the Garden Café and were very pleased with the food and service in there.

 

Bars: We had t-shirts made with a list of the bars on the back and our goal was to hit every bar on the ship. I think some of my party did manage to do it but alas, DH and I did not. We did get to a majority of them but we just kept finding ourselves at the Sunset Bar. Which is funny because it’s the one that allows the smoking outside right below our balcony. We don’t smoke. But they have several non-smoking tables that are upwind from the bar so you can easily sit there and enjoy without the smoke smell. Sometimes we would take our drinks from Sunset to the other side of the ship where it is much quieter. Sunset Bat had this great drink called ‘Grass Clippings.’ It was like a margarita but without the sweetness. I loved it and it was very strong. We also enjoyed the Miami Vice they served at the pool bar. If you’re looking for a traditional bar to sit at and chill, check out the bar between Moderno and Cagney’s. And of course, we drank plenty at O’Sheehans. We did visit the Ice Bar as well. What a gimmick. $20 a person for 2 small vodka drinks. We had a good time in there but it is very cold (duh). And it’s also very closed off. A member of our party doesn’t like closed in spaces and had to bail pretty quickly. We spent about 25 minutes in there and were laughing the entire time. It’s worth a quick stop if you want to do something completely ridiculous.

 

Ports:

Roatan: My family had booked the Zip ‘n Dip tour through Victor Bodden tours. It was the only zip line that we found that would allow DS3 to ride as well. We were supposed to dock at10am and meet with the tour at 11am. We would zip and meet some monkeys and then go a beach for a couple of hours and be back at the ship 2 hours before departure. But around 6pm the night before, the captain announced that due to a medical emergency, we would be diverted to Cancun overnight and our arrival at Roatan was now 2pm with a 7pm all aboard. Ouch. (There were many rumors as to what the medical emergency was, but a bartender told DH that it was a father and son who had slipped on the pool deck and smashed their heads into a metal barrier and were in stable but critical condition.) We actually ended up not docking until 3pm and the mass of humanity trying to get off the ship (we had been at sea for 48 hours) was crushing. We didn’t get off until 3:45pm and found Victor Bodden waiting for us, promising to squeeze it all in, including a sunset on the beach. Unfortunately, the mass of people lead to a severe traffic jam to get out of the port. We did do the zip line which was AMAZING. It was a dozen different lines with a staff of guys who are awesome. They took great care of us and made sure everyone was having a great time. Even DS3 loved every second of his tandem rides. We visited the monkeys and birds as well. The kids loved that part and the adults had a good time as well, though the conditions of the cages worried us somewhat. You could tell the animals were well taken care of though. We all agreed that this excursion (well, the zip part of it) was the best part of the trip. After, we told the driver to just take us back to the ship. While a beach sunset would have been nice, we didn’t want to risk missing the ship. He took a different route back so overall we got a nice tour of the island and were back at the ship 30 minutes before departure.

 

Harvest Caye: We had read so many reviews of this island and weren’t sure what to expect. We knew drinks and food were not included so we were prepared for that. We went there ready for whatever was thrown at us. And in the end, we had a fabulous time. We found plenty of beach chairs on the far end of the beach and settled in. We hung out on the sand and in the water for several hours. The water was murky so snorkeling was a bust but the boys didn’t care. We built sand castles and swam and just had a great time. We kept seeing the zip line go over us and were so tempted by it but the cost was just too much. We checked out parasailing as well but at $100 a person, no thank you. The bar and restaurants are nice. The drink prices are normal but the food prices are ridiculous. Eventually, hunger and a bit of sunburn took over and headed back to the ship. We did stop at the pool for a bit though, mostly to rinse the salt water off us (we used the showers first). The pool is really crowded but it’s so large, we were fine. The pool bar was a madhouse so we stayed away from there. We totally forgot about the nature center. We did stop for some rum tasting but besides that, we didn’t do any shopping. We were back on the ship by 2:30 to eat lunch. I do wish the walking was a bit less because that was hard with DS7 and DS3. We might have got back out after lunch if it didn’t require so much walking. But all in all, we very much enjoyed this stop. Harvest Caye is a lovely island and a great place for family fun.

 

Costa Maya: Having been to this port several times, we had decided early on that today would be the day we stayed on the ship and enjoyed all the amenities with less crowds. We did get off for maybe an hour for some browsing but that’s it. We enjoyed having the pools and waterslides totally for just us. It was so quiet and relaxing.

 

Cozumel: My cousin and her husband took all the kids to a beach so the parents could have some quiet time. My parents ended up going with them too. They went to Playa Mia Beach and had a wonderful time. The kids had a blast on all the activities and really enjoyed themselves. I guess they got the all-you-can-eat package and the kids ate their weight in chicken nuggets. They spent all day there and came back exhausted. DH and I did the adult thing. We finally got to spend some time in Spice H2O, which was nice but windy. We found some lounge chairs and drank. And slept. And drank. And ate lunch at O’Sheehans while watching Star Wars. It was awesome. We did go ashore for a bit to look for souvenirs. We had under packed and the boys were out of shirts. Plus DH wanted a nice hat but never did find one. He did get a nice leather belt though.

 

Disembarkation:

I had read so many horror stories about this and was ready for the worst. My brother’s family and my family were on the same flight out of West Palm Beach and had a van picking us up at 10:30am. We took our time in the morning and had some breakfast in the buffet. We left our room at 9am with the stewards breathing down our necks to get out so they could clean. We took the stairs down to deck 7 but were stopped on deck 8 by a rope and a nice lady. She asked what our luggage tag color was and we said grey. And we were told that our color hadn’t been called yet so we couldn’t go down. So we found some chairs to sit in for a while and we could see down to deck 7 and the line wrapped around the entire deck. Eventually we started to worry so we went back to the stairs and lied and said we were luggage tag purple and they let us go down. As we got to the bottom of the stairs, they called grey. We joined the line which went outside for a bit and then back in and circled around the entire deck. The line moved continuously until at one point they announced that they would be halting for a while due to congestion. We were in the casino at that point and the boys were entertained by the buttons on the slot machines. So they were fine. We only stopped for 5 minutes and then continued moving on again. There were lots of staff all over to make sure the lines were smooth and no one ever cut in that we could see. All in all, it was probably a 30 minute slow walk to the luggage room. Customs itself took seconds. We were on the curb by 10:20am. So it was not the horror show we had been ready for. It wasn’t super quick but wasn’t stressful either. We were saddened to see the people waiting to board. We wanted to get back on with them!

 

Overall:

This trip gave us everything we wanted for and more. It was fun and relaxing and helped us have a lot of family time. I wish my kids had enjoyed the kid’s club a bit more but it was nice to spend time with them as well. Even with the negatives I mentioned, we would take this cruise again in a heartbeat.

 

Please feel free to ask me anything. I’ll answer them however I can. I know I missed some stuff so if there was something you were hoping for but didn’t see anything about, just ask. There were 12 of us, I’m sure one of us can answer!

[need2cruisesoon]

Would like to see the t-shirts.....with the bar names

 

 

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[dpaton]

DH here. Working on hosting pics for this.

[ttnc4me]

Thanks so much for this review. It's great!

[Pacclady]

Would like to see the t-shirts.....with the bar names

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

 

The Flamingo Bar & Grill doesn't exist anymore, it was replaced by Margaritaville (t-shirt were printed a few months ago).

 

Bob and Debbie are my parents.

[rocklinmom]

Thanks for a great review! We will be on the GA in July. Did you happen to get any pictures of the MDR dinner menus?

[Pacclady]

Thanks for a great review! We will be on the GA in July. Did you happen to get any pictures of the MDR dinner menus?

 

Sorry, but I did not. When I got on the cruise, I had every intention of taking pictures. But dinner with the whole family and especially my kids made things more hectic than I planned and I completely forgot. I do remember that they had Prime Rib on both Sunday and again on Saturday night. And they no longer have the upcharge items, everything on the menu was included. There seemed to be more choices than I remember from other cruises too. Sorry I don't have photos.

[rocklinmom]

No problem! Glad to hear that you all enjoyed the GA :-)

 

 

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[Host CJSKIDS]

Who We Are:

Twelve of us sailed on the Norwegian Getaway from March 26th through April 2nd. The trip was to celebrate my father's upcoming retirement. Sailing on the trip was:

My Family: DH and I are regular Norwegian cruisers, having sailed on the Pearl, the Dawn, the Sun, and the Pride of America for a total of 6 cruises. We also sailed on Carnival Dream a few years back. Joining us were our two sons; DS7 who sailed on the Carnival Dream with us back when he was 18 months old and DS3 who was on his first ever cruise.

My Parents: Mom and Dad are avid cruisers but this was their first Norwegian cruise.

Brother and his family: My brother, his wife and two sons (12 and 10) also sailed back on the Carnival Dream with us. They haven’t been a cruise since, until this one.

Cousin and her husband: This couple cruises 2-3 times a year, bouncing back and forth between Carnival and Norwegian. They sailed on this exact same Getaway cruise this same week last year.

 

Embarkation:

We all flew in that morning, on three different flights. We all landed around 11am and took cabs to the Port of Miami (20 minutes, $30). We pretty much walked through security. The line to check in was quite long. We went to the Latitudes line (well, my family did. My brother and his family had to go in the main line. We felt bad about leaving them but hey, a perk is a perk). And we were allowed in the Gold and above line even though we are only Silver. We walked right up to the counter and had our key cards in a few minutes. Then got our photo and walked right onto the ship. No waiting in a room, no boarding numbers. We were on board by 1pm. We immediately went to the Taste for lunch where we met up with my cousin and her husband. My brother and his family joined us about 20 minutes later so the line wasn't so bad. Our rooms were ready by 2pm. All in all, a very smooth embarkation.

 

Rooms:

We had three balcony rooms and one mini-suite for my parents. We weren't all side by side but pretty close. My brother's cabin (12812) was right next to ours (12814) and were the ones with a sofa bed and the drop down pullman. My cousin's cabin was 12808 and my parents were in 12804. My dad was disappointed by the size of his cabin. Personally, we thought the cabin was plenty large and the 4 of us fit in comfortably. I guess having a mini-suite and it being not at all bigger was annoying to Dad and I don't blame him. His bathroom was bigger though so that was nice. At first I was annoyed by the lack of drawer storage but once I got over that, we had no problem with space for everything (I just prefer drawers to shelves). We loved the storage in the bathroom, the most we've ever had in a cruise cabin. The balcony wasn't very deep but honestly we were totally fine with it. We spent plenty of time out there without having a problem. Well, ok, that's not completely true. Our cabins were right above the Sunset Bar on the Waterfront. That's the only outside bar that allows smoking. So some days, it reeked of smoke out there. But even worse was that since there aren't many smoking locations on the ship, the smokers tend to congregate and become good friends and spend a lot of time together. The endless noise coming from the Sunset Bar was annoying. Thankfully the balcony doors have an amazing seal so we couldn't hear anything inside. But there was never a moment of quiet out there, except maybe for first thing in the morning. So my recommendation is to only book balcony cabins on the port side. I know we will if we ever sail the Getaway again.

 

Crew:

Our room steward was Joey and he was great. He was the steward for all 12 of us and quickly learned our names. He called my parents “Mama” and “Papa.” We saw him often and he was always friendly. He didn’t do any of the cute additionals (using our hats and sunglasses on the towel animals, etc) but the room was always cleaned spotlessly, even with the mess our kids kept leaving.

 

Every crew member we encountered throughout the ship was incredibly friendly. We never met a single member of the crew who wasn’t eager to be helpful. I heard that a lot of the crew was leaving on Sunday but I didn’t notice that affecting anyone. My dad is gluten intolerant and he kept raving about how accommodating the crew was for him. Even in the Garden Buffet, everyone was so helpful to him. One day, one of the members of the crew walked him a\round the entire buffet, pointing out what was ok and what wasn’t. In the dining rooms, all he had to do was say “gluten free” and within seconds, he’d had his own bread and someone to help him with the menu (even though it was clearly marked with “GF” for anything gluten free). The crew in the youth center was great too. We just loved that all had nicknames (like Pikachu, Millionaire, Bo-bo, etc). DS3 went in a couple of times but after that he balked but due to no fault of the staff. They were great with him and tried their best to get him to go in. DS7 enjoyed the club and said all the staff were great.

 

Ship:

This was my family’s first time on a “Mega Ship.” I was somewhat nervous with the amount of passengers onboard. Though in the end, it didn’t seem more crowded than other ships. But I gotta admit, I had some issues with the layout. The casino being smack dab in the middle of the ship was very annoying. The smoke smell wasn’t too bad from it, except for on the 6th deck near the Bistro. But it just seems like a very odd place to have a casino. And like pretty much everyone says, the pool deck is a joke. Personally, I don’t hang out in the pool deck that much because it’s crowded on every ship. But this one is horrible. Having the buildings between the kids pool and the adult pool just squeezes everything else too much. And the kids pool never gets any sun so it’s always freezing. The splash pad for the young kids was great, though I wish someone would regulate the kids allowed in there. I seriously had to physically stop a 10 year old from plowing into my 3 year old. The running track is stupid too. It’s right in the middle of all the action. I feel like they just forgot to include that and squeezed it in the only place they could. And while the Atrium was lovely, we hated how much they did in there. All the game shows and some theater shows were held there. People are trying to walk through the Atrium but it’s too crowded with everything else going on. I miss the Spinnaker Lounge that used to be on every NCL ship.

 

Ok, enough with the negatives. Overall, we were very happy with the ship. We loved the Oceanfront and spent most of our time out there. The wide variety of bars and restaurants was great. There were plenty of places to take a nice walk. The spacious interior was unique. The décor was great, not too over-the-top. We enjoyed all the free adventure things, like the Ropes Course, the Putt Putt, the Getaway Bounce, and Spider Mountain. I’m so glad those were all included, even if it did result in some long lines. While I would have liked more inside quiet places, I felt like the ship had plenty of room for everyone. I do wish there was a middle stairwell but having only the forward and aft ones did help me walk enough to burn some calories. The number of elevators was great. I never felt like they were too crowded or slow, like I have on other ships. The Getaway is a beautiful ship with just a few flaws. But hey, nothing’s perfect.

 

Food/Restaurants:

I’ll just sum up the food and say that we didn’t have a single bad meal. While nothing stood out as amazing, everything we ate tasted great and most plates were finished completely. All 12 of us enjoyed our dishes, including the gluten free ones for my dad. We even found the food in the Garden Café to be very good.

 

Tropicana (MDR): We had made reservations for 5 nights for the 12 of us to eat here. In the end, we only ate here 3 nights due to various reasons. We were given the same table for those 3 nights but did not have the same server ever. The room is very elegant and we loved the dance floor (DS3 loved dancing on it). One night we saw the Burn the Floor dancers and that was a real treat. The Tropicana is a very nice restaurant. However, it is very loud. You had to somewhat yell to be heard. My kids begged to not to back for the 3rdnight because it’s so loud. Personally, I didn’t find it annoying as we were a table of 12. The other problem is something I had read about and had hoped was not true…the service is very slow. Like painfully slow. The first night it was fine but every night after it got progressively slower until the last night we ate here took over 2 hours. The servers were very friendly and kept the drinks coming. I just assume the kitchen can’t keep up.

 

Taste/Savor (MDRs): I’m grouping these together because honestly I can’t tell them apart. One is pink and one is blue but besides that, they’re the same. We ate here 4 times (2 breakfasts, 1 lunch, 1 dinner). Like the Tropicana, the servers were very nice and kept the drinks coming. But the food took forever to come out. One breakfast took almost an hour. DH and I hate the buffet and usually eat every meal in a restaurant but thanks to the slow service in Taste/Savor, we had to switch to the buffet for breakfast after 2 mornings. If we didn’t have the kids with us, it probably would have been a fine, relaxing meal.

 

Teppanaki: All 12 of us ate here. We were split 8 and 4 to connected tables with 2 chefs. We were seated with a family of 4 and ironically the father in that family went to the same high school as my brother and me (and our spouses as we both married high school sweethearts). The odds of that are just so crazy! This meal was the best. The show, the food, the service…it was all amazing. We would have eaten every night here if we could. The steak was so juicy. And the rice they serve…I ate two bowls of it. This was by far our favorite meal of the trip. My sons ordered from the kids menu (hot dogs) but both were also given rice and veggies from the grill. My nephews ordered from the main menu but my brother was not billed for them. He even asked about it and the staff said to not worry about it. In addition, the chef and one of the bus boys took our menus and made us several pieces of origami. I think we ended up with 5 different shapes. No matter what, eat here if you can.

 

Moderno: We had an adult only dinner here. Our server was Herbert from Jamaica and he was amazing. I had heard that the meat was very salty and my cousin (who had eaten here on her cruise the previous year) warned us of the same fact. I don’t know if my salt receptors just don’t work but I didn’t think anything tasted too salty. I tried every single piece of meat offered and it all tasted great. Everything was cooked perfectly. I think my favorite was the bacon wrapped fillet but I would easily eat all of it again. The salad bar was impressive but unfortunately I did not get the lobster bisque as I didn’t see it until it was too late. We really enjoyed our meal here.

 

Ocean Blue: DH and I did get one dinner for just the two if us and we chose to eat here. We had picked it as the nicest restaurant on the ship and figured it’d be perfect for a date. Thanks to changes to the Roatan itinerary (more on that below), when we arrived, we were told that we were the only people who showed up. 20 reservations were no shows. Ouch. We were given the table furthest in the back and it was nice and quiet…for about 15 minutes. Then they seated a family with two very young children near us. All kids who eat here are given an iPad. But this family already had iPhones for their kids too. And I am dead serious when I tell you that they let their 2 year old boy play with the iPad while watching a movie on the iPhone. With no headphones. At full volume. The older daughter couldn’t sit still and was loud as well. The father was very loud and obnoxious and complained about every single thing. We could tell that if we dared say anything to him, it would not end well. So DH and I just tolerated it for a while and then decided it was pretty damned funny and spent the rest of our dinner enjoying ourselves and laughing at it all. It helped that our server was amazing (I feel bad that I can’t remember her name) and was so friendly. I had ordered the most expensive glass of wine on the menu ($14.95 a glass) and she brought the whole bottle over to the table to fill my glass and then left with the bottle. She informed me that I better finish the bottle since it was opened just for me. A bottle of it would have cost $100. But since I had the UBP, she just kept giving me glass after glass. I did finish the bottle. The food was great as well, though the lobster tail I ordered actually ended up being a half of a lobster (with half his head and all). That was odd to me but still very tasty. We really enjoyed our meal, even with the inconsiderate and annoying family seated near us.

 

O’Sheehans: We ate lunch here 3 times, breakfast once and also stopped here for drinks many times. The food here is really good. We loved the fajitas so much. The wait staff was great. The last sea day did end up with some very slow service but besides that, it was quick. One day we watched a movie on the Atrium screen from here while we ate lunch. Looking back, I wish we had eaten more meals here. The food was so tasty.

 

Garden Café: As I said above, DH and I usually do everything we can to avoid the buffet. Not necessarily because of the food but more because of the crowds. I just hate having to fight for my food. But thanks to the slow MDR service and my kids who needed food RIGHT NOW, we ended up eating here way more than expected. And honestly, it was fine. There were a few times that we simply could not find a table and some days where the crowd was insane. But honestly the food was really good. And the staff in there was great. They were always smiling and happy to serve. One morning, a group of them walked the whole buffet singing a song for us. The head of the wait staff loved to walk around with a bunch of bananas on his head and sounding like a rooster. The tables got cleaned insanely quickly. Overall, we enjoyed the Garden Café and were very pleased with the food and service in there.

 

Bars: We had t-shirts made with a list of the bars on the back and our goal was to hit every bar on the ship. I think some of my party did manage to do it but alas, DH and I did not. We did get to a majority of them but we just kept finding ourselves at the Sunset Bar. Which is funny because it’s the one that allows the smoking outside right below our balcony. We don’t smoke. But they have several non-smoking tables that are upwind from the bar so you can easily sit there and enjoy without the smoke smell. Sometimes we would take our drinks from Sunset to the other side of the ship where it is much quieter. Sunset Bat had this great drink called ‘Grass Clippings.’ It was like a margarita but without the sweetness. I loved it and it was very strong. We also enjoyed the Miami Vice they served at the pool bar. If you’re looking for a traditional bar to sit at and chill, check out the bar between Moderno and Cagney’s. And of course, we drank plenty at O’Sheehans. We did visit the Ice Bar as well. What a gimmick. $20 a person for 2 small vodka drinks. We had a good time in there but it is very cold (duh). And it’s also very closed off. A member of our party doesn’t like closed in spaces and had to bail pretty quickly. We spent about 25 minutes in there and were laughing the entire time. It’s worth a quick stop if you want to do something completely ridiculous.

 

Ports:

Roatan: My family had booked the Zip ‘n Dip tour through Victor Bodden tours. It was the only zip line that we found that would allow DS3 to ride as well. We were supposed to dock at10am and meet with the tour at 11am. We would zip and meet some monkeys and then go a beach for a couple of hours and be back at the ship 2 hours before departure. But around 6pm the night before, the captain announced that due to a medical emergency, we would be diverted to Cancun overnight and our arrival at Roatan was now 2pm with a 7pm all aboard. Ouch. (There were many rumors as to what the medical emergency was, but a bartender told DH that it was a father and son who had slipped on the pool deck and smashed their heads into a metal barrier and were in stable but critical condition.) We actually ended up not docking until 3pm and the mass of humanity trying to get off the ship (we had been at sea for 48 hours) was crushing. We didn’t get off until 3:45pm and found Victor Bodden waiting for us, promising to squeeze it all in, including a sunset on the beach. Unfortunately, the mass of people lead to a severe traffic jam to get out of the port. We did do the zip line which was AMAZING. It was a dozen different lines with a staff of guys who are awesome. They took great care of us and made sure everyone was having a great time. Even DS3 loved every second of his tandem rides. We visited the monkeys and birds as well. The kids loved that part and the adults had a good time as well, though the conditions of the cages worried us somewhat. You could tell the animals were well taken care of though. We all agreed that this excursion (well, the zip part of it) was the best part of the trip. After, we told the driver to just take us back to the ship. While a beach sunset would have been nice, we didn’t want to risk missing the ship. He took a different route back so overall we got a nice tour of the island and were back at the ship 30 minutes before departure.

 

Harvest Caye: We had read so many reviews of this island and weren’t sure what to expect. We knew drinks and food were not included so we were prepared for that. We went there ready for whatever was thrown at us. And in the end, we had a fabulous time. We found plenty of beach chairs on the far end of the beach and settled in. We hung out on the sand and in the water for several hours. The water was murky so snorkeling was a bust but the boys didn’t care. We built sand castles and swam and just had a great time. We kept seeing the zip line go over us and were so tempted by it but the cost was just too much. We checked out parasailing as well but at $100 a person, no thank you. The bar and restaurants are nice. The drink prices are normal but the food prices are ridiculous. Eventually, hunger and a bit of sunburn took over and headed back to the ship. We did stop at the pool for a bit though, mostly to rinse the salt water off us (we used the showers first). The pool is really crowded but it’s so large, we were fine. The pool bar was a madhouse so we stayed away from there. We totally forgot about the nature center. We did stop for some rum tasting but besides that, we didn’t do any shopping. We were back on the ship by 2:30 to eat lunch. I do wish the walking was a bit less because that was hard with DS7 and DS3. We might have got back out after lunch if it didn’t require so much walking. But all in all, we very much enjoyed this stop. Harvest Caye is a lovely island and a great place for family fun.

 

Costa Maya: Having been to this port several times, we had decided early on that today would be the day we stayed on the ship and enjoyed all the amenities with less crowds. We did get off for maybe an hour for some browsing but that’s it. We enjoyed having the pools and waterslides totally for just us. It was so quiet and relaxing.

 

Cozumel: My cousin and her husband took all the kids to a beach so the parents could have some quiet time. My parents ended up going with them too. They went to Playa Mia Beach and had a wonderful time. The kids had a blast on all the activities and really enjoyed themselves. I guess they got the all-you-can-eat package and the kids ate their weight in chicken nuggets. They spent all day there and came back exhausted. DH and I did the adult thing. We finally got to spend some time in Spice H2O, which was nice but windy. We found some lounge chairs and drank. And slept. And drank. And ate lunch at O’Sheehans while watching Star Wars. It was awesome. We did go ashore for a bit to look for souvenirs. We had under packed and the boys were out of shirts. Plus DH wanted a nice hat but never did find one. He did get a nice leather belt though.

 

Disembarkation:

I had read so many horror stories about this and was ready for the worst. My brother’s family and my family were on the same flight out of West Palm Beach and had a van picking us up at 10:30am. We took our time in the morning and had some breakfast in the buffet. We left our room at 9am with the stewards breathing down our necks to get out so they could clean. We took the stairs down to deck 7 but were stopped on deck 8 by a rope and a nice lady. She asked what our luggage tag color was and we said grey. And we were told that our color hadn’t been called yet so we couldn’t go down. So we found some chairs to sit in for a while and we could see down to deck 7 and the line wrapped around the entire deck. Eventually we started to worry so we went back to the stairs and lied and said we were luggage tag purple and they let us go down. As we got to the bottom of the stairs, they called grey. We joined the line which went outside for a bit and then back in and circled around the entire deck. The line moved continuously until at one point they announced that they would be halting for a while due to congestion. We were in the casino at that point and the boys were entertained by the buttons on the slot machines. So they were fine. We only stopped for 5 minutes and then continued moving on again. There were lots of staff all over to make sure the lines were smooth and no one ever cut in that we could see. All in all, it was probably a 30 minute slow walk to the luggage room. Customs itself took seconds. We were on the curb by 10:20am. So it was not the horror show we had been ready for. It wasn’t super quick but wasn’t stressful either. We were saddened to see the people waiting to board. We wanted to get back on with them!

 

Overall:

This trip gave us everything we wanted for and more. It was fun and relaxing and helped us have a lot of family time. I wish my kids had enjoyed the kid’s club a bit more but it was nice to spend time with them as well. Even with the negatives I mentioned, we would take this cruise again in a heartbeat.

 

Please feel free to ask me anything. I’ll answer them however I can. I know I missed some stuff so if there was something you were hoping for but didn’t see anything about, just ask. There were 12 of us, I’m sure one of us can answer!

 

 

Thanks for the review. We leave next Sunday on a very last minute booked trip.

 

I'll have to have my friend Leo know that you enjoyed the "Grass Clippings" drink. He made the drink menu for Tobacco Road on the Escape and this is one of his drinks. If you are ever in Miami, try their freshly made version at either of Leo's places So Cal Catina. They are so much better!

[sdil]

Any input on spa? I dont want to buy the $300 unlimited pass - but when you call they say it is all or nothing. Do they sell day passes or discount access half way thru cruise? Is OSheehans a free place to eat or do you have to pay? How many opitons come with the cruise and how many specialty dining meals should we plan to secure? Is it better to buy them in advance? Thanks for you help - heading out for 16 days in a few weeks.

[sdil]

OH! is there a fresh juice bar on board?

[poona1]

Hi sdil...in response to your query, a 7 day spa cost 139 prior to sailing and 199 on the ship...they have limited passes so make sure you book them early...also helps if you travel during the cool seasons..

 

osheehans is a 24 hour free restaurant with everything from buffalo wings to fajitas...but the service is slow

[sdil]

thx for the insight!

[RN Cruiser1]

Enjoyed reading your review. Thank you!

[big al]

Great review, Thanks!!!! :cool: You didn't say much about the entertainment & shows, other than Burn The Floor..NCL is best known for 2 things: freestyle dining options & entertainment...next time in Cozumel, try Nachi Cocum ( all inclusive $55 pp all you can drink & eat plus loungers pool, hot tub & beach) or Paradise Beach ( infinity pool & great beach)..Nachi is my favorite, but if you have small children, it may not be best for you..Glad you liked Harvest Caye, it has had many negative reviews..my cousin said it's too small for these big ships, but said there were plenty of lounge chairs on the beach...I will be on the Getaway in November with DW & DSIL & DBIL..as a cruise agent, I have toured the ship twice & love the Waterfront best, like you do...thanks for the tip on the Sunset Bar & drinks- I LOVE Miami Vices :D..I usually drink those , along with beers..thanks again! :cool:

 

Big Al

[Pacclady]

Thanks for the review. We leave next Sunday on a very last minute booked trip.

 

I'll have to have my friend Leo know that you enjoyed the "Grass Clippings" drink. He made the drink menu for Tobacco Road on the Escape and this is one of his drinks. If you are ever in Miami, try their freshly made version at either of Leo's places So Cal Catina. They are so much better!

 

Yes, please tell him! I loved that drink so much. And I will try to stop there if I'm ever in Miami. Thanks!

[Pacclady]

Any input on spa? I dont want to buy the $300 unlimited pass - but when you call they say it is all or nothing. Do they sell day passes or discount access half way thru cruise? Is OSheehans a free place to eat or do you have to pay? How many opitons come with the cruise and how many specialty dining meals should we plan to secure? Is it better to buy them in advance? Thanks for you help - heading out for 16 days in a few weeks.

 

 

Sorry, we didn't use the spa. My parents did for one visit (a couple's hot stone massage) and said it was great. But none of us purchased the spa pass.

 

O'Sheehans is free and open 24 hours. The food was great, service ranged from fine to slow. Their fajitas were so tasty, I highly recommend them.

 

For no charge, you can eat in Tropicana, Taste, Savor, O'Sheehans, the Noodle Bar, and the buffet. Then there are 5 (I think) up charge restaurants. In an upcharge restaurant, you get better service and better food. But the food in the free venues is fine. I'd go for one to two specialty meals, if you can fit it in your budget. We only did three because we got the SDP with our booking. We reserved them all ahead of time as we had a large group, I have no idea how the waits were for walk ups, sorry.

[Pacclady]

OH! is there a fresh juice bar on board?

 

If there was, I didn't see it. But I wasn't looking for it either, sorry.

[Pacclady]

Great review, Thanks!!!! :cool: You didn't say much about the entertainment & shows, other than Burn The Floor..NCL is best known for 2 things: freestyle dining options & entertainment...next time in Cozumel, try Nachi Cocum ( all inclusive $55 pp all you can drink & eat plus loungers pool, hot tub & beach) or Paradise Beach ( infinity pool & great beach)..Nachi is my favorite, but if you have small children, it may not be best for you..Glad you liked Harvest Caye, it has had many negative reviews..my cousin said it's too small for these big ships, but said there were plenty of lounge chairs on the beach...I will be on the Getaway in November with DW & DSIL & DBIL..as a cruise agent, I have toured the ship twice & love the Waterfront best, like you do...thanks for the tip on the Sunset Bar & drinks- I LOVE Miami Vices :D..I usually drink those , along with beers..thanks again! :cool:

 

Big Al

 

Unfortunately, my family of 4 did not get to do much of the entertainment. We did visit the piano bar on the first night and it was great. The kids loved it and the musicians were wonderful. My cousin and her husband saw Million Dollar Quartet and said it was a great show. Very much like a Broadway show. Some of my group did go to the Illusinarium as well and really enjoyed it. We listened to musicians in some of the bars but besides that, we didn't partake in the entertainment. Usually, DH and I are all about seeing everything on the ship. But the kids changed things for us this time.

 

Thanks for the tips on Cozumel. We actually really enjoyed staying on the ship. We had all we could eat and drink for no extra charge! Sure, there was no beach but we were ok with that. DH and I always stay on the ship at least during one port to enjoy the ship with no crowds. That said, on our next Western Caribbean cruise, we will probably get off at Cozumel since we skipped it this time and I will keep those beaches in mind. Thanks!

 

I don't think Harvest Caye was too small at all. The pool was full but besides that, there was plenty of room for everyone. Our ship was fully booked. If two ships were ever there, it would be a problem for sure.

 

Oh, I want a Miami Vice now. Sooooooo yummy. :)