Getaway review 2/25-3/4/18

[fandssullivan]

We are a couple in our late 30s - new to NCL but not to cruising - just got off the Getaway and here is our take:

 

We loved all the information we were able to gather from here and other boards prior to getting on. We believe it made our trip a lot more enjoyable than if we had just been winging it the whole time.

 

Embarkation/Debarkation:

This to us was probably the biggest low of the trip and one area that I can see NCL has a good opportunity to improve on. We got to the port early on embarkation day (and fully understood that we would not be able to embark for a couple of hours) however there are no ropes or lines to be formed, so it is really just survival of the fittest. If you know which door they will be letting people in then you can go ahead and stand there... however be prepared for a stampede of people and then running towards the ship. If this was more organized and I hate to mention other cruise lines here however in our opinion this is an area that Carnival has mastered much better. On debarkation day of course it is not easy to get 4000 people off a ship, however they called the colors so close to each other that we were wrapped all around the ship and outside on the deck and therefore stood in line for over an hour. If they would space out the colors a little more people could be in line for a shorter amount of time yet they could get everyone off on time. On the islands it was the same type of mess like every other cruise line - around the first hour or so after getting to an island it is chaos and then it evens out a bit as the day goes on - so just normal.

 

Cabin:

We were in a B6 Large Balcony cabin on Deck 9. This was by far the smallest cabin we have stayed in. We always book balconies but gosh this was tiny. However... we got used to it VERY quickly. Storage space was fine (at least enough for all of our stuff and we had 2 big suitcases and a carry on) so no complaints there :) The bathroom was a reasonable size for a balcony stateroom and the shower was a nice surprise. The water pressure was low but to be expected. The balcony was a really nice size with 2 loungers and 2 chairs and a table. I booked it expecting to use the loungers however we did not once sit out there, so it was kind of a waste for us. If you like to use your balcony a fair amount while on a cruise then I would HIGHLY recommend this cabin type. They are all located on deck 9 forward and are sandwiched between cabins above and below so no noise yet a very short walk to all the activities.

 

Itinerary:

This cruise was to the Western Caribbean and we chose it because we had never been to 3 out of 4 of the stops before. I love trying out new places so pressured my DH to agree to this one (our other option was the Escape)... however I wish I had listened to him (yes I said it!).

Roatan was OK. We went to the Monkey and Sloth sanctuary, snorkeled on the reef and went to a beach. The beach was GORGEOUS but we didn't have much time there. The snorkeling was quite disappointing compared to other snorkeling we have done in the past... not that much to see. The monkeys and sloths were as we had expected.

Harvest Caye was nothing special. Since we were planning on doing activities on all the other stops we did not leave the island. The beach is not good at all, the sand is terrible and the ocean very murky. The pool is really big and has a nice swim up bar. We paid $50 for 2 drinks each there and called it a day early. I will have to add that the sun is SUPER strong there and my husband who is mixed race and has never burned in his life before got scorched there and peeled. We used SPF 50 so can't blame no sunscreen on this burn. I burned as well but that is normal for me!

Costa Maya was probably the most disappointing stop. Our plan had been to go jet skiing but due to the choppy waters they cancelled the jet skis for the day. We went to Krazy Lobster beach which was truly Krazy and we would never go there again nor recommend. The area that the ship docks at was an absolute Zoo and took a long time to get through. They force you to go through the whole shopping plaza before getting out. We did get some decent tacos just as we came back through the gates... however my DH payed for that dearly the next day!!!

Cozumel: We had been here several times before so we felt very comfortable renting a Jeep ourselves and doing our own tour. This was our best port day on the cruise! We rented online in advance through Sol-Y-Mar for $65 for the day including insurance. It is right by the port (3-5 min walk) so we just strolled over after we got off and off we went. We drove once around the island first thing in the morning since we picked up the car around 9am. After that we went to Antonios (a day "resort") and rented jet ski's. They cost $65 each for half an hour. We had actually never rented jet ski's before just to play around... had always done jet ski tours where we head to a specific location and either snorkel or swim with dolphins, sting ray city etc. Therefore we thought 30 min would be WAYYY too little (given that our past tours have been 2-3hrs). We were VERY wrong lol. 30 min would have been plenty for us. But we stayed on there the full hour since we had payed for it! After Jet skiing we got back on the road and went back to the remote part of the island. That is our favorite part. We stopped at a few bars and huts and had a drink and a taco at each. It is such an amazing experience and we love interacting with the locals there, seeing the iguanas and the parrots and just enjoying the remoteness of it all!

 

To be continued...

[Keith1010]

Enjoyed the first part of your report.

 

Keith

[krazykohns]

Very interested in your second report!

[fandssullivan]

Entertainment:

In our opinion by far the best entertainment of any ship we have been on. Paquito the CD was on point and really fun and interactive. The shows were really amazing and there really was something for everyone on there! We went to see Burn The Floor which is a dance show with AMAZING dancers and great percussion. Million Dollar Quartet is not to be missed - a broadway style show but really is for everyone. Wine Lovers the Musical (for fee lunch show) was good... they serve you lunch as you watch the show and get to taste 6 different wines (the dessert there was my favorite on the entire cruise!). Cirque Dreams and Steam was fantastic as well (for fee dinner show). We also went to Karaoke and Howl at The Moon and nothing disappointed! The two theme parties (80s and Glow) were reasonably well attended but don't worry if you don't bring a costume since about 70% of people didn't. We did and enjoyed dressing up... but it is absolutely a personal preference!

Tip: When selecting a seat in the theater try a seat to the side of the theater instead of the middle section. We had originally picked a middle seat for Burn the Floor and it was the most uncomfortable seat I had ever sat in... we moved to a few middle seats and they were all like that (a bar in the back just sticking up you bottom)... however for Million Dollar Quartet we came a bit later and got a seat to the side and it did not have this same problem! To me a much more enjoyable experience.

 

Ship Layout:

In general I feel like the ship is laid out very well for its size. After a few days the size is not so overwhelming anymore and you get to know where everything is. Decks 6, 7 & 8 are the primary decks for food, drink and entertainment while 15 & 16 are your outside enjoyment decks. HOWEVER I will unfortunately have to agree with every review I have read about this ship... the smoke is terrible from the Casino. I TRULY hope that when she goes into Dry Dock they fix this because it did take away from my enjoyment a few times having to walk through the terrible smell on 6, 7 & 8.

I am a planner from hell so I had printed out deck layouts, maps and lists of what is located on each floor prior to boarding. That definitely helped to get acclimated faster.

 

Food and beverage:

In general we really enjoyed the F&B on board. We had the UBP & UDP so we were able to enjoy pretty much everything. We had dinner at Tropicana, Le Bistro, Ocean Blue, Cagney's, O'Sheehans, Shanghai's and Cirque. We had breakfast at Taste and the buffet.

The main dining rooms were fine - very similar to other MDRs on other ships we've been. We were quite happy we had other options as well although we would have been fine eating there every night.

O'Sheehans is probably really good if you're drunk... but really just so/so when sober lol

Shanghai noodle bar was good. You sit in a really tight space and there is smoke smell from the casino but the food is decent. We liked the dumplings and the noodles, the fried rice was just ok.

Cirque and Wine Lovers had very similar foods... a salad, steak and shrimp and then desert. We enjoyed it well enough and would do both of the shows again for the food and entertainment.

Le Bistro was very good. We both did a seafood app and entre and my sole was so good! Also a much better wine list than at most of the other places. Highly recommend going here.

Ocean Blue was also very good. I did crab legs and DH had mussels for apps. We both did mixed entres (DH: surf and turf, me: trio). We were very happy with this experience.

Cagneys was excellent. This was BY FAR the best food experience on the ship. I would go so far as saying this was the best steakhouse experience we have had. The steaks were so great and all the apps were fantastic. We didn't go there until the Friday but had we gone earlier I'm sure we would have gone again during our cruise. Next time we will be sure to go early :)

The cocktails were pretty weak. We were getting extra shots or floaters on the cocktails after the first couple of days just to get some alcohol in there. This was not a problem at all and it did ensure that we were not getting wasted by noon!

The beer selection was very poor and no IPA available. I don't drink beer but DH was not impressed at all. He was having to drink Whiskey most of the time because the beer was so bad, which was not very helpful. I really hope NCL gets an IPA onto their regular beer menu and not just in the Haven.

 

Staff:

All the staff we encountered were fabulous. We had read reviews about staff not being too friendly or being in a bad mood etc but we found none of that. In general everyone was happy and helpful and really made our trip fantastic!

 

Summary:

We really liked our NCL experience and are looking forward to our next cruise (which we have yet to find and book!). We are not just suffering from the post vaca blues and can't wait to get back to the sun (we are expecting 12-15 inches of snow here tomorrow... boooo!!!)

[offtopic]

Thanks for your review!!

[gatorchinsky]

Enjoyed your review!! Glad you had a good time. We leave in 19 days for our 2nd time on the Getaway. The only thing I worry about is the smoke smell. From what I remember from our 1st trip the smell didn’t seem that bad but we also were on the 7th Caribbean sailing and she was brand spankin new.

 

 

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[rbt001]

Thank you for the great review which adds to my excitement, as I'll be sailing on Getaway for the first time in two weeks. I had the same itinerary last Fall on Escape. I recall confirming my Le Bistro reservations in person and specifically requesting a table inside the restaurant to avoid the smoke in the atrium; it didn't seem that bad when just passing through the atrium, but I didn't want it to interfere with a nice dinner. I have read the reports about Getaway smoke in the atrium and will be curious to see if it's much worse compared to Escape.

 

As a tip for your next trip that includes Costa Maya, I'd suggest a $2pp taxi ride to Mahahual which has great public beaches, plenty of restaurant/bars and shops. There are palm trees for shade and plenty of loungers available that are provided by the various establishments that just expect you to imbibe. Oh, yes... and plenty of vendors. It would take some serious drinking to hit the $50 you said you spent at the pool in Belize. Also, there are plenty of places to get a massage on the beach: just shop the price a bit. I got a good 90 min massage for $45 and at that price didn't feel right tipping less than the $20 I gave her.

 

Thank you again for sharing your great cruise experience.

[kg21rules]

Great review. Thank you!

 

Outside of the casino, is it a heavy "in your face" smoke smell on decks 6,7,8, or just a stale contestant smokey smell?

[Manbo]

Great review! We cruised the Getaway in January 2017 and found the disembarkation was a cluster then as well!

So, NCL does not seem too interested in improving that aspect of this ship.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

[krazykohns]

Thank you for the full review- we are also in the same age bracket as you and will be on be Getaway for the first time this September. Your info will come in handy for our planning!!

[ecaswell79]

Thank you for the full review- we are also in the same age bracket as you and will be on be Getaway for the first time this September. Your info will come in handy for our planning!!

 

 

 

We are the same age bracket as well (38 and 39). Will be on the Getaway 9/23-9/30. Just came off the ship Sunday and loved it!! Doing the same cruise in September.

 

 

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[ecaswell79]

We were on the same cruise, Getaway 2/25-3/4, same age bracket and we were at Cagneys on Friday as well!! Loved Cagneys. George was our waiter and he was awesome!!! Food was amazing!! Only thing I have to disagree with is Le Bistro. The service there was by far the worst I’ve had on any cruise and the food was just ok. We really enjoyed O’Sheehans!! I thought the buffalo wings were the best I’ve ever had, and they streamed the Caps game so that was a plus for us lol. We are headed back to the Getaway in September, same itinerary. We didn’t get to see Million Dollar Quartet this time, but hope to get to it in September! I did miss the White Party, we packed our outfits lol. I totally agree about the smoke. I enjoy playing slots, but it was really bothering me. Thanks for the review. I’m glad you had a good time!!

 

 

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[Clarea]

Thank-you for your report/review.

[Keith1010]

Enjoyed the rest of your report.

 

Keith

[MaryBethV]

I am a planner from hell so I had printed out deck layouts, maps and lists of what is located on each floor prior to boarding. That definitely helped to get acclimated faster.

 

Great review - thank you so much! I also printed out deck plans, drew on them, etc. and it helped us so much on our recent cruise on the Escape. I'm already working on doing the same for our family cruise this spring on the Getaway.

[Deck boy Dave]

Howdy neighbor I was on the same cruise same level same aft...LOL

 

I loved this cruise best one I ever had ��

 

Edit: I guess you were not in the aft after all.

Edited March 7, 2018 by Deck boy Dave

[DragNut]

We are a couple in our late 30s - new to NCL but not to cruising - just got off the Getaway and here is our take:

 

We loved all the information we were able to gather from here and other boards prior to getting on. We believe it made our trip a lot more enjoyable than if we had just been winging it the whole time.

 

Embarkation/Debarkation:

This to us was probably the biggest low of the trip and one area that I can see NCL has a good opportunity to improve on. We got to the port early on embarkation day (and fully understood that we would not be able to embark for a couple of hours) however there are no ropes or lines to be formed, so it is really just survival of the fittest. If you know which door they will be letting people in then you can go ahead and stand there... however be prepared for a stampede of people and then running towards the ship. If this was more organized and I hate to mention other cruise lines here however in our opinion this is an area that Carnival has mastered much better. On debarkation day of course it is not easy to get 4000 people off a ship, however they called the colors so close to each other that we were wrapped all around the ship and outside on the deck and therefore stood in line for over an hour. If they would space out the colors a little more people could be in line for a shorter amount of time yet they could get everyone off on time. On the islands it was the same type of mess like every other cruise line - around the first hour or so after getting to an island it is chaos and then it evens out a bit as the day goes on - so just normal.

 

Cabin:

We were in a B6 Large Balcony cabin on Deck 9. This was by far the smallest cabin we have stayed in. We always book balconies but gosh this was tiny. However... we got used to it VERY quickly. Storage space was fine (at least enough for all of our stuff and we had 2 big suitcases and a carry on) so no complaints there :) The bathroom was a reasonable size for a balcony stateroom and the shower was a nice surprise. The water pressure was low but to be expected. The balcony was a really nice size with 2 loungers and 2 chairs and a table. I booked it expecting to use the loungers however we did not once sit out there, so it was kind of a waste for us. If you like to use your balcony a fair amount while on a cruise then I would HIGHLY recommend this cabin type. They are all located on deck 9 forward and are sandwiched between cabins above and below so no noise yet a very short walk to all the activities.

 

Itinerary:

This cruise was to the Western Caribbean and we chose it because we had never been to 3 out of 4 of the stops before. I love trying out new places so pressured my DH to agree to this one (our other option was the Escape)... however I wish I had listened to him (yes I said it!).

Roatan was OK. We went to the Monkey and Sloth sanctuary, snorkeled on the reef and went to a beach. The beach was GORGEOUS but we didn't have much time there. The snorkeling was quite disappointing compared to other snorkeling we have done in the past... not that much to see. The monkeys and sloths were as we had expected.

Harvest Caye was nothing special. Since we were planning on doing activities on all the other stops we did not leave the island. The beach is not good at all, the sand is terrible and the ocean very murky. The pool is really big and has a nice swim up bar. We paid $50 for 2 drinks each there and called it a day early. I will have to add that the sun is SUPER strong there and my husband who is mixed race and has never burned in his life before got scorched there and peeled. We used SPF 50 so can't blame no sunscreen on this burn. I burned as well but that is normal for me!

Costa Maya was probably the most disappointing stop. Our plan had been to go jet skiing but due to the choppy waters they cancelled the jet skis for the day. We went to Krazy Lobster beach which was truly Krazy and we would never go there again nor recommend. The area that the ship docks at was an absolute Zoo and took a long time to get through. They force you to go through the whole shopping plaza before getting out. We did get some decent tacos just as we came back through the gates... however my DH payed for that dearly the next day!!!

Cozumel: We had been here several times before so we felt very comfortable renting a Jeep ourselves and doing our own tour. This was our best port day on the cruise! We rented online in advance through Sol-Y-Mar for $65 for the day including insurance. It is right by the port (3-5 min walk) so we just strolled over after we got off and off we went. We drove once around the island first thing in the morning since we picked up the car around 9am. After that we went to Antonios (a day "resort") and rented jet ski's. They cost $65 each for half an hour. We had actually never rented jet ski's before just to play around... had always done jet ski tours where we head to a specific location and either snorkel or swim with dolphins, sting ray city etc. Therefore we thought 30 min would be WAYYY too little (given that our past tours have been 2-3hrs). We were VERY wrong lol. 30 min would have been plenty for us. But we stayed on there the full hour since we had payed for it! After Jet skiing we got back on the road and went back to the remote part of the island. That is our favorite part. We stopped at a few bars and huts and had a drink and a taco at each. It is such an amazing experience and we love interacting with the locals there, seeing the iguanas and the parrots and just enjoying the remoteness of it all!

 

To be continued...

 

Hello....My wife and I where also on this cruise and we agree on the Debarkation thing. They only had one person swiping cards as you left the ship..

[Big E Dawg]

“The beer selection was very poor and no IPA available. I don't drink beer but DH was not impressed at all.”

 

 

I thought they were serving the Lagunitas IPA on this ship?

[fandssullivan]

“The beer selection was very poor and no IPA available. I don't drink beer but DH was not impressed at all.”

 

 

I thought they were serving the Lagunitas IPA on this ship?

 

Only in the Haven. We tipped our bartenders VERY well ($2-3 for every drink) so one of the bartenders was able to get her hands on a couple of 6 packs throughout the cruise and DH got 2 out of those...

[fandssullivan]

Enjoyed your review!! Glad you had a good time. We leave in 19 days for our 2nd time on the Getaway. The only thing I worry about is the smoke smell. From what I remember from our 1st trip the smell didn’t seem that bad but we also were on the 7th Caribbean sailing and she was brand spankin new.

 

 

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The "live" smoke was only in the smokers area but there was stale smoky smell all over on those 3 decks around the opening between the decks. I hate the smell of smoke so perhaps it won't be as bad for some, but I really hated it.

[fandssullivan]

We were on the same cruise, Getaway 2/25-3/4, same age bracket and we were at Cagneys on Friday as well!! Loved Cagneys. George was our waiter and he was awesome!!! Food was amazing!! Only thing I have to disagree with is Le Bistro. The service there was by far the worst I’ve had on any cruise and the food was just ok. We really enjoyed O’Sheehans!! I thought the buffalo wings were the best I’ve ever had, and they streamed the Caps game so that was a plus for us lol. We are headed back to the Getaway in September, same itinerary. We didn’t get to see Million Dollar Quartet this time, but hope to get to it in September! I did miss the White Party, we packed our outfits lol. I totally agree about the smoke. I enjoy playing slots, but it was really bothering me. Thanks for the review. I’m glad you had a good time!!

 

 

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That's interesting to hear about the service you received at Le Bistro... so it is obviously hit or miss there! We received excellent service there (actually tipped our server an additional $20 because we loved him!) but the food apart from the Sole was just OK. The Sole was really great though :)

[fandssullivan]

Thank you for the great review which adds to my excitement, as I'll be sailing on Getaway for the first time in two weeks. I had the same itinerary last Fall on Escape. I recall confirming my Le Bistro reservations in person and specifically requesting a table inside the restaurant to avoid the smoke in the atrium; it didn't seem that bad when just passing through the atrium, but I didn't want it to interfere with a nice dinner. I have read the reports about Getaway smoke in the atrium and will be curious to see if it's much worse compared to Escape.

 

As a tip for your next trip that includes Costa Maya, I'd suggest a $2pp taxi ride to Mahahual which has great public beaches, plenty of restaurant/bars and shops. There are palm trees for shade and plenty of loungers available that are provided by the various establishments that just expect you to imbibe. Oh, yes... and plenty of vendors. It would take some serious drinking to hit the $50 you said you spent at the pool in Belize. Also, there are plenty of places to get a massage on the beach: just shop the price a bit. I got a good 90 min massage for $45 and at that price didn't feel right tipping less than the $20 I gave her.

 

Thank you again for sharing your great cruise experience.

 

We did take the $2 taxi to Krazy Lobster beach on Mahahual and perhaps there were just so many ships in port that day and that is the reason it was so crazy there :) It didn't put a damper on our great trip at all, but that was just our experience from that port.

[fandssullivan]

Great review. Thank you!

 

Outside of the casino, is it a heavy "in your face" smoke smell on decks 6,7,8, or just a stale contestant smokey smell?

 

Outside of the casino it is just stale smoke :) The mornings were the worst for me... when I'm freshly awake getting hit by that horrible smell is disgusting to me!

[gaiamother]

Loved reading your review! We were also on this same sailing and I'm about to post our review. I love how everyone has varying experiences on the same voyage. We were in Cagney's Friday night as well and it was not a great experience, food or service, we definitely preferred Le Bistro on Monday evening. I will link to your review in mine so people can compare. It's incredibly subjective.

[fandssullivan]

Loved reading your review! We were also on this same sailing and I'm about to post our review. I love how everyone has varying experiences on the same voyage. We were in Cagney's Friday night as well and it was not a great experience, food or service, we definitely preferred Le Bistro on Monday evening. I will link to your review in mine so people can compare. It's incredibly subjective.

 

Yes please link it so I can see it :) and it really is amazing how two people can have completely different experiences! We were at Le Bistro on the Monday as well... I guess we had similar items booked :)