REVIEW: NCL Getaway - April 1, 2018 Western Caribbean

[CruisingWalter]

Outstanding, very detailed review, thanks much! Enjoyed the comparisons to other lines.

 

Thanks for the kind words!

[CruzinMel]

I don't know if this would be enough to get the OP back on NCL, but they DO have tours that go to Dzibanche and to Kohunlich - DH and I did it last week. I didn't realize it's rare to get to climb the steps - at both places, we were able to go everywhere but up in one area at Kohunlich, but it had really rare masks.

 

Thanks for your review!

 

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[CruisingWalter]

I don't know if this would be enough to get the OP back on NCL, but they DO have tours that go to Dzibanche and to Kohunlich - DH and I did it last week. I didn't realize it's rare to get to climb the steps - at both places, we were able to go everywhere but up in one area at Kohunlich, but it had really rare masks.

 

Thanks for your review!

 

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The tour wasn't the issue, we will gladly book through The Native Choice next time we are in Costa Maya. It's the lack of a quiet, adult pool area that will keep us off NCL. If we do sail NCL again it'll most likely be the Epic because we understand she does have a pool in the Spice H20 space.

 

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[flarad]

What a great review. We are just off the Equinox and are last minute booking this ship for July 1st. We got a great deal and loved the Escape two years ago. It will be interesting following Celebrity. That was the best service we’ve ever had. We were aqua and enjoyed it and the solarium but found the entertainment to be quite dull. Looking forward to comparing the two again.

 

 

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[CruisingWalter]

What a great review. We are just off the Equinox and are last minute booking this ship for July 1st. We got a great deal and loved the Escape two years ago. It will be interesting following Celebrity. That was the best service we’ve ever had. We were aqua and enjoyed it and the solarium but found the entertainment to be quite dull. Looking forward to comparing the two again.

 

 

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Thanks so much. We sailed Equinox last year. It was the third of our Celebrity cruises. Silhouette, Reflection and Equinox. Celebrity has the better service but NCL is fun. Definitely MUCH better entertainment on NCL. Read my review of the Reflection to see how much I loathed the live stage shows. :) Have a great time on the Getaway!

 

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[calicakes]

What a great review. We are just off the Equinox and are last minute booking this ship for July 1st. We got a great deal and loved the Escape two years ago. It will be interesting following Celebrity. That was the best service we’ve ever had. We were aqua and enjoyed it and the solarium but found the entertainment to be quite dull. Looking forward to comparing the two again.

 

 

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I can't wait to hear what you think. We just returned yesterday from our W. Caribbean cruise. Our previous 3 cruises were on Celebrity in Aqua Class. We won't cruise NCL again. Yes, the entertainment was better on NCL, but the food/service on Celebrity were much better. This cruise was so crowded. I could not get a seat at the pool, nor could we get a seat in the Atrium for many of the triva/game shows. A woman engaged me in a verbal argument over a seat. She said that she walked around the proper way to get the seat and I put my bag over the chair and that was not correct. It wasn't worth it to me to argue, so I let her have the seat. The getaway we just returned on had 4700 ppl( and crew) on board and it was way too crowded. I think we prefer the smaller ships on X. I know this is trivial, but the buffet had no fresh berries( strawberries, blueberries or raspberries) or smoked salmon. They save all those for the guests in the Haven. We traveled with our friends who had the room next to us( Haven room) and we joined them for 2 meals, dinner and breakfast. Their food was far superior. But they also paid a lot more for their room. We had an aft balcony room. The balcony was HUGE!! For the same amount of $$ we paid on this cruise, we could cruise Aqua class on X.

[CruisingWalter]

I can't wait to hear what you think. We just returned yesterday from our W. Caribbean cruise. Our previous 3 cruises were on Celebrity in Aqua Class. We won't cruise NCL again. Yes, the entertainment was better on NCL, but the food/service on Celebrity were much better. This cruise was so crowded. I could not get a seat at the pool, nor could we get a seat in the Atrium for many of the triva/game shows. A woman engaged me in a verbal argument over a seat. She said that she walked around the proper way to get the seat and I put my bag over the chair and that was not correct. It wasn't worth it to me to argue, so I let her have the seat. The getaway we just returned on had 4700 ppl( and crew) on board and it was way too crowded. I think we prefer the smaller ships on X. I know this is trivial, but the buffet had no fresh berries( strawberries, blueberries or raspberries) or smoked salmon. They save all those for the guests in the Haven. We traveled with our friends who had the room next to us( Haven room) and we joined them for 2 meals, dinner and breakfast. Their food was far superior. But they also paid a lot more for their room. We had an aft balcony room. The balcony was HUGE!! For the same amount of $$ we paid on this cruise, we could cruise Aqua class on X.

Yes it really is two different experiences on NCL. Haven vs the rest of the ship. For our money we just don't see the value in the extreme markup of the Haven. We'd rather take more cruises than pay a large premium for one cruise. We are sailing the Crown Princess for 10 nights in November, mini suite class, for just over 4k for two of us. 7 nights in Haven can start at 6k.

 

The entertainment on NCL can't be beat that is for sure. But like you we found the overall experience lacking. If we sail NCL again it will be on board the Epic. Though the new MSC ships are really looking sweet. Happy sailing!!

 

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