Getaway Review (Western Caribbean) April 2018

[thehenningscruise]

Just back from a week on the Getaway. This was our second NCL cruise, first being the Epic in 2015.

 

Ship/Cabin Condition: overall the Getaway was in great condition, I was constantly impressed by how hard the crew worked to keep everything clean and orderly and all staff was very nice. Many times I had barely put a glass/dish down before someone came to collect it. We stayed in a Spa Balcony cabin on the 14th floor, as my husband and I like to use the spa facilities. We made sure to book mid-ship to avoid any noise and foot traffic from the elevators, which worked perfectly as we could barely hear a pin drop the whole time.

 

Food: we had the Speciality Dining Package and picked Le Bistro, Teppenyaki and Cagneys. Le Bistro was particularly outstanding, Teppenyaki also excellent, we thought Cagneys was just "ok" but still good nonetheless. We also ate at Tropicana Room, Savor and Taste - all were good with Savor being the best. As far as the buffet, the Garden Cafe excels at breakfast at which there seemed to be almost nothing to want for. Lunch/dinner were as expected - basic buffet stuff you could get anywhere. The coffee at the Atrium Bake Shop was outstanding. Well worth paying for to us, we both had the coffee there every morning.

 

Entertainment: we didn't do any of the big shows or late night parties (we are not big drinkers, although the late night parties looked like lots of fun!!!), but did lots of the games/activities in the Atrium. We particularly enjoyed the Dance Competition which was absolutely hilarious and many of the trivia games. Also watched poolside things like karaoke, the reggae band (very good) and "Mr Sexy Legs" competition - all lots of fun. There is certainly not a lack of activities for anyone, that is for sure and one of the best things about the ship.

 

Spa: husband and I both went daily to just relax and also had a treatment each, we counted on them running specials throughout the cruise and they certainly did, so we both scored offerings of massages for 75 minutes for the price of 50. The spa pool and hot tub were both great, the salt cave is *not* a real salt cave, just looks like one - still pretty. I never had trouble getting a regular lounger or hot stone lounger.

 

Fitness Center: not large, but has everything you need and I never had trouble getting a machine. They offered spin classes and yoga classes for extra cost (I did not do those).

 

Pools/Slides/Ropes Course: The pools and slides were very crowded as I completely expected for spring break week, so I prepared myself for that. The ropes course is also a must do, the line was always about 20-25 minutes, but again during spring break week, I expected this.

 

Embark/Disembark: they allowed us on board about 11:30 and we got our luggage about 4pm that day (we made sure to pack swimsuits so we could enjoy the pool right away). Disembarking was extremely fast and easy, I am sure this is because we carried our own luggage off (if you opted to put on luggage tags and thus meet your luggage downstairs it seemed to be more of a process). No complaints there.

 

Issues: I only had 2 issues, one big and one small (in my opinion). The small issue was that because it was spring break week, dinner reservations were tough - thankfully because of Cruise Critic I knew to hustle right to reservations on boarding to book our speciality restaurants although one night we had to eat at 6 which is early for us. I felt like I should not have had to stress out over that, especially since we had the speciality package. However, again, I recognize it was spring break week and that is a consequence of cruising during a popular week. The bigger issue to me was the WiFi. In this day and age, I really resent that NCL not only charges you for WiFi - but charges an arm and a leg for it. Both my husband and I have jobs that require us to check into our emails at minimum once to twice a day, and the amount we had to spend to do so was - to me - outrageous. I don't know why this bothered me so much, but it really irked me.

 

Onto the ports:

 

Roatan - we booked a private car with Victor Bodden since he is always rated so highly on Trip Advisor and here. We loved the sloths/monkeys, that was the best part. Roatan isn't my favorite port otherwise. It is saddening to see the condition the island residents live in (poverty) even compared to many other places we've visited. We ended up buying lots of things from vendors just to throw them some business. We spend the rest of the day at Half Moon Bay beach (being advised that there aren't pushy vendors there) and that was fine, nothing special. On reflection I wish we would have done Little French Key instead.

 

Harvest Caye - we opted to stay on Harvest Caye and not go to Placencia. The pool and beach were very crowded, so we walked a bit farther down near the lighthouse where it was delightfully quiet and relaxing under the umbrellas. Water was beautiful. Ate at the on island restaurant which was good.

 

Costa Maya - we rented a golf cart and drove to Mahahual which was a fun little trip - once there we had no trouble getting a table and chairs, just hung out, drank margaritas and swam around for 3-4 hours.

 

Cozumel - this was our big excursion day. We booked a tour with Cozumel Tours and drove ATVs into the jungle and swam in the Jade Cenote (64 foot jump with life preserver!) It was extremely fun, definitely one of those things you do once in a lifetime. Driving the ATVs was quite an adventure as was the big jump. Highly recommend.

 

Overall, we had a great cruise. It was just what we were looking for - sun, relaxation, not much of an agenda beyond that. It is a great ship, very comparable to the Epic in many ways. I would definitely choose NCL again.

[CardFanDubG]

Thanks for the review. Will be on the Getaway in July. Sounds like we will have a great time.

[thistimeplease]

I love reading the reviews of the GA, will be on her in July.

[Big E Dawg]

Thanks so much for the review. We are booked for a May cruise in a spa balcony. Did you have Bulgari products in your bathroom or have they stopped providing them for spa rooms?

[TSUmom]

Thank you for taking time to do a review. We board the Getaway on April 22nd and are looking forward to it!

[Doug R.]

Thanks for the great review. It was pretty much in line with our review. I am providing a link to my review for others who are considering the Getaway:

 

https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=612876

[thehenningscruise]

Thanks so much for the review. We are booked for a May cruise in a spa balcony. Did you have Bulgari products in your bathroom or have they stopped providing them for spa rooms?

 

Yes, they had them in the bathrooms, travel sized.

[thehenningscruise]

Thanks for the great review. It was pretty much in line with our review. I am providing a link to my review for others who are considering the Getaway:

 

https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=612876

 

Nice review, glad you guys had a good time too!

[jdvmd]

Nice review! Thank you!

[Just Jo]

Thanks for sharing.