Getaway 7 Day Western Caribbean Review

[jam19872016]

The Market Place.

 

 

Waterslides.

 

 

Stairs leading up to Margaritaville.

 

 

Garden Cafe.

 

 

[jam19872016]

Climbing up to 16 starting at the back is Spice H20.

 

 

 

 

 

Video Arcade.

 

 

Margaritaville.

 

[jam19872016]

Jogging track.

 

 

Entrance to the ropes course.

 

 

Taking those stairs up, you can see the rock wall. I don't think this is how you access it, but I'm more of an indoor type and to be honest I never made it above 15 except when I took these pictures.

 

 

Mini Golf.

 

 

Basketball Court.

 

 

Another shot of the slides.

 

[jam19872016]

Continuing on 16 toward the front of the ship.

 

 

 

Vibe beach club located on 17 near the front of the ship.

 

 

The area all the way at the front of 17 I think would be perfect for sail away and I will keep that in mind next time I sail on a Breakaway class ship. That and I will remember not to be lured away with the promise of a rum punch party lol.

 

A couple final pictures up here that I'm not really sure where I took them at.

 

 

[happiness is cruising]

Have you ever been on Escape and done a great review....as this one????

 

Sent from my K88 using Forums mobile app

[jam19872016]

Have you ever been on Escape and done a great review....as this one????

 

Sent from my K88 using Forums mobile app

 

No sorry, never been on the Escape. Would love to one day though.

[happiness is cruising]

Thank You

 

Sent from my K88 using Forums mobile app

[jam19872016]

Day 2: At Sea

 

As I mentioned, M gets bored easily so the plan was to stay out late and get a late start to our sea day. The plan worked well and it was after eleven before we rolled out of bed this morning.

 

The first thing we did today was head to the atrium where they were having a how to run a floating hotel Q&A. I'm not really a day drinker, and certainly not a morning drinker but I have to have two drinks a day to break even so I figured I better get started now. I ordered a bloody Mary not really knowing what to expect. I actually liked it and got it several more times this cruise. As a bonus, I now have a reason to use my free drink coupon Carnival gives me but only lets me use at brunch.

 

The presentation was very interesting. Things went downhill once the Q&A portion started because several people seemed to think this was a platform to complain instead of ask questions. We made our exit at this point and headed off to lunch.

 

For lunch we headed to the dining room. M was not impressed yesterday but since this was only a choice three days this cruise I twisted her arm into coming again. Once she found out the menu does not change, there was not enough arm twisting in the world to get her back the third time lol.

 

We got a nice table by the window with a view.

 

 

Another ship off in the distance....way too far out to have any clue which ship it was.

 

 

For my starter I ordered the crab stuffed potato skins.

 

 

These were pretty good.

 

For my main I ordered the shrimp arribata.

 

 

Still good, but also being filed into the category of not as good as last time. It was like they forgot to make it spicy.

 

For dessert I had the peanut butter cup cheesecake. M swooped in for the PB cup while I was still taking the picture.

 

[jam19872016]

After lunch we spent the afternoon exploring a little more and some more time in the library. We both played a little in the casino. I only brought a small budget to play with this cruise which went pretty fast so I didn't play again after this afternoon until near the end of the trip. M hasn't mastered the art of sticking to her budget yet.

 

We found ourselves hungry again before dinner time. We were in the weird time frame where there is not usually a wide selection of food on Carnival. After lunch, but before dinner. The daily indicated the buffet closed at 3 and then from 3-5 there was "Garden Cafe Snacks". Not sure what that meant but we were hungry so we went to check it out.

 

We were impressed to find a pretty big spread available still. Other than one side of the buffet being closed, it seemed to be fully operational with lots of options to choose from. Again, the quality left a bit to be desired, but the options were plentiful which is all I really expect from a buffet.

 

It was seafood night at the Garden Cafe for dinner. Shrimp and spare ribs at O'Sheehans.

 

 

The best seats were all the way aft, it was less crowded and you had a nice view of the ship's wake.

 

 

Dining availability showing very few reservations still open tonight.

 

[jam19872016]

Tonight's MDR menu.

 

 

 

I'm posting the dessert menu from the Epic because they did not have them posted outside the dining rooms. I'm pretty sure they are the same because all the other menus are on the same rotation they were on Epic.

 

 

For dinner tonight we went to Shanghai noodle bar. I started with an order of the vegetable spring rolls.

 

 

These were fantastic and the best part of the meal.

 

I also ordered the peking shrimp and chicken and the shrimp fried rice.

 

 

 

The peking dish was ok and the fried rice was excellent.

 

Overall this was a pretty good meal. There was no wait when we arrived although there was shortly after. The turnaround was pretty quick though. This was a great place to try once on a 7 day cruise. That is where I draw the line though. I like to try new things on a cruise. M likes what she likes. She likes Chinese food and as she put it "I could eat here every night". We didn't end up here every night, but we would be back later on in the week.

[jam19872016]

I'm not sure if I mentioned it in my Epic review, but I know I did in my last Carnival review. One of the things that made the cruise on Epic just not feel right was the lack of live music. All the music was tucked away inside of bars you had to seek out, not just out for you to hear passing by. I was happy to see that was not the case on Getaway. They frequently had a band playing in the Atrium that you couldn't help but hear as you walked through any of the inside decks. Such a silly thing, but it just makes it "feel" like a cruise to me.

 

 

That picture was not near as blurry in real life, my UBP was working but not that well lol.

 

We rounded out the night again at the nightclub. They closed down at 2 which seemed odd since it was still pretty busy in there. Turns out that is when NCL closes pretty much everything. All the bars closed at 2 every night for the entire cruise which is a good way to limit the UBP without saying they are limiting it. The casino would still serve drinks if you were actively playing and you ordered from a server. If you ordered from the bar (even if you were playing at the bar) they would tell you they were closed. Later in the week we would just order extra near closing time if we felt we still needed drinks past 2. Easy enough to do when they let you order two drinks at a time :)

 

After the club shut down we headed to O'Sheehans for our late night snack. I ordered the nachos and the burger.

 

 

 

Nope, still not drunk enough to be eating this.

 

Tonight's towel animal back in the room.

 

 

We turned in for the night a little after 3 which thanks to the time change was really just after 2. Tomorrow we would be in Costa Maya.

[jam19872016]

Day 3: Costa Maya

 

Today is our first port and we are in Costa Maya. After 18 cruises there aren't a lot of Caribbean ports I have not been to but Costa Maya is a new one for me and also for M.

 

We slept in this morning till around 11 and headed to O'Sheehans for lunch. I ordered the spinach & artichoke dip and the Chicago style hot dog.

 

 

 

Although it wasn't great, I think the food was better than it had been during the late night hours. In fact, I think it was always a little better during the day than late at night all week.

 

With full tummies we made our way into Costa Maya to explore a little.

 

[jam19872016]

We didn't have any plans today except to walk around and check out the stores. M made a couple of purchases including a new beach bag since our old one was falling apart and a gift for her mom's birthday which was coming up in a couple weeks.

 

Along the way I spotted some flamingos.

 

 

We spent about three hours in port shopping and looking around and then it was getting close to all aboard time so we started to make our way back.

 

 

 

[jam19872016]

Once back on board we made a trip to the Garden Cafe for a bite to eat. Again we sat in the back because it was much less crowded plus it had a wonderful view behind the back of the ship.

 

 

After second lunch we spent the afternoon playing games in the library and a little bit of casino time as well. I didn't play and it sure does suck not having a casino budget but I will stick it out and by my October cruise I should be able to play again :)

 

The dinner specials at the buffet and at O'Sheehans.

 

 

[jam19872016]

Dinner tonight got off to a rough start. We ate pretty late after eating when we got back from Costa Maya. In my experience, by 9pm the dining rooms have pretty much cleared out but that was not the case tonight and we were informed there would be a wait to be seated tonight. That happens sometimes and I am ok with it although a bit surprised so late at night especially on a ship with so many dining options. The part that irked me a bit, was having to go in another line to be told if the other dining room had available seating. Two venues so close together, with the same menu, seems a bit strange in situations like this and I think at the very least the reservation system should be linked so they can seat you wherever they have an opening first. Not a real big deal, just something I found odd. I sat at the bar with a drink while I waited.

 

Tonight's dinner menu.

 

 

 

For my starter I ordered the egg roll and the duck pate.

 

 

 

Both were very good and I love those little pickles that come with the pate. Yum!

[jam19872016]

For my main I ordered the vegetarian lasagna and the lemon pepper tilapia.

 

 

 

The lasagna was very good. The tilapia was out of this world good. I was very happy with my dinner selections tonight.

 

Dessert menu.

 

 

I ordered the warm chocolate lava cake.

 

 

I enjoy the lava cake and would rate it almost as good as Carnival's signature dessert the warm chocolate melting cake.

 

Dinner was very good tonight and once we got in service was very quick at about 45 minutes which is probably about as quick as you can enjoy a full meal in the MDR.

 

After dinner we had reservations for the 11pm adult comedy show featuring Andrew Sleighter. This guy was pretty funny and I enjoyed his show.

 

We rounded out our night with a little bit of time at the nightclub. We did not do O'Sheehans tonight because we ate dinner so late and weren't really hungry. Tomorrow would be another new port for both of us - Harvest Caye.

[jam19872016]

Day 4: Harvest Caye

 

Today was another new port for us. Although we have both been to Belize, this was the first time at NCL's private area, Harvest Caye. I did a little research just trying to figure out how far away HC was from Belize City and found there was a lot of controversy surrounding the development of this land that makes me further question just how committed they are to saving the environment.

 

https://www.sanpedroscoop.com/2013/08/ncl-cruise-ship-harvest-caye-placencia-belize.html if you want a bit of additional reading.

 

To be fair, this is only one person's side of the story who no doubt has a slant against the cruise line but please NCL, if you are going to take such a hard line stand on "caring for the environment" just be consistent when it does not benefit you, ok?

 

Anywho, as I mentioned this was my first time to Harvest Caye. M loves going to the beach when we cruise. I absolutely hate it, but there are two of us cruising so I always go for one beach day each cruise. Truthfully, the beaches in the Western Caribbean are not very nice. We've struck out in Cozumel (twice) and in Honduras and I am sad to report, we struck out again today in Harvest Caye.

 

I don't have any pictures because I'm always a bit paranoid about leaving my camera unattended while I am in the water, so this is going to be a bit text heavy but here we go.

[jam19872016]

We started the day off with lunch at O'Sheehans. I don't remember what all I ordered except the BBQ burger. That was a bad choice that I have made a couple times now. A greasy burger followed by an outing in the intense Caribbean sun is not a pleasant combination.

 

Next we headed off and made our way into port. I was thankful not to have the long tender ride in that is required in Belize City.

 

I was not thankful for how scorching hot it was today.

 

I was thankful again when we made it to the beach right as a couple ladies with chairs under umbrellas were leaving and offered us their chairs. Score.

 

We noticed there was a flag up at the beach stating "dangerous marine life". Not sure what that means but figured with all these people in the water it probably wasn't sharks. We suspected perhaps jelly fish and debated getting in the water, especially when we saw someone getting out hunched over in pain.

 

We sat at the beach for a little bit then got in the water. The water was very choppy which I prefer but M enjoys a calm ocean so that she can just sit and float. The water was also gross looking and had a lot of sea weed floating in the water. I can see how someone from Idaho would be impressed with this beach, but in Florida I am surrounded by beaches and this one is nothing to write home about.

 

We stayed in the water for a while then I learned first hand what the "dangerous marine life" was. It was in fact jellyfish and I got stung on the neck. These were small and there was a sharp pinching and stinging feeling that went away after a few minutes. Thankfully nobody needed to pee on me to ease the pain, good thing because M was not offering.

 

I got stung one more time on the leg and M got stung I think on her back. That was enough for her plus all the sea weed in the water had her paranoid she was being brushed by more so we got out of the water. I would say this was a pretty disappointing beach experience even without the jellyfish.

[jam19872016]

We rested under our umbrellas for a little while and debated stopping for some ice cream on the walk back. We couldn't find it and it was too hot to really search it out so we just made our way back to the ship with plans of hitting the soft serve once back on the ship.

 

Back on the ship we went to the Garden Cafe for a bite to eat. Again I am very thankful for a full buffet selection in the middle of the afternoon, that is just not an option I am used to having on Carnival. These were on the tables indicating tonight's dinner theme in the buffet.

 

 

I started slacking as the week went on and didn't get a picture, but the special tonight at O'Sheehans was lamb leg.

 

Tonight's dinner menu at the MDR.

 

 

 

Dessert menu from the same night on the Epic, nothing else changed so I do believe it is still accurate.

 

[jam19872016]

Tonight we were eating at Shanghai's again. I was hungry for dinner before M was so I snuck down to the Garden Cafe for a small bite to hold me over while M was playing in the casino. The selection seemed pretty much the same as at lunch, and I am not sure where the "American" theme really came in at. Maybe I just missed it.

 

Apparently I took longer than I thought and when I returned M was at Shanghai's waiting for me. She ordered for me because she said they were rushing her. She ordered a bit too much food for me after my small bite to eat at the buffet, but I powered through and ate it all ;p

 

Spring rolls, which was the main thing I wanted. These are so so good.

 

 

I'm not really sure what the rest of the order was since I didn't order it.

 

 

 

These were good. Nothing at all wrong with them but I was not real hungry, and as I think I mentioned already it's your basic american chinese food. Its good, but not really what I care to eat on a cruise. Once on a 7 day is fine. Twice is too much. Three times? Say it ain't so. It is.

 

After dinner we made our way to the library for some more trivial pursuit. I practically had to drag M to Bliss tonight. It was 90's night at the club and I was really needing a 90's do-over after that odd performance at fat cat's earlier in the week. I was not quite old enough for this though, my memories of the 90's don't include a lot of songs that were played in the clubs in the 90's. M ended up really enjoying it though. You're welcome for dragging you along lol. I started ordering fireball on the rocks and I got through the night just fine :cool:

 

We stayed until closing and skipped O'Sheehans again since we had another late dinner. Tonight's towel animal.

 

 

 

Tomorrow we would be in Honduras.

[ashjt44]

Great, great review! Thanks for taking the time to do this! Taking this cruise in Feb next year with friends. One question. When you were talking about water, you said you had a drink card in the casino that you used for water, could you explain this? One of our group is concerned about the price of bottled water and I was wondering if this is something he could do.

[bonstersd]

Great, great review! Thanks for taking the time to do this! Taking this cruise in Feb next year with friends. One question. When you were talking about water, you said you had a drink card in the casino that you used for water, could you explain this? One of our group is concerned about the price of bottled water and I was wondering if this is something he could do.

 

I am also curious about the casino drink card. I booked my reservations through Casino at Seas... does that mean I get a casino drink card? I do have the beverages program as well... any insight is appreciated.

[Mike_DeA]

I am also curious about the casino drink card. I booked my reservations through Casino at Seas... does that mean I get a casino drink card? I do have the beverages program as well... any insight is appreciated.

Yes, if you book through CAS you will have the casino drink card waiting for you in your cabin when you embark. By itself, it's only good for mixed drinks while playing in the casino. If you have the UPB as well then that is actually better overall for alcohol drinks.

 

But a lot of people like the casino drink card because it includes bottled water and energy drinks, while the UBP does not.

[jam19872016]

Great, great review! Thanks for taking the time to do this! Taking this cruise in Feb next year with friends. One question. When you were talking about water, you said you had a drink card in the casino that you used for water, could you explain this? One of our group is concerned about the price of bottled water and I was wondering if this is something he could do.

 

My cruise was booked through the Casinos at Sea which is the casino arm of NCL. One of the perks I was given as a guest of the casino was a drink card to be used in the casino while playing and unlike the UBP, water and energy drinks are included free of charge. If you are not a heavy gambler, this route will be much more expensive than just buying water. Have a great trip, and just go into it knowing you can drink yourself stupid, but if you want a bottle of water it is gonna cost you a lot of money lol.

 

I am also curious about the casino drink card. I booked my reservations through Casino at Seas... does that mean I get a casino drink card? I do have the beverages program as well... any insight is appreciated.

 

My room was a full comp and as far as I know those always come with the drink card. If you booked with a discount I am not sure how that works. Your best bet would be to give CAS a call back and ask so that I don't give you incorrect information. They were very very helpful every time I called them (which was a lot lol).

[jam19872016]

Yes, if you book through CAS you will have the casino drink card waiting for you in your cabin when you embark. By itself, it's only good for mixed drinks while playing in the casino. If you have the UPB as well then that is actually better overall for alcohol drinks.

 

But a lot of people like the casino drink card because it includes bottled water and energy drinks, while the UBP does not.

 

Thank you for clarifying. I was a little unsure if all CAS bookings would include the drink card and didn't want to give out wrong information :D