Live from the Getaway. London - Copenhagen 8-18 May 2022

[argyll1881]

Hello again from Day 4, well really Day 5 as it's 2 am and I'm sitting on the Boardwalk outside Casey's enjoying the beautiful evening. I believe it's not so beautiful out at sea as I think we were supposed to leave at about 7-ish but we're going to wait to depart until a storm at sea passes by. Seems like a good idea to me !

 

 

The boardwalk is a lovely feature and runs the length of the ship on both sides. All the deck 8 restaurants have outside seating as well as the regular inside seating. As they are only open for evening dinner they are great places to sit during the day if you want a bit of peace and quiet. 

 

Each day we get a daily sheet delivered to the cabin which lists all the things that are going on for the next 24 hours. I do wish they would provide a full cruise overview of some of the entertainment though. For example there was a magician tonight but I have no idea if he will do a second show.  It would allow for people to plan a bit better. 

 

I am quite disappointed with Headliners. I'm a big comedy fan and I've attached a picture from the NCL website saying that there will be comedy. Well so far, each night in the comedy club has been dueling pianos where 2 chaps take turns playing requests from the audience. Very talented but it's definately not the promised stand up comedy shows that I was looking forward to. 

 

Some more on the cabin. I seemed to remember from my one and only cruise 10-ish years ago that they took your luggage away after you had unpacked. This hasn't happened this time which is ok but not what I expected. NCL has also managed to avoid the door hanger found in hotels and have 2 switches for Do Not Disturb and Make Up Room. At first I thought the Make Up Room was a weird name for the bathroom but then I noticed a somewhat stereotypical picture of a French maid complete with feather duster on the switch. The switches display a small light outside the door - red for Do Not Disturb and green for Make Up Room. Very efficient. 

 

Oh and while I'm revealing myself to be an idiot for thinking Make Up Room was the bathroom, I also didn't realise there are several TV channels in the cabin. When you turn it on you get a tiled screen with all sorts of NCL options : restaurants, entertainment, account, messages etc which you use the arrow buttons to navigate around. But if you actually change the channel you get news, sports, TV shows, movies.  Took me 4 days to figure that out 🙄.  They don't give you a schedule so it would be almost impossible to catch the start of a movie but it is background noise while in the cabin. They also have a map showing the ship's location and the bridge camera has it's own channel to show the front of the ship

 

The second picture is of a refueling ship in Amsterdam. We had at least 2 of these tie up next to us to refuel us. Seemed to take ages but I'm guessing our tanks are a pretty good size 😳

[cruiseny4life]

6 hours ago, brookie848 said:

a Breakaway review it was mentioned that mini golf was removed to expand the ropes course. I'm assuming the same thing was done on the Getaway.

No mini golf! Very depressing

[cruiseny4life]

6 hours ago, MontrealCruiser said:

climbing wall also gone on the Getaway

That's gone too

[kar1996]

Just off the Getaway in April...Got the dessert to go as many did. Too much food at once. 

[bluesea777]

You can shove your empty suitcases under the beds. There is good space there. 
 

I got puzzled at first when you mentioned you were sitting on Broadwalk outside Casey’s …. well it’s the Waterfront and Cagney’s. 
 

Carry on enjoying the rest of the cruise! We were on the Getaway for the Copenhagen to Miami Transatlantic in Oct 2017 and had great time - loved the ship. 
 

[KeithJenner]

In normal circumstances, Headliners alternates between a comedy show and Howl at the Moon (the pianists).

 

I suspect that any difference at the moment is related to covid etc.

 

We love Howl. Last time we were on the Breakaway we had our seats at the bar every other day. By mid cruise they were being left for us if we were late. 🙂

[argyll1881]

 

3 hours ago, bluesea777 said:

I got puzzled at first when you mentioned you were sitting on Broadwalk outside Casey’s …. well it’s the Waterfront and Cagney’s. 
 

Oops 🤪

[argyll1881]

It's 7 am and we are finally underway

[KeithJenner]

48 minutes ago, argyll1881 said:

It's 7 am and we are finally underway

Looks like you are currently in the lock. That usually happens in the evening/at night. It’s a fun thing to do during the day.

[insidecabin]

Been doing NCL for a long time, the comedy acts alternating with howl were a bit hit or miss as they tend to be all American acts which can be quite different to the UK humour.

 

Howl were all that was on in Nov(11n cruise), the venue had reduced capacity(15) by mid cruise only the hard core audience were left, late under 20 some nights.

 

Syd Normans (capacity reduced to 60) was full for every show,  the "band" were doing rock sets with a Fleetwood Mac Rumours set a few nights.

These is a set show using a made up band that auditions for the venue, they were good.

 

Bliss was restricted to 30.

 

The list of shows might be on the app if not see if the box office is open and ask there

 

Look out for the escape room event on a sea day,  its a bit of fun trying to solve a few clues.

Check out when the Manhattan room has the music for dinner.

don't miss out Ocean Blue

 

 

 

 

If you like comedy check out the Tringe festival, about 50mins from Bedford might be too far to do every night. 

[argyll1881]

4 hours ago, KeithJenner said:

Looks like you are currently in the lock. That usually happens in the evening/at night. It’s a fun thing to do during the day.

Yes. This morning they told us that we were further delayed due to traffic and a lack of pilots. We are anticipated to arrive at our next stop 3 hours late. 

[The Traveling Man]

@argyll1881you can pick up a schedule for the channel 20 & 21 movies at the guest services desk.  Sorry you don’t care for the Million Dollar Quartet or Jersey Boys.  Those are two of my favorite shows at sea.  We’ve seen MDQ four times.  The first was a couple of years ago, on the Getaway as I recall.  We caught the show twice during Getaway’s Transatlantic cruise last week, and once again two nights ago.  I rank it as my absolute favorite, not to be missed.  The cast of MDQ also are featured in Broadway Unplugged, which should be scheduled for a little later on this cruise.  Again, I rate it as a must-see.  Hope you enjoy the remainder of your cruise.

[insidecabin]

Agree the Broadway unplugged was a great show.

[Steff79]

Are there any changes for the next ports? If I understand it right you were overnight in Amsterdam what was not planned or?

 

 

Edited May 12, 2022 by Steff79

[Steff79]

Sorry. Read it now, only 3 hours delay in Oslo? That is all?

[dolls123]

19 hours ago, argyll1881 said:

 

 

Some more on the cabin. I seemed to remember from my one and only cruise 10-ish years ago that they took your luggage away after you had unpacked. This hasn't happened this time which is ok but not what I expected. NCL has also managed to avoid the door hanger found in hotels and have 2 switches for Do Not Disturb and Make Up Room. At first I thought the Make Up Room was a weird name for the bathroom but then I noticed a somewhat stereotypical picture of a French maid complete with feather duster on the switch. The switches display a small light outside the door - red for Do Not Disturb and green for Make Up Room. Very efficient. 

I always put my empty luggage under my bed. 

[KKB]

20 hours ago, argyll1881 said:

 

Oops 🤪

LOL it took me a minute too to realize you meant the Waterfront--our fav spot on ANY ship/line ANYWHERE. EVERY ship should have this!!!

 

 

[argyll1881]

I think we were supposed to arrive at 7 but have just arrived at 10:30. I heard from one couple that their excursion was cancelled and I think others will just be cut short. 

 

It did mean we got to do the Amsterdam exit and Oslo arrival when more people were awake to see it. The approach to Oslo is very beautiful. 

 

Entertainment wise, Burn The Floor was very good. 

[insidecabin]

Burn the floor started as a main dining room show and was popular,  I had resisted seeing it quite a few cruises but did on last one in Nov,  still not top choice but I was surprised how good it was, entertaining and impressive dancing    

[argyll1881]

 

Random thoughts from day 6 in Oslo

 

 

As I am writing this mostly for new cruisers I'll give the well-known tip that, in the cabin corridors, the fish on the carpet swim to the front of the ship. Quite useful in the early days. 

 

Also some lessons learned in what to bring and what to not bother, although personal needs and opinions might differ. In the future I will bring about a third less clothes and will bring some snacks; while it is true that there are endless food options on board it can be nice to retire to your cabin with a few salty snacks. The ship's ship does sell Pringles, for example, but the shop isn't open very often and the price is huge. 

 

Speaking of restaurants, I have been using O'Sheehans as a drop in food place. It is convenient and the food is adequate although there is obviously a lot of microwaving going on. It is handy being right by the centre of the ship and has everything from wings to stew. 

 

As I mentioned previously I tip $1 when I get a drink. I was worried that I would run out of singles but found an ATM by the casino which also acts as a currency changer. A $100 bill gets you five $20 bills, a $20 gets you four $5s and a $5 gets you singles. Very handy. 

 

I am still searching for my favourite music to listen to on the ship. On my one and only cruise in 2014 I found a lady called Jana Seale who simply played guitar and sang. Very relaxing, very talented and had a real following. On this ship it seems that everyone has a backing track. Right now I am listening to Velvet Duo which is a male piano player and singer and a female singer. Both very talented but would be so much more enjoyable to listen to if he just played the piano without all the accompanying drums and guitars from the backing track. 

 

We had our Cruise Critic meet and greet yesterday. Unfortunately we were expecting 24 but only 7 turned up. We were met by more staff than guests but all the passengers were very lovely. I would definately urge you that, if you sign up, you turn up. 

 

In my cabin I had arrived to find a completely empty fridge. I was going to ask for it to be emptied anyway but was concerned that someone was going to think I'd emptied it !!  I reported it to guest services and said that I wanted it empty but just didn't want to be billed. The next day, three bottles of water appeared in it with price tags attached. I took them out and left them on the side. I'll let you know if I get a bill at the end 😳

 

Aarhus tomorrow. 

 

[Samstress]

You are on my cruise!!  Well in actual fact the cruise we had intended to be on.  Given the world situation and travel restrictions in Canada at the time we made the decision to rebook this cruise (and the next one from Copenhagen thru to Baltics) until 2023.  Both these cruises have now been cancelled:-(

But I am still enjoying your review!  You seem like someone that a lot of us 'seasoned' cruisers would love to meet. Keep posting from your perspective...it's both refreshing and informative.

Sandy

[Ivstan14]

Thanks @argyll1881for the updates! Are you able to grab a wifi speed test result at some point while at sea? I'm gauging my ability to get some work done onboard next month and curious how the sat connection is that far north. 

[insidecabin]

Any chance of asking around for the pax count on the next one, hoping it is still low under 50% would be nice.

If we both test negative leaving home today to join the ship Wed.

[argyll1881]

Well the cruise is coming to an end. I've had a very relaxing time which is exactly what I was looking for. I haven't stepped foot off the ship although that will change tomorrow. 

 

 

I understand that normally a cruise arrives at its final destination on the final morning, people disembark and then can explore that city should they wish before continuing on with their travel plans. On this cruise we are arriving at Copenhagen, have the whole day there, stay the night and then disembark the following morning. Seems a bit like NCL saving a day's fuel but that might be a bit cynical. For me, who doesn't get off in ports, I thought it wouldn't really matter as I would just have the day on the ship but instead we have to get off the ship and clear customs and then reboard. Problem is that ALL passengers have to get off and get cleared before anyone can reboard and they are saying that could take 4 hours. So half of the last day could be spent in the ferry terminal 🙄

 

I tried to check the internet speed this morning but unfortunately found that I had forgotten to log off so burnt up my entire package. I had the 150 minutes that came with the Free at Sea package and you hand to connect to the WIFI and type login.com into a browser to connect. When finished you then type logout.com. Forget that once and, poof, your package is over. While it was working I find it to be ok although I doubt it would have supported streaming. They're is a steaming package that you can buy however. What was annoying was that, from time to time, it was impossible to connect at all which could be difficult if you wanted to work on the ship and have video meetings for example. 

 

Last night I went to a Bonus show that was put on by the cast of Million Dollar Quartet. I forget what it was called but it was something like Broadway Unplugged and was a series of Broadway tunes sung in different styles. The King George's Hamilton song was sung as a love song and Les Miserables in the style of Dixie just had to be heard to be appreciated. Very fun site and highly recommended. 

 

But still no comedians on board for the entire cruise which has been a real disappointment particularly as I was told by other passengers doing back-to-backs that the previous cruise had 4 of them !

 

It also became apparent that some of the trivia quizes they have in the atrium on the big screen have been used over and over again. The question was: What is the currency of Ecuador ?  The answer on the screen ? The sucre. I don't know how long they have used the US dollar but it's been years and years and years !

 

A number of passengers were saying that, with just a little effort, many of the activities could be spruced up and I think they're right. For example I saw a game of Pictionary being hosted this morning using a whiteboard on an easel at the front of the atrium. Trouble is that the person drawing blocks most of the audience from seeing what they are drawing. It would be simple to have them draw on a tablet which is then displayed on the big screen so that everyone watching could see what is happening. 

 

The staff continue to be very attentive and friendly and really make the ship an enjoyable place to be. 

[geleisen]

19 minutes ago, argyll1881 said:

I tried to check the internet speed this morning but unfortunately found that I had forgotten to log off so burnt up my entire package. I had the 150 minutes that came with the Free at Sea package and you hand to connect to the WIFI and type login.com into a browser to connect. When finished you then type logout.com. Forget that once and, poof, your package is over.

If you go to internet cafe, normally they would sort that for you and replace the unused minutes. At least that is how it was in the before days. Worth a check.