Christmas Cruise on the Getaway

[christinaed0419]

I was on the Norwegian Getaway out of New York City on 12/23.  All I can say is it was the worst cruise ever.  The capacity of the ship as listed on the NCL website is 3963 and there were 5900 people on board.  I spent the week waiting on lines, trying to find a seat at the buffet and being turned away from shows and activities.  Shame on NCL for not caring about the overcrowding on their cruises.  The food was terrible and the ports were cancelled.  It was a horrible time.  I will never cruise Norwegian again.  

[geopuzzle]

Oh no!  Sorry to hear this.  We are going on the Getaway this summer, and I really hope there aren't 5900 people on board....  Does anyone know if European cruises during summer break are less crowded than ones starting in the U.S.?    Nothing against kids, since I am bringing 3 of them, but a ship at 150% capacity sounds miserable.

[Laszlo]

1 hour ago, christinaed0419 said:

I was on the Norwegian Getaway out of New York City on 12/23.  All I can say is it was the worst cruise ever.  The capacity of the ship as listed on the NCL website is 3963 and there were 5900 people on board.  I spent the week waiting on lines, trying to find a seat at the buffet and being turned away from shows and activities.  Shame on NCL for not caring about the overcrowding on their cruises.  The food was terrible and the ports were cancelled.  It was a horrible time.  I will never cruise Norwegian again.  

The ships Passenger capacity is 3963.... ships crew is around 1600. Your statement of 5900 is misleading their were not 5900 passengers on the ship

Edited January 4, 2023 by Laszlo

[geopuzzle]

1 minute ago, Laszlo said:

The ships Passenger capacity is 3963.... ships crew is around 1600 

The capacity of 3963 is with double occupancy in the rooms.  When cabins have lots of children (like during winter break when there is no school), the posted double occupancy capacity can be exceeded.

[Laszlo]

14 minutes ago, geopuzzle said:

The capacity of 3963 is with double occupancy in the rooms.  When cabins have lots of children (like during winter break when there is no school), the posted double occupancy capacity can be exceeded.

Yes, but its not going to be 5900

 

They were also on the ship the busiest time of the year

Edited January 4, 2023 by Laszlo

[christinaed0419]

I was told by the woman that works for NCL behind the desk at customer service on the ship that there were 5900 people on the boat.  It was a horrible cruise and thats a fact.  

[bluesea777]

You need to realize that cruises over the Christmas and New Years weeks (as well as Thanksgiving week) are always, if not often, full, well far exceeding the "double occupancy" capacity. Also know this: that are many cabins with 3rd and 4th berths - for families.

 

Norwegian is NOT the only cruise line ... many of the others do this as well.

 

So, perhaps, now that you have learnt a lesson and not book a holiday cruise in the future.

 

 

[sailorusvi]

2 minutes ago, Laszlo said:

Yes, but its not going to be 5900

The Getaway can have a max of 4266 passengers and 1646 crew which comes to a max of 5912 people total on the boat.    

 

Note - you can not swap crew space for passenger space, so the max amount of passengers is 4266.  the 3963 is based on double occupancy. 

 

[Laszlo]

6 minutes ago, christinaed0419 said:

I was told by the woman that works for NCL behind the desk at customer service on the ship that there were 5900 people on the boat.  It was a horrible cruise and thats a fact.  

Yes I believe that, but 5900 is everyone including crew

[bluesea777]

Norwegian Cruise Line Cruise Ship Fleet (cruisedeckplans.com)

 

Look in the Stat tab.

Edited January 4, 2023 by bluesea777

[geopuzzle]

3 minutes ago, sailorusvi said:

The Getaway can have a max of 4266 passengers and 1646 crew which comes to a max of 5912 people total on the boat.    

 

Note - you can not swap crew space for passenger space, so the max amount of passengers is 4266.  the 3963 is based on double occupancy. 

 

Where do you have info that Getaway has a max of 4266 passengers when it exceeds double occupancy?  The NCL Escape has a max of 4266 passengers at double occupancy.  

[geopuzzle]

3 minutes ago, bluesea777 said:

Norwegian Cruise Line Cruise Ship Fleet (cruisedeckplans.com)

 

 

That link says "NORWEGIAN GETAWAY CRUISE SHIP DECK PLAN HAS 2008 STATEROOMS FOR UP TO 4819 PASSENGERS SERVED BY 1640 CREW"

 

(when double occupancy is exceeded)

[FLAHAM]

All food was terrible?  All ports were cancelled?

[zqvol]

50 minutes ago, christinaed0419 said:

I was told by the woman that works for NCL behind the desk at customer service on the ship that there were 5900 people on the boat.  It was a horrible cruise and thats a fact.  

It is not a fact, it is an opinion, don’t confuse the two. 

[BirdTravels]

2 hours ago, christinaed0419 said:

I was on the Norwegian Getaway out of New York City on 12/23.  All I can say is it was the worst cruise ever.  The capacity of the ship as listed on the NCL website is 3963 and there were 5900 people on board.  I spent the week waiting on lines, trying to find a seat at the buffet and being turned away from shows and activities.  Shame on NCL for not caring about the overcrowding on their cruises.  The food was terrible and the ports were cancelled.  It was a horrible time.  I will never cruise Norwegian again.  

Unfortunately, the total passenger count cited is much greater than what the ship can really carry. Did you book your shows in advance? Happy that you have made a decision not to cruise on NCL again... there are cruise lines that specialize in small ships with fewer passengers and a higher class of service. 

[NYMama]

They definitely follow some occupancy limits.  I am cruising the Getaway on February break.  Someone tried to book a cabin for 3 individuals and the NCL website showed all room categories as unavailable.  I am prepared for a very full cruise.  Sorry that you were so unhappy with your cruise.  I preemptively made dinner reservations for every night and plan to book shows as soon as I embark.  I booked a cruise out of NY on a school break week, so I have set my expectations accordingly.

[mjkacmom]

Crowds on literally the busiest travel week of the year? You don’t say. 

[DCGuy64]

3 hours ago, christinaed0419 said:

I was on the Norwegian Getaway out of New York City on 12/23.  All I can say is it was the worst cruise ever.  The capacity of the ship as listed on the NCL website is 3963 and there were 5900 people on board.  I spent the week waiting on lines, trying to find a seat at the buffet and being turned away from shows and activities.  Shame on NCL for not caring about the overcrowding on their cruises.  The food was terrible and the ports were cancelled.  It was a horrible time.  I will never cruise Norwegian again.  

Another one and done, ladies and gentlemen.

[mking8288]

It's a mega-sized cruise ship, not a boat, per se - besides, boats aren't generally designed to carry thousands of passengers and crews.  There are lifeboat capacity and maritime rules & regulations that vessels must comply & follow forthwith - probably, safe to conclude, that someone was mislead - probably true from other reports that I've read/seen - there were around 5,900 souls onboard, passengers (4,400+) and crew members/ship officers (1,450), etc. combined total headcount.  Those numbers are typical for holiday cruises, still below the maximum lifeboat capacity and legal limits based on SOLAS.  

 

Welcome to CC, post #1 for OP ...  feel free to charter your own private boat or yacht. 

[DCGuy64]

3 hours ago, christinaed0419 said:

Shame on NCL for not caring about the overcrowding on their cruises

I'm not sure what you feel NCL could have done about it-make people leave? I'm very sorry your cruise was ruined but I fail to see what NCL did wrong. Maybe you aren't aware of it (since by your profile you appear to be new to Cruise Critic-welcome, by the way), but the cruise industry struggled mightily to get back to sailing after Covid and I don't blame the lines for cruising at capacity-they need the money. And as others have remarked, certain sailings are notoriously crowded and popular (think New Year's Eve, Christmas, Easter, Spring Break, etc.). I suspect NCL was not the only cruise line with lots of passengers the same time as you. Even so, I'm sorry you were disappointed.

[www3traveler]

I have been on two Getaway Christmas cruises and loved every minute of them.  Just booked another Christmas cruise.  I never had problem anywhere on the ship-- meals, shows etc.  Very very crowded with lots of multi-generational families.  I am a widow and over 70-- still had a great time.  Countdown is on for Christmas 2023.

[Mlake09]

1 hour ago, NYMama said:

They definitely follow some occupancy limits.  I am cruising the Getaway on February break.  Someone tried to book a cabin for 3 individuals and the NCL website showed all room categories as unavailable.  I am prepared for a very full cruise.  Sorry that you were so unhappy with your cruise.  I preemptively made dinner reservations for every night and plan to book shows as soon as I embark.  I booked a cruise out of NY on a school break week, so I have set my expectations accordingly.

We are on that cruise too (it’s my school break), and I noticed that most rooms are now unavailable or if available, only offered as the guarantee stateroom only. I expect a cruise over capacity with lots of kids, but like you am prepared for it. I do hope some of the issues

we had last February with a few challenging older kids will not be as prevalent, but it’s a risk traveling during school break! See you

on the ship!

[Liljo22]

There are other reports of this cruise being a mess which is disappointing because I think the Getaway is a great ship.  Entertainment was missing(maybe Covid related). GSC was also missed which is not surprising.  

 

As for the amount of passengers, this time of year is the busiest time for all the lines so the ships are going to be full.  I was on the Oasis OTS and there were over 6500 passengers with 5600 being the double occupancy capacity.  Lines at the buffet and El Loco were crazy to the point that we skipped going on most days.  Dinner in the MDR was around 2 hours every night.  And if you didn't have a reservation for a show(well other than Cats), you were going to have to line up early or you were turned away.  I still had a great time.   

Edited January 4, 2023 by Liljo22

[misstamster]

12 minutes ago, Mlake09 said:

We are on that cruise too (it’s my school break), and I noticed that most rooms are now unavailable or if available, only offered as the guarantee stateroom only. I expect a cruise over capacity with lots of kids, but like you am prepared for it. I do hope some of the issues

we had last February with a few challenging older kids will not be as prevalent, but it’s a risk traveling during school break! See you

on the ship!

Oh no!! When in Feb. are you booked!!

[NYMama]

23 minutes ago, misstamster said:

Oh no!! When in Feb. are you booked!!

February 18th to the 26th.  It is NY school break week.