Semi-Live Getaway 2.0 Jan 16 - Feb 1, 2023 NY - So. Caribbean ... 12 nights ( is it Live, Semi-Live or Limited ?? )

[Dorhead1230]

21 minutes ago, RadioPeri said:

 

I can only speak to my experience, but we're in an aft balcony and definitely feel the vibration but don't find it unpleasant at all. We're sleeping like babies. 😴

 

Sitting in Syd Norman's right now, and the ship is humming. 

 

Or maybe that's the Brown Sugars I'm drinking, lol. 🥃

@RadioPeri what deck are you on? We’ll be in an aft-facing on 13 in a few weeks, which I know are the smallest 😐, but we booked in December and were lucky to get one at all. I’ve been wondering if a lounge chair fits on the deck 13 aft balconies. We’ve had others in the past that were huge, but people make the deck 13 ones sound so small! Hope you’re having a great time!

[mking8288]

1 hour ago, leithbones said:

Have seen this reported elsewhere.

Would you characterize Vibrations .

I would consider it noticeable and we had an AFT balcony last year on Deck 10 or 11. We've been running nonstop out of NY at 20 knots. 

 

Tonight, waves at 8.2 ft with a tail wind, anyone not accustomed to ship's natural rocking & rolling will feel it.  We sleep better with motion unless it's a combo of strong gale, diagonal crosswind, very rough sea state, 25 to 30+ waves and large swell. 

 

1 hour ago, KinLINY said:

... trying to figure out the dress code for men ... collard shirts and pants? Shorts acceptable? 

As answered above, shorts are fine in most SD and MDR for dinner, unless specify otherwise.  Causal Dockers or similar long pants are more than adequate everywhere plus a collared / polo shirt. Navy blazer, leave it home. 

You are sailing to tropical climate in the Caribbean and/or Bahamas or Bermuda - I have 3 colorful Hawaiian shirts and the they fit right in ... years ago, they joked that am I off-duty.

1 hour ago, leithbones said:

 

 

1 hour ago, KinLINY said:

 

 

38 minutes ago, nmuller328 said:

So no late night snacks - I thought there were cookies- and some food in the Buffet ... Getaway doesn't have the Great Outdoors ... stopping for cookies & ice cream ...

Your memory was (is) correct until 2022. It is 2023 and the new, changed NCL. I dragged 3 eyewitnesses to help verify and document the change tonight with photos, and it is closed & shut down nightly at 9:30 pm and will open in the next morning again. (fleet-wide)

 

Starting about 9:15 or 9:20 pm, crew behind the food stations started winding things down and by 9:25 pm, steamed tables were shutting down for cleaning.  It is not a popular change. 

 

Sadly, other lines are doing similar things as well. Rough times ahead for the cruise industry while prices go up ... someone has to pay for those delayed new builds, the Viva & Prima, etc.  Better to be prepared than to be surprised.

 

Boeing 707 had 34" legroom in coach back in the 70's - now, lucky to not pay extra for 32" legroom on a B737 Max. 

 

Happy to report that hash brown potatoes are back and available onboard ... 😹

Edited January 23, 2023 by mking8288

[mking8288]

More screenshots for tech geeks, other can skip ahead  ...  self explanatory

 

 

 

Edited January 23, 2023 by mking8288

[mking8288]

Speedtest results with Pixel 7 Pro, faster one using 5 Ghz WiFi, slower results on 2.4 Ghz ... still cannot get Galaxy S22+ to match anywhere near these results ... YMMV

 

 

[Bonobochick]

1 hour ago, nmuller328 said:

So no late night snacks- I thought there were cookies- and some food  in the Buffet area till 11:30 pm ?    I know the Getaway doesn't have the Great Outdoors like the Jewel line- but I thought I remembered stopping for cookies & ice cream later than 10 pm

 

Not anymore. ☹️ I was on the Jan 8th sailing and got late night snacks the second night in the buffet then that was it for the late night snacks. I ended up asking about it and they said it was no longer going to be offered. I was bummed as I usually like to grab a couple of cookies and/or poundcake slices for in-room late night noshing. I enjoyed my cruise but I saw some cutbacks that had me eyebrow raise over paying more for less not enough to never cruise NCL but definitely noticeable. 

 

Hope you guys have more than Lipton black tea in the buffet on this cruise cause there were no flavored teas on my cruising (I had to ask and even then there was very limited availability). 

 

Also hope your Puerto Rico disembarkation goes more smoothly than ours did. 

[mking8288]

Almost midnight, 300 nm to San Juan, waves at 4.9 ft. instead of 8 to 9 ft. earlier, ship doing 19.6 knots and expecting on time arrival, perhaps about 3 pm - faster 4G cellular signal from land towers ... will be nice 👍

 

BTW, received invite to Dine w Officers tomorrow evening in the MDR - will RSVP to Mario's secretary in morning. Should be an interesting one, I think ...

 

 

Almost forgot about the balcony's night light.

 

 

Edited January 23, 2023 by mking8288

[cruiseny4life]

10 hours ago, Dorhead1230 said:

@RadioPeri what deck are you on? We’ll be in an aft-facing on 13 in a few weeks, which I know are the smallest 😐, but we booked in December and were lucky to get one at all. I’ve been wondering if a lounge chair fits on the deck 13 aft balconies. We’ve had others in the past that were huge, but people make the deck 13 ones sound so small! Hope you’re having a great time!

We stayed in 13902 on Getaway twice since September. It's a phenomenal room! Not sure if you're in the corner suite or one of the aft-balconies, so this photo may not be perfectly applicable.

 

 

As you can see to the far left (if you're looking out toward the aft), the two loungers fit. It is a wee bit difficult to jump over the first one to get to the second, but can easily walk around the second one that is closest to me in this photograph.

 

I think that it would be challenging to put a lounger on any of the balconies on 13, except this one (and it's mirror image on the opposite corner). You can see where the table with four chairs is. That's roughly the same depth as the balconies hidden behind the divider. 

 

You might be able to substitute two deck chairs for one lounger that goes horizontal across the deck if you wanted to do that. Sorry we didn't take any photos when we opened the divider and went next door to check out the balcony and room. It was empty so we weren't violating anyone's privacy. 🙂

[mking8288]

Good late morning, Day 4 - about 100 nm from port, expect to be met by pilot boat at 3 pm to help escort & navigate and docking at 4 pm. All abroad is 9 pm on FSD for 9:30 sailing, letter delivered stated otherwise ... whatever.

 

 

[mking8288]

Breakfast this morning at Taste, round table next to us that seat 6 were shared by 3 different pairs. Happy with my salmon bagel & hash brown potatoes. 

 

Starting to hear coughing & echo from different corners. 

 

 

[mking8288]

Casino corner serving a very simple continental breakfast this morning at 10:15 am. Plates provided for DIY & no signage against takeout ...

 

[Mlake09]

12 hours ago, mking8288 said:

Almost midnight, 300 nm to San Juan, waves at 4.9 ft. instead of 8 to 9 ft. earlier, ship doing 19.6 knots and expecting on time arrival, perhaps about 3 pm - faster 4G cellular signal from land towers ... will be nice 👍

 

BTW, received invite to Dine w Officers tomorrow evening in the MDR - will RSVP to Mario's secretary in morning. Should be an interesting one, I think ...

 

 

Almost forgot about the balcony's night light.

 

 

Thanks for all your updates- I love this thread! We are sailing Getaway in a few weeks and I appreciate your observations.  Can you tell me if the dinner with officers has a special

menu? We’ll move beyond Platinum after this next cruise and I was under the impression that the dinner with officers was typically held in a specialty restaurant. Did that used to be true?  I know there have been quite a few changes (we were on the Gem last week) for 2023 and I’m wondering if this is one of them? Thank you!

[mking8288]

@Mlake09 will do & update later. Dine w Officers is now tomorrow evening, perhaps not to disturb invitee's limited time ashore after 4 pm arrival & all abroad time of 9 pm.

 

Today's MDR lunch menu, it's different than the one used on Saturday.

 

Thanks to another CC'er (Helen) - neighbors not too far from nearby Floral Park, NY on the island for asking, only 1 free bag of laundry per Platinum member for 12 days, cruise of 14 days do get 2 free bags. We'll plan & adjust accordingly. 

 

Walk thru the Gift Shop last night, empty shelves and very limited selections & choices, hardly any keychains or magnets, etc. Not even suntan lotions.

 

 

Taste MDR at 1:30 pm, still full ... service is good, pace or speed is normal, that's nice but slow as usual - 20 minutes in between appetizer/starter and entrees.  Since we aren't docking for another 2 hours, patience is ... But, still a bit difficult to explain.  My Cobb salad was caught in traffic, sat at the station for a while, forgotten.

 

Edited January 23, 2023 by mking8288

[mking8288]

Our lunch, simple & light, but the dessert ... 

just wish speed was a little faster and our server apologized 

 

[mking8288]

Still not quite sighting land in the distance @ 2:45 pm

 

Outside views from of the - photos of the ocean ... 

 

[mking8288]

Local time @ 3:30 pm, 13 nm to port, ship speed reduced to below 13 knots, no pilot boat ahead for escort. Air temperature 85 deg & water temp 82 deg, waves 4.9 ft or 1.5 m.  Nearly not possible to dock on time at 4 pm even as ship speed up to 18 knots again. Can't possibly see first wave of pax on solid land until 4:45 to 5 pm if their tours are waiting to go. 

 

Stay tuned for our DIY waterfront walking tour later.

 

S22+ at 10x zoom and 20x zoom, lastly Pixel 7 Pro at 25x digital zoom.

 

Edited January 23, 2023 by mking8288

[JIMESOPUS]

@mking8288get in line now or it will be backed up to deck 7 or 8

[mking8288]

1 hour ago, JIMESOPUS said:

@mking8288get in line now or it will be backed up to deck 7 or 8

Thanks, not in a hurry ... not a beach day for sure. Just going to do a little as Google Local Guide to pin this stop on my map history, haha.

 

Sunset at 6:13 pm here ☹️  

 

 

At 3:55 pm - here's our pilot boat, port side & fast coming around back to starboard side ... We are definitely late, late. 

 

Edited January 23, 2023 by mking8288

[Dorhead1230]

5 hours ago, cruiseny4life said:

We stayed in 13902 on Getaway twice since September. It's a phenomenal room! Not sure if you're in the corner suite or one of the aft-balconies, so this photo may not be perfectly applicable.

 

 

As you can see to the far left (if you're looking out toward the aft), the two loungers fit. It is a wee bit difficult to jump over the first one to get to the second, but can easily walk around the second one that is closest to me in this photograph.

 

I think that it would be challenging to put a lounger on any of the balconies on 13, except this one (and it's mirror image on the opposite corner). You can see where the table with four chairs is. That's roughly the same depth as the balconies hidden behind the divider. 

 

You might be able to substitute two deck chairs for one lounger that goes horizontal across the deck if you wanted to do that. Sorry we didn't take any photos when we opened the divider and went next door to check out the balcony and room. It was empty so we weren't violating anyone's privacy. 🙂

Thanks so much for this info and the photo @cruiseny4life! We’re in 13304 which is the regular balcony next to the suite like yours on the port side. A little sad that it’s so small, but I’m not going to complain…DH got a really good CAS offer for two cabins, a balcony for him and an additional inside. So, we paid reasonable upgrades from a balcony to an aft-facing for us and from an inside to a balcony for my mom and our little man. All in for the 2 cabins (taxes and fees, FAS gratuities, pre-paid service charges and insurance) we still paid less per person than an inside would have cost per person for cruise fare alone. And we didn’t book until December so we’re lucky we got 13304 and then the regular balcony right on the other side of the suite next to us. I’ll see how it looks when we get on and then decide if we want just a lounger instead of the chairs—may be worth it because we have the use of 2 balconies, so maybe one will be for sittin’ and the other for loungin’ 😎. I just dig sitting on an aft-facing with no wind, watching the wake, so it’s all good. Thanks again!

[mking8288]

Hola viejo amigo as in hello old friend, almost there - San Juan, PR.  It's a very brief & shortened port stop to visit. 

 

5G cellular signal 👍

 

 

 

Edited January 23, 2023 by mking8288

[mking8288]

Pictorials to San Juan ... pilot action up on the bridge's side control - console 

 

 

[PistolPete13]

Looking forward to your walking tour.  I plan to do that same at that port next month.

[mking8288]

More pictures ... local time 4:30 pm, almost docked. Side thrusters fully on.

 

 

Getting the S22+ a quick charge, using Pixel 7 Pro

 

Edited January 23, 2023 by mking8288

[RadioPeri]

16 hours ago, Dorhead1230 said:

@RadioPeri what deck are you on? We’ll be in an aft-facing on 13 in a few weeks, which I know are the smallest 😐, but we booked in December and were lucky to get one at all. I’ve been wondering if a lounge chair fits on the deck 13 aft balconies. We’ve had others in the past that were huge, but people make the deck 13 ones sound so small! Hope you’re having a great time!

We're in a Deck 9 aft balcony we got lucky to grab about six weeks before the cruise, so I can't help you with Deck 13, unfortunately, but it looks like others have. 🙂

 

I can report that Deck 9 balconies are cavernous, easily fitting two loungers, two chairs, and a table. 

We've been enjoying the balcony at all times during the day and night since sailaway in New York. Was hoping we'd dock in "aft in" in San Juan, as watching the dock is fun, but we have a beautiful view looking out at all the ships and facilities across the harbor. We'll also get a gorgeous sunset, but will be out in port enjoying mojitos at that point, I'm sure!
 

[mking8288]

CD Alvin just asked folks to hold & not rush toward the gangway, looks like Deck 4 Fwd will be used. Ship hasn't been cleared yet and crew still setting up. 

 

Shopping here, both Walgreen's & CVS are a short walk across the street, plus Senor Frogs ... Crews from Royal's VOS returning with shopping bags filled w goodies @5:00 pm. Starbucks & WiFi, 2 blocks north, slightly uphill.

 

 

 

The rush is on, wave of cruisers stepping off the GA now & heading out. 

 

 

 

Edited January 23, 2023 by mking8288

[mking8288]

Getting dark soon, plan B, air conditioned mini.bus tour, $20 per person, 90 minutes to 2 hours. Deal !