Let’s give it a go…sort of live-ish Getaway February 18-26, 2023–I’ll do my best!

[Dorhead1230]

3 hours ago, GSfromCT said:

I appreciate this thread.  Thanks OP and contributors.  Myself, wife and two boys will be on the Getaway starting 3/10.  This has been helpful as the reviews I was reading were not favorable.  The worst reviews tended to come from people on a full ship and on a holiday (Christmas / New Years and Easter 2022 reviews were brutal).  I am guessing here, but it seems to me that everyone on this sailing that is contributing here is having a great time and would leave a favorable review?

Is it the best cruise I’ve ever been on? Not by a long shot. Am I having a bad time? No way! The crew is working so hard and trying to be as accommodating as possible, and I knew what I was getting into sailing this week. On a less crowded week, you’ll have an even better time!

[GSfromCT]

11 hours ago, Dorhead1230 said:

Is it the best cruise I’ve ever been on? Not by a long shot. Am I having a bad time? No way! The crew is working so hard and trying to be as accommodating as possible, and I knew what I was getting into sailing this week. On a less crowded week, you’ll have an even better time!

My two boys are in college.  I had graduation cruises scheduled for both of them, and they were cancelled due to Covid, so I gave up and went a different direction.  So, because of my boys going, March 10 fits in their schedules for spring break.  I am sure it will be busy, maybe not 4800 busy.

[Dorhead1230]

14 minutes ago, GSfromCT said:

My two boys are in college.  I had graduation cruises scheduled for both of them, and they were cancelled due to Covid, so I gave up and went a different direction.  So, because of my boys going, March 10 fits in their schedules for spring break.  I am sure it will be busy, maybe not 4800 busy.

Yes, may be a little busy, but spring breaks vary and at least there are no Tri-state public school breaks then! I hope they enjoy their graduation cruise! 😎

[Dorhead1230]

Hallelujah! I finally got on here. I’ve really been struggling with the wi-fi to load this page several times since yesterday. Not sure why; could have been my phone even, maybe. We’ve been laying pretty low and not getting into too much excitement. LM has been a little under the weather. Poor kid has been sick on and off all winter from preschool, and a cold he had right before we left has come back with a vengeance. We mostly kept him in yesterday, because I don’t want people getting nervous from his coughing. I made everyone do a Covid test at home before we left, plus we brought a whole bunch. On Wednesday, my mom did one just as a precaution because she got LM’s cold right before we left, then Thursday I tested LM and myself, and then I tested him again yesterday. Wasn’t going to have my kid be patient zero for a cruise outbreak 😳. But it’s just the same nasty cold he’s had over and over. Still, don’t want him even spreading that all around.

 

Yesterday, we wanted him to rest, and we were a little wiped too from the 4 straight port days, so there was a lot of nap time. We just ran up to the buffet for dinner on the late side so we could sit away from people and just eat quickly. It wasn’t bad. You just have to stick to certain items, in my opinion. The pizza isn’t bad, the Indian food is always good, the salad items are always fresh, and the pasta station is a nice offering. They also had a carving station with some kind of cut of roast beef, and that was pretty decent, too. Some of the more “creative”-looking offerings I preferred to avoid. Also, the desserts in the case in the buffet are just awful. I don’t even bother to try them. DM has given it a go a couple times and hasn’t found any she liked. I stick to the ice cream. My theory is that they make a lot of gelatinous stuff for the buffet desserts because it’s easy to make them in quantity and pour them into whatever molds or pans they use to form/bake/chill them.

 

A few buffet dinner pictures (only one side was still open by the time we went there, by the way):So sorry some are upside-down! I don’t know why that keeps happening in CC. I figure with food pics, you can figure out what it is, though lol.

[mking8288]

WiFi satellite internet will be the slowest today, lol - everyone onboard. Guaranteed 😆😆😆😆😆 

 

Enjoy the last sea day 👌

[Dorhead1230]

Incidentally, we’ve created a little cruising monster and LM has determined that he never wants to get off the cruise ship. So, by the standards of a 4-year-old, this trip has been A-OK!!

Edited February 25, 2023 by Dorhead1230

[Dorhead1230]

The ship is kind of a madhouse today since the weather isn’t great. DH, LM, and DM were having some breakfast in the buffet and I ran down to the Atrium figuring I’d just pick up the paper and instructions for the origami since LM enjoyed it a few days ago. Good thing I didn’t bring him down. The Atrium must have had a couple hundred people there. They didn’t appear to have the printed instructions today, so I just got the colored paper and left. I’ll look up an origami pattern and we’ll have a private session in the cabin later lol.

 

I was trying to save myself for the noodle bar for lunch, but I knew it wouldn’t probably pan out because I wasn’t there waiting by 11:30. There were still at least 20 people in front of me in line trying to check in when the employee said they were already full for the entire lunch service. Ah well, it’s not as though I don’t have access to really good Chinese and Japanese food at home 🤷🏻‍♀️.

 

We’re at Savor now because I hadn’t eaten anything. I’ve been a real bum about taking menu pictures (I always forget), but here’s the MDR lunch menu:

[ridgeview lab lover]

Were any shore excursions offered in Miami?

[Dorhead1230]

1 hour ago, ridgeview lab lover said:

Were any shore excursions offered in Miami?

I looked in the app when they made the change and only 4 came up. What I thought was weird was that two of the 4 were ones that they would usually do for disembarkation because they were the ones that are supposed to end at the airport. Perhaps if you went to the excursion desk or checked the kiosks there were more, but we didn’t do that because we didn’t intend to book one.

[Dorhead1230]

I have now broken into DM’s Internet minutes because everything was loading so slowly I burned through LM’s. MDR was very nice today. Our server was especially wonderful. He brought everything we asked correctly and as promptly as possible (it was a bit of a wait because everyone sits for lunch pretty much at the same time). Right before dessert, LM needed a bathroom trip, so the ice cream on my lava cake (which does reside on the lunch menu now) was kind of melted when I got back. When I got back, the server immediately said he wanted to get me a new one. I told him no because there was no reason to waste what was there, but I thought that was very sweet (actually I like the lava cake so much I should have made a pig of myself and gotten the new one and eaten both 😂). Some pictures of the food:loaded baked potato (stuffed with chili…I actually kind of dig their chili)

 

kids’ cheeseburger meal

 

chicken flautas (some guac was under them and that tomatillo salsa was delicious)

 

spaghetti carbonara was tasty (salty from the bacon though)

 

chicken Milanese—DH and DM liked it

 

DH also had the wedding soup and DM had the spinach Caesar. They said both were really salty, and DH is a salt person who constantly complains that I use too little salt when I cook, so when he says something is salty, I believe it!

 

Will probably spend most of the rest of the day relaxing in the cabin because of LM’s cough. DH and I taking turns going out to spend the remaining OBC we have and to maybe take one last round of abuse in the casino. Right now, I looked up some origami instructions and screen-shotted them so LM and I can use the paper squares I got earlier to have our own crafting session!

[LoungerOnBalcony55]

Thanks for the review. Looks like no more complimentary breakfast (or breakfast at all) in American Diner/Jimmy Buffet's/Uptown Grill? 

[mking8288]

Welcome home 

[Treasure Hunter]

I had the prime rib in the Haven twice to be fair. It was mediocre at best. Stick to chicken,  shrimp , burgers and great hot dogs all over the ship. We thought the best food was in La Cucina. 

[Dorhead1230]

Well, I gave up on the Internet yesterday because nothing was loading. But greetings from cold, gray NYC 😢. It’s 10:11 and we’re already in the car heading home. And I had taken brown (10 AM) luggage tags. This was the fastest, smoothest disembarkation we ever had. That minor inconvenience of the immigration clearance in Miami turned out to be completely worthwhile because we walked straight out of the terminal this morning without even a pause. Our porter walked us back over to Pier 90 and we’re outta here.Farewell for now, Getaway! Bon voyage to everyone boarding today.

Edited February 26, 2023 by Dorhead1230

[Dorhead1230]

A few items I would have posted yesterday if I was having better luck with the internet:

1) They advertised the behind the scenes ship tour in the Daily. I am not sure what that means for Platinum and above, but they’re definitely selling the tour at the Excursions desk.

 

2) I was wandering a bit last night and I walked out to Spice H2O just to see what it looks like. It’s beautiful out there and I think it would be a lovely place to hang if you’re not traveling with kids (or you get some alone time if you are). However, the way the wind was blowing last night, the stink of exhaust was awful. I think I actually said “DUDE” out loud when the doors opened because the exhaust smacked me in the face.

 

3) Also in my wanderings last night, I looked around in the little alcove all the way aft on Deck 6. I’m a total nerd, so I really enjoyed checking out all the plaques from the ports Getaway has visited. Also, there’s a scale model of the ship there that is super cool to look at…the minute details in it are awesome. The kids’ splash area used to be SpongeBob-themed and there’s an itty bitty SpongeBob on the model in the kids’ splash area if you look closely. These silly things amuse me. Also, you can see exactly how crappy the deck 13 and 14 aft balconies are 🤣.

[Dorhead1230]

Dailies from days 7 and 8:

[Treasure Hunter]

Splash Academy was a huge success for my grandkids 7 and 10. They made friends and couldn't wait to go. hours were usually ( only sea days) 9-12, 2-6,  ( every day)7-11. They played something called Mario Kart (?) Hot Potato other running and drawing games etc. Splash has a limit of 100 kids and there were almost 1200 on board so if you wanted to sign them up you had to get on line at least 1/2 hour before they opened. We signed them up before we went to lunch on the first day. They never stayed past 9 ( bedtime) and people cheered when we picked them up because then they could get in. We missed the behind the ship tour ( Platinum) early in the cruise. It would have been free for at least the adult but because we wanted our grandson to go we paid $129 per person on the last day and it was definitely NOT worth it. It took nearly an hour longer because of standing around waiting for other groups to finish. There were fewer sights than in the past and the guide was awful. Princess does a much better job.

[mshaines]

3 hours ago, Dorhead1230 said:

Well, I gave up on the Internet yesterday because nothing was loading. But greetings from cold, gray NYC 😢. It’s 10:11 and we’re already in the car heading home. And I had taken brown (10 AM) luggage tags. This was the fastest, smoothest disembarkation we ever had. That minor inconvenience of the immigration clearance in Miami turned out to be completely worthwhile because we walked straight out of the terminal this morning without even a pause. Our porter walked us back over to Pier 90 and we’re outta here.Farewell for now, Getaway! Bon voyage to everyone boarding today.

Thanks for these!  We sail this itinerary on the 10th so your updates were really helpful!  

[ebheart]

22 minutes ago, Treasure Hunter said:

Splash Academy was a huge success for my grandkids 7 and 10. They made friends and couldn't wait to go. hours were usually ( only sea days) 9-12, 2-6,  ( every day)7-11. They played something called Mario Kart (?) Hot Potato other running and drawing games etc. Splash has a limit of 100 kids and there were almost 1200 on board so if you wanted to sign them up you had to get on line at least 1/2 hour before they opened. We signed them up before we went to lunch on the first day. They never stayed past 9 ( bedtime) and people cheered when we picked them up because then they could get in. We missed the behind the ship tour ( Platinum) early in the cruise. It would have been free for at least the adult but because we wanted our grandson to go we paid $129 per person on the last day and it was definitely NOT worth it. It took nearly an hour longer because of standing around waiting for other groups to finish. There were fewer sights than in the past and the guide was awful. Princess does a much better job.

Are you saying to go 1/2 hour before opening the first day to sign them up, or every day you want to use Splash Academy? I’m hoping this won’t be as much of a challenge on our cruise on 3/10 but I appreciate the heads up!

[Treasure Hunter]

You sign up the minute you get on the cruise first day or you will wait a long time to get to the desk. This is when they get the kids information you get wristbands and give a secret password for emergency pick up. If you want the kids to do the morning program 9-12 or any of it , you better be on the line by 8:25 or you will have no chance of getting them in ( winter break with 1200 kids on board). Same for nighttime 6:30 the latest. You just have to wait in the line. It was worth it

[Dorhead1230]

59 minutes ago, Treasure Hunter said:

Splash Academy was a huge success for my grandkids 7 and 10. They made friends and couldn't wait to go. hours were usually ( only sea days) 9-12, 2-6,  ( every day)7-11. They played something called Mario Kart (?) Hot Potato other running and drawing games etc. Splash has a limit of 100 kids and there were almost 1200 on board so if you wanted to sign them up you had to get on line at least 1/2 hour before they opened. We signed them up before we went to lunch on the first day. They never stayed past 9 ( bedtime) and people cheered when we picked them up because then they could get in. We missed the behind the ship tour ( Platinum) early in the cruise. It would have been free for at least the adult but because we wanted our grandson to go we paid $129 per person on the last day and it was definitely NOT worth it. It took nearly an hour longer because of standing around waiting for other groups to finish. There were fewer sights than in the past and the guide was awful. Princess does a much better job.

Glad the grandkids enjoyed Splash Academy! LM is too little for us to be comfortable with leaving him there at this point, but maybe when he’s bigger and cares more about meeting other kids when we’re on vacation.

 

Sorry to hear the tour wasn’t good. DH and I will be Platinum after one more cruise, and we’re looking forward to doing it at that point. Maybe it varies by ship, or maybe they just weren’t back in a good groove with it yet because I think this was the first sailing with them doing it again.

[Treasure Hunter]

Or maybe they scheduled multiple tours 20 minutes apart and didn’t leave enough time

[Dorhead1230]

3 hours ago, Treasure Hunter said:

Or maybe they scheduled multiple tours 20 minutes apart and didn’t leave enough time

Oh, sheesh! And at only $129p/p, for your convenience and something about sustainability.

[LoungerOnBalcony55]

5 minutes ago, Dorhead1230 said:

Oh, sheesh! And at only $129p/p, for your convenience and something about sustainability.

Yes...for your convenience....always for your convenience. 

[LoungerOnBalcony55]

4 hours ago, Treasure Hunter said:

Or maybe they scheduled multiple tours 20 minutes apart and didn’t leave enough time

I never got the allure of the behind-the-scenes tours. Oh, wow...an industrial laundry facility and a big kitchen. What hidden wonders.