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Semi-Live Getaway Mar 18th to Mar 26th

Nclgetawaymenhoney
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mking8288 "Live from...." Rare

mking8288

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Bon Voyage !

 

Off to a good start with quick & smooth check-in, ship came back very early & should've reached zero count by 10 am (if not sooner ... as you often see last groups "staggering" off with luggage, not in a hurry to leave)  

 

Go check out that satellite WiFi access (probably still on EMC and not yet switched over to Starlink) - marine conditions for your 2 days sailing southbound looks favorable & getting into PC early for a full day is far, far better than a 1 pm (sometimes late) arrival.  Forecast for GSC can be self-checked using Windy App, for now - looks better than 50:50 for next Wed - on the windy side and waves at 5 ft. could be iffy but still too early to be reliable, afterall, GA made it earlier this week & they enjoyed a full day there.  

 

Happy cruising and following along.  

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Nclgetawaymenhoney "Live from...." Rare

Nclgetawaymenhoney

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12 minutes ago, mking8288 said:

Bon Voyage !

 

Off to a good start with quick & smooth check-in, ship came back very early & should've reached zero count by 10 am (if not sooner ... as you often see last groups "staggering" off with luggage, not in a hurry to leave)  

 

Go check out that satellite WiFi access (probably still on EMC and not yet switched over to Starlink) - marine conditions for your 2 days sailing southbound looks favorable & getting into PC early for a full day is far, far better than a 1 pm (sometimes late) arrival.  Forecast for GSC can be self-checked using Windy App, for now - looks better than 50:50 for next Wed - on the windy side and waves at 5 ft. could be iffy but still too early to be reliable, afterall, GA made it earlier this week & they enjoyed a full day there.  

 

Happy cruising and following along.  

Thank you looking forward to Port Canaveral for sure.  We are picking up a rental car at 8 am and got up to the space center area.  There is a ton of various wildlife venues to look for all sorts for alligators. Migrator birds including flamingos, manatees and dolphins.  We lived down in that area years ago so very familiar with the area.

thanks for checking out the maritime conditions for us. 

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Soccer222

Soccer222

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2 hours ago, PistolPete13 said:

I was on the 5:30PM Staten Island Ferry chasing the Getaway out of NY harbor when you guys put the brakes on.

Medical emergency we presume?

Hope the rest of the cruise is smooth sailing.

Screen Shot 2023-03-19 at 12.37.29 AM.png

Yes, no details but the Captain announced they thought it best to have the person disembark at that point.

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amygutman "Live from...." Rare

amygutman

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Getting on the Getaway in about a month - thanks for keeping my cruise smile alive!

 

It's our first time on the Getaway, but having literally just gotten home from MSC Yacht Club Meraviglia, we spent a lot of time comparing it to the NCL Haven "product" (we've had 2 YCs on 2 ships, and >10 Havens / suites on many different NCL ships big and small). It's definitely a personal choice, but Haven > YC any day - we just happened to get 2 great deals on 2 short MSC cruises only a 45 minute drive from our condo outside Orlando that we could not resist. Hey...any day on a cruise, right? 

 

MSC was pretty darned good (we wrote a thread on the MSC Boards under "Meraviglia Duplex Suite but not sure how to link to it) - even 4/5 stars but we love the Haven. A poster on this thread asked here "why choose the same ship multiple times"? Well - if it has a Haven we are there. Even without a Haven (like our Dawn DOS trip), the NCL suite product is familiar and I really like that. Some may say boring, but predictability is comforting. We have loved every NCL we've been on - some 4/5 stars...some 10/5 stars (I'm looking at you NCL Gem and Pearl...our favorites). Itineraries are exciting but we always keep in mind that they can change. It's the ship, ship amenities and most importantly the crew that makes all of the difference. 

 

Our next few trips are chosen for specific purposes to give you an idea of our thought process:

  • Getaway: Time-Frame + Haven availability. Excited because it's a quick drive on a new ship that will feel familiar because of the Haven. Don't care if we don't get off the ship except for GSC where we booked the Silver Villa (crossing fingers for good weather)
  • Encore: Itinerary + ship + room. Splurged on the DOS because Alaska is a bucket list trip and we are hosting 2 friends who have never been on a ship. We want their first cruise experience to be on a ship big enough to have all of the bells and whistles, but in a room to maximize Alaska and all of those wonders
  • Epic: Itinerary (TA bucket-list). Ship is actually a negative in this case as we are not excited about the open Haven deck in the Atlantic, but it's a Haven 12 night at a ridiculously low repositioning price. 

 

So - apologies for hijacking, but thanks for posting about the Getaway, and hopefully answered our thoughts on why people choose particular ships. 

 

Warmest, Amy

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lorijeannj

lorijeannj

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1 hour ago, mking8288 said:

Satellite internet onboard has been reaffirmed ... apparently, as being slow, sluggish & barely working with 4,800+ pax onboard and floating at sea.  

Didn't the satellite just go live this week?  Hope they get the kinks worked out by next week..

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mking8288 "Live from...." Rare

mking8288

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7 minutes ago, lorijeannj said:

Didn't the satellite just go live this week?  Hope they get the kinks worked out by next week..

Starlink gone live on the GA, you meant ??  Haven't read or heard anything but good.  If true, that's good news - yeah, give them a little time to switch & get their new server configurations straighten out.  It can't get worst than before (now)

 

Ships is heading to Florida, slowly - due to arrival tomorrow morning ... hopefully, we'll hear sooner than later.  Give them a break, they are vacationing on their cruise.  

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egurbi

egurbi

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I am on this cruise and hope the OP does not mind a few updates: 

 

1.  Embarkation began for Haven at 1115, followed by accessible, then sapphire. I mean this as no slight.  There were several “limping” passengers as they went through the accessible security line; once outside walking to the ship their limp mysteriously was cured as they broke out into a full walking sprint to the ship.

 

2.  The first rooms were not ready until 230.  Some floors waited to 345 for the all clear. 
 

3.  The ship is crowded and the upsell is in full swing.  Alvin the cruise director is on the PA every two hours with news of some other activity that requires payment. 
 

4.  The stewards are completely harried and I can’t help but think the slow turnaround day was a consequence of the recent cutbacks. 
 

5.  The ship is provisioning in PC not NY,  so certain alcohols are out but should be restocked. 
 

6.  Why in the world we spent 2.5 days at sea getting to PC from NY is beyond me.  It does contribute to the bottom line though with the captive audience. 
 

7.  The crew is very friendly, though the ship feels a little tired.  But I could care less—- I’m on vacation. 

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egurbi

egurbi

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Very convenient indeed for all parties concerned. 
 

One last note:  other than embarkation night, they have only opened up one side of the garden cafe for dinner.  A little hectic but not terrible. 

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LoungerOnBalcony55 "Live from...." Rare

LoungerOnBalcony55

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18 minutes ago, egurbi said:

Very convenient indeed for all parties concerned. 
 

One last note:  other than embarkation night, they have only opened up one side of the garden cafe for dinner.  A little hectic but not terrible. 

That's probably because a pipe burst and flooded the other section on the previous sailing. 

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mking8288 "Live from...." Rare

mking8288

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Sail and Sustain - with FDR's transitional retirement to bonus-enriched consulting work, corporate board room has to come up with other savings, i.e. run the current milky route on just 2 engines instead of 3 and 4 also ... think about the fuel saved, LOL.  Currently, approximately 120 nm to PC at 11 knots, expected arrival around 0600 hours tomorrow.  No "promised" stop to Bermuda this week, none whatsoever ... regardless what was advertised previously.  

 

Wow, surprised that pax on another sold-out cruise hasn't protested with the buffet at 50% capacity due to overhead water leaks & probably sections roped off for safety reasons ... 

 

 

NCL Getaway - 18 March 2023 NY-FL Track 03B.jpg

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egurbi

egurbi

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1 hour ago, LoungerOnBalcony55 said:

That's probably because a pipe burst and flooded the other section on the previous sailing. 

No, that is all taken care of. Fully operational on both sides for breakfast and lunch.  My comment was about dinner. More like yield management, which seems to me to be appropriate. 

 

But I'm not complaining about the dinner buffet and the choices available. If you want to complain about that, start cruising with Celebrity.

 

The crew is in surprisingly good spirits as they are clearly working very hard with little rest.  I will say that the amount of garbage ending up in the stateroom hallways is ridiculous. And that one is on the passengers, not the crew, IMHO.

 

 

 

 

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PistolPete13 "Live from...." Rare

PistolPete13

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16 hours ago, egurbi said:

I am on this cruise and hope the OP does not mind a few updates: 

 

1.  Embarkation began for Haven at 1115, followed by accessible, then sapphire. I mean this as no slight.  There were several “limping” passengers as they went through the accessible security line; once outside walking to the ship their limp mysteriously was cured as they broke out into a full walking sprint to the ship.

 


Thank you for the limp idea, I'll need to try this the next time!!

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