Really bad reviews on Getaway

[cruiser2015]

2 hours ago, The Med said:

I thought that all Hawaii cruises went from Honolulu?

That is not true for ALL.

In fact, most go transpacific in one direction or another (lots of sea days) stopping in Canada or Mexico, or, possibly,  a stop somewhere else, like Tahiti. This is because there must be a non-US port stop - with one exception.

The POA goes R/T Honolulu. It is the only US flagged vessel there. Hence the only ship that does not have to go to a non-US port.

 

Of course, that's one heck of an air journey for you guys.

[thistimeplease]

On 10/16/2023 at 7:10 PM, The Med said:

What we wanted was to fly to New York for New Years Eve, have a couple of days in NY before picking up a cruise for a duration of about 7 to 10 days.

 

There isn’t actually that much to choose from, and we won’t go on Carnival.

We saw the Getaway leaving on the 2nd Jan and thought it might be ok but we really don’t think it’s for us.

 

So it’s looking like it might be the Cunard Crossing.

We can’t see anything else that might work.

My only concern with a transatlantic crossing would be the weather in January.  I definitely wouldn't be considering it but everyone is different.  We sailed on the GA several years ago and loved it.  Our favorite ships are the Breakaway class and can't wait to sail on the Breakaway next summer/fall.  Good luck with your planning.  

[The Med]

10 hours ago, thistimeplease said:

My only concern with a transatlantic crossing would be the weather in January.  I definitely wouldn't be considering it but everyone is different.  

Yes this is indeed a consideration and one of the reasons that we are dithering.

 

On the other hand, a Cunard Transatlantic Crossing has been something that we’ve been considering for a while but it the summer we’ve tended to avoid  it because we’ve always wanted to go somewhere else where we can get off and see places.
 

In January the prices are rock bottom for the reasons that’s it’s out of season so it might be a chance to do it and cross it off our list.

Or do we head for the sun?
 

Decisions, decisions.

[FitchburgWIFamily]

18 hours ago, The Med said:
 

In January the prices are rock bottom for the reasons that’s it’s out of season so it might be a chance to do it and cross it off our list.

Or do we head for the sun?
 

Decisions, decisions.

If the prices are rock bottom, it might be an indication the cruise isn’t selling well, and a lot of the concerns about lines and crowds might not be a factor.

 

I’ve sailed on 7? different NCL ships.  I’ve had slow service in a restaurant or two.  I’ve seen atriums overflowing with people participating in an event that never should have been scheduled in such a small venue.  I’ve had a meal I didn’t care for.  I’ve waited way too long for an elevator I could fit into.  I’ve had wonderful stewards and stewards I barely saw.  But for every bad experience I have had so many more positive ones.

 

There are a LOT of reviews that spend hundreds of words complaining about one incident and the last seven words to say “other than that the cruise was fine”

 

If you do book a cruise on the Getaway (a ship I loved last Aug) I can almost guarantee that there will be a few negative interaction, but if you can accept that as the cost of travel you will have a wonderful vacation.

 

 

[The Med]

4 hours ago, FitchburgWIFamily said:

If the prices are rock bottom, it might be an indication the cruise isn’t selling well, and a lot of the concerns about lines and crowds might not be a factor.

 

 

 

 

Thank you, yes it seems that there are many fans of NCL on here which has given us a re think.

 

For clarification though, the concern about lines and queues was on NCL not Cunard.

The rock bottom price was for the Cunard Crossing not the Getaway cruise.

In fact when I rang my TA about the Getaway it had gone up in price from the one I saw advertised. 

[JakTar]

Might this help to inform you?

https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/topic/2974640-oh-cinders-you-shall-go-to-the-ball…-an-ncl-getaway-diary/

 

[njkate]

On 10/17/2023 at 11:58 AM, The Med said:

No, but to be honest it’s just to be away for New Year, we won’t necessarily be celebrating. With the 5 hour time change we will probably be asleep at midnight anyway. Lol.

If that’s the case I’d look into Miami, New Orleans for new years and look at sailings from those ports. The weather will be warmer then NY and new years in NYC is a major cluster to say the least

[Aldeya]

We sailed with NCL most exclusively for the last 10 years.It was a good fit for us. The last 2 cruises on Getaway made us switch to other cruselines. The reduced level of services, Drastic changes in entertainment choices, the whole experience was just  not up to par

 

The crew is overworked, they do try very hard but with the amount of work and lack of adequate staff it's just not working. There were many unhappy people especially on our last Getaway cruise in December.

Everything that made cruising with  Norwegian special is gone, not worth it for us. 

 

 

 

[The Med]

Thanks everyone for the replies.

We've made a decision not to fly to The States for New Year and have now booked a cruise out of Southampton leaving on 30th Dec with P&O.

 

So we’re away for New Year which was what we wanted.

 

The ship is much larger than we are used to but at least there will be plenty to do. We’re going with an open mind in terms of service and expectations so we shall see. 
 

 

[Laszlo]

6 hours ago, The Med said:

Thanks everyone for the replies.

We've made a decision not to fly to The States for New Year and have now booked a cruise out of Southampton leaving on 30th Dec with P&O.

 

So we’re away for New Year which was what we wanted.

 

The ship is much larger than we are used to but at least there will be plenty to do. We’re going with an open mind in terms of service and expectations so we shall see. 
 

 

Have a great time!

[bkrickles1]

On 11/19/2023 at 10:21 AM, Aldeya said:

We sailed with NCL most exclusively for the last 10 years.It was a good fit for us. The last 2 cruises on Getaway made us switch to other cruselines. The reduced level of services, Drastic changes in entertainment choices, the whole experience was just  not up to par

 

The crew is overworked, they do try very hard but with the amount of work and lack of adequate staff it's just not working. There were many unhappy people especially on our last Getaway cruise in December.

Everything that made cruising with  Norwegian special is gone, not worth it for us. 

 

 

 

Could you do me a favor and explain the drastic changes in entertainment choices on Getaway?

I'm booked for April, 2024 on Getaway and, from going through the website and reading these forums, I was under the impression that really nothing had changed from an entertainment standpoint.

I'm aware of the fleetwide changes in some services, as I've sailed Joy twice in the last 18 months.

We booked Getaway for 10 days because the entertainment is different from Joy, Encore and Escape, which is what our last 4 sailings were on. We were looking for something a little different.

Please let me know what's been taken away so I may plan accordingly.

TIA

[graphicguy]

36 minutes ago, bkrickles1 said:

Could you do me a favor and explain the drastic changes in entertainment choices on Getaway?

I'm booked for April, 2024 on Getaway and, from going through the website and reading these forums, I was under the impression that really nothing had changed from an entertainment standpoint.

I'm aware of the fleetwide changes in some services, as I've sailed Joy twice in the last 18 months.

We booked Getaway for 10 days because the entertainment is different from Joy, Encore and Escape, which is what our last 4 sailings were on. We were looking for something a little different.

Please let me know what's been taken away so I may plan accordingly.

TIA

I saw Burn The Floor and Million Dollar Quartet on the Getaway.  Both shows are outstanding as is the entertainment in Syd Norman's.

 

Not sure where the "drastic change" alluded to is.

[Aldeya]

27 minutes ago, bkrickles1 said:

Could you do me a favor and explain the drastic changes in entertainment choices on Getaway?

 

There are no more full-production shows NCL was so famous for. It's applied to the whole NCL fleet. After Getaway we went on Escape, only one show for 11-days cruise The Choir Man , and we were told that after their contract is ended they will not be called back. The main entertainment choices are singing duos in the Atrium, a lot of trivia, music performers in the bars and lounges,. Maybe for some it's enough, we missed the shows in the theatre. 

I'm sure you'll be fine on your cruise,  go with open mind and have fun 🙂

[DrUrsula]

Did an 11 night on Getaway out of Southampton October 1. Ship was at capacity . The only place that had lines was the buffet. 

Specialty restaurants showed as being full prior to boarding but there were plenty of available tables once on board. The mojito bar and Maltings whiskey bar got to be 2-3 people deep and you had to be slightly pushy at times but nothing to write home about.

No comedy shows in the small venue on our itinerary. 

Theater was close to full but no one was turned away.

We saw a magician, a comedian, Burn the Floor, Million Dollar Quartet, Syd Norman's several times, the dueling pianos. There were many entertainment offerings of which we did not partake. Casino had a great vibe but the smoke became overwhelming at times. 

 

Service was terrific all around; the only meal that wasn't really good was at the Brazilian steak house. The waitress noted that I didn't like the overcooked filet and hopped over to Cagneys and brought me one of their lovely steaks. That was sweet!

 

It was a great cruise with no issues except for our cabin location ; it was very noisy .

Live and learn! Club balcony, deck eight 3/4 of the way forward. No noise from the theater . Lots of noise from crew from behind that mystery wall across the hall. Metal on metal and glass breaking sounds all day and night. Got used to it .

 

Our 5th time on Getaway and I would go aboard in a heartbeat

 

We were already conditioned to the diminished cabin  service from prior NCL cruises this year. No biggie! 

Have a super time!

 

 

 

Edited November 20, 2023 by DrUrsula

[bkrickles1]

13 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

I saw Burn The Floor and Million Dollar Quartet on the Getaway.  Both shows are outstanding as is the entertainment in Syd Norman's.

 

Not sure where the "drastic change" alluded to is.

Exactly! I already knew this from my research. Lmao 😂

Thanks for confirming. 

[bkrickles1]

7 minutes ago, Aldeya said:

There are no more full-production shows NCL was so famous for. It's applied to the whole NCL fleet. After Getaway we went on Escape, only one show for 11-days cruise The Choir Man , and we were told that after their contract is ended they will not be called back. The main entertainment choices are singing duos in the Atrium, a lot of trivia, music performers in the bars and lounges,. Maybe for some it's enough, we missed the shows in the theatre. 

I'm sure you'll be fine on your cruise,  go with open mind and have fun 🙂

Yeah, I was speaking specifically about Getaway, which is what you started out doing. 

I'm well aware of the production shows being taken away, but that doesn't apply to Getaway. 

As far as I can tell, and many on here have confirmed, the entertainment hasn't changed or had anything taken away. 

So again, what drastic changes in entertainment did you experience specifically on Getaway? 

TIA

[DrUrsula]

1 minute ago, bkrickles1 said:

Yeah, I was speaking specifically about Getaway, which is what you started out doing. 

I'm well aware of the production shows being taken away, but that doesn't apply to Getaway. 

As far as I can tell, and many on here have confirmed, the entertainment hasn't changed or had anything taken away. 

So again, what drastic changes in entertainment did you experience specifically on Getaway? 

TIA

This was our fifth time on Getaway . There is no drastic change in entertainment. With the exception of not having stand up comedy in that little club ( I am under the weather and brain is fuzzy from fever), we noticed no lack of entertainment options from our prior cruises.

[bkrickles1]

4 minutes ago, DrUrsula said:

This was our fifth time on Getaway . There is no drastic change in entertainment. With the exception of not having stand up comedy in that little club ( I am under the weather and brain is fuzzy from fever), we noticed no lack of entertainment options from our prior cruises.

And I'm sure the comedy shows are there for all the sailings that start and end in the US, like all the Caribbean cruises. 

Thanks for Replying. 

[bedfordmom]

Had two comedians on the Getaway TA. They weren't bad but repeated their shows word for word. They had the three main shows Broadway Unplugged; MIllion Dollar Quartet and Burn the Floor. They had some great juggles, magicians etc. Some of the repeat shows were new while others were an exact repeat. Overall except for 1-2 nights of the 13 night cruise we found at least one if not more shows that we enjoyed.  

[Topdog52]

17 hours ago, DrUrsula said:

Did an 11 night on Getaway out of Southampton October 1. Ship was at capacity . The only place that had lines was the buffet. 

Specialty restaurants showed as being full prior to boarding but there were plenty of available tables once on board. The mojito bar and Maltings whiskey bar got to be 2-3 people deep and you had to be slightly pushy at times but nothing to write home about.

No comedy shows in the small venue on our itinerary. 

Theater was close to full but no one was turned away.

We saw a magician, a comedian, Burn the Floor, Million Dollar Quartet, Syd Norman's several times, the dueling pianos. There were many entertainment offerings of which we did not partake. Casino had a great vibe but the smoke became overwhelming at times. 

 

Service was terrific all around; the only meal that wasn't really good was at the Brazilian steak house. The waitress noted that I didn't like the overcooked filet and hopped over to Cagneys and brought me one of their lovely steaks. That was sweet!

 

It was a great cruise with no issues except for our cabin location ; it was very noisy .

Live and learn! Club balcony, deck eight 3/4 of the way forward. No noise from the theater . Lots of noise from crew from behind that mystery wall across the hall. Metal on metal and glass breaking sounds all day and night. Got used to it .

 

Our 5th time on Getaway and I would go aboard in a heartbeat

 

We were already conditioned to the diminished cabin  service from prior NCL cruises this year. No biggie! 

Have a super time!

 

 

 

When lining up for BTF and Choir of Men which side is for the show and which side is the stand by line? I am booked for the second night, so I like to get up front for the stand by line.

[Panhandle Couple]

3 hours ago, Topdog52 said:

When lining up for BTF and Choir of Men which side is for the show and which side is the stand by line? I am booked for the second night, so I like to get up front for the stand by line.

For Breakaway and Escape cruises earlier this year, the standby line is on the port side entrance.

 

[kodiac]

I will reply to the main forum with a full review, but we are just hope from the Getaway - was on the 15 day RT from NYC to the Southern Carib. 

 

My honest opinion: I didn't like it as much as the NCL Joy. I feel the service in the dining rooms including all five (5) speciality restaurants that we went to were sub-par. Food was OK to good. We had one excellent meal in Le Bistro. We never had a long wait time to sit down or grab food from the buffet, but the dining staff was just not great overall. The buffet had some really good eats (and we are not buffet people). We didn't really like the layout of the ship, but we worked it out. Overall, liked the Joy much better than this ship for everything, food, service, layout, etc. 

[bkrickles1]

21 minutes ago, kodiac said:

I will reply to the main forum with a full review, but we are just hope from the Getaway - was on the 15 day RT from NYC to the Southern Carib. 

 

My honest opinion: I didn't like it as much as the NCL Joy. I feel the service in the dining rooms including all five (5) speciality restaurants that we went to were sub-par. Food was OK to good. We had one excellent meal in Le Bistro. We never had a long wait time to sit down or grab food from the buffet, but the dining staff was just not great overall. The buffet had some really good eats (and we are not buffet people). We didn't really like the layout of the ship, but we worked it out. Overall, liked the Joy much better than this ship for everything, food, service, layout, etc. 

I look forward to your review.

We've sailed Joy twice in the last 18 months and had a great time each sailing.

We wanted some different entertainment options, so we chose Getaway for next April for that reason and it also worked out date wise as it falls on my daughters birthday too.

And, it's a 10 day sailing which my wife and daughter are very excited about.

Already purchased Vibe passes to improve our daytime experience and I expect we'll enjoy the cruise immensely, as we always do.

[DrUrsula]

On 11/21/2023 at 8:54 AM, Topdog52 said:

When lining up for BTF and Choir of Men which side is for the show and which side is the stand by line? I am booked for the second night, so I like to get up front for the stand by line.

We didn't have Choir of Men. There was no line for the shows that we had reservations for. We just walked straight in after showing our cards. Sorry I couldn't help!