Semi-live from the Norwegian Getaway, 13-22 May

[ecslady]

2 minutes ago, cruiseny4life said:

So that @clydeozzy doesn't have to waste time taking photos of every attraction on the ship, I did a 30 second Google search to get you the information. 

 

Source: https://www.ncl.com/ca/en/cruise-faq/are-there-size-and-weight-requirements-waterdry-slides-rope-courses-rock-climbing-walls-go-karts

 

Thanks so so much!  I looked in the FAQ and couldn't find it!!!!

[schmoopie17]

So...I've never really paid attention to the laundry on the ship, since we usually bring over-stuffed suitcases and have never needed laundry. However, on our upcoming 10-day cruise we will be doing carry-ons only, following three days in Rome...so laundry will be an issue.

 

Is it typical to have to wait until the fifth day to send laundry out? By the way, this will be our first Platinum cruise, if that makes a difference, since the laundry will be free.

 

Perhaps @cruiseny4life or @UKstagescould weigh in...since they commented earlier on this thread. 

Edited May 20 by schmoopie17

[cruiseny4life]

1 minute ago, schmoopie17 said:

So...I've never really paid attention to the laundry on the ship, since we usually bring over-stuffed suitcases and have never needed laundry. However, on our upcoming 10-day cruise we will be doing carry-ons only, following three days in Rome...so laundry will be an issue.

 

Is it typical to have to wait until the fifth day to send laundry out? By the way, this will be our first Platinum cruise, if that makes a difference, since the laundry will be free.

 

Perhaps @cruiseny4life could weigh in...

You really want the guy that lives in the same two pairs of shorts and three t-shirts to give you laundry advice? I won't even tell you how many pairs of undies and socks I go through on a week long cruise! 🤢

[clydeozzy]

May 19 Aarhus, Denmark

 

Apologies for the delay on this one. I had to have an early night because of going to Berlin today. Thank you to the people who have answered questions while I was busy!

 

I had a morning breakfast at Taste, and got a window seat as we were making our way into Aarhus. 

 

 

I had a ham and cheese omelet and pancakes.

 

 

I got off from the ship pretty much as soon as it docked. It was a public holiday today though and hence a lot of things were shut in Aarhus. I hadn't made any plans to do in Aarhus, so I just ended up walking around and taking photos. It's very pretty!

 

 

It was good to get out and wander for a few hours! It was lovely weather for it.

 

I got back on the ship for lunch at O'Sheehans. I had the sausage sliders and the fish sandwich.

 

 

I relaxed and drew for a few hours on the waterfront on deck 8. It's definitely my favourite spot during the day for quiet.

 

 

I had to have an early dinner and night because of the Berlin excursion I had booked through NCL tomorrow. I had it at Taste again, and again got a window seat just in time for sail away!

 

 

I ordered the scallops, a steak and carrot cake.

 

 

Lovely ! Some people on our Facebook group for our sailing don't like the food and I can't really relate! I've enjoyed pretty much everything I've eaten so far. I guess if you have very high standards?? Or I just have basic taste lol!! Which might very well be the case.

 

I went by the photo gallery to check out my photos that got taken last night and yeah they were really good! I bought the best one as a digital download and they will send them via email to you after the cruise but also give you a QR code to access it immediately too. I'm tempted to buy another too however it's $29.95 for a digital download, probably just one more.

 

I got an early night as the meet time for Berlin excursions is 7am! (I'm writing this as we wait for the train back to Warnemunde now!)

 

 

[cabincop]

On 5/17/2024 at 10:19 PM, clydeozzy said:

really do think this needs to be a bit rethought of, as not in the atrium do you have all the guest services such as shore excursions and such but then also the atrium bar, along with Starbucks and the internet cafe. There is no other real lounge/big area to

I’m hoping they put a divider in atrium during refurb. That way people can enjoy atrium. And you can hear Internet cafe & bar. It’s really a bad design flaw. 

[cruiseny4life]

28 minutes ago, schmoopie17 said:

So...I've never really paid attention to the laundry on the ship, since we usually bring over-stuffed suitcases and have never needed laundry. However, on our upcoming 10-day cruise we will be doing carry-ons only, following three days in Rome...so laundry will be an issue.

 

Is it typical to have to wait until the fifth day to send laundry out? By the way, this will be our first Platinum cruise, if that makes a difference, since the laundry will be free.

 

Perhaps @cruiseny4life or @UKstagescould weigh in...since they commented earlier on this thread. 

Schmoopie....were you actually being serious? 

 

We were on the eleven day Pr1ma Transatlantic as Gold. The (at the time) $29 laundry bags (now $34) came out on day five or six. That was a good thing, because I did have stinky clothes from spending time in the air, then in Barcelona for a few days, and another long, sweaty shore excursion day in Cartagena/Murcia. We did partake of the laundry, with a 50% discount given Gold. So, we really did use the laundry...and trust me, that dirty clothes bag we were storing was one funky bag of nastiness!!! 

 

So yes, I believe day five'ish is when to expect the laundry bag. Sorry I didn't recognize you were actually asking a question before. 🤡

[schmoopie17]

2 minutes ago, cruiseny4life said:

Schmoopie....were you actually being serious? 

 

I was serious...and don't call me Shirley. Oh wait, you didn't.

 

Actually, your answer was helpful. Although having to wait five days...plus another day or two to get clean stuff back...could be an issue. And since we're both Platinum, we may have a hard time doing laundry twice in 10 days.

[cruiseny4life]

6 minutes ago, schmoopie17 said:

I was serious...and don't call me Shirley. Oh wait, you didn't.

 

Actually, your answer was helpful. Although having to wait five days...plus another day or two to get clean stuff back...could be an issue. And since we're both Platinum, we may have a hard time doing laundry twice in 10 days.

We might have had a different service standard (it applies, so that's why I'm saying it), as we were in the Haven. We called our room steward at 7 PM, he picked up the laundry and we had it back by 10 AM the following day. I don't know if that's how it works for all staterooms or if this was a Haven perk. 

[AlmiranteChurruca]

The thing with the laundry bag should not be an issue at all. Being Platinum you can send the bag you are entitled to on your very first day if you wish to do so. Later on into the cruise, they will make a "bundle offer" (additional charge) for an extra bag. On my last cruise I sent two laundry bags expecting to be charged for the second one (one was complimentary and there was just one Latitudes member in the cabin) but was not charged at all. Not saying this the normal thing, but this is what happened to me on the Gem last September.

[schmoopie17]

@clydeozzy Sorry for hijacking your thread.

 

We now return you to your regularly scheduled trip report.

[clydeozzy]

You're all good!! Laundry talk is important to know!

 

And I totally forgot the freestyle daily for Aarhus, here it is:

 

[clydeozzy]

May 20 Warnemunde, Germany

 

 

This was a very early start as I had the Berlin On Your Own excursion booked with NCL. The meeting for all the Berlin excursions via train was at 7am and it was a bit of a nightmare/not organised well. They started calling out stickers/numbers but half of us didn't have stickers and nobody was giving out any. The whole Getaway theatre was packed. Then it seems they gave up with calling out stickers and instead just reading out our excursion tour specific number one by one for us to go off the ship. It was a bit poorly executed but we all did eventually get off and onto the train to Berlin. The carriages were organised by excursions so 1-2 excursions would sit in one carriage and the whole train was filled up this way.

 

I chose the on your own just because I prefer to do things on my own, at my own pace and to my own schedule and I'm confident by myself. I'm fine with public transport in getting around big cities and so was ready to tackle Berlin! Super excited for this one.

 

The train ride is just over 2 hours. For the Paris excursions, I think they used coach instead of train? But this is a very similar length of day to the Paris ones from Le Havre to give you an idea of the kind of day you'll be having if you decide to make the trek. I have never been to Germany, let alone Berlin, so I didn't want to pass this up, however do not expect to see everything in a day of course, or your expectations will be shattered. They gave us information on the train such as a map, details of the meeting point and time back and tips.

 

When we got to Berlin Central Station, at around 9.45am, I went off on my way to my first stop the Brandenburg Gate. It's right near the Central Station!

 

 

I then kept walking to the memorial for the Jewish people who were killed which is nearby. 

 

 

I then made the next short walk to the Topography of Terror. It's a museum in the old SS Headquarters, now focused on educating on the beginnings of the SS and their crimes. It took me a good two hours going around reading everything, it's extremely saddening too.

 

 

Just around the corner is Checkpoint Charlie. Just across the street from it, there is a small free little exhibition/explanation talking through the history of the East and West Berlin and the gate to add to the experience.

 

 

I had already tackled a lot but still had one more place I wanted to go before heading to the meeting place. For this I hopped on Berlin's metro system (U-Bahn/S-Bahn) and went on my way. 
 

The U-Bahn which I used is really simple. You can find a map of all the lines/routes here at https://sbahn.berlin/en/route-map/, then go to your station and use the ticket machine to buy a ticket. They have English and other language options and accept cash or card. Then validate your ticket using one of the validator machines on the platform and you're good to go. No ticket barriers or anything. The stations are all really nice, nicer than our tube in London in my opinion! 🤭

 

 

I was visiting Pasaje Arte Independiente which is a few narrow streets filled with art and graffiti and a hip spot for creatives. It was absolutely beautiful. If you hadn't guessed by how much I'm drawing in my free time on this cruise, I'm an artist myself having studied it all the way until university and I keep doing it as a hobby. I love finding these kinds of places.

 

 

There's a shop in this area which is an a screenprint studio but also selling artwork from the independent artists in the area too such as screenprinted tshirts, patches, notebooks etc. The stairs up to the shop/studio are incredible too.

 

 

I then made my way back to the meeting point where we got our train back to the ship. It was around 6.45pm when we got back onto the ship.

 

My Berlin haul!

 

 

The green and red men pins are the traffic light signs in Berlin, 'Ampelmannchen' ! They were what you could tell if you were in East or West Berlin back in the day.

 

I then just had a quick burger at O'Sheehans for dinner. I got a nice view of the band playing in the Atrium with dinner.

 

[clydeozzy]

Two things I forgot to mention (probably due to tiredness) from yesterday. 

 

The laundry was on my bed all clean when I came back from Berlin.

 

They gave us a little disembarkation procedure with our freestyle dailies along with luggage tags to be picked up in the Atrium on deck 6. They are staggered by timeslot and such or you can choose to self disembark. I've chosen a pretty late slot as I have no flights to catch (I'm having a few days stay in Copenhagen, Denmark).

[clydeozzy]

May 21 Kiel, Germany

 

Apologies for the delay with this, and I unfortunately forgot to take a picture of the Kiel freestyle daily. I'm writing this from my hotel in Copenhagen, Denmark so have disembarked the ship now and had a fab first day in Copenhagen so far. I'm staying here for a few days so will make a summary of all I did in Copenhagen once that's over for anyone who might either have a port stop there and like some ideas or might be considering a pre or post cruise stay there. 

 

For Kiel, I had booked an excursion with NCL to Lübeck which is about an hour and a half drive from Kiel. I was a bit stumped with Kiel so decided to go with this, Lübeck on your own as it looked quite scenic and nice to have a wander on the last port day of the cruise. 

 

I had breakfast in the main dining room, having eggs, tomato and bacon. And french toast if I remember right? I don't think I took a picture though.

 

 

Lübeck is well known for it's marzipan and also used to be a big merchant's guild. I've attached some pictures for you all.

 

 

It was nice to have a wander around and buy some marzipan/nougat from the oldest marzipan shop in Lübeck, but otherwise I wouldn't go back. But it was the last day before disembarkation and I didn't want to trek to Hamburg either so yeah. I also probably would have done a Kiel excursion or by myself honestly if I go again. I only recently found out that my grandfather had done his national service there after WW2 and worked there on making sure the submarines/uboats were not used for malicious intent again. I definitely would have liked to have seen if there was anything there like a museum or such to explore that but yeah, too late now. If/When I go back, I will explore Kiel!

 

I had an early dinner at O'Sheehans as I sadly had to pack my luggage and get ready for disembarking the next day. I left my big luggage outside my door but had a hand luggage to keep with me and my backpack for the next day.

 

I got an early night for disembarking tomorrow.

 

To save a post, disembarkation went smoothly all the way up until getting into the luggage claim area. The queue/waitline for a taxi was so massive that it was obscuring any view of bags/suitcases at all. It was so busy. I just about finally figured out where my suitcase was and then was able to get out of the terminal, not wanting to deal with any of that taxi line. It looked like a wait of two hours for a taxi! I took the public bus which drops you off right next to the metro station which I then rode to the central Copenhagen station and then a quick walk to my hotel. You can also on that metro journey switch lines to the line that takes you to the airport if you need a flight home instead of a hotel stay. Of course if you're not very mobile or have tons of bags, a taxi would be the best but yeah.. just saying public transport is an option too!

 

In summary, the cruise was great! I enjoyed it so much, and as my first solo trip it was such a great experience! I'm so glad I took that leap of faith and did it. Overall I had a very positive experience and any negatives have been incredibly minor in the grand scheme of things. I can't wait for my next solo cruise which will be next year but this time with Celebrity aboard the Millennium going around Japan. It will be interesting to compare the ships along with the cruiseline differences. Millennium is a much smaller ship than the Getaway and I wonder if that will play a difference in my experience on sea days? We'll see.

 

Thanks for following along with my journey. Like I said, I'll be posting a summary of what I get up to in Copenhagen after my trip here ends (I fly back to the UK on Sunday 26 May) for anyone who will be interested in that.

 

Annabelle

 

[AlmiranteChurruca]

Once again, thank you so much for your posts. Been a pleasure following along. The Getaway is right now on her way to Brest (France) for dry dock before her next itinerary starting June 6th. Hopefully they get the dry dock schedule right and the originally planned itinerary is not affected in any way...

[clydeozzy]

They were starting works even before we were all disembarked! Speedy speedy. Word has it on our Facebook group for the sailing they're adding an enclosed smoking area in the casino. When I was walking by on the way to the final breakfast this morning they were packing up all the casino equipment and some had already been removed. It was quite a problem I think as Shanghai noodle bar is right next to the casino and it's not nice to get smoke smell when you're eating (at least for me as a non smoker hence why I didn't go). Hopefully all goes well with your sailing! 

[realnice46]

I’m sorry but the food doesn’t look very good, I guess I will be losing a lot of weight on our upcoming cruise. Definitely will be eating in every port.

[DorothyB]

Thanks for the posts.  I will be on the Getaway in October AFTER dry dock 

[zqvol]

44 minutes ago, realnice46 said:

I’m sorry but the food doesn’t look very good, I guess I will be losing a lot of weight on our upcoming cruise. Definitely will be eating in every port.

So you have decided, based on a few non professional photos, that the food is bad. That is just sad. 

[realnice46]

Just now, zqvol said:

So you have decided, based on a few non professional photos, that the food is bad. That is just sad. 

No I’ve seen other photos and reviews, maybe it will be different on board. Maybe with my low expectations I might be pleasantly surprised.

[wesorbeth]

On 5/22/2024 at 10:13 PM, DorothyB said:

Thanks for the posts.  I will be on the Getaway in October AFTER dry dock 

We will be on in October as well.  We were on the Getaway in April of 2023, I am interested if I will notice any changes.

[PelicanBill]

Wonderfully detailed trip postings. Thank you!  

 

I am curious. Do they change all monetary accounting over to Pounds Sterling for Europe or what?

[clydeozzy]

1 hour ago, PelicanBill said:

Wonderfully detailed trip postings. Thank you!  

 

I am curious. Do they change all monetary accounting over to Pounds Sterling for Europe or what?

 

It's all in USD / American dollars. So my final bill was in USD but my bank converts that to my actual currency (GBP in this case).

Edited May 25 by clydeozzy

[clydeozzy]

On 5/23/2024 at 2:53 AM, realnice46 said:

I’m sorry but the food doesn’t look very good, I guess I will be losing a lot of weight on our upcoming cruise. Definitely will be eating in every port.

 

Sorry to hear that.

[FlatFooted Freda]

Annabelle, thank you so much for this post. DH and I were on the same sailing. I wish I had read a good detailed report such as yours prior to our sailing. 

For those who are prepping for their Getaway trip, may I offer my two cents.

DH and I work part time, and are not able to select our dates for time off. So we are very dependent on dates and itineraries available. Norwegian wins on itineraries IMO. 

The Good:

 - Entertainment - top to bottom, some the most consistently fun shows - and we missed the headliner, Million Dollar Quartet. We saw 2 other shows with the cast from MDQuartet, and they were great! Throw in a Fleetwood Mac tribute band, and it made for great entertainment. All the cast members were talented and seemed to be having fun. When you're on a ship with a "free" drink package, fun is of the order. 

- The Crew - as always - hard working and helpful. 

- Our specialty restaurant visits - Moderno and La Cucina. As compared to MDRs and the buffet the specialties were definitely better. I've read this has been intentional on NCLs part.

The Not So Good:

- the buffet and the MDRs. We were disappointed as compared to our previous NCL sailings. Really hoping this is specific to this ship. I'm a vegetarian, and the MDRs offered 3 cheese ziti every night (which was fair), and then one different veg option that rotated each night. If the rotating option didn't sound appetizing, we just opted for the buff for dinner. 

- the ship seem crowded. Not uncommon to have to wander around the buffet to find a table. 

- layout of this ship surprised in not having ample indoor communal spaces. I read on CC that this ship was designed for Miami, but it was still surprising that a ship by/for Norwegian was not designed for bad weather. I doubt dry dock will fix any of these problems.

- as previously mentioned here and elsewhere, there were some clusters on excursion days. I've never had a 2 floor queue to disembark on any other ship. We also experienced some long lines to reboard the ship.

 

OK, that all said, I still really enjoyed this cruise, and we purchased our Next Cruise credits. But we will likely avoid Breakaway class. Northern Europe was awesome. We hope to someday see the rest of the Baltic Sea ports. Also, lesson learned in that we will research Cruise Critic prior to booking - if  dry dock is coming soon, might be best to look elsewhere.