Getaway Baltic Observations

Just back from the Getaway 8/23 Baltic sailing. These boards were very helpful to us in planning our trip so want to give back by sharing some observations for future cruisers and those thinking about booking it.

This was our 8th cruise, 3rd with NCL and the Getaway was the largest ship we have been on. We are late 50s and prefer NCL when cruising alone.

1. The itinerary.

The itinerary was great. This was our first trip to Europe and had concerns about language, logistics etc. All were unfounded.

2. Flights/embarkation port.

We used frequent flyer miles to book business class from Chicago on United. If you have miles available I suggest you consider this as it is a long flight.

Also took advantage of United's "free leg" option and spent 3 days in London before flying business class onto Copenhagen for the cruise. This gave us access to business class lounges in Chicago and Heathrow which was nice. Also allowed us to recover from jet lag before the cruise.

One thing I would consider doing differently is to have embarked at Wernemunde rather than Copenhagen to be able to spend more time in Berlin. I understand there are negatives to doing this but for me Berlin was more interesting than Copenhagen and much less expensive.

3. The Getaway.

Overall we liked the ship but it may be better suited for the Caribbean. It was cool enough (not cold) that most of the 4,800 passengers were on 6/7/8 on sea days which made it feel crowded. This was only an issue for us on the last two sea days (we did not port in Stockholm due to high winds) as the first sea day was warm and sunny so we spent most of it up on 15.

We also missed not having a large venue at the top of the ship for games, shows, bingo etc. The atrium venue felt to us like someplace to stop at for a few minutes on the way to someplace else.

This wasn't a huge issue but just wasn't as comfortable as other ships we have been on.

If you want to see something in the atrium and don't want to stand get there early.

4. Reservations.

A heads up that making reservations for everything as soon as possible is a must on this ship. For us this negated many of the pluses of the freestyle concept.

5. Garden buffet at breakfast.

A chaotic mess that I suggest avoiding whenever possible. A small buffet was set up in Moderno which was nice, I suggest it or O'Sheehans or the MDR if one is open.

6. Dinner in MDR.

Since we didn't make MDR reservations we ended up in the Tropicana room every night that we ate in the MDR. This was fine other than we thought the music was a little too loud making it hard to talk during dinner.

It was more enjoyable for us to sit in the back of the room so we started requesting a table away from the band.

7. St Petersburg.

No need to be nervous about disembarking at SPB. We were on an independent and suspect the cruise ship tour groups did get off first but it's not an issue. Independents queued on 6, two lines, one for each gangway.

We got in line about 7:10 and cleared immigration about 8:30. I think we left the ship around 7:30 so most of this time was spent getting through immigration. Day 1 takes much longer than day two, maybe 1 minute per passenger on day 1 vs. 10 seconds on day 2.

On day 1 immigration printed and stamped a piece of paper that they give you which I assumed was a temp. visa. When you come back at the end of day 1 they took this back and kept it. On day 2 no paper, they just glance at your passport and waive you through.

Remember that if you are on a group tour your not leaving the pier until the last tour member gets through immigration. We sat in the van for 30 minutes waiting for our last couple.

We learned about the independent tour companies on Cruise Critic and are glad we went that route. Not only is it much less expensive, touring with 12 in a van is more enjoyable than 50+ in a bus. We saw the large groups entering the Hermitage as we were leaving and I have no idea how they kept them together.

8. Some of our fellow passengers.

We experienced more pushy and aggressive guests on this cruise than any other we have been on. Not sure if it was due to the itinerary, the size of the ship or me just getting old and less tolerant. It was the cause of much of the issues in the buffet (I felt sorry for the staff) and we eventually accepted the fact that some adults were going to rush into the elevator as soon as the door opened before anyone got off.

Not a big deal, but just a heads up in case it wasn't a fluke on our cruise. Don't let it ruin your vacation.

8. Overall.

We had a great trip with no regrets.

I would have preferred a smaller ship and wish we would have considerred embarking in wernemunde vs. Copenhagen but otherwise it was all good.

thank you, great that you had a good time.

Glad you had a great trip.

Keith

Just back from the Getaway 8/23 Baltic sailing.

8. Overall.

 

We had a great trip with no regrets.

 

I would have preferred a smaller ship...but otherwise it was all good.

We were on same cruise as you and I think you gave a very good and fair overview of the cruise. There were lots of pushy and rude people and the buffet at breakfast was a scrum at the best of times.

We did this cruise a few years ago on the Star and actually preferred it on the GA as so much to do when not in port,

On the same cruise and also agree about pushy and rude people, it way too crowded onboard, which in part I think was because of the chilly weather and the inability to utilize all the outdoor space available. So everyone was packed onto 678.

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Ugh. One of the reasons I was nervous about this itinerary was because of the ship and the weather. Didn't seem like the best ship for cool weather. I am sailing in October. Guess I will just have to prepare myself.

Do any of you remember seeing if the Viva Vino package was being offered? I did not get the UBP and the wine one seems rather expensive to me. Would prefer to just buy bottles. I am trying to decide if I should bring some on board and suck up the corkage fee.

Do any of you remember seeing if the Viva Vino package was being offered? I did not get the UBP and the wine one seems rather expensive to me. Would prefer to just buy bottles. I am trying to decide if I should bring some on board and suck up the corkage fee.

Yes it as available starts at $88 + 18% for 4 bottles as I recall.

On the same cruise and also agree about pushy and rude people, it way too crowded onboard, which in part I think was because of the chilly weather and the inability to utilize all the outdoor space available. So everyone was packed onto 678.

It's a European thing.

Glad you enjoyed the cruise!

You are not the first person I had read from that sailing complaining about the rude and pushy people.

I did not find the passengers on our sailing like that - except for at the buffet. Otherwise, either I was oblivious, or just ignored it all.