Getaway Review: May 16-23

This is not a comprehensive review, but I did want to hit a few points. Overall my husband and I enjoyed the cruise quite a bit.

Ship Movement

Various times on these boards people debated whether you could feel more ocean-related movement on the Getaway than on other ships. For the first four days or so, there was definitely a lot of movement even though the sea was pretty calm. I heard several people comment on it, so it wasn't just me. I asked a waiter about it, and he said it was pretty normal. The last three days there was very little movement. Also, on some parts of the ship (such as in the Tropicana Room), you can feel a lot of vibration from the engines. We don't get seasick and didn't find the movement to be a huge issue, but I thought I'd mention it since it may be an issue for some people.

Food

We had a couple of odd/not great waiters in the MDR and O'Sheehan's, but the service in the other food venues was very good, although often slow. We enjoyed the Tropicana Room the most for dinner. For specialty restaurants, we tried La Cucina (I found the food underwhelming although our server was great) and Moderno (meat was tender and flavorful). We tried to get into Cagney's, but it was solidly booked the whole week. The buffet was comparable to other buffets on other ships. Some of the MDR food was really terrific, but a few things were not great (my husband thought the French onion soup was gross).

Drinks

The water was good. This is actually the first cruise where I didn't have to buy bottled water. The tea and coffee were the standard premixed swill, but my husband happily drank both. We had the UBP. Drink service was actually rarely slow, and I liked almost all the drinks I tried. The North and South wines made for NCL are also quite good (there's a Sauvignon Blanc and a red blend, both tasty).

Chef's Table

We heard great things about the Chef's Table, and it lived up to the hype. We went right to restaurant reservations as soon as we got onboard to book it. (If you're not familiar with it, it's a special 12-person max evening where the head chef cooks a special 9-course menu with wine pairings. It's held in the Haven restaurant.) The food was amazing, and most of us were pretty tipsy at the end. The meal includes a behind-the-scenes tour (a couple of days later) of the ship's food service setup (prep, cooking, storage, etc.). The operation is very impressive.

Room

We had a spa balcony room. The room had plenty of storage, there was good water pressure, and the bed was comfy. Yes, the balcony was small, but it was large enough for our use, which was standing around to watch stuff or sitting and reading. Our room attendant (Marta) was excellent. My husband likes extra towels, and she always made sure we had more than enough. The room comes with access to the thermal spa, which was wonderfully relaxing.

Entertainment

We saw Burn the Floor, a magician, two comedians, Howl at the Moon, and various music acts around the ship. They were all good. I know some folks think that NCL's entertainment is better than on other lines, but I find it to be pretty equivalent.

Running Track

It should be called "Running and Obstacle Track." It's in a ridiculous location, and people would just randomly wander onto it, so dodging small children and clueless adults became part of the workout. It feels like they designed the whole ship and then were like, "crap, we forgot a running track; let's just stick it in this really dumb location."

Questions? Comments? Let me know!

I agree with the running track. It's really dumb. They should have designed it to encircle the deck with the ropes course. There's also a low deck - maybe 5? Where the shuffleboard is. If they opened up the ends it would be great.

I also commented on the water in my review. It's was great. No chlorine taste. Just as good bottled in my opinion.

 

Running Track

It should be called "Running and Obstacle Track." It's in a ridiculous location, and people would just randomly wander onto it, so dodging small children and clueless adults became part of the workout. It feels like they designed the whole ship and then were like, "crap, we forgot a running track; let's just stick it in this really dumb location."

 

Questions? Comments? Let me know!

Yeah, I had the same issue. I checked the dailies and supposedly the jogging track is only open before 9:30am and after 6:30pm....... I just ended up using the Waterfront.

We just got off the Getaway on May 16th and never felt much movement. Enjoyed the food in MDRs, Flamingo Grill, Cagney's and Le Bistro.

Have to laugh about that 'running track'. Part of it goes between the Flamingo Grill, climbing wall, and entrance to Arcade....it is a strangely congested area to place a running track:rolleyes:

Thank you for taking the time for your review! :) We sail in 41 days!! I'm a runner, so I am thinking the track will not be the place for me :cool: Although I will have to give it a try before I jump on the dreaded treadmill :p Would you mind sharing what you did for your excursions? I booked ours today for Nassau and Tortola. We are very excited to see Tortola, as we have never visited the BVI's :) So with a spa balcony, does that mean you were on deck 14? We have a mid ship balcony for our upcoming cruise. :)

Well written review. I was there as well and yes, the boat's movement the first two days was more than I have experienced in the past. Not sure if it the pace trying to make it to the first port or not, but it never seemed as bad after day 2. However, as you mentioned, throughout the duration of the week I felt the audible pulling and grinding of the engines..which was rather odd. It was so bad at times it almost felt as though there was an issue.

I posted in a separate thread as well and also felt the food was underwhelming given NCL's apparent commitment to food services. Both my primes and sirloins were greatly overcooked. However, cagneys was wonderful.

Like you, I was pleased with the entertainment and amount of activities available.

I did an oceanview, and apparently the MDR and/or onboard credit is not available unless you have a balcony or suite. Never saw that mentioned and was quite annoyed that NCL did that on their own webpage. Even after booking the oceanview, it never prompted or alerted me otherwise.

One issue I noticed, and perhaps you did unless you were in the Haven was the seating. I tend to stay up later and do evening activities. Thus, I won't hit the deck until 9 or 10am. At that point, each and every chair is "occupied". This is certainly not an issue isolated to NCL, as it is a common theme with many of the new, large ships that seem to provide 2-3k chairs for 4k guests.

I love St Thomas, but was disappointed Tortola has absolutely nothing to see at the port. However, this is certainly a minor issue assuming you do excursions. However, nassau and Tortola may be rather disappointing for those of you who enjoy just getting off the boat and going for a stroll.

Thank you for taking the time for your review! :) We sail in 41 days!! I'm a runner, so I am thinking the track will not be the place for me :cool: Although I will have to give it a try before I jump on the dreaded treadmill :p Would you mind sharing what you did for your excursions? I booked ours today for Nassau and Tortola. We are very excited to see Tortola, as we have never visited the BVI's :) So with a spa balcony, does that mean you were on deck 14? We have a mid ship balcony for our upcoming cruise. :)

Yes, we were deck 14 forward.

Here's what we did at each port:

• St. Thomas: Got off the ship, took a taxi downtown, and walked around. The NCL Port Shopping woman said you can't really walk to downtown because it takes 45 minutes. Not true. On the way back we noticed a lovely shortcut that goes along the shore. It has a few shops there, and my theory is that since none of them are part of NCL's recommended shops, the shopping people don't want to steer you that way. To walk downtown that way, get off the ship, turn left, and walk to the end of the dock. Turn left again and you'll see where to go.

• Tortola: They are in the process of building shops and stuff there, but right now there's absolutely nothing worth walking to. We did the Tortola by Land and Sea tour. It was interesting and scenic, although the roads were crazy. People seemed to really like the Norman Island snorkel tour as well.

• Nassau: A bunch of folks from our Roll Call group booked a private tour through Islandz tours. We did the Rum Runners Tour. It's a historical walking tour with stops that include plenty of rum consumption (rum tasting, rum drinks, rum cake, etc.). We really enjoyed it.

I posted in a separate thread as well and also felt the food was underwhelming given NCL's apparent commitment to food services. Both my primes and sirloins were greatly overcooked. However, cagneys was wonderful.

My husband likes steaks medium rare and realized that if he ordered them all rare and they would at least come out medium. We figured that the little domes they put over the plates probably keep cooking the meat. The beef at Moderno's was all pretty much medium rare.

One issue I noticed, and perhaps you did unless you were in the Haven was the seating. I tend to stay up later and do evening activities. Thus, I won't hit the deck until 9 or 10am. At that point, each and every chair is "occupied". This is certainly not an issue isolated to NCL, as it is a common theme with many of the new, large ships that seem to provide 2-3k chairs for 4k guests.

We'd go to the running track around 8:00 a.m. and pass by the main pool. Even at that hour most of the prime chairs were claimed. Crazy.

On the same ship, here are my 2 cents. I don't want to steal your thunder but who knows when I'll get the laundry finished to get my review written!

Ship Movement

We were very fortunate to have pretty calm seas most of the cruise, but yet there was still movement. We think it was the wind blowing the ship more than the waves because it wasn't so much a rocking motion as I experienced on other cruises in the past but rather a shaky jarring motion. I wore the patch but come day 5 1/2 I opted not to swap out for a new one and had no issues without it the last few days (and I'm bad with motion sickness)

Food- we had some odd/not great servers everywhere and service varied form decent to slow as well. But not just MDR and O'Sheehans. Ate at Cagneys, I called on Monday am for a ressie, was able to get 930 Thursday, although then it showed up as 945. We arrived at 815 and were seated with no problem (everytime we walked by any of them there were always open tables it seemed). We thought the buffet was very oddly laid out, difficult to navigate and did not have nearly the selection as other cruiselines. Overall, food was "good", a few things excellent (gnocchi with short rib ragu) and a few things that didn't warrant a second bite.

Drinks- also had the UBP. We found the service generally moderate to slow, but the drinks heavy on alcohol. Lily at Headliners was the exception, she was incredible. A guy at the sunset bar on the other hand basically would tell me he didn't feel like making what I ordered and I should pick something else. Our favorite white was the Gruner Vetliner (spelling?) and the red we settled on was the chateau St Jean Cabernet. I like almost all the drinks, except the sirracha mojito! Even the jalapeno one was good, but this one, well, I guess what did I expect???

Room

We had a balcony room. I'd agree with what you said about the room. Found the shower bigger than I expected. Worst part was the bed right next to the closet, definitely try to get a room with the opposite configuration (bed near balcony). Our room steward was just fair. He did what needed to be done.

Entertainment

We also saw Burn the Floor, a magician, one comedians, Howl at the Moon a few times, Legally Blonde and the Grammy Experience (new artist is Shannon McNally, very good blues/folk artists). They were all good, although I thought Legally Blonde was kind of high school level entertainment. I was impressed with the number of entertainment venues and lots of live music always about.

Dont know if i just dont feel it or what. We were all the way foward on 16 on the May 16 cruise and i never felt any movement. Maybe i just have sea legs.

We arrived at 815 and were seated with no problem (everytime we walked by any of them there were always open tables it seemed). We thought the buffet was very oddly laid out, difficult to navigate and did not have nearly the selection as other cruiselines.

We went by Cagney's most nights to see if we could get a walk-on reservation because there seemed to be plenty of open tables. The answer was always "only if there's a cancellation." I guess the moral for future cruisers is that if you want Cagney's, be sure to schedule it as soon as you are on board (or online beforehand, if that's available).

As Haven guests we hope to make that evening's dinner plan the morning of. Am I exceeding expectations that our concierge will make dining at x specialty restaurant that evening possible?

This is not a comprehensive review, but I did want to hit a few points. Overall my husband and I enjoyed the cruise quite a bit.

 

Ship Movement

Various times on these boards people debated whether you could feel more ocean-related movement on the Getaway than on other ships. For the first four days or so, there was definitely a lot of movement even though the sea was pretty calm. I heard several people comment on it, so it wasn't just me. I asked a waiter about it, and he said it was pretty normal. The last three days there was very little movement. Also, on some parts of the ship (such as in the Tropicana Room), you can feel a lot of vibration from the engines. We don't get seasick and didn't find the movement to be a huge issue, but I thought I'd mention it since it may be an issue for some people.

 

Food

We had a couple of odd/not great waiters in the MDR and O'Sheehan's, but the service in the other food venues was very good, although often slow. We enjoyed the Tropicana Room the most for dinner. For specialty restaurants, we tried La Cucina (I found the food underwhelming although our server was great) and Moderno (meat was tender and flavorful). We tried to get into Cagney's, but it was solidly booked the whole week. The buffet was comparable to other buffets on other ships. Some of the MDR food was really terrific, but a few things were not great (my husband thought the French onion soup was gross).

 

Drinks

The water was good. This is actually the first cruise where I didn't have to buy bottled water. The tea and coffee were the standard premixed swill, but my husband happily drank both. We had the UBP. Drink service was actually rarely slow, and I liked almost all the drinks I tried. The North and South wines made for NCL are also quite good (there's a Sauvignon Blanc and a red blend, both tasty).

 

Chef's Table

We heard great things about the Chef's Table, and it lived up to the hype. We went right to restaurant reservations as soon as we got onboard to book it. (If you're not familiar with it, it's a special 12-person max evening where the head chef cooks a special 9-course menu with wine pairings. It's held in the Haven restaurant.) The food was amazing, and most of us were pretty tipsy at the end. The meal includes a behind-the-scenes tour (a couple of days later) of the ship's food service setup (prep, cooking, storage, etc.). The operation is very impressive.

 

Room

We had a spa balcony room. The room had plenty of storage, there was good water pressure, and the bed was comfy. Yes, the balcony was small, but it was large enough for our use, which was standing around to watch stuff or sitting and reading. Our room attendant (Marta) was excellent. My husband likes extra towels, and she always made sure we had more than enough. The room comes with access to the thermal spa, which was wonderfully relaxing.

 

Entertainment

We saw Burn the Floor, a magician, two comedians, Howl at the Moon, and various music acts around the ship. They were all good. I know some folks think that NCL's entertainment is better than on other lines, but I find it to be pretty equivalent.

 

Running Track

It should be called "Running and Obstacle Track." It's in a ridiculous location, and people would just randomly wander onto it, so dodging small children and clueless adults became part of the workout. It feels like they designed the whole ship and then were like, "crap, we forgot a running track; let's just stick it in this really dumb location."

 

Questions? Comments? Let me know!

Leaving in 6 days in a spa balcony...14100....did u use the spa access much? Did u just call for a chefs table Rez or did u go somewhere? I had read that u have to go to LeBistro to book....

Leaving in 6 days in a spa balcony...14100....did u use the spa access much? Did u just call for a chefs table Rez or did u go somewhere? I had read that u have to go to LeBistro to book....

We used the thermal spa 6 of the 7 days. We were there as the ship was heading into Nassau, and the view was amazing. It was a little crowded a couple of times (meaning it was hard to get a thermal lounger), but most times we went it was great (usually mid to late afternoon).

We did head to Le Bistro once we got onboard, but the person taking the reservation was actually across the hall in Headliner's. We had to ask a few people to get steered in the right direction. If it's not already fully booked, you can book it from your television. A couple of people in our group apparently did that.