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Norwegian Getaway From A Carnival Cruiser's Perspective


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Introduction...

My wife an I have been on four cruises.

The first three were Carnival ships and this last one was Norwegian.

Our NCL cruise was September 12-19 and we went Miami, St. Thomas, Tortola, Nassau, and back to Miami.

I won't really talk about the ports, as there are many (and, probably, better) reviews.

This is going to be, mostly, about the ship.

Of course, there are many ship reviews.

Maybe this will be from a unique perspective.

 

BTW...

I won't get this whole thing done, in one setting.

I'll just keep updating this post, until it's done.

I'll add pictures, along the way.

 

Purchase Bonus...

This was the first time I had the option of picking a bonus.

My choices were unlimited drink, specialty restaurant (not sure if it was just one meal or every night), 250 minutes of internet, and $25 of on-board credit.

I ordered the tickets on Priceline, but I never saw a place to choose the bonus (Priceline's website or Norwegian's website).

Eventually, I called Priceline and asked about it.

The person I talked to said that they just defaulted to the on-board credit (not sure if they expect you to call or decide on the ship).

At that time, I was told that the drinks package would add on around $60 in tips (I think that was per person) and the restaurant package would add around $15 (again, I think per person).

We ended up choosing the on-board credit.

In hind-sight, I would rather do the internet.

The on-board credit couldn't be used for so many things, that it ended up being used for a picture book.

 

Build-Up...

Ok, let's get to the ship stuff...

The night before our cruise, we went out to eat with some friends.

We were all talking about the cruise and I mentioned that this would be our first Norwegian ship and that we had only been on Carnival ships.

The other couple had been on a cruise (maybe more) and said that we would like NCL so much more than Carnival.

I heard good things about NCL (and Carnival does come with, kind of, a poor connotation).

After the cruise was completed, my wife and I prefer every Carnival ship to this one.

 

Decor...

First of all, the decor of the Getaway was night-and-day better than any other ship we've been on.

Now, the Carnival Triumph was the newest ship we cruised on.

It's possible that newer Carnival ships are just as slickly decorated.

My wife was impressed by the carpet designs and I liked how it was more elegant and less gaudy (all the Carnival ships, that we were on, were glitz and neon).

 

Movies...

I thought it was cool that there were three movie screens around the ship.

The Triumph was the first ship, with a screen, that we went on.

Again, it's possible that newer Carnival ships are similar.

One thing that I found a little odd, though, was that different movies were played on different screens.

So, we'd go to H20 one night, the main theater the next night, and the atrium the next afternoon.

Also, the movies were at different times and only once a day (I think there were two movies only one day).

That was an issue that I had with the Triumph, as well.

They have two showings of the comedians and main stage show, why not have two showings of the movies?

I will say the movie selection was more family-friendly, on the Getaway.

They weren't, necessarily, "family" movies (Jupiter Ascending, Insurgent, etc...), but I've heard more cussing at church youth sleep-overs.

Hehehe...

On the other hand, the Triumph movie selection dropped f-bombs left and right.

 

Stateroom...

Our Getaway room was, by far, the smallest room we had ever stayed in.

Our first cruise was interior, the second was a port-hole, the third was an ocean-view, and this was another interior.

I laid across the bed with my toes touching one wall and my fingers touching the other wall.

I'm 5'10", so it's not that I just have a long reach.

Obviously, other rooms are bigger (and much bigger).

It just happens that this room was, surprisingly, small.

 

Cleanliness...

My wife is a bit of a germophobe.

Hehehe...

She is constantly spraying herself and things down with alcohol and using that sanitizing gel.

Personally, I think it's all a load of crap.

I, barely, wash my hands and we both get sick, every now and then.

Regardless, she thought it was really cool that staff would stand at the entrance of the Garden Cafe and spray your hands down with alcohol.

Plus, the Garden Cafe and Flamingo Grill had sink stations, so you could wash your hands without going to the bathroom.

I didn't use any of them.

Hehehe...

 

Let's spend just a minute or two on hair...

It was almost absurd how many hairs we found.

This is no joke, I think my wife found a hair in and/or around more of her meals than she didn't.

Personally, I think I noticed one hair around my food (I did say "noticed").

One or two could be chalked up to someone passing by, but I want to see it was in the teens.

There were hairs on our comforter and sheets, different days.

This is after they took care of our room.

It didn't bother me, much, but the Mrs. didn't like it.

 

The very first day, we noticed a piece of trash (like a piece of a paper label or something) in the tines of our ice grabber thing.

When we left the ship, it was still there (maybe it's still there - room 5153).

 

Activities...

The Getaway has a rock-climbing wall, ropes course and zipline, and one of those trampoline/bungie cord things.

Again, this was the newest ship (by ten years) that we've been on.

Some of the newer Carnival ships have similar activities.

Unfortunately, I couldn't enjoy most of them.

I'm on vacation and we're going to the beach.

I brought flip-flops and, for dressier occasions, dress sandals (leather, closed-toe, etc...).

I never thought that I wouldn't be able to participate in on-ship activities, because of socks and/or shoes.

 

The rock-climbing wall supplied shoes, but required socks.

The trampoline thing required socks.

The ropes course required closed-toe and closed-heal shoes (my dress sandals are just a leather strap, in the back).

I wear a size 10 and my wife wears a size 6.

For one reason or another, she brought an extra pair of socks that belongs to one of our kids.

So, I rock-climbed in a pair of socks that barely covered my heals.

It was enough, though.

 

My wife did the ropes course, and really liked it.

She brought tennis shoes as she assumed the work-out areas would require it (which they do).

Granted, she didn't utilize the work-out areas.

I'm sure the ropes course was a blast.

There's a plank that sticks out, past the ship's edge.

I think it's on what would be the 19th floor (if there was one).

I think the book says it's around 170 feet above water.

One thing to keep in mind, though...

They closed the ropes course, multiple times, because of wind.

You're best bet is to do it, while the ship is at port or leaving.

 

Pretty much every ship has water slides, but the Getaway had to the best water slides that I've seen.

There are a total of five slides (one kids, two really good, and two that the bottom drop out).

I live in a town with a water park and I we have those bottom-drop-out slides.

Took my Contour Roam2 (waterproof helmet cam) to the bottom-drop-out one and the dude wouldn't let me slide (actually, he wouldn't even let me wear my wedding ring).

As mentioned, I've been on those kinds of slides and they aren't very comfortable.

The only reason I wanted to ride it was for some fun video.

Alas, no video and no ride.

It was interesting to see those two slides actually go up.

It was the first time I've seen a water slide that does that.

I will restate that the two main slides are excellent.

They are fast enough to put a smile, on an adult's face, multiple times.

The slide dude didn't have any issue with my camera, on those.

Navigation, to the slides, was a little odd.

There were two stairways.

One went to the bottom-drop and two main slides and the other went to the kids slide.

It wasn't a huge deal, but it was a little confusing as there wasn't a joining part.

You had to go back down the stairs and around to the other stairs, if you went the wrong way.

 

I noticed six hot tubs (I think there were some in the pay areas).

Four are around the pool (marked as adult-only, BTW...) and two are at H2O (which is marked as adult-only, during the day).

The hot tub situation was very odd.

On the other ships, we've cruised on, hot tubs were a high commodity (especially after dark).

On the Getaway, though, there were multiple nights where my wife and I were the only people in one hot tub.

There were multiple times where two or three of the hot tubs were empty, for stretches of time.

Now, at these same times, there was usually one hot tub with thirty people in it (no joke, I think I counted 26 one time).

On Carnival ships, I recall the hot tubs closing at 10.

The Getaway closed their hot tubs at midnight (maybe it was 11, I don't remember - but later than Carnival).

It was a great way to unwind, for the night.

 

I missed the idea of the Serenity deck.

As mentioned, we spent a fair amount of quiet time in the hot tubs, so the Serenity deck wasn't really necessary.

Plus, the Getaway has a similar deck (it just costs to get in).

The nice thing about Serenity is that it's at the back of the ship and very open.

H20 in the back, but it has plexiglass ten feet high.

It isn't quite the same as a lounge chair with your feet hanging off the back of the ship.

Hehehe...

 

Service...

This kind of goes along with the cleanliness section...

Overall, I think Carnival's service is much better.

I'm talking about room stewards all the way to waiters.

I think the biggest reason is based on NCL's "Freestyle" setup.

On Carnival ships, our room stewards would call us by name within a couple days (sometimes the next day).

On the Getaway, I think I saw our steward three times.

The steward just didn't seem as "present" as on the Carnival ships.

 

It's the same, concerning dining.

Since you don't have the assigned dining, you are at a different restaurant, with different wait staff, at different tables, every time.

On the Carnival ships, we had a chance to interact with the staff (and whomever was also assigned to the table).

Our waiters would call us, by name, as they see us around the ship.

I just don't think the Freestyle environment gives the staff an incentive to be personal.

On Carnival, the waiters need to take good care of you.

They'll be looking at you, again, tomorrow.

On Norwegian, who cares.

I'll never see them, again.

Now, I won't say that everyone was that way.

I won't even say that the service was bad.

I won't say that the issue is line-wide.

I'm just saying that, as Carnival cruisers, we've come to expect more.

They set a bar that NCL just didn't reach.

You can "freestyle" dine on Carnival ships and you can request to get the same table, on Norwegian.

It's just a different environment.

I see Norwegian as the T-Mobile of cruise lines.

You kind of expect to hear the T-Mobile head cuss and trash-talk other carriers.

It might catch you, by surprise, to hear similar things at a Verizon function.

 

Food...

I liked the Garden Cafe buffet, quite a bit.

I, probably, liked it more than the Carnival buffets.

I was glad to see that the ice cream machines were publicly available.

I've read that anytime-you-want ice cream is becoming a thing of the past.

Not only did they have the soft-serve stations, but there were also scoop ice cream stations (staffed and only during normal dining hours).

The one desert that I missed, though, was Carnival's lime sherbet.

My wife would take the Garden Cafe over all the places we ate.

 

We ate at Taste/Savor, The Tropicana Room, O'Sheehans, Garden Cafe, and The Flamingo Grill.

Personally, I liked the selection of Carnival's main dining rooms more than Taste/Savor and The Tropicana Room.

The selection wasn't bad, but it didn't seem as though there were as many options.

My wife is an acting vegetarian (I refuse to call her a vegetarian) and there were many more options, that she liked, on the Carnival ships.

I will say that I think I liked more items on Carnival's menu.

Again, none of it was bad (maybe the problem was it was too good).

Neither my wife, nor myself, are foodies.

Many times, a fancy restaurant is wasted on us.

We like to dress up and do the nice restaurant thing, but we aren't gourmet.

I like to look at a menu, actually understand what I'm reading, and know what I'm ordering.

Hehehe...

 

We never went to Shanghai's (the noodle bar), but it didn't seem like something we'd be into.

We both really like Mongolian Wok, on the Carnival ships (apparently, the Fun Ship 2.0 ships don't have it).

The biggest thing that I like about Mongolian Wok is that I can just have what I want.

Most Chinese food has too much other stuff (read vegetables), for my taste.

 

We didn't do any of the specialty restaurants.

If I did the cruise again, and had the same bonus options, I would try the specialty dining package.

There are enough free restaurants that paying to eat didn't make sense.

But, now that I've been to all the free restaurants, I would give the specialties a chance.

I don't know that I'd pay to go to them, but if I got a free package...

Again, tips are added so it isn't "free".

$15 for a week's worth of eating is great, though.

Of course, if that package was just for one meal, then it might not be worth it.

 

Closing Thoughts...

It does seem like this was a rather negative review.

It isn't meant to be a Getaway-bash.

We enjoyed the cruise, quite a bit.

The Virgin Islands were very cool (the Bahamas are trash, in our opinion).

Previously, we only did five-day cruises and this was a seven.

We didn't get bored, the extra two days.

We would have been very happy to continue past the seventh day.

 

It is surprising, to me, that this cruise is on Cruise Critic's Top 5 Caribbean list.

To me, it was just a little underwhelming.

I was expecting Carnival and then some.

In the future, unless we get a really good deal, we won't be looking at Norwegian.

 

I'll post some pictures and some more review, later.

It's time to sign off, for now.

JJ

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Thanks for your review! I have done 6 Carnival cruises, and about to go on my 7th later this month:) I have only done one NCL long time ago, before freestyle, but am booked and very much looking forward to NCL Escape next year. I am mostly looking forward to the entertainment on NCL, also I was able to snag an excellent price IMO for next year's cruise. Food; for me, as long as I can find salad bar, cheese, bread, and fruit, a little bit of meat or seafood, and I am happy. Thanks again for your review and comparisons.

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Enjoyed your review. We have cruised mostly Carnival, a few Royal Caribbean, and will be taking our second NCL cruise on the Getaway this winter. I probably agree with your assessment of Carnival's food options being better. I am most excited about the Getaway ' s entertainment. Did you go to any shows or events? Headliners, Grammies, Howl at the Moon, Illusionist, Legally Blond, etc.? And if so, please tell me your thoughts. Besides the Comedy Club and magic acts on Carnival, I find their entertainment ho hum.

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Enjoyed your review. As someone who has sailed both Carnival and NCL, I come down on the other side. I'm curious about your age, though, because my wife & I enjoyed the Carnival cruises when we were younger (in our 30's), but definitely prefer NCL now that we're older (in our 50's). NCL's cabins are tiny (we've done interior/oceanview/balcony & aft balcony; no suites), but we tend to use them only as a place to sleep and change clothes, so it isn't a big deal for us.

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I am also a "mostly" Carnival cruiser. But after having been on the Getaway, I have already booked 2 more NCL cruises. ( Getaway again and Escape ) While I do agree that the service overall is more personal on Carnival, I feel that NCL is just a bit more "upscale" with more dining options and far better drinks / drink packages... That being said, I will cruise on Carnival again, but not until the Vista comes out...

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Thank you so much for the review. I've sailed on both the Getaway and the Carnival Breeze. I agree with you on the customer service. NCL has an attitude that they just don't care where Carnival really tries to make you happy. The rooms are definitely smaller on NCL.

 

O'Sheehans and the ropes course were probably my favorite things about the Getaway over the Breeze, as well as the fact that Getaway is just a stunning ship.

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Love the review and looking forward to reading the rest of it.

 

We have sailed both Carnival (Platinum) and NCL (almost Platinum) and I totally agree with your assessment. I am sailing on the NCL Dawn in a few weeks and so much has changed since I booked this cruise (in June 2014), that from now on I will probably be looking at Carnival's newer ships (already have a cruise booked on the Magic and I'm looking at the Vista) versus an NCL ship UNLESS I can get a killer deal on NCL.

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I liked your review. From our sailings on NCL and Carnival in the past couple of years, I agree with most of it. Rooms on Carnival are huge for the industry and really huge compared to NCL. Decor on Carnival is so tacky - its almost their thing to have tacky decor! I also agree that I really like the food in Carnivals dining room - in fact it is my personal favorite compared to NCL, RCI and Disney.

 

 

We are sailing NCL in January for our 20th anniversary mostly because we got a suite and all of the bonuses and when we sail without our kids, we are so low maintenance that we don't really care if anyone remembers our names! However, we have a Carnival booked next summer with the kids because I think that as a family we appreciate the service and consistent waitstaff for our kids!

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OP, I do not think your review is negative at all, just how you see the two lines. I may not agree with most of what you are saying and a few things outright surprise me but I think you are being very fair. The mix up on your promo might have been the start of what could have been a more positive review. Remember everything in life, especially things like vacations and food are vey subjective.

 

Here are the parts of your experience I differ with you on: Had you chosen to eat in any of the specialty dining rooms you probably would have found them superior to Carnival. The MDRs seem to depend on the person and what you enjoy eating.

 

Cleanliness: NCL has one of the best records for cleanliness based on the CDC inspections of all lines, thus I am surprised you didn't find the ship as clean as Carnival ships. I guess there are times when housekeeping slips up. this must have been one of the times.

 

Service: again, our experience and it has been awhile since we cruised Carnival, has been NCL has much better and friendlier crew members, especially cabin stewards.

 

Where I agree; yes, the cabins on Carnival are much larger. This is something many people are aware of prior to cruising. The 2 lines with the largest cabins are Carnival and HAL. NCL has some of the smallest.

 

Freestyle dining: as much as this is something many of us love, for some the idea of having the same wait staff every night is a plus. I do think you get more attention when the same people wait on you nightly.

 

Again, thanks for your honest comparison.

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Introduction...

My wife an I have been on four cruises.

The first three were Carnival ships and this last one was Norwegian.

Our NCL cruise was September 12-19 and we went Miami, St. Thomas, Tortola, Nassau, and back to Miami.

I won't really talk about the ports, as there are many (and, probably, better) reviews.

This is going to be, mostly, about the ship.

Of course, there are many ship reviews.

Maybe this will be from a unique perspective.

 

BTW...

I won't get this whole thing done, in one setting.

I'll just keep updating this post, until it's done.

I'll add pictures, along the way.

 

Purchase Bonus...

This was the first time I had the option of picking a bonus.

My choices were unlimited drink, specialty restaurant (not sure if it was just one meal or every night), 250 minutes of internet, and $25 of on-board credit.

I ordered the tickets on Priceline, but I never saw a place to choose the bonus (Priceline's website or Norwegian's website).

Eventually, I called Priceline and asked about it.

The person I talked to said that they just defaulted to the on-board credit (not sure if they expect you to call or decide on the ship).

At that time, I was told that the drinks package would add on around $60 in tips (I think that was per person) and the restaurant package would add around $15 (again, I think per person).

We ended up choosing the on-board credit.

In hind-sight, I would rather do the internet.

The on-board credit couldn't be used for so many things, that it ended up being used for a picture book.

 

Build-Up...

Ok, let's get to the ship stuff...

The night before our cruise, we went out to eat with some friends.

We were all talking about the cruise and I mentioned that this would be our first Norwegian ship and that we had only been on Carnival ships.

The other couple had been on a cruise (maybe more) and said that we would like NCL so much more than Carnival.

I heard good things about NCL (and Carnival does come with, kind of, a poor connotation).

After the cruise was completed, my wife and I prefer every Carnival ship to this one.

 

Decor...

First of all, the decor of the Getaway was night-and-day better than any other ship we've been on.

Now, the Carnival Triumph was the newest ship we cruised on.

It's possible that newer Carnival ships are just as slickly decorated.

My wife was impressed by the carpet designs and I liked how it was more elegant and less gaudy (all the Carnival ships, that we were on, were glitz and neon).

 

Movies...

I thought it was cool that there were three movie screens around the ship.

The Triumph was the first ship, with a screen, that we went on.

Again, it's possible that newer Carnival ships are similar.

One thing that I found a little odd, though, was that different movies were played on different screens.

So, we'd go to H20 one night, the main theater the next night, and the atrium the next afternoon.

Also, the movies were at different times and only once a day (I think there were two movies only one day).

That was an issue that I had with the Triumph, as well.

They have two showings of the comedians and main stage show, why not have two showings of the movies?

I will say the movie selection was more family-friendly, on the Getaway.

They weren't, necessarily, "family" movies (Jupiter Ascending, Insurgent, etc...), but I've heard more cussing at church youth sleep-overs.

Hehehe...

On the other hand, the Triumph movie selection dropped f-bombs left and right.

 

Stateroom...

Our Getaway room was, by far, the smallest room we had ever stayed in.

Our first cruise was interior, the second was a port-hole, the third was an ocean-view, and this was another interior.

I laid across the bed with my toes touching one wall and my fingers touching the other wall.

I'm 5'10", so it's not that I just have a long reach.

Obviously, other rooms are bigger (and much bigger).

It just happens that this room was, surprisingly, small.

 

Cleanliness...

My wife is a bit of a germophobe.

Hehehe...

She is constantly spraying herself and things down with alcohol and using that sanitizing gel.

Personally, I think it's all a load of crap.

I, barely, wash my hands and we both get sick, every now and then.

Regardless, she thought it was really cool that staff would stand at the entrance of the Garden Cafe and spray your hands down with alcohol.

Plus, the Garden Cafe and Flamingo Grill had sink stations, so you could wash your hands without going to the bathroom.

I didn't use any of them.

Hehehe...

 

Let's spend just a minute or two on hair...

It was almost absurd how many hairs we found.

This is no joke, I think my wife found a hair in and/or around more of her meals than she didn't.

Personally, I think I noticed one hair around my food (I did say "noticed").

One or two could be chalked up to someone passing by, but I want to see it was in the teens.

There were hairs on our comforter and sheets, different days.

This is after they took care of our room.

It didn't bother me, much, but the Mrs. didn't like it.

 

The very first day, we noticed a piece of trash (like a piece of a paper label or something) in the tines of our ice grabber thing.

When we left the ship, it was still there (maybe it's still there - room 5153).

 

Activities...

The Getaway has a rock-climbing wall, ropes course and zipline, and one of those trampoline/bungie cord things.

Again, this was the newest ship (by ten years) that we've been on.

Some of the newer Carnival ships have similar activities.

Unfortunately, I couldn't enjoy most of them.

I'm on vacation and we're going to the beach.

I brought flip-flops and, for dressier occasions, dress sandals (leather, closed-toe, etc...).

I never thought that I wouldn't be able to participate in on-ship activities, because of socks and/or shoes.

 

The rock-climbing wall supplied shoes, but required socks.

The trampoline thing required socks.

The ropes course required closed-toe and closed-heal shoes (my dress sandals are just a leather strap, in the back).

I wear a size 10 and my wife wears a size 6.

For one reason or another, she brought an extra pair of socks that belongs to one of our kids.

So, I rock-climbed in a pair of socks that barely covered my heals.

It was enough, though.

 

My wife did the ropes course, and really liked it.

She brought tennis shoes as she assumed the work-out areas would require it (which they do).

Granted, she didn't utilize the work-out areas.

I'm sure the ropes course was a blast.

There's a plank that sticks out, past the ship's edge.

I think it's on what would be the 19th floor (if there was one).

I think the book says it's around 170 feet above water.

One thing to keep in mind, though...

They closed the ropes course, multiple times, because of wind.

You're best bet is to do it, while the ship is at port or leaving.

 

Pretty much every ship has water slides, but the Getaway had to the best water slides that I've seen.

There are a total of five slides (one kids, two really good, and two that the bottom drop out).

I live in a town with a water park and I we have those bottom-drop-out slides.

Took my Contour Roam2 (waterproof helmet cam) to the bottom-drop-out one and the dude wouldn't let me slide (actually, he wouldn't even let me wear my wedding ring).

As mentioned, I've been on those kinds of slides and they aren't very comfortable.

The only reason I wanted to ride it was for some fun video.

Alas, no video and no ride.

It was interesting to see those two slides actually go up.

It was the first time I've seen a water slide that does that.

I will restate that the two main slides are excellent.

They are fast enough to put a smile, on an adult's face, multiple times.

The slide dude didn't have any issue with my camera, on those.

Navigation, to the slides, was a little odd.

There were two stairways.

One went to the bottom-drop and two main slides and the other went to the kids slide.

It wasn't a huge deal, but it was a little confusing as there wasn't a joining part.

You had to go back down the stairs and around to the other stairs, if you went the wrong way.

 

I noticed six hot tubs (I think there were some in the pay areas).

Four are around the pool (marked as adult-only, BTW...) and two are at H2O (which is marked as adult-only, during the day).

The hot tub situation was very odd.

On the other ships, we've cruised on, hot tubs were a high commodity (especially after dark).

On the Getaway, though, there were multiple nights where my wife and I were the only people in one hot tub.

There were multiple times where two or three of the hot tubs were empty, for stretches of time.

Now, at these same times, there was usually one hot tub with thirty people in it (no joke, I think I counted 26 one time).

On Carnival ships, I recall the hot tubs closing at 10.

The Getaway closed their hot tubs at midnight (maybe it was 11, I don't remember - but later than Carnival).

It was a great way to unwind, for the night.

 

I missed the idea of the Serenity deck.

As mentioned, we spent a fair amount of quiet time in the hot tubs, so the Serenity deck wasn't really necessary.

Plus, the Getaway has a similar deck (it just costs to get in).

The nice thing about Serenity is that it's at the back of the ship and very open.

H20 in the back, but it has plexiglass ten feet high.

It isn't quite the same as a lounge chair with your feet hanging off the back of the ship.

Hehehe...

 

Service...

This kind of goes along with the cleanliness section...

Overall, I think Carnival's service is much better.

I'm talking about room stewards all the way to waiters.

I think the biggest reason is based on NCL's "Freestyle" setup.

On Carnival ships, our room stewards would call us by name within a couple days (sometimes the next day).

On the Getaway, I think I saw our steward three times.

The steward just didn't seem as "present" as on the Carnival ships.

 

It's the same, concerning dining.

Since you don't have the assigned dining, you are at a different restaurant, with different wait staff, at different tables, every time.

On the Carnival ships, we had a chance to interact with the staff (and whomever was also assigned to the table).

Our waiters would call us, by name, as they see us around the ship.

I just don't think the Freestyle environment gives the staff an incentive to be personal.

On Carnival, the waiters need to take good care of you.

They'll be looking at you, again, tomorrow.

On Norwegian, who cares.

I'll never see them, again.

Now, I won't say that everyone was that way.

I won't even say that the service was bad.

I won't say that the issue is line-wide.

I'm just saying that, as Carnival cruisers, we've come to expect more.

They set a bar that NCL just didn't reach.

You can "freestyle" dine on Carnival ships and you can request to get the same table, on Norwegian.

It's just a different environment.

I see Norwegian as the T-Mobile of cruise lines.

You kind of expect to hear the T-Mobile head cuss and trash-talk other carriers.

It might catch you, by surprise, to hear similar things at a Verizon function.

 

Food...

I liked the Garden Cafe buffet, quite a bit.

I, probably, liked it more than the Carnival buffets.

I was glad to see that the ice cream machines were publicly available.

I've read that anytime-you-want ice cream is becoming a thing of the past.

Not only did they have the soft-serve stations, but there were also scoop ice cream stations (staffed and only during normal dining hours).

The one desert that I missed, though, was Carnival's lime sherbet.

My wife would take the Garden Cafe over all the places we ate.

 

We ate at Taste/Savor, The Tropicana Room, O'Sheehans, Garden Cafe, and The Flamingo Grill.

Personally, I liked the selection of Carnival's main dining rooms more than Taste/Savor and The Tropicana Room.

The selection wasn't bad, but it didn't seem as though there were as many options.

My wife is an acting vegetarian (I refuse to call her a vegetarian) and there were many more options, that she liked, on the Carnival ships.

I will say that I think I liked more items on Carnival's menu.

Again, none of it was bad (maybe the problem was it was too good).

Neither my wife, nor myself, are foodies.

Many times, a fancy restaurant is wasted on us.

We like to dress up and do the nice restaurant thing, but we aren't gourmet.

I like to look at a menu, actually understand what I'm reading, and know what I'm ordering.

Hehehe...

 

We never went to Shanghai's (the noodle bar), but it didn't seem like something we'd be into.

We both really like Mongolian Wok, on the Carnival ships (apparently, the Fun Ship 2.0 ships don't have it).

The biggest thing that I like about Mongolian Wok is that I can just have what I want.

Most Chinese food has too much other stuff (read vegetables), for my taste.

 

We didn't do any of the specialty restaurants.

If I did the cruise again, and had the same bonus options, I would try the specialty dining package.

There are enough free restaurants that paying to eat didn't make sense.

But, now that I've been to all the free restaurants, I would give the specialties a chance.

I don't know that I'd pay to go to them, but if I got a free package...

Again, tips are added so it isn't "free".

$15 for a week's worth of eating is great, though.

Of course, if that package was just for one meal, then it might not be worth it.

 

Closing Thoughts...

It does seem like this was a rather negative review.

It isn't meant to be a Getaway-bash.

We enjoyed the cruise, quite a bit.

The Virgin Islands were very cool (the Bahamas are trash, in our opinion).

Previously, we only did five-day cruises and this was a seven.

We didn't get bored, the extra two days.

We would have been very happy to continue past the seventh day.

 

It is surprising, to me, that this cruise is on Cruise Critic's Top 5 Caribbean list.

To me, it was just a little underwhelming.

I was expecting Carnival and then some.

In the future, unless we get a really good deal, we won't be looking at Norwegian.

 

I'll post some pictures and some more review, later.

It's time to sign off, for now.

JJ

 

As a loyal ( so far ) only ncl cruiser i wanted to hate your review but I honestly found it fair. Now being that I only Cruise Norwegian I cannot make a comparison but I can tell you where I disagree with you. I've never had problem with cleanliness on the Ncl ships ( except where trays were found in the hallway ). As was previously said you definitely should have tried the pay restaurants. The dining package is for as many restaurants you can do a night. On my last Cruise I went to two different pay restaurant every night with the ultimate dining package. On my last Cruise my room Stewart knew my name after the first day. I wish you would have talked more about the shows because that's where Norwegian seems to shine.

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Thank you for taking the time to review your trip. I did not find it negative at all.

 

I will tell you not to throw NCL out the door. I think what I hear from many people is those that are used to sailing on the smaller ships (like the Triumph & NCL Jewel) sometimes have a harder time adjusting to the very large ships. The smaller ships seem to be more cozy and the employees learn your names. You are not the first to mention that on the large ship your steward did not know you.

 

I say this as my DH & I will be on our first large ship (The Escape) next year and part of me has been concerned about these things and the other part of me says. Oh who cares, im on vacation.

 

No matter what you had a nice vacation with some quality time with the DW and I know I will too

 

So thanks again for taking the time to share

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For cabin stewards, I have noticed unless you are in the Haven or have a Penthouse Suite (non-Haven) on the Jewel-class ships in which cabin stewards will typically know your name as you will see them frequently, there have been times where we met our cabin steward on the 1st day but then never really saw him again.

 

As for MDR service, I highly recommend not going to the MDR thinking it would be like Carnival. Carnival obviously has the arranged seating and dining times while NCL MDR has freestyle dining. Neither are better than one another per se but rather, they are different. Not to say NCL is really that different than Carnival (I have only been on Carnival once and I thought I saw more similarities than differences from NCL) but if you go on NCL thinking why isn't this and that like Carnival, you are setting yourself up for a bad time.

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We cruised with Carnival a few times when our kids were young and liked it then but now we prefer NCL and RCCL. Our first cruise with NCL on the Epic was different from what we were used to but doing a more traditional ship next made us appreciate Freestyle and now is hard to go back.

 

I do remember the buffet having more options which was nice. This is all subjective but is nice to read different opinions.

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........ Did you go to any shows or events? Headliners, Grammies, Howl at the Moon, Illusionist, Legally Blond, etc.? And if so, please tell me your thoughts. Besides the Comedy Club and magic acts on Carnival, I find their entertainment ho hum.

My thoughts exactly....no mention of the shows. Hubby and I were on the Getaway the following week...embarkation Sept. 19th. The production shows, especially "Burn the Floor" were awesome. Burn the Floor dancers offered dance classes throughout the week. Hubby and I didn't participate but thoroughly enjoyed watching them. Didn't pay too much attention to the passengers, only the pro dancers.

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........ As was previously said you definitely should have tried the pay restaurants. The dining package is for as many restaurants you can do a night. On my last Cruise I went to two different pay restaurant every night with the ultimate dining package. On my last Cruise my room Stewart knew my name after the first day. I wish you would have talked more about the shows because that's where Norwegian seems to shine.

I do believe I have read that NCL's Ultimate Dining Package is no longer available. They have a Specialty Dining Package and you select how many nights you want to pay for. Only one specialty restaurant per night is included in the package. This makes sense that NCL got rid of the UDP as many passengers were visiting more than one specialty restaurant per night.

 

As for the cabin steward.....we had the very best steward of all our 37 cruises on this last Getaway cruise. Besides being very capable and keeping our cabin clean with wonderful service, he was a sweetheart of a guy. We tipped him extra and I got a big hug from him.

 

Agree that dining in the specialty restaurants is on a whole other level of service, food quality and atmosphere. We will not do an NCL cruise without specialty dining at least four or five nights.

 

The Illusionarium was another awesome show. Hubby and I were called on stage by the "mentalist" and I'm still scratching my head as to how he was able to "read our minds". Awesome show and very talented illusionists and high end equipment.

Edited by coffeebean
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NCL has better shows and specialty restaurants and used to be comparable in price to CCL.

 

Currently their prices are pretty high and no longer as comparable, with some exceptions of course.

 

And it remains to be seen if the new a la carte is a positive or not for the restaurants as long as the food doesn't suffer, then it should be OK.

 

CCL just about everything else IMO.

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Well done review. Nice that you explained WHY you preferred one or the other for each of the main items. A lot was your personal preference. Helps us put the review in context.

 

We've only had lousy steward service on one of our 8 NCL cruises. So I think it's a bit "luck of the draw." Which is a training and accountability issue on NCL's part. But I bet some people have had lousy stewards on Carnival, too. I think that's a hard topic to compare based on one cruise with a line. But you had a fair impression and I would've said the same thing.

 

I've never had a hair on my food on NCL-crazy that it kept happening! Someone needs a hairnet.

 

And yes, NCL interiors are small compared to a lot of other lines. It's probably the most indefensible complaint about them.

 

Thanks for posting!

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Nice review--I enjoyed reading it. I don't like the promotions in general, and figured the onboard credit would be my best bet. I hadn't realized it carried a lot of restrictions--thanks for pointing it out. I'll have to research the OBC promo to find out exactly what I'd be in for.

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For cabin stewards, I have noticed unless you are in the Haven or have a Penthouse Suite (non-Haven) on the Jewel-class ships in which cabin stewards will typically know your name as you will see them frequently, there have been times where we met our cabin steward on the 1st day but then never really saw him again.

 

As for MDR service, I highly recommend not going to the MDR thinking it would be like Carnival. Carnival obviously has the arranged seating and dining times while NCL MDR has freestyle dining. Neither are better than one another per se but rather, they are different. Not to say NCL is really that different than Carnival (I have only been on Carnival once and I thought I saw more similarities than differences from NCL) but if you go on NCL thinking why isn't this and that like Carnival, you are setting yourself up for a bad time.

 

In the past 8 years or so, I think we have only had one time our cabin steward didn't know and call us by name. That was our first cruise on the Spirit. Years ago, it wasn't unusual at all not to see the stewards often.

 

BTW, OP, you didn't review things like the casino, the entertainment, activites, etc. Did you take part in any of them, what did you think?

Edited by newmexicoNita
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NCL has better shows and specialty restaurants and used to be comparable in price to CCL.

 

Currently their prices are pretty high and no longer as comparable, with some exceptions of course.

 

And it remains to be seen if the new a la carte is a positive or not for the restaurants as long as the food doesn't suffer, then it should be OK.

 

CCL just about everything else IMO.

 

If I understand what you are saying I disagree: you are saying NCL prices are higher: I just checked on 2 cruises; one out of Miami after thanksgiving on NCL and Carnival: both cases NCL was about $100 difference, for an inside of outside cabin. The other out of NOLA early Dec. same thing: $100 difference. Now these are not on the newer NCL ships, nor the newere Carnival ships.I have no idea the pricing on them, but I have to say, I do not see where NCl is high.

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I do believe I have read that NCL's Ultimate Dining Package is no longer available. They have a Specialty Dining Package and you select how many nights you want to pay for. Only one specialty restaurant per night is included in the package. This makes sense that NCL got rid of the UDP as many passengers were visiting more than one specialty restaurant per night.

 

As for the cabin steward.....we had the very best steward of all our 37 cruises on this last Getaway cruise. Besides being very capable and keeping our cabin clean with wonderful service, he was a sweetheart of a guy. We tipped him extra and I got a big hug from him.

 

Agree that dining in the specialty restaurants is on a whole other level of service, food quality and atmosphere. We will not do an NCL cruise without specialty dining at least four or five nights.

 

The Illusionarium was another awesome show. Hubby and I were called on stage by the "mentalist" and I'm still scratching my head as to how he was able to "read our minds". Awesome show and very talented illusionists and high end equipment.

 

The Cruise I'm set for in November still says ultimate dining package, but I booked it like a year ago lol

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