Getaway Review April 24-May 1 New Itinerary with dailies

Hello all, Here is my attempt to give you what you have asked for. A review of the new itinerary that the Getaway is doing to Honduras, Belize, Costa Maya and Cozumel. A brief history of myself I am turning the big 50 soon. This trip was with my DH (51). This is my 5th cruise with NCL and I have been on RCCL as well as Carnival. I would say that RCCL has always been my favorite until this past cruise when I was introduced to the HAVEN. It was all thanks to the lovely people on CC who taught me about the upsell Department. I tried to capture everything that I thought people would like to know. Every night I went back to my room and did a synopsis of the day. My DH said what are you writing a book.:) Also thanks to CC I decided I was going to fly down a day early and stay at a hotel, I did not want any what ifs to happen. We stayed at The Red Carpet Inn. To me it was a total waste although we only stayed there for one day it looked a little seedy. don't get me wrong the rooms were clean and all, I guess because I never stayed at an Inn before. The lobby seemed like it could have used a face lift. 1st impressions is a must in my opinion. The bed was the worst I slept in I awoke with a severe backache. We used Sas transportation to get to the pier we had a 930 pickup time from our hotel. Eric gave us a call at 900 saying he was running early and he should be at our hotel in 15 minutes. Great. We were leaving the bates motel. We ended up going to pick up a few more passengers at area hotels and then the airport and we were on our way. Let the party begin. DH still has no clue. Arrival at the pier was 25 minutes later.

I'm on the same cruise in September. I can't wait to read more. Cheers.

Can't wait to hear more. I am going on the June 12th sailing. I am curious about the mosquitos, if you saw any?

This was the most easiest process to go through no line no waiting. Just to point out I think this was because we were Haven members. As We entered through terminal C the Haven lounge was right there on the left hand side. Our paperwork was completed and we were sitting there drinking coffee and a lemon pound cake. About 10 minutes later a lovely lady came and escorted us up to the waiting area. DH Still having no clue we are staying in the Haven although all signs pointed to that fact. As we are walking to the designated waiting area I see the stares at others like where they going. I've had that same look in my eyes now I know. As we are brought to another holding area to wait there too they had a setup of coffee tea and snacks. We were there for about another 10 minutes when we were whisked onto the ship and into an awaiting elevator up to the Haven on deck 16 we go. Total embarkation time half hour. Sweet

The Haven experience. The look on DH face as the lovely lady escorted us through the secret passage of the Haven was priceless. He turned and looked at me and was like we're in the Haven? I simply smiled. He said Yvette how did you do this? OK here comes the barrage of questions. How? When? How much did this cost? Yadda Yadda. I simply smiled and said just enjoy the experience. He then stated thank you its been my dream to be in the haven and you fulfilled it. No his income tax refund fulfilled it but he will never know. OK back to the story. So as we sat in the haven lounge, John was our conceriege he explained his role and that we could go to him for anything. Since we pre-arranged everything prior the need for the conceriege right now was not needed. He did state we should go to him 45 minutes prior to the illusionary show and he will walk us down to get front row seats.

I was on the cruise...can't wait to hear your take on everything.

They served us punch along with sliders and french fries as our rooms were getting ready. This allowed DH and I to wonder around the Haven to see what is in store for us for the next 7 days. As in other reviews there is a pool and 2 hot tubs along with a sauna room. On Deck 17 there was more lounge chairs with cushions, claim shell chairs ect... I must say DH is in heaven in the Haven. He said this is where I will be right here lounging in the smoking section (deck 17) of the Haven. I will say that I was very impressed that everyone knows your name. As we make our way back to the lounge area John announces are rooms are ready.

Room 16130

DH was quite amused that there was a doorbell. The room was a nice size for the 2 of us. King size bed we got to choose our pillows which was nice. Everything we asked them to take care of pre cruise was done. Our fridge was emptied. Green apples in the room etc... nice start. We received a nice bottle of complementary champagne and water plus a bouquet of flowers and some petit fours from the captain. This room has an extended balcony which was nice. His and hers closet. And to me tons of storage space including the bathroom. Our butler's name was Benny. He introduced himself and told us how to work the tv. Lights etc... He asked what our favorite snacks were and he would make sure that we have them. He showed my husband how to work the free on demand movie system on tv This is it he is in his glory.

It was now time for me to walk around the ship and compare it with its sister ship the breakaway. Well its identical so we kind of knew where everything was but this time I was going to make it a point to see spice H2o since I missed the entire thing in the last ship. Didn't even know it was there saw it online and was like how did I miss this section. Well I took plenty of pictures this first day and enjoyed myself as DH was upstairs sleeping. The mandatory muster drill was at 330 in the theater. I find these things so Aggravating only because I feel they could do it a different way like 1 half of the ship at 1 time and the other half the ship another time. This would cut down in all the congestion when its over and people are scrambling to the elevators to get back to what they were doing prior. I wonder if there is a suggestion box here I could put that in. So we were invited to the CAS welcome party at 430 in the casino this was great since leaving the muster drill we only had to walk a few feet and wait for the party and not worry about all the people trying to get the elevators. The welcome party was your typical one ,free champagne and talk about the casino in general. Then the tables and slots opened up as we were now in international waters and let the fun times begin. Now DH and I are not big gamblers but we love to play slots. We are the type of couple that we bet small in hoping to win big. I brought down 40 to play. And bam. I turned that 40 into 200. I'm good with that. I can now use their money to play for the rest of the cruise yeah right. Hubby broke even he said. I told him that I was now hungry and ready to go eat. I had realized that it was close to 630 and the only thing I ate today was a slider and some French fries.

I can't wait to read more, we're doing this itinerary in 12 days. Would love to see the dailies when you have time. Thanks for taking the time to write your review.

Love hearing about the Haven experience on Getaway! We will be in our first Haven ever soon, also on the Getaway:D

We ate at the Haven restaurant and I am glad we did. The food was amazing. I had jumbo shrimp cocktail. Disclosure I took my camera to take pics of the meal before I ate it but it never seemed to happen that way. :):) Second course a lobster scallop shrimp muscle clam soup. It was a little to fishy for me. My cesar salad with salmon was delicious. Main course was filet mignon with lobster tail, baked potato along with spinach and asparagus. I loved everything but the lobster cooked to long imho. DH had a filet truffle he had know idea what it was but I gave him A for effort for trying it. He loved the filet but wasn't big on the truffles I gave him a for effort. No dessert for us. We were stuffed. As we headed back to our cabin we noticed our Butler made good on his promise gummy bears and m&m's the real kind with the m's on them was waiting for us. Oh this day ended on a high note. Breakfast was ub the Haven: I paid for it so why not get full use out of it. We headed to the haven restaurant around 9am. I decided on steak and eggs because it looked so go when I saw pics on other people's review. Added some grits and wheat toast. The breakfast was good but the grits were to watery for my taste. DH had a cheese omelet that he was not impressed with. After breakfast I headed out taking more pictures of the ship. DH decided to remain in the courtyard and relax.

At 10am I headed to our CC meet and greet held in Cagney"s they passed around blueberry muffins along with this delicious strawberry milk shake. I sat with a lovely couple. David, Pricilla?? And her mom Cecily who live in Naples Fl. We conversed about cruising, Cruise Next Rewards and the Haven. Hey guys if you are reading my review it was nice meeting you.

Met up with husband after the meeting was over and decided to hit up the casino. The Casino surely wasn't paying today. Lost all of 80 this go round. Well I am still up 120.00. (So on a side note I am not sure if I mentioned this but this cruise was originally comped to us by our local land based casino. We only had to pay taxes and port charges. So we were comped an inside room and I upgraded to a mid ship balcony.) DH wanted to go hang out up on haven deck 17 with the cushioned lounge chairs with umbrellas. I think I need these cushions at home. So I figured since we have the soda package I should order some. Well just my luck they bring us diet soda instead of regular. Well the Water is nice and calm and we are relaxing on this nice sea day afternoon. As we lay here basking in the sun a waiters come by with sandwiches for your tasting. Today was egg, tuna, or ham. DH said omg it amazes me that you can't hear all the people or the music. In all actuality I am missing it. So tomorrow after our excursion main pool it is for me.

DH wanted to explore the ship a little so I gave him the tour since I felt I was a pro. Although I could not find the gelato place on deck 8 but I will locate it sooner or later. Breakfast was again in the Haven where I had eggs over medium bacon and homefries I love the fact that they were nice and hot. No lunch for us and Dinner was at Osheehans tonight I forgot the camera in the room so no pictures but dinner was fajitas and nachos and boy was it good.

Captains meet and greet: this was a private event held in (fat cats? )at 6:30 pm. DH opted out of this event so I went alone. I had a great time. They served appetizers & free drinksI had something blue it was excellent.

Today's show is Burn the Floor. We were told to get there at least half hour before before the show started which was 7:30pm. they did have a small roped off section for the haven guests it was located in the middle on the left hand side. Once the show was about to start they removed the rope.

The show was about an hour long and it was fantastic. When i arrived back to the room mm and gummie bears were awaiting. Early night tonight so bed it is: next stop Roatan Honduras

Day 3. Roatan Honduras- we got up fairly early due to the time change and decided to walk around the ship and to eat breakfast at the buffet. Crowded to say the least everyone is ready to head out on to the island. The great perk is we get to go out first to me our private tour guide. (Another haven perk) in order order to do this you must meet the concierge 15 minutes prior to arrival. We arrived earlier and just liked promised they escorted us down the service elevators and out we went. When you get out you will walk by several shops and then walk down the center here is where you will see many People trying to get you to go on their tours. Ignore like we did. Walk to the left opposite side of all the taxis once out the big white gate take a right and walk pass all of these people trying to get you to go on their tour. They were all very helpful when we said we were going to little french key. They pointed us in the right direction. Once we got to the meeting point Larry was there as promised. He put us in a mini van and we were on our way. It was about 20 minute ride to the payment point. Where we hopped on a boat another 5 minutes and we were there Little French Key. Just let me say this place is absolutely beautiful. We were given a small tour of the island and we were free to do what we please. The food was delicious, we had rice and beans salsa, coleslaw, plantain chips, lobster, shrimp, steak & chicken & 2 drink coupons. The price for this excursion was 88 for 2 their were higher packages but this one suited us just fine. We only used 1 of the food coupons. There was so much to see and do. We had free use of kayaks paddle boards and snorkeling equipment. We got to visit the small zoo they had with monkeys lions and other animals. DH was also able to hold a monkey and take a picture. Little piece of paradise hidden away I would recommend this excursion to anyone. We decided to head back early around 2:30 as this was not an NCL excursion and did not want to miss the ship. We ended up stopping at the little shopping area was great there the prices to me were kinda high imo. But I was able to snag some good deals.

Dinner tonight was in the Haven again where I had baked sea bass. Dear DH had prime rib. After dinner we headed to the casino again where I added to my win. I decided I was going to call it an early night tonight due to an early shore excursion tomorrow to monkey sanctuary and Belize zoo. DH had other plans and stayed at the casino to try and win some of his money back that I know that he lost.;)

Can't wait to read more! We'll be on the same itinerary in July. Thank you so much for your review!

So today was a very hectic day. We were suppose to leave at 845 on a tender into Belize that transpired into 930 due to everything being late. The tender ride is approximately 20 minutes long. Once we arrived we were ushered right onto the bus to the howler monkey sanctuary and Belize zoo. It took 1 hour to get to the zoo. Although the guide was very informative. It was a very long ride. The zoo was nice with over 200 animals but it was extremely hot and muggy. For some strange reason she did not want us to walk around the zoo on our own we had to stay in a group. Once done we rode another half hour and stopped at what seemed to be the side of the road and got off and ate lunch at a place called the tavern. This lasted a half hour and we were off for another 20 minute ride to the sanctuary (if you want to call it that) after a brief introduction we walk literally in the woods, jungle whatever you want to call it to go see if we can see some monkeys in some trees. Not at all what I was expecting. We did manage to see a family of 5 monkeys in a tree and next thing you know time to leave. Now the daunting task of an hour ride back to the ship. It is now 230 and the last tender is at 4. We will make it right on time. Glad it was an NCL excursion. I personally would not recommend this excursion this trip to people. I felt really bad because there was a family there with a child in a carriage who was having a hard time trying to manage walking in the woods to spot some monkeys.

Once back at the terminal the line was ridiculously long. This is where the Haven perk came in. I had read on here that you can go to the front of the line and you will be let it. Nope that was not the case he turned me down flat and said end of the line. So as we were walking towards the end we saw a man waving a Haven sign he said are you Haven guests we said yes, showed him our keycard and to the front we went. The man who just told us to go to the end of the line my DH just looked at him and smiled as we walked right past him. This was so nice perk after having a very long day.

Le Bistro: dinner was at 6pm: I will concur this place is delicious I had the mushroom plate. Husband had lamb loin. We ate outside so we can people watch. Plus DH had on shorts and did not want to go back up to change. He was already upset with me because I booked this specialty restaurant after having a very long day on shore. I knew how to get him though all I had to say was lets go to the Casino. So off we went. Casino trip 3 hubby won 300 tonight I one 85. Again we both called it an early night due in Costa Maya tomorrow but we were exhausted.

My family will be on this itinerary in 3 weeks! Thank you for the review.

Today we turn the clocks ahead one hour. Costa Maya is where I will call home today. Breakfast was in the Haven Restaurant I got there about 930 and it was quick and fast. We hung around the ship for awhile. By 11am I was off the ship. Today we only ventured right into the immediate port area. In this port the vendors are very very pushy. But you can get great deals here. After purchasing trinkets for the family we headed back inside to head to the pool. We decided to venture over to the main pool area to people watch. It is amazing to see so many people so many nationalities on a ship where we all are just enjoying ourselves. We went shopping which is on deck 8, we sat next to the atrium which is on deck 6. We just had a nice relaxing time today.

Illusionarium: We received a call from the concierge desk asking do we want to upgrade our seats. I am glad we did we met John at 445 to escort us down to the show front row seats great 4 us The show actually started at 6pm it was fantastic from start to finish.

We decided to head to the casino to see if we would make a deposit or withdrawal. Tonight we made 2 deposits both hubby and I lost. 88 for me. Him I lost count. We called it an early night due to the fact we have an early morning excursion planned. So I decided to check my account on I concierge and low and behold I was charge again for the Illusionarium show. Oh no. Off I go to get this fixed. So here is what I was told we charge to the correct fee now and the original fee we will credited your credit card. Well I couldn't check then because I had to Internet connection. It had to wait till I got home. Nope won't let this ruin my trip having a fabulous time.

(side note) saw the credit there the very next day.

I'm intrigued! As you are writing i'm just sitting by the computer waiting for more =) Any chance on the dailies ? thank you for taking the time and sharing we are in the haven this Sunday the 8th! Cant wait..:)

we are up ready to head out to our excursion. Today we are headed to Xcaret park. This tour is 7 hours long so if you wanted to do some shopping in Cozumel this is not the trip for you. We headed over Play de Carmen on a boat to meet our motor coach. It took 30 minutes to get there if anyone wants to know. We then took another 15 minute ride to Xcaret park which is next door to xplor park. Once inside we were free to do what we wanted. I must say this park is simply beautiful. I will start with this the ground is color coded so that you can see what section you are exploring. The black line is the main entrance. Red line is where the beaches are. Blue line is where the aquarium is where the sea animals are. White line is the jaguars etc... green line is more beaches turtles etc. there is no way to do it. Also our guide forgot to mention that there were lockers up front near the bathrooms to put items in. Our guide said they were only located at the red line. DH was not happy to lug it around all day. So we started off our day at the lazy river it was fantastic we were on a boat that took us in a 15 minute ride it was so tranquil. Next stop was the red line for something to eat. Stop #41. We ate there cause our guide recommended it and it was so so good. Another side note here everything is in pesos. Also in this restaurant we were able to connect to free wifi. Meal was $457.00 pesos $26 us. Next stop blue line so hubby can see the sharks and the like. We have officially walked 5 miles in this park and we are tired. It is now 1pm and it takes about 1 half hour to get back to the black line. So off we head back to meet our guide. I will say that this park is truly amazing a must see and do. There are camera in the park that you can stand and take pictures that you can purchase in the gift shop. Have exact change because they will give you back pesos. They do not accept loose change. Soda is 3 and water is 2. Also if you bring suntan lotion here they have to read it to make sure it is safe for the eco Systems water. If it is not they will take it and give you one of there's and you can pick it back up later. I rate this park a 4.9 the only reason I didn't give it a 5 is because there was no signs for the lockers when we first got in. The ride back was quick they gave us ferry tickets to get back in. The seas were a little rough and I got sea sick. I couldn't wait to finish this ride. We arrive back by 345pm

We got to our room by 4pm and fell right to sleep. We missed our 6pm Cagneys dinner reservations:( so we ate at the buffet instead the food was ok. I had steak and potatoes salad and DH had some type of chicken and then we headed to the casino to see whether we were going to do a deposit or withdrawal. Today was was a nice withdrawl. I won 345.00 woot woot. DH doesn't know. so it's time for me to go. Today was good for a lot of people I saw a women win 1800. And then they announced someone just won 3K. I cant beleive tonight was was a late night for us we went to bed around midnight. We are usually in bed by 10pm Last day. Time to pack and go do some shopping. There was nothing in the gift shop for my 7 year old grandson. Although he would have liked a Lego watch but I couldn't see myself spending 26 dollars. I ended up buying my mom some cigarettes since they were cheaper than the $10 pack at home. I bought my two children Hennessey white. And my staff some rum cakes. I will say that it took a lot for me to spend the 400 obc credit I had. I ended up with 1.55 left over. Dinner tonight was in tappenyaki it was delicious as always. This time the cooked so much extra food. He let everyone taste everything. Nice surprise decided to try my hand one last time at the casino and bam. I won again 178.00 left early I didn't want to give it back.

Loving your review.

Thanks for taking the time to post.:)

Can't wait to hear more. I am going on the June 12th sailing. I am curious about the mosquitos, if you saw any?

I did not see any mosquitos but I will say people were using deep woods off. I myself had on a wrist repellent bracelet and was not bit once. Even when going in the jungle.

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I was on the cruise...can't wait to hear your take on everything.

Please chime in to give a different perspective.

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I can't wait to read more, we're doing this itinerary in 12 days. Would love to see the dailies when you have time. Thanks for taking the time to write your review.

Your welcome, will post dailies hopefully tomorrow. If I have time long day at work.

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