adidreh1234

44 minutes ago, SakeDad said:

I was able to get a bottle of Vueve in Hudsons on Embark Day and Palomar pre-arranged with dinner (and good tips) and of course Le Bistro on Prima. Were you able to get bottles besides Le Bistro on Gem? Going on Encore in April and my fingers are crossed.

I can get bottles but will have to pay for it at 40% off since I’m silver.  Hope that helps 🙂

I just did a post about this as I’m currently on the Gem, and I can confirm that Veuve and Moet are available by the bottle and Veuve is available by the glass in Le Bistro only.  

We upgraded to the premium plus package because I drink a lot of water and wanted the option to bring bottles back to the room.  My husband loves Starbucks coffee.  We both enjoy top shelf liquor and premium wine, so it made sense for us to upgrade.  
 

There’s been a lot of discussion around the champagne that’s on board, and there are people who are upset about the changes to the premium plus drink package, particularly whether Veuve Cliquot is available by the glass.  I just wanted to share what I discovered on NCL Gem, we’re currently docked at Key West and will dock at Great Stirrup Caye tomorrow.

The Veuve and Moet Chandon are both available by the bottle in bars ship wide, BUT Veuve is available by the glass in Le Bistro only.  

All other bars served Pommery Rose brut, which I have to say isn’t all that bad.  We each had two glasses with lunch yesterday.  
 

There was also a Norwegian brand extra dry Prosecco that we tried today and it was actually quite good.

Be aware though, even with the premium plus package, while on US soil, taxes are levied on alcohol and Starbucks coffee.  We ended up paying $2.50 for our rose which wasn’t a big deal but was unexpected.  
 

We’re having dinner at Le Bistro tonight, so will report back about the Veuve situation, I plan on getting at least two glasses!

It's been four days since we got back from the cruise, I finally have time to post about the rest of my trip.

Day 5- grand Cayman. I was super excited about Grand Cayman as I have never been to this island. We had signed up for the Trolley Roger tour of the island because with a four year old, we felt it was a light activity leveled excursion. The tender was easy, no line and ride was only five minutes. We got off the tender boat, and each cruise line had their own disembarkation port. We were greeted by the shore excursion staff only to be informed that the trolley had broken down and we should find our own excursion. At this point, I was just pissed. We have not had any luck with excursions and the fact that we were not informed of the cancellation really put a bad taste in my mouth. We walked around in the heat and saw a booth for Dscount Shore Excursions. There was a semi-submarine excursion. Basically it was a boat that has a cabin down below deck that has glass windows all around. We thought it was reasonably priced at $45 a person and half price for child. We had to walk five minutes to Atlantis. We waited ten minutes and the boat showed up. We got on the boat, and went below deck. It was awesome! Grand Cayman has the most beautiful Caribbean water I have ever seen. With the sun shining through, you can see everything clearly. Fish, coral reef, etc. the boat drove around the harbor for about an hour, we saw many different species of fish, and coral reef. We also saw a sting ray and sea turtle. It got boring after w while, but my four year old couldn't get enough of the fish! I was glad she had a good time.

After that, we took the tender boat back to the ship. Did not have to wait in line at all. Back on the ship, we decided on Flamingo grill for lunch. Food was once again amazing. The buffet had two different types of rice, plantains, pulled pork, chimmichurri steak, stuffed potato, yucca.

DD wanted to go to the kid's pool, we happily obliged. Since most people were on excursions, we had the pool pretty much to ourselves. We were in the kid's pool for two hours. Finally I had to sweet talk her into leaving because people were gradually coming back from the island, and more and more kids showed up. Many kids were in my opinion way too big to be in the kiddie pool, and they were not playing nice. Another reason I wanted DD to get out. I had to say something to few of the bigger kids and asked them to watch out for small children.

Dinner was Tropicana. So glad I booked it for that night. Burn the Floor had a mini performance there. It was a good show. I was hoping for Latin dances but they did mainly swing and jive. DD and DH really enjoyed it too. It kept DD occupied for a while without her having to ask for the iPad. Service was again outstanding from the wait staff.

We did what we did every night after dinner, which was a quick stroll on the waterfront and went back to the room to relax and get ready for bed.

I am quite impressed so far with NCL and how kid friendly the Getaway is. I love the kid's pool area, kids menu, splash academy. Also every person is super attentive to DD, wanted to make sure she was having fun. For this reason alone, I will probably always sail with NCL even though we had some hiccups with excursions.

We were at Grand Cayman Thursday. The tender let us out at a port that was dedicated to NCL. There were NCL tents with cups of water, and after you walk through the gate, we were greeted by NCL shore excursions staff who directed us to the holding area. I thought it was well organized.

I have a turtles one. We are currently en route back to Miami. Internet is so slow I haven't been able to post. I will post it once I get back to the port.

So sorry I have not posted in two days! The satellite was down and the Internet connection was really bad. Here is what happened on day 4.

Day 4- Ocho Rios, Jamica. We were so glad to finally see sunshine! By the time we docked, the sun was out. We got up early because we have the dolphin encounter excursion. The tickets said to meet at end of the pier at 9:20. DH doesn't like to be late EVER so we rushed through breakfast and went down to the gangway. Getting off the boat was a breeze. As we walked along the pier, we were enjoying the gorgeous view of the island with lucious greenery. The meeting point for excursions was a total mess. It was absolutely chaotic. No instructions whatsoever, and we were told to just go to the end of line and get a wrist band. We fought through some crowds and got to the end of line. Only to be told that we were too early! DH was really annoyed. DD was getting fussy too because there was no AC in the tent. Looked like they were calling groups to get on the bus every 10 minutes. I got into it with one of the workers there and demanded that they let us check in because I wasn't about to stand in the heat to wait, especially in the chaotic mess. Anyway, we got wrist bands and little did we know, we would have to wait another 30 minutes to get on the bus. This part was irritating but off we go to see the Dolphins.

The ride was really short, about five minutes. The sun was shining so we quickly forgot the disembarkation unpleasantness. We got to the dolphin cove and were given group numbers. We were in group 3, and were instructed to go sit at the end of the pier. We were getting excited as we see five dolphins just frolicking around and having a great time. Dolphins are my favorite animals so for me, this excursion was extra thrilling. We were given a quick lesson on how to touch the Dolphins and kiss them. The trainer also answered a bunch of questions about Dolphins in general. They started calling group numbers, everyone was given a life vest and instructed to go into an area where water was knee high. One of the Dolphins came over and everyone started taking turns with the dolphin. I can honestly say this was one of the coolest things I have ever done. I couldn't believe I got up so close to a Dolphin and even kissed her. DD was having a great time, DH had to hold her but she got to kiss the dolphin. We got pictures in the end on a CD, it was pricey $98 but we thought it was worth it.

After the Dolphins we took the shuttle back to the ship. There were others that got dropped off at a shopping center right down the street. We got lunch and went straight to the kids pool. DD and I spent two hours at the pool and were exhausted.

Dinner was at Cagney's. The food was amazing. Sorry can't post pictures now but will post once I get to Miami. DH had tuna, and I had snapper. Our waiter was the best. He went above and beyond to make sure the tuna was cooked to perfection. We filled out a comment card to give him good feedback.

After dinner, we walked around the waterfront to enjoy the full moon. There were so many activities we would have liked to go check out but since we are traveling with a small child, we couldn't take advantage of them.

We went to bed and started looking forward to Grand Cayman.

It pains me that I can't post any pictures due to the slow internet. I promise I will soon!

My impression so far of the Getaway has been that service is outstanding. I read other threads about how service sucks on the Getaway, but we have had a very different experience so far. With the exception of one grumpy bartender, everyone is super friendly and accommodating. DD is being treated like a princess. Our room steward is awesome. DD requested a towel monkey and she got one tonight! Also, food has been amazing. I have not had a bad meal.

Day 3- At Sea. One of the major disappointments of the trip thus far is the weather. I know it's out of our control, but I am still bummed that for two days straight we have not seen any sun. I signed up for the Pilates class and was really excited for it this morning. Only to get to the fitness center and saw no sign of the class. I think it might have been cancelled. I wish I had gotten a call about it. no biggie, we got dressed and went to breakfast at O'Sheehan's. I had scrambled eggs and bacon, DD had French toast, and DH had country breakfast which is sort of like an Irish breakfast minus the blood sausages. He said it was really good. After breakfast, DD wanted to go to the video arcade. We had nothing better to do, most of the activities listed didn't interest us. We tried mini golf but line was too long. So We went to the arcade and had a blast. By mid morning, there was an announcement that the ship had turned clock back one hour, not sure why! It messed up our schedule slightly. We went to get lunch at Savor and it was operating on the new ship time so we waited a bit. Lunch was so delicious. DH and I both agree that food on NCL is far superior than RCL or Carnival. I felt the complimentary restaurant food definitely is high quality. Even the butter is a high end European brand. I had pho and fried chicken, and DH had pho and a burger which he said was cooked to perfection.

We were all exhausted so all three of us took a two hour nap. After nap we went to the pool. This part of the day was the first time I got a little annoyed with NCL. The kid's pool was closed due to a baby pooping in there earlier. All of the kids had nowhere to go and weren't allowed in the adult pool, so the entire area was really crowded. We couldn't find one single chair. We walked around for thirty minutes before finally settling down on two chairs outside the vibes club. I was so annoyed by then, DD was crying about the pool, and DH was grouchy from having to walk around for so long to find a chair. After a while we got bored and came back to the room to dress for dinner.

Dinner was at Moderno. Salad bar was amazing, I could have just eaten that alone.

I don't get seasick unless the ship is really rocky. I think because of the storm, water was really choppy today, but I put a motion sickness patch on my stomach and felt just fine.

I am excited for Jamaica tomorrow, we are doing the dolphin encounter!

what happens if you miss a day at port? Do you try to catch it on the way back or just skip it and have another day at sea?

If the port is skipped its skipped, no trying to catch it on the way back. We just had another day at sea

great review! 6 bucks for a cupcake though!?!!?

I got a latte also, I forgot! The latte was $2.95. So cupcakes were $4 each. DH paid the bill so I didn't see the exact breakdown, he just said it was around $11.

That's expensive! I wouldn't have paid except I promised DD we woul get a cupcake after lunch. I couldn't exactly not keep my promise :)!

Thanks so much for live posting! So excited to cruise with you!

Are we on the same cruise??

Thank you everyone for following my review! Hope you are finding it helpful. I promise to post pictures once i get to a place where internet is faster

Day 2 - at sea (originally supposed to be Great Stirrup Cay) so, our room is a family suite 12226, mid ship. It is on the same deck as the Splash academy. There were some noises last night unfortunately. I am not sure what the noises were, sounded like people running, chairs being move around, pounding on the wall, or something else. I could not fall asleep. But whatever, we are on a cruise, people are going to make noise. DD and DH had no problems sleeping.

We woke up at 7:30 and I immediately had a feeling we skipped port. We were supposed to have docked early and we were still at sea. Sure enough, captain came on the PA and announced that due to weather and six feet waves, he decided to skip the port and head straight to Ocho Rios, Jamaica. I was ok with the decision since the weather looked terrible. There were dark clouds and was very windy. We took our time and got dressed to go to breakfast. We went to Savor. Again, I will post menus once Internet connection is better. I loved the huge selections on the menu. DH got eggs Benedict, and the eggs were poached perfectly. I just had simple eggs over easy with bacon. DD got the chocolate pancake and she was in heaven. Everything tasted amazing. Compare to RCL or Carnival, I think NCL has got the best food in complimentary restaurants.

After breakfast I went to sign up for shore excursions. We were on the fence about whether to do excursions in Ochos Rios, but since today was a sea day, we knew we would be going crazy after two sea days. I have say, I did not feel a bit crowded despite knowing there are 4000 passengers on board. I didn't wait for the shore excursion at all, and guest services lines looked pretty short too. I am pleased that NCL seemed to be super efficient in taking care of guests' needs.

DD was dying to go to the pool so we headed for the kids pool area. I agree with other people that chairs are hard to come by on sea days. We settled on a table in the garden buffet's outdoor seating area. It worked. We weren't going to sit anyway because DD wanted to be in the water nonstop. The kids park was awesome! Everything was made out of foam! I was glad that kids were throwing themselves around and parents didn't have to worry about them getting hurt. I did feel that some kids were way too old to be in that area. They were not playing nice and I had to stop a few of them from almost kicking DD in the head. DD and I had a wonderful time but the clouds were coming in, so we decided to go to lunch.

Lunch was at O'Sheehan's. I loved the fish and chips. It was well seasoned. DH had wings and shepher's pie. DD loved the fish and chips as well. The Beer selection there was great, DH was happy and had a Peroni.

After lunch, we went to Carlo's Bake Shop. The cupcake in my opinion was too dry which was a bummer :( plus it was a la carte so we paid $11 for two cupcakes. But whatever.

DH went to take a nap while DD and I went to the waterfront and walked around. I have to say again, I am pleasantly surprised that I did not feel crowded one bit. I never had to wait in line for a drink or bathroom. And at every bar there seemed to be plenty of seating.

I took DD to the Splash Academy, she wanted to go the crafts activity and puppet show. We had to wait in line for 10 minutes as parents were eager to drop their kids off for a while. DD did not have any separation anxiety what so ever, I felt they were well organized. DH and I then went to the casino. The casino was dead! No one was playing any games. We lost $80 quickly at Roulette, ugh! We went to the waterfront and sat next to the Sugarcane bar ( my favorite), and relaxed for about 30 minutes.

We picked DD up and headed to dinner. We stopped by O'Sheehan's for a quick game of air hockey. Dinner tonight was Teppanyaki. Overall, food was decent. Chefs put on a great show. I thought the dinner was a bit long. We are used to being in and out in about an hour back home, and today took two hours. DD was fading quickly, so we ate eally fast. I had the seafood dish with lobster, scallops and calamari. I thought the flavors were great. DH had filet mignon and chicken, he said chicken was dry but filet was excellent. Photographers came around to take pictures of your family with the chef. At the end of the dinner they gave you the picture and a bill for $20 if you want to buy it. I bought it because I wanted DD to have the picture to remember the trip by. I am a sucker for these kind of things.

After dinner, we came back to the cabin and now getting ready for bed. One of the things I love about the family mini suite is the bath tub!! DD can take bath. We also get a double sink! DH and I don't have to elbow each other while brushing our teeth.

Now it's winding down time, tomorrow is another sea day.

if you have time, since your DD is in splash academy if you could post the schedule I would love to see that.

 

Going with our son who is 6 in 2 weeks exactly

 

enjoy your cruise:)

I sure will once I get to a place where the Internet is faster than molassess. The wi-fi is incredibly slow on the ship. We skipped port today due to high winds, we dropped DD off and she had a blast!!

Day 1 continued - we just got back from dinner at Savor, one of the complimentary restaurants. We did make reservation even thought I don't think we would have needed it at 5:30. More on Savor later with a menu. I forgot my phone so had to use DH's, can't transfer picture using this slow wi-fi. Food and service were both great though. Children's menu was excellent. DD was exited for PB&J and ice cream.

So anyway back to where I left off earlier. We finally started boarding at 11:30. Being in group 2, we were the first ones on board. They were playing music and had balloons lines up along the walkway, we felt very welcomed. From reading other people's reviews, we headed to The Flamingo grill immediately. The food was amazing. if someone can tell me how to post a picture I can post the menu! I also saw a hand washing station by the buffet which I loved! I thought that was a nice touch in addition to all the hand sanitizer stations around.

We went to explore the ship, and got DD soft serve ice cream from the Garden Buffet and ourselves some alcoholic drinks. My favorite by far was the raspberry guava mojito at sugar cane bar. Definitely try it.

We got the announcement staterooms were ready around 1:30. We went to the room and relaxed a bit on the balcony. DD was fussy so we went out exploring again. We walked around to familiarize ourselves with the ship when announcement came on about muster drill. I hate muster drills. The previous ones with carnival and RCL were long and painful processes. I went back to the room to get DH and we headed to our muster station. It was the only time today that I felt crowded as everyone was going to the stations at the same time. We got to the muster station and first of all, I was glad that the drill was totally inside so we didn't have to stand in the heat. Secondly, the drill was over in 10 minutes! We were pleasantly surprised! Everyone clapped and cheered at how quickly the drill was over.

We went up to the sun deck on deck 16 to watch the sail away. It was overcast, but very humid. We went inside after a short while to get ready for dinner.

I had bought the unlimited Internet package beforehand. If anyone had specific questions about that let me know. DH and I both downloaded the I concierge app, DD is Signed up for splash academy. I will update on how that's all going soon. Tomorrow is Great Stirrup Cay, and we signed up for the swimming with stingrays excursion. Can not wait!

I'm going on the getaway April 10th, could you tell me what time you get to Cozumel? I think it's 11 am but not sure if that's also local time. Thank you so much!!!

Absolutely! I believe it's 11am as well. Will confirm once we get next Friday.

Sitting in the boarding area waiting to board the Getaway for a 7 night western Caribbean cruise out of Miami. I hope to help others as this forum has helped me so much in planning this trip. I will update everyday and post menus and dailies.

A little background about my family. This is our fourth cruise, first with DD who is 4 years old. DH and I have previously cruised with Carnival and RCL. We arrive in Miami last night 3/19 because we didn't want to rush or chance any airline cancellations.

Miami - we stayed at Double Tree By Hilton near thr airport. Most hotels in the area didn't have a suite available. We usually get a one bedroom suite because DD goes to bed around 7, so we can hang out in the living room without disturbing her. This is a cruise review so I won't go into too much detail about the Double Tree. It was an okay experience, nothing memorable.

Day 1 (embarkation day)- because of our young DD, we opted for a car service instead of Uber or shuttle. We felt more comfortable if she were in a car seat. We booked with Ground Link through NCL's website. It was expensive ($100), however, service was top notch! Driver was professional and dropped us off right at terminal C.

I had picked arrival time during online check-in for 9:30-10:00, we waited for a bit before allowed to check in because we arrived super early around 9. Security was a breeze once it opened at 9:30, took no more than 15 minutes to get our cards and such. We then went upstairs and was handed a pass for Group 2. Waiting area is super clean and spacious. Coffee and water are also provided. I was slightly annoyed that we are still waiting to board since other threads have said people boarded as early as 10:30. However, I see that people are still disembarking so it must have been a full ship. We are sitting patiently waiting as of right now. It worked out because DD was so excited this morning and woke up at 5am, she is currently napping!

Will post more once aboard the ship!

Hi there, we cruise next week too so I don't have answers to most of your questions, but the specialty restaurant charge question I can answer because I just called NCL about that last week.

Did you purchase a Specialty Dining Package? If you did, then you won't have to pay anything extra at Cagney's, La Cucina, Le Bistro, Teppanyaki, or Moderno, you will order off a set menu. A La Carte diners without the SDP can still dine there, but they pay for what they order. The service/cover charge only applies to Illusionarium and Ocean Blue, which are not part of the SDP. So if you want to dine at these two palce, regardless of what type of SDP you purchase you still have to pay a cover charge. I feel that's a bit ridiculous.

Hope this helps!