Winchester Ranger

I think you need to do just a little more research before you start some sort of cruise critic panic. Is it to much to visit the CDC website before using the word "deadly"?

It has already killed 6 people, I believe that meets the generally held definition of "deadly".

does it contribute to the sea's trash ?

No, but Carnival does.

Juuuuuust kidding :D

It was only offered for a very short time, for select sailings.

Major bummer - but thanks.

This deadly mosquito borne virus is currently running rampant throughout the Caribbean, with ground zero centered squarely in St Maarten.

Does anyone have any information regarding infected cruise line passengers, any reported cases etc.

These outbreaks tend to be cyclical and can disappear within a season, but it sounds a little hairy out there right now. There is a lot of information in the mainstream media and I would encourage you to do your own research, there is also an entry on the CDC website, but does anyone have any information on how, and if, this is impacting the cruise lines?

We were comped both the UDP and the UBP when we sailed on Getaway in the Haven back in May. We could honestly care less about the UDP as we found the specialty dining to be poor outside of the Haven, but the UBP certainly came in handy.

Question is, I haven't seen it offered since - does anyone know if NCL stopped adding it to Haven packages?

Thanks, everyone, for your prompt replies! We try to book the least cabin we'd be happy in, then perhaps upgrade ourselves at a good price after final payment ---- but we love the sound of the Haven restaurant and don't want to be disappointed if we do end up staying in the penthouse. Off to booking I go.......

If you're in the Haven you're good to go, regardless of room :)

Enjoy, it's paradise.

On Getaway - the issue was over-crowding due to poor through-deck ship design.

An "average" price is never going to be truly reflective of the actual price you pay, it's just designed to get you interested. Having said that $1,149 per person for Haven is ridiculous, I have seen $1,800 but that was the lowest and certainly not an average.

Personally I want to choose my cabin, it makes a huge difference (for me) to be on deck 16 forward and not deck 15 further aft.

I ignored the GTY and chose my own suite, a couple of hundred bucks really isn't that much in the grand scheme of things.

Just to give the OP a contrasting opinion, we have cruised all the same lines and taking into consideration the very reasonable cruise fare, great options available for food and entertainment, very relaxed atmosphere requiring no formality and very little scheduling, we much prefer NCL.

 

By quoting my post you aren't so much giving the OP your opinion as you are disagreeing with mine.

I had hoped to avoid that with my opening statement.

Cruise line selection is a very personal thing, but I'll give you my 2 cents.

I wouldn't cruise NCL unless it was in the Haven, but then I would cruise in the Haven over ANY other cruise line or cabin. The main detractors are cramped shipboard conditions and poor food quality (note - not in the Haven, different ship entirely).

If I couldn't do Haven I have a preference for Celebrity. We did cruise Carnival many years ago and it was fantastic, but things have changed since then and the thugs have now discovered cheap cruising on that line so no thanks. Some friends of mine recently got back from a Carnival cruise and they told me that the list of "people to report to guest services" for credit cards that bounced took 15 minutes to read out.

Btw - Freestyle means no formal dining nights, so you can dress up if you like.

I can only speak for Getaway but the food quality in the Haven restaurant is absolutely superb. We had free upgraded dining anywhere on the ship and honestly we stopped trying after a mediocre meal in Ocean Blue and a truly awful meal in Le Bistro.

You get VIP service, Oceanside seating, and absolutely superb food in the Haven restaurant - and it's inclusive for suite guests. Yes the menu is fixed, but that really didn't concern me because I never could get enough of the mushroom ravioli, smoked salmon, and chicken with polenta, usually in that order !!

Yes you can have all 3 meals there - for us we had breakfast served in the room by our butler, there is nothing quite like mimosas on the balcony as you watch the flying fish jump out of the bow wave (we were on deck 16 forward), then lunch and dinner in Haven. Simple and perfect for us.

We stopped dining elsewhere after day 2, it was a no-brainer. We only had those couple of "outside" meals ourselves, but based on what other Haven guests were telling us, our experience wasn't unique as the food on the rest of the ship was quite disappointing. But food quality is all relative, a friend of mine still thinks that McDonalds make the best burgers.......

I miss the Haven SO badly.

Did you notice if Rose was still the Maitre d and any of the servers (Michelle, Estela) or Joyce the bartender ?

Wish I was there now.....

Thanks all for the words of encouragement, and no, Jenn still hasn't called me but at least Sophie showed up ;)

Maybe I'll check out those "find a cruise partner" websites, I didn't know that such things existed but it sounds like a great idea.

Ultimately whether you cruise with Jenn, Sophie, or solo - I hope you all have the best time out there :D

I literally just returned from a cruise with my partner of 16 years, and the cruise (as fantastic as it was) proved that we have grown apart as a couple and things have likely run their course for us. See ? cruising IS useful ;)

It is a wonderful thing to walk through a busy cocktail bar and see heads turn to watch your wife because she is so pretty, but then you realize that dining at breakfast and dinner was the only time the two of us actually spent together outside the cabin and you suddenly wake up to the fact that you are pretty much cruising on your own anyway, so why let the notion concern you? Easier said than done I'm afraid, you see I would dearly miss having a dining partner, I couldn't face dining alone and I couldn't face dining with a larger group of complete strangers. I have seen the Poseidon Adventure and I always felt terrible for Mr. Rosen (Red Buttons) sat at the dreaded large round table with happy couples trying to figure out exactly why you are alone - if you recall the dining room scene in the movie that is.

My friends of course are all married, and finding a male friend who would want to cruise is difficult at best, impossible at worst - for me cruising requires a female companion, a purely platonic companion yes, but definitely of the female persuasion. Perhaps there's a business opportunity here, "rent a cruise companion", but then renting female companions takes on something of an awkward connotation, and how on earth would you present your guest to the concierge - "Hi I'm Mike, and this is Sophie, otherwise known as the Emperor's Package with optional 1 night pre-cruise sleepover".

Ultimately I don't know if I have the courage to cruise alone and I admire those who do immensely and without reservation. I recall the fifty something gentleman dining alone in Ocean Blue on NCL Getaway just 4 short weeks ago. He announced in very confident tones that we, his fellow diners, were not to feel sorry for him as he had been due to cruise with his niece but she had fallen and broken her ankle the week before the cruise, so he decided that he would travel anyway. As much as I admired him, I couldn't help but note that he felt it necessary to point out that he hadn't planned on this being a solo cruise, as if to say "seriously, as if anyone would ?". So we sat there munching on our Dover Sole and feeling sorry for him, while secretly hoping that "singleness" was not a communicable disease. Well I have news for the CDC - apparently it is.

In my rambling daydreams I imagine a charming female companion who would be quite happy to share a cabin with a male stranger while somehow avoiding the inevitable awkwardness of sharing one bathroom and the delights of wondering if "he" is really an axe murderer !! Then I feel embarrassed that I am subconsciously describing some type of "Stepford Wife" designed exclusively for cruising, I can see the salesman now - "yes sir, she comes complete with a full salt corrosion protection package for those beach excursions and a guaranteed 7 day battery life". Sadly, both my warped sense of humor and technology plainly fail me at this moment. Perhaps Jennifer Anniston really would be willing to share an NCL Haven Suite with me for a 7 day caribbean cruise, maybe she would even pay her half - and maybe the captain would let me take a turn at docking the ship while wearing a blindfold.

So to those of you solos out there who have no hesitation when clicking on "1" for number of passengers on the drop-down menu, I salute you. I know that there are the "singles meet and greet" events, but honestly that feels like hoping you find a parachute AFTER jumping out of the plane, and I just got through reading some poor guy's story about how his fiancee dumped him immediately pre-cruise so he went anyway, only to discover that he was the only solo on the entire ship and barely left his cabin, only to be assigned a "male dining guest" when he did. Truly a nightmare scenario.

So it is that my cruising days are likely on a lengthy, possibly permanent break. But hey, Ms. Anniston, if you are reading this and the offer of a free Unlimited Beverage Package would make a difference, call me.......

I could have written this.

We sound very much alike.

I'd be a lot more interested to read some of the butler's stories about how they were treated by passengers.

Personally I think it's a miracle that the Phillipines doesn't declare war on us.

We sailed on Getaway which I assume has the same layout as Breakaway and the ship felt horribly over-crowded but we were saved by virtue of being in the Haven which was paradise by comparison.

The first time I tried to walk the length of the ship on a main interior deck I quickly realized that I couldn't.

I think it's the design, these ships have very limited internal space compared to other ships, it's a pity really, but I think they screwed up badly.

If that had been me I would have lost it.

Bravo on your amazingly positive attitude.

The Aft Haven penthouse on the Breakaway was our 30th cruise...can't go back to anything less again. In fact we cancelled a Crystal Cruise when we returned from our Breakaway cruise. The Crystal was a balcony that costs $$$$$$$. We booked the Breakaway again..same cruise, same cabin for next year. The itinerary will have to be extraordinary for us to book anything less on another ship. We are sailing on HAL in Sept for a Med cruise...booked it a year ago and have bought the plane tickets. If not for the itinerary and the plane tickets we would have walked away...and we are booked in a suite on HAL.

This is exactly where we are at but it's good to hear that others were able to "step down" without necessarily noticing a big difference in the overall cruise experience.

I notice the mention of specialty dining in other posts and we actually got the UD package for free and then hardly used it. To us the food in the Haven restaurant (this was on Getaway) was leagues ahead of all the other dining rooms in terms of food quality, taste, and presentation. We simply stopped eating anywhere else.

Wow, I struggled with the title of this thread more than you might think so as not to cause offence - "Haven - anyone take a step down", "Haven - could you stand normal cruising again?". You get the idea.

You see our last cruise, as fantastic as it unquestionably was, has left us with a dilemma - we couldn't imagine doing anything but Haven. So that not only means Haven, it means NCL till death us do part.

This revelation has caused us to have a few blank stares and awkward silences when discussing future cruises - something along the lines of:

"hey I'd like to do an Alaskan cruise".

"Yeah me too".

"In Haven of course".

"Oh yes, of course".

.......awkward silence........

Seriously, has anyone done Haven and never varied thereafter, or did you find it easy to switch back to non-Haven staterooms?

Spring for a Haven suite - honestly the best advice I can give.

Oh dear I thought this thread would have died long ago and I appear to have riled a few snarks :eek:

I must first completely confess my totally inaccurate use of the phrase "bench seating" in The Illusionarium - I really should have said group seating, or long dining table style seating - guilty as charged, but rest assured that melord's bottom will sit resplendent in a padded chair, and not on a bench.

I will also admit that seeing how some people get so peeved at such minor ramblings as my own reminds me why we tend to "cruise private" ;)

So whether you be a happy smiler or a dastardly curmudgeon, I hope you enjoy Getaway, we certainly did.

We sail her in the Haven in June 7th. We have an aft penthouse corner Haven suite 11308.

 

This will be our first NCL cruise so not sure what to expect. We have sailed other lines many times.

 

What was the Haven pool area like? Crowded? Quiet? Over run by chair hogs? Perfect? How did it compare to the main pool areas on board?

 

 

Essentially deserted around the pool during our cruise just a few sun worshippers and remember there is also an upper deck that was even more deserted, I wouldn't give it a second thought, just remember that the Haven "pool" area isn't really a pool, just a plunge pool for the sauna and those strange 3 inch pools with loungers in them - even the hot tubs barely saw any use when we were there. But - I would imagine that situation changes drastically during the kids school vacation periods, avoid those like the plague.

You'll love it, guaranteed.

Let me see if I caught all the questions:

1. I looked for Bong at the Sunset Bar but only saw a different bartender.

2. Sorry, no idea who will be replacing Anoop.

3. Illusionarium explanation will be below.

4. Our suite number was 16704 - and although the Penthouse Suite lacked a certain something and really was just a souped up balcony room as someone correctly pointed out, we loved it mostly for the location. Deck 16 forward is SO quiet, no stomping feet at night, no music from the nightclub, and our balcony was completely private with a large double window on either side before the next balcony. Like I said, we loved it.

Speaking of which, a little about "us".......

I'm afraid we love our privacy, this can make us look a little aloof at times, something that wasn't aided by us dressing up for dinner every night with my wife in a sparkly cocktail dress and me in a suit or tuxedo with us then compounding the image by engaging in quiet but giggly private chit chat. One of the other Haven guests finally reached a breaking point after my wife jumped in the plunge pool following a sauna session and was promptly buttonholed with the following question "are you 2 really married ?" - the question was posed with an absence of humor, they were serious. Evidently you are not supposed to yearn each others exclusive company to such a degree after 16 years of marriage - well I'm afraid it's a case of mea culpa, mea maxima culpa because you see I rather like her. I explain this otherwise self-indulgent fact for 2 reasons, firstly if any of our fellow cruisers are reading this I want them to know why we didn't engage in the drinking parties at the bar or pull our tables over to merge with yours because we didn't like you, and secondly because our love of privacy may explain some of our other more unusual decisions of which more below (see Illusionarium story).

It's just how we are I'm afraid, I'm sure a psychologist would have a field day with us.

Ok - on with the story and please remember that this is a very personal journal, you don't have to agree with it - it isn't necessarily right or wrong, for the most part it just "is". ;)

The Ship - as we strode up to her we fell in love with her size and shiny new appearance, the artwork while at first a little garish really grew on us at each stop, especially as it made her stand out when she was berthed alongside other ships. The RCCL ship (darned if I can remember her name) that was berthed alongside us looked very tired and scruffy by comparison with rust and ugly scars down her rather dirty looking flanks, all the more significant as RCCL is regarded as an elite line - I had no desire to trade ships from what I saw.

Now here's the controversial part - we were shocked at how small and crowded she felt on the inside, sort of a reverse Tardis for any Doctor Who nerds out there. I'm used to ships having a grand atrium right at the boarding point, complete with colored glass and sky elevators running right to the top of the ship in a huge open deck area amidships. Getaway doesn't have that. Matters became a little more gloomy as we explored the main decks (6,7,and 8) - when a stroll from the forward elevators came to an abrupt halt after what seemed like a distance of less than half the ship. We never did quite figure it out, but it seemed like the deck layout had cut the ship in 2 with all the interesting stuff crammed in the front part resulting in 3,000 passengers all jostling for very limited space - this is the first time we have ever felt crowded on a cruise. We put this down to a) our advancing years b) our aforementioned "privacy issues" and c) our plainly unrealistic expectations. But then we heard other guests in the Haven saying the exact same thing, and adding (as we ourselves had) that they had no further desire to leave the Haven area. It was fast becoming obvious to us that this really was 2 ships, but only one of them was truly wonderful. Matters worsened one night when the doors to the forward elevators were sealed on deck 6 (I think) for some type of entertainment event forcing us to jostle through the crowds to get to the steps up to deck 7, only to find that some genius had chosen that night to do the family photographs on the glass stairways thereby blocking those off as well - gulp, we couldn't get "home". In the end we blushed our apologies and barged through the middle of a large latino family complete with wailing babies that was assembling itself on 10 sequential glass steps - our barging also earning us the chagrin of the photographer who muttered some oaths in our general direction and eyed us with acute distaste.

The Haven - I know, I know, here it is, my annoying favorite subject. So I covered the dining options earlier - but I should summarize further as there were also some tables on the "pool" deck, plus in-suite dining which we limited to breakfast and then one additional night when we got the munchies and ordered a pizza (not exactly haute cuisine but just $5 and surprisingly large), and then of course the Haven restaurant itself. If you haven't figured out yet that you really should eat in there all the time then my earnest ministrations have been a dismal failure. One early question I asked before cruising was about how they controlled access and whether it was enforced (especially as one poster on here had goaded Haven guests by saying that he delighted in "hopping the fence" to eat their canapés). On Getaway, access can be obtained via an etched glass door on deck 15 immediately adjacent to the gym and Mandara spa with steps up to deck 16 where the main amenities are located, and another solid access door on deck 16. While it is possible to "piggy-back" in by following another guest, I personally witnessed what happened when one over-inquisitive guest thought he would do just that and try his chances. He was stopped at the top of the stairs from deck 15 by Anoop who must have radar, because the guy never even reached the concierge desk let alone the Haven area proper - I faked an untied shoelace and eavesdropped on the following brief conversation between our valiant concierge and the interloper:

"Hello sir, how may I help you?".

"Err, I just thought I'd take a look around".

"I see, well this is the Haven area which is reserved for our suite guests".

"Well, err, can I just take a look around".

"I'm afraid not sir, but I'd be happy to escort you out".

And with that, off they marched.

Your key card will be platinum colored and you will need it to gain access at either door. It is easily recognized and on one occasion when I tossed it onto a Craps table (for player identification - I decided to play in spite of NCLs shaved odds) both dealers delighted in bursting into a well practiced verse of "Haven, I'm in Haven, and my heart beats so that I can.....etc, etc" - funny.

One other thing - all the Haven staff are given a list of names and your photo for each week, i.e. they get to know you very quickly. My jaw hit the table on day #1 after having boarded just 10 minutes prior when the delightful and aforementioned Estella walked over to me and asked "Hello Sir Michael, would you like a slider" - my head whirled with visions of the Queen's sword touching me lightly on each shoulder closely followed by the vain hope that "slider" was a code word for something a lot more enjoyable than a small cheeseburger - sadly it was not. Anyway, you get the idea - they will know you, and they are very observant.

Entertainment and Excursions - ok so the Illusionarium story, keep our "privacy issues" at the back of your mind. We assembled at the appointed hour with all the other hopefuls by the Concierge desk and Anoop took us down in the service elevator directly to the Illusionarium, we had already planned dinner elsewhere as we heard the food was pretty bad down there but wanted to see the show. They give Haven guests priority seating and we were penned up in a short hallway filled with fascinating objets d'art ranging from small animal skeletons to antique microscopes - very cool for a science nerd like me, and we were encouraged to go through the drawers to look at the other stored items. Finally they threw open the doors and in we marched, my wife in the lead - I swear we both froze simultaneously, all we saw was bench seating at glorified picnic tables with a few large booths scattered around the back of the gloomy room. We exchanged one glance, and then one shake of the head, and immediately reversed course and made for the exit - King Henry VIII style BBQ seating isn't for us I'm afraid. Unfortunately we had neglected to tell our uniformed guide who finally caught up with us back at the elevators, and we felt genuinely terrible at how upset she looked when we told her that it just wasn't "our scene". We ran into Anoop back in Haven (of course - they miss nothing) and he immediately refunded our money even though we didn't ask. We skipped the other entertainment options as well.

Now the excursions - we had booked 2, Orient Beach on St. Maarten and the Eco Hike on St. Thomas. We dutifully boarded the bus for Orient Beach but advised our tour guide that we would be leaving independently (I know, it's a trait of ours) as we wanted to see the famous airport with the jets landing directly over the beach. My wife sunned herself for a couple of hours while I sat drinking beer at the bar and practiced my French on the bartender, something that fell somewhat flat when I mixed up "homme" with "femme" thus asking him if he had a boyfriend, a fact that became readily apparent courtesy of the expression on his face. I really should have gone for a swim, but it was incredibly hot and humid and the barkeep advised me that the heat had really kicked in that day, at least he did when he got over me suggesting that he was "on the other bus". The taxi ride out to the airport was all the more entertaining courtesy of a plainly deranged taxi driver called Scottie - this particular Scottie didn't want to talk about Dilithium crystals or warp drive, but he did want to explain to us where the "N word" originated from and delighted in using it more than a rapper's convention. I secretly videoed him and if I pluck up the courage I may post his semi-lucid ravings on YouTube. Anyway I saw the beach, took video of people being blown off the beach fence when a KLM 747 series 400 blasted down the runway, and taped an American Airlines 757 landing just a few feet over the top of the sunbathers - pure paradise for an aviation nerd like me, less so for my patient wife. So back to the ship through some of the worst traffic jams I have ever seen, St. Maarten has BIG traffic problems, the number of cars for such a small island is quite ridiculous. Meanwhile Scottie proved that he wasn't entirely crazy by ripping me off on the taxi fare - oh well, I guess that makes him an entrepreneur.

On our return to the ship we witnessed a lady passed out at the gangplank being loaded into a wheelchair. I felt bad for her and chatted with her while we waited for the elevator - get plenty of fluids, stand on one leg and cough, wink at a Seagull, that sort of thing. Poor dear, I really did feel bad for her and it helped us decide that hiking through the sub-tropical flora at St. Thomas probably wasn't such a good idea hence us canceling the Eco Hike.

At Nassau we hopped a taxi ($12 there became $40 on the way back - locals, sigh) and had lunch at Atlantis while looking at the incredible yachts with the incredible people sipping incredible cocktails on them. Suddenly Haven didn't seem all that special. And so back to the ship, back to Miami, and back to the airport.

Work tomorrow, I am actively considering suicide - suggestions appreciated.

Hope you enjoyed the ramble :)

So it is that we arrived back on Getaway just yesterday after 7 wonderful days of Caribbean cruising. Before continuing with my posting I feel it necessary to point out a few things to potential readers:

1. This review is "Haven Heavy", actually it's VERY Haven Heavy, the reason will become apparent, so if you aren't interested in the Haven......

2. This is more of a travelogue than a QA review of every shipboard amenity, so if you don't like LENGTHY and often tangential travelogues.......

3. This will be a warts and all type article, so if you're one of those people who takes personal offence at any NCL critique (however slight) or if you are one of those posters who actually works for NCL........

And so on with the show.

A few basic facts, there were just 2 of us, myself and my DW. We had a Haven Penthouse suite on deck 16 forward, starboard side. The reservation gave us both the UBP and UD options free of charge. Out concierge was Anoop (correctly pronounced Anup), our butler was Flor, our steward was S'opi, and then there was Joyce the bartender and our adorable bevvy of waitresses - Rose, Michelle, and the positively effervescent Estela.

I posted an earlier thread about our boarding experience and initial lunch in the Haven while we were still docked in Miami (and while I still had cellphone reception), so I won't bore you with all those details again - suffice to say that we were EXTREMELY impressed with the boarding process, albeit the VIP version.

The Haven Penthouse Suite - rather a grand name for what is a very nice but hardly amazing stateroom. It was very well laid out, my DW was especially grateful for the separate dressing table area while I appreciated the simple but effective safe and the balcony which was adequate but not exactly "Penthousey" in nature. Our suite was right by the flying bridge that the bridge crew use for docking and that was quite an experience in itself as I could clearly see them manipulating the controls to maneuver Getaway into harbor. Very cool and I can assure you very videoed. The toilet was on occasion a little recalcitrant, and those occasions were always the ones when you really NEEDED it to flush. There was a certain knack to it, and once mastered it was never forgotten.

The staff - Anoop was simply a polished professional. Confident, polite, and capable. For those asking about his own personal itinerary, he has another 7 weeks on Getaway, then 2 months of vacation back in India, and then a return to Breakaway as their Haven concierge sailing on the New York route, I promised him that I would post this for his legions of fans. He gave us an unrequested refund on The Illusionarium (after self and DW bailed early - see below) and then a refund on our St.Thomas eco hike when we also bailed on that, at less than the mandatory 24 hours notice I might add, because of the heat and humidity. Suffice to say that I liked and admired him immensely and it was obvious that the junior staff regarded him with a certain amount of awe and an even larger amount of respect. Ok who's next, let's keep the pecking order intact and go with Flor our butler. A diminutive and very polite little lady who tended to our every need and request, she missed nothing. We ate breakfast in our room every day except one and she was on time to the minute every single time, and the order was correct every single time as well - she made zero mistakes and was invariably polite and smiling. I will however add that she was, at least to my eye, very jaded and often tired. I got the impression that in spite of her superb personal work standards she was simply going through the motions and for want of a better phrase was somewhat oblivious to the passing of each week's guests - I quickly assessed her as being burned out, and this half-baked theory was later evidenced by her revelation that she was approaching the end of 8 months of straight work and was just one month away from freedom and a trip home to the Phillipines to see her kids. Good luck and god bless Flor you badly need and have so clearly earned that rest dear lady. Then there was Joyce, simply a very nice bartender in the Haven who always mixed drinks in a precise and highly formulaic manner - this was fine with me as I appreciate consistency. Then Rose who was the very young and very sweet maitre D' complete with braces that did nothing to dim her smile. Rose was invariably happy and bubbling, and would always yell hello to us from way across the room. Then there was Michelle who I liked very much, and who unbelievably was actively teased by the other girls for weighing in at a "huge" 120 pounds instead of their more typical 110 pounds, I simply adored her - and courtesy of several Peach Collins cocktails was foolish enough to tell my wife that if a shark made a snack of her at Orient Beach then I would be taking Michelle home with me - this situation was not aided when Michelle appeared in the bar and promptly gave me a neck massage, a neck that was later at risk of being broken by my wife.......Finally there was Estella, I may have adored Michelle but Estella was my favorite. Married and with her husband on board she was tragically beyond the reach of this salacious old man, but her personality was as genuine as it was infectious, and on the last day when she grabbed me in a goodbye bear hug she came very close to squeezing tears out of me, and I don't cry, even at Lassie movies. These girls are very special, their bonhomme and energy does not come from an NCL instruction book, it comes from the heart, if it had been fake I am confident I would have seen right through it because let's just say that I have to interview a lot of people in my line of work and I am paid to spot fakes. Last and not least there was S'opi our steward, no matter what time of day or night I was in that passageway he was there working and always with a smile - he may have been at the bottom of the totem pole, but he set a pretty high bar for the others to remain above.

The Food - here's where the tone will shift, at least slightly. On night #1 we dined in Ocean Blue and both had our absolute favorite dish - Dover Sole (the same meal we had the night before at a restaurant on land in fact). This Sole was fresh and cooked to absolute perfection, but it was covered in a meuniere sauce that tasted like it had been wrung out of a postman's sock and paired somewhat incongruously with curried rice of all things, the seared broccoli was strangely sweet and rounded off a very awkward threesome (did I really just type that ?). Suffice to say that it simply didn't work for either of us. Night #2 was Le Bistro where we were positioned at a table in a blind corner that left us feeling as if we were dining in a closet - the situation was not improved when we ordered the "Ribeye for 2" and were served with the fattiest, chewiest, most unpalatable ribeye it has been my displeasure to munch on. I almost succumbed to an episode of Steakhouse Syndrome (look it up) and we bolted for the door. Finally and with a sigh of resignation we dined in the Haven restaurant - and found perfection. From the simple beet salad, to the superb filet de bouef, to the delicious chicken with polenta, to the mushroom ravioli, the only true fine dining to be found on Getaway, or at least the only fine dining we could find, was at the Haven - and it was Michelin Star good. We were going to try Cagney's but honestly after our first meal in the Haven we canceled everything else.

Okay, time for me to take a breather - if anyone has reached this far and has any interest in my highly subjective ramblings about the rest of the ship and the ports of call, then sing out and I'll make an additional post. Hope the above was at least mildly amusing, and above all happy cruising.