moesyk4

The water was super calm our week so I can't speak to rough waters, but we didn't notice much movement at all...what concerns you about the two sea days? Maybe I could help. The laundry thing I believe was delivered on Tuesday, you filled your laundry bag and left it for the steward and it would be returned to your room Thursday morning.

Yes to the comedian lady getting old with her jokes! I was disappointed that her subsequent shows were all recycled jokes. Improv was definitely not her strong suit! And when she was judging some of the game shows, she re-used some - like she had none of her own personality or something to bring to the show. The main guy, Tom I think, we thought was overall funnier.

 

And yes to the 11:30 ferry! I wish I had taken a photo of the ferry place where you buy tickets and when we were trying to get on the ferry, a lady in our group pulled up the speedy a website and showed them where they had listed the 1130 ferry and the guy shrugged and said "it's not updated"!!!!

 

Now, I just looked and it has been since updated but was really unprofessional of them! But alls well that ends well!

 

And I can't imagine how hard it would be for people with mobility difficulties! I had trouble with it!!!

 

Next time I'll probably do a different excursion but the baths are a must do for sure!

 

 

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Yes, the main comedians were both very funny, and we went to the big show with all 3 as well. I don't know if she just assumed no one would go to more than one show? Oh well, we still enjoyed it.

That really is too bad about the ferry, I'm sure you guys were pretty stressed about getting back. The ferry ride was longer than I had imagined. We ended up getting back after 2:30 because they were super slow taxing everyone back to the ferry, but I really wish they would adapt the ferry schedule a bit to fit a little better. I think they would get a lot more cruise ship guests if we all weren't so worried we would miss the one ferry for some reason and not make it back. Well, in any case maybe you guys getting screwed forced them to update the website, so that is a good thing.

Curiousity question...does anyone have any pictures and/or video of that path that goes to the left, the one that goes straight to Devil's Bay? This was a new stop for us and I could've sworn I read on here that it was a fairly easy path compared to the other one.

My MIL had knee replacement surgery and really needs it on the other one too, and we ended up booking through NCL because I thought the rush to the 7:45 ferry would be too much for her. I thought for sure I had ready on here the path straight to Devil's Bay was pretty easy...she can walk just fine with a little assistance but uneven ground and rocky terrain are rough for her. We asked three separate people on the NCL excursion and they all insisted the path on the right was the easy one.

It ended up being very difficult for her and very stressful for us, and the only way I could convince my husband to go through the Baths at all was by agreed to leave 45 minutes early to help her back up to the top. She made it ok, but it really put a damper on what could've easily been our favorite stop. I was just curious if I was crazy about the Devil's Bay trail or if the guides were just being lazy.

Hey! We were on that sailing and although we didn't end up going to anything organized, we happened to be at both those shows and I remember you bringing up the drinks and then the shot of water later, so funny. :) I thought the woman was funny, but when you went to a couple of shows she got old since she just did the same jokes again and again.

We debated for months about going on our own to the Baths. I literally ended up booking the NCL excursion the night before we left because we didn't want to end up getting up at the crack of dawn to catch the ferry and my MIL has some mobility issues.

In the end, I was glad we did because her mobility was a lot worse than I had realized and it would have been a real struggle for her to get to the ferry. We still had a rough time with the paths, I could have sworn on the Tortola board they said the one path straight to the beach was pretty easy but the guides forced her down the regular path and said that was the only one and it was extremely difficult for her and very stressful for us. Hoping to revisit one day and not be so rushed. Gorgeous though...

FWIW, are you sure there was an 11:30 ferry? I looked at the ferry schedule about a hundred times for both Speedys and Smiths and never remember seeing one, and I just double checked and didn't see one listed either. I agree I would've been mad that you left the beach early for a non existant ferry!

Our son is 5 years old and we just got off the Getaway, Breakaway's sister ship. My son had a fantastic time in the kid's club. His previous cruise was on Carnival Breeze and while he enjoyed the kid's club, he was always ready to go. It was a lot of free play and way too much screen time for my liking. We had planned to utilize it every day, but ended up only using it 3 times.

This time, we dropped DS off every night at 7 and he usually stayed until after 10. One night, we also did late night owls but only for an hour as we were so tired! She told us when we registered to make sure they eat before you drop them off because they keep them very active and they really did. They played games, did activities, crafts, etc. all the time.

My son loved the games and talked about them whenever he left. They did face painting, a pajama party with a pillow fight, a balloon sword fight, and lots of active games.

I can't remember the exact nights, but the activities were the Welcome Party, Super Duper Heroes, Turtle's Big Adventure, Rainbows, Pirate's Plunder, Dragons and Princesses, and the Pajama Party.

I know on port days it is free play combined ages 3-12. He never went during the day, but I do know one day they did a jungle hunt and we saw all the kids being led around the ship interacting with other staff, so cute!

They also decorated the whole area and got dressed in costume every night. It made me so happy that we were able to enjoy dinner and the shows without boring him to death, and he had a great experience.

We just returned from St. Thomas aboard the Getaway and per recommendation on here we hired Dean Chinnery. He was excellent, he was ready and waiting right when we got off the ship with a sign with our name on it. He had a nice air conditioned van (which was excellent in September!) and it was a private tour. He is a retired police officer. I liked his touring style, he didn't talk just to talk but he answered all our questions and gave us lots of info as well. He ended up taking us on a complete loop of the island. We drove up to Paradise Point, a couple of lookouts, and Mountaintop. I know that he will go where you want to go as well.

The tour was about 2 to 2 1/2 hours long and it was $25 a person and our son (5) was free. He dropped us off at Secret Harbour for the length of time we wanted and it was $10 per person (again, son was free) to get picked up and back to the ship. We specifically wanted air conditioning and a private tour, and so it was worth it to us to book ahead.

http://www.deanstaxi.com/

That is his website, it took him a few days to get back with us but he always responded.

Phew, I think that is all the useful knowledge I have...if you have any questions though, I would be happy to answer!

Ok, final entry, ports!

We stopped at St. Thomas, Tortola, and Nassau. We have been to St. Thomas before. It was a little hard to find things that would please a 5 year old, two 30 year olds, and a 66 year old with limited mobility, but overall I think we all had fun.

St. Thomas: We hired Dean Chinnery (recommended over on the St. Thomas board). He was waiting sign in hand as soon as we got off the ship with his air conditioned van. He was the perfect tour guide to me...interesting and answered any questions, but didn't just talk to talk. He took us up to Paradise Point, the Mountain Top, and a couple of other look outs.

We ended up making a full circle of the island by the end of the day. The tour was between 2 to 2 1/2 hours and then we did a beach stop. We chose the pick up time. We ended up at Secret Harbour which we LOVED. So quiet and peaceful with plenty of coral right off the beach to snorkel around. They had a nice beach bar and chairs for rent, although we ended up accidentally on the hotel side and the nice guy working gave us a chair for my MIL with her cane. We all wished we would've told Dean we wanted to stay later as it was so lovely. It is a private tour BTW.

It never got busier than this!

View from the pool bar

Tortola: This was a tough one for me...I hate ship excursions. They are always too crowded, too short, and way too much "hurry up and wait". In the end though, since this was a new stop for us with a different island involved as well as a short port time and mobility issues, we chose to do NCL's excursion to the Baths. I had low expectations of the actual excursion, and they were probably about met. 200 people so a lot of waiting and wasting time getting organized. We also asked three time about the path directly to the beach for my MIL and they still ended up sending us down the wrong path, which was extremely stressful with her mobility and caused me to have to miss about 45 minutes of excursion time to help her back up from the bottom.

The NCL excursion had us meeting in the theater at 9:20 am. We were at the Baths from about 10:50 to 1 pm, and then back to the ship right at 2:30.

That being said, if the only way you feel comfortable going to the Baths is through NCL, it was worth it. The Baths are gorgeous and may have finally convinced me to someday do a land vacation again so I can spend all day there. My MIL made it to the top faster than I thought, and they have a nice pool and deck with a fantastic view. Although I could've spend days there, the 2 hours would be enough to go through the rocks a few times and go for a dip, so it was tolerable.

Pool at the top of the baths

Nassau: We decided on Blue Hole Watersports. They are located right on the beach of the British Colonial Hilton so an easy walk. After a quick stop at the Straw Market we were there about an hour before our 2:30 departure, but since we were the only ones scheduled, they were fine with leaving early. They could probably only fit about 6 people total on those small boats, so it would either be a private or almost private tour.

Very friendly and we enjoyed it thoroughly. We went out and around Paradise Island and Atlantis and stopped at a little snorkeling spot by an abandoned lighthouse. They timed it so we avoided the booze cruise that arrived while we were leaving.

We then went to a more protected area which he called the sea gardens. Love private excursions, I asked him how long we had in the water and he said "Plenty of time!" and we did. Absolutely beautiful and tons to look at. On the way back, he took us back through the pass that goes right up next to Atlantis. It is a little over 2 hours total. Highly recommend.

I do not have pics as my underwater camera died.

Pre and post cruise:

We flew United (NEVER again) but I won't elaborate but just give the useful stuff. A lot of people look for hotels with free shuttles, I used to myself. I now think they aren't worth it...generally you are on their time, they are crowded, and you have to wait forever for a return shuttle. Particularly in Miami, the hotels with free shuttles aren't the best in the best locations plus taxis are very inexpensive there. We can't afford South or Miami beach, but we stay downtown.

We used a "hidden name" site and got the Intercontinental for a night both pre and post cruise for very inexpensive. We used SAS from Ft. Lauderdale to the hotel for a great trip for $15 a person. The hotel was able to get us into our room around noon each day which was great. You pay a $10 hotel fee but it gives you access to the spa area. Taxis are plentiful...we got stopped by a train on the way to port and our total was still only $12.85. We took the taxi to the Miami airport on the way back and it was $25.25 with little traffic.

Nice pool, plenty of restaurants near by. We used Groupons to save extra cash and ate at Clos Bistro, the Cheese Course, Freshko Gourmet, and Biscayne Tavern. All in walking distance and all very good.

We saw a couple wearing Mr. and Mrs. shirts hoofing it over the bridge to the port. Note to the new Mr....not the best way to start off a marriage to save the $15 and make your new wife drag her suitcase over a giant bridge to the ship ;).

Clos Bistro...amazing empenadas and Coconut Pie!

Spa: We LOVED the spa. Go first thing in the morning for private space, that's when I took these pics. Before dinner it got busy, and lots of reserving of thermal chairs but I would either wait or few moments or remove something that was sitting with just a towel for awhile (which I also did on the pool deck if needed). No issues at all.

One note about the ship, we were mid September and although we had a surprising number of kids on board (There were 120 in the Turtles age range alone) they said a few weeks previous they had 1,700 on board. I honestly have no idea how they would fit that many in the kid's areas. The pools seemed packed to me and like I said, it was a low time for kids. Definitely a design flaw. Both my husband and I enjoyed that there were so many age specific things on board though (spider mountain and bungee trampoline for kids, vibe and h2o for adults, etc.)

Room: We had absolutely no choice in the week we went and the room we got. We needed a spa room that slept 4 and there is literally only one on the ship and there was only 1 available when we booked, so 14768 it was. It happened to be a mini suite. With 3 adults and 1 child, we had PLENTY of room. We had cabinets we never even used and never felt crowded. We just naturally spread out our use of the bathroom and in an emergency, the spa and/or pool deck bathroom were just above us. I had imagined the worse for the balcony and yes, it was small, but bigger than I had imagined lol. It fit all of us standing.

I normally really research room location, but as I said, didn't have a choice here. This is right below the pool deck...you do hear deck chairs scraping at 6 am and you will hear music and chatting on your balcony at all hours. Not my ideal, but didn't dampen the cruise enough to really notice. Something to note though for those looking for a super quiet balcony or light sleepers.

Bathroom and shower were amazing!

This is the room set up with 4 sleeping in there, still plenty of room!

UBP: We chose this perk. You do pay for taxes while in Miami. We always took two cards to the bar but they always just asked if we were in the same room and put both on the same check. Generally when we just got soda they didn't even ring it up. Like I said, we avoided the pool bar on sea days, but we had great and fast service every time. Look at the thread on here for drink ideas! Loved sugarcane and also the mango meltdown. We did tip extra on occasion but it wasn't necessary for great service.

Dining: We chose to get the 4 day SDP and reserved Cagneys, Moderno, Le Bistro, and Teppanyaki as well as one night each in Taste, Savor, and Tropicana. We found both the complimentary and specialty dining to be consistantly good with the exception of the occasional dessert. I would not consider paying extra for specialty to be necessary at all. Some have complained of slow service, I guess on all my cruises dinner service was between 1 1/2 to 2 hours so based on that, it was about the same. As I stated earlier, we had a rough night at Le Bistro and it was almost 2 1/2 hours, that was way too slow. I would say our favorite was Cagneys, although I will admit at great risk to myself lol I didn't understand the obsession with truffle fries. :)

We did not try the premium items at the specialties, since we did not have the UDP it didn't make sense we would get those for free, so we didn't even try.

My MIL eats primarily no meat and found something at every restaurant to her liking.

Vegetarian entree at Le Bistro

Teppanyaki was a ton of fun and they let my son go behind the grill!

The gorgonzola sauce was amazing!

There are already several reviews floating around about this cruise (we must be a chatty group! lol) so I decided against doing a day by day recount, but instead am just going to include information that may help others, specifically ship overview, ports of call, and room.

Ship Overview:

As I stated, we have sailed RCCL and Carnival previously. I wouldn't hesitate to sail any of those lines again. I think Carnival provides a very good product at a great price, you will notice a difference in some areas (decor and entertainment primarily), but we love Carnival cruises. I felt compared to Norwegian, RCCL goes for more of the "wow" factor. Large, grand over the top spaces, unusual attractions, etc. The Getaway was just as gorgeous but much more understated. I never walked into a space and was blown away by the grandeur, but loved the dark woods, rich colors, and overall ambiance.

Service: We have, with the exception of one room steward, always had great services on cruises no matter the line. Norwegian was no exception. Every single employee said hello when you passed by the hallway, the bartenders were very responsive and you never waited long for a drink, and everyone was just friendly. It still amazes me they can provide such cheerful service day in and day out.

Activities: We tried just about every single one. Loved the drop slide and the ropes course, DS loved all the kid's activities and there were plenty. They DO watch both weight and height, I saw them weigh and/or measure people many times. Some got disgruntled, but they were doing their jobs.

Mini ropes course

Bungee tramponline- These had very limited hours and they generally closed it down to new people a 1/2 hour before closing time to get through the line, so pay attention!

Kid's club: Our first kid's club experience was on the Carnival Breeze and was on of my biggest disappointments. They had the TV or Wii on almost all the time and it felt just like a babysitting experience. My son LOVED the kid's club here. They told us at the beginning that they keep the kids active and they really did, always playing games, doing scavenger hunts, etc. I heard many kids beg to stay when they were picked up.

Face painting on super duper heroes night!

Agree 100%...carnival imo is a very good cruise at a very great price. I loved the food on the breeze and I am slightly obsessed with the cove balcony, one of the most innovative ideas on the seas imo. Entertainment sucked, but i knew that going in.

Turtles had the same schedule as the Seals on port days. We never utilized it during the day at all. In the evenings, the schedule was I believe as below:

1) Welcome party and meeting friends

2) Super Duper Heroes

3) Turtle's Big Adventure

4) Knights, dragons, and princesses

5) Rainbows

6) Farewell Pajama party

Splash Academy:

Guppies:

Seals:

Day 7 dailies:

Day 6 dailies:

Day 5 dailies:

Day 4 dailies:

Day 3 dailies:

I will write more tomorrow, but wanted to post these for those that are waiting. I apologize they aren't the highest quality, these were "quick snap a pic for CC before they get destroyed" for the most part. I also included the splash academy schedules except for the room we were in.

Day 2 dailies:

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Ok, I will post an intro and then post the full review over the next couple of days! I am not one to post very detailed reviews or tons of pictures, my pictures are fine but I do try my best to enjoy the moments while I'm there and not spend it snapping pictures. They are nothing fancy.

We took this trip primarily to celebrate our 10 year anniversary. It was me (33 and my 7th cruise), my husband (34 and 6th cruise), my oldest son (5 and his 2nd cruise), and my mother in law (66 and her 1st cruise). We have 2 other children who are 2 and 1 who sat this one out (to me a cruise with kids under 3 does not sound like fun!) This was our first Norwegian cruise. We have previously sailed RCCL twice and Carnival 4 times. We love to cruise but are a single income family so we can only afford it every couple of years. We are happy with whatever gets us on the ship, so we have sailed everything from an upper/lower to a balcony and any length from 4-7 days.

I try to include things in my reviews that aren't just a narrative of our trip, but things that may be helpful to others. Typically, that includes ways we budgeted/adapted to save money as we try to cruise frugally, interesting info about the ship, and any special things like kid's stuff, or in this case, cruising with someone with mobility issues. My mother in law has had knee replacement surgery and walks with a cane. She does well over short distances but struggles with longer distances or uneven terrain, which definitely affected our trip.

As I said, please ask any questions along the way and I will try to answer. I'm hoping to post most of it tomorrow as I upload pictures. Thanks!

You guys will love it! Beautiful ship and the staff was all so great. The movies were what have been listed previously...Pitch Perfect, Guardians of the Galaxy, Despicable Me 2, ET, Annie, Now you See Me, are the ones I can remember off the top of my head. Most are in the Atrium which made it really hard to hear with O Sheehans and the bar right there. A few were on Spice. Our son has been with us on the last 2 cruises and I really wish they would show more kids movies under the stars in the early evening. Not much for kids to do at night and I would definitely make it a priority to see. But the only two kid's movies were in the afternoon in the atrium.

Yes, laundry was 19.99 for the bag...maybe Tuesday? We did not try for vibe passes BC we had my son, and I honestly didn't even find vibe until the last day lol