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You may hear music depending how loud it is from the main pool area faintly, but no music inside. We found while the Vibe was quiet, no fight for chairs, there was often banter between people enough to not keep things silent. When we got back on from port one day, the entire bar looked to be filled with people there all having a great time. No worry about it being a silent library feeling, unless it's the first day of a February cruise... We're honestly worried on our honeymoon cruise that The Haven (indoor bar) will be too quiet and is actually more like a library than Vibe, which is more like a small VIP part of the ship with people who like to drink. The Haven is where you meet people for pre-dinner cocktails and it was a stuffy 40-50+ crowd. At 31 and 34 we were the youngest couple when it came time for the party to meet the captain. I would definitely suggest Vibe now we're back to full capacity cruising, and if I can ever pay off our next Haven Cruise, I'll be adding Vibe as soon as I can. The Vibe on Getaway is MUCH larger than I've seen online, the videos often show just one side of it. If you look at my picture above it's often the not shown side with a lot more seating. It's more like a 75% complete circle (25% is Haven / off limits) behind doors. When we went to the front of the ship of the Vibe, far away from the bar, it was just us, and quiet.

Loved it. Introduced me to room service, I felt like Kevin McCallister from Home Alone, but with free sandwiches. I was around 12, with family. It was in it's golden days, when it was in painted blue and did Canada and New England from NYC before Premier found themselves under water in debt. Amazing cruise and it's surreal seeing pictures of myself in SS Seabreeze gear, or dressed formally in their dining room.

I'd have to agree. Didn't figure it out in time and had to do it at $249/pp due to only 5 or so of them, but was there almost daily on the same cruise, and Kev's service was great. He was the only person we filled out a form for in terms of being a vacation star. For an extra $89 we would have killed for the privacy of the full cabana, so goo call on that. Did you guys get fruit and any other service? We got fruit skewers maybe twice through the week, but the drinks were always flowing, and we got to know the bartenders. They're cutting corners but the staff's doing their best especially when they run at full capacity.

So they didn't allow us in the first area that said Priority at the front of the terminal and assured us there was Priority at the end of the terminal. Then at that 'Priority' check-in we were still given Group Number 6 for boarding. From a previous post, we knew to listen for us around the Sapphire, Platinum, etc. members, but the announcer never made it. Went right from the highest tiers to group 1. I asked and showed Priority Access printout to someone who said "they should have announced you already" and told us just to go with group 1. Between that and not being allowed to stack 20% gold discount with the $50 gratuity for in port days, I wouldn't purchase it again. It seems like a rushed out program that was poorly communicated to any of the people actually involved in the process. I had some illusion they would actually give some priority to people. We got $4.95 not charged on days we choose breakfast, $50 off per person after explaining how NCL's phone support let us down, and yellow luggage tags I would've gotten already. I'm more angry how piss poor the internet is on the ship. Once out of the tri-state area the satellite is worthless unless you have something like OpenVPN to smooth the duplicate packets out. Bonded Starlink can't come to these ships soon enough.

The only time you'll get any usable internet, 2:30 AM otherwise, duplicate packets ensue, everywhere - making the internet unusable. You can get away with poor latency but when the data comes in twice, or in the capture below, packet #268 came in *five times* it gets harder to repair or do a darn thing. NCL should be ashamed honestly and I'm angered I paid for 'streaming' when I couldn't even let Amex know all the pre-auths for CruiseNext were legit, they already knew I was traveling. Shrimp Appetizer at Cagneys - NOTE: As someone else mentioned, Lobster is back at Teppanyaki, we were even served different versons of the menus that night, as well as other people who had to re-order. We braved Savor one evening and found it perfectly acceptable. Not the fastest, but the Prosecco kept flowing and the meal was fine. Wind speeds of almost 50mph when the Greek captain was gunning it back to NYC at 19.1 knots. Desert at Cagney's Multiple under 21's and non members kept following people who were leaving Vibe into the club, Kev was nice about it, but kept them out - which was the point, for quiet and peace. Vibe's a great club and care was given to keep non-members out. Honestly liked it more than the Haven Bar, but that may be due to age, and that it was outdoors.

Looks like I waited too long to edit my post and don't want to hi-jack a proper Live, here's my thoughts, questions welcome and more pictures incoming:

We both took tests before, during, after, and will take one or two more as the week progresses. I didn't feel like waiting 2-3 years before these were approved and sold for $$$ by Abbott, so used a site I used to get Masks for the real deal 4-in-1 (2 flu, RSV + COVID) anti-gen tests. The things exist, but probably with no lobbyists? With so little masking, we figured it was futile, this was the next best way. So far, so good - fingers crossed. Best Purchase of the ship. For a full house, $249 seems worth it, despite the lack of fruit being passed out but twice during the week. But you get 18+ only, Kevin actively bouncing 18 and under, an oasis of quiet, two-three dedicated bartenders, who honestly had a better rapport with than ones in The Haven. This could be to our age (32 and 35, so we loved Vibe) so YMMV. Current Cagney's Menu FYI NCL Neon Party (replaced the White Party, likely due to the sub-optimal naming of the previous party) was probably the best of the ship in terms of parties. Some night the unnamed DJ's at Bliss were just terrible. DJ Rave was always good. Also the final 'Prom Night' at Syd's was great. More pictures to come. These are 'Oxivir 1 TB' wipes which I remember purchasing in bulk during covid (minus the TB) but in 1 minute they're oxygen peroxide based and kill *everything* - Saw them and had a kid constantly coughing at our table at Teppanyaki by the final night. Part of the reason I'll be testing before going back to work non-remote. Sorry for the lack of lingo and proper cruise terms, it's been a decade or so since my last cruise despite being on 15+ Will add more photos and answer any questions. My first was the SS Seabreeze, and we've both seen better days. 😁

Didn't want to hijack another live thread that most were watching, so here are our thoughts on the 2/18 - 2/26 Getaway sailing. Our last cruise was right after COVID, so we were at half capacity and won a haven upgrade. Despite vastly higher bids this time, we didn't win, so we had an M9, Club Balcony Spa Suite, the same of the year, or month. Choose the Priority Access upgrade which was mostly a bust. NYC knew nothing about it. From a previous cruiser I knew to listen for after Platinum and Sapphire, but they went straight to Group 1 with a very whiny announcer about people gathering at doors. When we asked and showed someone Priority Access printout, the said we should have been called way earlier. At the Spa, there was confusion, and the jist of it is you can use say - your Gold 20% off status on port days (or) the $50 off. Didn't feel great about that. Seeing we were on a full ship, we decided to not only use the thermal suite, but got two Vibe Beach passes through the app, cabanas were less than $100 more, but with 5 of them, they sell quick. Despite this, the Vibe was probably the best decision we could have made on the boat. Internet (Premium upgrade of $220) was unusable due to poor satellite internet conditions meaning latency was beyond what most applications could tolerate, and duplicate packets meant the data coming back was also unusable. Work paid for the $219 upgrade, but I had to hop on T-Mobile to fix a spotty load balancer, not looking forward to that bill. Hearing some horror stories of MDR, we stayed almost exclusively to specialty restaurants. Teppanyaki, La Cucina, and Cagney's mostly. Cagney's was my favorite, followed by Teppanyaki and finally La Cucina. Here's my thoughts on them: Teppanyaki was good, but of course no more filet, the NY strip was perfectly fine and was cooked well medium rare. The chef's are hit or miss when it comes to a show or properly flavored fried rice. One night it was brilliant with garlic butter and soy sauce and the next. night a bit bland (we went 3 to Teppanyaki) Cagney's was just brilliant. We both got the filet and saved our speciality dining packages we purchased (4 total) for there. La Cucina was cheaper so we paid a la carte there. One night it was $180, and the other $188 saved, one dessert. The filet's were cooked perfectly, first time I felt safe ordering medium rare, and you're allowed two sides with the dining package. Whoever said choose Cagney's twice if you're on a 1 week was spot on. (we went twice to Cagneys) Finally La Cucina, which my fiancé loved, and I thought was fine. Actually found the room service steak to be nicer than the filet there. The second time we got the Margherita pizza and it was good, but also noticed one or two things just gone from the menu, sadly didn't take a picture from last year's menu of the differences. Casino slots were tighter than I've ever seen. We played the penny slots and got out alive. Kind of depressing just seeing people feed them with nothing coming out. No large wins, at least that I heard. They have *changed companies* that do the on-board Duty Free shopping, and not for the better. No sales after we leave the final port. My fiancé and I stopped there on accident after leaving Bermuda on the Breakaway last time and got $100+ Immortelle by L'Occitane for $25 bucks or so. Was told that now that they've switched to Dufry there will be no sales. Also their items were as expensive as they were on-land. Wait for a $20 L'Occitane coupon and it'll be cheaper with free shipping. Didn't buy a darn thng due to this completely weird pricing and lack of sales. Why pay to carry extra luggage? Duty Free has been killed IMO with Dufry. Room Service did get the Priority Thing right, so we didn't pay for $4.95 when we ordered it, but the entire Priority upgrade isn't worth it in unorganized places like NYC, or when you already have Gold and priority disembarkation. The best part? Kevin Remy at the Vibe Beach club. Remembered our name, found us at the Casino and even Bliss later to serve us drinks. A $20 per day might have helped, but I never got that great service, even at the Haven. He was the only person we put in for a Vacation Star / special thank you. Most other people were doing their best, but nothing special. A lot of the people on deck 14 around us had very inconsistent offerings from the room stewards. Some got towels made up without asking, some had canapes nightly despite being the same class, some had a bottle of wine or bubbly, we got the bog standard Gold Member bottle Merlot we left, and despite tipping our room steward a few times during the week in addition to prepaid tips, no care really given to the rooms beyond a general made bed and renewed towels. We even arranged the garbage and they're doing their best - but come on. Didn't bother making a fuss. They still service rooms twice a day. Will get some photos uploaded ASAP once I get some sleep. NOTE: Room service, with Priority past breakfast was $9.95 per order, despite being told by NCL over the phone from a few people, and chat multiple times that it was waived for members of suites. Apparently Club Balcony suites are not suites, and I think this designation is for older ships that are 'Haven-less' - I wish this was explained. BLT from Room Service is great, surprisingly good steak, but don't dare order after 12am. Instead of pizza we got two mini pizzas that looked like Mama Celeste. Even after they stopped in two FL based ports and loaded on pallets of provisions. Had a Greek captain, so naturally being Norwegian, skipped the Gold party. He gunned it the second to final night. 42.5 winds and we were still gunning it at 19.1, when the day before it was a calm 11. First day joked that if we went over it's due to the Greek captain, only to have him gun it in less than optimal conditions into next afternoon. Usually they slow it down a little mid-day!. Happy sailing and be safe everyone! Pictures to come, CC is not a fan of HEIC, which of course iPhone took all the pictures in. Happy to answer any questions about the Getaway. Did not see any mobility scooters, etc. around the halls, just a bunch of kids on vacation - but marrying a teacher, you have to be used to these things! IMG_0482.heic

Was it decided if it was okay to supplement this already amazing summary of 2/18-2/26 on the Getaway? I personally was doing the same, had some concerns, and wanted to throw in a paragraph or four on our experience, pretty sure any thread I made would get lost in the abyss as it wouldn't be as thorough, but would give some insight into the next sailing(s) and suggestions. Thanks for the great review. Also, as an IT person, the reason the internet was screwed was due to constant 'duplicate' packets. It meant we had very poor satellite conditions in terms of EMC / MTNSat. Constantly 18,000-30,000ms replies, but what killed things were the duplicate packets. All I could do was hop on a VPN that seemed to control the duplicate data packets. One thing I noticed at Spice H2O between getting pummeled with diesel fumes was a newer smaller MTNSat setup. I can only imagine that little thing is the cause for our issues, and I sure as hell hope they have bonded Starlink up by our honeymoon cruise in 2024! If allowed, will give some insight into our experience, how we made an audible due to full occupancy, and the state of speciality restaurants, we were mostly scared off by previous reviews here of the MDR. Thanks for your consideration @Dorhead1230 !