xenagurl

Thanks for the report!

Glad you enjoyed the cruise and thanks for taking the time to write and share this extensive report.

 

Keith

Thank you both. :)

#CantFixStupid

The first guy could have fallen, bounced and still fell onto the pavement or in the water. And if he hit the promenade he could have hurt someone else, which we be more my concern. The welfare of the willfully stupid isn't of interest to me.

As for the woman, people like that make me wish they'd fall, because if they go through the rest of life with that type of disregard they're a danger to others as well as to themselves. That's a Darwin Award candidate right there.

Hi All --- The follow is the ship portion of my trip report for the Norwegian Getaway. The info on the islands, pre-cruise hotel (what I did, suggestions on what to do, pricing etc is on my blog as well as more photos.)

Cruise: Norwegian Getaway

Rating: 4.5

Pre-cruise Hotel: Miami Conrad

Rating: 4

Islands visited:

St. Maarten

Activites: 3.5

St. Thomas (went to St. John via Ferry)

Activities: 5

Bahamas (Nassau)

Activities: 4

The Start

This past winter was rough. Forget the weather it was just an emotionally and physically painful, sad, long winter which carried over to an extremely busy Spring. I’d meant to take myself somewhere tropical a few months ago, but thought that it would be more fun to visit a friend closer by and it was. Thankfully it was warm where she was too. In late April I decided that it was indeed time to book a trip where the main goal was to lay out in the sun and get in the ocean. It didn’t matter in what part of the earth, but somewhere, the closer the better. “How about leaving on a cruise from Miami” I said to myself, and since I like cruising on Norwegian and I wanted to try their newest ship the Getaway, I thought “why not”.

I did have a couple of reservations after all it’s a sister ship to the Breakaway and virtually identical. Did I really want to go on a ship that was the same as one I’d been on? With all of the ships leaving out of Miami for Caribbean waters was this the best choice? I figured I’d try. There was a special where I could book an inside room that wasn’t a studio and not have to pay 200%, as well as $50 OBC and a BOGO for a free cruise on the Norwegian Sky. What was not to love.

Second challenge. Finding a friend to hang out with. Yes I enjoy traveling alone, but sometimes you want to spend time with a good friend while on vacation and who better than BJ! Yes BJ that I’d met on the Transatlantic two years ago, lost touch with, then met up again with on the 2013 Miami to Barcelona TA last year. I texted him, he said, sounds good and we booked. Now here’s the kicker. We booked with two different online agencies and do you know that we were put in room right across from each other. 10401 and 10403. Couldn’t have been planned better than that! Now I didn’t have to go far to bug him

On the Ship

So like I said, it had been a crazy winter, so this trip I didn’t think about looking for interviews, or even taking as many photos as I usually do as I didn’t feel like carrying my DSLR with me everywhere. So while I have photos this trip write up is going to be more written than imagery. A change for me, but it does encourage me to be more detailed.

It’s a beautiful ship! And despite being a sister ship to the Breakaway in my beloved New York there is something about the Getaway that I like even more. It really is a gorgeous ship, with sleek decoration especially around the Boardwalk.

Getting on board was a breeze. I left the hotel around 11:10am arrived at the pier by 11:30 and was inside on board the ship by 11:50.

Passengers / Vibe

The downside has nothing to do with the ship but rather some of the passengers (as usual). Specifically rowdy youngsters. If you, like me, and want to stay away far, far away from this crowd while on board I’ve a few suggestions. Well for one, book while they’ve back trying to cram in 16 credits, but if that’s not an option and you want to cruise during peak season, these tips might help.

If you’re booking inside cabins try to book on a higher floor. I booked a guarantee which thankfully put me on ten. If they don’t assign these manually perhaps the algorithms will base where you are by Latitudes status and age. I only say this because it seemed that the drunk, rowdy “I wish they were back on the other line where this is more acceptable” crowd seemed to be housed on 5. Perhaps they specifically booked it, maybe not, but I can say that on 10 Forward (love that Star trek reference) it was fairly quiet passenger wise.

Another way to stay away from the overly zealous and loud young ‘uns is to avoid he main pool deck on sea days and to book Vibe. It’s a $79 pass for the week and well worth it. There’s no separate pool (you’ll have to book the Haven for that) but there are two hot tubs, 2 small cabanas, plenty of lounges, umbrellas and an attentive bar staff. Tip: You actually have more of a breeze under the umbrellas than in the Cabanas on a hot day.

There are also 5 larger Cabanas that face the water, but they’re an additional $299 per week. For me I can’t think of a reason to justify the expense. They have a cooler, and the backs are to the rest of Vibe so you don’t have to look at anything but the water, however I think I’d just add a couple of more dollars and book a balcony if that’s what I was going for and could avoid other people all together. However by doing the two things mentioned above (book rooms on higher floors and buy a Vibe pass) we managed to avoid most rowdiness and except for once while on the dance floor at Spice H20 we rarely encountered them.

Of course the best idea to to probably book the Haven. Any age group can of course book this as well, but you’ll probably avoid the “just escaped my parents, now I’m acting like a fool” types. You’ll of course run into older drunks anywhere but after a life time of liver picking they’re usually a bit quieter. To be fair though the worst situation we heard of concerned no kid but rather a grown man, whose violence put his wife in the hospital in St. Thomas, he then proceeded to berate the security on board when they try to subdue him when he was acting up, and then because of his actions had to put him in the brig and then escort him off of the ship. We can only hope he’s on a permanent “no cruise” list with NCL.

Entertainment / Latitudes Party

On the second night in we head to the Illusionarium. Get to the theater and get on line early and ask for a seat closest to the stage if you bought floor seats. Banquet seats line the room around the back and are about $5 cheaper per person. Mind you getting there early is no guarantee of where you’ll be sat exactly as they seem to seat people based on group size.

As I don’t eat meat I asked to just have their seafood option which was fried shrimp, which suit me fine, they were tasty and I was satisfied. The dessert was a plate of 3 small deserts with a dip. The only one that I liked was the chocolate hazelnut torte that was on the right hand side. The other option was a mini cupcake and a flan.

The show while geared towards kids is also fun for adults. We sat next to a couple that were originally from Hungary. The husband was a Physicist and even he was trying to figure out how certain tricks were done.

Towards the end of the show they invited three people on stage at different times to help perform tricks, one was a little boy, one was a man and the other was a woman…that woman was me. I had a chance to make a table “float”. A cute memory.

We head over to the Latitudes party where I had the chance to see a few faces I hadn’t seen in a while including Jose Contreras, Deepak Gonsalves, and one of my favorite people on NCL Marites DeSouza also known as Mama Tes and Tek. We’d skipped the official photo with Captain Rune Myre the night before but I had a chance to get a snap with him at the party.

Mojito Tasting

So after a long day lounging hard at Vibe we head to a Mojito tasting at the Sugarcane bar. The tastings are fun. There’s lots of liquor, if you don’t have a tolerance sip slowly and only drink half. Nothing more to be said.

Wrap Up

It was a wonderfully relaxing trip with an amazing friend, great food and lots of entertainment and drinks. Even though the ports are familiar to me, there’s always something new to see wherever you go and so I definitely hope to get back on the Getaway and enjoy what she and the islands have to offer.

Info on the islands and pre-cruise hotel are on my blog.

All written material and photos Copyright © TravelXena.com 2014

Several. Been around the world and back again by myself, by choice. I travel alone, with the hubby and with friends. Traveling solo is just as much fun as the other options sometimes more.

Whether you're lonely or not will depend on your personality. I think that you have to go out of your way not to meet people on a cruise. As long as you put your self out there you can meet plenty of people or stay by yourself your choice.

I hope that you have a great trip wherever you choose to go. :)

Hope you don't mind shots from or of non-NCL ships! Dawn in Port Everglades, taken from HAL Zuiderdam, of Celebrity Silhouette or Solstice:

 

All photos of sunrises and sunsets are welcome! Thank you for sharing. :)

 

So many beautiful photos hear everyone. This thread takes me to a very calm place.

Wow! Did the cruise line charge you extra for that? (Where was this taken?)

No, it came with the base price! That's before 7pm though, after 7 it's $2.50 per "ahhhh" and $3.50 per "ohhhhh", however the tern "bellissima" can be used at any time for free. :D This photo was taken from the Norwegian Gem (see the type of sunset they offer!) looking out at the Atlantic while cruising back to NYC.

Forget the food -- after seeing these photos, I guess I will have to make sure in the future to pick the cruise line that offers the best sunsets! :rolleyes:

Absolutely don't you know that cruise lines are rated not by amenities but by sunsets offered per night? In fact for each night that they don't offer a perfect sunrise or sunset they have to give you a free drink. ;)

I have been on over 18 NCL cruises and always dine in the specialty restaurants. Not once have I witnessed kids running rampid, screaming and kicking. I guess I'm luckier than you.

Than most! LOL There have been a couple of times that Le Bistro resembled Romper Room. For some reason one one occasion they sat hubby and I right next to this particular table. (No idea why) and there were about 3 kids, literally running, screaming and kicking all around a table with at least 10 adults. None of whom who stopped them. Go figure. For the most part though I agree, it's not the norm.

OP I don't think that most people mind kids in a restaurant as long as they're well behaved or they're removed if not (much like anyone should be if they're disturbing other guests, I'm not picking on kids.) I think that you might find that family geared specialty restaurants have more kinds than others. La Cucina & Teppanyaki come to mind.

Too bad I already booked my Breakaway cruise in July, or I would have loved to take advantage of that. Its for new bookings only.

We just got finished booking the Breakaway for Sept as well! It would have been nice to have two vouchers. Ah well. BTW I'm very familiar with your town. (I was surprised to see it there!) Used to live not too far from the hospital. :)

More gorgeous images! This is by far my favorite thread on CruiseCritic. I'm on the Getaway next month, so I hope to have some more photos to add as well soon.

Great photos! Thanks so much for taking the time to share. :)

I saw it and booked it. I was planning on booking the Getaway for late Spring anyway and this was just extra incentive.

Yes. Absolutely. I've no medical issues either, yet I had an unexpected medical emergency in February which left me unable to take a cruise I'd booked with friends that sailed a few days later. I was very glad I had insurance and wasn't out all of my cash. (I am still waiting for the check though.)

Just wondering if NCL (or any other cruiseline) has any female Captains. Are there even any higher up officers who are female? Don't think I've ever seen any women on the Bridge working in that capacity.

I see you've already had your questions asked, but I wanted to add that I did an interview with a female staff captain on RCI (really cool person) it's in my signature line. She knew very young what she wanted to do and is living her dream. I hope to see her as Captain on a ship I cruise one of these days. :)

Beautiful views everyone! Any more?

Here is a shot that my husband took while on the Sun in the Baltic. It was like sailing on glass. And this was probably 10-10:30 p.m. at night.

You were able to post it! Thanks for sharing jdvmd! The water is so smooth.

Back at home and on my iPad. (Not running Tapatalk) I can see them now! Thanks for taking the time to post again. Your photos are gorgeous!

Hello, everything else checked out just fine on my end and I'm doing a reply now on Linux Mint 13, a different platform again just to be sure - I know that when I run Tapatalk on Androids for both smartphones & tablets, pictures do not show up & there are formatting issues (could that be it on your end ??) but not if you are on a desktop browser. I generally used the latest Firefox on PC's (MS Windows - Vista, Win7 & Windows 8 depending on where I'm logged in) and also used the iPad earlier (iOS 7.x) with Dolphin Browser and all the pictures are showing up (including mine)

 

Dropbox, where I keep a variety of files for Cloud storage and some for access in the #Public folder, is working fine - "no" notices of blocked files and/or access or spam being reported. Seemed like others are seeing the images I'm linking/uploading.

 

All of the cruise reviews, PDF file links and pix, etc. being used for CC are 95% hosted on Dropbox, I only setup some newer ones on Google Drive as it has bigger capacity under a dedicated account. Using Firefox browser under Linux but I don't believe it has any bearings on file access at all.

 

Using resources at the office could be an issue, as the corporate firewalls and security apps (anti-virus) might be blocking your access to certain Cloud storage, including Dropbox.

 

If you still cannot access & see my linked files, let's try something else - can you access MS's OneDrive or files shared via Google Docs (or whatever that's called)

I think it might be on your end. I can see all the photos, both times he posted them and also "Trip's" photos. I am on a PC with WIN7 and IE 11.

Thanks Peg :)

Hi xenagurl,

 

Are you behind a firewall of some type? I can view all of the photos using Chrome, Firefox, and IE on a PC. The only thing I can think of is some type of security settings that are blocking the images for you...although I couldn't even guess what/where those might be.

I am right now as I'm on site at work today, but when I use my own computer at home I've had the same issue. Thanks for letting me know. I'll look into it some more when I get back home.

I would love to add a picture but I am having problems making it fit. Any advice? Says that I have to reduce my message by 80,000 characters. Not sure what I am doing wrong.

Hmm I've never run into that with an image before. Do you have a photo editor like Photoshop? I'd try reducing the file size and then see what it says. If you have a link to where it can be downloaded I'll do it for you.

FYI...I'm using Chrome and I can see everyone's photos. :)

Thanks. I will try Chrome. :)

Great thread!

Everyone is adding so much to it and making it wonderful! It's my little pick-me-up during the day. :)

Kylenyc I hope that you create a BendyMan book one day! :)

Okay, here you go - let's try again with a different desktop browser, if necessary. (If you get any error message from Dropbox, please post or PM so that I can look into it - DB admin. sometimes block/restrict access to our files b/c of excessive traffic as they are in fear of spams)

 

Hi mking8288 I think that that might be the restriction you're running into. There are no error message and I'm not sure about anyone else seeing, but for me on a PC using Firefox I see the text but no links, on a PC using IE I see the text and red 'x' boxes where the images should be and on a Mac using Firefox the same as on a PC with Firefox. I've not tried using Chrome or Safari.

Thanks xenagurl. Were you happy with the cruise in general. This will be our first ever cruise

Yes, we were really looking forward to getting back on the Gem after the first time. We were there at the beginning of 2012 and January this year. Both times we enjoyed the ship, shows, food and ports of call.

Awesome! I think that you'll love your first cruise, but as you're leaving from NY and not until next year you always have time to switch over to the Breakaway. Personally I think that for a first cruise the size of the Gem is just right. :)

Hubby and I have been on the Gem twice (were both in our 30s) and we notice lots of people in this general age group particularly because there are often lots of families on board. I'd say that 7-15 year-olds and 25-45 year-olds were extensively represented each time.

We will have one day in tangier on a cruise this August. What would you recommend doing, or where would you go for the day?

Hi Irina - I've not been to Tangier. Chefchaouen isn't too far I think and I hear that it's very pretty. That might be an idea. Please post photos wherever you choose. :)

fair amount, but a packing tip that works for some.

 

 

Hang your items on hangers at home. Try to put slacks and shirt/blouse on one hanger, etc.

 

Do NOT put these in suitcase until the last minute. Also, if you put them in dry cleaner bags, it helps with wrinkles.

 

If you are staying at hotel the night before, hang them up. Do not repack until the last minute.

 

When you get to room, pull them out and hang them.

 

Saves on wrinkles.

Increases bar time once you board.

I like that idea! Thanks for sharing.