LASilva

The nature trail was free. I am not sure if there was a place to rent snorkel gear, probably not. We couldn't find any place to snorkel. The water was murky, I think it was disturbed by the development of the island (dredging etc.) The snorkeling is way better at the other ports.

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Is this pool area free at Harvest Caye?

Yes, the pool and beach are free to use, as well as lounge chairs

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Thanks so much for the great review!

Was parking difficult or costly at the hotel?

Lisa

 

 

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Hi Lisa,

The parking was not difficult, they had their own parking garage. I believe it was $12 a day and you could go in and out for that price.

COZUMEL

We had planned to just get a cab at the port and go to Chankanaab Park to snorkel. We are pretty experienced snorkelers - DS has been snorkeling since he was 4! We had been there before and really enjoyed it. It is also good for kids because you just step right in off the beach... However we ran into a tour operator, I think called something like Cozumel Snorkel Adventures, and they convinced us that their tour would take us out in a boat to better reefs. The reefs were not AT ALL better than snorkeling from shore at Chankanaab Park. There was a ton of marine traffic in that area too. I know it looks good in the video but of course, DH only took video where the coral was nice. I suppose if its your first time, it might be sufficient, the guide was luring the fish with food and I saw a small ray, but I would really recommend going to Chankanaab instead. There are several dive shops on the beach to give you gear and guide you if you are new to snorkeling. There are lots of other things to do in the park too, its great for families.

There is a fee to get into Chakanaab or you could book an excursion through Shore Excursioneer (I mentioned above regarding our Roatan tour with link) which would include transportation, entrance fee, snorkel gear etc.

If you want to see what its like to snorkel or do an intro scuba tour at Chankanaab, its in a large segment of our Disney Cruise video here:

COSTA MAYA

We booked the Blue Lagoon Adventure Tour (Kayak Excursion) with "The Native Choice".

https://www.thenativechoice.com/tours/blue-lagoon-adventure

This company has really great reviews everywhere I looked (TripAdvisor etc.) and we were very happy. The guides were amazing, and you do not need to be experienced to kayak. The food (Mexican-included) was really good too. We were pretty much the only ones there until other tours arrived a few hours later (you could also go to the ruins first and then go to the lagoon).

This excursion is at a small secluded resort area in the Bacalar area called Bacalar Lagoon Resort. It took about 40 minutes to get there. https://www.tripadvisor.ca/Hotel_Review-g1202648-d1773038-Reviews-Bacalar_Lagoon_Resort-Bacalar_Yucatan_Peninsula.html

HARVEST CAYE

We enjoyed Harvest Caye. It was just a beach day for us, we didn't pay for any extras at all. We were disappointed that the water was so cloudy. It looked like it had been dredged or something, and so it was kind of muddy on the bottom. That's my only complaint. The island itself is beautiful. The pool was amazing. There is a nature area where you can see butterflies, snakes and birds.

Note that drinks and food are not included on Harvest Caye. You can use the beach and beach chairs at no cost.

Keep in mind that Harvest Caye is not a "private island" like Great Stirrup Caye, it was a joint project with the government of Belize and so the employees on the island are locals from Belize and the restaurants etc. are run by a vendor, not by Norwegian. From what I understand, eventually other cruise lines will be able to use the island.

I also discovered that there is supposed to be some sort of pier where snorkeling excursions will depart from but it wasn't ready. The men hired to be the snorkel guides were working as guides in the nature area until the snorkelling trips start.

ROATAN

In Roatan we did "Roatan Eco Walkways, Treetop Suspension Bridges and Zip Line and Beach Break Adventure Excursion (S1315)" booked with Shore Excursioneer. We LOVED this excursion. The staff were amazing. The lady who was the guide for the Eco Walkways was extremely knowledgeable about local nature and she was very good with DS. She made him the "assistant guide" as he loves to learn about science and nature. He went on the Zip Lines attached to a guide which have me peace of mind :) There were people of all ages and sizes doing the Ziplines and they will go with you if you are nervous. So even though it might seem a little nerve wracking, anyone can do it.

If I were to do it again I would probably skip the Beach Break as it was very short. We were REALLY hot after the Ziplining and Walk so it was nice to take a dip in the ocean, but we didn't have time for much else.

The company that actually did the Ziplining and Suspension Bridges was South Shore Zipline. If you decide to go last minute, you can arrange the tour with them right at the port. They have a booth there. I was warned that if you ask for them, other tour providers may mislead you to their own operation so make sure you get to the right place. They are very highly recommended on TripAdvisor as well.

https://www.shoreexcursioneer.com/

http://southshorezipline.com/

FLIGHT & CAR RENTAL

We flew in to Ft. Lauderdale the day before the cruise. We flew with Air Canada. Everything went smoothly with the flight to Ft. Lauderdale.

We rented a car from Avis at Ft. Lauderdale airport. We chose Avis because of price and there is a location to drop the car off about 10 minutes from the Port of Miami. There is a shuttle that takes you to the port. We did not have to wait at all for the shuttle. It was there when we arrived to drop off the car. We went directly to the port.

We did the same on the last day of the cruise. We took a shuttle to the Avis rental office; it took about 20 minutes for the shuttle to arrive at the port. It is the same shuttle as Budget I believe. Our flight wasn't until 9 pm and we wanted to visit some friends. We dropped the car off at the airport. Our flight back did not leave until after midnight because unfortunately we were arriving on the first snowstorm of the year. Long day! :(

HOTEL

Pre-cruise hotel was the Best Western Oceanside Inn in Ft. Lauderdale. I highly recommend this hotel. It was basic but very clean. They have a full complimentary breakfast in the morning. It is only a few blocks from the beach and there were a lot of places to eat and shop within walking distance. I will post pictures of the hotel at the end of my review.

https://www.tripadvisor.ca/Hotel_Review-g34227-d80490-Reviews-BEST_WESTERN_PLUS_Oceanside_Inn-Fort_Lauderdale_Broward_County_Florida.html

Sorry about the delay with posting my my review, I was having computer issues. I am going to continue posting tonight.

Also, I didn't mention that my cell phone stopped charging 2 days before the trip :mad: I take all of my photos with the phone and so I don't have any of my own. My husband took lots of pictures but he likes to review them in Photoshop etc. before posting and he hasn't done that yet so I will have to wait for that. I will post photos at the very end of my review.

VIDEO

Our family vacation video 2016.

I can answer questions about what you see in the video, but for technical questions (how it was made etc.) please post your question/comment under the comments section in YouTube (click on the YouTube button at the bottom of this video and it will open up on the YouTube site) and my husband will answer your questions. He also did a video for our 2015 Getaway cruise and our Disney Magic cruise, you can look those videos up on his YouTube page as well.

[YOUTUBE]vWZVncnBefc?t=1s[/YOUTUBE]

I noticed that the video doesn't appear properly when using Tapatalk - you can follow the link here:

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DAILIES FOR DECEMBER 4-11, 2016

So the good new is - I have dailies... the bad news is - I lost day 7! :( So sorry! Also, I am only posting the schedule pages because I really don't have time to scan and post the entire thing. If there is something that you are specifically looking for let me know and I will post it for you.

It seems that they don't change too much of the program each week for the same itinerary, so they should similar for a while. Keep in mind that sometimes they switch the days for Costa Maya and Cozumel depending on how many ships are in port.

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INTRODUCTION

Hello! I am finally getting around to posting a review for our Getaway vacation (Part 2). We sailed from December 4 to 11, 2016 and this was our second time on the Getaway out of Miami. It was a different itinerary this time: Roatan, Harvesy Caye, Costa Maya and Cozumel.

To start I'd like to say that our experience was better than last time - partly of course due to the fact that this time I didn't get sick with a staph infection in my foot :eek: and also because I enjoyed the ports more. However, a lot of what I have to say and photos etc. would be similar to last time so I am only going to post new comments and experiences here. For my full review of our May 2015 cruise (which also includes video and 2015 dailies) you can go here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2212485

So I am going to try to be more organized this time, and I am going to try to post a different topic in each post so please bear with me as I only have so much time at the computer. Feel free to ask any questions and I will try to answer them and work on this every day :p

Since everyone is always looking for the dailies I will post them next....

I was worried about Transat but it went really well. They use planes from Canjet and Canjet has been shutting down some of their service and doing layoffs but they told me that Transat has their own planes as well so if something happened it would be okay. I think my only complaint is that the plane is really tight, but I'm short, so for me its not a big deal.

Check in was good. There's no automated check in and so the line seems long but they took a reasonable amount time to get everyone through.

So when we got to the airport in Ft. Lauderale, people in identifiable Transat uniforms were at our baggage claim waving around clip boards. A Transat flight from Montreal came in at the same time but they did a good job of getting everyone where they were supposed to be. We were supposed to have transportation tickets from our TA but we didn't. They just wrote one up on the spot. The bus was a smaller coach type bus about 3/4 full. It only goes to the Port of Miami. It doesn't take anymore than 40mins - 30minutes is really typical on a weekend unless there's an accident or something on the highway.

The main thing to keep in mind is that this is a charter flight and pretty much everyone is going on a cruise. On our flight half were going on the Getaway and half were going on Carnival (Glory I think). The agent told me they pretty much guarantee you will get to the 12pm flight on time. So really, I think if there was some issue with the Getaway getting into port late etc. I really think they would hold the flight for a while without issue because half the people on the plane would be late.

You have disembark with all of your bags, you don't put them out the night before to get picked up. So you go down to line up as soon as they allow you to first thing in the morning. The line seemed insane but once they started letting everyone out it moved really fast. The bus was waiting there as soon as we got off. One elderly man who was traveling alone was very very late - maybe 40 minutes and they waited for him and we still had plenty of time to get through the airport.

If you have kids, sign them up for the Transat Kids club online and they get to board the flight first (with you of course :p), have free seat selection and extra snacks. If you do it early enough they get a little package in the mail with luggage tags , snack coupons etc.

Its all kind of basic (the plane, the customer service etc) but it was a really good price and we were happy with the whole process of getting to the ship and back. I would travel with them again.

Have fun!! :)

Thanks! We can't wait, we are going again in the in Spring 2016. Maybe the Getaway again :)

For the two drop slides you have to be 48 inches tall and at least 100lbs. So my son didn't do those - he is exactly 48 inches but only about 50 lbs. I think he would be afraid to try anyway!

There were three slides he could do. I believe they have to be 40 inches. Its definitely less than 48 because there were a lot of younger kids.

I believe they have to be 48 inches for the ropes course, and for the rock wall I am not sure, but I know its less than 48 inches because there were a lot of younger kids who looked 5 or 6 years old on it. For the spider climber and bouncer the minimum height is 40 or 42 inches and the bouncer has a maximum weight of around 120lbs - I can't remember exactly.

Hope this helped!

Here you go - its my review from May 2015. Its fallen back quite a bit so its harder to find. It has the Splash Academy program for 6-8 and dailies (just the schedule part) and I discuss the kids club (which I was very happy with)

The title is "Getaway review - May 9, 2015 - with 7 year old (daily schedule included)" if for some reason you need to looks through the threads

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2212485&highlight=getaway

If you have any questions just post there and I will answer the best I can :)

I have them in my review - here's the link. I only put the pages with the schedule but they list everything going on including the shows. They are from May 2015.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2212485&highlight=getaway&page=3

I noticed you had 7:30 Burn the Floor & Family Friendly Fued at 8:45 both circled. Were you able to make both of those shows?

Yes, but we took our time getting there and so we did not get seats. I think Burn the Floor was one hour, no more than that. So if you want to go to both you have to be quick to find a place to sit. Later I realized that if you want to go to one of the shows in the atrium (like Family Feud or Newlywed), it might be a good idea to go early and grab one of the bar stool seats one floor above at O'Sheehan's - they face the atrium and have a great view from above.

GOOD NIGHT ;)

Norwegian_Curise_2015-36 by Leonardo Silva, on Flickr[/img]

Norwegian_Curise_2015-38 by Leonardo Silva, on Flickr[/img]

https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/263/18196720714_43759b5802_z.jpg' alt='18196720714_43759b5802_z.jpg'>Norwegian_Curise_2015-39 by Leonardo Silva, on Flickr[/img]

THE END

THE SHIP ETC...

Norwegian_Curise_2015-6 by Leonardo Silva, on Flickr[/img]

Norwegian_Curise_2015-25 by Leonardo Silva, on Flickr[/img]

Norwegian_Curise_2015-42 by Leonardo Silva, on Flickr[/img]

TORTOLA/BREWERS BAY

Norwegian_Curise_2015-7 by Leonardo Silva, on Flickr[/img]

Norwegian_Curise_2015-22 by Leonardo Silva, on Flickr[/img]

https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/372/18196693714_f54f33d338_z.jpg' alt='18196693714_f54f33d338_z.jpg'>Norwegian_Curise_2015-24 by Leonardo Silva, on Flickr[/img]

So I'm posting some of DH's photos and then I am finally done with this... But I will still be around to answer any questions. :)

ROCK CLIMBING WALL

(so glad DH took these because I missed this while I was sick)

Norwegian_Curise_2015-17 by Leonardo Silva, on Flickr[/img]

Norwegian_Curise_2015-18 by Leonardo Silva, on Flickr[/img]

https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5340/18633094699_6f82d8be33_z.jpg' alt='18633094699_6f82d8be33_z.jpg'>Norwegian_Curise_2015-9 by Leonardo Silva, on Flickr[/img]

Only one building that you walk through with a couple of stores was open as of May 13, 2015, but there were a number of buildings in various stages of completion at that time, and I wouldn't be surprised if some more are completed by the end of July. I really don't think the entire development will be done until maybe the fall.

Here's a photo of the new pier.

Thanks for your great review! Can you tell me if the Burn The Floor dancers do a routine at the Tropicana Dining Room every night or just a specific night? And if its the latter, is it noted in the Dailies?

I really don't know what "Dine and Dance" means - if you look in the schedule above its every day around 6pm. I think this is just music and you can dance if you want...but someone would have to confirm that. I can confirm that the Burn The Floor Dancers do a show on day 5 and day 6 at 5:45pm - you can see it in the dailies above. So to see the show you have to line up on those days a few minutes before the restaurant opens (the line wasn't too bad and moved quickly once it opened). Many large groups (probably reserved) were let in before everyone else and I thought we'd get a bad table, but the big tables for groups are further back so we actually got a table close to the dance floor :).