ljrfrm

We had initially planned to go back to the Atrium for the 8:15 Lip Sync War Gameshow. Given that dinner was actually at 7:15 and not 6:30, we didn't even try to make it. However, I really wanted to go to the Getaway Celebrity Dance Off at 9:15. I always enjoy that show - that dancing is usually pretty hilarious (and some is actually very good) and the Losers Lounge is a hoot. Once we finished out Green Tea Cake dessert at Teppanyaki, we headed over to the Atrium to find chairs. My youngest son went to meet up with his posse and the oldest went back to the cabin to study - so that left my husband, middle son and I. 3 chairs is much easier to find than 5. We lucked out and snagged three comfortable chairs in a pretty good location. The show was fun and we had some laughs. It's funny because often when we sail, the NCL dance partners are good dancers. Sometimes they are from the shows, other times maybe not but they all dance well. This time, several of them were just bad. But so bad it was good. Paquito did a nice job of announcing and the Losers Lounge was, as always, funny. My disclaimer here is that it had been a long day and I might have been punchy.....maybe it wasn't that funny. Although yes, I think it was!

Since I'm talking about the off day - it might be time to add one other issue into the mix. On the very first night of the cruise, we ate dinner at Tropicana. We each had two glasses of wine. We are always very careful to order wine that is included in the UBP. We are not big enough wine connoisseurs to care whether it is a $9 glass or a $20 glass. We care more that it's free. While we were eating dinner that first night, my husband was playing around on the iConcierge app (yeah, I know...why is he on his phone at dinner haha) and happened to notice a $70 charge from Tropicana. He immediately asked the waiter about it - and the waiter told him not to worry - there is no charge for the drinks and they will drop off. We hadn't ever noticed that before on previous cruises so we asked the waiter to ask someone else just to be sure. The host came over, assured us all was well, and that was it. Well......I'm sure you can imagine what I'm about to say. On our "off day" with everything else that's happened, we noticed that charge was still on. So, after the Celebrity Dance Off I went over to Guest Services. Luckily, there was no line.

The lady printed out our account balance and yes, the $70 is definitely there. She pulled the ticket and showed me the charge was for multiple glasses of wine at $19.50 , and several other drinks at $8.95 plus the gratuity. I told her that 1) The wine we ordered was less than $10, not $19.95, 2) We have the UBP and shouldn't have to pay for drinks or gratuities and 3) Let's just say there was a charge, they would bring us a slip to sign - like other times in the past when we ordered something over the UBP amount - AND, we would only pay the overage, not the whole thing. I assured her that the wine was within the plan, and both the waiter and host agreed that first night there is no charge. She promised me she'd follow up on it but that they can't do anything until overnight. I trusted her - she seemed to be on my side - and left Guest Services hoping for the best. Fortunately when I went by the next day to check, all $70 of charges were completely removed. Phew!

Once we finished at Guest Services, it was about 10:30. We were drained and although my brain didn't want to head back to the cabin, my body did. Once back at the cabin, we checked out our latest towel animal, I spent time reading the Freestyle Daily for Day 4 and read for a few minutes. I might have also played a few games of Candy Crush!! Here's hoping for a better Day 4. I have to stress though, Day 3 was not a bad day......it just had some not so good things happen. A day on a cruise ship can never be a bad day.

I think in a way Day 3 was just an "off day" for us. Was it a bad day? Never. Just off. I still thoroughly enjoyed myself most of the day - but it seems Day 3 just had some highs and lows. A broken toilet. Traffic and more traffic. A not-so-good waiter. Stale plantains Those are the "lows" but that "highs" make it all worthwhile. That said - the "off" day continued once we were back on the ship.

I like to think of myself as organized. I make an envelope with each day of the trip. Inside the envelope is any money, directions, information, etc. that I need for the excursion. I also put on the outside of the envelope any other details, restaurant reservation times, show times, etc. In addition, I have a 7 day quickie schedule that I type out also. Kind of like a week at a glance. This also has an overview of excursion and reservation times. I brought a magnet and had the 7 day quickie overview hanging on the wall by the door. It just takes a quick glance in the morning or evening to see where we need to be when. Tonight was Teppanyaki. This is actually one of the few specialty restaurants we've never been to. We have a similar restaurant close to our home, and as went frequently for birthday when the boys were younger, we just never felt like we needed to go there. But, it sounded like we were missing a fun time and good food. So, we thought we would try it.

We showered and got ready for dinner and the boys were to meet us at our cabin at 6:20 for the 6:30 reservation. It seems that 3 boys sharing a bathroom takes time - and it was all they could do to make it to us by 6:30. We raced down to Teppanyaki's and made it there by 6:35. I peeked in and it looked full -but I knew I had a reservation so all was well. I handed my card to the hostess and she ran it through the machine. She looked confused. She ran it through again, looked at me and said "Oh, your reservation is at 7:15". Duh. I knew that. Every night we had a 6:30 reservation except for Teppanyaki. Not only did I know that, but it was written on the Roatan envelope plus it was hanging right by our door. I'm such a dweeb. We rushed the showers, raced down, and now we have 45 minutes to wait. Oh well, it's just an off day. We took the walk of shame away from the restaurant and went to the Atrium to grab a drink while waiting. We then returned to Teppanyaki at 7:15.

We arrived at the same time as 4 other families. They were all seated before us which at the time didn't seem like a big deal. They all filled up a table and because their table was full, their "cook" came out pretty quickly and started the fun. There was singing, clapping, laughing and everyone seemed to be having a good time. Meanwhile, we were seated at the next table over, and we just sat. We sat, and sat.....waiting for everyone else to show up. Whether they came late or had later reservations, I don't know. But, we sat for 40 minutes waiting. They didn't even come to take drink orders and when we asked, they said everyone at the table will order drinks together. Finally we had our table full and they started.

Our guy was nice but there wasn't any singing, not so much fun and I had chef envy after seeing the show that was put on next door. That said, oh my gosh the food was good. I ordered the filet mignon and chicken and it was so tender and delicious. It's not that we didn't like dinner, we just didn't have the fun we hoped for. And with all the fun all around us, we saw what we were missing. I think the experience very much depends on who you are sitting with and the chef's personality. We had a good meal - but I doubt we'll go back again. There are too many other good places to eat.

Thank you so much for your report! We will be on this ship in May. What are your kids ages? We have three boys who are 4,9 and 11 and I am hoping that they will have a blast. Would you have time to post the dailies from your trip?

My boys are older - 17, 22 and 25 (just about 26). I bet your boys will love it. So much to do for kids of all ages.

I have all my dailies and will try to get them posted. Our scanner isn't working right now but I can try to take pictures and post them soon.

We've seen a lot on the island but have never been to Little French Key. After researching and reading all that I could, I went ahead and reserved our spot. I had high expectations from everything that I read, and hoped it would live up to them. Once off the ship, the first challenge was finding our contact in the Frenchy's 44 green shirt. We knew we needed to walk through port, ignore everyone trying to sell us an excursion, and go outside the exit gate. Once out, several folks asked us if we were looking for someone and pointed out exactly where we needed to go. For anyone looking for Larry, in the Frenchy's 44 shirt, we found him outside of the Crusty Crab Saloon. And the bonus is the saloon has $2 margaritas!!!

We waited for about 5 minutes and once we were joined by 2 other couples we walked a short 5 minutes to their van. I will be honest - the next hour was extremely frustrating. The traffic in Coxen Hole was horrendous. I mean, it was really bad. We sat in the van over 30 minutes before we even moved at all. It took us forever, and I mean forever to get out of that parking lot, through Coxen Hole and onto the main road. Luckily, the van had air conditioning. We were finally moving and drove past the airport, Mahogany Bay cruise port and Palmetto Bay where our rental home was. We finally got to Frenchy's 44, paid our money (we got the full island package which was $88 and included lunch and two drinks). My youngest son was also dying to swim with the jaguar so I bought him a ticket for that also ($50). Once paid up, we got our wristbands and got on the boat for the short ride across to the island.

We finally arrived at Little French Key after 12 pm. We were all a bit flustered from the long van trip (I had planned on 30 min - not 1 hour and 30 min) and honestly, I was worried about finding a lounger, having time to enjoy the island and feeling like we would be rushed. Our boat was met by an employee of the island and we received a quick tour. I was relieved to see that there were plenty of loungers left. A few ideal spots were full but the great thing about the island is there are so many places to go. The boys found some shade where there was a wonderful breeze, my husband went to the bar for wifi (we couldn't get decent coverage where we were) and I found the perfect spot in the sun in front of the jaguar swim. There was a small amount of seaweed and they had a worker picking it all up. The beach was clean and the lounger was comfortable.

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I waited for a waiter to come which took awhile. I wasn't that far from the bar so was a bit surprised it took that long. My son gave up and went to the bar himself. He was back in about 3 minutes with a drink. But I was being lazy. We had two drink coupons with our package, and once I finally had a visit from our waiter, I ordered a drink. 20 minutes later I was still waiting for that drink. I walked over to the bar thinking they forgot about me and as I was approaching, I saw the waiter heading to grab my drink. I returned back to my lounger and let him bring it to me (I didn't want him to think I was too anxious - haha).

I spent some time reading on my Kindle and watching the jaguar swims and horses come by, then met the rest of the family for lunch. Now, remember I told you that I am not a picky eater. I usually love island food. The menu of chicken, beef, plantain, rice and beans sounded perfect. But, I was very disappointed with the food. I've read great reviews so I'm hoping this was just an off day. The plantains were so stale I couldn't bite into them and while the chicken was good, it was such a small piece there was barely any meat on it. It really was ok for me because I was still full from breakfast, and dinner the night before, and my 20,000 beverages. But, if I had to do it all over again, I wish I bought the smaller package that didn't come with food and beverage.

Once lunch was done, my son went to swim with the jaguar. I had really wanted to pet her, and have a photo, but I didn't feel I needed all that time and didn't want to spend $50. The man was wonderful though and let me join my son that last few minutes and we have some great photos.

After the swim I spent some more time laying out but I started worrying about getting back to the ship. We were in port until 6:00 and All Aboard was 5:30 - but I always ensure we're back on board an hour before sailaway. So, my goal was to be back at 5:00. In order for that to happen, I felt like we needed to leave by 4:00. So - for us with 8 hours in port, we had less than 4 hours at Little French Key. I'm really glad we went, and it was beautiful, but I think we had a different experience than many people.

Before we left for the ship, my middle son and I went to see the monkeys and other animals. The monkeys were all in cages but I had read that it was possible to interact them. We found a worker and asked and he told us "sure". He took us to see "Luna". She was gorgeous - and she immediately hopped on my son's shoulder. We spent time playing with her, and I didn't want to let her go.

When it was time, we packed up and took the boat back to Frenchy's 44. The trip back to the port (this time on a shuttle bus) was quick and pain free. Once back on board the ship, we grabbed a drink and watched sailway from our balcony.

I love muesli too!

 

 

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Someone posted a Muesli recipe on here once. I always meant to try it, but somehow saving it for my special cruise tradition seemed fun too.

Day 3 is Roatan. Oh Roatan, how I missed you. We owned a vacation home in Roatan until about 7 years ago, and enjoyed spending 2-3 weeks there each summer. It makes me sad when I see reviews from passengers who didn't leave the port/Coxen Hole area. Especially when they report that Roatan is dirty, ugly or boring. That makes me sad because it is such a wonderful island. We've played at beautiful beaches, swam with dolphins, petted iguanas, zipped our way through the trees and ate many amazing meals. There is some of the best snorkeling and scuba diving (disclaimer: I have never dived before, but it is on my bucket list) you can find. There are green lucious jungle areas and beautiful sunsets. There is so much to see if you can look past the poverty and get out and see the island. We were excited to return and took our time deciding where we wanted to go.

The day began at 7:45 when we woke up. I had hoped to sleep later but with the additional time change, my body did not agree to that plan. Once awake, I went into the bathroom and discovered our toilet was kaput. It wouldn't flush, it wouldn't even make a noise. I called my husband into the bathroom to try - thinking maybe it was only on strike with me. But no, it was a goner. I went and called housekeeping (I debated between them and Guest Services) but nobody answered. It just rang and rang. I was trying to figure out which number to try next when I had an idea. The day before we received some chocolate covered strawberries from Errol Bailey, the Hotel Director. The card said not to hesitate to contact him if we needed anything. I did hesitate - do I bother him? At 8 am? I decided that quickest way to a working toilet may be through Errol Bailey so I went for it. I called, told him we were toiletless at that moment, and he told me he'd get right on it (not that he was actually going to get on my toilet!). I immediately got dressed in case someone was coming to the room.

I made my morning coffee and went out onto the balcony to enjoy the peace and look to see if we were closing in on the island. About 30 minutes later our toilet flushed. All by itself. Nobody came to the room, but my guess was someone did something somewhere. I have no idea who my vacation hero was - but thanks for fixing the john. I try to roll with the punches when I travel. Sometimes things go wrong. I can't promise how long I would have kept that attitude without a toilet, but I handled the 30 minutes without one like a champ!

We arranged for the boys to come to our room at 9 am for our morning meal. We went to Savor for breakfast and got our table by the window. This was great as we were able to watch us sail by parts of the island and pull into port. My Day 3 breakfast of champion consisted of Creme of Wheat, French Toast and crispy bacon. As in each morning, the service was great, and we enjoyed the meal. My husband made a comment that the coffee was actually much better than he expected. That says a lot!

We soon realized that we needed to finish up and get back to the cabin to pack up and get ready for our day. When we got back, I went onto the balcony to check out our view. I love it when my balcony faces port. I enjoy seeing the views, watching passengers (especially those all so fun pier runners) and watching sailaway. I was glad to see that I had a great view of the port.

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When I cruise, I have a specific beach bag I bring each time. It's a big beach bag. I mean gigantic beach bag. I bought it at LL Bean and it holds everything, you probably could even shove a coat rack into it. I packed up the bag with 5 NCL beach towels, multiple suntan lotions of every strength you could think of, changes of clothes, hats, tablets, and the kitchen sink. Somehow, I always become the pack mule of the family and lug the 60 pound bag around all day. I swore this trip that each family member will take a turn carrying the baggage.

Once the jumbo bag was packed and we were all ready to go, we took the elevator down to Deck 4 to disembark. It was 10:30 at this point and there were no lines and we were quickly off the ship. We dodged the photographer and headed off on our way.

Thanks everyone - you know how to make a girl feel good! :) I'm home from work and once I start a load of laundry (gulp, yes I'm going to get it started) and finish dinner, I'll be writing up Day 3.

ljrfrm you are a natural story teller. Did Groove International do a Bob Marley tribute? Saw them January 2015 on the Getaway and they were awesome! Thank you for sharing your experience, you are quite entertaining!

Great question - I didn't see it but might have missed it. I'll check my Dailies after work today. They were definitely fun!!

And thanks for the kind words!

Ahhhhh, Muesli! I am getting Muesli next week, too!

I think we talked about Muesli last time too haha. I thought the Muesli on the Escape was better. You'll have to let me know what you think.

All five of us went to Cagney's. The service was great and while I enjoyed my food, my oldest son reported his steak was just so-so due to too much fat on the cut. I ordered the Pork Belly as my appetizer, Baked Potato Soup, NY Strip (with loaded baked potato and brussel sprouts) and Raspberry Creme Brulee. I was very happy with all of it and the service was very good. We had a few glasses of wine each as well.

After we finished our meal we hit the Atrium again - this time for the Newlywed/Not So Newlywed Game. This is often one of my favorite game shows. If you get the right CD hosting with the right contestants, it can be downright hilarious. When you are on the bigger ships that have the shows in the Atrium, you need to arrive early for the prime seating. We took our time at Cagney's and didn't finish in time for the early arrival and scoping of seats (just to add, we normally don't mind arriving early for seats - there's usually a band or piano player or something to keep us occupied while we relax and wait) and ended up sitting off to the side. While we were sitting and comfortable, it was a little hard to hear. Couple that with not the funniest mix of contestants, and this Newlywed Game wasn't so great. Not bad, but not great. We watched the first half of the show but then decided to leave to get to Million Dollar Quartet early for good seats. We had initially planned to run there at the last minute but changed our minds with a not-so-great Newlywed Game coupled with difficulty hearing.

We went to the Getaway Theater, grabbed some great seats and sat back and enjoyed an amazing show. I wasn't sure what my sons would think of the show - but they all enjoyed it. I will admit that about 1/3 of the way into the show, I started nodding off. It had nothing to do with the show quality and everything to do with the copious amounts of beverages I consumed all afternoon and at dinner. But, the show was so good I soon snapped out of it and managed to stay awake to enjoy every minute of it.

Following the show, we went for a walk around and enjoyed the beautiful night. We then headed back up to the cabin. I walked in to our first towel animal pet, a reminder for another time change, and the Day 3 Freestyle Daily. I spent time reading up on the next day, making plans, and waiting for my youngest son to get back to the cabin. I waited, and I waited for a text. Finally I called the cabin. "Mom, I've been back for an hour". Hello, you needed to tell me that!! Soon we were off to bed, with visions of Roatan dancing in our heads.

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Let's talk about water. We are Gold Latitudes members so my husband and I are each eligible for a bottle of water. I don't know where I got this in my mind, but I really thought the water bottles were larger ones. Not tiny little baby 16 oz. water bottles. It really doesn't matter - just surprised me. Regardless, when we first went into our cabin we saw a paper advertising 6 large water bottles for $14.95. Our sons didn't have any water bottles to fill so we figured we'd go ahead and order. The bottles were in our room within a few hours. It actually worked out great and although expensive, we were glad we bought them. The charge was listed as "Atrium" and we ended up going to Guest Services to ask what the charge was as we didn't recognize it. It would have been much easier had the charge said "water". They also added a 20% gratuity to to bill so not only did we not recognize the "Atrium" charge but the amount was confusing as well. Now we know.......

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At 11 am we went to Cagney's for the Meet and Greet. It was well attended and we met several new friends and enjoyed talking to quite a few other CC members. As usual, NCL did a great job with bringing us muffins, coffee, smoothies and ship officers. Paquito our CD came, all the top officers and for my first time, the Captain came. I've been to 7 of these and it's the first time for me. When we were on the Escape, I was so impressed with the officers who all visited with us, made the rounds talking and chatting us up, and spent quite a bit of time with us. Recently on the Sun, we didn't have the small-talk, but following introductions, we had a really nice Q & A session. At this Meet and Greet, Paquito introduced all the officers and the Captain briefly spoke (he seems like such a nice, personable man) and then they all left. It was pretty quick and not a lot of interaction, but I did enjoy it. The Captain mentioned that they do read CC - so if any of you are looking at this review now.....thanks for coming!!!! The Meet and Greet lasted until noon which means it's almost time to eat again, haha.

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While at Cagney's for the Meet and Greet, we saw that they were doing a "Taste of Spain" lunch next door at Modernos. We asked the Group Events lady that was there about what it was. My husband is from Spain so obviously our ears perk up when we hear about Spanish food. She told us it's tapas - which made us think of Pinchos on the Escape. We got all excited, quickly texted the boys and told them to come meet us for lunch in "Spain". They came, we walked over and got a table and checked out the buffet. We didn't see any tapas, and the buffet just really didn't seem all that Spain-like. They did have cute centerpieces though. They had paella that my husband tried but I totally didn't want that. So, after my husband finished eating while we watched him, we all went to the buffet for lunch. Before we left though, we stopped by the bar for some margaritas.

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I wasn't hungry at all - which of course didn't stop me - and I got a burger and fries. It was good- then again, a burger's a burger. By this point it was 1 pm and I heard the sun calling my name. It was time to put the bathing suit on and go find a lounge chair. I was keeping my fingers crossed that waiting until 1 pm for this endeavor wouldn't lead to pain and suffering. After a quick change, my husband, middle son and I were heading up. My youngest son was off with friends - most likely at the video arcade - and the oldest was studying somewhere along the Waterfront. Soon we were off......time to soak up some rays.

We went straight to the top sun deck - not at the Vibe level but one flight up. It was lounger heaven. Chairs galore. We easily found three loungers next to each other and I got comfortable with my book. Here's a quick photo from my vantage point - it shows some of the empty loungers but there were many others on either side of me as well.

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We could hear the music from the pool but were away from the hustle and bustle. The only down side was that we didn't see any waiters up there - but it was an easy one flight down trip for drink orders. As we could order several at a time and service was oh so quick, it was not a big deal at all. After a few pina coladas, several chapters and a quick cat nap, we were ready to head back down.

Our next stop was the Deck 8 Waterfront. We found some comfortable chairs, ordered another drink (Coco Mojito - delish!) and sat and enjoyed the scenery. My middle son wanted to hit the mini golf course (he's a wannabe golfer!) so the four of us went up. My youngest son was MIA, although we did have a brief sighting of him earlier in the day. Mini Golf was packed and there were no golf balls or adult clubs available. We had only about a 5 minute wait and another family finished the course and we got clubs, balls and got on our way. We had to keep track of our score in our heads - which I was quite proud of the fact I did. Remember, old brain cells? Maybe all the UBP drinks counteracted that? We had fun on the course - yes it was basic, but it's always a good time playing mini golf. Wannabe golfer son won - but I came in second!!! I definitely bragged the rest of the night about that!

After mini golf we decided we needed a drink to take back to the cabin. I told my husband to surprise me, and he brought back a White Russian. Another hit - and definitely one I'll have to add to the drink list. Back at the cabin, we enjoyed our drinks on the balcony, showered and dressed for dinner, and then headed to our 6:30 reservation at Cagney's.

One of the first things we did after boarding was make sure all the boys had the iConcierge App and purchase the texting. I definitely had a love/hate relationship with this app the whole cruise. As you noticed from my previous post, I relied on my son texting me with updates as to where he was, when he was back at the cabin, etc. This was the first time that he wasn't in our cabin with us and I felt a bit lost not knowing if he was back safe and sound. I'd say 75% of the time the texting worked great for us. The other 25% was downright frustrating. My husband has an Android but the rest of us have Iphones. I think he had the hardest time and I actually didn't get a text from him until the last day. Most of his texts just said "sending" the whole time. Also, as others have commented before, the wifi itself would go in and out continuously. But, usually when that happened, it would come right back again. There were frustrating times though when I would send a text and it would say "sent" but wouldn't show it as delivered. So, it left my phone, but the person on the other end didn't get it. Sometimes our phones would "ding" with a notification of a text and we could easily read it, but other times it wouldn't. So, we all just needed to check often. It was a huge help with communicating between us - not just for my youngest son but the other boys as well when they wanted to join us somewhere. If you are traveling with a family, or with anyone that you will not be with at all times, I would definitely recommend it. Just bring your patience and know it's not perfect - far from it - but so much better than the days that I used to carry a walkie talkie around.

When we returned to our cabin the first night, we saw the "Time Change Tomorrow" notice. I debated about how to handle the time change. I've done it both ways - sometimes changing my phone over and other times just calculating in my head. Between the UBP and my old brain cells, I decided that changing my phone would be better. This would prove to cause a minor issue later in the week (I'll get to that eventually) but for now, it made me happy as it gave me an extra hour of sleep.

I woke up the morning of Day 2 at 7 am or so. So much for sleep in. I made myself a cup of coffee in the room (the coffee pod made surprisingly decent coffee), threw on my cute NCL bathrobe (which BTW was waiting for me in my closet when we unpacked) and went onto my balcony to read. I have to say this balcony seemed to be the smallest I've had before, but maybe it just seems small compared to the one I had in June on the Sun. Regardless, I didn't care. I was on my balcony on a cruise, and not at work. All was good.

We arranged for our boys to come to our room at 9 am to head for breakfast. I am one that enjoys the dining room for breakfast - no buffet for me. I want my waiter, menu, someone putting my napkin on my lap (my 22 y.o asked if they don't trust that I'll do it. No, silly.....it's called "service"), and relaxing while looking out the window onto the sea. We lucked out each morning that we always were seated at the window. We asked - but felt lucky they had one available. The dining room actually never seemed busy for breakfast and service was always quick. We alternated between Taste and Savor depending on what side was land or what we wanted to see. I honestly don't know which restaurant we went to this morning - but I just know we had our window.

Once seated, we were immediately greeted by our waiter and offered coffee, juice and water. When I sail, I always order Muesli. It is my cruise thing. I've never had it off a cruise ship and probably never will. So of course, I started with Muesli. I also ordered bacon (crispy!!!), eggs, potatoes and toast. They also brought the basket of pastries which I had to try. So much for a light breakfast, ha. I was stuffed full and it was not even 10 am. Once we finished breakfast, we walked around the ship for awhile until it was time to attend the Meet and Greet.

Great start to the review. I hate to chime in early but one comment really made me laugh out loud. I like where you pointed out the absurdity of waiting in line for Taste and someone always tries to point you to the Garden Café. "They are serving lunch in the Garden Café" No thanks, we want to eat here. LOL

GOOD FOR YOU!!!!!

I said "no thanks" with a smile!! :)

But seriously, do they think I didn't notice that Taste was open for business? Haha!

There's just something about the sailaway. The culmination of months/years of planning, the excitement of what's to come, the feeling like you're right where you belong and the anticipation of way too much food and beverage. Ah, I love it!

Once we passed anything worth seeing, we ran up to Entourage to sign my youngest one up. On the Escape, he lived there. He met a fun group of boys and it made his week. I was glad he wanted to go back again. I signed on the dotted line that he could attend, was given the "rules" and what would happen if he broke them, and my son planned to return back at 8 pm. The first night is "the" night to attend. He didn't want to miss it- so he could find his posse.

I returned to the cabin to read on my balcony (ahhhhh) and watched a bit of NCAA basketball with the boys. They were so concerned they'd miss the games but I promised them they'd be on - and they were. Whew! Soon it was time for dinner. I made reservations for every night of the cruise - not just our specialty dining nights. For our non-specialty nights, we always ate at Tropicana, the main dining room. I never saw any long lines or anyone need to wait for any length of time to be seated, but I liked having the reservation so I could skip up to the front of the line knowing I was set. I think the reservations paid off though because we had great table locations each night - then again, maybe NCL just likes me, haha! We were ushered right to our table and met our waiter.

I will say right off that we had great service, food, abundant beverages and fun watching the dancers each night at Tropicana. There was a large table near us that enjoyed their time on the dance floor. We actually saw them each night we were there, and boy did they enjoy themselves. Several of them were fantastic dancers...and a few just thought they were. Regardless, they were our nightly entertainment. Dinner usually lasted between 1 - 1.5 hours, and we felt pampered and cared for most of that time. We all had wine each night, and our glasses never went empty. They would refill them before that could happen - without us asking. Sometimes they came with the glasses already measure out but other nights they actually came with the bottle and literally almost filled them to the rim. The wait was never too long for food and we all enjoyed our meals.

On this first night, I ordered French Onion Soup, Prime Rib and Chocolate Lava Cake. I thought the Prime Rib was great - and totally enjoyed it. Now - one disclaimer is I'm not a picky person. I'm a foodie in that I love food - but I tend to enjoy most everything. In addition, I had been dieting for several months before the cruise and I think just the thought of eating fattening food excited me! But, I do think the quality was good and I enjoyed the whole meal.

Following dinner we went to the Atrium and my youngest son headed off to Entourage. We were able to snag a set of comfy seats around a small table and ordered more drinks. The Atrium bar made a mean Cosmo for me tonight - tasty!! When we arrived, Groove International was playing a set called "Easy Listening". We enjoyed them the whole week - they played a mean Motown set later in the week as well as some other fun songs other nights. Once that finished, we stayed for the Ultimate Challenge Game Show (Part 1). It was one we had never seen and they explained that this was a new game for them (I don't know how new). It was kind of "eh", but not bad I guess. Later in the week they will have Part 2, and the two winners would then challenge each other the last night. After the game show ended, we moved on to Howl at the Moon.

I can do Howl at the Moon every night of my cruise. As I mentioned in my previous Escape reviews, this is my element. I know ever word to every song and I just LOVE singing. The only problem with this is that I can't carry a tune if my life depended on it. I am just a bad, bad singer. Really, I am! So, my singing stays in the car....by myself. If you ever see someone at a red light singing to themselves and enjoying every moment of it...it might be me!!! At Howl at the Moon, I can sign out loud. It's loud and between the pianos playing, microphones, and crowd singing, nobody can hear me. I can bellow out an off-key tune, and nobody cares. I love it. After 11 pm it became "adults only" and a heck of a lot more fun. We first saw "Tambourine Girl" tonight - someone in the front row taking the tambourine off the piano and playing it to the crowd, dancing around the room. The Howl at the Moon singers dubbed her Tambourine Girl and she was there every night we went. Always. If you are reading this Tambourine Girl, you were awesome. I want to be you when I grow up!!!

Sometime around 11:30 my youngest son checked in. "What time is my curfew? The ship curfew is 1 am. Can I stay out until then"? Well, that depends. What are you doing and who are you with? He told me he was "hanging" in the conference room with friends. Hmmmm. We settled on 12:30 and he's lucky I trust him. They actually spent a lot of time "hanging" outside of entourage - and I soon discovered he spent even more time in the Video Arcade. He had been warned that similar to his previous cruise, his first $100 is on me (this amount covers anything...gelato, video games, BINGO cards....yeah, I know - he would never play BINGO, but you get it). Anything over $100 he will cover - and I know where he lives so he will have to pay.

We left Howl at the Moon around midnight and headed back to the cabin. We had a fruit bowl waiting for us in the room. Awwww, they love me!! My husband munched on the fruit throughout the cruise but not me......it reminded me too much of my diet!! Son texted soon that he was back in his room. Both his brothers were already there and vouched for it! I spent time reading the Day 2 Freestyle Daily and once son was successfully back in his cabin I went to bed. What a successful first day!!! Somehow, I knew though that this week would go way too quick!!

You had me hooked on your review after reading your first few sentences. Looking forward to reading more.

 

In June we will be on her with our two children--daughter 19 and son 18--along with other family members including young men ages 19, 21 and 23 so I am very interested on your sons' prospective. Everyone in our party are experienced cruises but have not been on the Getaway.

 

Also want to know if you regret not trying for Vibe. We had it on the Escape and my daughter wants us all to go for it.

No regrets!! :) I'll give more details throughout but for us, it was a good decision!!!

How cool to see your review - we just have similar cruise karma because the last time I was on Hetaway. I prepared by reading your review (the Slide Debacle Review, aka Branko is a Cool Bartender.) We will be on Getaway next week, so I am looking forward to reading your review while I finish my countdown!

 

Sent from my SM-G955U using Forums mobile app

Ha, I totally remember you reading that and commenting!!! :) That means you are going to have to book the Jade next year because that's my next one!

Thanks everyone for the kind comments - I promise I haven't started my laundry yet. I just got home from work (I need a vacation!!!) and have to run my son to the library in a few minutes. Once we are home later, I'll be writing as much as I can tonight......I promise!!! I hate it when the real world gets in the way of my cruising!

Now, I must admit that when they called Boarding Group #1, I got Vibe envy for a moment. We had such an amazing time there and I knew exactly what we were missing. And I knew how crowded this cruise would be. I am not one to wake up at the crack of dawn to run up and get a lounger. I'm also not a chair hog. I'll admit, the temptation is there, but I just would never do it. I once left my towel on a lounger when I went to a Meet and Greet. I was only gone 45 minutes but I was just so sure I was going to be arrested. Or made to walk the plank. Or at least given dirty looks by 4000 other passengers. None of that happened (thankfully) but chair hogging is not for me. I held steady with my decision of no Vibe, and was consoled with my knowledge that loungers should be available on the sun deck which would make it all ok.

Group #3 was called and we headed on board. It was washy washy time, then we stepped in. My family stopped and looked at me. Where to? We didn't need to race to Guest Services for Vibe passes, but that habit somehow remained. Down we went to Deck 6, and we were welcomed into the Atrium. I immediately went to the bar and put my UBP to use. Last cruise, my first drink was a Mango Meltdown. I hadn't thought about what to order and the pressure was on. I wanted to come up with a great first drink and before I knew it, I heard myself ordering a Pina Colada? What's with that? How boring.......but it did hit the spot. The rest of the family ordered their drinks including my 17 y.o who ordered a Virgin something. We then headed up to the pool area and found some chairs to enjoy our drinks.

My two younger sons went to the buffet to grab lunch. I always like to go to the dining room for my first lunch. To me, that proves that I'm really there......ordering appetizers, desserts, drinks, and someone bringing me anything I want. That's a cruise. So - time to get it started. My husband, oldest son and I went to Taste. It never fails - every time I sail, there is someone posted in front of the bar between Taste and Savor trying to send people to the buffet. Why? My guess is most people who find themselves there are actually there because they want to eat there. We were told "They're serving lunch in the buffet" and I nicely told her "No thanks, we'd like to eat here". We went in and were seated immediately. I ordered the hummus appetizer, meatloaf wrapped in bacon and had peanut butter cheesecake for dessert. I had a nice glass of Pinot Grigio to wash it all down.

By the time we were finished with lunch, we heard the announcement that the rooms were ready. We found my two other boys and headed to check out our cabins. We were in balcony cabin 13126 and the boys were around the corner in 13421 which was an inside cabin. I was a little disappointed that their cabin was further than I thought from us - I'm not sure why I thought they were right across from us. But, having booked the cruise almost two years ago - I suspect there was a reason that my old brain cells just don't remember. I very much enjoyed being on deck 13 - I had cabins both above and below us, and we were a quick trip up to the pool deck (which helped for UBP refills).

Cabin 13126 is pretty much your typical balcony cabin on the port side. The bed is by the balcony, which is new to us. On previous cruises our bed was scrunched up against the closet. There are pros and cons to each set up, but I kind of liked it this way. I feel like there was less shelving space than on the Escape but there was still plenty of room. There were big storage drawers in the sofa, shelves all around and enough closet space for two. There were 20 hangers (I counted so I would save half for my husband when I was unpacking - then I proceeded to take two extra!!!) in the closet and even though I way overpacked, I had plenty of room for all my clothes and shoes. We had the same view from our room that we had on our last Escape trip. In fact, I saw the same yacht that I was drooling on the last time. Just sitting there waiting for me.

https://pix.sfly.com/6-zs7m

After unpacking, we went to our boys cabin to check it out. They've never seen the bunk come from the ceiling as their last cruise they had a balcony and the sofa opened to the third bed. My youngest (as usual - last pick so the bunk was his) asked me if the bunk gets put away each day, and there's no sofa, where does he sit during the day? Hmmmm - good question. Sit on your brothers bed! My middle son (second pick) would get the bed below the bunk. He wanted to know how low the bunk would go and if he would die when it crashes down onto him. And the oldest son (first pick) already seemed very comfortable in his awesome bed. The room worked out great - and the only issue we had was getting them up each morning with it so dark. Luckily - the middle son listens to his alarm - unlike his brothers that can sleep through 15 snooze buttons. The boys unpacked and soon it was time for the Muster Drill.

The boys had been joking ever since I told them about the drill. Mustard Drill? What's that? I told them that they weren't very original as many people have made that joke previously. Imagine their enjoyment when we found out that we were to muster at O'Sheehans. And when we got there we sat down at the table for the drill right next to a bit bottle of mustard. "See mom, there is mustard at the mustard drill". The drill was surprisingly quick, and it's so nice to do it sitting down, as opposed to when we used to be lined up standing outside for 30 minutes or more. I just wish they would have served us wings during the drill. Now that would have been a great drill.

Following the drill I had to reschedule our Million Dollar Quartet reservation. As we went into the cabin and checked out all our welcome letters, etc waiting for us, we had one stating that our reservation for Thursday was changed from Million Dollar Quartet to Burn the Floor "due to technical difficulties". Hmmmm, I didn't want to see Burn the Floor, I wanted to see Million Dollar Quartet. I was so excited to see it on the Escape and had it reserved but it was cancelled when the show moved to the Getaway. I made a phone call and luckily was able to reschedule it for Monday night. While going through the other welcome information, I saw that we had a $100 on board credit with a message stating Bon Voyage. I was so excited. Who sent it to me? I read it more carefully and realized that it was placed in my room by mistake - and was for someone else. Boo.

Soon it was time for sailway. We decided to stay on our balcony and made sure we each had drink in hand. My oldest son made a great time-lapse video of the whole thing. I'll have to make sure he sends it to me, so I can watch it during this whole post-cruise depression. For now, this photo will have to suffice:

https://pix.sfly.com/Adxs0J

My husband rented a minivan from Dollar Rental Car when he arrived into FLL earlier on Saturday. I had planned for us to take Lyft to the Port of Miami on Sunday morning. With research, my husband discovered he could rent the van and return it to the Miami Airport the next morning for the same price of the Lyft ride. This would allow him to pick my oldest son up from the airport at 6 pm, pick us up at 7:30 and let us drive to dinner and breakfast the next morning. Dollar will then drive us to the port after we drop off the van. The rental plus gas (we really didn’t use very much at all) came to $80 total. I was in a hurry to get to the port and wasn’t very excited about going to the Miami Airport first. But, I have to say this worked out perfectly for us. I loved that I didn’t have to Uber or Lyft to the hotel, or wait for who knows how long for their airport shuttle. I loved that we weren’t stuck eating at the hotel restaurant, and it was nice to leave the next morning when we were ready – and not have to wait for a hired shuttle or call the Lyft. Shhhh, don’t tell my husband but I think he had a good idea.

We checked out of the hotel at 9 am and drove down the road to Starbucks for breakfast. After a quick bite to eat and the all-important Cup of Joe, we took the quick drive to the Miami Airport. We quickly dropped off the car and they pointed us down to airport transportation to catch the shuttle. There was a driver waiting for us and as soon as we boarded the shuttle, he whisked us off to the port. Ah, that first sighting of the ship is always an exciting time. I looked forward to seeing the boys’ reaction when they saw her……but they played it cool and didn’t seem as crazed as I was. But, I know they were jumping up and down on the inside.

Our shuttle driver pulled up, helped us with our luggage, and after we tipped him he drove off. The porter was there to take our bags, we tipped him also and headed to check in. Now, I am one that likes to arrive early. I just can’t wait to get my vacation started. We are usually at the port by 9:30 at the latest. We previously made the decision to skip Vibe this time (our second time on the Escape was a Vibe week and it was amazing!). We knew our boys wouldn’t be interested in it and we see them so seldom that it didn’t make sense to spend the money this time when we really wanted to spend time with them. So, without the Vibe in our sight, there was no reason to arrive too early. By the time we went to Starbucks, dropped the car off at the airport and shuttled to port, it was 10:20 when we arrived. Oh my…..the line!!! We were at Terminal B and it seemed the line went out the door and down towards Terminal C, then back around again. I shot my husband an evil eye, as this was all his fault. We would never make it on……..or maybe at least not soon enough for my liking. But wait…..this line moved quickly.

I was impressed that by 10:40 we were inside, through security and filling out our health form swearing we had no communicable diseases that would terrorize others on board. Although we are only Gold Latitudes members, the nice NCL man pointed us into the Platinum line. That line was very short and I think he thought it would help the flow since the other line was getting long. I’d like to think of it though that NCL was just so happy I was back. I’m sure they’ve missed me!!! After lecturing my boys excessively for days to remember their passports (thankfully, they listened to mom!), we were checked in quickly and handed Boarding Group 3. We went upstairs to wait – and soon enough it was time to board!! Soon enough, I was back in my happy place!!

https://pix.sfly.com/gQMU3-

Thanks all. I'm typing up the next post now....... :)

I’m just home from my latest cruise and in the midst of post-cruise depression. There is a pile of dirty laundry upstairs, I still haven’t shopped so there’s no food in the house and I have a slew of work emails to catch up on. So what better time than now to procrastinate catching up on life and begin my latest review. For anyone interested, I have several previous offerings chronicling my time on the Escape and Sun. I try to include lots of details that others may find helpful (like what to do when you get stuck on the drop slide and how to find your way out the secret trap door, gulp!) but I have to admit, this is also a great way for me to document my week for myself, which I enjoy looking back on down the road when I’m dreaming of my next trip. As I tend to write a lot, it takes some time – but I will do my best to keep up on this and also answer any questions.

My husband (53) and I (51) brought all three of our boys(25, 22 and 17) on this trip. Our two older boys haven’t sailed since 2010, and our youngest is the lucky one who now that he is an “only child” gets to enjoy more trips and has taken several cruises with us recently. I booked this cruise almost two full years prior to sailing, and was so ready to finally sail.

I always fly in the day before departure. The one and only time I couldn’t, I stressed and panicked and swore I would never do that again. I booked our flights last July, and had one heck of a time doing so. We were all flying in from different locations, with my two boys now living in different states, my husband coming from a business trip and my youngest son and I coming from home. Four different itineraries over spring break meant a ton of money, and many chances for travel problems. I always try to find direct flights, and like to travel early in the day so that if there is a problem, there are plenty of other options to get us there that day. We usually fly into Miami but this trip Fort Lauderdale was much more affordable.Also, to save money we each had layovers (short ones too – ugh), weren’t arriving until later in the evening, and there were just so many chances for doom. My youngest son and I were flying Southwest through Atlanta, and my middle son was meeting up with us in Atlanta for the leg to Fort Lauderdale. We had a 50-minute layover, and he had just a quick 35 minutes. What was I thinking????? Surely, Southwest knew what they were doing, right? Why would they offer that combo if it wasn’t going to work? I tried to have faith……

I woke up Saturday morning to a text from my middle son. His flight was already delayed – hetexted he was doomed to miss the cruise. I told him not to worry – there were two other flights going to Fort Lauderdale that night (through Orlando) and they’d get him there if he missed his connection. It’s Southwest, right?They know what they are doing. The next 4 hours texts were flying with him worrying and trying to come up with backup plans. He finally took off 35 minutes late. Ugh. We headed out to the airport in the midst of these texts, checked our bags (oh, please arrive in Fort Lauderdale with me!!!)bought food and found our gate. We arrived in Atlanta right on time and easily made the short walk to our connection. My stressed-out-traveler son’s plane made up 20 minutes in the air and he arrived at our gate in Atlanta right as we were boarding. See? I told you Southwest knew what they were doing. The three of us arrived into Fort Lauderdale around 7:30 pm. My oldest son had arrived at 6 pm (changing planes in Houston) and my husband arrived earlier in the day. We did it. We were all there on time (phew)AND we all had our luggage. This was a good day!

We stayed the night at the Holiday Inn – Ft Lauderdale Airport. The hotel was perfect for us –close to the airport, clean, friendly staff and a big comfortable room. The boys stayed in another room and were given a rollaway bed within 5 minutes of requesting it. My poor youngest son always gets banished to the rollaway – even though he is bigger than the middle son. The perils of being the youngest. After getting settled, we headed to Miller’s Ale House for dinner and to watch some NCAA basketball. After a huge plate of delicious nachos (ordered to satisfy my nachos craving – since Margaritaville is no longer a la carte and I won’t be visiting), a margarita, and a basketball game, we headed back to the hotel for our last sleep before boarding. After 600 and some odd days of counting down,cruise day was finally here!!!

We are sad it’s almost over too.

All good things must come to an end! I’m sitting here in the airport and not only are there no waiters coming for my drink order, they also told me my beverage package doesn’t work here!

We are also on now. Great bar service everywhere and never had too long of a wait. Finding lounge chairs easily on the sundeck too! Sad we are nearing the end all too quickly!!

Of our many cruises and port over the years, our day with Aristocat Charters was the best of them all! While I'm so sad to see and hear of all the devastation, I'm happy to see that they will be back up and running. It was an amazingly fun day in such a beautiful setting.

We were on the Sun July 3-10. We were very happy with the food - we ate at Modernos, Cagney's and Le Bistro as well as the main dining rooms. Of those, Cagney's was definitely our favorite - mmmmm so good!!

We snacked at Las Ramblas several nights - the tapas there were fine. They were pre-made and sitting out - but still tasty. There was a pretty big variety, both hot and cold tapas to choose from. We enjoyed having some with Sangria after returning to the ship from port.

Like the previous poster, we had our breakfasts at La Cucina - but the one morning we ate at the Garden Cafe, it was good.

We also ate late night snacks at the Sports Bar - I thought the wings were great.

Enjoy your cruise!!

We were on the Sun July 3-14th. I got Irish Coffee on the Sun with my UBP without a problem. I wasn't sure if it was included the first time I ordered - so specifically asked when ordering and was told yes. I got it at the Sports Bar. I will say, it wasn't really that good - and I'm really not picky at all. But......it was included.

I also got Mudslides and Bushwackers out at the pool multiple times without problem. I ordered myself at the bar, and also several times from the waiter walking around.

We saw cocktail menus at all restaurants, but also at times ordered other drinks. Usually we had no problem with knowing how to make anything we ordered - but we also didn't branch out too much, and often just ordered from the menu.