Getaway - GSC so disappointed!

Recently back from a cruise on the getaway in March. We booked this cruise for the itinerary and couldn't wait to visit GSC since we fell in love with it last year. It was the last day of our cruise. When we arrived we discovered 1/2 of this beautiful island was reserved and closed off to a private party. The middle part of GSC which in my opinion is the best part was off limits. There was a large party on the cruise this particular week which didn't really bother us until this day. The bar near the lagoon was not stocked to accommodate this either. No frozen drinks at all and they couldn't even make a basic margarita.

This felt so wrong on every level to the rest of us. As a paying customer we were refused service at that bar because we didn't belong to the group. I spoke to an officer near the lagoon about this and he could have cared less. We wanted to be away from the crowds at the main bar area and relax on our last day but we couldn't do this and have a decent drink at the same time. The bar tender at the main bar gave us a hard time when we tried to order two drinks each so we could take the shuttle to the lagoon and relax.

It just would have been nice if we would have known in advance about not having access to all that GSC has to offer so we could have made our own decision about if we wanted to go that week or perhaps wait and cruise another week. Felt like NCL sort of pulled the wool over our eyes and could have cared less.

Next time I might ask my TA if there are any large (over 1,000 people) reservations next time I decide to cruise. It would be good to know this in advance. I did hear others talking about how this group took over spice H2O and several other bar areas for "meetings" during the week and these areas were closed off to other guests during those times as well. Quite a few people were upset.

Just throwing this information out there to any others that love GSC as much as I do. I will be sure to ask NCL next time before I book so this doesn't happen to us again.

NCL will never tell your TA whether or not there are large groups on a ship. For the exact reason you specified. If you knew, you wouldn't book. Unfortunately, all lines are like this.

I'm not sure the office you spoke with had anything to do with what was going on or could he solve your issues. If I were you, I would write a letter to corporate outlining your disappointments.

What is GSC and where?

What is GSC and where?

Great Stirrup Cay, NCL's private Island.

I'm sure you were disappointed....but, this stuff happens! The "group" pays a premium for special stuff....that's just how it is!

I'm sure you still had an enjoyable cruise!

This is why one needs to search ship & sail date in a search engine, this is the ONLY way to know if there is a charter, and you might have to dig to find the information.

Thanks for your report.

Two out of three cruises I took there didn't even stop at GSC. The seas were too rough to tender. At least you got there. The one time I got there, I loved it.

Thank you for your report.

Keith

This is the first time that I've heard of NCL doing something like this on GSC. How disappointing.

This is the first time that I've heard of NCL doing something like this on GSC. How disappointing.

Ditto.

OP, what group was it?

I was on this cruise as well. It was disappointing that the main part of the island was off limits. We thought about heading to the lagoon to escape the crowd, but with 4 families and 6 kids it was just easier to stay put. The group was Lifesource, a German company.

We were on the same cruise and stayed at the main beach at GSC (my son didn't want to walk any farther after our wave runner tour) but DH and I walked a ways down (not all the way to the lagoon). I saw the reserved signs on the very small second beach but did not realize they other beaches further down were reserved. We were not barred from walking along the road behind the beaches but did not try to go down any closer. I was wondering why all the cabanas and Haven were booked for this cruise over 11 months out, I think it was all for the group. I saw at least 20 people in one of the large cabanas when we walked down. The group was Lifeplus, the seem to be a nutritional supplement company. Here is the link to this year's cruise: http://www.lifeplus.com/us-en/web-section/upcoming-events or http://www.lifeplus.com/media/pdf/events/Cruise2016_FactSheet_US-EN.pdf, but it doesn't list the ship. Many of their group was from Germany but a number were from North America as well. I guess I am glad we were happy with our wave runner excursion and the main beach area, the snorkeling was good there at least. I did not notice any other impact of this group on the quality of my cruise, but I wasn't trying to get into Spice H2O or other areas they may have been in.

ETA: The 2017 cruise is listed as March 11-18 for this group, which is Saturday to Saturday. I am guessing Escape, as all Escape Haven has been sold out for the March 11-18, 2017 cruise for quite some time.

Mistizoom.... Actually the haven on our cruise was completely booked with a large Chinese group. Someone we met on the cruise wanted to tour the Haven in hopes to book in there on her next cruise (she was a latitudes platinum member) and she was told she could not even have a tour! Apparently the Chinese group wanted it exclusively. Thanks for the info on Life Plus 2017 dates. Very good information! I will be sure to AVOID that week.

I think I saw you at the meet and greet but I never made it to that side of the room.

Sure I'm glad we got to visit GSC and I'm well aware that often port stops get cancelled for various reasons. We ended up making the best of it and had a good time but I can't deny being disappointed. It would have been easier if we had know in advance was my biggest problem. That and the fact that NCL didn't make any efforts to ramp up the bar area near the lagoon to compensate the rest of us. Felt to me like NCL could have cares less.

We were also on the same cruise and experienced the same frustration. NCL definitely lost money from us -- we're not beer or pop drinkers, and had planned on consuming a few fruity/frozen drinks.

I agree that it would have been nice to know about this in advance.

My other frustration with GSC? No umbrellas -- ZERO -- or at least none down at the lagoon. ***? Come sit out on a chair in the hot Caribbean sun with no covering? *sigh*.

We have been on several other cruise lines when large groups have been onboard. It can really affect the cruise, especially if the ship is smaller than the Getaway. The cruise line will never tell you if a corporate group has booked the cruise, but you can ask if there are any large bookings of say more than 30 people. There is also a site that travel agents can check to see what ships have been booked for corporate groups- maybe Affinitygroups.com? Large family groups are not what I am talking about- it is the corporate groups that take over venues on, ( and obviously from this post) off the ship. If the group is large enough, you can be denied entering bars and restaurants throughout the cruise.

When we were on GSC a few weeks ago, they had clamshells for rent - they provide shade for 2 loungers. We were at the lagoon, and they had many not being used! So that would be an option if you're looking for shade.

I didn't realize there was a group of Chinese passengers booked in the Haven. I never saw them, they must have been enjoying the Haven and not ventured out too much! ;) I keep meaning to book a clamshell for GSC but never did onboard, and when we got to GSC I asked two different people (guy setting them up and person at the shore excursions hut) and they were already sold out. I didn't care too much as we spent most of our time on the wave runner tour, eating lunch under the pavilion or snorkeling. I did see one of the "reserved" beaches seemed to have quite a bit of shade, but there were quite a few trees tightly packed together creating the shade.

Reserved sign on beach at GSC - March 19, 2016 (I think this was the first beach after the main beach - it was pretty small)

Shady beach at GSC - March 19, 2016

Sorry to hear your day at GSC was not what you expected. Thanks for the feedback.

Same cruise here and found that the large group was catered to more so. We paid money for cruise. In restaurants the group was extremely loud and didn't seem to consider other people. Staff in restaurant kept coming to us to apologize. There should be some way NCL could alert people of large groups or make special designated places.

The German 'life plus' contingency seemed to be everywhere on the cruise. It didn't bother us too much as nothing impacted on our choices, Until we got to GSC that is. we were unceremoniously asked to leave the 'private area' on the private island I had paid to be at because we had walked straight under the barrier and storm trooped through. When I asked why we weren't informed half the island was off limits, I was told 'when you book 800 people on a cruise you get to commandeer bars or beaches'. This ticked me off royally to be honest. As we would have gotten up and off the ship earlier to get our group a position on the 'steerage' section of the beach. On saying that we ended up loving the lagoon side of the island and all was forgotten quickly once I had my snorkel in the water.

The German 'life plus' contingency seemed to be everywhere on the cruise. It didn't bother us too much as nothing impacted on our choices, Until we got to GSC that is. we were unceremoniously asked to leave the 'private area' on the private island I had paid to be at because we had walked straight under the barrier and storm trooped through. When I asked why we weren't informed half the island was off limits, I was told 'when you book 800 people on a cruise you get to commandeer bars or beaches'. This ticked me off royally to be honest. As we would have gotten up and off the ship earlier to get our group a position on the 'steerage' section of the beach. On saying that we ended up loving the lagoon side of the island and all was forgotten quickly once I had my snorkel in the water.

But just them saying that to you about 800 people is annoying. May I say again we ALL paid to be on this cruise.

ETA: The 2017 cruise is listed as March 11-18 for this group, which is Saturday to Saturday. I am guessing Escape, as all Escape Haven has been sold out for the March 11-18, 2017 cruise for quite some time.

I think you mean FYI! Estimated Time of Arrival does not seem to fit... :D

I think you mean FYI! Estimated Time of Arrival does not seem to fit... :D

In the context used by the PP it stands for "Edited To Add".:)