Getaway 6/3-6/10

Hello all, finally got caught up at home and office and now have some time to write a review.

My wife and I were on this cruise for our 1st vacation in 20 years without our children. That probably had something to do with why we had such a great time. We are late 50's, don't drink and don't gamble so I will not be able to answer any questions about the bars or casino.

We flew into Miami on Saturday night and stayed at the Best Western Airport North. Nice hotel but nothing around it within walking distance. Had the hotel breakfast in the morning, very nice, and looked for an uber. Our ride was there in 2 minutes and we were at the port in 15. $14.25 plus tip. The hotel wanted $30 and NCL wanted $32 for shuttles. We arrived at the port at 10:30, there were lines but they never stopped moving. We were on the ship before noon. I expected a problem the way I heard people complaining about the port but everything went very smooth for us. We were not hungry so we just explored the ship. We boarded on 7 so we went down to 6 and worked our way up.

By the time we wandered the whole ship it was 1:30 so we just stopped in the buffet and grabbed a quick bite before we went to our room. The food was good and hot. I know I heard it was cold but we had no complaints and I discovered coconut ice cream. I made sure I had some whenever they offered it, so good.

The rooms were open when we headed down a little after 2 so we went to check out our cabin. We did a sail away balcony and I could not have happier than with the cabin we received, 8112. What a great deal, this balcony was the largest we have ever had on any cruise. 2 chairs, table and 2 loungers. The cabin was very well maintained and our steward Rufo did a great job all week, more on that later. There was plenty of storage and our large suitcases fit under the bed with no problem. The shower was plenty big and I could shower without hitting my elbows on all the walls, I think this was another cruise 1st. This cabin was way forward, 2nd from the front but for me this was great because all the extra steps gave me the excuse to eat more ice cream.

We did the muster drill in O'Sheehans and by the time it was over our luggage was already in our room. We unpacked and stayed on the balcony for sail away. We had a 5:30 reservation for Tropicana so we just got ready for dinner at this point. I was worried about how long dinner would take because of all the people complaining about 2 hour dinners. We were hoping to go to the welcome aboard show in the theater at 7:30. When we were seated, we had a window seat, we met our waiter Robert. He asked right away if we had any plans and we told him we wanted to get to the theater and he said no problem. Dinner was very good, had the salmon tartar, prime rib, and lava cake for dessert. We were out of there before 7 and had a leisurely stroll to the theater. Enjoyed the welcome aboard show, the comedian, Frank Townsend was very funny, Burn the floor did a dance. Side note: The BTF show in the theater is exactly the same as the dance they did for the welcome aboard show, just more of it. So if you loved the number and could not wait to see more go to the show. If you think that was nice but I don't need to see more, skip it. The rest of the night we spent in Howl at the Moon, it was good but not the best I've seen. We called it a night fairly early, around 10 and went to bed (remember no kids).

I will get to more days tomorrow. Feel free to ask questions and I will get to them tomorrow also.

Thank you and I can't wait to read more. We leave on Sunday on the Getaway!

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It was nice to meet you!!! So cool that you stopped to say "hi"! :) .

Tank412, thank you for your post and look forward to reading more. Was on Getaway 01/2015 & will return on 01/2019. Loved the Hard Serve Ice Cream Station! Since your mention I now recall how good the Coconut was! :hearteyes:

Hello again, yes the hard ice cream station was a nice surprise at the buffet. I enjoyed the butter pecan, pistachio and banana ice cream also. (good thing I had to walk so far to my cabin) A lot of people complain about the desserts on NCL and most of the desserts were not great but the warm cobbler they always had next to the ice cream station made up for it.

We woke up very early on Monday, 5am, we usually wake up a 6 and we turned the clocks back. One of the problems with getting old is having to take pills. My wife takes one in the morning and cannot eat for 1 hour after. I take one that I need to take with food, so luckily there was a wonderful coffee station right on deck 8. I would just walk down to the waterfront outside at the Sugarcane bar and they would have a large urn of coffee and assorted pastries. I filled my cup (34oz insulated) and grabbed a pastry, went back to my balcony and relaxed for an hour. That really put me in vacation mode. After breakfast we enjoyed the sun at the top of the ship and watched everyone fighting over the chairs by the pool.

While I enjoyed everything on the cruise, if you were hoping to relax by the pool you might have a problem. We have a pool in our back yard and I swim daily at my gym back home so a pool was not something I need on vacation. The pool was constantly overcrowded and loud. You could not even get into the pool because of the crowds around it. If you just want to sunbathe there were always plenty of chairs and open spaces. Spice H2O was also available and had a waterfall where you could cool off.

We headed back downstairs and went to the atrium for a fruit carving demo. I love to cook and like to do things like this for company. The chef did a great job but he ran over the hour and made me be late for the Meet n Mingle (Fume). I did get to meet a few that stayed a little longer. We did two excursions with George and Sheila from the group. Got to meet Chris who is also doing a review. Met up with a few others over the course of the cruise.

We spent most of the day watching everything going on in the Atrium. This was our go to place for most of the time and early in the week it was not crowded. We tried to participate in most of the events thru the week which makes it all more memorable. My wife competed in the ultimate game show. I got picked for the battle of the sexes and Big Pyramid. We did several trivia contests, sudoku challanges and others. Read the dallies for everything going on there and try to make some of the events, especially if Ash is running it. Dinner at the Tropicana, we requested Robert again. That morning I was surprised when he was there busing our table. We got to talk to him and found our this was his first time being a waiter, he was on a trial period and was hoping to be assigned full time as a waiter. The incentive being the full time waiters get there own room. After dinner we went to Burn the Floor. The show was high energy and they all are extremely talented but for me it was too much of the same thing. You can see them at the Welcome aboard show and at the Tropicana Room which we would do next time rather than at the theater.

This was a very relaxing day and we finally could relax and get in vacation mode. It was a very hectic week leading up to vacation so this was the first time we had nothing to do or worry about.

We are also leaving on the getaway on the 24th.

Any chance you could upload the activities page of the dailies? Our group of four ranges from my 26yo niece,, through me and my partner (57 & 67) to my Mom at 88. Mom does best with predictability and structure, and I’d love for us to be able to plan activities with her even before boarding.

Thanks for the postings so far!

Very interested in following your posts. My wife and I are just a bit older than you and your DW and we will be in a similar cabin on the starboard side of deck 8 (8726). Sounds great so far!! I really appreciate the tip about coffee and danish on the Waterfront. I too need to eat as soon as I wake and brush.

TANK!! What's up bud!

Great meeting you & your wife.

Been back to work for 3+ days & it has been chaotic. Trying to find a few minutes every little while to reflect on the cruise & what a great time we had.

Hello Kevin, good to hear from you, yes very chaotic when you 1st get back.

Steve007NY, sorry but I don't take many pictures and I don't have any of the dailies. Natefish did a review and posted the dailies I believe from a week or two before my sailing. They were very similar if not exactly the same.

We woke up very early on Monday, 5am, we usually wake up a 6 and we turned the clocks back. One of the problems with getting old is having to take pills. My wife takes one in the morning and cannot eat for 1 hour after. I take one that I need to take with food, so luckily there was a wonderful coffee station right on deck 8. I would just walk down to the waterfront outside at the Sugarcane bar and they would have a large urn of coffee and assorted pastries. I filled my cup (34oz insulated) and grabbed a pastry, went back to my balcony and relaxed for an hour./quote]

 

We were also on this cruise and had cabin 8130. Had no idea about the coffee and pastries at the waterfront. I walked every morning at the crack of dawn to the buffet for a cup of coffee to drink on our wonderful balcony.

Thank you and I can't wait to read more. We leave on Sunday on the Getaway!

 

 

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We leave Sunday too!!! Can’t wait!!! First time NCL cruiser and we have a group of 25 going. Looking forward it!!!

I don't think many people knew about it since there were always pastries no matter what time I went. I read about here on CC and was very happy that 1st day when I found out it was true. I also read about the snowflake button on CC and knew not to use it and just turn down the temperature on the thermostat. The room was very cold and I had to turn it up several times. Some people said it would turn off when you left the room and took out your key card but I did not find this to be the case.

Day 3 Roatan, We shared a car with George and Sheila who we met in our role call. They booked it thru Victor Boddin Tours. The price was great $30 per person including monkey park. Our driver Isaac did a great job driving us around the island. The only problem with this was the island was depressing. As soon as you leave the port it is a different world. There were armed guards at many of the businesses in full bullet proof vests and metal detectors. The school we passed had half the windows broken out and the streets were lined with garbage. Not all the island was like this but it is what you see first. A friend of my wife's that was on the cruise went to a beach area and everyone that went ended up covered in bites, red dots that covered there entire body. I will try and find out the name of the beach and let everyone know. My wife said NCL reimbursed everyone that booked the beach thru them.

The monkey park was very crowded and the monkeys are in large walk in cages, two per cage, and the groups would take turns going into the cages and interacting with them. If you want the monkeys to climb on you bring in a large bag or purse, they immediately jumped all over the two people with bags and promptly stole things out of both. The people with no bags were completely ignored, so plan according to the interaction you want. The sloths were very cute and we did get some great pictures of them. Also be careful if you have a wig, they liked tugging on the hair, not real hard but it could be a problem if the hair is not firmly attached. They also had parrots, macaws and other animals to view, go early if you can because it does get very crowded. This is the same place they had zip lines and those looked like fun but we did not do. We went up to the top of the island and got a great view of the harbor and ship. He also took us to some gift shops that he said had good prices. They seemed good and the quality of merchandise was nice. Overall the tour was fine but probably would not do it again.

When we got back to the port we shopped around the pier and just took in the beautiful day. They had a zip line right at the port also, I did not get the price but it is available if anyone is interested.

We got back on the ship around 4 and we did not have lunch yet so we opted to go to the buffet for a late lunch and skip dinner.

After showering we had Escape the Big Top Scheduled. I have done several escape rooms but this was totally different. For one you share the room with other teams. There were close to 100 people jammed into Fat Cat's and your team of 10 is crammed around two small round tables. You have to get up and walk around the room to check out the clues and with other teams there it was hard communicating with your teammates. This was very hard and no one got out when we went. I don't know if anyone escaped during any of the other times or not. Despite the crowd and difficulty it was a blast and I recommend trying it.

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If I have my nights right they had a celebrity dance off in the atrium right after the escape room. I don't watch dancing with the stars but this show was really funny. They paired crew members with audience members and had a dance off. There was a fellow from Argentina paired with one of the female crew members(Yao Pin) who was over the top with his dancing and Ash was paired up with a woman from the states who was able to keep up with his physical comedy. One of the best things we saw all week.

Since we skipped dinner we went to the buffet for there late night snack buffet. Much smaller selection that during the day but you could find something you liked. I made some nacho's since they had all the fixings out and my wife opted for cookies and milk. We both had some macaroons which were very good. Walked up to spice H2O but for us it was too loud and we did not stay long. This was the only night we made it up here.

Not so happy to hear about the bite thing. We have booked the Tabyana Beach Party there. Everything I have seen/read so far says it is a beautiful beach, but can get a bit crowded depending on the number of ships in port. Hopefully the bite thing was just a temporary problem (jelly fish?) that will be gone by September.

Day 4 Harvest Caye

I heard people complain that this is like Disney. Personally I like Disney and I loved Harvest Caye. The beach area was beautiful and the pool area also was a very nice place to hang out. I heard the beach was crowded but if you walked to the other end from the ship you could find some chairs in the shade. We found this to be true, and just walked along the boardwalk and found two chairs in the shade with a beautiful view. The one downside to Harvest Caye was the cloudy water, you could not see to the bottom. I was glad we did this beach 1st because I might have not enjoyed it so much if we came after the clear blue water in Mexico. We just hung out at the beach for a few hours then went to the pool for another hour. Finished the day shopping at the stores on the island. The prices were reasonable if the quality is there. I bought a couple of nice shirts that had Belize colorfully embroidered on them for $25 each. We brought drinks in our thermal mugs so did not buy anything to eat or drink.

Went back to the ship for lunch at the buffet, we liked that we could go to the buffet after coming back from port without showering and changing 1st. We were dry and covered but not for the dining rooms.

After lunch we went to the room showered and dressed then planted ourselves in the Atrium for the rest of the afternoon. There was always something there worth watching. We would get some trail mix from the waitress to snack on and just relax. We then did dinner at O'Sheehans. This was good but not as good as the Tropicanna. The nacho's were disappointing, the chicken wings were good as well as the fajita's. Went to the comedy club after this and really enjoyed the comedians. Went to bed fairly early because we had an early excursion planned for Costa Maya.

Tank, we also took a Bodden tour. 8 of us in a private van. I met him at the booth. Very nice guy.

It is a little rough leaving the port area but it is the reality in many of these Carib areas.

We stopped at a '7-11' type place to grab beers & water & there were armed guards in & out. It kind of gave us a sense of security.

We were also at his complex with the monkeys. Nick & I missed you there because the 2 large ones were ziplining & testing the lines limits. :) We even tandem zipped. Crazy.

Our guide then took us to 'The West End' & a very private resort on the water. There may have been 20 other guests plus us. We had a nice lunch, then snorkeled and rope swinged (is that a word?) off a 'sunken' sailboat. Surprisingly good snorkeling considering the shallowness of the reef.

If we were to return we would certainly use Victor's company again. We would look for something more water related, or at least off a beach, and more scenic. I know there are beautiful spots we didn't get to.

Hi Kevin, We would use Boddin again also, our driver was very nice and knowledgeable. I never felt unsafe it was just depressing to see how the people lived there. I do realize this is the norm in the this part of the world. We saw similar things on other Islands on other cruises. We drove around the West End also and that seemed like a nice spot, that would be where we would head next time. The zip lines looked like fun but my wife hates heights so that was a no go for us.

We are doing the ziplines with them and I hate heights! But my husband and kids are really looking forward to it so I'm taking one for the team. I'm excited to see the sloths. Haha. That will be awesome.

Thanks for the review. We are on the Getaway in a couple weeks.

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The sloths were indeed really cute. They loved being scratched. The monkeys were fun also, but with the group they moved you along. I don't think they were doing a head count so you could just lag behind since you have time to kill and spend more time with each.

Day 5 Costa Maya,

This was my favorite day of the trip. We were up early and walked to the end of the pier where we lined up for our ATV Jungle tour by 8:20. They took us to an open air truck that was like an old army transport and we rode for about 20 minutes to the ATV site. They give you a quick lesson on how they operate, I was worried for my wife who has never been on one but these were really easy. They were totally automatic with a thumb accelerator and two handbrakes. They suggest long pants because of the bugs and heat from the exhaust pipes, we headed this advice and had no problems. They also suggest bug spray and we brought our own which worked great. One girl had shorts and no spray and she ended up with a few bites. They had a large wooden box where they had everyone put all there bags and belongings while we were on the ride. The ride was 45 minutes and a blast. You start out going through the jungle over a rough trail and finish along the beach where you could really pick up speed. We had the speedometer up to 60, which I suspect is kilometers/hr not mile/hr. After the ride you get back on the truck and head to a private beach resort another 15 min ride. I loved this resort, the lounge chairs had very nice pads on them and were very comfortable. The waiter was there the second your class was empty and drinks were included, I enjoyed trying the virgin Pina Coladas and Nada Daiquiris. The beach had sea grass on it which they kept raking up, this might bother some but for me it was an invitation. I put my goggles on went for a swim over the grass beds which were vast about 50 yards out. I saw thousands of fish swimming through the grass. I know people usually snorkel over reefs but I saw more fish here than anywhere I have been. Farther out where the grass beds ended they had some underwater wreckage that also had many fish swimming in and around them.

There was a buffet set up that was not included but looked very good for $18 per person. I would probably have gotten it but I spent so much time in the water it was time to head back when I got out. The trip back was in a large air conditioned bus and took about 30 minutes. The rides would have been better if there was scenery but you could only see a wall of jungle on both sides.

We shopped at the port area which was very nice. Looked like there was pleanty to do right there. That night, again I hope I am not getting them mixed up, I was able to participate in Battle of the Sexes in the Atrium. This was a blast and of course the men won. I am just glad Ash did not pick me to dress up at the end. There was a magician in the theater this night and we went to the late show of this. He was OK but the show was geared more for children, if you don't have any you could skip this.

Side note: Keven we saw you getting into the tour line when we were headed out. Then you were pulling in to the ATV spot when we were leaving. What did you do for the 45 minutes?

The sloths were indeed really cute. They loved being scratched. The monkeys were fun also, but with the group they moved you along. I don't think they were doing a head count so you could just lag behind since you have time to kill and spend more time with each.

 

Side note: Keven we saw you getting into the tour line when we were headed out. Then you were pulling in to the ATV spot when we were leaving. What did you do for the 45 minutes?

Tank, when I saw you guys loading back in for your beach trip you gave me a very enthusiastic Thumbs Up to the ATV part & that put my mind at ease. I was worried it would be kind of dull. Not for a minute!

It sounds like we took a similar trek as you & it was truly 'off road'. Lots of mud to run through, lots of serious potholes both uphill & down. it was a great ride for sure!

The bus ride back was nice & relaxing. Including yours truly, I bet 70% took a quick nap. :)

Hello again, Day 6 Cozumel,

We booked a private beach called Nacchi Coccum. We shared a taxi with George and Sheila from our role call so spent $20 round trip for us. This resort offered both food and drink included. They had a very nice swimming pool with a swim up bar and a beautiful beach with chairs in the sun or shade. They had kayaks and other water craft you could use(the Costa Maya beach also had these). They also offered Banana Boat rides, glass bottom boat and parasailing for an extra fee. Very attentive waiter that saw to all your drinks and you could have lunch brought to you or they had a very nice open air restaurant if you preferred to sit at a table. Wife had grilled shrimp with rice and I had barbequed ribs, both very generous portions. The water was crystal clear and no sea grass, the downside was very little sea life in the swimming area. Because of the boat traffic they did have an area roped off for swimming, it was very large but had nothing to see on the bottom. After we got back we shopped in the port area and found the prices to be very over inflated. If you were willing to walk away we had several vendors come and find us, we bought several items for less than half the original price. We left the port area and started walking around the town and did not like the aggressive tactics used by the vendors. We were offered illegal drugs more than once and we did not feel comfortable so we just headed back. Tropicanna for dinner, the roasted lamb was very good. Got picked for the big pyramid game at the Atrium which I failed at miserably. After that we went to the comedy club, saw Frank Townsend for the third time and he had new material each time. The host, very funny but I don't remember his name did repeat his material the third time we saw him. Finally saw the third comedian Mike Perrymore(Sp?) he was good but his comedy was dependent on audience interaction and he had a few duds. With the right people I could see him being very funny.

This is a good time to point out that while we made reservations for some shows we were never turned away from any show without reservations. The theater always had many empty seats and the comedy club always had a few, so don't feel you are tied down to your reservation, you could probably see the show another time.

Saturday Day 7, Sea day

I still had not tried the ropes course or the slides so that was the plan for today. I was there when the ropes course opened at 10 and had no wait. It was very windy and they closed the walk the plank portion but the rest was open. This was a lot of fun, and the variety of directions and challenges kept you thinking. They had some platforms where you could choose several routs and the ones on the sides of the ship put you right over the ocean. What a great view, I just stood there with the wind blowing and took it all in. It was like being in the crows nest of and old sailing ship. You finish up the course with a zip line from one side of the ship to another. Don't miss this unless you are afraid of heights then avoid it.

Went back to the room and suited up for the water slides. It was about 1:30 and there was not a chair to be had on the pool deck. I just wanted a dry place to put my stuff while I rode the slides and since the slide entrance is on the pool deck that is where I looked. I thought no problem I will go up and find one on the deck above around the pool, ha ha jokes on me, no chairs there either. Now there are 3 other places I could have gone that had chairs if I wanted to sun but I did not want to put my stuff that far away, I finally found a 1ft by 1ft table next to a fellow who wasn't using it, he gave me the ok and I stored all my stuff there.

When I started up the stairs I was worried that the line looked very long, but when I got up there I realized there where two lines. The drop slides only had about 6 people waiting and it went very fast. Speaking of very fast the drop slides were very fast but also over very fast. Since the line was so short I kept doing them over and over, very fun. When the orange and red slide line was shorter I jumped in it. These slides were also fast but not nearly as scary and the line was full of kids which was the reason the line was so long. They were also fun and I managed to do them several times, they were a longer ride that the drop slides. These are also a must do on your cruise list, I did not do the smallest slide but if you have young children they have a slide for them also. After I was tired enough I did find a lounger on the top deck, getting close to dinner time now, and laid down to dry off.

One last dinner in the Tropicanna where I made sure I got Robert's last name so I could fill our a cruise hero card for him. I did this for several crew members, you can find the card on the counter by the customer service desk along with a box to put them in after you fill them out. Went to Million Dollar Quartet which I mentioned before was terrific. Went back to the room to pack and put out our suitcases.

Last Morning, Sunday

We had a late flight, 3:50 so we were not in a hurry. Had breakfast and left the room by 8:30 and just took a stroll around the ship one last time. Found some comfortable seats on deck 8 and just waited until last call to be off the ship. By that time there was no longer a line and we walked right off, found our luggage and headed outside. They wanted $32 dollars again to transport to the airport so called uber and in less that two minutes had our ride. Traffic was worse so it cost us $19 this time but still better than alternatives.

Last random thoughts. The entire ship was in great shape and very clean, some of the public restrooms got a little bad by the end of the night but they were always clean by morning. Everyone on the ship we met were very friendly, passengers and crew alike. The waterfront was a great place to walk, it never seemed crowded and was not used by most of the passengers which was fine with me.(Don't forget the morning coffee, tea and pastries on the port side every morning) If you like crowds, loud music and a wild time you can find it around the pool and spice H2O, many people do. If you want to avoid crowds it is easy to do on this ship. I am not a cheap person and I tip well but I did not find any reason to spend money on the ship. I said before I don't gamble so I did not buy bingo cards or deal or no deal cards. I don't drink so I spent no money at the bars. It was not my plan but I had nothing at all on my account. My wife had the soda card and kept her thermal mug filled all the time, some of the bartenders would fill her mug directly and others would fill a plastic cup which she poured in and they would fill it again until her mug was full. I stuck with coffee, ice tea and their flavored water which I enjoyed. I do wish they had the water and ice tea somewhere other than the buffet. The steward always kept our ice bucket full so sometimes I would make my own ice tea with the Mio I brought along.

Feel free to ask any questions

Thanks for your review and taking the time to do it. I sail with a friend on this ship in Nov 2019 once it moves to New Orleans. It’s a long way off but looking forward to it.

Thanks for a great review! We just booked this itinerary for late September so I've been on the lookout for all the information I can get. We have cruised many times but this is our first Western itinerary so I appreciate the info you've provided on the ports! I also was wondering about the evening entertainment, specifically Burn The Floor, and it sounds like attending the welcome aboard show on the first night will be enough of BTF for us. Thanks again!

Thank you for the great review. We leave in two weeks so your tips are terrific.

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What a great review. On the ship in few weeks and your review was the best. Straight and to the point! The info you provide about things you didn't like was as helpful as the things you did.

Thank you for your kind comments and I am glad I could provide some insight. I loved freestyle cruising and not having a set dinner time, it really freed up your days. I also use to love having the same wait staff each night which made service more tailored to you. We enjoyed the best of both by finding a waiter we liked on the 1st night and requesting him whenever we ate in the MDR. We did not book this cruise ourselves so had no perks like specialty dining which I did not miss. The variety between the MDR, O'Sheehans and the buffet was plenty for my taste.

I have heard people complain they never get to see their room steward but this was not a problem for us. We met him the 1st day, asked him to empty the fridge so we could put water in there. He told us how to reach him if we needed anything with a simple call on the room phone. After that we used the buttons by the door to full advantage. When we were in the room we put on the do not disturb light. When we left the room we put on the Make up the room light, every time we did it was done when we came back. I don't know if they show up somewhere the stewards could see them but our steward always seemed to know. It was nice never having to work around him cleaning up.

For everyone that has a cruise upcoming. ENJOY!