Back from my Getaway!

I’ve been back from my Western Caribbean Getaway cruise fora few days now and am finally able to take a few minutes out to share mythoughts. A little about us. I am 41 hubs is 42, we traveled without kids. Thiswas my second cruise, first was in 2009 on the Carnival Conquest, and myhusband’s first cruise. So this would be my first experience with NCL. We had the UBP and ended up with 4 specialty dinning courtesy of our booking site. I will try to remember what we did each day although I may have them mixed up! I need a vacation from my vacation!

We flew into FLL on Saturday, rented a car and drove down to Miami. Easy drive and it was nice having a car to get around during the day. We rented from Alamo and it was super easy and reasonably priced! We spent the night at the Cambria Hotel near the airport. Nice clean hotel, friendly staff and they offer a shuttle service around town (within 3 miles). We went to a local place “Café Juan” for Cuban food at the recommendation of the hotel staff. We really enjoyed our lunch! For dinner we went down to South Beach but didn’t stay long as my husband’s patience with the traffic was running low! We ended up eating at a Mexican place not too far from Ocean drive. It was less than memorable!

We went back to Café Juan for breakfast on embarkation day! $5.50breakfast with café con leche! Could not beat it. We returned the car to the Alamo at MIA airport and they offer a free shuttle to the port. We had a 10:30-11 report time, we got there close to 11 and we were on the ship by noon or so. First stop was the mojito bar which is where most of our drinks came from the entire cruise! It was great! We explored a bit and our room was ready fairly early (Can’t remember the exact time). We had a balcony room 11748 and our room and location were great, we had a GTY balcony and ended up with a good room! Although next time I’ll go a little further aft! Our room steward was such a nice kid. I call him a kid but he was 27 and from Bosnia. My husband got to talking to him about his family and the genocide going on in his country. We are both Veterans (he is still a reservist) so we were able to really understand what he went through as we both have friends who deployed to Bosnia!We took care of him very well at the end of our cruise and felt good doing it!

We had 6pm reservations at Cagney’s, so I was pleased when we got our luggage before 5. Cagney’s was one of, if not the best meal of the trip and without question the best service. Highly recommend. And next time we’ll do Cagney 's more than once and skip others! We went to Howl at the moon that evening and pretty much shut it down, followed it with some dancing at Bliss with some newly made friends! The next morning the count was UBP 1 husband 0! He had a terrible hangover that would last all day! He put on a brave face and made the best of it. Although he learned to pace himself and we ended up missing the CC M&G.

Day 2 sea day. Breakfast at savor was pleasant. Then we did more exploring and vegging out! I spent most of the week at H20 since the lido was always packed and nowhere to sit near water! Not sure why people do Vibe when H20 was quiet and has the water feature and hot tubs. But whatever,personal preference I guess.

We had dinner at Tropicana that night! A little loud for hubby’s hangover…LOL! The food was just OK. Nothing special and our waiter left much to be desired. This would be the last time we ate dinner in the main dining room. We had lunch at Savor once and they brought me the wrong thing food. Which was corrected once I pointed out I ordered pasta not a frittata. We went to see Burn the Floor that evening, whichI really enjoyed, hubby thought it was ok.

Day 3 Costa Maya, up early to get to our non NCL excursion.We went to the ruins and had a traditional Mayan lunch at a local Mayan family’shome! Totally amazing!!!! Our guide was awesome. The food was awesome, everythingabout this excursion was perfect. Not sure if I can post the name here but ifanybody wants the name let me.

We had reservations for la Cucina that evening. Food was very good. We were definitely full by the end. Unlike Cagney’s you could have multiple appetizers, salads, one entreeand multiple desserts. Cagney’s was one of each. Service was also good.

Day 4 Harvest Caye, cloudy, gloomy and we decided to not get off of the ship. We aren’t lay on the beach types and I knew there really wasn’ttoo much else. Quite a few people had the same idea and stayed on the ship. We hung around H20, did the water slides and had a pretty relaxing day. I honestly do not remember what we did for dinner this night but I think it was Garden Café.

Day 5 Roatan. We had an excursion with a 15-year-old that own his own company (again I don’t know what CC allows me to post). Very personalized excursion. We did zip lining at Victor Bodden, monkey and Sloths, chocolate factory, rum factory and island tour. Great day! That evening was Moderno. We had some crazy waves this evening! The ship was rocking and the hostess checking people in was not very efficient.We finally got seated in an area that was empty so we assumed out waiter would be right over. A couple sat down behind us about 5 minutes later and our waiter appeared shortly after and went right to them as we still sat there! We were alittle annoyed at this point! But maybe he didn’t see us (me trying to think positively). We have been to Brazilian Steak houses before so we knew how it worked. My husband went right up to the salad bar while we waited for our waiter. Once the waiter appeared service got a little better. We finished dinner stuffed beyond belief! We called it an early night since the rocking wasa little much with full tummies!

Day 6 Cozumel, so let me start out by saying we were originallygoing to go to Mr. Sancho’s. We had wanted to do the amazing secret river butwhen I checked with NCL prior to the cruise it was sold out. And while I wastempted do it through an external provider I chickened out since it was such along excursion and far. When we got onthe ship and checked with the excursion desk they had a few slots for the amazing secret river so we decided to book it! Although my husband was not happy withthe no cameras/go-pro rules. This rule was not the same with the private excursion! Or at least that is what the website said! The excursion itself was amazing! Our guide was awesome. And we were split up into a smaller group whichmade it more personable. My issue with this place is that they say no camera but yet have a photographer go with you, so that they can take pictures that you have to buy for a lot of $$$$$! This is my issue with the Dolphin swims which is why as much as I want to do it I won’t because of the cost of pictures! It was obvious it was a racket to make money! We did however, begrudgingly pay $25 for one picture, I mean how often are we going to be in an undergroundriver! The tour was followed by a really good lunch provided by the park. Overalla great experience minus the picture thing!

We had dinner at Shanghai noodle (complimentary) and reallyenjoyed it. We had been trying to eat there all week and it was always super packed with a long wait. We finally got there a few minutes before it opened and gotright in. We saw Million Dollar Quartet that evening and it was amazing!Favorite show of the cruise! Must see!

Day 7 another lazy day. Didn’t do too much during the day.We had reservation for Le Bistro this evening. And we wrapped up the cruise with another great meal! Service and food was excellent. We went back to Howl at the Moon (3rd time during the week) and ended the night with another great time.

Debarkation day went smoothly. We did self-carry and were off the ship before 9. We took the free Alamo shuttle to MIA airport and rented another car. We had a late flight so we drove down to Key Largo for the daybefore driving to FLL for our flight.

Final thoughts: I wasn’t sure what to expect on this cruise as I had heard/read mixed reviews about NCL nickeling and diming you. Honestly, I didn’t see that. I think it’s because we had so many specialty dinning reservations included and the UBP. AlthoughI will say that I wish they would still allow water to be brought on. We endedup buying 6 liters for $15. And I wish they included specialty coffee with theUBP the way carnival does. We love our coffee and spent money there daily. Our bar staff at mojitos was awesome and we tipped them extra along with our Cagney’s waitress and room Steward. Some of the other staff was not as pleasant. One waiter in H20 acted as if getting me a drink was so much effort. And it wasn’t only me as I could see he was like this with everyone. But I didn’t let those few ruin my cruise!

Cagney’s and Le Bistro were excellent. La Cucina and Moderno were ok. Next time we’ll try out Teppanyaki and Ocean Blue.

H20 was located next to the teen club and all I could think was dear God was I like that as a teen…LOL! But overall no major issues withkids running crazy! Saw a few walking in groups but they weren’t causing any trouble despite what some would have you believe.

The Glow party Friday night was awesome!! Howl at the moon was amazing every night we went! I highly recommend it!

Overall we have a great cruise! My husband who had never been on a cruise and didn’t want to go on a cruise made us get cruise nextdeposits!! So that in itself means it was a successful cruise! As for the Ship……I am so conflicted! The buffet was great with decent food that at times wasreally good! Never had an issue finding a seat! Just day one but that was expected! I hated that they did everything in the Atrium! What a horrible spot! Then there’s the pool area!!! Who designed this thing???? Way too small for the size of ship. We spent zero time there! If asked if I would sail the Getawayagain I would say yes, but maybe not as a first choice!

Next cruise we are planning is 2019 Bliss to Alaska (hopingfor a better layout)! Then Royal, newer Carnival ships and Disney, but with thecost, we’ll go on Disney when my youngest can remember everything he did every second of the day! I don’t feel loyal to a cruise line just to cruising!

Thanks for the detailed review. Any pics?

I have a ton! But I posted them to FB! I’ll try and figure out how to get them on here when I get home from work :)

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Great review! Enjoyed reading it as we are doing same itinerary in February. I have a question. You said you did self carry off the ship. Was 9AM the earliest you could have gotten off? We're also going to self carry off the ship but looking to be able to get off earlier than that in hopes of making an earlier flight. Thanks!

Great review! Enjoyed reading it as we are doing same itinerary in February. I have a question. You said you did self carry off the ship. Was 9AM the earliest you could have gotten off? We're also going to self carry off the ship but looking to be able to get off earlier than that in hopes of making an earlier flight. Thanks!

I believe the earliest was 0745, we just weren’t in a rush and took our time.

I believe the earliest was 0745, we just weren’t in a rush and took our time.

Great review, interesting and hits home about your room steward. My son is in the Peace Corps and living / working in Macedonia teaching English and some other things. A big portion of his summer was spent working in Bosnia. My wife and I just got back from seeing him, we met up in Dubrovnik.

And thank you for your service!(y)

Great review! Enjoyed reading it as we are doing same itinerary in February. I have a question. You said you did self carry off the ship. Was 9AM the earliest you could have gotten off? We're also going to self carry off the ship but looking to be able to get off earlier than that in hopes of making an earlier flight. Thanks!

I believe the earliest was 0745, we just weren’t in a rush and took our time.