GETAWAY July 19-26: STAYED but not PLAYED in HAVEN- ( WAS that Mr Sheehan???)

[PathfinderEss]

Enjoying your review, sounds like your having a good time.

[Annmeat]

I tried to continue my review , but country living has its downside

We have been without power for hours- it ain't coming back til 2 am at the earliest

We have a generator but I can't generate the Internet

Have a great day, everyone!

 

Annmeat

[Amo57]

this is the first time that I have ever had a cruise director speak to me, and the first time that I have cared!

 

 

This is a hard one to explain. I had the same experience a few years ago. It was the first time in 6 cruises my wife or I even spoke to a cruise director. I don't know why, we didn't do anything different than we normally do but we got friendly with him and another member of the entertainment staff. They sat with us at a comedy show, bought us drinks and gave us bottles of champagne. We still keep in touch with one of them on Facebook. It made for the best week ever.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[EasyPeasy]

I have a request that you really give a heads up when you have one of those zingers coming. Either that, or I just need to not drink my coffee while reading your review. I think I had more coffee coming out my nose, than actually going down. The one where you said you had to fight the urge to give the forlorn dad a belly rub was, well... priceless. Too funny! :D

[kenteecruisin]

I have a request that you really give a heads up when you have one of those zingers coming. Either that, or I just need to not drink my coffee while reading your review. I think I had more coffee coming out my nose, than actually going down. The one where you said you had to fight the urge to give the forlorn dad a belly rub was, well... priceless. Too funny! :D

 

Robin - even worse, I thought of my husband when I read her comment. ;)

[McDebbie]

Great review, can't wait to read the rest. We will be going in October and starting to get excited.

[I&J Cruisers]

Love your review. Your writing style is very entertaining. Can't wait for the rest.

[Skippingaroundtheglobe]

Following! Lovin' it!

[scopewest]

I love your review, keep it coming!

[mysandyfeet]

Leaving this Saturday, 10 of us 4 kids ( 6-16) 6 adults(40-75) Fun bunch. Any don'ts for the kiddos? I hear there's a lot to do in a week. What should we absolutely NOT miss?

BTW you're a trip, country or no country! ;):D

[tymike]

Loving your review and so glad you gave a shout out to the lobster rolls! I had them on the BA last summer and it was my favorite meal the entire week (and I went to plenty of specialties etc.). I say, let's keep evangelizing the lobster rolls!

 

Looking forward to reading more!!

[Annmeat]

Yippee Ki Yay!! We have our power and our internet back..Couldn't see trying to 'type' any part of a review on my teensy iPhone...

 

I cannot believe that I am going to suggest this, but "mysandyfeet" asked-

 

THINGS NOT TO MISS-

 

Prior to this cruise, if you had requested me to view, never mind participate in, a cruise ship game -show style event, I would have laughed in your face, rolled my eyes, mocked you, and basically let you know how such sophomoric frivolities were beneath me. I TAKE IT ALL BACK!!!

 

Getaway has a great set up. These games and shows are held in the Atrium- there is no problem with seating, as there is viewing from above in O'Sheehan's, a GIANT wide screen, well SCREEN!!, and then floor seating in the Atrium. As more people arrive, crew members appear and 'poof!" more chairs appear as well. When games are not being played, moves are shown, bands play,dance competitions occur, lectures are given, and there was even a whopper of a Deal or no Deal round. I only heard about the Deal or no Deal from a very excited BIG WINNER in the elevator. I do not know how much the BIG WINNER won, but she was HAPPY!!

 

In reviews for Getaway, I kept seeing references to overcrowding in theAtrium, no seats, etc. I did not find this, and my teens saw lots of shows and games here. On Day 3 they dragged me in.

 

We decided that "55 to Stay Alive" would be fun to WATCH. Yay! My son Brad got called up and did some silly thing with toilet paper on a roll ( he did NOT complete the task but he is cute, so they let him be a finalist) . A lovely, thin gal had to move 5 coffee beans from a cup to another cup with chopsticks. She did it. She was a finalist. Another trim lady had to flip paper cups over. All perfectly non-humiliating feats done by folks who have not put on 15 pounds or so since they said 'I do' 20 years ago.

Then Adam called a name that sounded very familiar. Well, because it was MINE!!

 

No problem. I could handle chopsticks just as well as anyone else, and even unwind toilet paper much faster than my own progeny.

Next thing I knew, Adam was stuffing ping pong balls into a tissue box that was then strapped to my , ummm, lower back- I had 55 seconds to shake them out . Yup- my blue and white striped butt, magnified 8 billion times on screen for all of O'Sheehans to see, me trying to will the balls out of the box on my butt without actually moving too much, and with my kid videotaping the entire thing for future blackmail ( he is grounded for life and has lost his 529 college plan, BTW)...well, the balls would not come out!! Stephanie pulled a few out , and then they started to fly. I made the finals!!!

 

The finals . We were blindfolded, Adam released balloons and we had to crawl around and pop them. I ended up grabbing some girl's butt. Both cheeks. Also on the big screen. Also on video. I did not win. I popped no balloons.

 

But I have a lovely deck of NCL cards...and TWO people bought me drinks later that evening! Yup- I was recognized!!! It could be that when one is shaking her enormous ,striped butt on a huge screen with ping pong balls strapped to it, shaking her fist and cursing her children---she MAY make an impression. My 15 seconds of fame!

 

The next game was Family Feud and was REALLY well done.Families are not actual families- they are made up of people chosen from names in a bucket! Adam made sure that many people were able to play. Several kids from Norway were chosen from the bucket, and they were just sweet as can be. Their parents came up to translate for them, but their English was terrific. The game played just like the TV game. My older, grounded, no longer college-bound son was on the winning 'family" team . It was fun running in to his "dad" and "brother" around the ship on subsequent days.

 

Later in the week, sticking to the Atrium, we went to a little lecture by the Illusionarium magicians, a question and answer format. We also watched a

"So you Think you Can Dance" type show on the NCL channel in our suite on afternoon during some down time. It was FUNNY!!! We did not see the entire thing, but it was well done and the judges were a real hoot.

 

ILLUSIONARIUM

 

On this third day, we went to the Illusionarium. As Haven guests, we were lucky to be escorted down the back elevator by the lovely Ruth. this elevator landed us right in the venue. We stood in the hallway for a few minutes, opened the drawers and touched various 'artifacts of magic' and then were led in to auditorium, where all the waitstaff were frozen like statues. They suddenly come to life, the water is poured and drink orders are taken. Very well done. It is truly steampunk and very Disney-esque. Love the decoration, the costumes. Our table was #11, right in the front. Each table has an auction item, an auction being the premise of the show that you are about to see. And that is all that I am telling you! My husband was a magician in his teens -" Mike the Magician"- I am SURE that you have heard of him-(snort!) Even if you go to a lot of magic shows in Vegas, New york, whatever- you will like this. It is FUN.

The audience gets involved, my merlot was good..it is a different kind of magical theater.

 

The food is not bad, it is not great. You won't be starving when you leave,- but if you are hungry- it's a cruise. Go eat!!

 

********

Skipping Around-

 

Today was the day we played "Deal or No Deal"

This was the only line that we encountered on board. The game was played in the theater and cards were sold at the box office. THe wait in line took about 20 minutes. it was a fun line, however. I did not really want to play, but it was very well done. Cards are 19.99 each . They are used twice. An audience member is chosen for each of 2 games, and it goes on just like the old Howie Mandel show- except JC Sanchez is much cuter. Nope- we did not go on stage, but we did 'win' several photo prints and instant win tickets.

It was fun. We did not play the second time it was offered in the Atrium.

 

Lunch today- the husband went for the lobster roll and I got sucked in to the noodle bar with the kids. This was NOT a bad thing. BEWARE.

The portions are HUGE . I mean GINORMOUS. We are used to tiny little dim sum. No. The bowls of noodles that came were the same size as the sinks in our bathroom. We also had dim sum, spring rolls, and dumplings. The items were only 4.00 and we were the first guests there, so we had no way to judge the size- oops!

After stuffing myself, I left the teens to go get the Deal or No Deal cards- the kids showed up in the theater with three covered plates of food that the waiter made them take with them- that is how much was left over! The four of us had ordered 7 items that we thought would be appetizer size. I never heard of taking leftovers on a cruise-unless it involves chocolate....

The food was very tasty and fresh. Smoke from the casino not an issue - the noodle bar is located in the casino ate the far end behind the non-smoking BlackJack tables.

 

Day Four is St Maartan and Guava Berry Boy!!!!

What a GREAT DAY!!!

Edited July 31, 2014 by Annmeat

[Annmeat]

Leaving this Saturday, 10 of us 4 kids ( 6-16) 6 adults(40-75) Fun bunch. Any don'ts for the kiddos? I hear there's a lot to do in a week. What should we absolutely NOT miss?

BTW you're a trip, country or no country! ;):D

 

If you are going to go to the Glow Party, bring a bunch of Glow sticks I ordered 100 from Amazon - wish that i had brought 300! We passed them out to all the little kids who couldn't reach the ones that the cruise staff gave out at the party. They were so HAPPY!!!!

 

DON"T MISS the FIREWORKS!!!!!

 

I am so jealous! I want to go BACK!!

Eat all the chocolate chip cookies that you can!! They are amazing!!!

[Annmeat]

I TYPED THIS WITH PARAGRAPHS AND SPACING- IT DOES NOT APPEAR THAT WAY, EVEN AFTER MULTIPLE EDIT ATTEMPTS. SORRY!!!!Instead of paragraphs I will have to do spaces .

 

Tuesday we were up bright and early. Debarkation on the Getaway threw us all for a loop. BECAUSE IT WAS A BREEZE!!

I had asked Noemi whee the concierge would meet us for priority debarkation and she told me that it was not necessary.

 

I am sure that I looked at her as though she had 3 heads, because all our debarkations ever have been in crowded hallways, with water vendors hawking their sweating bottles of Evian and gift shoppe types thrusting crumpled maps into my hands and corneas.

 

Of course I did not believe her. She was right. After a non-thrilling breakfast in the Garden Cafe at the kid's insistence I covered this in my non-review earlier) we gathered our bags and walked on to an elevator and off of the ship. it took 3 minutes. We were all confused. The handling of traffic on Getaway is amazing. I am still blown away.

 

We had decided on a private tour with Bernard. We made the short jaunt to the statue where a happy man was calling my name, led us to a happier man who took my credit card info, led us to our mini van and our driver, "Action" Jackson. We had several places that we wanted to see. On top of the children's list were the planes landing on Maho. Our van was available for 6 hours and we hopped in at 8:30/ the temperature was already in the high 80's. A cooler filled with soda, beer, rum punch and water was ours for the day as well.

 

We had a lovely and amazing island tour with many stops for photos- hubby and older son are photo types. Highlights were Calvin the sea urchin man-what a hoot! He gives a great little eco-lesson about the types of sea urchins and conch

( not sure how many he actually catches right where he is- but it is entertaining and a beautiful location). You can hold brittlestar fish, urchins, squishy conch and then take "free" souvenirs. Please don't take the coral! It is still alive and it makes me sad to see it destroyed!!! He will also give a bit of an adult lecture about the benefits of black sea urchin meat that may have your younger children questioning why he calls it the Lionel Richie "All Night Long" of the Sea. just a warning. But he is an entertaining man and it was well worth the stop. Calvin has a happy box for tips- we made him happy.

 

I don't remember the names of all the stops, but each seemed more gorgeous than the next. We hit the iguana farm before it opened, so we pulled in along side it on the French/Dutch border ( unmarked) where the farm was before it was forced to re-locate from the French to the Dutch side. There were TONS of iguanas and two funny donkeys on ropes. As we took pictures of the flowers and critters, the donkey's owner came to fetch them. The donkeys began to bray, and then put on quite the show for us. Let's just say that the poor owner could not pull them apart even as they walked down the path to the iguana farm-we were laughing so hard that we were almost braying as well. The donkey owner was trying to apologize, obviously mortified by his, umm, humping burros, saying "sorry, Mama, so sorry"

 

Around 10:00 we headed to Maho beach. It is a small beach with beautiful water and something that everyone needs to experience. Kids will LOVE it. I loved it. I grew up in Fairfax , VA and remember my dad taking me out to Dulles and watching the planes take off. Always loved to fly. Maho is something else. I didn't realize that my teens had been looking up Maho on Youtube until right before we left on this trip. They were ready- and it did not disappoint!

The beach has a bar, Sunset Grill,, and you can rent an umbrella and chairs from a real beach bum looking guy who will not remember if you aid 20 minutes after you arrive. But he is VERY happy and accomodating. We got our chairs for 10 dollars each and the kids and I headed for the clear clear water. We swam for about an hour and watched the smaller flights come in overhead. So amazing. The BIG PLANE, KLM from Holland, was scheduled for 11:40 . Getaway is in St Maarten on Tuesday. That is BIG PLANE DAY!!! KLM and Air France both hit the island on Tuesday.

 

We headed over to the bar area, ordered some lunch and Mike and mark readied their camera gear. Between 11;15 and 12 at least 8 huge planes come in over Maho. The beach went from a smattering of folks to " Holy COW!! Where did all these people come from???" We were the only ship in port and by 11:15 the beach was packed. But it was a FUN packed. Friendly, people having a drink or just laughing, waiting for "Big Blue'.

 

When the KLM 747 begins her approach, the beach is almost silent for 5 seconds. She looks like a star on the horizon. As she moves closer it is an absolute THRILL- because she is headed straight for your FACE!!!This gorgeous bird has the audacity to match the colors of the sea!!! She buzzes your head and lands seemingly inches from your children's hair. AMAZING. Everybody roars. I loved it! Several more planes landed after this, we swam a bit more, changed...and continued on our St Maarten day.

FWIW- the food at Sunset was very tasty. We had hotdogs, hamburg, a fish thing, someone had eggs, another jalapenos. It was tourist island pricey- lunch, sodas , 2 beers and a bloody mary ( 5 of us) ran 77 dollars, but it was great fun. Serving sizes were huge.

We proceeded on to Seraphinas for an eclair and some shopping in the market, a little more sight seeing and history lessons courtesy of Jackson, and then drop off near the ship.

 

I highly recommend going the private route. The cost for us last time on St Maarten to take a tour with RCL that was several hours on a beach, lunch, and a tour with 2 stops for pictures was 129 each . Bernards was 370 for all 5 of us, but we did buy our own lunch- which could have been as cheap or expensive as we wanted. We customized our tour to just what we wanted. We had originally wanted another beach stop, but enjoyed Maho so much and had enough sun time there that we decided to skip a second beach and take a drive instead. Jackson was very knowledgeable. We had a good history lesson.

 

It is election time in St Maarten, and the island is festooned in thousands of election banners with GIANT SMILING FACES- very fun to see. Even Calvin theSea Urchin man was garbed in the official election gear of the UP party. One of the candidates is promising a new hospital, another is promising change from the old guard.

Same stuff, different country!

 

 

Getting back on the Getaway was a pleasure. We were greeted with music, cold wash clothes. punch, water, a towel exchange...and an introduction to Guava Berry Boy.

 

As we were just exiting the initial checkpoint to show our cards, a 20ish bleached -blonde fellow, obviously having a VERY GOOD TIME, jumped on to one of the little trams for people who need assistance to the ship, left his group of friends, all gals, and screamed "See, ya, B-tches" and started laughing hysterically. Vroom! off he went. My kids just stopped and were stunned. " Mom- is he DRUNK???""

Whatever.

 

We were greeted at the gangway with "Happy Happy Washy Washy' after exchanging our towels and downing some ice water. It was HOT!!! We got in to the elevator and as the door was closing a foot popped in and pried it open.

"HELL-OOOOOO!!!!"

" I HAVE HAD SOOOOOOOOO much Guava Berry RUM!!"

Yuppers. It was The Boy from the Tram. He was LOADED. Blotto.

I do not know how this kid was standing. His girlfriends were a bit annoyed. He went on and on about the 'three yards of Guava Berry Rum " that he drank. Now, I have heard of yards of beer. I really do not know what a yard of rum is. Can anyone enlighten me?

 

He tried to convince his friends to go swimming with him, and then asked them to break in to the Haven with him, and they declined. He got off on the 15th floor and then got back in because he "forgot" to tell me that he loved me. After Mike assured him that they WOULD be BFFS forever, he promised that he would go back to his room , drink a lot of water and take a nap- and NOT go near the pool. GBB then started shouting 'GOOD BYE-SAINT MAR-TIN. Good BYE Saint MAR-TIN!!!! in a voice that is still ringing inside my head.

 

We went back to change and get ready to go out for a little shopping right off the ship. My kids were both amazed and disgusted. They had never ( they think) seen someone drunk .

 

It was humid and hot hot hot! I needed a few little trinkets and decided that i would like to try this guava berry rum to see what all the fuss was. We made our way of the ship and down to the shopping area. there are some jewelry stores, a tablecloth store and a few gift shoppes. Of course there are liquor shoppes as well, and the mandatory guava berry rum stand. Wow! There are many varieties of guava berry rum! All flavors. I tried a tiny cup full of a smoothie, decided that i didn't need one. Mike was going to indulge. As his was being mixed, we heard a loud thunderclap. Actually it was Guava Berry Boy SMACKINg into the stand. " I'M BACK" He screamed as he picked himself up. The lady behind the stand looked at him and said "Go home'.

"No. I need another yard"

"You kiddin' me"

"No- I do-oo"

At this point he fell in to the arms and ample bosom of another of the staff of the stand. We shook our heads and walked away- we didn't know if we should go get someone from the ship to carry him back.Two of his girlfriends were coming up the walk yelling at him, said they would get him to his cabin.

 

How he made it to the ship in one piece is BEYOND me. He DID teach my teens a good lesson..

 

I ran in to him the next evening. He did not remember a thing. Thought I was making it up.Another passenger in the elevator confirmed my findings.

 

Dinner at Le Bistro is next..and Casino fun!

Edited July 31, 2014 by Annmeat

[Annmeat]

I have read in multiiple reviews, always by cranky folks, that there are elevator shortages on GETAWY.

NONSENSE!!

 

We never had an elevator issue.

Not once.

 

Even when getting back on the ship after a day on an island there was not a log wait at all. The location at either end of the ship makes sense as well.

 

The only thing i missed was a glass elevator. i love looking out as i go up.

But they are not slow or hard to get.

The forward elevators do have several elevators that only go to deck 15, so if you are on 16 in the Haven you have to walk a flight of stairs. This did not kill us . If you have a mobility issue- use a different elevator.

[DrNora]

This cruise was a blast

Best one ever for all of us

We barely used the Haven at all except to eat and sleep

My kids did not use the pool there once

There is so much to do on Getaway and she is so well run that there is no need for the private enclave

Cannot believe that I am saying this!!! My husband enjoys reading in the shade on the second deck ...

I spent zero time I the haven area Sunning

Zero time I the pool

Loved the suite

Guess we could have go with connecting balconies if NCL does that.

This ship and her flow and crowd management are like nothing that we have seen on any other ship.

She trumps the mega ships in the royal line as we never felt crowded , jostled , annoyed , rushed.

Getting off the ship is as Annmeat says.a breeze

 

We saw guava boy

I thought he was part of the cruise director staff at first- he had that bingo- ready look

Then he started screaming some obscenities about rum. This was late in the day after st mRtaan

He was a "pizza work ", as my old landlord Sal used to say!!

We are rebooking Getaway

I could live in Headliners.

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[DrNora]

When I first looked at the Getaway dailies before we left , I wasn't sure how we would keep our days full at sea.

That was a crazy thought!

There is so much to do in this ship

That several weeks would be needed- I believe that LrgPizza made this point after her cruise.

I am so happy that we got out and about . Met lots of great people, there are many bars for hanging out , for trivia, for sampling beverages.

Take in a lecture, see a movie, go on the slides which are AWESOME

We had great luck in the casino with a 2000 jackpot on a penny slot one night and tons of fun the rest. The casino was a friendly, happy place.

I had a crappy time on my last NCL cruise in the casino and not because I didn't win.

 

We also watched the game shows, loved the comedians , had the best time with the piano players at Howl at te moon, we danced , went to the glow party , the fireworks at sea were amazing to watch

 

The Haven itself was crowded during the day in the pool area but we spent no time there . Kids had no interest in it. They are growing up and te pool is tiny

 

It was a nice mix o people, over 60% nonAmericans.

 

Great accents to listen to, fun mix in the lounge walkin through at night.

 

Keep up the review, Annmeat!

 

 

 

 

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[Annmeat]

Hi, Nora:

 

The casino was REALLy friendly , from fellow cruisers to the waitstaff to the guys and gals at the desk.

 

One of these days I will summon the courage to become a high roller on a ship and get those CAS offers!! Dream on...

 

*********

 

Wednesday was another gorgeous morning and we arrived in St Thomas, my husband's favorite little island. It is also his fiftieth birthday!! We have an abbreviated stay ...I am not certain why we have to leave St Thomas so early-all aboard is 3:30, but we will take what we can get! On the recommendation of several reviewers including SissasMomE, we chose the Champagne Catarmaran Snorkel tour to St John.

 

Our excursion is thru NCL and we meet in the theater. This is a plus- so much better than meeting out on the dock, which we will do shortly, as the heat and humidity are crazy high. Our excursion is called after about 15 minutes and we debark with no crowds, pushing or shoving ( hooray!) and line up for the ticket -taker, then walk to the 'taxis" that take us the 20 minute or so ride up and down the hills of St Thomas to the launch docks of the catamarans.

 

There were probably 40 of us per boat - we had Captain Mike and two assistants, both of whom I promised to remember their names and neither of whom I do. They are all American ex-pats, pay no federal income tax and cannot vote for president. We had a delightful sail out to St John. The trip is about an hour, and we get a narration part of the way by one of the tan deck hands. She adds her own quirky twist, accenting the delights of island life, especially the benefits of enjoying rum on your cheerios as it is cheaper by than gallon than milk. Maybe not the best story for teen ears after our encounter with guava boy yesterday, but she was still quite delightful.

 

As we neared St John, we were fitted for our gear, shown how to use it, were given instructions for emergencies ( I especially liked that they asked if anyone was asthmatic, had an inhaler/epipen-asked where the said inhaler /pen would be located..) and off we went!

 

The water was warm and beautiful! There were 4 catamarans and lots of people in the water, but we did manage to find out own space. We were allowed 1 1/2 hours in the water . My husband has a waterproof go-pro camera and got some great footage. We saw giant, purple spiny lobsters, tons of rainbow, clown , angel, and other fish, urchins, some turtles, a baracuda!!!!lots of coral.

I DID see some people stomping on the coral when they got tired- instead of treading water they were walking on the reefs-AARRGGHHHH- I politely reminded them not to hurt the coral-it IS ALIVE!!! All in all most people were well behaved.

A few of the younger kids had never snorkled before and just were not prepared for the sensation of breathing under water. Perhaps a shallow pool would have been a better place for their first exposure because I saw three of them absolutely panic. Their poor moms were getting grabbed in the face and pulled by the ears...something to consider before you buy an excursion, sit on a hot taxi, drive for 20 minutes, get on a catamaran , sail and then find your child is terrified of the snorkel mask!!!I know those moms probably chugged their post-swim champagne when they got back on their vessels!!

About an hour in to our snorkel I was talking to my son as we floated on our backs and someone stabbed me with their dive knife in my upper thigh with no provocation! Actually it was a jellyfish, but MAN! that sucker HURT!

 

Suddenly the boat was 48 miles away. I told Mark that I had been stung by something and I proceeded to swim back. I am a good swimmer and a scuba diver. After about 50 yards I did not think I was going to make it. As I climbed up the ladder I dropped my mask all the way to the bottom of the ocean.....OOPS! Fortunately I had packed benadryl, NSAIDS and solarcaine. I washed the area, which was swollen and angry red, popped 50 of benadryl, took 800 of motrin, got some ice ...I still have a coconut sized area on my inner thigh of bright red raised dots where I was stung. Very impressive!! I asked the staff on board about jellyfish, they said there were assorted weird stinging critters, but that no one had been bit. Glad that it was me and not a kid. It was really painful- still hurts!

 

Everyone came back on board after an hour and a half and we began our leisurely sail back to St Thomas. There are some beautiful homes on the way....

 

The crew put out some bread and cheeses and began serving up the champagne and sodas. Music was playing, the sun was out- it was a lovely , lovely trip back. All five of us had a delightful dya! The little girl with the couple next to us fell asleep rolled up in towels- cute as a bag of buttons!

( I am pretty sure that 3Shar was on our boat as well!)

 

This was a very well done excursion. My only wish is that there were fewer people in the water at once- but that is a variable I can't control! It was a wonderful day.

 

We had planned to freshen up and then go back out to Havensight- my girlfriend used to own a shop there and I was going to visit her old buddies- but my leg was really tender- so we ditched that idea.

We had our usual , wonderful welcome back to the ship-

 

Happy, happy, washy washy...

 

And our suite looked like a wonderful CIRCUS!!!! A Brilliant Circus!!

 

There were balloons, streamers, a cake, a cake made out of towels, towel animals, a bottle of Cliquot ( I had asked Rodney to chill this) cards, messages, and even a voice mail from Ruth and Noemi singing Happy Birthday to Mike!! There were cookies and strawberries..the whole living room was decked out for Mike's 50th birthday!!

It was TERRIFIC!!!

The hotel manager, the captain- all these people had sent a card!! I know- schmaltzy but cute!!

 

We gobbled down some hors doevrues , got cleaned up and went for a light late lunch in the Haven- with another birthday cake!!! It was then time for sailaway from beautiful St Thomas.....

Edited August 1, 2014 by Annmeat

[LrgPizza]

When I first looked at the Getaway dailies before we left , I wasn't sure how we would keep our days full at sea.

That was a crazy thought!

There is so much to do in this ship

That several weeks would be needed- I believe that LrgPizza made this point after her cruise.

 

Yes, I did! I need a month on there. I'm glad to hear you loved it as much as I.

 

About an hour in to our snorkel I was talking to my son as we floated on our backs and someone stabbed me with their dive knife in my upper thigh with no provocation! Actually it was a jellyfish, but MAN! that sucker HURT!

 

Suddenly the boat was 48 miles away. I told Mark that I had been stung by something and I proceeded to swim back. I am a good swimmer and a scuba diver. After about 50 yards I did not think I was going to make it. As I climbed up the ladder I dropped my mask all the way to the bottom of the ocean.....OOPS! Fortunately I had packed benadryl, NSAIDS and solarcaine. I washed the area, which was swollen and angry red, popped 50 of benadryl, took 800 of motrin, got some ice ...I still have a coconut sized area on my inner thigh of bright red raised dots where I was stung. Very impressive!! I asked the staff on board about jellyfish, they said there were assorted weird stinging critters, but that no one had been bit. Glad that it was me and not a kid. It was really painful- still hurts!

 

That is crazy and so cool!! I mean, it sucks, but not everyone can say she was stung by a jellyfish. That's totally cool. You're my hero, and I hope it goes away soon.

[DrNora]

Holy Cow!!

 

We also did that excursion on Sissasmome recommendation -

So sorry u got stung! I only got kicked in the head.....

 

LrgPizza- a month with the UBP would be just about right for me and the Getaway!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[Oldgoat61]

Annmeat.....I am really enjoying your review, your humor is great!:D

[mtns2sea]

Thanks for the review and the morning chuckle.

 

 

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[Medtech2]

Wow! I have never thought to need Benadryl or Motrin while snorkling, and I have photographed some jellies while on such excursions. Did Solarcaine help?

 

I am definitely going to remember to pack these items.

 

So wonderful that you still managed to enjoy yourself!

[countess5]

Just had to share! :D

[Annmeat]

Just had to share! :D

 

THA'Ts THE PLACE!!!

 

 

THANKS!!!