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

[Freespir8]

Omg..I am still laughing at the visual of the ping pong ball "twerking"...best story ever!

[Annmeat]

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!

 

 

DH and DD are asthmatic. DS#2 has severe fire ant allergy . I have a small,waterproof bag that always has benadyrl,NSAIDS, tylenol,inhaler. I tossed in solarcaine an aloe as my twins are very fair-despite mucho sunscreen, and rash guards, I feared a burn . I also carry an epi-pen just for ha-ha s. We have several school friends with peanut allergies and I have just gotten accustomed to having it with me. (Only had to use it once at Disney-cross contamination at a salad bar=anaphylaxis. )

 

The Solarcaine DID help a bit! The champagne/benadryl combo helped more. NO-I DO NOT CONDONE DRUGS AND ALCOHOL BEING MIXED!! it was only one small plastic cup!!

 

I think it is great idea to always have a rescue drug on these island excursion. I am 5'8 and 150 pounds. I am not a tiny gal.That was a lot of venom in me, and a huge welt. If a child had been stung- WOW! The boat did not carry benadryl ( THEY REALLY SHOULD!!!!)-

If an asthmatic or allergic child had received the sting eesh!

PARENTS-toss some benadryl in your beach bag if you are going on an excursion-SERIOUSLY!!! You are not in the States and not close to help. goodness- I don't even know what exactly bit me!!

 

 

 

 

This is your nagging message of the day!

[MrsRissB]

Great great review!

 

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[Medtech2]

Thanks for the nagging--all good advice....

 

And BTW you ARE tiny! I am 2 inches shorter and a wee bit heavier....

[dna529]

Your review has me cracking up! I love it. Sorry to hear about your jellyfish encounter. My son was stung last year here in NC and it was so bad. Urgent care put vinegar on it to draw out the venom. Not a bad idea to carry some on an excursion.

 

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Forums mobile app

[lfk60]

LOVE your review!! You have had me belly laughing on multiple occasions! :D

 

We are sailing in January to celebrate our 25th anniversary, and you are really adding to the excitement.

 

Great writing style! Can't wait for more!

[aklee]

Excellent review! I am staying in the same suite in October! I'm looking forward to your next installment.

 

Thanks for taking the time to write such a detailed review :)

[Coastalbreezes]

Loving this review. I look forward to more!

 

Tracy

[Annmeat]

Well, I forgot where we were, and did not mention our delightful meal at Le Bistro-

 

Our waitress was from Macedonia- lovely lady, great food with the exception of the EH salmon the my daughter ordered. The rest of us had lamb- i am 1/2 Greek , thus qualifying me genetically as a lamb expert - "You don't eat no meat? Is okay- I make lamb!!". Tender, seasoned just like Yia-yia used to do...YUM! Why it was like this in a French restaurant- can't say but I do not complain.

Creme Brulee- the caramalized topping was HORRIBLE! we all tried to discreetly pick it of. It was almost as though it hd been burned and then soemone tried to put out the fire. I just scooped the whole top layer off.. but this was not enough to ruin a WONDERFUL post St Martin- Guava Berry Boy meal.

 

They also had the ship's escargot fix for the kiddos.

 

OKAY-JUMP!!!

 

Back to Mike's birthday-

We ate at Moderno-Yummy- all you've heard

Ruth came down to visit

another cake and singing

Eat the roast pineapple- it was my favorite thing.

Done with food for July 23.

[Annmeat]

After dinner my kids wanted to do teens stuff,Mike and I did some casino fun - black jack for him , loose slots for me, and then we wandered into Headliners.

 

OH MY GOODNESS!!!!!

 

I had read about the Dueling Pianos-Howl at the moon.

That is not the correct description.

 

You already know I love this venue for comedians. Same place we saw Frank, Rodney and mark.

Now it is a music hall . Not creepy, greased back lounge singers. 3 piano virtuosos who can belt-them OUT as well as do okay on the drums and bass take requests for ANYTHING from the audience. Little slips of paper and pencils are provided. If you add a little green, you may get bumped to the front of the line.

 

These boys can PLAY!Anything from Billy Joel, Aerosmith. Buddy Holly. Roy Orbison, Journey. The Mamas and the Papas, to ELO, Abba, Lady Gaga( I actually paid them to STOP!!!) Van Morrison, Paul Simon, Queen, The Beatles,Florida-Georgia Line,Johnny Cash,..virtually ANYTHING!!!! t

 

They take these requests and they KILL THEM!! The audience gets VERY in to it, singing along, DANCING in the aisles, bribing the players...it is raucous at times, a bit adult after 11pm- and was my absolute favorite part of the cruise We closed the place twice, woulda been thrice had we not missed their first performance~~

 

These guys are charming, funny- one is a TOTAL hunk- take Ben Stiller- make him tall , and handsome and with better hair- there, You have Brandon. From time to time members of other musical groups wander in. John from Legally blonde joined them 2 nights , once belting out a rendition of "New York State of Mind' that puts Billy Joel to shame. Someone wanted to hear a song from Frozen, two young gals form LB were there and did their best. A drummer/pianist from the Grammy Experience also was a fixture.

 

This is where you see the CD staff hanging out after midnight- and the comedians. If you love music- all kinds of music. Well, they don't do classical because it is hard to sing along to Mahler AND nobody requested the Wir geniessen die Himmlischen Freuden movement, but this was an amazing experience none the less. The sheer talent of these men had my jaw dropping. My kids are all musically inclined and were very impressed ( up until the point that we tossed them out)

 

As for the adult content after 11-

 

There was a boob joke , and if anyone has been to a dueling piano bar in New Orleans, someone DID request one evening the "Fine time to Leave me Lucille" in which the audience uses three words aimed at a patron designated as "Lucille"

 

DON't miss it - if the booby joke will offend- leave at 11. They give you ample warning.

 

NOW- THESE ARE GREAT GUYS-

 

Te first night that we went, there were two adults with severe cerebral palsy, wheelchair bound, attending with their families/caregivers. The music was transcendent and moved these two- they were smiling, waving their arms to the beat, bobbing their heads up and down- it was the most beautiful sight. To see the transformation in their faces each time a new song would begin was incredible..The hunky guy came down during his break and thanked them for coming- you could see how thrilled they were .

When it was time for them to leave, the other two players got off the stage - high fived them goodbye. It was really something else.

 

A beautiful sight!

[Annmeat]

Oops!

On Tuesday you will have the WHITE BAG TO STUFF in your cabin. For 27.99 you can fill it to the brim. I was happliy surprised that NCL IRONS and HANGS the items...RCL folds them and seemingly lets puppies play in them before sending them back- the bulk is always wrinkled and , well- eh.

 

You send it Tuesday and on Thursday even your son'sSuperman T Shirt will be on a hanger. It was well worth the money for the 5 of us.

 

 

 

$$$$$$$ and on board shopping

 

All week long you have been looking at the ADORABLE "GETWAY totebag for 39.95 FORGET IT!!

It NEVER goes on Sale.

 

But on Thursday, you can get the Lebo MIAMI -almost identical totebag for 19.95.

 

Yes, as with all cruise ships, there is the BIG SALE. Thursday is Black Friday, only early. It starts with a several hour $10dollar sale in the Grammy Experience ( T shirts, purses, belts- same stuff, different ship) and continues in the main shopping arena. The Log merchandise- SELECT logo merchandise, is 50 % off. While the official Getaway 2014 T-Shirt that runs 39.95 never goes on sale, there are some nice ones that do. If the kids want a shirt, or a baseball cap, sweatshirt, totebag,etc, this is a nice sale.

 

We never priced out booze as we fly in and I hate to thing of broken and wasted bottles.

 

The shopping on board all-in all- unimpressive.

 

1. very poor selection of any sundries. NO TOOTHBRUSHES. Had to go to Guest relations- never knew that they have a secret stash of stuff back there that they are more than happy to sell you! BUT- HOW can the shops be out of toothbrushes on the very first sea day? And , when I asked the clerk where I could get one, she said ' St Maarten"-two days from then!!!. Nice!!! and...EWWW!( Mark had dropped his on the bathroom floor. I usually carry extras but did not this time. Oops.)

Sunscreens limited to low SPF and spray on. No lotions. Yuck.

 

Looked more like the supplies behind the counter at a really "fillin' station' out in the boonies than what one would expect to find on a gazillion dollar, BRAND NEW SHIP!!!

 

On the plus side- while the store had absolutely nothing that I needed and the staff was the only place that I found rudeness ...they DID have frequent and free liquor samples!!

 

2. The husband Magic Mike-you remember him- loves watches. Fortunately he has all the expensive ones he needs (i.e . the kids are reaching college age and tuitions are calling = watch budget doesn't exist.!) Getaway was selling Invicta, a pretend-expensive watch- labeled at , ahem, $1900 but on a MIRACLE OMG!!! THIS CRUISE ONLY!!! SALE!!! for $199.00!! The neat thing is that it is a Getaway Invicta, numbered 1-100 and engraved for the inaugural season of the Getaway. Not an expensive souvenir, a cute tchotchke that he can actually use- thus making it not an ACTUAL tchotchke so I should quit with the Yiddish as the term is now moot.

 

ANYWAY- it is quite attractive. He had the audacity to ask the sales clerk to check and see if she had # 50 as he is celebrating his 50th birthday. This was on Sunday. She said no. Asked again on Monday .Maybe. On Tuesday, he asked a different gal. She said she would check. She never did.FINALLY on Thursday...when the place was wall to wall with sea-day bargain hunters, I cornered a very sweet sales lady who took the whole 15 seconds needed to pull out the 15 watches they have and put them on the counter. The three of us looked at all the numbers, could not find #50, got a number Mike likes anyway, and bought it. Easy Peasy. She measured it on him, said to come back Friday after it was adjusted and the Captain had signed his box, and that was that.

 

Picked it up before Howl at the Moon- nice, shiny new watch. Which fell apart during Mike's air guitar solo because they put the pins in upside down and the watch went crashing to the cement floor. I love cheap watches. Friday, 11:15pm, cruise almost over...but watch shop OPEN LATE!!! They made it all better. He still loves his birthday watch. I am glad.

[Annmeat]

I'm just not.

Last year we were in Nassau all day on the Grandeur . We spent the whole day at the Sheraton- got a room and went to the beach. It poured after about 1 hour.

 

I hate crowds at the pier. This year they kept screaming in my face about SCOOTERS!!!!!

 

I don't want a scooter.

 

We got off the ship, ate Greek food, Daphne got some free stud earrings

Mark bought a drum, Brad bought a hat, we saw Guava Boy cursing- a MEAN drunk this time!!! F bomb and ALL!!! yelling about some perceived slights. I preferred the happy boy. : (

 

The covered area near the pier that has little conch fritter stands and some shops is closed for renovations. The scooter yellers were still shilling, Mike grabbed a 2:00 Bahamian brewski-

And we went back to beautiful Getaway and played on the slides for hours.

 

 

And realized that we had neglected the Flamingo Grill

 

Oh- this was not a good thing to ignore!! We had a filling snack of Greek dips and such, but did find room for some cuban yummies. Don't wait until the last day to try this food!

 

The ship was OURS this afternoon!! The kids just went on the slides over and over and over. I watched them. I did get up to the top of the drop slides, but a I told another lady about my age, I preferred to slide shop first. I did this a LOT on this cruise. I could not bring myself to go in the enclosed slides- I know why but it is a long story and you'll think I'm nuts.

 

The open slide is WICKED FUN!!!!Fast enough for me. The 4 year olds on it seemed puzzled by my presence so I told them that I was on the quality assurance team. I still got one "BUT your BIG!!" I pretended to be surprised by his observation. Fortunately a few other fraidy cat mommas joined the line.

 

We celebrated by 50+ birthday at Teppanyaki. CONFESSION- I thought it was silly to do this on the ship. We have an amazing teppanyaki nearby. The one on thePearl and Jewel were fun but just okay. THIS WAS SUPERB!!!

 

The chef was a complete whack job, the food fresh, tasty, bountiful-just add many descriptive words for good things. I would have paid for the show alone.

[Annmeat]

Saturday-

Ick. Gotta go.

 

We had priority tags. Still don't know what that meant. We left the ship at 9:30. Our private van was nowhere to be seen. When we finally hooked up, he was pissy and the van had a family of 7 already asleep in it. We squished in and made our way to FLL where we waited 3 hours for our flight and went home.

 

This was our hands down BEST CRUISE EVER.

[meatball_nyc]

Really nice review.

A lot of fun to read.

 

Thanks for sharing and hope your jelly fish sting is better.

 

 

 

~Robin

Every Day at Sea is a Great Day

[Tggrtoes]

Thanks so much for a great review! I was belly laughing at some of your very apt descriptions. :rolleyes:

 

We will be on Getaway on October 4 in Haven 2 bed. So dang excited!

 

Did you happen to get pics of the Haven restaurant menus? I'm also looking for kids menu options too - but your guys are a bit old for that, so guessing you probably didn't see it? :p My little guy is soooo picky - usually isn't a problem on a cruise, but this is our first time on NCL .

[DrNora]

Thanks so much for a great review! I was belly laughing at some of your very apt descriptions. :rolleyes:

 

We will be on Getaway on October 4 in Haven 2 bed. So dang excited!

 

Did you happen to get pics of the Haven restaurant menus? I'm also looking for kids menu options too - but your guys are a bit old for that, so guessing you probably didn't see it? :p My little guy is soooo picky - usually isn't a problem on a cruise, but this is our first time on NCL .

 

Crud- thought I could give them to you

I can't seem to copy the Haven menu from my phone! They are paired a bunch of places - you am even google it and it will appear.

It is the same menu every night with one special

The children's. menu is the standar kids menu for the MDRs- Mac n cheese , etc.

 

If he doesn't like fancy dining , you might want to take him early to dinner - I was on this same cruise and the little ones ( say 3 - 7)

Just seemed to not do so well wit the later dinner times- after 7.

The Haven restaurant is small, it gets loud with lots of different languages and I think it can get overwhelming as there is no place to get up and run around- the smart dads would take the kids out by the pool- you can also eat out there

 

The staff is, however, awesome with kids!

 

Hope you love chocolate chip cookies-order lots to your room!! and your son will be amazed by the variety of towel animals that he will see on this cruise

We must have had 12 different ones over the course of the week!! The staff is gonna spoil him!!!!

 

Have an amazing trip!!

 

 

 

 

 

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[HokiePoq]

Thanks for this wonderful review! Getaway is now on the bucket list!

[Annmeat]

Next-

Things my husband NEVER thought he would hear me say!!!

 

I have never in my adult life cruised in a non-suite.

 

You do not need one on this ship.

 

SAVE YOUR MONEY AND DO A BACK TO BACK!!

 

Or two cruises!

 

THAT's RIGHT-I SAID IT!!!

 

We used the Haven for sleeping.

Eating breakfast. THAT IS IT!! Dinner a few times.

 

Yes, the staff are lovely, attentive- sweet.

But the Getaway isn't a sleepy ship as are the Jewel, Pearl, Gem.

She needs us to be out and about.

 

For a family of 5 there a limited options if you like to bunk together. On Royal and NCL and Disney we have always chosen the 2BR suites. Royal's suites offer zip in the way of special treatment except for a cocktail hour and a goodie now and the. Yes, priority debark, blah blah blah. Just a ruse on RCL!

 

NCL does the suite life right. You USUALLY don't want to leave the Haven. EXCEPT ON THE GETAWAY. We are not twenty-something sun worshipers, the teens are too old to hangout with the kiddies in the pool..and there is a TON to do on Getaway.

 

On our particular sailing the Haven pool was filled with sun worshippers and children, and the pools with older , scantily-clad European couples. Without giving details, use your Spongebob IMAGINATION (SPEEDO SPEEDO SPEEDO). It was interesting. Everyone was friendly, but there were many "avert your gaze" moments. Times that I was thankful for VERY DARK sunglasses!!Poor Daphne had some moments of sheer mortification, and Brad received some inadvertent physics lessons re: bikini tops and 68 year olds.

 

If you are traveling as a family, the slides themselves, as well as the other activities for kids, are enough incentive to skip the Haven. I know, I know- wash that mouth out with soap!!

 

I guess a better way to put it- when I read a Haven-Ravin' Review- now I feel almost sad- because those people missed so much!!!GET OUT THERE - (OMG!! ROYAL CARIBBEAN IS GONNA SUE ME!!) have a lobster roll!! Go on a slide! Play Deal or no Deal! Gamble! Sing! Shop! Bid on SOMETHING!! Have a mojito!Bowl! Play a game of Ping Pong! Hide that silver, Haven card and be a part of the SHIP!!!!Hang out at Sugarcanes and meet some friends-new ones! Talk to JC Sanchez!! See what's up with Frank!!And, yes, even Haven folk can wander into SPice H2o!!

 

Bowl. We had a BLAST on that little bowling alley. We laughed so hard- and we drew an audience!!! TRY IT- loved the pub feel at O'sheehans. EVERYONE seems friendly. Cheers on steroids.

 

Sorry. Lecture over.

 

Next trip I plan to see Burn the Floor. Eat at Flamingo and the MDRs. Go to Tropicana. Go to ALL THREE NITES of HOWLat the MOON.

Actually DO the drop slide.

See Legally Blonde-maybe.

Do the circus training.

Have a mojito flight.

And maybe another one.

Wear SOCKS to the ice bar. I LOVED the icebar. I left very quickly. It was FUN!!

Go to the Grammy Experience for an ENTIRE SHOW!!!

Watch the crew variety show.

Win a GIANT JACKPOT in the Casino.

Avoid invisible jellyfish.

Sing Karaoke. Really!

Eat at O'Sheehans- never tried the pot pie!!

Do trivia- never did trivia, and I'm a trivia WIZ!! We ALWAYS win!!

Walk the Plank.

Zip line.

 

 

If anyone has any questions, just ask.

 

I know that I am gushing, but we enjoyed this cruise immensely. We are already booked again for next year in mini suite connecting to one of those angled -balcony family balcony rooms. I am SURE that i can find something to spend the savings on!!

 

 

Thanks for listening!!!

Annmeat

[Cubechick]

Excellent, entertaining review!! Thank you so much for sharing!!

 

Did you ever say why you wanted to book 16720??

Edited August 4, 2014 by Cubechick

[rochelle_s]

So was the Mr. Sheehan?

 

 

Rochelle

[clancy43]

That was amazing!!!!! So looking forward to our cruise in a few months and this just whet my appetite! My only wish is that you guys were there too coz I'm sure you guys would keep us plenty entertained :D

 

Thank you!!!!

[Tggrtoes]

Wowzas Annmeat - fab review. Your wrap up was just what I needed to kick off my to do list on our upcoming cruise (less than 60 days away)! I've already committed to do ropes and plank with little guy!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Annmeat]

Excellent, entertaining review!! Thank you so much for sharing!!

 

Did you ever say why you wanted to book 16720??

 

WARNING: If you are a Militant Smoker, please read no further!!!! This will sound cocky, arrogant and over-the top. I am warning you in advance. You are warned. Okay-here goes....

 

There are 3 reasons that I chose this suite and would do so again if i were to Havenise. One will no longer be an issue come October

 

1- our last cruise on Royal was a year ago. Another CC poster had nearly the same experience. Our balcony , which was accessed by the master bedroom and was large, was rendered unusable by our next door neighbors. We were in a 2 br "Royal Family Suite." The people next door smoked on their balcony seemingly non-stop. We asked them to please give us SOME down time, they said no. They were NOT polite, they did not give a rat's behind.

 

WARNING- here's where I have to to "show "my credentials. Not street cred- this is REAL cred.

 

For those on CC who fancy themselves physicists- I HAVE a degree in physics- double major with chemistry. That was undergrad. If you try to contradict me I will post a dissertation that will make your head spin so PLEASE DON'T! Thanks!!!

 

Yes, smoke CAN travel to the next balcony EVEN WHEN THE SHIP IS MOVING!!! The smoke soon began to even leech in to our room every time we opened the balcony to step out for a quick peek.

We lost the use of the balcony and our BedRoom smelled like the casino. Royal decided it was out of their hands as well. Then my daughter had some asthma issues from the smoke. She is usually VERY well controlled. Not going in to any more details here. Mama Bear and Papa Bear on board.

#################

 

Suite 16720 does NOT have a neighboring balcony. If you look at one of the diagrams that are sometimes posted here on CC, you can see that suites 16106, 16720 and one other-16722?maybe? ( and the same on deck 15) abut bathroom windows, not balconies. The thought of spending such a large sum of money and not being able to use the balcony to even drip-dry our bathing suits or having a suite that might make my daughter start to wheeze- well, this really gave us pause before booking NCL

Royal had gone to NO SMOKING in January , 2014. If this type of Haven suite was not available, I would not have gone on the Getaway . What a LOSS that would have been for us!! So this suite was PERFECT!!!

 

2. Second reason was the location in the hallway- you have to be there to see it-no one walks by the room EVER! The rooms on the 100 hall have more traffic, nobody goes by on the starboard side. I remembered this from someone's Breakaway review.

 

3. I wanted to be on the Starboard side for the 6 hours in Nassau- the view is nicer and the noise less. I knew we would be facing Atlantis and the beautiful little barrier island instead of the ugly pier.

 

 

This was a great suite. VERY VERY quiet. The only disappointment is that this particular suite has a full-length but NARROW window in the shower. The other suites have a 24 to 36 inch wide window ( no, they are NOT all the same- go figure) , but 16720 has a 10 (?) inch one. I don't know why. I knew this ahead of time, as I wrote to NCL and they sent me a picture of it, but it took nothing away from my enjoyment.

 

We never heard any noise from the hall or from above or below.

 

In the morning it was- open door, step, turn, smile, step , step, "good morning...yes, 5,,yes..." Thanks you and we were in the Haven restaurant.

 

We were across from a door to the Haven lounge. But no one seems to use this door. They all enter from the pool area. We had ZIP for traffic past our suite. Well- we were never in it. But we heard nothing from outside our door

 

A few steps to a door to the pool area.Just a perfect, quiet place. If I had fewer children, I would have taken 16722, the infamous SMALLER BY 14 INCHES SUITE!!!( On the Breakaway) This suite would be great for someone with young kids or babies who need to nap. Perfect solitude!

 

One thing that surprised me was that the Haven restaurant is smaller than it looks in photos. It gets VERY LOUD!! As I mentioned before, young kiddies seem to get uneasy - ask for a seat by the windows. They LOVE looking at the water! I would happily give up a table by the water if it helps the little ones have a better time!!

Edited August 5, 2014 by Annmeat
added a barrier for those who do not want to read about smoke and asthma

[Annmeat]

Wowzas Annmeat - fab review. Your wrap up was just what I needed to kick off my to do list on our upcoming cruise (less than 60 days away)! I've already committed to do ropes and plank with little guy!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

You will have so much fun!! I am already counting the days until June!!!

 

I hope that you have Rodney as a butler!!

[Annmeat]

So was the Mr. Sheehan?

 

 

Rochelle

 

Well, it depends. I think that I saw him several times. So did 3Shar and I think DrNora. My kids DID see him ...but then didn't.

The rumors were buzzing, but they were playing " Undercover Boss" on the NCL channel on board. I think that he was on in Miami and then left on St Thomas.

Wish someone really knew....I like to think that he was there, singing along with us at Howl at the Moon!

 

But WHERE does he sleep?