A Solo Gets Away for Christmas on the Getaway!

[westcoasttech]

Part 1

 

BG – Me, female solo traveller, (very) early 50’s. A Brit by birth and a Canadian by choice, I’ve lived on the west coast for almost 20 years, but still have my Brit accent, which confuses everybody when I introduce myself as Canadian. I started taking solo cruises about 13 years ago and now try to average a couple of cruises a year. Some of my first cruises were on NCL, but in recent years I’ve been mostly on RCCL (so most of my direct comparisons will be with my RCCL experience). However I’m not loyal to one cruiseline, I cruise whatever ship takes me where I want to go, when I want to go and for the price I’ve comfortable paying. I consider myself a “cruise nerd” and enjoy researching and reading about cruising. I’ve got to the point where I’m taking a cruise to see and experience the ship more than being bothered where the ship is going.

 

READER’S WARNING: What follows is going to include my honest opinion and while I consider it’s tough to have a “bad” cruise, some of what I have to say is going to be negative, so if you’re a NCL cheerleader, who can’t bear to read anything bad about your BFF cruiseline – stop reading now! Also some of what I write might be firmly tongue-in-cheek as I still have my Brit sarcasm gene in place, and I know (from experience) that sometimes that sarcasm doesn’t always translate to North American – you have been warned! This won’t be a day by day review, but a general review of the trip and the areas of the ship.

 

Background to the booking – I had a NCL next cruise certificate which was due to expire in early 2014, so I decided I should use it to try out one of their new ships. I got the certificate extended and used it to book the Christmas 2014 Cruise on the Getaway. However as the time for final payment drew near I read about the new Escape in 2015 and as an inaugural transatlantic is on my bucket list, I moved my reservation from the Getaway to the Escape TA in October 2015. As the year started to draw to a close, in November I started getting that “must take a trip” itch and looked for a last minute deal in December. I still had enough vacation days left (yes, I’m still working – it’s the only way I can afford to cruise) to add to the Christmas break and take a 7 day cruise with a day or two added on each end for jet-lag recovery. I decided to “test out” the studios (and boy, was I glad I did - I’ll get into that later on) with a 7-day prior to the 10-day TA (with no port stops) Escape trip next year, and re-booked the Getaway. By the time I booked it (early December), the price had dropped a little from the original booking, but I lost the OBC and didn’t get any freebee “extras” (like UDP or UBP), and the flights had gone up in price, but what the heck, I was heading for a cruise!

 

Getting there – As I had booked so last minute my (affordable) flight options were limited. I ended up booking a US Air/AA combination via Phoenix to get to MIA. I generally hate red-eye flights but this did mean that I only had to book the one night at a hotel in Miami. I considered for a split second flying in overnight to arrive the “day of” and head straight to the port but I’ve been a victim of Murphy’s law too many times to risk that! The flight included a 7 hour layover in Phoenix, which didn’t look too bad on paper, but the time really dragged in PHX airport once the stores and restaurants started closing up and it was a relief to get on the plane and underway, and I even managed to nap a little on and off.

 

Landed in MIA around 7 am, picked up my luggage and hopped in a taxi – I did think briefly about using a shuttle (there were SuperShuttle desks in the airport), but at this point, I just wanted to get to the hotel and get cleaned up. Lucky me, not only did I hit MIA rush hour head on, I think I got the worst driver in MIA – this guy couldn’t seem to pick a lane, was cutting other drivers off and at one point seemed to be driving on the shoulder of the highway. I sat in the back of the taxi, holding my breath and hoping that my trip interruption insurance would cover me if I ended up in a wreck on the highway! Eventually we made it through the roadworks and rush hour traffic and arrived at the Courtyard by Marriott Miami Downtown in one piece. (Fare was around $35, if you’re interested.)

 

The Hotel - Courtyard by Marriott Miami Downtown – It was around 8:30-9am by the time I arrived at the hotel and luckily they had a room immediately available (hotel did not appear to be very busy) and I was able crawl into bed and take a short nap (something I usually find impossible to do). Mixed feelings about the hotel – the location is convenient, just a short walk from Bayside, with a CVS pharmacy nearby for last minute provisions. The staff were helpful and friendly. However there is major construction across the road which basically blocked out most of the light to my hotel room. I could see a sliver of the Port of Miami around the edge of the new building and a familiar “whale-tale” Carnival funnel in the distance. The room was a good size and clean, but the furnishings, although fairly new looking, were of a 1980’s style, with a colour scheme to match! The room had a large wall mounted air-con unit which was pretty noisy when it clicked on, however there was little, if any, noise from the hallway or other rooms. Not sure if I would stay there again, maybe, if the price was right. In this case it was just for the one night and it worked.

 

Miami – After a nap and a shower, I walked down to Bayside. It has been several (maybe 6?) years since I was last there, as I’ve most recently been cruising from Fort Lauderdale, and I don’t know if I’m just seeing things differently now, but the Bayside mall area looked a little old and tired. I had a food tour (Miami Culinary Tours – South Beach Food Tour) booked that met in South Beach at 5pm so I killed some time drinking a couple of smoothies and listening to the live music on offer. I then took the water taxi ($15) directly from Bayside to the marina in South Beach and walked the 20 minutes or so across South Beach to the meeting point. The tour was great, don’t ask me what I ate and where, but it was all good and included information on the art deco buildings on the beach front (Marine?). A couple on the tour were also going to be joining the Getaway the following day, with their extended family, and I spent some time talking about all things cruising with them during the tour, but strangely, never bumped into them onboard at all. Friday night on South Beach was crowded but after the tour I managed to flag down a taxi and head back to the hotel to relax and get an early night (I think the taxi was a little over $30, but there was a lot of traffic – the driver blamed the basketball game.)

 

Coming up next – My challenges for embarkation day - get in Boarding Group 1, get a Vibe Pass and book the Chef’s Table … do I achieve them….???

 

[by the way, I have all the Freestyle Dailies, let me know if you would like them posted.]

[MandyMommyof2]

I'm excited to hear all about your cruise!! We are sailing with NCL in July. Still a it way to go, but one can never plan too early right? :roll eyes: This will be our first time with NCL, normally we cruise Disney but our girls are older and we craved a bit more of a grown up ship. I wanna know it all.... where you ate, what you drank and what you done in ports of call. :D Not asking for a lot am I? Can't wait to hear the rest!

[DGP1111]

wct: I was debarking Norwegian Getaway the day you were boarding. I had an experience that was rather over-the-top in an extremely positive way, but there was a description of the passeger manifest for the following (your) sailing . . . and it was dramatically different. I'm definitely not sure I'd have walked away with the same personal opinion as I did on mine.

 

I hope your weather was good, and that the overall experience was enjoyable. Looking forward to reading the rest of your recap.

 

.

[westcoasttech]

Embarkation Day – I was aiming on getting to the port ridiculously early in order to achieve my challenges (listed above), and ended up waking up early anyway (despite the time change from the West Coast). Got packed up and grabbed a light breakfast at the snack bar in the hotel – they have a Starbucks type of place that also offers some breakfast options. Checked out of the hotel at around 9:30 am and hopped in another cab (I think the hotel might have had a shuttle but I like to go when I’m ready not when a whole group of others are ready). A quick cab ride and the cab is approaching a whole flotilla of ships (I think there were 6 big ships in that day), including an MSC (which I could see from my room), a Celebrity, a couple of Carnival and a Costa, as well as the Getaway. The cab driver asked me which was “mine” and I said the one with all the waterslides on the top! (Cab ride was less than $20 – I think!)

 

There was still lots of people milling around waiting for cabs, shuttles etc., but I found a porter and handed him my large suitcase (and a couple of dollars) and stressed that I was getting on the ship, not getting off it! He pointed me towards a doorway, but the cruise staff in the doorway said it was the wrong doorway and told me to head to the next doorway on the left (Terminal C). I swiftly walked along the building and found the right door and joined the line for security (which had not started letting people through yet). Woo hoo, I was 2nd in line behind a family. After about 10 minutes in the line up, with more people steadily joining the line, (where I started talking to a really fun Brit ex-pat couple – S. and T. – who I would meet up with many times through the coming week) security opened. I hustled though security and grabbed my medical form (the ebola questions were new to me). I went through the Latitudes line – but there was no one else in any of the lines and quickly presented my passport and credit card. As soon as I got my SeaPass in my sticky little hands, I dashed to the escalator and was the first person up in the waiting area, as the one family from the initial security line up took longer to get through the check in process. I was not only in Boarding Group 1, but I was the first person in the Group!! First challenge achieved!!

 

I interrogated the poor cruise personnel handing out the boarding cards as to which door we would enter the ship, he really didn’t know but thought it would be the centre doors, so I picked the seat nearest that door and started the wait! Spent the time chatting to S. and T., they asked why I was here so early and I explained the Vibe Beach Club, they had never heard of it, but thought that it sounded great and asked to follow me on the ship so they could try for a pass too. I said fine, but I had first dibbs!!

 

A little after 11 am there started to be some movement. I could see the Haven guests, a group of in-transit passengers and, I guess, suite guests being led on to the ship, and then a large wedding party which had been separated in the next room over. By this time the waiting room had started to fill up, and just like boarding a plane, people were starting to hover around the door. One of the cruise personnel eventually opened the door and before the hovering people could move, I was out of my seat and through the door (with S. and T. in hot pursuit) – heck, I had been the first one in the waiting area and I WAS going to the first person on the ship (well, after all the Haven guests, VIPs and wedding guests, anyway)!!

 

As soon as I had swiped my SeaPass (the machine doesn’t seem to make that same satisfying “ding” any more, more of a buzz?) I asked the first crew member I saw “Guest Services?”, the answer was down one floor, so down the stairs and a fast walk to the atrium and to the first staff member I saw. Unfortunately I picked the wrong staff member, and was directed to another member where S., who had been close behind me, was already standing! I went over and we had a friendly elbow tussle while S. managed to get the first two Vibe passes. I asked if the cabanas were still available and they all were, so splurged and got myself a Cabana for the week. I had read and will confirm that these were $299 with $100 food credit. The credit is “supposed” to go towards food ordered in the Vibe area, but in fact just goes on your account and works the same as any other OBC. Challenge #2 achieved!

 

A couple of things I learned (or realized) later on. I was assigned Cabana #1 (there are five cabanas available and I guess they just allocate them in order). Cabana #1 is the one nearest the hot tubs and bar, which should be a good thing, right? Unfortunately on this cruise there was that one guy with a very strident voice who held court every time he met someone in the hot tub, so over the week, while trying to relax in my lovely little cabana, I learnt all about his job, his investments, his family, his house, his daughters’ colleges and all his other assets – I think you can get the picture! It didn’t majorly effect my overall cruise, but I wish I had researched the cabana locations before hand – however the cabana purchase was very much spur of the moment, so you live and learn. The other thing I realized much later on, was as I had purchased the cabana, I should have received two wrist bands and two access cards, not just the one, as the cabana purchase covers the expenses for two. I could have used the extra wrist band to invite another of the solo’s into the Vibe club, but did not realize this till much later in the cruise. At which time I checked with Guest Services and they were very surprised I had not been given two bands/cards.

 

Next stop was restaurant reservations. There were already quite a lot of people arriving on board and I had to line up at reservations. My only focus at that point was the Chef’s Table, I was shown the menu and informed that the only night it was being run was Tuesday (the evening that we left St. Maarten). I went ahead and booked it, as I have done the Chef’s Table on many of my cruises and always had a great time. Challenge #3 achieved!

 

I know some people are shocked at the expense of the Chef’s Table ($99), however I think it’s one of the best bargains on the ship. On the Getaway, it’s a 9-course gourmet meal, that’s not served in any of the other restaurants with unlimited wine and VIP service. You also get 2 photographs, one with all the other Chef’s table participants and the Executive Chef, and one individual one of yourself and the Executive Chef. I also told myself that the $100 OBC from the cabana purchase would cover the Chef’s Table fee, so essentially it was “free” [okay, okay, I know I still have to pay the original $299 for the cabana - don’t spoil my illusion!]. (I have the menu and photographs of most of the courses – I’ll post them separately at a later date.)

 

Impressions – The ship looked good. There was no “new ship smell” – guess I’ll have to wait for the Escape for that! Most areas were decorated for the season, but not overly so. I remember there were several Christmas trees located throughout the ship but apart from the one in the Atrium, couldn’t tell you where they were. Christmas music was playing throughout the ship, and continued to be played for the WHOLE of the cruise and apparently for 24 hours a day (or at least it seemed that way) – I could have done without that! Funnily enough up in the Vibe Club, for the first few days, they just had general “easy-listening” music playing, but even there it eventually turned to Christmas music.

 

I will admit, once I found “my” cabana up at the Vibe club, I didn’t explore much of the rest of the ship, apart from the areas I went to specifically to see entertainment or to eat. But some general comments (and opinions are as follows): most of the areas seemed to flow into the next, there didn’t seem much separation, which was not necessarily a good thing, for example, the casino is open to several floors and the Shanghai noodle restaurant is open directly onto the casino. While there was not an extreme smoke issue coming from the casino, I am an avid non-smoker, and I could tell there was or had been smoke around, but not to the extent for it to bother me.

 

The atrium opened up several floors and again the location of certain areas seemed puzzling (or not thought through): most of the trivia sessions were held in the atrium, and also movies were shown on the big screen there, however the next deck up is an open arcade area with several noisy machines, such as hoops and (IIRC) air hockey table, so during trivia (or a movie) there would be loud background noise coming from the arcade.

Some of the main walkway areas seemed to be fairly narrow for the amount of foot traffic coming through them. For example one of the main walkways from bow to stern in the evening had foot traffic coming to or from the theatre to the dining areas, with the Le Bistro “external” seating taking up half of the width, then a row of chairs for the people waiting to get into Teppenyaki and people coming/going from the Headliners comedy show on the other side AND the staircase coming down from the casino with a photographer set up at the bottom on the stairs taking photos – it could be a major bottleneck at times. The one night I ate at Le Bistro (and had to sit outside – that’s another story) I sat and watched the traffic jam!

 

I only ever walked through the pool area and was very disappointed in what I saw there (Oasis of the Seas, five pools, enough said). On the Oasis, I would get up early to have an early morning swim in one of the several adult sized pools, I never tried to use the single solitary pool on the Getaway.

 

As the Vibe area is adults only I never had to try out the Spice H20 adult area during the day – I was informed that for the most part the adults only rule was enforced. I’m not a dancer and don’t enjoy loud music (is that a sign of old age, creeping in?) so only popped into the nighttime Spice H2O area a couple of times (once during the fireworks), but at those time the adults only rule was not in use (there were a lot of kids on this cruise).

This is turning into a novel, so I’ll stop here for now, and will continue on another day!

[Apologies for the limited pictures – I don’t take a lot anyway, and I can only retrieve the ones on my phone as I can’t find the cable for my camera … oops!]

Edited December 31, 2014 by westcoasttech

[westcoasttech]

A little more Vibe – I’m thinking I should try saying how awful the Vibe is to try and put people off it so that it would be easy to purchase a pass, however as you might of guessed, I really loved the Vibe club. In fact, I’d say the Vibe club “saved” this cruise for me and was the best thing on the ship.

 

As mentioned there were five private cabanas with #1 being closest to the hot tubs and bar and #5 being the furthest forward and closest to the Haven dividing wall. The cabanas have a sort of short wall around them and a covering shade, which was static and could not be taken down or adjusted. The only very small downside was the static nature of the cabanas, as obviously what direction they faced depended on what direction the ship was heading. So some days they got sun and some days they were totally in the shade. In an ideal world, it would be great if somehow you could turn the cabanas around to catch the sun and also if the covering shade was adjustable to allow for more sun too. (Escape designers, I talking to you!)

 

As the Vibe club was in a forward location of the ship, it could be very windy when the ship was moving. For the first two days heading south, it was very windy up there and I was glad for the sheltering wall around the cabana that cut down the wind a little.

 

Hint: Behind the row of five private cabanas, at the end of the club, nearest the Haven dividing wall, there were two smaller round wicker cabana type beds with attached canvas shades. These small beds could be moved to catch the sun and the shades raised or lowered. It wasn’t till the last day that I discovered these beds were “first come, first get” – I don’t think other people realized either as they were rarely used. If I didn’t have the cabana these would be what I would head for!

 

Passes for the Vibe club did sell out on this cruise, and were no longer available by the first sea day. However the area was rarely busy. I read that there are somewhere around 50 passes sold, but I never saw anywhere near that number of people up there. The only “busy” day was the last sea day (which was also Christmas day) and there were still lots of comfy loungers available. I spent the Nassau day up in the Vibe club and for a number of hours, I think I was the only person up there.

 

I must mention Ali (Vibe bartender extraordinaire!) – he (and the other staff in the Vibe) did a great job of keeping us all supplied with whatever drinks we required – including attempting to recreate a drink I had at the Rumfire bar in Waikiki! From time to time they would come around and offer fruit skewers, fruit smoothies or popsicles. The bar is only manned until 6pm I don’t know if this is year round or just because of the season – being December it was dark by 6pm.

 

Ports – St. Maarten (Tuesday) – There were a lot of big ships in with us in St. Maarten, one HAL (Zuiderdam – which is a familiar ship from the Vancouver Alaska route), the Ruby Princess, a Disney ship, and a RCCL ship (can’t remember which one though). I had arranged a private tour for this stop using Eagle Tours (http://www.sailingsxm.com). I took the Farewell Party around the Island tour that consisted of sailing in a catamaran around the whole island, with a snorkelling stop, a couple of beach stops and a stop for lunch at a local café. There were about 22 people on the boat – I was the only one that had come off the ships, all the other passengers were staying on the island at various resorts. I had a great time and highly recommend this trip. The seas did get pretty bumpy and I was glad I had taken a Bonine (anti nausea). I love to be out on the water, but I am a fair weather and calm seas sailor and don’t enjoy the “bumps”, however some of the other more daredevil passengers spent the whole time hanging on to the nets at the front of the cat! It looked to be quite the rollercoaster ride! The home marina for Eagle Tours was about a 10 minute walk from where the Getaway was docked. I did have some concerns as I knew the tour was a whole day tour and I had the Chef’s Table booked for that night and that started at 6pm. I had visions of me running back to the ship as they pulled the gangway and heading up to Chef’s Table in beachwear and “snorkel” hair – however I got back to the ship just after 5pm and had just enough time to wash up and get changed.

 

St. Thomas (Wednesday) – Lots of ships in again, both the Ruby and the Regal Princess were moored near the Getaway, with the Allure of the Seas and a Carnival moored at a different dock in the distance. The Carnival looked so small moored next to the Allure, it was quite comical! I didn’t do much here. Just got of the ship late went for a walk, took the Sky Ride and took some pictures at the top and wandered around the shops near where the boat was moored.

 

Nassau (Friday) – I didn’t even get off the ship! Prior to the cruise I had tried to book a Food Tour here, but was told that the restaurants would be closed due to it being Boxing Day, so the tour was not running. When we were docking I was told that there had been a big parade in the town centre and other passengers came back reporting the town was crowded and messy. I spent the day up in the Vibe enjoying the peace and quiet.

 

Shows – I did the Illusionarium the first night (as part of the Dining Package). It was a fun dinner theatre magic show and something a little different. I went with a couple of other solos and we had floor seats but towards the back of the theatre area. I appreciate that NCL probably invested quite a bit in building this special theatre with the overhead bowl for projected special effects, unfortunately you can only really see the bowl area if you are seated at the front of the theatre – the seating and tables need to be sloped (or something) in order for everyone to see the bowl – but I appreciate this would be impossible to do in the space allowed. Also unfortunately, we had a group of people (adults) sitting behind us that talked loudly throughout the performance (something that was a theme through the cruise), which shows that there can be rude and inconsiderate people wherever you go. Food was pretty good (salad, surf and turf and trio of deserts), but there’s no option to chose the temperature of your steak – it was served well done – so consider that if it’s important you.

 

Burn the Floor – excellent show, fantastic dancing, and lots of eye candy, whatever your preference. I did not see the “extra” show that the dancers put on in the Tropicana (main dining room), as I did not eat in there, but was told that was fantastic too.

 

Legally Blonde – pretty good. I love the theatre and spend time in the West End of London whenever I travel back to the UK to see family. So I’ll be honest and it was not anywhere near West End or Broadway level, but it was fun. There were lots of (young) kids in the audience and it really didn’t keep their attention, so they were being a bit disruptive.

 

The theatre generally – okay, just how (and why) did they make those seat so uncomfortable? It was difficult to sit still for just 30 minutes nevermind the 90 minutes of Legally Blond. I wasn’t the only one fidgeting in my seat during the shows. Please, please NCL, retrofit those seats and do something to make them better!!

 

Wine Lovers in the Illusionarium – this was a fun twist on the usual wine tasting. You got a meal, tastings of 6 wines and a musical show for your $25 (menu and wine listing attached below). Again the steak was served all one temperature (well done), but the food and the show was good. At the end of the show you were given an order form and could order any of the tasted wines by the bottle for a discount – I think it was 20%. Despite the measures of wine only being of the tasting size, I left the show just a little tipsy, so make allowances for a nap after it when you’re making your schedules.

 

Okay, coming up next - Dining issues and the Studio cabins!

Wine Lovers Musical menu.pdf

[westcoasttech]

Now for the (baby?) elephant in the room …

 

Kids (kids and more kids!) – I knew that as a holiday cruise this one was going to have a lot of kids on board. The actual number of kids depended on who you spoke to, the numbers, 1,300, 1,500 and 1,700 were mentioned – but whatever, there were a lot of them! But also knew that as a studio cabin passenger, at least I wouldn’t have them directly outside my door. Also as I intended to get the Vibe club pass I knew I would not be sharing the pool deck with the little “darlings”! For the first half of the cruise it was not too bad, I did see a lot of kids about in the common areas, but for the most part they were reasonably behaved. For the latter half of the cruise, I did see more questionable behaviour (racing the elevators from floor to floor to press all the call buttons so the elevator would stop at all floors!). Perhaps they got bored with the kids clubs on board and decided to go Freestyle? On the night of the fireworks as I was walking towards the rear of the ship, I saw 15 to 20 teenagers packed into one of the pool deck hot tubs, the girls seem to be packed shoulder to shoulder in the water and the boys were standing around the edge of the tub with not an inch to spare. There were no pool staff or officers doing anything to stop them – and to me it looked like an accident waiting to happen! I know, I know, I shouldn’t judge, but watching a mother spoonfeed two five/six year olds at the buffet because they don’t want to put down their video games, just makes me roll my eyes and wonder what’s going to happen to the next generation!

 

Dining – Okay, let’s start with some facts. I can confirm that with the Dining Package (UDP) you can order any of the “upsell” items (i.e., steak, lobster or seafood entrees in Le Bistro) for no extra charge – it’s put on the bill but then zeroed out. I can also confirm that if you don’t think you’ve got your money’s worth from the UDP, on the last day you can request that the UDP charge be credited to your account and any speciality dining restaurant charges will be billed individually to your account instead (I ended up doing this).

 

I managed to eat at Le Bistro, Moderno, Teppenyaki, Cagney’s and the Chef’s Table. The wait staff at all were friendly and helpful and the food was all good (excellent in the case of the Chef’s Table). So what’s the problem, you ask? The answer – getting reservations anywhere was extremely difficult. The only availability, when there was any availability, was usually well after 9pm, and while I’m pretty flexible about eating, like most people I would like to eat, say 7:30 to 8:30, like normal people, just occasionally!

 

I was told directly by one staff member that I should have made my reservations before the cruise. However as a solo traveller that means I would have to plan on dining solo for the entire cruise. I knew that there was a Solo Co-ordinator whose whole role is to encourage the solos to mingle and socialize, so was hoping that a group of solo’s would get together to try the speciality restaurants. That did almost happen, but as it was almost impossible to get into any of the restaurants as a group of six, we eventually gave up and went our separate ways.

 

It struck me that as “Freestyle” is part of the main brand logo for NCL, isn’t it totally contrary to have to book (months in advance) exactly where and when you are going to eat each day? In that case you might as well go back to traditional cruise dining patterns!

 

The group of six did manage to get into Moderno but the absolutely earliest we were told we could be seated (after suggesting various days) was 8:30pm. When we turned up at the restaurant, there were lots of empty tables, that looked like they had been empty for some time and remained empty for the rest of the evening.

 

At Le Bistro, I went with one other solo, fairly late, after the show, so around 9pm. We were told there were no available tables but could sit at the tables outside (actually in the walkway). We accepted that (not ideal, the walkway is noisy as it’s the main thoroughfare from one end of the ship to the other) and then looked through the window at a couple of empty tables inside – when we enquired we were told these were reserved. After we had been sitting and perusing the menu for 5 – 10 minutes a couple more inside tables emptied - these tables remained empty! So if we had be asked to wait 5 minutes we could have enjoyed a nice quiet table inside!

 

It was impossible to get into Teppenyaki as a group, so I eventually went solo. The earliest reservation I could get was 9:30pm – actually not shown to the table till 9:45pm. I was sat with a nice Canadian family (parents and 3 kids), however I could tell that the family was not happy and found out that they were extremely unhappy – their reservations were for 9:15pm, so shown to the table at 9:45, and then there is a delay before the Teppenyaki “show” begins, so it was probably close to 10:15-10:30 before we were eating our entrees, so extremely late for kids to be eating. I sympathized with them and explained the problems I had been having getting into restaurants too. We were not alone, I heard a lot of passengers complaining the difficulties of getting into the restaurants at a “reasonable” time.

 

I never ate at the main dining room (MDR) – but when I saw it, it appeared really small (just one floor, most large ships, have a multi-floor MDR. Even allowing for the additional satellite MDRs (Taste and Savour), I couldn’t imagine how they would have room for all the passengers on this cruise. The ship is listed at just under 4,000 passengers at “normal” double occupancy – this cruise had over 4,500 passengers (one person told me closer to 4,700), because of the number of children on board.

 

Even eating in the MDR was not without problems. The group of solo’s who ate in the MDR (they did not have the UDP) were seated between 5:30 to 6 pm – which would have been too early for me anyway. We did make up a group of 13 who wanted to eat in the MDR for Christmas Dinner (I wanted my turkey dinner). Apparently they struggled finding room for our group in the MDR, and we ended up in Taste/Savour split into 2 separate tables.

 

I had several conversations with restaurant managers, as I had been sold the UDP but did not feel they were fulfilling the package, when I could (for the most part) only eat solo and only eat well after 9pm. I suggested that maybe it was a shortage of staff, they denied this (which would have been an easy out for them). Their reasoning was, the problems were caused by all the large family groups on board. While I appreciated their problem, if they are going to sell the UDP and encourage eating at the speciality restaurants they need to be able to fulfill the demand – which they obviously could not. The managers admitted there was a major problem and they were going to look into it, but they couldn’t come up with any immediate solution for this particular cruise.

 

Garden Café – apart from grabbing the occasional cup of tea from the beverage station, I only ate at the buffet one time – lunch on the day we were in Nassau. I found it quite small and limited in options. They only had one side open despite a lot of passengers either not getting off or returning to the ship for lunch due to town centre shops/restaurants being closed due to Boxing Day. The curry options I had were good (curries are always excellent onboard due to the number of Indian kitchen staff). However there really wasn’t a lot of variety offered. Directly comparing it to my last two cruises on RCCL (Liberty of the Seas and Oasis of the Seas) there was no comparison!

 

The only reason I ate in the buffet at all was on that day the only choices for lunch were O’Sheehan’s or the buffet. None of the MDRs were open on port days, and even Flamingo Grill (latino style buffet food) was not open till 2:30 on that particular day. I was also surprised that on sea days, none of the speciality dining restaurants opened (apart from the a la carte places, sushi, noodle and “mini” Ocean’s Blue). This seemed to be missing out on a revenue stream from your captive audience. On Christmas Day especially (which was a sea day) it would be been nice to have a “special” lunch at one of the speciality restaurants. Again comparing to RCCL, I remember them have special lunch options at a few of their speciality restaurants on sea days, and I pretty sure that there is at least limited service at one of their MDRs.

 

The bottom line is the ship may be built to hold 4,500+ passengers, but the infrastructure is just not there to service and feed them all in a reasonable time, even with all the speciality restaurants on board. Again, I won’t say this wrecked the cruise, but in the various cruises I’ve taken, traditional or freestyle, speciality or MDR, I have never been so frustrated over finding somewhere to eat!

[westcoasttech]

Studios and the solo life – All my adult cruises have been solo. Sometimes I meet up with one or more people and will socialize with them throughout the cruise, sometimes I keep to myself – either way, hey, I’m on vacation and I enjoy myself.

 

First of all, the positives – I give major kudos to NCL for the Studio concept and giving an option to solo travellers. The studios themselves are great (I had done my due diligence and knew they were small but had all the essentials i.e., a loo, a shower and a bed), and the studio lounge is a great idea. Sharon, the solo co-ordinator, was wonderful and performed a very difficult job with grace. I know, from experience, that a solo group can depend totally on the characters involved in the group. On this cruise it did not seem to be a very cohesive group of travellers, small cliques developed and then divided and remerged throughout the week - that’s just the way it was. Sharon kept track of all the entertainment requests and bookings throughout the week. (Solo activity schedule is attached below.)

 

I’ll also give honourable mention to my room steward (Germano?). I think I’m a pretty easy passenger to take care of – and have no special requests. He supplied clean towels every day, whether I needed them or not and I found a different towel animal on my bed every night. I did ask him to remove the ice bucket – I never need ice and it was taking up valuable real estate on the (very small) desk in the room.

 

I won’t describe the room in detail – that has been done many times on this site. I’ll add a few photos below of the room and the lounge that will cover the basics. For the studio design itself, I will say there were a couple of really, teeny, tiny things that could be improved. In the closets, there was no drawer or drawer type storage to put your smaller items (i.e., underwear). In the end I put them in the small cupboard to the left of the sink – I don’t think this was its purpose, but it really was the only suitable place I could find. In the shower, one or more small shelves would have been great – while there is a built in dispenser for shampoo and shower gel, if you bring your own supplies there’s really nowhere to put them in the shower, except for on the floor, and it’s not the biggest shower to be able to bend down and pick them up! Also a few more hooks on the walls would be helpful – there were 4 “knobs” on the adjoining room door, but a few more on the wall/door of the WC would have been great for hanging things up.

 

Hint: bring a few magnetic clips with you as the internal walls are metal. I used a couple to stick my schedule near the door, so I knew what I was doing and when, and also hung my SeaPass (on a lanyard) on it so I could grab it on the way out the door.

 

Now we come to the BIG negative … the noise!! Not from the hallway or even the other rooms, but from the plumbing! I’ve cruised a lot and am used to the soft “whoosh” you hear from the vacuum plumbing system every time someone in a nearby room flushes. However I have never heard it at the volume that it is in the studios! It wasn’t just a few rooms either, every solo I spoke to in the studios had the same issue. The noise was as loud as thunder every time someone in your “chain” of studios flushed. In fact some of the solo’s thought it was thunder the first evening, until it continued day after day, and night after night. Imagine every night and every morning hearing a loud roll of thunder every few minutes and you’ll have an idea of the problem. In between the “rolls of thunder” you could hear the constant sound of water running through the pipes.

 

A passenger in a neighbouring cabin complained and asked to be moved to another cabin, she was moved to “the only other cabin available”, which was an inside on a lower deck, but after one night being surrounded by “screaming kids, slamming doors and arguing couples” she moved back to the studios and dealt with the plumbing noise with a set of earplugs.

 

When Guest Services were told of the problem they acted as if it was a new problem they had never heard before – I find this hard to believe! In fact they sent a maintenance man to the neighbouring cabin to “fix” the toilet. I may not be an engineer but even I was immediately aware this is not a fixable problem, this is a design issue with the way the plumbing has been installed either in the walls or the ceiling of the studio cabins. I am a light sleeper and this noise meant I was pretty much sleep deprived over the whole week.

 

I also had an issue with the air conditioning – I like a cold room for sleeping and no matter now cold I set the thermostat, the room was never cool enough. This also meant there was the constant loud hum from the air conditioning vent.

 

Unless they can fix the plumbing noise I would only recommend studios for people who sleep heavily (or drink enough to make them sleep heavily), or for people comfortable sleeping with earplugs!

 

One good thing is that this trip was a “test” of the studios before my October transatlantic on the Escape. On the 3rd day of the cruise I spoke to the Cruise Consultant onboard and upgraded my Escape reservation from a Studio to a Balcony (with the latest offer, it was only a few hundred more and I got more OBC as well). Maybe they will “fix” the Studio cabin noise on the Escape but I didn’t want to risk it!

 

All in all, this was not a "Bad Cruise", but it did have its issues!

 

Will I cruise again with NCL? Yes (I’m booked on the Escape).

Will I cruise on the Getaway again? Err, maybe, but I might just wait for their new ships and see if they fix the little things.

Will I cruise on a Christmas cruise again? Very unlikely – unless someone comes out with an adult only option!!

 

I’m sure I’ve forgotten a thing or two, if I remember anything important I'll add them in. If anyone is still reading this epic, out there on the interweb, let me know if you have any specific questions and I’ll do my best to answer them. (I'll try and post the Chef's Table menu and pictures to a separate thread in the New Year.)

 

Happy New Year to all and Happy and Safe Travels to all!!

Solo schedule.PDF

[NLH Arizona]

Really enjoyed your review and happy you achieved all your challenges!!!

[jenidallas]

I sailed Getaway semi-solo at spring break and had similar experiences to you. I was a solo traveling with six people - four of whom were in the Haven and two who their friends I didn't know and really didn't hit it off with, so I was alone much of the cruise and got to see the solo side of things.

 

I echo your experience in the Studios - great rooms for solo travelers (and I'm a solid sleeper so I didn't notice noise), but the mingling/cohesiveness of solos I thought would happen with the Lounge didn't. And like you, Vibe saved my trip!

 

I just booked today on Breakaway for a two-nighter in two weeks. I'll be truly solo this time so I'll get to see what that is like - but with current promos and no supplement, a mini-suite was less expensive than a Studio, so that's what I'm doing!

 

Thanks for a great report!

[buckirj1]

Thank you for the review. Did you notice what sort of snacks/free drinks were available in the Studio Lounge?

[gstratus]

Thanks for all the great info. Traveling solo for first time on January 17. For the entertainment did the cruise director sign you up or did you book online prior to sailing?

[gstratus]

Will be getting a Vibe pass. Going for early embarking. Which way after getting on ship do I go?

[Luv2cruisewithtwins]

I really loved your review. Thank you for sharing and YES, I will take you up on your offer to post or email me the freestyle dailies. Thank you!

[Danish]

Thank you for your review. I will be solo at Getaway in February. First NCL cruise after being loyal to the Royal family. I am a little skeptical about the Freestyle cruising concept, as I am used to dine mainly in the main dinning room, but I will give it a chance.

[lwrandall]

I've done two solo cruises on the Getaway. Neither of them in the Studios. What has been the general age range of the solos in the studios.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[Da-Painter]

Thanks for the interesting review of a solo on a newer ship.

 

I wondered how these ships are going to handle all the folks trying to eat in the specialty restaurants. Some of them have very limited seating, with the promotion of unlimited dining coming up, there is going to be a problem.

Seating you in the hallway, and then leaving you there when more seats open up, that is pretty bad.

[thatjoeguy]

Thanks for the great review. We're headed out next week on the Getaway. One of our friends was planning to stay in the studios (as he had last year on the Epic) but managed to get a free upgrade to a minisuite. I too would love to see the dailies when you get a chance. Thanks!

[puddles99]

Great review & insider's view into Studio Life. What is it with all of the plumbing issues & oddities on ships lately? Traveling companions of ours on both Breakaway & Epic have had issues and now I hear that Getaway has an issue of its own (albeit design vs. function it sounds like). I also agree with you 100% on the (dis)comfort issues in the theatre on both Breakaway & Getaway - did NO ONE sit in those seats before ordering & installing hundreds of them?

 

Cheers! :D

[snorklinbarb]

Thanks so much for your detailed review. Holiday cruises have their own challenges and it was good that you pointed out specific reasons such as large numbers of kids, extended families, etc.

 

We'll be on Getaway for the first time in a few wks and many of the things that got to be frustrating should have eased up.

 

Your review though reminded me that we still haven't booked restaurants or shows so your offer to post the latest dailies would be very appreciated. I was really hoping someone might kindly offer to do so and it would be very timely for our planning.

 

Any lounge entertainers, comedians who stood out for you? Glad you enjoyed the shows.

 

Thanks in advance and Happy New Year!:)

[CPT Trips]

Thanks so much for your detailed review. Holiday cruises have their own challenges and it was good that you pointed out specific reasons such as large numbers of kids' date=' extended families, etc.

 

We'll be on Getaway for the first time in a few wks and many of the things that got to be frustrating should have eased up.

 

Your review though reminded me that we still haven't booked restaurants or shows so your offer to post the latest dailies would be very appreciated. I was really hoping someone might kindly offer to do so and it would be very timely for our planning.

 

Any lounge entertainers, comedians who stood out for you? Glad you enjoyed the shows.

 

Thanks in advance and Happy New Year!:)[/quote']

 

Happy New Year Barb and hello to Bob. ;)

Breakaway 1/18/15 . . .

[cruiserssandr]

Thanks so much for your detailed review. Holiday cruises have their own challenges and it was good that you pointed out specific reasons such as large numbers of kids' date=' extended families, etc.

 

We'll be on Getaway for the first time in a few wks and many of the things that got to be frustrating should have eased up.

 

Your review though reminded me that we still haven't booked restaurants or shows so your offer to post the latest dailies would be very appreciated. I was really hoping someone might kindly offer to do so and it would be very timely for our planning.

 

Any lounge entertainers, comedians who stood out for you? Glad you enjoyed the shows.

 

Thanks in advance and Happy New Year!:)[/quote']

We are also going on the Getaway in a few weeks. I have booked shows but not restaurants. I held back on the restaurants because I thought they would charge the fee when I did that. Since we are Platinum and get 2 free I wonder if it would be complicated to get credit. Also our booking included dinner for 2 w/a bottle of wine for free.

 

Glad to see your post Barb. It's been a while since I had seen anything from you. Guess we have been traveling in different directions. Susan and Richard

[DavyJoneses]

Loved the magnetic clips idea...thanks.

[snorklinbarb]

Don't want to derail this thread so let me just say Bon Voyage, Randy and Lynn. Cruisersandr, I'll be on Getaway 1/24 solo and with Bob 1/31. Maybe see you onboard.

 

Back to Getaway review.

 

Hoping you can post recent dailies. Thanks.

[Cruiser Bruiser]

Thank you for your review. I will be solo at Getaway in February. First NCL cruise after being loyal to the Royal family. I am a little skeptical about the Freestyle cruising concept, as I am used to dine mainly in the main dinning room, but I will give it a chance.

 

I'm not the OP, but I sailed solo on Epic three weeks ago. You shouldn't have difficulty finding a table in any of the three MDRs as a single. Norwegian MDRs have many more tables for two than other cruise lines, precisely because of Freestyle. In fact, you will likely have an easier time walking into an MDR rather than a specialty restaurant. Furthermore, because 2-tops are often grouped together, folks often engage in conversation. It's nice.

 

I've done two solo cruises on the Getaway. Neither of them in the Studios. What has been the general age range of the solos in the studios.

 

I was surprised that there were a lot of single women in the 50-70 range on my Epic cruise two weeks ago. (Not that there's anything wrong with that! :p) I would say most of the passengers I saw in the Studio-plex were 30 to 70-something.

Edited January 2, 2015 by Cruiser Bruiser

[debranator]

lovely post and thank you for all the info.

just packed some magnet clips and am preparing to race on board to book the vibe..which I strangely never heard about until your posts.