January 31 Getaway Review w/some Studio-Solo Info

[CoralHunter]

About me- I am single, mid- 40’s and this was my fifth cruise. I’ve wanted to try a solo cabin since the first time I saw a preview brochure about the Epic and I had the opportunity to do this on the Getaway. It's taken me a couple of days to post this because I have been transcribing my notes which are really a 5000K long-winded travelogue, so I am condensing this to mostly thoughts. Neither of my excursions were booked through NCL so I will review those on the ports of call and Trip Advisor per the vendor's requests.

 

 

 

 

The Studio Rooms

 

 

If you’ve read any articles/watch any shows about micro-houses, this is the micro-stateroom. Because of the way the closets are set up and the space under the bed is used with baskets, the cube chair is a storage space and there are cubbies next to the sink that hold lots of stuff. I only used one of the baskets and had room in the closets. If I had one quibble, there is no night stand in this room and I am not sure how people ate room service in there? Sitting on the bed? Several times there were room service trays left in the Studio Lounge, so I suppose some passengers ordered room service and ate there. Not a bad idea.

 

 

What I thought was the weirdest feature and the one I expected to like the least turned out to be one of my favorites and that was the frosty glass window. I have only had interior rooms on a ship and they can be pretty dark. I kept the window cover cracked or open most nights and got just enough light to see around if I needed to.

 

 

**TIP** If you are approaching the studios on the starboard (right) side of the ship, the Studio entry door is at rooms 762 and 764 on both floors. As I am directionally challenged and passed the door up a couple of times, the room stewards taught me to look out for the cabin numbers and that helped a lot.

 

 

 

 

To Vibe or not to Vibe:

 

 

 

I decided prior to the cruise not to get a Vibe pass for this trip. After reading reviews of Vibe and Spice H20, the worst thing anyone said about either was that umbrellas remain closed if it’s too windy. The water feature in Spice H20 was more intriguing to me then the amenities in Vibe. I also didn’t want to worry about fighting for something like that as soon as I got on the ship.

 

 

 

Spice H20=Poor Man's aft balcony.

 

 

I spent A LOT of time there. In the mornings it was empty. I could have a cup of tea on a lounge chair overlooking the aft of the ship and get a soak in the hot tub before breakfast. The view leaving St. Maarten was incredible. It got crowded mid-day on sea days, but you could find a chair to sit. My only quibble is that the hot tubs closed early on a few nights-there will be more on this later in the review.

 

 

 

 

[CoralHunter]

UDP and UBP packages:

 

 

 

I didn’t purchase either of these. I’d heard from another solo traveler that getting the UDP can hinder finding dinner partners. I also wanted to check out the ambience in the MDR’s. As far as the UBP, I am a light to moderate drinker and this didn’t seem cost effective to me.

 

 

For the UBP, I was right. My bar bill was $122.00. I did have a few glasses of complimentary wine and went to the ice bar and the mojito tasting. The Ice Bar and the Mojito tasting would have been extra anyway. Adding those plus the wine would have put me in at the $200 range, about half the cost of the package.

 

 

Dining:

 

 

In land-world I find dining in general to be a subjective and sensitive topic. If NCL has 100K guests on board in a given year, there are 100K opinions on how to cook a steak. I did eat at two specialty restaurants and got a lobster roll from the Ocean Blue window. I didn't see enough difference in food or service (minus one incident recounted below) to justify a UDP. In fact, I thought the most personable and best service came in the Garden Cafe. I will probably always try a specialty restaurant or two, however, these menus haven't changed much since I first encountered the restaurants in 2000. The bright spots were the Latin/Caribbean inspired dishes like the meats at the Flamingo Grill, a shrimp ceviche that was presented towards the end of the cruise and a welcome respite from the heavy dishes I was choosing, a coconut souffle, and a bean/chorizo/greens soup. My favorite surprise was the bean salad at the Flamingo Grill. I wish I'd have found that earlier than I did on the cruise!

 

 

I found the service in Taste and Savor to good with a few spots that could use improvements, this included the Maitre D's. Some stood at the entrance and made a pass through the dining room every 20 or 30 minutes and others helped bus tables, filled water glasses, spent more time supporting the wait staff and checking on guests. These were the smoothest meals in the MDR's. I had some really good wait staff. Interestingly my favorite wasn't a happy/happy/washy/washy time but some one who gave of genuine vibes that he cared about his guests. At one dinner we did have a waitress who did not smile, introduce herself, ask us how our day was, clarify special requests, and poured WAY to much wine in my glass from a bottle. The solo coordinator was sitting with us at that meal and asked to be served quickly to he could go to another event. She pretty much ignored this. Before the end of our dinner we noticed that the waitress was taken to the side by two senior restaurant employees and got the sense she was being lectured about her poor service.

[CoralHunter]

Classes and Entertainment

 

I attended several of the daily origami classes and this was a fun way to pass a little time in the morning. So were some of the presentations in the atrium.

 

I also, as mentioned before, went to the mojito tasting. For the cost of less than 2 mojitos I figured out there were three I didn't like. Heh.

 

*TIP* Do not sit at the bar for this or the martini tasting. Sit in the groupings of chairs next to the piano. Bong gives a pretty decent lecture and once things get going it's difficult to hear. Trust me- There's incentive to listen.

 

I didn't attend any of the shows in the theater, the comedy group or the Grammy Experience. Oh well.

 

I did try Howl at the Moon one night and didn't realize I would need cash to get a song played so I sang along to everyone else's request. The piano players were great entertainers and I can see how they picked up regulars over the course of the the week.

 

Karaoke was terrible. There were electronic pads to find songs and they were difficult to navigate. They were also missing a few standards (Frank Sinatra's My Way-somebody's got to belt it for proper Karaoke). Worse the screen was on the stage, so the singer stood in the middle of the audience. No fun.

 

I did want to hear some of the live music on the ship so I went to the Sugar Cane Bar one night where one of the piano acts was playing. As I was walking up the stairs I heard singing and thought, man his voice isn’t that great. When I got up to the bar, a passenger was singing and I thought the piano player was being gracious. Turns out it was open mic night. You pick the song, he plays it, and you sing it using the song book. Blow off karaoke and DO THIS. The lighting is low, the words are small the piano man is whispering directions in your ear. How bad did I sound? Who cares? It was a blast. This was the only night I stayed until the end of the entertainment.

 

I danced quite a bit and thought the DJ was great. Because Latin Music was in Bliss at the same time as the super bowl there were a total of eight of us, but the music was so good. My only issues were with the 80's dance party where most guests stood around and watched 7 or 8 men in costume prance around to a medley. Really, that was only fun for their companions and not entertaining at all. Second they played Shout from Animal House and a medley from Grease. Great dance tunes, but those are from 1978. I would have rather danced to true 80's music.

[CoralHunter]

The Solo Experience

 

The coordinator makes all of the difference here. The first night I arrived at the Solo Meet and Greet a little late. There were a few solos and no coordinator. The coordinator abruptly moved the group up to the Studio Lounge. By the time we got there it felt like we were already splitting up. He was a little disorganized and unsure how to handle the group. There were a lot of solos that didn't go back and I don't blame them. I didn't the second night and hadn't planned to the rest of the cruise. However, there was a minor issue in the Studio Lounge and I approached the Solo Coordinator about it on the third day and he told me that he was no longer the Solo Coordinator.

 

Since I planned to review the trip, I thought I'd at least meet the new one. By the time I met him that evening, he already knew a few of the solos and was a great host. He was very good with the diversity of the group and attentive to us. He even sent chocolates to our room and provided wine at the meet and greet on the last night! From the meet ups I was able to meet some nice interesting people to hang out with on the cruise.

 

People do split up into smaller groups and some don't go back to the solo meet ups and I think that should be expected as we find people with similar interests.

[CoralHunter]

Final Thoughts

 

The ship is LARGE. I probably didn't gain much weight because of all the walking. I spent most of my time on decks 8 and 16 and I could manage using the staircase to get to either of these. Any reasonably fit person can handle 3 or 4 decks worth of stairs on this ship. One drawback is that you don't run into the same people as often like you do on smaller ships. I wish I had met the couple I spoke with on the last night earlier in the cruise. We had a great conversation and I could have been adopted by the end of the trip. You also don't get to try everything. I was interested in trying O'Sheehan's. I made it there twice: getting on the ship on embarkation day and getting off the ship on debarkation day. It was so far away from my regular haunts I usually forgot about it.

 

I would Solo again in heartbeat. I think Solos and the cruise lines need to better explain what it is and isn't. Solos are people who have the means to get away and want to escape their lives for a week or two and friends/relatives/significant others can't. There were people (including friends at home) who honestly thought I went on the ship to meet men. I'm sure there's at least one couple out there who met cruising, but this is not the norm and was not the expectation of any of the Solos I hung out with.

 

I think the ship needs a little more balance on the upper decks between "wow" factors and standard amenities. I agree with previous reviewers that think that the pools are too small and too crowded. If I were somewhere between 7 and 12, the water slide attendants would have known me like they did some kids, however, the multiple slides take up a lot of space for something most passengers are going to use for maybe a thirty minute period. A larger pool might go a longer way. Second, if I had the choice between black lighting for the Glow Party/fireworks and both hot tubs open every night until 11, I am choosing the hot tubs. I would consider a Vibe pass in the future to have unfettered evening hot tub time.

 

My biggest take away was that the senior crew members respond to issues and requests and they fix what they can quickly. Whether it's poor restaurant service, muting a TV, or changing visible personnel, the staff will make what changes they can to make the trip more enjoyable.

[BlessedMimi]

I was on the cruise just before yours in a studio, 11573. I thought I would never find my cabin on the first day! The hint about looking for the room numbers in the hall was great. I finally figured out that I must approach down the starboard hall. The fish swimming forward on the carpet is a great help, also.

 

I did not find the studio claustrophobic at all, which was my main concern. I certainly loved not having to pay a single supplement (=double!) The studio lounge is lovely, especially the coffee everything machine. I found the staff to be ultra helpful and concerned.

 

That little cube stool was my biggest annoyance! I did sit on it to apply makeup, but one of the closet doors would not open (the one which contained the safe) unless the stool was shifted out of the way. It was heavy and awkward to move on carpet. My steward did move it over by my bed the first night. In other words, it was supposed to be my night stand!

 

I did eat in my room some--sitting on the bed. I ate at O'Sheehan's several times. It was one of my favorite things about the cruise. I did not eat at any specialty restaurants. I had floor seats at the Illuminarium, which was great! I saw all the shows.

 

I paid $199 for a membership to the thermal spa on the first day. For me, this was a great investment. I could go up there to see the water (it is on the front of the ship.) I was up there for a couple of sailaways. I left one day because, in spite of signs posted requesting quiet, there were people talking at the top of their voices in there. However, as I left, there was an employee headed in to try to quiet things down. She had already received complaints.

 

All in all, this was one great cruise, and the studios are a great innovation, in my opinion.

[CoralHunter]

I thought about getting the spa pass too, however, the weather was so great I wanted to be outside as much as I could. Had I seen cooler than normal temperatures or a lot of rain, the spa pass would have been purchased.

 

That was the best thing I got for my Alaskan cruise.

[Still Dreaming]

Great review!

I think we were on the food tour together and sat together for the piano guy! He was awesome and loved that bar!:)

[CoralHunter]

Great review!

I think we were on the food tour together and sat together for the piano guy! He was awesome and loved that bar!:)

 

Yes, that's me. I loved both the Sugarcane and the Sunset bars. They were great spaces.

[sid_9169]

Thanks for the review. I'm going solo on the Getaway on May 30 2015... I plan on going to the solo meet and greet at least on the first couple of nights... Only 103 more days...

[Travelgirl1227]

I was on the cruise just before yours in a studio' date=' 11573. I thought I would never find my cabin on the first day! The hint about looking for the room numbers in the hall was great. I finally figured out that I must approach down the starboard hall. The fish swimming forward on the carpet is a great help, also.

 

I did not find the studio claustrophobic at all, which was my main concern. I certainly loved not having to pay a single supplement (=double!) The studio lounge is lovely, especially the coffee everything machine. I found the staff to be ultra helpful and concerned.

 

That little cube stool was my biggest annoyance! I did sit on it to apply makeup, but one of the closet doors would not open (the one which contained the safe) unless the stool was shifted out of the way. It was heavy and awkward to move on carpet. My steward did move it over by my bed the first night. In other words, it was supposed to be my night stand!

 

I did eat in my room some--sitting on the bed. I ate at O'Sheehan's several times. It was one of my favorite things about the cruise. I did not eat at any specialty restaurants. I had floor seats at the Illuminarium, which was great! I saw all the shows.

 

I paid $199 for a membership to the thermal spa on the first day. For me, this was a great investment. I could go up there to see the water (it is on the front of the ship.) I was up there for a couple of sailaways. I left one day because, in spite of signs posted requesting quiet, there were people talking at the top of their voices in there. However, as I left, there was an employee headed in to try to quiet things down. She had already received complaints.

 

All in all, this was one great cruise, and the studios are a great innovation, in my opinion.[/quote']

 

I'm going to be in 11573 on the April 4, 2015 sailing. Only 48 days to go.

Did you buy the thermal spa pass at the spa or at guest services? I think I will enjoy that space very much (the sun & I have a love/hate relationship).

 

Thank you for the review. It is nice to finally get info on the Studio's from a solo cruiser.

Edited February 15, 2015 by Travelgirl1227
Adding in a thank you

[BlessedMimi]

Hey, Travelgirl! Excited to hear you're going to be in "my" cabin! When you board the ship, be sure to remember, "starboard forward."

 

I bought my spa pass at the spa itself. The public areas are very crowded, so I think this will be a good purchase for you. I don't do sun either.

 

If you can get a floor seat for Illuminarium, I think you would be glad you did. There aren't many, so you should probably do that soon.

 

I am a frequent cruiser on Royal Caribbean, and have been on most other cruise lines. I usually have a robe furnished, but only Haven occupants have robes on NCL. So...if you get room service coffee to wake you up like I do, you might want to carry some sort of light robe!

 

I hope you post how you like the cruise and the cabin! Bon Voyage! Can't wait to hear.