Getaway May 2nd -review and random notes

[omc329]

Firstly, dh had a wonderful time. I felt it was a mixed bag. Others I spoke with on and off ship ranged from loved it, to never again, to it was fine, but will never do another supership again. We did not purchase an fcc. I'm still on the fence with all the changes, and more particularly the implementation of the changes, ie, I have little trust in NCL to deliver a purchased product without further changes.

 

On the ship I used many of the free services including drop slide, rock wall, ropes course, (zip line was closed the duration of the cruise), shuffleboard, minigolf, and paid for bowling and air hockey. Bowling was not worth $5 a game imo. Of course we hit the hot tubs as well. We tended to time ourselves to avoid lines as much as possible. For instance, doing things on port days when lines were nonexistent.

 

UBP - Free promo. I wish never to have this again. The weight I gained!! :b.... I was determined to make the most of the package. Big mistake. Even with that, our total tab for the 2 of us was approx. $350 for the week. Ok for a freebie, but I would never purchase the package. The package itself worked smooth as silk. There were some bars that backed up. I simply went on to another. I did find it was easier to take a beer into Osheehan's, rather than order one after being seated for a meal, and purchased cocktails before going to the dining rooms as well.

 

And while I'm on the dining mind set....

 

Service overall varied.

 

Le Bistro was impeccable service and food. FANTASTIC!!!

 

La Cucina on the Waterfront had environment down pat. Ocean waves and breeze, soft Italian music, passerby's to watch. I felt I was back on the Almafi coast. Now the food was only passably fair. SALTY!!!!! Though dh enjoyed his steak there.

 

Tropicana was quick, quick. I almost, though not quite, felt rushed. Fastest dinner we had on ship. We had hoped to do some dancing, but the Summer Breeze group started later than listed and we only managed one dance on our way out. *shrug* Timing is everything! The food was decent. No complaints there.

 

Savor and Taste were ok as a whole. We had one bad experience at Savor for breakfast wherein, after FORTY-FIVE minutes I finally complained at the reception desk about it taking forever to get served. One supervisor came around and was rather snippish about explaining we had to wait our turn as the orders are processed as they come in. FORTY-FIVE MINUTES?!!?!?!?!!

 

Other than that, service was fair in those restaurants. I noticed though, that the next time we had breakfast the waiter wrote the time down on the slip when we ordered. Curious, eh?

 

Food was fair at those restaurants as well. Angusburger at lunch was great. The chicken salad on the salty side, but good, especially when I had them serve it on a bed of lettuce. I was surprised to find towards the end of the cruise, the muesli was my favorite breakfast item. I wish I had tried it earlier.

 

Osheehan's was typical pub food. The ribs were fantastic. The fish was ok. The chicken pot pie is still a favorite with me. I miss the brownie sundae's and consider it a cheap trick to charge for ice cream there. That said, with the ubp, I had more than enough foofoos to compensate. :b..... Service was slow to fair depending when we hit them.

 

Flamingo grill was great! The flaky pastries they had up there were SCRUMPTIOUS! It was great for a quick bite in the morning or a mid afternoon snack.

 

The buffet we only hit a few times. It was a ZOO! I avoided it as much as possible.

 

We never ordered room service. We did bring cookies back to the cabin which I kept in a plastic bag to eat at our leisure. I did see a few folks bring plates back to their cabins. There was a definite reduction of plates in the halls this trip!!!

 

I wasn't thrilled with our steward, not quite enough to complain but enough to irritate. For starters I needed to beg a second beach towel off him. He had difficulty understanding he only gave us one to begin with. It took two tries to finally get a second towel. That was minor in the overall, I agree.

 

He only iced our wine and bubbly two nights of the seven. I was left with warm wine for our consumption on the other nights. Not thrilled with that.

 

My biggest beef, (and no, I never bothered to complain but simply accepted it as it was), was he NEVER cleaned our room before NOON, and often close to 1PM. I was up and about 7AM every day. He was nowhere to be had. Best I can figure is he kept a late shift deliberately. There were other stewards about in the mornings, just not ours. It was somewhat embarrassing to have towels on the floor the morning of the cc cabin crawl. Our laundry was a day late coming back, and I attribute that to our steward not getting it in on time. Not a biggie, but we were looking for one of the items a bit sooner. *shrug*

 

He was ok..., fair so to speak. There wasn't enough to complain about at the desk and get him in trouble with anyone, but for the first time ever, we did NOT tip our steward extra at the end of the cruise.

 

Our room was fine. About what I expected. We had an angle balcony, and it had one lounger and 2 chairs out there. It was a tight fit with all 3, I could have done with 1 less chair, but it was REALLY nice to have that lounger out there! We saw a standard minisuite down the hall on our cruise crawl. I far and away preferred our cabin with the angle balcony! We also saw the large balcony down the way on the crawl, it was NIiiiicee! The inside seemed roomier that I would have thought them to be, but still cramped.

 

There was a smoker somewhere about our balcony. One night we saw a flying LIT cigarette butt flying in front of our balcony. I reported it at the desk the next day, not as a complaint so much as I didn't care to see the ship go up in flames while I was on it!!! I do so wish they would ENFORCE their rules better! The smoke itself was an irritant on occasion, but the safety issue.....thpttt.

 

Speaking on smoke, the smoke in the atrium was HORRID. I still say, get the smoke behind glass. I don't care if they smoke in the casino, but PLEASE seal it off!!!!!!!!

 

Which leads me to dancing. Most of the dancing appeared to start late at night, after 10:30. We're in bed. I cruise to dance!! and dance...and dance...and dance....*sigh*

 

The best dancing I could get was at the mojito bar with the Summer Breeze group. Unfortunately, no dance floor, smoke increasingly bad through the evening from the casino below, and trying to dance without irritating somebody somewhere was difficult given the location. I wish they would offer good dancing options throughout the day and evening, BEFORE my bedtime, in a good dance venue WITHOUT smoke in my lungs, eyes and nose.

 

And now that I'm on entertainment...

 

Legally Blonde was a disappointment. I saw a much better version at our local dinner theater. I expected better on ship.....*sigh*

 

Burn the Floor I did not expect to like. LOVED it! Well, most of it. They could have cut the last 15 minutes with the flashing lights and change of style. The show itself I would describe as watching a Latino ballet. GREAT!

 

Levity group had three different comics. I liked 2 of the 3. We saw 2 performances, but walked out partway through the 3rd. The comic was using the same EXACT material from earlier in the week. Seems like he should have had something fresh for the fans that returned to see him again. *shrug*

 

Howl at the Moon we were disappointed in. Loved them on the Epic. This time we lasted 10 or 15 minutes before throwing in the towel. Never returned.

 

The cruise critic meet was fabulous! Best one I've ever attended with ship's officers mingling with the guests prior to the intro, sponge bob making a showing for the kids and even waiters walking around with mini smoothies!

 

Overall we were happy with our experience. The officers are definitely out there and trying hard to please. Not everything went as smooth as silk, but my biggest complaint would have been the smoke in the atrium area and off nearby balconies. Food was ok to good. Entertainment was mostly good with the exception that they should have more dance opportunities earlier in the evening.

 

I'm not thrilled with the superships, in largest part because of the casino smoke. Smoke drove me off carnival and to NCL. I have enjoyed NCL, but not sure I want anymore supership experiences after our upcoming Escape. Frankly, if I weren't sailing with others on that one, I think I would have canceled and rebooked on Celebrity when they had a sale I thought of as a better deal a few weeks back.

 

The jury is out. I no longer trust NCL, but the experience is still, for the most part, enjoyable. I think we will likely avoid their superships in future bookings.

 

All said....we had a good time and dh came back relaxed, the main purpose to the vacation.

[nfglory1]

Thank you so much for the review, we are looking forward to leaving this Saturday! You mentioned still having a bar bill of 350. Is that because you were ordering drinks above the $11 threshold or extra tipping ?

[Pia1913]

Thank you. We board on the 23rd. Loved the Epic in March, so expect more or less same with Getaway. We have the UDP; don't drink enough to warrant the other one.

[omc329]

Thank you so much for the review, we are looking forward to leaving this Saturday! You mentioned still having a bar bill of 350. Is that because you were ordering drinks above the $11 threshold or extra tipping ?

 

The $350 was the sum total of our receipts that they ring up and later zero out. We were not charged for any of it, except taxes in Miami.

[NLH Arizona]

 

 

Other than that, service was fair in those restaurants. I noticed though, that the next time we had breakfast the waiter wrote the time down on the slip when we ordered. Curious, eh?

 

Thanks for the review.

 

Wonder if them putting the time on the orders had anything to do with folks complaining about how long it was taking to get their meals. This would be an excellent way for a manager to check to see how long it takes, if one server is slower than others, etc.

[david_sobe]

Welcome back!

I agree...the ribs at O'Sheehans are pretty darn good ;)

[Ladytee47]

I know I will get someone mad right now, but I agree with the smoking on the ships. I hate it! I wish they would takE the smoking OFF of the cruise ships ALL TOGETHER!! I am glad they are NOT allowed to smoke on the balconies anymore because you can not enjoy your balcony if the people beside or above is smoking!

 

Thanks for your review!

Ladytee!!

[Pia1913]

I know I will get someone mad right now, but I agree with the smoking on the ships. I hate it! I wish they would takE the smoking OFF of the cruise ships ALL TOGETHER!! I am glad they are NOT allowed to smoke on the balconies anymore because you can not enjoy your balcony if the people beside or above is smoking!

 

Thanks for your review!

Ladytee!!

 

They did; a long time ago. Carnival built the Paradise; a non smoking ship. We were on her three times and what a pleasure not having to breathe foul air. What happened? They couldn't make it. It didn't fill. Some employees explained that smokers drink and smokers gamble and when they eliminated those people, bars and casino weren't making any money.

Edited May 13, 2015 by Pia1913

[Dave85]

Thanks for the review OP. I would consider Celebrity if you want less smoke. They do far and away the best job of minimizing smoke (no smoking in the casinos even), and are only a little more expensive on standard Caribbean routes.