Getaway review - May 9, 2015 - with 7 year old (daily schedule included)

[LASilva]

So to sum it up I LOVED the Getaway. I loved my previous cruises too, but I really feel that NCL suits my family. We're are not really big on dressing up and set dining times, and we are quite active.

 

I think that there was so much to do, we couldn't do it all in one week. I did feel really busy compared to previous cruises, which is not always a good thing. I am really hoping to go back next year and do the things I didn't get to do (both because I couldn't fit it all in and because I got sick) but next time I also take a little more time to just relax and do nothing.

 

Another thing that I know for sure is that there are a lot of extras you can pay for to enhance your experience (restaurants, private areas, shows etc), but you do not need to pay for all of the extras in order to have a great time.

 

When we go through all of the photos I will post more here.

[LASilva]

Love the video. We're you using a stabiliser for the walking shots? Looked really smooth

 

Thanks! Yes, the stabilizer was used for all non-water shots. I don't know much about it. DH is not a member here, but if you have any questions about the stabilizer just put them in the comments in YouTube and he will answer. :)

[dlynn0366]

Great video, can't wait for the photo's. Thank's for taking me down the slide :)

[aquarianne11]

Wonderful review and video! Thanks for sharing.

[ncklhaus]

Loved your review and video! Seeing the snorkeling made my decision for me. :D I'm going to buy snorkel gear for the family for our next cruise.

[youngestof9]

awesome video! thanks for sharing - my girls will love watching that. We're in the final stretch!!

[MBCruiser29]

Thank you for your great review and video! We are taking our kids (7,7,3) on their first cruise next December and will be on the Getaway. They will love watching the video!

[ilovetotravel1977]

St. Thomas

 

We did the Twice as Nice Catamaran Sail and Snorkel

We enjoyed this. There was a stop near a shipwreck and a stop by Turtle Cove.

We did this one because my son wanted to see the turtles and the actual Turtle Cove Sail and Snorkel was only for ages 8 and up. Not sure why there's different age restrictions since I would guess the excursions are similar.

The stops were a little too short for us. Also there was only one turtle. When we were leaving we could see the turtles were actually a bit further down from where we stopped. But my son was happy enough seeing the one turtle thank goodness.

They served unlimited pain killers on the way back. :D

 

About how many people were on the Catamaran? We are looking at this excursion as well, since DD will only be 7 when we sail. That's disappointing you only saw one turtle. Strange the crew didn't try to find an area where there was more of them...

[LASilva]

About how many people were on the Catamaran? We are looking at this excursion as well, since DD will only be 7 when we sail. That's disappointing you only saw one turtle. Strange the crew didn't try to find an area where there was more of them...

 

I would say there were about 30 people. It was not crowded. The catamaran is really big.

 

Apparently it was unusual that the turtles weren't there. I think they were quite sure they would be there when they dropped anchor and we got off. There were time constraints so it probably would have taken too long to get everyone back on and move to another spot. The guide was going all over the place trying to find them for us. He was really good with DS. He told him to stick close by and he would show him things. He would bring starfish and shellfish etc. up from the bottom to show him. The "captain" of the catamaran let DS "drive".

 

One thing I never thought about is that although I have no sea sickness at all on cruise ships, I do sometimes get sea sick on small boats. I wasn't too bad but DH was pretty queasy. So if you aren't sure about how your family reacts on small boats, maybe take something for sea sickness just in case.

[ilovetotravel1977]

Thanks so much for this info.

 

30 people is good number. Did you book before the cruise or while on the ship?

[MoyCoy]

Great video! I DID NOT KNOW THAT NCL SHOOTS FIREWORKS! Do they have a cute show like Disney too?

 

How did check in after dinner work? Was there a crazy long line?

[LASilva]

Great video! I DID NOT KNOW THAT NCL SHOOTS FIREWORKS! Do they have a cute show like Disney too?

 

How did check in after dinner work? Was there a crazy long line?

 

Yup! Fireworks! I think only on Getaway and Breakaway, not sure. They are on the Port side so I believe most people with balconies on that side can see them. BUT they were at 10:45! So its kind of late for some kids. Not mine, he can go forever. There's no show or anything. Well, actually the 80s deck party started at 10:30pm and it looked like fun but that's the night I started getting really sick so I couldn't go :( We did get to the glow party and it was a lot of fun. That's the one at the end of the video. DS loved it.

 

There was no issue with check in during the entire cruise. Sometimes the line looked long but it never took more than 10 minutes.

[LASilva]

I found some more random photos....

 

BEST DESERT EVER! WARM CHOCOLATE VOLCANO

I believe this was on the menu on day 6. I had it in the Tropicana Room

 

RASPERRY GUAVA MOJITO

Sugarcane Mojito bar

 

MINI GOLF

 

DROP SLIDES

 

NEW PIER IN TORTOLA

[LASilva]

I'm re-posting the video since the link I put previously is tiny and easy to miss. I learned how to embed it :)

 

OUR NORWEGIAN GETAWAY VACATION VIDEO

 

[YOUTUBE]RZ6s4VlpO3k[/YOUTUBE]

[k9hndler]

Thanks for the tips. We are going on Getaway with our 10 and 12 year old. How did your child like the slides? Where they open regularly? How about lines for the slides and ropes course? Did you check out the library at all? Do they have Games (we like to play Yahtzee at night) you can check out? How about cards and card games?

 

Thanks in advance.

[LASilva]

Thanks for the tips. We are going on Getaway with our 10 and 12 year old. How did your child like the slides? Where they open regularly? How about lines for the slides and ropes course? Did you check out the library at all? Do they have Games (we like to play Yahtzee at night) you can check out? How about cards and card games?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

DS LOVED the slides. They are really fast. Hes kind of an adrenaline junkie (already at 7!).The lines were short - no more than 5 minutes I believe. He went over and over. There are five slides and there are staff members to direct the traffic :) You have to be over 100lbs to do the drop slides (hes not even close :)

 

I think there was a longer line for the ropes course on day 2 - probably because of the novelty - but after that there was no problem. By longer line I mean it looked like people were waiting maybe 10-20 minutes.

Slides were open daily from 10am to 8pm. I know on days 2 and 3 while we were way out at sea it was really really windy and the sports area (ropes course, bounce, spider mountain etc) was closed at times, but once we got to the Caribbean and the wind died down everything was always open when it was supposed to be. I did the ropes course when the ship was in Nassau and we were the only ones on it!

 

We did check out the library. The selection of books was really poor. I don't know if its just that way, or if it was because everything was checked out.

 

There is a card room next to the library and that is where the board games are. I saw them in the bookcases but I didn't check to see exactly what they had.

 

There was tons of things to do, whether you want active activities like the slides, or group activities like scavenger hunts and pizza making, there was something!

 

I don't think the Freestyle Daily will change much in the next while so you can find the daily schedule in a link in one of my early posts, and get an idea of how you can plan your day (it also shows when the slides and ropes course is open).

 

I hope this helped!

[k9hndler]

That was super helpful, Thanks. What places and foods did your Child like the most on the ship? My Kids love a variety, but they are looking forward to the wings and Mozzarella sticks in O’Sheehan’s

[helpmecruise16]

Great review - we are cruising with our three kids in January - what did he wear for dinner? how much did you pack for him?

[pambo]

What a great review and video. Thank you so much for sharing!

[bruadhin]

I love the picture of your son and the prime rib. I could just picture my son doing that.

 

Thank you for the pictures of the waterpark. We are booked for the Getaway next year, I believe our son will enjoy it as well.

[CDNseekingheat]

Thank you for sharing!

I loved it!

[mdlex]

Great Video! Thanks for sharing. My son is on the spectrum as well, except he is a little older. I love hearing that your son enjoyed the splash academy and that he had a good time overall.

[LASilva]

Thanks for the nice comments!

I'm so excited because I am planning a return to Getaway for April or May 2016! :D

 

To answer some of the questions:

My son mostly ate at the buffet, Flamingo Grill or O'Sheehans. O'Sheehans was his favorite restaurant. He's a real meat eater and loved the prime rib and plain chicken wings. We decided that Taste and Savor would take too long for him at dinner - he doesn't sit for very long ;) He really enjoyed Tropicana because of the dancers, and the service was faster.

Every night after Splash Academy he would ask to go to the buffet (this is around 10pm!) he would have ice cream, fries or whatever the had that evening. He gained almost 4 lbs during the week which is amazing because he has trouble with low weight.

 

He had his own suitcase that was only carry on size. The thing is, we were only off the ship twice (did not get off in Nassau) so he mostly wore swim shorts and t-shirts. He didn't really get dirty on the ship. For the nicer restaurants he wore a collar shirt, and if he did not get food on it he could wear it again - since he only wore it for about 2 hours. He had beach sandals that he pretty much wore all the time and running shoes for the ropes course etc.

 

Below is a photo of him in the Tropicana room. He would ask for brownies and ice cream for desert in the restaurants and they would bring a full plate of brownies and a full bowl of ice cream! No wonder he gained weight!

He actually liked wearing his "anchor hat" its from Joe Fresh.

If you look on the table you can see the paper Nickelodeon kids menu that you can color on. Its like the ones you get in any family restaurant.

 

[LASilva]

I realize that my link to the Freestyle Dailies (schedule portion only) was way too small and probably gets missed. I cannot edit the earlier post and so I am just going to post them right on here, now that I have figured our how to do all of this..:cool:.

 

 

 

 

[LASilva]