Newbie impressions: Solo on the Getaway

[Froggitt]

Tech notes: Internet is pretty borked today. I don’t understand how their captive portal works. You can only have one device logged into it, but even when my phone is not the ‘anointed’ device, it receives iMessages (not SMS), even though it is in airplane mode and I’ve disabled all cellular activity. I’m worried NCL or Verizon or someone is going to figure out how to bill me for this.

 

I found my iPad was receiving notifications even when I was logged off the ship wifi.

 

Is Epic Mb charging or minute charging nowadays?

[Demonyte]

Is Epic Mb charging or minute charging nowadays?

 

 

OP is on Getaway. Only Breakaway is testing megabyte based internet billing.

[buckirj1]

This is one of the best reviews I've read recently. A couple of questions for you (or for anybody who can answer):

1. No refrigerators in studio cabins, correct?

2. I've read some reviews stating the showers are "too small." How do you find them?

3. Is there sufficient room in the toilet enclosure, from a female perspective?

4. What sort of non-alcoholic drinks are stocked in the studio lounge?

[perditax]

Day three roundup.

 

Tech notes: JESUS TAKE THE WHEEL.

 

Yeah, we’ll say no more about that.

 

Okay, let me just say that anyone who tells you that the iConcierge app is great, or encourages you to try to book anything with those big touchscreens, is most likely not to be trusted. Just wait until it’s no longer Day One and book everything at Guest Services. Really. I am the queen of automation and not interacting with people for things I can do myself. I have mastered the art of things like the self-checkout line at the grocery store. I booked my entire trip online. And I am telling you. Just give up and go to Guest Services. They will print you out a piece of paper with all your stuff on it. You will need it. Because you will forget.

 

Also, I tried to use the blow-dryer in my room today, but it just made a sad whirring noise, similar to the sound my cat makes when he’s running away from the front door because the UPS guy knocked. Housekeeping eventually brought me a new one, but in the meantime I used the one in the spa. The spa is still my favorite place on the ship.

 

TECH ADDENDUM: I had to attempt to login to the captive portal four separate times while preparing to post this.

 

Socialization: I tried, guys. I got a beer and a lobster roll on the Waterfront, then tried to brave Spice H20. OH HELL NAW. Sorry, but it was like being in a rotisserie oven with a bunch of other pasty chickens, and the water feature was full up. I walked the sun decks (15 and 16) all the way from aft to forward, and finally did get a real sense of where the ‘there are no loungers’ complaints come from. Packed from end to the other. I gave up and went to the thermal suite. I got in the pool there, and chatted with some other folks. We congratulated ourselves for being smart enough to have bought spa passes. The thermal suite folks are my peeps, I just have to accept it.

 

Food: My stomach let me know this morning that any attempts to continue overeating would be met with rebellion. I didn't have much appetite, and I’m not a big breakfast eater. Nothing until early afternoon, the lobster roll I mentioned. It was still a little too rich for my stomach at the time, and I mostly ate the filling and a few chips. I tried to have a moderate amount of Flamingo Grill around 4, but my heart (stomach) still wasn’t in it. My appetite never really appeared until after Burn the Floor, so 8:30ish. Buffet: a strip steak that wasn’t overcooked this time, and cheese/crackers/grapes.

 

Burn the Floor: Let’s be honest about this. The point of this show is to let you watch ten or fifteen smoking hot people in skimpy/tight clothes doing an extended Latin/Bob Fosse number.

 

And if that’s wrong, I don’t want to be right.

 

I really enjoyed it, and my mild ADD appreciated that it was only an hour long. The only off note for me was when I realized someone had decided to try to work Led Zeppelin into the show. I won’t spoil which song, but I did start giggling. So weird.

 

I have reservations for Illusionarium tomorrow, and I’m hoping it’s not a letdown by comparison. Unfortunately I can’t really get the forums to load consistently, so if you answer this I probably won’t see it in time.

 

Ship navigation: it’s day three and I thought I was an expert. Then I proceeded to get lost in the Garden Cafe three separate times today. Two of those times I was just trying to shortcut somewhere else, only once was I actually eating there. It was humiliating. Garden Cafe seriously can give you the sense of being in an unescapable maze. It needs more signage. The whole ship needs more signage.

 

And a note on getting lost: it happens to all of us. I understand that when you realize you are lost, the reflex to stand in one spot with your mouth hanging open is quite strong. I just ask that you don’t do it while standing in the middle of a chokepoint/hallway/buffet line. A little situational awareness goes a long way.

 

Other navigation notes: I noticed lots of people talking about taking the stairs on cruise ships. On day one, when you are hopelessly lost and your feet are aching, this seems like masochistic nonsense. By today, I was racing a 12-year-old boy down seven flights of stairs after lunch. Well, I think we were racing. In my head, we were racing. He broke off on the seventh floor and I kept going, so I consider myself the winner.

 

OH, on today’s dailies they mentioned a couple of ‘quiet’ areas set aside, including the library and the Prime Meridian bar. I tried both for writing this morning. I really liked the library, super comfortable and great view, but people were in and out a lot, and it was SO quiet that I worried even my earbuds might be audible. Prime Meridian was less comfortable, but I got more writing done there. I don’t know, I will most likely be back in the library on port days.

 

Today the offer came today for a $20 bag of laundry. Naturally, I washed basically all my clothes by hand last night.

 

Solo-ism: I love it. I’m still mildly apprehensive about my Le Bistro dinner, but otherwise my expectation that I have the right temperament for solo travel was correct. There was a little weirdness in seating at Burn the Floor as some people were surprised that all the seats around me were available, heh. I think I spend a little more time at ‘home’ (in my stateroom) than other people. Possibly? I’m basing this on the fact that I have literally never seen another person going into or out of a solo studio on this floor, nor heard anyone in the nearby cabins.

 

Tomorrow: St. Thomas. My first time leaving the continental U.S. other than a work trip to Montreal a few years ago. I’m a champion shopper, so I expect it to go well. (I know, I know, but I’m not a beach person. I’m just not. If there’s one thing this trip has made me recognize, it’s that I’m a good candidate for Alaskan/New England cruises instead. I would much rather be drinking hot tea in a chilly breeze than roasting like a chicken.)

[perditax]

This is one of the best reviews I've read recently. A couple of questions for you (or for anybody who can answer):

1. No refrigerators in studio cabins, correct?

2. I've read some reviews stating the showers are "too small." How do you find them?

3. Is there sufficient room in the toilet enclosure, from a female perspective?

4. What sort of non-alcoholic drinks are stocked in the studio lounge?

 

1. No fridges but a small ice bucket is kept stocked.

 

2. The shower is fine for me, I am 5'5"/U.S. size 10 for reference. I'm also not very coordinated. There's a small foot thingie to use for shaving your legs.

 

3. The toilet closet is claustrophobic. I keep the door bolted and the DND sign up if I'm in the room for any amount of time, so I just leave the toilet door open. WHAT I'M THE ONLY ONE HERE.

 

4. Lounge: water, orange juice, tea bags of various sorts, and the fairly impressive coffee machine, which I didn't realize works from whole beans (I thought it was one of those Keurig type things, from pictures). Lately I've been grabbing a plastic glass, filling it with hot water and three tea bags, then dumping the result into my big water bottle full of ice from my room. In the morning, the lounge also has mini croissants, mini chocolate croissants, danishes, and cinnamon rolls, and the rest of the time there are fruit, cookies and poundcake. I can't emphasize enough how nice it is to have this drink/snack/caffeine station steps away (I am on deck 10).

[perditax]

I'm loving your review and am looking forward to reading more.

As far as the internet, I pre-purchased the unlimited plan for our next cruise. Can I share it with my husband or do we each need to have our own? On our last cruise I purchased the 1000MB plan and we were able to share it and use it at the same time. Actually, we were able to use both of our phones (one iPhone and one Android) and my Kindle. Now I'm rethinking what I bought. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

Thank you!

 

I don't think the Unlimited Plan would work well for more than one person, other than the occasional iMessage notification slipping through, they are very thorough about forcing you to log off one device before you can use the connection on another device (for a given value of 'use'). They probably do it this way precisely to stop a large family group from sharing a single login.

 

I'm pretty sure the other prices I was quoted were for MINUTES not MB. My cabin originally came with 100 free MINUTES (not MB), but I switched to a dining credit when I decided to buy the unlimited internet. Again, this is on the Getaway (I saw some other questions about it in the thread). I've noticed that things can change on a dime in the cruise world, but this week it doesn't seem like they are selling by the MB. Possibly because the connection is so painfully slow it would take someone forever to use up even a small amount.

Edited June 23, 2015 by perditax

[buckirj1]

Excellent. Thank you. I hope you continue to have a swell time!

[Sauer-kraut]

I am a big person and had no real problems when using the shower. It was bigger than the one I had at a B&B in Croatia. :eek:

 

The same for the toilet...I just kept my door open as I couldn't get the light to work in there.

[SquishTheWhale]

I'm very much enjoying your review- I can empathise quite a lot as someone who is more than happy with my own company! Unfortunatley for me, I travel with my super outgoing boyfriend and I have to put up with him 'making friends' everywhere we go!

 

I've never played a slot machine in my life, but if they have that kitten themed machine on the Epic, I might have to make an exception :p

[maywell]

Regarding the iConcierge and booking through the touchscreen - you can book restaurants/shows, see your balance, doing tendering reservations and see all the restaurant menus even the MDR for the day all through the TV in your room. Its the very 1st channel when you turn it on - use the arrows, Select, Return and Enter keys on the remote control to use it. Its lovely feature on the Breakaway-class ships, so you're running to Guest Services so often.[emoji16]

 

Sent from my SGH-T399 using Tapatalk

Edited June 23, 2015 by maywell

[WoodsDrive]

Burn the Floor: Let’s be honest about this. The point of this show is to let you watch ten or fifteen smoking hot people in skimpy/tight clothes doing an extended Latin/Bob Fosse number.

 

And if that’s wrong, I don’t want to be right.

 

I really enjoyed it, and my mild ADD appreciated that it was only an hour long. The only off note for me was when I realized someone had decided to try to work Led Zeppelin into the show. I won’t spoil which song, but I did start giggling. So weird.

 

Did you catch the old TV show theme songs they reworked? I caught several.

[hansolosmom]

Love your review. I'm also not a sun person. I only do under umbrellas or shade so I understand your issue. We were on Celebrity Reflection and it was the same thing, I couldn't find a lounger - I had never had that issue before, it was crazy. I love the thermal spa, those tiled loungers are the best!

 

We did Canada/NE a couple years ago on Princess. It was fantastic. My mom still raves about it.

 

It sounds like you're having a good time. Hope the Illusianarium show is enjoyable as well as St. Thomas.

[maywell]

Regarding the iConcierge and booking through the touchscreen - you can book restaurants/shows, see your balance, doing tendering reservations and see all the restaurant menus even the MDR for the day all through the TV in your room. Its the very 1st channel when you turn it on - use the arrows, Select, Return and Enter keys on the remote control to use it. Its lovely feature on the Breakaway-class ships, so you're running to Guest Services so often.[emoji16]

 

Sent from my SGH-T399 using Tapatalk

 

Meant to "so you're NOT running to Guest Services so often". Tapatalk / word failure but yes- the TV on the cruise ship is a introvet best friend, no standing in line at Guest Services, can see the menus to decide/plan what to eat for dinner, gamble from there, book reservations and watch movies & shows too!! Plus get the weather and hear music as well.[emoji1]

 

Sent from my SGH-T399 using Tapatalk

[Jantoo]

Wonderful review!! Love your style of writing.

[Tzitza]

I am so excited I found this review because...

 

- I "know" you from the DIS. I recognize your screen name and am following your preparations for DCL which has been fun to read. (I'm Lady Marie *waves*)

 

- I am enthralled by this review since this is the ship DH and I decided to go on being that we were not ready to plunk out DCL kind of money when we had never been on a cruise before.... and we don't have kids so maybe we will save that budget if/when our kids could enjoy it too... maybe.... or maybe we will enjoy the Getaway and selfishly book DCL next year :-P

 

- Sooo many good newbie tips to consider--- thank you!

 

- Lastly, I was laughing out loud at the cat slot machines comment... I had not planned on gambling on our cruise, but now I have to at least play the cat machine. My inner crazy cat lady is bouncing a little with excitement.

 

Can't wait to read more!!!

[Vacationdreamer<><]

I am so excited I found this review because...

 

- I "know" you from the DIS. I recognize your screen name and am following your preparations for DCL which has been fun to read. (I'm Lady Marie *waves*)

 

- I am enthralled by this review since this is the ship DH and I decided to go on being that we were not ready to plunk out DCL kind of money when we had never been on a cruise before.... and we don't have kids so maybe we will save that budget if/when our kids could enjoy it too... maybe.... or maybe we will enjoy the Getaway and selfishly book DCL next year :-P

 

- Sooo many good newbie tips to consider--- thank you!

 

- Lastly, I was laughing out loud at the cat slot machines comment... I had not planned on gambling on our cruise, but now I have to at least play the cat machine. My inner crazy cat lady is bouncing a little with excitement.

 

Can't wait to read more!!!

 

Heh - lots of DCL refugees... ;)

[Nelle B]

I love your style of writing, look forward to see what it next!

 

What is the cost of a Spa pass?

[ncklhaus]

Thank you!

 

I don't think the Unlimited Plan would work well for more than one person, other than the occasional iMessage notification slipping through, they are very thorough about forcing you to log off one device before you can use the connection on another device (for a given value of 'use'). They probably do it this way precisely to stop a large family group from sharing a single login.

 

I'm pretty sure the other prices I was quoted were for MINUTES not MB. My cabin originally came with 100 free MINUTES (not MB), but I switched to a dining credit when I decided to buy the unlimited internet. Again, this is on the Getaway (I saw some other questions about it in the thread). I've noticed that things can change on a dime in the cruise world, but this week it doesn't seem like they are selling by the MB. Possibly because the connection is so painfully slow it would take someone forever to use up even a small amount.

 

Thanks for your answer. I appreciate you taking the time out of your vacation to post. I will keep the unlimited for myself and wait until we board and see how much my DH wants for this next cruise. He wasn't the one that used the most MB's last time. That was all me.

[perditax]

Answer to a question just upthread: The week spa pass for this sailing was $199. They said they didn't bill it till we ship out, so no sales tax. I do see the $199 charge on my account. For me it has been worth every penny. YMMV.

 

Day four roundup.

 

St Thomas: I feel like I definitely did St. Thomas wrong. As I’ve posted before, this was a last-minute trip and I never got a chance to research ports. I’ve also mentioned I wasn't too interested in beach/snorkeling/etc excursions. (Not a beach person/have done a lot of snorkeling in my life.) But St Thomas is described as some kind of shopping mecca, and I’m good at shopping, so I figured I could make my own fun. Not so much. The ship docks next to something called ‘Havensight Mall’, which is not a mall, per se, but a collection of buildings that mostly house 1) diamond stores, 2) liquor stores, 3) more diamond stores. There is an occasional souvenir shop and one very poorly-stocked pharmacy (I managed to get nail clippers there, though, so one mission accomplished at least). I then walked to Yacht Haven Grande, which at 9am on a Saturday is closed. Doh. A taxi driver saw my dilemma, and said Yacht Haven Grande didn’t open till 10, and when I said I didn’t want to buy diamonds, alcohol, or cigarettes, he offered to take me to ‘the real downtown Charlotte Amalie’, and I said I was in. He was very nice, and on the way he told me about his family (lots of kids and grandkids including some in my state). Then he dropped me off.

 

On a street full of diamond stores. Really. Just diamond stores. Thanks, taxi guy.

 

It was surreal. It was like being on Bourbon Street, but instead of barkers trying to get you to come in for booze or music or strippers, the barkers are trying to get you to come in to buy diamonds. I finally just started waving my jewelry-free fingers at them. I caught another taxi back the port, determined to try again. I walked all the way back to Yacht Haven Grande since it would be after 10. Most of the stores were still closed, or they were boutique stores, or else, in case you had a diamond purchasing emergency when you were caught in the no-man’s land between Havensight Mall and downtown Charlotte Amelie … more diamond stores. I thought I saw a Coach logo on the sign somewhere and considered buying myself an overpriced purse as consolation, but in the end I couldn’t find the Coach store. And I couldn’t find any electronics stores, one of my other interests (just stores that described themselves as camera stores).

 

I walked back to the ship. It was now 10:45 ish, and I’d already clocked four miles of walking, so I stopped for a waffle with banana ‘syrup’ at the buffet.

 

I was sweaty from all the walking (it was overcast but warm), so I took a shower and went to go write in the library. The ship was nice and quiet (not empty, but quiet), but the library was closed for cleaning. I hung out in the atrium in the meantime, and an NCL person fired up the Wii U on the big screen and played Just Dance along with a bunch of little kids. It was pretty adorable. They finished cleaning the library and I spent two BLISSFUL hours in there alone writing. God, I love that room.

 

Tech notes: Very good internet today, so I guess what they say about being in port is true. Also, I mostly slept through docking. I also figured out the coded lights above each stateroom (neutral/DND/ready to make up, white/red/green). The slot machines are shut down during port, so I was not able to feed them my daily five bucks. Also, the ship was beginning to smell a bit sewage by today in places, especially public restrooms. I assume this is a function of being at sea for three days and not dumping the sewage in the ocean, so it didn’t bother me.

 

Food: Breakfast buffet waffle and bacon around 10:30. Flamingo Grill at 2:30. It’s still awesome. I wish I had more buffet info to share, but it’s really a blur, and most of the offerings don’t appeal to me much. One interesting thing is that they have a crepe station in the buffet during … I think it was breakfast? Unless I saw it at dinner last night. Sorry. It looked pretty good, lots of toppings.

 

Dinner was at Illusionarium. I had floor seating and they set me at the end of a large family reunion group. They were very nice to me and we got along well. At 5:30 I had no appetite whatsoever and picked at the appetizer (something that purports to be a caprese salad and something that purports to be prosciutto, I am dubious of both). However, despite the bad reviews I’ve read of dinner there, I was actually pretty happy with the steak au poivre (nice medium rare, good flavor to the sauce), nice steak fries/potato wedges (crisp, well seasoned and not greasy), and broccoli (crisp, well seasoned, and not cold). My appetite woke right up. And two of the three mini desserts were very good, and they brought me a large pot of hot tea. The show was pretty good, but I was sitting in a bad spot for two reasons: I kept getting blinded by one of the spotlights, and … THEY PULLED ME UP ON STAGE AS PART OF THE MENTALIST ACT. ARGGGGGH. I had to think of a famous person for the mentalist to ‘guess’. MY MIND WENT BLANK EXCEPT PRESIDENT OBAMA. I swear to god, it was Lady Gaga or President Obama. I went with Obama, while thinking “half of this room will hate me after tonight”. ARGGGH.

 

The lesson: try not to sit near the central ramp.

 

The rest of the stage magic was pretty impressive. I’ve never seen live magic before, and I honestly couldn’t figure out how some of it was done. The audience seemed lukewarm, though; I think some people were missing the point of the tricks or were distracted by their food. Some reasonably well-timed jokes just fell flat. Bad crowd, I guess.

 

Also: don’t bother to dress up for Burn the Floor, but you may want to dress up for Illusionarium in case you get pulled on stage, and also because you may be dining intimately with strangers. Needless to say I wore a cute dress for Burn the Floor, and ‘cruise casual’ for Illusionarium. Should have done the opposite.

 

I’m halfway through the cruise now and dreading its end, so I think that’s a good sign for my career as a future cruiser. I’m typing from a lounger in the thermal suite, my first visit for the day. Off to the pool, and then I may cruise by the buffet for a cheese plate for the room. There is a 10:30pm “80s party” tonight that sounds cheesy enough to be fun, but honestly, I’m usually in bed by that point. I know, I know.

 

Overall I feel my experience so far is good news for people who are like me. It really is possible to have fun on a cruise ship even if you prefer quiet to steel drums, and even if you don’t want to drink pina coladas in the blazing sun. I may even buy a future cruise credit, although I suppose I should have done that at the start of the trip.

[ncklhaus]

Did the Illusionist guess Obama? :D

 

Still very much enjoying your review.

[rimom71]

You are a terrific writer, love your style! Your recounting of the stairs "race" made me lol.

 

We're on the Getaway on 7/4 in a spa cabin and can't wait for that thermal suite. Ahhhh. Adored it on Breakaway.

 

Will make sure we hit the Flamingo Grill!

 

So glad your inaugural voyage has been a success! :)

[Vacationdreamer<><]

Thank for updating, Perditax. I'm sincerely enjoying it.

Sorry for the shopping bust.

Glad you're enjoying so thoroughly.

 

Are you going to do watersides or ropes course?

[LrgPizza]

Did the Illusionist guess right?

[Quilting_Cruiser]

 

Overall I feel my experience so far is good news for people who are like me. It really is possible to have fun on a cruise ship even if you prefer quiet to steel drums, and even if you don’t want to drink pina coladas in the blazing sun. I may even buy a future cruise credit, although I suppose I should have done that at the start of the trip.

 

I've been enjoying following along. The title of your thread caught my eye--since I'm now a solo cruiser about half the time, I enjoy reading the experiences of other solos no matter which ship they're on. I sailed solo on the Jade in October and will be in a studio on the Epic in March.

 

I'm not a partier (people usually assume that from my user name. LOL), I'm an early riser, so generally in bed by 11 p.m., and hate the sun. So, I can relate to much of what you're saying. I purchased a spa pass on the Jade--great decision! I'll likely purchase one on the Epic as well. There was a small group of us who persistently ran into each other in the spa...my people. ;) It was so nice to go in there after a day of touring and just relax and rejuvenate.

 

I purchased a FCC at the end of my cruise. It doesn't matter when you get it, the benefit is the same. I waited until the end because the Jade was my first solo cruise and I wanted to make sure I liked it.

 

Looking forward to the rest of your review...

[maureencruiser]

Great first timer review, I'm loving it!